Pen Pals Needed for Country Acres Personal Care Home Residents

Hello everyone!  I'm putting out the word on behalf of Country Acres Personal Care Home from Pennsylvania.  They are asking for pen pals for some of their residents.  I found this on Facebook, and wanted to help out by making personalized cards for them.  If you can see this link, look at the pictures, and you'll see residents holding posters indicating their name and address, and what it is that they would like to converse about.  They are precious! 

Here are my cards going in the mail this week:

For Doris, who likes cooking, I used a piece of an old calendar and stamped some herb names in a light color ink on the panel.  Can you see coriander, parsley, rosemary, thyme?  I added a stamped butterfly, sentiment, and punched flowers.

For Louis, who likes to travel the world, I found a great piece of patterned paper by Teresa Collins, from the World Traveler paper pad.  It's perfect!  I added a sentiment - Follow your heart; it will take you to incredible places - from Stampin' Up!'s Parisian Beauty stamp set, and a circular postmark stamp that says 'Palermo Porto' from Inspired By Stamping's Vintage Postcards stamp set.

For Ellen, who likes to craft, I used patterned paper from Stampin' Up! that features pens, markers, pencils, and a couple of buttons and pretty burlap/scalloped ribbon. 

For Esther, who likes gardening, I found another calendar image to repurpose.  It has a grand bouquet of roses and ferns on it.  I added a butterfly stamp from Verve, and a sentiment from Stampin' Up!, plus a couple of punched flowers. 

And for Mrs. List, who loves cats, I used an Memory Box Large Sitting Cat die, and cut out another cat from black craft foam to help pop him up.  There's a 'hello' stamp from Altenew Label Love, and a sentiment from Stampin' Up! to show Mrs. List that this was truly made with love!

Here is the mailing address for Country Acres Personal Care Home:

2017 Meadville Road
Titusville PA 16354

There are a few other residents I saw that are also looking for pen pals:

- Joe likes anything Italian
- Dave likes sports
- Darel likes science (was a chemistry professor)

Spread the word!  What a great way to make someone's day a little brighter. 😀

Thank you for coming by, and God bless you!

Nautical Cards - Father's Day and Graduation

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since I popped in here, but I've been keeping busy in the craft studio.

There's a definite nautical theme in the cards I'm sharing today.  Not too long ago, I got the Stampin' Up! set, Sailing Home and its matching set of dies, Smooth Sailing.  I have been having SO MUCH FUN with these!  They arrived in perfect time for making Father's Day and graduation cards.  Let's take a peek:

Stampin' Up! - Sailing Home & Smooth Sailing stamps/matching dies (lighthouse, boat, birds, rope); Verve - Strong Anchor sentiment stamp; gray button; navy/cream twine

Verve - Strong Anchor sentiment stamp; Stampin' Up! - Sailing Home & Smooth Sailing stamps/matching dies (lighthouse, boats, seaweed), Top Note die 

Stampin' Up! - Sailing Home & Smooth Sailing stamps/matching dies (lighthouse), Stitched So Sweetly; Verve - Strong Anchor sentiment stamp

The cards below are for a few of my daughter's close friends.   I like to go real personal for the graduation cards.  They deserve such recognition after putting in more than 12 years of school -- and they are graduating in 2020, which is a highly unusual year for seniors!

Stampin' Up! - Sailing Home stamps (boat, rope, birds, lighthouse, sentiment), Stitched Nested Dies die; Impression Obsession Mortarboard and Scroll mortarboard hat die

WHOA!  After a lineup of muted colors on the cards above, these last two are BRIGHT! 

Stampin' Up! - Sailing Home stamps (boats, sentiment), Smooth Sailing matching boat dies, label die;
Impression Obsession Mortarboard and Scroll mortarboard hat die

Even brighter than the previous card, is this hot pink glitter card!  This young lady loves glitter and hot pink and red -- well, I gave her all three!

Impression Obsession Mortarboard and Scroll mortarboard hat and diploma dies; Stampin' Up! label dies and sentiment (they came in a scrap bag, so I am not sure of the names)

I'm entering a couple of challenges again, too!

• Krafty Chicks - #514 Week 1 - Stamp Act: Use a stamp
• NBUS Challenge - Challenge #16 - Use "never before used schtuff" - I am using the Stampin' Up! Sailing Home and Smooth Sailing goodies 

Thank you so much for joining me here, and God bless you today and always!

You are my biggest blessing...and more!

Hello everyone, how are you doing in your little corner of the world?  Here in NJ, we are beginning to relax quarantine restrictions.  I guess we're one of the last in the country, but our state had been hit pretty hard with COVID-19 cases.  It's a little scary to think about re-entering society.  I have asthma - an underlying, chronic condition - so I need to be cautious about my health, as so many do.

I must say it truly is nice to see more and more people out for bike rides and walks in my neighborhood.  I remember early on during quarantine, there was NO one out during one of my walks, and it was eerie.

Hope you don't mind me popping in for a short visit to share some cards with you. 
Here we go!

Papertrey Ink Pen & Ink sentiment stamp; Memory Box Lucky Leaves, Lucky Charms shamrock dies; Stampin' Up! Irish Blessing background stamp

The paler green cardstock I used for the shamrock die cuts is pearlized!  It's really pretty in person.

Papertrey Ink Garden Garland floral dies, Garden Gild sentiment stamp; Stampin' Up! Heart to Heart heart punches, Flower Trio flower punch; rhinestones; My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Rectangle Stax die; Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch

Stampin' Up! A Little Smile Paper Pumpkin starfish, sea dollar, On My Mind Paper Pumpkin shell stamp, Burlap background stamp, Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin splatter stamp; pearls; My Favorite Things Stitched Sentiments Strips die; Momenta Hello sentiment stamp; abaca ribbon

Flourishes Spring Bouquets sentiment stamp; Stampin' Up! Very Versailles script stamp (background); Papertrey Ink Mix & Mat: Scallops lace die, scallop die; rhinestones 

Stampin' Up! Wellness Wishes dog and sentiment stamp, Hugs From Shelli Paper Pumpkin floral cluster stamp;
white flower lace

Memory Box Honeyblossom Sprig die; My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Rectangle Stax die; Stampin' Up! gray ribbon; Papertrey Ink Words of Comforts sentiment stamp 

That's it, my friends!  I truly appreciate your visit. 😀
God bless you!

Butterfly Celebration - The Card Concept #136 'Bright Florals'

Hello everyone. 😀 I am popping in to blogland, because I'm entering another card challenge, this time at The Card Concept:  #136 Bright Florals.  The inspiration pic follows my card.

Stampin' Up! Butterfly Thinlits die; Martha Stewart Garden Gate Deep Edge Punch; pearls; The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Birthday sentiment stamp

My colors are more muted than the gorgeous inspiration pic, but I tried to match up the aqua blue background, with a bright bundle of flowers in the corner.  This piece of patterned paper (Prima?) was perfect!  I added a butterfly and sentiment on the panel.  The white punched floral lattice edge is barely-there, on purpose, and echoes the fluted table in the inspiration pic.  I guess I'd classify this style as Clean And Layered.

We had a lovely Saturday, with a surprise drive-by graduation celebration for my Kerry, who will graduate soon from high school.  My coworkers put this together when I told them how heart-broken I am for my daughter (and other seniors), who has missed out on so much in her last year of school.  Isn't that the sweetest, most kind-hearted thing to do?  There was a parade of about 8 vehicles, all sporting streamers.  They handed gifts and envelopes to Kerry as they passed by. 💓

Here are a few pics.  Kerry was truly surprised.

I am grateful for the kindness of others that helped brighten our day.  May we pay it forward again and again.

God bless you,

'The Sky Is The Limit' graduation - TGIFC265

Happy Sunday, and to my American friends, Happy Memorial Day weekend!  Our weather is gray today, and yesterday we got quite a bit of rain.  Hoping for some peeks of sunshine later. No matter the weather, there's always plenty to be done inside the house...including making cards. 😉

I'm playing in another challenge today:  TGIF Challenges - Theme Challenge: Travel.  #TGIFC265
I picked a hot air balloon as my mode of travel for this graduation card.  It's headed to a family friend who is graduating from high school soon.

Inspired By Stamping The Sky's The Limit hot air balloon and sentiment stamps; Impression Obsession Mortarboard and Scroll cap die; Papertrey Ink Clouds 1 and 2 die; pearls; Gina Marie Designs Flower Pleated Lace Nested Rectangles die

The pale blue damask patterned paper is old, from Stampin' Up!, and obviously stands in for my sky.  The mortarboard cap has a tiny pearl on the tassel, adding a bit of 'class' (get it, class?  I have corny puns!).

Thank you to the team at TGIF Challenges for hosting such a neat inspiration challenge this week!

Check out what my daughter, Kerry, and I did last night.  We did Bob Ross Painting!  We watched Bob on Netflix, paused the show at various points along the way, and tried to follow Bob's example.  His canvas was like 2 ft x 3 ft, and ours are tiny 5" x 7" canvases.

It was my first time doing a Bob Ross painting, and Kerry's second.  She has inherited the gift of painting from my dad, and from her paternal grandmother.  I love how her mountains, water (check out the tree reflections!) and sky turned out!  My one giant cloud is not ultimately what I was going for, but I thought the mountains and water came out pretty good.  What a fun and pleasant evening with my girl!  Can't wait to do it again.

Thank you so much for coming by today!  I've got to get ready for virtual church now, and a drive-by birthday 'party' this afternoon. 

Have a wonderful day, a relaxing holiday, and God bless you and keep you!

Sweet Life - Inspired By... 'Sweet On You' challenge

Hello there!  I'm playing in another Inspired By... challenge, and this one is titled, 'Sweet On You.'
The gorgeous inspiration photo is further down in this post.  I incorporated a lot of the elements I saw in the pic.

My Favorite Things LLD Tea Party spoon die; Stampin' Up! Hardwood background stamp, Mercury Glass Designer Acetate; Flourishes Cherries & Peaches cherry and sentiment stamps; pearls; doily

 

The spoon was die-cut twice:  once from white cardstock, and once from a piece of Mercury Glass Designer Acetate from Stampin' Up!  It's hard to capture it in the photo, but the top layer (the mercury glass) is a shiny silver with clear mottled specks on it, which let the white cardstock peek through a bit.

Also, see the sentiment?  It says, "Live the Sweet Life."  It's very faint - on purpose, and you'll know why when you see the inspiration picture.  This sentiment was pure serendipity.  It came in the Flourishes Cherries & Peaches stamp set, and I liked it, so I used it.  THEN it hit me that the name of this challenge is 'Sweet On You'.  💗

The inspiration pic shows horizontal wood grain in a pretty shade of aqua.  I didn't have one just like it so I got close by making it like this.  I used a pale grayish-blue piece of small herringbone patterned paper, then stamped the Hardwood background stamp on top in Going Gray ink.  Then I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and sponged it all over the piece.  It came close, I think.

Here is the inspiration photo:

A big thank you to the ladies at Inspired By... -- they picked my Hanging Flowers card as their winner from the last challenge!  I am grateful!

Thanks so much for your visit today.  I appreciate your visit!  God bless you!

A Parade of Valentine Cards

Hello everyone, how are you doing today?  Are any of you very tired sometimes during our quarantine?  I sure am.  I know I'm not alone in that.  It's just weird how exhausted I can be, even with a decent night's sleep.  I suppose it's because we're in a holding pattern of sorts, with the sense that we need to "get back to normal soon".  Except that our previous way of life will not return in full, at least not for the foreseeable future. 

I think I need to go outside and get some fresh air this evening, maybe take a walk and look at the spring flowers in bloom.  In our backyard, we've got white and magenta peonies, three different colors of irises, and azaleas blossoming at the moment.  Oh, and chives.  They have such pretty flowers.

Today I've got some Valentine cards to show you, just because. 💟  After lining up all of these cards, I noticed I used the same stamp sets and dies A LOT -- guess it was just easier when all of those supplies were already on my desk.  So, you'll see some things repeated. 😏

Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Love Notes (Paper Pumpkin) sentiment stamp, Ornate Frames sentiment die, Itty Bitty Accents small heart punch; My Favorite Things Pierced Heart Stax heart die; doily; L'il Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles die

L'il Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles die; My Favorite Things Pierced Heart Stax and Heart Stax heart dies; Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Love Notes (Paper Pumpkin) sentiment and envelope stamps; coffee sleeve

L'il Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles die; My Favorite Things Heart Stax heart dies; pearls; Stampin' Up! ivory rosette ribbon, Bloomin' Love sentiment stamp; vintage thread; Memory Box Classic Tags tag die

My Favorite Things Heart Stax heart dies; Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Love Notes (Paper Pumpkin) sentiment stamp; black striped satin ribbon; rhinestones

It was hard to capture the shine of the polka dots on the white paper in the photo above, so I took another, which you see below.  However, I could not get rid of the yellow tones, even with my photo editor.  That bugs me, but it's a small thing; not a big deal. 😐

Papertrey Ink Ways To Say: I Love You sentiment stamp; Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Rectangles Large die; pink glitter heart stickers; pearls

Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Love Notes (Paper Pumpkin) sentiment stamps; Papertrey Ink Tag-Its #11 key stamp; button; gold thread; Kat Scrappiness Stitched Postage Stamp Edge Rectangles die; My Favorite Things Pierced Heart Stax heart die

Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Love Notes (Paper Pumpkin) sentiment stamp, A Happy Heart large heart stamp, Itty Bitty Accents small heart punch; Gina Marie Designs Frilly Lace Rectangles die; pink rhinestones

Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Love Notes (Paper Pumpkin) sentiment stamp; My Favorite Things Heart Stax heart dies;
gold glitter frame die cut

Before I go, let me show you pictures my daughter recently took of the Philadelphia skyline at dusk one evening.  She was at one of our nearby rivers (where she had rowed in competition during her high school years) as she watched the sun dip. 

 
Thanks so much for your visit today, and God bless you and keep you!