And More Summer Cards...

Sometimes a card is needed "just because".  So these two cards, each very different, were created just because I wanted to say, "I care..."

This anchor is from Miss Kate's Cuttables.  Her daily freebies are great.

You can see the intricacy of the rope cut in this design - it is so thin yet cut perfectly.

The first card is all about encouragement.  "Hope Anchors the Soul".  I love that saying and it is so true.  Without hope, what do we really have?  With hope, we have the grounding to move on  - the anchor we all need during difficult times in our lives.

I kept this card simple because I wanted the message to be

the focal point.  I just added simple silver brads, cut off, to give it

a bit of interest and texture.

This is for a family member who has been heroically fighting a battle against cancer and she is winning battle after battle. I  have no doubt she will be victorious in this war and I just wanted to remind her that there are a lot of us hoping and praying for her and her family.  She has been an inspiration to all of us.

----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----

Have you been tempted to try any of the fascinating and intricate coloring books for adults that are dominating the craft world?   I know they pop up on my Amazon recommended list weekly and I have been intrigued, but have resisted..  I think I am waiting for the "perfect" time and have been feeling a little funny about coloring at my age!  Oh, I have been so wrong to not dive right in!  The coloring cards and panels made by Gina K Designs totally changed my mind and I am SO glad!.  They come in a set of 10 - 5 different patterns, so you have 2 of each design.  They are laser printed so you can foil them and/or color them with any medium you choose.  I chose this one and I cannot tell you how much enjoyment I received from just taking my time and coloring.

  I used the Spectrum Noir markers and found it totally relaxing and addicting.  I didn't have any idea what colors I wanted to use - I just knew I wanted it to be bright and cheery and I think I achieved that.  I just love this.  I highlighted some of the black detail with a crystal gel pen to give it a little shimmer in the light, and backed the card panel with complementary colors (Paper Temptress Mica card stock of course!)  I honestly cannot wait to do another one.

If you like this design, you can see more of Gina K and

her creativity here.

With all of the line art on the internet, it would not be difficult to make your own, but I love the way Gina K put all of the artsy elements together.  I hope my dear friend felt the love that went into this card.  I hope it made her feel special.

That's it for now. I still have a couple of birthday cards to make before the month is over - phew! 

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A Special Card

A beautiful young woman who is close to my family is going through a very challenging time in her life.  She is in a daily battle with cancer and it has reminded all of us just how quickly life can turn upside down.  Each day is a gift and we truly have no guarantees.

I wanted to make her a card to let her know I am thinking of her. She loves the ocean and all things nautical, so I tried to combine the two in this card.  I hope she likes it and feels loved because she certainly is.

A well made design like this one will give you two cards with one cut - love it!

The design is from one of my early favorites - Dominic of Crafty Vectors.  He has created a beautiful shell collection and this is just one of them.  One of the many reasons I love his designs is that I can get two cards out of one.  I used the main design for this card, and cut out a piece of double sided adhesive for the negative piece so I can use it for another card later.

Saving this shell, now covered with adhesive, for another day.

I used the MISTI to get the sentiment in the perfect spot.  Thanks to how

easy it is to align things with this tool,

I am no longer hesitant to stamp directly on a finished card.

I used the Stampendous texture stamp to create a mottled effect on the frame around the shell and give it a little dimension.  I love the detail in the shell and hope it helped her feel a little of the magic and calm of the ocean.

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He CAN'T be FORTY!!!!

Today my oldest son, Scott,  is FORTY YEARS OLD.  How can that be??  If I am not getting older, how can he??

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with his wife, adorable new son, and his brother, Robert.  It was a fun time sharing dinner and just good family time together.

I made beef stroganoff in the pressure cooker (my Instant Pot - love it!), noodles, grilled asparagus, croissants and homemade cheesecake ice cream and homemade lemon cookie gelato. (see the photo below!)  I had not made stroganoff in ages, but it was fun to experiment and it was an unusually cool day here so it was perfect weather for that kind of a meal... (stroganoff recipe to follow soon!)

In lieu of birthday cake, I made lemon cookie gelato.

Scott said it was the best gelato ever - even the ones he had in Italy!

Made my night <<BIG smile!>>

The birthday card file is from Dominc (Crafty Vectors) and I so love how his files cut. The shell is pretty symbolic to both of us - my parents lived fairly close to the beach and my children spend a lot of time at their home when they were young.  And I have been longing for more time at the ocean lately, so it seemed like the perfect image to share with Scott. He loved the card.

Dominic's shell file - love the intricacy of it...

The file with two different backgrounds to give it a finished look...

But more important than all of that is thinking back to forty years ago and as trite as it sounds, it does seem like yesterday.  Scott was my first child and I was practically a child when I had him  (very early 20s). I always say he turned out well in spite of me.  I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but the one thing that was always constant was my love for him.  And forty years later, it is only stronger.  I am so very proud of the man that he has become. And watching him with his wife and baby son just makes my heart skip a beat! He is really living the life he is meant to live and isn't that what we want for our children... for them to be happy and content and fulfilled?

One of the highlights was capturing Scott and Carter having quite the conversation!  This looks like contentment to me...

Scott didn't change his position much, but Carter was certainly animated...

I  feel very blessed and look forward to the adventures we have ahead of us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY , DEAR SCOTT!!

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Another Positive-Negative Card Experiment AND foiling - oh my!

I needed some inspiration so returned to my favorite files from Dominic to create two cards from one - I so love that technique and it's fun to see what I can do to make them different!

I chose the calendula flower as I love the detail and it lends itself to the reds,oranges and golds of the season. I used the Sparkle paper from Paper Temptress this time and it handled these files perfectly. So thrilled with the results.

The top image is what I refer to as the positive; the bottom is the negative

A closer look...positive...

And negative...

The negative again backed with double sided adhesive - ready for a deluge of glitter!

And the designs begin to shape up and take on their own character...

Once I backed the original image on the card base (Felt Grandee from Paper Temptress) I decided it needed a little more.  So, for an added twist, I used Dominic's butterflies file (there are all sorts of silhouettes of butterflies and an additional four with beautiful wing patterns) and foiled one on acetate and cut it out.  Yes I am really loving the foiled laser transparency of late - it looks great and gives such a nice embellishment to any card. Have lots of fun ideas running through my head of things to try - if I can just remember when the time comes!

The second card (negative) card is backed in the Mica card stock from Paper Temptress and utilizes a polished stone technique with alcohol reinkers to get a mottled colorful background on glossy paper.

Dominic's files cut seamlessly on the Silver Bullet Professional.  And I hope this tempts you to try foiling laser transparencies.  It really is addicting!

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More Card Foiling on Transparencies - ADDICTING!!

Yes I am addicted - seriously addicted to foiling on transparencies, foiling in general, and print and cut.  I honestly haven't had this much fun making cards in a long time and I feel it has opened up a whole new world for me.

Before I get on with the details of the card, I have to say that I am literally blown away with the detailed print and cut that I can get with SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot). I was really timid about foiling the butterfly first and then cutting it out and even toyed with the idea of filling it all in with foil and then cutting out the detail. But as you will see, I did it the way I was supposed to and the accuracy of the software coupled with the precision of the cutter was just downright amazing.

My inspiration came from Dominic (Crafty Vectors) and his butterflies file (there are many fluttering delights to choose from) .  Playing with this one gave me all sorts of ideas for future cards - so this will not be the end of spotlighting Dominic and his talents.  I am such a fan.

I started by taking one of the beautiful butterflies, created several shadows, and welded one of the shadows to a frame.  I then printed the detailed silhouette of the butterfly on a laser transparency so I could foil and then cut it out - all using the print and cut method in SCAL.  I really was afraid that the detail would not be captured.  I just didn't think the cut could possibly be accurate enough, especially on the transparency using multi cuts - but it was!!  I was so excited to see the idea come go life.

The file laser printed on transparency

The foiled print and cut

All cut  out perfectly...

Once the foiled focal point was cut, it was just a matter of cutting out the other parts from Paper Temptress and assembling using papers from the Sparkle, Mica and Incandescent lines.
The greeting tag was also a print and cut using a reconfigured nesting shapelie from Penny Duncan Creations and the words were foiled in the same lilac as the butterfly.  The font is one of my favorites thanks to my dear friend Ducky of Ducky's Designs.  She introduced me to that font several years ago and I love the elegance of it.

Foiled greeting on Mica paper

This will definitely not be the last time foiling or acetate will be part of my cards... I really do think I am addicted and can hardly wait to develop the next idea!

 

I really love this card and hope you do too.  Hope you will try adding transparencies to your cards!

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