May Your Home Be Filled With Love

Home is a special place for me. It is a place where I feel safe, secure and loved. Our children are grown and on their own and establishing  homes of their own. We have made so many memories here and we are always excited when they come "home" for a visit. We want them to fill the same about home - a place where they can come and feel safe, secure and loved.

So when I found this sweet little sentiment from a very old Hero Arts mini stamp set, I thought it was perfect for a card for them.

These sweet little birds from my WPLUS9 die set look like they are right at home too :-)

SENTIMENT: Hero Arts
EMBOSSING FOLDERS: Sizzix
DIE SET: WPlus9 Folk Art Floral

"Where we love is home ~ home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Cha Cha Cha

I recently received my Hero Arts OMBRE inks and an adorable Penny Black Stamp Poppy Trio. I watched Jennifer McGuire's video several time to get the hang of using the new OMBRE ink. However, my "Cha Cha Cha" movement took a while to master. Think I still need some more practice but it will do for now. Loving the shades in each of the sets of Hero Arts OMBRE ink.

Here is what I was able to accomplish:

Sentiment: HERO ARTS Messages With Flourishes
Ink: HERO ARTS OMBRE ~ Pink to Red (However I turned it in a way that mine was Red to Pink.)
Embossing Folder: Darice
Stamp: Penny Black ~ Poppy Trio
Lawn Fawn Circle Stackables

Got to practice my "CHA CHA CHA" a little more :-)

Thank you for stopping by!

"Friends fill your Life with joy, your Soul with sunshine and your Heart with love."

Challenge: Pastels

I absolutely love these Penny Black Flowers and this sweet, sweet Simon Says Stamp. This is my second go at this design and I used much softer colors on this one.

I will be entering it in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Pastels

Flowers: Penny Black ~ Petal Party

Sentiment: Simon Says Stamp Blessed

Die: Penny Black Petals

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me." ~ Erma Bombeck

Sizzix Tim Holtz Embossing Diffusers

I have had this Sizzix Tim Holtz Embossing Diffusers set for quite a while and had not used them. I decided to "google" it since I really didn't have a clue as to where to begin. Thank goodness for YouTube and Jennifer McGuire ! You can check out her other amazing creations on her blog here.

I fell in love with this Floral embossing folder by the Paper Studio that I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

It is really hard to tell from the photos but the one above was used with the smaller diffuser in the center and the Floral embossing folder so that when I ran it through only part of the Floral embossing folder was raised. I then ran it back through using the larger diffuser with a different embossing folder because the background looked too plain without some texture. (I know this sounds really confusing so watch Jennifer's YouTube on this.)

 For the one below I used a different embossing folder and the larger diffuser which left the center smooth. I stamped the flower from my new Technique Tuesday Cosmo Clear stamp ~ love those flowers! Kind of the same effect as the one above yet different.

Okay ~ too much technical information ~

Thank you ever so much for stopping by. Hope you are having a glorious day!

"Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they are there."

You Are Amazing

I love this Lawn Fawn stamp set and Verve Sentiment. I was inspired by Debby Hughes.

Sentiment: Verve ~ So Fluttery
Flowers: Lawn Fawn Our Friendship Grows
Die: Lawn Cuts ~ "Our Friendship Grows Set"
Butterflies: Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch
Spellbinders: Scalloped Rectangles
Background: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Looks like we might be warming up here in South Georgia ~ Hallelujah. I actually saw a bloom on one of my azaleas. Spring ~ we have missed you ~ Welcome Home!

"Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content."

Philippians 4:11

Have Faith

I was totally inspired by this card from Judy Jung on Penny Black Blog.  So I totally cased it.

I used a combination of Tim Holtz Distress Inks for the background. I ran it through my Vagabond using Penny Black Petals die. The flowers are Penny Black Stamp: Petal Party.  I used my Cuttlebug folder with little tiny dots for the embossed background. (One of my "go to" embossing folders!)

And I LOVE my Simon Says Stamp set BLESSED. The sentiment is from that set.

Hope you are in a warm, dry place!

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

2 Timothy 2:15

Some Days Are Just Confusing

I don't know how many of you struggle occasionally with the design or colors or focus that you want your card to have. Some days it is easy for me and other days I really do a lot of web searching for inspiration. I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

I didn't have to do much stamping or cutting. The Designer Tag is The Paper Studio. I got several packages of the butterfly from Michael's. The Die Cut is K&COMPANY. I stamped the sentiment "Hi" on it and that was about the extent of it. One of my super simple cards. I loved how it turned out. 

I am not sure what most of you put on the inside of your cards but for me finding a sentiment or coming up with something other than "Thinking of You" can be challenging. I do a lot of searching on the internet for suggestions.

I found this "sentiment" and used it in this card. It fits me perfectly on some days:

"I was just sitting here thinking of you, 

and wondering if you were thinking of me, 

and if so, were you thinking of me thinking of you 

and I got so mixed up, I forgot why I'm sending you this card!"

My friend will get a chuckle out of it.

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

Colossians 2:6-7