Love Always with WPlus9 dies

There is a wonderful couple that I've known for years through our church.  Twelve years ago, Bill was diagnosed with cancer.  It was a very serious and widespread cancer.  Soon after his diagnosis, we held a huge 60th birthday party for him thinking that he would not be celebrating his 61st.  Ten years later, we did the same for his 70th birthday. Now a few years later, we are celebrating his and his wife Karen's 50th wedding anniversary.  Bill is still fighting hard and has been part of dozens of experiments and studies.  He does it so he can live but also to benefit others. Right now, he's in rehab unable to walk, but this comes after moments two weeks when he was not expected to last through the day.

Bill and Karen had big plans for their 50th, instead they celebrated in the rehab center with a small group of friends and family.  I was humbled to be part of a group of musicians that Karen brought in yesterday to surprise Bill at this celebration.  There are four of us who comprise a small praise team once a month at church.  All of us have known Bill and Karen (and for that matter their children and grandchildren) for a very long time, and Bill has loved our music.

With that background, you understand that their anniversary card needed to be above and beyond the usual. Not that that's what is important to them - but it was important to me to know that I gave them my heart with this card.  I've been pondering this for awhile - what could I do that was special?  I remembered some dies that WPlus9 came out with recently, and I remembered that Dawn's cards on the WPlus9 blog were absolutely "gasp-worthy".  I didn't venture far from the cards that Dawn did to introduce the dies - right down to her vellum layer which gives a beautiful dimensional look.  (There have also been a number of truly amazing cards on the blog since then.)


The card doesn't look particularly "clean" but I have to say that these dies made it quite "simple".  This beautiful scene is just a few die cuts; the only difficult part was adhering the layers on straight.

• Stamps: WPlus9 Sweet Nothings
• Paper: PTI Spring Mix and vellum cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Khaki, Stampin' Up Pool Party
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: WPlus9 Foliage Frame die and Birds & Branches Frame die, Wow White Embossing Powder, Pretty Pink Posh 4 mm sparkling clear sequins, Hemtique 10-lb white twine

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop

This is my second post today.  Be sure to check out the

next post which is full of three summer lovin' cards!

It is time for the monthly blog hop challenge at Papertrey Ink.  Papertrey provided a charming photo inspiration and then they created two color schemes and three sketches.  Here's what I came up with.

I fell in love with the pictures on the walls and then when I noticed one was a simple graphic heart, I knew what set to pull out.  The photo next to it looks like confetti - so I added a few random hearts around my word bubbles.

I used the following color scheme.  It was really helpful that Papertrey narrowed down the colors because this photo is just full of sweet colors!

And I used one of the sketches!

I look forward to seeing all of the other creations based on this charming photo!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Bubble Talk, Signature Greetings
• Paper: Papertrey Berry Sorbet, Hibiscus Burst, Orange Zest, Aqua Mist
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Bubble Talk dies, Berry Sorbet Button, Heat 'n Stick Powder and Martha Stewart Fine Crystal glitter on the small hearts, Hemptique 10-lb white twine

Catered Crop and much, much more: Summer Lovin'

It is time for some Summer Lovin' at Catered Crop!


Sweet, sweet burn of sun and summer wind,
and you my friend, my new fun thing, my summer fling.
~ k.d.lang


Can you feel the love?


I was most definitely feeling the love yesterday because I made three summery cards!  (Or perhaps I was avoiding a paper I need to write in the final week of my class!)  I just couldn't decide what part of summer I wanted to focus on.

The melting popsicles?



The sunshine and good friends who bring sunshine when I need it!


Or the cold drinks?  Preferably alcoholic!  And most definitely enjoyed with those good friends!!

I actually don't like summer (because I don't like heat) but I might have just change my mind!!  Striped popsicles, good friends and colorful drinks...it's all good!
Lots of other details on each of these cards.  The melting popsicle is also for the Reverse Confetti color challenge.  It uses their Let's Chill stamp set and dies, the Doin' the Wave dies to get the tri-color popsicle and the So Stripey stamp set to get the border.

The sunshine card is for the Never-Before-Used-Schtuff challenge. It's my last of the maximum three entries, although I'm embarrassed to admit how many more NBUS cards that I could do.  Besides using stuff from my NBUS stash, the challenge includes a friendship theme.  If you can't read the embossed part of the card it says "You always bring the sunshine".  I am so blessed with good friends who are always willing to lend a listening ear and bring sunshine back into my life.  This card uses Simon Says Stamp products - You Are My Sunshine stamp and die set (with the striped part of the sun from Circle Friends) and the Cloud Bank die.

The row of colorful drinks is for the Paper Smooches Designer Draft.  The drinks are from Paper Smooches Free Spirits stamps and coordinating dies, and the sentiment is from Word Up.

I do hope you play along with the Catered Crop Summer Lovin' challenge.  There's about a week and a half left.  Linda curates a Pinterest board which she introduces when the challenge opens.  Here's a sample.  Then next Sunday, you will see all of the design team cards on the Catered Crop blog.  Hope you are inspired!

NBUS with PTI Inspiration: Hello My Friend

ETA: Only the first paragraph of this post is showing in my blog reader - I don't know why because I haven't changed anything.  If you are only seeing a paragraph - visit my website for the whole post!

I decided that I needed to come back today and do another card for Darnell's Never-Before-Used-Schtuff because little-rule-follower-me is still bothered by putting up a birthday card yesterday when the theme is friendship.  I know...I just need to get over myself...but my obsessive nature did give me a chance to make another card today!

I'm still pulling from the top of the pile (instead of the bottom where I should be focusing) and am using some stuff from the newest Papertrey Ink release.  I like the stamped bow.  My true intent is to use this set for my envelopes since it includes twine, bows and tags - all stamped and therefore flat.  The set is No Strings Attached.  The hello is brand new - the Wet Paint dies.  The sentiment hasn't been used although I have used one banner stamp from its set - Sketched Shapes - and I do tend to move stuff out of my NBUS pile even if only one stamp has seen ink.  The tiny little heart also comes from NBUS stuff but I'm not going to count it since it's just a tiny addition to a bigger set.

Hello Darnell...my friend...thanks for giving all of us a chance to use our NBUS stuff!


The colors are a different combination for me and I'm not sure I'm loving them.  I'm using PTI color from the this month's Inspiration Archive.  I love these colors in the photo, but I had a really tough time adding the Spring Rain with the aqua-toned blues. I cheated and just added it as the shadow behind the tag (which is actually a stamp!). I was also inspired by one of the sketches.

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink No Strings Attached (twine, bow, tag and shadow), Sketched Shapes (sentiment), one of the Heart-2-Heart mini sets which include the teeny heart
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft, Hawaiian Shores
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft, Aqua Mist, Spring Rain, Pure Poppy, Versamark
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Wet Paint Cut dies, Heat-n-Stick Powder and fine crystal glitter on the heart, Pretty Pink Posh 4 mm sparkling clear sequins

Color Throwdown and The Challenge: Birthday Shaker

I was just getting caught up on cards and comments and all of a sudden I find myself right back at the beginning of a finals week in my class load.  Time flies, doesn't it?  I'm entering finals week, then a week off, then I have my last class - just one more to go!!  As much as I am looking forward to getting through this second college degree, I am a little nervous about the next stage - the job. It will be interesting to see what happens in my next life change!

I got some new stuff yesterday and I've been hearing about this big thing going on in blogland - Darnell Knauss's Never Before Used Schtuff (NBUS) challenge.  Over 200 entries in the first challenge!!  Darnell is the funniest thing going on in this world of cardmaking - if you don't follow her, reading her posts will brighten your day.  Unfortunately, I didn't actually read the rules of the post before I made this card - it's to use stuff out of your NBUS  stash and to create a friendship card. Sorry Darnell!!  Clearly this is a birthday card - but I will be giving it to a friend (that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)  I see other birthday cards entered into the challenge so I'm going to add it, but I will just have to make another card with a friendship theme, won't I???

I'm also using the sketch at Lesley Croghan's The Challenge.  She's on number 9 - I can't believe this is the first time that I've played along because her sketches are classic.

To round things, I also used an long-time challenge - The Color Throwdown.

 

I am still loving the fun of shaker cards and the Phrase Play series of dies from Papertrey Ink are perfect - they have fun words along with open windows.  The NBUS on this card includes Papertrey Ink Phrase Play #5 stamp set and die, the stitched rectangle die which is part of My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (I often used the Lil' Inkers set of stitched rectangles but Lil' Inkers doesn't have a nice 4 x 5 1/4" die which is my most typical size), and the sequins that look like Bermuda Bay (I've been unable to find a blue/green sequin and just picked up a multi-pack of cheap sequins at Michaels, then brought them home and got absolutely giddy with the Bermuda color!)

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Phrase Play #5, Watercolor Wonder
• Paper: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate
• Ink: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Phrase Play #5, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins, Ellen Hutson Iridescent Daffodil sequins, misc sequins from Michaels, Lemon Divine Twine, My Favorite Things Blueprint 13

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Pea Reminder

Just a reminder that there's only a few days left to play along with the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Pea challenge.

The sponsor for the challenge is Sugar Pea Designs and the winner of the challenge gets a gift certificate to the Sugar Pea store!  It's so worth it - check out these charming, but also quite impish, little girls! This is Tin Can Chat.


The card that I did when the challenge opened about a week ago used rich and warm colors so I wanted to make this one a little softer (and closer to the colors in the challenge graphic!)  I also wanted to add a big bouquet of flowers and used this great set from Impress - the Sequin Flower Kit.
You have a few more days to play along with the challenge.  You don't have to use Sugar Pea stamps - just be inspired by the Sweet Pea graphic!  I look forward to seeing what you create.

• Stamps: Sugar Pea Designs Tin Can Chat
• Paper: My Mind's Eye Just Splendid 6x6, Papertrey Ink Berry Sorbet
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics
• Accessories: Impress Sequing Flower Kit

MFT Get Sketchy: hugs

I recently got an entire cover plate die - not to actually cut a card front - but to use the little pieces for shaker boxes.  This is my first card with those pieces.  I need to do about 100 more shakers to make this cover plate purchase worthwhile!


I love the X's and O's in this shaker!  I didn't want to do a lovey-dovey card with them - so I went with summery colors and just used "hugs" instead of adding the "kisses" also.
An FYI - the banners in the background are cut from dies in My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 - but I trimmed the back banner by about 1/8" on each side so that the dark brown wasn't overwhelming.
This is for the current sketch at My Favorite Things Get Sketchy (which ends in less than an hour so very few words from me today!

• Stamps: none
• Paper: Echo Park Sweet Day 6x6, My Favorite Things Berrylicious, Hot Fudge, Sour Apple, Blue Raspberry, Lemon Drop
• Ink: none
• Accessories: My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (the banners and the stitched piece), Lots of Love word dies, Hugs and Kisses Cover Plate, Pretty Pink Posh 4mm Sparkling Clear sequins, Spellbinders rectangle (I cut the inner one and then cut around the outside at about 1/4"), Hemptique 10-lb natural twine

Freshly Made Sketches: Hi Love!

I just had a bit of time this morning to play and I wanted to see how each of the new Stampin' Up In Colors looked when stamped.  I've had this banner set for awhile and it hadn't yet seen ink, so it seemed like a good way to see the colors together.  I love the richness of each color and I know that I will use them - but I have to say that they look a lot like past colors.  I guess there are only so many colors in the world!  (I am regretting the splash of sequins but they won't come up without leaving a mark so I guess they stay!)


I was inspired by the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Banner Blast, Papillon Potpourri
• Paper: Stampin' Up Blackberry Bliss
• Ink: Stampin' Up Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Butterfly and Banner punches, Pretty Pink Posh 4mm Sparkling Clear sequins, Hemptique 10-lb white twine

Happy Dad's Day!!

This is my second post today.

Curtain Call and Tin Can Chat is just a post away!

It's Father's Day - and I am just now making Father's Day cards.  That's not a terribly bad thing - my husband and my kids like them totally plain and simple.  These came together very quickly!

I didn't think that I had any Father's Day stamps that were new and trendy.  I had forgotten this fun "Dude" set by Kelly Purkey.  It is totally perfect for my family.  The first stamp that caught my eye was "Too Cool". My husband is not cool and is very proud of that fact.  It drives my oldest son crazy that his dad still has a non-smart flip phone.  At this point, my husband is simply holding on to his reputation - you can see him eyeing our smart phones every time the kids and I easily look up directions, or movie times, or he and I play 7 Little Words as we sit in the car waiting on one of our children.  So I paired "Not Cool" with a die-cut "NOT!".

I wish that I would have done this in brighter colors, but waiting until the last minute means there simply isn't time to re-do it!
Then I was looking at another stamp in the same set - the "Dude" stamp.  My husband hates "dude".  You should have seen the look on the sales clerk at Best Buy recently when my husband walked away from a major purchase after the clerk called him "dude"!  I knew that I was going to use the "dude" stamp since my youngest son has an unfortunate tendency to say dude.  Then I was stuck because I didn't want to use the "NOT" idea again.
I wandered over to my collection of challenges and saw Clean & Simple's sketch with a row of word bubbles.  The light bulb went on!!  My youngest son talks and talks and talks.  It's a sad statement when we sometimes revel in the quiet if the poor guy is sick and not quite so talkative.  I also saw the new challenge at The Paper Players.  It's their 200th challenge and they have a variety of choices for this week.  I picked the first one and did this one-layer card.  This card is totally perfect for the occasion.

Not to be left out, I decided that I had better do something from the pets since they all claim my husband as their favorite owner.  Our huge black and white male cat bounces like a kitten and runs to my husband every time he calls.  If any of the rest of us call, the cat just gives us the evil eye.  We have an older Australian Shepherd and a brother/sister pair of cats.  (Did you know litters of cats can have different fathers?  The sister is a feisty, fairly nasty calico.  The brother is a massive, mellow black and white cat.) They are all slightly overweight so Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums is perfect.  I tried these guys on a variety of colors of cardstock then remembered the Stencil It challenge at Simon Says Stamp. I love the look of just a hint of embossing paste.  It's also Anything Goes at Paper Smooches SPARKS.

I'm going to let my creative kids figure out the inside of this one.  I went with "thanks" because of the number of times my husband has wiggled his thumbs as the cats are squawking to be fed and told them that, since he has the thumbs to open the cat food, they will have to wait.  I guess the pets are thanking him for using his thumbs!
Whew!  And I got them all done before anybody else got up!
Too Cool:

• Stamps: Kelly Purkey Dude
• Paper: Simon Says Soft Navy, Olive
• Ink: Simon Says Olive
• Accessories: Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, Lawn Fawn Alphabet dies, Lily Bee Designs We R Family enamel dots

Dude:

• Stamps: Kelly Purkey Dude
• Paper: white
• Ink: Simon Says Schoolhouse Red, Burnt Orange, Sunshine, Green Leaf, Audrey Blue, Blue Violet, Memento Black
• Accessories: None

Thanks from the Pets:

• Stamps: Paper Smooches Chubby Chums
• Paper: Simon Says Khaki, Smoke
• Ink: Simon Says Khaki, Burnt Orange
• Accessories: Simon Says Diagonal Stripe Stencil, Paper Smooches Chubby Chums die, Paper Smooches Thanks die

Curtain Call Inspiration: Sweet Pea

It's time for a new challenge at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!

The sponsor for this challenge is Sugar Pea Designs!  Sugar Pea provided each of the Curtain Call designers with a wonderful stamp set of their choice and the LEAD of this challenge will receive a gift certificate.

The images at Sugar Pea are darling.  Earlier this year, I got the perfect set for my son's Valentine card - a pizza chef!  I love stamps that you don't see everywhere and this pizza chef was definitely a unique set.  So I was thrilled when I got to go shopping for this challenge.  I knew I needed something with which I could use cute little flowers so I got this charming little girl.

And there's another sweetheart at the other end of the "phone" line!

Aren't they just the cutest??!  I love them because they are cute without being syrupy sweet.  They are a little rough and tumble - you can see them getting into some trouble, can't you?!  
I placed the first little girl in a field of sequin flowers.  Specifically for this challenge, I got a large package of flower sequins and then only ended up using three of them.  (You'll have to come back for the Curtain Call reminder on the 21st because I have a full field of them on that card.)  I also had to give the inside girl a little something special so I pulled out my clear Wink of Stella.  I've had it for quite awhile - since they were first discovered and you couldn't find them anywhere and I looked everywhere and then never used it until today.  I like her shimmery top!

Check out the rest of the design team.  They are all on the Curtain Call blog or you can check them each out here.

Sugar Pea Designs Owner, Wendy Ramlakhan

Amber Kroening

Kim Singdahlsen

Lisa Henke

Sheri Gilson

Sarah Gough

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Then stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Pea and play along with us!

• Stamps: Sugar Pea Designs Tin Can Chat
• Paper: My Minds' Eye Six by Six Blink of an Eye 6x6, Simon Says Stamps Sunshine
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics
• Accessories: Impress Sequin Flower Kit found here, Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders 1 dies, Hemptique 10-lb natural twine, Clear Wink of Stella

Catered Crop: Manly Men

It's time for a new challenge at Catered Crop.  We are creating cards for our "manly men"!

On the one hand, we’ll never experience childbirth.
On the other hand, we can open all our own jars.
~ Bruce Willis, on the difference between men and women



I have been in major purge mood lately.  It's a good thing that I get into purge mood sometimes or you would probably find me on one of those hoarding shows.  I love "stuff".  I love books and cookbooks and cooking magazines - purged by half!  I love spices and vinegars and flavored oils - purged.  I love piano music - purged.  A week ago I took my family up to our little mountain condo in Frisco, Colorado, with the only goal being to purge. HALF the stuff in the condo is gone.  (In fairness to my hoarding tendency, we bought that condo when the kids were tiny.  So the condo was full of kid's games and little snowshoes.  All of their snow gear went to Goodwill.  Sadly, my husband and I have also outgrown most of our early outdoor gear too!  There was a lot to purge!)  Clearly, I love cardmaking supplies and I am in the middle of purging.  I virtually never get into my large box of pre-made embellishments so it's in the middle of being sorted and purged.  But when I started thinking about "manly men" I remembered purging the last few sprocket gears from a Tim Holtz package.  I dug to the bottom of the purge pile - and here they are!



Maybe I need to find something else to purge besides my cardmaking embellishments!
"Manly Men" runs for two weeks. Linda always curates a Pinterest board to get you inspired for the challenge.  Then, next Sunday, all of the cards by the design team will be featured for even more inspiration.

I hope to see you with your "manly men" cards!

• Stamps: Neat & Tangled Everyday Circles
• Paper: scrap
• Ink: Simon Says Stamp Khaki, Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow
• Accessories: Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, Tim Holtz Sprocket Gears, misc enamel dots, Hemptique 10-lb twine

Curtain Call Reminder: Everything is Wonderful

Just a reminder that there's still a few days left to play along with Curtain Call's Something Simple Inspiration Challenge!  All this white makes me happy!

The sponsor for this challenge is Unity Stamp Company. The LEAD of this challenge will receive this package of goodies.

The design team all got an Itty Bitty Stamp set to work with.  I love the sentiment in this set.

I used the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

I hope you are feeling inspired to play along!  The challenge closes at 8 a.m. CST on June 10th.  And be sure to come back for our next challenge on June 15th.  Curtain Call is almost a year old - so there are also some birthday festivities in the near future!

• Stamps: Unity Stamp Company Everything Happens to Be Wonderful
• Paper: Simon Says Fog, Smoke, Slate
• Ink: Simon Says Smoke, Slate
• Accessories: Mama Elephant Femme Frames die, MFT Fishtail Flags and Pierced Tags, MFT Grout Gray button, Hemptique 10-lb white twine, PRetty Pink Posh 4 mm sparkling clear sequins

Reverse Confetti with colourq: Let's Chill

Maybe because we didn't have our air conditioner working until late yesterday, but when I was crafting yesterday, I was having a popsicle craving!  I really do like the Let's Chill popsicles from Reverse Confetti. They are big and chunky...and check out the cute little woodgrain on the popsicle stick. There are also patterned stamps for the popsicle but I just used the dies for this card.  The border and other stars are also from Reverse Confetti with their Oh My Stars Confetti Cuts

This is for the Reverse Confetti Sketch for You to Try.

I just realized that the colors in my card kind of reflect the colors in that sketch!  But I actually was inspired by colourQ. I started out with bright summer colors, but I decided to make it more overtly masculine and thought this week's colourQ was perfect.

If it's summer where you are, and it's already too hot, I hope you like this cool popsicle!  

• Stamps: Reverse Confetti Let's Chill
• Paper: Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, MME Follow Your Heart Be Amazing stripe
• Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Versamark
• Accessories: Reverse Confetti Let's Chill Confetti Cuts, Oh My Stars Confetti Cuts, Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, MFT Stitched Circle Stax, Stampin' Up Heat n Stick Powder, Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter, Hemptique 10-lb twine

Curtain Call: Something Simple with Unity

It's time for a new challenge at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge.  We are doing "Something Simple".

photo source: Pinterest

The sponsor for this challenge is Unity Stamp Company!  Unity provided each of the Curtain Call designers with an Itty Bitty stamp set and the LEAD of this challenge will receive this package of goodies from Unity Stamp Company!

I got a pretty little flower from Unity that is absolutely perfect for our "simple" challenge.  It is so sweet with a "wonderful" sentiment.

Here's a close-up of the detail and the sparkle on the flower.  I used a clear Wink of Stella pen to dot on some sparkle in the center - then I added a little more sparkle to the edge of each petal..

I used the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Here are all of the designers on this challenge working with Unity stamps.

Something Simple Designers

Unity Designer, Stephanie Muzzelin

Amber Kroening

Amy Kolling

Amy Tsuruta

Gayatri Murali

Kim Singdahlsen

Lisa Henke

Marisa Ritzen

Maureen Plut

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson

Sarah Gough

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Tracey McNeely

Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Something Simple and play along with us!

• Stamps: Unity Stamps Everything Happens to be Wonderful
• Paper: MME Necessities Wood Designer Cardstock 6x6 Paper, Simon Says Fog
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics
• Accessories: Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, PTI Soft Stone button, Stampin Up Basic Gray Taffeta, Wink of Stella clear, clear sequins (Clearly Beloved found at Simon Says)