Using a Sketch

Good morning!

Last night I made a fairly quick card using a sketch I found on the CAS(E) this Sketch blog. Here's the lovely sketch, then my card. I must admit, I'm not sure I allowed enough "white space" on this card for it to be considered CAS...but thanks for the inspiration anyway!

Ingredients:

Stamps- "Fern Frond" by Posh Impressions, "Fern" by Prairie Peddler, "Leaf" & "Get Well Soon" by Stampin Up, "Lace Frame" by Hero Arts, "Fleur de Lis" by JustRite 

Inks- Color Box "Bronze", Stampabilities "Lime", Memento "Bamboo Leaves"

Die- Spellbinders "Valiant Honor-CC"

Layered Accents- K&Company watercolor flowers

Generic rhinestones

Cardstock- Paper Studio

Challenges:

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com - #254 Sketch (see above)

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - #36 January Challenge

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com - #203 "Bling's the Thing"

http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com - #152 Photo Inspiration:

(inspired by pink roses and Victorian look)

http://letscreatechallenges.blogspot.com - #133 Anything Goes

http://www.scrapyland-blog.com - #82 Anything Goes

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #318-319 AG

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog and my latest creation!
Have a wonderful week!

A Beautiful Sympathy Card

I made this sympathy card early last month for my husband's cousin, who tragically lost a young daughter very unexpectedly. I wanted the card to convey our heartfelt sympathy, show solemnity and yet be a bit cheering. 

The dies I used on this one are Spellbinders (Fleur de Lis Square and Foliage) and Sizzix (Tattered Flower Garland). The blue print cs is from a lovely tablet by K & Co. called "Julianne"

And, yes, I am actually entering this one in a few challenges! (Its been a while!)

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - April Challenge

http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com - #132 Word Prompt: Spring

http://www.scrapyland-blog.com - #63 A.G.

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #278-279 A.G.

Birthday Greetings to Daughter #3

My 3rd daughter, Lindsey, is such  a nature lover...she will love this birthday card!  In fact, the little dried fern fronds are from a plant she picked out for me to add to my shade garden. They appear to be black in the photo but they're really a nice dark chocolate.

I made this card using a design I saw on someone else's blog...something that was entered in a challenge and I went to check it out. I saved a picture of that card and it has been hanging above my desk in my craft room for over a year. It is my very favorite card! The gal who made it is named Agnes B. If you know her, please tell her Thank You for me!! (Agnes is my mom's name too, so its even a bit more special!)

My list of ingredients follows -

Dies: Gina Marie Designs Lg Prcd Flower, Spellbinders Spiral Blossom 1, Fleur de Lis Acct, Foliage, Elegant Ovals, Cl Scal. Circles Lg, Joy Crafts Vintage Flourishes #32

Stamp: JustRite Birthday Sentiments

Adhesives: ATG tape, Zots, Glue Dots small and medium

Ink: FSJ Coffe Bean

Sequins: FSJ Blue Skies

Cardstock: K&Company Que Sera Sera, Paper Studio Ivory heavywt.

Challenges -

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com - #331 AG

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - #20 AG

http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com - #117 Autumn Colors/Theme

http://www.scrapyland-blog.com - #50 Happy Birthday

http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com - Sketch #289 (I used a circle instead of rectangle)

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #248-249

Masculine Thank You

Happy Monday morning to you all! 

I'm getting a slow start today...got up late! And now its getting really hot outdoors already...gardening may have to wait another day! (Good excuse to be in my craftroom, don't you think?)

Here is my simple offering for today:

I was going for a CAS "Thank You" card with a masculine look. I love the mechanical drawing of the train...a new stamp I just got last week! And the die cut edge is an adhesive-backed piece...so easy to use!

The old watch is part of the same set of stamps as the train. The black & white color theme is probably one of my very favorites. SO very CAS!

Ingredients:

Ink - Memento "Tuxedo Black"

Die cuts - K&Company "Elegance" adhesive borders

Stamps - Prima "Time Travelers Memories"; Inkadinkadoo "So Thoughtful"

Challenges:

http://addictedtocas.blogspot.com - #40 Transport

http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com - #169 Black + One Other Color

http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.co.uk - #58 CAS

CAS Card

Quick post for a couple challenges!

Here's my CAS card:

The green card stock has textured dots, its from my stash....brand????

The print cs is K&Company "Merryweather"

Get Well stamp is Bildmalarna

Memento "Bamboo" ink

Old buttons from my growing button stash!

I'm entering this one in:
http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com - "Anything Goes" (w/ 2 or more buttons)

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com - Sketch #24

Oops! Well, so much for THAT idea...missed the sketch challenge by 30 seconds!
WHY do I wait so long??

A Very Feminine Sympathy Card

Tonight I finally finished a sympathy card just to have on hand. I've meant to to do that for several weeks, never found time, until I looked at the sketch I used. Because it seemed clean and simple I knew it would work. What do you think?

I'm entering this in 2 challenges:
http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.com - #73 "Sympathy/Thinking of You"

http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com - Sketch #15

Ingredients:

Sizzix embossing folder - "Flourish, Floral 2"

Pizzazz Aplenty flatback pearls - "pale pink"

Sentiment - computer generated

Stamped image - JustRite "Cast All Your Cares"

Dies - Spellbinders "Labels 20"

Print card stock - K&Co "Julianne"

Solid cs and ribbon - from my stash

A Trip "Up North" + Craft Time

Last week my hubby and I got to go with friends "up north" in Michigan to the Leelanau Peninsula area and stay for a few days on the shore of Lake Michigan. When we left home it was rainy and looked ugly outside...no snow, just lots of brown dead stuff and plenty of mud! But by the time we arrived at Glen Arbor it was snowing quite steadily and the scenery was breath-taking! It was cold but absolutely beautiful everywhere you looked! We bundled up and walked around outside taking lots of  pictures.

Here's the condo we stayed at near Glen Arbor, MI at the Homestead...

a total winter wonderland! Cold, but SO beautiful!

And the view from the back of the condo...Lk Michigan! Brrrrrrrr!

One of the fun things we (my friend Sherry & I...she is a cardmaker, too) did was to try some "Rough Rolled Roses" that I'd found a tutorial on at my friend Diane's blog. We left the paper* sit out and made more and more of them over the next few days. Very easy, very pretty...at least I think so! So, thanks so much, Diane!! And I used a couple of them on a "thank you" card for the people who let us stay in their condo.

*The paper stack I used was K&Company "Julianne"

Thank You card w/ Rough Rolled Roses           Daydream Designs Digital Images card

Before I left home I had printed off some digital images that I wanted to work with. They are from Daydream Designs Digital Stamps, Diane's online store. They are from the "Sending You Love" sets and are so fun and easy to work with...they can be resized and layered and printed on any paper. The phrase that fits perfectly over the umbrella says: "God's love is a shelter over your heart" which I thought would be great for a "thinking of you"-type card. All the soft pastels are like a warm hug!

Just in case someone wants to know, here are the other things I used to make these cards:

Square card~

Spellbinders dies- Labels 15

Sizzix/TH dies- Tattered Flower Garland

Cloud Nine Design stamps- Flower 1

StampingScrapping Design stamps- Dash It All (heart)

Card stock and ribbon- from my stash

This card I am entering in the challenge at

http://paperprettiesblog.blogspot.com - "A Square Card"

Umbrella Card~

Spellbinders dies- Big Scalloped Circles Lg.

Martha Stewart border punch- Doily Lace

Card stock and ribbon- from my stash

This card I am entering in the challenges at

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com- #65 "Anything Goes"

http://www.craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com- #148 "Pastels"

Thanks for stopping by today!

Dig Out Your Old Ribbon!

For our challenge this week at Shopping Our Stash, that is what we want you to do...dig out your old ribbon...the older the better! That is one of the things I love about SOS...it makes me use up that stuff that is just sitting there collecting dust, but really IS very useable and even lovely (well, sometimes!). The old ribbon I found is a spool of  kind of an odd color of grossgrain ribbon. Almost an ugly color. One of those muted, grayish, "subtle" colors I used to think were very "modern", "sophisticated", "trendy"...so I would buy clothing in those colors. But I looked like death warmed-over in them! "Sophisticated" death warmed-over! LOL 

The spool of ribbon was purchased at Old Time Pottery near Gulf Shores a couple years ago while vacationing there. It was in the Clearance department and looked like it had been there for years already. $.88 for 5 yards. I bought 3 spools, 3 different ugly colors. This is the first time I've used this one!

The ribbon color is more accurate in the picture below. The light blue die-cut with the leaves printed on it going up the left side of the card is another "stash" item that I've had for a few years now. It is from a whole set of 12" border die-cuts by K&Co. I really thought I'd use them more (that's why I bought 4 pkgs!) but I just don't think of them! They'd be great for scrapbooking...which I never have (MAKE) time for any more!

List of ingredients:

Ugly OLD ribbon - from my stash

border die-cut - K&Co. "SW Botanical Foil"

die-cuts - Spellbinders "Labels 20"

sentiments - "Sympathy" (borrowed from friend)

Bible verse - JustRite Clear "Cast All Your Cares"

background stamp - JustRite Cling "Elegant Fronds Background"

white card stock - my stash

print card stock - K&Co. "Julianne" Designer Mat Pad

flower & leaves - StampingScrapping "Color Me, White"

(colored with Memento, Promarker, MEPXY markers)

flatback white pearls - Pizzazz Aplenty

pearl sprays - Hobby Lobby

Glue Dots & 3M Adhesive 

I certainly hope you now feel inspired to join our "Old Ribbon" challenge this week! If you need a little MORE inspiration, check out my fellow DT's blogs (find them in my sidebar!) and/or visit the SOS blog!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by today! Please leave a comment and let me know you were here...then I can come visit your blog too!

I am also going to enter this card in a few challenges:

Word Art Wednesday - #63 "Anything Goes" (I Peter 5:7)

Sugar Creek Hollow - "Tic Tac Toe" (flowers, pearls, die cut)

Card Crafter's Circle - #58 "Layers" (I have at least 7 layers!)

Paper Pretties - PWC 241 "Ribbon"

Shopping Our Stash- Challenge #81

Happy Tuesday, Everyone! Hope you are having a good week! I finally feel more caught up around home and able to concentrate on Christmas preparations. Christmas cards are ready to go in the mail tomorrow and I am headed out Christmas shopping with my oldest daughter, Kate, tomorrow, too!

So for our challenge this week at SOS we are asking for a card or project that has as its main focus a sentiment...no images allowed...just a sentiment and the usual decorations/bling, etc. If you are not sure what I mean by that, go to our blog and look at the DT examples (or you can find them in my sidebar). And here is mine:

Because the sentiment is a Bible verse, I am entering this in the weekly challenge at http://WordArtWednesday.blogspot.com ,too. The verse from James 1 was one the freebies they offered a few months ago. They have a new freebie and challenge every week. And a very talented DT!

List of ingredients used:

Spellbinders dies- "Labels 20" & "Fleur de Lis Squares"

Tim Holtz Sizzix die- "Elegant Flourishes"

Matching stamp- JustRite "Fleur de Lis Labels 20"

Tim Holtz Distress Ink- "Antique Linen" & Distress Stickles, "Spun Sugar"

The pale pink ink is from Joanne

Patterned cardstock- K&Company "Julianne"

Solid cardstock- from my stash (i.e. I don't know! LOL)

Ribbon- recycled from a gift last year

Flowers & leaves- Pizzazz Aplenty, 1" Cherry Blosom &

Mulberry Open Roses

Lg flower is layered and colored using Spectrum Noir markers- from StampingScrapping.com

The one tiny pink rosebud was hand-made by a friend and gifted to me a while back (about 12 of them)...I have been saving them for something special! This is the first one I've used! (Thanks, MariLynn!)

Pearls- 4mm Lt. Coffee & 4mm Chocolate from Pizzazz Aplenty

Leaf branch punch- Martha Stewart "Frond"

Most of my stash is a few years old now, but some of it is really, really old because I glean things from Goodwill, and garage sales  and estate sales...and when we cleaned out my 87-year-old mother's house I took most of her sewing stuff. For example, the tiny yellow dots in the flower center are from a package of craft supplies that looked to be 30+ years old which I found at a local thrift store.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #159

Hello Friends! Welcome to the next challenge at SSiC: MUSIC!

This week our hostess is Marilynn and she decided she wants to see some element of music in your project.

Our sponsor is Fred She Said, who is offering a $15 gift card to one randomly chosen winner.

You can visit their store to see some wonderful digital stamps!

The Bible passage that Marilyn chose and that inspired her to create this challenge is:

"Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Ephesians 5:19-20

Music...what a wonderful way to praise God! And we are commanded to "sing and make music", along with giving thanks for everything! As we look forward to Thanksgiving this is a great verse that reminds us of one way to show our thankfulness is to use music in praising and worshipping our God.

For my "music element" I just used some design paper that is a copy of antique sheet music.

The large butterfly is a die cut from a whole set by K&Co. that I just bought! I sponged it with 5 colors of ink and added a bunch of Stickles. The Bible verse is a Verve stamp and I used Spellbinders -Labels 15 to cut it out. The cardstock and rhinestones are from my stash.

Please consider joining our challenge this week...we'd love to see what you create with some sort of music element in it! For more inspiration and to read a lovely devotional from Marilynn just go to the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge blog!

PS...
Well, I'm having kind of a "Duh" moment here! Reread my post and found a problem. I liked the Bible verse to go with the butterfly, thinking they were both sort of serene. However, the theme is MUSIC and those Bible verses speak of making music and singing to the Lord...NOT to be quiet! I know there is a time for each but I'm thinking I really chose the wrong one this time! Oops!

A Monochromatic Wedding Card

Yikes! Did I go overboard or what!?! This card is SO full of "pretties" that is has become a little confusing, if you ask me. But you, of course, are entitled to an entirely different opinion.

We have a wedding to go to this weekend and I will be so glad to give this card away so I don't have to keep looking at it, thinking, "Why did I do that?!"

Well, I really do have a few reasons why I made this particular card. First, I do need a wedding card. Second, I had this whole pack of gorgeous white and silver borders that I bought a year ago and never used for anything yet. So I had to try them finally! Third, the challenge this week at Shopping Our Stash is a "Mononchromatic Card" and I like to make those so... I did! Also, about Shopping Our Stash...I am a new DT member there!! Isn't that amazing! So I really did want to make a special card for this challenge, even though I am only submitting it as a regular participant. No assignments yet on the DT for me and the other new girls.

The front of the card is quite a conglomeration of elements. The silver background is actually a page form a brochure I got where I used to work. One side of the page was made to look like stainless steel so when they were destined for the trash I scavenged a few. I embossed it with a Sizzix folder: "Snow Flowers".

The paper flowers are from a set by K&Company called "The Kiss". The white and silver borders are also from K&Company, called "Elegance".

The only die cuts on the front are the leaves, from the Spellbinders "Foliage" set. I added Stickles "Star Dust" to the swirls, leaves and around the sentiment. The sentiment is a stamp from Bildmalarna, and I heated embossed it in silver...what else?!

I also used a punch: the Martha Stewart "Chrysanthemum" to add a silver layer to one of the flowers.

The tiny silk flowers, the pearl sprays and the flat pearls are from my wonderful stash!

On the inside I used more dies: Spellbinders "Pendants-Fleur de Lis" & "Labels 15".

More white and silver borders from the K&Company set and a background silver-printed vellum sheet that I had salvaged from an old wedding invitation! What is really amazing is there is NO ribbon on this card! I've never made a wedding card without it before!

So, I am entering this in the current challenge at

http://shoppingourstash.blogspot.com - #63 "Monochromatic" (silver)

More info about the Shopping Our Stash DT coming soon! SO exciting!