Merry Monday: Red, Green and White

This week's challenge at Merry Monday is to use the classic colors red, green and white.  While I have been having a lot of fun going with non-traditional colors, or with wintery colors, it is fun to get back to a classic color scheme.  I also had a fun surprise in my mailbox yesterday when I got back from Thanksgiving in the mountains (actually I had four fun surprises!) I received the limited edition stamp set that I had ordered from Amber at Damask Love.  It is truly lovely and I think it's just perfect with a classic color scheme.


I liked working with the set so much, I did a second card right away.  Sadly, I have enough Christmas sets that I only have to use each one once to fill all of my Christmas card needs (which I fully realize makes for very expensive Christmas cards) - but this set is too nice to not see ink a few times!  I did change the green on this one.  There is a color from Papertrey Ink called Pinefeather (the first card uses Stampin' Up's Mossy Meadow).   I've just never warmed up to Pinefeather, probably because I don't find it to be warm, but every so often I challenge myself to use it.  It is elegant, I just prefer more olive tones.

This is truly a beautiful stamp set - be sure to check out what Amber has done with it on Damask Love.

I had some difficulty creating links for this card.  I cannot get the set from Damask Love to work in the inlinkz tool - but all of the Damask Love links go directly to the post that describes how you buy the set.  I also could not find the pine boughs on the second card.  All of my dies are on magnetic sheets without the original packaging.  My notes say that the dies are from Savvy Stamps but the only pine die that I can find from them has a trio of branches and my set has two - so clearly my notes are wrong.  

IO Christmas Icons	SU Mossy Meadow CS	SU Mossy Meadow Ink	SU Real Red CS
SU Real Red Ink	PTI Pinefeather CS	PTI Pinefeather Ink	Best Creations Glitter Cardstock - White
PPP 4mm Sparkling Clear Sequins

InLinkz.com

Wanna Sketch with Hennah Elements

I needed to make a birthday card. I started with the current sketch at Wanna Sketch thinking that the three elements would be cupcakes.  I even envisioned a candle on the first cupcake, but not on the second two, leaving room for the sentiment.  I had it all planned out.

But somehow Altenew's Hennah Elements set ended up in my hands and I saw the possibilities in the three flowers!


This is a 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" card so that the flower fill the entire width.
Even the colors were a surprise to me!  I had planned on rich, fall colors but when I was pawing through my sequin stash, I noticed these Doodlebug sprinkles and I wanted to spice up the card with a a little glow and sparkle!

"Birthday" comes from another Altenew set - Label Love.  The label is actually says "Happy Birthday" but it was too long for the three flowers.  Then I spent an inordinate amount of time finding a "Happy" that would fit the space and the style.  Thirteen different happy stamps tried and found lacking - I gotta get a life!!!  This one is from an old Fresh Squeezed Stamps set - Take a Number - so I cannot even link it since they have closed their doors.
I'm still thinking the cupcake idea was pretty good...hmmm....

Altenew Hennah Elements

Altenew Label Love

Doodlebug Winter Glossy Sprinkles

SU Coastal Cabana CS

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions: Falling for You

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  I love autumn so I always have mixed feelings on Thanksgiving day.  At my house, it's a wonderful, old-fashioned day full of a little football, a lot of family games (we are currently passionate about Sequence), and way too much food.  I truly realize how many blessings I have in my life (plus my husband does the cooking)!  But as a crafter, I mourn the loss of the rich, fall colors.  This is the last card of the season.  
I have been thrilled to be a guest at Taylored Expressions this month and I thank them for the chance to play with their products!  I posted a sneak peek of this project yesterday.  Hopefully you went over to their blog to get all of the details on this project.  If so, this post is redundant, but I wanted to share these fun stamps and dies on my blog also.
If you didn't head over to Taylored Expressions, be sure to head over now because simply by leaving a comment you have a chance to win the Falling for You set that I have used on these cards!
My favorite time to craft is autumn.  I love fall colors and themes - there is nothing better than a richly colored fall leaf and if there's an acorn, it's even better!  My crafting budget is heavily skewed toward fall stamps, but this also means that I need to use my fall sets throughout the year. The set Falling for You makes this really easy.  I have created a fall card, but then shown how the same set and the same layout can be used for a springtime thank you and for a teacher thank you.  (FYI - the sentiments on all of these cards come from Big Bold Thanks.)

My favorite style or layout for crafting is to create small scenes.  I love clusters of images with the sentiment tucked in in some creative way. Besides the stamps and coordinating dies, I used two Taylored Expressions products to accomplish this. I love the Banner Stacklets 2 dies - they are a unique shape and really catch the eye.  I also used the Hexagon Cutting Plate, but in order to focus on my little scene, I trimmed it down to fit in one corner.

Here is the same layout and stamp sets, but with images and colors converted to a spring theme!

And a little closer view of the spring themed card.  On both of these cards, I have used one of Taylored Expressions newer products - sequins!  These sequins come from the Double the Fun Girl collection.

I was having so much fun with these stamps and the layout that I made a teacher thank you card.  Wouldn't this be great for a foreign language teacher? (FYI - All stamp sets and dies are the same as the previous cards, but the sequins come from the Double the Fun Boy collection.)

The products that I used from Taylored Expressions are:

TE Falling for You	TE Big Bold Thanks	TE Banner Stacklets 2	TE Hexagon Cutting Plate
TE Sequins - Double the Fun Boy	TE Sequins - Double the Fun Girl

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions: Falling for You Sneak Peek

I am thrilled to be a guest over on the Taylored Expressions blog today!  Here's a little sneak peek, but you'll have to head over to their blog to see more pictures and get all of the details!  AND - leave a comment while you are there because you can win this stamp set!!

Freshly Made Sketches: A Fabulous Day

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!

I had a friend with a big birthday this past weekend and I used today's sketch for her card.  We've been friends for decades and sometimes I wonder how we've done it because we are always on a different path. We did meet at the office.  She quit soon after to start a family while I stayed on the career path.  Then about the time I decided to stay home with my children, she was busily getting a college degree in construction engineering.  Now that I'm looking at heading back into the work world as a lowly, beginning accountant - she is flying high in her career.  She's been interviewed by major networks on her construction projects and she meets with United States Senators - it's all quite amazing!

She also has a thing for chunky jewelry and wears it well - her present from me was a gift card for her favorite chunky jewelry.  As I was thinking about her card, I was noticing a new die from Reverse Confetti called Circle Garland and I was thinking it could be a necklace.  I don't think the card ended up saying "necklace" but at least I put a little thought behind it.  I also stuck with some of her favorite colors - she loves earthy tones in oranges, mustards, browns and greens.  And all of this is what I absolutely love about cardmaking - this card was completely created for my friend.

To add interest, I used some dotted papers on the garlands.

I hope to see you playing along this week.  I am amazed each and every week and at how many cardmakers use our sketches!
The twine is from MME's Indie Chic line - Ginger "Relax" Twine The dotted papers are Bazzill Basics Swiss Dot papers. These papers and the glitter paper were purchased at Michaels.  The remainder of the supplies are linked below: 

RC Fabulous Flamingo	RC Circle Garland Confetti Cuts	RC Double Edge Scallop Border	SSS Clearly Beloved Sequins
PTI Smokey Shadow CS	PTI Smokey Shadow Ink

The twine is from MME's Indie Chic line - Ginger "Relax" Twine The dotted papers are Bazzill Basics Swiss Dot papers. These papers and the glitter paper were purchased at Michaels.

InLinkz.com

Sympathy in Gray and Yellow

I had to make three sympathy cards this week.  There are a lot of sympathy cards on my blog, but virtually all of them were made for my church.  While I tried to make each and every one of them special, I did not have any emotion invested in them.  It's so much harder when you know the people involved.

I love the Fog cardstock from Simon Says Stamp.  I use it on all kinds of cards - I've even been using it as a base for rich fall-colored cards and bright, cheerful birthday cards.  I love the way it sets off the colors.  For this card, I happened to have my package of Fog out and my package of Stampin' Up So Saffron and I loved the soft and gentle look.  To stay with the idea of gentleness, I pulled out this beautiful feather from Clearly Besotted Stamps.

Just a month or so ago, I was looking through my word dies and realized that I had nothing that said "Thinking of You" or "Sympathy".  I remedied that situation immediately.  I love how a sentiment is highlighted when it can be layered on top of other parts of the card such as the feather. 

My second sympathy card is for the family of a man that I wrote about on this recent post when he and his wife were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.  After fighting cancer for over a decade, it seemed clear at their anniversary party that he was starting to lose the battle, but he still lived life.  Only a month ago, he got himself to church (which was not an easy task) just to see the small praise group that had played at his party. It meant the world to us to see him there and, hopefully, we touched him with our music.
This particular card is for his daughter and her family.  The grandchildren are my children's ages and they have grown up in the church together.  I stuck with a gray/yellow color scheme.  I used the flower from Clearly Besotted's Brushed Poppies which I purchased knowing that it would be quite perfect for sympathy cards.

I used the sketch at Pals Paper Arts but I flipped it vertically.  I had started with a one-layer card with the flower in the bottom corner. This flower is gorgeous on its own, but I liked the idea of just a little texture or pattern below the sentiment.

My final card is for the husband of a friend who lost her battle to cancer two years ago.  We are far away and I have not seen him since her death, but I always want to let him know that I remember.  This card most definitely had to be clean, masculine and no bling.  Jeff is a firefighter, he helps with his father's cattle, and he lives on a tiny square of private property in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest where he rock climbs and rides his quad.

FEATHER SYMPATHY

CBS Fancy Feathers	SSS With Sympathy Die	SU So Saffron CS	SSS Fog Gray CS
SSS Smoke CS	SSS Smoke Ink	MFT Blueprints 13 Die	Hemp Cord - Natural
SSS Clearly Beloved Sequins	Versamark	Hero Arts White Embossing Powder

InLinkz.com

GOLDEN POPPY SYMPATHY

CBS Brushed Poppies	SSS Goldenlocks Ink	SSS Fossil Ink	SSS Cobblestone Ink
SSS Sparrow Ink	Lifestyle Crafts Nautical Embossing	SSS Clearly Beloved Sequins

InLinkz.com

WITH SYMPATHY - The wheat stamp is Hero Arts Tall Wheat which I could only find on EBay.

SSS Handwritten Greetings	PTI Smokey Shadow CS	PTI Smokey Shadow Ink	PTI Smokey Shadow Buttons
PTI Harvest Gold Ink	Hemp Cord - white

InLinkz.com