Lead By Example

Hello my lovelies. I hope you are all having a great weekend so far. For those of you who are reading this and living in the USA, may your Memorial Day weekend be a blessed one.  Today my project is one dedicated to those who have served as an example of what it truly means to be an American; the men and women who have served and given a portion of their lives – and in some cases, the ultimate sacrifice, in service to our nation.

To me, the men and women who serve (past and present) in our military are a wonderful example of the type of character that makes this nation great.  Self sacrificing, dedicated, loyal - all wrapped up in a uniform of patriotism.  My heartfelt thanks go out to those serving in the military – the families of those in the military who also sacrifice, and those who support our troupes in various forms. God bless you all.

My design was inspired by today’s Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge.

 

I turned the sketch on end and brought out my patriotic mojo.

I grabbed some older patterned paper, Garden Variety, by Cosmo Cricket and some shimmery blue cardstock that I’ve had in my stash forever. I believe that it originally came from Paper Temptress, but I couldn’t fine it on Pat’s site any longer.  It’s unfortunate too because it’s a beautiful shade of blue and just the right amount of shimmer.

I used Dainty Doily Large set to stamp the bottom layer of my circle, and a bunting image from the Bitty Banners set.  The sentiment was perfect for my card which is in the Blessed by You set.  The Hodgepodge Hardware book plate is old and was purchased from Stampin’ Up! long ago.  It’s ivory color was perfect for the off-white backgrounds of my papers.

The chipboard letters were from a variety of packs, as you can see they aren’t all the same font, but I thought it appropriate since we here in the states are from a variety of backgrounds and heritage.  I used a Copic marker to color them all the same color.

That’s it for me today.  I’m spending the weekend at home with Victor and we will firing up the old BBQ probably more than once before this holiday weekend is over.  I hope that whatever you are doing that you will give pause for a moment to remember those who have helped to make this a great nation…warts and all, I still believe it’s the best country on earth.

Until next time…

InLinkz.com

I FELT You Ought To See This–WMS Blog Party

Hello all.  Today I'm taking part in the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Party.  There is still time if you would like to play along.  Check out this post here to get all the details. Our Blog Party is normally held on the 17th of each month, but this month we postponed the event and TODAY is the DAY!

This month our theme is to use felt or some other cozy fabric on our projects. Felt and fabric on paper craft projects is very trendy right now, but felt and fabric has a deeper significance than just being trendy.

Remember back to your childhood and think about something special that you held dear...a warm cozy blanket could have been one of your constant companions or perhaps it was that fuzzy brown bear that you drug around until it was nearly in tatters.  Perhaps you had, or bought for your children, Pat The Bunny book – remember this textural delight and how many hours of enjoyment was gleaned from it?  Regardless of WHAT the item was, it wasn't just the item that bonded you to the "thing" - it was what the thing meant to you on an emotional level that brought you comfort – a warm, cuddly and safe emotion was probably tied to your association with it and the warm and fuzzy way it made you feel inside. 

I think that is why we love felt and fabrics on our craft projects, because it's not just paper and colored ink we adore, but we also love the texture, depth and dimension that our embellishments offer and the emotions they evoke when we see and touch them.  Yes, receiving a hand made card is special, but when you throw in elements that touches a warm and fuzzy place in your heart, it's all the MORE special.

I created a birthday card for one of my sorority sisters whose birthday we will all celebrate next week. 

I used papers from the Konnichiwa 6X6 Collection for my background.  I also used a scalloped border punch to create the border along the bottom of my focal image/sentiment.

My little brown felt bird was die cut using my Tim Holtz Caged Bird Sizzix die using some wool felt.  I added a yellow crystal for his eye and embellished him with a pop up Hydrangea punch from Martha Stewart Crafts topped with a brad also from the Konnichiwa collection.

My sentiment is from the Asian Gardens and Asian Gardens Additions  was stamped with Coffee Archival ink onto a die cut layered with even more Konnichiwa paper.  To emphasis our friendship, I added a few more Zva Creative crystals to underline the word, “friend”.

I also wanted to make my envelope just as pretty as the card so I lined the envelope to match the card.

That’s it for me today, but I’m sure you won’t want to miss all the coziness that the other Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Party people, so check out Claire’s blog for a complete list of all those playing along.

Until next time, have a glorious day!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

InLinkz.com

Blooming Springtime

Hello friends.  I’ve been vaguely absent lately because I’ve been working on new samples that I can’t share with you yet, but I do have a card that I made a while back that I CAN share.  This card was made with Stampendous products for their last catalog and so while I’m working on projects for their next catalog, I though I would share the card blooming with springtime flowers.

My background design is more or less concealed by the bounty of flowers of my focal image, but the Calligraphy Sampler background stamp is really lovely and for my project adds a dimension of interest.

This Cling Garden Background set was stamped onto watercolor paper and embossed with black embossing powder and colored with various dye inks and blended with my water color brush.  I created a frame for these flowers using my Big Scallop Circle Nestabilities and adorned with pearls. I added some shimmery sparkle to the blooms by added touches of Ultra Fine Crystal Snow glitter.

And what flower garden is complete without a few butterflies floating around?  This netted butterfly was something I picked up at a scrapbooking show years ago.  I tied a bow of yellow tulle on which my butterfly rests.

I hope you will be patient with me as I work on other projects over the next week or so, and hopefully I’ll have some time to share with you some other projects that have been held back until now.

Have a splendid weekend.

InLinkz.com