Trustworthy Anchor for Our Souls

Happy New Year Friends!

I hope all of you had a safe and fun New Years Eve!! My hubby and I have not gone out on New Year’s Eve for several years but enjoy celebrating at home with a quiet evening (we do watch ball drop at midnight:-)).   We had a nice time staying warm and I had a chance to create a few cards.

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, you know that I like to participate with online challenges and incorporated the Viva La Verve December 2017 Sketch Challenge along with the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes” Challenge into the design of this card.

If you have not had a chance to check out the above challenge sites yet, I hope you will do so- wonderful inspiration from their Design Teams as well as their galleries!

To create this card:

1). Ink the verse sentiment from Strong Anchor (Verve Stamps) with Tim Holtz™ (TH) Faded Denim Distress Ink, stamp onto white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, die cut with the My Favorite Things™(MFT) Stitched Circle STAX Dies. Also die cut another circle (using the same size die) from navy cardstock, cut the navy circle in half and after step #2 below, adhere behind the stamped circle allowing just a bit of the die cut to show.

2).  Using a Clarity™ Stencil Brush, lightly brush TH Antique Linen Distress Ink over the entire circle, then repeat with additional Antique Linen Distress Ink over the Memory Box Stars All Stars Stencil. 

3). From the Cape Cod Stack (The Paper Studio) trim several pieces- the map pattern for the background, the striped pattern for the horizontal panel, the knotted rope for the vertical panel and several smaller pieces for the flag banners.

Die cut a piece of the anchor pattern with the smaller MFT Stitched Circle STAX Die (also die cutting a piece of navy cardstock with the same size die, splitting in half and adhering behind the die cut circle).

Distress the edges of the panels with a distressing tool, mount the map background onto a piece of navy cardstock, add the vertical panel.  Adhere the banners onto the back of the striped horizontal panel and mount onto the card front. 

Using hot glue, add the knotted natural polished hemp twine before mounting the die cut circle sentiment with dimensional foam.

4). Ink the ship wheel image with TH Vintage Photo Distress Ink, die cut with the coordinating Nautical Die Set (Verve Stamps).  Add the antique brass brad to the center.

5). Mount the die cut designer paper circle to the card front.  Add the looped natural polished hemp twine along with the die cut ship wheel to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Strong Anchor (Verve Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Tim Holtz® Distress Ink- Faded Denim, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Cape Cod Stack (The Paper Studio)

Accessories: Big Shot™, Nautical Die Set (Verve), MFT Stitched Circle STAX Dies, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Clarity™ Stencil Brush, MB Stars All Stars Stencil, Antique Brass Brad, Distressing Tool, Natural Polished Hemp Twine

Thanks again for visiting- I hope all of you have a wonderful week!

Cards for A Cause- You're The Best

Hi Friends!

This card is another design that I created for the Splitcoaststampers' April 2016 MISSION- Cards for a Cause (see details here) along with the SC586 Sketch Challenge and the Simon Monday “Show Us Your Metal” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to check out the above challenge sites, I hope you will find time to do so- wonderful samples from all!

To create this card:

Using a 2” Circle Punch, punch out the map image from the Paper Studio Cape Cod Designer Paper.

Use the Big Shot™ with the My Favorite Things™ (MFT) Stitched Circle STAX Dies to cut out a circle from Really Rust cardstock and adhere the map image circle to the die cut.

Trim the other pieces of the Cape Cod paper, adhere to a piece of Really Rust cardstock and mount onto a piece of Night of Navy cardstock using a zig zag stitch.

Apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress Ink over the edges of the sewing and paper to “age” the thread.

Wrap a piece of 1” Dark Navy Grosgrain Ribbon around the card front, add the metal Nautical Charm with an Antique Brass brad, create a metal “rope” with brass wire and loop over a strip of 5/8” Rust Satin Ribbon (wrapping the ends of the Rust ribbon behind the back of the card front).

Mount the entire panel onto the Whisper White card base.

Ink the sentiment from the retired stamp set, Simply Wonderful using Stāz-On® Midnight Blue ink and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock.

Apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress Ink over the paper, punch the ends with the Hexagon Punch to create the banner points, mount onto Really Rust cardstock and punch the banner points with the punch.  

Add the Night of Navy banner behind the sentiment and add texture to the background with the Timeless Textures stamp using Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress Ink.

Mount the die cut circle along with the sentiment using dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Simply Wonderful (retired SAB)

Ink/Mediums: Stāz-On® Midnight Blue, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress Ink

Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, retired Really Rust; Cape Cod Designer Paper (The Paper Studio™)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Circle STAX Dies, Sewing Machine, White Thread, Nautical Charm, Antique Brass Brad, Antique Brass Wire, 1” Dark Navy Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8” Rust Satin Ribbon

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

Congrats- One Word Challenge

Hi Again Friends!

Today I will be sharing three additional cards that I designed for the April 2016 MISSION- Cards for A Cause at Splitcoaststampers (Homeless Veterans Program at Miami  VA Medical Center- see details here) and all three cards use the Cape Cod designer paper from The Paper Studio (this first card was super easy to create since the designer paper does all of the “work” :-)).

This card will also be linked to the Splitcoaststampers’ Free For All F4A304 “One Word Wonder” Challenge as well as the USEIT2016 Challenge (I had not inked up the retired 2015 SAB set Simply Wonderful stamp set until now).  

I hope you will take the time to visit the above linked sites- so much inspiration!

To create this card:

Trim and distress the edges of the seahorse design from The Paper Studio, add shadows to the seahorse using the Stampin’ Write Sahara Sand Marker, mount onto a piece of Night of Navy cardstock and adhere to a piece of Cajun Craze cardstock.

Add the 1” Dark Navy grosgrain ribbon and layer the 5/8” Rust Satin Ribbon over the grosgrain (wrapping the edges and adhering to the back).

Mount the entire panel onto the Whisper White card base.

Ink the sentiment from the retired Simply Wonderful stamp set with Stāz-On® Midnight Blue Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, cut out with the Big Shot™ using the Rose Garden Thinlits™.

Cut another frame with the Rose Garden Thinlit™, cut in half and mount behind the sentiment label.

Ink the Timeless Textures stamp with Sahara Sand Classic Ink and repeatedly stamp over the sentiment.

Mount the sentiment to the card front with dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Simply Wonderful (retired SAB), Timeless Textures

Ink: Stāz-On® Midnight Blue, Sahara Sand; Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write Marker

Paper: Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Night of Navy; Cape Cod Designer Paper (The Paper Studio)

Accessories: Big Shot™, Rose Garden Thinlits™, 1 “ Dark Navy Grosgrain, 5/8” Rust Satin Ribbon, Distressing Tool

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I will be sharing the other two cards from this paper collection shortly.

Life's Roughest Storms

Hi Again Friends!

I am continuing to create cards for the Splitcoaststampers’ April 2016 Cards for A Cause (see here for more details) and designed this card using the Splitcoaststampers' SC583 Sketch Challenge (modified a bit on my card :-)) and the Alphabet "K" Challenge (“K” for Knot).

I hope you will take the time to visit the above linked sites- so much inspiration!

To create this card:

Ink the sentiment from the Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) Anchor the Soul with Stāz-On® Midnight Blue Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ with the My Favorite Things® (MFT) Stitched Square STAX to cut out the sentiment, mount onto Night of Navy cardstock, trim and apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress Ink to distress the paper.

Ink the anchor image from Stampin’ Up! The Open Sea with Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink, stamp off twice and stamp over the sentiment.

Cut the oval from the Cape Cod DSP using the MFT Oval Stitched STAX and mount onto the lower portion of the card front.

Layer the designer paper from The Paper Studio© Cape Cod Premium Cardstock pack over a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock, trim the edges and mount onto a piece of Night of Navy cardstock.

Add a few scrap strips of Night of Navy across the card panel along with the knotted Hemp Twine.

Use the 1 ¼” Circle Punch to create the layered circle with the knotted pattern paper and mount the circle and sentiment with dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: The Open Sea (Stampin’ Up!), Anchor the Soul (ODBD)

Ink: Stāz-On® Midnight Blue, Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Old Paper Distress Ink

Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy; Cape Cod (Paper Studio©)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Square and Oval STAX, Sponge Dauber,  1 ¼” Circle Punch, Hemp Twine

The card is a bit narrower than the normal A2 size (I had a 4" x 6" envelope that I wanted to use so the overall size is 3 3/4" x 5 1/2").  

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I hope you have a terrific day, my friends!