#stampinup – LadyEm ~ Under Mary's Mantle

Dear Readers,

I am starting to make cards again! Marque (my hubby) said I needed to use the stuff I have…

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. ❤

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 YouTube’s that gracious crafter’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 ago… 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

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