Gather Together and Give Thanks

Hi Friends!!

This evening I am sharing another card that I designed using the remainder of the emboss resist panel from my previous post.

For this card, I am using the Sketch Saturday #588 Sketch for the layout and am also linking to the Sunday Stamps #217 "Autumn Richness" Color Challenge, Simon Says Work It Wednesday October “Autumn& Gratitude” Challenge and the Retro Rubber #123 “Anything Goes” Challenge (French Foliage is several years old and Painted Harvest is over a year old).  

 If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will visit the above challenge sites- gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

Die cut a piece of white cardstock with a stitched rectangle die, mount onto a piece of black cardstock and mount onto a white card base.

Trim three pieces of designer paper to approx.. 1 ½ “ x 3”, mount onto a piece of black cardstock and trim close to the edge.  Use a piercing tool to create holes to insert the copper brads.  Adhere the panel directly to the card front.

After creating the heat embossed resist panel with the French Foliage stamp set (I used distress oxide inks, clear embossing powder, masked the images as I stamped additional leaves, applied additional ink over the embossed leaves), stamp the script stamp and cancelled stamp image from French Foliage with repeatedly with Versafine™ Onyx Black over the emboss resist panel, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

Die cut the circle (for the card in the previous post) and a rectangle for this card  using stitched dies.  Mount the stitched rectangle die cut onto a piece of black cardstock, trim close to the edge.

Fussy-cut a few of the leaves from the scraps and adhere to the corner with a copper clip. 

Mount the entire panel onto the card front with dimensional foam (or chipboard).  Use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the panel.

De-static a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the sentiment with Versafine™ ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool. 

Trim the sentiment panel, mount onto a piece of black cardstock and trim close to the edge.  

To finish off the card, mount the sentiment layer onto the card front (directly to the emboss resist panel and use dimensional foam on the far right hand side).

Stamp Sets: French Foliage (retired Stampin' Up!), Painted Harvest (current Stampin' Up!)

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Designer Series Paper (Autumn Meadow, Autumn Traditions)- Stampin’ Up!, misc purple designer paper

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Versamark™, Tim Holtz™ Distress Oxide- Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon, Candied Apple, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen 

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Autumn Meadows and Autumn Traditions designer series paper, misc purple dsp

Accessories: Big Shot™, My Favorite Things™ Stitched Rectangle A2 Set 1 STAX,  Sponge Daubers, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Copper Brads, Copper Clip

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

The Blessings of the Lord

Hi Friends!!

While the roofing contractors replaced all our roof yesterday, I had a chance to spend time in my craft room and create a few cards.  I miss my stamping “therapy” and with the stress of all of the recent remodeling/construction lately, I definitely needed some time in my craft room, lol!

Today I am sharing a card that I designed yesterday using two stamp sets from Divinity Designs LLC- the Indian corn image is from the A-Maize-ing Stamp/Die Duo set and the sentiment from the retired set, Doily Blessings.  **FYI** I fussy-cut the image this time (versus using the die) since some of my watercolor bled over the stamped edges- oops!

I love participating with online challenges and incorporated the Sketch Saturday #584 SketchChallenge, the Simon Says Monday “Fall/Autumn” Challenge , the Addicted toStamps and More #362 “Make Your Mark” Challenge and the {PIN}spirational #249 InspirationChallenge (I was inspired by the theme as well as the colors).

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

Stamp the Indian corn image using Staz-On® Black ink, watercolor with water-based markers and watercolor pencils and once satisfied, die cut (or in this case, fussy-cut) the image.  

Add a bit of shimmer over the corn with a clear glitter pen and a few white highlights to the berries with an extra fine white paint pen before mounting onto an oval die cut using dimensional foam.

Cut the two pieces of designer paper (from my stash), lightly stamp the background of the upper panel with a retired script stamp (Botanicals from Stampin’ Up!) using distress ink, dry emboss the lower panel with a quilt embossing folder and use a distressing tool to lightly distress all of the outside edges of both panels.  

Mount both panels  onto a piece of cream cardstock and adhere to a piece of berry cardstock, trimming to fit a 4 ¼” x 5 ½” card base.

Add a strip of berry satin ribbon to cover the edges of the panels on the card front (wrapping the ends behind the panel) before adhering the entire panel onto a white card base.

Die cut the doily oval from berry cardstock , adhere the Indian corn image to the center and add to the card front using dimensional foam (or lately, I prefer using my scraps of chipboard :-)).

Stamp the sentiment with Staz-On® Black ink , die cut with a stitched circle die and mount onto a circle die cut from berry cardstock.  Slip the upper end of the circle under the ribbon and adhere directly to the card front.

Add the wire clip to the ribbon to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: A-Maize-ing Stamp/Die Duo, Doily Blessings (Divinity Designs LLC), Botanicals (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Staz-On® Black, Tim Holtz® Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, Stampin’ Write Markers- Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede; SU! Black Watercolor Pencil, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry; retired SU! Comfort Café Designer Series Paper, misc. DSP from my stash (upper panel)

Accessories: Big Shot™ , SU! Quilt Top Embossing Folder, MFT Dies- Stitched Circle STAX, Die-namics Open Oval Scallop Doily (retired); AquaPainter™,  5/8” Rich Razzleberry Satin Ribbon, Wire Clip

Thanks again for taking the time to visit-  I hope all of you have a blessed week/ weekend and stop by again soon!

Gifts of the Earth

Hi Friends!!

I hope all of you are having a great week so far! I had a chance to create a card this evening using a few retired stamp sets- Gifts of the Earth and Botanicals from Stampin’ Up! and Scripture Medley 4 from Verve Stamps.

I wanted to participate in a few online challenges so I incorporated Jaydee's  PP461 Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at The Paper Players (diagonal- Fall, Die Cut, Pumpkin) along with the Sketch Saturday #503 Sketch Challenge and the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog #120 “Anything Goes” Challenge- two of the sets are at least 10 years old (Botanicals (2002) and Gifts of the Earth (2009).

Again, if you have not had a chance to drop by the above challenge sites yet, I hope you do so- fantastic inspiration from all!

Ink the pumpkin image from Gifts of the Earth using Versafine™ Onyx Black onto white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  

After the powder has cooled, watercolor with water-based markers and die cut with a stitched oval die.  Add the white highlights with an extra fine white paint pen.

Mount the image onto another die cut oval from espresso cardstock, distress the edges with a distressing tool.

Trim the designer paper to fit the angle of the sketch (I left a small gap at a 90 degree angle in the upper left corner in order to use my scrap of the retired Spice Cake Designer Series Paper).  Mount onto espresso cardstock and distress the edges.

Ink the Botanicals script image with espresso ink, repeatedly stamp onto a piece of mustard cardstock, trim per the sketch and heat emboss the Verve sentiment using gold embossing powder. 

Mount onto espresso cardstock on the upper and left hand side only (again I used a triangular scrap- love using my scraps!) and adhere to the front panel.

Add the strip of stitched satin ribbon (wrapping the ends behind the panel) and mount onto the white card base.

Add the white tea lace paper doily and mount the focal image using dimensional foam or chipboard (I have been using chipboard lately to give the larger images more stability). 

Add a few olive green buttons with hemp twine for the centers to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Gifts of the Earth, Botanicals (both retired Stampin’ Up!), Scripture Medley 4 (retired Verve Stamps)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Versamark™, Stampin’ Write Markers- Crushed Curry, Daffofil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, More Mustard, Soft Suede

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, retired More Mustard; retired Spice Cake DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™ , MFT A2 Stitched Ovals STAX, Ovals;  AquaPainter™, Embossing Buddy®, Clear and Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, 1” Stitched Chocolate Satin Ribbon, retired Old Olive buttons, Chocolate Polished Hemp Twine, White Tea Lace Paper Doily, Distressing Tool

Thanks again for taking the time to visit! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a chance to be creative, it is such great therapy!

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!

SUO183 Sheltering Tree

Hi Friends!  

It’s time for the #183 “Autumn Colors” Challenge at SU-Only Challenges!  Autumn is my favorite season here on the East Coast- the crisp air, the beautiful colors of the leaves changing and all of the fabulous pumpkin and apple dishes!

I decided to pull out one of my more neglected current stamp sets, Sheltering Tree to create a quick “Thinking of You” card.  I love the tree image as well as the sentiments, bike, swing, etc. that you can add to your scene- not sure why I do not use this one more often...will have to remember to pull this set out more:-)

I am also linking this card to the Hand Stamped Sentiments #272 “Inspiration Photo” Challenge along with the Sketch Saturday #480 SketchChallenge and the Word Art Wednesday #298-#299 “Anything Goes” Challenge. 

If you have not had a chance to stop by the SU-Only Challenge site to check out the rest of the Design Team projects or the Word Art Wednesday site yet, I encourage you to do so- wonderful inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Ink the Sheltering Tree trunk image with Early Espresso Classic Ink and stamp onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock.

2). Ink the leaf image from Sheltering Tree with Crushed Curry Classic Ink, use a Sponge Dauber to daub Pumpkin Pie,  Garden Green, Cajun Craze and Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink and stamp onto the panel.  Repeat the process and re-stamp to fill out more leaves.

3). Ink the swing image with Soft Suede Classic Ink, position and stamp onto the panel.

4). Ink the large solid image with Crushed Curry Classic Ink, daub Pumpkin Pie and Garden Green onto the image and stamp onto the panel for the grassy knoll.  Repeat to create a larger area.

5). Trim the panel, mount onto Early Espresso cardstock, trim and mount onto Soft Suede cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, trim and mount onto the Early Espresso card front.  Adhere the entire panel onto an Extra Thick Whisper White card base.

6). Stamp the sentiment from Sheltering Tree with Early Espresso Classic Ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock, trim and create the fishtail banner by hand,  mount onto Early Espresso cardstock, trim and adhere the entire sentiment onto the card front with dimensional foam.

7). Apply Clear Wink of Stella™ to add shimmer to the leaves to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Sheltering Tree

Ink/Mediums: Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede; Clear Wink of Stella™

Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie. Extra Thick Whisper White

Accessories/Tools: Sponge Daubers, retired Hexagon Punch (to create the fishtail banner)

Thanks again for taking the time to visit and I hope that you will create your own Stampin’ Up! Only project and play along with our “Autumn Colors” challenge!

Sailing on the High Seas with The Captain

Hi Friends!

I had a chance to create a card this week using the Artistic Outpost stamp sets, The Captain, Ephemera Backgrounds and Grunge Elements along with the Vagabond Treasures Collection 6x6 Paper Pad and the ODBD Custom Dies- Pierced Squares and Lattice Background (all items are available from Our Daily Bread Designs).

 

I love participating with online challenges and incorporated the Sketch Saturday Challenge #461  (using the #401 Sketch) along with the Try It On Tuesday “Transport 04/25” Challenge and the My Time To Craft #344 “Sequins orButtons” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to check out the Artistic Outpost blog or the other challenge sites yet, I encourage you to do so!  Inspiration is posted throughout the week on the AO Blog and the challenge galleries have wonderful samples as well!

To create this card:

1). Ink the ship image from The Captain  with archival black ink and stamp onto vanilla cardstock.  Immediately re-ink the same image with vintage photo distress ink and stamp over the initial image (I used my MISTI® to align the image).

2). Heat set the ink and then use a water brush to “watercolor” the distress ink over the image, adding additional watercolor with rusty hinge and walnut stain distress ink.

3). Die cut and emboss the image with the ODBD Pierced Squares Dies , mount onto espresso cardstock and trim close to the edge.

4). Sponge the same distress inks over the edges, stamp the Ephemera Backgrounds image and the large splatter image from Grunge Elements with walnut stain distress ink.

5). Die cut and emboss a piece of vanilla cardstock with the ODBD Lattice Background Die, sponge vintage photo and walnut stain distress ink over the die cut to “antique” the paper.

6). Layer onto espresso cardstock, add the dark brown twine strips along with the bow and mount the panel onto the white card front.

6). Cut the strips for the side from the Vagabond Treasures Collection 6x6 Paper, mount onto espresso cardstock and adhere to the card front using dimensional foam.

7). Add the focal image to the card front with dimensional foam.

8). Add the twine bow to the card front and mount the button to the center to finish off the card.

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

The Captain

Artistic Outpost Ephemera Backgrounds Unmounted Rubber Stamps

Grunge Elements

Vagabond Treasures Paper Collection

ODBD Custom Pierced Squares Dies

Lattice Background Die