Another Sympathy Card

Happy day-after-Christmas, everyone! I have been MIA with all my holiday preparations, but sadly, I needed another sympathy card this week! I snuck into my craft room a couple days ago and made this simple card.  It uses the sketch from Inspire.Create, and the colors from Creative Colour Challenges:

I pulled out an old wooden stamp from Stampscapes, along with some DSPs and this is what I came up with:

I used Basic Beige for the stamped panel and card, and Country Woods and Countryside Inn DSPs.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I was surprised how nice the Blueberry Bushel ink looked on the Basic Beige cardstock:

I used an older Our Daily Bread Designs verse for the inside, along with a Hero Arts sentiment as well:

My only embellishment was some Basic Beige ribbon.  The family who lost their mom used to have a bed and breakfast called the Log House, so I thought this image was appropriate.  So glad you popped in today!

So on Christmas, I had most of my immediate family, their children and grandchildren, for dinner and dessert.  That included four boys, ranging in ages from one to nine! And Maven was in the mix too with her almost-one-year-old voice!  The noise was deafening, but it was fun.  I recently saw a clip on FB where parents gave babies a choice of two things to play with; one was a toy and the other was something like a box, a spoon, or just something that you wouldn't think would capture their eye, but every time, the child went for the non-toy item!  Maven's mom sent me this video, which totally reinforces that idea (along with the dads who were involved as well!); be sure to turn up the audio, because listening to this little Cole laugh just made me laugh too:

And here's that little Maven herself with Aunt Dana! (And she was playing with a spoon!)

They just grow up so fast!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret), Scripture Collection 1 (Our Daily Bread Designs), Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts), Lakeside Cabin (Stampscapes)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Beige, Countryside Inn DSP, Country Woods DSP
Ink	Night of Navy, Blueberry Bushel
Accessories	Basic Beige Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies (ret), Banner Dies (Pretty Pink Posh)

FMS663 & LRW783 Simple Sympathy

Happy Thursday, all.  Sadly, we lost a former church member this week, one of the godliest men I knew.  He was a farmer, a millwright, a hunter and served his community tirelessly.  I wanted to use the paper from Winter Meadow that had the deer image on it, and the FMS sketch worked well with it:

The Little Red Wagon challenge this week is monochromatic, so since these papers are in shades of gray, that's what I used:

I used Smoky Slate and Basic Gray for my cardstocks, although I think probably Gray Granite would have been better, although it has a brown tinge to it that I really don't care for.  I did stamp a pine tree on the background and a sympathy sentiment on the front.  The horizontal panel is also embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  A few enamel dots were the only embellishment.

It's sad to lose our loved ones at any time, but to lose them around the holidays is an additional challenge.  I know Dave's family is rejoicing that he is in heaven, but we all miss him here on earth!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with people!  He will live with them, and they shall be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.  He will wipe away all tears from their eyes.  There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared." Revelation 21:3-4

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts), Forest of Tress (Flourishes)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Winter Meadow DSP
Ink	Basic Gray, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Enamel Dots (W+9)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Subtle Embossing Folder (ret)

AHSC580 Deepest Sympathy

Happy Monday, peeps! Hope you all had a great weekend! It's time for another sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

And I chose this sketch for the second sympathy card I needed to make:

This flower from Unity's March stamp of the month club was stamped in Stazon ink on some watercolor paper, and watercolored with various shades of ink. I know it's probably not the usual theme for a sympathy card but I don't think they always need to be in somber shades.  And I love that little lady bug!  After stamping it, I stamped it again on masking paper and fussy-cut it out to create a mask for my circular image.  I created that by creating a stencil with a piece of acetate and a circle die, then lightly blending some yellow ink inside:

I added some white sequins, then mounted it all on a mat of Basic Black and a card of Old Olive.  A sentiment from Close to My Heart went on the inside:

I think this sketch is super-versatile and I can't wait to see what you come up with!  Be sure to share it with everyone at Atlantic Hearts!  Thanks for visiting today!

Cassidy's soccer team won their championship this weekend!  Now it will on to basketball camp and lots of other summer activities!!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

So remember today and never forget: the Lord is God in heaven and on earth.  There is no other god.  Obey all his laws that I have given you today and all will go well with you and your descendants.  You will continue to live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to be yours forever.  

Deuteronomy 4:39-40

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	God is Good (Close to My Heart), Hero Arts Sentiments (CL342), March Kit of the Month (Unity)
Card stock & Papers	Old Olive, Basic Black, Watercolor, Masking Paper, Acetate Sheet
Ink	Stazon Black, Old Olive, Real Red, Lemon Lolly, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry
Accessories	Sequins from my stash
Tools	Aquapainter, Blending Brush

FMS638 Perennial Sympathy

Happy Thursday, peeps! It's an unappealing day...I have a dentist appointment AND I needed not one, but two sympathy cards! I will save one for later, though.  This one happens to use the FMS sketch for this week:

I delved into my Perennial Lavender DSP and came up with a couple beautiful prints to make my card:

I matted my shapes with some diecuts in Pretty Peacock, Highland Heather and Basic White, then added a sentiment, stamped in Gorgeous Grape, and added a second banner of Fresh Freesia:

I mounted everything on a Crumb Cake card and stamped a sentiment from the retired Here's A Card on the inside:

I just think these papers are stunning!

On a happier note, Cassidy decided she wanted to go back to her natural hair color, so Dana took her to the salon for the whole works!

It may take me a while to get used to this look!!!

Before and after!

Thanks for indulging me!  And thanks for popping in today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card (ret), Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Highland Heather, Fresh Freesia. Perennial Lavender DSP
Ink	Gorgeous Grape
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Layering Squares Dies (ret), Circle Dies (Nestabilities), Shape Dies SD203 (Nellie's Choice)

Vintage Sympathy

Happy Saturday, everyone! Praise the Lord, the sun is shining here in Pennsylvania, and it's a Saturday!  Amazing! Unfortunately, I needed another sympathy card recently, and I used the sketch from As You See It and a few of the Earth Day prompts from Festive Friday for my (vintage again) card:

I pulled out some older nature-themed stamps and went to work:

The elements from the FF challenge that I chose were neutrals, woodgrain, twine and thinking of you.  I stamped the bird's nest in Pecan Pie on some Very Vanilla and colored in the eggs very lightly:

The sentiment from Hero Arts was stamped on a little banner and I added another wee little bird's egg.  The elements behind the nest were some retired stitched ribbon and Wavy Trim.

My woodgrain paper was originally white, so I used a blending brush to color it with Crumb Cake ink, then I stamped several images on it in Gray Granite to create my own collage-style background paper:

I added a Gray Granite mat as well as a Pecan Pie mat, on which I stamped a dictionary-style page around the edges.  I used a Stamp Simply sentiment on the inside, and added a few more feathers from Soft as a Feather, an older retired SU set:

The card is for John's brother-in-law who lost his father recently.  John's sister and BIL are great birders and we often swap bird sighting stories with them, so I hope they will find comfort in this card!  Thanks for popping in today!  

We made a little visit to my nephew's house yesterday to see this little peanut:

Cute as a button and good as gold!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Soft as a Feather (ret), Birds of a Feather (Artistic Outpost), Farmhouse All Occasion Greetings (Stamp Simply), Sentiment CL342 (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Pecan Pie, Gray Granite, Heart & Home DSP (ret)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Gray Granite, Pecan Pie, Soft Sky (ret), Balmy Blue
Accessories	Wavy Trim, Soft Sky Stitched Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Oval Dies (Nestabilities), Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Blending Brush

JAI695 Chocolate Bunny

Happy Friday, peeps! I have a quick card to share today for the Just Add Ink challenge of CHOCOLATE! 

What a fun challenge! It reminded me of this single bunny stamp from SU from a long time ago, so I dug it out, along with a Hero Arts stamp and this is what I came up with:

One last Easter card!  My background paper is from Fitting Florets, and the sentiment panel was stamped with Blushing Bride and Chocolate Chip.  I think it took me longer to find my Chocolate Chip reinker to ink up my old CC ink pad than it did to make the card, LOL!  I cut the frame out with a Rectangle Deckle Edge die, added some grosgrain ribbon and "chocolate" dots:

and of course, my chocolate bunny!  He was stamped on Pecan Pie cardstock with Chocolate Chip ink, then fussy cut:

A sentiment from Throughout the Year went on the inside.  I'll probably save this one for next year!! 

Longwood Gardens has a blog and they often have really interesting stories to tell about the gardens! This week they had a piece about "Uncle Pierre's Iron Snakes"....apparently Mr DuPont had two iron snakes created and he would hide them around the yard and tell his nieces and nephews to go find them!  You can see a photo of them below, in front of Mr DuPont's home:

These snakes are over 100 years old and were beginning to show deterioration, so they decided to have a new pair made by a local ironworker.  It's a fascinating story and you can read the whole piece HERE. The next time I go, I will be on the lookout for them!  Meanwhile, the last time I was there, one of the gardeners walked past my brother and me with this in his hand:

Yuck! I wasn't sure whether I should be fascinated or repulsed by this creature!  The gardener said it was a snail, obviously, but it was NOT a good snail and it would damage the plants.  So off to the head gardener he went....not sure of his future but I don't think it was a good one!  Thanks for popping in today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Throughout the Year, Single Bunny (ret), A Little Something (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso, Flitting Florets DSP
Ink	Blushing Bride (ret), Chocolate Chip (ret)
Accessories	Opaque Faceted Gems, Dimensionals, Grosgrain Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Rectangle Deckle Edge Dies

IB257 Sympathy Card

Happy Thursday, all.  Sadly, we had two past members of our church pass away within the last two days.  I was totally enamored of Silke's card (you can see it HERE) for the current Inspired By challenge, so I set out to CASE it for a sympathy card.  First, let's see the photo inspiration:

I remembered that I purchased the same PTI dies last year that Silke used on her card and I think I used them once so I got them out for my card too!  I paired the smaller pumpkin with a Hymn Block sentiment from Sweet & Sassy:

I stamped it in Early Espresso on a piece of woodgrained paper:

then created my pumpkin with some retired Naturals White and Mellow Moss cardstocks, giving them a good sponging around the edges with Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake inks and speckling them with Itty Bitty Backgrounds.  It all went on a Boho Blue card base and I added a little piece of Boho Blue twine for color:

And a few sympathy sentiments on the inside as well:

It is a blessing that my friend will no longer be suffering from her cancer, but we will miss her!  Thanks for popping in today....enjoy it and be blessed.

For those who love to see all things Longwood, their blog recently featured an interesting article about tree removal.  Even a public garden like Longwood is no match for winds and storms, but their professionals do have procedures in place to follow if a natural disaster occurs.  It's an interesting read with some pretty amazing photos!  You can check it out HERE.

photo courtesy of Longwood Gardens

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Everyday Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts), Hymn Blocks (Sweet & Sassy) Farmhouse Scriptural Quotes (Stamp Simply), Itty Bitty Backgrounds (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Boho Blue, Crumb Cake,  Naturals White (ret), Mellow Moss (ret), Misc Woodgrain paper
Ink	Early Espresso, Boho Blue, Sahara Sand (ret), Pecan Pie, Crumb Cake, Mellow Moss (ret)
Accessories	Boho Blue Thick Twine, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Subtle EF (ret), Into the Bloom: Pumpkin Dies (Papertrey)

PP650 Countryside Sympathy

Happy Sunday, all!  Joanne is our Paper Players hostess for this week and she has a wonderful sketch! I just love sketches!  Check it out:

I needed a sympathy card, and I thought the patterns in the Countryside Inn papers would be beautiful used on Joanne's sketch, since there are several layers and that would give me a chance to play with several of them!  So here we go:

After choosing my papers, I simply layered them together and added a sentiment from Lasting Joy, diecutting it with a rectangular die from Timeless Arrangements, then adding some embellishments also diecut with dies from Timeless Arrangements as well as some little fussy-cut flowers:

On the inside, I stamped another sympathy sentiment (Hero Arts) and some little flowers from Lasting Joy:

And this is off in the mail! 

I hope that Joanne's sketch inspires you to create something wonderful...share it with us at the Paper Players blog and you might be our Headliner!  And while you're there, be sure to check out the amazing designs from the Design Team, they're sure to inspire you as well! 

Thanks so much for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Lasting Joy, Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Boho Blue, Balmy Blue, Countryside Inn DSP
Ink	Balmy Blue, Boho Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Timeless Arrangements Dies

Easy Mother's Day Card

Happy Thursday, peeps!  I have a quick card today, one where the DSP does most of the work---I love those, don't you?  I needed a Mother's Day card for John's stepmom and she loves flowers, so I pulled out a piece of this pretty floral from the retired Awash With Beauty papers, added a sentiment, ribbon and a few sequins, and it was done:

I know I could never re-create these beautiful florals myself, so I am glad SU did it for me!  My sentiment is from Hero Arts, ribbon is retired SU and the sequins are from my stash!  I diecut the banner and added a little mat:

And the inside sentiment is from a past Paper Pumpkin.  Isn't that font pretty?  Love it!

So glad you stopped by today!

Cassidy had woodshop this year and she made a "holder".  Dana said she made one exactly like it when she was in school, but it was a "CD holder".  Since they don't use CDs any more, now it's just a "holder" for whatever you want to hold, LOL!  Cassidy's using it to hold her Bible and a little lamp...I wonder if Dana even knows where hers is!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts), Paper Pumpkin (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Riding Hood Red (ret), Awash with Beauty DSP (ret), Rich Razzleberry (ret)
Ink	Berry Burst
Accessories	Marina Mist Ribbon (ret), Sequins from my stash
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Banners Dies (Nestabilities)