An Easter "Valentine"

Hello again everyone!

When I sat down to make this week's project I did not set out to make a Valentine, but I would indeed call this an Easter Valentine.  It all started with this interesting "corner fold" and the desire to use some of our thinner bronze metallic card stock to implement it.  One thing led to another and here we are!  

This is another one of those folds that is impressive in appearance but quite simple to achieve.  Gotta love that!  Here is a link to the tutorial that I found for this fun fold.

Of course, these beautiful rosy colors would lend themselves equally well to a wedding/anniversary card or a card to welcome a new baby girl, but I love these passages of scripture and decided to use them in this instance.

The card in the tutorial had another panel adhered to the card front, but I chose instead to adhere the cross die cut (top and center only), and to stamp a sentiment directly onto the card stock square panel at the top left.  

The LOVE sentiment is actually stamped onto the inside of the card that peeks out of the bottom right of the fold.  

When the card is opened, the LOVE sentiment forms a pleasing diagonal with the familiar scripture that is stamped at the top left.  

These three sentiments/scriptures are from three different stamp sets but I really love the way they work together to convey God's love and His original plan for our redemption.  No greater love.  ❤️

Were it not for the pearls that I used to embellish the cross, this would also make a great flat-for-mailing card.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Love
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Salvation
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - He Has Risen
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Crosses
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Copper 15 ct (for the thinner fancy fold layer)
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 80# TEXT Weight Cardstock - Copper 10 ct (to provide a stable underlayer for the cross)
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Rose 6x6
• Craft Consortium Over the Rainbow 6x6

Easter Egg Hunt

Hi y'all!  Today's Stamp Simply project was inspired by a little trip down Memory Lane!  

When I was young my cousins and I would Easter egg hunt in the semi-circle drive of my maternal grandparents' "old house place" where there was a low slate wall and a profusion of blooms...daffodils if I remember correctly.  (This was up until the time that I was around 10 years old when my grandmother passed away and my grandfather sold the property to a logging/tree farm company.)

This does indeed look like lots of plants clustered together with a bounty of eggs laid in relatively plain view, and that is exactly what I was going for!  This card just makes me smile!  We always had SO much fun!  

I have been told that many years later when some of those old pine trees came down, there was still an old plastic Easter egg up there in one of the crooks of a low limb!  Can you imagine?!      

I decided to experiment with reversing a few of the flowers by stamping some onto a gelliplate and then rubbing a piece of card stock over it. It worked but meant fussy-cutting those reversed blooms so it ended up probably being more work than it was worth. Nice to know it is do-able if needs must, though.  

I really wish I would've left a small border around those that I fussy cut so that they would have been more contsistent with the ones that were die cut.  At least this way you can see what they look like both ways.  :)  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - He Lives Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Easter is for Jesus Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Craft Consortium Brick Textures 6x6
• Craft Consortium Grunge Light 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• Copic markers
• Clear Wink of Stella glitter marker
• distress oxide ink splashes/splatters

Fold and Tuck Sympathy Card

Hello friends!

I sadly needed another sympathy card and decided to try one of the "fold and tuck" cards that I have seen recently on Pinterest.  This is a really easy construction where a strip the bottom of a standard sized card front is trimmed away (I removed a little more than an inch) and a triangular flap is adhered to the inside for the shortened front to tuck underneath.  I really like getting to see that peek of pretty paper from the inside and echoing those lovely colors on the outside of the card too.  

Here you can see the layers of several triangles (die cut squares cut in half).  This wood and patina paper inspired me to use metallic card stock and a Tim Holtz mixed media die for some decorative "metal" to embellish the closure.  It's just a small detail but I love it.  

You'll want to use some strong sticky tape to adhere just the long edge of that triangle along the bottom edge of the card so that it is fastened securely.  I added a thin decorative strip of the wood designer paper just to give it a little more oomph and to add to its visual weight as well.

I stamped the Eucalyptus Silhouettes directly onto a scrap of the designer paper using distress oxide inks, then die cut a third silhouette from metallic card stock to decorate the card front and frame the outside sentiment.

The sentiment on the inside is from another one of our sympathy sentiment sets.  It's so nice to have a variety of options for sentiments so you can choose a combination that feels just right.  

Here's a full view those pretty papers/colors on the inside.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Eucalyptus Silhouettes Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Sympathy Sentiments Set 2
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Craft Consortium Patina 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 80# TEXT Weight Cardstock - Copper 10 ct
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Copper 15 ct
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Squares SM (cut in half for closure triangle)
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Squares LG (cut in half for closure triangle)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Mixed Media #1
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Espresso Truffle
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Rhinestones - Aqua
• May Arts 1" Grosgrain w/Satin Edge - 30 Yard Spool - Turquoise
• various distress oxide inks
• scrap of gold cord

Happy Easter

Hi everyone!

The weather has been absolutely glorious this week!  We have azaleas, irises, and lots of other beautiful blooms showing their gorgeous colors in our neighborhood, so it was really easy to get into a Springy, Easter mood for today's project.  

Although it looks like a conventional fold, this card is made from a full sheet of card stock scored horizontally and vertically with the top left corner removed, which creates an extra flap and more space to decorate on the inside.  I cut a window through the outermost section for this darling bunny to peek through.  (I trimmed just a little off the bottom of the bunny for ease of opening/closing the card.) 

When the front is opened it reveals this "cracked egg shell" designer paper (probably actually parched earth, but y'know!) with a sweet sentiment.  Maybe your family "pocked" eggs...a Cajun Easter tradition...so you get where I'm comin' from!  Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday are next week, so the season of Lent is truly almost upon us!        

And here's the very innermost fold of the card.  I love this simple rustic cross and traditional Easter sentiment.  I kept everything inside really simple with some sunrise stenciling using distress inks.

I know this is most oft said about Christmas, but it applies here as well!  Jesus is the Reason for the Season!    

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Easter is for Jesus Bundle
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• May Arts 5/8" Faux Linen Canvas Ribbon Sampler - 27 yards
• Echo Park My Favorite Spring 6x6
• Craft Consortium Test of Time 6x6 
• Copic markers
• sunrise stencil
• distress inks

Masculine Happy Birthday!

Hi friends!

I often find masculine cards challenging, but today's clean and simple masculine birthday card was a piece of cake using prints from three paper pads from Craft Consortium and our Stamp Simply Autumn Silhouettes set.  

I stamped the sentiment and the cattails image directly onto the designer papers, die cut the one using our fishtail banners and adhered them to the card front.  I added a knot of ribbon with a very simple men's wear style of a button tied onto it as a simple embellishment, then splashed and splattered some diluted brown and grey-black distress oxide ink onto everything.  

Here's a peek at the inside.  The kind of no-nonsense card that my fellas prefer!  I hope you like it too!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Silhouettes
• Craft Consortium Brick Textures 6x6
• Craft Consortium Test of Time 6x6
• Craft Consortium Beach Hut 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Espresso Truffle
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Baners
• May Arts 5/8" Faux Linen Canvas Ribbon Sampler - 27 yards
• Burlap string
• distress oxide inks for spattering
• button from stash
• glitter gel pen

Pet Condolences

Hi everyone!

I love that Stamp Simply has a stamp set which includes a "beloved pet" sentiment among all of the more traditional sympathy sentiments that are oft spoken after the loss of a loved one.  One of my spinning/crafting friends recently lost her sweet Corgi "Marti" and I am so glad to be able to craft a card especially for her to comfort her in her grief.  Our pets really are cherished members of our families and it hurts so much to let them go, even when we know it is the right time and for the right reasons.   

I chose Spring-y colors for this card in celebration of a happy life well-lived.  A photo of a leather collar and leash inspired the decorative element along the left edge of the card.  I used strips of card stock, some of them folded and "faux braided" along with an end of a die cut from the Tim Holtz Tags Collection to construct it. Several colors of distress oxide ink gave it that weathered leather look, and I even used a few very old eyelets applied with a Crop-a-dile!    

Here's the inside, with plenty of room to write a heart-felt note.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Sympathy Sentiments Set 2
• Echo Park My Favorite Easter 6x6
• Echo Park My Favorite Spring 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection (for tab of collar)
• various distress oxide inks
• very old eyelets! ;)

Deepest Sympathy

Hello friends!  I'm here today with a sympathy card in soft neutral tones, pairing prints from two different paper pads with our beautiful Eucalyptus Silhouettes stamp set.   

The background paper has hints of pale peachy pink which I tried to emphasize by using matching ribbon and ink (notice the sponging around the edge of the circular mat under the greenery.  Even the greenery has a touch of that pale pink and soft taupe mingled with the sage green).  The sentiment was stamped directly onto the designer paper background.    

The strip of frilly lace, silky ribbon and pearls make this simple design decidedly feminine.      

A harmonizing print from the Baroque designer paper pad carries the same colors and feminine theme to the inside of the card.  

Stamp Simply Store

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Eucalyptus Silhouettes Bundle
• Craft Consortium Test of Time 6x6
• Craft Consortium Baroque 6x6
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• May Arts 1.25" Variegated Silk - 32 yard spools - Pink/Champagne
• Original Bow Easy
• May Arts 1.5" Lace w/Satin Center - 1 yard - Pink
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• distress oxide inks (bundled sage, frayed burlap, tattered rose)

you + me = forever

Hi everyone! Hard to believe that this first month of 2025 is already almost over and February is nearly here! Wasn't it just New Year's?  But hey, if you're a card maker there's just enough time to finish up those Valentines!

A few of my designer paper pads were stacked randomly on my desk and I noticed how dramatic the black, red, white, pink and teal looked together. With these paper pads it was easy to pull together a card that required minimal stamping and practically no coloring.  

I had some card stock scraps laying alongside my trimmer and decided to use one (a leftover piece of pink card stock that measured 3.5 x 11 inches) as a card base.  The overhanging banner die brings the card's full finished measurement to 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

It's hard to see here but the black background from Craft Consortium's Scorched Paper designer paper pad has just the faintest hint of pink in it.  The Valentine papers are all from Echo Park Love Notes and were all die-cut using our fishtail banners die set.  Since one of those little designer prints included hearts dangling clothes-line style, I was inspired to dangle a little heart-shaped button from a piece of baker's twine to the front of my card.  Just needed to stamp a couple of sentiments from our Farmhouse series. Easy peasy!  

The "cross my heart" block on the inside is just another square of designer paper that was practically the perfect size with minimal need for trimming.  I added a little scrap of white underneath so there'd be space for the sentiment and a signature.  I used a Copic marker to make a teeny tiny heart next to the sentiment to tie it in with the tiny hearts on the designer paper.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Simple Sentiments (outside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Scriptural Thoughts (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Love Notes
• Divine Twine Baker's Twine - 240 Yard Spool - Aqua
• heart shaped button from stash
• red Copic marker (for tiny heart inside)

Happy Day Iris Valentine

Recently I went to Distaff Day in Orlando and (among lots of other things!) bought a four-pack of mini-braids of spinning fiber.  

Spinning friends, they're 4 oz of 100% Blue-Faced Leicester wool being spun with a tiny Jenkins Tulipwood Kuchulu that weighs ~ 9 g.  

Looking again at these colors, I think they absolutely influenced my choice of designer paper for this week's Stamp Simply project!  And not just that but also the "Snowpacalypse" weather maps that we have had here in the Deep South this week!  Similar color palette!  

We ended up not getting any snow, but my brother near Lake Charles, Louisiana did indeed have a blizzard that resulted in 6 inches of "sneaux" and record-breaking cold temperatures.  (As I am writing this, our high temp for the day here in NE Florida is 39 F). So it is hovering just above freezing and our irises are blooming and the azaleas are confused as well!  

So I put together an Iris Valentine using these gorgeous papers with lots of layering and splattering to emphasize these bold colors.  I think they are so gorgeous, both individually and collectively!

You can barely see it, but there is shimmery copper ink stenciled onto the kraft card stock tag using the Tim Holtz Bricked stencil. That shimmer helps bring so much glimmer and glitz to a card IRL but it is hard to capture on screen. 

I got a little carried away with the spattering, especially on the inside, but to me it looks like party confetti and it makes me happy while we've got such dreary grey skies outside!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Happy Day Iris Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Midnight 6x6
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Bricked (stenciled on kraft tag with Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown
• May Arts 1" Grosgrain w/Satin Edge - 30 Yard Spool - Turquoise
• Flowers
• Gems
• click together alphabet stamps 
• distress oxide inks
• Copic markers

My Heart Belongs to Yooper

I love making cards that are a personalized "fit" for the recipient!  That's especially true when it comes to making a Valentine for my one and only.  

For us the Yooper sets and this designer paper work really well for personalizing a Valentine because we met in a place that had hot air balloon decor, and Patrick drove a VW albeit not a "bug" but a "scirocco." His Navy call sign was even "Yooper." 

It was easy to replicate a hot air balloon using a heart die, a folded strip of paper for the balloon's basket, and some jute for the strings that hold the two together.  The "my heart belongs to" sentiment was cobbled together by masking together various sentiments from the Yooper set.  The easiest way to do it is to use a marker to ink what words you want to use.

Of course, your significant other may not be a Yooper, so I've shared alternatives for spelling names in case stamps are not an option for that part!  Little alpha-beads or a Dymo would work really well instead (see the foreground of the first photo). 

Here's a the inside with a Valentine greeting from one of our Typewritten sets and an accent strip from that cute Love Notes designer paper. 

 

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Yooper) (Yooper and "my heart belongs to")
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Typewritten Year Round Greetings (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts (for hot air balloon)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Country Church (cloud dies)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Echo Park Love Notes 6x6
• Ribbon
• Jute
• Blue-green Copic marker for heart on cloud
• button from stash
• alternative alpha-beads or Dymo for spelling loved one's name