It is amazing to realize how long it has been since I have posted anything to my blog.  I thinkg about it and then find something else to do.  For the past year or so I have become more and more involved in card making and have joined a group which is full of stampers I have known on various groups over the years.

This week we were issued a challenge to use one embossing folder and three different dies to make a card.  I chose a masculine theme featuring a Ford Thunderbird.  For the background, I chose a red and white chevron paper mounted on a sand colored card stock.  The embossing folder is the Diamond Plate folder from Cuttlebug.  For the dies, I used Nestabilities.  One is a label die, and the other two are circles. The red circle was cut using Nestabilities S4-114 Standard Circle, and it is backed with a dark sand circle cut with the Nestabilities Pinking Circles.  Both the round circle and the pinking circle were cut in half and glued behind the Nestabilities label and then mounted on the rectangle of brown CS which had been embossed with the Diamond Plate folder.
Masculine cards are easy for me to make, but now I am going to try making a card in answer to the challenge which will definitely be feminine.

Unbelivable! There's not a single rubber stamp used on this card. It was made for a Blue, Orange and White challenge from Cheryl's Creative Stamping Pad group.
The base card is white, and the blue striped paper is from a pad of paper by Hot Off the Press. The orange background paper is from Basic Grey, and I dry embossed it with the Leafy Branch folder from Cuttlebug. I punched one end of the Basic Grey paper with a lacy punch by Martha Stewart, and I topped it with a reproduction of an orange crate label from Laughing Elephant (www.laughingelephant.com)
Everyone needs a pet or two to keep him or her on the straight and narrow. In January we adopted a little black, gray and white kitty named Piper ... or as we sometimes call her "Little Devil" or "She-Devil". This cat loves paper. She loves it to bits! I can't begin to tell you how many cardboard boxes or sheets of paper she has chewed up. The strips of paper from our shredder are no longer safe. Every scrapbooker and/or stamper needs a cat who loves paper. Keeps life interesting and makes a person thankful for a cat who simply likes to take a nap on a paper bag.

Isn't this little carousel horse adorable? He's a digital image that I downloaded in response to two challenges. One challenge was to use a digital image by Beccy Muir, and the other challenge is an ATC featuring a carousel. I made the ATC, mounted it on a brown and then a red flowered background for the card challenge. Since I made it with removable tape, I can easily detach the carousel horse image.
The image itself was colored with Copic markers ... gotta love those things! What doesn't show up in the scan is the metallic shine on the pole, stirrup, bridle and decorative trim on the blanket because I colored those in Copic's Buttercup Yellow and then went over them with the clear Spica pen.
Happy Easter, everyone!

I thought this digistamp was just adorable when I first saw it, but after it was colored, it came to life. How many little girls have fed their dolls. I did, and I'm sure a lot of you did, too.
I found this image on one of my groups, and it fit the theme for a swap on another group. I colored it with Copic markers and with PrismaColor pencils and Gamsol (from Inky Antics). I used one of the Nestabilites to cut out the image and mounted it on peach card stock. The patterned paper was from a 12x12 pad, and I think it may have been by DCWV.
This was such a fun card to make, and I find the Copic markers and Gamsol/pencils work so well on the image printed by an inkjet printer. There's no smearing, and even the tiniest areas are easy to color.

Have you ever gone through a bout of Rubber Rot? I have been cursed with it for several months but have now emerged with stamp in hand and ready to rock.

This card is one I made for a CASE challenge on Card Camp, and it was one that came together quickly. The base of the card is maroon card stock layered with a light gray. On top of that is a piece of patterned paper which I ran through my printer, using gray ink and a saying concerning spring. I then stamped the Penny Black image with Jet Black StazOn ink and let it dry. I colored it with PrismaColor pencils and Gamsol. I also printed the sentiment on the pink patterned paper and cut it and the maroon card stock using my Cuttlebug and two of the Nestabilities label dies. I attached a sheer pink sparkly ribbon across the layers of the card and then topped it with a self-adhesive paper lace. The saying was mounted on the card using foam tape. Because the base card was so dark, I added some of the pink paper inside the card.

On Saturday I took a Gatefold Album class at Scrapville in Greenville. What a cute album! When I manage to find the digital camera, I will upload pictures of it to my blog.
In the meantime, I bought some beautiful paper and a small set of "Inchies" at the store, so I had to come home and create. The challenge I made this card for is called "Fly Away" and features anything that flies. I used birds, bugs and butterfly stamps and Adirondack's Wild Plum ink to stamp the images on white CS. The patterned paper was double-sided, so I mounted the images to the back side of the paper and then to a slightly larger piece of white CS. I then tied a white striped ribbon around it before mounting it on the card. The base of the card is white CS with the floral paper mounted on it.
I have designed two different Christmas cards and will be posting them soon. It seems Thanksgiving is almost upon us so Christmas is sure to follow in a hurry.
I'm not basically a football fan, but I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan for years. This year the team has been just sorry. How embarrassing is it to have the newest, most modern stadium in the sports world and a Super Bowl coming up and a sorry, sorry home team. All those high-dollar players need to get out there and do their jobs! That's what they're paid for, and professional football is not a sport ... it's a business. We'll see what happens under new leadership.

So much of what I have posted on my blog has been the simple stuff. Today I'm posting this journal I made for a swap along with instructions for it ... if I can remember them. I made it a long time ago but kept the scan of it, thinking I might want to make another one when I get a Round Tuit. That day hasn't come yet.

The front and back of the journal was covered with a speckled mauve paper, and I stamped flourished down the side using a mauve ink. I stamped the main image on a plain scrap of mauve CS using black ink and then cut it out with deckle-edged scissors. I mounted it on a wine CS scrap and rounded the corners. The words "beauty" and "time" are stamped above and below the mounted image. Charms, a flat-backed key, and frilly fibers finish it off.

I'm in a Christmas-card-making mode today, and I have completed at least five of the nearly 300 cards I have to finish by Thanksgiving. At least 135 of the cards are cut, printed, scored and folded. Most of the layers are already cut, Cuttlebugged and stamped, too. Right now, though, I need to go check my whole wheat bread which is in the final stage of rising, and then it's back to cardmaking.

Today is a beautiful day in Texas. I hope it stays that way after the Rangers try to beat the SF Giants tonight in Game 3 of the World Series.