Stamp Review Crew: Bonus Hop-Truly Tailored

There are five Mondays in April this year, so you know what that means! A bonus Stamp Review Crew hop!! This time we are using the soon to be retired Truly Tailored. I love me a great masculine set, and this one is certainly a fun one!

For those who are new to the Stamp Review Crew, here is a little background. We are an international group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators that gets together on the first and third Mondays of every month to do a blog hop. Each hop features a single stamp set to give you loads of inspiration for that set! The hops are archived at the Stamp Review Crew blog, and you will be able to click through each hop at any time, going directly to the posts for that hop whenever you want! And you can click on the banner of this post to go to the master blog roll for this hop also.

If you are following along in order, you just arrived from Stesha Bloodhart blog. Not only do I love her projects, I adore her photography and editing skills!

One of the reasons I love this set so much is the awesome little iconic images that are included in the set. The mountains and the arrows are so fun to make repeating patterns with. The Stamparatus played a big part in this card. I mimicked the mountains with vellum stitched squares cut in half and adhered behind the oval.

And the Simple Stripes embossing folder came out to play with this card. The stamped medallion behind the punch was made using a wreath builder jig. You can find all kinds of videos on YouTube for how to make your own jig to use with a stamp positioning tool. OK, I know I use the term "jig" a lot for this when most people call it a template. Blame it on my woodworking upbringing.



And now, Ann Schach's!I am sure she has created something delightfully elegant!

If you have seen something you need for your crafting life, just click the image in the supply list below and it will take you to my store! 

Product List

145735

$20.00

145732

$28.00

147752

$34.00

146089

$41.25

145667

$18.00

145372

$30.00

145648

$8.50

120953

$8.00

108641

$8.00

101856

$8.00

119684

$8.00

140272

$7.00

126959

$6.50

126974

$6.50

126973

$6.50

126965

$6.50

102283

$8.50

109132

$5.00

141636

$5.00

My Inky Friends Challenge #5

My Inky Friends and I hold a monthly challenge on the 4th Friday of each month, and it is that time again! This time we are issuing a sketch challenge. As always, the inspiration for this sketch challenge is taken from the Annual Catalog where you can find all kinds of creative sparks.

 I used this month's Paper Pumpkin to create this card. I am at my daughter's apartment, 5 hours from home and my craft room, so I had to work with what I had :)

You can participate in these challenges and share your creations with all of us. Check it out and play along!

Autism Awareness Blog Hop 2018

This is such an awesome topic, I had to play in 2 hops! This month in Autism Awareness month, and we are hopping and sharing our stories to bring greater awareness. I am joining several of my stamping friends to bring you some creative inspiration, and some humanity inspiration!

Whether you have Autism, have a family member or friend with it, or just want to be a better human being to those in your community that you may encounter with it, knowledge is power!

Here is what I shared on the other hop, as it pretty much says it all for me:

For me, I encounter autism in my circle of friends and family, and in my professional life as a nurse.

I have several stamping friends who have children with autism, and being a listening ear when we get together is definitely something I am up for. We all need a safe place to share our unique joys and frustrations.

I work with a doctor who has 2 sons with autism, and I admire the way that he parents all of his children, and watch him struggle with the lack of coverage to the maintenance therapy his children need through our insurance company. And the sacrifices his family makes to ensure they get what they need. 

When my son got married this fall, I gained a 14 year old grandson with autism. He is a bright and enthusiastic child with lots to say, and is eager to interact with us all. Meal time is a challenge though, lol. He will eat anything full of sugar, and always wants steak. Neither of those items is on the list of things that I serve for a house full of people. Family gatherings here are frequently for a group of 15 or more! There are many other quirks, but I won't violate his privacy to share them. We love him, and would not cause him harm for any reason.

When a child with autism comes in to the ER, whether ill or injured, it does present some unique challenges. We are asking them to adjust very quickly to new settings, new people, and frequently painful interventions. Flying by the seat of our pants is our specialty, but not so for these youngsters! Sometimes we can take the time to help the child cooperate with what is happening. Sometimes the child needs care quickly, and that can get dicey! Then you try to get things done as quickly as possible to avoid drawn out fear and anxiety. It helps if everyone around the child remains calm and supportive despite screaming, hitting, and behaviors from the child. You know what, that applies to anyone, autistic or not.

By being flexible and caring in our interactions with each other, we can make this world a better place for those who have additional challenges to their everyday routine.

If you would like more information about Autism, check out this site that a friend recommended: the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Empowerment is a great thing! You can support this cause by donating here:

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is just be there. Talking, sitting quietly, or sharing a task without conversation. Just being a peaceful companion. We all need that puddle of calm now and again.

And it is a special person who can do that for any of us! I hope I am that kind of someone for my loved ones, and my patients.

Most strongly in my heart, this card is for my husband. I am so glad he is my someone.

BLOG ROLL:

Sue Plote

Jenny Hall

Denita Wright-Smee

Maria Willis

Elizabeth Price

Tami Hewlett

Lisa Curcio

Lauren Alarid

Tanya Boser- You are here

Jen Sootkoos

Eva Dobilas

Kim Oliver

Charlet Mallett

Sandi MacIver

Adrienne West

Amy Koenders

Carolynn Sander

Stella MacKay

Scrapbook Sunday

Welcome to the April edition of Scrapbook Sunday! Hopefully we are inspiring you to keep your scrapbooking going 😀

This month's challenge is to use pastel colors, which is a stretch for me!

As usual, my format is an 8"x10" page that I can hang in a frame on the wall. This base is Sahara Sand-kind of a pastel neutral, don't you think?

Soft Sky and Pear Pizzazz cardstock is used with thinlits to create embellishments. And stitching. Of course!

A peek at the journaling, because it would not be complete without the journaling.

And here is the whole page. I threw this together in about 20 minutes. That has to be a record for me!

If you have seen something you need for your crafting life, just click the image in the supply list below and it will take you to my store!

My Inky Friends: Inking Up the Retiring In Colors-Flirty Flamingo

Hello stamping friends! Welcome to our hop featuring the retiring 2016-18 In Colors. Now is the last chance to stock up on the supplies of these colors before they are gone forever. The new In-Colors are going to delight you, so don't mourn to hard. 😉

We demonstrators have some inside information, and one piece we can share is that Flirty Flamingo is actually sticking around and becoming one of the core color family colors!! So awesome.

If you are following along in order, you just arrived from Holly Krautkremer's blog where she used Emerald Envy.  ANd If you want the master blog roll, find it here.

I used Flirty Flamingo on Crumb Cake with Emerald Envy, which is retiring for reals. I love them both, and they stamp really well on Crumb Cake.

I did use the Stamparatus, which I just got. I love that I can do repeating images by just shifting the plate over one notch at a time!

The white on the flowers is the white Watercolor pencil. Loved that!

The Garden Trellis embossing folder adds nice detail to the background.

Here are a few more cards I have made using Flirty Flamingo. Click on the image to go to the blog post featuring each card:










OK, I could probably find more. But I think it is time to move on to the next blogger, Mary Haugen! She is featuring Peekaboo Peach.