Time to Blossom

Do you even get hooked on a sentiment and you just can't stop using it? That's what has been happening with me lately with two stamps. One is from Close to My Heart and says "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and will sing it back to you when you forget the words." The other one is stamp I used below. 

Mojo Monday Sketch #387

In case you can't read it clearly it says "And the day come when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." I have always loved this powerful, inspirational message. Searching for a stamp with this quote on it was how I first found out about Verve Stamps. It got pushed to the back of the stamp rotation for a while, but it has been seeing a lot of ink lately. 

This card is based on the latest sketch from Mojo Monday.

This card if perfect for the current Work it Wednesday at Simon Says Stamp. They are looking for a spring theme. Well, not only does this card have flowers on it, the sentiment really evokes a springtime image of buds opening.  

The Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Special Lady/Girly," so I'm entering 

this card in that challenge as well. 

Paper: Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go, Bazzill Arizona

Stamp: Verve "To Risk"

Ink: Momento Nautical Blue

Punch: Stampin Up Boho Blossoms

The Song in Your Heart

I used one of my favorite sentiments "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and will sing it back to you when you forget the words." If you look closely, there are little blue birds printed on the paper.

I used a Pearl Pen to make pearls in the center of the flower and to decorate the scallop strip on the left.

The Monday Challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is "Just a hint of clover." Ok, my card sure fits with that. The Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Special Lady/Girly," so I'm entering this card in that challenge as well. 

The Whimsy Stamps challenge right now is "Use a Sentiment." Easy enough. 

Paper: Stampin' Up Everyday Enchantment
Stamp: Close to My Heart
Ink: Stampin' Up
Border Punch: EK Success
Bling: Viva Decor Pearl Pen Cream
Ribbon: American Crafts
Flower: Stampin' Up Cherry Blossom Embosslits Die

Smooch!

This card is part of my on-going attempt to make one card from each Operation Write Home sketch. OWH always wants love cards. That's so much fun for me because love cards are fun to make, but I don't have that many opportunities to use them myself. 

I'm really pleased with this card. If only I had more of the green and black flowered paper I'd make several more. Too bad. This card was made using some of the smallest pieces left from a pad of paper. 

The Monday Challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is "Just a hint of clover." Hmm. My card has maybe a bit more than a hint of green.  

 

OWH Sketch #224

The Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Special Lady/Girly," so I'm entering this card in that challenge as well. 

Sketch: Operation Write Home #224

Paper: Kaisercraft Chapter One
Washi Tape: From stash, sorry the roll is not labeled
Stamp: Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday

Scrappy Card for Mom

The deadline for getting Mother's Day cards to Operation Write Home is March 31, so it is prime time to make cards for mom. Sentiments like the one I used on this card are great because they don't say "Mother's Day," and can be used at other times of the year. 

The Mod Sqad Challenge this week is make a background. That's great! It allowed me to use one of my favorite techniques for using up scraps. 

The card base looks black in this picture, but it is actually navy blue to match the mat layer under the sentiment. I rounded off two corners on the card base and the matching two corners on the sentiment.

The Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Special Lady/Girly," so I'm entering this card in that challenge as well. 

Sentiment: Hero Arts Happy Mom's Day
Ink: Momento Navy Blue
Embossing folder: Elizabeth Craft Designs

Spring Coffee Lovers Bloghop

Right now the Coffee Loving Card Makers are hosting a blog hop. 

To participate, blogs need to feature a card with a coffee, tea of cocoa project with a spring theme. 

That sounded like sort of an odd pairing at first, but once I pulled out my coffee- and tea-related stamps the ideas started clicking.

I still have a few of the little bunnies and duckies that Sandy Allnock sent me last year. After inking up just the mug part of my stamp, I stamped it once on a white circle. Then I inked up just the steam portion of the stamp with grey ink and stamped that above the mug. 

Then I used my craft knife to cut a little slit at the top of the mug and stuck the little duck head through from the back of the circle. 

The card base was pre-printed. I chose a sentiment that seemed to fit ("sending warm fuzzies"). The sketch is from Viva la Verve.

Stamps: Art Impressions Bunny & Ducky Mini Set,  Fiskars Perfect Blend and Hero Arts Everyday Sayings
Card Base: DCWV
Paper: Webster's Pages Together
Ink: Studio G

Friendly Birds

I made this card using one of my favorite sentiment stamps. Whenever I have paper with birds on it this stamp comes out. The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge for March is "Birds of a Feather." That's great because birds are one of my favorite themes. 

I was not completely happy with the card I made earlier with a Viva la Verve sketch. So, I'm giving the first - February sketch from Viva la Verve another try.

I layed the card out before gluing it down. This card needed something extra so I sanded the edges of the white core cardstock used for the mat layer and for the scalloped layer under the sentiment.  Then I used foam tape to pop up the scalloped sentiment frame so that there would be room for the embroidery floss behind it.

Viva La Verve February Sketch 1

Sketch: Viva la Verve
Paper: Crate Paper On Trend
Stamp: Close to My Heart
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede
Embordery Floss: From stash
Scalloped frame: Cut with Silhouette

Monster Truck for a Special Boy

The latest challenge from Our Daily Bread Designs is "No Coloring." They make a monster truck stamp that is perfect for this!

For the design of this card I used one of the February sketches from Viva la Verve. I turned the sketch on its side to accommodate the large truck image. Otherwise, I used the sketch pretty literally. 

The sentiment came with the truck stamp. On the stamp the word "Boy" is under "Special." I inked the words separately so that the sentiment could fit on a longer strip. The tire tracks stamp also came in the same set. 

Viva la Verve February 2015

Because the Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Anything Goes," I'm entering this card there as well. 

Paper: DCWV Animal Prints Stack and Bazzill Arizona
Stamps: ODBD Special Boy
Ink: Versafine Sepia