The Featured Stamper Challenge #900 Celebration!

If you haven't seen me around in blog land much recently it's because I've been keeping a "dirty" little secret:  I was asked to become a part of of the "Dirty Dozen" on Splitcoaststampers:  aka, I'm officially now one of the "dirty girls".   And before you start to worry about me, ha ha, "dirty" is just a fun play on words;  we are called the "Dirty Dozen" because our hands are constantly covered in ink from stamping!  Fun pun, heh?  

Now I realize because I'm a lifestyle blogger and not exclusively a card maker blogger, most of my readers don't have a clue about what I'm talking about.  So for those readers let's just say it's like receiving an Oscar for card making.  I honestly never in a million years would have thought of being asked to be a part of this incredible team of crafters.  I'm still pinching myself that's it real.

So what are the requirements of a Dirty Girl you might ask?  Well the main requirement is that I have to make six cards a month for six months which follow a specific theme that changes monthly.  I'm not allowed to post those cards to my blog till after my six month period is over.  The cards are reserved only for the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club members to view.  However, the one I am showing today I can post here because the current Dirty Girl design team was asked to make a make a card for the 900th Featured Stamper Challenge and that gallery is open to the public.

So what is the Featured Stamper challenge you might be wondering?  Well, every week on Splitcoaststampers a stamper's gallery from the community is featured and everyone is asked to pick one of the featured stampers cards and "case" it.  The first challenge post was 2/11/07  and since then has inspired over 9000 cards, 900 weeks later.  To "case" a card, you just create your own card from the inspiration card you picked of the featured stamper's, and change two or more things.  

So, here is MY card:

And here is the card I cased.  You can find the original card with all the details HERE.  

The original card is by Barbara Tarayao.  Isn't it beautiful?  I love how she did the "hello" sentiment.  I chose Barbara's card because I had just purchased a stamp/die set similar to this and wanted to play with it, but I also needed a wedding card so I was trying to catch two birds with one stone.

The major changes I made were the colors, stamp/die set, and theme.  But I also changed little detail's like I sewed around the edge of the card using my sewing machine since I didn't have a "stitched" die.  I also used a white embossing folder for the background and added glitter glue to all the flower centers.  I popped the heart up on dimensionals.

 Being on the Dirty Dozen Design Team is a huge time commitment and is especially rough for me as now is the time of year I need to spend so much time outdoors in my garden.  But I've been planning ahead and working feverishly on rainy/cold days to get my cards done, so that when the weather is nice, I can be outside.  However, I did have to cut back on other things, like blogging, to find the time to do this, so if you haven't seen a lot of posts by me lately, that is the reason why.  But soon, I'll be back to a regular blogging schedule and I will have a lot of cards to share with you from my time as part of the "Dirty Dozen".

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Handmade Wedding Card For A Beautiful Wedding

Today I have a post to share that celebrates the goodness of life amidst all the sadness with the world's response to Covid.  I had a very busy, but blessed weekend celebrating two life moments in two dear friends lives:  one was a wedding and the other was a baby shower.  I've known both of these dear friends for many years.  We have watched together our kids grow up, and now we celebrate the marital unions of our children and the birth of our first grand babies.  There is something special about friendships that stand the test of time and that celebrate life's milestones together.  This week I will cover my dear friend's Julia's daughter's wedding and next week I will cover the baby shower of my other dear friend Sandy's daughter-in-law.

First, I want to show the card I made for the bride and groom:  Savannah and Trevor.  I kept the card on the simpler side because I think that is more to Savannah's taste, plus I was really pressed for time this week.  

I used a retired Stampin' Up set called "Wedding Wishes".  I simply stamped the main image and sentiment directly on a card base and colored it in slightly with Copic Markers.  I then adhered the card base to a light grey mat to make it pop.  

Now I'd like to show you a few snap shots of the wedding venue.  The wedding was held in a renovated factory that took milk from its original form and made it into other products such as condensed or powdered milk.  They named the 1903 building "The Condensery" in honor of its history.

They did such an excellent job of keeping the beauty of the original craftsmanship of the factory and yet adding the modern conveniences like elevators.

There are three rooms on the upper levels of The Condensery.  One was a large banquet hall and overflow room, and the other room is used as a dance hall/bar.  On the lower level of the building is a restaurant.

I just loved these big wooden doors!

This is the large banquet hall with the wedding party table on the right.

The bride kept the decor simple, yet elegant and a bit rustic at the same time:  the perfect blend for the atmosphere of the establishment if you were to ask me.  Each table had a burlap runner with a blue Mason canning jar sitting on top of a round wood slice.  The floral arrangements included pink Gerbera Daisies mixed with Baby's Breath.   Small gold votives and some Lindsor Truffles completed the display.

My favorite decor of the wedding was the dessert table...but I am partial to cake so why wouldn't it be?  I just loved the rustic decor of this table!  

Savannah used old wooden crates and old metal tins to create different levels of height on the table.  Pretty pink and white cupcakes were placed in delicate, lacy pink liners once again contrasting the beauty of the old with the new.  A few of the same floral arrangements used on the tables was brought in to tie everything together.

I just loved this cute sign too!  I am one that really enjoys the art and taste of a beautiful wedding cake at a wedding, but if you're not going to have a cake, as many couples today choose not to do, this was a great alternative as it was very well done.

The bridal bouquets were a romantic mix of pink roses and pink Gerbera Daisies mixed with white roses and babies breath.  They were so lovely.  The wedding was originally scheduled for May but was delayed due to Covid lockdowns, that is why the bride went with spring colors.

Many weddings have personal touches woven throughout to commemorate lost loved ones who could not be with them in person but are there in spirit.  One of the most touching aspects of this wedding was to see beautiful butterflies in the brides and the matron of the brides hair to remember the brides beautiful nephew and the matron of honor's lovely infant son.

The bridesmaids wore exquisite, full length,  blush pink halter dresses.

The bride looked absolutely stunning in her gown by Ines Di Santo.  

And finally, I want to show you my dear friend Julia, the Mother-of-the-Bride.  Julia is such a naturally beautiful woman any day of the week, but she looked exceptionally gorgeous in her dress by Tadashi Shoji purchased from Nordstrom.  It has an off-white lining with a sequined taupe sheer overlay.  My dress you will hear more about in my next "Ageless Style" post.  I had originally purchased a blush pink floral halter dress for Savannah's wedding, but when the wedding was moved to September, and the temperatures dipped to low fifties/sixties, I thought I'd better find something else to wear.  I found this gorgeous fall dress at JCPenney.

Of course my husband/photographer never noticed the wind blew my flutter sleeve up before snapping these photos 😄 But I do love this dress.  It is a very soft knit and is so comfortable to wear and the colors are very suitable for fall.  I loved it so much I wore it again the very next day to the baby shower!

This last photo is not only to show my footwear but these gorgeous wooden floors!  My husband couldn't stop commenting on how much he loved the floors of this old building.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how life continues on in spite of Covid and all the other nonsense going on in the world right now.  It was a wonderful weekend to get away from it all, and enjoy ourselves and celebrate the things that are really important in life:  family, friends, and God!

Have a Great Day!

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

 

A Floral Tag Anniversary Card

For those of you who like my Bible Journaling pages that I usually share on Tuesday,  it might be awhile before I show any more pages as I have so many cards to post!  Summer time is a busy time for me to make cards as I have five summer babies and two anniversaries.  I already showed you Alethea's Birthday card last week, this week I have Ashley and Jason's Anniversary card to show.

This is a card that looks so simple, but it actually took me about three hours to make.  Isn't that ridiculous?  There's a lot of detail in this card that isn't noticeable right away.  I did get this sketch off the Internet, but for the life of me I can't find it again.  I suppose it doesn't really matter as I used completely different stamps and supplies, so other than the sketch, it doesn't look much like the original at all.

Now, lets get on to why this card took three hours to make.  First, I stamped retired Stampin' Up! "Roses in Winter" in white on the edge of the Kraft card stock.  Then I stamped a retired Stampin' Up! background stamp in clear ink.  I then covered the entire Kraft card stock with Gesso.  Then I sewed the Kraft card stock to the white card base.

Now, to make the tag, I cut it out of vanilla card stock with a Spellbinder's Nestability Tag.  I put a grommet in the tag hole.  I stamped another retired Stampin' Up "French Script" onto the tag.  I wanted a more 'aged' look, so I applied Gesso to the tag, that blurred the words a bit but it still was not 'aged' enough for me.  So then I took a thin coat of white craft paint over that.  a piece of hemp was strung through the grommet and the tag was mounted up on the card with dimensionals.

Finally, I cut the flowers, leaves, and "love" sentiment with more dies.  I wanted the "love" sentiment to pop more so I put in on a small piece of green card stock.  Pearls were added for embellishment.

I was really pleased with how the card turned out, but not pleased at all with how much time it took to make.  Yikes!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Wedding Card And A Boho Wedding

Our very close, long time friend's son recently got married, and this is the card that I made for them.

I used all the wedding papers I already had in my stash from my own daughter's wedding eight years earlier.  The hearts were all cut with Spellbinder's Nestabilities Heart Dies.  I put adhesive pearls around the edge of the largest heart.  The smallest heart was cut using embossing paper.

I added a Prima Flower for embellishment and then put a large adhesive pearl in the center.

I cut a sentiment tag using a MFT die and stamped the sentiment on it with VersaMark, followed by gold embossing powder.

The background paper is a metallic gold print.  I added a gold foil designer paper behind everything to highlight the gold elsewhere in the card.

And here are some decor pictures from the wedding.  The wedding had a bohemian/rustic style as it was held outdoors on a hobby farm in the country.  Upon arrival to the wedding, all the guests had to enter under this trellis.  I "helped" my friend with this trellis, and I use the word "helped" loosely as she did all the work and I just stood back and was her pair of eyes to tell her what it looked like.  It really was a two person job though because when you were up on the ladder, you couldn't tell what you were doing.  The grapevine was so hard to bend and wrap around the posts.  Would you believe it took us hours to do this?  We both got so hot and sun burnt.  But, I think it turned out quite lovely in the end, and it was a great dramatic entry point to the wedding as the rest of the decor was much more simple.

The focal point of the trellis was a chalkboard design of the date and the bride and grooms initials.  The bride hand drew it herself.  Once the focal point was on, we wrapped the grapevine around the trellis, followed by the tulle.  It was so hard to get the tulle on because it kept catching and ripping on the grapevine.  Ugh!  Finally, we stapled some faux flowers to the sides of the trellis.

The galvanized containers were planted in pinks and whites to coordinate with the wedding colors.  A pretty wreath was hung on the gate.  A container of water bottles for the guests was placed at the entrance.

The guests walked through this country field on a mowed patch of lawn to get to the wedding ceremony location.

Cute little tulle bows and flowers were placed on barb wire fence posts.  Underneath each post was a scripture verse on chalkboard.

Another chalkboard sign greeted guests at the entrance to the wedding.

The ceremony was held under a large oak tree draped in white fabric with lanterns and lights dripping from the branches.  I must say, my favorite thing about this wedding was how this tree was decorated.  The fabric especially was so pretty.

Another great feature is how the sound speakers were hidden by these fern stands.  Two potted ferns were placed on white plant stands specifically designed for hiding speakers.

The chairs were simple folding chairs with white chiffon fabric draped over the top and tied on the side.  Flowers cut from the bride's mother's garden and placed in clear jars lined the aisle.

This is another arch I "helped" decorate.  The entire concept was the bride's idea.  She wanted a focal point to enter through.  The lace panels were closed right before her entrance and then held open so she could enter.  Tulle was draped across the top.  And I must say, it was a lot easier to drape the tulle without the grapevine to snag on.  haha!  The eucalyptus wreath was my friend's idea.  I said the trellis needed some type of focal point and we were looking at different options and trying to come up with ideas, then she went in her house and came out with this pretty wreath and we all loved it.  It complimented the simple Boho design theme perfectly.

On either side of the trellis my friend placed two urns.  She said those tall plants were willow shrubs. I thought that was such a great idea to plant a shrub in an urn.  My friend said in the fall, she will take the shrubs out and plant them in the ground.  I think I will try this next year in my own garden as I love the height and the dramatic look.

Alethea loved running through the lace panels and playing "Peek-a-Boo" with her mom after the wedding was over.

The reception was held inside a white tent.  The tent was decorated very simply with eucalyptus, white candles, and willow reeds.  At the top center of the tent a large floral wreath was hung.  The bride designed the wreath herself.

Willow reads and white lights were put behind the back of the bridal party table.  More willow reeds were draped over the front of the table.

On the guest table, eucalyptus ran along the center with tall battery operated tapers and little white votives as well.

One idea we thought was very clever and practical were these fans that were both the wedding programs, but also very practical for a hot, outdoor wedding.  Trust me, we really used these fans to keep cool, and I saw other wedding guests use them as well.  Great idea!  Only one word of caution:  Proper wedding etiquette is to always have the bride's name or initial first.  After the marriage it switches over to the grooms name or initial first.

 We did take some family photos that I already showed on a previous fashion post, but I will show them again here in case anyone missed that post.

This is my husband and I with our granddaughter and son.

And our granddaughter with her parents,  our daughter Ashley and her husband Jason.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.

"...and they lived happily ever after"

 My husband and I got invited to yet another wedding.  And no, we did not go because it was too close to the holidays and in Florida.  It was right when that frigid cold hit the east coast too!  I felt so bad for the couple.  They planned a dream destination wedding, and then the area was hit with record low temperatures.  Oh well, that's the thing with weddings...you can plan and try to control everything but one thing you can't control is the weather.

Anyway, I was in the mood to make a quirky, fun card instead of my more formal wedding cards I usually make, and this is what I came up with.

 I used a $1.00 stamp from the dollar bins in a fabric and craft store.  I stamped the church first, cut it out, and glued it to vanilla card stock.  The sentiment was stamped directly onto the card stock.  I cut three different heart shapes out of pink card stock using my Circuit Expression.

I put Stickles on the stars in the sentiment.

I hand cut out of green card stock a curvy shape to create a grassy hillside and then glued it to the card.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

An Elegant Wedding Card

 I have another wedding card to share today.  I used an Inkadinkado stamp and MFT dies to make the card.

I stamped the bride and groom on a separate piece of card stock.  I then sprinkled black embossing powder on it and heat embossed it.  I cut the image out and popped it up on dimensionals.  The sentiment is stamped directly onto the main image panel.

I cut the swirls with an MFT die out of white card stock and only glued it in certain spots so it would swirl above the card stock a bit.  I glued a ribbon onto the card and also added some crystals.

The bottom swirl is the same die, I just cut it to make it a little smaller.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!