Sweet Greetings

Good afternoon, Blogland! I just wanted to pop in with a quick card today. I've been spending most of my time this week getting ready for Craftin' Outlaws on Saturday, but I've also been keeping a keen eye on the Papertrey countdown projects. The designers are doing a wonderful job of making the needlework inspiration pop off the screen. It's got me in the mood to embroider for sure! But I have a few weeks of intense holiday prep to push through before I get to focus on making gifts for anyone on our Christmas list. In the spirit of Christmas, though, I thought I'd share a card I made a couple of weeks ago and hadn't had a chance to share yet.

This one uses my Gingerbread Lane stamps and dies. I just love that little house. It's so easy to customize the windows and decorations. On this one I stamped the outline if the house first and then embossed the windows with Versamark and clear powder. That allowed the windows to remain white even after I stamped the gingery filler over top of them. A bit of filling in with the door and gumdrops and this little house was nearly finished. I added glittered candy canes and glitter to the gumdrops for just a smidgen of sparkle.

I stamped my kraft layer with one of the stamps from Super Stripes. I love how long those stripes are. It makes background building a breeze! A little Mat Stack action and a swallow-tail paper strip pulled the whole thing together.

Thank you for stopping by today. If you're in town and happen to have some free time this weekend I hope you'll come say "hi" at the show! Take care and I'll be back soon.

Recipe:

Stamps: Gingerbread Lane, Background Basics: Super Stripes, Sunflower Bouquet (the shadow) - Papertrey Ink

Cardstock: Kraft, Pure Poppy, New Leaf - Papertrey Ink; white

Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist, Classic Kraft, Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Watermark Ink - Versamark

Other: Gingerbread Lane Dies, Canvas & Linen Impression Plate, Mat Stack 3 Die, Mat Stack 3 Layerz Die - Papertrey Ink; Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Foam Tape - Scotch; Clear Embossing Powder - Filigree; Square Punch; Copper Brad; Glue Pen

A Christmas Bird

Hello, Blogland! So the other night I was a bit tense while listening to the election results roll in. In order to calm myself I decided to do a little coloring. I thought it might be nice to put together a card and share it with you today.

I colored the bird using a handful of Copic markers (I can look up the numbers if anyone's interested - just say the word) and then glittered him with a Sakura Stardust pen (I used Heather Nichols's "outline-it-and-then-smudge-it-with-your-finger" technique). His little hat is also embellished with a smidge of flocking on the trim and pom-pom. He sat around for a couple of days until I got it together and actually made the card.

I started by trimming two panels of Spring Rain cardstock and stamping them with different patterns. Here's my rule on things like this (totally my own rule and not a serious design principle): straight lines like round things. By that I mean, I don't like to use two linear patterns together or two polka dotty patterns together unless they are of vastly different scales. For example, I wouldn't use the lined pattern along with a gridded pattern on the other side. They're too similar and they compete for your attention. Clear as mud? Great.

I stamped my sentiment and adhered those panels to a white base. Next, I wrapped the whole front of the card with Pure Poppy ribbon and a string bow. Then I matted my little bird with a pinked Ripe Avocado oval and mounted him to the front of the card with foam tape. Nice and flat and easy to mail. But with a little bit of sparkle, of course.

Well, that's all for  me today. Thank you for stopping by for a peek! I'm going to visit my dad this weekend to help him prepare his bushels and bushels of pears for wine. I probably won't be back until early next week, but it won't be too long. Enjoy your weekend and see you again soon!

Recipe:
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Tremendous Treats: Christmas, Background Basics: Retro, Snowflake Flurries - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Spring Rain, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; Tuxedo Black - Memento
Other: Pure Poppy Saddle Stitched Ribbon, Limitless Layers Oval 2 1/4" Dies - Papertrey Ink; Markers - Copic; White Perle Cotton - DMC; Glitter Pen - Sakura; White Fun Flock - Stampendous; glue pen; foam tape

If You Haven't Already...

Hello, Blogland! As the title suggests, today is voting day here in the States. I encourage each and every one of you to go out and exercise your right to vote today. We live here in Ohio. Have you heard about Ohio at all? Good-sized state? Sort of middle of the country? No? Lucky you. I can't remember the last time I turned on the TV and didn't see a campaign ad for someone. I feel like we live in a constant campaign cycle. I hear they're launching the 2016 bid sometime Wednesday.

Anyway, I thought I might make a card to commemorate today (pardon the cell phone photo - the regular camera battery is evidently kaputsky). The letters are all die cut from Smoky Shadow and popped up using foam tape. The background is stamped with the sunburst from Hello, Sunshine and stars from Star Prints, Around & About Sentiments, and Text Boxed. Everything is adhered to a Soft Stone Base. Now go forth and VOTE!

Recipe:
Stamps: Hello, Sunshine, Star Prints, Around & About Sentiments, Text Boxed - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Soft Stone, Enchanted Evening, Smoky Shadow - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Spring Rain - Papertrey Ink; Silver - Hampton Arts
Other: Block Alphabet Upper Die Collection, Script Alphabet Die Collection - Papertrey Ink; cherry baker's twine - Divine Twine; Foam Tape - Scotch

Holiday Trunk Show

Hello, all! I know it's been a little quiet around here lately. I'm sorry about the silence. It's been a full month with my nose firmly at the grindstone. In addition to other things, here's one of the reasons I've been absent:

That's right, I've been preparing for a holiday trunk show (some of those photos look a little familiar, no?)! The event is this weekend, and I've been plugging away creating brand new cards, packaging, and home decor (among other things) for the last several weeks. So if you happen to be in the area and have a little free time on Saturday evening I would love to see you! It's being hosted by my good friend Olivera at her shop, Wholly Craft. If you're a local and you've never visited you're totally missing out. The store is home to handmade goods from around 200 different artists heralding from Central Ohio and beyond. It's a really fun place to shop, so I hope folks will stop by and check it out (even if you can't get there for the show this weekend). Alrighty, I have to get back to it now, but thank you for stopping by (I promise I'll share a new project soon - I have plenty of them)!

A Heartfelt Thank You

Dear, Blogland, y'all are some incredibly compassionate people. Over the past month I've received countless notes of encouragement, thoughtful (and beautiful) handmade cards, and little acts of kindness that have warmed my heart and kept me afloat. I owe all of you a hefty debt of gratitude. The last few weeks have served to reinforce my belief that the handmade community (be you of hobby or profession) is mostly composed of truly good and kind people that care about one another. Thank you for caring about me; I never expected the support I've received. I'm completely humbled.

I want to share a card today to thank those of you that I can't reach with a physical address. You have all been so wonderful and I hope you can feel the gratitude. The card may be virtual, but the sentiment behind it is very, very real.

I started by die cutting the vase, hydrangea bloom, and Photo Finishers strip and stamping them with their corresponding images (the vase was stamped with the crackle background that had been stamped off once to soften the color). Next, I stamped the stem and leaves and texturized the Aqua Mist layer. The sentiment strip was adhered to that panel before being added to a white base. The vase and hydrangea bloom were then added with foam tape. Finally, the bloom was embellished with a few rhinestones (colored with a marker to match).

Recipe:
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Soft Stone - Papertrey Ink; white
Stamps: Happy Hydrangea, Faux Ribbon (stem), Think Big Favorites #19, Crackled Mini Background - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Winter Wisteria, Plum Pudding, Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink
Other: Mega Gracious Vases Die, Happy Hydrangea Dies, Photo Finishers Dies, Tin Types Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; clear rhinestones - Darice; purple marker - Sharpie; foam tape - Scotch