After practicing loose, freestyle watercolor roses for a couple of days, I had quite a “garden” of them to be made into greeting cards.
Hand-painted Roses Bridal Shower Card
They are quite fun to paint, take shape quickly, and make an elegant presentation.
Hand-painted Roses Birthday Card
Hand-painted Roses Birthday Card
Here’s hoping we call can take time to smell the real roses today. Happy Wednesday!
A few weekends ago I spent a terrific, creative weekend with some friends at a local B&B. We spent the weekend working on various projects like scrapbooking, card making, needle work, etc. I focused on making encouragement and birthday cards to be donated to a local hospital chaplain as well as Send a Smile 4 Kids.
Cheering You On
I used up a set of coordinating patterned paper from Stampin Up along with some great stamps from to make these cards.
You’re Doing Great
You Got This
You are Tougher
Don’t Be Afraid
I so enjoy making cards and hope they will help uplift each person who receives one.
Celebrate with Balloons
Birthday Balloons
How wonderful it is to spend time with creative friends – we help each other with ideas, share all our “toys,” and simply relax in the ease of our friendships. Thanks, ladies, for such a pleasant, productive, renewing weekend!
Supplies: My Creative Time Stamps, You Matter; Simon Says Stamps, Cheering You On; Lawn Fawn, Scripty Sayings; Stampin Up, Best Year Ever paper.
Happy Saturday to you! As I stated in my previous post, OWH declared Mission Accomplished so I have been focusing on making cards for SAS4Kids. Before I started with that, I decided to do some reorganization of my craft space and storage, which took a bit of time but felt good to finish. However, I am a very messy crafter and my work space still looks chaotic, but I know where everything is.
I just sent my first box of cards out to SAS4Kids and it included some Halloween cards, which are new for me. I never really made any for OWH but had stamps accumulated along the way including hand-me-downs from Julie and loaners from Marie (thanks, Julie and Marie!), so I spent some time coordinating those with paper colors, Stickles, patterned paper, sequins, etc.
Halloween Card, Witchy Kitty
Halloween Card, Stickled Stars Kitty
Halloween Card, Smell My Feet
I tried to make them sweet or silly rather than scary but figured older kids would want something a little edgier, but this is just about as edgy as I get for Halloween.
Halloween Card, Bats and Spider Web
The spider web is heat embossed which gives it a raised texture and I thought it turned out pretty cool.
Heat embossed spider web
I know Halloween is still a ways off but the cards are due in by October 1 in order to be distributed to the hospitals. I had fun making them but don’t want to rush these last few days of summer, and I hope you have time to enjoy the sunshine a little more before we have to break out the sweaters and jackets.
It is terribly hot outside today and if you know me, you know that this is NOT my favorite weather, so it might seem odd that I love vacationing at the beach. Our favorite beaches are on Topsail Island, NC, and although it might be hot, the lovely breeze paired with walking in the surf keeps me perfectly cool. Topsail is a very non-commercialized island and there is nothing to do there except relax, renew, reconnect, and relish the wonders of the ocean – a true vacation.
Beach-Inspired Card
I made a couple of these cards and knew right away which beach-loving friend I was going to send one to for her birthday. I used Core’dinations papers for the bottom half and the starfish because it has such great texture, and the sand dollars were cut from a beautiful paper that had a sheen to it. Of course it needed some sparkle on the coral, and the sequins remind me of the tiny golden shells we have found there in the past. I’m going to Carolina in my mind . . .
As always, creating cards for OWH makes a person think ahead, and because Mother’s Day cards need to be shipped out before March 31 I thought I’d get a move on. Traditionally, many Mother’s Day cards depict flowers or butterflies, and there definitely is a myriad of those kinds of stamps and supplies on the market to accomplish this.
Mother’s Day Card, SU Painted Petals pink
Mother’s Day Card, SU Painted Petals yellow
Then I got to thinking that although I enjoy a flowery card, not everyone does – which led me to think outside the box a little. My stamp collection was scoured to find some suitable alternatives that I think ended up working well in the end.
Mother’s Day Card, Lighthouse
Mother’s Day Card, #1 Mom blue
Mother’s Day Card, #1 Mom red
The lighthouse was not that big of a stretch, but it was a fun challenge to come up with the last two. The foam finger stamp is from an OWH set made by Hero Arts, and the name of the set is Dude; however, I think most moms would be happy to receive such a card.
Today I am sharing three cards that are white on white. After playing with watercolors for many weeks I got back to card making and wanted to start with a clean look. What could be cleaner than white on white?
White on White-Best Wishes
Embossing folders add texture and only a few ribbons or inky words are needed. The card above features the Stampin Up Bird punch layered on an embossed heart.
White on White – Swirls
White on White – Hearts
The edge punches add to the lacy, crisp, and elegant feel of these cards, which are so versatile and can be used for a multitude of occasions.
Last week once again we spent a relaxing, crafty weekend at the Hickory Road Inn, a bed and breakfast in Batesville. Our group has such diverse talents and interests so lots of sewing, embroidery, painting, scrapbooking, paper crafting, and card making took place. All the food was scrumptious and the Inn is very comfortable and accommodating. At least this time we didn’t have any run-ins with ice storms or ticks!!
Emily’s canvas pictures
Hedgehog banner by Mariele for college dorm door hanger
Colorful Birthday Card
Hexagon Birthday Card with Sequins
Window Card with Flower Box
Chevron Birthday Card with Sequins
Emily worked on two canvas collages which were very stunning, but unfortunately I don’t have a picture of her second one. Mariele is getting ready to go back to college and worked on door hangers and other decorations dorm room and her service group. Above are some of the cards I made. It was fun to add some sparkle with the sequins. I can’t decide if the window box card needs to have some curtains in the window, so I will probably add some to the next batch and see which I like better. Have a great week!
Carol's Creative Papers 