The Joy of the Lord

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you are having a great weekend!  Today I am sharing a quick card using Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps  Titmouse and Hummingbird with Scripture digital stamps.    

 

I incorporated the Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 #126 Sketch Challenge along with the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes” Challenge.

 

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- wonderful inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Trim a piece of green designer series paper to 5 ¼” x 5 ¼”, mount onto dark gray cardstock, trim and mount onto a 5 ½” square card base. Trim the vertical panel from a light pink designer paper, mount onto dark gray cardstock and mount onto the card front.

2). Using a word processing program or photo editing software, import the Titmouse and Hummingbird with Scripture images, re-arrange to leave enough room to die cut and trim and print out onto white cardstock.

3). Use a rectangle stitched die to cut out the titmouse and hand trim the sentiment.

Use a water brush along with water color pencils to watercolor the titmouse image and once dry, add shimmer to the titmouse using a clear glitter pen and highlights to the berries with the Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen.

4). Mount both onto dark gray cardstock, trimming close to the edges and mount both onto the card front using dimensional foam. 

6). Add a few pearls to the corners to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:   Titmouse and Hummingbird with Scripture (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Printer Ink- Black, Watercolor Pencils, Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen, Clear Glitter Pen

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, retired Stampin’ Up! designer papers

Acessories/Tools: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Square STAX Dies, AquaPainter™, Pearls

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- hugs and I hope you have a blessed week, sweet friends!

November 21- Power Poppy Hues to Use Challenge Guest Designer

Hi Friends!!

Woohoo!! I am the Guest Designer for the Power Poppy "Hues to Use"Challenge for the week of November 21^st!!  

In addition to the monthly Power & Spark Challenge at Power Poppy, the "Hues to Use" Challenge is a weekly color challenge which does not have a link up expiration date, so you can play anytime!! One of the benefits of playing along is that you may be asked to be a Guest Designer in the future- which is such an honor and very exciting!!

I am so excited since I absolutely love Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley images and own several of her clear stamp sets as well as quite a few digital sets.  

I know, many of you may cringe at the thought of digital stamps and feel that digital images are too intimidating, but trust me, they are so easy to use!! You can import them into photo editing software (I generally use the retired Stampin’ Up! My Digital Studio™ program or Word) or you can use another word processing program.  

Also, what I love about digital images is that you can enlarge or reduce the image, flip it and/or crop it, then print it out on cardstock, watercolor paper or other paper.  Then you just color as you would a stamped image.  It is so easy to create different looks with just one image plus another major benefit for me is that they do not take up space in my stamping studio :-)

This week’s "Hues to Use" neutral palette is perfect for so many different types of cards and with the celebration of Thanksgiving this week here in the States, I decided to use the main image from the Olive and Oak digital stamp set and the sentiment from the Bittersweet Wreath digital stamp set.

I will also be participating with the Word Art Wednesday #308-#309 “Anything Goes” Challenge, the Curtain Call "Acorns" Inspiration Challenge and the CAS-Fridays #187 "Gratitude with Attitude" Challenge. 

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to check out the rest of the challenge gallery at Power Poppy (as well as their other challenge sand blog posts).  Their Design Team is amazing and gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Open an 8 ½” x 11” document in your word processing/photo software program, import or insert the Olive & Oak image into the blank document (I enlarged it a bit) and import the sentiment from Bittersweet Wreath into another area of the document.  I positioned them both on the same page but made sure I had enough room to cut out the main image panel and that the sentiment would be the correct size for the 4 ¼” card (again, this is what I love about digital images!!).  Print the images using black printer ink onto white cardstock. FYI- you can use watercolor paper or other colored cardstock as well – just as long as your printer will handle the weight.  I tend to use an 80lb weight white cardstock that has a very smooth surface. 

2). Use a water brush with antique linen distress ink, watercolor the entire image.  Use a heat tool to speed up the drying and continue to color the image using watercolor pencils, distress ink and markers and shadows with a water soluble graphite pencil until you are satisfied with the results.  I also used an alcohol marker for the background (to try to achieve an antique paper look).  Use a stencil with antique linen distress ink to lightly stencil in the background.

3). Die cut the image with a rectangle stitched die, mount onto rust cardstock, trim close to the die cut edge and mount onto espresso cardstock. Create the photo corners using a square punch from rust cardstock and trim the edges for the photo corner. Add the chocolate brads in the corners and mount the entire panel onto a piece of rust cardstock. 

4). Using a tutorial from Splitcoaststampers for an easel card (see tutorial here), I cut a piece of espresso cardstock to 4 ¼” x 11” and scored at 5 ½” and 8 ¼”.  I folded on the score lines to create the easel.

5). Hand trim the sentiment to approx. 3 ¾” wide, watercolor with the antique linen distress ink and watercolor pencils for a wash over the sentiment panel and stencil around the edges with the same stencil as used above for the main image panel.  Mount the sentiment onto rust cardstock, trim and mount onto espresso cardstock, trim and mount onto rust cardstock again for the layers.

6). On a separate piece of espresso cardstock (approx. 4 ¼” wide by 5” tall), add the crochet lace and chocolate ribbon. Wrap the ribbon ends behind this panel and adhere the panel to the lower portion of the easel card.  Mount the sentiment with dimensional foam (this is the part of the card that will help keep the easel portion open).

7). Adhere the front panel onto the small flap of the easel card, test out the easel movement to make sure that it will work smoothly.

8).To finish off the card, add shimmer to the main oak leaf with a clear shimmer pen.

Stamp Sets: Olive and Oak, Bittersweet Wreath (both digital stamps from PowerPoppy)

Ink/Mediums: Inkjet Printer- Black Ink,  Tim Holtz® (TH) Antique Linen Distress Ink, TH Gathered Twigs Distress Marker, Stampin’ Up! (SU!) Markers- Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Rexel Derwent® Watercolor Pencils-#53 Sepia, #57 Brown Ochre, #62 Burnt Sienna, #64 Terra Cotta; Derwent® Water Soluble Graphite Pencil- HB Light Wash; Spectrum Noir™ GV1 Alcohol Marker & Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso (all Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX Dies, AquaPainter™, Ivory Crochet Lace, Chocolate brads, 1” Satin Ribbon from my stash

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by!  I hope I have inspired you today and that you will be able to join us for the Power Poppy “Hues to Use” Challenge!

You Are In My Prayers

Hi Friends!

I am sharing a card today designed with Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley digital images for the Power & Spark “Portion Control” November 2017 Challenge.

For this card, I decided to use a portion of the main image from the Climbing Clematis Digital Stamp Set along with the sentiment from the Rose and Chamomile Digital Stamp Set.

I also incorporated the Splitcoaststampers CC661 "A Real Crush at the Marina" Color Challenge into the design along with the Simon Says Monday “It’s A StitchUp” Challenge.

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

To create this card:

1). Open an 8 ½” x 11” document in your word processing/photo software program, import or insert the Climbing Clematis Digital Stamp Set main image into the blank document (I enlarged it quite a bit) and import the sentiment from the Rose and Chamomile Digital Stamp Set into another area of the document (again I enlarged the image a bit).  FYI- I positioned them both on the same page but made sure I had enough room to cut out the main image in half (for two cards) and that the sentiment would be the correct size for the 4 ¼” card.   Print out the image onto Whisper White cardstock (I have an inkjet printer).

2). Use watercolor pencils and water-based markers along with a water brush to color the entire image (I used various brands and will list the colors and brands below- I also used a bit of pastel pencil).  After you are satisfied with the coloring, use a water soluble graphite pencil to add shadows.  Use an extra fine white paint pen to add highlights to the flower centers and a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the flower petals along with the butterfly.

3). Die cut the image with a rectangle stitched die, mount onto Basic Black cardstock and trim close to the die cut edge.

4). Trim a piece of Whisper White cardstock to approx. 4” x 5 ¼”, mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock and adhere to the white card base.

5). Die cut a piece of Real Red cardstock with a square stitched die, split in half and mount onto the card front (knowing that the main image panel will cover the gap).  FYI- I already had this square of red cardstock pre-cut in my stash, you could use the appropriate size rectangle die as well.

6). Trim the sentiment, create the banner points and mount onto Basic Black cardstock. 

7). Mount the main focal image and sentiment onto the card front with dimensional foam.

8).To finish off the card, add a few grey mist jewel drops to the leaves and pearls in the corner.

Stamp Sets: Climbing Clematis , Rose and Chamomile (both digital stamp sets from Power Poppy)

Ink/Mediums: Inkjet Printer- Black Ink,  Real Red Watercolor Pencil (Stampin’ Up!), (SU!) Markers- Real Red, Cucumber Crush, Marina Mist; Rexel Derwent® Watercolor Pencils- #19 Madder Carmine, #21 Rose Madder, ; Faber-Castell® Colour-Me-Grip Red & Green Pencil, Faber-Castell® Polychromos Pencils- Emerald Green, Scarlet RedDerwent® Water Soluble Graphite Pencil- HB Light Wash; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen, Conté ά Paris Pastel 1655 #30 Pencil; Nuvo™ Gray Mist Jewel Drops

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red (SU!)

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rectangle and Square STAX Dies, AquaPainter™, Pearls

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

In All Things Give Thanks

Hi Friends! 

I hope all of you are having a great Independence Day week so far! Today I am sharing another quick Mixed Media card using digital stamps from Power Poppy, Apples in Season and Bittersweet Wreath.  As I mentioned before, I love the versatility of using a digital image with traditional card making techniques and it is so easy to do so!

I used the colors from the Power Poppy Hues To Use “Black,White and Read All Over” Challenge and am also linking to the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes” Challenge and the Just Add Ink #366 “Just Add A”Challenge (A=Apples).

If you have not had a chance to visit the challenge blogs yet, I encourage you to do so- fabulous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Using a photo editing software, import the main apple digital image from Apples in Season and the sentiment from Bittersweet Wreath (both Power Poppy).  FYI- I use the retired My Digital Studio™ program from Stampin’ Up! to import the images, re-size and format on an 8 ½” x 11” page to allow room to die-cut/trim.   Print out onto a piece of 8 ½” x 11” Whisper White cardstock, die cut the Apples in Season image with a large stitched rectangle die and hand-trim the sentiment.

2). Watercolor the apple image using an AquaPainter™ with watercolor pencils, graphite pencil and distress inks. Use Hickory Smoke Distress Ink with a honeycomb stencil to add stenciling to the background.  Apply shimmer with a clear glitter pen over the blossoms and white highlights with an extra fine white paint pen.  Mount the panel onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim close to the edge and set aside.

3). Mount the sentiment onto Basic Black cardstock, trim close to the edge.

4). Trim a piece of Basic Black cardstock and mount onto the Whisper White card base.

5). Trim a pieces of Real Red cardstock, add the apple image with dimensional foam, wrap a piece of 1” Gingham Ribbon onto the lower part of the focal image and add the sentiment with dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Apples in Season, Bittersweet Wreath (both digital- Power Poppy)

Ink/Mediums: Printer Ink- Black; Derwent™ Watercolor Pencils, Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils, Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Extra Fine White Sharpie® Paint Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red

Accessories/Tools: Big Shot™, MFT Die-namics™ Blueprints 20 Stitched Frame Die, AquaPainter™, Mini Punchenella Stencil (Balzar Designs), 1” Black and White Gingham Ribbon, Sponge Daubers

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

Prayerful Tulips

Hi Friends! 

Today I am sharing another Mixed Media card using digi stamps from Power Poppy.  I love the versatility of using a digital image with traditional card making techniques and it is so easy to do so!

I used the colors from the Power Poppy Hues "Buzzing with Color” Challenge and also linking to the Simon Monday “Stencil It” Challenge and The Challenge #88 “Keywords”(Flowers, Watercolor). 

If you have not had a chance to visit the challenge blogs yet, I encourage you to do so- wonderful inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Using a photo editing software, import the main floral digital image from Tulips and the sentiment from Roses and Chamomile from Power Poppy (I used the retired My Digital Studio™ from Stampin’ Up!).  Print both out onto a piece of 8 ½” x 11” Whisper White cardstock, die cut the Tulips image with a stitched rectangle die.

2). Watercolor the tulips using an AquaPainter™ with watercolor pencils, graphite pencil and distress inks. Use Hickory Smoke Distress Ink with a chevron stencil to add stenciling to the background.  Apply shimmer with a clear glitter pen over the stenciling as well as the petals and white highlights with an extra fine white paint pen.

3). Mount the panel onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim close to the edge and set aside.

4). Trim the sentiment, add the flag points using a hexagon punch, mount onto Basic Black cardstock and create the points again with the punch. 

5). Emboss a piece of gray cardstock with a lattice embossing folder (retired SU!), trim and mount onto white cardstock, trim and mount onto black cardstock and adhere to the white card base. 

6). Mount the entire tulip focal image panel with dimensional foam, add the looped silver cord and mount the sentiment (with dimensional foam as well).  Finish off the card with a few rhinestones in the corner.

Stamp Sets: Tulips, Roses and Chamomile (both digital- Power Poppy)

Ink/Mediums: Printer Ink- Black; Derwent™ Watercolor Pencils, Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils, Distress Inks, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Extra Fine White Sharpie® Paint Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Gray

Accessories/Tools: Big Shot™, MFT Die-namics™ Blueprints 20 Stitched Frame Die, retired Square Lattice Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, AquaPainter™, Rhinestones, retired Silver Cording (SU!)

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by and visit- hugs and I hope you have a fabulous week!

Pure Prairie- Praying for You

Hi Friends! 

This week has been a busy week organizing my craft/stamping area but I have managed to tale a bit of time to create a few cards :-)

I wanted to participate in the Power Poppy Power & Spark Challenge “The June Bug” along with The Flower Challenge #9 “Anything Goes” Challenge and the My Time To Craft “Summertime” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to visit the challenge blogs yet, I encourage you to do so- wonderful inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Using a photo editing software import the Power Poppy digital images, Pure Prairie Bouquet and Roses and Chamomile (I used the retired My Digital Studio™ from Stampin’ Up! but you could use Microsoft Word or other software).  Enlarge the Pure Prairie image to fit a 4” x 5 ¼” panel and add the sentiment (enlarged a bit as well) onto a different part of the layout, print out onto a piece of 8 ½” x 11” Whisper White cardstock.

2). Die cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die, water color the image using an AquaPainter™ and watercolor pencils, graphite pencil and distress inks.

3). Mount the panel onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim close to the edge and adhere to the white card base.

4). Trim the sentiment, add the flag points using a hexagon punch, mount onto Basic Black cardstock and create the points again with the punch.  Mount the sentiment onto the card front with dimensional foam.

5). Use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the petals and the butterfly. 

6). Add white highlights to the flowers using an extra fine white paint pen to finish off the card.

  

Stamp Sets: Pure Prairie Bouquet, Roses and Chamomile (both digital- Power Poppy)

Ink/Mediums: Printer Ink- Black; Derwent™ Watercolor Pencils, Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils, Distress Inks, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Extra Fine White Sharpie® Paint Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories/Tools: Big Shot™, MFT Die-namics™ Blueprints 20, AquaPainter™

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

F4A370 Floral Birthday

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week so far! This card was designed for the Splitcoaststampers’ Free For AllF4A370 “A CASE of My Favorites” Challenge- choose a favorite of yours from your Splitcoaststampers’ Fav Gallery and CASE the card. 

"CASEing" means Copy and Sahre Everything so you can copy directly or change the layout, colors, etc. inspired by one of the favorites in your Splitcoaststampers gallery.   

Usually if you copy the card directly from a card artist, it should be for your personal use only and not for publication or sale.  This is a general rule of thumb and most card artists are honored if you choose to CASE one of their creations for your personal use :-)

For my card, I decided to CASE this gorgeous card (pictured above) that was designed by one of my sweet friends, Cheryl Scrivens (see her Splitcoaststampers gallery here and her blog here.  I loved the way she used a horizontal strip for the Scripture sentiment, her excellent coloring and the beautiful coloring of the floral images.

I will also be linking this card to the Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge and the FUSION 03/16 "Paris Rain" Challenge (I was inspired by the bright red and orange against the gray of the rain for my colors ) :-) 

I used the retired Stampin’ Up! My Digital Studio program to import the Power Poppy digital images, Climbing Clematis (for the flowers) and Tulips Hobnail Pitcher (for the sentiment) but you could use any scrapbooking software or Microsoft Word to import the digital images.  Or, if you desire, mask and stamp the images to create this layout.   

One reason I love digital images is that you can re-size the images and I did enlarge the Climbing Clematis for this card. 

To create this card:

1). Insert the digital images from Power Poppy into a scrapbook editing software program (I used My Digital Studio) or you can use Word.  Once you are happy with the layout, print out onto a piece of white cardstock using an inkjet printer and black ink.

Front view

2). Color the image with alcohol markers along with colored pencils, water-soluble graphite pencils and water-based markers.  Add shimmer to the petals and butterflies with a clear glitter pen and white details with an extra fine white paint pen.  Originally I had more white in the background showing and decided to color up to the stitching on the die, I think I will go back and fill in the margin as well since it seems to look a bit jagged to me:-)

3). Die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die, mount onto gray cardstock, trimming close to the edge and mount onto the white card base.

4). Use a waterproof black marker along with a ruler to create the horizontal lines above and below the sentiment panel to finish off the card.

This card was so fun to create and thanks Cheryl, for the inspiration!  Since it is basically one layer, it will not require additional postage- yea!!

Thanks again for taking the time to visit! I hope you will have a chance to check out the Splitcoaststampers’ Free for All Gallery and possibly create your own card based off a favorite of yours.

Hugs and I hope you have a blessed weekend, sweet friends!