Stamps, Paper, and Ink

Beau Château Sympathy

It's sad when you find yourself needing to send a sympathy card. I've always wondered why the word sympathy is used so I looked up the definition.

Sympathy: harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another; the fact 

or power of sharing the feelings  of another,  especially in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion.

It makes so much sense to realize sympathy is not sorrow/pity FOR someone, but loving thoughts shared with them. 

My friend gave her friend a beautiful butterfly necklace as a gift, so I thought bright butterflies would be appropriate using Daffodil Delight card stock. I highlighted the butterfly details by painting on Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink to give a shimmery glow. 

I've been featuring the Beau Chateau Designer Papers on my projects this week, and the Paper Doily Die. The coordinating Side Notes are a ready-made focal point for any project! I chose the label and stamped the sentiment from the Loving Thoughts set in Soft Suede ink. 

Our son and precious new DIL spent the last couple of nights visiting us, and just got on the road home. All our household is quiet now, with everyone off for the day except for Josie (our beagle pup) and me. I'm settling in with a second cuppa my morning tea, so glad you could join me! Have a great day.

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Loving Thoughts

Paper: Beau Chateau, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories: Beau Chateau Side Notes, Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Paper Doily Die, Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink (Midnight), Basic Jewels Pearls

Soft Sympathy

I need a sympathy card for a man whose mother passed away and the color combo challenge at SCS gave me just the soothing shades for a serene winter card.

The Beautiful Season set is intended for Christmas but I think it can be used for many occasions. I really like it for the sympathy theme and even thought about using just the "Thinking of you" portion and omitting the "at Christmas." But since I am playing along with the great Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, I added the banner strip and chose the sentiment from Thoughts and Prayers.

I stamped the image on Whisper White card stock with Basic Brown ink (it's retired, but I LOVE it for it's soft look) and colored with inks and my Aquapainter.

I really resisted adding a bow or even a button, but that was not without trying a bit of Linen thread and twine. No sparkles either. Now you know why this is not my favorite card,lol!

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Beautiful Season, Thoughts and Prayers

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: Taffeta ribbon, Lattice Squares EF, Antique brads, Northen Frost die

I made myself do it!

I remember in the early days of my stamping, I would sneak upstairs in the evening, make a card in an hour (or less, now that I think about it) and come downstairs beaming. I'd say, "Look what I made!" and my husband and kids would oooh and aaahh and tell me they loved it.

Yesterday was a bit different for me. I've been in a mojo slump and I basically had to MAKE myself start a card. Here's my problem - I've been spending way too much time looking at everybody else's cards!  That is the surest way for me to kill my own creativity because for one thing, I start comparing, and for another, looking at cards (for me) saps my energy for MAKING cards. Do any of you relate?

So after I LOOKED at a a card using Blushing Bride, I decided to come up with a color combo using it. I pulled out the In-Color DSP that I wanted to use, and experimented with neutrals - all the browns, Crumb Cake and Basic Gray. I finally decided on Sahara Sand to make the white pop. Then I made the card (read: this thinking process took at least a half hour!)

Here's today's card.

I put LOTS  of details on this one.

• I added embossing along the bottom of the DSP with the Framed with Tulips embossing folder.
• I stamped white card stock with the tiny petals stamp from the "Because I Care" set
• I die cut the flowers using the Fun Flowers die, and embossed them with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder
• I added a bow. Notice how my bow has two extra "tails?" That's because in my experimenting I had wrapped the ribbon around the card base and tied a bow. When I decided to add just the bow I cut off the loop of ribbon at each end. (gasp!) Such trial and error.
• I wasn't done with those flowers yet! I spritzed them with water and crumpled them. After they were dry, I sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.
• I added Basic Pearls to the DP and on top of the Filigree brad.

I was really having fun by now, KWIM?  Especially when I broke open my bottle of Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink (Moonlight.) I hadn't used this product yet, it has been sitting on my work table for months waiting for me to figure out how to use it. It was not rocket science (like I thought!) it is just what it says, a pearlized ACCENT. It's in a bottle just like nail polish and I just painted it over the row of tulips, and on the tips of the die cut leaves. Here's a close up of the flower so you can see the shimmer it gives.

There you have it! Now, picture me coming down the stairs with a card in my hand, saying, "Want to see what I made?" and smiling.

Have a great day! I'd love to hear from you!

 

 all supplies by Stampin' Up!

Visit my online store  HERE if you need supplies or to see our specials

Do you have any questions about our products, my projects/classes, or being a demonstrator? I am happy to answer them, just send me an e-mail, you'll find it HERE

Thoughts and Prayers

It's a bright, beautiful and breezy Saturday morning! Lovely day and I've already spent time outside. Our puppy Josie loves coming around with me while I water plants and this morning there was ACTION in our front yard for her to watch as my husband and a crew felled a large dead tree. Now she's sleeping {{*sigh*}}

 
 

  I've been eyeing the great sketch at Mojo Monday all week. Seems like the more beautiful cards I saw with this layout, the harder it became to come up with my own idea.

Inspiration hit as I was tidying up and putting away my catalog. The card on page 214 caught my eye because I really loved the soft colors. Any visual cue helps kick-start my mojo, and what better source than the catalog!

Here's my take on the sketch.

Having the layout and colors made the rest easy. Can you believe this is the first time I've used the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder?  I LOVE it, the texture is crisp and elegant.

Thoughts and Prayers is the perfect set for a sympathy card, this one will go out in the mail soon.

Thanks for taking time on a busy Saturday to visit my blog. I love hearing from you in my comments box or e-mails. I'm not sure I'm quite over my loss of Mojo but I can say that every comment received was read thoughtfully and appreciated.

Hugs~

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, Bloomin' Beautiful (retired)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Elegant Soiree, Soft Suede (textured)
and Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories:Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Pretties Kit (pearls), Top Note Die, Big Shot, Satin Ribbon

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

Classic Comfort with Of the Earth Set

Hi friends, Hope you had a blessed time of Thanksgiving! Welcome back to my blog!

Over the weekend, I needed a Sympathy card and I wanted just the right colors: to be soothing and hopeful at the same time. I was inspired by the soft hues in the Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper, especially the So Saffron and the Sahara Sand patterns. I paired them with Brocade Blue, since that's the ribbon that I wanted to use. I just LOVED these colors together and then I realized - these shades of yellow and blue (with red accents) are the main colors of my living room, dining room and kitchen! *happy sigh*

The ribbons are layered with a classic looped bow peeking out from behind the main image panel. I adhered them with sticky strip, so they don't shift around in the mail. You can click on the photo to see the detail.

I used an emboss resist technique on the bird image. I stamped the bird in versamark on the designer paper and embossed with clear powder. Sponging added the blue color to the bird and edges of the square. I punched it out and layered it over a mat of the DP punched with the Scallop Square punch. Rounding the corners and embellishing with two half pearls from the Pretties Kit were the last touches.

Some of you took advantage of the GREAT deals during the Holiday Extravaganza sale. If you are reading this early, there's still time today to order (you'll find that info HERE.) Be watching for more fun opportunities to save from Stampin' Up!

I've had quite a few chances to stamp over the weekend, can't wait to show you over the next few posts!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Of the Earth, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Bella Bleu, whisper white, so saffron, brocade blue
and Ink: versamark, brocade blue

Accessories: Pretties Kit, 1-1/4", corner rounder, scallop edge and scallop square punches; clear embossing powder, 5/8" brocade blue grosgrain ribbon