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Computer Tricks for Cards

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Jessica Sprague, the digital guru of online teaching, offered a free class in digital card making. Being a card maker, I was intrigued by this since I have rarely incorporated digital work into my cards. I'm now using  digital elements in my scrapbooking on a regular basis, so I thought I'd try it out. The first day was a simple print and fold card. I'm not a fan of these so I played around a bit with one of the cards. For the first card I printed the pdf file and then opened the psd file and printed just the greeting and frame. I cut it out and bumped it up with 3-D tape.

Card! 

For the second card I cut out the front of the card and mounted it on Dark Chocolate (PTI) cardstock after I hand cut the scallop along the bottom. Then I added two brown pearls (Creative Candy A Muse). I much prefer this one.

Card2

Today's card was a print and assemble card. This card took me way too long to complete and I was pretty frustrated. First off, my scallop punch seems to have developed a dull spot right in the middle. Then I decided I didn't like the first ribbon I applied (which took quite some time), carefully and slowly removed it and substituted another. The greeting was to be a computer generated one that said "Congratulations." Since I rarely have an occasion to send a Congrats card of this nature, I substituted some chipboard letters (Basic Grey) which I like much better anyway. I will probably never make this card again although I rather like the idea of the scalloped "canopy" on the top of the card. None of the layers are glued down completely so they add a nice dimension to the card which is, unfortunately, hard to see in this photo.

Card1

One of the best things Jessica's presented in the class so far is a great card of card and envelope sizes and a good description of various kinds of papers available to card makers. 

Happy Father’s Day

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Father'sDayw

This was my first attempt at making a clear card. Tracy liked it a lot, but it's not an easy card to photograph.

It's been quite a lovely day. Tracy and I started the day at the Brighton Farmer's Market. It's becoming a weekly habit, and we bring home the nicest organic fruits and vegetables. Today I bought a beautiful bouquet as well. We then picked up a student from the school where Tracy worked for 25+ years, her sister and mother and brought them to church. Our church hosts a tutoring program at the school and a group of sixth graders read a poem and talked about their plans for the future this morning during our Focus on Mission. Church was followed by an ice cream social which marks the end of our regular schedule for the year. During the summer we operate on a different time frame and without the weekly presence of our fabulous chancel choir.

Tracy spent the afternoon working on the boat and practicing some golf shots while I got in some crafting time. This evening Matt joined us and we drove to Canandaigua Lake for dinner at Steamboat Landing. We had reserved a table outside overlooking the lake. It was warm, breezy, and just right for a lakeside dinner. The food and service were excellent, and we had a great time.

Lakew 

The north end of Canandaigua Lake.

SteamboatLandingw

The patio at Steamboat Landing.

Sunflarew
The guys. Prime rib for Tracy and chicken wings for Matt. I had a wonderful seafood combination of crab cake, grilled scallops, and shrimp. I was surprised to see the sun flare when I uploaded the photo, but I kind of like it.

M&Tw

Dad and his son.

I hope your day was equally pleasant!

Papercrafting

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I have a couple more pages to share as well as some cards I made for my friend who is retiring. I'm sure she'll need a supply of thank you notes so I made two of each design and packaged them up in a clear plastic box.

3Cards
Cardstock: Vintage Cream (PTI), blues from stash; patterned paper: "Wisteria" (Basic Grey); stamps: Fillable Frames #4, Delightful Dahlias, & Mega Mixed Messages (PTI)

Package
I have these wonderful plastic boxes, but I have no idea where I purchased them. They are perfect for a set of cards. Add a ribbon, flower and a gem and it's done.

The first of the layouts I did in a Basic Grey class at CKC Buffalo. I'm not a fan of doing pages without the photos but when I was going through the pile of photos from California these seemed to work. The page layout from the class included multiple tags which I eliminated.

WalkWithSadieLO
Patterned papers: Basic Grey; Spellbinders tag die; buttons (PTI)

One of the best things about staying in California for a week is the time we have to just hang out together.

JustHanginLO
Patterned paper: Making Memories, & "Weathervane" October Afternoon; stamps: Trajan alphabet (PTI) on Sticky Back canvas (Ranger); canvas alphabet: "Fa La La" Making Memories; journaling sheet: Making Memories, sticker "Urban Prairie" (Basic Grey); Spellbinders Standard Tag; buttons (PTI); digital template "Photo Clusters No. 12" (Katie Pertiet @ Designers Digitals

Still Crafting

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In between working on the prompts for Creativity Bootcamp, taking care of the garden, going to a wonderful photography show featuring local women photographers, volunteering, and the usual exercise classes and chores, I've managed to get some cards and layouts made. The first is a card for a friend who is retiring this year. There's a luncheon for her on Saturday. I'm hoping to get a set of thank you notes made to give to her as well.

JBCongrats
This card was inspired by a card by Jennifer Buck featured on the Jillibean blog. All the products used on it are from Jillibean except the card base and the ribbon.

And another one because I had more paper on the desk to use.

SendingSunshine
Patterned paper: Old World Cabbage Stew (Jillibean); rickrack: Bean Stalks (Jillibean); sentiment: clear stamps (Jillibean); dies: Spellbinders cherry; embossing folders: Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" & Sizzix "Birthday Set #2

SunshineView2
And three more layouts for the California album:

FamilyPhotoLO
All Pink Paislee "Starlight"

MattSadieLO
All "Mama Razzi" by BoBunny except for the stamp (which it looks like I'd better redo–a bit slanted, I fear)

And my favorite of the three is about our walk along the stream at the UC Davis Arboretum:

Arboretum 

Patterned paper: Fruitcake (Basic Grey), Basics (Basic Grey) & "Today" (Scenic Route); cork alpha (unknown); Craft Paper alpha stickers (Colorbok); label stickers: Basics (Basic Grey); digital template: Cathy Z Layered Template No. 13

Love is in the Air

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We're off this evening to the wedding of one of our long-time friend's daughters. I sent the gift to their home in Colorado, but made a card to take to the wedding.

WeddingCard 

Cardstock: American Craft & Aqua Mist (PTI); embossed cardstock: Creative Imaginations; dies: Beautiful Blooms (PTI); ribbon: Paper Source; gems: Memory Box; stick pin: Making Memories

And the inside of the card:

InsideWedding

Dies: Nestabilities Label 4 & Beautiful Blooms (PTI); sentiment: Delightful Dahlias (PTI)

A daughter of another dear friend got engaged a few weeks ago. Tracy was able to get to the party, but I had tickets to the RPO so missed it. I made this card to send to them.

4x4Congrats 

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate and Lemon Tart (PTI); patterned paper:  Letter Box (American Craft); die: Flower Layers 3 (Sizzix); embossing folder: Swiss Dots (Cuttlebug; Flair Badge: American Craft

About six weeks ago, I got an email from Tamron announcing a two-hour workshop "Eleven Secrets to Improve Your Photographs" at our local photography store. Since I own two Tamron lenses and the cost was minimal, I decided to sign up. The class was this morning, and although the first half of the material was familiar to me, I picked up enough tips to compensate both my time and the cost of the workshop. I also got a chance to try out the 60mm 2.0 macro lens that is on my wish list. The most helpful information for me was about lighting, filters, and using your flash. I have a lot of things I want to try out, and hopefully, I'll be able to incorporate them into the projects  for Creativity Bootcamp. The workshop pretty much solidified my choice of medium to photography. I'm looking forward to the first session tomorrow.

A Productive Day is Always a Good Day

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Some days I seem to get so much more done than others. Yesterday was a good day.

I paid bills. I balanced my checkbook.

We visited the garden. Sad to say the slugs are eating our beans and ate all the lettuce seedlings. 

Slugs&Beansw

The tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers are doing well.

ZuchinniBlossomw
Zucchini Blossom

FirstTomatow
First Tomato

I went to the dentist to have my temporary crown removed and the permanent one put on. The crown didn't fit as well as the dentist wanted, so it had to go back to the lab, so I have yet one more dental appointment next week.

I cleaned my desk.

I worked on the daily crossword.

I made 15 gift card holders. June 13th is Advisor Appreciation Sunday, and I am the chair of the Youth Ministry Committee. We are blessed with a dedicated Youth Ministry Director as well as advisors for the junior and senior highs in our church.

GiftCardHolders

All made from scraps in my scrap files.

I made a scrapbook layout.

CornHoleLO

Core'dinations (Jenni Bowlin) cardstock, sanded lightly; black cardstock from scraps; patterned paper: Bitty Box Basics (PTI); Jenni Bowlin Banner Stickers in red and black.

I took Matt to dinner at The Tap and Mallet since Tracy had a dinner-time meeting at church. We finished the crossword puzzle while we enjoyed our beers.

I ironed curtains and got them rehung. Ironed a few other pieces as well.

I read blogs and was surprised to find one of my Weekly Gratitude pages featured on the Weekly Gratitude blog. I had no idea they ever checked my blog.

I read some more of Making Toast, the library book which I just picked up two days ago. It is wonderful, but a real emotional roller coaster.

Maybe today will be just as good!

CKC Cards

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I took two classes with Making Memories on using the Slice at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last month. We didn't finish any of the cards in the class. We just created the different components. I much prefer that so I can put my own spin on the cards when I get home. The cards below are from the Slice 101 class. I didn't learn a lot in this class, but I enjoyed it and won a new cartridge which was really nice. They also gave a cartridge away to everyone in the class, so I came home with two new ones. I learned a lot more in the Tips and Techniques class. That was a layout class, and I'm not sure I'll ever put the layout together, but will probably use pieces of it on layouts in the future. In that class we learned how to emboss, cut shadow and mirror designs, and how to trouble-shoot some potential problems. 

The first two cards used the Flutter line from Making Memories and the Vintage Findings Design Card.

Butterfly1 

Butterfly2 

Butterfly3D

These cute baby cards use Making Memories' Pitter Patter line which just came out & the Baby and Animal Cracker Design Cards.

BabyBoy 

BabyGirl

Papertrey Challenge #2 and 2S4Y Challenge

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Flagw

First of all, Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I am always grateful for the sacrifice of men and women in the military that has assured our freedom for over 200 years. I do not take the freedoms we have in our country for granted, but do not often take the time for express my gratitude.

I've been working on another Papertrey Ink challenge this weekend as well as the one for the Pixies. This one was posted on the forum, and it was too good to pass up. It was a challenge to ink up all the stamps you own, but have never used. I knew I had a few, but there were more than I thought. I've ended up with a new stash of cards, however, and relieved some guilt in the process. The first card is also a card for today's challenge at 2Sketches4You.

Here's the sketch:

Sketch56 

And here's my card:

BeautifulBlooms

I used my Beautiful Blooms 2 set for this card. The beautiful border is Basic Grey's new "ribbon doilies" tapes. We used some of this on a layout in a class I took at CKC a week ago. It's self-adhesive and comes in a package with three different designs. The cardstock is Summer Sunrise & the buttons are from my stash.

The next set I used was the Fillable Frames #1. I thought I'd  get a lot of use from this set, and I'm sure I'm correct now that I've inked it up for this card:

HappyHappyBD
Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI); patterned paper: Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket); ribbon: Pure Poppy (PTI); Ripe Avocado button (PTI); button twine (PTI)

"Fly Away" is the next set. Like "Fillable Frames" it was a very affordable $5 and I love the little banner and sentiments that go in it. I bought just one piece of this cute patterned paper at CKC with this card in mind.

FlyAway

Cardstock:  Lemon Tart & Pure Poppy (PTI), patterned paper "Let's Roll, Fly High" (Imaginisce)

Take Three Summer was the next set. I have lots of ideas for this set and this is a super simple, quick to make card. I'm not sure I'd use the Raspberry Fizz next time, I think the Hibiscus might look better.

Take3Summer
See above; ribbon & rickrack from stash.

One of the things I learned this weekend is that stamping backgrounds is not my forte. I love the color combination of Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, and Raspberry Fizz. I've had this "Guide Lines Two" for awhile and probably haven't used it because I'm not comfortable with making backgrounds. I do have a list of other possibilities so perhaps it will see more use soon.

GuideLines
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Raspberry Fizz, Select White, & Ripe Avocado (PTI), rhinestones from stash; stamps: Guide Lines Two & Giga Guide Lines

And last, "Outline Alphabet." I bought this set more for sentiments and scrapbook pages, but have seen a similar design several places and thought I'd give it a trip. Lining up the letters for the block takes the longest; after that the card goes quickly.

Hi
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores & Select White (PTI); patterned paper: Green Boutique (PTI), Copic markers

Sad to say, I still have two sets left to use:  Fillable Frames #4 and Baby Button Bits, but with gardening and enjoying the holiday weekend, I simply ran out of time!

Happy Anniversary

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Today is Sarah and Adam's fourth anniversary. It seems so hard to believe that their wedding was really four years ago. It was a beautiful day in every way. Here's one of my favorite "out-takes." The best part is four years later, they're still having just as much fun with one another!

WeddingPhoto6x6w

And here's the card I sent them. I hope they've received it before they see it here. It's also the first card for a challenge on the Papertrey Ink forum to use stamp sets you own, but have never inked up. This uses the 2009 Anniversary Set which arrived over a month ago!

S&AAnniversarycard
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado (PTI); patterned paper: Quite Contrary (MME); stamps: Round and Round (PTI); mat stack 1 die (PTI), ribbon from stash, rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

CPS 168

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Like yesterday's blog hop, it's been awhile since I participated in the CPS Sketch challenge. This week's sketch reminded me that I had a couple packages of the American Craft Flairs that I hadn't used. I still have some scraps of AC "Dear Lizzy" papers as well so I decided to get busy tonight and get a card made for this week's sketch.

168
Here's my take on it:

CPS168
Everything is by American Crafts except the pink mat paper from my scraps file and the ribbon from my stash.

Papertrey Blog Hop

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Bloghoplogo

Tonight is the monthly Blog Hop sponsored by Papertrey Ink. I missed the last two so I was glad to be able to participate in this one. It also gave me an opportunity to get out some of my new die cuts and the beautiful felt that Papertrey has begun to sell.

Picture 3
And here's my take on the challenge:

FeltBlogHop

Cardstock: Ripe Avocado & Vintage Cream (PTI); patterned paper: DeLovely (Cosmo Cricket); stamps: Blooming Button Bits (PTI); dies: Beautiful Blooms 3 & Rickrack (PTI); felt: Raspberry Fizz & Vintage Cream; rhinestones: KaiserCraft; ink: Raspberry Fizz (PTI).

4 You

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I finally got the Copics I needed to finish this card from the class I took several weeks ago using Copic markers with Prisma colored pencils. This is my favorite of the three we made that day, and the only one we didn't have time to finish coloring.  I wish I knew a little boy to send it to!

Boy&Dog
Since I didn't choose the papers for this card, I can't credit the manufacturers for any of the card elements.

Three Cards

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We've finished all the "must do" items on our list before Sarah and Adam arrive tonight. They fly into Buffalo at 11:10 tonight. I hope they're on time since Tracy and I were wide awade at 5:00 this morning. It's only 8:00 their time so they'll be chipper! 🙂

After exercise class this morning I got to work on three cards that needed to be made. The first is for my BIL & SIL's anniversary tomorrow. Since they'll be here for the family party on Thursday I'll give it to them then. I saw the punched heart technique in a magazine I was browsing through at Barnes & Noble when we were keeping warm there on Saturday night, so I can't give credit for it. The mat on the focal panel is actually green, but came out really dark in this photo.

Anniversary

Card base: Impress; patterned paper: Scenic Route and unknown scrap; sentiment: Saavy Stamps; heart gem: A Muse

The next is a sympathy card; the message is on the inside.

Sympathy

Cardstock: Select White and Sweet Blush Papertrey Ink; embossed cardstock: Creative Imaginations; flower dies: Papertrey Ink; pearls: Michael's; silk ribbon purchased from Ellen Huston

Yesterday I got an early birthday gift from my friend, Mary, when we went out to lunch. It's this beautiful berry bowl. I have nothing like it and navy blue, red, and yellow are my happy colors.

BerryBowl1w

I had lots of fun making this thank you card for her.

Bowl&Cardw

Cardstock: Bo-Bunny & PTI New Leaf; patterned paper: Bitty Dots PTI; label and chipboard: Cosmo Cricket "Garden Variety;" alpha stickers: October Afternoon.

Here's the inside of the card:

BerryInside

Patterned paper strip: Cosmo Cricket; alpha stickers: Adorn It.

A question for anyone who has a Typepad account. In my draft, all the images in this post are centered, but none of them are in the published version. Any ideas why?

Three Cheers for Chairs Challenge

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Before our power went off yesterday, I got two cards made
for the Moxie Fab "Three Cheers for Chairs" challenge. For the first card, I debossed the chair to create the dotted
pattern and then colored it with Prisma colored pencils. I’ve wanted to try
this ever since I got the stamp nearly a year ago.


CupofTea

Cardstock: Lemon Tart
by PTI; patterned paper:  October
Afternoon “Thrift Shop,” button twine: PTI; distress ink:  PTI; stamp: Memory Box; ribbon: Paper Source; scalloped
punch: PTI; flower from stash.

The next card is for friends of ours who are celebrating
their anniversary this week. It gave me a chance to use my new “Chair-ished”
stamps from Papertrey that arrived last week.


PerfectPairHeart

Cardstock:  True Black & Vintage Cream PTI; patterned paper: Lush MME; stamps:  Chair-ished PTI; computer-generated sentiment, heart from stash.

Happy Mother’s Day

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Happy Mother’s Day from wintery Rochester! Yesterday a cold
front blew through taking with it our power and pulling down limbs and branches
all over the city. We still didn’t have power this morning and the RG&E’s
estimate was maybe by midnight tonight. Last night we ate dinner Buffalo Wild Wings,
and then headed over to Barnes & Noble. We hung out there until 9:30 when
we finally came home. Thanks to our camping lanterns we could read
in bed until we got sleepy.


Barnes&Noblew

This morning we woke up to SNOW!!!! I have to admit it put
me in a pretty unhappy mood. I really hate being cold (the house was down to
58° before we left for brunch), and I still have a lot on my “to do” list before Sarah and Adam get
here—all of which requires electricity. Ah, well. 

Here's the Mother's Day card I made for my mother-in-law:


Mother'sDayCard 

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate PTI; patterned papers: Jillibean and October Afternoon; stamps:  Just Rite and Papertrey Ink; ribbon: Pure Poppy PTI; Spellbinder's Oval Nestability & Standard Tags

With Tracy's sister, Jill, and her family, we took Ellie & Bill to brunch today. As we were leaving the street, an RG&E man told us it would be tomorrow before we'd be back online. Jill and Tom have a generator, however, and Tom was headed our way with it, when suddenly we had lights—and most importantly, heat! It was an unexpected and great Mother's Day gift. Hope your day has been filled with happiness and family.