The Big Day is Almost Here!

Dear friends,
Here it is, Thanksgiving Eve!

We are packing up our car and heading to our beloved Calistoga in the
beautiful Napa Valley. It is extra--beautiful in fall with the vineyards aflame with color. Can't wait! We will be connecting with loved ones, enjoying the warm and healing mineral water pools and relaxing. Oh, yes! There will be some delicious food, of course!

This is another of the Thanksgiving cards that I made this year and I think it is my favorite. I can't help but smile at this adorable turkey by Neat and Tangled - even the little dots are cute, don't ya think?

The tag die from Hero Arts (I shortened it a bit) and the sentiment is an old one from Crafty Secrets. I love this embossed wood grain card stock from Ellen Hutson - it is so rich! I die cut (Paper Smooches) the leaf from some wide cork ribbon that I got at Michaels and attached it with Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher. The top is a strip that I made from several scraps of patterned paper.

Wishing you and your families a very blessed Thanksgiving. Thanks for the visit - stay safe and happy.

Count Your Blessings

Happy Monday, dear friends!

A quick post today to share another card that I made with the JustRite Autumn stamp set that coordinates with Spellbinders Labels Twenty-two. This has an entirely different look.

I added a sentiment from an old Crafty Secrets set which was stamped on a Hero Arts Frame Cuts tag. Dressed it up with some burlap, ribbon and a vintage button from my stash. These were pretty quick to make, so I made a few. I never have enough Thanksgiving cards! This is going into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog challenge.

The weather here is finally changing and there is rain on the way - Yay! So sorry about all the devastation the weather recently caused in the the country and the world - my thoughts and prayers are with you who are affected.

Have a good week!

Summer Card Camp Week 4

Since it is the last week of Summer Camp, don't you think we should get S'mores? Come on! If not, I might just short sheet your bed.

Well, yes, it is the final week of my online Summer Card Camp - thank you, Jennifer and Kristina! It has been so amazing. This week's color combo is dear to my heart - ocean colors! You all know that I am a true mermaid gal, so I am in my wet glory.

In addition to the colors, Jennifer provided us with a video just bursting with ideas and techniques. I have incorporated a couple of them here, the acetate window and the letterpress techniques. Jennifer made this look so easy, but I had some troubles! After all, she is the brilliant professional.

It was difficult to photograph, but there is a strip of clear acetate (a Hero Arts clear acetate card) on the front of the card. It is stamped with Hero Arts "Magical Background" stamp (which I think looks like waves) using Stazon Ink. Doesn't it look like the turtle and the mermaid are floating in the water? For the letterpress effect I used Royal Blue Colorbox Ink in the Cuttlebug embossing folder with the wave design. It all makes a big splash!
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The turtle is Hero Arts E996, the mermaid (don't you love her tan?) is A Muse 1-6134D and the shell is Crafty Secrets SL26 - all colored with Copic pens and highlighted with Stickles. The funny sentiment is from Memory Box, embossed in white. The seaweed is from a sweet Die-namics die and it is inked with Distress Inks. The tag is from Spellbinders "Ribbon Tag Trio", the pearls are from my stash, and the ribbon is a gift from my sweet crafty and Hero Arts flickr group pal, Barb!

Wow! What a line-up, eh? Maybe we should call this card the manufacturer's buffet, since so many different ones have been served up!

Summer Card Camp has been a truly great getaway - lots of fun and inspiration. Thanks again to everyone who taught us and for all the crafty pals who played along. Is that "Kumbya" I hear in the background?

Distressed Turkey Girl

Distressed Turkey Girl
Originally uploaded by mkmermaid (Maureen)

And why is she distressed? Is it because sometimes the holidays bring out the worst in us? Nah, it is the inking technique I used to give her a vintage and aged look! I love this little "Crafty Secrets" gal, so proudly riding in with a grin on her face.

This card has lots of layers and lots of distressing. I stained the twill with some tea to antique it. Two Hero Arts stamps (CG119 & K52850, a hand-cut doily I made with my Nesties, and some twine. It needed something else, so I dug out a little charm from my stash.

I may not give this one away......sorry, family!

Offset Scallop Gallop - Argyle Pumpkin

Cath at Moxie Fab World designed another super challenge - her Offset Scallop Gallop! Woopie! Where does she get these crazy ideas? I actually made three scalloped cards (I guess I got into it!), but this is my favorite. I took this photo from the side to show the argyle pumpkin's dimension. Hero Arts Stamps F4031 and CG187 were used. I stamped the "Stitched Pumpkin" 3 times, cut it into sections and mounted them with dimensional dots. The vintage image is from Crafty Secrets. I also used lots of distressing, a Fiskars punch and I topped it all off with some great ribbon and a pin from my stash. Thanks for this crazy challenge!

It is really starting to feel like Fall here and the mornings are as dark as night. Darn! I am just not ready. People are actually decorating their houses for Halloween! No way! I plan to wear peddle-pushers and tank tops for at least another week, even if I have to wear a sweatshirt over it all. I want summer to last all year! I'm off to put on some sun screen and look for some watermelon - have a great day!

Happy Monday! This is a diorama card featuring a cute mermaid (love those gals! Can you tell?) from Crafty Secret's "Mermaid Clear Art Stamps". I actually won this set earlier this year from Sandy, the gal who does it all there! What a treat - I have really enjoyed this adorable set. Check it out, they have really neat crafting supplies. I completed this card as part of a challenge at Splitcoaststampters where I just made my first ever post.

The front of the card features the Crafty Secrets sweet sentiment, a seahorse, rhinestones and some Cuttlebug fish. The inside of the card has three layers of ocean life, so it only took about two days to complete - ha! It kind of reminds me of my old ViewMaster! The images are colored with Copics and some are suspended on thread to add to the 3-D look. I added some Tahiti Beach (MuddPuddles.net) sand and layers of torn paper for the beach. Don't you want to jump right in?