Over the last 2 days I have posted several new items. This is all that I've been working on for the last few weeks. Hope it makes up for not posting for several weeks.
Some time ago I downloaded a thing on the blog to show me when people visit the blog and where the visit originates. I have been pleasantly surprised to see how many visits there has been since I put this thing on the blog, up to 369 the last time I looked. Mostly I've been surprised as to where the visits are originating, from Europe, Mexico, South America, British Columbia. There's also been a lot from different states besides California, the east coast, the south, etc. Several people have found my blog in searching for my daughter and son-in-law's coffee shop in Enterprise, AL. A lot of them have been in searching for a particular item and my blog has been one of the choices. However, a lot of them have come from blogger.com. I've been really excited in all of this, however, it would be even more exciting if comments were left too. Someone said on their blog that comments put a smile on their face!!
So for anyone reading the posts on the blog, please leave a comment. I would be so grateful if you did. I started the blog to showcase my cards and sell them, however, family events have found their way to the blog too. Which is ok!! So if you are interested in purchasing anything I have on the blog, please do not hesitate to contact me by leaving a comment.
I have one more item to post, will save that for next week. It's a birthday card for a friend whose birthday is on Monday so I don't want her to see it before then. LOL!
Thank you to all of you who have visited my blog! Remember, leave me a comment when you do!! :)
Have a blessed day!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Asian Card Order
A couple that eats lunch each Tuesday at the Japanese restaurant where I also have lunch on Tuesdays requested that I make some Asian cards for them. They were my first customers when I started selling my cards the first of this year. I made a total of 9 cards and they purchased 7 of them.
This first card has a brown card base, then a layer of black. I stamped a square shadow stamp in Memories Soft Sand ink and then stamped the 4 Kanji cubes in Creamy Brown chalk ink. Each of the symbols were outlined with a clear Spica glitter pen. The husband likes this particular card a lot so I have made several of this design for him over the last few months.
This card has a piece of burgundy card stock as the first layer. Then I cut a piece of Ultra White card stock and mounted it onto the burgundy. The white is the actual card which opens on the right side. The cherry blossom stem was stamped twice in brown ink. I stamped the branch again several times on a piece of scrap white and cut out the flowers and put them over the flowers that I stamped first with a tiny piece of foam tape. I colored the flowers with a Sakura Glaze red pen. When this ink dries, it has a raised effect. I cuttlebugged about 1 inch of the edge of the white and tied a burgundy ribbon at the crease end. The ribbon is two-toned and is covering a mistake I made when I stamped the branch a second time. :) The stamp set is from SU.
I have made this particular card using a peach and sage green color scheme and is posted in an older post. This card was done in sage green, lavender and plum. I colored the flowers in lavender. The corners were all rounded and the oval with the sentiment was edged in lavender and mounted with foam tape. A very classic card and perfect for a sympathy card.
The card base of the card on the left is SU Groovy Guava. The layers are gold metallic, a square of Washi paper, another gold metallic layer and then white. I then stamped a Japanese flower on the white square with SU Groovy Guava ink and put some Stardust Stickles in the center of the flower. I actually CASED the design from a card sample at The Paper Garden.
This first card has a brown card base, then a layer of black. I stamped a square shadow stamp in Memories Soft Sand ink and then stamped the 4 Kanji cubes in Creamy Brown chalk ink. Each of the symbols were outlined with a clear Spica glitter pen. The husband likes this particular card a lot so I have made several of this design for him over the last few months.
This card has a piece of burgundy card stock as the first layer. Then I cut a piece of Ultra White card stock and mounted it onto the burgundy. The white is the actual card which opens on the right side. The cherry blossom stem was stamped twice in brown ink. I stamped the branch again several times on a piece of scrap white and cut out the flowers and put them over the flowers that I stamped first with a tiny piece of foam tape. I colored the flowers with a Sakura Glaze red pen. When this ink dries, it has a raised effect. I cuttlebugged about 1 inch of the edge of the white and tied a burgundy ribbon at the crease end. The ribbon is two-toned and is covering a mistake I made when I stamped the branch a second time. :) The stamp set is from SU.
I have made this particular card using a peach and sage green color scheme and is posted in an older post. This card was done in sage green, lavender and plum. I colored the flowers in lavender. The corners were all rounded and the oval with the sentiment was edged in lavender and mounted with foam tape. A very classic card and perfect for a sympathy card.
The card base of the card on the left is SU Groovy Guava. The layers are gold metallic, a square of Washi paper, another gold metallic layer and then white. I then stamped a Japanese flower on the white square with SU Groovy Guava ink and put some Stardust Stickles in the center of the flower. I actually CASED the design from a card sample at The Paper Garden.The card next to it was made in an Asian card class at The Paper Garden. The stamp set is from Kodomo. It's a different set than what we used in class sample. The card was cut 4.25 inches by 11 inches and scored at 5.5 inches. I used Stardust Stickles on the Iris and the Kanji stamp. I cut a small slit in the top fold and threaded the ribbon through and then added the small square before tying the ribbon. The inks used are chalk.
The card on the left was also done in an Asian card class. It's cut a little larger than usual. The three stamps used is part of a Kodoma stamp set. The gold cord was looped through the Asian coin then wrapped around the panel several times and tied in the back. Because the cord was bulky, I used foam tape to adhere the panel to a green card base. I cut a half of an inch from the front side of the card then used the 4th stamp from this set and stamped a border along the bottom edge. To get it straight I actually drew a faint line with a pencil to use as a guide for placement of the stamp. I stamped it in brown as were the three stamps on the colored squares. 
The card on the left has a black card base, a layer of white then a layer of red Stardust which is shimmery. Then a smaller square of black and a square of white. The stamp used is from Hanko. I colored 2 of the flowers with Copic red marker. On the black flowers I used a clear Spica glitter pen to outline the lines in the center of the flowers.
The card on the left was also done in an Asian card class. It's cut a little larger than usual. The three stamps used is part of a Kodoma stamp set. The gold cord was looped through the Asian coin then wrapped around the panel several times and tied in the back. Because the cord was bulky, I used foam tape to adhere the panel to a green card base. I cut a half of an inch from the front side of the card then used the 4th stamp from this set and stamped a border along the bottom edge. To get it straight I actually drew a faint line with a pencil to use as a guide for placement of the stamp. I stamped it in brown as were the three stamps on the colored squares.The card next to it has a brown card base. I cut a piece of Washi paper and adhered it on the left edge of the card. It has blues and golds with white cranes. The fans were stamped on white cardstock with Versamark and then embossed with gold embossing powder. I layered it with a piece of gold cardstock. The wife told me the fans were placed wrong, that the fans should be facing up. The card sample I CASED from The Paper Garden had the fans going down sideways. Of course the stamps that were used on that sample were individual fans on a cube. This stamp was one piece from Hanko.
I hestitate making Asian cards when they are requested from someone who is Asian, be it Japanese or Chinese. It's hard to know if something will be offensive to them. That is one of the reasons that most of the Asian cards I've made have been CASED from the samples at The Paper Garden. I try to change them a little so it's not an exact copy. One of the many things I like about this particular store is that there are tons of card samples and the customers are encouraged to bring a camera and take pictures of the samples.
The card on the left has a black card base, a layer of white then a layer of red Stardust which is shimmery. Then a smaller square of black and a square of white. The stamp used is from Hanko. I colored 2 of the flowers with Copic red marker. On the black flowers I used a clear Spica glitter pen to outline the lines in the center of the flowers.The next card has a gray card base, a black layer and another gray layer. The purple is a piece of Washi paper that has a design in it. The kimono is a sticker from Hanko. I cut 2 narrow stripes of gold paper and placed them on the side and then a small chop stamp on the bottom right corner that I stamped with black ink.
These cards are all for sale at $4.00 each.
Baby Cards
At our Holiday Gift Fair, my friend Dawn asked me to make 3 or 4 baby cards that she could use with a gift. Dawn's favorite color is purple and she wanted the cards to all be purple. So here are the four designs I came up with. All of the stamps are from SU sets.
On the buggy one, there's a layer of designer paper. I am not sure where I found this, I've used it on several designs. There's a silk flower down in the corner with a flower brad in the middle of the flower and then a plain brad. Forgot I even had these. The card next to it has "congratulations" stamped on the four sides of the frame.
The stamps used on the left are SU and the other one is a animal train stamp from "The Cat's Pajama's". Pretty simple and cute too.
On the buggy one, there's a layer of designer paper. I am not sure where I found this, I've used it on several designs. There's a silk flower down in the corner with a flower brad in the middle of the flower and then a plain brad. Forgot I even had these. The card next to it has "congratulations" stamped on the four sides of the frame.
The stamps used on the left are SU and the other one is a animal train stamp from "The Cat's Pajama's". Pretty simple and cute too.Denise's Birthday Card
My daughter, Denise celebrated her birthday on November 11th. This is the card I made for her. The card base is a pale yellow with a grayish blue layer that I used the Cuttlebug on. The next layer is a piece of designer paper from Basic Grey. I stamped the butterfly on the paper then stamped it again on blue paper. I used a yellow Copic marker on parts of the butterfly then outlined the whole thing with a clear Spica glitter pen. An AMuse happy birthday stamp was used in bottom right corner.
I used a tiny piece of foam tape on the back of the butterfly and folded up its wings so it looks like its in flight. I'm just crazy right now about using butterflies in my designs. I just love the way they look. I hope Denise liked her card, I haven't heard from her (she's a busy lady!!)
I used a tiny piece of foam tape on the back of the butterfly and folded up its wings so it looks like its in flight. I'm just crazy right now about using butterflies in my designs. I just love the way they look. I hope Denise liked her card, I haven't heard from her (she's a busy lady!!)Granddaughter Emily's 12th Birthday Party
Our granddaughter, Miss Emily Ann Strempke, celebrated her birthday on Saturday November 15th at the clubhouse here at the mobile home park where we live. Her mother, Elizabeth, is my husband's oldest and first born daughter. Emily's actual birthday was the 6th of November. Both of her sisters have had their birthday parties here. There is more room here than at their home. Her theme was crazy hats. Her mother made her birthday cake which is a three layered hat. Elizabeth is the official family cake maker. 
The little guy standing next to her is Andy, our youngest grandson. And seated next to him is his sister Melody. Andy is 5 and a half and Melody is almost 8 and a half. One Thursday a month we pick up Andy from school, he's in kindergarten. We've picked up Melody occasionally too when there's been a conflict in schedules. When you're retired you can do things like this. Their mother is Jenni another of my husband's daughters. She has a twin Joyce who is the mother of our two youngest grandchildren and they live in So. California.
This is the card I made for Emily. It was amazing that all the colors I used on her card were the colors she had in her decorations for her party. The stamps are all SU.
Here's her table decoration. The craft fair that I am doing on December 12th is at the charter school where Emily goes. She's going to help me with it. Should be fun!!
The little guy standing next to her is Andy, our youngest grandson. And seated next to him is his sister Melody. Andy is 5 and a half and Melody is almost 8 and a half. One Thursday a month we pick up Andy from school, he's in kindergarten. We've picked up Melody occasionally too when there's been a conflict in schedules. When you're retired you can do things like this. Their mother is Jenni another of my husband's daughters. She has a twin Joyce who is the mother of our two youngest grandchildren and they live in So. California.
This is the card I made for Emily. It was amazing that all the colors I used on her card were the colors she had in her decorations for her party. The stamps are all SU.
Here's her table decoration. The craft fair that I am doing on December 12th is at the charter school where Emily goes. She's going to help me with it. Should be fun!!The Tree In Our Front Yard With Its Beautiful Fall Colors
I took these pictures one beautiful day before we left on our trip to the coast. When we came home, most of the leaves were on the ground. It seemed the leaves had more red in them this year than previous years and so I wanted to get pictures before they were all gone. I love the colors of fall!! I took this first one from the front porch looking towards the street.
This one was from across the street looking towards the front door, well it's supposedly the front door. However, it's used to access the bicycle garage which is the screened in front porch. :)
This is also from across the street looking towards the neighbor's. The leaves covered the neighbor's carport at one time. They've been cleaned up since although there are still leaves covering the ground under the tree and the front walkway. The window showing is Gerry's office. My office/craft room is on the other side of the 20 foot flagpole. Both of these rooms were bedrooms that we converted to offices for both of us.
This one was from across the street looking towards the front door, well it's supposedly the front door. However, it's used to access the bicycle garage which is the screened in front porch. :)
This is also from across the street looking towards the neighbor's. The leaves covered the neighbor's carport at one time. They've been cleaned up since although there are still leaves covering the ground under the tree and the front walkway. The window showing is Gerry's office. My office/craft room is on the other side of the 20 foot flagpole. Both of these rooms were bedrooms that we converted to offices for both of us.
An Anniversary Card and My Version
My daughter, Denise has done scrapbooking for years. She is a Creative Memories consultant. Occasionally she has made some cards too and they are always beautiful. On a recent trip to Fayetteville, NC where they lived for several years (they now live in Enterprise, AL), she and a friend made about 40 different cards. When I asked her to show me some, she didn't respond to my request. For our anniversary she sent us the beautiful card on the left in this picture.
I looked at it and thought I could do something like that too. When I emailed her to thank her and compliment her on her card, she told me the designer paper was from Basic Grey. So I went through my stuff and decided on the design on the right. The designer paper on my card is also from Basic Grey. The stamp used in the square is from a SU set. I forgot to ask her how she did the flourish on her card. Unfortunately, I don't have anything like that. The colors in my card are greens, blues, rust and a dark red. I put a bronze charm in the right hand corner that says "Inspire". The colors in her card are blacks, orange and some gray. The black brads that she used look like they have some glitter in them. We both used a black card base.. So what do you think. I think they are both great!
She called a few days later and my husband answered the phone. He told her I made the comment that "my daughter was trying to outdo her mother". I'm not sure that is what I said, however, she laughed and said "all crafters copy each other"!! That is probably very true in some instances. I need to take a picture of another card she sent me, probably part of the 40 or so cards she and her friend made. I'll post that one later. My card is for sale at $4.00.
I looked at it and thought I could do something like that too. When I emailed her to thank her and compliment her on her card, she told me the designer paper was from Basic Grey. So I went through my stuff and decided on the design on the right. The designer paper on my card is also from Basic Grey. The stamp used in the square is from a SU set. I forgot to ask her how she did the flourish on her card. Unfortunately, I don't have anything like that. The colors in my card are greens, blues, rust and a dark red. I put a bronze charm in the right hand corner that says "Inspire". The colors in her card are blacks, orange and some gray. The black brads that she used look like they have some glitter in them. We both used a black card base.. So what do you think. I think they are both great!She called a few days later and my husband answered the phone. He told her I made the comment that "my daughter was trying to outdo her mother". I'm not sure that is what I said, however, she laughed and said "all crafters copy each other"!! That is probably very true in some instances. I need to take a picture of another card she sent me, probably part of the 40 or so cards she and her friend made. I'll post that one later. My card is for sale at $4.00.
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