His Strength

Hi Sweet 'n Sassy friends! It's Julee popping in with an encouragement card.  My mind has been wandering and my heart has been restless this past week, and my creativity has been at a low. I've walked into my stamp room several times, sat down, stared for a while, then got up and left. So today I was pretty sure I was going to share a card I had made a week or two ago.  But then the sun came out and I sent the kids out in the back yard and I felt like stamping! Here's the card I made.

I knew I wanted to use the Psalm 23 Background stamp as this scripture has been on repeat in my head all week long. I hadn't had a chance to play with the Lovely Lotus set yet, so decided to pair them together.  I stamped the lotus in morning mist versafine clair ink, then stamped a mask from a post-it note. Once it was cut and placed over the flower, I stamped over it with the Psalm 23 Background in the same gray ink.

Next I pulled out tumbled glass and broken china distress oxides and blended a background, adding some interest by fingerpainting a little gesso over it here and there.  Once that was dry, I lifted the mask off and colored the flower with Arteza brush markers.

I then cut a 4 x 5.25" panel of white cardstock, stamped the sentiment from Be Encouraged 2 in the bottom center, then ran the upper portion through my die cut machine with a swiss dots embossing folder. I finished with a taffeta bow, a gray mat for my stamped panel and a white card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fantastic day.

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Simple Grace

Hi Sweet 'n Sassy friends! It's Julee popping in today with a couple of simple cards I created with the Grace So Amazing set.  While I'm usually all about the layers, sometimes I just want a sentiment to speak for itself. Especially sentiments as beautiful as the ones in this set!  So I pulled out some distress oxides and watercolor paper and got to work.

When I reached for colors, I was inspired by the Pantone Color of the Year, Electric Blue.  For the first card I masked off a rectangle and wet the open area with a paint brush.  Next I swiped my oxide inks onto my craft mat. For these cards I used salty ocean, mermaid lagoon, and blueprint sketch.  While the area was wet, I started plopping (that's the technical term! LOL) my colors into the water until I achieved the look I was going for. Then I lightly sprayed with water and blotted with a paper towel to give it a textured look.  I embossed the quote in white directly on my watercolored panel, then matted onto an A2 card front.

After I was done, I still had leftover ink on my craft mat, so I decided to do a smooshed background.  I took another panel of watercolor paper and swiped and dipped it into the ink on my craft mat, let that dry, then smooshed a bit more ink onto an acetate bag and smooshed some more.  After a few repeat smooshing and dryings and then a few splatters of watered down ink, it was just how I wanted it.  I finished off by embossing the verse in white in the center.

I think I could make these cards all day! I just love playing with watercolor and that crisp white embossing on top is just so satisfying!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I  hope you have a fabulously creative day!

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The Cutest Bunny Ever

Hi friends! It's Julee popping in to share what I've been creating with the new August release. The stamps this month are so cute and fun. I just can't even. This bunny in a cup image from Tea for Two has to be the cutest bunny ever. I'm probably biased because I love anything coffee or tea related, but it's pretty cute, right?

So today's card uses the ADORABLE new Tea for Two set. I just can't even with the cuteness of this set. I had previously cut and colored all the images with Copic markers, and I put them to good use on this clean and {sort of} simple card. Lots of white space with a bit of blue I added by blending on some tumbled glass distress oxide and then stamping in the same color with the grid stamp from Texture Tiles 1. This texture set has to be one of my most reached for sets. It's just perfect for adding a subtle hint of something to make your images stand out.

 

The sentiment is die cut with a circle die and then I added one of the sweet little ladybug images to it. Had fun creating a few little clusters of images (aren't those lady bugs adorable?), then finished off with a black mat and a white card base.

Tea for Two Clear Stamp Set

Texture Tiles 1 Clear Stamp Set

My second card uses the gorgeous new August Stamp of the Month Singing Praises. It's available exclusively as a FREE gift with a $75 order during the month of August.

Here, I started by stamping the bird onto smooth bristol cardstock. I then colored him in with Copic markers. Now, I like birds in stamping, but am pretty leery of them in real life. We had an incident a few years ago where a crow decided to make it's nest in the tree right outside our front door and it and it's murder of lookout friends swooped in for the attack every time I went to the mailbox. Since then I have a healthy respect for these winged creatures and keep my distance! That said, I have no idea what kind of bird this is, but I picked some colors I thought would look nice and went to my happy coloring place!

After I was done coloring, I masked him off and blended distress oxides to make a sky, splattering a bit of white paint around for a bit of texture. The Psalm 17:8 verse is stamped on a circle die cut and then blended with the same distress oxides and matted on a white circle. I tucked the sentiment under the shadow of his wings to go with the verse. Then I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the flowers and added them to the branch. The base of my card is embossed with the 3D Lumber Texture Fade and blended with gathered twigs and early espresso inks.

August SOTM - Singing Praises Clear Stamp Set

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope your day is sweet!

Risen

Hi Sweet 'n Sassy friends! It's Julee here, popping in to share a card made with a couple of the new March release sets.

I just love the imagery in the He is Risen set illustrated by Rebecca Rios. Such a beautiful set that puts the meaning of Easter front and center.

If you haven't been to our Facebook page in a while, there's a lot of new events, activities, and VIP perks happening over there. Including a new monthly challenge! The March challenge is New Life and the idea is to create something with flowers or an Easter theme and upload it with #snssvip319 to the challenge album in our SNSS VIP Group for a chance to win a prize!

So with the challenge in mind, I started my card with the crown of thorns image, stamping once in frayed burlap distress oxide and then rotated the stamp and stamped again to form a completed crown. I used a frayed burlap distress marker to connect the lines where the two stamped impressions met, then used a waterbrush to spread the stamped ink around to "color" the image.

I then stamped the Risen sentiment in the center of the crown with Copic safe ink and colored with Copic markers. Serendipitously, I set my stamp set down on my desk over my stamped panel, and just happened to see that the hill with crosses image looked like it fit the word Risen perfectly. So I stamped risen again on post it note paper, then cut out the tops of all the letters to mask off my colored letters and stamped the cross above the word inside the crown. Love how well it works together, don't you think? I finished coloring the image with Copic markers and then fussy cut around the crown.

Next, I pulled out the Doodled Flowers March Stamp of the Month set. This beautiful set of floral images and leafy sprigs illustrated by Krista Harnick is just delightful and perfect for making quick backgrounds. The stamp of the month is available this month exclusively as a FREE gift with a $75 or more purchase. Yippee!

I placed all of the floral images onto my MISTI stamp platform and stamped them in both mustard seed and spiced marmalade distress oxides.  I then accented some of  the circle elements on the panel with orange Nuvo drops. Next I stamped a single flower and leaf image, then colored with Copic markers and trimmed by hand to place at the bottom of the crown of thorns. My final touch was a tiny rhinestone in the center of the flower.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you haven't already, there's still a chance to get in on the Early Bird Bundle of this fabulous release at a savings!

God Will Make a Way | Julee Tilman

Hi Sweet 'n Sassy friends! It's Julee Tilman here, popping in to share a couple of cards using the February Stamp of the Month, Made New. This set speaks to my heart and I can't even find words for how happy I feel when coloring these transformed butterflies. If you're not familiar with the stamp of the month program, it's a fabulous way for SNSS to give back to customers. A free gift to you with any purchase of $75 or more in the month of February. 

My first card pairs one of the butterflies from Made New with a sentiment from Be Encouraged 2. I have sung this song over and over through the hard times in my life, and find it so uplifting and encouraging. I stamped the butterfly in black, then again in versamark ink to be able to emboss it with sparkle embossing powder. I then colored with Copic markers, add a few white gel pen accents and fussy cut the body and wings.  Then I pulled out a white panel of cardstock and stamped the butterfly where I wanted it in black, then did a watercolor wash with some spray inks.  I embossed the sentiment in white on black, then trimmed into a banner and adhered to the panel. I then popped up the butterfly on foam tape over the stamped butterfly on the panel for some extra dimension. A thin black mat and a white card base and this sweet card was ready to put in the mail to one of my teamies!

The next card is one you may recognize if you've been to the store website this month. I felt so renewed and refreshed meditating on the 2 Corinthians 5:17 verse while I created this mixed media card using stamps from Made New and Texture Tiles 1. I made this card for a dear friend who experienced heartbreaking loss last year and has recently changed her focus in hobbies and has started a new business. I thought this verse would bring comfort and encouragement as she transforms into this new stage in her life.

I started by doing a wash of watercolor with spray inks. When the color was how I wanted it, I splattered a little bit of grey ink and some white India ink, then partially stamped the script text from the Texture Tiles 1 stamp set in grey as a backdrop for the butterfly. I then stamped the butterfly and the verse from Made New on the panel in black ink.  I tried embossing only with a stitched circle die around the verse, but it didn't have the oomph I wanted, so I traced around the embossing with a stabilo marks all pencil. I also added a little grounding for the butterfly, then blended the pencil out with a water brush.

I colored the butterfly image with Copics and hand trimmed just the wings and body, so I just glued it on, popping up just the outer wing for a bit of dimension. Next I embossed the change and transform words in white on black cardstock and trimmed them out. I placed them on the panel and traced around them with the stabilo pencil again and blended it out, then offset the sentiments when I adhered them to the card. My finishing touches were some shiny holeless sequins and distressed edges.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you haven't checked out the entire February release yet, I encourage you to do so. If you're placing an order, use promo code JULEE10 for 10% off your order of $10 or more. 👍

Faith Moves Mountains

{jane bosi}  Hello Sweet Friends!  I'm sharing this project today and asking you to please join me in prayer.  Today, I am receiving my last chemotherapy dose. Praise God!  I've been blessed with healing so far, but there are mountains left to climb.  Will you join me in praising our Great Physician and join your prayers to mine for continued, full healing.

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living"  Psalm 27:13

I'm so in love with this card--it turned out even better than I imagined it.  It's a simple one layer-ish card. I started with the beautiful wood grain image from December's Stamp of the Month set, Wood Backgrounds.  I added a blue bird from the Winter Birds set and a sentiment from Faith.  It makes my heart happy to create with such lovely things.  The only thing better will be having the right reason to share it with someone else.

I pray a rich blessing for each of you; be well--Jane

I got crafty with:

Wise Men and All the Things

Hi Sweet 'n Sassy friends! Today I'm sharing a couple of Christmas cards using some old and new favorites. This is such a busy time of year, and all the things can sometimes overshadow the reason for the season. So for today's post I chose to focus on cards that shift the focus back on the true gift of Christmas.

First up, is this "almost" one layer card using the beautiful and timeless We Three Kings stamp set. I have loved this set from afar for many years and am so happy to have it in my hands now! To start the background, I did a bit of ink blending with evergreen bough, salty ocean and chipped sapphire distress oxides. I then stamped the wise men  and the star image in versamark ink and embossed in white.

Next I free hand cut a snowy bank from white paper, then embossed the sntiment in silver.  A bit of ink sponged along the edge gives some dimension and I finished with a silver bow.

For the next card, I started with this darling tree from the Christmas Topiaries set (50% off in the shop right now!). I colored in with Copic markers and then fussy cut.  I tucked a circle that I blended some spun sugar and warm lipstick distress oxides onto for a little glow.  The sentiments are both from the Jesus + Coffee set and I embossed them in silver. I finished off this sweet little square card with some Holly Jolly Christmas papers from Bella Blvd.

  

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Our 11th birthday + Black Friday sale is still going strong. Save 25% off your $25 min purchase with code BDAY11BF. Offer expires 11/26.
Happy shopping!

faith

Good morning! I am sharing a card today using new Sweet ‘n Sassy stamps from the July Release. Here I used Life in Jesus (faith) which is part of the Creative Worship line for bible journaling. I also used Poppies & Greetings and Texture Tiles 1.

I colored my flowers and word with Copics, then sponged all for a distressed look.

 

Have a faith-filled day!

Diane
 

Faith Makes the Impossible Possible

Hello Sweet Friends!  Julie here and today I am sharing a quick card using the January Stamp of the Month- Scene Silhouettes: Wetlands (free with any $60 order) along with the Scene Silhouettes: Wetland Grass and Faith.

I love the silhouettes in all of the new stamp sets- perfect for all types of occasions as well as masculine cards!

I created the background scene using distress inks before stamping the images with an archival black ink and heat setting with clear embossing powder. Once cooled, I cut the panel into 3” x 3” square and hand trimmed to nine 1” squares.

The sentiment from Faith was stamped onto white cardstock using archival black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder, trimmed and mounted onto black cardstock.

I also heat embossed the duck image from Scene Silhouettes: Wetlands  before fussy-cutting.  After mounting the 1” squares with dimensional foam, adding the fussy-cut duck image, I finished off the card with a few crystal drops. 

 

Quick and easy- a fun card using just stamping techniques! No special dies needed.

I hope I have inspired you today and thanks for taking the time to visit us- hugs and God Bless, sweet friends!

Scribble Flowers with Faith

Hello Sweet Friends! Julie here showcasing the brand new Scribble Flowers Clear Stamp Set along with the previously released Faith Clear Stamp Set from Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps.   

I love the new Scribble Flowers ClearStamp Set and it has over 23 different stamp images – the combinations could be endless!

To create this Clean and Simple (CAS) card, I heat embossed the large branch from Scribble Flowers with white embossing powder onto white cardstock, colored with a teal water-based marker and rubbed off the color onto the background. 

I added the sentiment from Faith using the same color and finished off with the silver cord bow and rhinestones.

I am looking forward to playing with more of the Scribble Flowers images and I think this card could work for Christmas as well- change the color to olive for the emboss resist, add a red bow and Christmas sentiment- what do you think?

Thanks again for visiting- I hope I have inspired you to get your stamps out and create a project this weekend :-)

Hugs sweet friends and have a blessed week!

Country Butterflies

Hi its Kari here :) I'm still excited from my 1st host experience that I'm feeling totally charged up for this one.

This card took me a couple of tries to get it where I wanted it so don't get frustrated if it takes you a few tries as well....or maybe ya'll have a better grip on your skills than I do. lol

Lets get started :)

With this card I used the Butterfly Flourish stamp set made by Sweet and Sassy Stamps which you can find at the Sweet n' Sassy Stamps Shop. This set is so beautiful...you need it in your collection.

I started by cutting white cardstock for the background which was made by sponging chocolate chip, close to cocoa, and creamy caramel inks and chalks on the paper. I used a sponge to dab some water on it to blend the colors. I was going for the suede look. It took about 5 minutes for the paper to completely dry before I used versa mark to stamp the first set of butterflies on the paper. After I stamped the image I applied clear embossing powder. I did the shadow effect by re-stamping the image and then applying white embossing powder. I used the quote made by Sweet and Sassy Stamps which you can also find at the Sweet n' Sassy Stamps Shop :))

I applied the shear ribbon with white embellishment piece.

The boarder is made with Martha Stewarts stitch punches. I used Soft suede card stock for the stitched piece and the card the base.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you pick up these stamp sets when you stop by the Sweet n' Sassy stamp shop :)) Have a great day!

Faith & Feathers ~

Good morning family and friends! Mary here with some samples from one of my favourite sets from Korin. Faith is an ensemble of inspirational quotes and scriptures. It comes with seven sentiments/scriptures. The feathers are from the Nature's Silhouette 2 and the birds and feathers die.

My second sample uses the same combination of stamps with second generation stamping. Very simple with no embellishments.

The Birthday Celebration continues until the end of the month. This week November 20-26 Sweet and Sassy is celebrating by offering

25% off all dies - use this code when you place your order: BDAYDIES25

A bit about myself:

I was born and raised on an Ojibwe-Cree reservation in Northwestern Ontario. My heritage is one that I cherish and appreciate very much.  Both my parents have now departed for the next life, so I especially find it important to continue  imparting to my now grown kids, the values of who we are as a people. It gives me great joy when I hear them quote our values in various life experiences. Currently, my husband and I own a home exteriors business. We also serve in our home church and we travel extensively for prayer related ministry in various networks.

I was introduced to stamping 20 years ago! aacck! I cringe when I think about my first creations. haha. For the most part, I like what I create. Then there are some days I should've left my inks and stamps alone but that too is part of the creative process.

My first introduction to SNSS was through a little humble store. I gravitated to the stamps because of the scriptures. I fell in love with Cocoa!!! I served on the Crazy4Cocoa DT and then on the Digi Challenge in 2011. Since then, I have served on the SNSS team. I am so privileged to have walked with all these women over the years. So much talent, inspiration and sisterhood.

I love finding my stamping inspiration through stories and people. My first card (above) I call "messy faith". The reality of growing in our faith is rarely a clean cut journey. I'd rather say it gets messy as we deal with the realities of our own heart. The messy background is symbolic of that. If we stop and listen to faith stories, it is seldom without a mess but the result is beautiful. I added feathers to my card because it is symbolic of my heritage. Feathers represent honour. We need to honour all people. We honour because it flows out of who we are and not what the other deserves. Jesus did that.

Best advice for stamping: get to know your inks and the different uses of each type. 

My all time favourite SNSS is Cocoa! Here are a few creations from the past:

FAITH Cards - Materials Used:
Stamps: Faith, Nature's Silhouette 2
Paper: SU, Hampton Arts
Inks: Paint, SU, Versafine
Accessories: SNSS dies, jute, bead