Quick & Easy Monogrammed Gift Set

Our wonderful neighbors helped us out by

watching our cat while we were away last summer.  I made a set of monogrammed note cards for them, using patterned paper from K & Co., and a monogram stamp set from JustRite.  I'm not so sure this stamp set is available anymore, to be honest with you.

I like the fancy font of the monogram, surrounded by the flourishes. If I could do this set of cards over again, I'd stamp the monogram letter in black, to make it stand out more.

Thanks for taking a peek today!  Be blessed! 

Stamps: Special Occasions Stampers kit - JustRite Paper: Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink; patterns - Julianne - K & Co.; Mellow Moss, Bordering Blue - Stampin' Up! Ink: Mellow Moss, Bordering Blue - Stampin' Up! Accessories & Tools: corner rounder punch - Fiskars; Fleur De Lis Motifs, circle dies - Spellbinders

A Graduation Rose

Our daughter graduated from high school in June (can I really be getting that old??) and I wanted to make a very special card to commemorate this occasion.

Here's what I came up with:

Golden stars - die-cut from gold glitter paper - mingle with a pink stamped rose (Altenew's Vintage Roses), stamped leaves and sparkling sequins. 

See that uber cool vintage book page in the background?  A fellow crafter, Maria from the rieslingmama blog, sent that paper to me years ago from Germany. I've used it veerrrrry sparingly, since it's very special! Thank you again, Maria!

I stamped a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Tiny Tags on a star-shaped tiny tag, and tied on a slender golden bow.

My graduate did like the card, and I'm glad. It was made with so much love! We're very proud of her!

Freesias for you

I'm fairly sure these pretty flowers - a stamp by La Blanche called simply "Spray Flower" - are freesias. Not quite sure...anyone have any other guesses?

I stamped them on a rounded rectangle diecut (Wplus9), and colored the image with Copic markers. And then, oh so carefully, I added a pale yellow background with the help from a Copic, and then Antique Linen distress ink was sponged around the edges while the die was still in place.

I set the panel over top of a Spellbinders Fancy Tags Three die cut, and topped it with a Tiny Tag die cut (Papertrey Ink). A little vintage thread bow was threaded through the hole at the top.

I've added some pearls, and a tied on a Colleen Bow using Hug Snug seam binding in Danish Blue.

By the way, I hang all of my Hug Snug seam binding rolls (plus a few smaller American Crafts ribbon rolls) on one of these pant hangers from The Container Store:

This hanger happens to be on sale right now, too! 

A quartet of cards

Hey there!  I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer. It's been a hot one, hasn't it??

I'm dropping in to share some cards tonight, and I'd be glad to have you take a peek.

I really like the look of Altenew's Label Love.  Looks like the real deal, doesn't it? Show of hands: how many of you had a label maker when you were a kid (the original kind, not the fancy ones we have to choose from these days)? I had one, and played around with it a lot. Labeled many toys, and goodness knows what else.

Love this Psalm 94:18 stamp from Verve. So many times I can slip, and I am comforted to know that our Heavenly Father cares enough to support each of us, in good times and in bad.

The little cross charm has a hole at the top, because it is meant to go on a piece of jewelry.  I added a fancy jeweled brad through that hole, in light green. 

This mother's day card, below, really shimmers and sparkles in real life. The matted oval layers were die-cut from white glitter paper.  SO.PRETTY.  Too bad it can't really be seen here, but I'm sure you can imagine it.

The sentiment (love it!) is from an old Flourishes set, Spring Bouquets.  This card went to my own stepmom, who has been in my life since I was 12 (!).

Last but not least, a congrats card using some bits and pieces from an old Stampin' Up! kit, plus a Colleen bow, and a sentiment from Hero Arts.

Thanks a bunch for joining me tonight!  Have a wonderful weekend!

And as always, if you have a question about any of the supplies I've used, please feel free to email me.  You can find the link at the top of my blog when you click on the "Contact Me" tab.

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. :-)