Making Memories

I was going through my bin of supplies for the fall season and made a card of these scraps (embossed panel with a leaf cutout, and a colored leaf) that I found there; all I had to do was press a sentiment!

supplies: cream, rust, and black cardstock, Spellbinders Falling Leaves embossing folder, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Grand Maple die, Neat & Tangled Maple Thanks stamp and die, Spellbinders Happiness Sentiments BetterPress plate/die set, adhesive foam

I chose this particular sentiment because of memories of times spent with my parents each fall when we'd pack a picnic and drive into the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania for a day spent hiking and enjoying the season.  I'd usually come home with some pretty leaves, maybe an acorn, as a souvenier of the day.  Dad loved the woods and instilled that in me; oh what I would give for another of those days with them!  

Hope you can get out and make some memories during this wonderful season!  

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your weekend.

Gather Together

This embossing folder was a giveaway with purchase during STAMPtember, and I couldn't resist it.  Here's my first play with it.

supplies: white and orange cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Deluxe Bouquet embossing folder, white pigment ink, white adhesive pearls, Spellbinders All Seasons Autumn press plate and die

With all those different leaves framing the flowers, this will make a great background for a floral centerpiece!

Happy October!

Playing with some Oldies

I saw a card on Instagram recently that made me remember a card wrap die from Simon Says Stamp, and I wanted to play with it once again.   In the past I've used it to make only square cards, but I thought Sharyn's card was interesting in an A2 size.  I also incorporated some old washi tape into the design.

Here it is all put together, with the wrap around a green card base.

supplies: white, green, pink, and peach cardstock, Simon Modern Flowers Card Wrap, a large circle die, Pink Fresh Studio Joyful Bouquet washi tape, Simon Says Stamp Pretty Bows die

And here it is when you slide the card out from the wrap.  On the front of the card I used some smaller elements of the same washi set, and a Spellbinders banner sentiment foiled in gold to bring out the gold foiling on the washi.

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I wanted to line the lacy details, so I cut out a big circle in pink, cut it in half, and glued it under the lacy parts of the wrap.  Then I glued the washi bouquet to that, and a bow.  I trimmed my A2 card just a bit in width to make it very easy to slide the wrap over it.  

This was fun to put together, and makes for something just a bit different!

It's almost September!  Enjoy your week!

For Peter

 If I had my way, all of my cards would feature flowers.  Too bad that lots of my recipients are males, so for them, I usually use leaves or birds.  Today's card features both.

supplies: white and Surf Blue cardstock, Spellbinders Sealed Birds dies and Branching Out embossing folder and Essential Arches die, sentiment from Simon Say Stamp Joys of Spring, adhesive foam squares and strips

I've done a card like this before; this time I changed up the embossed frame.  It may not be visible from my photo, but the frame and central motif are popped up with foam.

How are you all doing?  It's been SO hot here recently, more like August weather, and today we have a heavy presence of smoke from the Canadian wildfires, maybe the worst I've seen in recent years.  So we took our walk at 7:30 this morning before it got hot.  There was a slight bit of smoke at that hour, but it's really increased as the hours have gone on today, and the smell is undeniably smoke!  No rain until Saturday, when the temps will go down to more normal ones.  I hope that will rid us of this stuff!

Stay safe!  

A Bouquet of Hugs

 This card is for someone who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I hope the pinks make her smile.

supplies: ivory, various pinks, and green cardstock, The Greetery Botanicuts Sunflower dies, stems and ribbon from PTI Build a Bouquet dies, Simon Says Stamp Daisy Floral Field embossing folder and sentiment from Garden Greetings, ancient Spellbinders Label die, green enamel dots, adhesive foam to pop up bow and one of the flowers

I put together the bouquet and then set it aside for a day to think about how I wanted to present it.  Then I remembered this big fancy label from years ago and it just fit!  So after adding the bouquet to it I placed it against an embossed daisy background.  

We are having a gorgeous June, with blue skies, big fluffy clouds, cool breezes, and temps in the 70s!  Wishing the same for you!

A CASE

Back in 2014 I took one of Jennifer McGuires's online card classes called Stretch Your Stamps 2, and Shari Carroll was one of the instructors.  I CASEd one of Shari's cards then and have always wanted to do another one in a different set of colors.  Here's that card, only 12 years later!

supplies: white and watercolor cardstock, vellum, (retired) Hero Arts Flower Bird Garden cling stamp, picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, and mustard seed distress inks, Simon/CZ Design With Love die, adhesive foam squares, tiny pale pink and peach adhesive pearls

Here's my original card.

Both cards use the same cling stamp called Flower Bird Garden, a 3" by 3 1/2" negative background.  Inking it allows the details to come through as white (or whatever color of cardstock you use to stamp on), and colors the background.  Shari's idea was to ink it in several distress inks, spray it lightly with water to help the inks blend, and then stamp it on watercolor paper.  Then you cut it into 1" squares and mix them back up to make a more random background.  In order to get enough squares, I had to stamp twice, and after cutting them apart into 1" squares, randomly popped them above a backing panel, which was then attached to my white card base.  Then I just added a die-cut sentiment and embellishments.  

If you wish further details on the older card, it's linked at the top of this post or you can also click on its picture here to be taken back to the original post.

How are you all doing?  We've been enjoying the cool sunny weather lately, taking a walk daily.  Thanks for stopping by!

Graduation Card for a Girl

It's the time for graduations, and here's one that I made for a girl.   

supplies: red and white cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Extra Large Congrats die, Reverse Graduation Sentiment Strip, Picnic Floral embossing folder, Spellbinders Mini Blooms & Sprigs flowers

I used the colors of the university she will attend, and made it girly with the embossed floral background and the little flowers.

How goes it with you?  I think spring has finally arrived here, though the temperatures are all over the place.  Still waiting for 2 of our 3 peonies to open their blooms.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by today!

Some Birthday Cards

Our son and oldest grandson have birthdays pretty close together at this time of year.  Here are the cards I made for them this year.

This first one is a CASE of one by my Hero Arts and Simon teammate, Sarah Moerman.  I took the easy way and used a patterned paper for my background instead of her beautifully pieced one.

supplies: black and white cardstock, patterned paper from Doodlebug Cute & Crafty 6" paper pad, Simon Says Stamp Birthday Circle and You dies, a stamped and white-embossed "to", Doodlebug heart sprinkle

supplies: white and black cardstock, striped pattern paper from Doodlebug Hello Again 6" paper pad, Simon/CZ Design Happy Birthday dies, Doodlebug heart sprinkles

I wanted to emboss the surround of the big heart on this one, but refrained, figuring that, for a guy, simple is best.  And, I was glad to be able to use a bit of my large collection of patterned papers on both these cards. 

How's it going for you?  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Magnolia Blossoms

 Here are some new-to-me Simon goodies that I recently received.  I liked the way these flowers are constructed, simply, but they show a lot of detail and dimension.  I also got a new 3D embossing folder to go with them.  My post today has 3 cards made with them.

supplies: white, several pinks, and green cardstock, a dark pink Zig marker, Simon Says Stamp Etched Magnolia Blossom dies, Magnolia Branches embossing folder, leaves from PTI Build a Bouquet die set, Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments Glimmer Plate/die, Rose Gold glimmer foil, Doodlebug Tiny Heart sprinkles

Simon is putting their newer dies on a magnetic sheet now, which is a lovely plus!  I used 2 shades of pink for my flowers, and a marker in a shade darker to color the top 2 parts of them, lifting the very center above everything else, and pulling the middle layer upwards.  This set doesn not have leaves to go with it, but these PTI ones worked just fine with them.

We have a Betty magnolia that has wrapped itself around a corner bedroom, making the room feel like it's in a tree house!  This year the buds formed and a few flowers opened, but then we had a couple cold nights, and that was the end of them for this year.

Here's a picture of it in better years.

This type of magnolia isn't nearly as big the as the beautiful Southern Magnolias, but nonetheless a nice option for us here in the north.  

Next I used these dies and made an ivory version to represent the southern variety.

supplies: 3 shades of ivory, gold, and green cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Magnolia Blossom dies and Magnolia Branches embossing folder, stamped sentiment from Vintage Garden

The sentiment is from a 2022 stamp set with the most lovely cursive font on the sentiments.

And finally, my friend Mary Anne sent me a pop-up card for Easter that I couldn't wait to CASE.  I used just one of these flowers as the focal point for my version of her card. It measures 4 inches wide, and folds flat so it fits into an A2 envelope.  There's room on the reverse for a sentiment.

supplies: white, pinks, green, and yellow cardstock, Doodlebug patterned papers, Magnolia Blossoms dies, PTI Build a Bouquet leaves

Hope you're doing well - thanks for visiting me today!

Country Basket

 I received this new Simon Says Stamp die set just before we left for our little trip, so I am just now getting around to paying with it.

supplies: white, parchment, kraft, and various pastel cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Country Basket Bouquet, Simon Hurley Must-Have Sentiments Glimmer Foil Plate/die set, gold glimmer foil, adhesive foam

It was easy to put together, with lots of floral options for filling this cute little basket.  And it's a good size for a focal point on an A2 card - not much else needed.  After arranging my basket, I added some adhesive foam to pop it above the card base.

Hope your day is going well; thanks so much for stopping by today!

A Mix of Old and New

 Here's a card that started with a find in my scrap basket, these Greetery Fleur Imressions layering stamps.  I thought this mix of blue and yellow would be nice for this time of year.

supplies: white, yellow, and blue cardstock, Spellbinders Floral Expression 3D embossing folder and Hemstitch Rectangle die, The Greetery Fleur Impressions layering stamps, blues, yellows, and green inks, Simon Says Stamp/CZ Design With Love die

The new is the sentiment die, but everything else is retired.  I love the florals mixed with the big floral embossing behind them, and once again, the hemstitch design adds just the right little detail to break things up a bit!

How is your spring going?  Ours is 1 step forward, 1 step back: highs in the 70's one week, and the 20's the next!  Thanks for stopping by!

A Winter Card

 As much as I complain about winter, I've been enjoying the snows we've had this year - this is how I remember winters when I was a child.  So when I came across this amazing design by Michelle Peckham that I had pinned, I just had to CASE it!

supplies: colored cardstock, vellum, 3 snowflake dies, hat, scarf, arms, and bird from Lawn Fawn's Build a Snowman dies, snowflake embossing folder, sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Snow Love stamp set, adhesive foam strips

I had such fun finding the right size snowflakes to build my snowman and when he was all put together, I added some adhesive foam to pop him above the card to make him stand out more from the busy background, which was waiting for me in my scrap basket.  And of course, I had to add a little cardinal pal for a pop of red.

Michelle, this design is amazing - thanks so much for sharing it with us!

Now, on to spring!!

Woodblock Wednesday!

It's time for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday and I made 2 cards this month!  First, since February is the month of hearts, I decided to use this little woodblock stamp.  It's unmarked except for a sticker that says "Anita's @2002 Sugarloaf, Lithonia, GA  made in China".  I also used a Hero Arts Simple Frame from 2010.

supplies: white cardstock, dotted pink design paper, Anita's Fruit of the Spirit woodblock, Hero Arts Simple Frame

My next card uses a Hero Arts stamp from 2009 called Silhouette Meadow Flowers.  It stamps a negative image which you then color in to see the details.  I clear embossed it over music paper, then blended in some pink and green inks.

supplies: cream and bright pink cardstock, a Hobby Lobby music design paper, vellum, Hero Arts Silhouette Meadow Flowers, VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder, pink and green inks, Spellbinders Floral Expressions 3D folder, Simon Says Stamp/CJ Design Just a Note dies

The flowers on this stamp looked like roses to me, so I paired them with this lovely embossing folder that features large roses.  Since I used a music background, the sentiment seemed fitting.

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog HERE.

Floral Harmony

It's quite nice having the freedom to use whatever I'm in the mood for when I want to make a card!  Today I chose a 3D embossing folder with matching dies that were right what I needed to lift my spirits on the snowy day I made it.  When I looked out the window and saw only dull colors, these flowers were the ticket.

supplies: white cardstock, Simon Says Stamp (retired) Floral Harmony 3D embossing folder with 3 flower dies, sentiment from Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments

It was a bit fiddly, but I used markers to color in all the smaller flowers first, then after cutting, coloring, and embossing the 3 large ones, glued them into place.  I like this sentiment set because of the feminine font and because it's nice and small and doesn't cover up much of the flowers.  I fussy-cut around it after stamping to conserve even more space.

How is your winter going?  One thing that I'm enjoying is the gradual return of more daylight every day!  

I'll add this to the Can You Handle the Pressure challenge for this month.

Hope your day is a good one - thanks so much for stopping by!

Some Masculine Cards

 I have 3 birthday cards to make for February, all of them for men.  So here's a share of 2 of them.  This first one's a CASE of a card that Hannelie made a few years ago - what a gorgeous design!

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Altenew Watercolor Stripes stencil, Sea Shore inks, Prim Heart die used as a mask, leaves from Verve Bloom & Grow, sentment from Simon Says Stamp Joys of Spring, aqua enamel dots

And the 2nd one uses my go-to elements for masculine cards, leaves and woodgrain.

  

supplies: brown and several green cardstocks, a wood design paper, leaf dies from Tim Holtz, Neat and Tangled, and a cute little freebie from Taylored Expressions, I think, sentiment from Hero Arts Sending Love Mail and matching die, bright green embossing powder, circle die

I'm pleasantly surprised with the new update from Apple that I got back in January.  I took this picture just after our monster snowstorm and the skylight in the room I always take pictures in was completely snow covered, and thus much darker in there than usual, but the photos were amazingly bright without any tweaking!

Do you have a "recipe" for making certain kinds of cards?  

Happy Heart Day!

 It's one of my favorite days!  I have 2 cards today, a girly one and another for one of our sons.

supplies: cardstock in white, yellow, greens, and shades of lavendar and mauve, Doodlebug tone-o-tone designer paper, Spellbinders Lace Heart die, Mini Blooms & Sprigs flowers and leaves, Flower Frenzy 3D embossing folder, and sentiment and die from Floral Framed Glimmering Heart set, adhesive foam squares

After cutting out all the flowers, I bent them upwards just a bit for some dimension, then covered the heart with them.  This is in honor of my Mom, who loved these colors.

I couldn't find a card for our oldest son, so I winged it.  It couldn't be mushy, but I wanted to let him know we love him.  

supplies: red and kraft cardstock, woodplank design paper, Tammy Tutterow/Spellbinders Primitive Heart die, The Greetery Fit to Be Tied Bow die, sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Just a Love Note stamp set

I wanted to use this woodplank paper for a background, but had only some scraps of it left, so I cut those strips into squares and pieced them back into a kind of parquet design.  And I used a bit more to stamp my sentiment.  

The stamp set is from 2012, and has more tiny Valentine sentiments - such a treasure!

Hope your day is special!

Cardinals in the Snow

As much as I complain about winter, one thing that is pure joy at this time of year is watching the birds at our feeders.  In the last few years it seems like there aren't as many cardinals as in past years, but when we get a snow, then they appear, almost always in pairs, and 3 or 4 pairs at a time!  They are gorgeous at this time of year, all the redder against the snow!

So I decided to make a card to recreate those times.

supplies: colored cardstock, white glitter cardstock, a snowflake embossing folder, rubbed with white ink,  Spellbnders Tweet Cardinal and branch from Sweet Birds on a Branch, Simon Says Stamp Four Seasons die and stamped Winnie & Walter Big Bold Seasons sentiment, several small snowflake dies

What's your favorite bird to see at this time of year?  I love the chickadees and woodpeckers.

SnowDrops!

Hello!  Long time no see!  How was your Christmas? 

Ours was magical!  We thoroughly enjoyed being with our kids and grands and can't wait to do it again.  They all left by New Year's Eve, and then the de-decorating took some time, but I think we're back to normal now.  It's been strange not working on cards everyday, but I've substituted some reading and doing online jigsaw puzzles.  But in my mind I've been thinking about what I'd like to make for my first card for this year.

Our weather has been all over the place since last we were together, anywhere from the frozen tundra and a decent amount of snow to balmy 60 degrees.  In years past we'd be in sunny Florida for the winter months, but those days may be no more, so I decided to find beauty in what I'm given.  

I thought these sweet little snowdrops reflected the season nicely.

supplies: white, aqua, and green cardstock, retired Honey Bee Stamps Pierced Fancy Flakes cover plate die, tumbled glass ink,  Simon Says Stamp Snowbell Bouquet and Pretty Bows dies, and a sentiment from a retired Spellbinders stamp/die set called Sending Sentiments, Audrey Blue ink

That sentiment will work for lots of occasions, I think.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Woodlbock Wednesday

OOPS I'm a week early here!  The challenge is NEXT Wednesday, Dec 31.  I'm still sharing today, as I have a blog post scheduled for then. Sorry for the mixup this may cause!

Here's my final card for this year for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday.  I chose a lovely Memory Box one called Peace Collage and accessorized it with some Tim Holtz goodies and a new cardinal die from Simon Says Stamp.

supplies: colored cardstock, Memory Box Peace Collage, embossed in white, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, Mini Holiday Greens, Simon Beautiful Cardinal, 3 snowflake dies

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog.  They generally come on the last Wednesday of each month.

 Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Bright Christmas

I really loved this month's Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp!  I ordered the stamp set almost immediately because of the 2 large linocut images, which were curated by Tim Holtz.   The kit sold out, but thankfully the stamp set will be available ongoing.  Here are 2 simple cards I made with it the day it was received, 1 for each of the linocuts in the set.

supplies: white cardstock, Bright Christmas village and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Clair Medieval Blue ink

supplies: cream parchment paper, Bright Christmas deer and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Vintage Sepia and Satin Red inks, a red enamel dot, small adhesive foam square

After watching Heidi's video that showcased the kit, I decided that I needed the coordinating dies and the little stencil set, but by then they were on waitlist.  They arrived on Friday.  Hopefully I'll find a little time to play with them before Christmas; if not, they'll be ready for next year's cards.

Are you ready?  Our house is decorated to the hilt with 50+ years of collected goodies; I just need to do a good cleaning before The Day!

Thank you for visiting.