Day 31 Diagonal Pocket Card

This card was so fun to make.  You start by making an envelope and then inserting a card in the pocket.  I used some fun an bright papers to start off and then finished by using the Vintage Vogue Stamp Set.

Come back over the weekend and I will have some photos and measurements to make this card.

All products used here are from Stampin' Up!

Day 30

This quick card was made using Stampin' Up!s Pick a Petal and Sincere Salutations sets.
  I added a little something by button fancy buttons on the flower.  I made several of these to have on hand and left out the sentiment to stamp what I needed when the time came to give the card.

Colors used:  Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla

Day 29 Coffee or Tea

This Morning Cup set is so fun to use.  You get a bit of stamping, coloring, cutting....what a better way to relive kindergarten?

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent- I did it and it works!

We have hard water and I was getting frustrated at how the dishes were coming out.  They looked just as dirty after washing.  Our dishwasher is at least 12 years old and I thought I would have to replace.  I decided to try online to find some alternatives.  

Yea!  I found a recipe for dishwasher detergent online, OK I found several.  I just went ahead and gave it a try.

I used
1c Borax
1 c Super Washing Soda
1/4 c Kosher Salt
2 packs of Kool-Aid Lemonade unsweetened- if you use any other kind it will stain your dishwasher.  I used this in place of Citric acid as I could not find in my local stores.


Mix all together in a large container.  I found a pitcher at the local family dollar store.  It has a good seal on the top to prevent moisture from getting in the container.  This is important as the mix may clump.  Just break the clumps a part.  Make sure you thoroughly mix all the ingredients. 

You just need to use 1 tablespoon.  I sprinkled some in the pre-wash compartment and the rest in the wash compartment.  Since I still had some rinse agent in the dishwasher, I poured a cap full of white vinegar in the bottom of the washer. 

My son unloaded the dishwasher and asked me what I switched to.  I told him I made it and he said he noticed the difference, there were less water spots and white residue on the dishes.  Another Bonus, the dishwasher was not always draining properly after the final rinse and dry times.  Since using this detergent, my dishwasher doesn't seem to have rinse water remaining.

I don't have any agreement or anything to do with the following sites.  I used these as a reference for the recipe.  I do not support personally share of agree with any of the opinions that are on these sites.  I am Switzerland.
Sites referenced:
http://www.newlyweds-blog.com/2011/07/12/homemade-dishwasher-soap/
http://theedwardsedition.blogspot.com/2011/10/homemade-dishwasher-detergent.html

 The last thing to do....get out my vinyl and my cricut to make a label for the container. 
I just love it when a plan comes together and I can use my Cricut!

Snow Time with Dad

One day I looked out the kitchen window to find my husband shoveling the yard...not the driveway.  I thought to myself this is really strange has he lost his marbles or forgot where the driveway was?  So I watched.  It turned out that instead of taking the boys to the sledding hill he was going to make one in our yard.  He had a old wood pallet and was going to use that for the base.  He started piling all the snow he was shoveling from the driveway onto the pallet and soon enough he has the sledding hill. 

H came in the house and asked me to get the boys up and dressed and thought maybe I would like to come out with the camera.  Little did he know I already was using the camera. 

This was one of those days that my husband surprised me and really took family to heart and let is show.

Day 28: Amour

I received this card as part of a swap. Thanks to Bonnie Waterman who shared it.  The cool thing about this card is that it is all paper, there is not ribbon etc used but yet looks like there is.

Bonnie used the following supplies to create her card (all supplies are Stampin' Up products)
Stamp Set:  Artistic Etchings
Paper:  Love Letter Designer Series paper, Basic Black and Riding Hood Red Card stock
Ink:  Basic Black and Riding Hood Red.

Day 27 Coffee

Ok at some point, I will forget what day it is in the series. I apologize ahead of time.  Here is Friday's card.  We all know that Mondays and Fridays can be a challenge each week.  So I created this fun card to celebrate the need for speed....ok Caffeine.

Stamp Set:  Morning Cup
Ink:  Early Espresso, Bordering Blue
Stampin' Write Markers: Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Ruby Red
Card Stock:  Ruby Red, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Big Shot and Top Note Dies,Houndstooth Embossing Folder, Scallop Trim Border punch, Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon.

Day 26 love

I was on a roll with creating cards for Valentine's day, Anniversaries, and etc.  I wanted to have a more rustic and masculine feel for this card so I used Cork for added texture and dimension.  This card features the "With All My Heart" stamp set from Stampin' Up!

Using the Big Shot and Top Note die I cut card stock and a cork sheet. 

I used a VersaMark pad to give the card stock some dimension as well. 

Here is my finished card.  Enjoy.

day 25 Love

I wanted to create some cards using winter sets that I have to show how you can use the sets all year round.  This card features the Merry Winter set.  Typically you would think a snowman set for the Holidays.  But this fun little smore like snowman can be used for Birthdays or even Valentine's Day.
To make it more Valentine like I used some brighter colors but wanted to steer away from the typical colors associated with Valentine's Day.  Let me know what you think.

All products from Stampin' Up!
Cardstock used:  Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White and Designer series papers
Classic Stampin' Write markers:  Real Red, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Calypso Coral.
Punches used:  Heart to Heart, Pinking Hearts Border.
Ribbon:  Sheer organdy ribbon from the Sale-a-Bration ribbon and brad bundle.

day 24 My friend

I totally cased this card from another site, but just fell in love with is and wanted to share it in workshops and with all of you.  I did make a small change and placed the the greeting on the top third of the card.

I made this card using Pool Party, Basic Black and Whisper White Card stock.  I also used the coordinating classic ink. 

 My first step was to cut my card stock
Pool Party Base to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (scored in half to make a base of 5 1/2" H x 4 1/4" W)
Whisper White:  4 1/2" x 3 1/4", 3 3/8" x 2 1/2"
Basic Black:  3 5/8" x 2 3/4", 1 3/4" x 5 1/2"

• Using the Basic Black 1 3/4" x 5 1/2" I punched out the paper ribbon using the Lace Ribbon Border punch.
• I used a small amount of adhesive and adhered it to the left side of the base.
• Stamp the plant pattern from the My Friend stamp set using Pool Party classic ink on both pieces of Whisper White card stock. (Make sure to go just off the edges of the card stock.)
• Stamp the "sparkle" using Basic Black on the bottom left side of the smaller Whisper White cardstock.  This to should be stamped slightly off the card stock.
• Stamp "my friend" with Basic Black on the upper portion of the small Whisper White cardstock.
• Adhere your layers. 
• There you go.  To finish the inside of the card adhere a piece of whisper white cardstock 5 1/4" x 4" or leave blank.

Hope these instructions were helpful.  Leave a comment if you would like to see more or less instructions with the cards.

Day 23 Thinking of You

Here is a cheery little card you can use any day to let someone you know that you are thinking of them.  The design is pretty basic and can be used for any color scheme you would like.

As you will notice, I don't frequently use pink hues on cards or scrapbook pages and I am usually challenged with this.  So throughout the year, I will try to incorporate these hues more and more into my designs.  Keep coming back to see what I come up with.

This card features the Upsy Daisy set and uses Rose Red and Regal Rose color scheme.  Tie it all together with your base Whisper White, Basic Black and a little gingham ribbon.

Thanks for visiting!

Day 22 Everyday Wishes

Today's card is a simple card that can be used for anyone for any occasion.
The stamps used here are from the Inspired by Nature Stampin' Up Stamp set.

Card stock is Close to Cocoa, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip.
The cattails are made using a word window punch.

day 21Card for Dad

This is a great card to use for Father's Day, Birthday or any masculine celebration.
Stamping doesn't have to be on just plain or colored card stock.  Try using stamps on designer and patterned paper to get some variation on your stampin' projects.

 My son's gave this card to my husband on Father's day last June.

This card uses the Happy Camper bear, Celebrate and YOU  from Celebrate Everything, and letters from the Big Deal Alphabet sets.  All stamp sets and papers from Stampin' Up!  The bear was adhered to the card using dimensionals (pop up foam).

Getting Organized and using my Cricut

This year is full of new things...as always like everyone else I have set some pretty high goals for my New Year's resolutions.  One of them being is to empty out our extra room and make it into a bedroom from my oldest son.  Boy this is an adventure.  10 years of crafting supplies that need to be organized and purged.  Maybe I will be done before he graduates from high school, then again....I could just leave it....no not a good idea if I want to keep peace in the house and my sanity.  So here are a couple of things I have done so far to get organized from a large area to a small space.

I went to the local office supply store and bought some recycled paper binders.  I just had to use up some scrapbook supplies, I mean I spent good money on that and the papers are really cute, I can't just throw it away and I can't keep piling up the supplies.

Sorted through all the scrapbooking magazines I had stashed away.  I ripped out the ideas I liked and then put them into binders.  I want to be inspired when I look for ideas so I covered the three rings binders I purchased and used my Cricut Expression to cut out the letters and designs on front of the binders.

I had quite a bit of fun making these.  My sons and hubby asked what I was getting ready for.  I said no reason other than I was in a Scrappin Mood.  They don't always get it but the do like the final pages when I am done.  They always have comments to share, now I just need to have them help with the journaling.  Have a great day!
 

Day 20: Birthday Wishes

Happy Friday!  Today's cared is a special Birthday card.  This is another punch art card featuring Stampin' Up!s cupcake punch and last year's Sale-a-Bration designer paper.  To the liven up the card I ran the layers through my big Shot using the Petals embossing folder.

I added a piece of linen thread to make it look like the candle had it's own wick.

day 19: Owl for you

Today's card feature Punch art.  Isn't this owl just adorable?  Stampin' Up! has a punch that will give you all the pieces you see on the card. 

To really give the card some WOW factor.  I ran the Very Vanilla and old Olive through the Dots Embossing folder using my Big shot.  It adds some dimension and texture to the card.

You could use this card for a Valentines, Birthday, Thank you , Thinking of you....just about any occasion.

Day 18: Congrats with Petal Pizzazz

This fun congratulations card was made using the following Stampin' Up! Supplies:  Petal Pizzazz,
Card stock:  Whisper White, Tangerine Tango and Cajun Craze.
Classic Inks:  Cajun Craze, Regal Rose, Tangerine Tango.  Basic Balck Stampin' Write marked was used to outline flower and stamp sentiment.  It was also used to give the regal rose flower dimension.  Add a button to the card gave it a 3D effect.

Day 17 Cupcake card

This yummy card was made using the Crazy for Cupcakes set from Stampin' Up!  A couple of fun things on this card is the use of the Metallic pencils Stampin' up! carries and the use of Crystal effects to make the cherries on the cupcakes pop. 

Thanks to Lisa Anne Crispi for the great idea!

day 16 Kindness card

The color just didn't come out quite right on this photo.  It's hard to tell but the colors are actually purple instead of  blue.  Old Olive was used to stamp the stems of the tulips and dazzling diamonds was used to give the card a little bling.

Day 15 Fall Season of Friendship

I just love fall and all the fun colors.  This Season of Friendship card focuses on just that. I had a leftover piece of chipboard I inked with Chocolate Chip and then placed over the stamped image.  The colors here are Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Caribbean Blue.  I added a bit of hodgepodge to give a little somethin somethin.

Day 14 Season of Friendship Summer

I just loved this card when I saw it, it reminded me of when my boys used to swing on the tree rope out in front of our house.  I am not sure who first created the card otherwise I would give them the credit.    I used various shades of green:  Always Artichoke, Old Olive and Garden Green to give the leaves some variety.

Joyous Scrapbook page

Even though my goal is to post a new hand stamped card to my blog each day, does not mean I have forgotten about scrapbooking.

This page is one that brings me joy when I have a tough day.  This is my Grandmother who loved to float in the pool.  The page is very simple but the picture says a 1000 words and isn't that what it's all about?   (ok,  put aside the thought of how many awesome scrapping products there are out there...)

It is all about what the photo says to you.

Day 13: Season of Friendship

I thought we all could use a bit of spring since most in this area have been out shoveling.
Today's card is the second of a set of four.

Day 12: Winter Friendship Card

Here is the first of four cards designed with the Season of Friendship Stamp Set by Stampin' Up!.  It may be a little difficult to see but what I attempted to do is to create several layers of color by using a brayer. I first stamped the tree with a Versamark pad then used clear embossing powder on it.  I then added the various layers of blue starting with the lightest color.  Notice on the bottom is a ground layer to anchor the tree.  I did this by using a torn post-it-note on the bottom and then moving the post it slightly between the brayed colors.  I then added the snowflakes with Versamark and embossed with Clear and Silver embossing powder.
The little bird added a bit of life the the card. 

Day 11: Season of Friendship Card Case

Today's featured item is not really a card.  It is card case.  Originally, this was a stamp set plastic case that I recycled into a card box.  Inside the case top is a little pocket for notes or stamps.  The case will hold up to 6 cards and envelopes.  I will post the how to this weekend.  check back the next few days for 4 seasons of cards using the Season of Friendship Stampin' Up! stamp set.

Day 10: Snowman Noel

This cute little guy could be used for a Christmas, Birthday or Thinking of you card.  the stamp set used was Cold Play, notice the star eyelets for his buttons. This was such a fun card to make and is just adorable.

Day 9: Congratulations Card

Today's card Features the Pick A Petal Stamp Set and a decorative corner punch.  I usually don't like to cut out stamped images but this card was too cute not to.  I made this for a swap a few years ago and I still like the card.

Day 8: Masculine Sympathy

Today's card was rather a difficult one.  My oldest son asked me to make a card so he could give it to the family of a friend that passed rather suddenly last week.  I am so proud that he is so kind and considerate of this family.  Yet, so saddened for him that he has a friend of such a young age die.

My son picked out the stamp set he wanted used Coast to Coast a retired stamp set from Stampin' Up!
The colors we choose are Baja Breeze, Basic Black and Buckaroo Blue. This is a crayon resist technique used to show the "light" from the Lighthouse. 

The second card is using the same products but with another retired stamp set that I unfortunately do not have the name of.

When my son asked why I was making so many cards at one time, I explained it was easier to make at least 4 at a time.  I think he may have truly wanted his card to be unique...ah boys.  Each card is truly unique as I did not use the same image or same accessories on each one.

Day 7: Cupcake Greeting

I tried to make the card look like a sweet shop store window.  To create the awning, I simply scored the double sided designer paper over and used a scallop border punch.  It's hard to see but the cupcake frosting has glitter to make them yummy looking and add some bling to the card.  The stamp set used here was Crazy for Cupcakes (Stampin' Up!)

Day 6 of 365 cards

Today's card is a cheery little hello using the Sweet Shapes retired Stampin' Up! set.   A great idea about this card is threading ribbon through a piece of hodgepodge hardware.  But, if you don't have that handy you can use a pop top tab list Linda Habel did on her card.

365 Days of Cards post 5

Today's card features:
Stampin' Up products:
Stamp Sets:  Raining Flowers, Happiest Birthday Wishes
Card stock:  Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango
Ink:  Stampin' Up! classic pads:  Riding hood red, Delightful Daffodil and Tangerine Tango
Embellishments:  Stampin' Up! Brights designer buttons, Daffodil Taffeta ribbon

This is a great Two Step stamping set and is ideal if you are ready to let your perfection go.  The outline and the bold stamps do not have to line up.  While many of us need to have it just right, it is a perfect set to us when you are in a hurry for a quick card.

365 Days of Cards post 1-4

So here are the first of my 365 days of cards: 
For these baby cards I used the Stitched Stockings Stamp set and coordinating punch from Stampin' Up.

365 Days of Cards

This New Year's I made a resolution to start using all my supplies and tools rather than saving for the just special scrapbook page or layout.  What inspired me?  The fact that my craft room now needs to become a bedroom for my teenage son.  Ah, what we do for our children....

In any case, I decided that I would create 365 days of cards and post at least one a day.  As you can tell I started off a bit late.  I will make up for that by posting several cards today and then one each day.  (unless I am totally motivated and go into a card and scrapping frenzy- it's been known to happen).

I will be using a variety of products and tools along the way and will try to list all the supplies I have used, if you have any questions or like the projects you see, feel free to comment.