Smile! You're 70!

I have a lot of cousins on my dad's side of the family, and this month the eldest is celebrating his 70th birthday!  Good thing he's a big kid at heart and isn't bothered by this fact at all.  (I, however, feel the need to point out that I am *A LOT* younger than he is.)

My cousin collects toy cars and trucks, so I made him a card using this old truck from Oxford Impressions.  I also was able to use some patterned paper scraps from a previous card.  I heat embossed the truck in black then colored it with pencils and distress inks.  The fence was adhered with foam tape for dimension (and to hide an oops).

I hope you're having a fun day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Espresso cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Cosmo Cricket; truck stamp from Oxford Impressions; Versamark ink; black embossing powder; Prismacolor Premier pencils; scattered straw and gathered twigs distress inks; Martha Stewart border punch; smile die cut by Little Yellow Bicycle; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; foam tape.

Farm Boy Sympathy

I made this card to send to some childhood friends whose father recently passed.  Their dad farmed most of his life so I wanted to use these stamps from Oxford Impressions.

The tractor was stamped on a patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket before being die cut.  I stamped the little boy and the bucket on vanilla cardstock, colored them with Prismacolor Premier pencils and trimmed them closely.  The picket fence was cut from another piece of patterned paper and border punched.  The fence and the little boy were adhered with pop dots to make them stand out against the background.  The papers on this card are actually brighter than this picture would have you believe; I had a difficult time getting a decent photo due to lighting issues.

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a grand day.

Supplies:
Espresso cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Cosmo Cricket; stamps from Oxford Impressions; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; grand circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders; gathered twigs distress ink; Martha Stewart border punch; pop-dots.

Adventure is Worthwhile

Hello All!  Sorry for the long absence.  I haven't had much time for creative pursuits this month due to obligations on the home and work fronts.  Now that things have settled down a bit, I'm trying to get my artistic mojo back on track.  I started by creating this card for a male colleague who is retiring.

I selected the focal image by Artistic Outpost and some patterned papers by Cosmo Cricket that I bought at Tuesday Morning a while ago.  (Tuesday Morning is a great place to find name-brand craft supplies at rock bottom prices!)  I decided the papers were a little bright so I worked my magic on them and ended up with this very vintage-looking design.  Since it's unclear exactly what my colleague plans to do after he leaves our organization, I think the adventure theme is appropriate.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fabulous day!

Supplies:
Gray cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Cosmo Cricket; vintage book text; stamped images from Artistic Outpost; titanium white acrylic paint; gathered twigs and black soot distress ink; Ranger Archival black ink; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; Derwent peat charcoal pencil; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; crackle background stamp (unknown); oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; foam tape.

She Makes Her Own Way

I created this birthday card for a good friend who definitely makes her own way.

I combined some favorite old patterned papers (Cosmo Cricket Souvenir Collection) with images from Artistic Outpost.  The focal image was stamped once on patterned paper, then again on vanilla cardstock.  The image on vanilla was colored with pencils, trimmed closely, and adhered to the patterned paper.   (But first, I used an Xacto knife to cut a slit around the lace in the bottom right corner, so that my cowgirl could be tucked down behind it).  The banner was stamped on three papers and "hung" with thin twine.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Brown cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla and kraft cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by Cosmo Cricket; stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; charcoal pencils; frayed burlap distress ink; thin natural twine; antique copper brads; black pop-dots.

Tropical Thank You

Since Independence Day fell in the middle of the week this year, a lot of people stayed close to home for the holiday.  So some friends of mine threw a party the night of July 3 and had a chicken wings contest.  Twelve people took up the challenge and we had a lively but friendly competition (although some people cried "FOWL!" (tee hee), when it was revealed that the winning wings were made with a bottled sauce.  I see a rematch in the future.

The hostess was born in The Bahamas and loves bright, tropical colors, so I took a cue from this old patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket for my thank you card.  For embellishments I layered a paper flower (cut in half) and topped it with some miniature seashells.  I'll have to pad this card well and pay extra postage to make sure it arrives safely, but I really don't mind.

Have a great day!  Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:
Dark pink and blue cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket; sentiment from Stampin' Up; Memento tuxedo black ink; Nestabilities by Spellbinders; Prima flower; seashells from Michaels.

Farm Fresh Greetings

I created this card for a friend's husband who recently suffered a mild stroke.  He grew up on a farm, so I think he will appreciate these country-inspired images by Oxford Impressions.

I used scattered straw distress ink to tone down the white of the baker's twine.  I like how the twine, in combination with the Grade B image, resembles a farm windmill.  That was just a happy accident.

I hope you have a great Monday!

Supplies:
Brown cardstock by Bazzill; patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket; stamped images from Oxford Impressions; black Stazon ink; vintage photo and scattered straw distress ink; We R Memory Keepers baker's twine; pop-dots.

Happy Mother's Day

My mom grew up on a farm and has always enjoyed being outside. She even drove tractor for her dad when she became old enough.

This is a photo of her in the mid-1950s, sitting on the stone fireplace that Grampa built in their yard on the farm.

I hope you had a wonderful day. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms!

Supplies:
Stamp: Oxford Impressions; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up!; goldenrod cardstock by Bazzill; decorative paper by Cosmo Cricket; off-white canvas from the fabric store; Nestabilities; Janome Sew Mini; buttons from my stash.

Your Future is Bright

I don't put much stock in horoscopes, tarot cards, or palm-reading, but sometimes it's fun to imagine that we can predict the future through such means.

This is another scrap card that began with some funky Cosmo Cricket papers that I thought would work well with these Artistic Outpost images (even though most of the green polka dot paper that inspired the color combination got covered up).

We're having a gorgeous spring day. I'm going to run some errands after dinner so I can enjoy the warm temperatures and bright sunshine.

Supplies:
Stamps: Artistic Outpost; Cosmo Cricket patterned papers; Stampin' Up kraft and old olive cardstocks; Bazzill brown cardstock; Archival jet black ink; walnut stain distress ink; Dew Drops; Martha Stewart border punch; ribbon from Michaels; pop-dots.