TCC195 You Are In My Prayers

Hi Friends!

Welcome to our #195 {Floral Spring} or {Garden Birds} Challenge at The Card Concept!

The Card Concept is a bi-weekly photo inspiration challenge and every month for the second challenge of the month we have two photos to inspire your card!  

I hope you will take the time to visit The Card Concept Challenge to check out the rest of the Design Team cards- gorgeous inspiration from all!

I was inspired by the Garden Birds photo for my Clean and Layered Mixed Media card.  I am fortunate to see robins all year round (they do not migrate but tend to move into the forest areas during the winter here in Maryland- well, at least some of them, lol!).

I enjoy participating with other online challenges (I know how much work goes into maintaining a challenge blog and want to give them support). 

I will also be playing along with the Word Art Wednesday #595-#596 “Anything Goes” Challenge and I was able to incorporate the Splitcoaststampers SC166 Sketch Challenge into the design.

If you have not already visited us at The Card Concept, I hope you will find the time to do so.  Gorgeous inspiration from the rest of the DT as well as the other challenge sites.

I decided to pull out some retired designer papers along with a long ago printed digital image from Stampin’ Up! for this card.

I had the robin image from the digi stamp set, Nature (My Digital Studio from Stampin’ Up!) printed and in my stash.

The image was hand colored with water-color pencils, water-based markers and distress oxide inks.

The image was die cut with a rectangle stitched die and mounted onto black cardstock.

The sentiment from the Stamp Simply Blessings/Beatitudes 1 was stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The designer paper layers were positioned onto the sentiment panel (per the sketch) for the background and silver metallic string was wrapped over the panel before adhering it to a white card base.

The hand-colored digital robin image panel was mounted with dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Nature (My Digital Studio- retired Stampin’ Up!), Timeless Textures  (retired Stampin’ Up!), Blessings/ Beatitudes 1 (Stamp Simply)

Inks/Mediums: Versafine Onyx Black; Derwent Watercolor Pencils, Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink. Stampin’ Write Markers- Baked Brown Sugar, Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper: White, Black, This ‘n That Epic Day Designer Series Paper (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories/Tools: Gemini, Jr, Stitched Rectangle Die Sets A2 Set 1 (My Favorite Things), Embossing Powder Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, AquaPainter, May Arts Metallic String- Silver

 Thanks again for taking the time to visit! I hope you are inspired to create a card and join us for our #195 {Floral Spring} or {Garden Birds} Challenge at The Card Concept!

Rejoice in the Lord Always

Hi Friends!

Today I am sharing a card designed using the retired Stampin’ Up! Sunflower background stamp (digital image) along with a sentiment from the retired Verve Stamps set, Scripture Medley 1 and retired designer papers. 

I wanted to participate with the TGIF Challenge #275 Inspiration Challenge- I was inspired by the colors as well as the sunflower :-)  and incorporated the Splitcoaststampers SC161 Sketch Challenge into the design.

I am also playing along with the Word Art Wednesday #450-#451 “Anything Goes” Challenge.

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

To creates this card:

I already had the Stampin’ Up! Sunflower background image printed out in my stash (it was reduced in size in the retired My Digital Studio™ program).

Fussy cut the sunflower and color with yellow and brown alcohol markers.

Die cut the various pieces of designer paper with stitched rectangle dies, layer onto espresso cardstock, trim close to the edge.

Mount the die cut layered pieces onto a white card base per the sketch.

Color the sunflower image with alcohol markers, fussy cut and use a black marker to color the edges.

Stamp the verse sentiment with black embossing ink onto white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder, heat with a heat tool. Once the embossing powder has cooled, die cut with a stitched rectangle die, mount onto espresso cardstock, trim close to the edge.

Adhere the layered sentiment onto the card front using chipboard (or dimensional foam).

Add the fussy cut sunflower to the upper left corner.  

Finish off the card with a few brown sequins and a white paper lace doily (another scrap, yea!).

Stamp Sets: Sunflower background stamp (retired Stampin’ Up!- digi version), Scripture Medley 1 (retired Verve Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Printer Ink- Black; Versafine™ Onyx Black, Arteza™ Alcohol Markers- various Yellows, Ochre, Browns)

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, retired Stampin’ Up! and misc. designer papers, White Tea Lace Doily

Accessories/Tools: Gemini, Jr™, My Favorite Things™ Stitched Rectangle STAX A2 Set 1 & 2, Embossing Buddy™, Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Brown Sequins

I am so thankful that you took the time to visit- hugs and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Give Thanks

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you had a wonderful week/weekend!  We are celebrating and  giving "thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever" 1 Chron 16:34!!   

This past week, we received answer to prayer- my hubby Dave’s recent CT scan did not reveal any new tumors, Praise the Lord! At this point, he does not have to undergo any chemo treatments or other medications :-)  Of course, he will be monitored every three months for his bladder cancer (and every six months for his non-Hodgkins lymphoma) but the Lord has definitely answered our prayers :-)  We are so thankful for His faithfulness to us!

In between doctor appointments, organizing my craft room (still working on this "never-ending" project- are you ever really done?) as well as our other weekly activities, I took some time to create a quick and easy monochromatic Mixed Media card. 

I needed a few more masculine cards for my stash so I am playing along with The Male Room Challenge #94 “Geometric”  and also incorporated the JustAdd Ink #427 “Just Add K” Challenge (K= Kraft) and the Simon Monday “Monochrome” Challenge.

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

To create this card:

1). Using a Word Processing or Photo Editing program (I am still using the retired My Digital Studio™ from Stampin’ Up!), import the truck image from Countryside and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.  Using Stampin’ Write markers (I used Crumb Cake and Sahara Sand) watercolor the image. 

2). Die cut the image with the MFT Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 2 Dies, mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge.

3). Die cut a piece of Kraft cardstock using the largest rectangle from the MFT Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 2 Dies.  De-static the lower corner with an embossing powder tool, ink the verse sentiment from Scripture Medley 3 (retired Verve Stamps) with Versafine™ Onyx Black ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

Another view - trying to capture the faint shimmer :-)

4). Once the embossing has cooled, stencil the chevron pattern using a stencil brush with Tim Holtz® Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and the Memory Box Modern Chic Chevron Stencil.  Keep the stencil in place and use a clear glitter pen to add a bit of shimmer to the chevron and add a bit of shimmer to the truck image as well (guys can like shimmer, right?).

5). Use a 1/16” Handheld Punch to create the holes for the square brads, add the brads, mount the panel onto a piece of black cardstock, trim and mount onto a white card base.

6). Mount the layered truck image with dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Countryside (digital stamp- Stampin’ Up!), Scripture Medley 3 (retired Verve Stamps)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black; Versafine™ Onyx Black, Tim  Holtz® Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, Stampin’ Write Markers- Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake (all Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: Printer, My Digital Studio™, AquaPainter™, Memory Box Modern Chic Chevron Stencil, Embossing Buddy™, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, 1/16” Handheld Punch (SU!), Square Black Brads (from my stash)

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- hugs and I hope you have a fabulous week, my friends!

In All Things, Give Thanks

Hi Friends!

I had fun designing this Mixed Media card using a few digital stamps from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley.  

I incorporated the Sketch Saturday #518 Sketch Challenge (flipped it a bit with the sentiment at the top) along with the Addicted to Stamps and More #297 “Make Your Mark” Challenge, the Global Design Project #143 Theme Challenge “Love It, Live It, Share It” and the Word Art Wednesday #340-#341 “Anything Goes” Challenge into the design.

I love designing and creating cards and being able to share with friends and family! I also enjoy sharing with other stampers through my blog and different social media platforms.  I have met so many friends online and even though we have not met in person, we have an instant bond due to our love for stamping and creating :-)

If you have not had a chance to visit any of the above challenge sites, I hope you will do so- wonderful Design Teams samples and entries from all!

To create this card:

1). Using either a software program or a word processing program, insert the Power Poppy Olive and Acorn image onto a 8 ½” x 11” document.  Re-size if needed to fit, insert the Bittersweet Wreath sentiment (re-sizing as well) and print out onto white cardstock.  FYI- I am still using the retired My Digital Studio™ (Stampin’ Up!) for inserting the images, re-sizing, etc. but you could use Word or other photo software programs.

2). Die cut the Olive and Acorn image with a pierced square die and die cut the sentiment with a stitched rectangle die.

3). Color the Olive and Acorn image using watercolor pencils, water-soluble graphite pencil, distress inks and glitter pens (see the colors used below in the card recipe). I did labor over the coloring for a while to try to achieve depth and rich color.

4). Use the water-soluble graphite pencil, a rust water color pencil and gold glitter marker for the sentiment.

5). Mount the sentiment and the main focal image onto gray cardstock and trim close to the edge.

6). For the card front- trim a piece of gray cardstock 5 ½” square.  Mount a piece of vanilla cardstock (approx. 3/8” square) onto the gray cardstock and mount a piece of gray designer paper onto the vanilla paper (approx. 5 ¼” square).  Add a piece of ivory crochet lace, 1 ½” gold satin ribbon and 7/8” copper satin ribbon onto the card front (wrapping the ends of the ribbon behind the panel).  Mount the entire card front onto a white 5 ½” square card base.

7).  Add the Olive and Acorn focal image on a diagonal along with the sentiment to the card front using dimensional foam. 

8). Finish off the card with a few pearls in the corner.

Stamp Sets: Olive and Oak, Bittersweet Wreath (both digital stamps- Power Poppy)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black; Tim Holtz® Distress Inks- Rusty Hinge, Hickory Smoke; Derwent® Watercolor Pencils- Copper Beech, Golden Brown, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Venetian Red; Gold Wink of Stella®

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray; retired Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper (all Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: Big Shot™, My Favorite Things™ Stitched A2 Rectangle STAX Set 1; Our Daily Bread Designs Pierced Squares Dies, AquaPainter™, Pearls; Ivory Crochet Lace, 1 ½” Gold Satin Ribbon, 7/8” Copper Satin Ribbon (all from my stash)

I had a great time creating this card and reflecting on this verse- "In All Things, Give Thanks" 1Thessalonians 5:18. 

 I am so thankful for all of the blessings that the Lord has given me and bring this verse to my mind when times are not generally what I would consider "thankful".   Sometimes it is difficult to focus on "thanks" when you find out about a loved one passing, a terrible tragedy or illness befalling someone you know (or yourself), or other stressful things in life,  but I am so thankful that Christ was willing to die on the cross for my sins (and yours) and rose again on the 3rd day! 

I am so thankful that by believing in Him and putting our trust in Him (and Him alone), we can have eternal life.  I am so thankful that it is the "gift of God, not of works" for our salvation.  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16 (NKJV).  Yes, I am so thankful....

I hope I have inspired you today to create something to share with others and that you will have a thankful, blessed week!

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!