Playing Cards With Friends

Guess what? Today's a playdate with a friend. Yep. We're 'Playing Cards With

Friends' today. My sweet and talented friend, Michele Ferguson from I Card Everyone

asked if I'd like to join her and create a card. Delightful!

Michele gave these parameters: 

Make a card for a neighbor or friend, and hand deliver it.

Flowers are always welcome, in fact, let's make them die cut flowers.

Include a kind sentiment.

Check, check and check! And if you look closely, I added an embossed background,

something I always swoon over on Michele's beautifully crafted cards.

I have a neighbor I've known a long time. She's extraordinary, talented, beautiful and

caring. I can't wait to let her know how much I appreciate her friendship.

Well, Michele... If you lived near me, you'd get this card, but as it is, 

I'm happy to share it with a dear neighbor and friend.

Let's all run over to Michele's blog to see her creation.

Happy Day, everyone!

https://icardeveryone.blogspot.com/2023/02/playing-cards-with-friends-february-2023.html 

One last mention before you go, the 17th of this month is:

https://nationaltoday.com/random-act-kindness-day/

Pretty fitting that we made a kindness card, isn't it?

Thanks, Michele. I had a wonderful time. Hope we can play together again some time!

💕

And... as promised a card, with patterned paper, same die set, new colors, and a 

sentiment for Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is today.  

Michele, lets do this again!

A Trio of Joy

 

A Trio of Joy cards with the Greetery's Joy Hot Foil and stamp and die sets.

Playing with the new Glimmer Hot Foil system is just too much fun!

Christmas Joy began with the Fond of Foliage stamp. It's a big red rubber stamp, 

and I selectively inked the stamp with shades of light and dark Oxide inks. Then

sponge inked the panel in red and pink, darker and heavier on the corners.

Joy is hot foiled with copper foil onto PTI's ripe avocado. I've used the Winterberry 

Bouquet set before, and love the steps of first stenciling, then stamping the colors.

The 2 thin stitched frames are Poppystamps, and Christmas is the Greetery's 

Opposites Attract Holiday. A few Pine Wisp branches too.

I just bought a Lightbox, and learning to use it is a new challenge. It's only 12 x 12", and

I wish I had bought one larger. 

Anyway, Hope you enjoyed the first of 3 cards made with the Joy set. 

I'll post the other 2 tomorrow. 

Thanks for the visit! And I hope you're enjoying cooler weather. We had a 

great wet past 2 days. So needed in our dry valley! 

Serene Scene

 

I'm having more fun with this Sizzix die set, making #2 Christmas card, and thinking about

different looks for the shadow box effect.

All die cuts for this card. Every item you see is included in the set, right down to 

the tiny candle greenery.

Hoping this closeup shows the details when you cut out the dies. Eyes on the animals,

details on the tree. The 'woodsy' paper is from Memory Box. 

Once again, an envelope for each card! 

Enjoy your day. Hope your summer is going craft-i-ly!

Easter Cards

 

Easter cards are some of my favorite cards to make. Full of Spring and colorful florals,

and of course faith. 

This latest release of the Greetery's goodies were full of joy... spring, florals and 

Easter symbols and sentiments!

This past weekend I spent some time creating with the Greetery's Print Shop: Florals

Frames and the sentiment Empty Grave. 

The 3 cards are more or less experiments with the stamp set, playing with Betsy's enclosed

stencils and dies.

 A one layer card with blues and greens, and a little marigold for berries. You can't miss

with the stencil layering, so easy, and the center is perfect for your greeting.

2nd card was done with the die that cuts the floral frame, and I stamped some 

enclosed berries in strategic places around and under the leaves and flowers. I added some 

Nuvo drops, (wish I hadn't),  and lifted the die cut with foam.

3rd card is a mix of stenciling and stamping first on the card base, upside down, then

attaching the foam lifted top right side up onto the card. The idea wasn't mine, I 

found inspiration from the Greetery's 'Lookbook'. I masked off the center sentiment,

and added a few splatters.

The sentiment is gold embossed, and I'd love to share a shade of gold I found, new

to me, from Ranger, called Princess Gold. It's the best gold I've used yet! I found mine

at Hobby Lobby. 

Have a wonderful week, hope your Easter season is full of God's Grace!

Be Mine, Valentine

 

The season of love is fast approaching, and the images of hearts and flowers are

everywhere. The Greetery's latest release: The Nature Lover Collection has the

sweetest stamps and dies, and I was fortunate to get my order in before they sold

out of the Complete Collection. Honestly, Betsy must have stamping elves getting

orders out, because my order came before it's delivery date! And I've been 

playing with it ever since!

I die cut 5 of the Heart Leaf Jumbo Posy Pocket Dies, (watched Betsy's video on

You Tube), and created Valentines. 

I stamped a bunch of the flowers from Lovely Blossoms in pink and red, and pretty

much put the 5 Valentines together assembly line style.

Did 5 envelopes to match the posy pockets. They're so easy to do while everything's 

out and handy!

I added the twine tie, like Betsy did in her video, and love that it looks like a gift

for the recipient. 

A perfect day here. Wet and rainy... perfect for staying indoors and crafting!

The Card Concept: Autumn Blessings

 

Autumn Blessings my friends! Hope you are enjoying cooler weather, and all

the blessings that come with the season. 

Speaking of Autumn Blessing, we're starting a new challenge at the Card Concept

that just happens to be titled, Autumn Blessings. Here's the photo

Rich colors, textured contrasts, and full of inspiration!

Julie Gearinger picks our photos, and she's been hitting it out of the park!

I zoned in on that silver aluminum pail, and all the layers of flora in the

photo.

Style? Mixed media; watercolor, embossing and stencil paste, and lots of layers too!

I used a couple of sets from the Greetery, (supplies at end of post), and used the pitcher 

from Pitcher-esque.

You barely see it, but on the left of the card is a pewter pitcher, that was a gift to my

mom from her great aunt in Boston. We used that pitcher every Thanksgiving, and

it graced our table during the holidays. I loved it so much, my mom gave it to me, 

and it continues bringing beauty to my table on special occasions. 

The pitcher is filled with watercolored autumn leaves, and I brushed on embossing

ink along the edges before adding gold embossing powder. Just couldn't be 

happier with this inspiration photo. There's so much to be inspired by, and I 

can't wait to see what you all create! 

Have a wonderful creative, crafty week! 

Supplies:

The Greetery: Pitcher-esque stamps and die, Bittersweet Bouquet, Botanicuts

Mighty Oak Die, Berry Branch Stencil

Winsor Newton Watercolors, Nuvo Dream Drops: Indigo Eclipse,

Strathmore Watercolor Cardstock

Stampendous: Detail Silver Embossing Powder, Ranger: Gold ep. 

Dreamweaver Embossing Paste

The Card Concept #142 {Autumn Bounty}

Joy

 

Good Morning!

I'm showcasing a Christmas card on the Poppystamps blog today featuring

some new paper packs in the stores now.

All the details for this card are on the blog here:

Joy by Nancy Penir

Hope you'll drop by and have a peek.

 Enjoy your weekend!

All Blessings Flow

 

Blessings, everyone! 

I had the chance to ink up the new 'All Blessings Flow'

from the latest Greetery release.

I'm in love with the font of the verse and how amazing it

looks surrounded by the flora included in the set.

The die cuts were fitted in my Misti and sponge stamped many times

for a watery multicolored look.

I just had to try the new Square Dance die, so I did a 

second card, this time die cutting the font before adding

it with foam tape.

This time I tucked the sprigs and berries around the verse

I don't have a recipient for either card in mind. It really 

is a blessing I needed, reminding myself to praise God in

all circumstances.

I live in California's Central Valley, very near the fires that 

have ravaged the sierras. As of today, nearly 200,000 acres

have been lost. We have a family cabin near one of the lakes

in the Sierra Nevada Range, and, thank God, our cabin still stands.

But I am aware that many lost homes, and even the road that

leads up to hills is impassable. 

The fires all over California have been horrendous, sending

choking smoke and ash for miles into our valley. At one

point, the valiant firefighters formed a rim around the town

of Shaver, and would not let the fire advance! They saved

all but a few cabins and stores. So profoundly grateful to

them!

Our forests and redwoods are the jewels of our state, and to watch them 

burn breaks my heart!

Thank you for letting me share a bit of my heart today.

Card Creating has been a joy of mine for years. And 

through the stamps and making cards, I remember the blessings 

and rewards being creative brings, in good times and bad.

Just Peachy

During the Greetery's latest release, Betsy created a stunning card using the rails from

the Create-a-Crate die set.

And I did something I never do... I just had to case that card!

Betsy's started with a crisp white background, and she dry embossed it with one of the 

dies in the set. I used Kraft card stock, and stamped a wood grained image from a 

Concord & 9th set, with white ink. 

Then from there it's pretty much Betsy's card! The peach lineup, the droplets 

of white, even the triplet die cut sentiment. I thought, 'why mess with 

perfection'. 

The peach stamp is a 3 step process, and half way through several

peaches, I thought of lifting some of the ink with a small dauber. It

becomes even more dimensional with that small step.

We care for and nurture a half a dozen peach trees on our property, 

that ripen throughout the summer. Peach jam, peach crisp, peach syrup, and

peach tea, are just some of the goodies to make with peaches.

The Greetery's Peachy Keen is a stamp set that's dear to my peach

loving heart! 

Are there summer fruits you wait all year for? Apricots, plums, nectarines

and peaches, and don't forget cherries and figs... seriously couldn't live without

them!

Blessings friends!