Getting back into my blog

I took on a challenge from the Beth Moore Bible Study that we were doing on the book of James(Mercy Triumphs - do it if you get a chance as it's awesome) and created these cards for my pastors.  I used the same image and rearranged the layout a bit to individualize them.  I used Stampendous rubber cling Botanical Magnolia and stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black on white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers.  I didn't write down which ones - a senior moment there - but you get the idea.  The sentiment came from Heartfelt Creations Book Frame 2 Precut set.  I also stamped it on white cardstock.  When I stamped and colored the magnolias, I hadn't decided how I was going to use them, or otherwise, I might have stamped them on cream cardstock since I ended up using them on men's cards.  I used punches for the oval and scalloped oval and Spellbinders Labels 8 for the flower.  I embossed the green cardstock with my Cuttlebug and then distressed them with Vintage Photo Distress ink.  I used a sponge and the same ink to distress the edges around the flower and the sentiment.  The trim was made with Martha Stewart's Pine Needle Trim Double Edge Punch.  I also distressed the trim with Vintage Photo.  The ideas was to make them look antiqued and not new.  The cards were mounted on Bazzill cardstock from my stash which I also distressed the texture in it with Vintage Photo.  I liked the way that the Labels 8 die was placed at an unusal angle to get the image within the cutting area.  That gave it a different feel to me than a completely horizontal or vertical placement.  The diagonal adds a bit of whimsy maybe????  Anyway, I hope you like my "male-ized" version of a flower stamp!  I have more cards photographed and look for some more in the next few days!

     Here's what's been happening the last few days - just wanted you all to know and be praying.  My dear husband, Thom, had a mild heart attack late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.  They did a heart cath on Monday at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on Monday (yesterday) and found that one of his bypass grafts that already had 8 stents, had another 90% blockage.  They put a stent there and since everything went well, he was sent home today.  He is hoping to get an uninterrupted night's sleep tonight!  LOL
     I am also really excited about what I will be doing through our church's Connect Group that we call Scrap Pack.  We will be using part of our creative energy to make cards for a school that we are partnering with here in High Point.  Cards to encourage both students, staff and families.  I am excited about this outreach opportunity that paper crafters can do with our creative energy to make a difference and impact lives.  I have found a fellow believer and Stampin' Up demonstrator to come and do a stamping workshop for our Scrap Pack get togethers once per month.  That takes a lot of planning off of me, but I will probably do some teaching about using patterned paper and other things I have learned especially while working at the Enchanted Cottage in Lewisville, NC.  If any one of you live in the High Point, NC area, let me know if you would like to join us on the 4th Friday of each month!

MOJO Monday 227 - You are my Perfect Harmony

This is the card I have designed for my husband for Valentine's Day!  I hope he doesn't look at this blog before the BIG DAY!!!  I am so very last minute this year, but I did love this sketch and wanted to make a winter themed card for my Sweetheart that wasn't really too, too feminine, but of course I had to add some glitz!  What is a card without bling and glitter.  LOL

Here is what I used to make my card:

• HCPC 3350 Lg. Cardinal Pine Bough Precut Set
• HCD 706 Cardinal Family Die
• Spellbinders Labels 10
• Spellbinders Lattice Rectangles
• Bo Bunny Press White Love Thoughts Stickers
• The WoodStone Collection Simple Thoughts Love Stickers
• Canvas Corp Black & Ivory collection
• Bo Bunny Cardstock
• Bazzill Cardstock
• Extra Fine White Glitter and glitter pen
• EK Success Precious Finds Adhesive Gems
• Copic Markers:  R24, 27, 29; G28, 29; E25, 27, 29; Y13, 17; 100
• American Crafts Red Glitter Cardstock
• Creating Memories Oval Cutting Set & Blades
• Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black
• Ranger Distress Ink - antique linen
• Color Box Chalk Ink Ink - Blackbird
• Basic Grey's Basic Black Ribbon

I began by cutting the AC glitter cardstock to 8" by 7" and stamped the Heartfelt Creations Cardinal on Pine Bough twice using Memento Ink Tuxedo Black and colored the images with Copic Markers as noted above.  I cut the cardinal out using the Heartfelt Creation Die.  Antique Linen was used to distress the edges and "age" the background of the large stamped image after cutting out with Labels 10 die.  A glue pen was used on the pine branch and pine cones and glitter was applied to simulate snow.  The oval was cut and distressed with Blackbird Ink around the edges as was the stamped image after being "aged".  The sentiment was mounted on ivory cardstock and cut out with a circle punch.  Two Lattice Rectangles were cutout for the sentiments to be mounted on.  Before assembling the card, the placed the black ric rac ribbon on the left end of the oval and then mounted the oval onto the glitter cardstock.  The rectangles were mounted symmetrically to the top and bottom of the card at an angle and then the stamped image was centered on the black and cream oval.  The red cardinal was then popped up on top of the cardinal on the stamped image.  The sentiments were added onto the rectangles and the gems added as accents at the top left hand corner and below each sentiment.  The card front was mounted on cream cardstock and personal sentiments added on the inside of the card.

That's it for now.  I hope to be more active on my blog so look for future postings as things are winding down after a flurry of activity the past few weeks.  How can a retired woman stay so busy?  LOL

Baskets of Blessings to all of you who took the time to stop by, look at and read my blog!

Donna

Mojo Monday 224 Challenge

My brother has a 65th birthday coming up this week.  He was so kind to wish me "Happy Birthday" last year to me as "my oldest living blood relative".  That was a huge NO NO, so I designed this sympathy card using this week's sketch.  I of course wished him Happy Birthday on the inside of the card, but you know how "older brothers" can be - especially when we were growing up and little boys sometimes never grow up either!  LOL

I used basic creme colored cardstock for the base and used 3 different designs of Canvas Corp Black & Ivory collection.  I used a Heartfelt Creations Die - Decorative Lace Border - to make my ribbon and "Thinking of You also is from Heartfelt Creations Dutch Iris Oval Pre-Cut Set.  Used Spellbinders to cut out the circle shapes.  All of the edges were distressed with Black Chalk Ink.  The flower is from Paper Element's Rub-Ons Tart from my stash..  As you can see, I pretty much followed the sketch with own interpretations about the ribbon type embellishment!  I hope you like it!  I wish that I could see my brother's face when he opens up his card!

Winter is 'Snow' Much Fun

This is the third of 3 projects that I designed and submitted to Little Yellow Bicycle's Saturday Design Team aka, Biker Chicks!  Love it!  My husband and I enjoying riding our 24 speed bikes up in the NC mountains on trails that go downhill or are flat!  LOL  This new paper I got a peek of today while I was at Betty's Stamping and Scrapbooking Room in Greensboro has one page that really goes along sooooo well with our recreational activities!  Any way, here is the list of supplies that you will need to make this project!  No instructions today as I will be teaching a class with this layout soon at Betty's!

Little Yellow Bicycle "Winter Twig" 12 x 12, 2-page Layout

Products Used:

·         2 pieces 12x12  Little Yellow Bicycle Twig Collection Winter Blue (Base for Layout)

·         5 sheets from LYB Twig 11.75x 5.75  cardstock pad:  2 pieces pinecone cardstock; 1 piece snowflake  cardstock; 1 piece Winter Twig cardstock

·         Bazzill cardstock 8 ½ x 11in Parakeet

·         Twig Paper Snowflake Kit

·         Twig Journaling Cards

·         Twig Cardstock Stickers-Border

·         American Crafts Blue Glitter cardstock

·         American Crafts Blue Glitter ribbon

·         Cuttlebug Embossing folders snowflake & Polka Dots

·         Spellbinders Dies:  Labels 10 & Scalloped Ovals Large

·         Martha Stewart Glacial Snowflake punch

·         Quickutz Tags die

·         Glitter and Color Box Chalk Ink in Chestnut Road

·         Cricut with font of your choice to cut the letters for the Title

·         Slotted corner punch

2012: I Believe...

I Believe 2012: 12x12, 1 page layout

Products Used: 

·         3 pieces Little Yellow Bicycle Vita Bella Collection 12x12 DS cardstock in: Blue Diamond Motif, Dark Blue Tonal, and Green & Blue Stripes

·         Vita Bella Epoxy Words

·         Bazzill Dark Blue Cardstock

·         Papercut Gold metallic cardstock

·         Creamy Buttery yellow card from stash

·         Color Box Chalk Ink in Yellow Ochre

·         Recollections Rhinestones

·         Spellbinders Labels 8

·         Cuttlebug Embossing folder Cassie’s Brocade

·         Martha Stewart Flower Punch Large Punch Around the Page Set

·         Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot software to cut out the CK Believe font and 2012 for title and year.

I have kept back several pages of the Vita Bella collection – it is one of my all-time favorites from Little Yellow Bicycle.  I used the Dark Blue Tonal as the base cardstock for my project.  I used the MS Flower Punch Lg. Punch Around the Page Set to create the flower motif all around the page of LYB Blue Diamond Motif as the overlay.  I like the effect of the coordinating blue showing through the border punched out on all 4 sides of the Blue Diamond motif.  Since this is the beginning of a new year, there has been discussion in the media about New Year’s resolution; there was talk about this at church recently.  I wanted to do a page about myself and what I would like to see happen in my life for 2012.  2011 had been a year of change for our family and knowing that resolutions are rarely kept, I wanted to focus on what I believe which is where my strip journaling came from and why there is a picture of me only on this page.  I matted the picture after going around the edge with chalk ink on the creamy buttery yellow cardstock embossed and distressed with Yellow Ochre chalk ink and punched out the corners to match the border around the page.  I embossed the dark blue Bazzill CS under the picture and the 2012 Vita Bella Green & Blue Stripes with Cassie’s Brocade embossing folder.  The journaling strips were also distressed with the same chalk ink to make them pop off the page.  After placing all these elements on the page, I scattered Epoxy Words as embellishments around the page.  Three rhinestones were placed at the end of “I Remember” phrase.

Enjoy and celebrate with me about 2012!

MOJO Monday 223 and Little Yellow Bicycle

I designed this card for 2 purposed.  For MOJO Monday challenge and  for LYB Team call.  I really enjoyed makeing this card and think it turned out really nice.  Let me know what you think!

Joy in the Journey 6x6 Card

Products Used:

·         Little Yellow Bicycle Vita Bella Collection Feather & Scroll CS and Green & Blue Stripes CS

·         Bazzill Cardstock in Medium Blue, Green & Yellow

·         LYB Vita Bella Glitter Die-Cut Stickers

·         LYB Cardstock stickers

·         LYB Vita Bella Ribbon

·         American Crafts Blue Glitter Cardstock

·         Inka-Gold Old Gold (918) and Green (912)

·         Spellbinder Dies:  Labels 8, Foliage, Blossom Two

·         Quickutz  Nesting Flowers Die

·         Cuttlebug Embossing Folders Paper Lace II

The flowers were cut with the Blossom Two die and embossed with Cuttlebug Paper Lace II embossing folders.  They were distressed and highlighted with Old Gold from Inka-Gold to bring out the texture and add depth.  Blue glittered cardstock was used to cut out the centers for each flower with the Nesting Flowers Die.  Leaves were cut out in the green cardstock and distressed with Inka-Gold green to add sheen and depth.  Labels 8 die was used to cut out the Green & Blue Stripes paper with part of it cut off on one end to form the label for the cardstock base for the Joy in the Journey cardstock sticker.  The Feather & Scroll cardstock piece was cut to 4x6; a piece of green cardstock was cut to 3x4 inches and placed in the top left corner of the patterned CS; both were mounted to the 6x6 cardstock base after the ribbon was glued down to the top of patterned paper cardstock. The leaves and flowers were then layered slightly above center after the Labels 8 shape was added to the card.  A second larger flower was popped up to add dimension to the card.  LYB Vita Bella Glitter Die-Cut stickers were added to provide additional interest to the design.   I made a bow out of the same ribbon used earlier and placed on the ribbon.