November in Texas!!!!!

We have been living here for a year now...and loving it!!!
But, just like everybody said, "SUMMER IS HOT IN TEXAS!". yes, yes, yes!!!
No two ways about it...IT IS BRUTAL!
Still, we have air conditioning in our homes,  we have air conditioned cars, and we work  and  shop in air conditioned spaces. Life is GOOD!!!

I am now pretty much organized in my craft space and am really excited to get back into making cards and finishing the small albums I had started before we moved.  I never really had to quit crafting, even though it was tough finding the stuff I needed to get a project finished. Right now, though, the challenge is to find where I so lovingly "organized" an item that I now need.  It's somewhere in here... I know it is!!!

Here is a card I just finished for a challenge my friend and I share. It keeps us trying new techniques and keep in touch with each other (she lives in Grand Rapids, MI).  The challenge was to make an inlaid die-cut on a card. I had seen it a lot, but had never really done one myself. I have not seen her card yet, so I don't know what she came up with. But here is mine: 

This is a Memory Box die that I just love. It is actually just one of those little branches.
I cut one die out of the white and then made a cut with my scissors to cut the white layer down the middle. Leaving just one half of the die in the white part.

I used another white card front to stamp the orange chevron image. I love how it works with the kraft paper. After I stamped, I glued the chevron paper onto the back of the white paper with the die cut.

Then I cut 3x out of the kraft paper. I used liquid glue to make small dots along the back of the die cut and fitted the cut into the white paper...letting the free pieces of die fall onto the chevron paper.
Then I glued and  placed the other two cuts on top of the inlaid piece.

Sounds complicated, but it's not.
Hope you like it..

I am sending this to my friend and entering it into these challenges:

http://inspiredbyallthelittlethings.blogspot.com/ 
     coffee and white
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/
     thinking of you
http://timeoutchallenges.blogspot.com/
     give thanks with a grateful heart

So, this is it for today....
May God bless you and yours this Holiday Season...

Elena



 

I LOVE polka dots...

Hmmmm I wonder why they are called polka dots???????
Have you ever wondered that??? 
I think it's time to do a Google search....sometimes we just want to KNOW!!!!

I do love polka dots though. There are certain things we are just drawn to, you know?
For me it's deep, rich colors; stripes; polka dots; water coloring, plus some other things, but these four catch my eye every time.  So when I saw that Simon Says Stamp! wanted polka dots on their Wednesday challenge, I just had to jump in.

A couple years ago, I found some very cheap jewelry (like 50cents each) of a pendant and a couple of earrings. They were still mounted on their cards and those cards were bright, shiny, small polka dot bright red and a bright, shiny navy blue. Those cards made my heart beat FAST!!! I wouldn't have cared what was on the front of those cards..I wanted that paper!!!  So, here it is, a couple years later and I still had one small square of the navy blue polka dot card left. I had a challenge with a friend and she called for at least one inchie square on our card.   That was PERFECT!!! I can do that!!!  I got 3 small one inch squares out of that little piece of card!!! YAY!!!

So for this card, I sponged a stencil with my chalks (I did 4 cards using stencils and chalks.) I enjoyed that technique so much I couldn't quit. I know chalks are old stuff for most of us, But isn't it so FUN and SATISFYING to use again something that has been sitting around for a long while...and find that you enjoy it as much now as you did then? I'm always wanting the next new thing...but i need to work on using an old loved thing that hasn't been used for a while. 

I sprayed the chalk with a little hairspray and then heat set it so that it won't brush off.

Next, I stamped the "Happy Birthday to you" in pink so bring out that pink around the little birds.

The little song notes came from the bird stamp by Lawn Fawn. I love that little stamp. Those little birds can be used anywhere. They don't have to always be the main event.

And of course, the inchie squares. I stacked two heavy cardstock to back the navy polka dot. Stacked the birds too. It makes the cut-outs much better looking.

So here's the two challenges I am entering this in:

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

http://casmixup.blogspot.ca/

Blessings to you all,

Elena

A new Challenge site

Hello again, It is April already... where does the time go??? We all ask that don't we? .. Time just seems to fly by and many plans are just lost in the thick of every day life. That's just how it is!

 I am just loving the beautiful weather here in San Antonio. Having the sun shining almost every day is such a beautiful thing! Everything is better when the sunshine warms your face and lights up the world. If you've been to San Antonio, you know that it is built on a mountain of rock! Not great if you're trying to plant something, but beautiful to look at. So I am just so excited to have two TINY rose bushes that we planted just last February and they are BLOOMING!!! Roses must REALLY LIKE THE SAN ANTONIO WEATHER!!!

 On to my paper crafts: I follow a lot of designers through email, that's how I get a lot of inspiration and news on what's going on. I have favorites, of course and Loll Thompson http://www.stampingwithloll.com/ is one of them. Loll and a friend of hers started up a new challenge site last month, so this is their 2nd challenge. I didn't get a chance to join them the first time but I made a card right away for this one. If I wait, the time will be gone again. I made this card using a stencil and coloring the background with chalks! I had not used my chalks for a long time. I LOVED how it came out. The three colors I used blended together beautifully. I had forgotten how nice chalk can look! I then stamped the daisy (LaBlanche stamps) with Versamark and embossed in white. I colored the image with my Tombow Twin Markers. As far as I'm concerned, no card is finished without a little glitz and glimmer (sequins).

I do hope this is not too busy for a CAS challenge. 

http://casmixup.blogspot.ca/ Stamping: Daisy by LaBlanche stamps

stenciling was done with chalk.

I also white embossed the flower before coloring with my Tombow markers.

http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.com/ This challenge says "One for the Girls"

I think this card fits that description. Flowers, especially daisies, are always a girly thing!

http://pinterestinspiredchallenge.blogspot.com/ This challenge is for pink and aqua blue...just like what I used. I love that color combination. Awesome!

Okay, so that will do it for me today! 

Have to get these entered so I can get done on the card I owe to my friend. We challenge each other 2x per month and this time it is to use an inchie. I've already got it in my head and can't wait to get on to doing it. I have to mail it out by the 15th!!!

Hugs to all,

Elena

Good to be back...

Well hello everyone out there in blogland...

It's been over a year since I have written on my blog.
OMG, so much has happened in my life...AND IN YOURS...I am sure!
There are times in our lives that things are just going along pretty "smoothly, naturally or normally" and we are grateful for that...and then comes the times that everything seems to come apart or end in some way and we have to start over.  Even though we know that this is the "God deemed" phases of life, it still takes our breath away and we have to get a tighter grip on God's hand and follow His lead.

That "hang in there with God" time happened to us in the summer of 2014. My hubby had serious health issues and we both lost our jobs.  All our kids live out of state so we decided this was the time God was moving us out of Michigan to live closer to our middle daughter. That turned out to be in TEXAS because at that same time, our son-in-law decided to get a job with a different company. HOW EXCITING AND TERRIFYING!!! Not only were we moving...both of us were moving to a State we had never even thought of living in!!! TEXAS: WE'RE GOING TO LIVE IN TEXAS????

So, here we are: settling in nicely. LOVING SAN ANTONIO!!! and loving being close to each other. It is so wonderful to have ONE of our families living close enough to come over, go shopping and enjoy all the other "family" things that we love. Now we just have to get the rest of our kids to move over here...(I'm a praying parent/grandparent...so you never know what might be in God's plan)!

I am finally back to my scrapbooking/card-making.  It is time to get some of my creations entered into the challenges that I have participated in before and some of the new ones that have cropped up. I love challenges!!

Here's my card:

The card was cut with my Cameo...I LOVE that machine.
I used two different background stamps to make the card interesting.
Sprayed with colored spritz and added metallic fragments to the centers of the flowers.

Here's the challenges I entered:
http://www.happylittlestampers.com/ Mixed Media Challenge: Paint
        Used water colors, sprays, Background stamps
http://timeoutchallenges.blogspot.com/Love is the theme
         I thought of saying thank you from the heart
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/ One layer
         Even though my card is cut on my Cameo...I think it is still a one                  layer. I have never participated in Simon Says, I have followed their             blog  for a long time.

http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.ca/ the inspiration image is                    above. I believe my card fits this image.

This is it for today...
Again, good to be back...hope you leave me a comment and let me know you're in this with me.

Hugs,
elena

Old Magazines

Hello there,
I was flipping through some old "CardMaker" magazines the other day, and some of the featured cards were just WOW! to me. They never really get old, do they? The colors and even the stamps seemed as fresh as today. This particular magazine was from 2009 (that's 5 years ago!) and it had multi-media; embossing folders, lots of the color orange...and many other features that we still use today.

There has been a lot of products added in the last five years and we love them...it's always fun to get something new to play with...but it was really fun to look back and see that we still love beautiful papers, beautiful stamps and great design. They never really get old. A beautiful card is a beautiful card!!! 

But we have LEFTOVERS!!! LOTS OF LEFTOVERS!!!
So I am making a commitment: Use something from my stash on EVERY project I make.  Every time we buy something, it usually comes as a pack of several items. I think that most crafters will never use up every item that they fell in love with and and then had leftovers that went in storage, and stayed there.

I ASK YOU: Do you have an idea of how to share your stash OR use more of your stash so that you don't have to feel guilty about having so much "STUFF"???

All right...here is the card I made from one of the old magazines I was looking through. I picked out several to "copy" and I will show you my take on those later. I loved this first one because of the color: orange and GOLD. I had not done that combination before and I really liked it.

I had a paper that I loved but had never found anything to use it on. It was pink and gold and I knew it would be perfect. I used Distress "Orange Marmalade" to marble the paper and it came out perfect.

The next thing was to apply some white acrylic paint down the side (you can't see that too much) and also along the bottom and up on the other side a little bit.

I also used some leftover pieces of paper that I cut into strips to place on the side to give the card some interest and cut a leaf sprig with my Cuttlebug. I LOVE my Cuttlebug and my Cameo. Don't know what I would do without them. That flourish is from my Cameo files. There are so many flourishes on their site that picking one is really difficult. The flourish is covered with gold Wink of Stella.
Wink of Stella is my new toy and I absolutely love it!!!

Hope you enjoyed your stop here and leave me a note...I would love to hear from you.

I am entering this card in these challenges:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TresorsdeLuxeChallenge/ tic tac toe
http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/ shine


I'll be back soon, till then

Be Blessed!!!

For the love of a new stamp....

Hello there,
Welcome to my blog...I am so excited today!!! 
I went to a stamping party a couple of weeks ago and ended up buying a stamp that I "kind of" liked but wasn't sure about. I had not picked out anything I wanted to buy ahead of time and making a decision on the spur of the moment was difficult. The stamp was delivered a couple of days ago and the moment I saw it "for real" I couldn't wait to use it!!!

It was exactly what I had been seeing on other designers' blogs but didn't have anything like it for myself. The stamp is called "White Christmas" by SU! and it has all these little images of bare winter trees, a car, a polar bear, a deer, snowman, birds, etc. I think I'll have lots of fun with this one.

So this is my first card with this stamp. I envisioned this card from one I saw by Birgit on Penny Black's blog ...Birgit's cards are absolutely my favorites right now...I love everything about them. She is an awesome designer.

I cut the card base from Neenah White Solar cardstock long way to open at the bottom
        4 1/4" across and 5 1/2" down.
I cut a curvy line in the middle of a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" of a separate piece of  Neenah                       cardstock using a guideline I had from a long time ago.
Then I used a watercolor paper 4 1/4" across and 4" down to make my "window" scene.
I painted the sky with my "Peerless" watercolors. The colors worked together just                        beautifully.
I added white dots of "snow" with a white pen.
Stamped the trees and used clear and silver "Wink of Stella" pens to add a little glitter.
          I CANNOT make a card without glitter!!!!
I stamped the bear, snowman and cardinal on separate glitter cardstock (you can't see the             beautiful cardstock, the images are just too small, but I know it's there!)

So there you have it...
THANKS FOR SHARING IN MY FUN!!!
Making ART is such a fun addiction!!!

I am entering these challenges:
http://www.fashionablestampingchallenges.com/ weather forecast
http://addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.ca/ anything goes CAS
http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ sparkle and shine

Be back soon!!!

Hello FALL....

Amazing, isn't it?
Days, weeks and months pass by so quickly, and here we are...summer is gone and Fall is fast upon us. The colors of Fall are so beautiful, yellow, orange and rusty reds...ahhh if only the temp would stay in the 60's and 70's, I'd be HAPPY!!!

It's good to be back here on the blog again.
It's been a VERY long healing journey for my husband (see previous post).
We are finally at the place where he can run small errands, help with some chores, and start feeling like a whole person again. And me too...I have resumed the two Bible Studies I have, enjoying lunch with friends now and then, and WALKING MY DOG!!!
God has showered us with His GRACE to get through this and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this journey we are on is in His hands. That doesn't mean it's not difficult, but it does mean that He is LORD OF ALL in our lives and He is overseeing every bit of the process...

I am still not in full swing of my crafting time but I am working hard to find the time to sit at my desk and CREATE!!! I am sure you know how it is...ideas and images run around in our heads and we just NEED TO PUT SOMETHING ON PAPER!!!
Well, here is the first card I made with a stamp I won last year from                                     The card didn't turn out quite how I wanted it...but it was fun to do and I found the two little gingerbread people in my stash of "metal things" that I hoard. I LOVE METAL but don't seem to use it nearly as much as I would like. I don't even know where these two little people came from...but I know that I have had them a looong, looong time.

So, here's my card...

         

I used a Tim Holtz stamp on the background (in yellow marmalade), I love that stamp!

My main image is colored with Tombow markers with the addition of gold and silver.

The bow is hemp cord and a red piece of yarn from my stash.

That "Greetings and Kind Thoughts" is from 

I am entering this card into these challenges:

http://themixedmediacardchallenge.blogspot.com/search/label/challenge vintage

http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ autumn colors

Thanks for stopping by...

Have a wonderful weekend

Elena