Smile Cards

I made these fun Smile cards yesterday. I made the blue one for a sweet lady who allowed me to use her home to hold a workshop on Saturday. (Thanks Barb!) Would you believe that after I got there and set everything up, I realized that I forgot the project kits that I put together for everyone? Imagine my horror when I realized that I forgot the one thing that everyone needed to complete their projects. My husband was nice enough to meet me halfway with the kits. So, I got the gals started on some stamping and then ran out to meet my hubby. Another sweet friend of mine, Linda, helped the ladies with the stamping while I was gone. Without these two wonderful gals, the day would have been a disaster. It turned out great and everyone had a good time...even me!

Anyway, onto the cards... I used one of my favorite new CTMH sets called September Word Puzzle. The word puzzle sets are all great. but this one is one of my favs because it has so many fun friendship sayings and images. I stamped the word friend in Chocolate ink and then covered it with a Circle Window Charm. I used some twill from the new Chocolate Ribbon Rounds and a few Just Blooms paper flowers. I dyed the blue one in a mixture of Juniper re-inker and water.


All products CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: September Word Puzzle
Cardstock: White Daisy
Patterned Paper: Perfect Day Paper Pack (1st card), More to Adore (2nd card)
Inks: Juniper & Chocolate (1st card), Blush & Chocolate (2nd card)
Other: Chocolate Ribbon Rounds, Just Blooms Big Pinks, Circle Window Charms

Baby Card

I have a few friends having babies lately so I thought I would make a few baby cards. This is one I made for a friend who just had a baby girl. I saw a cute card kind of like it on a blog a while back and saved the photo for inspiration. Unfortunately when I went back to give the designer credit for the inspiration, I realized that her photo wasn't watermarked with her name or blog. Now I can't give her credit for inspiring me or link you to her beautiful card. I guess I shouldn't complain because I am too lazy to watermark my own photos. I just feel bad that I can't give her credit.

In any case, I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the Swiss Dots on some CTMH Baby Pink Cardstock then sanded it a bit to expose the white core. I also used my new SU! scallop edge punch and some Papertrey Ink Ribbon. The stamps used are CTMH's Decorative Dainties and Papertrey's Mixed Messages. I distressed the edges of the white cardstock with CTMH's edge distresser. I love that little guy. I use it all of the time! The card is pretty simple, but as you know, that is my style lately. LOL!

A few Christmas Cards

Sorry for not posting in a while. I am still alive...just super duper busy these days. I am working on some fun projects that aren't quite complete yet. One of them is a Christmas Card Box to store lots of fun Card supplies that I hope to be able to post soon. In the meantime, here are a few simple Christmas Cards...This card is super simple, but I kinda like that these days.

Stamps: December Word Puzzle (trees), Christmas Scripts (sentiment)
CS: White Daisy, New England Ivy
Inks: Topiary, Garden Green, New England Ivy, Cranberry
Other: Red Sparkles

Here is another simple one. I used the new Creative Basics paper pack for the background. In fact, I used the back of the patterned paper. I love the new monotone look that the back of the B&Ts have now.

Stamps: Evergreen, Seasonal Thoughts (sentiment)
CS: White Daisy, Cranberry, Garden Green, New England Ivy
Paper: Evensong Creative Basics
Inks: New England Ivy, Cranberry, Chocolate, Sunflower
Other: Prisma Glitter (on star)
This one was inspired by an adorable “SNOW” card that Laurel Seabrook posted a couple weeks ago. (Thanks Laurel.) I added Liquid Glass to parts of the snowman's hat and scarf.

Stamps: Chocolate Large Alpha, All Decked Out (Nov SOTM)
CS: White Daisy, Cranberry
Paper: Evensong Creative Basics
Inks: Black, New England Ivy, Cranberry (sponged around edges)
Other: chalk for snowman's cheeks, Orange Marker for his nose, Liquid Glass

The last one is a combination of the card on page 12 of the 2008 Fall/Winter CTMM Idea Book and a card we made at a team meeting last month designed by Cindy Baker.

Stamps: Festive Frills, Vintage Christmas (holly)
CS: Bamboo
Paper: Evensong Creative Basics
Inks: Bamboo, New England Ivy, Cranberry
Other: Cranberry Brads, Ribbon from Creative Basics

Rock 'n Rolling with More Treasured Life Cards

I used the stamp rolling technique with these cards. The first one uses CTMH's Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue inks and the second card uses Bamboo and Hollyhock. As you can tell, I just cannot get enough of this stamp set. It is one of my all time favorites. (I already mentioned that a thousand times. Didn't I?)
All products CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: September Stamp of the Month called Treasured Life
Cardstock: White Daisy on both cards, Chocolate & Crystal Blue on card #1, Chocolate & Bamboo on card #2
Inks: Chocolate on both cards, Crystal Blue & Sweet Leaf on card #1, Bamboo & Holyhock on card #2
Other: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon on card #1, Hollyhock twill ribbon on card #2

Treasured Life Cards and Markers

These cards were inspired by Kathi's beautiful card here. I loved the way she used marker stamping with CTMH's September Stamp of the Month. I made one of these cards and then proceeded to make two more in different colors. The first one uses one of CTMH's new colors called Tulip. It is a really pretty shade of red with a hint of pink to it. The second card uses Pink Carnation, a recently retired color. (I think this is the color that Kathi used and I loved it, so of course I had to copy it. LOL!) The last card uses another new color called Créme Brûlée. I love this shade of yellow! It is very yummy.
It is a little hard to see, but I raised the front panel with some foam squares. The cards look much better in real life. It is hard to see the watercolor effect that the marker stamping makes in the photos.
All products CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: September Stamp of the Month called Treasured Life
Cardstock: White Daisy on all, Tulip on card #1, Pink Carnation on card #2, Créme Brûlée on card #3
Inks: Chocolate on all, Tulip on card #1, Pink Carnation on card #2, Créme Brûlée on card #3
Markers: Garden Green on all, Tulip on card #1, Pink Carnation on card #2, Créme Brûlée on card #3
Other: White Daisy Organdy Ribbon, 3-D Foam Squares

Christmas Card

Jennifer McGuire is one of my heroes. I love everything she does and am constantly inspired by her amazing artwork. I think I am going to use this card for our family Christmas cards this year. It was inspired by, of course, Jennifer McGuire. Check out her fabulous tutorial here.

This card was so much fun to make and I think if I get started now, I just may be able to make 100 of them in time to send them out for Christmas...in 2009! LOL! (Don't you love the picture of my son kissing his sister? They truly do love each other. I just hope it lasts as they get older.)

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Evergreen, Seasons Defined, December Word Puzzle (for sentiment)
Cardstock: Bamboo, White Daisy, Chocolate (for tree stems)
Inks: Bamboo, Topiary, Garden Green, New England Ivy, Cranberry
Other: Sparkles, Cranberry Grosgrain Ribbon

Perfect Day Layout

Boy it sure has been a long time since I last posted. I am not sure how the time has been getting away from me so quickly lately. I have lots of things to post, I just need to actually post them. LOL!

Here is a layout that I did using CTMH's new Perfect Day paper. (I love this paper.)For the center of the flowers I used a self adhesive CTMH Circle Window Charm and put it on top of the tulip colored patterned paper. Then I cut around it and glued it to the center of the flower. I love these little guys because you can customize them to match just about anything.The chipboard frame was colored with Cocoa Ink. Then I printed our last name on some vellum and adheared it to the back. Then I attached some patterned paper to the back of that, added some tulip colored brads and attached the whole thing to my layout. All products CTMH unless otherwise noted: Stamps: Chocolate Large Alphabet, Thoughtful Seasons Ink: Cocoa,Tulip Patterned Paper: Perfect Day Other: Big Pinks Just Blooms Flowers, Circle Window Charms, Juniper Re-inker (to dye the small flower), Colonial White, Waxy Flax, Chocolate Eyelets, Cocoa Grosgrain Ribbon, Foam Tool, Vellum, Expressive Fonts CD, Dimensional Elements Bookplates, Spring Blossom Brads