A Trio of Cards, No Common Theme!

Hi again! 👋 I've got three cards to share in this post.  There's absolutely no common theme, except that they were made by me (ha), and you know I generally like to cluster my cards together in a theme, if at all possible.  Not possible here!  LOL

The first card I made for my in-laws' anniversary either last year or the year before...I think last year?  They are REALLY GOOD COOKS (and my mother in law is an amazing baker, too).  So, this seemed like an unconventional but whimsical anniversary card for them.

Close To My Heart Tasty Treats sentiment; Memory Box Classic Tags die; Jolee's Boutique stickers; Stampin' Up! Hardwood background stamp; crochet lace

The next card I sent to my youngest daughter while she was still away at school.  She has taken an interest in growing plants - among them, succulents - and when I received one of my fun Stampin' Up! scrap bags, this cute succulent paper was in it.  Perfect!  I found a Power Poppy sentiment to go with it.

Power Poppy Summer Berries sentiment; Stampin' Up! Ornate Frames die; Inlovearts Heart Clover Wave Frame Border die; pearls 

And lastly, this was truly made up of scraps.  LOL  The sentiment, the punched flowers, the velvet ribbon snippet, and that Altenew leaf cluster stamp...they were all lying around on my desk for a good while.  I was determined to use them up!

Hero Arts Sending Smiles Messages sentiment, Leafy Vine background stamp; Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Accents flower punch; pearls; Altenew Build A Flower: Rose leaf cluster stamp; gray velvet ribbon  

Thanks for your visit again!  😀

God bless!

All About Roses

Good morning, friends!  I hope you have had a healthy and safe week.  Thinking about and praying for all the folks who have been affected by the coronavirus.  God bless our medical teams, and all the people who have stayed open for business as essential employees.  I am so grateful for you. 💓

Today I'm sharing cards that have roses as the common theme. 

The first card was for my mom; she loves black and white.  I added the pink/mauve to soften the color combo.

Stampin' Up! Abundant Joy rose and sentiment stamps, Large Paper Doily Sizzlit die; pearls; Papertrey Ink Keep It Simple Frames die

Anna Griffin rose sticker; My Favorite Things Mini Delicate Doilies dies; Altenew Label Love sentiment stamp; pearls; Papertrey Ink Mix & Mat: Scallops rectangle die; Skipping Stone Designs Timeless Texture Backgrounds music note stamp 

Close To My Heart Topiaries topiary stamp; Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags sentiment stamp; My Favorite Things Pierced Traditional Tags; Hug Snug Pansy Purple seam binding; vintage thread; rhinestones; Stampin' Up! Irish Blessing background stamp

I will see you all soon here on the blog.  Thank you so much for your visit today!

God bless you,

Mother's Day cards

Hello there!  Today I've got a group of Mother's Day cards to share. I put my personal favorite up first.  Love that periwinkle card base that brings out the beauty of the intensely colored butterfly sticker.

K & Co. flower die cut border, butterfly sticker - Flourishes Stamps 'Spring Bouquets' sentiment

Papertrey Ink 'Tiny Tags' sentiment - My Favorite Things / Die-namics 'Mini Wavy Pennants' die, 'Heart Stax' and 'Pierced Heart Stax' dies 

Papertrey Ink 'Keep It Simple: Mother' sentiment - patterned paper by Stampin' Up! - My Favorite Things/Die-namics 'Sensational Stitched Flowers' dies

Papertrey Ink 'Keep It Simple: Mother' sentiment - patterned paper by Stampin' Up! - My Favorite Things/Die-namics 'Sensational Stitched Flowers' dies

Papertrey Ink 'Cover Plate: Stripes Horizontal' - Flourishes Stamps 'Spring Bouquets' sentiment - mirror silver cardstock by Papertrey Ink - My Favorite Things/Die-namics 'Heart Stax' die 

Flourishes Stamps 'Spring Bouquets' sentiment - Close to My Heart 'Flower Pot' pots - PinkFresh Studio 'Playful Animals 2' flowers

Papertrey Ink 'Delightful Dahlia' sentiment - Close To My Heart 'Flower Pot' pot and flowers

My Favorite Things Die-namics 'Heart Stax' die - Papertrey Ink 'Tiny Tags' mom sentiment - Stampin' Up! heart smiles tag / sentiment from scrap bag - Pretty Pink Posh 'Sand' sequins

Papertrey Ink 'Keep It Simple: Mother' - Sizzix 'Flower Layers and Leaf' dies - My Favorite Things 'Layered Leaves' dies

Lots of flowers appearing here!  When I think of Mother's Day cards, I do tend to lean toward the botanicals.  I went off the beaten path, though, for that one card with the deep raspberry and black stripes and a silver heart.  I was going for a modern touch, but I'm not digging it with all my heart (pun intended).

Thanks so much for taking a peek and God bless you, have a terrific weekend!

For the bride, a topiary, seashells and farm animals - an eclectic mix of cards

Yes, today's grouping of cards don't have a whole lot in common with each other, hence the strange blog post name. 😜

The first card is for a bride-to-be.  The intricate swirly rose die-cut panel was in a Stampin' Up! scrap bag I got; I am unsure of the name of it.  It's great, though!  I topped it with some white Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch blossoms, and a couple of leaves from My Favorite Things 'Layered Leaves'.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's 'Happily Ever After'.

The next is super simple, a note to say hello, along with a potted plant.  For the pot I used 'Flower Pot' from Close To My Heart, and the greenery is a die cut from Papertrey Ink's 'Topiary Trio'.  The sentiment is from the stamp set of the same name.

A woman at church asked me if I could make a birthday card that had a beachy feel, after she saw this card of mine.  I also had this card in mind as inspiration.  And, this is what I came up with:   

sand dollar, starfish - Blockhead Paper Arts 'Seashells with Round Frame' stamp set - tiny shell from All Night Media - scallop shell - Golden Acorn 'Scallop Shell' - My Favorite Things 'Happy Birthday' die - background stamp - Altenew 'Snowing'

The last card has a story.  When I visited my mom in Texas last summer, I met her lovely neighbors and we were invited over for dinner.  This neighbor really, really loves to cook, and she makes homemade meals for her husband and herself, but also gives my mom a couple of servings to take home, every week.  My mother does not cook often and eats a lot of frozen meals.  When she and her neighbor became close and the home-cooking started to flow towards my mom's table, I stopped worrying whether Mom was eating well.  I know she is!

As a thank you for having me over, I made this farm and food inspired card.  I used Papertrey Ink's 'On The Farm' animal silhouettes, and stamped behind them the sentiment 'homemade with love' from Inspired By Stamping's 'Mason Jar Add-On I' set.  The fork/spoon are from Hero Arts and the rolling pin from Stampabilities.  The striped ribbon is a snippet from Stampin' Up! found in a scrap bag, and it reminds me of a tea towel from grandma's kitchen.

Hey, thanks so much for coming by and reading these little card stories.  I hope they give you a smile!  God bless you!

Watering can wishes

Available on Etsy

Hello everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that is perfect for someone who loves flowers and / or gardening, with that sweet little watering can on the front. :-)

Loving the new-to-me Mini Scallop Circle (My Favorite Things) die set! I find myself using it a lot as a pretty frame for sentiments and other goodies.  Here, it's the setting for flowers in a watering can. The flowers stamp is from Close To My Heart's Flower Pot set and the watering can is from Stampin' Up!'s Blooming With Love.

There are couple of white satin 'Marshmallow' sequins on here and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Daily Designs Sentiments set. The background of the card was fun to assemble:  a couple of pretty patterned papers, a strip of crochet lace, and two taupe borders created with Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot punch.

Thanks so much for coming by today! Have a wonderful day!

A Custom Creation: Fresh Baked Birthday

Available at Arts Plus Gallery (because I made two of these!)

Hi there!  A colleague of mine requested a custom birthday creation recently.  The birthday girl, I was told, is really into baking her own bread, and she is fun and a bit eccentric.

Believe it or not, I have a bread stamp in my stash!  Yessss!  It's from an old Close To My Heart set called Tasty Treats. I thought a loaf of bread would go good with some cherries (patterned paper from Stampin' Up!); after all, they both come from the kitchen. :-)

First, I die-cut a doily (My Favorite Things Decorative Doily Duo) and stamped the bread on it, then colored with Copic markers. I used craft foam behind it, then layered this onto a die-cut Mini Scallop Circle (also MFT).  The tiny cherries were trimmed from a piece of patterned paper that coordinates with the black-background pattern featured on this card.

I added a thin red strip of cardstock where the cherries pattern meets the kraft cardstock base, and added two red rhinestones...reminiscent of freshly-washed cherries!

Thanks so much for joining me here today!  May God bless you!

Ivy Wreath for Mom

I've had a thing for ivy wreaths for years, so it was fun to create one on paper with a Close To My Heart 'Remarkable Wreath' stamp set. 

I cut a tag with a My Favorite Things tag die, then punched a circle to add to the top. I added a bow, using vintage linen twine. I plucked this spool from the curbside of a nearby house (the resident was moving, and threw out things that I consider little gems -- 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'! -- like this twine.)

I used two colors of green to stamp the leaves, over top a twig-brown wreath base. The golden bow is a snippet from a Memory Box die that features two wedding rings, dangling from this bow. I used golden-mirror cardstock, then just cut off the rings. Love when you can get more use out of your supplies! 

I also added tiny dots of white Liquid Pearl 'berries' around the wreath.  Can you see them?

The tag was offset to the left of the cardbase, and seemed to need a little something extra on the bottom right side of the card. I tucked in bits of a white paper doily for subtlety.  The sentiment is from an older Flourishes stamp set.

I really appreciate you joining me here for a little while.  Have a terrific day!

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Another Christmas card this week?  Sure, why not!!  This one is my fave.  It pairs cream and white with gold.

The inspiration piece:  a Top Note die, already embossed with snowflakes and with a touch of gold cardstock along one edge.  This was in a Scrap Bag from my Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Then, I found a pear topiary (CTMH), already colored ages ago, in my image box.  I stamped a little bird from Hero Arts, trimmed him and added him to the pear tree.

I punched a few holly leaves out of the same gold cardstock, and added pearl 'berries'.  A few more little details:  an embossed card base, a seam binding bow, and a tiny Papertrey Ink sentiment.

Thank you so much for coming by today!

Stamps: sentiment - Tag-Its #8 - Papertrey Ink; bird - Sending Smiles - Hero Arts; tree - Topiaries - Close To My Heart Paper: Vintage Cream, white - Papertrey Ink; gold - Stampin' Up! Fibers: Argentina seam binding - Hug Snug - The Zipper Stop Accessories & Tools: Northern Flurries embossing folder, Top Note die - SU; Copic markers; pearls - Queen & Co.; holly punch - Martha Stewart; Holly Ribbons embossing folder - Cuttlebug

A Custom Creation: roses for a friend's mom

Hello everyone!  Happy Monday.  :-)  A friend of mine requested a custom card for her mother, who was finishing up chemo treatments.  This card celebrates a major milestone for that family, and I was beyond thrilled to create something so very special:

My friend's mom loves:

• the color purple
• roses
• sparkly things :-) 

I had an image from Close To My Heart's Topiaries that fit the scheme perfectly, and made sure to add glittery spots, along with pearly ones, in the leaves.

I am beyond thrilled for my friend's mom, and for all those who love her.  Wishing her God's blessings in abundance.  :-)

Stamps: Topiaries - Close to my Heart Paper: Orchid Opulence, Always Artichoke, Whisper White - SU Fibers: white seam binding - Hug Snug - The Zipper Stop Accessories & Tools: iridescent gem - Recollections; Copic markers; iridescent stickles, White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Victoria embossing folder - Cuttlebug

A Happy Bluebird

It feels good to finally get around to inking some stamps received long ago.  Owl Be Thinking Of You from The Craft's Meow was an incentive set for me, after I'd had a card published using their stamps.  This set has been in my stash for a few years now, and, well, here is its debut on my blog!

I made this for a dear friend's birthday several months ago.

The sentiment is from an {old} Close To My Heart set, Flower Pot.  A friend gave me that set, when she was paring down her stash.  It's really cute, and I'm glad I hung on to it - even after paring down my own stash a year ago.

Thanks so much for coming by today!  I love when you visit.

Stamps: sentiment - Flower Pot - Close To My Heart; tree, bird, birdhouse - Owl Be Thinking Of You - The Craft's Meow Paper: blue and green patterns - SU; white - PTI Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: twine - Creative Impressions Accessories & Tools: pink gem - Queen & Co.; Copic markers

The Flat Christmas Card Trio

I love this twiggy wreath from Close To My Heart's Remarkable Wreath.  The set was a birthday gift from my friend Chris earlier this year.  (thanks again, Chris!)   It makes the cutest berry-laden Christmas wreath.

After stamping the berries in red, I added Ruby Red Liquid Pearls on some and iridescent Stickles glitter glue on others.  That iridescent glue changed the color of the ink beneath, so now they have more of an apricot hue.  This happy accident works for me!  The sentiment below is from Tinsel & Twig / The Girls' Paperie.

The next two cards use the same wreath, and a different sentiment from Tinsel & Twig.

I'm showing the before and after pics of these next two cards.  They seemed too bare to me at first, so I added a strip of red cardstock to each.

Card #1 Before:

Card #1 After:

Card #2 Before:

Card #2 After:

In real life, I liked those cards better with the strips of red added, but now that I see them in photos, I'm not so sure!