Fun Birthday Card

Oops - I inadvertently overwrote my post from Monday with this one - so sorry! I am uploading the first (deleted) post below this card - it was called Soft Birthday.


Here is another birthday card for one of my family. I really made each card for a specific person. Although I am not going to say here which card is for whom - I have to keep some things secret!

This card was made from one of Theresa's sets called Whimsical Flowers from GinaK. These flowers are such fun to paper piece! I found the sketch at CPS and the paper is from Basic Grey. An easy card to make.

This was the first card. I used GKD Stately Flowers and colored the image very lightly with some soft pink Copics.


Thanks for stopping by! I love comments too!

Card Recipe:

Stamps - GKD - Whimsical Flowers

Paper - GKD - white and Black

Designer Paper -  Basic Grey - Out of Print

Other -  a few gems

Challenges:

StampTV - stamped flower

Basic Grey Challenges - Favorite Things - gems and paper piecing with BG!
CPS - Sketch

Peaceful Swan

To see the Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge post please scroll down.

I made this card for the Release Party contest at StampTV. The contest challenge is to use 3 different DP on the card. All three of these papers were from one of the new Basic Grey paper packs called Sweet Threads. I love those colors and seemed perfect for the swan. 


I colored the swan and the water with Distress Inks and pen nubs. I really like this technique - fun and a different than coloring with Copics. I then embossed the image using UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) to make it look like water. 


The sketch is for the Mojo Monday Challenge.


Thanks for stopping by and for leaving a comment!




Card Recipe:
Stamps: GKD Warm With Love
Paper: GinaK Pure Luxury Ivory
DP: BG Sweet Threads
Other: Distress inks to color, UTEE, ribbon, leaf punch


Challenges:
Stamp TV: Release party challenge
Mojo Monday: Sketch

Crazy Challenge -3 different papers

Stamping Scrapping Central -  Anything Goes

Corrosive Challenges -  Animals

I Did It Creations - Recipe: 1 Image, 2 papers, 3 Embellishments

Basic Grey Challenge - Spring

Iris Thoughts: Mark 15:17

Another busy week. Sadly work is really interfering with my stamping! Very ready for a vacation! Another Super Special Sunday with a challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ.

This week the wonderful Kristine chose the verse for this week's challenge. The verse she chose is Mark 15:17. Perfect for this season of Lent.

"They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him."

Oh how He loves us! That is in a song by The David Crowder Band (contemporary Christian) and this verse made me think of that song. The sacrifice Jesus made for us is almost beyond what I can imagine. I was talking to my husband about this verse and wondering how I was going to relate it in a now way. He told me that it reminds him of my dad. My father (86) takes care of my mother (84) 24 hours a day. She has had several strokes and needs  around the clock care. He changes her diapers and bathes her and tries to meet all of her physical and emotional needs. My brother and sister and I do come by and help as do the wonderful people from Hospice. But my dad really is giving his "quality" of life to the love of his life - my mom!

This week the challenge is to use shades of purple as your main color AND/OR use wood paper or elements on your card.

I am always amazed at how many shades of purple there are! My card has several and none of them seemed to match - however - they did not clash either! The iris is really purples although it photographed a little more blue than it is IRL. I used the baby white technique to create the panel behind the image and rather than a circle for the main image I put the circle behind it using vellum after sponging the edges a bit. The sentiment is a rub on in white. Some lace and pearls and a ribbon and the card is done!

Our sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamps with the "Why do Birds Fall in Love" stamp set.

Be sure to stop by my SSIC design sisters to see what they have to share this week:

Chris Olsen: Twinkles Glow With Stamps

Grace Nywening: Th-INK-ing of You

Linda Lucas: Lovely Linda's Craft Central

Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Peggysue Turner: Roses By My Window

Rebekka Reed: Diamond in the Rough
Kristine Breach: Ink Something
MariLynn DeGroot - Mississippi McGyver
Sabrina Jackson - SJ Butterfly Dreams
Randi Barret: A New Creation (On break)

It is always great to see you, thanks for the comments!

Have a wonderful week filled with blessings.
 

Recipe:

Stamps: Warm with Love - GinaKDesigns

Paper: GKD Pure Luxury White SU Vintage Violet
Designer Paper:Created with inkers

Other: Spellbinder Dies, lace, ribbon, pearls and Copics to color

Challenges: 

Simon Says Stamps - Spring Colors - purple Iris

JUGS - Baby Wipe technique used on the strip behind the flower

Card Patterns - Sketch

2 Sisters - Spring

Crafty Calendar -  April Showers Bring Forth May Flowers

Wags 'n Whiskers -  Ribbons & Pearls

Flourishes Bring Back the Beautiful - the colors of spring

Card Creations & More By C - Spring related

CCEE Stampers - Add a doily die and/or lace 

Another Birthday Wish

To see the Stampin Sisters in Christ post please scroll down to the Sunday post!

Made this quick card on Sunday. I had planned to stamp for several hours but the wonderful treasures in my life interfered. A visit from our oldest son with his wife and their 6 children. A call from my wonderful MIL. An hour of sunshine with my DH. But I did get this card done for a sketch challenge on StampTV that I ended up being too late for - Grrrr...

The card was done in shifts. I had the flower colored and ready to cut. I had the paper picked out and the Spellbinder die already did it's work. Those last minute things held me up. Cutting the flower was a bit time consuming and then I needed the right embellishments. I kind of threw those on  but still missed the deadline by about 15 minutes. Still like the card though!


Thanks for looking and for the comments!






Card Recipe:
Stamps: Little Critters - from GinaK designs
Paper: Gina K Designs Sweet Corn
DP: Basic Grey - Kioshi
Other: Nestabilities, green sticker nail heads, ribbon


Challenges

Stamp TV - Sketch
Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge - Recipe - 1 plain cardstock - 2 DP - 3 embelishments.
Kaboodle Doodles Challenge -  Birthday Card
Paper Playtime - Challenge 1 - Mardi Gras Colors - Green and Purple
Woodware USA - Spring
Ally's Sunday Challenge - Anything Goes
Gingerloft Challenge - Flowers
Simon Says Stamps - Anything Goes

 

Cameo

My mail lady was nice to me this week! She gave me a delivery from Layers of Color (the stencil) and another order with some ribbon and Copics. Oh happy day.  I made this card for the StampTV Color challenge - that Janice sure does come up with great creative challenges! I also made it for Card Patterns Sketch challenge. Just a quick post tonight - I have stamping to do!!! :-) 

Thanks for the quick visit! Have a day filled with blessings!

Recipe:
Stamps: Timeless Treasures - Gina K Designs
Paper: Pure Luxury Green Apple and Black
Special Paper: Used the stencil from Layers of Color and sponged it with distress ink.
Other: black ribbon and button
Challenges:
Stamp TV: Color challenge
Card Patterns: Sketch Challenge 
Tip Top Tuesday: Anything Goes 
CES Challenges: Buttons and bows 

Peace - John 14:27

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had a great week! It is once again time for the Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge. It was wonderful to see so many entries and to read your wonderful words last week! You all totally rocked the fall colors challenge!


This week it was my turn in the hostess spotlight. I hope you all were able to read my reflection on the Stampin Sisters in Christ website. I will try not to repeat myself here. The scripture this week is taken from the book of John, chapter 14 verse 27:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

We all long for peace! When the children were all little the peace I often longed for was just a little  quiet. During the teen-age years it was the peace of knowing they were safe and on the right road. Now that they are adults I pray that they know or come to know the peace that comes from God. I know several people who I am praying for who are battling cancer and other illnesses and yet they have peace in knowing that they are not alone. Last week my sister-in-law's father died after many years in an assisted living facility - when she called to tell me she said that her dad was finally at peace. Is that not the peace we are all supposed to be striving for? Going home to our father - that is the ultimate peace! Perhaps we care too much for what can (or so we think) give us peace here on earth. 

The dove is a symbol of peace, in fact it is the mascot for the school where I teach. I made this card for my sister-in-law as a sympathy card. It was one of those cards that just came together. I popped up the dove and the leaves. The leaves I colored with Copics in two colors - since I can't seem to get fall colors out of my mind! 

For the challenge this week I ask that you make a card or project with a symbol of peace or that means peace to you. This week we are happy to have as our sponsor Designed2Delight Digi Stamps! And be sure to stop by my SSIC design sisters for more inspiration both for their spirituality and creativity!

Grace, Chris, Rebekka, Linda, Patti, Peggysue, and Cindy
 
Have a great week and I look forward to reading your reflections and seeing your creations!


Peace to you dear friends!

Recipe:
Stamps: Hope Grows and Vintage Borders sold by GinaK Designs
Paper: Gina K Pure Luxury Chocolate, Fresh Asparagus and Cranberry 
Special Paper: Basic Grey - Capella
Other: Some ribbon from my stash, Nesties, 
Challenges:
StampTV: Monday Color Challenge
Midnight Madness: Sketch Challenge
Our Daily Bread: Wings

Good Luck

Hello - hello - hello! Is it fall yet? Not in Florida it isn't! The weather forecast was just on and the next 7 days is all the same - 92 high - 78 low - 40% rain chance. Yup partner, we are still in summer. BUT - this Florida girl just loves fall colors and longs for that first taste of cool - may mid to late October. In the meantime - I will be using the colors I love!

This card was made just for fun. I love the wheel and I really  had to put the hat on the fence post. I used lots of my Copic colors for the coloring, in fact I re-started once (the toss away is on the other side of the good one). I had the designer paper from my SU stash. The stamps are all GinaK. Both sets were designed by Theresa - love how they work together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Gina K - Wild West and Farm Life

Paper:  Gina K Pure Luxury ivory and chocolate

Specialty Paper: SU Outlaw

Other: Nestability - copics to color and some twine and some copper nailheads

Challenges:
StampTV - Colors - brown, red, yellow, kraft
Mark's Finest Papers - Use 5 of something (nailheads)
JUGS - Sketch 
All Sorts - New beginnings - my son working in the Yukon for 3 months.

 

Better World

I just love learning new things! On StampTV the sketch challenge for this week was to make a circle card with circles on it. I only had one false start - forgot to put the fold in it before I used the the Nestability. It was fun and I see a few more circle cards in my future! It was a lot of fun to make.

I made this card for a friend who is going through a difficult time right now. I know that she will appreciate it. 

I just love those daisies from Theresa's stamp set called "Hope Grows". I hope you like it! If you have not checked out the Stampin Sisters in Christ blog hop be sure to do so. I think it stayed on the top of this blog, that is if I followed the directions correctly! Thanks for any and all comments, they do mean a lot to me.

Have a great week,

Recipe:
Stamps: Hope Grows and Thanks a Million sold by Gina K Designs
Paper: SU Pretty in Pink and Pure Luxury White
Specialty Paper: October Afternoon Ducks in a Row
Other: Circle, scalloped circle, and tags Nestabilities

Chanllenges:
Stamp TV - sketch
7 kids Blog - pink and polka dots
Paper Pretties - using ribbon
Penny's Paper - Anything Goes
Mark's Finest Papers - Flowers
 

Speedy Recovery

One of our grandsons broke his arm this week and I wanted to send him a card. I realized that there are really not very many stamps or sentiments that are geared to a broken arm for a 4 year old little boy! I had just received this designer paper from Basic Grey and that is what gave me the idea for this card. 

I also made it for a StampTV challenge to stamp something going in a non-traditional way so I put the sentiment going up and down. The train should look like it is emerging from a tunnel. It ended up being a fun card to make. I enjoy most making a card for a specific person or event. Those are also the cards that come together easier.

Thanks for the visit today. Have a wonderful weekend!

Recipe:

Stamps: Life is Good by Theresa Momber – sold by GinaK

Paper – Pure Luxury Smokey Slate, White, Green Apple and Moonlit Fog

Special Paper – Basic Grey Oliver

Other: Spellbinders Nestabilities

Mahalo

Good morning, and what a glorious morning it is! Yesterday was such an exciting day for me, being selected as the Center Stage Guest Designer for the month of August for StampTV. I am still pinching myself (mentally because I bruise easy)! I am very excited and have been overwhelmed by the wonderfully supportive comments left here on my blog and on StampTV. 

So this card is for all of you! Mahalo means thank you - thank you for the support and the constant encourament I have received from StampTV friends and from my Stampin' Sisters in Christ sisters! You are all the best!



I made this card for the StampTV inspiration challenge and also for the CPS-177 sketch challenge. I also entered into the Copic Creations to color a bird with Copics. It was really a quick and fun card to make with few layers. I am just loving all the bright colors that this stamp set begs to use! I colored and cut out all the flowers and the toucan with the message in it's beak. I used an impressibility for the card base. It was a fun card to create and came together just playing with the circles and different colored elements. 

Thanks for coming by and, as always, thanks for commenting!

Recipe:
Stamps: Aloha by Theresa - sold by GinaK
Paper: Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion
Other: Circle Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Aloha!

**Looking for the Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge Card? It's down below, please scroll down.**

I am trying out with a second entry for the Gina K design team for the month of August If you want to try out here is the link to her blog. The challenge was to use one of the many techniques that she has on her website. For this card I chose the "Inking a Cuttlebug Folder". I really spent quite a bit of time on this card, I just couldn't get it to look right. So it changed quite a few times! I should have taken different pictures of all the different places this flamingo wanted to live! Finally I hit upon this one, simple but still looks complete.

I also used masking for the water behind the flamingo. The flowers were added to "finish" the project. The ribbon happened to be a great match.

Recipe:

Stamps: Aloha - made by Theresa - sold by GinaK

Paper: GinaK Pure Luxury Grass Green and White, SU Regal Rose

Ink: Memento Black and Memento Bamboo Leaves

Other: Random ribbon, Copics, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug folder

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please don't forget to scroll down for the Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge for this week. 

Have a week filled with blessings,

  

All our love

**Looking for the Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge Card? It's down below, check it out.**

Oh I had fun with this one. I think I really liked working with these colors and the sketch challenge on StampTV really got me going! Then on Mark's Finest Paper blog they had the colors challenge this week to use red, orange, and yellow - another winner for me. So sunny and warm - perfect for Florida don't you think? I added the butterfly for Flutter By Wednesday who challenged us to use layers and, of course, a butterfly or fairy.

I popped up the flowers and the butterfly for the 3 dimensional look and used both the round and the octagon Nestabilities for the focal points. Thanks for stopping by again today!

Recipe:

Stamps: Sending Sunshine by Theresa sold by Gina K Designs
Paper: GinaK Pure Luxury Sweet Mango, Red Hot and White
Designer Paper: DCWV Citrus
Other: Ribbon, Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Toucan

** Looking for the Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge Card? Scroll down.... there it is!**

 Wasn't there a cereal that used the toucan as it's symbol? I had such fun coloring him! I researched on the computer what their colors should be and noticed that with the beak, anything goes! The body was supposed to be all black but I need more practice coloring with blacks so I used dark grays instead. I colored the toucan twice and cut one up so that he pops up a bit and also colored and cut out the flowers. I usually shy away from square cards because I have no envelopes for these cards - another thing to learn!

This card was made for 5 challenges, first is for StampTV inspiration challenge, the second is for CardPatterns72, the third is for the CopicCreations31 to color a bird, and using a punch (square punches) for Speedy the Cat challenge 11 finally it was for the DutchDare Challenge to use flowers. Have a terrifically wonderful day and leave a comment if you have a moment, hey you could even follow me by clicking on the "follow" link on the right. 


Recipe:
Stamps: Aloha - by Therea - sold by Gina K. Designs
Paper: Pure Luxury Black, SU Yo Yo Yellow
Special Paper: Basic Grey Lime Rickey
Other: Spellbinder Dies, Copics to color

Rest

Happy Sunday! It is once again time for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge. This week the scripture verse is from the book of Matthew chapter 11 verse 28. It states, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."  If you read my description of why I chose this verse on the main website, here, you know that I had to make a card that had water in it. Water gives me rest. When I am troubled by a problem or a situation I like to sit at the end of our dock and just look at the lake, I see some turtles popping up their heads, or the way the water swirls around a fish jumping out of the water. The creatures in the water - they totally trust God. I could learn from them. I feel close to God when I am at a beach or the lake, I talk to Him and he hears me and I listen. Jerry and I teach baptism classes at our church and we talk quite a bit about the symbolism of water. We cannot live without it - and for me it is a reminder of God's presence in my life. When I look at the water my burdens are lifted and my heart can rest because I allow Him to take over. Amazing how that happens isn't it?


About this card. This is the first time that I created a scene and it took several tries before I got this finished product. I will have to lead you to Theresa Momber's website where I watched several tutorials. This is very similar to one of hers so I give the credit to her. Here is the tutorial I used and just changed the colors. It barely compares to her incredible card but.... 


Recipe:
Stamps: Aloha - by Theresa sold by GinaK
Paper: Pure Luxury Kraft and Chocolate Kiss
Inks: Various blues
Other: Sponge Daubers, Copics, and a flower that should look like a sun

Summer Memories

Gina K on StampTV put out a challenge to create a card based on a summer memory. So this is a card that I came up with. This was a quick card because I was out of town and just found out last night! Talk about some fast creating! I have another card in my brain - I hope I get to it! 

The summer memory that this represents is from when I was a girl of about 8. We had just immigrated to the USA from The Netherlands and  had no money. We lived in a little row house in Pennsylvania right by the train station. There really was no yard and my brother (2 years younger) and I truly had very little. We could not speak English yet so making friends was difficult. Anyway (putting away the violin) there was a cherry tree not far from our alley back yard and there was a tire swing on it. I think that my brother and I spent hours on that swing and loved every minute of it. We did not feel poor - we felt like we were the luckiest ever! In Holland we had no yard at all - we were on the 3rd floor and would have had to walk to the park.

I used Therese's Sending Sunshine stamp set for this card and a few Copics to color. I had a neat Nestie border that I had not used before to set it off a little. The CS is Vibrant Violet and White - all GinaK Pure Luxury. Thanks for stopping by. 

Thank You

Sometimes we just have to challenge ourselves and last night I finally watched Gina's video on how to make a card using the Reverse Nestabilities technique. It was such fun and I know I will do this one again. That is one of the great things about summer vacation, I actually have the time to try new things. There was a challenge on StampTV to use the shaving cream technique so I also used that. I had made a page of the purple and pink shaving cream a while back and has some of it left so I found a use for the scraps by stamping the butterfly and the the flower tops and then cutting them out and popping them up. I used the GinaK Pure Luxury Vibrant Violet, Bublegum Pink and White. I added some bling and used Theresa's stamp set called Hope Grows. I made this card to thank our friends for a wonderful evening and dinner last week. Yes, I am actually sending this away - Yeah me! I am leaving town tonight to head up to Wisc. for a week to spend some time with be dear friend. I will have an automatic post for SSCC while I am gone though - so come back on Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy your Day

I

I made this card today for Theresa's May Stamp set release on StampTV. Today was a hot day in here in Florida so I spent the afternoon in my craft room - lucky me! I wanted to make a card that expressed how I feel. My last day of work for the next couple of months was on Friday so I am officially on Summer Vacation! I do think that is why many of us become teachers - we like summer vacation! LOL! On Friday I also got my nice big box full of goodies from GinaK and in that box was this designer paper pack by DCWV called Citrus. It has such cheery colors I just had to use it. I also got my Scor-Pal recently (oh happy day!) and decided to make a gate fold card for this card. I used the Pure Luxury CS white, sweet mango, and turquoise sea. What a great combo! I popped up the flowers and the butterfly. It really is a cheery card and I think I will leave it up on my craft room to remind me to "Enjoy the Day" and to thank God for it!

Thoughts

Here is my upload for tonight. Another one with Theresa's set Hope Grows. That is kind of my motto lately, hope always grows in my heart. For this card I popped the dove up on a few branches. I used a paperpack from Basic Grey called Cappella. I really like that paper. I cuttlebugged the Ocean Mist CS and used a couple of Nesties for the focal image. The ribbon was gathered. I really like how this card came out and hope you do too. This stamp set can be purchased at GinaK Designs. If you want to see more cards made with this really fantastic stamp set look at the gallery. Thanks for stopping by. I hope to upload again this weekend.

Summer Colors

Another card with Hope Grows. I truly am surprising myself with the many cards I have been able to create with the same stamp set. I truly have been challenged with this. This card was also created for a couple of different challenges. The first was for StampTV and it was to be a card that reminds us of summer. The nice bright colors does that for me. Along with the butterfly. The other is a sketch challenge from Card Patterns.

The designer paper is from the Basic Grey June Bug paper pack. I used the GinaK Pure Luxury In the Navy and Lemon Ice. I colored the images with Copics and popped up a flower that I have no idea anymore where I got it from! Used a border punch from Martha Stewart. Thanks for coming by - I will have another card tomorrow. I think I am on a roll!

Enjoy

Here is another card I made using Hope Grows by Theresa! This stamp set is available for purchase at GinaK Designs. For this one I used the Basic Grey paper pack called Basics White. I used a Cuttlebug border folder for the bottom. The little flowers are from a Nestibility set called Flourishes. I used a punch from SU That created the look of the paper punch. The dove was lightly highlighted with a Sakura glitter pen in pink and one in clear. The branches were stamped off before stamping it on the paper. The CS was GinaK Pure Luxury Gray and Cranberry. I used some ribbon from my stash of SU that I still had. This was a fun card to make and quite simple. I liked these colors and did like the way it turned out. I will have another card tomorrow so come back for a quick look!