A Quartet of Birthday Cards

Good morning!  I am relieved it is the weekend.  It was a hard week of work, and boy do I need today to decompress.  I've got to make a graduation card for my nephew today, wrap Father's Day gifts, begin a customer-requested dog sympathy card, wash sheets, and more.  But first, I wanted to quickly share several birthday cards.

Papertrey Ink Penned Elegance sentiment; Anna Griffin roses sticker; pearls; Spellbinders Large Deckled Rectangles die

Stampin' Up! Happy Birthday To You cake stamp, Itty Bitty Accents flower punch; pearls; Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags tag die; linen twine; The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Birthday sentiment

Jolee'sBoutique hibiscus stickers; DCWV Mariposa Stack orange patterned paper; orange pearl, rhinestone; Papertrey Ink Penned Elegance sentiment

Stampin' Up! Bella Toile background stamp; The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Birthday sentiment; Webster's Pages rhinestone border; Inspired By Stamping A Lovely Birthday floral banner 

What do you have going on today?  I hope you're able to sneak in some time for pursuits you love.

God bless you!

Little Aqua Houses for you and me

Hello friends 😊

One of the categories of cards I sell at the local shop is "new home".  I made these two for sale, and it gave me a chance to use a new-to-me town house die that is so cute!  It's from Poppy Stamps.  So versatile.  Wish it came in a slightly larger size too, but it's okay.  I have PLENTY of supplies to choose from, I don't need to shop for more craft supplies right now.  Ohhhh, I think I've uttered that phrase countless times in my life!  LOL

Both cards have a strip of mirror cardstock on them, but you know how hard it is to photograph that kind of thing.

Poppy Stamps Town Houses die; Spellbinders Labels Eighteen die; mirror cardstock; Stampin' Up! patterned papers

The card below is supposed to feel like nighttime, with the stars above, and the yellow 'lights' in the windows.

Poppy Stamps Town Houses die; Papertrey Ink Cover Plate: Night Sky die, Boards and Beams sentiment; mirror cardstock

Psalm 127:1 NIV

A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

Wishing you a most beautiful day!

Shabby Chic Traveler

Hello!  It's so nice that, as we emerge from the pandemic, people are traveling again.  So many travel plans had to be put on hiatus last year, including our own family trip.  We'll get back to it maybe next year.

So in lieu of actual travel, here's a travel card!  Ha!

Our Craft Lounge Vintage Traveler Eiffel Tower, ticket stamps; Inspired By Stamping Vintage Postcards all other stamps used; Gina Marie Designs Big and Little Chain Rectangles die 

The blue rectangle does stand out against this mostly neutral card.  In retrospect, I wish I had added something else small and blue on the card to balance it all, but it's too late now!

Do you have any plans for a vacation this summer? 

These pics are from our trip to Ireland (a slice of heaven!) in 2019:

Blarney Castle

Me in front of Blarney Castle

Dublin University - and notice how sunny it was that day!

Thanks a bunch for coming by.

God bless you!

French Nail Polish

Hello there!  I've got a rather "pink" post today.  The first card, man, I don't think it even looks like something I made...but it was fun and different!

Years ago, I had ordered some stamps from, I think, Ellen Hutson.  In the package was a small sample of ribbon as a gift, and this little piece of paper with the nail polish bottle you see below.  So I trimmed it out, and tried to build a card around it.  I had watercolored a background as a practice run, and it was pink and orange (SO not my usual colors!), but it looked too bland.  I found a fleur-de-lis stamp and since we're talking French 😉 I thought it went well with the nail polish.  Then, the hot pink background looked too plain...so I added an Eiffel Tower stamp all over.  There's a My Favorite Things flourish die cut on here, too.  Again, just filling in some space.

My Favorite Things Four Corners flourish die; Technique Tuesday Mon Ami Paris Eiffel Tower stamp (background); not sure about the fleur-de-lis stamp, I can't remember!

The card below is super, super simple, and I just made it for my stash.  I used a panel from a calendar my mother-in-law was getting rid of, and added a sentiment and a few punched flowers.  

Altenew Label Love;  Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Accents flower punch; Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch; gold gems; panel from calendar

I hope your day has been a good one, or is about to be a good one, depending upon when you are reading this!  Thanks for your visit!

God bless,

Dog Sympathy Card

Hello there! 😊  Last year, my friends lost their dear beloved dog and they were heartbroken.  Their dog was quite the queen around the house, and what she wanted, she got!  LOL  I wanted to make a feminine sympathy card in memory of their sweetheart.

Stampin' Up! Happy Tails dog, sentiment, paw and heart stamps, Lace 3D Embossing Folder; rhinestones; Papertrey Ink Limitless Layers: 2 1/4" Oval die

I used mostly all Stampin' Up! products here, except for the oval die (from Papertrey Ink).  I gave the puppy a very stately rhinestone collar, too.  I sure do like using gems on my cards.

Take care of yourself, and I hope you have a terrific day!

Wedgwood Tea Pot

Hello again!  Hope you're not tired of seeing me after being silent for so long.  While I've got a chunk of time, I'm getting these posts ready in advance.

Though I much prefer coffee to tea, I do so love using this tea pot die and coordinating stamp set.  They are so sweet!

My Favorite Things Tea Party tea pot and tea bag dies and Cup Of Tea stamp set (sentiment); Stampin' Up! Friends 24-7 damask (used to create blue background); pearls; half of a scalloped circle die cut;  Inspired By Stamping Delicate Doilies II lace border stamp

Are you more of a coffee drinker, or a tea drinker, or neither?  Or both!  

In any case, thanks so much for your visit again.  

God bless you!

Whale of a Day!

Happy Sunday!  I'm sharing a nautical-inspired card today.  See the little whale?  He came in a Stampin' Up! scrap bag from my demonstrator.  Adorable!  I don't own that stamp set, so I needed to pair him with something else from my own stash.  The older set, By The Tide, was a good match.  And it gave me a chance to break it in, too.  I had purchased BTT from an online 'garage sale' app.  It was barely used, or brand new, can't recall, but I'm tickled to have it as a go-to for masculine cards.

Stampin' Up! By The Tide seahorse, sea fan, fish, anchor in circle, background script; also the whale and the patterned paper, but they came in a scrap bag so I don't know the names!

Proverbs 30:4 ESV 

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!

"Sea" you soon!  Thanks so much for your visit!

A Trio of Cards, No Common Theme!

Hi again! 👋 I've got three cards to share in this post.  There's absolutely no common theme, except that they were made by me (ha), and you know I generally like to cluster my cards together in a theme, if at all possible.  Not possible here!  LOL

The first card I made for my in-laws' anniversary either last year or the year before...I think last year?  They are REALLY GOOD COOKS (and my mother in law is an amazing baker, too).  So, this seemed like an unconventional but whimsical anniversary card for them.

Close To My Heart Tasty Treats sentiment; Memory Box Classic Tags die; Jolee's Boutique stickers; Stampin' Up! Hardwood background stamp; crochet lace

The next card I sent to my youngest daughter while she was still away at school.  She has taken an interest in growing plants - among them, succulents - and when I received one of my fun Stampin' Up! scrap bags, this cute succulent paper was in it.  Perfect!  I found a Power Poppy sentiment to go with it.

Power Poppy Summer Berries sentiment; Stampin' Up! Ornate Frames die; Inlovearts Heart Clover Wave Frame Border die; pearls 

And lastly, this was truly made up of scraps.  LOL  The sentiment, the punched flowers, the velvet ribbon snippet, and that Altenew leaf cluster stamp...they were all lying around on my desk for a good while.  I was determined to use them up!

Hero Arts Sending Smiles Messages sentiment, Leafy Vine background stamp; Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Accents flower punch; pearls; Altenew Build A Flower: Rose leaf cluster stamp; gray velvet ribbon  

Thanks for your visit again!  😀

God bless!

Kitties

Hello again!  After not blogging for quite some time, I've made an opportunity to get on here and share more cards.

Where are the cat lovers?  I do love all animals, great and small (okay, maybe not mosquitoes so much, if we lump them into the animal category).  But cats have a special place in my heart.

I used a neat pack of cat dies from Impression Obsession to create a little scene here.  I imagined they were romping through some tropical foliage. ;-D  A sentiment from Papertrey Ink was perfect here.

Impression Obsession Cat Set cat dies; Stampin' Up! Flower Trio punch and all patterned paper scraps; yellow gems; Papertrey Ink Everyday Cat Sentiments sentiments 

And though it is subtle (I do like subtle details!), can you see the sentiment stamped along the bottom of the damask paper (which is OLD, from Stampin' Up! - in Apricot Appeal - like I said, it's old!)?

And here is our own kitty, Cristabel.  She is very much loved by all of us in this house.  However, she doles out her love for us in, shall we say, varying increments?  LOL

Have a blessed day!

You did it!

Hello there!  One day I started playing around with some snippets of interesting patterned papers from my stash (these are all older ones, from Stampin' Up!) and stacked them in a pleasing way.  I guess the ledger paper reminded me of school, which reminded me of graduation. And so this card began!

Hero Arts Everyday Sayings sentiment stamp; Impression Obsession Mortarboard and Scroll die; Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words: Congrats die; ledger, Stampin' Up! 'royal garden' and striped patterned papers; Inkadinkado Floral Damask damask stamp

I used a damask stamp as a very subtle backdrop for the mortarboard and 'congrats' die cuts; you can barely see it.  The Distress Ink called Antique Linen is a favorite of mine for creating super-subtle designs.

The finishing touch is a sentiment from Hero Arts, near the top.   I like how this turned out; it's rather different for a graduation congrats card.

Wishing all the grads of 2021 the very best!  So glad many of them actually got to have their ceremonies in person this year, as compared to 2020.  

My youngest daughter's graduation day in 2020.

My oldest daughter's senior year pic, side by side with my own.😊

The years are flying by!

God bless you!

Purple-Themed Floral Cards

Purple is one of my favorite colors and has been since at least middle school.  Who's with me? ✋  (Not my friend LeAnne, I know this for sure!)  All of the cards I'm sharing here are centered around this glorious color.

Stampin' Up! My Wonderful Family Paper Pumpkin (April 2020) flower, leaves, sentiment; purple and white twine; Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags tag die; lavender and pink pearls

Flourishes Sweet Violets violet flowers; Papertrey Ink Words of Comfort sentiment; Hug Snug Periwinkle seam binding

Stampin' Up! (papers, stamped flowers and sentiment); rhinestones; EK Success Lattice border punch

Flourishes Lilac lilac and magnolia stamps; white crochet lace; pearls; Stampin' Up! Smooth Sailing banner die

Exodus 26:1 ESV

“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

My daughter took this evening sky photo at Temple University last fall.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Blue, pink, purple.  A beautiful tapestry in the sky!

Sympathy and Encouragement Cards

Hello everyone, how are you doing?  I'm still here!  My family and I are doing well; life has been full.  There are definitely not enough hours in the day to do all that needs doing.  But, then again, 24 hours are enough to manage.  😀

I spent some time after work tonight photo-editing pics to share, though these are not the ones I did tonight.  Thankfully, I already had this post semi-completed.  Just had to fill in the captions.

I've got to do something about the change coming to email subscriptions through Feedburner.  That's the next thing for me to do some research on.  I've seen a couple of my blogging friends use follow.it as their new service, so I will check into that.  I'm so non-techy, and I groaned when I read about Feedburner going away.  I'll be back in touch here about migrating the email subscriptions.

Now, here are some sympathy and encouragement cards to share.

Papertrey Ink - Boutique Borders: Sympathy stamps and matching die; Anna Griffin flower cluster sticker; gold embossing powder; clothing tag; Gina Marie Designs Frilly Lace Rectangles die

Papertrey Ink - Boutique Borders: Sympathy stamps and matching die; Gina Marie Designs butterfly die; gold gem; Delicata Filigree Gold ink

Papertrey Ink - Beautiful Blessings sentiment; Stampin' Up! Crab & Company shell stamp and matching border stamp; Love Nicole - Scallop Shell die; gold cardstock

Stampin' Up! - Rose Wonder sentiment, stitched oval die, Certainly Celery ribbon, premade card base

Inspired By Stamping - Elegant Flowers rose stamp, Garden Seed Packets crocus stamp; Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangles die; ivory gem dots; Papertrey Ink - Pen & Ink sentiment

Papertrey Ink Stuck On You Mini sentiment; Stampin' Up! heart and flower die cuts; pearl

Stampin' Up! Paper Pumpkin kit My Wonderful Family (April 2020 kit)

Stampendous Sincere Sentiments sentiment; Stampin' Up! Floral background stamp, Flower Trio punch; ivory gem dots; Martha Stewart Deco Fan border punch; burlap ribbon

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  I am SO glad it is Friday!!! 😊

God bless you,