2011 April » Rainy Day Creations

Mother's Day Bliss

Apr 272011

Three Mother’s Day cards for three very special and wonderful mothers in my life. These will go to my mother-in-law, and my two daughter-in-laws.

Just a touch of sparkle on the flowers’ centers.

Love this beautiful and clean design. It fits these three women perfectly.

Happy Mother’s Day Lottie, Jenna and Kimberly!

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Stamps: SU SAB Bliss and Something to Celebrate

Papers: Papertrey Ink Select White; SU Taken With Teal, Pink Passion, Elegant Eggplant and Always Artichoke

Inks: SU Taken With Teal, Pink Passion, Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke and Summer Sun; Spica Marker 04 Orange

Accessories: Nestabilities Circle Die; Grosgrain Ribbon; SU Scalloped Eyelet Border Punch and 1″ Circle Punch

Happy Easter!

Apr 242011

Just a short post today to wish everyone a Happy Easter.

I had so much fun making this card using some of my favorite colors and embellishments and a cool new (to me) technique.

The background uses a napkin. This Little Birdie Secrets Tutorial shows how to adhered a napkin to cardstock to make a “Napkin Card”.

Hope everyone has a beautiful Easter!

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Stamps: SU Easter Blossoms and Greenhouse Garden

Papers: Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream and True Black; Debbie Mumm Climbing Cosmos Designer Collection Napkin

Inks: SU Basic Black, Regal Rose, Rose Red and Real Red; Copic

Accessories: Martha Stewart Vine Trim Punch; SU Fleurettes; Gingham Ribbon, Buttons, Saran Wrap

"So Green" Blog Candy Winner

Apr 222011

Earth Day 2011: A Billion Acts of Green®

Happy Earth Day! Thanks for playing along in my Blog Candy post for the SU “So Green” stamp set and acrylic block. There were some great ideas for recycling and reducing and repurposing!

I’ve just been over at random.org, and the winner is #19 Lisa E. :

“I’m trying harder to always take my bags to the grocery store. I cook most of our meals and we almost never do takeout so less styrofoam and other food containers. We have a compost bin for all the kitchen scraps. My husband is a fanatic about combining errands so he uses as little gas as possible – though it is more about $$$ than exhaust, I admit.”

I’ll be emailing you, Lisa, to get your snail mail addy. Congrats and Happy Crafting!!

Stampin Up "So Green" Blog Candy

Apr 172011

Earth Day 2011: A Billion Acts of Green®

This coming Friday is Earth Day, and in celebration I have a “So Green” stamp set and an acrylic gridded block to give away!

This is one of the new style of Stampin Up stamp sets with foam backing that sticks to a reusable acrylic block rather than having each stamp permanently mounted on its own wood block. The same acrylic block can be used over and over again since the stamps can be pulled off when you are finished stamping with them.

On this card I changed up the sentiment a little by stamping the three words in the sentiment individually.. one word for each tree.

To enter your name in the drawing, comment BELOW ON THIS POST. I would love for you to give an idea or two as to what you do to Reduce, Reuse and/or Recycle. Although it can, it doesn’t have to pertain to crafting necessarily. But it can be anything that you might do like turning off the water while brushing your teeth or using washable cloth rags for spills and cleaning instead of paper towels or… whatever… large or small. It all makes a difference. I want to learn from all of you and get some ideas as to how I can be a better steward of this beautiful world that God created for us.

I will announce the winner on Friday, April 22 (Earth Day!). (Will use random.org Thursday midnight to draw a winner.)

Good Luck!

THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED FOR COMMENTS.

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All products used on this card are from Stampin Up.

Stamps: So Green

Papers: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pink Passion

Accessories: Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, 3/4″ and 1″ Circle Punches

CAS114 - OCCC Tea Party

Apr 122011

This week’s challenge at Our Creative Corner is to “create a card, 3-D project, scrapbook page, etc… around an afternoon tea/tea party theme.” I wanted to use Flourishes “Coffee with Friends” stamp set, but wasn’t sure what to do until I saw the Clean and Simple Challenge at Splitcoaststampers.

I used the fun colors in the inspiration picture of the “stacked” bibs for my “stacked” teacups! And by keeping it clean and simple, this one card qualifies for both challenges.

The teacups were colored with Copics. The designer paper was also colored with some of the same Copics to get an exact match to the cups. It’s subtle and easy peasy but effective! (The paper on the left is the original striped designer paper. The paper on the right has had the Copic markers added to some of the stripes.)

The challenges around web-land often help give me a starting point. I love playing along in them.

Thanks for dropping by today. Happy Crafting!

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Stamps: Flourishes Coffee with Friends; Stampin Up Day of Gratitude

Papers: Papertrey Ink Select White and Enchanted Evening; My Mind’s Eye Stella Rose Gertie Collection Designer Paper

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics:

Accessories: Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace Edger Punch; Rick Rack; Satin Ribbon; Prima; Brad

Luke Turns 10 and A Thank You

Apr 092011

Last month my great niece had a birthday, and I made a fun treat holder card for her. So when I saw the challenge this week at Stampin’ Sisters in Christ, to make a card/project for a child, I decided that I would make a similar card for her brother’s birthday.

As with his sister’s card, I made a slider on the inside so that the candy can be accessed without having to tear the card apart.

HERE is a tutorial for the slider.

Today I have a confession to make… I’m terribly forgetful! I would like to blame it on old age, but must admit that the scattered-brainery is not a phenomenon that developed only as the years were added on.
I’ve always been this way.

I have lots of lists to remind me of everything I need/want to do. My boys used to leave me notes in sinks or on walls.. on the stairs.. to remind me of things. It’s embarrassing! What did I do before post-it notes!?!

So with that introduction.. a sweet blogging friend gave me a blog award a couple of months ago which is just being posted here today. Sorry it took so long to thank you for this award, Patrice.

As part of accepting this award, a few things are to be listed about myself. Well I’ve already done one above! But here are some others:

1. I lived for 5 years in London England where my 4th son was born.

2. My first job as a teenager was an usherette. Now you younger people probably don’t even know what that is! But when you went to the movies back in the 60′s, there would be a girl standing at the back with a flashlight who would help you find a seat if you wanted or needed it. Since I would have to stand there for the entire movie I ended up seeing some movies so many times I had them memorized.

3. Also when I was a teenager I played classical piano for ballet classes. It paid a whole lot better than babysitting!

4. I hiked to the top of Mount Vesuvius in Italy. There is a chairlift for tourists but it was broken the day we were there so we decided to hike it. I was 5 months pregnant at the time! Oh and while pregnant I also skied the Swiss Alps. The tram gave me such “morning” sickness that I would have to wait at the top until I wasn’t so dizzy before skiing down. What was I thinking!?!

5. I married my childhood sweetheart… Literally. We met when we were 3 years old! I’m 23 days older than him and he likes to tease me about his “old lady” and how I “robbed the cradle” for those 23 days until his birthday.

6. I am a certified scuba diver. On my 50th birthday my DH took me diving in Tahiti. One of the dives was with sharks! Another was a deep dive where we sat on the ocean floor and huge 12′ manta rays kept swimming over us within touching distance.

7. And my crowning glory? I have 4 handsome sons and 3 beautiful granddaughters (with another grandchild on the way!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and spending part of your precious time here. And thanks again, Patrice, for thinking of me with this sweet award. Happy Crafting!

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Stamps: SU Something Sweet and Made 2 Last

Papers: Papertrey Ink Select White and Pure Poppy; SU Pawsitively Prints II DSP

Inks: SU Real Red and Taken with Teal

Accessories: Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities; SU Tab Punch, Corner Rounder, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, 3/4″ Circle Punch and Round Treat Cup; M&M’s

SC327 - Asian Garden

Apr 062011

LOVE the sketch over at Splitcoaststampers today, so just had to play along!

Asian Gardens is a new (to me) set from Waltzing Mouse Stamps. I was excited to get some ink on it!

The tree trunk was stamped with black ink which didn’t “pop” the way I wanted. So I took a Copic Marker (100-Black) and colored it in. That did the trick! The accent cardstock on either side of the coin was made using the smallest oval punch from SU. The ends were trimmed off and tucked under the coin.

Since the card base was black the inside needed a lighter panel for writing. So it got a little stamping as well.

Thanks for stopping in today. Happy Crafting!

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Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps Asian Gardens

Papers: Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream, Harvest Gold, Terracotta Tile and True Black

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Distress Ink Fired Brick; Black Gel Pen; Copic 100

Accessories: Kaiser Flatback Pearls; Tsukineko Ancient Dynasty Coin; SU Square Rhinestone Brad and Small Oval Punch

IC278 - It's a Beach Party

Apr 022011

This week’s Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoaststampers is all about the beach. The website from which to draw inspiration is called Outer Banks Trading Group, and it is loaded with fabulous artwork and breezy creations.

With a beach theme I immediately thought of this unique backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms (CHF).

As many of you know, CHF has closed its doors, but a few of their great stamps can still be found. “Beach Party Backgrounder” is one of those stamps. ( I notice that Ellen Hutson’s store still has it for just $3!!) It can be so versatile. For example on my cards I used only the palm trees.

On this first card, all of the palms were colored with markers directly to the rubber and then stamped to create the base for this fun background.

Stampin Up’s Sanded Backgrounder and one of the Itty Bitty Backgrounds were added, too.

On the second card, a solo Inchie steals the show.

All of the Inchies were stamped with the marker applied directly onto the rubber technique as well. Sponging was also added for a distressed look.

The backgrounder also has some surfboards and convertibles. These could also be stamped as stand alone images or any combination of the three.

Here is a card that I made a while ago which uses the entire backgrounder.

Thanks for dropping by today. Hope you had some fun looking at this unique backgrounder with its many possibilities.

Happy Crafting!

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Card 1: Happy Birthday
Stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms Beach Party Backgrounder; SU Bring on the Cake, Sanded and Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Papers: Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate and Select White; Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime Collection DP
Inks: SU Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel and Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Inchie Art Inchies; Ribbon; Brad; SU Corners Punch

Card 2: Get Well
Stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms Beach Party Backgrounder; SU Teeny Tiny Wishes and Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Papers: Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream; Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime Collection DP
Inks: SU Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel and Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Inchie Art Inchie; Ribbon