Here is what I’ve been up to lately. I really like the Animal Outing stamp set. The images in it are adorable. It can be used for either an adult or child’s card. I decided to take things one step further and paired Animal Outing with some of the images from Tropical Chic and I’m liking the result.
We made this first card at my monthly club this past Saturday and I think it was a hit. Rhino image is so cute. I stamped it in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and just colored it with one of the Basic Gray Stampin’ Blend markers. I used a blender pen and Lemon Lime Twist for the frog on the branch.
We haven’t made this next card at club yet. This is the one where I combined the two stamp sets. I stamped the giraffe images in Soft Suede. It was something someone suggested I try. It did not run when I colored with the Stampin’ Blends which is nice to know.
I colored the giraffe with the dark Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Blend and then went over the spots on each with a blender pen and crushed curry ink to make them a little darker. The smaller giraffe is the mirror image of the original image that I stamped on a piece of window sheet first. Unfortunately, the thinlits don’t have a mirror image die, so it had to be fussy cut. The words were fussy cut as well.
Not much more to share today. But before I say goodbye, I have to share our current promotion. These items are new and only available for a limited time.
I, along with other members of my family, am mourning the loss of my favorite aunt who passed away on Friday June 15 2018. Married to my father’s younger brother, she was Aunt Jane. She was 84 years old. Some will say she lived a long and fulfilling life, she was elderly, her health was declining… it is the natural course of things. Even still, it doesn’t make it any easier. Even though it may have been expected, it does not make it less unbearable. She had a husband and children and grandchildren (and a lot of nieces and nephews) that loved her. Her passing will forever leave a hole.
When your favorite aunt passes away, it’s like saying good-by to a part of your childhood. She was a bright spot in mine. I will forever remember the kind and amazing woman she was. As one of my cousins said, heaven gained a saint on the day that she left us.
Since she lived in Pennsylvania and as I have other family commitments this week, I am unable to attend her funeral services. I would have though. My daughter is moving to the East coast this week and I promised I’d help her pack up. However, I would like to share some of the things I remember about her in this blog post.
Aunt Jane had a way of making everyone around her feel relaxed and at ease. She was an inspirational woman who taught me to enjoy creating. Whether it was sewing, cross stitch, or embroidery she was one of the people that inspired me to create. I still have a hand sewn activity book she made for my daughter when she was a toddler that I will soon be passing on to my granddaughter. She was always making something for someone else, whether it was one of us, her nieces and nephews, her children, sisters-in-law, or someone at church. She always gave herself to the service of others.
I will forever remember her for her kind smile and prize winning strawberry rhubarb pie! Actually, all of the pies she made were excellent, but strawberry rhubarb is what I think of first. And her pie crusts were to die for!
Her pies aren’t all that make her memorable. I remember her for the summers I spent with her and my cousins; Michael and David (Lisa didn’t come along until much later) at 533 S. Center Street. 533 S. Center Street was a giant size green-colored Victorian home situated on a busy street in a small town in Pennsylvania. It had a large porch across the front and side with a front door entrance into a foyer, and a side door off the porch into the living room. I can still remember going in through the front door and seeing the massive dark oak stairway that lead to the upstairs. The upstairs housed a complete two-bedroom apartment with another porch across the side of the house and a stairway up to the attic from the bathroom. She had also set up her sewing room in the upstairs kitchen. I remember bathing in the claw-foot bathtubs, the dumb waiter that went from floor to floor, the ceiling high kitchen cabinets, and the beautiful antique chandelier over the dining room table. Aunt Jane always said it was an old house, but I always thought it was a beautiful house and will always remember her there in it. I remember all of these things, but most of all, I remember the feeling I always had when I was there in that house with Aunt Jane or anytime she was near.
Aunt Jane made me feel worthy. She always listened to what I had to say and she never discounted how I felt. When I was a little girl, probably in 3rd or 4th grade, I would sometimes write letters to her just because she would say, “Write to me Josie. Let me know what you are doing.” So, I wrote, “Dear Aunt Jane, How are you? Fine I hope…” And she would write back. A letter from my aunt! Who would think a simple thing like writing a short note and mailing it to a young girl would mean so much? Something she did before she mailed the letters is add the imprint of her lips in red lipstick on the seal. She always sealed her letters with a kiss. My Aunt Jane never forgot my birthday! She always sent a card when I was a kid, and as an adult, she always called on my birthday to wish me a happy one. Who knew my last birthday call would be this past February?
I remember the time she invited my entire family (my mother, father, sister and me) for dinner. She and my uncle had some news to share! She announced my Cousin Lisa’s impending arrival. Of course, at the time we didn’t know it would be a girl and we didn’t know she would be “Lisa”, but I remember how happy we were.
I remember going to the Dairy Queen that her brother, Uncle Mike, owned. I also remember listening to Uncle Mike on the radio. One day while we were listening to him I remember Aunt Jane asked me if I liked Tom Jones. (Okay, now I am dating myself.) I didn’t know who he was and told her so. She chuckled and said, “You don’t know who Tom Jones is? Well, when you find out who he is, you let me know if you like him.” She said she liked listening to and watching him in concert. (Most women did.)
There are many other things I will remember about my Aunt Jane; too many to write them all here. My thoughts and prayers for strength during this difficult time are with you Uncle Sylvester, Michael, David, and Lisa. Something I know for sure is your wife/mother will forever be one of the beautiful things I hold in my heart.
I Love you Aunt Jane!
And now to share a few cards I made and sent recently. The first is my own creation; the others are CASEd. I hope you enjoy them. And at the very end of this post…down at the bottom, are photos of the activity book my Aunt Jane made for my daughter when she was a toddler. Thank you for humoring me today.
I’ve decided to give you a sneak peek of a bundle that will be available in the new Annual Catalog. This stamp set was inspired by Million Sales Achiever Mary Fish and I love it! I’ve paired it with a new set of thinlits that will be making its debut at the same time.
I call this one Varied Vases meets Stained Glass Thinlits. I used the retiring In Color card stock Sweet Sugarplum. I’m also loving the new thinlits. I used the square thinlit and cut it out using Sweet Sugarplum. I then used a square from the Layering Squares Thinlit Dies to cut out a square in the Whisper White piece. I stamped the image on a solid piece of Whisper White card stock that measures 4″ x 5 1/4″ . I layered the cut out piece over the stamped piece and popped it up using dimensionals. I attached the frame with a glue dot under each rhinestone. You won’t be able to order this bundle until June 1st.
Spend $50.00 or $100.00 in my online store and get a select item FREE in the Sale-A-Bration Catalog!
Download the Sale-a-Bration Catalog by clicking on the image to the right
I am loving this beautiful Petal Palette stamp set! Actually, I am loving the entire Petal Passion Suite! And this card proves there are more uses for the Petal Passion Memories and More Card Pack than just memory keeping. The cards, $1.00 less than the Petal Passion Designer Series Paper can be used for card making as well as memory keeping. That doesn’t mean I like them more than the DSP, it just means they are versatile and can be used for both, just like the designer series paper. If I could only purchase one, I would purchase the card pack.
I also love the versatility of simple black and white. That means I can customize the paper or the cards to go with whatever colors I might have on hand like I did with this card.
I started by selecting the polka-dotted card base from the Sale-A-Bration Tutti-Frutti Cards & Envelopes that I got FREE after placing a $50.00 order. You can get them too if you place a qualifying order in my online store. I then chose this card from the Petal Passion Memories & More Card Pack.
I trimmed the card down to measure 5-1/2″ x 3-3/4″ and colored it with my Stampin Blends. I also stamped a few flowers on it in Calypso Coral using the flower stamp from Petal Palette Stamp Set. I stamped off before stamping on the card because I didn’t want it to be real dark.
Then I attached the card to the Pool Party card base. I stamped the bird and branch on a piece of Whisper White card stock and cut it out with one of the circles from the Layering Circles Framelits Dies. I used dimensionals to hold everything down on the base.
And here is my finished product!
Hope you enjoyed your visit here today! Until next time…
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