Thursday, March 6, 2025

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.  

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Thursday, February 27, 2025

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!    

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Thursday, February 20, 2025

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!  

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Thursday, February 13, 2025

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.  

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Thursday, February 6, 2025

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.  

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Thursday, January 30, 2025

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.   

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Thursday, January 23, 2025

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!  

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Thursday, January 16, 2025

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. 
 
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Thursday, January 9, 2025

Sending Love


Hello again everyone!  I'm happy to be cozy and warm in my squishy chair as I write this post because it has been COLD even in Florida! It got down to 33 overnight a few nights ago!  Brrrrr!  I am happily snuggling with my spinning and knitting and a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa!  This is definitely the weather for sitting with a warm knitting project in your lap!  


Today's Stamp Simply project features our beautiful Vintage Peony stamp set.   Although this set has coordinating dies, I didn't use them for this project, deciding instead to stamp a simple background with the peonies on plain white card stock.  I colored them with Copic markers and filled in the empty space with faint stenciling and spattering with copper ink for some shimmery sparkle.  


Here is a closer look at the banner sentiment and the coppery stenciling behind it.  


The colors of the peachy-pink peonies are reflected in the choice of designer paper for the card's inside.  And because the Tim Holtz die set I used last week was still within reach I was inspired to stamp a little reminder card/envelope to enclose as well.  


Here is the inside of the card by itself...


...and a close-up of the little envelope and its accompanying note, which measures approximately 3 x 2 inches.  The little bee is from the same Peony stamp set, and the serrated stamp die is included in the Postale die set with the envelope, hand and more.  The sentiment is from a set in our Typewritten series.

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Thursday, January 2, 2025

Happy 2025!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you're having a wonderful start to what will be a healthy and happy 2025!  


For today's project I combined several Tim Holtz dies and a couple of sentiments from two Stamp Simply sets to create a New Year's wish for you and yours.


When preparing to create this card, I was thinking of sparkly New Year's Eve celebrations, champagne toasts, the countdown to midnight and the New Year, so it seemed only appropriate to use a sheet from Craft Consortium's Ink Drops Midnight paper pad.  I love how the lighter hues streaking through the darker colors gives the illusion of glitter and sparkle.  I added extra splashes of Delicata ink to intensify the bubbly New Year's Eve ambiance. 


Here's the inside, kept clean, simple and elegant with gold splatters and a sentiment stamped in Tuxedo Black ink.  

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Sending blessings to you and those you love for each and every day of this brand new year.  And happy crafting!  ❤️
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