Masculine Thank you

My children have been very lucky in that they have an amazing bus driver! I can't tell you how many times he has looked out for them! How many times he was running ahead of schedule, or I was running behind, and he has pulled the bus to the side of the road and waited for me to get the kids to him. He has pulled out in front of the house and waited a few minutes while they ran out to him. He has also on occasion dropped them off closer to the house, when he could, during bad weather. And then of course the fact that he makes sure they get to and from school safely. I drove kids back and forth to school for 8 years, and let me tell you, it is a thankless job!!! For this reason I always makes sure to get him a little something for Christmas as well as the end of the year. Of course I had to make a handmade card to go along with his little something-something.
I know it isn't colorful, and this isnt rhe best photo, but I realized last minute that my daughter needed to deliver it tomorrow, on her last day of 8th grade.
The boat is stamped then heat embossed withl.p. black powder. The grey patterned papwrs were from a stack I had on hand. The sentiment is from Fun Stampers Journey "Little BIG Greetings". I punched the sentiment out, layered it on another circle then adhered it hanging off the page and trimmed it down.

Card Request

In a group I am on in Facebook, a request was sent out for a gentleman who was in a very serious trucking accident. He has a long road to recovery with paralysis. The request was for Get Well cards, but I didn't feel that was quite right, so I went with Thinking of You instead. I thought the phoenix was fitting. Maybe this gentleman can rise from the fire he is currently in and live his life the way it is meant to be.

The phoenix is from Local King Rubber Stamp's "Chinese Legends". I used some watercolor paints that I picked up from Michael's along with my waterbrush. I colored three shades of paint onto watercolor paper then used my heat tool to make sure it was completely dry. Then I heat embossed the phoenix and phoenix sign with versamark and black embossing powder. The red piece is a piece of red "handmade" paper that I have had forever. I wet it with my waterbrush pen then tore it into a rectangle. I layered that onto a black mat and then added the three brads. Then I added it to a black card. I used pop dots (dimensionals) to pop the symbol off the card. Once the card front was finished I added an ivory mat to the inside with the sentiment.

Decorative Doily cards

I recently received May's Funstampers Journey Bloom box. The Bloom box comes with a full set of stamps and materials to make 4 cards. I have been wanting to get a stamp similar to this, so I was very excited to get it! Unfortunately I didnt have the color ink for the kit, so I used the stamps to make my own versions. I stamped the doilies in versamark then heat embossed them with white opaque embossing powder. I layered some of the cards on only a colored mat then the card, but then I decided to make some with the embossed piece on white then on the color before adding them to the card. In some carss I used twine and others I used satin ribbon.  I used sentiments from Stampin' Up's "For You" as well as "Elegant Cheer". The doilies are for a Funstampers Journey set that hasn't been released yet called "Decorative Doily".

Ferns and Butterflies

I CASed this card from Deb Mauch.  I love how it turned out! I used a Hexagon embossing folder then lightly rubbed some ink over the edges using a finger dauber. I triple stamped the ferns on the main piece. There is a subtle background on the strip with the sentiment on it. Then I finished it off by layering two different butterflies and added some rhinestones.