Sneak Peek

Just poppin a quick peek at something else I've been creating until I can get back to post it properly.

 

Dinners cookin and about to burn so gotta go!!!

 

Hugs

 

Suezie

Mixing it All Up

I pretty much buy only 3 brands of clear stamps - Verve, Papertrey Ink (PTI) and Waltzing Mouse (WMS) and it's been that way for several years now although WMS has overtaken my collection by a mile.  I love when I can mix up stamp sets and just play without worry about which one goes with which.  Since coming back from our trip with new craft goodies to play with I finally got a chance to create and here's what I came up with.

 

I have had the PTI Honey Bees set for longer than I care to admit when I tell you that I've never even used it!  With that in mind and on a hunt for craft dies which was turning out to be really disappointing I resorted to purchasing online.  Staying with family means that we can order and get goods delivered to where we're staying.  I was seriously 'gob-smacked' to find that craft stores just weren't stocking many dies in-store now.

 

I chose to pick up the PTI Honey Bee dies, partly because I figured I needed to use this set or toss it out but mostly because just before going back home I had ordered the latest Verve Plain Jane scripture stamp from Proverbs 16:24 so I knew it was waiting for me to collect when we arrived.

 

'Gracious words are like a honeycomb; sweetness to the soul and health to the body' Proverbs 16:24

 

I knew as soon as I saw it that it would be perfect married up with the Honey Bee set so I was grateful I still had it and only too happy to have a reason to finally use it.

 

 

I don't mind tellin ya that this delivery saved my vacation as far as shopping for craft dies was concerned.  Without this I would've come home empty handed and pretty well disappointed.  It's not that I needed new craft dies you understand, just that to go so far and not be able to find any when you had a few pennies burning a hole in your pocket would've been a real downer.

 

 

Anyhow the first shot of this card shows it open with the little honeycomb die cut out of the upper left and lower right hand corners.  This shot shown flat shows where I inked through the die-cut to the card beneath.  I plan to simplify this card to reproduce it several times for my charity card making and I'd probably use patterned paper cut outs with this die instead.

 

 

And in this close-up shot you can just see some leaves poking out from underneath the verse panel.  These were some WMS stamps I had on hand.  I love leaves so I use them whenever I can.

 

 

And of course the text is the scripture stamp from Verve.  Behind that is a library card stamp from PTI which I also bought to make up the minimum $70 free stateside postage deal.  I figured it would make a nice journal block on scrapbook pages but I like it as a background for sentiments too.  It was only $5 so I'm supre chuffed with it cos it's way bigger than I thought it would be - well worth the money.

 

 

Once opened the card has been stamped up even more.  I almost NEVER give a card without a liner but I chose to omit the liner for the following reason:

 

 

Can you see that wee honey bee swinging out to the right?  You may just about make out the two tiny pinholes that look like black dots in this shot.  Well I added a couple of bees using some clear nylon thread which I sandwiched between 'double' bee die-cuts to give a lovely moveable element to my card.  Thankfully they were mirror cuts or this wouldn't have been possible.  There's nothing worse than trying to 'back to back' stamped images only to find the die isn't exactly the same in the reverse. Super frustrating!

 

 

And in true PTI fashion there is even a little 'handmade by' bee stamp included in the set.  I am a great lover of co-ordinating things.   I already plan to add something else with this card and to co-ordinate it, especially as I plan to gift a jar of fine honey with it.  And I even know just the container to put it in since I picked up the berry basket die too - again much larger than I expected but a bit more money at $24 but hey I was on vacation - what else was I gonna spend my money on?

 

 

For anyone interested, here's how I started out.  First up I stamped the PTI library card, cut and rounded the corners.  I really don't like 'harsh' edges so I prefer rounded corners.

 

Next up I inked and distressed the card and stamped up the little honeycomb cluster stamp here and there.  I love when images go off the edge, kinda like you've cut into something.

 

 

Then I stamped the verse and stamped the two part honey bess before die-cutting them and distressing them too.

 

After that it was just a case of building up around the verse with flat bees and bits and bobs from the set like the word 'bee' and the tiny little dot stamp.

 

Because this was a special card I recreated the scripture panel on photo mount board and added a magnet to the reverse so the recipient could add it to their refrigerator as a reminder.

 

If I know anything, I know that God honours His word so it's invaluable to know a good handful of verses you can call to mind and pray through when a need arises.  At some point I plan to pick up a book on the promises of God and maybe do a study on it.

 

For now I just keep collecting the little Verve scripture stamps. mostly when they are on sale so I pick them up for around $2 each and this one has to be one of my favourites now.

 

It feels soooooo good to be crafting again.  I'm back to work fully now and hubby is recovering nicely.  I can't believe this coming Thursday will be 4 weeks post-op so I hope he will be able to try driving in another week or two.  He really misses it.

 

Hope you like

 

Suezie

A Wonderful Wedding

There is nothing so lovely as a wedding to bring people together to celebrate and enjoy what life has to offer.  Christenings and baptisms are lovely too and funerals are a sad but necessary part of life but I haven't been to near enough weddings as I'd like in my lifetime.

This one was super special because it was our own beautiful niece and her boyfriend of 10 years - High School sweethearts that were finally getting married.  The wedding was outdoors, at the new in-laws cabin (everyone seems to have a holiday home!) - which again we've never experienced and we had the privilege of being able to travel back home to be there.

 

This was the happy couple in a photo that was one of the many features dotted around the place.

 

 

This was the scene after we had set everything up the day before.  Can you believe most of this was set out and left ready for the next morning?  I guess you can do that when it's on your own property.

The bride walked down between the two pine trees and in the evening glow sticks were placed in the paper lanterns.

 

 

This is the arch that was decorated for the wedding ceremony and it was amazing not only to hear the birds throughout but also to see squirrels and chipmunks too.  Everything was so natural and so very relaxed, it was super amazing.

 

 

And doesn't this kinda thing just remind you of all the neat stuff you see on Pinterest?  It was all so lovely to see these things up close and personal and in an amazing outdoor setting.

 

 

It was all just way too cool and I'm so very glad we got the chance to be a part of it.

 

 

And here is a shot of our beautiful neice - actually two of them.  We all dressed smart casual for the wedding and then changed up into really comfy casual afterwards.

 

We just had the best time ever and this was only week two.  We still had a whole nother week to go!

 

And by the way we couldn't have been more fortunate with the forest fires that were raging at the time, all around us, we could see smoke and even smell smoke in the air but thankfully we weren't ever in danger of having to be evacuated although it did mean we couldn't go off into the mountaikns like we'd planned due to closures of some areas.  Still we've been up em a few times before so it was not really any kinda big deal I guess.