Cards, cards, cards!

So, it has been forever since I last posted. Don't judge me :) Maybe in another post at a future date I'll do a post explaining why I have been so remiss in keeping up with my blog. SO, I thought I'd share some cards/projects that I've been working on lately, and quite-awhile-ago lately. I will start with an apology right up front if it seems as though I have copied someone else. I'd prefer to think of it as CASE'ing and I do draw from many sources and can't always keep straight where I pulled an idea. Here we go:

I don't know why I don't like this one. I think it was one of those times when I was forcing myself to use a certain paper pack or stamp-that's usually what happens when I don't end up liking something.

Same paper, same story.

This is actually one that I did just recently and I hate it! Sometimes I like the scribbled coloring look but this is not one of those times. I also tend to lean toward more conservative color combinations.

I actually like the layout of this one and the overall elements. Again, I was forcing myself to use up some paper. The only thing that saves this one from falling entirely into my "please don't show me that again" pile is that I used my all time favorite color combination: bashful blue and chocolate chip. Plan to see that again :)

This one is a good transition from the do-not-likes to the tolerable. I made this on the same day as the previous (blue buggy - you know the one). The problem I sometimes have with liking something when it is finished is that I always create in mass quantities. I always give my mom 6-8 of each of the cards I make. Like an idiot, I am doing well if I remember to hold one back for myself. I am the one that is always running to the store for a card (paying way too much to). I am trying to remind myself to save at least 1 of each card for myself.

This one is ok. I made these for my daughter's birthday party......

So, this one and the next two come from the same stamp set; "countryside." I actually managed to use all of the images in this set (yay me!), moving me one stamp set closer to my goal. Some of them were stamped on the inside of the card (you'll just have to trust me- I didn't take pictures of the guts of my cards). I saw someone else's card and they had stamped directly on patterned paper- dah! I loved the finished look and will use this idea again.

Lukewarm over this one.

This one is a CASE from Mary Fish (Stampin' Pretty)- she's on the blog list that I follow. I of course, complicated the technique and did a palm to the forehead slap when I saw her tutorial on the circles. I won't tell you how I did it.

Simple is sometimes the best...

This is my very favorite of today's posts. (Didn't I warn you about the bashful blue?) It too is a CASE and I wish I could give credit to the original artist. Sorry!

The next three are pictures of the Christmas cards I am making for my mom. I've made 32 and I am so sick of them, I may never use this stamp set again, which is tragic because it is beeyouteeful.

This if the front; simple and clean.

This is the view upon opening the "card." The red paper creates a "book." As you can kind of see in the next picture, there is a "pocket" (sorry about all the "") in between the pages. I have created a tag for each of the members of my family on which we will write a little something about each person's family. A wallet size picture will be attached to each "page."

And that's it for today. With any luck I will post before 2 years goes by again :)

"Spring Cleaning" my photo memory card...

Sad, sad, sad! I can't even keep up with a post once a month. And even sadder, this blog is primarily for documenting my creative projects and isn't even a chatter about the doings of the family! At any rate, here are some of the things I have been working on since my last post.

I'm still loving the "Good Morning Sunshine" dsp from Stampin' Up! and even ventured to make the above and below 12x12 scrapbook pages from it.

Okay, so I see the need for turning on the lamps for the nifty little photo tent dh bought for us.

The following cards and project are from more paper that has been stored and moved more times than I can count....feels good to be cleaning out the "scrap box" of misc. odds and ends paper.

Okay, so the next one is admittedly somewhat self-indulgent. I am embarrassed to admit that I have enough stamp sets that I have a hard time remembering which ones I have and it takes so long to rifle through the catalog (not that I don't love to look, I do, but I get sidetracked and end up adding to my wish list) that I decided to create my own index for the sets I actually own. I found this notebook that dh bought and re-covered the front. I had a couple of catalogs left over from the last sales period and didn't feel bad about cutting them apart. SO, I cut out the stamped images from the catalog that match the sets I own, as well as the examples of projects that I love and want to replicate.
The next couple of birthday cards are for my mom for her Mother's Day gift. I am so glad to be rid of the pink and black paper! It was cute for the first 3 projects I used it for, but I definitely learned my lesson about buying multiple copies of the same paper just because it is on sale.

I love, love, love this stamp set called "Totally Cool", which I think is totally cool! I also got to play with my latest product, "Flower Soft" which I used on the purses. You can't see it very well, but there are crystal effects and glitter on the frosting of the cupcake.

The two above were some congratulations cards I did a few months ago and just never posted. The project below was also done a while back.....enjoy!

Another day spent avoiding housework.....

So, I took the remaining scraps from the "good morning sunshine" dsp I used the other day and was able to make two more cards, bringing the total to 15 cards from 3 pieces of dsp! Whoop Whoop!
The next three are pictures of some wedding cards I made using the SU! scallop envelope die. Love it! (The die that is) This one is the view of the back of the envelope.

The picture below shows the "front view" with the paper slide I made to keep the envelope closed. This third picture in the series is the inside of the envelope as well as the "card" insert.

This next card is the "economy version"- I used a pink paper clip I already had, and punched and stamped an image for the lower right corner.
The card below is the "fancy version"- it's embellished with an SU! clip and has a hardware frame in the lower right corner.
The last upload for tonight is a card I did a couple of days ago...again used up leftover scraps.