Helen Plus Three

Quite a few special days over the last couple of months, come and gone.

My niece gave birth to a lovely baby girl. She is the first of the 3rd generation for my family tree. Precious life, new precious moments and new memories to add. and of course a new baby card to make.

It's tough to make non-girlie looking cards for the guys.. I think I need to stock up on some suitable like stamps or I'll end up with the same few ... This was what I made for Dad using my Hero Arts owl and Sizzix Flip its.. The embossed words are from "Just Because Phrases Embossing Folder Borders from Darice ' '

Sizzix has actually come out with a die (flip it) to do this template without the need for manual cut n measuring. Well this was manually created   It's a fun card to create, more images are needed...and you get to play with paper patterns.... Using Sizzix embossing dies for the embossed image, 

a little something for those hardworking hands .....from my hands with a little help from Sizzix layered flower dies and the 'Candy Cup' die and Penny Black stamp. My sis, sis-in law are mothers handcream for the hardworking  Sizzix die cut for the little box, handstamped with Hero Arts ..

Every year it's like the blessings get stronger for each Mother's day in church. It's no ride in the park but it certainly has it's rewards. I made this for mum.   The design on the back is made using Martha Stewart's punch. It was a peaceful day, and we sort of pigged out at lunch. a real spicy to-do ... diet tomorrow or is it today !.

A Tina Wenke stamp, and Penny Black accents, Martha Stewart's heart Do wishes come true ?  One can only hope they do. How many wishes have I made over the years. Life looses something if there are no fairy tales, poetry,  magic and even romance. Live a little, live some,  let go of old baggage that weight us down.

With the season settling in.. I get to play with my stamps again. Making simple ones and experimenting with new card designs. Got my work table sorted out somehow, still working at how best to arrange the desk and drawers. I am also experimenting with creating my own backgrounds most of which are with Hero Arts stamps, which I bought a while back. I'm digging them out and looking at them with new eyes. Bells & Whistles "Pepper with Gift'; Hero Arts flowers Stamp; Snoopy ... Simple cards for my family.. and a a new design called the Hinged card below..

A few more recycled designs...

K Kingdom embossing folders, the one that looks like the grain of tree bark, that's the look I'm aiming for.......  the trellis is from Heartfelt Creations - 'Bella Rose Lattice' stamp, Hero Arts word clear backed by Sizzix Scallop die, edges sponged with Distress inks...

I was recently clearing up old scrapbooking stuff to make place for new things.. .(there's never enough place is there? ).. and there were a few old cards which I had made but never gave out because I didn't like how they turned out.. (you could say I have improved  :)') So I thought why waste the good parts, let's recycle and redo the main image element or work around it.....So here's two of them ...... Only the centre piece which was punched (Karl) is the old piece, I  added the Cottage Cutz die [CottageCutz Floral Doily (4x4] , a Hero Arts sentiment, embossed and stamped with metallic ink for background using Slanted Tree also from Hero Arts... a layer of Frost White Tsukineko ink for a metallic shine. A bit of purple flowers peep through the doily lace die because of the recycled paper I used which had pinkish petals embedded. The whole of the oval piece is the original, the rest is recently layered on. I love the Hedgehog stamps, they're...

'Plumeria and Leaves' die from Cottage Cutz,    paper from Basic Grey,  another step fold card....  

Sunflower from Penny Black, against a die cut embossed scallop (Sizzix and K Kingdom) respectively)...Dragon Fly from Sizzix..., using word set from Hero Arts Clear Stamps...... the Fence is from Tim Holtz Alternation dies.

To quote Catherine (the Sculptor artist) in Susan Mallery's book "Only His' ... Traditional crafts provide a creative outlet for women. As our society increases our connection with technology, we risk losing the simple pleasures that bring beauty to our lives'. As I read,  I thought, is this why some of us are drawn to creating our own little works of art. Every time I give away one of my own self-created cards, I wonder will the receiver appreciate it as I would a personalized handmade craft A friend who introduced me to the craft, recently unearth some of my earlier cards (made for her and her daughter) before I dug my heels into rubber stamping ... and I think to myself, they are simple and uniquely mine... These were from the days before the advent of the camera phone and common scanners. Thank you friend. For little Chloe...Wish upon a Star teacups & roses  

'We did not weave the web of life, we are but a strand in it.'. I created the flowers using the Punch from EK Success called the Dimensional Flower Punch, set them against an embossed tree.background from Sizzix. I sprayed the flowers with some glimmer mist and dabbed a little red and pink ink for the effect. I also used part of the cut off balance to cover two square, still with partial embossed designs. This is a fun way to play with paper designs but of course matching with different papers and getting the right colour scheme can be tough. Word stamps from 'Rubber Tree' (Web) and 'Inky Antics' . I may have an extra fold or so a little variation from the few tutorials.

I'm looking forward to birthday cake....   and wishing you out there hugs as well.... Stamp is from Penny Black 'basket of love', 'Hugs' and scallop die cut from sizzix,  and the words from Inky Antics.

Christmas gathering - a little late but no less joyful..... Stamps from Penny Black (Christmas) From Penny Black Stamps Sizzix dies .. Playing with distressed inks this Christmas season... A Bildmalarna Stamp Had a ribbon wrap around it, didn't update the photo...with Tim Holtz Distress inks.. Christmas cards for the year..

A birthday card for my sweet niece. Stamp from Belles and Whistles set against a spellbinders die. Pat's card, unfortunately I didn't update this photo,  I modified it a litle bit more before I handed it off..

  A slider card for my sister, done a couple of years ago.. Stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs "Gift with Rose', balloons from  PSX (Santa Rosa 1999), words from 'Make an Impression' and 'Stampendous'.

  A simply designed, slider card from last year's collection, using Reindeer stamp from Stamp City embossed in gold and a pair of paper Poinsettia flowers from Prima Flowers..   Advent has begun... time to prepare cards for Christmas again.  I've decided to play with the inks this year...mostly Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels here. My first card made for 2011 Xmas Two stamps used, one from Hero Arts the Nativity scene for the centre piece which is a Clear stamp and the background with the words is Penny Black "Christmas text'  wood mounted. Punch out is from EK.  No die cuts here, used a design scissors to cut out the oval shape.