Happy Birthday Creative Worship Stamps!

Creative Worship Stamps (formerly Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) is celebrating their 17th birthday!!  They are having a big Instagram hop starting @creativeworshipstamps with big prizes at the end of the hop so check it all out over there!  Also big sales that you can't miss! I'm in the hop but I wanted to show off their products here too.

I had the honor of serving on their design team in their early days so I was asked to be part of the big birthday celebration.  Absolutely!  It didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to make.  I have two stamp sets from those early days (but both are still available) that are the most used stamps in my entire collection and it's not even close.  They are sentiment sets named Be Encouraged and Be Encouraged 2. Here's one example.

This card is the perfect example of why I love these sets.  The sentiments are so meaningful and truly perfect for those quick cards we so often need to support and encourage the people around us. I love the mixed font on them because they are eye-catching in and of themselves so lend themselves perfectly to clean and simple cards. 

For this card, I paired it with a newer set Happiness Blooms. I simply white embossed the flowers and applied glittery dots for their centers.  It really doesn't get much easier than this.

What about masculine cards? The sentiments work for those too. This card uses the Foliage Die set.

They can even go seasonal! This card uses the Sparkle Snowflake Die set.

The point is they work at any time and any season.  Of course, everything I've shown you is clean and simple, but these stamps work perfectly on any style of card.  Check out the samples on their site; here for Be Encouraged and here for Be Encouraged 2; they are all truly works of art!

If you're on Instagram be sure to head over there for the full hop (linked above) and a chance to win big prizes. Then don't miss the sale starting today!

CREATIVE WORSHIP STAMPS SUPPLY LIST

Floral card: Be Encouraged 2 and Happiness Blooms stamps

Masculine card: Be Encouraged stamps, Foliage Die set

Snowflake card: Be Encouraged 2 stamps, Sparkle Snowflake die set

Freshly Made Sketches: Joyful

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

I've had this Joyful Frame forever and it's still in my not-yet-used stash so when I saw the square in the sketch, I knew I'd pull it out.  Then I saw that I also had this Berry Stem die in the stash.  Both are from Simon Says so it made sense to use them together. I started laying out some floral background paper with berries to coordinate it all, but I quickly realized that I wanted a more clean and modern look simply because of the classic font of the die. So I went two simple embossing folders in the background then I put all of the focus on the sentiment and the berry sprig. The Berry Stems die set did have berries that I could have cut out, but since the rest of the card was so simple I decided to use glittery enamel dots to make it pop.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Joyful Frame and Berry Stems

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Granny Apple Green, Peapod and Cherry Pop

Embossing Folders: Concord & 9th Berries & Boughs, Taylored Expressions Diagonal Stripe

Other: Stampin' Up Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots

Autumn Greetings

I have one more new-to-me stencil to try and I want to live in fall for just a bit longer (even though we got 30" of snow last week!)

If you've followed my blog the last few weeks with my attempts at stenciling, you will be surprised when I say I thoroughly enjoyed working on this card! I was in such a good "mental" place that when I got the stenciling done, I actually was comfortable stamping the postage stamps onto it.  That's a big deal because I find stenciling so stressful worrying about making a mistake after multiple layers. I always froze and could not handle the risk of adding a stamp to it.  It might smear or it might only partially stamps.  I know I could get out the stamp positioner, but I took the risk without it!

I decided my enjoyment might be because all the spaces are small. When I do big spaces, I typically get some sort of darker spot in the shape of a brush.  I understand that's part of the unique beauty of brushing on color but I prefer having control!  (It's the same reason that I don't love watercoloring.)  The small spaces on these postage collage stencils are easy to use and might be the turning point for me on using stencils.

BTW - this is Waffle Flower's older fall stencil; they have a newer one for this year named Harvest. I do love fall colors and I'm thinking it might need to come into my stash so I can mix and match the little scenes from the two sets.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Postage Collage for Fall Stamp Set

Dies: Waffle Flower Postage Collage die, The Greetery Let's Have a Word Autumn

Other: Stampin' Up Subtles embossing folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Peace Love & Joy

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

 

I've had these trees for a very long time. So long, in fact, that the company has closed. But I've never done what I actually got them for - and that is cutting them in a variety of prints. So I created a little forest using some paper that I've had forever.  Then I had a lot of open space left so I found a big sentiment that the look that I wanted with the added benefit of a fun shape that complemented the trees!!  I was thrilled...until I looked at the sketch again and realized that it specified that the sentiment be at the bottom right of the card. But I have so many add-on type sentiments, I just flipped through my stash until I found "to you and yours". Problem solved!

So I don't know about where you are, but since my last post, winter settled in. My little town had 30" of snow and that wasn't even the worst in Colorado. It skipped the moutains but there were areas on the flat plains east and south that had over 50".  Sadly, we totally missed my favorite season - fall.  We had record setting heat (like 90+ in October) until the moment we had 30" of snow.  But I was definitely in winter mood when I created this card because after I got the trees laid out, I found glitter paper for the sentiment and then added some sparkly stars.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Photoplay Peace & Joy for the "to you and yours"

Dies: Neat & Tangled Scandinavian Print Christmas, Paper Rose Peace Love & Joy Layered die

Paper: Simple Stories Winter Wonderland, Stampin' Up Soft Shimmer 12x12 dsp, vellum

Other: The Stamp Market White Glitter Stars

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Bow

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

As I was figuring out who I needed birthday cards for this month, I noticed that there's a guy at work on the list. I hardly know him - I don't know hobbies or interest or colors - so I needed something really basic.  This sketch was incredibly helpful because I also just got this Gift Bows dies from Concord and 9th/Kristina Werner so I immediately saw the sketch as a present!

I went with blues and greens - they seemed cheerful yet still masculine. I added patterned paper for a couple of the panels just for interest. The only thing left was finding a sentiment that fit. Very few do because "birthday" is a long word but happily Honey Bee Stamps had Big Birthday and it was perfect!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord and 9th (Kristina Werner) Gift Bows Dies, Honey Bee Stamps Big Birthday

Paper: Taylored Expressions Granny Smith and Peapod, Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock from 2019-21 dsp, polka dot is a scrap

Tis the Season for Nordic Bells

 I just got the Nordic Bell from Poppystamps and then this week's sketch from The Paper Players came out and it was all meant to be!

I am such a fan of all of the Nordic products coming out from Poppystamps.  Check out the fabulous Nordic leaves here or the butterfly here or the flowers and pots here.)  The Nordic Bell set along with the Little Bow and String set might be some of my favorites. (Although the Nordic penguin I have that hasn't come out to play yet will give them all a run for their money!)

For the sketch, I also needed a bold sentiment and I saw that I hadn't used the the Bold Text, Christmas set by Sizzix/Tim Holtz. There are so many choices in that set but the sentiments that were three lines crowded the bell and the sentiments with one line left too much open space - so that narrowed my choices down.  The paper is from Photoplay It's a Wonderful Christmas picked mainly because of the colors. I like that it has a hint of almost curry color in it to tie it all together.

This was a very quick card but a great sketch (thanks to The Paper Players) and a fabulous die make it all so easy!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Bell, Little Bow and String; Sizzix/Tim Holtz Bold Text Christmas

Paper: Photoplay It's a Wonderful Christmas, Stampin' Up Lost Lagoon, Crushed Curry, and Poppy Parade

Freshly Made Sketches: A Tree in the Window

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

 

I love to walk around my neighborhood. Every season has its beauty (loving the squirrels playing in the crunchy leaves right now) but I am most fond of walks before Christmas just as it is getting dark. It's cold and snowy outside but people still have their curtains open and with their Christmas trees and other decorations, their windows just glow. That's what I was trying to create here.

I'm using Stampin' Up's Decorative Tree dies. I love the variety of layered trees there are in this set. I embossed snowflakes and added a shimmery white pine branch on the ouside of the window. The inside is a sparkly tree and a warm yellow glow. The sentiment is a very old single sold by Stampin' Up but it is such a fun look and the perfect size for so many cards, it will always stay in my collection.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Be Very Merry (a long ago single)

Dies: Stampin' Up Decorative Trees, Decorative Pines and Stylish Shapes, Essentials by Ellen Essential Arches

Paper: Stampin' Up Gold Foil Sheets, Old Olive Glimmer (from Berry Burst, Old Olive & White 12 x 12 Glimmer Specialty Paper), Cherry Cobbler Glimmer (from Festive 12 x 12 Glimmer paper), Playing with Patterns dsp, cardstock in Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Crushed Curry

Other: Stampin' Up Winter Snow embossing folder