Vintage Valentine

Happy Thursday, peeps!  I have a little Valentine card for you today; it fulfills two challenges:  the As You See It challenge wants to know what our "crafting resolution" is for the 2025, and the Freshly Made Sketches has a lovely, as usual, sketch:

My crafting resolution is to use more embossing folders this year!  They really add such a nice touch and I don't use them enough!  So here we go:

I haven't done any "vintage" in a long time, so I decided to remedy that with my Valentine.  The printed hearts are all cut out from some papers from a book I picked up at a yard sale; it's from 1887 and called Spelling and Language book.  I used some different heart dies to cut some from Cherry Cobbler cardstock as well, and used some gold glimmer paper for the arrow. 

I used the Distressed Tile, Eyelet and Tin Tile embossing folders to create the layers, then added some Pecan Pie shading.  The scallops are Crumb Cake, and I added a Cherry Cobbler baker's twine bow.  The sentiment is from the retired Six Sayings; I stamped it on a plain piece from the book.  Here's the inside, using a sentiment from the retired Holiday Best.

It was fun adding all the layers and elements!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Six Sayings (ret), Holiday Best (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Cherry Cobbler, Basic Beige, Crumb Cake, book papers, Glimmer Paper (Recollections)
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Pecan Pie
Accessories	Thick Baker's Twine (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Love Notes Dies (ret), Give It A Whirl Dies (ret), Radiating Stitches Dies, Banner Dies (Pretty Pink Posh), Be Mine Stitched Dies (ret), Distressed Tile EF, Eyelet EF, Tin Tile EF (ret), Sponge Daubers

AYSI339 To My Friend

Happy Tuesday, peeps! The As You See It challenge this week is quite interesting; I am sure I would never have thought to put these colors together, but since I love a challenge, I jumped on it!  Here's their prompt:

I've been playing with the Terrific Toadstools set, so I decided to try my hand at using the challenge colors with it:

I have resisted anything toadstool-related up until this point when I finally caved. It is a fun little set! The papers that coordinate with this set are bright and cheerful, but I used some Peach Parfait DSP for this one.  I stamped my toadstools in the challenge colors and added a sentiment in Basic Gray:

I did add some of my own dots to the little ladybug as well as to the stems of the toadstools, just to add some interest!  I used Spotlight on Nature dies for the circle and Perennial Postage dies for the mat and sentiment.  Certainly an interesting color combo for sure!

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed...and warm, if it's as cold where you live as it is here in PA!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Terrific Toadstools, Best Family Ever
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic Gray, Peach Parfait DSP
Ink	Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Peach Parfait, Berry Burst
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Perennial Postage Dies, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Smoky Slate and Basic Black Markers

AYSI338 Thanks So Much

Happy Sunday, peeps!  I haven't posted for a week! Gee whizzies! I had a very busy few days, but I also came down with a nasty cold, and John's been sick for several weeks, so I was just taking it easy!  I was itching to get back into my craft room however, so I snuck in yesterday afternoon to make a thank you card for a friend!  I used the sketch from As You See It:

So here we go:

I deviated a tiny bit from the sketch, using an image from Sentimental Christmas, cutting it out with a circle die instead of the rectangular shape. My panel is Azure Afternoon and I matted it with Shaded Spruce to match the "greenery".  Although the horizontal piece is covered up by that greenery, it was also cut from a piece of Sentimental Christmas, then embellished with some Shaded Spruce and Poppy Parade pine and berry diecuts.  I also fussy-cut a little bird to add to the center of the spray:

The sentiment from Latte Love was embossed in white:

The front of the card is also embossed with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder!  This will go out in the mail tomorrow!

While I was "resting" I decorated a wooden box that John made me after last Christmas; it is actually four pieces of wood that velcro together and they go around the bottom of our Christmas tree to look like a crate.  Dana had one for her tree and when I looked at them online, I thought they were a little pricey, so John stepped up to the plate and went to work! He painted it white and I stenciled a design on it.  It turned out pretty well:

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Latte Love
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Azure Afternoon, Shaded Spruce, Poppy Parade, Sentimental Christmas DSP
Ink	Craft White
Accessories	Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Labels Aglow Dies (ret), Pretty Pines Dies (ret), Snowflake Sky Embossing Folder, Heat Tool

Speedy Fragrant Forest

Happy Monday, peeps!  The As You See It challenge this week is a Speed Challenge, with the theme of trees, and I knew just what stamp I wanted to use for my under-10-minute card!  I also used the color palette from Sunday Stamps:

Fragrant Forest is a gorgeous background stamp and it inks up and stamps like a dream!  I got my supplies together:  Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey, Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent inks, Greetings of the Season and Fragrant Forest stamps, a die from Peaceful Season, some gold pearls and some retired silver ribbon.  I set my timer and away I went:

I stamped the background stamp in Evening Evergreen and the sentiment in Soft Succulent, diecutting it with the Peaceful Season die and threading the ribbon through the slots:

I then added the gold pearls and attached everything to the stamped panel, then attached that to the card front.  I messed up my positioning of my card front in my stamp positioner, and didn't get the image stamped all the way at the top, so it took a wee bit more time to cut a new card and trim down this panel, but I still made it under the 10 minute mark:

I did take another couple of minutes to stamp a sentiment on the inside, also from Greetings of the Season; I didn't time it but it was less than two minutes!

Another card to add to my stash....I'll be getting them ready to mail out soon!  Thanks for visiting today!

After a long, long dry spell, we got some rain and wet snow last week and I heard a familiar yak-yak-yak out my craft window:

I followed this female pileated woodpecker from the suet outside my craft window to the bird feeder outside the kitchen window---she was quick! It looks like she was trying to get shelter from the storm, but trust me, she was just looking for food!  She saw me in the window and quickly flew off!  But it was exciting to see one this close---haven't seen one for several months!  

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Fragrant Forest, Greetings of the Season
Card stock & Papers	Soft Stone (Papertrey)
Ink	Soft Succulent (ret), Evening Evergreen (ret)
Accessories	Festive Pearls, Silver Woven Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Peaceful Season Dies

AYSI335 Thinking of You Tag Collage

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  The As You See It Challenge is a recipe, and although I had an idea in my head for it, it sort of morphed into something else! Here's the recipe prompt:

This is a great "recipe" for a fall card! I recently ordered some goodies from Unity and they sent me a nice little brown paper bag full of goodies to play with! I promptly put some of them to work on my card:

The orange-hued paper was my starting point (from Unity!); I mounted it on a Crumb Cake card on which I embossed two little lines of cross stitching.  The paper bag (again from Unity) was cut into a tag, stamped with a sentiment, and embossed with the Dashing Designs embossing folder.  I added a second tag, punched from a Pecan Pie piece of cardstock that was stamped with a tag stamp from Close to My Heart.  

The gold metallic leaf was also from Unity; I anchored it with a retired glimmer brad. There are acetate elements on the tag and behind it to add to the fall feeling! Finally, a bit of brown gingham ribbon to finish it off.

This might become a sympathy card, or maybe a birthday card....I'll add an inside sentiment when I need it!  I haven't done one of these collage-style cards in a while, so it was fun to pull some interesting pieces together!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	CL342 (Hero Arts), Love Tags (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Paper Bag, Fall Print (Unity)
Ink	Versafine Black, Craft White
Accessories	Gold Metallic Leaf (Unity), Gingham Ribbon (Penny Supplies), Copper Thread (ret), Dimensionals, Acetate Foliage (Unity), Gold Glimmer Brad (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Bonanza Dies (ret), Small Tag Punch (ret), Dashing Designs Embossing Folder, Stitched Lines Dies (Ellen Hutson)

Thankful Pumpkins

Happy Tuesday, peeps! I spent a wee bit of time in my craft room this morning and decided to make a fall-themed card for two challenges: As You See It has a nice sketch, and Hand-Stamped Sentiments has a lovely fall mood board:

I have been saving this pumpkin paper (well, hoarding it, really) for a long time, so I decided to finally break it out:

This is a larger card, 7.25" x 4.25", because I wanted to make sure I got all those pumpkins on it!  The papers are all from Recollections, called Thankful Heart.  I stamped the "thankful" in Mossy Meadow on some of the striped paper and matted it with a scalloped mat:

The floral image is from the same papers, diecut and matted with a Pistachio Pudding scalloped mat:

And although it's hard to see, I did add some speckled stamping around the pumpkins in Basic Beige, and added some Mossy Meadow twine and a few neutral sequins.  The inside is a sentiment from Simply Stamped, and I fussy-cut another pumpkin to add to the bottom. The vine stamp is from Close to My Heart:

I think this will make a nice Thanksgiving card!  

It's Solanco Fair week, so I am off to put in a blanket that Dana crocheted as well as a small cross stitch project that I did.  I did several projects this past year....getting them framed was another story!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Seaside Wishes, Blessed (Paper Sweeties), Farmhouse Scriptural Quotes (Stamp Simply), Autumn Blessings (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Mossy Meadow, Pistachio Pudding (ret), Thankful Heart (Recollections)
Ink	Mossy Meadow, Basic Beige, Pistachio Pudding
Accessories	Dimensionals, Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Mossy Meadow Twine (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Scalloped Contours Dies (ret), Layering Circles Dies (ret)

AYSI330 & JB2417 Vintage St Nick

Happy Friday, peeps! I have been struggling with my creativity these last few days....I am overwhelmed with new product and I don't know where to begin! I did force myself to create a new Christmas card because the As You See It Challenge is vintage, as well as the Jingle Belles challenge chose the Spirit of Christmas Past for their current challenge. I had not delved into my Traditions of St Nick DSP or the new upcoming Christmas Labels bundle, so that gave me some impetus!  Here's the challenge prompt:

And here's my card; again, not fabulously creative but it gave me a chance to use some new stuff:

I fussy cut St Nick along with some tree and popped him up on a piece of Country Lace DSP, matted wtih Mossy Meadow.  I did give him some shading with a sponge dauber and Crumb Cake ink:

The front of the card is the opposite side of the St Nick DSP, which is a pretty vintage pattern in Real Red.  I diecut one of the labels from Basic Beige cardstock and added the sentiment; it is so cool how the words fit right into the panels of the label!  Love it!  I did add some little glimmer paper stars using the star die from Iconic Imagery:

Inside was another sentiment from Christmas Labels!

I think I'd going to spend some time at the pool today...rain is forecasted for tomorrow and I've been busy in the house all week long, so some "outdoor time" is needed!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Christmas Labels (coming Sept 4)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Beige, Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Country Lace DSP, Traditions of St Nick DSP, Glimmer Paper (ret)
Ink	Real Red, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Christmas Labels Dies, Iconic Imagery Dies, Sponge Dauber

Enjoying the Beach

Happy (late) Saturday, everyone!  I finally got my chores done today and had some time to stamp...lots of fun challenges out there this week!  I chose the FMS sketch, the Color Throwdown colors and the beach theme from As You See It:

I pulled out a bunch of different dies, cardstock and stamps and this is what I came up with:

I have always loved just walking along the beach, looking for shells!  When I was in about fourth grade, my grandmother brought me back from Florida a little shadowbox with a clear lid; inside were adhered several different shells, with their names underneath.  I was mesmerized by those shells and took them to many "Show & Tell" days at school!  They've long since disappeared but I remember them fondly!  Anyway, I diecut some shells, starfish, sand dollars and a seahorse from Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride and Soft Sky cardstocks for my little collage.  Each one was stamped with a texture-type stamp to give it a little more interest, and sponged around the edges.  I used the bubbles and seaweed from Sea Turtles along with a sentiment from Papertrey, and I added some pastel sequins as well.

A woman in the activities area in the retirement community where Dana works is retiring, and since they've had me there twice to do some stamping activities, I thought I'd send her a card!  I actually got to use the retirement stamp from Gone Fishing, too:

Fun card and fun sketch!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sea Turtle, Gone Fishing, Timeless Textures (ret), Label Me Bold (ret), Vintage Picnic Sentiments (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Thick Basic White, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride (ret), Soft Sky (ret)
Ink	Smoky Slate, Craft White, Blushing Bride (ret), Soft Sky (ret)
Accessories	Dimensionals, Sequins from my stash, Sponge Daubers
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, From the Sea Dies (Cuttlebug), Seashell Dies (Impression Obsession)

Sketched Butterfly Birthday

Happy Friday, peeps! BOY is it hot!  I wonder how I ever survived living in my house without A/C!!!  What a wimp I am!  Anyway, I stayed inside this morning, stamping and coloring and diecutting!  Here we go:

As You See It has a wonderful color challenge this week, and Tuesday Morning Sketches has an equally wonderful sketch:

When I first saw the colors, I had a totally different project in mind, but I also knew I wanted to play with my new Sketched Butterflies sets, so I decided to use the large butterfly as a focal point.  Now, I know there are probably NO butterflies that look like this, but that's the beauty of art--you can make anything any color you want! After watercoloring the different panels on the butterfly, I found some scraps of DSP to match the challenge colors and they formed my banners:

I didn't space my banners correctly, so my butterfly is hanging over the edge of my card, so I made a custom envelope with some retired DSP and the retired Envelope Punch Board to make sure it fit!  A pretty sentiment and some more butterflies went on the inside!

And since CAS on Sunday is looking for watercoloring, I'm entering it there as well!

Thanks so much for popping in today!  Stay cool, enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sketched Butterflies
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Watercolor Paper, DSP in Daffodil Delight, Blueberry Bushel and Granny Apple Green (all ret)
Ink	Stazon Black, Daffodil Delight, Blueberry Bushed, Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Sketched Butterflies Dies, Aquapainter

PP690 Punny CAS

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope your weekend is going well!  Anne Marie is our hostess at the Paper Players this week with a really fun CAS theme:

What a great idea! I pulled out a really, really old Crafty Secrets set and here's what I came up with:

I did paper-piecing of my little teabag and tag with some retired Mint Macaron papers, diecut it out and mounted it on a panel of Basic White embossed with the Elegant Dots embossing folder:

Since I am using the sketch from FMS this week, I added some Mint Macaron Country Gingham banners to frame my punny design!

And on the inside, I stamped a sentiment from the new set Simply Said, and over top, a little sunshine image from Happiest Day:

I am also entering this at As You See It, in their "recipe" challenge:

Got them all!

Now, I hope you'll make us laugh with whatever humorous or punny creations you can come up with! We all need a good giggle once in a while, right?!  Share it with the other stampers at the Paper Players blog and while you're there, check out what the designers did as well!  See you there!

Thanks for stopping by today, enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Simply Said, Happiest Day, Coffee & Tea Large (Crafty Secrets)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Mint Macaron (ret), Country Gingham (ret)
Ink	Versafine Black
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Nested Essentials Dies, Elegant Dots Embossing Folder (ret), Banner Dies (Pretty Pink Posh)