Thinking of You

I'm jumping in and playing along with the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. A friend needed me to make a card for a male friend of hers battling cancer and so I wanted to keep it simple. The sketch by Jen M. was the perfect thing!

I used the SU set Rustic Retreat and stamped the deer and sentiment in Soft Suede, adding a bit of Mossy Meadow to the grass under the deer. The paper is from the Neutrals DSP pack and I used the wood pattern in Soft Suede and Mossy Meadow. For a little extra visual punch I did some paper piercing around all the edges.

The sketch does call for a square but Jen said we could also go rectangle if we preferred so that's what I did.

Thinking of You

It's time for a new Sunday Stamps challenge and this week we have a fun sketch from Annette to play along with!

With all the people that are stuck home due to quarantine or stay put orders I immediately thought of the cabin from the SU set Rustic Retreat. The set also comes with a sentiment stamp that says 'Thinking of You' so I started off by stamping the cabin and coloring it and then stamping the sentiment underneath it and die cutting it all out with a circle die. I then grabbed some Mossy Meadow and Early Espresso DSP for my background paper and layered it on an Early Espresso base. Quick and easy, just the way I like it!

Make sure you head on over to the Sunday Stamps blog to see what the rest of the DT created and then play along with us, we'd love to see what you do with this sketch!

I Thought of you Today

It's time for a new challenge over at the Sunday Stamps blog and this week we have a fun color challenge! These colors are perfect for creating a project that highlights elements of nature, whether its a sunrise or sunset or flowers.

For my card I chose to go with flowers, and I used a set from the SU Occasions Catalog called Climbing Roses. I colored the roses in with the last 2 colors in the graphic, and although it's hard to see I colored the leaves yellow first and then did a quick swipe of green on them to keep the green color toned down since it's not on the graphic but I couldn't avoid using it! My choice of neutral was Crumb Cake, using that as my card base and also as the piece the sentiment is stamped on.

Make sure and head on over to the Sunday Stamps blog to see what the rest of the DT created and then play along with us!

Stamps: Climbing Roses (SU)

Paper: Crumb Cake (SU), Berry Burst (SU), Whisper White (SU), So Saffron DSP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Berry Burst (SU)

Copics: RV63, RV66

R20, R21, R22

YR21, G21

Accessories: Rose Trellis Thinlet Dies (SU), MFT Blueprints 20

Going Monochromatic for Friday Mashup

This week at The Friday Mashup Heidi is our hostess and she'd like us to use stencils on our projects along with a monochromatic theme.

I love earthy, darker colors so I decided to go with shades of brown. I started with a Crumb Cake base and used some stencil that I won a few years ago, I don't have it handy at the moment to see who makes it. I used Early Espresso to sponge the dots, doing some light and some dark.

The strip down the side of the card base is some retired Early Espresso DSP. I stamped the image from the Serene Silhouettes set in Early Espresso on Crumb Cake, cut it out with Oval Framelits and then popped it up with dimensionals. The sentiment is also stamped in Early Espresso on Crumb Cake and I made that into a little banner across the bottom of the oval.

The layout is a recent one from Freshly Made Sketches.

Head over to The Friday Mashup blog to see what the rest of the DT did and then play along with us!

Create a project with "stencils"

Create a project with "a monochromatic theme"

or Mash it Up! and Create a project with " stencils and a monochromatic theme"

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, A Dozen Thoughts

Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso DSP (retired)

Ink: Early Espresso

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Polka Dot Stencil, sponge, dimensionals

Banner Thoughts for Friday Mashup

It's time for another Friday Mashup! This week Avery is our host and she has a great sketch for us, plus she wants us to use 2 different embellishments on our project.

I used the set Perfect Pennants and kept it simple since the DSP is so busy. I stamped the sentiment in Coastal Cabana and attached it to the main panel with a staple. The card base is Sahara Sand with Best Year Ever DSP layered on a strip of Coastal Cabana.

For my 2 embellishments I used Coastal Cabana ribbon and a Crushed Curry button. I'm really impressed that I managed to include a button, usually I can never make those work on my projects!

Make sure you head over to The Friday Mashup blog to see what the rest of the DT did and then play along with us, we love seeing what you create!

• Create a project with the "Sketch". 
• Create a project with "2 different embellishments". 
• or Mash it Up! and create a project "with the Sketch and different embellishments".

Stamps: Perfect Pennants

Paper: Sahara Sand, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Best Year Ever DSP (Sale-A-Bration catalog)

Ink: Coastal Cabana

Accessories: Big Shot, Banner Framelits, Coastal Cabana Ribbon, Crushed Curry Button (both from Best Year Ever accessory pack found in the Sale-A-Bration catalog)

Thinking of You for Sunday Stamps

This week over at Sunday Stamps Holly has a great sketch for us! I normally have trouble with sketches that involve circles but as soon as I saw this one I knew right away that I wanted to use the set Greeting Card Kids.

For my colors I played along with the Dynamic Duos challenge. You are to use Crumb Cake plus another color, so I chose Riding Hood Red.

Head over to Sunday Stamps and play along with us!

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Paper: Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, Watercolor Paper

Ink: Black StazOn, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede

Accessories: Crumb Cake ribbon, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Nestabilities dies-Lacey Circles and Standard Circles, Big Shot, Paper Piercing Tool, Aquapainter

Thoughts of You for Freshly Made

Happy Wednesday to everyone! We're halfway through the month of April, can you believe it? The snow here is melting and patches of dirt and grass can be seen....summer will be here before I know it!

This week at Freshly Made Sketches the great sketch comes to us from Rita. I love the square/rectangles but circles always scare me, LOL. Thankfully with FMS you can change that circle to any shape, so I chose to use one of the Framelit dies and the corresponding Apothecary set.

This card is definitely more "girly" than something I would normally do. My daughter said it reminded her of her great grandma(my awesome Grandma that inspired last weeks FMS card) and looking at it I think she is absolutely correct. My grandparents living room was a mix of pink and soft blues, so I definitely think I was channeling them here, LOL.

Make sure you head over to the Freshly Made Sketches to check out all the other great projects from the design team, and then play along, we want to see what you create with this sketch!

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Apothecary Art, Loving Thoughts

Paper: Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP

Ink: Black StazOn, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder

Accessories: retired SU ribbon, Framelits Labels, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot, sponge, dimensionals

Thinking of You for Paper Players

A friend of the family lost her mother to cancer over the weekend so I wanted to let her know that we are thinking of her. This week marks 17 months since I lost my dad to cancer so I know the pain she is feeling and I know how much notes from my friends meant to me after he passed.

I played along with The Paper Players, as they have a great sketch this week from LeAnne. I didnt want my card to be too busy, and since our friend loves cats I decided to use the kitty from the Touch of Kindness set. I did move the sentiment to the middle of the card, as it just worked better with what I had going on.

Make sure you head over to The Paper Players blog to check out the great cards from the design team and all the great projects that have been submitted by folks!

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Touch of Kindness, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight DSP

Ink: Black StazOn, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Small Oval Punch, Cherry Cobbler Ribbon, sponge, dimensionals

Thinking of You

I am in desperate need of stamping time, lol. I just received my order where I bought just about everything in the holiday mini and I just want to sit and play all day, but life isnt allowing it. I did make time in my afternoon though to play along with this weeks Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I just love the clean and simple sketches they are posting!

I whipped out the new Spice Cake DSP for this card. I love this DSP! Usually I'm all about the Christmas DSP but the Spice Cake paper is totally worth stocking up on...such pretty colors and designs! Because I picked out some of the papers with a busy design I wanted to keep my main image pretty simple. I love the Leaves Of a Tree stamp and originally started with that but it didnt look right with this paper, so I ended up using the very versatile tree from the Thoughts and Prayers set. I got this set a few months ago and it quickly became one of my favorites, as you can use it for so many things. The sentiment is also from the Thoughts and Prayers set and again, I kept it nice and simple.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers

Paper: Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake DSP

Ink: Soft Suede, More Mustard

Accessories: More Mustard Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, sponge, dimensionals

Masculine I Care

This week the challenge over at the Friday Mashup blog is a sketch challenge, and it comes to us courtesy of Terry!

I instantly reached for this stamp set and wanted to make a masculine card, although I'm not quite sure why. Maybe its because I'm missing my dad and my grandpa. I notice that when I mention the passing of my father or such on my blogs people get awfully quiet, but I'm not going to apologize for doing it, or stop. My father (and grandparents) inspired me every day of my life and he/they continue to inspire me in everything I do, including stamping. I bought this stamp set specifically with my Grandpa in mind, as he was a retired railroad man. Unfortunately he passed a few weeks after I got the set so I never got to make a card for him using this image.


Anyway, thats the inspiration behind this card, and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Happiness Is A Journey, Best Yet
Paper: Chocolatel Chip, Sage Shadow, Whisper White, To The Nines DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow
Accessories: Sage Shadow ribbon, Chocolate Chip ribbon, brads

Owl For You

It's time to play along again over at the Friday Mashup blog! I forgot to play along last week and felt pretty bad, so I knew I better get my booty in gear this week. My kids are on spring break this week so between work and kids I havent had much creative time, but I made time this afternoon.

This weeks challenge comes from Holly and is a sketch. I grabbed some DSP and just went from there. The only stamp I used was the sentiment inside, otherwise it was all the Two-Step Owl Punch. Per request of my toughest critic, my 15 y/o daughter, I added some Dazzling Diamond glitter along the green stems above the owl. I didnt have that great of light today so my Rich Razzleberry looks more Cherry Cobbler, eek!

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: All Year Cheer I (inside sentiment)
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Accessories: Filgree Brads, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Two Step Owl Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Old Olive Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, glue pen, dimensionals

For All You Do--MDS card

I had some free time this afternoon so I decided to play with the SU My Digital Studio some more. I really wanted to make a card for my my dad's girlfriend, who I pretty much consider my stepmom. The entire yr that my dad battled his cancer she was right by his side and did so much for him, it was just amazing. When my dad left this world Oct.2nd she was right by his side and I know with every ounce of my being that if it hadnt been for her love he wouldnt have made it as long as he did. I love her, and I want her to always know how much I appreciate everything she has done. She is currently out of state from where her and my dad lived, visiting her mom down south, so I created this card so I could post it on her Facebook and just let her know that I was thinking about her.

I used Soft Suede as the base color, then layers of Sunny Day DSP in Pumpkin Pie. The stamps are from For All You Do and I used the colors Crushed Curry, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler. The ribbon is Old Olive.

One Piece of Cardstock

Thursdays challenge on Ways To Use It over at Splitcoast was to make a card using just one sheet of cardstock. You could layer, but it had to be the same sheet of cardstock you started with.

I love simple cards like this so today I found a few mins to  get out 2 cards. Its the exact same image but I changed the sentiment. I went with a Whisper White base and then using Old Olive to stamp the tree. I then took Chocolate Chip and stamped the design on some Whisper White left from cutting the cards. The design is then popped up with dimensionals, although its hard to see in the pics. The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive on each card.

I really like the way these look in person, I dont think the pictures  do the cards justice.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Pendant Park, Best Yet(card 1), All Year Cheer I(card 2)
Paper: Whisper White:
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Dimensionals

Thinking of You

A friend of ours had surgery the other day for cancer so I wanted to send her a little card just to let her know that we are thinking about her. I found this layout in the March/April 2010 Papercrafts magazine and thought I'd give it a shot. The card base is Old Olive, followed by layers of Kraft and Cottage Wall DSP.

Supplies(all supplies are SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: All Year Cheer I, Flight of the Butterfly

Paper: Whisper White, Kraft, Old Olive, Cottage Wall DSP

Ink: Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate

Accessories: Dimensionals, Staples, Paper Piercer,Sponge