Ev'ry Morning is Easter Morning

"Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on!
Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!
Good-bye guilt, good-bye fear, good riddance! Hello Lord, Hello sun!
I am one of the Easter people! My new life has begun!"

I remember singing this song in church on Easter morning and then for several following Sundays. With the exception of, "Morning Has Broken," it is one of my favorites for springtime! Written by Richard Avery and Donald Marsh in 1967, one cannot help but feel a spirit of hope and renewal when singing this uplifting tune.

Ahhh, Spring must be on its way since today is Easter Sunday. It's a perfectly beautiful, warm Spring day here and the screen door is open. Winter, however, hasn't decided to take her leave just yet - a mix of rain and snow is predicted for tomorrow!

When I saw the stamp set, "Easter Blessings" from The Craft's Meow, I fell in love with the beautiful script fonts, sentiments, and silhouette spring animals. I can imagine using this set for a variety of Spring cards. After I made the first card, I decided to make three more, each one using a different color ribbon and base - I do enjoy changing things up a bit!

I rarely wind up with a card that qualifies for clean and simple (CAS), but I think I managed to stop before it was too late this time - I enjoy adding too many embellishments, and before I know it, CAS has been replaced with all kinds of things! I am still wondering if a sprinkling of gemstones or pearls might have been nice. See, there I go...

Since this week's cue card at Casology is "hope," I am entering this design in their challenge. The message of hope is included on the inside sentiment, and Easter is the representation of hope and renewal, of all things made new.

Here are the pastel creations all lined up in a row. Just looking at these colors together has me thinking about flowers to plant in the baskets next month; the one for the front porch just may have to be entirely pastels with some lacy ferns and baby's breath mixed in! 

Here are some individual photos along with a peek of the inside:

I pray for each of you a holy, blessed Easter, filled with the renewal and hope this day brings. May it be so. Happy Easter!

Materials: Paper: Neenah Solar White, Bazill Basics SeaWater, Hero Arts Carnation Layering Papers, PTI Lemon Tart; Ink: PTI Lemon Tart, Memento Angel Pink,Summer Sky and Dandelion, Versafine Black; Stamps: The Crafts Meow "Easter Blessings"; Other: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Punch, Ribbon from the stash.

Happy Day in the Attic!

How pleased and surprised I was to open my email and find I had been nominated for a Liebster Award from the kind Cat at Cat Luvs Paper. She paid her award forward to me. I am so honored and humbled, Cat. Thank you for thinking of the Attic.

The Liebster Award was designed to promote blogs which have less than 200 followers. Once the award is accepted, the idea is to pay it forward to five other blogs you enjoy, encouraging others to visit, leave comments, and hopefully follow. 

To accept the award:

Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog. 

Post the award on your blog. 

Give the award to five other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  

Write a comment on their blog letting them know they have been nominated.

This award is a fun way to discover the amazing, creative, and gifted people who have so much to offer. It was difficult to choose only five blogs to receive the award, but I have finally narrowed it down to these. I hope you'll visit their blogs, enjoy their creativity, and perhaps consider following them. And please visit Cat at Cat Luvs Paper - her cards are delightful, and she has quite the talent for creating masculine cards, too!

Paula at Scraps of Me - Paula's blog is delightful. She creates lovely cards, often using scraps (which I so admire!), where her talent for quilting shows through in her wonderful selection of patterns and textures.

Theresa at Stamp and Ink - Theresa creates beautiful works of art with such fine attention to detail. Such beauty upon which to gaze.

Linda at Scrappin', Stampin', & Singin' - Linda's use of bright and happy colors in her creations is amazing. Her cards always make me smile!

Pam at Handmade from the Heart - Pam's cards are bright and cheerful and her love in creating them really shines through. She includes a Bible verse at the end of each of her posts - love that!

Greta at GGCreations - Greta incorporates a variety of techniques and creates beautiful works of art with much attention to detail. She's also quite the pet lover and has an adorable Schnauzer who occasionally makes an appearance on her blog.

Thanks for visiting the Attic today. I pray your day is blessed!

Scramble Time ... with Linda

Linda W. hosted a fun Scramble on the Hero Arts Flickr site today. Her challenge was to use either heat embossing or dry embossing. These Scrambles are always a fun 90 minutes, and for me, a definite challenge to design a card based on the hostess' theme for the day, take a few photos, and upload them to the site before time runs out. I certainly let go of my indecisiveness and use whatever is in front of me (mostly!). Otherwise, I have been known to  spend quite a bit of crafty time just trying to decide on which paper, or even what color to use. And there have even been times when I couldn't make a decision and have had to wait for a more artsy, go-with-the-flow kind of day to arrive - does this happen to you, too?

I had fun during the scramble and since embossing is one of my favorite techniques, this card came together quite easily. The umbrella and patterned papers are heat embossed and the background is dry embossed with a Darice Large Petal Embossing Folder. I've had the Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Umbrella for a while now (dh purchased it for me when he was traveling near an Archivers) and I've been wanting to use it. Today was the perfect stormy day to make a pink umbrella awaiting spring showers soon on their way. And what's a Spring day without a pink dotty bunny making a surprise appearance? 

I'm entering this in the Hero Arts "Hello Spring" Contest, the Casology challenge with the cue word, "bunny," and the Die Cut Divas challenge to use green and a die cut machine (thanks Arlene for the suggestion!) When I saw this week's cue word at Casology, I knew I had to enter since bunnies are one of my favorite little animals - just love them so! They are everywhere in the attic and scattered throughout the house especially this time of year. And of course, they can be found peeking around the flowers in the beds, too!

Here's to Spring on its way! And maybe a pink dotty bunny, too!

Materials: Paper: Neenah Solar White, MME Collectable "Memorable", Bo Bunny Tutu Dot; Stamps: Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Umbrella DI070; Ink: Hero Hues Black Die Ink; Dies: Cheery Lynn Spring Basket 1, MFT Dienamics Fresh Cut Grass; Embossing Folder: Darice Large Petal; Other: Zing Clear Embossing Powder, Crystal Stickers black gemstones.

Moose be ... Love!

Kind of silly, kind of funny, but that's how love is sometimes, isn't it? Especially a love that has lasted through time and all that time offers. So this was a valentine for darling husband (dh) who likes kind of silly, kind of funny.

As soon as I saw this small Lifestyle Crafts Moose die, I knew it would be right at home in the Attic! Dh loves moose, almost as much as he loves the feline attic dwellers! I think it has something to do with the morning many years ago when he opened our cabin door in Grand Teton National Park, eager to greet a new day and a mountain view. Instead, he found himself looking out under the belly of a moose who was taking a rest, leaning against our cabin door! I remember dh was so excited and so awake. I, on the other hand, was sleeping contently, and not so interested in saying good-morning to the rising sun or the meandering moose. "Good-night, moon" are words I am more likely to whisper into the night time hours.

I recently asked dh why he loved moose so much - he wasn't quite certain, but said they are such elegant, quiet creatures that are also powerful. Perhaps qualities some of us would aspire to have?

This card is rather simple. The background trees are by Hero Arts, a stamp I love for stamping tone on tone - such a soft and subtle background it creates. The birch tree die fit right in w/ the background stamp and I was pleased to use it since it was a Christmas gift from dh - even picked it out himself and found a new online site from which to order! I modified the antlers on the moose a bit, turning them into a pair of ears for the girl. And of course, I had to use more of the Ideology  Frosted Film - love, love that film! Here'a close up of the heart's glisten when it's held up to the sunlight.

I kept the inside simple with a computer generated sentiment and a border punch:

Abbey girl has been feeling a bit left out since the Attic is truly hers, and she hasn't been the star feature yet. She is always quite ready for a photo shoot and does her best to be the little helper cat she is known to be.

We've had a lot of snow the last week and between shoveling out and preparing for the next round, not much creative has happened in the Attic except for lots of kitty naps. I'm hoping to share some snowy photos later this week. Until then, thanks for coming to visit us in the Attic today! We so appreciate chatting and sharing with you!

Wishing you a blessed day with moments of fun and silliness along the way,

Materials: Cardstock: Neenah, PTI Soft Stone, Bazzill (trees); Patterned Paper: Canvas Corp. Red & White Love Script; Dies: Lifestyle Crafts Moose Die; Memory Box Birch Tree; Spellbinders Classic Heart; Stamp: Hero Arts S5477 Tree Trunks; Ink: Hero Arts Soft Granite Shadow Ink; PTI Soft Stone; Other: Cork - My Favorite Things; Ideology Frosted Film; Red Sharpie Marker; Transparency; EK Success Border Punch

Valentines for Friends

Just a quick share for a couple of Valentine's Day cards I made for friends this year. I was very late starting on them and had a difficult time deciding between "cute" and "pretty." Indecision often comes to visit in the Attic and when it does, I make it easy on myself and opt for one of each! 

I had a few days of fun and crafty play, and now that the cards  have been received, I can share them here.

The only difference between these two cards are the hearts in some of the "O's" on the border strip. I discovered those in my bag of die cuts after I completed the first card and thought a few more hearts wouldn't hurt anything! I purchased the Lawn Fawn "Bee Mine" set  as soon as it came out in December, primarily because I could see doing so many things with the heart trail. The dancing mouse is from Hero Arts, a stamp I've had for quite some time, but remained ink-free until now. He was quite fun to paper piece with some new Doodlebug-Love Birds paper for the scarf and an older paper from Making Memories - Love Struck, for the sweater. There's a bit of glitter pen added to the hearts in the sweater, too.  This little guy is quite talented! Not only does he leave a trail of hearts when he dances, but he balances all those hugs and kisses, too! This design came out just as I imagined - pure play and entertainment all along the way! Thanks to my friend, Judy, I was able to "borrow" her brand new Memory Box Hugs & Kisses die before I mailed it to her! A kind and generous spirit she is! You can visit her delightful blog here and see the lovely cards she's been creating, too.

Velveteen Stamping Technique and Inside

This is the other card I made - quite different from my original idea, but I am pleased with the result. It was one of those crafty sessions where I really had to convince myself to "try a different plan." I realize the photo is a bit dark, but it was the only way to highlight the velveteen stamping technique discovered by Shari Carroll on the Hero Arts blog. Here is the tutorial and video from last March if you'd like to see how it's done. I love this technique and it was perfect for the Hero Arts Challenge this month - Love and Lace. Three types of lace were used on this card - the Hero Arts Lace Background stamp, a lace border made with a Martha Stewart border punch, and a piece of lace from my ribbon stash. The satin ribbon is a lovely color called Autumn Rose from Papertrey Ink. All of this lace and ribbon called for a few pearls sprinkled in, too - just a little more love for Valentine's Day! Can there ever be too much ribbon and lace, or too many pearls? Just take a look around the Attic and the answer is quite obvious!

I am entering each of these cards in the Hero Arts Love and Lace Challenge this month. They have a sketch and technique challenge as well and there's still time to play along!

Thanks for coming to visit friends! I so enjoy our chats and Abbey is loving new laps for snuggling. 

I hope your days are filled with lots of lacy goodness and love! Always love.

 

Materials: Mouse Card: Paper: Neenah Solar White; Memory Box (MB); Making Memories-Love Struck; Doodlebug-Love Birds; Stamps: Hero Arts F5279 Dancing Mouse; Lawn Fawn Bee Mine; Dies: MB Hus & Kisses; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Hero Hues Punch; Other: Prisma Color Pencils, Spica Clear Pen, Martha Stewart (MS) Heart border punch (on inside).

Tulips Card: Paper: Neenah Solar White, My Minds Eye Lost & Found Blush; Stamps: Hero Arts K5576 Newspaper Tulips, S5341 Lace Background, CL311 Valentine Flourishes, Paper Trey Ink Tiny Tags; Dies: Spellbinder Label 18, Paper Trey Ink Tiny Tags; Ink: Colorbox Frost White, Hero Arts Shadow Ink Mid-Tone Wet Cement, Distress Ink Pumice Stone, Distress Ink Marker Bundled Sage,  Memento Pink Markers; Other: Paper Trey Ink Ribbon-Autumn Rose, Martha Stewart Arched Lattice Border Punch, Pearls-Michaels, Crochet thread and lace from the ribbon basket.