Life & Lemons

Sometimes life gives you "Lemons" and your just so surprised, you don't know exactly what to do with them. This card is exactly that, for me. I'm going through a "lemon" situation, and I am just praying God will see us through, Lord willing :)


I have had an idea for a few months now, about making a card with a window with something in it, that when you open up the card, the item/center piece is on the inside too. But couldn't figure out how to create it, but after some experimenting I think I came close to what I had envisioned.

I used Flourishes lemon tree from "Lemons Life & Love" and the sentiment from Flourishes "Berry Sweet". They work very well together and express my feelings exactly! 
I painted the lemon tree in with my Tombows and "Peeled Paint" Distress Ink,then placed it on popdots, to give some dimension from the back of the card. The paper is Basic Grey Sweet Pea "Double Cream" with some chocolate cardstock matting. I sponged some "Tea Dye" & "Frayed Burlap" Distress Ink, around the edges to give it an aged look. A Spellbinders Long Rectangle die was used to cut out the window. The finishing touch was some KaiserCraft "Latte Flourish" pearls.

Pardon the double stamped image, it just didn't stamp right the first time - bummer!! Don't you just hate that? :( I usually stamp out my stuff before putting it in the card, but I was so worried that my lemon tree would be crooked, I added it in first. Oh well :)


I submitted this card for Creative_Sketches "Anything Goes" Challenge, today, and Flourishes "Use Pearls" challenge, this week, on their blog.

Have a great weekend and have a Blessed New Year!!! :)

UQT (You Cutie) Birthday

My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club is having a contest to challenge us to use our Die-Namics. I love Die-Namics, but I only own two: the Banner Die and the Open Scallop die. I really tried hard to come up with a card that was "different", but I just couldn't come up with anything. So I decided to sleep on it for a few days and think it over.
I woke up this morning with a slightly different view from today's inspiration: It's my Birthday, today, I'm the big 31 :) So I thought, what if I make my own birthday card? What would it look like? So I decided I would make something I would want to receive :)

I started with the idea of a pink Parisian theme, with the diecut news print all ruffled up (gotta love that!). Ballet Millie is Perfect for this card! She just brings a smile to my face every time I look at her :)
I used all MME "Lost & Found" papers that I cut out and around some of the glittered borders from them, and made a frame with it. I put some thin foam under it to pop it up off the paper so it looks like a "stage". I loved the look and enjoyed working with glitter so much that I used some RAK glitter on Millie's bow on her tail and her pretty ballet shoes. I Love, Love those cute details!
I double stamped and embossed her tutu and added rhinestones for some bling :)
I kept it simple on the inside, with just a remnant DP piece and Ballet Millie's stamp sentiment on it.

I kinda like the thought of writing on the DP, I have never done that before but I kinda like the idea :)


All in all, I love how this card turned out. I had the ruffled paper idea in my head, from the start, and just ran with it, not having any other clue about anything else or idea other then that.

I placed an order for some MFT dies last night and now I'm anxiously waiting for them to arrive in the mail so I can create some more things with them!! Two of them are the Rolled Flower dies, and I am Excited to see what they're like! :) Too bad they didn't get here before the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club's challenge!! :)

An Early and Fun Christmas Blessing!

Merry Christmas, everyone! A week ago I received an early and wonderful Christmas gift: Julie from Flourishes stamps asked me to make a tutorial, of a wreath, that had I made from some stamps!!! A Very Merry Christmas indeed! I was so excited and honored (Still Am!)! I had a few stumbles along the way, having made only one tutorial before, but here is a link to the finished tutorial and pictures: Flourishes


This is so exciting! I have always loved Flourishes stamps from the get go, and to be asked by Julie to create a tutorial for a wreath that I had made, was a huge honor to me :)
It all started when I made a Blueberry Wreath last month with their "Berry Sweet" set, and had mused about what it would look like if it was a cranberry wreath. I had just decided to start it, when Julie contacted me to ask if I would be interested in creating a tutorial on it! Talk about great timing! I said I absolutely would love to, neglecting to mention that I had only made one tutorial ever :) I will admit to some heavy editing, on my part, as I tend to get pretty wordy, but I think it turned out as concise and to the point as I could ever get :)


I will be back in a couple of days to see what I can create and somehow fit Christmas in there too, somewhere - LOL! :)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!!!


* Note: If my link doesn't work, and you want to view the tutorial and completed Cranberry Wreath, please go to this link:
http://www.flourishes.org/2010/12/berry-sweet-wreath/

Happy Cardmaking Anniversary to Me :)

Ok, so Hallmark doesn't offer a card for someone's cardmaking anniversary, but it's mine! One year ago, this month, I attempted to make my first card...It was pretty awful. I had just had our second last October and my friend had scheduled some of our other friends to bring our family dinner every night, for 2 weeks. We were so blessed! I wanted to show my appreciation so I attempted to make some cards. I was a scrapbooker so if you have ever scrapbooked before making cards, you know that scrapbooking and making cards are in the same vein, but completely different! :)

This was one of the later cards after the first ones I gave out:

I saw this stamp image in the SCS Gallery and I knew I wanted it! So I bought this Sweet Pea set and the Strawberry set from Flourishes thinking I only needed a couple of stamps to make a couple of Thank You cards. I fell in love with them and stamping, and thus my love of cards and all things stamp related was started.


I know it's early, but I also want to share what my husband made me for Christmas (I had asked about it for a while). He made me a shelf to go over one of my tables, so I could store some things within reach. I LOVE IT!

 

Isn't it just Lovely??? It really helps me to have things at my finger tips and I love how it keeps everything off my table. Pretty much everything you see, was on my table before the shelf was made :( Don't ask me how I even found things - LOL! 
Here is my workspace where I create. I use the table to the left to cut and put my DP on. You wouldn't think so, but it gets messy quick! I only have about 12 inches of space to work on when I'm "in the groove" :)

 

Yes, my lighting is pretty awful even though I'm right in front of a window and it's day time. The window is under and eve and faces north, both don't help with the lighting problem. I have been on the look out for an Ott light to help me out when I work. Preferably on clearance - my favorite word and price - LOL! After Christmas I hope find one or two :)

Happy Birthday

Today was my husband's birthday, and of course like any good crafting wife, I made my card at the last minute, this morning :) Poor guy, I love him very much, I just struggle with masculine cards.  He doesn't fish, hunt, or hardly golf, and vintage cars don't appeal either, so that really limits me in the images I can use. But I love the ship from Flourishes "A Guiding Light", the whole set is great, especially when used with the "Antique Map" set from Flourishes. I think it's a great set for a manly birthday or Father's Day card.

I stamped the ship out in Memento "Rich Cocoa", painted it in with my Tombows then cut it out with my craft knife. The map was stamped in Memento "Desert Sand" onto Neenah "Solar White" paper, that I lightly sponged with "Antique Linen" Distress ink.
I hauled out my Crop-O-Dial that weighs a TON. That thing hasn't been used or seen the light of day in 2 years!! Then I pulled out some old silver brads, which also has not been on my radar for a couple of years as well. I used the "Large Rectangles" and a "Classic Square" from Spellbinders to make the floating frame. Then I dry embossed a few ridges around the whole card to frame it out.

I hope he likes it! Happy Birthday, Hon :)

My Christmas Cards

I finally finished my Christmas cards - whew! Chris picked the design, saying he loved the layout of my "Life Without Love" card. So I used the same layout, per Chris's request, and changed out a few details to make it more Christmasy looking :)

On two pieces of Cream CS, I stamped over them with Hero Arts "Italian Poetry" in "Peeled Paint" Distress Ink. I heat embossed them, then I embossed one with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Then I used a Large Scalloped Spellbinder to cut out "windows" on it, then I stamped the Italian Poetry in Staz-On "Butter Cream" ink on clear acetate, attaching to the backside of the CS with the "windows". I used my EK Success "Dotted Lace" punch on some green CS, then I put popdots under the window CS and placed it over the first stamped CS base. I placed some glittery reindeer under the windows, for something to look at - LOL :) Then I added some lace, a Pendant and a Fancy Tag from Spellbinders. The hat pins are from Maya Road, and the flowers are from Prima. The sentiment is Stampin Up "Home For Christmas", stamped in Versafine "Sepia" ink.


The inside of the card has another sentiment from the SU "Home For Christmas" set, matted in the punched green CS, from the front of the card. The stamped brackets are from HOTP "Medallions & Corners" stamp set.

And you get to see our wonderful family on the inside, plus my poor excuse for handwriting - LOL :)

Next year, I'll start earlier, since these cards took me the better part of three weeks to make. They are simple to make but with all the details and the amount, I got bogged down quickly! :) My New Years Resolution is to start my Christmas cards in September :)

Bring Back Beautiful

Flourishes has a monthly challenge called "Bring Back Beautiful" and this months challenge is to use stamping to decorate your home. One of the things they suggested was a mantle piece, and that gave me an idea :) I'm not too good at the 3D elements yet, but I love to make my own ornaments, so I thought I'd make an ornament garland that I could drape on my mantle but switch out or move the ornaments if desired. The only glitch I ran into was the type of string to use. I wanted to use a ribbon, but they wouldn't drape nice at all, I needed something with weight to it but didn't look too heavy. I found some twine that worked nice enough :)

This was the best pic of all the lighting I could get, sorry :)
I love that I can use it on my mantle or string it around my Christmas tree as a decorative ornament garland! Thank You Flourishes for the great idea!! :)


Here are the close ups of each one.
Ornament #1:

I used Spellbinders Labels #1 and stamped Flourishes "Christmas Music" for my background, in Memento "Rhubarb" on the base. I layered Spellbinders "In Spades" on top of that with a small pendant from Spellbinders "Fleur de Lis" set, in the middle. On top of the very middle I used a Spellbinders Scalloped stamped with HOTP "Medallions & Corners" in Memento "Rich Cocoa" ink. I added a "Large Scalloped Circle" with the center cut out from a "Circle" die from Spellbinders, to frame it all.


Ornament #2:

The bottom piece is the largest Spellbinders Scalloped Circle, stamped with Flourishes "Christmas Music", stamped in Memento "Rhubarb" ink. Over that is a Spellbinders "Contemporary Hearts" from their Shapeability line. I layered another Scalloped Circle stamped in with a medallion from HOTP "Medallions & Circles" stamp set, in Memento "Rich Cocoa" ink.


Ornament #3:

The bottom is a Spellbinders "Fleu de Lis" Pendant die, with a Scalloped Circle under it. On top of the Fleur de Lis, I stamped a flourished medallion from HOTP "Medallions & Corners" and painted it in with my Tombows. I layered a Spellbinders "Contemporary Hearts" over that, with the center cut open from a Circle die. in the center of the open circle, I added a small Scalloped Circle from Spellbinders, stamped with another medallion from HOTP.


Ornament #4:

The bottom is a Spellbinders Shapeabilities "Renaissance Hearts" die. On top of that is a stamped diecut of Flourishes "Christmas Music" cut out with a Spellbinders "Classic Lace" die, scored, folded and fanned like an accordion. I had to hot glue it on top, to adhere it, so it wouldn't fall off. (I tried to get a better pic, sideways so you could see it:

The top is a smaller Spellbinders "Large Scalloped Circles" stamped with some Holly from an Impression Obsession stamp. The top is a "Scalloped Circle" with a medallion from HOTP "Medallions & Circles" set.


Ornament #5:

The bottom is a Spellbinder Shapeabilities "In Spades", under a Shapeabilities "Renaissance Hearts" with a center cut out and a "Fleur de Lis" Pendant center for a lacy look in the middle.


These were a quick to assemble, and fun to make! I antiqued them all on "Antique Linen" and "Tea Dye" Distress inks, to give them the old world charm and look.
The best part about making these is that both of my girls can play with them and help me decorate and I don't have to worry about them dropping one and breaking it, like alot of other ornaments for a Christmas tree. I'm hoping by next year, I will have enough to cover a tree and take a picture :)

Overcoming My Fear...

Ok, not a bad opening line, huh? Did I get your attention? Lol :) Fear never makes sense, after you've overcome it, does it?  My fear? Coloring my images in with bold colors. Completely silly and unrealistic. I just couldn't get over it no matter how hard I tried. I would always start coloring my images in with the best of intentions to "Go Bold Or Go Home" approach, but would always "pull back". I often envied others who could do it and make it look great. I have many, many people I look up to who love color and are not afraid of it. And though I tried to emulate them, but just couldn't get my images to look like theirs. So how did I conquer this stumbling block? It started innocently enough, I saw a challenge that Flourishes was featuring on their blog: Feature flowers in some way. Sounds innocent enough, right? So I found some flocked MME (My Mind's Eye) "Lush" paper in my stash that I wanted to use, and tried to find a flower stamp I had that I could use with it. I don't have many Flourishes flower stamps, but I kept going back to their "Sweet Pea" set. Not that I didn't like it, I just thought that Sweet Pea flowers are usually a light pink color and it would be too light for the paper I was using. After some thought, I realized that I was going to have to try to color it in darker then I normally would like to, so it would match the paper better. You may think, oh well, it's just pink, no big color deal :) But I love to paint things in realistically so this was a big artistic leap for me, as I would've colored it in much lighter then this :)
Sweetpea Birthday:

*This little decision kinda freed me and inspired me to create my next card I will be featuring at the bottom of this post.**
After stamping out the image, I cut it out with my craft knife and put it on popdots to elevate it off the paper. I sponged the background paper, under the flowers, in Versa Magic "Pixie Dust", for some color. When I colored the flowers in, I only used three Tombow markers: 772, 850 & 098. The pearls are from Prima and the hat pin is from a trip to Le Temple du Scrap in Paris. I hoard those pins like Crazy, I love them so much!! The flat pink ribbon is from My Favorite Things, and let me tell you, I wish I had bought more of that stuff, it's AMAZING! But since I bought it from their clearance bin, there are no more left. My favorite part of this card is the ruffled pink ribbon at the bottom. Would you believe I bought that from a Garage Sale? LOVE IT! It's really that intense pink, and I was worried that I wouldn't find any paper that bold  (I avoid bold colors remember), but I think it works great with this paper and this whole card look. I think I just got lucky, thank goodness for that :)

I love how this inside turned out with the corner brackets, from HOTP (Hot off the Press) "Corners & Medallions" set. I really think they add to the decorative element inside. The Happy Birthday is from Impression Obsession.
I really love how this card turned out, and I learned somethings along the way. I love cards like that! :)



As I mentioned, after making my "Sweetpea Birthday" card, I really wanted to explore coloring an image in with more color. I had a stamp, also from Flourishes, called "Winter Bouquet" that I thought would be perfect for this expirament. I had this tamp for 6 months but could not seem to color it in right. I realized that not only was I worried about the bold colors, I was also letting myself get hung up on the "right" & "wrong" colors to use on something. So to really do it "right' I had to let go of my issues of everything looking realistic, just paint and take a few artistic liberties along the way :)
That being said, this was a huge bear of a card that I made many mistakes on. I had this idea of making a black & white card with red accents. So guess what happens AFTER I'm done painting it all in? I find out that I Don't have any black & white paper... Lovely. I think the only out of place thing , here is, my use of black stamping ink because it was going to go with my black & white card theme. It doesn't look bad, but I think it would look better if it was stamped in Sepia. But that's just me trying to make it look real :)
Winter Bouquet:

I entered it in the Flourishes Winter challenges: use mostly white and feature a flower ( I mean lets make lemon aide out of oranges here ;).
I used my trusty Tombows and did very little blending, and matted the image in with a light rusty/cranberry CS. I embossed some Neenah "Solar White" paper with a Cuttlebug folder for some texture. I used my Classic Lace die from Spellbinders to make a fancy lace border, added some velvet rick-rack ribbon for more color on top of that, and added some Prima pearls for elegance.
A simple card to make that wasn't so simple to do :)


Who knew a simple challenge on a blog, could actually change my views on how I make my cards? What's silly is, is that I think it was necessary to go through. How else was I going to learn? :)

Blue Angel

As you can tell, I am having the time of my life with my new Flourishes stamps, and today's card, is no different.
I'm entering this card in two of Flourishes Challenges: "Winter Whites" & "Doilies"
Pardon the hazy look, it's a cloudy day and I had to Photoshop in some light. I don't like to tinker too much with pics, but it just didn't look good, it would've been pretty dark..

For the front of my card, I used Flourishes "Alleluia Angel" stamped in Sepia ink and colored in with Tombow Markers. I placed her over a Spellbinders Shapeabilities "In Spades" Pendant, for a lacy look, since I don't own any doilies. Then I highlighted the embossed areas with Distress Inks "Tumbled Glass" ink.
I stamped "Christmas Music" for the background, in Opalite "Nordic Ice" and heat embossed it (Side note: I don't get this ink. Isn't it supposed to have a color to them? Am I missing something?).
The pearls are from Prima and the ribbon is from Walmart, that amazingly matches the sea green/blue color perfectly! 

I matted the inside with Bazzil's "Hazel" Cardstock. Then I sponged the inside of the card with more "Tumbled Glass" ink, and stamped the sentiment from the "Christmas Music" set. Then I stamped a flourish and some corner brackets from HOTP (Hot Off The Press) in "Desert Sand" ink.

I am really enjoying mixing and matching sets, I try not to mix different stamps from different companies but I just can't seem to help myself :) I'm loving my Flourishes so much I am so tempted to make another purchase, but it's near Christmas, so maybe around the New Year I can make another one.
Another thing I'm hooked on lately, is sketches. I never was one to enjoy sketches, but I've realized that just because you used a sketch, you didn't steal anyone's idea. I really struggled with that thought. I hate using someone else's original idea, but every once in a while I see a great card with a neat idea and want to try it, but I usually don't. No one likes an idea stealer :(  I'm having fun doing searches for unique sketches, for some new ideas :)

Joy To The World

As you know, I received my Flourishes stamps order from their Black Friday sale, and I wish I had placed a bigger order from them!! :( In my haste to open them and create, I needed to come up with some ideas, so I made a card with the help of this challenge sketch from Creative Sketches.

This was a small challenge for me, as it's pretty minimal. So I decided this one was going to have be open to interpretation for my card :)

I used my new Flourishes "Alleliuia Angel" and the "Christmas Music" background stamp, and I really LOVE the combination so much, that I already have another card in the works with these two combined! :)

I stamped the "Christmas Music" background in Memento "Desert Sand" so it would be light. I colored the Angel in with my Tombows, then pulled out my new Spellbinders Lace die and diecut out some music, then added that to the bottom. I sponged some "Bundled Sage" & Tea Dye" Distress inks around the edges of the cream paper.


For the inside I used the "Christmas Blessings" sentiment from the "Christmas Music" stamp set, then used an Inkadinado stamp for the swirling snow.

I really love my new stamps and hope to be able to buy some more soon! Flourishes stamps are just so addictive and I love how elegant they are :)
I love the sketch and thank goodness I  figured out a way to join in on the fun!! :)

Warm Winter Wishes

I had high aspirations to make a "wonderful" card today, but I woke up with a massive headache and I had to pull back my card expectations and just see what happened :)
I received my "Christmas Postcard" stamp set in the mail from Flourishes and I have been wanting to join in on their Timeless Tuesday challenge : Doilies.



Now that's a challenge. I don't have any doilies in my scraproom, so I had to improvise and make my own with a Martha Stewart punch. And the bottom diecut is made from using the Lace die from Spellbinders. I kept it all simple, since the image has so much detail. I stamped it out twice and cut out a frame, painted it and put popdots on and added it over the other image. It's painted to look like an old sepia print with a few spots of color. I tried my hand at "antiquing" my paper, but I think I had too heavy of a hand at it, so I'm going to try it again and make it a little less intense.
I'm so excited about my new stamps, and hope to get back on my card groove :)

My Love

I have been feeling rather un-inspired lately and when I would go to sit down and make a card, I just couldn't think of anything. I would just sit there and fiddle with paper for a few hours - LOL! So I knew Black Friday was coming up and hoped some retail therapy would help, and it did! I can't believe the deals I found and had to pass up because if I could spend what I wanted we'd be in the red by about $300 :( No thank you, Christmas is coming and I only have half of it done :)

When I saw the sketch challenge from Flourishes blog, I knew exactly what stamps and papers I wanted to use.

I used Flourishes "Flourished Words" set with my new HOTP (Hot Off the Press) "Medallions & Corners" stamp set, colored in with my Tombow markers. I am using Cosmo Crickets Circa 1934 papers called : Astaire, Gable, Bette. I snagged these papers from the BF sale, yesterday, and just got both of the stamps, so everything is new (love that!).

I made this card for my husband, as a thank you for letting me spend some BF money, and also for being a great guy :) I decided not to go with traditional "love colors" to make it unique looking. My husband liked it, and I really love how it looks too :)

I've Been Busy... :)

I haven't been on my blog for so long I almost forgot I had one - LOL! Our whole family came down with a cold :(  And during this time I was trying to see if I could sell a few of my cards and handmade ornaments at our churches Christmas Boutique, but things fell through and I was unable to do so. But I was offered a spot at another church's craft boutique, three days before it was to begin, and accepted. It was a two night craft boutique for 6 hours each night and I had a Great time meeting people!! I admit I had some reservations about selling my stuff, namely the price, but many of my SCS friends and family members really encouraged me, especially my great husband. He really encouraged me in a way I really needed it, he really was the one to tell me to go, meet new friends and enjoy myself :)  So I took everyone's advice, took the plunge and did it!

On the first night, in the first 15 minutes, ONE lady came in and bought 15 cards! I felt so blessed and realized my fears were for nothing :) I ended up selling 19 the first night and 4 the next night, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it :)
I Wholeheartedly Thank You to each and everyone of you, Ladies, who encouraged me. I was scared to put myself out there but glad I did, because I had alot of fun and really enjoyed meeting each and everyone of the wonderful shoppers and other crafters at the boutique! :)

Here is one of my new ornaments that I made for the craft boutique.

I love, love how it turned out! I used the MFT October's VIP "Noel Sentiments" on the Spellbinders Label Trio tag. I glued four Cuttlebug Flourished Brackets on to the Label to make it more elegant. (I love that it makes a cross). Then I glued the middle piece on to a Scalloped Oval Nestie piece popped up on popdots. I placed it all on a Spellbinder Fleur de Lis Pendant piece that I added some clear fishing line to, so you could hang it.

 I am excited to get started on making some cards again, and hope to get some inspiration and make something new soon :)

Fauxberry Wreath

This is my "fauxberry" wreath, for the Flourishes Warm Winter Challenge to use Blue. This is attempt #2 at this challenge. I tried on the first attempt but feel like I didn't really strain the ol' noggin hard enough, so after some thought and playing around, I ended up making this wreath. This was a hard challenge, but I'm glad I didn't give up :)
I'm calling it a fauxberry wreath because it looks like a cranberry wreath would, but with blue berries on it! I cheated a little because my leaves aren't blue, but green, but I just couldn't paint them blue, they look so pretty being green :)

I used the Flourishes "Sweet Berry" stamp set, using the blueberry stamp. I stamped out, no less then 13 of these :) I colored them in with my Tombow markers, cut them out with my craft knife, and glazed them in lightly with Diamond Glaze. The Diamond Glaze stiffens the images so they won't bend or break when touched, because they are so fragile after I cut them. That's why I add Diamond Glaze to almost everything I cut out. I used the two largest Spellbinders Circle dies to cut out a circle for the berries to be attached on to. Then backed that one with a second circle to re-inforce the back.


I love how it turned out, and I think if I had used my red Tombows, that then they would really look like Cranberries! I think my next side project will be making another wreath painting them in red for cranberries! :)

Princess

Yesterday we down to visit Mom & Dad (my in-laws) in LA, but before we got there, we stopped by the LSS as a treat. I'll let you in on a little secret, my husband shops for scrapbooking stuff with me! Isn't he AMAZING?!?!? And he sits with me in my scraproom and offers to help!! DOUBLE AMAZING & WONDERFUL, huh? Step back Ladies, he all mine and a keeper, for sure! :) 
So while we were shopping, noticed some new My Mind's Eye "Lost & Found" papers. I Had to have them!This is the card made from those papers.

When I saw the paper, I had an idea of what I wanted to do and it came out pretty much the same as what I had hoped it would :)

I used MFT PI "Something Special Just For You" stamp set because I love how the PI little girls has a crown and so does the background papers. I used my craft knife to cut out the "Princess" banner and the PI girl, so it wouldn't look so flat on the card. I used Zva circular pearls and lines with some bling on her crown for some fun :)


This was a fun card to make, and I love how it turned out! My only regret is that I just wish I had bought more of these papers and pearls!

May You Be Blessed

My favorite stamp company, Flourishes are having challenges galore, lately and I want to join in everyone of them, but it's overwhelming me :) So I made a card that would conquer at least two of their challenges. My problem being, is that one of them, is Warm Winter Wishes challenge. The challenge being that we are challenged to use Blue on your holiday card... I do not understand why, but anything blue stumps me. I mean I was utterly perplexed with this one! But since I love a good challenge that stumps me, I forged ahead and did my best :)

Here is my card I am entering into the Warm Winter Wishes (Blues) Challenge and the Bring Back Beautiful (Ribbon) Challenge.

 

I seem to only have Midnight Blue from Staz-On (re-enforcing the fact I steer clear of anything blue!), so I had to use that and if you can't tell, it's a Strong color of blue! :) So I took the less is more approach.

I used my Midnight Blue on my Rubber Stampede "Acanthus Background" stamp, and stamped it out on some clear transparency to make a pattern. I then used my Quickutz Christmas Tree die to make little trees to put on my panels. The panels are made out of Spellbinders Long Rectangles, and the tag is a Spellbinder Tag, with a dark blue ribbon threaded through. The sentiment stamped on the tag and the inside is from the Flourishes "Winter Bouquet" stamp set.

Looking at this card, I know it's not my best work, but I like the shapes, so I'm going to work on this blue phobia I seem to have :) And I'll keep trying and maybe come up with a better card for these two challenges :)

Thinking Of You Peony

I was on my Facebook page a couple mornings ago when I saw some sad, sad news. My LSS shop owner's niece has just been diagnosed with cancer. From what I am reading she has possibly stage 3 or 4 cancer. They find out more today. I am deeply saddened, I have met this wonderful sweetheart of a young woman, she is amazing and she is only a teenager.

I felt completely led to make her a card and send it to the LSS. I know this is a card that you have seen me make hundreds of times, and until I saw the FB post, I was actually going to go in a different direction with my card making, but I decided to make "B" a white card to represent Hope. 

I embossed my image in gold ink and clear embossing powder, to keep the image in line with the white/Hope that I wanted. I used my Clear Dollar Stamps "Peony" image, coloring it in with my Tombow markers. I double layered my leaves and petals, cutting them out with my craft knife. I used my Spellbinders Square Large Scallop, Fleur de Lis Pendant, and Scalloped Circles dies to help with layering and framing the image. The clear swirl transparency under the flower and the frosted scalloped circle frame are from Hambly Screen Prints.


I hope and pray that God will heal "B", she is kind and sweet and just too young, for this. I hope this card lifts her spirits. Keep her in your thoughts, please :)

I'm sure you are wondering where I was, for the past few days.. Well, my laptop crashed and my husband and I were debating the pros and cons of getting a new laptop now, or waiting until later when we could maybe get a better deal with Black Friday coming up. We decided to get one now since you are not guaranteed to be able to get one and if not then we'd still be out of a laptop.

I was working on some Christmas cards while I was off the Blogosphere, and on break from that, I came up with this card.

This is enlarged so you can see the details, I hope. This was inspired by and created around a My Mind's Eye ribbon card. I really love the pinking edge that it has at the bottom, and wanted to use that.

I stamped out a frame with Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet Distress inks, and my new Prima frame stamps. I cut out the frame and used popdots to pop it off the card/paper. Then I stamped out a pattern from an Anna Griffin stamp on a clear transparency using Versa Magic "Moonlight White" ink. After that was dry I used a Flourishes sentiment from their "Seeds of Friendship" set, stamped out in Staz-On Black ink. When that was dry I used some glue dots to stick it to the cut out stamped Prima frame. Spellbinders Circles were used to make the circular frame (sandwiching the stamped transparency in between the two frames) using My Mind's Eye "Lush" paper.
I stamped out raspberries from the Flourishes "Berry Sweet"set and colored them in with my Tombows. I cut it out with my craft knife and added some Diamond Glaze then let them dry. It was then tucked in behind the circular frame and glued to it.
I had precut and stamped out a "Happy Birthday" message on my cardbase for the inside and taped it on with my Score Tape.....
..... But when I went to open it up, to show my husband later, I almost choked.... I had taped my card base UPSIDE DOWN!!!!!! *AAAAH!* What was I thinking??!?!! Let me tell you, this isn't the first time this has happened, but shouldn't I have learned by now? How many times do I have to make the mistake before I learn?!?! It blows the mind, I tell you :)

Enjoy Your Day

Have you ever envisioned a card and had it turn out, right down to the details? This is the first card that has ever happened to me, and probably will be the last :) I have ideas that I play with, not pictures in my head. My Mom has an ability to do that, but I digress :)

I have been wanting this MFT "Can Ya Dig It?" stamp for ages and when I saw someone selling it on SCS, I jumped at the opportunity to get it.

I used some scrap pieces of My Mind's Eye paper that I had, but were too small to use on a card. I used my Tombows to color in a few pieces and the "dirt". The paper ribbon is from K&CO, the ghost flower shape is from Heidi Swapp, and the button was from Autumn Leaves. The word "Enjoy" is a rub-on from S.E.I "Mimosa".

I kept the inside simple with another rub-on from the Mimosa S.E.I package, along with the Open Scallop Die-Namic.

I challenged myself to use buttons and rub-ons on my card. Both of which I have plenty of, in my stash, but I NEVER use! So lets pull them out, dust them off and use them! :)

Bake Sale

So this Friday my oldest daughter has a Bake Sale Auction at school. Guess who volunteered to make cookies and help out? ME!! I love to bake and decided that I'm going to make my Double Down Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Maraschino Cherries and Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Caramel Frosting - YUM! So to add to the fun and stress, I decorated some of the bags, for the auction :)

This one is going to hold my Double Down Chocolate cookies. I made this with Halloween colors in mind, since the Carnival and Auction is going to be held on October 29th. I don't celebrate Halloween, so I don't have anything Halloween themed to add to my bag, but the colors :) I used my WTG "Lovin from the Oven" because doesn't it just say freshly baked?? :) I edged it off with my MFT Open Scalloped Die-Namic.

Of course this bag has to hold my Pumpkin Spice Cookies! I challenged myself to use only scrap pieces of paper, since I seem to be swimming in them, lately, with all my projects! I love, love the MFT PI "Lil Pumpkin"!!I used the MFT Open Scallop Die-Namic again, because it really makes a nice edge.

This last bag I decided to make a nice Christmas themed bag. I'm not sure if it will be appropriate since it's not even Thanksgiving, but I just Had to ink up my MFT PI "Sending You a Little Christmas", again! Isn't she darling? I love how this bag turned out! I used my Favorite MFT Gold ribbon - that stuff is PURE Luxury ribbon!!! Love that stuff! I wish I had bought more when it was on clearance!

I am hoping to knock out a few more bags for this thing but with the volunteering for the Book Sale, and Carnival, baking for the Bake Sale Auction at the Carnival (all of this being in one day), I think I'll be lucky if I can crank out another bag! But it's all for her school and I don't mind :)

So Sweet

I made this card after I played with a few ideas I had in my head. I wanted to use my Anna Griffin background stamp, that I just rediscovered! I have had that stamp for 4 years and have not ever used it until now!! *Gulp* Talk about wasteful! :( 

 I used my two of my Long Rectangle Spellbinder dies to make the shape of my card. I stamped the background in with my Anna Griffin stamp, with Versa Magic's "Pink Pixie" ink, and heat embossed it. The shapes are made with my Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant die, Large Scalloped Circle die, and Circle dies. The sentiment is from the Flourishes "Berry Sweet" stamp set. Everything is popped up at different heights with popdots. 

I have been wanting to try to make my own background, and make a layered Spellbinder flower over it. I didn't quite get the flower I had planned in my head, but after playing around I came up with this card, made in pink, in honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am currently working on a few cards to try to make for the SCS "Hope You Can Cling To" drive. You can find out more info on my blinky badge I have on my blog. 
Some of you may or may not know, my SIL passed away this January from Breast and Bone cancer after a 5 year long battle. This cause is near and dear to my heart, in honor of her and the many others who are fighting the good fight. I walked in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women, in May and had shirts made for my girls in honor of her, with the 2 Timothy 4:7 verse on it. It says:

2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.


It sums her up better then I ever could. She was given 6 months in the beginning but lived for 5 beautiful years. She was a fighter and had an encouraging smile for everyone. 
I'm praying for the cure!

Life Without Love

Have you ever thought about life with out love? I hadn't until I saw the quote I used on my card. I would rather not think about what it would be like, knowing how much I love my my husband, family, friends and two girls!

Ok, this is my newest card submission for the Creative-Sketches Yahoo Group. They are a new group and I'm so excited! This week they have this Sketch and add a Dry Embossing technique Challenge to use on your card:

I decided to combine it with the Flourishes "Sentiments" challenge, too. I was going for a less shabby, but a more of a chic, kind of shabby chic :)

I used the Flourishes small apple from their "Apple of My Eye" set, colored in with my Tombows and Distress Inks. I tried to use a Crackle finish on the apples, but it didn't crackle at all...not even a ripple :( I decided to use them anyway, and added some popdots under the apples, to pop them up so they would show up better, behind the windows. ~ I'm CASing Stacy's (aka Twinshappy) double diecut window idea (Thank you, Stacy!!).
I first stamped my Hero Arts "Italian Poetry" on two cream cardstocks, for the backgrounds, in with "Tattered Rose" and "Victorian Velvet" Distress inks, then heat embossed it all. I dry embossed the top layer/background with a Cuttlebug leafy vine embossing folder, then used my Scalloped Square Nestie to cut my windows out. I used an EK Sucess punch to punch out a tiny open scallop border, on a piece of red CS, for a decorative edge. I used a French Script transparency behind the windows, then added popdots under it all, and placed the top piece over the bottom layer/background piece. I stamped the sentiment in "Victorian Velvet" from the Flourishes "Berry Sweet" set, on top of a Fancy Tag Nestie. I used Pins from Maya Road, placed under a Fleur de Lis Pendant from Spellbinders, and a Prima flower on top of some lace I found at a garage sale. I added a few pearls, then dry embossed a frame around the whole card, on my cream CS.


I love this card, but I think it looks too much like the last card I made, right down to the same stamp set used - LOL!! I Do LOVE my "Apple" set a lot! But I'm going to try to use a different stamp next time, and change it up to make my next card look different!
I do love both of my recent cards. I just like to try to make each card unique :)

Pink Apples

Yes, Pink Apples do exist :) They are called a "Pink Lady" and the flavor is wonderfully unexplainable. Some may say it tastes like an Ambrosia apple, but I think the closest analogy is eating a honey flavored apple - Yum! So that is my inspiration for this card. I'm going to send it to my Mom for her birthday. She actually loves green and I had a whole other card I made, but I'm going to send her a card with a pink apple instead, just to surprise her - LOL :)

I used "Apple of My Eye" set from Flourishes, and colored it in with my Tombows. I added a thin layer of Diamond Glaze, because I don't want flat looking apples :) I placed it on an oval and scalloped oval, cut out from Nesties. Using a sketch and a distress challenge from the Flourishes Blog, I distressed two of the edges and sponged everything down with "Tattered Rose" Distress Inks. Let me tell you, that edge Distressing was Stressing me out!! I thought it would be a snap, but it was harder to do then I remembered! I added pearls in place of what was supposed to be ribbons, and a Martha Stewart Butterfly (punch) where the bow would have been. Then before putting it all together I used my new Martha Stewart Scoring Board and double scored my cream CS base for some definition.

I cannot tell you the pressure to put this together before the Flourishes deadline expired! I had so many errands this morning! So when I got back I had 2 hours flat, and no wiggle room, to get this done and submit it! :) I had atleast 2 mistakes and 1 whole do over, before I finished it. Then I had exactly 2 minutes to take a pic, upload it to my laptop, use Photoscape to sharpen it all, and upload to SCS, then Flourishes, before I had to leave to pick up my daughter from school!! Talk about PRESSURE! My SCS pic is horrid, but Whew, I made it! :)

I hope it doesn't look like a card that I only had 2 hours to make - LOL :)

~ I should add that this is a picture that I retook, after dinner :) I couldn't stand the 3 second one, that I took earlier today! ;P

Sailing Away

I'm back! I'm sure you noticed that I took a bit of a hiatus, after the MFT GDT spot :) I enjoyed it so much that it was hard to come back down from being on cloud 9! But I'm back! :)

So I needed something to get my creative juices flowing, when I saw that Flourishes has a neat sketch challenge. I had missed so many of their wonderful challenges, in the past month, that I wanted to jump right in and this was the perfect time!
This is the card that I made from the challenging sketch. (For some reason my blog is making my card all blurry. You can see it better if you click on the picture).



I used "A Guiding Light", "Antique Map" and the Happy Birthday stamp from "Sweet Violets". All are from the Flourishes company (love their stamps!). I used a long Rectangle Spellbinder to make the window cut out, and placed the lighthouse piece inside it. I then used my Tombows to color in everything, then added some Diamond Glaze to make the water more translucent instead of flat looking. I sponged some Antique Linen all over everything lightly, for an old patina look.

I needed a card for my younger brother's birthday today (Happy Birthday, Matt!!) and I love how it turned out! I struggle with "manly" cards, but this sketch really helped me think outside the box :)

Sorry for such a short post, tomorrow is my youngest's FIRST birthday and we are busy getting ready for it!!! :)

MFT Blog Hop & Shop Release Party!!

Welcome to the MFT Blog Hop & Shop Release Party!!  I hope you've been to the MFT Blog for a line up of all the MFT DT showing their best creations, tonight! Remember all of the great new releases are available at 10 PM EST. I'm so excited, are you?!

When I asked what I could show for the Hop & Shop, I was told that I could show whatever I wanted.  So I took that as a challenge - LOL  :) 

The idea of mixing the MFT PI sets has been rolling around, in my head, for a while now. It's just something I've always wanted to try and do :) So I played around and came up with this card.

I used the MFT PI "Something Special Just for You" and  PI "Lil Pumpkin" sets. Yes, that is the cute little PI that holds a Pumpkin, and she is surprising her other PI friend! I used Circle Spellbinder dies to make the polka dot frame around the girls and popped it up on popdots. The sentiment is stamped on vellum and framed in with a label from the Polka Dot Greetings set. The garland behind the girls is the swag, from the WTG "Winter in the City" set.

 Then I challenged myself even further, to try to use a stamp set in a way I would never think of using it. I chose the Game Day Duo set and made a Christmas ornament out of it.

 I stamped and embossed the Hearts, cut them out and placed them on pop dots all over the "frame" to make them stand out. I used the large Spellbinders Circle and Scalloped Circle to make the frame. Pearls were placed around it as a finishing touch. 

I hope you've enjoyed the Teasers and the Hop! I'm sad to not continue to be a MFT Guest Designer anymore, but I'm excited and thrilled to meet the next lucky winner! Good luck, to all who entered! :) Please don't forget to go shopping at MFT! 


I do want to quickly say that everyone at MFT has been nothing but kind and patient :) Thank you so much, Ladies! And thank you, too, for this Once-In-A-Lifetime opportunity! I enjoyed every minute :)
Thank you for visiting and all of your kind comments, and please feel free to stop by again :)

Who's That Girl and Snowflake Flopsy

Welcome back to Day Five of MFT Teasers and sadly my last day of being a Guest DTM :) But I had fun! Remember you can visit MFT blog at 11 EST and check out the list of all the DT's eye candy creations!! I know I will! Tonight come and join us for the Release Party starting at 8 PM EST, on the SCS MFT Forum! And please don't forget, after the Release Party, MFT is having a Blog Hop, starting at 10 PM EST.When these stamps will be available :)

Ok, I think Flopsy is a cutie! This stamp set makes me smile, and it's perfect for a quick Christmas card. So here's my simple card.

I love simple cards with clean lines, and that's what I wanted for Flopsy. I stamped and embossed Flopsy then used my craft knife to cut the image out.  For the snowball, I inked up the snowflake that comes with Flopsy, and heat embossed it. Then I tapped my glue ink pad all over it, and heat embossed again, so it would have a "texture" to it.

I'm sure you all know I love my WTG stamps, and this set is no different! Don't you just love the new WTG "Winter in the City" set? :)
For this card, I really wanted a "sepia" look, like a vintage photo has, to it.   

I decided not to color anything in, but the lamps, to keep with the clean sepia look. Spellbinders Fleur de Lis dies and some of their Labels line, made the perfect frame. It holds a flourished transparency, that represents the sweeping wind. I sponged it all off in creams and a very light brown. I apologize for the lighting, but I deliberately kept the light low and in a contrast, so you could see the transparency I used as the base of my card. It's written in French with all white ink, and it's hard to photograph, but I hope you can see the detail.


That's all I have for this morning, but I hope to see you this evening at the MFT Release Party and the Blog Hop & Shop!! I'll have two more creations to show you, and I'm So EXCITED I can hardly wait!!! :)

Inspired By - Caged Bird

Welcome to MFT Teaser Day Four. I'm enjoying all the DT's Teasers, aren't you? For more great cards featuring Teasers of these stamps, please go HERE, to MFT blog at 11 AM EST, and visit each DT members blogs. On OCT 6th there will be a MFT Release Party on SCS in their member forum, from 8 - 10 PM EST. Then, at 10 PM EST, MFT will be having a Blog Hop & Shop, when the stamps will be available for purchase. I hope to see you there :)

When I saw the Inspired By - Caged Bird stamps, I knew I wanted to make an untraditional holiday/birthday gift set, just for fun. I went with my take, on a holiday Grunge look, inspired by Tim Holtz. I made a container for the Gold Fish Crackers, and made a Soup sleeve and a Teabag holder, to complete the set.

Here is a close up of the Teabag holder book:

It opens up like a book and has two teabag slots inside. The Bird and the Diamond shape background is from the Inspired By set. The Bird was colored in with my Tombows, cut out and popped up.
Here is a close up of the Goldfish box and the soup sleeve (pardon the picture size).

I made a tag with the Polka Dot Greetings set (featured on Teasers Day One), stamped on vellum. The cut out Birds and Birdcage are from the Inspired By - Caged Bird set.  The small tag with the diamond and "Faith" on it is also stamped from the Inspired By set. The MFT Open Scallop Die at the top of the box was used to slip some scalloped edge papers in the "open/negative" slots that the die left behind, on my paper.

Please don't forget to join in all the fun on the MFT GDT Challenge, HERE. You could win over $100 worth of stamps and be the MFT Guest DT member for the month of November!

Thank you for stopping by, please come back tomorrow for more great ideas and Teasers!