Is this is the perfect Fisherman's Card or what?



Grandpa and 3 of the grandkids



Whew! We have had some really hot weather here in Michigan!  Not complaining though - hot as it is, we have pretty long, cold winters so we're grateful for all the summer weather we can get!  Since we live on a lake, we've really had the opportunity to take advantage of all this sunny weather with the grandkids and other family as well.  We love the fact that we get to spend lots of time with the grandkids during the summer!



Max's big catch!! (he was so proud!)



I know you didn't stop by to hear about my summer, but to see what my latest card creation is, so here goes!  I made this one for my grandson, Max, who has his 10th birthday coming up this weekend.  He LOVES to fish!  When he comes to our house, he usually goes right into the garage, grabs his pole and tackle box and heads right down to the lake to fish.  He's all 'boy' for sure!!  So when I saw this image ("Sam and Dylan Fishing") from Make "It" Crafty, I knew it would be perfect for him.

I used Basic Grey's Max and Whiskers dp - love all the designs! And all the little images on it are just him....turtles, snakes, fish! I colored the image with Copics, did some shading with Prismacolor pencils, used some Glossy Accents for the water, and, of course, had to add a little glitter!  I didn't want to use ribbon since this was for a boy, so I used cork and twine instead. I feel like it still needs something, but couldn't figure out what else to add, so called it a day.

Here's the inside..... 

The sentiment is computer generated - the little fish and worm on hook image was found on the internet.  The bass on the left was also found on the internet. I just printed it on cardstock, cut it out, mounted it with some dimensionals and added some Stickles to make it like a slimy fish :) then added the twine like it's fishing line.

Seems like the perfect image, card, sentiment, doesn't it?  ......we'll see!! As I said in a previous post, the kids don't usually pay all that much attention to the cards I've made for them in the past.  My 12 year old really liked the one I did for him last month, so hopefully, this one will be equally impressed!!

Hope you're having a great summer!!  Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

It's been awhile....

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything here!! The sunny summer weather, vacation and grandkids being out of school have been sucking up my time - and I've been loving it! It hasn't left a whole lot of time for making cards, but it's been a lot of fun.  They just bring so much joy to our lives!!



Max and Grandma playing his favorite game
"3 of a Crime"!



Grandpa, Cole and Lucy

We just got back from a week long family vacation on a lake in northern Michigan. Our 3 grown kids and their spouses/significant others, grandkids, a couple of neices & nephew, and our daughter-in-law's mother and step-father. There were 15 of us at one point! We rented a house right on a lake: 6-bedrooms, 5-bathrooms, huge house! The weather could've been warmer and sunnier, but you'd never know it was cool most days because the kids were always in the water anyway.

One of the things that kept the boys going back to the water was two stand-up paddle boards. They had so much fun on these things that we have decided we need to get a couple to use at our own house on our lake!!  My oldest grandson, in particular, is pretty addicted to video games and he was perfectly happy to be outside on this paddle board for hours on end.  That in itself makes these a worthwhile purchase!!

Our second day there was Father's Day and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the day!  Our youngest son, who has the 4 young ones, was given a mouse-pad with all of the kids pictures on it - signed by them and/or doodled upon! The kids then presented Grandpa with a cornhole game they helped their dad make for him.  All the dads were in their glory!!

I must confess that I purchased a 'store-bought' card for our son for Father's Day.  Time got short and sometimes I just fall prey to the commercial cards and their beautiful sentiments.  I was able to squeeze in enough time to make my husband a card though.  I saw Mo Manning's "Big Guy Grilling" image and knew it would work for him!!  Here is the card that I did ........

I cased this card from one I saw done by another blogger.  I used much of her design, changed up some of the paper used, but kept a lot of the original design just because I loved it the way it was! I even tried to emulate her coloring - I feel like a total 'copy cat'!! That is how I've learned to color with both Copics and Prismacolor pencils though - by studying how others color and trying to do the same. I love the way the grill guy's hand holding the burgers/dogs extends off the cardstock - that's what compelled me to stay with her design.  This is the cutest stamp and inside the sentiment said something like ...."to the best 'flippin' Dad and Husband around".  I paper pieced his shirt and used Copics & Primacolor pencils to color. I was in a huge hurry when I got to the shading for the background so I just masked the image and sponged around, but I got a little messy and it surely isn't my best work, but I really like this card!  The clouds were found on the internet, printed out on cardstock and cut out. I just hand wrote "Happy Father's Day".

This next card was done for my oldest grandson's birthday (he's 12). As I mentioned before, he is a total video game-aholic so this Mo Manning image 'Video Boy' really hit the mark! The kids aren't usually all that impressed with my cards....in fact, they barely even look at the cards I make for them, but this one he noticed and it actually got a big smile out of him!!  (yaaah!!)

I liked the kind of funky designs in this pack of paper, which I think is from Cosmo Cricket's "Boyfriend" collection.  I colored him up with my Copics and did some of the shading with Prismacolor pencils.  I added a little Glossy Accents to the game control he's holding - although it doesn't really show up in this picture. I wanted to add some different shapes and texture so I cut the paper in circles and a triangle. That didn't quite do what I wanted, so I punched a large star out of cork and added the smaller stars and some silver Stickles. That did the trick!

Well, two cards in one post - hard to believe, huh?!!  I really need to get working on a couple of birthday cards for friends of mine so maybe I won't be MIA for so long next time I post!!

Hope you're all having a wonderful 4th of July weekend!! 

Missing you.....

I'm missing my oldest grandaughter....she's 24 years old now ~ I can hardly believe that fact! When she was just an infant, my daughter moved back in with us and the two of them lived with us until my grandaughter was about 9 years old. So, needless to say, we have a special bond with her! She decided to go to college in Illinois and, as Grandpa predicted, she wound up staying in Illinois after graduation. 

This stamp, "Chloe" from Whipper Snapper Designs, is one of my favorite stamps to color. And whenever I bring it out, it makes me think of my sweet grandaughter, so I thought I'd make a little "missing you" card to send to her. I colored Chloe with Copics this time and just did some shading with my Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. Starting with SU! Chocolate Chip cardstock, I layered Close to Cocoa and Basic Grey Bittersweet paper. Then I gave it a little 'fru-fru' with some old fashioned looking lace that I threaded some thin pink ribbon through. I thought it needed a little more, so I added some corner treatment with some Chocolate Chip cardstock punched with a Martha Stewart lace punch and added a couple of flatback pearls.  I distressed the edges of all the paper with some Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I meant to do some more stitching on the first layer, but totally forgot (again!) so the stitching only made it around the layer with the image itself.

The last time I colored Chloe, I only used Prismacolor Pencils/gamsol. I'm not sure there were even any Copics in my possession at that time!  Here's a glimpse of my other card with Chloe.....

Now that I see the first one, I'm not sure which one I like better!! I love the deeper colors I can achieve with the Copics, but I do love coloring with pencils and the blending technique.  Watercoloring had somewhat of the same feeling for me. (haven't done any of that in awhile!) It's gratifying to see something coming to life with every stroke, isn't it?

What is your favorite medium to color with? Do you prefer markers, pencils, watercoloring? I'd love to hear what you like to use and how your preferences have changed over the years!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

What happened to Spring???

We were just starting to get a peek into some milder weather...all the snow had disappeared....the birds were chirping away in the morning....I was really getting encouraged that Spring was actually making an appearance. Then came the sleet and snow last night!  I couldn't believe it when I saw across the top (or bottom?) of the TV...."Winter Snow Warning"!! What? What happened to Spring?! 

I guess I should be used to it by now - after all, this is Michigan! I'm getting over it, but I'm so ready for some relief from all the white stuff.

Which brings me to my card!

I was feeling "springy" so brought out Stamping Bella's Lizzy Lollipop. 

This little guy/gal (?) just always makes me smile!  

I colored the image with Copics and for the ground shadow using my Prismas and gamsol.  I traced around the inside of the Nestability I used leaving just enough room for my sentiment, which I'm sure you can tell I did by hand! (Wish I had Paula's ability to do those handwritten sentiments!) I added a little stitching, layered some Basic Grey Origins on Stampin Up! YoYo Yellow, a ribbon and a daisy!  Of course I had to add a little Stickles glitter on the wings and the ends of his antennae! Gotta have the bling factor, you know?!! 

For the inside of this card, I kept with the "bee" theme and layered another sheet of my Basic Grey Origins (which, incidentally, I have been hoarding so it was tough to let go of both pages of this pattern in my little 6x6 pad!!) onto some Stampin Up! Yo Yo Yellow.

I used one of my new favorite Nestabilities - Labels Sixteen...then stamped the sentiment and the little bee. Not sure where either one of those came from! Did some minor coloring with my Copics, added some sparkle to the wings of the bee and called it a day!

This card went together pretty easily and I love coloring this image! The Lollipops are some of my favorite stamps at Stamping Bella!

Hope you're having a good week wherever you are and no snow!! 

Two-Timing Chick!!

Yah!!!  I won the That's Krafty Thursday Challenge again!!!  So I'm a "two-timing chick"!!  I entered the card below ("Sweet!") and was chosen as one of five winners out of 54 entries.

What an honor!!  Congrats to all the other winners and a big "THANK YOU" to Jeanie!!  If you haven't visited Jeanie's site (The Spotted Chick), hop on over there.....you're in for a treat!! She's one talented lady and always inspires me!!

Woohoo!!!!(doin' the "happy dance"!!)

 

Sweet!!!

We have a brand new grandson!! It's been a busy couple of weeks ~ we were helping out with the older kids (11, 9 & 6) so we had our hands full. They are so excited about their new little brother! They want to hold him constantly...especially the youngest. She is so gentle and loving with him - just like a little mother. It's very SWEET!!  Which brings me to my card....(nice entrance, don't you think?)....

I have had this Mo's Digital image - Bronte and Louis - for awhile and couldn't figure out what sentiment to use with him. I wanted to do a card for my oldest son and thought maybe Louis would work!  I found the sentiments in two different stamp sets and they seemed to work well together. And don't you just love Basic Grey's new Pyrus paper?!! I paired it with Kraft & some old SU! Cranberry Crisp cardstock.

 "Hope your day is....SWEET as can be!!"

I also wanted to do a card to enter in Jeanie's "That's Krafty Thursday" challenge and this one will fit the bill! Sometimes I forget to use my kraft cardstock and also forget how versatile it is!  If you've never visited Jeanie's site (The Spotted Chick), you have a treat in store - her cards are GORGEOUS!! Every time I visit, I get another boost of inspiration!!

Bronte and Louis were colored with Copics. I think I'm finally getting the hang of them! Still a work in progress, but the more I use them, the more I'm loving them!! I did some shading with my Prismacolor pencils/gamsol, stitched around the edges and sponged with Chalk ink. I wanted to add the first part of the sentiment in a half-circle, but it looked a little 'blah' all by itself....so I used one of my smallest Nestabilities to cut out a scalloped circle in cork. I punched holes in each of the scallops to give it more definitioin. I like the way it turned out! A little colored cord and a button and this card is complete! (and no bling or sparkle this time...can you believe it?!!!)

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

For the boys....

Trying to do Valentine's Day cards for boys is tough for me because I always want to make them too "frilly"!!  When I ran across this Stampendous stamp set, I thought ... maybe the monkeys will be a little less girly??

 
I tried to keep them as simple as I could....which isn't as easy as it sounds!!! Adding some bling here and there and a couple of hearts was about all I could safely get away with and still keep them un-girly!  I used the Nestabilities die to cut out hearts in cork and black felt to add something a little different to the norm.

I the first one did as a 'gate' card. These always turn out so well for some reason! I layered the cardstock & paper then stitched around before adhering to the card base. I did the same treatment to the inside and used Spellbinders Labels 16 for the sentiment and layered it on another cut of the same die in black cardstock. A little sponging around the edges and I was super happy with the way this one turned out! (I probably should've stuck with a square die since I was trying not to get too 'girly' - guess I kind of forgot my main goal! Oh well!)

Note that both of these cards are A-2 size, which I seldom ever do these days. I seem to automatically create square cards without so much as a thought to do otherwise!

The other card was super easy peasy! I actually used a layout that I saw on the Stampendous site for this set and just changed up the paper. I liked this paper a lot and thought it worked really well with this card.  I didn't even do any stitching on this one! I cut out the hearts from the same paper used on the front and put them inside. Here's what the inside of the other card looks like. Simple but sweet!

Both cards were colored with Copics and some shading done with Prismacolor pencils & gamsol.  I used paper from the Basic Grey Cupcake collection for the gate-card and I'm not sure about the other paper. I cut off the end with the name and threw it out before I made note of it - sorry! 

Now it's off to the Post Office to get these into the mail so my little munchkins will receive them on Monday!!

Have a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!!