Snow Day Progress- Sympathy Cards

 So we had a snow day here in Maryland.  I L.O.V.E. a snow day!  Seriously love them!  Needless to say, I was very productive.

I made this card based on THIS pin.  One of the cool things about this card (to me) is that the 4 bases are a super neutral from one of those card packs you buy at the craft stores.  This was the last color I had left to use in the pack, and it's been sitting on my desk top for quite a while now, I must admit.  I am thrilled by the fact that I finished using the set (which makes me very happy to actually use what I have) and I love using something completely. I'm weird.)

Anyway, I have this very light neutral bases.  I punched a 2" circle in a scrap piece and used my woodgrain stamp to stamp a circle of woodgrain right on the base.  I stamped the woodgrain in Crumb Cake ink.  I also cut out Crumb Cake leaves.  You can see I tried two different leaf sprigs.  Can you tell which one I liked better?  I stamped a few sympathy cards for sale and made a few cards that would be good for my card ministry.  I used Early Espresso ink.  I also sponged a little So Saffron in on the woodgrain.  Each card also got a little button with espresso twine knotted on it with a bow.
Here's the original, which I do love, but I am quite happy with mine, too!

Card Inspiration- Valentine's Day

This card is sort of a stretch on the inspiration, but I was inspired to make this card based on THIS card that I pinned.

I turned the orientation of the row of hearts, and I again used these hearts, that I punched out using my 1" circle punch.  I layered them horizontally along the front of the card and added in a very light, see-through ribbon so I didn't have to lose any of the hearts or heart brads.

Then I added the sentiment on white and punched it with the modern label (I think) and added another heart brad.  That is popped up and so are the heart circles.

I have one more card up my sleeve with this card... stay tuned...

Card Inspiration- Sympathy and Thinking of You

 This card was totally inspired by THIS Pin.

I changed almost nothing from the card that inspired this creation.

On this set (one "With Sympathy"; one "thinking of you") there are three little pearls on each side of the sentiment.  I did sponge the edges of the Crumb Cake layer using Early Espresso Ink.  I also stamped the sentiment in espresso.  I used my embossing board and a white gel pen to create the white lines on the front of the card.

I did choose to thicken up the line by being a little messy with the line drawing.  I wanted it to look a little messy, like the sponging.

On this set of cards, there is one larger pearl on each side of the sentiment.

Again, both cards work perfectly with my need for sympathy cards for sale and other general note cards for the card ministry I'm involved in.

I just realized that I don't have as many layers as the original.  See... it's my own card... but I may need to go make another with a darker layer to see what I think...  :)

Card Inspiration- Valentine's Day

 I can't tell you where I got this inspiration, but I was inspired by someone (so thank you!)

The card I saw had a strip of DSP horizontally across the middle and it was layered on a sold piece of card stock.

I decided to change the direction because of this pretty heart paper I had with the hearts in strips long way down the paper.

Each card has a strip of the hearts layered on Real Red with a white satin knot.  That is popped up on the card front.

I wanted a different sentiment on each card so I pulled all my Valentine's Day stuff and picked a different thing to do on each card.

This one says "love you much."

This one has "Be my Valentine" and has a pink heart popped up with a small red rhinestone.  

 This one was a bit of a challenge.  I made the little piece on the card below (the small white scalloped piece with read hearts on the pink heart), but I just didn't really like it on the card.  So I set it aside and used this heart instead.


Since I didn't want to just trash that piece...

... I added one more heart underneath (each layer is popped up), and then I added the sentiment under the heart stack.  It's a CAS card for sure.

Real World Inspiration

 These cards were not inspired by Pinterest.  They are actually inspired by a traffic sign on the road to our house.  They are building a road to the main road through the community and there are lots of construction/road signs.

Can you almost see this sign (I hope so because I don't have a picture of it; I was driving!)  It's that diamond shaped sign with a small rectangular sign under it with writing of some sort (maybe "road closed"?)

As I mentioned, I need sympathy cards for sale and other, more general cards for my card ministry.  This is another sketch that fit the bill perfectly and this one allows me to really hit the ball out the park with both of them.

I love the "thinking of you" card because it can be feminine or masculine.

I think the sympathy card would be good for men, too.

You know, you never want sympathy cards, but sometimes you need a few on hand.

Anyway, I hope these inspire other on Pinterest.

Card Inspiration- Sympathy Card

 This is an almost identical copy of the Pin I saw HERE.

I'm in the need for sympathy cards and general cards of encouragement for two different reasons.  The sympathy cards were requested by the folks who sell my cards (among other handmade goods by local artists) in Gaithersburg.

The general encouragements are for my card ministry.

This general sketch fit the bill for both needs.

I used this embossing folder (don't know the name...) on white and that white embossed layer is on a layer of Smoky Slate, which is on a white base.  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray on a scrap of white and the end is punched to make a banner.

I also added some Crystal Effects of various places on the "flower" and added some sparkle using glitter.

I love how it turned out!

Recipe Inspiration- Lemon Chicken Stew

A couple months ago, I had some lemon chicken orzo soup at Panera.  It was so good!  So when I was looking through my recipes trying to decide what to make, I had to try this soup (plus, our area has been hit with a "Polar Vortex" the past week or so and it has been so, so cold).

I basically followed the recipe with a few slight changes.  I had a few frozen split chicken breasts, you know, the kind with the bones and skin still on them.  I boiled those to create my own chicken stock and cook the chicken.  I pulled out the chicken and let it cool, then poured out the stock, and then basically followed the recipe.  I only had baby carrots, so I used a few handfuls of those.  I also bought leeks (since the recipe calls for them), but when I bought them, they only had bunches of leeks that were HUGE, and since I had no other plans to use leeks, I used both the big leeks instead of one leek and one onion (too much detail here?)  I let that cook in a little bit of oil to soften up the veggies, then added the broth back in. By that time, the chicken was cool enough for me to shred it and add it back (after removing all of the fat, skin, and veins...ewww...)  I let that come to a boil and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  Then I added about 1 1/4 cups of orzo pasta because I really love a thick soup and because it's my soup so I can.   I did not buy the fresh tarragon to add to the top (the leeks were already super expensive!)  This is a very tasty soup.  It is not the yummy lemon chicken orzo soup from Panera, but it was very good.

You can find the Pin HERE.  I will be making this one again...