The Latest From Waltzingmouse Stamps!

I've been playing with Claire's first sets for a while, but I haven't posted any of my projects....yet!!! But when I saw this little house in her second release, I was simply inspired to do it simply.



I stamped the image with black PTI ink directly on to my PTI kraft paper and used my Prismacolor pencils to color it in. I didn't use anything else! And I used the colored pencils without blending with mineral spirits or anything - I just colored directly onto the paper.

And the sentiments and sayings in this set are so much fun! I stamped the saying in the same black PTI ink directly onto the card stock again.



And of course I decorated the inside!! I don't consider a card done unless I do something to it on the inside! But that's just me....I love to get any kind of hand-made card! In keeping with the simplicity of the card, I only used the little square knot stamp included in the set, in each corner.



Thanks for looking and leave a comment to let me know what you think!!! I have a little 'Christmas in July' project I'm working on. I just hope I can get all of it done and posted before July is over! My 3 month old grandson and his mommy are coming for at least a week-long visit and I have to give up my stamping room so they have some place to sleep. Oh well, the sacrifices we Gma's have to make!! I take it any day!!!

Bye!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Yes, I'm a day early, but I won't have time tomorrow to post. I've been a very, VERY busy girl since my last post and I only have a moment to pop on and show you what I've been up to.



I'm making 20 of these to give to each family who will be sitting with us at the parade tomorrow. A card and a TON of cupcakes!! The parade is a HUGE tradition in our family. We have sat in the same spot on the parade route for over 30 years and it is mandatory that we get the same spot every year. It can get a bit tricky getting the same spot because we can't throw down our stuff until 5:00am. We used to be able to camp out days in advance to save our spot. We would bring a little tent, coolers, etc. and camp on our spot. However, the people who live along the parade route got tired of that and now, we can't 'throw down' until 5:00am. And it is strictly enforced - anyone caught 'throwing down' before 5:00am can be subject to a $500 fine from the city police! YIKES! So now we get there by 4:00am and just kind of stand on the area. Silly isn't it???? I know! We usually have anywhere from 10 to 100 people show up. It really depends on the weather, and with it threatening to rain tomorrow, we probably will only have 30 to 40. Why all the fuss over a parade? The parade in our city lasts about three to four hours which is unheard of in many cities. It is a long-standing tradition and with all the military in our family, it is a chance for us to support them in one of the best ways we know how!!

Okay - back to the card.....All the paper is by Papertrey Ink. except for the blue which is from Michael's. The red ribbon is also from Michael's. I used my Nestabilities to cut out the layered circles. I stamped the sentiment with Stampin' Up! Brilliant Blue ink and Lisa Johnson's release through PTI called Let Freedom Ring. It's a great little set and only $15!!! See that little tiny word 'happy'? That is a little stamp all on it's own - it is sooo tiny and cute - I love it!



























I glued a snippet of ribbon from my stash between my circle layers and glued some stars that I punched out on to that. I like how it looks like the stars are shooting out. And of course, I had to decorate the inside! The sentiment is from a retired SU! set that I have had forever. I added a little touch of glitter with my Gelly Roll by Sakura pen. I've had that pen for as long as I can remember and I use it a lot, but it looks like I haven't touched it because there is still so much ink in it.





That's it for the card. I hope you liked it. I wish you and your family a very happy and safe Fourth of July! I have a sign in my house which reads, "The land of the free BECAUSE of the brave" and if you have the opportunity over the weekend, I hope you thank a military service member for their bravery! TTFN!!!

Honu...for those of you not knowing what a Honu is...let me introduce you!

From Wikipedia: helonia mydas, commonly known as the green turtle is a large sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus Chelonia.[1] The range of the species extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Their common name derives from the green fat underneath their shell.

There is your "I learned something new today" factoid! I lOvE Honu (pronounced HO-new). They are fascinating to me.

Okay - back to the card. I picked up a couple of Honu stamps from Rubber Stamp Plantation.



The base is made with PTI Ocean Tides cardstock. PTI Spring Rain for the layering mat and Memory Box patterned paper, along with PTI Stampers Select White. I used my Nestabilities to cut and mat the circle images.




Above is a pic of the my big Honu all glitterfied....actually, I was fine with the way my big Honu looked and was done with the card. But as I let my mind wander, I felt that he needed to be sparkel-ly. So, I mixed a bit of SU! blue and green glitter, and applied it with my Martha ball-roller glue pen.

Below is a pic of the inside of the card...




And below is a close up of the inside....



Thanks for stopping by!

A Purple Sympathy Card

Yes, purple. Not a traditional black card. I had to make a sympathy card, and I don't know about you, but I like my cards to stand out a bit in a crowd. And with sympathy cards, they are often times white and/or black. My neighbor told me today her significant others' Dad died yesterday after a long battle with heart disease so, of course, I made a card.



I used all PTI products, except for the focal image, which is from the Stampin' Up! set Upsy Daisy. The papers are Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, and New Leaf, as well as Stamper's Select White. Lavender Moon ribbon and Plum Pudding Bitty Dot patterned paper. The sentiment is from PTI's FREE stamp set you earn if you buy 12 or more stamp sets during the year.....read about it here. Sorry about the white-out.....I wrote all over the inside and then remembered I forgot to get a picture of it. A few dew drops on the inside of the card continue the theme with the front of the card. I really like how the green from the inside shows through the Martha Stewart punch border on the front of the card.



I used my Cricut to cut out the papers for the sentiment using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. Out of all my Cricut cartridges, I use that one the most. It has an alphabet and so many shapes you can use... love it! The sentiment is popped up using foam pop dots and a couple of Robin's Nest Dew Drops for a bit more dimension.



Here is a closer picture of some of the detail. Being a non-traditional sympathy card, I think this one is actually quite nice!



Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Princesses Challenge!

Time for another challenge from the PTI Princesses Blogging Group! Lovely Leah posted her challenge - read about it here. I needed a quick birthday card for my Uncle and this is what I came up with.



Super simple, super quick - I think I had it done in under 10 minutes. The hardest part was making sure I didn't leave inky fingerprints on it! I did have to re-do it because of that, but oh well!



I cut the center hole out using my Nestabilities and the paper and stamp set are from Papertrey Ink of course! The stamp set is the freebie you get when you purchase 12 sets throughout the year. You can read about it here. I don't know if they are going to continue doing it again this year - I hope so! You can't go wrong with free stamps!



And finally a closer picture of the inside. Again, simple and quick! If I would have had more time, I probably would have gone back and added some Stickles or glitter or something, but no time for that today!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Remember......

It's Memorial Day today. A day set aside as a national holiday to remember all of our service members, past and present, who have given their lives or are currently serving our country. I'm proud to say that my son is one of them. He is currently half way through his second tour over in Iraq. My cousins' daughter is another. She has served one tour in Iraq and is currently half way through her first Afghanistan tour. My other cousins' son has just completed his first tour over in Iraq. We are a military family if you haven't figured that one out yet! So while these brave young people serve their country, today we will honor them and those who went before them.

Which leads me to today's card....Remember. What a fitting sentiment to use on a Memorial Day card! It comes from Lisa Johnson's set which, I'm sure, she didn't think would be used on a card for Memorial Day, but it certainly filled the need!



The stars along the left were punched out of the blue piece of scrap paper that I had in my stash. Once it was glued to my Pure Poppy red, I added Diamond Stickles to the shapes, because I'm all about the bling where ever I can get it. The ribbon is from Reasonable Ribbon.com. The flag is actually a punch I have. I punched it out of Stampers Select white cardstock and layered it on to a piece of Pure Poppy red and then added some dimensionals to the back of that so it would stand out a bit. The word, 'Remember' is stamped in Pure Poppy ink and adhered to the side of the flag.




And of course, I decorated the inside. I just used some of the stars that were punched out of the blue piece. Nothing fancy, but it continues with the theme from the outside of the card.




A fun little tidbit for you. Does this look backwards to you? This is the flag patch that my son wears on his uniform.



I asked him about it one time. He told me that the reason the flag is 'backwards' is because a soldier is always in motion. And since a soldier is always in motion, the flag is 'waving' behind them. Kind of like the soldier is a flag pole, and the flag on their shoulder patch is waving as he walks.

Also, if you have time, Cards For Heroes.org is having a big Memorial Day blog hop. Stop over there if you have a minute. You will be inspired by the blog hop and with what they do there. And take a minute to watch the video on their home page....try not to cry!

Remember.......