How Will I Live Without...

The Control Freaks are back with an all new Blog Hop this month.  We took a short break last month and we are so happy to be hopping along again!  You may have just arrived from Debbie Henderson or you may just be starting. Either way, don't miss a single stop!

This month we are sharing our favorite stamps, dies, embellishments, papers (and so much more) that we just can't live without!  Every time we have to say good bye to retiring products, I can't imagine my stamping life without them. Anyone else feel that way?  I'm here to share a few of my favorite retiring things before they are gone for good.

I am seriously sad that the Sweet Strawberry bundle is retiring.  I love these sweet strawberry images and sentiments.  I love them even more as a pop of color with a Basic Black card base.

I stamped the floral image on a piece of Basic White, coloring the flower in Petal Pink and leaves in Mossy Meadow.  The strawberries were colored in Real Red, with their tops and extra leaves in Mossy Meadow too.  The berries were punched out with the Strawberry Punch and popped up for a little extra dimension.  The simple Thank You sentiment was heat embossed in white on Basic Black with a little strip of  black and white Pattern Party DSP.  It was finished off with a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels and a little Playful Pets bakers twine.

Next up is another one of my favorites...Tasteful Touches and the coordinating Tasteful Labels Dies.  I love the floral image in this stamp set and the dies...oh, how I will miss them!  I use these dies on almost EVERY card I make!

This card is a case of one of this months Crafty Carrot Collective projects, created by Cindy Schuster...I loved the layout of her project and just had to use it!  I started off by combining two patterns from In Good Taste DSP, adding a diagonal strip of Gold Metallic Specialty Paper.  Some flowers, colored in Balmy Blue, and a few Granny Apple Green sprigs were tucked in behind the sentiment, along with a few more gold leaves.  A few Brushed Brass Butterflies finished things off...isn't it pretty?

Next up is Melissa Davies of Rubber Funatics...isn't she amazing?!?!

Thanks for hopping along with us!

Happy Stamping!

 

Sunshine & Rainbows

Welcome to Friday and an all new TGIF Challenges!

I had to get a little creative with this weeks Technique Challenge and create my own mask.  Why in the world do I not have any of the amazing masks?!?!  That's the beauty of some of our punches and dies though...you can make your own!

I used the Cloud Punch to create a simple Balmy Blue cloudy sky background for a cheerful rainbow and sunshine!  

I'm using the returning In Colors as much as I can before they are gone.  I am really going to miss Misty Moonlight!  Want to know what else I'm going to miss? The Tasteful Labels dies!  These are probably my most used dies!  Good-bye's are so hard!

I don't know about you, but I am SO happy it's Friday!  I hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Supplies Used:

 

Daffodil Field of Thanks ~ #HSSSC380

Happy Tuesday stampers and welcome to the first Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge of the year.  We are back after a short little break and can't wait to share all of our challenges with you this year!

Once again, spring is calling my name!  I can't wait to see my daffodils popping out of the cold winter ground in just a few weeks.  But for now, I'm happy with the Daffodil Daylight Bundle (JJ Mini) and coordinating Daffodil Afternoon DSP (SAB).

Isn't this die-cut daffodil beautiful?  I love all of the detail and can't wait to create more in different colors.  With the beautiful daffodil pattern of DSP, all I needed was one single flower to go along with the sketch.

I tucked the flower under a piece of Pale Papaya DSP and topped it off with a Thank You sentiment from Sweet Strawberry stamp set, with just a bit of the Evening Evergreen Open Weave Ribbon.  A couple butterflies completed the cheerful spring-time scene.

I hope you'll join along with our first sketch of the year.  We always love to see what you create!

Happy Stamping!

Products Used:

Beauty of Thankfulness

Hi friends!  Happy Thursday...right???  I had to stop and think about what day it really was.  During the summer, while I am off, I tend to lose track of what day it is.  And I'm okay with that!  I do know that no matter what day of the week it is, I can always find a new Freshly Made Sketches sketch to play along with!

I love the simplicity of this weeks sketch!  The Beauty of the Earth DSP has been sitting on my desk, just waiting to be used, and this weeks sketch was the perfect time to put it to use!

I love the colors in this pattern!  They remind me of fall...my second favorite season, after summer of course.  A simple strip of this DSP was all I needed!  Some Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy and Basic White stood in the background while the warm colors in the DSP stole the show.

I love this Night of Navy sentiment from the Best Year stamp set, which fit so nicely inside this Tasteful Labels die.  The sentiment alone was little sad, so I added some Misty Moonlight stamped-off leaves from tasteful touches.  These leaves pair up perfectly with the DSP!  A touch of texture was added with the Bark 3D embossing folder and I dressed things up just a bit with some Crumb Cake Bakers Twine and Genial Gems.  For a simple card, I felt like I had ALL the things out on my desk!  

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a fantastic day!

Happy Stamping!

Products used:

Flowering Cactus Love ~ Control Freaks Blog Hop

Welcome to January's Control Freaks Blog Hop where we are sharing our love of the new January-June 2021 Mini Catalog.  You may have just started the hop or arrive here from the amazingly creative Cindy Elam, but make sure you don't miss a stop!

Hi, my name is Bree and I have a houseplant addiction!  I have quite the collection, which include some adorable little cactus and succulents.  With that being said, you can only image how excited I was when I saw the Flowering Cactus Product Medley!

The Flowering Cactus DSP has a few sheets that have designs that coordinate with the Flowering Cactus dies. I love this! The only stamped image in my first card is the sentiment, which I heat embossed and die cut with the Tasteful Labels Dies.  So cool, right?  The cacti and flowers were all die cut right from the DSP!  I layered a few different patterns and added a circle of velum before placing the cacti.  

I love the pretty floral patterns of DSP, but the flip side is just a great!  I pulled several different patterns of paper in shades of green, placing them in kind of a wonky layout.  I, once again, die cut one cactus from the DSP, then added a few prickly little die cut cacti, which my son was quick to tell me look like pickles!  I may have to get creative with that!! Again, the only stamping was the sentiment!

This is such a fun kit and I am so happy that there is a refill.  That will be added to my next cart really soon!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Mossy Meadow, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Flowering Cactus DSP

Ink ~ VersaMark

Stamp Set ~ Flowering Cactus

Other supplies ~ Flowering Cactus Dies, Tasteful Labels Dies, Flowering Cactus Twine

Next in the lineup is the marvelous Melissa Davies.  I can't wait to see what she has for us this month!

Thanks for hopping along with us this month!

Happy Stamping!

 

Rainbow of Greetings

 Happy Sunday stampers!  

I am wrapping up the last little bit of my winter break and am so grateful for the time off with my family these past two weeks.  I would be telling a big fat lie if I said that I was ready to go back to work, but I am kind of looking forward to all of us getting back into our routine. However, I will miss all of the extra time I've had in my craft room...it's been a very productive couple of weeks!

When I placed my pre-order, the Love You Always suite was not yet available, but the beautiful black and white True Love DSP was and I just HAD to have it.  All of those beautiful blooms were just BEGGING to be colored!

I spent some time coloring many of the blooms, then fussy cutting them out.  I sat down this afternoon to create a stack of Thank You, Birthday and Thinking of You cards.  Just look at this rainbow of greetings!

I am a sucker for anything in black and white...and when you add a pop of color, it is even better!

Once the flowers were all cut out, I was able to put these cards all together in no time!  It was fun mixing up a few of the DSP patterns.

I used sentiments from Peaceful Moments and Butterfly Gala, which I paired up with the Tasteful Labels dies. And you know I can't have a card without a little bit of bling...some Rhinestone Basic Jewels were just the perfect final touch for each of these cards!

I'm pretty sure I used all shades of red, pink and purple Stampin' Blends, along with a few others, to color all of the flowers.  I'm sure I will be breaking out another sheet of this DSP soon to color even more!

I hope your New Year is off to an amazing start! 

Happy Stamping!

Freshly Squeezed Thanks

Happy Friday Friends! I hope you have all had a fantastic week!

My hubby and older boys have been gone all week on a fishing trip, so it has been just me and my youngest, Owen.  We've stayed busy painting his bedroom, keeping up on house chores, taking a fun hike and of course, some stamping.  I love that Owen enjoys stamping just as much as I do!  

He wanted to stamp something that we could color, so I pulled out the cute Simply Citrus stamp set.  We stamped and colored a few lemons, which I happily fussy cut out for both of us.

It was time to turn lemons into a card, so I turned to Freshly Made Sketches  and found the perfect sketch!  It always fun to create a square card!

This is probably one of my favorite color combos...Night of Navy, Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight!  They are just so fun and cheerful!

I stamped the lemons using Tuxedo Black Memento, then colored them with Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends. The fun sunburst die from Tasteful Labels was absolutely perfect for the sentiment.

I added some texture using the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder, which reminded me of a lemon rind.  A bright and happy polkadot background in Granny Apple Green and a few bits of Night of Navy Holiday Rhinestones finished things off.  

Now to decide who to send this cheerful little card too...I know it will brighten someones day!

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday!

Happy Stamping!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Brights DSP

Ink ~ Night of Navy, Memento, Stampin' Blends:  Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green

Stamp Set ~ Simply Citrus

Other Supplies ~ Tasteful Textile 3D EF, Tasteful Labels Dies, Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Daisy Smiles ~ Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge #341

Happy Tuesday stampers!  It's time for an all new Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge.  This week we have a fun sketch for you to play along with! 

While I anxiously wait for my new Annual Catalog order to arrive, I decided to give a little attention to a fun set that has carried over...Daisy Lane. The little daisies that coordinate with the Medium Daisy Punch are just too cute!

I stamped the daisies in Bermuda Bay, layering two for each flower.  I colored the centers in Daffodil Delight and added some Granny Apple Green ferns behind them.  Things still felt a little plain, so I added some Bermuda Bay and Granny Apple Green splatters...so much fun!  I did use the new Old World Paper 3D embossing folder to add a little bit of texture, as well as some Daffodil Delight Ruched Ribbon.  I finished the card off with a cheerful sentiment that is sure to make anyone smile!  Speaking of smile, I cut this one out with the new Tasteful Labels dies.  I am going to be using these a LOT!  There are so many great labels in this set!

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you will join me and the rest of the Hand Stamped Sentiments design team and play along with this weeks challenge.

Happy Stamping!