Floral Banners Cards

I love flower stamps, so naturally I was sold on this stamp set as soon as I saw it, but one of the sentiments was the deal clincher:  "I am so blessed to have you as a friend."  That's how I feel about my friends and think I don't tell them nearly enough!


Here's my first card using these stamps along with the color dare at Color My Heart.  I used one of the papers in the Regatta paper pack.



The floral images and sentiment are from a CTMH stamp set, "Floral Banners" and the butterflies are from "Your Beautiful Self." The butterflies were colored by pressing the closed ink pad hard in the middle and picking up color from the puddle in the lid using a Blending Pen.




Thank you for visiting. May you have a beautiful day blessed with friendship, too!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Color My Heart Color Dare #187

Creative Corner Challenge - Flower Power

Polka Doodles #14 - Floral Frenzy

Word Art Wednesday #226-227 - anything uplifting





Flower Vase Sympathy Card

I saw the challenge at Just Add Ink and knew I needed to make a LOT of these. Usually when I make a sympathy card I use soft colors and subtle patterns, so I started working on my stash with this card, but decided it wasn't my best. It was too soft for some friends.

I was thinking of some of my friends who have had a celebration of life for some of their family members. Drab colors would just not be appropriate, so here is my final card that I'm sending to a friend whose father passed away.

I wanted to include a vase and flower on my card, so I looked for color ideas for the vase. The colorful photo inspiration at the Time Out Challenge inspired the color and pattern of my vase, using a piece of Basic Grey, and the other colors. The Cricut cut vase is from the Serenade cartridge.

Thank you for visiting! I wonder how YOU feel about brighter sympathy cards. Feel free to leave a comment.

I'm sharing this second card with the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew #110 - Die Cut (Cricut vase, ODBD stitched oval)
Creative Corner - Flower Power
Just Add Ink #306 - Sympathy
Robyn's Fetish #311 - Add a sentiment
Time Out Challenge #54 - photo inspiration

Card 2:
Papers - Bazzill Cardstock, Basic Grey scrap for vase, CTMH Sapphire Cardstock
Stamp - CTMH retired "Words of Comfort"
Ink - Memento Black
Accents - retired CTMH chocolate opaque pearls on retired butterfly, Bitty Buds glitter flowers, lace and leaf ribbon from my stash, Recollections red flower
Tools - Cricut Serenade cart, Our Daily Bread Designs stitched ovals, "Stylized Flowers"Cuttlebug embossing folder

Card 1 retired CTMH patterned paper from my scraps, retired ribbon flowers, ribbon from stash, CTMH silver sequins, same stamps and ovals from above.

Happy Thoughts Card with colourQ #336

This color palette at colourQ looked so bright and cheerful I knew it was perfect for a card to brighten someone's day.

This is one of my "use it up" creations. I decided to play with more of my older papers and a stamp I got many years ago. I stamped the flowers with an old CTMH Watermelon ink. 

The sentiment is from a retired stamp set called Card Chatter-Sympathy. I added the large sparkle flower and a few pink glitter gems and some gold metallic dots on the stamen of the stamped flowers.  Here's a close-up.

The rest of the sentiment is inside, with extra room for me to write my own:

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

colourQ #336

Come and Get It - Bright colors 

Craft-Dee Bowz - anything goes with a bow

Dare 2 B Artzy April challenge - polka dots

Star Stampz Challenge - Flowers, flowers, flowers

Through the Craftroom Door - anything goes 

Word Art Wednesday 224-225 - anything uplifting

Life in Pictures Layout

My daughter, her hubby, and three teen and tween boys came to our rural home today to help pick up sticks, clear the fence line, and mow. There is always a LOT of work that needs to be done and the only good thing about the ailments of old age is that family realizes you can't do it all alone and comes to visit more often to help.

I showed my 40 year-old daughter these photos of her 20 year-old self and she laughed that she still has that dress and it still fits her size 2 self after 5 pregnancies including 2 sets of full-term, full-sized twins. I'd always loved the photos but hadn't scrapbooked them because I wanted subtle, neutral background papers. After they left I paired the photos with some papers on the table by my desk. The soft colors of  some Charlotte papers worked perfectly with the challenge at 613 Avenue Create - use neutral colors (with black or light pink for accents).  There is a subtle rose pattern on the white background. I used a couple of accents from the Charlotte complements and the black patterned background paper is from La Vie en Rose.

All of the stamps are from CTMH Life in Pictures. My hubby is such a camera buff these are perfect for our family. I know he took the photos above with one of his medium format cameras because of their size, but I didn't include the stamped image of one on this layout.  The two smaller cameras are darker because I used black embossing powder when I stamped them.  I have quite a few more planned with these stamps. I thought they went well with the Cricut Artbooking title I gave this layout. (The circle was cut at 8.5" using Cricut Artiste.)

Thank you for visiting.

I'm sharing this layout with the following challenges;

613 Avenue Create #170 - neutral colors.
Craft for the Craic - April anything but a card
Crafty Calendar April Challenge - anything goes
Jo's Scrap Shack Funday Friday#133 - anything goes
PDE Linky Party #118 - anything goes
Simply Papercraft #27 - anything goes

Color My Heart Color Dare #187 - Greens and White

I find the colors of spring so refreshing after a long, drab winter. I used to read Beatrix Potter's stories to my children. Mother Rabbit said,"Green is good for the eyes." I totally agree.


I was inspired to make a card with lots of greens at the Color My Heart Color Dare. Here's a quick card I made mixing shades of Close To My Heart greens: Fern, Pear, and Topiary Paper Fundamentals matted with New England Ivy.

After I stamped the butterflies I realized I'd leant my green markers to a friend, so I colored the butterflies from the set Your Beautiful Self using watercolor pencils and a Vivid Green ShinHan marker. I painted over the watercolor pencils with a Blending Pen.  I embellished each square with glittery Green Triangles. The sentiment is from A Thousand Thanks.


Thanks for visiting! I hope you're enjoying the beautiful colors of spring (or fall) where you live!

I'm also sharing this with the following challenges:


Cute Card Thursday #420 - Something shiny
Paper Playful Challenge #243 - Spring Delights

Mojo 442 Amazing Grace Encouragement Card

This month at Path of Positivity the focus is on GRACE. This word has many different meanings, but I chose to focus on the Grace of God. I've been reading a book by John McArthur called, At the Throne of Grace. I had found it at the library and enjoyed it so much I ordered my own copy at Amazon. It has scriptures and prayers from 52 of his Sunday services. I like a definition of grace he has on his website: Common grace is a term theologians use to describe the goodness of God to all mankind universally.

When I was young I don't think I understood the far-reaching impact of this concept. Now its something I think about often, that God's loving kindness extends to us even when we don't deserve it;. That's why I chose the Verve sentiment I stamped today: Amazing grace will bring us through. I want this card to encourage someone with the realization that no matter what happens to us in life, God's care and loving kindness will comfort and sustain us.

I was inspired to make this card by several challenges. The sketch from Mojo Monday 442 and the color palette at Color Throwdown #387:

The sentiment phrase "Amazing Grace" made me think about the famous hymn of that name, so I chose the pale yellow paper with a musical theme for the stitched square die cut, although I don't know its source.  The background aqua paper and orange polka dot strip are from  My Mind's Eye "Bloom and Grow," and the red plaid is a Basic Grey "Lauderdale" paper. 

On the inside I added the beautiful truth the Lord told Paul, "'My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Thank you for visiting. May you grow and flourish in the beauty, knowledge, and comfort of God's grace.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

ABC Challenge - E is for Everything

Color Throwdown #387 - aqua, red, orange, yellow 

Crafting from the Heart #106 - Anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper April challenge - anything goes with patterned paper

Mojo Monday #442 - sketch

Path of Positivity #37 - Grace 

Sisters of Craft - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #224-225 - anything uplifting

ODBD Birthday Blessings

In the last two days there have been three birthdays to celebrate among my family and friends. I wanted each to know what a blessing they are to me and how I pray and wish God's blessings on them. Here's one of the cards I made to share a blessing with a friend. I've always noticed that she enjoys displaying cards on her mantle, so I made her an easel card.

I chose the scripture and inside sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs  (stamps Birthday Blessings, All Occasion Sentiments). I used their Shining the Light Challenge today to include elements that started with the letters

O - Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, Organdy ribbon

D - Die cuts (Cricut butterfly from Florals Embellished, circle and mat from Artiste)

B - Butterfly, Bow, Birthday Blessings

D - Distressed by inking the edges

The scripture sentiment on front says:

"For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. Proverbs 9:11"

The vintage looking papers came from Graphic45 "Ladies' Diary." I chose this for her card because the first time I had ever seen Graphic45 papers we were shopping together, admiring it together.

Thank you for visiting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Bitten by the Bug 2 - Tiny winged things - butterfly

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Lace and/or Pearls (pearls on flowers, butterfly, and 5 large pearls inside to help card stand up)

Creative Card Crew #110 - Die cuts

Dream Valley Challenge #128 - Girlie

Love to Scrap #75 - use a bow

Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge #273 - ODBD Recipe

Stamps & Fun = Creativity #75 - butterfly

Try It On Tuesday - Add a quote (Proverbs 9:11)

Word Art Wednesday #224-225 - anything uplifting