Every Good Gift

I heard on the news earlier this week that 50% of America's land is farm land, so I don't suppose it is surprising that this paper made me think of fields and farmland and forests and the harvest.  I love looking down over the "patchwork quilt" of the earth when we fly...it never ceases to amaze me and overwhelm me with gratitude for the beauty and the bounty that surrounds us.  I don't ever want to take that for granted.  

Our farmhouse sentiment series is on sale this week, so it was obviously the perfect opportunity to put these papers and sentiments together for a paper-pieced landscape.  

I have made several similar cards in the past using colored card stock, white card stock with distress/oxide inks, or designer paper. Some were torn or cut freehand, others (as this one) cut with dies. It is fun to see how different they are even though the "anatomy" and layout of the card is essentially the same.

I had fun shuffling die-cut scraps of this two-sided designer paper, arranging them to maximize the contrast between the various greens, yellows and blues to create the illusion of hills and valleys on a sunny day. I included a bit of distressing along the edges to add emphasis.  It shows up better in person than through the camera lens...I may have to try it again on a stair step card just to achieve a more 3D effect. 

This is kinda what I was seeing in my mind's eye as I was creating my card, although this is in Scotland rather than here in America. This photo was taken at Ardalanish (a working farm and mill shop on the Isle of Mull) when we were there in 2024.  If you look really closely you can see the black sheep grazing way down in the valley!   

Here's the inside of the card, which with a little tweaking really would also entirely work as a card front if so desired!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Sentiments QUAD Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Signage (tiny heart)
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Organic 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Country Church (trees, clouds)
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Orange
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Holiday Greens Mini
• Original Bow Easy
• distress oxide inks
• white acrylic paint for spatters
• button from stash
• Spellbinders standard circles small

He's the Reason for the Season

 

Hi y'all!

I can hardly believe it is October already!  This week we celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary on Tuesday, and then remembered my dad on his birthday (he would have been 101!) on Wednesday.  

I've been in full-on Fall mode, preparing for a broom-making class that's happening today (Thursday 10/8) at the Textiles Guild in St. Augustine (at the Lightner Museum).  We're making a turkey-wing whisk of natural broomcorn wrapped with nylon cording.  

Stamp Simply

But this week's Stamp Simply project is not for Fall.  It's for Christmas!  It uses one of our current Product of the Week sets, Jesus.  I love this set because it is filled with sentiments and verses that bring music and Bible studies to mind.  Lots of great memories of good times with special people.  

For the focal image I used one of the printed blocks from Carta Bella's A Wonderful Christmas paper pad, stamping two sentiments directly onto the designer paper.  There are several prints from that same paper pad in the background, with a strip of houses and a die-cut heart from more of the pad's coordinating prints.  It all goes so well together and makes designing so easy peasy.  

The inside is stamped with the verse from Isaiah that is well known from The Messiah Chorus.  I always end up singing it because I find it absolutely impossible to simply read it!  So there had to be that little music charm added to the bow on the front of the card.  ❤️

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Jesus
• Carta Bella A Wonderful Christmas 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Christmas Stockings & Mittens (snowflake)
• Seam Binding Sampler - Christmas - 30 yards
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• Melissa Frances Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Cream
• distress oxide inks
• music charm from stash

Thanks for stopping by!  See you next week!   

Tea Time Pocket Card

Hi friends!

I grew up in southwest Louisiana where coffee is king and tea is served iced and sweet but I have definitely, true to my Scots heritage, learned to embrace a nice cup of hot tea.  Taking time out to enjoy a cup can definitely bolster one's energy and mood...this little Tea Time Pocket Card serves as a cup of love and a reminder to take Life one cup at a time! 

Today's project features stamps and dies from Stamp Simply's Coffee (or tea?!) series which is the current Product of the Week through Saturday.  

This project has a 5.5 x 4.25 inch card base upon which is attached a 4.25 x 9 inch (scored at 3 and 6 inches) "z-fold" of card stock.  

The center section is a perfect spot for tucking a tea bag or sample into a tiny pocket.  For this project I used a combination of Stamp Simply Coffee or Tea designer paper along with a couple of two-sided sheets of Craft Consortium Grunge Light.  The colors worked together perfectly.  

If I'd had a sample of butterfly pea tea to enclose that would have been perfect but I didn't, so Mardi Gras blend black it was (from Plum Deluxe)!  It has black tea, cinnamon chips, vanilla/pecan essence, safflower, and blue Malta flowers, so it seemed fitting! Sounds so yummy! 

I used a strip of easy-tear scor-tape to adhere a strand of cord toward the bottom of the back section of the z-fold card stock before adhering the z-fold to the card base.  With a tea bag tucked into the pocket, the cord/ribbon helps hold everything in place when the card is closed.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Coffee or Tea? Bundle
• Stamp Simply Paper Pads - Coffee or Tea 6x6
• Craft Consortium Grunge Light 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Gems
• Cord/Rope/String
• vellum
• distress oxide ink
• Wink of Stella clear glitter pen

Gather Together

 

Hello friends!  It's officially Autumn now!  Today's card is a 5.5 inch square card using one of our Product of the Week sets, Seasonal Wreaths (Fall/Winter).

The Fall/Winter Seasonal Wreaths set includes the pumpkins shown here as well as some lovely poinsettias.  The Spring set includes two lovely spring bouquets.  There are some sentiments in both sets that can be used interchangeably.  

I colored these with Copic markers, then added tea-dye distress ink to the edges, and spatters of distress oxide inks and white acrylic paint.  The image, placed atop a sheet of Grunge Light designer paper, is framed with narrow strips of paper from Ink Drops Sunset. I just love all these warm and vibrant Fall colors.

Here's the inside, another sheet of Grunge Light with a sentiment stamped directly on the designer paper and more of the spattering of colors just as there is on the card front.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Seasonal Wreaths, Fall/Winter Bundle
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Sunset 6x6
• Craft Consortium Grunge Light 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• Melissa Frances Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Cream
• Copic markers
• various distress oxides and white acrylic paint (spatters)

When we were up in upper Michigan last month, the leaves were just barely beginning to turn.  We had a wonderful time gathering with my husband's family, celebrating birthdays and simply enjoying our time together.  

We've been back home for a few weeks.  Even here in Florida there are a few trees whose colors are tinged with yellow and orange.  I find this time of year so inspiring...it makes me want to spin and knit all the things, make wreaths and brooms and baskets, and play with all the papers and stamps!  

Enjoy your week!  I'll look forward to seeing you again!    

Happy Birthday!

 

Hello friends!  Today is my husband's birthday!  I had a lot of fun making this card for him using this week's POTW from Stamp Simply.  

Patrick and I love going out for brunch on the weekend.  We have several favorite places that we alternate between, and one of them has the most delicious fresh squeezed orange juice, so I thought this was the perfect image/sentiment for his card.  

In his case, less is definitely more so I kept things really clean and simple using designer papers and splashes of distress oxide ink for some "Florida fresh" appeal for my main (only!) squeeze!  (At this point we have had many more birthdays together than not, and we will soon have another anniversary to celebrate!  ❤️)  

The inside has one of the punny sentiments from this set stamped at the bottom corner.  Couldn't resist splashing some juicy colors on the inside too.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Fruit Trio Bundle
• Craft Consortium Grunge Light 6x6
• Stamp Simply Paper Pads - Coffee or Tea 6x6 (for tag)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Gems
• button and cord from stash
• various distress oxide inks
• white acrylic paint
• Copic markers 

Fall Floral Bookmark Card

Hi y'all!  I'm here with a card made with a slight modification of Splitcoaststampers' bookmark card tutorial (I made my square 5.5 inches) using two of our current Product of the Week sets.  It was quick and easy and fun to make and I know that the intended recipient is gonna love it!    

Here's a look at the inside with the removable square bookmark still in place on the corner of the card front.  

Here you can see the bookmark in use.  Usually I use lots of dimensional adhesive on my cards but for this one the elements of the actual bookmark are all glued directly together to keep the layers from being bulky and marring the book when it's closed.  This particular book is one that belonged to Patrick's uncle so it is a beloved vintage, well on its way to becoming antique!

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Floral Cluster Fall Flowers
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Floral Cluster Spring Pansies (sentiments)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Floral Cluster and Sprigs
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Ombre 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• retired Spellbinders scallop border die 
• Copic markers
• various distress oxide inks
• button from stash

You are a blessing!

Hi friends!

I'm back today with another clean and simple card using designer paper that is just too pretty to cover up!  This one looks like a cool Summer pool (ha!  more wishful thinking!)  

A sweet home town friend of mine sent me some wonderful sock knitting books that she came across in an estate/garage sale.  That she took the time to box them up and send them my way meant the world to me, so I wanted to make a little thank you card for her to let her know what a treasure she is and how much she is appreciated!  Nothing elaborate, just something handmade but quick and easy that gets the heartfelt message across...a little thing means a lot.  ❤️ 

I love how the Craft Consortium papers work so well together.  The colors of this sheet from Grunge Light are a great match for the sheet of Ocean that is on the front of the card.  

I love these colors so much!  I just so happen to be spinning them too, as part of a set that has pinks and blues and pops of other colors.  I've finished the pinks and purples, currently have the pale blue-greens on the spindle with the brighter blue-greens yet to go. It has been the most enjoyable spin and I will hate to see it come to an end!  (The fiber and these next few photos are from Inglenook Fibers).  

The set was inspired by some of the architecture seen during Tour de France, the Casa Batlio on St. George's Day.    

But there is more lovely fiber in the queue!  The next up is some based on the Lacecap Hydrangea and it is gorgeous and just a tiny side-step on the color wheel!  

  

Ooops!  I got carried away!  ;)  Back to stamping!  Here's my supply list.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Pastor & Ministry Appreciation Gree...
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Ocean 6x6
• Craft Consortium Grunge Light 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Rhinestones - Aqua
• satin ribbon
• Versamark ink
• gold fine detail embossing powder

But before you leave, be sure to visit Stamp Simply to check out the current Product of the Week!  

Give Thanks

 

Hi y'all!

I can hardly believe that it is already the end of August and that the holiday season is just around the corner, but schools around here started a week or so ago and the Fall season of chorale has started, so time is flying by!  

If you have been here during previous Falls, you might remember that this is one of my very most favorite stamp sets!  It is so simply elegant and imho can become a show stopper with very little effort. Here I stamped the image on watercolor card stock and painted it with distress inks using them water color style, urging the colors to blend together.    

And here is the inside...more of that beautiful CC Ink Drops Sunset designer paper and a beautiful verse.  I love this paper, couldn't stand to cover it up so I kept this card as CAS as possible, inside and out! 

Stamp Simply

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Bundle
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Sunset 6x6
• Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock - 4.25 x 5.5"
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• distress oxides used as "watercolor"
• white acrylic paint spatters
• gold cord

Autumn Blessings

Hi y'all!

It is still hotter than heck here (yesterday we reached 100 degrees with a heat index of 115 F!) so you can imagine that we are truly yearning for Fall and the cooler temperatures it will bring!  

I was flipping through paper pads and came across this beautiful sheet from CC Ink Drops Midnight, so warm and rich and elegant!  I decided that it would be lovely for a JOY fold/tri-fold card.  

This is essentially a smaller card tucked inside a larger card with the folds opposite one another.  In this view you can see that about an inch is trimmed off the bottom of the larger card front to accommodate the placement of the smaller card inside.  

And full disclosure:  I had not intended to cut an oval out of the smaller card until the sentiment I stamped on the card front (light ink on dark paper) did not show up as well as I had envisioned it would...OOPSIE!  So this design was a "save" that ended up working out ok!  Whew!  I love it when cards "evolve" on their own that way!  

The dark distress oxide inks framing the focal image/sentiment also help to emphasize the rich, midnight mood of the designer paper.

Stamp Simply

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Blessings Bundle
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Midnight 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Champagne
• Spellbinders oval dies
• various distress oxide inks
• button and gold cord from stash

Deepest Sympathy

Hello friends!  

It seems that the older we get, the more often we need sympathy cards.  I really prefer making them before they're needed and having some stashed and ready in advance.  Occasionally I will make one specifically for a particular person and their loved ones but I find that emotionally much more difficult.  Either way, the process is always a thoughtful, prayer-filled one.  

For this week's project I used both of our Silhouette stamp sets (current product of the week)...the sea oats/wheat image from Autumn Silhouettes, and the sentiments from Eucalyptus Silhouettes.  I love how "Florida" the result turned out to be.    

I used an assortment of distress oxide inks to make a colorful focal image background that would harmonize with this beachy designer paper from Craft Consortium's Test of Time.  For many people, images of the ocean are timeless and soothing, bringing peace, calm and clarity to a troubled heart.  That makes them seem especially appropriate for acknowledging the loss of a loved one, especially here in Florida.  

The inside is another inked background with a beautiful, comforting verse.    

Supplies:

• Autumn & Eucalyptus Silhouettes
• Craft Consortium Test of Time 6x6
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Champagne
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• various distress oxide inks
• white acrylic paint
• mother of pearl button