Better You

When I saw Jason Loucks' card with the Strawberry Slush, Black and White it was stunning... so I felt that I could re-create the card using the stamps and sentiments that I had. Thanks Jason for your wonderful card and inspiration.

I used the 'Better Together' sentiment and the 'Remarkable You' leaves stamps and stamped them with Versamark, then heat embossed with White Emboss Powder on the black cardstock. I then White Embossed the flower on Strawberry Slush cardstock and cut it out with scissors. Using dimensionals, I adhered it to the black cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Better Together, Remarkable You
Ink - Versamark
Paper - Strawberry Slush, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories - Heat Tool, White Emboss Powder, dimensionals, scissors

Balloon Occasion

Creating these balloons are a breeze with the Balloon Bouquet Punch along with the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits! Now, placing the strings for those balloons and the banner took a bit more attention to detail, but it went relatively quickly.

I used the color combo of Dapper Denim, Soft Sky, Basic Black and Whisper White. Very masculine.... which is good as this is for my brother-in-law.

Thanks for stopping!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Any Occasion, Balloon Adventures
Ink - Memento, Dapper Denim
Paper - Dapper Denim, Soft Sky, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories- Big Shot, Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits, Balloon Bouquet

Nailed Birthdays

This set is such a wonderful set to use for my Dad.  He LOVES to work with tools, and he is handy to have around to fix things around the house, car, etc. I love my Dad!

I first stamped (with Staz-on Black ink) the tools on the silver foil and die-cut those out. I then stamped the same tools on Delightful Dijon and die-cut those out. Using scissors, I carefully cut the handles out of the Dijon and adhered them to the silver foil.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Sets - Big on Birthdays, Nailed It

Ink - Black Staz-on, Basic Gray

Paper- Delightful Dijon, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Silver Foil

Accessories - Big Shot, Build It Framelits, Die Brush, scissors

Sublime Thoughts

My sister-in-law loves frogs! Well, she loves animals as she owns and maintains a farm in California. She breeds and boards horse and miniature horses as well as miniature chickens too.  She amazes me with all the work she needs to complete during the course of her days on the farm.

So, I felt this frog stamp... from the 'You're Sublime' set was perfect for her. I added the 'You Are' from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set. The flowers are from the 'Pictogram Punches' stamp set.

Thanks for hopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - You're Sublime, Thoughtful Banners, Pictogram Punches
Ink - Cucumber Crush, Peekaboo Peach, Memento
Paper - Cucumber Crush, Peakaboo Peach DSP, Whisper White
Accessories - Circles Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Itty Bitty Accents Punch

Fall Garden

As you can see I received inspiration from Dawn Olchefske's card.  Using her layout and design, and with the supplies I had... I created something similar. Thanks Dawn for your inspiration!

I die-cut the sunflowers within the white cardstock and adhered positive and negative pieces back together on Daffodil cardstock. The Navy looks black, but I can assure you it's Navy cardstock.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Falling Flowers, Avant Garden
Ink - Soft Suede, Night of Navy
Paper - Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Night of Navy, Night of Navy DSP, Soft Suede
Accessories - Big Shot, Precision Plate, May Flowers Framelits, Circles Collection Framelits

Letter Blast

Playing around with the Birthday Blast stamp set... I thought I'd use just a portion of the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment and pair it with the Little Letters Thinlits. It sort of still looks like the stamp, but was able to use the 'Perfectly Artistic' DSP behind the letters creating a cool effect.

Thanks for taking a closer look!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set - Birthday Blast

Ink - Memento

Paper - Soft Suede, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories - Big Shot, Magnetic Plate, Little Letters Thinlits, Star Blast Edgelits 

Avant Meadow

 

I saw Robin Armbrecht's card on Pinterest... I knew I wanted to create one for myself. I made mine into a birthday card for my Uncle.  I used sponge daubers with Soft Sky, Marina Mist and Night of Navy to achieve the background that I wanted.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - In The Meadow, Avant Garden
Ink - Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Memento
Paper - Marina Mist, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories - Sponge daubers, masking with scraps of paper

Star Blast

Here's a special birthday card for my wonderful husband. I love you more today than when we first said 'I Do'. Hope your day is spectacular and the next year of your life fabulous!
Love you Honey!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Birthday Blast
Ink - Memento
Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler DSP
Accessories - Big Shot, Star Blast Edgelits, Die Brush

Adventure Blast

My nephew loves the Seahawks, so I thought I'd incorporate their colors into this card for him.

I used the 'Balloon Adventures' and 'Birthday Blast' stamp sets... along with the coordinating Star Blast Edgelits.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Birthday Blast, Balloon Adventure
Ink - Cucumber Crush, Dapper Denim
Paper - Cucumber Crush, Dapper Denim, Whisper White
Accessories - Big Shot, Star Blast Edgelits, Die Brush

Dog Sympathy

I have made similar cards with this design of a dog's paw print. Since this was needed for two households, I wanted to make them a bit different. I used different ribbon and stamps on each.

Their furry friend will definitely be missed. May Dux be happily enjoying heaven with other furry friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Better Together, Flourishing Phrases
Ink - Early Espresso
Paper - Very Vanilla, Early Espresso
Accessories - Full Heart Punch, Circles Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Early Espresso Stitched Ribbon

Bright Balloons

I used the Balloon Adventures stamp set along with the Balloon Bouquet Punch to create this great masculine birthday card.

I was originally going to use White and Blue with another color (green maybe), but decided a monochromatic card would look stunning with all the different patterns going on -- and I was right! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp set - Balloon Adventures
Ink - Pacific Point
Paper - Pacific Point, Whisper White, Brights DSP
Accessories - Balloon Bouquet Punch, dimensionals, White Baker's Twine

Graduate 2017

I fell in love with this layout... with the Big Title on the side and the verse going down the side. I've used it on Sympathy cards, so I wanted to try it with this graduation card too. It's perfect -- especially with the cap faintly showing in the background!

I created the sentiment piece with my digital software (My Memories Suite) and printed it on White cardstock and adhered it with dimensionals.

Thanks for taking a closer look!

Supplies Used:
My Memories digital software (fonts used - Regency and Bradley Hand ITC); Cap - Go Graduate Plus (Stampin' Up!)
Paper - Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories - Big Shot, Houndstooth TIEF, Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon, dimensionals

PopUp Birthday

What a cool card! I just recently started to play with the Balloon Adventures stamp set along with the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits. The cards Pop-Up was shown on a Stampin' Up! YouTube video. You start with a 5.25x8.25 piece of paper and scored down the center. Next Align the thinlit in the middle of that paper with the score line on the edge of the middle balloon. After you run it through the Big Shot... the the piece will be scored on each side to allow the piece to 'Pop-Up' when adhered to the base. Cool - huh?

Such a cool set. I'll look forward to seeing what I can come up with in the future too.

I added a die-cut "18" on the yellow balloon after I took these photos. My nephew turned 18 this year.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Balloon Adventures
Ink - Basic Black, Mint Macaron. Crushed Curry
Paper - Crushed Curry, It's My Party DSP, Whisper White
Accessories - Big Shot, Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits

Better Reason

Such fun papers (Designer Series Paper)... here, I paired the 'Falling In Love' DSP with The Neutrals DSP (in this case Soft Suede)... makes a lovely monochromatic card.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Better Together, Special Reason
Ink - Sahara Sand, Soft Suede
Paper - Soft Suede, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP, Falling In Love DSP
Accessories - Big Shot, Stylish Stems Framelits, Die Brush, Precision Plate, glue dots

District Celebrations

Utilizing the new Urban District stamp set with this Father's Day card. I cannot take full credit.... as I used a card I found on Pinterest that was sort of similar to this card.
Here is the card I found inspiration from by 'Stamping with Liz Design':

Thanks Liz for your wonderful creation!

Now... as you can see.... I did NOT cut out the insides of my letters! No die-cut here.... just scissors, so I just did the outside.

Thanks for taking a peek!

And Happy Father's Day to all Fathers out there!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set - Urban District

Ink - Memento

Paper - Crumb Cake, Basic Black DSP, Whisper White

Accessories - scissors, dimensionals

Balloon Birthday

Creating this birthday card was ever so easy with the Balloon Thinlits Dies. Although, I did use scissors to create the pink background for the middle balloon... everything else is die-cut!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Balloon Adventures
Ink - Smoky Slate
Paper - Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Accessories - Big Shot, Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits, scissors, Die Brush

Purple Floral

I am participating in the PurpleStride Cleveland 2017 walk in June to support the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. The funds I raise will help raise awareness for this deadly disease, fund research to help provide a cure, and to give hope and help to those that are currently battling this disease.

As most of you know, I lost my Mom to this cancer in February 2014. Most patients are diagnosed well into the last stages of this disease - as was my Mom - so the prognosis was dismal. With research and support, we can provide hope for those that have been given this diagnosis and we can work to curing this deadly disease.

For those that have donated to my fundraising for this cause... I thought to incorporate Roses (which were my Mom's favorite flower) and the color purple (which is the color of the ribbon for awareness for Pancreatic Cancer).

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Floral Phrases
Ink - Elegant Eggplant
Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Accessories - Big Shot, Detailed Floral Thinlits, Die Brush, Precision Plate

Flourishing Garden

Elegant Eggplant and Very Vanilla create a very elegant card! I used the Flourish Thinlits for the flowers and the Rose Wonder Stamp Set for the sentiment. The pearls just added more elegance to an already pretty card.

Thanks for taking a closer look!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Rose Wonder
Ink - Elegant Eggplant
Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla
Accessories - Big Shot, Flourish Thinlits, Die Brush, Rose Garden Thinlits, glue dots

2017 Grad

My nephew and God-Son graduates this year from high school. I used his school colors to create this card.

I used my digital software to create the background and printed it out on White cardstock. After running the numbers through the Big Shot... I then attached them to the card with dimensionals.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
My Memories Suite (background font Castellar)
Paper - Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Accessories - Big Shot, Large Numbers Framelits, dimensionals

Avant Flowers

I saw a similar card on Pinterest using DSP underneath the swirly scribbles die-cut... so I thought to try it out here.  I added flowers on the die-cut scribbles as I thought it was a bit plain without anything there. Hope you like it!

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Avant Garden, Falling Flowers
Ink - Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Sweet Sugarplum, Emerald Envy
Paper - Peekaboo Peach, Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy, Whisper White, Emerald Envy DSP
Accessories - Big Shot, Die Brush, Swirly Scribbles, May Flowers, Basic Pearls, glue dots

Birthday Trees

I'm loving this 'Totally Tree' Stamp set! It's so versatile! Although my card is very different from Mary Fish's card... I did see hers and thought to place 3 trees on the focus of my card. So, thank you Mary for your lovely card.

As this card is for my Uncle in spring... I wanted all my trees to be green and lush. So I used Old Olive and Emerald Envy for my trees.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Supplies Used:

Stamp Sets - Totally Trees, Birthday Banners

Ink - Early Espresso, Emerald Envy, Old Olive

Paper - Early Espresso, Old Olive, Whisper White, Old Olive DSP

Graduate Gown

Well, I've seen many cards like this on Pinterest, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. Wow... it was a lot harder than I thought.

I used a Gold Foil sheet for my gown... and to get the "v" shape cut out...I used a portion of the point of a Star Framelit. Now, when I did this... the Gold Foil produced a edge line all around the cut piece. I tried using a Bone Folder to rub it out -- with not good results. I tried to run it back through the Big Shot backwards to see if it would come out too -- It did not. So... with scissors... I trimmed the indent made from the die-cut.

I used DMC floss for the tassel. I used four cords to make the tassel...and tied it using one strand of one cord.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Special Reason
Ink - Night of Navy
Paper - Night of Navy, Gold Foil, Very Vanilla
Accessories - Big Shot, Stars Framelits, Stylish Stems Framelits, Basic Pearls, dimensionals

Big On Flowers

I believe this is my new favorite color combo....Peekaboo Peach, Old Olive and Whisper White. Now Olive Olive is my all time favorite color....so I'm sure any color that pairs with it will be fantastic! =)

For the ribbon detail, I used 2 different ribbons and just laid one on top the other.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Falling Flowers, Big On Birthdays
Ink - Peekaboo Peach, Old Olive
Paper - Peekaboo Peach, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories - Big Shot, May Flowers Framelits, dimensionals, glue dots, Peekaboo Peach Ribbon, Old Olive Ribbon

Mike's Surgery

With this scrapbook page, I have successfully completed our 2016 scrapbook!!!!! Yay! Now on to our 2017 scrapbook - right?

I only took one photo of my husband when he was rushed to the ER for emergency surgery for his appendectomy. Well, I didn't even take this picture.... my brother did (you can see part of me in the background of this photo. On Dec 10, 2016, Mike was concerned about a sharp pain in his right-hand side of his waist. At first, we just thought it was a pulled muscle.... even the doctors felt that that was the case. Well, after the CT Scan was complete.... it was determined he had an inflamed appendix. The laparoscopic surgery was done that day, and he was able to come home that same night! He recuperated at home and was off work for 1 week. After about a month he was fully recovered.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - White with a Natural Compositions Overlay in grey

Shapes - Rounded Square (green, blue and white) -- to create the Cleveland Clinic symbol border at the top of page.

Stamp Brush Set - Patterned Occasions (SU) - bandaid

Font - Bradley Hand ITC and Wide Latin (blue) and Parade (green)

2016 Christmas

 

Almost complete with our 2016 photobook! Here are my pages for our 2016 Christmas. My sister's family was not able to travel home to be with everyone, but we got some photos of her kids opening up their gifts too! Hopefully for our 2017 Christmas, we can all be together!

Thanks for stopping by for a closer look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Watercolor Winter (SU)

Embellishments - Blue Christmas Mini (BC) - lights and ornament

Stamp Brush Set - Lovely As A Tree (SU) trees - green

Font - Engravers MT and Bell MT (blue)

La Salle Park

 

Mike and I drove to Buffalo, NY in November 2016. He was working in Buffalo and I was just along for the ride.  One evening we drove to this park and walked along the trail there and then watched the sunset. It was beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Pumpkin Patch (OvrThFnc) 

Embellishments - Summer Florals (StyRock) - white flowers

Punch - Square (filled w/black)

Font - Brannball Small and Book Antiqua (green)

Gingerbread Houses

 

Continuing work on our 2016 scrapbook.... I can see the end in sight. Only a few more pages to complete 2016. Then, I can work on this year's scrapbook! 

We had the opportunity to help out my nieces and nephew with their gingerbread houses. Well, when I say help... we just watched, as they were great in designing their own houses. So, no photos of Mike and I in these photos... just our nieces and nephew.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Christmas Dec 2016 Blog Train (marieh) - gingerbread

Punch - Square (filled w/brown)

Stamp Brush Set - Glimmer Kit (SU) - white striped overlay

Embellishments - Everyday Moments (MyMem) - red ricrac; Candy Claus (Kathryn) - jawbreakers; Sugar & Spice (Stina) - gingerbread; Christmas Dec 2016 Blog Train (marieh) - gingerboy

Font - Cuckoo (red); Viner Hand ITC (black and red)

Cleveland Zoo

 

Now that we are back in Cleveland, Ohio... and on November 28th.... we decided to go to the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo to celebrate the anniversary of us getting engaged 16 years ago. YES... back in 2000, we got engaged at the zoo. Now, many of you are wondering how we remember the actual day... usually it's the wedding date you remember the most (for obvious reasons). Well, it just so happens that November 28th was my Grandma Schwab's (my paternal Grandmother) birthday. She was the first person we called after we got engaged, so it's a date we will remember always. My Grandma passed away back in 2013, but she lived a very full and happy life.

Before we went we looked back on photos we had taken when we got engaged to find the bench where the proposal happened. While looking at those photos, we saw that we had kept the coats, scarf and shirt from way back then. Sooooo.... we decided to wear the same clothes and get a photo on the same bench! How cool it was to see the similarities in the photos taken 16 years apart!

We enjoyed the zoo.... even though it was rather chilly and had a bit of rain too.  Mike even got a smooch from an orangutan!

Thanks for taking a closer look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Au Natural (Stina)

Embellishments - Baby Grace Flower (MyMem)

Punch - Square (filled w/Be Mine Paper - KJDdsgn)

Font - Elephant (White)

Banner Birds

Such a fun card! I cannot take credit for it as I found the design on Pinterest! I loved the colors so much... I used them on mine too!  Thanks Diane Ouellette for your wonderful card. Here is what her's look liked:

See... almost identical! I used scissors to cut out each pinwheel (sail)... the middle piece is from the Swirly Birds stamp set and has a matching die-cut within the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Sets - Swirly Bird, Birthday Banners

Ink - Dapper Denim, Crushed Curry, Real Red, Soft Sky, Early Espresso

Paper - Dapper Denim, Whisper White

Accessories - Big Shot, Bunch of Banners, Swirly Scribbles, scissors

Wallace Lake

 

In October 2016, the leaves on several trees had already changed to their bright colors. Mike and I wanted to capture and see the trees around us, so we decided to take a trip to the MetroParks. We went to a portion of the parks called Wallace Lake. Now... most of the trees were still green, but a few had started to change. There seemed to be a walking path around the lake, so we decided to take a walk to see how far around the lake we could go. Darn... we didn't even make it halfway, and the trail ended. Oh well! We still enjoyed our time at the park and with each other.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - Hello Honey with Family Spotlight Overlay (SU) - light yellow

Embellishments - SJSA Elements (dreams4everDesigns) - fern leaf; Apple Pickin Mini (MemMo) - acorn cluster; Girls (ezane) - hello tag

Stamp Brush Set - Family Spotlight Overlay (SU) - light yellow chevron

Punch - Square (filled w/Cajun Craze)

Font - Cerebral (green); Lover's Quarrel (yellow)

Princess Ledges Nature Preserve

 

My husband and I wanted to explore the area that we moved to, so we found this nature preserve that was right off the main road. You'd totally miss it if you weren't specifically looking for it. I'm so glad we found it online of the parks near us.  Wow! What an amazing place... there were two trails: one a nature trail and the other a ledges trail. We did both! The leaves were just staring to change (as it was October 2016). It was a beautiful day for a lovely hike in nature.

Thanks for taking a walk with us!

Supplies Used:

Background - Soft Suede with an In Any Event Overlay is dark brown

Punches - Square (filled w/Autumn Traditions #1 and #2 and green)

Stamp Brush Sets - In Any Event (SU) - dark brown overlay stripes; Autumn Days (SU) - leaf in green, yellow and orange

Font - Freehand521 (beige); Duchess (brown)

My Dad and Beverly

 

Continuing on with our 2016 scrapbook, with my Dad's marriage to Beverly. They got married September 2016. After the marriage vows were said, we all went to a luncheon at Stancato's to celebrate.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Anchors Away (kapi)

Embellishments - Wedding Day (MM7) - yellow overlay; A Little Harvest (MS2) - orange flower; Like Sunshine (mhtdesigns) - yellow flower

Font - Chancellor (yellow)

New Apartment

 

Working still on our 2016 scrapbook (it feels good to get these pages complete) with our move from a suburb of Portland, Oregon to a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio in September 2016.  We wanted to move closer to family... so we had our choice of Los Angeles, California -- where Mike's family lives, or Cleveland, Ohio -- where Diane's family lives. We chose Ohio! Mike was able to keep his job while working virtual office (working from home). It works out well when Mike has to go out-of-town, Diane is able to visit with family and friends.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Background - Missing You (kbs48)

Embellishments - SP Promise Flowers -red; Baby Grace Flower (MM8) - white

Stamp Brush Sets - Home Sweet Home (SU) - sign (light gray); Autumn Harvest (SU) - bless your home (gray)

Punch - Fifty Nifty (Ohio) - light gray; Small Heart -red

Font - Freehand521 (light gray)

PurpleStride 2016

 

Continuing work on my 2016 scrapbook with our participation in the PurpleStride Cleveland 2016 walk. The walk raises awareness and funds to help those that are fighting the terrible disease of pancreatic cancer through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Those who follow my blog (or know me personally), know that my Mother died of this disease in February 2014. There is still no cure for this deadly disease. So I walk to bring HOPE to all those who are still fighting and HONOR those who have lost their life.

I miss you Mom! I love you so very much! HUGS!

Thanks for taking a closer look at my pages!

Supplies Used:

Background - purple

Stamp Brush Set - Ribbon of Hope (SU) - purple ribbon; Decorative Overlays (SU) - purple collage flourish

Punch - Square (filled w/white)

Font - Bodoni MT (Purple and white); Lucida Calligraphy (white)

Graduation

 

While we were in Cleveland in June 2016, our nephew graduated from high school. His party was held at the Hinckley Lake Pavilion. We enjoyed great food and fun games with family and friends. Also, 2016 was the year of the cicadas -- they emerge every 17 years to breed and then die after leaving the eggs in the ground. Their song (or noise) can be heard constantly throughout the day/night. Hearing them wasn't so bad...it was actually kinda nice. It was the dead carcasses everywhere that was kinda gross. 

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Black

Punch - Square (filled w/blue)

Embellishments - Glimmer Kit (SU) - gold line; Graduation Day - word congrats

Stamp Brush Sets - Decorative Overlays (SU) white starburst; Go Graduate Plus (SU) - hat and owl; Extreme Elements (SU) - white stars

Font - Wide Latin (white)