Cards for Kids

Hello everyone!
Thanks for stopping by this summery Wednesday!

Have you ever noticed that I almost never post a masculine card or a card for children?  I guess I like to focus on cards I'd like to receive, completely forgetting that there are other types of people in this world who have birthdays--- like my soon-to-be three-year-old grandsons.  I just didn't have time to stamp while they were here, but yesterday I finally had a minute to sit down and stamp some birthday cards for them.  I hope that my daughter Amy will save the cards I make so that the children can enjoy them when they are older.  I'm pretty sure neither Luke nor Ben will be excited to receive their birthday cards this year.  Three-year-olds like things they can play with or eat.  Someday, though, when I'm long gone, I hope they'll look at the cards I made for Halloween, Valentine's Day, and their birthdays and remember how their Oma loved to make cards.   We don't think of paper as being terribly durable, and yet it lasts surprisingly well.  I still have a Christmas card that I received from my grandma when I was about 10 years old.  It is designed to hang from the Christmas tree by a loop of thread.  I've had it for approximately 55 years and thought it is a bit bent in places, it still looks pretty good. In fact, I think it has fewer wrinkles than I do!  I enjoy reading my grandma's handwriting and reflecting on those long-ago Christmases. 

So for those of you who have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children next door, I encourage you to make some "kid cards."  They are fun to make and you might enjoy the chance to experiment with some new stamp sets.  Here are the cards I sent to Luke and Ben.  They are really into trucks and construction equipment, so the set I Dig You (in the big catalog on page 69) was perfect for their cards this year

The sentiment is "Happy Dirtday" and the inside greeting is "I Dig You!"  The new Chevron embossing folder was perfect for adding tire tracks to the background panel.  The card stock colors are Whisper White, Real Red, and Midnight Muse.  I used Daffodil Delight ink for the vehicles and stamped the greetings in Midnight Muse.  The number three is from the new Memorable Moments set
(page 139 of the big catalog).  I hope you feel inspired to make some cards for children.  There are many fun stamps to choose from in the "Growing Up" section of the big catalog, which starts on page 59.  You'll find everything from baby stamps to footballs and from princess stamps to camping sets.  There's lots of variety to suit the interests of all ages. 

Today John and I are celebrating our 42nd wedding anniversary, so we're headed off to Cannon Beach.  We haven't gone to the beach in 3 or 4 years, so I think it's time.  Enjoy your day and don't forget to come back on Friday for another visit!

Susan

Clean and Simple Christmas...

Hello Stamping Friends!

Welcome to Monday and another post at The Classic Card!

Well, our Seattle family has packed up and gone home (yesterday) and we are getting back to normal around here, which means that the house is now pretty clean and awfully quiet.  No more pitter-patter of little feet, no more little voices calling for Oma and Opa.  It was a great visit though and we did lots of fun things. While they were here we celebrated the twins' third birthday a little early with cake and lots of presents. I did very little stamping for a whole week, which was a nice break from the hamster wheel I've been running on since I got back from the Stampin'Up! convention.  Now the pace picks back up with lots of fun stamping events on my calendar. I hope I'll see you at a stamping party soon!

I hate to be the one to remind you, but the holidays are sneaking up on us, even as I write.  Will this be the year that you finally get your cards completed before Halloween?  I've got a clean and simple Christmas card for you today that just might make that dream a reality.  I received this card at the recent Holiday Mini-catalog Shoebox Swap that I attended.  This great card is the creation of Linda Arnold, a fellow Stampin'Up! demonstrator and I just love the simplicity of it.

Here's a quick list of some of the products she used:  The ornaments are from the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set, page 3 of the Holiday Mini.  They're stamped in Real Red, Gumball Green, and Daffodil Delight.  The saying is from the More Merry Messages set in the big annual catalog (page 15).  The smallest ornament is cut using the framelits that match the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set (page 3 of the Holiday Mini).  Here's a great idea... you can purchase the stamp set and matching framelit dies as a bundle and save $7.95 in the process.  With that savings of $7.95, you could purchase one of the new embossing folders on pages 6,7, or 33 of the Holiday Mini.  The only embellishment is a rhinestone on each of the ornaments.  How easy is that?  You could make this card in quantity and not even break a sweat!  The stamping is simple and straightforward... nothing complicated here... and yet it is a very attractive card.

That's it for today, stampers!  I'm busily working on cards for upcoming parties.  If you'd like to join me on Saturday at Elena's party, please send me a quick email at sjrstamps@gmail.com and I'll add your name to the list.  The start time is 3pm at my home in Sherwood and the cards are going to be great fun to make! 

Happy Monday and keep cool!
Susan

Cute, Cute, Cute!

Hello Stampers!
Thanks for stopping by this sunny Friday!

I'm sorry this is going to be so short today, but the grandchildren are here and I'm going to make pancakes for breakfast, so I've got to be quick!  But I promised a card today and I'm going to honor that commitment.

I received this cute card, which was created by Kathy Milano, at a recent "shoebox swap" that I attended with other demonstrators in the area.  It uses some of the great stamps and accessories that are available in the Holiday Mini-catalog.  If you are trying to decide on a card for the upcoming holiday season,  this one might be just the thing for you as it doesn't include any time-consuming coloring or hand-cutting.  Check it out....

The three Christmas images from the Scentsational Season set make this card CUTE x 3! The colors are Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, and Very Vanilla, taken directly from the new Be of Good Cheer DSP, which you'll find in the big catalog on page 164..  Kathy used the coordinating Holiday Collection Framelits to cut out each stamped image, then adhered them to a sqaure of cardstock punched with the 1/1/4 inch square punch which was layered onto a scalloped square.  The scalloped edge border punch adds pretty detail, as does the Victoria crochet trim. The sentiment is from the new Greetings of the Season set ( 4 great greetings for only $11.95!!)  which is in the Holiday Mini on page 8.

Don't forget... my annual Jingle Bell Jump is happening on Saturday, September 8th at 10:30 am. I'll have lots of Christmas cards on display which will hopefully inspire you to pick a design, order your supplies, and get a jump on your cards this year.  An evite will be coming to your inbox soon, so please be on the lookout.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Susan

Busy times on Pinehurst Drive

Hello Stampers!  Welcome to Wednesday and The Classic Card!

Things have been a whirlwind of activity since Amy and the grandchildren arrived on Sunday.  There have been a lot of things going on, but stamping hasn't been one of them! 

We've been out to dinner, to the local library, and splashing in a fun fountain at Cannery Square in Old Town Sherwood. We've been hanging out in the back yard, playing in the sandbox and splashing in the wading pool. Today we're having breakfast outdoors at Hayden's (by the lake in Tualatin) where the children will be entertained by the Canada geese that are constantly taking off and landing on the lake. 

Yesterday afternoon, while the twins were napping, Emma and I enjoyed an afternoon of card-making.  We made a stack of birthday cards that she can take home to Seattle and use for her friends' birthday parties.  When you're 6, you get invited to a LOT of birthday parties!  But that's all the stamping I've done in the past few days.

I'm sorry I don't have a fabulous new card to share with you today, but I'll be back in stamping mode soon.  I have a fun picture to share with you, though, and here it is....



two freshly-bathed two year olds, headed for bed!  After a day of chasing these two around, all I can say is hurray for bedtime!

Check back on Friday, when I hope to have another Classic Card for your enjoyment!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Susan





Canning Season

Hello Stampers! 
Welcome back to The Classic Card!    Wow... that was one hot weekend!  I hope you were able to stay nice and cool with the help of a little air-conditioning, cool drinks, and maybe even a fountain or pool to splash in! 

All of this nice summer heat is doing its job to ripen all sorts of fruits and veggies and soon canning season will be here! That reminds me of a fun quote: "We eat all the fruit we can, and what we can't, we can."  Does anyone out there can anymore?  I must confess that my preserving is pretty much limited to making freezer jam these days.  But I certainly remember my mom peeling fruit, mixing, bringing things to a boil,  pouring into hot jars, wiping rims, and lifting the lids out of scalding water with tongs and carefully placing them on the hot jars.  Of course then there was the big canning kettle, the jar lifters, and all sorts of equipment.  And all of this slicing, dicing, mixing and boiling was done in a sweltering kitchen in late summer.  I don't know about you, but canned applesauce and canned tomatoes from the store taste just fine to me. 

So by now you are probably wondering if the heat has addled my poor brain.  I hear you thinking to yourself "What is her point?"  Well, I'm just leading up to showing you a fun card using the new Holiday Mini-catalog set called Perfectly Preserved, which you can find on page 29.  What a great set for fall cards!  And what's even better is that it has a matching set of Framelit dies, so that you can cut out each stamped image perfectly.  There's even some coordinating Designer Paper called Orchard Harvest. 

This cute card was made by Lynn Baskin and I received it as a swap at a recent stamping event for demonstrators.  The colors are Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White... always a classic combination.  She stamped the canning jar on a clear window sheet ( page 160 of the big annual catalog) with Jet Black Staz-On and then cut it out by hand.  The "just for you" banner comes with the set and she used the Bitty Banners Framelits to cut it out.  The cherries inside the jar are cut with the 1/2 inch circle punch and given a bit of dimension with a white gel pen (p. 157 of the big catalog).  Some white baker's twine adds just the right touch secured around the jar lid.  The new Delicate Designs embossing folder adds a pretty touch of texture, as does the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I think sitting down with this cute set and making some pretty fall cards would be a lot more fun than canning fruit in a hot kitchen, don't you?   

Well, stampers, that wraps it up for today!  Try to stay cool
Susan

Sunshine and Blue Skies Ahead

Hello stamping friends!  Happy Friday to one and all!

 Hurray!  It's almost the weekend and a fine one it is shaping up to be, with plenty of sunshine and blue skies... two of my very favorite things.  And while I love the warmth of golden sunshine and the cool azure of the sky together, yellow and blue aren't my favorite colors for home decor.  I know they look stunning together, but I guess my problem is that I'm just not a" blue person." Maybe that comes from my mom, who is totally into blue.  When I was growing up, there was plenty of blue (she collected blue and white china) and maybe I just got sick of it.  So when I grew up and started picking our things for my own home, I steered completely away from blue. But I must admit that blue and yellow look pretty together, as this photo proves.







My arrangement of hydrangeas and sunflowers reminded me that perhaps I should consider combining blue and yellow in a card.  So when I started looking around for ideas for one of my convention swaps, I decided to try out the yellow/blue combination with Summer Starfruit and Midnight Muse--- our newest yellow and blue In-colors.   Here's my card...

I used the new Blooming with Kindness set from the big annual catalog ( page 87) which includes a wonderful selection of elegant, scrolly sentiments.  I love it when a great image, such as this chrysanthemum, is combined with beautiful sentiments in the same set.  I used Very Vanilla and Summer Starfruit card stock.  The DSP is from the Designer Paper Stack in the 2012-2014 In-Colors ( p. 162).  I embossed the background panel with the new Fancy Fan embossing folder and added  some Summer Starfruit and Midnight Muse Stitched Satin ribbon,  tied in a simple knot, at the top. Now I've decided that while I'm still not into blue for home decor, I do love sunshine and blue skies on my cards!

So how about you?  What are your favorite color combinations for summery cards?  Do you hear your yellow and blue stamp pads calling out to you?  Maybe it's time to go stamp something pretty!
 Don't forget to come back on Monday, when I will hopefully have a new card for you.  Just a heads-up, though.... the grandchildren are arriving on Sunday and who knows what Monday will bring.  If I'm "MIA" on Monday, you'll know I'm busy in the kitchen, cooking up lots of macaroni and cheese... the twins' favorite food at the moment. 
Happy weekend everyone!
Susan

My Monaco Wow Swap

Hello Stamping People and welcome back to The Classic Card!

Well, there went July!  It just rushed past us while we lolling in the shade, reading a good book.  Or maybe we were grooving at an outdoor concert and we didn't notice she was tiptoeing past us.  Oh well, never mind... we still have August to keep us company.  I hope you are loving the nice summery weather as much as I am!  I'm very grateful for every ray of sunshine we get! 

The great Stampin'Up! convention is over and done, but not forgotten.  A few years back--- it must have been about 3 years ago--- I met up with some fun demonstrators from Kansas City, Missouri.  Like me, they stay at the Hotel Monaco each year and we met at the daily wine hour in the lobby. Here they are, enjoying the newly redecorated space which was "revealed" on the last day of convention this year.  We weren't too happy to have our favorite meeting spot closed for four days, but thankfully they finished the renovation and we were able to enjoy the wine hour in the lobby (instead of in a suite on the 15th floor) on our last night in Salt Lake City.



From left to right, they are Dana, Jeri, Tammy, and Paula.  This year Dana had the idea of doing a "wow" swap with just the demonstrators who stay at the Monaco.  There are about 10 of us who make a point of reconnecting every year.   I'm sure there are actually more demos who stay there, but we just haven't "hung out" together.  Since everyone's definition of a "wow" swap is a bit different, I was hoping they'd like my card.  Here it is and I hope you'll like it too.

The stamps are from Everything Eleanor... one of the most popular sets in the new catalog.  The colors are Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, and Whisper White.  For the front panel, I used Brushed Silver card stock and embossed the flourish from Everything Eleanor with clear embossing powder.  I used the new Fancy Fan embossing folder on the vertical white banner.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and I've embellished card with pearls and Daffodil Delight seam binding.  I took my color scheme from page 39 of the new annual catalog--- love the yellow and gray together!  If you have any summer weddings to attend, this would be an elegant card for the bride and groom! 

Now that August is here, I'll be sending out my August Stampin'Up!date, so be looking for it in your inbox.  There are lots of opportunities to stamp with me in August and I hope to see you at one or more of my events.  I'll be back here on Friday with another classic card for you.  Meanwhile, why not go stamp something pretty?

Susan