Atlantic Hearts Sketch: Thank You

 My friend and Stampin' Up demonstrator gave me a wonderful Christmas gift - the Enduring Beauty stamp set along with stencils and dies! So the first thing that I had to do was make her a thank you card. A big thank you to the team at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for giving me the creative idea of splitting the bouquet of flowers into each corner.

I don't do a lot of stenciling probably because I find it very stressful. Adding the first color is OK but my anxiety level grows with each new stencil. What if it slips and all my previous work is ruined?! Then I can't tell you how carefully I line up the die and obsessively tape it down before I cut it out. This one really peaked my anxiety because then I had to cut it in half to fit each corner. My friend and SU lady loves stenciling so she'll never understand the stress that this card caused me.

Funny story. She's been my "dealer" for 25 years. For many of those years, we would meet up in my church parking lot when she had an order to give me. One time, her husband was along and as we were exchanging the order and the payment, he burst out laughing and said he was SO glad he knew what was going on. Think about it. An empty parking lot. One car window opens and hands an envelope to the other car. Then the second car hands over a large bag. Wouldn't it have been hysterical had the police shown up thinking they were taking down an illicit deal?! 

I went all Stampin' Up for this card although some of the supplies are long retired.

A big thank you to the team at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for the inspiration.

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: Stampin' Up Enduring Beauty (including stencils and dies), Thank You Kindly
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green

Ink: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green
Other: Stampin' Up Layered Leaves Embossing Folder, Brushed Brass Butterflies

Just Us Girls: Divine Peony

I'm playing along with the Just Us Girls Floral Die Week using the absolutely gorgeous Simon Says Stamp Divine Peony.

On this post, I created a card for my MIL's 90th birthday but I was doubting myself. I love the card and it's the cheerful look that I wanted, but I just wasn't sure it was right for a southern lady's 90th.  I debated in my post about switching things up to red roses but that just didn't hit me right either. Then this morning, I was looking through challenge blogs and Just Us Girls challenged us to use die cut flowers. I knew I had to play along given I have more flower dies than anything else in my stash. I was flipping through my not-yet-used dies and I saw the Divine Peony by Simon Says Stamp.  My MIL problem was solved!!  This is exactly the look that I wanted for her card - not too cute but not as formal as roses!

I let the die and cardstock do all the work. There are so many utterly amazing samples out there using this die with sponged and splattered colors but that is simply not my forte. Also, I am not a gardener so I had to look up peonies and saw a wide variety of pinks with darker leaves so I raided my stash (going back to one long-retired color) to get the look that I wanted.

It is a very good thing this card finally came together because we are flying to Virginia on Wednesday to spend some time with her before the big formal luncheon on Saturday. She's been getting handmade cards from me for over 30 years so it would not have been well-received had I not had come with a card! Thanks so much to the team at Just Us Girls for the inspiration.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice Sentiments and die

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Divine Peony, A2 Thin Frames

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green and Gold Foil sheets, Taylored Expressions Cupcake and Toffee

Other: Stampin' Up Distressed Tile 3D EF, Studio Katia Gold Foil Pearls

Freshly Made Sketches: Wildflower Birthday

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 rather selfishly put this sketch together to force me to use one of my Waffle Flower Postage stencils. I really do love all of their postage stencils but I'm just not an inky gal; I'm all about the die-cutting. But I got one last year and actually enjoyed inking it so I got more. I like them probably because there are lots of small inky sections vs. trying to do an entire background. So for this card, I pulled out the Wild Flowers and made a birthday card. Of course, after I got the whole thing inked, I realized I also have the Cupcake postage stencil so coulda/shoulda gone that direction. But I do like the colors on these wildflowers so I'm happy with the results.

If you started with my blog, be sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team because while I imagined postage, their creative minds saw leaves and even luggage!  I hope to you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Elegant Sentiments and dies, Postage Collage Fall, Postage Collage Birthday

Dies: Waffle Flower Postage Collage die, Birch Press Design Pinpoint Contour Plate

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green

Other: Waffle Flower Wild Flower Stencil

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Daisies

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 immediately saw a flower cart with a shaded top in the sketch. Although you can't really see that vision in my finished card, the idea sent me to these flowers. I got the Some Daisies set from The Stamp Market during a recent sale and then I just got the Dainty Daisies when they came back into stock. (The Little Leaves are also from The Stamp Market.) I do like sticking with the same company throughout the main elements of the card, but it turns out I don't have any basic birthday dies or stamps from The Stamp Market (I definitely need to remedy that) so I found one that fit from Paper Rose.

This card is intended for my mother-in-law's 90th birthday in just a few weeks. I love the card but I'm having my doubts that it is appropriate for her. We are having an extravagant luncheon for her in Richmond, Virginia, and all of her southern friends will be there. I've been a South Dakota and Colorado gal my entire life and we are quite casual so I am always surprised by the formality of Richmond or at least the formality of her generation in Richmond. In Colorado, even us older ladies tend to be in hiking pants, Crocs, and a favorite brewery T-shirts! To be more formal, I'm thinking I need to remake this same card with red roses and golden accents. Every time I look at it, I reach a different decision. Sometimes I love the cheerfulness of the current card and I think it make sense for a 90th. Other times I think the red roses make more sense but then I worry that could feel a bit like a get well or sympathy card. I don't know - maybe I'll try it and decide later.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: The Stamp Market Some Daisies, Dainty Daisies and Little Leaves, Paper Rose Happy Birthday Chunky Layered, Taylored Expressions Stitched Edge Scallop Edger

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Toffee, Pineapple and Cupcake, Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lolly, Granny Apple Green and Lemon Lime Zest

Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up Country Gingham

Other: Taylored Expressions Corrugated Embossing Folder, Studio Katia Arctive Breeze pearls

Sunday Stamps: Paper Posy Thank You

I saw the gorgeous colors at Sunday Stamps and just had to play along. I love the corals and blues, and especially the two rich colors as accents.

I needed a thank you card this week and I already had a plan of using this new-to-me floral die set. I absolutely love the variety of flowers and especially the embossed detail.  My card uses just a handful of the options and I'm looking forward to using all of them.  It's from Concord & 9th and I have a number of bold sentiments from them to balance the flowers so for this one, I found a "thank you". 

I had all of this sitting on my desk but just hadn't quite figured out what to do with it all until I saw the color challenge. Not only did I use the colors but I clearly was inspired by the big image! A big thank you to Sunday Stamps for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Happy Thanks die, Paper Posy dies

Cardstock: MFT Peach Bellini, Coral Crush, Lazy Day, and Jalapeno Popper, Stampin' Up Night of Navy

Other: Concord & 9th Paper Posy embossing folder, Stampin' Up Pinewood Planks embossing folder and Muted Palette Dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Lovely Birthday

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

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

Freshly Made Sketches: Thinking of You

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 knew right away that this card would have a flower from Stampin' Up's Paper Florist. I was late at getting this set only getting it when it retired. I talked myself out of it for so long because I have an outrageous number of flower dies - but it has a nice variety with a unique look so I just couldn't let it retire. I picked the biggest flower for this card. That flower was designed for more dimension but since so many of my cards get mailed, I kept it fairly flat.  I started out with the idea of using a Smoky Slate pattern that's in the same paper pack for a sympathy card, but when I put together the big flower, it had a unique and bold look so I changed to a brighter paper and changed to a "thinking of you" with a more cheerufl look.

In the next few hours, my husband and I are taking off for another retirement exploration trip. We're heading to the Black Hills of South Dakota. That's where I grew up and I still love it. I love the outdoors and the simple beauty of it all.  I even love the silly little tourist traps that are just a bit old-fashioned.  And for my husband, the fly-fishing is fantastic and that is the only thing he asks out of retirement. However, in the 35 years we've been together, we have never gone during tourist season. The last time we were there there were wide-open roads and everywhere we went was quick and easy.  I need him to experience the parade of Winnebagos as far as the eye can see, all with seemingly inexperienced drivers before we decide if it stays on our list. We are only gone for 5 days - it's not like I need to explore - we just need to see the traffic while getting to our hiking and fishing destination. 

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

Supply List

Stamps: Stampin' Up Four You

Dies: Stampin' Up Paper Florist

Paper: Stampin' Up Country Lace, cardstock in Petal Pink and Groovy Guava

Atlantic Hearts Challenge: Hoping with You

 After getting the new Stampin' Up In Color cardstock with my first order from the new catalog, I realized I liked the whole group of them so turned right around and ordered the ink. (I tend toward die-cuts on my cards and not so much ink, so it's a fairly big deal for me to get ink!)  I knew I could use all five colors with this retired set, Sending Smiles, so stamped them and then they've been sitting on my desk because I haven't had any great ideas to use them.  Then I noticed the sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and it all came together.

I put the flowers around another new-to-me set - Comforting Thoughts. It was one of Stampin' Up's online exclusives a number of months ago.  I got it for this particular stamp but I love them all - they are heartfelt and encouraging both in their words and their look.

Thank you to the folks at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Comforting Thoughts, Sending Smile and dies

Dies: Stampin' Up Stylish Shapes

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Basic Beige, Pretty in Pink

Ink: Stampin' Up Pebbled Path, Pretty in Pink, Shy Shamrock, Petunia Pop, Peach Pie, Summer Splash

Other: Stampin' Up Cane Weave Embossing folder, 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Fab Flower Birthday

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

 

The birthday card I needed to make today was for someone I don't know well.  I knew the card shouldn't be frilly, yet I have seen her wear clothes with a floral pattern.  I knew it shouldn't be pastel nor bright. I settled on colors based on pictures on her office wall and I love how it turned out. 

The background stripe was a happy accident but I love how it grounded the flowers. Each vertical line is cut using the Memory Box Vertical Line Collage. Originally I cut multiple colored stripes for each opening - first I cut a variety of colors, then I cut a variety of greens like the greenery behind the flowers. Then as I was pondering how to keep the cute flowers from being...cutesy!....it struck me that I could go black and white so I found some stripes and added a panel behind the cut out stripes going the opposite direction.

The Happy Birthday is a recent purchase from Simon Says. My plan was to adhere the "happy" on top of the flower so I used vellum behind it. After I decided to add it behind the flower, I wish I would have the background layer in white - but my glue is strong and it was just too late! I love sets like this that give me a bold "happy" element and scripty add-ons.

A big shout-out to my Stampin' Up enabler at work for the wonderful black dots I used for the centers of the flower!

As you read this I am on the vacation/retirement-scouting-trip that I mentioned last week.  I am very much hoping I'm not sitting on a river bank while my husband fishes - while protecting myself from humidity, bugs and cicadas. I literally didn't know before we left that we were visiting during a massive cicada "awakening" - something that only happens every few hundred years. I'm not a huge fan of bugs, plus I noticed the American Academy of Audiology warns about ear damage from the noise.  Ugh. We're on the edge of it so fingers-crossed my worst nightmare hasn't come true!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp (CZ Designs) Happy Combos

Dies: Simon Says Stamp (CZ Design) Happy and Fab Flower, Memory Box Vertical Line Collage

Paper: My Favorite Things Black & White Stripes

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Boho Blue, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral

Other: Stampin' Up Matte Black Dots

Sunday Stamps: Artistic

I was on a roll crafting this weekend and decided I had to use my other retiring purchase from Stampin' Up.  Yesterday I used the Paper Florist dies; today is the Artistic dies.  I really wanted the stand-alone flower the leaf in the die set but I didn't get the stamp set so all the other dies in the set are irrelevant.  As soon as it was discounted at retirement, I could justify only needing half the dies in the set! 

I absolutely fell in love with the color combination at Sunday Stamps. It's nothing I would ever have come up with by myself. When I saw them, I knew the rich colors would really highlight this flower die in all white.  With the detail in the die, I just added four stripes and then used the fifth color to highlight the banner.

The sentiment went on the only thing from Stampin' Up in my stash that is still current - the Stylish Shapes dies.  It was a heck of a retirement year - my stash is now totally out-of-date.  Thank goodness I'm not a demonstrator and can use old sets as long as I want (check out the sentiment on this card to see how old I can go!)  Then I haven't used sequins in a while but I thought their shine just made sense on this card so I dug those out of the retired stash also.  (I don't love the look of the sentiment but it fit in the banner and it has a nice coordinating inside sentiment - "wishing you the HAPPIEST birthday yet".)

I had two other bouquets cut and I was going to layer them up to give it dimension. I was absolutely dreading it. I'm bad at layering up even simple die cuts - I never quite seem to get things perfectly lined up. But I had the card laid out on my desk and I liked the way the edges of the die were curling up. It gave it some nice dimension so I only adhered a strip down the middle.  I'll probably regret it when trying to get it in an envelope, but I like the way it looks sitting on my desk.

Thank you to Sunday Stamps for my color inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up On Your Birthday

Dies: Stampin' Up Artistic and Stylish Shapes, Simon Says Stamps A2 Thin Frames

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Terracotta Tile and Melon Berry, Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and Pretty Peacock (just a hint behind the sentiment banner)

Ink: Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock

Other: Stampin' Up Woven Threads Sequin Assorment

As You See It and Paper Players: Paper Florist

Two challenges came together to convince me to I absolutely needed to use a new set of dies before I tucked them away: Monochromatic Cherry Blossoms at As You See It and Spring Flowers at The Paper Players. 

I've had my eye on the Paper Florist dies by Stampin' Up all year but managed to talk myself out of them. I have far too many flower dies for the average crafter! But very surprisingly, they retired this year and even more surprisingly, they retired at a huge discount. I do love the variety of flowers and their quirky look but I have this terrible tendency to tuck away anything I buy in retirement sales and never use them again. After all, there will be fresh new stash to buy and use.  When I saw the Spring Flowers challenge at The Paper Players, I had to drop everything and play. The "spring" part guided me to these particular flowers. I think of spring flowers as delicate and perhaps a bit raggedy like the wildflowers in my Colorado mountains so these quirkly little flowers and flower centers were just right. 

I had already bookmarked the Monochromatic Cherry Blossoms challenge at As You See It and, while these aren't cherry blossoms, I love the color combination. This is the first time I've used Bubble Bath (a little too pink for me) but paired with the other two colors I think it is fabulous.

I needed a little interest in the background so pulled out the Stampin' Up Cane Weave embossing folder (which is actually still current). Then came time for the sentiment. Since everything I'd used was Stampin' Up, I looked through my stash and found a really old sentiment set that had exactly the look that I wanted for the flowers and then the sentiment fit in an older die set called Tasteful Labels.

A big thank you to both challenges for inspiring me to play with these retired dies just in case I tuck them away when I have new stuff to play with!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Well-Scripted

Dies: Stampin' Up Paper Florist, Tasteful Labels

Other: Stampin' Up Cane Weave EF and Gold Glitter Enamel Dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Single Rose

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 had a specific need this week - a birthday card that needed to be sweet and pretty, but not cutesy. With the leaves on the sketch, I quickly decided the circle needed to be a flower and got quite excited when I flipped through my stash and found this flower that was almost exactly a circle! It's Single Roses by Simon Says and given where it was in my stash, it's an older die (although still on their website). I changed it up a little bit because the simple line drawn rose wasn't quite strong enough to stand out behind the "happy". They had an idea in their store showing it using the cut out pieces on top and that's exactly what I needed. 

With the older die, I went with something new-to-me from Simon Says Stamp - the Happy Combos stamp set with the Happy die.  It's a really nice all-around with dozens of sentiments to go with "happy". The Happy die also has a backer but it covered too much of the flower so I skipped it in on this card.

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Happy Combos with dies

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Happy and Single Roses, Essential by Ellen Essential Squares

Paper: Stampin' Up Brights 6x6 dsp, cardstock in Flirty Flamingo and Granny Apple Green, Taylored Expressions Cupcakes

Other: Studio Katia Rose Pink pearls

Addicted to CAS: Easter Blessings

The current challenge at Addicted to CAS gave me the idea for my final Easter card of the year.  When I first bookmarked the challenge - which is the word "Bloom" - my mind saw the word as a verb as in "flowers bloom".  But as I was looking through challenges trying to find inspiration for the right Easter card for a dear friend, I saw the word and this time I saw it as a noun - as in a single "bloom".  Seems so simple but I'll take inspiration however it comes - it was literally enough to send me to my stash for this new Tulip Stem die from Simon Says Stamp.

I think it worked out perfectly.  I knew I didn't want cutesy for her and I didn't want pastel but I did want a cheerful spring card. The patterned paper is Garden Walk by Stampin' Up. I've pulled the blue flowers out multiple times as possibilities for my Easter card and it never quite made it on a card - but this card was the right card for it. The bow is from scrapbook.com and is cut in glittery Pretty Peacock paper. I knew I wanted a large sentiment across the bottom of the bloom and I found an older sentiment set from Reverse Confetti that fit beautifully. 

Thanks to Addicted to CAS for the inspiration.  (And to the card recipient - hopefully you got the card before seeing it here!! Have a happy Easter!)

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Reverse Confetti Springtime Sentiments

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Tulip Stem, Honey Bee Stamps Scallop A2 Card Frames, scrapbook.com Bow Toppers

Paper: Stampin' Up Garden Walk, Soft Shimmer 12x12 (the bow) and Calypso Coral cardstock

Ink: Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock

Other: Stampin' Up Fine Sparkle Adhesive-Backed Gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Hey Lovely Bloom

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 just got the flower die from The Stamp Market and then we have a sketch that has a big enough open space for me to use it. It was definitely meant to be! I found the paper and then mirrored the colors in my flowers.  Yes, I know one stem of flowers does not have multiple colors. (That's the first thing my husband noticed, bless his heart!)  It's a gorgeous die.  I definitely have more flowers than I'll ever use but then one comes along that calls my name and ends up in my stash. I love the tall stem, but there's also basic leaves in the set so you could use those flowers individually with just a small leaf or two for each one.

I don't use many thank you cards but really should. This became a thank you card just because I loved the sentiment on it. It has a nice shape and it was bold enough to hold its own with the big gorgeous stem of flowers. 

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Stamp Market A Few Words and dies

Dies: The Stamp Market Hey Lovely Bloom, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklet and Petite Scallop Rectangle

Paper: Carta Bella Flora No. 5 6x6 pad, Taylored Expressions Sweet Basil, Mango and Pink Champage, Stampin' Up Watermelon Wonder

Ink: Taylored Expressions Sweet Basil

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Buttercream gems

CAS Colours & Sketches: Happiest Birthday

I have had an interesting die in my stash for a while - the Vertical Line Collage by Memory Box.  It's just lines - but I got it specifically with the idea that it would be interesting behind a single stem flower.  Then the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches came along and it all came together.

I went with a visual rectangle with the cut out stripes down the middle and a few bits and pieces of the flower and sentiment sticking out just a bit. Everything came together easily except the sentiment - it gave me a few headaches trying to figure out what to do within that rectangle. I finally settled on a pre-printed sentiment which I then cut into three small sections. 

I love the fading paper behind it.  My original plan was just black for the drama of it but I love the softness of this paper. While I have the die out - I will have another card posted on Wednesday and the stripes became a rainbow of colors!!  LOVE a versatile product!

Thank you to CAS Colours & Sketches for the isnpiration.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Memory Box Cottage Flower Stem, Vertical Line Collage

Paper: My Favorite Things Coral Crush, Peach Bellini and Gumdrop Green, Studio Light White Fade pad

Other: Simon Says Stamp Reverse Birthday Sentiment Strips, Pinkfresh Leaf Glitter Drops

Atlantic Hearts Sketch: Birthday Wishes

I wanted to play along with this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge because I had just gotten a wonderful stamp set with big and small sentiments (and I can always find some fun little die cut for the balloon element in the sketch!)

I really had to use the sentiment set - I almost just bought it twice!!  I hadn't remembered to take it off my wishlist after I bought it the first time. So as I was loading my cart for a weekend sale, I had it in the cart again until the total broke my budget and I started taking things out. Out it came. Thank goodness, because not 2 hours after I checked out, I saw it was already in my stash and had to make this card!

Thanks to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Elegantly Modern Greetings (and dies)

Dies: Sion Says Stamp Posy

Paper: Stampin' Up dsp in Balmy Blue and So Saffron

Tic Tac Toe and Color Throwdown

I had time to play in my craft room yesterday with nothing in particular that I needed to make and came up with this "just because".

 

I was browsing challenges and perked up when I saw the Tic Tac Toe Challenge that included "just because" in one of their boxes. I love this Just Because die from Simon Says Stamp. It's a simple font but I love that it winds together and I love its shape with the "just" over to the right leaving room for things like flowers.  The Tic Tac Toe board also included flowers and die cuts on the diagonal so I went that direction.

I pulled out the dies, then I started pulling out all of my favorite colors but I wanted something different. Back to browsing challenges and I saw that the Color Throwdown used brown. That caught my attention. It wasn't all that long ago where brown was quite prominent on all of our cards. For instance, sentiments were in brown, not in black.  Then things changed and I was feeling like brown was dated. But the design team and the players at the Color Throwdown changed my mind by showing me how beautiful it can still be. Not to mention, it gave me a chance to pull out Stampin' Up's new Pecan Pie and the blue I used is the new Azure Afternoon. 

Thanks to both of these challenges for the inspiration. Off to do some more browsing and see what others I just have to play along with.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Just Because, Fab Flower and A2 Thin Frames 

Paper: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Azure Afternoon and Pecan Pie cardstock, Glorious Gingham dsp

Other: Doodlebug Designs Bon Bon Glitter Enamel Dots

Atlantic Hearts: Floral Birthday

I received an order including the beautiful Four Petal Thank You Floral from Spellbinders on the same day that I saw the sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. They are a perfect match!  (I did miss the deadline for Atlantic Hearts but still wanted to give them a shout-out!!)

I have so many friends and family for whom cards with flowers are just the right choice so I can always justify new flower products.  I actually held off on getting this one for a while because I already have other large flower sets from Spellbinders but I love how this set creates a graceful swoop of flowers. 

On the other hand, I did jump right on getting the Elegantly Modern Greetings set from Simon Says Stamp. Although sometimes I believe I have too many just enough flower dies - I never have enough sentiments. Besides the sentiment itself, they all have different sizes, styles and fonts and I need them all to always have the right fit for a card. In this case, I love the way the bold "birthday" fit the sketch and fit the style.

Thank you for the inspiration from Atlantic Hearts to actually use these dies before they went into my overflowing drawer of not-yet-used supplies!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Elegantly Modern Greetings and dies

Dies: Spellbinders Four Petal Thank You Floral dies, Ellen Hutson Essential Arches

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, and Coastal Cabana, Taylored Expressions Cupcake, Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist

Other: Spellbinders Hydrangea Blooms embossing folder of the month (Feb 2023), Taylored Expressions Subway Tiles embossing folder

Global Design Project: The Old and The New

The color challenge at the Global Design Project uses colors from the recent Stampin' Up color refresh. I really hadn't used any of them not even the returning colors in this trio. That's the "new" part of this card.

In the meantime, I've been slowly working through my Stampin' Up collection which goes back 25 years and I'm making some hard decisions about what to keep. I have never edited my Stampin' Up collection and I have SO much. Most of it I'll never use and it's taking up precious stash space!  I decided to keep colors; I have every color of cardstock they have made!  But the stamps, dies and punches are a different story.  In the midst of this, I found a stash of the old embosslits. They are at least a decade old, right? Probably much older. I had totally forgotten about them and I actually really like them.  So that's the old on this card.

Thanks to the Global Design Project for inspiring me to pull out these colors!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Stampin' Up really old embosslits: Thanks and Flower Burst, Stampin' Up really old Sizzlits: Little Leaves

Paper: Stampin' Up Berry Burst, Azure Afternoon, Blueberry Bushel and Crumb Cake

Other: Stampin' Up Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Crocus Thank You

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!

 

I used the Etched Crocus Stems from Simon Says and I apologize to flower lovers. I googled and I know that crocuses are virtually always purple but I already had all of the blue papers cut and I didn't think the purple popped liked I wanted it to. Since I don't know flowers - this looked perfectly fine to me!!  I just needed a fresh and sweet card so used some favorite colors.

I'm still in the midst of reorganizing with both of my adult sons coming home temporarily(!!??) in just a few weeks (see prior posts).  I really had planned to get the guest room re-done, this is just rushing it. (My oldest son gets the guest room. We moved after he left so he's never had a room in this house).  The big problem is that guest room had become my overflow storage.  So the boxes of knitting supplies in that room have now come into my craft room (there's a certain logic to crafts being stored in a craft room!) but that also means boxes of card-making supplies are getting weeded out. But there's so much more overflow in that room, including a piano (try finding space for a piano, even temporarily!)  I actually enjoy the act of organizing but this is breaking my brain!!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend (I think it's retired)

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Etched Crocus Stems

Other: Paper, cardstock and ink by Stampin' Up