New Beginnings and a thank you card

Happy Saturday everyone! It's a new beginning for me - I retired from my career of nearly 38 years with the Social Security Administration yesterday!! I enjoyed the work thoroughly but felt it was time to leave - while I still have the energy to enjoy other things. Here I am with coworker Mai who gave me the sweet mini orchid:

And here's a photo from my work luncheon holding the springtime cake they provided:

After work I enjoyed Happy Hour at Joseph's Grill just across the Mississippi River from downtown St Paul. Coworkers, retired coworkers, family and friends joined me there for some delicious food & drink!

On my first day of retirement I was awake before 5a.m. - so much for sleeping in.... I made my card for next weeks Merry Monday post (I'll be guest designer) then I ran some errands. I came home in time for today's Scramble on the Hero Arts Flickr Group. Charlene's theme - Mix it Up (use stamps from multiple sets). Here's my card:

 Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts: CL663 Thanks a Bunch, CL943 Color Layering Bouquet, 

plus a few bits from a couple other layering sets; Simon Says Stamp: Falling Hearts background

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks; paper: Hero Arts Cerulean; Neenah Solar White

I have plenty more thank you cards to make for all the retirement gifts I received! I'll be kept busy for the first week anyway!! Thanks for stopping by!

A Christmas Carol

Yay for a Monday off - today is my last official Monday off in my work schedule; Friday is my last day of work! I'm retiring so I'll have many days off - LOL. More time for crafting, I expect.

On my Mondays off, I check out Merry Monday first thing. What do I find? My card from last week was selected as the challenge winner (Use a Church)!! Thanks so much to Wendy for picking my card! So stop back next Monday to see my inspiration as Guest Designer for the new theme.

This week, the fabulous Bonnie challenges us to make a card based on a Christmas carol. As a singer, I love this theme! I've sung so many wonderful Christmas carols but one of my favorites is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - great lyrics and a lilting melody, albeit a bit rangy. I knew last year's Hero Arts Merry Stamp&Cut would be perfect for this challenge. Here's my card:

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts: CG222 Music Background; DC170 Merry Stamp&Cut; Tim Holtz Christmastime CMS141 

Paper - Neenah Solar White & Hero Arts Pine; Mixed gems/pearls by Hero Arts; May Arts string twine; Stickles

Ink - Distress Inks - Pine Needles, Fired Brick, Twisted Citron; clear ep; Stitched rectangle die - SSS Bundle of Stitched Shapes

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop at Merry Monday for more inspiration to get your Christmas cards done early!

Merry Monday - Take Me to Church

Hey everyone - hope you're enjoying your weekend! In the midst of making Easter cards, I managed to complete a card for this week's Merry Monday. Wendy challenges us to include a church on your card. Here's my card:

Supplies: Neenah and Bazzill cardstock, diecut snowflake from stash, silver embossing powder, 

Copic Markers; Inkadinkado stamp set - Holiday Silhouette ; gems from Michael's, Wink of Stella

Wait a second - wasn't it black/white/grey last week?! Well, I wanted to use this stamp set last week but went off in a totally different direction. Thought I might do a second card but didn't have time. So, when I saw this week's card required a church, I said - yay - I'm going to make that card I was planning! I colored the church windows with a yellow Copic and added some Wink of Stella for shimmer, then highlighted the silhouette with a bit of blue at the bottom. I free hand cut the sentiment banner.

And here's a more spring-y card.

Supplies: Hero Arts Thanks Stamp & Cut, Sunny Studios - A Good Egg; Penny Black and Neenah Papers; 

Copic Markers, Wink of Stella; May Arts ribbon

A coworker lives on a farm, raising chickens and other animals. Every year at the silent auction, her farm basket goes for big bucks. She asks us to save egg cartons throughout the year and I bring her these sturdy plastic ones Target uses for their organic brown eggs. The other day she brought me a dozen farm fresh eggs and were they ever delicious!! So I made her this card to thank her.

I couldn't resist the darling A Good Egg set when I spotted it on Simon Says Stamp. This is my third clear set from Sunny Studios, not being able to resist some Christmas sets when SSS started carrying them. I made some Easter cards with A Good Egg but thought it would make a perfect thank you card too. I thought it would be fun to do another "inside/out" card as we did for last week's Scramble - I enjoyed stamping the egg carton on the inside. Beneath it, the card reads "you're a good egg".

OK - I'd better find some lunch and get my supplies for Easter dinner. Thanks for stopping!

Scramble Time - Inside Out!

Hi everyone - hope you're enjoying the weekend! It's a chilly one here - I started my morning when it was 28F - on March 19th - ugh! Very grey and gloomy too but no more snow, thank goodness (we had flurries yesterday)!

Over on the Hero Arts Flickr Group, Cindy is hosting a 24 hour Scramble - stop by and play if you're a member (or want to join). A Scramble lasts only 90 minutes but when we do a 24 hr one, you can pick the 90 minutes that work for you during the 24 hr period (which began 3p EST today). I started my 90 minutes right when announced and had my card created, photographed and uploaded to the group in about 75 minutes. Cindy's theme is "Inside Out" - have any element on your card that allows the inside details to show. For my creation I used a fun card with a trio of windows precut into it. I also trimmed off a bit of the right side of the card front to have some patterned paper showing from the inside.

Here's my card and the inside:

Supplies: Card from the Paper Cut "Triple Circle Mini Window"; Penny Black Painted Blooms 6x6 paper pad

Stamp set: Hero Arts CL929 Just for You by Lia; Die D-Lites Sentiments One Etched Dies - Spellbinders

Other: Tim Holtz Distress Markers; ScrapBerry gems; recycled ribbon from birthday gift wrapping

Special thanks to my friend Heather Maria for the ribbon and gems used on this card!! 

And now for another card using the Just for You by Lia stamp set. When I saw the card on this post by Yana Smakula over on the Hero Arts Blog, I decided I needed that set. It just arrived on Wednesday and I made a birthday card with it right away. Just hadn't had the chance to photograph it until today. Here's the card:

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts CL929 Just for You by Lia; CL661 It's Your Day
Ink - Hero Arts black & green inks from MMH kits; punched butterflies from stash
Paper - Hero Arts Cerulean folded card; X-Press It white cardstock - March '16 MMH kit; Neenah black cs

The pink butterfly is from Heather Maria - thanks again, Heather!!

Yay - now I have the final two cards I need for April birthdays. Don't ask me why I was so eager to get these done when I have to make Easter cards to get in the mail by Monday! Oh well....
 
Thanks for stopping and have a great rest of the weekend!

Black, White, Grey/Silver - Merry and Bright!

Back with a new Merry Monday post for Sue's challenge to use black, white and grey/silver on your Christmas card. Check out the wonderful Design Team cards - just amazing this week!!

I was "cleaning up" some piles of Christmas stamps and I ran across an old Hero Arts Merry and Bright clear set I got as a gift - thanks again Tami! I thought the medallions would be stunning embossed in silver on black. For the background I white embossed Hero Arts' Hand Drawn Snowflakes (CG685) on white, then applied Pewter Distress stain. When dry I ground some Hickory Smoke Distress ink around the snowflakes and polished up the white embossed areas. This gave the background some nice depth. Matted it with black and adhered to a white card.

Here's my card:

Thanks to Sue for the perfect challenge on a grey Monday! I'm off work today and have already run a few errands and gone to the dentist but I couldn't resist popping out a Merry Monday card this morning. Hope you're having a great Monday!! Thanks for stopping!

Roses in sympathy

Hey everyone - hope you had a great weekend! I'm so often blogging a Merry Monday card but today I have something else. Yesterday I was at a chorus retreat all day and came home to find a package in the mail. Amazing retreat btw but it was all about the package from Hero Arts! I ordered March's My Monthly Hero kit which has 12 coloring cards by Marianne Walker. Grabbed one of those right away to color with Copic Markers.

After I took the photo I added a few crystal Stickles at the top center of each bloom. I used Bronze Distress Stain to color the vase and it looks a lot more shimmery in real life. The banner is from Lawn Fawn's Bannerific clear set; the sentiment is from Hero Arts retired clear set CL342 Everyday Sayings.

And here's the inside:

I used a companion stamp set to the MMH kit called Marianne's flowers (CL964). Sentiment is from an old favorite Hero Arts sympathy set (CL476 retired; out of stock at SSS but see it here). This card goes to my sister-in-law who's auntie passed away last week. Sad reason to make a card but I love how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Buttons

Seems like ages since I've used a button on a card! They were all the rage a few years ago and I have TONS in my stash! Well, at Merry Monday this week we must use a button on a Christmas card for Nina'challenge. I had the perfect little wooden star button!

 Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Pine layering paper, Basic Grey pp - Juniper, Paper Studio Old World Christmas paper

Stamps: Hero Arts CL893 Kelly’s Noel; Other: Wooden star button - the Paper Studio, May Arts string twine

Ink: Pine Needles Distress Ink, embossing ink; white ep

Couldn't resist adding a little white button to the o of the sentiment. That's it for today and thanks for stopping by!!