Lil' Inker Designs September Release Day 2

Hello again and welcome to Day 2 of the Lil' Inker Designs Release!  All of the products being shown today are currently available in the Lil' Inker Designs store!  If you are following along in the blog hop you should have come from Lisa's blog! There are three $15 gift certificates to the LID store up for grabs, so the more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning! 

You might have seen this next card if you watched the video I shared yesterday.  

I used the left over confetti from the Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die cards I shared yesterday to make a shaker card!  Why not right?  The balloon string is from Birthday Balloons Greetings Stamps & the sentiment is from the Teacher Talk stamps.

I used pre-made shaker card pouches which made this super easy!  I didn't even have to use foam tape!  I found that the third largest Stitched Mats: Dual Stitched Circles cut the perfect opening for these pouches AND you get the dual stitching on the outside too!  WIN, WIN!!  I used one of the balloon dies from the Birthday Balloons Greetings dies to cut the little tab for the balloon.  Perfect size!  I inserted the confetti into the pouch and adhered (it is self adhesive) between the cardstock layers. 



For my second card I used the new Teacher Talk Stamps to create the split hearts.  I stamped them randomly over my page, leaving space for my sentiment.  I love how this card turned out (minus the white paint on the side from my daughter's art project)! :)  I used the 1/2 heart die from the Apple Pieces die set to die cut some glittery paper and adhere in a couple places on my card.  It's subtle but makes a huge difference on the card!  

The "thanks" is die cut with the previously released Thanks Word Die & I used the fun Dip Dyed Ombre Paper Pad with it.  I love how it looks!  That paper is currently out of stock, but you can put your name on a list to be notified when it comes back in stock!  The "you're awesome" sentiment is also from the Teacher Talk Stamp set.
There's plenty more inspiration to see using these sets today!  Your next stop on the hop is over to Maureen's blog!  To see ALL of the new release items & to shop now, click here!

 

Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die

 

Teacher Talk Stamps
 Apple Pieces die set

Birthday Balloons Greetings Stamps

Birthday Balloons Greetings dies

  

 

Stitched Mats: Dual Stitched Circles

Thanks Word Die 

Dip Dyed Ombre Paper Pad 

You're Awesome Shaker

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Wrapper's Delight: Lattice, Stitched Mats: Dual Stitched Circles, Birthday Balloon Greetings Dies

Stamps: LID Birthday Balloon Greetings, Teacher Talk

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Avery Elle Aquamarine

Cardstock: PTI Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, Winter Wisteria, Simply Chartreuse

Thanks You're Awesome

Stamps: Lil' Inker Designs Teacher Talk

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Apple Pieces, Thanks Word Die

Paper: PTI Tropical Teal, glitter

Ink: Fresh Ink Slate, Red Currant & Harvest; Avery Elle Raspberry & Aquamarine; Amuse Mermaid

Lil' Inker Designs September Release Day 1 & Video!

Hello!  It's time for a new Lil' Inker Designs release! The new products are already available in the store!  If you are following along in the blog hop you should have come from Laura's blog! There are three $15 gift certificates to the LID store up for grabs, so the more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning! 

I have several projects plus a video to share with you today using the new Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die and a few other fun new goodies too! I was inspired by rainbows when I created these cards so you'll be seeing lots of color! :)

For this first card I wanted a lot of color and I wanted it to pop.  I started by die cutting the new Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die in several different bright cardstock colors.  I then trimmed each piece and attached it to another lattice diecut that I used as a guide.  I love the rainbow this created!  I then cut out the new So Thankful Label die with polka dotted vellum and stamped the outline & sentiment from the coordinating stamp set, So Thankful. 

Like I mentioned above, I've put together a video showing several ways to use this new die.  I've shared the cards I made on this blog post today plus a couple others as well.  I hope you check it out!

After I die cut the first card above from the Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die, I had a beautiful pile of "confetti" left over that I wanted to put to use.  I started by using the pieces to create this card.  It came together easily with the aid of a guide I created by impressing the die into a piece of cardstock and then noting on each area what color of cardstock to use on each section.  You can see the guide I created by watching the video linked above or clicking here.  The sentiment is from a previously released set called Fancy Feathers.

Last up today is one more use for the Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die.  You probably guessed by its name but this die was designed to be wrapped around things.  It looks great wrapped around a card front but I also found if you use it to decorate an envelope it kicks it up a notch!

This is what it looks like on the flap.

And here you get a view of the whole thing.  And bonus, I found that the Mixed & Stitched Alphabet Dies fit perfectly on the little strip!

I hope you are still hanging with me!  I know that that was a lot to take in!

All of the Lil' Inker products that I've used are linked above & you can purchase them in the store now!  This is your last stop on the hop, so be sure to head on over to the Lil' Inker Designs store!

Come back tomorrow for another round of inspiration and don't forget to leave a comment to win!  The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning!  There's plenty more inspiration to see using these new products!

Wrapper's Delight: Lattice die

  

So Thankful 

So Thankful Label die

  

Fancy Feathers 

Mixed & Stitched Alphabet Dies

Black Give Thanks
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Wrapper's Delight: Lattice, So Thankful Label
Stamps: Lil' Inker Designs So Thankful
Cardstock: PTI Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, Winter Wisteria, Simply Chartreuse
Vellum: PTI 
Embossing Powder: Clear, Zing Butter

You're A True Friend
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Wrapper's Delight: Lattice
Stamps: Lil' Inker Designs Fancy Feather
Cardstock: PTI Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, Winter Wisteria, Simply Chartreuse

Jen Envelope
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Wrapper's Delight: Lattice, Mixed & Stitched Alphabet dies
Paper: Simple Stories Vintage Bliss

Warning! Monster Inside!

Hey everyone!  I am sure loving this weather we've been having lately!  It feels so nice & cool for Kansas this time of the year!  Definitely feels like Fall is right around the corner!  Love it!

For today's card I thought a little outside the box.  I love the new Frantic Stamper Snowflake Reverse Cut die!  As soon as I saw it I knew that this is one I'd go back to time & time again.  But, since I'm looking forward to FALL and not winter, I thought that I could put this die to another use as well!  Yep!  I turned those little snowflakes into eyeballs! :)  After I cut out the die from black paper, I backed it with a bright yellow cardstock.  I used a black marker to make a little dot for eyeballs on some of the yellow circles.  I think it looks like monster eyeballs.  Then, I heat embossed the sentiment from the cute Monster Mash Up stamp set in Neon Purple embossing powder.  I could see using this die and doing something similar with the eyes with the Birch Trees & other tree dies (like this one)!

When you open up the card you have a very simple message and a little guy greeting you! :)  I thought about adding a lot of monsters to the inside, but thought that this way was so much cuter.

The Floral Happy Birthday die cut seemed perfect for this card because it was fun & playful, much like the card. I used Stick It! to adhere my sentiment die cut.  It's SO much easier this way! I embossed the sentiment in neon purple again and it is also from the Monster Mash Up stamp set.  I used the Pop-Up Bases die to make the little monster (from the Monster Mash Up stamp set & Monster Mash Outline Dies) stick out from the front of the card when it is opened.  Such a fun surprise! 

Supplies:

Dies: Frantic Stamper Snowflake Reverse Cut,  Floral Happy Birthday, Monster Mash Outline Dies, Pop-Up Bases die

Stamps: Frantic Stamper Monster Mash Up stamp set

Cardstock: PTI True Black & Harvest Gold

Coloring Medium: Copics

Embossing Powder:  Zing Neon Purple

Adhesive: Stick It!

A Full Heart & a Personal Journey

I don't often use this blog to share things that are outside the paper crafting community.  But today it just feels right.

This week has been tough.  We found out Wednesday that my husband's sister had a heart attack (she's 50) and was in a diabetic coma.  The doctor's had told the family that this could go either way. She could come out of it or she could never wake up.  The signs weren't good and we were warned that the prognosis wasn't good either.

This is Dwight's sister.

Little things started happening.  Her muscles twitched, she'd open her eyes from time to time but it didn't seem like she was really "there" when that happened.  She responded to stimuli and on Friday we were told she would respond to some small commands.  But she was still in a coma.   Still we were told, "Make a plan."  That meant, prepare for the worse because these little things, these "signs" might mean nothing.  She could go either way.

Friday night my husband met his family at the hospital to make a plan like the doctors had requested.  What do we do if she doesn't make it.  What kind of funeral do we plan?  All of those questions that no one really wants to think about.

At one point as my husband, his mom and niece sat in the hospital room together, his sister briefly opened her eyes and then they closed.  His niece was excited and said, "See!" like it was a sign.  My husband felt bad for his niece because she was getting her hopes up.  He felt like when the eyes opened there was no life in them and he was scared for the hope that this gave his niece.  False hope.

It seemed grim.

Saturday morning we hadn't heard anything new, so we guessed nothing had changed.

We we wrong.

God was at work.

Around 10:45 we got a call from Dwight's brother who had just walked into his sister's room.  I didn't know what to expect when he said "This is Steve."  So many thoughts run through your head at each phone call you receive.  Is this the phone call we've dreaded?  Is this more bad news?  Is this the end? And you dare to hope too that maybe it's good news.  But yet still preparing yourself for the worse. You really don't expect good news at this point after the warnings that you've heard over & over..."don't get your hopes up", "prepare for the worse", "make a plan".

But it was good news.

It was news of second chances.

She was awake!  She recognized her brother!  And that brother was calling to give us good news of great joy!  Unexpected news.  

God had once again overcome death.

I think sometimes in America we tend to miss God's miracles.  We get desensitized and take for granted the miracle of modern medicine.  I'm not going to overlook this one.  I think God took my sister-in-law from death's door and brought her back.  

And sometimes I wonder who this miracle is for.  For one it is about getting another chance at life. For one it is about getting a chance with her mother again.  About looking tragedy in the eye, making tough choices and being stronger for it.  For another it is about having a daughter back.  For chances at more time spent with the one she birthed.  For others it may be about broken relationships having a chance to right themselves.  For others it is about being the one experiencing tragedy personally, not walking along side of them, but being one of them, in their shoes!  For others it is about seeing God at work.

For me, it is about a lot of little lessons.

Yesterday as I was getting ready for work I was working myself up with all of the "what if's".  What if she dies?  What if we can't find the money to pay for a funeral?  What if she wakes up but isn't able to function like she use to?  What if this is too much for my niece, mother-in-law and husband to bear?  On and on and on.

But the Lord gave me a message.  I felt it clearly.  "Jennifer, before you were even born I had this." And the word that stuck with me was "I'm already there."  And He was.  He went out before us all. He had this covered.  And that gave me peace that whatever was to come, He had already gone before us.  He was in control.  We were experiencing that firsthand, in the good and the bad.

But he taught me again about having faith and not fear.

He reminded me about the power of prayer.

And I know he taught a lot of others lessons along the way too.

One I want to share today is this.  During this difficult time we had hope.  Hope that she would wake up, yes!  But also the hope that is found in a loving Savior who many years ago sent His son to die on the cross for us all.  It is a free gift that we only have to believe in to receive.  That was our main source of hope.  Yes, either way, no matter life or death, the Lord gave us hope.

Had my sister-in-law not made it, we knew she would go to a much better place.  Many years ago she put her trust in an eternal Savior and we knew that if she were to pass from this life she would live forever with Him.  

For some of you, this may not be a welcome message.  You don't believe in this God.  But, the truth is, He loves you too.  He loves all of us and desires for us all to have a relationship with Him.  And I cannot walk through this with husband and his family and not share the good news with you, my blog readers who I consider my friends.

There was another time in history where the angels announced good news of great joy!  That was the birth of our Savior!  And that birth was just the beginning of that story too.  John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world so much that He gave His one & only Son (the one that the angles had announced) and that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.  I pray that for each of you friends.  I hope that this personal journey might speak to you as well and touch a place in your heart that is hurting or empty.

Thank you for bearing with me on this non-craft related post.  This story was too important (and exciting!) not to share.

Oh, and by the way, as I am typing this my sister-in-law is eating applesauce and being told the story of what transpired over the course of the last few days.

Some of you prayed for her.  Thank you!  I can't express the gratitude we feel for so many reaching out to our family during this time!  We felt your love and support.

Applesauce.  Who would have guessed! :)