PSC54 - Think Pink for Christmas with Bugaboo

It's time for a new challenge at The Perfect Sentiments. We had so many lovely cards shared with us for our Birthday Celebration. I love to see what everyone is doing! I'm wondering today how many have been affected by flooding, wind damage, power outage, or heavy snowfall. I hope this finds you well!

PSC54 is Think Pink for Christmas: Create a card with a sentiment for Christmas. The Twist: Use some pink on your card in honor of the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

This week we are sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps. They are awarding 7 free digis to one lucky winner!  I used one of their cute sentiment digis, Jesus, to adorn my card. Unscripted Sketch #182 gave me the design for this card.

In making this card I pop dotted the die cut scalloped circle and the distressed image circle. That meant I needed to use a double layer of pop dots on the bigger star. The image was colored with Copic markers, inked with Cotton Candy ink, and distressed on the edges to give it a little more dimension. The scalloped circle was cut using Cricut Art Philosophy. The longer sentiment is an older Close To My Heart stamp (No Greater Love) that was discontinued long ago, but I keep using it for it's great message. I thought pink ric rac was the perfect trim for my stylized tree elements. Clear and pink sparkles, corrugated stars, kraft cardstock, ric rac, and pink dotted paper are all from CTMH. The tree paper is My Mind's Eye.

I hope you'll join us with your own great Pink Christmas creation.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Crafty Sentiment Designs - Seeing Stars
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations - Pop It Up
Holly Jolly Christmas - O Christmas Tree
Unscripted Sketch #182

 

Perfect Peace for Mojo 265

Today I woke up with a sudden urge to pray for those affected by hurricane Sandy. I'm praying for their safety, strength and peace. I chose a verse for this card that I have often played in my mind over and over through the years when trials would come that threatened my usual laid-back personality. The focus of this verse is the part about trust, trusting God to carry you through the storm. There are so many things in this life that we have no control over. Sometimes it seems like circumstances will defeat and destroy us. I've had more than my fair share of those circumstances in my 60+ years. But the years have taught me that "this too shall pass." Trusting God to take care of the details and to lead us in what we should do during trials is what this verse is about. A companion verse to that is "casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you." Knowing He's a loving God is a part of that trust. Visualizing taking off your burden and placing it into His hands has also helped me many times to get to that place of trust and peace.

I hope the verse on this card will encourage someone in the same way it has encouraged me over the years.

This verse is one of the Clearly Digi Stamps in a collection called Scriptures of  Peace from Clear Dollar Stamps. They introduce a new set of Scripture each month for only about $3.00. I love using the beautiful word art on my projects. I also love using Mojo Monday sketches. Here is the sketch I used for this week, their round or square challenge.

 

This sketch was perfect for a square die cut I've been wanting to use from the Cricut Artiste cartridge. It's Accent 4 with the "Family" key, p. 60, cut at 3.75" I also considered the Bingo challenge #211 at Everybody Art when I made this card. I chose the diagonal for Flowers, Lace and Ribbon, which also went with the Dutch Dare challenge:

 

 

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Die Cuttin Divas #89 - Anything Goes (my cocoa Artiste die cut square)

Dutch Dare #188 - ribbons and lace

Everybody Art Challenge #211 - Bingo (flowers, Lace, ribbon)

Love to Create Challenge #39 - Lots of Layers (6)

Mojo Monday #265 sketch

Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge #75 - 3D flowers (I've had the white ones a long time)

 

May God help you find peace in Him when you encounter trials in this life.

 

6" x 6" Encouragement card recipe:

Paper - Prima "Madeline" collection ; CTMH Cocoa and White Daisy cardstock, Core'dinations dark red cardstock

Image - Clear Dollar Stamps: Clearly Digi Stamps "Scriptures of Peace"

Accents - Prima flower,  Recollections pearls, Making Memories lace, red grosgrain ribbon from stash, unknown white roses from my stash

Tools - printer, Cricut Artiste, Stampin up ticket corner punch, pop dots

 

 

 

 

 

One of a Kind Friend

I've lived in many places over the years and have always counted myself lucky to have lots of friends no matter where I lived. I've felt that God has blessed me with kind, caring friends, but some of those friends faded into the distance each time I moved to a different locale. But I have a core of friendships that have remained strong despite distance or years. They are my "one of a kind" friends who are there through thick and thin.  They're the ones who lift you up no matter what happens in their lives or yours. Spending time with them is a great blessing. That's the kind of friend I want to be as well.
I hope you have friends like that! Better yet, I hope you try to BE a friend like that. I know I want to, but it changes with health issues and aging. Now I find that I pray a lot for my friends since we can't get together as much. I thank God for those friends and want them to know my thankfulness as well.

 I designed this card to show how unique this kind of friend is.  The sparkles didn't shine in the photo like they should, but the friends they represent, do.

I designed this card to be a Clean and Simple card. The "white space" is actually a green Basic Grey scrap that's embossed with a Musical Flourish embossing folder.  The orange panel was diecut using Cricut Art Philosophy. It was stippled with goldrush ink and pop dotted over a red leafy pattern scrap from Basic Grey's "Indian Summer." The sentiment is from Close To My Heart.

May God bless you with many "one of a kind" friends and help you to be one yourself!

I'm sharing this simple card with the following challenges:
Basic Grey Challenge #80 - Anything Goes with Basic Grey (green and red papers)
Catered Crop- Use the negative of die cut
Divas by Design Challenge #58 - Use Some Orange
Do You Stack Up Challenge #95 - Embossing
Dream Valley Challenge #44 - Glitter, Bling (used gold sparkles)
Just Us Girls #160 - photo- colors and leaves
Kaboodle Doodles #143 - Fall themed
Order of the Opus Gluei  #142 - Leaves
2 Sisters Challenge #115 -Fall colors (or Halloween Colors)










 

Very Special Birthday at Lexi's Creations.

Today is a very special day at Lexi's Creations. Today they are three years old! It's a special day for me, too, because I get to be their guest designer today! In keeping with their birthday celebration it's only appropriate that the challenge they have for you is to create

a Very Special Birthday Card!

 

I used an image from their Fairy Dust Craft Store, called "Butterscotch" because she's holding a cupcake - so appropriate for birthdays!  I have two blonde granddaughters who would love to get Butterscotch on a birthday card! Her name inspired my color and paper choices.

 

 

 

Here's the sketch I adapted from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

 

 

I substituted the bow and tag for the far left embellishment and cupcakes for the other two that I cut out on the Cricut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.

 

I hope you'll stop by Lexi's Creations to join in the fun on their Special Birthday Celebration!

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge #58 - Polka Dots/Spots.

CCEE Stampers #1243 - Use a tag (mine is stamped with the CTMH acrylic sentiment)

Crafts and Me Challenge #107 - Fantasy Creatures

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #99 - Ribbons and//or buttons (just ribbon for mine)

Sweet Sketch Wednesday #177 - sketch

Through the Craftroom Door Challenge #41 - Anything Goes

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - What's Cooking/Something to Eat (cupcakes!!)

 

 

 

 



Mojo Monday 264 Shabby Birthday Card

I know so many friends and relatives with birthdays in October that I have a hard time keeping up with cards, so here's my favorite birthday sentiment for Mojo Monday and The Shabby Tea Room challenges this week.

The inside sentiment is perfect for belated wishes:

Here's the great Mojo Monday sketch for this week:

I used this inspiration photo from The Shabby Tea Room Challenge #137, Vintage Charm. The challenge is to use the colors and add a charm.

I added a little faux stitching around the edges of the Prima bt square using a Blush alcohol  ink marker. The flower, button, twine, burlap, bamboo circle cardstock and sentiment are all from Close To My Heart. The background paper is The Paper Studio Linen Closet, and the square is from Prima. QuicKutz made the zig-zag embossing folder used on the bamboo circle. The butterfly charm was a leftover I had from Michaels.

Snowman and Friend Card for Kids

This is a busy day, so here's a quick post before I rush out the door. I'm hoping this Christmas card will Send a Smile for Kids in the hospital to send to someone else. Their challenge this week is for Early Holiday Wishes.

The snowman and bird friends are a digital stamp but the sentiment is three stamps from Close To My Heart's "Perfect Fit - Holidays." I used the scalloped circle in dark green, the snowflake in 2nd generation, and the words in Ruby. The snow was two layers of cut/torn paper. I used the following challenges to design my card:

CCEE Stampers 1242 - Wintery with a Snowman
Christmas Card Challenge #47 - Bows
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long #33 - Traditional Colors, Red and Green
Send a Smile for Kids - Early Holiday Wishes for kids to send

I'm also sharing it with these challenges:
ABC Christmas - U for Up to You
The Squirrel and the Fox #29 - Use a Ribbon
Pile it On #43 - Any Holiday
 

CDS October Blog Hop - Trick or Treat

Thank you for joining me today for our October Blog Hop at Clearly Digital Stamps. Our theme is:

"TRICK OR TREAT"

 

 

PRIZES: One lucky winner will receive a $25 Clearly Digital Stamps gift certificate for digital images!

WINNERS: A winner will be randomly chosen from comments received on a DT member's blog. The winner will be announced on the CDS blog Thursday, October 25th.

 
Here's the treat box I made using the digital pumpkin trio stamp from the Calendar Minis. I made it larger than it comes for the Calendar.

To make it a little spookier for my older grandsons, I added wiggly eyes:

 

 

 

This treat box is really easy and fun to make. The Cricut cut shows where to fold. I only had to put glue on two flaps. The top that's folded over has holes punched in the two places to add ribbon. The scalloped edge just begged to be outlined with Stickles! Printing, coloring, and cutting out the pumpkins is also fast and easy. Mine will be filled with a baggy of candy corn that my grandsons love!

 

If you haven't visited the other ladies along the way, you can start at the top here:

 

BLOG ROLL LIST:
CDS BLOG
KATHY
JERUSHA
DANA
SARAH T.
LISA
DEONNA
CASSIE
LORI U.
LINDA
VICKIE (that's me)

I'm sharing this project with the following challenges:

2 Sisters Challenge #114 - Cute and Creepy (spiders are definitely creepy!!)

Crazy 4 Challenges #159 - Orange, Black, and Purple

Crafty Calendar October Challenge - All Things Spooky

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Halloween (pumpkins digital stamp)
Crafty Mess Challenge #20 - Halloween
Halloween Treat Box Recipe:  

Paper - Close To My Heart Pansy Purple, Colonial White, Black cardstock
Digi Stamps - Clearly Digital Stamps Calendar Minis
Markers - CTMH Alcohol markers: Autum Terracotta, Autumn Terracotta Light, Creme Brulee Dark, Sweet Leaf, Olive; Copic YR68 Orange
Accents - Michaels Black Twill Ribbon; Stickles Black Diamond; Jolee's spiders, wiggly eyes
Tools - Printer, Cricut Artiste (p. 71 3D Object, cut at 5"); Cricut Art Philosophy (black circle design: p. 31, shift Decorative Layer cut at 2.75")

The Magic of Oz Mini-Album

I don't usually make items that are "dark" in mood or tone. But I just realized a couple of days ago that I had sold all of my mini-albums at the Liberty Fall Festival and hadn't made any "replacements" for my upcoming craft fairs. One of my friends said how much she loved the Wizard of Oz, and having a Graphic 45 collection that I'd gotten at half price, The Magic of Oz was a good candidate for a mini. I'll explain my procedure after the photos.

Overall, there was no stamping or digi printing, just cardstock and the 8"x8" paper pack. The cover below was made using the actual cover of the pad, so it's glossy and heavier that the other paper. The back cover does the same.

I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder for my "yellow brick road," embossing half at a time. There are so many squares, stamps, or images to be cut or fussy cut for embellishments, that I used them exclusively, except for one bit of black satin ribbon on the front. I kept the overall design and construction pretty simple and made it in one afternoon.

I'd been dying to try out the different shaped mini-album pages that can be cut with the Cricut Artiste, so I inserted my deep cut blade, gathered the cereal boxes I'd been saving, and gave it a try. I wanted the album to be about 5" x 7" so that 4" x 6" photos could fit in some of the pockets. I used the die cuts on p.59, Accents 1 and 2 with and without the shift key, all cut at 5." I cut two of each shape to start and cut paper to cover the bases (without the deep cut blade).

Most of the pages have pockets and tags. Some of the pockets are between the base and the covering sheet. Some are actual strips of paper across the lower front of the page, attached with red sticky tape. A few have mini-pockets, I'll call them, made with photo corners or other paper embellishments that are only attached on the lower or outside edge so a tag can be tucked behind the area that's not adhered.

I inked the edges of some pages and all of the plain cardstock with CTMH Gray Wool. I made the back cover by just cutting a 5" x 7.5" cereal box and papers, punching the two outer corners slightly with a 2.5" circle punch, like a ticket punch.

I'm sharing this mini with the following challenges.
Anything But A Card October Challenge #4
Crafty Calendar October Challenge- All Things Spooky/ option of recycling (used cereal boxes)
Frilly and Funky - Anything but a card with a twist - pockets
Fussy and Fancy Challenge #74 - Anything Goes
Oozak Challenge #7 - Die Cuts (all of my pages except the back cover)
Unstampabelles Challenge #16 - (No stamps or digis) and Recycle or Repurpose (cereal boxes and covers of paper pad)

5" x 7.5" mini-album recipe:
Paper - Graphic 45 "The Magic of OZ" 8x8 paper pad; Close To My Heart (very old outdoor denim checked paper to match Dorothy's dress); Bazzill cardstock, one piece of My Mind's Eye old retired patterned paper/cardstock for tags
Other - CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge; Cereal boxes, binder rings, 3 refills of Tombow adhesive, glue dots, pop dots, Recollections red line tape; Michaels black satin ribbon
 

More Pumpkins for James 1:17

Here is the second version of my card using the Scripture from Word Art Wednesday. It also uses the color scheme from Fab n Funky's challenge: Black and Orange plus one color. If you haven't seen the first one, it's on the previous post here.

I mentioned how the pumpkin crop in our area was actually increased by the hot, dry weather that destroyed most crops in our area. What a surprise blessing for those farmers! May God open the eyes of your heart to see the blessings He's given you, especially those that might not be so obvious!

This time, I added a bow with the baker's twine because it wouldn't interfere with the sentiment. This card was embossed with Divine Swirls which also complements the pumpkin vines in the paper. I also simply added the black sparkles to keep the attention on the focal point, the verse.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Fab n FunkyChallenge #143 - Orange, Black and choice (green)
Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #141 - Pumpkin Patch or Fall
My Craft Spot Monday Challenge #73 - Emboss It
Simply Create Too Challenge #24 - Pumpkins
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #50 - Blessings from God

Paper - Close To My Heart Colonial White, Black, Autumn Terracotta cardstock and a scrap left from "Abundance" dp that was retired long ago
Sentiment - Word Art Wednesday
Ink - CTMH Grey Wool
Accents - CTMH baker's twine, Black sparkles
Tools - printer, Cuttlebug "Divine Swirls" embossing folder; Stampin' Up ticket corner punch
 

Pumpkins for Freshly Made Sketch57

Pumpkins are in abundance in our area. The news reported this week that it was the only crop not damaged by the extreme drought. In fact, the weather this summer actually increased the crop of pumpkins.  That's why I teamed up my scraps of pumpkin paper with this verse from Word Art Wednesday. Of course, that's only one blessing. If we look at our lives through this verse of Scripture, we can always find more good and perfect gifts that come from God. I challenge you to try this today and think about what God has done in your life that can be called a blessing.

Here is the lovely sketch from Freshly Made Sketches that inspired this creation. It's such a basic sketch that I'm using it for more than one card this week.

Because Freshly Made Sketch challenges emphasize clean lines, I didn't ink edges, but instead matted my simple sentiment shape on a contrasting circle. The black satin ribbon was tied in a knot so because a bow would interfere with the long sentiment. Embellishments were kept simple: three dark grey sparkles on the circle. I used the Fab n Funky challenge for my color scheme and the dry embossing challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks to complement the pumpkin vine image.



I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks challenge #112 - Dry Embossing
Fab n Funky Challenge #143 - Orange, Black, and one other color (green on my card)
Freshly Made Sketch #57
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #50 - Blessings from God

6.5" x 5" Thanksgiving Card Recipe:
Paper - Close To My Heart (Abundance dp - retired long ago), Autumn Terracotta, Black, Colonial White cardstock
Digital scripture from Word Art Wednesday
Accents - CTMH Black/Gray Sparkles; Michaels black satin ribbon
Tools - Printer, Sizzix "Swirly Vines with Hearts" embossing folder; 2.5" circle punch, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch

Thanks for stopping by and may God open your eyes so you may see the rich blessings He's been sending your way1
 

Christmas Is Sharing - Pear and Partridge Card

It's only mid-October, but I suddenly have that passion to make lots of Christmas cards. This card expresses a sentiment I love, that Christmas is Sharing.

I grew up in a large family with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. We had large family dinners for every holiday and any Sunday in between. By the time I was twelve or thirteen, I didn't even care any more if I had any gifts. I was more interested in trying to make gifts to give my family. Grandmothers and aunts taught me to cook all kinds of holiday dishes, so that became my passion. As a working adult I wanted to share material gifts with those less fortunate. Now that I'm older and retired I think that sharing time with friends and loved ones is more important than ever. Sharing means so many different things. Thank you for letting me share this card with you!

This sketch #37 from Merry Monday got me started.

I liked one of the partridges in the paper I used, so I punched it out with a 2.5" circle punch. Then I did some fussy cutting while I listened to the candidates debate last night. I punched another circle the same size from one of the other papers in the same collection and pop dotted my image to fit the circle. I colored the pear with my olive marker so it would show up more. The dark green lace was punched using the back side of the pear and partridge paper. The sentiment was a zip strip I cut off of the top of the same paper and cut it into banners.

Thanks for letting me share my card with you. I'm sharing it with the following challenges:
ABC Christmas Challenge - U Up to You
Blogger's Challenge by Lisa Somerville - Take Flight
Creative Card Crew - Challenge #21 - Birds
Merry Monday Sketch #37
Flutter By Wednesdays Challenge #210 - Any Winged Creature
The Cupboard Trilogy Challenge #4 - Things with Wings

4.24" x 5.5" Christmas Card Recipe:
Paper - Close To My Heart "Pear and Partridge" paper pack, The Paper Studio Solid Textured Cards
Ink - CTMH Chocolate; CTMH Olive Alcohol marker
Accents - Wilton doily; CTMH Cocoa Ribbon
Tools - Martha Stewart edge punch, pop dots, sponge for inking edges



 

Birthday Organizer part2: June - December

Here are the rest of the photos of the last half of the Birthday Organizer. If you missed the previous post, you can go back to find the cover, general directions, and pages used for January to May.

I chose the whimsical squirrel from Calendar Minis for June, since that begins my grandsons' summer vacation and lots of nature hikes.

All of the designer papers were from Close To My Heart. The calendar dates, names of months, and mini images were all from Clear Dollar Stamps.

Images: CDS Calendar Mini Digis, Calendar Rectangle,
Papers : 6" x 9" top flap white envelopes; Close To My Heart retired papers and Avonlea (covers), Cruisin' (January), Midnight (March), Lucy (April), Flirty (May), Victory (June), Superhero (July), Footloose (August), Pear and Partridge (December)
Accents: CTMH Cocoa Ribbon collection, Avonlea canvas complements,
Tools: Crop-a-dile punch for holes, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Cricut Artiste, 2.5" circle punch, glue dots

Mojo Monday 263 for Birthday Organizer- January - May

I used this week's Mojo Monday 263 sketch to make the cover of a Birthday Organizer. It's made from 6" x 9" envelopes and is designed to hold birthday or other cards for each month. They are covered with Close To My Heart papers and blank event calendars I printed from today's new release at Clearly iStamp - Calendar Rectangle. The dates for each month have lines that are used to write the names of people having birthdays, anniversaries, or other occassions for sending cards or remembrance. I printed half of each calendar for each month and added monthly digi pictures from Calendar Minis, also a new release today. I put dates 1-15 and 16-29, -30, or -31 on opposite pages. I made this in one evening and I'm showing all of the pages here.

Here is the cover and the Mojo Monday Sketch I used to make it:

 

 

 

 

The cover is made using the Avonlea paper pack and canvas stickers. The chocolate medallion was cut from Cricut Artiste using Accent 4 for the #1 key at 3.5" The Avonlea White circle was punched at 2.5." The rest of the embellishments were ribbon or canvas stickers.

 

Here's a look at the pages for each month. I used one sheet of designer paper for each month, cutting it at 8", then 5.5" for each side. The Calendar Mini picture was added to the top of the 1-15 dates and to the bottom of the facing page of dates. I cut out the printed dates and lines at 4" wide and lengths varied with the image used.

 

 

 

 

 

Because there are so many photos, I'm posting the rest in the next blog post. I think you get the idea, but please check out the rest if you're wondering about the paper or images used. I did put the last half of December on an envelope with the flap facing in. That gives two envelopes for December for extra cards to be sent.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:
Mojo Monday 263 - sketch
The Crafty Blogger's Network - October - Anything Goes
Through the Craftroom Door Challenge #40 - Anything Goes
Fashionista Challenge #8 - anything Goes
Craft My Life Challenge #2 - Anything but a card/layout

 

Clearly Digital Stamps October Release

It's time to see the new digital stamp sets on the Clearly i Stamp blog! There are so many new releases today. I chose to make a card using For the Birds and three of the calendar sets to make Christmas gifts.  If you like to work with digital stamps, you can check them all out here. If you're new to digital stamps, but want to learn, there are some good tutorials here.

The card I made uses the outline images of the owl and scripture from this set: For the Birds. I printed the owls in two sizes and horizontally flipped the smaller one.

Images - CDS "For the Birds Outlines"
Markers - CTMH Creme Brulee, Creme Brulee Dark, Honey; Copics E00 Skin White, E11 BArely Beige, E13 Light Suntan, E15 Dark Suntan, E18 Copper, E33 Sand, E35 Chamois, N4 Neutral Gray
Paper - Basic Grey Mellow; CTMH White Daisy, Goldrush cardstock
Ink - CTMH Goldrush, Chocolate
Accents - CTMH Chocolate Waxy Flax, Clear button (colored with Copic E18 Copper), Sparkles Brown and Tan Assortment (on eyes) pop dots
Tools - Printer
Technique - resized images, flipped smaller one horizontally

Last week I posted the cover of the 6" x 6" square calendar for keeping track of all those birthdays and anniversarys. I had printed the title using Microsoft Word.

The pages were all made from the 6" x 6" My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found - Sunshine." I printed the calendar pages ahead of time to take on vacation. Since I was away from my computer and printer when I made it, I added some seasonal stickers I had from Basic Grey. However, there is a set of calendar images that is being introduced today that would be great for embellishments, Calendar Minis.

(I made this project while I was waiting on a locksmith to make a new car key for our car's engine. Apparently my husband's key had broken off when he was unloading everything the night before at the hotel and no one had turned it in and it couldn't be found. I was so glad to have this calendar to work on in the lovely breakfast room of the hotel.)

On the inside pages I kept the same pattern of corner and border trim on opposite pages in order to reinforce the hole that was punched on every page. I kept them all pretty simple. Here are the inside pages:

Thanks for visiting. Check out my next post today for a Birthday Organizer that uses the Calendar Rectangle set with the Calendar Minis images. You can store birthday cards in the pockets for each month!

Image - Clear Dollar Stamps digi: Calendar Square
Paper - My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found - Sunshine;" (cover-Basic Grey "Indian Summer;" black and white cardstock; Graphic 45 "Core Impressions-Timeless Collection;" 6 x 6 chipboard
Accents - gold and pink ribbon from my stash; Basic Grey stickers (Indian Summer), metal ring
Tools - Printer, sandpaper, (Microsoft Word to type title for front)