Thursday, February 24, 2022

American Pride


We always love watching the Olympics!  This year it felt bittersweet with The Games being held in China and with the threat of war in the Ukraine which has since become a reality.   Human rights and personal safety for the athletes were a constant underlying concern. 


It would have been awful to have trained so hard for so long and then not get to compete so diplomatic boycott while still sending our athletes seemed like a satisfactory compromise.  We are so very proud of our US athletes and the 25 medals they brought home from Beijing!  It was especially exciting to have medalists from Florida and from the UP of Michigan!  


I enjoy working with themes and incorporating symbolism into my projects.  My Stamp Simply project for today celebrates the indomitable American spirit along with the Olympic spirit of setting goals that shoot for the stars, staying the course and remaining true to your inner compass!  This Graphic 45 designer paper worked perfectly for this theme and the sentiment inside echoes my continued prayer for the entire world!  

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Thursday, February 17, 2022

Fresh Springtime Greetings


Hi!  I'm here today with Springtime Greetings inspired by the tulips that my husband gave to me for Valentine's Day!  They are SO pretty!  


I had a hard time getting a good photo of today's project.  Here's what it looks like as it slides out of its envelope.  I used a narrow fishtail banner die to cut through the fold of the card stock so that the sentiment can peek through and that fun Spring garden print shows even when the card is closed.


That sheer bow adds some sparkle without overpowering the delicate flower.  


There's a sprinkling of hearts and a small trio of flowers die cut from the polka dot paper using our new Welcome Baby dies. Dotted Swiss always makes me think of Easter dresses from my childhood, so along with butterflies and garden implements, this card heralds the coming of Spring.  Our azaleas are already blooming and I've noticed a few of the redbuds starting to flower.  I am looking forward to seeing the dogwoods blossom!

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Thursday, February 10, 2022

Refuge from the Storm

Hello again!

This week's Stamp Simply project is a card of encouragement.  Sometimes life feels tumultuous and entirely out of control, and we feel tossed like waves upon the ocean.  Hopefully a card made with these beautiful papers, calming colors and inspirational verses will bring comfort and calm.


The beautiful paper is from a new pad from Craft Consortium.  I tore the edges to emphasize the white core of the paper and then went over the torn white portion with clear wink of Stella, also adding some "ocean spray" splashes with diluted silver ink and white acrylic paint.


Here's the inside.  Such powerful symbolism for which, when one's heart is torn and one's mind is in chaos, a reminder is appropriate! 

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Thursday, February 3, 2022

Still Loved, Still Missed, and Very Dear

 

Hello dear stamping friends!

If you are like I am, you find sympathy cards very difficult to make.  Sometimes it is easier to make a few "generic" sympathy cards to pull from when the need arises.  Other times, because of your relationship with the person and their family, you might be inspired to make something much more personal...then the act of card-making becomes a labor of love and the first step in the process of grieving their loss.  That's what today's card was for me.  

My dear, sweet 99 year old auntie passed away in mid-January. She was the second oldest of my dad's five sisters (he was near the middle and the only son!) and had a large family of her own, so most of my memories of her are (no surprise!) in her kitchen/home where she hosted our extended family gatherings.  There were lots of smiles and laughter that go along with a house full of cousins, aunties and uncles who didn't see each other nearly often enough! I remember her as a pretty, petite woman with a fresh face and rosy cheeks who never seemed to get flustered, nor did she ever seem to mind having us underfoot in spite of whatever mischief we might've gotten into.  (One time we got into a watermelon rind fight, launching our half-eaten rinds over the badminton net in their backyard...and hitting one young cousin in the eye! Thankfully nothing serious, although it certainly could've been! Yep, we were trouble and with so many of us I'm sure we kept the adults always on the lookout and often on the run!)


Although this is a sympathy card, I wanted it to be soft and feminine in celebration of my auntie's life and her sweet personality rather than serious, dark and depressing, so I settled on a variety of pretty prints from one of my newly arrived paper pads, It's a Girl!  The pad has lots of designs that are very specifically baby, but there are others that are perfect for other occasions including this one.  The pad also has quite a few printed tags, some with sentiments and others like this one, a perfect frame for stamping one of your own.  This one is from our Sympathy Sentiments Set 2.  I added a few pearls and nothing more.


For the inside of the card I used more of the pretty papers, die-cutting a stitched heart from one of them for an accent.  This sentiment is another from the Sympathy Sentiments Set 2. 

Aunt Ret, you are definitely still loved, still missed, and very dear! Your family is in my prayers.  xo 

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Thursday, January 27, 2022

Easter Blessings


Hello again!  It has been cold and dreary here so today's card will hopefully bring a preview of Spring sunshine and warmth your way!


This beautiful pad of Easter paper just arrived day before yesterday and I could not wait to craft with it!  I used a little vellum for the sentiment so that that pretty plaid would not be all covered up.  I already had a little scrap of paper with the hyacinths stamped on it from a prior project, so with some quick coloring that became the floral accent.  The flower centers sparkle with a sweep of clear Wink of Stella.  The tiny variegated silk bow, yellow jute string and pink rhinestone pulls all the colors of the card together.


The inside has a sentiment along with a beautiful glittering embossed cross with lots of bling accents too!  I used a touch of distress oxide inks to emphasize the dry embossing, softening it with clear Wink of Stella. 

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Thursday, January 20, 2022

Love to You!


Last week our Stamp Simply team focused on feminine cards, so this week we're sharing masculine ones.  You can see that mine has a hint of military flair since our family's fellows include some who served in the armed forces.


This paper pad is filled with beautiful plaids that are perfect for masculine cards.  This particular print has a metallic gold stripe, so I used mirror card stock to mat the squares and Versamark ink/gold embossing powder for the sentiments.   The squares and the large star are cut using Spellbinders dies.  
  

The small star and heart dies and the Love to You sentiment are from one of our newer sets, Welcome Baby.  

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

Just Checking In!


Hello again!  

This week I've been playing with more pretty Graphic 45 papers and some favorite Stamp Simply stamps!  


This was a really easy card front to design because the "ticking stripe" paper is actually the flip side of the pretty floral design.  I simply cut a piece of paper to fit inside the mat with about 1/4 inch of border, then cut it in two in both directions and flipped two pieces.  Distressing the edges and adding a pretty bow gave it a little frillier, more feminine look.


I stamped the hyacinth cluster twice (once on a scrap of white card stock, and the other on the piece that would become the background for inside), cutting one of them in two to use as an accent to the card front and as a pop up over the edge of the oval inside.


The flowers were colored with Copic markers, with a cool grey providing some shading along the right side of the one stamped on the inside.  Clear Wink of Stella makes the petals shimmer...so hard to capture well in a photo, but it is SO pretty in person!

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Remember, G45 products and May Arts ribbon are on sale now at Stamp Simply!



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Thursday, January 6, 2022

Thanks a Bunch!

 


Happy New Year!  As this year begins, I am looking forward with a heart filled with hope and gratitude, praying for a year of good health and warm, thriving relationships with family and friends both near and far!  


We had a lovely Christmas!  Our son was home for Christmas week and Time did its funny "slower-than-usual-but-still-flying-by" thing...all too soon the holidays were over and it was time for the two fellas to return to work/school.  


We've kept our decorations up throughout the entire 12 Days of Christmas until Epiphany, and since today's the day, they will soon be put away and I'll bring out a few Mardi Gras decorations.  It's time for King Cake!  


I've been participating in a couple of 12 Days of Christmas spinning challenges, opening a little package of fluff each morning.  It has been so peaceful each evening to enjoy a cup of homemade eggnog while spinning in the glow of the twinkling Christmas tree, and especially on those rare evenings when it was cool enough to have a roaring fire in the fireplace!  (I'll share more about my spinning after sharing my Stamp Simply project for today, so if you're interested in the fiber arts part, it will be toward the end of today's post!)


We're having a Happy New Year sale during the month of January at Stamp Simply which includes May Arts ribbon and Graphic 45 products, so my project for today uses both.


I had some wonderful gifts under the tree, so today's project is a thank you card using one of our stamp sets that coordinates beautifully with this gorgeous G45 designer paper.  The focal image was stamped onto white card stock with memento ink and colored with Copic markers.  It looked too stark white compared to the background paper, so I added some blended alcohol inks in coordinating colors and stamped off some cursive text to grunge it up just a little.  So much better!

I used Spellbinders classic squares to cut and mat this focal image and popped it onto dimensionals on a hand-cut tag, tied onto the card front with silk ribbon.  We have some beautiful variegated silk ribbon that I debated using which includes all the right colors, but I decided to go with the solid watermelon red ribbon which really brings out the bright red of the cherries.  I could not resist using a little scrap of the other one though, because it included the perfect green-ish gold of the pears in the background paper!  I also added a little pink jute string for texture, loving the look of the rustic against the silky-soft.      


The inside of the card includes another stamp (again, colored with Copics) from the same set with a coordinating sentiment (there's actually a trio of sets that work together).  I added a splash of Delicata ink to sparkle things up just a little.

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I'm so thankful for fiber arts and paper crafts and for all the peace and joy that they bring!  I can't tell you how often I've turned to such "right brain" activities to sooth my spirit and find calm in the midst of stress and strain.  2020 was the year of learning to knit socks, so we shall see what 2022 shall bring!


I'm always spinning with Turkish spindles which are easy to take on-the-go.  This fiber is Day 2 from Inglenook Fibers on a Jenkins finch Turkish spindle. 


A cute little snowman spindle was one of my Christmas gifts!  Isn't he adorable?!  This fiber is actually from one of last year's 12 Days sets, and I'm still working on it!  Savoring, since it is so luscious!


I'm trying to improve my technique with supported spinning.  This fiber is Day 1 from Woodland Pixie.  All of the supported spindles shown in these photos are from Woodland Woodworking.  LOVE Carl's amazing spindles which of works of art within themselves.


I took one braid of fiber from Three Waters Farm and divided it by color, making it into rolags to spin long draw on the wheel, another technique that I'd like to perfect.

Thanks for visiting my blog and allowing me to share my crafts with you!  May you and yours be blessed with health, happiness and prosperity this whole new year through!  


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Thursday, December 30, 2021

2021 Stamp Simply Favorite 6


This week each member of the Stamp Simply Design Team is sharing their Favorite 6 of the year.  Here are mine!  Just click on the text link below each photo to be taken to the original posts, which list the supplies that were used for each project.  


A Winter Valentine

This one was just simple shapes with a few die cuts and a familiar song lyric.  Easy peasy, high contrast, loads of fun!  


God is smiling down upon you!

Hyacinth is one of my favorite flowers, so I fell in love with this stamp and the Graphic 45 designer paper that coordinated so well with it!


A Fresh Hello!

Yellow is such a happy color!  Perfect for a happy birthday card!


Welcome Baby!

This onesies die cut is so adorable!  I was a baby born near the 4th, so there you go!

Rise & Shine, Gather Together!

If I could choose only one favorite, this might've been it!  Lots of little favorites used in combination for this card.

My Refuge and Fortress

Lots of symbolism, a lighthouse that my husband is familiar with, and another fun combination from several stamp sets.  

Be sure to visit the Stamp Simply blog to see my team mates' posts!  And don't forget our continuing December sale that will soon come to an end!



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Thursday, December 23, 2021

Happy Winter Birthday!


I needed a quick-to-make, simple/no-frills, masculine birthday card.  The guy's degree is in forestry/wild-life management, so I thought he might like this designer paper.  


I stamped the little fir branch from All Seasons Decor onto the edge of a die-cut circle, adding a snowflake and banner sentiment to the center with a die-cut fir branch and burlap string bow as accents.  I had intended to make this symmetrical but then decided to go slightly off-center to show at least one complete tree in the background.


The papers on the inside are all punch-outs from the Wonderland paper pad in the kit.  

I've been into spattering everything with diluted inks/paints lately. The amount of water used really affects the size and amount of the spatters.  In this instance the vintage photo distress oxide was a little too dilute, which made the spatters larger and more plentiful than I wanted, but you know, he'll be ok with that!  He is a get out there and get dirty (hunting, fishing, yard work) kinda guy, so it's alright!

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