AHSC672 Monochromatic Postage

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend! Dana & I went to see a musical production of Little Women on Friday night, produced by a local theater group! It was fun! I never thought of it being set to music, but it worked!

Today it's time for a new sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

I had several ideas for this sketch, but I recently got an interesting embossing folder called Postage Mosaic--it's a big one and it has several postage-stamp images on it, so I thought I'd give it a go.  I embossed a half sheet of Very Vanilla and fussy-cut some of the images out to create my card today:

I added some embossed stitching around the edges as well as on the horitzontal panel, and mounted it all on a Basic Beige card.  I stamped a scalloped border image from the new SU Scalloped Wishes, along with a Papertrey sentiment, using Basic Beige (which really looks green to me) and Versamark, then heat-embossed it all with clear embossing powder.  Here's a closeup of the embossing (and I have more images with which to make additional cards!):

I added a simple birthday sentiment on the inside from the same PTI set:

And since the Double D Challenge this week is books or postage, I am going to enter it there as well!

I was definitely inspired by the lower right image--look at all those beautiful stamps!  

I hope you'll play along with our Atlantic Hearts sketch this week....you can see all the details over at our blog!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Scalloped Wishes, Botanical Silhouettes (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Basic Beige
Ink	Basic Beige, Versamark
Accessories	Dimensionals, Pearls, Clear Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Scalloped Wishes Dies, Cross Stitched Rectangle Stacklet Dies (Taylored Expressions), 1/2" Easy Strips Dies (Taylored Expressions), Postage Mosaic Embossing Folder (Spellbinders)

PP776 Color Challenge from Joanne

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Did you remember to adjust your clocks yesterday?!  "Adjust" being the operative word---it does take some adjustment, doesn't it?  Well, anyway, Joanne is our hostess at the Paper Players this week with a fun color challenge: 

Since I am in the midst of making Easter cards, I chose to use pale rainbow shades for my little Easter peeps card:

I cut my Basket Bunch peeps from cardstocks in Bubble Bath, Peach Pie, Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam, Balmy Blue, Fresh Freesia and Highland Heather, then stamped them in Versafine black ink.  They went into an egg diecut with the Excellent Egg dies from some Papertrey Chicken Scratch gingham papers.  I set them in some Granny Apple Green grass and added a Fresh Freesia bow:

The sentiment is from CTMH's Easter Animals set.  I mounted the egg on a Basic White panel that was embossed with the Basket Weave embossing folder, then added some sequins before I put it all on a Fresh Freesia card.  Here's the inside (that Fresh Freesia is a challenge to photograph!):

I just love this little lineup, although in real life, I really don't care for much of anything that's made from marshmallow!  I do have ONE roasted marshmallow a year over our Harvest party campfire, LOL!  How about you?  Are you a peeps fan?  Did you know that peeps are made right here in PA, and there is actually a peeps store in National Harbor, MD?! The Bethlehem, PA factory makes 5.5 million peeps A DAY! Yowza!

Well, whether you like peeps or not, we'd love to see your rainbow-hued creations! You don't have to use a rainbow, just some rainbowcolors!  Check out what the DT has created at the Paper Players blog, then come play along!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Basket Bunch (ret), Easter Animals (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Fresh Freesia, Bubble Bath, Peach Pie, Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Granny Apple Green, Chicken Scratch Gingham DSP (Papertrey)
Ink	Versafine Black
Accessories	Sequins, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Basket Builder Dies (ret), Excellent Eggs Dies (ret), Grass Die (Impression Obsession), Pretty Bows Die (Simon Says Stamp), Basket Weave Embossing Folder (ret)

FMS726 Spring is Here

Happy Thursday, all!  My friend Colleen (you can visit her blog HERE) makes the BEST vintage-style cards and I've been so inspired by her creations I just had to create one myself!  I used the sketch from FMS:

and pulled out an old stamp from Artistic Outpost called Birds of a Feather:

I stamped my bird once on a Basic Beige tag, then again on a scrap, and fussy-cut just the bird, popping it back up on the tag.  I added some scripty words and speckles, some shading, a wee bit of Old Olive coloring and a hand-dyed shabby seam binding ribbon:

My papers are from  Prima's Farm Sweet Farm pad.  On the inside, I used a couple of older Crafty Secrets stamps for some birthday wishes.  I miss Crafty Secrets AND Artistic Outpost; they made great vintage images!

And since this is a birthday card, I am entering this at Krafty Chicks as well:

Speaking of birthdays, we were finally able to celebrate the first birthday of my great-niece Ava.  Every time the party was scheduled, it snowed!  Her aunt Kelly, who is the "Martha Stewart" of our family, created these cakes for the big day; one for Ava (and her brothers) to smash, and one for the adults!  They were beautiful!  Isn't she a cutie:

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Elements of Text (ret), Birds of a Feather (Artistic Outpost), Home Sweet Home (Crafty Secrets), Garden Notes (Crafty Secrets)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Beige, Farm Sweet Farm (Prima)
Ink	Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Old Olive
Accessories	Pearls, Dimensionals, Seam Binding (from my stash), Old Olive ink
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Sponge Daubers, Tailor Made Tags dies (ret), Blender Pen

HSS483 Take Care

Happy Wednesday, peeps! Gray and dreary here, eagerly anticipating warmer temps by the end of the week!  The Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge made my blue-lovin' heart go pitter patter:

Oh, so pretty! The lower left image reminded me of a lovely die and embossing folder combo I was recently given, so I pulled it out along with some Cloud Cover cardstock and went to work:

I cut and embossed a panel with the die and folder, then sponged a light layer of Cloud Cover in on top.  Before mounting it on a Cloud Cover card, I embossed the edge with a stitched die to peek out from behind the diecut edge.  The new SU set called Scalloped Wishes provided the sentiment; it went over a luscious Cloud Cover ribbon as well:

I am also going to add it to Can You Handle the Pressure?  I haven't played with them for a while!  

I think this monochromatic card is very peaceful and calming!  Thanks for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Scalloped Wishes
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Cloud Cover
Ink	Cloud Cover
Accessories	Cloud Cover Polyester, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Scalloped Wishes Dies, Cascading Floral Border Dies (Spellbinders), Finishing Touches Dies (Kristina Werner), Blending Brush

Inkspirational Welcome Baby

Happy Tuesday, all! I have a quick little card today for a friend who became a great-grandmother recently!  I was going to use my little peekaboo bunny die, but opted for this sweet little baby shoe image instead:

The Inkspirational challenge this week is to use stencils with the option of plaid:

so I used a Kristina Warner Layering Plaid Stencil to create a background; I used Pretty in Pink and Strawberry Slush for my simple plaid.  The baby shoes are a Susan Branch design; I stamped them in Versafine Black and watercolored some shading:

I added a pale gray mat, a little sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs, and a gingham bow.  The inside features sentiments from Hero Arts and Technique Tuesday:

I'll pop this in the mail today!  Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	So Blessed (Technique Tuesday), Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts), Baby Shoes (Susan Branch, All Night Media)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Stone (Papertrey)
Ink	Versafine Black, Pretty in Pink, Strawberry Slush, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Dimensionals, Pink Gingham Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), 3/4" Circle Punch (ret), 7/8" Scalloped Punch (ret), Layerinng Plaid Stencils (Kristina Werner), Blending Brushes

AHSC671 Peek-a-boo Bunny

Happy Monday, all!  Hope you had a great weekend! Our Atlantic Hearts sketch this week allowed me to use this sweet little Peek-a-boo Bunny die that is just the cutest!  Here's the sketch:

And here we go:

I used some Easter Joy Specialty DSP along with some Lemon Lolly Shimmer Pastel paper, embossed with the Gathering Leaves embossing folder, for my cute Easter card!  I added the Pretty in Pink diecut bunny on a Nested Essentials die and stamped an Easter sentiment from a long-retired SU set:

I embellished the front with a strip of Shy Shamrock and some little enamel flowers.  The inside sentiment came from Close to My Heart:

I just love this little bunny, and I need a baby card in the next day or so, and I think it might be perfect for that as well...we'll see!

I hope you'll play along with our sketch this week at Atlantic Hearts,  we always love to see what you create and enter in our gallery! 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Easter Blossoms (ret), Picture Perfect Birthday (ret), Easter Animals (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pretty in Pink, Peach Pie, Shy Shamrock, Easter Joy DSP, Shimmer Pastel Lemon Lolly
Ink	Peach Pie, Balmy BLue
Accessories	Resin Flowers (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Nested Essentials Dies, Gathering Leaves Embossing Folder, Peek-a-boo Bunny Die (Poppy), Stitched 1/4" Strip Dies (Taylored Expressions), Black marker

PP775 Theme Challenge from Christy

Hello, stamping friends! Happy March!  Christy is our Paper Players hostess this week with a theme challenge I don't think we've ever had before:

I realized I do NOT have any "mythical creature" stamps, but I did have one leprechaun stamp from an older SU set called Gift Givers (2011), so I decided to get him inky.  Later on, I thought about the fact that I have some gnome stamps, and they would probably be okay too, in case you share the same dilemma as I do!  So here we go:

I inked up this little guy and did some coloring with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol....still practicing that technique!  I diecut him with a Stylish Shapes die and added a scalloped mat of Lemon Lime Twist and mounted that all on a couple of panels diecut with the Everyday Arches dies.  I stamped a few random little clovers from Itty Bitties (2013) and that all went on a piece of green madras plaid DSP from Memory Box:

My sentiment is from a REALLY old Purple Onion set (probably 2010 or so) and the diecut shamrocks are from Impression Obsession.  On the inside, I added another strip of the same plaid paper, a sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs and a few more stamped and diecut shamrocks!

And since I am using several older sets, I am entering this in the RetroRubber challenge, where they're looking for the Luck of the Irish:

as well as the Card Concept, where they're looking for shades of green:

I would say that my card concept is "clean and layered", and I was inspired by the green plaid and the lovely colors!

I hope you'll be able to play along with us at the Players this week, it's such a fun challenge!  We can't wait to see what you come up with!  Thanks so much for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Gift Givers (ret), Itty Bitties (ret), Seasonal Sayings (Purple Onion), Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Lemon Lime Twist, Granny APple Green, Garden Green, Madras Plaid (Memory Box)
Ink	Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Versafine Black
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Everyday Arches Dies, Be Mine Dies (ret), Petite Scalloped Circle Dies (Nestabilities), Sharmock Die (Impression Obsession), Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol