Tag Archives: Embrace Life

A Fond Farewell to Green Galore

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Didn’t think I’d give Green Galore it’s own day, did you?  Not after yesterday’s bashing…that wasn’t very nice of me.  Poor Green Galore.  {snort}

Colour Q Challenge Green Galore Eastern Elegance

  • Wonderful Favorites, Eastern Blooms and Embrace Life Stamp sets
  • Whisper White card stock
  • Bravo Burgundy, Green Galore, YoYo Yellow and Tangerine Tango Classic ink pads
  • Aquapainter

I had to try that Colour Q challenge again…can’t really explain why.  That’s the mystery of playing challenges, I guess.  This time I chose to make the card a single layer to avoid the dilemma of balancing colors.  I did a fair amount of masking and used both solid and line art images to keep the sense of lightness that a white card provides.  As you can see, I couldn’t resist using the Aquapainter to blend some of the color.

There’s so much color and so many images that I’m not convinced this card is truly Clean and Simple, but with no layers OR embellishments I think it comes close.  The style is growing on me…one of these days I’m going to take it to another level.  Just not today.

Happy Easter

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Happy Easter

  • Embrace Life, Well Scripted, and Vintage Vogue stamp sets
  • Very Vintage jumbo wheel
  • Stazon black ink, So Saffron and Bermuda Bay Classic ink pads
  • Watercolor paper, Naturals White, Bermuda Bay, So Saffron and Basic Gray card stock
  • Aquapainter, Bermuda Bay ink refill and Champagne Mist shimmer paint
  • Stampin’ Sponge, Gray Taffeta ribbon, Big Shot and Perfect Details Texturz plate

Today Christians everywhere celebrate the triumph of life over death, light over darkness, love over hatred.  Whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ, we can all make our world just a little bit better by bringing light into our lives and choosing to love.  Happy Easter.

20 years, and no foolin’

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It’s been 20 years since my husband, my almost-3-year-old daughter and my 7-months-pregnant self  stepped off the plane in Kahului to begin what we thought was a two year job on Maui.  Actually, stepped off the plane doesn’t really tell the story.  We’d given our daughter some Benadryl during the flight to help her sleep, and it took a little longer to kick in than we expected.  When we landed she was sound asleep and we had substantial carry-on luggage even without her and her enormous car seat.  Oh, and did I mention I was 7 months pregnant?  What WAS I thinking??

The crew that cleans the plane was so compassionate, and helped us down the stairs – back in 1990, there were no jetways in Kahului.  Someone brought a golf cart to the bottom of the steps and we loaded my still-sleeping little girl and my enormous ankles onto the cart for the trip to the baggage claim.

Fast forward 20 years…and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  Thank you, Maui.  Thank you to all the beautiful people who have been part of our lives, and for the richness of the Hawaiian culture.  Thank you for the opportunity to live in a true mixed-plate community, with the richness of many cultures blending and sometimes struggling together.  And thank you,  Lord,  for this incredible, beautiful island of mountain and beach, lava and sand, fragrant breezes and tropical blooms.  It is truly home.

  • Thank you Kindly and Embrace Life stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Basic Black, and Kraft card stock
  • Sahara Sand Classic ink pad; Stazon Black ink pad; Pretty in Pink ink refill
  • Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and Aquapainter
  • Pink taffeta ribbon and Scallop trim border punch

10:05pm   I forgot to mention that this card was inspired by the Curtain Call Color Challenge:  CC23

Just a little something

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I made these for “just because” to give to some friends.  They were quick and easy.

  • Real Red, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink card stock
  • Vintage Labels SAB set and Embrace Life stamp set
  • Scallop Circle, 1″ circle, Curley Label and Heart to Heart punches
  • Real Red Classic Ink Pad, Craft White ink pad
  • Tombo adhesive, Paper Snips, and a chapstick

You could whip out a classroom’s worth of these in no time.  They do make Spiderman chapstick, don’t they?

Forgotten favorites

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How quickly one set of images is forgotten on the shelf!  When Eastern Blooms appeared in the Fall 2008 catalog, it sat on top of my craft table and saw regular use.  It was a bold companion for Embrace Life – one with bold images, one with line images – and it suited our Asian influenced culture here in Hawaii.  Seems like ages since it’s seen a bit of ink, and when a customer asked me to re-design a card using a floral image instead of cupcakes, I reached for these two old friends.

  • Eastern Blooms, Embrace Life, and Dotted (retired) stamp sets
  • Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue, and Very Vanilla cardstock
  • Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral and Bashful Blue Classic ink pad
  • Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Aquapainter

It’s fitting to reflect on how much we have this week of Thanksgiving, to be grateful for our abundance.  As a good friend said to me recently, “I’m thankful that my needs are met, and a few of my wants as well.”   I wish the same for you.

Indispensible tools

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Sometimes the best tools are the ones you never see.  Oh, I love that Big Shot.  I love the shapes and letters and boxes.   I really love the textures it creates. But the tools that I love are the ones that make me look good.  Tools like the bone folder that give me smooth creases.   Tools like the piercing tool and template that give me nice, straight lines of evenly spaced holes.  Tools like the Stamp-a-ma-jig that enable me to put images and words (especially words!) right where I want them.  I especially love to pick out just a couple of words or a phrase to personalize my message and the only way to do that is with the SAMJ.   What’s even better, each of these tools can fill in for a number of outside-the-box purposes and none of them take up a whole lotta space.  So there’s my commercial for the un-sung heros of the Stamping Universe.

Embossed_Embrace_Life_crop

  • Embrace Life, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Best Wishes and Teeny Tiny Messages stamp sets
  • Pumpkin Pie, Dusty Durango and Mellow Moss Classic Ink
  • Very Vanilla, Dusty Durango, Mellow Moss, and Pumpkin Pie cardstock, So Saffron DSP (patterns have changed)
  • Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder and Big Shot
  • Piercing tool and template, Linen thread, Stamp a ma jig
  • Fresh Favorites Buttons, 1/2″ circle punch