His Love Endures Forever

Hi Friends!

Today I am sharing a fun simple Mixed Media card designed with retired stamps from my massive stash :-)  The butterfly image is from the retired Stampin’ Up! Ageless Adornment (hostess set) and the sentiment is from the recently retired Verve Stamps, Scripture Medley 3.  

I had this butterfly image already stamped, colored , fussy-cut and layered in my stash and in my recent (and continuing) organization project, I decided to pull out my "stashed" images and create a few cards:-).

I am linking this card to the Try It On Tuesday “Things with Wings” Challenge along with the CAS on Friday #136 “Splash Watercolor” Challenge and the WordArt Wednesday #342-#343 “Anything Goes” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to visit the above challenge galleries yet, I encourage you to do so- wonderful ideas and projects by all!

To create this card:

1). De-static a scrap piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the butterfly image with Versafine™ Onyx Black ink onto the prepared cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing as cooled, watercolor using ink from water-based markers.  Fussy-cut the image, mount onto black cardstock and cut close to the edge.

2). Die cut a piece of white cardstock with a stitched rectangle die.  Scribble a bit of green water-based marker onto a silicone craft mat, lightly spritz with water and press the die cut panel into the ink.  Lift up and repeat until you are satisfied with the background.

3). De-static the background panel with an embossing powder tool, stamp the verse image with Versafine™ Onyx Black ink, stamp onto a piece of white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Mount the panel onto a piece of black cardstock, trim and mount onto the white card base.

4). Mount the fussy-cut butterfly image with dimensional foam.  Add white highlights to the butterfly’s wings using an extra fine white paint pen and use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the wings.

5). Finish off the card with a few jewel drops.

Stamp Sets: Ageless Adornment (retired Stampin’ Up!), Scripture Medley 3 (retired Verve Stamps)

Ink: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Zig® Real Clean Color Markers- Light Green, Yellow, Orange, Light Purple; Stampin’ Write Tangerine Tango Marker; Clear Wink of Stella® , Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen, Nuvo™ Lime Jewel Drops

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Extra Thick Whisper White

Accessories: AquaPainter™, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Water Spritzer Bottle

Thanks again for visiting- you are all such an encouragement to me!!  Hugs and I hope you have a fabulous week, my friends!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4^th of July, My Friends!

I have been so busy trying to organize my stamping/craft room (well, really "rooms" since it is all over the house- lol!) that I have not had a lot of stamping time lately.  

Since my self-imposed organization "job" is taking longer than I anticipated (I move much slower as I get older), I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and post a few of the cards that I have created for the 4th of July/ Memorial Day in the past. 

To find the cards and links for this post, I used my  “Labels” section at the very bottom of my blog.  In the beginning of blogging, I used quite a few labels for each post so I had to put this section at the very bottom of the page (keep scrolling and you will see it:-)). 

To find the cards, I "clicked" on Patriotic (I have 22 posts with a patriotic theme) and am sharing ten of those cards with you today.   This set of cards will showcase a a variety of styles as well as a few cards using stamps that are not normally considered "Patriotic" starting with the year 2013 through 2017.  

I tend to favor Mixed Media cards but do have a few Clean and Simple/Clean and Layered cards in the post as well :-)  If you have a chance to comment, please let me know which style you like the best and I will try to design cards using that style in the future:-)

If you would like to view the rest of the patriotic cards from the past six years, just go to this link and you can see them all (scroll through the post, then click onto "Older Posts" to continue to see all of the cards). 

This card was designed for an SUO Challenge in 2013 using the retired
 Stampin' Up! images (Sunflower background and Trust God)
- see the instructions here

This card was designed for the SUO150 Challenge in 2016 and
I "cased" my own card (from above) using a different
floral stamp (Dahlia background) - see the original post here

This  quick and easy card was designed in 2014
 using scraps for a few online challenges-
see here for more details

I have several family members that were born on July 4th
so this card was designed with Our Daily Bread Designs and
retired Stampin' Up products with them in mind-
I have more information in this post

This patriotic card was designed in 2015 for Memorial Day using
Our Daily Bread Designs- see this post for more details 

This Mixed Media card was designed in 2016 with Artistic Outpost and
Our Daily Bread Designs using a vintage watercolor technique-
see this post for more details 

Another fun 4th of July Mixed Media card from 2015 using
Artistic Outpost and Our Daily Bread Designs-
see this blog post for more details 

A fun carefree card using Stampin' Up! stamps  for the SUO177 Challenge
 (Beautiful You, Work of Art) - see this post for full details and free instructions

A quick Clean and Simple (CAS) card using a retired Stampin' Up! image -
 see this post for all of the details 

Playing around again with a CAS style using a retired
Stampin' Up! image- see the blog post here for more details

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me :-)    I am so thankful that we are free!! 

I am also so thankful for all of you that take the time to visit my blog.  I know that many of us have not met in person but I consider all of you "friends" and feel so blessed! 

When I started this blog in August 2010, I decided that I wanted this blog to be just for "fun" and not for profit.  As an artist, I find that I can design more freely when I am not under pressure for too many deadlines and/or if money were to be involved- for me, this stifles what I call my "mojo":-)  So at the time of establishing my blog, I decided not to monetize (you should not be seeing any ads) and am very honored that you are here. 

I noticed recently that I am currently at 999,739 visits and am humbled that people from around the world have stopped by to visit my blog :-)  I am sure that number is somewhat elevated by "bots" (false visits) but hope that those of you who have taken the time to visit, realize what a blessing you are to me! 

Thank you, again for the encouragement it is that you have visited my blog- hugs and I hope you have a wonderful  4^th of July!!  

A Friend Loveth At All Times

Hi Friends!

I am finally getting a chance to share this card that I designed with the June Stamp of the Month, Texture Tiles 2 along with the previously released stamp set, Peaceful Peonies from Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps.

I incorporated the Splitcoaststampers CC688 Color Challenge and the Simon Says Wednesday “AnythingGoes” Challenge into the design.

If you have not had a chance to visit the above challenge sites or the SNSS Blog/FB Page yet, I encourage you to do so- gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). De-static a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the large blossom image from Peaceful Peonies with archival black ink onto the panel, apply clear embossing and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, watercolor the image using water-based markers and fussy-cut.

2). Die cut a piece of white cardstock with a stitched die, stamp the Texture Tiles2 brick wall image using hickory smoke distress ink, heat set with a heat tool.  De-static the panel with an embossing powder tool, stamp the sentiment from Peaceful Peonies using archival black ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

3). Die cut a piece of slate cardstock using a stitched rectangle die, mount along with the stamped texture panel and an old olive textured panel (also die cut with a stitched rectangle  mount all onto a piece of black cardstock.  Add a strip of black satin ribbon (wrapping the ends behind the panel) and mount onto a white card base.

4). Mount the fussy-cut peony image onto the card front with dimensional foam.  Use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the petals and a few white highlights to the stamens with a Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Texture Tiles 2, Peaceful Peonies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Old Olive, Watermelon Wonder; Tim Holtz® Hickory Smoke Distress Ink; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Old Olive, Smoky Slate

Accessories/Tools: Big Shot™, MFT Dies- Stitched A2 Rectangle Set 1 & 2, Horizontal Stitched; retired Fancy Finial Embossing Folder, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, 7/8” Black Satin Ribbon

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I hope you will visit again soon!