RRCB127 Sympathy

Hi everyone!  It's Retro Rubber time again...time flies, doesn't it?  We have a Tic-Tac-Toe for you this time, and since I have needed several sympathy cards recently, I took the advantage of using one of the diagonal lines for my card today; here's the grid:

I chose "sympathy", "die cut or punch", and "pattern paper":

My sentiment, stamped in Pear Pizzazz, is from a Paper Pumpkin kit, probably two years ago...I didn't keep track of the dates, sadly!  I stamped it on a piece of Thick White cardstock, and diecut it with a die from Reverse Confetti.  My card base of Grapefruit Grove was scored at each end at 2 1/8" to make a gate-fold card:

I added some pretty Papertrey printed paper and a few leaves in Pear Pizzazz.  My final touch was a little bow in the upper corner.  These folds are so simple, but really add a nice touch to an otherwise basic card!  

I hope you'll play along with our challenge this week....tic-tac-toes always have so many possibilities!  Just be sure to use stamps that are at least a year old, and tell us how old they are!  Can't wait to see what you create!  Check out what the designers did at the Retro Rubber blog and share yours there too!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Paper Pumpkin (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Grapefruit Grove, Pear Pizzazz, Thick White, Green Tea Leaves DSP (Papertrey)
Ink	Pear Pizzazz
Accessories	Pear Pizzazz Ribbon (ret), DImensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Lacy Scallop Frame Dies (Reverse Confetti), Massa Leaf Frame Die (Poppy Stamps)

IB108 Clusters Sympathy

Hi peeps! Wow, the week is just whizzing by!  We have a new Inspired By challenge today...check this one out:

Isn't that a pretty vignette?  Unfortunately, I needed several sympathy cards recently, so you may see a theme for a few posts.....but this challenge did give me a chance to pull out some lovely elements to mix and match! 

I started with some papers from Julie Nutting's French Flea Market by Photo Play, using some blue for my background, a stripe for my banner, and a pink brocade for my florals; I stamped them in Basic Gray, fussy-cut them out and added a little shading with some Copics:

I just LOVE the tag die from SU's new Bonanza dies, so I cut one out from Whisper White cardstock, stamped a few elements on it from the retired Butterfly Basics stamp set, and mounted my florals on it.  I also added some twine and sparkly sequins:

I stamped and diecut a little butterfly, embellished it with a little glimmer dot, and I found this chipboard button in my stash....IRL it matches a little better than it does in the photo.  The sentiment was also stamped in Basic Gray and is from Our Daily Bread Designs:

For my inside, I used a past Paper Pumpkin sentiment, stamped in Marina Mist, and I also stamped the fern again behind it:

The DT has some lovely samples using the photo as their inspiration....please check them out at Inspired By and share your creation with us as well!  Can't wait to see it!

Cassidy had an inservice day yesterday, so we spent the day together!  She helped me unpack a big SU order; she set up a "store" in the living room and I had to "shop" for all my customers' orders!! Then she took the box apart, re-taped it and made a play house for her dolls with it!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Paper Pumpkin sympathy (ret), Mini Tag Sentiment (Our Daily Bread Designs), Flower Garden (Tim Holtz), Butterfly Basics (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, French Flea Market (Photo Play)
Ink	Pineapple Punch, Basic Gray, Certainly Celery (ret), Marina Mist (ret)
Accessories	Sequins, Chipboard Button, Baker's Twine (from my stash), Glimmer Dots (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Bonanza Dies, Copics, Small Butterfly Punch (ret)

IC059 Bee Sympathy

Hi stampers!  Happy Monday!  Wow, we're winding down the end of the year!  Earlier I shared a baby card, today, unfortunately, I am sharing a sympathy card.  Circle of life, right?  The Inspire.Create challenge had a lovely sketch:

I used the new Honey Bee bunde , available Jan.3, which is a dream to stamp and diecut!  I paired it with some Mosaic Mood DSP:

I stamped the hive in So Saffron, and the bees in Early Espresso, coloring their bodies and wings with a Daffodil Delight blend:

There are nice sentiments in the set as well; this one was also stamped in Early Espresso and diecut with a Stitched Rectangle die:

On the inside, a sentiment from Here's A Card as well as a couple more bees!

Thanks for popping in today!

Cassidy had last Monday off, so she came over and made a gingerbread truck (from a kit!):

The icing was pretty hard to pipe, so she used an offset spatula to spread it around.....

and of course, to taste it:

The tree to sit inside the truck was a little easier, LOL!

The finished product!  Not quite the same as the picture on the box, but she had fun with it!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

TSOT436 Double Sympathy Cards

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  Just a quick post today; sadly, I needed two sympathy cards for a family at church.  I used the Try Stampin' on Tuesday challenge sketch:

as well as papers from Bo Bunny's Petal Lane collection.  All the papers coordinate nicely, so I just mixed and matched some of them to create two cards, same sketch, a little different proportions for both:

Both cards use two sentiments from Here's a Card; I used each one on the front, then used the second one on the inside:

I stamped directly on to the patterned paper with Memento Black ink:

Hopefully they'll bring some comfort to the family.  Thanks for popping in today!

Monday was so gorgeous, I had to stop and take a walk at Longwood in between my errands!

Christmas is in the air!  But first...Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's A Card
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Petal Lane Collection (Bo Bunny)
Ink	Memento Black
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Layering Circles Dies

TCC120 Country Cottage Sympathy

Happy Friday, peeps!  Yay, it finally feels like fall around here--what a beautiful day it is, cool and crisp!  Do you have some fun weekend plans?  I haven't quite decided yet to do, but I do have some cards to get ready for an upcoming stamp class, so I know I'll be working on that!  

The Card Concept had a wonderful photo inspiration challenge:

I love this cottage style, especially these colors, but when I sat down to stamp something, my ideas fell flat.  I finally ended up letting some beautiful Authentique papers do most of the work for my vintage shabby chic-style sympathy card:

My father's only sibling, his brother Dave, passed away in Florida yesterday.  He and my dad hadn't seen each other for many, many years, but in his last days, in his confusion, he wanted to see Jim.  So sad that he didn't get to see my dad before he passed away.  So this card is for my aunt and her two daughters, my cousins Nancy and Bonnie...we spent many, many hours together in childhood, growing up next to each other and camping at the Delaware beaches.  I loved this paper, but it is 6x6" and I wanted to capture both sides with the butterflies, so I cut the paper in half and covered the seam with another piece of polka dotted paper, diecut with a scalloped edge die, then added a pretty grosgrain ribbon for accent.  I diecut two panels from the Stitched Nested Labels dies and stamped a sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings in Night of Navy on top:

My final accent was a vellum butterfly on which I dabbed some So Saffron ink, added a couple of pearls and swished it with a Wink of Stella for shine...it's very pretty!  Thanks for popping in today!

On a happier note, Wayne attended the Eastern Produce Conference yesterday--their theme was a tailgate party, which made my Philly-team-lover son-in-law happy (see his Eagles shirt?!).  While he was there, he met Vince Papale...he was a well-loved Eagles wide receiver, and was the inspiration for the 2006 movie Invincible:

He was a happy boy!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Itty Bitty Greetings
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Subtles DSP, Vellum, Genuine DSP, Original DSP (both Authentique)
Ink	Night of Navy, So Saffron
Accessories	So Saffron Grosgrain (ret), Pearl
Tools	Big Shot, Be Mine Dies,  Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Small Butterfly Punch (ret), Wink of Stella Pen

TGIFC218 Sympathy Bella

Hi peeps!  A late, late start today...I was sad to hear that a stamping friend lost her beloved pet, and since the TGIF challenge this week is sympathy, I decided to send her a note of encouragement!

I mixed two sets for my card:  the retired Bella and Friends, and Happy Tails.  So here we go:

I found some pretty muted plaid DSP (Authentique Grateful) in my stash, so I used that as my color palette; I stamped Bella in Early Espresso and colored him in with SU Blends, the added the sentiment in Terracotta Tile and a little heart in Rococo Rose and Terracotta Tile, embellished with a little button die from Arts and Crafts:

And here's the inside:

I hope it brings some comfort to her!

I have to scoot, so I will post one last photo; this is a sweet card I got from my friend Wendy, who used some "vintage" SU stamps to create this patriotic treat!  This card just makes me SMILE because it reminds me of the images that were popular when I first started stamping!  I love how she created the background as well as the main image...I love it all!  Thanks, Wendy!

Off to karate!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

AYSI202 Sunset Colors

Happy Friday, peeps!  Yay, it's the end of a long week...only a few more days left of school and I am looking forward to trying to keep Cassidy busy all summer long, LOL!  It's time for another As You See It challenge, and Jan's chosen a wonderful color one for you:

The challenge photo is gorgeous, isn't it?  But I really wanted to do something other than a floral or a butterfly, and I thought the Coral and Daffodil would make a great sunset.  I am a little rusty on my brayering technique, so I got our my little sponge brayers and went to work:

Although I would have liked to have blended my colors a little more evenly, I thought my first attempt didn't look too bad, so I went with it!  After blending the Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, I ripped a little piece of scrap paper and laid it near the bottom and then brayered Mossy Meadow along the edge to create a hill.  I stamped some trees from Rooted in Nature on top and behind the hill, then mounted it on a piece of Mossy Meadow on which I had stamped the birch trees from the Winter Woods set:

My final addition was a sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings, and then it all went on a Naturals White card that was embossed with the Subtle EF.  The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches:

And since the Time Out challenge this week is Nature, I am entering it there as well!

We'd be thrilled if you would play along with our color challenge this week!  Check out all the samples at As You See It, and share yours too!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Rooted in Nature, Itty Bitty Greetings, Winter Woods
Card stock & Papers	Naturals White, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
Ink	Calypso Coral, Mossy Meadow, Daffodil Delight
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Sponge Brayers, Big Shot, Subtles Embossing Folder