A Shaker from the Shore!

 Hello friends!  I hope you are all doing well!

I had fun playing in some of the DTGD challenges over on SCS this past week.  It was CRAZY how many challenges there were, and while I did get to complete a card for every challenge (49 challenges in a week) I did NOT make 49 cards!  There is no way at the speed I work that that could ever happen!  However, I did manage to create cards that fit several challenges at a time and thereby got them all done with only 18 cards.  Still.... for me... that's still a LOT!  LOL!

Anyway... that said... here is one of the cards I made.  The challenge was a shaker card, and I used a past release from ODBD, The Mighty Sea, and a current release, Ocean Treasures for my sentiment.  The image is colored with Copics except the sky, which is done with pastel chalks. I used a white pen for highlighting the waves. I stamped the image twice so that my card base and the overlay would line up to form a seamless scene. The plastic shaker itself is from Impression Obsession.  I filled it with some tiny blue micro-beads, and some of the tiniest shells you've ever seen!  We picked these up on N. Myrtle Beach the last time we went and I was so excited to find so many tiny ones that were whole!  The "sand" in the foreground is from Muddpuddles and was a gift from a dear friend.  The little starfish is a gift from another very dear friend and I have hoarded it for a while, but this seemed to be the time to use it.  The sentiment is punched with a SU! punch and colored to match the sky colors.

I hope you enjoyed this and that in some small way it might have inspired you to try one!  Just about anything can be put in a shaker!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Today's Blessing from the Word:

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - think about such things"

Phil. 4:8

Ocean's Treasures for us to adore!

Hello my sweet friends!  I hope all is well with you!!!

Today I'm sharing another "beach" themed card from ODBD!  For this card, I used Ocean Treasures.  I embossed the beautiful sand dollar image on Crumb Cake card stock with Vanilla Glitter embossing powder.  I'm sorry the photo does not show the glitter well but in real life it is really quite pretty!  I had cut the shell and thought it would look great with this Sizzix embossing folder of waves.  I cut the lower end with a Martha Stewart shell punch and added a little craft ribbon from SU!.  I added the shell with foam dots for dimension.  I stamped the sentiment in Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  Here is a closer look at the sand dollar image which hopefully will show a little of the glitter in the embossing.

 Isn't it just amazing how the sand dollar is created?   When you really look at all of nature around us... it is most certainly true... the heavens declare the glory of God!

Well that's a quick post for me today! 

 Enjoy your week!!!

A Legend, A pocket and a bookmark!

Hello sweet friends!  I hope you are all doing well!

If you are an email subscriber, just one word about the change in format again! LOL!  I have decided based on several factors, including comments and emails, to go back to the partial post in my email with a link to my blog for the rest of the post.  By far, most of you did not care which way you received it, and I truly do appreciate each and every one who took the survey to help me know what everyone prefers.  However, this is better for other feeds that go out from my blog and since I can't separate them (they all have to go the same way) I'm going back to this format.  For the one and only one who had a problem with the email being just a partial post with a direct clickable link to the rest... I am sorry, but I really do feel I need to go back to this way for now.  If I can figure out something different to accommodate your wishes, I will!

Now on to my project today!  I created a pocket card using vellum for the pocket, and heat embossing the sand dollar image from Ocean Treasures with Pearl embossing powder.  I love the look of the elegant embossing on vellum.  If embossing on vellum, it's best to heat evenly from the back and front to avoid warping.  

I used a base of Blushing Bride, and then vanilla card stock.  I tore the edges of my vellum after embossing the sand dollars, measured where I wanted the pocket to come on the card base, and scored where I wanted to fold the vellum under the card stock to form the actual pocket.  For this one I simply scored and folded under the right side and the bottom, adhered the vellum to the back side of the vanilla card stock, and then adhered the vanilla to the blushing bride base.  

I then created my bookmark using the Sand Dollar Bookmark stamp, and the ODBD Bookmark die.   I stamped the legend in blushing bride, heat embossed parts of the sand dollar on the top and bottom of the bookmark, and then cut it out with the ODBD custom bookmark die.  While still in the die I sponged more ink around the poem and then I removed it from the die.  This gave me the soft vanilla border.  I did cut a second blush blossom bookmark and backed the bookmark so it has more rigidity.   

 I embellished very simply with seam binding and a sand dollar charm.  I do love how this came out and hope you do too!

Thanks so very much for stopping by today!  I love knowing you were here!!!

 Today's blessing from the Word:

Ps 2:12

Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.

Beautiful Wishes for a Beautiful day with hand made flowers!

Hello friends!  I hope you are enjoying a wonderful week!  

Today I'm sharing a card I made for one of the challenges on SCS going on this week.  The challenge was to make your own flower.  I just got the Spellbinders Create an Iris die a little while ago and had to play along.  So this little card is just 4 x 4 but packs a punch I think.  The Iris was made starting out with very light lavender card stock, die cutting the pieces, coloring first with a white gel pen, then with Copics, and sponging the edges.  I used a sentiment from the ODBD Sentiment Collection 2, and cut it with a Spellbinders Decorative Labels 34. The little yellow flowers are made with a Martha Stewart punch and have little pearls in the center.  The flourish is from the ODBD Fancy Foliage die set.  

Here's today's blessing from the Word:

Ps 100:5

The Lord is good and His love endures forever.

I'm so thankful for His goodness... it is His very nature and that will never change, no matter how bad we are, no matter how bad things around us seem... He remains good, and His love endures forever. 

Follow in His steps...

Hello friends!  I hope you are all doing well!

I have a card to sahre with you made with the Aug. ODBD release, Walk with Jesus.  I also used a past release, Footprints in the Sand (to create my background).   I had this idea in my head, and believe me, this did not come out the way I was seeing it! 

 I wanted the background to be the footprints in the Sand image, and I wanted to use the Flip Flop Dies to cut out my sentiments, and then "hang" them on a wood panel, or perhaps a gate or such.  I stamped the image with Rich Cocoa ink, and then  I lightly colored the Footprints in the Sand image with Derwent Inktense Pencils and a Blender Pen.   I stamped the two sentiments from the Walk with Jesus set and cut them with the custom Flip Flop dies, and then decided to lightly stamp the Jesus fish flip flop pattern in Versamark and lightly rub pastel chalks over it for an ever so light pattern.  You certainly could just use the dies to cut your sentiment, but I found myself wanting a little pattern on the flip flops.

I love the message in this Walk with Jesus set!  I see this  as being awesome for teens but great for "kids" of all ages! 

Have a wonderful week!

Fun Summer ODBD Release!

Hello friends!  Welcome to the Our Daily Bread designs August  release!

If you haven't had a chance to view the full release yet, you can do so HERE.

Before I tell you about my cards.... here are the details on how YOU could win a prize just for viewing the DT samples, and leaving a little love!  Pick up some inspiration and maybe YOU can be one of the next winners!

 Prize Information:

Three winners will be randomly chosen from the comments left on the designers blogs to receive a $15 Gift Certificate to the ODBD Store, to be used toward the purchase of ODBD Stamps found in the "stamps column" of the website.  You have until August 2, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EDT to leave your comments!  The Winners will be posted on the ODBD Blog on August 3rd, so be sure to check back there to see if you won!

Now... on to my cards:

For my first card, I used the lovely new Anchor the Soul set and created this fun fold card.  I also used last month's Pennant Dies, and also the ODBD Custom Elegant Oval dies.

I stamped my image with Memento ink and colored with Copics.  For a little extra pizazz, I used Wink of Stella glitter pen in silver.  LOVE this stuff!!! Anyway... after cutting the image out with a medium size Elegant Oval die, I matted it with a large size of the same set, and I embossed that with a Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder from Cuttlebug.  

Here is a close up of the shimmer:

 

 To create my fold, all I did was cut a piece of Baked Brown Sugar card stock to 5.5" x 11".  I scored it at 2 3/4" and 5.5" That creates the center back fold of the design.  The design paper I used is Farmhouse Paper Co.  I stamped the sentiment on some dp and cut it with the ODBD Custom Pennant die.  I also cut the flag pole from the same set and painted that with the silver Wink of Stella.  I added a blue burlap banner and some brads for embellishments.

.

For the word "hope" at the bottom right corner, I had a brad that said hope but it was shiny brass.  I heat embossed it with silver, and then again with medieval metal, which is more of a mixture of pewter and gold tones.  I added a white die cut elegant oval cut out for the message inside, and held it directly behind my main image to stick it down so it lines up perfectly with the image.  I stamped a couple of the little anchors from the Anchor the Soul set and now it's ready for a personal message when it's sent.

For my second card, I did a real CAS (clean and simple) card.  I used the new Walk with Jesus set.  I tore three layers of kraft card stock and sponged each layer.  I sponged my sky and clouds using a template I got years ago from Rosy's Road Show.  I adhered the "sand" to the lower part of the card.  I stamped the flip flops with Memento ink and colored with Copics, and die cut them with the ODBD Custom Flip Flop Dies.  I added 2 little opalescent pearls and that was it!  So quick and easy but I can really see these new flip flop sets being great for teen cards, can't you?

Here are the new ODBD products I used today:

Additionally, I used the following ODBD products:

 .

I hope you enjoyed and were in some small way inspired by my projects today!  Please be sure to stop by my DT sisters for more incredible inspiration, and leave a comment for your chance to win!

Julie * Cathy * Paula * Grace * Chris * Lori * Dawn * Sandee * Lisa * Angie * Sabrina * Wanda * Audrey * Silke

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope to see you soon with another sample!

Blessings, 

Enjoy Your Day and a Recipe!

Hello friends!  I'm popping in with another quick fun summer card using the Aug. ODBD release, to be released Aug. 1!

I used Flip Flop Fun for my little flip flops, and stamped them with Bermuda Bay ink.  I cut them out with the new ODBD Custom Flip Flop Die.  I stamped the sentiment from the same set on my "sand" layer also with Bermuda Bay.  I sponged some sand "dunes" on craft paper, using torn post it notes, and then sponged some blue water lines in the background.  My "towel" is a piece of fabric which I cut to size and then fringed on the ends.  I think it looks cute here.  I added some tiny shells from another new set (Anchor the Soul) and some bling on my flip flops and called it done. 

Thanks so much for looking!  I have been  making Roasted Tomato Sauce and putting it up! It's my newest "thing" that I just love!  The roasted tomatoes taste so yummy and it's an easy way to make sauce, and if you like chunky sauce along with other veggies on top of your pasta, this is the perfect base for it!   I'll be glad next winter when I pull out some yummy home grown and roasted sauce, even though right now it's a bit time consuming. I am making huge batches of this at a time, but I thought I'd share the basic recipe in case you'd like to try it.

Roasted Tomato Sauce with Garlic (makes about 2 cups)

Olive oil

2 pounds fresh tomatoes

8 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Chopped Fresh Basil (to taste... I use several leaves per pan full)

4 TBS unsalted butter (optional)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees and spritz 9 x 13 baking dish with Olive Oil.  I use spray for this but you can just use a little oil and spread it out.

Chop the tomatoes roughly but evenly.  Spread them in the baking dish.  Stir in the minced garlic,sprinkle with Basil, add a drizzle of olive oil, and about 1 tsp salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Cut the butter in to small cubes and scatter evenly over the tomatoes.

Bake for about 3 hours.  You can do it less if you just want to go until the juice has started to release, but I find that 3 hours is best for my oven. I like to wait until the tomatoes have started to blacken a bit because you pick up a bit of a caramelized flavor and the sauce has started to thicken. 

Let me know if you try it!  We love it here at our house!

Today's blessing from the Word:

Ps 145:9 NIV

The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.  

Blessings,