So Sorry

It seems like I've need a lot of sympathy cards of late so I decided to make up several in a simple but elegant design.

To create the background: I inked up my embossing folder with Distress Oxide before inserting my white card stock and embossing. Love, love, love the way it turned out!!

It always seems more appropriate (I'm not sure why) to keep sympathy cards a little more clean and simple. With such a beautiful background it didn't need a whole lot added to it anyway.

I added a pretty seam binding bow, stamped flower with a button center, and a die cut sentiment of "sorry." To give the sentiment a little more dimension, I die cut it three times and stacked them together.

Supplies and Tools:
Victoria Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Broken China/Peeled Paint Distress Oxide, Brayer, White Seam Binding, Hampton Art Layered Flowers - Amaze, Button, Everyday Compliments (Die-Versions), Inside sentiment from Blue Ridge Impressions

This post linked to:
Mod Squad Challenge - Sympathy/Thinking of You
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Anything Goes with ribbon/lace/trim
Inspired by all the Little Things - Inspiration Photo (below)
(greens/blues - vines in bouquet)
Addicted To Stamps - Anything Goes with Flowers

Box of Sunshine

I recently  made up a "Box of Sunshine" to send to someone dear to me going through a pretty rough time right now.

I used free printables (linked below) to decorate the inside of the box and printed off a bunch of yellow sunshine faces to tuck in among the gifts.

Everything inside is in the happy shade of yellow! Hope it brightens their day and brings a little cheer to their lives!

( I included a set of these watercolor cards for my friend.)

Free Sunshine Printables:
Sunshine Notes from Serving Pink Lemonade
Summer Sunshine Printables from Two Yellow Birds Decor
Sunshine Gift Tags from Thirty Handmade Days
Sunshine Printables from We Love Being Moms
Box of Sunshine from Funky Polkadot Giraffe

Simple Sympathy

I wanted to experiment with using my Ken Oliver Color Bursts powders as watercolor paints. So, I made a few simple sympathy cards this week to use for the card ministry I belong to.
To create my card:
~ I tapped out a bit of the color burst powder onto my paint pallet.
~ Next, I added a few drops of water and stirred it around.
~ With a small paintbrush, I added the colors to my watercolor paper and heat set.
~ After stamping my image, I splattered a few drops of each color (and some diluted black soot distress ink) on the card front and heat set again.
~ After everything had dried, I added some shadows to the flowers using a watercolor Crayola marker.

For the inside sentiment, I very lightly painted some of the blue and green colorburst on my stamp instead of using regular ink pads.

Supplies and Tools:
Lime Green/ Merlot / Ultramarine Blue color burst (Ken Oliver), Thoughts and Prayers (Stampin' Up), Meadow Stamp Set (Inkadinkado), Sequins, Black Soot Distress Ink (Tim Holtz), Silver Crayola Marker

This post linked to:
Creative With Stamps - Flowers

Embossing Spacer

Today’s card showcases one of the new Heartfelt Creations stamp sets that Cropstop added to the store this year.  You’ll want to stop by and check them out – they make beautiful focal points for your cards!
To create this slightly larger card, I embossed a piece of cream cardstock using the Circular Grid embossing folder from Anna Griffin and the Oval Embossing Spacer. Cropstop carries two different wooden spacer plates – a rectangular one and an oval one. It lets you emboss your cardstock leaving a smooth opening for stamping in.  I chose a stamp from the All Things Are Possible (Heartfelt Creations) set and stamped it in Black Soot Distress ink. I colored parts of the image in using my Prismacolor Pencils and drew a light oval line around my image using the spacer as a guide.

 Those lovely flowers were die cut from the Creative Expressions die, Exquisite Poppy, and have just a bit of Broken China Distress Oxide ink on the outer edges.  I used the leaf, branch, and frond punches (Martha Stewart) to add a bit of greenery under my blooms. Tiny white pearls adorn the center. In the upper corner I added a Baker’s Twine bow with a little Candi dot (Saville Row) in the center. (Cropstop sells a wide variety of Candi dots for embellishing your projects – you can check them out here.)

I’d love to see the projects you’re working on these days. Stop by the CURRENT CHALLENGE and link up your creations that use products from companies Cropstop carries in the store! Happy Crafting!

This post linked to:
Shopping Our Stash - Punches or Dies (I used both)
Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
Craft-Dee Bowz - Handmade Bow
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Natural Beauty

Here's a fall-themed card I made this week using

the retired Natural Beauty Stamp Set from Stampin' Up (2004).

I added some interest to the inside of the card 

by stamping the leaves in the corners and connecting them with a hand-drawn line.

I also added a little leaf to the corner

 of the envelope to make a pretty set for use in the 

Shelter: Postmarked Ministry.

Supplies and tools: Natural Beauty (Stampin' Up), Honeycomb embossing folder (Darcie), Scholar Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil (for blending pencils), Distress Ink (Time Holtz)

This post linked to:

Word Art Wednesday

(Anything Goes)

Clean and Simple Butterfly

Here's a clean and simple card I made for use in the 

Shelter: Postmarked Ministry

 I love how the black card makes the image "pop."

Supplies and tools: Butterfly Stamp (Studio G), Scripture Stamp (Biblical Impressions), Border Stamp from Simple Life stamp set, Scholar Prismacolor Pencils, Black/White Cardstock

 

This post linked to:

Less is More

(Spiders or Insects)

Word Art Wednesday

(Anything Goes)

Cardboard Texture

I recently needed some masculine birthday cards so 

I created the above design and made extra for using in the

Shelter: Postmarked Ministry. 

I love the texture the scrap of

cardboard adds and baker's twine adds.

Supplies and Tools: White Cardstock, Green Stripe DP, Scrap of Cardboard, Green and Brown Baker's Twine, Book Plate Die (Sizzix), Brads, Blending Tool (Tim Holtz),  Tree Stamp (Hampton Art - Studio G), Verse Stamp (Biblical Impressions)

This post linked to: 

Word Art Wednesday

(Anything Goes)

Mod Squad Challenge

(Use Leaves on your project )

Encouragement Cards

Shelter: Postmark is still doing the 

drive to encourage Pastor's Wives.

Here's the card(s) I made to 

send out to the seven on the list this week. 

I also made some Teddy Verse Cards 

to slip inside along with a few little gifts.

Supplies and Tools: Favorite Teddy Bear (Stampin' Up),  Happy Fall Ya'll (Stampin' Up), Sentiment (PSX), White, Kraft Cardstock, Sharpie Marker, Prismacolor Scholar Pencils, Oak and Maple leaf punches, Distress Ink (Tim Holtz),  Blending Tool (Tim Holtz)

I'm giving the verse printable away as a freebie below.

This post linked to:

1. Word Art Wednesday

2. Crop Stop - Anything Goes

Pastor's Wives Encouragment

The card ministry group I belong to

(Shelter: Postmarked)

is collecting names/addresses of Pastor's wives
to send cards of encouragement.

Supplies and Tools: Doily Stamp Set (Little Yellow Bicycle), Sentiment (PSX), Tiny Pearls, Pink/Green/Blue Ink

Here's my stash of things ready to send out to
the eight ladies on my list this week.

I created a Scripture card insert that
I'm posting here as a freebie

Feel free to download and resize to meet your needs.

This post linked to:
Word Art Wednesday 

Handle With Prayer

Since joining the Shelter: Postmarked Ministry at 

the beginning of the year I've been using 

a lot more cards than before.

Here's a simple set I created using digis from 

Iralamijashop

A simple paper doily, the digi, and two little banners

is all it took to create these 

quick and easy cards.

The sentiment I stamped the jars with reads:

"Life is fragile...Handle with prayer."

This post linked to:

Word Art Wednesday

Nautical Celebrate

I made two versions of this simple masculine card.

The first to use for:

Shelter: Postmarked

and the second to send to my brothers who were both born on the same day 3 years apart!

Supplies and Tools: Kraft and White Cardstock, Chalk, Sentiment Stamp, Celebrate (Unity Stamp Co.)

Bookmarks

I love the FREE WORD ART over at Word Art Wednesday this week....perfect for making bookmarks to send in my cards for the

Shelter: Postmarked Ministry.

I used a floral stamp to add a bit of color and filled in the design with my Scholar Prismacolor Pencils.

This post linked to:

Word Art Wednesday

Teddy Bear Cards

There have been quite a few kids to send cards to through

Shelter: Postmarked
these past few weeks.

I thought these fun little bear cards would brighten their day and maybe put a smile on the face of a child going through a tough time!

You can make the face with or without swirls - either way is cute!

Here's the supplies I used:

Elephant Cards

As soon as I saw the adorable elephant card by Just Imagine on Pinterest I knew I needed to make some to send to kids in the Shelter: Postmarked Ministry!

I actually made five of them in different colors.

I copied  their idea of making the elephant out of book pages -- isn't he cute?

 I just love his adorable little hat and balloon.

You can find a free template and tutorial here.

Supplies and Tools: Elephant template, dictionary pages, colored/white cardstock, misc. designer paper scraps, bakers twine, sharpie marker, large polka dot embossing folder, corner rounder punch