Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We are especially thankful to have our son home with us for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We (the three of us) are sharing a meal that would be nearly enough for an army...and there will be lots of leftovers for the rest of the week.  *grin*  We have SO much to be thankful for.  

I wanted today's Stamp Simply project to be one that would be appropriate for Thanksgiving Day, but still inspiring for the rest of the holiday season, or even for every-day, since not all of us are celebrating the holiday today, and also, every single day there is always something to be thankful for.  

This beautiful Prima paper has been one of my FAVORITES for Fall this year, and the colors made it an easy choice for today.  The partially visible wreath that is printed on the paper inspired the inclusion of the sage green colors and the foliage dies for a wreath/laurel layout that would work equally well for a Christmas card.  

Here is a peek at the inside...that flannel print makes me feel so warm and cozy!  Pumpkin spice, apple pie, and all that!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Fruit of the Spirit
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Fruit Sentiments
• Seam Binding - Soft Seafoam - 5 yard Bundle
• May Arts Burlap String - 10 yard Bundle
• Petaloo Botanica Sugared Minis - Gold Sienna
• Prima Autumn Sunset 8x8
• Spellbinders Die - Classic Ovals Small SM
• Spellbinders Die - Classic Ovals Large LG
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Floral Cluster and Sprigs
• Pearls - Ice Green
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye
• Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Zig Wink of Stella Brush - Clear Glitter Marker
• Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
• Scrapbook Adhesives-3L 3D Self-adhesive Foam Squares - Mix

My heart belongs to Yooper!

I'm SO excited about our most recent Stamp Simply release!  I didn't even know that this stamp set was in the works, and yet I could not have requested one that would be any more sentimental if I'd designed it myself! 

Unless you're from Michigan, you might be left wondering what in the world is that?!  It is a map (stamp and die!) of "da U.P."  My husband is from the U.P. of Michigan, and for all of his Navy career he was known as "Yooper."  To me, he was not "a" Yooper, but "the" Yooper.  😂  Stamp Simply is located in the U.P., so this stamp is a very special release for Sharon and her local customers, as well as for my husband, my in-laws, and me!  I have found the U.P. to be a place with a personality all its own, and it will be fun to have a stamp set to celebrate that local flavor.  

The designer papers I've used for this card make me smile, because they remind me of the woodsy decor of the basement of my in-laws' cottage.  Our family has made lots of great memories there over the years, although I will admit that I much prefer to go when there's no snow!  (While he's a Yooper, I'm a GRITS...a girl raised in the South!  I grew up in Cajun southwest Louisiana.  My whole life I have never lived more than a mile north of Interstate 10 except for the six weeks we lived as newlyweds at the Navy Lodge in Norfolk, VA!)

I inked a piece of Kraft paper with blue distress oxide ink and then stamped and diecut the U.P., splashing it with water, blotting, and then splattering with diluted gesso to give it that snowy look.  The tiny heart on the map is over Iron Mountain, my husband's beloved home town.   

I had to do some selective stamping of the sentiments in the set to create the perfect phrase for "my" Yooper...but it was not hard to do at all!  If you're a Yooper too, you'll find plenty of fun sentiments in this set that are great to send from one Yooper to another.  

Supplies:

• U.P. stamp and die
• Echo Park Warm & Cozy 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Rich Cocoa
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad - Faded Jeans
• Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Dina Wakley Media Gesso
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• gold gel pen
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• May Arts Burlap String - 10 yard Bundle
• button
• Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
• Scrapbook Adhesives-3L 3D Self-adhesive Foam Squares - Mix

Spreading Joy!

Hello again!  Whew, I don't know about y'all, but for me the last few weeks have flown by!  I traveled to North Carolina, then to Tampa, and Oxford, FL.  Last weekend was Orange Park Chorale concert weekend.  It has just been a whirlwind, and it seems like (especially since the time change) the days are passing so quickly! The calendar is filling up, and Christmas will be here before you know it!

After all of that galavanting, it felt great to sit down at the craft table and stamp a pretty card with some lovely pastel vintage papers.  They are SO beautiful and have been a recent favorite! The included vintage images are the sweetest, and our Stamp Simply stamps coordinate perfectly.  This is another of the trees from the set I used last week.  It is especially lovely when embellished with glittering Wink of Stella and Snow Tex.

The boughs from A Godly Man make a beautiful frame for a sentiment from Farmhouse Christmas, carrying the snowy theme from outside to inside.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Combo/Stamp/Die Christmas Trees
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Christmas
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - A Godly Man
• May Arts 3" Tulle - 5 yard Bundle (ivory)
• Prima Christmas in the Country 8x8
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Spellbinders Die - Classic Rectangles Small SM
• Spellbinders Die - Classic Rectangles Large LG
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Reinker - Bundled Sage
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad - Walnut Stain
• Zig Wink of Stella Brush - Clear Glitter Marker
• DecoArt Snow-Tex
• Dina Wakley Media Gesso
• Rhinestones - Light Pink
• 1/4" Variegated Silk Ribbon by May Arts - 3 yd Bundle
• Petaloo Botanica Minis - Pink
• Scrapbook Adhesives-3L 3D Self-adhesive Foam Squares - Mix
• Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

'Tis the Season

Hi everyone!  I'm back with today's Stamp Simply project, a Christmas card and tag combo featuring pretty plaid papers and some of my favorite Christmas sets.  Definitely 'tis the season to get your handmade Christmas cards and gift tags ready for mailing and gift-giving!  

Graphic 45 papers are always spectacular and this particular design is no exception!  I love the traditional Christmas plaid and how the floral paper includes some not-quite-so-traditional colors.  Certainly makes one think "visions of sugarplums!"    

The tree, stamped with Delicate gold, colored with Copic markers, and painted over with clear glittery Wink of Stella was splashed with diluted gesso and dotted with rhinestones to give it that same sugarplum sparkle.  

A printed tag from the paper pad accents the inside of the card, where there's a lovely holiday season blessing stamped in gold.

The tag was so quick and easy to put together using square dies and a printed square from the G45 paper.  There are several of these, so an assembly-line approach to making multiples would be quite time-saving.  I used a circle die and a Cropadile to make a matching reinforcer for the ribbon.  The sentiment at the bottom says "from our house to yours."    

Supplies, all from Stamp Simply:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Christmas
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Combo/Stamp/Die Christmas Trees
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Floral Cluster Winter Poinsettia
• Graphic 45 Joy to the World 8x8
• Spellbinders Die - Classic Squares Small SM
• Spellbinders Die - Classic Squares Large LG
• Spellbinders Die - Standard Circles Small SM
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Golden Glitz
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye
• Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Rhinestones - Light Pink
• Copic markers
• Zig Wink of Stella Brush - Clear Glitter Marker
• gold gel pen (to color star)
• Dina Wakley Media Gesso (diluted for splattering with a paintbrush)
• 2019 Color of the Year Ribbon Sampler - Living Coral wired ribbon 
• May Arts Burlap String - 10 yard Bundle (pink)
• Cropadile
• button