I am still alive!!

I am back!!! It has been so nutso around here and I have had very little spare time to stamp! Between soccer and home schooling the hours in my days have run out waaay quicker than my to do lists have been marked as done! : ) I finally decided that I was taking Sunday off from everything to get some stamping done! I got quite a bit accomplished though and wanted to share! So here are some of the things I worked on!

A birthday card for Gus!

Gus is my step dad and is is such a great guy! He and my mom live in Alaska...picture Grizzly Adams! : ) I wanted to make him a special birthday card and this is what I came up with! I used Black, Very Vanilla, River Rock and Wild Wasabi card stock. I used the Wanted stamp set from Stampin' Up! and embossed the horse and cowboy in gold and used white ink on the Genuine stamp. I sponged the light card stock with cranberry crisp and used my edge distressor to rough up the edges. I used Antique and Pewter eyelets and set them with my crop-o-dile! It came out very masculine looking! I was pretty excited by this one!

Cindy's Birthday Card

This is the card I made for Cindy to go with her other goodies! I used the Joseph's Coat technique again with this card! I added a piece of shimmery card stock with butterflies to compliment the stamped and embossed butterflies! She really liked all of her goodies! : )

Cindy's Birthday paper bag album!

Here is a paper bag album that I made to go along with Cindy's gift! (See last post!) This was so much fun to make!! I plan to make more of these! I decorated the front with the Fabulous Flowers from Stampin' Up! and then used miscellaneous patterned papers throughout to make it an album ready for pictures! Cindy will be taking her daughter on a weekend trip soon and I thought this would be the perfect way to document their trip! : )

Some birthday gifts for a wonderful friend!

Do you have a friend that is always around when you need them?! Someone who is happy to listen to you gripe and puts up with you even when you are in the world's foulest mood and still loves you anyhow!? Someone who lets you be yourself and says things to make you feel better when you feel on the bottom of the heap?! I have a very dear friend like that! She is wonderful! Stable and normal and kind and supportive! She laughs at all of my jokes and is just fun to be with! I made her some goodies for her birthday because I wanted her to know how special I think she is! Happy Birthday, Cindy!! Big hug!

First thing is a book mark that I made from a jumbo paper clip! Those things are just fun!! I used very vanilla, the 1/4" circle punch, scallop punch, a few pop dots and the Whimsical alphabet stamp set. I tied a few ribbons on for color and stuck it in a card that I used the word window punch and The Watercolor Mini's stamp set from Stampin' Up! on! I used Groovy Guava paper and ink. I also used Old Olive and White ink on the flowers. Also pictured are the letter "C" covered with patterned paper, a few ribbons and one prima flower, a few glitzy flowers and the card that I stuck the bookmark into for delivery!

A card for my pen pal!

If you are reading this Julia...close your eyes now!! : ) I used the Joseph's Coat technique for this card! I LOVE this technique! I stamped Very Vanilla with Stampin Up's! French Flair background stamp and then sponged it with Groovy Guava, Old Olive and Orchid Opulence. Then I stamped a butterfly in Versamark and embossed it in white. I then used my new brayer (fun tool!!) to roll over the butterflies with the above mentioned colors. I sprayed a scrunched up paper towel with cleaning mist and wiped the color off of the embossed images. Then I added a little flower and hello stamp and a couple of purple and green brads and matted it against Orchid Opulence!

I want to play with this technique some more! It has a ton of color possibilities! I found the technique on JanTink's blog! (She is a riot!) I still do not know how to link, but you can find her blog in my blogroll to the left!

And the second of two!

Here is the second card I made for my pen pal! I used Close to Cocoa as my base and So Saffron and Orchid Opulence. I used a piece of no name patterned paper as my background. The stamp set I used was Polka Dot and Paisleys from Stampin' Up! I also added a little yellow shimmery flower to embellish the front! I thought it made it look happy! : ) I was pleased with the way it came out!