Rawr means Happy Anniversary

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated eleven years of marriage. I don’t normally make him cards, but this is the first time in all our years together that we are celebrating our anniversary apart. Our oldest daughter lives in Virginia (we live in NY) and we are assisting her and her family as she gets back on her feet from a recent catastrophic illness.

I have loved this set since I first saw it. For some reason, my mind only viewed it as “Valentines” and I initially dismissed it. I thought about it more and given the fact that I have four grandsons, this would be great for them too. Valentines card, maybe even a birthday card... I know I LOVED getting cards and letters from my grandma when I was younger, so hopefully they will too. So I bought this bundle with my grandkids in mind, never realizing it would make a cute and fun anniversary card for my husband. As much as I love a super mushy card, I appreciate a card that makes me laugh out loud too.

Stamps:
Rawr (Lawn Fawn)

Paper:
Dapper Denim (Stampin Up Retired)
Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black (SU)
Faded Jeans Distress Oxide (Blitsy)
Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide (Blitsy)
Broken China Distress Oxide (Blitsy)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Wonky Stitched Rectangle Dies (Gina Marie Designs)
Rawr Lawn Cuts (LF)
Hearts Collection Framelits (SU Retired)
Copic Sketch Markers (Jerry's Artarama)

Our Friendship Grows

Everyone has certain stamps they have multiples of. I have a friend who loves coffee themed stamps and another who loves cowboys, horses and Wild West themed. My favorite stamp is the sunflower, which is also one of my favorite flowers.  We have multiple bird feeders around our house that have sunflowers seeds in them. Every year the chipmunk that lives under our front steps steals whatever seeds that have fallen to the ground and “plants” them around our yard. Each year as a result of his efforts (and forgetfulness for where he hides them) we have beautiful sunflowers that grow in mid to late summer.

This Lawn Fawn stamp set had two different sizes of sunflowers. I used the smaller one to create the background. I colored the larger bloom and popped it up to give the card dimension. I considered lightly coloring in the background flowers, but I was really satisfied with the black and white look. This card was quick to make that will definitely go on the repeat list.

Stamps:
Our Friendship Grows (Lawn Fawn)

Paper:
Crushed Curry (Stampin Up)
True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Stampers Select White (PTI)

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black (SU)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Copic Sketch Markers Assorted (Jerry's Artarama)
Our Friendship Grows Lawn Cuts (LF)

Saying Goodbye

This past week I went to a retirement party for a coworker. She was the person who everybody wanted to work with. She was someone all our library patrons enjoyed talking to when the stopped in. Always in a good mood, always optimistic, the person who could see the sun even in a rainstorm. She will be greatly missed.

Ugh... retirement cards. Not my favorite kind of card to make because they always seem to turn out like sympathy cards. Yet, this was someone who I wanted to make a card for. Looking and evaluating my vast collection, I remembered this set. It is very fitting for this occasion since they will be traveling for the balance of the year. The sentiment came from a different set entirely, but truly fits this person and her outlook on the future. She is young enough and energetic enough to enjoy the adventures that are out there waiting for her.

Stamps:
Waterfront (Stampin Up)
Graduation Wishes (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:
Soft Suede (SU)
Very Vanilla (SU)

Ink:
Pool Party (SU)
Bermuda Bay (SU)
Crumb Cake (SU)
Garden Green (SU)
Daffodil Delight (SU)
Soft Suede (SU)

Accessories:
None

Everything Joyful and Beautiful

Getting ready for a trip away at the end of the month, so lots of things are being pushed forward in order to get ready to leave. Work commitments, things to do around the house, etc. I have a perpetual list on my fridge with things to do before I leave. At the top of the list are friends names and their birthdays. Luckily for me, the one I sent earlier this month arrived right on her birthday, the note included “sorry if this is late”.

The card I made is something similar to one I have seen on the Unity Show and Tell page. I started off by stamping the floral image on a page of an old library book. The paper isn’t really thick, so I did light shading with my Copics, but not much blending for fear I would rip the paper. I stamped the image again on white cardstock and colored the leaves and stems before fussy cutting the flower from the book page and gluing it down. I lightly rubbed the sentiment banner over my open ink pad, giving a light distressed look.

Stamps:
Everything Joyful & Beautiful (Unity Stamp Company)
Happy Moments (Unity)

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black (Stampin Up)
Wisteria Wonder (Stampin Up Retired)

Paper:
Wisteria Wonder (Stampin Up Retired)
Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Wonky Stitched Rectangle Dies (Gina Marie Designs)
Triple Banner Punch (SU)
Copic Sketch Markers Assorted (Jerry’s Artarama)

Friends of Unity May Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity May Blog Hop. This month we are focusing on “Motherly Love”. Since I am lucky enough to still have my mom, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone! I would make her card the feature in my blog! I have a mother in law to think of as well, so I needed to make two cards. Since neither mom are mushy kind of ladies... it made the card much easier.

I had exhausted my “Happy Mother’s Day” stamps years ago, so I really searched my sentiments to find just the right one. I’m sure they wouldn’t notice that I have used the same two for the past dozen or so years... but I knew. After searching all of my sets, I came up empty handed. It suddenly dawned on me that there was one place I hadn’t looked yet. In my plastic case of Unity Grab Bag stamps. There it was, the perfect sentiment stamp...

One card was made with the traditional water based ink on cardstock. The other was using alcohol inks on alcohol ink cardstock. For Echo Noble's video that inspired second card, click the link HERE.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see their creations...

Eileen Mathys (You're Here!)
Crystal Minkler
Robyn Jordan
 Wynne Grob
Jeanie Hayes
Dawn Fields

Stamps:
Bold Bloom (Unity Stamp Company)
Succulent Salutations (Unity)

Ink:
Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink- Sunshine Yellow (Blitsy)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink- Sunset Orange (Blitsy)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink- Poppyfield (Blitsy)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink - Patina (Blitsy) 

Paper:
Lemon Tart Cardstock (PTI)
Stampers Select White Cardstock (PTI)
Calypso Coral Cardstock (Stampin Up)
Pool Party Cardstock (SU Retired)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Cardstock (Blitsy)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
 Bold Alphabet Dies (Altenew)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Blending Solution (Blitsy)
Oval Punch (SU Retired)
Oval Scalloped Punch (SU Retired)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Mini Applicator (Blitsy)

An Abundance of Birthdays

If you have read my blog long enough, I am notorious for saying “special people deserve special birthday cards”. I needed two birthday cards for two long time friends with birthdays that are just a few days apart. I try to not make cards for them that I have made in the past... this can be a challenge since I don’t always remember what stamp set I used, I try to use a brand new stamp set or newly learned technique. This year I combined a little of both.

Jennifer McGuire recently posted a video using Tim Holtz Distress Micro Glaze. I love her videos and how she takes things step by step and really makes you feel that you can accomplish the same thing she is doing. That was the case here. When I was done with the technique, I was in awe. I then had to decide what to do with this pretty paper I created. It looked liked water... so it would be perfectly paired with a mermaid stamp I recently purchased. Instead, I used my Altenew alphabet dies and cut out the letters h-a-p-p-y and created two birthday cards from the one sheet.

 

Stamps:

Sunshine Wishes (Stampin Up Retired)

Paper:

Whisper White (SU)

Tempting Turquoise (SU Retired)

Pacific Point (SU)

Tim Holtz Alcohol Cardstock (Blitsy) 

Ink:

Tempting Turquoise (SU Retired)

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Faded Jeans (Blitsy)

Tim Holtz Disress Oxide Broken China (Blitsy)

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Cracked Pistachio (Blitsy)

Accessories: 

Sizzix Big Shot (SU)

Bold Alphabet Dies (Altenew)

Classic Label Punch (SU)

Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (SU Retired)

Tim Holtz Distress Micro Glaze (Blitsy)

Amazing Friend

After the week I just had, I was looking forward to some relaxing time spent at home, hoping to lift my spirits. Looks like my crummy week wasn’t quite over yet. The cherry on my sundae was our kitchen sink needing a repair. It was a minor one if you were the plumber, but a major one to us. This gave me some unplanned extra time to be crafty, but all this bad news really zapped my creativity.

I stared longingly at my supplies with no initiative to begin...so I closed my eyes and randomly selected something. I picked my Concord and 9th Dahlia Turnabout bundle. While I have never had any luck getting the stamp exactly correct, I was able to get the die perfect on every try. With this card I made a stencil using the turnabout die, then sponged on Tim Holtz Distress Oxides. My template was made from cardstock, but the next one I will make from acetate, hoping to make it reusable. I blended Picked Raspberries on the outer petals and Wild Honey in the center. The space where they meet is a beautiful soft orange shade. 

I made two of these cards and sent them to a couple of my “amazing friends” who served as cheerleaders for me and kept me in good spirits over the past two weeks. Friends like these are simply priceless. 

Stamps:
Dahlia Turnabout (Concord & 9th)

Paper:
Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Hibiscus Burst (PTI)
True Black (PTI)

Inks:
Black Onyx Versafine (Simon Says Stamp)
Versamark (SSS)
Picked Raspberries Distress Oxide (SSS)
Wild Honey Distress Oxide (SSS)

Accessories:
Marvy Heat Tool
Clear Embossing Powder
White Embossing Powder
Dahlia Turnabout Die (C9)
To The Point Edgers Die (PTI)
Die-namics Essential Fishtail Sentiments Strips (My Favorite Things)