Pinkfresh Studio February 2021 Stamp, Stencil and Die Release Blog Hop

Hello and welcome! I'm thrilled to be here today for the Pinkfresh Studio February 2021 Stamp, Stencil and Die Release Blog Hop! I have three projects to share with you today using quite a few of the new products! This is such an amazing and beautiful new release; I hope you love it as much as I do!  Pinkfresh Studio will be giving the entire release away to a lucky winner on Instagram, You Tube, and Facebook, so be sure to enter to win there! As always, leave a comment here for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate.

My first project for today uses the fabulous new Slimline Layered Starburst Layering Stencil. You might recall that an A2 version came out for the last release, so I 'm excited that there is a slimline option as well! I haven't even used the A2 version (am I crazy, or what?) so it was super fun to use it on this floral design!

The next suite of products are absolutely AMAZING! I'm just going to apologize right now because you will be seeing A LOT from me with these flowers! ha ha! I used the Friendship Blooms Layering Stencils paired with the Friendship Blooms die set to create the beautiful flowers and leaves and the sentiment is from the coordinating Friendship Blooms Stamp Set.

The awesome thing about this bundle of products is that you can use the stencils by themselves, or with the dies, OR combined with the stamp set. You can also just use the outline stamp images by themselves to use with any coloring medium of your choice, whether it's watercolors, pencils, Copics, etc. If you don't feel as confident with your coloring skills OR you're short on time, the coordinating stencils make creating these beautiful blooms a cinch! 

I wanted my flowers to be soft and airy, so I opted for just the stencil/die combo, but can't wait to try heat embossing the line images over the top for a different look! Like I said, watch out!

The sentiment is also from the same set and I absolutely LOVE each and EVERY sentiment in this entire release! I want to make a card with every one! There are just so many to love!

I finished it off with some glitter and sparkles, of course!

My second card uses a few more new goodies; up first is the Folk Floral Print Layering Stencils all done up in bright, summer-y colors! This is seriously such a fun and beautiful stencil set and the color combinations are endless! It's amazing what color can do to create a different mood, don't you think?

I also used the new Leafy Circle Die as an anchor for the fabulous new Happy Birthday Sentiments! I am super excited for these because they are perfect for anyone and everyone and the mixing and matching possibilities are endless! I think this set really fills a need to help us create fabulous birthday cards!

Another thing that I really like about this sentiment set is that is has a coordinating Happy Birthday Sentiments Die for all of the main words in the set. You can see I die cut the "celebrate" word and then heat embossed the "Birthdays look good on you" portion of the sentiment onto a strip of vellum. I am obsessed with the way these particular sentiments look heat embossed! All the heart eyes!

My third and final project for today is a quick and easy home decor piece that I made using the new Leafy Circle Die and the new Curvy Leaves die set paired with some older favorites! I was looking for a few last-minute Valentine's Day decorations the other day only to find that the display had really been picked over. St. Patrick's Day decorations, however, were full and plentiful! I picked up a few new things and thought how fun it would be to make a coordinating banner using these new leaves and wreath!

I die cut 5 wreaths, one for each letter and added some Key Lime and Evergreen ink over the top using a blender brush. I set them aside and then die cut the LUCKY letters out of gold glitter cardstock using the Lea's Ornate Uppercase Alphabet dies. I have been making banners for quite a few years and I have previously been using chipboard letters. Some of my favorite letters that I've used over the years are from this same font! I love that I can make an endless supply of letters and never run out. Depending on the word I was using on my banners, I often had to buy two packages so I would have enough vowels! Can I buy a vowel? LOL!

I layered the letters onto the smallest banner piece from the Essentials: Shaker Tags dies, which is the perfect thing for this little banner! I stamped each of the pennants using the Diamond Tiles stamp and Key Lime ink. I added a few jewels for added sparkle. The banner pieces all have a hole at the top since they are actually tags, so I just simply added another hole using a Crop-a-dile so I could thread the green baker's twine through the holes. I'll have to take a picture of it in March with all of my other St. Paddy's decorations! Don't forget to head to the other designers' blogs to see their fabulous creations and to see even more of the new products! Thanks for fluttering by!

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Welcome Spring and Simple Thoughts

 I was working on my Easter/Spring Mantel and decided it needed a new banner. I have my pastel one in my entry way but I was having a hard time incorporating all of the "traditional" spring colors in my family room. Instead of having something I wasn't completely happy with, I made a new banner!It is simple and I was really pressed for time and to be completely honest, I actually didn't want to put too much detail into the banner since it is higher up and the details would get lost anyway. The one detail which I had fun with is the addition of thespring green spanish moss. I have been going wild with it on quite a few of my Easter displays, so I added it here. I simply wadded some up in a ball, added hot glue and pressed it onto the accordion medallions. I then gave the chipboard letters a good amount of hot glue as well and pressed them on.

 You can see the entire display here. I am actually impressed with myself how long I have been able to incorporate the blue chevron fabric in the frame into my seasonal displays on my mantel. In the fall, I used fall foliage to accent the blue and of course in the winter it was a perfect backdrop with my snowflakes, etc. And here you see it looking just as nice for Spring!  I was tickled pink to find the little oval frame with the pressed flowers at the local thrift store for 50 or 75 cents. There is a handwritten sticker on the back boasting they are from the Hill Cummorah, but I don't know if it is true. For 75 cents, who cares? I am also obsessed with the new vintage (is that an oxymoron) Ball canning jars you can buy now. I have them here and there in my home.

 I was also in need of a "thinking of you" card so as I sat down to make it, I just decided to use the scraps from my banner. Again, I wanted to keep things simple, but ended up adding more than I planned on. Still simple, though.  Maybe before it gets mailed, I will have to add some moss.....Just kidding........hmmmmmmmmm.....

I really like these cute little frame stamp sets from PTI as well.  I also made a mini banner to stretch across the width of the card using tiny scraps. I tied bows on the ends using some button twine from PTI. The felt flowers were made with spring moss felt and I added a tiny gem to the center of each flower. It just didn't seem balanced so I added two buttons as well. The bottom needed something, too, so I added a line of zig-zag stitching and some striped paper.

I have a baby card and handmade gift to share with you as well. I have had it photographed for a while, just not uploaded so I will get going on that and get it on here as well as Thimbles and Thread. Happy Spring, Happy April and thanks for fluttering by!!!

*Bloom* Banner

 I made a banner exactly like this one for my Mom for Mother's Day! I liked it so well, I sat down yesterday and made one for myself.  I have a bench directly below the banner which is now empty, but I will hopefully have time today to "shop" my home to get things to decorate it.

I know that you are probably sick of me talking about how my photos look, but if you look at my blog title photo and then scroll down to the post photo, you can totally see the difference. The two photos are exactly the same! If anyone knows how I can get this fixed, please let me know! It would be greatly appreciated!!!!
 I used some butterfly die-cuts from PTI as well as the coordinating stamp set "Butterfly Dreams" for this banner. You all know how much I love using black butterflies! LOL!  Each accordion medallion has some stardust stickles added to the edges for some sparkle and shine.

When  letter doesn't completely cover the center of the accordion medallion, I am always looking for a fitting way to cover it up. In this case, I used some rolled felt flowers, which went nicely with the "bloom" theme.

 The chipboard letters I used for this banner are from "The Paper Studio" found at Hobby Lobby. They were bare, so I used some SU! craft ink and a sponge dauber to turn them green.  I also didn't have a spare "O" on hand since I made one for my mom, so I just turned a Q into and O!  I find myself needing to do that a lot!

I made a large felt flower for either end of the banner. This is a detail that I did not add to my Mom's banner, but I will ask her if she wants me to make some for her. I am only "slightly" obsessed with all of the great 3-D flower dies that "My Favorite Things" carries! I only wish I would have bought them sooner! LOL! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I posted a baby ensemble HERE if you are interested!

Easter Blessings

I have gone a little bit crazy this year decorating for spring and Easter. I actually have gotten out almost every single Easter decoration that I own. I can't find a few, which is bugging me, but I am sure they will turn up; maybe around Halloween or Christmas! LOL! Even with all of the bunnies, chicks and Easter eggs, I haven't forgotten what Easter is really all about!

I needed a couple of cards to send out this week, so I made 3 so I could have an extra on hand. I was talking to a friend while I was getting them made and she mentioned that she was in need of a card so I gave her the extra. I used all of the same supplies that I had used on my Easter banner which you can see below so it made it easy. As you can tell, I am still using my old slab of My Mind's Eye paper. I promise the next project will not be using that! LOL!

The stamp set that I used for both of these projects is "Tags for Spring" from PTI. It is one of my favorites, but really only gets used once a year. Everything is pretty straightforward, but I did use some of my yummy new bakers twine that I picked up at the cooking store last month.

I realize that these photos are a little hard to see, but I made them as big as I could. I had someone comment on my St. Patty's banner that the photos are hard to see, but this (photo above) is the largest that I can make them; to my knowledge. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

This is the first banner that I made that isn't a word or a phrase, if that makes sense. Each panel is just a little bit of Spring or Easter.

You will notice on the Easter cards that I used distress ink on all of the edges, but for my banner, I kept it all clean. Sometimes it is hard for me just to leave well enough alone, but I resisted for this project!

I have a few more projects that I have made but haven't posted. I will share them soon! Thanks for fluttering by!

Lucky Me Banner

I thought I better get this posted before St. Patrick's Day comes and goes. I decided to make a new banner this year; one for upstairs and one for the entry way.I really wanted my banner longer than the one from last year, but I was really scratching my head trying to figure something out. We aren't Irish, so I couldn't do "Kiss me, I'm Irish" or anything like that. I decided just to go with "Lucky Me" and call it good. I used the PTI St. Patty's day set and another $1 stamp set I bought last year. The image that separates the two words is from Crafty Secrets.

I used my new crackle glossy accent stuff to coat the tiny stamps that I used at the top of each banner piece. I really like how it turned out even though it is hard to see in the photos. I also used the tag die-cut and coordinating stamp set "Just the Ticket" from PTI for some of the accents. I had used it in the card I made a post or two down and really wanted to incorporate it into the banner as well. I purchased all of the paper at Hobby Lobby and while it isn't St. Patricksy at all, I really like the feel. I also sewed up a little bench runner to tie everything together which you can see in the photo at the end of the post.

I decided to add a little circle of tulle to each of the accordion medallions. I had added them to a project that I did a week or so ago, which I will share later. I thought that adding a little more green couldn't hurt! I hope you all have a fun and green St. Patrick's Day. Don't get pinched! Thanks for fluttering by!

*Valentine* Banner

Last year I made this banner for Valentine's Day. I still really like it, but I wanted to make a new one so that I could put last year's in my kitchen and put the new one in my entry way. This one used more letters than most of my other banners so it hangs a little lower, but it fits perfectly. One more letter and I would have run into trouble. In fact, I shouldn't admit it, but I did run into some trouble. I use a ton of the letter "e" when I am making my banners and I had completely run out. I had to get creative and turn a c into a letter e....it is the last one on the banner. So....if you ever get in a crunch, look and see what letters you can trim, cut or glue back together to make something else! LOL!

All of the papers are "Lost and Found" and they are perfect for the feel I was going for. I used paper doilies for the medallions on the v, e and i and then decided that I needed one under every single accordion medallion as well. This banner is super thick and super heavy, but I really like how it turned out.

I stamped the crown images and punched them out using one of my Martha Stewart punches. I placed them in-between each of the rosettes on the top. The rosettes are from Prima and I love them. They are perfect! The tickets are from Tim Holtz. I die cut the ric-rac using the PTI die and black felt. I only used two pieces since the banner was starting to get very heavy and I worried it might look a little "over embellished" by the time I was done. As much as I like heavy embellishment, sometimes more is just more!

Of course I had to add a little bit of sewing. I chose to use a black thread to really make it pop. I was hoping that what ever was in my sewing machine would work, but it was light pink and I thought it would get lost. I need black thread in my machine for my next project anyway. I will share that with you soon, too. I distressed all of the edges using Walnut Stain distress ink by Tim Holtz. It is one of my favorites and while it is super dark, it worked nicely with all of the dark papers. Thanks for fluttering by! ETA* I realized that my watermark on the banner photos gives the image copyright to Papertrey Ink which is not correct.

Lucky Banner

I normally don't decorate for St. Patrick's Day, but since Easter isn't until the end of April, I decided to whip something up! Making banners is kindof an addiction for me and since I pretty much have every other holiday/season, it was the perfect excuse. I don't know about you, but really cute and classy St. Patrick's Day decor is kindof hard to find; at least around here. Everything seems to be made out of shiny metallic cellophane or tinsel and just isn't my taste. Since I love green so much anyway, I just used a few things I already had with some new purchases to put together a cute little ensemble on my bench under the banner.


The paper is all from Graphic 45, but from different collections. I just grabbed the patterns that I liked in green and called it good. The little image under the letter "c" is from Crafty Secrets. I was wishing that I hadn't gotten rid of all of the horseshoes I bought for one of my kid's Cowboy/Cowgirl birthday parties. I noticed how cute the little horshoe tied up with ribbon looked next to the Leprochaun in the little image.

Everything else is pretty straightforward and standard on my banners. It whipped up quite quickly since it only used 5 letters. It is shorter than most of my banners so it doesn't span the entire length of the board. I found something green to hang on the last handle to fill things up!

Everyone loved their little Valentine's treats when I passed them out at school. I ended up making chocolate dippped strawberries for the teachers. I put them on silver platters that I found at the dollar store and tied them up with cellophane. I gave the principal the stacked boxes from my last post which she absolutely loved. She confessed to me this week when I dropped into the office to tell me that she had re-gifted. I guess her son needed something quick for his girlfriend and wanted to give her that. I thought that was cute!

Alot has been going on here; throw-up, diarrhea, more throw up (thank goodness none of those for me, I am actually feeling quite good these days), going forward with some construction (Rowan threw up all over the floor when the workmen were here), a fender-bender, weening Rowan onto a sippy cup, tantrums, we are most likely expecting another boy, homework,etc. February has almost come and gone. I will be back tomorrow with my second design for this month's SFYTT! Thanks for fluttering by!

A few of my {favorite} things...

Well it isn't any secret that banners are one of my favorite things! The other day I was visiting Amy's Blog and came across this post. I will admit that I was intrigued. I went straight to work creating a winter banner that would incoporate many of the lyrics from the song. I have been a huge "Sound of Music" fan for most of my life. My sister and I would watch it over and over and over when we were young and we would sing the songs on long car trips. I'm sorry, Mom! I only know now how easily ones nerves can be shot when driving with noisy children. Anway, the point I was trying to make is how dear to my heart this song is.

I wanted to incorporate the lyrics onto the banner, so at the top of each panel I printed out a part of the song and in most cases decorated it accordingly. It was fun digging through my stash of buttons and things to find things that would be fitting. These are the types of projects that I love using things that I had previously been hoarding because I will use the banner again and again. This will actually be perfect in my studio since the paper matches the curtains perfectly as you can see in the photos.

I have come way more than full circle with my banners. I now have at least one for each season/ holiday and in some cases, more than one. I just can't stop!

My daughter went to her friend's birthday party in October and came home with a sack full of these little tickets. I asked her if I could have them and she was more than willing to give them to me. I knew that I could re-purpose them in my crafts. She was thrilled to see them show up here!

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun putting this together! I am a little late for the challenge that MFT put out, but I am glad that I was inspired! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. My blog candy will close at 12:oo a.m MST on Thanksgiving. Feel free to leave comments until then. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments.

Autumn Banner for a Birthday!

For as much as I like making banners, I have never made one as a gift until now. I decided to make my Mom an Autumn banner for her birthday. When I made this card, I mentioned that I used the paper for another project. I couldn't share the project until I gave the banner to my mom since she visits my blog regularly! HI MOM!!!! Anyway, we finally had her birthday party last Saturday. We used her fire pit that we had borrowed for the Halloween party and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We waited until it got dark and then my husband told scarey stories. It was a fun night! Anway...I can finally share the banner here.


I didn't reinvent the wheel, but rather used the same elements that I used on the one I made myself last year, which you can see here. I really love this paper from Graphic 45. They never fail to impress. All of their designs work nicely when I am going for a vintage look.

The letters are shimmer chipboard letters from Making Memories and I have used different colors on many of my banners. It was hard to get a good photo of the banner straight on, because the light wasn't the best at the time and I was in a hurry.

As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to create some handmade items for my friend who is adopting a baby girl.

I went to the sewing store on Tuesday and came home with some beautiful fabric. Here is a little glimpse into what I have been working on. You can see the finished project here.

I mentioned in my post on Thimbles and Thread that when my creative well runs dry, it is always helpful for me to switch mediums. It definitely did the trick; not only do I want to keep sewing, but it made me want to make a new card to match the quilt. Don't be surprised if a new baby card shows up in the next little bit!