TGIF498 Fragrant Forest

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  I am squeaking in a card for the TGIF498 sketch challenge:

At our club meeting on Monday, we used the Fragrant Forest background stamp.  I think background stamps can be a bit intimidating, but with a little practice, a stamp positioner and maybe a sticky mat, you can create some pretty awesome backgrounds!  Here's the card we made:

We used Lost Lagoon ink and the Peaceful Season stamp set.  I had another blank panel stamped, but not adhered to a card, so I decided to cut out part of it with a circle die and use it for the TGIF sketch:

I used some retired Soft Glimmer papers in Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock for the horizontal pieces and the scalloped mat, then added another sentiment from Peaceful Season.  I also added an embossed panel (Snowflake Sky).  

Here's the inside:

These trees are so pretty!  Thanks for popping in today!  

My brother sent me this photo from my dad's field:

Pretty awesome!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details for Both Cards—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Fragrant Forest, Peaceful Season
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Lost Lagoon, Soft Shimmer in Lost Lagoon & Pretty Peacock (ret), Brushed Gold Foil
Ink	Lost Lagoon
Accessories	Neutral Sequins, Pretty Peacock & Gold Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Snowflake Sky Embossing Folder, Peaceful Season Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Iconic Imagery Dies,  Layering Circle Dies (ret)

TGIF494 Spectacolar Birthday

Happy Saturday, peeps! Just a fun little card today for the TGIF sketch challenge:

I needed a birthday card for a friend from church who loves Mexican food; my mind immediately went to the retired Taco Fiesta set!  I turned the sketch on its side and here's what I came up with:

I stamped all the images in Memento black ink and colored them with Blends, then fussy-cut them and mounted them on white panels matted with Poppy Parade.  A retired piece of Granny Apple Green DSP worked for the background, and the sentiment was stamped in Poppy Parade as well!  

I love this sketch and I hope he loves his card!  Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Taco Fiesta (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green DSP (ret)
Ink	Memento Black, Poppy Parade
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Banner Dies (unbranded), Blends

TCH92 Feel Better Soon

Hello, everyone!  I haven't gotten my Country Flowers set inky for a while, and the Color Hues challenge of pink and brown got me to thinking!

So here we go:

I also used the TGIF Challenge sketch:

I began with some Pretty in Pink striped DSP, then added my Pecan Pie teapot and my pink and tan flowers:

The flowers were stamped in Saddle Brown Stazon ink so I could watercolor them in; the pot was stamped in Craft White ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  For fun, I adhered the layers of the pink DSP to a piece of white scrap paper, then ran it through the Eyelet embossing folder before adhering it to a mat of Crumb Cake. I also added some Crumb Cake leaves behind the flowers.  A sentiment from Unbounded Love and a few sequins finished it off.  This color combination kind of reminds me of Neopolitan ice cream, LOL!

The kids went to King's Dominion in Virginia over the weekend for Cassidy's birthday and did a spooky escape room:

The next day, they got stuck on a roller coaster!!! They were only a short distance from the end, but I guess they had to be rescued!  Yikes!

This is why I just watch from the sidelines, LOL! Thanks so much for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Unbounded Love, Country Flowers
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Pretty in Pink DSP
Ink	Saddle Brown Stazon, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Craft White
Accessories	Sequins from my stash, White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Country Flowers Dies, Eyelet Embossing Folder, Timeless Arrangements Dies (ret), Aquapainter

Holiday Greetings

Happy Saturday, peeps!  I have a quick Christmas card to share today; it uses the sketch from TGIF and is also for the Krafty Chicks Christmas challenge!

I pulled out some fun holiday papers from Violet Studio Designs and went to work:

I diecut a square postage stamp mat and added my printed paper on top; the only stamping is a little pine sprig I added to top along with a Shaded Spruce scallop:

My Concord & 9th banners were diecut with Shaded Spruce and Soft Succulent; not quite sure why it looks blurry here, LOL!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Merry & Bright (W+9)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Shaded Spruce, Soft Succulent (ret), Home for Christmas (Violet Studio Designs)
Ink	Shaded Spruce, Soft Succulent (ret), Real Red
Accessories	Dimensionals, Twine
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Scalloped Square Dies (Nestabilities), Merry & Brigjt Dies (W+9), Season of Cheer Dies (Concord & 9th)

TGIF479 Hooray for Surprises Birthday Card

Happy Saturday, peeps! Hope you have some fun weekend plans!  John is taking eleven people fishing on a charter boat today, so my day is free!  I spent some time yesterday working on a birthday card for a young man in our church...I hope he doesn't think it's too childish, LOL!  I have wanted to use the Hooray for Surprises set to make a window card that you open, using the special dies, and I saw a great video by my friend Amanda. She highlights a wonderful technique to get the images lined up perfectly!  You can see it here.  I used the birthday cake and candles image along with some bright inks, paper and cardstock.  So here we go:

So if you can see the little pull tab on the right side of the diecut, that gets pulled open by the recipient, and there is another image under the circle.  Of course, I forgot to take a picture of THAT, but it said "Make a Wish"!  The cake was stamped in Azure Afternoon, the candles in Lemon Lime Twist and the flames in Daffodil Delight, along with some stars from the retired Wood Words:

Sentiments are from the Light the Candles kit:

And even though it doesn't look like it, the cardstock, sentiment and stars on the inside are also Azure Afternoon....the camera really doesn't capture the shade correctly!

I am going to enter this at TGIF Challenges, where they are looking for sweet treats!  Can't get much sweeter than a birthday cake, right?!  

Anyway, this family always includes jokes in their birthday cards to us, so I am enclosing one as to him:  "How do bees celebrate moving to a new hive?  They have a house swarming party!"  I hope he likes it!  Corny but cute!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Hooray for Surprises, Light the Candles Kit, Wood Words (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Azure Afternoon, Azure Afternoon DSP (ret)
Ink	Azure Afternoon, Lemon Lime Twist, Daffodil Delight
Accessories
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Hooray for Surprises Dies

TGIF477 Happy Father's Day

Happy Tuesday, peeps! This will be quick...Cassidy has a Nike basketball camp she's attending at a local college and my job is to get her there on time and pick her up!  No problem!  I wanted to share the Father's Day card I made for Wayne this year; it used the sketch from TGIF:

Wayne loves watching any Philly sports, so I made him a baseball-themed card with a retired set called Have a Ball:

I stamped the mitt, bat and ball and fussy-cut them out and mounted them on two stitched star diecuts.  The sentiment is from the retired Best Year, embellished with a Basic Border diecut:

And on the inside, some stars from the Have a Ball set and a sentiment from Unbounded Love:

I think he liked it!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Unbounded Love, Have a Ball (ret), Best Year (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Night of Navy, Basketball (Echo Park)
Ink	Night of Navy, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Basic Border Dies (ret), Stitched Star Dies (Paper Rose)

You Are My Sunshine

Happy Saturday, peeps! I have a quick card to post before my stampers get here this morning!  It fulfills three challenges: TGIF is looking for a pocket full of posies; As You See It wants to know what  color I use the least is; and CAS on Sunday wants sunshine!

So here we go:

I knew right away I would choose yellow as my least-used color! It's not that I dislike it, I just don't gravitate towards it very often.  And that fit in perfectly with a sunshine theme!  And I admit that when I looked at the TGIF challenge, I missed the "posies" part of it, but perhaps my little image on my tag could be a sunflower?!  The sentiment is from the retired Ridiculously Awesome set, stamped in Daffodil Delight on Lemon Lolly cardstock:

I created a pocket with one of the Timeless Tag dies, stamped a sentiment from a past Paper Pumpkin on the front and added some yellow embellishments:

I then added a tag to tuck into the pocket, using the same Paper Pumpkin set to stamp the sunshine-shaped flower and added a gingham center.  The sentiment is from a Paper Studio set.

I also embossed the front with the Stitched With Whimsy die for fun.  My friend just went through some surgery, so this is going to her to cheer her up!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Ridiculously Awesome (ret), Paper Pumpkin (ret), Everyday Expressions (Paper Studio)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Lemon Lolly, Yellow Gingham (ret)
Ink	Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lolly
Accessories	Lemon Lolly Twine, Matte Dots (ret), Dimensional Sheets
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stitched With Whimsy Die, Tailored Tags Dies

TGIF468 Thank You Kittens

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I am popping in today with a real quick card using a stamp set available through the Online Exclusives called Pets & More! It's a fun little two-step stamp, and I am using the sketch from TGIF for my card:

This sketch is a bit of a riff on my favorite sketch; the proportions are a bit different, but I still love it! Here we go:

I just happened to have this Inked Botanicals DSP on my desk, so I just went with that, stamping the outline image of kittens first in Calypso Coral ink on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, then flipped the stamp itself over and stamped the "filler" part in the same ink, only stamping it first on a piece of scrap paper so I got a lighter image.  I could have used my stamp positioner to get them a little straighter, but I was going for quick!!!

My sentiment is from Circle Sayings and I stamped the wee little fishies the same way, adding some retired enamel dots for a simple embellishment!

There are other animals in this set and I can't wait to play with them as well!  

Is anyone watching the PBS show called Mr Bates Vs The Post Office?  It's a fascinating, although very disturbing, series about how the British Post Office basically ruined many people's lives by refusing to admit that their new computer system was faulty.  The series is new, but it's based on a true story that has been playing out over about the last twenty years.  I have only seen one episode, but I recommend it! And the real-life final outcomes are still happening!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Pets & More, Circle Sayings
Card stock & Papers	Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, Inked Botanicals DSP
Ink	Calypso Coral
Accessories	Dimensionals, Enamel Dots (ret)
Tools

Cupcake Wishes

 Happy Monday, peeps! Hope you had a good weekend! I have a really quick little birthday card today using an older SU stamp set that hasn't seen much love lately!  The TGIF challenge this week is Make A Wish:

I chose cupcakes instead of cake, though, LOL:

My cupcake lineup was stamped with Stazon ink, then colored quickly with markers.  The sentiment was heat-embossed in white on Balmy Blue, diecut, then mounted on a Wild Wasabi circle:

It all went on a piece of  confetti DSP, and I used the opposite side to embellish the inside, along with a sentiment from Throughout The Year:

Now, I've got to get this in the mail to get it to the recipient on time!

Dana sent me this picture of Eden....she looks like she really wants to go outside, but Dana said she does NOT like the snow!!!  So I guess she's just gazing at the pretty scenery!

Thanks for visiting today!  Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	The More The Merrier (ret), Let It Snow (Simon Says Stamp)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi (ret), Soak Up The Sun (Carta Bella)
Ink	Stazon Black, Versafine Black, Craft White
Accessories	Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies (SSS), Heat Emboss Markers

A Sweet Christmas Thank You

Happy Friday, everyone!  Before I get to my chores, I thought I'd share a sweet thank you card I created; it's for both the Inspired By and TGIF challenges:

Heaven knows I have enough Christmas scraps laying around, and I pulled out an older candy cane stamp from Scentsational Seasons and here's what I came up with:

I used some scraps from last year's Celebrate Everything hostess packet, and I mounted the candy cane on a Tailor Made tag, stamped with a thank you from Timeless Arrangements:

And you may just be able to see the embossing I did at the bottom of the card; it's from the Wintery EF:

This little thank you will be out in the mail real soon!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Here's a wee little video of some of the ornaments on one of Longwood's trees; I was fascinated by the bubbler candle!  It's short but sweet!  Enjoy! (The noise in the background is water from the fountains!)

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Timeless Arrangements, Scentsational Seasons (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Celebrate Everything DSP (ret)
Ink	Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Lemon Lime Twist Ribbon (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Wintery Embossing Folder, Tailor Made Tags Dies