You Are With Me

Hi Friends!

I decided to create another card using my retired stamp sets and this card was designed using the floral image from Best of SAB along with a verse sentiment from the current stamp set, Words of Encouragement from Stamp Simply.

I wanted to participate with several online challenges and will be linking to the Inspire.Create.Challenges #50 Sketch Challenge, the Word Art Wednesday #402-#403“Anything Goes” Challenge and the TGIF Challenge #227 “Embossing” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the challenge sites, I hope you will find the time to do so- gorgeous galleries and inspiration from all!

I heat embossed the floral image as well as the sentiment onto white cardstock, die cut the sentiment panel and lightly stenciled tumbled glass oxide ink onto the panel. 

I used water-based markers to watercolor the floral image and added shimmer with a glitter pen along with white highlights using an extra fine white paint pen.  The image was trimmed and mounted onto black cardstock and the card was finished with a strip of designer paper.

Stamp Sets: Best of Sale-A-Bration (retired Stampin’ Up!), Words of Encouragement (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Tim Holtz® Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide, Stampin’ Write Markers- Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Sweet Sugarplum, Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Soft Suede; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Fresh Prints DSP (all Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 1, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Powder, Heat Tool, MFT Heartwood Designer Stencil

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

Funny Farm- Unforgettable Birthday

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you are having a relaxing weekend!  I had a chance to spend some creative time today and designed a card using a new to me stamp set, Funny Farm from Unity Stamp Company. 

This is such a fun set and I decided to create a birthday card incorporating the Freshly Made Sketches #400 Sketch Challenge along with the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes” Challenge and Simon Says Work It Wednesday Aug/Sept “Celebrate” Challenge into the design.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I hope you will find the time to do so- terrific galleries and inspiration from all!

I heat embossed the main image as well as the sentiment, die cut the main image with a pierced rectangle die, created a few photo corners by hand and added silver brads along with ribbon and lace from my stash to finish off this easy layered card.

Stamp Sets: Funny Farm (Unity Stamp Company)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Versamark™

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, misc. red dsp (not sure of manufacturer)

Accessories: Big Shot™, Divinity Designs Pierced Rectangle Dies, Embossing Buddy®, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Silver Mini Brads, White Crochet Lace, 1” Black Satin Ribbon, ½” Black/White Checked Ribbon

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

Cast All Your Cares

Hi Friends!

Here is another card with some of my older stamp sets- this card includes retired Stampin’ Up! Summer by the Sea, Stipple Shells along with the retired Verve Stamp Set, Faith Medley.

I heat embossed all of the images as well as the sentiment using clear embossing powder and water-colored the images with clean color markers and distress inks.  The shells were fussy-cut, the main image was die cut with a stitched rectangle die and the sentiment with a stitched oval die.

All of the elements were layered onto black cardstock with the main image and seashells mounted onto the card front with dimensional foam.

The card was finished off with a clear glitter pen and rhinestones.

I incorporated the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C496 Sandcastles Challenge, The HouseThat Stamps Built #A1419 Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge (top diagonal- By the Sea,Texture, Bright Colors) and the Stinkin’ Inkers August “Some Like It Hot”Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I hope you will find the time to do so- gorgeous galleries and inspiration from all!

Stamp Sets: Summer by the Sea, Stipple Shells (retired Stampin’ Up!), Faith Medley (retired Verve Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Zig® Clean FB Markers- Yellow, Ochre, Blue, Violet, Purple, Brown, Lt. Pink; Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker, Tim Holtz® Ground Espresso Distress Oxide, Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Stampin’ Up! designer paper- Brilliant Blue, misc. purple dsp (not sure of manufacturer)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Dies- Stitched Rectangle STAX A2 Set 1, Stitched Ovals STAX; Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™, Sponge Daubers, Rhinestones

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- hugs and I hope you will visit again soon!

Betsy the Beekeeper- Near to God

Hi Friends!

I am still working on creating cards with some of my older stamp sets and this card includes the retired Stampin’ Up! sets- Betsy the Beekeeper and Timeless Textures along with the current Words of Encouragement stamp set from Simply Stamps.

I heat embossed the Betsy the Beekeeper image and water-colored the image with clean color markers.  After die-cutting the image with a stitched rectangle die, I used a honeycomb stencil and a texture stamp with oxide inks.  The texture stamps were heat embossed with clear embossing powder and the layers were mounted onto black cardstock. 

The card was finished off with a clear glitter pen, gold cord and rhinestones.

I incorporated the Try Stampin On Tuesday #421 Sketch Challenge along with the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog #117 “Anything Goes” Challenge (Betsy the Beekeeper is over ten years old) and The House That Stamps Built #A1419 Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge (bottom row across- Bright Colors, Food, Dimension). 

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I encourage you to do so- fabulous galleries and inspiration from all!

Stamp Sets: Betsy the Beekeeper (retired Stampin’ Up!), Words of Encouragement (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Zig® Clean FB Markers- Yellow, Ochre, Blue, Violet, Purple, Brown, Lt. Green; Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker, Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide- Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey; Clear Glitter Pen, Pilot V5 Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Stampin’ Up! designer paper- Brilliant Blue, Daffodil Delight; misc. purple dsp (not sure of manufacturer)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Dies- Stitched Rectangle STAX A2 Set 1, Stitched Circles STAX; Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™ , Honeycomb Stencil, Gold Cord, Rhinestones

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I will be sharing more cards this weekend.  I hope you will visit again soon!

Beauty is God's Handwriting

Hi Friends!

I am still making an effort to create cards using some of my older stamp sets.

This Clean and Simple card combines three retired Stampin’ Up! sets- Natural Beauty, God’s Beauty and Botanicals.

This card was quick and easy to create- I heat embossed the butterfly image with clear embossing powder onto a white cardstock panel and once cooled, masked the image before stamping the text image and sentiment using water-based markers.  A water brush was used to blend a bit of the color and I used the remaining ink off the silicone mat to create a bit of splatter.

The text image was used on the base and the main image panel was mounted with dimensional foam.

I finished off the card using a clear glitter pen and white gel pen.

I am linking this card to several online challenges- the CAS Colours and Sketches#335 Color Challenge, the Stampin’ Up! Only SUOC230 “Clean and Simple”Challenge and the CAS Watercolour August "Colourful Butterflies" Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I encourage you to do so- fabulous galleries and inspiration from all!

Stamp Sets: Nature’s Beauty, God’s Beauty and Botanicals (all retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Stampin’ Write Markers- Crushed Curry, Elegant Eggplant and Highland Heather; White Gel Pen, Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White

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

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- hugs and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Natural Beauty- Dream One Layer Card

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you are having a great week so far!  My hubby, Dave is doing better with each passing day as we are getting used to his new “normal”. 

I have been creating over the summer but have not had a chance to post many of the cards to my blog or other galleries (many of you have blogs and know the time that it takes photograph, edit and write up the blog posts). 

With my limited creative time due to taking care of the household chores that my hubby normally handles, etc. :-) I am going to post the cards in the future without the detailed step by step instructions but an overview of how they were created.  If you have any questions on a particular card, and/or technique, please feel free to ask.

I am linking this card to several online challenges- AAA #142 “Along the Edge” with optional twist of “Inspired by a Song” ( I think of the song that has the lyrics “Dream, Dream, Dream” when I see this image), the Simon Says Wednesday “Clean and Simple” Challenge , the Addicted to CAS #166 "One Layer Card" Challenge and the 2 Crafty Critters Crazies  “Anything Goes with Critters”Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I encourage you to do so- gorgeous inspiration from all!

This card is a one-layer card designed with an older Stampin’ Up! stamp set, Natural  Beauty.  

The white cardstock card base was folded in half and I used a scrap piece of paper to create a mask for the border along the right side.  I repeatedly stamped the word image along the edge with Versamark™ Onyx Black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.   

The little bird was also heat embossed with clear embossing powder and I used several Distress Oxide inks to blend color over the edge (see colors below)  

I finished off the card using a black marker to create a thick line along the border edge (this covered up a bit of the uneven ink and straighten up the edge).

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide- Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Faber-Castell™ Black Pitt Pen Marker

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Dauber

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

God Is Our Refuge

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week and are looking forward to the weekend.

I have been working on organizing my craft room over the summer and creating in-between with images and/or stamp sets that I have discovered and not used in a while. 

This card was designed with one of the images that I had previously colored and fussy-cut (and found in my stash).

I am linking this card to several online challenges- Cardz 4 Galz #103 Wings and Word Art Wednesday #400-#401 “Anything Goes”.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I encourage you to do so- fabulous inspiration from all!

Since I found this image in my craft room ready to go, this card was easy to create.

I used water-based markers to color the butterfly, fussy-cut, added clear glitter before applying ModPodge® to strengthen the butterfly image.  

I used Distress Oxide ink to stencil onto the white card base, spritzed a bit of water before heat embossing the sentiment with clear embossing powder.

I mounted the butterfly with dimensional foam and added a few sequins to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Swallowtail (digital image- retired Stampin’ Up!), Fear Not (Stamp Simply)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Zig© FB Clean Color Markers- Lt Pink, Turquoise, Purple, Pink; Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide- Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire; Faber-Castelle™ Black Pitt Pen Marker, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: ModPodge®, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Dauber, ARTplorations™ Stained Glass Stencil, AquaPainter™, Sequins

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- hugs and I hope you have a great weekend!

Seaside Sketches- So Very Thankful

Hi Friends!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!  This morning, I am sharing yet another card that I created recently using two of my retired stamp sets from Stampin’ Up! (Seaside Sketches and Stipple Shells) along with a sentiment from WPlus9 Design Studio, LLC).

I wanted to play along with several online challenges and am linking to:

Retro Rubber Challenge Blog #116 “Tic-Tac-Toe” Challenge (Diagonal- Designer Paper, Texture and Color Pens, Pencils, Ink) Seaside Sketches and Stipple Shells are both over ten years old

PINSpirational #244 Inspiration Challenge- I was inspired by the pinks, the pillows, the sand and seashore theme

Try Stampin’ On Tuesday #419 Sketch Challenge

Cardsz4Galz#102 Summer Fun Challenge (this is the first time I had a chance to play along with this challenge site)

WatercoolerWednesday #233 “Karen’s Feminine Anything Goes” Challenge

 If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I encourage you to do so- incredible inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). De-static a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the Seaside Sketches image using Versafine™ Onyx Black ink onto white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, watercolor using ink from water-based markers (see colors used below).

2). Die cut the image with a stitched square die and mount onto black cardstock, trim close to the edge.

3). Die cut a piece of bright raspberry pink designer paper with the same square stitched die, mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge.  Use a few scrap strips of the designer paper and mount onto the edges of a piece of black cardstock (to use for the card front). 

4). Emboss a piece of white cardstock with the retired Square Lattice embossing folder (SU!) , mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge.  Adhere the embossed/layered background to black card front. Mount the entire card front to the white card base.

5).  Mount the layered designer paper square on an angle onto the card front (per the TSOT Sketch).  Add a bit of looped silver cord and adhere the main focal image using dimensional foam (or scrap chipboard).

6). Using black India ink, stamp the shell images from Stipple Shells onto white cardstock, heat set the ink with a heat tool and watercolor the images using water-based markers.  Fussy-cut each of the shells, use a black marker to finish off the cut edges of the images and a sponge dauber with distress oxide ink to add a bit of color.  Mount the shells onto the focal image (using dimensional foam as needed).

7). De-static a piece of black cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the sentiment from Pretty Patches: Apple (WPlus9 Studio, LLC), apply white embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, trim close to the edge of the sentiment.  Mount the sentiment onto the card front and add a few seashells with dimensional foam.

7). Finish off the card using a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the shells and water along with a few rhinestones in the corner of the focal image and sentiment.

Stamp Sets: Seaside Sketches and Stipple Shells (retired Stampin’ Up!), Pretty Patches: Apple (retired Wplus9 Studio LLC)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Ken Oliver Black India Ink, Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide- Ground Espresso; Zig® Clean Color™ FB Markers-  Pale Pink, Yellow, Ochre, Bright Pink, Blue, Turquoise; Stampin’ Write Markers- Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Raspberry Lemonade DSP (all Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: Big Shot™,  Square Lattice Embossing Folder (retired SU!), My Favorite Things™ (MFT) Dies Stitched Squares STAX, Embossing Buddy®, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Dauber, AquaPainter™, Rhinestones, Silver Cord

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- hugs and I hope you have a great weekend!

Nothing Is Worth More Than This Day

Hi Friends!

I am sharing another card today that I created recently using several retired Stampin’ Up! (SU!) stamp sets- Summer by the Sea, Stipple Shells and Summer Afternoon. 

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I am still trying to focus on using stamps that I already own and have not used in a while.  Once I pull out a retired set(s), I am trying to create a few cards in order to give all of the images some "love" :-)  

For this card, I decided to incorporate the Fab Friday #169 Sketch Challenge along with the Time-Out#141 “Relaxation” Challenge and the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes”Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the above challenge sites, I encourage you to do so- fabulous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). De-static a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the Summer by the Sea image using Versafine™ Onyx Black ink onto white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, watercolor using ink from water-based markers and distress oxide ink (see colors used below).

2). Die cut the image with a stitched dome die and die cut another dome (the same size) from black cardstock.  Split the black dome die-cut at the bottom, layer the focal image over the split die allowing just a bit of the black frame to show.

3). Emboss a piece of white cardstock with a woodgrain embossing folder, mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge.  Adhere the layered background to a white card base.

4). De-static a piece of black cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the sentiment from Summer Afternoon (retired SU!), apply white embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, trim close to the edge of the sentiment (sizing to fit under the dome shape of the focal image).

5). Mount the layered focal image and sentiment onto the card front with dimensional foam.

6). Using black India ink, stamp the shell images from Stipple Shells onto white cardstock, heat set the ink with a heat tool and watercolor the images using water-based markers.  Fussy-cut each of the shells, use a black marker to finish off the cut edges of the images and a sponge dauber with distress oxide ink to add a bit of color.

7). Mount each of the shells onto the card front using dimensional foam.

8). Finish off the card using a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the shells.

Stamp Sets: Summer by the Sea, Stipple Shells, Summer Afternoon (all retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Ken Oliver Black India Ink, Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide- Ground Espresso, Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink; Zig® Clean Color™ FB Markers-  Olive Green, Pale Pink, Yellow, Violet, Brown, Pink Flamingo; Stampin’ Write Markers- Pacific Point, Sahara Sand; Faber Castell® Bold Black Pitt Pen, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot™, My Favorite Things™ (MFT) Dies- Stitched Rectangles A2 STAX Set 1 and Stitched Dome STAX,  Embossing Buddy®, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Dauber, AquaPainter™

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