Sadly a Sympathy Card

Sympathy cards are probably the hardest to create, because it is not something that we want to make.  A long time friend's spouse recently passed away and I am not able to attend the services.  I remembered creating a background with a Sparkle and Sprinkle stamp way back when I was on their design team, so I got the stamp out and made this card.
 

First stamp the image on gray CS six times with Versamark and emboss with Black Detail embossing powder.  Stamp them one at a time to make it easier to line them up.  Punch the edge with punch.  Layer onto black card base.  Die cut the bird two times, once in black and once in white.  Use Dimensional Glue over detail cut lines and apply Sparkling Snow glitter.  Pop the bird onto front.  Stamp the sentiment and emboss with Black Detail embossing powder.  Cut into a rectangle; layer onto black rectangle.

Inside

The inside only has the same punch along the edge and the sentiment stamped.  I really like this sentiment from Stampin Up.

Sympathy

Another card was needed for a different family member and I did not want to send the same card.  I punched the edge of the white card base, punched a piece of black CS and layered them. A piece of pattern paper was added to the top. Used the same bird die as above and a different SU sentiment.

Really hoping that you do not need a sympathy card but if you do, perhaps one of these will help.


Thank you for stopping by.
Sandy

2nd Birthday Cupcake

Good Morning Cyber Friends,
Today's card is the one I made for my only granddaughter, so I HAD to do it in pinks.....its my one chance to do girly!  I decided back in Florida some of the details and punched out a Martha Stewart butterflies edge punch from glossy white paper.  Also decided that I wanted to make an easel card.  Then a friend from my online stamping group was showing us how to use peel off stickers on sticker paper and she had an extra sheet of cupcakes......perfect.  Brought all of it here and this is the result.

Card closed

Found some cute pink flowered paper at Michael's and layered it onto pink card stock, then used a corner rounder punch.  Inked the edges of both papers.   The "happy birthday" is from a different sticker pack which is placed on a strip of pink with inked edges.  Two small punched butterflies with little jewels for bodies were added.

Above is the Happy Birthday sticker from Stampendous called Class A' Peel.

Glittery Cupcake CloseUp

The best part of any birthday party is the cake, right?  This one is yummy looking with all of its glittery goodness.  The black outline sticker was put onto 2-1/2 inch double sided Terr-ific Tape from Sparkle N Sprinkle (SNS).  Next, pour on the Cloud Nine Velvet Glitter, rub it in and shake off the excess.  Now use your Copic markers to color it in over the glitter.  SNS has a tutorial on its website showing how to do this Velvet Glitter technique here.  This cupcake only had one candle, but my granddaughter was two, so I added another from the sticker page before glittering.  When done coloring, remove the other protective layer from the tape and apply to some heavier weight paper; then cut around edges.  I used another one of those action wobble springs to attach the cupcake to the front of the card (see my  last post for the Car Card).  Isn't it shiny??

This is the cupcake sticker from Elisabeth Craft.  The "white" one is what was left after I removed the actual sticker.  You can see one candle sticker on the lower right that I also used.  There are 4 more cupcakes here to use, plus another one that is missing (I have glittered it and it is ready to use), so you get 6 cupcakes on one sheet.  Can you see that there are some smaller stickers that can be used as well?

Easel Card Open

Here is the card open.  The butterfly was used to hold the card open. A Sakura glaze pen was used to write the sentiment on the banner, and the area that cannot be seen here is for signing.  

Popped Up Butterfly

Here is a close up of the butterfly.  The punched out butterfly was glued onto a piece of acetate, cut out and then glitter was added with glue.
I was really happy with how it turned out and since she is only two, she will probably just love the wiggly cupcake, but her mom saves all of my cards, so maybe one day she will look at it and think of me!

I will be entering my card into the following challenges:
Catered Crop - Punches and dies
Hobby Cutz - Challenge 9 - anything with H (Happy Birthday)
ABC Challenge - P for Pretty In Pink
ALBC - Something Sweet (cupcake)
Animal Friends - Butterfly or Bugs (butterflies)

Hope you have a wonderful day and thank you so much for spending some time with me.
Cheesy Sandy

SYMPATHY IN BLACK AND WHITE

What are the hardest cards to make?  In my opinion, it is a sympathy card.  Having to make a few recently,I think it is even harder when you do NOT want it to have any religious tones.  Went looking for some appropriate paper Black and White)and found some Black and Silver that I thought would work at a local big box store. 

I came across the Card Crafter's Circle challenge blog and they are having a sketch challenge similar to what I had in mind....
 
                 

 and thus the card materialized:

Finished size is 5 X 7

My old standby for a sympathy card uses a die cut bird that I call a dove, however I don't have one laying around and no die cut machine, so I found these dove brads and some floral embellishments that look like lilies to me.  Also looking in the dollar bins, I found some great black and white ribbons to add.

Dollar bin finds
 

 

 

The ribbon is sheer and I think really beautiful. It is adhered to a piece of white cardstock and layered onto black.

 

Here it is just added to the inside of the card directly onto the white cardstock.

Heartfelt Creations sentiment

 

                                                  

The brads were plain white, so a little glue was added to the wings along with some white art glitter.

                                             
While I was at it, I made a few more in A2 size.  One for a birthday and 2 more to have on hand.  I also made one into a thank you (not pictured).  I apologize for the quality of the picture--it was at night.

ABC Challenge - O for Open
Card Crafter's Circle - Challenge #78 Feeling Sketchy
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Black, white and one other color (silver)
Sentimental Sundays - Challenge #158 Metal Findings (doves)
Creative Moments - Challenge #18 Lots of Layers
The Hobby House - Challenge #1 Anything Goes
Make It Monday - MIM #144b with Nicecrane Designs (b) - Anything Goes

That's it for now.  I am a little behind getting this posted.  Worked all day in the yard yesterday and my body is really feeling it.  My hands are so stiff it is hard to type!  LOL.  Until the next time.........happy stamping!
Cheesy Sandy  

Cards using Photographs

Taking pictures is something we all do, but not usually with cards in mind.  I did just that a couple weeks ago.  The fall colors were in full splendor and we had taken a trip up north to Door County Wisconsin.  I made my hubby stop numerous times so that I could get some pictures of the glorious colors.   I had a technique in mind that my dear sweet stampin' "seester", Shona,  developed while designing for Sparkle N Sprinkle.  You can go see her card and instructions on the Sparkle N Sprinkle page here.

I had a few birthdays in November and also needed a few thank you cards, so this is what I came up with.
Begin by taking a beautiful picture and then punch one edge using an edge punch.  Apply Tear-ific Tape (double sided tape) to the back of the punched area, turn it over and apply glitters or embossing powders to the top.  Burnish in to holes, brush off excess and finish card.

Edge punch with embossing powders

Here is the same picture that was printed in color and then again in black and white.  The black and white picture has some color added with copic markers, then the border punch was used and this time I used glitter instead of embossing powder.  I was going for a vintage/shabby look with the b + w picture by distressing the edges of the papers.  Below you can see the difference between the vintage/shabby look and the more polished look.  I apologize that the poor quality of card pictures doesn't show the b+w card very well.

The next card is simply one picture cut into 4 equal parts.  Then take a piece of paper that is slightly larger than the original picture and apply Tear-ific Tape around the outer edges, and down the center both vertically and horizonically.  Remove the protective cover and place the picture pieces down.  Now sprinkle on the sparkle n soft and rub into the tape to create borders around the picture pieces.  Finish card.

Sparkle N Soft

One last card using a photograph with a punched edge that was glittered.  This is a legal envelope sized card.

Thank you card using photograph

That's all for today.  Hope that you have gotten some ideas and will try them out.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

ABC2-Halloween in a Hurry & Fast Fall Cards


Sandy (Cheesy)

Cupcakes for Birthdays

Don't you just love punches?  I know I do.  I recently added EK Success's Cupcake Chain Large Border Punch #54-50023 and wanted to use it.  on't you just love border

EK #54-50023

Cute, isn't it?  Since I have a number of neices and nephews, I decided to create a card that I could make several of and keep onhand.  Here's what I came up with:


3 Cupcake Birthday Cards

 I started by punching out the border in white cardstock, traced the bottom of the cutout along the front edge of the card and cut out.  Sponge a color of ink onto the cupcake wrapper and glue to the card.  Take some dimensional glue (I used Sparkle N Sprinkle #539) and then sprinkle on your desired outcome.  I used Sparkling Snow Glitter G1003 on the light pink card.  Since it is semi-transparent, some of the cardstock color shows thru.  On the dark blue card, I used Bridal Glitter G1029 which is opaque so the cs color doesn't come thru.  On the purple card, I used the Sparkling Snow, but added multi-colored holeless beads (they are really tiny) to make it look like sprinkles on the icing.  Since I made 7 cards, I really played around with different topping looks and I even did one that looked like chocolate frosting by adding Chocolate Sparkle EP127 embossing powder onto the glue (NO, you do not heat it.  Use it just like it was a glitter).  Sorry, but I already mailed that one out without taking a picture.

The words were from a piece of laser cut paper I bought at the local big box store.

I just cut out the words I wanted, coated with Versafine ink and embossed with different embossing powders.  Run it thru the Xyron machine and you have instant sticker words!  On the purple card, I used Dragon Fruit EP410 to emboss the words.  It has a kind of speckled appearance which went so nicely with the cupcake topping. LOL

Inside is some fun paper stamped with a cupcake that is colored with added "frosting" on top.  Each card has different papers inside. 

Think the kids will like them?  I hope so.  Try making one.....its not very hard.

Since I need a couple of cards that will go to some children that are a little older and live at the same house as those getting these cards, I am about to make a different cupcake card.  Stay tuned............

Have a great day today

Valentine Cards

Has it really been 2 months since my last post?  Where has the time gone?  Well, I plan to be posting again lots more often.

FEBRUARY!  And Valentine's Day is not far off.  I am busy making cards for the grandchildren.  These are explosion cards.  I think they turned out pretty cool.  Here's the first.  It has glitter paper punched with a Fiskars corner punch, some tissue paper (that I adhered to freezer paper) and a Sissix die.  The inside uses the Verses Rubber Stamp heart explosion template along with some stickers, Glimmer Mist and Spellbinders Scalloped Heart dies.  All four of the cards are basically the same, but the color combinations and a few changes make them look different.



Brian




Brian's inside















Next is Caleb's card and it is mostly the same.  Red and black color scheme but most of the same as before just in different places.

Caleb



Caleb's inside














Diego is a little older and I did the red and black again.




Diego




Diego's inside














Isabelle is the youngest and she got lots of pink and purple. 




Isabelle




Isabelle's inside

















Try one of these explosion cards...they are not too hard.
Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to see you again soon!
Sandy (Cheesy)

Water Lily Birthday Card for a Challenge

I have been wanting to try some challenges from other sites for quite awhile, but usually have been too busy to even think about it.  So here is my first attempt.  This is a card that uses glitter and a beautiful cardstock to get lots of Bling! 

Water Lily Birthday Card

All stamps, glitters and embossing powders by Sparkle and Sprinkle.  Start by stamping the Water Lily 1236-234M and emboss using Silver Detail Embossing Powder EP257, then color with copic markers.  Use versamarker on the flowers then apply Sparkle Embossing Powder EP107.  Stamp Happy Birthday 1237-234A in blue ink (cover the "to you" with tape).  Next cut out the image using Spellbinders Labels Four Die S4-190 (largest), leave the die on the paper and shade with pink ink.  Add Silver Leaf Tinsel Glitter GT3004 with glue to the center of the one flower.  Use the same die and trace around the outside and cut out of turquoise paper.  Die cut the Sissix Corner Flower #2 die from Sticker paper. Remove backing and sprinkle Bubblegum Glitter G1088 over. Attach to corner as in picture
Die cut the bottom butterfly from white cardstock and the top butterfly from vellum. Leave the paper in the die and color the spots with pink Copic marker on the white paper, and use Gelly Roll Pink Star pen of the vellum. Use a Sakura glue pen on the spots on the white paper, then sprinkle with Sparkling Snow
glitter G1003. On the vellum, brush the entire butterfly with brushable glue, sprinkle on Sparkling Snow glitter. **the paper will curl—after dry bend it back into shape. When dry, attach vellum butterfly layer onto white layer using 1/8” Tear-ific Tape.
The pretty blue background was made using Cadillac Embossed Cover that you can buy here.  It is beautiful all by itself in white, but I simply added some blue dye inks with daubers until I got the color I wanted.  Simple and shiny.

I am entering this into the following challenge:
Party Time Tuesdays #41, bling it on:  http://partytimetuesdays.blogspot.com/2011/11/ptt41-bling-it-on-anything-sparkly.html

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.
Sandy (Cheesy)

BLOG CANDY PRIZE WINNER and Another Penguin card

A huge thank you to all who participated in our Winter Blog Hop.  We all appreciate your time and the sincere comments you left for us. 

I promised a prize to one of the ladies who agreed to be a new follower of my blog.  Soooo, after writing all the names down and having my hubby pick a name from the hat...........drum roll........the winner of the brand new stampette set Hope Love Faith is....................Sandy (poochiegranny!!!!)

Sandy (poochiegranny), will you please email me (ilchezhead@yahoo.com) with your full name and address so that I can mail out your set.  Hope you enjoy creating with it.


The winners of the full Blog Hop are posted on the SNS blog today.  Here they are:
Grand Prize – Stamp Set of her Choice – Karen Ladd
Prize One from Barbara Bruder – 2 tinsel glitter colors of her choice! Margaret Tower (flamingo girl)
Prize Two from  marie Berquist – 3 embossing powders of her choice – Shartl (apedoaak)
Prize Three from Julie Zippel – 3 glitters of your choice – Aileen Freeman

Just because our customers are particularly awesome, and your comments were so sincere and kind, we have decided to have a SURPRISE PRIZE! One new Stampette Set of her choice awarded to Carrie (cardmakingqueen).

I thought that I would share another card I've created with the Playful Penguin set today.  It was really fun to make and I love making step cards.  You might be able to see it in person while visiting one of the stores that carry SNS products, or at the SNS shoppe in Ruskin, FL.

You can get the full directions for making this card here.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Hope to see you here again soon!
Sandy

Winter Arrives Tomorrow??

Yes, you read it correctly.  Winter arrives tomorrow.........the Magical Wintery Blog Hop sponsored by Sparkle and Sprinkle.  So, I thought I'd share a card I made last year for SNS and then I loved it so much that I used it for my own Christmas card.

The full directions for this card can be found here. 


Don't forget to come back tomorrow for lots and lots of great card ideas at the Sparkle and Sprinkle Blog Hop.  Start here.  

Hope to see you then.
Sandy

Busy Weekend Needs 4 Cards

A few weekends ago was really full!  I had intended to post this then, but life got in the way, so I'm just getting to post now.  Well, I attended a baby shower on Saturday for a good friend's daughter.  She is having a boy.  This card was done with a metal stencil (first pounce back of stencil with powder) then lay it on Sparkle and Sprinkle sticker paper.  Next carefully add holeless micro glass beads and rub into the open areas.  Carefully remove stencil and apply glitter to the rest of the sticky paper.  Finally its just a matter of adding the layers of colored paper for the finished A2 card.  The mom-to-be loved it.

[caption id="attachment_391" align="aligncenter" width="223" caption="Boy baby shower card"][/caption]

Then on Sunday we had the double celebration:  birthday party for our 3 year old grandson, Brian and a communion party for our 10 year old grandson, Diego.

The birthday card was e-a-s-y.  I used a piece of dp covered with Disney characters.  Cut them up into small squares, then put each onto glitter paper, then black paper and finally the purple metallic card base.  This was a perfect card since they had just gone to Disneyworld a month ago, and we gave him a share of Disney stock for his birthday.  Blogland isn't cooperating, so it wouldn't let me edit these pix ...sorry. Here's how the A2 card turned out:

[caption id="attachment_387" align="alignleft" width="176" caption="3rd Birthday Card for Brian"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_503" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Inside"][/caption]

Deigo's communion card was figured out months ago....my dear friend, Paula, had told me about a card she was going to case and I knew it would be perfect.  It uses a Spellbinders die of  crosses that she had and I didn't, so she cut a bunch for me before I left Florida.  It also used another die as a frame that I didn't have, so I used a border punch........  Its all done in off whites and I love how it turned out.  Finished size is 5 1/2 X 5 1/2.  P.S. Diego thought it was awesome.

[caption id="attachment_398" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Communion Card"][/caption]

Lastly, my hubby's great niece graduated from pharmecutical school a few months ago but we were in Florida and missed the party.  We were going to see her at the party so I needed to have her card.  I used SNS stamp set 435-Graduation multiple times and colored it.  Lay SNS super adhesive paper over stamped image, remove paper cover and then cover with holeless clear glass beads.   Use a Spellbinders die to stamp the words onto.  Layer with gold and black paper to make an A2 card.  Full directions for this card will be on the Sparkle and Sprinkle web site in about a week.

[caption id="attachment_400" align="aligncenter" width="238" caption="Andrea's Grad Card"][/caption]

Hope that you found some ideas from these cards that you might use.  See you again soon.

Sandy (Cheesy)

SPARKLING WINTRY SENSATIONS BLOG HOP

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle "Sparkling Wintry Sensations” blog hop---do you like how I changed my header picture for the occasion?  If you arrived here by way of the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog, then you're in the right place.  All of the rules and info for the hop and how to become eligible for SIX great prizes are back at the SNS blog, so I will not repeat it here.

On to the sparkly stuff!  Here is my design which uses the Winter Swirl stamp set #414:

[caption id="attachment_440" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Winter Swirl Set 414 Diorama Card"][/caption]

When the blog theme was decided, all I could think of was what it looks like outside our windows (up here in Wisconsin) after a snowfall and I knew I wanted to make a diorama card (see the tips and techniques section at SNS for directions to make diorama cards.)  Diorama cards are great because you get all that dimension but it folds up flat, fits into a regular envie and usually doesn't take any extra postage.  The Winter Swirl stamp set has all the stamps needed for this card.   If you have the Grand Caliber die cut machine, you can diecut both pieces of cardstock at the same time--yippee.  Sparkling snow glitter is the perfect tool for snow and winter scenes (or just adding sparkle to any card).  This card does take extra time because of cutting out trees, and the extra layer but it is a wonderful gift for that special someone.  If you have never made a diorama card, I hope you've gotten the inspiration to try one. The directions for this card can be found here.

Oh and by the way, I might be one of "The FIVE" with a secondary prize, so don't forget to leave a comment below to become eligible for the Grand Prize and one of the 5 secondary prizes............then head on over to our Sensational Dawn's blog and continue on your sparkly, wintry way.

Stay cool and glad you came by!

[caption id="attachment_482" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Winter in July?"][/caption]

Sandy

PRE-HOP CARDS for SNS Blog Hop

The Sparkle and Sprinkle design team is getting ready for our July Blog Hop which begins on Thursday, July 14.  You can visit the SNS Blog here to get the details.  In the meantime, here are some cards that I designed last year for SNS using their stamp set #420, Nestie Christmas Trees and the Spellbinders Christmas Tree die.

[caption id="attachment_418" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Flip Flop Tree Card"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_420" align="alignleft" width="106" caption="More views of the flip flop card"][/caption]

Here are some other views of the same card so that you might get the idea of how it opens.  The directions to make this card are on the Sparkle N Sprinkle website here.

This is another card designed with the same stamp set and die which was an easel style card.

[caption id="attachment_425" align="aligncenter" width="247" caption="Nestie Christmas Tree-Easel card"][/caption]

You can see the directions for this easel card here.

Are you ready for more wintery inspirations???  Join the design team for all the fun (and prizes) starting Thursday when the Sparkling Winter Sensations Blog Hop begins (start the blog hop at the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog)!    Hope to see you then...





Sandy