Penny Black Isabelle Stamp - Wistful Thanks

My mission in life is not merely to survive,  but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style.  Maya Angelou

Penny Black "Isabelle" stamp, Heartfelt Creation die cut and molded flowers,
 Copic markers. thanks sentiment die, corner die, Tattered Lace frame dies

 Hey there,

 If  I had enough time and steam, I would send handmade thank you cards endlessly to all my incredibly supportive tribe. We card makers know that a personalized, hand crafted card with a heartfelt tribute inside is a very upllifting way to express our affection and gratitude to those we adore.  

This pretty cling stamp image from Penny Black Stamps, which I purchased from Joann's a few years ago, is called Isabelle.  She's a little hard to find now, but an internet search shows she's still available online.  Amazingly, she's large enough to  fit a 5 x 7 card perfectly.  After coloring her with Copics and fussy cutting her, I  attached her to a water colored digital background and framed her with layered die cut Tattered Lace frames.  I die cut the sentiment and corners with  gold foil card stock and added handmade Heartfelt Creations flowers for color and dimension.  She looks quite wistful, but it's obvious she's counting her myriad of wondrous blessings.

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and express your thanks to those you love!

Nancy

Playing along with:

Craft Rocket Challenge #81

Krafty Chicks Challenge #558

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #404

Crafty Creations Challenge #421

Little Red Wagon Challenge #600

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #315

Dream Valley Challenge #247

Pammie's Inky Pinkies

Bloom Where You are Planted - Penny Black Meets Tim Holtz

Life, even in the hardest times, is full of moments to savor.  

They will not come this way again, not in this way.  

Paula Rinehart

Penny Black Angelette stamp, Tim Holtz flower dies, butterfly punch, copic markers,
Cricut cutting and writing feature, silver leafing pen

Hey there,

"Bloom where you are planted."  This phrase takes on new meaning  today when we're "planted" in our homes like potted tulips.  I'm finding I don't actually hate having time to catch up on some things I've been longing to do.  My husband and I are fortunate to be able to work in our tax business from home at a more leisurely pace, with people dropping off their information and having their taxes  filed electronically.  Yay for technology!  I don't know how the young moms are keeping it together entertaining their confined kids with the added responsibility of  home schooling. I'm pretty sure I would have died...or someone would have. 😄  It's much easier for my husband and I.   We are truly blessed.

So how do I  go about blooming where I'm planted?  I have made myself a promise that I will be a better person when things get back to "normal."  I'm walking most days in our beautiful wetlands and enjoying Spring as I have never done before.   I'm spending time organizing and simplifying my home.  I'm listening to less news and more podcasts and books. I'm quilting and sewing masks for my friends and family.  I'm texting, calling, emailing and checking in on those I love.  I'm creating some handmade "just because" cards and actually mailing them.  I'm feeling peaceful and optimistic because I'm not allowing myself to worry about things I can't control.

How are you blooming where you're planted?  I hope you are looking forward to emerging from this challenge with a whole panoply of lessons, skills and memories to add to your amazing book of life.

Thank you for visiting.
Go forth and bloom where you're planted.
Nancy

Playing along with:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #386

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #206

Creative Moments Challenge #189

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday April Challenge

Colour Crazy Challenge - Week 16

Cut it Up Challenge #198

Retro Rubber Challenge #133 - Penny Black Stamp 2017

Through the Craft Room Door Challenge - April 21

Classic Design Challenge #4
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - April

Before and After - Penny Black Vintage Stamp

No matter how long the winter,

spring is sure to follow. 

Penny Black vintage stamp, Tonic Flip Card die, flower and butterfly dies,
white gel pen, lace sticker trim, mounting foam tape, Nuvo drops, designer paper

Hey there,

The blessing of extra time in my craft room lately has meant going down memory lane with some boxes of my very old card creations.  I've kept a few of my originals because I wanted to revisit some of my favorite vintage stamps and do a "before and after" project just to see how far I've come.  I've been stamping since 1995, so things have changed a lot since then. I remember when the advent of heat embossing rocked my world.  This little cutie from Penny Black has always been one of my favorite stamps, and I was excited to dust her off and color her with some pretty pastel copics for spring.

I felt a little constrained because I couldn't size her like I do my digi stamps, but  her smaller size made it possible for me to put her on this  fun flip card with a fancy border that's perfect for some spring blossoms.  

I added the slightest hint of a smile to her face because she's eyeing a pretty butterfly and is obviously delighted to have picked the most humongous flower in the garden. The butterfly and small flowers are die cuts and the flower centers are Nuvo drops.  I also added white gel pen dots to her dress and Stickles to the center of the large flower and the small flower print on her dress. 

I haven't chosen the recipient of  this card yet, so I added a more generic sentiment, but one that I think goes with my image.  

Yikes, here's my first card created almost three decades ago!  What an enlightening and encouraging exercise to document my progression. Time flies and our skills...and tools.. improve. I think I colored her with water color pencils, which I thought were the greatest invention known to man at the time. And a paper crimper was a must in any crafty tool kit. As for embossing folders, well they weren't even born yet.

I challenge you to do a "before and after" yourself.  I'll bet you have some cards you'd like to update with some new techniques and modern savvy. And you probably have a little extra time, for now. 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and make something old new again and see how far you've come..

Nancy

Playing along with:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - March

Retro Rubber Challenge - Tic Tac Toe (bottom across)

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #627

                                                   Sisterhood of Crafters Spring Challenge

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge - March

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #116

Stinkin' Inkers Challenge - Pastel Palette

Unicorn Challenge #52

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #382

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #128

Welcome Spring - Penny Black Easter Cuties

“That is one good thing about this world...there are always sure to be more springs.” L.M. Montgomery,  Anne of Avonlea

Penny Black Stamp, copic markers, Spellbinders border die, Cricut cutting, rhinestones, gold leafing pen

Five birthday cards and an Easter card are waiting anxiously in my craft room  to make their debut on this blog, but, as usual,  they'll have to wait until after I deliver them in person to my recipients. No sneak peaks...it's a Nancy rule. That means I have to wait until almost Easter, two weeks away, and then I can post them all at once!  What should I do in the meantime, I asked my self.  It seems like forever since I  created a card just for the fun of it, with no recipient or occasion in mind.  While my mind was occupied with this delightful, relaxing thought,  I heard these stylish little Penny Black ladies calling to me from some dusty shelves.  Some of my original Penny Black images are very old in stamp years but still remain among my faves  These chic little girls bring back such fond memories of Easter Sundays past when all the ladies I knew dressed for church in brand new frilly spring dresses, hats, shoes and gloves.  Sometimes it was still snowing, but those white sandals and patent leather shoes weathered the storm.

 I chose a pop out oval card base and some bright spring hues to update these ageless beauties a bit.  Originally, I put a yellow panel behind them thinking it would be bright and sunshiny, but it just didn't seem to work.  Then I tried a green embossed panel and I wasn't sold either.  I knew a bright sky blue panel always looks great, so I went with that.  Then I noticed my embossed green panel still sitting on my work space. Don't you love when serendipity happens?  I cut a slice of it for grass!  Instant scenery.  I cut the card base and layers on my Cricut and used the writing feature to create the sentiment.  The pretty lacy Spellbinder border is from my stash and I colored the clear rhinestones blue to match my copic coloring. I used my signature gold leaf pen edging to add the finishing touch.

There.  Now I feel better that I have something bright and springy to post while waiting for my birthday and Easter cards to become relevant.  Spring is in the air on this sunny day here in California. Hope you're day is lovely too.

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and create something fabulous

Nancy

Playing along with:
        Sunday Stamps Challenge #201 - Easter Hues
        Crafty Creations Challenge #387 - ATG
        Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #188 - Spring is Here
        Scrapy Land Challenge #111
        Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #215 - Feminine
        Avenue 613 Create Challenge #219 - Kinetic Card
        Lemon Shortbread Challenge #90 - ATG
        Crafting From the Heart Challenge #240 - ATG
        The Sisterhood of Crafters - Let's Celebrate Spring
        Penny Black and Friends Saturday March Challenge

Penny Black Poetic Portraits Stamps - Copic Coloring

Coloring these beautiful Penny Black Poetic Portrait images with my copic markers takes me back to the days when I spent hours with my sweet friend, Pamela, drawing paper dolls and coloring them with crayons. We made dresses for them with tabs that bent over their shoulders to hold them in place and played with them for hours. Anybody else remember this?  I also loved drawing and coloring pretty faces. I still do it sometimes.  Maybe that's why I love make up so much.  

I'm absolutely in love with these gorgeous Penny Black images because they are already beautifully drawn for me and all I have to do is make them come alive.  I stamp them in Memento London Fog ink which softens the edges when I color them. They are simpler to color than they look, although the shading takes a little practice. On this image, to my great dismay, my copic marker dropped a big drop of blue ink onto my pretty lady's neck after I had almost finished coloring her. I know...disastrous! But it turned out to be a happy accident, as is often the case.  I was able to cover it up with some pretty flowers and a beautiful butterfly.  I die cut a Spellbinders frame in white to showcase my image and let my lady peak through from the back to show her flowing hair.  

I love these Penny Black images so much.  There are several and I have them all!  They have become my favorite thing to color. 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Penny Black Saturday Challenge       

        Aurora Wings Challenge

        Scrapy Land Challenge

        Word Art Wednesday 

        Always Fun Challenges

        Brown Sugar Challenge        

        Craft Rocket Challenges

        Stamping Sensations

       

Penny Black Springs Eternal

I've been obsessed with stamping and making cards since the dawn of time...actually about 1995. Stamps, like everything else, seem to go in and out of style.  I can actually look at a stamp and guess pretty close to the age.  But some artwork stands the test of time.  There are several designers whose images I still love.  Penny Black is one of them.  She has a lot of fabulous new stamps  but I actually like some of her older designs the best.  I own several of these little girl stamps, circa about 1998, and I still smile when I color the images.  Water color, colored pencils, markers...you name it...I've used them all and they turn out great.  For this image I used copics and colored pencils.   The card base is a Lori Whitlock center step  SVG cut on my cricut.

The current Retro Rubber Challenge inspired me to get out this cutie and make a spring card. The baby bunny handing the little girl the tulip is adorable, don't you think?


I used the pretty Just Us Girls Challenge colors:

I'm also adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps - Not a Square Card

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Spring

613 Avenue Create - Spring

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and be fabulous.
Nancy