Love This Life for the Paper Players

“Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart.  Be ready.  Here comes life.”

~Maya Angelou

Good Morning!  This is the fun sketch this week over at The Paper Players at thepaperplayers.blogspot.com  For the three panels I used some burlap ribbon, the ships ledger from The Open Sea stamp set and some black and white washi tape (which is really Halloween bats but hopefully that isn’t noticeable!)  The base of the card is Basic Black with some grid paper from the Moonlight DSP stack mounted on Crumb Cake cardstock.  The ship is from The Open Sea stamp set and the sentiment is from the new Enjoy the Little Things stamp set.   The little flag on the end of the sentiment is cut from Basic Black Stitched Satin ribbon.  The sentiment on the inside of the card is from the Hello, Sailor stamp set.   I wasn’t sure about the black candy dots on the ribbon so I tried some black buttons, but wasn’t sure if they were too overpowering…which do you like better?  I also tried the candy dots coming down from the top of the burlap ribbon, but that look lopsided.  Choices, choices!  : )   Have a great day, Dawn   P.S. Thanks for stopping by and if you have time, click “Home” and scroll down to yesterdays post…it’s one of my all-time favorite cards that I’ve ever made! : )

Retro Sketch #208

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy.  They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

~Marcel Proust

I’m grateful for all the different design teams that offer such great stamping challenges.  I usually only have time to play the Global Design Project, but this week I’ve had extra stamping time.   This is the second time I’ve tried out a sketch over at http://retrosketches.blogspot.com/ and they are fun…WAY outside my box, but I love all the bits and pieces!

The plaid and the green Designer Series Paper (DSP) are both from the Adventure Bound paper stack.  The pine bough is from the Ornamental Pine stamp set and is stamped in Mossy Meadow ink.  I wiped the ink off the bottom twig and colored it with an Early Espresso marker.  The “Thank U” is stamped in Cherry Cobbler Ink and is from the A Round Array stamp set.  This will make a great thank you card at Christmas!

Happy Wednesday!  Dawn

Do You Hear What I Hear

“Do you hear what I hear, ringing through the sky, shepherd boy?  Do you hear what I hear, a song, a song, high above the trees, with a voice as big as the sea.”

~by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne

It’s snowing and raining here in central Maine this morning, which gives me a chance to do a little extra stamping.  Yay!  This morning I decided to play along with Merry Monday, a weekly Christmas Card challenge at http://merrymondaychristmaschallenge.blogspot.ca/  that really gives us incentive throughout the year to make our Christmas cards and have them all finished by the time the Christmas season is upon us.  Thanks, Merry Monday!  This weeks challenge is to make a card based on our favorite Christmas carol.  One of my favorites is “Do You Hear What I Hear”, so I decided to use Debbie Henderson’s idea to google sheet music and print it off for the card.  Thanks for that great idea Debbie!  I used a fun fold that I used last week for a “peachy” card for Brian King and that I learned from my friend Patti when she sent me this Easter card:

Patti’s daughter found the chicken wire on-line and printed it out.  So cute!  The card is 4 1/8″ wide and 11″ long, scored at 2 1/2″ and  6 3/4″.  The circle is cut out in the middle of the 2 1/2″ fold, like this:

This is the inside of my card for Merry Monday, with a sentiment from “All Ye Faithful” 2015 Christmas stamp set, and music notes from “Natures Pace” 2013 stamp set.  And here’s the front of the card with the googled sheet music and the shepherd and sheep from the “All Ye Faithful” stamp set.  The black circle is the circle that is cut out from base of the card.  Have a great day! Dawn

Dream Big for #GDP029

“Heal the past, live the present, dream the future.”

~Mary Engelbreit

What an unusual color combination to work with in the springtime!  The color challenge over at the Global Design Project at http://www.global-design-project.com this week is certainly different, but I combined it with another challenge, the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge, and it was the perfect duo!

I had a “big dream” for today’s card, but I also had a big dream this Easter weekend.  When my father-in-law and mother-in-law were first married, they were living overseas.  My mother-in-law decided to make her new husbands favorite pie…lemon meringue.  If you’ve ever made this pie, you know that it is labor intensive, and that meringue is always tricky.  Well, she slaved over this pie in a tiny little kitchen, and was quite proud of her accomplishment.  When my father-in-law tasted it, he remarked, “it’s good, but it’s not like my mothers.  She made “birds” on the meringue.”  Needless to say, my mother-in-law has NEVER made him another lemon meringue pie.  So, as they were coming to my house for Easter dinner, I decided to attempt a lemon meringue pie.  I wanted the meringue to “bead”…my mom always told me that was the sign of a good meringue.  Guess what…the big dream came true…it beaded!!!  : )  Ha ha, we dream big, but we enjoy the small things.  : )  Hope you had a beautiful Easter or Spring weekend. xoxo

And here’s my card for the two challenges, made with the “Enjoy the Little Things” stamp set and the Arrows and the Boho Chic Embossing Folders:

The card is 5″ square, so I had to make an envelope to fit it!

Have a wonderful week,

Dawn

“Peace” for #GDP028

“People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.  If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.  If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.  What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.  If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.  The good you to today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.  Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.  In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.”

~Mother Teresa

In light of the bombings in Brussels this week, I wanted to make a “Peace” card, so I decided to make a Christmas card.  What has appealed to me since the beginning of the Global Design Project is the universality of it…it makes it a peace initiative in my eyes, bringing together people from all over the world.  I love that…thanks, Global Design Project!  I love works of peace in any form, so I decided to add this great picture of my son Joseph, taken yesterday when he helped serve lunch at our local soup kitchen.  Way to go Joseph! (He’s watching me type, with a big grin on his face).  If you are new to Stamping Peace, Joseph has Down’s Syndrome and is one of the happiest people you could ever meet! 🙂

The challenge at the Global Design Project this week is a “Case the Designer” challenge.  I didn’t have much time this week so I didn’t change much with the design!  This was the very first time that I used the “Peaceful Wreath” stamp set…I wanted to test out everything so I had fun with the inside of the card too!

The green bow was made by a new technique that my stamping friend Sue Hayes sent to me.  Just tie the ribbon around a glue stick (or something smaller or larger) and tie a knot.  Slip the ribbon off and there will be a loop.  Cut the loop in half and there you have it!  It’s a pretty slick little trick. : )

A blessed Good Friday to you, and thanks to all for each and every little work of peace that you add to our world!

Stamping Fun at the High School

“One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.”

~Lewis Carroll

This morning Joseph and I went to his old high school to stamp with his old class.  Well, he didn’t get to stamp because he was my helper, but here he is stamping after we got home.  : )  We had so much fun with Tania, Michael, Dustin, Kylee and Kendra. (I’m forgetting somebody!)   They were awesome stampers and made cute spring cards for their family members!  We used the Honeycomb Happiness stamp set for the little chick, From the Garden stamp set for the sign and little bow, the Handpicked Framelits to cut out the sign and bow, the Circle of Spring stamp set for the “hello spring” sentiment and the Suite Sayings stamp set for the interior sentiment.  A good time was had by all and Joseph and I are very thankful to have such an fun opportunity to “do for others.”  🙂   See you next month, Mrs. Emerson and Ms. Lisa’s class!

   

You’re A Peach for #GDP027

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

Good Morning and thanks for stopping by!  This week there is a theme challenge over at the Global Design Project and the theme is “thank you.”

Each of the designers at the challenge made a card for a loyal participant and I got the surprise of my life when Brian King chose me to send his card to.  It arrived in the mail yesterday and is just the sweetest card ever.  Thank you Brian!  I decided I wanted to make a card for Brian, and seeing that he lives in Georgia, I went searching for a Georgia peach.  : )  I found one in the Hostess “Silhouettes & Script” stamp set.  The embossing folder that I used on the body of the card is an old one called “Vine Street.”  I used “Gorgeous Grunge” for the background behind the peach.  Colors are Calypso Coral, Garden Green and Crumb Cake.  The “thanks” on the inside of the card comes from a photopolymer stamp set called “Another Thank You.”  I was looking for a script that would match the front of the card and this one did the trick.

Thank you for your friendship and stamping inspiration Brian…you’re a peach!  : )  Have a great weekend everyone.  We’re off to the Boston Garden Show, hopefully I’ll be able to bring home some beautiful pictures!

Peace, Dawn

Whitney’s St. Patrick’s Day Card

“May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sunshine warm your face, The rain fall soft upon your fields, And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

~An Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick’s Day with this cute card made by my friend and neighbor, Whitney.  She used the Owl Punch for the black pot of gold, and the Cupcake Builder Punch for the heap of gold.  Very clever Whitney!  Wishing us all the luck of the Irish today!  : )

Hello Spring!

“How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.”

~George Elliston

Good Morning from Maine and welcome to all of our visitors from Brian King’s blog!  What a funny surprise when I checked his blog this morning to see the weekly Global Design Project and discovered my photograph.  Thanks, Brian!  If you don’t already play along with the Global Design Project, come join us…it’s a lot of fun and really helps the creative process.

We have stamping classes today and tomorrow at my house, and this is one of the cards we are making.  This is the Circle of Spring stamp set and the little pink line on the bottom is from the Sale-A-Bration Hello stamp set.  The inside sentiment is from Suite Sayings and says “Wishing you all the beautiful blessings of Easter.”

If you follow my blog, you have heard about my friend Barbara who has uterine cancer that has spread to colon, liver and lung.  She has four boys, the youngest in 8th grade, so we are really praying hard for her healing.  This morning she is in surgery for the colon cancer and we are praying that the doctors can remove every speck.  Thank you again to our faithful blog reader and friend, Nancy Farrell, who crocheted Barbara a prayer shawl which I posted earlier.  This is a card that I made this weekend for Barbara.  It’s made with the Tag It Stamp Set.

You Can Never Have Too Much Happy!

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.

~Clarence W. Hall

This card started out being for a color challenge of Blushing Bride, Pool Party and Mint Macaron, but some dark green made its way in, so it’s back to the drawing board!  In the meantime, this card turned out to be a beauty!  I saw this idea of putting a sentiment in the middle of the wreath over on Brian King’s blog a couple of weeks ago.   This card says Happy Easter on the inside.  The wreath is from the Circle of Spring stamp set, the sentiment is from the Yippee-Skippee stamp set and the butterflies are cut from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.  Have a great weekend!  Peace, Dawn