Black and Silver Christmas

In the heat of summer it's nice to think cool thoughts and make snowy Christmas cards. I thought the color challenge to make a Christmas card with black and silver or gold would be fun to try.

I still have some CTMH Snowhaven paper that is black with a pattern of snowflakes.  I added silver foil paper, a silver glitter paper snowflake from Cricut Flower Market, silver shimmer trim, silver sequins, and a transparent strip with silver dots (the other side has gold dots). I even traced the white sentiment from a CTMH Silver and Gold PML card with a shimmer brush but the glittery shine didn't show up in this photo.

Thank you for visiting! May your crafting bless your heart and your gifting bless others.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown July Colour challenge - black and silver or gold

A Snowflake's Promise Challenge #53 - anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #394 - anything goes/ option to use a die cut

Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #109 - the most wonderful time of the year (Christmas!)

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Christmas in July
Ike's World Challenge #110 - anything goes/ Christmas in July
Shopping Our Stash #363 - Christmas in July

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Add a little sparkle

The 12 Months of Christmas July Challenge- anything goes

The Merry Christmas Challenge - anything goes

Psalm 138:7 (WEB)

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. 
You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies. 
Your right hand will save me.

365 Promises of God - Promise #198: I will save you in the midst of your troubles.

Butterfly Wreath

It's no secret to family and friends. I love crafting, especially scrapbooking and cardmaking. Yesterday was National Scrapbook Day and I gave myself to craft almost all day. But I began the day with something else I love to do - writing personal notes or letters of encouragement in cards that I send. I sent three yesterday which is as fulfilling for me as making them. It may be a lost art to communicate with pen and ink instead of social media, but I still think it's important. I have a lot of handwritten letters from a long lost grandmother that are still dear to me. Who can ever find a facebook post from years ago with the same kind of personal touch?

Here's the card I made inspired by four challenges:

I used this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch and Color Throwdown

I used the two Cricut cartridges for images, Flower Market for the wreath and Artistry for the butterflies. Feel free to check out my cut file.  I added neutrals, cream flowers and black. I stamped the kraft butterflies with a very old CTMH stamp set, Romantic Backgrounds. I stacked two of the butterflies attached with glue dots. I started to cut cream flowers but noticed some from my stash had tiny wooden beads that matched the kraft cardstock.

I love to dry emboss white backgrounds. This one uses a retired CTMH vine folder. The die cut sentiment is part of CTMH Thankful for You sitting on CTMH Coral Shimmer Trim.

Thanks for visiting! May God bless your crafting and your giving.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #262 - sketch
Color Throwdown #491 - coral, green, kraft, white
Crafty Calendar May Challenge - Things with Wings
Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #392 - wet or dry embossing

365 Promises - Promise #126: My face will shine upon you all the days of your life.

Heart 2 Heart Tool Time - A Paper Hug

My scrapbook friends know my secret - I'm a fool for a tool, whether it's for gardening or crafting. I love to learn how to use tools and have my own tools on hand, ready to use. I had asked hubby one year for my own cordless drill. It's not hard to get tools for Christmas since I'm married to the man who seems to own so many they take up a basement shop, a barn, a separate shop building, and the shop on his dad's farm.

I kept this card fairly simple. I was challenged by the Heart 2 Heart Challenge this month to use my tools for this creation. I used several CTMH tools to make this card today: Dreamin' Big Card-making Thin Cut die (dragonfly) and coordinating stamp, sponge daubers to add poppy ink to the edges of the saffron dragonfly, shimmer brush, Cricut Flower Market cartridge (and my Explore), and heat tool to emboss the sentiment with white embossing powder. That covers most of the tools I used to make this card. I also used scissors to cut down one of the chevron-type pml cards that came with the Dreamin' Big paper pack to make the basic design of the card.

I wanted the dragonfly to have more than one color so I inked the stamp with Saffron ink and put a drop of poppy reinker on my poppy sponge dauber. I dabbed it on the edges before stamping. This is my new technique. Instead of doing the rock and roll technique and contaminating my stamp pads with other colors, like I've done countless times, I used the inked dauber instead. I put shimmer on the dragonfly because that's the way they've always appeared to me outside. I used the shimmer brush, the perfect way to add that shimmer. I overdid it a little on this dragonfly and the colors aren't showing up well. I also discovered it can dilute dye ink colors and make them bleed if you put on too much. Another lesson learned!

Thank you for visiting. Hugs and blessings!

6.5" x 5" Card Recipe:
Paper - CTMH Dreamin' Big and Some Kinda' Wonderful (black pattern) paper packs, White Daisy, Canary, and Honey (retired) cs
Stamp - Dreamin' Big Cardmaking stamps; True Love Operation Smile stamps
Ink - Flaxen, Poppy, Versamark with white embossing powder
Embellishments - Poppy Thick Twine

Color Dare Friendship Cards

I have three friends who have a strong dislike for some specific color. I always liked all colors, but when CTMH introduced new colors last fall, I wasn't sure that I liked Emerald very much. This week's Color My Heart Color Dare changed my mind. I took the challenge purposely to see what I could do too help myself like this combination. Playing with color combinations is a great learning experience.

I wanted to use a couple of wreaths cut using the Cricut Flower Market cartridge. I embossed the white panel with words and had the wreath encircle the word HAPPY, LIFE was included, too. I stacked two black twig wreaths for more thickness. I cut flowers and berries for both wreaths using the same cartridge but different pages. I was going to share my cut file, but lost internet connection when I went to save and lost the file.

My second card ended up being my favorite:

Both cards have a strip of white shimmer trim and the second one has a die cut word cut from Black Glitter paper and stacked on two more black cardstock words for extra thickness. Now I can't wait to send them to a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you'll be bold enough to try something new you've never tried so both you and the recipient will be blessed!

I'm sharing this last card with the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks #343 - punches or dies (used Cricut wreath and thin cut "hello")

Aud Sentiments Challenge #176 - any sentiment except birthday

Color My Heart Color Dare #236 - Pacifica, White, Black, Emerald

International Art and Soul #4 -  Embossing

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Easter Card

When I make cards snippets of hymns I used to sing usually play in my head. This set of cards inspired two hymns from the days when I used to teach in a Christian school in Harrisonville, Missouri. At Easter the music teacher taught my class "Lift Jesus Higher" which paraphrases John12:32: "And Jesus said if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." The other I learned in church which I kept repeating, "Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim..." He gave us the perfect example of love with both His life and His death. The cross He died on wasn't attractive. I'm sure it was a rough hateful thing. But since it represents His sacrificial love, taking our punishment for our sins, artists down through the centuries have decorated crosses to symbolize this love.

This sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge inspired my design for these Easter cards combining the symbol of the Easter cross with Cricut cut spring flowers along with some old Paper Garden papers and new Paper Fundamentals.

I used Cricut Flower Market cartridge to cut the flowers. You may use my cut file if you have that cartridge. They are sized for my 6.5" x5" card.  My hubbies favorite is the purple one I made first which has the sentiment and cross embossed with silver. The cross comes from a retired CTMH stamp set A1184 Rejoice.

My favorite has a lot more white space and is embossed with gold to match the yellows in the striped Paper Garden papers.

The embossed sentiments show up better in this photo.

Thank you for visiting! May you be blessed with the joy of Christ's love!

I'm sharing this post with the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #144 - Easter
Atlantic Sketch Challenge #204
Cut It Up Challenge #118 - stitches (mine are faux from the MFT double stitched circle die)
Fab n Funky Challenge #343 - flowers
Moving Along with the Times #41 - handmade or die cut flowers
Mustard Seed Faith Challenge - any shade of yellow
My Time to Craft - woodland animals or Easter
Really Reasonable Ribbon #160 - Spring/Easter with ribbon
Southern Girls Challenge #156 - use a die  cut
Word Art Wednesday #274-275 - anything goes

Take Heart Encouragement Card

News from around the world seems so negative sometimes that I know many people in many nations are facing problems that can be overwhelming. It's comforting to know that God is in control, in both good times and bad times, waiting for us to rely on His help, wanting to bless us through and after trials and troubles. Here's a verse to encourage someone who is troubled by the circumstances of life with this Scripture Series 3 stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs:

"In this world you will have trouble, Take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

A week or so ago I saw a challenge to use red and pink. While I've been making lots of scrapbook layouts this week trying to use up some of my Basic Grey collections, I pulled aside some of the red and pink scraps for cards. I added two thin strips of CTMH Raspberry with hearts from the Adventure Fundamentals. The black silhouette is from Cricut Flower Market cartridge.

Thank you for visiting! May you see God's direction and blessing through life's problems.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Come and Get It - 3 or more layers

Crafty Girls Creations #33 - anything goes

Crafty Sentiment Designs - Lace and/or Ribbon (my CTMH black flowered ribbon)

Die Cuttin Divas #302 - anything goes (Cricut cuts white sentiment shape and black fern)

Inspiration Destination #121 -  anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #268-269 - anything family friendly

Blessed Sympathy Card

I had been sick over the weekend and Monday my doctor was out sick, so I went to urgent care who sent me to the ER, which was so crowded I thought we'd be there all night. When I was checked in, they informed me that all of the hospitals in our metropolitan area were closed to ambulances. My hubby and I wondered what would happen to people who needed emergency care via ambulance. Then today I learned that the mother of one of my friends died unexpectedly during the night from a heart attack. She only lived a few blocks from the fire station and ambulance, maybe a mile from a small hospital. My friend and I had scrapbooked together on Saturday. As a single adult who had already lost her father, the loss of her mother is overwhelming. They did so much together.

My heart has hurt deeply for her since I heard the news, which prompts me to keep praying for her. I'm praying she will feel God's comforting arms and presence as He helps her through this storm. I wanted to make her a special card so today I chose this PTI stamp and die, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" for her card. I'm so glad she's an active member in a large church. At times like this, God's people are His comforting voice, His comforting arms.

The MME "Sundshine" papers and this sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches were perfect for this card. The black diecut was from Cricut Flower Market.

I'm also sharing this first card with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Word Art Wednesday Challenge #266-267.

When our scrapbook club met this weekend, several of us made 12 sympathy and get well cards using leftover CTMH "Oh, Deer" papers:

I sprayed this card with Fern reinker in water, dried it, then stamped the parsley image using Juniper ink and the new "Good Thymes" stamp set.

(The butterflies on this card were cut using leftover Calypso paper.)

Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound

We all need a little encouragement from time to time, some of us more than others. I usually like to be the one to encourage others, but yesterday I had a small shock that left me feeling quite down. I have a rare disease, systemic mastocytosis, that requires me to drink a liquid medicine 4 times a day or I can't eat. For the last year and a half I've been down to only two foods (that didn't make me sick or give me rash) and they've given me trouble the last month. Nausea is not my friend. But when I found they had raised my medication cost by 82% and I'll be paying over $800 a month for just this one generic med for most of the year I went into shock! I knew I needed to turn this burden over to God. I went back and forth between worry and prayer. Today I was comforted by 1 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." So here's the card I made maybe for myself, but eventually to give someone else. I was inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and the colors at Color Throwdown this week.

 

Challenge Up Your Life today encouraged us to make our own backgrounds so I embossed the back panel with Cuttlebug's older Allegro embossing folder. I stamped the Honey panel with Saffron ink using Our Daily Bread Design's "Amazing Grace Hymn" stamp and stamped and cut the "Amazing," "Grace," and "how sweet the sound" with PTI's "Inspired - Grace" stamp and die set. The inside used the same stamp set and blue washii tape like the front.

I also wanted a sympathy card for a dear friend who just lost her husband to cancer. We were reading teachers in the same program and district who also loved scrapbooking. Before her teaching days she worked for the National Park Service, so I chose the trees and a Cricut Flower Market cut of a Maidenhair fern like I'd seen in Zion National Park.

I decided to make more of these with a slightly varied design using the Sizzix embossed birch trees and the Sea Glass tree pattern from the CTMH "Oh, Deer" papers.

I'm also sharing this card with Word Art Wednesday #264-265.

Thank you for visiting. When you encounter your need for encouragement, I hope you'll also find strength in the knowledge that God's grace IS sufficient to see us through any trial.

Quick Florence Birthday Card

I love giving cards and writing personal messages to let people know how much I care. November and December decimated my card supply so as the weather turns colder I plan to start rebuilding my "stash" before January birthdays and anniversaries decimate it again!

I was inspired by the Cut It Up Challenge that is so perfect for the old and new years- Out with the Old and In with the New. I REALLY need to use up some old supplies!

OLD:  This week I enjoyed getting some great half-price buys at the CTMH Boxing Day Sale. I noticed they were still selling Florence Sequins and Complements at half price one day and I had to re-order. It inspired me to get out my leftover scraps of Florence papers, complements, and sequins from last year. I loved the copper foiled chipboard diecuts and sequins which I used to make two identical birthday cards:

The black "Happy" is a "Happy Easter" Cricut cut from the newest CTMH Flower Market Cartridge. I love using acrylic stamps. I can bend them a little to match the curve of my design. The stamp here is ten years old (C1257 Happy Birthday from 2007 )!

NEW: My Spellbinders die cut the curvy scalloped edge. The glittery blue ribbon is also brand new from Michaels and added the finishing touch to emphasize a birthday is something to CELEBRATE!

Thank you for visiting!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks #331 - anything goes
Cut It Up Challenge #112 - Out with the old, in with the new
DL Art Thankful Thursday #195 - anything goes
Southern Girls #150 - anything goes

October SOTM Blog Hop - Yuletide Joy

Welcome to our blog hop featuring Close To My Heart's October Stamp of the Month! You may have just come from Corinna Murphy's blog. If so, you're on the right path. For a complete list of participants, visit Melinda Everitt's blog list.
This stamp set is perfect for the Christmas cards and tags I'm making. I chose to use the star image for my first SOTM post:

I cut the stars at the suggested side for the bottom stamped star and stamped it again on a smaller star. I cut out a larger version for the gold glitter paper star and the negative space in the main panel and its kraft mat.  Here you can see the way I used thin dimensional foam tape on the mat layer and regular dimensional foam tape to pop up both stars.

I also made two tags using the gold embossed stars and wreath-type cuts from Cricut Flower Market. I cut the square wreath from Fern cardstock, but after gluing it in place, I regretted not usisng New England Ivy cardstock, so I colored it with the ShinHan Sap Green marker.

You can use my cut file which sized all the pieces for the 6.5" x 5" card and 5" x 2.5" tags if you're interested. (These cuts require the Art Philosophy and Flower Market cartridges.)

Now you are ready to enjoy  Nancy Womersley's blog.

Card and Tag supplies (all CTMH):
Paper - Oh, Deer paper pack; White Daisy, Colonial White, Fern, Kraft cardstock, Gold Glitter paper
Ink - Versamark, New England Ivy, Desert Sand, Sea Glass,
Stamp - Yuletide Joy
Tools, Cricut Art Philosophy, Cricut Flower Market, Shin Han Sap Green marker, Gold embossing powder, craft heater, sponge daubers
Embellishments - Uptown Ribbon pack (gold), Rustic Home Ribbon pack (crocheted), Fern Thick Twine, gold sequins

Blessed to Have You in My Life

I love this sentiment because it clearly states the gratitude we have for those friends and family who encourage, bless, and lift us up.  Some of them bless us with their smile just by being near. You see them coming and your day is brighter. Others know how to read your unspoken thoughts or emotions and lift you up in prayer. Whatever way they bless us, this sentiment of gratitude is timeless, not just around Thanksgiving even though I used paper and colors for an autumn card.

The stamps are from the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month for September which is only available for another week. I have a box with a lot of fall papers that have retired, so the gingham is ancient. I used the new Cricut Flower Market to cut the diecuts that match the stamps as well as the wreath and banner. I used the colors from the challenge at Your Next Stamp and the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketch:

 

Thank you for visiting! May God richly bless your relationships with friends and family!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks #317 - Colors of Fall
Addicted to Stamps #132 - trees/branches and or leaves
Aud Sentiments #164 - Fall Colors + a sentiment
Crafty Cardmakers #173 - Autumn
Creative Corner Challenge - Autumn
Tuesday Morning Sketches #370 - sketch
Word Art Wednesday #248-249 - anything goes that's family friendly
YNS Challenge #48 - used the color challenge - at least 3 plus neutral Chocolate

Autumn Colored Thankfulness

September came to our area with an early taste of fall. The high temperatures have been in the 70's and lower 80's. They've been so much more refreshing than the humid 90's! They put me in a mood to make fall cards!

I wanted to make one with another sentiment from the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month in my last post.  The stamp set displayed each of these separately but I paired them together because I saw a connection between "thankful" and the idea, "The secret to having it all is knowing you already do."  This is truly something to think about! Taking time to consider that I have so much to be thankful for can make a difficult day seem blessed, and in my head I start hearing the old hymn playing, "Count Your Blessings."

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost.
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.

Thank you for visiting! May your days be blessed with thankfulness and awareness of the many ways God has blessed you!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create #189 - optional - colors of fall or anything goes
Crafty Catz #336 - anything goes with optional autumn colors
Die Cut Divas - Fall (die cut oak leaf wreath and wood embossing)
Just for Fun Challenge - Fall photo inspiration (stamped leaves and sentiment)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #148 - autumn colors with ribbon
Simply Create Too #117 - Fall colors
Word Art Wednesday #246-247 - anything family friendly

5" x 6.5" Card Recipe:
Papers - Kraft Cardstock base, Jeepers Creepers (tangerine stripe), Swan Lake (poppy nature pattern), Enchantment Paper Fundamentals (New England Ivy), Black, White Daisy, Tangerine (wreath) cardstocks
Stamp - Blessed Beyond Measure
Inks - Tangerine, Black; Chocolate and Poppy for sponging
Markers to color acorns on wreath
Embellishments - gold sequins, black and gold ribbon (Uptown Ribbon Pack)
Tools - sponges for inking,  Wood Slats embossing folder, corner rounder, Cricut Flower Market

Mojo Monday #459 Happy Wishes Card

I turned over my August page on my birthday/anniversary calendar and was surprised to see how many of my friends have one of those occasions this month. I just finished a week of three birthday parties that weren't on the calendar and need to be added.  I need 11 cards, not counting the encouragement ones I'll need for those in our church. I recently found the blog of Pamela Kuhn,  Shelter: Postmarked. She is such an inspiration with her daily challenge to send cards of encouragement to someone every day. Her daybook is also a beautiful collection of uplifting thoughts.
This card is the result of playing with papers, flower, and stamps on my desktop that I hadn't put away yet. They were just the right size for the Mojo Monday sketch this past week:

I stamped several flower silhouettes (retired CTMH "Treasure Life") on the Theresa Collins script paper. I added the gold polka dots from the same paper pad and added them to the Paper Studio's Simple Elegance black flourish card background. All of the cardstock was CTMH. The sentiment is part of a large set of acrylic stamps that came with my new CTMH Cricut Flower Market cartridge.
There were still enough scraps to make a second card:

Thanks for visiting! May God bless you as you create your own artwork to encourage others!

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

Mojo Monday #459 sketch
Word Art Wednesday #242-243- anything family friendly

Quick and Easy Christmas Cards

I need a lot of Christmas cards by November, so I just finished eight easy ones that were so quick to make using Cricut Explore and some pre-designed card bases from the Paper Studio (Simple Elegance and Market Place boxes) and some vellum. I cut snowflakes out of CTMH Sea Glass cardstock using the new Flower Market Cricut cartridge. The Peace word is from Gypsy Wanderings. After creating these I decided to make more using the new Flower Market cartridge for my post tomorrow with more techniques.

Thanks for visiting. Come back tomorrow for more Christmas ideas! I'll be part of a blog hop using new products!

I'm sharing these cards with the following challenges:

Christmas at Sweet Stamping July Challenge - anything goes

Christmas Card Challenge #34 - anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra August - anything goes

Crimbo Crackers #112 - Anything Goes

Double D Challenge - polka dots

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #82 - Christmas in July

The Glory of Christmas #90 - use Kraft paper

Time Out Challenge #63 - Holiday with optional "No Stamping"