Handmade Harbour Stamps

I have recently been selected to be on the design team for Handmade Harboure!  Wow.  I was excited.  We were given the opportunity to select some images to get our creative juices flowing.  I looked at all the great choices and finally settled on a couple of stamps.

My first stamp set I chose was the couple who had been retired (199).  Here is my card!

Being retired has its advantages and disadvantages. This couple could be my husband and I.  I colored the people with my Copic markers, faux stitched around the edges and mounted the picture on photo mounts.  In the background, I colored grass and the sky with my gelatos.  It is a little hard see, but the grass is there, along with the sky and clouds.  I added blue pearl buttons on the side.  I faux stitched around the saying.  

I haven't decided on the inside of the card.  I initially was thinking it would say PARTY! with balloons all over.  I may still do this, but then I had another thought....why not say something like....."Let's go bug the kids!"  There are so many choices to be had.  I would appreciate some help...what would you put inside?  One of  my choices or do you have something else it could say.  Since I have many friends who are retired, or about to retire, I can see me using this set a lot!

Now for my second choice.  I chose the set tea and cake (069)  

 

This was a very simple card, but yet I think it says a lot.  The stamp alone tells you that as a friend, you mean something to me.  I colored the cup, then the dots on it were calling for bling, so I added some red bling to it.  The flowers are small little flowers, but flowers are for friends.  I put this stamp on a layered card...black, red, white, and black and finally the stamp.  I am sending this to my friend.  I have colored the other pictures from the set and will be using them shortly. 

I would appreciate a comment, if you don't 'mind.  I could use some help with coming up with the inside verse to my first card.  Also, don't forget, you can see many other stamps at Handmade Harbour.  Check them out.  See you soon!

SuperStar L.I. Bloghop for August

Welcome back to our monthly Team L. I. Blog Hop!   Our Team L. I. (Linked In) Blog hop group numbers have dwindled and we didn't want to bring you a blog hop with just 2 or 3 participants, so we gave everyone a vacation and hope that participation will pick up again once school is back in session and people are back from vacations.

     We’re back from our July hiatus with a brand new theme and some really great projects. This month, our topic is “Super Star”, and we hope our interpretations of "Superstar" gives you some inspiration for your own superstar. The topic for this month  was actually a reader suggestion from our June Hop contest, and I was really excited to see it suggested because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!   I have a very special card to share with you.  If you hopped over from Laura’s blog, you are in the right place!  If you want to start at the beginning, you should head on over to Stamp-Patty’s.  Or you can start right here and we will cycle you around to the beginning. 

     Win a prize at each stop on the hop: This month, instead of choosing a single winner for the entire hop, each blog will choose one winner among visitors who left a comment using www.random.org. (We’d like it even better if you subscribed to our blogs and/or like our Facebook pages, but all you have to do to qualify is leave a comment.)

     Now, on to my Superstar card.  There is a young man who was in my classes when he was in 7th grade.  During the year, he had his problems with learning and completing his work, but he tried, re-did the work, and really put forth a fantastic effort.  Over the years, we have kept in touch and this young man decided to join the Army.  After a few years of trying one job, then another, this was his decision.  He left for boot camp a couple of weeks ago, and is looking for mail.  I have made this card for him.  

I folded the card in 2 1/4 inches on each side, making a gate-fold card.  I then took an embossing folder I had that was full of star and ran my paper through it.  Once the card was embossed, I took a sanding block and sanded off the top layer of paper, on top of the stars.  This allowed you to really see where the stars were.    Next I but out 4 stars using my Art Philosophy Cartridge from Close to My Heart.  I cut the bottom star at 4 inches, the red star at 3 1/4 inches, the next white star at 2 3/4 inches and the blue star at 2 1/4 inches.  I glued half of the star on one side of the blue embossed star paper and then I stacked the stars one of top of the other, using pop dots in-between each layer.  I added some lettering to say "You're a SuperStar" and placed it in the top right corner.  I wrote his name in the bottom corner.

I hope you like this card.  It was fun to create and it wasn't that hard to put together.  Our men and women who are serving our country are certainly SuperStars in my eyes.  Now, hop over to see Cindy's creation!  You can find her here:http://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-blog-hop.html

Be sure to stop at each blog and leave a comment.  Following us would also be great.  Thanks for stopping by.

Others who are in this Blog Hop are:

Patty Chenail 

 http://www.stamppattys.com/2013/08/august-blog-hop.html

Laura Hedgecock 

http://www.TreasureChestofMemories.com/sports-memories/ 

Connie Walsh
papercraftingfromanotherviewpoint.blogspot.com/2013/08/superstar-li-bloghop-for-august.html (You are here)

Cindy Murray
http://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-blog-hop.html

Amanda Woodward
http://www.awoodward.stampinup.com/2013/07/august.blog.hop.html

Winner is selected

Time is over for the June Blog Hop visits.  A winner is to be selected
I have used the random.org widget to select the winner of the 8 vinyl line art stickers.  There were 4 people who left comments on my blog.  The winner is number 4!

Lisa, from Lisa Loves to Stamp is the winner!  Please send me your address so I can mail them out to you.  Congratulations

A Set of Note Cards

This past week I took my mother up to a hospital for a gamma knife surgery.  (She suffers from trigeminal neuralgia)  The doctors were fabulous, but if anything, the nurse was out of this world!!!  Clare, the nurse was with my mom every step of the day, everywhere they had to be.  Clare also got breakfast for my mom, helped her and cleaned her up...above and beyond the call of duty.  We are going back for a followup visit on Wednesday, so I made a set of note cards for her, as a way of saying thank you.  Here is what it looks like:

It is a fairly simple card to make.  I pulled out papers that were leftovers from years ago when I went to a class at CKC in Philadelphia.  Then I went to work!  I used an embossing folder for the base paper.  I took a 3 1/2 inch sheet of black designer paper and used an edge punch by EK Success, and centered this on a base sheet.  Next I cut a 1 1/2 inch strip of black cardstock and layered a piece of ribbon that was 1 1/4 inches wide.  There was a solid piece of white ribbon with a heart in the center, and sheer ribbon on the sides, trimmed in gold.  I then cut a circle and a scalloped circle out and used a stamp from Mark's Finest Papers and Stamps that said "Hi and Hello" and stamped on the white circle.  I added faux stitch lines around the edge and popped the circle on the scalloped circle and then on the ribbon.   As a final touch, I punched out 2 very small butterflys, glued them together separating the wing, and placed it off center of the sentiment. I like the over all appearance.  What do you think?

I have entered this in challenges at the following 

• Creative Craft Challenges
• Party Time Tuesdays
• Shopping Our Stash

Summer Fun is now beginning

Schools are out for the summer!  Kids all over are either working or having lots of fun...swimming, playing outside, going on vacation, hiking, going to the amusement parks, and so on.  There are several challenges for card showing something that is fun in the summer...or hot weather. 

I started out using this sketch from  Your Next Stamp.  

Here is what I did with it...

I used a Magnolia stamp stamp that I colored with my Copic markers, a piece of metal foil that I ran through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder.  I sanded the top layer to show silver flowers.  I used Washi tape on the edges of the metal foil, to cover up the sharp edges some orangeish yellow paper from Michaels and put it on a spring green card base.  I hope you like it.

June Blog Hop!

What does June mean to you? Is it graduation, weddings, dads, or just fun in the sun? Our blog hop this month is special because all of us are sharing what June means to each of us! I am sure that you are bound to find some inspiration on several of our blogs!

In planning for this blog hop, the girls and I were discussing what June means to us.  For many, our minds went straight to the traditional “June Brides” or “Fun in the Sun” themes of summer, but we were quickly reminded that the internet is a global community, and while those of us in the U.S. and Europe will be enjoying a lovely summer, our friends and colleagues south of the equator will be facing the start of winter.  It was quickly apparent that many of the themes we thought of just wouldn’t work, so instead, we opted for “What June Means to Me,” which leaves us with a much broader area of interpretation, and really got me thinking about a few things.
If you came here from   Roxie Nitti's  blog, then you are in the right place! If you are a regular subscriber of my blog then be sure to follow all of the links to see the great projects we all have to share with you!

Of the many things that are happening in June, at least in my family, one thing is Father's Day.  Yes, I have birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations  (but no weddings this year) in addition to other June events, but Father's Day brings back fond memories of my Dad.  I also think of all the wonderful things my husband has done with our children.  I also think about my son, and what a fantastic father he has become.  Wow!  From one generation to the next.

I thought I would show you my Father's Day card, in a mini tutorial that can show you how to take a card from nice to better.  Here is the nice card.

It is a very simple card, and it could do.  In fact, I think I am sending this card to my son, who has turned out to be on fabulous father.  His kids mean everything to him, and he shows it.  He supports them with all their activities and takes them everywhere.


I decided to change the card, or should I say update, the card.  I took the beige background paper and used my Martha Stewart edge punch to add a border on each side.  Not too bad.

 

After that I decided to stamp a frame to put around the word Dad, and I cut the next to the smallest Romantic Rectangle nestability die cut and mounted it on the bottom of the frame with pop dots. 

I stamped a pocket watch on white card stock and fussy cut around it then I glued it on the next to the smallest beaded circles nestability and popped that up. 

For the final thing, I added a heart shaped button on the card. 

This is what the card turned out to look like.  It is basically the same card, but with a little bit of extra work, the card looks much better, don't you think?

 

So, as promised, here’s how you can win a prize from me.  This month for the hop, each blog is hosting their own prize, so that means you have more chances to win!  I will be giving away 8 sheets of vinyl peel off sticker sheets in gold and silver.   That will be 4 sheets of gold and 4 sheets of silver.

 

 

All you have to do is comment on my blog about the project for this month, and tell us what theme you think we should pick for next month (July).  That’s it!  Then go visit all the other blogs in the hop and do the same thing for a chance to win some of those fabulous prizes, too!  We’ll pick a random winner for each blog on July 1, so you have until June 30 to enter.   While you are visiting, maybe you would like to become a member.   After you have commented, hop on over to Lisa's blog at Lisa Loves to Scrap.  See what she has to share with you. 

Here is a list of all blog participants:

 

Cindy Murray

 

Laura Hedgecock

 

Roxie Nitti

 

                                                Connie Walsh      (You are here right now)

 

                                                Lisa Tyndall at  Lisa Loves to Stamp

 

Patty Chenail

 

Sharon Armstrong

Leave a comment on my blog and let me know what you think. 

More Mouse in the House

Here is another Mouse in the House cards that I made.  Just like the last one, I used a quilt background, but my mouse is busy drinking his hot chocolate.  We all need something hot and soothing when we are not feeling well.  I colored the stamp with my Copic markers, and used a spritz or two of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  This can be used for a man or a woman who isn't feeling well.