I actually have stamped in the last year!

I'm sorry I've not posted on here in awhile. I've had a very busy year with a lot of changes and upheaval. Right now my stamping stuff is in boxes because our son and his new wife are living in my stamping room while they save up for a house. We offered to give them a good start on their new life together, and I'm happy to put my crafting aside for their happiness.

For now that means no stamping for me. Too much to haul out. That's okay. I'm keeping busy.

But back in September, before all of my stuff went into storage, I was able to make a card for my hubby's birthday. I took pics, but that was about it. So I am finally getting around to posting it. You'll have to forgive me, but I've forgotten a lot of the things I used to make this. I'll list what I can.

The stamps are from Penny Black Critter Party and Stampin' Up! All Year Cheer I. The trees and fence are dies from Taylored Expressions. I popped them out with mounting foam.

I also popped the butterflies out with tiny pieces of mounting foam. Very tricky! I colored with Copics. And I am not the best at making perfect round circles of punched holes, as you can see.

The inside has another die cut from another Taylored Expressions die. My husband gifted me a bunch of them 2 Christmases ago, and I'm ashamed to say that I only just started using them before making this card. They're lovely!

I believe the designer papers are all Basic Grey.

Thanks for looking! I hope to be stamping again by the end of this year. Take care and see you then!

For You

I am still without my beloved Canon Rebel so please forgive the slightly gimpy picture. A good camera is priceless.

This card is for a friend whose birthday is coming up in a week or so. I'll admit that this image isn't really a birthday image, per se, but I think it can pass as one with the "card" and all. It can, can't it? I'll also admit that I already had this image printed out and decided to use it rather than print out something else.

I wanted to try using only (or mostly only) colors in the warm neutral Copics to see how it would turn out. I love it! And I also wanted to try that shiny black hair tutorial I posted recently. Pretty cool, I think, but a little harder than I expected since I tend to overdo, and under-doing is better in this case. My inspiration for this coloring job came from this artist's style. Maybe a little Tim Burton-ish. Unfortunately, the camera couldn't pick up the more subtle shading I did on the face and the envelope doesn't even look colored, but it is. Also, the flowers are redder than they look. *sigh* I miss my good camera.

Thanks for the comments on my last post. When I think of competitiveness in the card-making community, I think of how many of us feel the need to use the latest stuff or we think our cards aren't worthy of posting, or something like that. At least, that's my problem. This happens to me all the time: Just when I start collecting the latest Spellbinder dies I find out they're yesterday's news and all the cool stampers have moved on to the new sets...and they all seem to know what are going to be the most popular dies. The same with stamps and inks and embellishments. They must have a money tree in their back yard or they're being given free stuff. I don't know.

I know it's childish of me to struggle with this stuff, but I do. And I doubt I'm alone. It's the main reason I avoid going on too many blog hops. I just can't take how behind the times I am and I feel constantly tempted to buy more stuff to keep up. Yes, big confession. So I stay in my own little corner and try to be content with what I have. It's the best way for me to deal with it. My budget groans when I try to keep up, doesn't yours?

Please forgive me for ever feeding the spending frenzy by what I've posted here. Perhaps I should do more to encourage using what you have rather than point you to yet another thing to buy. These days I am far less "stuff-oriented" than I used to be. Maybe it's the memory of all that money I've (over) spent over the years on this hobby. It makes me afraid to step foot in a crafting store! I keep thinking of all the other stuff I already have. I should not be buying more.

Okay, back to the card. One thing I want to mention that I did differently is I distressed both the inside and outside edges of the blossom. You can use a scissors (hold scissors open with the sharp edge exposed - rub the scissors along the edge while holding the paper firmly or vice versa - whatever works for ya) or a thread cutter to achieve that look. Also, it's hard to tell from the pic, but the girl image is under the blossom die cut. I cut a hole in the center of the blossom and used foam tape snipped into tiny pieces around the "petals" of the flower to raise it up.

Hope you have an inexpensive, fun-filled evening! ;)

Stamps: Pure Innocence 004 digi stamp, All Year Cheer I word saying

CS: White, black, PTI Pure Poppy, Basic Grey Granola, Stampin' Up! Swirl vellum

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, computer ink

Copics: W00, W1, W3, W5, W7, 110, R29

Other: Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch, SU! spiral punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities Blossom die, Standard Circle Large die, Cuttlebug Script embossing folder, sewing machine, clear gems, red gingham ribbon, foam tape

Roses in Winter from the heart

Can you stand this design one more time? Actually, 2 more because I have one more planned. This look just popped into my head and I had to make it. But I am slightly regretting the glitter being used on the rose. I'm not a heavy bling user, but I do like some. I had intended the glitter to be much, much lighter, but it wasn't to be for this card.

I stamped the Always Artichoke cs with Always Artichoke ink using the SU Canvas background stamp. Love that stamp!! For the red cs I did the same thing as on this card. I sponged Rose Red and More Mustard on Purely Pomegranate cs. If only Stampin' Up! would come up with a cs that color! Wow! I'd buy a bunch! I stamped the SU French Script background stamp over that using Baroque Burgundy ink. Loved the look that gave! Then I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the "Traffic Jam" embossing folder and then sponged more Rose Red and More Mustard inks over it to pop the embossing out.

Nothing new to mention about the Always Artichoke part with the "Swiss Dots" embossing folder. Pretty self-explanatory. The ovals, as well. Pretty much like the other 2 cards I described recently except that I used a sentiment (from SU All Year Cheer I) instead of an image. I lined it up using my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig. The ribbons are also pretty self-explanatory.

The rose was made similarly to this card except that I stamped and cut out parts of another leaf stamp from the Roses in Winter set and Dimensionalled them to the tops of the leaves to add more oomph. I also glittered the edges of the rose with a rose-colored iridescent glitter. Still not sure that was a good idea, but oh well. I used lots of Dimensionals to put the rose together, and the leaves have several Dimensionals stacked on top of each other to keep them in place.

Well, there it is. Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoy this card. I enjoyed making it (except for the glitter part!).

Stamps: SU Roses in Winter, SU All Year Cheer I, SU French Script, SU Canvas

CS: Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate (sponged with Rose Red and More Mustard), Black, White

Inks: Basic Black, Rose Red, More Mustard, Baroque Burgundy, Old Olive, Certainly Celery

Other: Cuttlebug "Traffic Jam" and "Swiss Dots" embossing folders, Nestabilities regular and scalloped ovals, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, 2-way glue, Rose-colored iridescent glitter, Sponges, Plaid ribbon, Polka dot ribbon