CCEE2228 - National Ice Cream Month

July is National Ice Cream Month, so I gave the CCEE Stampers a really easy challenge this week -- include some ice cream on your card.

I recently saw a clever fun-fold card that Mary Marsh had made for CottageCutz.   She called it a Double Easel Card.  Coincidentally, she had an ice cream sundae on it.  I thought it was such a clever card that I had to CASE it, using my own ice cream sundae die from Karen Burniston.  The ice cream-related sentiments are from an old My Favorite Things stamp set.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more yummy ice cream treats.

C4C586 - Give a Gift

This week's Crazy4Challenges challenge was to make a card with space for a gift card on the front!  (So, not inside the card.)  It can be a pocket, some type of interactive mechanism or even part of your main design.  Alternatively, create a gift box or package.

I used one of My Favorite Things' gift card pouches on the front of my card and placed a Starbucks gift card in it, coordinating with the fun patterned paper that has been sitting in a drawer for a very long time.

And you can get to that gift card without ruining the front of the card.  On the inside is a zip strip behind the gift card section.  It's hard to see clearly, but here's a picture of it.

Visit the Crazy4Challenges blog to see some more creative ways to give a gift card.

CCEE2114 Zoo Lovers Day

 Frances continued her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by telling us that apparently today is Zoo Lovers Day.  She asked us to create a card that includes at least one animal you might find in a zoo.

The animal I chose for my card was an elephant -- actually THREE elephants.  On the front of my card are a mama and baby elephant from My Favorite Things. They are attached to the front of the Karen Burniston Frame Pull Pop-Up  I used one of Karen's Pattern Plate dies (Fronds) for the background.  

When you pull that tab with the arrow, the little frame pops up, revealing a die cut elephant (also from Karen Burniston) celebrating his birthday.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more zoo animals.

CCEE2049 Wrap It Up!

 Lynn is the hostess for the final two CCEE Stampers challenges this year.  She said, "If you are like me, you are probably ready for the year of 2020 to be wrapped up tight with a bow tied securely around it.  Let's be done with it!  For this challenge make use of the Christmas wrapping paper of your choice as part of your holiday design.  Grab up some paper scraps from your gift-wrapping adventures and join us in this week's challenge."

Actually, this paper is from last year.  Because I will probably not see my extended family for Christmas, everyone is getting a gift card from me -- no wrapping paper this year!  I included the strip of Christmas paper left from the roll so you can see that my card really comes from wrapping paper.  The simple sentiment is from a great My Favorite Things set called Bitty Holiday Wishes.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more creativity from scraps!

Happy New Year!!!

I want to wish all my friends a very Happy New Year!  Here we are at the beginning of a new year and a new decade -- where has the time gone?

To celebrate the new year I made a pop-up card using the Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop-Up and some fun My Favorite Things stamps.

When you open the card, up pops the ball -- complete with fireworks and champagne and/or wine glasses.

Here's a close-up of the ball so you can see the wine glasses a little better.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and again I wish you all a wonderful and productive new year!

Last Christmas Card of the Season

I'm sharing with you today my last Christmas card for the season -- one which uses the Karen Burniston Rockin' Rectangle and an enlarged window on the front.  I had seen a card made by Francesca Florio on the Karen Burniston Pop-Up Peeps page on Facebook the other day, which I really liked.  She had a very large window on the front of her card, actually taking up almost the entire front.  I wanted to try my hand at a similar one.

I still had to make a card with the Three Wise Men for my neighbor (I always try to make her one with the Magi on it.)  So I thought a card with what looked like a church window would be the right choice.  I used some Spellbinders Arched Window dies.  I stamped an image from a Stampin' Up set from many years ago -- Holy Triptych -- and colored it with Copic markers.

To accommodate the largest Arched Window die, my card is 5" x 7".  After cutting out the opening, I used some gold stickers to dress up the front.   I placed a piece of acetate in the opening before adhering the patterned paper on the inside.

I added a few more stickers to the inside and popped up the sentiment, which is from My Favorite Things' Bitty Holiday Wishes stamp set.

Here's a little video showing how the mechanism works.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

CCEE1950 -- Santa in the Window

For our final CCEE Stampers challenge of this year, Lynn asked the team members to create a card which has a window.  It was then our choice on whether we wanted to be peeking IN on Santa or peeking OUT at Santa.  I chose peeking IN.

I stamped a fun Christmas selfie from My Favorite Things and used my Karen Burniston Spinner Square die to create my card.

The team is taking the rest of the year off so that we can get ready to celebrate Christmas with our families.  We hope you will join us again in January.  Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more Christmas windows.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!

CCEE1946 - Sundae Day

November 11th is a day after my own heart, and Frances used it as inspiration for this week's CCEE Stampers challenge -- Sundae Day!  She asked us to create a card that features ice cream of some sort.  As a fan of the Netflix series, Stranger Things, I was happy to use the Kindred Stamps digital set (Stranger Friends) for this challenge -- as well as the Karen Burniston Frame Pull Pop-Up die.   And don't you just love that patterned paper that I found?  BTW, I'm also a big fan of ice cream!!!

When you pull that tab with the arrow on it, the front pops up.   The ice cream cone and sentiment are from an old MFT stamp set in my stash.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more ice cream goodies.

Bearing Gifts

I've been having so much fun with the Christmas Selfies stamps from My Favorite Things lately.  I have a quick post today showing another card made with this fun set and the Karen Burniston Spinner Square Pop-Up.  The selfie die is the perfect size for a window cut in the front of this versatile die set.  This card was made for today's Splitcoaststamper's Inspiration Challenge, using a cute Mini Giving Bear from One Coast as my inspiration.

When you open the card, a pile of gifts come tumbling down.

As you can see, I tried to make the packages coordinate with some of the packages on the patterned paper on the front of the card.  That sentiment is just too cute!  I made a short video showing the arm moving on the inside.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

CCEE1936 - Tall Cards

Frances Byrne started her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by giving us a tall order, sort of.  She told us that September 3rd was Skyscraper Day and challenged us to make a tall card this week.

I recently purchased a cute MFT stamp set called Picture Perfect.  I had seen several cards using this set and was compelled to purchase it.  I used three of the images on my tall card.  The hamsters were the ones I fell in love with, so they got top billing on my card.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more tall cards made by our team.

CCEE1927 - Freedom Week

Vicky starts her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a great challenge.  She says that, since both Australia and the USA have red, white and blue for their colors, we should use those colors to make a card.  It does not have to be for a holiday -- just red, white and blue.

I bought a pad of 6" x 6" patterned paper some time ago with those colors as the theme of the pad.  I chose one of my favorite patterns to make this patriotic card, inasmuch as today is the 4th of July.

The surprising part of this card is the inside.  Karen Burniston just released 20 new dies -- one of which is a Photo Collage Pop-Up.  Such a fun die!!!  I used it on the inside to display some 4th of July fireworks.

Here's how it works.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more cards made with this color combination.

CCEE1914 - Read a Road Map Day

Lynn starts her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by telling us that tomorrow is Read a Road Map Day and asks us to create a card which incorporates a map or has a travel theme.  My card actually does both of those things.  I love using maps as background paper for a card.   I also used a cool off-road vehicle to travel the wide-open spaces of this country!

Be sure to travel over to the CCEE Stampers blog for some more inspiration.

CCEE1912 - Natl. Smoke and Mirrors Day

Kelly continues this week as hostess for the CCEE Stampers and tells us that next week is National Smoke and Mirrors Day!  Who knew???  Apparently, this celebration is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear with retracting mirrors and confusing bursts of smoke.  She asked us to wave our magic wands and create a card with a surprise element.  Here's mine.  The front of the card is relatively simple, with it's sweet ice cream cone.

But when you open it up, there's a whole hot fudge sundae!  Yummmmm!!!!

See how the rest of the CCEE Stampers team surprises you on the blog.

Karen Burniston DT Challenge -- Love, Sweet Love!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and the Karen Burniston Design Team Challenge this month is all about love -- Love, Sweet Love.  Of course, there's a bit of a twist involved.  We had to include some chocolate on our cards.  Who doesn't love chocolate?

I must admit that I have a favorite die from January's release -- the Woven Basket Pop-Up.  I used it, as well as some of the dies from the new Ice Cream Sundae dies for my card.

Ice cream is one of my downfalls, which is why I don't buy it for my freezer very often.  But this ice cream has no calories whatsoever!  I used a couple of sweet sentiments from My Favorite Things to convey my message of Love, Sweet Love.  And there's lots of chocolate on this card as well -- mainly the fudge sauce, but there's also a scoop of chocolate ice cream back there in the sundae.

The "love you" on the front is from Word Set 9 - Love, and the heart at the back is a punch.  I used some small hearts from the Karen Burniston Heart Pivot Panel die and the balloon strings from the Explosion Pop-Up.

One thing I love about this Woven Basket is that it folds flat for mailing.

I hope you like this calorie-free ice cream delight!

CCEE1619 - National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

According to the National Calendar, today is National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day.  Maryann reminds the CCEE Stampers that it is a chronic disease from which she suffers and for which there is no cure.  We all hope that maybe some day there will be one.  She asks us to make a Get Well card and add a purple ribbon.  I have several friends who suffer from this debilitating disease.  This card is for them as well as Maryann.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more wishes.

CCEE1512 - Weather

In honor of March winds, Anne challenged the CCEE Stampers to make a card with the theme of Weather.  I recently purchased a stencil with rain clouds and decided they would be perfect for this challenge.  I took some embossing paste and mixed in one drop of black re-inker to get the dark gray color.

If you'd like to see the weather forecast from the rest of the team, please visit the CCEE Stampers blog.

Stamps:  My Favorite Things - Rain or Shine
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Recollections Heavyweight White, MFP Stamp Shop Deep Scarlet
Accessories:  Stencil, Embossing Paste, Ranger Black Soot re-inker

MFP New Set - Butterfly Essence

Again, I'm not an official part of the Mark's Finest Papers blog hop, but I did make two cards using today's set, Butterfly Essence, which contains a 4" x 4" background stamp and a sentiment.  I made a twisted easel card using both images from this set -- along with a couple of punched-out butterflies and a Spellbinders die.

My second card actually includes a couple of images from other MFP sets -- Lots of Words and All Postage.  The postage die is a Die-Namics die from My Favorite Things.

I hope you check out the Blog Hop, which you can start at the Mark's Finest Papers blog.

World Card Making Day 2010

Today is World Card Making Day, and Splitcoaststampers is partnering with M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for a month-long card drive to benefit those affected by breast cancer. Every day there will be a challenge, and then at the end of the month, we're to mail our cards to M.D. Anderson for distribution among the patients. What a worthy cause! My mom is a 25-year breast cancer survivor, and I am more than happy to contribute to this worthy cause.

Each day will be new challenge, but they started off with a bang -- three challenges! The first was to make a holiday card, but use pink rather than traditional colors for that holiday. I'm in the process of making Halloween cards for the residents of the assisted living facility where my mom lives, so this was right in line with what I've been doing lately.

The second challenge was lingerie-inspired -- either with lingerie-type stamps or with lace and ribbon, satin and bows. Having no lingerie-type stamps, I opted for the second choice. I found this lacey ribbon in my stash of goodies.

The last challenge was a color challenge -- brown and pink. Fortunately, this Basic Grey DP is all about brown and pink. I actually combined this challenge with Speedy the Cat's Friends' challenge to make a card with buttons and bows.

My salt and pepper shakers for today had to be relative to all three challenges. I figure the pink dress on the girl and the pink ribbon on the goose would qualify.

Stampin' Bs Challenge #9 - Photos

I am the hostess for this week’s Stampin’Bs DT Challenge. My brother-in-law is an avid photographer, and it was because of some of his photos that I came up with this challenge to use a photograph on our cards. This was such fun that I actually made two cards.

I had to print out several copies of this photo and piece them together to get the scene to the right size. All the stamped images from My Favorite Things’ By The Seashore were colored with Prismacolor or Copic markers and cut out. After coloring a small piece of cardstock using the faux wood technique, I cut out the shape of the dock and assembled my little scene. The sentiment was cut using a label die from Spellbinders and then backed with a piece of ribbon.

* Stamps - By the Seashore from My Favorite Things
* Paper - Georgia Pacific White, More Mustard

* Ink - Palette Noir Black, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa

* Accessories - Photographs, Label Trio, Ribbon, Prismacolor/Copic markers, Silver cord

Bob loves to photograph birds. This lady cardinal is another of his photos. I cropped a much larger shot of her so that she was about the only thing left in the photo. To add a little dimension to the photo, I went over all the branches with some glaze pens. After cutting out a large square in the brown card base with a Nestabilities die, I glued the photo to the inside of the card to line up through the cut-out portion. I then cut a “frame” using two square Nestabilities. The corners are Cuttlebug Vintage Corner dies. As you probably know, cardinals fly in pairs, so I had to have her “mate” close by. He’s actually from Inkadinkadoo’s Bird Assortment, but the sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly’s Little Birdie.

* Stamps – Bird Assortment from Inkadinkadoo

* Paper – Textured Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Ruby Red, Georgia Pacific White
* Ink – Palette Noir Black
* Accessories – Prismacolor/Copic markers, Cuttlebug and Vintage Corners die, Nestabilities, The Stencil Company Glazed Dimensions

This is the inside.

Stamps – On Your Birthday

Paper – Ruby Red, Georgia Pacific White

Ink – Palette Noir Black

Accessories – Photograph, Nestabilities, The Stencil Company Glazed Dimensions