Merry Monday #218 & SAS4Kids

I know, it’s Thursday and in the middle of the day, but I finally got a card done and wanted to post it! 🙂   Maybe I can even make another card and have two cards this week!  I can always dream! lol

I have a card for Merry Monday the #218 challenge! 🙂  I will also submit it to the current challenge over at Send A Smile 4 Kids ! 🙂  Here is the challenge over at Merry Monday 🙂

I love plaid so I had fun making this card! 🙂  I used Wink of Stella on the roof and chimney for the snow, it looks really pretty 🙂  The card wouldn’t stay flat for me to take the photo, so it’s looks a little lopsided.  The circle is actually sized correctly.

The paper on the left is from Stampin’ Up!, Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper.  I also cut the little cottage out of another sheet of paper from the same series.  I used Stampin’ Up! Real Red, and Early Espresso card stock.  The plaid paper came from an Etsy store.

I used a Stampin’ Up! matching stamp set called Candy Cane Christmas for the sentiment and the little mint candies.  The current holiday catalog runs until Jan. 3, 2017, but may run short close to the end.  You can contact me to purchase Stampin’ Up! products 🙂

Do I have guest cards today?  Of course I do! 🙂  First up is Ann Williams of TX 🙂

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Thank you Ann for these wonderful Halloween cards! 🙂

Next is Nanci Simmons of FL 🙂

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Thank you Nanci, great non-scary cards for our kids! 🙂

Next up is Janelle Klapperich of SD 🙂

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Thank you Janelle for the Halloween and the great Fall cards as well ! 🙂

One more set of cards for today from Debbie Eassy of PA 🙂

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Thank you Debbie, wonderful cards for the kids to enjoy! 🙂

I’d like to thank all of my card donors, what awesome cards for all of our kids! 🙂  I’m pleased to see so many of you using Stampin’ Up! products! 🙂  It’s so much fun for me to see new examples of Stampin’ Up! cards! 🙂  I am so thankful to have all of you on “my” team! 🙂

Even if you don’t donate cards, I still appreciate you coming by and seeing all the wonderful examples of cards we have to share! 🙂

Be sure to stop by Merry Monday and our own challenge at SAS4Kids! 🙂  I still have some Halloween and Fall to share and then it will be on to Christmas! 🙂  I love Christmas cards, I think they’re my favorites……maybe 😉  lol  I actually love all handmade cards! 🙂

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you can come by again soon! 🙂

 

Merry Monday #197, Easter & SAS4Kids

This has been a horrible month for me! 😦  I had Strep Throat, a cold, and now a Sinus infection! 😦  I am not a happy camper:(

What cheers me up is to make cards, sort cards, box cards & send cards!  Actually, anything that involves cards makes me smile! 🙂  So I’m here to share some Easter cards with you! 🙂

First, my card, is for Merry Monday #197.

One of my card makers used this embossing folder by Darise, I loved it so much, I had to get it!  It folds up at the corners and looks like a photo frame:)  Here’s a side view:

For this card I used the Darise Embossing Folder, I think it’s actually called Photo Frame.I used Stampin’ Up! Real Red cardstock, White Glimmer Paper, and Wink of Stella clear glitter brush.  I used a digital image from BellasScrapsnClips on Etsy.  One more photo to show you the Wink of Stella:)

I put the Wink of Stella on all the snow, I think it looks really pretty! 🙂  Next I have some guests with Easter cards! 🙂  First up is Cyndie Reis of CA:)  Cyndie has sent in cards a couple of times now:)

Aren’t these cute!?  The colors, the papers the cutouts, all are so adorable! 🙂  Thank you so much Cyndie for finding us and sending cards in! 🙂

 

Holly Blaskie is a repeat sender from MI:)

Pretty colors and images, the kids will love these! 🙂

I love these papers and colors, so Springy! 🙂  I adore this little lamb from Stampin’ Up! so cute for Easter! 🙂  Thank you Holly, your cards are always wonderful! 🙂

 

Lastly I have Lee Mae Elkins of WA:)  Lee Mae has her own blog that you can visit here, http://boxesofdogs.blogspot.com/

Lee Mae has sent in a wide variety of cards and very few duplicates, where does she find the time?!

http://boxesofdogs.blogspot.com/

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Some really great cards for the boys, and the ones on the right, I think would be great for teens:)

http://boxesofdogs.blogspot.com/

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Simple layouts, but great papers and images make them special! 🙂

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More cute cards! 🙂

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These cards are adorable, love the papers and images!

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I love all of these cards!  The two on the left are so different from the rest! 🙂  The two on the right are also so stinkin’ cute!  Thank you Lee Mae for sending so many different cards, I know the kids will love all of them! 🙂

Well, I’m exhausted and ready for bed!  Maybe I’ll take a nap and get up again, who knows;)  Thanks so much for coming by today, I really appreciate your interest! 🙂  I’m hoping to get well at some point soon so I can get back to some kind of schedule.  I’m sorry if I’m not as cherry as usual:(

I’m wishing all of you a very Happy Easter, I hope you can enjoy it with people you love! 🙂

 

Merry Monday #191, Valentines, SAS4Kids

I think this is going to be a long post loaded with card photos today! 🙂  I’m starting this Sat. night, we’ll see if I get done before Sunday;) lol

First, I have the card I made for Merry Monday #191.  Actually, I made three, everyone kept coming by my desk and saying “try it this way”.  Good grandma that I am, I agreed:)  Here’s their challenge this week:)

 

The one on the left, is the one I wanted, until I made it and then the snow seemed too big:(  The one on the right, my younger granddaughter wanted with the bunny:)

This is the one my older granddaughter wanted me to make.  I really like her idea so this is the one I’m going to enter in the challenge:)  I used some digital images from three different artists on Etsy.  For the base, I used Stampin’ Up! Marina Mist:)

Now, because Sunday is Valentine’s Day, all of my guests have sent in Valentine’s for Send A Smile 4 Kids to share! 🙂  My first guest is Sandy Borsheim of MN.  Sandy has sent in cards a number of times:)

I think by now, everyone knows my fondness for cards that are the same, but different;)  Same images, different papers:)

My next guest has also sent cards a number of times, Brenda Zellner of WI:)

I don’t know where Brenda gets her images, but they’re very cute! 🙂

All of my guests today have sent in more cards than I’m showing!  I’m choosing samples from a number of card makers to make sure more of our Valentine’s get shown, before I start Easter:)

So we’re on to Deborah Caldwell of MI:)

All of the cute animals holding hearts are from Doodle Pantry, they’re from a set called With Heart.

Here’s another animal from With Heart, and the basket of hearts is from Spring Trimmings🙂

One last set from With Heart. Not only did Deborah send Valentine’s, she sent some misc. cards and some Easter that I’ll show soon:)

Cyndie Reis of CA is my next guest, she sent 5 cards, but they’re all great!  Here are the two Valentine’s she sent:)

These are so darn cute, I love them both! 🙂

My last guest for today is Lee Mae Elkins of WA:)  Lee Mae has only sent me cards a few times, but they’re always nice:)

I don’t know where Lee Mae gets her images either, but they sure are cute! 🙂

Lee Mae has cards for boys and girls:)

I hope you got a ton of ideas from all these wonderful cards! 🙂  Thank you ladies, all of you, for sharing your time and talents with our kids! 🙂  I appreciate every single one of my card makers!  It doesn’t mater to me if you send 5 cards or 100, you are an important part of what we do at SAS4Kids, thank you! 🙂

I want to thank everyone who’s stopped by to enjoy all of these wonderful cards! 🙂  I hope you come again!  I don’t have very many Easter cards yet, but I’ll be sharing what I do have and I have lots of misc. cards to share if I run out of Easter! 🙂

Stop by Merry Monday and the SAS4Kids challenge blog, lots more to see! 🙂

Merry Monday #187, Valentines & SAS4Kids

It is COLD where I am, and I made a Christmas card, but we’re also going to look at some Valentines today, so lets get started! 🙂

First, my card is for the Merry Monday Challenge #187. The theme this week is plaids:)

I love plaids! 🙂  I actually use them a lot, just not lately:(  So here’s what I made:

I made a card like this one a while back with a red Moose.  I liked it so much, I decided to use the green fox:)  Everything I used came from a digital store on Esty.  I actually took the image over to a photo program and made the plain green from one of the fox’s stripes.  Then I ran that plain green through my Cuttlebug using an embossing folder from Stampin’ Up! (retired).  I also used a sentiment from Stampin’ Up! on the top right.  It’s hard to see because it’s from Teeny, Tiny, Wishes;)  I wanted to keep the sentiment small to not disturb the scene:)

After embossing my paper, I rubbed it gently with a nail file to bring out the white.  Pretty easy:)  I plan to make a lot of the plaid animal cards for next Christmas!  I think they will be great for guys in my Send A Smile for Kids hospitals! 🙂  People tend to think of kids as small, and I understand that, but we also serve “kids” up to 18, sometimes 20.  Please keep them in mind when making cards! 🙂

 

Now for some extra fun today, I have a guest who has sent in cards many times! 🙂  She sends her cards down all the way from Canada, Diane Herniman:)  I always feel the need to tell people you don’t have to make cards like Diane’s!  Diane’s cards are unique:)  I’ve never seen anyone make cards like hers!  That doesn’t necessarily make her’s better than any of yours, just different:)  I appreciate all the different styles of my card makers and I know the kids do too! 🙂  So enjoy Diane’s cards, and don’t feel that I compare them to anyone elses:)

I, personally, have three hospitals.  One of my hospitals has asked for cards without embellishments.  Here is how Diane has chosen to address that problem:)  The first card on the left, is a copy of the second card!  She made the second card with lots of stickers made with foil and they stick up a bit.  She just copied it and now there is a card without embellishments;)  Great idea!

Here are the insides, the card on the left is “flat”, and the card on the right has a big foil sticker!  Both are great cards, and I’m sure whoever gets them will be happy! 🙂

Here are the backs of the cards.  If you’ve never seen Diane’s cards, she uses every available surface for the kids enjoyment.  The one on the left is the “plain” one and the one on the right has the same type of foil stickers:)  Great job Diane, I would never have thought of doing this! 🙂

How about this one?  Boy cards are so hard for me sometimes, Diane does a great job! 🙂

I’m always surprised when I get a box from Diane:)  She calls this a ordinary card:)

I’ve never seen this type of card before!  At the top is how it looks when you start to open it.  They how it looks closed, and finally when it’s open.  What a great, fun card! 🙂  I had to see more of these!

Cards for boys and girls, yay! 🙂  I think boys will find these just as much fun as girls! 🙂

I don’t like to pick favorites, because I love them all, but I have to say this one is my favorite! 🙂  Click on this map to enlarge it and see all the 3D items on here! 🙂  Amazing work Diane! 🙂  I don’t know how Diane thinks of these things!  I’d love to see the face of the boy that gets this one! 🙂

No pressure Diane, I don’t expect something this flashy all the time, but it’s fun to open these cards once in a while! 🙂  Thank you Diane for thinking overtime to come up with great ideas!  I could never do what you do!  I have them here in hand and I still couldn’t copy them if I tried!

 

I hope you all enjoyed Diane’s cards:)  As you might imagine, Diane doesn’t send a lot of these cards.  I still need you, all of the card makers on my team, to make and send cards.  Diane usually send 24-28 cards, and that’s great!  But, remember, I have three hospitals, over 300 kids!  I need you, and I appreciate everything you do for our kids!!! 🙂

I get excited every time I get a box of cards! 🙂  I can’t wait to open them and see what you’ve made! 🙂  Every card I receive is a special gift for a child! 🙂  Thank you for supporting our work with SAS4Kids! 🙂  Please be sure to take a look at our SAS4Kids challenge blog! 🙂

Thanks for coming by today! 🙂  I hope if you don’t send us cards, that you are finding some great inspiration here! 🙂  Please come back again for some more great cards! 🙂

 

 

Merry Monday #184, Freshly Made #217 & guests

I was sick, and down for a while, but now I’m better and playing catch-up! 🙂  I have lots to show you tonight, so lets get started! 🙂  First I have a card that I made and I will submit it to two different challenges.  Merry Monday #184 and Freshly Made #217.

Merry Monday’s theme is baking:

Freshly Made Sketches, has a sketch;)

My card stayed pretty much to the sketch, which is what I normally do;)

UPDATE:  My card has the honor of wining the Merry Monday #184 challenge! 🙂

For this card I used a digital image from Raspberry Road Designs, from the Christmas Cookies collection.  I also used one of the papers from the paper pack that goes with this collection.  I used Stampin’ Up! Real Red, and either Wild Wasabi or Pear Pizzazz for the words.  I cut the words with a die from Elizabeth Craft Designs, and the middle rectangle, I cut with Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangles.  I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop-up my sentiment:)

I’m pretty pleased that I was able to pull a card of any kind together in the last couple days, so I hope you like it:)

 

I have 5 guests today!  I will be showing only a few cards from each guest, and then I’m done showing Christmas cards for this year!  So hold on tight, here we go! 🙂

My first guest is Lee Mae Elkins:)  This is the second time Lee Mae has sent cards to me, personally, for my hospitals:)

Lee Mae sent a nice selection of cards:)  I have to admit, it was really hard to pick just a few from each guest.  I picked these because I thought they were all so much fun! 🙂  Kids love animals of just about any kind and dress them up for Christmas and it’s all the better! 🙂  Thank you Lee Mae for sending such wonderful cards for our kids! 🙂

 

Next is Kayla Ford from IL, not too far from where I live:)  Kayla is a repeat sender:)

All of Kayla’s cards are bright and cheerful, with lots of colors and patterns! 🙂  Kayla’s cards remind me of quilts:)  Thank you so much Kayla for thinking of our kids again to cheer them for Christmas! 🙂

 

My next guest has sent in a number of times before, Andrea La Vigne from TX:)  Andrea has her own blog that you can check out to see how she makes her cards:)  Pop over to see her blog Andrea’s Antics, here🙂

Aren’t these all cute! ?  Andrea does wonderful coloring and water coloring! 🙂 I know the Reindeer is from one of our sponsors at SAS4Kids, but I’m sorry, I don’t know which one:(  Maybe someone could fill us in on that?  I love how Andrea positioned him on her card! 🙂  Great cards Andrea, thank you for being a repeat sender, I know the kids love your cards! 🙂

 

Holly Blaskie from MI, is my next guest:)  Holly is also a repeat sender:)

Holly used some really cute cats this time, and some really pretty silver accents:)  The tall card next to the kitty has the silver, but it looks kind of black:(  Holly sent in 75 cards this time, it was hard to pick just 4!  Thank you Holly for your continued support of our kids, they will really love these cards! 🙂

 

My last Christmas cards for this year were sent in by Geri Dean and her sister Melanie Carruth of MN:)  Geri and her sister sent in an amazing 151 cards! 🙂  I know everyone can’t send in that many, and I assure you, every card counts toward a box for a hospital!  Don’t ever feel rushed or that you have to do as many as someone else!  I don’t care if you send 5 cards, you are making a difference in a child’s life! 🙂  Every card made and sent, is a happy smile in an envelope to a child! 🙂

Now aren’t these fun! 🙂  The first cards are made with Lawn Fawn, I have those little birds! 🙂  I’ve made some of these little penguins, and Geri has these wonderful horse stamps that she uses a lot:)  Here she’s added Christmas paper and a sentiment to really dress it up!

Ok, there were a lot of cards, I really had a hard time narrowing it down!  I love the soft, cute animals in the first set, and the last card is genius! 🙂  The tree card had the background paper and sentiment added, and then included is a set of stickers that a child can decorate themselves!  I’ve never seen this, what a great idea! 🙂  They can put on the tree and the little ornaments any way they want to, what fun! 🙂  I took off the paper clips and put the cards and stickers into a clear envelope along with a regular envelope.  Geri and Melanie always send in great cards, thank you ladies for working so hard to made Christmas a wonderful time of the year! 🙂

 

I want to thank every single card maker who spent time making cards to bring a smile to the faces of our kids here at Send A Smile 4 Kids! 🙂  Without all of you, we would not be able to do what we, the volunteers, do! 🙂  The world is a crazy place, I believe we, cardmakers and volunteers,  are doing an important job, that affects lots of kids all over the USA!  I am so proud to share your talents and pieces of art with our kids!:)

I thank you all for your help making Christmas brighter for so many! 🙂

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! 🙂  I hope to continue working with you through the next year! 🙂

 

Merry Monday #183 & SAS4Kids guests

I’ve been so busy sorting cards and packing boxes, I haven’t had time to make any cards myself!  All my boxes are now packed and waiting to be mailed.  I sent a number of boxes last week and the last ones go out tomorrow! 🙂  I’m so excited for the kids to get all their Christmas cards! 🙂

Meanwhile, I put together a card to enter in the challenge over at Merry Monday #183.

Here’s my entry:

I had a terrible time taking a photo that wasn’t blurry! 😦  The yellow paper has glitter on it and it played havoc with my camera lens! 😦  The little elf has glitter on it too!  I used lots of different supplies to make this card and they all came out of my stash.  Yes, I have a great stash of card making leftovers! 😉  Oh, and the circle candy cane mint is full of glitter too!

 

I have more guests today who have sent in Christmas cards for the kids with Send A Smile 4 Kids! 🙂 If you’re unfamiliar with SAS4Kids, just click our link to find out more! 🙂   My first guest today is Barbara Roe, from CA:)  This is the first time Barbara has sent cards to me personally for my hospitals, so welcome Barbara! 🙂

These are so cute, the stocking one reminds me of Halloween legs, too funny! 🙂

 

More cute overload! 🙂  The little boy on the sled would be good for just a Winter themed card:)  I love the puppy and the mouse, and how about that Santa?  Very nice cards for our kids! 🙂

 

These two are my favorites! 🙂  I’ve never seen anything like the turtle before, and I just love this reindeer with the ornaments on his antlers! 🙂  Thank you Barbara for all these wonderful cards, I know the kids will enjoy all of them! 🙂

 

Next I have Brenda Zellner from WI:)  Welcome Brenda, this is the first time for Brenda as well! 🙂 I get a lot of wonderful cards, I couldn’t  possibly show all of them, so I will only be showing some of them, but they’re all great! 🙂

Brenda has done some really great coloring! 🙂  These are all adorable! 🙂

How cute are these! ?  I love kitties for Christmas, or anytime really;) lol

Starting to see a theme? Ok, I really love kitties all the time! lol  I think all these kitties are from Newton’s Nook, but I won’t say that for sure;)

These are the best of all worlds…kitty, bear, and baby….how could you go wrong?  These are both adorable cards!  Brenda has really done a great job!  Thank you Brenda for sharing your cards and talent with all of our kids! 🙂

One more guest to squeeze in today:)  My last guest is a repeat sender from IN, Donna Wakefield:)  Donna has her own blog that you can visit, click here to go there:)

Donna has sent a wide variety of cards, but you all know how I love when you use the same papers, or images and make them look different! 🙂  So take a look at these penguins and trees!  The penguins are just adorable and these 2 cards look very different, both are great! 🙂  And how about the trees?  Same tree, two different ways with color! 🙂

Here are some similar papers and layouts, with totally different images!  I love all of these, but look at those cut kitties! 🙂  Nice coloring by Donna! 🙂

Ok, these cards are all different and unique in their own ways, but take a look at Yoda, is that not too funny! ?  Some kid is really going to get a laugh out of that one! 🙂

My last cards for tonight, and they are traditional colors:)  All great cards, totally different, wonderful colors and images! 🙂  Thank you Donna for always doing a great job for our kids here at Send A Smile 4 Kids! 🙂

 

Thanks for coming by today, I hope you enjoyed all the inspiration! 🙂  Also check out the cards on our challenge blog! 🙂  This week is Winter Fun For Kids! 🙂  I hope you see you all again soon! 🙂

 

 

 

Merry Monday #181 & Send A Smile 4 Kids

It’s been a busy week for me here!  The kids are off school for 5 days!  I’ve been busy filling my boxes to ship to my three hospitals!  It will be Christmas before you know it!  If only January and February would fly by so fast!;)  I haven’t had much time for making cards, but I looked at the Merry Monday #181 challenge and I had a card sitting on my desk that I hadn’t blogged yet, and it’s blue! 🙂

So here it is and I will be entering it over at Merry Monday #181🙂

A friend of mine sent me the tree branches and the blue trees (triangles).  I love the colors! 🙂  I used some Stampin’ Up! Marina Mist cardstock and ink.  The embossing folder is also Stampin’ Up! (retired).  I used some sequins from Stampin’ Up! that I got last Christmas, and a misc. stamp I had in my stash.  I love this card and I know just who I’m going to send it to, but it won’t be SAS4Kids, I have a personal use for this card;)

 

Now, I have some guest cards to share with you:)  These cards were all sent in to me to share with my hospitals for Send A Smile 4 Kids🙂  My first guest is a new sender for me, Lee Mae Elkins from the state of  WA 🙂

 

Look at these fun cards, I love the images, papers and layouts, simple but very effective! 🙂

 

More fun cards, and look at the beaver card!  It’s a great example of a Winter themed card, that’s not Christmas:)

 

It looks like Lee Mae has used Glossy Accents or something like it on quite a few of her cards.  A lot of her images are shiny and raised a little, very nice touch! 🙂

 

These dinos are so cute for Christmas!  I love the fox with it’s mug of, I’m sure, hot chocolate! 🙂  Thank you Lee Mae for sharing all of these wonderful cards with our kids at SAS4Kids! 🙂

 

My next guest has sent me many cards for my hospitals, Janelle Klapperich from SD:)  I had made a special request and Janelle came through for me! 🙂  I had asked for cards with no embellishments and these cards are perfect! 🙂

Janelle had put buttons on some of her cards and I asked if she would add paper buttons instead.  You can see some here on the snowman’s scarf:)  The second set is perfect as well, great for “not so young” kids and also flat! 🙂

Janelle had made some of these for me previously, using real buttons, and she replaced them with small black paper buttons:)  This is a Stampin’ Up! paper from last year.  When it came out, I wasn’t that fond of it, but Janelle has shown me a number of ways to make this paper really shine:)  I love both these cards, great for teens with lots of texture, but still flat! 🙂

Thank you Janelle for helping me out with my special request! 🙂  I have other senders who will also do special requests, I have wonderful cardmakers! 🙂

 

Thanks for coming by today! 🙂  I hope if you’re still making Christmas cards, you’ve gotten some ideas! 🙂  I hope you come by again soon for more inspiration! 🙂  Please go by and check out the SAS4Kids challenge blog, this week is Anything goes for Kids:)

 

Merry Monday #179 & SAS4Kids

I have a really short post today, I do have some more guest cards to share, but not a lot.  I still need more Christmas cards:)

For today, I have one card that I made myself, and I’m going to enter it in several different challenges:)  I will post a link to all of them, you can join the fun too! 🙂  First, I would like to enter into the challenge over at Merry Monday #179.  Here is their challenge:

Ok, I’m going to give you a minute to think about that;)  Pink, White & Green…..ready?

 

I got the idea for this card over a year ago, from, I believe, a DT member at Doodle Pantry.  Anyway, her name is Pat Dadisman.  She made a card with this Flamingo that looked different, but the idea is the same.  I’m going to make a separate list below with everything I used on this card, because the list is kind of long.  The main image, the Flamingo is from Doodle Pantry, and is actually called, Fancy Flamingo.  You can click on the image name and the link will take you to see this image and the card made by Pat:)

I will also enter this at the Send A Smile 4 Kids challenge, and over at Doodle Pantry where they have the ANTS IN MY PANTRY DIGITAL CHALLENGE 11.  Doodle Pantry is one of the sponsors of the current challenge at SAS4Kids.

Thanks for stopping by today! 🙂  I will put my supply list below my name, let me know if you have any questions! 🙂  I hope to see you again soon with more Christmas inspiration! 🙂

 

Supply List

TACtile Studio-Background pink snowflake paper-Fair-Isle

Doodle Pantry-Main image- Fancy Flamingo   Hat for flamingo-Santa Accessories

Lawn Fawn-gifts-Toboggan Together

Holly Peel-Offs-Sorry, I can’t remember

Stampin’ Up!

Solid background paper- 2013-2015 In Color-Strawberry Slush

Joy sentiment-Perfect Ending stamp set (retired)

1 inch circle punch

7/8 scallop punch

Wild Wasabi cardstock for sentiment background (retired)

Blendabilities -(discontinued)–Wild Wasabi for gifts

 

Merry Monday #178 & Send A Smile 4 Kids

Sorry I’ve only had one post this week:(  I didn’t really see any challenges that I wanted to do, and Christmas cards are trickling in:(  Today, I finally got my act together and made a card for Merry Monday #178🙂

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, this challenge seems like it would be so easy, but I just couldn’t think of anything to do:(  Today I had an idea, I think my problem is, I keep thinking of my hospital that requested no embellishments.  I look at the other entries and examples and see ribbon, and gems and sequins, and I can’t use any of that.  So, I had an idea for a flat card, I hope you like it:)

I made this card with Peel Offs.  If you’ve never seen them, they are sticker outlines.  A lot of people put them on other papers and then cut them out.  Or, I’ve seen them on white cardstock that’s been colored or painted.  I put my Peel Offs straight on Stampin’ Up! Real Red and backed it with Stampin’ Up! Champagne Glimmer Paper.  The base cardstock is also Real Red, and I mounted the whole thing on top of a sturdy white card base:)  It looks more elegant in hand than in the photo. I’m pleased with it and I hope one of the kids will like it or like it enough to share with their parents:)

 

Now for some guests that have sent in Christmas already! 🙂  I actually show them in the order they were received.  I keep a big log book with the names of my card senders, the date they sent in cards, how many, and I take a photo of as many cards as I can fit in one photo, to keep track of who sends what for Send A Smile 4 Kids🙂  First guest today will be Nanci Simmons of FL.  Nanci has sent cards before and actually has another entry already in my log book! 🙂  Here are some of her cards from the 10/21 box:)

Nanci sent multiples of  each of these cards, that are all a little bit different:)

 

Can you see the ribbon?  Nancy makes a lot of these type cards with shapes and ribbons:)  I love them, and I’m sure the kids do too! 🙂  Thank you Nanci! 🙂  I will be showing more of Nanci’s cards in a future post:)

 

Next I have Vicki Luebke of IN.  Vicki has also sent cards before for the kids! 🙂  Vicki sent in some Fall cards and these great Christmas cards!

You might be thinking my camera is not showing the right color.  But it’s right, this is a different kind of color for Christmas, but it’s actually really pretty.  I love all of these cards, great images and layouts! 🙂

This is a great card, and I asked, I can send this type of card to my “no embellishment” hospital:)  Nice image and papers by Stampin’ Up!

Here are some nice cards with images from Fred She Said.  I love when you can show the same image with two different layouts! 🙂  Thank you Vicki! 🙂

 

One last guest today, Sandy Borsheim from MN:)  Sandy has only sent cards to me personally once before, but I believe she has sent to SAS4Kids before:)

These are great cards that I can send to one of my hospitals that is the only  hospital SAS4Kids serves that accepts religious cards.  I love all of these! 🙂

It’s amazing to me that I can get so many cards, and they are all so different! 🙂

A lot of Sandy’s cards are flat so I will be able to use some of them for my “no embellishment” hospital:)

Sandy has also sent multiples of some of her cards:)  Thank you Sandy for the get selection! 🙂

 

A big thank you to all of my cardmakers and everyone who takes the time to send in cards for the kids at Send A Smile 4 Kids!!  Check out the SAS4Kids challenge blog page, this week starts Happy Holidays 4 Kids!  You have two weeks to make and submit a card for this challenge.  If you like, send the cards to our volunteers to share with our kids! 🙂

 

Thank you all for stopping by today! 🙂  I’m thankful for your interest! 🙂  Hope to see you again soon! 🙂

 

 

 

Merry Monday #176, Freshly Made #209, and a tribute to a cardmaker

I have a lot to share with you tonight!  Two cards and then a tribute to a fellow cardmaker with lots of card photos!   First, I have a need for some very simple cards to send on behalf of Send A Smile 4 Kids.  I’ve made two to share with you tonight, the first one if for Merry Monday #176. I know if you go to their page, the title is very confusing, because this is #176, but the page says #175.  I know it’s #176 because I entered #175 last week;)

I found this challenge, well, a challenge.  I was over thinking what I wanted to do.  I keep thinking I should add more, but that would defeat my purpose of a simple card.  Did I mention I was asked to make cards with no embellishments?

For this card, I cut some of the new Red Foil paper from Stampin’ Up!  I cut the paper A2 size and then used a die to cut out the center, creating a frame for the rest of the card.  Now here is where you might be confused.  The image is a pre colored digital image.  Actually, everything, including the black “chalkboard” are all digital images.

I printed the “chalkboard” with a white border around it, then added my “frame”.  The black is actually much blacker in hand, not so white and the colors pop more than I was able to get in my photo:(  But, you can see the shimmer on the left side of my foil paper;)

Yep, here’s where I got my inspiration;)

But I made two cards! 🙂  This card will be entered into the challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches #209. This is what I did with the center of my “frame”.  The same info applies to this card, all digital! 😉  Now if you’ve never made a digital card, please don’t think it’s an easy way out!  Even with this simple design, I had tons of problems! 😦  I tried to print both on one piece of paper, but the program said I had used too much memory, so I deleted one whole card!  Still wouldn’t print, and it wouldn’t save either!!  I had to close the program and start all over!  How frustrating!  Then it would only let me do one card image, so I had to print one, and then flip the paper over and print again!

I don’t give up that easily!  It did let me save the last one so I can make more if I would like to:)  Maybe with added snowflakes, but I’ll have to stamp them because the program wouldn’t let me do that either! Modern conveniences to help make our lives easier, right?! lol

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This next section is my tribute to the mother of one of my friends and fellow cardmakers.  My friend, Jill Blasche, who has sent many cards for SAS4Kids, sent in a large box which included a good number of cards from her mother, Helen Matrisciani.  I emailed Jill when the cards arrived and she told me her mother had a fall and was in the hospital:(

I kept in touch with Jill over the next few days, and her mother had come home and seemed to be getting better.  Then I didn’t hear anything for a few days, and I was worried.  I sent a message to Jill and found out her mother had passed:(  I don’t know all the details and it doesn’t really matter. Someone I cared about had lost her mother, I was so incredibly sad! 😦  It’s difficult to know what to say or do:(  How do you help?  All I could do was pray for my friend and her family.

I lost my mother only a year and a half ago, I understand how hard it is! 😦  Jill lived very near her mother, they did lots of things together!  Jill wanted me to express how much she treasured her time doing things with her mother! They loved making cards together and would share ideas back and forth.  Jill said that her mother gave her her love of art and crafts:) Jill said her mother was a very giving person, and I believe it! Helen was 93 years young when she passed.  I believe she will be missed by many, and remembered with love!

Looking at Helen’s cards, I can see where Jill gets her talent for using the same images or paper and making the cards very different!  The paper on the ghost card is the same as the skeleton only turned sideways.  And look at the two skeletons, both are very different cards using a very similar image.  Jill was a little embarrassed that I had said she uses the same paper, but actually, I am very impressed!  It’s a talent to use the same images or papers and make your cards look different!

Another example, lots of similar images, but different papers and layouts! 🙂

Not too scary:)

 

Aren’t these fun?!  Helen truly sent cards for all ages! 🙂

I love these Halloween pumpkins, lots of color!

These are the last four cards I’m sharing.  Helen sent in an incredible 78 cards! 🙂  I love this orange hats floating in the air and the cards on the right are bright and shiny with lots of glitter glue that won’t come off! 🙂  What an amazing group of cards and they have already been shipped out to my hospitals, I know they will be loved by our kids!

It’s truly not what we take with us, it’s what we leave behind.  Loving children with handed down gifts and memories to last forever! 🙂

Hugs and prayers, Jill!