Regal Rose & Pumpkin Pie

While on the Stampin' Up demonstrator site, I saw a couple of pretty cards using the larger flower in the Reason to Smile set. They were simple cards yet very pretty. So after I finished working on the cards for Saturday's class, I wanted to see what I could come up with using the larger flower. I enjoy two-step stamping and I wanted to use Regal Rose and Daffodil Delight for the flowers. There was a little too much white space on the strip of cardstock I stamped, so I inked up the small flower print butterfly stamp from the Papillon Potpourri set, inked it up with Pumpkin Pie ink and filled in that space. The sentiment is from Curly Cute and where there are butterflies, you know I will have at least one of the butterflies from the Beautiful Wings embosslit. I am definitely getting my $5's worth from the Reason To Smile set! Have a nice day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Happy 4th of July!

We are very blessed to live in this country. Have a wonderful and safe day as you celebrate!

Pleasant Poppies

When I think of poppies, I think of the little artificial flowers that you receive when you make a donation to the Veterans of Foreign War and/or the American Legion Auxiliary volunteers who distribute them in return for donations to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans. I was a young girl when I first became aware of the poppy and that significance. I can remember both my Dad and my Grandpa donating money and hanging the poppy on the rear view mirror in the car. As I got older, I followed in their footsteps, but I attach the poppy to my purse. So when I first saw the Pleasant Poppies stamp, that was my first thought--red flowers to honor our veterans. But after stamping the poppy images and embossing them with black embossing powder, I decided to take an entirely different direction. I colored the images using pink and yellow ink and blender pens, embellishing the pink card with black ribbon and the yellow poppies with black butterflies. I see many options with this one stamp and will share my future Pleasant Poppies creations with you. Have a wonderful day!

Another Reason To Smile

We had a great weekend beginning on Friday at the Eyes To The Skies Festival in Lisle, Illinois. Our friend, Tom Steinbock of Crestwood, Kentucky brings his hot air balloon and participates in the festivities and we are part of his crew. Then on Saturday, it was the Jimmy Buffett concert in Tinley Park. I enjoy Jimmy Buffett and his music, but I opted to listen to his concert on Margaritaville Radio (in the comfort of my air conditioned home) while my husband, daughter and thousands of other Parrotheads braved the heat and partied the day and evening away. Sunday was Cherie's Group card class and as always, we had a stampin' good time. And here is today's card which was influenced by the Jimmy Buffett music I listened to while stamping on Saturday night. It is very cheerful thanks to many fun elements beginning with the color combo of Regal Rose and Pool Party. The Regal Rose cardstock was embossed using one of the new embossing folders, Fancy Fan. Stamped images are from the Reason to Smile, Friendly Phrases and Four Seasons stamp sets. And don't forget, during the month of July, when you place a $50 or more order you can purchase the Reason To Smile stamp set for $5. This offer is limited to one per customer. For the finishing touch I added Pool Party Baker's Twine~~not only fun, but a rather inexpensive way to embellish your paper crations. The Baker's Twine is available in many colors and is priced at only $2.95 for 25 yards! Have a nice day and keep cool.