Happy 27th Birthday Andy-Let's Hear it for the Boys IO Challenge

This card was made for my 27 year old baby.  My middle son.  The child who gave me the biggest headaches.  The one who tested every single rule we ever gave him.  The one who I always tried to be one step ahead of, yet never quite was able to.  The one who is the reason I know so much about emergency medicine.  I read nearly every textbook he had, made more flashcards than you can imagine, had my blood pressure and pulse taken so many times it went up just looking at him come into the room. Thank goodness you can't do CPR or intubate someone who is actually breathing or else I would have really been in trouble.  In the end, all of this paid off, after many years of training, testing, interviewing and 4 different academies, Andy became the firefighter/paramedic he had wanted to become since he was 16.  He tells us stories about the fires he's fought and the people he's saved, events I can not believe my Andy could have been part of.  I am so proud of the man he has become.  Today my baby is 27.  I won't tell you how old that makes me, but I can say all of the work was worth it.  This card is for Andy:

I used several Impression Obsession stamps for this card today.  IO Screen is stamped on the kraft cardstock base and Distressed Corduroy is stamped on the orange mat behind the sentiment.  I absolutely love these stamps for a beautiful, subtle background.  I have entered this card in the Impression Obsession Challenge, Let's Hear it for the Boys. 

Amber Ink Project #6



Today I am posting my last project for Amber Ink.  This time I used both a digital stamp and coordinating digital sentiment.  I added the image "Wee Bee-Pollinatin" and the sentiment "Just Bumbling Along" to a Photoshop Elements document.  After I had it arranged the way I wanted, I printed it and colored it with copics.  I always use PTI paper for my cards, with one exception.  When I make a single layer card that I plan to color with copics, I always use Gina K Luxury White 120lb cardstock.  Copic markers do not bleed through this.  I have colored with reds and purples and it still stays nice and clean on the opposite side.  After I colored the card, I impressed it with the Linen impression plate, added some black stickles to the bee and tied some Divine twine for just a bit more interest and color.  I have had lots of fun creating with Amber Ink products this month.  Thanks for taking a look and make sure to check out the digital stamps and paper available in the Amber Ink store.

CPS #114

Today it is right in the middle of the Papertrey Ink May Release week and all I can think about is fruit.  All kinds, cherries, apples, strawberries and grapes.  Until I can get my hands on all those cheery fruit stamps, I have a flowery get well card to share with you all.  This card is for the CPS # 114 sketch challenge.  I loved the sketch this week.  I started my card with a Rustic White cardbase, aqua mist layer embossed with a really nice Sizzix embossing folder called Country Foliage.  Doesn't it give the nicest impression and texture to the card?  I stamped some patterned paper using Sending You flowers and a Berry Sorbet gingham strip cut with my pinking scissors on the bottom.  The little border under the patterned paper strip is a eyelet lace diecut  in Hawaiian Shores cardstock.  The cute flower, leaves and sentiment are also from Sending You and stamped with Hawaiian Shores and Berry Sorbet ink.  The scalloped circle behind the flower is from Beautiful Blooms II and embossed with the cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder.  The finishing touch were a few rhinestones on the flower and gingham strip.  I am so pleased with how this card turned out.  Thanks for taking a look at my cheery get well card.  I'm back to thinking about fruit.

Amber Ink Project #5



Another project for Amber Ink today.  This card came together really quickly and has a very "summery" type feel to it.  This time I used all three colors of blossom paper.  The papers I used are:  http://www.amberink.com/products/nokaoi-orange-blossom,  and http://www.amberink.com/products/nokaoi-green-blossom, http://www.amberink.com/products/nokaoi-pink-blossom.  I punched out three scallop squares and adhered them to a piece of spring moss cardstock impressed with the Pacific Vinyard impression plate.  I stamped a scalloped square from that piece so a cute sentiment from Flower Fusion #1 stamped on the Summer Sunrise card base would peek out.  This is one of my favorite sentiments.  I used a few clear pearls inside the square to sparkle it up a bit.  Last touch was some twine wrapped around the impressed layer.  Thanks for taking a look at this project.  Be sure to check out the Amber Ink store, lots of cute digital stamps and paper there to choose from.

Lots of Pink

I really hit the jackpot today.  I was able to make one card that fits THREE different challenges.  That's a first for me!  Let me give you the details of the three challenges first. 

     1) Clean and Simple Sketches Challenge #139 

    2) Impression Obsession "Favorite Stamp" Challenge

    3) Cas-ual Fridays Challenge #1 

(Texting Skills)  This is the first ever challenge for this new blog group dedicated to Clean and Simple designs.  My favorite!

Here is the card I made:                               

Lots of pink, isn't there?  I used Hibiscus Burst cardstock stamped in Versamark with an Impression Obsession Cover-A-Card stamp called distressed corduroy.  Don't you think that is a beautiful subtle stamp?  I also used another IO Cover-A-Card stamp called Birthday Words for the text panel.    It is so great to stamp one time and have all those words lined up just perfectly.  I used the new PTI stamp set, Chevron Stripes stamped in Fresh Snow ink to separate the two panels and cut out the zig-zags.  The Raspberry Fizz panel is impressed with the Polka Dot impression plate and it is all mounted on a Smokey Shadow panel.  This card was quick and easy.  Made it in about 15 minutes and I love how it turned out. 

Amber Ink Project #4

This is the fourth project this month using Amber Ink products.  Todays project was a surprise for me and it has a little bit of a story to go with it.   It started off being one thing and ended up being another.  What am I talking about?  Circus Balls.  As I was skimming though the many digital images in the Amber Ink store, I came upon these circus balls officially called The Little Top-Circus Ball Line. 

I thought they were cute and I liked the sentiment that goes with them, "Life is a Circus".  I planned to make a card with those images.  I downloaded the circus balls first and couldn't decide if I wanted them joined together or a few of them scattered around.  All of a sudden it dawned on me that those balls in the large and small sizes looked an awful like the circles in the new Papertrey Ink Simple Circles Border Die.  I measured the balls and resized them just a bit so they were the same size as the die cut.  This is what I love about these digital stamps.  They can be any size I want them to be.  I planned to color them lots of bright colors and adhere them to a similar colored diecut.  I happened to have a black diecut on my craft table and I laid the sized balls onto it just to get a feel for how they fit.  I LOVED  the look of black and white balls on the black diecut.  That combination had never occurred to me. My card design changed again. 

Here is the card I made:  

 I chose a cardbase of Hawaiian Shores and added some Polka Dot Basics stamped in black along the bottom.  Here is where my card changed again.  Out went the circus sentiment and in came a Think Big Favorite, Hello Friend with the beautiful swirl.  I needed a little something else to finish the card so I added a Little Bitty Bird with a Hawaiian Shore wing.  I honestly love how this card turned out.  I am thrilled that those circus balls fit so nicely onto the diecut.  I can see myself using them with this diecut both colored with copics or with another combination of black and white.  Maybe Raspberry Fizz and black and white?  Wouldn't that look great? Thanks for sticking with my very long story today.  Make sure to check out all the fabulous digital images available in the Amber Ink store.

Amber Ink Project #3

You brighten my day!

This is the third of six projects I am making for Amber Ink this month.  Today I decided to use some of Amber Inks digital  paper and one of their digital sentiment stamps. Can you tell pink is my favorite colors?  I love to wear it and it is one of the colors I turn to the most when I make a card.  For me, it is so bright, upbeat  and cheerful.   Who wouldn't like to receive a card with beautiful pink blossoms on it to brighten their day?  Or butterflies.  Always a symbol of happiness in my book.  So, here is the card I made:

To make this card, I used Amber Ink NoKaOi-Pink Blossom digital paper.  I love that you can purchase this paper in both 8.5 x 11 or 12 x 12 inch sizes.   Don't you think the pink blossom paper looks nice paired with the kraft cardbase?  I cut a scallop border using Berry Sorbet cardstock and punched some holes in each scallop.  I printed the sweet and cheery sentiment, You Brighten My Day onto rustic white cardstock and die cut it with Mat Stack #4.  I embossed it with the PTI Woodgrain impression plate.  Like I said, butterflies are cheery, so I cut three of them.  One from cork, one from Berry Sorbet cardstock embossed with a polka dot cuttlebug folder and the last one from the NoKaOi pink blossom paper.  I spread the wings a bit and added two Boutique Fleur Mini Round Gems I received as a gift from my sweet PTI friend, Renee.  Thanks Renee, they were the perfect touch for my butterfly!  The last touch on this card was a ribbon tied with Berry Sorbet saddle stitch ribbon.  Hope my card brightens your day just a little!