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Happy Fall: Two Challenges and Fall Foliage

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When I saw this week’s CAS(e) This Sketch I knew exactly what stamps I wanted to pull out. 

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I’ve always love the “Take Three” series by Papertrey Ink, and the fall images are great. I chose pumpkins for this card.

HappyFall

You can see by the shadows that the pumpkins were attached with some dimensional tape. This card also meets the challenge at Addicted to CAS:  Autumn/Fall.

ATCAS - code word autumn

We had a fabulous weekend in the Adirondacks this past weekend. We left at 6:00 am, stopped in Old Forge for a hearty brunch, and dropped off the intrepid backpackers around noon.

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Bob and Tracy have been working to hike most of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks. Cathy and I have done a few as well with our kids when they were growing up, but we gave up serious backpacking quite a few years ago. After dropping the guys off, we head for Keene Valley for a bit of shopping (turned out neither of us bought a thing), and then checked into our hotel in Wilmington, NY. This was the view of Whiteface Mt. from our balcony.

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We drove into Lake Placid, did some window shopping and had a lovely dinner overlooking Mirror Lake. The next morning we had a fabulous breakfast at our favorite diner, did a bit of shopping, and then changed into our sneakers to walk around Mirror Lake. 

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It was a stunning day, in the mid-70’s and sunny. By the time we got around the lake (about 2 1/2 miles) we were pretty warm and headed back to our hotel. We sat on our balcony, had some veggies and dip, and enjoyed the wonderful fall day. We decided not to drive back into Lake Placid and went to a lovely restaurant just a mile or so from our hotel. We’d been there before. The food is great, and very reasonable. I’ll leave you with one last photo of the stream that runs by the parking lot of the restaurant.

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The leaves are beginning to turn here, but it will be a couple of weeks before it’s as beautiful here as it was in the Adirondacks. (The guys, by the way, had a great time, and added another peak to their list.)

Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop #2

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The afternoon flew by, but I did have time while watching The News Hour tonight to get another card made for the Papertrey September Blog Hop. “A Wreath for All Seasons” has long been a favorite, but I haven’t pulled it out in a while. This month’s challenge to include a wreath on your card was the perfect opportunity. Here’s another look at the inspiration photo:

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I still have several October birthday cards to make, so that’s the direction I took.

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I did the stamping on a piece of Rustic Cream Cardstock and then embossed it with my new Burlap Impression Plate.  The Brilliance Pearlescent Ink for the berries and part of the sentiment has a lovely sheen, so I chose some shimmer cardstock in rust and brown for the card itself. Here’s a closer look at the pretty shimmer.

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I found some rhinestones the perfect color and added a strip of them below the sentiment. I think my friend will like this tribute to her fall birthday!

I’m also linking this up with this week’s CAS-ology Challenge which is Autumn.

Week 63 - Autumn

 

Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop

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Knowing I’d be arriving home from Chicago late last night, I got one project for today’s Papertrey Ink Blog Hop done before we left. The challenge was to create a project with a wreath, and it was the perfect opportunity to get a head start on the gift exchange tags I need for Tracy’s family. Here’s the beautiful inspiration piece:

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I got so busy this morning unpacking and organizing for a new project, that I nearly forgot to get this posted.

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I pulled out an old favorite, “Rustic Branches,” which works perfectly on the Tag Sale #4 die. I tried a couple different techniques for embellishing the berries, but settled on adding a drop of Glossy Accents to each one.

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Each tag is tied with a piece of Pure Poppy Dotted Ribbon.

I’m hoping to find time before the links close to make another card. I’ve pulled out two more stamp sets with wreaths that I love. We’ll see how the afternoon goes!

Who, Me?!?!

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Yes, me! Four years ago I got an amazing email from Cath Edvalson who hosts the wildly popular Moxie Fab World blog asking me if I still had a card from a challenge I entered. She wanted to publish it in an upcoming Paper Crafts magazine. Did I have it? Was I interested? YES! I had never submitted anything for publication, and was so excited to see one of my cards in print!

An equally exciting email arrived in my inbox while we were visiting Sarah and Adam in August. Would I be interested in being featured as the Moxie Fabber of the Week? WOW! Never in a million years, did I ever expect to have that honor! But today you can find me on Moxie Fab World. Thanks, Cath, for one of the biggest honors of my papercrafting career!

Since it’s all about cards, I thought I ought to share one I made recently but haven’t posted here on the blog, though I just realized it was one that got posted on Moxie Fab! I’m in Chicago this weekend, so there’s no chance of making a new one!

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This card uses stamps that have been in my collection for years. The bench is from a company called Design a Little. The date on the stamp is 1995. The sentiment is from Saavy stamps, and I’ve had it almost as long, I think. The punched heart is from the Simon Says Holiday Shapes die that I popped up with a dimensional glue dot.

 

Happy Birthday, Skylar!

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Skylar is two today. Now, how did that happen so quickly? Betsy took this photo of her in her cute birthday shirt.

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And here’s her birthday card. The pink polka dots match the cute chair we bought her for her birthday. It’s out being monogrammed, so I don’t have a photo with her in her new chair yet.

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I cased the design of the card (sentiments to make the shape of a birthday cake) from Maile Belles.

Here’s a close-up of the sparkly details. Skylar is definitely a fan of sparkly. The other night when she stopped by for a quick visit, she had on new sneakers that flash on and off.

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And here she is on one of her birthday gifts.

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We love you, Skylar!!!

Runway Inspired #43

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The minute I saw it, I fell in love with the colors and and the grid pattern of this Runway Inspired challenge piece. So I’ve been thinking about it, and finally just under the wire, I got a card made. 

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The die cut “you” was laying on my desk from a previously “failed” attempt on another card, and I found the black and white grid paper in my scrap drawer. I think it’s an old Paper Loft paper. 

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And then the rest came together easily. A perfect card for all kinds of occasions depending on what is stamped on the inside. Most likely it will be a birthday card.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Select White, Summer Sunrise, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned paper from scrap drawer
Die: Thinking of You (Simon Says); Double-ended Banner (Papertrey Ink)
Sentiment Stamp: You (Simon Says) 

Thinking of You

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The prayer list at our church is way too long, and I needed some cards for two of the members on the list– good friends who could use some cheer. The first card I made earlier this summer, and was glad to have it on hand. The pretty flowers were from my garden. There aren’t many left now, though we do have a pretty arrangement of hydrangeas still on the dining room table.

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The card uses one of my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp sets:  Rosie Posie.

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This card uses my newest floral stamps from WPlus9, appropriately called Fresh Cut Florals. The hardest thing about this card was finding the right combination of inks to use for the multiple stamping. 

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The colors and the berries make me think of fall. It’s felt like it the last few days—temperatures in the 40’s some mornings and only getting to the mid-60’s during the day. Summer will be back with a vengence if the meteorologist is correct. It’s supposed to be in the 90’s on Wednesday!

Card Recipe #1
Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White
Patterned Paper: A Muse
Stamps: Rosie Posie and Rosie Posie Step 2; sentiment: Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink)

Card Recipe #2
Cardstock: Select White, Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Fresh Cut Florals (WPlus9)
Handcut banner

 

Thanks

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Next to birthday cards, I make more thank you cards than anything else. That’s because I’m a lucky lady and have so many wonderful opportunities and wonderful friends. I needed a few this weekend. When we were in Chicago, I had a chance to visit an Archivers store and came away with a few new paperpads and treats. It’s fun to bust out the new goodies when it’s time to craft.

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One of the hottest trends now is the chalkboard craze. My Mind’s Eye has a great little 6X6 paper pad and some darling tags. I used both on this card.

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I’m linking this up to the Papercrafts September Challenge Gallery appropriately called “Chalkboard Craze.”

As soon as I saw this stamp set, called “Arrows and Elements” being used on some of my favorite blogs, I knew I wanted it. But it was out of stock for awhile. I was able to order it when I was away, and it was here when I got home. It’s by a relatively new company, Reverse Confetti. 

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The frame, the banner and the sentiment are all from “Arrows and Elements.” The script “thanks” is an oldie but goodie by AMuse.

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And finally an ombre Thanks using an Archivers exclusive stamp that I picked up the last time I was lucky enough to be close to a store. (The nearest Archiver is a little over four hours away from Rochester!)

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Although the colors are quite different, I’m linking this up to the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab for the Honoring Ombre challenge.

Ombre

 

Card Recipe #1
Cardstock:  Select White, True Black (Papertrey Ink]
Patterned Paper: Chalk Studio (MME) 
Tag:  Chalk Studio (MME)
Stamp: Fillable Frames #1 (Papertrey Ink)
Silk ribbon: Papertrey Ink, colored with a Copic marker

Card Recipe #2
Cardstock: Select White, Pure Poppy, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Arrows and Elements (Reverse Confetti), thanks (A Muse)
Die: Notched Star Banner (Papertrey Ink) 

Card Recipe #3
Cardstock: Select White, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy, Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)
Stamp: Thank You Grid (Hero Arts for Archivers)
Pearls: A Muse & Recollection 

 

Birthdays

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There were a lot of birthdays to celebrate in August, but I ran out of blogging time so I’ll be sharing three of them here today.

The first one was cased from Stephanie of Clearly Besotted Stamps. I loved the cut out clouds and knew they would work with balloons as well as a kite.

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All the papers and stickers came from the July Simon Says Card kit. 

Since my grand-nephew was celebrating his birthday right around the time he was here visiting at Conesus Lake, a nautical card seemed in order.

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The card is one I’ve had in my stash for years, and I can’t remember who manufactured them. They came pre-embossed and I bought several pack of them. 

This card is really one of the most versatile around. By changing the colors of the cardstock and candles you could create a card for almost anyone. I loved Papertrey’s new birthday set, Wishes Come True, as soon as I saw it because along with the candles the sentiments are perfect for men, women, or children.

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I added some glitter to the flames with my Gelly Roll Clear Star glitter pen, the quickest and cleanest way to add some glitter.

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Card Recipe #1:
Cardstock: Robin Egg’s Blue (Bazzill ), Soloar White (Neenah)
Patterned paper: Sweet Shop (Lily Bee) 
Stickers: Sweet Shop (Lily Bee)
Dies: Balloon Bash & Clouds (PTI) 

Card Recipe #2
Card from stash
Patterned papers: Bitty Dots (PTI)
Stamps: sailboat from Celebrate (Unity), sentiment (Stampendous)

Card Recipe #3
Cardstock: Summer Sunrise, Scarlet Jewel (PTI)
Stamps: Wishes Come True (PTI), Tilted Banners (Simon Says)
Die: Tilted Banners (Simon Says) 

 

 

August 2013 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

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I knew Papertrey Ink’s Blog Hop came the day after the Stamp-a-Faire, but I had no time to prepare ahead. Luckily, the inspiration pieces are great, and meant to help you complete a card quickly. Since I need a couple birthday cards for guys in September I chose this combination of colors and sketch.

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I followed the sketch almost exactly, skipping only the ribbon/twine & bow. I pulled out some Fine Linen and True Black patterned papers and cut strips for some of the diagonals, and two thinner strips of Dark Chocolate. The 2012 Birthday Tags were a perfect answer for the circle element in the sketch.

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The Birthday Tags cut perfectly with a circle punch and I added slightly larger True Black and Fine Linen circles as mats.

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Quick and easy—another sketch to come back to when I’m in a hurry for a card. You can find the other color combos and sketches here.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Classic Kraft, True Black, Fine Linen (PTI)
Patterned Papers: True Black, Fine Linen (PTI) 
Stamp: 2012 Birthday Tags (PTI)
Circle punches  

Sweet Sugar Coated Embellishments

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After a fantastic dinner with a group of church folks last night at a new restaurant, Revelry, I took a look at the rest of the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire Challenges. There are a few more I’d like to tackle, and I managed to get this one done this morning. Glitter was the focus for this challenge, and I ended up making a masculine card! I would have never thought glitter would be appropriate for a guy, but I do like this one.

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Danielle Flanders demonstrated how to use Score-tape to creat a striped, glittered die cut. It was much easier than it looked thanks to her great directions, especially the quick way she took care of all the negative space after the Score-tape was applied. 

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I wasn’t quite sure what to do after I finished the sentiment, but found the perfect Washi tapes and some black enamel dots to finish off the card. A little glitz is good for the guys, too, I think.

I just realized today is also the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop which I always enjoy. Is it possible to have too much inspiration? It’s a good thing I’m in need of some cards for September! Hopefully, I’ll be back later today with another card or two.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Smoky Shadow (PTI), Medium Morning Mist (WorldWin)
Stamp & Die: Wonderful Words: Birthday (PTI)
Washi tape
Glitter: Ultra-fine Crystal (Mark Enterprise)
Enamel dots: My Minds Eye 

Mixing Mists to Match Challenge

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Stamp-a-Faire Logo

I have a second card completed for a challenge at the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire. For this one I mixed rubbing alcohol with a reinker to create a mist. It was easy to do, and I’m quite sure I’ll do it again. My misting bottle is a mini-mister by Ranger so I had to make significant adjustments to the quantity, but it worked really well. Originally I tried a white embossed design like Nicole demonstrated and wanted to mist with Lemon Tart, a rather pale yellow. The white embossing just did not show well so I turned the watercolor paper over and misted the back side. Then I die cut the three flowers from Beautiful Blooms 2.

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Much to my surprise, I liked the design created by my flawed embossing attempted and ended up using those instead! I decided to use another of the sketches from the first challenge to put together the card.

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Sticking with my goal to use my newer stamps, the sentiment came from Delightful Dahlias Additions. On Monday a group of us are taking a good friend out to lunch to celebrate her retirement. This will be the perfect card for a garden loving lady!

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: watercolor paper (Canson), Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise
Stamps: Delighful Dahlias Additions
Twine: Papertrey Ink
Pearls:  Kaiser
Dies: Beautiful Blooms 2 (Papertrey Ink), Tender Leaves (Memory Box), Happy Everything Tags      (Spellbinders)
Ink:  Lemon Tart for mist 

Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire

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I’ve been “off the grid” for a lot longer than I expected. I really thought I’d have time (and energy) to blog from Chicago, but I was wrong. By the time we’d spent the day unpacking boxes and organizing Sarah and Adam’s new house, all I had energy for was reading a few blogs! It wasn’t all work and no play, however, so I’ll be back with some photos of our week there. But today, and this weekend, I’m hoping to find time to play along with some of the challenges at Papertrey’s second annual Stamp-a-Faire. 

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The first challenge of the day was a color and sketch challenge. The color combinations and sketches could keep me going all day, but new challenges will be popping up all day long! I’m quite sure I’ll be back to play with more of these combos before long.

I chose this color combination to start with:

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And this sketch:

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My personal goal is to use some of the newer stamps and dies that have arrived in the last few months. For this card I chose the dies from Maille Belles new set “Bubble Talk.” None of the sentiments with that set fit my needs, so I turned to an older set, “Fillable Frames #7” for that.

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I followed the sketch almost to the letter, just substituting the talk bubble for the circle. The inside sentiment is an anniversay one. I think I’ll use this sketch again. It seems really versatile.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Enchanted Evening, Hawaiian Shores, Spring Rain, Select White, New Leaf, Limeade Ice
Die: Bubble Talk
Stamp: Fillable Frame #7
Enamel Dots: My Minds Eye

 

Happy Birthday, Sarah! & Family Fun

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Sarah’s birthday was August 3rd, but we waited until she arrived with Adam and Caleb on Monday to celebrate. Matt, Betsy, and Skylar came to dinner, and we had a great time. From elementary school on, the only birthday cake Sarah ever wanted was an ice cream cake, and that was her request again. There were three candles for 33 years. 🙂

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Skylar wasn’t quite sure what to make of having another toddler in our house. Initially she told Caleb that the toys were “mine,” but she soon recovered, and they had a lot of fun running up and down our driveway together, shouting and laughing.

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Skylar kept losing one shoe, and eventually was running barefoot. I was just glad neither of them fell!

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But this is my favorite photo of the evening –the two of them on our poor glider at the bottom of the driveway that’s waiting to be refinished.

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Here’s the card I made for Sarah. Her personal “symbol” is a tree, and she has a wonderful one designed by Adam on her business cards and website. There’s a tree hanging over their bed, a colorful tree that hung over the fireplace in Ashland, and one on her favorite totebag. When I bought the “All Seasons Tree” die by Simon Says , I knew it would be on her next birthday card.

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I’m linking this up at the Moxie Fab Birthday Card challenge. It’s the last of the white woodgrain cardstock that came in a Simon Says card kit mounted onto a green Memory Box card. The sentiment is an old wooden stamp from A Muse that I’ve had for years stamped onto one of Papertrey’s banner dies.

Yesterday, all the cousins (but one who couldn’t come) gathered at Conesus Lake. We don’t think they’ve ever been all together in one place before. They arrived from Illinois, Arizona, Oregon, Vermont, and Louisana as well as locally. The only damper on the day was the my mother-in-law was too ill to join us. She had been looking forward to this day for months! But we got great photos. First, one of all the cousins and their children.

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A pretty good-looking group, if I do say so myself!

And then one of all of us. I’m amazed that we actually got one with everyone (except Caleb) looking at the camera with a smile on their face, and their eyes open!

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Tomorrow Adam heads back to Chicago. Sarah and Caleb are staying for the last two days at the lake (we drive back and forth each day), and we’ll be driving them home. We’ll leave sometime on Sunday and spend one night on the road. Tracy and I are planning to spend a week in Chicago, helping to unpack a house full of boxes and get everything settled. Once we get back home, my brother is coming for a few days.

I have a few posts to put up for the time we’re away, but I won’t have much time to visit blogs or comment. I’ll be sure to catch up with all of you toward the end of August.

New Baby

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It’s not often I have a reason to create a baby card, but this past week our neighbors have had their first child. I can’t wait to meet her, and I had a lot of fun at Carter’s picking out a cute pink and ruffled outfit for her. (Needless to say, I came home with a bag of clothes for Caleb as well who will be here in just three days!)

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I reached for some of my favorite papers and stamps for baby cards: Papertrey’s Bitty Star Basics and Bitty Dots patterned paper, and Bitty Baby Blessing stamps. The tag is the Papertrey Tag Sale #3 die which is tied with my favorite sheer Midori ribbon which I bought years ago at Impress. 

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I finished it off with some paper piecing and some pearls from Michael’s. This is another card for the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes” challenge this week.

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