Happy Birthday to the best 5 year old in the world! She takes here crafting seriously and loves her purple scissors!  Love you sweet girl!  Diamond Press Apron. Paper, Family Fun, American Crafts.

I've become very fond of Diamond Press dies in the past couple of years.  These cards were made totally with dies and no stamping.  This type of card goes together quickly.  Diamond Press has many sets that include enough dies to complete cards without any stamping needed...even the sentiments.  It is a plus to have all the elements included in one set. 

 

A very simple card that I have in mind to send to a very dear friend with a long letter inside.  The simplicity made this a lot of fun to make.  There were only two dies to cut.

I decided to backfill the leaves for some added interest.

 

Diamond Press Cozy Cottage stamp and die set is featured in this card.  This set is so easy to work with.  The designer did a wonderful job of combining the small pieces into one die. It also prevents lost dies. 

I tried a few with craft cardstock.  I really enjoy working with it.

The little flowers are made using a die from the Nesting Sentiments set by Diamond Press.

The teal color card stock mixes well with the craft cardstock color.

The background die with the scallops and little holes is from Lawn Fawn.  Absolutely one of my favorite go to dies.

 

 Happy Birthday shaker card for my good friends!!  Diamond Press dies.

 Making flowers seems like the height of creativity to me, and Diamond Press made these so simple to do. I layer them on my pokey tool with a few dots of glue, then top it with a center.  I also love these large sentiment die cuts.  The background die is Lawn Fawn.  Note the background die on the You are loved card and the recessed leaves.  This is a cool background perforated die from DP.

 Tea is a thing in my family.  We take our enjoyment of it seriously.  Diamond Press dies, Art Impression stamps and one other (tea cup) that I will need to look up and edit this post.

This is one of my favorite all time cards.  Made with all die cuts from Diamond Press.

 Diamond Press, Fall Card

 Hello There! Art Impressions watercolor vintage shoe card.

Sizzix "You're Flamazing!"

 

 A Diamond Press shaker card!  I added my cousin's picture in the background for a perfect card.

SUMMER BARN

The summer of 2016 found the Bobb's helping to clear the land and make way for a new barn.  Whew! what a project.  There were a lot of large trees that had to be removed.  I confess I was more than a little worried.  Genealogy research had revealed that several stories of ancestors who met their end by felling trees.  God was watching over everyone and the worst injury for our crew was a few annoying cases of poison ivy.  We have a lot of summer birthdays.  This one in commemoration of the new barn!  This card is made with a plethora of Impression Obsession dies.  A little different for me as not one stamp was used.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A cute little maternal owl cuddling her sweetie in the forest from Lawn Fawn is the focal point of this Mother's Day card.  The set is called "Mom and Me" and features furry foxes and feathery owls.  This card is Air Brushed and colored with Copic Markers into a cheery little scene with sentiments' of love.  Mommy letters and flowers are from Impression Obsession.

THE JOYS OF GRANDPARENTING, Rediscovering Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter had owned her first Lake District farm, Hill Top in the village of Near Sawrey, for a year when she began work on The Tale of Tom Kitten. She shows Tom and his sisters living in the farmhouse and getting into mischief amongst the flowers of the beautiful cottage garden that she had created herself.

Three little kittens, Mittens, Moppet and Tom Kitten.  They had dear little fur coats of their own and they tumbled about the front door and played in the dust.  The little kittens mother, Mrs. Tabetha Twitchet expected company for tea and so she fetched the kittens and washed and dressed the girls in clean pinafores and tuckers.  She Tom had gown, and he had outgrown his finery.  His buttons burst off.  Mother sewed them on again.  Mother Twitchet unwisely turned them out into the garden to be out of the way while she made hot buttered toast. She directed them to "keep your frocks clean children, you must walk on your hind legs, keep away from the dirty dust ash pit, and Sally Henny Penny, and from the pig's sty and the puddle ducks.  They fell outbut later finds them in total disarray.   Moppet and Mittens walked down the path unsteadily.  Presently, they trod upon their pinafores and fell on their noses.  When they stood up, there were several green smears....

You tube has the stories, all complete, read in lovely English accents ready to stir young and old imaginations.  Happy Times.   

The card is created with a rubber stamp from Crafter's Companion.  Copic Markers were used for coloring.

FUN! FUN! FUN! WITH FLOWER SOFT!

Can I say it again...this was so much fun! The images are pre-printed from a Flower Soft card kit.   Flower Soft  is a 3 dimensional product that adds dimension and color to where you apply it.  It has a rather spongy texture to it.  

The pieces are very tiny, about the size of sesame seeds.  When applied in quantity to an area of flowers, it  brings them to life and adds a dimensional aspect to the card.  You can see the Flower Soft on the card below in the orange and yellow flowers.

I have seen Flower Soft in two sizes, one is regular and the other is ultra fine.  The Flower Soft used on these cards is the regular granularity.

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The kit comes with pictures on cardstock to cut out and layer.  The curtains are two layers and the valance is a layer.  Before I layered them onto the window, I ran them through an embossing machine with a textured embossing folder to give them a look and feel of fabric.  The embossing folder is called square lattice and is made by Stampin Up although it may be retired now.

Note that tiny pink and lavender butterflies.  I cut those using the Brother Cut 'n Boss.  I was amazed that it would be capable of cutting something so tiny, but it did a wonderful job.  It cut several different colored butterflies that did not have a black outline.  However, it does not cut yellow.  It seems that yellow just doesn't register.  I don't' know if the size had any bearing on that or not.

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Flippin for Flip-its!These

I started designing these cards in February wehn the Stampin Chix were supposed to meet.  Unfortunately, the weather was bad on the day that we were to meet and so I didn't get to make them that day.  February was so dreary that I think I was yearning to work with some bright and cheerful colors.  I got my chance in March when I made a trip to Florida and had a little extra time to put these cards together.  They are made with the Sizzix Flip-its die cuts and Graphic 45 paper.  I like that the Sizzix dies not only have a die to cut out the card itself, but they also come with dies for the layers on the card.  Fabulous!!  Now if they would just add another layer or two, they would be perfect!  My chicken is looking kind of streaky here.  Not sure why and I don't recall that it looks that way in person.  I will have to take another look at it and maybe do some blending.  That is one of the reasons why I like to blog.  Seeing the picture on the computer screen helps me critique my work.  The Copics are really great too in that you can go back long after you have finished a project and rework the blending.

The images and sentiments are from Artistic Impressions and are rubber stamped with Ranger Archival ink.  The orange daisies across the top are a Martha Stewart Punch.  Those were not on the original card, but some adhesive ran amuck and I had to do some damage control.

I picked up the dimensional embellishments at Joanns.  I'm not sue what the brand is.

Love this cute little owl guy!  Overall, I give the Flip-its a thumbs up and five stars.  These cards went together very quickly with no measuring.  They also come in a little plastic durable pouch so that you don't have to worry about losing all the little pieces.

A Mother's Day Card for a Very Special Lady

Hello, today's card is for my sweet Daughter-In-Love's First Mother's Day. .  What a special day!  She is a world class mother to my lovely little granddaughter.  Each day, together, they discover new adventures around every corner.  Kaydence is the delight of our lives.  I am so thankful for the gift that Kim has given us.  Being a grandparent is just great!

The image is a rubber stamp from Stampin Up.  Stamped with Distress ink.  I airbrushed white flowers with Copics.  The image and scalloped oval were cut with Spellbinders frames.

The greenery is an Impression Obsession die and cut on some colored velum cardstock.   I was pleased with the light airy look that it gave.

Bugs Hugs for Hubs!This wee

This week my husband and I celebrated our 41st Anniversary and I made this card for him.  He has always been fastidious when it comes to his wardrobe and when the business offices moved to casual dress, he instituted his own dress code known affectionately as "Dress Up Monday".  Dress Up Monday is topped off with a bowtie and matching sox.  So, the bowtie was a perfect embellishment for his card.  We had the day off work and went to see a movie.  It was a wonderful day with a wonderful man.

Rubber stamps are from Fiskars set Vintage Jar.

The cardstock is a premade card by The Linen Closet available at Joanns.

"with love" stamp placed in stamped frame and airbrushed with Copic markers.  Embellishments are from American Crafts Do It yourself embellishments..