Lots Of Love Card

This is a "fancier" card than I usually make, but it was still fairly simple.  I think this is a nice card to use for Mother's Day (coming up on May 13) or as a birthday card for someone special.  I have 3 tips to share with you today . . . 2 old ones and 1 new one.  First the new one . . . 

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #36 - Use patterned paper to dress up your envelope.

This only took a couple of minutes to do, but I think it makes it look extra-special.  Simply cut a strip of paper that will cover the flap.  Adhere the paper strip to the flap of the envelope (I use Stampin' Up's Multipurpose Liquid Glue) and then trim the excess paper.  

Then, the next tip I used . . .

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #1 - Copy a design from our catalog.  Modify, if needed to fit your own style or the supplies that you have on hand.

So there's the card that I copied; do you see it?  I modified it by using layers of black & green cardstock as the base, but I totally copied the placement of those little flowers and leaves.  I also added a length of black shimmer ribbon at the top, instead of the embellishment that is shown in the catalog.

Then, one final tip . . .

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #33 - Find inspiration in the objects around you.  Find ways of re-creating the style on a card!

Have you seen these postage stamps?  They came out a few months ago.  As soon as I saw them, they reminded me of the Lots of Love stamp set.  (It makes me wonder if Stampin' Up & the US postal service coordinated on this!)

This has been one of my favorite stamp sets from the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog.  Unfortunately, it is being "retired" and will no longer be available after May 31, 2018.  The coordinating paper, Whole Lot of Lovely (that I used on the envelope) has already sold out.  If you are interested in seeing a list of the other retiring products, you can click here.  

I have already had a sneak peek at the new catalog, which will be released on June 1.  There are so many fabulous new products!  If you would like to have a free copy of the catalog, let me know & I will be glad to put one in mail to you.

Cards For March

For my cards to use during the month of March, I made an assortment of cards, all featuring the same supplies, and using an easy water-coloring technique.  

What you see in the photo above is what happens when you squeeze a closed Stampin' Up ink pad.  You end up with a nice spot of ink on the inside of the top.  Then, if you use an Aqua Painter to add a bit of water, you get a little puddle of watercolor. 

For my March cards, I simply brushed the color over the sentiments that I had stamped in black ink.  I think this technique works especially well with fonts that are big and bold.                                                                                  
               

Lots of Love stamp set, Annual Catalog page 87

The "hello" stamp is retired from Stampin' Up.  The scripture stamp is from Our Daily Bread.

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #30 - Paint a wash of color over words that are stamped in black ink.

You may recognize the black & white background paper . . . it is the same paper I've used for several cards & scrapbook pages over the past several weeks.  I liked pairing it up with the green color in these cards . . . it gives just a little hint of the promise of spring!

Petal Passion designer series paper, Occasions Catalog page 23

The Aqua Painters are available from Stampin' Up in a set of two brushes (one medium brush tip and one large brush tip) for $17.  I've been using the same brushes for over fifteen years, so it seems that money was well-spent!

Let me know if I can answer any questions about this technique, supplies, ordering, or anything stamping-related!

A "Whole Lot Of Lovely" Cards for September

Children in our town started back to school this week and summer is winding down.  I have been making a few cards to use as my "all-purpose" cards to have ready to send out in September.  These are all made using the "Whole Lot of Love" patterned paper & the coordinating stamp set called "Lots of Love".  

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #2:  Stamp a stack of cards each month to have ready to send.

I used the same elements on all three cards:

• a 4 1/2" square of paper 
• coordinating ribbon & cardstock
• the "Sending Lots Of Love" stamp

Here is a closer view of the paper & stamp set:

These are the same products that I showed you last week on this scrapbook page.  I love when I can use the same products on multiple projects!

If you haven't tried rubber-stamping before, these products would be perfect for you to begin with.  The stamp set consists of basic images that can be used on any kind of card and the paper is just simply "lovely".  Of course, even if you are a long-time stamper, you will enjoy using these products as well!

You can order by following the directions listed in the right sidebar under "Shop Now".  If you have questions, you can ask in the comments section below or email me at godismydelight@yahoo.com.  See you again next Thursday!

Scrapbooking With Lots Of Love

It's hard for me to believe that it's been nearly three years since I visited my relatives in Pennsylvania!  I usually try to get my photos into scrapbooks soon after they are taken, but I really put off making a page with these photos, mainly because I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the pictures. ("High-quality people in low-quality photos" was a caption I read recently and which applies here!)  But it was such a meaningful trip, that I knew that I needed to make this page. This was the last time I saw my sweet Aunt Dot, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.  Not long after my visit, she rapidly declined and went to live in a care facility.  I will always be thankful that I was able to spend these few days with her.  

So a couple of days ago, I spread the photos out on my desk.  And I was stuck for quite awhile!  My usual techniques of creating a page weren't working.  There were no predominant colors or repeating elements in the photos.   I couldn't come up with a good arrangement of the photos, no matter how much I moved them around.  I looked through my newest purchases from Stampin' Up and pulled out a beautiful pack of patterned paper called Whole Lot of Lovely, along with the coordinating stamp set, Lots of Love.  I knew when I saw those items, that they had the "feeling" that I wanted to convey.  So I set to work, playing around and gradually my page came together.  Here's a list of what I like about this page:

• Using black cardstock as the background gives a classic look to the page and causes the yellow & white accents to stand out.
• The words on the Tres Chic background stamp (retired) express perfectly my feelings when I think about these family members (memories, happiness, genuine, adore, laugh, together, heartfelt, etc).
• The paper lace doilies help to soften the bright yellow pieces & the larger photos.  They are simple accents, but give a lot of impact to this page.  (By the way, a pack of 24 of these little doilies only costs $3; a very inexpensive way to dress up your scrapbook pages & cards!)

Now that I finally have these photos on a scrapbook page, I don't even notice the fuzziness of some of the photos!  What I do notice is the way my heart is full of warmth and love for these sweet family members!

Here is a closer look at some of the products I used:

Here is my simple stamping tip for this week:

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #9:  Group your accents on scrapbook pages in "threes".

 Take another look at my page & notice how I placed my doilies in three different places, as well as my yellow accents.  

Thanks for reading my post today; I hope you feel inspired to make a scrapbook page with some of your photos (even if they are of "low-quality")!  If you need any supplies, you can browse through the catalog by clicking on the catalog image in the sidebar and then following the ordering instructions under "shop now".  Please let me know in the comments below or by email (godismydelight@yahoo.com) if you have any questions.