A Loss So Big

 

If I were to picture the "perfect" sympathy card, this would not be it. I might go for something much simpler, less fussy, more somber, understated. Today, though, while I'm mourning a devastating loss in my extended family, I'm also celebrating a love story. A love story cut far, far too short, but one that many never find in a lifetime. And so I chose a more romantic assortment of florals and lace. I used the time making this card to reflect and remember, to sorrow and grieve, to lift up and love. This card, and the words inside, are all I can give my dear cousin right now; you can be sure I poured myself into them.

The papers are from the Restoration line by Crate Paper. The sentiment, from JustRite's Sympathy Nested Sentiments & Verse set, has been stamped onto one of the Crate Paper patterns. The pattern is actually playing cards. I stamped on the Ace of Hearts playing card, then die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels Fourteen Nestabilities die so that all you see left is the red heart outline from the center of the playing card. The ivory fleur de lis accent at the bottom of the sentiment panel is from the Fleur de Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities. I topped that with a fabric mini rose that I trimmed from some Small Roses Organza Ribbon by Maya Road. The decorative borders along the top and bottom of the blue and green horizontal background panel were die-cut with one of the Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two dies.

The white paper rose that tops the crinkled seam binding is a Kaisercraft Paper Bloom.

Many have asked how I mail bulky cards such as this one. I have a bunch of Crystal Clear Boxes from clearbags.com that are leftovers from selling greeting card sets at craft fairs many years ago. The boxes are a nice, heavy, durable material with no cloudiness whatsoever. Usually the 1/4"-thick boxes are perfect. For really bulky cards, I'll use a 1/2"-thick box. Clearbags.com has pretty much any size you might need. For mailing, I usually leave the box plain, slide the whole thing into a padded mailer, and count on a rate somewhere in the $1-$1.75-ish range. If I'm hand-delivering, I'll use these same boxes and just dress them up with some ribbon and a tag or other embellishment. Hope that helps!

Thanks for stopping by today,




Stamps: Sympathy Nested Sentiments & Verse (JustRite)
Paper: Papertrey Rustic Cream card stock, Crate Paper Restoration collection
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels Fourteen Nestabilities, Fleur de Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities, and Fancy Tags Two, Maya Road Mini Roses Organza ribbon, May Arts crochet trim, crinkled seam binding, Kaisercraft Paper Blooms, sanding block, foam adhesive, hot glue, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

Happy Monday! I'm on a bit of a run with hosting different challenges, as I have another one today! My good friend, June Houck, is one of the Honeybees at Betty Bee's Buzz challenge blog and has invited me to be a guest host for them. June was my inspiration to start blogging 3 1/2 years ago, and I always love peeking in to see what she's been whipping up in her craft room. The Honey Bees are a fun and talented bunch, and their challenges are creative and unpredictable (in a good way) -- everything from techniques, like a freezer paper technique or altering photographs, to broad themes, such as celebrating mothers or welcoming new babies.

I was brainstorming challenges back around the time of the Royal Wedding and thought it might be fun to use weddings as my inspiration. I came up with "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue." If you play along (and I hope you will), you don't have to create a wedding-themed project (unless you want to), you just have to include each of the four things from this familiar wedding custom. Sound fun? I hope so!

Here are just a few ideas I kicked around ...

• For old, you could use an older product; create something that looks old by distressing, sanding, and/or using vintage papers; repurpose an old item for some new purpose, etc. 
• New is pretty easy -- use a new or new-to-you product, use a new trend or technique, make something for a new baby or to congratulate a friend on her new home. 
• For borrowed, you might borrow a tool or product from a crafty friend, borrow a fellow papercrafter's design  (a.k.a. CASE), or borrow from another craft altogehter, for example, incorporate quilting or jewelry or fabric into your design. 
• Throw in a little blue and you're good to go! 

Those are just suggestions -- I'm sure all of you creative folks can think of lots more!

Are you curious how my project fits the bill? I've used some new My Mind's Eye papers -- the Out of the Blue collection from the Lime Twist line. The sentiment is my old element. It's from Verve's Dare to Be You set, which came out two years ago. (By the way, Dare to Be You is Verve's current Stamp of the Month. Pick it up during the month of May and save a whopping 40%.)  My borrowed element is the clean-and-simple style that I so, so admire, but definitely isn't my norm. I hope the blue in the papers is obvious. If not, time to calibrate your monitor - teehehe!

Head on over to the Betty Bee's Buzz blog, where today you'll find a short "interview" (free advice included {grin}) with yours truly, as well as the challenge details and my sample. Then on Wednesday, the Honeybees will post their challenge samples as part of their regular Wednesday "Honeybee Showcase." The Wednesday post is also where you'll be able to link up your challenge creations. Sure hope you'll play along! Check back at Betty Bee's Buzz on Friday, too, as the hive has a really unique and sweet Friday feature, "Buzz, Brag, and BEE Happy," where the Honeybees share all sorts of good news, from new babies to new cars to publication acceptances and contest wins. Readers and participants can share their good news in the comments section - love that!

Thank you, Honeybees, for letting me buzz about the hive this week!

And thank you, readers, for stopping by for a visit. Always a pleasure!





Stamps: Dare to Be You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft (card base), My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Out of the Blue designer paper
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: The Twinery twine, My Favorite Things Jumbo Scallop and Button Quartet Die-namics dies, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, sanding block, Pizzazz Aplenty 3mm and 4mm clear rhinestones
Size: 3 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Josephine and Kiki

 

Hi friends, I have a card to share today that features a sweet, sweet image illustrated by Sarah Kay for Stampavie called Josephine Cuddling Her Pet Cat Kiki. I've always loved Sarah Kay's little girl images and now I'm excited to see some older girls in the mix, too! You can find a broad range of Sarah Kay images, as well as images by many other Stampavie illustrators, under the Stampavie label at Stamper's Dream.

I colored Josephine using mostly Prismacolor pencils (hair and skin were done with Copic markers) in shades of purple to match some of the patterns in the new My Mind's Eye Lime Twist "Happy Go Lucky" collection. The stamped image is die-cut with a Labels Eighteen Nestabilities die by Spellbinders. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink to add a soft frame around the image. The sentiment is from Forever Friends by JustRite Stamps. Embellishments include some lacy trim, Stampin' Up's Rich Razzleberry polka-dot ribbon, a Prima mini rose, a Webster's Pages butterfly stick-pin, machine stitching, Prima turquoise and purple flowers, and some glittery gems from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Here's a closer look at the layered sentiment:

Thanks so much for visiting! Hope you're having a great weekend!





Stamps: Josephine Cuddling Her Pet Cat Kiki (Stampavie); Forever Friends (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Hawaiian Shores card stock, Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry and Kiwi Kiss card stock, Copic X-Press It Blending card stock, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist "Happy Go Lucky" dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink, and Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Stampin' Up ribbon, Wright's white lace trim, Webster's Pages butterfly stick pin, Prima Botanical Sugar Blooms flower, Prima Cappella Blue Symphony flower, Prima ivory mini rose, Spellbinders Labels Eighteen Nestabilities, Pizzazz Aplenty glittery gems, Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps, Stampin' Up Top Note die, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

How Kind of You -- Viva La Verve

I'm excited to be hosting this week's Viva La Verve sketch challenge over in the Verve Forum on Splitcoast. For those not familiar with the VLV challenge, each Friday a new sketch is posted. Participants have until the end of the month (or longer, depending on when the last Friday falls) to complete all of the challenges that month and thereby qualify for the prize drawing of the next Verve release in full! Definitely worth playing for, so check out all the 4-1-1 HERE!

I've come up with what I think is a super easy sketch this week. Hope you enjoy it!

My sample features a flower made using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, some My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose papers, and a stamped sentiment from Verve's Faithful Phrases. I stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of designer paper, then punched it out using an older deco square label punch by Stampin' Up. I then tucked the label behind that gold strip so that it would hang down like a tab. The flower center is a gem from a Tim Holtz's Accoutrements pack.

Don't forget the other Verve challenge I'm hosting -- Get Your Diva On. This is your chance to win a guest design spot for an upcoming release. More details HERE. Deadline is Sunday night!

Have a beautiful day, friends!

Stamps: Faithful Phrases (Verve Stamps)

Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Vintage Cream card stock, My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose dp

Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Ranger Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink

Accessories: Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and flower center jewel, SU corner rounder and deco label punch (used for sentiment tab), May Arts twine, Papertrey button, foam adhesive

Get Your Diva On Challenge

Happy Monday to all, and I hope mothers everywhere had a wonderful day of pampering yesterday!

Today begins a week-long Get Your Diva On Challenge in the Verve Forum on Splitcoast, and I am the lucky hostess! This is the monthly contest that gives Verve Fans a chance at becoming a future guest designer, so I hope you'll give it a shot!

I've come up with a supplies-type challenge, "Material Girl," which is basically just to incorporate fabric into your card or project somehow. I love the texture and interest that fabric adds! You can use a premade fabric embellishment or create your own (felt counts!), stamp on fabric, or start with a fabric item (tote bag, apron, canvas tag or album, etc.) and embellish/stamp to your heart's content. Three samples are posted on the challenge thread for your inspiration. You'll also find the challenge details there. The deadline is this Sunday, May 15, 9 pm MT.

My thoughts were all over the place with my sample -- just ask Kristin, who shopped Hobby Lobby with me on Saturday! I ended up making a white linen flower accent using Verve's Floral Circles dies and used it as an embellishment on a card. The dies come in three graduated sizes. I die-cut, then crumpled the linen a little bit, and then sewed the layers together, adding glass beads for the flower center. I personally like the look of the frayed edges (easy to get with linen), but if that doesn't appeal to you, there are fray-stop products available at fabric stores.

Here's a closer look at the Floral Circles linen flower:

The sentiment is from Faithful Phrases and has been die-cut with the Charming Banner dies. Papers are from the Portrait collection by Crate Paper. The border and fancy frame behind the flower were done with Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities dies. I've been using this paper and these dies a lot lately. They're officially in a short-term time-out for leaving out their fellow craft room playmates! They'll come out again when they learn to take turns.

Thanks for visiting!







Stamps: Faithful Phrases (Verve Stamps) 
Paper: Papertrey Black  and white card stocks, Crate Paper Portrait dp 
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: white linen fabric, Verve Floral Circles and Charming Banner dies, glass beads, Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities, Papertrey ribbon and twine, paper piercer, needle, thread, foam tape
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Happiness Is You - May SFYTT

Today, the Sketch For You To Try girls get to unveil the new May sketch and sponsor, plus welcome both our May guest designer and our newest SFYTT sister!

Our May Sponsor: Your Next Stamp. Such a CUTE stamp line! And just for you....

Our May Sketch (which I {heart} -- a great one, Jen!):

Our May Guest Designer: Kerri Michaud at Cards by Kerri -- welcome!

Our newest SFYTT Sister: Jen Tapler (waving to you, Jen!)

And, as always, for lots more sketchy interpretation and inspiration, visit the amazing SFYTT sisters:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Kerri Michaud
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph  (coming soon)
Susan Liles
Terri Moore


For my sample, I used the adorable Tea Time Fhiona. Seeing Fhiona lovin' on that sweet cat reminds me so much of my daughter and our family cat, Rocki. I did my coloring with Copics and chose papers from the My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose line (Hazel, I think?). Embellishments include an Open Scallop Border die-cut (My Favorite Things), stitching, buttons, twine (The Twinery), and some turquoise bling from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Have a great weekend! I'm taking off in a few to meet and hang out with one fabulously talented stamper and all-around amazing person -- Kristin Eberline! I'll try to remember to take a picture!

1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

There is Poetry in Kindness

A funny thing happened in the making of this card ... I used no patterned paper! Long-time friends and subscribers might remember the designer paper phobia I proclaimed a few years ago. Now, it's a little scary going without! I was playing with some of the Crate Paper Portrait patterns, which is where the black/yellow/green combo began. The green background panel was done with a stamp from JustRite's Kindness cling set and then die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels Twenty Nestabilities die. On top of that is a layered ribbon/trim treatment that includes some May Arts crochet trim and some yellow and green grosgrain. Then comes a black die-cut done with one of the dies in the Fleur-de-Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities set by Spellbinders. And last, the sentiment, also from JustRite's Kindness.

On an unrelated topic ... my 10- and 7-year-old are completely into Cake Boss, so one day while at Michael's, I expressed an interest in a cake decorating class for them to take. As it turns out, the Wilton rep suggested they not take the kids' class but the regular/adult class instead. I thought the 10-year-old was too busy with his extracurriculars and the 7-year-old too young to attend by herself, so I ended up signing up with her. She ate too much frosting during the second class, threw up all night long, and that was the end of cake decorating for her! My son gladly stepped in and finished up her last two classes, and this is what we ended up with this week for our "final" cakes ...

First, my son's:

He picked up everything so quickly and was really good it!

And here's mine:

I'm sure to an expert, it has "beginner" all over it, but I'm excited about it because I didn't know how to do any of this a month ago! Wilton offers two more courses that go into the really fun stuff -- fondant, gum paste, flowers, royal icing, etc., but we'll most likely postpone those for a little while. My son is so busy with baseball in the Spring, and, as I told the instructor, I soooooo do not need another hobby! I've already scratched Silhouette off the Mother's Day wishlist and added a table saw instead (for my new DIY "hobby") -- LOL! I won't be getting one, but at least a seed is planted for birthday and Christmas :)


Thanks for stopping by! I've been quite sporadic with my posts lately. Spring is a busy time, yes? Looking forward to getting back into a more regular routine soon!





Stamps: Kindness (JustRite)
Paper: Papertrey Rustic White and Black card stock
Ink: Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi, Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities, Labels Twenty Nestabilities, and Classic Circle Nestabilities, Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi ribbon, Papertrey Harvest Gold grosgrain, May Arts crochet trim, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, Pizazz Aplenty 3mm Yellow Gold flatback pearls, foam adhesive, Quickie glue pen
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"