AHSC557 Sympathy

Happy Wednesday, peeps! Hope you had a good Christmas holiday! The days feel weird, I am all messed up, LOL! I did manage to clean a little space on my stamp table (which looks like a tornado hit it) to make, sadly, a sympathy card.  I used the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I just got some Fitting Florets DSP from the Clearance Rack, and I paired it with the florals from Fruitful Blessings....trying to get some more use from it before it retires!  So here we go:

After diecutting my circle, I mounted it on a scallop of Smoky Slate and added a sentiment from Lasting Joy and a black gingham bow.  The DSP panel was diecut with the Basic Borders die, and to complement the black & white, I added a smaller diecut panel of Basic Black.  I admit that the little smaller circle beneath the main image threw me a bit! I ended up diecutting a vellum circle, then adding some bluish pearls round the edge, and one on the floral image as well:

I added a little panel of the same DSP on the inside and a sentiment from Courage and Faith:

It's sad any time to need sympathy card, but it's worse at the holidays.  Hope this brings some comfort.

So we got to meet our new great-nephew Coby over Christmas:

He's so tiny and sweet!  And of course, we can't forget big brother Cole:

Cassidy was in her glory...she's going to be a great babysitting some day soon!

Thanks for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Fruitful Blessings, Lasting Joy, Courage & Faith
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Fitting Florets DSP
Ink	Balmy Blue, Memento Black
Accessories	Black & White Gingham, Red & Green Pearls (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Layering Circles Dies (ret), Basic Borders Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies

Merry Christmas

 I wish all of my friends a Merry Christmas!

 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddently a great company of the heavenly host appeared wtih the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."  Luke 2:8-14

A Sweet Christmas Thank You

Happy Friday, everyone!  Before I get to my chores, I thought I'd share a sweet thank you card I created; it's for both the Inspired By and TGIF challenges:

Heaven knows I have enough Christmas scraps laying around, and I pulled out an older candy cane stamp from Scentsational Seasons and here's what I came up with:

I used some scraps from last year's Celebrate Everything hostess packet, and I mounted the candy cane on a Tailor Made tag, stamped with a thank you from Timeless Arrangements:

And you may just be able to see the embossing I did at the bottom of the card; it's from the Wintery EF:

This little thank you will be out in the mail real soon!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Here's a wee little video of some of the ornaments on one of Longwood's trees; I was fascinated by the bubbler candle!  It's short but sweet!  Enjoy! (The noise in the background is water from the fountains!)

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Timeless Arrangements, Scentsational Seasons (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Celebrate Everything DSP (ret)
Ink	Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Lemon Lime Twist Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Wintery Embossing Folder, Tailor Made Tags Dies

AHSC556 One More Christmas Card

Happy Thursday, everyone! I have suffered from stamping withdrawal!! I locked myself in my craft room this morning, leaving unwrapped gifts sitting on my kitchen table, and made myself stamp something! The Atlantic Hearts sketch is always one of my favorites:

While I was doing my video workout this morning, the leader had a pretty decoration on her wall; it had a black background and a white wreath, so I thought I'd use it as my inspiration! It didn't turn out exactly as I wanted, but I got some ideas for future use, LOL!  So here we go:

I used lots of different products on my card today!  The DSPs I used are SU's One Horse Sleigh and Fitting Florets as well as some Gold Foil.  The Basic Black circle was stamped with a bough stamp from Market Street Stamps' Country Christmas, in Craft White ink. I gave it some "snow" with a white gel pen:

The gold-embossed "Christmas" is from Impression Obsession; the "Merry" is from Peachy Cheap, and the bow is from Country Wreath dies.  I added a few sprigs from Cottage Wreaths, stamped in Gray Granite. My final addition was some gold pearls!  This will go into next year's stash!  Thanks so much for popping in today!

I made another trip to Longwood; this time it was at 10 am...MUCH fewer crowds, and easier to gaze at some of the indoor sights a little longer! 

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Country Christmas (Market Street Stamps), Christmas Words (Impression Obsession)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Black, Gold Foil, One Horse Sleigh DSP, Fitting Florets DSP
Ink	Gray Granite, Gold Encore (ret)
Accessories	Gold Pearls (ret), Black Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Cottage Wreath Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Layering Circle Dies (ret), Large Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Merry Die (Peachy Cheap)

IB267 Zany Birthday

Happy Friday, peeps!  I am taking a break from holiday stamping, as my birthday card stash is running low!  I pulled out my  Zoo Crew DSP and Zany Zoo dies and stamps to make an easy-peasy card:

I loosely used the Inspired By 267 sketch, flipping it so my little aardvark wouldn't be marching off the page!:

I diecut two of the figures from the DSP, the ballerina and the raccoon.  The aardvark had to be fussy-cut!  I think this little cutie is my favorite! I colored her tutu with Melon Mambo and Berry Burst inks, and although you can't see it, it highlighted with some Wink of Stella!  I added a sentiment from Zany Zoo with a Shimmer Paper mat diecut with a Labels Aglow die:

A sentiment from the retired Best Year went on the inside, along with some confetti!  Now it's off to send it to a special birthday girl!

Thanks for visiting today!

I snagged these photos of my great-nephews Jameson & Sawyer; every year they make cookies with their grandmom:

They look very intent on their decorating, don't they?

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

FMS616 Winter Wishes

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Winding down towards the weekend! I am still making Christmas cards because I actually make Christmas cards all year long, LOL!  So the FMS sketch called to me:

because I was looking through my stash of retired DSP and I found this one that I thought would look pretty with it:

I have a real mix of old and new here!  The DSP is from the retired Painted Christmas along with some retired Shaded Spruce DSP for the accents.  The sentiment is from Magical Meadow, diecut with the Nested Essential die, then accented with some Sweet Sorbet banners, also from the same die set:

Brightest Glow provided the inside sentiment, and I used some greenery from an older set called Winter Wishes and some berry "dots" from some set...can't remember which, LOL!

I love these traditional Christmas colors and this sketch is super-versatile!

A few more photos from Longwood!

Here's the restored red truck that was featured on the Longwood blog a couple weeks ago.  Forgive John...he hates having his picture taken! A volunteer took the photo as well...it's not the best, LOL!

It had its own license plate and wreath, decorated with red-truck ribbon:

And breathtaking views:

It boggles my mind when I think about how much time, planning and man-power it takes to put this all together!  Thanks for stopping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Magical Meadow, Brightest Glow, Winter Wishes (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Sweet Sorbet, Painted Christmas DSP (ret), Shaded Spruce DSP (ret)
Ink	Sweet Sorbet, Garden Green
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Scalloped Contours Dies, Nested Essential Dies

AHSC555 Pink Trees!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! My friend Karen sent me a photo of a cool plate and sort of challenged me to make a Christmas card using it as my inspiration!  I took her up on it!  Here's the photo:

I used the sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

I have a cute little set from the Stamp Market called Tiny Trees Two, and I didn't use it at all this year, so I decided to put it to use on this card!  Here we go:

I diecut and stamped several trees, using Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Bubble Bath, Smoky Slate and Sahara Sand inks and papers, all on a Bubble Bath panel that I lightly dotted with a Petal Pink marker.  I added some snowy hills and a vellum banner on which I stamped a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.   The horizontal pieces are some neglected washi tapes.  I diecut one small deer from some gold foil as my embellishment:

Another SSS stamp and a little tree on the inside:

We went to Longwood yesterday; the theme this year is retro Christmas! So fun! I took lots of pictures, but I wanted to show you some of the "pink" themed items that were featured!

These giant Christmas bulb were floating on one of the ponds!

In the music room, a record player and a vintage ceramic Christmas tree:

This tree was loaded with pink, mauve, purple and gold ornaments and the gifts were lavishly decorated as well:

I love these vintage decorations....especially that pink and green bottle brush tree!

The Exhibition hall was just stunning:

I'll post more later!  Thanks for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Tiny Trees Two (The Stamp Market), Christmas Blessings (Simon Says Stamp)
Card stock & Papers	Vellum, Whisper White, Bubble Bath, Smoky Slate, Gold Foil (ret)
Ink	Smoky Slate, Pebbled Path, Basic Gray, Bubble Bath, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand
Accessories	Washi Tape (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Square Dies (Lil Inker), Card Front Builder Die (ret), Tiny Trees Two Dies (The Stamp Market), Large Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Christmas Blessings Dies (Simon Says Stamp)