True Love for Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Here is a card I hope to use for my son's anniversary or maybe even Valentine's Day. (I'm so glad he doesn't read my blog, but his wife might.) I used an adorable image from MelJen's. I didn't want it to be too girly, so I was inspired by the color combo at Can You Digi It (green) and Celebrate the Occassion (green, white and one more color= blue), especially when I saw this paper from Cosmo Cricket that I'd had stashed away since 2009. The flowers aren't too girly. And besides, my eyes need to see something besides pink this week! Here's the sketch I used from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

I also wanted to try a different corner treatment on the right, so I used glitter buttons with an adhesive pearl in the depression of the button.  Also, the one in the corner was  threaded and tied with a waxy flax bow behind it. There was a pearl in the glitter flower, so I continued that treatment by adding bitty pearls on the dots of the Meljen's design and on the blue heart that I stamped with "True Love."

The blue patterned paper ("Clementine") and New England Ivy cardstock are from Close To My Heart. The Blue cardstock is Bazzill.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday #191 - sketch
Can You Digi It? #28 - use Green
Celebrate the Occassion #97 - Green, White, plus one color (blue)
Cute Card Thursday #254 - a different corner (my upper right corner + corner rounding in design)
Gingerloft #56 - Love is in the Air
 

Buzz and Bumble Card with Bling

This is the first card I've made with the new Buzz and Bumble paper pack from Close To My Heart. It was the first pack I ordered from the Idea Book because of the bees. I have two friends whose husbands are bee keepers, plus I have an orchard where bees are my favorite guests.

I used this sketch from the Amuse Challenge and I tried a new technique - coloring sparkles with a CTMH alcohol marker. The sentiment design was perfect for adding sparkles in the loops of the flourish.

 

 

The stamps used were part of the Buzz and Bumble Workshop kit. The flower is mounted on a circle that I embossed with a QuicKutz "honeycomb" embossing folder.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Amuse Challenge - sketch
Crafty Calendar Challenge - What's new? (paper pack, stamps, technique coloring sparkles)
One Stop Craft Challenge #213 - Sparkle and Bling ( 6 sparkles colored with Honey marker)
Paper Playtime #2 - use some Brown
Tuesday Alchemy #49 - Anything Goes

This card was Top 3 at Amuse Challenge :

 

CTMH Flirty Layout

Here is the fourth layout that we did for the CTMH Flirty Paper Pack. This one is not in the Idea Book or the Workshop kit. It's one we made at Convention this summer, but it seemed to be everyone's favorite at our workshop because of the fun little circle embellishments. Because I used their suggested title, The Story of Us, I included photos from our honeymoon up to the present.  The colors of these papers are perfect for fall photos. (As usual, I didn't journal until after I took this photo.) Here's the left page:

Right page:

To make the circle embellishment, you stack two 1.25" circles from the same double-sided paper. I cut a square of heavy cardstock or light tagboard that is just less than one inch both ways. You set that square in the middle of the stack and fold down the four sides of the top circle. Remove the square and adhere the two circles together.

We stamped the roses and leaves and colored them with blender pens and ink or the new alcohol ink markers. We stamped the title and either Cricut letters or chipboard letters for "US." They were inked with Slate ink to show the houndstooth resist pattern.

Of course the most important part of the layout is the series of photos of Bill and I over the years.  I hope this will inspire you to record those special times with someone you love. May God bless you as you preserve and share those loving memories.

PSC64 with Mojo Monday Sketch

This week at The Perfect Sentiment Challenge #64, the challenge is :

Anything Goes with a Die Cut and Sentiment on the front.

Here's more explanation from Jennipher: "GET OUT YOUR CRICUTS, SIZZIX, SPELLBINDERS, CUTTLEBUGS, ETC. CREATE A CARD FOR THE OCCASION OF YOUR CHOICE . YOU MUST INCLUDE A DIE CUT AND A SENTIMENT ON THE FRONT.

Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo, who is providing a prize of 7 free digis to one lucky winner! I used one of their digis called "Thoughts and Prayers Block" along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch for circle or square week.

I used two square-type dies from Spellbinders for the white digi and it's red mat. The large outer diecut was made on the Cricut using Art Philosophy Accent 1 Square 2. My tip for cutting this border is to make it 1/4" larger than your base. In this case I used 6" for the border and 5.75" for the card so it would fit into a 6" envelope. (Making the red outer border the same size lets the orange paper show too much. If it's too big, more than 1/4", it leaves empty spaces in the little holes.)

I colored the Bugaboo image like some fresias I once grew in my garden. I used a bow on the right side where the sketch had an added border. The ribbon shapes on the bottom are from Basic Grey's "Lemonade." I matted them in green for contrast so they'd show up.

My hubbie and I have several relatives that are in need of prayer and encouragement due to serious health issues. I was hoping this card would brightly cheer one of them. I decided to try using the outer piece left from the die cut to decorate the inside instead of throwing it away. I added a verse from Clearly Digital Stamps:

You don't have to use this many die cuts, but I had fun layering them. I hope you'll dust off your die cuts if you haven't used them lately and join our challenge!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Mojo Monday #278 - square sketch
Crafty Sentiments Designs - buttons and bows
Die Cuttin' Divas #100 - Anything Goes (my die cuts are listed in recipe)
Top Tip Tuesday #94 - Lavishly Luscious Layers (tip about cutting border)
Use It Tuesday #48 -  Use Red, Orange, and Yellow - hoarded supplies are my Basic Grey "Lemonade" paper (red and strips) and "Marrakech" (green) from 2009

6" Square Card Recipe:
Paper - Basic Grey Lemonade and Marrakech; Close To My Heart "Clementine" orange sorbet pattern
Digital Image - Bugaboo "Thoughts and Prayers Block"
Markers - CTMH Alcohol Ink Smoothee, Honey, Olive
Accents - 3/4" White organdy from stash; CTMH Clementine fabric flower and button
Tools - Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Square and Decorative Labels One; Cricut Art Philosophy; printer

January Scripture Display Album Page

I chose the past week's Word Art Wednesday Scripture verse for my first Scripture Display Album page for this year. I really liked the way they enhanced the font for the word "likeminded" and the description of what likemindedness does. I often think that the success of my marriage is due to the likemindedness that my husband and I share. I've been lucky that such a quality has come to us easily when so many others don't share that quality. The way Paul talks about it in this verse sounds like he's praying for the Roman Christians to be given that quality from God who is patient with us when we're not likeminded and who consoles us when we haven't quite arrived yet!

The display album is 6" x 6" and sits upright so that the page can be displayed on a mantle or end table. If you haven't seen the pages I made for it last fall, here are links. It was an idea I had last year for displaying encouraging verses in the home.

After I embossed the light rectangular panel, I sponged Cranberry Ink on the raised portion and edges. I added black grosgrain and white crocheted lace and black sparkles which are opaque. Unfortuately, today their facets didn't pick up the light for the photo, so it's hard to tell what they are.

May God bless you with relationships with others who are likeminded!

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday #64 - Anything Goes (and this verse to download free)
D.L. Art Thankful Thursday #102 - Red (or pink)
Come and Get It - Tic Tac Toe (Black, Gems, Ribbon) (My black sparkles, paper, and grosgrain ribbon)
Crazy Amigo - Black, red and white
Fashionista #11 - mostly RED
Love to Create #50 - Anything Goes with a Sentiment

6" x 6" Scripture Display Card Recipe:
Paper - The Paper Studio "Old World Winter"(red) and "Harper's Boutique"(black) and cardstock
Ink - Close To My Heart Cranberry
Digital Sentiment - Word Art Wednesday
Accents - Recollections red flower; KaiserCraft lace; CTMH black jute, Black and Gray Sparkles, and black grosgrain ribbon; button from stash
Tools - Spellbinder's Nestabilities Label 10; Cuttlebug "Kassie's Brocade" 5" x 7" embossing folder


 

Sparkling with Love

There are more than two weeks until Valentine's Day, but I have so many dear ones that I'd like to let them all know how much they mean to me. I was raised with a healthy dose of Matthew 5:16: "Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven." I wanted this card to have sparkles as a sort of symbol of letting love shine from my heart.

Here's a fun little girl mouse I used from Clearly Digital Stamps to go with the lovely sketch from Wags 'n Whiskers.

 

The red cardstock was embossed with Vines and Hearts, then the raised area was inked with Cranberry ink. I printed a second image and cut out the white heart in the center. It was embossed with Tiny Hearts, although they're not showing up too well in the photo. I used three elements of bling. The red satin/organdy ribbon has glittery white hearts that was just prefect for a valentine. The tiny red sparkles were added to complement the red heart sparkles.

 

May your heart and life sparkle with love for family and friends!

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
ABC Challenge #14 - Valentines
House of Gilli #49 - Anything Goes with Pink and Bling
Paper Makeup Stamps Digi Makeover #73 - Hearts
DLArt Thankful Thursday #102 - Red/Pink
Victorine Originals #51 - Red/White/Pink
Wags 'n Whiskers #96 - sketch

6" x 6" Valentine's Day Card Recipe:

Paper - Close To My Heart Cranberry and Pink Carnation cardstock, white cardstock, unknown heart dp

Image - CDS "From the Heart" outline girl mouse and sentiment

Ink - CTMH Cranberry

Markers - Copics N0, N2, N6, E0, R35

Accents - Wilton Doily; Celebrate It Ribbon; CTMH Red Sparkles; Doodlebug Designs Heart Sparkles

Tools - Spellbinder's Nestabilities Decorative Labels One; Sizzix Swirly Vines with Hearts embossing folder; The Paper Studio Tiny Hearts embossing folder

 

Mojo Monday Valentine

There were a few people I missed sending Christmas cards so I'm determined they'll get a Valentine from me. I love them all dearly. Here's a card I've been thinking about all week and finally made it in a flash thanks to this "Clean and Simple" sketch from Mojo Monday this week. I've been wanting to make several cards with a new stamp set that came in my January special from Close To My Heart. All of the images are so fresh and fun, just perfect for cards or small areas on the treat tube boxes from that set.

I made this card using paper piecing for the sentiment and owl. They were each stamped twice, on bubblegum and on white cardstock. "Fussy cutting" was easy with the owl's body and beak, but the "U" could make someone "fussy" if they didn't have patience and good eyesight.

I used Bubblegum gingham paper and Bubblegum organdy with the black and white. It's my favorite color combo this time of year. There's a small strip of white translucent seam binding behind the three black hearts on the border. I wanted to put buttons somewhere to add more interest and dimension, so I thought that border was the best spot. Thank you for visiting. I hope something inspires you in making your own cards for loved ones.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Mojo Monday #277 - sketch
Crafting for All Seasons #44 - Buttons and Bows
C.R.A.F.T. #191 -  Valentine's Day/Love
Crafty Ribbons #37 - Love/Romance/Anniversary
D.L.ART Thankful Thursday #102 - Use red or pink
Dutch Dare Card Challenge #201 - Winged Things (my owl)
Ruby's Rainbow #46 - Valentines


5" x 6.25" Valentine Recipe:
(All of the materials used were from Close To My Heart except the embossing folder. The gingham paper, ribbon, and pink buttons are no longer available. ) The stamp set is from the Who-o-o's Your Valentine kit that's only available until the end of the month. The stamps are just adorable! I don't usually show promotions, but this one is too cute and such a bargain. You can check it out here.

 

Friendship Verse for a Child

"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." Proverbs 27:9

I was a teacher for 30 years. Eight of those years was spent teaching in Christian schools in the midwest. I was so amazed by the character of my elementary students. Christian up-bringing, Scripture and prayer had an obvious effect on their young lives.  The Shining the Light Challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs this week reminded me that even young children respond to the positive message of simple Scripture.

I chose to make a card about friendship for one of my granddaughters. The stamp used is part of the Our Daily Bread Design's "Special Blend" set. I didn't have any of their stamps with children, so I fussy cut two little girls out of some Graphic 45 paper I have and colored them with alcohol inks. 

 

I used this week's sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday. Instead of having a trio of flowers in the lower corner, I made my trio with the sentiment, bow, and heart. The hearts were embossed using a tiny hearts embossing folder. The background for the girls uses the Swirly Vines and Hearts. All of the embossed pieces were inked with a blush chalk ink pad.

 

 

I'm giving this card to my eight-year-old granddaughter who is known for being sweet. I'm hoping she'll realize the importance of building sweet friendships in her life. May God refresh your soul with many dear friendships, too!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Ch.#139 - For a Child
Sweet Sketch Wednesday #190 - sketch
Crafts and Me #117 - Vintage (especially the Graphic 45 papers and image)
Sisterhood of Crafters - Hearts (die cuts and embossed)
Creative Card Crew #28 - Girly
Word Art Wednesday #64 - Anything Goes with Scripture or encouraging sentiment

5.5" Square Valentine Card Recipe:
Paper - Graphic 45 "Little Darlings" collection; CTMH retired Shell Pink, Colonial White, Sweet Leaf, and Kraft cardstock
Stamp - Our Daily Bread Designs "Special Blend"
Ink - CTMH New England Ivy and Brown Bag (on Kraft); CTMH Blush chalk ink (on embossing)
Markers - Copics E13, E33, E35, E00, R32; CTMH alcohol: Sweet Leaf, Smoothie, Cotton Candy
Accents - CTMH retired blush ribbon
Tools - Cricut Art Philosophy, Sizzix and The Paper Studio embossing folders



 

Vintage Christmas Card

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15 

 

I sometimes remind my children on Christmas day that there was one Christmas when I was 16 that the only gift I received was a pair of gloves. Strangely, or perhaps thankfully, I didn't resent that. I knew that my dad had been out of work a lot and we were lucky to be able to make the house payments. I was much older than my 5 siblings, so I usually considered that they needed the joy of receiving like I had experienced for many years. We spent most of the day at my aunt's house with a very large extended family, which was always what I enjoyed the most. In addition, I had tried to focus on the real meaning of Christmas, the gift of God's Son who came to die as the perfect sacrifice and take the punishment for man's sins. Hopefully, this vintage Christmas card will share some of that message when I send it in December.

 

I was inspired by this sketch at Sketch N Stash and their optional theme of Vintage:

 

 

I was also inspired by this lovely digital image of Madonna and Christ child that I found at Vintage Holiday Crafts.  I printed it on Kodak matte photo paper. Here's the link to their Christmas Nativity images with Baby Jesus.

 

 

I used papers with browns and golds that I either inked or scissor distressed on the edges. I felt that having the muted earthtone background colors helped the rich colors of the vintage art to stand out more. Both the sentiment on the front and this verse inside were stamped with black ink. The inside verse is from "His Gift" by Our Daily Bread Designs.

 

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Sketch N Stash #1 - sketch plus vintage

C.R.A.F.T.  #190 - Christmas in January

Winter Wonderland - Vintage (Christmas)

Christmas Cards All Year Round - January Anything Goes

One Crazy Stamper - January Anything Goes

Pretty Little Ribbon Shop #18 - Flowers and Ribbon

 

6.5" x 5" Christmas Card Recipe:

Paper - Basic Grey "Curio;" Close To My Heart "La Belle Vie," "Sonoma," Colonial White Cardstock; Kodak matte photo paper

Stamps - Close To My Heart "Christmas Scripts" (front); Our Daily Bread Designs "His Gift" (inside)

Digital Image - Vintage Holiday Crafts

Ink - Close To My Heart Black, Cocoa

Accents - CTMH Opaque pearls; Petaloo Vintage flower pack; gold organdy from my stash

Tool - Stampin'Up ticket corner punch

 

 

 



PSC63 - Blue, Silver and White Winter Birthday Card

 This week at The Perfect Sentiments Challenge we have a lovely color challenge for any occassion:                                                                                                                                   

                                  
  CREATE A CARD WITH A SENTIMENT FOR THE OCCASION OF YOUR CHOICE. INCORPORATE BLUE, SILVER, AND WHITE INTO YOUR DESIGN.

Our sponsor is 2 Cute Ink. I just discovered how truly cute their images are. They're providing 3 free digis to one lucky winner!

If you ever come to my blog looking for a specific style, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I love playing with paper using many different styles. The one I chose for this color combination was fairly clean and simple. These colors spoke to me of winter snow. I discovered that all of my newest blue patterned papers were aqua and I wanted more of a true blue to go with silver, so I chose some from my old, old, old patterned paper that is filed away by color. I made my own simple sketch this time.

 I tried a couple of new things with this card. I attached the light blue patterned paper before embossing the front of the card, hoping the embossing would be the same on both layers so it would show inside, too. Also, I tried stacking four layers of Cricut-cut snowflakes, 2" and 2.75," to give it more interest. I added a silver glitter brad to the center as a glittery, finishing touch. I did find that it helped to line up the layers and add one small glue dot, rolled thin, under each layer so they'd stay lined up properly.

I heat embossed the sentiment on front, added a strip of my new silver glitter paper and some white lace, then attached my snowflake embellishment. Then I finished by stamping the inside and adding part of the snowflake cut-outs with silver glitter glue in the middle:

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Little Miss Muffet Challenge #51 - Winter Birthdays
MilkCoffee Challenge - Snowflakes/Snow plus Sparkle and/or Glitter
Gingerloft #55 - Let It Snow
The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan #36 - Winter





5: x 6.5" Birthday Card Recipe:
Paper - Close To My Heart retired Moonstruck paper pack (ancient!), White Daisy Cardstock, Silver Glitter paper from CTMH Black and Gray Glitter Paper (coming soon)
Stamps - Our Daily Bread Designs "Happy Birthday" stamp set
Inks - CTMH Clear embossing ink, Moonstruck
Accents - CTMH Silver-Glitter Brads, White embossing powder, Silver Glitter Glue; Offray lace
Tools - Cricut Art Philosophy (snowflakes), Cuttlebug embossing folder, heat gun

 

Clearly iStamp January Blog Hop

This month our blog hop at Clearly iStamp centers around the theme Something New. I just happened to get some new glitter paper and a set of treat tubes and boxes that I'm decorating with a stamp set that's new to me, and maybe to you.

In fact, if you leave a comment on my blog, you may be the lucky person to be chosen to receive my stamp set free later this week. There will be one winner from every DT member's blog.  Winners will be chosen by 5pm eastern time on Wednesday, January 23rd.

I will contact my winner on Thursday, January 24th, by email, with an attachment of the zip file of this digi set. So please be sure to leave your email address in your comment.

I chose to use the colored digi set called Heart Hugs to make another valentine for one of my granddaughters. This set has gray and pink, brown and pink, and brown and red color combinations.

 

 

I chose the little gray bear to go with my new Black and Gray glitter paper pack. I used all three colors that were in the paper plus two pink sheets that were in a Martha Stewart pack I got last year for Valentine's Day.In order to maintain the sparkle and shine, I printed my images and sentiments on a 4" x 6" piece of glossy photo paper.

 

 

 

I used the Deconstructed Sketch 85, rotated on its side, for the design of my card. 

 

 

The treat tube is another new product I hadn't tried until yesterday. I enlarged the "Be Mine" heart to 1.5" which was a perfect fit for the small die cut box. I pop dotted the heart on the front and made a tag using the original size of the sentiment and some scraps of the glitter paper. With eight grandkids I have only 7 more to make, so I kept it simple and filled it with m and m's.

 

I always appreciate your comments, so be sure to leave one to have a chance to win this fun set of images. Here is the line-up of the rest of the blog hop with the stamp set they're offering. In case you didn't start at the beginning,  you can find at the Clearly iStamp blog.

 

Clearly iStamp
Lisa - Have a Heart
Sarah T. - Tweet Houses
Cassie - Little Chickie
Deonna - Charlie Horse
Jen - Mr. Spike
Kathy - Cheeps
Vickie - Heart Hugs (that's me, you're here!)
Linda - Tiny Dinos

I'm sharing these projects with the following Challenges:
The Deconstructed Sketch #85
Paper Creators Crafts #3 - Love is all around
Alphabet Challenge Blog - Y for Yummy (my treat holder)
Crafty Catz  #166- Anything but a card (my treat holder)
Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge- give a gift
Craft Us Crazy #35 - Valentines/Love (and/or use the color red)
Crafting for All Seasons - Something New ( my glitter paper and treat holders/boxes)

Valentine's Card and Treat Tube Recipe:
Digital Image - Clear Dollar Stamps "Heart Hugs" Colored
Paper - Close To My Heart Black and Gray Glitter Papers, Martha Stewart Enchanted Woodlands mat pad (pink papers), Epson Glossy photo paper
Accents - Michaels silver ribbon, CTMH Red/Pink Sparkles and Who's Your Valentine treat tubes and die cut boxes and black hemp
Tools - printer, Martha Stewart heart border punch


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CIC67 - Brown and Red Valentine



This week the Clearly Inspired Challenge at Clearly iStamp is to make projects focusing on the colors Brown and Red. Laurie Wilson made this digital stamp set that I used to make another Valentine for one of my grandsons.



 I decided to have Mr. Spike deliver a puppy love card, holding it in his mouth with that top tooth. This image cracks me up because in high school our mascot was a bulldog. I can't tell you how many times I sat in pep club at football games with our principal's slobbering bulldog near my feet. He wouldn't have hurt a flea, but he always looked gruff and grouchy.

 I used dark brown cardstock with the lighter brown designer paper. It almost looks black here. I took a craft knife and cut around the tooth so he could "hold the valentine." I copied and pasted one word at a time in a new document, flattened the layers, and printed it on a small card. I traced around the worrds using a one inch heart that I cut on the Cricut Artiste, cut it out, and cut another red one that is one fourth of an inch larger. I used a glue dot under his tooth at under the top of the hearts and a pop dot under the lower part of the heart so it would stick out a little more. 

I  hope you'll join our challenge with your own brown and red project! I can't wait to see your creation!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Paper Playtime #1 - Pets
Craft-Room Challenge - Valentines
Top Tip Tuesdays #93 - Fur or Feathers
Card a Day Blog - Valentine's Day Card (for a boy)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #64 - Valentine's Day/Love plus ribbon
Crafty Ribbons #36 - Love
Dutch Dare Card Challenge #200 - Buttons

5" x 6.5" Valentine Recipe:
Digital Image and sentiment - Clear Dollar Stamp "Mr. Spike"
Ink - Close To My Heart "Cocoa"
Paper - Martha Stewart dp, Bazzill cardstock, CTMH White Daisy cardstock for print
Accents - CTMH Wooden buttons, ribbon from my stash
Tools, printer, photoshop CS, Cricut Artiste







 

Mojo Monday 276 Birthday Card

I'm part of that large group of baby boomers who are now aging into the golden years. Some of us deny it, some fight it or at least try to slow the progression, and some have no control over it. But no matter what problems seem to arrive with age, we can tolerate them better with a sense of humor. Some days you'd think I was in my second childhood with the silliness I exude. I told my hubby last night, I'd rather be silly than grouchy. That was my way of dealing with the pleurisy I'm fighting this week. I'm always quoting Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."

Here's a card with a delightful sentiment from Clear Dollar Stamps that spoke to me, as a former gardener. I'm hoping it will bring a smile to my friend's face as well.

I used this lovely sketch from Mojo Monday #276.
 

 

 

 

 

I'm sharing this birthday card with the followin challenges:

Mojo Monday #276 - sketch

Forever Friends January Monthly challenge - Birthdays

Moving Along with the Times - Birthday Cards

Sarah Hurley Challenge #76 - Celebrate

Ooh La La Creations #121 - Happy Birthday

Digital Tuesday #193 - Flower Power

Ruby's Rainbow #45 - something that makes you SMILE

Pile It On #2 - Happy Funny Birthday 

 

5" x 6.5" Birthday Card Recipe:

Paper - Basic Grey "Indie Bloom" and "Hello Luscious," black and white cardstock

Digital Stamps - Clear Dollar Stamps

Markers - Close To My Heart alcohol ink markers - Sorbet, Creme Brulee, Autumn Terracotta Light, Autumn Terracotta, Sweet Leaf, Olive, Cotton Candy; Copics E11 barely beige, Y11 Pale Yellow

Accents - Wilton black glittery doily, black lace, MME baker's twine

 

 

 

PSC62 - Encourage Me, with Ribbon

This week the challenge at The Perfect Sentiment is to make a card of encouragement and the twist is to add ribbon. It's exciting to announce that we have two sponsors:

 Pattie's Creations is offering 3 free digis to a lucky winner.

>
Crafty City is offering a $5.00 gift certificate to be used in their store.



Through all of life's difficulties I have found three sources of encouragement - kind friends, scripture, and prayer. So I wanted to make a masculine card of encouragement with a beautiful Psalm for the sentiment.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 

 



 

The Scripture on front and the inside sentiment both come from a digi stamp set from Clear Dollar Stamps called "Christian Sympathy."  I felt that the stylized flowers on the inside sentiment were not too girly to be in a masculine card.I lightly sponged the Psalm with ink to match. Instead of stamping an additional image, I used a chipboard bird that I've been saving for a while. It comes from Basic Grey's Curio line. I used to hold on to favorite embellishments for such a long time, until just the right moment or project. Now my motto is "use it up" before more comes to take it's place. I'd rather give it away in a card of encouragement than wait for just the right scrapbook layout.

 

 

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Embossing Folders

Creative Creations #1 - Anything Goes

Make It Monday #123- Anything Goes

Pause, Dream, Enjoy #1 - Use Ribbon

Top Tip #93 - Fur or Feathers (and my tip - use it up/give it away instead of saving it)

Twist of Faith #20 - For the Men or Boys with scripture or inspirational sentiment

Word Art Wednesday #62 - anything with encouraging scripture

 

6.5" x 5" Encouragement Card Recipe:

Digital Stamps - Clear Dollar Stamps "Christian Sympathy"

Ink - Close To My Heart Garnet

Paper - CTMH "Avonlea" paper pack and white cardstock, Bazzill (maroon colored cs)

Accents - Hobby Lobby ribbon, Basic Grey "Curio" chipboard bird, CTMH Green & Blue Epoxy Bubbles

Tools - Sizzix embossing folder "Swirly Vines with Hearts"

 

CDS January New Digi Release Zinnia

This is my fourth post showing some of the new digi images released today by Clear Dollar Stamps. To see the entire set, please visit the Clearly iStamp blog.

I love flowers and have raised so many varieties. My first flower to raise was zinnias when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My mom always bought me a variety pack of seeds with all different colors. I was always amazed at the variety.  I decided to color the zinnia for my card with several different colors, putting the lightest color on the outer petals and the darker colors nearer the yellow center. I enjoyed pairing peach and pink colors on this card with pale green. Because the flower design has heavy black lines, I gave the sentiment block a black mat and black opaques on the butterflies. One of the things I liked most about this set of images was the sentiment and the way it could wrap around the image. I think this will be a great valentine for one of my friends.

 I'm thinking about making another one and putting liquid glass/glossy accents on the black outlines.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing the new release samples. Thank you for visiting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Moving Along with the Times - Floral Delights
My Heart Pieces - Gettin' Girly
Red Carpet Studio #19 - The Butterfly Effect

5" x 6.6" Friendship Card Recipe:
Digital Images - Zinnas
Markers and Ink - CTMH alcohol ink: Sorbet, Blush Dark, Honey Light, Sweet Leaf, Olive; CopicYR61 Yellowish Skin Pink; CTMH Cotton Candy ink (sponged butterfly)
Paper - My Mind's Eye "Totally Girl;" CTMH White Daisy, Black cardstock
Accents - CTMH Sorbet Ribbon, Baby Pink Organdy, Flutter Paper shapes, Licorice Opaques; button from stash; Wilton doily
Tools - printer

January Release at CDS - More Lovey Dovey

Here is my third post using digital images from January's new release at Clear Dollar Stamps. You can see all of the images and artwork at Clearly iStamp blog.

 

 

Everything about this card sparkles - the background paper, black sparkly doily, gold ribbon, gold border around the sentiment, and the aqua sparkles. The paper has silver and gold embossing which will make it perfect for an elegant wedding card, anniversary card, or even a masculine valentine.  I just really liked the flowing font of the sentiment and thought it went well with the silver and gold flourishes.

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

There She Goes #190 -  Love is in the air

Victorine Originals #50 - Sparkle and shine

Stamp and Create January - Love

 

5" x 6.5" Love Card Recipe:

Digital Image - Lovey Dovey

Markers - CTMH Gold Metallic marker
Papers - DCWV All Dressed Up Glitter stack; CTMH White Daisy cs
Accents - CTMH Blue/Green Sparkles; Wilton black glittered doily; Michaels gold metallic ribbon
Tools - printer, 2.5" circle punch

 

 

January Digi New Release at CDS

Today is the day for the new digi stamps to be released at Clear Dollar Stamps. I'm sharing 4 different posts with samples today. This is the first one using  two of the images from "Borders." If you didn't come here from the original post, you can find more samples and all the available images here at the Clearly iStamp Blog.

 



I wanted to combine two different borders for this romantic card. The borders I used came sized large, perfect for a picture to be framed. First I sized the line/dot border for a card. Then, I used the ribbon/bows on the inside, sizing it to fit. I printed them on a piece of 4" x 6" patterned paper in the photo tray of my printer.

I cut the formal couple silhouette using Cricut Artiste. Be sure and check out my other post using the borders on a scrapbook layout to frame a photo and a title. This set of images has so many possibilities! I made this card versatile by leaving it open-ended for either wedding or anniversary, depending on what I need first.

 

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Card Makin' Mamas - anything goes

Totally Gorjuss #166 - Spotty (my polka dot paper)

Simply Create Linky Party #17 - always anything goes for digital or paper creation

 

6.5" x 5" Love Card Recipe:

Digital Images - Borders

Paper - CTMH "Lucy" (pink), Black Cardstock; Bo-Bunny (dotted)
Accents - CTMH Black Tulle Ribbon, Black Hemp, Bitty Buds, Cricut Artiste couple diecut
Tools - printer, Photoshop CS, Cricut Artiste
Technique - stacked two borders using copy and paste

 

 

La Belle Vie Birthday Card - Mojo Monday 275

I'm getting ready for my daughter's birthday next month with this card. I used a paper pack with a Parisian theme because she was able to travel to Paris four years ago. I'm hoping the card will bring back sweet memories of the sights and her friends there. Although time is nearly up, I couldn't finish the week without a card using the Mojo Monday sketch for this week.

 

 

I stamped the Verve sentiment with Pansy Purple ink and sponged a little of that ink around the scalloped edges of the sentiment shape. All of the papers came from the same paper pack. The designer papers have "zip strips" on one edge that has a design on one side and identifying labels on the other. I mounted the zip strip on gold metallic organdy ribbon to go across the card which was inspired by the challenge at Come and Get It this week: tie a ribbon around it.  The flower was made by attaching a pink rolled satin rose on the middle of a prima flower. The flower and ribbon together fit the challenge at The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Blog this week. Together with this paper, I think they give this card a very feminine look. . . just like my oldest daughter!

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Charisma Cards #1 for this year - Happy Birthday (it's their 4th!!)

Come and Get It - Tie a Ribbon around it

Forever Friends January challenge - Birthdays

Mojo Monday #275 - sketch

Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog #76 - Celebrate

The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop #18 - flowers and ribbon (both of my favorites to add!)

 

6.5" x 5" Birthday Card Recipe:

Paper - Close To My Heart "La Belle Vie"

Stamp - Verve

Ink - CTMH Pansy Purple

Accents - Michael's Celebrate It gold metallic ribbon, Prima floral embellishment, Offray pink rose embellishment

Tools - CTMH 2" scalloped circle punch

 

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