To all our friends, Dennis and I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our message to you:  We want to share with you the Glory and Wonder and Miracle of this Holy Season
Love, Marian and Dennis

Hello to all those who visit my blog:

As many of you know, my husband has a very serious illness very much like ALS, which is called Supra Nuclear Palsy.  At this time I want to spend every moment I can with him.  For that to happen, I need to suspend the time I spend making cards.  If time permits, I will add a card or two from time to time; but my husband is my primary concern right now.  Thank you to all who have visited my blog.

This little girl is a digi stamp from CherylsDigiStamps.  She has several cute little girls and boy stamps.  I have had a need for a great many thank you cards, so this was one that went to a dear friend who would contact me each day to see if I needed help.  (That's a real friend!)

I used my copic markers and StampinUp paper, along with Spellbinders.  It has been difficult to get back into stamping after my surgery.  But hopefully I will be able to post something each week.

Fall always reminds me of leaves -- we have 19 oak trees on our property and the fall season is spent raking, so a card with leaves is very appropriate.  This stamp set of four leaves was the first stamp set I ever had from Stampin Up.  All of the colors used on this card are Stampin Up papers. 

Well, folks, I am on the road to recovery, but it has not been easy.  Anyone who has had knee replacement surgery can vouch for that.  If you can withstand the pain for about six weeks, you will survive.

I love this little girl and have used her quite often. It has been difficult to get back into the swing of things right away.  Hopefully I will be able to add a new picture about once a week.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.

To all my friends who have visited my website over the past year or so, I will not be posting anything for about two weeks.  I am having a knee replacement  surgery on Sept. 4th and will be out of commission for a week or two. 

I tried something a little different here.  I'm not a big fan of antiquing but thought I would try it with this one.

It is interesting that in photographing this card the center design was embossed in gold, but does not show up that way -- it looks like black ink.  It is much prettier in gold, hence the gold ribbon at the top.  After scoring the lines on the white paper, I antiqued the paper and sponged the edges to antique them.  I added tiny pearls at the crosshairs.  Lacy spellbinders were used on the blue paper.  I'm all for trying new things, but this isn't one of my favorite cards.

Here is another photographic card of a view of the historic town of Stockbridge, Vermont.  This is typical of an historic New England town.  New England is beautiful any time of the year. 

Those of you who live in Virginia might recognize this picture -- Mabry's Mill -- which is along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.  I love to take pictures of landscapes, as well as closeups of flowers and people.  The Blue Ridge is one of the most spectacular sites in western Virginia. 

When I first started making cards, I used photographs which I had taken, some closeups of flowers and others of landscapes.  I mounted them on special cards made for 4 x 6 photographs and on the inside I would put either a spiritual thought or a quote I found appropriate for the person to whom the card was being sent.

From this point, I decided to try my hand at the cute and clever art of stamping cards which has been a very enjoyable creative undertaking.  Card making is a very creative outlet and allows one to make something creative and fun in a very short time as opposed to painting an entire picture.

Here's another SassyCheryls Digi Stamps.  I used my copic pens, added a little button to the flower, mounted the drawing on colorful blue paper after tinting the edge of the design and attaching a bright yellow paper as a background.  The message at the bottom was punched out, using a StampinUp punch and backed again in yellow paper. 

Here is a cute card made from CherylsSassyDigitals.  Using copic markers and a spellbinder which I tinted with light green chalk, I popped up the little girl with the sun.  I used two little black beads for the eyes of the sun. After mounting the digi form on the green and yellow paper from  Stampin Up, I clipped the corners of the yellow papers.  Since we have had such hot weather, I thought about making my next card with snow or icebergs on it!  Any ideas?

This was a fun card to make but was very time-consuming.  I began with using two different papers for the outside of the card.  The design was one from Flourishes.org, and was colored with copics and highlighted with a Sakura pen to add some sparkle to the ribbon and the little flowers at the top.  It is difficult to see that in the photo.  After embossing the oval and shading it with pink ink, I mounted it on a Spellbinder and mounted to one side of the flap.

The inside of the card was covered with StampinUp paper and the little princess was a TiddlyInks digital lady.  I also added a little piece of Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon.  The message, which is difficult to read in the photo, says, "All I ask is that you treat me no differently than you would the Queen".  To hold the card closed, I used a small piece of white velcro.

This is a card I made for one of my sisters for her birthday.  This is a TiddlyInks digital character called "Wyn".  These little gals are so precious and make for good girly cards.  I took StampinUp paper, for the entire card.  The "Sisters" I created on my computer.  And as usual, I worked with my copics and used Spellbinders for the fancy oval background.  I highlighted the edges of the plain oval with a touch of pink ink.. 

There are several Wyn drawings and they have become some of my favorite.  This card is about as girly as you can get.

Here's a little card I did about a year ago shading the baby in as a little baby girl.  I just love the look of this little guy.  It's a digital Mo Manning design.  Working with digital images is an easy way to build up your collection for just a few dollars. 

I watermarked the top portion from a set from Stampin Up and used a punch from StampinUp for the bottom portion of the card.  The message is also from Stampin Up.  I popped up the little guy to make him stand out.

Here is a character from DudetimeDoodles.com.  It is so difficult to find "masculine-type" characters for cards for husbands and male friends.  This is a relatively simple card which I placed on the multi-colored paper, backed by Melon Mambo from StampinUp.  I used my square spellbinders and embossed the edges before coloring with my copics.  Nothing fancy.  Didn't want this card too precise.

One of my favorite stamp companies is Judith's Stamps.  She sells a lot of individual small stamps which can be mixed together to create a card.  With this card, I took a little bird stamp and a flower pot stamp to create the three little crazy birds.  I punched out the four stars at the bottom, saving one for use at the top.  Then backed the front of the card with white paper.  Added Stampin Up red paper and DSP paper.  The message is also from Stampin Up. Added a little black border to the birds and a little black polka dot ribbon to the front.  Voila!

I've used this digital little girl before, but she is so cute I can't resist doing another card with her.  I used several Spellbinders on this, along with edging the orange paper with a Stampin Up punch.  The background paper has a little sparkle to it which isn't evident in this photograph.  I don't use orange much, so highlighted the middle with a little orange ribbon.  If you haven't used Mo Manning digital cuties, you are missing out.

Now that I have had a week away in Williamsburg, VA for a lovely vacation with some friends with whom  I went to high school, and have dragged all the suitcases, food, dirty clothes, etc., from the car to the house, this is exactly how I feel.  This digital stamp came from LineInked digital stamps. I used some miscellaneous paper and brown ribbon to tie it all together.

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In looking through some old cards my mother received as a child, I thought it would be fun to create an older looking card.  And I wanted to chose a message which might have been on the old card.  In creating this card, I selected simple paper and a very simple design.  The digital picture comes from a free website, Digital 2 for Tuesday. 

As I added this little girl to the card, it made me think of a picture my daughter drew of one of her daughters.  This little child is simply enjoying a very pleasurable and fun thing children love to do.  Sometimes we all need to be children.  Children laugh so much more than adults do, and so the quote on this card expresses my affection for someone who does just that ... through laughter and joy makes others happy.  This is a digital stamp from Mo's digital stamps. 

I wanted to do something different with this card, so I took a piece of clear cardstock and ran it through my cuttlebug to emboss the design to look something like stargazing.  I then took light green paper and chalked the top part with blue and the bottom with a green.  The shimmery ribbon was added to break up the area.  This is a card for many of my friends who have been married for quite some time.  This is one of those delightful digital drawings from Mo Manning.

I had a premonition about two weeks ago that I needed to make a few thank you cards. Lo and behold, I did need to give three thank you cards to friends who were of great help this past week.  I love the simplicity of this little fella with that huge sun flower plant.  This was also a Sassy Cheryl's Digi Stamp.  Used my spellbinder and placed another piece of white paper behind it and trimmed around the design.  Tinted the background with light blue and light green chalk. 

This little cutie is from Sassy Cheryl's digital stamps.  She reminds me of one of my granddaughters, with her blonde hair and pigtails.  Love these little girly characters.  And with a great BIG cupcake, too.
I used a variety of items, StampinUp paper, miscellaneous paper, Spellbinder which I embossed and my favorite copic pens.

This little girl could be many things.  I chose to have her give congratulations.  I mounted the circle on top of two spellbinders.  I was thinking of having her say, "I'm freaked out with joy!" or "Give me a big hug".  But I chose the more sedate, "Congratulations!".  This was a digital freebie from Bugaboo Stamps.  I did give her a splash of diamonds.

Every now and then you create a card that you especially like.  This is one.  I enjoyed creating this card and liked the colors I chose.  I hope you do, too.  Spellbinders were a big part of this card.  I used one called Butterflies and another with the scallops.  In between I cut a a circle with dotted paper.  Since the polka dot paper isn't too obvious, I also used the blue/green striped paper as the background.  The pansies were colored with copics and the center of the flowers were touched with a pink sparkly Sekura pen (which you can't really see in the photograph).  And I finished it off with a little bow of Stampin Ups moss green. 

 

I used this little girl once before, but I thought this caption for the picture was very appropriate.  Just the look of her says it all.  I used a spellbinder to make the oval and popped the little girl  up.  I also used a border punch from StampinUp on the pink paper and the brown background paper and two other StampinUp punches for the caption.

Just a simple little card for when I screw up and forget someone's birthday.  This poor little critter needs help.  Some days I feel just like he looks.  He was a little freebie from Bugaboo stamps.  Boy, I love those freebies.

I needed some thank you cards, so I colored this digi lady from Tiddlyinks.com with my copics.  Mounted her on white paper which I embossed with my cuttlebug and then tinted the embossed design with soft pink chalk.  I also added a little grass and flowers to the base of the image.  I mounted the entire image on a darker lavender color paper.   I added a few tiny black onyx dots to a few of the flowers.

This was a digi stamp from Bugaboo stamps.  It was a "Friday Freebie" which I thought would make a nice card for an anniversary.  I colored the images with copics, then cut out the bottom part with the words, put the image through my cuttlebug with one of my ovals in the Spellbinders set.  Using Prima paper in the background and Stampin Up Blushing Bride paper, finished it off with brown grosgrain ribbon.  I stamped a small oval with the message from one of the Stampin Up sets. I tinted around the edges of both ovals with Tempting Turquoise ink, and finally highlighted two corners.

Saw a similar little gift bag on michellelast.typepad.co.uk and adapted it to what supplies I had on hand.  I used StampinUp blushing bride for the girls package and crumb cake paper for the boys.  Created the bunny with a little stamp I had and used StampinUp Pocket Silhouettes for the "grass".  The center hole was made using my spellbinder ovals.  I used a little punch to thread the ribbon through both layers of paper.

Lightly colored jelly beans would work very well here also.  I used 11" paper, but someone who wanted to try using 12" paper could make a little longer package.  This makes a cute candy gift for some sweet little children (or big children, too).  Even adults.......

Here's another card using the cute little Bugaboo bear.  I used my copics and then put him on some bright paper, used dark brown paper for the background and added the StampinUp message.  Used a little light and dark brown yarn to add a little depth .  I also popped up the little bear.  Seems like a really laid back dude.

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This little guy was a Friday freebie from Bugaboo Stamps.  He could be used with many different salutations.  I cut out an oval on the brown paper, used a lighter tan paper behind him and popped him up along with the little snail to make him stand out.  The message and the punches are from Stampin Up.

I am always looking for a card for a guy.  They are hard to come by.  This digi stamp comes from dudetimedoodles.com.  I like the message.  I cut out the basic image, popped it up on StampinUp paper and then cut around the yellow paper to make it stand out.  This stamp reminds me of my Dad who was sitting in a hammock and fell out, but suprisingly was able to hold on to his ice tea without spilling a drop!

I used all StampinUp materials, except for the ribbon and topaz rhinestone on this card.  I needed to make a sympathy card.  I stamped the "Bordering on Romance" stamp on watercolor paper and then used my watercolor pencils.  The message is from the Petite Pairs set.  I cut out one of the blossoms from the set and used it at the top of the message with a topaz rhinestone in the center of the blossom. 

Here is another Mo Manning digi stamp.  I put this little one on a circle spellbinder, but she was too big, so I had to cut her shoes and a little of the bow before cutting the circle.  I also used another spellbinder in pink.   I used copics to color the image, StampinUp paper for the background and highlighted the bouquet with pink rhinestones.  Isn't she precious?  She will be the last little girl for a little while as I would like to try some other images. 

Here'a another little cutie digital stamp.  I used Prima paper for the background, StampinUp paper for the Spellbinders and brushed a little ink around the edges.  Hoping this will make someone happy on their birthday.

I received this beautiful bouquet for Valentine's Day from my wonderful husband who has so much difficulty moving around and since he does not drive and cannot get out to shop,  he had his grandson help him order these for me on the internet.  How special!  And Valentine's Day is HIS birthday! (I should have picked a nicer spot to take the picture.)

This is a little freebie digi image that I retrieved from Bugaboo Stamps.  Have you ever had good intentions of sending cards to certain people and even though you have many in your stash, you forget to send one?  Well, I decided to make several oops! cards just for that purpose.  Here is one of them.  This little guinea pig looks so sad, he had to become an oops! card.  And these cards can be sent even a week after the birthday.

Incidentally, Bugagoo Stamps issues a freebie digi stamp every Friday.

Here is a simple Valentine card which I saw on Splitcoaststampers.  You can make it as elaborate as you like.  The pattern for it is given at Splitcoaststampers.   The hardest part is cutting between the letters.  I used scissors, but when it was demonstrated by video, the artist used her cutting tool and it will probably look more professional if done that way.  Have fun with this one!

This is a cute little candy box I made in a card class that Wendy Janson had (see http://itsallaboutstamping.wordpress.com) last week.  Using all StampinUp materials, I filled the container with Hershey's Raspberry Hugs for Valentine's Day.  This would make a great little gift for someone you visit.  It is certain to bring a little cheer to someone.

Well I'm back.  Feeling somewhat better.  I found this little princess at Tiddlyinks.com.  There are many adorable digi figures at this site.  I used my spellbinders and Prima paper for this one.  Lately I have been attracted to using cute litte girl figures.  Since most of my cards go to women, this works.  However, we need to find more designs for masculine cards.  Anyone have any good ideas for interesting websites?  I have used dudetimedoodles.com. 

Sorry not to have posted anything in the past two weeks, but I have been under the weather.  I have had some dizzy spells, along with a pulled muscle in my leg, so I haven't had the ability to concentrate on cards.  However, I am beginning to feel better and hopefully will post something later this week.  Thanks to all of you who visit my blog.

Another granddaughter shares the same birthday as her sister.  Julie loves turtles in every form, so I had to make her a card with a turtle and with green paper (her favorite color).  This is a little digital turtle which I colored with copics and popped up; however, I am not sure where I got it, and I highlighted the hat with gold and a little yellow rhinestone.  The paper is from Stampin Up and I used spellbinders which I also popped up.  If someone recognizes the turtle and knows the artist, let me know as I would like to mention the artist.

This little girl is another Mo Manning drawing.  I couldn't resist this one.  This is a card I made for my granddaughter who loved to dress up when she was small. She's all grown up now, but I think she will like this card.   I used spellbinders, a Stampin Up punch and highlighted the digi picture with a little pink ink around the edges.  And I popped up the picture.   Also added a little sparkle and a pearl to the hat.

I picked my favorite card from last year to repost.  There is just something about this little lady that gets to me.  She is a real charmer with that distainful look.  Here's hoping this coming year will bring lots of blessings to all those who visit my blog.  Thank you for visiting!