Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Thanksgiving Card

On Thanksgiving Day four years ago, I gave birth to my youngest daughter, Clarice. We had an absolutely awesome home birth!  We also missed Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  Luckily for me, there were plenty of leftovers from my mom and dad's house. I remember the food tasting so good.  I was famished from the birthing marathon I had just been through.  It's a great thing to have given birth at Thanksgiving.

There are many things to be thankful for.  I am most thankful for my family!   Every night there is always something going on at our house - someone is hungry, someone has homework, someone is fighting, someone is hurt or sick, someone is entering puberty (now there's a new chapter to add to my mothering book!), someone is crying, someone is laughing, etc. Mothering is absolutely exhausting at times.  But my kids are SO worth it!  I learn more from them about life than I learned from my own.  Each one of them brings different blessings to our family.

Here's my card to go along with that theme. I'm entering it in the SUO Challenge.



Stamps: Gently Falling, Woodgrain, Grateful Greetings
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla
Ink: Crumb Cake, Bravo Burgundy, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Artichoke Denim ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Lovely Cherries!

Brr!!!  It's chilly!  Not going to complain because it happens every year.  I do love the change of seasons.  Friday morning Clarice saw the snow on the grass and immediately wanted to go out and play.  She put on her fleece jacket and rain boots (no socks!) and actually unlocked the front door. Didn't know she knew how to do that.  Now I do!  By noon most of the snow had melted.  She'll have plenty of time to play in the snow all winter.  I can't wait to start shoveling!  I'm being serious.  For some strange reason, I love to shovel snow.  I find a sense of peace being out in the falling snow.

Onto the card:

This card is another one that I featured at my Fall stamp camp.  It was copied from Sandy Mathis of Stamp With Sandy. Thanks, Sandy!

Annika had a friend over this afternoon.  Both Dide and Clarice were crying like babies because they wanted to play with the two bigger girls.  Clarice ended up going outside with them.  Meanwhile, my dear six year-old is making a cupcake card.  She told me what colors of ink to get out for her.  I am waiting in suspense to see her final product.  She wants me to feature it on my blog, so stay tuned!



Stamps: Cherish Friendship
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Watercolor paper, Brights patterned designer series paper
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Big Shot, Ovals #2 die, Ticket Corner punch, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Blender Pens, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Friday, November 11, 2011

A Fall Card

Fall is just about over in PA!  I woke up to snow on the ground this morning.  When I went to fetch the paper I noticed that the UPS man left a Stampin' Up! box on the front step and it was sopping wet with snow!!!  He usually put boxes up on the porch.  It was only a box of catalogs and they were fine.  Two of our maple trees haven't even lost their leaves yet, so I know we've got a few warmer days coming before the winter snow blankets our lawn.

Here's a card that the ladies made during my Fall stamp camp.


I copied this card layout from Lynn Pratt from Stamp-n-Design.  She posted her card on Stampin' Connection, a web site for demonstrators.  This card features the Spice Cake designer series paper and coordinating fabric and the Gently Falling stamp set.  The sentiment is from Petite Pairs.  The faux stitching was made using the mat pack and paper piercing tool, then the stitching was drawn using the fine tip of the Soft Suede marker.  It is sponged with Soft Suede ink.


Stamps: Gently Falling, Petite Pairs
Paper: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake designer series paper
Ink: Pool Party, Soft Suede
Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, 1" Circle punch,  1 1/4" Circle punch, mat pack, paper piercing tool, Spice Cake designer fabric, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Sunday, November 6, 2011

You're in My Thoughts - Two Challenges


Has it really been that long since my last post?  Where does the time go???  I've been busy stamping almost every day.  Just haven't taken the time - until now - to share my creations.  Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some items from my Fall and Christmas stamp camps.  For today I'm showing you a card that was inspired from two challenges: SUO Challenges and the Stampin' Queen's Sketch Challenge.


The SUO Challenge was to create a "Thinking of You" card.  I've got a few "thinking of you" stamps, but my favorite is one from the Word Play set.  One challenge down, one to go.  Here's the Stampin' Queen's sketch:



I have to admit, this sketch was a stretch for me.  First, I chose the stamp sets: Word Play, Netting and Delicate Doilies.  In need of some color inspiration, I grabbed my handy-dandy Color Coach and settled for the creative combination listed for Soft Suede.  After gathering all of my materials I was still stumped as to how to combine everything.  I finally decided to stamp the two large panels to make my own designer paper (I stamped off to mute the colors a bit).  I love the Netting background stamp!  I've been using it on quite a few projects lately.  For some finishing touches, I layered the Boho Blossom punches and added pearls.  I created the bow using the fork bow method.  The card below is my final result.



Stamps: Delicate Doilies, Word Play, Netting
Paper: Soft Suede, So Saffron, Regal Rose, and Very Vanilla
Ink: So Saffron, Regal Rose
Accessories: So Saffron taffeta ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Stamping!

Susan