Everything Will Be Okay for the Pals!

To be perfectly honest, I really hate it when someone tries to comfort me by saying, "Everything will be okay!"  Because it's easy to say, but when you're the one who has to face the "everything", and you can't see past it, you may be far from sure that everything will be okay!  And sometimes, things don't turn out okay. I've experienced that in my life for sure and, though I've grown and my faith has sustained me, I would not willingly choose to have to go through those times again.  So, I use that sentiment with care, and only when I can be there to support the person who has to go through it.

But this sentiment caught my eye when I was designing my challenge card for Pals Paper Arts Challenge #202 this week.  It is a colour challenge:

Aren't those colours gorgeous together?  I immediately thought of the Fresh Prints Paper Stack. (Does that name make you think of Will Smith?)

I found one of the designs that used only Real Red and used it for my central panel.  Here's my entry:

• I used the Crumb Cake and the Bermuda Bay to grunge up the panels a bit using the images from Gorgeous Grunge.  I stamped them off once to lessen the intensity.
• I got out the Window Frames framelits and dusted them off.  It's been a while since I last used them.  I love the way they frame a 2 1/2" circle.
• The sentiment is part of the stamp set, Really Good Greetings, which has some great sayings in it like: "Live the life you've imagined!" and "Miss You Already!"

• Take a close look at those rolled flowers on the bottom left.  No, I didn't use the Spiral Flower Die to make them.  For two reasons: 1. The flowers it makes are too big for this design, even if you trim them smaller (which kind of defeats the purpose)  and 2. I can't find mine. ( I think I lent it to someone, but I have no idea who.  If you know who, please tell me, okay?) I used the 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch to get two Real Red and one Bermuda Bay scalloped circle and then cut a spiral into them.  I rolled them from the outside to the center on a BBQ skewer and hot-glued them onto their base (the center of the circle when I spiral cut towards the middle).
• The leaves are from the Bird Builder Punch and are cut from Crumb Cake cardstock and the white and Crumb Cake polka dot design from the Fresh Prints Paper Stack.
• The sentiment is stamped on a 2 3/8" circle die cut with the Circles Collection Framelits.  It is framed by a narrow margin with Bermuda Bay circle punched with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch.
• A Tea Lace Paper Doily adds a feminine touch under the focal point.

And here's this week's Weekly Deals:

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Really Good Greetings Wood-mount Stamp Set [130330]	Really Good Greetings Clear-mount Stamp Set [130333]	Gorgeous Grunge Wood-mount Stamp Set [130514]	Gorgeous Grunge Clear-mount Stamp Set [130517]	Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack [132996]
Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131197]	Crumb Cake 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [120953]	Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [102482]	Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]	Tea Lace Paper Doilies [129399]	Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies [129021]	Bird Punch [117191]
1-3/4 Inch Scallop Circle Punch [119854]	Circles Collection Framelits Dies [130911]	2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch [120906]

TWO-gether It's Always Better!

Well, what a shock we got about a week ago!!  You see, my up-line, Tamara, was also a kind of surrogate daughter to me.  She lived with us for three years, during which time my own daughters were away at school or on a missions trip.  She helped to ease the pain of that suddenly empty house and we will always love her for that and for her own sweet self.  She is now married and has two adorable kids, but that is about to change!  You see, Tamara is expecting again and she has been quite ill with morning sickness and fatigue. She went for a routine ultrasound last week and got some astounding news.  She is expecting TWINS! WOW!  Her family of four will increase to six in a few short months.  As wonderful as two babies are, it takes a lot of adjustment to figure out all the logistics and ramifications of a twin pregnancy.

Because Tamara is one of the Design Team at As You See It Challenges, we decided to change our As You See It Challenge #028 this week to uplift Tamara and her hubby as they make this adjustment.  Our Challenge theme this week is TWO!  And I wanted to relay the message that Tamara and her family will get by TWO-gether with all their family and friends helping them out.

• I dug out two stamp sets:  Baby, We've Grown for the bunnies and Yippee Skippee for the sentiment, "Never Underestimate the Power of Two"!
• I did some masking in order to have one of the bunnies behind the other.  I stamped the red bunny first on Whisper White, then stamped again on a Post-It Note close to the top where the sticky strip is.  I cut out the Post-It Note rabbit and stuck in on the red rabbit I had just stamped.  It forms a mask so that when I stamped the Coastal Cabana rabbit, the part of the stamp that fell on the mask wouldn't show after I peeled the mask off.
• I used my Coastal Cabana Spritzer to spray a Tea Lace Doily a Coastal Cabana colour.

• I cut out the bunnies using one of the Starburst Framelits. You'll notice two Whisper White starbursts there.  I didn't like the job I did with rabbits the first time and rather than tear the Crumb Cake piece underneath I just used dimensionals to pop another one over top.
• I wanted a little more colour in the starbursts, so I die cut an additional Starburst in Real Red, the same size as the Crumb Cake one and staggered them a little so you can see small pops of red underneath.
• I used the Banners framelits to die cut the sentiment and a Coastal Cabana layer.
• The DSP used is from the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stacks.

I hope seeing all these cards helps to cheer Tamara and give her encouragement for the future.

Blog Candy Give Away

I've had lots of interest on my Blog Candy Give Away.  You still have lots of time to enter.  Leave a comment on Wednesday's post before Saturday, Mar. 15 at 12 midnight.  I will reveal the winner on Sunday morning.

Here's what you could win:

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

133086	133089	131341	131344
132996	102482	120953	100730
129399	131164	126949	131175
131164	100052	131260	132967
132173	113439

Sweet Baby in Fresh Prints

There are some baby cards that need to be made in the coming months!  My middle daughter is expecting her second in mid-May, and my upline will be giving birth to her third this year.  I love babies with a new appreciation now that I am a grandma and Stampin' Up! always has the most adorable stamps for the job.

I took one look at this design from the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stacks and thought, "Baby Card!" and when I realized that I hadn't yet cracked open the Baby, We've Grown stamp set, I knew it was time to start designing!  The result was a sweet and simple card for a baby boy, but would work well for either gender.

• That adorable bunny works so well on his own for this card.  Can you see him paper pieced? (See yesterday.)
• The sentiment is also from Baby, We've Grown and is stamped in Crumb Cake ink on Whisper White.  I punched it out with the Extra-Large Oval Punch and mounted that on the Decorative Label punched background in Crumb Cake.  Those two punches work so well together.

• The rest is just layered panels of cardstock and DSP, as well as some Coastal Cabana Ruffle Stretch Trim across the middle.  The DSP that mattes the bunny image is from Fresh Prints as well.
• This is a quick and easy card.  If you wanted to step it up, you could watercolour the bunny and the sentiment using Aqua Painters or a Blender Pen, or paper piece the bunny.

Thanks for dropping by my Blog today!  If you like what you see and would like to see more of it, please consider joining my site here!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

133086	133089	132996	131297
120953	131175	126975	130024
119859	120907