Graduation and Friendship

I had a graduation party to go to this weekend, and needed a card. And I just knew that my new Sunburst stamp set from Neat & Tangled was going to be perfect. I remembered seeing a card on their blog that Danielle made where she stamped the sunburst onto stars. And after a little trial and error with various shapes and sizes of stars I came up with a card that I loved.

It's hard to see it in this photo but the sunburst and the sentiment are stamped in Versamark ink, and then heat embossed with silver embossing powder. Her school colors were black and white, hence my choice of colors. I also scattered some silver stars from BasicGrey across the front. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Reach for the Stars set.

I have one more card to share today. In a recent post I told you about a card front I was playing with that I just couldn't get to work. I was playing with the Avery Elle Rounded Diamonds set, and just wasn't happy with how it was going.  So I set the piece aside. And then I was looking at Laura Bassen's blog and saw this card, and knew just what I wanted to do with it!!!

I just needed to treat it like a piece of patterned paper and cut it down, even though I would lose a little of the stamped image all the way around. I even borrowed the way she put her sentiment down the side of the card. I love how bright and cheery this card turned out.  The inks are all Hero Arts, and the image is the Avery Elle Rounded Diamond.

Christy and I are headed out to tomorrow to drive to Shreveport, LA, to visit my Mom and sister. So the next time you hear from me it will probably be with some photos from our trip.

Thanks for checking in with me!!!

Crafty Weekend

This past weekend I had a really fun crafty weekend with several friends. Joy Ott, Sandi Neumann, Heather Ruwe, and my daughter, Christy, and I all got together at Jana Millen's house for a fun weekend of crafting and girl time! At times I think we did more tv watching than stamping (who knew there are whole shows devoted to covering up tattoos, and at least 3 versions of buying wedding dresses!!). But, I did get several cards made that I am really happy with.

I decided that it was time to finally get out the March SSS card kit and make some cards with it. I love the stamp set, and have used it quite a few times since I got it, but for some reason, even though I love the papers, I have had a hard time using them.  This weekend was no different, but I did make 2 cards with it.

Then I just had to play with one of the new SSS dies - I love this delicate little tree with the cut out leaves. And since I had the perfect little wood veneer birds by Studio Calico to use (thanks Christy!), I made the following 2 cards. The first one also uses a new SSS sentiment set that has sentiments that coordinate for the inside and outside of the card, Inside and Out Sayings.  This set is a must have!! The inside of the card reads "...or nearly always. Maybe 86.3% of always! So cute!

You probably also noticed lots of my current obsession - Neat & Tangled sequins!!! I am loving using them on just about everything!!!

The last 2 cards use the Avery Elle Rounded Diamonds stamp set and dies.  The second card was inspired by a card that I saw online, and can't find right now (I'll update with a link as soon as I find it). Such a fun set to play with. I have one more started, but am not happy with it so far.

I guess that's not a lot to show for a whole weekend, but we had fun!!! Looking forward to doing it again soon!!!!!

I have a few more cards that I've done lately that I will share in the next post!

Retreat - Part 2

Time to share more of the cards I made at retreat.  But first I thought I'd share just a couple of pictures showing the fun: 

The first one is an impromptu class by Lisa Spangler on transferring patterned paper to wood veneer pieces. It was a lot of fun, and we learned that the cheap wood veneer pieces don't work real well - they just won't grab onto the patterned paper.

 This next one shows that we are all very versatile, and don't spend every minute stamping.  Little did we know we had an aspiring gymnast in our midst - names are being withheld to protect the innocent (HA).

And now to get to the cards.  The first one uses a Penny Black owl set that I borrowed, and I don't remember the name of it.  I stamped it on patterned paper and pieced them together.  Then I used the SSS falling stars die on the background.  The cute little owls have googly eyes.

The next one is also paper pieced after stamping on patterned paper.  It uses the Hello Foxy set from Papertrey Ink, and the SSS falling hearts die. I made the fence using Neat & Tangled On the Strip set 2. I love that little fox!!!

This next one uses the Neat & Tangles Just Hello set and some of their neon sequins. I sprayed the background with Dylusions mists, and then added some Washi tape.

Another one with a misted background, and sequins, but this one uses the Papertrey Ink Comfort Food  stamp and die set. Isn't that soup can just adorable!!! I made several variations on this card I loved it so much.

 And the last one is another misted background with sequins and washi tape, with a sentiment from the Paper Smooches Chit Chat set.

I guess you can tell that I had lots of fun playing with the Dylusions spray mists also.  Such pretty colors, and so easy to use without lots of unwanted blobs. Loved them!

We've had a week with quite a bit of rain - our backyard looks like a swamp. Needless to say the dog doesn't like that at all. And today is quite a bit colder than it has been.  Can't wait for some more warm weather with sunshine!!! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Retreat!!!

It's hard to believe that last Monday was the last day of a 5 day stamping/scrap booking retreat with a wonderful group of 35 women! We had such a wonderful time - lots of stamping, scrap booking, talking, laughing, and eating.  Did I mention all of the laughing and talking!  Because there was a lot of that!!! But, I still managed to get a lot done. I finished all of the thank you cards I was making for my nieces wedding and showers. I'll share those another day after she has received them. After I got all of those done, I got out my Simon Says Stamp April Card Kit.  What an awesome kit - probably my fave so far! It's now sold out, but the May kit looks to be a good one too, so I can heartily recommend ordering one before it sells out too! The cards I'm sharing today were all made with that April kit, and I still have plenty of paper to make some more!

I also played around a lot with the SSS Perfect Bow die, and it is so fun! This bow was covered with glossy accents (a la Kathy Racoosin - thanks for the idea Kathy!!) before adding it to the card!

This one I splattered the background with some Dylusions mists, but the rest of the paper and the stamp is from the kit.  I also used some sequins from Neat and Tangled. Danielle has the best selection of sequins - my favorites are the matte finish ones.

Another bow with glossy accents and Neat and Tangled sequins - are you seeing a pattern here?

And the last one for today. This kit truly was versatile and easy to use!

I'll be back with more of the cards I made in a day or so. See you all then!!!

Simon Says Stamp Holiday Card Kit

Last night I went to Archiver's with my scrap booking club, and worked on some cards from the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Card Kit.  I have to say that I love this kit!  Every little piece of it!  I had so much fun coloring in the gnome and reindeer, even though I am far from proficient with the Copics.  I finished 3 cards and wanted to share them with you all - can't wait to do some more creating this weekend with the rest of the images I colored.

The only things I used for any of these cards that didn't come from the kit, was the green card stock I used for 2 of the card bases, Stickles, and the red ribbon.  And on the little packages on the last card, I used Glitter Ritz on the bow pieces.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!!

More cards to share!

I am finally back to share the rest of the cards that I created during my stamping retreat.  I can't say enough about how inspiring it is to spend time with this group of women!!!

 I did several variations of these two cards - had a lot of fun with this owl set (it's an older Hero Arts Christmas set), and the SSS Small Forest Tree die turned on it's side.  The background is done with distress ink and the stars are cut with the SSS Holiday Shapes die and covered with Stickles.

 This card is the one I made for a swap we did.  I was really pleased with the way it turned out - bright and cheery.  I stamped the Lawnfawn Chevron Backdrop stamp several times with different Hero Arts neon inks for the background.  The sentiment and cupcake are from the Hero Arts/Sizzix Happy Birthday Cupcake stamp and die set.

 

These cards are a just a couple of the ones I made while I played around with the Hero Arts/BasicGrey Poinsettia stamp from the Apen Frost collection.  I colored it with Distress Markers, and then spritzed with water and perfect pearls, and stamped on water color paper.  I added a little bit of Stickles to some of the flowers and used several different sentiments.

And last, but not least, I played around with some Glitter Ritz glitter.  That stuff is amazing!  Once you put it on, it doesn't come off, and feels like velvet almost.  I love the shine you get with it!  The cardinal is an Elizabeth Craft sticker that I used the Glitter Ritz on.  I also used some of her ornament stickers with the Glitter Ritz, but those haven't made it to cards yet. 

Thanks again for stopping by.  

Last weekend I went on a scrapping/stamping retreat with a group of the most wonderful women!  We get together to do this every 6 months or so, and it is just plain old good for the soul.  There is lots of creating, laughing, eating, chatting, and even manicures going on!!  For today I'm going to show you on of my favorite cards that I made - I'll be back and share the rest tomorrow.  This one is featured on the Simon Says Stamp blog today, and I am so excited about that. 

I just love the Simon Says Stamps Holiday Apothecary Labels that I used here, and the sentiment set from Ali Edwards Jingle All the Way!  Check back tomorrow to see the rest of the cards that I made during the retreat.

Thanks for visiting!

New Cards

I know, I know!!  I said I was going to do better about blogging on a regular basis, and I haven't.  But, I had such a great time yesterday that I needed to come show you what I did!  I went to Jana Millen's house and spent the day making cards with her and Sandi Neumann.  Spending a day crafting with friends is always a good thing!!  I even got 6 whole cards done - really good for me!! So, I thought I would come here and share them:

 This one was made using some BasicGrey Porcelain papers and Paper Trey Ink flower dies I love that flower die and may have to go make my first PTI order!

I needed some birthday cards - none left in my stash! This one used a large Hero Arts cupcake die, and some paper from the July Simon Says Stamp card kit.  The icing on the cupcake is covered with stickles.

Another birthday card using Taylored Expressions stamps and dies, and papers from last months SSS card kit.  This was the first time I had used TE stamps, and I have to say they are wonderful!  Stamped images are nice and crisp - just wish it was easier to line up the stamped images on the die cuts.

Another card using Taylored Expressions stamps and dies, with a Hero Arts sentiment.

And these 2 cuties are for the Cards for Maddy and Melanie card drive.  I used Hero Arts stamps, and they are pocket slider cards from Julie Ebersoll's class  - Fold It, Pop It, Flip It Zip It!!!  Such fun cards to make!!!  Thank you Julie for the wonderful class!!

I've also been really working on finishing up my albums from our Europe trip - 4 albums worth of photos (and that is only a fraction of what I took!!).  Almost done - just need to finish up a few cover pages, and then get everything in page protectors and into the albums!  So, I'll be back by next week with a few of my favorite pages to share.

Beer Fest

Short post for today, but I wanted to share a photo from last night. Carl, Sean, Christy and I went to Beer Fest at Jungle Jim's.  It was a lot of fun.  When we arrived we were each given a small beer glass, and then we spent the next 2 hours walking around sampling different beers.  There were way over 100 to choose from - breweries from as close as right here in Cincinnati, and as far away as Belgium, Germany, and England.  Most of the booths would tell you a little bit about the different beers they had. My favorites were from Ommengang and Unibroue.  I meant to try one from Scotland even, but forgot about going back when the line was shorter until I was beered out!  I think I only sampled about 10 or so before I decided just couldn't do any more (especially since I was driving).  Christy was done about the same time.  I think Carl and Sean sampled a few more than we did.  After checking out what Jungle Jim's was offering for dinner (barbeque sandwiches and potato chips), we decided to go to Gordos and have a good burger (amazingly enough no one wanted beer to drink).  And who should walk in  while we were waiting for our dinner to arrive but our friend Tina Schroff,  her husband and friends!!!  What a coincidence.  We knew they were at the Beer Fest but hadn't been able to find them, and then they picked the same place to eat dinner. 

Hope you're all having a nice Father's Day weekend!!!

 

Busy Week

This is a busy week at the Wilkerson House.  Christy and I are doing some major purging trying to get ready for a garage sale.  I really don't like having garage sales, but the deadlines help me get motivated enough to keep going with the purging.  I'm even hoping to get rid of some of the stuff in my scrapping/stamping stash that I know is never going to get used. We made some good progress yesterday, so hopefully by the time next weekend rolls around we'll be ready.  And if I'm lucky anything left over will fit in the van to go to Goodwill!!!

Just a couple of cards to share today.  The first is the card I made for Carl for our 36th wedding anniversary last week.  I used the June card kit from Simon Says Stamp.  Love that kit!!

The other card is a birthday card for a dear friend.  It didn't quite turn out how I envisioned it, but sometimes that's the way it goes.  I still like it.

I apologize for the poor pictures.  I really need to remember to take them when the sun is better.  Well, back to my cleaning out of closets!  We're making progress!  Hope you all have a fun weekend!

Concours d'Elegance

We've been having lovely weather here lately.  I've really been enjoying spending lots of time out on the patio.  And Kira has been enjoying that also, especially since she can now come off the leash - vets have declared her bone healed from the surgery and she can start working back up to her normal activities.  Other than her days of high impact activities like leaping into the air to catch frisbees and jogging with Carl or Christy.  But, I think we can all live with that.

Yesterday Carl, Sean and I went to the Concours d"Elegance at Ault Park.  It was a beautiful day for a car show.  Here are a few of my favorite pics:

 

Christy, I thought of you when I saw this one!

 

 

 

 This last one brought back memories for Carl since he used to have one of these, and had totally restored it.  Though his was red.

This week is going to be consumed with getting ready for a garage sale - it is time to de-clutter and de-junk the house.  And the garage!  So, that is what Christy and I are going to be doing.  We have this week and next week to get it all done!

See you all again in a day or 2 - with a card to share (can't share yet because the recipient has seen it yet!).

It's been a long time since I have posted on this blog, but I have decided that it is time to resurrect it, and begin sharing again. So, we will start off with a card I made to welcome the sweetest little baby  into the world.  Baby Lila Grace, daughter of Jennifer and Ken McGuire is 2 weeks old, and I send my best wishes to them on her birth with this card.

The card was made using the June card kit from Simon Says Stamp and a House Mouse stamp. 

I'm going to try to keep up with this blog now, and like before it will be a mix of what I am creating, what I'm cooking, and anything else that comes up in my life.  Hopefully you will come back again!

And if you want to see more cards made to welcome little Lila Grace into this world, check out Jana Millen's blog.

Wedding and beach - great family fun!!!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy. Over Labor Day weekend, my nephew Nick Noe got married in Lynchburg, VA, to Shannon Saunders. They have been together for about 7 years now, and we all love Shannon, so I am so happy to welcome her into the family! She was a gorgeous bride, and the wedding was truly lovely - it was held at the Trivium, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for an outdoor wedding. Congratulations, Nick and Shannon!!!







After the wedding, Christy and I headed off to Holden Beach with my Mom and sisters Cindy and Kim. It was the smallest group we've ever had at the beach - just 7 of us - but it was so nice to just relax on the beach. And since it was the week after Labor Day, it was not crowded at all.









Since then, things have gotten quite hectic. We have been dealing with mice in Christy's apartment for about 6 months now, and the problem is getting worse instead of better, so we have spent a lot of time the past week dealing with the apartment management. Hopefully they are finally taking things seriously, and the plans they have implemented will solve the problem. If not, we may be looking for a new apartment for her - she won't even live at her apartment right now, and I don't blame her. Mice are just totally gross and icky!!! So we will see how all of that goes.

Europe - Part 6

In Stuttgart we visited the Porsche Museum. Carl and the kids had really wanted to visit the factory, but it is closed for factory tours in August, so we settled for visiting the Museum. The building is absolutely incredible - very modern. And inside were more Porsche's than you can imagine - everything from the first Porsche ever built to race cars and current models. After the museum, we spent a few hours walking around the Schillerplatz seeing the Altes Schloss and Neus Schloss. The gardens were lovely.

The next day we spent driving through the Black Forest. The views were spectacular!!!! We stopped in Triberg and had lunch and visited several cuckoo shop clocks. Of course, the ones I liked were extremely expensive, so all we bought was a watch for Christy. It was too bad that it was such a rainy day - some hiking would have been wonderful. After we drove out of the Black Forest our route ended up taking us past Lake Bodensee. We didn't know we were going to see it but Tom Tom took us on a different route than MapQuest had suggested. Despite the rain it was an awesome sight - just miles and miles of lake!! It would be a lovely place to spend more time if the weather were nice.

And then it was on to The Castles - Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Our hotel sat right under Hohenschwangau and our rooms had balconies that looked out on it. From the dining room we could see Neuschwanstein. They were as fabulous as I had hoped. We took a carriage ride up to Neuschwanstein. It is much newer than you would think (built in the late 1800's), and actually had a telephone system built in to it. Most of the rooms in the castle were never even finished. Hohenschwangau, on the other hand, is quite old, with the oldest parts dating back to the 1200's. Between visiting the castles we had a nice lunch of brats and beer in Schwangau at a little beer garden, and walked down to the edge of Lake Alpensee.

And from there it was on to Munich. Our first night in Munich we were able to meet up with one of Christy's friends, David Meirose who is co-oping in Munich and eat dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. I'm not sure I have ever drank such a large beer before! We spent the next day seeing the Glockenspiel and the rest of the sights in downtown Munich in the old city before dropping Christy off at the hotel where she was going to stay since she was spending the week after we left seeing Munich, Innsbruck, and Berchtesgaden with David. I would have loved to have had more time in Munich. But all good things must come to an end, and it was off to Frankfurt for Carl, Sean and I to catch our plane home.

It was a fabulous, once in a lifetime trip! And someday I hope to be able to return to Europe to see more!!!

The first picture is of Carl at the Porsche Museum in front of the model of Porsche he used to have. The second picture is in Triberg, and the third is of Lake Bodensee. The fourth is of Christy and Sean on the Marienbrucke bridge with Neuschwanstein in the background, and the last is the Glockenspeil at the Neus Rathaus in Munich.