My First Cards in over a Year!

My very first card in over a year!
Image: Bildmilarna

Well, it's been over a year since I've made a card, much less posted about making cards.  But I've done it.  In the last few weeks I've made several cards.  So, these are my very first attempts at cards in quite awhile....please be kind....LOL!


There is a blog I follow daily, A Thousand Sheets of Paper.  The blogger, Amy Young, is so inspirational!  From what I understand, she has no formal art background.  But you would not ever guess it.  She has a great eye for color, shading, patterns and pulling it all together.  I decided to copy her selection style to see how it would work for me.  I picked out my paper first and then selected my colors for my image afterward, based on the colors in the paper.  I don't know, I think I have to give it a thumbs up!

Thank you card for a special friend.
Image: Tiddly Inks

This card is a thank you card for a special friend.  Each year, in May, on my division, we have a bake sale to benefit Great Strides and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  The money we earn, goes to our hospital's Great Strides team.  This year we raised over $1100.00 for them.  Each year since we've started, we have had a donation from my local Cookies by Design shop.  This is my 'Thank You' card for her.

I used Amy Young's selection technique on this and the following card, as well.  I think I'm going to adopt this strategy.  It makes more sense than my old way of doing it and it just simply looks a lot more harmonious.

Another Thank You card!
Image: Magnolia

This Thank You card is for a patient of mine.  She is also very crafty and does a lot of needlework...crocheting and knitting.  She is very good at it.  Last year I was going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  She knitted me a Prayer Shawl in my favorite color, blue!  A Prayer Shawl is a very special item.  While the person is knitting, they are also praying for whomever they are making the shawl for.  I feel so honored that she would choose me to be praying for as she created my beautiful shawl.  It is absolutely wonderful!

A simple Father's Day card

This is just a simple card that I made for my dad for Father's Day.  I wanted to let him know that he is a shining STAR to us!

Well, that's all I have for now, but it's a start!  I hope to be back here very soon.

Birthday cards...

Girlfriends
Out to Lunch

And my attempt at african-american skin!  We'll leave the judging for later....

My friend Marilyn asked me to make her a couple of birthday cards to send to out-of-state friends.  I hope she like them!

The image stamp is from AI Girlfriends Series, it's called Out to Lunch.   The paper is from My Mind's Eye.

Tilda with Roses

Marilyn's favorite color is red.  So, I wanted to make one in red for her.

This image stamp is, of course, Magnolia's Tilda.  The sentiment stamp is from There She Goes.  The paper is from My Mind's Eye.  I also used one of the Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels to die cut the layer papers.

Some New Cards!

Special Delivery
There She Goes Stamps

Valentine's Day is almost here!  Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like hearts spilling out of the mailbox.  This mailbox stamp is from There She Goes  and is called Special Delivery.  This is a simple card with a little bling on the hearts and on the red hearts on the background paper.  A little clear Spica marker goes a long way!  The background paper is from Doodlebug Designs.

I do love my clear Spica glitter marker!

Also.....

Mad Rider
Art Impressions

I have found some really cute and funny stamps by Art Impressions (A.I.)!  The Girlfriends line is awesome.  I will post some of them soon.  This little lady is called Mad Rider from A.I..  She kind of reminds me of my sister...and my sister's cat, Callie!  I also found some pretty wild background paper for her from Basic Grey's Lauderdale paper pack!

Sick Bug
Whipper Snapper

This little guy is Sick Bug from Whipper Snapper stamps.  Whipper Snapper has such cute images, but unfortunately they are not an Angel company.  Although, I don't really sell my cards at craft fairs or anything, I do sell them to my friends for $1 to cover my supply costs.  But, I guess these cards will have to remain for personal use.  But he's still very cute!

Valentine's Day card

6x6 Valentine's Day card

Well, the holidays are finally over!  Now we begin a new year and new opportunities to create!


I'm still trying to get the hang of the 6x6 cards.  This card looks fine, but maybe a little sparse compared to other 6x6 cards that I've seen online. Well, I'll just have to keep practicing.  The image is from C.C. Design.

Here you can see that fine glitter on the flower.  The flower is colored with a Copic marker to match the little girl's dress, and then colored over with a Spica clear glitter marker to give it bling.


Hopefully, I will get much better at these 6x6 cards so that they don't look so bare...lol!

My first 6x6 card!

Mistletoe Tilda

Today, I made my first 6x6 Magnolia card!  YAY!  I have always admired the artists that make the Magnolia cards that are posted in various blogs.  They are absolutely gorgeous!  That is what I aspire to.  I used to wonder how they could fill the card front with so many beautiful things.  Then it occurred to me that the card was larger than I thought it was.  So, this is my attempt at a 6x6 Magnolia Christmas card.  There's lots of bling and sparkle, too!  Can't have a Christmas card without sparkle and bling!  I'm hoping this is just the beginning of my creative juices flowing.  I know I still need practice coloring images with my Copic markers....but I figure it can only get better, right?!

Tried Something New...

Tilda with a present

Using a couple of my new Christmas Magnolia stamps, and armed with some new coloring techniques that I saw on a blog called Color Me Copic, I set to making a couple more Christmas cards.  I've watched several of Amy's videos and she is so good at Copic coloring!  So, I also did something for the first time with this card....I lined the envelope with the same printed paper from the card.  I think it looks pretty sharp, even if I say so myself!




Here is a close-up of that same card.  I decorated it with a felt poinsettia and some bling jewels from Doodlebug Designs.  I also rounded the corners on this card.  That's the first time that I've done that and I'm not sure why I did it this time, but I really like it!

Tilda hiding a present

This was my first attempt at trying my new techniques.  It didn't quite finish as well as I would have liked, but I think it will come, especially when I get color combinations that I can work with consistently.  But it's blue, so I still like it!

Gotta have a little bling!  The large snowflake is a brad from Doodlebug Designs and the sparkling border is  from Archiver's, but it's not a Dazzles from Hot Off The Press.  It's from another manufacturer.  The lacy  edging  on Tilda's  p.j.'s was colored with  my Spica clear glitter marker.

More Christmas Cards!

Glittery Ornaments

I tried my hand at a couple more Christmas cards.  This card features a Gina K. Designs stamp and sentiment.  The ornaments are colored in with glitter markers.  The die cut pieces are cut out with Nestabilities large oval and large scalloped oval.  The printed paper is from K & Company.





Even though the picture is blurred, you can see the glitter on the ornaments.  Very glittery for the holiday!

Embossed greetings

This card was done using Versamark ink and embossing powders.  The holly berries are colored in using a glitter pen.  Both the sentiment and images are from Hot Off The Press.