Spring is on it's way!

Here is a card that I made for the special people who helped my mom during her illness.  I just love this Flight of the Butterfly stamp set and Butterfly Punch.  I used my Versamark to add the detail on the plain background paper.  The Eyelet Border Punch adds a pretty lacey effect on my Whisper White paper.  I used some of my favorite retired cardstock on this card...Apricot Appeal and Ballet Blue with Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon.  I just love the "Springy" feel of this card!  Now if only the sun would come out...  :)

I love St. Patrick's Day!

I have to admit I love all of the little holidays as much as the big ones.  St. Patrick's Day is just such a fun holiday and I enjoy celebrating it.  Here is a cute card I got from a gal named "Cathy" in a swap I was in recently.  I just love it!

I just love how she embossed the scallop circle, making it look like it's thicker...so neat!
Here is the recipe:
Stamp Set:  Lucky Shamrock and Afterthoughts
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight and Garden Green
Ink:  Garden Green
Accessories:  5/8" So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, 2-Way Glue Pen, Glue Dot, Stampin' Dimensionals
On the inside, she stamped the Lucky You sentiment with a little shamrock next to it!
Thank you, Cathy!

Sale-a-Bration!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's my St. Patrick's Day card.  I love this holiday, it's just so fun, plus I'm Irish, so I have to celebrate it!  LOL.  I had to use a retired set (Rainbow's End), because there just aren't enough stamps out for St. Patrick's Day.  I used Wild Wasabi as a base, then stamped my clover with Versamark and my sentiment in Garden Green.  I also used Garden Green as a mat.  My leprechaun was also stamped in green, then colored in with black marker, orange, peach and gold pen.  It was very hard to get the gold to look right.  I finally ended up using gold ink with the sponge dauber and it still won't stay on as well as I'd like.  I hand colored the rainbow, which was fun and added a Red Glimmer Paper heart.

Sympathy Card

Here is a card I made for a swap.  I love these colors, but I couldn't decide on a design.

Here are the rest of the cards, most of them using my new design, with the taffeta ribbon instead of the poly ribbon.  I really like the offset look of the design.

Here's a closer view of the new design.

As you can see, I couldn't make up my mind which side to place my image on!  I also couldn't decide whether to mat the image with pink or purple, lol.  I also tried Blushing Bride as a base, but thought it was too washed out to use with the deep purple of Concord Crush.  Sometimes everything comes together so easily, other times it seems to take me forever to make up my mind.  :)

Recipe:

Stamps:  Thoughts and Prayers
Paper:  Lap of Luxury DSP, Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Blushing Bride (on some cards), Very Vanilla
Ink:  Concord Crush, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories:  Pretty in Pink 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon or Concord Crush Poly Ribbon

Here is a card I made for a swap, using one of my very favorite DSPs, Sunny Garden.  I used Daffodil Delight for the background and Peach Parfait for the mat.  The flower is stamped in Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz with the Cottage Garden stamp set and the sentiment comes from the Short & Sweet set.  I added a Poppy Parade ribbon.  I can't wait for Spring!

Birthday Card for Alzheimer's Dad with lots of Texture

This was a special Birthday card I made for my dad who is an Alzheimer's patient.  He loves to touch (and take apart) cards, so I tried to use as much texture as I could.  I used some retired textured Bermuda Bay (turquoise) paper for the sky and some Certainly Celery striped DSP for the grass.  I used some retired Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon for the dirt (lots of texture here!) and a retired metal star brad (these are really heavy!).  I attached the sentiment with two antique silver brads to look like nails (my dad loved woodworking).  And of course, I included his favorite of all things, a running dog (from the D is for Dog stamp set), stamped in More Mustard, to look like a yellow lab.  I think he liked it.

A Feminine Thank You Card

Here's a card I made using that pretty DSP Lap of Luxury.  At first I thought Concord Crush (purple) was too dark, but against the Pretty in Pink paper, it looks more like a true purple.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Cottage Garden, Short & Sweet
Paper:  Lap of Luxury DSP, Concrod Crush, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla
Ink:  Concord Crush, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories:  Versamark, Pretty in Pink 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch