Flashback Friday--Dove of Hope Bundle

If you're like me, you have baggies of unfinished ideas or extras that never quite made it into a finished project. I started writing about these projects because, as we enter a new year, there's still value to them. Or, also "late for this year, early for next", as I like to say!

I don't even remember cranking out all the die cuts from SU's Dove of Hope Bundle, a unique set where the dies didn't completely match the stamps. All it took was a little Tombow, a little Wink of Stella and an afternoon to assemble them and a couple made it onto cards. Because of the Canada Post strike, I didn't make a full set of cards, but I think with some festive ribbon, the doves would make great ornaments too!

To complete the card, I cracked open a package of last year's O Holy Night DSP. Using up DSP will be another topic for another time, but I used one of the starry sheets with lots of sponging! It's hard to tell in the photo, but I sponged Night of Navy, Misty Moonlight and even a little Orchid Oasis ink around the edges. The effect toned done the whiteness of the stars and yes--you can sponge ink on dark papers for a vignette effect.

Until next time...

 

Flashback Friday--Inspirational Sketches

I've been meaning to post this little card for ages. I made it back in spring 2024 when I had friends over for crafternoon. I was working on something else, but I just had to make a card! Sometimes it's easier to make a complex card than something simple--but all you really need is ink, stamps and paper. I love birds--I've had budgies since I was a kid--and I enjoy wandering the wilderness and urban areas to catch a glimpse of them. I may not be the most hardcore birder out there, but nature reminds us to take it slow, take it easy and move at our own pace :-)

The house sparrow from Inspirational Sketches is just the right size for a vertical or horizontal card--and just realistic enough for me. Although I like birds, it has to be the "right" kind of bird stamp for me to add to my collection.

Until next time...

 

Flashback Friday--Berry Delightful Thank You Cards

As a hobby Stampin' Up! demo, I don't feel the pressure to focus on the latest and greatest. Of course, I do love the latest and greatest, but if you noticed my lack of projects over the past year, I'm building up to where I was almost ten years ago. It's these little wins and finishing up older ideas that gives me pause. Even these very simple thank you cards, made from 2021's Berry Delightful DSP and a thank you sentiment from the Daisy Delight stamp set had me thinking.

Simple stamping is wonderful, but if I was to remake these cards, I would probably use Crumbcake or Basic Beige for the bases and Basic White or Very Vanilla for the thank you tags. I absolutely can't remember what my 2021 idea was, but sometimes it's good to let go...and just keep going forward!

Watercolour DSP is always a personal favourite, so you can bet I bought a few packages of Berry Delightful :-)

Until next time...

 

Flashback Friday--Celebrate Today with Stampin' Up!

Today's Flashback Friday is a bit of new and a bit of old! You can still order the Celebrate Today magnet board kit. 

Even though I'm an avid and very capable crafter, I appreciate Stampin' Up's kits line. They're perfect for when you don't want to fuss with preparing materials, as a gift or simply to take along. Personally I keep a few kits and Paper Pumpkins to take over to my parents. It's fun for Mom and I to make something together and have a pile of cards to share. They have everything you need:

There's also no time limit on kits! The Celebrate Today kit comes with a 12x12" magnet board, frame, gold binder clips, stickers, die cuts and cards. You can easily make an organization station in half an hour with this kit, but because I'm plenty crafty, I made it special :-) Sometimes kits are just a suggestion, which is why you can find many kit alternatives online. 

You know how you save paper for special projects? I've been sitting on a stash of Flight and Airy DSP from 2024's Sale-A-Bration. This was definitely that special project! I love purple, so the speckly purple background sheet was a natural place to start. A perfectly sized piece Tea Room DSP from a few years ago wonderfully delineated the bottom. I used the pre-cut folder to make my own template to make co-ordinating folders. The extra cards are double-sided, so I can use them for other projects and cards.

Bonus fun: Did you know you can upcycle magnets for thrifty fun? We all receive those realtor or dentist magnets in the mail--don't throw them out! With DSP scraps, adhesive and some clear packing tape, you can make your own magnets, which is also what I've done here.

A project like this is easy to do on your own with some magnetic sheets and a picture frame. The possibilities are endless--you can make them as gifts or change them with the seasons too! Until next time...

 

Flashback Friday--Peaceful Cabin and Winter Gifts

Today's Flashback Friday revolves around last year's Peaceful Cabin stamp set from Stampin' Up!. Peaceful Cabin was very popular with crafters, especially for rustic scenes rendered in grey and blue. There's just something about the cabin that takes the mind away to...well...a peaceful place!

These cards were destined to be unfinished forever until this past week. Sometimes an idea or sketch (or both!) doesn't work out the way you envisioned it. Staring down the card bases, I knew they needed just a little more effort to be complete. I even stamped out sentiments. It just wasn't going to work out.

I put them aside once more and worked on another unfinished project--2019's Winter Gifts Paper Pumpkin. This fun set made 20 gift tags and there were plenty of "spare parts" still in the box even though I made a few. Gift tag Paper Pumpkins are fun because you can make awesome card fronts from them. As luck would have it, I found a stack of pre-cut bases and stamped and glued. Winter Gifts' stamp set included a scripty "Let it snow" sentiment and I used it on ten cards, such as the ones below:

Then, I realized it was the PERFECT message for those Peaceful Cabin bases. I stamped another five let it snows, and from Peaceful Cabin, stamped a bunch of pine trees and added the little fox to the corner of each card. Silver ink snowflake dots finished off the scene--done!

The bases went from blah to beautiful in an afternoon. Don't give up on those unfinished projects--maybe they just need some extra time or a change of direction. As crafters love to say, late for last year, early for next!
Until next time...

Flashback Friday--Rocking Horses Christmas Cards

I haven't posted a cardmaking how-to in ages! Last year's health problems tanked my energy, and when my energy returned, I faced a new problem--I just couldn't seem to make a card!

I caught up on some Paper Pumpkin kits, but designing my own cards and choosing different colours, stamps and ink seemed to escape me.

How is it possible to have a whole room dedicated to stamping and not...stamp?

Funnily enough, I found my road back from an unlikely source. If you haven't seen the new Simone Biles documentary on Netflix, I highly recommend it. Although I'm not a huge sports fan, I enjoy Netflix's sports documentaries, from The Last Dance to Untold. I've always loved biographies and stories about people overcoming challenges. My challenges seemed so small compared to highly paid, highly talented, and, sometimes, high-flying athletes, but we're all human. Something about Simone Biles' struggle resonated with me. After her case of twisties, she returned to the gym and slowly regained her skills and confidence.

Crafting was my sport. It used to be so easy--what happened?

Perhaps cleaning the craft room would help. I came across many baggies of festive spare parts and bases that had been started. All they needed was the tiniest bit of time and effort to put them together. A sentiment here, some bling there--and voila! I made some cards! The original use for the spare parts long forgotten, I just arranged things until they looked pleasing and committed to gluing them down. Soon I had a stack of Christmas cards and pride in finishing unfinished projects. Are you even crafting if you don't have unfinished projects? 😄

So, here's a little Flashback Friday for one box of spare parts contained coloured rocking horses, stamped and sponged background layers and cut white paper and vellum.

Here's a reminder of the Sunday Sketch I posted last year, using the Rocking Horse set:

I made these pieces in 2023:

• background layer stamped and sponge with Poppy Parade (one Cherry Cobbler is the exception)
• white copy paper and vellum (cut at the same time so the layers matched perfectly)
• rocking horses stamped with Early Espresso on Basic White and Crumbcake cardstock

To complete the project, all I needed to do was add:

• six bases from three 8.5x11" sheets of Cherry Cobbler cardstock
• stamp the white paper and stamp a sentiment with Early Espresso
• punch gold stars from scrap gold paper

Then, to assemble, I:

• attached the Poppy Parade layers to the Cherry Cobbler bases
• placed tear tape on the back of the rocking horses and carefully adhere the vellum layer to the paper layer
• trimmed scrap DSP and cardstock to mount the sentiments
• placed the stars and used metallic ink to dot the vellum layer

It took an afternoon, but the card I envisioned last year is ready for this year. Sometimes breaking a big idea down into the tiniest task helps too.

Christmas tends to get a free pass in my Stampin' Up! collection and you can see why--sometimes you just need those little star stamps from older sets. Finding just the right stamp in my collection for the floor truly felt like a win too.

Maybe I was too caught up in perfect, maybe I just needed to reconnect to the joy in finding something I still do love. It's okay to take breaks and okay to start again--even when life is challenging and doubts loom large. Self-kindness, focus and perseverance can go a long way to reaching a goal, whether it's on the gymnastics floor or the craft room :-)