Five Cards Today

 It’s the start of another week …of unpredictable weather! Last Monday we walked in the bush with just a light sweater on and then the temperatures dropped to the freezing mark. Today we had snow showers - short lived thank goodness! More snow predicted for tomorrow and Tuesday and the weather is going to stay just around the freezing mark.

 I made about 20 or so cards for our local hospice. A friend who is a Stampin’ Up dealer, The Pampered Stamper (who can sell in Canada and the Netherlands….. she flies back and forth every few months) left me with a box of paper, ribbon and a couple of stamps to use for the hospice last time she left for Holland. Some of the paper was pre-cut so I pulled out five pieces that were the same and decided to use them - but in different ways. I don’t know why I keep giving myself challenges….as if life itself is not enough of a challenge some days. But I did it. Here are the five cards…..pretty simple cards so I think it will be easy to figure out how I made them.   

                                              

That’s all for a weird-weather Sunday, March 17, 2024.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

A Quilt and a Card

 I’m back and everything is fine! I’ve just been busy. I asked my granddaughter if she thought the elderly man they befriended when they moved to New Brunswick would like a quilt. He was pretty much a recluse until they moved there. No one can resist that girl’s charm. He now knows someone cares about him for no reason other than friendship. It turns out he was just recently diagnosed with cancer so he definitely needs a quilt. So, I was on overdrive getting the quilt finished for him. My granddaughter had requested a shiny, sparkly sun dress to wear to a Taylor Swift concert so that had to be made as well. So instead of posting the complimentary page to the last scrapbook layout I posted, I’m posting the quilt I just made. I made him a thinking of you card as well so it’s a double posting today.

Here’s the quilt.

                                          
He is a great outdoors man so I thought the deer panels would be a good choice. I had no pattern and just pulled some fabric from my stash and designed as I went. It didn’t photograph well but it was already mailed before I realized it. I hope he likes it.

Here is the card I made for him. I didn't have my proper Ott lighting when I took this photo so the colour is a bit off.  The sentiment was stamped with black ink on white cardstock and was premade and in my stash and as I was in a hurry, I used it. The sky is actually blue. My Ott light was upstairs and I didn't realize what a difference it would make using a standard light. Never again. 

                              
I thought this deer die would compliment the quilt so I die cut it from black cardstock, added a piece of blue paper from the blue stash behind it for the background. I liked it so much I made several more that I will be donating to the local Hospice. I always seem to struggle to get the masculine thinking of you cards for them.

Although this card had that sentiment the others I made for the hospice were a bit different. I had more time for them so the sentiment was stamped and embossed with white embossing powder right on the card.  Quick and easy.  

That’s all for a very mild Friday, March 1, 2024. March came in like a lamb and I hope it leaves the same way. Take care all and have a safe, happy and creative weekend.

 Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

Thinking of You Card

 Today is FAMILY DAY in Canada. It’s a statutory holiday created for families to spend the day together….but in reality I think it was created for a break between Christmas and Easter. We are retired and no family live near us to spend a day with in February so its just another day for us ….we hate driving in the winter in case a snow storm blows in so we seldom visit family by car in the winter. There is an area called “the snow belt” between here and our family which means they get a lot of lake effect snow storms that no one else gets and those storms can be brutal. That’s another reason why I’m looking forward to spring and then summer….no snow!

 So today’s card was simple to make but I really like how it turned out.

                                              
 I found that pretty paper in the stash and decided to use it instead of re-stashing it. There was another piece of paper in the same paper pack that I used as the background paper which I glued onto to a white card base leaving a thin border. Then I cut the designer paper into two strips and glued them to the background paper. A piece of dark blue cardstock…also from the stash… was cut to fit in the middle but was glued to a white piece of cardstock that as just a little bit larger. The sentiment was heat embossed in white onto the blue cardstock and a few gems were added. I donate cards to our local hospice and I’m thinking this style would be easy to make.

That’s all for a sunny but cold Monday February 19, 2024.

 Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

 

A Purple Card

 Another week has flown by and it was one of the mildest weeks we’ve ever seen in February. I went out to get my hair cut this morning and I just had on a blue jean jacket over a light sweater. Its going to drop down to below freezing again in a couple of days…..then the winter coats come out again! But we have really enjoyed the mild weather.

 Today’s card is one of those “lets use up some left over paper”.

 

 I found this die cut shiny purple label (from an old Spellbinder die set) so I rummaged through the purple left over stash and found that stripped paper with almost the same dark purple in it. Then I found that light purple for the background.  I laid them down on each other and liked how they looked. So, the next step was to find some focal image. I had just bought a package of ephemera from Stamp Art in London (sight unseen but I trusted her judgement) and this dream catcher and butterfly were in with the package. That was almost too simple but I liked it and decided to go for it. Once everything was glue down I stamped the ‘hello’ in purple ink on a die cut banner and glued it on. It needed more bling so shiny faux crystals were glued on. They came from the dollar store but they are quite pretty.

That’s all for a mild Friday, February 9, 2024. Have a safe and creative weekend everyone.

 

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

3D Flower Card

 Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season, which ever holiday you personally celebrate…. and if you don’t celebrate any holiday, then I hope you enjoyed your days any way. We had a very quiet Christmas but spent Boxing Day with two daughters and their families which was so nice. My grandsons talked me into playing a video game - a board game made into a video game. Man, I’m so terrible at video games its pathetic… but I must admit, they are fun!

It was definitely a green Christmas here in SW Ontario. We have had nothing but a lot of rain which is fine with me. I don’t have to shovel rain!

 But I did have time to make a few cards. Here’s one of them.

 

 I’ve been on a ‘use what you have’ and ‘repurpose cards” kick again. So, the background papers came from my stash and I just splattered on some blue and orange ink to tie them together. The flowers were die cut twice and coloured and then I cut the centre petals out of one set and glued them to the other to make them 3D. Dark Stickles were added to the centres of the flowers. Some die cut leaves were glued behind the flowers and then some glass beads were added. It was then glued to the orange card base. It was a quick card to assemble after I fiddled with making the flowers.

That’s all for yet another rainy day on Wednesday, January 3, 2024.1.3

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

 

A Mixed Media Card

 It’s Tuesday, December 5, 2023 and its cold and damp outside. Some rain still falling off and on and always a possibility of snow showers as well….so far none of those! I’m trying to remember to post a little more often. I just get so darn busy during the day that at night I totally forget.

 So, I’ve been making Christmas cards but can’t post them yet but I’ve made some other cards as well….I need a change every so often. I seldom make the same type of cards. Some card makers just make quick and simple, or multi-layered, or mixed media, etc. But I like to mix it up. Sometimes it depends on my mood, sometimes on who I’m making the card for. For this card, I decided to do a bit of mixed media as inspired by Vicky Papaioannou. If you are not familiar with her, please check out her YouTube Videos. They are awesome. So, here’s my card.

 

I’ve been having fun playing with the boots die cuts but decided make a bit of a mixed media card. The background was stamped on blue paper. I was gifted a slew of background stamps so I’m trying to remember to use them. The edges of everything was inked with Distress Walnut stain. The background elements came from a pack I picked up at Len Mills - an Ontario discount store. The boots had to sit on something or it would look like they were floating so I added a strip of blue cardstock along the bottom. I love those flower dies so I had to have them coming out of the boots. The sentiment came from the same pack from Len Mills. Not sure who will receive this one but I sure had fun making it.

 That’s all for now.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Two More Cards

 We are having more and more rain and a cold wind blowing. Nasty fall weather here in Ontario.

Today I’m once again posting two cards. Both made with the same die but they look different.

                                       

The boot die  was die cut and the edges were inked. The soles were inked with dark brown ink. The little buckle on the top of the boots came with the die set. The background was cut from an 8.5 x 11 piece of designer paper from who knows where - it was in my stash. I taped a piece of matching striped paper along the bottom and added a ribbon along the seam with a die cut tag attached. The sentiment is a tiny gold peel-off that says, ‘all the best’. The flowers are from a sticker pack and they were stuck inside the boots before gluing them down. Then I added the bow that matched the ribbon along the seam. It was then mounted on the standard A2 size card base.

 So then I made another one using the same die.

 

I used the same paper for the background but went more for the green  colour for the ribbon. The boots were made the same way but in a different colour. The flowers were die cut from another die set. This time I wanted something along the top of the boots so I dug out my cold flower soft jars and used the bright green one in the boots and under the boots. I loved this stuff when it first came out but I soon lost interest in it for some reason. My new motto is, if I’m not going to use it, it gets purged. The jars of flower soft are on the fence! I didn’t add a sentiment to this one but I expect it will be a thinking of you card for someone.

 That’s all for windy Thursday, November 9, 2023.

 

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

Three Cards Today

 It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a card. The weather decided to give us about a week of summer temperatures and it was just too nice out to sit inside. So besides biking, hiking and working on the garden, there was not much time….. or energy left … for anything else. Removing all the dead annuals in the fall is no where near as much fun as planting them in the spring. I’m definitely cutting back on the gardening next year!

 So, today I’m posting three cards because they were all made using the same die, but different embellishments. Here they are.

                                     

The die cuts out that long stitched panel plus the three small ones.   Then I had to make the background and find elements to fit inside - I enjoyed doing that. It also cuts out the inner panel and squares so that makes it easy to reassemble. This rose on the long panel is a die that out of sparkly red/purple glitter paper. It’s not bright red, not really purple either but I looked nice cut out so I went with it. Then I found some Stampin' Up flower stamps that I decided would look nice in the small panels so they were stamped and then the sentiment was stamped. Once it was mounted on the card base I decided the die cut rose needed a little extra so diamond Stickles was squirted and moved around inside the petals and the leaves….nice! Then a few gems were added.

Next card:

                                        
Once again I die cut the panels and inked the backgrounds to match. Then I stamped the flower in the long panel and decided to do silhouettes in two of the squares. All stamps were from various Stampin' Up stamps. Then I stamped the sentiment - no idea where that sentiment is from. The flower  and leaves were blending in with the background too much so I smeared some Distress Ink on a pad and used a paint brush to colour in the flower and leaves. Much better. It was mounted on a light green card base that seemed to compliment the background.

 On to card number three.

                                          
As I was flipping through my flower stamps I found this one that looks like a dandelion gone to seed. Perfect for a birthday card. Once again I used the same process of die cutting the panels and then creating the backgrounds. This time all the flowers were stamped in black ink as was the sentiment. Once it was assembled and glued to the green card base, I added some gems. It’s hard to see in the photo but I used a fancy sparkle pen and made little dots in the the flower heads. The top one shows this the best but it is much better in real life.

 That is all for this week. This weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving so happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadian readers and Happy weekend to everyone else.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Forest Fire Smoke?

 I’ve mentioned many times how odd the weather has been in Ontario - and other places as well I’ve been told. Add to the weird weather is now forest fire smoke! Yup, the forest fire smoke from Quebec and Northern Ontario has made its way all the way down to South-Western Ontario. It was very strong Tuesday and until late yesterday afternoon when we finally were able to get the grass cut and the yard work done. The schools kept the students inside all day yesterday - bet that was fun! And the post office suspended household postal deliveries yesterday. We can still smell a bit of smoke today but it is much weaker. I can’t image the people who live so close to the fires and have to breathe this in.

 So, I did stay in and I made a couple of new cards - gave myself yet another challenge….as if life isn’t a challenge enough some days. I had some bits and pieces of pretty paper left over and decided to use it up in a new way - hexagons. Here is what I came up with.

                                          
 I have a set of hexagon dies so I used the smallest one and die cut several out of various paper that sort of matched. I glued them to a piece of white cardstock leaving space for a stamped sentiment. Then I glued that to a pink card base.

  I had so much fun I made another one.

                            

 I used the same process as the first one but I glued them on a piece of black cardstock, leaving the bottom right corner free so I could add a stamped and embossed sentiment. It was glued to a card base the same size so no border this time. I think this one is my favourite - more contrast. 

That’s all for a cloudy (from smoke?) Thursday, June 29, 2023.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

Deer Card

 Unbelievable weather patterns right now. We went for weeks with no rain and then we got two days of rain, including a thunderstorm with hail last night. But, it has cooled down so much that I had to turn the furnace back on. I think that’s the first time that I can remember turning a furnace on in the middle of June.

 Today’s card is featuring a card made with a new stamp.

                                         

This is a new stamp that was gifted to me. At first I wasn’t sure I liked it or what to do with it so, I experimented a bit.

 I found that inked background piece in the stash stamped it on lightly. Then I re-inked it and stamped again so the solid pieces were much darker. This made the trees in the background recede. The deer is a die cut and is simply glued on. The white frame is part of the stamp. It was then mounted on black cardstock. Then I found that light turquoise paper that matched fairly well with the colours in the sky. It was run through a stitched plate that does not cut, but just pierces the paper. I have two of them and I love them. Then it needed something else so I die cut that black cardstock strip that I first glued to a piece of foam… very thick, I won’t do that again…. but I do love the end result. The sentiment is a black peel-off.

That’s all for a very cool Wednesday, June 14, 2023.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

A monochromatic Card

     It’s still very mild for January here in Ontario - and it could get up to 48F tomorrow. Its so mild that I have a few spring bulbs that are sprouting - a little too early for them to be popping up so I hope they survive.

    Late last year I happened to pop into a local thrift store which I rarely do now. It’s something I quit doing during the pandemic and have never got back into the habit of doing so afterwards. So, I stopped in and found a few stamps that were very different than the ones I own and they were so reasonably priced I picked them up. Here is one card I made from one of the stamps.

 

I didn’t get a chance to try them out until this month. I wasn’t even sure what to make with them but finally decided to just go for it. For some reason I decided to go for the monochromatic look for this card...and as this turquoise colour is one of the my favourites, I went with it.

For the background I laid down a few colours of Distress Inks on the mat and sprayed them with water and dipped in the white cardstock. I would dry it a bit - a Tim Holtz rule, once you turn it over to see it, you must dry it - and kept dipping and drying until I liked the background. Then I splattered on some turquoise and black ink for more interest. 

Once I liked it and it was completely dried, the bottle an image were stamped - its all one stamp. Then I put some of the same turquoise ink on an acrylic block, dipped a small paint brush into water, picked up some of the Distress ink and painted in the bottle and the flower to make them stand out a bit from the background.

    The card base was made from turquoise cardstock and an extra strip was cut and glued across the card front. A black peel-off was added for the sentiment. Then it was mounted on black cardstock and then onto the card base.

    Whew! Long post but I wanted you to know how I did this so you can try to do it as well. I love making these backgrounds with Distress Inks and Distress Oxide Inks.

That’s all for a mild, but wet, Wednesday, January 18, 2023.1.18

  Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds.This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

Thinking of You cards for Hospice

 I’ve been busy! I make and donate thinking of you cards to our local hospice who sends a card out to a family member on the first anniversary of someone who died at hospice. They prefer handcrafted cards. I’ve had to re-enlist other card makers to help me out though as their card supply keeps running low and they call me for more. I can’t make them all myself so hopefully the others will continue to donate some as well. I sent in about 30 in December and I just made another 20 so that should keep them stocked for awhile. Here are a few of the cards I made for them. They are all pretty quick and easy cards but if you have any questions at all, feel free to leave a comment and I will answer them.

 

Made from photos of flowers from my carden.

Stamped Images 

The Poppy is an old Memory Box die.

The birds are from an old stamp set.

Silhoutte cards

Glittered Butterflies I made

I made several like these - just different colours and layouts.

 That’s all for a cold weekend in Ontario. January 14, 2023.

 

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds.This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

A Mixed Media Card

     This is a later at night than I normally post and that’s because our hydro (electricity for the USA readers) was out tonight. No idea why but by the time it came back on we were happy sitting out on the front porch visiting with our neighbour - and I just happened to have some pineapple cake made so we enjoyed that as well.

      So, tonight’s post is sort of a mixed media card…but on a simple style.

                        
    I had a few pages of a 6” paper pack that I had never done anything with and decided it was time to do so. This one had that bird printed on it. This paper is very thin so I had to be careful not to add too much water. The first thing I did was pick the card base. I wanted something that contrasted with the green, so bright wine worked the best. The little leaves were about that colour so I thought it would bring that colour to the card base. Then I used some of the same colour ink and blended in the top and a bit of the side. 

    The girl with the umbrella was stamped and then I gently coloured the umbrella and boots with the same ink; and a the coat was first coloured in with the same ink as the boots but then I went over it with green so it picked up both the wine and green in the rest of the card. The sentiment is from another stamp set and it was stamped about three or four times in that grape coloured ink. Luckily I had put it in my Tim Holtz stamp positioner so I could easily re-stamp it until it was dark enough. That ink pad was one of those $2 ones from Michael’s and they don’t last long.

    That’s all for a lovely June night. Another heat wave starts tomorrow!

 Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

If things aren't going right....

 We had to turn the furnace on the other day to get the chill out of the house; today we were back to July temperatures - hot but very windy which keep the humidity down. This is our long weekend coming up - May 2 four - and we are expecting thunderstorms and rain all weekend! Great!

This card is always a challenge to finish. The image is an old Stamping Bella image which is super cute, fun to colour; but not easy to finish….but that’s just likely me. So, here’s what I did this time.

                             
     I had this image all coloured in the pinks and green and then I had to find paper to go with it. I know most card designers choose the paper first, and then they colour the image to match….but I’m not a designer, so I get to make my own rules. You can never be accused of breaking the rules if you make up your own to follow!

So, I was flipping through my stash of 6” paper packs and found this paper with all the arrows on it. Perfect! The arrow paper was glued to a green card base and then the fancy oval was die cut with a Spellbinder’s die from paper from the same pack. The image was hand cut - no dies for these oldies! But, I re-stamped the image where it would go to get the exhaust puffs, etc but they don’t show up very well on the green paper - oh well. So the image was glued down and then I drew the wire to connect the blue flag. The sentiments come with the stamp set. They were adhered with dimensional strips.

Its a fun card to send to someone who is just have a bad time that isn’t life altering, just a bad time.

That’s all for a hot and windy Friday, May 20, 2022

Have a wonderful, safe and healthy weekend everyone. I’ll be back next week with more cards.

Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Another Sunflower Card

 It actually felt like a spring day today - finally! I picked some daffodils yesterday, we went and got gas for the lawn mower and the robins are starting to build nests. Definitely spring now.

Today I’m posting another one of the sunflower cards I made.

 

  This is my second favourite digital image. It was coloured with the same alcohol markers as the last sunflower card. Stickles were added to the centre. The large label die is from Spellbinders. I left it in the die while I sponged light blue ink around the image so a nice white border is left. The dark blue was a rectangle and I punched the corners with an old Fiskars' corner punch. Then it was mounted on some yellow and orange plaid paper and then onto a blue card base which is the same as the blue rectangle.

Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

Flower Card

 As our very cool/ cold and rainy weather continues, I’m stuck in the house. I cannot wait to start digging in the garden again! I love my flowers and at various times of the year I like to walk around with my camera and snap some photos. Some of these photos get turned into greeting cards, like the one I’m posting today.

                                         

This photo was reduced in size so two of the same photo could be placed side by side on 4x6 photo paper which is easily done using Photoshop. Then it was printed out; cut, leaving the white border; and layered on a piece of black cardstock. Then I cut a piece of designer paper (sorry, its from an old 8”x11”paper pack I picked up at the thrift store years ago so long time discontinued) down to 4”x5.25”. Then a co-coordinating piece of designer paper was cut down to just fit on angle on the mounted designer paper after being mounted on black as well. After those two pieces were glued to the designer paper, a ribbon was wrapped around and taped at the back and then it was mounted it on a matching solid card base. The black tag was a punch and the ‘hello’ sentiment was die cut twice from pink cardstock that matched the ribbon and it was glued to the punched oval. I thought the hot pink would pick up the pink in the flower.

That’s all for a cool - it was raining earlier - Wednesday, March 30, 2022.

Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.