With Sympathy

 I made this Sympathy card for my sister last night because her best friend passed away yesterday.  I saw a very elegant card demonstrated by Susan Campfield and cased it because it is not only elegant but also quick and easy.  I added an extra layer and some gemstones and, since  I still have SU Blendabilities I used the light, medium, and dark cherry cobbler Blendabilities as my accent color.

Swirling Butterflies

I am finally getting a chance to post a card I made the other day for the SUO154 - Delightful Dies challenge.  

Dies:  Rose Garden Thinlits Die; Florish Thinlits Dies
Punches:  Bitty Butterfly; Elegant Butterfly
Paper:  Very Vanilla; Basic Black; Basic Gray; Flirty Flamingo; Timeless Elegance DSP

My card base is 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored in half at 4 1/4".  I cut 2 1/8" from the right side of the front of the card.  I watched France Martin's YouTube Video for instructions on the Fun Frame that I attached to the half-front (easier to see the half-front panel in the second and third blog photos).

I used the Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Write marker to color the flowers on the Timeless Elegance DSP.

     

New Posts Coming Soon

It's been a while since I last posted on my blog... This has been a very busy summer for me but things are beginning to slow down.  I've made a few cards that I need to upload and will share them with you within the next few days.

Miracles Happen

I started making a card for my young cousin yesterday but was not pleased with it.  When I saw that Today's SCS Ways to Use It Challenge (WT573) is to use a pet, I knew this was the direction in which I would go to make a card for him.  He has an incurable illness and he has been depressed since his last hospitalization... He has been hospitalized so much during his young life.  I wanted to remind him of the importance of today.

I don't have any pets other than the ones in my Craft Room and I've had this particular stamp set for years and, until today, it has never seen ink.  This card is also for the WT565 Lose Weight Feel Great challenge (Retired DSP).  The card sketch is SC582 Sketch Challenge from Splitcoaststampers.

I hope the sentiments that I stamped inside will be an encouragement to him. I wrote a personal message

inside but I covered it with the envelope.  At the end of the message I stamped 'Miracles Happen' from the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set because I pray that God will bless us with a miraculous cure for Sicle Cell one day.

Card Recipe:  All supplies are from Stampin' Up
Inks:  StazOn Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo
Papers: Fan Fare DSP; Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, and Island Indigo card stock
Stamps:  Summer Afternoon; Vintage Vogue; Word Play; Bloomin' Marvelous

My SCS Gallery

Thinking of You

I think I might have gotten a little carried away with this one.  I started adding flowers and I couldn't seem to stop myself.  I wanted to make a masculine card for a relative who has an incurable illness so the Kind Koala stamp set seemed to be a good choice because of his young age.  Somewhere along the way the card took on a feminine look.  I'll have to start all over on another card for him.

I used the Just-Add-Ink Sketch Challenge #300 to start my card.  The card stock and inks used were from The Color Tree Challenge #8 ... Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron, Whisper White, and Gold.  I used my Gold Wink of Stella brush to color the Koala Bear because it was the only gold I had.  I  also added a touch of gold to the wings of the butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set. I also added a touch of gold on the letters of 'YOU'.

I stamped the blades of grass from the Inspired by Nature stamp set... I still love this stamp set.

My SCS Gallery

Beautiful Bunch of Flowers

I am really rushing trying to complete the TCTC6 challenge before it closes.  I've been busy this week getting my craft room back in order after receiving paper holders from Stamp-n-Storage. They were a bit expensive but worth it; I am now able to find the card stock I need pretty quickly.

To make this card I used SC578, a sketch challenge  from Splitcoaststampers.  I used Whisper White card stock as my card base with Blackberry Bliss panels.  I stamped the flowers using the Beautiful Bunch stamp set in Perfect Plum and Rich Razzleberry. I stamped the butterfly using Papillon Potpourri stamp set with Perfect Plum.  The centers of the two Rich Razzleberry flowers were stamped with Perfect Plum and cut out and layered on top.  The center of the Perfect Plum flower was stamped with Rich Razzleberry and cut out and layered on top.  I dry embossed each of the Blackberry Bliss panels with Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.

Stamp Sets:  Beautiful Bunch, Papillon Potpourri
Inks:  Blackberry Bliss, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry
Card Stock:  Blackberry Bliss, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
TIEF: Deorative Dots, Fluttering, Lovely Lacy Fancy Fan (Retired)
Banners Thinlits
Elegant Butterly Punch

My Splitcoaststampers Gallery

Beautiful Birthday

We are experiencing some pretty cold weather right now and I am taking this opportunity to stay inside and take part in a few card challenges.  I've been working on this card all day and I am desperately trying to get it done before the deadline for entries for TCTC4 The Color Tree.

My mother's birthday is next month so this card is for her.  I am also using it for SUOC141 Happy Birthday challenge.  I am using the SC578 Sketch Challenge.

Splitcoaststampers current technique challenge is Naked Stamping.  The line stamps I used are the butterflies since they are open enough to let the background show through.  The background was created by swiping Daffodil Delight, Tip Top Taupe, Pool Party, and Calyso Coral ink pads across whisper white card stock, stamped the butterflies using Tip Top Taupe, then punched them out and added them to my card.  I colored the flowers using the Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, and Pool Party Stampin' Write markers.

My Splitcoaststampers Gallery

Other supplied used:
Stamps:  Awesomely Artistic, Papillon Potpourri, Birthday Blossoms

TIEF: Decorative Dots, Lovely Lace, 

Punches:  Elegant Butterfly, Bitty Butterfly, Bow Builder

Pleats, Pleats, & More Pleats

Today's tutorial gives directions on making a Pleated Skirt card.  It was so easy that I made several much-needed cards.

I've got a lot of DSP that I've hoarded over the years and one of the SCS challenges from earlier this year is to Lose Weight Feel Great ... I'm losing weight by using up some of my old DSP.  I've also not used this Apothecary Art stamp set in quite a while.

SUOC141 - Happy Birthday is to make a Birthday Card. I hope this qualifies because one of my cards is a birthday card.  This card can really be used for any occasion.

Love my butterflies (Papillon Potpourri)

My Splitcoaststampers Gallery

A Field of Flowers

Another entry for the Just Add Ink Challenge to Just Add Nature.  I made a card for this challenge a few days ago using this same flower stamp using Stampin' Up!'s 'You've Got This'.  Since I was up in the air over whether I wanted to add a dragonfly or butterflies, I decided I needed butterflies with all these flowers.



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Dragonfly Thanks

Butterflies are usually my go-to when I stamp flowers on my card and the new challenge on the 'Just Add Ink' blog, is to Just Add Nature, JAI#296,  I'm adding a dragonfly and flowers as my nature items.  I used the colors listed in the current 'Color Tree Challenge' TCTC3 of Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Gold, and Mint Macaron to color my flowers and dragonfly.

I stamped the flowers twice (You've Got This stamp set) on Very Vanilla card stock using Basic Black ink, then cut out three extra flowers to pop up on top of the ones stamped on my Very Vanilla panel.  I colored the centers of the flowers using my gold Wink of Stella pen and colored the leaves in Mint Macaron.  Even though it's hard to see, I colored the flowers with the Wink Of Stella glitter pen.  I stamped the dragonfly (Awesomely Artistic stamp set) in Soft Suede, cut it out, then covered it in embossing ink to add stability and shine to it.  I stamped the sentiment (An Open Heart) in Mint Macaron.  I Used my Apothecary Accents Framelits to add my sentiment at the top of the card.

My Splitcoaststampers' Gallery.

On the Fringe

I am so glad to have time to play along with this very first Color Tree Challenge.  I thought it would be easy-peasy until I sat down in my craft room getting ready to craft ... My mind went blank.  I was in need of inspiration to start this project and found it on page 5 of the current Stampin' Up! Catalog.

The base of my card is 'Early Espresso' topped with a layer of 'Very Vanilla'.  I used my Stampin' Up! Fringe Scissors to fringe the So Saffron, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, and Perfect Plum layers.  The image panel is 'So Saffron' embossed with the Stampin' Up! Butterfly Textured Embossing Folder.  I stamped the flowers using the 'Remarkable You' stamp set onto 'Very Vanilla' card stock and fussy-cut them out and popped them up using 'Dimensionals'.  I colored the stamens in the flowers with 'Early Espresso' ink. I stamped the butterfly from the 'Butterfly Basics' stamp set onto 'So Saffron' card stock using 'Perfect Plum' ink.  The 'Venetian Crochet Trim' is topped by a bow made with 'Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon'. 

Here is an image of The Color Tree listing the colors for this challenge (Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, and Early Espresso).  So glad Perfect Plum was on the list because I was not aware of how low my supply was ... adding it to my next Stampin' Up! order.

I would love to add The Color Tree Badge to my blog but, for some reason, the link does not appear when I click the badge.  Nevertheless, I am looking forward to more of these challenges in the future.

Birthday Wishes to my Hubby

This is the front of the birthday card I made for my husband using retired Stampin' Up! DSP.  I have a ton of DSP that I've been hoarding for years and I have resolved to make use of it this year.

I wanted to make a card with a different type of fold and he got a kick out of opening up this card.

I once saw this fold demonstrated on the Carol Duvall Show when she was on the DIY and/or HGTV channel.  I loved those crafting shows and was sad to see them taken away one-by-one.  I found directions for this fold again on Karen Burniston's YouTube channel. 

I used a combination of Stampin' Up! DSP and stamps (Another Great Year, Big Day) and Tim Holtz's Dies to decorate this card.