New card kit challenge

I have a lot of friends and family with birthdays in August so I needed a lot of birthday cards and didn't have a whole lot of time to make them. How did I solve my dilemma? Go to my card kit stash! I didn't want to make the same card because the kit was from my Blossom Builders one sheet wonder class. So I did what I normally do, rework the card kit. This time I created a new challenge for myself. I had 2 of the same card kit so I had the idea to make 2 very different cards with the same card kit. For the first card I used Toodles stamp set. I colored the bear with prisma colors and odorless mineral spirits. The stamp on the green cardstock is from Butterfly Bits and stamped with Giverny Green Palette ink. The sentiment is from Tag Tidbits stamped with Violete Palette ink.

For the second card I used Robot stamp set. I colored it with prisma colors and odorless mineral spirits (I guess I should find another way to color!) The green and red cardstock are versamarked with Circle Sampler. I'm really pleased how the two cards turned out and I think they look really different from each other. They are very different from the original card too!

Penelope Scrapbook Pages

My aunt is celebrating her 50th year of being a nun this year and is having all the family down over Columbus Day weekend to help her celebrate. We won't be able to go because my sister-in-law is getting married! My mom had the idea to make a scrapbook for my aunt and asked each member of our family to put a picture on a scrapbook page and write a note. My mom and I decided to use Penelope pattern cardstock and the coordinating cardstock. We had to make 30 pages (I have a large extended family!). As the babies were napping, I had fun creating simple layouts to send out to my family members. I was able to get 5 done in about an hour and a half so it didn't take me too long to get them done! My mom came over and worked on them too. I love how the pages turned out and I can't wait to see them with pictures on them! I had never done a whole scrapbook just with a Soar With It Collection and it's cardstock but I have to say it is a very easy and inexpensive way to get your scrapbook to look coordinated. I also just used brown ink on the pages and 1 swirl from Swirls and Curls. I wanted to show how great a scrapbook can look with limited supplies! All you would need to purchase is a Soar With It Collection, the coordinating cardstock, 1 stamp set and 1 color ink. Here are some of the pages that I did of my aunt plus the page for my family.

Robot Birthday Card

I tried to post this the other day but the babies had something else in mind! I've been making some cards here and there but only when I have a specific occasion! My father in law's birthday was two days ago so I needed a masculine birthday card which I don't generally keep around! I bought the Robots stamp set a while ago and it has sat uncut in my craft area. I can't imagine what has kept me from it! LOL So I decided I must use it. Here's the card:

I colored the robot with prisma colors and odorless mineral spirits. I used Palette Orangiere ink to stamp Running Stitches around the robot and to ink the edges of the white cardstock. I also used the ink to stamp Distressed Designs, a retired TAC stamp set, on the orange cardstock. I wanted to use Kaleidoscope Boyz paper so all my color choices came from the paper! I found some blue paper in my scraps that I had crimped. I don't have a paper crimper (at least I don't think I do) so I must have crimped it at my upline's house and then saved it! I stamped the sentiment, colored the boxes, added a brad and adhered it to the card. All of the layers are popped up with foam tape and the heart on the robot's chest is also popped up with foam tape. It's a busier card that I've been making lately but I like it! Oh I almost forgot to tell you about the corners of the green cardstock! I have tool that can punch holes, set eyelets, cut out circle notches and do ribbon slits. I used one of the ribbon slit pieces and punched at each corner so I could slip the white cardstock into the green paper. How cool!

Another reworking of a card kit

One of my good friend just had twins and I wanted to send her a congratulations card. I never know how much time I am going to have to make cards because the babies' nap times vary. So I grabbed a card kit to rework it to make a new card. I just love doing this. I am actually almost running out of old card kits! Here is what the original card looks like (I actually used it for the same friend's card party a couple years ago).

Here is the new card.

I used Twins stamp set and Double Trouble stamp set from TAC both of which just retired! I colored the image with prisma colors and used a gray marker to give shadows to parts of the image. The background on the red cardstock is Curls and Swirls. The background on the buff cardstock is Crackle background which was retired a while ago. I stamped Running Stitches around the image and distressed the edges of the white cardstock. I added some ribbon in the corners and a paper posey. I haven't sent the card yet but I don't think my friend will be looking at my blog, she'll be too busy with something else!

Here's an updated picture of my babies who are over 5 months old already!

Birthday Card

Here's a card that I was able to make today while the babies were out with their daddy. My mom's birthday is tomorrow so I wanted to make her a nice card. I started with Build-a-Flower stamp set and used 4 colors of Versamagic ink: Purple Hydrangea, Pink Petunia, Pumpkin Spice and Tea Leaves. It was a different color palette for me but I was in the mood for something different! I then used Script Background and Haystack Palette ink and stamped over the flowers. I realized after I had glued the white paper on that I glued it on upside down! Oh well, you can't really tell. On the terra cotta card, I stamped Swirls and Curls using Palette Cognac ink and distressed the edges of the cardstock with the Cognac ink as well. I laid acetate over the card and used crystal lacquer and prisma glitter to make the flowers fancier. To attach the acetate to the card, I just tied a ribbon around it. The sentiment is from Celebration Time. I glued it on the acetate rather than on the cardstock. Now I need to make another birthday card by Thursday. Hopefully the babies will cooperate and take nice naps tomorrow!

Return to card making

I have been able to stamp a little bit now. My babies have been going to bed a little earlier so sometimes I take that short amount of time before I need to go to bed to stamp. Here's a card I made for my cousin who had a little boy over a month ago. Better late than never for sending a card, right?

I used Swirly Gigs in the background, Running Stitches around the image and Ordinary Greetings for the sentiment. I took "welcome" from one stamp and "baby" from another. I colored the image using magic pencil. I used my edge distresser on the bottom and burnt umber ink around the edges. The paper is Reece Soar With It Collection. The teddy bear came from a limited time offer stamp set whose name escapes me at the moment.

Here is an updated picture of my twins who are 4 months old now. Natalie is on the left. Noah is on the right.

Updated babies

Natalie and Noah

Noah

Natalie

Here are more pictures of my babies from Easter. They are now over 2 months old and I still don't have any time to stamp. I've made 2 cards in 2 months! Oh well, I know eventually I'll get some time to myself once the babies start sleeping regularly during the day in their cribs. I have to go back to work in about 2.5 weeks so things will be hectic until summer vacation starts.