Category Archives: Stampin’ Up!

Lotus Blossom

I never knew much about the lotus flower until I decided to post a photo of one of the cards I made using the Lotus Blossom stamp set by Stampin’ Up!.  After reading this article, you will probably say I still don’t know much, but I was at a loss as to what I should write.  Surely, you want to read about more than what paper and ink I used, right?  So, in my brief research (enough to make me dangerous) about the lotus flower, I found two websites that were helpful in giving me information about the symbolism and meaning behind this beautiful  plant.  You can click HERE and HERE to go to each of these websites for more in depth information if you are interested. However, this is a little of what I’ve learned about the lotus from my reading.  (Don’t you just love the internet?  We’ve got a world of information right at our fingertips!)

The lotus flower has significance in Hinduism, Buddhism and the ancient Egyptian culture.  A lotus is a water lily.  DUH!  I didn’t realize that so please don’t laugh too much at my ignorance.  🙂

In ancient Egypt, the lotus is associated with rebirth and the sun.  It is a symbol of rebirth because Egyptians believed the blossom closed up and sunk back under the water from which it grew at night only to re-bloom  (reborn)  the next morning.  They associated the Lotus with the sun because the sun also disappeared at night and re-emerged in the morning. “Therefore the lotus came to symbolize the Sun and the creation.”

In Buddhism, lotus blossoms are symbols of purity, spiritual awakening, and faithfulness since the flowers grow from the bottom of ponds where dirty water, pond sludge, plant debris dirt, etc. surrounds them. They are symbols of purity because they grow up from all of this muck without a spot of dirt on their petals.  From looking at the blossoms, one would never be able to tell of their “dirty” beginnings.  How often do you think of all of the “stuff” that is in the water they grow in when you see the blossom?  When I see the flower that is just what I see—the beauty of its perfection and its purity, especially if it is white.  Different colored flowers symbolize different things. Red represents love and passion; the pink lotus is considered sacred. Purple even has a specific meaning!

The lotus in Hinduism symbolizes beauty, fertility, prosperity, spirituality, and eternity with the white lotus having special significance. You can read more about the lotus on both of the websites where I got most of my information.

 

So here’s my card…

Lotus Blossom-1

Until next time…

Happy Stamping!

Josie2

 

 

 

A Happy Thing

Today I am sharing two cards that remind me of a very happy thing; my trip to Italy in 2006 with my sister.  While we were there I remember seeing lemon trees, and I even purchased a few pieces of Deruta Italian pottery that was manufactured and hand painted in Umbria, Italy.    I purchased what I would call a serving platter, pasta serving bowl, and wine pitcher that are adorned with lemons.  You can see a photo of the pattern here.  I received my inspiration for these two cards from these three pieces of pottery.  I  used the Sale-a-bration set A Happy Thing when I created these two cards.  I also used the masking technique which I will explain at the end of my post.

Gold Lemon Thanks

I have always loved the way navy and yellow look together.  I think they are classic, and the colors always remind me of summer!  The “Thanks” card is embossed in gold and colored with Daffodil Delight Blendabilities.

Lemon Friendship

The sentiment on this friendship card is embossed in gold, but the lemons are not.  They are stamped in the Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Daffodil Delight Blendabilities.

What is the masking technique?  If you are familiar with the stamp set I used, you know there is only one lemon image in the set.  Masking is when you stamp the image on scrap paper and cut it out.  You then stamp the image again onto the card stock you will be using.  After stamping, you cover it with the cut out image, re-ink your stamp and stamp another image right next to the first one you stamped.  When you do this, it will look like one is behind the other.  That’s why it is called masking.

Hope you enjoyed your visit here today. Until next time…

Happy Stamping!

Josie2

both lemons

Place an order with me in my online store and receive a free gift from me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painted Petals & Blooms

I just love this stamp set and coordinating paper!  Don’t you?  Sometimes when I get paper this pretty I don’t want to use it because I am afraid of ruining it.  But this time I decided to take a chance.  This is what I came up with.

Decorated Card Box Drawer with Cards Figure 24

Six cards made out of that  sheet of 12 x 12 card stock you could set into a frame that comes in the Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper pack.  You get two sheets, so you can actually make 12 of these awesome cards!

All 6 Cards Figure 5

Decorated Card Box Drawer with Cards Figure 23

 

Decorated Card Box Drawer with Cards Figure 22

Don’t you just love these weekly deals Stampin’ Up! offers?

Feb 10 - 16

Order $50.00 in product from me and receive the tutorial for the Painted Blossoms gift set FREE.  You will also receive one item from the Sale-a-bration catalog FREE for every $50.00 you spend.  Enter hostess code FDHBZ7W9 when you order.  Or simply place an order with me and receive the tutorial Painted Blossoms tutorial as your Thank You gift from me.

Happy Stamping!

Josie2

The Bagger Chronicles; Part 2

Well, since our last visit it seems nothing much new has happened.  I continue to bag groceries at our local commissary and am soon about to begin substitute teaching for one of our local districts.  We will see which one I give up first.

The amount of pettiness that goes on among the ranks of commissary baggers and workers is perplexing.  The frequency with which my coworkers will run to “report” a minor indiscretion one might make while bagging groceries confounds me daily!  After all, how many “indiscretions” might one make?  And what “indiscretion” might be a reportable offense?  One would be surprised!  It seems I am always getting into “trouble” for one thing or another.  One day it might be for actually thinking and using my brain.  Another, it might be for simply following the rules by rote.  Here is an example.

Baggers wait in line until signaled to the cash registers to bag a customer’s groceries. The signal usually comes in the form of a black or orange flag…it is very high tech. The bagger waiting for a customer at an open check out flags an orange flag for the next bagger in line to come and help.  When the lead bagger takes the customer’s groceries to his/her car, the assistant bagger becomes the lead bagger for the next customer, and in turn flags either orange or black for his/her assistant. Yesterday, as I was waiting to be flagged, a cashier opened a checkout lane and I thought (that was my mistake) “She is going to need a bagger.” Just as I thought this and began to head toward that cashier, another bagger flagged me. Instead of going to the bagger that flagged me, I went to the newly opened checkout lane and sent the bagger behind me to the person that flagged. Immediately another bagger who shall remain nameless (mainly because I don’t know what her name is) got her panties in a bunch. You would think I had committed one of the seven deadly sins! “What’s the difference?” I asked her. “Either way works!” You would think. However, I learned that baggers can’t be choosers! Ba Dum-(b)!  🙂

Here’s a birthday card I created using the Balloon Bash stamp set  in the Occasions Catalog and ribbon from Best Year Ever Accessory Pack in Sale-a-bration.

Balloon Bash - 1

Hope you enjoyed your stop here today.  Until next time…

Happy Stamping!

Josie2