RI Sketch Challenge - Lily of the Valley

Hello!  It's time for another Repeat Impressions' sketch challenge!  For my card, I used this Lily of the Valley (4308-J) image that I paired with a sentiment from the Quartet Complements (8607-D) collection and the Tiny Bird (2617-D) image, which I popped up on foam tape.  The Italian paper from Monday's Stamp of the Week card was still out on my craft table, so I used it again for my background paper - LOVE it! 

We hope you will play along with us!  Please checkout The House That Stamps Built for all the details of the challenge!  While you're there, make sure you take a look at the wonderful inspiration from the rest of the design team!
Thanks for stopping by!

RI SOTW - Morning Glories

This is my second post for today - please scroll down to my earlier post for my weekly Outlines card!

Today it is time for a Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week card!  This week's featured image is this pretty Morning Glories (2629-G) image.  I have paired it with this wonderful Italian paper.  The sentiment is from the Quartet Complements collection.  My image was colored using Copic markers and both the flower panel and the sentiment were airbrushed.  The sketch I used is from My Favorite Things' first sketch challenge (MFTWSC1). 

Please be sure to check out the details for getting this versatile Morning Glories image for 50% over on The House that Stamps Built.  And while you are there, please take a look at the wonderful cards the rest of the design team has created.

On a personal note, I just wanted to mention that this past Saturday we had to put our first fur baby to sleep.  Jet was with us for over 18 years, so it has been a very difficult time for us.  She lived with Chronic Renal Failure for years.  This is a picture of her from last week.  She was never a large cat - at her highest weight she was just 11 pounds, but on Saturday she was down to 6 1/2 pounds.  You can see how skinny she was.

For the last few months, she had been deteriorating and one of our other cats, Saba, has been her regular snuggle buddy.  Saba seemed to sense something was going on and spent quite a bit of time cuddling with Jet.  Don't you just wonder what goes on in their little heads?  So sweet.
Anyway, I just wanted to provide an update to those of you who were aware that this day was coming.  To those of you who already know and have emailed me - thank you for your well wishes - it's been tough!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy World Card Making Day!

Hello! Happy World Card Making Day to my fellow card makers! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this holiday, World Card Making Day is a day especially for card makers around the world to:

• Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family

• Kick off (and get a head start on) the holiday card-making season.

This is my first time 'celebrating', but since I'm home today with nothing on my agenda, it seems like a fun way to spend the day! To learn more about it and find ways you can participate, if you're interested, click on the WCMD blinkie on the left side of my blog, or click on the link above to the WCMD web site.

The project I'm posting here is a card folder I made for my mother and gave to her on her birthday a few weeks ago. Last Christmas, I had made a card folder for her that contained four birthday cards (see this post for details) and later she mentioned that she was also in need of get well cards, so this folder contained four get well cards.

I used the All Boxed Up Timeless Template from Papertrey Ink (PTI) to create the card folder, using PTI's Gold Shimmer card stock. For the front cover, I used a piece of Bitty Dot Basics in Ripe Avocado, then I added a strip of Italian paper across the middle. The stamped image is from the With Sympathy set and was stamped with Memento Bamboo Leaves and Potter's Clay and then colored using Copic markers.


I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch to make the butterfly, and I stamped it using some of the flourishes from the With Sympathy set's main image, and then outlined it with a gold leaf pen. The second picture shows the folder when it is open, with two cards in each pocket.

The two cards I'm posting were both made using the Quilter's Sampler set. For the first card, I created a rectangular 'quilt' using two different squares from the set and colored them with Copic markers to match the papers I had selected. The spool of thread was stamped and cut out, then wrapped with some of the Gold tinsel from the Gold Collection. I stamped the needle from the set, cut out the eye and threaded it with some gold wire, then stuck it in my spool of thread. The scissors were stamped and colored with Copic markers and I colored over the handles with a gold Spica marker to give them some sparkle.

For the second card, I did basically the same things, using slightly different colors, and I used a scissor charm instead of the stamped scissors. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark directly on the patterned paper and heat embossed using Powder Keg embossing powder (China Jade, I think).

Sorry for such a long post - thanks for hanging in there with me if you made it this far! I'll save the other two cards for another post!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! My fur kids gave me a sweet card and some books, and Tim fixed a nice breakfast, complete with a Bloody Mary, so I'm happy!

This is the Mother's Day card I made for my mom this year. I pulled out my supply of Italian paper and then looked for a floral stamp to complement it. The stamps I used are from the Papertrey Ink With Sympathy set. The stems and leaves were stamped on Cryogen White paper with Memento Bamboo Leaves ink.The flower outlines were stamped with Memento Potter's Clay ink and then colored in with Copic markers.

The focal image and its mat were cut out using a Spellbinder's Nestabilities Labels Four die. The edge of the focal image panel was colored with a gold leaf pen and the centers of the flowers were covered with gold beads. The Italian paper was matted with the same paper as the focal image, Papertrey Ink's Ocean Tides card stock. The card front was wrapped first with sheer gold ribbon and then with May Arts 1/4" silk ribbon on top. The tag was cut with a Spellbinder's open ended tag die and one end was cut using scalloped edge scissors. The card base is Papertrey Ink's Gold card stock, which has a nice shimmer to it.

For the inside of the card, I layered a strip of the Italian paper, matted with the Ocean Tides card stock, and then cut out the remaining portions of the focal image stamp and adhered them to the bottom corners of the card. I also lined the envelope with the Italian paper and repeated the stamped image on the front of the envelope.

This was a fun card to make and I hope my mother likes it! Love you, Mom! Hope your day is special!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Mother's Day!