Go Granny, Go!

Okay, I lied. Or was seriously mistaken. You decide! You're getting an Autumn-themed card a couple of days before October because I need to upload Cath's latest Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger before I unplug for the weekend. So, here's the Trigger - all warm and cozy, old-fashioned and very fall-colored, just whispering a Thanksgiving card (and a warm hug).

The 3-D flower on my card reflects the textures and shape of the granny "squares" and is made by punching out heart shapes and folding them in half, length-wise. I applied them onto a circle. The card is embellished with some lace and a vintage button from Granny's sewing basket. I love this perfect homespun paper by K & Company and the cute stamp (colored with Copic pens) is from the Hero Arts "Days to Celebrate" set, LL775.

I smell the pumpkin pie in Granny's oven as we speak....yum! Thanks again, Cath! Have a cozy weekend everyone.

Rin Tin Tin

I recently took a neat "Altered Altoid Tin" class which was a special birthday gift from a dear pal. It was lots of fun and it stretched the limits of my creativity. I have not yet completed my class project, but I will share it when I do. In the meantime, here is an altered tin I made awhile ago as a birthday card. I decked out a tin, inside and out, with a butterfly theme and made a cute coordinating accordion-folded card for the inside. The card has lots of quotes about friendship. This was difficult to photograph, so I hope you can imagine it.

My only problem with these fun projects is that I don't like Altoids! If you do, please save me your tins! Have a wonderful day!

Friends - the best things ever!

Today is a bit of departure from my regular blogging. A little celebration of friendship! And do I ever have some great friends! I have great crafting pals, wonderful friends I made while I was working, neighborhood friends, friends from water aerobics, family friends, cyber friends, old college and high school friends - all amazing. And, of course, there is that very best friend ever - I'm married to him! I am so blessed, especially since I don't even consider myself a friendly person. Amazing! I am so thankful for all of you!

Spotlighted today is a most amazing gift made by one of my dearest friends ever. Can you believe it? It is even more glorious in person - it catches every little bit of light. I know this took hours of time and tons of talent to make and I love it to pieces. I have hung it where it is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing at night. What a testimony to a unique and wonderful friendship. Thank you, Antoinette!

Girlie Girl!

Let's go all girlie today! Here is a little card that I made some time ago. Isn't it just too sweet? Reflective foil paper was cut to represent the mirror - it just doesn't photograph too well. I colored it all up a with Copics pens, added a textured background and some cute designer paper, and tied it up with a sheer ribbon.

By the way, I have been producing lots of Autumn-themed goodies but I have decided not to hare them with you until October. Let's enjoy the last vestiges of SUMMER before we get too carried away with the holidays! Have a great day!

Another Asian Doll

chinese girl
Originally uploaded by mkmermaid (Maureen)

Here is another sweet girl with a bit of a twist. I used this great gold textured background paper to set her off and give her a bit of style. Her outfit is paper-pieced (where you stamp it onto printed paper, cut it out and add it to your stamped image). The Chineese character is from the internet and the sentiment is from Stampin' Up. Don't you just want to pinch her cheeks? Have a wonderful weekend!

From Silly to Serene

cute girl
Originally uploaded by mkmermaid (Maureen)

A little change of pace today. This sweet girl looks like she might have something up her sleeve. What do you think? Pretty cute, eh? The card front is a piece of Asian stationary that I found in a clearance bin years ago. See the cool mark in the lower left corner? The little Hero Arts doll is carefully colored with Copic pens (I'm still having trouble getting the photos to not look blotchy) and the mat is cut and dry embossed with Nestibilities dies. Some pearls for elegance and, of course, I had to add a bit of sparkle. This is going out to a special birthday girl. Thanks for looking!

Ruh-Roh!

My most amazing brother is 8 years younger, WAY smarter, and lots funnier than I am. Our age difference exposed me to some of the quirky television shows he watched in the 1960's - Fractured Flickers, Rocky and Bullwinkle, the original Batman series, and Scooby Do. Crazy memories! So when I saw these rubber stamps at a garage sale, I had to "scoop them" up. I recently made this card for him - with apologies to Hanna-Barbera - such fun! I grinned the entire time. Jinkies! Thanks, my bro......you rock! Have a great day!

Whoooo is having a hoot of a day?

Hi everyone! I am back from a long weekend. Today's card was made for my amazing former personal trainer - what a inspiration she is. She is NOT a pink, soft and flowery kind of girl - at all. This card uses one of my favorite Cuttlebug embossing folders. I lightly sanded the paper after the embossing. Some piercing, textured papers and home-spun ribbon add additional texture. A simple layout, some fall colors and a cute little owl complete the special card. I made the sentiment on my computer. You all have a hoot of a day!

My home is my castle!

While I usually keep my blogs about my cardmaking, today I want to share a bit about my weekend. We were up at our "Hideaway" in Calistoga (Napa Wine Country). It is just spectacular there - the beautiful vineyards magically change their glories with every season and the surrounding hills embrace with splashes of color and shadows. Put that together with the healing mineral water pools and hot tubs, the wonderful weather, the bike rides, the spas, the hot-air balloons, the yummy food, and - of course - the world-renown wines........what can I say? It is truly God's Country!

Our dear friends Sylvia and Susy joined us for some big fun. We visited the Castello di Amorosa, an amazing Tuscan castle and winery. The cut stone, forged metal, and even the torture chamber are all authentic! And the wine-tasting is fantastic. It is a history & wine-making lesson all in one. Check out the photos on the website - unbelievable!

I can't stop making these folded-flower cards - are you sick of them yet? The colors here were inspired by the soft, rich colors of the Castle. Enjoy!

Moxie Fab World Tueday Trigger

It's that time again! As well as the regular challenges by my pals at Hero Arts, I have also been trying to complete the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. That Cath knows how to pull my creativity from within. This week the inspiration is this delightful "Lipsylicious" - a glorious collection of lipsticks.

My card was inspired by the circles of rosy colors and the promise of sweet kisses! I clear-embossed my card front with the Hero Arts dotted background CG139. Other stamps are one by Heidi Grace and an old one from Michaels $1 bin. The cute Pebbles candy buttons are another score from my buddy Patti at Paper Maniac (where customer service is tops, btw!) and the ribbon, twine and charm are from my stash.

I cut and dry-embossed the image with Nesties in my Cuttlebug and used pink chalk (can you see it in the photo?) to highlight it. Colored with Copics. The guy had to have a blue shirt - hubby wears nothing else - I gave this card to him yesterday for our 13th wedding anniversary!

Ain't love grand?

It's a Girl Thang!

Today I thought that I'd share with you a card that I made a couple of weeks ago with my crafting pals. We girls get together every couple of months to make cards. One of us is in charge of coming up with all necessary (including ideas, supplies and guidance) for two cards, another is the "hostess" who provides the location and the coffee and goodies. It is always a great time and we end up with cards that we might otherwise not normally make. This vintage fashion card (sorry, I don't have the stamp details) was designed by Judy - rich and lovely - isn't it the bomb?

Girlfriends, especially of the crafting sort, are the BEST!

Dahlia Delite

Good Monday morning, bloggers! An elegant and simple card today - no stamping! I had a busy and fun weekend with friends in the Napa County wine country. When I got home I quickly made some cards for a weekend event hosted by Hero Arts to make cards for a worthy cause, Operation Write Home. Quite a cool program. So, this morning I folded up this beauty with some soft-colored patterned paper and added a huge glistening brad. Enjoy and have a great day.

Garden Girl

I don't know about you, but I sure hate to see summer on it's way out - the days are already getting shorter. Bummer! I feel like we kind of got gypped, weather-wise, this year. But, hubby is now getting a glorious (late) wealth of yummies from his summer garden. That's why I have decided to share this card with you today. She is one of the first images I ever colored with my Copics pens. Unfortunately, I have not yet discovered the secret to photographing the Copics-colored images. I blend the colors for hours and they look amazing, but when I photo them they look really blotchy. I assure you that in person this country gal is soft and sweet - no age lines from hours in the sun! The layout is simple, cut with one of my fav Nestie dies and embelished with a couple of buttons and twine from my stash.

Have a great weekend and eat your veggies!

Celebrate!

Celebrate
Originally uploaded by mkmermaid (Maureen)

I wanted to try the "burnished velvet" technique, using punches, stickie tape and super-fine glitter. Here it is, in all its sparkling glory, with my favorite wise guy! Enjoy!

Thankful for You!

Thankful for You!
Originally uploaded by mkmermaid (Maureen)

I really wanted to try one of the Hero Arts acetate cards for a fun, layered look. I used StazOn with the Hero Arts swirl background stamp on the front cover The shapes (3 of them) were cut out with my Nesties and I used HA Chalk Ink for the dot background on the front one and distressed the edges. Next, the house was stamped, colored with Copics (it looks lots better in person!) and cut out and applied. Finally the Thank You background was stamped with Distress Ink. All pieces were assembled with some twine and a vintage button. With lots and lots of surfaces, so this is a heavy card.

Good morning, craftin' pals! Here is yet another mermaid card - yes, I have a huge thing for those gals. A simple and sweet lass swimming among many bubbles - some stamped with Versamark ink using a Stampin' Up background stamp ("Beyond the Basics") and some dry ones embossed with my Cuttlebug. The mermaid is an old one (sorry, honey!) from Uptown Design Company which has been around since the mid-1970's. I colored her with Copics, added a sentiment sticker and some sea-worthy fibers. Gotta love her!

Come on, it can't be September!

A bit of a different post today, my friends. Someone - guess who? - had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. I hate being the center of attention (I hear rolling laughter from those of you know me in real space). Anyway, now that the celebrating is over, I thought that I would share with you some of the beautiful hand-crafted cards that I received from my craftin' pals. Aren't they something? I am so blessed! Thank you, dear friends! you outdid yourselves.