Deepest Sympathy Bouquets

I have a couple more sympathy cards to share today.  These were a request from an Etsy customer and I'm really pleased with how they came out.

The chipboard and variety of patterns add some textural interest without being to overwhelming.  I really like using chipboard flowers and that MFT leaf die.  It's meant to be a tropical leaf, but I use it for everything.  It's a major go-to die for me.  I'm not sure I ever use the flowers that it came with in its set!!!

I had hoarded the butterfly and the flowers under it for ages not really finding anything I could do with them, but when I had all the other parts spread out these got accidentally mixed in and it was kismet---(or maybe it is because my table was a complete catastrophe and I got lucky from being messy!).

I've depleted my leaf supply recently.  Think I see a Netflix marathon and my die cutter in my future.  ;-)

Bird Sympathy

Sadly, it seems like I have needed sympathy cards more often lately.  While I lost my parents quite a few years ago, I am getting to the age where more of my friends seem to be losing a parent.

These two use an image from Memory Box and let the Copic makers doing the color layering work.  The sentiment is from Amuse and the papers are from a variety of 6x6 pads I had in my stash.  I chose the blues, khaki, and yellow for the calming hues.

I realized I have had this and a few others from this line of bird silhouette scenes, so I went back through my posts and found a bunch of Memory Box birds from over the years.  Click here to see more!

Hope this inspired you today!

Thinking Bouquets

Good Morning!  I've been very busy in my studio, but haven't had much time to photograph anything.  Maybe I'll manage to carve out time this week to take some pics, but in the meantime I have a pair of thinking of you cards to share.

One went to Arizona and one to Texas thanks to Etsy.  I had fun making them since it meant seeing flowers.  I'm not sure we will ever see flowers again here in New England.  We had some beautiful weather last Tuesday and Wednesday with lots of melting taking place.  Cida was very sad to have to go back on his leash in the yard.  There had been sooooooo much snow he was kinda trapped in the maze we carved out of the snow, but enough melted that a certain puppy wandered a little too far away.  His teacher said we should not expect to be able to have him off leash until he is over a year.  It is so strange after having Cad, who never needed a leash!  Alas, Ci is getting better each day at listening and has only chewed one pair of slippers in 10 months so can I really complain about a leash? Nope.

A couple inches fell yesterday, so it is now official that this was the snowiest winter in Boston history.  108 inches!!!  Hence the fear we will never see flowers again.  I've said before that I don't much care for blue, but I may have to change my tune.  I have found myself more and more pinning and making "blue stuff".  I even bought light blue nail polish to paint my toes for our vacation in April.  I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  LOL!

If you want to see more versions of this stamp on a card, or the big Gerber daisy stamp I adore, or even a cute preprinted image I played with that is a daisy, click on the "daisy" label at the end of this post.  I had fun tracking down all my daisy images from "my posts of yesterday".  I've inspired myself with my old stuff!

Well, I'm thinking of all of you out there today and wishing you a productive Monday!

Lighthouse Sympathy

Thought I would share a couple sympathy cards today.  A customer wanted a few to have on hand and these are a couple that I made.  This is a favorite go-to image for me.  It can work for sympathy, fathers day, guy cards, thinking of you, or even thank you.

I went with a simple palette here.  The photos don't show it well, but the lighthouse is lightly colored with a very pale aqua.  The lighthouse light has a light yellow with some yellow Spica for a glow.  The last two months I spent a TON of time making and mailing out valentine kits.  The way I had to cut paper for them left a lot of Kraft scraps that I used to die cut the little doilies (MFT die).  One of my Etsy buddies in Bavaria and I traded some goodies around the holidays.  Her package had wonderful vintage buttoned that I used to make the gray button/doily embellishment. :)

Well, I'm off to the races!  Hope you have a great Monday!

Simple Sympathy & Beach Cida

I have a simple sympathy card to share today.  These kinda cards can be a challenge to make and so when the spirit moved me to make this I went with it.  You never know when you need a sympathy card and I always want these very special cards to evoke a peacefulness for the recipient.

The paper is from BG fresh cut & October Afternoon sailboat (I think), the bouquet is BG fresh cut, the die is MFT, and the sentiment is an old wood mounted one from Amuse .  I had an envelope in my stash in a light aqua that paired nicely with the card that I got ages ago from If It's Paper in Greenville SC.  A

We took Cida to the beach last week.  He wasn't so sure about it at first, but when he saw the kids playing and smelled all the "new smells" he was hooked!  He is still more keen on running back to the boardwalk instead of running from it, but we shall work on that. :)

Of course I can't blame him too much for being excited to head for the boardwalk.  Not too far from the beach is where my DH's aunt and uncle have a place.  On one of our last days up there last week we stopped by and Cida got to play with his aunt's dog Star.  I was pretty keen on the visit because I finally got to meet Cathy over at Acorn Hollow!  We knocked on the door and Cathy came down to let us know DH's aunt was on the phone.  Then she saw Cida and said "Oh I know who you are!". Ha-Ha!  We met in blogland not even knowing we had DH's aunt in common!!!  We had no idea she was still visiting so it was a wonderful surprise!  Small world huh. :)

Taking a moment

Teachers at every school in America think about what they would do for their students should something like the tragedy in Littleton, Bath, West Paducah, Winnetka, Newtown, or any of the countless towns in America that have suffered such an unthinkable loss.  We practice drills for a vast number of emergencies and talk with each other about "what if" or "what could".  There is no doubt in my mind that every adult at that school (and all schools around the country) was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the children in their charge, and 6 of them did just that.  The safety of students is paramount to teachers.  We love them all like they were our own family.

Last Friday has weighed heavy in all our hearts.  Folks at my school felt particularly bereft because our building houses only Kindergarten and first grade. For the last 13 years I have worked with these youngest babes and can not adequately express the heartbreak I feel for the families and extreme pride I have for the bravery of my colleagues. 

The teachers in my building wanted to do something to let our fellow teachers in Newtown know that they are in our thoughts and our prayers.  A friend and I are each making 4 cards for folks to sign/leave messages tomorrow.  I have an address to send notes of caring.  I know many of you might want to express your thoughts of love to the teachers of Newtown.  Please feel free to email me and I will pass along the information. 

In the meantime, hug the ones you love and tell them "I love you".

 

Then she'll want some flowers

Well my goodness, the day certainly got away from me!  I meant to post this first thing, but Cad did so well at his water therapy session today that we stopped by one of the locally owned pet supply stores and got him a bone (lots of customer love and some free treats from the staff).  They are collecting supplies for the GI dogs.  I can't believe I never thought about the military canines before!  There was a big list of needs so I bought some eye cleaner to donate.  Not as fun as a toy, but probably way more needed with all that dry desert sand and grit.  Now that I'm finally home and settled here's the next installment!

So these were the frames originally I thought I was going to use on the Mad Men in the Summer inspired and Mid Century meets Asian inspired cards.  I had each card with the daisy mae  paper at the same time 'cause the dies can go through multiple layers.  It was AFTER I cut that I realized that the frame wasn't going to frame anything because they were the same size.  Back to the drawing board...

I went back and cut these 4 Memory Box cards and this time I made the card window ONE SIZE SMALLER.  Ya know, so this frame could be glued AROUND the hole.  LOL!  Of course then there is the leftover set of shapes had after cutting the card window and the hole in daisy mae paper, but I'll show y'all that next week. :)

The envies got some pretty dressing too!  The mum I used on the insides of these cards was still out, sooo, I got out 4 different inks.  Each card has a different sentiment and it seemed like a fun idea to make each envie different.

Bless your hearts if you could follow all that!  Hope you have a great evening.  I'll be posting something July 4thish tomorrow! :)
 

Thoughts and Prayers

Still pestering posting creations made with the kit.  I put everything I made in a basket and dropped it off at my LSS so the gal who put the kit together could know how useful this kit has been for me!  Hopefully the Kit Club gang liked my goods. :)

Have I mentioned that folks kinda gave her a hard time?  Not sure I would have purchased these papers on my own, but gosh I used almost all of the kit and put a decent dent into my stash as well.  This latest piece I'm showing y'all is a sympathy card.  Usually folks don't keep them on hand necessarily, but I find that if I make them when my mojo is flowing then I have them.  Sometimes I freeze when I have to make a sympathy card- and when you need it made, frankly you need it made.  

This one used the Kaisercraft kit, a Memory Box Eucalyptus base, BG scraps from the Life of the Party line, and dies from PTI & MFT.  The sentiment is one I dusted off from Stampendous.

What helps you create sympathy cards?  Do you have a "go-to"?

Thinking of others

Here's another card I made using the goody bag from the PTI convention.  I *heart* BG as much as I *heart* PTI, so it was fun to combine the two!

The BG paper parts have been sitting waiting for me to use them for like a year.  They were left over from other projects, but the colors are one of my fav combos so I couldn't bear to toss them.

Another sympathy card, so I kept it CAS.  The doily die is from MFT and I think it really gives a nice focal point for this kind of card.   Hope I don't have to use it anytime soon.

Things are going well for the corgi and I'll post an update in Cad tomorrow!

It's a Color Challenge!

Today at Top Tip Tuesday we are challenging you to use color, but just certain colors. :)  Any shade, but your challenge is to use green, blue, and brown.  Here's what I came up with...

It's a soft and simple sympathy card.  None of us enjoy having to give these cards, but I try to have a couple on hand when they are needed.

This was a quick card to assemble since I had the punched papers already cut.  Playing around with a variety of pre-cut papers in the shades we were calling for in the color challenge, these had just the comforting feel I was looking for in this card.

I conned talked my in-laws into helping punch a bunch of old paper a while back (mentioned it here in the studio tour) and it really pays off 'cause I just pull out the color(s) I am looking to use and play around 'til it looks just right. :)

So what can you do with green, blue, and brown????  Come join us in the fun!

I'm paying a call at these lovely spots:
The Shabby Tea Room- Mix and Match 3 pattern papers (I made the pattern on the kraft base)
Papertake Weekly- Anything Goes
The Kraft Journal- Walk in my garden

Sympathy Card and Question

Sympathy cards are not much of a staple in my stash.  Often if I am making a sympathy card it's for a particular person.  This Hero Arts image is often a go-to for the sympathy cards I need to make because it is so large it helps fill the space without cluttering the cardfront.

CAS is my mantra when making this type of card.  I really struggled with adding the bakers twine even because I was worried that the fibers would change the vibe of the card.  It looked a little too plain without anything though. 

I've dropped this card off at these sites:
Stampin Royalty- Use your markers
Frosted Designs- No pattern paper
Allsorts Challenge- Inspired by nature


What are your tips for creating sympathy cards?  These are such meaningful cards.  Please, let's share those helpful hints here in blogland.

Dragonfly sympathy

This dragonfly is one of my favorites because it's so lovely and easy to color.  Clean and simple is tricky for me, but I've been practicing.  It's all about the layering for me on this one.  I think that helped me step away from the bling and flowers. :)

These are the Copics I used to color this Magenta stamp.  I actually remembered to post this for a change. :)

Hope this first project from the mini stash was inspiring.

Don't forget to stop by Top Tip Tuesday for this week's tip and challenge.  Carol is hosting a great tut on word shape books!  There are prizes from TTT and from Carol!!!!   Use a sentiment, make a work shape book, or leave a tip and you could win a prize from these cool sponsors...

http://www.pinkcatstudio.com/

http://www.catherinepooler.com/

I'm fluttering over to these places to link up my dragonfly cards:
The Shabby Tea Room- White and Bright
Our Daily Bread- Things with Wings
Stamp Something- Anything Goes
Pattie's Creations- Anything Goes
Pile It On- Anything Goes

Resolutions Update & Keep It Simple

This card was the Home Page Artist face for the week of August 10th at Gingersnap Creations!

Before I get to card business time to revisit the Summer Resolutions List (the stuff in blue is mission accomplished!)

The List (in no particular order)

1. paint upstairs hallway (I've had one coat up since April for cripes sake!) and laundry room

2. clean back bedroom (It's become the default junk room ugh!) kinda backslid though

3. work over the cable company for a new deal (I do this every summer) saved $40 a month

4. get crown moulding and built-ins installed in living room & repair screen door

5. take 2 tech classes for work (teachers don't party all summer :) we go to school:) )

6. open an Etsy store? (kinda on the fence here)

7. pay myself $1 for every time I walk the dog this summer- full disclosure $4 and a ticked dog!

8. re-certify my teaching license (this HAS to be done if I want to keep teaching. )

9. post 2 times a week items for all those challenges I want to play in!!! 

10. finish a scrapbook for a change!

4, 6, & 10 are 75% done.  This is already my most successful Summer yet!

Card Time!!!!  Here's the skinny for this week's SSDS challenge:
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday is looking for folks who can make a Clean and Simple card for this weeks throwdown.

If you've seen my other cards then you know CAS is no where in my vocabulary!  I think my mom and my grandpa would agree that "I did good".  :)  I got this Hero Arts stamp after my friend Lisa (78 thistles) made some stunning cards using this stamp.  I colored it with some Copics directly on the card and added the Amuse sentiment.  I thought this style card really lent itself to sharing sympathy with someone, but your card can have any theme.

Craftbrulee is our sponsor this week and they have provided an amazing prize package for the lucky winner of the challenge.  Check it out!

How fabulous is this package?!?  Wanna chance to win it?  Join us at SSDS and enter your "clean and simple" card!  Let me know if you join in, I'll stop by and give you some blog love. :)

I myself have entered this card here:
PaperPlay
Stampin Royalty 
Dutch Dare
Gingersnap Creations

With Sympathy

I've had the sad occasion to run out of sympathy cards.  I'm always torn about sending my sympathy cards.  I want to show that I care, but I worry that it looks like I am trying to show-off during someone's time of grief.  I used the same sketch as yesterday, but geesh the pics today look a little rough! 

Well my pictures didn't come out as well as I'd like, but I won't complain too much.  The wasn't much sunshine today to provide good lighting and we had a little rain.  I can live with some bad lighting if it means we get some wet stuff.  Gosh it's been too long since water came from the sky!  I only wish it would rain for a few more days.  I'd even take a rainy weekend if it meant my grass might come back and my flowers might somehow survive.

Any rain where you are?  Can you send it to New England?