Happy Autumn!

Thanks for dropping by! This card is a 3x6 on cream card stock, My Mind's Eye dp (double sided of COURSE!), a Verve Plain Jane for the beautiful verse from Psalms, a scrap of script and the loveliest of Autumn colored buttons from PTI; and the cutest little gift tag which I turned into the focal image. I have had these little gift tags reminiscent of Mary Engelbreit for years and I have doled them out carefully. I am sure I got them at Target, probably close to 5-6 years ago. Shame on me for not using them all up. They have the cutest Autumn images on them. I am down to 3 now, but again a drawer full of embellishments does not tell those you love, you love them! Use 'em up! is my new motto! The only thing I would do differently is thread up the buttons with some twine. Hope you enjoy the look!

TTFN!

Artha

Designer TAPE!!!

Hello friends! It's been quite a day that's for sure! BUT last night I got on my Mojo wagon and cranked out about 10 cards! Woo-eee! Of course they are all simple cards as my usz. BUT a card in the envelop will tell someone I love them while my stamps sitting there undisturbed are just wishful thinking!

For this card, I used some Designer TAPE! I have had a variety of colors for (sigh) a few years, but just yanked out this wide pink print and slapped it on cream card stock. I used Verve's new flower set Great Dreams, Verve's Kind Words and the Hero Arts script as background to the flower/leaves. 1/4" pink gross grain ribbon and we're done!

A hot tip......I have a great computer lap desk which I use while I am watching TV. I slice and dice neutral card stock in standard (and non-standard) sizes which I use for my card bases. Then I just put them in my desk cubby holes and pull them out as needed. This is one way I save time when I have just a few minutes to stamp. They are already made!

Be inspired and blessed!

TTFN!

Artha

In the Pink for Twins!

Happy Monday, all! I hope you had a great weekend, doing things you enjoy with people you love or at least like! This card was the baby congratulations that went along with the name frames I made for the twins a couple of weeks ago. Again, I used ready made embellishments. LOVE that baby clothes line from K and Company and the chipboard piece, also from K and Company. The sentiment is from PTI.

Hope you are inspired to pull out a few embellishments and make a card for someone special!

TTFN!

Artha

Mimi

Hello Stampin' Friends! What an absolutely GORGEOUS weekend and I got most of what was on my plan done! All the while squiring around an international visitor as well!

This is another simple card - that's just me - simple! I'd rather have a card to send than eek out hours on end with a small throughput and miss the occasion or have toBUY a card for the occasion.

My littlest granddaughter (for about another 5 weeks anyway) is the sweetest little sweetie. Her name is Iyla, she's 2 and because she is in the military with her Dad, sometimes she and her Mom (our 2nd daughter) come and stay with us. What a joy they are! Well Iyla has a stuffed lambie which she sleeps with (along with the lovey - blankie) and she calls her Mimi. I think that is Iyla-ese for Lamb-ME - get it? Me-Me - Mimi.

Well, Iyla is stationed at Fort Hood right now and I wanted her to know Grammy misses her, so I made her a Mimi card. The ready-made lambie embellishment is from K & Company, the dp paper from My Mind's Eye and the plain from Bazzill, the sentiment is Papertrey Ink; a little Cuttlebugging on the plain as well. It's a pretty standard Artha card.

Iyla's mom, our daughter Carissa is the most creative young mom! She has degrees in journalism and advertising/marketing and you should see HER blog (here's the link - http://domiciliary-artillery.blogspot.com/) and the stuff she creates for and with Iyla! What a gifted and talented young Mom! I am so proud of her!

Hope your weekend has been perfect too!

TTFN!

Artha

Fruit Salad!

Hello stampin' friends! This card is another usual Artha quick card, using some punch not from stamps but from ready made embellishments. This card was for my dear Mother-in-Law recently widowed. She is trying so hard to be strong and brave. We just recently visited her in Lake Tahoe and she was such a great hostess, giving me a restful break when I should have been doing for HER. So I sent her a thank you. She is a red head, with such a fair complexion so these tropical colors just reminded me of her.

The dp is from My Mind's Eye - my all time favorite! The colors are so fresh. The fruit embellishments are from K & Company, another favorite of mine! The word sentiment is from Remarks.

Hope you have had a wonderful week!

TTFN!

Arth

Thank you Chickie!

This card is for my friend, Linda. Years ago she took a start from the Hens 'n' Chicks succulent garden plants which were from my Grammy's old farm in Indiana. I did not move mine from the last house before we built this one (ummmm, I think that was someone ELSE who shall remain nameless' job) but she graciously gave me a whole bunch of starts last Friday. Thank you. Linnie! When we first met these dear friends she raised her own hens for eggs and she collects chicken items, so I thought this card was a shoe in. I tried to use my Copics, but as you can see coloring is not my strong suit. I need a Copics class I think. Anywho, this is my offering to a dear friend whom I love very much!

The DP is My Mind's Eye, the sentiment from PTI and the chickie huddle stamp is "Singing Bird Trio" from Memory Box.

Hope this card has you chirping up a storm!

TTFN!

Artha

Faith is....

Stampers Unite! Today's card remains in my genre - EASY PEASY!! Scraps of designer paper, Verve single stamp - one of my favorite verses and for the focus image, a punch out die cut shape, Savannah, from Three Bugs in a Rug, Love the easy stuff - always have a card ready when it's THIS easy!

I have been in a stampin' groove lately and trying to be consistent in using all my tools, paper and stamps AND trying to send cards to those I love on a regular basis. My Mom was the sweetest and most Godly woman I have ever known. She should have owned stock in a favored card company. She sent a card for every occasion and no occasion - just because she wanted you to know she loved you and was thinkin' about you. She was an incredible nurse with the true gift of mercy. When I was a kid, we made and gave gifts to every paperboy, mail person and the Standard Oil guy who brought our oil furnace supplies. I miss my Mom and long to honor her memory by being the same kind of person with the Law of Kindness on my lips - Proverb 31:26.

Have a super Wednesday - and what's left of Tuesday!

TTFN!

Artha

Abigael turns FIVE!

My first little Granddaughter, Abby turned FIVE last week! She is my sweet Abby! She lives in OK and we live in OR so we don't get to see her very often except on SKYPE and speaking by phone. She was delivered via emergency C-section when my daughter contracted severe toxemia, but that little sweetie is a fighter and never gives up (even when she is in trouble and should! :D) I would sit with her in the nursery since my daughter was so ill and couldn't and I could hear the nurses bickering with one another that one of them could not put that baby back in the incubator correctly after they did vitals. So I started watching.....and they did put her in the incubator longways - but she evidently did not want to be in that direction. So I watched her push off the side of the incubator (at 4 lbs 8 oz) with her foot until she was crossways in the incubator and then she stopped and rested and slept. When the nurse would come in to check her again, there she was crossways in that incubator and off they went bickering again.

Abby is about to be a big sister and I believe she will be a GREAT one! My daughter is 6 weeks away from delivering another baby girl. We have watched and prayed from afar as my daughter has taken charge of her health and worked hard to stay on top of her health challenges. I can hardly wait for this new little one and am anxious to get to OK and see how this set of girls is doing (I have another set in TX! - another day, another blog to brag on that group!)

SO THIS CARD was for our Abby's 5th birthday! Happy Birthday Abs!

Love, Grammy

Name Frames for Twins

Hello Friends! I have a good friend at work who is a Grammy to an Iyla like me except her Ila is spelled differently and a year older. My Iyla has a Y. We share funny, sweet Iyla and Ila stories on our lunch hours. Her Ila just became big sister to TWIN sisters this last week. Since I also know her son and daughter-in-law, I wanted a gift with a handcrafted item in addition to the usual sweet little girl clothes. This is what I came up with - a couple of name frames. I used a selection of pink design papers, some pre-made K-Company letters and baby embellishments, Cuttlebug texture and Verve stamps. I have made several of these name plates as gifts in the past using alphabet stamps. I have stamped "welcome", last names, first names..... You name it! Pun intended! Usually I use the long narrow frames, but these I found on sale for 2/$10 at Craft Warehouse. Hope you find inspiration to use this gift idea too!

TTFN!

Artha

Simple Masculine Birthday

Hello! This card is about as simple as you can get! I made it for our friend, Max on his 70th birthday card. He is such a crack up and we love him so I HAD to make him a handcrafted card to celebrate his special day.

I am not very inspiring when it comes to masculine cards. I am never quite sure what is allowable for a guy card! :D) So I decided simple and monotonic (as opposed to monotonous!) The stamped golf themed images are from a retired SU set and the blue scrap has a Hero Arts script background stamp applied. Paper is from my scraps pile in Winter White and Bazzill blue and brown. Ink is STAZON Brown and the ribbon is my favorite Michael's Martha Stewart - kind of a country blue with brown edges. Hope this inspires you to stamp often and stamp simply! Have a great Thursday!

A True Take 10!

Happy Tuesday, Stamping Friends! Maintaining my theme of quick to the envelop, I used some So Sophie scraps to set the color palette and a couple of pieces from my Graphic 45 12x12 perforated strips. There is not a quicker card in the world. I loved the Verve Sentiment. I also loved this organdy looped ribbon embellishment so much that I went back to my LSBS and bought 3 more yards. I LOVE the Fall season and the color palette IT brings. It seems to me the leaves are changing faster in Oregon this year - they are already turning in the neighborhood.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

TTFN!

Artha

DH Birthday Card!

Stampers UNITE!! Today's card is my DH's birthday card! It is his birthday today, but shhhh, I can't tell you how old he is!! :D) However, Dwight Eisenhower was president when he was born! :D)

I love Graphic 45! If you have not seen this line, it is quite amazing. A selection of punch outs on 12x12 paper, it is 1940's/1950's prints of classic automobiles, typewriters, cameras, clocks - just like on this card. The background papers provide a interesting backdrop for the the focused images. The papers I used here were actually perforated strips all on the same 12x12 sheet.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

TTFN!

Artha

Hello stampin' friends. Today's card is a simple sympathy card using So Sophie paper, Verve's single verse and sentiment. The focus image is "Footnote" from Penny Black. The ribbon is a cool find from my local scrapbook store. It is a brown organdy looped ribbon.

Hope you had a great day today and the greatness will spread into tomorrow!

TTFN!

Artha

Fall is Here!

Hello Stampin' Friends! I hope your first regular day of this week has been enjoyable! The best part of my week is that it's short!!

I love these new fall leaves from the newest release of PTI. The sentiment is lovely and those leaves and the dimension added by the separate veins stamp is amazing! It can be embossed with embossing powder for even more dimension because it is a separate stamp. Nicole Heady and her team are so creative in separating parts of their design to allow for color, dimension and added interest. Hope you had a great Tuesday!

TTFN!

Artha

Are you Laboring?

Happy Labor Day! Hope you have had an opportunity to do things you enjoy with people you love on this extended weekend! We just rolled in from beautiful Lake Tahoe and it was a relaxing weekend. Can't say we equally enjoyed the 7 hour drive, but I am sure I enjoyed it more than DH did.

This card is another sympathy card which was quick and easy. I used So Sophie designer paper, front and back, Verve's newest release single verse and sentiment. The flourish is from PTI's Embellishment. Can't say I have been more impressed with the creativity of any other designers but these 2 gals who have made their companies exude creativity and classic design which stampers can use anywhere. These ladies are amazing, coming up with new designs monthly and enough inspiration for another universe and this one too!

I hope your new week starts well. I am already anticipating mine.........take that as you will....could be a synonym for dread or not.

TTFN!

Artha

Happy Birthday!

Happy Sunday! One more extra day to enjoy Lake Tahoe and family! This card is my mother-in-law's birthday card. She is an August baby but because we were in Europe during her birthday, we came to celebrate this long weekend. Peridot fits her and so I used that beautiful peridot green as inspiration for her card. I used Verve's beautiful newly released set, with the Hero Arts script background, some more So Sophie paper. SU Taken with Turquoise and Old Olive. Topped off with some organdy olive ribbon with satin edges. PTI sentiment for Birthday Wishes. Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you!!!

Fall is on the way!

Good morning from beautiful Lake Tahoe where we are visiting my MIL. The lake and surrounding mountains are so beautiful and always inspiring and it is GOOD to have a break!

My card today is all about Papertrey Ink's August release. I spent my inheritance on new sets last month! The focus images are from Take 3 Fall, the sentiment from Gobble Gobble and the flourishes from the PTI set Embellishment.

Hope you have a great Day!

Easy Peasy Pears

Good morning, Stampin' Friends and Happy Friday! WOW! I have needed this long weekend. How 'bout this quick card I made for Daughter #1 who is 8 weeks away from her 2nd baby girl arriving? I love to let my kids know I am thinking about them and I have tried to stamp for them regularly since they are all scattered across the country. BUT I am all about quick, easy and what I hope is classy. Just like yesterday's post, I used die cut stickers.

I live in Southern Oregon, home of some pretty scrumptious pears and beautiful pear orchards and we are moving in on harvest time, so pears were on my mind this card making day. The adhesive backed, die cut pears are from Reminisce's Autumn Forest line and the sentiment is American Craft's Remarks (just like yesterday's post!) Designer paper is double-sided from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary and the mats are brown Bazzill from the Neutrals pad. Ribbon, Joann's organdy dot! My biggest joy in this card was the edge punch however! I have been looking for this "bracket" punch by Fiskars FOREVAH! and in my meanderings through Joann's the other day, I was stunned to silence to see just ONE waiting for me to purchase it at 30% off! Now that is having your planets lined up! I love the designer look this edge punch contributes. Hope you enjoy your weekend! God bless your day!

TTFN!

Artha

Thank You with Embellishment!

Whaddya think, Stampin' Friends? I love the newly released Papertrey Ink clear stamp set, Embellishments. The flourishes are classy! So using up some paper scraps of this and that, I just randomly stamped 3 of the embellishments in SU Old Olive, Regal Rose and a 1x stamp off in Chocolate Chip ink and mounted to the scraps. Also used the Hero Arts background script stamped in Chocolate Chip ink. My inspiration for colors was a new set of stickers I got at my local scrapbook/stamp store, Sugar and Spice in Central Point, OR. What a GREAT shop! The stickers are "Remarks" by American Craft. There is a lovely selection with some sparklies on the 2 sheets per package. Love the look!

Hope you are privileged to have some time off from "laboring" this weekend - and maybe you will be able to stamp your brains out - that's what I plan to do! More cards for posting NEXT week!

TTFN!

Artha

Quick Cards!

Does this look familiar stampin' friends? It should! This is an off-shoot of yesterday's card but with a different sentiment. Since I hate scraps and I am a big fan of a TRUE "Take 10" card, double sided 12" designer paper is my only way to go these days. It sets me up with a selection of cards which have a different look for a different occasions. I just keep flipping varied sizes of cuts and or shapes from one side to the other for a great coordinated card and of course the color inspiration is already built in. Since I have a hard time with color coordination, the DP serves as my muse and off I go! Color scheme is still Purely Pomegranate, sentiment is Papertrey Ink, flowers/greenery Verve new release and My Mind's Eye So Sophie paper, black organdy ribbon. Love the latest Verve release!! What a great bunch of new sets with amazing flexibility. Love it! Hope you do too!