Product Review

Today's blog post is a bit different from my usual - no card.
Instead, I wanted to let you know about a company, Commercial Palm Trees.  They are a leader in the manufacturing of indoor/outdoor palm trees, exclusively for commercial projects and wholesale trade.

 A company representative contacted me last month, offering me a free product in exchange for a review.  I was totally amazed at the amount of trees and plants shown on their website.  I had no idea artificial plants could look so real and be used in such a dynamic, beautiful way.

  Because I do not have any commercial property that needs landscaping, I ordered some silk flowers from their sister site.  Each person who sees these Peonies on my dining room table is confused because it is not Peony season.  They have to feel the petals to see if they are real.

We had a Ficus bush in our entry way which grew to 8 feet tall over We had it for 20 years.  It recently died.  So sad.  I will not live long enough for another plant to grow to that size.  Maybe one of the beautiful artificial plants might be a better choice.

Now head over to the Commercial Palm Trees site.  You will be blown away at the amazing landscapes created with this companies products.

Here is a special deal I am allowed to offer you, my readers.  If you buy products from the sister site, Silk Plants Direct,  you can save 10% by using this code BLOGGER10.
If you are a blogger and are interested in participating in their product review campaign, please comments and email me for more information.  If I refer you, you will receive free product to review and  I will receive a $30.00 product after your post goes live.

Time for Mother's Day Cards

All of a sudden April is half over which means Mother's Day is just a month away so I made a bunch of Mother's Day cards (and some Father's Day cards too) to send off to Send A Smile 4 Kids.  I didn't take pics of all of them but here is one that I remembered to photograph.

Love this piece of designer paper in my stash.  The cup and flowers are a Jessica Lynn Original digital stamp which I colored with Copics and then fussy cut.  I added another flower at the end of the sentiment.
The circles are cut with MFT Die-namic Circle Stax dies. 
Sketch is MFT

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - add texture
All Sorts - Spring flowers
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Joy Clair - anything
CardzTV - anything

Another Reminder

Every day is a gift.  Yes, even the rainy days!
After I made the rain/sunshine card yesterday, I made two cards with this sentiment: every day is a gift.
For one of the cards, I stamped the flower and stems with black ink.

 For the second card, I stamped the flower with lavender ink and the stems and leaves with green.

I think I like this second "no line" card the best.
The flower and the sentiment are from the Altenew Fresh Freesia stamp set.
I cut an oval out of the patterned paper with a Spellbinder Oval die and then made a olive green frame with two of the Spellbinder Oval dies.
The image was colored with Copics and Prisma Pencils.

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - add texture
Die Cut Divas - anything
Altenew - inspiration photo
Joy Clair - anything
CardzTV - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
MFT - sketch

A Reminder to Me

Rain.  I'm so tired of rain.  And I still am not feeling well so my attitude tanked yesterday and I started feeling very sorry for myself.   I decided to work on a few cards, hoping to get my mind off the weather and my tummy.  This digital image was in my "left over, maybe come back to it" file.  A good find.  It was a great reminder to be thankful for each day and make sure I was not someone's gray cloud or worse yet their rain.

The digital stamp is by Paper Makers - no longer in operation.
I cut out the image, which I had colored with Copics and Prisma Pencils, with two circle dies from the Die-namics Circle Stax.  The sunglasses are made with Impression Obsession dies, topped with Glossy Accents.
Have a good day today, even if it is raining. 

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - add texture
All Sorts - showers
Die Cut Divas - anything
Words2CraftBy - "No winter lasts forever. April is a promise May is bound to keep"
Joy Clair - anything
CardzTV - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything

Stamploration - focus on sentiment

MFT - sketch challenge

Dies R Us - Springtime

Stamp, Create, Repeat

Be honest now.  Don't you find it hard not to toot your own horn when you make a card that you think is beautiful?  I struggle with posts on this blog because it I don't want to  brag about my own cards but sometimes I just love them so much - LOL.   Well, I loved the card that I made for my friend so much, I decided to make another one - just changing the sentiment.  Like I said in my previous post, I got the idea of the black line along the edge from some one else so maybe, just maybe, I am not bragging. 😄  I usually shy away from one layer cards because I never think they look complete but I love how this design does.  I did fussy cut the top large peony and adhere it on top - easier than masking for the leaves.

 Ingredients:
GKD white card stock - super great for one layer cards
Altenew Peony Bouquet stamps
Verse - Verve stamp

Challenges:

All Sorts Challenge - Spring flowers or showers
Time Out - one layer Spring cards
Joy Clair - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cardz TV - anything 

Girly Birthday Card

Thank you to the Crop Stop for asking me to be the guest designer again today.  How about a girly birthday card?

The Embossing Folder I used is Cuttlebug Spots and Dots. The designer paper is from 12 x 12 pad in my stash and has been used for many girly cards.  I love it because there were lovely pinks, greens, yellows, sparkle.  Each of the flowers and some of the stripes are embossed with a sparkle. The ribbon cut out on the tag(under the paper flower) is one of the dies in a set of Spellbinder birthday dies.  I added some Stickles to the cut out to keep the sparkle going.  Then  I added some Liquid Pearls to the center of the flowers to enhance them.
Do you struggle with bows?  I love the Bow Easy tool.  Perfect bows with loops the same length on each side!
Sentiment is a stamp by who knows what company.  I have over 50 Happy Birthday stamps and unfortunately I don't have the names of the companies listed with all of them. 
Take note of the new blog address for the Crop Stop.  There is still lots of time to join in the April challenge.

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - add texture
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Dies R Us - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Stamploration Theme - focus on sentiment

Joy Clair - anything

Beautiful Stamp Set for a Beautiful Friend

My BFF lives in another state and I haven't seen her for several years.  She is having some dementia symptoms.  It breaks my heart.  Because she has a hard time on the phone, we don't talk much now but when I send her a card, I make sure it is a special one.  Her birthday is coming up so this is what I am sending her.

The flowers, leaves, and all the words except "Happy Birthday" are Altenew.   I love the beauty of the Altenew stamps.  They take a bit of time but they sure are pretty.  The small flower and leaves are stamped directly on the card.  The large flower is stamped, fussy cut, and layered onto the card.
The layout of the card is a CASE.  Unfortunately I can't make out the creator's watermark so I can't give due credit.

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - happy birthday
Altenew - 3 best cards (1)
Joy Clair - anything
Crop Stop - anything
CardzTV - anything

So Many April Showers

So many showers, almost every day so far this month and a whole week of rain predicted for next week.  It has been a good time (if you can call it good) to be inside with the flu and cold.  But I sure will be glad to see the sun when I feel better.  I have been making some cards with cheery colors including yellow and flowers, sending sunshine wishes.

All the flowers and butterflies are done with Distress Oxide inks.  The flowers are done with a Stamploration stencil.  The butterflies are cut out with Reverse Confetti dies.

Sketch:

Challenges:
Simon Monday - trio of something
Time Out - photo inspiration
Joy Clair - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cardz TV - anything
MFT - sketch
Cut It Up - you are my sunshine

Don't Grow Weary of Well Doing

Some time ago I won a stamp set.  Even though I have colored it up several times, I haven't made any cards with it, not really knowing what kind of sentiment to use.  Going through some old (very old) sentiment stamps, I came across this one and thought it might go well with the image.

Here is another one in different colors:

The sketch :

The boots are colored with Copics.  For the diagonal strip and the corner piece, I colored at piece of cardstock with the same copic color as used on the laces.
The "ground" is Distress Oxide ink spritzed with water.

Challenges:
MFT - sketch
Joy Clair - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Work It Wednesday - inking

Hoppy Birthday

It is my privilege to be a guest designer today at the Crop Stop blog. The blog has had to change their blog address back to a previous one so now you can find them again at Crop Stop.

I enjoy making extra special cards for my little grands and this was really a fun card to make. 

 The background is made with designer paper for the sky, Darice woodgrain embossing folder for the water, and  die cuts for grass and flowers.  After embossing a blue piece of cardstock with the Darice woodgrain EF, I gently sponged some Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass Distress Ink on top of the water swirls. The grass is made with a YNS die and the flowers are cut with Cuttlebug dies. Cantalope Liquid Pearls was used for the flower centers.  The frog (and sentiment) are by Gina K Designs.  After stamping and coloring the frog, I cut him out with a Spellbinder circle then attached it to the card with a  Wobble Spring. I also added some Glossy Accents to give him shine.

Supplies that can be found at Crop Stop:

Liquid Pearls - cantalope

Darice Woodgrain embossing folder

Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass Distress Ink

Action Wobble Spring

Glossy Accents  

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - happy birthday
House that Stamps Built - all creatures great and small
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Work It Wednesday - inking
CardzTV - anything 

Spray of Roses

When I started playing with this Reverse Confetti stamp and die set the other day, I had no layout in mind.  I just wanted to see what color combos I could make up with the inks I own.  After I had a bunch inked and cut, I found a great sketch at Sketch Saturday for all these pretty roses.  I think I'll make another card with yellow and orange roses.

The sentiment is by Verve.


Challenges:
Sketch Saturday
Die Cut Divas - anything
Joy Clair - anything
Crop Stop - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything

New Spring Outfit

Digging through some of my designer papers, I found several pieces with tiny flowers. That is what I was looking for so I could play with this Hero Arts set again.  Love these little skirts that can be cut out with the dies (so much easier than fussy cutting).

I used one of the sketches at Sketch Saturday.  I am still in the "let's keep it simple" mode while I wait for my energy (and mojo) to return.

The main image is cut out with a Die-namics Stitched Rectangle.  The flower is a Cuttlebug die.
The image was colored with Copics.  Liquid Pearls was used on the center of the Cuttlebug flower and in the center of the flower on girl's shirt. 

Challenges:
Die Cut Divas - anything with die cut
Crop Stop - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Sketch Saturday - sketch #374
 

Delightful, Inspiring, Challenging

There are more adjectives I could use to describe the book I just finished reading.  I could also say "life changing".  The book?  Just Open The Door by Jen Schmidt
Do you struggle with hospitality?  Are you holding back because your house isn't perfect, your life is too busy, you don't want to make the effort, or like me you feel intimidated because you aren't  outgoing  by nature?  This book is a must read.
And there are some incentives right now before the release day of April 10:

1. Buy the book at the retailer of your choice.
2. Go to http://justopenthedoor.com and click on "claim bonuses" at the top.
3. Enter your information.
4. Your bonuses will be emailed to you including - the first 7 chapters to read digitally, a gorgeous printable and, a coupon code good for $10 off ANY order on DaySpring.com.

 You will be surprised at how many ways you can be hospitable and how freeing it can be to just be yourself and just be available.  I'm ready to put into practice what I should have been doing all along - making others feel welcome and loved.  How about you?

I would love to hear from you if you purchase and read this book.

Two Weeks Is Too Long

Two full weeks of the cold and flu.  My husband, who never gets sick, has it now too.  But I can see light at the end of the tunnel - now eating, not so much coughing, no headaches, less tissues.  I was bummed that we had to miss the services at church and the family dinner for Resurrection Sunday.  At least I felt well enough to turn on Pandora and color with my Copics and pencils while I listened to Christian music all day.  The mojo is still missing so I mostly just colored rather than put any cards together but here is the last of the cards I made a few days ago with the simple sketch at MFT. 

The image is a digital stamp by From the Heart.  The sentiment is by Cardz TV.   Background paper is Doodle Pantry.
Image is colored with Copics. I added a black outline around the square and used a B01 Copic to color part of the sides and top of the square.  It is popped up with dimensional tape.
Sketch:

Challenges:
MFT sketch
Simon Says Wednesday - anything
House that Stamps Built - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Joy Clair - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Deep Oceans - Spring
Time Out - Photo inspiration