Custom Seashore Love anniversary card

Summer approaches, and here in New Jersey, we think of trips to the Shore (not the beach, it's the shore!).

A friend asked me to make a seashore-themed anniversary card for his wife, because they were married on a beach.  Aww, isn't that romantic?

I pulled out some shell stamps, sequins, a flourish die, inks, sequins and pearls, and set to work.
There's also a bit of wax paper on here, from the kitchen drawer. It's barely there, but it represents the foamy edge of water on the sand.

The seastar (starfish) and sand dollar stamps are from Blockhead Paper Arts, the scallop shell is from Golden Acorn.

The sentiment is from Wplus9's Mehndi Medallions set. Beneath the sentiment, I inked sandy colors, swirled on with a sponge (Distress Inks - Ranger), and stamped with Stampin' UP's Itty Bitty Backgrounds to look like grains of sand.

Can you see the wax paper 'foam' lapping at the shore?  The white flourish die cuts are from My Favorite Things, and they too represent the foamy water.

I love making cards like this!  I am glad you stopped by to take a peek at it.

Have yourself a wonderful day!

Hello, Campanula

Hello there! It sure has been a while since we've seen each other here. Life has been very busy, and family always comes first. I've made some time to craft, but there's been no free time to meet you here on my blog. So, finally, hello again, my friend. :-)

I am woefully behind on sharing things I've created, but we'll start with this for now. It was made sometime last year. What makes me happy about this card is the subdued color palette. In fact, these are eyeshadow colors I like to wear: taupe, cream, plum.

I used a beautifully patterned paper in the background (from Webster's Pages), and in the center of the card, a cluster made of many things. There's a pierced tag, topped with a seam binding bow, some sparkly sequins, a scalloped circle die cut from plum patterned paper, a 'hello' sentiment from Altenew, and a pretty campanula flower die cut from K & Co.

There's also a scrap of crochet lace, and a scrap of kraft paper that had been punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

Before I go, I want to share a song I just heard for the first time, on the radio yesterday:  "West Point To Arlington". It touched my heart so very deeply. The lyrics remind me that our soldiers deserve respect and gratitude; many have to give the biggest sacrifice of all in order to preserve the freedoms we take for granted. My heart is ever grateful to them, and to their families.

The song was written by a friend of Captain Andrew M. Pedersen-Keel, who was killed while on duty in Afghanistan.

West Point To Arlington is a new song by American country singer Ward Davis from the album Operation Song: West Point To Arlington and was released in the spring of 2017.
(source: http://new-country-songs.com/ward-davis/west-point-to-arlington)

You can listen to the song on YouTube, or on this website:
http://new-country-songs.com/ward-davis/west-point-to-arlington

May it touch your heart, too.

This weekend is Memorial Day in the USA.  Enjoy the holiday with your loved ones, have fun, and be safe. Tell a soldier how much we appreciate what they do for each and every one of us.

God bless you,

'Tis the Season

Hi! Yep, I am also throwing in a Christmas card in my many posts published today. I've got to stay on top of my Christmas stash so I'm not overwhelmed when winter rolls around again.

On a caramel card base, I stamped the Dictionary background from Stampin' Up! in a light brown. Then, I let K & Co. goodies set the scene: the sentiment sticker and holly border die cut take center stage. A bit of bling (red sequins, clear rhinestones)....

...a twine bow, and some crochet lace add the little extras.

The patterned paper at the bottom might be from DCWV; I cannot remember for sure.

That's it from me for today. I hope you are well in your little corner of the world, and live each day to the fullest! Every day is a gift from above; make it count and be a blessing to others. :-)
Thank you for your visit today!

Red, white, blue and gold Graduation

Hi! I added this card to my basket of goodies for sale at Arts Plus Gallery in Collingswood last week, since graduation season is upon us.

I was definitely feeling a patriotic vibe when I created it. This is not my usual palette of colors! Had to throw in some shiny gold cardstock and gold sequins to add a little razzle-dazzle:

I created a faux-embossed look on the navy panel by using some punched and die-cut stars also in navy cardstock. It's a nice subtle touch to add more interest to an otherwise simple card. The sentiment is from Verve's Purely Sentimental set.

So glad you came by for a visit.  Enjoy your day!

A Confirmation card, dressed in white

When I began creating cards in 2007, the all-white card really captivated me. With such a pure, clean, colorless palette, it's important to incorporate texture so the card looks interesting. I lean on dies, punches and embossing folders to create texture.

For this Confirmation card, I used the Stamper's Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink (my absolute favorite white). You can't beat the price for the quality of this paper.

The frame around the edges of the card is a die from Papertrey Ink called Cover Plate: Pretty Frame. The cross is from Spellbinders Crosses Two. I die-cut three or four crosses from the white cardstock and layered them all together for dimension. It's topped with some pearls, another favorite craft supply of mine.

Even though I made this for my daughter's Confirmation, this would work equally well for a baptism, First Holy Communion, or a wedding.

Thanks so much for your visit today!

Encouragement for those who need it

I have become a fan of creating encouragement cards. When I let my creativity have its way, inevitably I reach for stamps that convey hope and faith. I've got three card examples to share with you today:

All of the sentiment stamps are from Verve: the top two are from the Each Day set (Psalm 31:24) and the bottom card features a quote from Mother Teresa from the Kind Words set.

The theme of encouragement reminds me of an oft-seen quote that goes something like this:

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

The quote has been attributed to many different folks including Plato, Philo of Alexandria, John Watson and Ian Maclaren (MacLaren) {Ian Maclaren is a pseudonym for John Watson}. This article digs a bit deeper into who may have coined the phrase.

Creating our tomorrows

I'm back with a graduation card that has a different feel to it, a departure from my normal style. I don't usually use arrows very much, but this fun piece of patterned paper was the inspiration behind the card.

I should have had the arrows pointing the other way but once the paper was glued down, there was no turning back! This card could be for a guy or a gal, and the focus is on achieving goals and dreaming big for the future. The sentiment is from DRS Designs, We Create Our Tomorrows. I stamped it on a die cut from a Spellbinders frame, and settled this on a piece of wood-look patterned paper. Cloud die cuts (Papertrey Ink), golden stars, a dash of sequins and a strip of gold glitter paper give this card a dreamy vibe (at least, I hope).

Thank you for coming by today!

Vintage Tulip

Hi there!  It's been a little while since I've posted a card. Life has been very, very busy, and it's got me running around doing other things. Today I have a bit of free time to share some cards with you.

I built this card around the piece of a book page, which I stamped with flourishes from Fiskars' Vintage Farmhouse stamp set. The tulip is from Anna Griffin (set unknown), and is brightly colored with pops of spring in fuchsia and green.

There's a sprinkling of sequins and topaz gem stones, and a taupe seam binding bow to top it all off.

Thanks for taking a peek today. I'll be sharing more soon!