AHSC702 God Bless America

 Happy Tuesday, peeps! I have a patriotic card for you today, and it is for the current sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  Here we go:

And here's our sketch:

Our church recently hosted a 250th celebration put on by our township's Historical Committee.  Unfortunately, it rained, plus there were many other activities going on that day, so the attendance was sparse.  But the Committee did a wonderful job; we had the Brandywine Harps do a concert of patriotic songs; Charlie Zahm and friend supplied songs of the era and lots of historical tidbits about the first 250 years of our country, and we heard from another historian about several different Revolutionary War veterans buried in our cemetery!  (BTW, Charlie plays all over the country, so if you ever get a chance to see and hear him, you won't be disappointed!  He looks good in a kilt, too!)  So this is to be a thank-you card to the committee for doing such a great job!

I started my card by cutting some strips from Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Basic Beige with a Taylored Expression die, then simply adhering them to a piece of scrap paper, then to a Basic Beige card.  I stamped this little flag from the retired Star-Spangled Banner in both the Cherry and Navy colors, did a bit of fussy-cutting, then added a wee tiny glimmery star and plopped it on top:

At first, I was a bit intimidated by the sketch, but being able to diecut four strips at a time with the die made everything go quickly!  I hope you won't be intimidated by it, and that you'll play along with us at Atlantic Hearts!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Star-Spangled Banner (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Beige, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, White Glimmer (ret)
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Sports Event Dies (ret), 1/2" Easy Strips Dies (Taylored Expressions)

PP806 Theme Challenge from Ann

Happy Sunday, all! Hope you're having a good weekend! Ann is our Paper Players hostess with a fabulous theme challenge this week! 

Can you guess what it is?  Here we go:

I have had this landscape silhouette stamp set for a long while and I don't think I've ever used it!  It's from what used to be Sweet & Sassy stamps;  here's the whole card:

I began by blending colors of the sunset on a piece of Basic White, then added the verse and the deer image in Versafine Black ink. I am still "practicing" with blending, LOL!  I experimented on scrap paper with a couple of colors for the mountain range and believe it or not, ended up with Berry Burst! Who knew that would work?! I then mounted it on a Basic Black mat and added it to a Cajun Craze card base.  For a wee bit of interest, I diecut some stars, then added them around the verse.

I think Ann has chosen a lovely theme and I hope you'll play along with us.  Check out the fabulous ideas the rest of the Design Team came up with at the Paper Players blog!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Landscape Silhouettes (Sweet & Sassy), Psalm 150:6 (Verve)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Black, Cajun Craze
Ink	Versafine Black, Berry Burst, Crushed Curry, Timid Tiger, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Sports Event Dies, Blending Brushes

Fall Collage

Happy Thursday, everyone! And happy October!  After a few false starts, I finally stamped a card yesterday that I was happy with! I really didn't have anything special in mind when I started it but then I realized I needed a sympathy card, so sympathy it was:

I've really enjoyed revisiting some of my older stamps; this one, Thoroughly Thankful, is from way back in 2006!!! I stamped the image in Stazon on watercolor paper, colored it in with reinkers and an aquapainter, then diecut it and mounted on a Basic Beige panel embossed with the Gathering Leaves embossing folder:

A sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes was added, and I colored a gold brad with a Cajun Craze blend to make it look more coppery!  Here's the simple inside with a sentiment from Hero Arts:

I've got three challenges I want to enter this in:  Hand Stamped Sentiments' mood board; Freshly Made Sketches' sketch, and the Little Red Wagon challenge of Fall Colors:

I took my inspiration from all the colors and fall images on the mood board! So pretty for the season!

And even though I don't have a mouse on my card, here's a chipmunk from Dana:

You can just barely see him peeking out of the rainspout! Thanks so much for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!  

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Thoroughly Thankful (ret), Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Sentiments CL340 (Hero Arts), Itty Bitty Backgrounds (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Watercolor, Basic Beige, Crumb Cake
Ink	Stazon Black, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Calypso Coral, Timid Tiger, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Pecan Pie, Cajun Craze
Accessories	Dimensionals, Gold Brad
Tools	Big Shot, Gathering Leaves Embossing Folder, Stitched Square Die (Lil'Inker), Easy Strips Dies (Taylored Expressions), Banner Dies (Impression Obsession), Aquapainter

AHSC706 Simple Halloween

 Happy Wednesday, peeps! Time for a new Atlantic Hearts sketch; it's a long, skinny one:

Yikes! I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I just took the easy way and scored some 1" squares on a panel of Basic Beige and added some fall pumpkins!!  Here we go:

Since the sketch was pretty wide open, I turned it on its side to accomodate my punkins, which were stamped in Versafine Black and colored with various reinkers.  Before mounting them, I stamped some scratchy lines from the Sanded background stamp in Crumb Cake, just to give it a wee bit of interest.  Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black mats were added, then a sentiment with a wee bit of gingham:

And I couldn't resist adding one of my favorite Halloween sentiments on the inside:

I may give this sketch another whirl with a different technique that I've been seeing around lately; I just was too lazy to give it a go this time, LOL!  I hope you'll be inspired and less lazy than I was and give this fun sketch a try!  Share your creation with us at Atlantic Hearts so we can all see it!

Here are a couple pix of my great-nephew Jameson and great-niece Maven at a recent bike event; I have a feeling she herself may be entering one of those races!

No worries....her bike is a Fred Flintstone style---no motor! And her outfit is certainly one for the books!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sanded (ret), Autumn Blessings (Close to My Heart), Mixed Holiday Sentiments (My Creative Time)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Beige, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Ink	Versafine Black, Pumpkin Pie, Timid Tiger, Golden Glow, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze
Accessories	Black & White Gingham Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Autumn Blessings Dies (Close to My Heart), Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Scoring Tool

CASC&S595 Vintage Postage

Happy Tuesday, all! I needed several masculine birthday cards this month, and when I saw the sketch at Clean And Simple Colours and Sketches, I knew what I wanted to do!  Here it is:

I got a great paper pad a few months ago that has a great vintage feel to it, so I pulled out some masculine patterns and came up with this uber-simple card:

The paper is called The Collector, and it's from the Craft Consortium.  After diecutting the circles, I sponged the edges, added a fussy-cut sentiment from Label Me Bold, stamped in Basic Gray, and adhered everything to a Very Vanilla card base.  It IS rather CAS but I don't think the guys will care!  I do love Mr Lincoln down there though!! 

Since I needed four, I added a little extra oomph to one of the others, using Crumb Cake cardstock and adding a Perennial Postage diecut mat on the card:

Again the stamps are so interesting! Love that little zebra!

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Label Me Bold (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, The Collector (Craft Consortium)
Ink	Pecan Pie, Basic Gray
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circles Dies (ret), Sponge Daubers, Perennial Postage Dies

FMS755 Boo!

 Happy Monday, all! Hope you had a good weekend, weathered the storm if you're on the east coast! We just got rain and wind, nothing drastic! Thanks to all of those who asked about my cataract surgery; it went well, now I just need to adjust to wearing glasses for all my close-up work!  Change is challenging sometimes, but it is amazing what modern medicine has achieved to help our vision!!!

I am squeaking in a little Halloween card for the FMS sketch this week:

My first thought was a Christmas tree, but I have been going through my old fall and Halloween sets and thought I could make a fun one with this spooky cat sitting atop his jack-o-lantern:

I made this card at 11:30 last night, so it may be less-than-perfect, LOL!  I stamped my cat on a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and fussy-cut him out, then popped him up on a Stitched Triangle of polka-dotted paper from Unity. I added a spooky background panel and some webby ribbon for the horizontal element and a tag embellished with some Halloween brads that I have had FOREVER!

It all went on a Smoky Slate card base, and since I made it so late, I've not put a sentiment on the inside yet! I'll remedy that today!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Cat & Jack (100 Proof Press), Halloween (Recollections)
Card stock & Papers	Smoky Slate, Haunted Hues (Unity), Spooky (Echo Park)
Ink	Versafine Black
Accessories	Dimensionals, Metallic Mesh Ribbon (ret), Halloween Brads (From my Stash)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Triangle Dies (ret), Small Tag Dies (Impression Obsession)

PP805 Sketch from Jaydee

Hey, stamping friends! It's the last Sunday in September...can you believe it?  Jaydee has a great sketch for us at the Paper Players: 

I pulled out a pattern from Sunflower Fields that I hadn't used yet...the monochromatic pattern is very soothing!  So here we go:

I used another pattern for the back panel and mounted it all on a Crumb Cake card base.  I used another plaid piece for my circular element and a sentiment from Box of Joy, stamped on a Very Vanilla tag:

It was anchored with a wee bit of Cajun Craze Linen Thread, and I added a Cajun Craze panel behind the tag.  Simple and so pretty!

I hope you'll find a way to use our sketch this week at the Players!  Check out what the DT created for some more inspiration!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Box of Joy
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cajun CrazeSunflower Fields DSP
Ink	Cajun Craze
Accessories	Cajun Craze Linen Thread (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stylish Shapes Dies, Stitched Tags Dies (Impression Obsession)