PP466 Woodland Wedding

Hi there, It's me again! When I saw Anne Marie's challenge this week at The Paper Players, Into The Woods, I had the perfect (I think!) card to post. So... in my last post I mentioned that two of my sons were married this year. Joseph was married to Peyton in October of this year, on her family's farm in Missouri. It was an outdoor wedding, and they really worked hard to make it a rustic wedding 'in the woods'. They cut down trees, milled the lumber, and built the tables for the reception. They cleared fields, planted wildflowers, and I don't even know how many other numerous tasks to make this the wedding of their dreams. It was a magical day, and thankfully, the weather cooperated. Before I share my card, here is a picture of some of our family, on the wedding day. Keep in mind this is an Iphone pic, professional photos yet to come!

Ok so here we are, in the woods, lol! It was so beautiful. They hung huge curtains between two big trees, and the walk down the aisle was a path to an arbor they created from vines. I could go on and on, (and get teary), but I'll stop and get to my card, their wedding card, which I think was appropriate for the occasion. 

Mommy/ card-maker had to come up with something a little special for the occasion. This is what I visualized for them, delicate wildflowers and greenery, taking its cues from nature. I wanted lots of texture, and used some gorgeous rosebuds from Kaisercraft, and patterned paper from Carta Bella. 

Here is a closer shot of the card, showing a little more of the detail. I used a Mini Tag from Mama Elephant, which seemed like the perfect little sentiment. 

My card was a bit too 'chubby' to fit into an envelope, so I had to put it into a box. I couldn't find one just the right size, so I made that too! 

Products used:

Stamp Sets: Mini Messages (Mama Elephant)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Wild Wasabi (SU)

Patterned Paper: Botanical Garden (Carta Bella), Neutrals Stack (SU)

Ink Pads: Field Greens (Hero Arts)

Tools: Big Shot, Garden Trellis EF (SU), Mini Fanciful Flourish Die (Cheery Lynn), Mini Tags Die (Mama Elephant)

Accessories: Paper Doilies, Pearls (SU), Paper Blooms (Kaisercraft), Micro Flowers (The Paper Studio)

Thanks for stopping by!

Quilted Christmas x2, PP465

Hellooo!!! It's been such a long time... about 8 months since I've last posted. Do I still have any followers? If so, please say hi!  It's been a crazy busy - but all good - year for me so far. Both of my sons got married! David & Ally got married in June in Italy, a destination wedding. Joey & Peyton got married earlier this month in Missouri, where they live. Both were destinations for me and my family, who live in New York. I'm so happy our family is growing, and that my sons have found their soul mates! With their permission, I'll post some pics soon.

Anyway, though I've been making cards from time to time (mostly wedding cards!), I've had no time to blog but have missed my bloggy friends dearly. I hope to make an appearance a little more frequently, and what better way to start doing so than by by playing along with my dear friends at The Paper Players. Ann has a fabulous simple sketch this week that inspired me right  away. 

The square element of the sketch drew me to this Quilted Christmas stamp and die set I purchased last Christmas, but sadly saw little use. It was fun to play with it again. Once you have the quilt pieces die cut, it's pretty quick to assemble multiple cards using the pieces. It's fun, too! They are like little bits of a puzzle. The possible combinations are endless. 

Above is card one.... And below is its opposite, card two. This is such a great set to use up little scraps of paper, and not only for Christmas cards. 

Products Used: (all SU unless otherwise indicated)

Stamp Sets: Endless Wishes

Card Stock: Whisper White, Garden Green, Real Red

Patterned Paper: Quilted Christmas

Ink Pads: Garden Green, Real Red

Tools: Big Shot, Layering Square Dies, Quilt Builder Framelits

Other: Buttons & Cotton Thread (from my sewing stash), Quilted Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz)

Thanks for visiting!

Sketchy Rose

Hi friends! I know... it's been ages since I've posted. Life has been busy, and involved some travel again this month. Once again, I traveled with just a couple of stamped images and my colored pencils. I'm really loving them more and more, as I get comfortable using them. I stamped this gorgeous rose image using pink and green ink, second generation, for a very light outline. I then colored the image using my pencils for a no-line look, and I'm thrilled with the way it came out.

The challenge from The Flower Challenge is to use your latest stamps or dies. Though I think this set is retired, I purchased it recently from a crafty yard sale, so its new to me and the first time I'm using it. 

I'm also playing with the Inspiration Challenge at Altenew. I love how the two grays create such a soft background and combine with the pink.

Stamp sets: Sketchy Rose (Altenew)

Card stock: Solar White (Neenah), Smoky Slate, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up)

Patterned paper: Glistening (Authentique)

Ink pads: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up)

Colored Pencils: Prismacolor

Thanks for visiting today, and I love reading your comments!

Sending Valentine Hugs

Hello, friends :) I have a CAS card to share today, made with some awesome envelope stickers gifted to me by a fellow crafter. The stickers have great dimension and are full of texture, so I did very little to the rest of the card. A simple frame and a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp finished it off quite well, I thought. 

I'm playing along with two challenges today. At Inspired By, I was inspired by the framed rows of hearts. At the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, it's Anything Goes.

Stamp Sets: Sending & Wishing (Simon Says Stamp)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Schoolhouse Red (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Tools: Big Shot, Layering Squares Dies (Stampin' Up), Sending and Wishing Dies (Simon Says Stamp)

Accessories: Love Envelope Stickers (Michael's)

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday By the Bay

Hi everyone! Recently I was on vacation in Florida, and the only craft items I brought with me was a few stamped images and my colored pencils. It was very relaxing to just color! This was one of the images, from a new stamp set by Stampin Up. This is going to be for my brother-in-law who recently bought a house on the coast of Maine. It's an old colonial from the 1800's, and though I haven't seen it yet, this is exactly how I visualize it.

I'm playing along with the photo challenge this week at Just Us Girls. Though I don't have a boat or an anchor in my card, I think I've captured the sea / masculine theme. Let's see what they think! 

Stamp Sets: By the Bay, Wetlands (Stampin Up)

Card Stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse (Stampin Up)

Patterned Paper: Pint Sized Patterns Beachside (Lawn Fawn)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Navy (Hero Arts)

Colored Pencils: Prismacolor

Accessories: Candy Dots, Linen Thread (Stampin Up)

Thanks for stopping by, and please leave a comment!

Love Mew

Hello, friends :) I have a fun little shaker card today, featuring one of my most favorite subjects, kitties! This was a simple project, thanks to a fun-to-use shaker pouch, a coordinating window die and some super cute stickers from Doodlebug. 

If you look closely, you'll see that the background paper has some cute tone-on-tone kitties, too. The shaker ingredients all came from the dollar spot at Target. 

I'm playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, which is Have a Heart. They'd like to see products by My Favorite Things, if you have them. My sentiment, the shaker pouches and window die are all from MFT.

The cue card at CASology is Smile, and I think my smiling little kitty fits the bill. Normally I wouldn't consider a shaker card to be CAS, but I think this one has plenty of white space, and thanks to the stickers it came together in a flash.

Here's my card inside and envelope, with a few more stickers.

Stamp Sets: I Knead You (My Favorite Things) Furry Kisses (Simon Says Stamp - Inside Sentiment)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)

Patterned Paper: Kitten Smitten (Doodlebug)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Tools: Big Shot, Rectangle Peek-a-boo Window Die (My Favorite Things)

Accessories: Rectangle Shaker Windows Pouches (My Favorite Things), Kitten Smitten Cardstock Stickers (Doodlebug), Confetti (Target)

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Lovebirds

Hi everyone! I'm happy to say I've completed all the birthday cards I need for January, and it's time to start working on Valentines. This card is going to my newly engaged son and his fiance. I know, it's decidedly a girly-girl card, but she'll like it! I didn't have the sentiment I wanted so I created my own using MS Word. 

Today I'm playing along with three challenges. At The Paper Players (miss you gals!), it's Crazy about Critters. At The Card Concept, I was inspired by the colors. Finally, at Lawnfawnatics, it's Happy Little Critters. 

Stamp Sets: Friends Forever (Lawn Fawn)

Card Stock: Ivory (Simon Says Stamp), Real Red, Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up)

Patterned Paper: Beloved (Authentique)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, Friends Forever Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Heart Dies (Lawn Fawn)

Enamel Dots: Echo Park

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll leave a comment!