Midnight Madness Sketch in Copper and Gold

Hello everyone!
I made this card for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #12. I started out by making my tag element. I started with a white shipping tag and sponged it with numerous Tim Holtz Distress Inks, and distressed the edges. I stamped with Archival Sepia images from Stampers Anonymous and Great Impressions. I then took a VersaMark Pen and highlighted some of the swirls, then heat embossed them with Copper embossing powder. Next I sprayed the entire tag with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iredescent Gold, which I got from the Our Daily Bread designs store. I added a dark brown elastic ribbon that has a goldish copper thread worked into it's design.

My card base is a stiff shimmery Copper from The Paper Co. Onto that I layered some highly textured paper from Coredinations Whitewashed collection. Onto that I layered my dsp which has a very vintage feel. It is from Prima, and is called The First blush. I love this 5 x 7 pack! I did quite a bit of piercing on this card that hardly shows up in the photo. I used an Ornare edge scallop template for the lower edge of both the dsp and the Coredinations layer, and I used part of a Nestabilities Edgeability piercing template for the design on the lower Coredinations part. I used another Ornare template for the design in the upper left corner... you probably can't even make it out in this photo.... maybe on the close up?

For my stitching, I pierced where I wanted my stitches to go and hand sewed some gold cord from "On a String".

My flower is made up of 2 layers of copper and green flowers from my stash, and then 4 layers of cut outs from my Nestie's Daisy Heads set. I cut 2 from a printed dsp in the same pack, and 2 from TH Grunge paper. The grunge paper is painted with TH acrylic paint, then sponged with Adirondak ink, then sprayed with glimmer mist. I cut between each petal right into the center and curled the petals up for dimension. All 6 layers are attached with an antique bronze brad. Behind my flower I added some copper fibers and some paper curls from my paper cutter and the base card stock.

While it looks like a simple sketch, this has a lot of steps in it, mainly because of all I did to distress the tag and color the grunge paper flowers. Had I used a simple ready made flower... and stamped an image on the tag it would have gone quickly, but I just had to try my hand at a more vintage feel. I think my "comfort" level in cards is simple elegance... but I do love a little vintage and also cutesy... so it's fun to go a different look sometimes!

Thanks so much for looking and if you have read this far... kudos to you!!! Have a blessed day!

Quilled Happy Birthday

Hello everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start! We took our Grand Kids back yesterday and wow is my house quiet today! I'm a little lost! After I did loads upon loads of laundry and housework, I got into my craft room and made a couple cards. This card is for this week's OCCC and also for today's TLC on SCS .... to use quilling on our card.

The set I used today is a new, soon to be released Our Daily Bread designs set called Happy Birthday. I just LOVE this floral watering can... so fun to color! I stamped the image and sentiment with Memento ink and colored with Copics. I then used numerous glitter pens to give it a shimmer. It's a dark day and this inside photo does not show that, but it's there.

My paper is basic black for the base, then layers of BasicGrey Lemonade. I thought the checks reminded me of picnics in summer. My quilled flowers are actually a RAK from my friend MariLynn, who sent these to me along with some of her fantastic hand made pearls! I added some stickles to the outter petals. I didn't want to be a cheater though, so I did quill the little green swirls that I added between the flowers. Don't laught... it's my first attempt at quilling!!! Hopefully I'll get better with time! LOL!

My out of the box image was done by cutting out the end of the water spout before running the nestie through the Big Shot, and I just pushed it to the back side of the die so it would not be cut out. That's about it for this one... hope you like it and I thank you for taking the time to stop by! Have a great week!

Midnight Madness Sketch with Jer.29:11

Hello everyone! Tonight I have a card done for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. This was a great sketch, as always... but I really had to enlarge my center element because I wanted to use this wonderful verse from Verve, Jeremiah 29:11, which says " For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". What a wonderful verse!

My DP is K& Co as is the pretty die cut that I stamped the sentiment on. The brushed gold is from The Paper Co, and the base is Mellow Moss. I heat embossed using Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder. The lower edges are punched with an EK Success punch and the little flower elements are also diecuts from the same pack, glitzed up with Magenta Stickles to match the top one which already had glitter. The "hanger" at the top is a Spellbinders Die Cut which I cut and embossed in the Big Shot.

Hope you like this and enjoy the refreshing words from God's Word!

Thanks for looking!

Grow in Grace Next Level Sketch

Hello everyone! This is a card I made in the late night hours after the kids were in bed for the Next Level Sketch Challenge. I later found out that the girls are not going to be able to keep The Next Level going but I made it so I'll show it! I used two Our Daily Bread design sets: Sing to the Lord, and Grow in Grace which is one of the new July release sets. These two sets are my favorite sets!

I used my Nesties Blossom and Circle for my sketch elements, and Memory Box DP. I ran the green dp through the cuttlebug with the leafy branch ef and then painted the leaves with Shimmerz. I stamped my bird image from Sing to the Lord onto Watercolor paper, water colored and then cut out and popped up on dimensionals. I used Blush Blossom to sponge around my white circle and the Nesties Tag Trio on which I stamped the sentiment from Grow in Grace. I added Prima Flowers and painted all the flowers with Shimmerz in Angel Wings. Love Shimmer!!! Some ribbon and Hero Arts Pearls complete the card! A fun one and the first stamping I've done all week! Everything else was done before my Grand kids came because I knew I would be too busy to stamp much!

Thanks for taking a peek! Have a great weekend!

Lotus and Butterflies

Hello! Thanks for taking a look at my card today! This card is for Flourishes Timeless Tuesdays Challenge, which this week is to use Shimmerz or any sort of shimmer.... well I sure used the Shimmerz on this one!

I made this one with the July Released Mother Teresa set from Our Daily Bread designs. I just love coloring this beautiful bloom! I stamped it on 140 lb Watercolor paper by Aquarello. I watercolored with Mellow Moss, Bordering blue, Apricot Appeal and Soft Sky. I only tipped the petals with Apricot Appeal, then painted the petals with Shimmerz Angel wings, and the Stamen with Candlelight shimmerz. I added swirls of Shimmerz Angel Wings to the water and around the outside of my Nestabilities blossom die cut. It really gives it a great shimmer!

My corner treatments are made using GPWhite, embossing the Nellie Snellen design (Kars & Co) by running it through my big shot. I Painted the whole thing with Candlelight Shimmerz and it makes it look like I used some great shimmery paper. I then cut along the edge of the design and did that twice.

My card base is a pale yellow textured Bazzill card stock. I matted with Mellow Moss, and then BasicGrey Wisteria. This dp is just yummy! It actually served as the inspiration for this whole card. The flowers remind me of Lotus or Waterlilies... and the pale yellow design is a butterfly pattern. I matted my main image on another Nesty Blossom in Mellow Moss, and finished with Memory Box Pearls and tiny ribbon from Target.

Hope you enjoyed my samples of July's ODBD sets. I can hardly believe my two months as Guest Designer are almost over! I had a blast doing this and can honestly say I absolutely adore these stamps! Thank you Kelley and Judy for giving me this opportunity!

MMSC Masterpiece Award

Imagine my surprise when I found this great honor had been given to me for last week's sketch entry by Priscilla Styles! If you haven't checked out Priscilla Styles Midnight Madness Sketch Challenges yet you really should! They are stepped up a notch and I just love them!

All the design team on MMSC is so talented you will be inspired just by taking a look and there are great prizes given away as well! Please take a look and by the way... she is giving away a HUGE blog candy very soon so stop by and check it out!

Thank you so much Priscilla and all.... your team for your fun site and for this honor! Your comments on all our cards are always so sweet and encouraging! Thank you and hugs!

Amazing Grace

Hello everyone! Thanks for sticking with me even though my posts are spotty here.... I have my grand kids here and we are having a great time together... but I had made a few things to show you during my stamping hiatus.

I made this card with Our Daily Bread designs July release using Amazing Grace (the words to the hymn) and Grow in Grace, which includes this beautiful dogwood image and several wonderful sentiments. I heat embossed both in gold, and mounted on a base of Coredinations "Flower" pack, then layered brushed gold (unknown... from my stash) and this yummy dp from K&Co. I love the look of the hymn words stamped right on the dp. In real life it's not hard to read... my photo isn't the best. Sorry about that.

I watercolored the dogwoods, cut them out and mounted them on a Tim Holtz Grungeboard scroll which I had inked with Brilliance Galaxy Gold. I cut into the little petal centers just enough to curl up the edges like dogwoods do, and I colored the back sides of the petals so that if you look at them from the side they still have the color. I used the new Our Daily Bread designs ink for my watercolor. LOVE this ink! I also used VersaMagic spanish Olive and Perfect Plumeria. I used my Nestabilities Borderabilities Piercing/Embossing combo edge. I did the embossing on the light box, pierced with an Ornare Piercer from Our Daily Bread designs, and added tiny gold pearls to the edges and the flower centers. The bow is made on the bow easy (which I got from Sharon's Stamp Simply Ribbon Store) and attached with a glue dot. This was a fairly quick card to make. I like how it came out.... I think the fancy edge cut on the side gives it a lot of character and appeal. I hope you enjoyed this sample. I loved making it!

MMSC10 Posies in the Breeze

Hello everyone! I made this card for the MMSC10 and also for WT227 over on SCS, which was to use doubles of something. My double was my Lattice Medallions, which I made by cutting a 3" square of GPW and then used my MS Lattice Edge Punch centered on each side. Then I cut off the outter piece, leaving the lattice as the outside edge. The image itself is SU! Summer by the Sea, which is new to me, though an older set. I got this at my LSS yard sale. I have been dying to ink it and just have not had time! My image is stamped on 140 lb Watercolor Paper by Aquarello. It's really too heavy to tear.... now I know! But... once I started it I had to finish it. I sponged my edges with T Holtz Old Paper and Antique Linen.

My card base is Old Olive, and the DPs are from Memory Box Poppyfinch. I followed the sketch and used little Prima flowers for the sketch elements in each corner, and I added some to her bouquet in her hand. The photo doesn't show that as cute as it is irl. After I colored the image I masked to sponge my sky using a template from Rosie's Road Show. The ribbon is from my stash. Hope you like this summery card. I was just happy I could play today. My grandkids are coming tomorrow so it will be more difficult to get stamping done, but I do have a few things ready to show you! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Mojo 94 Fishers of Men

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend! I'm just starting a busy week! Our DVBS starts tonight, and we have another 5 tons of rip rap to put on our bank! (That's on top of the 7 tons we already put down and of course we still need about 20 more!)

Today my hubby was away at a re-enactment, and I played a bit in my craft room. I needed a masculine card and decided to use this week's Mojo Sketch. I tweeked it to be a 5 1/2" square card. I used a great Our Daily Bread Set called Fishers of Men. It's great for guy cards!

I started with a Bazzill Textured base and used two different DPs from The Paper Patch. The dark green is from my stash and is unknown. The image is stamped on Very Vanilla with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. I used my Creative Memories Circle Punches and a Nestability Label 3 for my little round element. The green panels are run through the CB for texture. I cut my image out and mounted on the checked panel... I thought it sort of looked like a blanket stretched out to hold all the fishing gear. I used various glitter pens for metal parts like the rods and reels, and the fishing hooks. The photo doesn't show it... sorry. I used Magic Mesh for the one strip instead of ribbon... it is a guy card after all! The little fish is actually a button that I cut the loop off of. I popped that panel up on dimensionals.

Thats about it... simple and done! Thanks for looking! I love reading your comments!

God's Riches At Christ's Expense... Bittersweet

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! My card today is a "different" one for me. I used a piece of DP from BasicGrey Bittersweet Pack... it's one of those papers that when I bought the pack I said "I'll never use that design"..... Well.... guess what? Here it is! But I altered it a bit and below are the steps I took. The first is the way the paper started out in the pack.
I found it busy and couldn't figure out how to work with it. So I decided to just cut out the center strip to use on my card... The reddish pink tones reminded me of the heart and the blood, and since I was using this wonderful sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs Grow In Grace set, I thought that would be appropriate. I also loved the name of the dp... bittersweet. Christ's death was bittersweet in that it cost Him His life's blood, but He redeemed us on that cross, and was victorious over death when He arose.

So at this point I was planning on just using that center strip. But when I cut them apart, I noticed something else.
I put the two outside straight edges together and that formed this neat oval that felt much less busy to me, and again reminded me of a heart with the life-giving blood radiating out from it. So I taped on the back along the straight edges.
Then I laid the center strip across the center again and I liked the look. I cut another strip this same size from Vellum, and stamped my sentiment on that.
I mounted this configuration on the dotted BasicGrey DP and that on a deep chocolate base by Bazzill. I stamped the pretty dogwood image from the same set on Watercolor Paper. I watercolored the image with the three shades of ink I got from Our Daily Bread Designs to use for our Color Challenge. That ink is really great! I love watercoloring with it! I used Terra Cotta, Olive and Steel Blue in pale hues of each. I then painted the flowers with Shimmerz Angel Wings. I cut the ovals with my Nesties and mounted on dimensionals. I did faux stitching on the vellum by piercing and then using a pen to draw in the stitches. I finished off with a sheer swiss dot ribbon and pink pearls from Hero Arts, also from ODBD Store.

Today starts a new weekly special at ODBD... sign up for the newsletter in my right side bar to find out what each week's special is!!!

Thanks for looking and have a blessed weekend!!!

MMSC9 Little Sweet Pea

Hello everyone! I made this card for the MMSC9 found here. Isn't this just the sweetest image? This image was a RAK from Harriet (hskelley on SCS). Thanks so much Harriet! I love it!

I decided to do some practicing with my Copics on this image and I think I'm beginning to get it... it does take practice for sure! I followed the sketch to the tee, using a Bazzill Textured base and DP from BasicGrey's Euphoria. The sentiment is stamped on a Nestabilities ribbon tag trio die cut and attached with some grossgrain from my stash. The ribbon tabs are attached with tiny pink flower brads and I pierced little circles between each tab. The image is sparkled up with a Sakura Clear Glitter Gel Pen, but you can't see it in the photo.

Here are the Copic colors I used:
Skin: YR00, YR61, E00
Jeans: BG000, B21, B23
Hair: Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28
Shirt: RV000, RV32, RV34
Flowers: RV000, RV32, V12
Basket: E31, E33, E37
Kitty: N2, N4
Leaves and Grass: G21, G24
Halo: BG000

I still don't have the complete sequences of numbers they recommend for good blending, so I have to make do, but I was pleased with how these worked for me, with only a few trouble spots along the way. Hopefully soon I'll have all the colors I really need and can do a better job!

Thanks for looking today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Today I am off to see my little Sweet Pea! This looks just like her... blonde, barefoot, and loving flowers!!! When she left Gramma's house last time she was so sad to be leaving she threw her arms around my waist and cried. I took her out to my flower garden and let her pick some of my prettiest blooms to take home with her... wrapped in wet paper towels and aluminum foil. That put a smile back on her sweet little face! Love you Lauren!!!

A New and Sweet Award

Gina just gave me this sweet award and I am honored to accept it. Thank you Gina! Please check out Gina's blog for some real visual treats!

Here are the rules for this award:

# 1 By accepting this award you acknowledge that the giver LIKES YOUR STYLE

#2 You agree to post this proudly on your site and include a post linking back to the giver

#3 And because there are so many blogs out there that you like their style you will share this award with them...however many that might be...

Please check out these blogs when you have a chance:

Linda
Riet
Stephanie
Sabrina
Dottie

God is our Refuge and Strength

Hello everyone!

Wednesday nights after Church my husband has a long conference call with China and I generally go to my craft room to do a little playing. Last night I needed a quick masculine encouragement card so this is what I came up with.

I used "Keep my Lamp Burning" from Our Daily Bread Designs. The base is Bazzill textured, and the DP is K&Co. The main image is stamped in Memento Rich cocoa and sponged with Ranger Distress Inks in Scattered Straw, Frayed Burlap and Old Paper. The image is cut with a small scalloped rectangle die from Nestabilities and has two small eyelets attached, through which I passed some hemp (SU!) to attach to the card. For some reason the colors didn't take well this morning in the photo... all the colors have a rich golden tone from sponging except I left the lighthouse itself unsponged so that it stands out against the rest. Can't figure out the lighting this morning! LOL! So that's it for now! Have a blessed Thursday! Thanks for looking!

Glimmer Mist ~ the same great product with a fabulous NEW look!

Just wanted to let you know that Glimmer Mist has a NEW look. While change is good, they don't want anyone to miss them, while looking for the older style bottles on the shelves of their favorite stores.... so...

Create a post on your blog or website with the picture of the new bottles and the phrase,

Glimmer Mist is the same great product with a Fabulous NEW Look!

E-mail a link to your post to: liz@mytatteredangels.com and she will verify and add your name to the list for a prize drawing. Tattered Angels will randomly pick 3 winners who will win a six pack of the brand new, never released WINTER 2009 colors. They are not on the market yet, and these winners will be the first to receive them!

Remember, the product has not changed. The price is the same. And they are proudly made in the USA.

Stand Up Lotus Blossom

Hello everyone! Today I had the chance to play in my stamp room. I made this card for today's TLC187 on SCS, which was this neat stand up card. The directions were written by Penney Wassenauer and can be seen here. They were very easy to follow. I also had chosen an inspiration challenge on Sat. but I was unable to stamp over the weekend because I was busy with guests. I chose this poster from Posters.com for my inspiration. I was struck by the beauty of the simple black and white poster. My intention was to do everything in black, white and gray. When I stamped my image however, I decided to add light hints of color to pop it.

I stamped the image (from The newly released Our Daily Bread Design, Mother Teresa) with VersaMark and heat embossed with SU! Black Embossing Powder. I then just ever so lightly tipped the edges with my new Our Daily Bread Inks and watercolored, then colored the leaves and stamens with Shimmerz Candle Light, and the Lotus Blossom itself with Angel Wings. It is raining today and I can't seem to get the shimmer in the photo... but it's there! I cut a shimmery pink paper with my Nestie Blossom die, then cut out my image and mounted on the pink with dimensionals.

My "dp" is computer generated. I decided to use Bazzil Gray for my base, then I matted all panels in black and white. The outter panels are stamped with an image from another new ODBD new set called "Let Us Begin", as is the sentiment. The sentiment is just one word cut out of a longer quote. I cut that with a Nestie ribbon tag and added shimmery pink sheer swiss dotted ribbon. I lightly colored the end panel lotus blossoms the same way I did the main image. I added pearls and done. All pretty straight forward and it came together quickly. If the sun comes out and I can get a better photo I will.

The ink pads from Our Daily Bread are a great deal right now! They are 25% off this week until Friday! Also on sale are the Tim Holtz Distress Inks... so check it out! To get all the weekly special sales right in your in box, sign up for the news letter... see the blinkie on my right side bar.

MMSC8 and HM# 44

Hello everyone!

I got to play a bit this week and combined the House Mouse Challenge #44 (to use Paper Tole) with the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge 8. I love these sketches! Here is a link to the sketch this week.

This one is soooooo not my typical style! LOL! I tend more to the lightly elegant... not fussy but just classy. Well, this Basic Grey Euphoria is pretty busy! But you know... I like it and since our Church is in need of cards for kids and teens I thought this might be perfect for that!

My Happy Hopper is from Stampabilities and is called "It's a Party". I stamped with Stazon Jet Black and colored with Prisma Pencils and blended with Odor Free Mineral Spirits. I stamped the image a second time and cut out the hat and cake for the tole challenge. The circle element to the sketch is a Nesties Blossom cut from Cool Caribbean cs. The base of the card is Purely Pomegranate. The DP is BasicGrey Euphoria. The flowers are from K&Co. I added Stickles to the frosting.

I had fun with this one. If you haven't played the Midnight Madness Sketch yet... try it... you'll like it!!! There is a link in my Right Side Bar that will take you right to it. If you link your card by Sunday night you'll be entered in a drawing for some great prizes!!!

I hope you all had fun on yesterday's Our Daily Bread Designs Blog Hop! I know we all had a blast!!

I have a ton going on this weekend and lots of company coming... I hope you all have a great weekend! Happy 4th of July to all my American friends!!!

Our Daily Bread Designs Release Day Blog Hop!

Happy July everyone!!!

Today is a big day at Our Daily Bread Designs! It is the day five new sets/singles are being released, and it's Blog Hop Day! The Hop officially begins at 9:00am CT. There is fantastic Blog Candy along the way... three different places in fact, so if you haven't already, start at the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog and hop from there, and good luck everyone!!! Please read to the bottom as there is more info below and a big DT call!!!

Today's card is a Design Team Challenge, which was a Color Challenge. Our Daily Bread Designs has started carrying fantastic Ink Pads, and this month we were to choose three colors of Inks, not knowing what the sets would be, but knowing that our color challenge would be to use those three colors today. I chose Steel Blue, Olive and Terra Cotta.

So today I used the new set "Mother Teresa" for the Lotus Blossom on the front of my card. It is the flower of India where Mother Teresa lovingly served. I chose to leave most of the blossom white, watercoloring very lightly with my Terra Cotta ink in the lid, mainly tipping the petals as I saw in many photos of Lotus Blossoms. I was thrilled that by diluting it with enough water I was able to achieve a pink color, which matches Lotus Blossoms! I painted the flower with Shimmerz in Angel Wings, which by the way is on sale this week at the ODBD Store - 25% off, but only through Friday! I water colored the rest of the image and cut out with Nesties Label 4. I added a touch of Shimmerz Angel Wings to the water and leaves too. The bigger frame is Nestabilities Classic Frame, cut from textured brushed gold, and stenciled with Olive while still in the die. The matting for the image is Papertrey Spring Moss which I ran through the Big Shot with the new Nestabilities Impressabilities called "flowers".

My base is Papertrey Spring Moss, and the blue layer is GPW which I sponged with ODBD Steel Blue Ink, then used Ranger Perfect Medium to stamp the same lotus image around the edges, then brushed with gold Perfect Pearls and set with a spritz of water. A layer of brushed textured gold is between the base and the blue. I added Spring Moss ribbon and Robin Egg's Page Pebbles in "Lily Pond". The frame and the main image are on dimensionals.

On the inside of my card I stamped an image and sentiment from a coordinating set called "Let Us Begin" in Steel Blue. I used the negative part of the center of the nestie classic frame to mat my sentiment. Basically an easy to put together design but I like how it came out. The colors are really pretty and I hope you have enjoyed my sample today!

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If you have not already done so, please visit
Betty, who was before me on the hop,
and then go see Deb after me.
Then to Jane after her!

Be sure not to skip anyone because candy is hiding on three different blogs but you have to hop for it! Good luck!!! Have fun!
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One more thing to tell you about!!! Our Daily Bread Designs is looking for two Guest Designers! All the details can be found on the ODBD Blog! Have you ever wanted to work for a GREAT Christian Stamp Company? This is your chance... Aug. and Sept. GD positions are open. Read all the details and enter your best work... but hurry, you only have 9 days to get your work in! Good luck!!!