SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Thoughts of Easter Sentiments and dies
Dies: Reverse Confetti Cross, Simon Says Stamp Simple Stems
Paper: Stampin' Up dsp in Daffodil Delight, Pool Party and Wild Wasabi
I definitely needed a bunny card for Easter given my son's answer when I asked about his very-serious girlfriend's favorite things so I could make cards she loved was bunnies and strawberries. It also was a great excuse to buy a couple of the Nordic Bunnies by Poppystamps!
I love the entire Nordic series by Poppystamps and I'm not just talking the bunnies. They have leaves and flowers, butterflies and birds, wreaths and trees and snowmen, and even a moose. I don't have everything but I do have a really good sampling! I wanted the sweet bunnies to be the focus so I simply added a floral embossed background and the sentiment (which is also from Poppystamps.)
I haven't seen my oldest son since he moved to Michigan nor have I met the girlfriend. We tried last fall but it turns out that living in a big college football town significantly impacts the availability of flights and hotels. My son highly recommended we not come in the winter so are finally going in May. We have our flights booked and nothing is going to get in the way!
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Poppystamps For Some Bunny Special, Nordic Bundled Bunny, Nordic Happy Bunny
Cardstock: MFT Natural, PTI Soft Stone, TE Toffee, Stampin' Up Crisp Cantaloupe, Groovy Guava, Pistachio Pudding, Mint Macaron, Barely Banana, Soft Saffron
Other: Spellbinders Hydrangea Blooms EF
The paper was easy too. I am continuing with the downsizing and I'm making progress every single week. Why? My cardmaking started as a church card ministry so I made every possible type of card and used that to justify a massive stash. When I left that church, there is so much I just don't use any more; I can lean into my own style and stay there. So this has all been mainly focused around stamps, but this week I took a hard look at my card stock stash. I have every single color from Stampin' Up (since that's where I started) and I'll keep that. (What can I say? I like full sets and this is the ultimate complete set!) I have most of the colors from Taylored Expressions since I designed for them for years and I'm comfortable in their color palette so I'll keep that. I also had(!) extensive collections from a few other companies. (I can't tell you how much I want to move into other complete sets - looking at you Concord & 9th and The Stamp Market - but since I already have hundreds of colors, I'm managing to stay away from new sets.)
Anyway, I looked at those that weren't SU or TE and I realized I had a few favorites in each and I hadn't touched the rest of the colors in years. So I donated all those that I couldn't remember using. I didn't keep many but I did keep the corals and blues on this card (listed below). I had kept them all out on my desk to play with and it turns out they work on the first card I tried!
I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: A Pocket Full of Happiness Birdhouse, Avery Elle Cloud Mat
Cardstock: My Favorite Things Peace Bellini, Coral Crush, Blue Breeze, Lazy Day, and Blue Yonder, Taylored Expressions Peapod and Granny Smith, Stampin' Up Early Espresso, miscellaneous woodgrain
The cross is one of my favorites. It's retired, but it will always stay in my collection. Although hard to tell in the picture, I cut the cloth in white and spritzed it with sparkle to make it stand out. Then to follow the sketch, I added some lavender dots behind the cross using Stampin' Up's Gorgeous Grunge. I don't often add "grunge" like that, but I should do it more often - it really makes the cross pop.
And I have another Easter card ready to go!!
I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge
Dies: Impression Obsession Easter Words, Taylored Expressions Old Rugged cross
Paper: Stampin' Up Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape, Taylored Expressions Kraft Woodgrain Cardstock
Ink: Taylored Expressions Lavendar Glaze
Other: Stampin' Up Distressed Tile Embossing Folder, Honey Bee Stamps Prism Gem Stickers
The sentiment is from Verve Stamps which is sadly closed. I've been talking about downsizing and having to make hard decisions. But the easiest decision is that I will keep every Verve set that I have! I layered it under the Cross in a Circle by Alexandra Renke. I wanted to keep it very soft so I went with Stampin' Up's Petal Pink and their Country Lace dsp. The background is their Eyelet 3D embossing folder but note that after I embossed it, I flattened it by running the embossed piece back through between two plates. The embossing folder creates a fabulous 3D look but I was going for soft and subtle.
This is only my second Easter card of the year and I send quite a few. I had a moment of panic when I realized how far behind I was, but it turns out Easter isn't until April 20th this year so it turns out I have time to make my cards. Then I had another realization. My son and I scheduled vacation over that weekend without even realizing it was Easter. (We're leaving my husband behind to care for the elderly cat.) We'll be gone for the Maundy Thursday service, the Good Friday service and then we won't hear the organ thundering "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" on Easter morning. Not to mention the wonderful brunch we'd come home to. How will spring start without us being part of all of that??!
It's not a big vacation but I'm very excited. We're exploring Idaho. There are a lot of job opportunities for my son there and after he did a quick roadtrip there last year, he came home and said "Not that I want you guys following me, but have you thought about retiring to Idaho? You'd love it." I've never been, so he and I are flying to Boise and then exploring multiple medium and small towns east of there across the state. It looks amazing and might have everything my husband and I are looking for. He and our son are going back later in the summer so my husband can explore the fly-fishing options which is his only retirement plan. It is surprising how much that plan limits our choices but so far I love the areas on our list.
I'm clearly feeling chatty - and I'm sure you'd rather be making your card. I hope see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Verve Egg-stra Special
Dies: Alexandra Renke Cross in a Circle, Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets, Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Strips
Paper: Stampin' Up Country Lace, Perennial Essence Vellum, cardstock in Petal Pink and Smoky Slate
Ink: Stampin' Up Smoky Slate
Other: Stampin' Up Pretty Pink & Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems, Eyelet 3D embossing folder
It's a very sad statement on my stash that as I am organizing and downsizing, I'm finding things that I don't remember having. The Hello Lovely set by Concord & 9th is one of those. As I was thinking through options for this sketch, it suddenly occurred to me that I have this recently re-found stamp set that gives me that random background with detail in the middle. And this is why I absolutely adore sketch challenges!! They always push me in unexpected directions.
The sentiment is also from Concord & 9th. I wanted to give the stamped image a little more dimension so I cut the birthday into the card front and added the happy on top of it. I found a little butterfly for even more dimension. Then I went looking for some sparkle. I haven't used sequins in a long-time and I think they are going to become a victim of my need to downsize so in case that happened, I used three sequins from a Stampin' Up set that were eactly the colors that I wanted!
I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Concord & 9th Hello Lovely
Dies: Concord & 9th Birthday
Ink: Stampin' Up Petal Pink, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Granny Apple Green
Other: Stampin' Up Iridescent Sequin Assortment
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!
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: A Muse Easter Greetings (very old!)
Dies: The Greetery BotaniCut Palms, Impression Obsession Bunny Buddies and Easter Gnomes (just the egg), Poppystamps Nordic Flower Heads, My Favorite Things Pierced Rectangles
Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Pink Champagne and Peapod, Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight and Peach Pie
I was actually not planning on playing this week. First of all, I've been weeding out my craft room. I am a collector as much as a crafter but there's just too much and it's hard to make decisions and find the products for each card. So each week, I've been going through a small section of my stash and making decisions between keep, donate or throw. But this last week, I picked a big section - I dove into my Stampin' Up stash. I've been collecting for thirty years. I literally have all of the cardstock back to the original colors (I'm keeping all the paper!!) So I had stamps and dies and punches on every surface of my craft room. There is simply no room to craft. Second, at the beginning of the year, I marked this past weekend with a big sad face because I planned to do taxes. I find that if I put it on the calendar so I have no positive expectations of that weekend, then try not to think about it except for that weekend, I can deal with the stress and depression that I associate with income tax.
But then as I was looking for a Stampin' Up product that my files said I had but couldn't find, I came across this set of three dies from Photoplay that had hidden itself under a bunch of products that it didn't even belong with and I decided it deserved to come out and play.
My intent was to follow the sketch more closely and to put a strip behind each word. But I found this paper and decided I liked the look with the style of the dies. Then I decided that I didn't want to cover any of it up and I forgot all about the strips on the sketch!!
I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Photoplay Hey-Hello-Hi Etched dies, Avery Elle Postage Stamp, Ellen Hutson Essential Hearts
Paper: Pink Paislee Color Wash 6x6 pad, Stampin' Up Lemon Lolly and Groovy Guava, Taylored Expressions Mushroom
This sketch immediately sent me to find any paper that I've been hoarding because the sketch had space to show it off. One of my favorite recent papers is the retired Stampin' Up Garden Walk. I do have to say that this isn't my favorite color scheme in the pack but after a full card-making session of changing patterns and colors, I ended up loving the mix of the pink/coral patterns with the embossed Wild Wheat.
I just got the sentiment set Wanted to Say from Stampin' Up and I liked the casual look of the font with the garden of cheerful flowers behind it. I have a love/hate relationship with Wild Wheat. When it works, it really works - but when it doesn't... In this case it was a color in the paper so I wanted to use it but I found a plain piece of it was overwhelming. Then I remembered that I had the SU Cane Weave embossing folder. I like the look of it with the garden, and it "toned down" the Wild Wheat! So as it turned out there is very little on this card that I like individually - pink is not my favorite, Calypso Coral definitely not high on my list, Wild What being so-so - but I really love how it all came together. Lesson learned - I need to challenge myself more often because the results might surprise me.
I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Stampin' Up Wanted to Say
Paper: Stampin' Up Garden Walk (retired), cardstock in Calypso Coral, Blush Blossom, Garden Green and Wild Wheat
Other: Stampin' Up Cane Weave embossing folder, Stampin' Up Antique Pearls
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Altenew Sentiment Strips 2
Dies: Altenew Lovely Envelope, Featured Sentiments
Paper: Stampin' Up 6x6 2024-26 In Color dsp, cardstock in Peach Pie, Petunia Pop, Pretty in Pink, Shy Shamrock, Daffodil Delight, and Emerald Envy
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Paper Rose Bird Houses, Simon Says Stamp Take Care, Taylored Expressions On a Limb-Branches and On a Limb-Leaves (both retired)
Paper: Simon Says Stamp Country Gingham, Cardstock in Balmy Blue, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Basic Beige, Pecan Pie and Granny Apple Green plus Paper Trey Lemon Tart for the yellow stripes
I recently got the Just Say More set from Concord & 9th (the big heart and sentiment). The samples that I've seen are all bold and contemporary and I wanted to have something like that in my collection for cards for my adult sons. As I was picturing this sketch and trying to figure out whether I'd put a big sentiment at the top or along one of the stripes, I realized that I could still follow the sketch but add something big behind a sentiment - and that sent me to this die set. Then after I picked the flower (also from Concord & 9th), I decided I wanted bright, almost tropical, colors. So I ended up going big with the Just Say More set, but with the colors and the ricrac borders, I definitely didn't go contemporary!
I used a couple of embossing folders to fill in the open space. This sent me down the rabbit hole of sorting and weeding out my embossing folders. I'm at the point where I have no idea what I have or don't have. You wouldn't believe how many polka dots and stripes that I have. Of course, they are different sizes and spacing so I couldn't take any of those out of my collection! Funny story - I weeded everything out, realized what I didn't have, and ordered more from the weekend embossing folder sale at Simon Says Stamp!! And now I never have to buy another embossing folder!!! (I don't even believe myself on that one!)
I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Concord & 9th Just Say More and Fresh Cut Florals 3, My Favorite Things Stitched Ric Rac
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lime Twist
Other: Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine EF, YNS Sugar Rush Gumdrops
I am quite certain that my son's girlfriend is a keeper. When she came into his life and thus ended up in my card rotation, I asked him what her favorite things are that I could use on cards. He said strawberries and bunnies. So I immediately upped my stash of those two things and what better for a Valentine than some beautiful, red strawberries?!
I spent summers on my grandparent's farm in eastern South Dakota. They sold it when I was very young so I don't have truly strong memories. I do know that my grandfather took great joy in pointing to horses and telling me they were cows and vice versa. It took me years to get over that trauma. I also have memories of a cool, shady and very green strawberry patch. It was a magical place especially because the rest of the farm was all sunlight and openness. (I'm not a gardener - for all I know strawberries need bright sunlight and my memory can't possibly be right. Don't tell me - I like my memory.) I started pulling out the deep greens I associate with the strawberry patch but the longer that I played around with this card, the more I wanted it to be light and cheerful. I went for brighter greens (although the strawberries stayed bright red). The sentiment and flower centers are a pearlescent yellow. And just a little basket weave in the background. It's no longer my magical strawberry patch, but I think it will work for "love day"!
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Spellbinders Strawberry Patch (Spellbinders Large Die of the Month Aug 2022), Concord & 9th (Kristina Werner) Happy Love Day and Basket Weave Card Front
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Poppy Parade and Shimmer White (the little flowers), Recollections Shimmer Yellow
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Simon Says Stamp Circle Sentiments, Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangles
Paper: Stampin' Up Sunshine & Rainbows dsp (retired), cardstock in Mango Melody, Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo and So Saffron
I probably cheated a little on this sketch with two balloons and a sentiment vs. the three circles but I thought a third balloon at the bottom of the card had the sad look of the day after a party when the balloons have all deflated!! I really need birthday cards and the balloon idea was so strong in my head that I just couldn't change it so I opted for a second sentiment at the bottom. (Of course, two of my teammates used balloons with one at the bottom and it actually looks fabulous!)
I used to play along with multiple challenges at once, but one of the sad downsides of getting older is that multi-tasking becomes harder!! I can't remember the last time that one of my cards was for more than one challenge. This card was for the same college-aged niece as last week's card and I wanted something unique. I had seen the colors at Hand Stamped Sentiments and realized I never use any of the colors so they defnitely seemed unique (at least to me!) and they were very bright and cheerful for a birthday card.
SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Poppystamps Birthday Banners and die set
Dies: My Favorite Things Party Balloons, Waffle Flower Balloon Ties, Paper Rose Happy Birthday Chunky Layered
Paper: Stampin' Up Gingham Gala, cardstock in Petunia Pop, Lemon-Lime Twist and Highland Heather, Taylored Expressions Sea Salt
Other: Taylored Expressions Sprinkles embossing folder, YNS Stamps Garden Sparkly Gumdrops
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Concord & 9th Pop Heart Dies, Taylored Expressions Postage Stamp Edger
Paper: Stampin' Up Playing with Patterns and cardstock in Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Night of navy and Purple Posy
Other: Stampin' Up Playing with Patterns Resin Dots
I love Cécile's sketch exactly as it is with snowflakes, but before I saw the sketch I had scared myself a little by looking at all of the upcoming birthday cards that I need to make. I had already decided that no matter what the sketch was, I had to make it work for a birthday - thus the balloons!!
The patterned balloons are from Paper Rose. I love their "sparkly" decorations! I found a bigger plain balloon and surrounded it with the decorative balloons. Then following the sketch, I pulled out a pre-printed sheet of sentiments and I closely trimmed the "birthday wishes". I struggled a bit with the background although it's hard to tell when you see how simple I went. I tried colors and dsp and stitched borders and more. I like where it ended up though. It's fun but the balloons are still the showcase.
I hope you decide to play along with us. Maybe this will be your first card of a year full of crafting enjoyment!
SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Paper Rose Balloon Trio, Scrapbook.com Nested Stitched Balloons (the big orange one), Essential by Ellen Square Frames
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lime Twist
Other: Taylored Expressions Embossing Folders: Sprinkles and Diagnoal Stripes, Creative Expressions Birthday Wordies Sentiment Sheets, Pink & Main Enamel Dots