Marvelous Possibilities

Here's a fast and fun birthday card to make.  The Carried Away DSP has wonderful prints to play with, and I wanted a bright hot air balloon to go with it.  I got together with friends to craft on Sunday, and one of the fun things is when we share stamps and dies and play with each others products.  So, my friend offered to cut some balloons for me toward the end of the day, as she'd finished her projects.  We'd been using my Big Shot all day long, but as she cut the balloons suddenly it quit cutting the details in the middle of the dies.  We tried adding a shim, switching base plates, changed cutting pads, and finally switched to a different die only to determine the Big Shot was broke.  Nobody's fault.  It just died!  I got on the phone with Sizzix this morning, and they will send me replacement parts to fix it, but I have to take it apart to determine what is broken and needs replacement.  Last year I broke the crank shaft, and my husb...

 I wanted to get birthday cards in the mail today for all the March birthdays I want to celebrate.  I need over a dozen cards this month, so I keep trying to come up with fresh ideas.  I will not duplicate the cards I'm sending, so I look for inspiration in the card challenges. I came across the box with some In Color markers that I had hardly used, and decided that I would go to CAS Colors & Sketches Challenge #211 and use those beautiful colors.  I found a fun layout at Match the Sketch Challenge No. 165 , so I was ready to go. I started with some Watermelon Wonder print from Affectionately Yours DSP, and then decided to tie it together with some pretty little flowers from Avant Garden, which I colored with the Watermelon and Peekaboo Peach. I added a greeting from Birthday Banners.  It made for a fast and fun birthday card that's ready to mail tomorrow.  That's nine birthday cards in the mail.  Wait til you see the sw...

  I have been watching people create their beautiful succulent flowers with the lovely sponged tips.  I had the opportunity to make a few a couple weeks ago when I made the succulent Vertical Garden Kit.  It was fun to make, and I sponged a few flowers, but it just wasn't enough.  I yearned to make more.  So when I saw the colors for the Color Throwdown Challenge #431 , and the photo of the succulent garden, I was inspired to make this card.  I don't have the flower dies, so I used what I had, flower punches to make some "faux succulents".  I know they are not as authentic looking, but they were fun for me to make, and I think this card turned out great.  I added a birthday greeting from Big On Birthdays, then I masked it off before I stamped a hardwood background.  I got the idea to use a wood background from the Addicted to CAS challenge 105  to use wood this week.  Love that look!  As I was arranging the flowers, I deci...

    I had the occasion to join a group who are sending cards to soldiers.  Easy!  I have lots of cards I can send.  They are asking for an assortment of cards, but.....one thing I did not have were cards for the military personnel, to thank them for their service.  I got to work this weekend to create some cards for them.  I wanted to make some patriotic, and some kind of masculine.  I struggled to come up with ideas.  So, I ended up looking at casing some cards, but I was able to put my own twist on them.  I think I came up with some suitable cards, and thought I'd share a couple favorites with you.  The first card is a flag made with the Work of Art stamp set, and a big greeting from One Big Meaning.  I put down a couple sequins before stamping the red field, and then added a few sequins and stars.  It was a fast and fun card to make.  The second card was made with Painter's Pallette.  Lov...

We are having beautiful spring like weather here in Minnesota this weekend.  We hit an all time record on Friday with the temp reaching 65.  I was lucky enough to get out and enjoy the afternoon having lunch with my sisters.  I stopped by the craft store to pick up a couple things and couldn't wait to get home to play in my craft room.  I just yearned to make some spring themed cards, so I reached for some flowers and gingham.  The stamps are called Avant Garden, and they are free during SaleABration with a qualifying purchase.  Quick, fun and easy is what I call this card.  Except for a little masking on the flowers, the stamping is fun and easy.  My little tip, if you like to do masking, is to stamp your image on a post-it note paper and cut it out, then I save that image in the stamp case and reuse it. I backed the flowers with a little gingham print from Succulent Garden DSP.  I was looking for a little challenge for my ...

It's been a great weekend for stamping with the sun shining and the spring like weather, and I have been so inspired to create.  I also love it when you find a sentiment that is the focal point of the card. The Big On Birthdays stamp set has wonderful large images that make for fast and fun card.  I have lots of birthday cards to make in the coming weeks, and I am sure this set will get plenty of use.  I started with a lovely spring floral from Bloom & Bliss DSP.  Then I stamped the image and cut it with the L ots of Labels framelits.  I tucked a pretty doily behind it to soften it up a little, and a couple of pearls for some sparkle.  So Easy!  I found my inspiration in the layout from the Pap er Players Challenge 332 , my colors came from Color Throwdown Challenge 430 and and Stampin Royalty's Challenge 363 to u se Dies this week.  Stop back soon,   Mary Alice

This is a card that is a compilation of so many things that inspired me.  I wanted to use the Designer Tees stamp set I got from SaleABration.  I loved the sayings, but really wasn't crazy about the idea that they should go on tee shirts.  I just wanted to play with them on cards. The first card I created for a swap that I was doing.  The second card was my first design, but I switched things up for my swap card.  The second card's sentiment was just perfect for a birthday card that I needed to make.  I saw that someone had cut off the happy face and stamped a cascade of them on a card, and I had to try it, and added a birthday greeting inside.    All the hot air balloons from the Carried Away DSP make me smile.  I find it delightful to create with this paper, and it's free from SaleABration with a qualified purchase, too.  Then I saw someone else use the Stitched Framelits to make a quilt design, like I di...

  It's been a while since I blogged, and sometimes I need something to get me jump started, so I look for a fun card challenge to get me inspired.  I need to get some birthday cards made, as many birthdays are coming up in March.  I got a little carried away with the Carried Away DSP, which is free during SaleABration, to inspire me with this card.  I just love it when the paper is so clever you can make a card with minimal stamping.   I punched out a couple balloons using the Balloon Bouquet punch, and added a little basket beneath, and popped them up with dimensionals. Then I used the sentiment from Big On Birthdays for the sentiment on the front and inside.  This clever layout came from the sketch at Mojo Monday challenge 484 and I'm sharing it on SU-Only Challenge 168 , because they are looking for cards made with SaleABration products.  This card was so fun and easy to make, I think I have time to make another one...

  Valentine Card Class   Wednesday, February 9  6:30   We will be making these 3 cards, all suitable for mailing, and I will have a fun little 3D project for you to make, too.  Click on the link above to register for the class, or message me here if you'd like to come.  

  I love stamping in January, when I have new stamps and products to play with, but getting motivated this winter was kind of slow.  I had a couple of swaps that I had joined and needed to make cards, but each day I searched for inspiration.  I wanted an original design, but I went looking on various sites to see what others had been doing with new Stampin Up products.  I kept telling myself "make something!  you have a deadline".  One day I was heading to my craft room and I thought to myself, I should try diffusing some oils that would stimulate my creativity.  I grabbed a new oil I had called Clarity, and headed to the craft room.  An idea came to me very soon, and this is the card I created.  I was excited and on a roll.  I had a second card designed and mostly made by the end of the day.  The following day it dawned on me that maybe the Clarity had helped, so I tried it again.  Sure enough, I decided to make a third s...