FMS746 You Make My Heart Smile

Happy Thursday, all!  The FMS sketch is a fun one this week...haven't used this type of sketch for a while and it gave me a chance to use some new goodies!  Here's the sketch:

I got a package of Meant for You Mix and Match Ephemera, which are nice and thick and even have adhesive on the back!   I chose a pretty little bouquet of flowers and matched it with some new Barely Blush Gingham DSP:

My Barely Blush card is 4 1/4" square, and I added the gingham, then a couple of diecut circles, then adhered my little bouquet.  You just have to make sure you don't place the circles any higher than 

5 1/2", so it will still fit in a standard-sized envelope!

I used a Taylored Expressions stitched strip die to cut a scrap of Lost Lagoon, then stamped a sentiment from Layers of Beauty in Misty Moonlight ink and added some pearls; I added a few pearls among the flowers in the bouquet too!  I left the inside blank and will add a sentiment when necessary!

These ephemera packs are loaded with fun images and make for a quick card or scrapbook page!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Layers of Beauty (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Lost Lagoon, Barely Blush, In Color Gingham DSP, Meant for You Mix & Match Ephemera
Ink	Misty Moonlight
Accessories	Pearls
Tools	Big Shot, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Layering Circles Dies (ret), Stitched Strips Dies (Taylored Expressions)

FMS 743 Sending You Cheer

Happy Thursday, peeps! I am making Christmas cards to keep me cool, LOL!  The FMS sketch was a challenging, but interesting one:

SO many choices for this sketch! I did a little sorting and purging yesterday in my craft room and found these papers from last Christmas and I had some scraps that I thought would work!  Here we go:

All the papers are from the Christmas Tags & More Mix & Match package; I added an embossed background, and I trimmed off the ornament holder, punched out the ornament, then glued it on again and added a twine bow:

I like how the embossing mimics the mistletoe berries!!!  Unintentional, but it works!  Another card for my stash!  Thanks for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Wishing You Joy (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Christmas Tags & More Mix & Match (ret)
Ink	Real Red
Accessories	Baker's Twine (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (ret), Banner Dies (Pink & Main)

FMS742 Birthday Balloons

Happy Friday, all!  Hope you have some fun weekend plans ahead--it's going to be a rainy weekend here but that's not all bad!  We can stay inside and craft, right? I needed a couple of birthday cards for children this week, and I put the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches to work:

I perused my retired stash of DSP and found some with bright colors; here we go:

I used a retired balloon punch to punch out balloons to match the DSP, then added some twine bows and a fun little sentiment!  

Easy peasy!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Label Me Bold
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay (ret), Soda Pop DSP (ret, can't remember the name of it)
Ink	Real Red
Accessories	Dimensionals, Baker's Twine in ass't colors (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Balloon Punch (ret), Banner Dies (Pink & Main)

FMS741 Little Note of Thanks

Happy Thursday, all!  I needed a few more thank you cards and the FMS sketch gave me a great layout to make some quick, easy CAS ones!

I still had Bloom Boutique out on my desk, and I loved Michele's postage stamp design, so instead of stenciling a design, I just used some of the patterns as my "stamp":

I mounted those pretty patterns on a piece of Basic White embossed with the Lazy Daisy embossing folder, and added a tag with some pretty Crisp Cantaloupe ribbon.  I just loved this color when it first came out and I still love it!  The only other addition is a gold Festive Pearl!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Notes of Spring
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Bloom Boutique DSP
Ink	Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories	Crisp Cantaloupe Ribbon, Dimensionals, Festive Pearls (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Lazy Daisy Embossing Folder, Perennial Postage Dies, Tailor Made Tags Dies (ret)

FMS738 Thank You Kindly

Happy Thursday, all!  Cecile's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was really a cool one, I couldn't wait to play:

A friend of mine recently gave me a pink of homemade strawberry jam---YUM!  I wanted to make her a little thank you card, so I remembered I had an Altenew set that had some strawberries in it:

I first diecut a stitched border with a die from Reverse Confetti and mounted it on a Peaceful Pine card base.  I stamped the berries in Versafine ink, then watercolored them and fussy-cut them out.  The background foliage was stamped in the new In Color Peaceful Pine (stamped off once), and a little stitched stamp was stamped in the same color. 

Sentiment is from Whittle Sayings, and I added some little mini sequins for sparkle!  I think I might have to go have some toast with jam after this, LOL!  I am also going to enter this at the Farm Quest challenge where they are looking for fruit!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Beautiful You (Altenew), Borderline Stitches (Technique Tuesday), Whittle Sayings (Poppystamps), Celebrate Family (Fiskars)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Peaceful Pine
Ink	Versafine Black, Peaceful Pine, Real Red, Strawberry Slush
Accessories	Mini Sequins from my stash, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Banners Dies (Pink & Main), Lacy Scallop Frame Die (Reverse Confetti), Aquapainter

Hello Sweet Friend

Happy Thursday, peeps! I have a fun little card today for three challenges; the FMS sketch, the friend of mine challenge at Little Red Wagon, and the envelope challenge from CAS on Sunday:

So here we go:

I started with a little scrap of Pool Party DSP and created an envelope with it using the Love Notes dies, then added a little note stamped with the "hello" to tuck inside. I stamped some hearts from the retired Wood Words in Blushing Bride ink and mounted both on a panel of Pool Party diecut with the Perennial Postage dies and stamped with Elements of Text.  I had one last little piece of this twine that I wrapped around the envelope, then mounted it on a piece of DSP. The DSP is actually Petal Pink; I always get those two colors mixed up, but it'll have to do, LOL!

My final addition was the "sweet friend" from Poppy Stamps, stamped on a little banner.  You'll see some of these papers again tomorrow--spoiler alert!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Scalloped Wishes, Elements of Text (ret), Wood Words (ret), Whittle Sayings (Poppy Stamps)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pool Party, Petal Pink DSP (ret), Pool Party DSP (ret)
Ink	Lost Lagoon, Blushing Bride, Pool Party
Accessories	Blushing Bride Twine (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Love Notes Dies (ret), Perennial Postage Dies, Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret)

FMS736 Hydrangea Hello

Happy Thursday, peeps!  I pulled out some old and new products for today's card!  It's for the FMS sketch challenge from Verena :

I love SU's new Hydrangea Hue---I am a big blue fan, and this is a lovely shade!  I also used the new Lazy Daisy embossing folder, some new Bloom Boutique papers and some old Pierced Blooms dies:

It's hard to see, but there are gold accents on the printed paper, so I added a gold foil strip, diecut with a stitched strip die, along with some gold leaves and little gold pearls.  I heat-embossed a sentiment from Prayers & Promises in gold as well:

Love all the flowers--what a cheerful card!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Prayers and Promises
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Gold Foil, Hydrangea Hue, Bloom Boutique DSP
Ink	Gold Encore (ret)
Accessories	Gold Pearls (ret), Dimensionals, Gold Embossing Powder
Tools	Big Shot, Lazy Daisy Embossing Folder, Pierced Blooms Dies (ret), Stitched Strips Dies 1/4" & 1/2" (Taylored Expressions), Heat Tool

FMS734 Make a Splash

Happy Thursday, everyone! Happy last day of April!  I just got the upcoming Online Exclusive Splash and Relax bundle and I just had to play with it for the FMS challenge this week!  Here's their sketch:

I was intrigued by this, especially with those rounded corners.  It's such an easy thing to do if you have a corner rounder punch and yet, I forget to do it!  So here we go with my little 4 1/4" square card:

Crisp Cantaloupe was one of my favorite colors, so I was thrilled to see it return!  I did a variety of diecuts in it, plus white and black, to create my card. I added some black and white gingham and a couple of black rhinestones and iridescent sequins as embellishments!

I mounted everything on a panel of Basic White, embossed with the Seaside embossing folder.  The inside sentiments were from the same set and the Rolling Waves set.

This will go to a friend from TOPS who loves going to the beach!  And I must confess (and I would love to hear opinions of other demonstrators) that I am struggling with these new ink pads.  As you can see, the sentiment is a bit blurry.  After I stamped this, I literally took a paper towel and wiped off some of the ink from the top of pad.  I remember some of the foam pads being exceptionally juicy, but this is not quite the same.  Anyone have any tips to get better, crisp images?  

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Splash & Relax, Rolling Waves
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe, Painted Patterns DSP
Ink	Barely Blush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Versafine Black
Accessories	Rhinestones, Iridescent Sequins (ret), Black & White Gingham (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Splash & Relax Dies, Seaside Embossing Folder (ret), Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Corner Rounder Punch (ret), Black Blend

FMS733 Spotlight on Geraniums

 Happy Monday again! I am squeaking in another card today for the FMS sketch:

I have to admit that I haven't made a spotlight card for a long time and almost just tossed this one in the trash after several attempts, but I finally managed to eke one out that I felt was good enough to share!  It uses a pretty image from Unity's March 2026 Kit of the Month called Good Vibes:

Still not sure about the mixing of the greens!  Anyway, I stamped one image in black and another in mint green, then diecut a circle from the blackone and watercolored it in:

I embossed a Soft Sea Foam panel with the Eyelet embossing folder, trimmed everything down, added a stitched scalloped border and a sweet sentiment from the same set, then popped up the spotlit image.  Fresh and springy!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Good Vibes (Unity)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Sea Foam
Ink	Versafine Black, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Seafoam (Catherine Pooler)
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Be Mine Stitched Dies (ret),  Eyelet Embossing Folder, Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Aquapainter

FMS732 Feel Better Dragonfly

Happy Friday, peeps! Yay, the weekend is here!  I was playing with the Scalloped Wishes set and realized I hadn't used that pretty little dragonfly die yet, so I remedied that with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I still had some Pool Party Shimmer cardstock on my desk from yesterday's card, so I thought it would be fun to use it for my dragonfly BUT I added a little something extra to it; I colored it with some Azure Afternoon reinker ink to give it a deeper hue!  Here we go:

After coloring it with the ink, I mounted it on several diecut circles of cardstock and added two more circles from Not 2 Shabby's Rustic Blooms paper.  I embossed the left from of the card with the Greenery embossing folder, then added some sequins and a get well sentiment:

I love blue but I haven't used any of these hues for a while!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Unbounded Love (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Thick Basic White, Azure Afternoon, Pool Party Shimmer, Rustic Blooms (Not 2 Shabby)
Ink	Azure Afternoon
Accessories	Sequins from my Stash, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Greenery Embossing Folder (ret), Scalloped Wishes Dies, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Postage Collage Dies (Waffle Flower), Aquapainter, Word Window Punch (ret)

FMS731 To A Sweet Friend

 Happy Saturday, peeps! Hope you're having a good weekend so far! It is finally sunny here in SE PA, but the wind still thinks it's boss!  I have a fun little card today using Donna's sketch from FMS:

I kept thinking of all the little puppies in the Cutest Crew set, so I pulled out some retired Playful Pets DSP and went to work:

I stamped, colored and diecut the puppies, then mounted them on pieces of the DSP that were diecut with the retired Stitched Rectangle dies and matted with Real Red.  The sentiment is from Poppy Stamps Whittle Sayings:

The inside sentiment is from Cutest Crew:

Enjoy the rest of your day and be blessed!  Thanks for visiting!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Cutest Crew, Whittle Sayings (Poppy Stamps)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Real Red, Playful Pets DSP (ret)
Ink	Real Red, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Banner Dies (Pink & Main)

FMS730 Twas the Night Before Christmas

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I haven't made a Christmas card in ages, so I thought I'd better remedy that! I like to make them all year long so I'm not caught short come December!  I used the FMS sketch from Judy:

and a little diecut from a die that I got at Christmas time that had been sitting on my desk, unused!  I pulled out some holiday papers and stamps and went to work:

My papers are from Violet Studio Designs, and the diecut is from Paper Rose, diecut in Real Red cardstock.  The panel behind the stocking is stamped with a stamp from Concord & 9th called Joyful Noel, stamped in Soft Sea Foam, and the sentiment is from another Concord & 9th set called Merry Mantle.  I did add some polka dot embossing to go with the packages on the printed paper!

Another sentiment from the Merry Mantle set went inside, stamped in Evening Evergreen!

It was 80 degrees when I was making this card---not very spring-like, so I was hoping that thinking Christmas would cool me off!  Thanks for popping in today!   Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Merry Mantle, Joyful Noel (both Concord & 9th)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Real Red, Home for Christmas (Violet Studio Designs)
Ink	Real Red, Evening Evergreen, Soft Sea Foam
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stylish Shapes Dies, Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Stocking Die (Paper Rose), Perfect Polka Dots EF (ret)

FMS729 Rolling Waves

Happy Saturday, peeps!  I recently got the Rolling Waves bundle and I am struggling with it! I have seen beautiful things online using it, but haven't quite mastered how those diecut pieces line up properly, LOL!  I had a couple pieces already diecut, floating around on my desk, so I decided to use them with the FMS sketch this week:

So here we go:

This is way busier than I normally create, but I admit it was pretty fun to add all those little beachy embellishmeents!  I started with an oval and matching scallop of Basic Beige, then added a little piece of Everyday Happiness DSP for the "ocean".  I layered some of the surf diecuts on top after stamping some "sand" at the top of the oval.  Finally, I cut out the starfish and shells from some Shimmery White cardstock, then loosely watercolored them:

I struggled to figure out what my background should be, then remembered all the dreamy patterns in the Thoughtful Journey line, so I chose one of them.  My horizontal panel is a couple of layers of Metallic Mesh ribbon....it doesn't cover up the pattern of the paper, but adds some sparkle.  And speaking of sparkle, I added a few sequins!  I left the inside unstamped, so I can use this for any number of occasions!

Thursday night, Dana, my niece Kelly and I attended a craft class where we decorated concrete turtles in mandala style.  It was fun!  The turtle was already painted black and had a design lightly penciled in in chalk, so we just had to add our dots of color. Here is a sample from the teacher:

We got to choose our colors; originally, Cassidy was going to attend but had basketball practice, so Dana did hers in Cassidy's colors, which were predominately red:

We used styli and acrylic wands to dab on the paint.  Here's Kelly's---she really did an awesome job--check out the "bow" on her turtle's head and the eyelashes on her eyes:

It was a full house, too!

And here is my friend Beth's - she comes to my stamp classes too!  Very talented!

After all the painting is done, they're sprayed with acrylic sealer, so they're waterproof and nice and shiny!  Dana's, Kelly's and mine are in the back row from the left!  It was fun and everyone's looked amazing!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Rolling Waves
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Beige, Thoughtful Journey DSP, Everyday Happiness DSP, Shimmery White (ret)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Daffodil Delight, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Highland Heather
Accessories	Sequins (ret), Dimensionals, Metallic Mesh Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Rolling Waves Dies, Blending Brushes, Aquapainters