Hugging Heart

Hello, 

It feels so good inside to put pieces together, in life and with cards. I've had the arms and heart panels for 4 cards cut out for months and little by little I cut layers, Slightly brushed ink over the arms and heart, thought about how to put it together and then placed all the little flowers. The heart sits on a pop up mechanism that Jennifer McGuire simply cuts from two short strips of cardstock. She has showed the pop up mechanism in many of her tutorials. The cards with pop up will into your usual size A2 envelopes by the heart flattening off to one side when in the envelope, then popping back up out of the envelope. 

If I could do this over, I would cut another panel of the same paper as the arms because when you lift the arms up, you can see the entire cut out portion behind them. But I didn't think about that until after I glued the layers down. Maybe that will help someone to cover up the hole behind the arms.

I made 4 similar designs of this card to cheer some friends up. I'm amassing a big collection of cards to send out. It feels good!

Waffle Flower Hugging Hands die

GKD pattern paper from way back

I forget which set this sentiment came from. (Stampin' Up?) It'll come to me a few weeks from now and wake me out of a sound sleep. Thank you, Lisa "lovinpaper" at SCS for letting me know it is SU "Go to Greetings" stamp set! You are a rock star 🎸

Kraft cardstock by GKD

Memento Inks

Sizzix and other company flowers and leafy branch dies, Martha Stewart flower punches (sorry I forget to add a post-it note with all the company product names into backs of die cuts I make on the more challenging days)

Little enamel dots for flower centers by Stampin' Up

Closed---

Open---

If you are going through difficult times, know that I care. I'm climbing up my own hard path, some days harder than others, but it helps me feel empathy for all of you who also have times of trouble. 🙏 Aloha, friend

Happy World Cardmaking Day 2026! 🥳

Hello!

Here is a card that makes me smile. It's an Acorn House for a squirrel who is busy gathering his winter food stores. Isn't he cute? But those teeny tiny pieces though. My weak blurry eyes and shaky hands have the most hard time adhering these together. I end up with glue all over my fingers, alcohol ink from shading the die cuts and then using a paint brush with talcum powder to dry off any sticky areas. Much better after that. And what an adorable die cut scene! I added glossy accents to the glass and his eye. There's shimmer on the leaves, mirror card for the sentiment and a little twine bow for interest. I used SSS stencil set for cloud and hill. 

Spellbinders Acorn Acres Club

Here's to a better day for everyone tomorrow because life is so very hard at times 🙏

Thoughts of You

Aloha, 

This is one of Simon Says Stamp prestamped watercolor images. I believe this one came in a set designed by Suzy Plantamura. I love these because some of the sets come with sentiments already on them. Isn't the font sweet? All you have to do is add watercolor and any little sparkly effects. The paper is a nice, thick watercolor stock, not thin or flimsy. You can also use markers or pencils to color. I watch Simon's website for when they go on sale - that's when I try to pick them up. 

Simon Says Stamp prestamped watercolor sets 

Watercolors, butterfly (Kaisercraft prestamped), gems, card base

For a friend on the mainland ❤️

Prayers for those who are going through loss and hardship 🙏

Lush Peonies

Pinkfresh Studios has some stunning floral images. I heat embossed this in gold, then added light watercolors to the flowers and leaves. If you look closely there are tiny dots of Stickles here and there. That way the card still has sparkles but the envelope won't feel bumpy when it goes through. The sentiment is by SSS and came in the Techniques and Textures kit earlier in 2026. I love the fonts used in this sentiment set "Good Greetings."

I'm sending this card to a dear friend whose husband of 65 years recently passed away. It just hurts. 

Prayers to all those in Nepal, Venezuela and Columbia, anywhere there are disasters 🙏

Tea and Honey, Luhia Trees

Hello, 

I have a dear friend who cleans at a local place whose owners have lots of bees and sell the best honey ever. It isn't amber color but looks more like white thick cream. It's very expensive but our friend shared a jar with us and we only use a tiny bit at a time to make it last and last. The taste is so much better, heavenly than regular honey. The bees visit all the Luhia tree blossoms. The resulting nectar is divine. So when I saw this stamp and die set by Pinkfresh, it helped inspire me to make a special Mahalo card for our friend. 

The lovely luhia tree in Hawai'i 

I colored with Copic alcohol markers and used Glossy Accents and a little Stickles for the honey drips and over the tea. I will add a sentiment after I pick one out. 

Pinkfresh Get Well Soon stamps and dies

Pinkfresh Stippled Plaid press plate

Diagonal Stripe embossing folder

Concord and 9th cardstocks and inks

Praying for those in Nepal who have lost their loved ones and their homes. Continuing to pray for those in Venezuela and Columbia, too 🙏🩵🙏

 

Eclipse Embossed Flower Card

Hi everyone, 

Don't you enjoy eclipse features in cards? I don't use this technique enough but it's beautiful to see. The step I need to remember is to cut the die cut pieces first, then place carefully into embossing folder and run through. This die cut and embossing folder combo is so beautiful and has been very popular. 

The one thing I would change about this particular embossing folder is to add more space along the top border. If you look closely or if you have used this product, you will see how narrow the paper is just above the top leaves of the die cut area. The creates a very delicate, fragile strip of cardstock. When running the die cut pieces through the embossing folder, often this area tears, requiring the use of a very skinny strip of clear tape placed from the back of the paper to repair the rips. That's the only down side of this folder and die because the rest of it is gloriously beautiful and elegant. I hope that with future products like this, companies will take issues like this into consideration.

Simon Says Stamp "Jubilee" embossing folder with matching dies cut, Stamptember 2024 (still in stock as of today, the beginning of Stamptember 2026.

Stampin' Up Flower Cart stamps and die cuts

Sentiments (various but I think I used Pink Fresh with these)

Adhesive Foam Tape from Altenew (my favorite)

Cardstock SSS and GKD

Remember to crafty stretch.

 Try new techniques to keep your mojo pumped 💓

Sunflower Season

Aloha,

I miss autumn. The crisp, cool mornings and the change of leaf colors are so invigorating. We do have a change in the intensity of the heat and a coolness in the mornings between October and February but the afternoons still reach into the 80s.

On days when I don't feel up to making an entire card, I will die cut lots of different pieces and sentiments then save them up for when I can make a card. I will also emboss layers, precut bases, color images - anything to help build a completed card later on. But sometimes the little post it note naming the products loses the stickiness and falls off. Then months later the fun of trying to remember the company who made products begins /s. 🧐 Sometimes I can't remember some of the product names but enjoy the finished cards despite that. 

I had a whole pile of cut sunflowers and put them together. I used Copic markers to add a little shading to them. Then I started combining embossed layers to card bases and this and that to finish these eight sunflower cards. The best part is going to be sending them out since it's nearing autumn.

 

Happy Autumn everyone 🍁 

Whimsical Bird

Aloha,

Simon Says Stamp often sells packs of prestamped images on watercolor paper. This pack is full of fun, whimsical flowers, animals and large sentiments. I don't remember the name of this pkg of watercolor scenes. It doesn't seem to be by Suzy P. but I could be wrong. I'm definitely not a watercolor artist but I can take a deep breath and try. 

I'm sending this to my older sister in Japan. I'm brave because she was an exceptional artist back in the 60s in Philadelphia and a commercial artist through the 90s. She probably chuckles at my attempts to paint and color but that's OK. Younger siblings should make the older ones laugh 🤭

SSS prestamped watercolor images

Inktense Watercolor Pencils

Glossy Accents (on his eye)

Black micron pen and white jelly roll pen for doodling

Praying for Nepal and countries suffering from recent disasters

🙏🩵🙏

Lavender Fields

Sunsets always thrill me. Sunrises do, too, but I am seldom awake to see one. And lavender is one of my favorite fragrances of all time. When I saw Hero Arts release the layered stamp set of a lavender field, I knew I had to have it. 

Using oxide inks, it's fairly easy to blend out a night sky with a moderate sunset. I used many blues and purples, dark and light pink inks over and over again while stamping the layers of flowers. Then I splattered a bit of perfect pearls in water to create a few stars. 

Sending to a friend whose mother recently passed away. 

Hero Arts Color Layering Lavender Field Heroscapes stamp set; Stampin' Up Heartfelt Blooms (sentiment); oxide Inks

My sincere prayers for those suffering from catastrophic disasters around our world. I pray you receive the help you need and that in time your hearts will find comfort now and into the future. 

🙏💜🙏

Keep on Swimming

I love Lawn Fawn. Their images are so stinkin' adorable that I can't help myself. Recently one of our kitty cats, Calvin, had to have dental surgery. It was rough because his immune system attacked his teeth. They only left the canine teeth (the fang ones). And he's had antibiotics and probiotics twice a day for weeks. He's so much better now and he isn't in pain anymore. I won't go into the cost because that part was just as frightening as the surgery. 😅💸💸💸

Here is a simple CAS thank you card for our vet. I put a thank you sentiment on it but didn't get that picture. Using a shimmer pen all over the water and fish gives it some sparkle. Inside there is a clam shell with a pearl in it, a puffer fish and some other sweet die cuts I colored using Copics..Calvin is a gray and white tabby. This scene reminds me that Calvin is better and back on duty watching the fish 🐱🐡🦪

The base is embossed with a beautiful flower design by GKD and an old diagonal stripe folder that I can't recall who made it. 

Masculine Card Designs

Aloha,

What outdoorsy kind of people wouldn't enjoy a tactile feeling fishing card? I used oxide inks for the distress, aged look on most of the die cuts. Metallic foil cardstock is great for hardware on the tackle box and the reel of the fishing pole and fish hook. I added gold metallic paste and gold perfect pearl powder to the fish. There's plain cord that ties the bundle of caught fish. And adding some shimmer pen to fish and other parts adds gentle sheen.

Honey Bee-Lovely Layers Rod.and Reel cutting dies

Simon Says Stamp-Good Greetings sentiments and matching dies (included in the Techniques and Textures class w/JM earlier this year)

Mahalo nui for stopping by 🤙