Word Art Wednesday #66 Friendship Card

With Valentine's Day this week, the verse shared with us at Word Art Wednesday is a unique picture of friendship. Here it is, in case mine is too small for you to see.

 

 Friendship is being related to the ideas of perfume, rejoicing in the heart and sweetness. I recall that when I was in my 30's I relished the "hearty counsel" that my Christian friends would give me when I was struggling with different issues. Those friends were like magnets that pulled me into their fellowship. So I'm not surprised that this Proverb includes the idea of getting counsel from a friend with the sweet happiness that friendship can pour into the heart, making you rejoice.

I used this lovely sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp Challenge #143:

 

I used a digital stamp from Beccy's Place for my roses. They were colored with Copics. I edged the yellow petals with pink, like some of my favorite roses at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I used the lighter shade of yellow on the outer petals, the way rose petals usually fade. 

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

2 Sisters Challenge #130 - Hearts

A Gem of a Challenge #66 - Hearts/Valentines

Catered Crop - Polka Dots (orange paper, plus embossing on aqua)

Come and Get It - Show us your Heart

Crazy 4 Challenges #172 - a card with hearts but no pink or red (mine is yellow, orange, aqua, green)

Sunday Sketch and Stamp #143 - sketch

Word Art Wednesday #66 - Anything Goes (friendship verse)

 

 

 

6.5" x 5" Friendship Card Recipe:

Paper - Glitz "Laced with Grace," black, white cardstock

Digital Stamp - Beccy's Place "Roses Free Digital #9"

Digital Sentiment - Word Art Wednesday Feb. 6, 2013

Alcohol Ink Markers - CTMH Sweet Leaf; Copics G20, YG03, Y11, Y13, R20

Accents - CTMH Licorice adhesive pearls; white organdy, Wilton doily

Tools - Spellbinder's Fancy Tags 2  ; Cuttlebug 5 x 7 medium dots embossing folder

 



 

Twist of Faith - Challenge #24

I'm pleased to let you know I've been asked to join the Twist of Faith Challenge. This is my first post with this group of lovely ladies.

This week you can find this challenge at Twist of Faith:

LOVE plus

a scripture, or uplifting verse or positive words of healing, encouragement, or support
 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV ~

One of the most well-known scripture passages about Love is 1 Corinthians 13... today we share a few verses, which of course relate to this week's theme! You are free to use whatever scripture, quote or verse/passage that will suit your creation in our theme.

This week we are sponsored by Michelle Perkett's Studio. You can also find her images in her etsy shop.

 

I used one of her images to make this card:

 

 

I wanted to add an additional sentiment that would say how important love is and why I think Love should surround us, so I used an older acrylic stamp set that I had from Close To My Heart. The statement I added means to me more love and less violence, more love and better health care, more love and stronger families, more love and fewer abortions, more love and more adoptions, more love and better schools, more love and less selfishness and greed.

 

To make this card I used Bo Bunny (polka dot) and Martha Stewart (pink pattern) designer papers. I added red organdy and both red and clear sparkles. The balloons were colored with Blush and Cranberry alcohol ink markers from CTMH.

 

Thank you for visiting! May God's love fill your heart to overflowing. May you shower everyone around you with that love, today and every day!

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion #149 - My Valentine

Creative Stamp Friends #70 - With Hearts/Valentines Day 

Digi Darla's #49 - Be My Valentine

Kaboodle Doodles #158 - Valentines

Lexi's Creations #83 - Valentine/Love

 

 

 

 

 

Mojo Monday Valentine with Chantilly

This was such a busy week taking my mother-in-law to the city for daily treatment in the hospital. She's undergoing hyperbaric therapy for a couple of hours each day to try to heal her nose. Apparently, blood vessels had died after radiation therapy two years ago and the tissues had begun to die. The amazing part is that what seemed like cancer isn't cancer and should be corrected with this therapy in the next six or seven weeks. It left little time for crafting, but I've just been so glad to help her get better. I have a muscle disease that limits how much I walk and walking across large parking lots and through hospital corridors every day seemed to destroy my legs by the end of the week, but somehow, as I kept walking, I was mostly thinking about what I needed to do to help her. The pain came after I made it home.

I started to make this card for her because of the sentiment I chose. It's from an old retired Close To My Heart stamp set. She has lived nearly 88 years giving of herself anywhere she could without expecting anything in return. I've seen her unselfishness in action for many years. She has set a great example for my husband and me and her grandchildren. She would spend long hours in the kitchen cooking magnificent meals to entertain family or guests, even though she's elderly.

But when I saw the how this card turned out, I knew it was better suited for my younger friend who loves bright, busy cards. I'll have to make my mother-in-law something else with this message. great is great for my younger friend as well because she is always helping others without getting any "reward" in return. I am certain that many Christians will see their only reward when they reach eternity. What I really want to strive for is loving as Christ loved, unselfishly giving what is best for others, not necessarily for ourselves.

Here's the lovely pattern Mojo Monday gave us this week:

I used the bright and springtime papers from Close To My Heart called "Chantilly." I took a giant leap of faith in trying the busy background paisley, which was maybe brighter than I wanted, but I was on a tight schedule and had to finish quickly without time to change it. Also, I needed to keep the card fairly flat to go in the mail tomorrow so the pearls that I'd wanted to use were left off. Instead I cut out a glittery heart from a Martha Stewart valentine paper and attached it in the center of the glittery white flower from Recollections. The stamped hearts are also from a retired CTMH stamp set.

The rest of the sentiment is on the inside:

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge #66 - Hearts/Valentines
Come and Get It - Show Us Your Heart
Dream Valley Challenges #50 - Valentines
Mojo Monday #279 - sketch
Stamptacular Sunday #202 - From the Heart

 

Ladybug Love

My youngest granddaughter loves all things with ladybugs. When I saw the cute ladybugs in the Clearly Digital Stamps set called "Animal Mania," I knew they were perfect for her Valentine. I also used the sentiment that came in that set. I used the colored set of images and sentiment. That digital set also includes outlines for you to color. I started the card to be Clean and Simple style, but I reverted to my old habits and kept adding more elements. Oh well, I know she'll like it CAS or not.

I debossed a frame around the sentiment, which left room for the ladybug couple and their three hearts that are part of their image, which were all pop dotted for more dimension. I gave them a ribbon with glittery hearts as their base, so they weren't floating in the air. I added some Close To My Heart bitty buds on the ribbon, too.

The challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks #128  inspired me to add some pink to my red color scheme, so I used some older Hollyhock gingham from Close To My Heart. To make the "o" in the word "Love," I traced the open heart on a piece of transparency that some stickers came on, cut it out, and retraced it on the back of the pink gingham paper.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks #128 - Red and Pink
Charisma Cards #5 - Love theme
Crafty Ribbons #38 - Anything Goes with Ribbon
Cute Card Thursday #255 - Love Struck
Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge #244 - Valentines

6.5" x 5" Valentine Recipe:
Digital Images - CDS Animal Mania
Paper - Close To My Heart White Daisy, Black cardstock, retired CTMH Hollyhock gingham B&T
Accents - Celebrate It holiday ribbon; CTMH Bitty Buds and Cranberry Baker's Twine
Tools - printer, pop dots, Cuttlebug embossing folder




 

PSC65 - The Color of Love

This week at The Perfect Sentiments we have the perfect challenge for those who like to make Valentines or other types of cards with loving sentiments and elements. My card is a Valentine but you could easily make a wedding or anniversary card with this theme and these colors:

CREATE A CARD WITH A SENTIMENT OF LOVE OR ANYTHING APPROPRIATE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY. USE RED AND WHITE FOR YOUR COLOR SCHEME.

Robyn's Fetish is our sponsor this week and there is a terrific prize for one lucky person: 5 free digis! The cute image and sentiment I used on this card are from Robyn's Fetish.

My layout was inspired by Sketch #196 at The Sweet Stop:

Most of the details in constructing this card are obvious. I used Martha Stewart dp with little hearts and embossed the white cs with a Sizzix Swirly Vines with Hearts embossing folder. I thought that embossing would go well with the swirly tales of those cute cats.

My banner is a little different. I think it's fun to use something old in a new way. I have some very old Making Memories Page Pebbles rectangles that I thought would make great additions to the banner. They were just the right size. I matted the white rectangles on red cardstock and folded them not quite in half. Then I stamped the letters using Close To My Heart's Bingo Alphabet, covered the front with the page pebbles and cut the fishtale shape in all three layers at once. I applied a glue dot near the center inside the fold, layed the baker's twine at the fold, and folded it down. After attaching the baker's twine to the back of the red panel, I tied small bows of twine at each end.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
AllSorts #192 - Let's Get Cute
Inky Chicks #3 - Anniversary or Valentines Card
Ribbon Carousel Challenge #77 - Love is in the Air (with spooled item - baker's twine)
The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #196 - sketch
Tuesday Throwdown #133 - Heart Strings (heart button, heart paper, heart embossing and baker's twine)
This card was chosen :


 Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll join our red and white love challenge this week with your own lovely card.

Word Art WednesdayChallenge #65

When I first saw this Word Art Wednesday verse at their challenge #65, I thought of something patriotic and God's protection of service men and women and their nation. But then I remembered something a friend shared with me. She was a new mother, living in rural Brazil with a husband who was often away with his business. One night she got up to attend to her baby when she heard someone break in and she saw a man in the hallway with a machete. She held her baby tight and said, "Dear Lord Jesus, protect us!" At that moment the man looked up above her head with a look of fright and ran back out of her house. She and I pondered what the man might have seen, an angel of the Lord perhaps? Whatever the reason he looked up and ran, she was safe and protected. We agreed that the name of Jesus is a refuge in times of danger.

Three months after she told me about this incident, a similar thing happened to me with a man in my hallway in the middle of the night with a gun. I was awakened before I heard the noise. I was praying like crazy because someone had been trying to break in for nearly a month. Then I thought I heard the floor creak in the hallway to the bedrooms. My verbal response wasn't quite as spiritual as hers: "What are you doing?" I saw the gun just before he turned around and left. The result was the same. I was safe. When I thought about these incidents I knew I should make a card that glorifies God for all He has done, even if it reminds me of times I was in danger, something I don't enjoy talking about. But I do enjoy telling what God has done for me. His watch care is amazing and I hope this card portrays that sentiment.

I was inspired by the challenges at Happy Campers Craft Collective Challenge #9 to use flowers and something digital ( the verse and frame). The challenge at Papercraft Star was to use a frame. So when I printed this Word Art I made it the size to fit into a digital frame that I found on Florals and Nature CD from the book by Memories of a Lifetime. I chose that frame because it had lovely purple crocuses like I'll see blooming in my garden later this month (can't wait!). The frame also coordinated with my monochromatic color scheme to go along with the challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #65. I may have cheated a little by making the foliage swirl a dark green. The papers I used are old Close To My Heart dp's that were Heather and Petal colored. The ribbon was a darker shade of purple satin and also goes with the challenge at Crafty Ribbons Challenge this week - Anything Goes with Ribbon.  The lavendar rose is obvious, but the three lavendar flower beads on the right foliage is less obvious. I gave each of them a purple sparkle/dewdrop.

Thank you for visiting and may God bless you and keep you safe from harm.

CIC68 - Let's Get Inky!

My heart beat a little faster when I saw the description of this week's challenge at Clearly iStamp:

Let's see your creative ways for using ink. (ie. using ink pad directly on paper, sponging, stamp distressed ink onto acrylic block and spritz with water and press onto paper). Show us what you come up with.

Before Tim Holtz's Compendium books were available, I taught a series of stamping classes at our local scrapbook store which included making a booklet with 100 different stamp and ink techniques. I used four of them in making this card today. But furst, I was inspired by our digi called "Splats," which included the quote by Vincent Van Gogh. I decided to use a rainbow of paint splotches on an artist's palette (drawn freehand after printing), with the biggest one in the center, yellow, displaying the quote!

Here are the four ink techniques I used. 1) the entire white background was inked using bubblewrap and four colors of ink. Then it was cut apart into sunshine rays and inked again using 2) direct to paper (3rd and 6th from the left) or 3) rice in a balloon used as a stamp (see the lower left corner and 5th from the left). 4) Last, I used my usual technique of sponging the edges with ink.

If you're interested in the palette design, I reduced width of the splotches to 1," except for the largest which was increased to 2.9" with a sentiment that is 2" in width.

Would you believe I have a close stamping friend that hates yellow! I'll have to share with her this card with this sentiment. It really perked me up to make it on a gray snowy day! I hope you'll join in the inky fun so we can learn the techniques you have up your sleeve! 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
CCEE#1305 - "Hot" (quote, colors, sun's rays)
Crafting for All Seasons #44 - Buttons and Bows
Digistamps 4 Joy #59 - Anything Goes
Inky Chicks #2  - Bingo (Sentiment, Image, Bow)

Inkspirational #5 - Anything Goes