Stampin’ Up Gently Falling Stamp Set

Spent another fun evening in the Rubber Room stamping and laughing with friends. The projects Janice had prepared fit my needs exactly — Thanksgiving cards to send. My other goal was to learn how to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig. I’ve had it forever and tried so many times to figure it out on my own but always meeting with total failure. Jan showed me how to use it and it’s so EASY!

Used the Gently Falling Set from the Holiday mini catalog. I own this set but haven’t sat down to play with it yet, so this was a wonderful opportunity. On vanilla card stock with a 1/2″ frame overlay, Jan had us stamp a random pattern of leaves then color in with chalk. (I love the soft colors of chalk.) We did a three dot pattern using the eggplant marker before removing the frame. We then mounted this front piece on eggplant card stock and added a ribbon. The instruction for this card was for it to stand the other way, but I stamped my greetings inside  (on vanilla c/s) to read this way – so fortunately the card front worked both ways.

This next card was supposed to have the pitcher from Studio Sketches on the front. But in my enthusiasm to practice with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I once again stamped my inside greeting ‘the wrong way’, so used the maple leaf from Gently Falling. The leaf is stamped on natural ivory card stock and framed with mustard c/s then mounted on a Top Note die cut shape cut in half. This unit was mounted over designer paper on natural ivory c/s. We added gold brads before attaching it to the card front (mustard c/s).

Sunflowers and a Sunflower Card

I love sunflowers and so do a lot of other folks. A quick search on line brings up loads of sites related to the cheerful sunflower. On-line stores, blogs, guides – you name it – all centered around one flower – the sunflower.

For me, this flower says, Autumn! That’s when the flowers are heavy with seeds that the birds will feast on if you don’t rescue them first. I didn’t know this flower originated in North America with the Plains Indians until I found www.sunflowerguide.com.

At the Tonic website, today’s blog is titled: Sunflower Power: How a Cancer Survivor Inspired Her Community. Be sure and stop over to read about Nancy Siegler of Sacrament, California and how she ‘combined the happiness of the sunflower with the awareness of breast cancer into an event to raise money for breast cancer research’. What she’s accomplished is truly an inspiration.

We made this sunflower card at Stamp Camp. The Sunflower stamp, by Stampin’ Up is big and bold. For this card, we used Versamark ink to stamp the image then shaded it with chalk. On a scrap of paper, we stamped the image a second time and punched out the center. This was mounted with Dimensionals on the center of the first image. An additional accent was added to the center using a ‘button’ from the Sweet Buttons Embosslits Die. I look forward to sending this card to someone who needs their spirits lifted.

The Tonic blog post closed with the following thought that has resonated with me.

“Imagine how you could turn your passion into compassion.”

Imagine! Then plant the first seed.

Three Butterflies Card

This card was made using the Stampin’ Up stamp set called ‘Priceless’. I like the flourish and how it made the white background more interesting. Unfortunately, this set was discontinued the end of June. I decided not to add any stamped wording so I can use it for any occasion. This card is another one of my favorites.

Can’t wait for Stamp Camp to start up again in the fall. Always so much fun!