With Sympathy

I struggle so hard with the concept of making a sympathy card. Most of the reasons you make cards are happy. The birth of a baby, a birthday, a wedding. Even with get well soon cards there are so many fun ways to do them. Sympathy cards are hard for me, I think as most card maker will agree I put my heart into making a card, I have very few generic cards, cards are made for a purpose, with someone in mind at the time when I make them. So when making a sympathy card I struggle knowing the person I am making it for is in pain or struggling with a loss. There is no image that will heal that. With that in mind sympathy cards may be the most important you send, no image will heal the pain but the knowledge that others are there and they care is important. So here it is simple and plain but I hope it brings comfort.

Forgot to mention Jo over at Stampin and Stuff has some fun blog candy going right now if you live in the Europe pop over to leave a comment!

And she scaps too

My mom was a demonstrator for one of the stamp companies not SU but I am not sure which one when I was a teenager and that is where I first learned about paper crafting, it was a very different world then. Fast forward a few years and I had moved away from home and was working as a nanny for a family and wanted a fun way to preserve my pictures of me with the two children. I knew a tiny bit about scrap booking and then one day in the small town that I lived 7 miles outside of someone opened a scrapbook store. I made friends with a woman who I met at a crop there and we traveled all over northern Virginia looking for fun new supplies. When I look back at the pages I did then I laugh all very square pictures in a cascade very formal, not much different then a photo album with some embellishments. Fast forward a few more years and I was forced to move home while I waited on some Visas to come through so I could move back to England and marry DH. I just happened upon a scrap booking store about an hour from where my parents lived and it kept me sane to craft for the six months I was stuck at home.



When it came time to move back to the UK to marry DH I pack up most of my supplies though they were very few and came back and threw together a wedding less than 4 months. I was so busy at the time and we were so poor because I could not work that I did not really have the time to do any scrapping. Then as soon as we were married I was desperate to find a job so that we were not sooooo poor.



When I started to look at doing crafting again I was discourage at the lack of the type of supplies I was use to using and what I could get was not really speaking to me. I could however find card making supplies that fulfilled my need to create. It has been a long hard road looking for supplies like I was use to scrapping with and seeing others creations using supplies I was not use to and liking the end result. I have now found a number of shops online and near me and numerous blogs to give me inspiration. So last night I created the first 12x12 page for my album in over two years. It felt good. So here it is in all it glory nothing special just something to remember a favorite pictures for years to come.


Supplies: Kraft Cardstock, Making Memories, Sassafras Lass, SU Night of Navy, Martha Stewary Glitter Carnelian, SU Scallop Punch, American Crafts Thickers, Versa Mark Ink, SU Heat and Stick Poweder.

Addicted to Bloom and Grow

Hi my name is Yankee and I am addicted to Bloom and Grow paper from My Minds Eye. I love the colours and the patterns and it goes with stuff so well. Yes I made another card using it. I think this might be Bloom and Grow week or even month. When I look at it I get so many ideas! So here is another one, with a paper flower no less. Some times I get stuck in a rut but what a cute rut it is.

My Favorite Things Colour Challenge

Dawn over at My Favorite Things has decided to start doing a color challenge and this weeks when I had a look at the the colours I was really inspired especially with the fact that they worked very well with all the new Bloom and Grow paper from My Minds Eyes. Hope you enjoy.

back from the dead

Sorry it has been so quiet on the blog front lately, as life is I got hit with a bunch of stuff all at once. Some I could take action on and some I just had to let run it course and find the stregth to keep moving, all this and my allergies have decided to flare up with a vengeance unseen for many year. Finding allergy medicine in the UK that worked for me took about a week so I was a pretty unhappy camper. While this was all going on my Bloom & Grow paper from My Minds Eye came. I am sooooooo in love with this paper, I first saw Kristina over at KWerner Designs use it a few weeks ago and i fell in love with it. I got two of all the sheets ( They are front and back) and the die cut sheets that come with it. I have been crafting up a storm with it and thought I would show you the mothers day card I did for my MIL as tomorrow is Mothering Sunday here in the UK. As you can see the Martha Stewart glitter is getting good use. Well the washing machine just let me know it is done and I am off to change what seems like never ending loads of laundry.

Passion for Papertrey!

I was so excited when I found out Kate and Steph were starting a site to promote their love of all things Papertrey here in the UK. The challenges look fun and I decided to throw my hat into the ring. I used the single dot from Papertrey's Polka dot basic and the outline randomly with a few different Versamark colors. It was refreshing to make a card with only one layer of card stock!

Glitter Glorious Glitter

When I went home for Christmas there was one thing on my wish list that was an absolute must. I was NOT getting on the plane to come home to England until I had a good stock of Martha Stewart Glitter. One does not truly realize they are living in a foreign country until a simple thing like finding decent glitter becomes impossible. Last October when I decided that I wanted to decorate some pumpkins with glitter and was unable to find any glitter except gold and red with huge flakes I vowed to never be in this situation again. My mother thought this was hilarious, in the weeks up to my trip home she would ask what I wanted to do while I was at home, at trip to Micheal's was always at the top of the list.

I speak to her on the phone on a weekly basis and rarely does a week go by that she does not ask if I have used any of the 24 new colours of glitter I am now in possession of. Every time I tell her no but just knowing that I have it makes me sleep better at night. So when I realized that this year was an extra special anniversary for my parents and they deserved more than the bog standard card I decided that my very first use of my Martha Stewart glitter could not be better than on my parents anniversary card. I used a sketch by Jen Diercks (she is seriously talented guys check out her blog) who is a guest designer over at I {heart} to stamp where this sketch was posted.

I had pulled out the Polka Dot Punch set from SU! to make some wrapping paper got my parent's gift and that is where the inspiration came for this card. I am not usually into matchy matchy but I just love how this heart stamp looks. I played around with it on some black paper with white Stazon ink and it is stunning as well.

Ha what my stamp table looked like when I was done creating the card. I am not the most organized of crafters.