Yesterday my 9 year old granddaughter was having a hard time coping with the loss of her much-loved Uncle Russell. It’s been a little over 3 years since our son died and every now and then it still affects us all. As a family we’ve found that we go through waves of emotions. Fortunately when one of us is ‘down’, another of us is up and able to be supportive. After a video chat last night with Grandma and Grampy, Alyssa was feeling much better. Then this morning when I was searching for project inspiration I pulled out the Fancy Phrases Stamp Set. My intention was to stamp and colour the large floral image for a birthday card. But then I noticed a couple of the sentiments and my project took an entirely different direction.

SMILE

When I saw the “sending a little smile your way” sentiment I immediately thought about a smiley face. I’d had an idea months ago but never actually did anything about it but now was my chance.

I began with some scraps of Daffodil Delight and Basic Black Card. On the back of the scraps I fixed some of the new Adhesive Sheets. Then I die-cut each piece three times using the round flower centre from the Poppy Moments Dies.

Now I wasn’t using these pieces as flower centres, instead I saw a ‘sun’ shape. As well as the ‘sun’ the die also cuts out a little ‘smile’ from the middle. Today I’d need the yellow ‘suns’ and black ‘smiles’, but not before I’d prepared my other pieces.

Before I carried on though I had one little thing to do. So using the writing tip of a Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker I drew ‘eyes’ on my smiley faces .

For the background layer I chose Seaside Spray Card. Instead of keeping it plain I decided to add some texture using the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder. After embossing the piece I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to mount it onto a layer of Rococo Rose Card.

Next I peeled off the backing paper from on of the ‘suns’ and attached it to the embossed layer. Then I added one of the black ‘smiles’ to the smiley face.

With that done I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score a piece of Thick Whisper White Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base. Finally, using Stampin’ Dimensionals, I fixed the assembled layer to the front of the card.

FANCY PHRASES

All I needed now was the sentiments from the Fancy Phrases Stamp Set.

On a narrow strip of Whisper White Card I stamped “Sending a little smile your way” using Tuxedo Black ink. Then I mounted the strip onto some Rococo Rose Card using liquid glue. I completed the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the sentiment, stacking them two high at the ends.

Going back to the Fancy Phrases Stamp Set I chose a second sentiment, “keep it in case you need it sometime”. Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the sentiment onto a layer of Whisper White Card. Then I fixed another of my smiley faces in the top corner using the Adhesive Sheet on the back of the two parts. With that done I added the layer to the inside of the card base with liquid glue.

That just left one final smiley face. Once I’d fixed this to the flap of a Whisper White Medium Envelope, my project was complete.

I’m so glad I picked up the Fancy Phrases Stamp Set this morning, even if I did end up making something completely different than what I’d originally planned. Now to write a message to Alyssa and get it in the mail…

For another idea using the Fancy Phrases Stamp Set see my previous blog post Something simple just for you.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Fancy Phrases Stamp Set in a bundle with the Fancy Tag Topper Punch (not used today). This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. Also available in a discounted bundle is the Poppy Moments Dies with the coordinating Peaceful Moments Stamp Set (not used today). I’ve included links to the bundles below in case you want to look at these options.