Thursday, March 12, 2026

Easter Blessings



Hello again!  

If you're like I am, your projects are most often fairly fast and easy, often even clean and simple, but every once in a while it just feels right to make some extra effort to make something a bit more special.  Today's card is one of those projects.  It is a little bit fussy to put together but imho, the end result is worth it.  

The card begins with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch piece of card stock scored at 2 1/8 (yay for using some paper scraps!).  When I made my card I mistakenly thought that I could glue the mat and designer paper layers onto the card base and then cut through the entire thing with one pass of the circle die.  WRONG!  So I will advise you to do as I say and not as I did!  Carefully measure and die cut the separate pieces before glueing them together.  While you do need to accurately measure so that everything will align properly, doing it this way should be much easier and neater in the long run!  


One more word of wisdom!  It would be a good idea to use heavier card stock or even cut and glue an additional layer for the gold "frame" and for the flowers to give them extra strength.  That will help prevent bending when this uniquely shaped card is opened/closed.  


I mentioned that I wrestled with cutting through all those layers! The inside edges on mine looked a little ragged, so I found a way to neaten them and make them a little more presentable.  I really love how green and full of life this designer paper makes this card feel!  I also enjoy putting that little trio of pearls onto the card front...threes are repeated here in a couple of places and it feels so right to include a little symbol of the Trinity on an Easter card.  ❤️❤️❤️

If you have been visiting my blog for a while, you might know that this is one of my favorite Stamp Simply stamp sets!  One of the reasons I wanted to make this card with this stamp set was because the graceful curve of the daffodil stems looks so lovely against the edge of this card's circular window.

Stamp Simply

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Thursday, March 5, 2026

For God so loved the World

 

Hi y'all!  Hope you're having a great week!  

The days are getting longer, and hopefully even in places other than Florida there are a few signs that Spring is on its way, or at least just around the corner.  It's the time of year when people of faith turn their hearts toward God and celebrate His greatest gift.  

Those ideas came together for a (masculine?) card for this week's Stamp Simply project.  I love this Vintage Emporium paper and the way it lends itself to this particular scripture.  Thumbing through paper pads and die cuts, this is what came to mind.  The tree line is cut from a scrap of a print from the Grunge Light paper pad which had colors that echo those in the Vintage Emporium map.  


Here's the inside.  From this angle the sentiment seems quite camouflaged because this print is definitely "grungy" but the sentiment is easier to see IRL.  


I love it because it feels so earthy and garden-ish which is the way Florida feels these last few weeks. 

Supplies:


Stamp Simply


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Thursday, February 26, 2026

Fresh Springtime Greetings

Hello friends!  

I hope you're having a great week!  We have been having some yo-yo weather down here in Florida!  Spring is trying to make an appearance (the redbuds have blossomed, the azaleas are blooming) but we have had several overnights in the low 30s recently.  So crazy!  


I've been spinning lots of undyed fiber/fleece lately, alongside a couple of colorful spins.  You can sorta see where my color inspiration for card-making has come from lately.  (These "turtles" from one of those spins were spun leisurely over a span of six months, and recently completed!  Now I'm spinning the undyed fiber as a plying partner, so it will still be a while yet before the actual two-ply yarn will be finished).      

This project includes some of those lovely pinks, corals, purples and blues.  I so LOVE gingham and dotted Swiss!   


These little scraps of paper were from a 6 x 6 paper pad that had a hole to accommodate hanging from a pegboard display.  Rather than trimming them into even smaller pieces to avoid those holes, I decided to just make that a focal point and stick a couple of jewels in there!  


I love mixing and matching designer papers and found a print that had all those lovely Spring colors to go along with the floral.  A bit of spattering with white acrylic paint added some interest and tied all the designs together.  


One of the stamp sets I used (for the sentiment inside) is a set that is currently on sale as part of our ongoing Product of the Week series.  This particular one goes through the end of February.  

Supplies:
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Thursday, February 19, 2026

Easter is Coming!

Hi friends!  With Mardi Gras now behind us it is time to get serious about Spring and Easter!  Memories of Easter always include lots of ruffly pink, pretty lace, white lacy gloves and something sparkly! Mom always wore a corsage (usually an orchid) and all the ladies wore hats to church on Easter Sunday!  The sanctuary was always filled with lilies.  

Of course, the kids were always much more concerned with whether or not the Easter bunny had made an appearance the night before and what candies and chocolates were in their Easter baskets when they woke up.  And usually there was an Easter egg hunt!   

As an adult I've attended lots of sunrise services, but in childhood we typically went for 930 Sunday school and then 1100 services. Then we'd go home and have a big Easter lunch with ham, potato salad, Spring vegetables and deviled eggs, with chocolate candy for dessert!   

All these happy memories are what I tried to capture on today's project!   


Here's the inside.  I wanted this simple, rustic cross to take center stage so I used beautiful sunrise colors alongside a quatrefoil-style print that makes me think of stained glass.  


The tab needed to be quite narrow to remain invisible.  I die cut two layers of heavier card stock and glued them together for the cross to make it nice and sturdy.  

Supplies:
Don't forget to check out our product of the week!


Stamp Simply

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Thursday, February 12, 2026

Happy Birthday!


Hello again!  I hope you're having a great week!  We have been enjoying watching the Olympics and pulling for Team USA.  


I even knitted Patrick the opening ceremonies hat that he requested! I was really excited that I finished it in time for him to wear it during our recent cold snap!


I remember sitting and watching the Winter Olympics "nap-trapped" with Matthew when he was a brand new baby!  I thought that was a sweet memory to capture in his birthday card for this year since once again it is time for the Winter games.  


I used Spellbinders circle dies to cut a window into the card front, then built a scene with our tree line and slopes dies that are part of the Church die set.  There's only a small peek through the front but the full scene is visible once the card is opened.  


I love this pretty designer paper for a wintry blue sky.  It's so much fun to fully personalize a card this way.  

Supplies:
There is still (at the time of this post publishing) a little time left for our Valentine's Day sale!  I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day and a wonderful week!


Stamp Simply

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Thursday, February 5, 2026

Farmhouse Mercies

Hello friends!  I hope you are doing well!  We are gradually returning to normal after having each had the flu for a couple of weeks.  It has been rampant in our area so I suppose it was really only a matter of time.  So thankful to be feeling better.  

For us, the flu has been such a small thing on the comparative scale of things that some of our friends are currently dealing with.  One of those friends is in the hospital after having had a neurological event. Thankfully her condition is gradually improving.  She is a farmer/shepherdess so I thought a card using our Farmhouse Series might cheer her up.  I had a lot of fun choosing papers, stamping and die-cutting farm animals and finding the perfect sentiments to go with it all.  

Since she is a shepherdess (I have purchased a gorgeous fleece from her!) I thought I should include a paper sheep on her card!  I used a combination of punches and dies to come up with this little cutie!  


Here's a closer look.  The body is a scalloped circle, the face and ears are small and larger ovals cut in half.  The "topknot" is several clouds and a tiny flower topped by a silk ribbon.  The legs and hooves are fishtail banner dies.  All super easy to die cut and layer together.  For eyes, I used a stylus to dot a couple of white acrylic paint dots.  I opted not to add ink dot pupils but it would not be hard to do.


You might prefer not to have a sheep inside your version, and it looks perfectly fine without it!  

Supplies:
For the sheep:
Y'all know that I love to mix and match paper pads!  Now is a good time to stock up!


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Thursday, January 29, 2026

Happy (Yooper) Birthday!

Hi everyone!

Today is my father-in-law's 95th birthday!  Although he and my MIL winter in Arizona, they are originally from the U.P. of Michigan, so Stamp Simply's Michigan themed sets are really popular for cards for our extended family members.


I just recently added the lower peninsula set to my collection and thought it would be fun to use the two together to make a card for him.  


And here is the U.P.  I paired the Michigan sets with a set/sentiment from our birthday collection which just happens to be on sale this week!  :)  Keep scrolling for more info!  


And here's the inside.  We spend a lot of time out on the lakes fishing when we visit up there, so this is just perfect!  

Here's a closer view!  I hope you can see the sparkle! 

Supplies:
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Thursday, January 22, 2026

John 3:16

Hi everyone!  An order of stamps, dies and papers arrived from Stamp Simply yesterday, and after a quick flip through of this paper pad, the idea for this combination of designer print and scripture came to mind.  At first I had planned to cover most of the map with vellum and stamp the scripture on the sheer top layer, but the text didn't show well enough that way, so the plan evolved to this framed version.  


This pretty Spellbinders Label 59 die has a very detailed coordinating die set, but I opted to keep this project really clean and simple.  


It seemed appropriate to use a piece of Ink Drops Earth for the inside.  

Just out of curiosity, I decided to experiment with adhering the vellum to the underlying layers on the inside.  Rather than covering the edges with a frame as I'd done on the front, for the inside sentiment I adhered the vellum to a same-sized piece of ivory card stock using a very thin line of Mono Multi glue along the edges and then added that to a larger piece of blue card stock.  

While I was pleasantly surprised that the glue didn't show, the edges were a little gummy and sticky so I still prefer the cleaner, more elegant look of the frame on the front.  (I'll add one to the inside too if I can find another bit of blue card stock...no luck so far! I might have already used the last!)

Supplies:
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Thursday, January 15, 2026

He First Loved Us


Hi y'all!  I realized as I sat down to type today's post that Valentine's Day is only one month away!  I know that it is traditionally celebrated as a romantic holiday but I have always thought of it as an extra opportunity to express my love not just for my husband but for my family and friends as well.  While I've used a romantic rosy red here, this card would really work in just about any color, and with Craft Consortium's Ink Drops series there are a lot of choices!  

This was a really quick one to put together because there is not much stamping.  It took several passes with the fishtail banner die through the die cutter, then I stacked them all, sliced them into three pieces (keep them in order if you care about the print aligning!) and then glued them onto a rectangle of card stock.  Two of the three portions go on the card front.  


The sentiment was stamped in the space in between.  


The remaining small square third portion is on the inside.  

Supplies:
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Thursday, January 8, 2026

Love Letters


Hi everyone!  With the Christmas and New Year holidays behind us and the Mardi Gras season firmly under way, it's time to turn our eyes toward the Spring holidays!  I'm here today with a romantic love letter for Valentine's Day.  Cards like this make me smile because as a back-in-the-days-before-email Navy wife, my husband and I have written and received many old-fashioned real paper love letters from each other over the years.  Those six month deployments sure felt like they lasted forever!


Today's card is a combination of one stamp set, two paper pads, scraps of metallic paper and several die sets.  So easy and so much fun to put together!


A very frilly bow of white tulle holds the "keys to my heart" (keys - Man of Knowledge dies set; heart - Farmhouse Hearts dies set) and slightly obscures the "zip code" (our wedding year) which is adhered to a "stamped" envelope of love letters (Tim Holtz Postales die set).  


The sentiment on the inside is another from the same Farmhouse Simple Sentiments set.  

Supplies:

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