Squeezing in Summer Flowers

It's a lazy Sunday morning here as I write this.  Love times like that. My niece slept over, and we ate a big breakfast of homemade pancakes (plain, blueberry, and chocolate chip varieties) and pork roll (a New Jersey favorite).  The kids are back upstairs, and I'm spending time photo-editing many cards' worth of shots to share here on my blog.

I came upon these two cards, which feature summer flowers.  Since our trees are already dropping leaves, and I've spied a bright red leaf or two, Autumn is on its way.  Figured I'd better share these quickly, then!

Bright orange lilies from Inspired By Stamping's Summer Flowers atop a lettuce-colored lattice, plus lots of bright white...this definitely says 'summer.'

I created the green panel by spritzing Ranger's Adirondack Color Wash in Lettuce through these:

Plastic mesh sleeves that came on bottles of barbecue sauce.
Crafty supplies can come from anywhere!

Glossy accents on the flowers' anthers, burlap leaves, and a sentiment from Verve are a few of the details here.

Stamps: Summer Flowers - Inspired By Stamping; Kind Words - Verve Paper: white - PTI Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Lettuce Adirondack Color Wash - Ranger Fibers: burlap Accessories & Tools: Copic markers; Fleur de Lis Squares die - Spellbinders; Damask embossing folder - Sizzix/Tim Holtz; Glossy Accents - Ranger; pearls

A piece of bright pink satin ribbon was my inspiration for the next card.  In real life, the color of the flowers matches the ribbon nicely, but my camera gets crazy around bright hues and tells a different story.

The same Summer Flowers stamp set features a hibiscus, which I figured would go well with the ribbon.  We saw lots of hibiscus in Hawaii.  (dreamy sighhhhh.....) The sentiment is also from Inspired By Stamping:  Trendy Circle Sentiments.

Thanks for visiting, and hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!

Stamps: Summer Flowers, Trendy Circle Sentiments - IBS Paper: white, kraft - PTI Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: bright pink satin ribbon, burlap Accessories & Tools: Copic markers; circle dies - Spellbinders; Glossy Accents - Ranger; Honeyblossom Sprig die - Memory Box; pearls

Silver Anniversary

Hi there!  Happy Friday!

My husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in October.  Holy cow, where do the years go?  According to Hallmark, gifts for a 20th would be china (traditional) or platinum (modern).  Does anyone follow those guidelines anymore?

A silver anniversary celebrates 25 years of marriage.  I guess that's what I had in mind when making this silvery card.  Lots of silver here:  the butterfly medallion, the vintage button - and the rhinestone topping it - the patterned paper, Liquid Pearls and the sheer ribbon.

That's a lot of silver accents, and yet the card doesn't overwhelm you with a metallic feel.

For my upcoming anniversary, we're planning a mini-getaway.  Not sure to where, just yet.  I really love the mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, and would love to return again.  Last time we were there, I was pregnant with our oldest child.  :-)  I remember some strangers asking if this was our first baby.  We said to each other, "How do they know?  For all they know, maybe it's our fifth!!"  Well, after two kiddos, now I understand.  Kids have a way of, oh, wearing on you.  hee hee

Thanks a bunch for letting me inundate you this week.  Have a great weekend!

Stamps: sentiment - Vintage Frames - Inspired By Stamping; butterfly medallion - Nature Medallions - Blockheads Paper Arts Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White - SU; Garden Vignettes stack - My Mind's Eye Ink: Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko Fibers: sheer silver ribbon Accessories & Tools: vintage button; rhinestone - Queen & Co.; scalloped oval punch - SU; Beaded Circles die - Spellbinders; silver embossing powder - SU; Silver Liquid Pearls - Ranger

A CASE for the Mr. & Mrs.

Hi friends, welcome back!  :-)

So glad there's Pinterest (click to see my boards) and a hefty stash of papercrafting magazines to help provide inspiration when the creative well runs dry.  In one of the Paper Crafts back issues, I saw a wedding card that wowed me.  This is a pretty close CASE.  Can't remember which issue, or the designer's name.  I'm so sorry!  It's a bear to photograph, though.

Loved how the designer added the "something blue" touch on the sentiment.  I used Wplus9's Fresh Cut Wreaths for mine.  Can't recall what kind of flower the designer used in the corner, but I made a rosette with gathered lace, then topped it with a champagne pearl.

Thanks for hanging in there with me this week!  I'll be back again tomorrow with an anniversary card.  xoxo

Stamps: Fresh Cut Wreaths - Wplus9 Paper: white, Vintage Cream - PTI Ink: Baja Breeze - SU Fibers: sheer white ribbon - Stamp Simply Ribbon Store; white gathered lace; white seam binding - Hug Snug / The Zipper Stop Accessories & Tools: champagne pearl - Recollections; Labels 25 die - Spellbinders; pearl spray - bridal section of craft store ; Damask embossing folder - Sizzix/Tim Holtz

The Card Concept #18 - Apples For You

Time for a new Card Concept challenge!  We've got a Back-To-School theme, and I made a card to give to a teacher.

Here's our inspiration photo, below.  I was inspired by the chalkboard, the tree, the apples, and the colors.

I employed the chalkboard technique with a Verve sentiment from Glad Tidings, and a little Hampton Arts flower, paired with fun glittered Jolee's stickers.

My spot on the Card Concept Team is as a Classy & Elegant designer.  The definition is listed as any of these:

polished
shiny finish
sparkling embellishments
rich color scheme
sophisticated sentiments
regal
sweeping
dramatic
monochromatic
layered textures
awe
impress

Must admit I had a hard time working with a school theme and still creating something elegant.  Not sure I've actually achieved that...

Hope you get a chance to play with us!  Check HERE for all the details.  :-)

Stamps: sentiment - Glad Tidings - Verve; flower - Wedding - Hampton Arts Paper: True Black - PTI; Poppy Parade - SU Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko; Whisper White craft - SU Fibers: bakery string - from a real bakery! Accessories & Tools: white embossing powder - SU; apple, tree, branch stickers - Jolee's; large tag die - SU; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger 

It's raining hydrangeas!

Hello!  After a period of quiet here on my blog, I'll be giving you lots to look at this week.  =D Hope that's okay with you!  I'm finally getting around to photo-editing the more than 30 cards made in the last month or so.  Sure does take time.  :-/

 Let's begin with a dainty, girly card:

This shower card went to the bridal shop, and uses one of my faves from Stampin' Up!:  Blooming With Happiness.

This chipboard frame from Maya Road - a free gift, for having a card published in CARDS magazine a while back - received a coat of white paint, then iridescent glitter.  LOVE how it turned out!  A bevy of pink hydrangea blossoms rain down upon the sweet umbrella.

The sentiment is from SU's Teeny Tiny Wishes.  Out of my entire collection of stamps, this is the only one with this exact wording.  I wish for another sentiment exactly like this, but in a larger font.  It's hard to find, though.  If you know of one, please let me know!

Thanks a bunch for your visit today!  I'll see you here again soon.  xoxo

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Blooming with Happiness - SU Paper: white - PTI; Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirhouette - SU Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Accessories & Tools: White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Hydrangea punch - Martha Stewart; oval punch - SU; chipboard frame - Maya Road; corner rounder punch - Fiskars; white craft paint; iridescent glitter; Copic markers

Modern Sympathy

Hey there!  Hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend, my U.S. friends.  And for my friends around the world, hope your weekend was wonderful, too.  :D

I am sharing a modern kind of sympathy card today, using a seemingly-favorite color combo of mine for these occasions - purple and black.

You know how crafting accidents happen, and sometimes they provide us with a chance to reinvent and reimagine a project?  Seeing the splats of silver embossing, can you guess what happened?  Yep.  It got all messy, and I decided I liked it a bunch, so went with it.

A Verve sentiment and good ol' Happy Harmony flowers (Stampin' Up!) were stamped atop a sponged panel.

A crafting friend wrote to ask what was up with me, since I haven't been on the blog much lately.  It's nice to be missed!  My mom had visited in August, and then we went away for a week.  Being away from the computer felt kinda good, a mini-vacation all its own.  I've been plenty busy in the craft room, though...and I've got over 30 cards' worth of photos to edit before they hit my blog!  Holy cow!

Stamps: Deepest Sympathy single - Verve; flowers - Happy Harmony - SU Paper: True Black, white - PTI; Vintage Violet - SU Ink: Going Gray, Orchid Opulence, Vintage Violet - SU; Milled Lavender - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: sheer purple ribbon Accessories & Tools: silver embossing powder - SU; embossing ink - Rubber Stampede

Seize the Sketch #27 - Trick Or Treat

Hello friends!  =D  I had so much playing with the current sketch (#27) at our LAST (sniff) Seize The Sketch challenge, another card popped out of me.  Lo and behold, it's a Halloween card!

The retired Stampin' Up! set, Window Dressing, was staring at me from its place on the Ikea book shelf in my studio.  It never saw much ink, and I felt bad for it.

The kitty and window are from that set, the pumpkin is from Family Accessories, and the sentiment (colored with markers) is from Holiday Best.  Boom!  A Stampin' Up!-only card!

Here's the sketch again, and before you say, "What?  Her card looks nothing like the sketch!", take a peek below.

Sure, maybe I took a little creative license with the sentiment and bow, but the bare bones are still there!

My family and I just got back from a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a quick break before school resumes.  It felt good to play in the surf (before the waves became too rough due to the offshore Hurricane Cristobal) and just let go for a while.

The sunsets are so gorgeous there, my camera just clicked away.

Me and my youngest, doing a selfie.

Thanks so much for popping over, and if you'd like to join us at STS, click HERE for details!

Stamps: Window Dressing, Holiday Best, Family Accessories - SU Paper: kraft, white - PTI Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: Argentina seam binding - Hug Snug Accessories & Tools: markers - SU; circle punches; Copic markers

Seize The Sketch #27 - With Sympathy

Time for a new challenge at Seize The Sketch!  It's also time for me to refill the 'Sympathy' category at the Arts Plus Gallery, where I sell my cards.  I chose some pretty papers from K & Co.'s Julianne line.  They look old-fashioned and sweet, and are very easy on the eyes.  The die cut / sentiment is by Papertrey Ink / Boutique Borders: Sympathy.  And those baby flowers -- courtesy of my blogging friend, Sindhu.

Our sketch hostess is Cathy Santie.  There are so many awesome ways to interpret this!  Dress it up, or keep it clean and simple.

One of the papers has a raised, glossy texture that I wanted to capture for you.  You can see it best in the photo below.  OH!  And I wanted to show you something else!  See the little black dot on the center of each of the paper flowers?  Well, one of the flowers had a defect, where the paint had not completely covered the little 'ball'.  Rather than toss that one and not use it at all, I just used a fine-tipped black marker to add a similar dot to another perfect flower.  Now they match!

Sadly, this is our last challenge before the doors close at Seize The Sketch.  (sniff, sniff) A HUGE thanks to STS owner Lesley Croghan for giving me a chance to serve on the DT, even if for a short time.  It was fun!

Thanks a bunch for your visit today, and I hope you might come play with us!

Stamps: Boutique Borders: Sympathy - Papertrey Ink Paper: Mellow Moss - SU; white - PTI; patterns - Julianne - K & Co. Ink: pale moss - Anna Griffin; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko Accessories & Tools: Boutique Borders: Sympathy die - PTI; white flowers

A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies

Happy Monday!  I'm pairing two butterfly-themed cards to share today, and needed a good name for my post.  "Bunch of butterflies" just didn't have enough flair.  ;-)  I did a quick internet search, and learned that you can call a group of butterflies a kaleidoscope, swarm, rabble or flight.  I rather like 'kaleidoscope' the best!

Without further ado, the cards:

Mini-supply list for the card above:  sentiment - Think Big Favorites #16 - Papertrey Ink; K & Co. chipboard butterflies; Garden Silhouettes - Stampin' Up!

Mini-supply list for the card above:  sentiment - Absolutely Fabulous - Stampin' Up!; Mariposa papers - K & Co.; purple butterfly sticker - K & Co. 

Our visit with Mom here last week was wonderful.  We spent lots of time shopping, eating good food, and catching up with family (some of whom we hadn't seen in 30 years!).  We took early morning walks, and talked and talked.  I enjoyed every moment, and the week went by so fast.  Too fast.

Thanks for your visit today!

The Card Concept #16 - Hydrangea Bouquet (again!)

Hello!  I'm back with a reminder card for The Card Concept #16.  Once again, I've got a punched bridal bouquet for the wedding card challenge.

Today's card is 5" x 7", compared with the A2 size of 4.25" x 5.5" from last week's card.  I did a tutorial on the creation of this bouquet HERE.

Since I had extra room on this card base, I decided to make a nosegay holder from a piece of vanilla cardstock.  I hand-trimmed the shape, and embossed it to give texture.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Happily Ever After set.

If you are inspired to make a wedding card, please join our challenge!  You still have one more week to link up HERE.

Stamps: Happily Ever After - Papertrey Ink Paper: Naturals White cardstock - SU Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: sheery celery ribbon - Offray Accessories & Tools: Regal Flourishes embossing folder - Sizzix/Tim Holtz; Hydrangea Punch - Martha Stewart; Lemon Yellow Liquid Pearls - Ranger; circle die - Spellbinders

Clean and Elegant Wedding Card

Many of the wedding cards I make are full of embellishments, and a bit frou-frou.  What, I wondered, would suit a couple with more modern tastes?  That was the inspiration behind today's card.

These rich, wine-colored patterned papers (Stampin' Up!) were in my stash, and they seemed wedding-worthy....as long as I added a few touches of gold.  The rings are from Verve's Love Story, and the sentiment from Hero Arts' Best Wishes.  The ribbon slide has been in my stash for TOO long, so I'm glad it found a home.

My mom arrives today to stay with us for a week, and I'm so excited!  We only see each other once a year, and our visit always goes by too fast.  We've got fun things planned, and my husband will make his AWESOME homemade ice cream for dessert one night.  Wish you all could taste it!

I've got one card pre-posted for The Card Concept next week, but otherwise my blog will be quiet.  See you all in a week or so!  Have a wonderful day week.  :-)

Stamps: sentiment - Best Wishes - Hero Arts; rings - Love Story - Verve Paper: Bravo Burgundy, patterns - SU Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko Fibers: Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon - SU Accessories & Tools: ribbon slide, gold embossing powder - SU