Cottage Lane Stamper

 This past week another friend of mine lost her father.  This family is special because our kids grew up together.  Our daughters were the same age and so were my son and her oldest son.  We had moved into this new neighborhood and it was a great place to raise my kids.  I even have a photo of our kids, from the school newspaper, walking into school together their first grade.  I'll show this photo later in the post. This card was made from retiring stamp sets, Forever Fern, Daisy Delight and Heal Your Heart, and the coordinating dies Forever Flourishing and the medium Daisy Punch and also the Layering Oval dies. I know you probably don't have all of these in your stash, but think of this as a jumping off point of inspiration.  I CASE'D this card from Sharon Davern.   I also stamped on the envelope.  The colors I used are Flirty Flamingo, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive & Garden Green. I also added some gems, that were clear and colored th...

This morning I posted a video of my DIY idea for storing my dies.  I thought, why not also have a handy reference for the sizes of the different layering dies: Layering Circles, Layering Ovals , Layering Squares,   Stitched Shapes,  and  Rectangle Stitched dies. (If you click on the name it will link you to more information.) So here's a easy reference for you to print out and put near or with your dies, or pin to one of your Pinterest boards to help with layering your cards. I'm printing this out and putting right next to my dies on my door so I can have a quick and handy reference for which die to choose.  Hope this helps you too! Sharon

Don't you love quick and easy cards when you don't have much time or need it at the last minute?  This month the Tropical Oasis Suite was featured in class.  CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF SUPPLIES This is such a quick card, with a little Tropical Oasis DSP (Designer Series Paper©), including a strip that was cut off when cutting the main layer, another piece of cardstock for a background layer, a label die and another scrap of Whisper White for the sentiment.  Do you save your scraps?  I do, I used them all the time! Find a PDF for this card on my Facebook Group page: Cottage Lane Stamper & Friends for the measurements and instructions, in the "files" section. Make sure you subscribe to get all my updates!

It's a busy month for birthdays.  I have 4 cards to make for the first week.  This card is for a dear cousin of mine who has stood by me through many trials these last few years.  She's cooked for me, carried my luggage, listened to me complain and hugged me when I needed it. Actually, she's my cousin's daughter, and we are 1 year apart.  We share a love of creating, (she makes beautiful quilts), gardening, genealogy, cooking (she's a terrific cook) and laughter, lots of laughter. I CASE'd this beautiful card from Aurora Lopez. This card is also created with the "First Frost" stamp set and the coordinating "Frosted Bouquet" Framelits.  This set came out as a suite in the 2018 Holiday catalog and the stamp set and Framelits have been carried forward, which thrilled me when I heard that!  It's not just for "Christmas" any more Charlie Brown! It has some beautiful sentiments and florals for the whole year. The card b...

A good friend mine lost her brother, suddenly, this week.  Right now, on top of that, she and her husband are both in the midst of health issues.  Unfortunately/fortunately it happened on the day that I had signed up on Meal Train to bring them a meal.  It was good to be able to visit with her for a little while. I almost felt like I was imposing during her grief. Then I think about when I have lost people in my life, my husband, my dad & mom and it would have been nice to have someone there just to sit with me. I love this "First Frost" set that Stampin' Up! blessed us with in the 2018 Holiday catalog and then further blessed us by carrying the stamp set and Framelits (though no longer bundled*) forward after the holiday catalog ended.  The only disappointing part is that the Designer Series Paper is no longer available, and it's absolutely gorgeous, with a beautiful shimmer to it.  Here's the card that I created for her and her husband. I wante...