I Love It When This Happens!

I've had some good stamping time the past week or so.... and I even had time t straighten up my desk area. After grabbing up some fun new items at CHA, it was fun to get some stamping time. Here are a few things to share with you. The Sewing card was made for a very sweet family at church, the Streelmans, who are sadly moving to Portland. I am in LOVE with their 2 little girls Becca and Natalie and am so sad to see them go. Karen was one of our brand new helpers in Children's Choir and it was so fun getting to know their family and getting to serve alongside of them at church. The good news is, it's always good to have friends who live in fun places so we can go visit them! Card Details: Kraft card base, retired designer paper, sewing machine, buttons, Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Puns from the Past SU Stamp Set (stamped in Chocolate Chip Ink), Twill ribbon, twine from Paper Trey Ink, Pirourette Pink SU cardstock for the scalloped oval and some old buttons from my stash.

The Polka Dot Thank You card was super easy but super fun. It's just a bunch of "Bold Bright" circles punched with my various circle punches, and glued to white cardstock. The bottom of the front panel was cut with wiggley scissors, and then the words "Thank You" from the retired SU stamp set called "Wonderful Words" was stamped on the back inside of the card so it shows when you close the card. I made a bunch of these to keep on hand because they were so fun and so easy.

Thanks for looking!

Parisian Quilt Card

First of all, let me share something with you that was NOT made by me... a beautiful gorgeous, quilt given to me by a wonderful family at my church.

This was a thank you gift for working these past few years with their son in my children's choir program, our Wed. night club program, etc. They wanted to express their appreciation for my time and love. Wow! I was/am overwhelmed! I have made one quilt in my life, when I was in my 20's, and it didn't turn out too well. I was proud of it, but it was far from perfection. So I know how much time and energy this took. When I make cards for people, or small handmade paper-crafting gifts like photo frames, candy tins, etc, they might take 1-2 hours per item... 3 at the most, but a QUILT? Seriously? I can't even imagine how much time this took. Here's another view... every square is DIFFERENT! How amazing is that?

So now, here's my card, made with the Quilter's Sampler set from PaperTreyInk , which has been on my wish list for a very long time. I kept wavering back and forth, waiting for the wallet to cooperate. Well, obviously, when I received this quilt, I knew I had to have this set to make a thank you card, right? I know quite a few quilters, so I know I will get a lot of use out of this set. I also got the additional phrases, called "Quilters Sampler Sentiments," and boy, oh boy, are there a ton of sentiments in these 2 sets.

The base of the card is Kraft cardstock from Stampin Up, then a layer of Parisian Breeze designer paper. The quilt images are stamped on Vanilla paper, and then layered onto Baja Breeze, and colored with a combination of Copic makers and SU markers. Some piercing, some faux stitching, and a button (tied with PaperTreyInk's new rustic twine!) completes the project. I'm anxious to get this into the mail to this sweet family... and even though my card didn't take as many hours to make as their wonderful gift to me, it is still filled with love and appreciation!

Elegant Wedding Shower

My friends at work and I are giving a bridal shower next week for our Youth Pastor's Bride-to-be, Lauren. We're going with a red rose theme... elegant and classic. Here are the invitations and the wedding dress favors.

The invitations are made with SU Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, and vellum, as well as the rose paper from "The Paper Factory." The scalloped trim is made from a pearlized shimmery paper from Michaels, punched with the Martha Stewart lace punch. The beautiful red swirly ribbon is from the TayloredExpressions store! I love it... it adds just the elegance I was looking for. The Bible verse, I Corinthians 13 is from the SU set, "Elegant Inspirations." This is a pocket card and the actual invitation was printed on regular white cardstock, front and back, and then the corners were rounded with the corner rounder, with a black sheer ribbon on the top, attached through a round 1" circle folded over the top.

The wedding dress favors are also from Taylor's store... they come flat, and I found them quite easy to stamp on and fold up. I used some swirly stamps I believe I got at Michael's, with Real Red ink and more of the swirly red ribbon. Inside the dresses are a few pieces of Dove Chocolate. Then I folded in the side and attached them together with a dimentional. I'll be sure to post some photos in a few days of the shower, so you can see the whole thing all put together. My friend Michelle is doing the flower centerpieces, so it's going to be gorgeous!