In Remembrance

Hi friends!  Today is blog hop day for Coffee Loving Paper Crafters, so welcome!  It's the start of the weekend and our special coffee hop celebration but it is also the start of a very important US holiday.  But before I share my project and the inspiration behind it, let me share this.  If you're here for the Coffee Lovers' blog hop then you'll want to be sure to visit the Stamp Simply blog for more information when you're finished here.   

Stamp Simply

Today is National Poppy Day 2026, the Friday before Memorial Day, a day that Americans are encouraged to wear a red poppy to honor those military members who gave their lives in the service of our country, and their "Gold Star" families.  My card is meant to be both a tribute to those we've lost and a comfort to their remaining loved ones.    

Hopefully for most of you there are no particular names or faces that come to mind in remembrance on Memorial Day but for most military families including ours, there's at least one person whose life and loss is quietly remembered over these next several days.  (Our friend was killed in a training accident that occurred on 5-28-92 after he'd returned from the first Gulf War, Desert Storm).  We truly will never forget, and we reverently acknowledge the precious price that has been paid for our freedom.  We solemnly pray for God's blessings over every Gold Star family, for their comfort and strength in the wake of their loss.

I tried to incorporate that Gold Star symbolism and into today's project.  I really love that it's a coffee card, since having coffee (or tea!) is such a simple everyday mind and body "fortification" that includes the opportunity to slow down and connect with the ones you love.  What could be more important?!  It is truly mind-boggling to think of how coffee and tea have sustained humanity through the major and minor challenges of life!    

I was going to include a pocket for a gift card on the inside of my card but then I had a mishap!  The back of my card ended up smeared with ink, so I opted for some creative camouflage.  

I covered the ink smudges with designer paper, and then adhered the gift card pocket to the back of the card.  Here's a little printed tag from the designer paper pad for the front of it.

And here it is, opened.  I tucked in a little card stock place holder inside since I still need to purchase a gift card, but this gives you an idea of how it would look. 

I'm so happy that I finished my flag shawl in time to wear it this weekend.  I followed the pattern instructions "to the T" except for making my stripes wider...including starting with a white stripe as the pattern directed which of course is WRONG!  Our flag's stripes start and end with red, but in having made this mistake (and I was especially frustrated that I made it because I *knew* better!) I learned about the 1776 "Bennington" flag, so I'm just gonna pretend that it is a mistake that I made on purpose! ❤️

Stamp Simply

If you've made it this far, thank you for your attentiveness and perseverance through this sad and somber heart-felt tribute.  I hope you have a great weekend!  Enjoy your freedom, your family and your friends!  Go with grace, peace, and gratitude!  God bless you and God bless America!  

American Eagle

I love making cards that can be displayed alongside holiday decor and I was excited to find this "simple but fancy fold" on Pinterest.  

It is made from a half-sheet of card stock (11.5 x 4.25 inches) with some "zig zag" scoring but it still folds flat and fits into a standard A2 sized envelope for mailing.

After scoring the base layer, mats and pretty designer papers are added to embellish each section.  (You'll find the method/measurements here).  

I used a combination of stamps and Copic marker coloring, heat embossing, and printed panels from the designer paper pad to construct my version of this project.  The front features the eagle from this week's Product of the Week along with the fish from one of the sets in our Michigan series.  

The center section has a printed panel with some heat embossing.  

The last section has a printed flag and a floral print from the designer paper pad along with a stamped sentiment and the smallest of the spellbinders stars cut from a scrap of gold paper.    

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The American Eagle Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Old Glory (small USA stamp)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Michigan Facts (fish, fussy cut)
• Echo Park Stars & Stripes Forever 6x6
• Spellbinders Stars Five (50% off!)
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Gold 6 ct
• Versamark ink
• gold embossing powder
• Copic markers
• punch for pull tab

Patriotic Pocket Book

Hi friends! 

I'm back with another patriotic project!  It was so much fun to make and super easy peasy!  

Many of the restaurants in our area use these little paper sleeves for their flatware and for ages (obviously!) every time we would eat out, I would save them thinking they'd come in handy for something fun ever so often! They're perfect for little books, gift card pockets or countdown banners.  (I'm sure you'll see them again at some point in time!).

For this project, I only used two sleeves folded in half.  I trimmed them down so that they would form a "cascade" of pockets and decorated them inside and out with pretty papers, stamps, tag inserts, and cute little printed images and sayings from this patriotic designer paper pad.  

An old punch or a circle/oval die works well for a thumb hole for each pocket edge and pull tab for each of the tag inserts.  I alternated Stars and Stripes designer paper for the pull tabs and I love the way it turned out!  

 

This is double-sided paper so there are lots of options for cute, colorful coordinating prints to mix and match.  

I added stamped stars in various sizes and colors on each of the tags, along with a sprinkle of patriotic sentiments here and there.  I really wanted to use several more of our patriotic sentiments from our other sets but decided maybe it was better to just keep it simple. There are so many possibilities...I encourage you to look through all of our patriotic sets to see which images and sentiments speak the most to you for your patriotic project! 

For this page I stamped our patriotic word collage directly onto the sleeve using distress oxide ink.  It was a perfect fit!

The patriotism stamp used for this tag is from our Pledge of Allegiance set.  American Pride is from The Red, White, & Blue, so altogether this used only three stamp sets and right now the Pledge set is free if you order any other patriotic set!

This designer paper pad has lots of cute ready-made tags that made such a project really easy.  Just cut 'em apart and glue 'em in place!  

  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The Red, White & Blue Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Patriotic Sentiments
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - The Pledge of Allegiance
• Echo Park Stars & Stripes Forever 6x6
• punch or die for thumb holes and pull tabs
• Copic markers
• distress oxide inks
• cording for binding