Thursday, June 30, 2022

My Flag, My Country, USA!

 


Y'all know by now that I am a patriotic American and that I enjoy stamping and sharing patriotic cards!  ❤️ 🇺🇸  Just couldn't resist one more as the 4th of July holiday approaches.  


This card uses a couple of our Stamp Simply patriotic sets and the coordinating dies along with one of my all-time favorite and most-oft-reached-for dies, Fishtail Banners.  You can also see the words of the Pledge of Allegiance peeking from underneath the flag...that is from one of our new background minis stamp sets.  


I stamped the USA on a scrap of paper before die cutting the star, then scored from point to the "v" between points to give it some dimension.  A little Copic marker out-lining along the edges and some accents with a glittery gel-pen add details.  


Here's the inside.  

Supplies:
I hope you have a very happy, safe weekend whether you're one of my celebrating American friends or someone who loves card-making from another part of this wonderful world!  
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Thursday, June 23, 2022

Adding to the Stash!


Hi everyone!  Happy Thursday!

Sometimes I make birthday cards that are specifically for a certain person but it's always good to just stamp a few extras to have on hand.  



The colors of this Craft Consortium paper Ink Drops Candy paper inspired today's iris card, colored with Copic markers in soft traditional colors.  (This is a fun set to color whether you choose traditional or take inspiration from one of the less common varietals).  There is just a hint of diluted copper ink (added with a small paint brush) to add a little sparkle to the blossoms.  


I love using metallic inks with this paper...here I tore a corner from the paper allowing the mat and stamped sentiment to peek through from underneath the torn edge.  The edge of the mat is also trimmed with a slosh of diluted copper ink. 


I used two colors of ribbon, some white tulle, and a tiny paper blossom to bring colors from that beautiful background into the foreground as well.


Here's the inside.  I used white here just to show the difference. (Some people have a hard time reading things that are written on something other than traditional white background with black ink, so I suppose that is something to consider, especially if you have a lot to say!)  

Supplies:

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Thursday, June 16, 2022

God Bless the USA!


Hi y'all! 

Patrick and I went to see Top Gun Maverick this week and wow!  It made me feel so patriotic and proud to be American!  What a great movie!  The first one was made back in 1986 when Patrick and I were still fairly newlywed, living and working in Hawaii.  It was like an extended honeymoon in a tropical island paradise!  Remembering those days always makes me feel all romantic, nostalgic, and happy.  

Of course, as a military family, patriotic holidays are a big deal for us and we've celebrated lots of Independence Days since those beginning years in Makakilo.  Our 4th of July celebrations usually involve a cookout followed by fun and fireworks with our neighbors.  The guys always laugh at me because sparklers and snakes are much more my speed than fire crackers and rockets!


I have always loved Independence Day, even as a child.  My birthday is close to the 4th, so usually there was always a party and a trip to see the community fireworks display which I thought was just for me!  Later it only seemed fitting that as a 1976 graduate of Westlake High School I served on the Bicentennial Commission for Calcasieu parish.  (What a privilege, and wow, that was a really long time ago!) 

So today's Stamp Simply project is one that exemplifies memories of all those things...the parchment reminiscent of the Declaration of Independence, the busy party and fireworks atmosphere of my birthday interwoven with the birthday of our nation, along with a patriotic prayer.

It's busy, but there's a lot of fun stuff going on here!  The card front has a layer of traditional patriotic stars paper.  Then there's a mat of distressed and crinkled Kraft paper.  The background of the focal image layer is stamped in copper with patriotic words (unity, respect, loyalty, devotion, strength, bravery, etc) with the traditional flag nestled among them.  The flag was stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers.  The edges are distressed and distress inked.  There's also splattering of red, blue and shimmery copper inks, and then finally a sprinkling of die-cut gold mirror stars.  


The inside is similarly made, with a strip of fireworks paper from the same paper pad.  It's busy and sparkly and fun, just like the 4th always is!

Supplies:

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Thursday, June 9, 2022

My Refuge and My Fortress


Masculine cards are often quite challenging but often (at least for my guys!) less is more, and that is especially so when the card needs to be sent via the postal service.  This card with its beautiful Ocean background paper, an embossed sentiment, and Copic colored focal image (all from Stamp Simply) on dimensional foam adhesive should go through those postal machines without mishap. If this were to be hand delivered instead, it would have been fun to add a big nautical knot for an accent!  


With watery backgrounds like this I will often use splashes of diluted white paint to integrate the foreground image with the background, tapping a loaded brush over my finger (like striking two wooden drumsticks together) to create the splatters.  The amount of water you use in relation to the amount of paint will determine their size.  I should have tested on a scrap before splashing this time!  I was a bit disappointed that these splats ended up so big and round and opaque, a sure sign that my paint was a bit too diluted.  I blotted some of them with a paper towel but because they're water-based on top of Memento ink, I didn't want to fiddle with them too much!  So let my experience be a lesson for you to test on a scrap first!


The font of this sentiment from A Godly Man coordinates perfectly with those from our Lighthouse series.  

Supplies:
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Thursday, June 2, 2022

Kinder-Grad Congrats!


Hi friends!  I'm here with this week's Stamp Simply project.  I suppose I have been feeling nostalgic since Matthew graduated from FSU a month or so ago! I was remembering his kindergarten graduation (still have his little white gown), and even the big red brick building where I went to school way back when.  (Did y'all have a red...or a yellow...brick building? We had both that were built in different eras!) Anyway, all that is what inspired this CAS little kinder-grad card.  


I used the long skinny banner die from our fishtail banners to cut the pencil from scraps of paper adding accents with a score tool and old zig-zag edge scrapbook scissors.  The cap stamp, one of the tiny stamps in our Stick People set, has its own tassel but I thought it would be fun (especially since FSU colors matched these papers!) to make one from floss.  Couldn't find my box of floss so I ended up using burgundy and gold regular ole sewing threads.  


I kept the inside super simple too.  I designed this card so that even the earliest of readers would be able to read and understand it, but that their parents would have warm-fuzzies remembering their own school days too!  

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