Sending Good Vibes

March was a whirlwind.  I'm not even going to tell you the list of woes that March brought to my life.  I'm here to share these two projects of encouragement that responded to the woes of someone Brandy and I have never met.  When we attended the Embellish It! Play All Day at the beginning of March, Shelby Dredge asked us to make a pocket card of encouragement for an industry colleague who had suffered a sudden, debilitating health event.  She wanted us to help her send encouragement and good thoughts to this lovely lady.  Well, Brandy and I couldn't help but join in and these two pocket cards were our best effort.  Keep in mind, we didn't know that the request would be made and we decided to wing it with the supplies we had on hand.

For Brandy's card above, she did some stamp layering using her Waffle Flower Summer Time stamp set and masking to create this adorable scene.  She was concerned that her watercoloring wasn't as crisp as she'd have liked. Of course, we didn't have all our resources on hand and the lighting in the room wasn't the best (hence the poor photo quality), however, I think the project finish is just about as perfect as one could hope.

For my project, I had previously stamped this image with my Concord and 9th Wonderful Florals stamp.  I thought it would make a perfect pocket card of pretty to brighten this woman's day.  Both projects used watercolor markers and a little shimmer pen to add some sparkle (doesn't sparkle just brighten your day?!).

Here's the two projects side by side.  Beautiful, encouraging and thoughtful.  Thank you, Shelby, for letting us participate in sending some sunshine to your colleague.

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Happy Easter

With both children grown, Easter is a different event at our house.  A better event, truthfully, as we are able to focus more clearly on celebrating our risen Lord!  As morning dawns, you'll find the Millers who are home this morning off to sunrise service - a special treat reserved for Easter morning. 

Another plus is that I have time to create and send Easter cards, something I never had time for when the kids were little.  You'll remember I stamped and colored these cards, sharing with you here.  That was in August 2016.   

These cards have sat in the stash since then, not quite pleased with the finish, but not quite certain how to "fix" them.  I decided to match them up with some kraft card bases and coordinating stamp sets to finish into these cards.  I've sent them to family and friends to celebrate Easter this year.


I think that the colorful solid cardstock backing creates just the right frame for the card - making the size a standard A2 which is more pleasing to the eye that the original, created following the package instructions from the Art Impressions Blessings to You stamp and die set.  The color teases out a focal color on each card and coordinates with the patterned papers that I had previously used to line the inside flaps.

The Easter sentiment was stamped using my Heartfelt Creations Dogwood Chapel cling stamp.  I white heat embossed a piece of the cardstock to create the flag and then stamped and colored the three crosses onto Bristol cardstock, coloring with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  I fussy cut the crosses out  and glued everything flat to the cards since the folded nature of the card design created enough layers which to place in a standard A2 envelope.

I left the rest of the card just how I originally assembled and I am really pleased with each of the cards and how they turned out.  The Art Impressions stamps have never let me down - great stamp quality and interesting designs that tug at the heart.

I'll hope your Easter celebrations - if you do so - are filled with hope and joy. 

Happy Easter!

Handmade Easter Treats

I'm stopping in today to share with you the treat bags that I made for my co-workers.  I had purchased these small white paper bags for treats at my daughter's graduation last year and I saw this Pinterest pin and couldn't resist a chance to distribute some Easter fun.  I simply used a black Sharpie marker to make the eyes and nose and a pair of scissors to cut the "ears" out of the top of the bag.

Inside each bag is a small handful of chocolate, foil-wrapped eggs and each bag is tied with a pink tulle bow - making these darling little rabbits an adorable treat. 

All in all, I think I made nearly 27 of these - which I handed out at work this week.  Check back tomorrow for my Easter cards which were mailed last weekend.

Winner for Our Blog Candy - Concord & 9th Stamp and Die Set

I'm popping in to announce the winner for the blog candy we offered last week as we hosted the City Crafter Challenge M is for Monogram.

Kirsty Vittetoe has announce the City Crafter Challenge winner and I'd encourage you to go over to the challenge blog to see all the fun.  The participants were very creative and I know that Brandy and I really had a good time making our projects with these wonderful stamps.

Now, onto the big announcement.  Remember than a winner was selected from those who commented and those that followed during the week from 3/20/18 through 3/27/18.  Check out the posts for March 20, March 22, and March 24.  The winner is

Vinita Jain  

Vinita, we're so excited for your win.  Please contact me via the email to provide your mailing address.  Our email can be found here.  We'll pop that in the mail so that you might be able to make your own monogram project.

Thanks to all who left such kind comments on the posts.  Brandy and I had a ton of fun participating and sponsoring the challenge and blog candy.

 and 

Happy Birthday Mabel

Today I'm stopping by to share the card I made my grandmother to celebrate her 91st birthday.  Navy blue is her favorite color and I couldn't resist making it the centerpiece for this card.  Also, a little gold embellishment never hurt either. 

The peonies are white heat embossed onto watercolor paper and I used my Mission Gold watercolors to add color the paper.  I was real pleased with how these turned out.  I found some greenery pieces from the stash and used my SSS Stitched Rectangles dies to make a white frame.  The sentiment is gold embossed - on the outside and on the inside.  I mixed two different sentiment stamps to make this inside sentiment.  She really is fabulous and I super hope that she feels special today, her actual birthday.

I scheduled this post as I am currently in the process of hosting a dinner celebration at my house.  It's getting late for my grandma, so we'll be wrapping up soon - which means she won't get a peek at her card before she opens it.

Happy Birthday, Grandma.  I love you so.