Hope Anchors the Soul!

Hello everyone, on this last day of June!  I hope you have had a great week!  My American friends are looking forward to a long holiday weekend and the 4th of July holiday so I'm here with a nautical themed card with red, white and blue accents.  I love nautical cards for Summer, but in a city with a Naval Air Station, you can send nautical cards year round, especially one with this kind of sentiment.

I used a Stampendous stamp set and paper-pieced the sails, sponging the clouds in the sky with a scalloped circle mask.  The focal image is framed along the right side with a trio of anchor brads, and along the bottom with a strip of striped washi tape which, in this clean and simple design, both help to lead the eye toward the sentiment.  

Inside, another strip of washi tape forms a border ending with a single anchor.  (If you really like clean and simple designs, this could work for a card front!)

Enjoy your weekend!  

Life is the Flower, Love is the Honey

I'm still having so much fun playing with my distress oxides, and was thrilled to hear that new colors will soon be released!  I cannot wait!  There is just so much that you can do with them, especially when combined with the regular distress inks.  If you haven't tried them yet, you need to!  

For today's card I kept it really simple, using two colors of the oxides to stencil a woodgrain pattern on some kraft card stock, then inking the edges and splattering everything with both oxide ink and black soot distress ink that I smooshed onto my craft mat and diluted with water, flicking it onto the paper with an old paint brush.  

I used an enameled print from the Limelight designer paper pad to die cut some leaves, inking them with the oxide ink before removing them from the die, and the enamel gave them a cool speckled texture.  The flowers were done the same way using coordinating colors of card stock scraps that were left over from other projects.

To give everything a little shimmer, I spritzed the entire project with Perfect Pearls, and colored the little bees with a glittery pen. The spray came out a little heavier than I expected, but it kinda makes me think of the way the garden looks after a Summer shower, so I'm trying to be ok with that!  I have found that sprays and splatters are an excellent exercise in overcoming perfectionism because they are not something that you can entirely control!  ;)  

Here are the supplies I used, all from Stamp Simply:

• Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain distress oxides
• Black Soot distress ink
• craft sheet
• paint brush (for splatters)
• Tim Holtz Woodgrain layering stencil
• Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms die
• Limelight designer paper
• Nature Sketchbook 2 stamp set
• Memento Rich Cocoa ink
• gold glitter pen
• Perfect Pearls
• silk ribbon
• Split Pea rhinestones
• glue dots
• Tombo Mono Multi liquid glue

Foxy!

I'm here today with a card that is just perfect for a busy, handsome kid who is constantly on-the-go and then crashes hard!   The one that suddenly cares about how he looks, that you can't get to go to bed, and then he sleeps away half of Saturday morning!

The stripes in this designer paper were a perfect border for Eyelet Outlet's fox washi tape, and the prints seemed practically tailor-made for our fox brads too!  They all were so cute I didn't want to have to choose, so I cut strips of several and glued them alongside the washi border, using one of the pre-printed sentiments as a focal point for that cute fox brad.  Couldn't resist adding a few more pops of color and shine with some enamel dots (Mickey colors and blue) too!

The border repeats on the inside, along with more enamel dots and a napping fox atop another one of those sentiments.

Busy, bright, and fun!  Have a great weekend!

Patriotic "I Miss You"

Over the course of my husband's career in the United States Navy he spent a lot of time deployed, so we missed having him home for plenty of birthdays and holidays, as well as plain ole everydays! Today's Stamp Simply card comes from those memories, and a deep appreciation for those who are currently making those kinds of sacrifices.  

I absolutely adore this Authentique paper!  It is so perfect for patriotic cards but also has plenty of beachy, nautical designs that work well for the rest of Summer.  I was going for a "Blue Ribbon at the Fair" kind of feel for this card and pulled two sentiments from an Altenew stamp set to add inside and out to go along with that theme.

Here are the supplies I used, all from Stamp Simply:

• Spellbinders Oval Bliss dies
• Spellbinders A2 Curved Matting Basics B dies
• Altenew Painted Butterflies stamp set (sentiments)
• Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink
• Authentique Seafarer designer paper
• Prima Serenade blue flowers
• Melissa Frances white pearls
• 3/8 inch red gingham ribbon
• cheesecloth
• Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue
• adhesive foam squares
• glue dots

You, Me & the Sea

I've been playing with my distress inks all week...they're really great for Summer beach scenes!  Just looking at these bright clean colors makes me feel a little bit more light-hearted!  The beach is such a great place to unwind and re-center.

Eyelet Outlet has a lot of great embellishments for beach cards! For today's card I've used shell brads, sand dollars from our sea shell brads set, and shell corner brads, which are perfect for framing a focal point or accenting a sentiment.  I love how they all harmonize so well together.  There are also sand castle brads and a whole Ocean category that includes anchors, buoys, fish, mermaids and whales!  

It's a rainy, stormy day here in Florida today, but hopefully we'll all see some sunshine before the weekend is over!  Enjoy!

Happiness is Like a Butterfly

I think I am addicted to Distress Oxides and Distress Inks!  I have been using them nearly every day for all kinds of projects, and lovin' every minute!  Today they are the star of the show in this colorful project made for Stamp Simply. 

The background for today's card started with some heavyweight white card stock.  I sponged on a  gradient of color and then flicked it with water, blotting to lift the color in some spots.  Then I stenciled with a mesh stencil, applying the ink more heavily in some areas than others.  Finally, I splashed the background with coordinating colors of distress inks and heat-set them.  I just love how vibrant the color turned out with that faint pattern to add interest.  Even though it is a little busy the sentiment is still clearly visible.

Since I wanted to keep a clean white edge on the butterfly, I stamped it with Tuxedo Black and then colored it with Copic markers, adding a clear layer of Wink of Stella to make it sparkly the way butterflies are IRL.  I used the clipped wire stems from the flowers to fashion some antennae, coloring them with a black Copic marker, and fashioning a shape to so that the butterfly could hover over the flowers.  

A floral flourish "butterfly trail" brings a splash of color to the black and white inside of the card, and a few rhinestones help to provide a stop for the easel to lean against.  

These sunny colors just make me happy!  :)

Here are the supplies I used, all from Stamp Simply:

• Coredinations Heavyweight Smooth Card Stock
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxides
• Worn Lipstick
• Fossilized Amber
• Spiced Marmalade

• Distress inks
• Abandoned Coral
• Carved Pumpkin
• Scattered Straw

• Blending Tool
• Foam Refills
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil--Mesh
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Graphic 45 Nature's Sketchbook 1 stamp set
• Graphic 45 Nature's Sketchbook 2 stamp set
• Copic markers
• Clear Wink of Stella
• Orange Seam Binding
• Prima Serenade Orange
• Orange Rhinestones
• Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
• self-adhesive foam squares
• glue dots

Looking for inspiration?! It's here!

If you've been struggling to find inspiration for your paper-crafting, look no further!  My design teammate Darsie put together a video that showcases a bunch of beautiful cards made by the Stamp Simply designers.  It is so inspiring to have them all gathered into one slide show, where you can see how different designers use the stamps and all their different styles.  You will LOVE it!

And...if you need a little more motivation...there's free ribbon involved!

• Sign up for our Newsletter to get that info here.
• Find our Stamp Simply Clear Stamps here.
• Find our Full Catalog here.

Hope you're having a great Tuesday!  I am planning to meet with a card-making friend from out-of-town and do a little shopping! Can't wait to see her!

Life is a Beach!

Hi everyone!  I'm thrilled that it is Friday and there's a wide-open weekend coming up, with no plans whatsoever!  I'm hoping to spend lots of time playing with paint and ink!

I'm here today with a bright, sunshiny card that was inspired by Eyelet Outlet's shoe and purse brads!  I got the brads when I met Suzanne and Dawn in Orlando, then came home and found this cute flamingo stamp that looked made-to-order to go along with them!

I started out with three pieces of plain old white card stock.  I used an index card to mask off the horizon line and sponged above with worn lipstick and spiced marmalade distress oxides, then switched the mask to ink the bottom with broken china and cracked pistachio.  I repeated a similar process with two half cards to make waves (broken china and cracked pistachio), and the shoreline (fossilized amber, vintage photo), splashed with water, dabbed to remove some of the color, then splattered everything with diluted gesso (especially the frothy waterline) and diluted black acrylic paint.

Once everything was dry, I added strips of flamingo washi tape, and skinny washi tape to the horizon line, the sun and cloud brads to the sky, and that cute purse brad next to the sentiment.  I tore the tops of the two half panels to make the seafoam on the tops of the waves, adding sparkle with some clear Wink of Stella.  I glued the waves panel to the sky/ocean panel, attached the smaller panel to the  other with adhesive foam squares, and glued it all to a white card base.

I stamped the flamingo (legs only) on the front panel, and the entire body on marker card stock.  It was colored with Copic markers.  The body and purse were fussy-cut, attached with foam adhesive squares, and then the whole thing completely covered with clear Wink of Stella sparkle!

I wish you could see this card IRL!  It is so sparkly and was so fun to make!  It completely captures the Summer essence of Florida!  

Blessed are the Peacemakers

I just love pretty patriotic papers, and since we live in a military town near a Navy base (and my husband is retired from the Navy) I enjoy making and sharing cards that say "Thank you for your service."  

This beautiful anchor image is the corner of a 6 x 6 sheet of designer paper cut with a Spellbinders classic square die.  I stamped a Bible verse from Stamp Simply's Beatitudes 2 set (LOVE this gorgeous font!), and added a little sparkle to the anchor with some clear Wink of Stella, thinking it would make a lovely focal point for a Z-fold card.  

Here you can see the card from "profile" view...while it looks like an intricate fold, it is super simple to make.

Here are the supplies I used, all from Stamp Simply:

• Stamp Simply Beatitudes 2 clear stamp set
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink
• Authentique Seafarer designer paper
• Spellbinders large and small classic square dies
• Prima Serenade blue flowers
• 1/4 inch silk ribbon--taupe
• Kaisercraft Ice Blue rhinestones
• clear Wink of Stella 
• Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue
• self-adhesive foam squares

Let's Be Adventurers!

Hello friends!  Are you looking forward to the weekend?!  Summer has officially started and with school ending, that means more freedom to do more fun things!

My card for today is made with Eyelet Outlet products, and stamps purchased when I visited the new local scrapbook/stamping store in our area.  They had Eyelet Outlet products (yay!) and lots of fun stamp sets and designer papers to go with them!

The anchor and ship wheel are classic symbols of Summer!  I love how perfectly our anchor brads coordinate with the anchors in our cruise washi tape.  (There are also ship wheel brads that go perfectly with it!).  The contrast of the black and white washi looks great against this hot Summer yellow and navy color scheme.

Inside, there is another anchor to accent the sentiment...and a sprinkling of stars to help navigate the way!

The anchors and stars that I used today are the metallic ones, but they're also available in red, white and blue.  You can find those here and here!  And we have jewel star brads and sticky back enamel stars as well!  Such a wide variety really makes crafting Summer cards easy and a lot of fun!

Enjoy your Summer adventures!

My friend, cast your cares on Him!

Hello and happy June!  It's officially summer and there's a lot to enjoy...I am so grateful to have some extra time with my family! It seems like lately we are all three going in different directions, so we really enjoyed having an extra day last weekend.

My card for today is a trifold pocket card made with coordinating prints from some bright KaiserCraft designer paper.  This paper pack has lots of cute punch-out tabs and tags, so I used several of those and stamped one with a tiny sentiment from a stamp set that is mostly Christmas sentiments.  It fit just perfectly and worked well with an encouragement from the set, Fear Not, which I stamped on the tag that tucks into the pocket.  I love that the verse remains entirely visible even with the tag inside.  All those punch-outs make this a super quick and easy design.

I'm so glad to have such lovely scripture stamps to use for cards like this and lately, I have been glad to have these cards close at hand.  Several of my friends are going through some significant challenges and it is nice to let them know that they're not alone! We all could use extra encouragement when we are going through tough times.  Sometimes a little reminder will help boost your faith and give just the lift you need to see it through.  

 You'll find everything you need at Stamp Simply:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamp Set--Fear Not
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamp Set--Jesus
• Memento Tuxedo Black ink
• KaiserCraft Hopscotch designer paper
• Petaloo Botanica Baby Blooms--fuschia
• Variegated silk ribbon--pink/champagne
• Burlap string
• rhinestones--Hot Pink
• Scor-tape
• Sakura glue pen