A BOOK OF BIRTHDAY WISHES

Well, I have done terrible in my attempt to get back into posting some of my creations.  I really do plan to change that this time.  Not being on a design team has  given me lots of time to spend on creating and altering without deadlines.  This has been fun, but also negative in the aspect of never taking the time to post some of the items I have been working on.  So,  fellow card makers, tonight I will start a run of sharing a project I have been working on recently....a book of Birthday wishes.  This book was given as a 50th birthday to my very very special sister-in-law who introduced me to stamping a very long time ago.  When she turned 40, I made her 40 minature birthday cards and had such fun doing it....a box of birthday wishes.  Seven years later, I turned 50 and guess what!!  She made me 50 little birthday cards!  I was overwhelmed, and looked at them over and over, and still have them out in my stamping area to look at.  Well, she recently turned 50, and I could not let the tradition die could I?  So I set about to make her a book of 50 birthday wishes that she could keep in her stamping room to have for inspiration and to remember how very much she means to me.  You see....I was never blessed with a sister, but when my younger brother brought Dorena into our lives, he gave me my sister.  She is so very wonderful!  Thank you Cary! :)  Love you Dorena!
This past weekend she came to visit, bringing my Mother with her, and we had a girls weekend.  I gave her the book, and she gave me permission to share it with all my blog buddies.  So,....here we go.  I will start with the front and back cover.  I purchased a photo book from Michaels knowing it would not hold all 50 cards, but as I started completing it, I added a few extra pages as needed into the center using score tape, until I had all 50 cards in the book.  I decided to use it as a "standing book" of sorts since it was not going to close.  This is what it looks like standing up and open.

The pages fanned out in the back keep it standing upright.  Kind of an odd way to do it I know, but it worked out OK IRL.  I am thinking I will share a couple cards a day from the book until I have shown most of them.  Please remember, I was making 50 cards, so I kept them very clean and simple with very few embellishments since they were going into the book.  Many of the cards I got idea layouts from the vast number of blogs and talented people out there...just altering them my way.  Many I just was at my desk and started playing. Here are the first two cards in the book.

The first one I cased off the cover a Cards magazine so cannot take credit fore the idea there, but LOVED the doily and butterfly idea.  The second one was done after seeing many cards out there combining the bird punch and branch.  I also used the bitty flower punch from SU, but cut little lines toward the center of each flower on each petal to change it up a bit and add dimension.
So, that is the first two cards!  Stay tuned occasionally as I post more CAS birthday wishes.  Hope you all have a wonderful day and have a little time to do something creative!
God Bless..............Tammie

APOTHECARY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY FRIDAY!!  Hope everyone is off to a great start to a fabulous weekend.  I have company coming in a few hours, but here I am....not cleaning but stamping and blogging!  Oh Well...I will finish everything that needs getting done, but just in a nick of time.  :)  It is so much more fun to create than to clean! 
I had a birthday card that I needed to make and mail today...talk about in a nick of time....BUT,  I just got the Apothecary Art set from my Stampin Up order last night.  So, I got up a bit earlier today to try to get it all done.
The card is for my Wonderful Wonderful Mother, who I love and appreciate so very much.  I wanted the card to be pretty and special like her.   This is what I came up with.

I really love this set.  I stamped the image in Island Indigo, and cut it out and  framed it with the new frameabilities from SU.  I also used the new edgelit and emboslit that matches, and the stamp that matches the edgelit.  The card front is Pool Party, and the base again Island Indigo.  I love these two colors together!  I watercolored the flowers very lightly with pool part as well to try to tie it all together.  I just thought I would share it before I mail it off. 

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!  

TAMMIE

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Happy Valentines Day to all you....My blogger friends!   I have a very old Hero Arts stamp that says  "Friends are Gifts of the Heart".   That is how I feel today......all of my friends mean alot to me, and are a gift.   So today.....Happy Valentines Day to all of you!   Bless you and thank you for all the inspiration and encouragement you have sent my way.
I want to share a couple quick Valentines dedicated to all of my friends, family and stamping buddies!

This is a card that I started at a recent stamp camp {thanks Penny for the inspiration and supplies}.  I had a few things I wanted to add at home, so finished it here with more thought, additions and buttons.  I love the finished product of SU layered hearts from the embosslits and framelits...also the favorite color combo that you have seen in the SU catalog alot this season....Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral,.....all the pretty In Colors all mixed together.....they work don't they?   There are also tiny hearts here and  there from Everyday Enchantment Designer series Paper that coordinates.   Makes it all easy!  Anyhow, this is how my  finished product turned out, and  just wanted to share the fun.....how about circles?.....Butterflys?  Flowers?....you get the idea....GREAT use of scraps.

I have one other card that I cased from a blog  I saw,  that I changed up a bit....I feel bad I cannot remember exactly where I saw it....but, I liked how they used the SU hearts punch at the bottom of thre card.  I used a Minds eye DSP 6x6 pack called "LOVE ME".  Another CAS card that uses up scraps that could be adapted to another Holiday....here it is:

Any color combo of coordinating papers work.....it is kind of like quilting in a way and picking out fabrics that are fun together.

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!  Godd Bless you all!                Tammie

Sweet Sunday Sketch 152

Happy Sunday blogger friends.   While hopping around the blog world today I checked out the Sweet Sunday Sketch, and just loved the sketch!  I knew immediately I wanted to play along, but finding the time was a little trickier.  I also knew right away what I had in mind for the sketch.  Here is the sketch:

Here is what I did with the sketch:

The inside and outside

I used all SU products.   The DP is the new Everyday Enchantment Series Paper.  The color of CS for the base of the card is Lucky Limeade.  The sentiments also SU were stamped in versamark ink and embossed with white EP..as were the butterflies.  The butterflies were punched out with SU butterfly punch. 
I really enjoyed putting this together....love the colors SU has this season!!
This post will be short.....family just arrived.....hope you all have a wonderful wonderful week!

God Bless.........................Tammie

BACK TO BLOG LAND!!

Its a cold blustery snowy day here in South Dakota.  I am kind of enjoying it though.  I got off work early, so decided to use a little extra time to see if I could get my new computer set up enough to do a post.   I have missed posting to my blog!  My faithful computer that I had for years that I knew inside and out went kaput a few months back and I have just not gotten up to speed on my new one.  My goal this month is to work on getting to know her.  (I think she is a she)

I have been creating some, just not posting anything.  A fellow stamper (Susan, you know I mean you) encouraged me last weekend to get with it.  So, Susan, I am finally going to post something today!

I have been having SOOO much fun with some of the products from Stampin Ups new mini catalog!  I love everything in it!  I ordered the Mixed Bunch set and the punch that went with it as one of my purchases.  I thought today I would share a set of cards that I made using that set.

I also purchased the Color Coach cards for the new In Colors and used them to put together these color combos....combos I never would have used otherwise!   I had so much fun, and loved every combo.  Here is a close up of one of the cards.

This one used Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo.   I used a cuttlebug embossing border folder to emboss the Lucky Limeade strip.  The whole card is very very quick, making it perfect to make many of and put together as a gift set.

I hope to continue to post all the creations I make as I play with my new products.  Susan....thanks for the encouragement....hope you like the cards!

God Bless!     Tammie

Inspiration Showcase Finishesd Canvas

Well....I know I said I would try to share some of my creations using the techniques in Jennifer McGuire's on-line class I have been taking.  I did not get any posts done...sorry....I was busy enough just getting the canvas completed  Now with that complete I can hopefully have more time to make cards using some of her wonderful ideas.
I do have my canvas completed however, and can share that with you....This was SOOO much fun to do.  Each tile is a different technique.....

Isn't it fun?   Now I can hang this in my Stamping area for instant inspiration.....LOVE IT!  This class was truly a fun thing for me to do...it has gotten my creative juices flowing and all I think about is wanting to be stamping and creating.  Never enough hours in the day to play!

Hope your weekend is a wonderful one!      God Bless......Tammie

Inspiration Showcase Day One Card Sample

Good evening fellow bloggers.....I have not posted anything for over a month I know, but I was overwhelmed with last minute wedding details for my sons wedding.  The wedding was over last weekend and was a beautiful affair.   I  now officially have the most awesome daughter-in-law!   This is especially exciting for me as I never had any daughters of my own, only sons....no sisters either!  So....Another female has been long overdue.  WELCOME Becky to our family!!  I plan to post some pics of the invites and favors we did for the wedding later this month.

With the wedding over and my design team term with Skipping Stones Design completed in August also I was looking for a new project and found it!!  A wonderful on-line class from the fabulous Jennifer Maquire.  It is a technique class and I will hopefully have time to not only get the technique projects done, but also post some of the creations I try as I go. 
The first day was 5 different resist techniques.  This is the card I created using one of the resist tips:

I first stamped the text in black ink on while CS,  then the leaf background stamp over it in versamark ink, embossing it with clear embossing powder.  I then sponged the background in with distress inks and this is the magic that happened!  Fun! 

I am going to keep playing and hopefully will share a creation from Day 2 later this week.

Have a wonderful week!