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

SSC395 Happy Birthday

 Happy Tuesday, all!  My card today is for the Sunday Stamps sketch challenge:

I have had a piece of embossed cardstock/vellum on my desk for a long time now; I got the idea from Michele to layer the two together and run them through an embossing folder.  The combo I used here is vellum, Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock and Lazy Daisy embossing folder.  I do like the look of it, but I do NOT like that I can see the adhesive through the vellum!  If anyone has a great non-see adhesive, let me know!  Anyway, when I saw the SS sketch, I decided to make myself use it, so here we go:

I stamped the florals from Dainty Delight in Basic Beige, which has a green tint to it, then watercolored the florals with Crisp Cantaloupe.  I must say, I cannot wait to have my other cataract removed on Thursday!  Seeing close-up with one eye and far-away with the other, really plays havoc with your perception and color when crafting!!!!  I think something is nice and straight and then when I take a picture, it's a wee bit cockeyed!  Sigh.  Soon enough!  Anway, I backed the panel with Soft Sea Foam and added a Barely Blush horizontal panel, then a sentiment from Itty Bitty Banners.  There are sequins too, but they're hard to see!

Over the weekend, we took our first "long" boat trip to a Albin boat owner's rondezvous.  The trip south to Rock Hall, MD was not too bad; I navigated and we made it to the marina safely. On the way home, in fact the minute we left the marina, it began to rain and the surf was quite choppy.  If you get seasick easily, do NOT watch this video (hopefully it comes through!):

Blessedly, the Lord was watching over us and we only had to be in that for about 45 minutes.  The rest of the trip was still a little rough but we made it back to our marina just fine!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Dainty Delight (ret), Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Barely Blush, Soft Sea Foam, Crisp Cantaloupe, Vellum (ret), Barely Blush DSP
Ink	Basic Beige, Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories	Dimensionals, Sequins (from my stash)
Tools	Big Shot, Lazy Daisy Embossing Folder, Dainty Delight Dies (ret), Bitty Banner Dies (ret), Aquapainter

PP801 Tic Tac Toe from Jaydee

Hello, stamping friends!  Time for a new Paper Players challenge, and since it's the fifth Sunday of the month, our hostess Jaydee has a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for us:

 

I chose the diagonal of patterned paper, free and circles, but I could also do the center column of things that fly, free and texture!  Here we go:

At first glance, it doesn't look as if I have any patterned paper, but my embossed background is actually a piece of Soft Sea Foam DSP from a few years back; I thought you might be able to see the floral pattern, but the Lazy Daisy embossing pretty well hides it!  I had these three circles sitting on my desk, unused, from another project so I decided to keep these colors for my little birds from the Cutest Crew!  I stamped them in black and did some watercoloring with Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam and Crisp Cantaloupe:

I added an assortment of sequins from my stash, and stamped this sentiment on the inside:

Cute and sweet! I hope you'll find some inspiration from our Tic-Tac-Toe grid and share your creation with us at the Paper Players as well!  Lots of possibilities there!  

And I thought I would share this "Soft Sea Foam" moth that John found while mowing!  It is a Luna moth, and it is 5" across.  Not sure why it didn't stay alive, but it was in perfect condition!

It reminded me of times when Cassidy and I would find things in nature that she would take to school for show and tell! Those times are long gone, LOL!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Cutest Crew, Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Sea Foam, Lemon Lolly, Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Sea Foam DSP (ret)
Ink	Versafine Black, Soft Sea Foam, Lemon Lolly, Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories	Sequins (from my stash), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stylish Shapes Dies, Lazy Daisy Embossing Folder, Aquapainter

PP795 CAS Beach Babies

 Happy Sunday, peeps! It is my turn to be the hostess at the Paper Players, and it's CLEAN and SIMPLE week!  I hope you like my theme:

Oh, so many possibilities with this one!  I pulled out one of my old favorites and made a one-layer card! Can you believe it?  Here we go:

I stamped this 100 Proof Press image on Thick Basic White cardstock with Stazon ink, and loosely watercolored all these little beach babies, then added some sand and sky!

I do believe I got carried away with coloring their little cheeks---they are definitely looking a wee bit sunburnt!  I added a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and that was it! No embellishments or anything!  And since Inspire.Create is looking for one-layer cards this week, I am entering it there as well!

I hope you'll play along with my clean-and-simple challenge---just remember to keep your layers and embellishments to a minimum!  We want to see your stamping shine through! Share your creation with us at the Paper Players!  Thanks for popping in today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Beach Babies (100 Proof Press)
Card stock & Papers	Thick Basic White
Ink	Stazon Black, Seaside Spray, lots of others
Accessories
Tools	Aquapainter

AYSI373 Speedy Tulips

 Happy Friday! Time for a new As You See It challenge, and it's SPEED STAMPING time!  Woohoo!  For this challenge, we are asking you to stamp a card in ten minutes or less, and show us your time!  You can assemble all your supplies ahead of time, but once you start stamping/diecutting/adhering, you're on the clock!  So here's our prompt this week:

I don't have many tulip stamps--maybe one--but I do have a wee little tulip die that I bring out every now and then, and since it's small I was pretty sure I could fit it into my ten-minute time frame!  So here we go:

I really love the combination of Poppy Parade and Pool Party, so when I saw this big polka dot print DSP in my scrap bin, I thought it would be great for a bright red tulip!  It comes with this little frame die, and I already had this piece of white cardstock embossed and unused, so I ran everything through the Big Shot , did some stamping and punching, and called it done!  Hopefully you can't see the glue that oozed out while trying to adhere that skinny little frame, LOL!

Since I had some time left, I did add some red enamel dots for pizzazz!  And since the Just Add Ink challenge this week is "Polka Dots", I am entering it there!

And here's my time:

Not bad!  I hope you'll not be scared off by our speed stamping challenge!  Just keep it simple, bright and fun!  Share it with us over at the As You See It blog, and don't forget to give us your time!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Pool Party DSP (ret)
Ink	Poppy Parade
Accessories	Mini Dimensionals, Enamel Dots (W+9)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Tulip Frame Dies (Concord & 9th), Softly Sophisticated Embossing Folder (ret), Modern Label Punch (ret)

FMS727 Pink Butterflies

Happy Friday, peeps! What a crazy day we had yesterday; we lost our electricity yesterday morning after several hours of flickering lights---crazy flickering, like strobe lights!  It triggered our GFI outlets, so we thought our refrigerator died, but blessedly John remembered the GFI.  Same thing happened when we went to make coffee....again, the GFI!!!  It took several hours for the electric company to come to make the repair (a transformer) but they had it fixed in minutes!  We went from 80 degree temps one day to snow and 30 degree temps the next!  Then the sun came out and melted it all!  March has been crazy!  I did finally get a few minutes to make a card for my college roommate, who fell and broke her ankle!  I already had the pieces on my desk for another project, so it came together fairly quickly.  I used the FMS sketch:

and here we go:

I embossed the Bubble Bath panel with an embossing folder called Butterfly Burst, then added a stitched frame, a stitched and embossed arch, and some pretty diecut butterflies.  The Bubble Bath shimmer cardstock is pretty in real life, but it's a challenge to see the shimmer here! Plus I wish it matched a little better. Oh well.

A sentiment from the retired Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped in Pretty in Pink, and I stamped an encouraging get well message on the inside:

Getting ready for a card class tomorrow, so I'm outta here! Thanks for popping in; enjoy your day and be blessed! 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Get Well Soon (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Bubble Bath, Bubble Bath Shimmer
Ink	Pretty in Pink, Versafine Black
Accessories	Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machione, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Sketched Butterfly Dies (ret), Perfect Polka Dots EF (ret), Butterfly Burst EF (Simon Says Stamp), Banner Dies (Pink & Main)

FMS712 John's 70th Birthday

Happy Thursday, peeps!  John has a "big" birthday coming up on Sunday!  He'll be retiring at the end of the year as well! Lots of milestones!  I used the FMS sketch this week to make his card! Here's the sketch:

And here we go:

I used several retired products on my card; the Large Numbers dies, an image from Sailing Home, and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I also embossed a portion of the card front with the Cast Away embossing folder from Spellbinders:

Inside, the sentiment from Best Year was stamped in Cherry Cobbler:

We don't have anything big planned for his "big" day, but we'll go out to dinner!  Thanks for popping in today, enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sailing Home (ret), Best Year (ret), Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Night of Navy, Misty Moonlight, Plaid from Amazon
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Large Numbers Die (ret), Smooth Sailing Home Dies (ret), Cast Away Embossing Folder (Spellbinders), Banner Dies (Pink & Main)

PP750 Color Challenge from Claire

Happy Sunday, peeps! Hope your weekend is going well so far!  Claire is our Paper Players hostess this weekand she is definitely challenging us to think "FALL" with these beautiful colors! Check these out:

Now I have a really busy week ahead, so I opted to let my papers do most of the work, LOL!  Here we go:

These beautiful papers are from Studio Light, called Wonderful Autumn, and I believe just about every color in Claire's challenge is featured here!  I did add a pretty diecut sentiment, stamped on Kraft cardstock in Blackberry Bliss ink, and I added a Blackberry Bliss shadow behind it along with some Blackberry Bliss ribbon I found in my stash:

For some added interest, I stamped some text from Elements on Text along the left edge, then mounted it on a Cherry Cobbler card base:

An older W+9 set provided the inside sentiment, along with a Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment (that I stamped crookedly and had to "repair"):

I think these are such beautiful colors together for any fall stamping, I hope you'll play along with us at the Players this week!  Of course, if you think out of the box and have another occasion for which to use them, that's great too!  Can't wait to see what you create!  

Are you tired of birthday cards yet? I have more! This gorgeous vintage creation is from Fran; so much goodness to look at:

This fun, sparkly one is from my sweet friend Sandy:

And this sunshiney, cheerful card is from Karen in sunny Florida:

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Elements of Text, Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Pretty Patches Pumpkin (W+9), Harvest Wreath (Fun Stampers Journey)
Card stock & Papers	Cherry Cobbler, Blackberry Bliss, Kraft (Close to My Heart), Wonderful Autumn (Studio Light)
Ink	Blackberry Bliss, Cherry Cobbler, Pecan Pie
Accessories	Blackberry Bliss Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Harvest Wreath Die (Fun Stampers Journey), Word Window Punch (ret)

Butterfly Sympathy

Happy Wednesday, peeps! Yay, we are mid-week!  My friend asked me if I had any sympathy cards she could buy, and my supply was pretty low so I spent a day stocking up! (John told me at our age, I should have a large supply on hand, LOL!  Cheeky guy!)  Anyway, this is one that she didn't take and I was my favorite one, so I thought I'd share it:

This butterfly paper is from Kaiser Craft, and the butterflies have a nice sheen to them.  I just love the vintage look of this particular pattern from the Pen & Ink pad!  I mounted the paper on a mat of Basic Beige on which I had embossed a line of stitching, then adhered it to a Crumb Cake card base.  The little black scallop had been floating around on my craft table, unused from another project, so I added a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and popped it up on top:

On the inside, a simple sympathy sentiment from the retired Special Moments:

And speaking of a special moment, on the way home from church on Sunday, this little baby ran out in front of us (John had to beep his horn to get her on her way back to momma, who had been right in front of her):

It was certainly the tiniest fawn I have ever seen!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

"Praise the Lord, who carries our burdens day after day; he is the God who saves us.  Our God is a God who saves; he is the Lord, our Lord, who rescues us from death." Psalm 68:19-20

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Special Moments (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Black, Basic Beige, Crumb Cake, Pen & Ink (Kaiser Craft)
Ink	Versafine Black
Accessories	Black Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Unbounded Love Dies, Scalloped Contours Dies (ret), Stitching Lines Dies (Ellen Hutson)

Another Sympathy Card

Happy day-after-Christmas, everyone! I have been MIA with all my holiday preparations, but sadly, I needed another sympathy card this week! I snuck into my craft room a couple days ago and made this simple card.  It uses the sketch from Inspire.Create, and the colors from Creative Colour Challenges:

I pulled out an old wooden stamp from Stampscapes, along with some DSPs and this is what I came up with:

I used Basic Beige for the stamped panel and card, and Country Woods and Countryside Inn DSPs.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I was surprised how nice the Blueberry Bushel ink looked on the Basic Beige cardstock:

I used an older Our Daily Bread Designs verse for the inside, along with a Hero Arts sentiment as well:

My only embellishment was some Basic Beige ribbon.  The family who lost their mom used to have a bed and breakfast called the Log House, so I thought this image was appropriate.  So glad you popped in today!

So on Christmas, I had most of my immediate family, their children and grandchildren, for dinner and dessert.  That included four boys, ranging in ages from one to nine! And Maven was in the mix too with her almost-one-year-old voice!  The noise was deafening, but it was fun.  I recently saw a clip on FB where parents gave babies a choice of two things to play with; one was a toy and the other was something like a box, a spoon, or just something that you wouldn't think would capture their eye, but every time, the child went for the non-toy item!  Maven's mom sent me this video, which totally reinforces that idea (along with the dads who were involved as well!); be sure to turn up the audio, because listening to this little Cole laugh just made me laugh too:

And here's that little Maven herself with Aunt Dana! (And she was playing with a spoon!)

They just grow up so fast!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Scripture Collection 1 (Our Daily Bread Designs), Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts), Lakeside Cabin (Stampscapes)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Beige, Countryside Inn DSP, Country Woods DSP
Ink	Night of Navy, Blueberry Bushel
Accessories	Basic Beige Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Banner Dies (Pretty Pink Posh)

AHSC604 Thanksgiving Blessings

Happy Monday, peeps! Time for a new Atlantic Hearts sketch!  I almost went literal here and made another Christmas card, but I've been making lots of them lately, so I decided I had better bulk up on some Thanksgiving cards!  Here's the sketch:

See what I mean? It's hard to get that image out of one's head! Anyway, I knew I wanted to use these wheat sheaf dies on my card, so I cut them out of Bumblebee cardstock, then went searching in my vast stash of papers for something appropriate.  Here we go:

I pulled together papers from various manufacturers and an oldie-but-goodie sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes!

It's hard to see but there are a couple of enamel dots on the floral panel and I added some Cinnamon Cider ribbon for an embellishment.  Since I had three sheaves diecut and only used two on the front, I added the third to the inside along with a Papertrey sentiment:

This sketch is a fun one and I haven't been using Very Vanilla much this season, so it was good to get it out and play with some older goodies!  You can see all the DT's submissions on Wednesday at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog, but YOU can play along now!  Thanks for visiting! 

I bought this 1000-piece puzzle at a yard sale recently:

It was a challenge, but a fun one!  And instead of having a missing piece, I had an extra piece---see it on the table over on the left?!  That was crazy!  Now I am donating it to my local library--they lend out puzzles as well as books! What a great idea!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Take Three-Fall (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Bumblebee (ret), Pleasant (Authentique), Trail Mix (Simple Stories), Soft Suede Gingham (ret)
Ink	Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Accessories	Enamel Dots (W+9), Dimensionals, Cinnamon Cider Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Wheat Sheaf Dies (Impression Obsession), Banner Dies (Pink & Main)