A Star Is Born

We recently welcomed a new little niece into our family!  My brother-in-law and his wife have a precious little bundle, and we couldn't be more happy for them. :-)

The new parents chose to be surprised about whether the baby was a boy or a girl.  

I made this card before Baby was born, and was inspired by the patterns and colors of the nursery. Had to keep the card gender-neutral!

The Positively Chevron Background stamp (Stampin' Up!) was just right as the backdrop for this little paper-pieced gray onesie (Inspired By Stamping). The sentiment is from Verve's Shining Star. Then I added some wooden stars and Sparkling Clear sequins (I have an addiction to those!).

I made a simple quilt for our niece, too. I used a chevron-design fabric for the binding. :-)

Happy Birthday Heart

This birthday card was inspired by Spring itself....which is when I created it!  It's taken a while to get it up on the blog.

Lots of fresh white, and a dose of spring green....You see what I mean? :-)

The heart doily die is from Top Dog Dies (they went out of business earlier this year, I believe), the sentiment banner is from Spellbinders, the sentiment from Power Poppy, and those sparkly clear sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh. 

Glad you came by today; have a terrific, blessed day!

Blessed is the man

Although this card was created for Father's Day for the shop  - it can certainly stand in as a birthday card for any wonderful guy in your life.

I used a beautiful verse stamp from Verve:  Jeremiah 17:7 on a scalloped journal card die cut from Papertrey Ink. 

Some hemp twine was wrapped around the card, and tied off with a brown corduroy button from Stampin' Up! - older, of course, almost every supply I have is older. ;-)

My cup of tea

I've got a cute stamp set from Inspired By Stamping called Tea Party, and I recently inked up the dotted cup on a happy piece of floral patterned paper.

The cup is layered on a Cross Stitch Circle die cut (My Favorite Things) and has a tiny gold charm of - what else? - tea bags on the side!

The rest of the card was created to look like a daintily-set table with a doily topper.  Hope you got that impression when you looked at it!

Thanks so much for coming by. :-)

A nautical card for my love

For my husband's birthday this year, I went with a nautical theme - 

I used a denim-look patterned paper as the backdrop, and layered on many things:  golden stars, an anchor stamp, trimmed out, a bronze button, a stamped compass, and a really cool little "rope" that came with a clothing tag on it.

I like the eclectic, collage feel to it, but I'm not so sure he did.

His reaction was, "Wow, there are a lot of things on here."

Um, yes, yes there are. :-)

Thanks for dropping by today!

Shabby Chic Lilac

I've had this lilac stamp from Unity's Relax, Renew & Restore set for years now, but have rarely inked it up. 

I used a suede-brown ink to stamp it, then trimmed it out and subtly distressed the edges with Antique Linen ink (Ranger). 

I found a snippet of Blackberry Bliss ribbon and a matching punched flower in a Scrap Bag from my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and added them to the mix here. The brighter purple mat in the background is actually Perfect Plum cardstock, which, in real life, is not quite this bright!

Had to add a little bit of bling to the card, with a rhinestone in the center of the flower, and a scattering of Sand sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!

Ties for Dad

Hi! I made a couple of tie-inspired cards for Father's Day that I wanted to share with you today.

This black one has pin-stripes and buttons and a black bow tie; perfect for fancy dads. :-)

The next one features a Tie die from Papertrey Ink, paired with fun patterned papers, all set on a mini-houndstooth stamped background (Market Street Stamps). 

I used the Tie die to also cut through craft foam, then adhered the paper ties to the foam for some dimension. 

Thanks so much for coming by today! Hope I didn't "tie" you up for too long! ;-)

Thank you cards....and a few others, too!

Hello! Glad you dropped by today. :-) I'm piling multiple cards in one post, 'cause there are just too many to keep up with posting here on the blog!

Beautiful hyacinths from Flourishes Hello Hyacinths, paired with an encouraging Bible verse from Papertrey Ink's Everyday Blessings.

Up next, a lovely sentiment from Verve's Dare To Be, paired with Mini Rolled Roses in pale pink felt (die by My Favorite Things). 

Next up, some thank you cards:

Hard to tell from the pic above, but that tiny bee and the square medallion stamps were gold-embossed. You can see it better below:

Thanks for coming by today!  Hope you are doing well in your little corner of the world. :-)

O Christmas Tree{s}

It's not too early to get a start on Christmas cards!  We're already more than halfway through this year (yikes!), and Christmas will be here before you know it.

My inspiration for this card is the song, O Christmas Tree. I used a musical note background stamp from Skipping Stones Design on a kraft card base. Then, I built a little 'forest' of gilded trees on top of an embossed oval.

The trees are from both Hero Arts Merry Christmas Trees and Stampin' Up!'s Patterned Pines.

The gilding comes in the form of gold Smooch ink, some golden sequins, and a gold-embossed star.

Stamps: Timeless Texture background - Skipping Stone Design; Merry Christmas Trees - Hero Arts; Patterned Pines - Stampin' Up! Accessories & Tools: gold sequins, gold embossing powder, Holiday Frame embossing folder  - Stampin' Up!; Gold Smooch Ink; Copic markers

Red Pear & graduation pics

Hello there!  Just popping in a with a pear card, to say hi to you, and let you know we've got TWO graduates in the house!

Last week, both of our girls graduated - one from 8th grade, one from high school. What an exhilarating time it was! Our oldest received two scholarships, which helps tremendously with her college expenses. 

Receiving her diploma

Overwhelmed by the emotion of it all

Our girls, moving onward and upward!

We're so proud!
xoxo

Tools for Dad

Hi! I wanted to share with you a couple of Father's Day cards I made recently, using a cute little toolbox stamp from Lizzie Anne Designs Monthly Mix May 2010 'Dream Big' (retired set AND company).

On this first card, I imagined a work bench, with a rustic feel. The ruler paper is really perfect for this! Can't recall which paper pad I used for it. (Sieve-brain! LOL) 

The circular 'dad' stamp comes in the same set, and I stamped it in Soft Sky, punched it out with a circle punch, then ran my 18kt Gold Leaf Krylon marker along the perimeter.  It was tough to catch that shine, and I'm not quite sure if you can see it in the pic below.  The little nut, nail and washer - created using Our Daily Bread's Workshop Tools die set - were die-cut out of shiny silver mirror cardstock.

The next card using the same tool kit, and another sentiment from that same Lizzie Anne Designs set. This time, I used a lined-paper patterned paper, as well as a grid design. You know how much math is involved in woodworking! I pictured Dad jotting his mathematical notes on these pages -- that was my inspiration for the card. 

Though it's tough to see in the photos, I used Glossy Accents on the handles of the screwdrivers (the red and yellow handles).

Thanks SO much for joining me today!  Have a blessed day!

You Are My Happy Place, part 2

'Tis the season for travel!  We've already had our vacation for the year (Disney World, in February), but it would be nice to take a day here and there to head for the Jersey Shore, or maybe the Pocono Mountains.

This card I created was inspired by people who have a penchant for travel.  I tried to create a bulletin board of sorts, with cork-patterned paper, and a snippet of a real map. The railroad tickets are stamps from Our Craft Lounge's Vintage Traveler.

I added a button and vintage thread, a couple of wooden stars, and a stamped striped arrow from Inspired By Stamping.

Of all the wonderful places to visit in this big world, the very best place is right beside my loved ones. :0) (sentiment stamp by Altenew) 

If this card looks familiar, I had made a custom card similar to it, featured in THIS post. 

Stamps: Vintage Traveler - Our Craft Lounge; Arrows - Inspired By Stamping;  Sentiments & Quotes - Altenew Accessories & Tools: wooden stars - Studio Calico, vintage thread, vintage button, piece of a map