MY FIRST BRIDGE CARD

   Some time ago I saw a Jennifer McGuire video showing how to make a bridge card. I have thought about it a lot, and today I watched it again and then made one. I had colored and die cut a lot of pieces from a scarecrow set from Paper Sweeties, so I was ready to do the card. There was a learning curve, but it really wasn't as hard or time-consuming as I thought it would be. I'm pretty proud of it.

   I am hopefully going to finish another one before I go to bed. This one will have snowmen on it. Tomorrow I will do a few that are more simple, with just a diecut for a bridge.
   I am very thankful for Jennifer McGuire; I have learned so much from her. Even if I don't think I am interested in the card she is doing on a video, I will watch it for the tips that she throws in, and just to see the way that she does things. I have learned things such as using a clear plastic sheet in the stamp platform to stamp words on to see if they will stamp straight before stamping the actual card. I saw another good tip recently in a video by a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. She cut a piece of SU sponge, clipped a binder clip onto it for a handle, put a puddle of glue on a nonstick craft sheet, and then dabbed the sponge in the glue. Then she dabbed the glue onto the back of an intricate diecut that is normally very difficult to put glue on. It was easy peasy and fast. You can learn so much from watching stamping videos. My tip is to put a paper towel over it to smooth it and mop up any glue that squeezes out from under the diecut.
   Well, on to my next bridge card!

Blessings,
Janis

MY LATEST CARDS

   I haven't posted anything for a while, so I have quite a few cards to show. I am loving the Free Skate set, and was not going to do Christmas cards just yet but couldn't help myself. I tried to stick with Fall cards, but that fell by the wayside.
Here goes:
   I am not happy with this first one, I guess it's ok.

   I'm very happy with this one. I am enjoying the Stampin' Up! set Gather Together. It has a wonderful die set with it.

   I was copying a small rug that I have, but it didn't come out like I wanted it. Too many flowers probably.

   This is Stampin' Up's Birch background, and I love it!

   This is a totally random card. I liked this background paper, and I had a rooster stamp (SU!), so I came up with this.

   Now for Christmas:

This is the Free Skate set, and I think it is beautiful. I did the first two cards today, and the last one I did several weeks ago.

   Oops, forgot some:

   This is one of my all time favorites:

   I am loving the stamps, dies, and other products that I am getting from Stampin' Up! Signing up again, but as a hobbyist, was such a good decision.
   Well, I guess I need to get in the kitchen now and fix some chili.

Blessings,
Janis

CONTINUING TO PLAY WITH MY NEW TOYS...

   So I'm having a ball, when I can get into my stamp room, creating with new products from Stampin' Up! I am really happy with two of my newest cards:

    After next Saturday I will be posting the cutest little boxes for Halloween treats and a link to the video with instructions. If anyone is interested in making these cards plus the box, I can do a class for $5.00, no order expected or required.
 
   Blessings,
   Janis

NEW PRODUCTS TO PLAY WITH

   I have never worked so hard on a card in my life! But, it is as straight as you can humanly get it, even though the picture doesn't show that. I was determined that I was not going to put this thing together crookedly, and I think I succeeded. I am loving this new set from Stampin' Up!, Floral Essence, and the punch that cuts out the flower. I also love the new paper and pad that I got in Pretty Peacock. I can't wait to explore new color combinations. This is the card that I have worked on off and on all day. I just wish I could get it to show the true color of the teal paper. The sentiment is stamped on a piece cut with a die from my new die set, Stitched Nested Labels. It goes from a die smaller than this one up to a large die, and is a wonderful set.

   Hopefully it won't take so long to do cards tomorrow. I am having a ball because a lot of things that have been driving me crazy have been resolved. My car has been fixed from both wrecks, I have picked out the tile and floors for the bathrooms, the floor for the kitchen, and I visited the bedroom set that I bought a while back and I love it! I didn't remember it correctly at all and thought that it wouldn't do, but it doesn't look anything like I thought it did, lol. I love it! Now if we could just light a fire under the contractor. 

   Well, I guess it is time to get ready for bed. Unfortunately, I can't stamp all night.

Blessings, 

Janis

MORE CARDS!

   I have been so stressed out that last week I spent almost the entire week stamping. I didn't accomplish a whole lot, but I did a lot of organization that will help me do things more easily.
   I am still not happy with what I am doing, but I put together a card today that I am very happy with. Finally!

   This next one is too dark. I took really good pictures with my old iPad, but the new one is driving me crazy. This is not an improvement, Apple! These are the cards that I have done since my last post, and some little note cards that I have had a ball doing.

   This one needs something, I just haven't figured out what yet.

   You can't see the embossed backgrounds on the white note cards, so click on it to see them better. (Nope, it doesn't help, but you can see the note cards better.)

   All this has saved my sanity this past week, let me tell you. By the time the insurance company finally got around to admitting liability and agreeing to fix my car, I was a basket case. 

   I have 4 people who would like to get together once a month to do a few projects, and I have decided that since I am not building a business with Stampin' Up!, I am going to have no requirements as to ordering. We are just going to get together and have fun.If anyone wants to learn techniques, just let me know. 

Blessings,

Janis

A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT

   Well, I have done something that I didn't think I would ever do. I have joined Stampin' Up! again! Not to build a business this time, but as a hobbyist. I am, however, going to revive my stamp club if I can find three more people to join. If you would like to get together with a few other stampers once a month and do 3 projects, just let me know. All you have to do is attend and agree to purchase at least $15 worth of products each month. Stamp club members will also get 10% off of their orders. If you are not a stamper but would like to learn, this would be a good way to do it.

   I have been stamping as much as possible, and I have made a lot of cards, but I am not happy with them. I think that I did much better when I was stamping in the past. I can't seem to get my mojo working, but I am ordering so many new products that I think things are going to get a lot better soon. Here are the cards I have made in the last couple of months.

This card would probably have looked better if I hadn't put the flowers on upside down, lol.

I found this decorative paper in a small paper stack that I have, and I knew it would go great with this pink paper.

I'm very happy with this one, but the bird part of it came from a card class that I attended. I just put my own spin on it.

I have wanted to do a background with my paper scorer for years, and I finally did it. I like this look.

 I was going to put a dotted border all the way around the card, never thinking that that was going to be impossible with this stamp. When I stamped the first side, I realized that it was upside down. I had wanted to scalloped part to be right on the edge, but that was no longer an option, so I just turned the card over and stamped it on the bottom. Voila! Couldn't have turned out better!

I just realized that I haven't finished this card yet. I have to put a few gems on it.

I messed with this card for weeks, not knowing what in the world I wanted to do with it. I had all the pieces except the lace borders, and when I got the lace borders die set, I cut a few to see how they looked. I walked around the table, saw these pieces lying there in my "in progress" tray, walked back, picked up a piece of the lace, laid it on the card and said, "You were just sitting there waiting for me to get this die, weren't you?"

I found this tag die online, and I love it! You can cross stitch on it or just cut it out without the holes. You can also put the die with the holes on other things. What great dies!

I put this card on the next to last blog post, but it had a rose on it instead of a butterfly. I wasn't happy with it at all, so one day I pulled the rose off and replaced it. I am very happy with it now.

I have had this flower, card, and background piece for years, but I didn't know exactly how I wanted to put it together, so it just sat there. After the hurricane, I found it and decided to finish it, but now I didn't have the paper that matched the colors. I finally decided to use the green that you see here, put a center in the flower, and a greeting. I can't believe I finally finished this card!

I used a die from the Stampin' Up! Flourishes die set (it's the lacy piece). This is a beautiful set of dies. I created the background piece with my paper scorer. Oops! No I didn't! That had to have been done with an embossing folder.

Another lace border.

I found this card, minus the butterfly and greeting, in a box that I was going through. This is also really old. I added the two dies, and once again, voila! It isn't as yellow as it appears here.

If you already have a SU! demonstrator, I would love it if you would follow my blog, but of course, I want you to keep ordering from your demonstrator. I have a lot of pictures of new cards that I will be adding in the next few days. If you are interested in the card club, PM me on facebook or give me a call.

Blessings,
Janis

 

TWO MORE CARDS

   So I have cards in various stages of completion, and all I had to do was glue these two together, which I managed to do the last two days, even though I am having the struggle of my life to do things right. I had to take the pink one apart and put it on a new background and card because I destroyed it trying to put the center piece on. Once I had the yellow one together, I noticed an indentation in the center piece. Good grief! I have switched from putting them together with double-sided tape to using Art Glitter Glue. It doesn't give me enough time to get it straight, but at least it doesn't stick down immediately like tape does. I am going to have to experiment with other glues because I used to be able to eyeball it and get things straight from the get-go, but can't do it now to save me. I wonder if it has something to do with losing central vision in my left eye. Oh well, that's as good an excuse as any.

   I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Blessings,
Janis

MAKING CARDS AGAIN!

   So I have my stamp room set up in our apartment, and I have sorted all the stuff that I have stamped and not used into drawers, so now I am pulling things out of the drawers (unfinished cards, backgrounds and elements that are stamped and colored or die cut) and putting them together or putting an element on a new background. I just put a basket of flowers that I had done many years ago on a card, and it is just happy, that's all I can say.

Unfortunately I don't remember exactly how I used to put these photos on, and this one is crooked, to say the least. Well actually they are all crooked. SMH! The lighting isn't right either, so I am going to have to figure something out soon. I mounted the basket on scrapbooking paper, which I am trying to use more of. I lost tons of paper when the house flooded, and I realized how stupid it was that I was hoarding it instead of using it.

For some reason the edge of this looks bad in the picture, but you cannot see it in person. I don't know why.
   Here are some more cards that I have made over the last couple of months. I am selling some of these for $2.50 apiece, or 5 for $10.00. Just let me know if you're interested. They are all blank inside, so they can be note cards, or you can write Congratulations, Happy Birthday, etc. inside to send it for an occasion.
   Well, I guess I lied. There is a birthday card and one that says Thank You.

This one looks a lot better in person. The gray is lighter and sparkly. 

I wish I could remember how I did the background on this card. My stamping buddy, Tammy, and I made some of these backgrounds many years ago. Hopefully, she will remember.

   And hopefully I am going to work out how to take better pictures. I don't remember having this much trouble in the past.
   Bye for now, I have to go put another card together.

Blessings,
Janis