Friends Forever

 Good Sunday morning!  What a fun and special day I had yesterday for my Mom's birthday!  She loved all the well wishes everyone sent via my blog too!  Thank you so much for those.  I want to take a few more pics today before my brother heads back to Calif., then I will get some of the pics up on the blog later in the week to share with you!  Today's card is one of those cards that I try to make using those smaller dies in the sets that often get overlooked.  As I start my task to make samples for shows, I always try to get different looks and styles to show a wide variety with each die set and try my best to use some of the smaller "worker" type dies that are often included.  You may only purchase a die set because you like the largest main focal die, but find that some of the smaller dies are quite useful in and of themselves.  This was the case for this small flower die from the Ornate Squares set.  I thought it was rather pretty and easy to use all by itself.  I cut three small apertures in a row with it across the bottom of my card.  I picked out three shades of lavender to use behind it and cut the flowers in each of the varying shades.  I mounted the aperture piece on foam for dimension, then placed the flowers so they were recessed into the openings across the bottom.  I cut a piece of white card for the top of the card and embossed it using the Awesome Blossom Embossibility folder for an all over floral look.  I joined the two pieces and then stamped a strip of white card with my sentiment.  I matted it with a pale lavender card and cut forks into the end.  I cut two more of the same flower in white then offset them for a completely different look and added them to the end of my sentiment strip.  I added 3mm pearls to the centre of that flower.  I matted the entire card with lavender and added a white pearl swirl across the embossed portion of the card.  I matted it with a double white pierced mat to complete the card.  More of a clean and simple style for me, but still quite pretty I think!  Finished dimensions are 7" x 8 1/2" in size.

Time for the Comment game winners for the week too!  This week's names drawn are:
Margaret Lycett!!!
Laura Matthews171!!!
Fame01!!!

For the extra qualifying post of April 20th, the winners are:
Corrine!!!
Dinx!!!
Margaret McDonald!!!

For the extra qualifying post of April 22nd, the winners are:
Selinei!!!
Lynn (Delphinoid)!!!
Sharica!!!

Congratulations all!  Please email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prizes.  All for now, Sue x

Happy Birthday Mom! The Big 9-0!!!

 Hi bloggers!  No, this isn't the birthday card that I made for my Mom's 90th birthday today, but the sentiment works for the day so I thought I would post this card.  I have struggled with this decision but have decided not to post the card that I made for my Mom for a couple of reasons.  Mostly though, I made it for my Mom and it was tailored to suit her likes and it would hurt my feelings if there were any comments left that they didn't like the card.  I realise that everyone has different tastes and not every card appeals to everyone (rarely in fact!), but the daily cards that I post are not personal (well not at least in the same way) to me so that is fine.  I do hope you understand.  I love today's card, but I did mean to take some better pics of it before I left as you can see some bits in the pics that I did not see the day I photographed it!  Boy is my eyesight getting really bad.  It wasn't until I looked at the close ups that I even noticed them (so just ignore them, okay! LOL)  I started by cutting the Grateful Lattice out of white card and layering it up on a piece of very pale yellow called "custard."  Next I used the Scalloped Borders and put two of the decorative inserts together to form a pretty white border.  I cut one more out of custard card, using the dotted cutting edge from the set.  I layered them up and used mounting foam to attach them to the left side of my card.  I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with the oval from the Radiant Rectangle set.  I very lightly inked it with Mustard Seed distress ink for a soft highlight.  I matted this on to the rectangle with the delicate corners from the same set.  I mounted this in the centre of the lattice background.  Using the Delicate Aster die set, I cut several of them out out both white and custard card and used two of the smaller sized dies in the set.  I mounted two together to form each flower, slightly offsetting them to give a fuller appearance.  For the centres of the flowers, I used our new large sized micro beads (what an oxymoron, huh!) and dyed them using sunshine yellow alcohol ink, then adding a bit of pearl mixative to give them a more pastel look.  I glued the large beads in the centres of each flower using Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue.  I cut a few leaves from the set and inked through the die with Forest Moss distress ink.  I arranged the flowers and leaves around a messy bow tied from white seam binding and some white tulle.  I paper pierced the edges to complete the card.  I just love this custard card, so soft and spring-like!  Finished dimensions are 7 1/4" x 7 1/2" in size.  We are having a sort of surprise party this morning for my Mom at the local café we go to every morning for breakfast.  She knows that there is a party, but what she doesn't know is that my younger brother is flying in from California for the weekend to be with her!  I do hope she is sitting down when he walks through the door today!  I will post some pics this week of my Mom at her party so you can see how lovely she is!  All for now. Sue x

Please Know I Care

 Hi guys!  This is one of my favourite cards from the last shows.  I really like the Filigree Delight die set and I love the way it looks when it has been gilded!  I started by using Scotch double sided tape in long strips covering the four edges of a piece of black card.  I cut the excess bits off where it overlapped at the corners and lightly smoothed it with my finger to make sure there was good contact all the way around.  I gilded the edges with some gilding flakes that we carry from LaDore called Blue Tiger.  However, it is a rather expensive product and we now carry the Cosmic Shimmer brand of gilding Flakes that are a fraction of the cost.  At the time I made this card, we did not have them yet.  There is a colour called "Summer Meadow" that is virtually identical to the one that I used here.  To gild the edges, I simply placed the gilding flakes over the tape and rubbed them to make contact.  Using a stiff brush, I brushed away any excess (putting them back into a reusable tub for later).  Next I cut a piece of milk coloured card and embossed it with the Dotted Flowers Embossibility folder.  I taped it into place in the centre of my gilded edged background piece.  I covered a piece of black card with a sticky adhesive sheet and cut the Filigree Delight.  I peeled the backing paper off and gilded it with the same flakes.  You can quite easily gild the card stock first, then cut it which will be thinner and a bit easier to cut (a great tip from Beverley!)  This card was actually made before I learnt of her tip so it was done the other way!  I mounted the gilded die cut with mounting foam pieces for dimension.  I cut the tag from this set out of black card and cut it in half.  I used half of it at the top of the focal element piece as an accent.  I stamped my sentiment on milk card and cut it out with the oval die in the set.  I dusted it lightly with Black Soot while it was still in the die.  I mounted it in the centre of my Filigree Delight gilded die.  Three small black pearls were added below the sentiment and to the corners.  I tied a double bow out of black silky crush ribbon and made a rose out of a green-blue card, to match some of the colour in the gilding.  The rose was mounted in the centre of the bow as an embellishment.  I stamped another small phrase and cut it out with one of the small tags from the Charmed, I'm Sure set.  I tucked the edge under the rose and added two black stick pins.  A double mat of black card with the inner mat paper pierced, finished the card.  I really liked this one, I hope you do too!  Finished dimensions are 7" x 8" in size.  All for now, Sue x

Birthday Wishes

 Morning all!  You just had to expect something made with teal card to be showing up here at any time, didn't you?  I can't go too long without playing with it.  In fact, when I first tried out my set of Radiant Rectangles, this is the card I started with.  I just wanted to see what they looked like when cut and I was not disappointed.  I love the beautiful cut away areas they give you so I decided to make it the focal point on my rather simple card.  Not to mention that there is such a pretty impression made on the outside of the die too.  You may not always use the leftover bits, but when you do they are rather spectacular.  In the centre of my teal card, I used the die just inside out the largest one to cut this pretty decorative frame in my card.  I did use the next size down to emboss the design too, but it is not as visual until you see the close up.  I cut the next die in the set in black card and mounted it with foam in the centre.  I stamped my sentiment (from the Creative Expressions set called Classic Sentiments) on coconut white card with a Black Archival ink pad.  I covered it with a double sided sticky adhesive sheet and cut it with the oval die in the middle of the Radiant Rectangle set.  Once cut, I peeled off the backing paper and covered it with clear micro beads for texture.  I mounted this piece in the middle to complete my focal element.  I used some leftover bits of black silky crush ribbon and cut them into small circles.  With my heat tool, I melted them slightly then glued them together to form small flower embellishments for my card.  I glued a flat back white pearl in to the centre of each flower and attached them to my card with sticky glue dots.  I added a white mat to show through the cut out areas and then finished with a double black mat.  I used Cosmic Shimmer black PVA glue to create faux pearls all the way around the edge of the card.  I added a couple of flat back pearls to the corners to finish it off.  Finished dimensions are 7" x 8 1/2" in size.  All for now, Sue x

You're The Best

 Hi bloggers!  I was having a bit of a play with the Engraving Board here.  Lovely fun stuff to use with either dies or embossing folders like I have done here.  I cut a piece of the gold core engraving board and embossed it with my A4 Basketweave embossing folder.  Using a fine sandpaper block, I sanded away the embossed area of the design, which exposed the gold core and left the black in the deep recesses of the embossed background.  I did a bit of matting and layering with some white and black card to help pop the design.  I cut a piece of silky crush ribbon down the centre and wrapped it around the bottom of the card, securing the ends around the back of my background.  Next I used the largest sizes of the Adorning Squares and cut a decorative piece for my focal element.  I used the smaller square to emboss the very centre for a bit more detail.  I used the largest outer die to cut a black piece to go behind to show off all the detail.  I stamped my sentiment by using a Clear Perfect Medium pad and heat embossed it with Cosmic Shimmer Gold detail powder.  I used the smaller square again to cut out my sentiment.  While still in the die, I lightly inked it with  Black Soot Distress ink for a shadow.  I mounted the larger square and the smaller square in opposite orientations for an interesting effect.  I tied a double bow with the white silky crush ribbon and added it to the side of my focal element with a bit of black tulle behind it.  I made a gold rose using the soft gold card and following the tutorial on the top of the blog.  I added it to the centre of my bow and two black crystal stick pins as accents.  I finished the card by added some flatback pearls to the corners and  a double mat of the soft gold card and pierced the inner mat with my piercing ruler.  A really easy card to recreate, but with very decadent results!  Finished dimensions are 7" x 8" in size.  All for now, Sue x

It's A Two-Fer Day

 Hi guys!  You know, two for (fer) the price of one!   I decided to post these cards together rather than a day apart so the post would be easier to follow.  I made the first card and then used the leftover part from my aperture for the second card.  I started this one by picking several shades of pink/rose card starting with my very pale blush card (it does appear a bit washed out in the photo, but it really looks almost white until you put it right next to a white!).  I had to dig into my craft stash for the other shades though.  I stamped the Justrite scallop border on each colour using a clear perfect medium pad.  I heat embossed each of them with white powder.  Using the scallop edgeability die, I cut the bottom of each border.  I used a piece of copy paper to keep the thickness to an absolute minimum and taped each border into place slightly overlapping from the darkest to the lightest in colour.  I used the heart from the Timeless Amour set to cut the shape in the centre of all my borders.  This did take several passes through the machine and I had to help the very last bit with scissors because of the layers.  I added mounting foam to the back of this piece to give it height.  I stamped my sentiment in the corner of a piece of coconut white card.  I embossed the bottom half using the Floral embossing folder from Creative Expressions.  I stamped the Timeless Amour matching heart using a Clear Perfect Medium Pad on white card.  I heat embossed it with white embossing powder as well.  I mounted the aperture over this piece creating a recess.  I glued the lacy edge of the heart down into the recess around my stamped image.  I finished the card with a double white mat and paper pierced the inner mat.The finished dimensions on this card are 6 1/2" x 8" in size.  Scroll down to see the second card.

 Here I have used the leftover heart that was cut out of the aperture.  It was just too pretty not to use!  I stamped the Timeless Lace border at the bottom of a piece of coconut white card and heat embossed it with white powder.  I mounted my heart in the area above the border stamped image using mounting foam.  I cut a wide strip of rose coloured card and embossed it with the same Floral folder used in the first card.  I added the strip to the side of my white background.  I ran a piece of thin red line tape between the rose and white sections.  Using the Flesh seam binding, I ruched it along the sticky tape.  I tied a messy bow out of it and added some stick pins and a Heart Dazzler.  I stamped a small white tag (not die cut, but the kind you can buy at office supply stores) and lightly inked the edges with Victorian Velvet distress ink.  I tied a piece of pastel pink Bakers Twine to it and added it to my bow.  I pierced the edge of the inner white mat using the Creative Expressions Piercing Ruler to complete the card.  No waste and two pretty cards, what's better than that! LOL  Finished dimensions on this one are 7" x 8" in size.  All for now, Sue x

With Gratitude

Hello everyone!  As this one goes live, I should be on my way to the airport (come on Blogger, don't let me down!) heading across the pond to see my Mom just in time for her 90th birthday later this month!  It feels like forever since I saw her last, but she is doing very well and has been in good hands as all three of my brothers have been to see her while I was away.  This card was requested by a friend of the  blog, and I thought it was a pretty card for a Monday morning too.  I started with a wine coloured piece of card and used the Scalloped Border dies to cut a pretty edge.  I used two of the inserts three times and then finished the bottom with one of the scalloped cutting edges.  I love the way these two inserts look together, don't you?  I matted a piece of  coconut white card behind them to show through, as it really does show off the intricacy of these dies.  Next I stamped one of my new "Stamps To Die For" line called Posy Lace.  It has been drawn to fit inside Labels 30 and give you a pretty edge.  I stamped it in black and coloured it with a combination of Distress markers and coloured pencils.  I added flat back  pearls to the centres of the flowers and cut it out with the matching Labels 30 die.  I used the Opulent Ovals to cut a thin frame to sit around my focal element die cut.  I stamped my sentiment with a Maroon Archival and clear embossed it.  I cut it out with one of the small Labels 30 dies and lightly inked it with the same ink.  I added a pearl to either side of the wording and mounted it with foam in the centre of my Posy Lace stamped image.  I tied a double bow out of white silky crush ribbon.  I finished the bow with a pearl embellishment and pearl stick pins. I decorated the card's bottom layers and corners with pearls and added a small pearl swirl in the upper corner too.  I added a double white mat to the card and pierced the inner mat layer to complete my card.  Finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" in size.
  I saw in one of the comments a request to put lists of the items used at the bottom of the post, but I thought I would try this first.  I have put all the items I have used that Creative Expressions carries in bold print so it is easily picked out.  Let me know if it is too distracting that way (it is easier to do than retyping the lists). If I have used an item that we do not carry (like the wine/maroon card, for example, I have not made it bold)   Does it work?
  I have decided to do an extended version of the charity card auction while I am away too.  I will put up two cards on the sidebar and take bids until the auction closes, which will be after I return in June.  I had a bit of difficulty getting the auction cards put up at first so I don't want to lose the space on my blog that I have been using for it.  It is a silent auction, once again, I will just let you know whether or not you have the highest bid for the card.  It is your choice then whether to try again with a higher bid.  I will get those up in the next day or so, keep an eye out for them.
    One more quick note before I sign off, Julia Watts has two shows today on C & C at 10am and 3pm.  She has some brand new items on her shows including our new line of Singles stamps that come already mounted on Umount, ready to stamp, yummy embossing powders, Spellbinders, Justrite, just to name a few.   Be sure to tune in for some great demos!   All for now, Sue x

Blue Roses

Hi bloggers!  It's Sunday once again, they do come around faster and faster don't they!  I just barely got all the prizes posted from the previous week and here we are again!  As usual, I will run through the card step by step, then post the winners after.  I started with a piece of the sky blue card from my pastel card pack.  I used the Timeless Lace stamp from Heartfelt Creations and covered it with the Brushed Pewter distress stain.  I stamped it along the bottom of the card.  Now the stain does not give the same sort of impression that an ink would, but it is lovely for images such as this that can be a bit ethereal looking.  I just wanted a bit of the bling from the mica in the stain to draw your eye to it.    I tied some white seam binding around the bottom of the card and added a messy bow to the side.  I stamped and coloured two of the roses from Heartfelt.  I coloured them with pencils but went over the top of them with a paintbrush with some of the brushed pewter stain to give them a pearly look.   I cut them out with the matching die and added foam to the back.  I cut out the largest size of Labels 20 and ran it through the GC with the small polka dot mask to give it some texture.  Next I cut several of the swirl from the Bella Rose die set to add around the roses.  I used a clear perfect medium pen and then some silver mica powder to add bling to the leaves in the swirls.  I mounted all the pieces together with my roses to form my focal element.  I added some flat back pearls in the upper corner.  I stamped a small sentiment then cut it out with one of the tags from the Charmed, I'm Sure set.  I tucked it under the centre Dazzler embellishment on the bow.  I finished the bow with a stick pin made by my friend Linda Burrows, isn't it gorgeous!    I pierced the edges of the double white mat on the card to complete the project. Finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x 8" in size.

Now onto the comment game winners!  The names drawn this week were:
Nubiene Peltier!!!
Donna Jones!!!
Avis D!!!

We had some extra qualifying posts as well this week.  From Sunday the 14th, the winners are:
Barb B!!!
Deniseann!!!
Helen Barker!!!

For the extra qualifying post of Monday the 15th, the winners are:
Liz Spooner!!!
SuzyD!!!
Dorothy Fox!!!

For the extra qualifying post of Thursday the 18th, the winners are:
CraftyChris!!!
Frances Lane!!!
Ginny C!!!

Congratulations to all!  Please email me at americansue1@gmail.com to confirm your address and claim your prizes!  All for now, Sue x