Teapot Tuesday's Scripture for Jean

Happy Wednesday!  I want to start by sending out a big "Hello!" to all of you, and a big "Welcome!" to my new followers!  It is always a joy to read your comments, and I love hopping around to see your blog posts, too.  My kiddos have really kept me running at full speed this week and I've fallen behind.  If I haven't made it by to visit your blog in the past couple of days, don't worry, I will be catching up in the next day or two!

Over at Splitcoast Stampers, our Teapot Tuesday recipient this week is a sweet lady who is battling cancer.  In addition, she has macular degeneration which prevents her from doing the knitting and crafting she has enjoyed in the past.  We were encouraged to use flowers or a cactus on our cards (if you squint really hard, you might be able to see the flowered outlines on the blue patterned paper), and we were told she would enjoy Scripture.  I wanted to use cheerful colors, so I reached for a sunny yellow and sky blue combination.  Only after I finished the card did I remember that the inspirational teapot was green and pink (yes, it's been THAT kind of week!).  But I did see a tiny bit of yellow on the teapot, so I'm going to call it good!!

Here's my card:

This is one of my favorite Bible verses.  I memorized it when I was a teenager and it provided great comfort during the "dramatic" teenage years!  Now as an adult, it provides me with lasting comfort in the midst of life's difficulties.  Last year, Our Daily Bread Designs asked stampers for suggestions of Bible verses to include in their upcoming Scripture stamp series.  I suggested this one, and they chose to include it in their Scripture Series 3 set (and I received the set free!).  I use this verse (and others in the set) quite often on my cards.

To create this card, I cut panels of two-sided patterned paper, wrapped baker's twine around the smaller panel and attached it to the larger panel.  I attached the panel to a heavyweight white card stock base.  I stamped the verse on white card stock in Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black (I find this makes the text a bit darker) then die cut and embossed it.  I die cut a scalloped circle from the patterned paper and attached the sentiment using dimensionals.  I attached the scalloped circle over the baker's twine with dimensionals, then die cut two flourishes and attached them behind the scalloped circle.  Finally, I added Stickles to the flourishes for dimension and texture.  And just for good measure (and to cover an ink spot!) I fussy-cut a flower from the patterned paper and attached it to the back of the card, using Stickles on the flower center.

I wish I could see the looks on the faces of the Teapot Tuesday recipients when they open their mailboxes to find them full of cards from all over the world.  What fun that would be!  If you want to check out the current Teapot Tuesday challenge, just click on the link above and jump on in...you're always welcome!

I hope to get a couple more cards made and posted before the end of this crazy-busy week I'm having!  Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you'll visit me again soon!

Products Used:

Stamp: Scripture Series 3 (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Paper: Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb. card stock (Neenah); 110 lb. white card stock (Wassau Paper); 
two-sided card stock (unknown)

Ink: Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)

Tools and Accessories: Nestabilities Standard Circles Large and Classic Scalloped Circles Large (Spellbinders); Scribbles Swirls Sizzlits (Sizzix); Crystal Stickles (Ranger); Daffodil Baker's Twine (Strands Etc.); 
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

How Many Circles Do You See?

Happy Thursday!  Wow, the past week has just flown right by and I've had very little crafting time.  We've had two major snowstorms which have resulted in many, many snow days at my house.  I figured snow days would mean plenty of crafting time, but I've hardly had a moment to step foot in my craft room!  My kids have had a blast playing in the snow and it's been fun to have the whole family home together, but I'm glad the snow is starting to melt and we're getting back to our routine again.

I created this card for three challenges.  The Try a New Technique challenge at Splitcoast Stampers this week asks us to use circles on a card.  The Teapot Tuesday challenge (also at Splitcoast Stampers) asked us to use circles while drawing inspiration from this week's tea set.  And for the first time ever, I am entering the weekly challenge (Week 61) at Pixie's Crafty Workshop because I used snippets of scraps from my craft drawer for several pieces on this card.  Those girls with their snippets are such a hoot, and I'm so glad I get to join them this week!

Here's my card:

Another view, which hopefully shows the inlaid embossing better:

This card uses one of my favorite techniques, the inlaid embossing technique.  I saw a card using the technique with solid-colored circles on Pinterest, so I drew my inspiration for my background circles from that card, which can be seen HERE.  I love it when I can CASE (Copy and Share Everything) a card or idea and change it a bit to create something of my own!

I started by die cutting several circles out of snippets of paper from one of my favorite matstacks.  I adhered them to a piece of pale purple card stock, then ran the entire panel through my Big Shot and the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I embossed a piece of shimmery pale purple paper with the Spots and Dots embossing folder, then adhered that over the circles.  I attached the entire piece to an Elegant Eggplant card base.  I stamped the verse in Elegant Eggplant on Natural White card stock, then die cut it and attached it to a die cut piece of Elegant Eggplant.  I attached this panel using Stampin' Dimensionals.  I added several sizes of pearls to the circles on the shimmery pale purple panel for a final "circles" touch.

I've lost count of how many circles are on this card!  Too many?  I hope not!  

I have a couple of square cards that I'm finishing up today.  I'm planning to post them tomorrow, so I hope you'll visit again soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Products Used:

Stamp: Scripture Series 3 (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Ink: Elegant Eggplant (Stampin' Up!)

Paper: Latte Matstack (DCWV); Elegant Eggplant card stock (Stampin' Up!); Classic Crest Natural White (Neenah); shimmery pale purple paper (from a scrap bag at cutcardstock.com); 

pale purple card stock (unknown)

Tools and Accessories: Nestabilities Standard Circles Large (Spellbinders); Square Lattice embossing folder (Stampin' Up!); Nestabilities Labels One (Spellbinders); Spots and Dots embossing folder (Provo Craft); 

pearls (KaiserCraft)

Comfort for Kay

It's finally snowing!  We really need the moisture and it just hasn't felt much like winter this year, so the snow is pretty exciting!  School has already been canceled for tomorrow and I'm hoping my husband will work from home so we can all hunker down for a good, old-fashioned Snow Day!

Last night I received a card drive request for a sweet lady named Kay.  Kay turned 60 years old earlier this week and had been looking forward to retirement with her husband.  Sadly, Kay was diagnosed with a very rare and very aggressive cancer a couple of months ago.  Treatment has been unsuccessful and the cancer has now invaded almost every part of her body.  It appears Kay's battle will be coming to an end soon, as the doctors believe she has a month or less to live.  We've been asked to send cards to make her birthday week very special and to show her some love, comfort and encouragement in her final days.

This was a very, very hard card for me to make.  What comfort can I offer someone who is nearing the end of life, especially someone I've never met?  I turned to the greatest source of comfort I could offer: the promises of Scripture.  I hope this verse will bring comfort to her in her final days.

Here's my card:

I wanted to keep this card Clean and Simple (CAS) and make the verse the focal point.  I worked from the inside out this time, starting with the verse.  I stamped it in black ink on white card stock, then die cut it with a scalloped rectangle die.  I had a scrap of shimmery black card stock in my stash, so I die cut a larger scalloped rectangle and attached the verse to it.  I used another scrap of shimmery black to die cut my flourishes.  I found a lovely scrap of magenta-colored patterned paper in my stash, so I wrapped a piece of ribbon around it and layered it on the card front.  I adhered my sentiment panel over the ribbon, then gently slid my flourishes into place and attached them to the card.  Finally, I added a few tiny rhinestones to the flourishes for just a little bit of sparkle (this photo doesn't do the sparkly rhinestones justice).

This verse brings me comfort and hope every time I read it, and I pray that its message will help Kay, as well.  If you are so inclined, please say a prayer or send comforting thoughts out to this sweet lady and her family.

Thanks for stopping by today, and extra-special thanks to those who take the time to leave a comment!

Products Used:

Stamp: Scripture Series 3 (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)

Paper: Jubilee Magenta Accent (K&Company); black shimmery card stock (from a scrap bag at cutcardstock.com); black card stock (unknown)

Tools and Accessories: Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Rectangles - Small and Large (Spellbinders); Scribbles Swirls Sizzlets (Sizzix); ribbon (Offray); tiny rhinestones (unknown)

Seamless Tiers with Patterned Paper Experiment

Happy Wednesday! I'm in the midst of reorganizing my craft room and several other rooms in my house, so I haven't had much stamping time over the past several days.  I have a few cards I need to send out this week, so I took a break from reorganizing and managed a little bit of crafting time after my kids went to sleep last night.

Over in the general stamping forum at Splitcoast Stampers, we've been having a discussion about the best way to use the Seamless Tiers/Triple Time technique using patterned paper instead of stamped images.  I think the easiest way is to use nested rectangle dies, but since I don't have those, I thought I'd try just cutting the layers myself.  This did not work out as well as I'd hoped, but it was a fun experiment!  The top two layers are lined up correctly, but I didn't manage to get the bottom layer to match up with the middle layer.  I don't mind, though, because I know the recipient of the card will not be critiquing it.  It's easy to forget sometimes, in our quest for perfection, that the recipient is usually just thrilled to get a card that was lovingly (if not perfectly) created.  I am going to try this technique again to see if I can manage it without the dies, but I think the dies would sure make this easier!

Here's my card:

I have to apologize for the poor picture quality.  I use natural lighting through a window, and the winter is really making it difficult to find the right time of day to photograph cards.  The colors on this card are Night of Navy and white, although the navy color looks black here.  Also, the shadows and angle make the sentiment panel look off-center, but I measured it and it's centered pretty well.  Darn photo!

This card uses almost exactly the same measurements as the ones in this post, but this time I used patterned paper in place of stamped images.  Before adhering the final layers, I wrapped a band of white card stock behind the sentiment panels, then popped up the sentiment panels using Stampin' Dimensionals.  This is a very simple card, and if I had just gotten that pattern lined up better I would have been happy to have made an easy AND pretty card!  But it's given me a jumping-off point and I'm sure I'll make another card like this soon so I can figure out how to fix those layers.

This card will be mailed to a sweet lady with leukemia who just had a bone marrow transplant.  She has to spend 100 days in a hotel away from her family and friends to avoid germs and be near the hospital.  Can you imagine spending 100 days away from those you love?  The thought breaks my heart, so I hope this card will encourage her. 

I hope you have a wonderful day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Products Used:

Stamp: Scripture Series 3 (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Paper: Night of Navy card stock (Stampin' Up!); Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb. card stock (Neenah)

Ink: Night of Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)

Misty Autumn Leaf

Full disclosure: Today's card is not one of my favorites, but I like some of the elements so I decided to share it anyway.  I have been making so many winter and love cards lately (mostly for Operation Write Home) that I wanted to step back and make an Autumn card.  I love Autumn, but I really, really, really love Christmas!  I seem to rush into the Christmas season faster and faster each year (much to my husband's dismay, I switched the ring tone on our house phones to "Jingle Bells" months ago!).  I am also running behind on my monthly cards for the Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers, so this will be my October verse card for the challenge. 

Here is my effort to refocus on Autumn as we approach Thanksgiving:

I started by die cutting a circle from a piece of scrap paper, then used the negative of the die cut as a mask.  I placed it over my card stock panel and sponged Ancient Page Saffron, Memento Desert Sand and Memento Potter's Clay in the open space of the circle.  I thumped Summer Sun, Garden Green, Always Artichoke and Handsome Hunter markers on my leaf stamp, then misted it with water and stamped it over the circle, then removed my mask.  I stamped the sentiment in Ancient Page Pine and adhered the panel to a piece of Ultrasmooth Vanilla and a brown card base.  I used a distressing tool to rough up the edges and sponged some Distress Ink over the panel (I forgot to write down which Distress Ink I used).  I think if I made this one again I would use less Distress Ink and maybe an add embellishment or two. 

I apologize for not keeping track of the card stock and Distress Ink colors as I used this time.  I've tried to get into that habit but my memory slips now and then!

If you're like me and overwhelmed with pre-holiday planning and shopping, I hope you will take a few moments for yourself to create something just for your own pleasure.  If you're crafting for the holidays (or in my case, for the holidays and my daughter's upcoming birthday), it can start to feel like work or a chore.  If I can do some crafting just for fun and relaxation, it helps balance out all the stress-inducing "have to" items on my list.  I am hoping to sneak away for a bit of crafting every day or two during this busy season, just to maintain my sanity!  I hope you will, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Products Used:
 

Stamp: PSX
Paper: Various sources

Ink: Summer Sun, Garden Green, Always Artichoke and Handsome Hunter markers (Stampin' Up!); Ancient Page Saffron, Ancient Page Pine (Clearsnap); Memento Desert Sand, Memento Potter's Clay (Tsukineko); Distress Ink (Tim Holtz/Ranger)

Tools: Big Shot (Sizzix); Circles #2 (Sizzix); Edge Distresser (Close to My Heart)

 

Scripture Inspiration

Today I want to share a couple of cards I made with stamps from the new Scripture Series 3 set from Our Daily Bread Designs.  This set is very special to me as I contributed one of the verses for it!  The verse stamped on this first card was my contribution, and as a special treat, I was able to make this card for the September release on their blog:

 

This verse has been one of my favorites since I was a teenager and always brings me comfort in the midst of difficulty.  I highlighted it with mulberry paper, which is one of my favorite papers to use. 

 

I love the combination of purple, silver and white in my cards. In fact, I liked it so much that I made another card using the same color combo and a different verse from the same collection:

I hope these verses inspire your day the way they have inspired mine!  Thanks for visiting!