You know, I would love to be able to WOW you with verbal wit or a thought-provoking post. But this is one of those days where the vibe seems to be one of relaxing, doing a few quiet chores and sharing a couple of card-making things with you.
An important share is a reminder that FMS is looking for new designers, in case you’re interested. I’m a fan of the site and appreciate the sketches and inspiration shared there. Be sure to check them out and scroll down below the sketch to view the entries for even more inspiration! This layout on the left is the current FMS challenge; it’s nice and open, leaving lots of room for interpretation.
This card along with a few others were created for Bring Smiles to Seniors. This group of volunteers sends donated cards to residents of nursing homes, assisted & independent living communities, home-bound seniors, and seniors participating in elderly nutrition program. Isn’t that lovely? If you would like to be involved in donating cards to worthy causes, I invite you to visit their page or check out the Cards for a Cause forum on Splitcoast Stampers. It’s a great way to share your handmade creations.💞
Thanksgiving is now a memory and my main batch of Christmas cards has been mailed off. It’s hard to believe that the month of November is almost finished and soon we will be celebrating the new year. It’s not a new thought that “time flies”, but it seems this year had extra wings to help hurry it along.
As I look towards the new year and all that it will bring (one son leaving to continue his education and the other starting at a local university), I recognize it as another year to fine-tune myself, one area at-a-time. Last year, my focus was grace – towards others and myself. Somehow, in trying to figure out my own medical issues and changing my diet to a healing one, I had become very type-a. I heard someone define me that way and it startled me. Honestly, I felt like I had been struck. Being organized and aware is one thing, but was I giving the impression that my way was the only way? In some ways… yes. That was a year of paying more attention to my interactions with others but also the things I was telling myself about myself.
2018 has been more about intentional commitment. Why do I spend my time doing what I do? Where is the value in it for others, even if it’s just being exposed to a better me? When I dropped my previous blog and started this one, my intent was to share more about my life and thoughts. Yes I love card-making (and I have one to share today – promise!), but there is more in my life and I realize that many of my experiences are not unique. Sharing that side of myself just might help you and I can’t think of a better use of time than that. When the urge to shy away from writing posts with anything personal hits and I forget my why & the value, intentional commitment reminds me to refocus and try again. It may be that I need more time with this focus, but it could be that, like last year’s grace, they are meant to remain a part of who we are and a work in progress.
Well, one area where I remain committed with little need for reminding is making greeting cards. (I’m even better at actually sending them these days! Woohoo!) I need just a few more Christmas cards for co-workers and a few to donate, as well. Inspired by a lot of the decor on pillows, clothes and even Christmas trees this year, I created this simple but bold design in just a few minutes with the help of the Buffalo Check background stamp by Stampin’ Up!
Add detail to your check design with pens or markers. A simple black line was added here using a Copic Multi-liner and ruler.
Thank you for visiting my tiny blog today. If you read the post above, I would love to hear your feedback on what I shared and if you have a focus word or something similar you employ. If you stopped by just for the card, I’d like to hear that, too! For another idea using a check/plaid background, be sure to check out this post which includes a link to a 16-site blog hop featuring the above stamp.
SUPPLIES → Stampin’ Up! supplies: Whisper White, Basic Black card stock; Cherry Cobbler ink; Silver Twine and Enamel Dots (retired); tree die-cut is from Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies (retired) Other supplies: Copic Multiliner pen, sentiment from Flamingo Bells by Avery Elle, ruler
With Thanksgiving looming, my internal card-making clock tells me its time to make sure I’ve created enough Christmas cards to mail in early December. Ok, so maybe it’s not an internal clock… more like a slight panic attack!
I lose creative mojo (aka enthusiasm) making the same card in multiples, so my go-to time saver is making similar cards using the same supplies. For the cards below, I started with white and black cardstock and repeat-stamped images to color in. I also added little dots between the images to fill in some of the white space without making it too busy.
In case you are interested, here is a handy-dandy pinnable image detailing the Copic markers used to color in these images 🙂
A few of the supplies used:
Cardstock (Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black by Stampin’ Up!), Spectrum Noir white card stock
My words seem to have left me today, but I still wanted to share a fun little card created using an Art Impressions unmounted stamp I received as a freebie. This adorable little turtle was fun to color (using Copics). To finish off the scene, I added some die cut grasses and flowers and layered it over a simple but colorful patterned paper.
Hi everyone! The SRC has another great blog hop set up for you, this one using the new Tropical Chic stamp set from the 2018-2019 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. There are some great framelits to go along with this set, too. Be sure to visit the other stops on the hop for lots of ideas to create and share!
My first card was made using only the seed image in the set. Although they do look like the seeds our Pygmy Date Palm drops, for some reason I thought of a delicious summer-time treat – watermelon! The seeds were heat embossed onto Poppy Parade cardstock to keep the look fresh and vibrant.
Watermelon Note Card
For this next card, I changed track and went coastal. Palm fronds were heat embossed on watercolor paper, then I added a wash of watercolor in both blues and greens over the entire panel. To finish it off, I added a couple of die-cut palm fronds from the coordinating framelit set; there’s a second part to this framelit that will cut out the stamped image if you wish.
The tiny pearls were lightly colored using an alcohol-based marker. The sentiment is also from this stamp set and comes as one longer sentiment. I don’t do stamp surgery often, but I know I will use this one in segments more than together. The “love & thanks” part will probably see a lot of ink on it’s own 🙂
Hi all! I’m taking the day off to spend time with my hubby and guess what? He’s busy cleaning up his desk and watching the first FIFA game. *laugh* So that gives me time to share this card with you! It’s based on a sketch challenge posted by Freshly Made Sketches just yesterday, so there’s plenty of time for you to play along, too 🙂
Alien Invasion by Gerda Steiner Designs (images)
Can I tell you that coloring aliens is a lot of fun? You can color them any combination you want to! Of course, I couldn’t resist making one of them green – so predictable. I fussy cut them along with the earth image so that I could play around with the placement. Originally, they were just going to be in the clouds but my husband (who is supposed to be cleaning his desk) thought that was weird, so they got a spaceship and we earthlings got a cloudy day instead. 😉
Thanks for checking out my card and putting up with my silliness. I would tell you I’m not always like this, but that wouldn’t be the truth. Sometimes, I just hide it better 😉
