Blog Hopping Through Wedding Dreams.....

Hello My Friends

We have a wonderful Blog Hop for you today with the theme of "Wedding Dreams" and I can't wait for you to see the gorgeous projects that have been created.  If you are starting here (Cynthia Millan) then Welcome!  Or if you've just arrived from one of the other blogs then...well...also welcome!    Please feel free to visit every one (the list is at the bottom of this post) and don't forget to leave comments since as you know, us bloggers are absolute junkies when it comes to comments!   :)
 
Now to talk about my Project.  "Wedding" and "dreams", for me, meant I wanted something soft.  I began with the idea of staying white-on-white.  I stamped the flourish from the First Sight stamp set with versamark and heat embossed white powder to make a lovely and subtle background.  Then the floral image from the Best Thoughts hostess set was treated the same way, cut out with a Label framelit and layered over the background mat and ... close but not quite.  The card was too subtle to be effective.

Close up of coloured flowers and white embossed background

Out came my trusted Blender Pens.  A quick painting of the flowers with Pink Pirouette and Pear Pizzazz inks and I was much happier.  Still subtle.  Still soft.  And still very dreamy.  

Now with that little bit of colour, my white-on-white could be stepped up a bit.  I hand cut a Pink Pirouette label shape just larger than my focal image piece and layered it behind.  Yes, you heard me correctly, I hand-cut that pink label shape.  Thank heavens for our trusty Stampin' Up! Paper Snips.  Precise and accurate cuts and easy to handle.  Love them!

Close up of embossed background and metallic silver thread detailing

For my sentiment I chose one from the Suite Sayings set in the Occasions catalogue.  Don't you think it is just perfect?  When you find the right spouse (and I am truly happy to say that I sure did), nothing else matters and Forever really does begin that day! 

As a last addition, I wanted to include a few filmy, floating silver metallic loops.  I have really loved these metallic threads in our catalogue.  I hope they stick around to the next one!

The focal piece was mounted on the embossed white mat using dimensionals and a thin Pink Pirouette mat was added behind that.  Once layered on a white card, the effect was complete.  

At least - I "think" it is complete.  You tell me.  Do you think I achieved my goal?  A soft and dreamy wedding card to mark the occasion of the beginning of 'Forever'?  Leave me a comment and let me know.  And don't forget to visit the rest of our hoppers too to see the gorgeous creations that they created.

Thank you so much for joining me today!  I hope you enjoyed your visit and plan to come back soon.  God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <>< 



Product List

First Sight Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140688]	Best Thoughts Clear-Mount Stamp Set [138700]	Suite Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140712]	Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies [138281]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]
Versamark Pad [102283]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]	Blender Pens [102845]	Silver Metallic Thread [138402]	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad [126956]
Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad [131180]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Pink Pirouette 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [111351]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Thankful Thursday - What's Not to be Thankful For?

Hello Friends.  

Stampin' Up! is giving us a chance to buy a whole bunch of really great products, at a fantastic discount (see list here).  If Stampin' supplies make you as happy as they make me.....then what's not to be thankful for?  

Seriously, there are many more reasons in life to be thankful than just craft sales.   :)       Family.  Friends.  Health.  Happiness.  If you have any one of these, you should be thankful.  Me?  I have *all* of them!  And I know it.  And my heart is glad!

But for the purposes of today, and this blog, I am going to keep this short....the fantastic November sale is too exciting to try to take any attention away from it.  But do keep this in mind...no matter how tired you get or how busy or how overworked, in the grand scheme of things...what's not to be thankful for?

Have a spectacular day and God Bless,    ~Cynthia    <><

• Sponge Daubers
• Labels Collection Framelits Dies
• Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad
• Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad
• White Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Heat Tool
• Basic Pearls Jewel Accents
• Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

Thankful Thursday - Feeling Sentimental

Good Morning Friends

On my to-do list today is to say Thank You to a huge assortment of people who have enriched my life in so many ways.  I won't list them all here but believe me when I say that the list is extensive!  And so I bring you another Thankful Thursday, vintage style.

Supply List (Spring catalogue or FREE SAB products)
Stamps - Feeling Sentimental (w129627, c129630), Perfectly Penned (w122890, c122892)
Paper - Naturals Ivory (101849), Early Espresso (119686)
Ink - Early Espresso (126974)
Big Shot - Labels Framelits (125598), Ovals Framelits (129381)
Tools and Accessories - Distress Tool (127562), Color Spritzer Tool (107066), Natural 7/16" Trim Ribbon (129287), 5/8" Crochet Trim (118481), Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon (122332), Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon (120999), Stamping Sponges (101610)


I love the way the script of the Perfectly Penned set matches the time-period piece of the bicycle.  Or at least, I think it does.  And the entire card has an elegant vintage ambiance.  The images in this stamp set invoke a sort of Victorian nostalgia so the Crochet Trim was a must for this card!  And the smooshed corner, spritzed interior and roughed up edges?  Well, vintage just wouldn't be vintage without a bit of aging, right?


As part of my Thankful Thursday I want to say Thank You to each and every one of you for visiting today.  Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful morning.     
God Bless,     Cynthia     <><

Fast & Fabulous - Blooming With Kindness

Fast & Fabulous Friday and boy do I need "fast" today.  I am prepping all the materials for a Fundraiser at the Navan United Church tomorrow (if you are free from 10 - 1 then please feel free to come join us.  The cards are fabulous and the people are wonderful).  There is a lot of prep work to do so I needed today's card to be fast.  So it is!

This Fast & Fabulous card is one that we'll be making tomorrow.  It is super easy and the recipe looks like this:

Supply List
Stamps - Blooming With Kindness
Paper - Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Island Indigo
Ink - Bashful Blue, Island Indigo
Big Shot -  Labels Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Fancy Fan EF
Tools and Accessories - 2-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds

See?  Nothing to it.  Some stamping (love this flower stamp. It is so forgiving!)  Some die cutting.  Glue it together, add glitter, and done.

Now all I have to do is prepare all the packages for the ladies to make this card.  Plus 3 other cards.  For tomorrow morning.  Yikes!    :)

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.  God Bless,
~Cynthia    <><

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Hi Friends

With today's card, I want to honour my friend, Sarah, who celebrated her birthday yesterday.   Sarah is extremely busy with 2 very young children, a loving husband, a job and an active home life, but she still manages to read my blog every once in a while....and I didn't want her to see this until after she had received the card.  Hence the day-after posting!

This birthday card uses a stamp set that I received at Founder's Circle a few weeks back.  I loved it the instant I saw it, but it won't be available to purchase until January so I cannot show you the actual set.  Still, I am allowed to show you any samples I create using it.  So here is the first one.  I just had to use it for Sarah's card since it says exactly what I wanted to express.

Sarah is one of those people who brings warmth and sunshine into so many other people's lives!  And for me last week, she was an answer to prayer.  No.  Seriously.  I mean it.  She was an answer to prayer.  I had something weighing on my mind and I brought it to God in Prayer and asked Him what I should do about it.  In fact, I was so conflicted that I boldly asked God for an answer that would be quite clear and easy for me to recognize when I heard it.  Honest to goodness, I made this prayer for over a week and then last week Sarah sat in my kitchen and made a few statements that jolted me because they were an unequivocal answer to the question I had asked.  And you know what - it really shouldn't surprise me that Sarah was the messenger!  She's just the sort of person that I would have chosen.

Okay - On with the actual card then....

Supply List
Stamps - Betsy's Blossoms, Feels Good (not available yet)
Paper - Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight
Ink - Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo
Big Shot -  Perfect Polka Dots EF, Floral Frames Framelits, Labels Framelits
Tools and Accessories -  1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Itty Bitty (Flower) Punch, sponges, Brights Brads, dimensionals

I love stamping the gorgeous flower image from Betsy's Blossoms then punching out a flower shape using any of the scallop circle punches.  And layering them with some smaller Boho Blossom pieces as I did here just adds so much depth, don't you think?  And I wanted bright and cheery colours - the combination of Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Tempting Turquoise always make me feel happy and bright!

I'm hoping Sarah had a wonderful birthday!  And I'm hoping she realizes this sentiment was hand-picked for her.  Because she really does bring sunshine into the lives of others.  She certainly did in mine!

Hope the rest of you have sunshine in your lives.  Better yet - I hope you are bringing sunshine into the lives of those around you! 
               God Bless,        ~Cynthia      <><