Happy Halloween

 This card is my final 2023 Halloween card.  I saw this set demonstrated by Helen at craftymamadiaries on youtube. She has a fun channel and I enjoy her content.  I had to have this sweet set by Catherine Pooler called Happy Meowloween as well as the paper pad Helen used.  I can't wait to utilize this set next year.  It is just so purrfect.  I'm a sucker for costumes, can you tell?  Not only did I decorate the front, I used one of the stamps to coordinate the envelope.  I used my alcohol markers for coloring,  Spellbinder hemstitch square dies (one of my favorites).  I'm not in love with how the shadow turned out, but I'm no colorist, I'm just having fun and trying to brighten someone's day.  I hope you've enjoyed this walk with me through the years of Halloween cards.  I look forward to next year.

For my sister

 This spoookkkkeeeee card went to my sister.  I picked this set up on clearance last year and had fun creating with it.  I think it is pretty pink posh.  Colored with my Spectrum noir triblends. I stamped the sentiments with photoplay stamps.

It's all a bunch of Hocus Pocus

 My BFF got another hocus pocus themed card this year.  Can anyone tell me these characters??  If you said Binks and Billy you'd be right.  I also colored "Book" and put it in the inside of the card.  I used Cricut glitter cardstock and spellbinders number dies to create the 31.  The background paper is a pad from Whimsy.  They have some amazing background paper pads.  This stamp set came from Kindred Stamps. They carry a wide variety of theme style stamps.

kindred stamps.  They have some amazing theme style stamp sets.

For my sisterinlaw who is really a sister

 I had colored these little guys last year and had them in my stash.  It came together quickly.  I designed the coverplate  on cricut DS . The little bats are puffy stickers I found at Target several years ago.  The stamp set, again, is an oldie from Spellbinders.

Gone batty

 I love love love this bat stamp set from Photoplay.  They are so stinking cute.  I enjoyed coloring them and then turning them into a card. Bonus, a shaker card.  Who doesn't love a shaker??  Not gonna lie, when I finish one I get a little distracted with the shaking😂.  Enjoy this adorable card.

Salem sisters

 This stamp set came from Kindred stamps.  My lifelong bestie loves the movie Hocus Pocus.  When I saw this stamp set, I knew I had to own it.  I colored the images with alcohol markers and fussy cut them.  I did purchase the SVG file they offered but had trouble getting it to size correctly.  I love how this card turned out and I know she enjoyed getting it.

How about a franken-dog

 More cuteness...can you stand it? As you can see, I added twine to most of these cards.  One day, I just had a coloring session with these stamps and then I sat down another day and created cards.  

Halloween Edition 2021 Another witchy cat

 This card went to my mom.  It is a mini slimline.  I love the change of color I did to the kitty.  Again, switching up the colors to get a different look.  

Sickness took me down

 So sorry I got behind on my Halloween inspiration posts.  I was pretty sick for a couple weeks and when momma is that sick...stuff just doesn't get done.  Anyway, here is my next cute card from the 2021 season. Isn't he just the cutest pirate dog you've ever seen?  I used spellbinders products to make this card and I enjoyed coloring all these stamps in different ways as you'll see as the days progress.  

Love, love, love how this came out

 This is a customer order and I just love how it came out.  Even better???  I used some printed cardstock from my stash and I'm so happy with how it came out.  I recently acquired these dies on clearance, they are from pinkfresh studios.  I love the detail in the edges.  I had an embossing folder that mimicked the patterned paper.  I love everything about this card.  I hope the client does too.  I highly enjoy customization, whether it be a name, event, or favorite of the recipient.  

I used one of my favorite fonts in cricut DS to create the name and used an SNTB (my preferred alcohol marker, spectrum noir triblend) to give an ombre look to it.  This card gives me Tina Smith vibes over on Cards and Coffee Time on youtube.  She is fabulous and an inspiration to me.  Everything she makes is lovely.  

The flowers are made from a spellbinders die from the cinch and go collection.  I love it when a plan comes together.  

Twins!

 My sister-in-law is thoughtful of us.  So giving.  Constantly sharing things with us things that she makes and has a long history of being more like a grandma to our kids through the years.  She's been busy make tote bags for some time and keeps sharing them with me.  Her neighbor is expecting and turns out she's having twins.  She decided to make a diaper bag for her, and I offered to make a special card that would match.  I love how it turned out.  I hope her neighbor loves it too!

Tis the season

 Graduation season!  I had so much fun creating this card for my friend's daughter.  I used Cricut DS to cut the cap, and the diploma and the letters of her name.  I was able to curate the colors to match that of her high school and found the perfect background cardstock in my stash to finish it off.  I used gems from my stash for embellishments and the stamped Congratulations is from a Stamp Simply stamp set.  I used a number stamp set in my stash from the Stamps of life to add the year to the diploma.  This is a 4x9 slimline card.  There is spectrum noir glitter pen on the tassle and the bow on the diploma.  I really hope she liked the card.

a big number needs a big card

 I really enjoy making these "showstopper" cards.  They have such a presence and give me lots of places to add details. A friend from church asked me to make a 50th anniversary card for her in-laws and I rose to the task!  My papers are from a hobby lobby paper pad.  I cut the letters and numbers from design space and colored them with my triblends to match the cardstock.  I covered them in shimmer pen, but that can't really be seen in the photos.  I added some gems from stash.  The sentiment is from an old altenew set and one of the two happy anniversary stamps I have. I love how it turned out.  The back is equally beautiful with an added scripture and ephemera.

A first time for everything

I have had this stamp set from the Stamps of Life for at least 10 years.  I have never used it because I just couldn't think of a way to do so.  I made a thank you card for a friend of Matt's who has become like family to us.  I wanted to thank him for his constant prayers and support.  I feel honored to be his friend and humbled by his generosity to our family.  

This is an old school phone, you know, the only way we used to phone a friend???  I guess it might be considered retro by now.  HA!  I colored the phones with my triblend markers.  Added some doodles around the sides.  I added enamel dots from my stash. I hope he enjoys this card, a token of our appreciation.

More Whimsy goodies

 I have loved this donkey set since I first laid eyes on it. I love the goofy grins and faces he has.  When I won the vlog hop I was able to add this stamp set and selfie dies to my gifts. 

 I had a friend request a card for her husband's friend who recently gifted them some very expensive hearing aids.  I found the sentiment "did you hear?" in one of my old Stamps of life stamp sets.  I thought it was perfect for the occasion.  I did some dry embossing.  Popped the polaroid's onto foam tape for dimension.  I colored both donkeys with my triblend markers.  I added pops of color in marine and glossy accents over his eyes for final touches.  I think this makes a nice masculine card and I hope the recipient gets a kick out of it.  

It's all in the details

 Ok, pro tip....if you are making a project for someone else, in my case, a card, and the person gives you lots of details, you might want to keep that straight as you create...HA! Simple, right?  I'm going to blame my little oopsie on the fact that I usually get multiple distractions while I'm creating.  

Yep, let's go with that.  

So, the card is for a retiring gentleman, I added all the little details, finished the card only to realize the very next day that I messed up the number of years on his retirement.  ACK!

Thankfully, it was a relatively simple fix, but I could not remember the font I used, so I used a different one.  What you see in the picture is the wrong number of total years.  That is the picture I got before I fixed and already had it packaged.  Now says 41 instead of 42.  

Thank goodness I caught my mistake!!! Please excuse the dish towel and "life" mess in the background 😉

Bless yer heart

 So, here are some of the products I picked up from Whimsy Stamps when I won the video hop.  I've been in love with this cow since she was released.  The fence posts, grass, and nail heads are a die set from the company as well. I colored my heifer with my triblend markers. I used tumbled glass and rustic wilderness to blend in a little sky and grass.  I found a little bird stamp/die in my stash from Spellbinders that I thouht had the same whimsical style as my scene.  She was a last addition.  I added glossy accents to her red lips and sparkle pen to her bow.  The little flowers were ones I already had made in my stash.  This is a 4 X 9 card and it fits in a standard business envelope.  

This card is going to my friend that I refer to as my Barnabas.  She prays for me, encourages me, supports and teaches me so much about becoming a more mature woman of God.  Her dad happened to be a dairy farmer, so I thought this cow was a perfect fit for thanking her.  

In hindsight, I wish I had added some little bumblebees in the sky, but this is already in the envelope, ready to deliver.  

A fintastic thank you card

 Today's card is another thank you card, as I have many to create to thank so many people for their kindness during Matt's surgery.  These little sharks are images from Joy Baldwin's stamp set she designed and had made for shark week last year.  She does a whole week devoted to cute little shark cards.  These sharks are the two smaller sharks on her stamp set as well as one of the sentiments. Joy has created another large stamp set and curated a card kit so you can craft along in her shark week series in August.  The kit is currently on preorder on her website, Create it with Joy.  It is only available to preorder until May 14th.  Go check her out on her website and youtube channel.  She is an amazing creator.  

As I said, my card features the two smaller sharks from her original stamp set and I think they are pretty fintastic.  I colored them with my spectrum noir triblends.  I used my spellbinders arched dies to create the frame and materials from an old spellbinders card kit of the month to create the scene.  

Hap-bee Birthday

 This is actually very similar to a card I made a few years ago.  A friend of mine wanted the original immediately.  She recently asked me reproduce the card for another family member.  This is a mini slimline.  I used Cricut DS to cut the honeycomb background and beehive.  The bees ( from the Stamps of Life) I stamped, colored, and fussy cut,  added glossy accents to one set of wings and diamond stickles to the other wings.  I used scrapbook.com black pops of color to make the bee trails. The hearts are candy hearts from a stamp company, but I've had them so long I cannot remember. 

 

Isn't he the cutest???

 I made this sweet card from a stamp set created by Joy, from Create it with Joy.  You can find her on youtube.  She does a week long series of shark themed cards for her shark week.  She created this stamp set last year.  This year, she has created a new and bigger stamp featuring this cute little guy and also procured a card kit that can only be ordered from now until May 14th. Then, in August when she starts shark week you can make along!!  So fun!! Go check out her channel to learn more here . She is an incredibly talented card maker/ creator.  

I dry emobossed this background with an old cuttlebug folder, colored this little shark with spectrum noir triblends, added some water droplet embellishments, and it's hard to see, but I coated his great big smile with glossy accents.  I added some gel pen highlights to finish it off.