SSS JUNE 2018 KIT--Fly Me Away

This kit features butterflies, bees, birds and hot air balloons--things that take to the skies, and all beautiful.

This card front was included in the kit along with a small sample of red, yellow and blue water color dots for coloring the flowers and butterfly.  The sentiment captured the long winter we have finally left behind.

After painting the flowers and leaves, as well as the 2 large words, and adding some green embroidery floss, I mounted the finished panel on a purple card (from my stash.)  The final touch was to add some yellow Stickles to the flower centers and some WOS to the butterfly.  There was also a matching pearlized color coordinated envelope in the kit.

The SSS kits sell out fast, so I'm grateful to have been able to get this one.  The cards I've made so far have turned out beautifully and were easy to make.

More to follow...

PAPER PLAYERS #395--Sketch

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!


I'm finally back!  It's been a long time, with my weekly card class requiring a great deal of preparation.  During those times, we also had 2 storms with power outages of 8 days and 4 days.  Lots of other stuff going on...  We've also had tons of rain and dreariness until just the past week, although some of you had a lot worse;  so I'm not complaining.

On the good news side, Rick and I just celebrated our 51st anniversary.  We usually go on a short weekend trip, but this year we're getting a new updated kitchen--YAY!  We've just started the process, so I'll share the "before" pictures soon, as well as some during the upheaval and, of course, the "after" photos.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to be submitting another Paper Players challenge.  This card features a rose that was stamped with No-Line Fadeout ink and water colored.  I used Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide inks with water, staying inside the lines before the no-line ink faded away. 

 Click HERE for a look at the sketch and other submissions.

CARD CLASS GRAND FINALE

Thanks to Bonnie Klass on her blog  HERE, I now have the "Grand Finale" card for my last Tuesday morning class! 

I opted to use sponging over the clear embossed background instead of Bonnie's water color version.  Since the ladies in my class are not stampers per se,  I've been keeping each project super simple focusing mainly on assembling the elements I provide ahead of time.  However, next week they will be doing the clear embossing for the backtround and switching to the white ep for the greeting.  I can't wait to watch their faces light up as they discover the "magic" of heat embossing! 

I still remember the first time someone showed me gold embossing--how 'bout you?

PAPER PLAYERS #391--Tic Tac Toe

This is the birthday card I came up with for my sister.  I enjoyed making it for this challenge!

The stamp and dsp is from Stampin'Up.  The main flower, made from scraps,  is popped up with dimensionals.   The greeting is not as faded in real life.

Two stamp themes that I have a lot of are Bible verses and humorous sayings.  They certainly get a lot of use, or should I say "a lot of ink!"


Check out the other entries HERE.

THREE OF A KIND--Locked Card

These cards are so much fun, I 

couldn't resist making a bunch at once!

The purple and another (not shown) are

Mothers Day cards I will be sending to my

daughter and favorite daughter-in-law with a note

about what wonderful grandchildren they've been raising.

The blue and yellow birthday card will go to a 

friend I've had since junior high.  She actually has

a pair of earrings that match!

(The dsp used on all the cards are from the current StampinUp

catalog that will retire at the end of May.)

 

GROWN UP DINOSAUR CARD

After seeing this punch line last week, I just HAD to order it from My Favorite Things to use it for some Silver Stamper cards!

I first stamped and colored the dinosaur.  I then made a slit in its mouth and inserted a fern in it.  To give him a jungle setting, I took a piece of SU dsp and cut around the leaves at the top so that I'd have room for the greeting.

Finally, I continued the theme inside by stamping over a fern image.

PAPER PLAYERS #390--Sketch Challenge

It's finally getting to feel like Spring here!

It's been cold, showery and windy for this whole week,

but it's sunny and in the 60's today.

I don't remember it ever being so cold for so long in April.

This was an easy sketch to work with, and I

enjoyed making this card.

Check out the other entries HERE!

PAPER PLAYERS #388--LeAnne's Colors

IS IT SPRING YET???

The Calendar says "Yes" but the weather says "No!"

At least we can finally see a few crocuses,

except for the ones eaten by hungry chipmonks.

Well, it's already Spring in the stamping world; and the colors

chosen by LeAnne say it best.  Check out the other 

cards HERE!

ANOTHER STAMP AND DIE SET

This squirrel is from another Hero Arts set, 

(CM201 Color Layering Squirrel)

 with 3-step stamping and matching dies.

The sentiment is from the Hero Arts kit

featured in my previous post.

It was a long winter with tons of snow,

bleak afternoons brightened with stamping

and lots squirrel watching.

I made this for my grandson's birthday this weekend.

I can't believe he's 20 already!

 

 

PAPER PLAYERS #387--Musical

Somehow I can't read the words to this hymn

without the melody coming to mind

for the rest of the day!  Can you?

Check out the other challenge entries HERE.

WINTER DOLDRUMS TO BLAME FOR PURCHASES

With so much snow and so little sun,

I just HAD to order some new stamps and dies.

This sentiment makes for a great encouragement card.

It's part of a stamp and die set from Hero Arts

which has 11 birds, 15 sentiments and

6 tiny stamps, including one with music notes.

These are part of a kit which also includes 3 ink spots,

two twig nests, 22 dies, and several sheets of cardstock,

2 with woodgrain embossing (I used the brown one here.)

I don't remember what the kit sold for, but it

was very reasonable.

For more ideas on how this set can be used,

check it out on Pinterest or YouTube.

 

 

THANK YOU NOTE

This morning at Bible Study we all walked in

to a surprise breakfast banquet provided

by the lady who had refreshments

this week.  As a tribute to her gratitude

for all that the Lord is doing in her life (and ours)

she brought sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, bagels and

a fruit platter.  She ordered everything

from a local deli/caterer and brought steaming hot

foil containers of all the food.  It was delicious!

This card is a thank you note I will be mailing to this woman

on behalf of all the ladies who were in attendance today.  Her

generosity spoke volumes of the Lord's giving 

blessing after blessing for all of us.

Amen.

 

PAPER PLAYERS #386--Sketch Challenge

Today is the first day I got to play with some new 

stamping materials.  This card features dsp from a new

6x6 pad of floral designs, and the blossom is an anemone from

an Altenew stamp set I just purchased.

Since the anemone I wanted to make is white,

it gave me a chance to use my chalks again to add some

blush in the center.  I haven't used them in a long time, so it was fun!

Check out the other Paper Player entries HERE.

EASTER BLESSINGS

Here's another version of the previous Easter card.

Same daffodil, different color.

The easel card keeps the message

up for viewing awhile longer.

TWO MORE CAT CARDS

Using the same dsp pad as the previous post,

I made two additional cat cards.

(See previous post.)

It's been fun revisiting old supplies!

BTW, we are still without power from the snow storm last weekend.

Rick keeps us warm and safe with the generator going.

He runs it an hour or two during the day and

four hours around dinner time.  He set up my PC for me to

do the bills (electronically) and post a few cards on my blog--

a luxury these days!  It's snowing again right now,

with more on the way in a few days.  Meanwhile, we wait...

patiently...

CAT CARDS--Three of a Kind

After rediscovering an old 6x6 pad of cat dsp's, 

I decided to make some cards with them.

It also gave me another opportunity to use my SU cat punch.

UPDATE ON THE LATEST

I haven't posted lately because I've been distracted with a lot of issues.  Rick developed a viral lung infection (not the flu) and is still being treated for it.  He had a terrible cough for weeks,  plus shortness of breath; and I was scared for awhile.  He's doing much better now, thankfully.  He had to stay away from people to avoid getting something else, so until this week he rarely went out.  I also had to avoid people or places where I could have brought something home.  Not much fun.

Meanwhile, our two cats had problems.  Jenny, our tuxedo cat, became diabetic at age 13.  I had to learn to give her 2 shots a day and wean her off the dry cat food she was used to.  Her brother/littermate developed a blockage in his urethra that was incurable, so we had to put him down.

Finally, after a long spell of unseasonably warm weather, it has turned more wintery.  The last storm hit on Friday with 8" of heavy snow, high winds, gusts over 45 mph and a power outage that they say will not be restored until Thursday night.  There are trees down everywhere, except on our property--truly an answer to prayer!  Lots of roads blocked, which is one reason why it's taking so long to get the power lines back up.  We run our generator every couple of hours to keep the heat up, refrigerator going and electronic devices charged.  One of my friends has invited me over to take a shower and wash my hair when her power returns tomorrow.  (so she's been told.)

I do have much to be thankful for:  Rick's health improving, milder weather again, lots of very good friends, and stamping, of course!   I just finished making 25 Easter cards and numerous kits for my card classes.  I hope to post some of them when the power returns.  Until then,  I'll be in my sunny Tower in the afternoons!

CARD FROM SCRAPS

Except for the gray gingham, this card was made

entirely from scraps.  The vertical greeting is from the SU! set,

Vertical Greetings, appropriately.  The scraps are from cards I've been making

using designer papers from Carta Bella..

LONE PINE

I'm sure we haven't seen the last of snow and ice yet, so this

card will go out soon.  I stamped it, wrapped some cording

around the white panel and mounted it with dimensionals.

For a final touch, I attached the greeting on the side

of the panel and added some glitter to the branches.  Easy card!

GET WELL CARD

Sometimes, all you need for a card is an interesting background.  

This one is from the Carta Bella pad I just got which is full of

beautiful designs.

All this card needed was a bold greeting (for a very speedy

recovery) and a few green leaves.  The silver and white baker's

twine help tie it all together (no pun intended!)  I didn't time it, but

I'm sure it was under 10 minutes to complete the card.