Sunday, May 31, 2015

Dad's Day

Today's post contains another masculine type card and I made it into a Father's Day one. I was so lucky to obtain a free stamp set as a publication incentive from Lawn Fawn that worked perfectly for making a card for this special day to honor the Dads out there. This set is called LF393 Dad's Day.


Using the tie images I created a background using Gina K. Designs Cherry Red and Blue Denim inks by stamping them onto a white card panel. Once this was done I layered it onto Gina K. Designs Cherry Red card stock and the added it to the A2 white card base.

On another piece of white card stock I then stamped the easy chair image and also the sentiment. The sentiment comes originally in a straight line but since it was an acrylic stamp I curved it somewhat when putting it onto the acrylic block before I inked it up and stamped it. Both the chair and sentiment I then fussy cut and placed them aside until I was ready to use them.

Next I took the Cheery Lynn Designs XM-9 Oval Inverted Scallop die and cut out an oval in the Cherry Red card stock. I then placed this onto a Cheery Lynn M-7 Oval-Classic die cut in the Blue Denim. When they were assembled together and placed onto the pre-stamped pattern panel I then popped the chair and sentiment I had cut out earlier on top. I finished the card by adding some blue rhinestone squares.

I am entering this card into the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 187-Red, White and Blue and also into the Mod Squad Blog Challenge in which we are to make a Masculine themed project.

Thanks for looking and have a fantastic week!

God bless,
Verna

Friday, May 29, 2015

First Date With Watercolor Paper

I am so blessed. Another wonderful stamping friend gifted me with a few samples of watercolor paper for me to try. I started this card several days ago and finally got it finished this morning. I know it may not be the most perfect way of doing water coloring but for the most part for a first attempt I was not too disappointed. I am going to share it with you anyway.


The first thing I did was stamp the orchid image with black dye ink on the dry watercolor paper. I then took my Color Bursts green, yellow, blue and purple granules and mixed a bit with some water onto a palette until I got the right shades I was looking for. I even added a bit of yellow to the green to make it more like a spring shade. I started out with the darker shade of purple mix in the centers of the orchid blooms and then gradually added lighter shades of that mix. I also painted in the stem on the orchid with a mix of green and yellow.

I wanted to have a sort of sky affect in the background so I took the blue Color Bursts and mixed them with water to get a very light wash. This I then painted around the orchids. Of course, this made the whole panel slightly damp and that was okay with me. My final bit of color on the card was to ink up the Dill or Queen Anne's Lace (not sure which it is supposed to be as they look so similar) with Gina K. Designs Spring Green dye ink and stamped that down around the orchid image. Since it was slightly wet the ink spread out to make it have a more water color affect.

The sentiment was then stamped when the panel was dry with black ink. A final step on the orchid image was to use a white gel pen and add some dimension to the blooms. The images used on this card are all from Gina K. Designs.

After fastening this to a white A2 card base I then added a few purple rhinestone gems to finish my card.

I am sure I will be doing more experiments with watercolor paper now. It was fun to try something new.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate all your wonderful comments.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Blue and White Birthday

I was so pleasantly surprised when a lovely lady gifted me with an embossing folder from Stampin' Up! called Textured Impressions-Vintage Wallpaper. I love it and I took this folder and inked it up with Gina K. Designs Powder Blue ink before I embossed it and created a beautiful background for my card design.


I had a base card of Powder Blue card stock and added this panel to the front of it but first I added some green ribbon which corresponded fairly close to the color of the leaves inked in Gina K. Designs Grass Green on the white card stock oval that I had die cut. The oval is a Cheery Lynn Designs one and the leaves and the flowers on the oval are all from the Gina K. Designs Frames and Flowers 1 set from the Flowers and Frames TV Kit released this month.

In the kit there are dies to cut the flowers and leaves with but since I never can do a decent job of aligning them up right I stamped the leaves directly onto the oval and then stamped the flowers onto another piece of white card stock and fussy cut them to make them work. Before I added them I shaped them a bit and popped them when they were fastened to the oval. I colored the flowers with Bic Mark-It alcohol ink markers.

I also stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set and kit in the Powder Blue ink. I finished the card by adding the blue stars below the sentiment. They looked better in person then they do on the photo. In the photo the blues don't quite match.

I am entering this in the Mix It Up Monday challenge this week which is called Oh, My Stars! Thus the reason for adding the stars to my card.

I always appreciate your visits to my blog and love each and every comment left here.

God bless,
Verna

Monday, May 25, 2015

Positively Negative Get Well


Today is Memorial Day and I hope all of you are remembering all those who served and gave of themselves so that we might enjoy our freedoms. Also many of us remember our loved ones who have gone on before us by visiting their grave sites and placing flowers on the graves. Many families get together too, and usually this holiday weekend marks the beginning of summer for most.

Anyway, now to the card I made today. I just love to use as much of a die as I can and so for this card I chose to use the negative part of the die and added pattern paper behind it to make some pretty flowers for my Get Well card.


Earlier on a card I used the Cheery Lynn Designs DL 218 Manon's Wedding Garland die which I had cut from white card stock to create a card, so today I used the negatives from that and added beautiful pattern paper from the Gina K. Designs Delicate Essentials Pattern Paper Pack behind the flowers. I placed this onto a positive oval die cut of bright pink using the Spellbinder Grand Calibur Ovals set.

Next I mounted this onto a dark brown card stock panel before I placed it on the A2 card base of white card stock. I added glitter infused brown buttons to the center of the flowers and brown rhinestone bling around the outer part of the garland die. Where there was a hole from the negative die I placed the sentiment from Gina K. Designs Mountain Wilderness set illustrated by Theresa Momber. To dress up the card even more I added the Cheery Lynn Designs B162 Lace Corner Deco B embellishments with the same color of pink card stock.

The inside is complimentary to the outside as I added some of the same pattern paper and layered it onto the pink and brown card stock to create a strip.

I am entering this into the following challenges:
Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge-Anything Goes
Mod Squad Blog Challenge-Positively Negative

We are having a rainy Memorial Day here and it is a quiet celebration for us. We took flowers to the graves on Friday evening. And we did get company Saturday and enjoyed a visit with our daughter and granddaughter. Today I decided since it was raining it was crafting time for me. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and I hope your weekend has been a good one.

God bless,
Verna


Friday, May 22, 2015

Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 185-Make It Manly

Before we know it Father's Day will be here so I decided I needed another card for that occasion. And, I figured that would be a great entry for the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge for this week.


I had purchased that arched window die several months ago and just now am using it for the first time. I love it and wish I had tried it sooner. I stamped a scene with Gina K. Designs images from the Farm Life set illustrated by Theresa Momber. I placed that behind the window frame.

I colored the scene in with Bic Mark-It markers. These are a nice quality alcohol ink marker for a really reasonable price, so if you can't afford the more expensive ones I recommend trying these out. I got them in a set of 36. Only thing for the sky I used a sponge and added some light blue color.

The sentiment is an old one I purchased year's ago and I was delighted when I googled it to find it still available at Sweet Stamps,com. When I purchased the stamp at a local shop year's back it was marked as from Sweet Impressions, Inc.

I also added corner treatments to the upper part of the card near the arches. I thought it would make it look a bit more ornate and I did it in the same color of card stock to make it look like it was a wood carved embellishment by the window arch. I sure love those corner dies.

Everything was added to an ivory base size A2 card. But before I added the panel I added some brads along the Happy Father's Day to dress it up a bit more.

Oh, and the best thing for gluing die cuts is Ranger Multi Medium Matte which is a glue that dries clear and when dry is waterproof too. Any glue that gets on your artwork when dry does not show. I love that feature a lot. I read where you can even spread it on to seal artwork, but I mostly have used it to add my dies.

Cheery Lynn Dies:
FRM 142- Window Die
B162 Lace Corner Deco B

I always lose a day when I go to wound care as it is an all morning thing with travel and treatment and by the time I do get home I am just all flagged out so I have to rest awhile before I tackle the household chores for the day. Thus I lose a day of crafting too. But the good thing is that my wounds are healing, slow but sure. These things take a long, long time. My goal is to be healed in mid June, but that remains to be seen.

Thanks so much for checking in again and for all the lovely comments. I hope your weekend is a good one. Have a great Memorial Day too.

God bless,
Verna

Monday, May 18, 2015

First Date With New Stamp TV Kit

I got the new kit last week from Stamp TV called Flowers and Frames Kit but due to a busy weekend I was not able to play with the new sets. But today that changed and I had my first date with it and created a card using some of those pretty roses and leaves in it.


Now I am not sure this is the proper way to use some of those stamps, but I first took the dies that came with the kit and cut out the roses and leaves images. The roses were die cut in Sweet Corn yellow and the leaves in Green Asparagus card stock. I then took a darker shade of ink and stamped the rose designs and the leaves onto these die cuts. I finished them by sponging around the edges with complimentary colors to give the roses more definition.

I found some blue card stock already cut and also a piece of white card stock all ready to go in my supply stash. The base card of the blue is an A2 size. On the white panel I then stamped the beautiful frame in the upper portion with Ocean Mist dye ink. Inside the frame I stamped the birthday sentiment from the kit with black ink. Before I added the white panel I layered it onto some black card stock to showcase it better.

Once this layered panel was added to the base card I proceeded to add my roses and leaves. I popped the smaller one a bit to make more dimension and depth. The card was then finished by adding some deep yellow rhinestones to each corner.

I am going to enter this in the Mix It Up Monday challenge at Stamp TV.

Thanks for looking and I hope your week will be a wonderful one.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Duck Pond

Today I want to share a card I thought might work as a Father's Day card or even a birthday card. It is more masculine in nature and I just love the look achieved with the gorgeous background I made with Ken Oliver Color Burst water color granules.


For the background I used glossy card stock and added my yellow and blue Color Bursts granules, spritzed with water and watched the magic. After studying it over for several days I decided this was to be a water scene.

I used a sponge dauber to create that big bold sun over the upper portion of the panel. Then I took a Three Fir Trees image from I Brake for Stamps and stamped that in black dye ink to make a horizon point. Where I wanted the sentiment placed I masked off that area and only inked up a portion of the stamp image so that it appeared to be shorter trees in that area. I carefully added a bit more water lines with my fine line black ink pen and finished the card by adding the Duck Pond die image from Die-Namites. I had to cut off one cat tail at the left end since it was a bit too long for my A2 size card but it still looks fantastic to me. The sentiment is also from I Brake for Stamps and is in the Stampinback line on one of their sheets.

I am entering this into the Scrapy Land Challenge #17-Anything Goes.

Well, that will pretty much end my creativity for the week I think. I will be having company on the weekend so I best continue the cleaning of my dusty house. LOL

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week.

God bless,
Verna

Monday, May 11, 2015

Lawn Fawn 4th of July Card Published

First of all I wish to say I hope all you mothers and motherly women had a wonderful Sunday and that you were treated like a queen. I know I enjoyed mine and we also got much needed rain so our future on the farm looks much brighter too.

Now for some more excitement for me. I got word recently that I am again published in Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine. It is in the July 2015 issue and I got my free copy today in the mail.




I used the star dies and stamped a pattern inside the frame I made with them as well as the sentiment from the Lawn Fawn products. I first die cut the larger star die on the navy blue panel, then the next smaller star die was cut on the white panel and this was all layered together and placed over the stamped star pattern I create with blue and red dye inks.

After all the panels were added to the white base I then added the red rhinestones and  a red plaid ribbon with a navy blue ribbon over the top. Lastly I added the sentiment along the bottom.


I also added some of the star images and another sentiment to the inside to tie the outside and inside themes together.


Lawn Fawn Products Used:
Puffy Star Stackables die LF521
Happy 4th Stamp Set LF513

I know it is a bit early for Fourth of July cards but I wanted to share my good news with you. I just love this crazy card making hobby. It has surely been a blessing to me.

Well, hope your week is starting off well too. And, thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Water Color Stamping

The Mod Squad Blog Challenge this week is to use water colors to create your artwork. And, I chose to use the Color Burst water color granules for my card. I took a piece of plastic and made a puddle of the colors I wanted to use and then with a fine paint brush applied the mixture right to a solid image stamp. I then stamped it onto my white panel of card stock. I used Gina K. Designs heavy weight white for my panel.


My colors of choice were the Color Burst Lemon Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, and Orange. When applied to the stamp they sort of blend together. After I had those all stamped with the solid image I then took a open line image and over stamped on them with Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart dye ink. My solid stamps used are from the Gina K. Designs Pressed Flowers set and the open line images which match are from the A Year of Flowers set. Both are illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger.

My butterfly was first stamped with the Orange Color Burst on white card stock and then I over stamped it too with the Cranberry Tart dye ink before I die cut it out. I then took the paint brush and flicked some of the ink onto the flowers and front white panel to give it some contrast and dimension before I added the ribbon and the sentiment which was stamped in the Cranberry Tart too. Both the sentiment and the butterfly are from the Gina K. Designs Birthday Blessing set.

I was then ready to put this to a layer of Cranberry Tart card stock and mount it on the white card stock base. The last step was to pop the butterfly on the card in the upper right corner with just the center portion attaching it. This gives the illusion of the butterfly in flight.

I have oodles of birthdays coming up in June and July so figured I better get started on a few of them.

We are getting a bit of rain and we appreciate every drop of it. I hope that if you are in a drought situation that you too are getting some moisture even if only a little.

Just a note if you would like to learn more about the Color Bursts, Bisters and Brushos there is a Facebook group that you might want to join. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bisterbrushocolorburstenthusiasts/?fref=nf
Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Graduation Day

Well, the invites keep coming in so I worked on another graduation card and this time I made it with a young man in mind. I hope it is masculine looking enough and I did not want to use a lot of pastel colors on it. And since I used lots of layers I am entering this into the Cheery Lynn Designs Blog Challenge for this week too.


For the background I made a Bister water color granules one using the colors of blue and brown. I then took the colors that resulted and tried to use layers of card stock that matched well. To make my layers I used the Cheery Lynn Designs A6 Metric Rectangle-Classic Card Stackers die set. I also added some corner embellishments from Cheery Lynn Designs too. I cut them out with brown card stock and added them to the corner of the Bisters background.

My stamps used on the card are from Sparkle N Sprinkle and I used Distress Inks to stamp the images and sentiment. I also did some sponging on the images and over the sentiment panel. Once all the layers were assembled I placed them on a white card base and finished the design by placing tiny little gem stickers on the sentiment panel.

Dies from Cheery Lynn Designs are:
XL-17 A6 Metric Rectangle-Classic Card Stackers
B162 Lace Corner Deco B

Stamps are from Sparkle N Sprinkle Stamp Set 435 Graduation.

Tim Holtz Distress Inks used are Peacock Feathers and Vintage Photos.

Since I had made the background previously it was just a matter of designing a card to go with it and putting it all together. So it went together quite quickly.

Well, that's all for today folks. Time to put the crafty things away and rest a bit before I start to fix an evening meal. It was another fun day though and I am so blessed that the Lord brought this wonderful hobby to me. I hope I can use it to His glory too.

God bless,
Verna

Color Burst Doodle Flower Thank You

A couple weeks ago I did some Color Burst backgrounds. These are water color granules which when water is spritzed on them they create a burst of color. They are similar to the Bister granules but don't have the brown undertone to them and are in a different colors then the Bisters. I love both of them as they each have a purpose for making great backgrounds. Anyway, here is a card I made with one of the backgrounds in which I used just red, orange and yellow colors on it.


Now that was one pretty background but to make my card I stamped the images from the Doodle Flowers Duo from Gina K. Designs randomly all over the colored paper with black ink. Then I layered it onto black card stock and placed it on the white base card. The sentiment is Gina K. Designs Thank You Label Duo which was stamped on white card stock and fussy cut before I placed it on the stamped panel. A quick and easy card design.

I tell you once you have the backgrounds done and dried off sufficiently it does not take long at all to create a beautiful work of art. I am very pleased as to how this turned out. So much fun with these new water color granules.

Well, that is all for today. I hope you are having an awesome day too!

God bless,
Verna

Monday, May 4, 2015

Stamping on Pattern Paper

The Mix It Up Monday Challenge at Stamp TV this week is to use pattern paper and stamp on it. I thought it sounded like fun so I had some time and decided to create a card doing just that.



I used pattern paper from the Gina K. Designs Watercolor Garden Paper Pack. The solid daisy that I stamped in shades of Cheery Red and Cranberry Tart are from the Gina K. Designs Pressed Flowers set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I also used the sentiment from another Gina K. Designs set called Wild Flowers which is also illustrated by Melanie. I just love that verse as it is so comforting to me and hopefully to others as well.

After my pattern paper panel was stamped I added it to a layer of Black and Cherry Red card stock and again onto Black card stock before placing the design on a base card of Sweet Corn yellow. All the card stock is from Gina K. Designs. I am always happy with her card stock and she has so many wonderful colors to chose from. The sentiment stamped in black ink onto Sweet Corn was also layered onto Black card stock.

To tie the inside of the card to the outside design I stamped another bold daisy in the lower left corner of the card.

I chose these papers and colors as I wanted this to be a card of hope and cheer. I think I was successful in that endeavor.

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Friday, May 1, 2015

Powder Blue and Fresh Asparagus Birthday

There was a Stamp TV Friday Fun Kit Challenge today to use the colors of Powder Blue and Avocado and I figured the Fresh Asparagus color was a close match to that shade of green. I used stamp images and a sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Birthday Blessings set which was included in the Birthday Essentials Kit. Also included was the butterfly die.


The green striped pattern paper is from the Delicate Essentials Paper Pack from Gina K. Designs. I also added ribbons which I purchased at Gina K.'s as well. The dies used were purchased at Gina's and they are from Cherry Lynn Designs. I used the XM-9 Oval-Inverted Scalloped set and also the M-7 Oval-Classic set. My leafy design was stamped around the edge of the classic die which I had sponged on the Powder Blue ink and then placed onto the inverted die cut. I also cut out the butterfly with the die that matched it from the kit and added some color to it and then added some adhesive to the middle before popping it up on the card. I finished by layering all together and adding the ribbons and the bling.

A simple design but I really like how it turned out. Another enjoyable afternoon of creativity. Hope your day is going great too.

God bless,
Verna

Fluttering By

 First of all I want to wish all my Canadian friends a Happy Canada Day! I hope your day is extra special. This card I am showing uses an Al...