Psalm 20:4 Flowery Card

My last two cards inspired me to play with flower stamps again. I  love reading the Psalms. I know that God loves and cares for us even more than we can realize. In His Word I can understand what he desires for my life so I can desire and plan the kinds of things that are within His will.

I made one using the April PTI Year of Psalms stamp along with the CTMH May Stamp of the Month flowers (and leaves and tiny blossom from November 2014 SOTM It's the Little Things). I had seen one of the PTI designers make a card with a flowery wreath around the verse and decided to try my hand making one with two different CTMH SOTM sets. The one in my last post had a black sentiment but I think I prefer this one stamped with Gypsy ink.

For the inside I used a verse from ODBD "All Occasions Sentiments" that I thought matched the Psalm on front:

Thank you for visiting! "May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed."

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #180 - anything goes + sentiment
Craftaholics R Us May Challenge - spring colors or flowers
Crafty Calendar May Challenge - Flowers
Creative with Stamps May Challenge #14 - Flowers
Word Art Wednesday #284-285 - anything family friendly

Very Retro Rubber Flower Card

I was looking for a color challenge for a flowery card and found this idea at Retro Rubber. Since I have lots of older stamps (not to mention a treasure of new ones) I love challenges that inspire me to use them.

I've had the  CTMH stamps called Endless Friendship since 2009 and the sentiment from my days of teaching at the scrapbook store, Technique Tuesday's "Big Mouth" with super big sentiments for cards. I purchased those in 2008.

I wanted a profusion of flowers for the Crafty Cardmakers challenge to fill the edges and a large sentiment in the middle. Here's my card for a friend who is going on a mission trip next in June.

The inside verse is a rubber stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 1 that I've had at least five years. I chose this verse because she plans to travel in several different countries while she's abroad and I'll be praying that she will trust God for every need and direction as she travels across Europe.

Thank you for visiting. May God make your paths straight as you trust Him with your plans.

I'm sharing the first card with the following challenges:

Double D Challenge - Flowers Galore
Crafty Cardmakers #189 - Floral Profusion
Retro Rubber Challenge #63 - color challenge

The Crafty Addicts #36 -anything + add a sentiment
Word Art Wednesday #284-285 - anything goes

I made a second card like this with a vertical sentiment that is new, the April PTI Year of Psalms stamp.

Swirly Seashell Scripture Cards

Five years ago I took four of my grandchildren (with parents and the other grandmother) on vacation to the ocean. It was so amazing to watch - and photograph - their delight with the entire experience. It was the first of four vacations which also included mountains, deserts, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Canyon. These were things I felt everyone should see in order to understand what an amazing world we live in. In two weeks their parents are taking them again to the same beach on Mustang Island for a repeat of what they considered to be their favorite vacation. I decided to give my daughter one of these cards with some souvenir money inside. I chose a CTMH scripture stamp from the retired set, "Look to the Light," to celebrate vacation rest from her busy schedule:

"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28." 

Thanks for visiting! As summer vacation arrives, may you also find rest and refreshment in Him!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments Challenge #180 - anything goes with a sentiment
Happy Little Stampers - anything goes with dies
Heartful Stamping Challenge - die cuts + stamping
Sunsational May Challenge - Swim, Beach, Ocean
Rubber Dance Blog - Rule of Three (first card)
Through the Purple Haze #125 - anything goes

Papers - CTMH No Worries; Mermaid Coast card base from Michaels
Stamps - CTMH Swirly Sea Shells, Look to the Light
Ink - Glacier, Gypsy, Slate, and Blossom for sea shells, sponged with Whisper ink. Black sentiment and Copic markers to color second card
Tools - Swirly Sea Shells Thin cuts, Spellbinders Curved Borders Two die
Embellishments - Silver Sequins; retired Coral Reef Sequins

Live Beautifully Wedding Card

Tomorrow the daughter of one of my scrapbook friends is graduating from college with a teaching degree and in two weeks she's getting married. I've often wondered why June has traditionally been a month for weddings. Maybe it's tied to the timing of graduations. I'm just thrilled for her daughter because she already has a teaching job in a big district in our metropolitan area, not an easy achievement. Both of her parents were teachers, so I'm also glad, as a retired teacher, to see a young person continue with teaching. (My own children saw how much I worked and knew they'd never want to be teachers.)

So with wedding bells ringing, I just had to share a wedding card:

The papers and the gold embossed rose and leaves stamps are part of the Live Beautifully special for May since this is National Scrapbook Month. I watched a youtube tutorial from Really Reasonable Ribbon for making bows with ribbon printed on one side. I was thrilled that all the hearts ended up facing the right direction.

The inside verse is decorated with a zip strip from the gold outlined flowers paper. That verse is one of Papertrey Ink's Tucked In stamp sets.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless your crafting and the recipients of your crafting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #351 - Wedding
Craft for the Craic May Challenge - anything goes
Making Memories Crafting Challenge #5 - May-anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - a bit of Sparkle
Simply Papercraft Challenge 46 - anything goes
Unicorn Challenge #21 - Special occasions
Word Art Wednesday #282-283 -  anything family friendly


5" x 6.5" Wedding Card Recipe (all CTMH except the inside verse):
Paper - Live Beautifully paper pack, Gold Glitter Paper, White Daisy Cardstock for stamping
Stamps - Live Beautifully, PTI Tucked In Wedding
Ink - Versamark for rose, Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools - "love" Thin Cuts die, Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder, Zutter Bow-it-All, Scallop border punch, heat tool
Embellishments - Uptown Ribbon Pack, Gold Glitter Gems

Mojo Monday Unicorn Birthday Card

Today I wanted a shiny birthday card for a little girl. The diagonal strip on the Mojo Monday sketch this week was just perfect (if flipped the other direction) to use with the CTMH Little Dreamer paper. The "shine sparkle" words on the pml card run diagonally so I used it for the background of the card. Here's the sketch:

Since the background says "sparkle shine" I used a white glitter paper strip with ribbon that has shiny gold hearts and x's to emphasize love. I also used a gold glitter paper panel behind the lagoon diagonal striped panel that has the unicorn.

To continue the sparkle shine idea, I embossed the sentiment with Ranger Princess Gold powder and added bitty sparkles on the sparkle designs that were printed on the unicorn panel. I cut out a matching unicorn from the 2nd pml card in the paper pack and popped it up on the one on the card. I used the shimmer brush to add sparkle to the top unicorn.

Here's the inside:

Thanks for visiting! May you be blessed as you bless others with your creations!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #180 - anything goes + a sentiment

Craft Rocket Challenge #37 - Fantasy

Mojo Monday #497 sketch

Seize the Birthday - Birthday with topping or creature or animal

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Sparkle

Southern Girls #160 - Add Sparkle

5.5" x 4.25" Card Recipe (all supplies are CTMH):

Paper - Little Dreamer paper pack, White Glitter Paper, Gold Glitter Paper

Stamps - C1633 For Family (retired), C1631 Birthday Princess (inside)

Ink - Versark, Lagoon (inside)

Tools and Embellishments - Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder, Bitty Sparkles, Uptown Ribbon Pack, Clear Shimmer Brush, Heat Tool, Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Shimmer Trim

Live Beautifully Tri-Shutter Card

I happened to catch Joy Tracey's tutorial last week to make this card. You can find it on her blog post at Obsessed with Scrapbooking. What I loved about this post was her Cricut cutfile for a tri-shutter card. It made this card quick and easy to make! I plan to use it a lot. I used the same papers she did for my friend's birthday card, but I decorated it differently. I stamped the rose with Cotton Candy ink, then sponged some pomegranate ink near the edges and restamped. I used Copic markers to shade each petal because I wanted more depth to the design. My coloring isn't perfect, but I like the depth it added.

I had already handwritten a personal message to my friend above the stamped sentiment inside before photographing this card, so I didn't take a close-up photo of that. I stamped a verse from Our Daily Bread Designs: "May you enjoy God's awesome blessings on your birthday!"

Thanks for visiting! May God bless you as you bless others with your creations!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #242 - Make Your Mark (used Copics on top of ink)
Allsorts Challenge #415 - Roses
Cards und More Challenge #184 - Cards for women
Creative With Stamps #14 - Flowers
Dream Valley Challenge #156 - things with wings

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Sparkle (I used black sparkles)

5.5" x 3.75" card recipe (all materials CTMH unless indicated otherwise):
Paper - CTMH Live Beautifully patterned paper, Pomegranate and White Daisy cardstock,
Stamp - Live Beautifully (flower and leaves), ODBD All Occasion Sentiments
Inks - Cotton Candy, Pomegranate, Ponderosa Pine; Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers - Copics R83 and R89
Embellishments - White and Gold Ribbon, (Retired: Just Blooms flutter butterflies, black sparkles, black sparkle flourish)
Tools - Cricut Design Space and Joy Tracey's cut file listed above

Crafting By Designs - Fantasy

Crafting By Designs asked me to be a guest designer for their challenge this week, with the theme of Fantasy! I was happy to share my latest creation using the new CTMH Little Dreamer paper pack and coordinating stamp and die set. I had one of my very imaginative granddaughters in mind when I was making this card.

I cut the star background using Cricut Artbooking. The unicorn, sentiment banner,  and silver glitter stars have matching stamps and dies. I love using Cricut Design space because I was able to unlock the sizes of the square to set the height and width to fit my unicorn with a rectangle.  The sky and clouds barely show up in my photo, but they inspired my card because I'm just sure unicorns like to fly in the sky! I cut out a matching cloud from my extra paper to pop up with the  "Birthday Wishes" sentiment. The unicorn's horn has some blank spaces that I colored in with coordinating Shin-Han alcohol ink markers to make it multi-colored.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you'll join the Fantasy challenge this week at Crafting by Designs and share your own creation!!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Come and Get It Challenge -  Birthday Wishes

HeARTful Stamping Challenge - Glitter + a stamp

Unicorn Challenge #21 - Special occasions

Words 2 Craft By May/June Challenge - Guest Designer

My card from March was highlighted at Words 2 Craft By and I am their guest designer this month! The selected quote by Robin Williams has so many possibilities this time of year:

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's Party!"

I selected the idea of Mother's Day celebrations, which have always been a "big deal" in my family! I was the oldest of six children, five of us girls who also became mothers, so when we gathered, the celebration was always big! I used a bright springtime paper (CTMH Brushed, retired) and changed out the background mats and embellishments to make three Mother's Day cards. Each one has one of the flowers fussy cut from another sheet of the same paper for added dimension. 

Thank you for visiting! I'd love to see you share your creation with Words 2 Craft By.

I'm sharing this project with the following challenges:

Crafting with Dragonflies Challenge #80 - lots of flowers and/or Mother's Day
D.L.Art Thankful Thursday #203 - Mother's Day
Really Reasonable Ribbon #163 - Mother's Day with ribbon

YNS Sketch and Colors for Claire Cards

I had seen this sketch and color challenge at Your Next Stamp and decided to use both to create one card. I knew that my CTMH Claire papers from several years ago had all of those colors except lighter blue (from CTMH Pemberly) and Chocolate, which I added.  However, after I pulled out these lovely  papers, I decided to make an entire box of cards. (I do get carried away sometimes!)

 

Here's my card for the challenge using a new "thank you" stamp I just got. I colored it with matching Copic markers.

I'm sharing this project with the following challenges:
Crafts Galore Encore May Challenge - anything goes
Making Memories Crafting Challenge #5 - anything goes
Simply Papercraft Challenge #46 - anything goes
The Crafty Addicts Challenge #36 - AG/add a sentiment
Word Art Wednesday #280 - 281 - anything family friendly
YNS Challenge #63 - Sketch and all 5 colors of the Color challenge

I decided to make all of the cards in the Cricut Artiste box "swing cards" from both Cricut Artiste and Cricut Artfully Sent cartridges. I also made all of them with the same theme, thinking of you.  I wanted each card to be fairly flat for mailing to someone who is sick or needs prayer or encouragement.

Both the umbrella and the flower below were coated with sparkles using the glitter shimmer brush, but the lighting didn't show that.

Here's a sample of the inside:

One of my CTMH "sisters," Sheila Bennet,  had shared a couple of years ago which frame/label stamps matched the Artiste Swing cards, so I used those: Frame It Up and Perfect Fit Frames.   I had one extra pack of canvas stickers that went with the Claire papers so these adorned several of the cards:

Live Beautifully Card with Atlantic Hearts Sketch

May is National Scrapbooking Month and Close To My Heart has a special paper pack, Live Beautifully,  to help us celebrate. You can see all the papers, a coordinating stamp set, and a Cut Above Layout Kit that makes five double page layouts. The flowers remind me of old English roses, my favorites!

When I looked at the Atlantic Hearts sketch today I suddenly saw  this card in the making. I hadn't yet used the back side of the pink roses, the white roses on light green. When I saw the roses were lined up and could be cut in a strip, I thought it would be the perfect element for the horizontal strip across the middle. I also thought the gold dotted overlay would work well to dress up  the green ombre paper. Here's the result:

 I enhanced the card with gold four ways: gold dot overlay, gold glitter gems, gold embossed sentiment, and white and gold fiber. The sentiment is part of the Sending Smiles (Cricut Bundle) stamp set.  The back of the green ombre paper is a pink ombre which I used for the center panel mounted on the black dotted mat, all from the Live Beautifully paper pack.

I fussy cut and popped up the pink roses, then I decided to cut out matching rose clusters to pop up over the ones on the green background. For more card ideas for Live Beautifully, you can see the one I posted last week here or follow the link of the label at the bottom of the post.

Thank you for visiting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge #193 - embossing (used heat embossed sentiment)
Always Fun Challenge #4 - Flowers
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #210
Make My Monday Challenge #45 - May Flowers
Shopping Our Stash Challenge #301 - Back to Basics: ditch the dies and fussy cut something
The Crazy Challenge #247 - Leafy Green , include leaves

Sweet Baby LOVE Card

Someone asked me to make some baby cards. Here's one for a baby girl, just in time for someone to become a Mother for Mother's Day! I thought the word LOVE would be perfect for becoming a family!

I didn't participate in the CTMH May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop this month because I'm having medical procedures tomorrow that could have kept me pre-occupied. But I still couldn't help making a card for the stamp set, Live, Laugh, Love.

If you'd like to find the blog hop and see more ideas for this stamp set, you can start on the list here.  I chose to color the word "LOVE"with pink and light gray alcohol ink markers and cut it apart for a baby girl card.

I used the new paper pack, Little Dreamer, coordinating glitter gems, and a couple  of Cricut images from Flower Market and Artbooking. If you have these cartridges and use Design Space, you may use my cut files sized for a 6.5" x 5" card and these letters. The Whisper Thick Twine is on one of the zip strips from the paper pack and matted on white glitter paper.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #187 - pearls and/or gems
Cute Card Thursday #475 - Family
Heart 2 Heart - Teeny Tiny (BABY)
HeARTful Stamping Challenge - anything goes with stamping
Mod Squad Challenge - Love theme
Word Art Wednesday #280-281 - anything family friendly