Simon says: Not a card!!!

Hello peeps!!!
I am showing a picture that I just finished so that I can enter it into the challenge at Simon Says Stamp...
I love their challenges and this one fits my pic...you must show "anything but a card..."
This is using the Tim Holtz stamp of a bird. You see it everywhere but I had to wait quite a while before I could order it. So now I have it and I like it so much I could use it everywhere!

I love this!!! Tim Holtz is the best!!!

Anyway, I antiqued my paper  by using different shades of tan, gold and brown. I also stamped a background stamp of old french writing in a medium tan color.
I also used Tim Holtz' elegant weeds stamp in shades of rose, brown and sage green, to add interest to the background. I use that weed stamp (looks like St. Anne's lace) on a lot of backgrounds because it gives a very interesting, airy look without calling attention to itself.

Then I stamped the bird in very dark brown and I spritzed on some gold and some pearl spray. I also sprayed it the whole pic with a sealant. 
The flourish is the Tim Holtz flourishes I cut with my Cuttlebug. I embossed it several times. The leaves were cut with my Cricut. Then I made the flowers using the coffee filter technique. I applied all of these on top of the frame for that 3dimensional look.

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

Thank you for your visit.
Blessings,
e

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



I'M BAAAAAAACK!!!!

Finally, my heart and soul tell me it's time to get back to doing what I love...
I have been trying to update my blog background and header...and as you can see,without much success.
I bought a beautiful header and background from Heidi Swapp's "House of Three" (they have such beautiful stuff there)...but I can't get it on. I'm pretty computer savvy, but not savvy enough. I'm going to have to write to them for help.

Besides that, I lost my way, my mojo, my desire...whatever you call it, I just didn't have it. Maybe holidays overload...maybe just a cycle we go through...even though I got some cards done, the excitement and the passion was not there. I needed God's touch to create in order to bless others and  let them know they are loved. God blessed me with that this weekend. I got an inspiration for a card for my husband for Valentine's Day that I was so excited about, my mind was spinning.
From there, I saw ideas everywhere!!! I wanted to make a card for everyone!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!

So, here we go.
I thank God for renewing and refreshing us just exactly when we need it!

Here's a picture I made this weekend to hang on my bedroom wall.  Last year we brought our granddaughter Rebekah home for a visit from college so she could go to Art Prize. It is a competition where artists from all over the world come to town and display their art all over the city. It is a wonderful experience for anyone who loves to see art in many different forms. Anyway, we had a great time and I did this picture to remember our time together.

This is the picture as it hangs on the wall.

Here is the middle frame that has one of my favorite sayings on it:

ART

wipes the

Dust off

everyday

LIFE

Isn't that too true???

Wonderful to hang somewhere where you can read it at the time you need  a lift and a reason to create!!!

My new technique for this project? (I am not forgetting to use a new technique every time)

First of all, I had never embellished a frame that was hung on a wall. I had stayed away from displaying my art...can you say INTIMIDATED????

Anyway, that was a new experience...so the papers, the embellies, etc. were a totally new way of seeing it as a hanging instead of as a  page.

Second...the poem was first printed on the background paper. I didn't like the look.

I then came up with setting it apart by printing the poem on vellum...taking the frame apart and inserting the vellum inbetween. Hard to do once everything is glued down. Live and learn!!!

I really liked doing the frame.

I will be doing more!!!

Thanks for visiting.

ttfn

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

2011 Coming Up!!!!

Hope you all had a very BLESSED CHRISTMAS...
We have our daughter and family visiting and are enjoying our time together. It makes our holidays very special!!!  Right now it is noon, all of us are still in our pyjamas, and watching "The Aristocats"!!! how fun is that??????

I do not have a card for you today... I do need to go make a couple though, so I will be putting some on really soon. I have a lot of ideas flying around in my head and I'm really getting anxious to go and play with my "STUFF" :O)  I have some new items that will be really fun to try out.

I am looking forward to a wonderful, blessed 2011!