PPP: Teacher Thank You

 

Good morning!  Thank you cards are my favorites to make, and this particular card fills my heart with so much gratitude.  Trying to figure out what to do for school this fall has been so difficult, but the different teachers and principals we have worked with have been absolutely wonderful.  I have been amazed at their willingness to work with us to figure out the best learning option for each of our children.  In fact one of the principals and I spoke almost daily for two weeks as we went back and forth trying to find the best fit for one of my children.  Her effort and care on our behalf was most definitely above and beyond, so I knew I needed to send her a special thank you.

I stamped multiple images from Pretty Pink Posh's School Friends stamp set to create the background.  I really wanted to use Pretty Pink Posh's Thankful For You Script Dies for the sentiment (I LOVE their script dies!), but it just seemed to get lost on the busy background.  I hemmed and hawed for a bit trying to figure out what to do, and finally after 3 or 4 failed attempts I remembered vellum.  Placing a piece of vellum on top softened the background just enough for the script to stand out.  I'm actually really liking black and white these days, but I paper pieced one apple for just a pop of color. 

I've always been grateful for educators, but this year my admiration, respect, and gratitude for them has swelled so much.  I have a feeling I am going to need more teacher thank yous this year than any before.  I hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by today!

PPP: Hibiscus Flowers Part 2

Hello!  Do you remember this card I shared last week?  Well, I'm happy to say I can now share it's birthday companion.  My mom and a dear friend share the same birthday.  They are both wonderful women who I think share many of the same admirable qualities.  It is a joy creating cards for people I love so much. 

 

Though this card uses Pretty Pink Posh's Hibiscus Flowers cut in Concord & 9th's honeysuckle, grapefruit, clover, and sprout cardstocks again, I like to think it turned out quite different than the first.  When I look at it I see a tropical bouquet.  Wouldn't it be fun to get one of those? 

I did not want to take away from the beautiful flowers, so Pretty Pink Posh's new Simple Sentiments Stamp Set was just perfect. I embossed the sentiment on black cardstock and used Pretty Pink Posh's Simple Strips dies to cut it out.  And let me tell you...I can see these dies coming in handy a lot!

I can't help but smile when I see these cards together.  I think I could create over and over again with this stamp set in these same colors and be perfectly happy. 

I'm always so grateful when you take the time to visit!.  Thank you!  I hope you are headed into a wonderful weekend, friends!  

Pretty Pink Posh - Hibiscus Flowers

Happy Friday!  I'm super excited to share today's card with you.  Did you know that I am guest designing for Pretty Pink Posh the next few months?  I'm over the moon about it!  I have been a fan of Paulina long before she even started Pretty Pink Posh.  She is a wonderful, kind, inspiring person, and I consider it an honor to be working with her.   

The moment that I saw Pretty Pink Posh's Hibiscus Flowers and Happy Birthday Script Dies I knew I had to get them and use them for my mom's birthday card this year.  She loves Hawaii and tropical flowers!  I die cut lots of flowers from Concord and 9th's Honeysuckle and Grapefruit cardstock. (Random Side Note: Did you know Grapefruit is my very favorite color in C9's new color line? Now you do. :) ) Back to the card!  I used C9's Clover and Sprout cardstock for the leaves.  Don't these colors make the best tropical combination?  

As the floral frame started coming together I realized it would make a great shaker card, and I never looked back.  I popped the flowers up, trimmed off the edges, and filled the shaker with Pretty Pink Posh's 4mm sparkling clear sequins.  I love that they add just the right amount of fun without being a distraction.

I think I could look at these pretty flowers all day.  They do wonders to cheer a mood!  In fact, I was loving them so much that I stamped more and made a second card that I'll share next week.  It is en route to a dear friend right now, and I don't want to spoil the surprise.  Thanks so much for visiting today!  See you soon!

C9 Feature Friday: Color Spectrum

Hello, friends!  Can you believe that July has come to an end?  Today is my final Feature Friday post with Concord and 9th (sniff, sniff).   This last post is probably the brightest of all as we are sharing project featuring the color spectrum, and I decided to make a rainbow of tags plus a quick CAS card for good measure.

As soon as I saw our assignments for the month I knew that I wanted to create a rainbow of pineapples for this week, and I have been waiting all month to use them!  I originally planned to make a summer banner for our mantle, but then I realized this would be perfect for some tags I needed to make.  I work with the teenage girls in our church.  We've only been able to meet virtually for the last several months, so I decided it was about time to drop off a little care package on their doorsteps.  These tags were such a happy way to dress up the gift bags.

The obvious star of the show is Concord & 9th's Pop Art Pineapples.  I stamped them in Poppy, Marmalade, Buttercup, Parsley, Oceanside, and Honeysuckle.  (You can find all these inks here.)  Then I die cut all 12 of them.  

The next discovery was pretty exciting.  I wanted to create a colorful frame on the tag and immediately thought of Concord & 9th's new Hexagon Label Dies, but after diecutting the pineapples I realized the fit was just a bit too snug.  Then (and here is the happy discovery) I remembered that the Blooms Fill-In Dies had a similar shape, so I pulled them out hoping for the best.  Sure enough, it has the exact same shape just scaled a tad bigger, which is exactly what I needed. 

I used the largest hexagon in the Hexagon Label Dies and the hexagon frame in the Blooms Fill-In Dies to create the frame in matching colors. 

To add just a bit more interest to the tag, I made horizontal score marks across the white base of the tag.  Then, I popped up the pineapple, and heat embossed the tiny "hello" from the Bitty Burst Turnabout Stamp Set. 

Ta-Da!  A rainbow of tags. :) 

And just to keep things interesting for the rest of the tags I needed to make, I decided to mix and match the colors. 

I can't help but smile when I see all these bright colors together. : ) And I loved them so much I didn't want even the tiniest scrap of cardstock to go to waste, so I pulled all the scraps together, cut them in strips, and made a dozen of this super simple card to tuck inside the gift bags. (PS If you haven't noticed, I can't get enough of the "hi" die in the Hexagon Labels Die set.  I love it!) 

It's been such a fun month! All of this color has truly brightened my days and brought me so many smiles as have my associations with you. :) Many thanks to Concord & 9th for having me, and thank YOU for spending time with me here! Now go fill your day with more color by visiting the Concord & 9th Blog.

Concord & 9th Feature Friday - Favorite* Colors

Happy Friday to you, friends!  Have you gotten enough of Concord & 9th's fabulous new color collection?  No.  Me either!  Today we were asked to select two of our favorite colors in the collection and feature each on a card.  Some of you may have notice the asterisk in my heading.  Why did I put that?  Well, because these aren't just "favorite" colors of mine.  The two colors I chose were my favorite surprises.  They are the colors that I really liked when I saw them in the collection, but really loved when I actually had them in hand.  Originally I thought that I may have something similar in my cardstock stash, but it turns out that I really don't.  And I already feel like I can't live without them now.  (I promise I'm not being dramatic.)

Without further adieu, introducing my favorite color surprise - peacock and clover!  We were asked to make each color we chose the main focus of the card, but I decided to make them the only color focus on my cards.  I really like them that much.

The idea for this card came pretty immediately when I saw Fresh Cut Florals Dies Edition 1 (which FYI is my favorite of the floral dies released this month).  I adored the long berry and the leaves so much I knew they had to take center stage on a card.  I die cut four of each shape from clover cardstock and did a little trimming as I configured how I would place them on my card. 

Once I got the arrangement made, I stuck a big piece of press n' seal on top to hold it together.  I thought the card needed just a smidge of dimension, so I die cut all the pieces a second time and glued a white layer underneath.  Since it was all held together with the press n' seal wrap, it was easy to add that second layer.  The "love you" sentiment comes from the Hey Bestie Stamp Set (also part of the July release).

I kept the same arrangement for my peacock card, but just flipped it horizontally.  The "thank you" sentiment on this one comes from Concord & 9th's Blooms Fill-in Stamp Set. One last peek of them both together. :) 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  If you get a chance (and this is worth making time for), head over to the Concord & 9th Blog to see what the other designers chose as their favorites.  I always love see what people choose.  Plus, you are bound to be inspired by their amazing creations!