Through the sadness… a reason to smile …

I felt sad and a little subdued whilst making today’s cards.  Two of my friends have recently lost someone very close to them.

I wanted to let them know how very sorry I was to hear their sad news, and for them to know I was thinking about them.

I  turned to a beautiful new stamp set from Stampin’ Up that will be available very soon.

Called a reason to smile, it is a two-step stamp set, so the line flower stamp comes with a complementary image to add colour with.  But this time I chose instead to do some water colouring with my aqua painter.

I stamped the flower twice in black stazon ink onto water colour paper, using my stamp-a-majig to line up and stamped the sentiment from the hopeful thoughts set.  To colour the flowers, I put a little ink into the lid of my elegant eggplant ink pad by squeezing it whilst shut – this transfers ink from the pad to the lid – and then used my aqua painter.

I added a few lines of dry embossing using the simply scored scoreboard.

I also stamped and coloured a matching flower on a small piece of very vanilla cardstock and adhered it to the inside.

*

For the next card, I stamped onto a piece of very vanilla cardstock and again used the aqua brush to colour, taking care not to soak the cardstock too much.

Finally, I coloured a length of whisper white taffeta ribbon using my aqua brush and elegant eggplant ink, dipping the ribbon into the watery ink on the lid of the ink pad until I was happy with the depth of colour.  The ribbon then co-ordinated beautifullly with the cards.  Once the ribbon was dry, I tied it into teeny tiny bows and adhered to the cards with mini glue dots.

*

And why a reason to smile? …  because they are fortunate to have known and loved two wonderful ladies…

*

Papercraft supplies from Stampin’ Up!

Cardstock: elegant eggplant, watercolour paper. very vanilla; Inks: elegant eggplant, certainly celery, black stazon; Stamp sets: reason to smile, hopeful thoughts, teeny tiny wishes; Accessories: white taffeta ribbon, mini glue dots, aqua painter, simply scored scoreboard, word window punch, modern label punch, stampin’ dimensionals, stamp-a-majig.

*a

Thanks for dropping by today

Hopeful thoughts on eleven, eleven, eleven …

On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month …

From this week’s cake class…

 

 

I know my mum would have been so proud of my cake this week.

Growing up we always watched the coverage of Remembrance Day on the BBC, and were taught by my parents to respect and observe the minute’s silence at 11 o’clock. My mum and dad lived through the second world war – my mum was evacuated but my dad got his call up papers …

I remember clearly my lovely mum shedding a tear or two when we watched the ex-servicemen march past the Cenotaph as the army band played WWII tunes and they laid poppy wreaths in remembrance …

I miss my mum and my dad so much …

 

For the card, Hopeful thoughts stamp set from Stampin’ Up, with crumb cake card and ink, on whisper white with a touch of early espresso. That’s all it needs.

And for the cake, some real red satin ribbon with a row of the new black polka dot scallop ribbon to finish it off…

Thanks for dropping by today

Get well…

One of our very good friends has recently had major heart surgery to repair one of his valves.  Thankfully, he is doing well, spent only a brief time in ICU and has now been discharged home to recuperate.  The wonders of modern medicine!

I saw a band aid tutorial some time ago on Andrea’s blog, and knew the plaster would be just perfect for the card I wanted to make him.  

 

He loved the card but, judging by the scar that now runs the length of his chest, I think he’s going to need a bigger plaster! 

Stampin Up supplies used:

Cardstock: bashful blue, whisper white, blush blossom (retired); Inks: pink pirouette, night of navy, real red, bashful blue; Stamp sets: hopeful thoughts, in stitches; Punches: heart to heart; Accessories: paper piercer and mat pack, stampin dimensionals, white gel pen. 

 

Thanks for dropping by today

Sympathy card …

 

This was a difficult card for me to have to make.  I hope it brings comfort to the family.  It’s times like this when a handmade card can reach out and let someone know you are thinking about them.

I took inspiration from Michelle’s card here, changed the colours and the sentiment, and double stamped the tree image. 

Stampin Up supplies used:

Cardstock: very vanilla, crumb cake, pink pirouette; Inks: pink pirouette, pretty in pink, chocolate chip; Stamp sets: hopeful thoughts; Punches: itty bitty shapes flower punch; Accessories: chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, basic pearls, glue dots. 

 

Thanks for dropping by today