Tree Sympathy Card

Isn't this tree background stamp pretty? It was in the Stampin' Up holiday catalogue and if you follow me you know I love trees & mountains etc. There were actually a few items in the catalogue that ended up jumping into my online shopping cart - a set of owls, and a gondola set that I bought because it was so different! There were also two holiday sentiment sets that I know I will get a lot of use out of. Of course I loved the patterned papers but managed restraint and didn't purchase any. I know - shocking, ha ha.

Right away I pulled out my MISTI and stamped the background a couple of times to see if it was as nice in real life and ... yep ❤️   I cut this one down with a stitched rectangle die and wrapped it with a strip of torn vellum. I stamped on the vellum and set it aside to dry while I die cut a tree and inked it. The stamps and inks are all from Catherine Pooler. The decorated panel was mounted to a slightly larger white card stock panel then to my card base.

Here is a peek at the inside. I used the negative image (from the cardstock that the tree was cut from) as a stencil and a bit of torn cardstock for the ground.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October - 51 cards & 5 Tags

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Fragrant Forest background stamp, Stampin' Up

Catherine Pooler Inks

Blending Brushes - Taylored Expressions

MISTI stamping platform

Double Stitched Rectangle dies - Divinity Designs

Vellum - stash 

Encouraging Word Sentiments - Catherine Pooler

Forest Trees (dies) - Echo Park

Circle Stickers - Dazzles

Halloween Infinity Shaker (with Pop Up)

I was putting away this patterned paper and spied a partial sheet with those crazy eyed pumpkins in the package. That was all it took to put the package back on my stamping table and make one more Halloween card. 😂

There was a 4 x 6" cut apart in the package as well, so I created an Infinity Shaker (also called Faux Shakers or Edge To Edge Shakers) using a transparency. The confetti inside the shaker is MANY years old and I added a cute Doodlebug enamel spider on top of the transparency for a fun touch.

Inside, I used one of the dies from Karen Burniston's Mini Pops and added a pumpkin to it. The pumpkin pops up as the card opens and just adds a little something extra to the card.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 50 cards & 5 Tags

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Patterned paper & cut apart - Doodlebug Designs

Mini Pops Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Transparency

Black Pen

Confetti - stash

5 x 6.5" Card blank and envelope - Michaels

Spider - Spider Celebration Shape Sprinkles, Doodlebug Designs

Pumpkin inside - Ghost Town Odds & Ends, Doodlebug Designs

Greeting - Inside Greetings, Halloween (Papertrey Ink)

Wink of Stella

Halloween Sheetload of Cards

Since I wanted Halloween cards for the five grandkids, I decided to give the October Sheetload another go - and this time pay attention 😂.  The first time I made the sketch I was listening to a good audio book and cut some of the papers incorrect AND messed up on the matting positions. Also  last week I shared a shaker card with a jewelled spider sticker but there were three stickers in the package. I was able to use up the final two spiders with this set of cards, and most of the 3-D stickers got used up too!

Those stickers have been in my stash for a long time, in a baggie with no packaging. So I have no idea where I got them. There are only a few left and I'll be able to use them up next year. 

Below is the inside - using a stamp set from Your Next Stamp. Since my Halloween cards have all been mailed this year, I will save the remaining three from these ones for next Halloween.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 49 cards & 5 tags

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used .

Supplies:

Jewelled spider - Recollections (old)

3D Ephemra stickers - Unknown, (old)

Spooky Fun - Your Next Stamp

Catherine Pooler Inks

Five Birthday Cards with Flowers

Today's cards were inspired by the large stitched flower die, which is included in Karen Burniston's Twist Flower Pop Up die set. I have made a couple of cards with the mechanism but not yet used the flower part. Looking through my drawer for something else, I pulled out this old 6x6" paper pad and decided to make some Birthday Cards I can donate to my Mom's old nursing home.

Once again I used the August 2023 Sheetload of Cards as my inspiration - I absolutely LOVE this sketch. Since I was using 6x6" papers instead of the 12 x 12" called for in the cutting guide, I just did my own thing with those angled pieces. There were a number of smaller strips in the package from previous cards so I just matted them according to the width of the strips rather than the cutting guide.

The flowers were cut from some partial sheets in the package so it was great to use up so many of those bits and pieces! I popped up the flower centres and added some hash marks with a black pen and some stickler for shine.

The insides looked too blah for my taste so I pulled out a 12 x 12" sheet of patterned paper and cut it down to mat the sentiment panel. I liked them much better - I think it was because the sentiment is smaller than usual and it looked lost among all that white space. I love the sentiment for the nursing home cards though!

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 41 cards & 5 Tags

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Patterned paper - Garden Party 6 x 6",  Pebbles, Old

August 2023 Sheetload of Cards - Call Me Crafty Al

Twist Flower Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Stickles

Patterned paper inside - Hello Easter, Echo Park

Black pen

Birthday Wishing - Colorado Craft Co

Halloween Tags for Kids

I like to give the Grandkids goodie bags for Halloween. Usually I use white gift bags, but this year I used heavy brown lunch bags instead. I had fun choosing the candy and party favour type gifts to add into the bags and then wanted bright and cheerful tags to add to the front of the bags.

I have had these 3d sticker embellishments in my stash for years. There was no packaging - I had them in a sandwich baggie - so I don't know where I got them or who makes them. But I have managed to use up most of them this year!

The tags were cut using the Celebrate Slimline Tag by Crafty Meraki and decorated with scraps of patterned paper and the stickers. I added some dots with my favourite dot stamp and wrote their names with a black pen.  I could have used pretty ribbon instead of the bakers twine at the top of the tags - but really, the kids are just going to tear into the bags so ... 😂

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 36 cards & 5 Tags

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Ephemra - unknown, several years old

Celebrate Slimline Tag - Crafty Meraki

Scraps of Doodlebug patterned paper 

Dot peg stamp - Stamps by Judith

Twine

Mini Slimline Embossed Sympathy Card

 

Almost as soon as I got this embossing slimline folder - like 18 months ago - I embossed this gold pearl card stock. I oooooohed.  I ahhhhhhhed. And I put it in my 'in progress' bin to make into a finished card. Then promptly forgot about it, ha ha.

When I was flipping through the bin I pulled it out and decided to make a sympathy card with it. I cut the embossed panel down to fit on my Mini Slimline card base (3.5 x 6") then added some gold foiled bee stickers and a stamped sentiment on a label. The stamens got brushed with Wink of Stella and the card front was finished. Those gold bees show up so much better in real life ... in still shots they look brown rather than gold foiled and shiny.

Here is a peek at the inside ...

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 36 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Gold Pearl cardstock - my stash

Simple Strips Sympathy stamp & die - Taylored Expressions

Gold foil bee stickers - stash

Slimline embossing folder - Lillies, Nellies Choice

Catherine Pooler Inks

Narrow gold tape - Amazon

Inside - Mini Slimline Embossed Edge, Kat Scrappiness

Sentiment - Inside Out Sympathy, Catherine Pooler

Mini Slimline Pull Tab Card for Halloween

Welcome to Fun Fold Friday on my blog! Today I'm sharing a Mini Slimline card made as the October edition to my monthly series 'Throwback Fun Fold Dies'. I pulled out these VERY OLD pull tab dies from Papertrey Ink. At the time there were very few fun fold dies out there, and I thought these were so fun! 

When you pull the tab, the center section lifts up to reveal the stamped sentiment. Aren't those tiny mouse stickers adorable? I added one in the greeting  area and one on the back as well. All of the papers, stickers and ephemera are from Doodlebug Designs. ❤️

When I make a card like this, I tend to make them post card style rather than an opening card. Below is the back of the card, which is where I will add our personal message & signature. The stamp set by Karen Burniston & is retired. It continues to be a set I pull out and use every year!

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 35 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Pull Tab die - Papertrey Ink (old)

Patterned paper - Doodlebug, Boos & Brews

Stickers - Doodlebug, Ghost Town

Catherine Pooler Inks

Halloween stamps - Karen Burniston/ECD (retired)

Pop Up Christmas Card

Today I'm sharing the October edition to my monthly series "12 Months of Christmas" and I made it a Pop Up card using dies by Karen Burniston.

I kept the front fairly simple, because all the fun is on the inside. Since the patterned paper pad is one I have had for several years, there are lots of partial sheets in it. One was a 12 x 12" sheet of borders so I trimmed a strip that included two borders and decided to add it on an angle to the sparkly plaid paper. This layout is based on the August '23 Sheetload of cards, which creates A2 cards. This one is a 5 x 7" card.

I added both the Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas shadow to the front as well as some gold snowflake peel off stickers.

Inside I used more of the border pieces and the Little Label Pop Up! Using the included decorator dies I cut gold frames for the outer two labels and added a sparkly peel off snowflake sticker in the centre. Then a larger snowman element was added to the center.

Here is a side view so you can see the Pop Up a little better.

The snowman pieces were all fussy cut from different papers in the package. Even though it's an older paper pad I still love getting it out every year to make a couple of holiday cards. 

I added a space for a stamped sentiment (and where we will sign our names) using the Labels Crosshatch. Between the sparkle in the patterned paper, the gold metallic card stock, the narrow gold tape AND the gold snowflake stickers - this is a nice sparkly holiday card. 😊

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 34 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used with a few affiliate links included.

Supplies:

5 x 7" Kraft card blank and envelope

Patterned paper - Say Freeze, Recollections (old)

Sketch - August '23 Sheetload

Labels Crosshatch - Karen Burniston

Little Label Pop Up - Karen Burniston

Merry Christmas - Karen Burniston

Merry Christmas Shadow - Karen Burniston

Narrow Gold tape - Amazon

Gold mirror cardstock

Snowflake Peel Off's - Stamp On It and Elizabeth Craft Designs (old)

Sentiment inside - In & Out Christmas, Taylored Expressions

Catherine Pooler Inks 

Spider Web Shaker Card

When I was looking through my Halloween stamps/dies I came across this spider web die from Queen & Company. Since I had the jewelled spider stickers on my stamping table from an earlier search through the embellishment bin I had an AH-HAH moment. Ha.

But when I pulled out the spider web die, I realized it had actually been a card kit from Q&Co and there was the foam frame and transparency in there - enough for two cards! The kit had originally included enough for three cards and obviously I had made one up the year I bought it. Now I have one left that I can make next year. 😊

The spider shows up in real life because of the sparkle, but I still like how subtle it is in the photos ... extra creepy (NOT a spider fan). After cutting the web from black cardstock, I added some shimmer with Wink of Stella. 

Inside I added an ink blended panel under a white one, which was decorated with a couple of punch outs from an older Doodlebug patterned paper package. I hand wrote the 'happy' with a black pen and my card was done.

NOTE:  While the card easily fits into the envelope and isn't all that heavy - it IS bulky from the foam tape and gems. I was hand delivering it though, so all good.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 33 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Black 5 x 6.5" card base & envelope (stash)

Spider Web die etc - kit from Q & CO (old)

Jewelled spider - Recollections (old)

Black Sharpie

Various sequins & confetti - stash

Wink of Stella

Patterned paper - Doodlebug

Ephemera punch outs - Doodlebug

Catherine Pooler Inks

Blending Brushes - Taylored Expressions

Glitter Dots - Ecstasy Crafts

Mini Strips Halloween (stamp and die) - Taylored Expressions

Four Birthday Cards

Last year I went through this 12 x 12" paper pad (called Neapolitan by Dear Lizzy) and decided to finish it off. I made a bunch of birthday card fronts, as they are much easier to store if it's just the front panel but quick to adhere to a card base when I'm ready to use them. The trouble is, I keep forgetting I have them. Ha. I pulled out a bunch and got the cards finished and donated to my Mom's old nursing home. Here are four of the ones I made and I will share the others in the coming weeks.

The paper pad had several sheets of polaroid style prints and I also used the Polaroid Frame die from Your Next Stamp. The floral elements were fussy cut from one of the papers, as were the letters for SMILE in the card below. Or maybe some were stickers from a sheet that was included. Honestly these were done so long ago I can't remember! 

I was in no hurry to make the cards, and just had fun cutting papers and assembling the card fronts. Because the cards are hand delivered to the residents I didn't need to worry about bulk from foam tape or extra postage.  There were lots of smaller pieces in the paper pad from previous projects and I layered them onto the cards as well.

Below is a look at the inside - all four were done the same.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 32 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used with a few affiliate links included.

Supplies:

Patterned paper - Deal Lizzy, Neapolitan  

Happy Birthday (large) - Taylored Expressions

             (small) - Your Next Stamp

Glitter circle stickers - Dazzles

Catherine Pooler inks

Inside stamp - Birthday Blowout - Poppy Stamps

Mini MISTI

Stickles

Wink of Stella 

October Sheetload of Cards

What can I say about these cards, except that I'm lucky I didn't have to toss the whole lot. Ha! I really wanted to make a set of cards using the October Sheetload, and was happy enough with my papers etc. 

I got into the zone too quickly though, working on auto pilot and having only glanced at the cutting guide I got to work. Yep - I cut some of them with the prints going vertical instead of horizontal. So basically I just rotated the sketch for those ones.

While listening to an audio book I was happily attaching panels and stamping/colouring the sentiments. Without double checking the sketch. When I was all done I realized the smaller panels were adhered incorrectly - the yellow mat is supposed to meet in the middle, not be on the outer edges. SHEESH.

Anyhow, these cards were made for my Mom's old nursing home and I doubt the residents will notice my errors. 😳  Below shows the inside of one card but they are all done the same. I used an old banner punch by Stampin Up on some of the scrap paper pieces as well.

I'm definitely going to make another set of these cards, and this time pay attention 😂

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 28 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used

.

Supplies:

October 2023 Sheetload of Cards

Blue print patterned paper - Happy Birthday Red Plaid, Echo Park

Birthday Print patterned paper - Party Fun, Echo Park

Magic Messages - Lawn Fawn

Catherine Pooler Inks

Copic markers

Essential Birthday Sentiments - LDRS

Mini MISTI

Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday Many Ways, Catherine Pooler

Banner Punch - Stampin' Up (retired)

Halloween Book Easel Card

It's Fun Fold Friday here on my blog and todays card is for the October edition of my Monthly Series "New Fun Folds". I admit to purchasing this die set on a whim - I had some staples in my online shopping basket at R&R Scrapbooking and was randomly scrolling through pages. I have probably looked at this die set many times but on that day it really appealed to me. 

Add To Cart 😂

I have lots of ideas for it and had fun making this one up for Halloween. Initially I wanted to make a 'Book of Spells" ... but it morphed into a cute Halloween Easel Card instead. The Book of Spells is still on my list of ideas though!

The papers and ephemera are all by Doodlebug and have been in my stash for a long time. I  added a sparkly spider sticker as well. The wings on the bat element got some sparkle using a Wink of Stella pen and the black ribbon is also sparkly. 

While I did add foam tape to each of the page layers, I used thin foam tape so the card would be mailable. The lift to the pages shows better in real life. If I were hand delivering the card, I would use thicker foam tape. One of my ideas is to make a music book for our granddaughters piano teacher at the end of the year and for that one I will be using lots of foam tape!

Below is a peek at the inside, and where I will write my personal message when I send this card off to a paper crafting friend. The 'Boo To You' is one of the punch out elements that were included on a 12 x 12" sheet in the sample Doodlebug package and was popped up with foam tape to act as the bumper for the Easel part.

The card base itself was easy peasy - black cardstock cut 10 x 7" and scored at 5" to create a 7 x 5" card. The front was scored at 2.5" across the 7" side and the assembled book was adhered to the bottom flap - not crossing that 2.5" score line. That way it stands up nicely for display!

The card folds flat for mailing and fits in a standard 5 x 7" envelope.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 20 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used.

Supplies:

Beautiful Book Pages - Moonstone (Hunkydory)

Patterned paper & punch outs - Doodlebug Designs (old variety pack)

Black Sparkle Ribbon - Stampin' Up

Stickers - Dollar Store

Nuvo Glaze

Wink of Stella

Mountain Scene Shaped Card

Today I'm sharing the October edition to my monthly series "Shaped Cards". I haven't used this die set from Honey Bee Stamps in ages, so it was fun to get it out again. All the pieces were cut from white cardstock and inked with blending sponges & brushes.

The tree stamp is from Catherine Pooler - as are the inks and the sentiment on the mountain panel. The cloud is from a SU punch & I used a white gel pen to add a little snow to the mountain tops.

Below you can see the card fully open with a sentiment (Honey Bee Stamps) stamped on a rectangle which is also where we will sign the card.

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September - 61 cards

October so far - 19 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used. 

Supplies:

Mountain Z Fold dies - Honey Bee Stamps (retired)

Catherine Pooler Inks

Blending brushes - Taylored Expressions

Wonky Stitched Rectangle dies - MFT Stamps

White paint pen

Happy Birthday Many Ways - Catherine Pooler

Cloud punch - Stampin' Up

Tree stamp - O Canada - Catherine Pooler

Alcohol markers

Inside - Birthday Wishes, Honey Bee Stamps