My Sweet Mom

The coming week in September is special to me… because it reminds me so much of my sweet mom. On Sept 17, 1930, Mom entered this world, and on Sept 23, 2011, she went on to claim her mansion in heaven. I’m sure right now Mom is enjoying lots of time with friends and family, drinking egg coffee and sharing wonderful home-baked goodies (possibly nick-named manna?!)
I introduced Mom to stamping in 1996 when I hosted a Stampin’ Up party… and we were stamping buddies for the 15 years that followed. One of my most precious possessions is the handful of wood-mount stamps that I inherited from Mom. So, in honor of what would have been her 90^th birthday, I used several of her favorite stamps to make the cards in this post. 
 
My first card features a delicate teacup with pansies. Mom always liked it because she loved pansies (actually had a green thumb and always had a large flower garden, window boxes cascading with greenery and beautiful houseplants.)  She also loved Victorian furnishings and antique lace. However, she would have used it for coffee, not tea. I don’t remember her ever drinking tea. She liked coffee with lots of cream… just like me!  I made this into a Mother’s Day card. I couldn’t find the perfect sentiment… so I made one myself using a elegant font named Alex Brush.
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge (I think I used all the colors in my card. In the photo they look much darker than they are in real life.)

Supplies: 

·   Stamp- Stamplorations (Pansy Teacup)-retired
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sentiments- Computer Generated
·   Purple Butterflies- Freebie from HERE
·   Alex Brush Font- Freebie from HERE.
·   Assorted background paper, scraps of ribbon and paper doily from my stash
Entered into: 
Simon Says Monday Challenge- Frame It                                      
Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge- Photo Challenge              
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #456-457 Anything Goes                   
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- September            
Jan’s Digi Stamps- September Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #36 Anything Goes                      
 
For this card I used one of Mom’s favorite stamps because of all the roses (her name was Rose), the sweet little birds and also that it was a large stamp that required lots of coloring. (She loved coloring and passed that love onto all three of her daughters and one of her sons. She especially liked using Victorian LePlume markers and would have loved using alcohol-based ones as she strived to add shading and highlights to the images on her cards.) I stamped the image, then trimmed the flowers from the birdhouse and “arranged” them into a basket made with strips of kraft brown cardstock. (I actually made a tutorial for how to make the basket… partly because it will help me to remember the steps the next time I want to make one! It is a pretty simple 10-step process, and the basket is actually a pouch, so besides stamped and fussy-cut flowers, you can fill it with hearts, a tea bag, gift card or possibly chocolate?!  (You can find the instructions in a posting on my blog HERE and another card that features the handmade basket HERE.)
The sentiment is one that I’ve had on my laptop for some time. I don’t know the source and couldn’t find it via web searches. So… if you recognize it, please let me know of the source so I can give proper credit.
I’m entering this card into several challenges including the Butterfly Challenge, I used all three COLORS (Carnation Pink and Carrot Orange butterflies, plus Citron on the center of the white flowers) and two of the THEMES (Coloring Pens and a Butterfly), Pixie’s Snippets (used lots of my kraft cardstock scraps to make the basket strips) and the Path Of Positivity Challenge- Family Ties which notes “…create a project that shows one of your own family connections.” All three of my cards connect me to my dear Mother, but this one reminds me of her for so many reasons as noted above!)   

Supplies: 

·   Wood-Mount Stamp- Embossing Arts (Scandinavian Birdhouse) Company is no longer in business
·   Wood-Mount Stamp- PSX (Butterfly) Company is no longer in business
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sentiments- Computer Generated
·   Assorted background papers from my stash
Entered into:
Butterfly Challenge- #146 C is for Curtain Fold Card  
Pixie's Snippets-Week #386                                                                     
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                
Di’s Digi Stamps- Winged and/or Tailed Things                           
Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #83 (Optional Twist- Family Ties)
A Perfect Time to Craft 2020-Anything Goes- Sept  Challenge #9-2020
 
I think this final card would be mom’s favorite of the three. She loved kittens, and they adored her. I was blessed to live in a home where we always had a pet or six at our house! Mom had such a soft heart, that any critter we brought home got to stay with us. Over the years, we had cats, dogs, rabbits, parakeets, frogs, guinea pigs, chipmunks, and even salamanders. She did have a no snake rule… which I also appreciated!    
For this card, I stamped the cat and balloon image, then colored and fussy cut the cat and rope, trimming the balloon into a small square. I folded this square down behind the card front and taped it down. I added a square of foam tape to the underside of the little feline to pop him up from the card a bit. Had fun adding the spilled paint and paw prints tracking across the front and inside of the card which would have made mom smile.  
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Sunday Challenge (my card features a cat, not a napping cat… but maybe one that needs a nap!)

Supplies: 
·   Wood-Mount Stamp- All Night Media (Cat With Balloon) Company is no longer in business
·   Unmounted Stamp- Biblical Impressions (Spilled Paint)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sentiments- Computer Generated
·   Assorted cardstock and ink pads from my stash
Entered into: 
Outlawz Sunday Challenge- Songs and Rhymes- Cats Sleep Anywhere
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Humorous/Fun Card 
Lemon Shortbread Challenge- Anything Goes #128
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #651 No Patterned Paper
2craftycrittercrazies Challenge- August 2020 #42                       
        Since I’m a DT for this month’s sponsor, QKR/Stamp On It, I’m entering just for fun!