Turtle Carver

I think it was Sunday night when I was suddenly attacked with a massive headache. My sure fire remedy for headaches is relaxing.  I don't mean laying in the bed in a dark room relaxing. I color to relax. I know, surprising, right? I went to the computer and printed a sheet of images from a recent digital purchase. (from Hambo)  This cute little turtle sculpting a gigantic heart was the perfect choice to start my coloring, and make me feel like I was accomplishing something ahead of schedule.    I have a coloring tip for you.  This is for coloring any image not just for the manly ones, although I know we are talking about manly images this week.


Even when I'm coloring for therapy, in a card maker's world, there is a possibility that the image will someday grow up to be a card, right? So the smart thing to do-- and yes I learned this the hard way--  is to coordinate your coloring with  paper or card stock that you have on hand.  For me, the easiest thing to do is to grab a paper pad( this one is Basic Grey's Marrakech)  and take it with me to my coloring space.  In general, paper pads like this not only have several prints, but also solid colors.  And speaking from experience, there is nothing worse that completing a coloring masterpiece and then deciding to make a card only to realize that of the 279 different shades of blue card stock you currently have in your craft room, none of them will match your colored image. LOL. Now, that's another free tip I'm giving away. OK ??

So here is my manly Valentine's Day/Love card.  I'm not sure this is manly enough, but Valentine's Day isn't typically a manly holiday is it?


Today, I celebrated 'Jacki Day'.  For the most part, I did what Jacki wanted to do... for the most part. It's been a long while since I had a day like that, and guess what I chose to do? Exercise! Yes, I'm a maniac.  I went to a class in the morning, and walked 3 miles ( or so) in the afternoon. I spent the rest of the day on the phone catching up with a couple of friends.
My daughter was in NYC with her music department until tonight so there was also a trip to the airport tonight.  For some strange reason, I'm still up, but I'm about to change that. : )  I will take pictures on Wednesday of the prizes I have put aside.  I'll add them to the next manly post.


Be blessed tonight and if you don't mind, say a prayer for my grandmother.  She fell today and broke some bones and is going to need surgery tomorrow. She's 98.

Happy Valentine's Day

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Just popping in to show you one of the cards I actually finished this week. I've been coloring up a storm so I have lots of images to make cards with, but this one had to get done by today... and of course I finished it just before midnight last night. LOL...
My husband and I have celebrated 26 Valentine's days and it's never been a dull moment. :) It gets better each year.

The stamps are GinaK's and the paper is Basic Grey Boxer.

To make this accordion type card, I started with a long piece of cardstock. It is 24 inches long by 5 1/2 inches. I purchased at Marco Paper at a convention. I only used around 14-15 inches for this one. I did another one using exactly 12 inches so that if you wanted to try it, you would use paper in a size that is readily available. I'm still working on the card but here are the measurements for that one--
The largest panel is 4 1/4 (to fit a standard invitation envelope). The next two panels are 3 inches each and the last one is 1 3/4.



My heart is heavy. Some friends lost their 19 year old in a car accident yesterday. I cannot imagine... Hug your kids-- especially those teenagers.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18.

The Last Valentine...

None of the others seemed right for my husband. So I made one that is plain and simple outside, but has a sweet note inside.

Stamps: Candy Box (Anita's), Words (Stampin Up)
Ink: Basic Brown (SU)
Cardstock: Old Olive and Chocolate Chip(SU),Linen textured white

Cranberry Crisp and Chocolate Chip

I think this is the last of that color scheme for a while because I'm down to a quarter sheet of Cranberry Crisp. Click here to see the other cards with this color combination.

Finished Card size:4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Background (Cornish Heritage Farms) Birdy Basket (SU)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black(Tsukineko), Cranberry Crisp (SU)
Other: Ticket Corner Punch (SU), Ribbon (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Colored with Prismacolor Pencils

Here is another "Love is Kind" Card.

Finished Card size:4.25" x 5.5"

Stamps: Love is Kind (Stampabilities) Swirl ( SU)

Ink: Basic Brown, (SU)

Other: Cloud Paper Edgers ( Fiskars), Ribbon (Martha Stewart Crafts

On a Personal Note: I got an email of concern from one of my online friends. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to post a prayer request and then disappear for a couple of days. We put the "b" in busy this weekend. Other than that, I'm fine. My condition is ongoing. I really need to be on medication, but I'm rebellious and I hate side effects so I avoid it until I can't deny that I need it or something. I know once I find a good dermatologist, they will put me on a course of Prednisone. The problem with the Prednisone is it really does alter my personality a little. I'm a little more aggressive and cranky. The last time I was on it I made these wild cards. On the other hand, I may get a lot of organizing done while I'm on it. I want to get the skin thing under control before the surgery. So much to do...

I'm hoping for a sunny morning so that I can take pictures of the mail boxes I made. One of them is very cupcake-y.

February Classes At Michaels

Remember this card? I was playing around with the stamps from the $1 bin at Michaels that I have at home. When I went into actually make my samples neither of those stamps were available. I . And here is what I managed to come up with what was available at Michaels.



We only have corner rounder and no other corner punches in the classroom so I used a scallop paper edgers (scissor) to clip off the corners. I was really amazed that most of the $1 Valentine's Day stamps are GONE. I should have pulled them for the classroom when I bought them for myself. Doesn't matter I guess, because I would have had to have them available for the students. They get mad at me if they can't go and buy the stuff we used in class. I chose these colors, but they are welcome to choose whatever color scheme they want. I'm also going to show them how to use the CuttleBug and embossing folders. (This is Cheaper by the Dozen class so they will make 12 cards. I'll have other sentiment stamps available in case they don't want 12 that say "I do love you")

For this card we will use gate-fold card blanks. I'm teaching embossing (with embossing powder and a heat tool). Again, they get to choose whatever papers they want. I was thinking for this card, that if I don't add a Valentine's Day sentiment, it can be used as an anniversary or wedding card. What do you think?

Love Cards 2008

I can't believe I'm almost finished with my Valentine's Day cards. Will I actually mail them as I intend to??? We'll soon see...

Here is my love 2008 collection. I guess you can tell that I'm stuck on this color scheme now. I'm working on cleaning off my desk so I think I'm at the end, but I have a couple more cards to show you before I get sick of it.

"A Friend Loves" Cards
Finished Card size: 5.5"x 4.25"
Stamps: Background Hearts 1 and 2 (The Angel Company), Heart with Swirls (Studio G), Bible Verse(My Sentiments Exactly)
Ink: Basic Brown, Cranberry Crisp (SU)
Other: Scalloped Heart Punch and Ribbon (Martha Stewart Crafts),Heart Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, clear dimensional glue, glitter




"Love is Kind" Cards
Finished Card size:4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Heart with Swirls (Studio G), Love is Kind (Stampabilities)
Ink: Basic Brown, Cranberry Crisp (SU)
Other: Scalloped Heart Punch and Ribbon (Martha Stewart Crafts),Paper Edgers Corkscrew, clear dimensional glue, glitter

Here's another tip to lessen the waste and weight of your cards. I always have 1/4 in strips left over from cutting my background cardstock. Sometimes I use them instead of using a full piece of cardstock to create the look of a mat as I did on this last card.




We have a snow day here (nothing sticking). I have new stamps from SU and Cornish Heritage Farms, so I'm going to play. I just might be back with more cards today.

Michaels Classes for December and January

Today was Class Preview Day again at Michaels. In case you don't know what that is, we sit at tables with samples of our projects and talk to people about our classes attempting to generate interest and get sign ups. Last time we gave out a discounted coupon if they signed up that day. While we sit we are supposed to do/make something. I intended to color my sample coloring class book, but instead I worked on the cards for my December and January Card Club. I'm trying to add to their stamping skills each month.

December Card Club. I'm going to emboss and use the Big Kick die cutter. The cards are Beyond Postmarks Tennyson from K&CO. Their will choose the paper and the saying. Michaels doesn't have much of a selection of Christmas papers right now.


January Card Club
I'm not finished with this card yet, but I think we might emboss again, and I'm not sure what else I'm going to do but I have a couple of weeks to figure it out. All I know so far is that I want to use these cards. They will get to choose their papers, but for my sample I used papers from My Mind's Eye's Bohemian collection. The cards are Beyond Postmarks Keats from K&CO.


I'm also teaching the Paper Purses again in December and January. I'm going to do a different paper crafts project in February.


The papers and embellishments of the two above purses are from the Martha Stewart collection.