A New Adventure

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   One of my favorite people and mentors from work is retiring at the end of the month. I'm going to miss her so much. She's always there to lend a sympathetic ear and she's so smart and funny. I really rely on her being around during the day. I'm going to have to make sure that we keep in touch outside of work because her friendship means so much to me.

Of course I have to send her off with a Faithful Inspirations creation, right? I used the "Wild about Flowers" stamp set because it has such great sentiments for retirement cards--and beautiful floral designs.

I stamped the flower stems in Wild Wasabi onto a 3-3/4" by 5" Whisper White Card Stock panel and added the flowers in Sweet Sugarplum.  The see-through photopolymer stamps make it easy to place the flowers right on the stems.  The sentiment is also stamped in Sweet Sugarplum.

I added this to a 3-7/8" by 5-1/8" Sweet Sugarplum Card Stock mat and then tied on a length of Sweet Sugarplum Ruched Ribbon. I adhered this to a Thick Whisper White Card Stock Card base.

This design is so sweet and I've always loved a pink and green color combination.  I think this is a great card to wish my friend the best of luck on her new adventure!

tams# 12964

Product List

Wild About Flowers Photopolymer Stamp Set [138728] $21.00	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad [141395] $6.50	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad [126959] $6.50	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $7.00
Sweet Sugarplum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [141418] $8.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Sweet Sugarplum 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon [141428] $8.00

Textured Sympathy

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   Have you ever looked through the Stampin' Up catalog and found a set that you had to have, right this minute? And then you order it and it arrives at your house and you wonder what in the world you were thinking of doing with it? Yeah, me, too!

The "Timeless Textures" stamp set was the one calling my name when the last Stampin' Up catalog came out. I didn't get it right away. But it kept calling and calling and finally I got it. And then I never used it because I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I usually have an idea in my mind of a card I want to create as I'm ordering a stamp set, but by the time I got around to actually getting this one, I had NO idea.

Pinterest to the rescue! I searched for cards that use this set and I'm sharing one today and one tomorrow that I've CASEd (copy and share everything) from some amazing stampers. Today's card is inspired by UK stamper Julia Jordan.

I started with a Very Vanilla panel and stamped one of the textures from the "Timeless Textures" set in Delightful Dijon along the side. Next, I stamped the stem and flowers from one of the designs in the "Wild About Flowers" set in Basic Black Archival Ink. I dried this with my heat tool to make sure the black ink was set before mounting it to a Basic Black mat. 

I tied a length of Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine at the bottom and adhered it to a Crumb Cake card base using Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from the "Rose Wonder" set and is stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink.

This card came together quickly and I think it makes for an elegant sympathy card.

tams# 8291

Product List

Wild About Flowers Photopolymer Stamp Set [138728] $21.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] $20.00	Rose Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set [140697] $27.00	Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin' Pad [138327] $6.50
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $7.00	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $8.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $8.00	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $9.00
Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine [141682] $3.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00	Heat Tool [129053] $30.00

A Sad Goodbye

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   My family and I moved into our current house when I was 6 months pregnant with twins.  My twins will turn 17 next month.  I sometimes can't believe how quickly time flies. We are so fortunate to live in a place with wonderful neighbors. Next door to us is a man and his wife and the mother/mother-in-law. They are the friendliest, sweetest, salt of the earth people that you could ever hope to meet. We've been blessed to have them as neighbors...and friends.

The mother, "Miss Ruth" to my kids, was just the sweetest person of all. She loved my kids as if they were her own grandkids. It was always a treat to drive into our driveway and see Miss Ruth on her front porch and giving us a wave and a smile. She always invited us over for a visit. When the kids were small, we went over often, but they grew and it wasn't so easy to get them over there--and we were always busy running here and there to sports and school activities. Even still, Miss Ruth was always there with a smile and a wave and an invitation to come over "anytime."

Miss Ruth passed away last week. We're sure going to miss her smile and wave.

Here's the card I made for her daughter and son-in-law. I used four stamp sets on this simple card! (I was inspired by a similar card I saw on Pinterest.)

I stamped the flower stems from the "Wild About Flowers" set in Old Olive onto a Whisper White panel. I stamped the flower tops in Crushed Curry. I added this panel to a Rich Razzleberry mat and then, using Stampin' Dimensionals, onto a Thick Whisper White card base, cut lengthwise.

I stamped a small butterfly from the "Papillon Potpourri" set in Rich Razzleberry and punched it out with the Bitty Butterfly Punch. I folded the butterfly in half so that it would have some dimension and added it to the card with a Glue Dot.

Next, I stamped the sentiment and label from from the "Rose Wonder" set in Rich Razzleberry onto a Whisper White scrap and cut it out with the matching Rose Garden Thinlits. I adhered this to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Inside the card, I thought the sentiment from the "Heartfelt Sympathy" set was perfect. It's also stamped in Rich Razzleberry, but not pictured:  "Remembering the life of someone so special, and sending thoughts of sympathy and peace." Miss Ruth certainly was someone special and we'll miss her!

tams# 7978

Product List

Wild About Flowers Photopolymer Stamp Set [138728] $21.00	Papillon Potpourri Clear Stamp Set [123759] $15.00	Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle [140804] $49.25	Heartfelt Sympathy Photopolymer Stamp Set [138764] $17.00
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953] $6.50	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173] $6.50	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad [126950] $6.50	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $7.00
Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115316] $8.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Bitty Butterfly Punch [129406] $16.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00
Glue Dots [103683] $5.25

Retirement Flowers

#stampinup   A good friend is retiring this week. I'm excited for her--she has so many adventures ahead of her. But, I'm a little sad for myself. I'll miss our end of day chats. I'll miss traveling with her. I'm hoping that we will keep up with each other as she steps into her new life.

Of course, I've made a card for her to tell her how much I'll miss her and wish her the best. In fact, I bought the "Wild About Flowers" set specifically because it contains a retirement sentiment. My friends at work and I are all nearing that time in our lives and I wanted to have a stamp set with nice words to usher my friends into the next stage of their lives.

I searched Pinterest for some ideas and I saw this wonderful card by Dawn Olchefske and knew I would CASE it. Dawn's work is always so pretty and I often find myself being inspired by her. I added a few of my own touches--but my card is very much inspired by Dawn.

I started with a Crumb Cake panel and used my Simply Scored Board to score three lines horizontally near the center. I wanted there to be a bit more space at the bottom so I could fit in the sentiment. I stamped the sentiment in Basic Black Archival Ink, and used my Stampin' Pierce Mat to ensure I'd get a good impression. I wrapped two lengths of Linen Twine just under the scoring before adhering this piece to a Basic Black mat. Then I adhered this to a Crumb Cake card base using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Dawn used all three flowers from the "Wild About Flowers" set for her card. I was too lazy to do that, so I used the same image. The stem is stamped in Old Olive onto Whisper White and the flowers are Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Melon Mambo. I punched the flowers out with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch. I adhered the stamped circles onto just larger circles of Old Olive that I cut using the Circles Framelits. I adhered these to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

For a final touch, I tied a bow of Linen Thread onto the strands of thread I'd already added to the card. Dawn's design is so cute and it was easy to make a quick, but sweet, retirement card for my friend.

 

tams# 6522

Product List

Wild About Flowers Photopolymer Stamp Set [138728] $21.00	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $7.00	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953] $6.50	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [126944] $6.50
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [126945] $6.50	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad [126948] $6.50	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $7.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $7.00
Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100702] $7.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $8.50	1-3/8" Circle Punch [119860] $16.00	Circles Collection Framelits Die [130911] $27.00
Linen Thread [104199] $4.50	Simply Scored [122334] $30.00	Stampin' Pierce Mat [126199] $5.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00