Lawn Fawn Birthdays

Belated birthday greetings.

Sigh!

What do you do about those? Do you send them out or do you skip it? Do you mail with an apology, or do you figure "Hey, at least I got it in the birthday month!"

This little sloth from Lawn Fawn is perfect for those "sloooow" to get to the recipient kind of cards.

The first card I made using the Bayou Backdrop die for a leafy overhang.

For the second card, I used the Tree Backdrop die, but turned upside down. It gives the look of a rain forest, don't you think?

Finally, I made a little card using the Koala, pairing him with some fun Lawn Fawn papers and adhering to a Lawn Fawn wood grain note card.

Time to start delivering and mailing a few of these cards!

Spring Fling

Good morning and welcome to the cafe!

I've brewed three new cards using Lawn Fawn stamps and the LF paper pack Spring Fling!

The first card uses these cute little hedgies. The sunshine is from the Lawn Fawn sentiment set So Much To Say. It was super easy to fussy cut, too.

The second card uses the stamp set Stinkin' Cute.

And the final card uses Party Panda! The birthday sentiment is one of the freebies that Lawn Fawn sent with an order.

Three more cards to add to my stash! Yay!

I have a few more birthday cards to show tomorrow, including a few belated cards (which I seem to need a lot of these days!).

Thanks for visiting the cafe!

Fast Cards to Freshen the Stash

Has this ever happened to you?

You go to your card stash, looking for that one occasion...birthday, get well, thank you, sympathy. And that's when you realize you do not have the ONE thing you need.

My card stash is looking a little thin lately. There's this thing called LIFE that keeps getting in the way of my card making.

If it's been a while since I stamped, I try to start with simple. Nothing complicated that will take too long. Just easy peasy stamp, color, assemble.

I grabbed a bunch of Lawn Fawn stamps this morning and got to work stamping, die cutting, and coloring.

I thought it would be a job, but it quickly became fun. And fun has been in short supply these days!

The key to using smaller images is to scale down the size of the card. These are little 3 1/2 by 5 inch pre-folded cards with matching envelopes from Hobby Lobby.

I have a few more images to color and add to card fronts this afternoon. I'm hoping build up my birthday and get well cards. This small size works really well for my church family, as they fit nicely in our mailboxes, too.

I hope to have a few more to show you soon. Hope your week ahead is a good one, cafe friend!

A Little Sheep Project

I started working on a new stitching project this week. I've done a few in this series, called "Little Sheep Virtues" by Little House Needleworks. This one is called "Peace", and I liked that the sheep has a little heart sheared into its wooly coat.

In the winter, I stitch in the arm chair close to the window for all the natural light I can get. I set this down on the ottoman and had to laugh...sheep on the left, sheep on the right. It's no secret. I like sheep!

I'm making some good progress!

The snow is softly falling today. It's a good day to stay indoors with a coffee, a good book, and a good project to keep busy.

Blessings, cafe friends!

A Finished Bookmark

I did it! I took a UFO project and turned it into a Finished Object project! Yay for me!

I started this Prairie Schooler cross stitch bookmark six years ago, and put it away. I picked it up again last month and decided that it was time to get back to it.

After stitching, I trimmed the excess linen, pressed it, and then adhered it to some of Papertrey Ink's  wool felt in Classic Kraft with some DMC and a running stitch. I frayed the edges of the linen a bit, and now it's complete. Simple.

I think this looks like the sort of bookmark that Elizabeth Bennett might have kept in one of her own beloved books.

I'm moving on to another project, hoping to get it finished in time for Valentine's Day this Friday. We'll see about that.

Happy Monday, cafe friends!

A Rough Start to 2020

It's been a rough start to 2020 for our family.

We've had health challenges. We've had a loved one entering an extended care situation. And on top of it all, we've had hard news on the work front.

I have always said that in the world of retail, Santa may come at Christmas, but the Grim Reaper comes with the new year. A lot of changes were announced, and the news was not good.

As a Christmas gift to my husband, who wants less stuff and more fun experiences, I decided to gift him with concert tickets to The Lumineers. It sounded like fun in December. But then, with all of the challenges piling up one after another, I wondered if we should really go.

My husband, who is all about adventure, decided that we needed this break, now more than ever.

We could have sat around the house all weekend and moped about our circumstances. But instead, we did a fast overnight in downtown Detroit for dinner and a show.

The city was really bustling on a Friday night, with softly falling snow, street musicians, and folks out walking everywhere.

Yesterday was Wear Red for Heart Health Day, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield building downtown was lit up for the occasion.

I wore my red cowboy boots and red scarf for the occasion.

In the midst of it all, God is faithful. The days may be difficult, but we can trust that He has only good in store for us.

Blessings on your weekend, cafe friends!

The Greetery Robin and Wren

It's here! I finally got the chance to place an order with The Greetery when my "must have" items came back in stock.

My sweet husband gave me a gift certificate at Christmas, and I had been patiently waiting for the sets Bottled Up and Robin and Wren. Both of these sets looked really versatile.

I needed a sympathy card the other day, and so I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Willow, pairing it with the PTI Pretty Frames die. But it still needed something. I thought it could use that sweet little wren to complete it.

{Today's Brew: Robin and Wren stamps and dies (The Greetery), PTI Willow stamps and die, PTI Pretty Frames die, watercolor paper, Distress Oxide inks, SU gold card stock, PTI card stock}

The Greetery's products are really top notch, and I think I will be ordering more from them in the future.

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!