Poppystamps: Rainbow is my Favorite!

 I'm on the Poppystamps blog today with this sweet Grand Whittle Pig in her rainbow of accessories!!

In my opinion, there isn't another die out there that competes with the charming expression on all of the Poppystamps Whittles.  Now that some of them have grown up from Whittles to Grand Whittles, those expressions are even more prominent. I've really never done a card with pigs - but when I saw her expression, then the sentiment, then the flowers - it just all came together.  (All stamps and dies are on this card are from the brand new February release.

The flowers in the background are also new - they are from the Flower Field Frame. It's a beautiful full-size die but I liked the accent of just a few flowers peeking out.

Be sure to check out the Poppystamps blog for more pictures and complete details!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Colorful Life

Dies: Poppystamps Grand Whittle Pig, Potpourri Flower Set, Flower Field Frame

Paper: Memory Box Black Glossy Paper Pack

Other: Open Studio Bright Fairy Jewels for all except the purple which is Autumn Fairy Jewels

Freshly Made Sketches: Hi and Hello

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Cécile and here’s what I did with it!

Cécile's description on the FMS blog of her sketch says "we love free thinking, so the square doesn't have to to be a square and the arrows don't have to be arrows."  I did stick with the square but I made a giant step away from the arrows.  I had actually planned to stick with the arrows. Somewhere in my stash is a stamp saying something about choosing your own direction which seemed absolutely perfect for either of my sons who are in the midst of big decisions - and that all seemed perfect for arrows. I looked and looked but no luck in finding the stamp. 

I have no explanation as to how I got from arrows to speech bubbles nor from masculine to pink gingham. Sometimes a crafting session is just like that, isn't it?!

I've always loved these speech bubbles from WPlus9. The words are part of the bubble, then I cut scraps of coordinating cardstock to put behind the words. All the colors were obviously inspired by the paper - the fun hi's and hello's needed a cheerful paper so the little flowers fit the bill and the pad had coordinating gingham. The three little pearls were just for balance - I got everything adhered and realized it seemed heavier to the right so embellishments to the rescue. 

I hope to see you playing along with us at FMS.  I look forward to browsing the gallery and hoping that somebody uses arrows and that choose your direction stamp that I spent hours trying to find!!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: WPlus9 Hey Hi Hello, Trinity Stamps Modern Embossed Rectangle Stack

Paper: Penny Black Painted Blooms, Stampin' Up cardstock in Mango Melody, Magenta Madness and Daffodil Delight

Christmas Card Throwdown: Masculine and Sarcastic

I don't do many masculine Christmas cards and I find them difficult to do - so I decided that I had to play along with 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's Masculine challenge.  My issue isn't so much with masculine cards because I love using trees and deer and all those wonderful images. My issue is with my particular men. I have my husband and my two sons in their 20s - all of whom prefer humor/sarcasm and one of whom is a true Christmas grinch.  From the gray mustache on my deer, you can guess who the grinch is!

In fairness to my husband, Christmas itself isn't the issue - it's everything leading up to it.  Way too peopley and way too expensive for his tastes. That's why this sentiment is perfect for him.  He survives December (if just barely) - then truly celebrates Christmas day - then he doesn't want to think about it again.

This sentiment set from Stamping Bella is just perfect for my men - nine sentiments full of sarcasm. (I used another one on this card which also uses a Tim Holtz die!)

A big thank you to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - my first Christmas card is done!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stamping Bella Oddball Festive

Dies: Sizzix/Tim Holtz Cool Yule

Paper: Carta Bella Bundled Up

Other: Stampin' Up Softly Falling, Taylored Expressions Bits & Pieces - Snowflakes

The Card Concept: A New Little Someone

 It's time for a new challenge at The Card Concept. My Clean and Simple card was inspired by the colors, the various patterns in the photo and the fresh clean look.

I broke one of my personal challenge rules today.  Typically no matter what the challenge may be, I challenge myself to do a card that I will actually use.  I did a baby card for this challenge but there are no babies anywhere in my life.  Although my sons and all of my friends' children are of the age, there are no signs from any of them that they plan on children. I actually started in a different direction with this card and had the stripes cut using the colors and the various patterns. Then I had a bold black (non-baby) sentiment cut but it just didn't feel right.  So I took my cue from the boats in the photo and found this charming  sailboat from Verve Stamp and I knew it was right - even though the card may stay in my stash forever!

I don't have unlimited space in the craft area so every so often I do have to de-stash.  I am fairly brutal when I do a clean out because my mojo can be severely threatened by clutter!!  But stamps that will stay in my stash forever are everything I have by Verve Stamps.  Unfortunately, they are no longer around but the fabulous Julee Tilman does have new sets at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps under J Tilman Designs!!  They have her same sweet style and her fabulous use of fonts.  (The stamps that I used on my card today are from the original Verve.)

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at The Card Concept. I love seeing all of the ways that people are inspired and all of the styles that are used.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Verve Stamps Hope Blooms (the sentiment) and With Love (the boat)

Dies: Honey Bee Stamps Scallop A2 Card Frames

Paper: Various patterns from Doodlebug Designs

Freshly Made Sketches: Fabulous Friend

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Brum and here’s what I did with it!

 

I made this sketch harder than it should be.  I toyed with the center being a big image, then I tried an embossed panel. Then I toyed with using buttons for the circles - I can't remember the last time that I used a button and I thought it would be fun. Finally as I was looking through my stash, I saw this Garden Trellis die. It's a full cover plate, but I turned it sideways and trimmed it to fit the sketch.  It's not quite right, because it didn't leave me room for the full border around it that the sketch shows - but I liked where the card was headed so I stuck with it.

I knew I needed flowers and I even made that hard. I had some colored and cut but they were a little small. I often stick within the same company as much as possible within a card - for no reason other than it narrows down the array of choices that are cluttering my craft room - when I decided to go with flower dies, I checked my Altenew stash and there they were! This card should have come together quickly given all of these products were in one place.  I even found an Altenew sentiment that fit!

In retrospect, I don't know why I didn't look for an Easter sentiment.  I do a lot of Easter cards and this one definitely has an Easter look.  Hmmm....I may have to see how much damage I do peeling up that sentiment and trying again.

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Altenew Sentiment Strips 2

Dies: Altenew Floral Doodles, Garden Trellis and Featured Sentiments

Paper: Honey Bee Stamps Playful Pastels (the green gradient)

Poppystamps: Rainbow Bridge

 I am on the Poppystamps blog today with a sympathy card I created for a friend who just lost her long-time buddy.

Sympathy cards can be so hard to make. I happened to have the Whittle Rainbow Unicorn Kit on my desk. It's a bright and cheerful kit but as I was looking at the rainbow and realizing that I had the Whittle Dachshund in my stash, I knew I could make a meaningful card.

There are many more pictures and details on the Poppystamps blog - be sure to check it out!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Diamond Sentiments

Dies: Poppystamps Whittle Rainbow Unicorn Kit, Whittle Dachsund and Double Scalloped Stitched Frames

Other: Memory Box/Open Studio Christmas Fairy Jewels, Memory Box Majestic Hues Glitter Pad (the wing)

Freshly Made Sketches: Floral Squares

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by me and here’s what I did with it!

I absolutely adore the Stampin' Up Floral Squares.  It's a set that will stay in my collection whether or not it stays in the catalog! (If you are a Stampin' Up collector, do you ever look back at the previous catalog and it already seems over-used or out-of-date?  Even the main catalog that is just a few months old, but there have been multiple mini catalogs and a sale-a-bration or two in the meantime.  No offense at all to Stampin' Up - but shiny new toys are always exciting and tend to eclipse the older toys. Clearly I have "squirrel syndrome"! When I was putting together my order for sale-a-bration, there were still things on my wishlist from the main catalog, but I couldn't get excited about them.  On the other hand - I already own the Floral Squares - and this is a set that I am still excited about!)

So for my sketch, I had to add a square so I could use the wonderful Floral Squares that were still on my mind after shopping for new stuff.  I paired it with brand new paper from the Sale-a-bration catalog!  There are two really old things on this card. The sentiment is form Honeycomb Hello. I couldn't even tell you how old that is but it has a variety of small and simple sentiments that sometimes are the only thing that will work on a card.  The sequins are Iridescent Sequin Assortment that includes colors that I don't even remember (they are probably not all that old - this may be more of a statement on my memory!) But even with old colors, it's surprising how often they work for me!

To this day, I have a number of people to whom I still routinely send cheerful cards as they are still isolating as much as possible.  I think this one definitely qualifies as cheerful and will be in the mail soon.

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Honeycomb Hello (retired)

Dies: Stampin' Up Floral Squares, Layering Squares Framelits, Stitched Labels Framelits

Paper: Stampin' Up Sunshine & Rainbows (from sale-a-bration), cardstock in So Saffron, Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo

Other: Stampin' Up Iridescent Sequin Assortment (retired)

Streaming Heart: So Loved

I have one more Valentine to make so I flipped through my stash looking for hearts that I hadn't used yet and came up with this heart by Simon Says Stamp and the background by Honey Bee Stamps

It's a big heart and I wasn't sure how to do a sentiment with it - especially since I had used that cover plate for the background so it was hard to stamp there. I was looking at what I had cut and thinking that I should have done some in patterns because although I love the colors, it didn't wow me.  That's when it occurred to me that I could add a sentiment on one of the streaming pieces!!  I found a straight stamp that worked and I curved it ever so slightly so that the sentiment was streaming too!  (I probably still should have done a few pieces in patterns. Oh well, it's already in the mail!)

I like a hint of black on my cards - I feel like it gives it some depth. I added a thin black mat, then I needed to pull some black into the rest of it so I added five little black gems.

And now I'm done with Valentines. (I don't make many so it wasn't hard to do.)  However, I do make a lot of Easter cards so definitely time for me to move on to the next holiday!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Altenew Sentiment Strips 2

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Streaming Heart, Honey Bee Stamps Fluttering Hearts Pierced Cover Plate

A Zombie Valentine?!

I saw the zombie stamps and zombie dies from Impression Obsession before Halloween but I had a tough time finding them in stock. I recently got them and as I was getting ready to tuck them into my Halloween stash, it occurred to me that I could make zombies work for Valentines, specifically Valentines for my 21+ year old sons. I think it works!!

The Zombie Sayings set is fabulous - there's no doubt that I'll end up using every stamp in the set!  This is the Zombie Edger die, I also got a zombie stamp to change it up a bit. One zombie had to be holding a heart to make it right for Valentines and I found an older die in my stash. Some grungy paper in the background and some black/white accents - and it's just right!

I'm not sure what else to say on this card.  It's not my normal and it's definitely going to stand out from all the other Valentine cards on social media.  But it's perfect for what I needed!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Impression Obsession Zombie Sayings

Dies: Impressions Obsession Zombie Edger, Trinity Stamps Modern Embossed Rectangle Stack, misc heart and flag

Paper: Paper Rose Rainbow Grunge, My Favorite Things Black and White Stripes, Stampin' Up Cardstock in Poppy Parade and Basic Gray

Other: Sunny Studio Rube Red Jewels

Freshly Made Sketches: Sending Smiles

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Linda and here’s what I did with it!

 

I was a little stumped by this sketch to begin with and I played with a variety of options including a tall candle, a street lamp and more. Then I tried patterned papers and a big sentiment.  (I "play" a lot with every single card I make.)  That last attempt had some potential and the pieces are still sitting on my desk to finish up for one of my sons.  However, in the midst of my crafting session a friend called and we talked for hours because a listening ear and "smiles" were greatly needed by both of us. Then I wanted to follow up with a card! This card started coming together while we were chatting!

The flower is one of the Fresh Cut Florals from Concord & 9th. I did it in a classic yellow - then added more cheerful colors in the stripes behind that perfect sentiment from Simon Says. The background die is also from Concord & 9th - it felt like sun rays but subtle.  

The card came together so quickly with the sketch as inspiration and was in the mail the same day that I chatted with my friend!  I LOVE this hobby!

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Fresh Cut Florals Edition 2 and Stitched Stripe Card Front, Simon Says Stamp Sending Smiles Words, Trinity Stamps Modern Embossed Rectangle Stack

Paper: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green, Taylored Expressions Cupcake

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Valentine Mix Jewels

The Card Concept: Love is in the Air

There’s a new inspiration challenge at The Card Concept and the theme is Love is in the Air. My Clean and Layered card was inspired by the delicate wreath with the grouping of pink flowers, the brick background and the colors.

I love this inspiration photo!  That wreath is so delicate and I love it on the fresh white background. I also love this wreath die set by Stampin' Up. I layered a couple of greens in the two different wreaths to get the look of the inspiration wreath. Then I added a variety of pink flowers and a heart clustered in one area. I didn't add a big golden arrow, but I did add a glittery bow.

I almost didn't do a love/Valentine card for this one since the only two I have left to make are for my 20+-year old sons and neither would appreciate this card! But I'm glad I did - I love the card that came out of this inspiration and the die set!

I hope to see you playing along with us at The Card Concept.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Stampin' Up Wreath Builder

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, Polished Pink and Blushing Bride, Taylored Expressions Peapod and Granny Apple Green, gold glitter from Michaels

Other: Stampin' Up Brick & Mortar Embossing Folder, Pretty Pink Posh Valentine Mix gems.