Grace Be With You - all in yellow!

I have been avoiding this week's Less Is More challenge because it's "yellow" and I find yellow very hard to work with.  But I decided to full embrace it and use yellow along with today's Hump Day challenge which is "tantalizing tone on tone".


 
There is a spritz of gold glimmer mist on the image panel.  (I think that is what is causing it to look so orange in the above photo!)



I also used today's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge.  The sketch is actually what started my entire card this morning as it seemed perfect to showcase a wonderful sentiment.

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Nature Silhouettes and Graceful Calla Lilly (sentiment)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart and Harvest Gold
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold and Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight
• Accessories: Nestabilities label, Papertrey Ink Harvest Gold button, Tattered Angels Gold Glimmer Mist

Cards for Lutheran Family Services

Here's a clean and simple birthday card for a kid.  What's special about it?  Nothing...except....



We made 200 of them yesterday!!!
My church as an annual servant day with projects in-house and around the community.  As the card-making group, we have done such things as cards for soldiers to send back home, and this year, we did birthday cards for Lutheran Family Services to send to their clients.  
Other projects include 

• stuffing animals for Ronald McDonald House 
• decorating priority mailing boxes that a group called Colorado Supporting Our Troops fills and sends overseas.  We have pictures from past years of groups of soldiers holding their glittered, painted, stamped, and stickered boxes!!
• decorating brown paper bags that a group called Project Angel Heart uses to deliver meals to people with life-threatening illnesses
• sewing prayer quilts
• yard work at Girls Hope and Boys Hope
• general handyman work at Praying Hands Ranch and at Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp
• building handicap ramps for families in need
• and many more this year and in past years!!

The key to making a lot of cards is keeping it very simple and being prepared in advance - because many of the people that come have never made a card and we also get lots of kids that want to serve.    Plus, if there's a crowd, I'm not always able to help each person individually.  

So, once again, I thank my family.  For the third time this week, my boys spent an evening cutting (see the confirmation and graduation posts in the last week).  They don't ask for much either.  My husband left yesterday for two days alone in our mountain place - with a stack of library books.  My boys are even easier - we are going to Garbanzo's for lunch today and then to see The Avengers

200 sheets of 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 paper AND
200 sheets of 5 1/4 x 4

I included a variety of embossing folders with instructions

My oldest son used the Stampin' Up BIGZ peekaboo die to
cut 200 little windows.  My husband cut appropriately sized
white squares and circles for under the window.  (I actually
stamped each one - I'm not a complete lump!!)

Here's some of the ladies and their cards!!  Hi, Carol!!!

Isn't card-making a wonderful hobby!!??

I played two challenges for my sample card - CAS-ual Fridays and Pals Paper Arts...

• Stamps: none shown (I used a variety of stamps for insides the windows).  I also had the perfect stamp for inside each card...it says "Just thanking God for the day He made you." It's by MorningStar Stamps - a wonderful company with stamps to "encourage, cheer, thank, bless and celebrate.  But now that I have you all excited - I don't see this stamp there anymore...sorry...but there are lots of others!
• Paper: Stampin' Up Calypso, Baja, Saffron
• Ink: just black
• Accessories: the sample includes a candle from Jolee's Boutique, but I had a wide variety of dimensional and glittered stickers for the cards - I watched sales for a month to get interesting stickers!, Stampin' Up Peekaboo die, the sample includes an embossing folder from Lifestyle Crafts

Dynamic Duo #1

It's official!  The Dynamic Duo Challenge Blog is up and running!!  I am thrilled to be on the first design team/  I have all the other "Dynamos" linked up on my sidebar - be sure to check out their creations.

The first color challenge was chosen from a contest on the Dynamic Duo Facebook page - Lucky Limeade and Pool Party!!  The deal with this challenge is to use ONLY these two colors (plus any neutrals) on any paper crafting project - cards, scrapbooking, digital or other.

I love how cheerful these two colors are together, so I made a card of "comfort"...

I had so much fun working with these colors, I did a bonus card!

I do look forward to checking out of your creations with these colors. Head over to the Dynamic Duo blog for all the rules and to link up your creations.
I also look forward to seeing you back here next week - it's the second week of the month so the theme is "Subtly Yours" with appropriately subtle colors!
Wishing You Comfort

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers, Wishing You (tulips and sentiment), Hanging Out (grass), Background Basics: Circles (rain)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade
• Ink: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Going Gray
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Pool Party twine, Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers die, clear dew drops

Gratitude

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Inspired by Nature, Papertrey Ink Beautiful Butterflies
• Paper: Stampin' Up Pool Party
• Ink: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Basic Gray
• Accessories: misc gems and ribbon

Football & Cocoa for the Birthday Boy

Today's Friday Free For All challenge at Splitcoast Stampers was to create a birthday card for a young boy.  I don't actually need a birthday card for a young boy - but I did have a fun set on my desk from Sweet 'n Sassy Stampers called All-Star Cocoa.  (I had done a baseball card yesterday for the May new release blog hop.)

I pulled out some papers that I liked and then thought about pennants.  I turned to the various challenge blogs that I like on Fridays and found the perfect sketch on iSpy Sketches.

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps All-Star Cocoa
• Paper: Stampin' Up Jersey Shore dsp, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin, Olive and Bashful Blue CS
• Ink: Memento black, Copics
• Accessories: Sweet 'n Sassy grass die, square punch for pennant ends, misc brads

Sweet 'n Sassy May Release Blog Hop

It's May release day for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and, as usual, we are celebrating with a blog hop of all of the new stamps.  If you started at the beginning, you are a little over half way and I bet  you are amazed at what you have seen.  Sweet 'n Sassy is THE best stamp company for offering a variety of stamps and this month is the ultimate - elegant wedding images, vintage cars and cute little mice with baseballs - just a few of what you have seen.  

If you started with me - you might want to head back to the beginning: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog.

I had the fun of premiering two sets that are perfect for Father's Day or other masculine events.  My first card uses the set Gone Fishin'.  Isn't this one of the sweetest faces ever?

I plan to use this as a Father's Day card, but the set comes with other appropriate sentiments like "Happy Retirement" or just simply "Gone Fishin'!
My second masculine card uses the set All-Star Cocoa.  This set comes with Cocoa on a football and one a baseball, but given the men in my family are heavily into baseball season - specifically the Colorado Rockies - I HAD to use the baseball with Rockies colors.

A nice thing about this set is that while it includes some fun Father's Day sentiments, it also has a "#1 Coach" sentiment.

Card details are at the bottom of this post.

Don't forget to join us at 8:00 p.m. tonight in the Sweet 'n Sassy Gallery on splitcoaststampers for the official release party.  And...while you are waiting for that, be sure to hop and comment on everybody because Sweet 'n Sassy is giving away the ENTIRE release to one lucky hopper who comments.  YEAH!

Next on the hop is DJ Rants. Here's the whole list:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog

Korin Sutherland

Dina Kowal

Giovana Smith

Bridget Finlay

Taylor Usry

Monika Davis

Holly McMillen

Kim Singdahlsen <-YOU ARE HERE

DJ Rants

Cathy McCauley

Jennie Harper

Kim Schofield

Mary Faus

Jessica Fick

Gone Fishin':

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Gone Fishin'
• Paper: My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Happy Days
• Ink: Memento black, Copics, Tim Holtz Distress Iced Spruce (on edges)
• Accessories: Quickutz fishhook and fish dies (really, really old!), Nestabilities Labels Two, Stampin' Up Word Window Punch (sized down)

Most Valuable Dad:

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Gone Fishin'
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Royal Velvet, Stampin' Up Going Gray, black and silver shimmer
• Ink: Memento Black, copics
• Accessories: Misc star punch, Stampin' Up stripe embossing folder, Nestabilities circle and zig zag circle

I actually used the same sketch for both of these cards - it's hard to tell because they look so different.  It's this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

A Single Bird...In Sympathy

I make so many sympathy cards - but usually they are for our church card ministry and I don't know who will be receiving them.  It's easier that way.  Yesterday I had to make a card for a wonderful woman whose husband passed away unexpectedly in his sleep last week...at the age of 40.  How do you make a card for that?  I wanted a very peaceful card - with a single bird...but was completely stuck after that.  I turned to the Less Is More challenge for help and it was the perfect inspiration...

The memorial service was yesterday...such raw emotion...Heidi, you are in our prayers...

• Stamps: Our Craft Lounge Prayers and Blessings
• Paper: A slightly textured cardstock from my stash on the background and the bird
• Ink: Stampin' Up Basic Gray
• Accessories: Memory Box Nestled Bird, Stampin' Up bird punch (branch)

iSpy Graduation Cards

Now that I am through confirmation cards for the church, I am moving on to graduation cards for our graduating youth.  As usual, I didn't plan ahead - so I have a large number of cards to make in a very short period of time (translation: (1) nothing fancy or complex on the card and (2) components that can be parceled out to my 12-yr old, my 16-yr old and my 53-yr old...although I have a lot of bribing to do as they are still tired of cutting and gluing and addressing confirmation cards last week!)

I used this week's sketch from iSpy Sketches as I thought the various panels could be used with papers to add interest.

We had a phenomenal fund-raising concert at our church this weekend.  (I had a flyer a few days ago on this blog).  It was for an amazing family whose very young daughter is going through her fourth round of chemotherapy.  The bell choir was one of eight groups that performed.  We decided that, even though we are mainly a group of middle-aged Lutheran ladies (and a few Methodist men pinch-hitting on the giant bells) we were doing....LADY GAGA...to appeal to the sweet, but very sick, young lady.

{My husband just wandered over, read over my shoulder, and said "Ha!  Middle-age??!!  Only if you live to be a hundred!"}

I'm in the brightly-colored boa under "Christ is Risen"??!!  Check out the director...she's got moves!!  Then check out the gentlemen whose head you see right in front of her that never, ever moves...that's her husband!  

I posted this on Facebook and a wonderful (but potentially former) friend commented "So that's where the missing communion wine went!"

I hope we made you smile!
THE CARD DEETS:

• Stamps: Our Daily Bread As You Graduate
• Paper: dsp is from Flair Designs (I've had it forEVer) and CS to match is Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel and Peach Parfair, Papertrey Winter Wisteria
• Ink: Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel and Versamark
• Accessories: Seafoam White embossing powder, Cuttlebug border embossing folder, EK Success postage border punch