Scenic Snowfall, Fresh Frames, and Bold Backgrounds
It’s time to get inspired with our new collection, BE MERRY! Join us over the next two weeks as we take a closer look at our newest holiday stamps, dies, and designer paper pad. All new products will be available in our online store beginning Friday, August 11.
Let’s begin our merriment today by taking a peek at some of our newest scenic stamps. These beautiful images will have you feeling like an artist as you craft your very own winter wonderland.
Watch directly on YouTube HERE.
Introducing 40-583 Dressed in Snow
Card above also features 51-171, 30-261
Introducing 40-581 Winter’s Forest
Card above also features 30-436 Sweetest Moments
Introducing 40-562 Adorned Abode
Introducing 40-565 Snow Covered
Card above also features 30-387 Festive Snippets
Introducing 40-566 Under the Trees
Card above also features 51-373, 30-444, 51-268
Introducing 40-564 Tweet Conversation
Card above also features 30-443
Introducing 40-561 Santa’s Visit
Introducing 40-569 Peaceful Moment
Card above also features 30-438 Peace and Love
Another special benefit of our scenic stamps is that many can be used for multiple occasions beyond Christmas/holiday crafting. Heather demonstrates their versatility on this pair of cards.
Card above also features 30-406, 30-404, 30-383
And speaking of versatility, let’s also take a peek at our new Creative Die frames and background stamps.
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-397 Antique Frame
Card above also features 40-560, 51-353, 30-307, 51-021
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-375 Snowflake Stitch Frame
Card above also features 40-556, 30-441
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-374 Holly Frame
Card above also features 30-434, 30-437, 1999L, 51-090
Introducing 40-568 Parade of Squares
and 40-563 Mosaic Pattern
Card above also features 4283K, 51-388, 51-372, 51-212, 51-080, 51-353
The snow is piling high in today’s post… which new stamps and dies have YOU ready to bundle up and get inky?
What better way to BE MERRY than a giveaway! We have for you THREE WAYS TO WIN… pick which works best for you, or enter on all three social media platforms! THREE happy stampers will win a $25 shopping spree to our online store. Here’s how to enter:
1: “Like” our Facebook page and leave us a comment there.
2: Leave a comment here on the blog during the next two weeks of BE MERRY posts.
3: Follow us on Instagram and leave us a comment there.
Note: You don’t need to do all three to qualify, please pick whatever works best for you, although we’d certainly love to connect with you in all three places. We will be choosing one winner from the Facebook entries, one from the blog entries, and one from the Instagram entries so the more ways you enter, the greater your chances of winning. Giveaway closes Sunday, August 20, 2017 at 11:59 PM PST.
Exact Match Stamps and Dies Make us MERRY!
It’s time to get inspired with our new collection, BE MERRY! Join us over the next two weeks as we take a closer look at our newest holiday stamps, dies, and designer paper pad. All new products will be available in our online store beginning Friday, August 11.
Whether you’re creating one or one hundred holiday cards (or anything in between) our new exact match stamps and dies make life easy. Oh, and so does our new Designer Paper Pad, too. Let’s take a peek…
Watch directly on YouTube HERE.
Introducing Woodblock Stamp 2526K Snow Family
and Creative Die Set 51-395 Snow Family Cut Out
Card above also features 30-434, 51-136
Introducing Woodblock Stamp 4283K Santa’s Hat
and Creative Die set 51-388 Santa’s Hat Cut Out
Card above also features 51-373, 30-387
Introducing Miniature 3 x 4 Inch Transparent Set 30-447 Hedgy Joy
and Creative Die set 51-389 Hedgy Joy Cut Out
Card above also features 51-374, 51-090, 51-353, 30-307
And don’t you love that *bonus* sentiment included with this exact match die? It even looks great with elegant holiday designs, too!
Card above also features 40-560
Introducing Miniature 3 x 4 Inch Transparent Set 30-448 Merry Delight
and Creative Die Set 51-387 Merry Delight Cut Out
Card above also features 51-368, 51-007, 51-080, 30-320, 30-307
Introducing Miniature 3 x 4 Inch Transparent Set 30-446 North Pole
and Creative Die Set 51-390 North Pole Cut Out
Card above also features 30-448, 51-387, 51-369, 51-270
Introducing Designer Paper Pad 80-017 Festive & Frosty
Card above also features 51-378, 51-373, 51-389, 51-353
What better way to BE MERRY than a giveaway! We have for you THREE WAYS TO WIN… pick which works best for you, or enter on all three social media platforms! THREE happy stampers will win a $25 shopping spree to our online store. Here’s how to enter:
1: “Like” our Facebook page and leave us a comment there.
2: Leave a comment here on the blog during the next two weeks of BE MERRY posts.
3: Follow us on Instagram and leave us a comment there.
Note: You don’t need to do all three to qualify, please pick whatever works best for you, although we’d certainly love to connect with you in all three places. We will be choosing one winner from the Facebook entries, one from the blog entries, and one from the Instagram entries so the more ways you enter, the greater your chances of winning. Giveaway closes Sunday, August 20, 2017 at 11:59 PM PST.
And if you’ve spotted some new favorites already, be sure to stay tuned for more AND be sure to enter our “Holiday Head Start Challenge.”
Merry Die Cutting
It’s time to get inspired with our new collection, BE MERRY! Join us over the next two weeks as we take a closer look at our newest holiday stamps, dies, and designer paper pad. All new products will be available in our online store beginning Friday, August 11.
Today we are taking a peek at some of our new Creative Dies… join Jill as she shares her holiday inspiration.
Watch directly on YouTube HERE.
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-362 Layered Xmas Wreath
Card above also features 51-397, 30-442, 30-439, 51-212, 40-470
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-363 Snowman Smile
Card above also features 80-017, 51-375, 30-440, 51-268
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-365 Jingle Bells
Card above also features 40-563, 30-436, 51-274, 51-007
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-366 Joyful Ornaments
Card above also features 51-373, 51-397, 30-442, 30-321, 30-238
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-370 Layered Stockings
Card above also features 51-372, 51-378, 30-444, 40-169, 51-212, 51-287
Introducing Creative Die 51-371 Gingerbread Cottage
Card above also features 30-440, 51-400, 51-387, 51-261, 51-265, 51-353
Introducing Creative Die 51-372 Winter Branch
Card above also features 51-378, 40-563, 51-267
Introducing Creative Die 51-373 Berry Branch
Card above also features 30-436, 51-372, 30-238
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-376 Stitch a Snowflake
Card above also features 30-440, 51-397, 40-489
Introducing Creative Die Set 51-378 Layered Poinsettia
Card above also features 30-438
Introducing Creative Die 51-385 Inspired
Card above also features 51-375, 30-435, 30-448, 51-352, 51-277
So which dies have you feeling extra merry today? Leave us a comment for a chance to win!
What better way to BE MERRY than a giveaway! We have for you THREE WAYS TO WIN… pick which works best for you, or enter on all three social media platforms! THREE happy stampers will win a $25 shopping spree to our online store. Here’s how to enter:
1: “Like” our Facebook page and leave us a comment there.
2: Leave a comment here on the blog during the next two weeks of BE MERRY posts.
3: Follow us on Instagram and leave us a comment there.
Note: You don’t need to do all three to qualify, please pick whatever works best for you, although we’d certainly love to connect with you in all three places. We will be choosing one winner from the Facebook entries, one from the blog entries, and one from the Instagram entries so the more ways you enter, the greater your chances of winning. Giveaway closes Sunday, August 20, 2017 at 11:59 PM PST.
And before you go, don’t miss this week’s card on our SIMPLICITY site…
Let’s Be Merry!
It’s time to get inspired with our new collection, BE MERRY! Join us over the next two weeks as we take a closer look at our newest holiday stamps, dies, and designer paper pad. All new products will be available in our online store beginning Friday, August 11.
From bells, to berries, to holiday flowers, today we begin by taking a peek at our newest brushstroke stamps.
Watch directly on YouTube HERE.
Introducing 40-576 Bells & Berries
Card above also features 30-435
Introducing 40-578 Holly Sprig
Card above also features 30-437
Introducing 40-577 Amaryllis
Card above also features 51-368
Introducing 40-560 Berry Speckled
Card above also features 30-436
Introducing 40-574 Adornments
Card above also features 30-442, 40-576
Introducing 40-573 Red Delight
Card above also features 30-436
Any new faves? We’d love to know which brushstroke beauties have found their way to your wishlist.
What better way to BE MERRY than a giveaway! We have for you THREE WAYS TO WIN… pick which works best for you, or enter on all three social media platforms! THREE happy stampers will win a $25 shopping spree to our online store. Here’s how to enter:
1: “Like” our Facebook page and leave us a comment there.
2: Leave a comment here on the blog during the next two weeks of BE MERRY posts.
3: Follow us on Instagram and leave us a comment there.
Note: You don’t need to do all three to qualify, please pick whatever works best for you, although we’d certainly love to connect with you in all three places. We will be choosing one winner from the Facebook entries, one from the blog entries, and one from the Instagram entries so the more ways you enter, the greater your chances of winning. Giveaway closes Sunday, August 20, 2017 at 11:59 PM PST.
alexandra’s Sunday scrapbooking – Heat-Embossed BDay Hoopa
Runs with Scissors
Hello and welcome, Penny Black friends. The “dog days of summer” have passed and the children of Alabama are back to school, their administrators having ignored my suggestion that it seems a bit early.
I have shaken off the doldrums and returned to normal energy mode. Once again, I am sharing Christmas cards as well as non-holiday cards this week. There are so many options among the Penny Black stamps and dies and they combine in amazing ways.
Aren’t these Santa’s Helpers lucky to be part of this Christmas present card? Pretty red gingham ribbon wrapped around the designer paper from the Wintertime paper pack is the background for the doily cut using the Doily Trio die set. I cut a second doily from vellum, and placed it over the little mice image. I stamped the sentiment and placed the enamel beads onto the vellum. The Christmas present idea is one that would work with many Christmas images and I am glad I thought of it!
This reindeer image from the Merry Jingle transparent set is one that I didn’t use last year so I was happy to reconnect. I heat embossed the image after I stamped it on some shimmery green cardstock. Adding the borders from the Nature Borders die set finished off those edges. The sentiment is one half of the Merry Christmas die which I cut from watercolor paper for extra thickness.
No stamping on this card. I used two beautiful dies, O Holy Night and Peaceful Wishes and placed the diecuts on my background prepared with Distress Oxide inks in shades of purple and blue. I have noticed more cards lately that eliminate the matting and I like the more contemporary look. It is good to have choices, I say.
Friendship
Last week’s “word of the week” was tintinnabulation. This week’s word is kenzoku, a Japanese word that means the deepest connection of friendship. It suggests a bond between humans who’ve made a similar decision to share the same story. Time and distance do nothing to diminish the bond between these kinds of friends. To find a friend like this is to find home.
I have written about my kenzoku Marsha before. She was my neighbor in the small town where I raised my family. I told the story of how she came to introduce herself one evening shortly after she moved in next door. We drank Kool-Aid and talked from 8:00 pm until 5 the next morning. The only reason we stopped then was we had emptied the pitcher of Kool-Aid and when I went to the kitchen to make more, I noticed what time it was!
It didn’t matter that we had just met. It was like we had known each other forever. Marsha was my friend during some of my most trying years as a single mom. She accepted me and encouraged me and helped me in many ways.
Marsha is younger than I am and at the time we met she had a toddler and a newborn. I also was her neighbor as she went through the process of adopting her two daughters from China.
It was my good fortune to hire Marsha to work in the doctors’ office that I managed. She stayed at that job for thirty years, while I went on to other things.
My husband is the answer to Marsha’s prayers. It is a responsibility he takes very seriously.
Years later, after I had moved away, my visits to Marsha often involved trips to the hospital to visit her husband, fighting leukemia as well as the side effects of Host vs. Graft disease after his stem cell transplant.
I have watched her raise her granddaughter when her daughter could not. I cried tears of sadness when her husband died, and tears of joy when she later remarried.
Marsha likewise shared in the joys and sorrows of my life during our friendship which has now lasted more than 35 years. Our children are grown and until now we have only seen each other infrequently on our trips to Wisconsin.
It does not matter how infrequent the visits or phone calls. We pick up our conversation as if it is 5:01 am and I am bringing a new pitcher of Kool-Aid out to the dining room table.
Marsha and her husband Matteo are coming for a visit in a week or so. I am not running around trying to make things perfect plus. I am not worrying if things in the house are good enough or if the meals will be all right. Marsha will love me and my worn out carpet just as we are. Our relationship is the perfect example of kenzoku.
My wish for all of you is that you have at least one kenzoku in your life. We women need to share our stories. In the best of worlds, we lift each other up. Our kenzokus fill in the empty spaces left when family is far away or unavailable.
I created the circular opening in the white cardstock with one of the dies in the Stencil Cut die set and placed the little mouse from the Just For You transparent set in the space. I was inspired by a card Birgit Edblom made using that same die set and mouse. For the sentiment, I cut the sentiment stamp from the Special Thoughts transparent set into two pieces for better placement on the card. Not to worry, those transparent stamps can be placed back together on the acrylic block or MISTI and be just fine.
I rarely use green as a main color for my cards and this week, I’ve used it twice I see. This background is made from Distress Oxide inks. After ensuring the ink was perfectly dry, I stamped the Feathery image in black and added a few black butterflies from the Flights of Fancy die set and the sentiment from the Gifts from Above stamp set. Again, I left off the matting I would ordinarily use and like the effect.
This project is larger, about six inches by six inches. I colored the Poetic leaf by putting the stamp in my MISTI and applying Distress inks directly onto the stamp, layer by layer, until I liked what I saw. I stamped the large message from the All Great Things stamp set in brown ink. The base of my card is watercolor paper and I tucked some ribbon between the two card layers, just to break up all the white. That Poetic leaf is an awesome stamp and presents many opportunities for coloring.
Poor Cooper has had a tough week. About ten days ago he spent about half an hour in the backyard running up and down the fence line, barking and leaping at the squirrel who knew he was out of harm’s way as he ran back and forth on top of the fence. Cooper was having a great time and getting great exercise so I let him play longer than I should have.
About two years ago he had a partial ACL tear of a rear leg and we were able to heal it in a few months with some meds and supplements and strict curtailing of physical activity. That leg has been fine for so long I forgot about the potential for reinjury. Sure enough, later that day, that leg was not reaching the ground, as he held it close to his body. So once again, he is on very limited activity and restricted calories to help him lose weight. Losing a few pounds would put less stress on his legs and help with the healing, too. He is such a good boy, that he accepts his “new normal” and thankfully is walking on all fours again. It is our goal to keep it that way.
Speaking of friends and friendship, while we may not be kenzoku’s, we do belong to that group known as Penny Black friends. I value our relationship and appreciate that we spend time together each week. That certainly is more often than I see most of my friends and family. I am glad we have such a great place to meet and such a great hobby to share. Thank you, Penny Black, for making your blog available for our visits.
However, all visits must come to an end, and once again here we are at the good bye point of Runs with Scissors. The scissors, stamps and dies are stowed. I have cleaned up the inky smears and itty bitty paper scraps.
Before I go, have you seen the sneak peaks of the upcoming Be Merry release? They make me impatient and excited. I can’t wait for next week to see more of the new stamps and dies. Be Merry goes on sale August 11th in the Penny Black store.
The Penny Black blog is a very busy place every week! I really enjoyed the recent Guest Designer week and always look forward to Fun Fridays, Lovely Layer Ladies, Bible Journaling, Simplicity Sisters and each day’s post that teaches and inspires. One of my favorite Penny Black places, though, is the Penny Circle Flickr Gallery where I see some amazing work posted there.
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
Card No. 1: 30-307 Holiday Snippets, 30-385 Santa’s Helpers, 51-227 Doily Trio, 80-012 Wintertime
Card No. 2: 30-375 Merry Jingle, 51-248 Merry Christmas, 51-331 Nature Borders
Card No. 3: 51-259 Oh Holy Night, 51-278 Peaceful Wishes
Card No. 4: 30-338 Special Thoughts, 30-424 Just for You, 51-349 Stencil Cut, 80-009 Painted Blooms
Card No. 5: 30-429 Gifts from Above, 40-521 Feathery, 51-132 Flights of Fancy
Card No. 6: 30-406 All Great Things, 40-544 Poetic
Penny and Penny: Exploring Bible Journaling
(Note: If you are here for Penny’s Bible journaling post, be sure to scroll down.)
As promised, we’ve collected all of this week’s sneak peeks from Facebook and Instagram so you are sure not to miss a thing! We will be back next week with a closer look at our Be Merry and Hello Autumn collections, including videos and a GIVEAWAY!
NOTE: Our new collections, Be Merry and Hello Autumn, will be available in our online store beginning Friday, August 11.
And now let’s celebrate Fun Friday with a Fabulous Friend!
Once a month, Penny Ward joins us with her inspiring and gorgeous Bible journaling pages featuring our products! You can read more about Penny and her Bible journaling tips HERE. We love her approach to Bible journaling: “I journal in a Bible to show my love of God and particular scripture most of the time. God gave me the crafty gene and I am showing him what He gave me. I am sure He loves it in His book no less. I also have a second Bible for reading.” So whether you are new to Bible journaling or a card-maker looking for stamping ideas and techniques, we welcome both you and Penny as we kick off this EXTRA fun Friday with our fabulous friend.
Penny’s page today is sooo gorgeous! We love how she’s combined the sentiment from our transparent set, 30-432 Hope Shines, within the interior of the wreath of our Slapstick/Cling stamp, 40-542 Flower Embrace.
This layout would look beautiful on a card design, too.
Penny also added a touch of pink on the corners of her page by stamping our Slapstick/Cling stamp, 40-545 Lustrous.
This mix of line art-style stamps and brushstroke-style stamps adds visual interest and extra elegance to her page.
One more thing… TGIF!
“Like” our page on Facebook for exclusive inspiration by Birgit Edblom!
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
