Family Visits...the fun and the sad!!!

Hi there scrapping peeps,

We were surprised this weekend by a visit from our daughter and her family. What a fun thing!!!
Instead of just doing normal everyday stuff, we get to spend it with kids and pets, and a couple of adults too. And then we get to do fun stuff, like stay up til the wee hours of the morning watching movies. That's the good part.

But we also had a not so fun thing happen during the night. Our granddaughter's bunny died. She had him and loved him since 2005 and didn't go anywhere without him..."love me, love my Nemo!"  Kirstin (our granddaughter is 15 and a natural caregiver. Nemo was her best friend, lived in her bedroom and they spent many hours together. Another life lesson...living with the good and the sad...

But that's life and we KNOW that there's many happy days to come. She has family that loves her, cares for her and helps her through the sad times. Love you, Kirstin. God bless you for many happy days and adventures to come.

Goodby Nemo!!!

I do have a card for today.
I made this for a couple of challenges.

 

Stamp TV's Monday challenge is an inspiration picture and I fell in love with the mirror frame on it. The colors to use are mustard, blue and deep red. So that's what I started with.

http://www.polkadotdoordesign.blogspot.com/ has an inspiration challenge with the same colors and I LOVE their challenge site. Not only can you win the weekly sponsor prize, but you might also be invited to be a guest designer.
http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/ They wanted us to use an item we had purchased that we just had to have, but it's been hanging around in our stash. See the heart on this card? I bought a packet of these beautiful hearts a long time ago...but guess what? they just never seemed to fit into anything I was doing. So, I'm very happy to have found a place for one of them.
http://www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/ This challenge required us to use a Tim Holtz technique. My background is colored and then stamped over with a mesh background stamp. The dark red on the right side is a piece of long stranded fiber with a heart attached by ribbon and a butterfly nestled in the strands.

So, that's it for today.
Be blessed today and every day,
e

Tired, but happy....

Hello scrappers,

This is Tuesday and the start to my work week. I work part time and you would think I would have TONS of time to do all the crafting I desire....NOT SO...there's always a ton of other responsibilities and I am either too busy or too tired, or tooooooo...whatever!
BUT it feels good to be busy and look back on a day that feels satisfying and full. We all want more time...but I don't know, I am so tired by the end of the day I don't think I could take longer days.

I made this card for two challenges in particular:
http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/ required colors watermelon, sorbet and lime green and
http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/speedy-cats-friends-challenge-54winner.html required "not a normal card" (no squares or normal rectangles).

The cut front piece was cut with my Cricut. The word "Hope" was also cut with the Cricut.
The flowers on the front were made with a Penny Black stamp, colored with DerWent new water color pencils. and then topped off with a very soft, light pink tube of Stickles.
This was my first time using the DerWent pencils. I used a coupon at Hobby Lobby and that made the set much more affordable. They are WONDERFUL!!! Very bright, and just a tiny amount of water on the tip of the pencil just puts the color down gloriously!!! It was VERY FUN!!!

That's all for me for this time.
Enjoy the wonderful summer weather and
Be Blessed,
e

It's JULY already!!!

I know I speak for most of us...where has June gone???
We are having a wonderfully BLESSED summer with family this year!
Our granddaughter came to be with us (she is 15!) We had such a great time!!!

Here she is with her bunny (Nemo)...can't leave home without him.
Then the rest of Kirstin's family came and we have a FULL HOUSE!!! (Fun, noisy, never boring, busy house). I LOVE IT!!! I hate it when they leave, our house gets so quiet!!!

Here is a picture of their youngest son (Eli, 6) petting a horse at the July 4th celebration.
Those police officers were so friendly, it was great for the kids to get such a wonderful impression of them.

Anyway, today I have a new card for you. A bit of a different take because I am trying out a new idea (for me anyway) of having a minimal card with many layers. I really like the look.. it speaks to me on a personal level because I used elements that I really loved. I am not giving this one away because the dangling shell is one I have enjoyed for a long time and don't want to really part with it.

The card base is an off-white cardstock, covered on top with a designer paper I had in my stash.
The embellishment paper is a design I made with alcohol inks on shiny cardstock. I make several pieces and then use them to cut into designs or use like I have here.
The half circle is a Heidi Swapp rub-on, cut in half.
The shell ornament is hanging on a metal loop hanger attached with a large pearl brad.
I wrote "Life is...." by hand and attached a little gold and tan butterfly that I cut out of a Mariposa 8x8 stack.

I am entering this card here http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2011/06/your-style-and-design-team-call.html for a DT call.

I really like the look, hope you do too.
It feels "artsy" to me and that's what I was going for this time.

Thank you so much for looking,
Come back soon,
e

The Ideas are just flowing or.........

is it just because I am so behind????
It doesn't matter, because I am creating and LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!
It's so much fun when ideas just ramble through my head and I can't wait to start on the next card or LO.

So, here I am with the card I created for the Stamp Man Challenge and the Simon Says Challenge.
I needed a card for my son-in-laws Birthday and these two challenges were just the ticket.

Here's my card:

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/Challenge was to use stars and stripes.
http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.com/Challenge was a recipe and I chose blue, torn and a die cut.

So here's the deets:
I distressed the background blue striped paper and pulled back the corner to show some stars from a     sheet I inserted behind the stripe.
For the flourishes on the stripe, I used several stamps and stamped them in Versamark, then embossed in white. It's quite subtle but that's the look I was after.
The die cut on the bottom is the Tim Holtz on the edge cut. I just got it and I LOVE it!!!
The frame is a stamp I just discovered in my stash and I don't think I had ever used it before. I don't even know when I got it. But I love it...it fits perfectly with all the frames that are being used now.

So there you are...my little piece of art in my little corner of the world.
And oh, by the way...remember when I said I would do something new every time I made something?
I have not forgotten...and even though some of the items were pretty small and I had not brought attention to them, I HAVE been doing them.
In this card that torn corner was my first time doing that...and then going through my stash and finding a stamp I had not used was a part of making sure I do something new EVERY TIME!!!

Thank you for stopping by....
Be extremely blessed TODAY!!!

e

It's a beautiful Memorial Day!!!

First of all, I want to thank every person who is connected with the US Armed Forces. Especially those who are on active duty. Our thanks is not enough, I know, but it is from the heart. I pray God's mightiest blessings over you. That our God will keep you SAFE...physically and mentally. May God send His angels to build a hedge of protection around ALL of our service men and women. And may you know His GRACE!!!!

Our son-in-law is in the Navy and I know from personal experience that it is a very difficult time for the families of these men and women. The dedication of the families are a gift of love to this country also. It is not an easy life. But thanks be to God for them all.

At this time, our hearts also go out to all the families suffering loss from the tornadoes that have devastated our land. It is a huge tragedy that will affect so many for years to come. We pray that God's grace and love will be made visible through all those who have stepped forward to help in this time of need.

Now, on to my card for this Monday.
I am grateful for all the challenge blogs that are available on line. It makes it fun to share our creations with others and be inspired by their DT teams. I don't know who started the ball rolling, but my hat is off to the one who was inspired to take a chance and start something new. We are all grateful participants.

Two of my favorite challenges are the Play Date Cafe and the Top Tip challenge.
The Play Date is saying goodbye to one of their co-founders and they chose the colors black/white and green because that was Sarah's favorite combo. The the Top Tip it was to use 2 or more stamps. So these two challenges went together really easily. I made this card to enter:

I love black and white, but green is not my favorite color. But it works with any kind of foliage so that's what I chose. Maybe I should have colored that little bird a different color, but I didn't want to introduce something else to the mix. Isn't he the cutest though? He came in a stamp set a long time ago, I don't even know what company made it. But he has been a favorite whenever I need a little bird for something. He just has the cutest little look. I don't know if you can tell, but his little belly is small flourishes. I LOVE it!!!

On to the deets:
My frame is from a huge 12x12 pad of paper that was all black/white and silver. I have used tons of it.
The card itself is black and I use a white insert so that I can write on the inside.
I cut the black/white to leave a little 1/8 inch edge around and then cut the inside out to make it a frame
Four thin pieces of black are used to finish off the edges.
The filler in the middle is from a white Hallmark card my husband gave me that has beautiful dotted swirls on it (like from a cuttlebug) and it is just stunning.
The cut tag is the back side from the one used on the Hallmark card. I used 3 different small foliage stamps to make the foliage in different shades of green and then stamped the little bird.
The black swirls and hearts are from K&amp Company. They are just gorgeous and are called "Pillow Stickers"
A little bow from black see-through ribbon finishes the look.

http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/
http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/
My TIP for the Top Tip blog is to save the cards and advertisements you receive. There are many beautiful papers, inspiration, or colors that can be used in your art. Look at your cards & such with a critical eye. Sometimes cutting out small images from a beautifully colored piece of paper can be stunning. Hearts, butterflies, stars can be just gorgeous and you don't need a large piece to cut those.

Thank you for looking.
Have a wonderful, fun filled day!

A quick post...

I am having to hurry up and get this blog rolling so that I can enter this card into the http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/ challenge blog. I forgot that this is Friday already and I made this card just for the two challenges that I am entering this card into. The other one is http://letsinkitup.blogspot.com/2011/05/challenge-15.html

When I saw those two posts, my thoughts just clicked and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I've been cleaning up my craft room AGAIN...still moving things around because I have added supplies and am having to reorganize my space. I love to organize and I like things very near me so that I don't have to hunt around when I need a particular item.

Anyway, I am very blessed to be able to shop around and buy new dies, etc. every now and then so that I feel like I have something new to work with. I always seem to be seeing something that I just "want"!!!

Anyway, here's my card:

The color of the card is actually red and so is the flower, but somehow I just couldn't get the color to come through. This is much more simple than I usually do, but I just really felt like this is all it needed.  Sometimes you just don't need much more.

Here's the deets:
The background paper is "Mariposa"
There's three different flowers put together.  They're from my stash.
The silver border around the sentiment is something I picked up a long time ago. They came in a pack and I have used these sparingly because I love them so much.

http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/ challenge is to make a card with an uplifting sentiment and something silver.
http://letsinkitup.blogspot.com/2011/05/challenge-15.html This challenge is to make a card with a sentiment and a 3D flower.

Hope you enjoy seeing my creation.
Please leave me a note...we all LOVE comments.

ttfn
e

I love embossing....

Hello again,

I am home from work today and thought it was a wonderful time to catch up with my blog because there were several challenges I wanted to enter.
I made this card for a friend, with these challenges in mind. So here's my info and my card:

The challenge is embossing on http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.com/
and for http://samueltaylors.blogspot.com/ the challenge is distressing.
At http://papersundaes.blogspot.com/ they have a challenge to include texture.
The http://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/ challenge is to use something recycled.
I love these sites...go take a look, see if you like them too.

Here's my card:

I don't know why the background took on that pink cast. This is the first time that has happened...I'm going to move the place where I photograph...and, now that I think about it, this is the first time I have used a white paper under the card.

Now that the apology is over, I will tell you about the card. I really enjoyed making it.
The butterfly and the flourish are embossed with UTEE and clear glitter powder on the butterfly.
The flower and  the edges of the card are Distressed  The flower is also sponged with distress inks and edged with turquiose Stickles.
Lots of texture here with the lace, glitter, embossing and a flower made with several layers.
Recycled items are the lace, which is from a wedding a long time ago and the flower is made from leftover paper from another project.

The flourish is a die from Sizzix, I bought it a couple of years ago.
The flower is cut with the Tim Holtz flowers die. I really like that die, it makes perfect flowers for almost any project.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here.

Blessings,
e

Butterflies mean spring!!!!

We are having cold weather right now...but I am NOT complaining. I KNOW THAT SPRING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!! It's already in my heart, and I will see it outdoors soon!!!
Michigan takes a long time to get around to being warm. We get teased with a few sunny days and then back to the cold and grey skies...but when it comes, it's AWESOME!!!

All our kids live out of state and we still have three Birthdays to celebrate...so the next month will be filled with long rides and family fun. I LOVE travel of any kind and being with family on top of that, it's like icing on a cake!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!

I've been working like crazy around here! Had lots of Birthdays to make cards for and then have to do taxes on top of that...AND I still have some winter decorations up. Christmas is such a short season and I really enjoy some of the wintry stuff, so I leave it up for a while...BUT IT'S TIME to get SPRING in here.

So anyway, here is one of the cards I made.

 
My inspiration came from Brenda of "Infinite Possibilities". She had a very cute card. All white with a cut-out that she filled with flowers. I just loved it...and came up with this card. Check out her blog, you'll like her stuff.

The deets on my card: White cardstock stamped with Hero Arts "leaves" in black StazOn.
The opening is cut with Spellbinders rectangle (ragged edge).
I cut a piece of designer paper to fit the rectangle and glued it to the back of the opening.
I scribbled three times around the hole and then attached rhinestones to the edge.
All the edges of the white cardstock was roughed up with my scissors...that works better for me than using the tools made for that purpose.

Time to tell you that I am entering this card in thia challenge:
http://samueltaylors.blogspot.com/

God bless you,
ttfn

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hey everybody...it's Sunday night and Valentine's Day is tomorrow...
I know it's just a Hallmark thing...but it still is a wonderful day to give special love to those God has given us in our lives.  I am not much for some holidays, but this time I really wanted to make a special card for my husband. I got the idea in the middle of the night and couldn't wait to get started on it. It was exciting to me because it was the first real idea I had since I had gone into my slump after Christmas.

And then before I could get started on making the card, I saw a tutorial on Simon Says for making metallic looking embellishments by embossing on cut out shapes. I LOVED IT!!! I couldn't wait to try that too...so I put the two ideas together and here's the card:

Okay, so for the background I did the "kissing technique" from Hero Arts for the challenge for February. I know, it's really hard to see, but even for the little bit it shows, it makes a pretty background. The white "Receipt" sheet is from my stash. I wrote out the saying "a lifetime spent with you" I printed on my computer and then copied it on to the paper.

The bottom is done using two colors of cardstock and punched with Martha Stewart "Double Circles. The word "Priceless" was printed on the computer.

I have two new techniques this time: Kissing technique and the heart embellishment.

KISSING TECHNIQUE: Ink up (with a slow drying ink) a "shadow stamp" (a stamp that has a lot of ink area. Solid blocks, a solid fruit, animal, etc.) Not a stamp with thin lines...this will not work for the background.

THEN use a thin lined stamp (a flower, words..this works really well...etc.) and apply it on top of the shadow stamp. If you do not ink the top stamp, then it will take away ink and that image will show your cardstock color...OR you can ink the top stamp and it will put ON COLOR on the top of your stamp. So, choice of colors are important.

This is a fun technique and can be very impressive, but it needs some practice. In my card I used the wrong background and that's why it doesn't show up too well. I am new to this and didn't really understand how this technique works, even though I watched the video Hero Arts has on their site.

EMBOSSED HEART: There are a million ways to make embossed embellishments, and they are all beautiful. I LOVE this technique. PLEASE GO WATCH THE VIDEO ON SIMON SAYS BLOG to see this technique in action. The thing that's different with this one is the use of PEARL EX or PERFECT PEARLS as the paint on the embossed piece. It is just beautiful.

Mine is different in that I used a heart cut out of a music CD cover that had beautiful shades of red and black on it. Then I used clear embossing powder rather than black UTEE (I still have not found it to buy) After four coats of clear embossing, I wet my Pearl Ex with a TINY bit of water and "PAINTED" on the heart. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! I then put on the wire and beads. 

Hero Arts Stamps used: Musical Collage and Fabulous Flourish

http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/february-2011-contest-details/

http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/

http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/

Okay, so that's it for today.

Thanks for coming by.

Blessings,

e



A bird in winter....

Here is a card I made for the challenge over on "Our Creative Corner". I fell in love with their inspiration picture...a chickadee in winter on a bush with red berries... Can't think of anything lovelier than that. I LOVE,
LOVE, LOVE birds...bird pictures, live birds, watching birds... all a favorite pasttime of mine. and I love rich, vibrant colors, like the red berries. So I just had to make a card for the occasion.

I have made a commitment to myself for this year...every card I make will have a new technique or feature that I had not done before. On this card, I cut the frame out into two parts, and then put a thin piece of black cardstock on to my background picture to look like a double frame. It took a lot longer than just matting once or twice, but I like the effect.

The background branches and berries are a Penny Black stamp I bought a while ago but haven't used it much. It's a beautiful stamp, I need to drag it out more often. I stamped on watercolor paper, I'm not sure I like the effect all that much. I'll have to do a card on my regular cardstock and see how that turns out. The branches on the watercolor paper kind of mottled together and I'll have to see how they look without the watercolor effect.

The bird is a punch from Stampin'Up!  I have used that punch over and over. It just works. I cut it out on a swirly red patterned paper, then double backed it with black cardstock so that I would have a black edge on top and bottom. I inked over the paper with a deeper red and then covered it with PPA glaze. The glaze made the bird...it just looks thick and rich and shiny. The branches under the bird are on the bird punch, and they always seem to add just the right touch.

Challenge entered: http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/

Well, thanks for visiting my blog.

Please leave me a comment....I LOVE comments.

ttfn

e

Brrrrrrrr...it's cold outside!!!!!!

Hey everybody....January is here, in full blast...Snow and cold in most of the country, including Michigan!!! I am a sun and beach kind of a girl....so what am I doing in Michigan you ask....I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, on to card talk... I was so excited to get back into my craft room after the busy holidays. I loved every moment of family, friends, church and other activities... but I really missed seeing the ideas that roll around in my head come to life on my crafting table.  We all need that release. That fulfillment of creativity going from an idea to a real thing you can look at and touch. Not that it all comes out as beautiful or as perfect as it does in our imagination, but what we do end up with is wonderful and our own creation. That's the best part... knowing your heart is in the project you just created. So, we share it with our friends and hope that it gives them pleasure knowing that we are sharing ourselves with them.

Here is a thank you card I made. I really like the clean colors and the large white pearls.
 I bought my first gold resist pen for this and I really love it! Very easy to use too. I edged all the layers with the gold resist, using a ruler to keep the edge even.

The rosette is new to me. I don't like them all that much but I wanted to try my hand at it so that I would at least know how to make them. Pretty simple. This one is much fuller than it needs to be. I cut two 12" strips. It did make it kind of hard to handle. The strips were 1 1/2" wide. Since then I have used just one 12" strip and 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" wide. That seems to be just about right. I scored the rosette every 1/4". I like that because that keeps the rosette pretty small in height. I used a lot of strong glue to keep the rosette together. Wouldn't want it to unravel in a few weeks.

I have entered this card in these challenges:
http://www.flourishes.org/category/challenges/timeless-tuesday/
http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/


Well, that's it for me.
Keep warm and be blessed.
Love on someone today.
ttfn,
e

 

A NEW YEAR!!!

Hello to everyone who read this
I want to wish you a very BLESSED and WONDERFUL 2011!!!
May it be the best year of your life!!!

To start the year we had a wonderful church service.... GREAT sermon to start the new year.
We were challenged to fast for 21 days to focus on our relationship with God and seeking His will for our lives. AWESOME!!!

Want to share a winter card with you:
Our need for Birthday cards never stops so I actually make many more Birthday cards than I do Holiday cards. Here is a card I made for a December Birthday.

I love the colors on this card. The background is a shimmery white with a subtle swirley design. Silver ribbon, silver pearls, silver hearts. The snowflake was cut with my Cricut and embossed with Kaleidescope shimmer. I LOVE that embossing powder. The card, of course, is the same cardstock as the snowflake.

I hope you like this card as much as I do.... I think it's one of my favorites.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com/search/label/Speedy%27s%20Friends%20Challenge

http://www.flourishes.org/category/timeless-tuesday/

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Blessings,

e

Get Well Card

Want to share with you a card I created for a friend of mine who has just had surgery. She loves black and white and the yellow is my take for a challenge posted by  ttp://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/            I love black and white with a splash of color. These challenges are some of my favorites.  The background is a black and white paper and I stamped a large medallion on it in yellow.  However, as you can see, it does not show up well....but I kind of like it.  The butterflies are a punch from Martha Stewart. I put TH Rock Candy Stickles all over the butterflies...it does not show up here, but I LOVE the crystal sugar look. Rock Candy dries differently than the normal Stickles... besides a glaze, it dries with little crystals visible in the glaze...looks like it's coated with crystalized sugar.

Have a blessed Christmas season,

ttfn,

e