Birds and Bugs

Earlier this summer, a customer asked me to make a card inspired by the Jimmy Buffett songs, which are tropical and beachy.  The best I could do was to bring out these cute stamps and dies from Pretty Pink Posh called Tropical Toucans and Flourishing Fuchsias.  One of my friends gave them to me earlier this year and I'm so glad I had the perfect reason to use them!

Pretty Pink Posh Flourishing Fuchsias and Tropical Toucans; My Favorite Things Grassy Fields die, Essential Sentiments sentiment; Stampin' Up! Burlap background 

The next card was quick to make, using an old Lawn Fawn set and adorable lady bug patterned paper by Ki.  

Lawn Fawn On The Mend sentiment, bug; ribbon; white glossy dots

I hope your weekend is lovely!

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

Talk to you soon!

Palm Trees

Hello again!  It's still Sunday afternoon, and I'm sneaking in a second blog post this afternoon, in between washing sheets and vacuuming.  😀

Only two cards in this post, both with palm trees as the main focal point.

Redlead Palm Tree; abaca ribbon

The next card is a CASE (copy and share everything) from other crafters on the internet (I am sorry I do not remember their names to give credit), where they used the following flower stamp set to create...palm trees!  So clever, I tell you!

Stampin' Up! Avant Garden stamp set; burlap ribbon; L'il Inker Designs Stitched Rectangle die

Don't you just marvel at people's ability to see multiple uses for a thing?  I love this idea!  I can imagine making summer birthday cards with these palm trees.  So cute!

Have a WONDERFUL, blessed week ahead, friends!

Square Jack o'Lantern

Hi there! 

Here's another Halloween card coming at ya.  This one has a square jack o'lantern face:  something different, as my Mom-Mom used to say.  It is an image from a sheet of Halloween themed die cuts, maker unknown (a Tuesday Morning store find).  I used up a scrap of burlap, with the edges torn (it looks like a place mat from the 1970s!), and matted that happy jack on it and a patterned paper circle.  Basically, I was trying to use up scraps that day.  Ha!

The square jack is only one of the images from that die cut sheet.  The hat and sentiment are also from there.  So, there is no stamping on this card!

Can you see the black lace I added under the sentiment?

Thanks so much for your visit today!  Be blessed!

Fancy Halloween

Hello!  I've been sparingly using this elegant Halloween paper for years now.  It's from Stampin' Up!, but I don't recall the name of the suite it came from.

On this card, I used a pumpkin-shaped sticker from Jolee's Boutique and added it to a chevron-stamped die-cut circle, along with a few sequins in black and clear.

There's a strip of black glitter cardstock along the left edge...

...and I stamped a tiny Halloween sentiment from Stampin' Up! Holiday Home on the chevron circle, bending it slightly around the curve.  A little tulle bow was attached below the pumpkin sticker with some Multi Matte Medium glue by Ranger. 

Thanks for dropping by today.  I hope your summer is going well! 
See you again. 😊

Trick or Treat & A Happy Pumpkin

Hello friends! 
Halloween cards in July?  Sure, why not!  I made two cards with this elegant black and orange patterned paper from Stampin' Up!.

I get lots of mileage out of this kitty die from Memory Box (Large Sitting Cat).  I paired this black cat with gold glitter paper, gold sequins, and a trick or treat paper die cut (maker unknown).

There are also some stars - one glittered, one shiny gold.

How cute is this Jolee's Boutique pumpkin sticker?  I placed him on black cardstock, then made a shaker pocket using clear acetate, gold and black sequins, and used my sewing machine to stitch 'round and 'round to seal it all in.

The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s All Holidays stamp set.

Thanks for your visit today, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!  God bless you!

Cheers & Wishes

Hello there!   Today's two cards were fun to put together, using up scraps from around my work desk. It's my favorite type of card-making challenge! 

The grape stencil looking stamp is an old one from Stampin' Up!, but I sold the set and can't remember the name of it.  I colored the stamp with markers so I could achieve a three-tone look to it.  I stacked it on top of green, light brown, and shimmery gold squares.

The next card is, well, not exactly a 'Colleen' card, but the scraps were calling to be put together, and this was the resulting design.  Both stars are golden, punched from mirrored cardstock.

Before I sign off, I want to share a quote from Mother Teresa that I recently found.  It's thought-provoking. 

“These are the few ways we can practice humility:

To speak as little as possible of one's self.

To mind one's own business.

Not to want to manage other people's affairs.

To avoid curiosity.

To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.

To pass over the mistakes of others.

To accept insults and injuries.

To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.

To be kind and gentle even under provocation.

Never to stand on one's dignity.

To choose always the hardest.” 

― Mother Teresa, The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living

Friends are Family / Eat Cake

Hello there!  I've got a little bit of time to blog today, so I want to share a couple of birthday cards that helped me use up patterned paper scraps.

The first card uses products from Kaisercraft's Lady Rose collection, plus a few silk flowers from my stash.

The next card gave me a chance to use my Memory Box Petite Cake and Scalloped Cake Stand dies.

I die-cut the cake stand from white cardstock, then went over it with a Krylon Gold Marker.  It's got such a beautiful shimmer in real life!

The sentiment stamp is from the Inspired By Stamping Just Because set.

That's it!  Short and sweet, like a piece of cake!  Hope you have a WONDERFUL day, and thank you for stopping by!

Give Thanks for Autumn

Hey there, hi there, ho there!  We're approaching Thanksgiving in America in just a few days. I have plenty to be thankful for. Every night at dinner, after we say grace, my family and I each say one thing we are grateful for. On a particularly hard day, when it might seem like there's nothing to be thankful for, we can say simply that we are grateful for the food in front of us.

I made this Thanksgiving card in a rather eclectic fashion. :-) I was actually trying to use up some scraps that were on my work table, and this design emerged.

The leaves were fun to make, using Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves dies and oodles of Distress Ink sprays.

The sentiment and tag are from Papertrey Ink's Tiny Tags collection, and the wreath die is also from Papertrey Ink.

I've had some time this evening to edit a batch of card photos.  I'm putting together a post to share right after this one goes live, so you can see a bit of what I've been up to, creatively speaking!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Tulips for you

Lots of flowers make appearances on this eclectic card.  The background patterned papers are from K & Co., and there's a panel of recycled calendar paper behind the sentiment.

I used an oldie but goodie Floral Background stamp from Stampin' Up! in Purely Pomegranate ink on the calendar piece.  The gold-embossed medallion is from SU's  Simple Delights.  The sentiment and tulip postage stamp are from Inspired By Stamping. I have repurposed the tulip postage stamp from this magnet project, and also used a couple of them here.

The focal point was covered in Crackled Glossy Glue from Ranger, to give it a weathered look. Instructions are on this original post.

Thanks for joining me today!

Custom Seashore Love anniversary card

Summer approaches, and here in New Jersey, we think of trips to the Shore (not the beach, it's the shore!).

A friend asked me to make a seashore-themed anniversary card for his wife, because they were married on a beach.  Aww, isn't that romantic?

I pulled out some shell stamps, sequins, a flourish die, inks, sequins and pearls, and set to work.
There's also a bit of wax paper on here, from the kitchen drawer. It's barely there, but it represents the foamy edge of water on the sand.

The seastar (starfish) and sand dollar stamps are from Blockhead Paper Arts, the scallop shell is from Golden Acorn.

The sentiment is from Wplus9's Mehndi Medallions set. Beneath the sentiment, I inked sandy colors, swirled on with a sponge (Distress Inks - Ranger), and stamped with Stampin' UP's Itty Bitty Backgrounds to look like grains of sand.

Can you see the wax paper 'foam' lapping at the shore?  The white flourish die cuts are from My Favorite Things, and they too represent the foamy water.

I love making cards like this!  I am glad you stopped by to take a peek at it.

Have yourself a wonderful day!

Hello, Campanula

Hello there! It sure has been a while since we've seen each other here. Life has been very busy, and family always comes first. I've made some time to craft, but there's been no free time to meet you here on my blog. So, finally, hello again, my friend. :-)

I am woefully behind on sharing things I've created, but we'll start with this for now. It was made sometime last year. What makes me happy about this card is the subdued color palette. In fact, these are eyeshadow colors I like to wear: taupe, cream, plum.

I used a beautifully patterned paper in the background (from Webster's Pages), and in the center of the card, a cluster made of many things. There's a pierced tag, topped with a seam binding bow, some sparkly sequins, a scalloped circle die cut from plum patterned paper, a 'hello' sentiment from Altenew, and a pretty campanula flower die cut from K & Co.

There's also a scrap of crochet lace, and a scrap of kraft paper that had been punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

Before I go, I want to share a song I just heard for the first time, on the radio yesterday:  "West Point To Arlington". It touched my heart so very deeply. The lyrics remind me that our soldiers deserve respect and gratitude; many have to give the biggest sacrifice of all in order to preserve the freedoms we take for granted. My heart is ever grateful to them, and to their families.

The song was written by a friend of Captain Andrew M. Pedersen-Keel, who was killed while on duty in Afghanistan.

West Point To Arlington is a new song by American country singer Ward Davis from the album Operation Song: West Point To Arlington and was released in the spring of 2017.
(source: http://new-country-songs.com/ward-davis/west-point-to-arlington)

You can listen to the song on YouTube, or on this website:
http://new-country-songs.com/ward-davis/west-point-to-arlington

May it touch your heart, too.

This weekend is Memorial Day in the USA.  Enjoy the holiday with your loved ones, have fun, and be safe. Tell a soldier how much we appreciate what they do for each and every one of us.

God bless you,