AHSC549 Magical Meadow

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I have played very little with the Magical Meadow bundle, so I thought I'd give it a shot with the Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge this week.  Here's the sketch:

I know the sketch looks square, but I chose to make a gatefold standard-sized card.  The Magical Meadow dies not only have dies that match the stamps, but some pretty stand-alone dies of greenery and berries; I cut some from Basic White and a few more from Soft Seafoam, to create this:

I watercolored the stems with a wash of Mossy Meadow ink, and some of the berries with Moody Mauve, highlighting them with a white gel Pen.  The other berries I left white.  I layered them all on a Countryside Corners diecut and "tied" them together with a Moody Mauve ribbon.  I know the sketch has the ribbon on the top; hopefully they won't mind if I flipped it!  The card base is Moody Mauve with layers of Soft Seafoam DSP.  I did add some Iridescent Rhinestone gems for sparkle and to anchor some of the greenery:

A sentiment from Timeless Arrangements was added.  Here's a shot of the card open:

Thanks so much for popping in today!

Here are a few more photos from Longwood!  I love the colors of these flowers and greenery:

And this is another chrysanthemum art "sculpture":

This reminds me of candy corn; they just needed to add in some white, LOL!

These just look like sunshine!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Timeless Arrangements
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Moody Mauve, Soft Seafoam, Soft Seafoam DSP
Ink	Moody Mauve, Mossy Meadow
Accessories	Moody Mauve Ribbon, Iridescent Rhinestones, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Magical Meadow Dies, Countryside Corners Dies, 3/4" Circle Punch (ret), Radiating Stitches Dies, Aquapainter

Vintage Halloween Cat

Happy Monday, peeps! Hope you had a good weekend!  We had a gorgous warm day on Saturday, then cool and rainy on Sunday! From one end of the spectrum to the other!  I have one last Halloween card for you, since I hadn't used one of my favorite images this year, and the JUGS challenge of CAS using just the center of your card, as well as the CAS on Sunday challenge to use an animal, reinforced my idea! 

So here we go:

I had a piece of Crumb Cake that was a wee bit smaller than a standard-sized card, so I used that and stenciled a "moon" of Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze.  I stamped my little vintage cat on a broom in Versafine Black and added an old Crafty Secrets sentiment:

I also embossed the outer edges wtith the Stitched with Whimsy dies....not sure if I should have done it or let it alone...but it is what it is!  I added a Rubbernecker sentiment on the inside:

This was quick and easy and still just one layer! Woohoo!  Thanks for popping in today!  And how about a couple more vintage Halloween postcards?

This one is from my great-uncle Hutch to his brother Bob...apparently he had a cold!  It strikes me funny that first he asked how his cold was, then he hoped everyone was well, LOL!  It's dated October 30, 1913!

This is one of my favorites, with those big pumpkin and moon faces!  I think the little boy's hair is standing straight up on end!

This is to my great-uncle Bruce from his Uncle John.  He tells Bruce he hopes he has all his pumpkins in by this time!  I remember Uncle Bruce and Uncle Bob, but Uncle Hutch and Uncle John were gone by the time I was born!  It's fun to have these remembrances though!

Thanks for visiting today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Vintage Halloween (Crafty Secrets), Cat on a Broom (Victorian Greetings), Halloween Set 1 (Rubbernecker)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake
Ink	Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Versafine Black
Accessories
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched With Whimsy Dies, Blending Brushes, Circle Stencil

Paper Players 664 Corny Thanks

Hello, and happy Sunday, everyone!  Claire is our amazing hostess this week at the Players, and she has an equally-amazing Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for us:

I chose the bottom row across of embossing, twine and a fall item, although that was not my first choice---I'll share that card later, LOL!  I did a second card, and that's what I am sharing today:

The FarmQuest Challenge blog is asking for CORN for their challenge this week, so I thought it would fun to use the corn dies from Fruitful Blessings as the fall item for my card today!  I cut both diecuts using Crushed Curry, but I sponged on some Cajun Craze ink on the bottom diecut to give it some depth.  A Naturals White husk and some Old Olive greenery

I added a twine bow, an embossed background featuring fall words, and I cut out a sentiment, also from Fruitful Blessings.  The inside uses some Fruitful Blessings images and a Thanksgiving sentiment from the retired Day of Thanks:

Claire's grid gives you lots of possibilities for some fall/thankful/Thanksgiving cards!  I hope you'll find some inspiration and play along with us!  Be sure to check out what the other designers created as well..you'll find they're not ALL fall-related!!!  Check them out at the Paper Players blog! 

The kids had a busy weekend...they went to a concert on Friday night:

I love the intent look on Wayne's and Cassidy's faces:

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Fruitful Blessings, Day of Thanks (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Thick Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Naturals White (ret)
Ink	Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Thick Twine (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Fruitful Blessings Dies, Autumn Blessings Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug)

Gratitude Changes Everything

Happy Friday, peeps! Yay, the weekend is here!  My card today is for the Shopping Our Stash challenge,  which features some gorgeous regal shades, and I used the sketch from Inspired By; the theme was adorable but I had been thinking about these images for a couple of days and the sketch fit, so I went with it!  Here are the prompts:

So my images aren't quite to scale like the sketch, but hopefully it will be okay! Here we go:

I stamped these Fall: Take Three Papertrey images in Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie, then used a W+9 die to cut them out.  The sentiment is from a Right at Home set called Grateful Heart:

To give some interest to the Pretty Peacock background, I first stamped it with the retired Linen background stamp, then embosssed it with the Cane Weave embossing folder.  If you look closely, you can see the "weave".  I added a little Linen braid trim because in the photo, the rug and lamp are natural colored and I liked the contrast.  On the inside, a sentiment from the PTI set:

I think these rich jewel tones are just beautiful!  And I am going to pop this in over at the Time Out challenge  as well, as their theme is gratitude:

Thanks for visiting today!

A few more pictures from Longwood:

These are certainly jewel-toned as well!  Nature is beautiful!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Linen (ret), Grateful Heart (Right at Home) Fall:Take Three (Papertrey Ink)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Pretty Peacock
Ink	Versamark, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty Peacock
Accessories	Dimensionals, Linen Braid (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Cane Weave Embossing Folder, ZigZag Dies (W+9)

Fat-Free Birthday Card

Happy Thursday, peeps!  The weekend is almost here, and it's going to be a warm one, before the temps dip back down to more fall-like next week! We are going to John's 50th class reunion, so at least it won't be raining!

My card today uses the Freshly Made Sketches sketch, and I am also entering it at the Krafty Chicks "Any Occasion" challenge:

So here we go:

A friend in my TOPS weight-loss support group is having a special birthday, and she has the best sense of humor, so I thought this sentiment from Birthday Wit would be a fun one for her!  I used papers from Echo Park's Bee Happy line, and embossed the front with a retired polka dot embossing folder.  If I'd had my wits about me at 10 pm last night, I would have used the new Hive EF that I just bought, LOL!  Anyway, I didn't have any bee stamps small enough, so I fussy-cut a few from the papers themselves for my little "bee-line" running cross the bottom of the card:

I am hoping this will make that certain birthday a little sweeter!  Thanks for visiting today!

John had a free day yesterday so we went to Longwood to see the mums and all the other fall foliage they had planted! It was a gorgeous day to enjoy it!  I had read on Longwood's blog recently that their amazing Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum was back on display after two years of regrouping due to disease.  Here's what you see as soon as you walk into the Conservatory:

These flowers are all from ONE PLANT!  You can read about how it is done on their blog HERE.  It's a painstaking process, obviously, and here's what each blossom looks like individually!  

And here's how it looks from the opposite end, showing the pool and surrounding greenery! I'll have more pictures (of course I will!) in the next few days!  I almost wore out my phone's battery taking them all, LOL!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

"As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart." Proverbs 27-19

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Birthday Wit (ret), Stitched Borders (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Daffodil Delight, Bee Happy (Echo Park)
Ink	Versafine Black
Accessories	Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Checks & Dots Embossing Folder (ret), Small Heart Punch (ret)

AYSI310 Nuthatch on Vellum

Happy Wednesday, peeps! My card today is for the As You See It challenge of using vellum!  One of my favorite ways to use vellum, and I haven't done it for a while, is to stamp on the front and color on the back! I pulled out a little Flora and Fauna set and stamped this little nuthatch and some twigs on a piece of vellum using Stazon ink:

I apologize for the poor quality of my photo...I am using my phone, as John is using my camera card to capture some photos in his trail camera!  So bear with me for another day or so!  After stamping the images, I turned the vellum over and colored them in on the back using Blends and markers; here's a better view:

I stamped some little berry images in Soft Seafoam ink on a piece of Basic White and cut both of them out with a Stylish Shapes dies.  I love the softness that coloring the images on the back imparts!  I used glue dots in stratgic places to adhere the layers together.  I added Real Red and White mats, a little banner with some twine and mounted it all on a Pistachio Pudding panel embossed with a holly EF.  Here's the inside, using a sentiment from Christmas to Remember:

If you've never tried this technique, you should give it a try!  Thanks for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Christmas to Remember (ret), Winter Aviary (Flora and Fauna)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Real Red, Vellum, Pistachio Pudding (ret)
Ink	Stazon Black, Soft Seafoam
Accessories	Pistachio Pudding Twine (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Holly Embossing Folder (ret), Outline Shapes Dise (Simon Says Stamp), Markers, Blends

AHSC548 Navy & Gold Christmas

Hey there, everyone! Happy Tuesday! I have delayed using these beautiful Shining Brightly DSPs...I guess I would have to admit that I am hoarding them!  But I broke into the package for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this week:

And here we go:

I cut a panel of the DSP and added a gold foil diecut border (which in hindsight, wish I had left off), then added a couple of leafy diecuts and a gold bow:

A sentiment from For Unto Us was stamped and heat-embossed in gold, and I stamped another sentiment from the same set on the inside in Night of Navy:

A really easy sketch and quite intriguing! I'll be using this one again, I know!  Thanks for popping in today!

As promised, a quick little video of Wayne and Josh making cider at the Harvest party:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	For Unto Us (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Night of Navy, Gold Foil, Shining Brightly DSP
Ink	Night of Navy, Encore Gold (ret)
Accessories	Gold Cord (ret), Dimensionals, Gold Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Nested Essentials Die, Scalloped Contour Dies, Cardinal Dies (ret), Heat Tool

Wacky Little Owl

Happy Monday, peeps! I have two cards today using the same sketch, the same cute little wacky owl, and two different themes!  I used the Sunday Stamps sketch:

and the feathers challenge at FarmQuest!  So let me give you the spooky version first:

Little owl is stamped in Versafine Black on Sahara Sand, then I added some smudges from Label Me Bold to give a spooky effect.  An old sentiment from Rubbernecker was stamped in Blackberry Bliss.  

I added a glittery star:

And the papers are from Echo Park's Spooky line!  And here's the inside:

Here's the second one, a little more light-hearted!  Mr Owl is stamped in Mello Moss; sentiment is from Poppy Stamps' Whittle Sayings and the papers are from Unity:

Isn't he the cutest?!

Thanks so much for popping in today!  

We had our Harvest Party on Saturday...aside from the wind and a few clouds, it was a great event! We have such a great location!

Wayne and our friend Josh were kings of the apple cider press (a video to come)!  Josh is holding all the apple leftovers...people feed them to their chickens or pigs!  And Wayne rewarded himself with a s'more!

The hayride is always a hit; this year Wayne's brother's family went along for the ride; his nephew is sitting next to Cassidy, although all you can see is her hair!

Nothing like a big farm tractor!! Our cousin William is a great driver!

And it was so popular, they had a nighttime ride too!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

First Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Owl (Impression Obsession), Halloween Sentiments 1 (Rubbernecker Stamps), Label Me Bold (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Sahara Sand (ret), Blackberry Bliss, Basic Black, Spooky (Echo Park)
Ink	Blackberry Bliss, Sahara Sand (ret), Versafine Black
Accessories	Black Dimensionals, Dimensionals, Glitter (Recollections)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, 1/4" Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Country Star Punch (ret)

Second Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Owl (Impression Obsession), Whittle Sayings (Poppy Stamps)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss (ret), Rococco Rose (ret), Grow Untamed (Unity)
Ink	Mellow Moss (ret)
Accessories	Dimensionals, Enamel Dot from my stash
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, 1/4" Banner Dies (Pink & Main)