A Tough Card

Posted on May 2, 2014 by amyoneillblog

What kind of card do you find the hardest to make? I often think masculine cards are the hardest to make. But for me the hardest ones to write are sympathy cards. And even harder than that are ones like I had to write yesterday.

A dear friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer. I’m still in shock, as I’m sure she and her family are. I stared at this card for the longest time and didn’t know what to write. So I just told her that I’m praying for her. Because that’s all I can do. And that’s what the Lord tells us to do. So I get down on my knees and pray for her when she comes to mind, which is quite often each day now.

I used one of my favorite flower stamps, Regarding Dahlias, and added some pretty gold embellishments. The sentiment comes from Blessing from Heaven, which is on the retirement list. I embossed it with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.

Enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Fond Farewell to Oh, Hello — FMS134

Posted on April 30, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Are you ready for a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches? Well, that’s what we provide every Wednesday. And this week you’re in for a treat, as the fabulous Karren Johnson has a very versatile sketch for us:

I knew right away what I wanted to do with this sketch, and that so rarely happens to me. Continuing on with my theme of showcasing retiring products, I pulled out my Oh, Hello stamp set.

I just love that chevron oval, and the pretty flower, and the fonts on the sentiments. I will miss this set!

I embossed the sentiment with Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder. The two types of ribbon I used — Strawberry Slush 3/8″ Stretch Ruffle Trim and Blushing Bride 1/4″ Stitched Grosgrain ribbon are both also retiring.

We hope you’ll be able to play along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Go check out what the rest of the design team did with the sketch at the Freshly Made Sketches site, and then link up your creation there.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Fond Farewell to Betsy’s Blossoms

Posted on April 29, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I’ve got another favorite stamp set on the retiring list to share today — Betsy’s Blossoms. This is just such a cheery, happy stamp set. I decided to pair it with some cheery, happy dsp — Gingham Garden. I don’t have much of it left, and it’s retiring too!

I embossed the sentiment with Melon Mambo Stampin’ Emboss powder (also retiring). I used the Large Scallop Edgelits die for the Pear Pizzazz layer. And I haphazardly arranged some white crochet thread under the large bloom.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Fond Farewell to You’re Amazing and Field Flowers — Monday Montage #18

Posted on April 27, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s time for another Monday Montage blog hop. You can hop your way through all ten posts by clicking on the “Next” or “Back” buttons at the end of each post. You won’t want to miss any of them!

I’m continuing on with my theme for the week — featuring the retiring stamp sets that I love most and will be sad to see go. I have two cards for you today — You’re Amazing and Field Flowers. I made them both at the same time using the same supplies, so you’ll see the same color schemes, dsp, and other products. I’ll list the supplies at the bottom.

I mentioned in a recent post that I hoped this set, You’re Amazing, wouldn’t be on the retiring set. Well, my wish wasn’t granted. I’ll miss this one. I love all of the images in this set!

Another set that I’ll really miss is Field Flowers. I think the detail on these flowers is gorgeous. And I love the look that two-step stamping gives you.

I used a sponge dauber to lightly sponge some Soft Sky ink onto the background. Another product on both of these cards that is retiring is the Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine. That one makes me sad too!

When I’m tempted to tear up over these retirements, I just try to remember that it is only a little over a month away before the new catalog will be released and there will be many new fabulous products to love. How exciting! If there’s a retiring product that you love, don’t delay — go get it now because so many of them are selling out.

You’re ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog for a heavy dose of inspiration. She always delivers. If you prefer to work your way backwards, you can choose to hop on over to Wendy Weixler’s amazing blog and see her fantastic creativity at work. Either way, just keep hopping along until you’ve seen all ten posts.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: You’re Amazing, Field Flowers
Ink: Garden Green, Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Soft Sky
Paper: Whisper White, Subtles and Regals DSP stack
Embellishments: Regals Designer Buttons, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch

A Fond Farewell to Simply Stars and Perfectly Penned

Posted on April 26, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Continuing on with my theme for the week, I am featuring some products that are included on Stampin’ Up’s retiring list that I am sad to see go. Today I’m paying my respects to Simply Stars and Perfectly Penned.

I tried a technique that’s new to me. My goal was to create an ombre watercolor effect. I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock and four ink pads — Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, and Pool Party.

I used a sponge dauber and my Island Indigo ink pad and swiped the right side of the card stock from top to bottom. I repeated this process about 1/4 of the way across the card, swiping more or the very right side to give it a slightly darker hue. Then I repeated this process with the Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, and Pool Party inks, blending them a little between each color with the sponge dauber.

I then took a clean paintbrush and dipped it in water. I then lightly touched it against my newly colored ombre card stock, leaving larger pools of water where I wanted larger splats. The water does all of the work for you.

After this dried, I embossed the sentiment with White Stampin’ Emboss powder. I stamped the stars with Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry inks and popped them up with dimensionals. I think this would make a great guy card.

I’m not usually a “technique” kind of girl, but this was really fun, and I’ll be trying it again with some different colors.

A Fond Farewell to Beautiful Butterflies — Mother’s Day Box

Posted on April 24, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I am going with a theme over the next week — A Fond Farewell to ______. I’ll show projects that use retiring products that I love. I don’t mind it when Stampin’ Up! retires products because it forces me to remove them from my craft space to make room for fun new products. However, there are always a few things that make me a little sad to see on the retiring list.

I’m featuring one of those products today — the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die.

I decided that rather than make another decorated bag for one of our moms for Mother’s Day, I could fit a gift into one of the Kraft Gift Boxes. Now, I’ll have a gift bag and a box for my mom and my dh’s mom. I love the size of these boxes, and they are so fun to decorate.

I used some other retiring products on this gift bag – the 5/8″ Victoria Crochet Trim (Why does this have to retire??? I love this stuff!), the 3/8″ Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe Ruffle Stretch Trim, a Pistachio Pudding Boutique Detail, and the 7/16″ Natural Trim Ribbon. The dsp I used, Venetian Romance is also retiring.

I used a sponge dauber to add a little bit of Crumb Cake ink to the Tea Lace Paper Doily to tone down the bright white look of it. I embossed the Mother sentiment from Amazing Family (also retiring) with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.

Because I wanted the recipient to be able to open the box without having to mess up any of the decorations, I just draped a piece of the 7/8″ Cotton Ribbon down over the front of the box and sewed a Vintage Faceted Designer Button on with some Linen Thread. This piece is only attached on the top of the box and hangs over the front of the box.

So what things are you sad to see on the retiring list? Are you trying to use them again before they retire next month, too? Enjoy your Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

Blooming with Afternoon Picnic — FMS133

Posted on April 23, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. This week the ultra-talented Cindy Lovell is our hostess, and she has a great sketch for us:

I pulled out my Blooming with Kindness set and decided to use the soft, pretty colors from the Afternoon Picnic dsp.

The sentiment is from Lacy & Lovely, which is on the retiring list. So is the Pool Party Seam Binding ribbon I’ve used.

We hope you’ll join us and play along with this challenge. You can check out the rest of the design team’s creations at the Freshly Made Sketches site for some more inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Mother’s Day Gift Bag

Posted on April 22, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I decided to use up some more of my leftover My Paper Pumpkin supplies yesterday. These cute gift bags were included in a kit a couple of months ago.

I took some scraps of the pretty Watercolor Wonder dsp and arranged them across the front of the bag. Then I die cut some of the Floral Frames framelits from the Creped Filter Paper and used a Stamping Sponge to color the paper Calypso Coral.

I used a die from the Chalk Talk framelits to cut out the Daffodil Delight tag. The Happy Mother’s Day stamp is from April’s My Paper Pumpkin kit.

After sprinkling some Gold Sequin Trim around and adding some crochet thread under the flower, I was finished.

I’m glad to have one Mother’s Day gift bag finished. It seems like Mother’s Day always sneaks up on me. Now to get a couple of cards made for that day too.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Striped Stems

Posted on April 21, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I had these Calypso Coral flowers cut out and sitting on my desk. I had planned to use them on another project a couple of weeks ago, but changed direction with it and I thought I’d save them for later. They finally found a home on this card yesterday.

I had a nice Easter weekend with family. My parents came in town and stayed with us, so that was a nice treat for me and the kids. I hope you had a wonderful Easter too.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Simple Stems, Four You
Ink: Calypso Coral, So Saffron
Paper: Whisper White, Gumball Green, Kaleidoscope dsp
Embellishments: Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Little Leaves Sizzlit

Lots of This and That

Posted on April 19, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I sat down to make a card using up some odds and ends I had around my desk, and this is what I ended up with. Sometimes it’s just fun to play around with different things and mix and match.

I knew that I definitely wanted to use these wooden people figures on my card (from a My Paper Pumpkin kit), so that was my starting point. I thought they’d go well with this sentiment from Yippee Skippee. Then I added some dsp from the I Am Me pack (love this stuff), and some washi tape from the Retro Fresh line.

And then I went crazy with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Very fun!