Spiral Hello Card

 Hi Stamping Friend,

How have you been since last week? I hope you are doing well. We are going through a rough patch right now. Over the weekend someone tried to use one of my credit cards and one of my debit cards. They were phishing to see if they could get into my accounts. Thankfully, I am on top of that kind of thing. I reported the fraud and had their transactions removed from my accounts. That was upsetting enough, but then someone tried to hack into the online account for our insurance too. I don't know what they thought they would do, but we called and verified that they were unsuccessful. Then on Tuesday morning we found that a dear friend had lost his battle with cancer. Life can feel like its spiraling down a black hole when things like this happen, especially when it seems to be everything at once, but I refuse to succumb to it. I am looking at the good things about life in order to counteract the negative. I have so many blessings in my life that I am very grateful for, so I concentrate on those instead of giving in to despair. How do you deal with the black holes of life that threaten to swallow you up? You can leave a comment below if you feel inclined to share. 

Today I have a few cards made with the Spiral Dye stamp along with a few others. The first card pictured below is one I designed for a swap. The colors are Basic White, Granny Apple Green, Mango Melody & So Saffron. The sentiment is from the Pansy Patch Stamp Set, die-cut with the Messages Die and a Rhinestone Basic Jewel in the center of the spiral.

The next card is a variation on the first, a different yellow (Daffodil Delight) and slightly different matting configuration. I will add finishing touches when I am ready to use it.

When I participated in the swap, I needed to make 11 cards. After I trimmed down all the panels that I stamped for the cards I had a bunch of interesting looking strips left over. Instead of throwing them away (I hate waste), I decided to try to use them. The final pic is what I did with those strips. I collaged them together, some with strips of coordinating cardstock and then cut the centers out with the Stitched Rectangle dies and replaced them with cardstock cut with the same dies. The center one is the only finished card. The others just need a little detail to be finished, maybe only a sentiment, I'll decide later.

 I would really like to know what you think about this bunch of cards. Please tell me in the comments below, and if you know of anyone who might enjoy my blog please share it with them. I don't know about you, but crafting is therapy for me. It lifts my mood when I'm feeling down. I hope you find inspiration when you visit and that you have a lovely day! 🌄🖖

Here is the list of supplies I used:

Stamp Sets:  Spiral Dye 156927 $17.00; Pansy Patch  154999 $25.00; Beauty of Friendship* 154983 $22.00; 

Dies:  Beautiful Trees* 155840 $36.00; Messages 154422 $34.00; Stitched Rectangles 151820 $35.00; 

Cardstock (8.5x11, 24 sheets, $8.75, except for Basic White):  Basic White (40 sheets, $9.75) 159276; Daffodil Delight 119683; Granny Apple Green 145990; Mango Melody 146989; So Saffron 105118

Classic Stampin' Pads ($7.50 each): Crumb Cake 147116; Daffodil Delight 147094; Granny Apple Green 147095; Mango Melody 147093; So Saffron 147109

Rhinestone Basic Jewels 144220 $5.00

If you need a demonstrator, I would be thrilled to earn your business. The current host code is at the top of the main page of my blog. I send a hand stamped card as a thank you to everyone who orders from me (if I am allowed access to address information)**

*Bundle includes both the Beauty of Friendship Stamps Set & the Beautiful Trees Dies for 10% discount over the price of buying them both individually)  

**If your order is party sized ($150 or larger), don't use the host code so that you get the Stampin' Rewards. I wil still send the thank you if allowed access to address information.