Go Texan Day!

Good morning! It certainly is a beautiful one here today- a sunny 58 degrees now with a high of 76 this afternoon, birds chirping, buds opening- a crime to be inside at work today!! It is a great day, though, for "Go Texan" day and the official kick-off of the Houston Rodeo month. This is also the day that all the trail riders (people actually riding horses into Houston from distant spots in the state) come riding into town- an amazing site!

My kids were pretty jazzed up this morning to get dressed up for school- not as decked out as usual since some of our cowboy boots don't fit:( but festive, nonetheless. We used some tissue paper to help Emily fit into a pair of my boots (notice she doesn't care about what I will wear today-lol!)- by next year, they'll probably fit (a bad thing for me since she'll be in my closet for sure!).

Matthew may be the only "native born son" in our house, but Emily sure does have more Texas style- definitely gonna have to watch her at the rodeo-lol!

Hope you're having a great day~ back to crafting tomorrow!

Birthdays- Boy and Girl Style!

Good morning! I have two cards to share today that we made at my stamp class last week- both birthday cards, but each very different. The first is a hybrid card- half digital and half real. As you may recall from last week's post, my Stampin' Up box was lost in two snowstorms and came the night before my class. Digital stamps to the rescue!

I used a retired Simply Scrappin' kit for the paper- great primary colors for a boy card! I digitally "stamped" the greetings from the "Bring on the Cake" set (which you can buy as either a digital or as a "real" stamp set) on Whisper White paper. I colored the letters with Ballet Blue, Wild Wasabi, Real Red and So Saffron markers- we figures out that the only limitation to this set is that you can't easy do double years (i.e. 11, 22, 33, etc)- luckily I need a card for an 8-year old, so I'm good to go!

The inside was kept pretty simple because, despite what I want to believe, this card will be thrown away almost instantly after it's read!

This was the girl birthday card we made using the new "Create a Cupcake" stamp set and "Create a Cupcake punch"- very fun! The Blushing Bride background paper was run through the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder to give it a bit of texture and I kept with a simple pink, Vanilla and Espresso color scheme. I outlined the diecut edge with an Early Espresso which is a nice look.

 

The inside here is also kept pretty simple, even though I am sure the girl who gets this will treasure it-lol!

That's it for today- hope you're having (had) a good day!

Happy {Heart} Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day is off to a good start with lots of chocolate and {smooches}! I got a nice wake-up call from my two little Valentine's with lots of hugs and smooches- too early for chocolate- must each them to make coffee:)'

I was up super late last night finishing all of the Valentine goodies for my son's class, and realized that Emily was going to feel a bit left out since they don't do these things in middle school. I decided to make a quick card to stick in her lunch bag to give her a {hug} from mommy at lunch.

I printed a digital image that I recently bought from Claire Keay and colored her up with Copics to match with some paper from MME called "Love Me Do". The heart dots paper is pretty busy and bold and I didn't want to distract from the main image, so I just used strips of it on the top and bottom and used a more neutral piece for the middle.

I kept the embellishments simple- a few brads, a greeting from a retired set called "Fancy Flexible Phrases" cut out with the Curly Label punch and a heart punched from red glitter paper with the Small Heart punch.

 The inside is pretty simple with strips of coordinating cardstock, more red glitter hearts and a greeting from "Teeny Tiny Wishes". For an under 10 minute card, this turned out pretty good-lol! I know she'll  smile when she sees this little cutie in her lunch bag.

Have a great day!

 




Supplies:
Stamps: "Girl and Heart"- Claire Keay, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Fancy Flexible Phrases
Paper: SU: Real Red, Whisper White, Red Glitter paper; "Love Me Do"-MME
Accessories: Copics, Curly Label Punch, Small heart punch, brads, dimensionals

Secret Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! Whew-it was a total crush to get everything done and everyone out the door on time this morning! Hubby is out of town (he liked his "Chemistry" card that I slipped into his bag and sent me a Valentine email this morning:)

I have a bunch of stuff to post this morning, so I'm gonna get right to it- the rest will come in another post! Matthew has a "Secret Valentine" lunch exchange at school today (so much fun!). The kids fill out a sheet with their desired lunch, snack,fruit, etc with any dislikes and allergies as well. Then they pick a name out of the hat, decorate a box to put the lunch in and use the box to collect their Valentine's in after they eat. Such a great tradition at their school!

Matthew picked a little girl from his class (who he thinks is very nice:) so we made a very special box for her. Disclosure: I have won the best box in my kids' classes 2 years running, so I was not going to let that title go, so we went all out on this one-lol!

The box was covered in patterned paper from a Valentine's pack I bought last year. The lid is the bomb, though. The edges were covered in red glitter paper with a great piece of patterned paper for the top. We punched a lace heart border with a MS punch to make it look like a paper doily (that actually covers the raw edges where the papers come together:) I dusted off my Cricut and cut her name from the red glitter paper, as well as a crown from pink glitter paper. Matthew decorated her crown with jewels ("every princess needs jewels, mommy"- that boy is going to make a good husband someday!) and we popped it up on dimensionals to it sits up over her name, He also made her a card for the inside that says "You Rock" and a sweet message from him on the inside.

We added some tissue paper to the box and nestled her very special lunch inside- PB&J, big strawberries, Gianna cookes, Pirate's Booty and his card- yummy!

 For his class mates, we covered  boxes of Sweethearts with red paper and glued this cute little robot image from Claire Keay on the front with a greeting that says "Happy Valentine's Day My Human Friend"- nothing too mushy from a second grade boy:)

Darling Daughter was a bit sad to be in middle school where they don't do things like "Secret Valentine" lunch, so I packed her a bit of love in her lunch bag- but that's another post!

It's all about the chemistry...

Good morning! What a beautiful day it is in Houston- a bit cool right now, but a high around 68 degrees later today and not a cloud in the sky! I'm planning to pack my Girl Scouts up for an outdoor meeting this afternoon and soak up some Vitamin D:)

The folks over at Crazy 4 Challenges have made this week's challenge super easy- make a card with hearts somewhere on it. If you haven't made any Valentine's yet, this is the time to get on it! My Valentine will be out of town, but this card will be tucked into his bag (shh!).

My husband and I are both in science and medicine so I know he will appreciate the geeky humor in the card! The background papers are from My Mind's Eye "Be Loved" collection, layered onto Bermuda Bay cardstock (a retired color from SU). The layout reminds me of a heating block, with the sqiggly paper representing heat (go with me here!).

 The flask was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. I colored over the pink hearts with a clear Spica glitter pen to make them sparkle and added Crystal Effects glue to the red heats to give them some shine. The red heart outside the flask was popped up on a foam dot to give it some dimension.

The inside was finished with matching papers and a cheeky greeting which I'm sure he'll appreciate! My son told me he didn't get the joke- I referred him to my husband for explanation:)'

I'm off to make the "Secret Valentine" lunchbox for my son's little friend at school- he picked a very nice little girl out of the hat, so I get to make something super girly and sparkly this year-yay!!


Hope you're enjoying your Sunday-

 




Supplies:
Stamps: "Chemistry"- There She Goes Stamps
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, MME-"Be Loved"
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot, Nestability dies, large scallop edge punch, Copics, Spica glitter pens, Crystal Effects glue, dimensionals

{Love} you...

It has taken me most of the day, but I have finally cleaned up my craft room from my class last night and made up any remaining kits-whew! We had a great time, as always- what a great group I have!

This is one of the cards we made last night- at the time I put it together I wasn't sure how it would go over, but people loved it:) The set is called "Valentine Defined" and is a super cute new set from Stampin' Up in their new Occasions Mini catalog.

Since some of the other cards were a bit more involved, I decided to keep this one clean and simple in design. It's a bit hard to see in these pictures, but the red background was embossed using a hearts embossing folder, with some patterned paper from the new "Love Impression" set  to give it a perk up.

The main tree image was stamped once on the white rectangle, then another time on a scrap. The heart tree canopy was cut out and popped up on dimensionals to give it some body. The greeting was inked with markers and cut out with the large oval punch.

The inside has a little conversation heart (so cute!) stamped above the greeting and some coordinating paper at the bottom. This has already been snagged for one of my daughter's teachers and it was barely dry-lol!

Hope you're having a great weekend- we're having awesome weather here in Houston, so we're off for a family bike ride!

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Valentine Defined, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Love Impressions DP
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Accessories: Sizzix machine, hearts embossing folder, large oval punch, dimensionals

With Sympathy...

 Well, Mr. Brown did not show up with my Stampin' Up package last night so I had to do some improvising for my class coming up this Friday night. The box is scheduled to be delivered today, which wouldn't be a big deal, except that I am on call and won't be home until tomorrow afternoon, when I will brain dead. Digital stamps to the rescue!

Stampin' Up got into the digital frenzy last year when it brought out it's own program called "My Digital Studio" which makes it easy for people who have never used digital software to create cards, calendars, etc or use the digital elements to make a "hybrid" project  (digital and real elements) as I have here. The nice thing about digi stamps, paper, etc is that once you purchase them, you can download and use them immediately, with no shipping charge- gotta love instant gratification!

For this card, I digitally "stamped" the main flower image from a set called "Elements of Style" on my digital workspace in Soft Suede and printed it Very Vanilla card stock. The image was colored with an aquapainter using Blushing Bride, Pear Pizazz and Close to Cocoa ink refills which gives it a soft watercolor look. The main image was cut out with an oval nested die and sponged with Close to Cocoa with the die in place to leave a clear edge.

 

 I used some paper from a retired pack called "Parisian Breeze" for the background and layered a piece of Blushing Bride card stock which was run through the "Vintage Wallpaper" embossing folder on my Sizzix machine to give it a shabby-chic look. One of the really nice things about digi stamps is that you can size  and print them anyway you want. The greeting on this card turned out a bit too large for where I wanted to put it the first time, so I made it smaller and printed it again- perfect! A little Vanilla seam binding ribbon tied in a double bow finishes it off.

The inside was finished pretty simply with some matching patterned paper and a simple greeting. I need a few sympathy cards, unfortunately, but this could also be used for a Mother's Day or a special friend's birthday.

If you're coming to my class Friday night, we'll be making this beauty!

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Elements of Style (digital)

Paper: Parisian Breeze, Kraft, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride

Ink: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizazz, Close to Cocoa; Soft Suede (on computer)

Accessories: Aquapainter, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, scallop edge punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, Sizzix machine, Vanilla seam binding ribbon

Recycling...

Mr. Brown has failed me this time! My big box of Valentine's goodies (which I need for my class on Friday) left Salt Lake on January 31st. It made it to Oklahoma just in time for their big snow and ice storm. There it sat for a week. Then it got to Mesquite, TX just in time for an ice storm there. Someday I hope to get my box so I can make the cards for my class this Friday night!

Since I ripped the image off the card I was going to share with you this morning (don't ask- bad coffee moment...) I decided to share two old cards that I posted on Splitcoast 3 years ago (crazy how time passes). I had just bought a few Copic markers and these were some of the first iamges I colored with them- clearly need some technique help!

 Both cards use a poppy image from Flourishes that I love- it's so pretty and fun to color! I stamped the background words on an acetate sheet which gave it a cool look.

The second card was kept super simple, with just an embossed white background and a monochromatic color scheme which make the orange poppy real stand out. I love both of these cards for their simplicity and the beautiful flower image. I definitely need to pull this stamp out again- it's a perfect for Mother's Day or adult birthday card.

Hope you're having a good day- pray that Mr. Brown shows his face soon!

Perk Up!

I don't know about y'all, but this morning was definitely difficult to get everyone moving, especially me lol! I appreciated the long weekend due to our "snow day", but it was all that much harder to get going today. Coffee to the rescue!!

 When I saw this set called "Morning Cup" from Stampin' Up, I knew it had my name on it! Anyone who knows me well is aware of my coffee habit:) The main image was stamped in Staz On Timber Brown and colored with reinkers and blender pens. Blender pens allow more shading than markers and give you more color options. I used some leftover paper from last year's "Sending Love" designer series paper collection on a Kraft background. I kept embellishments pretty simple with a double row of scallops and an Early Espresso satin ribbon bow. 

 

The inside is finished with my favorite line from the set- "Caffeine isn't a drug, it's a vitamin!" Perfectly apropos for me as I use caffeine as a drug in my Neonatal practice and sometimes I wish I could have IV caffeine!

After my class on Friday, I'm going to mail this one off to a friend in Boston who is an even greater coffee-holic than me-I'm a rank amateur compared to her!  

Have a great day!

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Morning Cup

Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, "Sending Love"

Ink: StazOn Timber Brown, various reinkers

Accessories: Blender pens, Early Espresso satin ribbon, scallop edge punch, dimensionals, Sizzix Big Shot, nested dies

Vintage Valentine...

Good morning! It's so nice to finally have a morning that I can stay in my PJ's, drink coffee and enjoy the view of some blue sky form my craft room. I did some major cleaning in here yesterday (don't fall over dead...)- mostly to get rid of old magazines, catalogs, etc. I found some old scrapbook projects that I may tinker with today (it's amazing what you find under the piles-lol!).

I did get a few cards done for my upcoming stamp class next Friday night. If you haven't RSVP'd, please let me know if you're coming and if you can't make it, let me know if you want a kit. If you're an out-of-towner and want a kit, I can mail it cheaply in a padded mailer, so let me know:)

 

I love the vintage style of the images from Stampin' Up's "Greeting Card Kids" set and decided to go for a black and red color scheme with paper from the "Love Letter" set. I wanted to teach my class about paper piecing, so I stamped and cut her dress out of the red polka dot to overlay on the image after it was colored. This image reminds me of Emily when she was little- all chubby legs and big cheeks!

The image and the layers were cut out on my Sizzix Big Shot with a variety of dies and the greeting was punched out using the Modern Label punch. I ran a basting stitch down the middle of the black striped ribbon to give it a gathered look, which I think works well with the patterned paper. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can get a similar look with red line tape.

The inside is finished with some matching DP and a strip of black punched with the Eyelet border punch. I left it blank so people could decide on another greeting inside, or leave it blank for their own message.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday morning!

Supplies:
Stamps: Greeting Card kids, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Love Letter DP
Ink: Staz-On Jet Black; Markers: Riding Hood Red, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom
Accessories: Eyelet border punch, Sizzix Big Shot, Modern Label punch, 1-1/4" black grosgrain ribbon, black rhinestones

Love Ewe...

 Happy weekend! I can actually say "happy" now that we are above freezing and the ice is melting-yay! It also means I could kick my housebound children out to swim team practice to work off their pent-up energy and I can have a few moments of peace and quiet!

I started this card last weekend, but somehow the week got away from me and I had trouble fitting the image into a sketch and putting all the pieces together until today. I finally decided to use last week's Sweet Sunday sketch, stretched into a square to make it work for my image.

I used an image from my favorite illustrator, Zlatoena, called "Sheepish Love"- so adorable! I colored minimally with Copics and added some glitter to their hearts to give them a bit of sparkle. The image was layered onto Kraft card stock, then onto an eyelet square cut from Riding Hood Red CS, with some small pearls as accents.

The card base is a 5.75" square layered with Riding Hood Red and papers from MME's "Be Loved" set, stitched together around the edges on my sewing machine. I used some of the fun new Baker's twine I bought on Etsy recently to tie on a button from SU's "Deck the Halls" Collection. The greeting was generated in Photoshop, cut out with a Labels 14 nested die and sponged with Blush Blossom ink with the die in place to leave a white edge.

The inside was also finished with a Photoshop generated greeting and matching papers. I was talking to my brother and sewing-not a good thing to attempt, obviously as my top seam was crooked-lol! A scalloped edge to the rescue and it hides my mess up- there are no mistakes in stamping, just opportunities for embellishment! This will probably be hubby's V-Day card this year:))

Hope you're enjoying your day- I definitely have to get out of the house today before I go completely bonkers!

Have a good one~

 




Supplies:
Stamps: "Sheepish Love"- Zlatoena
Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, MME-"Be Loved"
Ink: Blush Blossom
Accessories: SU: Sizzix machine, dimensionals, "Deck the Halls" big buttons, Basic Pearls; Nested dies, scallop edge die (MFT), "Sugar Coating" glitter, Baker's twine, sewing machine

Scoops of love...

Brrr! It was a chilly 21 degrees this morning in Houston- definitely a bit lower than I've seen in a few years! We're supposed to get a few more days of this freeze and perhaps some sleet/snow by Friday. My kids are praying so hard for a snow day-lol!

Today I have another digi stamp card to share with you- this time from the Stamping Boutique. When I saw this sweet scoop full of hearts, I fell in love!

I printed the image on Whisper White card stock and colored it with Copics. I added some shine by overlaying the red hearts and bow with Crystal Effects glue and some glitter to the pink hearts with a Spica glitter pen- the shine is so much better IRL! After the image dried overnight (key to success- don't cheat!), it was cut out using the Labels 15 nested dies on my Sizzix machine.

The base card is a 5.75" square (my favorite size!), layered with some retired SU designer papers from the "Night & Day" and "Sending Love" collections. I pinked the edges of the white layer with the Pinking Hearts punch border punch and added some really cool black ribbon and rhinestones to temper all the red. The greeting was computer generated and punched out with the Modern Label punch.

 

The inside was finished with some matching DP and a computer generated greeting cut out with nested heart dies. This card will probably go to my little 8 year-old son- he deserves scoops of love!

Keep warm!