Getting Conceptual Again / FMS #54

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Hey y'all. No, you don't need to check your eyes...I'm doing a Saturday post. I wanted to make sure I was able to get today's card entered in time. The challenge doesn't close till Monday at noon but Flu Clinic starts Monday morning and the next few weeks are going to be crazy busy. Hope you're having a great weekend so far, and hope you don't mind me intruding on your weekend. :)

I created today's card for a very special friend. I met Tracey just over a year ago when I switched job sites. She was my new Area Nurse Manager and what a blessing she has been to me this past year. She recently stepped down from that position and although her replacement is very nice, no-one else is Tracey. Today a group of us had lunch at a nice seafood restaurant near her house in Annapolis. It was so nice to see her and meet her husband too.

Of course, I wanted to make a special card for her so I sat down last night to figure out what I was going to make and have to say I got pretty excited. Excited by the idea I had and how it turned out. I got a little conceptual and we know that doesn't always turn out just like I want. :) Let's see if you can figure out where I was going...

Card featuring
Perfectly Preserved Stamp Set

I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as my starting point-

It's another fabulous sketch from those great ladies! I switched it up and made it a regular sized card instead of a square card, but other than that I stuck with the sketch.

Here's a closer look at my focal point-

You know what I used for my little jar? Our clear envelopes. How cool is that!?! I wasn't sure if it would work out but it did. I left the envelope closed (2 layers) and stamped my jar image on it with VersaMark. Heat and Stick Powder was applied and set with my heat tool. I was careful to not concentrate the heat on any one spot for too long. Next came some Dazzling Diamonds and another blast of hot air. For some reason there was no warping with the H&S Powder but both times I heated it up to set the D.D. the paper tried to buckle a little. The second time I applied a little tension to the paper and it stayed flat. Next I used my Cannery Framelets Set to cut it out. While I was at the Big Shot I cut hearts from Primrose Petals and Lucky Limeade with my hearts embosslet. 4 of the L.L. hearts were adhered to a punched circle with Tombow. A freeform stem and some love from Tink and I had a 4-leaf clover. The hearts and clover were adhered to the inside of the bottom jar with small amounts of Tombow. Are you wondering how I sealed my jar, especially since it's clear? I cut Mini-Glue Dots into small pieces, rolled them into small balls and used those to adhere the two cutout pieces together. They were carefully placed so they were hidden behind the glitter. Every once in a while the neurons in my brain fire and jump the correct synapses and things make sense and they work. And Yes, I did do the *HappyDance* To raise the jar up and add some dimension to the front, I cut small pieces of Dimensionals and adhered them to the back of the jar under the hearts and clover. :) A little piece of Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine was wrapped around the neck of the jar and tied in a bow. My jar topper was adhered to a small strip of Orchard Harvest DSP with a Dimensional and the card front was done.

Here's the inside-

So, as much as I was happy with the outside of the card, not so much with the inside. My sentiment is stamped in Raspberry Ripple on a Very Vanilla piece of c/s and is from a retired sentiment set. I had already applied the strip of DSP across the bottom when I decided I needed a little something more on the inside. :( So thinking about the theme I had in mind I used my Boho Blossoms Punch and cut out some flowers. The colors used were Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Petals. Each flower was sponged and curved slightly with my fingers for a little extra dimension. They were all adhered with Tombow.

So did you figure out yet where I was going with my design? I'm sure I'm the only one who got it. Tracey got it...after I told her. The good news is she really liked the card even before she knew what it was supposed to mean. The jar is full of Love and Good Wishes (Luck) and there's a "bunch of flowers" on the inside. All things I wanted to give her as she embarked upon this new part of her life.

Somebody...Anybody...Please tell me you get it!?!

Well, that's all I have for you tonight. Hope you "got it" and that you liked it. I hope the rest of your weekend is as Amazing as you are! I love hearing from you, so if you liked today's card or have questions about it I hope you'll leave me a message below. I read all of your comments and they really do make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! I hope to see you back here real soon. Here's wishing you a weekend full of Family, Friends and of course Creativity. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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A Short Sweet Valentine

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Hey y'all. Happy Valentine's Day! I hope today finds you full of love and on the receiving end of much more.

Just a quick little post today. I know everyone is probably tired of seeing all the Valentine's Day themed cards and projects, but not me. I love, love. I love being in love, I love loving and being loved in return and I think it's a shame that we focus on it so much just on one day of the year. I hope I don't let myself forget to do "Love" themed cards often here, throughout the year. But, because I already had my "big" cards done for today, I thought I'd do another small "just because" love note for today. You really can't ever have enough of these hanging around. You never know when you might need or just want one.

I got the idea for this from a card I saw on a challenge a while back. I think it was from the Amazing Carrie Gaskins. It's Quick and Easy and re-purposes scraps, which if you know me is something I love to do.

Here's today's card-

It's another 3 x 3 card. I love the thought of just slipping one of these inside a jacket pocket or a lunch or laying them on a loved one's pillow. It starts with a base of Real Red, and a layer of Basic Black. I then used the frame from my Beautiful Hearts Embosslet as the base to fit my embosslets in. You know, when you use the Embosslet to get your 5 little hearts, the large frame is embossed as well. I simply cut that out and Tombowed it to my Basic Black c/s. I then used multiple hearts to fill in the empty spaces. I Tombowed them all in, so they would stay put. It's like doing a puzzle, except you get to make it look exactly like you want it too. An extra little heart to the side, well just because I could and the front was done.

Here's the inside-

I used the sentiment from P.S. I Love You and inked it in Real Red with my Stampin Write Marker. It's actually part of the sentiment that says Love You, Miss You, Kiss You. I love that it's easy to just use part of the sentiment by inking it with the markers. An extra little heart to the bottom and my card is done. So quick, so easy, but how much would this mean to you if someone you loved gave it to you?

*Tip*- I don't know about you but when I'm using my Embosslet and I'm making more than one heart, I just save all  the extras in an old brads container. I know I'll need hearts at some point and that way I have them all ready to go, kind of like having an assortment of buttons or brads at the ready.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my sweet little Valentine. I hope it inspired you to make a few little love notes to have on stand-by or, if you're running a little behind, a sweet little card for tonight. It's not too late.

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

I hope you'll join me back here soon for more ideas.

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about Waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Just a Little Love Note

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday. I hope you have had a great day.

I woke up today with energy for the first time in over 2 weeks. :) I think the new antibiotics are finally taking care of my pneumonia. Thanks to everyone who has sent love and prayers over the past few days. You are appreciated more than you know! Today's the first time I've had the energy to stamp or craft this week and I just wanted to share with you.

Just a quick post and a little love for you today.

Sometimes I think we, society as a whole, (and my fellow stampers as well as myself) forget about the really small things. I know myself, I rarely think about 3 x 3 cards. Look at most of the blogs out there and you rarely see 3 x 3's. When I do see them, they're usually in the form of a thank-you note we might send our customers.

But what about just a quick note to say how much we love or appreciate those that mean the most to us personally. Our lives are so hectic, we often forget to tell those we love just how much they mean to us. Worse, we forget to show them. Sometimes, we find the time to slip a quick handwritten note in our kids lunches, or send a quick text, but how about a quick card....Just Because.

I don't know about you, but when I sit down to think about a card it's rarely with the idea for a really Quick and Easy or Clean and Simple card. Look at most of the sketch challenges even, layer after layer and almost always full sized. This usually involves a commitment of 30 minutes to an hour or more unless I'm blessed with one of those moments of instant clarity when I see the sketch. What about just a quick card to tuck into a jacket pocket, a briefcase, or on the pillow?

This card has a few elements, but it came together in a flash and you could make quite a few in one sitting and have them ready for anytime. Here's a Little Love for you-

How nice would it be to find something like this on your pillow, or tucked in your wallet or commuter bag? Heck, your male significant others could be left alone with a few supplies for an hour or so, make some of these and feel like the Man of the Month!

It's a 6 x 3 piece of Basic Black scored at 3 to make a 3 x 3 card. A square of Whisper White at 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 holds a black heart that I cut out using my Heart Framelets. I used my Hearts Adorning Accents Edgelet Folder to emboss it. I then cut out a Real Red Heart with my Scalloped Heart Embosslet and layered it on top. A little Real Red heart, from the Beautiful Hearts Embosslet was added to the bottom.

The Sentiment is from the P.S. I Love You stamp set. I inked the p. s. with my Basic Black Stampin Write Marker.

Here's the inside-

I colored the rest of the sentiment from the front with my Basic Black and Real Red Stampin Write Markers and stamped it on a piece of Whisper White c/s. The little red heart was cut and embossed with the Beautiful Hearts Embosslet. I added a little Two-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds to make it shine. I really wish it picked up better in the picture, it's so sweet! The nice thing about the embosslet is you get 5 different embossed and cut out hearts at one time. Extras for later, and you can use either the embossed or debossed area.

I also love that the "I" is dotted with a little heart. So Sweet!

Well, that's all I have for you today. It's just now 8 pm and I am getting ready to crawl back into bed. I can't wait to be over this whole pneumonia stuff. So Not A Fan!

I hope you liked today's card and I hope it reminds you as it reminded me, that sometimes it really is just the small things that can make a big difference. I hope it inspires you to try something small. It doesn't need to have a lot of elements, to be special. Remember the goal of this blog- Just Try!

I hope you have a great day and a great weekend filled with time to spend with family and friends and of course lots of creative time. I am looking forward to some creative time myself and hopefully the opportunity to guest blog and help out a hopefully new blogging friend. Will let you know how that turns out.

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)
Till next time-

Remember- Life is not about Waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It