From My Heart to Yours

Happy Friday, everyone! And a love-filled Happy Valentine's Day to all my dear stamping friends out there! I've gotten several beautiful cards already! How fun!  My card today is for my own special Valentine!  I used the Just Add Ink sketch as well as the challenge to use red from Little Red Wagon:

I pulled out some older retired goodies and went to work:

I used the Perennial Postage dies to cut out my little postage stamp elements, backed them with some retired red DSP and stamped some Valentine-ish images and sentiments on each one! I think my favorite might be the chocolate-covered strawberry!  Yum! I added the little numbers (rather crookedly, I admit) with a tiny little peg stamp called Simple Serif:

I backed it on a piece of Basic White, embossed with the Dotted Circles embossing folder and then put it on an Early Espresso card base.  I forgot to take a picture of the inside, and it's already sealed in an envelope, so you'll have to just imagine! 

Thanks for popping in today, I hope you have a wonderful day with those whom you love!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Hugs for Love, PS:I Love You (ret), Banner Year (ret), Simple Serif (ret), Postage Collage (Waffleflower)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Early Espresso, Real Red DSP (ret)
Ink	Real Red, Pecan Pie, Gray Granite, Chocolate Chip (ret)
Accessories	Dimensionals, Pearl
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Perennial Postage Dies, Dotted Circle Embossing Folder, Banner Dies (Pretty Pink Posh)

JAI734 New Little Birdie

Happy Saturday, peeps! Sitting here waiting for the impending snow---well, not until tomorrow but you know how it is....do we have enough bread? Milk? Books to read? Etc!  I think we're well-stocked!  I wanted to share a card I made recently which happens to fit the Just Add Ink challenge of something new: 

I've been hankering to use this fun little snowbird image ever since I got it a couple months ago and finally had a chance to ink her up:

I already had my Petunia Pop inkpad on my desk from another project, so I just went with it again; the little bird image is so detailed, you could stamp it in just about any color and it would look cute:

I added some DSP and a Spotlight on Nature circle die, along with the sentiment that also comes with the Unity set called Every Step of the Way, which is the November Kit of the Month.  

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to stay warm and safe and blessed as well!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Every Step of the Way (Unity)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Petunia Pop, Petunia Pop DSP
Ink	Petunia Pop
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Banner Dies (Pretty Pink Posh)

JAI731 & RRCB245 Winter Sleigh Rides

Happy Friday, peeps! Are your Christmas cards all done?  I have mine almost all addressed and ready to go, but I still love making them!  Especially when there are so many fun challenges out there! The one from Just Add Ink really caught my eye, along with the Tic-Tac-Toe board from Retro Rubber:

I was inspired by the red, white and tan colors in the photo and I chose the middle row down on the TTT board of texture, greenery and tag, although I could have also done a couple more of those rows/columns!  So here we go:

I used a really old Cornish Heritage Farms set called Winter Signage to create my little sign; it is mounted on a piece Country Woods DSP tag, cut with a Bonanza die.  That stamp is at least ten years old, LOL!  I added diecut greenery in Evening Evergreen and a bit of Cherry Cobbler striped ribbon that retired long, long ago! 

I mounted everything on a Cherry Cobbler panel that was embossed with a Tim Holtz embossing folder called Deer Knit.  On the inside, a sentiment from Greatest Part of Christmas (2019), along with a wee little cup of cocoa from Merry Cafe (2017):

I did add a few little cherry cobbler "berries" for fun!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Greatest Part of Christmas (ret), Merry Cafe (ret), Winter Signage (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen (ret), Country Woods DSP
Ink	Pecan Pie, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories	Cherry Cobbler Striped Ribbon (ret), Cherry Cobbler Thick Baker's Twine (ret), Enamel Dots (from my stash), dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Bonanza Dies (ret), Evergreen Dies (Tim Holtz), Deer Print Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz)

JAI712 Countryside Thanks

Happy Friday, peeps! So glad the weekend is upon us! And the hot weather broke, so it's refreshingly cool here in SE PA!  I made a quick card today, using some scraps from the Countryside DSP line and a sketch from Just Add Ink:

This sketch is perfect for using up some of those little pieces of DSP we can't bear to throw away!  Here we go:

So easy peasy!  I stamped a thank you from Sketched Butterflies and colored in some flowers from Country Birdhouse to embellish my card; all the strips went on a mat of Boho Blue as well.  The final embellishment was a little Blooming Pearl:

I always need thank you cards for my customers, so this one will get popped in the mail today!  Thanks for visiting today!

A few more kids' vacation pix:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sketched Butterfly, Country Birdhouse
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Boho Blue, Night of Navy, Countryside DSP
Ink	Misty Moonlight, Boho Blue
Accessories	Blooming Pearl, Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Country Birdhouse Dies, 2 3/8" Circle Punch, Blender Pens

JAI703 Happy Fiftieth

Happy Saturday, peeps! We have our town's Memorial Day parade today, so this will be quick!  The Just Add Ink challenge this week wants us to choose two:

The Senior Center where my TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group meets is celebrating their 50th anniversary and my group wanted to give them a card!  What I came up with just happened to meet this challenge!  Here we go:

My two elements are balloons and bright colors, obviously!  My papers are from Die Cuts With a View, and I used a SU punch for the balloons!  Spotlight of Nature dies provided the circle background and the "Yay!" is from Simply Said.  Some cheapo glimmer paper from a craft store provided the number 50, diecut with the Little Numbers dies.  I added some baker's twine string and some fun little sequins!  

The inside sentiment came from the retired Special Moments:

The Senior Center is a great place for our area seniors and I hope they can celebrate another 50 years! 

My niece sent me this picture of her youngest, Coby, wearing a onesie that I bought for him for Christmas!  He's such a little bruiser but oh-so-sweet!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Simply Said, Special Moments (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Birthday Wishes Stack (DCWV), Blue Glimmer (Artskills)
Ink	Rea; Red, Tahitian Tide (ret)
Accessories	Silver & White Baker's Twine (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Spotlight on Nature Dies, Balloon Punch (ret), Little Numbers Dies (ret)

JAI698 Give Thanks

Happy Saturday, everyone! The sun is FINALLY shining here in PA, after some gray and cloudy weather! I have a quick happy little card today for you, it uses the Just Add Ink challenge:

I chose leaves and flowers to make a thank you card for someone who did something really nice for me lately!  Here we go:

I stamped the Bible verse and leaves from Courage and Faith in Soft Sea Foam ink, then filled in with a Soft Sea Foam marker.  The flowers and background of Bubble Bath go nicely with the green, I think:

The flowers were diecut with the Country Flowers dies, and I added some Herringbone ribbon to finish it off.  This will go out in the mail real soon! And here's what I received from one of my sweet stamping friends yesterday:

We did a little day trip and did some antique/junk shopping and she found out that I collect hobnail milk glass!  I have a few small pieces, but I don't go overboard in spending on them, and I do use them often.  When we got home, she took this from her china cabinet and gave it to me! I love it! I do not have anything footed like this one, so it will take a special place among all my other goodies, and I will be sure to give it some love!  I have the best friends!

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

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God.  Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.  1 John 4:7

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Courage and Faith
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Sea Foam, Bubble Bath, Bubble Bath DSP
Ink	Soft Sea Foam, Bubble Bath
Accessories	Dimensionals, Herringbone Ribbon
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Country Flowers Dies, Soft Sea Foam Marker, Blender Pen

FMS630 Hello Friend

Happy Friday, everyone! I've been lacking my stamping mojo and today's card certainly shows it! I had an image in my mind, but it just didn't quite translate to my card.  However, you know how it goes...you invest time and materials and you just feel like you need to see it through! It uses the FMS sketch as well as the yummy color inspiration from Just Add Ink:

My idea was to use watercolor swatches for the three panels, then stamp a flower on top, but my colors turned a bit muddy, but here goes anyway:

The top panel is SU's watercolor paper and the inks I used for the panels were Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape.  The flowers were stamped in Versafine Black, then inked with Gorgeous Grape, Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive.  I blended them a little bit with an aquapainter to fill them in.

I mounted the panel on a card of Soft Sea Foam, and I added some diecut leaves from the Stippled Roses dies to create a bit of an interest in the background.  

My final touch was some sequins from my stash! I might try this again with different colors for the flowers!  Not the most attractive card ever, but I have it in mind for a friend who's a little bit down!  Thanks for popping in today!

I heard that our area had an earthquake earlier this morning, in fact it was centered only a few miles from where we used to live in New Jersey!  I didn't feel a thing, LOL!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Color & Contour (speckles),  Painted Flowers (Altenew), Best Sentiments (Altenew)
Card stock & Papers	Soft Sea Foam, Watercolor
Ink	Versafine Black, Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Blackberry Bliss, Old Olive
Accessories	Sequins from my stash
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stippled Roses Dies, Aquapainter

JAI695 Chocolate Bunny

Happy Friday, peeps! I have a quick card to share today for the Just Add Ink challenge of CHOCOLATE! 

What a fun challenge! It reminded me of this single bunny stamp from SU from a long time ago, so I dug it out, along with a Hero Arts stamp and this is what I came up with:

One last Easter card!  My background paper is from Fitting Florets, and the sentiment panel was stamped with Blushing Bride and Chocolate Chip.  I think it took me longer to find my Chocolate Chip reinker to ink up my old CC ink pad than it did to make the card, LOL!  I cut the frame out with a Rectangle Deckle Edge die, added some grosgrain ribbon and "chocolate" dots:

and of course, my chocolate bunny!  He was stamped on Pecan Pie cardstock with Chocolate Chip ink, then fussy cut:

A sentiment from Throughout the Year went on the inside.  I'll probably save this one for next year!! 

Longwood Gardens has a blog and they often have really interesting stories to tell about the gardens! This week they had a piece about "Uncle Pierre's Iron Snakes"....apparently Mr DuPont had two iron snakes created and he would hide them around the yard and tell his nieces and nephews to go find them!  You can see a photo of them below, in front of Mr DuPont's home:

These snakes are over 100 years old and were beginning to show deterioration, so they decided to have a new pair made by a local ironworker.  It's a fascinating story and you can read the whole piece HERE. The next time I go, I will be on the lookout for them!  Meanwhile, the last time I was there, one of the gardeners walked past my brother and me with this in his hand:

Yuck! I wasn't sure whether I should be fascinated or repulsed by this creature!  The gardener said it was a snail, obviously, but it was NOT a good snail and it would damage the plants.  So off to the head gardener he went....not sure of his future but I don't think it was a good one!  Thanks for popping in today! Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Throughout the Year, Single Bunny (ret), A Little Something (Hero Arts)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso, Flitting Florets DSP
Ink	Blushing Bride (ret), Chocolate Chip (ret)
Accessories	Opaque Faceted Gems, Dimensionals, Grosgrain Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Rectangle Deckle Edge Dies

Christmas Wishes

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  I have a sweet vintage-themed card for you today; the challenge at 52 Christmas Card Countdown wants to see a fireplace, and the Color Hues challenge is blue and cream:

I used a shade of blue a wee bit darker---Misty Moonlight--and a stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms from many years ago when they were still around.  Here we go:

I stamped and diecut my image, added a scalloped border, then layered it on a piece of blue printed paper from Authentique's Alpine collection.  I added a circle diecut with an Artistic Outpost sentiment, added a little scalloped border under it and then for fun, a wee little diecut stocking:

And a Cornish Heritage Farms sentiment for the inside!

And since I used circles and squares on my card, I'm squeaking this in over at Just Add Ink:

Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Christmas Expressions (Cornish Heritage Farms), The Night Before Christmas (Cornish Heritage Farms), Frosty & Friends (Artistic Outpost)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, One Horse Open Sleigh (ret),  Alpine (Authentique)
Ink	Misty Moonlight
Accessories	Navy Embroidery Floss, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Shapes Dies (ret), Layering Squares Dies (ret), Give it a Whirl Dies, Mini Stocking Die (Taylored Expressions)

40th Anniversary Card

Happy Monday, peeps! Hope you had a lovely weekend.  My friend Robyn, who is also my co-worker at church as well as a crafty stamper herself, has been working at our church for FORTY years!  Wow!  She has seen lots of changes in her many years and has still maintained her positive spirit and love of the Lord! We managed to surprise her yesterday with a big luncheon!  And of course, I had to make her a card in her favorite color of purple!

I stamped the florals from Dainty Delight in Stazon Black, then watercolored them and diecut them with the matching dies.  Although you can't see it very well in the photo, the horizontal panel is Glimmer Paper, which gave it a wonderful sparkle!  A little scalloped panel of Mint Macaron, and it all went on a piece of Gorgeous Grape dsp.  

I added some sparkly ribbon and a little tag from Our Daily Bread Designs, and stamped a congrats on the inside:

I used the sketch from Just Add Ink:

And I am also entering this at the Time Out Challenges this week where they want something sparkly!

I had to share this from the luncheon yesterday; Robyn loves chocolate, so her daughters and several others made chocolate desserts.  There was quite an array from which to choose:

LOL!  Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

A friend loveth at all times. Proverbs 17:17a

 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Dainty Delight, Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs), Farmhouse All Occasion Greetings (Stamp Simply)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Mint Macaron (ret), White Glimmer (ret), Gorgeous Grape DSP (ret)
Ink	Stazon Black, Gorgeous Grape, Fresh Freesia, Mint Macaron (ret)
Accessories	Glitter Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Dainty Delight Dies, Scalloped Contour Dies, Large Banner Dies (Pink & Main), 1/8" Hole Punch, Aquapainter