IT'S BEEN A MONTH!

...RIGHT TO THE DAY!

A lot has happened since my last post.  Sometime before the end of August I started feeling extremely tired.  I thought it was just a case of anemia, so I took iron pills; but other symptoms started up.  When I went to the doctor, she took a urine sample.  Since it was Labor Day weekend, it took a week to come back--I had a serious kidney infection.  The first round of antibiotics had to be repeated before it finally started to clear up.  It was actually quite scary, and it took 3 weeks to regain my strength; but I'm fine now.

Meanwhile, my elderly diabetic cat was also quite sick and losing weight.  After running numerous tests, the vet could not find any reason for her deteriorating condition, so we had to put her down.  It was very sad, especially since she was our last pet.

Yesterday was my first day back in the Stamping Tower, and I made 15 Christmas cards to give our pastor for his use.  Love that MISTI!  

THREE OF A KIND--Psalm 145:18

I finally got a chance to use a new die which I purchased from Papertrey Ink.

These are pastor cards which I will deliver today.  I did them assembly line style in no time!

PAPER PLAYERS 332--Sentiment

Here's a sentiment with Biblical words of comfort and hope for those who believe in the Lord.  His "righteous right hand" is none other than Christ Himself, and He keeps His promises!  Thank you Paper Players for a card that will be going to our Pastor. Check out the other entries HERE.

As for the card, the challenge was to make the sentiment the focal point, and I chose a stamp that had some bold lettering large enough to fill up a lot of the space.  For the design at the bottom, I used the top half (upside down) of a split stamp set  from Papertrey Ink.(Just a Note.)  I stamped it in green to match the SU! dsp underneath.

We're having some unseasonably warm weather here in NW NJ, so I've been airing out the house a bit and getting a head start on Spring Cleaning.  I'm looking forward to longer, less dreary days ahead!

THREE OF A KIND--Dragonflies

The Dragonfly Dreams bundle from SU! was just too irresistable, and these cards lived up to my expectations!

I don't see any dragonflies here in New Jersey during the winter, so it's uplifting to see something summery on a card.  These were all easy to make, and they will be going to our pastor for his use.

ONE LAST CHRISTMAS CARD (AGAIN)

I made a dozen of these for our pastor.  It took about an hour for all 12 since they were so simple.

Using the Christmas star die really helped it to go fast.  I attached it with a SU dimensional after silver embossing the message.  Doing cards "assembly line" style is what works best!

TWO MORE PASTOR CARDS

These two cards were made using a clear stamp set with matching die from Paper Trey Ink.  They have a lot of little stamp sets for $5 each, such as the splits I've posted before and this little set.  There are a variety of sayings that go with "blessed," whether you use the die or not.  (The die is also $5.)

They also had a Thanksgiving stamp set which I plan to try later on this week--so stay tuned!

BIRDSEED CARD

This little bird is just perfect for this card on which I added some birdseed at the bottom.  Very appropriate, don't you think?

After using some brown ink on the beak, feet and tail of the bird, I popped him up on the card. This will make a nice pastor card.

The message is from the SU! "Trust God" set, which I enjoy using a lot.

WOODGRAIN EXPERIMENT

I've been admiring the wood backgrounds that look like boards or barn siding, so I came up with my own.

Using the woodgrain  background stamp I already have, I stamped it on white with Pumice Stone Distress Ink.  I cut the panel to 4 x 5 1/4" and used my ScorPal to make "boards" 1" wide.  After making the grooves, I used a ruler and gray marker to color them.  Then I drew lines across at varying intervals.

This will make a nice masculine card for our pastor to use.

PAPER PLAYERS #306

This week's challenge was a Tic-Tac-Toe choice.  I opted  for the diagonal "Enamel Dots, Patterned Paper, Die Cut."  Since I don't have a small butterfly die, I used my SU punch instead.

The butterfly was punched from an empty  cardboard tissue box.  They have such nice designs now that I hate to just throw them away!

SIMPLE SATURDAY #45

PASTOR CARD

What a wonderful Psalm of encouragement!  When the Lord is on our side, we have the best help of all.

Here's an example:

The other night as we traveled home on Rte. 80 the tire pressure light went on just before the exit.  Since I was already in the right-hand lane (I have poor night vision) I was able to exit almost immediately.  By the time we got to the end of the exit ramp, the tire was flatter than a pancake!  I was able to pull well off the road a few feet ahead, thankfully.  As we waited for AAA to arrive and mount our spare, I could only think of how much worse it might have been!  The Lord was truly gracious in getting us safely home.

PASTOR CARD

This card started out with stamping the bird image, cutting it out and coloring the bird.  I set that aside and then proceeded to "build" a background for the Bible quote.

After die cutting the light blue piece with a rectangular stitched die, I cut it again with a smaller die to create a frame.  Then I glued it over the  darker blue and added the verse at the top and mounted the bird with dimensionals.

For a final touch, I tied a silver cord around the bottom right of the frame and made a knot.

QUICK PASTOR CARD

All I had to do for this one was adhere the strip of scalloped cs to the bottom of a piece of dsp from my stash.  The bird design was already printed on the paper which I cut so that it would be on the lower right corner. 

Once the background was glued down to the card front, all I had to do was stamp the word "Blessings" on a scrap of white cs, punch it out and glue it to the scallop punched scrap.  After mounting it on on the card with dimensionals, the card was ready to use.

SIMPLE PASTOR CARD

This card features a silver banner, although it looks like a print here.  The dsp I used was light enough to stamp the verse over it.

The strip across the bottom of the banner is a piece of scrap from my scrap bin.  After gluing it down, I popped the banner up with dimensionals.

Another easy card that will be put to good use!

PASTOR CARD FOR TEEN BOY

I thought this verse would be encouraging for a young man  heading off to college or out to the working world.  We could all use this reminder from the Psalms, don't you think?

The only embellishment here are the three color-coordinated sequins and the matching embroidery floss at the bottom.

MASCULINE PASTOR CARDS, PART II

Using blocks of color or patterns helps in making a card more masculine--as long as there are no flowers.

I saw a version of the card on the left with the punched square, but I can't remember where I saw it.  My apologies to the designer.  The card on the right was a pretty standard design.  It really is easy when you use a pad of coordinated dsp since all the colors will match.

MASCULINE PASTOR CARDS

Our pastor recently requested some masculine cards, so this is one of the images I used.  Black and white certainly works for more manly cards.  Notice the absence of flowers.

To add just a hint of color, I added some beige and brown chalks on the geese.

These were simple to make once I came up with the design!

PAPER PLAYERS #284

Paper Players this week is a sketch, and I also plan to give this card  to our pastor for his use..

I got the color scheme from a SU! pad of dsp I bought at a garage sale last summer.  I like the brightness of the colors, tempered with the gray.

As you can see, I'm still thrilled to use the Botanical Blooms dies.  The flower sequins have been in my stash for ages, and there were some purple ones that matched--amazing!

Check out the other entries HERE.

MORE PASTOR CARDS

A package of stencils, some sponges and inks, and just one stamp set and, as Frenchie would say, "Voila!"
Since I had made a bunch of similar cards the other day, it took very little time to do these.

Here's a secret:  Since only a border of dsp shows around the edges, I die cut the middles out to use on other cards!

PASTOR CARD--Psalm 124:8

This was a super easy card to design and make.  Starting with a white card base, I added the dsp on the front.  The more colorful strip is just a piece of the reverse design.

After a quick search through my cardstock scraps, I pulled out this matching gold one and die cut the oval for a background.  I used a smaller oval for the verse and glued them together.  Then I mounted them on the front with dimensionals.

For the only embellishment, I made a slit on the left fold and wrapped the jute around the card front, tying just a knot.

It really is amazing how using some dsp and a little twine can make such an impact on a card!