Love Ya Silly Valentine

I've been wondering what color combo would be best for the valentines I'm making for five grandsons. I recently got some monster stamps with great sentiments that I planned to use for the boys. Pink and red didn't seem right, at least not alone. When I saw the combo at ColorQ this week, I knew that adding that pumpkin pie orange to the pinks and reds would be more masculine. I had some pieces of reversible Black and Sunset with the tiny words "ha ha ha" all over.  Here's their color swatch:



I used this sketch from Deconstructed Sketch 187:

Here's my card. I cut the hearts on the Cricut.

I had fun stamping the little monster. I used Sunset ink then rolled the top edges in my oldest ink, Holiday Red, the style used by CTMH before they made acrylic stamps. After I cut him out, I used a 0.3 pigment pen to outline his heart and a few features. All of the materials are from CTMH except the red glitter paper, which is unknown. All of the papers are old, mostly VERY old (the boys don't mind!). I've cut multiple hearts and paper strips so I can make the other four "boy" cards when I scrapbook with friends this weekend. The other images and sentiments can be seen at the end of this post. Along with their sentiments, they're a hoot!

Thank you for visiting.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

colorQ #278 - above

Crafting for all Seasons #95 - Have a heart

Creative Moments #61 - anything goes with option Love

Cuttin and Stampin #7 - Masculine

Deconstructed Sketch #187

Dream Valley #99 - Valentine's Day

Just Inspirational February Challenge - Love

Shopping Our Stash #187 - use your oldest ink (Holiday Red, oldest style)

The Male Room #3 - Valentine (for a boy)

Tuesday Throwdown #230 - monster mash

Love Ya Silly stamp set



Masculine Encouragement Card with the Deconstructed Sketch

My mind is still thinking about the wonderful times we had taking the grandchildren to the ocean for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Something about watching the waves continually roll in and seeing the water going as far as the eye can see gives me an appreciation of the immense power of God. There's also something soothing to the soul to hear the unstoppable rhythm of the waves, puncutated by the occasional calls of birds.

I wanted to work with an image of the sea, so I decided to use this lovely lighthouse and matching papers from Clear Dollar Stamps, "Sheltering Lights." I chose a sketch from the Deconstructed Sketch #62.

I printed the papers that accompany this digital image on 4x6 Colonial White cardstock, instead of the 8.5 x 11 that was the default size. The way you do this in Photoshop is simply to change the image size. That made the stripes and waves a great size for a small card. I wanted the card to be 4.25 x 5.5" so I can eventually send it to Stars and Stamps Operation Write Home. I also tried to keep the embellishments rather flat so it's easier for the service men to mail.

The blue ricrac is under the image instead of over it, but I liked the way it resembles the theme of ocean waves. I chose yellow for the photo corner on top to resemble the light given by a lighthouse. I added streaks of glitter glue as an extra source of light and embellishement.

For additional encouragement, the inside uses one of the verses that comes with this set of images:

"I am the light of the world; he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12 

May God's Word be a source of encouragement for you as you make decisions and may He comfort as well as guide you during difficult times.

Challenges for this card:
The Deconstructed Sketch #62
Stars and Stamps Operation Write Home - encouragement
Crafting for All Seasons #32 - Splash Me
Crafty Ribbons Challenge #24 - The Sea
Alphabet Challenge Blog -  M - for Men
Hand Stamped Sentiments Inspiration Challenge #128 - Beach/Pacific Coast Highway
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations Challenge - Water

Sweet Moments Mother's Day Card

When my son was a young adolescent, he gave me a gift of blue and white cameo earrings. I was allergic to the posts, but I've kept them for 20 years because he gave them to me. This Mother's Day card is for his wife in remembrance of those earrings and because she's a beautiful mom, like a cameo. Because I used all Close To My Heart products, I'm enterring it in the Heart 2 Heart Challenge for Mother's Day. I used the Deconstructed Sketch 50 for my design. I'm also linking it to The Blogger's Challenge for Celebrating Mom.

Because this card will go in the mail tomorrow, I avoided most dimenion except for pop dotting the cameo. The strips of Emporium paper are quite decorative in themselves. I added detail by embossing the dotted lines (Circle Around stamp set), as well as the cameo (Sweet Moments stamp set), using Crystal Blue embossing powder. The Buttercup diamond shape was square 7 on the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and it's Vineyard Berry frame was the same shape with the Decorative layer feature. The cameo was also cut with that cartridge (oval 4) before stamping. If you're not familiar with that cartridge, it coordinates with stamp sets that we sell in Close To My Heart. The stamps that go with Cricut shapes are marked with the measurement they need to be cut before stamping.

Hebrews 13:15 for Word Art Wednesday

Word Art Wednesday always has lovely verses for us to use for their challenge. This verse from Hebrews speaks to my heart about the gift we can give to the Lord for all he does for us. Since the Hebrews were Jewish they came from a culture of making sacrifices to atone for sins. What a wonderful concept this was that praise can be our sacrifice. Verbalizing thanks for what the Lord has done is the gift we give back to Him.

I couldn't resist using the interesting palette from the Play Date Cafe one more time and the Deconstructed Sketch #49.

This card uses the paper from Basic Grey's "Eva" collection and a 3" circle punched from CTMH Outdoor Denim.  The organdy ribbon is also Outdoor Denim. Since the main image is the verse from Hebrews, I put flowers in a row where the sentiment would have gone.

May you find opportunities to practice praise and may God bless you as you do.

Word Art Wednesday Wedding Card

One of my dear friends is preparing for her fourth daughter's wedding. It seems like this is the third summer in a row that she's been wrapped up in beautiful preparations. Her daughter just graduated from college and is working for the same school district where I used to work. I remember when she was a young high school student who volunteered to work at a church camp for special needs children. She was nervous and scared, but who would have ever guessed that the experience would shape her future. Those are the children she's helping now. But even more so, the spiritual lessons she's learned along the way have molded her into a lovely Christian lady with strong convictions who is marrying a wonderful Christian man with equally strong convictions.  This wedding card is to celebrate the beautiful relationship they have and will have as God continues to lead and guide their life together. I'm sharing this verse with the congratulations for their joyous occassion:

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Habakkuk 3:18
I used the verse from this week at Word Art Wednesday, which I printed on glossy photo paper, and the lovely sketch from the Deconstructed Sketch #48, although I widened it into a 6" x 6" card. I stamped the "Congratualations" with Stazon ink on the glossy paper. I learned long ago to try it out on a scrap first so you get the right pressure, etc. without sliding the stamp since both the ink and the paper can be slick. I made the ribbon shape actual folded ribbon, then added a bow at the top.

Challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
The Deconstructed Sketch #48
Everybody Art Challenge #190 - Weddings

6 x 6" Wedding Card Recipe:
Paper - Bo Bunny, White and Black Cardstock, Epson Premium Glossy photo paper
Stamps - Close To My Heart Gracious Greetings
Ink - Stazon-Black
Other - Cuttlebug embossing folder - Rebecca; CTMH black ribbon and adhesive pearls

Chocolate Bunny for the Deconstructed Sketch No.45

I was inspired by this awesome photo at Paper Lovin' Gals to use a chocolate bunny and a green theme. I thought a monochromatic green Easter card would be appreciated by my older grandsons who think pastel colors are for girls. So this card is for Papertake Weekly Challenge, Anything Goes-Monochromatic except hair and skin. (Does the chocolate bunny count as having brown hair or skin?)

I used The Deconstructed Sketch #45 to design this card. I substituted two eggs for the smaller circle. I cut the chocolate bunny out using the Cricut Easter cartridge. It looks like a bite was taken out of the ears. The ribbon I chose reminded me of a basket weave but didn't look good cut at an angle. I still wanted it for the basket effect.

I hope you have a Blessed Easter Holiday celebrating with family and friends, remembering the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6.25" x 4.75" Easter Card Recipe:

Paper - Basic Grey "Indie Bloom;" CTMH New England Ivy, Garden Green, Sweet Leaf, Cocoa,(White Daisy Textured) cardstock

Stamp - CTMH retired "Egg.cited"

Ink - Sweet Leaf

Other - Ribbon from Michaels, Lime twist baker's twine, Cricut Easter Seasonal cartridge, Sizzix embossing folder, Spellbinder's Nestabilities

Distressed Thank You Card

After being denied food and water for almost nine hours until 5 pm today during medical tests, my head is still not too clear. However, my creative writing professor in college said we were more creative when we can't think as clearly. The logical editor side of our brain isn't in control. So I'm letting that right side of my brain do it's thing. I was picking up some scraps when I looked in my hand and saw the beginning of this card. The sizes and shapes seemed to fit this weeks sketch at The Deconstructed Sketch.

I combined the deconstructed sketch #44, the Perfect Sentiments Challenge to make a distressed thank you card, and Bingo from Simon Says Stamp to make this card. Here's the sketch:

I combined the graphic look of the font and bold colors with some shabby chic elements. The Bingo elements that I selected were diagonal: flowers, lace, and twine. The Basic Grey papers already had a distressed look like the sponging I did on the title block. I distressed all of the patterned papers with scissors scraped on the edge.

Our Daily Bread Designs - Birthday Dogwood

The buds on my fruit and flowering trees are getting fat and my daffodils are in full bloom. Spring seems like it's already here! In Missouri, our state tree is the flowering dogwood. Where I live, I don't see wild ones, but my favorites in yards that I pass are the pink dogwood. Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge #99 is to use stamped flowers on your card. They have a beautiful dogwood flower stamp in their set called Grow in Grace. I combined that flower image with two birthday sentiments from the set called Birthday Blessings to make this card. I used the deconstructed sketch #42 for the design.

I colored the floral image with copics after stamping with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The birthday sentiment was actually written in one line, but I used Scotch tape to cover one word at a time to get it to fit in a circle. You put tape over a word before inking, pull off the tape, then stamp, then clean the stamp so that the first word doesn't show up when you stamp the second word. I love that trick! I also love mixint stamps from different sets. Using the beautiful dogwood image on a birthday card for Virginia ODell next week was perfect for a lady turning 87 years young. Here's what the inside birthday sentiment said:



Using the uncolored image and Proverb together still gives me plenty of room to write my own addition to the greeting. I'm linking this card to Birthday Sundaes for challenge #46 this week - to show a birthday sentiment.

6.5" x 5" Birthday Card Recipe:
Paper - Basic Grey "Curio;" My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose "Mabel" (tiny floral and solid brown strip)
Stamps - Our Daily Bread Designs "Grow in Grace"(dogwood), "Birthday Blessings"
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Vintage Photo, Close To My Heart Brown Bag, Honey
Other - Cuttlebug "Kassie's Brocade" embossing folder; Spellbinder's Lacey Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities; circle punches; CTMH blush ribbon; lace unknown

The Deconstructed Sketch #41 - On the Farm

A Day for Daisies has some adorable stamps for their latest release, On the Farm, and challenge #38 Dress It Up with Gingham. I'm using a stamp that reminds me of my blonde younger sister when we got a baby chick for Easter. I combined this challenge with the Colour Create Challenge to use yellow, gray, black and white and the sketch from the deconstructed sketch #41.

I used a square card that was embossed with flowers, masked the edges and sponged it with Sunny Yellow ink hoping to highlight the flowers. The image was colored with Copics and watercolor pencils. The flower has a white butterfly with a black design and the charm hanging from the bow says "Love."

5.5" Square Card Recipe:

Paper - Basic Grey (grey); CTMH black, white cardstock, yellow gingham (old retired)

Image - A Day for Daisies -"Pet Chick"

Ink - CTMH Sunny Yellow

Other - Copics (Y 11, E 00); CTMH watercolor pencils (black, Sunny yellow, honey), black gingham ribbon, Just Blooms Flutter Paper Shapes (butterfly); Sizzix double diamond embossing folder; Recollections gray flower; Martha Stewart border punch; charm unknown from stash

The Deconstructed Sketch#39 with Word Art Wednesday

Today I was inspired to use the verse from Word Art Wednesday to make a card for my daughter who leads such a busy life but still values God's Word and considers it to be a most important aspect of her life and her family's. I had been wanting to make a card with the pink and brown palette (with lace) suggested by Really Reasonable Ribbon's Challenge #42 and the sketch from the deconstructed sketch #39 was perfect.

I printed the Word Art with a width of 2" and punched out the circle with a 2.5" punch. I knew I had some ladies' shoes, but when I looked for the stamp sets I also saw the "'girl" from my new Fashionista stamp set and knew these had to go together. She took the place of two elements on the left side. I stamped her skirt and one of the shoes in Blush and used paper piecing. I lightly stamped her bag on the same patterned paper that I used. For my friends who get that stamp set I wanted to remind them that when you cut out something thin like this girl you can always leave a white margin around the image. I think it actually looks better that way.   And, Lisa, my dear super thin daughter who's had 3 boys and two sets of large twins), she reminds me of you.

5.5" brocade textured square card:
Paper - My Mind's Eye; CTMH White Daisy Blush CS; Bazzill (brown cs)
Stamps - CTMH Fashionista, (Let's Shop, Totally Chick both retired)
Ink - Ranger Vintage Photo, CTMH Blush
Other - CTMH lace from Pink Ribbon collection, pearls, and pink sparkles, 2.75" circle form Cricut Art Philosophy; Spellbinder's LaceyCircles; 1", 1.25", 2.5" circle punches

A Card for L-O-V-E on Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to my friends. At least, I made this card on Valentine's Day, went out with my hubby for dinner, and finally got to take a photo and post the card, so it may be the 15th by the time I finish posting.

Flutter By Wednesday's Challenge #188 this week was to use the L-O-V-E formula:
L - 2 or more layers
O - Odd number of embellishments (I have 2 flowers and 5 black pearls=7)
V - Violet color
E - any color EXCEPT red

I wanted to use the deconstructed sketch #38 so that I could have a large flower on the large circle and add a butterfly where a small circle would have been. I also wanted to use the strips from one of my new paper packs that I thought would go really well with the violet background (CTMH Petal CS).

6.5" x 5" Card ( All supplies used were from Close To My Heart unless marked):

Paper - Florentine paper pack, Petal CS

Stamps - Quick Cards-Butterfly, True Friends

Ink - Black, Petal, Twilight, Creme Brulee, Garden Green

Other - Petals Paper Flowers, Licorice Opaques Adhesive Gems, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Love as delicate as a butterfly's wings. . .

I have new stamps from Close To My Heart that are jumping up and down, screaming to be used! I love this new stamp. It's perfect for the Valentines I'm making. I especially love the hearts on the wings of the butterfly. It was a combination of image and sentiment in one clear acrylic stamp. They call it Quick Cards-Butterfly and only charged $6.95. They have several Quick-Cards stamps in the new Idea Book that was just released.  I used the Deconstructed Sketch #36 for this card. I also made this for the Valentine challenge this week at Stamps R Us Challenge Blog.

I scored the image rectangle 1/8" from the edges and mounted it on white textured CS with pop dots. I inked the image with the Cotton Candy ink and used the Rock and Roll technique to ink the edges and sentiment portion with the darker Cranberry ink.

5.5" square card:
Paper - K and Company - patterned paper; CTMH - White Daisy CS
Stamp - CTMH "Quick Cards-Butterfly
Ink - CTMH Cotton Candy, Cranberry
Other - CTMH Cranberry ribbon collection; Recollections Floral Embellishments

Love is in the Air

The Play Date Cafe always has such cool color challenges, even for Valentines. Here's their color inspiration photo uses juniper, mint and vanilla:

I used this sketch from the deconstructed sketch #33:

My final product is using up some of my paper stash. I would guess that the shiny cardstock is Bazzil and the striped is Creative Imaginations, but it's just a guess.

The stamps are both from Close To My Heart.

Another Snow Friend

I have three friends and a brother with December birthdays. I made this card for one of them this weekend before I got the flu. I love the verse I have inside that says, "Snow friends come and go with the seasons, but real friends last forever."  I used Deconstructed Sketch 30 and the colors from Play Date Cafe challenge 110: lime green, royal blue, crystal blue, and red. (OK, this is brief. Stomach flu says go to bed.) All of the materials are CTMH except for the baker's twine.