Razzleberry Hearts

Here is another sample from my January classes.  I used Rich Razzeberry for the card itself. and layered white that I had run through the Square Lattice embossing folder on top of that.  The heart are razzleberry and Pretty in Pink punched out with the Heart to Heart Punch.  Love that one!!

I stamped the string of hearts (close-up here) using the Valentine Defined stamp set.  Then I colored in the "empty" hearts with my Pretty in Pink marker.  I like how they look.  And you can see a close up of the "Love" sentiment.  I stamped it in razzleberry, layered it on razzleberry, and then punched a Scalloped Oval from the Pretty in Pink.
                                    
After I completed the card, I decided it would look better with two colors of the 1/8" ribbon around it, so with the razzleberry ribbon, I added the Pretty in Pink ribbon.  I like this look better.  And if I were making the card today, I'd also add a layer of Pretty in Pink behind the white.  You know you can NEVER have too many layers!  ha!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!!  Smiles, Laura

More calendars--May - August

I thought I'd share more of my decorated calendars with you today.  These are so much fun to use each month.  Here is May:  The stamps are from the Every Moment and Word Play stamp sets.

 This one is for June.  I am posting a close-up of it so you can see how I stamped the band for the hat on designer paper and cut it out.  It's called paper piecing.  Makes a nice band, doesn't it? 

 This is July.  I used this stamp set last July for my Dad's birthday celebration.  I love this one!!  The sentiment is from the Service and Sacrifice stamp set and it so describes my dad!

 And finally, here is August.  August is a "lazy cat" sort of time.  The stamp set is the Peace Within set. 

Hope these has inspired you.  Come back tomorrow and I'll share more stamping!! Smiles, Laura

You're in my thoughts, in my heart....

This month we made this easel card in class.  It was a hit, so I thought I'd share it with you.  The card is Real Red and is cut 4-1/4" x 8-1/2".  You score it at 4-1/4" and 2-1/8".  That makes the fold you will see in the second picture below.

You also cut a piece of red cardstock 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" to be the front of the card.  I layered designer paper from the Celebrations pack on that (cut 4"x4") and the freehand cut a white heart.  I ran it through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and layered it on the card on the right, letting it run off the card at the side and bottom and cut those off.  I put the sentiment from Word Play on a white piece and layered that on red cardstock.

Here is the side and inside view of the card.  I stamped a sentiment on the inside white piece of cardstock, and layered a red heart (punched out with our Large Heart punch).  Again, I let that heart go off the paper on the side and bottom to match the front heart.

You then glue the front to half of the folded front which forms the "easel".  This is a neat layout to stand on a table or on the food tray of a hospital patient.  Neat, huh?

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can make your own easel card.  Come back soon!! Smiles, Laura

Calendars...

Each year I decorate calendars like this (below) for my framily and friends.  My sisters have gotten so attached to having these little calendars that they start checking with me in October or so to be sure they are getting a set as a part of their Christmas gifts.  Each month's calendar is 3" x 5" and you put them in picture holders..You can either use the clear frame that has a magnet and attaches to a refrigerator or file cabinet, or you can use a free-standing clear picture holder.  I'm delighted that my sisters and friends like getting these.  But there is alot of coloring on them, so I usually start in the summer, working on the next year's.  This year I did 13 sets, but my friend Brenda did about 75 sets!! Wow!  Alot of work!!  Anyway, I thought I'd share the 2011 ones with you.  Some years I do sayings, some years scripture verses on them, etc.  I just try to use different stamps to make the new year different from previous years.  So here is January's:
                             
 Here is a close-up.

 Here is February.

Here is March.                                    

And here is April.

I'll share more with you on my next entry.  Thanks for stopping in!  Smiles, Laura

You are Awesome!

Here is a card I made the other day using a new In Color, Poppy Parade.  For some reson, I had not used this color yet this year and decided I wanted to use it.  Let me tell you, I LOVE this color--so much that I made three different Valentines that day using Poppy Parade.

For this one, I used Poppy for the card, then a layer of black cardstock and then a sheet of designer paper from the In Colors Patterns Paper Pack. 

I used the Designer Label punch, a coule of circle punches and then the small heart punch for this sentiment on this card.  The sentiment "You Are Awesome" is from the FYI stamp set.

For the three hearts near the bottom of the card, I punched a circle through the black cardstock, and then punched hearts from Poppy Parade to put in each circle and raised them up with a dimensional.

Thanks for stopping by today!!  Smiles, Laura

Amaryllsis....

I have had two amaryllis bulbs growing in my window over the holidays.  The first one opened and was absolutely gorgeous.  Here is a night shot of it.   Look at that color!!!  You can see the other bloom as just a bud behind it.

 Then here is a shot the next day.  It is called an Oskar. 

                      

Here is a shot of the other bulb's bloom with the sun shining through it.  It is a Star of Holland.

 It is a lighter in color, almost a salmon. 

Here they both are together.  I have enjoyed them so much.this year.  We have gotten some of our bulbs to bloom a second and even third year, but most don't seem to.  The blooms don't last too many days, but while they are blooming, I sure enjoy them.

Thanks for visiting today!! Smiles, Laura

Birds, birds, and more birds.....

I've been waiting to share my birds with you. Remember back in November I shared my cardinal made from a circle with the heart for its tail? Well, I decided I wanted to make some other birds. I think I also showed you the chickadee that I made for my husband's birthday card, and perhaps the little house sparrow I put on another card. Eight of us friends always celebrate each others' birthdays with a lunch together and the birthday girl gets to bring a gift for the others. I decided I'd make a lantern for each of the girls, each with a different bird on them. To insure that my birds were colored correctly, I checked out the website of bird photographer to be sure I got them all correct--or as correctly as you can with cardstock! Here are all my little completed lanterns. I wish I had turned all the lights on, but you get the idea. (Remember these have a little battery-powered "flame" in them.)   ( Editorial note:  I posted how to make the lantern in my November 21, 2010 entry.  The cardinal instructions were posted a day or so before that.)                     

                                

 Here is the Indigo Bunting.  He is sitting on some red oak leaves.

 This one is the Blue jay, also on some oak leaves, only rust and gold.

 This one is the Chickadee.

 Here is the Goldfinch.

 This one is the House sparrow.  (He might be a Carolina Wren, I'm not  sure, but I'm calling him a House Sparrow.)

 How do you like the Towhee?

 And here is the Cardinal again, with his light turned on.

 And finally here is the Bluebird.  Remember all were made with the round circle punch, with one edge sliced off flat.  I used the wing from the Two-Step Bird Punch and the tails are made using the Heart to Heart Punch.

Here below are the girls with their individual lanterns.  We had a great time at lunch and I hope they all liked their lanterns---they seemed to.

 

 I appreciate your stopping by my blog today.  I hope you love my birds! I do!!  Smiles, Laura

Be My Valentine....

Today I am sharing a card we are making at our January classes.   This one used the stamp, Be My Valentine.  It is one you can buy singularly, a refreshing way to get just one stamp that you like.  The card itself is Real Red.  I topped that with Whisper White that I had run through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

                           

I stamped the Be My Valentine stamp on white cardstock and cut it out.  I hope you can see it below that I punched three small hearts from the white cardstock so that the Red Glimmer cardstock shows through.

Love that Red Glimmer cardstock.  Then for the sample below, I decided to punch the hearts from Red Glimmer cardstock and glued them to the white cardstock.  So they are on top of rather than below the white.

Here is a close-up of those hearts. So you can make the card either way you want---I think both look fine!

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  I hope you are stamping and starting to plan for your Valentine cards!  Come back again soon!  Smiles, Laura

Happy Birthday wishes...

Today I'm sharing a card I made for my friend Joan.  Her birthday is tomorrow and she's leaving these cold mountains for a trip to the coast of SC.  They are cold there, too, but not like here.  Anyway, I wanted to get a card made and to her before she leave.  Here is her card:

I used the In Color Poppy Parade---my first time to use it and wow, I love it!!  Don't know why I've waited so long to use it before now.  I used DSP from the In Color Paper pack which is a Level 1 Hostess gift this year.  I punched the 1-3/4" circle from Basic Grey to put over the patterened piece and added a glimmer brad.

This sentiment (Birthday Wishes) is from Sincere Salutations that we've had for some time.  I punched it out with the Decorative Label punch and backed that with Basic Gray. The heart flowers are from the Valentine Definied set in the Occasions Mini.

I cut out the little butterfly using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and my Big Shot.

I hope Joan likes this card!  See you next time!  Smiles, Laura

My Banner Picture...

Do you like my new blog picture?  We've taken down Christmas decorations so my Christmas wreath came down.  I needed needed something to take us through January, so I made this wreath this week for our door.  It's very timely because the weather folks are predicting snow again tonight for us.  So the wreath is ideal.

 

 I share it with you because I cut the words and snowflakes using Stampin' Up! dies!  The snowflake and words are cut from white fun foam, so they stand the weather very well.  (My door in under a cover so it doesn't get blowing rain, but it does get dampness and cardstock would not hold up very well.  Fun foam is ideal!)  I cut the snowflakes with my Big Shot using the Snowflakes #2 die.  The words "Peace, Joy, Love and Cheer" I cut from the Join in the Cheer Strip die.   And that is what we wish for our guests in the new year---peace, joy, love and cheer.  (Of course the evergreen wreath and ribbon were  purchased locally.)

I added purple ribbon because I use purple in my house a lot and it's a "cold" weather color.  But Stampin' Up! has some great ribbons that would be nice on the wreath, too. 

While this "share" isn't stamping related, it is another way to use your stamping supplies/equipment.

Thanks for visiting today!!  Smiles, Laura

Happy New Year!!

We're back from holidays and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and great New Years celebrations.   We watched the new year come in with some close friends and it was a wonderful feeling to know that they are there for us and enjoying life with us!

I haven't been stamping for the last couple of weeks, but I do have a couple of shares today.  I made this card back in the fall.  It uses Stampin' Up! cardstock and stamps, but non-SU designer paper.  Still, I like the layout.  This first shot is sort of dark--can't figure out what was wrong with the camera setting.  But you can see it OK, I suppose.

                             

The center section is from the Cute by the Inch Level 1 Hostess set.    Here is a closeup of the center and the color is better on this one.

I decided this would make a great Valentines layout, too.  So here is another card made using SU designer paper from Sunny Garden.

I used the 1" and 1-1/4" square punches for these squares.  The overall card is 4-1/4" square.

Here is a close up of the heart.  You could also use "Valentine colors" on this one. 

I hope to have more to share with you later in the week.  I'm off to the stamp room to create now!  Glad you stopped in!!  Smiles, Laura