Petal Potpourri Thank You

A friend of mine used this stamp set for a swap and as soon as I saw it, I wanted to use it.  I knew I had it at home, but I never took it out of the case yet, and right after we swapped cards,  I knew I'd have to use it.  Sometimes you look at a stamp set and don't think much of it, but when you see the possibilities with it from others who have used it, that's when you know it's for you.

So without further ado, here's the card I made:

Recipe:

Paper:  whisper white, wisteria wonder, wisterial wonder DSP, wild wasabi, so saffron

Ink:  wisteria wonder

Stamp Sets:  petal potpourri, elegant thank you

Accessories:  basic rhinestones, itty bitty punch pack, flower medallion punch

Stop back tomorrow for our Coloring Down the Lines blog tour.  The colors are really pretty this week.

Ciao!

Painted Petals Thank You

I saw a cute little gift bag on Pinterest that was similar in design, so I thought I would make mine into a card.  The colors look great together, and it reminds me of happy.  The colors are of Spring, and I can't wait until I see all the leaves back on the trees and flowers popping up out of the ground.  I know some of my friends have flowers coming up already, but I haven't seen any yet around my way.

Recipe

Paper:  whisper white, blackberry bliss, painted blooms DSP

Ink:  blackberry bliss, wild wasabi, daffodil delight

Stamp Set:  painted petals

Accessories:  word window and label punches, blackberry bliss ribbon, basic rhinestones

The card is simple, yet very cheery.  I hope you like it.  Stap again tomorrow for some more fun.

Love is Kindness

Hi my stamping followers.  I'm finally able to start posting again.  I was traveling last week, and my days were very long - 11 and 12 hour work days.  UGH!  So I truly didn't have much time for anything else but sleep (which was very little) and work.  I hope things slow down a bit this week, but you never know until the week begins.

Anyway, I just got my SU order on Friday, and I finally ordered the Love is Kindness stamp.  I didn't order it at first because I wasn't sure if I liked it, but truly, I do now.  So I made a card for you today using it and I like the way it turned out.  Take a peek ..

Recipe
Paper:  blackberry bliss, whisper white, irrisistibly yours DSP

Ink:  memento black, blendabilities:  calypso coral, night of navy, pink pirouette, wisteria wonder, soft sky, rich razzleberry, daffodil delight, crumb cake, wild wasabi, cherry cobbler, baked brown sugar daubed on newspaper & around whisper white edges

Stamp Set:  love is kindness

Accessories:  early espresso bakers twine, basic pearls

I tried moving my phone around so you could see the background paper, and I decided to just leave it as is because I think it makes a statement just so.

Well, I hope you like it.  Off to stamp some more ... getting the urge to start creating again.

The sun is shining, it's a little brisk, and perfect for being outdoors.  I took my little fur babies out for a walk and was just in heaven!  Now I'm back for more crafts.

Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Coloring Down the Lines - You Can Never Have Too Much Happy!!!

Welcome back to Coloring Down the Lines blog hop!  This week was a bit of a challenge, as the colors weren't ones that I would normally put together, but I did my best.  Check out the color pallet and photograph we used for inspiration and see what you would come up with:

Now, here is what I came up with using the colors above:

Recipe

Paper:  basic black, basic gray, very vanilla, crumb cake, chocolate chip, soft suede

Ink:  memento black, chocolate chip, sahara sand

Stamp Sets:  yippie skippie, cupcake party

Accessories:  polka dot and beautifully baroque EF, itty bitty punches, cupcake punch, starburst framelit

Can you guess the candies in the picture?  Of course:  a hershey bar, reeces cup, and of course, truffles.  The cupcake was an added extra, and I sponged the edges of the cupcake wrapper with sahara sand, just so I could include that color on the card.  Yea, I'm crazy.

Anyway, I hope you had the opportunity to check out Carol's blog and see what she did with these colors.  It's always a challenge, and she can nail it!  Joni, of course, always comes up with something fun with the color pallet challenges, so don't forget to hop on over to her blog when you leave here.

Thanks for stopping by, and I'm sure you're dreaming of those luscious candies .... yummmmm!

Creative Blog Hop - Butterfly Basics with a Touch of Gold

What, you're asking, is a creative blog hop?  Well, it's a blog hop showcasing the creative works of all of us who love creating.  I was nominated by a friend, Pam, over at Crazy Penguin Designs, and I was a bit nervous about this because I didn't want to mess it up, but at the same time, was honored to be picked.  I see this as a way to link you to others who love sharing their work.

I've been stamping for a number of years now, and I'm so grateful I found this art because I love it.  It truly is a stress reliever for me, and I find that my mind just doesn't stop thinking of what I may want to create next.

Below is a card I made for a team swap, and I also doubled it as a birthday card for a friend and co-worker.  I love the simplicity of it, and selected this one to share with you for my entry.

So here's how this creative blog hop works.  There's some questions that I will answer below, then link to someone who I've nominated to continue the creative blog hop.

1.  What Are You Working on Now?  I'm working on a set of cards for a friend of my sister who wants some thank you and birthday cards.  I've already made two boxes for her, consisting of 8 cards each (4) birthday and (4) thank you's per box.  Now I'm working on the third box for her.  I'm also working on designing a wedding card for my sister's friend who has a daughter getting married next July.  Don't know where this will lead, but we shall see.  I'm also designing some cards for two blog hops that I follow weekly:  Coloring Down the Lines and The Paper Plunge.  I was actually selected to be a designer for The Paper Plunge, and I was so honored, you wouldn't believe.  Each month, I hold card-making classes at the Phoenixville Area library, in a town I grew up in.  That's so much fun, and I get to meet a lot of people I wouldn't have met before.  In addition, I'm involved in a cross-country card swap where we create a themed card for each month and send them to the originator who then sends our cards out to each participant in the swap, so we end up with 12 cards, created by fabulous women all across the country.  How fun is that?  I'm also involved in a couple women's clubs, and I'm being installed as District Director for District 10 of Business & Professional Women's Clubs of PA next month and yes, of course, I'm making the favors.  So yes, I'm quite busy with my crafting, and I see no end to it at all.  Totally love the craft.

2.  How Does Your Work Differ From Others In Your Genre?   I don't think my work differs from anyone else, and I think we all get inspired by those in our field.  You never know what will inspire you, and when.  I love Pinterest, Google, Stampin Connection, and I follow many, many blogs, where I find my inspiration.  I literally can look at someone's work, and in my mind, I'm creating my own card.  Sometimes I look at someone's creation and what I create may be totally different from what the creator made, but it gave me the inspiration for mine.  Sometimes I just scratch my head and can't believe I came up with what I did, but in the end, I like mostly everything I create.  By being in weekly blogs, that also inspires me and takes me out of the box, using techniques, color combinations, or materials I don't use on a daily basis.  That really helps to expand my mind and create using things I wouldn't even think of using or putting together.  That's why they call it a challenge, for sure.  I think everyone's creations are great because they were created by those who love the art just like me.

3.  Why Do You Create What You Do?    I love the art of making cards and paper crafts, and when I make something for someone, I take that whole person into consideration and design the card based on their likes and what they mean to me.  That may sound a bit crazy, but I make my cards to bless the person I give them to.  I'm not saying that sometimes I get stumped and don't know what to make, but that's where Pinterest and all the other resources come into play.  I may select a particular stamp set and then go on the hunt for others who have made cards using it, or I just select a theme and go from there.  Never-the-less, I'll always come up with something and I'm always (99.99% of the time) happy with the final product.  I create because I love it, and I wouldn't have met such incredible and talented people that I can truly call friends.  I have friends all over the world - that's just awesome.  You can't beat that!

4.  How Does Your Creativity Work?   It just does.  I can look at something and be inspired, or see another's work and my mind whips up something that I just can't wait to sit down in my craft room and get to it.  Sometimes I am like a creativity machine where I can make a slew of one-of-a-kind cards in no time, and then I do have occasions where I am lost for ideas.  Yep, only sometimes, but it's usually not for long.  Inspiration, people, nature, colors, you name it - that's how my creativity works.  I love it and I can't see me ever stopping.  I can also honestly say that I wouldn't even have created my blog if it weren't for some special women I met from all over the country at my very first Stampin' Up convention.  They took me in, having just met me, and that was the start of something I never dreamed of.  In fact, I met all of the fabulous, talented women that I follow on their blogs that very trip.  And would you believe, the group of women who took me in included one of my absolute favorite of all time?  Yep, Butternut Sage.  I was so awe struck, you have no idea.  And from that moment on, my life turned around and I knew I would be creating forever.

I hope you enjoyed learning about me, and do hope you will continue to visit my blog and follow me on the blogs I'm involved with.  You never know where you might find me ... and all I can say is, I'm so fortunate to be part of this wonderful world of creativity.  And with that, I now nominate my dear friend, Leslie, who I met on an airplane last year heading to Salt Lake City, UT for a Stampin' Up convention.  Yep, she was in the seat behind me on the other side of the isle and I just happened to look back and see her making some cards for swaps at convention.  Of course, I introduced myself and my friend Megan, who I was traveling with, and that was the start of another beautiful friendship.  Leslie was traveling alone and so I invited her to join us and introduced her to a bunch of fabulous people that I've met through Stampin' Up.  Leslie started her own blog too, and is also now a designer for The Paper Plunge too.  So the friendships continue, and I know there's many more out there that I will cross paths with and expand my breath and depth.

Thanks for stopping by, and may you be blessed with friends, love, laughter, and everything that touches your heart!

Celebrate Your Big Day!

This is a really cool stamp set that is in the current sale-a-bration catalog which you can receive free with a $50 purchase from the Spring Occasions catalog.  I've used this set quite a lot and there's no end to the possibilities.  I love blackberry bliss - it's one of my favorite colors, and so I wanted to use that color for this card.  Added with some of the other 2014-2016 In colors, it made the card just pop.

The colors I used for this card are blackberry bliss, smoky slate, mossy meadow, whisper white, melon mambo, hello honey, and daffodil delight.  I also used the large dots embossing folder for the background, and there you have it.  Celebrate Your big day with Cake!  That's the only way to celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Jill

I made a birthday card for my upline, Jill.  I didn't want to post the card earlier because I didn't want her to see it until she received it in the mail first.  I saw a similar card that I sort of CASED, but I added the cake on the bottom for interest.  I love the way it turned out, and I think I'll make another one using a different color to see what I think.

Happy Birthday, Jill!  Hope your day was so special.

The "Age Awareness" stamp set was used for this card, and I think the "happy birthday" is so festive and happy, don't you?  What fun to use that again and again ...

See you again soon ...

The Paper Plunge #26 - Metal on Mine

Over at ThePaperPlunge, the challenge was to use metal on your card.  Metal can be in the way of a button, metal paper, accessories, etc., and see what you can create.

I had some metal paper that I purchased a while back and never used it much, so this was the perfect opportunity to use it on this card.  In keeping with Spring on our minds, I wanted to make a flower, or use flowers, so I used "Crazy About You" stamp set from Stampin' Up and it worked out perfectly.  Here's what I created for you this week:

Recipe

Paper:  tangelo twist, whisper white, mossy meadow, birthday bash DSP

Ink:  mossy meadow, tangelo twist, so saffron

Stamp Set:  crazy about you

Accessories:  bronze metal sheeting, flower medallion punch, itty bitty punch,

tangelo twist bakers twine

So what do you think?  There's a large flower on the bottom cut from the metal sheet using flower medallion punch, and the inside of the flower was cut from the itty bitty punch.  You can see a little of the lower layer of the flower shine through on the bottom, as well as the inside of the flower.  

Try your hand at making a card with metal - remember, you don't have to use metal paper.  Anything metal will do.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to hop on over to thepaperplunge.blogspot.com and post your creation there.  We'd love to see it.

Elegant Lotus Blossom

I'm just starting to master the lotus blossom stamp, which is a 3-part stamp from Stampin Up.  Of course, as you know by now, I love blackberry bliss, and with it, I used raspberry ripple.  The result was great, so I thought I'd add a touch of vellum and foil - just loving that paper, and it gave the card a really nice, elegant touch.  See what you think ...

I could certainly make quite a few of these using other colors, so stay tuned ... we'll see what I come up with next.

Ciao for now!

Coloring Down the Lines - A Wisteria Wonder Kind of Day

Happy Wednesday to everyone.  It's that time again for our Coloring Down the Lines blog, and I love the colors in our challenge today.  They remind me of Spring - and I guess you know by now, I have Spring on my mind.  Just can't wait .. it's teasing us with 60 degree temperatures, however, this weekend we're going to dip back down into the 40's and perhaps a little snow on Friday.  SNOW, NO!!!!!!!

Anyway, the colors this week are fun.  I couldn't help myself, as I had to just use the Sheltering Tree stamp set again for this challenge.  It worked out nicely with the colors.  Here are the colors for the challenge, followed by my creation.

Recipe

Paper:  mossy meadow, pistachio pudding, basic gray, very vanilla

Ink:  basic gray, wisteria wonder, mossy meadow, wild wasabi, pear pizzazz, whisper white craft ink

Stamp Set:  sheltering tree

Accessories:  rosettes

For the sky, I used basic gray and wisteria wonder.  The ground area is a blend of wild wasabi and pear pizzazz.  The stems on the flowers are mossy meadow, as well as the leaves in between the flowers on the tree.  The tree is basic gray, and I used the bokeh method throughout the entire card.  The card base is mossy meadow, with pistachio pudding, very vanilla, and basic gray.  I love the way the sky turned out and the ground cover.  It blended in nicely.  Believe it or not, this is the first shot at this card.  I didn't have to redo it at all.  YIPPIE.

Now that you've seen my creation, have you been over to see Carol's blog?  You may have already arrived here by stopping by her blog first, and if not, please take a hop back to check hers out.  Joni is next, so you can move forward a hop to check out what she made this week.

As always, I hope you find inspiration in our creations for you each week.  Please tell us what your thoughts are.  We'd love to hear from you.

Love and Hugs,
Helen

A Note of Thanks Under The Sheltering Tree

With Spring fast approaching, nothings looks more like Spring than a tree with beautiful cherry blossoms.  That's what this card looks like, and I wanted to make it as Spring-like as I could.  I think the cherry blossom trees are so gorgeous, and celebrating a joyous occasion with the coming of Spring comes through in this card.

Did you notice the tiny tulips growing under the tree?  They add just a subtle touch of sweetness - you can just smell the sweet, Spring air, can't you?

I truly can't wait to see those first tulips spring out of the ground.  I know it's not that far off ... but these past few days, we have been blessed with such warmer weather, and the air smells so sweet - it's not long now.

Happy Thinking of Spring!

Happy Birthday Lullaby

I had some lullaby paper left over from a project I had done earlier, and so I decided to use it for this birthday card.  For some reason, calypso coral is high on my sights, and so I made this card using it.
I added a little interest with the button from the sale-a-bration set which I got free for placing a $50 order, and it is just the right touch for the card.  Let me know what you think ...

I added a little touch of gold foil to outline the decorative label and there you have it.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll see you tomorrow!

A Thank You From the Bird House

I'm not usually one to do a lot of punch art, but I wanted to try something different than traditional stamping and decided to make a bird house.  I love to watch the birds, especially when Spring is approaching, and there's nothing sweeter than watching birds nest in a house - getting ready for the new birth!

Here's the card I made ... simple, and cute.

I pulled out some of my old sizzix dies for this card, and I'm glad I did.  I almost forgot I had them.

Hope you like it ... and thank you from the bird house!

Congratulations Stacie and Steve

This week, friends of my son tied the knot in Las Vegas.  Tj was in the wedding, and I wanted to make a special card for them, so I designed this card based on the colors in her wedding ... black, white, and red.  I thought adding a touch of red made the card so elegant.  Tj loved it and was very happy with it.  Take a look and let me know what you think.

I added silver foil to the card as well and it made the card pop, along with the two cute red flowers.  I had fun with this stamp set, Your Perfect Day.  There's a lot you can do with this stamp set too ... but I found it perfect for Stacie and Steve for their "perfect" day.

Congratulations to the newly weds!

The Paper Plunge #25 - Paper Pumpkin Variation

I don't know if you get Paper Pumpkin every month, but if you don't, you should.  They have such cute projects each month, and you can make all sorts of variations with any of your paper stash.

This is what I designed with this month's Paper Pumpkin.  I made four note cards and the card box to match.

I also made a Thanks banner, but it was too long to photograph.  Anyway, there's endless possibilities.  Hope you'll try it out, and let your creativity go wild.

Cheers!

Butterfly Basics with a Touch of Grunge

Butterflies are so beautiful, and Stampin Up has a wonderful framelit set which I used for this card.  I decided to focus on one color, calypso coral, for this card, as it is soft and subtle, and yet pretty like the butterfly.  Hope you like it ...

The ribbon is from the sale-a-bration catalog and added quite a nice touch to the card.  I used gorgeous grunge for the background, and subtly dotted it with coastal cabana, and swished it with pistachio pudding.  Look closer and you'll see the colors - they add just a little touch to the card.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you come back tomorrow!!!

Coloring Down the Lines - Butterfly Basics

Welcome back, everyone!  It's a fabulous day today, not only being "hump day", but it's going up to 60 degrees, and after all the cold, snow, and rain we've had this Winter, it's a great reminder that Spring is right around the corner.

If you look at the photograph we used this week for inspiration, it feels like Spring to me ... green tones, which signify "new birth" for leaves, trees, grass, flowers, and everything that is so pleasing to us.  Take a look for yourself and see what you think ...

As you can tell, I just love Spring.   It's one of my favorite times of the year.  From a faith perspective, it also uplifts me because of the significance of Spring.  I hope this picture and my creation will inspire you as well.  Bring on Spring!!!

Paper:  mossy meadow, smoky slate, very vanilla, vellum

Ink:  mossy meadow, smoky slate, pistachio pudding, wild wasabi

Stamp Sets:  petite petals, butterfly basics, papillon potpourri, painted petals

Accessories:  basic pearls, silver baker's twine

I tried my hand at the "bokeh" technique, and this was my first attempt.  It didn't turn out too bad, but with a bit more practice, I'll master it, I'm certain.

Now, for more inspiration, if you hop back one, you can see what Carol created for you this week. Carol is full of ideas for you, always.  And sadly, Joni had to bow out this week, but we'll skip ahead on to Liz's blog and see what she has in store for you this week.  Never-the-less, everyone has wonderful creations for you to use for inspiration so you can get your creativity going.

Hope to see you again soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Stems Thinking of You

I've had Sweet Stems stamp set for quite some time and realized I've never used it.  Well today is the day I decided to break out the set and create something nice.

I needed a thinking of you card, so what better way to start than with a flower.  I've added a little silver vellum to my design and wow, I was happy with the result.

take a peek ...

The card stock is rose red with pear pizzazz stem and bow, with a touch of gold foil and rose red which frames out the flower.  Simple is what I think, with a touch of elegance.

Hope you've enjoyed my creation.  Please come back soon.

Happy Birthday Megan

My niece Megan's birthday was February 11.  Yes, because I was having all those computer issues, I couldn't post her birthday card on her big day.  What's up with all this computer stuff anyway???

None-the-less, I wanted to post the card I made for her.  She now lives in Utah with her husband who works at one of the resorts out there.  She's not too far from SLC, where the Stampin' Up convention has been held over the past few years.

So, here's the card I made for her ...

I love balloons, so I had to put one on her card.  I also love the cute pompoms .. they added just the right touch for what I was looking to achieve.  Happy Birthday, Megan!!!

Happy Birthday, John

My brother, John's birthday is on ground hog day.  For sure, no one could forget that, could they?  Although we weren't quite happy with Puxatawny Phil giving us 6 more weeks of winter, the day is always fun.

So this is the card I created for my brother using Stampin' UP's new Balloon Bash stamp set.  I love that set ... there's so much you can do with it.  Check it out.

I just love this card ... and yes, there's the balloons I really like.  Oh la la.
Happy Birthday, John.

Happy Birthday, TJ

Next up was my son's birthday.  He celebrated his big day on February 18th.  That just happens to be my parent's wedding anniversary.  Sadly, my mother is no longer with us, but she's here in spirit, I just feel her presence.

I wanted to make Tj's card somewhat masculine, yet keep within the birthday theme.  I chose lost lagoon, hello honey, and smoky slate as the color of choice, and I was pleased with the result.  Take a peek:

Love the colors and the stars make the card pop.  Happy Birthday, TJ.

The Paper Plunge #24 - In Like a Lion: Burnley's Babies Punch Art

I had a lot of fun with this week's challenge over at The Paper Plunge.  The challenge was making a punch art animal.  Well, I'm getting better at doing punch art, but sometimes I use inspiration from others who are so talented, I could only hope to aspire to being that good.  Anyway, I thought I would try something on my own this time, and who better to make than my two Maltese doggies and our kitty cat.  I have a picture of them on a stuffed lazy-boy when Ms. Lucia was only a kitten.  I love the picture and I used that for inspiration.  I tried my hand at making the punch art look like my babies. I keep the dog's hair shorter, in a puppy cut, so I went to work trying to get them just right.  It took a while, but I managed to pull it off.  Here it is:

There's a cute rug that Lucia is sitting on, and Barney is sitting on the chair, while Bandit is on the floor with the cat.  They are buddies anyway, so it worked out great due to the size of the card.  Barney's ears are always a bit up, and Bandit's are mostly down, so I tried to make them look like the real deal and I truly think they look like them.  Now the cat, she's a bit larger in the picture, but she's about the same size as the dogs, but you get the idea.  I did, however, CASE the chair from creativewishes.blogspot.com.  The chair was perfect because the picture I have is of the three of them on a chair just like this one.  LOL.

This is the actual picture I took.,  See what you think!

Hope you like it.  The challenge was fun.  I hope you'll join us and show us what you can create.  Check us out over at the Paper Plunge.  Hope to see you there.

Scattered Love

This may just be the last of the Valentine cards I have to share for now.  This is another card I made for my library class and I call this one "Scattered Love".  The stamp set is called "Seasonally Scattered", so I thought it only fitting to call this card Scattered Love.

This was an easy card, and I actually found my inspiration on Pinterest.  Unfortunately, I can't remember if the card had the creator's name on it or not, but I forgot to capture it none-the-less.
Thanks for the inspiration, whoever you are.

And there you have it.

Ta ta for now!

Coloring Down the Lines - Best Day Ever!

Welcome back to our blog hop this week.  We had some interesting colors to work with, and I must admit, I had a little bit of a hard time trying to figure out what to do with them.  To me, they remind me of Fall, however, I didn't want to create something with a Fall theme, so I went on the hunt via Pinterest and somewhat CASED one from Stampstodiefor.com.  She used the latest Sale-a-Bration paper, but since we have specific colors to use, I adapted them to the card.

Here are the photograph and color pallet we used for our inspiration this week.  See what you think, and what you would have come up with.  I'd love to see.  You certainly have plenty of ideas to inspire you - Carol's blog, right before you arrived here, and Joni's blog, immediately after.  Don't forget to check them out ....

I used basic pearls for the centers of the flowers, and on the bottom of the card.  The dsp is in wisteria wonder, and I fussy cut the flowers to put on the card.  I also used sahara sand for the large dots on the background, and pumpkin pie ribbon for an added touch.

Thanks for stopping by, and wait until you see what we have in store for you next week.

XXX OOO

Golden Love

This is a card I created a while back and I just loved it so much because of the dazzling diamonds glimmer paper and the gold "love".  While simple, it has a nice pop to it.  I kept it for myself - just because.

I hope you can see the dazzling diamonds heart .. it was hard to capture in the light that I had.

Until tomorrow ...

A Valentine for Ashley

My son is now in a relationship with a wonderful young woman he met while in California last year.  They knew there was something special about each other, and today, I'm proud to say they are a couple.  The long distance must be difficult, I'm sure, but that may soon change, so we'll wait and see.

Anyway, I was making some Valentine cards for a long-distance swap I am in, and when my son saw it, he wanted the card for Ashley.  I promised I wouldn't post it until he gave it to her, so now I can post it with ease.  I also made a small bag that I saw over at Pootles' blog, and he wanted to give that to Ashley as well with a little present inside.  So here is what she got ... (among other things)

Needless to say, she loved the card and bag.  I'm so happy for them.  Sweet, young love!!!

Be My Valentine

I was really enjoying creating Valentine cards this year.  I loved everything about the stamp sets and designs.  I wanted to keep on creating them, but of course, you have to stop somewhere.

Anyway, here's one I love ... I think it turned out just perfect.  I actually made a few of these for our team swap this past January.  Oh la la.

I wanted to use some washi tape, so I did, as you can see, just for a little bit of interest.  Love the way it came out ..