Psalm 118:20

Wow, is it already the 8th of the month? Time for Lori Craig's Divine Design Challenge - memorize more of God's Word and use Scripture in our papercrafting. Here's my contribution.

I'm using my current favorite stamp set from Our Daily Bread Designs - Path of Life. I just love the brick path and wall, the wrought-iron gate, and the garden scene. And what do you know - a gatefold card for my gate image and sentiment. Isn't that fun?!

Check this out: Before you slip off the belly band and "enter the gate(fold)" the path image is visible only as a watermark on the two celery panels. Hard to see the path. After you open the gatefold, the image is bright, clear and all nice and colorful. How's that for a little bit of religious symbolism?

[Note: I'm going to have to re-do the inside photo. Now that I see it on the screen, I realize I never colored the tree trunks and branches! Too funny!]

Blessings to you today!



Stamps: Path of Life (Our Daily Bread Designs); Weathered (SU!)
Paper: Barely Banana, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, watercolor paper
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; various reinkers for coloring
Accessories: Primas, classic and scalloped oval Nestabilities, Pretty in Pink brads, ticket corner punch, aqua painter, sponge daubers, sponge

Welcome Little One SFYTT

You all know I like my embellishments and layers, but even I have to admit there's a lot going on with this card! I started out with Jen's Sketch for You to Try, which has the fun half oval (or half circle) panel. At some point along the way, I thought it would be fun to make this into a gatefold. The black bow holds everything together. It can be slipped off or untied to open the card to this middle panel:



Then, when you lift that up, the whole inside is available for your written message.



My friend June has been celebrating her blogaversary and her twin daughters' birthdays (waving hi to Kathryn and Julia!!) with some blog candy. To be entered into her drawing, she created a challenge for each of the girls - one was a gatefold card. I'm so glad I get to participate!

Want to try your hand at the SFYTT this week? Jen has the sketch, her sample, and the NEW June guest designer announcement (woo hoo!!) at i{heart}2stamp. Be sure to check out Carole's, Shannan's and Susan's (unless her computer is still misbehaving) creations, too! If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword SFYTT.

Last, remember the Pez-A-Doodle stamps I used on Thursday? Today is the official release at Pez-A-Doodle Designs. Check it out!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!



Stamps: Nursery Necessities, Stitched
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Barely Banana, Basic Black
Ink: Whisper White craft, Basic Black classic
Accessories: paper piercer, small star punch, scalloped square Nestabilities, cream grosgrain, photo corner punch, 1/4" circle punch, Bashful Blue brad, Swiss Dots cuttelbug, large oval punch, black grosgrain, black gingham ribbon, white grosgrain, Bashful Blue striped grosgrain, sticky strip
All supplies by Stampin' Up except for Nestabilities and Cuttlebug folder.

Say the Word Sale at Verve

I dropped the ball on promptly announcing two Verve specials. First up: Verve's "Say the Word Sale" means 10% off selected sentiment sets for you! And second up is a Clearance Sale on all non-stamp merchandise (but hurry, it's truly almost totally gone). All the details are on the Verve blog! While you're there, check out who has joined Verve as May/June guest designer: Natasha Trupp!! Woo hoo!!!

Yummy!

I know it's only Spring, but it's hot here in Virginia (90s!), and I can't help but think ahead to summer. This one kinda, sorta fits with this week's SCS sketch challenge, which, so cool for Jen, came from one of her SFYTTs a while back (I thought it looked familiar). The watermelon and the sentiment are by H&M Stamps. Once again, I paired the Swiss Dots cuttlebug and Stampin' Up's Stitched background -- I just can't help myself!

Lady Liberty on this second card is also from H&M Stamps. She's such a sweet little thing! I stamped her on watercolor paper and colored her with reinkers.



A quick end note: I've realized recently I have too much on my plate (actually I've realized I have a small plate, lol!), so I've decided to cut back on design team responsibilities. It was with great sadness that I resigned from the H&M Stamps DT yesterday. But even though these are, for now, the last offical DT samples from me, I'm sure I'll still post fun H&M Stamps projects from the loyal customer role! I'm so grateful to Heather for the design team opportunity - I truly enjoyed my time at H&M Stamps! Best wishes for continued success to you, Heather!

Thanks for visiting today!



Summer:
Stamps: It's a Picnic (H&M Stamps); Stitched (SU!)
Paper: watercolor paper, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, Real Red, Certainly Celery, Garden Green, White craft
Accessories: classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities, scallop punch, red striped grosgrain, 1/4" circle punch, vintage brads, Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, corner rounder

Lady Liberty:
Stamps: Celebrate the Day (H&M Stamps)
Paper: River Rock, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, River Rock prints, watercolor paper
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, River Rock, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities, word window punch, 1/4" black grosgrain, paper piercer

Pez-A-Doodle

I had to pay the piper for admitting my bad habits on Tuesday (squeezing out every last minute of the day, running late, operating last-minute). Today's projects were finished up by flashlight and candles during an extended power outage last night. So if the colors look a little off, just dim your monitor, lol! (Just kidding - they look fine!)

I've been playing with some new stamps that will be released this Saturday, June 7, by Pez-A-Doodle Designs. The company is run here locally, and I was finally able to meet the owner, Marti, face-to-face last week after a couple months of corresponding by email. She has three lines of stamps. Both of today's projects use stamps from her Scrollybugs line. Look for more sample projects from Marti (she has giveaways too), Jen and Mary Jo!



Card:
Stamps: Scrollybugs (Pez-A-Doodle Designs), Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Basic Black, Confetti Tan, Certainly Celery (SU!); Papertrey White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky
Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop punch, paper piercer, corner rounder, aqua painter (all SU!); 3/4" black grosgrain ribbon (May Arts)


Tag:
Stamps: Scrollybugs (Pez-A-Doodle Designs - available June 7)), Thankful Blossoms (Verve Visual),
Paper: Whisper White (SU!); "Art Nouveau - Ornamental (Dream Street Papers)
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft, Sage Shadow classic
Accessories: Chocolate Chip polytwill ribbon, Ivory taffeta ribbon, Chocolate wide satin ribbon, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scalloped punch, slot punch, corner rounder, paper piercer, white gel pen, aqua painter (all SU!)

Dino Birthday Invitation

I'm the type of person that's always trying to squeeze out every last second in every minute of every day. As a result, I tend to operate last-minute and often run late. So I'm wondering if it really could be possible that I have my 13 1/2-month-old's 2nd birthday party invitation already designed, 10 1/2 months early?! Okay, a lot could change between now and then, he could wind up with a ferocious fear of dinosaurs, for example, but seriously, wouldn't this make a darling invitation for a little boy's dinosaur party?! The more I play with "A Dino Day" by H&M Stamps, the more smitten I become!



Stamps: A Dino Day and It's Picnic Time (H&M Stamps), wild animal print (small Saffron panel) (Pez-A-Doodle Designs, available Saturday, June 7)
Paper: Ruby Red, So Saffron, Ballet Blue, Old Olive, Certainly Celery
Ink: Old Olive, Ballet Blue, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Accessories: classic and scalloped square Nestabilities, photo corner punch, sponge daubers, vintage brads, dimensionals
Size: 4 1/4" square

FS69 Maren!

How fun to see Maren Benedict as Featured Stamper yesterday! I've been stalking her blog and gallery since back in the fall. Since then, our paths have crossed through the H&M Stamps design team as well as the Great Swaps Girls group we're both in. I adore her fresh, clean, creative style!

I have tons of My Favorite Things stamps that I've been wanting to ink up, so this card of Maren's was an easy choice. I kept the stamps and layout, but changed the colors, dp, and ribbon. I also added some layers, piercing, and bling.

The image is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black on Very Vanilla. Her clothing is paper pieced from both sides of a sheet of KaiserCraft "Bloom" designer paper, which I also used for the background panel. Her body and the mat are colored with Copic markers.



Stamps: Serenity Now (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, and Very Vanilla card stock; "Bloom" (KaiserCraft)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: RV21 and E00 Copics, Warm Grey 10% Prismacolor pencil, Citron adhesive gemstones (Hero Arts), word window punch, wide celery grosgrain, rose narrow grosgrain, paper piercer, glue dots, dimensionals, sponge daubers
Size: 4 1/2" square