Sympathy Cards

Hey stampers!  Our church family is mourning the loss of one of our members and she came from a large family, so I have had to make several sympathy cards.  I am sharing two of them today; one uses the sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

and some of the same papers that I used on my bunnies card from yesterday, just different prints:

I layered some of the patterns on the front, embossing one piece with the retiring Greenery embossing folder, then created a little bundle of foliage using the Forever Fern and Free as a Bird sets and various green inks:

I "tied" them together with some Fan Baker's Twine and added a few green Genial Gems, and it all went on top of a Stitched Shape circle.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

The second card uses the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches:

and some pretty new papers I just got from Prima called Farm Sweet Farm.  I paired them with a flower from the retiring All Things Fabulous:

The layered flower was stamped with Sweet Sugarplum, Cherry Cobbler and Merry Merlot inks, and the foliage was stamped with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede.  I added a sentiment from an older SU set called Small Sayings, and added a sprinkling of sequins:

I used the same sentiments for the both cards, from Papertrey.

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

"A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."  Proverbs 11:25

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Forever Fern, Free as a Bird, CL342 Sentiments (Hero Arts), Inspired Prayer (Papertrey Ink)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Home Again DSP (Carta Bella)
Ink	Evening Evergreen, Soft Succulent, Mint Macaron
Accessories	Fan Bakers Twine, Genial Gems
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Ornate Frames Dies, Forever Flourishing Dies

Second Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	All Things Fabulous, Small Sayings (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Merry Merlot, Early Espresso, Farm Sweet Farm DSP (Prima)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Merry Merlot, Cherry Cobbler, Sweet Sugarplum (ret)
Accessories	Sequins from my stash
Tools	Big Shot, Fabulous Florals Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stamparatus

TCC173 Easter Plaid

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  Time for a new Card Concept challenge, where we create a card with a certain concept!  Here's the sweet prompt that Julie has for us this week:

What a sweet little vignette! I recently got a little tray like this (mine is white, though) and I have it decorated for Easter too!  But I was mostly inspired by the plaid bunny on the top shelf, in addition to the little plaque, so I used those elements for my clean and layered card today:

I had some pretty papers from Carta Bella called Home Again, and so I chose a few coordinating papers, an older set of stitched bunny dies from Lil'Inker, and went to work!  I diecut each bunny and layered them on Stitched Shapes circles, then added Crumb Cake bows to coordinate with the sentiment panel:

I created an embossed background my stamping a background stamp in Versamark ink and embossing it with white embossing powder, then I added a couple of banners and another bow at the top.  If you look closely, you can see the embossed leafy image:

Everything went on a Crumb Cake mat, then a Lost Lagoon card, and I stamped a simple sentiment on another piece of the designer paper and adhered it to the inside:

I am sad Lil'Inkers went out of business, because they really had some cute dies!  These will be in stash forever too!  

I hope you'll play along with our pretty little Easter Blessings challenge!  Check out what "concept" or style you'd like to use on the Card Concept blog, then play along!  Thanks for popping in today!  

Speaking of bunnies, here's a little cross stitch project I recently finished; from the photo, it looks like my button is a wee bit off-center, so I guess I'll have to fix that!  I didn't have any wooden beads for my dowel, so I used some vintage wooden spools for the ends!  Trying to use up some of my craft stash!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs), Spring Blessings (W+9), Leaf Background (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Lost Lagoon (ret), Crumb Cake, Home Again DSP (Carta Bella)
Ink	Lost Lagoon, Versamark
Accessories	Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder (Stampendous)
Tools	Big Shot, Tasteful Labels Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Stitched Bunny Dies (Lil'Inker, ret), Heat Tool

RRCB179 Bright Springtime Wishes

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  It's time for a new Retro Rubber challenge, where we give our older stamps some love!  Here's our 60s-vibe-inspired challenge for you today:

Yikes, those colors ARE a challenge for me, definitely out of my comfort zone....so my green is not quite so bright, but this is what I came up with using pink, yellow and green:

I know I have had this ladybug paper for YEARS and have never used it, but I thought it mimicked the pattern in the challenge photo, so I went with it!  It's hard to see, but the little stars have a little gold sparkle on them, and that's why I chose the yellow polka dot paper to coordinate.  The sentiment is from a Close to My Heart set called Easter Animals, (2018); it was stamped in Polished Pink ink and diecut with a Stitched Rectangle die.  The flowers are Polished Pink and Daffodil Delight, leaves are Soft Seafoam, all diecut with the Pierced Blooms dies, which are retiring but will never leave my craft room, LOL!  Finally, the little butterfly is also Close to My Heart's Bunches of Joy, (2019):

I added a little gold rhinestone to the center of the butterfly just for fun!  This uses my all-time favorite sketch, which also happens to be the sketch from Try Stampin on Tuesday:

I hope you'll come play along with us at Retro Rubber and give some of the older stamps a whirl!  And I hope you'll be inspired by our 60s colors!  Can't wait to see what you create!

Cassidy's school now has school pictures twice a year!  Here's her latest one:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Easter Animals (Close to My Heart 2018), Bunches of Joy (Close to My Heart 2019)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Seafoam, Polished Pink, Daffodil Delight, Unknown DSPs
Ink	Polished Pink
Accessories	Dimensionals, Holiday Rhinestones
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Pierced Blooms Dies

Inspire Create #113 Thinking of You

Happy Monday, peeps! Boy, what a weekend!  Rain, sunshine, snow, wind...you name it, we had it!  Crazy March weather! Still chilly and then up into the 70s in a couple of days? I guess March came in like a lion and will be going out like a lamb!  Anyway, I saw this sweet card a couple of days ago and it reminded me of a cute image from Feathered Friends from many, many years ago.  I made a card and it sort of fit the sketch from Inspire.Create:

So here we go:

These line-image drawings were what first attracted me to Stampin Up!  I just love the details and they're small enough to be colored in quickly!  I stamped the image on Thick Basic White cardstock in Stazon ink and used my aquapainter and inks to color it in:

After diecutting it with the Stitched Shapes die, I used DSPs from Heart and Home, and added some Fan baker's twine as well as a little stitched zigzag border of Crumb Cake.  Thanks for popping in today!

Despite the chilly weather, my bluebirds were still enjoying the suet cakes we put out.  This picture was taken through the screen outside my craft room window, so it's not real clear, but you can see Mr. Bluebird enjoying a snack!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.  They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed." Psalm 37:25-26

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Feathered Friends (2007!)
Card stock & Papers	Thick Basic White, Crumb Cake, Heart and Home DSP
Ink	Stazon Black, Misty Moonlight, Garden Green, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry, Cinnamon Cider, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Accessories	Fan Baker's Twine, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Basic Banners Dies, Aquapainter

PP584 My Happy Place Sketch

Hi peeps!  Happy Sunday!  Time for a new Paper Players challenge, and it's my week to be the hostess, and I have a sketch for you:

I just purchased some cute little stamps and dies from Paper Sweeties, and I put them to work with some fun Carta Bella papers called Country Kitchen:

I stamped, colored and diecut the images, then popped them up on some Very Vanilla stitched circles:

Each panel was also diecut with a Stitched Rectangle die.  I then added a sentiment  banner, hand-trimming the fishtail ends.  A long time ago, my SIL sent me a Hallmark card with a picture of some baking utensils on the front, and this verse on the inside, so I printed it out on my computer and added it to the inside.  I saved it all these years because I really loved it!

In fact, her birthday is coming up and I might just send this to her!  She is a WHIZ in the kitchen!!

I hope you'll play along with my fun sketch...it's a great one to use up small leftover strips of DSP, and you can embellish it any way you like!  Check out what the design team created, then put on your creative thinking cap and share yours with us too!  Can't wait to see it at the Paper Players blog!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Blessed, Homemade (both Paper Sweeties)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Pool Party, Country Kitchen DSP (Carta Bella)
Ink	Memento Black
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big SHot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Paper Sweeties Dies, Stamparatus, Blends

AYSI271 Speed Stamping

Happy Friday everyone! Time for a new As You See It challenge and even though it's the dreaded "Speed Stamping" (10 minutes or less), I couldn't help laughing out loud at the challenge photo and theme: 

In light of the weather (or maybe I should say LACK of light) we've had lately...this was very apropos! Rain, rain, rain!!!  Although my first thought was to use an umbrella, I had this die pulled out to make some spring creations, so I thought it would be fun to use for this challenge as well!  Boots help keep our feet dry, right?!  SO...here we go, in just under 10 minutes (9 minutes and 51 seconds!):

I gathered my supplies and some DSP from the Pleased As Punch (retired) line, then quickly went to work!  I diecut the boots from some of the rainbow-patterned paper and added a wee little silver foil buckle, then stamped the sentiment from last year's Under My Umbrella on to a diecut panel.  I added a little strip of leftover rainbow paper and some sequins (which spilled on my desk, adding to my time!) and finally it was done!  The card base is 4 1/4" square and I matted it with another piece of DSP from the same series:

I left the inside blank, and I'll add a sentiment later......because I ran out of time! And the sketch is from Atlantic Hearts:

I hope you'll challenge yourself to create a card in less than ten minutes!  Gather your supplies, get your thoughts in order, and then GO!  It's fun to see what you can make in a jiffy!  Be sure to see what the other designers created over at the As You See It blog, then share yours with us too!  Thanks for popping in today!

Just look at that face:

"Pet me, Mommy!"  Enjoy your day and be blessed! 

 "The wicked borrown and do not repay, but the righteous give generously; those the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be destroyed."  Psalm 37:21-22

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Under My Umbrella (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Silver Foil, Pleased As Punch DSP (ret)
Ink	Balmy Blue
Accessories	Dimensionals, Sequins from my stash
Tools	Big Shot, Rain Boots Dies (Impression Obsession), Curved Matting Basics A Dies (Spellbinders)

TTTC154 Warm Wishes

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Heading toward the weekend! It's time for a new Tic Tac Toe challenge, with Team X and Joanne as the hostess!  Here we go:

I have really been neglecting my Christmas card-making lately, so I chose the diagonal of Die Cut, Free, and Gold to create a Christmas card today:

I began with the sketch from Try Stampin on Tuesday:

I stamped a poinsettia from Poinsettia Petals in Cherry Cobbler and Versamark inks, then heat-embossed it with some retired Cherry Cobbler embossing powder.  Once it cooled, I colored it with ink and an aquapainter. After diecutting, I adhered it to a panel of DSP from Tidings of Christmas and added a scalloped mat of Gold Foil:

I also added some Evening Evergreen "greenery", a gold center and some gold pearls for embellishment.  The papers are all from Tidings of Christmas as well.  I stamped and heat-embossed a sentiment in gold:

and here's the inside sentiment as well:

I hope you'll play along with our grid this week at Tic Tac Toe!  Be sure to check out what the design team created as well!  Can't wait to see what you create!  And thanks so much for popping in!

Cassidy discovered she likes dill pickles! She can have my lifelong supply!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Poinsettia Petals, Hand Lettered Holiday (My Favorite Things)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Evening Evergreen, Gold Foil (ret), Tidings of Christmas DSP
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Versamark, Soft SucculentGold Encore (ret)
Accessories	Metallic Pearls, Gold Embossing Powder
Tools	Big Shot, Poinsettia Dies, Layering Squares Dies (ret), Heat Tool

Perfectly CAS Hugs

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  I have a clean-and-simple card for you today; the Perfectly CAS challenge wants to see diecuts!  

I actually had these diecuts on my desk already cut and stamped; I was planning to use them for the Paper Players challenge on Sunday, but changed my mind, so I put them to use on this card!

The florals from All Things Fabulous were stamped and diecut, then adhered to the card with some foliage behind it.  The sentiment was stamped on a Tailor Made tag and tucked in, and embellished with a Genial Gem:

I am also slipping this into the Krafty Chicks CAS challenge, just in the nick of time!

I found out yesterday that my aunt in Florida, whom I haven't seen in years, has passed away, so this will go to my cousins as a sympathy card.  Thanks so much for visiting today!  

"But the wicked will perish; though the Lord's enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.  The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously."  Psalm 37:20-21

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	All Things Fabulous, Elegant Florals (Scrapbook.com)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White
Ink	Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Pink Pirouette (ret), Strawberry Slush (ret), Melon Mambo, Soft Succulent
Accessories	Genial Gems, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Tailor Made Tags Dies, Fabulous Florals Dies

Fusion Spinner Card

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  I have a simple but fun card today that I made for a certain little guy whose second birthday is coming up soon.  A few months ago I made a spinner card for my nephew Sawyer (you can see it here) and I used basically the same set up on this card, but used the Fusion sketch:

I pulled out Ellen Hutson's Clever Sausage and went to work:

I used DSP in Bermuda Bay and Highland Heather, stamping my little hot dog on Cinnamon Cider cardstock and fussy-cutting him out.  For a little extra fun, I added some punched balloons and a party hat in red, with a red pompom!  Instead of dimensionals between my penny spinners, I punched out a 3/8" circle from our foam adhesive sheets (it's a little tricky, but it can be done!), which I think makes the spinner spin more freely!  

And here's the inside sentiment!  I hope he likes it!  Thanks for popping in today!

A new preserve opened up near the kids so they took Eden and Ginger on a 3-mile hike on Sunday!  Eden did her normal running and sniffing:

And licking:

And since Ginger has to take about ten steps to Eden's one step, she was plumb worn out before the end of the trail, so Cassidy had to carry her:

I'm willing to bet they both slept well that night!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Clever Sausage (Ellen Hutson)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Cinnamon Cider, Highland Heather, Real Red, Highland Heather DSP, Bermuda Bay DSP (ret)
Ink	Memento Black
Accessories	Dimensionals, Foam Adhesive Sheet, Pompoms (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circles Dies, Word Window Punch (ret), 3/8" Circle Punch (ret), Pennies, Balloon Punch, Black Marker, White Gel Pen

FMS527 Hippity Hoppity

Happy Monday, peeps!  Hope you had a good weekend!  I don't know how I missed the sketch from FMS this week, but it whizzed right by me!  And since it had three elements, I just had to squeeze this card in at the last minute!  Here's the sketch by Judy:

I was going through my spring/Easter dies and stamps and came across this fun little die I got last year and thought it would be fun for the sketch:

I used some MFT plaid DSP and cut each bunny from Basic White cardstock and adhered them on top.  For the vertical panel, I stamped three lines of stitching from the Stitched stamp, then adhered the bunny panels on top.  Finally, I added the Hippity Hoppity sentiment, which is from a retired Cornish Heritage Farms set:

The inside sentiment is from the same set:

I just love these little bunnies, hope you do too!  Thanks for popping in today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Stitchery, Sweet Spring (Cornish Heritage Farm, ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Homespun Gingham DSP (My Favorite Things)
Ink	Seaside Spray, Balmy Blue, Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Peek a Boo Bunny Die (Poppystamps)