Psalm 29:11

This is another of the cards I made last month while guest blogging for JustRite. My favorite of the three! The stamp set is JustRite's beautiful Cast All Your Cares, and the papers are from the Pretty In Pink collection by Glitz Design.

Here's what I shared on the JR blog:

I think I gasped aloud when I first saw Cast All Your Cares. I just love Scripture stamps, and these verses are some of the best for comfort and encouragement. The artwork is graceful and elegant and works beautifully with the vintage look I so adore. Here, I've stamped the lovely frame image in a neutral ink and the Psalm 29:11 Scripture in rose ink onto ivory card stock and die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels Sixteen die. I layered onto a larger Labels Sixteen die cut that I sponged and stitched. Accents include a Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Accents border, crochet trim, seam binding, mother of pearl buttons and lots of heavy distressing.

 

Stamps: Cast All Your Cares 

Dies: Spellbinders: Labels Sixteen, Fleur De Lis Accents 

Inks: Versamagic Wheat; Ranger Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Inks 

Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream card stock, Glitz Pretty In Pink 

Embellishments: Zva Creative paper flower, MemrieMare seam binding, Maya Road trinket pins, paper doily, distressing tool, sewing machine, May Arts crochet ribbon and burlap string, mother of pearl buttons

Seahorse Bay

Thought I'd share the projects I did recently as guest blogger for JustRite, beginning with this one. I just love the label image from JustRite's Sea Shell Bay Labels Twenty Two set. I stamped in black and colored with Copics. In the background, on that khaki panel, I've also stamped the Vintage Map Collage Background Stamp. Beachy elements include burlap, some interesting netting that I found at the CHA Supershow a few years ago, rope, and the weathered wood designer paper along the bottom.

On a different note, I used to think I was a slow crafter, but lately, I've given a whole new meaning to the word "slow," because now while I'm crafting, I have to stop every few minutes and Draw Something! I'm SO addicted! Anyone else? Find me via Facebook or under username PickleTree :) (Two separate accounts = twice the fun = 3/4 less creative output {wink}.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Recipe:

JustRite Stamps: Sea Shell Bay Labels Twenty Two , Vintage Map Collage Background Stamp

Dies: Spellbinders Labels Twenty Two

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Inks, Copic Markers BG000, BG10, BG72, YR30, E00, E11, E95, E99, E41, E42, E43, W00, W1, T3, T5

Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream and Soft Stone card stock, My Mind's Eye On the Bright Side Two, My Mind's Eye Dilly Dally

Embellishments: May Arts crochet ribbon, Stampin' Up rope and jumbo eyelets, burlap, net (source unknown), distressing tool, sewing machine, foam adhesive squares, ivory acrylic paint

JustRite Guest Blogger - Day 3

Today is my third and final day as guest blogger over at the JustRite Inspirations blog. Here's a peek at my personal favorite of the three projects.

Hope you'll visit me over there today!

JustRite Guest Blogger, Day #2

I'm guest blogging over on the JustRite Inspirations blog again today. Here's a little peek:

Head over there to find out what I do when I get frazzled ;) (Confession ... maybe only the second part. I'm not good at all with the first part!) Curious? See you there!

Guest Blogging for JustRite

I have the honor of guest blogging over at the JustRite Inspiration blog today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. I used to have lots of opportunities to work with JustRite back when Stamper's Dream was open, and have missed them quite a bit. Thank you, Kellie, for the invitation! The new (and huge) CHA release is incredible -- lots of sets that coordinate with Spellbinders labels dies, two new JustRite custom Spellbinders die sets, and some really fantastic background stamps. I can't wait to share what I've put together for the week. Hope you'll visit me there!

 

Happy Halloween

It's been very, very quiet on the stamping front lately, so I thought I'd share this teacher treat that a few friends and I put together for the PTO to give the teachers and staff at our kids' elementary school (we made nearly seventy of them!). This little guy is a lot worse for the wear, having been transported several times and handled quite a bit by my 4yo (safekeeping efforts, of course), but you'll still get the idea. I used to think, "What did we do before the internet?"; now it's "what did we do before Pinterest?" I seriously love that site for inspiration of all sorts! I found both this skeleton cuppie project (courtesy of Woman's Day magazine) and the tombstone free printable (thank you Elle's Studio) via Pinterest. Because of my compulsive need to stamp anything and everything {grin}, I embellished the tombstone with an oval stamped with "Spooky Treats" (from JustRite's Halloween Mini Sentiments set). The grass along the bottom was die-cut with a grass die from The Cat's Pajamas.

I will say the white fudge-coated pretzel skeletons were a bit more involved than it appeared from the recipe. I thought I'd simply thread the lollipop stick through the pretzels and stick on some broken-pretzel arms. Turns out the holes in the pretzels were too large and the pretzels spun freely and wildly around the sticks. To keep everything nicely in place, I used Wilton candy melts to secure the pretzels to the stick, quite time-consuming for such a large quantity. In the end, it was worth it, though. It always is!

Happy Halloween!

Christmas Birdcage Tag

{Updated to Add: The Stamper's Dream store closing discount has increased to 30% effective immediately! Everything must go! Get while the gettin's good, girls! Use discount code SDClosing30 at checkout. $20 minimum order.}

I was inspired by a plethora of YouTube videos to pull out my Tim Holtz Caged Bird die, a definite favorite, but sadly underused. No longer, though -- I plan to make a bunch of these to have on hand for the holidays. My end result could work as a gift or treat tag, an ornament, or even as a card element. The rosette was something I rescued from my leftovers pile and the flowers were from my stash (Bo Bunny for the rolled-style flower and Prima for the poinsettia). The bird (part of the Tim Holtz die) was cut from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Christmas collection. I added a sentiment flag with "From Our Family" using JustRite's Christmas Mini Sentiments set. At the top is a hemp bow topped with two rusted jingle bells. The snowflakes were diecut with MFT's Snowflake trio Dienamics die and topped with glass glitter. Sorry for the not-so-great photo -- I'm working on it! [Nevermind! :grin:]

Thanks for visiting,

Stamper's Dream Blog Hop: You're the Best

Stamper's Dream and friends are joining together for a final Stamper's Dream blog hop. Sadly, Michelle has decided to close her store. As unfortunate as it is to lose one of my very favorite places to shop, I absolutely 100% support Michelle and her decision. She has posted a little bit about it today on her blog.

You know the drill ... everything must go! Save 20% on EVERYTHING with the coupon code Farewell2U. Just enter the code at checkout and you'll receive 20% off the lowest marked price of the items in your shopping cart! $20 minimum purchase to activate the coupon. Sorry, no free shipping during the liquidation. 

A proper farewell hop wouldn't be complete without the Dream Team and some very special Dream Team alumnae:

Michelle Rodgers
Becca Feeken
Tosha Leyendekker
Denise Marzec
Laurie Schmidlin
Carolyn King
Amy Sheffer
Arlene Cuevas
Teresa Kline
Jessica Diedrich
Mariana Grigsby
Lea Lawson
Jo Thompson

I dedicate my card to Michelle. She is the best, and I am so blessed to call her a true friend. I have the utmost love and admiration for her, and know our friendship will remain long after the store's doors have closed! The sentiment I used is from JustRite's Friendship Nested Sentiments, and the yellow oval frame is from JustRite's Song in My Heart. Some of the details include Kaisercraft Aqua Rhinestones and a postage border done with Spellbinders' Classic Postage Stamp Edgeabilities. The beautiful papers are from Prima's Alla Prima Collection. I used various flowers from my stash, but this collection does have coordinating Avon Rose Alla Prima Flowers.

The layout is this month's Sketch For You To Try, sponsored by Waltzingmouse Stamps. You have until the end of the month to play along -- link up your creation HERE!

A few more detail shots ...

I'll continue to post Stamper's Dream projects during the liquidation, so this isn't really a farewell ... yet! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Follow Your Dreams

I don't think it's actually been forever since I last blogged, but it sure feels that way. I had great expectations and a fun stamping to-do list that, unfortunately, remains untouched. But it's been a blessedly full week. One highlight: my first out-of-the-home paid employment in twelve years (woohoo!!), subbing at my youngest son's preschool. Five hours, times two days, with ten two-and-a-half years olds = ten times more worn out than usual, but 100 times blessed. Happy sigh ...

I did have a little stamping time last night. Bits and pieces of Prima's Londonerry collection (available at Stamper's Dream) have been spread out on my craft island from a couple of other cards I've made and posted, so it was an easy place to start. I have two friends who are embarking upon big life changes, both career-related, and so I designed this card with each of them in mind. It can be scary to follow your dreams, especially when it involves leaving a place of comfort and familiarity for the unknown. I want them to know I believe in them! 

The "Follow Your Dreams" sentiment is from JustRite's Dare to Dream set. "Londonerry" has several sheets in it of wonderful reduced-size elements such as the ticket that I stamped the sentiment on and the tilted square framed panel behind it (Finick Finack).

 There are also a couple of word borders that I cut apart to tuck here and there.

 Details include May Arts green velvet crochet-edged ribbon, a crochet trim bow topped with a purple Prima flower, and a crystal flourish. I don't know why, but I had never thought to tie the crochet trim into a bow until I saw it someone's blog a week or two ago. Of course now I can't remember whose blog it was, but a big thanks for the inspiration just the same!

 Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!




Stamps: Dare to Dream (JustRite Stamps) 
Paper: Prima Marketing Londonerry, Stampin' Up naturals card stock for card base 
Ink: Ranger Walnut Stain Distress Ink 
Accessories: May Arts crochet trim and velvet crochet-edged ribbon, Prima flower, bling (unknown?), My Favorite Things bracket die, sewing machine, distressing tool, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Stampin' Up vintage trinkets (safety pin), foam adhesive
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

The Road to A Friend's House

 

I'm doing the whole Saturday run-around thing and almost forgot to post my card for today! I was doing some {more} organization this past week and had the chance to re-visit some of my older JustRite stamp sets. The beautiful sentiments in the Song in My Heart jumped out at me. Here, I've created a fairly easy card that features one of those sentiments. The open scallop frame was done with Spellbinders Lacey Ovals Nestabilities. The lavender background paper is from Prima's Londonerry collection. I accented with various Prima flowers, seam binding, a pearl flourish, and a Martha Stewart punched butterfly. I distressed the edges with a distressing tool and also crumpled the whole background panel, smoothed it out, and lightly sanded to bring out the creases. Along the perimeter, I added a few touches of Silver Crushed Glass Glitter by Stampendous. (Love this stuff! comes in Champagne, too! Click for a closer look at the sparkle.)

Have a great weekend!

Glory to God in the Highest

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Our soccer and football games were both rained out, so we had an unusually un-busy Saturday. Nice and relaxing, but if we don't soon get some football played, I'm afraid we'll be getting snowed out instead of rained out! We've had so much rain this fall. The landscape and gardens are so lush and green that it looks more like Spring.

I just received a batch of new Spellbinders dies that I pre-ordered back in the summer. Couldn't wait to play! I thought the large shape in the new Twisted Metal Tags & Accents Shapeabilities would make such a beautiful frame for JustRite's elegant Rejoice stamp set. Here, I've combined them with lovely vintage-inspired papers from the My Mind's Eye's Lost and Lost & Found Christmas 6x6 paper collection.

A closer look at the sentiment and decorative frame ...

I stamped the outer frame in Stampin' Up's Always Artichoke and die-cut with a Spellbinders oval die. The little pearls are dotted on with a Viva Decor cream pearl pen. All but the sentiment from the center stamp was inked with Versamagic Sage ink. I then used a black dye-based marker to ink the sentiment. I trimmed the center by hand to achieve the mat size I was looking for, then distressed the edges to hide my irregular hand-cutting.

The layout is a slightly tweaked version of September's Sketch For You To Try, sponsored by Skipping Stones Design. There's still plenty of time to get your submissions in if you haven't already! Remember, a huge prize package is coming up at the end of the year for one lucky sketch participant who has played along each month!

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit! Hope your week gets off to a fabulous start!!



Stamps: Rejoice (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up True Thyme, Papertrey Vintage Cream, Lost and Lost & Found Christmas
Ink: black dye marker, Versamagic Sage, Stampin' Up Always Artichoke, Ranger Old Paper, Frayed Burlap, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities and Twisted Metal Tags & Accents Shapeabilities, charm from stash, May Arts burlap string, distressing tool, paper piercer/needle/thread, foam tape, Copic markers
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Be Afraid

My eyes were too big when the time came to stock up on Halloween papers this year, so I have a definite surplus, but I have to say of all of them, the Mischievous line by My Mind's Eye is my fave! I'm also really loving all the adorable sentiments in JustRite's Halloween Mini Sentiments. They're sized perfectly to tuck in here, there, and everywhere. I stamped "Be Afraid" onto one edge of a punched label shape, then tucked it behind the horizontal panel and embellished with two mini banner strips. The doily is from My Favorite Things, the buttons from Papertrey, and the little spider image is something I punched from one of last year's Halloween papers (from Toil & Trouble by Making Memories, I believe).

I used Jen Shults's Deconstructed Sketch #20, without the scallops and a slightly repositioned and downsized bow.

Next up is a card using last week's Deconstructed Sketch, #19:

I kid you not, I started this card over a week ago! It's been a busy and at times difficult week and I just have had no desire to craft at all. Don't you hate when that happens? When I finally ventured into my stamp room last night, I was pleasantly surprised to find this card mostly finished, minus a few finishing touches. Once again, I combined Mischievous (the owl is cut from one of the patterns) and the JustRite Halloween Mini Sentiments. This time I divided the "Trick or Treat" sentiment onto to Maya Road miniature tickets. Pretty straightforward -- lots of pattern on this one!

Here's the sketch I used:

Last, have a peek at JustRite's Halloween Mini Sentiments:

I will soon need to plan out (and make) spooky teacher/staff Halloween treats for my kids' elementary school and have been pinning ideas over on Pinterest. I'm thinking these JustRite sentiments are going to come in handy. Whatever I come up with, I'll be sure to share here!

Have a great weekend, friends. I've missed you this week!

Blizzard Bunch

Chillier temperatures in my neck of the woods were enough to inspire today's card, featuring the adorable new-ish Blizzard Bunch stamp set by JustRite Stamps. This set includes four of these sweet fellas, plus four fun and festive borders. I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored with Copic markers, and die-cut the image and assorted frames with Spellbinders Classic Oval and Lacey Oval dies. For some sparkle, I added some Frosted Lace Stickles to the snow.The larger rose red label shape was done with a Spellbinders Labels Eighteen Nestabilities die. The various papers, mostly scraps, are all from the 12 Days of Christmas 6x6 Paper Pad by My Mind's Eye.

Enjoy today!





Stamps: Blizzard Bunch (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas 6x6 Paper Pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Ovals, Lacey Oval and Labels Eighteen Nestabilities, sewing machine, Copic markers, foam tape, Kaisercraft adhesive pearls, hemp twine, My Favorite Things scallop border Die-namics die, Frosted Lace Stickles
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Fleur de Lis Birthday

Have you seen the new vintage, French-inspired sets from Just Rite, available at Stamper's Dream? Oh my stamp-y heavens, they are so beautiful! Today, I've paired a lovely fleur-de-lis image from the Bon Voyage cling set with Prima's new Alla Prima paper collection. The fleur de lis image is colored with Copics and die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels Twenty Nestabilities die. The grayish piece behind it is die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels Eighteen Nestabilities die. Speaking of Spellbinders, check out the *new Spellbinders* in the Stamper's Dream store!

The layout is Jen Shults's The Deconstructed Sketch #17 from last week. Love Jen's sketches and was excited to play along for the first time, even though I missed the entry deadline, which was yesterday.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Stamps: Bon Voyage, Shabby Chic Labels Four (JustRite)
Paper: Stampin' Up Sahara Sand card stock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, Prima Alla Prima designer paper 6x6 collection
Ink: Ranger Peeled Paint and Pumice Stone Distress, Stampin' Up More Mustard
Accessories: Copic markers, Spellbinders Labels Eighteen and Labels Twenty Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, distressing tool, Pizzazz Aplenty turquoise pearls, Zva Creative tiny crystals, The Twinery twine, MemrieMare crinkled seam binding, Recollections mini rose, sewing machine, foam tape
Size: 4 1/4 x 5 12"

Be Strong

Goodness, would you believe it took me the better part of the weekend to finish this card? Not because there's anything elaborate about it (there's not), but because instead of stamping, I've been nesting like crazy. I mean, seriously, you'd think I'm about to have a baby (I'm not)! The mud room re-do is finally complete, the breakfast room has been entirely re-done, and my daughter's room has a new coat of paint. She picked out the color (a turquoise blue) and I was a little hesitant, but after remembering my own paint color battles with my mom when I was a kid, I let her go for it. And I absolutely love the result! (It's Benjamin Moore Tropicana Cabana, if interested.) It was a productive weekend, even if the stamping yield was low!

Anyway, on to the card ... after seeing some of the previews of JustRite's new clear stamp set, Be Strong, I couldn't wait for it to arrive at Stamper's Dream. What an amazingly powerful set! I used it to make a breast cancer encouragement card. The ribbon is stamped and colored with Copics, then layered over an oval that has been stamped with an oval filigree frame image. Behind that is a Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two die-cut for some frilly elegance. The tag was cut with JustRite's Charms custom die set and stamped with an image and sentiment from Be Strong.

Be sure to check out the New Arrivals section at Stamper's Dream. Michelle is regularly adding new summer CHA arrivals. Spotted in there just a few minutes ago ... new JustRite, Flourishes, and Stampavie stamps, plus My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Two paper collections. (Swoon! Save some for me, please!)

Have a great week!





Stamps: Be Strong (JustRite)
Paper: Authentique Splendid collection, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, Papertrey Kraft card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Tumbled Glass and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks
Accessories: Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two Shapeabilities, Classic Oval Nestabilities; JustRite Charms custom die set, lace trim, Papertrey baker's twine, My Favorite Things scallop border die, foam tape, paper piercer/needle/thread, distressing tool
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"