Florida in the Summer

The other day Frances Byrne had a card on her blog using the new Karen Burniston Family Room die along with a Christmas Tree pop-up.  As I live in Florida, I wondered how the Family Room die would work with a Palm Tree pop-up.

I used the same technique as Frances did -- a Gatefold card, which gives you two folds for the pop-ups.

When you take off the belly band, you can see the entire front of the card.  I used the grass border from Karen Burniston's Nature's Edges border dies and the smaller palm tree.

When you open the card, you get a look at someone's back yard, complete with lawn furniture and the palm tree -- along with their dog.

I want to thank Frances for her inspiration.

CCEE1929 - Stencils

Vicky's challenge this week for the CCEE Stampers goes like this -- "If you're like me, you have lots of stencils.  I have a drawer full that I never think of.  Get one of those out that you haven't used (or haven't used in ages) and put it to good use."  I love this challenge.  I was recently at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo and saw a card in the Rubbernecker booth that I loved.  It used a Rubbernecker stamp/die set, another die, and a stencil.  Fortunately, I had the Rubbernecker stamp/die set but neither the other die nor the stencil used on the card.  I finally located the die on-line, but it was no longer available; and I never could find the stencil.  But I had a Memory Box die that I thought could work, and I had just ordered a stencil from Kindred Stamps that I knew would work.  So, as soon as the stencil arrived in my mail, I made this card.  I love it!!!

I'm anxious to see what the rest of the team has created; and, if you'd like to see them too, stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog and take a look.

Cow Appreciation Day

According to the Holiday Insights website, today is Cow Appreciation Day; and they suggested that you go out and give a cow a hug.   Not one to back off from a challenge, I decided to give some love to the cow community today by making this card -- and putting a spin on a couple of Karen Burniston dies, several of which are brand new.

The spin on the front of the card is that I stacked two of the fences from the Farm Edges die to make it a little taller to keep the cow inside.  The base of the inside of the card was made with the House & Fence die, but I added the barn from the Barn Pop-Stand instead of the house.

How now, brown cow?  I didn't want all of my cows to be facing in the same direction, so for the brown cow I turned him over before adding the highlights.  And again, I stacked the fence, only by one rail this time.

So, I invite you to go out and hug a cow today!  Or, at the very least, drink a glass of milk!

Embrace Your Geekness Day

I love to read the many lists of Wacky Holidays that you can find on-line.  As I was looking at timeanddate.com, I found out that today is Embrace Your Geekness Day.  Let's celebrate!!!  

My card today is embracing all the geekiness in the world -- well at least the TV part of it.  I combined one of the new Karen Burniston dies -- the Triple Flip -- with a Kindred Stamps stamp set that I just love -- Science Geeks.

When you pull that little tab on the right, all those panels flip over  (thus the name, Triple Flip).

Even the inside of my card has a bit of geekiness.  I actually bought a whole set of Sizzix dies just for this one that I used here.

Like children, if you're on a design team, you shouldn't have a favorite -- but I've got to tell you, this one is right there at the top!

CCEE1928 - Cheer up the Lonely Day

Vicky continues her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with this challenge.  "Most of us probably know an older person who may or may not live alone.  Let's make a Thinking of You card and actually send it out.  If you don't know anyone, send it to a local nursing home and address it to 'Someone Special' or any phrase you can think of.  Let's cheer up some people today!"  What a great idea!!!

Here's my card, using one of my favorite Karen Burniston die techniques -- the Rockin' Rectangle with an acetate sheet for the front cover.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more inspiration . . . and maybe you'd like to take us up on this challenge and cheer someone up!

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.

CCEE - In Memoriam Joanne Grzelak

Today the CCEE Stampers are dedicating our blog posts to our dear friend Joanne Grzelak, who departed this world in late May.  Joanne was known and loved throughout the stamping community, and she will be missed.  She was one of the first people I "met" on Splitcoaststampers, where she was known as Jojot.  Her beautiful cards had several on-going themes -- her love of the ocean, paper-piercing, and her distinctive red/white/black color combinations.  I chose two of these themes for my card, dedicated to her:

We have a special blog post today, on which we have all made cards in remembrance of Joanne; and we hope you will join us in remembering her today.  If you would like to see how Joanne's former teammates have honored her, please join in on our blog hop.


CCEE Stampers 
Frances Byrne
Lois Bak
Karen Ostergard
Liz Williams
Vicki Garrett
Rebecca Ednie
Kelly Santi
Karen Aicken
Vicky Gould
Maryann Einam
Anne Harmon
Nicky Foden
Lynn McAuley
Kathleen Adams
Crazy 4 Challenges