AHSC590 Sparkly Snowflakes

Happy Monday, everyone! Finally, we had a glorious weekend, weather-wise!  John was able to take me out on the boat and the weather was perfect! Looking forward to it again!  It's time for a new Atlantic Heart Sketch, and honestly, I really bungled this one! Here's the sketch:

 

Sometimes when a sketch has flowers, I try to NOT do flowers....I like to do something different! I thought snowflakes would be a nice substitution!  After many, many trials and errors, I finally ended up with this...not really the effect I was going for, but after spending so much time, I just gave up:

I didn't have anything doily-related big enough to work for the right side of my card, so I embossed a piece of white cardstock with the Dotted Circles embossing folder and cut it down with a circle die. I found a snowflake element in my stash so I adhered that to the top. I then diecut several silver glimmer snowflakes using various dies and layered them around the outer edge:

One thing that did work out well was this cute little sentiment from a SSS stamp set called Let It Snow:

And since I did it in silver on Balmy Blue, I added some silver sequins and blue gems for embellishment all around my snowflakes!  I heat-embossed another silver sentiment on the inside and finished it off with a leftover snowflake:

It will definitely bring a bit of zing to the recipient come this Christmas!  I hope you'll play along with our Atlantic Hearts Sketch this week!  Check out the blog on Wednesday to see ALL the creations from the Design Team; meanwhile, put on your creative thinking caps and play with us too!

No boat pictures today, but I thought I'd share a video of some hummers that have been frequenting my feeder lately.  There are probably five or six of them altogether, swooping through the air, chasing each other in and out of the trees. We have three feeders and they go to all of them!  This particular one sticks to the window over my sink (thanks, Sheilah!) and if I am very still, I can watch them....which I do, instead of doing my housework, LOL!  Here we go:

I read that they are filling up in anticipation of their long migration which will be coming soon!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Let It Snow (Simon Says Stamp), Christmas Silhouettes (Sweet & Sassy)
Card stock & Papers	Thick Basic White, Balmy Blue, Silver Glimmer (ret), Wonderland Collectibles (Kaisercraft)
Ink	Silver Encore (ret)
Accessories	Silver Sequins (ret), Blue Rhinestones (Michael's), Dimensionals, Silver Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Dotted Circles EF, Stylish Shapes DIes, Circles Dies (ret), Stitched Snowflakes Dies (ret), Snowflake Dies (Taylored Expressions), Heat Tool

PP702 Color Challenge from Jan

Happy Sunday, everyone!  Jan is our Paper Players hostess this week with a lovely color palette for us!  Check it out:

Aren't they pretty?!  I pulled out Happiest Day and here's what I came up with:

To start, I created my own little square stencil with some acetate and a square punch.  I diecut four postage stamps using the Perennial Postage dies, and sponged color on each one.  As an afterthought, I decided to stamp the little sparkly stamp on there as well while I still had the stencil in place:

Then, using Smoky Slate as my other neutral color, I stamped a dragonfly in each color and fussy cut them out, adding a silver sequin to each one.  Everything was mounted on a panel embossed with the Cute Crochet embossing folder; it doesn't emboss as deeply as I would like, but you can see some of the design behind the images.  A simple sentiment finished it off!  Oh, and some Wink of Stella too, but you'll just have to imagine the sparkle, LOL!

I hope you'll play along with our pretty colors this week....they lend themselves to lots of subjects, so let your creativity shine!  Share your creation with us at the Paper Players blog so we can see them too!  Thanks for popping in today!

The last few photos of Longwood:

My brother (who is an engineer at Longwood) and sister walking along the lower portion between the conservatory and the fountains; see the people at the top, looking over the railings?  It's a beautiful view, no matter where you are!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Happiest Day
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Thick Basic White, Acetate Sheet
Ink	Smoky Slate, Soft Sea Foam, Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lolly
Accessories	Neutral Sequins, Wink of Stella
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Cute Crochet Embossing Folder, Perennial Postage Dies, Blending Brushes, 1" Square Punch (ret)

FMS648 Shabby Patriotic Birthday

Happy Friday, peeps! Yay, the weekend is upon us!  I need several masculine birthday cards this month, which can always be a challenge, but I remembered some vintage-style patriotic paper I had gotten a couple of months ago and hadn't even opened yet! Yikes! I used the FMS sketch, which I love because I love THREES:

So here we go:

I used a punch to punch out the center panels, then the Layering Squares dies to make the scalloped mats.  I happened to have this piece of Country Woods DSP laying on my desk and thought it made a great background!  A little sentiment from the retired Label Me Bold, stamped in Cherry Cobbler, was popped up in the center:

One of the grungy stamps from Label Me Bold was also stamped on all the Crumb Cake mats to give it an even more vintage look!  Here's the inside:

One for my masculine stack...I need a few more, though!  Thanks for visiting today!

A few more Longwood pictures:

And these little guys were attached to the railing along the pond:

So cute! Too bad they don't croak!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Label Me Bold (ret), Perennial Birthday (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Country Woods, Americana (Honey Bee)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Layering Squares Dies (ret), Layered Banner Dies (Nellie Snellen), 1 3/8" Square Punch (ret), Sponge Dauber

HSS444 Beachy Hello

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Not much of a beachy day around here today, but I know the sun is shining somewhere! The challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was intriguing:

Those little green apples with the hues of pink and gray were so cool!  I went searching for a sketch and found this one by Mary Fish; not sure of the date:

So after a disastrous first attempt, I came up with this:

I used a mix of old and new products!  The images are from the retired A Day at the Beach; the sentiment is from Choose Happy.  The embossing folder is also retired, Seaside.  The DSP panels are Pretty in Pink, and the gray striped DSP is from Country Lace. I heat-embossed the sunglasses in white on Berry Burst, and although you can't see it, the lenses are sparkly from Wink of Stella!  The popsicle was stamped on Soft Sea Foam cardstock in Granny Apple Green, and the starfish was sponged with Pretty in Pink ink:

And since this is for a friend who is recuperating, I added sentiments from Unbounded Love inside:

These are not colors I would normally put together, but I think they're fun!  Thanks so much for popping in today!

While my sister was visiting, we had to go to Longwood:

This is just one of the little pools, surrounded by purple, yellow and green flowers and foliage:

It was so hot that day, I was wishing I could have waded in!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Choose Happy, Unbounded Love, A Day at the Beach (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Thick Basic White, Granny Apple Green, Soft Sea Foam, Berry Burst, Pretty in Pink DSP, Country Lace DSP
Ink	Craft White, Granny Apple Green, Pretty in Pink
Accessories	Smoky Slate Pearls, Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder, WInk of Stella
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Seaside Embossing Folder (ret), Heat Tool, Blender Pen, Sponge Dauber, White Gel Pen

AHSC589 Ocean Friendship

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Time for a new Atlantic Hearts sketch:

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew that I wanted to use the retired Gentle Waves stamp.  Although my colors go from light to dark instead of dark to light as on the sketch, hopefully, it will be okay!  Here we go:

I inked the stamp up using a brayer and three different blue inks:  Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon and Misty Moonlight.  It's a little tricky to get them blended but I think it worked okay!  I stamped a sentiment from Seaside Wishes in Azure Afternoon ink, and added a couple of wee little starfishes:

I frayed a bit of white ribbon to lay behind it, then added some sparkly sequins.  Everything went on an Azure Afternoon card base.  This is such a nice sentiment for almost any occasion!

I hope you'll play along with our fun challenge this week....I think there are lots of variations you could use!  Share it with us at the AHSC blog so we can enjoy it too!  Thanks for popping in today!

 So I am finished sharing my birthday cards but I couldn't ignore one of the nicest gifts I received from my friend Sally.  This is truly a work of art, inspiration and incredible attention to detail!  This is a little trinket box, sort of like a cigar box, and she's decorated every single side  of it beautifully!  Here's the top:

And sides:

The inside:

And even the bottom! 

The papers and elements she used are just beautiful, I can't stop looking at them!  And if that wasn't enough, it all came with this adorable little tag:

I will treasure this for sure!  Thanks, Sally!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Seaside Wishes, Gentle Waves (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Azure Afternoon
Ink	Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon, Misty Moonlight
Accessories	Basic White Herringbone Ribbon, Adhesive Backed Glitter Sequins (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Seaside Wishes Dies, Unbounded Love Dies, Brayer (ret)

52CCTD24 Love Joy Peace

Happy Tuesday, peeps! Hope all are doing well...thinking of those affected by Hurricane Debby!  The weather forecasters predict it will probably hit PA on Saturday...just when we were planning a boat ride on John's new boat!  Anyway, I whipped up a little card yesterday using the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown sketch for the month:

I had about a bazillion ideas for this and my final product didn't use any of them!  I found some unused papers in my stash from Kaisercraft and went to work:

The papers on the card base have leaping deer on it, amongst the trees, so that was my thought when adding the Memory Box deer.  Unfortunately, the center panel covered them up, LOL!  But I continued with my deer and snowflake theme anyway!  The corner panels have a border of Lost Lagoon; the center panel is Crumb Cake and the deer is Evening Evergreen, accented with a little sequin!  I stamped the panel with some snowflakes and Christmas words, then sponged some white ink around the edges:

Not exactly what I had envisioned, but the end result was okay!  Thanks for popping in today!

SO now we have a boat:

We had a little sailboat for several years but sold it a few years back.  John's been looking for this particular make and model of power boat ever since!  This was the maiden voyage, after many, many hours of engine repair, other repairs and hours and hours of cleaning in the hot sun!  He is one happy boater right now.  I haven't been on it yet, but I look forward to some cool river air very soon!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.  Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. Acts 17:24-25

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Christmas Words (Impression Obsession), Snowflakes (Kaisercraft)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon, Evening Evergreen (ret), Wonderland (Kaisercraft)
Ink	Craft White, Evening Evergreen (ret), London Fog (Memento)
Accessories	Dimensionals, Sequin from my Stash
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Deckle Edge Dies, Countryside Corners Dies, Dashing Reindeer Die (Memory Box), Sponge Dauber

Wishing You Peace

Happy Monday, peeps! My card today isn't for any challenge, but I liked it so much, I wanted to share!

 Most times, when I am stamping and diecutting an image, I diecut the cardstock FIRST.  Then I use the negative piece of the cardstock (the outside edges) as a template for use in my stamp positioner.  I stamp my image on some scrap paper while in the stamp positioner, then I place the negative piece over top of the stamped image on the scrap, line it up, add my magnets so it won't shift, then I place my diecut inside the opening and stamp again.  I find this is a really good way to ensure my stamping and diecutting "jive"! It is a couple of extra steps but I feel it's worth the extra minute or so!

 But sometimes, especially when I am doing a stamp camp, I make an additional template from Kraft or Crumb Cake cardstock, because it is a little sturdier and it makes it easier to line up because of the difference in color between my template and the actual white diecut. I am telling you all of this because now I have all these diecut shapes from Kraft cardstock floating around on my desk, unused, but perfectly good!  SO....I took one of the diecuts, this one happens to be a tag from the Bonanza dies, and created a Christmas card with it:

Since I still had my Waffle Flower Postage Stamp stencils and dies sitting on my desk from yesterday's card, I also made a single little image using the Christmas ones:

I stenciled the house & tree in Garden Green and Versafine Black and then mounted it on the tag.  I heat embossed a sentiment in white (Christmas Blessings, Simon Says Stamp) and added some ribbon and twine.  The background paper is from Unity, and it all went on a Soft Succulent card base.  Here's the inside, also from SSS:

I love these colors together! And now there's one less lost little diecut floating around on my desk!  Thanks for popping in today!

Here are the last of my birthday cards; this beauty is from Peggy:

And this cutie is from Sally; I love the bright, cheerful colors:

And this gorgeous one was from Debbie (and there was a nice little surprise inside too---it involves ICE CREAM!):

And Michele knows how much I love BLUE:

I am so blessed!  Thank you, ladies!  Enjoy your day and you be blessed as well!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Christmas Blessings (Simon Says Stamp), Postage Collage (Waffle Flower)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Succulent (ret), Kraft (Close to My Heart), Watercolor Winter (Unity)
Ink	Craft White, Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Versafine Black
Accessories	Crumb Cake Stitched Ribbon (ret), White Perle Cotton, Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Bonanza Dies (ret), Postage Dies (Waffle Flower), Postage Collage Christmas Stencil (Waffle Flower), Heat Tool