Quick Gift Bags

Recently my friend, Crystal, came over and we enjoyed visiting over tea and cookies.  Later when I saw her at church, she asked me what kind of tea I had served her.  It was the tea pictured above, Newman's Own Organic Black Tea.  It's not sold in any of our local grocery stores so I decided to fix her up with a little bag from my stash.  (I buy it from Amazon.)  

It was the perfect excuse for me to get out my Gift Bag Punch board and some patterned paper.  

Petal Passion Designer Series Paper

If you regularly read this blog, you've seen this paper several times!  I've used it on cards, scrapbook pages, and other projects.  I think that the black and white color scheme has a "dressed up" look to it and it seemed like a good choice for the tea bags that I wanted to give Crystal.  This paper is in Stampin' Up's Occasions catalog and is only available until May 31.

There are several gift-giving occasions in the month of May (including Mother's Day, graduations, end-of-school-year).  And sometimes it's fun to just surprise someone with a little gift out of the blue!  Having the gift bag punch board makes it really convenient to put together spontaneous gifts.  Here are photos of previous bags that I've shown here on my blog . . . 

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #6 - Use patterned paper to make gift bags.

If you would like to order a gift bag punch board, you can order one by following the easy steps in the right sidebar, under "shop now".  Or let me know and I will have it sent directly to you.  You can email me at godismydelight@yahoo.com.

Thank you for stopping here today!  

Inspired By Book Covers

I recently bought a couple of books to give to my youngest grandson, Tristan, who will be turning 1 year old in a few weeks.  Each of these books feature black & white artwork, with only one accent color.  I love these bold, bright images and felt inspired to come up with a way to re-create that look on a card.  This is what I came up with:

(Note:  This is not the card I will be sending Tristan!  I just wanted to re-create the style.)

Here is the other book that Tristan will be getting.  

And here's the card that I made:

These cards were easy to make using the Petal Passion designer series paper (that I've also shown here, here, here, and here).  It is so easy to work with black & white paper, and I consider it a "staple item" in my crafting supplies.  

Here is a look at all of the papers that make up the collection:

For the colored elements on these cards, I found that die-cut images had the solid look that I needed to stand out on these cards.

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

If you need any supplies or have questions, I would be happy to help 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!

Remembering Aunt Dot

My husband and I made a short trip to Pennsylvania last month to attend the funeral of my Aunt Dot.  (I have written about her before on my blog; click here.)  It was such a short trip, but so special that I wanted to create a scrapbook page about it.

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #29 - Document the events you attend by pairing photos and the program or other memorabilia.

I saved the program of her funeral and used it on this page.  The cover page of the program shows the beautiful stained glass from her church, where the funeral was held.  I took a photo of the inside of the program and used that on the bottom part of the page.  The little picture of her on my title block was also from the program.  I love the fact that my Aunt Dot planned the songs and scriptures herself a few years ago.  And I also love having these photos of her on this page!

This side of the page shows my dear Uncle Bob and my cousins, Linda & Mary.  As we were growing up, they always lived in Pennsylvania & I always lived in Tennessee.  We only saw each other once a year and now that we are adults, we don't see each that often.  But we share some wonderful memories and spending the short amount of time with them on this trip helped to strengthen that family bond!

The photo below is a close-up shot of my journaling block.

This page came together very quickly, using small pieces of paper cut from the Petal Palette designer series paper.

I've been using this a lot lately, mostly for cards, and I like how casual, yet elegant this paper looks.  For a fun little touch, I used the dotted paper, as an ode to Aunt Dot.  Polka dots have a bright & cheerful look, which matches Aunt Dot's personality. 




This is how the page originally looked, but I felt that it was lacking something, but I wasn't sure what.  

Do you see what I added?  As I was looking at the page, I noticed tiny bits of red in the stained glass window, in the photos of Aunt Dot, & in Mary's sweatshirt. So I added some red ribbon & that was the perfect finishing touch. 

The reason I make scrapbook pages is to have an easy and tangible way to remember the blessings that God has given me.  What are the ways that God has blessed you?  I hope you feel inspired to put photos of those blessings into a scrapbook!

Hearts, Flowers, & Romance

A few days ago I was flipping through the pages of my church directory and noticed that this sweet couple is about to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary.  Well, to my way of thinking, that is definitely worthy of a card!  To add to the romance, they married on Valentine's Day.

 Naturally, I chose hearts to use as the focal image on their card.  I stamped two hearts from the Heart Happiness stamp set, "fussy-cut them", overlapped them, & then adhered them to a sheet of paper cut from the Petal Palette designer series paper.

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #29 - Invest in a set of heart rubber stamps to use on a variety of cards and other projects.

Heart Happiness stamp set

Petal Passion designer series paper

The sentiment I chose from the Petal Palette stamp set works perfectly with the two stamped hearts.

Petal Palette stamp set

By the way, have you seen the new Love postage stamps?  I "love" the combination of script and flowers!

So I hope you see that hearts, flowers, and romance are not only for Valentine's day . . . love can be celebrated every day of the year!

Card for February

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

For my "all-purpose card" for February, I used a few products from the new Stampin' Up Occasions catalog.  There are several birthday sets, as well as sets designed to be used for the spring holidays (Valentine, Easter, Mother's/Father's Day).  Many of the sets can be used interchangably, which is what I've done for this week's card.

One of the new packs of paper is called Petal Passion.  All of the designs in this pack have a hand-painted look in shades of black & white.

I love the variety of patterns here!  There are several ways this paper can be used, including using various coloring techniques.  The neutral color scheme means that you can use it with any color.  For my card, I used Cherry Cobbler.  This card has somewhat of a Valentine-look to it, but I think it can be used for any occasion or simply as a note card. 

The sentiment is from the coordinating Petal Palette set.

 

This is a great set, for the sentiments alone!  But the floral stamps, plus that cute little chickadee, can be used for practically any occasion.

The heart stamp is from the Heart Happiness set.  Take a look at all of these different styles of hearts!

Every paper-crafter needs a set of heart stamps, in my opinion!  Even just a little heart stamped in the corner of an envelope can let someone know that you think they are special.

You can browse through this new catalog by clicking on the Occasions Catalog image in the right sidebar.  If you see something you would like to order, let me know!