AYSI222 Positive Thoughts

Happy Friday, peeps!  It's recipe time at As You See It!  Here's our ingredient list:

I had not played enough with the Positive Thoughts set, so I thought I would pull it out and give it a go:

I stamped a flower in Petal Pink, Flirty Flamingo and Calypso Coral and cut each out with the coordinating Nature's Thoughts die, sponging the edges to give them a little depth:

I stamped a couple of pieces of foliage in Mint Macaron and diecut them as well, tucking them in here and there.  My Petal Pink gingham background was diecut with the rectangle die from the same set, but it wasn't quite as big as I wanted, so I cut another narrower piece, matching my plaid, and pieced them together.  The Mint Macaron ribbon hides the seam!  I stamped the sentiment in Smoky Slate, and for my "something shiny", I added some Iridescent Sequins.  They match perfectly IRL, but the photo turns them a wonky shade...you'll just have to take my word for it, LOL!  

I already have this card in the mail to a special friend!  I hope you'll do some crafty "cooking" with our recipe this time around...meanwhile, check out the others' creations and give them some love!  Then share yours too!  Thanks for popping in today!

Still working on those karate moves:

I hope you're able to get out and about and do some moves too!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

IB117 Yellow Makes Me Happy

Happy Thursday, peeps!  It's a new Inspired By challenge....one that's sure to make you "happy"!!!

I had just received some goodies in the mail, and I had so much fun with them, and the challenge, that I made two cards!  Here we go:

I had been eyeing the diagonal plaid background stamp from Concord and 9th for a while, and I finally broke down and got it!  I stamped it in Daffodil Delight and added the stitching in Granny Apple Green to make a background for my sweet little diecut tulip:

The die is also from C&9; it actually cuts the tulip and leaves as well as the stitched octagon and the skinny little frame!  I cut a few of them to create this image....I even cut the tulip twice and trimmed it so it would have more of a dimensional look.  (A tip:  I glued the frame and the center to a scrap piece of cardstock, then trimmed it by hand, so that it would be easier to handle.)  The "stem" is from a stitching set by CTMH: 

And can you see my little green lady bug?  I added her just for fun, LOL!  My sentiment comes from a really, really old SU set; I cut it apart and mounted it on some red rubber mount so that I could reposition the words:

In fact, this set is SO OLD that it came mounted on a really thick, hard piece of foam; I remember the first time I bought SU sets, the foam ones were less expensive than wood-mount, so I bought a couple of them....not SU's most shining moment:

They were awkward and cumbersome to use, and you often got that dreaded "halo" around the edge of the image!  Thankfully we've come a long way! Still a really cute set and I love it!  

SO when I cut out my multiples of the die, I had "leftovers", so I put some together with a few pieces of coordinating DSP to create a little birthday notecard:

I used a sentiment from the SAB Sending You Thoughts, and I embossed the bottom portion with the retired Perfect Polka Dots EF.  These colors really do make me happy!!!

I hope that there is something in our inspiration photo that will get your creative juices flowing!  Please be sure to stop by the Inspired By blog to check out the DT's creations and share yours as well!

And Dana recently sent me this picture of some florals from her yard:

My maternal grandfather was a wholesale carnation grower, and he, my uncle and my cousins all took part in running his florist business.  I joke that that particular gene did not come down to me, but it did pass on to Dana!  She's good at arranging!  Thanks for visiting today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sending You Thoughts, Diagonal Plaid (Concord and 9th), Hello Spring (ret), Itty Bitties (ret), Stitched Borders (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive Gingham DSP, Bird Ballad DSP, The Bee's Knees DSP (Honey Bee)
Ink	Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Dimensionals, Daffodil Delight Ruffled Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Tulip Label Dies, Perfect Polka Dot EF (ret)

GDP233 Spring Wreath

Hello everyone!  Hope your week is going well and you're not going too stir-crazy!  I still am working at my church one morning a week, blessedly there are only two of us in one office and our desks are far apart!  The Global Design Project had a pretty color challenge this week:

Mmmmm....these colors remind me of those melty mints covered with non-pareils!  Yum!  But I digress....my SIL has a birthday coming up, so I made her a little floral wreath!  We both love bird-watching, so I added a cute little bird as well:

My wreath was cut from some Crumb Cake cardstock, using the retired Swirly Scribbles die.  I added some stitched flowers, embellished with pearls that were colored with Blends (such handy little things to have!), my little bird, and a bit of baker's twine from a Paper Pumpkin kit: 

It was adhered to a mat of Whisper White cardstock, diecut with a Spellbinders dotted edge die, then I added a sentiment from another past Paper Pumpkin kit not only on the front:

but also on the inside of the Pool Party card:

We can't be together on her birthday but she'll know we're thinking of her!

You might remember the orchid I had blooming a couple of months ago; here's what it looks like now:

I know I'm supposed to "train" it to go up the stick, but I never remember to do it, LOL!  I am enjoying them regardless!  One more bud to bloom and I think there are actually a couple more coming!  And my violet isn't doing too bad either:

Lots of little buds coming on this one too!  I just love spring!  No matter what is going on in the world, flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the Lord is still on His throne!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Paper Pumpkin (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pool Party, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Petal Pink, Basic Black
Ink	Pool Party, Coastal Cabana
Accessories	Jumbo Pearls, Baker's Twine (both ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Birds and Blooms Dies (ret), Stitched Flowers Dies (My Favorite Things), Swirly Scribbles Die (ret), Dotted Border Die (Spellbinders), Blends, Marker

RRCB131 Eggs Eggs Eggs

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Time for another Retro Rubber challenge, and we have a fun tic-tac-toe grid this week!  Check it out:

I chose to do the left diagonal down:  eggs, diecut and patterned paper!  So here we go!  I used a set from 2000 called Soft as a Feather!  It was one of my favorite sets long ago, but I sold it!  Luckily, I found it online and bought it again!  I paired it with Nature Walk from 2011:

I stamped the nest and eggs from Soft as a Feather on Very Vanilla cardstock with Early Espresso ink and colored them with Blends and Copics, then fussy cut the eggs and popped them up on mini dimensionals:

I used the Stitched Shapes circle die to cut it out.  I then stamped two rows of eggs from Nature walk and colored them as well, did a row of double stitched embossing on them and mounted the panel on a piece of retired DSP (can't remember the name!!!) and ran the whole panel through the Big Shot with the largest Stitched Rectangle die:

I used my Stamparatus to stamp the sentiment, mounted everything on a Soft Sky card base and added a linen thread bow. Finally I popped up the nest image and added a birthday sentiment on the inside.  I love the soft look of these eggs....and it's not an Easter card, LOL!

I hope you'll play with our Retro Rubber challenge this week...remember that your stamps have to be at least a year old, and you must tell us their approximate age!  Can't wait to see what you create!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Soft as a Feather, Nature Walk (both ret), Stitched All Around
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Soft Sky (ret), DSP ???
Ink	Early Espresso
Accessories	Linen Thread, Dimensionals
Tools	BIg Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitching Lines Dies (Ellen Hutson), Blends

Blame it on Michele

LOL, do you like the name of my post?  It's all because my friend Michele posted cards made with this adorable stamp set called Clever Sausage...and I just had to get it!  Here we go:

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday, and I am also entering it in the Time Out Birthday challenge:

         

I started by stamping my little pup in Memento ink on some Soft Suede cardstock and shaded him with some blends.  You can get matching dies with the set, but the images fairly easy to fussy cut, so I passed on the dies!  I also gave him a polka dotted sweater:

I added a polka dotted balloon, and a sentiment diecut with a Stitched Rectangle die.  Before adhering everything, I stamped a few little confetti on my Stitched So Sweetly panel!  His little bow and tie around his tummy were hand-drawn!

Finally, on the inside of the Daffodil Delight, I added the sentiment:

All the printed papers are from Honey Bee's The Bee's Knees 6x6 pad!  Thanks for popping in today!

I must admit, that socially distancing myself has made me very, very lazy.  All I did on Sunday, after watching our church service on FB, was to work on a puzzle, oh and I did sew two DIY masks which I will be mailing to my niece.  There is NO 1/4" elastic to be found anywhere, so that's the extent of my mask-making.  I am keeping up on my Bible study, walking, and making a few cards, but mostly just....working on my puzzle!  Hopefully it will be done today and I can move forward!  How are you keeping busy?  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	So Sentimental (confetti), Clever Sausage (Essentials By Ellen Hutson)
Card stock & Papers	Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Basic Black, Bee's Knees DSP (Honey Bee)
Ink	Memento Black, Daffodil Delight
Accessories	Black Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Blends, Basic Black Marker

PP483 Lookin' Sharp

Hi crafty friends!  It's Sunday, and time for another Paper Players challenge!  Claire is our hostess this week with a fine sketch for us:

My amazingly-creative, uber-generous, wonderful friend Michele gifted me with several of these little embossed cacti and sentiments recently, and I finally was able to incorporate a few of them into a sketch!  I dug around my multitude of 6x6 papers and found a fun pattern that was whimsical enough to complement these little cuties:

I used my Arteza waterrcolor pens to give them some color (and I obviously need to look a little more closely when doing it; I see some spots I missed!), and Michele very kindly diecut them for me too, so it was easy-peasy for me to layer them on a circular panel and add my sentiment!

My vertical pieces were some scraps from my pile; at the last minute, I decided to add some Old Olive strips that I embossed with an Ellen Hutson die....I just love that little extra touch, it adds so much interest!

And finally, to create the panel that crosses the vertical stripes, I added a little banner and some retired candy dots in complimentary colors!!!  I stamped a birthday sentiment on the inside, and it's all ready to go in the mail!

This was a fun sketch to use, and I know I'll be using it again! I hope you'll play with us as well!  Check out what Claire and the other DT members created at the Paper Players blog!  See you there!

Yesterday at church, we practiced socially distancing while we cleaned 70-some globes on our chandeliers.  The ceiling is 20 feet high, so it's quite a feat, requiring a very tall person on a very tall ladder perched on some platforms on top of the pews; this is John (who is NOT a very tall person), starting the process:

Then our friend Ken (who IS a tall person) finished up, handing John a box of globes; he takes them downstairs (our sanctuary is upstairs) where Judy and I washed and dried them, then sent them back upstairs:

All bright and shiny for whenever we are able to meet again!!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Let's Stick Together (My Favorite Things)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Old Olive, Watercolor, Misc DSPs from my stash
Ink	Versamark
Accessories	Candy Dots (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Stitched Rectangles Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitching Lines Dies (Ellen Hutson), Arteza Watercolor Brushes, Banner Die (Nestabilties)

Hello Peeps

Happy Saturday!  I have a couple more cards today; this one is another CAS one, using the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch, way back from its very onset:

As I was laying in bed yesterday morning, this little set, Basket Bunch, popped into my mind and I thought how cute it would be in this layout!  So here we go:

All the peeps and bunny were stamped in Stazon, colored with Blends, and mounted on a small stitched circle die from Stitched Labels:

I pulled out a couple more oldies for the inside:

Jingle Belles has a Fa-La-La challenge, which is to use music on your card, and I have had some of this musical DSP for a long time, and never knew quite how to use it:

I mounted it on a cardstock of Crumb Cake after sponging the edges, then added a wide organdy ribbon, a sentiment from O Holy Night (Papertrey), stamped on Very Vanilla, and I added some glimmer paper greenery:

A good trick for diecutting glimmer paper using intricate dies is to peel the backing off the back of the glimmer paper.  I also use a Precision Base Plate....the combination of those two really make the paper pop out easily!  This uses the sketch from Inspire Create:

Thanks for popping in today!!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for a new Paper Players sketch, too!

A little virtual karate:

Master Fisher is doing his best to make sure his students don't lose their skills!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Basket Bunch, Little Cuties, And Many More (all ret)
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, 2018-2019 In Color Gingham (ret)
Ink	Memento Black, Early Espresso
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Labels Dies, Basket Builder Dies (ret)

Second Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	O Holy Night (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Dark & Light Green Glimmer (ret), Deck The Halls DSP (Melissa Frances)
Ink	Merry Merlot, Crumb Cake (for sponging)
Accessories	Dimensionals, Wide Organdy Cherry Cobbler Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Nested Labels Dies, In The Woods Dies