Feminine Birthday Card for a Lovely Member of the UMC

Pat Tudor is such a lovely, sweet lady and we are proud to have her as a member of the church.  I wanted to make a really feminine, floral, girlie card for her.  One that only women love.  I used a pink floral patterned paper from a stack from the Paper Studio on a complimenting green card stock.  I placed a white paper dollie in the background then built the rest of the card around it. The Ivory ruffled and beaded trim is from Recollections by Micheal's.  The paper flowers are also made by the Paper Studio.  I just changed the center of the little flower on the bottom to a button in gold and white that I had removed the shank from.  That big, lovely green leaf is from a Recollections pack.  You will have to forgive me, I make so many cards using so many supplies and I don't get them posted right away because I am trying to get them posted in the order they were made, so from time to time I forget what products I used on that particular card by the time I get around to posting it online.  So, true to form, I have forgotten where I got the birthday sentiment stamp and I apologize for that. I do know that I used a punch by McGill to punch out both the sentiment and the green patterned paper in the top label shape.  The one punch punches out the label shape and the oval shape all at the same time.  That's all I've done to this card.  Sometimes the ones you love the most are the simplest of all. I do love this card and I love it for Pat. I just hope she enjoyed getting it. 

Till next time, I hope you have a good day.  Be good to your fellow man and do something nice for someone today.  You'll feel better for it.  I'll talk to you again soon.. Till then much love and hugs, Amy K.

Masculine Birthday card for UMC member using Tim Holtz

I made this card for an awesome member of  UMC named Darin Smith.  He's great with the youth of the church and one of the people you see every Sunday with his family. After as many cards that I've made, I still struggle with the masculine cards.  It's so easy for me to make a "Pretty" card for a female but to make a masculine card it takes some skill, practice and some fancy tools. lol.

I used a lot of Tim Holtz products on this card so we'll just say, for the sake of time, that every thing is Tim Holtz product unless otherwise noted. Ok. now that we've got that out of the way, let me tell you how I made this card.....  

I forget what Tim calls the technique that I used but basically what I did was use my non stick craft mat and put some distress ink down in colors of red, blue and grey.  I then sprayed the ink with water, (We all know that distress inks react with water), If you didn't know that, what it does to the ink is make it act more like a water color. The ink just moves around the paper so easily. It's great for making backgrounds.  So once I sprayed the ink with water I gave it a minute to puddle up then placed a sheet of watercolor paper cut to the size of my card, face down into the ink and water and just picked up the color. Notice how it all blends together nicely.  You can then heat dry it and continue picking up more color in layers as many times as you like or until you run out of ink. I then used a labels die to cut out the piece for the sentiment and stamped the blueprint present in red and the "make a wish" in blue to match the background I had created.  I added some ribbon from my stash tied in a bow and a flower from the Paper Studio and some black enamel dots that I made.  I also did some stenciling with modeling paste on the background.  You can see it good to the top and right of the present stamp on the red.  The modeling paste is white so I went over it with some silver Inka Gold Metallic Rub.  It's a waxy water based product that I just love to use.  It covers quite nicely. The only other thing I did to the card was I changed the flower center and added one of my vintage buttons for the center.

That's all for this card.  I hope you enjoyed it. I will try not to be so long between post from now on.  I've just been having some personal issues to deal with but they are being taken care of so maybe I will be back on track soon,  Till then much Hugs and Love, amy K

Birthday card made for Teen girl UMC

I've made another birthday card for UMC, my church family.  I've explained before that my Pastor asked me to make all the cards for the church to give.  That includes but is not limited to, all birthdays, get wells, thank you for visiting, and we've been missing you at church cards.   That is precisely the reason that you see so many birthday cards here on my blog.  I love making the cards for the church even tho I must admit at times I struggle to keep up they are pretty forgiving if I'm a little late with a card or two from time to time :).  I love my church family and I love that the Pastor gives me a birthday list and Its up to me what kind of card I want to make for each person so to say, each card is individually made just for that person,  I guess you could put it simply and say, they are personalized.  

The thing about my small country church is most of the members is that they are either kin to my husband and I or he grew up with or at least knowing them.   They mostly all live in the same area of the county and they all love one another.  I tell you all this just to simply say that this card is made for a special young lady who was born to my Husband's cousin, Jason and his wife at the time Joan, just about the time that Brian and I started dating and this young lady is now almost grown.  Her name is Jordan Ray and she's beautiful and just the sweetest thing you could ever know.  Let's see, Brian and I met in 1998 so I guess she was born in 1999 or 2000 so that now makes her 15 or 16,  It's been a real honor to watch Jordan and a couple more of these children grow from babies to the young adults they have now become.  I love each of these kids.  One important thing they all share is their love for our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.  I see every one of these kids at church every Sunday and they even do better than Brian and I because they are each in Sunday school too each week. 

On to the card,  I made the shaped card from one of my cricut cartridges.  I forget which one but It's one that I've used for a while now. To cut the patterned paper to size to fit the front of the card and not cover the back, I had to place the cut on my gypsy device in such a way that the back side was hanging off the cut area and then once it was cut with the circut I cleaned up the cut with an xacto knife.  It's really simple to do you just have to keep in mind which side is going to be the front and which is the back on the gypsy. Please forgive me as I've forgotten what paper line I used it's been so long and I've made so many cards sense this one.  I know I used that same die cut from yesterday the one from Anna Griffin and another die cut from Memory Box called dizzy doily.  I used a flower from ek success and some washi tape with colorful crosses on it.   The label die with the sentiment on it is from Spellbinders. 

Here's a shot of the inside.  For the layer of circles I used a Sizzix die and on the left side I cut that die cut from the designer paper and the layered some strips of designer paper that I used my boarder punches on then a piece of lace.  On the right side I die cut a piece of cream card stock and just distressed the edges with my brown chalk ink.  I like the soft look of the chalk ink. I also used that chalk ink in a  darker shade of brown to stamp the sentiment  on the left.

That's all for today.  Sorry if you don't really like long post.  I just had the children in my heart this morning and wanted to share with you all.  I hope you like my card.  I may be back later today or maybe in the morning as I want to share my Brother's birthday card I just made.  His birthday was yesterday.  Till then,  I hope you all have a very blessed day.  Much love and hugs, Amy K.

Baby banner for little girl, Baby shower

This a banner that my cousin, Nicole asked me to make for her step daughter inlaw's upcoming baby shower.  I'm sorry that I didn't get any pictures made, silly me!  But I wanted to share it with you now that the baby shower has come and gone.  I did use the cricut to cut out both bunting shapes and Bazzill card stock in purples and for the die cut owls and then My Minds Eye designer paper for the background.  I used chipboard letter that I painted very light lavender with Martha Stewart satin paint. and for the rest of the information, just check out the video, I think I explain everything there.  Thanks for watching, Have a Blessed Day!

Shabby Chic Female Birthday Card by request

This is another of the cards that Sylvia, the Pastor's wife has asked me to make for her.  This card is for her Daughter.  I wanted it to be really shabby chic and feminine for her.  Sylvia told me that she really loves butterflies and all things pretty so I tried to hook her up with this card. :)

I started with a 6x6 card base then using designer paper by Pink Paisley (I think this is Butterfly Garden) I just layered that on top of the card base,  I made it in a peachy color out of Bazzill card stock so It already matched the designer paper.  Then I layered a few different die cuts.  The redish/Pink colored die cut is from Anna Griffin for Provo Craft.  I got it in a bundle of die cuts and embossing folders from HSN a while back.  Love all the pieces tho.  It was a good purchase.  The next die cut is also a piece of the designer paper and I cut it with a Spellbinders die and then took my Prima chalk edger in Pastel Pink and stenciled thru the die.  You know Spellbinders makes dies that you can cut, emboss and stencil.  I added it on top of the first layers with pop dots.  The sentiment is also a die cut but it comes from the cricut.  It's one of the Close to my Heart cartridges that have matching stamps so I die cut the shape then used Hero Arts shadow inks in a green color to stamp the sentiment with the coordinating stamp.  I also added that piece on dimensional foam.  I added matching flowers from The Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby and then to finish off the front I layered a couple of laces and then that brown trim to the top of the lace, Oh I can't forget the butterfly, I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and punched it from some of the designer paper and added it as a finishing touch.

This is a shot of the inside of the card.  I just took a piece of that designer paper and I've inked all the edges using my Prima chalk edger then layered the designer paper first then the cream layer next.  I stamped the birthday sentiment in that same Hero Arts Green ink that I had used on the front of the card.  I think you guys have all seen me use this stamp before, It's not new and I've surely gotten my money's worth out of that little stamp. lol.  I use it alot, so to say.   I made sure to leave plenty of room at the bottom for Sylvia and Art to have space to sign.

That finishes this post for this card,  I hope you enjoyed it.  I heard back from Sylvia later that her Daughter just loved the card and just that alone makes it all worth wild for me.  I love what I do even if I stress out about the blog post and you tube videos lol.  I'll try to be back tomorrow with another card, this next one will be a shaped card.  I will try to get in as many post this week as I can b/c I may not be able to post much the rest of the month.  I've got a lot going on, I'm taking prom pictures this Saturday and then my birthday will be Monday and my Anniversary will be the next day and then I will have Chloe coming over on Thursday and Friday (she'll be spending the night)  and I have two Dr's apt next week and a butt load of crafty projects due.  So just hang in there, I'll post as often as I can.  Today is my dear Brother's bday and I want to wish him a happy birthday and I want to post his card one day this week..  I may make two post in one day to make room for it.  we'll see.  I also will be wanting to post my anniversary card.   So lots more to come!  Stay tuned!

Till next time, I hope you all have a very blessed day.  Much hugs and love, Amy K.

Fishing themed Birthday card for teen boy

I was asked to make this card by my Pastor's wife, Sylvia.  She wanted it made for her grandson who was turning 15 and loves everything to do with fishing.   I just love Sylvia to death, she's such a kind soul and a supreme example of just the kind of Christian woman I would like to be so of course when she asked me to make a few cards I was happy to do so.  Making the card was easy, I just found the card I wanted to make on the "Just Because" cards cricut cartridge.  I picked some Tim Holtz patterned paper and also used some red Bazzill card stock for the layers and lettering and card base.  I stamped the 15 onto a die cut circle and added it to the card front with pop dots. To finish the card off I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen.

Here's a shot of the inside of the card.  I stamped the sentiment with an Hot off the Press stamp set called "Birthday Greetings".  I stamped it with Versa Fine in Onyx Black and stamped the candle to finish it off.  Sense this card is coming from Art and Sylvia and not the church I didn't mat both sides of the inside of the card and leave one side just for a signature.  I just stamped the sentiment and left room at the bottom to sign the card. 

That's all for today.  Hope you enjoyed today's card.  I will try to be back in the morning with another card.  The next one is another card for Sylvia.  It's for her Daughter this time.   I have really enjoyed making cards for her, she truly seems to enjoy my cards and always showers me with praise, and who wouldn't love that?!   I'm glad that I can create something that brings another great pleasure and something that they are proud to give to someone they love.  That's the greatest gift of all.

Till next time, I hope you have a very Blessed day.  Much love and hugs, Amy K.

Masculine Birthday card

Here's another birthday card made for a UMC member.  This card was made for member Bill Smith.  I tried to keep this card on the simpler side like I do with all my masculine cards. I used some K & Co. 12x12 patterned paper and Bazzill Basics card stock.  The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz stamp set.  I used die cuts from Spellbinders.  The gold cross comes from Hobby Lobby.

Above is a picture of the inside of the card. For these cards for UMC I try to include an uplifting sentiment on the inside and not necessarily a birthday sentiment.  I always place the sentiment on the left hand side panel and make a place for the Pastor to sign on the right and for these top folding cards I place the sentiment on the top side and leave the bottom panel for the Pastor to sign.  I placed some designer paper along the bottom edge of both halves and for the top panel I added a few rows of blue mesh bling and on the bottom I layered the designer paper after punching it with a boarder punch. I layered all the panels on top of the bazzill card stock in light brown and I had inked the edges of the cream card stock with light brown chalk ink.

That's all for today's card.  I hope you like it.  I am still trying to catch up these blog post so keep bearing with me.  If you haven't seen your card yet I promise it's coming.  It's hard to sit down and make a blog post and find time to craft each day too. lol.  I do my best most days. lol.  Till next time I hope you have a blessed day.  Much love and hugs, Amy K.

UMC Birthday card for Tween girl

I made this cute little card for a wonderfully sweet little girl in our church by the name Chloe Shaw.  She's a beautiful, bright little girl with a Huge love for the Lord.  She just got named for perfect attendance in Sunday School.   What a blessing this young lady is.  I had her in my Vacation Bible School class last year and she was so willing to learn and helped the younger ones in the class to understand as well.   All I can say is that we can all take a lesson from this little Christian Solder. Amen. 

I made this card from one of the 5,5x5.5" corrugated card bases from Micheals and the paper line I used is the Heidi Swap "Sugar Chic" 12 x 12" pad.  The banner was a cut out from the collection and the black and white panel was too.  It already had the wording at the bottom left corner.  I just added the gift stamp and flower stamp, the crown was already part of the paper.  For the little girl on this card I used my cricut and the Rock Princess cartridge.  She's giving the "I love you" signs, I believe the peace sign die cut came from the same cartridge.  To finish the card off I added too of my hand made enamel dots to the banner and then stamped Happy Birthday in the lower right corner.  The card came together pretty quickly and  I think its a good example of how we can still use those old cricut cartridges that we all used to love so much lol.  I know I've loved all my cricut machines literally to death lol.  I hope Chloe enjoyed her card.  I know I enjoyed making it for her.  

I'm still trying to get back in the grove of making post more frequently so hand in there and bear with me.  If you haven't seen your card come up yet, I promise you will just give me time.  On that note I wanted to say I've got several projects coming up this month of April for you to keep a look out for.  I am currently working on a baby banner on that was commissioned for a shower.  I will hope full have that done today and so maybe you can see that tomorrow.  It will be a break from all the birthday cards.  I also am going to be participating in a You Tube hope so I will post that video here for you to see.  Also there's an altered journal coming up too so keep watching this month.  I promise there's more to come!

Till then I hope you all have a very blessed day and I will talk to you again soon.  Till then Much love and hugs. Amy K.

A get well card for a special lady

This will tell you just how far behind I am in my blogging,  I made this card for Nanny when she first went into the hospital back last September.   Yeah, I know, I may never catch up on my blog post at this rate but I can't just skip over all these cards that I made for special reasons just for the sake of saying "I'm all caught up".   Nanny is actually  Brian's grandmother but she's been my Nanny too for about 17 years now.  I love that woman dearly.  She's always been good to me and If she ever did have a bad thing to say about me she kept me from finding out and I appreciate that.  She was a good friend to me at a time when I felt like no one liked me or ever would despite anything that I might do to try and change that.  She's one of the special Angels God blesses us with to live amongst us and try and teach us how to be better people mostly thru demonstration.

I just wanted to make her a little Get Well card to let her know that we were thinking about her and that we had her in our prayers.   The card itself didn't take much to make.  I took a 12x12" sheet of card stock from the Haberdashery stack from the Paper Studio and cut the card base out on my cricut.  I then took a white doily and sprayed it with Heidi Swaps color shine in blush.   I die cut the sentiment label from a Tim Holtz die and for the sentiment I used a stamp set from Papertray Ink called Big & Bold Wishes.  I used Hero Arts shadow inks to stamp out the sentiments.  I then edged around the outside of the label with some brown chalk ink.  Finally I added some pale pink enamel dots all about the card.

See, I told you, simple.  I hope you enjoyed today's card and I will try to be back tomorrow with another for you.  Till then, Much hugs and Love, Amy K.

Shabby Chic birthday card made for UMC member

Happy last day of March!  Easter is right around the corner.  I'm sorry to say that it doesn't look like you will be seeing any Easter cards from me this year.  I have been so busy making cards and not blogging them that I''ve really gotten behind on my post.  I'm still working on posting cards that were made and mailed before Christmas last year!  I am trying oh so hard to sit  down and do more blogging so that I can get caught up.  I don't want any one's card to be left out so I just keep pushing on.   Anyway. that's why you wont see any Easter cards this year.  That is unless I get on the ball and get them made this week. lol.

This card was made for a Lovely little lady at church.   She's just as sweet as the day is long.   I really love making cards for everyone but there's a few people who hold a special place in my crafty heart. Violet Parsons is just one such person.   She's a doll and one of our elder members and as anyone whose a member of a church family knows, we would be lost with out our elders.  They remind us where we've been and guide us as to where we're going.  They are truly a blessing to us all.

I believe this is one of my 5.5x5.5"cards and I've used the lovely Prima Romance Novel pattern paper for this one.  I love working with that paper and save it for special occasions.  I layered it on a black sheet of card stock and then all the rest of the paper comes from the collection.  I used my Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles to cut out the sentiment oval and the pink rectangle that is layered behind it.  I lay this over a piece of vintage lace that I have gathered across the bottom.  To make the flower I first colored a piece of white, vintage eyelet trim with my Lindy's stamp gang sprays then used a running stitch pulled tight to make the circle.  Tied that off and joined the ends then layered a rosette trim over the top with a piece of bling in the center.   The sentiment is on that black card stock and I heat embossed it with a very pale pink embossing powder and then went around the edges with some white pigment ink.  I was kinda going for the very popular chalk board look. lol.

I do hope Violet enjoyed her card. and that you liked it too.   I will do my very best to get more cards posted here as quickly as possible,.  Till then, much love and hugs, Amy K.