Christmas Card Fun

 This card was so much fun to create for our groomer, Lisa. She has taken very good care of our rescue baby, Reilly, since we adopted him from Second Chance.  He's a black and white Springer Spaniel and this doggy looks like a miniature Reilly. The dog stamp is from Penny Black, I used the Candy Cane DSP from Stampin' Up and Real Red cardstock with a touch of silver. I used my Stampin' Up markers to color the image and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Merry Christmas sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

 Another miniature "Reilly" on the inside of the card, makes it fun.

 Every once in awhile you need to take a class just for fun to keep the creativity flowing. This class at our local stamp store was just that, fun and good for creativity. It's a side step card and it sure was a lot of fun to work on. Guaranteed to bring a smile.

 My first love will always be oriental style art. This card is my gift to some of my Oriental Stamp Art friends this year. It has received a host of compliments already. I like being able to mix and match my art supplies together. Stampin' Up's paper, inks and markers give me a quality base for all my card making. I used Real Red, Brushed Silver and Whisper White cardstocks, Real Red marker, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The kitty was color with a Copic marker. Stamps from Stampavie and the former Inka Stamps now Scroll Works.

This was my main Christmas card for family this year. I used the Come to Bethlehem stamp set, Night of Navy card stock and ink, Cherry Cobbler ink, the Top Note die cut in Whisper White, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. All SU except the silver paper.

Creative Sketches Week 12 Holiday Card

 Wow, what a busy 6 or so weeks it's been. We made about 2300 cards last month for the troops and then I started running for the holidays. Whew! I am going to slowly back track and get caught up with the previous sketches for the Creative Sketches and I have a few new items to share. Plus I get to design for a whole new stamp club in January. I am still getting organized and sorted back out to gear up for a new round of events for From Our Hearts after the New Year and slowly getting my room organized enough to actually sit down and work in.

This weeks card is a sneak peek at the new Occasions Mini Catalog arriving Jan. 4th. I used the new Love Impressions DSP and the a' la carte stamp Be My Valentine. I popped and layered the heart for dimension. I stamped it in black on the gray layer, stamped in red on the pink and cut it out in full, then cut a banner out in the same red on pink and popped it on top. I also used Real Red, Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette cardstock and Real Red 1/8" ribbon.

 I hope everyone has a really fabulous Christmas and great New Year! Enjoy your celebrations with family and friends!

Lots of Cards for From Our Hearts

This is what has kept me busy for the past couple of weeks. I have been prepping for and having workdays at the Cleveland County Christmas Store program. Our Christmas Store helps low income families provide presents for their families for Christmas. When they sign-up, they are required to put in 2 hours of work in order to be able to "shop". I signed up for 14 two hour sessions with Cards for the Troops to represent From Our Hearts. After 5 days/10 sessions and one day at OU for a short 40 minute session at a work retreat, I am working on the 7th box of cards to mail to From Our Hearts
I mailed 5 of the boxes off on Monday a total of 1466 cards. After 11 more kits were finished at yesterday's workday I am looking at nearly 1800 cards completed in just over a week's time! I have 2 more days the week after Thanksgiving and then this year is a wrap and time for a much needed break. 

And speaking of breaks, my first treat comes tonight, Thursday and Friday. I signed up for classes with Cheryl Mezzetti at our local scrapstore where I hold From Our Hearts events. I get to make 3 cool mini books and learn a ton of techniques to help keep my creativity fresh and inspiring. On that note, I am off to pack for class.

Remember just one gift of kindness can make a big difference in someone's life. Do something  nice for someone today. 

Creative Sketches Week 5 Challenge

 Squeaking by just under the wire this week. Irritated my shoulder last week and the steroids just are no fun at all. This week's sketch gets to do double duty as my youngest daughter's birthday card. She turns 22 today. I hope she doesn't peek at my blog because she doesn't receive  her card until the family birthday dinner tomorrow ;0) She has requested Olive Garden and German chocolate cake, yum!

This was a quick and easy card to make. I spend some time working on 3-D flowers from time to time so the flower was already done and ready to go. I just added a rhinestone to the center to give it some sparkle. Because I make my flowers from scraps of cardstock, I had to pull a couple of retired colors for this card. I used the 1 3/4" scallop circle punch for the flowers.  I used the Finial Press embossing folder for the background. I cut the pieces to size first and then ran them through the Big Shot together at the same time. I debated punches for the verse and picked the new Decorative label punch again, 

framed it and used Stampin'  Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Curvy Verses.


While my daughter may have to wait for the family birthday dinner for her card, she still gets pampered a bit today. We are off for lunch, manicures and pedicures. Everyone can use a bit of pampering.

Almost forgot, to view more exciting creations using this sketch, be sure to visit the Creative Sketches blog.

Creative Sketches Week 4 Holiday

 Right on time with this week's Creative Sketch challenge. I had fun creating this card earlier this week and getting my challenges all caught up so far. As you can see from my design, I flipped the sketch. I actually had put the stamps together on my acrylic block a little over a month ago for an idea when I was designing my swap card for the Texas Regionals. That idea didn't happen but I kept coming across these images still on the block waiting to be stamped. When I saw this week's sketch, I knew I had the perfect set up for using my design.

I used Candy Cane Christmas DSP and the Merry Crittermas stamp set from the Holiday Mini, Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Garden Green cardstock, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and a retired Baja Breeze corduroy button. I colored my images with Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils and used a blender pencil to blend.

Be sure to visit Creative Sketches to view more designs using this week's sketch.

Creative Sketches 1st Sketch Caught Up

 There is nothing like being several weeks behind, LOL! I actually have taken some time to get back on track this week and have found it refreshing to just create and work on my challenges. Kind of the calm before the storm as I have 7 events during Nov. for From Our Hearts.  I am estimating these events will produce around 2100 cards!
That's a lot of work but oh, so worth it.

I took some time to create this weeks card (check back Thursday) and finally create the first sketch that I missed.

I actually had something in pink in mind for this sketch originally but the idea didn't quite gel. Worked perfectly for last weeks sketch so sometimes you have to go with the flow. This card kind of meandered it's way into the creation you see. I just pulled out a bit of this and that and started to tweek it. I used the Just Believe and Sincere Salutations stamp sets, Pear Pizzaz cardstock, Concord Crush DSP from the Level 1 hostess paper pack, the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (love how this punches out), Basic Pearls, a retired flower from the Pretties kit (which I believe is available in the Paper Daisies pack), Pear Pizzaz, Concord Crush and Blushing Bride markers.

I used the Blushing Bride brush tip on the marker to color the edges of my flower and the tiniest pearls down the center of the punched ribbon strip.

Be sure to check out the designs on Creative Sketches.

A Bit Of Oriental

Well this weekend saw the death of my laptop. Fortunately I was able to rescue all my files before it's final swan song. And these are a couple of the pictures saved. I recently participated in a moongate mingle on OSA 
and created 2 versions of my card. One for my partner and one for our hostess. The background is hand painted with shimmer paints. When I have a couple of hours and my muse is stuck, I will often make backgrounds with no particular goal in mind and tuck them away for future use. You can the shimmer in the second card. The image itself is enhanced with Smooch inks.

It's always amazing how holding the camera at different angles and distances changes the light on a card. Both of these were taken in the same photo booth and have an entirely different look. But the 2nd one captured the shimmer and shows the true colors better, while the first shows more details.

Creative Sketches Technique & Sketch Wk 3

Wow, it's late but I got my week 3 card done. Woohoo! Still have to backtrack to week 1 but hopefully in this next week. Life keeps throwing me curve balls. This weeks challenge was to use a dry embossing technique with a sketch. I took liberties with the sketch design. Here is the sketch:

Pretty sweet sketch design. I opted to make a pink card this week honoring Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am really tickled how it turned out.

I used 3 pinks but it looks like 2. The card base is Pink Pirouette, the frame is Regal Rose and both ribbons are Pretty in Pink. I used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, the Ribbon of Hope stamp and the sentiment is from the Hope Happens set. I love the variety of sizes in the Basic Pearls, using the medium ones for the flowers. I love using embossing folders and running them through my Big Shot. The make very quick, elegant backgrounds for cards without a lot of work. They are also great for adding texture to punched shapes. I use them a lot when designing for From Our Hearts.

If you are fighting breast cancer,
I wish you much strength and hope,
if you are a survivor,
I honor your victory
and if you have lost a loved one,
I wish you beautiful memories
and offer prayers for a cure
so the future is indeed brighter
for all women everywhere.

Visit the Creative Sketches Blog to view more great works of art. 

Creative Sketches Color Challenge Week 2

Welcome to Creative Sketches Week 2.

As usual I am trying to play catch-up.. I will backtrack later and post a sketch for Week 1 as soon as I can. This week's challenge was all about color. I decided these colors lent themselves well to a masculine card so I opted for a birthday card.

I like simple layered cards so I used a Soft Suede base, a layer of Marina Mist with a layer of Always Artichoke. I used the leaves from my Day of Gratitude set for the Always Artichoke background design. I realized afterwards that I accidentally grabbed Old Olive for the leaves, then decided I liked it that way. So I added a color not on the list. I used the pine trees from Plant Hope and used my Soft Suede and Always Artichoke markers to color the image and stamp. I then used Birthday Wishes from the hostess set Occasional Quotes for my sentiment stamped in Soft Suede and punched with the Modern Label Extra Large punch. I popped it with some SU! Dimensionals and added a bit of Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon for the bow. Simple, elegant and done.

Cards for the Troops and Regional Swap Card

Well I have properly neglected my blog haven't I? I have been hosting almost non-stop events to benefit From Our Hearts, 4 in the last 6 weeks alone. With the help of my event participants we have boxed up and sent off over 1700 cards! We have been busy, busy around here. I have 8 more events scheduled this year before I am finished. When you view the thank-you letters on the From Our Hearts blog, you realize how very small this act of kindness is and what a wonderful impact it has on the lives of our service members and their families. I have included a picture of the new display board. The old one lasted a year but was looking a bit ragged around the edges from being toted about. I think the new board came out really spiffy and has received many compliments. Plus I designed this one so I can change the cards out more frequently by turning the clear plastic sleeves into pockets. The next picture shows 3 priority boxes ready to mail to From Our Hearts. They know my boxes have arrived when they see the angels.

I was able to attend my very first Stampin' Up! event on Sept 10th, Regionals in Ft Worth, Tx. I had lots of fun and learned some new tips and techniques. This was my swap card. If you look very closely at the display board above, you will see another version of this card that I designed for the troops with donated paper. I used the new Designer series paper from the Holiday Mini, Candy Cane Christmas, the Tags til Christmas stamp set, the Petals-a-plenty embossing folder, basic rhinestones, 1/8" taffeta ribbon in Real Red and Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green and Blushing Bride cardstock to create this card. A classy fun card for sure.

More news soon. I am still organizing my new art room. Hard to do with all the events. I'll share more pictures soon including the new room and some of the cards I design or case for the troop events. 

My Stampin' Up! Story and update

I was totally busy last week and frustrated because I couldn't find the PC cord for the camera to download new pictures to post. I found it under the recliner of all places after I ordered a replacement of course :0) That's how life works. Since I just found it, pictures will have to wait another day or so, but I do have something to share.

I am participating in the Stampin' Up! recruit crew. Part of our assignment is sharing our story as it relates to being a demo. So here is my story:

My Stampin’ Up! Story

I could not tell you exactly when I attended my first SU event. It was kind of hit and miss for several years. Always a onetime event here and there, rarely a round of workshops. Stampin’ Up! was OK but because I have been stamping for around 25 years didn’t seem that significant with such a wide variety available from several companies, which I still enjoy greatly in my personal creating. However a few years ago a friend got really interested in Stampin’ Up! and we started attending Stamp a Stacks together. I was doing quite a few swaps and was getting frustrated trying to find affordable matching elements. At the Stamp a Stacks I was seeing a classic elegant design I liked, excellent quality materials, fell in love with how everything coordinated so nicely and the variety offered to appeal to many different styles and tastes. The price point was good especially on packages of cardstock to make my many swaps, offering consistency to my designs. My friend signed up as a demo and started a club. She had a club for the social aspect and friendships and I was her designer. She was unable to continue being a demo and a few months after she lost her demonstrator status, asked me to sign on to continue our club. It didn’t exactly work out as planned but I have had 2 successful clubs in the nearly 2 years I have been a demo. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and teaching them techniques, tips and tricks and to inspire their creativity and confidence. I enjoy being a hobby demo with a small customer base with the occasional larger event.

My demonstrator outlook changed dramatically when I began the Cards for the Troops events for From Our Hearts. I have been blessed with the gift of encouragement and the talent to create. Using those gifts in service is important to me so my focus is more as a card ministry than as a business builder. I still gain customers at a small rate but using my Stampin’ Up! products to bless other lives is my priority and I am fortunate enough to be able to budget to support that ministry at this time. I am my own best customer and my gift and blessing is touching others lives with love, support and encouragement. The blessing is multifold. I create designs and inspire so I am blessed, those who assemble the cards are blessed by sharing in the creating for a worthy cause, the service members are blessed with our gift of thoughtfulness to them and their families are blessed to receive a connection with their loved one. These blessings will grow and abound and come back to me in ways I never expected. There is joy in the giving of one’s time, talent and energy to improve and brighten up our world, one life at a time.

Working on Birthday cards

We celebrate 2 birthdays this month in our family. I did this card for a Stamp-A-Stack in April. I am thinking of doing an updated version for one of the birthdays this month. I think I found this design on SplitCoast to case for my SAS. Sometimes when time is in short supply and I have a specific request for a certain set or technique, I will go surfing for ideas. I just love the embossing folders and use them a lot for quick backgrounds especially when I am doing Card for the Troops. The Crazy for Cupcakes set is a fun set to play with. Hopefully there will be lots of creating time this week. I do know I need some new pictures of cards for posting, my photo file is just a little thin at the moment. On a personal note, I am 3lbs lighter, only 37 more pounds to go. Having cranky joints makes it difficult to work out but not impossible and adjusting portions isn't hard to do. I was even able to enjoy ice cream in this heat a couple of times last week. Here's to good health! Materials used: Cardstock - Tempting Turquoise and Orchid Opulence (retired), Stamps- Crazy for Cupcakes, Tempting Turquoise ribbon and rhinestone brad, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Geisha Tea

My blog is not always 100% Stampin' Up, however I usually use something Stampin' Up in all my creations. A lot of paper for sure. I just love how all the cardstock colors stay consistent and coordinate. Unfortunately several of the purples just retired and I did this card back in May. This stamp was a special gift sent all the way from Australia from my friend Mary W. I spend a great majority of my art time on the Oriental Stamp Art list. I just love oriental style art. The image is hand colored with watercolor pencils. I made a set of these and sent them out as RAKs.
I am looking forward to playing with my new sets from Stampin' Up that have an oriental flavor from the new catalog, Kimono Kids and Plant Hope. I am always excited to find oriental style items in my Stampin' Up catalog. There will be some new RAKs made soon. Sharing a card to brighten up a day is such a fun way to surprise someone. I challenge you to make a card and send it along to a friend today!

Birthday card and Cards for the Troops News

I really like this set "Elements of Style". I created this card for my oldest daughter's birthday. Outlining the flowers with glitter gave it just the right touch. In other news I had another successful event yesterday at a Whole Lotta Scrap. I have yet to do a final count but somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 cards with about another 75 or so out for creating in kits. Almost a whole box full for From Our Hearts. And I may have another contact for a couple of more events. I will start posting more card ideas soon. Since I will use anything donated or on hand for the Cards for the Troops events you will see a mixture of retired stamps and other products on my blog. I certainly hope it will inspire you in your own creations. Perhaps to use some of the stash you already have.

Let's Get This Party Started

Well after a 2 month break from all my Cards For The Troops activities, it's time to get to creative again. Not that I haven't been working hard and creating, but on a short sabbatical. I'm still sorting a tremendous amount of the house and my art supplies and gearing up for the next round of Cards For The Troops events. While on break I celebrated my 32nd wedding anniversary with hubby in Hot Springs. This was the view that greeted us when we opened the door to our condo, Fabulous! It felt like we could walk right out onto the water. A very relaxing week. When we got home, I cleared out enough of the house to have a great yard sale. There's a bit more breathing space around here now and hopefully there will be more soon. I got so used to the military moving us every 3 years that now that we are retired, I have to clean out from time to time. 22 years of habit. My youngest daughter is moving out August 1st and I'll move my art space into her room. A bit more room to spread out and get organized in, yippee! She asked me what happened if she had to move back home, if she'd get her old room back. Nope, not happening sweetheart. You move out, you get what mom and dad give you when you move back. Somehow I don't think she'll be moving back in anytime soon. In the meantime, my muse thinks I've forgotten what creating is like. Itching to get back on track here. So Fridays are officially art day for the time being. With so much going on including painting as well as organizing, I had to decide on a day that was sacred for art until the house projects are done. I'm sure I'll be snatching time here and there with 5 events coming up. But hey, now I have something to look forward to. More posting coming your way soon with artwork included :0)

Rockin' Card For The Troops

Saturday's event was another huge success. About 227 cards were made (some are still being processed) and we were able to get 620 cards total matched to envelopes and placed in clear sleeves into two priority boxes ready to mail. It is not unusual for me to have several card kits out being made by participants, donors who make and drop cards off they designed and I even had a few kits from my last event that didn't fit in the 2 boxes sent last month. Busy? You bet! But it's a labor of love. That makes the total cards sent so far this year to 1761! In about 8 months last year the events and individual card donations produced 1749 cards. We have already exceeded that in less than half that time. Woohoo!!! And I have approximately 200 cards still being processed or in kits being finished by friends and volunteers. A HUGE thank-you to everyone who attends one of my events. Every card brightens up a service member's day when they can pick that card out, write a personal note inside and send it to a loved one eagerly awaiting news here at home. For more information on how you can support our troops click on the From Our Hearts logo on my sidebar or here in this post.

Fabulous New Colors and Long Time No Post

With all the Cards for the Troops events I have been doing lately my blog gets placed at the bottom of my things to do list. I will have hosted 5 events in 2 months as of April 24th and expect that the final total of cards will be in the neighborhood of about 1700. That's about the same amount as was done in 6 months last year. Everyone is stepping up for our service members serving overseas and that's FANTASTIC!!!! It's also tiring because even though I have some help, it basically turns into a full time job on it's own. So I have great artwork to share it's just buried at the moment :0)
Have you heard the buzz???








Stampin' Up is launching a brand new color line with this year's new catalog release on July 1st. It's a fresh new breeze of inspiration! Fabulous! We will have 4 new Color Collections to choose from. They will include 25 of our old favorites, 5 brand new colors and 10 returning In Colors from recent years. Plus we will have 5 new In Colors this year that will be available for 2 years instead of one. Cool! We will have plenty of time to enjoy the In Colors with 5 new ones being introduced each year.

If you want to stock up on your favorites that are retiring, here's the chart:


You should be able to click on the chart to bring up a bigger version. I think the only one I'll seriously miss is Orchid Opulence. I loved using it with Tempting Turquoise.

For a peek at the new colors here they are:
Aren't they yummy! They will be fun, fun, fun to create and play with. I hope you like fresh new inspiration as much as I do. It keeps life changing and full of interest!

Big Hugs,
Ruth C
Angelartistok

MemoBoard

I love creating in a variety of materials. When my local scrapbook store offered this class, I was immediately on board. It started off as a solid write on/wipe off surface but we changed it to this design. Now I can post my 6 week goals to the cork board and write an inspirational saying or quote on the write on part. This looks fabulous on the wall beside my desk. The picture doesn't show it off but the paper is highlighted with Stickles glitter. I enjoy playing with the metal work. I haven't tried it yet but I'll bet the Stampin' Up embossing folders would be great with the metal. You have to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things and different techniques occasionally. It inspires fresh creativity.

One Card 2 ways

Well let's see, exactly one month since my last post. Not exactly on my New Year's goal list. I was trying for twice a week minimum and then I got the flu. After that the rest of the month was toast.
I have made some progress on my organization and sorting. The paper shelf unit is in my art room now and receiving it's final coat of paint. I figure about 8 more hours of painting as it's not easy to paint 80 small shelves inside. I had to take a break as my wrist was complaining. Last thing I need is to see the orthopedic doctor for carpal tunnel. I've cleared out a few more items. Started to keep my desk and cutting table clean every night and got my Cards for the Troops items ready for making kits for my Feb. 13th event.
These 2 cards were quick and easy. A simple sketch shown two different ways. I made the red one for a local demo swap and the pink one for my January club. I used 100% Stampin' Up products on them. Stamp sets: Whimsical Words (Sale*a*bration) and Well Scripted. Sending Love Specialty DSP. Cardstock: Real Red and Pretty in Pink. Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Scallop Trim Border Punch (Sale*a*bration), Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslits Die, Full Heart punch and paper crimper.