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

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)

FMS754 Deepest Sympathy

 Happy Thursday, all!  Unfortunately, we needed a sympathy card as our neighbor passed away. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I used a couple of digital papers, a sentiment from Hero Arts, and a wee bit of twine:

I diecut the gingham with a scalloped die; the sympathy sentiment was diecut with a banner die, and I also embossed around the outer edge with a cross-stitch die:

The inside used a sentiment from Prayers & Promises:

Since it's pretty clean & simple, I'm also going to enter it at the Krafty Chicks this week:

Thanks for popping in today!

Dana, my friend and I had a wee bit of success at our local fair; Dana won a first prize for her crocheted top; I won a first for my cross stitch and a third for my shadowbox, and Claudia won a third for her flag afghan:

So many talented crafters out there!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Prayers & Promises, Sentiments 342 (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Fall Scrappy Papers (Etsy Digital), Tiny Gingham Papers (Etsy Digital)
Ink	Mossy Meadow
Accessories	Natural Tones Linen Thread, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Cross Stitch Die (Taylored Expressions), Be Mine Stitched Dies (ret)

Copper Pumpkin

 Happy Saturday, everyone! Hope you're having a good weekend so far!  I have a card to share for the FMS challenge as well as the Seize the Birthday challenge of having a sentiment strip.  

I pulled out an older CTMH stamp set, got it inky, and here we go:

The pumpkin is stamped in Baked Brown Sugar, and although the circle behind it looks black, it's actually copper foil!  It looks great with the Brown Sugar and I added a copper cord bow as well:

You also can't tell but I heat embossed the sentiment from Lily of the Valley in Copper embossing powder.  The background panels are Baked Brown Sugar, embossed with the Wrapped in Texture embossing folder and sponged with Brown Sugar ink, and Woodgrain Wonder DSP.  Another sentiment from the Lily set went on the inside:

I had cataract surgery on Thursday and I didn't really know if I'd be able to stamp for a few days or not, but it seems to be okay.  I am still blurry on the distance vision, but my doctor said that was normal!  Keeping my fingers crossed!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Lily of the Valley, Autumn Wishes (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Woodgrain Wonder DSP, Baked Brown Sugar (ret), Copper Foil (ret)
Ink	Baked Brown Sugar (ret), Copper Encore (ret)
Accessories	Dimensionals, Copper Cording (ret), Copper Embossing Powder (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Wrapped in Texture Embossing Folder (ret), Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Heat Tool

FMS751 Just a Note

Happy Thursday, peeps!  I am home from vacation, putting away my stretchy shorts and trying to get back on my "healthy eating" track, LOL!  And I am trying to get back into a crafty mood!  Michele's FMS sketch is a fun one, and I just happened to be getting some ideas for an upcoming class and her sketch fit the bill!  Here's the sketch:

And here we go:

I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder and embossed a panel of Coastal Cabana.  The typewriter die is one I've had for a while and I don't remember who makes it!  I added a little note, stamped with a Papertrey sentiment, and mounted it on a Bubble Bath panel that was stamped with the A to Z stamp in Pretty in Pink:

I added some twine and a little pink glimmer heart.  And since this is a thank-you card to my SIL for watering my flowers while we were gone, I added a Colorado Craft sentiment as well as another Papertrey sentiment on the inside:

So happy you popped in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	A to Z (ret), Kinder World (Colorado Craft), Take Three: Fall (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Black, Bubble Bath, Coastal Cabana, Brushed Silver (ret), Pink Glimmer (ret)
Ink	Versafine Black, Pretty in Pink
Accessories	Pink Twine (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Typewriter EF (Tim Holtz), Typewrite Die (unknown), Triple Heart Punch (ret)

FMS749 Sweet Things

 Happy Thursday, peeps!  Feels like a Friday to me for some reason, LOL! I got some new goodies yesterday from the upcoming catalog and just had to play with them!  It's a bundle called Box of Joy, and there are stamps and dies to create a little goodie box and little diecuts with which to embellish them! SO cute!  I did make a box, I'll share that later, but I used the candy dies to make a card with the FMS sketch:

So here we go:

I diecut some strips from Hydrangea Hue DSP and layered them on the front of my card, which was embossed with a Cross Stitch die from Taylored Expressions.  Then I diecut the candies from Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam and Pool Party cardstocks, and gave them some dazzle with Wink of Stella:

Both the outside and inside sentiments are from a retired set called Suite Sentiments, and I did add a birthday sentiment from Cutest Crew too:

I have some other ideas for this sketch, it's a fun one!  

Over the weekend, Dana & I attended a birthday tea party for the pianist at our church:

We were able to really surprise her, have a lovely tea, and then we sang hymns!  Her family is all musically inclined, so there was a lot of harmony and it all sounded heavenly!  It was a blessing and the waitresses said some of the other customers thought the music was being broadcast on their sound system, LOL!   

Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Cutest Crew, Suite Sentiments (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pool Party, Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam, Hydrangea Hue In Color DSP
Ink	Hydrangea Hue
Accessories	Dimensionals, Matte Dots (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Box of Joy Dies, Easy Strip Dies (Taylor Expressions), Cross Stitch Rectangle Dies (Taylored Expressions), Wink of Stella

PP798 Color Challenge from Stef

 Happy Sunday, everyone!  Stef is our Paper Players hostess with a fun color challenge for us this week:

What a fun palette!  For some reason, my mind went to Christmas, so I used the colors with the Freshly Made Sketches sketch:

and came up with this:

I pulled out an old wooden set called Jolly Bingo Bits and stamped my images in Real Red, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock and the retired Cool Caribbean inks, then diecut them out. I added various circular mats, popped up the top of the stocking and added a woodgrain horizontal panel and a Pretty Peacock diecut sentiment.  My sentiment didn't quite span the length I wanted, so I added a little star.  It all went on a shimmery plaid piece of DSP that either Ann or Linda gifted me a couple of years ago!

And old Cornish Heritage Farms sentiment went inside, stamped in Real Red:

What will you come up with using these colors?  Be sure to stop over at the Paper Players blog to see what the other designers came up with, and get some inspiration as well!  

And I have one more birthday card I missed, this pretty scene from Kathy:

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Jolly Bingo Bits (ret), Christmas Expressions (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Cool Caribbean (ret), Wood Grain Wonders DSP, Plaid DSP (ret)
Ink	Real Red, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Cool Caribbean (ret)
Accessories	Mini Dimensionals, Festive Pearls (ret), Mini Pearls
Tools	Big Shot, Stylish Shapes Dies (ret), Layering Circles Dies (ret), Small Star Punch (ret), Handmade Sentiments Dies (Spellbinders), Black Marker

FMS747 Easy Birthday

Happy Thursday, all! For some reason, this week just seemed to get away from me! How can it be Thursday already?  I have a very quick card today for the FMS sketch; here's the sketch:

I had my Meant for You Ephemera Pack (still) on my desk and there was a sweet little bouquet of balloons on it and I thought I could use that!  I did turn the sketch a quarter turn to make the balloons work!  Here we go:

I happened to find a couple cute little pre-made note cards from Studio G that had a scallop already cut on the edge.  I added some gingham paper to the inside, adhered the balloons, then heat-embossed a "happy" sentiment in gold and stamped the birthday in Strawberry Slush:

Waffle Flower provided the inside sentiment:

Easy peasy!!!  I need to start on my August birthday cards, so this is the first!  And speaking of birthdays, I got some GORGEOUS cards for my own birthday on Tuesday!  Thanks, everyone!  I'll be sharing them in the coming weeks because they're too pretty not to share!  Here are the first few:

This beachy scene is from my Paper Players teammate Christy!

This beauty is from my friend Sandy!  Gorgeous!

And this lovely easel card is from my friend Karen (in Florida)!  The details are delightful!  Thanks, ladies!

And thank you for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sentiments Inside (Waffle FLower), Sentiments STP-002 (Spellbinders)
Card stock & Papers	Notecard (Studio G), Gingham (unknown), Mix & Match Ephemera
Ink	Gold Encore (ret), Strawberry Slush
Accessories	Gold Embossing Powder, Dimensionals
Tools	Heat Tool

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)