Grunge Birthday Wishes

I really like this card! It is a departure for me. I am usually hesitant to grunge up a card with smeared ink, but I think it really adds dimension in this care. I really pushed myself when I smeared black ink on the paper flower and added a button to the center rather than my standard brad. Probaby my biggest surprise, though, was the butterfly sticker by Martha Stewart. They were on the clearance rack at Michaels. I never would have paid full price for the pack as I thought they were pretty "flat." Was I surprised when I opened the pack to find that the butterfly was dimensional. Maybe I will go bak for more of them. This card will go to one my husband's staff for their birthday. Hope they like it.

Happy Birthay, Son!

My son's birthday is just around the corner. Since he is a musician who loves the Lord, I thought he might enjoy a card with images of a singer playing an instrument and the quote by Hank Williams. Since he has a September birthday, I decided to pick warm earthy colors for the cardstock. I could have forgone the ribbon at the bottom, but decided to add it just to break things up a bit. Hope he likes it!

Horse Silhouette Birthday Greeting

My daughter-in-law celebrates her birthday, tomorrow, a day before my husband and sister-in-law. She is selflessly helping me prepare for a surprise party for my husband, rather than have us focus on her. I especially wanted to make her a card to wish her a very happy birthday. I chose a horse silhouette sticker and matted it numerous times with coordinating background papers. I added a lock and key for hardware, and softened it with an organza orange ribbon. I used more of the coordinating background papers and added a definition of a birthdday and a birthday sentiment. To add a bit more definition, I added two chocolate mini brads. Hope she likes it!

Frazzled Birthday Cat

My sister-in-law and my husband (fraternal twins) will celebrate a very special birthday this weekend. My sister-in-law loves cats, especially her own cat, Blackie. In honor of her birthday, I chose this frazzled cat for my stamped image. I left the cat uncolored except for big taupe colored eyes. To add a little glitter, I added shiny black photo corners and a glittered birthday present die cut along with a glittery cord tied in a bow. To finish off the card, I added three different colored jumbo brads that pick up the colors of the die cut to add a little warmth to the rather neutral card.

Take Ten Challenge - May 2009

One of my favorite magazines, Ten Take, has a challenge quarterly, where they give you a template to work from and you create and send in your own interpretations. The card above, A Bird's Hello, is one of the cards I will submit. Below are several others I will send in as well.

Congratulations

One of my husband's staff is celebrating twenty years of employment. They are having a surprise luncheon for her, tomorrow. My husband asked me to make a card for the ocassion. I love this image "Butterfly Girl" by Paperbag Studio. I split a too small piece of designer paper and placed in opposite corners, to stretch it, and and matted the image on brown cardstock. I finished the card by added a green/wine colored ribbon, some pink flower stickers and a variety of buttons. I like the softness of this card and hope the recipient does, too.

Parisian Birthday

I made this card for my husband's Executive Assistant. I love the iconic Eiffel Tower and the French girl on a Vespe seems to go well with it. I stayed with purples and blues, dusted the tower with blue chalk, and added rhinestone flower gems and a bit of lavender twill tape to finish it off. Mai oui!

Fairy Tale Birthday

I made this card for my husband's youngest niece's birthday. She is a pre-teen, so I did not want to make too juvenile of a card. I love this fairy sticker that I bought in the gift shop at Art Museum in Bennington, VT, where Grandma Moses paintings are on display. The flourishes, flower brads and a lady bug seemed appropriate. I chose a soft mauve card stock as the background and tied it all up with a gingham pink bow. I hope she likes it!

April-May 2009 Stamplers Sampler

The April/May 2009 Stamplers Sampler is finally available on newstands! I submitted and was chosen to be published for their annual "Celebrations" issue. I am deeply moved when looking through the other entries to find myself among the very elite card makers of our time. I think I got very lucky, but none the less am estatic! Below is the page with my card. Mine is in the lower right corner entitled "Happy Birthday."

Easter 2009

This year, I have to different cards to send to friends and family. I made a lot of cards last year, but did not have time to write notes in them and send them in a timely manner to everyone, so, I saved them for this year. Fast forward another year, and I have to make some new cards to send to those I did send last year's card too! So...below is the card I made last year. I fell in love with this stamp when I saw it. I just loved the simplicity of the duck family and its representation of spring. I chose Lemon Chiffon card stock and after stamping the duck family, colored it in with soft chalks. I chose various background papers from my stash to mat the image and finished with Happy Easter as the sentiment.
As for this year, I selected a beautiful stamp from Artistic Outpost, and stamped it in Sienna ink on various soft pastel colored card stocks. Since the stamp has such a beautiful border, I chose not to add another mat, beyond leaving a quarter inch around the stamped image. I contrasted each image with another pastel card blank and decided to add a chocolate satin knotted ribbon and some copper or brown brads for dimension as an embellishment. Though the card does not say "Happy Easter" I think the birds and pastel colors emulate the Easter season.

Published in April/May Stamplers Sampler

Every couple of months, as I check the mail, I am looking for a small buff colored post card alerting me that I am going to published in an upcoming issue of Stampler's Sampler. It is a beautiful magazine, based in Laguna Beach, CA, that is dedicated to stampers.

This is my second notice of being published in an issue of their magazine. I do not yet know which card(s) will be published, but I know it is for their Celebration issue and included Birthday, Wedding, Anniversary, Graduation cards, etc. The process takes a while. Generally when you submit cards for consideration, it is six months before they are published.

I hope you will check back in a couple of weeks, whn I will add what is published to my blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Buttons and Bees

Once a year, I get the chance to make a card for my beautiful daughter. My inspiration for this design began with the stamp for the Polaroid Cutie collection by Artistic Outpost. The little girl could be anyone, but she looks a lot like me as a small child, and coincidentally like my granddaughter, so I am really drawn to this image.

I generally stamp most of my work in black ink, but decided to choose a soft pink ink color this time. My cardstock is limited at the moment, and so, working with what I had available, I chose this soft green Bazzil cardstock. Green is a favorite in our family. Since my daughter's birthday is right after the first day of spring, I wanted soft spring colors.

In my travels, I am always looking for things to use in my card making. The soft watercolor design behind the image is from a paper store in Philadelphia, PA. I tore the edges of the border to soften the look for this card. The pink satin ribbon with bees, the promise of summer to come, is from a little gift boutique in Sonoma, CA.

Rather than flowers, I chose buttons as my embellishments. The sentiment, in soft pink ink is from Heidi Grace.

Happy Birthday, my beautiful daughter!

Horse and Buttons - Well Wishes

I made this card for one of my husband's friends who is recovering from heart surgery. Masculine cards are always a challenge for me. I find it easier to make a pretty card! For this card, I choose earthtone colors for the cardstock. The horse stamp by Inkadinkado is stamped in septia ink. I used black photo corners to soften the white card stock against the brown mat. For embellishments, I chose neurtal tone buttons in multiple shades to keep the card from getting too dark, and rafia for a more rugged look than ribbon.

Birthday Greetings for a Dear Niece

Our niece recently turned 15. As I thought about a card for her, I knew I wanted to make her something fun, but not too childish. After all, we all remember being fifteen! I chose purple Bazzil cardstock for my base as I think most young ladies love purple. For my focal image, I chose a "Party Cat" from Lost Coast Designs. Though I generally stamp the image with black ink, I decided to use a new green stamp for a fresher, more youthful look. Rather than mat the image, I kept it lighter by just edging the image with the same green ink. The sentiment is by Heidi Grace. I added a bright striped ribbon and some perky paper flowers in complementary colors for a finishing touch. Hope she likes it! Meow!

Welcoming a New Baby

Our dear friends just became grandparents for the first time. I wanted to make a special card to send to the new parents. I found a Debbie Mumm "Nursery Rhyme" paper pack at Jo-Ann fabrics and crafts and thought it would make a beautiful card of congratulations. I used the matching stamp set to include a monochromatic illustration on the inside of the card. My husband just loves the card. I hope the young couple will too!

My First Post!

Welcome to my blog!

About 13 years ago, I was invited to a rubber stamp party and fell in love with the concept. Years before, I had a small craft stand at a local market, and as part of my inventory, I made Valentine and Easter Cards. (I'll post them when I find them.) They were made out of construction paper, vintage-reproduced postcards and sewing notions I had on hand.

Fast forward twenty-five years to a plethora of gorgeous card stock options, thousands of rubber and clear stamps, inks in every color of the rainbow and fibers and embellishments that continue to evolve and multiply. The sky is the limit with what is available to card makers. How fortunate I am!

Shortly after marrying my husband, Jack, I decided to take the plunge make all my cards from that point forward. Jack is my biggest supporter!

Once in a while I find an occasion that is challenge, but I push through it determined not to go out and buy a card.

In 2008, I pushed myself again and, after faithfully savoring every stamp magazine I could put my hands on, I took the plunge and submitted my first cards to a Take Ten magazine challenge. I cannot tell you how elated I was when I opened the mail drop and found a complimentary copy of the magazine staring at me. I was hooked! I was published three more times in 2008 and have been published once, so far, in 2009.

My next goal in pursuing this "Journey of Artistry" is to document the birth of launching my website. My dream is to be able to design and create cards, tags, invitations, and announcements for those who are looking for something a little more unique and personal.

I have the privilege of having a dear son-in-law who is a gifted graphic design artist, in addition to being a wonderful husband to my oldest daughter and a fabulous, stay-at-home daddy, to my two precious grandchildren and a daughter with a degree in marketing who are helping me with my website.

I hope you will check back often as I take this journey into this new world and share my hopes, fears, and joys. ~Until next time ~

Yvonne