Ribbon Of Courage - Sneak Peek

A few weeks ago when I attended OnStage here in Minneapolis, my mom (also my upline) won a new stamp set called Ribbon of Courage.  This stamp set was inspired by Patty Bennett - one of the million dollar sales acheivers.  You can read her story here on why she chose to have a stamp set designed as such.  She also has posted many samples of this set as well.

I created this card earlier this month while my mom was still visiting.  It was nice to share some of the sets we brought home.

I embossed the heart stamps in white and watercolored over them with my Aqua Painter.  I used both Flirty Flamingo and Sweet Sugarplum.

I love this sentiment.   So sweet :)

I hope you like this sample!  Be sure to check out Patty's website to see her samples and read her story.

Have a blessed day!

-Holly

Chase Your Dreams, Beautiful You!

Most days I don't do well when my desk is a mess.

Fortunately, last night I had a bunch of new stamp sets scattered on my table while I worked on a few cards for a friend using Beautiful You.  That's when, in the corner of my eye, I caught the Chase Your Dreams set and I was inspired to combine the two sets!

The results are pretty awesome if I may say so myself.  I'm loving these two sets together!  I really like the Chase Your Dreams set but hadn't figured out a card with it yet.  This was a happy little marriage of stamps!

I made 3 cards with this set for a friend's granddaughters - 17, 15 & 14.  She said the oldest liked vintage style and I think this silhouette is the "most vintage" of the 3.  I decided to tie in the French sophisticated look with the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

I made a simple and stepped of version of this card.  You can see the beautiful watercoloring on the simpler card.  This was done with the new Watercolor Pencils and an Aqua Painter on Shimmery White CS.

For the stepped up version I added a small bow made with the Smoky Slate 1/8" Stitched Ribbon.  I added Stampin' Dimensionals to the sentiment to make it stand out a little more.

For the second card, I took the single skyscraper from Chase Your Dreams and stamped the image at different heights across the base of the card.  I also only inked parts of the skyscraper to change the skyline.  I filled in any lines with a Project Life Journaling Pen (the 01 size).

My favorite part of this card is the angled sentiment.  I actually only stamped it at an angle to fit on the scrap of black cardstock, but when I went to cut it out, I thought it looked neat like this.  I added some Blooms & Wishes DSP to both the umbrella and behind the sentiment, finishing it off with Black Metallic Thread, a Delicate White Doily and some Daffodil Delight Enamel Dots (Brights Collection).

This second card I went on a whim with the sketch from Global Design Project this week.  I flipped the sketch on it's side and played off the greeting and line (bow) part of the sketch.  I think that's what make sketches fun - not everyone sees the same thing when they look at it!  (I flipped the icon just to help you imagine it!)  Be sure to head to GDP and check out the rest of the cards for inspiration!

Have a blessed week!  I will be enjoying my last week being 3-0.  My birthday is in a week!  Make sure you come back to celebrate with me!

-Holly

News Flash, You Are Awesome! TGIFC56

Okay everyone!  Are you ready for a real challenging challenge??

First off, I almost completely forgot about it being Thursday until I was chatting with Rochelle (who is also on the TGIF team) - thanks Rochelle!  I thought this might be a good challenge to make some Project Life cards for because we will be heading to Texas to see family (and go to a baseball game... the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing in Texas - yay for away games!). Anyway, I decided against that for now since I already have a Pirates scrapbook page.  

------->You can see it here.<------

This was a challenge for me since we don't have too many sports stamp sets.  Had to get creative!

I decided to make a card for our son Eli.  He will start t-ball the first week in June and I want to encourage him since this is his first time playing on a team!

I stamped a strip of Soft Suede cardstock with the Hardwood stamp and then cut the baseball bat out by hand.  The baseball itself is a 3/4" circle that I drew on with my Real Red Stampin' Write marker.

For the jersey I inked up one of the onesies from Made with Love and drew a line across the bottom to make a shirt.  I also added the small Smoky Slate stars with the Made with Love set.

The cute little saying "News Flash you are awesome" is from one of the new hostess stamps coming out June 1st.  It's a "punny" stamp set ;)

The red stitches are from the Bohemian Borders stamp set that is retiring at the end of the month. They make the perfect baseball stitches!  And those cute little number dies are also retiring! :(

I think this would make a cute birthday card or encouragement card!  Maybe even mix it up a little and make birthday invitations?

Well I hope to see you over at TGIF Challenges!  It's a tricky one but I know you can do it!  You have until Thursday! :)

Blessings,

-Holly 

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If you place and order with me by May 31st of $20 or more, I will mail you a brand new catalog from Stampin' Up!  Please use hostess code: UPAUWSXK

Get Your Shine On TGIFC51 - Diamonds Out of Dust

Welcome back to another (late) TGIF Challenge!  This week has been really busy - busy enough that I lost track of what day it was and forgot all about my post!  We celebrated a birthday, went bowling, cut down a tree and pulled weeds, went fishing, doctors appointments, put together a trampoline... Can't complain because it's sunny and warm finally, BUT I'm tired!  

This week's challenge is all about the glitz! Diamonds, Pearls, Glitter!  The timing was perfect because I received some happy mail yesterday from a good friends (Jessica Williams) - Maybe you've heard of her?) She had sent some Shine On Specialty DSP!  Awesome!  Be sure to click the image below to see what the rest of the team came up with!

So I was thinking about what stamp I could use for this challenge and it came down to my beloved Alphabet Rotary Stamp.  I seriously LOVE this thing.  If you don't believe me, you can click on the tag at the end of this post and you will see all of the posts I've done with this awesome stamp!

So here is my card:

So you might be wondering - what does that even mean!?  Well... Long story short, this past Sunday would've been the day my husband would have pinned on Captain.  We were both enlisted and then Shawn commissioned to become an officer in the Air Force.  Shortly after leaving for Officer Training School, he was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and within a year he was medically retired from the service.  We had so many questions and fears with the unknown.  We had been in the military for 9 years and now we were leaving for the civilian life.  But we were trusting God the whole time - knowing he knows best.  

So this card is a reminder to me that He takes the tough situations, the job loss, the miscarriage, the failed marriage, the hard days of being a parent - He takes the dust of our lives and makes diamonds.  

This is a card to encourage someone.  I don't know who I made it for - but HE does... and I hope it will encourage whoever receives this card!

So what's with you music video you ask?  Go ahead and listen to where the sentiment came from!  It may get stuck in your head (sorry not sorry).  :)

Blessings,

Holly