Gorgeous Autumn Posies

Here's a card that I made using one of my most favorite stamp sets. It's called Gorgeous Posies from Stampin' Up! I love this set because it uses the two-step stamping technique. The two-step goes way back a long time but it's still a really fun way to easily get a great look. I also love how muted this stamp is. I think it's called Distinktive by Stampin' Up!

What inspired this whole card is the patterned paper. It's quite old. It came from a partial scrapbook pad that someone gave me years ago, and it was old then! If I had to guess I think it dates back to the 1990's. But I still love the autumn colors. The paper is also thin (think cheap) but that makes for really nice envelopes, which is what I included with this card.

Here's my complete supply list:

• SU! Gorgeous Posies Stamp Set
• Misc. Vintage Patterned Paper
• SU! Scalloped Edge Die
• SU! Wild Wheat Card Stock & Ink
• Memento Rhubarb Stalk Ink
• Memento Pistachio Ink
• Memento Olive Grove Ink
• SU! Early Espresso Ink
• Speckletone True White Card Stock

And that's it for this one. I really like it's soft, late summer colors. And it seems appropriate for the sympathy sentiment that's included in the set.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a wonderful late summer day!

12 Quick & Easy Easter Cards

I recently fell in love with a pre-printed sheet of Easter images from Colorplay. It's a fun sheet that has 12 images that are perfect for making a bunch of Easter cards fast. 

Here's are the designs.

In just around 3 hours I was able to create these 12 cards. It was quick but a lot of fun. Putting together the
colors and adding a few embellishments satisfied my creative juices, but there wasn't a whole lot of deep thinking to make these. I simply chose a few colors that matched well and stuck with those. For example, Stampin' Up!'s Rich Razzleberry was perfect for most of the cards that contained purple, but I used Gorgeous Grape too. And SU!'s Parakeet Party, Coastal Cabana and  Island Indigo were big ones that matched well also.

There were some images that I trimmed more than others, and in the case with the bottom left card, I totally trimmed off the "First Communion" saying that went with that cross.

It was really great to be able to make so many adorable cards in such a short period of time. It's my goal to make 60 Easter cards this year and time is running out, so this was a good jump start!

An Easter Freebie From Me

Making cross stitch patterns is a true art form in many different ways and I'm quickly learning that it's something that I don't do real well yet. It takes a lot of practice and professionalism. I love the thought that I can actually imagine a design and potentially make it come to life with a needle and floss, but it's not as easy as it looks. That's why I would rather rely on the skills of those who are so good at it.

But sometimes things happen that make me want to create my own design and this is one of those times. 

It all started with this frame. I fell in love with this little 3" frame at Michaels and it was only $3.00. I thought it would be really cute to stitch up a mini Easter pattern for it. Well try as I might, I couldn't find anything I really liked that fit into it. So that's where I created my own.

I'll include the pattern here, but beware, mine did come out a little smaller when stitched on 14 count aida and I had to go back and add a little more on the ends. That wasn't too hard to do, but it's certainly not very professional!

Anyway, I like dabbling with charts and I'm happy to have made this. Feel free to use this chart but if you distribute it in any way please give me credit here on my blog. It's also not to be sold.

If you click on the chart it will should get larger and if you decide to print it out it should fill an entire 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper so it would be easier to read.

Depending on the exact size of your opening you may have to add a few stitches around the edges. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and happy stitching! 🐌

 

Rustic Easter Cross Stitch

I like pastel colors for some things. Spring cards. Easter dresses. Baby blankets. But in general, I'm not a pastel person. I do decorate with pastels around Easter, and even made a couple of finishes in pastels this year. But when I saw THIS PATTERN on Etsy I was in love. Finally an Easter pattern that truly reflected me. I love brown, rustic-feeling things. And I love God's Word. Both of which are present in this piece from Fuzzy Fox Designs. 

It was a pretty easy project, which I was grateful for because I made it really close to Easter. There were a few changes that I made. I left out the Bible verse references on the bottom because I thought they looked too much like footnotes and were messy looking. I also changed a few of the colors to suit my fabric which was a little darker than the sample that was stitched.

The Fuzzy Fox has so many cute designs. I already have my eye one one more for next Christmas. Be sure to check out her website, and thank you for visiting my blog today!

Small Easter Pillow

I just finished making this cute Easter pillow from a FREE PATTERN that I found on Pinterest. I love this one because it was easy to stitch and you can frame it in a square frame, which saves money because they're readily available and you don't have to custom buy them.

The linen fabric and lace trim both came from Joann's. 

If you go to her website, you'll notice that she used variegated flosses to stitch her piece and I love the look! But the colors listed are DMC colors, which is good because sometimes it's hard to find more high-end floss. The floss she used is from Nina's, a website based in Hungary. I'd love to order some floss from her, but for the time being I'm stuck with DMC.

I love the finished look of this and I'm glad I was able to stitch it just in time for Easter.

For the back, I used just half of a fat quarter which came from this pack that I also picked up at Joann's. It's my hope to try my hand at a little quilting soon and I'd like to make a pillow cover using these cute pink calicos. I think it would look really good next to this little pillow too.

Well that's all for today. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and have a blessed day!

Springtime Joy Easter Card

Quick post today! One of my favorite stamp sets for Easter is Stampin' Up!'s Springtime Joy. These little critters are just so adorable. My favorite part about them is the floral wreaths on their heads. 

The rest of the card is pretty simple. I used a sun that came with a Paper Pumpkin Mini Stamp Set.  The card stock is from Stampin' Up! too. The background paper is from Lawn Fawn.

This is one set that I plan on keeping for a long time!

Inlaid Crosses

Needing to refresh my Easter card making stash, I just picked up this new set from Simon Says Stamp and CZ Designs. It took me quite a while to get to these little crosses completed. I had to run 7 pastel colors of card stock through the die cutting machine to get the pieces, plus black for the outline and white/blue for the base of the cross. I'm pleased with the look, and I do have 7 crosses to show for all my effort, but it was a lot of work. I think I'll try the watercoloring technique I saw on these and just make one next time.

I started with Stampin' Up! Balmy Blue bases, then embossed SU! Daffodil Delight card stock using Sunny Studio's Sunburst embossing folder. I used Daffodil Delight ink to darken the center or each sun, then put yellow Stickles on the rays.

The dies are called Inlaid Crosses and the wors are called Clean Line Faith, both from Stimon Says Stamp and CZ Design. The grass is SU!'s Granny Apple Green card stock cut with Lawn Fawn's grass die.

Having 4 cards made and 3 crosses ready for my next project is nice!

I have so many more Easter cards that I'm eager to make, and I'm glad I invested the time in these. I really think they'll brighten up someone's Easter this year!

A Favorite Easter Stamp

With only one more Valentines Day card to make (for my hubby, which is why I can wait til the last minute) I'm starting on some Easter cards. I know that people at my church will want plenty of them, and I hope to send some out to through The Angel Card Project as well.

Today's card is a pretty simple, but it's the design that I really love. I've had it for several years and each year it's a delight to stamp and color.

My complete supply list is:

• Speckletone True White Card Stock
• Memento Rich Cocoa Ink
• Stampin' Up! So Saffron Card Stock
• Michaels Purple Card Stock
• "He Is Risen" Stamp Set by Jane's Doodles
• Copics YR09, Y21, V04, E35 and YG13
• Generic Raffia

TIP: I double stamped this with a platform, leaving the sentiment area blank. Then I colored with Copics and then went back and double stamped the sentiment. I think it looks a little sharper that way.

Easter Flowers

Even though it’s almost 2 weeks until Valentine’s Day, and I love making frilly red and pink cards, my thoughts are moving towards Easter too.

Today’s card is made using a really old (2010) stamp called “Because I Care” from Stampin’ Up! It’s one that I still love because it’s easy to use and doesn’t require any coloring. 

Memento inks are just the right size to stamp two colors on one image. I did this twice using a stamping platform. 

Cutting was old school too. This set was made way before dies were really a thing, and we had to fussy cut things by hand. I used small bee scissors to do this and it’s so relaxing for me. 

Lastly, I wanted to match the purple ink (Memento's Lilac Posies) to some patterned paper, but that was impossible. This color is so unusual that I had literally nothing in that range that would remotely match it, even though I have quite a bit of paper. I decided to compliment it with yellow, and I'm really pleased with how the whole card looks.

It's nice, on a rainy February day, to think about spring, Easter and sunnier days.

On the right is the view from my backyard this morning. We're grateful for the rain; as you can see the grass really needs it. But in Florida these cozy days are rare and I love them. It's a perfect excuse to stay home and make a few more cards!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!