Runs with Scissors

Happy beautiful day in May! Spring is in full bloom in my corner of the world. So appropriate for Penny Black’s latest release: Full Bloom. Here’s what I did lately with a mixture of Penny Black stamps and dies, most are new and a few are favorites from earlier releases.

I love taking inexpensive gift bags and making them special by using Penny Black dies. These bags contain door prizes to be given at our next senior citizens lunch. This is the Floral Arrangement die, one of my favorite dies of all time. It looks spectacular on these purple bags.

Speaking of purple, I’ve used purple as the background for these teddies from the Love and Cuddles stamp set. I am becoming spoiled having dies to cut out cute critters like I did here. The images in this set all have a matching die to make it easy to design your cards. That Diamond Cut die and Lovely Border frame add interest and texture. The Love and Cuddles set also includes that sentiment banner … perfect!

I am enamored with the Be Happy set and its animal planters. It’s so easy to make a dramatic looking card with each of the images. This time it’s the leggy giraffe’s turn with just the right sentiment to finish things off. I think this is one of the most versatile sets ever!

The End

“Don’t cry because it is over; smile because it happened at all”, said Dr. Seuss in The Cat in the Hat.

Dear Readers, it is time for us to smile because Runs with Scissors happened at all. Here it is 179 stories, 1,060 cards and five years later. Runs with Scissors has been a labor of love, as they say, but like all good things, was destined to end some day. I have told all the stories I can think of and fear if I continue any longer, it will be equivalent to showing vacation photos or photos of kids and grandkids to an uninterested captive audience. You all deserve better than that!

Finding the email from Penny Black in January of 2014 asking me to continue with posting on their blog after serving six months on the Penny Black Stamp Squad was a squeal-of-delight experience. It was the start of a wonderful relationship with Penny Black Headquarters and Jill Foster, Penny Black’s Social Media Director.

I have had the best “job” in the world. Penny Black has been generous with supplying me with their latest stamps and dies. I have had the flexibility to work around the events in my life and the creative freedom to combine stamps and dies in a way that makes my heart happy. They gave me a platform to share my stories and indulge my passion for writing.

I have always wanted Runs with Scissors to be a happy place. So many of you mentioned how you begin Saturday mornings with Runs with Scissors and that it is a good way to start your weekend.   That has always made me happy, as I wasn’t sure if a Saturday blog post would have an audience.

Being able to tell my stories and share my life experiences and the family events that brought joy has been an awesome opportunity. I loved recording much of my life’s story; each story like a patch which when joined together creates a colorful quilt. I have a printed copy of all my blog posts and hope some day my kids and grandkids can learn to know me better by reading all 179 stories.

I am most grateful to all of you who read Runs with Scissors every week and said nice things about my cards and took the time to comment and share your own stories. I have read every comment, sometimes with teary eyes, sometimes with a big smile and sometimes in amazement. In return, I hope I was able to convey to all of you my love for Penny Black products, no matter what style you prefer! I have always said there is something for everyone in each Penny Black release.

Whenever you find yourself doing something “for the last time”, it is with mixed emotions. There is a sadness knowing you won’t be doing this same thing again, but there is happiness knowing that you gave it 100% and wouldn’t change a thing. If ever I was going to stop writing Runs with Scissors, I wanted to be sure I would leave knowing I gave it my best. Now is that time.

So, dear friends, “so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good-bye”. For some reason, my vision is blurry and my cheeks are damp.

And we all lived happily ever after.

The End

I think these birthday mice from the It’s Your Day set needed a party background, so I taped off white spaces and then blended Luxe inks to make a colorful striped pattern. Again, there is a matching die set for these stamps, making cut outs easy peasy. Love the font on that sentiment … so happy.

I’ve used the fourth birthday mouse from the It’s Your Day stamp set to be the focal point of this card. The little bee is from the Special Ride set. They are both surrounded by the Flower Circle die cut. I loved that Love You sentiment so much, I had to use it again. Can’t have enough “love you” cards, I say.

I had to say “thank you” one more time to Penny Black, Jill Foster and all of you. I created a background with the Youthful cling stamp and stamped the sentiment on top of it using the Special Sentiments set.

I also want to thank all of you that post your work to the Penny Black Flickr Circle. I am always amazed at the creativity and beauty I find there. So often I say, “why didn’t I think of that?’

Mr. RWS has been supportive of all my Runs with Scissors efforts. Sometimes it meant our skipping a movie or a shopping trip or helping with his jig saw puzzle endeavors. I’m not sure he totally “gets” card making and stamping, but he knows it is important to me and that was good enough for him.

Dear, dear Cooper. It doesn’t even hurt my feelings when I read in the comments that my cards are nice, but the real reason for your visit is Cooper. Cooper has been such a good sport of all the photo taking, the time spent typing instead of playing with him, and having to spend so much time under my desk while I put together yet another Runs with Scissors. I love this dog so much and don’t even mind that Mr. RWS is number one in his life. Being second in Cooper’s life is good enough for me. Thank you all for loving Cooper, too.

This scene of Mr. RWS and Cooper resting along the banks of the nearby Tennessee River makes me yearn to join them for a “river walk” once again. My goal is to create a new photo with the three of us enjoying the sunshine and watching the river flow by. I’d better get to working on that.

Love and hugs to all of you, Judy

We just have to take a moment to extend the biggest thanks AND biggest hugs to our dear Judy. Thank you for all of the inspiration, insights, and heart you have shared with us over the years as you Run with Scissors. It has been an honor to share your cardmaking and writing here on our blog. We wish you all the best in health, creativity, and in enjoying that “river walk” in the sunshine. Love, Your Penny Black Family (Always!)

Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies

Card No. 1: 51-428 Floral Arrangement

Card No. 2: 51-484 Lovely Border, 51-499 Diamond Cut, 30-556 Love and Cuddles

Card No. 3: 30-583 Be Happy

Card No. 4: 51-537 It’s Your Day Cut Out, 51-535 Stitched Nested Frames, 30-553 It’s Your Day

Card No. 5: 51-416 Stitched Stacker, 51-505 Flower Circle, 51-537 It’s Your Day Cut Out, 30-553 It’s Your Day, 30-551 Special Ride

Card No. 6: 30-574 Special Sentiments, 40-684 Youthful