Ducky Cards & Crafts

I'm Back!!!

2011-03-10T21:02:00.004-06:00

So I realize that I haven't posted in over a year. Not sure how that happened. I recently cleaned up my craft area and it seems to have inspired some creativity. Pictures according to photo order: 1) birthday card for my daughter's big buddy at school (her favorite color is black); 2) card for a soon-to-be divorced friend- the outside says "life's simple pleasures" and the inside says "she realized that without him she could enjoy life's simple pleasures--shopping for new clothes, new shoes and new purses; 3) cute little notebooks I made for a friends kids; and 4)calendars, clipboards and big clips for Christmas teacher gifts.

I am hoping that now with a clean space, and a clear mind, I can continue creating and maybe even blogging a little more.

It's been a long time!

2009-10-08T06:06:00.006-05:00

It has been a long time since I last posted anything. I have been creating cards, but usually it is one of those last minute "need a card" situations, so my blog has gone bare. I do have something to share today though that I actually remembered to take a picture of-whew. One of my good friends from H.S. is getting married (renewing vows really) so I offered to make her wedding invitations. We played around with some different ideas and styles and this was the final invitation. Because my samples were not in her wedding colors I wasn't sure what the final product would look like, but I love the way they came out. The invitation does go in an actual envelope too. It's a 6 x 6 square card, the template was actually for making an envelope, but I liked that it worked for this too. I blocked out all the personal and identifying info. What do you think?

April Calendar

2009-04-01T20:38:00.002-05:00

Here's the calendar page for April. This duck holding the flower is one of my favorite Amuse stamps. Has spring sprung in your area?

Color Challenge

2009-04-01T20:34:00.004-05:00

I have never done a color challenge, but I've been in a craft slump, so I thought I would give this a try. It was posted by Dawn McVey who is part of the Papertrey Ink design team and does some really cute and adorable things. Her challenge was to make a card using brown (chocolate), celery/moss, white and teal. This is a pretty simple card, but I really like the color combo and think it suits the card well. My picture taking definitely needs improvement, maybe it's my lighting? What do you think of the card?

Calendars

2009-03-20T17:38:00.003-05:00

Wow I am behind in posting stuff! I was supposed to make Amuse calendars for Christmas gifts-key words being "supposed to"-and didn't get them done in time. I just recently finished them. Here is pictures of the outside of them and also a picture of what my March page inside looks like. While I had my Zutter out I made a little notebook to carry in my purse where I can write down the names of books I read about or someone recommends so that when I'm at the library or bookstore I will actually remember the names of them. I used the books stamps from Amuse for this one. The other notebook I made at the request of a friend. She was getting ready to buy her daughter a charm bracelet and her first charm. She wants to take a picture of the charms as she buys them, put the picture in the book and then write a note to her daughter to tell her why she bought her that specific charm. Isn't that such a clever idea? I might have to "borrow" that from her once Annika gets older.

Hero Mail

2009-03-02T22:55:00.002-06:00

Geeta had a challenge on her blog to make some cards for Operation Hero Mail which sends cards to our troops serving overseas. I made her about 25 cards, all the same so it was easy to mass produce. Of course a card seems like such a small token when you think of our brave men and women who put their life on the line for our freedom. To our servicemen and women--You are my Hero!

Love is in the Air

2009-02-18T20:30:00.004-06:00

I have a couple of pictures to post from last week. Last week DH and I celebrated an anniversary and there was Valentine's day. I made this card for the hubster. It is very similar to one Rhonda made and featured on the Amuse Blog, but I thought it was so cute that I thought it would be perfect for the anniversary.

I decided to not make Valentine's cards for Annika's class this year and instead made Valentine's tube treats. Wish I could say this idea was mine, but no, I got this from the very talented Geeta who made them for Halloween and the Amuse Instructor workshop. The inside has Valentine M&M's. I made a quick tag with the milkshake stamp and on the back stamped "You're the cherry on top!" and "Happy (heart)'s day!" and then signed her name. I think they turned out really cute and the kids loved them.

Busy as a bee

2009-02-04T22:13:00.004-06:00

I haven't posted anything lately mainly because I've been busy creating, but then forget to take pictures to post. I'm still working on calendars-yes, I know its already February and I'm working on Annika's Valentine's day treats for school. I made this card awhile back, but never posted it.

The paper is from Papertrey Ink (Everyday Blessings and Aqua Mist cardstock). The stamp is amuse. I think the sentiment on the twill ribbon smeared a little. Maybe my ink was too wet for it. The Daisy Girl stamp is one of my favorites, makes me happy and think of spring. Are you ready for spring?

Share your spark 1.21.09

2009-01-21T21:38:00.003-06:00

Heather's share your spark this week is to make a card using some type of cutout. Maybe I had the Inauguration on the brain, but I chose to make a card using the flag from the Hero Mail set. I stamped stars on the background using white chalk ink, a little bit of scrap of blue gingham ribbon and the flag which I used spica pens on for all three colors. Overall I'm please with how it came out.

Bling!

2009-01-15T08:27:00.004-06:00

Heather Meeson (who is not only a talented card designer, but photographer) had a challenge for Share your Spark Friday to use some bling on a card. I always want to do her challenges, but never seem to find the time. One of my goals this year is to make more time for me and the things I love (crafty things!). So I set out to make a card and since I needed a birthday card for a good friend I combined the two. This is a lot of bling for me as I'm usually the more subtle type. I even glittered the red on the superhero suit and you probably can't see it very well, but the circle on the belt also has a gem/bling in it. I really like how it stands out though. Thanks for the challenge Heather!

Thinking about Heart Day

2009-01-09T06:14:00.003-06:00

Even though I still have Christmas decorations up (coming down today!) and I have yet to write Christmas thank you notes, I am already thinking of Valentine's day and my projects. I made this card awhile back for a contest or something, but realized I never posted it. I love this Elsye stamp from Amuse. It was my first Amuse stamp and I bought it last year to make my daughter's Valentines for school. The card ended up different than I planned, because of an "oops that didn't work". Originally the "U", which is a chipboard, was white and I used an ink pad to dye it red. I was then going to use a SU! polka dot background on it and emboss it in white. Well...because the chipboard was textured and not smooth, the stamp didn't come out quite right and it looked awfully. So to salvage it I decided to wrap the chipboard piece in ribbon. The color of my ribbon wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was all I had that would work. I might try this again with a better ribbon and see how it turns out.

Post holidays

2008-12-29T21:23:00.003-06:00

Okay, I really did do lots of holiday crafts and make all our Christmas cards, but I was in such a hurry to get everything done that the one thing I didn't do was take pictures. Agh! Such is life. This is a card I made early in December before life got chaotic. It was a birthday card for a relative. I also made the other card for my college roommate, as an engagement card, she's been engaged for 3 months now. Hey, at least she's not married yet! How does life just always pass me by?

Recycle and reuse

2008-11-17T14:40:00.004-06:00

I've discovered that many of my other crafty friends are much like me in saving things because you never know when you might use it which leads to hoarding things. I think my hubby tolerates it because on more than one occassion I've bailed him out last minute on a needed birthday gift for a co-worker. I've had these journals for a year that I knew I wanted to do something with, but I wasn't sure how or what because they had this 3-d chipboard thing on them. Well, I discovered that if I was careful the chipboard design came off completely and evenly not damaging the journal at all. Now of course I couldn't just throw these cute chipboards away, right? So, I made these cards out of them. The tag is a flower with a circle in the center and it says "I love your style" which is from a SU! set now long retired. I think it's a cute care for a girlfriend just to say "I'm thinking of you" or something. What do you think?

Crafty Goodiness

2008-11-17T14:36:00.002-06:00

I wanted to post these cute notebooks I made for a craft fair, but never got around to it. I had a few left that I took some pics of to share. I think the honey do's ones are so cute.

Christmas Card

2008-11-11T09:00:00.001-06:00

This was another card I made while back. I really like the way it came out. It's a 5 x 5 gatefold card, all are Amuse stamps, the white bow in the middle is holding it tied together.

Thinking of You Card

2008-11-10T20:22:00.002-06:00

I made this card for a contest awhile back and since it looks like I didn't win : ( I figured I should post it. Most of my cards have at least one stamped image, so this was slightly different since it has no stamping. Most of the die cuts are Quikutz, except for the flower which is Stampin' Up.

Weekly Challenge 10.31.08

2008-10-31T15:23:00.002-05:00

This card is for this week's challenge to make a card using no layers. It was a lot harder than I thought. I used spica pens on the mushrooms to brighten them up and also a white sharpie paint pen to add the dots on the mushrooms to dress it up. I thought there was too much white at the top, but I'm not sure I'm happy with the sentiment and how it came out. This was definitely a challenge and out of my comfort zone.

Family Stationery

2008-10-22T20:43:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine asked me to make some stationery for them to use as a family. I love this color combo because it was hip/modern, but not too girly in case her husband wants to use them. I used two circle punches for the top and a monogram stamp for their last name from Papertrey Ink in Chocolate Chip (SU!). I printed their names on the bottom onto my cardstock in a dark brown ink. I then layered the white cardstock onto the turquoise cardstock. The set has matching turquoise envelopes. These were so easy to make that I think I might make several sets for family gifts at Christmas and just vary the colors. Think people would like that as a gift?

Not MIA

2008-10-11T10:08:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I last posted, but I have been doing crafty things, including several cards. This is a card I made for my husband to give to a co-worker whose grandmother passed away. Sometimes I get so caught up with the ease of using Amuse that I forget to use some of my other stamps. This is a retired set from Stampin' Up that is a sympathy set that I've never used. I bought it mainy for the lily stamp. I used aqua mist cardstock from Papertrey Ink along with patterned paper from their Everyday Blessings set. I think it's just enough for a sympathy card without being too much. What do you think?

Stamp of the Week 9.27.08

2008-09-27T14:41:00.004-05:00

One of the stamps of the week on the Amuse Addict site is the birthday celebration set. When I first saw this set I thought "parade", so what better way to celebrate a birthday then with a birthday parade. I'm not crazy about the background paper I used, mainly because I don't think you can see it enough, but I do like the stamped portion of the card. I may have to make this one again with some different background paper. I also had to use a 4 x 6 card so all the stamps would fit on there.

Step It Up #6

2008-09-13T14:03:00.002-05:00

The Step It Up Challenge was to make a game or toy using Amuse things (paper, stamps, ribbons, etc.) Great idea! I got these tins from Papertrey Ink because I was sure I "needed" them, but this was the first time I used one. So the outside is pretty simple. Inside I have three different "things to do". The first two are a small notebook I covered in Amuse paper and did a simple stamp on, along with a few crayons. My daughter is into "writing" so this is perfect. The next are some puppet sticks. I stamped the Elzybell Princess stamp and made 5 of these (pink, blue, yellow, purple and dk blue) and used the small craft sticks for them. She can make each a different princess and do pretend play with them. The last is a tic-tac-toe game. I did the block on the computer and stuck it to the bottom of the tin. Then I made 5 "pieces" of each using the Daisy Trio stamp and Cupcake stamp. I used my 1 1/4 circle punch for the pink and blue backgrounds and then stuck some magnets on the back, so they won't get lost and they will stay in place when she plays with them. I love the fact that all of these things fit in the tin and it will be easy just to grab the tin and put in my purse for going out to eat or to church. What do you think?

Stamp of the Week #32

2008-09-13T13:57:00.003-05:00

The stamp of the week is love bus or mainly men stamp set. I needed a b-day card for my dad so this was perfect. My dad wore ties to work most of his life and as a kid one of my favorite things was to help pick out the one for the day. He had one that had an "S" all over it and I was sure it was for "Stoeckl" (my maiden name), but it wasn't until later I learned it was for "Safeway" (where he worked). The inside says "Tie one on!" Ha-ha! I stamped the shirts on pattern paper as well and cut the ties out so they are paper pieced onto the shirts.

Weekly Challenge 9.8.08

2008-09-08T17:36:00.003-05:00

The weekly challenge this week was to make a card using your favorite team's colors. My new spiral daisy stamp was needing some ink, so I decided this was the stamp. Being a Golden Domer (U. of Notre Dame), there are no better colors than blue and gold and what better card to use than Amuse's Irish Green card (that's really the color). I stamped the flower in night of navy and used gold sparkles for the centers. I'll have to send this to another Alum who will appreciate the choice of colors. : )

Stamp of the Week 9.8.08

2008-09-08T17:29:00.003-05:00

One of the stamps of the week is the birthday builder set. Geeta talked me into buying this set after using it in one of her classes. It has been worth the purchase as I've used it many times and used it for my grandma's b-day card (hard to find a card at Hallmark for someone who's 103!) and now used it for a b-day card for my cousin. I stamped the "Birthday" inside and the "18th" is on with pop dots.

Supplies: card and birthday builder stamp set, Amuse; pumpkin pie, night of navy, real red and wasabi green ink, Stampin' Up; pumpkin pie ribbon, Stampin' Up.

Weekly Challenge

2008-09-05T07:14:00.003-05:00

I needed several thank you type cards for some people who stepped up to help me with a last minute event I was asked to coordinate. Because I needed several and knew I didn't have a lot of time, I needed simple--think Amuse right? Even though these are for women I like the way these came out. Plus, I just ordered the Rock Star stamp and was dying to ink him up. Since I used the scallop square punches, these are great for Jennie's weekly challenge this week. As a rock star, he needed lots of shine, so he is all spica-ed up, minus shoes and hair.

Senior Patrol Leader

2008-09-05T07:04:00.004-05:00

A co-worker's son (Jack) was named Senior Patrol Leader for his boy scout troop earlier this week. Sounds like an occasion for a card, right? However, having only a daughter I tend not to buy very masculine type stamps. I knew Amuse had a hiker and boy scout stamp that would work, so I asked a few friends if they had either. Luckily Kim (http://www.freshaircrafting.blogspot.com/) came to my rescue with hiker guy. I inked him up last night and here's the result. I really like the way it came out. My husband even got involved because being a former Senior Patrol Leader and boy scout I needed help with getting the uniform the right colors, but I think we got pretty close.

The tent is the rectangle Marvy punch, modified and the "Patrol Leader" is cut out and on with dimensionals. Think he'll like it?

Supplies: brown card, Hiker stamp, Amuse; Apricot ribbon and paper, Stampin' Up; Copic Markers; Stampin' Up watercolor crayons in Old Olive.

Step It Up #5

2008-08-21T21:56:00.003-05:00

Rhonda posted a Step It Up Challenge to make teacher gifts. My daughter is only in preschool (daycare) and goes year round, but on Monday when most kids start back to school here, she moves out of the Twos room and into Threes. The Terrible Twos were not that bad other than the potty training, which we now have conquered. I thought I'd make her Twos Teachers a little "thank you" gift for all their work and care. This is an empty votive jar with lid that I got at Michael's. I used my Fiskars punches for the band around it, my Marvy punches for the top and we filled it with M&Ms. I think they turned out cute and were so easy. Think her teachers will like them?

Supplies: Cutie Pie Paper and Purely Pomegranate paper, Stampin' Up; Purely Pomegranate ribbon, Stampin' Up; Thank you sentiment stamp, Stampin' Up; Copic Markers; Superwoman stamp, Amuse Stamps; White Sharpie Pen; Circle punch and scallop circle punch, Marvy punches; Border punches, Fiskars.

Weekly Challenge

2008-08-16T16:14:00.003-05:00

In browsing the Amuse Addicts website I noticed the Weekly Challenge is now posted and am so glad I can do another challenge this week. My grandfather's birthday is over a week away and I've already made his card--big accomplishment for me! My grandpa worked in construction most of his life and was very good at it. I remember growing up when we saw him coming home my cousin and I would run out to meet him and fight over who got to carry his lunch box and who got to carry his thermos the rest of the way and into the house. I knew I needed to use the thermos stamp for him. I stamped it on the white and then paper pieced it onto the pomegranate paper as well.

Supplies: Clear stamps, Amuse; Purely Pomegranate paper, Stampin' Up; Copic Markers; Clear Spica; Marvy Punches; Argyle paper, Chatterbox; Bashful Blue ribbon and white ribbon, Stampin' Up.

My baby's birthday

2008-08-16T10:06:00.003-05:00

My baby girl will turn 3 in one week--where does the time go? I made Disney Princess invitations at her request. I was hoping that we might put off the whole princess theme for another year, but alas, no. I tried to convince her to let me use the Amuse princess stamp, but she adamantly told me that was not Cinderella, Belle, Ariel or Sleeping Beauty. She is way too smart for her own good. So after much searching on the internet I finally found some Disney Princess stamps. There's a lot of coloring detail in one of them and I was just going to stamp it in pink or purple so I didn't have to color it, but my husband pointed out that I wouldn't be happy unless it was all colored in (he knows me too well!). Anyway, here is the outside and inside of the invitation and I'm happy with how they turned out and Annika said they were "beautiful" so that's what counts.

Note: Because I am technilogically inept I don't know how to blur out or black out the details, so I had to resort to good old fashioned post-it note.

Supplies: Regal Rose paper, Stampin' Up; Yellow and blue paper, Michaels; Stamps, All Night Media; Copic Markers.

Weekly Challenge

2008-08-13T21:16:00.002-05:00

The weekly challenge on the Amuse Addicts website is to CASE one of the cards from the last VMAA and change it slightly or make the same card. I chose Jen's card from the "One Tree Hill" challenge. I loved her card immediately, but decided to change mine slightly. I used green rick rack for the stems and used a rhinestone brad for the centers for just a little more bling. What do you think?

Birthdays Galore

2008-08-13T19:58:00.003-05:00

I made this card for my Uncle who has a birthday next week. I really liked the way it turned out and think the clear sticker adds just enough bling without being too girly. Since I'm caught up on my birthday cards I'm hoping to try some of the Amuse Addicts challenges this week.

Supplies: Amuse clear stamps, clear sticker and notecard; Argyle paper, Chatterbox; Copic markers

Another one...

2008-08-07T09:23:00.000-05:00

My friend Rosa Maria's birthday is tomorrow. She is the sweetest, neatest lady you will ever meet. She is also a florist and she makes these beautiful arrangements that make you swear you've died and gone to heaven. She helps her daughters with their business, Mandardin Flower Company (http://www.mandarinflowerco.com/ shameless plug) and their work is gorgeous. Anyway, here is the card I made for her. Its a pop-up card, so I want to show the inside too.

Supplies: Daisy Girl , outside sentiment and Flower Cart stamp, Amuse; Flower bucket and inside sentiment, Stampin' up; Certainly Celery ribbon, Stampin' Up.

Happy Birthday

2008-08-06T18:57:00.001-05:00

Today is my friend Kiyomi's birthday, so as part of her gift I made her a set of notecards for her to use. Pretty simple, but I liked the way they turned out and I hope she did too.

Supplies: Pretty in Pink and Purely Pomegranate paper, Stampin' Up; Stripe Paper, Basic Grey; Purely Pomegranate Ink, Stampin' Up; Monogram Stamp, Papertrey Ink.

Busy, busy, busy

2008-08-04T06:43:00.000-05:00

It seems as if everyone in my family has a birthday in August. In fact, starting on the 22nd we have a birthday every day for five days. We also have a few earlier in the month and I have several good friends with b-days as well. Before I started making cards Hallmark used to love to see me coming. : ) I made this card for my cousin's son (who is also my godson). It's a pocket card and I'll put a gift card in there because I don't know what's "in" or "cool" for nine year olds.

The aftermath

2008-08-03T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last night was the first VMAA I participated in and I have to admit it was fun and pretty inspiring to come up with a card in 30 minutes AND have to think out of the box. It inspired me to not think so "the same" all the time when it comes to the card. The Gerber Daisy stamp from Amuse is one of my favs and I thought about using it last night for Jennie's "One Tree Hill" challenge, but I had made two cards earlier in the week using it so I thought it would be cheating. I posted one of them earlier, but here's another one. The color combo is inspired by some friends who have their own business and these are their colors for their logo. I'm not sure I like the ribbon on it.

Bonus Challenge for VMAA

2008-08-02T22:20:00.000-05:00

Julie's TV show pick is "Friends" and the challenge was to make a humorous friends card. So I don't know that mine is humorous, some might think its mean, but its all I could come up with given my stamps. This might mean I need some new stamps...hmmm...

VMAA Challenge #4

2008-08-02T21:46:00.001-05:00

Jennie's show was "One Tree Hill" which I am going to confess I am totally addicted to as well. Good choice Jennie!! So we had to pick one stamp and use it as many times as possible, but only use one. I couldn't decide between the Retro Martini or Party Chick, but then my husband brought me up a cold corona and well...the decision was made. Plus, after four fantastic challenges isn't everyone ready for a drink. The ice cubes are glittered with the messy kind of glitter, but it doesn't show up well in the photo.

VMAA Challenge #3

2008-08-02T21:25:00.000-05:00

LOST was the theme and challenge was to use your favorite amuse stamp, notecard, ribbon, etc. So I'd be "lost" without these two stamps and this pink notecard. I love this color of pink!

VMAA Challenge #2

2008-08-02T20:43:00.000-05:00

The theme was "Grey's Anatomy" and so the challenge was to make a love themed card. Everyone knows how dreamy you get when you're in love--right? It's actually a window card, but you might not be able to tell from the photo. Either I'm a bad photographer or I need to find a better spot to take my pictures.

VMAA Challenge #1

2008-08-02T20:19:00.000-05:00

This is my card for the first challenge. When I saw the picture I immediately thought of the flower cart stamp with the awning. You can't tell from the picture, but the polk dot paper is lavender colored and I colored the orange awning and cart with orange spica. The orange is also paper pieced, not colored.

Newbie

2008-08-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

This is my first post to my blog, so its a test run for tonight's Amuse Addicts Meeting.

Materials: Die cuts with a view yellow card; Gerber Daisy stamp (Amuse stamps); Stickles Orange peel and red ribbon.