You Are My Sunshine

How about a cute, warm-weather card after yesterday's wintry one? This adorable image is Wagon Kiddo by Stampendous, and is available at i {heart} papers. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic Blending Cardstock by X-Press and colored with Copic markers. Embellishments include red buttons threaded with yellow satin ribbon and tied off with Black Licorice Divine Twine; hand stitching; two cloud die-cuts; and some ivory lace fabric tape by Love My Tapes. The papers are from my well-loved Tangerine 6x6 collection by My Mind's Eye. The sentiment, "You Are My Sunshine," is from a sheet of cut-apart elements in the Tangerine collection.

I hope your week is off to a great start. My kindergartner just finished lunch, and now we're off to enjoy this beautiful sunny Tuesday. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Out On A Limb For You

Just checking in with a quick post this beautiful Friday afternoon. I've put together a little something for the Color Throwdown Challenge #144:

The cutie-pie image, from Tree Limb Cling Stamp Set by Stampendous, is colored with Copic markers. The leaf trio and bird are popped up for dimension. The sentiment tag is one of those metal-rimmed tags that were sooooo popular a while back (like several years back!). The pink polka-dot panel was die-cut with a Grand Labels Four Nestabilities die using my Grand Calibur (love the big cutting size!). I pleated some woodgrain pattern paper in a kind of whimsical, sloppy fashion, then tied some hemp twine around it. To finish off, I added a random sprinkling of black buttons for a little pop. My papers are by My Mind's Eye. The pink, I believe, is from Life of the Party, and the green is from Out of the Blue.
Update: My bad ... the pink is from Tickled Pink and the green is from Happy Go Lucky. Sorry about that!

My youngest son and I went up to the local farm where we have our CSA membership to pick up our first box of produce today.

I loved watching Gabe jump on the giant jumping pillow ...

... while waiting for the tractor, which took us out to the u-pick strawberry fields ...

... where we picked these!

Bonus: those berries haven't been sprayed with a single chemical, the sky was a picture-perfect light blue, and the morning was breezy and in the mid-'70s. Does it get any better?

Have a great weekend!

Hello From the Heart

 Remember this card set? I promised a colored version of Stampendous's Jumbo Peony image, and today I finally deliver. I stamped this beauty onto 140-pound cold press watercolor paper, heat embossed, and then watercolored with Tombow Markers. Sigh ... why don't I watercolor more? Love it so much! Such a bold, dramatic image, isn't it? I didn't want to busy it up with too much else, so I stuck to an all-white background and just added some minimal, understated embellishing ... buttons, a punched border, dry embossing, a bit of ribbon peeking out, and some clear glitter. The sentiment is from a new JustRite set called A Warm Hello -- such sweet sentiments in this one!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend planned!




Stamps: Jumbo Peony (Stampendous), A Warm Hello (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: 140-lb cold-press watercolor paper, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Tombow Markers, water brush, Martha Stewart punch, May Arts ribbon and burlap string, Papertrey black buttons, Spellbinders Lacey Circle Nestabilities, paper piercer, needle, thread, Pizzazz Aplenty 3mm clear rhinestones, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Art Institute crystal ultrafine glitter
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

These Songs I Sing, I Sing For You

Inspired by  pair of new artsy, nature-theme images from Stampendous (specifically Bird Frame and Dragonfly Vine), I set out with today's card to make something a little more artsy/collage-y than my normal style. I stamped the beautiful Bird Frame image in Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto a piece of neutral patterned paper from Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry paper collection, trimmed it out, inked the edges in Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain Distress inks, and then roughed up the edges with a distressing tool.

The image includes a nest down at the bottom, but I wanted to make my own nest embellishment to go over top. I'll tell you real quick how I did that. I punched a circle, made one cut from the perimeter to the center and then overlapped the cut edges to form a very shallow cone. Then I rolled some hemp into a nest shape, filled the cone with hot glue, and pressed the hemp nest down into it. I also added a few short pieces of burlap string sticking out around the edges, so it would be messier looking and more realistic. Inside, I glued three pearls for the eggs. Here's a closer look:

I arranged a scrap of cardboard, some burlap, burlap string, tickets, and torn music paper as a background for the image and then adhered the whole collage to a pretty light blue paper from Melissa Frances. The edges of the background paper and the cardboard have been lightly painted with white acrylic paint and then aged with a combination of distress inks and a distressing tool.

The sentiment was inspired by a sentiment I saw in an older Stampington & Co. publication. It reads, "These songs I sing, I sing for you." It just melts my heart!  Is there a song with those lyrics, does anyone know? I really wanted to put the first half on the outside of this card and the rest on the inside, but artful arrangement of title collages is evidently not my thing -- or maybe I just don't have the right supplies. I went with plan B and added just the word "sing" out of chipboard letters from The Girls' Paperie. Right now the card is blank inside, but I'll be putting the full sentiment on a decorated inside, just as soon as I figure out how I want to decorate the inside.

Thanks so much for visiting!


Stamps: Bird Frame (Stampendous)
Paper: Papertrey Rustic White, Melissa Frances dp, Basic Grey dp
Ink: Ranger Old Paper, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Inks
Accessories: distressing tool, hemp cord, Kaisercraft pearls, Prismacolor pencils, white acrylic paint, burlap, tickets (from Michelle Wooderson's etsy shop), cardboard box, The Girls' Paperie chipboard letters, old music paper, Papertrey buttons, May Arts burlap string

Stamper's Dream Blog Hop - Jumbo Peony

Today, the Stamper's Dream Dream Team and some very special guests are putting on an amazing blog hop that you will not want to miss! It all starts on Michelle's blog, so run get caught up if you need to. I'll have the full hop order below for your convenience. Be sure to leave lots of comment love along the hop for your chance at two hidden blog candy prizes!

Today, I have the pleasure of showing you two fabulous stamp sets -- Jumbo Peony by Stampendous and Friendship Nested Sentiments by JustRite Stamps. I'm working out of character today and showing you a clean-and-simple design ready for mass production. Here it is ...

The Jumbo Peony set comes with a peony image and a flourish image that can be used either as a stem or as a design element. As you can see, the peony image is very large. It almost covers an A2 card front. If you like the large size, you may also be interested in Jumbo Hydrangea, also in the Stamper's Dream store. For this card set , I used the peony image more as a background pattern and then stamped the JustRite Friendship sentiments in black over it. The shaped bottoms were cut with a Tim Holtz On the Edge Plaque & Postage Sizzix die and then dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The accent is made of a May Arts natural burlap string bow, a die-cut leaf, a punched butterfly, and either a mini rose or a button.

As you scroll through these individual photos, I hope you'll pause at each one long enough to take in the four sweet, heartwarming friendship sentiments that I've featured, all from Friendship Nested Sentiments.

And last, here's a detail shot showing one of the sentiments and the embellishment cluster:

I love the simplicity of this design and how quickly I was able to put together this set of four! The Jumbo Peony image is one of those that you can just sit back and let it do its thing -- love that! Still, just wait until you see this beauty all colored up--dramatic! Sorry to be a tease, but you'll have to tune in another day for that, because right now, you've gotta get hoppin'! Your next stop is ... Tosha Leyendekker!

Here's the full blog hop order:

Michelle Rodgers

Becca Feeken

Jerri Kay Jimenez

Amy Sheffer (you're here)

Tosha Leyendekker

Mariana Grigsby

Cindy Lawrence

Leslie Miller

Kim Teasdale

Teresa Kline

Lea Lawson

Christina Fischer

Remember what I said about leaving comments? Check out what you could win:

Epiphany Crafts Heart Punch and Epoxy Bubble Caps Stickers

A LaBlanche Rubber Stamp

The Rubber Café stamp

Webster’s Pages designer vellum pack

Webster’s Pages Sentiment Sheet

Mini 3-D Puzzle

Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Paper Pad

Stampavie Rubber Stamp (new release) by Gillian Roberts

Stickles Tropical Tangerine (new color)

Basic Grey Wander 6 x 6 Paper Pad

La-La Land Crafts Panda rubber stamp

Stampendous Clear Stamp Set

Sassafras Lass felties puddle jumpers

Mini 3-D Puzzle

Webster’s Pages designer vellum pack

Webster’s Pages Sentiment Sheet

Handmade heart pin from Fabscraps

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Jumbo Peony (Stampendous); Friendship Nested Sentiments (JustRite)
Paper: Prism Simply Smooth White card stock, Papertrey Kraft
Ink: Ranger Spun Sugar Distress Ink, Stampin' Up Barely Banana craft
Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Tim Holtz On the Edge Sizzix die, May Arts burlap string, Stampin' Up leaf punch, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Art Institute crystal ultrafine transparent glitter, Michael's mini roses

Candy Corn Hanging Treat Holder

Before Halloween comes and goes, I wanted to show you a little project I put together a while back for Through the Craftroom Door. My friend Marti, one of the founders/publishers, asked if I'd do a little tutorial for the magazine on coloring with Tombow Dual Brush-Pen markers. As soon as Marti mentioned a Halloween project, I thought about this adorable Stampendous Hang Out Spider set. I know, I know, I've posted with this set a few times already this fall, and each time that bloomin' image is colored nearly the exact same way - fancy that! But that's what happens with tutorials - you end up with a jillion extras of the exact same image. So please bear with me and yet another spooky green watercolored background for this cute little arachnid.

In addition to a candy-corn-themed card, I was inspired by the sentiment in this set ("Let's 'Hang Out' This Halloween") to make a tussie-mussie-style candy corn hanging treat holder. Wouldn't these make cute party favors? Or teacher treats?

For step-by-step Tombow coloring instructions, check out my tutorial in Through the Craft Room Door. I haven't seen the current issue yet, but I do know it's featuring all different coloring mediums, plus tons of other papercrafting content!

Thanks for popping in today!

Hang Out Spider

Happy Saturday, friends! I found an already-colored image from Hang Out Spider (Stampendous) lying in my "leftovers" pile and thought it would be perfect for todays' SFYTT.

The scalloped border strip and the star are paper die-cut elements from the Blackbird 12x12 Paper and Accessories Kit by My Mind's Eye. So all I had to do was cut a small rectangle from the black spotted pattern in the Blackbird kit, punch an orange circle, tie on some twine, and stamp the sentiment. Oh, and I added some paper piercing around the outside of the black tilted rectangle. It doesn't get any easier or quicker! It's a super quick image to color (I used my Tombow Markers), so even starting from scratch, this would be a quickie.

Check out what the other SFYTT Sisters have put together with today's sketch:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Lesa Smaligo
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles (out this week - swing by her blog to leave her some get well wishes)

Leigh O'Brien is taking an extended stamping break due to an injury and upcoming surgery. I know she, too, would appreciate your well wishes!

Have a great weekend, and happy stamping!

Stamps: Hang Out Spider (Stampendous)

Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Rustic White, and Black card stock, My Mind's Eye Blackbird 12x12, Paper and Accessories Kit, 140-lb Strathmore Series 400 cold press watercolor paper

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Frayed Burlap Distress Ink

Accessories: Tombow Markers, clear embossing powder, Stampin' Up circle punch, May Arts ivory burlap string, foam adhesive, paper piercer

Size 4 1/4 x 5 1/2

Lantern Light

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

Today's card uses a gorgeous holiday image from Stampendous called Lantern Light. I stamped onto watercolor paper, watercolored with my Tombow Brush-Pen Markers, then sponged around the perimeter for some depth. Some of the branches are topped with Frosted Lace Stickles and the berries are dotted with Christmas Red Stickles (wish I hadn't done that, though, it's a little much). Around the perimeter of the image, I added a bead of liquid glue and dipped it in some Cat's Pajamas silvery Glitzy Glitter. Along the top and bottom of the main image I added a curvy mat, which are just parts I trimmed from a Spellbinders Labels Sixteen diecut. Lantern Light comes with a beautiful sentiment ("May His love light your way at Christmas time and others"), but I was working in SFYTT mode and needed something smaller. JustRite to the rescue! The "All the brightest and the best of the season" border from Holiday Cheer seemed a wonderful fit for this image (and for the sketch). The designer papers are from the Holly Jolly collection by My Mind's Eye.

So here's Jen's Sketch For You To Try (which, let's see, I rotated 90 degrees and flipped mirror-image):

Be sure to visit the SFYTT Sisters for some GORGEOUS samples. And give a warm welcome to our October guest designer, Lesa Smaligo! Welcome, Lesa!

Jen del Muro with guest designer Lesa Smaligo
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

Have a fantastic weekend!

Let's Hang Out

For today's Sketch For You To Try sample, I colored up this adorable new Halloween image from the Hang Out Spider Set by Stampendous. How could I resist a fellow candy corn lover??? YUM! The spider web paper in the background is from Basic Grey's Eerie collection, and the three horizontal text paper strips are from the trendy Basic Grey Basics collection (Manila). I loaded 'er up with fun stuff ... buttons, ricrac ribbon, and embroidery floss zigzag stitching. Both the spider's body/hat and the candy corn are stamped a second time and popped up over the first with foam adhesive.

Here's the sketch:

You'll definitely want to hang out with the rest of the SFYTT girls to get good and loaded up with sketchy inspiration. Enjoy!

Jen del Muro with August's guest designer, Ashley N. Newell
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

To play along, link up your creation to Jen's post and remember to use keyword SFYTT when you upload to online galleries.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a GREAT weekend!

Oh, and psssst .... peeks of some brand-new Verve have begun, so check out the Verve blog for details!



Stamps: Hang Out Spider Set (Stampendous)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Basic Grey Basics Manila and Eerie dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Accessories: Copic markers, foam adhesive, Papertrey buttons, May Arts wide ricrac ribbon and burlap string, DMC black embroidery floss, corner rounder, Stampin' Up vintage brads
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (A2)

FS62: Kharmagirl

Congrats to Kharmagirl, today's SCS featured stamper. I love her style! My card is a CASE of this card of Jodi's. I kept almost everything: colors, layout (which was from a sketch challenge by Holly McMillen, aka Toy on SCS), background stamp, white gel pen dots, blue gingham, buttons. My only changes were to make the the card square, leave out some brads, add some stitching, and change the stamp set. My main image was stamped in white craft ink, embossed with white embossing powder, then trimmed and adhered with dimensionals.

Stamps: Baby Invite (Stampendous); Stitched (SU)
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, White Craft
Accessories: white gel pen, bashful blue buttons, 3/4" and 1" circle punches, blue gingham ribbon, dimensionals, paper piercer, white EP
Size: 4 1/4" square