Freshly Made Sketches: Miss You

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!

 

The idea for this card came to me almost immediately when I saw the sketch (which is rare for me!) I originally intended to use an actual banner, as per the sketch, instead of a branch then emboss/stamp/cut a woodgrain into it to look like a branch. I couldn't make that work without it looking super heavy which was not what I wanted for this card. I had the little bird picked, then needed a sentiment and when I saw "miss you", it just seemed perfect for the single bird.

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

SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Kristina Werner with Concord & 9th Big Type Greetings, Spellbinders Sweet Birds on a Branch, Taylored Expressions On a Limb - Branches and On a Limb - Leaves
Other: Spellbinders Head in the Clouds Embossing Folder

Hero Arts: Peek-a-Boo Books

I really debated whether to post this card because I don't particularly like it - but I LOVE the idea of it.  It's not even really the card itself that I don't like but as you'll see, it really does a number on my clean-and-simple-loving brain. I didn't even get great photos because I was so sure I wouldn't post it, but I just got to thinking about how many ideas I get from all of you and maybe this is a set of products that you've never seen and will now need!!

Hero Arts has a die called Peek-A-Boo Doors that can be used with a variety of background scenes and little messages.  Here's what the die does.

The die covers the whole front with little doors.  Then you can add little messages or images behind each door!!  Isn't that fun?!  Here's the whole card.  I chose not to color every book but I think I would have liked it better if I had because my brain could have made sense of it.  Instead I stamped stars on each door to point them out and it's just too busy for my brain.

But I don't think it will be too busy for my teenage nieces. I used the Bookcase Peek-a-Boo Parts stamp and I made two cards.  My nieces are both book-lovers.  Not just readers, but reading real books - no Kindles for them!  I'm so darn proud of that because somehow my husband and I, both avid readers, raised two sons with almost zero interest in books.  One will get wrapped up in a series once in a awhile, but I've never seen the other open a book.  It's so sad.

You've seen a lot of cards lately for my brother and his family who recently moved from Colorado to Georgia.  The move went well and they are loving their new home.  However, three of the four them just got COVID for the second time. The first time, they had it before anybody really even knew about it.  They had spent a month in Italy late in 2019.  Guess which was one of the first countries to get hit hard?  We had to postpone Christmas that year because they were so sick with the "flu".  It was only later that they realized what they had when they were tested for antibodies. 

Anyway, my nieces definitely need special cards right now - far away from friends (even though it seems to be going well) and also quarantined.  

Hero Arts also has a sentiment set for booklovers called "Literally the Best". When we got together before they moved, I made different book cards with the sentiment "Congrats! Enjoy your new chapter!".  These cards use "To make a long story short: I miss you".  

There are also many backgrounds for the Peek-a-Boo die.  I also have their Wish Big Peek-a-Boo set and the Venetian Neighborhood background.  I'm sure I'll use them when my brain stops spinning from this one!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Hero Arts Bookcase Peek-a-Boo Parts, Literally the Best and Mini Messages (for all sentiments inside the doors)

Dies: Hero Arts Peek-a-Boo Doors Fancy dies

Freshly Made Sketches: Pig Time

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

 

I'm not sure what got into me with this card.  I started with the idea of a critter instead of the leaf element. Then somehow the square became a barn! The barn is a giant die set that makes a full-size easel pop up card - it's absolutely charming.  But that didn't fit the sketch, so I just cut the top part down through the window - then I trimmed the edges so that I have a mini barn.  It's just the right size for my "Whittle Pig"!

The sentiment is actually a long sentiment.  I trimmed it very close so I could also cut it right down the middle.

I must have enjoyed making this. I very rarely make a card with no idea to whom I will send it but I have absolutely no plans for this one.  My 21- and 25-year old sons would die if they happened to open a card like this in front of their friends.  My nieces are girly teenagers - a pig really doesn't work. But I enjoyed every minute of making this - mostly because the pig made me smile every time I looked at it - so it will go in my stash and hopefully come out someday. 

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Whittle Wild Animal Sentiments

Dies: Poppystamps Whittle Pig, Whittle Sun, Little Bits of Turf and Country Barn Pop Up Easel set (just the top), Memory Box Wrapped Stitch Rectangles

Paper: Memory Box Berry Red, Lush Green and Earth Neutral Cardstock Collections

Other: Wooden heart

Slimline: Freshly Made Sketches A Lovely Day

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Linda. She decided we were going to do slimline cards.  Funny story.  I've really liked the slimline cards I've been seeing so I invested in a variety of products specifically made for slimline cards.  Did I use a single one of my new products on today's card? Nope!  However, I have made a number of other cards with them, so I've decided it's "slimline week" on my blog. Check back for more!  (And I have played around in the past with my products. Here's a slimline happy birthday and a slimline Christmas.)

I started out regularly sending cards to my two nieces as they were stuck at home.  But then they found out that the entire family had had COVID over Christmas so, while they were still cautious, they did venture out of their homes and were no longer stir-crazy so I haven't sent cards in months. But as I was thinking through the idea of a row of thought bubbles (new from The Stamp Market), I saw that I had other stamps/dies from The Stamp Market that would make a very fun card for my tween niece. This little guy in black and white, surrounded by the yummy colors makes me smile - I hope it makes her smile too!

Have fun working on a slimline card! (Of course now you need new envelopes!!  #9 envelopes are just the right size - I got mine on Amazon. #10 envelopes are regular business size so just a bit bigger but some slimlines are a bit bigger so these would do double-duty.)

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

SUPPLY LIST
Stamps: The Stamp Market Lovely Little Notes, Bear Hugs Stamp Bundle
Dies: The Stamp Market Thought Bubbles, Small Blooms

My Favorite Things Stamps Day 7: Cheers and Sweetness

It's the last day of the Release Countdown at My Favorite Things Stamps.  Tonight (Tuesday), at 10 pm EST, the new products will be available!  Also at that time (just in case you haven't finalized your wishlist), everybody on the design team will do another post with some of our favorites.

The first thing that I want to show you today is another new Pure Innocence set.  This one is called Wish You Were and has just the perfect look for a "missing you" card.


I don't generally do anything special on my insides, but because I didn't have a sentiment on the outside of this card - I wanted to do a little extra on the inside.

Isn't this a sweet set?  Of course, they are all sweet, but this cute little face was just made for a "missing you" card.  
I created my background on Berrylicious cardstock with white ink using the DC Plaid Background Builder set.  The ground is Sour Apple using the Snow Drifts Die-namics.  The clouds are the Flat-Bottom Clouds Die-namics.  The button is Lemon Drop. The frame is from the Postage Stamp STAX Die-namics.
My second card is very different - I wanted an elegant celebratory card and the Layered Champagne Glass Die-namics and Celebratory Greetings Die-namics were perfect for it. 

The colors on this card are Natural, Steel Grey and Brick Red. (I'm loving Brick Red!!!!)
There is also a stamp set being previewed today. It's Celebrate Big which is a great set with big fonts and small fonts that all work together.  But I decided to save my card for my Product Launch post tomorrow night because it is definitely the right time to "celebrate big"!!!  If you are checking out the rest of the design team members, I'm sure you have seen some fabulous uses for this set.
Be sure to head over to the My Favorite Things blog and leave a comment for your chance at a prize. Then come back tonight to see if you have won and to check out all of the new Product Launch posts!

Catered Crop: Canning Jar Recipe Swap

This week's recipe swap at Catered Crop is to use canning jars.  They can be real jars or stamped jars.  The challenge says...

For this challenge you can use a canning Jar (Mason, Kerr, Ball, etc.) and fill it, alter it, tag it, decorate it . . . what ever you want to do. Or you can create a card (or scrapbook page) with a canning jar on the card.

As usual, Linda has put together a Pinterest board full of inspiration and I almost felt inspired to alter a real jar.  But I am so firmly into paper-crafting, other types of crafts totally elude me. Luckily, there are great canning stamps out there!


It's hard to tell from photos, but this is just a tiny 3.25" card.   I've been having fun with this size lately - it's easy to put the entire focus on special stamps that might get lost on a bigger card, particularly when I tend to keep lots of white space.
Did you know it is World Card Making Day today??!!  I hope each of you gets a chance to celebrate!

• Stamps: Paper Smooches Crystal Clear, Word Salad
• Paper: MME Adorbs, PTI Smokey Shadow
• Ink: PTI Smokey Shadow, Limeade Ice, SU Smoky Slate, Hero Arts Pale Tomato
• Accessories: SU Island Indigo twine, clear sequins

Mojo Monday: Miss You Like Crazy

There's big stuff going on at Mojo Monday - it's the 300th sketch and they have discount codes for various shops and thirty prizes!!  This is not a challenge to miss!!

I pulled out my favorite sentiment - I used it just last week but I love it so much it is going to keep showing up, particularly when thinking ahead to cards for Operation Write Homes!!

• Stamps: Verve Hope Blooms
• Paper: Stampin' Up Early Espresso, MME On the Bright Side 6x6
• Ink: Memento Espresso Truffle
• Accessories: Verve Floral Circles die, L'il Inkers stitched squares, My Favorite Things Fishtail dies

CAS(E) this Sketch: Miss You Like Crazy

It's time for another great sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch!  This one has lots of wonderful space for you to use your imagination and creativity!

I did switch up the sentiment on my card.  I had a sentiment that I wanted to use in the bigger panel, so I added a little bit of bling where the sentiment was supposed to go!  Remember, these sketches are a starting point - you are welcome to change them up!

I look forward to seeing everything that you do with this sketch!

• Stamps: Verve Hope Blooms
• Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy
• Paper: Stampin' Up Marina Mist
• Accessories: MME Washi, Maya Road Kraft Layerable Flowers (I used a circle die to make various sizes), L'il Inkers stitched rectangles, May Arts twine, Martha Stewart Bright Large Gemstone Stickers, misc smaller gems

Operation Write Home: A Challenge, A Sketch & Freedom

I have the ultimate thrill of having a card up at Operation Write Home for the Midweek Throwdown Challenge.  They selected this card as part of their clean and simple with a little texture challenge.    I hope you check out this challenge!

Besides being an amazing cause (that you should be sure to check out if you have lots of cards stashed away) they also go out of their way to keep it fun and challenging for all of us cardmakers.  Today's challenge is a CAS challenge.  On Sundays they have sketch challenges.  I used this week's sketch on these cards for a soldier to send home to a little boy and to a little girl.


Isn't this sweet little raccoon face just perfect for a Miss You card?

OWH challenges are nice in that they provide measurements.  It's not required to use exactly the same size, but it certainly makes for a quick and easy card.  Other than the diamond border on the boy's card, I cut everything else based on the dimension of the sketch.

I don't usually tuck multiple cards into one post, but there is another challenge this week that is just perfect for AnyHero cards.  Operation Write Home wants blank cards that they send in bulk to soldiers who then use them to write home to their loved ones (like the cards above) and they want AnyHero cards which are notes directed to the soldiers with personal notes of thanks and gratitude.  This week's challenge at CASology is "free" - a perfect chance for an AnyHero card.  I've made a number of these and will add personal notes before I send them to OWH to distribute.

Miss You Raccoon for a Boy:

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Deep in the Woods, Delicate Doilies (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Midnight Muse, More Mustard, Marina Mist, Crushed Curry, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 3 dsp
• Ink: Memento black, Copics
• Accessories: Stampin' Up woodgrain embossing folder, My Favorite Things Harlequin die

Miss You Raccoon for a Girl:

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Deep in the Woods, Delicate Doilies (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Perfect Plum, Lawn Fawn Bright Side 6x6 paper pad
• Ink: Memento black, Copics
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink buttons: Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet

Land of the Free, Because of the Brave:

• Stamps: Impression Obsession star and circle star, My Paper Moon Because of the Brave
• Paper: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Real Red
• Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Real Red
• Accessories: Basic Grey star stickers, Divine Twine Airmail, star punch, L'il Inkers stitched rectangles

TAWS Time: Miss You with Chevrons

I spent quite a bit of my weekend sitting with the boxes of cards that I have made over the last year making sure they were ready to be sent to Operation Write Home so when I sat down to create a card for another of the new release sets for The Alley Way Stamps, the idea of "missing you" was on my mind.  I had to give you the background because this is so totally not a direction that I thought I would take the new set full of chevrons and arrows - but I do like how it worked.  Stars and hearts and a "miss you" banner looking a little bit like a comfortable quilt.


Even though "miss you" is sad, I went looking for the brightest color combo that I could find so that the card still brought a smile.  I found color throwdown.

There are brand new Copic charts on my sidebar with all of the new 2013

Stampin' Up colors and up-to-date Papertrey Ink colors.  Guess what!!!

It includes all retired colors - Pink Passion is on the chart!!

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Good Point, sentiment from Get the Point
• Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Gray
• Ink: Memento Gray Flannel, Copics
• Accessories: L'il Inkers Stitched Rectangles, Stampin' Up Basic Gray button

CAS(E) this Sketch: Miss You Like Crazy

My card today is a little different for me.  It's still clean and simple, but I don't generally do soft colors, nor vintage paper and elements, but I actually have reasons for this card.


First, it's for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

Second, on Mother's Day, I told the story of my mother - her passion for cardmaking, how she started our church card ministry and that I "miss her like crazy".  Thank you to all of you who have left such kind and caring comments.  But there was more to the story that I just didn't want to tell on Mother's Day.  

Today is actually the anniversary of my mother's death.  She died of a heart attack.  What we did not know at the time is how different a woman's heart attack symptoms can be from a man's.  My mom actually had her heart attack on Mother's Day.  The only symptom was extremely severe back pain, so extreme that my South Dakota farm-stock, never-ever-see-a-doctor-when-you-can-just-tough-it-out mother was actually going to go to a doctor the next day.  But she woke up the next day feeling fine so never sought medical care.  My mom always overdid things and her back pain could have been related to carrying some heavy boxes the day before, so we didn't think a thing of it.  And that's what I want to say today.  Take a moment and read this article on heart attack symptoms in women.   The article says, "Even though heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, women often chalk up the symptoms to less life-threatening conditions like acid reflux, the flu or normal aging."  This article just briefly mentions back pain but we also don't know what else my mom was feeling - she just wasn't one to talk about her aches and pains.  Don't ignore symptoms, but also remember the key word is "extreme" so you don't have to worry every single day.  If you have any concerns, also check out Go Red for Women for risk factors, heart healthy foods, lifestyle changes and other actions you can take to increase awareness of and fight against heart disease in women.

And...one last reason....almost a year ago now I asked for advice as to how you were all using your cards.  Due to a very negative situation, my family chose to leave our church home of sixteen years, which sadly, also meant leaving the church cardmaking ministry.  Your advice poured in but it's taken me this long to move on from the emotions of the situation and, in the meantime, I have created two very large boxes of cards without a home.  

So many of you mentioned Operation Write Home.  What an amazing group!! Their mission is:

Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as "AnyHero" cards of gratitude to encourage them.

OWH recently sent their 2 millionth card!  They created a video commemorating the moment - I dare you to watch this without a box of kleenex nearby.

They are a well-organized group that has the process down perfectly.  There are rules, but they all make sense - for example, would you have guessed that a single fleck of glitter that drops from a greeting card onto a soldier's uniform could be picked up by night-vision goggle and be dangerous - so NO glitter on the cards!!  I already have my OWH stamp for the back of my card.  And I have a large quantity of envelopes coming that OWH gets us at a discount.  There's also a huge Memorial weekend blog hop that you can check out here.  The OWH blogs are full of challenges and care sketches and thank you's from soldiers.

I'm joining in - and this "Miss You Like Crazy" card is my first official card!!




I know...too many words today and too few cards...thanks for sticking with me!

• Stamps: Verve Hope Blooms
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Kraft and Sweet Blush, My Mind's Eye the sweetest thing Lavender 6x6 pad
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: My Mind's Eye the sweetest thing Lavender Wood & Chip buttons, Zing white embossing powder, crochet thread

The Alley Way Stamps: Miss You Lots

I think this guy is utterly charming...


He looks a little bit lost and not scary at all, so I thought he would be perfect hiding behind those trees! 
I used the colors from Dynamic Duos plus the dessert option of a kid-themed card.

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Deep in the Woods, Delicate Doilies (sentiment), Fa-la-la (bitty snowflake
• Paper: Stampin' Up Pacific Point, Basic Black
• Ink: Stampin' Up Pacific Point, Memento Black and Copics
• Accessories: Taylored Expressions birch tree dies, Divine wine Black Licorice