Just Popping by to say Hi!

Recently one of my besties who is visiting the Pacific Northwest sent me a photo/video of a beautiful field of poppies, and that's what inspired today's project.  I was struck by the intensity of the colors and the peacefulness of the scene, the grasses and flowers bobbing their heads in the soft breeze and glowing in the light of that "golden hour."  I really wanted to try to capture that in a clean and simple card.    

The flowers in the photo were a variety of reds, oranges, yellows, and white but I chose colors here that would harmonize with this lovely designer paper.  I love the contrast of the paler portion of the background with the brightly colored blossoms.

I kept auditioning various ribbons and laces but in the end decided to just keep things really simple.  I stamped the sentiment directly onto the designer paper background and added some spatters to kinda tie it all together, hoping to let the paper and flowers shine all on their own.

Here's the inside.  I absolutely LOVE this "Just Because" sentiment since we really don't need a reason to send a card!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Pretty Poppies Bundle
• Craft Consortium Grunge Light 6x6
• May Arts 5/8" Twill - 30 Yard Spool - Sage
• Melissa Frances Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Cream
• Memento ink
• Copic markers
• Distress oxides and white acrylic paint for spattering

Proud to be an American!

 

Hi y'all!

Since we live not so far from a naval air station patriotic cards are always in season, but I especially enjoy making them at this time of year.  Today's project was really fun, coming together with only one paper pad, one stamp set and a few dies.  

So fun and easy to mix and match these two-sided papers!  This patriotic floral is absolutely adorable.  

If you've been visiting here for a while, you've probably noticed that our fishtail banners die is one of my favorites!  The star is a Spellbinders die that I enjoy scoring and folding so that it is more 3-D.      

The easel fold is perfect for displaying a special card, but also adds extra "real estate" to show off more sentiments and stamps.  It's a 4.25 x 11 inch piece of card stock, scored at 2.75 and 5.5 inches.  Then an additional 4.25 x 5.5 inch card front is adhered to the bottom of the fold.

Here I have added the Pledge of Allegiance along with a heartfelt thank you.  I'm so grateful for our American service men and women and for all that they do to protect and defend our freedom.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Patriotic Sentiments
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The Pledge of Allegiance
• Echo Park Stars & Stripes Forever 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Spellbinders Stars Five
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Hearts

If you're lucky enough to already own one of our Old Glory dies (the stamp sets are in stock but the dies are currently sold out) here is another "stepped up" option for the front of today's easel card.  

Celebrate Juneteenth! Let Freedom Ring!

When Sharon mentioned that I would be posting a card on Juneteenth and suggested a card using this verse, my mind was filled with memories from when I attended PT school in Galveston!  

Celebrating the holiday is a big deal there since Galveston is known as the birthplace of Juneteenth, where the end of slavery in the United States was declared on June 19, 1865.  It had taken more than two years for the people of Galveston to finally receive the "news" that the slaves had been freed as a result of Abraham Lincoln's January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.  

I was living in Galveston in 1980 (attending UTMB School of Allied Health Sciences from 1979-1981) when Texas became the first state to declare Juneteenth a state holiday, so of course, it made a huge impression upon me.  Galveston hosts Juneteenth celebrations annually  (I love the words of their intro on this year's website).  The date became a national holiday in 2021.      

So my card for today is not a traditional red, white, and blue patriotic card, but rather a tribute to Juneteenth and Galveston Island's rich history with colors and images representing the ocean, sand, boardwalk and seawall (which was built from October 1902 to July 1904 after the devastating, catastrophic hurricane of 1900).  

The date of the original Juneteenth is displayed using dies from Tim Holtz Collector die set.   There's a bit of cheesecloth "fisherman's net" and a mother-of-pearl button to carry the island theme throughout.  

The inside of the card has another sheet of that gorgeous Ink Drops Earth background paper that reminds me of ocean, algae, seaweed, etc.  (It's on the front too but mostly covered by the "sand/seawall concrete" and "boardwalk" papers/textures).  

Lots of symbolism on this card!  And for even more symbolism...notice that that little star is not entrapped in the net.  Let Freedom Ring!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Liberty Bell
• Craft Consortium Beach Hut 6x6
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Earth 6x6
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Collector
• Dritz Cheesecloth - 36" x 3 yards
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• May Arts 1.5" Striped - 30 yard Spool - Light Blue/Ivory
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• mother-of-pearl button from stash
• white acrylic paint for splashing

4th of July Celebrations!

Hi y'all!  Just a couple more weeks until July arrives!  4th of July is a big deal in our household because my birthday is a few days before, and the 4th makes it easy to just extend the celebrating!  Besides, my husband is retired USN so we have always been a patriotic family.  Even with all of the craziness going on in our country lately, I still believe that the good ole US of A is the greatest nation on earth and I'm proud to be an American.  ❤️  I am praying for unity and healing in our land.  God bless America!  

I have had several patriotic paper pads on or beside my desk for a few weeks now, and I have wanted to use some of the little printed paper tags that are included, so that was the mission for today's 5.5 inch square card.   

This majestic eagle was a perfect fit and shape atop a Tim Holtz envelope, which is great for stashing a few of those little above-mentioned paper trinkets.  It's been a while since I have heat-embossed anything!   

These are all made from printed paper tags, die cuts, strips of card stock, a little stamping.  It may be a little corny but I couldn't resist using that "Uncle Sam hand" from the Tim Holtz Postale set.  I can just see the original Uncle Sam "I Want You" poster in my mind's eye!  (Here, in case you don't remember it!  It's been around since 1917!)

Here's the inside of my card.  Perfect for filling in a date and time and inviting a friend over to celebrate!

For years we have gotten together with the neighbors for a friendly neighborhood culdesac fireworks show, although with Nori (son's dog) here now, we will probably opt for charcoal snakes and sparklers rather than anything noisy!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The American Eagle Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Postale
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Echo Park Stars & Stripes Forever 6x6
• Echo Park Let Freedom Ring 6x6
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Gold 6 ct
• Spellbinders Stars Five
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Hearts
• VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• seam-binding-sampler-vintage-neutrals-40-yards
• gold embossing powder
• fine gold cord
• heart button from stash

For Father's Day

Father's Day is less than two weeks away, so it is time to hurry and place your order so you can get to stamping!  For today's project I used a couple of sets from our Michigan series and several scriptures from a couple of our other stamp sets to make a card for my Yooper husband.   And I have to say...I sure do miss my dad!  ❤️

This project has hardly any coloring at all and even with all its different papers, stamps and die-cuts, was really quick to make.  I loved combining all these masculine prints (one from Scorched Wood and three from Metal Textures, including that cool steel tire tread pattern)...they work so well together.  

Here's a closer look at the Edmund Fitzgerald, stamped on texture printed paper with no coloring at all.  The only coloring on the entire card is the ship's wheel which has a very little bit of Copic brown.    

This fold is just a 4.25 x 11 inch piece of card stock scored at 2 3/4 and 5 1/2 inches. 

This is a peek at the underside of that circle that's adhered to the front and the center panel next to it.  I added scraps of some mappy paper from a discontinued pad that looks much like Vintage Emporium (I need to order that one!).  I wanted to include this "Train up a child" verse on this card as it is so perfect for a Father's Day card, so I stamped it onto another piece of that scraped metal texture paper that the ship was stamped and die cut from.  (I love that this fun fold gives lots of extra space for more stamps or designer prints).  

When the card is closed, the tags and little Father's Day sentiment are hidden, but when it is opened they are in full view.  

Here's a closer look at the tags.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Great Lakes Freighter - The Edmund Fitz...
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - He Stilled the Storm Bundle (ship's wheel)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Scripty Background Minis Set 1 (verse)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - A Godly Man (gratitude sentiment)
• Craft Consortium Metal Textures 6x6
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Craft Consortium Vintage Emporium 6x6
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• May Arts 5/8" Faux Linen Canvas Ribbon Sampler - 27 yards
• brown Copic marker
• button from stash 

Farmhouse Fresh Peaches and Cream

Hi y'all!

Last week we saw a roadside stand with fresh peaches-for-sale, so Summer is officially not far off!  I have fond memories of fresh peaches and homemade vanilla ice cream with my cousins Karen and Sherrie, and their parents Uncle Roscoe and Aunt Marie (my dad's sister)!  I must've been around 10 and it was close to my birthday. We ate enough peaches and ice cream to just about make ourselves sick!  

Do you remember those old hand-crank ice cream makers?  I was small and usually got nominated to be the one to sit on a pile of towels on top of the thing to keep it stabilized while the guys took turns cranking until the ice cream was ready.  🤣  

Isn't it funny the things that can inspire a card!?!  So I pulled out several Stamp Simply sets and a couple of paper pads and Copic markers and this was the result.  The colors of this background paper work really well with the designer prints from the other paper pad, and they make that peach really pop in the foreground.  On top of that, they seem pretty perfect for the nearly red hot temperatures we have been having lately!  

I use our Fishtail Banners dies all the time!  It's definitely a favorite! Here I added a few green pearls on that designer print for some contrast and counter-balance against the peach's one little green leaf!  

I used another sheet of the same brightly colored paper inside along with a sentiment and the little milk barrel from our Farmhouse series.  [With these stamp sets there's a straight line sentiment (Fruit) and this one (Farmhouse) where the words are stacked, so you can take your pick between the two!  I liked the way it looked with the milk can nestled in alongside so I used the Farmhouse one].

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps Fruit of the Spirit series
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Signage Bundle
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Silvery Shimmer
• Carta Bella Gather at Home 6x6
• Craft Consortium Ombre 6x6
• May Arts 3/8" Crochet Lace - 15 yd Spool - White
• Gems
• Copic markers
• diluted white acrylic paint for spattering

Time for a Cup!

Hi friends!  I am excited to be posting today as a participant in the Spring/Summer Coffee Lover's blog hop!  

 

I drink tea too, but in the mornings I really love my hot cup of coffee to start the day.  This is definitely a coffee card...I used several Stamp Simply stamp/die sets and a Tim Holtz tab die to complete this project.   I even used a Latte shade of pearls.  There's some tea-dye distress ink too!   But it wouldn't be hard at all to make it a tea card instead if coffee is not your thing!  

This is a z-fold card and you can see from the side view why it's called that.  It is not at all hard to make if you know the "recipe."  (I first saw an example on Pinterest and followed the link to this blog post for the measurements.  I'm always browsing Pinterest for inspiration.)  I use a ruler and a scoring board to make the appropriate score lines and then make the one partial cut using a paper cutter with a rotary blade. 

Our Stamp Simply Coffee or Tea paper pad has some lovely blues and purples in addition to the gorgeous, rich creamy coffee golds that I'm using here!  These colors made me think of sunflowers too, so I added one to our tall mug, which is exactly the shape of the white mug I drink from each morning (Pottery Barn classic).    

Here's that tiny Tim Holtz tab die which hopefully gives the recipient a clue to pull here!  

It's Coffee o'clock!  Time for a cup!  ❤️  May your cup runneth over!

The dimensions of the fold are just perfect to hide a gift card inside. There's no pocket so you'll have to secure it with some adhesive, but I love that it is entirely tucked away, hiding there to be discovered once the card is fully opened.  (I need to make a run down to our favorite coffee shop, Spring Park Coffee, to get a real gift card to replace this sample AmEx place holder!  Yay, a justifiable reason to go, but who needs an excuse, right?!).   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Have a Cup on Us BUNDLE
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Coffee or Tea?
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Sunflower Season
• Stamp Simply Paper Pads - Coffee or Tea 6x6
• May Arts 5/8 inch Faux Linen Ribbon Sampler
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Specimen (pull tab)
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• Copic markers
• tea dye distress ink
• diluted white acrylic paint
• button from stash

To be eligible to win a drawing for a gift code, visit the Stamp Simply blog and leave a comment THERE.  

Enjoy the sale that is happening this Memorial Day weekend.  ❤️

Patriotic Stars

Today's project is a star easel card/ornament paying tribute to all of our United States active duty, retired, active reserve and reserve veterans.  Thank you for your service!  We salute and honor you!  

I love these papers so much that I'm resorting to cobbling pieces together between two paper pads to make a project!  I love that they are so perfectly mixy-matchy that that works!  

For today's card/ornament, I die cut lots of stars and glued them together in layers to make an easel card.  There are two layers of decorative papers with one layer of thin card stock sandwiched in between for each side. 

Here you can see what the card looks like from the side, with one single scored fold line across the top point of the star on only the back side.  

A sentiment and smaller star decorate the inside, where again you can see the way the card is adhered only via the top point.  

And even the back is decorated, so if you do choose to tie a ribbon through the middle and hang it as an ornament, there's something patriotic visible from any view.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Patriotic Sentiments
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Liberty Bell
• Spellbinders Stars Five
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Echo Park Let Freedom Ring 6x6
• Echo Park Stars & Stripes Forever 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Gold 15 ct
• red and blue distress oxide inks
• button and gold cord from stash

July 4th Tabletop Decor

Hi y'all!  ❤️  You *know* I love celebrating the 4th of July, so I'm here today with a little bit of patriotic tabletop decor!  I got this star bucket forever ago (I think it was from the $1 spot at Target) and decided it would make a great napkin keeper with a little dangly circular tag to embellish it.  It's just a few circles layered together with some embellishments and it hangs from the bucket handle via a slot/circle (Crop-a-dile + scissors) that slides into place.

Two-sided designer paper makes this project super easy and even more fun!  I used Spellbinders circle dies to cut a few printed layers and a mat to go between them, then embellished them with stamps and tag dies.  The 4 and the july tag are both Tim Holtz dies.  The month stamp uses a click together alphabet stamp set from a big box store.  This cute little flag star is from our American Eagle bundle.  

I stamped, colored and fussy-cut one star, then die-cut two more (unstamped) from gold metallic card stock.  I scored all three across the horizontal arms of the stars and stamped a sentiment onto one of the gold layers.  I adhered the fussy cut layer to a gold layer, then adhered the top triangles of the gold layers together with the "celebrate" sentiment showing on the inside, and finally glued the back of the star onto the circular card underneath.  

Here is a view from the back, where you can get a peek at the benefit of the two-sided papers and those cute printed sentiments that are part of the paper pack.  You can also see the back of the bucket which is really a luminaria with a cut-out for a tea light.  I filled mine with bandana-napkins whose patriotic colors are peeking through the star shaped opening.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The American Eagle Bundle
• Echo Park Let Freedom Ring 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Gold 15 ct
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• May Arts 1/8" Silk - 200 yard spool - Red
• Copic markers
• bucket (this one was from Target dollar spot a while back, I think)
• click together alphabet stamps for "july"

Inspired by a Morning Stroll

Hi everyone!  Can you believe it is May already?!  Time sure flies when you're havin' fun!  

We've already had a few days in the 90's so we've had to move our walks earlier and earlier to avoid the heat and humidity.  We try to stay in the shade and sometimes that means taking the "common area" walking paths through our neighborhood which takes us by several retention ponds.  Even though they are man-made, they're still quite peaceful and it's nice to take a pause to gaze at the plants, birds, fish and other wildlife that gather there.  Thankfully we haven't seen any snakes or gators!   

Those morning walks inspired this clean and simple masculine birthday card using our Autumn Silhouettes stamp set.  The designer paper I chose includes the colors of sand/water/sky and the stamps portray a familiar waterside plant.  I kept the layout and the embellishments simple and natural.  I used a bolder brown and a faint, shimmery copper to stamp the cattails, adding splashes of tea dye and faded jeans distress inks to draw the colors of the background into the foreground.  

Here's a peek at the inside.  This sentiment is from our He Lives stamp set.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Silhouettes
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - He Lives (celebrate sentiment)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Craft Consortium Retro Summer 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Espresso Truffle
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• distress inks for spattering

A grass carp (?) that is larger/longer than my forearm!