CPS Year in Review

CPS Challenge this week was to pick your favorite sketch from this past year. I looked through them decided to do CPS 110.

The sentiment is from CTMH My Farm and the wheat is a single stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms. I brayered Only Orange from SU! and stamped the background script in Only Orange. The wheat and sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip from SU.

Merry Christmas Everyone

My dear husband finally took the hint and opened the file that is saved on my desktop called "Gift Ideas For Paula". Granted, it has been there about 3 years but I knew eventually he would get it. In this file, I have websites with product numbers, the price and where to get coupons if available. I show how to order it and everything, it is pretty idiot proof. Not saying my husband is an idiot, but the easier we make it, the more likely we will get what we want for Christmas.

He came through this year and ordered me a few Stampin' Up! things I have been wanting (a stamp-a-ma-jig) along with a set of stamps from Flourishes. I wanted to make a card today using some of my new goodies. I pulled out my nearly new brayer and several Stampin' Up! inks and came up with this card. I love the silhouette image of the flower. What makes me the happiest about this card is the sentiment that is NOT crooked. I was never able to achieve this before but my new stamp-a-ma-jig made it a snap and now I never need to worry about a crooked sentiment again. Folks, they are worth every penny so please, get one. You can order them here from my dear friend Kristen.

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas Holiday.

Zindorf Inspired

I created these 2 cards after looking through Michelle Zindorf's blog. She made 2 cards I thought I could copy so I wanted to see how I did.

This first one my 4 year old daughter actually picked out and wanted to make so she helped me. We followed Michelle's tutorial closely and made due when we did not have the exact supplies we needed. My daughter was happy with the results so I guess it was a success. Michelle's card did not have 'wind' but my daughter was adamant about it needing wind so we added the swirls.


On this card, Michelle had birds sitting on the ground but I didn't have birds so I got to use my little boy and girl stamp. It reminds me of my daughter and her favorite cousin who is 1 year older than her. She loves him like crazy and this stamp always reminds me of those kiddos.

Agggh! I Used My New Brayer

This was my first attempt to use my new brayer I got at the workshop I attended last weekend. I did make a few mistakes. Not having someone walk you through every step makes it a little harder but all in all, I think I did ok.

My biggest mistake was forgetting to remove the mask I had in place for the moon BEFORE I stamped my trees. When you do this, the moon is in front of your trees and makes for a very strange scene. So I removed the mask and then stamped the trees again. If you look real close, you can tell but I think if I never would have mentioned it, it may have gone unnoticed.

Second, the moon is still just a touch too light behind the trees, I think you are seeing it a little too much. I should have taken a sponge and darkened in that area with black or a dark blue maybe. I will try next time.

Last, my wolf is howling away from the moon instead of at it :-) I guess they do this...right? I should have put my moon on the right side so that wolf was looking toward it but I didn't plan on putting the wolf in until I was nearly finished with it. Oh well, next time.

Overall though, I am happy with it. My brayering was good, my artistry and planning just need some work. I look forward to learning more about this technique and trying new things. If you want to learn how to really do this, look at Michelle's blog here, she is the queen of brayering and creating beautiful natural scenes on her cards.

Beautiful Card Warning!

I drove to Nashville, IN this weekend to attend a workshop presented by Michelle Zindorf. I have been a fan of her work for over a year, she makes beautiful sunset and scenery cards starting with a blank piece of white paper. Please see her blog here, you will be amazed. Many of her cards are created using a tool called a brayer which is a hand held rubber roller. By rolling the brayer in ink used for stamping, she colors her backgrounds and creates beautiful realistic scenes.


In the workshop, we were taught how to use a brayer and a few sponges to create 3 cards. We got a great set of stamps, the brayer, a white gel pen and a stamping pad for attending the class. I am very glad I finally attended one of her workshops because she was a great teacher and I am sure I will be able to put my new brayer to good use.

Best Friends

I love, love, love this stamp. It is called Best Friends (3733E) and the company is Rubber Stampede. I think I got it at Hobby Lobby. This image reminds me of my daughter and my nephew. They love each other like crazy and as soon as I saw it, I had to get it.

This card was very simple. I masked the sun with a circle punched out of a post-it note. I sponged yellow and orange ink in the sky. Then I masked the ground by tearing a post-it note and drug Old Olive across the paper until the grass was filled in how I wanted it. I stamped my sentiment which I think goes perfect with this image. The sentiment is Stampin Up Winged Things.

A Few for the Guys

These really have nothing to do with each other but I still had not posted them so here ya go. The tractor is from Close to My Heart but all the other stamps are from Stampin Up!.

I love this Windmill

I have had this windmill stamp since Christmas and it just met ink this weekend. I love it. It is so simple and can go with about any kind of sentiment. I also want to point out that I stole these ideas from other very gifted stampers, thanks for the inspiration.

Masculine Sympathy

I was asked to make a few sympathy cards for a local business. They wanted a mix of masculine and feminine cards. Feminine cards are no problem but masculine cards are TOUGH. The ribbons and sparkles are what make the cards spacial but I just don't feel like you can do that and still have a masculine feeling card. The good thing is I just bought a few sets the other week so that I would have a few more options when it came to masculine cards. All the stamps used on these cards are from Stampin Up.

This card has an embossed background and I used Lovely As A Tree and Close As A Memory.

This card also uses Lovely As A Tree and Close As A Memory.

I got to use one of my new sets on this card...Nature's Silhouettes...and also Close As A Memory for the sentiment.

Another new set on this one...Pocket Silhouettes...and Close As A Memory for the sentiment.


I think I achieved several good looking masculine cards using these sets.

Sunsets and Scenery

Sunsets and Scenery is my new 'line' of handmade cards. Although I do make them, all my inspiration for these cards comes from a talented stamper named Michelle Zindorf. She is very talented and I hope that after I copy some of her work and learn more about colors, I can start to come up with my own ideas. This is a new concept for me so be patient as I learn and hopefully improve.