Easter Wishes

Tomorrow Don and I have a lunch engagement with three other couples we met at Rock Steady Boxing. All four husbands have Parkinsons, at different levels. These three couples bless our us every time we are together.

I wanted to make a special Easter card. I came up with the idea of doing a card-in-a-box. It had been a long time since I made one. The first thing I had to do was find my instructions. It took me almost a full day to create the card. After that everything went a little faster. The three are now finished.

Stamps -- Blessed Easter (Easter Wishes on back panel), Tranquil Tulips, His Grace (John 3:16) and Beautiful Bouquets (Leaves)
Dies -- Cross of Hope Framelits, circle punch and round and scalloped dies
Card Stock -- Rose Red, Old Olive, White and Black
Ink -- Rose Red, Old Olive, Soft Sky and VersaFine Onyx Black

Butterfly Gala

My love for butterflies is showing again. I fell in love with the new "Butterfly Gala" stamp set in the 2019 Occasions Catalog from Stampin' Up. I also love the punch that goes with it. Then in the 2019 Sale-a-bration catalog there was beautiful Designer Series Paper that coordinates with the stamp set.

For this card, I embossed the butterfly image on a vellum card stock using white detailed embossing powder. Then to make it pop, I stamped the image on some card stock that's very close to the
Lemon Lime Twist color with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. After adding some dimension to the butterfly images with my fingers, I glued the two pieces together along the center line.

For the center insert, I used the next larger die to cut a piece of white card stock.

Detail list of supplies used--
Card Stock -- Crisp Cantaloupe and Botanical Butterfly DSP
Stamp sets -- Butterfly Gala (with coordinating punch) and Lasting Lily (Sentiment)
Gina Marie Designs dies

A Christmas Card

I struggled with this card all day. I searched and searched for ideas. Finally,I saw some cards on Pinterest that gave me some ideas. I especially liked the idea of embossing the Vellum with the SU Softly Falling folder. It softened the trees in the background and gave the impression of falling snow. That worked really well. It is one of the cards I will use for my class on December 1. I also added a little Stickles on the raised parts of the tree and along the curved edge of the bottom piece of white card stock.

Card Stock used -- Old Olive, Early Espresso, White and Vellum
Stamps -- Winter Woods with coordinating dies, Sentiment from Snowflake Sentiments
Ink -- Early Espresso
Embossing Folder -- Stampin Up Softly Falling

Three More Cards

I want to share three more cards that I made last week. The first two are made using the stamp set "Painted Harvest". This stamp set is so versatile and one that I have really enjoyed creating with. If you have the stamp set, I hope that you will spend a little time playing with it.

A Christmas card made using "Painted Harvest"

Finally, as I was looking in a box that contained pieces from last years Christmas cards, I found the pieces to put this Christmas card together. I love it when that happens.

Favorite Fall Colors

The card challenge for my stamp Club meeting on this Saturday, October 27, is to make a card using your favorite fall colors. This  is my card for the challenge. We will also be making it as one of our cards. 

Stamps -- from the Stampin' Up sets Labels to Love, Label Me Pretty and Painted Harvest
Card Stock -- Cajun Craze for the card base, Sahara Sand (band under the green burlap ribbon) and Very Vanilla for the other elements
Inks -- Always Artichoke, Close To Cocoa, More Mustard and Memento Potter's Clay
Accessories -- Green burlap ribbon, coordinating punch and enamel dots

Just For Fun

This card is "just for fun". Send it to a child, grandchild or even for the love of your life (your husband). I have had this set for quite awhile but had not used it. I have been looking at cards made with it for some time. I fell in love with this little guy. So I gave it a try. It was so much fun.

Stamps -- Stampin' Up Painted Harvest, In the Meadow, Crazy About You and grass stamp from "Stamps By Judith"
Card stock -- White card stock and some scrapbook paper from my collection
Inks -- Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Soft Sky and VersaFine Onyx Black

"Lots Of Lavender"

"Lots Of Lavender" is the stamp set I used to create the focal image for this card. It was a stamp set available for the 2018 Sale-A-Bration back in January, February and March. I have had it all this time and have not had a chance to use it. Love it.

Information on supplies used--

Stamps -- "Wishing You Well" and "Lots Of Lavender"

Card Stock -- White card base, Pale Plum and Old Olive

Inks -- Memento Tuxedo Black, Lulu Lavender and Stampin' Up's Old Olive

Dies -- Oval and scalloped Nestabilities from Spellbinders

To create the background, I used a piece of Old Olive card stock measuring 3 3/4" x 5".  Using the wheat stamp from "Wishing You Well", I stamped it 6 times using Old Olive ink.

Here is a link to the card that was my inspiration.

Inspiration

Where do you find inspiration? Sometimes I feel like I have no creativity. That's where I have been for sometime. When pressures of life press in around us, the ability to create can take a back seat. So often I have found "Pinterest" to be a help. At least it can give you a start.

As I was preparing for my upcoming class, I ran across a card that inspired me. As I was trying to CASE the sample, I had trouble. After trying several times with no success -- it finally came together.

This is a link to the card that was my inspiration.

The things I used--
Card Base -- Soft Suede card stock
Other card Stock -- Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla
Inks -- Soft Suede and Crumb Cake
Stamp Sets-- Country Home and Waterfront

I started by tracing an oval in the lower right hand corner.I know that it is hard to see in this picture but it is there.

Second, I placed my stamped images around that oval. 

 

Because I wanted to add a little texture to the background, I used a little stamp from the set called "Waterfront". Using crumb cake ink, I stamped off before adding it to on my card.

Finished card front.

Don't forget to decorate the inside of your card and the envelope. This is a wonderful stamp for doing that.

A Petal Palette Birthday

I have truly enjoyed using the "Petal Palette" stamp set and coordinating thinlets. I also purchased the "Petal Passion Memories & More Card Pack". This card uses one of those cards. I made this card for one of my special friends.

Stamps -- Petal Palette

Ink -- Memento Tuxedo Black with Sweet Sugarplum and Pear Pizzazz for watercoloring

Card Stock -- Sweet Sugarplum for card base and Smoky Slate for accent layer

Accessories -- Petals and More Thinlets, Aqua brush and dimensionals

Old Becomes New

One retired stamp set
One retired framelit set
One current stamp set
Equals one modern birthday card.

I really find it hard to let go of my retired stamp sets and accessories. I purchased them because I really liked them and I still enjoy using them. I guess I am just not a very good salesman.

Stamps -- Stampin' Up Work of Art and Big on Birthdays

Ink -- Soft Sky, Pool Party and Bermuda Bay

Card Stock -- Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and white

Accessories -- Botanical Builder Framelits and my Misti

Wreaths and More Wreaths

I love watching these designs come to life. Every new elements adds dimension to the overall image. I keep telling myself that it is time to do something different. Hasn't happened yet. Maybe today.

Stamps -- Petal Palette and Bunch of Blossoms for sentiment
Inks -- Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz and Memento Tuxedo Black
Card Stock -- Wisteria Wonder and white

Stamps -- Gina K Designs Wreath Builder and Unity Stamp for sentiment
Inks -- Gina K Designs Turquoise Sea, Sweet Mango, Grass Green and Stampin' Up's Pool Party and Daffodil Delight
Card Stock -- Pool Party and Grapefruit Grove

The UPS Guy Came

Yesterday afternoon the UPS delivery guy left two packages at my front door. One box had new Stampin' Up catalogs in it. The other box had my preorder stamp and die sets in it. I finally got to my craft room this afternoon. My creativity is not very good these days, but I did want to try out some of the framelits and stamps.

The first die I used was from "Stitched Labels Framelits". It was the one that added texture to the background. The piece with the "Best Wishes" sentiment was stamped and cut out three times before I got it right. I took the two mistakes and glued them all together to add more body to the piece. The bird is from the Serene Garden set. I stamped it with a soft gray ink and then used a gray colored pencil to add a little depth to the image. I cut out a second bird, glued the two together and finally attached it to my card with dimensionals.

These final two pictures shows the details a little better.

Inspiration And A "CASE"!

 After having a really busy week, going here, there and yonder, I needed some inspiration. I was looking on Pinterest to see if I could find something and I did. My card is just like the original. Here is a link to the original card by BJ Peters and her excellent video post "Passionate for Petal Palette". I really liked the added touch she used with the die cut. I am thinking to use this card in my next stamp class. Have fun watching her video.

From THE Heart

Another Card

This will be our third card for this month's CCE Stamp Club -- Create, Challenge, Encourage. It is made using several of the stamps from the set "Butterfly Basic" and a die from the "Butterflies Thinlets" set. All are being retired this year as of May 31. The inspiration for this card came from many posts on Pinterest.

 These pictures show the steps to the finished creation.

One of God's beautiful mysteries--

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

Getting Ready for Classes

Yesterday, I was trying to finish up my preparations for an upcoming class. I wanted to do a card for Mother's Day, but I also know that several in the class no longer have their mothers. So I wanted a card that could be used for other occasions. I think that this card works. 

For me, the challenge was finding the right Designer Series Paper. I feel that this is a little old fashioned but I love it. It reminds me of a dress my mother or grandmother would have worn. I also wanted a small design with a pretty accent color on the back. This piece of DSP is from Stampin' Up's "Botanical Garden" collection retired a number of years ago.

I love this fold. It is called the "Collar Fold". On this card, after finding the center on the DSP, I only cut down 1 3/4 inches. That allowed space for three "buttons".  The buttons were made using little scallop circles punched from Hello Honey card stock and topped with an enamel dot.

The card base is Mint Macaron card stock. The accent layer is Very Vanilla. I found that I had some Hello Honey ribbon which made the perfect bow. The sentiment is from the stamp set "Butterfly Basic" which is being retired this year. For the inside decoration I used a little "Cajun Craze" ink across the bottom for added interest.

Don't forget the inside

Tranquil Tulips In A Frame

For some time I have been thinking about using some of the new stamp sets to create "art" for the walls in my craft room. Yesterday I had a little time to myself so I went to Joann's. While there I was looking at the photo mats.  I found one with an opening of  3 1/2" x 5" which would fit into a picture frame 5" x 7". This morning I set out to create my picture. Using a quarter sheet of card stock I started to stamp the stems. Messed it up. Turned the paper over; started again. This time I messed up on the flowers. Went and got another piece of card stock. This time I was able to stamp a usable image. Found a frame that I have had a long time. Here is the end result. It looks so pretty hanging on the wall.

Heartfelt Blooms

Since I do not have the "Large Letters Framelits" and since I don't think I can afford them, I have been looking for other ways to do the "Eclipse Technique" that I see all over Pinterest. For this card I used the Sale-a-bration set called "Heartfelt Blooms". I stamped the flower three times on white card stock and then using the die from the set called "Celebrate You", also a Sale-a-bration reward, I cut out the word "you". Then taking the die, I cut three pieces out of black card stock. I then glued all three black pieces together and then added the piece from my stamped image on top. This creates a clipboard like piece. After gluing the stamped image onto the black card stock, I inserted the glued piece back into the cut out spot. Worked beautifully!  And I didn't have to use any dimensionals. It was just the perfect height.

Tulips for Spring

I have been seeing the "Eclipse Technique" all over Pinterest. I watched several videos and saw one that really inspired me to give it a try. I worked on my card this morning and this is what I ended up with.

I have had the "Tranquil Tulip" set for some time. The video I watched used this stamp set.  I used "Sweet Sugarplum" for the card base accented with black. For the tulips I used the "Sweet Sugarplum" ink and for the leaves, I used my favorite "Old Olive". The sentiment comes from the set "Label Me Pretty". I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures. If you are interested in learning more, I would suggest that you visit the blog called "Tedder Bear Stamping". From there you can watch Lisa Tedder's video. She did a great job.

Sympathy Cards

All of a sudden, I need two sympathy cards for friends who have lost their husbands. I know that that is not an easy thing to go through. I just want to let them know that I am thinking about them and praying for them in this difficult time.

Both cards are monochromatic. Both use white and Pacific Point for the accent color.This first card uses the flower stamp from Stampin' Up 's set called "Touches of Texture". I colored the image using ink and a blender pen. I used a stamp from Stampin' Up's set "Waterfront" to add a little color to the white background. Both cards use the sentiment from "Simply Sketched" on the front and the inside sentiment is from the set called "Close As A Memory".

A close-up of the flowers

The second card using stamps from the set called "Petal Palette". I colored the images using ink and my "Aqua Brush". They were cut out using dies from the "Petals and More Thinlets" set.

The inside sentiment for both cards.