PIF Christmas Gift Bag and Card

Although Thanksgiving was yesterday, I want to let someone special know that I am thankful for her friendship and thoughtfulness; she is Monica from Sweden. This precious gift arrived just in time for Christmas; it was promised as a PIF (pay it forward) gift a few months ago. The card looks like it's 3-D because of the background and the texture of the paper, but it isn't. I can imagine myself walking through the snow covered ground at Christmas time, can't you? You can check out more of Monica's artistic talent on her blog. I feel blessed knowing some wonderful new friends who live in Sweden; hopefully we can meet one day while Efraim and I are in Europe this summer. Thank you, Monica, for the bag that will come handy for keeping things organized and for the first Christmas card received this season! As soon as Efraim and I get settled into our new home, I'll get to work on a PIF gift for someone special.

Gigi

A Beautiful Birthday Gift

This birthday gift (chipboard FAMILY spelled out album) was made by a very sweet and caring friend, Naoma, who lives in Texas, which is so far from northern Virginia. The day it arrived in the mail, I had spent some time that particular morning thinking of my family in Texas, especially the grandsons, who are growing by leaps and bounds. I even became teary-eyed because I was missing everyone so much. When I opened up the package, containing this beautiful album, I immediately began to cry because it touched my heart tremendously and because I know how much time and effort goes into making something by hand. This gift is probably one of the most treasured and thoughtful ones I've ever received and will always remember how much it means. Another thoughtful touch was using some of my favorite design paper, Lime Rickey; I love BRIGHT colors and Naoma remembered. I amazed at how well she cut out and adhered paper to the chipboard letters; I can't make a chipboard piece look anywhere as nice as she does. Each page contains pictures of my family in Texas; the first page has a picture of my grandson, Jackson, and me; isn't he a cutie patootie? Thanks, Naoma, for making this birthday so special; you really know how to touch a sister paper crafter's heart!

Gigi

Recycled Christmas Cards

These two card images were sent last year to hubby and me for Christmas; I kept them because they're really cute and because I could see using them again :-) The santa and background paper are from the original card; everything else is new. I added some glitter to the white beard and fur for some bling ;-) The snowman is adhered to a foil background and Stickles were added to the ribbons on the packages. I plan to send them back to the friends who mailed them; wonder if they'll recognize their cute cards this year :-) There are some other cards I want to use, but since we're in the process of packing for a move, I have to start putting paper craft supplies away...waaaaaaah, I don't want to stop crafting :-)

Thanks for stopping by today!
Gigi

Friday Sketchers Challenge #78

The Magnolia Christmas stamps haven't arrived yet, but I still wanted to participate in a sketch challenge this week, so here is an image from Michael's $1 bin :-) Hopefully I'll receive the stamps in time to make a few holiday cards and get them into the mail; there quite a few family and friends who love receiving Tilda cards.

Recipe:
Stamps: Michael's $1
Paper: Pure Poppy, Select White (Papertrey Ink); holiday dp (Me & My Big Ideas)
Ink: Red pigment ink (Colorbox); Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Square scallop die and Poinsettia dies (Spellbinders); grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink); buttons (Papertrey Ink); Utee embossing powder (Suze Weinberg); lace; sheer ribbon; rhinestones,

Papertrey Holiday Button Bits and Rustic Snowflakes Paper

This group of cards uses Papertrey Holiday Button Bits. Holiday Wishes and/or Rustic Snowflakes holiday paper; there is one SU! sentiment included :-) I have really had a lot of fun using Papertrey's Button Bits stamp collection; I really have fun applying buttons on cards, so these are perfect for what I enjoy doing :-)

Some special notes: The little gingerbread men were stamped with a glue pad and Martha Stewart's brown flocking powder was applied for that "real cookie" look. To seal them, simply spray a sealer of some sort; otherwise, the powder will disappear when it's touched. I tried to find instructions on how to keep the powder from sticking; there are several products you can buy and try on the market, including something from SU! The Santa Claus image was stamped with dye ink first and then UTEE embossing clear powder was added to give that glassy appearance; this step was done about three times, but you can add more powder. I also used the new Background Basics Text Style II on the bottom half of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today; I really appreciate it!

Gigi

Spellbinders Poinsettias Christmas Cards

The past week was a busy one when it came to making Christmas cards; I loved using the Spellbinders Poinsettias die cut, which was purchased at Scrap-Mart using a 40% coupon. Each card looks completely different, texture and color wise. I found a wonderful tutorial for the poinsettias here; it's easy to follow. A special shout out to my friend, Mita, over at Altheas Mix for the beautiful photo corners; this is my favorite from the Cuttlebug die package. Thank you for stopping by and taking a look; hope you have received some inspiration. Gigi

Mojo Monday Challenge 112 Merry Christmas!

Today I went to work on a card order that needs to get delivered by the end of the month. Why? We're moving and I want all orders completed before the heavy duty packing begins :-) I have worked on cards for the past few days, but none were meant for challenges, so when time permits, I'll upload them and show them on the blog. There were two packages delivered today; one from Papertrey Ink and one from Scrap-Mart, which contained the Spellbinders nested poinsettias. I got to work using the poinsettias dies because Sherry Cheever has a terrific tutorial on her blog posted a few weeks ago using snowflakes dies. If you have some time, please stop by her blog and see her beautiful watercolored poinsettia card that is posted for today. Now back to why I'm writing :-) I wanted to participate in the weekly Mojo Monday sketch challenge. If you look closely, you'll see that the poinsettia was colored with SU! Bravo Burgandy while still in the die, stamped with Versamark, and then colored with Pearl Ex powder to give it the shiny finish; it was sealed with lacquer to keep the powder in place. It was layered with two sided tape and attached to the card with a foam dot.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look; I really appreciate your time.

Gigi

Recipe for today's challenge:

Stamps: inside sentiment is from SU!

Ink: Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Paper: White (Papertrey Ink), wine (Bazzill), dp (Bo Bunny Believe/Noel)

Accessories: Green Leaf ribbon (PTI), wine (unknown), half pearl (SU! Hodgepodge), dies (Spellbinders), circle paper punch (SU!), Pearl Ex powders

CPS140 Snowflake Santa

Wow, how time flies when you're busy trying to catch up from a fun trip. Hubby and I flew to Colorado to see adult kids and grandchildren. I drove from Denver to Amarillo to see more adult kids and grandkids as well as some treasured friends. Needless to say, it was tough coming back home without the gang...sigh sigh I received some Christmas card orders this past week and thought using the CPS140 sketch challenge would work well with this new stamp purchased at Michael's about a month ago. The sentiment is from SU!. The stars and snowflakes were die cut using glitter foam.

Hope you enjoy and can take an idea with you today. Thank you for stopping by and looking; it's really appreciated! Gigi

CPS137 Sweet Thank You Card

One of my favorite challenges is from CPS; the team really knows how to sketch! You can get more info here. Since I tend to use the same layout over and over, the sketches challenge the noggin to do something different. It's also a great tool to use, if you're new to paper crafting. The sentiment and the cherry stem are from PTI (Everyday Button Bits and Cupcake Collection.) The dp a Doodlebug design called Cherry Pie Amore and Cherry Pie Plaid. Thanks so much for stopping by and if you're interested in having this card, please leave a comment. Enjoy the rest of your day and we'll visit again soon.

Edit: The winner of the card is Monica! Monica, please send your address. Thank you for the sweet comments left on this posting; each one was sincerely appreciated.

Gigi

All Occasion Cards

Thinking of You

Thank You!

Happy Birthday, Hot Stuff!

Girlfriends

Thinking of You

On Friday evening, sweet hubby and I are flying out west to visit our kids and grandkids...it seems as if we haven't seen them in years...moms of adult children, you understand what I mean, especially if you live miles away from them :-) My daughter and a friend have asked me to take cards; they want to buy some and I want to have a wide variety to show. I've used some of my favorite stamps from MFT and PTI, and have used some of my newest dp from Graphic 45. The polka dot birthday card is for a good friend; she has a lot of sass, so the sentiment reads: HOT STUFF; how funny is that?

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions, please feel free to use the comments to ask.

Gigi

Bitty Baby Blessings from Papertrey Ink

This morning I'm showcasing some stamps from Papertrey Ink; I made baby cards using images from two of the sets, Bitty Baby Blessings and Everyday Blessings. Two of the cards can be used for a baptism or Christening and the other two can be given alone or with a gift.


Pink card: I used a CB ef to make the background paper. Becca Fekken, who has one fabulous blog, showed this beautiful card using the technique. I colored with ef with Raspberry Fizz (PTI)and got a mauve looking piece of paper. I stamped the baby carriage twice, once on Select White cs (PTI), embossed it with the CB ef, cut out the carriage and used pop dots to give it some dimension. Small pearls (Michael's) were added to the oval die cuts (Spellbinders) and to the wheels of the carriage. The sentiment was stamped and a tag was die cut (Spellbinders Tag Trio.) The lace ruffles were adhered with that wonderful tape you can buy at Papertrey Ink called Scor-Tape. This particular tape measures 1/8" and is perfect for using on ribbons or for small lines of glitter you may want to apply. It's transparent, so it's almost impossible to see when it's applied.



Summer Sunrise baby card: The CB ef was used again for this religious baby card. An image from the Everyday Blessings set was used and inked with Summer Sunrise (PTI). Ruffles were added below the cream colored ribbon. Pearls were added, too, for an even softer look. The inside sentiment is from the Bitty Baby Blessings set; this is another example of how you can use parts of various sets to achieve the look or sentiment you desire.



The Little Sailor card uses a smaller image from the Bitty Baby Blessings set. The images were inked, die cut, and adhered with pop dots. The ribbon was a piece attached to a department store bag. The two little white brads, which are perfect for coloring with Copics, were all I had left from my stash, so please forgive me for not using three. The Select White paper was sponged using Ranger distress inks.






Last, but not least, is a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" Bundle of Joy card size that is perfect for adding to a baby boy gift. The baby onesie was inked on dp and cut out. It was adhered to the front of the card using pop dots. I made a boo boo on the circle die cut, so punched out small circles from matching dp to cover up :-) Small silver half beads were added to each corner. Misc ribbon was wrapped around the main image and a small tag with a sentiment from Bitty Baby Blessings was attached with white floss. Looking at this picture has me thinking: Why didn't I emboss the cream cs with a CB ef? Will use the idea on the next one...




Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting today; I hope that you're inspired and will use one idea for your next project.


Gigi

Many Thanks 2 Sketches 4 You!

Today while browsing some of my favorite blogs, I saw this sketch challenge on Monica's and thought of how much fun I would have participating in it this week. There are some fabulous prizes to win, if you decide join the other card crafters. You can find more info on the 2 Sketches 4 You blog. On a trip to Gettysburg, in April, I purchased some Imaginisce paper, Twitterpated Lady Bug Ball, and thought how cute it would look on a card; hope you agree :-) Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you will take some inspiration to use on a future project as I did from Monica.
Gigi




Recipe for the Many Thanks card:
Stamp: Lots of Thoughts (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black
Paper: Imaginisce; Select White, True Black (Papertry Ink), glossy white
Accessories: Lattice border punch (Martha Stewart); ribbon (Papertrey Ink); dies (Spellbinders); brads (from the Paper Source Store)

Week 25 Flower Challenge from Just Magnolia Blog

There's a challenge over at the Just Magnolia Blog you may want to try; you may just win a $50 voucher! The challenge is to make your own flower(s), so I pulled out a Spellbinders die set and made a Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink) and green flower. The doilie was sent by a sweet friend, Mita, who owns Altheasmix in Sweden, I used a Tilda stamp holding a pie; the season is upon us to begin baking goodies...hmmmm The Dark Chocolate ribbon is from Papertrey Ink and there are MS pearls from Michael's accenting the card. A MS leaf punch was used for the flower. The cs is Select White from Papertrey Ink; and the dp was purchased at Michael's quite a while ago, so can not remember the name, but it is double-sided. A border punch was used under the ribbon. Copic markers and distress inks were used for coloring and sponging the main image; distress inks were sponged around the doilie to tone down the stark white look.

Thanks for stopping in today; hope you take some piece of inspiration and share it with me.

Gigi

WCMD Challenge #1: Japan

I checked out Papertrey Ink's blog on Saturday and found some WCMD challenges Nichole Heady issued. Since I have some retired Stampin' Up! Asian stamps collecting dust, they were put to good use! The dp was designed by Amy Butler; I don't have color names for the green and blue cs. The flowers were die cut as well as the tag and embossed. A cloth-type flower is found at the bottom of the green and blue petals. All my card bases are from Papertrey Ink, including this one, The sentiments were stamped and sponged lightly on the edges from distress ink pads. Thanks so much for stopping by and hopefully you have found something to inspire you, Gigi

Mojo Monday 107 Have a "Cherry" Good Day!

Just when I think that a sketch challenge isn't a challenge, it turns into a challenge!!! But, I didn't give up and decided to submit this card for the weekly Mojo Monday challenge. If you haven't stopped by before, thanks for taking time to check out the blog; I really appreciate it. If you have stopped before, you'll recognize the adorable cherry stem stamp from Papertrey Ink's Everyday Button Bits. This set is absolutely the best for putting together all kinds of projects, especially cards. Hope your day is going as well as mine; I get to play in the 'studio' until sweet hubby comes home from work...yay!
Gigi

SC247 Make a Wish

This is my take on the sketch challenge Splitcoaststampers had last week, SC247. I finally found some Basic Grey Cupcake dp in a LSS, actually too far to visit each week :-( and used it for this cute little birthday card, Make a Wish. The main image is from the Everyday Button Bits. This set is well worth the money because it has so many adorable images and sentiments that are so appropriate for almost every occasion. The paper, Enchanted Evening ribbon, some of the buttons, and stamps are from Papertrey Ink. Thank you for stopping by today! I need to get going on some Happy World Card Making Day! challenges PTI has today; check out Nichole Heady's blog for more info.

Sugar and Spice Bitty Baby Blessings

I am having a great time using the Bitty Baby Blessings stamp set from Papertrey Ink. This little card uses the onsie and carriage images from the set. I found some retired SU! dp in the stash folder and thought it would work well with the images, including one of the the Polka Dot Basics II images; this set is a must have, if you like dots as much as I do! You'll find some glitter glued to the carriage image and a fancy piece of ribbon that was purchased at Hancock Fabrics. I definitely have to go and buy more of this, if I plan to make more baby cards :-) The rub on came from a package that has been sitting in a box for a couple of years, but matches the dp perfectly. Thanks for taking a peek and hope you take away at least one piece of inspiration. Gigi

Acrylic Paint and Dry Embossing Halloween Card

One of the previous issues of Paper Crafts showed a technique using acrylic paint on cardstock; brush the paint going in one direction and turn the paper to paint in another one. I added another technique to the painted cardstock by embossing it with a CB pumpkin ef and used it as the card base. This technique probably isn't new to many, but I thought of the idea since it is autumn (the pumpkins work out well) and since Halloween isn't too far off, the little Crafty Secrets witch is perfect as the main image for the base. The small pin used for the ribbon actually came from a price tag, so keep your eyes open for these types of embellishments; they work out beautifully. Tip: Before you begin to emboss the cardstock, make sure it is completely dry.

Thanks for stopping by today; hope you got inspired to try acrylic paint on some cardstock!

Gigi

Whimsical and Spooktacular Cards

Good Tuesday morning, everyone! I have a few more whimsical and spooktacular cards to show. By now you are probably getting tired of seeing all the Halloween cards I made the past couple of weeks, but rest assured, you'll get to view at least one or two more before too long! You can also tell that I went a little overboard with Halloween embellishments, paper, and stamps this year, especially since there was already a huge stash left over from last year :-) But, a girl can never be too thin, too rich, or have enough Halloween supplies...haha! Seriously, I need to reduce the stash to make room :-)

There are plenty of blogs showing fall, Thanksgiving, and lots of Christmas cards, but since I'm going to try to sell the cards you've checked out, I wanted a good selection for customers. Efraim and I are in the process of trying to find a new place to live before the end of the year, so Christmas cards are probably out because of the packing, moving, and unpacking we'll have to do during November and December.

By the way, when the pictures from our fabulous anniversary trip are downloaded, I'll post a couple on the blog for you to see. Hopefully there's one or two places you haven't visited, and the pictures will give an idea of what to expect whenever you do travel. Efraim drove over 1800 miles during the week we were seeing the sights, which included Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, West Point, NY, Martha's Vineyard, MA, and Atlantic City, NJ.

On to the pictures!

The following three Totally Witchin' cards are made using a My Favorite Things stamp set named the the same. I pieced the dresses on the right for each one using scraps of various papers from the stash folder.

The first one was made using a CB ef and orange/black core paper (thanks, Naoma!). It was lightly sanded to show the orange pumpkins. Glitter was added to the boots and hat for some bling bling effect.

#2 was also made with paper scraps new this year called Esmeralda. Some yellow paper was crimped and adhered to the black border punch. I bought a new die cut alphabet (You're Not the Boss of Me!) set (cut out the BOO!) using a 50% coupon at Michael's in Vestal, NY, while visiting week before last. It's nice finding things at other Michael's we don't have in our local store. My friend, Mita, who owns Altheas Mix also has a great selection of various dies in her store, if you live outside of the U.S. that you may want to check them out.

#3 The difference here is a CB ef was used for the base, a black pom pom for the spider, googlie eyes, and a CB die cut for the purple legs (have you ever seen a real spider with purple legs? I didn't think so!) I have literally fallen for this Halloween set from My Favorite Things! It's great that you can make the skin tone any color you choose and since I have friends from all over the world, they can have their own personalized card with the correct skin color.

This card was made for my teenage granddaughter, Bailey, who lives in Texas; she totally rocks!

This quick and easy Halloween card uses some of the stash I bought last year as well as new embellies this year. There is one stamped image, which is the spider web on the top right hand corner.

Here's another quick card to assemble; no stamping whatsoever! The skeleton face was purchased at Michael's and was already painted; I just added the crown sticker to his head. The paper is called Lollipop Lizzy; isn't that the cutest name?

Aren't these skeleton heads spooky looking (haha!) This card has a vellum overlay stamped with a spider web using Tuxedo Black ink from Memento; this ink works great on all the papers I use. The chipboard embellishments are all from the same package; isn't it wonderful when you can actually use up all the stickers from one package?!!!

Thanks so much for taking time to check out these whimsical and spooktacular cards. Hope you're having a great day and that you're abundantly blessed this week!

Gigi

Just Magnolia Challenge Week 24

Good Monday morning! Between household chores, I participated in the Just Magnolia Challenge; you can get the info here. It's a color challenge with pink, grey and black optional. Another requirement is using a Magnolia stamp; no shortage of these in my house :-) Since this little Tilda, holding a heart, is sitting, she needed a bench to make her look normal; guess I should have colored the bench pink or black...haha! Oh, well, it's done...hmmmm, maybe I should try again with another card. Thanks for stopping by today; my day is going great and hope that you're enjoying the same.

Gigi

SFYTT 09_26_09 Ahoy Little Sailor

Goodness, it's been awhile since the last post was written and have to admit that I missed not having time to take photos and write on the blog. Yesterday I spent almost an entire day creating more Halloween cards (yes, I enjoy making whimsical cards every opportunity available.) But today I checked out the SFYTT sketch challenge and decided to put aside the Halloween papers and embellies to create something different for the day. A package of goodies, from Papertrey Ink, arrived while I was out of town celebrating an anniversary with my wonderful hubby in Canada and several New England states for a week. The set I chose to use today is called Bitty Baby Blessings. I don't make very many baby cards possibly because I'm an older mother and don't know many young ones :-) But I love this set and wanted to make a card with it. I hope you enjoy checking it out and can take at least one piece of inspiration with you when you leave this blog.

Gigi

SFYTT Boo!

Another Halloween card! This one was made for the SFYTT challenge. The wooden painted Frankenstein face was purchased at Mike's (also bought a skull and a witch); this little pieces come in handy because I'm not artistic enough to paint my own :-) The brads were silver, but they're colored with a black Copic marker; these markers are wonderful when wanting to change almost anything. An embossing folder was used for the background and small blocks holding rub on letters spelling out "Boo." Notice that the embossing was lightly sanded for more texture. The bat was die cut and some google eyes were added. The black border was purchased in a package containing a lot of borders, which saves on buying more crafty scissors or dies. The moon is a Spellbinders die cut and the bat is die cut using the Cuttlebug.

Thanks for taking a look and hope you take some inspiration, whether it's using your Copic marker for something other than coloring an image or purchasing painted pieces.

Gigi

Happy Halloween!

Am not sure if you know this, but I really enjoy making Halloween cards. There is so much a person can do to make a cutesy, scary, or funny card using great looking papers, fun embellishments, and wonderful stamps. The top card uses Totally Witchin' image from My Favorite Things. One of the dresses is paper pieced and lots of glitter was added for some bling bling.

The second card is basically a card from a set I found at T.J. Maxx the other night. When I saw the box set, there were so many little ideas whirling around in my head, such as the fun crown that was colored, glittered, and placed on top of the little witch's head. Her shoes were also glittered! The crown is a grunge piece from Tim Holtz; these pieces are such fun to decorate!

The bottom card uses an image from a set I bought last year over at Crafty Secrets and yes, the set is still for sale this year. This little witch is such a treat to color with Copic markers. The background is embossed using the spider web ef from Provo Craft. The bats are die cut from Provo Craft, one purple and one black. The Boo ribbon is on sale at Mike's this week. The tag is from Spellbinders.

Thanks so much for stopping by. If you know me personally, please leave a message saying you visited today.

Gigi

SFYTT Birthday Celebrations for Alessa!

The weekly SFYTT sketch from Jen del Muro 's blog was used to create a birthday card for a one year old girl, Alessa. The dp, Cupcake, is from the Basic Grey line as well as the chipboard embellishments. The buttons are from Papertrey Ink; a great variety of sizes and shades are included in each bag of buttons sold. A candle border punch was used as a separator between Pure Poppy (PTI) and the dp. The sentiment is from SU! and am not sure if it's retired or not. Select White (PTI) is used for the card base. True Black ribbon, also from PTI, is added for some contrast.

Thanks so much for stopping by and sure hope your day is a great one!

Gigi

Mojo Monday 103 Enjoy the Ride!

Mojo Monday 103 sketch was used for this cute little card. I saw the staple technique on a blog the other day and learned how to do it from a tutorial SCS has; Ashley Newell provides the tutorial. I tried using some decorative staples, but they continued to mess up on the ribbon; decided to use the regular staples on the ribbon and was happy with the results. Some of my favorite paper, Basic Grey's Lime Rickey, was used . The stamp set is from Papertrey Ink and is called Everyday Bitty Buttons. The buttons are from Basic Grey and were purchased from a ss that is about one hour from where I live.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you take some inspiration to try out, such as the ribbon staple technique.

Gigi

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #16

Fall is just around the corner and using the colors Dawn McVey selected for her challenge seemed so appropriate for this card. The main image was colored with Copic markers and cut with Spellbinder dies as was recently released by PaperTrey Ink; the sentiment is included in the set. The ribbon is new to me from PTI. The polka dots are also from PTI inked in Chocolate Chip from Stampin' Up! I have one more card to show, so will close this one out.

Thank you for taking a look today and I welcome you to return soon!

Hugs (kram in Swedish),

Gigi

Papertrey Ink Autumn Abundance SC243

The main image is one of three flower vases that Papertrey Ink recently released as Autumn Abundance. I enjoy coloring with Copics, so this set is perfect for my therapy :-) The dp is last year's release from PTI called First Fruits; I'll never use up all the paper that is in a pack! So happy to have purchased the set from PTI because this particular flower vase goes well with the dp. The sketch is from SCS (SC243), so if you want something that is challenging, check it out.

Notice a little leaf charm hanging from the PTI Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon; it was part of a gift that my friend, Mita, from Altheasmix generously gave. I love those little charms and enjoy using them to embellish cards.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Enjoy the day and hope that you have found some inspiration whether it's from this card or from another blog. I always look forward to learning something new from other blogs.