Life Changes

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I still love being creative, but a few things have required my time in the last little bit.

We traveled to Washington DC to see our oldest son come home from deployment, but his ship got turned around to go to Syria and we missed seeing him come in. Our youngest son was able to get the time off from work to go with us, so we continued with our plans and saw so much of what makes this country great.  We were great traveling buddies and tried to see as much as possible.  I think everyone should go to Washington DC and see the amazing monuments and museums.  I loved seeing the honor paid to our founding fathers!

Once Chris's ship came into port (without us, ha!) he got leave as previously planned, so that made his girlfriend, Ashley, very happy, and us too, of course. We met him in San Clemente, where his cousin was getting married. We had a great time there too! We're such fun people, after all. Then we drove home and spent time with Ashley's family. So that took up the month of August and September. Oh, we went camping at Pinecrest, California in August also, a very dear family favorite! It never changes.

October was spent on another trip to Cali for an adoption shower, company coming to our home, and my mom coming to live in our home due to deteriorating health and after all that....here I am!!

Somewhere in the midst of all that, I made this card, using Washi tape and an old sentiment I've had forever, but fits well with the simple design of the card. A little baker's twine and wa la!! This is not my creation, it is inspired from something I saw on Pinterest probably. It's such a cute, easy card to make.

I do hope that I can make some cards in the "in betweens" and stay in touch.

Thanks so much for looking!
Lorelei

Summer Card Camp 2!! Day 1

Yesterday was Day 1 of On Line Card Classes' Summer Card Camp 2. I love Jennifer McGuire (as you know) and Krystina Werner is also a fave of mine. The class goes for 3 weeks and I have completed my first card for the class.

The fun trick on this card is learning how to pick a phrase and stamp it in a chevron. It's actually easier than it looks. I stamped "thinking of you."  The "Happy" is letters from Thickers by American Crafts. Jennifer used a wonderful die that says "hello" on the sample but I don't have that die or anything like it so I chose these letters from my (dare I say it?) abundant stash!

The banner on this card lifts up and says "Birthday" underneath. It definitely is a Happy little card.  I'd like to make another one doing things a bit differently. But heavens I might not ever post anything that way!

This was a great way to use up some bling that has been hanging around for way too long with no good purpose until now. Wahoo!! Who doesn't like to use up their (abundant) stash?

Well I've got to get a move on since officially the rest of the class is on Day 2!!

xo,
Lorelei

A Sailor 4th of July Card

We just got back from the San Francisco Bay Area where we visited with family and good, dear friends. We enjoyed a HOT day at my Brother-in-law and Sis-in-law's celebrating our country's independence on the 4th. The next day we went to Carmel and Santa Cruz, where the weather was much cooler and in fact at Santa Cruz it was glorious! The next day we cheered the Giants on as they beat the Dodgers (just because we had come all the way from Oregon ;-). It might have had a little bit to do with Mad Bomb pitching for the Giants, I guess, and there was some hitting going on for our team too! Yes it's been a while!!

This is a card I made for my sailor for the 4th of July. The Anchor stamp (anchors and maps make me so happy) is from Michaels brand Recollections. Isn't it the coolest?? The ribbon is from either Joann's or Michaels. I think a set of notecards with just the anchor stamp would be great for my sailor son to write home on, don't you?

Inking -- My Favorite Way to Play

Yes, I love to play and get dirty! I always have. In fact, to this day it is really risky for me to wear white.  It is a magnet for me to spill on or get some smudge or smear up.  So I guess it's a natural for me to love ink and all the wonderful things it can do to make pretty backgrounds, unlike the smears on my white capris.  The fun is in not knowing what your going to get and so I keep trying new ways to get the ink onto the paper.

So, with that said, here is another card that I made for my card class at Anna's house.

I used the foam applicator to apply Ranger Distress Inks in Scattered Straw and Barn Door to the card and then stamped the beautiful Penny Black stamp called Dreamy in Versamark and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. The sentiment stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with clear embossing powder is a Penny Black stamp also.

 

That's all I have to share today! My Navy son's girlfriend are going to make a scrapbook page to send to him. It gets displayed for the sailors on his ship to see how awesome his family and special girl are!

 

I'll be back soon to share more inky goodness.

 

Hope you are having a marvelous summer so far.

 

Hugs,

Lorelei

Penny Black Poppies for Anna's Class

I haven't posted many cards from all my wonderful Penny Black stamps. These stamps are really my faves.

One of the cards that I made for the boards in January (all designed by Angela Kennedy) used this super fun Poppy stamp.

I love all of these cards, I need to make some more just for my personal stash. Aren't they awesome? Well the same stamp looks very different when I changed the background.



 

The background was created with Distress Stains, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Picket Fence on my Teflon mat with a little spritz of water.  I used a manila tag and dragged it through these wonderful colors. Patting the tag into the color that I wanted more of and then heating the tag with my heat gun to dry it.

 

I stamped Penny Black's background stamp called Circles and Lines (40-084) in Picket Fence Stain on the dry tag and heated that and blotted the tag with a paper towel where necessary. I applied Peeled Paint Distress Stain  and spritzed it with a little water onto the stamp Verdant (4310K) and stamped the card a couple times and dried the tag again. Finally I stamped the Poppy Image  in Versafine in Black Onyz and heat embossed the image with Stampendous Detail Clear embossing powder. As a finishing touch I used a Picket Fence Distress Marker to color in the buds.

 

I mounted this image on black and then yellow that I embossed with a Darice embossing folder called Stripe Background to carry the stripes in the stamped image.

 

This is one of 7 cards that I'll be teaching at Anna's on Saturday, June 22nd at 10 am. If you're in town come on by I'd love to make cards with you.

 

Have a great weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's who have given their time and resources to raising great kids.

 

xoxo,

Lorelei

 



Happy Graduation - Mojo Monday297

The sketch below was great inspiration for a graduation card I need for Friday. I love Mojo Monday sketches because they're so creative. This week I just couldn't wait to add my touches to a great beginning.

 

 

So this is my take on this weeks sketch. It's a graduation card for my son's girlfriend who is graduating from Nursing School. I fell in love with a 6 x 6 pad of designer paper I got at Target!! It's called Color Crush by American Crafts. The colors in these papers are so pretty and the designs are super fun and easy to work with. Combine that with a beautiful sketch and you have a "Happy Graduation" card for a brilliant new nurse!!

 

 

I used an old stamp (one of the first ones I ever bought years ago) from Autumn Leaves for the flower and Swarovski crystals to embellish the central flower and some of the others. The sentiments are from Hero Arts. I didn't add the panel that is in the sketch because the pretty flowers in the paper would have been covered up.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look at my creation. I hope you are having an awesome week. 

 

Hugs,

Lorelei

Update on Life

When one doesn't update their blog since March and it's June, I think a word of explanation is necessary.

 This is my dear mom and her dog Molly. Recently we found out that my mom has a bad liver. This was caused by taking too many vitamins over the years that were too much for her liver and so her liver has become very damaged. The doctors thought her swollen belly was caused by ovarian cancer. They took the ovaries out and saw this bad liver while they were there and guess what? There was no cancer, but there was cirrhosis of the liver!! 
So we've been going to lots of tests and scans to see how bad it is. She's taking it pretty well, but there are lots of days that she doesn't feel well and can't sleep. Please pray for her she is a pretty wonderful mom and grandma.
It has been nearly impossible for me to concentrate on making cards and being creative, as you might imagine, but I hope to get and keep motivated.  We all need a creative outlet to keep us happy and healthy and while it is difficult I am going to try to get my mojo back. You are my witnesses.

With that said, today I am going to share a card I made for my son, Chris's girlfriend, Ashley back in March.

The background paper on this card is from Paper Pizzaz that I get at Joann's. The other papers are from My Mind's Eye and the charm is from Frost Creek Charms, I think. I like the sentiment that I stamped onto vellum.
I hope life is a bowl of cherries for you on this nice warm day!!

Hugs,
Lorelei

One Stamp 4 Ways

I am so excited about the Joann's (Grants Pass) card class coming up April 3rd and 17th!  The day to get the class for half price is all day April 6th. I'll see you there at the Open House sometime between 1 pm and 3 pm on that day. (I have a card class that same day at 10 am,)

The theme of the class is One Stamp 4 Ways.

Stamping and heat embossing 

Coloring with Distress Inks
 

Coloring with colored pencils
 

     Don't Forget
The day to get the class for half price is April 6th.

Stamping directly onto printed paper

I also have a card class at Anna's, here in Grants Pass, on April 6th at 10 am.  These are totally summery cards and are so cute you must see to believe!



There will be 7 cards at Anna's class for $20. Included in the price will be cost of these super fun Creative Memories stickers, pre-cut card kits and the inks and ribbons and use of my stamps.

Please RSVP to Anna here.

Trendy, fun cards!!  Who wouldn't love to receive one of these happy cards for their birthday!

 

I would love to see you at one or both of these classes!!

 

I hope you are enjoying spring!! The sign in our town says "It's the Climate" and it's never more true than at this time of the year.

 

Blessings,

Lorelei

 



Cards Using Stickers! Great in a Pinch

I promised to show you the cards that I've created for the Joann's February Card Class and here they are! (need your best Price is Right voice here).

 

These are 2 of my favorites. I used K&Company "SW Nature Bird" dimensional stickers from Joann's Frabric. The card stock is from Joann's too. These are both the color pallets that I love the most.

 

On Saturday, I gave a class at Anna Bearden's house. These are the cards I created out of Creative Memories stickers.

 I have lots of fun with stickers and cardmaking. If you need a fast card, this is the way to go. You can buy stickers in advance from any craft store and with cardstock to match, you have an instant greeting!  The card on the left has Washi Tape, (it's kind of a big deal right now) a cute sentiment from Stampendous and some punched butterflies from an old Creative Memories punch that I love and use ALOT.

The card on the right has a Martha Stewart envelope located in the Scrapbook section of Joann's and some My Mind's Eye paper.

What a beautiful day today was!
Bless your tomorrow,
Lorelei

It's Been a Bit of a Break!

Between Christmas and the boards I make for Penny Black during January, I've been a little scarce here.  Please accept my sincerere regrets. I thought of the time I spend here updating you on my passion for making cards often and I never seemed to able to take that break. But I'm back...

 

This is my favorite Christmas card. I just had to show you because it was so easy. The paper is from Basic Grey, Aspen Frost collection. The ornament is a Sizzix die and the swirl is from a Cricut cartridge called "December 25." There's a bow and a stamped sentiment. Done! Save this idea for next year. A Cricut machine and a Cuttlebug can save you when have several cards to do.

 

This is the Valentine's Card I gave to Stan, my hubby. The paper is from My Mind's Eye. They are fave at the moment for having prints that are a good scale for cards and they coordinate so beautifully.  I'd where a top in these prints, I love them that much. lol  I love the corogated heart too. It's from Bare Elements. The birds are cut with a die but I can't remember where I got it!! I don't usually separate the product from the packaging but I'm sure you'll be able to find something similar. Birds are so trendy right now.

This is the board I've been busy with for all of January and will be for the rest of February! There are four cards to a board and I will have completed 184 cards when I'm done with the last 16 boards. It's a blessing to me that Angela Kennedy, who designed each of these cards is so talented. It's my pleasure to duplicate these beautiful cards.  The stamps used on these cards are from Penny Black. I think these stamps are my favorites.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with the sample of the cards I've made for my card class at Joann's Fabric in Grants Pass, OR and the cards for my class with Anna Bearden.

 

Have fun creating, the rest of the time you'll probably be cleaning!

 

xo,

Lorelei