FMS638 Perennial Sympathy

Happy Thursday, peeps! It's an unappealing day...I have a dentist appointment AND I needed not one, but two sympathy cards! I will save one for later, though.  This one happens to use the FMS sketch for this week:

I delved into my Perennial Lavender DSP and came up with a couple beautiful prints to make my card:

I matted my shapes with some diecuts in Pretty Peacock, Highland Heather and Basic White, then added a sentiment, stamped in Gorgeous Grape, and added a second banner of Fresh Freesia:

I mounted everything on a Crumb Cake card and stamped a sentiment from the retired Here's A Card on the inside:

I just think these papers are stunning!

On a happier note, Cassidy decided she wanted to go back to her natural hair color, so Dana took her to the salon for the whole works!

It may take me a while to get used to this look!!!

Before and after!

Thanks for indulging me!  And thanks for popping in today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card (ret), Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Highland Heather, Fresh Freesia. Perennial Lavender DSP
Ink	Gorgeous Grape
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Layering Squares Dies (ret), Circle Dies (Nestabilities), Shape Dies SD203 (Nellie's Choice)

RRCB228 Yarny Birthday

 Happy Wednesday, peeps! A quick card today that uses the sketch from Retro Rubber:

We have a little craft group that meets each week at our church; some of us knit, some cross-stitch, some make cards and some crochet!  One of the crocheters has a birthday coming up and I made her a card using the yarn skein from Hand Knit (2010) as well as a sentiment from Here's a Card (2019):

These 12"x12" papers from Echo Park called I'd Rather Be Crafting were bright and cheerful, so I created my layers and mounted them on a retired Soft Sky card base.  The yarn was stamped in Calypso Coral and colored in with a Flirty Flamingo Blend.  I added a Flirty Flamingo circular mat as well as a Soft Sky mat, diecut with a Zigzag Stitched circle die from Sissix:

A wee little baker's twine bow finished it off.  I stamped a punny sentiment on the inside, along with the little knit garment from the same set:

Thanks for visiting today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Hand Knit (ret, 2010), Here's a Card (ret, 2019)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sky (ret), I'd Rather Be Crafting (Echo Park)
Ink	Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze
Accessories	Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Circle Dies (Nestabilities), Zigzag Stitched Dies (Sissix), 1/16" Hole Punch

AHSC558 Sympathy

Happy Thursday, everyone! I needed another sympathy card, sadly, and while lying in bed unable to sleep one night, I thought about how to use the AHSC sketch for it.  Here's the sketch:

I remember doing a technique many years ago using the torn edge of a piece of paper and a brayer; this one is similar, but instead of a brayer, I used a blending brush:

I used three colors of green:  Soft SeaFoam, Garden Green, and actually the bottom layer is two colors...Shaded Spruce, which was too blue, so I blended Old Olive over top of it!  I am okay wtih the blending but it was rather plain, so I added some stamped trees to the right side, a sympathy sentiment at the top and a few little Garden Green "sprigs" for embellishment.

I added a Bible verse to the inside and it was good to go!  Thanks for popping in today!

Over the holidays, I picked up my knitting again, and even did a little sewing!  Here are a knitted Christmas tree, a knitted candy cane, and a felt ugly sweater...all made into ornaments!

My sewing was not so hot on this one....I need to adjust my stitch length!  But the diecut tree and sequins were perfect!  The die is from Impression Obsession.

And this little Santa/gnome....well, let just say he was an experiment!  I told Dana his bobble nose looked more like a pig, LOL!

I experimented with entrelac (interlace) knitting too.....practice, practice, practice.  Nothing to show for that, but hopefully my plan to make a scarf will come to fruition!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card (ret), Forest of Trees (Flourishes)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Garden Green
Ink	Garden Green, Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive, Shaded Spruce
Accessories	Evening Evergreen Twine (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Nested Essentials Dies, Pretty Pines Dies (ret), Blending Brushes

AHSC472 Sympathy

Hi there peeps!  Happy Thursday! I needed a sympathy card for a family from church, they're always a challenge to make.  Here's the Atlantic Hearts Sketch that I used to get started:

And here we go, using the new Happiness Abounds and some Heart and Home DSP, along with an embossed Very Vanilla mat and a Pale Papaya card base:

I used a panel of Heart and Home along with some retired plaid DSP in Soft Suede for the square panels.  I heat-embossed the flower in Stazon and Soft Suede inks, then colored it with some Pale Papaya ink and an aquapainter.  The prayer diecut and sentiment are from Papertrey:

I added some Linen Braid trim and a couple of Pale Papaya gems, then stamped this retired sentiment from Here's A Card on the inside:

Thanks for popping in today!

Dana sent me these pictures of Eden in their bedroom, looking out the window...she said Eden was listening to the birds, LOL!  Another birder like me!  

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Happiness Abounds, Here's A Card (ret), Inspired: Prayer (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Pale Papaya, Soft Suede, Heart & Home DSP, Soft Suede DSP (ret)
Ink	Versamark, Soft Suede, Pale Papaya
Accessories	Clear Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Linen Braid (ret), Genial Gems (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Blossomf of Happiness Dies, Scalloped Contours Dies, Aquapainter, Heat Tool, Inspired:Prayer Dies (Papertrey)

IB173 Celebrate 85

Happy Thursday, everyone!  We have a pretty new Inspired By challenge for you today: 

And here is our optional sketch:

Since our moms are both gone, I chose to go another route with my card today!  I did keep the wreath and color scheme along with the sketch, but we have a sweet lady in our congregation who will be celebrating her 85th birthday soon, so I thought this would be a perfect way to wish her a happy day!  So here we go:

My first attempt at creating a wreath was a big flop!  WAY too busy, wrong colors, everything was a mess....it got tossed.  I went smaller and simpler and am much happier with it!  I used a Papertrey wreath for my base, stamped in Mint Macaron, and then adhered flowers diecut with the Pierced Blooms dies.  The "celebrate" from Here's A Card was fussy-cut and added to the "85", also fussy-cut, inside the wreath.  I added a Petal Pink gingham mat and scallop and finally, a few little pearls for a soft embellishment!  Those pierced flowers look like Ritz crackers to me....anyone else see that, LOL?!  I hope she likes it!  And I hope you'll play along with our challenge too!  The DT has created some INCREDIBLE samples this wee...be sure you go check them out at the Inspired By blog!

More bird tales....John & I were sitting at the breakfast table a couple days ago and heard the dreaded "thunk" of a bird hitting our patio door; sure enough, a little wren was lying dazed and confused on the deck:

She was still breathing and her eyes were opening and closing, so we just left her to recuperate; eventually she opened her eyes and began to look around:

She began hopping across the patio, leaving me a little souvenir to remember her by:

And then she flew away!  Phew!

Thanks for popping in today---enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card (ret), Wreath for All Seasons (Papertrey), Letters & Numbers (Susan Branch)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Petal Pink, Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party, Blushing Bride
Ink	Mint Macaron, Flirty Flamingo, Petal Pink
Accessories	Pearls, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circles Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Circle Dies (Lil'Inker)

Just a Couple of Cards

Happy Saturday, peeps! Oh, and Happy May Day!!  In between watching my birds and puttering around the house, I was able to make a couple of cards for a few challenges yesterday!  The first card uses the FMS sketch challenge along with the colors from Just Add Ink: 

I used the upcoming Hand Penned Petals set along with a sentiment from Lots of Heart:

The florals were stamped in Memento Black, then filled in with So Saffron and Garden Green:

I added some "sprinkles" from Sweet Ice Cream and a couple little In Color Jewels for sparkle!

The second one is for the Fusion challenge and the Krafty Chicks challenge, which is Anything Goes:

I don't make Mother's Day cards as a rule, as both our moms have passed away, but I loved the idea of using a mother and baby image on just a simple "hello" card, especially this sweet little elephant pair from Wildly Happy, which is retiring soon:

I stamped them in Stazon Black ink and watercolored them with Smoky Slate and Blushing Bride, then created a tag, matted in Blushing Bride:

I stamped a sentiment from Here's a Card, creating a couple of banners, and as an afterthought, made a bow with the Pierced Blooms die and added another In Color jewel! The background is some retired Gingham, also in Smoky Slate. I love this combo of gray and pink!

At Jameson's birthday party, the craft activity was painting flower pots!  We have NO lefties in our family, these boys must have gotten their left-handedness from their momma's side of the family, LOL!

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

"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live."  Psalm 116:1-2

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sweet Ice Cream, Hand Penned Petals, Lots of Heart
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Black
Ink	Memento Black, So Saffron, Garden Green, Craft White
Accessories	Dimensionals, In Color Jewels, White Embossing Powder
Tools	Big Shot, Heat Tool, Stitched Shapes Dies, Tasteful Labels Dies, Penned Flowers Dies

Second Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Wildly Happy, Here's a Card
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Shimmery White, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Blushing Bride DSP, Smoky Slate Gingham DSP (ret)
Ink	Stazon Black, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Gray Granite
Accessories	Dimensionals, In Color Jewels
Tools	Big Shot, Pierced Blooms Dies, Aquapainter

IB169 Sweet Cupcake Flowers

Happy Thursday, everyone!  It's time for a new Inspired By, and I think I have gained a couple hundred calories just by looking at these luscious treats:

My eye caught that sweet little green and purple cupcake up in the left corner; it reminded me of the little wild violets I would pick as a child, a sweet little bunch of them for my grandmother!  And purple is always a challenge for me, so I decided to go for it:

My Pierced Blooms dies came to my rescue; I diecut some from Gorgeous Grape, with centers of Daffodil Delight and a circular panel of Lemon Lime Twist (which I was sure that I would never  use again, LOL!). To give a little interest to the circle, I stamped it with Versamark using a retired stamp called Dot, Dot, Dot.  I love that the Versamark makes the stamped image just a shade darker than the cardstock itself...subtle but nice!  I added a white scalloped mat and little "bow" of Highland Heather, along with a sentiment from Here's A Card:

To give some texture to the background, I added a layer of Whisper White, embossed with the Ornate Floral EF!  A little rhinestone finished it off!  

There is LOTS of inspiration to be found in our cupcake photo today---take one or take them all!  Share them with us at Inspired By so we can be inspired too!  Thanks for popping in today!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card, Dot, Dot, Dot (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Lemon Lime Twist (ret)
Ink	Gorgeous Grape, Versamark
Accessories	Pretty Peacock Rhinestone (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Pierced Blooms Dies, Layering Circles Dies

PP534 Seaside Thanks

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Anne Marie is our hostess for this week's Paper Players challenge, and she has a great sketch for us all:

 

The Seaside Notions stamp set is retiring and it's one of my favorites, so I thought I'd pair it with some Sand & Sea DSP for my card today!  I actually made two cards, as I needed some thank you cards for my online customers!  Here's the first one:

I stamped the shells in Rococo Rose and Seaside Spray and sponged them to give them a very light color!  I added some Whale of a Time sequins to the Stitched Shape circle and finished it with some Polka Dot Tulle ribbon.  The next one is the same, except I used a stitched square, some Seaside Spray twine and a resin embellishment:

My final addition was a fussy-cut sentiment from Here's A Card, stamped in Gray Granite:

Just a heads-up....Stitched Shapes is my MOST-USED set of dies, and it is retiring!  If you don't have it, get it now!  Thanks for visiting today!  Be sure to stop by the Paper Players blog to check out what the other designers created as well, then share yours with us as well!

A few people from our church got together to do some bowling yesterday!  

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card, Seaside Notions
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Seaside Spray, Gray Granite, Sand & Sea DSP
Ink	Gray Granite, Rococo Rose, Seaside Spray, Purple Posy
Accessories	Polka Dot Tulle, Seaside Spray Twine, Dimensionals, In Color Resin Embellishments (ret), Whale of a Time Sequins
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Sponge Daubers