Spring Welcome!

I love this little bird stamp from Unity Stamp Co. & although I've had it for quite some time, this is the first time that I have used it!  I am so pleased with how it turned out!

I started out with a mono-printed background made with a Darice embossing folder (Damask) and Prima oil pastels.  When I spritzed the embossing folder in preparation for printing I added a little gold Perfect Pearls powder to the water so there is a subtle shimmer in the greens ~ I just love it!

I also used a "branch" stamp, inked once and stamped 4 times for different levels of intensity in the branches.  I had every intension of paper piecing the bird into the picture but decided that looking through the branches was wonderful!!

I used 3 colors of Nuvo Jewel Drops in orange, pink and lavender on the 'buds' of the branches.
It is finished with Simon Says Stamps Thanks die and a simple sage card base.

Hero Arts is sponsoring a fun challenge called "Never Seen Ink" and this little bird (and branch actually) fit right into that category for me. Check out all the entries or enter one your self at: https://heroarts.com/blogs/hero-arts-blog/stay-crafty-with-hero-challenge-2

I hope you can hear the cheerful praise coming from this little bird.  My prayers are with you and your families as we, the residents of Earth, combat this virus.  May you be among the people who are loving your neighbor as yourself.  Blessings friends,

Hello "Busiest Time of the Year"!!

Welcome to the beginning

of my Christmas Holidays

Offering you a quick share of inspiration

****

I think most of these are self explanatory.  If you have any questions please post in the comments.  I ~ like everyone ~ am a little busy but I will try to answer right away!!  Thanks for looking, I hope you find some inspiration here! 

~ SO ~

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

<~ 0 ~>

let the fun begin!!

       Cozy Sentiments --->

Made with scrap paper strips!                     

The air subtly sparkles on this one.

Make quick & easy matching envelopes with

inexpensive pads of 1 sided papers. They're

light weight & make pretty interiors.

     



























the bird is stamped, but all the rest are made
strictly from embossing & die cutting!!  I'm hoping to share some other great Christmas/Winter inspiration but if not...
God Bless You & Merry Christmas 💝

Jar Labels

Recently I've decided to start keeping all of my bulk kitchen items in glass jars, Mostly Ball Jars, but I also keep my eyes out for interesting glass jars, I tend to lean towards the tall skinny types.  I just think that they look neat!!!

I decided to make my own labels for the jars after I got 2 similar spices mixed up!!!  Plus it was just plain fun for me to get out my dies and inks ;) My dear friend, who I can attribute my appreciation for all things rustic, saw them and wanted a set for herself.  I made them to match the colors in her 1950's kitchen.  

I thought it would be fun to share what I did with you and I would love to hear if you have ideas or have done something similar and how you did it :)

   I started with 2 die cut shapes that I liked when layered and stamped them with herbal/classic images that I thought went well in a rustic or traditional flavor!  To further the antique look I used tea stain ink from Stampin' Up! and gently rubbed the edges. 

Extra points if you can figure

what spice will go behind this label!

   Once again, after choosing a font to die cut I aged the letters with the tea stain ink.

   It is important to gently bend and curve the labels to conform to the shape of your jars.  If they dry flat after being glued together it is really difficult to make them stick to a glass or plastic jar - they resist the flexing & want to pop off.

            

                                   
Cris sent me photos of how they looked on her awesome jar collection.  I knew you'd want me to share them with you!!

                         

                                         My kitchen is more browns, burgundy and green. After making Cris hers, I'm thinking I like the beautiful brightness of the turquoise and red. . . .hmmm, maybe I'll be blogging a kitchen color overhaul next!

Products used: Tim Holtz Upon a Time letter die, Framelits dies from Apothecary Accents, Stampin' Up! stamps~ Flora & Fauna, Rue Des Fleurs, Notably Ornate

Day 2 Growing in Unity ~ Encouragment

~ DAY 2 OF GROWING IN UNITY ~

 Welcome Friends! Whether you're ready to craft or just here to  explore, I hope today finds you feeling great and full of invincible spirit! 

Wouldn't you agree though, that sometimes we all need encouragement, especially when we find ourselves in the eye of the storm.  If that is you then even just making this next project may remind you to persevere,  and this too shall pass. . .  If you know someone going through a difficult time don't underestimate how much difference a note card of encouragement can make.

If any of you have teen agers at home you know how full of storms their lives can be. This little reminder is for my teen to display on an easel in her book shelf. (She loves ocean motifs)  I loved this design so much I decided to make a card to go along with the shelf sitter.  Both are made with the same techniques but different sentiments of hope and encouragement.

My idea was to use the cascading stars as the night sky mirrored by the deep, deep, dark ocean.  Unity has SO MANY great sentiments I would love to use with this design.  Like "A Certain Darkness is needed to see the stars" or John 14:27, or "the only time you should ever look back is to see how far you've come" ~ oh, and so many more!!

For Georgia I decided on "What Lies Within Us"  Great for a teen I think!  The card quotes Aslan from the Narnia Chronicles  "Courage Dear Heart."

I started with white cardstock proportionately deeper than the ship stamp.  I embossed the stars with white ink, a sprinkle of prismatic glitter and clear embossing powder.  I then rubbed them with the various inks pictured.  I wanted the depths to be very dark! 

PLEASE REMEMBER TO CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE THEM SUPER-SIZE & READ THE NOTES

The sky is star embossed navy cardstock & the addition of a tiny bit of gold glitter for added twinkle!  The horizon is shaded with  black ink.  I then decided that the giant swirl stamp from Unity's kit "Art & Soul" would make a great looking storm.  Samped in Stampin' Up!'s Illuminate Craft Ink (a glimmer watermark), It adds a clear silvery iridescence.  I stamped it pretty heavily.

Another note about coloring: I began by brightly coloring the ship's sails. Then I realized this was a night scene, so I added shadows to them with Zig watercolor oatmeal pen.  The difference is shown at right

Don't forget to leave your comment. 2 winners will be chosen from those who've  left comments on all 5 GIU posts on this blog!!!

A favorite song of hope ~ In The Eye of the Storm by Ryan Stevenson.  You can hear it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sx8wTnnfSc  along with a  beautiful pictorial of all the words. 

 

HERE ARE THE DIRECT LINKS TO THE RUBBER STAMPS USED IN THESE PROJECTS:

Small ship - Other Side of Fear  https://www.unitystampco.com/shop/other-side-of-fear/

What Lies Within Us {kom 11/14}  https://www.unitystampco.com/shop/what-lies-within-us-kom-1114/
Courage, Dear Heart https://www.unitystampco.com/shop/courage-dear-heart/
Midnight Kisses {kom 11/16}   https://www.unitystampco.com/shop/midnight-kisses-kom-1116/
Storm Swirl - Art & Soul  https://www.unitystampco.com/shop/art-soul/

Winter Cardinal

Water color blues & grays background

I love cardinals.  I think it is because of the startling red color of the males in the stark winter snow scape.  Lovely . . . .


This by far though, is my favorite bird stamp!  You can get it here:
http://www.franticstamper.com/Impression-Obsession--Cling-Mounted-Rubber-Stamp--By-Gail-Green--Snowy-Branch-Cardinal_p_115340.html

This was so pretty in person. I don't know why the lace
looks lumped but it wasn't & the card showed through
it.  The background was embossed with a clear
powder that has limited shimmer & sparkle. Subtle
but stunning in person!  The die cut star had a bit of
yellow water color on the inside & was then covered
in prisma glitter. It was then placed on a slightly
sparkling blue lace card stock

After stamping it and coloring it a couple of ways (water color background, vs water color cut out)  decided that I was obsessed with fussy cutting the whole thing and putting on different backgrounds!  I loved the simplicity of the snow scape at the bottom & use the stitched edge dies from Frantic Stamper (http://www.franticstamper.com/Frantic-Stamper-Precision-Die--Stitched-Scene-Builder-Edgers-set-of-4-dies_p_117394.html)

 

The red ribbon of paper is Peddlar's Pack Snow Flurry, stamped with white ink, cut to size & scalloped on one side. Then layered over a dark brown.  The background stamp is Stampin Up!'s  French Script in dark brown on Craft.  I love the natural element of this card but wanted just a bit of bling so I added the red sequins

 

    On this one I decided to try a wood grain embossing folder. This one is from  Tim Holtz ALTERATIONS. I inked the inside with several shades of green. After it was embossed I took a brown ink pad and rubbed across the raised areas.  Then a simple tag heat embossed with white branches, attached with brass brads holding the die cut sentiment JOY found at one of my favorite web sites https://www.papertreyink.com/pti-dies/papertrey-ink-holiday-double-cuts-die/ 
I layered ivory and olive ribbon beneath it putting that panel on top of a dark brown ~ pinking one edge & then onto cranberry cardstock.  I think this one is almost my favorite!!


Because I'm not a great photographer, here's what you can't see, but made a big difference in the finished product: 
1) All of the snow on the branches was covered with the Smooch Pearlized Top Coat
2) The berries were colored with 2 or 3 shades of red & orange
4) Each bird was lifted by dimensional tape (the star was flat against the background)
5) The background of the die cut "JOY" was heat embossed with Ivory branches.  I wanted to keep the clean look but didn't want a large blank space either.
6) The backgrounds shimmered like a cold sky behind the birds ~ I just loved the effect!