Watercolor birthday card for female

This was another card made for the preacher's wife by request for her Granddaughter.  She told me that she liked anything pretty so this is what I came up with for her.  I love to do watercolor techniques so I jumped at the chance to do the background on this card.  The paper line lent itself well to the watercolors. So the whole background is watercolor done with distress inks and water.  I used a couple of cut outs from the paper line and the sentiments were both done with Close to my Heart stamps and the happy birthday die cut was one that went along with a cricut cartridge.  I also used a Memory box die in the top left corner called dizzy doily.  I hand died the seam binding with the distresss inks too and I edged all the pieces with pumice stone distress ink to add a little pop and give some distinction to the pieces.

It's a pop up card and these are a few shots of it opened up to show the insides. I used a piece of bazzill card stock for the base layer and then added a sheet of the designer paper on top of that,  The sentiment stamp is from Hot off the press and I punched it out with an ek sucess punch. The top is held up with a piece of flower pearl trim.  I also used a bit of it on the front of the card.

Well, that's all that I've got for you today.  Hope you enjoyed the card.  I sure had a good time making it and was very proud of it once it was done.  This is one of those cards that once finished you don't want to let them go.  Every now and  again you will find that you create something that you want to keep for yourself especially when you make cards specifically for others like I do and so I have to let go of each of them and all I have left is the pictures.  Kinda sad sometimes but I love sharing what I do with others.  Have a blessed day and I will try to get back sooner to get you another card much sooner than I've been doing.  I've got plenty of them on  stand by.  Till then, much love and hugs, Amy K.

Feminine Birthday card

I made this card by request by my Pastors wife, Sylvia.  She wanted a birthday card for her niece who loves dogs.  I had this pink fabric with the doggies on it and thought it would be perfect.  Getting the fabric onto the card front was not as tricky as you would think.  I first ironed and starched the fabric then once cooled I took it to my xyron sticker maker and ran it thru putting adhesive all along the back of the fabric.  I cut a piece of white card stock to the size of the card front and then lay the fabric sticky side up then lay the card stock into the center of the fabric then carefully wrapped the fabric around to the back of the card stock pulling out all the wrinkles and smoothing it out as I went,  I mitered the corners of the fabric so there was no bulk on the back and everything lay down nice and smooth.  I then ran the card stock covered in fabric back thru the xyron and added more adhesive to the entire back of it. Then I added it to my card base.  I used some of the black mesh bling to trim out the top and the bottom of the card.  The little dog house was a 3d sticker I had in my stash forever so I added it to the fabric panel with some strong glue to insure it adhered to the fabric well.  The sentiment was a velum piece that I also ran thru the xyron because when you are adhering velum to something its difficult to hide the adhesive so its better to add it to the entire backside surface area,  So once it was sticky all along the back I added it to another piece of white card and then cut out around it and added it to the fabric panel with pop dots. for the final touch I added some bone shaped bling that I'd had in my stash with a strong glue like 3 in 1.

This is a shot of the inside of the card.  I layered white card on top of black and layered it inside the card base.  I just added a simple stamped sentiment to the panel and it was done.  Sylvia was thrilled with the dog theme and she reported back that her niece loved the card and I can tell you that nothing makes me happier to hear.  I love it when I am able to give someone exactly what they are looking for in a card.  

That's my card for today.  I promise to have my Christmas cards up for you to see soon even though it's late.  I will just post them all in one blog post. Till then, have a wonderful day and I'll talk to you soon. Much love and hugs, Amy K.

Altered Santa Hat for Craft That Divas Facebook group

Here's the picture's of the Altered Santa hat I made for my partner Jesenia on the Face book group called Craft that Diva's.  I love being a member of that group. Everyone is so friendly, helpful and so talented!  It's a wonderful community to be a part of.   I bought the hat a Hobby Lobby along with the spray of leaves.  Actually I got those from a few different picks but you know what I meant.  I basically was able to get all my supplies while there at Hob Lob.  The flower was on clearance and on the back it has a pin and a hair clip so you could either wear it in your hair or on your blouse.  I thought the color was perfect to match this Santa hat.  I used a gold glittered snowflake ornament and the little wool bird is also an ornament.  But who says you have to use everything you find for the purpose it was intended?  I love to find new and creative uses for the objects I find to craft with. 

Here's a pic of the Christmas card I included in Jesenia's package for her and her family.

And here's the video if you want to take a closer look at the Santa hat and the card.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and checking out my project.  I hope Jesenia likes her hat.  I'll be back soon with more cards and I'll have an upcoming post featuring all my Christmas cards for this year so keep on the lookout for that.  Till next time I hope you are all living a Blessed life.  Much hugs and love, Amy K.

Happy Birthday card by request for Cassidy Gardner's Memorial

I waited to post this card till December, the month that marks one year that a precious angel of only 18 years of age was so violently ripped from our lives by a careless, driver under the influence of multiple substances.  He's  not the important one and I refuse to make this post about him.  God sees him for all that he is all that he's done and we all have to stand before him one day and answer for our sins here on earth.  This post is not just to share a card with you but to also take a minute and remember this beautiful young lady.  Her mother asked me to make her a card for her 19th birthday even tho she's not here to celebrate with us.  She wanted to put the card up at the grave side as part of the memorial to her birth.

  

I warned you, She's beautiful.  Like all teens she liked to take selfie's for face book.  She was special for who she was and at the same time she is ordinary.  Just like all the other kids now days.  Isn't that what all teens wish for?  To be perfectly ordinary?  They don't yet understand how wonderful it is to be an individual.  They don't want anything about themselves to stand out as strange or different.  Cass was special in that way because she knew what she liked and set out to get it.  And yet ordinary because she didn't yet realize her own potential.  So sad that she never got to discover her own self.  You know like we all do sometime in our 20's.  She loved her siblings so much and she was a delight to spend time with. I had the benefit of having her come and stay with me on a few occasions.  She once spent the whole week with me while her mom was out of town.  I must admit, I didn't hate it:)  I thought it would be strange for Brian and I, who are with out any children of our own, to have a teenager in the house with us for a week.  She was wonderful.  She was well mannered and polite and tied up my tv with that teenage MTV nonsense but I loved having her here.  I would have just kept her if I could have.  Cassidy had an interest in Scrapbooking and she would spend time with me in the craft room when she came to visit.  She once called me and asked me to help her make some birthday cards for her friends in school.  Typical teenager that she was, she waited till the last minute and had to come over to my house late at night and I think we quickly made two or maybe it was three cards.  I find it stressful to create with some one putting me on a time crunch but It was ok and we had a ball that night.  I loved teaching her about products and what different tools and supplies were capable of doing and how to make your supplies work for you and I tried to teach her about many different styles of paper crafting and I urged her to find her own voice and style of creating and that she didn't have to follow my style just because I was teaching her.  She did good and she liked to look through all the different papers and supplies I had until she found one that spoke to her. I even found myself, when out craft shopping, picking up a paper pad or two with her in particular in mind just because I thought it might be more her style than mine.  We worked on a few mini albums too.  I loved it when she would come to me for help with school work or when she and her mom would ask me to take her senior photos.  I loved to take her picture.  God, that child made beautiful pictures.  I just wish I had some of them on this computer to show you but my old computer crashed or something but I can't get the pics off it but I made copies for Cass and her mom.  So they are not lost.  Proms and It all started with me taking her photos for the 8th grade dance.  Then there were beauty pageants and basically I got to be a part of all her milestones from 8th grade on.

So not to keep you waiting, here's the card and the holder I made so that Wendy, her mom, could stick it into a pot of flowers and it would be able to stand among the flowers.  I also sprayed it with a clear sealer to protect it from the weather and maybe last a little longer.

This second photo shows a close up of the clip I made to hold the card in a flower arrangement..  

 I even sprayed it with the clear sealer because the flowers are paper.  The leaf that looks white here is actually a clear sequin leaf but the sealer made it turn white. Oh well, what cha gonna do? lol

God Bless you Cassidy and Keep you and Hold you in his arms forever in His glorious Kingdom above.  We will meet again one day.  We will know each other by the smiles that we share.  Love you child/adult.  and I love your family and I pray God's love and grace comforts them in your absence.

Thank you for taking time to read this heartfelt post today, Thank you especially to those of you who stuck around till the end.  God bless you too!  Till next time, much love and hugs, amy k

Shabby Chic birthday card made for member of the church

Got another card made for a member of the church.  It's, you guessed it, a birthday card!  Are you guys getting sick of birthday cards?  I honestly don't know where I keep coming up with ideas for new cards.  I think sooner or later maybe they will all just start to look the same lol.  I hope not, that would be sad.  Speaking of making all the cards the same, I'm trying to get about 50 Christmas cards made and soon.  I bought one of the Close to my Heart card making kits for Christmas and it comes with patterned paper and cardstock and card bases and envelopes and stamps.  A few other embellies and basically everything you need except ink and I've got that covered. The problem is that it only makes 15 cards, that's alright because I have the stamp set and I have all the patterned paper that I need so I used that to make about 15 more but I get so bored making the same cards over and over. There are three designs in that cardmaking kit and I've changed the patterned paper and I've even changed the layout but I was just sick of those cards and that color palette so I just started making my cards one at a time making each one different.  So look forward to a long post coming up this month show casing all my Christmas cards that I've made this year.

This card was made for a Wonderful lady in our church family by the Name of Dottie Fray.  She's a real sweet heart.  I was happy to make this card for her.  I used one of the 4.5x6.5 I guess you would call them mat stacks, from Hobby Lobby.   It's by the Paper Studio. Wait and I'll tell you the name of it......OK, it's the Kirby Teesdale stack and then for the dressform stamp, it comes from the Whimsy Stamps "A Touch of Elegance" stamp set.  I stamped it in dark brown chalk ink from clearsnap and the corner die cut and the square lace diecut are from the cricut but I'm unsure of what cartridge they come from.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set and I punched it out with an ek success punch.  I went around all the edges of all the pieces with a pink distress ink. Then added the little flower that I made with punches and book pages.

I hope you like Dottie's card, I hope she liked it too. lol.  I've got to run, lots to do today and the day is getting away from me already.  I've spent way too much time online today. hehehehe.  I'll try to be back soon with another card. till then, Much love and hugs, Amy K.

Birthday card for niece, 4th Birthday

Today's card was made for my adorable niece, Penelope.  For this card I used the Berry Sweet collection from K & Co.   I bought several pieces from this collection a couple of years ago when it first came out.  The minute I saw it I knew it would be perfect for her pages and cards.  I used Core'denations cardstock for the card base.  It's an A2 size card so it's 4.25 x 5.5" card.  I cut the paper a 1/4 inch smaller all around to allow the card base to peak through, then I layered a diecut journal sheet (not from the Berry Sweet collection) and a pink piece of card stock cut into a banner shape and stamped with a Close to My heart stamp.  I added the 'Princess' chip board piece.  The rainbow is part of the piece. and some flower die cuts from card stock.   It was so easy to put together with all the pieces being from the same collection and automatically matching.  I am so glad I collected all these pieces of the line.  

I hope she liked it.  She's 4 now and getting to that age where she starts saying what she likes and don't like.  I guess the cards may be harder to make the older she gets. lol.  She's our Princess so I thought it was fitting.

Here's a shot of the inside of the card.  I layered white card stock on top of a piece of that same pink card from the banner on the front.  The sentiment and all the images are from the rub on sheet.  I thought they just looked so cute!  Those rub ons went on smooth as butter.  I've had problems with rub on's from K & Co. in the past but these were great even though they are a couple years old.

I hope you all liked the card for today.  I personally think it's so cute even if I have to say so myself. lol.  I don't usually brag on myself but I just love this collection!  I hope to be back in a couple days with another card.  Till then I hope you all have a very blessed day!  Till next time, much love and hugs, Amy K.

UMC female birthday card- young lady

This card was made using the creative cards cartridge for the cricut and the echo park, This and That Graceful 12x12 paper collection.  It's to simple to make a card using the creative cards cartridge's for the cricut.  All the measuring is done for you, all you have to do is pick your patterned paper or colored card stock to cut and load the machine.  I love this idea for cartridges.  I have several of them but just haven't gotten around to using them much.   I still would rather design my own cards but these are great in a pinch and when you are on a time crunch.  I made this card for a young lady in our church by the name of Madison Mckinney.  Such a bright and sweet girl.  I just love the colors in this card for a young lady of her age.  I think they are bright and fun.  The sentiment is a stamp from Close to  my Heart.  I forget the name of the stamp set but I think it's retired by now anyway but If you would like the name and want to try and find the stamp set just leave me a comment and let me know and I'll get you that information.  The last thing I added to the card was some homemade enamel dots,.  There's great tutorials on you tube on how to make them from pony beads.  Fun stuff!

I hope you enjoyed today's post.  I'm keeping it short today.:)  sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting this card.  I haven't been feeling the best here lately but I won't complain.  Nobody likes a cry baby lol,  I'll be back soon with more cards for you.  Till then have a blessed day.  Much love and hugs, Amy K.

Church card -Female Birthday

Here's another birthday card made for the church.  It's always helpful if I know the person I'm making the card for on a personal level.  That being said, this one was an easy one.  It's for my BFF, Wendy.  I think I know her pretty well. lol.  I've mentioned before that when it comes to the church cards I plan to make them a little more simpler than my personal cards that I make and send from Brian and myself,  So If you saw the other post of the card I made for Wendy from us then you know this one is much more on the simple side.  I'll link to that post here.  I used another of my card making cartridges for the cricut to make this card.  It's great because the layout is there for you and all you have to do is pick out the patterned papers and embellishments that you want to use and you can make it as fancy or as plain as you want to.  You can go really heavy on the embellies or not.  I've explained that to keep cost down on the church cards I don't go heavy on the embellishments.  So in making this card I just picked some pretty patterned paper from My Minds Eye that I thought Wendy would like and pretty much just stuck to the layout the cartridge gave me.  

Here is an up close pic of the butterflies.  I just inked the edges with a brown color of distress ink and added flat backed pearls down the centers.  I just adhered them down the body and left the wings to be free to stand up a bit from the card.  I heat embossed the sentiment with black and added a couple more flat backed pearls.

That's all I've got for today.  Hope you enjoyed the card.  I'll be back soon with another card for the church.  Lol, are you getting sick of all the birthday cards yet? lol.  Till then, I hope you are blessed in all you do.  Much Love and Hugs, Amy K.

Female Birthday card for the church

I made this card for a lady who is not only a member of our church but she's also Brian's cousin and someone we love dearly.  This is a 51/2" sq card and I've used patterned papers from My minds Eye, I used a border punch from Martha Stewart and a few dies from Sizzix and Tim Holtz like the flourish and the top note label die, I've used the dizzy doily die from Memory Box dies for the sentiment and that sentiment stamp is from Close to my Heart. The winged angel is a mod podge melt  made from a mold that I made.  I colored it with Viva Deco rubs.   I made the flower using the Ariana Blooms dies from Heartfelt Creations and the patterned paper from the collection.  I colored the seam binding bow using my glimmer sprays. And lastly, I distressed all the edges using my Tim Holtz distress inks. 

That's all for this post.  I hope you all are having a blessed Sunday morning.  I've got to keep this short as I've still got to go get dressed for church.  I am trying to make a solid effort to get these cards posted and catch up my blog.  I hope you are enjoying it:)  I hope to be back within a few days with another card.  Till then,  Much Love and Hugs, Amy K.

UMC Female Birthday card

Sorry, guys, that it's been so long sense my last post.  I just don't know how I will be feeling day to day with this Fibromyalgia.  I wish it didn't impact my life as much as it does but hey, what you gonna do?  You just have to live each day and be grateful the situation isn't worse. Right? lol.  I try to have a healthy outlook, If I didn't it would consume me.

This card was totally made from one of the new Cricut card making cartridges.  I think of these as my "Cheater cards" lol.  I think of them as such because all I have to do is pick out a sentiment and paper to use and the cuts are all right there and the card is totally designed for you.  It's great when you've got to make a card in a rush.  And I'm not ashamed so say that in making all these cards for the church sometimes I have to rush and I just don't have the time to totally design every aspect of the card.   I've bought all 3 or 4  of these card making cartridges and I'm very happy with them.  This card was made using the Creative cards cartridge.  I just used a few sheets of colored card stock and I cut out the bottom three layers (including the card base) with the cricut and then I added the doily die cut to the center using a Spellbinders die.  I used a floral image from an Inkadinkado stamp set and used my Prisma color pencils to color it in.  The sentiment stamp is from Unity Stamp co. I inked the edges of all the cuts then added a few bling to finish the card off.  Easy peasy! Gotta love it.  By the way this card was made for a beautiful Lady in our church by the name of Donna Smith.  I hope she really enjoyed her card. I definitely had a good time making it.  I'm really glad Art, our preacher, asked me to make  the cards for the church.  It keeps me busy and doesn't allow me to become too lazy. lol.  I just can't keep up with all the blogging and posting of the cards once I get them made.   The process defiantly doesn't stop once I complete the card and turn it in.  There have been many a Sunday that I'm out in the front yard with my camera and set up taking pictures of the cards for the week before heading to church where I hand them in to Art and Sylvia.  I always fear that one card may escape with out having it's picture made and then It would be  lost to me forever.  I have hundreds of photos on my computer of past cards made.  I've been taking photo's of my creations for years before I even started blogging.  I love to look back thru them and remember each card I made.  I've had to start making notes of who they were for because I just cant remember that part to save my life. lol.

That's all for today, I hope to be back soon with more cards to share with you,  Till then, may you all be a blessing to one another.  Much love and hugs, Amy K.