I'm not very good about sending out cards.
Ironic, I know.
I've made a resolution to at least send cards when someone is sick, recovering from surgery, or experiences a loss. I think those are the times when a handmade card is most appreciated.

Several of my friends had surgeries this summer (I already talked about one here), and I made some cards to wish them a speedy recovery.

This card went to a co-worker who had knee surgery in June.
She is also a card maker, so I felt a little pressure while making this card. I'm very pleased at how it came out - I was experimenting with techniques and colors and it all came together! I love it when that happens!

I used my newest background stamp with white embossing powder to create the background, then I took out some distress inks to color it in. I wet the paper first, then used a brush to pick up some ink and drop it onto the paper. I let the color go where it wanted to, adding more color and water as I went. It looked muddy while I was making it, but it dried beautifully! I love distress inks!

The friend I made this card for is also a card-maker, so there was a little bit of pressure to make this card a good one. I know she appreciated it, but I always like to present my best work.

Have you sent out any cards this summer? If not, you should! It feels great to drop a card in the mail and know that you will soon brighten another person's day.

What? You don't have any cards on hand to send? You can grab some of mine at my Etsy shop! (Remember, if you are local, contact me for a code for free shipping - I will hand-deliver your order!)

Happy Crafting!

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it here or not, but I Jazzercise. It's so much fun, and an excellent form of exercise. I've made good friends and lost some lbs all while having a blast dancing and sweating away.

One of my Jazz friends had shoulder surgery recently, so I wanted to make her a get well card. I wasn't sure what colors she liked, but I know we have matching shoes at Jazzercise, so that's where I drew inspiration from when I made her card.

I love the bright, fun colors! I used the smooshing technique that I wrote about a few weeks ago, but instead of putting the ink colors down in a grid pattern, I put them down in blocks of color. The result was less busy looking that my normal smooshing backgrounds, which let the background stamp really show well. I also used 2 of the new sentiments on the card. "Thinking of You" on the outside, and "Get Well Soon" on the inside.

The geometric background and the sentiment are embossed with black embossing powder. The background is matted on black cardstock and mounted onto a black card base using foam adhesive. The sentiment flag is also mounded using foam adhesive.

I wish my Jazz friend a speedy recovery and hope she returns to full Jazz strength soon!

Happy Crafting!

On December 20, 2008, one of my very best friends, Amy, got married. And for her wedding gift, I promised to make her a scrapbook - all she had to do was send me her photos. But, as it always does, life got in the way. Amy had a child, then another. I moved and got very busy with school.

We both just kind of forgot.

For 4 years...

We saw each other on and off through the years, but as Amy lives in Missouri and I'm in Minnesota, it was difficult to get together on a regular basis. So when Amy contacted me a few weeks ago with the news that she would be in Minneapolis for a day and did I want to get together, I knew that I had to finally fulfill my promise.

I had 9 days notice to create her book.

I finally got the photos printed, I stocked up on paper and embellishments at Michaels, and I dove in head first! 

After working on Project Life for so long, I was in the mindset of 'simple is better'. Which worked well for this book. The pictures were the important part, not the 'scrapping'. And for the first time in 2 years - I made a scrapbook page. And another, and another, until I had worked my way through the whole 20-page book!

So, without further ado - here are some of my favorite pages:

So there you have it! I had a lot of fun not only making the pages, but remembering back 4 1/2 years ago to Amy's wonderful wedding. 

And Amy loved it when I gave it to her - her daughter even looked through it with her, naming all her family members! 

Now I just have to do my own wedding album... it's only been 5 years... hehehe!

So, how are your wedding photos displayed? Do you have an album from your photographer? A scrapbook? Photos on your wall? Or *gasp* nothing at all!?!?

One of my most recent big projects was 4 boxes of all-occasion cards I made for Christmas for my mom, my mother-in-law, my grandma, and my aunt.

I had a lot of fun making these boxes because it was a little different than my normal way of making cards.
Usually, I will set out to make anywhere from 10 to 100 cards of the same design. It takes a lot of planning and preparation. I have to gather all the materials, make a demo, measure out all the pieces, cut everything, ink everything, put it all together, etc. But with this, I only had to make 4 of each card. And they didn't have to be the same! It was very freeing and it allowed me to revisit some old sets of paper that I had stayed away from before because I didn't have enough to complete a whole set.
So without further ado, here are some of the cards:

I ended up making a total of 15 cards for each box. Most of them were generic, like the colorful rainbow one above, and some of them had specific purposes, like the baby ones.
I think what I liked most about this project was that I knew who the cards were going to and I knew they would like them. So often when I make cards and put them up on Etsy, I feel like they just sort of disappear into the aether of the internet.
I'm hoping this website makes things disappear a little less. :-)