Fall Pumpkins Card

The pumpkins were made using an oval punch.  I inked the edges and hand cut a piece of brown for the stems.

The green swirl was cut with a die and Cuttlebug.  The green striped shape is from Elegant Edges cartridge cut on my Cameo.


I traced and cut the tiny maple leaves.

This card was inspired by one seen online.

Doily In A Circle Card

This card was CASED from a Dutch speaking Stampin' Up demonstrator's blog.  It took me quite a while to determine what cuts and what size cuts I'd need to complete my version!

The butterfly was cut out twice with a Sizzix die, once in vellum and once in a bright pink cardstock.  I used copper wire to wrap those pieces together and make the antennas.

The doily is from Elegant Edges cartridge, modified and cut with Make The Cut software on my Cameo.

The pink patterned paper was cut at 3 1/4 x 4 3/4" with a 2 1/2" circle cut on one side for the doily's opening.

The flowers were done with Petite Petal and Boho Blossoms punches from Stampin' Up.  The center is a stick on pearl.

The pink patterned paper didn't photograph well.  It has iridescent lines going throughout the design and they don't show up.  Robin Goens supplied the paper from Stampin' Up.

Forever Card

I named this one "Forever Card" because it took me FOREVER to get the cuts done and assembled!  It was seen on Pinterest and I tracked it back to Claire Creates Cards.  Had I read all of her description, I'd have saved myself a lot of time and effort.  She has a link to a video for making the star burst behind the flowers which is super simple.  I used a quilt block clip art image, traced and cut it with Make The Cut.  Each of the rays had to be numbered so they'd fit back together properly. 

Would you believe this card, including the base, has 22 pieces?   Since there are six different papers in the star burst pieces, I completed six of these.

The top border is from the Elegant Edges cartridge and was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  I used a Flower Shop stamp and Pansy Punch for the large flowers.  The centers were done with a Boho Blossom punch and secured with brads.

Tongue in Cheek Mother's Day Card

The frame is from Elegant Edges; the silhouette if from Forever Young Cricut cartridges.  I cut them on my Cameo with Make The Cut software.

The flowers are from the bridal section at Michael's.

 This sentiment was seen online.  I thought it was cute and decided to make a "tongue in cheek" Mother's Day card with it.

Heart and Wings Card

This may just be my favorite card ever!  A mixed media artist from the UK posted a photo on her blog of a frame she made and I adapted her idea for a card.  You can see the original at inkypinkycraft.

I've always thought that white on white layouts were elegant looking.  It took me quite a while to pick papers that fit together for the look I wanted.

Everything was cut in Make The Cut software.  The heart is from Stampin' Up's My Digital Studio.  The wings are from the Cricut cartridge Artiste and the postage stamp frame is from Elegant Edges.  I joined a rectangle inside the stamp shape to create the frame.

The base was embossed with my brocade Cuttlebug folder.  There three pieces of crimped 15.2 m steel wire across the heart.  I pop dotted the frame as well as the wings for dimension. The edges were inked with Chestnut Roan.

Saloon Door Birthday Card

I saw this card on Splitcoast Stampers.  The person that designed it had some laser cut saloon doors.  Not only did I not have those, I couldn't find an image to trace or cut in Make the Cut or Silhouette software.

With a little research, I found a shape on the Elegant Edges cartridge that I modified, then cut in half to make the doors.  The louvers are a piece of Stampin Up striped paper.  The horse shoes are clip art.

I printed the sentiment on my computer.  Inside it says "Pardner" in the same old west font.

B Happy Card

I printed the word "happy" and punched it with an 1 1/2" punch and added some pen stitching to the edges and a couple of Prima flowers with Pearl Pen dot centers.

The letter "B" is Garamond Bold font, cut at 1.08 inches.

The doily in the background is from Elegant Edges cartridge.  The doily had a solid center so I added a 2 3/4" circle cut out in the center.

Cinnamon Roll Recipe Page

Today I decided to play with my Cameo using a modified Cricut Expression blade holder.  My husband ground down a flange on the blade holder in order for it to fit into the Cameo.

So far, so good.  I can say that it does not cut as well as the original blade that came with the Cameo.  But I have about twenty packages of Cricut blades on hand to use up; I'm really a cheapskate so I'm going to use them up and save the Cameo blade for projects that I'm more particular about making.

The recipe pages I make are for myself.  They often don't turn out just the way I thought they would.  I enjoy having my favorite recipes done this way and in a binder.

Today's page is for the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls that I made just before Christmas.  I wanted the page to look like a souvenir as if I'd visited Oklahoma and got the recipe as a memento.

The Oklahoma shape is from 50 States and the scalloped square is from Elegant Edges.  I found the photos online and mounted them to look like old fashioned pictures.

Oak Leaf Card

This card was inspired by one done on a Stampin' Up demos blog.  

Using Design Studio and the George cartridge, I placed a 5 1/4 x 4 inch rectangle on my mat and then resized the oak leaf from B is for Boy to fit and cut it from white cardstock.  I used pop dots to lift it off the green card base and I added some green pen stitching for dimension.

Then I cut the oak leaf again from some embossed  green cardstock and adhered it across the bottom.
The sentiment is a Tim Holtz stamp that I placed onto a shape from Elegant Edges. I inked the edges of the shape and pop dotted it also.

Three Squares Butterfly Card

I saw this card on Pinterest and tracked it back to a blogger named Biggan.  Her blog is in a foreign language and I was unable to find her real name.  If you'd like to visit, here's a link:   Three Squares Card.

The butterfly within the square was cut using George and Elegant Edges.  Then I cut just the butterfly from the orange patterned paper.  The sentiment is from Close to My Heart, stamped with Memento Tangelo ink.

I embossed a border on the card front using my Scor-Pal.

Plaid Butterfly Card

When Northridge Publishing emailed me with an offer to do an online subscription to Cards magazine, they were running a special "back issue pass".  I think the fee was only about $12.00 and it gave me access to all their magazine's back issues.

Online subscriptions are great for me.  I love getting ideas from magazines but don't have a lot of shelf space to keep them.  When a new issue comes out, I download it onto my computer so that I don't have to be online to access it.  Then, when I get stumped for a card idea, I just "click" my way through the issues until I find one that strikes my fancy.

This card was inspired by one seen in the December, 2008 issue of Cards.  The papers came from a mark-down display at the LSS. 

I used Elegant Edges for the butterfly and Cindy Loo for the scalloped border.

With no sentiment on the front, it can be used for any occasion.  I hope the Operation Write Home soldiers will like it.

More Butterfly Mother's Day Cards

I'm stuck on butterflies this week!  Here are a couple more Mother's Day cards for Operation Write Home.  The first one is based on a challenge sketch seen on their website.  I didn't like the way it turned out so I changed the layout.

The sketch indicated to use three strips of paper, 1/2" wide beside the center rectangle.  I wound up with the sentiment being on a piece that wasn't tall enough for the three bands to look appropriate beside it.  If the sentiment had been on a long narrow rectangle, it would have been okay.

I had multiple card bases prepared so I cut out some shapes using Elegant Edges and printed my sentiment on those.  The shadow was made using Design Studio.

I used Martha Stewart and Stampin' Up punches for the butterflies and added some accents with inks and Pearl Pens.

Inside sentiment was printed using card making software.

My Pay It Forward for Okieladybug

A while back I participated in a "pay it forward" post that appeared on Facebook.  The first five people who replied to the post would receive a handmade item from me.  The first four were no problem at all! But, then Shirley, aka Okieladybug, replied.  What the heck do you make for someone as talented as Okie?  lol!  Not only does she make such pretty things out of paper, she sews and does other types of crafts too.

We sort of set ourselves a deadline of March 1st to deliver our pay it forward gifts.  I've wracked my brain trying to decide on something to make and this is what I came up with.

Shirley loves to watch movies and she collects ladybugs.  When I saw this planter I knew it would be a perfect container for a movie night goodie package.  Microwave popcorn packets, Milk Duds and some Diet Coke should give her all she needs for a serious Twilight movie marathon!  There are also some foil wrapped chocolates snuggled in between the other items to enjoy during intermission.

So, this is what she's getting.  I have to say that the only handmade things on it are the labels and popcorn packet wrappers though!

This is on the bottle hanger for the Diet Coke.  The swirls were cut with a Cuttlebug die and I added some pen stitches.  The label was cut with Elegant Edges, sentiment done in Hallmark card making software and then I ran the image through my printer to get it centered on the label.

Online clip art images and Promarkers were used on the popcorn sleeves.  I added some details with Pearl Pens and gel pens too.


She'll get this on the 18th since we're going to the swarm in Norman together.  Hope she likes it!

Spring Flower Card

Isn't this a cheerful, sunny looking card?  I saw one like it on a Stampin' Up blog and adapted it for using Design Studio and Cricut Cartridges since I don't have their layering punch.  Being able to replicate things that I see online using Design Studio makes me appreciate it and my Expression more every day!

The flowers were cut at 1 3/8" using Elegant Edges; the border was cut at 1" using Cindy Loo.  I resized the border in Design Studio to 11" long so I could get two cards from each cut.

The stems are from an old set of Stampin' Up stamps.

These cards will be left blank inside with no sentiment on the front and sent to Operation Write Home.

Decorated Gift Bags

Yikes!  It's only sixteen days until Christmas Eve!  That's when my family gathers and does our gift exchange and has dinner.  This year, I'm making several different types of food items as gifts for my nieces, nephews and their families so I had to settle myself down today and get the bags decorated!

These are white lunch bags; they're a good size to hold a pint jar of homemade goodies. 

I used the new Paper Trimmings cartridge and Elegant Edges, some border punches, a snowflake punch, scalloped oval punch, Pearl Pens, ribbon,  computer printed sentiments and clip art images that I colored with Promarkers.

Cooper's Name Frame

Today I made this for my newest grandson, Cooper.  He's still way too little to even look at it, but it will be something his mom can put near his crib when he's ready for one.

Cartridges used:  Elegant Edges for the dark blue scallop
                          Printing 101 for the letters
                          A Child's Year for the image

The corners of the blue checked paper were shaped with a Fiskar's corner punch and I added some Signo pen doodling around the edge.

Another French Manor Card

I like this one better.  The key and the photo corners are cut from gold metallic paper.  I used Elegant Edges for the brown background shape and added some Pearl Pen dots.

Punched Butterfly Card

I've had some questions about how I'm assembling these cards so I'll try and explain my process to you.

These are A2 sized cards (5.5 x 4.25")

1.  Print your sentiment four times on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock.  I used my card making software to  position the wording where I wanted it but you can do it in any word processing program too.


2.  Cut the cardstock into four rectangles that measure 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 " and place these onto the cutting mat.     Line the upper right hand corner of each rectangle up onto the grid on the mat.

3.  Using Design Studio, place four rectangles the same size on the cutting mat to match up to the placement  of your cardstock.   Place your butterflies where you want them on the rectangles, leaving a portion of the  butterfly wings hanging over the edge of the rectangle.  You do not have to weld the shapes together.

4.  Now that you have the cardstock attached to your cutting mat and the butterflies where you want them to  cut, delete off the rectangles in Design Studio so they won't cut.  Cut out the butterflies.

5.  Remove the cardstock from the cutting mat and then trim 1/4" off one side and 1/4" off one end. This will allow the paper on the card front to show around the edges.

6.  Apply the cut out piece onto your card front and then do the pen stitching around the edges and cutouts.

I've made some cards similar to these by just attaching the butterflies to the card front and trimming off one edge of the wings but they don't have the same kind of dimension as these with the cutouts.

It's even faster if you have a sentiment stamp that you'd like to use.  Then you don't need to figure out where to place your wording with a word processor.

Prayer Card

Mary over at CardzTV has a video up showing her version of this card.  She has a lot of great card ideas on her blog.

I wanted to use my favorite scripture, Numbers 6:24-26, so, using my Hallmark card software, I typed the text in and sized it to fit onto an A2 sized card.  The software makes it so simple!  You can see a virtual card front of whatever sized card you choose so you always know exactly how the image is going to fit onto the card.

Then, I printed the sentiment and marked center lines on the verses.

I measured the sentiment (1.25" x 3.25") and using Design Studio software and the George cartridge, I placed a rectangle of that size on my mat.  This showed me exactly how much room it would take to print the sentiment.

Elegant Edges has so many neat shapes on it and so I chose a scalloped oval and sized it to fit around the 1/25" x 3.25" rectangle.  This is the white shape I printed the sentiment onto.  Then I stretched the oval just a little to make the turquoise background oval. 

After cutting the ovals out of white cardstock with my Expression, I placed them onto the printed images using the center lines to be my guide.  I put a small piece of double sided tape on the back of each white oval to hold them in place and fed the printed sheet back through my printer.  The sentiment printed perfectly onto the pre-cut ovals.

This is the first time I've printed sentiments onto pre-cut shapes by feeding them through my printer.  It's going to give me a lot more versatility now that I've figured out how to do it.  Making so many cards, it seems like I just keep doing the same things over and over sometimes! So I'm constantly looking for new ideas and techniques to provide me with some variety.

Easy Cards Today

 Stamped cartridge was used to cut the green background piece underneath the leaves.  Added some Stickles in the corners and a rafia bow.

The butterfly is from Mickey and Friends, the scalloped blue circle is from Elegant Edges and George was used for the polka dot circle.


Since it's summertime and most of the TV shows are re-runs, I decided to do some "re-run" cards and use up some supplies on hand.