Pink, Pink and MORE Pink!

Good morning, Friends!

Our news today: we have a brand new granddaughter!!

Yes, my daughter had a girl...after 3 boys, this is SO special! Of course, we LOVE our grandsons but my daughter, Chris, really needed a little female companionship in that house of males! Now there are pink and ruffles everywhere! And I DID get to give them the girly baby card I made a few weeks ago! 

Here is Alicia Joy:

Going to a Wedding!

Hubby and I are going to a wedding in Wisconsin this weekend and will visit my family while there too. The wedding is in Waupun Friday afternoon. My son's best friend is marrying a lovely girl there and has made Wisconsin his new home, instead of Michigan...sad for us but wonderful for him! Praying for God's blessing on the marriage!

And, of course, I had to make a card to give them...

Here is the sketch I used to create this one...I just turned it on its side, and then had to reposition the sentiment too. You can hardly see it but the inside does have diecut shapes too, to continue the white-on-white elegance.

This was a combination challenge...I liked the splashy flowers on the model's shirt (runway inspired)...went with that.

Challenges:

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com - #73 Sketch + Runway Inspired Challenge

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #129 Anything Goes

http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com - #215 Pastel Goodness + flowers and dots

 (dots are in the doily)

Ingredients:

Sentiments inside and out are computer generated
Bible verse - JustRite "Cast All Your Cares"
Ink - TH Distress "Vintage Photo"
Layered flowers - K&Co "Watercolor Bouquet"
Card stock is Cryogen ivory
Pearls - Pizzazz Aplenty "Ivory"
Doily - thrift store find

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Hello, to my online friends!

Tomorrow is Easter, when we once again celebrate the resurrection of the Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ. Looking forward to singing “Hallelujah” in church tomorrow morning! I attend Bible Study Fellowship and that is the exact part of Matthew we are studying right now! Amazing!

So I’m wishing you all a very blessed Easter.

Below is another “Thank You” card…part of the set of 22 of them…that I made for my soon-to-be daughter-in-law for one of her bridal showers. They are all different! I really should take pictures of the whole set…or at least of my favorites. If I have time.

Ingredients:

kraft note card – DMD, Inc.

border punch – Martha Stewart “doily lace”

stamps – Stampabilities “Thank You”, CDS “Little Lamb”

glitter glue – Stickles “Star Dust”

other card stock and bling – from my stash

Challenge:

http://thekraftjournal.blogspot.com -#167 Bunnies or Lambs

Bunnies, Babies and Buttons!

Finally finished this card today! Its been "in process" on my craft table for over a week now. I made it for my daughter who is expecting her 4th child, due the middle of May. She and hubby have 3 boys already so I am REALLY hoping for a girl this time! They don't like to find out the sex until the baby is born so we don't know that it is a girl....it just HAS to be! I know I'll be scrambling to make a blue card if its NOT a girl!

I followed a sketch for this one:

 from

http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com - #162 Bunnies and Chicks

I also followed the requirements for:

http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com - #167 Flowers and Flourishes

http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com - #161 Tic-Tac-Toe (bunny, pastels, ribbon)

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #127 Anything Goes

http://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - April: Anything Goes + handmade bow

I really like how the paper-pieced buggy turned out!
Here is my list of supplies used:
Stamps - Stampabilities "Bunny Buggie" (colored with colored pencils); "It's a Girl" & "Congratulations"  are generic
Inks - Studio G "Pink", Memento "Tuxedo Black", & "Bamboo"
Dies - Spellbinders "Rose Creations", "Standard Circles Lg.", TH Sizzix "Tattered Floral Garland"
Punch - Martha Stewart "Doily Lace"
Card stock - Imaginesce "Baby Powder", Paper Studio "Heavy Wt. White" & pink flourish & green polka dot
Pearls, buttons and ribbon are from my stash

Thanks for stopping by! I always appreciate your visits and comments!

Happy Spring!

Good evening, crafty friends! 

Yes, I do believe Spring is finally here...at least for today! I spent a couple hours outdoors today raking all the oak leaves out of my flower beds and bushes. SO nice to be able to be out there!

I just finished this card. Not sure that I like it as well as I thought I would. A little too busy for my taste. The center picture is an actual photograph. I took it last month when we were at Epcot in Orlando. (For more photos taken while traveling see my other blog, Picture This: Everyday Beauty ) They had a butterfly tent there with lots of different types of butterflies. I'm not sure what this one is...maybe a viceroy?

Well, one of my blogger friend s says it is a "Queen". Thanks, Irish!

One of the challenges I used asked for a photo to be used on your card. That is the Try Stampin' on Tuesday challenge. They also have a sketch to follow:

I recently visited the blog of a fellow cardmaker and saw some lovely flowers she made using glass tiny beads for the centers. I loved them! So I had to try that too! The pink flowers have pink beads which don't show up as well, but are still pretty.

Ingredients:

Card stock - Bella Blvd & Paper Studio

Dies - Spellbinders Standard Circles Lg, Lg Scalloped Circles, 

Gold Corbels & Accents

TH Sizzix Alterations Tattered Flower Garden,

CheeryLynn Garden Gate

Punches - Martha Stewart Frond, Fiscar Flower

Stamps - Imaginisce Spring, Stampabilities Greetings

Challenges:

http://cheerylynndesigns.blogspot.com - #127 Anything Goes

http://craftingforallseasons.blogspot.com - #74 Dies & Punches

http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com - #159 Pastels

http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com - #213 Floral Fantasy

http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com - #161 Sketch & Use a Photo

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #126 Anything Goes

http://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - April Anything Goes w/handmade bow

My New Die Set!

What a lovely Sunday afternoon! Sunny and clear...a bit chilly yet, but still a fine day for a walk.

Sadly, I had to make several sympathy cards recently. Have to put 3 more in the mail tomorrow. And because I'm mailing them I decided to take it easy on the bling!

This one shows off my newest die set which was purchased at an outlet store that sometimes get prototypes of items not yet on the market...so I don't even know what the set is called but I'm pretty sure it is from Spellbinders. I love that it is a true rectangle with alot of delicate detail just around the edges. And there are 2 "tag" dies as well as a medium size rectangle. The 2 stamps are from SweetStamps: "With Sympathy" & "Art Nouveau Vertical Border". The floral image was colored with a variety of alcohol markers: Spectrum Noir, Memento, MEPXY.

I stamped the image & sentiment in Memento "Bamboo Leaves".

Added Stickles "Icicle" for a bit of sparkle.

Challenges:

http://sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com - #163 Dies

http://craftingforallseasons.blogspot.com - #74 Dies and Punches

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #126 Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by today! Please leave a comment so I can come visit your blog too!

New Stamping Technique

Good morning!

A few days ago I was puttering in my craft room and came across the monthly challenge at SweetStamps...and decided to try it! It is usually a technique that they want you to try and this month (from March 15 thru April 14) the requested technique is using markers to ink up your stamps. I tried it 2 ways: with alcohol markers and with water based markers. I could not get the alcohol marker method to work because I don't have any spray-on alcohol to remoisturize the "ink" once it has dried (and alcohol marker ink dries fast!). SO...I used my only 2 water-based markers... a nice blue and green. 

And here is the result!

The "swirl" stamp is from Stampabilities called "Vintage Flourish" and the sentiment stamp is from SweetStamps. I also added a little Stickles "Star Dust" to the flourish and a single rhinestone...for a bit of glam.

The markers I used are Promarkers "Aqua" and I brushed the ink on the stamp with the large tips, first one color, then the other...blending it a bit here and there. When that was done I spritzed it with water in my little mini spritzer from Ranger. After it dried I added a bit of sparkley Stickles to parts of the image.

And lastly I stamped the sentiment using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, cropped the whole thing and mounted on a medium blue folded cardstock. Very CAS. Especially the "S"!

I am my worst critic, and even I like this one!

So, thanks, SweetStamps, for the suggestion!

Challenges:

sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com - Inking Stamps with Markers

http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.co.uk - #53 Case Sandie's Card

I chose her card from 3-12-14

(I'm also their GD this week, so not sure I'm allowed to enter a card...

but couldn't resist!)

http://pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.ca - #101 Photo Inspiration

(I used the colors aqua, blue, green...and the swirls remind me of water/ocean)

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #126 Anything Goes

Try Stampin' on Tuesday + a Twist

Today I made a quick card...well, quick for me anyway! I saw a great sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday and wanted to try it all week...so I waited until the last possible moment to be able to still enter it in their challenge. Typical. Here it is...

The card stock used for this one was all in my stash box; the stamp set used is "Are we there yet?" by Sandylion; and the inks are Memento "Bamboo Leaves", TH Distress "Antique Linen" & "Vintage Photo".

And those neat little square brass stick-ons are "Studs" from Michaels.

And here's the sketch:

And here is the challenge info:

http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com - #160 Sketch + Masculine Touch

and I found one other challenge with a "guy" theme:

http://mimchallegeblog.blogspot.com - "One for the Boys"