Unusual Encouragement

I know - not exactly my normal scripture verse & flower card :) I've had this fun household set from CHF (bummer that they've shut down!) and wanted to play around with it for quite some time... I have a friend who's going through a rough time, and I know without a doubt that she'll get a huge laugh over this. You have to know your audience, right?!

The card is pretty straightforward - I stamped the vacuum in blue, lightly colored it in with metallic pencils, and pieced the bag with some scrap paper I had on the desk. Added the sentiment, two square brads, and then rounded one corner just to add some interest.

AND I'm happy to say that it's already been mailed off... I'm telling you, this sending thing is quite addictive, LOL.

Inspiration...

Wow, long time no see! I truly didn't mean to drop out of the blogosphere (again!) but life has been a bit crazy. I somehow managed to hurt my knee on vacation this summer, so that has slowed me down in a major way; I actually have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon later this week, and will probably be having surgery soon. I also had some issues with my heart(thankfully all is well!), and although both of our kids are now in school, the carefree days that I had envisioned have yet to materialize.

On a side note, I am working very hard to get healthier, and losing weight is a big part of that. I'm attending a First Place for Health Bible study, and tracking food/activity with sparkpeople. The leader of the study is wonderful, and has been such an encouragement to me, which is why I made her this card. Nothing fancy - some repeat stamping and a very simple layout (flower image is from Wordsworth, and sentiment is Hero Arts, patterned paper from 7gypsies) - but I wanted to let her know how much she is appreciated. Hmmm... that's one thing that drew me into stamping all those years ago, but somehow I got caught up more in making stuff than actually sending it out. Let me tell you, it's awfully nice to spread some hand-crafted love :)

Anyway, I hope to be able to do more creative stuff in the months ahead, and will happily share as time allows!

Count Your Blessings

Another sketchy card to share today, this one based on the challenge over at Card Patterns. I decided I wanted to challenge myself even more and use only stuff that was piled up in the "this is too good to toss" box. I ended up using some scraps of BasicGrey paper and accented it with a flower and button. I wanted to make another card for the challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ and encourage thankfulness, so used this sentiment from printworks.

I can't say it's my best work ever, but I have a weird sense of satisfaction from actually using some of my junk pile, plus I know that my Grandma will love it regardless :)

Growing...

I always love the challenges over at Salt, and seeing the artistic interpretations that each team member creates. This time around, the theme was growth, and I just knew I had to make something! Since we've moved, I've found myself stretched in many ways - relocating 2,000 miles definitely took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to take a hard look at myself. Was I truly relying on God to meet my needs, or was I more often turning to friends, and then putting the matter to prayer as the next step? Also, was I stepping out in faith, sharing the Lord, or being content in my happy little box?

Anyway, I made this piece as something of a souvenir of this transitional time - as well as a reminder to not grow so content as to stagnate. I also wanted to make another example of the "earth rejoicing" for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge - and I'd say those trees look pretty joyful! The verse is from smARTworks' Walk Trio "That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Colossions 1:10) The papers are all from Memory Box (Sprout), and I mounted it onto some plain cardstock so the finished size is 5x7. The tree image is from Unity, and I paper pieced it, as well as doing a bit of coloring with pc pencils. Oh, and can I add that I love that the trees have hearts on them - because that's exactly the fruit I want to bear: a heart for HIM. I had picked up the clip frame from the Target Dollar Spot eons ago, and was so glad to actually use it :) After I put it all together, it needed something else, and after digging through my stash I came up with these fabulous corners (glimmer chips from Tattered Angels).

And now that it's all done, it will be residing on the bathroom counter, where it will serve as a good daily reminder. Plus it looks way nicer than all my other junk :)

In My Prayers

I made this card for the challenge over at Stampin' Sisters in Christ. It was such a great idea, and as I was reading, this phrase from Daisy Trio #1 immediately came to mind. I ended up pairing it with the heart flowers (Autumn Leaves Stampology) and some Cosmo Cricket paper. I added the little doodles to the flowers to pick up the detail in the paper, and then tied on a fluffy bow and threw on some pearls to jazz it up a bit more. (Click on the card to enlarge it and see the details) And it's already in the mailbox, ready to encourage a friend that I know is going through a tough time.

I'll be back tomorrow with a fun new challenge that we're kicking off with smARTworks. See you then!!

Coffee Encouragement

Today's card is based on the sketch over at Card Patterns. Definitely a fun layout, and I thought it went well with the Mug Trio set. The mug was done with versamagic wheat, versamagic pink petunia, and then brilliance pearlescent orchid as the last layer - had to end with some shimmer! ;) I created the "coffee" with a colored pencil, and then went over it with glossy accents. The papers are BasicGrey Sugared, and I think the ruffled brown ribbon is May Arts. I promise this is cuter IRL than it looks here; I took a ton of pics, but just couldn't capture the richness of the pinks. Anyway, I'm already planning to package up some coffee and biscotti and pass this along to a friend for a little pick-me-up!

Shine!

I made this card to send to our niece, who is a freshman in college, just to let her know that she's in our thoughts and prayers. She's a loooooong way from home, and doing great, but there are always bumps along the way...

Card is pretty straightforward: images are from Unity, and the paper is BasicGrey Wisteria. The lamp is paper pieced, and I accented the "danglies" with a stardust pen. Rounded the corners, tied on some ribbon, and popped it into the mailbox!

Scrapling time...

Donna was our hostess this time, and she challenged us to make a scrapling. How fun! I didn't have a lot of time, but I pulled out the Frames set and dove into my scrap box to create this little number.

It's pretty straightforward - I started with a piece of robin's egg blue cardstock, and stamped the image and sentiment with Brilliance Starlite Black (love that color - rich tone with an elegant shimmer), then inked the edges and dabbed on just a bit more ink with a stipple brush. All done!

It's really small, but I can't help but think how perfect it would be to include with a little gift - a book, a candy bar, whatever! Definitely a great way to tuck in some encouragement...

Would you like to see what everyone else made? Well, click over to Susan, Giovana, Donelda & Donna!

Thinking of You

A friend was just diagnosed with breast cancer - they found it early, and the doctors are very optimistic, but it's still a scary thing. I wanted to make her a card, and yesterday's sketch challenge seemed like a good place to start. I grabbed my black & white DCWV stack (can you tell I'm making an effort to use these?) and selected the prints. The sentiment is even from the pad, so there's no stamping at all on this card. The chipboard heart is from Cosmo Cricket - I went over it with an ink pad, and then sprayed it with pink taffy glimmer mist. Final touch was just a bit of ribbon tied on - I think the final result is rather playful, and hopefully my friend will like it.

To Perk You Up

I squeezed in a bit of stamping time this afternoon, and made this quick card using today's sketch over on SCS. I'm still trying to use up some of the paper that I've accumulated, and I grabbed the DCWV glitter stack; I think the bright colors were a reaction to the gray, rainy day we were having :) I think everything is pretty straightforward - the coffee cup is Inque Boutique, and the sentiment is Stampendous. I'm not quite sure what happened with the photo and the coloring on the cup... it doesn't look all smeary like that IRL. Anyway, it was a fun card to make and perfect to send on to a friend.

The Gift of Prayer

I haven't had much time to stamp these past few days, but I thought I'd share this card I made a couple months ago. You may have noticed that I like BasicGrey papers - I generally go for the 6x6 pads (I like the smaller prints for most cards) but sometimes a design calls for a large scale print. This card is very simple - it's all about the words (Auntie Amy's). I stamped them onto a corner of the paper where the colors were softest, then trimmed it. I layered on some organdy ribbon and fancy slide (Maya Road), then matted that onto some black. The black was also dry embossed with the CB tiny mosaic folder, so there's some additional texture. Finally, I covered the card front with more of the paper (Scarlet's Letter line, by the way) and then mounted the panel. The final touch was just a couple flourishes on the envelope (Autumn Leaves).

Things will be fairly quiet around here for another week or so - my folks are visiting, plus we have some other events we're involved with. I will be back on Saturday, though, as I'm taking part in a Sketch "Tea Party." Check back then!!

Coneflower Be Still

A quick card I made for a friend - I got an email from her this afternoon, and immediately this verse came to mind. The card itself is quite simple - I started with a Fabriano notecard (and yes, they are every bit as fabulous as everyone says), and then stamped the image and verse with Burnt Umber palette ink, then added some hints of color with my aquapainter and markers.

I love being able to package up encouragement in an envelope!

(flower by Penny Black, verse by Biblical Impressions)