Category: StampinUp

Catholic · CCDTeacher · HomeMaker · Catholic Faith · #LadyEmCrafts · Card Making · PaperCrafter · StampinUp · SweeNSassy · Sacraments

Cards & Cupcakes…

LadyEm63Leave a comment

Dear Ones,

Happy Wednesday. This past weekend we celebrated First Holy Communion at our Parish on base. And I reached out to the CCRE to see how I could help. We agreed that I would make cards for the children and cupcakes for the reception afterwards.

I am so blessed to have so many crafty tools… and per my agreement with my hubby I am using them. Here are the cards:

Card Recipe:
TOOLS: StampinUp Stampin Cut & Emboss Machine.
Cross Die (part of a set from Nestabilities).
INKS: Soft Sky and Pool Party blue Inks from StampinUp
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens.
For the splatters I used the ink from two blues spectrum pens, mixed with a little water, and splatted with the fan brush. I splatted the ink over sponged on soft sky & pool party blues.
STAMPS: The image and sentiments are from Doves of Peace, from SweetnSassy Stamps.
PAPER: Both from my PaperTreyInk and StampinUp Stashes.
Colors are Ivory, and various grays and light blues.

I love the way they turned out and I hope the families did too.

Now, for the cupcakes… I am a baker, and I have to say – the cupcakes were fantastic. A great recipe from the late 1970’s… just can’t be beat. But the icing… AACK. For some reason it was runnier than it should have been. I tried so many baking tricks… and the icing tasted good. But I wasn’t happy.

I have to tell you guys… God had my back. Somehow between that and the fact that my hand-mixer broke mid-beating the icing together… God helped me out and things went well. Thankful the CCRE is calm and knows I am working on my perfectionist issues that can make me awkward… and she laid it all out. It looked great.

It feels good to be getting involved again. I’m hopeful.

Anywhoooo it’s just a quick post for today. I have so many things to talk about… but I’m overthinking how to say them. HA! I’m not kidding. I want my blog to be loving and kind… and I am trying to balance it with real issues I want to talk about. Praying about it. But – please stay tuned.

As always, wishing you lovely readers…

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

#LadyEmCrafts · Card Making · StampinUp · SweetnSassy · Honey Bee Stamps

Card Therapy?!

LadyEm632 Comments

Dear Readers,

I am starting to make cards again! Marque (my hubby) said I needed to use the stuff I haveā€¦

And y’all it’s so relaxing. It’s like therapy…. I used to make a card every day… and post them all the time. Then FB took over my life, it seems, and I really lost track. So – I’m back at it. I’m even starting a local card group here in Italy. We shall see how it goes…

Anywhooooo… to ease back in, I went to my Paper Pumpkin kits. I had five shoved in a drawer. It has been a super fun week. These kits come with everything you need to make cards and other things. Check them out here: Paper Pumpkin by StampinUp!

I embellished and changed some things in each kit. In the kit below… I added color to the capital letters. They are meant to be all white… but that seemed BORING. lol I hope you like them.

Kit #4… It is just so fun to play with these kits. Everything you need is there. It’s awesome. ā¤

By the 5th kit (fruit/popsicles) I realized I must have given away the stamp set, so I had to ad lib! I looked up YouTubeā€™s that gracious crafterā€™s create to show you other things to do with the kits. Alicia from Crafty with Al is where I watched this video: April 2021 PP Kit and took my inspiration from.

I’m not saying I did exactly what she did, and I added sentiments from StampinUp!, Honey Bee Stamps, and my favorite – Sweet N Sassy Stamps. I’m pleased with how they turned out. I can add ribbon if I like or leave plain.

The last two cards are not from kits… One is an image I colored years agoā€¦ and one is from an old thank you card that I repurposed!

The below is an image I printed out easily 6+ years ago. If y’all knew the amount of things I had to use in my craft room, you’d be amazed… and know this obsession is real. Anywhoooo… My dear friend Lori Boyd used to have a company and she created (aka drew) the cutest stamps. This girl blowing bubbles is her stamp. I have so many colored images, and this was one I found. So, I trimmed the image, added glossy accents to the gum ball machine, and a little wink of stella to the bubble. So cute.

This last image is really the funnest. Well sort of. I trimmed a thank you card front. Have a small bin of already matted cards… with no picture on front. Added a sentiment AND some embellishments. I love repurposing. I mean – why not!

Thanks for looking. I really have enjoyed creating again. And I’m thankful for the opportunity. Let me know what you think.

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

#LadyEmCrafts · Catholic Faith · Davis Family · Italy · Lent · StampinUp · SweetnSassy · Valentines

Shrove Tuesday And A Couple Valentine’s Cards

LadyEm636 Comments

Dear Readers…

How I wish I was a more regular blogger. I will make attempts to do better, and stop apologizing. Because I’m bored with the apologies. HA I hope you are all well. Life is life… Sigh. Hugs.

Today is Shrove Tuesday. Do you know what Shrove Tuesday is? Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras – they all mean the same thing. Today – historically – WAAAAY BACK. People would empty their pantries of eggs, milk, and sugar so that they could fast for 40 days of Lent. In my house, one wants pancakes and the other wants waffles. I’m low carb, so I will figure it out. LOL Breakfast for dinner is NEVER a bad thing though. Information about traditions below.

Tomorrow – we kick of Lent with Ash Wednesday – this year we will be sprinkled with Ashes instead of receiving on the forehead. UGH But we know everyone is doing the best we all can. Of course, NOTHING I ordered for Lent is here. But never fear, let me give you a list of Free or Inexpensive Lenten Printables. This way, if you are in the same predicament with mail (with all the weather in the states, the delays must be similar), you can still get your Lenten Plan together. Here are a few things I love:

And perhaps my Favorite – Prompt Me To Pray Through Lent via Monica at Arma Dei. She has so many Lenten Printables from her Lenten Pack of Prayers to a Lenten Quest to her Stations of the Cross. You really should check out her site!

Plus I have a couple books here with readings and devotions for Lent. I’m disappointed that the NEW hasn’t shown up, but it’s ALL GOOD! Catholics are versatile and able to overcome. LOL

Now – I think it’s ok to show you a few Valentine’s Cards I sent to lovely folks I know.

Card #1 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Sweet ‘N Sassy Stamps: Some Buggy Loves You, Texture Tiles 5 and Texture Tiles 7
Paper: PaperTreyInk, StampinUp, and Scrap DP
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink-Gina K Designs, Various Copic and Spectrum Noir Yellow Sparkle Pen.
Embellishments: Blue Scrap Ribbon

Directions: I have bins with scrap paper and precut layers in it. I stamped the X’s and O’s on a piece of chartreuse paper (PTI) and I believe the DP with dragonflies is from StampinUp. I just layered it and tossed some ribbon on. I wish I’d have taken a picture of the inside, because I stamped Happy Valentine’s Day, and Somebuggy loves you! Put it all together with tape adhesive and dimensionals.

Card #2 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Sweet n Sassy Stamps: Kitty Image – from Lots of Love, Sentiment from Valentine Critters, and Background from Rose Background.
Paper: PaperTreyInk and StampinUp
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink from Gina K. Various Copic Markers, and Wink of Stella
Embellishments: Pink Scrap Ribbon.

Directions: I cut and layed out layers from scrap paper. I stamped the Rose background and colored with comic markers… then I used the teeny hearts from the Sweet n’ Sassy Donut Worry set and stamped in various colors with SU Ink, and used a water brush to move the ink around to give a little dimension. I stamped the kitty and colored her with Copics, then put it all together with tape adhesives and dimensionals. Scrap ribbon from my bin. Easy Peasy.

Card #3 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Sweet n’ Sassy Stamp Sets: You & Me, Donut Worry, and Texture Tiles 9
Paper: PaperTreyInk and StampinUp
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink from Gina K, Various Copic Markers, and Stampin UP Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso and Soft Suede.
Embellishments: Red scrap ribbon.

Directions: I stamped the coffee words image on a scrap of ballerina pink paper, and stamped the coffee and donuts in various browns, and sprayed with water for a spill effect. I colored the main image with copic markers and used a piece of pink/red gingham paper for a layer. Then I added the red ribbon and put it all together with tape adhesive and dimensionals.

It was one of my funnest evenings in a long time. Music, mess and fun! I get messy in my craft room. I hope to do it more. Anyway – I got them into Military Post, but who knows when the receivers will receive.

We’ll talk about Lent tomorrow. Ash Wednesday Y’all.

Happy rest of your Tuesday.

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

#LadyEmCrafts · Card Making · LadyEm · Me · PaperCrafter · StampinUp · SweetnSassy

Quarantine Crafting: Craft Room & Mojo…

LadyEm63Leave a comment

Dear Crafty Ones,

I hesitate to say I am starting to make cards again, but if I keep buying things and don’t make anything, I will be in the dog house. LOL So – I have purposed to spend some time every day in my craft room. I may or may not have told you (yes, I know I have like 10,000 times)… Everything and I mean EVERYTHING takes longer in Italy.

So, my chores took longer… and when I got to my craft room, God sure smiled at me. I am trying to make Thank You cards for the USO, and I have several Graduation cards to make. And I need to get packages out, Mother’s Day stuff. I’ve lost my organizing and crafting mojo…but I think it’s coming back.

My craft room has been mostly organized chaos. I have so much stuff in this tiny little space, I literally can not concentrate. It’s HARD! lol Last evening, I spent some time organizing things, and today, I came down here, and I was determined to craft. I started looking for something and I found this folder of printed out images, but I’d forgotten that I had colored a few.

Then, I remembered I have a bin with half-started cards or leftovers from old card group classes. I have tons of scraps, fronts of “thank you” cards, and random papers I have stashed. And y’all, just like that – I started creating. I’m super excited.

I am making a bunch of little 3×3 notes for the USO. Most are thank you notes. Info about the cards:
Both cards background inks are made using ElecroPop Neon Inks from @GinaKDesigns. The Anchor Image is from a GinaKDesign Stamp Kit (blue notecard), embossed in Gold (StampinUp). The Image in the Pink notecard is a Dandelion from the Make A Wish Set from SweetnSassy Stamps (2012). The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti. I am unsure of the name as their website is not working. I made a couple of each.
Beautiful You 1 & 2 is the Stamp Set from StampinUp and I colored the images in Prismacolor Pencil a couple years ago.. These are part of what I found colored. So excited. I just wanted to show you the stamp. Literally today, all I did was cut out the image on my Big Shot, using Nestabilities Scalloped Square dies. Cut out the sentiment and added it to an already cut out glittery flag. How easy was that? I actually have several colored images from this and will work on them this week.
This card is the ultimate in recycling. The Thank You card image I loved and saved. The next layer is a part of a note card I got from a friend when Marque was in the Hospital. I saved it. And the cardstock was in my bin of already cut paper. I glued the layers together and added some embellishments and that was it.

I have been doing a weekly video update on Facebook. I’ll be back with cards and wit. Quarantine Tips & Trials tomorrow – It’s gonna be a fun post.

Today in Italy, we had our first food delivery AND a walk on the beach to boot. We are happy campers. I won’t keep you longer. I do hope you enjoyed my cards. I’ve missed being in the right frame of mind to craft.

Tomorrow marks eight weeks of Quarantine for our kids, 64 days for me (due to the hubs surgery), and my mind is discombobulated. Anywhooo…

Have a great rest of your Monday.

Love & Hugs,
Lady Em

#LadyEmCrafts · Card Making · Davis Family · Health · Painting · PaperCrafter · Praying · StampinUp · SweeNSassy · Valentines

A Few Valentine’s Cards

LadyEm63Leave a comment

Dear Ones,

I hope you are well. SO much has been going on here, I am behind in blogging. If I had a dollar for every time I said that, I’d be a millionaire. Anywhooo…

Because this is my person blog and my craft blog (because I only have the mental capacity for one) I’ll share with you… my husband had a bad colonoscopy. He’s going to be fine. But it’s gonna be a medium-to long road. It’s precancerous, with a slight chance the part they couldn’t get out will be not great news. And they will do the resection of his colon on Fat Tuesday. So Fasting and Prayer take on a more powerful witness, as we stand faithful in healing. Now let me tell you about our God. We are in Italy, and we thought we were going to have to go to Germany or the States for Surgery, which would have been a heck of an expense. But, it just so happens that there is a specialist here, who will only be here till the end of February, and who is assisting in my husband’s surgery. She has written chapters of textbooks and papers on robotic/gastro-colorectal surgeries. I mean – what are the chances. Also, so far, everything has come back good news, but they are cautioning us not to proclaim it all gone until they go in and see. So we wait.

In the mean time, I hadn’t been washing my face before bed, and my eye was infected last week. And now, I have a bad cough, and I’m staying away from him so I won’t get him sick. If you can spare a prayer, I’d sure appreciate it. Peace and comfort for us all, and healing for my hubs.

Life is hard sometimes, and it’s hard for me to blog the pain, because I’ve spent so long covering it all up for my sanity’s sake. I hate to burden others. Sigh. ā¤ I have been praying Novenas – St. Peregrine and St. Rita so far. More to come. So thankful for my Catholic Faith and all my praying friends of every faith.

SO now, let me get to the cards. I wanted to share with you a couple Valentine’s Cards I made.

Card #1 – Card Recipe
Stamps: Genuine Love by Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps
Paper: PaperTreyInk and StampinUp
Ink: Jet Black Amalgam Ink from Gina K Designs, Distress Oxide in Spun Sugar, and Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry
Embellishments: Black scrap ribbon.

Directions: I had the Bokeh Paper (I made it and will tell you about it below). And I simply took red card stock, stamped roses on it in black, used the bokeh paper, and then stamped the hearts onto a white layer, used two different distressed inks with the filled-in heart. Stamped my sentiment, and an arrow, went around the edge of the paper with black ink for dimension, and added a piece of scrap ribbon.
In order to make Bokeh paper, you can use a ready-made stencil OR make your own, as I did. I used various inks on a pink piece of paper, and this is how it came out. Christi Beck taught me this way back in 2015. And if you don’t know her, you should check out her blog StampinTX. AMAZING! If you click the StampinTx, you will be taken to the Bokeh Technique, but you really do want to follow her.
Card #2 – Card Recipe
Stamps:Lots of Love and Textured Tiles 5 From Sweet ‘N Sassy stamps
Paper: PaperTreyInk and Stampin Up. Also Water Color Paper (from a watercolor pad)
Ink: Image stamped with Jet Black Amalgam Ink. I colored the image with Copic Markers.
Used acrylic Inks to make the background of the “DP”. Painting hearts is easy and I had so much fun making it.
I used Pink Pirouette from StampinUp and embossing powder on the hearts from the Textured Tiles set to add texture to the paper.
Embellishments: Fuchsia Scrap Ribbon, and a Red Heart Crystal.
Directions: I used a lavender paper from PaperTreyInk as the base. I frames the images with a deep red paper,
and laid it onto the heart paper. Added a fuschia ribbon and a crystal heart.

I hope you loved the cards. I wish you were all in Italy and would come color and play at my house. I can’t hardly get anyone interested here… and I even wear deodorant, I swear it. HAHA

I pray you are all well. I’ll be back soon, I promise.
Please email me or leave a message so that I can pray for you!

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm