Celebrate - the Season and Fall!

Well,  almost a week later since my last post and I have no excuse!!  Just laziness.  I am addicted to a card game on-line (Hand and Foot) and it seems like I play it all the time!  I have even gotten my sister, Marianne, addicted to it too!  I did play cards with real people on Monday and Tuesday though.  Hand and Foot Canasta on Monday and bridge on Tuesday.  During this pandemic, I have played Hand and Foot with the same 3 gals every week.  We started in May and we are still going strong and look forward to it every week.  We take turns going to each others homes.  We all bring our own lunch and the hostess prepares a dessert for us.  It's been fun trying out new dessert recipes.  (Maybe that is why I have put on a few extra pounds!)

I have made a few cards lately and have some new stamp sets that I haven't opened yet.  Here are a couple I made this week.

I used the blender brushes to blend Highland Heather and Pool Party in the middle of the card and stamped the trees from Winter Woods in Memento Black ink.

A lot of stamp sets went into making this card.  I stamped the daisies (Daisy Lane) with Pretty Peacock on Mint Macaron cardstock and punched them out with the Daisy Punch.  The center is stamped with Bumblebee ink.  The leaves in the background are done a different way.  I used Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Bumblebee cardstock and the dies from Gather Together and Rooted in Nature.  The Cajun leaf was stamped with Cajun ink and die cut.  For the Bumblebee and Old Olive leaves, I pressed the dies into the ink and onto the cardstock.  Then I die cut them.  The Crumb Cake leaves are from Bouquet Bunch framelits (retired).  The sentiment is from Celebrate Sunflowers.  I adhered all the flowers, leaves, etc onto a circle from Stitched Shapes.  I adhered a 1 1/2" piece of Plaid Tidings across the bottom of the card.  I added a bit of bling using the 2019-2021 Faceted Dots.

Swap Cards

 I have been working on some swaps for Stampin' Up's Onstage Convention which is usually held each November in Salt Lake City.  Unfortunately, with COVID that is not going to happen.  There will be a virtual event and one of the demonstrators is having a swap that I will be participating in.  I have been working on those swaps and they are now ready to put in the mail.  I signed up for Masculine, Artistic, Birthday, Holiday Catalog, and Fun Fold swaps!  Several of the swaps I was able to use the cards I had made for the NC Demo Quarterly that was supposed to happen last May but, again, COVID made that event impossible. 

Below are a couple of the swap cards I made.

I don't usually make many Halloween cards or buy Halloween stamp sets but I loved this designer paper from the mini catalog.  You can find Plaid Tidings 6"x6" designer paper on page 57.  The patterns can be used for holidays and well as all year long.  I love plaids!  I also bought the Festive Post stamp set (page 63, mini catalog) because I can use it for several holidays - Christmas, Halloween, and Valentines  The stamp set coordinates with the Rectangular Postage Punch.  When I can use a punch, I love it!  I dyed the white ribbon black using my Stampin' Blends!

This is my Holiday Catty swap. 

This next card is one I was able to use from the NC Demo Quarterly cards.  I stamped the tree root with Soft Suede that I stamped off first so it wouldn't be so dark (from Rooted in Nature) on Very Vanilla cardstock.  I stamped the tree on top of it with Early Espresso ink and the sentiment in Soft as Suede (full strength).  Next I ran the piece through the Big Shot embossing it with the Subtle 3D embossing folder and then matted it onto a piece of Early Espresso.  I ran another piece of Very Vanilla (5 1/4" x 4") through the Big Shot embossing it with Tin Tile 3D embossing folder and sponged Soft Suede ink lightly over top of the embossed areas.

Masculine Swap Card

This Rooted in Nature stamp set is a great one for those hard to make masculine cards!

 

NC Demos Blog Hop - Let's CELEBRATE!!

I have not participated in the NC Blog Hop is a very long time so thought I would give it a try this month.  (trying to do 2020 right!)  The theme this month is CELEBRATE and don't we all love to celebrate good times!  

I looked up the meaning of Celebrate and here is what I found - 

verb (used with object), cel·e·brat·ed, cel·e·brat·ing.

to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities

to make known publicly; proclaim:

to praise widely or to present to widespread and favorable public notice, as through newspapers or novels:

to perform with appropriate rites and ceremonies; solemnize

verb (used without object), cel·e·brat·ed, cel·e·brat·ing.

to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies or festivities.

to perform a religious ceremony, especially Mass or the Lord's Supper.

to have or participate in a party, drinking spree, or uninhibited good time

So much to celebrate!  First off I made a card for my daughter who is in the U.S. Army.  She found out last week that she is on the list to be promoted to COLONEL!!  Whoo Hoo!  The promotion won't be until June 2021 but that gives us plenty of time to plan the celebration!!  In the meantime, I am celebrating by telling everyone the good news!  Yes, I am a proud mama!  So several of those definitions will fit this celebration.

This is a simple card that was easy to make.  I love the Feels Like Frost DSP stack which was in the Holiday Mini and I still have a bunch of it left so I am using it!  I wanted it to take center stage of the card and also thought the sentiment says it all (even though it is also retired!)  It is from Incredible Like You.  I dyed the ribbon to match the Highland Heather card.

 I used the Rooted In Nature stamp set to create a masculine birthday card.  That is another great CELEBRATION!

The base card is Pear Pizzazz.  I used a piece of Tropical Oasis DSP (from Mini Catalog) on top of the Pear Pizzazz.   Next is a piece of Grapefruit Grove with a Whisper White scallop die cut from Stitched Be Mine Dies at the top and bottom.  On top of that is a layer of Whisper White card stock.  I stamped the tree cut out with Soft Suede and the flowers with Grapefruit Grove (all stamped on Whisper White paper.)  The leaves were stamped with Old Olive ink onto Old Olive cardstock and the top one is stamped on Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Happy and birthday are both die cut using the Well Written Die set - one on Soft Suede cardstock and the other on Grapefruit Grove cardstock.  The ribbon is from the Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack.

I hope you enjoy my cards and will continue to the next stop on our hop.  Follow along with the blog hop and hop on over to Nedine's Celebration HERE.

Toni Campana

Jo Anne Hewins

Tina Lesson

Amy Kinler

Tracie Evans Langley

Frances Wagner

Sharon Maranich (you are here)

Nedine DuPree

Laurie Meier

Ariel Matera