I am still here!

I realize it has been a long time since I posted anything new, so decided that it is about time.  So much has happened since I last posted, and it seems like I have lost an entire year.

But, I never quit making cards!  I even have all of my Christmas cards done and ready to go into the mail right after Thanksgiving.  I will not be showing them on my blog until after Christmas so that I don't spoil it for anyone.  This year I made them all the same.

Here are some of the other cards I have been making though:

This one was done for group swap.  The theme was "Music".  I had the background paper, and I decided to make a tent card.  I muted the background behind the Beatles by putting an overlay of vellum on it.  I fussy cut around the band and they are on an accordion folded base so they stand out from the background.  The tea bag medallion was made using the inside of an envelope that I stained with Distress Ink to colorize it. 

 

 

This card was made for a friend using a rubber stamp from Northwoods Rubber Stamps. It is colored using Twinkling H2O's.  I just love using them and the sparkle that they add.  I also enjoy this stamp.

 

 

The next 2 are cards I made to thank our Realtor for all of the hard work she has done for us the past 11 months.  I colored the background using Distress Inks, stamped the images in black and added some tea bag medallions.  I am quite pleased with the way they turned out and hope she likes them.

 

This card is my first attempt at Zentangle.  The rooster is a digital stamp.  After doodling him in, I fussy cut him out and then popped him up off the page with adhesive dots to give the card some depth.

 

Sorry to have been away for so long...I hope to find more time to post after the holidays.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Time flies

My, how the time has flown.  I didn't realize I haven't posted in such a long time.  I have been creating but not thinking about posting.

My year started out with a huge (almost disabling) event for me.  My older sister had been battling cancer for about 3 years, and the end of January she called me to tell me that her liver was shutting down.  2 short weeks later, she passed away and went to live with our Lord.  Even though we did not talk often, we frequently emailed.  She lives in NY and I am in WI, so we didn't see each other often (and now I realize not often enough).  This has truly shaken me to my core.  I have been trying to throw myself into my card making and Barb always told me how much she loved my cards.  Every year for her birthday, I would make her a packet of 12 cards or so that she could use to give to friends.  Barb always told me she had a hard time using them as she enjoyed just looking at them.

Here are some of the cards I have been making to help me deal with this huge hole in my heart:

You should know that Barb left us full of grace and dignity.  She was not afraid of dying because she knew she was going to be with her Lord.  She was a wonderful woman, sister, mother, and friend and I miss her more than I can express.

Hold your loved ones close and never...ever...take them for granted.





Distressing without the stress these days

I am back again.  I made this card for my Mom using distress inks to color in the image.  I also used Distress Ink on the paper flower that adorns the front.



The edges of the card were distressed using Peeled Paint (one of my favorite colors).

 

Here is the card with the flap opened.  I used a Spellbinder Die (Scalloped Ovals) to cut the openings.

 

And with the inner flap opened, you can see the inside of the card where I stamped my sentiment.

 

Now this card was inspired by Splitcoast Stampers, but I did not have the large dies that they use, so I used squares and rectangles and put it together that way.  I made a teabag medallion to put on the front.

Thanks for looking.  I hope you have a great day!



Origami Dresses

I found a video online for folding origami dresses.  Once I started, I just could not stop!  I kept finding more little bits of paper that I thought would make a cute dress.  In the end, I had 30+ dresses!  I am working on getting them onto cards now.

On this one, the largest dress is 1 1/4" tall.  Using a rubber stamp, I created the clothesline poles.  Then I masked them and using my Distress Inks, I made the background.

This one I made by masking the circle before I shaded with my distress inks.

 

And this one was made adding a digital sentiment that I had.

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest endeavors.  Be warned - these can be very addicting.  I just wish I could make ones that would fit me as easily.  They are so easy to make.











Flowers Box card

Good morning from another snowy day in northern Wisconsin!

I wanted to share a box card I recently made.  This is the card closed.

The background is made with white tissue paper on tan card stock.  I then stamped the flowers with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and colored them in with water color pencils and blended with water.  This card is held closed with a punched border strip that has small pieces of Velcro on the back.

 

When the card is opened, the box is revealed!

I used punched circles to create the birds and their wings are made with stamped flower parts cut out and attached to the back of the birds.  The fence is made using a Martha Stewart border punch and then scored on my Martha Stewart score board.  Using my Cuttlebug and a die, I punched the sentiment from a paint chip.  I finished it off by adding some flowers that I received from a new friend.

I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge APRIL SHOWERS AND/OR SPRING FLOWERS

 I wonder if SNOW showers would have qualified...?

 





Newest Cards

I was hoping to be able to post once a week starting at the first of the New Year, but time has a way of getting away from me and already I am behind.

But, here are some of the latest cards I have made:

This one is called a double zig-zag card and I just love how easily it goes together.  The hardest part is deciding how to decorate it.

 

This is the card with the belly band on to help hold it closed.

Take the band off, and it opens up.  There is another flap on the inside and it lifts up.

Opened up, it reveals the sentiment.

 

And here are a couple more that I have made:

 

             

       

 

 

The sentiments shown came from Create with TLC.

 

The instructions for how to make this card can be found on this blog:

http://mariannespapir.blogspot.no/2012/06/double-zig-zag-card-tutorial.html

 

Here is another card I made for a challenge that required the use of a digi image of my choice from her store, blue, snowflake, snow, and twine.  I did meet the requirements and I am pleased with my result.



I hope you enjoy these cards and that they inspire you to be creative.  Stay warm!



Time Flies

My how the summer flew by!  I knew I hadn't posted in awhile, but I had no idea it had been this long!

In honor of the season (even though it is 19 degrees here this morning) I am going to post a couple of fall cards I have made recently.  Hope you like them!

This one features teabag folding.  And the tile was made by a friend of mine.  Love that spooky spider!

The fold on this one is Dahlia Fold.  I used an EK Success Border Punch to create the trellis.

Distress inks blended here and rubber stamping the flowers.

And it wouldn't be fall without some pumpkins!  I did this one with colored pencils and created the wording using WordArt in my Word program.

 

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

 



Tis the week before Christmas and all through my house...

Here it is the week before Christmas and I am getting my cookies baked and the last of everything put together for the festivities.  I wish we would get another inch or so of snow as it is looking brown and green in the yard for this time of year.  I will probably be kicking myself for that comment in a month though.

I believe most of the cards I sent have been received, so it is safe to show more of them here now.

This card is made with a photo I took of some pine boughs and winterberries that I picked and put in a bucket on our deck.  Mother Nature provided a dusting of snow and I went out and took the photo as it looked so pretty.  I attached the velvet ribbon and made a tea bag medallion to finish it off.

Not your typical holiday colors, but I really like the way this one turned out.  I used a silver sticker on the purple card and then covered the front with snowflake embossed vellum.  Using the same fold for the medallion as the previous card, I opted for this one to make the flower for the front along with the embossed leaves from Spellbinders Poinsettia set.

More purple!  This time using a cuttlebug embossing folder (snowflake corner) on white for the background, Spellbinders classic oval for behind the stamped snowman cut with a scalloped oval (also from Spellbinders).  The stamp is from Stampin Up "It's Snowtime" set.

And this is what I call embossed spot light technique.  I embossed the background and then another small piece that lined up over a portion of it and colored in only the small piece with colored pencils.  Clear as mud?  I thought so.

I wish all my family and friends a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS filled with love and peace.  May all your Christmas wishes come true.

But remember...when you stop believing in Santa Claus,

you start getting underwear for Christmas. 

May you always believe in the spirit of Christmas!

Creating some cards

Well, I have been busy creating my Christmas cards.  Christmas card making falls during hunting season and Thanksgiving and I am only half done with the cards I need to get done to send out for Christmas.  I will (again) ask Santa for more hours in the day this year.

Here is a card that is 2 types in one.  I made a box card and mounted it on an easel base.  The background is cut from 2 copies of the same image and cutting out parts (house, bushes, tree, etc.) and popping them out with dimensionals and adding stickles.  The box card is stamped and colored with colored pencils before cutting out the inside frame.

This card was made using my spellbinders Poinsettia and the styrofoam lid from a take out container.  I inked the flower with chalk inks before assembling it and putting it over the embossed background.

This card is done with a teabag medallion.  The paper came from a paperstck of Christmas papers that I got.  The medallion is made from tiles of my own creation.

That's all from now!  Time to get back at making the cards.  Don't want to spoil any more surprises for family or friends that may look at this blog..







Butterflies

Well, it will be some time before we see the real thing here!  We just got another 16 inches of snow on Monday.  At least we think that is how much we got, with the blowing wind all day, it is hard to tell!

So, I made this card using the Bleach Technique to bring a little spring to the air.

I stamped the image from Northwoods Rubber Stamps with Versamark and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  Then, using an old paint brush, I applied bleach to the petals of the flowers.  I stamped the image again using Versamark (just the butterfly portion) and embossed in black.  This time I stamped it on paper I had painted with Twinkling H2O's so it has some glimmer to it.  Then I cut the butterfly out and glued it over the original image.

Not being done playing with this stamp, I also created this card:

For this one, I heat embossed the same image in black.  I created the big butterfly using the same method and also made the smaller butterfly using a stamp set from Stampendous!  I popped the wings by cutting a piece of clear stiff plastic from packaging of a Cuttlebug folder and creasing it in the center.  I glued it to the back of the butterflies.  When dry, I glued it to the card front.  These fold flat for mailing, but pop up when removed from the envelope!



Thanks for peeking at this one!  Have a great day.

What a week...or 2!

It has been a busy couple of weeks.  I am a bow hunter and was successful in taking a buck last week.  Oh goody!  Meat in the freezer. 

I have also been busy making my Thanksgiving cards.  I was not going to make them, but decided to do so anyway.  Now to get busy on my Christmas card list.

Deer gun season is coming up this next weekend and we have company coming for the weekend portions of the season, so I suppose I will have to clear my dining room table so that we can feed them.  I don't want gravy on the cards I am working on.  Then again - this could be a whole new concept.  Instead of "scratch and sniff" we could have "lick and taste".  YUCK!

Here are some of the cards I made last year in the meantime...