Greetings from Westover Cards!

 Greetings from Westover Garden Cards! Life gets in the way too many times but I want to pop in and share what I have been creating.  Since Close To My Heart has closed I have been combining my vast supply of stamps from various companies.  I have also been trying to destash, which is so hard.  I have donated  many stamp sets but still have way too many in my craft room.  I probably need a 12 step program, Lol!

Most of the stamps used in these are from CTMH.  Other favorite companies are Catherine Pooler, Hero Arts, Concord and 9th and Altenew.

Thanks for stopping and send a hug in an envelope to brighten someone's day!

Marilyn

This one can't quite reach the planters on my front porch!!!

Sheetload of Cards!

 Greetings!

I recently attended a Card Maker Success Summit Crafter Hangout which was leaded with ideas and new techniques.  One of the classes was taught by Crafty AL and we learned how to make a Sheet Load of cards, 12 to be exact, with 3 sheets of patterned paper and one sheet of cardstock!  I have so much patterned paper so I got to work.  Paper is some leftover from an older pack from Close To My Heart.  I love how they turned out!

 

                                                   Both are from retired CTMH sets.

                              From the new CTMH catalog and SOTM for March, 2023.

               This cute gnome with flowers in his beard is from Hedgehog Hollow.

                                                               Inside of each card.

To find more inspiration, Google Crafty Al, and you can find many of her Sheetload of Card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dry Embossing with Scraps

Craft time has been difficult to fit into the schedule.  Anyone else find it hard to get crafty?  To get my crafty mojo going I took a class at Altenew Educators Academy and have learned some unique techniques.  I have seldom dry embossed with dies but this card used leftover heart shapes instead of dies!  I have lots of leftover shapes waiting to be used so I grabbed some hearts and set to work.  I am happy with the results.

The stamp set is from Colorado Craft Company.  Love the Bunnies!  The embossed hearts are left over from various dies I have in my stash.  They had been cut from 110lb. cardstock which helps to make the impression crisp.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty day!

Crafting on a Rainy Day

 Rain is coming up the coast so I am ready to craft!  Do you ever go to your craft space on rainy days?  I spent time coloring Yetis for Christmas.  I got this set from Maker Forte last year but never used it until now.  These Yetis make me smile on a gloomy day.

This is a new fun fold I learned from watching stampin_heidi on Instagram.  Very clever and easy to do.

Happy crafting, rain or shine!

Marilyn

Catching the Christmas Spirit

 As you know I am working on Christmas cards and tags.  Today's card was inspire by Jennifer McGuire and a technique she shared in Online Card Classes for Holiday Card Workshop 2022.  I signed up for this series and I am loving the great new techniques I am learning.  This one uses a large shape and many die cut greenery.  I dug out an older set called Custom Ornament Thin Cute {Z3533).  I also grabbed some dies from The Greetery that I have in my stash.

I love how this turned out!  The paper behind it is an older set of Christmas paper from CTMH.  Although I don't think I would ever mass produce this card, I would make some more for some very special people!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a crafty day!

Marilyn

Tag, You're It!

 I have been busy with Christmas tags for a fundraiser I am part of in November.  Need tags?  They are fun to make and once you start it is hard to stop!

I have multiples of all of these.  Backgrounds are a mix of paper, Distress Oxides, Spray Oxides, Snow glue, Marshmallow paste and shimmer sprays. 

Now I hope people will want to use handmade tags this year!  I made some last year and gave as gifts.  Some hung them on trees!!!  

Thanks for stopping by,

Marilyn

Late Summer Class

 Good Monday morning!  Summer is flying by and a few of the area schools are back in session.  Last week I was part of the Altenew Academy's Crafter-Class Late Summer 2022!  I learned a lot of new techniques and I am creating some great cards.  I still have a few sessions to review and more homework assignments to complete but this card is from the first day. 

Tip I learned from the class was to use a stencil to dry emboss the background.  I love the result!

You can see the dry embossed area clearly in the next photo. 

I made enough to create multiple cards!  Each stamped image has been embossed with clear embossing powder using Altenew Obsidian Black pigment ink. 

Until next time, happing crafting!

Marilyn

Tuesday Tip

 Good morning!  Weather has been more like fall than summer on the east coast but I guess that will change later in the week.  I have been trying to clean and re-organize my craft room these past few months.  I keep running into things I forgot I had and get distracted, so progress is slow.  I am sure a few of you can relate to that problem.  A friend of mine recommended having a "Magic Mug" to stash all my created pieces until they found their way to a card.  Perfect!!  That is until it overflowed on the first day.  i needed a much larger "mug". 

                                                     Enter my "Magic Mug" 

 As you can see it is full and much larger than a mug.  I do know where to find pieces to finish cards however and that is a good thing.  I recently went to the Mug and found four things to use on cards for soldiers in Ukraine so I was happy!  

Tip for Tuesday...start a "Magic Mug" and see where it takes you!  Thank you Laurel for the great idea!

Enjoy Life's Moments

Marilyn

Good Morning

 Good morning and I hope you are staying warm.  I hate winter with the cold and the snow.  I am also trying to remember what life used to be like before Covid took over!  I have not stopped making cards but I sure have slowed down.  I miss having my monthly workshops and I miss getting together with my crafty friends.  Lets face it, I miss getting together with my friends, shopping and going on vacations!!  

With that said, I need to get back into creating, and joining in with creations for challenges!   I will share a few of my latest creations and hopefully return to actual blogging.  A habit that never really took off I am afraid.

I fell in love with these cute snow bunnies from Catherine Pooler Designs last year and they are still a favorite of mine.  I have a lot of bunnies that spend the winter in the huge bushes that line our front walk and the many pine trees around our house.  They venture out on warmer days and my grand dog loves to chase them!  To her dismay, she is never fast enough.

The temperature is up to 12F!  I hope you are staying warm and I hope to sign in again real soon!  

Stay warm and enjoy life's moments!

Marilyn 

Just Us Girls, #576

 Good Monday morning!  While surfing through Pinterest I found a new Blog and challenge group called Just Us Girls!  Check them out at justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com. This weeks color challenge caught my eye.  Dark Green, Yellow and Grey...hummm.  What I ended up with was not what I started out to create 😄.  

After collecting my paper, Evergreen, Lemonade and Mink, I used a new die from Close to My Heart called Floral Background.  Card base is Nina Solar White.  I first die cut  a green piece and a yellow piece.  Next I fussy cut out the yellow flowers and used Bearly Art Precision Craft liquid glue to adhere them over the green flowers.  That glue works perfectly for these small pieces and it dries clear!

 

It took some time to find then all but I love the result!  I adhered the green panel to a piece of the grey and and then to my card base.  Dark grey gems were added to the center of the flowers and I heat embossed the sentiment for the front.  The only stamping was the sentiment on the front and also on the inside!!!  

Inside sentiment came from Catherine Pooler set called Shine On Sunflowers.

This was a fun card to make and I will make some more with different colors!  Thanks for stopping and I hope this brightens your day!

Marilyn

One Layer card with Flowers

Today I got out my Prismacolor Pencils and went to work coloring a beautiful Altenew stamp set I had not used .It is from the Build-A -Flower series, Canterbury Bells.  

We have had snow storms, one after another for the past few weeks so coloring flowers has been a mood lifter!

Colors used were:

Green - PC914, PC916, PC1034. PC942

Green - PC989, PC912, PC1096, PC911, PC1091

Brown flicks - PC948

Weather today is warmer and NO snow!!!  Thanks for stopping by.

Layering Class

Welcome 2021!  

Last year seemed to take forever to end.  Part of the summer was spent  recovering from Covid 19.  I had a mild case but it sure does take a lot out of you.  I hope to get back in my creative groove with more classes and become more diligent in posting my work.  I just finished my Layering Class 1 for my Altenew Education program.  It has taken me a long time to finish the class, not because it was difficult however. I used Garden Hydrangea and Painted Butterflies, both from Altenew.  The background for the first card was done with Warp Speed stencil, also from Altenew.

I plan to be back soon with more class projects.

   

Thank you for stopping by and have a beautiful day!

Marilyn

Ice Cream Weather

 Good Monday Morning!  Every Sunday evening the local Ice Cream truck comes to my small town.  You can hear that familiar jingle for many blocks and I often wonder how many rush out to get an ice cream cone.  When my kids were young, they would beg for money and meet the truck as it came down the street.  Those memories came to mind when I got this cute Ice Cream truck set from Catherine Pooler.  I had not used it until now but I love the trucks and sentiments that came with it. The stamp set is "I Scream, You Scream" and is still in the shop. Next time you hear that jingle, rush out and buy a cone..."Life is Short", eat ice cream first!

Thanks for stopping by and take time to enjoy life's moments!

Good Morning, I'm Back!

Good morning and I am back with an update on my craft room!  It has been finished for a few months now and I am so happy with how it turned out.  I am still working on the best layout for working and I still need more storage shelves but they are hard to find with Covid-19.  I will be patient in the meantime.

As you can see I have a LONG and somewhat narrow room which is above a 3 bay garage, all heated and air conditioned!  There are 5 dormers with with windows and the two large windows on either end.  My living room furniture and a few antique pieces fit nicely.  Also a sink area is perfect!  My old house has not sold yet but there are interested parties so fingers crossed.

I have not been crafting as much as I would like but I have been busy with a few projects!  I have made craft kits and sold quite a few.  One was geared towards kids with cards they could make and send!   Of course, one kit was flowers only!  With having to cancel my in person workshops for now, this has been a good way to keep in touch with my customers and get some new ones!  

 

Now it is time to get crafting today!  I hope you have a great day and check back soon!