Winter Photo Card

I haven't blogged in a while, but it's not that I don't have any thing to show you!

Here is a fun card in the theme of WINTER.  I hope this holiday season has you

all warm & toasty crafting away in comfort.

I love using random old black & white photographs on cards.

This cute gal was all bundled up for the winter weather.

I added the snowflakes & sentiment with my Unity brand stamps.

The tape is Smash brand.

Patriotic Tags

I'm sure you are all geared up for the holiday.

In case you have extra time this weekend to

browse blogs for crafty ideas, here are a few
red, white & blue tags...

I used Tim Holtz white Distress paint to

make a resist image for the backgrounds. 

The Distress ink doesn't stick to it & you can see how

cool it looks!  He also has some great

washi tape that I used.  The  star &

Lady Liberty stamps were also his brand.

I hope you have a fun, safe holiday!

Maybe you can sneak a little craft time in
this weekend!

JUNE TAG

At the last minute I decided to join in on

Tim Holtz blog challenge.

He has a cool technique for the June tag of 2016.

I chose to use some kraft packing paper

that was in a recent package I received in the mail

instead of tissue paper.

I stamped dots with the Tiny Textures set.

Then I used a punch instead of

die cut machine.

To make my buck stand out clear,

I used black background paper.

The ticket stamps are from

At The Movies.

I stitched around the tag

and added the Simple Sayings

Life is Good.

A tiny scrap of book paper &

a little stitched on button

finished my project!

As always, Tim's tag is inspiring &

I love the way he made plaid for

the background.  No doubt I will use

this technique on some upcoming cards. 

It's a clever way to use a line stamp.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Texture Paste

I took my time getting on the 

texture paste bandwagon.

But I'm sure glad I did.

Why did I wait so long?

I watched some Youtube videos

to see how it works & 

couldn't resist the art examples

at my local scrapbooking store.

A tip they gave me was to spread

the paste with an old credit card.

I didn't even buy the little 

spreading knife.

This card will work great for graduation,

since I used our school colors.

This last one is my favorite.

Those raised white dots look

sharp on kraft color paper.

Almost all the stamps used here 

are Unity brand,

 "Congrats" is CTMH. 

Tulips & Daisies

I am anxious for some flowers to bloom.

It will be a while, here in Minnesota, 

before even the tulips start.

This set of stamps is new to me

and I am SO very glad I bought it.

Tulips & Daisies

These images will work well for

any card theme.  They look great with

some Stickles glitter glue.

The Bobunny brand dot paper 

works great for the backgrounds.

It's not an overwhelming pattern

and allows the image to stand out.

This pink card is my favorite.

These watering cans with flowers

just COULD NOT be any cuter!

Have a happy Easter.

Spring Jars

I'm back!

Sorry for the delay, but life has been crazy.

I'm back to my seasonal work & that is always 

a major adjustment.

This triple jar stamp from Unity

is just right for spring!

These make a basic, all occasion theme.

I often add the dragonflies for a bit of whimsy.

The butterflies look cute too,

with this very special sentiment.

Did you notice my "table" area?

I mask off a line & the cover the bottom

of the jars and spread distress ink.

Thanks for stopping by!

Retirement Cards

I always struggle make retirement theme cards.

I think it's because I lack a good supply of 

stamps with that theme!  One day I got the idea

to really get creative with the whole idea of 

what retirement actual means.

TIME TO FISH

I used some "photo real" water paper

and this Close To My Heart boat stamp.

Lets face it, you see a lot of retired fellas

out on the lakes on weekdays.

 VACATION & RVing

Here is another CTMH brand stamp

that just looked like a fun image

about having more spare time to 

do some activities like travel.

A few other ideas that I hope to 

try on future retirement cards are:

lawn chairs

garden gloves & trowels

beach theme

any fish stamp

birds (bird watching)

quilts & sewing