Shaped Masculine Birthday Card

Hi y'all!  

I'm here today with a card whose shape was inspired by a "front pocket wallet" that I gave my husband for Christmas years ago...less likely to be pick-pocketed and perfectly shaped to fit into the front pocket of his jeans.  

Here you can tell that this gift has been well loved and daily carried for a long time!  

No fancy how-to's for this project either...just a pot lid aligned along the top and side edges of a piece of card stock, traced with a pencil and cut with scissors.  For more control I chose to cut the front and back separately. Distressing the edges helps to hide any imperfections in your cutting, so you don't even have to be too particular about being precise.

I love the way this stamp set and the leaf dies go so well together!  I tucked a few sprigs (die cut from white card stock and colored with Copics, as were the pearls) behind a fish tail banner sentiment panel.  The twine wraps around the card front and through a tiny hole in the fold to tie into a small bow.  (I don't usually put bows on masculine cards but I felt like this tiny twine one would work out just fine!)

The inside reflects the same fonts and patterned paper as the card front.  Relatively clean and simple and super easy.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Floral Cluster Fall Flowers
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Floral Cluster and Sprigs
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Echo Park It's a Boy 6x6
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Melissa Frances Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Cream (colored with Copic markers)
• May Arts Baker's Twine - 110 Yard Spool - Kraft
• Copic markers
• clear Wink of Stella

Sunny Days to Come!

Hello everyone!  I hope you are doing well and enjoying the beautiful colors of Fall!  They may already have peaked where you live, but here in the Deep South we are still in the very beginning stages if there's color yet at all.  Fall Foliage Map 2025

We did witness the most beautiful rainbow a few evenings ago when we were coming home from dinner at a local restaurant.  It was one of the biggest, brightest, most vibrant rainbows I've ever seen (the photo does not do it justice!), and the skies behind us were an incredible, intense yellow gold.  I have never seen a sky glow quite like that!   

I wanted to make a card that would reflect the look and feeling of that "Sunny Day."  (The original idea was to make get well cards for two of our nephews who were each in the hospital recently...but that little hint of pink in this lovely background paper got me side-tracked so I might need to revisit that intention!)

I stamped the Sunny Days sentiment directly onto a scrap of paper from our Coffee or Tea pad.  The daisy pitcher was stamped and colored with Copic markers and accented with Wink of Stella.  To tie everything together, I splattered it all with diluted distress oxide inks in hues of gold and pink, and then again with diluted white acrylic paint.  

There's a strip of that same paper inside.  I die cut a heart from it and inserted one cut from pink paper into the negative space.  More splatters here too.  

Well, what do you think?  One nephew has a wife and little daughter so maybe I could get away with sending him a card with splashes of pink?!  The other is 14 so it might not work so well there!  ☺️  

Stay golden!

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Daisy Pitcher Bundle
• Craft Consortium Over the Rainbow 6x6
• Stamp Simply Paper Pads - Coffee or Tea 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• Melissa Frances Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Cream (colored with Copic markers)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Copic markers
• distress oxide inks in golds and pinks
• diluted white acrylic paint
• clear Wink of Stella pen

Square Column Fold Card

I love this fun fold for displaying a card upright, and was especially happy to find that our border stamps fit perfectly within those score lines!  Easy peasy!  

I stamped it right onto the card base, colored with Copics before folding, then simply added patterned paper and a little more stamping to spice up the rest of the card.

The colors of the designer papers and the Copic markers that coordinate with them portray the beauty of  Fall at its finest!  Some of us, depending upon where we live, must live vicariously!  ;)  I suppose the spattering of copper ink and diluted white acrylic paint could even be considered to represent an early snowfall.  

This photo shows the card's easy "box" construction.  The measurements and method can be found in this tutorial.  

  

I cut the inside leaf into two pieces before adhering it to either side of the inside fold so that the card would fold completely flat for mailing.  Fits into a standard envelope and with the exception of the bow it would be completely flat for mailing. 

Supplies: 

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Falling Leaves Border Strip
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Bundle
• Craft Consortium GrungeLight 6x6
• Craft Consortium Ombre 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Rich Pastels - 40 yards
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper and diluted white acrylic paint for spatters

Time for Tea!

Hello everyone!  You might have noticed that it's been quiet around here for a few weeks!  I was in Scotland from September 22nd through October 2nd.  Usually I try to stamp ahead of time and post cards while I'm traveling but this time there was so much to do, the trip kinda snuck up on me!  

This was my second trip to Scotland.  Last year we went in May, so the weather was similar.  We repeated some of the same locations/activities this time, dropped some and added a few different ones too.  One of the things included for both trips was a trip to the Balmoral Hotel for afternoon tea!  Here's a photo of my desserts from last year (we had pastries, dainty sandwiches and savories before that, hence the to-go box)!  This year I was more "in the moment" and didn't take nearly as many photos.  It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy without feeling the pressure to document.        

For this year's tea I was seated on the inside corner of a table for seven which meant that the server had to reach w a y across the table to pour my cup of Jasmine Silver Tip green tea...and he MISSED!  Oopsie!  So my card for today is inspired by the pretty Balmoral table setting and a well known passage of scripture to go along with that "mishap."  

I used our Coffee or Tea bundle for the cup die cut and some of the sentiments, adding the greenery from Farmhouse Signage to the top of the tea cup to mimic the Balmoral's china.  If you look closely you can see a splash of tea underneath the tea cup.  

On the inside that splash has become more of a puddle, just as it was IRL!  😂   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Signage
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Coffee or Tea? Bundle
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Organic 6x6
• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic 105# Cardstock - Quartz White 6 ct
• Melissa Frances Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Cream
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - White
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper

I'll leave you with a few of the many more photos I took of this year's trip.

The results of spinning with friends in the Lounge at the hotel in Dumfries.

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond!  🎶

A mirror selfie in the hotel in Glasgow...this is the entirely spindle-spun, hand knit sweater that was inspired by a photo of a Highland Coo that I took last year.  

Another coo...

and another wonderful tea at Kitchen Coos and Ewes.

Sunset on the beach and bay behind our hotel on the Isle of Mull, taken through the dining room window with such a magnificent view.

The ruins of the nunnery on the Isle of Iona.

Some of the Iona flock...I have spun fiber from this flock in the last year too!  I am knitting some of it into fingerless mitts.

And in this photo I was spinning the Iona Abbey color way (from Inglenook Fibers) while visiting the Abbey.  Such a beautiful, sacred, serene space.  I love it there so much!