Charlie Horse is Praying for You

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday! I have been having crazy busy days lately but I did want to play the Weekend Color Challenge over at PCP. Lisa Lara chose the colors this week... Pumpkin Pie, Pixie Pink and Summer Sun, gold as an option, and neutrals of black/and or white.

I needed the push to use the brighter colors as I don't tend to go that direction so this was a challenge for me, but what fun colors to work with!

I stamped Charlie Horse (From the Clear Dollar Set: Charlie Praying) with Archival Jet Black and colored him with Copics. I used E31 and E57. I then masked him and stamped the "Pickett Fence", also CDS and sponged a little grass. I cut that out and mounted it on the unknown dp that was perfect for these colors. The rest was just figuring out a layout, cutting rectangles with my Nesties, and stamping the sentiment which I cut with my Nesties too.

I ran the pumpkin pie layer through the cuttlebug for the flowers embossing, punched several flowers and added some stickles and bling. Easy and done... just what I needed today for a busy weekend.

I hope you have a blessed weekend! Thanks as always for stopping by!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge

Hello everyone!

I made this card for the Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge. I used the TLC from this past Monday on SCS for my layout. It's called a Tri Shutter card, and the tutorial was very easy to follow. It was written by Bonnie Szwalkiesic. The card itself is easy... but cutting all the dp for each panel takes some time.

That said... I LOVE how this came out! The colors for this challenge were: Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel, Ridinghood Red and White as a neutral.

I used my K&Co dp again... just perfect for these colors! I used a Nesties Label #2, classic oval and classic scalloped oval, double ended tag and charm die cuts. I think that might be the most Nesties I've used on a card before. The life saver is actually two nesties charms glued together for some depth and then wrapped with red hemp. The netting is an onion bag I've been saving. The shells are stick on paper "ribbon" from Michaels, and the scrolls are QuicKutz. I added some linen thread on my image for a little dimension for the "ropes".

The sailboat was stamped twice and cut out. I lightly watercolored the boat, sponged the sky, watercolored the water, cut the wave line and tucked in my boat behind the waves. The little birds, the compas and the ships wheel are all images included in the set.

All the images are Clear Dollar Stamps. Sadly, this will probably be my last submission as Guest Designer. I've had a blast and thank Lori and all the team for allowing me the opportunity to do this! Thanks all!

Staying the Course

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a fabulous Wednesday!

I made this card with the newly released Clear Dollar set called Smooth Sailing. I love this set! I stamped the sail boat onto H2O Paper with Archival Jet Black. I watercolored the boat and cut it out. I painted a couple coats of Mod Podge with a stiff bristled brush onto the sails to create a canvas look. After that I antiqued it just a bit with Old Paper sponging. I stamped the image again onto another piece of H2O Paper, masked and sponged my sky and watercolored the water. I wanted to create a stormy feel so I sponged my sky darker than I normally would. I then cut the wave line around the boat with a craft knife and slipped the boat down into that line, to give the waves more depth. I cut this panel out with my Nesties Label #2.

My card base is a Textured Linen CS from my stash... I don't know the brand. The blue dotted layer is from K & Co, and I sewed around the edges with gold thread. The map layer is also K&Co. I mounted it on a mat of the textured Linen but left only a tiny mat showing. I punched a hole with my Crop-a-dile and attached the big eyelet. I passed some great twine from Clear Dollar Stamps through that hole and used tacky tape to hold my curled rope on each end. I wanted that to look like the rope you use to tie off to a dock. I cut the sentiment panel with my smalles scalloped rectangle from H2O paper and attached to the dotted layer with tiny "screw" brads. I sponged all the layers and added the birds in flight (also from this set). I like how this turned out... I hope you do too!

As always... thanks so much for having a look! Have a blessed day!

Charlie Gardens Color Challenge

Hello everyone!
This is the card I made for the Weekend Color Challenge over on the Clear Dollar Forum at PCP. You can find the challenge here. Monique hosted this week and chose the colors Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron and White for a Neutral.

I just bought this cute Charlie Gardens set and had to try inking him up. I colored him with Copics and paper pieced his apron and visor with the Provocraft DP I used. I had to touch up the dp a tad with a marker because it had one pink swirly pattern that really didn't look good with the rest... so I made it orange. Tangerine is NOT my favorite color... in fact this is the first time I've cut into the paper! LOL! I do however love playing with this set!

I started out to use the sketch from MMSC1 but in the end I left off the offset oval panel and did not offset my corners... so it's really not quite it... but that is what I started with. For anyone who wants to play along on that go to http://priscillastyles.blogspot.com/.


I used a cute watering can brad I bought from Clear Dollar Stamps and some olive ones from my stast. I used two CB folders for texture, a Nestie Label #3, did some masking to sponge the background and did some faux stitching on the apron and visor. Mesh ribbon finished it off. Hope you like it and thanks for looking!

Sailing the East Coast

Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

I made this with my new Clear Dollar May release set "Smooth Sailing". I had a blast playing with this set and there are so many fun little pieces to it I've yet to use! You can find it at the Clear Dollar Store. I also made it for today's SCS Limited Supply, though I didn't add the charms until later so that it would qualify for only one embellishment... the shells.

Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps Smooth Sailing
Cardstock and Paper: Bazzill Textured, K&Co (East Coast), My Mind's Eye (Playground Stripes) Aquarello H2O
Ink: SU! Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Close To cocoa, Archival Jet Black
Tools,Accessories and Embellishments: SU! Hemp, Naturals 10 lb. hemp, Naturals shells, Brass Charms from Clear Dollar Stamps, Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Scalloped Ovals, SU! Punch, Brass Brads unknown

I stamped the sail boat with Archival onto H2O paper and did a light wet on wet watercolor using inks in the lids. I then coated it in one coat of Mod Podge for a bit of texture and to give it a little more sheen than the background. I used a piece of corrugated cardboard I had saved from a candle gift... it is so "kraft" looking and I loved it. It made me think of the piers at the beach. I tried my hand at sewing for this one... had to unclog my machine from the tension problem it had after doing some upholstering. It's still not perfect but short of taking it in for service it's as close as I can get. Anyway.... I've been resisting sewing because I knew my machine was messed up so I challenged myself to try it. I'm not the perfect sewer... that's for sure! LOL!

I love this new set! I have so many ideas running through my head for this and I think it will be a great guy stamp and great for the summer cards.

Thanks for taking a peek! Have a blessed weekend!

A Walk in the Park in Fall

Hello everyone! Today I got to play with the Sketch Challenge on SCS. It was fun using the Clear Dollar Stamp of the Month set called "A Walk in the Park". You can get this stamp for free from Clear Dollar Stamps. It's a very fun and versatile set with all individual elements so you can stamp the trunk brown, then the leaves whatever colors you want. I had done a spring themed one a few posts back so this time I decided to try a fall look. I used designer paper from Memory Box, the Twiggy Collection. I ran that through the Cuttlebug with the leaves embossing folder. I used Papertrey Dark Chocolate for my base and Old Olive run through the bug with the floral screen folder for my #2 panel. Instead of a third panel, I used Magic Mesh in bronze. I wanted an earthy feel so I added some 10 lb Hemp twine from Naturals, and Punched the fence with a Martha Stewart Edge Punch. The cute little brass corner treatment is also from the Clear Dollar Store. Love this fun set! I really have fun trying different layouts with all these little pieces!

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! Thanks for taking a peek at my blog, and I hope you enjoyed my card.

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #18

Hello everyone! Here it is Friday already and I'm wondering where this week went to! With Friday comes the Clear Dollar Weekend Sketch Challenge over on PCP. There is a link in my right side bar if you'd like to play along!

Alex chose the colors for this week. She chose Ridinghood Red, Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery, and White or Kraft for a neutral.

I started to get out my new Charlie Horse, but thought... no... I don't think Charlie would look good pink, red or green! I never know how literally you have to take the color challenges... but I decided to err on the safe side! :)

I used the Diagonal Double Pocket Card found here by Claudia Rose. All the stamps are from the newly released Clear Dollar Set called "Words of Gratitude". I love this set! There are so many different ways to use it! You can find this set and many others at the Clear Dollar Store

I wasn't sure if I could make these colors work without images to tie them together but I think they look ok! The double pocket card is super easy to make and for that I used Certainly Celery DP from last year. I stampoed all the sentiments with Memento Tuxedo Black, and then cut out the scalloped circle and heart with Nestabilites. I added a Blush Blossom "flower" die cut from QuicKutz to the circle. I used my Magic Matter to mat the heart. I ran the two bookmarks through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot and flower (?) folders. For the bottom panel I made a belly band with GP White which I ran through the bug with the swiss dot folder... and then I adhered my circles to that. I used some Chipboard "buttons" from my stash (I think these were Memory Makers but not sure). I sewed them on with Linen thread. I wanted to do flowers but just didn't have the right colors so these worked out perfectly.

The swiss dot ribbon on the back bookmark is from Hobby Lobby and the thin white is from Michaels. There is a tiny Thank You Charm that came from HL as well.

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog! I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day... and a blessed weekend! We are going to TN to visit our daughter, son in law and the kids. This will be the first Mother's Day in 11 years that we can be together on Mother's Day! I'm so happy to have them living only 2 hours away!!! God has been so good to me!

Come Into My Garden

Hello everyone!

Today I'm showing you one of the New Releases from Clear Dollar Stamps. It is the May Stamp of the Month called "A Walk in the Park". Check out the link to the store to see how you can get this stamp set for free!

I really had fun playing with this versatile set!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps SOM "A Walk in the Park"

Cardstock: Aquarello Watercolor Paper, Old Olive, Memory Box Sweetbay DP

Ink: SU! Old Olive, Groovy Guava, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Memento London Fog, Archival Jet Black

Markers: SU! Close to Cocoa, Old Olive

Accessories and Embellishments: Nestabilities Label #2, Cuttlebug and CB Die Cut Lattice and Corner Treatment, Flower Soft in Summer and Baby Peach, Punched Butterflies (A RAK from MariLynn... thanks so much MariLynn!), Adhesive Crystals by Hero Arts, Paint Brushes, Sponges

Special Techniques: Wet on wet watercolor of image, Use of Flower Soft on bushes and flower pots, Cloud Template by Rosie's Road Show

So... here is what I did:

I stamped my image using Archival Jet Black onto Watercolor paper, and first stamped my stone wall, then I sponged the sky, then I stamped the trees... avoiding inking the lower part of the trunks on the two smaller trees. I used the leafy stamp to stamp first green leaves and then peachy colored leaves (groovy guava). Next I used one of the tiny stamps to stamp "greenery" along the front of the stone wall. Next I stamped my bench and flower pots, then using the same little greenery stamp I bent it slightly to form the curveed outline of my sitting area. Then I used a larger greenery stamp from the set (actually the stamp that can be used in the flower pots) and stamped some bushes along the front edge. Next, I watercolored the grassy areas and the sitting area using a wet on wet technique, ink in the lids, and finished by dotting little areas with my markers.

This is my first attempt at using Flower Soft so be gentle with me.... but this is an amazing product, also available at the Clear Dollar Store. I applied the Flower Soft Glue by just dotting it onto areas of my greenery in front of the wall, and onto the flower pots. After it dried I added a second layer of baby peach to the flower pots to bring them forward a bit. I added Stickles to the trees, grass, bushes and even the flower soft.

When my scene was completed I cut it out using my Nesties Label 2 (the largest one). I made my card base out of Old Olive at 5 1/2" square. I cut four Cuttlebug Die Cuts of Lattice plus two corner treatements (see my CDS Words of Gratitude Card for the full corner die cut). I used one of the negative parts from that corner treanment to add just a little diagonal to the top of my lattice work. I cut my DP to fit the center from Memory Box Sweetbay Collection. I adhered everything and mounted the image on dimensionals. I added three butterflies which were a RAK to me from MariLynn (thanks so much MariLynn). I added Stickles to the butterflies and bent their wings, and added Hero Arts tiny crystals to the body of the largest one.

I hope you enjoy this little garden scene! This set is so versatile I know I'll have fun playing with it some more soon!

Thanks so much for looking and for taking the time to comment! Have a blessed day!

Praying for You

Hello everyone!

I finally got to play in an SCS Challenge today! Roxi picked a great sketch today and I had purchased this image several weeks ago and had not gotten to use it yet. When I saw the sketch, I knew today was the day!

I only wish I could have gotten a better photo of it! It's raining and even with my Ott light I'm not capturing this picture well. Sorry... if you have any great secrets, please let me know!

This tree image is from Memory Box, as is the DP. The DP is from a pack called Brandywine. I am in love with these new Memory Box 6 x 6 packs! I have almost all of them now!

The sentiment is from Clear Dollar Stamps and is stamped onto Aquarello Watercolor paper, punched with the SU! Word Punch and to make the mat for it I used my "ancient" Magic Matter. It basically is a set of little circles that have a hole in the middle for your pencil, and a groove on the side for your cs. You hug it to the original shape and trace a line at whatever size you choose, then hand cut it out. It's what we used back in the days before all these new wonderful tools because available like Nesties, die cuts of all sorts, etc. Anyhoo... the card went together quickly. I used a green sheet of dp from the same pack and ran it through the bug with the floral screen folder, punched the one edge of the mat for my main image with a Martha Stewart Punch, and matted everything in Mellow Moss.

The main image is stamped with Archival Jet Black onto Watercolor Paper and watercolored using ink in the lids and a couple of SU! Markers. The photo doesn't show it but the little birds do have pinkish breasts... like bluebirds do... but they are tiny and I guess the photo just can't pick that up. Also, there are Cotton Candy Stickles on the flowers in the tree. The ribbon is the slipperiest sheer I've ever worked with! LOL! I fiddled with this for too long. I think I need to order one of Sharon's perfect bow makers!!!

Well... I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday!

Please remember that tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer! There will be many places where you can go to join with others in prayer and if there ever was a need for prayer for our country and the world around us.... it is now!!! Many Churches will have prayer rooms open, prayer meetings scheduled, even 24 hour opportunities for you to join in corporate prayer. I urge you to spend some time on your knees tomorrow! God is in His Holy Temple and He longs for us to come to Him in Prayer... He's reaching down to us... will you reach up to Him?

Clear Dollar Stamps "Vintage Thank You"

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Today's card is my first card made as Clear Dollar Stamp's Guest Designer for May. My stamps came yesterday and I was so excited to get started!

This card features one of the newly released sets called "Words of Gratitude". It's a fabulous 10 piece set that is very versatile and is made such that you can mix and match sentiments... such as I did here. It would also be great for outside/ inside sentiments. I actually used three different stamps for this card. You can see all the new releases plus a wonderful selection of other goodies from Nestabilities to Flower Soft, brads, etc. at the CDS store here

Here is my recipe:

All Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - "Words of Gratitude"

Card Stock and Paper: SU! Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, Studio D Designer Paper - "The First Blush" pack

Ink: Cranberry Crisp

Accessories and Ebellishments: Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Cuttlebug Corner Die Cut, Nestabilities Label 3, SU! Ribbon, Distressing Tool - Making Memories, Tombow Glue Pen

I used the Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch 85 for my layout. I thought is was a great way to make the focal point my wonderful sentiment! I cut and laid out my dp pieces on a base of long retired Cranberry Crisp, punched the True Thyme edge with my Martha Stewart edge punch, stamped my sentiments on one of the designer papers, and used my Cuttlebug to cut out the CB corner die cuts. The "Thank You" is stamped on a Nesties Label #3 but as you've probably noticed, the label Nesties don't nest closely like the more classic shapes do such as ovals, circles, squares and rectangles. So to get a close matting I cut the label out, then traced around the outside of the die cut onto my Cranberry Crisp and cut that out by hand. I then distressed the edges of the sentiment panels and mounted everything. The "Thank You" panel is on dimensionals to make it pop a bit.

It is very dark here today... raining buckets right now so I'm sorry if the photo is a bit dark. I loved working with this set! I love how crisply the Clear Dollar Stamps stamp right out of the package! This is a simple card but I love how it came out... it has a vintage feel that I love. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and looking at my card today!

Have a blessed day!

Welcome to my Chocolate Shoppe!

Hello!

Whew! I've had a very busy week and the rest of the week is even worse.... but today I did have time to play a little. Clear Dollar Stamps is having a Guest Designer Call, and I made this card for it. The challenge was to add something that dangles to your card. My "dangling" item is the "sign" which I dangled from my "awning" with a piece of a chain I had saved from an old key chain.

This card was fairly labor intensive... so the details might be too, but here is the recipe:

Clear Dollar Stamps: Chocoholic

Acetate box top saved from a BasicGrey Brad Purchase

Chain saved from discarded key chain

High Tac Glue (Flower Soft)

Nesties: Small Scalloped Oval for doilies, Label#3 and Circle

Cuttlebug and Distressed Stripes Folder

Two Martha Stewart Edge Punches for "curtains" and "awning"

Sponges

Crop-a-dile

Prisma Pencils and Odor Free Mineral Spirits

Stickles in Cotton Candy, Frosted Lace and Platinum

Stardust Clear Glitter Gel Pen

"SU! Sanded on vanilla" ... a RAK from Peggy which I sponged Creamy Caramel for the shelf in front of window

Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate CS, Georgia Pacific White, SU! Kraft, BasicFrey "Blush", Memory Box pink

Ink: Archival Jet Black, SU! Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel

I thought when I bought the BasicGrey Brads that the box top would make a great window some day... today was the day! I cut it to size, then measured the openings and drew and cut the frame around them from Kraft CS. I used a Prisma Pencil to draw in the "pane" lines and did a little sponging for shading. I stamped the cake pieces in Archival Jet Black and the little cupcakes in Chocolate Chip. Because of their size in relation to the cake I'm calling them Petitfours! LOL! I colored them with Prisma Pencils and blended with Odor Free Mineral Spirits, cut them out, then topped with Stickles and set aside.

I cut out my "wall" color from my Memory Box 6 x 6 pack and cut a piece of a RAK from Peggy that was SU!'s Sanded Bg on vanilla for my shelf. I sponged it with Creamy Caramel. I cut a piece of BasicGrey Blush DP and punched the lower edge with a MS edge punch for a curtain and glued all pieces in place. I used my little scalloped oval Nesties and cut little "doilies" for the goodies, cut them just slightly less than half size, and rounded the back corners, then glued my goodies onto them. On the doilies I used a pen to make tiny dots and then topped that with my Stardust Clear Glitter Gel Pen, as I also did on the plates.

My card itself is Chocolate base from Papertrey, then layered with a Cuttlebugged and sponged layer of GP White. My dangling item is my Chocolate Sign... made by cutting a Label 3 in PT Dark Chocolate twice, then stamping my sentiment in Archival Jet Black on GPW and using a Nestie Circle to cut it out. I mounted it on the Label, added a punched hole through which I passed the chain, secured to the back and then added the second layer label 3 to the back to further secure it. I cut another piece of BasicGrey and punched it and scored it to make the awning. I punched a hole at the center point top... and passed the chain through that, using high tack glue inside to secure it. I used the same glue to attach the awning to the top of the card. (Note: I had scored lines to make folds in the awning so it is 3-D. I glued my window in place and then I used another punched edge of BG DP and another sentiment from this fun 12 piece set to the inside. It says "From one cocoa nut to another".

I had a blast... albeit a LONG blast making this card~ it was very nostalgic for me because my husband and I used to own a Candy Shoppe and we sold the best chocolates around!!! Yummy!!! Next to coffee... chocolate is probably my next addiction. I LOVE chocolate!

Check out the Clear Dollar Guest Designer Challenge here if you are interested!

Thanks for taking a look at my blog today... have a blessed day!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! We are enjoying fantastic weather here in NC... in fact it's down right hot! We are doing some yard work so I'm sure tonight I'll be moaning with pain, but it's so good to have this great weather to get things done!

Today's card was actually made last night. I made this for the Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge. Linda instructed us to use Barely Banana, Baja Breeze and Green Galore, with white as an optional neutral. I guess I'm funny but I love the yellow and blue together... and I love the yellow and green together, but working in the bold bright green with the other two wasn't that easy for me. I was tempted to just color my leaves with the green... but in the spirit of a true challenge, a did use one matting layer in Green Galore, and I sponged my sentiment panel with it... so a pat on the back for using a color I'm not fond of! LOL!

Anyway... here is what I did: I used two Clear Dollar Sets. My flowers are the "April Flower of the Month" set, and my sentiment is from "In God's Hands".

In case you can't read it, it says" When we put our cares in His hands, He puts His peace in our hearts". Isn't that a GREAT sentiment... and so true! I love the wonderful Scriptures and verses that CDS have... I have several sets but most of my sets are just sentiments so these challenges are sometimes difficult. This time, the Daisies were a no brainer for me! I stamped them onto Georgia Pacific White, colored them with Prisma Pencils and blended with blending stumps and Odor Free Mineral Spirits. I then cut them out leaving just a tad around the outline, and colored that with my Copic Marker B10.

My layers are: a base of Baja Breeze, yellow gingham from Making Memories, the QuiKutz label with one mat of Baja Breeze and One of Green Galore, and the sentiment on GPW. I added a small layer of GPW which I had punched with my Martha Stewart edge punch and slipped that behind a SU! Baja Breeze ribbon. I also tied a little white ribbon around my daisy bouquet.

It's a simple layout today, but fresh and springlike... and I like how it came out. Hope you do too!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! God bless your day!

EDIT: Yippee! This card was chosen by Linda Borneman, the challenge hostess to be featured on her blog here

Thank you Linda... what an honor!!!

A Green Tea Sketch

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good day where you are! I have been busy baking today for a Church fundraiser the youth are doing for a mission trip. I needed to take that to Church tonight so that came first. With that done I finally could start playing with my stamps!

Today the challenge on SCS was a sketch challenge, one of my most favorite challenges! I knew as soon as I saw the slanted panel that I would put a sentiment or verse in that panel. I decided on my Clear Dollar set "In God's Hands". The sentiment, in case you can't read it says: "He who kneels before God can stand before anyone."

How true! I love the font on this set! It's so elegant and stamps perfectly!

I used SU! Green Tea DP for this card. Cut the layers and mounted on GP White. I added a Baja Breeze ribbon which is virtually hidden now. Then I cut my sentiment panel out three times with my QuicKutz Die Cut and my cuttlebug. The die cut has the main panel and two tiny borders around it so I took one Baja Breeze border and one Old Olive layer and matted the pane. I sponged lightly in BB around the edges and mounted that. Then I used the Sizzix Leaf Die Cut from SU! and cut two clusters of leaves. I used my embossing stylus to draw in vein lines, then sponged OO onto the leaves to try to pick up a little elevation from the veins. I think that really helped a lot. Sharon Johnson on Stamp Simply has some of the greatest ideas! Check out her blog in my right side bar for inspiration some time. She had recently suggested cutting out your designer paper instead of stamping. So today I tried that. While it was pretty I again felt it was too flat so I sponged around the outside edges and the very centers of the flowers with BB. I highlighted the stamens with my Signo white gel pen. I'm thinking I still need to do a little more to make these pop but for now this is going to have to do. I mounted the flowers on dimensionals and that helps give that dimension it needs.

So all told... this was a quickie project. Hope you like it!

It is raining here again!!! Last night on the news they said we only had 7 sunny days in March here in NC. No wonder I am so ready for the sun! We do need rain, so I'm not complaining, and the grass is really green now... the trees are just bursting at the seams to leaf out... so it's just around the corner... I can't wait!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge ~ Monochromatic and Purple!!!

Hello everyone!

Today's Clear Dollar Stamps Color Challenge over on PCP is to make a monochromatic card, and a further challenge was to use purple. We could use as many shades of our color as we wanted, and white for a neutral.

I don't honestly have a lot of purple ink! I ended up pulling out the really retired (like 07???)"In color" from SU!... Vintage Violet. I still had the ink, ribbon and card stock, so that worked for me! I also found this lavender cs in my stash, sorry I don't know where it came from. I rarely use purple!

I used two Clear Dollar Stamp Sets here. The Sentiment is from "In God's Hands", and the flowers and Hummingbird are the March 2009 Set "Sweet Hummingbird". I stamped the sentiment in Vintage Violet and cut out the oval with my Nesties. I matted that in lavender and then a scalloped Vintage Violet layer. I matted my card the same way, and the white layer I ran through the cuttlebug for some texture. My flowers and hummer are first stamped in VersaMark, then Vintage Violet, and Clear Heat Embossed. I then cut out one flower / bird image and three more flowers from which I cut the hummer. I punched some Martha Stewart Greenery Punches from the lavender, and popped up my flowers on dimensionals.

I love these Clear Dollar Stamps! There are so many great Scriptures, images and great sentiments! They really stamp well too... make great impressions!

Thanks for taking a peek! Sorry the photo is dark, but it's dark here and going to be tomorrow... so I just did what I could with my lamp. Have a great weekend!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday!

Last night I made a card for this weekend's Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge over on PCP. We were to use Real Red, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip and White. I found this to be quite a challenge! I think nautical when I think of these colors but to do this challenge you must use Clear Dollar Stamps and so since I don't have any nautical ones that are CD, I used my Leaf Impressions set and stamped the leaves in RR, CC and BB. I also used Real Red DP, and Bashful Blue, which I ran through my cuttlebug with a springy flower ef for the red, and the snowflake ef for the blue. I cut each color into strips and mounted on Papertrey Chocolate CS base... LOVE this Papertrey paper!!!

The CD verse is stamped in Chocolate Chip and is Ecc. 3:1 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." I then punched a couple daisies from white, sponged in RR, cut a chocolate stem with the SU! embosslit, and punched two butterflies with the Martha Stewart Punch. I added some bling and a bashful blue ribbon. While this is not my usual style, I guess it pulled together pretty well.

Thanks for taking a peek. Have a blessed weekend!

Verve Project Parade: Eggstra Special

Happy Thursday everyone!

Today I decided to play along with the Verve Project Parade, "Eggstra Special". I wanted to do something *different*... not the usual bunnies etc. I wanted a way to give the true meaning of Easter, while still making something pretty and springy in nature. I came up with this design on my own. I don't know if anyone else has done this before, but there are so many "baskets" out there that it's quite possible it has been done, I just haven't seen any. I'm going to attempt to tell you what I did to make this in case you'd like to try it.

I cut two of the largest scalloped oval Nestabilities out of Papertrey Spring Moss CS. I also cut a 1" wide strip 6.25" long. This forms the body of the basket. I then cut an oval of K&Co. Embossed Vellum and attached to the front of one scalloped oval with vellum tape.

In the 1" wide strip I cut 2 slits with my Fiskars finger blade, about 3/4" from each end. I passed a piece of ribbon through these slits, punched a hole through paper and ribbon and inserted sparkly brads. For mine, I left enough ribbon to cover the brad and attach to the inside of the strip, giving a finished off look.

I applied a very tiny bead of Tombow Metal Glue to one edge of my 1" strip after determining the center point top and bottom of my ovals, and starting at the two top points, I pressed into place, making a rounded "u" shaped bottom. When I had that in place I ran another tiny bead of glue on the other edge of the strip and lining up my ovals, I attached the other oval, quickly standing basket up to be sure the front and back were lined up perfectly and stood without help.

Then I just decorated the front. I didn't want to hide too much of the gorgeous vellum, so I made a small oval sentiment panel, stamping on watercolor paper, with Memento Rick Cocoa, the sentiment from Clear Dollar Stamps called "In God's Hands". I lightly stamped a fern from See Dees Morsels Set "Flowers and Ferns" in River Rock. I matted this sentiment panel with a scalloped layer of Papertrey's Sweet Blush CS. For the cross I stamped Verve's Cross from "Jeremiah 29:11" set in Memento Rich Cocoa on watercolor paper and cut out. I decorated the cross with a strip of leaf ribbon, and one tiny quilled flower my SCS friend, MariLynn sent me. (MariLynn.... thank you soooo much!) Both the sentiment panel and the cross are popped up on dimensionals.

This basket stands on it's own as shown, but also looks nice hanging. Here's a couple more views.

Roman Road Color Challenge

Hello everyone! Whew.... I am exhausted from the trip and the amount of work required to move the kids, but all went well. We were very well organized and packed by the time the guys (my daughter's husband, and mine) got there to load. We loaded the largest Uhaul truck they make, plus the largest trailer they have, plus their truck, their car and my car all packed to the top.... and did it all in the pouring rain. We drove to TN on Sat in pouring rain. This was the most stressful part for me, because with firbromyalgia, driving long distances can be a killer, but God was gracious and I made it safely. The kids did not get the house they were trying for, so we put it all in storage until they can move into their house. Yes.... they did find another house and now are under contract so in a month, we have to do it again, but there won't be a long drive involved this time!!!

So... with that behind me, I had to make a card today before trying to catch up on housework and all the things I left behind.

This card was made for today's color challenge on SCS: Riding Hood Red, Kraft, and Summer Sun. I had received my Clear Dollar order the day I left, and was dying to use some, so even though a floral would have been easier in these colors, I used this wonderful stamp called "Roman Road". I have used the Roman Road often as a quick Scriptural walk through the process of Salvation offered to us through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I stamped it in Archival Jet Black on Georgia Pacific White, over stamped the cross in RR, then sponged on a "sun" in Summer Sun Pastels, using a sponge dauber. I brought rays of yellow radiating out from the sun to the edges of the paper, then sponged yellow and then red around the edges. I mounted this on a layer of Kraft, then used this great DP from Memory Box. It is a perfect match for Kraft and Riding Hood Red, and I thought the little blobs of red looked like the drops of blood shed for me on Calvary's cross.

I used my Cuttlebug and die cut to cut the Red scroll and flowers. Added yellow centers and that was it. A simple card that I hope sends a strong message on the wonderful gift God gave us when He sent His Son to die for us.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I missed you all! Hugs to you!