Frosty-Now Go Away!

This is made from a die cut I got in a grab bag a long time ago. I cut the snowman in half hoping to maybe make another but I wasn't really in half-more two thirds. The other part is in my stash to work with later. The card itself was really simple. I used a small scrap of snow flake paper for the background, layering the snowman to the side and adding arms and facial features. I then tied a small piece of fiber for a scarf. But snowman really had no dimension to him. So out came the glitter from Great Impressions. Normally I would have used Stickles but I wanted something more like snow. I uses the Heat and Stick stick I got last time from Stacey's in Fowlerville. Placing it strategically where I thought snow might glisten on a fresh snowman, I added some enhancements.

To make the lacy snow on the bottom and on the top of the vellum, I found this really neat ribbon in white, black and red. I glued the white and then ran the Heat and Stick lightly over the top and added some glitter. Presto! Newly fallen snow!

Now that I have posted this card, I hope all the snow melts and Frosty here goes away for a long long time. I am ready for flowers, thunderstorms, my dog peeing on my hostas (not really but he thinks it's his job) and going to the gym in the daylight. Don't forget to set your clocks this Sunday.

Vintage Easter

The lighting on this card is not great. I wish I had the time to re shoot it but I am so behind now . The colors on this card are very vivid and the ribbon seems to enhance them. I was shooting at night in my kitchen using the stove overhead lighting. It looks like the sun is blazing behind it tho.

This card used scraps and stickers for a change. The sticker sheet had a bunny on it holding the carrot but the bunny looked drunk. I cut him off and pop dotted the carrot at the bottom. I layered several colors of papers after edging them in robin egg blue for a distressed look. The ric rac was a last minute add on-I thought the gauzy organza multicolored ribbon would be enough but it needed a little more intense color. It's really pretty close up and the layering shows more in person too. I am not much into Easter anymore-I used to love making pretty dresses for my daughter along with a hat like my gramma did for me-but littles grow up and styles really change. This card is a throwback to the cards my gramma purchased for me in the early 60's. I still have them all and will treasure them forever.

Love and Romance

I did another single card swap in February and knew I wanted to use black and red as I have been on a rampage with those two colors lately. This card was actually the third try. I was not happy with my first attempt with chipboard. I think it was because the chipboard was already sealed and shiny and I wanted to paint it first. The embossing just didn't look right on it after. So I found some naked chipboard letters in my stash. These turned out much better but I did end up having to buy another pack of them at Joann's as I needed to make a complete card and also send the elements for the recipient to make two more if she wished or she could also use the items for some completely different card. I do wish the recipient would post anything she makes that is different to mine to see how other minds work but its not required.

Basically I painted the chipboard V using Making Memories Acrylic paint and then stamped the chip using a Hero Arts Love Heart text stamp in black and embossed using clear detail embossing powder to tone down the blackness. I also embossed the edges of the chip too. I backed the V with a small remnant of Scrapbook Walls dotty paper. The main base of the card is black topped with a corner piece of this fantastic filigree edges paper which comes in black, cream, red, pink and green choices. I just don't remember the name of the company because I went back to get some more and it was all gone in the black, so I am coming up with an idea for the green one. I like how it's lined like ledger paper. I used two pieces of silk ribbon topped with a piece of Ric RAC crossed underneath the chipboard and then I stamped and cut out in detail the "You're Special" saying from Inkadinkado. I tried it on cream but it blended in too much so it worked with the white better. I just loved the Victorian feel of this card.

National Neuter Your Pet Day

I recently decided to start participating in swaps after a long lay off. I was in a group several years ago that went sour so to speak. I had sent in multiple designs of tags and was supposed to swap 10 different ones back plus my original for a total of 11. I ended up getting tags that were part of some other swap and never received my own back. That was strike one. Then I was derided for questioning where my tags went as no one seemed to have gotten them in their pack back too-and stupidly I forgot to sign my work-and some were made from metal. Strike two.

I was hosting a huge swap of fibers that involved about 50 people. The swappers were supposed to put their names and which swap they were entering inside the baggies. At least half didn't. They were also to include priority postage back to them-most didn't. My hubby was getting angry at me for the mess and all the packages laying around. I finally paid for the postage back to them and just sorted the swaps as best I could making sure no one got duplicates. I was derided again from someone in the group because I complained that few had sent postage. I spent over 100.00 of my own money returning items. I said I would never participate in a swap again. I had strike three and they- the group were out. I remain in contact with only one on a regular basis from that group. I consider her my Internet sister and we have really bared our souls on occasion.

But I missed the creativeness and doing show and tell with a 10 year old is okay-but I needed more sometimes. So I found a group where you only swap out one item at a time. So far so good.

The swap I signed up for was called February Fun Days. The idea is you pick an offbeat holiday or celebration and make a card for it. You send to the next person on the list. Only one card to her and she makes one of her own to the next person. I chose National Spay and Neuter Day which is February 27. I wanted my card to say something besides just be cute. I used Whipper Snapper stamps for this tag card. When you pull out the inside tag, there is a Message that says "Love means never having to say you're sorry" I did forget to photograph the inside tho. I was in too much of a hurry that day i guess. My goal again is to use only scraps from my scrap bin until they are all gone or at least well depleted. I did make an exception for the ribbon and I needed colors to match the plaid paper. I even used part of a coffee cup holder from Tim Horton's which should make all the Canadians in readership happy! It's the corrugated piece behind the animals if you are wondering. All the coloring was done using pencils with gamsol. I only wish I had made a few extras of this card-I really like it a lot.