Fun Pinwheel Fold Card

 This card is much easier to make than it looks. Dawn Ochefske has an excellent video on her blog that I used as my guide. I then mounted the square card onto a piece of 4-1/4 X 5-1/2 cardstock so it would fit in an A4 envelope perfectly. (You could just put the square card in the envelope, too. But I like the added ribbon above or the stars below.) I decided to add the "to open" image to the card front so the recipient would know what to do. That stamp comes from the retired "Got Treats" stamp set.

The star strip and stars come from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies.

Hearts, hearts, hearts

About this time of year we begin to see lots of Valentines on the Pinterest boards. I've found that many of those layouts make great wedding anniversary cards. The DSP is Flowerpot. The hearts were cut using the Hearts framelits and my Big Shot and I also used the Big Shot and Large Polka Dots embossing folder on the banner and the Zig Zag and Lucky Stars embossing folders on two of the hearts. CASE:  Jan del Muro

Sharing in Your Sorrow

Sadly, I was in need of a few sympathy cards. We have had a few deaths in our parish and community. At about the same time our weather was gloomy and so I wanted a card that was more bright and hopefully a little uplifting. The butterflies were made using my Big Shot and the Beautiful Wings embosslit. The DSP comes from the Flowerpot packet and the expression is from the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. I wanted to use this expression because I was sending this card to a dear friend whose mother, Helen passed away at the age of 102. Helen was just such a dear, sweet lady and you would never have guessed her age. The pearls add a little extra sparkle to the card just like Helen did to life.

Age Awareness

Here's another card using the Age Awareness photopolymer stamp set. I love how easily you can mix and match the expressions when using photopolymer sets. The Designer Series Paper is from the Flowerpot pack. One of my siblings has a birthday this month and since he's a bit older than me (not quite 14 years) I just had to rub it in a bit. The inside expression says, "You look way better at this age than I thought you would." It also comes in the Age Awareness stamp set. And he does look pretty good for his age... all my oldest sibs do. Hope it's in the genes!

Yee-Haw

This card is made using the Yee-Haw photopolymer set (138107). It's a special set from Stampin' Up! available while supplies last. I did some fussy cutting of the lasso, hat and star but otherwise it's a simple card to make. I love the way you can add an image or expression to the center of the lasso so quickly and easily with the photopolymer stamps! And this set has some cute expressions. Check it out! The Designer Series Paper used as a background comes from the Flowerpot pack. 

Neon Look with Blendabilities

I love the neon look you can get with the new Blendabilities Markers. The shoes and expression were stamped with VersaMark (102283) on Basic Black card stock and then embossed with White Embossing Powder (109132). Then I used Daffodil Delight (130998), Coastal Cabana (131000) and Calypso Coral (130996) in the darkest colors of each assortment to color over the white embossed image. The color won't rub off once it dries. You will want to use a dark card stock for you embossing base so that you don't have to worry about any stray coloring. It has been fun to play with this technique!
The Designer Series Paper is from Flowerpot pack. The stamp set is a sneak peek at one from the Holiday catalog called Tee-Hee-Hee and the images and expressions are just as great as the name sounds!

Coloring Basic Jewels

You can also use Blendabilities to color the Basic Jewels (page 209 in the catalog) and the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (127555). On this card I've colored a button and two Rhinestone Basic Jewel with the lightest marker in the Calypso Coral Assortment (130996). Because you get three shades in each Blendabilities assortment you really get a lot of options for colors. By lightly coloring the button and jewels with the marker I was able to get a shade that is pretty close to the Blushing Bride used in the card. I've used the Blendabilities to color the Pearl Basic Jewels, too. They look so pretty!

The Designer Series Paper is from the Flowerpot pack (133698). The card stock is Blushing Bride and Lost Lagoon. The ribbon is Lost Lagoon 3/8" Stitched (133672) and some retired Blushing Bride (substitute the new 1/4" Blushing Bride Cotton Ribbon 134558). the stamp set is Blessed by God (134300 c, 134297 w). I used Starburst and Ovals Collection Framelits in my Big Shot to cut the shapes plus the 1-3/4" circle punch for the expression.