God's Gift of Love Stair Step Card

The Stampin Sister's in Christ Challenge this week was to make a card that depicted the Nativity or in some way reflected the true meaning of Christmas.  I immediately thought of this older SU! set.  I used the Stair Stepfold technique found here to create this card.  My images are stamped with Memento Ink and colored with Copics.  The card itself is made on GP White and then designer paper from The Paper Co. was added.  The framing for the star/cross is Not Quite Navy.  I overstamped the star with the cross from Refuge and Strength (also SU!) using So Saffron.  I then added  Hero Arts crystals to the rays of the star.

This was a super quick card to put together and would be very doable in mass for a Christmas card. 

Thanks as always for looking!  Your visits and comments mean so much!

When I pray You Answer Me!

I made this card for several challenges over on Christian Paper Crafts.
All this week they are offering great prizes so check it out!
Monday's Color challenge was to use Elegant Eggplant, Taken with Teal and Old Olive. Tues. was a sketch challenge, and wow did I have to get creative with that! LOL! Bible Verse Thurs. was to make a card with a sympathy or comforting verse.



So here's what I did:

I stamped the flowers from SU! Bloomin Beautiful six times on Watercolor paper, watercolored with inks, using a wet on wet technique. I used Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive. I then highlighted each bloom with a purple glittery gel pen (unknown). I cut out all six blooms.

The verse is from Our Daily Bread Designs, Scripture Collection2. It quotes Ps. 138:3. I stamped the verse on watercolor paper too with Elegant Egplant. I then lightly sponged with Teal and Old Olive. I cut this out with my Nestabilities Label 5.

I cut a white lattice strip with my Nestabilities Lattice Edgeability. I sprayed this with Pearl Glimmer Mist. I also sprayed the flowers with Tattered Rose Glimmer Mist, and the leaves with Honey Dew GM. While they were drying, I cut my BasicGrey (Euphoria) designer paper to fit the center panel of this Martha Stewart card I had found at Big Lots this week. It came with big butterflies that have a sticky coating on which you can apply glitter. I glittered a frame around my center panel with Stampendous Jewel Glitter in Ocean Spray. I mounted the sentiment panel and some of the flowers on dimensionals and angled the flowers to match the strips of paper used in the sketch. I added bling from BasicGrey and a couple of leaves I had cut off when adhering my flowers.

I can't capture the sparkle at all... it's dark and this is an inside shot. It's quite sparkly and I hope it will be an encouragement to someone. I have lost three friends this week so there is much need for sympathy and encouragement cards!

Thanks for looking and have a blessed weekend!

"I'll be With You Always"

Hello everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful Sunday!

Today I got out the newly released set from Our Daily Bread designs called Jesus. There are several quotes from Our Lord in this set, and this image of Jesus. I have to admit to you that I had trouble doing any artwork involving an image of our Lord, but this one is so tastefully done and I wanted to try superimposing a cross so this is what I came up with. The image itself is stamped with Sahara Sand on Sahara Sand Card Stock, then I used the cross image from SU! Refuge and Strength. I stamped that in VersaMark, then rubbed Matalllic Rub On in Colonial over it. For the frame I used a very detailed embossing template, embossed it on basic black cs, then sponged on the same metallic rub on. I also added just a touch of green metallic to the frame to pop it a little more. I wanted a more aged effect so I rubbed off most of the metallic, then sponged all around my frame, starting off the page and working inward. I stamped the verse, which is from Matt 28:20 (I had to cut the reference off to fit it in my Nestablity Tag Trio element) in Archival Jet Black onto Vellum, then I rubbed the same Metallic around the edges of the vellum. I felt it needed more to stand out against the frame so I hand cut a matting for it from Sahara Sand, and again rubbed the edges with the Metallic. I matted my embossed frame on Sahara Sand, then onto Basic Black. This card is 5 x 7. The ribbon is a yummy double sided satin that's gold on one side and this champagne color on the other. This side was a perfect match for the Metallic I used, as I would call that a cross between gold and silver. I made some slight score lines in the corners to give a mitered look to the black frame. That's about it. I had my Christian music playing in the background as I made this and I have to tell you I just enjoyed talking to the Lord the whole time I was working on this!

I realized yesterday that many of you are coming here on a link to my "new posts", which does not show you the top post on my front page... my blog candy. Please click on my Title to load that post or just follow the link I just made for you so you can be entered in the giveaway!

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have a blessed week!

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!

Hiding in the Bullrushes

Hello everyone! Blogger ate my first post, so we're trying this again, but shorter this time! LOL!

Today's Technique Lover's Challenge On Splitcoast Stampers was to make a Crimped Envelope Pocket Card. The idea was to seal an envelope and slice off a section on the short side. Then you were to run the lower part through the crimper, and then decorate as desired. I don't have a crimper so I had to improvise. I wanted a "guy" card so I chose a tannish colored envelope and thought I'd use my Cuttlebug for the texturing, hoping that would make the bottom just enough smaller that the top would fit over top. My first envelope was too thin and I didn't care for the whole envie to be cuttlebugged. So I took that apart and used it as a template, and made my own envelope out of card stock. The marbled cs is some old paper I've had forever and don't know where it came from, but it was just the right weight. So I cuttlebugged top and bottom of the envie, then I used VersMark on the raised parts, and then sponged on Chocolate Chip ink with a sponge dauber. Then for the card, I stamped my "Bird Watching" stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms (Sat. Evening Post Series) in chocolate Chip, mounted on CC card stock, added a jumbo eyelet and some twine. For the sentiment I used a stamp from SU! Refuge and Strength, then punched out a circle and a mat for it. Although my photo does not look like it, the card fits in the envie perfectly! Blame the photographer for the perspective problems... oh, that would be me! LOL! I thought this little mini plate stand would be a great way to display both pieces together but it puts the card closer than the envie and it makes it look way bigger! LOL! Oh well.... I promise it fits fine!

Thanks for taking a peek, and I hope you have a great day!

Embrace Life with Limited Supplies

Hello again! It's raining today and I'm having fun in my craft room! Today's Limited Supply Challenge on SCS was a very limited list of allowables. We HAD to make our own designer paper, and could not use any other designer paper. We could ONLY use one set, so the background had to come from the same set as our main image and our sentiment. I struggled with the sentiment, because in all honesty, this is not a sentiment I am likely to use, so I made the panel large enough to add another layer to it with a sentiment more appropriate for the need. Also limited were the use of accessories and embellishments. We could only use Nesties or punches on the sentiment panel, nothing else, but we were allowed to cut out any images by hand that we wished. The embellishments could only be brads and ribbon.

Whew... when there's such a specific list I always worry I'll miss something and be "illegal"! LOL! But today I think I got it covered. I used Very Vanilla for my main panel and for the flower images. I stamped my bg with VersaMark and stamped the leaf image from Embrace Life on that. I used Archival Jet Black to stamp three of the flowers from that set, and stamped with VersaMark on the sentiment panel with the smaller floral branch image in that set. Then I overstamped the sentiment with Archival. I did use Nesties to cut the oval sentiment panel and the scalloped oval in very vanilla. I lightly touched just a tad of pastels to my flowers and then painted them with Twinkling H2Os.. in French Vanilla.... sounds yummy, doesn't it? This gave the flowers a pretty shimmer. I went over the stamens with a gel pen to highlight. I plan to add stickles to the stamens later, but that was not allowed for this challenge.

I used two ribbons and did not use the allowed brads. It's a simple layout but one of my old faithful standbys... I use this layout a lot.

Hope you like it and hope you are having a wonderful day!

I love Penny Black!

Hello everyone! I'm on try two here... blogger ate my first upload! LOL!

Today's color challenge on SCS was to use Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. I love this combo although I was concerned my card might look fallish ... and I am so in the mood for Spring!!! Anyhoo... I stamped my Penny Black image with Archival Black Ink onto Watercolor Paper. I colored the image with SU! markers in the three colors. I then added Stickles and Clear Glitter Pen. I'm sorry the sparkle does not show in the upload... it does in my photo, but it gets lost in the upload. I mounted my matted image onto BasicGrey Designer Paper and then onto a base of Old Olive. I added a butterfly from SU! Natural Beauty. I cut it out and added clear glitter pen outlines to it as well. The ribbon is SU! Old Olive and the card size is 5 1/4" square.

Thanks for stopping by... have a great day!

Here is a fun card I made with a new SU set called Bloomin Beautiful. My wonderful daughter gave me this set for Christmas and I just love it! I stamped the SU! bg (called Sanded) in versamark and clear embossed it. I also clear embossed the image after I had colored it and cut it out. I mounted it popped up on dimensionals. The sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs... a Stamp company I just LOVE! I got two sets from ODBD for Christmas and can't get enough of them! I can't wait to get more! This ribbon and Kraft card stock were a gift from my best stampin buddy Dawn. I love this paper!!!