Bragging time....

OK, it's time to brag on my two wonderful grandchildren.  You will just have to bear with me!  Dillon is 14 and Jessica is 11.  I'm so proud that they both are wonderful Christians and love their church and activities there.  They have both been on mission trips with their church this summer and both are really high from their trips.  Dillon went to New York City and his group won 293 or more people to Christ.  Dillon personally knows he led 10 or so and what a great feeling!

Jessica and her mother recently returned from Alaska, where they worked with the native Alaskans during the salmon run.  They were very busy and very gratified with their work with the Alaskan people.  And they got to see some beautiful countryside, too.

While Jessica and her mother were gone, Dillon and his grandfather went camping, so I decided to make him a camping card using the new The Great Outdoors stamp set--just to welcome him back home.  Here is his card.  I used retired designer paper to paper piece the folding chair and tent.  I colored in the campfire, and added just a smudge of color to the sky and ground.  I hope Dillon liked his card!

 Jessica has cats at home and I know she missed them while away.  So I made her this Hello Kitty card, which I cased from one I saw on Pinterest.  (I wish I had captured the name of the original creator.)  I know Jessica liked it--and getting back to her kitties!

Thanks for allowing me to brag!  I just wish I got to see my grandchildren more often, but try to stay in touch with cards occasionally.
Smiles, Laura

Christmas cards already....

Yes, it's hard to believe it is time to start thinking about making Christmas cards, but if you have a lot to send, now is the time to start making them.  I try to teach one Christmas card a month in my July - Sept. classes, to start giving my ladies ideas.

Here is a card we made this month.  It used Cherry Cobbler and the new Gumball Green colors.  The designer paper is from the Be of Good Cheer series.  

I stamped the flowers from the Christmas Blessing set using Gumball Green ink and then colored in the flower itself using Cherry Cobbler.   The sentiment from that same set.  It is stamped in the Cherry Cobbler ink.

I added shots of this twice because one is brighter, but without the glitter on the flower.

 

 After the flower dried, I decided to add some sparkle using the Cherry Cobbler and Dazzling Details  Glitter Adhesive. Doesn't it give the flower and its center a nice look.  You cannot see it too well in this picture, but I also dotted some of the Cherry glitter on the "sparkles" that are printed on the designer paper.

The ribbon I added is the new 3/8" stitched satin ribbon.  I LOVE how it lays down so well and adds so much to a card.

Oh, and the shape I used on the front for the designer paper and its backing is one I just cut freehand.

I hope this inspires you to get started on YOUR Christmas cards!!
Come again soon.  Smiles, Laura

So sorry, again...

I don't know what happened to my blog but today it sent out an OLD entry from Easter to those who receive my blog in their inboxes. Sorry to fill up your inbox with that. And it wasn't even a card entry. Ha! I hope the blog gets back to normal by tomorrow! Thanks for bearing with me...
Smiles, Laura

So Sorry....

I made this card the other day for a some friends who recently lost their dog.  I was sending a donation to the local animal shelter in his memory and wanted to let the family know.  Sorry I didn't have a dog stamp handy but I hope this one conveyed my sympathy.

The card is Calypso Coral with Lucky Limeade behind the designer paper, which is from the Floral District set.  What a versatile family of designer paper that is!  I stamped the flowers from the Summer Silhouettes set--I love how you can 2-step stamp, so the stem and flowers can be different colors very quickly.  The sentiment is from the So Sorry set, of course.

My class also made this card recently and they really liked it.  I hope you do, too!
Smiles, Laura

Pinwheels are HUGE.....

Right now I'm seeing pinwheels everywhere.  I even decorated a gift I took to a recent wedding shower with a large pinwheel I made.  So for a challenge I hosted recently, I decided we'd have pinwheels as the challenge topic.  

For these pinwheels, I cut 2" squares of designer paper.  From each of the 4 corners, I cut almost to the center, but NOT to the center.  I'd say I left 1/2" in the center between the two corner cuts.  Then I folded into the center the left-hand corner of each of the 4 sides and glued them down with a glue dot.

I added a button in the center of each pinwheel.  I put a Daffodil Delight "stick" on the card to glue the pinwheels to.

I was pleased with how these turned out.  Of course I had to "build" a 3D "envelope" box to mail them in, but I wanted them to arrive un-creased.

Thanks for stopping by!  Smiles, Laura

Did you notice my new blog banner?  My wonderful friend Regina Andari designed it for me using the Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio program.  I LOVE it!! It was so sweet of her to do this for me.  I hope to one day be proficient in MDS myself, so I can make my own blog headings.  Just need time to play around with the program; Regina tells me it is very simple.

I just purchased more "memory" for my pictures on my blog, so that should make it easier for me to add pictures.

Well, no new card sample today, but I did want to publicly thank Regina for the heading!!  Love it!!!
Smiles, Laura

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's 92nd birthday and my sisters and our husbands celebrated with him yesterday.  Rather than cake, we opted for my sister's delicious Nutty Chocolate Delight, which is cool and summery.  Here is my dad with the candle numbers 9 and 2 on this "cake".  Doesn't he look GREAT!! He's in wonderful shape for his age!!

 Here's Dad singing, "Happy Birthday to me" with us!  He sure seemed to enjoy the day!

 So you ask, "what kind of card did I make him?"  Well, this is a layout I shared in my last entry--a box card.  But I put these cute little owls on it.  These owls are on designer paper that just retired, but I thought it looked masculine and wanted to use it!  I cut out the owls to use.  Here is the front of the card.

 Here's how it looks when you open up the card.  I used the SU Labels Collection Framelits to cut out the opening in the inside (and for the front).  Since we were getting together on Sunday, a day early, I used the "lets party all week" stamp for the inside.

 Here is the end of the card, so you can see how the "box" stands up when you open the card.  It lays flat for mailing.  See my early June entry for the "how-tos" on this card.

I apologize for being away from my blog for so long!  It's been a busy summer so far.  I did go on a week-long trip with Dad to Key West and enjoyed that.  And then I came home with pneumonia (we both did) so it took me awhile to recover.  I hope to post more frequently now!

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog!  Smiles, Laura