MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Every year I try to make my Christmas cards and I never seem to have enough time and the process becomes stressful and a chore rather than a labor of love. Soooooo, last year I sent out store bought cards and saved the ones I made last year to send out THIS year. Currently I am working on NEXT year's card. I know that seems a bit odd, but it sure takes the pressure off. If I don't get the cards done it's no big deal because I can work on them after Christmas, even into the new year. Stress kills, ladies!!! Let's plan on living a long time :-)

This photo was oriented the correct way in photo program. I do not know why it sometimes does this sideways act upon transferring to blogger, but it does. Sorry about that. I've said it before, I don't know how to correct this. Would be nice if they had a way to rotate the photo after it's been downloaded.

Used for this card: Snowflake Cuttlebug folder, Spellbinder's Oval nestie, Copic markers to color the lamppost stamp, Cranberry Stampin' Up ink for stamping Christmas Hugs.
BIG CHRISTMAS HUGS TO ALL OF YOU! Shawna

*Note*  This is an old post from the former Paper Kisses blog. 

'Tis the Season

Good morning~  No, I haven't forgotten to post, it has just been crazy around here and I have had aand and dealing with a few health issues, so many things have had to be put on the back burner.  But it will all sort out I am sure.
This is a previous post from the old Paper Kisses blog, but truly I have not had time nor the energy to sit down and actually do any scrapbooking and when I realized I hadn't posted for TWO MONTHS, I though I should at least save a post or two from the old blog and let you know I am still alive and kicking.

This is my middle grandchild's pages

for his album. Obviously it is Christmas morning. My favorite pic is the one with my youngest son with his arm around Fletcher. Those two are something else. Jerry is such a good daddy! There are no mats on this layout. I let the tree-patterned paper be the only background and I didn't think mats were needed; I rather like the look of everyone being wrapped in fir needles! 
Thanks for stopping by today, hope your week is a good one.  Hugs, Shawna

Another Fall Project

Please Note:  This is an old post from the former Paper Kisses and Inky Wishes Blog. 

 I have been working feverishly (wipng my hand across my brow...) in Paint Shop Pro trying to get a decent picture of my project. It's glass and I find glass so hard to photograph. But here goes....

OK --- look's like it worked fairly well :-)

 I found this adorable apple plate at the local second hand store and thought it would be perfect for a little fall etching project. Cutting stencils is easy peasy with the Silhouette. The only real 'trick' is to make sure you leave enough of a border so the etching cream doesn't get on any part of the glass that you do not want etched. The leaf in the upper left corner was an after thought because I wasn't paying enough attention, and a bit of the cream got up there where I didn't want it. Not really a problem because I just cut another stencil and etched that part, but if you are working on something that wouldn't lend itself to any additions, then you must be careful.

I am making a note to myself to check back with the thrift store tomorrow and get the other three plates they had. I hope you have a fabulous week and I thank you for stopping by.

Hugs, Shawna

The Other Card

Good Sunday morning to you!  Thank you for stopping by today; I love it when you do. 

Today I wanted to show you the other cards I made with Lynne Stansbery's "Sunflowers Gone Wild" digital image.  As I said before, I love her realistic images.  You can check out more of her fabulous images at Squigglefly.  I colored up the four extra images I printed from last week's card project and had enough of the paper from DCWV's Lemon Flower Stack to make another card and a couple of tags.  I think I will try making a tag each time I work on a card so I have some on hand.  It doesn't take a whole lot of time or effort to make one up while all the supplies are right there on the table, and there is always cardstock and DP leftover.  And my remnants of paper drawer is chock full.  This sounds like a plan!!! 

 

A Salute to Autumn

Fall is officially here and I could not resist pulling out my favorite fall digi stamp from Squigglefly called "Sunflowers Gone Wild" by the very talented Lynne Stansbery.  I adore her realistic images.  Her sketches have all the shading practically done for you so it makes them very quick and easy to color.  I love to color, it is so relaxing for me, but even those who don't enjoy it, would like Lynne's images I am sure of it. 
While I had the digital image open I sized it for the card I had in mind, but thought why not fill the page with this fabulous image and have extras on hand.  So I duplicated my chosen size times four and then enlarged one just to have something a bit bigger to work with if the mood struck.
Today's card was pulled together with paper from the Lemon Flower Stack by DCWV, Copic markers for the coloring, and Melanie Muenchinger's sentiment from her Year of Flowers rubber stamp set.  Thank you for stopping by today.  Hugs and Happy Fall!  Shawna

It's Z Kid's Birthday

Hi all!  Are you lovin' the cooler weather or wishing for a return to summer?  We may all get our wish as once this stormy session passes we are supposed to return to warmer temps --- maybe almost 90 degress!  Wow.  Weather anymore is just too weird. 

Today I wanted to show you the birthday card I made for my grandson's 10th birthday.  He is such a sweet guy and loves his flag football, so I went with a football theme.  Sort of.

 

 

 

I thought it might be fun to add some hinges to this card to give a bit more interest, and I also ran the football die cut through my Grand Calibur using Fiskar's "leather" embossing plate to give some texture there as well. I used Liquid Pearls by Ranger to simulate the nail heads on the hinges and inked the edges of the balloons and the hinges with Color Box Cat's Eye inks. Adding just a bit of glitter (too much and my boy would protest!) to the sentiment with dark blue Stickles and stardust Stickles for the highlight on the balloons gave the card a bit of sparkle. You cannot see it in the photo, but some Liquid Glass by CTMH was used on the balloons to give them a shiny look.  When he opened the card at a local pizzeria one of the guests said "It's a Z card!" I knew it was a hit. 

 

Thanks for stopping by More Paper Kisses and Inky Wishes. Have a great week.  Hugs, Shawna

 

Silhouette Files:  Letter Z card base, football and helmet file, Happy Birthday Balloons, Hinge set

Paper:  Retro stack and bits and pieces from my leftover paper drawer :)  

 

Happy Fall!

Previously posted on the old Paper Kisses and Inky Wishes Blog.

Today I want to show you my first attempt at cutting a stencil with the Silhouette to use with fabric paints. There are products out there you can buy for this purpose but I got a fabulous tip from Kelly over on the Silhouette Plus forum about using ordinary freezer paper to cut the patterns. You select your design, load the freezer paper into the machine using the cutting mat and cut away! Next, place your cut template onto your chosen article and using a medium hot iron, fuse it (shiny down!!) to your shirt or whatever you are using. Fusing sounds permanent but I assure you it is not. It does, however, have enough of a bond to prevent the fabric paint from working its way under the stencil as you use your sponge or brush to apply the color. I did have a couple of spots lift but that was operator error because I moved the sweatshirt I was working on one too many times before I got down to business with the paints. Please keep in mind this is my first fabric paint project and while there are a couple of things I would do differently if I could do it over, all in all I am happy with the results.

I love that little tree. Hope you do, too, because it will be making another appearance in the next installment of Silhouette Sunday. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugs, Shawna