Masculine Happy Birthday!

Hi friends!

I often find masculine cards challenging, but today's clean and simple masculine birthday card was a piece of cake using prints from three paper pads from Craft Consortium and our Stamp Simply Autumn Silhouettes set.  

I stamped the sentiment and the cattails image directly onto the designer papers, die cut the one using our fishtail banners and adhered them to the card front.  I added a knot of ribbon with a very simple men's wear style of a button tied onto it as a simple embellishment, then splashed and splattered some diluted brown and grey-black distress oxide ink onto everything.  

Here's a peek at the inside.  The kind of no-nonsense card that my fellas prefer!  I hope you like it too!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Autumn Silhouettes
• Craft Consortium Brick Textures 6x6
• Craft Consortium Test of Time 6x6
• Craft Consortium Beach Hut 6x6
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Espresso Truffle
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Baners
• May Arts 5/8" Faux Linen Canvas Ribbon Sampler - 27 yards
• Burlap string
• distress oxide inks for spattering
• button from stash
• glitter gel pen

Pet Condolences

Hi everyone!

I love that Stamp Simply has a stamp set which includes a "beloved pet" sentiment among all of the more traditional sympathy sentiments that are oft spoken after the loss of a loved one.  One of my spinning/crafting friends recently lost her sweet Corgi "Marti" and I am so glad to be able to craft a card especially for her to comfort her in her grief.  Our pets really are cherished members of our families and it hurts so much to let them go, even when we know it is the right time and for the right reasons.   

I chose Spring-y colors for this card in celebration of a happy life well-lived.  A photo of a leather collar and leash inspired the decorative element along the left edge of the card.  I used strips of card stock, some of them folded and "faux braided" along with an end of a die cut from the Tim Holtz Tags Collection to construct it. Several colors of distress oxide ink gave it that weathered leather look, and I even used a few very old eyelets applied with a Crop-a-dile!    

Here's the inside, with plenty of room to write a heart-felt note.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Sympathy Sentiments Set 2
• Echo Park My Favorite Easter 6x6
• Echo Park My Favorite Spring 6x6
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection (for tab of collar)
• various distress oxide inks
• very old eyelets! ;)

Deepest Sympathy

Hello friends!  I'm here today with a sympathy card in soft neutral tones, pairing prints from two different paper pads with our beautiful Eucalyptus Silhouettes stamp set.   

The background paper has hints of pale peachy pink which I tried to emphasize by using matching ribbon and ink (notice the sponging around the edge of the circular mat under the greenery.  Even the greenery has a touch of that pale pink and soft taupe mingled with the sage green).  The sentiment was stamped directly onto the designer paper background.    

The strip of frilly lace, silky ribbon and pearls make this simple design decidedly feminine.      

A harmonizing print from the Baroque designer paper pad carries the same colors and feminine theme to the inside of the card.  

Stamp Simply Store

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Eucalyptus Silhouettes Bundle
• Craft Consortium Test of Time 6x6
• Craft Consortium Baroque 6x6
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• May Arts 1.25" Variegated Silk - 32 yard spools - Pink/Champagne
• Original Bow Easy
• May Arts 1.5" Lace w/Satin Center - 1 yard - Pink
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• distress oxide inks (bundled sage, frayed burlap, tattered rose)

you + me = forever

Hi everyone! Hard to believe that this first month of 2025 is already almost over and February is nearly here! Wasn't it just New Year's?  But hey, if you're a card maker there's just enough time to finish up those Valentines!

A few of my designer paper pads were stacked randomly on my desk and I noticed how dramatic the black, red, white, pink and teal looked together. With these paper pads it was easy to pull together a card that required minimal stamping and practically no coloring.  

I had some card stock scraps laying alongside my trimmer and decided to use one (a leftover piece of pink card stock that measured 3.5 x 11 inches) as a card base.  The overhanging banner die brings the card's full finished measurement to 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

It's hard to see here but the black background from Craft Consortium's Scorched Paper designer paper pad has just the faintest hint of pink in it.  The Valentine papers are all from Echo Park Love Notes and were all die-cut using our fishtail banners die set.  Since one of those little designer prints included hearts dangling clothes-line style, I was inspired to dangle a little heart-shaped button from a piece of baker's twine to the front of my card.  Just needed to stamp a couple of sentiments from our Farmhouse series. Easy peasy!  

The "cross my heart" block on the inside is just another square of designer paper that was practically the perfect size with minimal need for trimming.  I added a little scrap of white underneath so there'd be space for the sentiment and a signature.  I used a Copic marker to make a teeny tiny heart next to the sentiment to tie it in with the tiny hearts on the designer paper.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Simple Sentiments (outside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Scriptural Thoughts (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Love Notes
• Divine Twine Baker's Twine - 240 Yard Spool - Aqua
• heart shaped button from stash
• red Copic marker (for tiny heart inside)

Happy Day Iris Valentine

Recently I went to Distaff Day in Orlando and (among lots of other things!) bought a four-pack of mini-braids of spinning fiber.  

Spinning friends, they're 4 oz of 100% Blue-Faced Leicester wool being spun with a tiny Jenkins Tulipwood Kuchulu that weighs ~ 9 g.  

Looking again at these colors, I think they absolutely influenced my choice of designer paper for this week's Stamp Simply project!  And not just that but also the "Snowpacalypse" weather maps that we have had here in the Deep South this week!  Similar color palette!  

We ended up not getting any snow, but my brother near Lake Charles, Louisiana did indeed have a blizzard that resulted in 6 inches of "sneaux" and record-breaking cold temperatures.  (As I am writing this, our high temp for the day here in NE Florida is 39 F). So it is hovering just above freezing and our irises are blooming and the azaleas are confused as well!  

So I put together an Iris Valentine using these gorgeous papers with lots of layering and splattering to emphasize these bold colors.  I think they are so gorgeous, both individually and collectively!

You can barely see it, but there is shimmery copper ink stenciled onto the kraft card stock tag using the Tim Holtz Bricked stencil. That shimmer helps bring so much glimmer and glitz to a card IRL but it is hard to capture on screen. 

I got a little carried away with the spattering, especially on the inside, but to me it looks like party confetti and it makes me happy while we've got such dreary grey skies outside!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Happy Day Iris Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Midnight 6x6
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Bricked (stenciled on kraft tag with Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown
• May Arts 1" Grosgrain w/Satin Edge - 30 Yard Spool - Turquoise
• Flowers
• Gems
• click together alphabet stamps 
• distress oxide inks
• Copic markers

My Heart Belongs to Yooper

I love making cards that are a personalized "fit" for the recipient!  That's especially true when it comes to making a Valentine for my one and only.  

For us the Yooper sets and this designer paper work really well for personalizing a Valentine because we met in a place that had hot air balloon decor, and Patrick drove a VW albeit not a "bug" but a "scirocco." His Navy call sign was even "Yooper." 

It was easy to replicate a hot air balloon using a heart die, a folded strip of paper for the balloon's basket, and some jute for the strings that hold the two together.  The "my heart belongs to" sentiment was cobbled together by masking together various sentiments from the Yooper set.  The easiest way to do it is to use a marker to ink what words you want to use.

Of course, your significant other may not be a Yooper, so I've shared alternatives for spelling names in case stamps are not an option for that part!  Little alpha-beads or a Dymo would work really well instead (see the foreground of the first photo). 

Here's a the inside with a Valentine greeting from one of our Typewritten sets and an accent strip from that cute Love Notes designer paper. 

 

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Yooper) (Yooper and "my heart belongs to")
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Typewritten Year Round Greetings (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts (for hot air balloon)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Country Church (cloud dies)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Echo Park Love Notes 6x6
• Ribbon
• Jute
• Blue-green Copic marker for heart on cloud
• button from stash
• alternative alpha-beads or Dymo for spelling loved one's name

Sending Love

Hello again everyone!  I'm happy to be cozy and warm in my squishy chair as I write this post because it has been COLD even in Florida! It got down to 33 overnight a few nights ago!  Brrrrr!  I am happily snuggling with my spinning and knitting and a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa!  This is definitely the weather for sitting with a warm knitting project in your lap!  

Today's Stamp Simply project features our beautiful Vintage Peony stamp set.   Although this set has coordinating dies, I didn't use them for this project, deciding instead to stamp a simple background with the peonies on plain white card stock.  I colored them with Copic markers and filled in the empty space with faint stenciling and spattering with copper ink for some shimmery sparkle.  

Here is a closer look at the banner sentiment and the coppery stenciling behind it.  

The colors of the peachy-pink peonies are reflected in the choice of designer paper for the card's inside.  And because the Tim Holtz die set I used last week was still within reach I was inspired to stamp a little reminder card/envelope to enclose as well.  

Here is the inside of the card by itself...

...and a close-up of the little envelope and its accompanying note, which measures approximately 3 x 2 inches.  The little bee is from the same Peony stamp set, and the serrated stamp die is included in the Postale die set with the envelope, hand and more.  The sentiment is from a set in our Typewritten series.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Vintage Peony
• Craft Consortium Watercolors 6x6
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper (for stenciling and splattering)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Crackle
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Hearts
• May Arts 5/8" Twill - 30 Yard Spool - Sage
• Copic markers

Additional supplies for the little envelope and "reminder"

• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Postale
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Typewritten What You Mean to Me
• burlap string
• printer paper for die-cutting small envelope

Happy 2025!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you're having a wonderful start to what will be a healthy and happy 2025!  

For today's project I combined several Tim Holtz dies and a couple of sentiments from two Stamp Simply sets to create a New Year's wish for you and yours.

When preparing to create this card, I was thinking of sparkly New Year's Eve celebrations, champagne toasts, the countdown to midnight and the New Year, so it seemed only appropriate to use a sheet from Craft Consortium's Ink Drops Midnight paper pad.  I love how the lighter hues streaking through the darker colors gives the illusion of glitter and sparkle.  I added extra splashes of Delicata ink to intensify the bubbly New Year's Eve ambiance. 

Here's the inside, kept clean, simple and elegant with gold splatters and a sentiment stamped in Tuxedo Black ink.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Happy Day Iris (sentiment on tag)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Snowflake Blessings Border Strip (sentiment on the inside)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Christmas Stockings & Mittens (small snowflake)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown (numbers)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Postale (hand)
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Midnight 6x6
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Seam Binding Sampler - Christmas - 30 yards

Sending blessings to you and those you love for each and every day of this brand new year.  And happy crafting!  ❤️

2024 Favorites!

 

Hello everyone!  I hope you had the merriest of Christmases, the beginning of the happiest Hanukkah, or the very happiest of whichever holiday it is that you celebrate!  This quiet week between Christmas and the beginning of the New Year is one of my most favorites of the entire year!  I love how time almost seems to stand still and everything is quiet and peaceful just for a little while!  Most likely I am enjoying some quiet time with some lovely fiber and a beautiful spindle in hand!  

This week our Stamp Simply team is sharing their favorite creations of the year!  I always have a hard time narrowing my choices (could've chosen several more!), but here they are, in no particular order!  Just click on the link below each photo to be taken to the original post.  

Amazing Grace

Make Mine a Tall One! 

Hope you're feeling better!

Vintage Peony

Old Fashioned Christmas!

UP Love

Christmas Joy

Fill Up! 

I hope you have a wonderful week, a peaceful finish to 2024.  Don't forget, our end-of-year sale is still in progress!

Stamp Simply

Angels bring Good News, Glad Tidings!

Hi friends!

I can hardly believe that Christmas Day is less than a week away. This year, the season has seemed to really fly by faster than ever!  

This past weekend we had our annual Ukuleles for Salvation Army sing thing...we had over 20 players but by the time we got around to taking a photo, just over half were left.  

Here is a close-up of the fresh flower lei po'o I made to wear as a hat band on my papale lauhala.

My Stamp Simply project for this week is a twisted gate fold card using a variety of stamps from some of our Christmas sets and our Church/Worship series.  I started with bright Christmas green paper from Craft Consortium Ink Drops Organic.  In lieu of pearly metallic gold paper (I ran out, need to order more) I used a sheet of gold dotted Swiss from Echo Park My Favorite Spring as a mat for this lovely angel.

I stamped the Glad Tidings sentiment directly onto the green designer paper, first with Memento ink, then over-top with the shimmery metallic Delicata.  

Inside there is another verse stamped directly onto designer paper, this time a sheet from Craft Consortium Beach Hut.  (I suppose this bright green design, even with its diluted acrylic paint "snow,"  is an ode to Christmas in Florida where you never know if it'll be shorts or sweaters!)

In this open, "inside" view you can see the score lines and mechanics of the card. It's a 10.5 inch wide x 5.5 inch tall card base, scored at 3 1/2 and 7. The two outside ends are scored diagonally from corner to corner, parallel to each other.

Just as an fyi, depending on your combination of stamps and their orientation, you could choose to flip the scored card stock over, which would change the angle of the tilt from right to left leaning. (Whereas here the diagonals run top-left to bottom right, when flipped they're top-right to bottom-left).  And you can change the proportions of the card, so long as the width is divisible by three.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Angels Among Us Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Christmas Joy (glad tidings sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Worship & Praise (music notes)
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Espresso Truffle
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper (overstamping, spattering)
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Organic 6x6
• Craft Consortium Beach Hut 6x6 (inside)
• Echo Park My Favorite Spring 6x6 (yellow oval)
• May Arts 1" Sheer - 100 Yard Spool - Dark Gold
• Gems
• Copic markers
• diluted white acrylic paint for "snow"