Mr. Fix It

I love having images for masculine cards so I was delighted to get this Flourishes set for my birthday in June -  it has various items which you can mix with different shaped mugs.  I went for the bold combo of red, teal and black, and layered up some chevron die-cuts using MFT's Chevron Die-namics - for the black layer I cut the largest chevron strip in half.

I had a little pliers charm in my stash, and this seemed to be the time to use it! 

Supplies include:

Flourishes Mix-n-Mugs

Lifestyle Crafts Inverted Squares Nesting Dies

MFT Chevron Die-namics

Brads

Twine

Charm

Copics

Golden Lillies

It's a cool, rainy, grey day here in Belfast so I was drawn to warm, golden colors today - I colored these lovely Calla Lillies by Flourishes with copics and popped them up on a dp circle. 

As I often do, I checked Google Images for various shades and colors that the flowers might be naturally, and the creamy golden hues really appealed! 

I stamped the sentiment directly on to dp and added some lace and golden dew drops to finish.

The layout is from a previous sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers - todays Sketch Challenge was the 400th and to celebrate we were given a choice of using one of the previous 399!

Supplies include:

Flourishes Calla Lillies

My Minds Eye, October Afternoon, K & Co dp

Lace

Dew drops

Sewing machine

Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles

Copics

Hoot of a Friend

I was staying in Scotland this past week - our cottage was in the woods and there was a lot of bird life including an owl which kept us company at night!  Maybe that was what inspired me to ink up for the first time this cute little owl from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Owl Be Here.  He's colored to match the dp from Lilybee Designs.

The sentiment is stamped on one of several die-cut clouds, using a Papertrey Ink die.  

I love this sentiment - I'm thankful for the friends who add a lot of fun and laughter to my life, they really are a hoot!

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Owl Be Here

Lilybee Designs Handmade, Double Dutch

Button

Twine

Papertrey Ink cloud die

Copics

A Seaside Postcard

Today's card uses two of my favorite Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets, Vintage Postcard and The Sea.  It seems a perfect pairing, considering many people send home beautiful postcards of their vacation destinations by the sea!  

I also used the set Light of Christmas to add some script bg to the left side of the postcard.  Because I wanted the edges of my stamping to fade out, I wiped away ink around the edges of the stamps before stamping.

The dp and cardstock have been sponged with Ranger Distress Scattered Straw and Frayed Burlap for a distressed look.  I used a post-it-note cut with a Spellbinders circle to mask a sun behind the sailboat.  The seam binding has been sprayed with water and crinkled up.
The layout is thanks to Korin, who gave it to us for today's Sketch Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps The Sea

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Light of Christmas

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Vintage Postcard

Stampin Up Daffodil Delight cardstock

Stampin Up Vintage Buttons

October Afternoon dp

Ranger Distress Scattered Straw, Frayed Burlap ink

Stampin Up distressing tool

Sewing machine

Stampin Up seam binding

Stampin Up Cool Caribbean, Night of Navy, Baja Breeze ink

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles small

CAS Sympathy

When I need to make a sympathy card, I always seem to sway toward making it clean and simple, for some reason it just seems right.  Today's Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers is Maureen Merritt or mamamostamps - her clean, crisp style is just what I needed for inspiration which I found on her lovely card HERE.

I always thought that lenten roses were a pale pink but after googling I discovered there are deep pink varieties too.  I popped up the sentiment panel after scoring and then popped up the flower image which is colored with copics.  I've loved this Flourishes image for a long time and my Mom recently bought the stamp set for me for my birthday - thanks, Mom!

The sentiment is from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set Elegant Blessings.

Supplies include:

Flourishes Lenten Rose

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Elegant Blessings

Couture Creations houndstooth embossing folder

Dew drops

Copics

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

A Divine Portrait

Today's Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoaststampers is at LEIF.  I was inspired by this TRIVET - the shapes and bright colors of the agates immediately made me think of dabs of paint, and this card has been simmering on the back burner in my mind for a while now.

My brother-in-law, Michael, is a pastor and an artist and years ago he did a watercolor of a simple paintbrush, penciling in the words "paint in my life a portrait of Jesus".  I have that print on my wall and adapted the saying for this card, using Monterey font.

The Bible says that Jesus is the exact representation of God, just in case anyone's wondering what God is like!  It also says that God is at work, making us more like Jesus - if we let Him.  Most of the time I feel like I'm so NOT like Jesus so I have to take that on faith!  I guess my prayer is that sometimes even a little glimpse of Jesus will shine through!

Supplies include:

MFT Artist Palette Die-namic

Brads

SU cardstock

Ranger Distress Frayed Burlap

Grace Be With You

Today's sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers was a chance to make a simple card with some of my favorite dp's right now (Cosmo Cricket Baby Jane). 

I love this verse, I can't think of a more beautiful blessing to send someone than a prayer to experience the grace of Jesus, or in other words, all the free and wonderful gifts He gives as we trust Him!

The stamp is a sentiment included in the set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Graceful Calla Lily.

I added zig zag stitching, gingham ribbon and buttons for a bit of a country look.

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Graceful Calla Lily

Spellbinders Nestabilities Ovals

Cosmo Cricket Baby Jane dp

Stampin Up Real Red card stock

Buttons

Ribbon

Sewing machine

Sympathy Silhouette

Today's Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers is Jean (naturecoastcrafter) and I chose a simple silhouette card found HERE to base my sympathy card on.  The wildflowers are from a Taylored Expressions set which I won during the Splitcoaststampers Hope You Can Cling To card drive last year - keep a look out for this years card drive in October! I stamped this silhouette before adding new ink to my Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad - and what a difference that makes. The sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Elegant Blessings, which uses a beautiful simple, yet elegant font.  I usually like to keep sympathy cards quite clean and simple so I hope I haven't "overdone" this one by adding too much.  I started with punched flowers, then went for a butterfly and finished with pearls. 

Supplies include:

Taylored Expressions

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Elegant Blessings

SU Blushing Bride ink

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Pearls

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Woodware flower punch

Sewing machine

Twine (The Twinery) 

Butterfly Chevrons

I've got a card for you today using several of the newly released SNSS sets AND honoring the new SNSS Design Team member Ceal Pritchett, who is the Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers today!  Congratulations, Ceal!

HERE is the lovely CAS card that I chose to CASE from Ceal's gallery.

I used the fantastic new set Grunge Borders to stamp the chevrons four times across the bottom of the card and then added the sentiment which is from the new set Script Sentiments.

Both of these sets are incredibly versatile and can be used along with all your other sets.

The butterfly is one of my favorites - it's from Everyday Miracles and has been colored with copics.

The whole card was easy and quick, and I'm patting myself on the back for having made a card without any embellishments!

Supplies used:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Grunge Borders

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Script Sentiments

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Everyday Miracles

SU Real Red, Cool Caribbean ink

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Copics

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps August Release Blog Hop

Hello and welcome!  So glad you could join us for some inspiration by the SNSS design team with the new sets!  Don't forget the Virtual Stamp Day at Splitcoaststampers for some fun chat and challenges with an opportunity to win some prizes - it all starts from 10:00 am with a new challenge being posted every two hours.  Hope to see you over there!
And remember, all the new sets are available from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps immediately.

My first card uses two of the new sets, Script Sentiments and Grunge Borders...I used the wood grain border aiming for a sea washed wood look to add to my ocean theme - it may have ended up looking more like water since I stamped in blue, but hopefully that's okay too!  

I sponged the Sizzix die-cut sea shells and layered them over some long grass - the stems of grass end up slightly curled when cut with a paper cutter.  It's not evident in my photo but the card base has a pearlescent sheen and I sponged around the edges with SU's Creamy Caramel.

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Grunge Borders

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Script Sentiments

Sizzix From the Ocean dies

Stampin Up Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Creamy Caramel, Pool Party ink

Stampin Up Lucky Limeade cardstock

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Here's another one using Script Sentiments - I wanted to show the versatility of this set - you can use these large sentiments with virtually any die-cuts or images that you already have.  I used a Memory Box branch and bird die and added some leaves cut with a Marianne Design die.

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Script Sentiments 

Memory Box Nestled Bird die

Memory Box Woodland Branch die

DCWV Citrus Stack

Stampin Up Lucky Limeade cardstock

Twine

Button

Sewing machine

Stampin Up Soft Suede ink 

And here's another one using the fantastic set Grunge Borders - I stamped the grunge dots twice for a wider border along the bottom of the card.  This fun set not only has the woodgrain strip and the dots strip but a chevron strip and a diamond pattern strip as well.  I used Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps New Beginnings stamps and matching dies to create the butterfly and the sentiment is from Poppies and Greetings.

Supplies include

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Grunge Borders

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps New Beginnings 

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps New Beginnings Butterfly dies

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Poppies and Greetings

Cheery Lynn Designs Fanciful Flourish die

Twine

Stampin Up Yoyo Yellow ink

Button

MFT Simply Scallops Die-namic

Thanks for joining us today and here's a list of everyone participating in today's hop so you won't miss anything.  

Remember - one randomn commenter on a randomn DT members blog will win two sets of their choice from the release.   The comments must be by 8:00 EST today.  Good luck!

If you're following along, your next stop is with the very talented 

Taylor Usry!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog

Monika Davis

Jessica Fick

Cathy McCauley

Mary Faus

Kim Singdahlsen

Bridget Finlay

Taylor Usry

Dina Kowal
Lee Murphy

Kim Schofield

Ceal Pritchett

Giovana Smith

Jennie Harper

Korin Sutherland