San Antonio Sunshine

I spent last week visiting a friend in San Antonio whom I had not seen in 13 years.  It is amazing to me how true friends can pick up right were they left off like no time has passed.  It was so fun to catch up on each other's lives and share our interests with each other.  I showed her how to make cards and she showed me how to make this gorgeous bracelet.  I made this card for her to brighten her days and to remind her who she can count on ALWAYS.  This is also for the Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge- to include clouds or sunshine on the card.  The card base is Primrose.  I scored Whisper White and then sponged with So Saffron, Marigold Morning, Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie to create my sunshine.  The flowers are hand made out of So Saffron and the sentiment is stamped on designer series paper and backed with a Crumb Cake mat embossed with the Victorian ef and cut with a spellbinder.  The sentiment is from ODBD. 

We went all out enjoying some of our favorite San Antonio restaurants- Rudy's BBQ, Magnolia Pancake House and Longhorn's for the best burgers ever, to name a few.  If you ever get a chance to visit San Antonio, don't miss the Natural Bridge Bridge Wild Life Ranch.  Anyone who doesn't  laugh going through the place must not be amongst the living!  This zebra loved being hand fed!  I think he needs a dentist, don't you?!!

I leave you with a picture of my girlfriend's Yorkie.  I am not a fan of little dogs, but this girl stole my heart.  She is a sweetie and the Queen of the Pillows!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog.  Have a blessed week!

Lee Ann :)

A Little Paper and a Fresh Sketch

I had to step back from the Christmas cards for awhile and get back to all things summery and bright and the colors at The Paper Players fit the bill.  I also liked the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week, so used it. 

As you can see, I flipped the sketch.  I got to play with another new stamp set, Serene Silhouettes.

Supplies used to make this card include-

Stamps-Serene Silhouettes, Trendy Trees

Paper-Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, polka dot dsp

Ink-Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade

Other-Polka Dot ef, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Simply Scored

I used a Chocolate Chip marker to color the tree trunk and the sky is sponged with Daffodil  Delight. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and have a wonderful rest of the week!

Lee Ann :)

Trying a Little Primrose

Happy Wednesday to all!  Are you thinking Christmas cards already?  I am, for about a month now as I had no time for them last year since I procrastinated.  Today I combined new and old to come up with a nontraditional Christmas card.

To make this card I used-

Stamps- Everything Eleanor (new) and Word Play (old)

Paper-Whisper White, Early Espresso, Brushed Gold

Ink-Early Espresso, Versamark and Primrose Pink (new)

Other- Holiday Frame ef (new), Apothecary Framelits die ( sort of new), extra large oval punch, gold ep, dimensionals

Most of these items are very versatile and can be used in multiple ways. Everything Eleanor is not a Christmas set but this label stamp works very well on a Christmas card.  And  even though the embossing frame is a Christmas item, it can be used on non-Christmas cards.  Hope you like my design!

  

Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a blessed day!

Lee Ann

Wednesday, 2:20pm
Back again with the second Christmas card of the day, and again using a stamp  that is not designated "Christmas".  This card is also for the MOJO Monday sketch challenge.

This card uses the new Quint-essentials Flower stamp from Stampin' Up and their new Christmas paper, Snow Festival.  I have also used Gumball green paper and ink, Whisper White paper, Cherry Cobbler ink, Baja Breeze ink, Soft Suede ink, Baja Breeze seam binding, Cherry Cobbler Baker's twine, circle punches, both of Stampin' Up's scalloped circle punches, and Stampin' Up's new faceted buttons.
Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann

It's Like Christmas!

It's a great day when you receive your Stampin' Up order in the mail, with all the new Christmas goodies!  I am enjoying all of it, but the first new stamp I wanted to play with is the new Ornaments Keepsakes set with matching Framelits Dies.  I am loving this set!

Isn't this fun??!!  And really simple, too.  I suppose I could have gotten more elaborate, but I thought the embossed ornament and the new Holiday Embossing Frame packed enough of a punch. 
So, this card was made on a Cherry Cobbler base with a Whisper White mat, followed by a second Whisper White mat that was embossed with the Holiday frame.  Now for the fun!  Then I stamped one of the new ornaments from the Ornament Keepsakes set in Versamark and Cherry Cobbler and embossed it with clear ep.  I restamped the top of the ornament in Versamark and embossed it with gold ep.  Both were cut out with the new, matching  Framelit die.  I cut a second ornament framelit in white and adhered it to the back of the Cherry Cobbler embossed ornament just to give it a little more support.  The ornament was pieced together (gold hanger to ornament) and was popped up on the embossed frame layer.  I added a White Baker's Twine loop with a Jewelry tag punch stamped with the Tiny Tags stamp-"merry".  A Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding bow finishes it off. 
There you go-not hard at all!  The Framelits do all the work. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a fabulous week!

Lee Ann

It's 9:00pm and still stamping, this time with a set I have been itching to get my hands on- Everything Eleanor.  No, I really don't know how they came up with the name.  But I LOVE this set; here is my first card with it.

I started out making this a Rose Red flower; I colored it with a blender pen and reinker.  I did not like how it looked, stamped another flower and did not like it either.  It really shouldn't take very long to color one small flower!  Anyway, I went back to my Rose Red flower and colored the "shaded" areas with a Tangerine Tango marker and then went over the whole flower with a Daffodil Delight marker.  The stamens are in More Mustard.  I went a very round about way to get this color, but I love how it turned out.  The background flowers were stamped using the masking technique.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann :)

Vintage Christmas

The challenge at Splitcoast Stampers today is to use tissue paper on your card.  This seemed very challenging until I thought to try it as a fan behind my image.  I had been wanting to try the fan embellishment anyway, so I gave it a go on this vintage Christmas card.

What do you think?  I think I like the fan, but I would skip the Flower Soft on the hat and coat trim.

To make this card I used:

Stamps-Curly Cute, Greeting Card Kids, Mixed Bunch

Paper-Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Naturals White, Early Espresso, Twitterpated dsp

Ink- Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, distressing ink

Other-tissue paper, dimensionals, Flower Soft

The tissue paper is stamped with a blossom from Mixed Bunch in Early Espresso and then the entire surface is sponged with distressing ink.  I then gathered it into a fan shape and adhered it to the card with the inked side down.  The paper is thin enough that the ink comes through and I just wanted a hint of the distressed ink, so turned it "facedown".

Thanks for stopping by; happy crafting!

Lee Ann

Happy 4th of July!

Today we celebrate America's birthday and I am so grateful to call America my home.  I am thankful for our founding fathers who understood freedom and fought for it.  I am also grateful for those today who continue to fight for our freedom, which we often take for granted.
Very often America is associated with baseball, hotdogs, and apple pie.  When I think of America I think back to earlier times in our history when life was much less complicated- technology was limited to the radio and black and white T.V.  People actually still cooked meals!  My card today reminds me of that era- when grandmother baked in her kitchen or shelled peas on the porch.  So my card is titled "Grandma's Kitchen"-

This card is for the sketch challenge at Mojo Monday this week.

As you can see, I flipped the sketch to accommodate my image.

What I used to create this card include-

Stamps-Button Buddies, Teeny Tiny Tags

Paper- Real Red, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Grandma's Attic dsp, Beau Chateau dsp

Ink- Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Stazon Black

Other- Apothocary Framelits, Paper Piercing templates, Daffodil Delight ribbon, Bright Buttons, Scalloped edge punch, Jewelry tag punch, white baker's twine

All supplies are Stampin' Up.  

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog.  Have a blessed day!

Lee Ann :)

Coral Flakes

Well, I didn't think I was going to squeeze in any stamping today, but Woo Hoo!  Lucky me, I tried the Color Challenge at Splitcoast today.  The colors are Calypso Coral, Whisper White, and Crumb Cake.  Super color combo! However, I was lacking in craft mojo today, so I took the easy way out and went with a basic layout- a random, all over snowflake pattern.

I used a Verve set, Glad Tidings, and the matching snowflake dies for this card.  The large flakes are stamped in Versamark and embossed in white on the Crumb Cake cardstock.  Smaller flakes are stamped in Versamark and  Cameo Coral(instead of Calypso Coral) on Whispering White and then clear embossed. The Cameo Coral flakes were die cut and adhered to the panel with dimensionals.  The panel is popped up on dimensionals on the Crumb Cake card base.  I added a sentiment from Stampin' Up's Teeny Tiny Wishes, an organza ribbon and pearls to finish the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful, patriotic 4th!

Lee Ann

This and That

Hello Everyone- I hope you are all staying cool!  These hot summer days are sure great excuses to stay inside and craft!  Today I am posting a few cards that I have made over the last few days and, as I am determined to have a good selection of Christmas cards this year, two of these are just that, Christmas cards.

This card was made with the good old dependable, Lovely as a Tree set and is stamped in Cameo Coral (sadly, retired) and then overstamped and slightly offset with Versamark and clear embossing powder, plus a little white embossing powder sprinkled here and there.  The card base and panels are all Naturals White and are scored with the Simply Scored.  Pearls and ribbon finish off the card.

Green Christmas was made for a Featured Stamper challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  I used the retired Tag Time set (tree) and Tiny Tags for this card.  Papers are Very Vanilla, Gumball Green and Crumb Cake. There is a bit of Newsprint dsp on the edge of the raised panel.  A small flourish is stamped in versamark behind the tree and nicely mimics the flourished embossing folder (Victorian folder by Stampin' Up).

This Thank You was made for a Clean and Simple Color challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  The design is timeless and yet the card is simple enough that I think I will mass produce this.  I never seem to have a Thank You card when I need it!  The flourishes are from Elements of Style and are stamped in old Olive.  The die cut is from the Apothecary Framelits and is in Night of Navy with a banner stamped with a Curly Cute sentiment in Basic Gray on top of it.  The raised panel is scored with the Simply Scored tool.

Lastly, I made this for a friend, just as a Thinking of You card.  I used a new stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs and brayered Vintage Violet, Marigold Morning, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and True Thyme on it.  My brayer work is a little rusty!  The oval frame is embossed with Polka Dots and raised up on dimensionals.
This card is for Stampin' Sisters in Christ card challenge this week-the challenge is to use something new-which in this case, is the stamp as well as the Our Daily Bread Designs challenge which is  "Anything Goes" as long as you use an ODBD stamp.   

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.  I hope your week is fantastic!

Lee Ann

Christmas Cardinal

I am so excited to have pre-ordered from the new Stampin' Up Holiday Mini!  There are so many things in this catalog that are "must haves"!  I ordered a new Christmas set and lots of new paper and embellishments.  In the meantime, I am continuing to make Christmas cards with sets on hand.

This cardinal is made with a set from Sweet N Sassy Stamps called "Christmas Joy".  I just love this cardinal; he is so fat!  This card is for this week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and for the challenge at The Paper Players, which is the theme of "Christmas in July". 

This is the sketch I followed.  I made some minor changes; my 2 background panels are not equal in width and my image panel is off center.

To make this card I used-

Stamps-sweet N Sassy's Christmas Joy

Paper-Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, River Rock, Old Olive, Naturals White and retired dsp

Ink-Stazon Black

Other-Aqua Painter; Reinkers in Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Real Red, Chocolate Chip and So Saffron, Large oval punch, dimenionals, Simply Scored tool, Crystal Snow glitter, ribbon

I hope you like the cardinal card.  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful remainder of the weekend!  Blessings-

Lee Ann