Easter Wishes

While I'm still at the computer I want to share my second set of lilies from The Greetery. This time I colored them in warm shades of yellow and orange. The kraft background was cut from the largest Greetery Nordic Frames glued directly to an ivory card front. The middle NF was cut from rust colored pattern paper and layered underneath with fun foam. Palm branches from Caring Cross and a sprig from PinkFresh Studio's Dainty Blossoms cradle the two lily blooms. A PTI Spring Woods sentiment was embossed on a dark brown Greetery Sentiment Suite flag and foam mounted.

Adding this card to The Flower Challenge #42

He is Risen

I've been playing around with the new BotaniCuts Lily set from The Greetery which consists of 15 dies featuring two different lilies, extra petals and leaves. Betsy Veldman shares how to color using various mediums on The Greetery blog site. I die cut two lilies and petals from a medium red card stock, ink blended Distress Oxide inks on the petals, and finished with Prismacolor pencil accents. The yellow centers were cut from white paper and colored with Copic markers. Each lily was laid over a white embossed cluster of Altenew's Leaf Canopy vellum leaves. BotaniCuts Lily leaves were also added in gray with a black embossed sentiment from The Greetery's Caring Cross set. An accent of dry embossed lines was added in the lower right corner of the soft gray card front.

I'm adding this to The Flower Challenge #42.

Birthday Wishes

On one of the many sales last month I picked up a stamp and die set from PinkFresh Studio that had been on my wishlist for a long time. The variety of leaves and plants in the two large stamps were fun to water color with my Altenew 36 pan set. The stamps were gold embossed first which helped me control the flow of color as my skills are minimal. The sentiment was stamped in stages using my Misti to create the ombre effect. The card was sent to an older friend who was our family doctor and delivered our second son 40 years ago this April. 

Card Supplies: PFS Lush Greenery stamps/die

PTI Penned Elegance II sentiment

SSS Stitched Rectangles

Linking to the challenges at:

Inspired by...seeing Green and Addicted to CAS: Symmetry. 

Happy Birthday

Earlier this month I made a card for a three-day-younger-than-me friend. I stamped 

the focal cake image and found the square die to frame it tightly. To contrast with the 

square and also repeat the cake 'sprinkles', I die cut the Mix & Mat: Confetti rectangle with its confetti bubbles. These two layers were mounted with foam on a panel of pattern paper covering an A2 white card front. Entering this to Addicted to CAS: Cake and Time Out challenges.

Papertrey Ink Supplies: 

Hooray! pattern paper, Mix & Mat: Confetti die,

Noted: Scalloped Square die

Your Beautiful Birthday (free end-of-year stamp)

Love 3X - XO

February requires one to gather hearts and love stamps/dies for at least one post, right? If you didn't know, Jim and I moved 180 miles north of our longtime residence in southern Oregon beginning Jan. 14 and finishing Feb. 4. During that period we spent half of each week in one city packing and the next half unpacking or piling another box in the new garage. It took nearly 3 months of decluttering our home of 40 years with endless closets, built-in drawers, and shelves to begin packing after Christmas. When you can store something out of sight for many years (30 years of school projects etc) it is a task of memories going out the door but where? Many items went to the landfill, Salvation Army and willing sons and friends. Now that we can almost park one car in the new garage, I've been able to find the energy and space to make a card or three, just in time for Valentine's Day.

I'm not going to mess around with a lot of details. They aren't fancy but I did have fun making them with new items bought on a short stop at Seattle's Impress Store Feb. 2.

Card #1 for Jim was almost a tag which adorned his ❤️ gift.

I used two pattern papers in this tiny card which lets me tag

it to this week's SSS Wednesday Challenge.

Card Supplies: PTI Noted: Scalloped Square dies,

a new Flora & Fauna "Love Love Love" die

PTI and My Mind's Eye "Filled with Love" cardstock

Card #2 for our oldest grandson, Julian, age 12, not 

too mushy with a hand-written note inside.

Card Supplies: Flora & Fauna's Solid Love Texture stamps,

PTI Mix & Mat: Postal die, Altenew and DI inks

Card #3 for 9 year old Luca who rules the world with 

his preciseness and logical pronouncements. 

Same materials as above but different colors

All delivered yesterday with the best hugs and kisses!

The Card Concept: Favorite Card of 2019

How do you pick your favorite card? I tease my two sons with you are  "my favorite oldest son" or "my favorite youngest son." 😍 Cards are different. I haven't crafted as much this past year due to travels and moving plans. The past three months we've looked for a smaller home in a city 3 hours away near our oldest son's family and closed on one in December. We've been busy decluttering cupboards, closets, and the basement in our home of 40 years. We plan to move before month's end while also readying the old for sale. This first 2020 post may be all for January!

But back to cards and The Card Concept challenge for favorite 2019 card or a photo of our Christmas tree. No big tree this Christmas due to the move. I chose a card from last January that is packed with colors, texture and a special sentiment for a dear friend. I often use spray adhesive for this intricate set of Birch Press dies but now prefer the ease of maneuvering the layers with liquid glue. This is a Clean and Layered card design.

Merry & Bright

 PTI Card Supplies: 

Make It Market Mini Kit: Holiday Folk (bird)

Rustic Wreath stamps & die

Scallop Stackers: Large die

My last card featured an ink-smooshed and spattered background. I had enough of the panel to die cut a wreath. I stamped a second wreath in black on a green scalloped panel before the die cut wreath was attached. Red glitter Stickles berries jazz up the wreath and coordinate with the red pre-printed bird. The sentiment was gold embossed. A simple but fun layered design. Linking this to Time Out #150.

What to do with the wreath's discarded center? I have a few piles of die cut negative parts in my remnant pile, don't you? Well, I dry embossed the wreath die on a white card front and carefully lined up the inked center to match the appropriate leaves. After making a mask to cover the wreath I splattered distress inks over the card front. This thank you card will go to the recipient of the Merry & Bright card above. Last week we exchanged Christmas gifts and cards and now I need a ty card for her. I wonder if she'll notice.

PTI Rustic Wreath die
PTI Penned Elegance II stamp