Sympathy Card

This was a spur of the moment card creation as I found a need for a sympathy card and had none in my supply on hand. 

I used the flowers and leaves from the Spring Blossoms set from the Shabby Spring TV Kit. The sentiment and label are from the Sympathy Label duo set. I stamped with Red Hot and Warm Cocoa Gina K. Designs inks. My card stock was Warm Cocoa and Kraft from Gina K. Designs. I made a layered flower design by using both the larger and smaller versions of the bloom and added some bling for the center. My ribbon came from the kit and was a perfect compliment to the design and with that ribbon I added a single knot bow to the center. And, again I added more bling on the sentiment panel.

Normally, I would not have chosen these colors but after I had it finished I did like them together. It reminds me more of a Fall card though then a Spring one though.

I have entered this in the  Mod Squad Blog Challenge and with the knotted bow I thought it would work for the Mix It Up Monday Challenge at Stamp TV as well. 

I hope all of you are having a super day! We are in the midst of a snow, sleet and freezing rain type of day so I guess I am glad I took time to stamp a bit. Now after lunch it is back to the final cleaning I hope. LOL

God bless, Verna

Retiform card and Attn: Kitty!

Hi everyone....seems to look nice outside and it is a tad warmer but the wind is really blowing hard today so it still feels quite chilly. I don't see much snow though anywhere so Spring is slowly making an appearance it seems.

I have a Retiform card or as some call it a grid technique card which I am showing you today. I made this for the Mix It Up Monday challenge at StampTV. I used inks and card stocks as well as stamps from Gina K. Designs for this card. I love how bright and colorful it turned out. I am sure it would make someone who was feeling pretty sick to perk up a bit or at least I hope that would be the case. We were challenged to use a knot in our design so I added a vertical black ribbon and a horizontal black ribbon so that they intersected in the upper left corner. I then took another piece of ribbon and tied a single knot to decorate the card.

Attention Kitty: I am still waiting to hear from you as you were the winner of my prize package last week. My email address is: arlinverna at tnics.com I hope you can get back to me with your name and address so I can send the prize to you.

Well, that will be my post for this week as far as I can tell. I am expecting company so I will no doubt be pretty busy with the task of last minute preparations. I wish all of you a wonderful week.

God bless, Verna

Thank You and Winner!

The tulips peeking their first leaves through to me is always a good sign of spring. Unfortunately, here that is not the case so instead I created a card using some doodle tulip images from Inkadinkado. I also added some punched out designs and a simple sentiment from a Stampin' Up stamp and punch set. I sponged on some ink to create a sky background and I made grass with a strip of paper and a scissors. Oh, the tulips were fussy cut around too. Just a simple card.

I colored it with the Bic Mark-It alcohol ink pens. If you cannot afford to buy the Copics, these are a very reasonable alternative. I think I purchased mine from Amazon.com or Overstock.com, but I am sure they are available in other stores.

And now the exciting part of this post. I have a winner to announce. The lucky winner is Kitty. So Kitty if you can email your information I will try to get the package to you as soon as I can.

And, I want to thank all who commented and followed along on my adventure into blogging. I wish all of you a blessed and wonderful spring!
Hugs, Verna

Give Away!

Hello my friends. I see that I have gone over the 50 followers mark so I thought I would give away a small prize as a way of thanking all of you for following along. I will draw out the winning name Saturday, March 22.  All you have to do is leave a comment and I will put your name in the hat.

I really appreciate all the help and fellowship I have gotten from doing a blog. What a wonderful New Year's Resolution and one I am able to keep. But friends like you are the most rewarding part of this journey.

I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of the week. I guess it is time for me to get back to my household tasks even though I would rather visit with each and every one of you.

Take care and have a great rest of the week. See you Saturday!

Hugs, Verna

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Just a short little note and a card I did some time ago that I wanted to share with you on this St. Patrick's Day. It mostly uses die cuts from Cheery Lynn Designs but also uses a neat whiskey barrel image from I Brake for Stamps. I used all shades of green on it and added some lovely flowers with bling to complete the card.

I hope you are having a super fun day! We are looking for a storm to move in tonight but in the meantime it is fairly nice outdoors. Take care everyone and God bless.

Hugs,
Verna McAngerhofer (only for today)!

Just Me

Happy Saturday to all. Our spring weather has turned cold again, but since I can stay inside, it isn't too bad! I hope where you are if it is cold, that you are staying warm too. But we sure had a few nice days of warmer weather and one day it hit 60 degrees. Wow! So things look a bit more promising that Spring is right around the corner.

Today I found this cute little tag pocket that someone gave me a long time ago and I thought it was perfect for this card. Since it has a tag on it, guess I will enter it in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week which calls for tags.

And a few weeks ago I purchased this cute set from Whimsy Stamps called Alvin & Julie which is illustrated by Sandy Allnock. I love the cute little girl and her kitty and she has some cool sentiments to go with it. Also her kitty prints worked great on the outside of the tag.

Not sure if you know this, but Sandy started up the great idea of sending cards to military personnel so that they could in return send cards to their family and friends. This organization is called Operation Write Home. I am so honored to be able to participate in this, even if on a limited capacity. Our troops need any and all support that they can get and this is one way I can help them get through their deployment.

 I used Gina K. Designs Powder Blue and Black card stock and the pattern paper is from Die Cuts With a View. I colored the image with Copic markers. To finish the tag I added black ribbon and also added a few black pearls to the corners.

Thanks for stopping by to view my latest creation.
God bless, Verna

Having a Wild, Wild Day!

Oh, no worry! Not a big party crowd around. Actually it is a pretty tame event as I am only making cards again, but this time I am using some wild animals and wild animal print elements.

The first one is a darling little tiger who looks like he might be up to something. He and the sentiment are from the Sparkle N Sprinkle Circus Plate 00-355P4. I found this fantastic pattern paper that was a gift from one of my daughter's and decided it needed to be put to good use. Why leave all these things sitting in storage because you love them so much you can't bear to use them just yet! So I decided now was the time. I colored this little tiger character with Tim Holtz Distress Markers and then fussy cut him out.

Oh, and the fiber was originally just black and white but I took the orange marker and made it to match my design. My first tip for you today.

I popped the black with the fiber over the pattern paper with double stick photo tape and then again popped the tiger image. The base card is white and I added a few black pearls to complete the card.



My other card I did features some Scotch ribbon that another daughter gave me which I am thinking may be a form of Washi Tape or facsimile. I was not sure if it was for a giraffe or not, but comparing my big giraffe image from I Brake for Stamps I decided it would work. I added the tape to white card stock, layered again on black and added a black and white gingham ribbon. Then the giraffe was stamped in a dark brown and then colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is also from I Brake For Stamps.

Oh, and have you ever made a little smudge from the edge of the stamp with ink around a sentiment? Well, I did, so I simply took a black pen and added more smudges to create a frame around it. I sort of like it. LOL So that is a tip to employ if such a situation happens again. Gotta remember that!

Oh, and before you delete what you think is a blurry photo....clean your glasses first if you wear them. And, especially so if you are partially blind in one eye! I could not figure out why all the photos had a big blur on them.  What a dope! So now don't say I didn't give you a few tips today as well.

Take care and God bless! Have a great day!

Acrylic Tag Card

I found out on Facebook that the new Mod Squad Blog Challenge was called Tag...You're It! Which means we had to make a tag either all by itself or as an embellishment on a card. Well, I seldom make tags myself, but do now and then add some to cards. And, I should as I have a whole stash of lovely acrylic tags that I previously had acquired from Sparkle N Sprinkle and sort of got away from using. So this is my entry.

 I took one of those tags which is long enough to be a bookmark, stamped some flowers in Staz-On ink and then used Galaxy Markers to color on the back side of the stamped flowers. Once the ink from the markers was dry I took my Versamark ink pad and then inked the acrylic piece up really well on the back side of the tag. I used some Sapphire Blue Embossing Powder (Sparkle N Sprinkle EP185) and applied it all over the back. I then heat set it. I had to give it another coat too, since there were a few places where my fingers smudged the EP off. But the second coat covered it up nicely.

I layered the tag on black card stock and added some black fiber before applying it to the card front. The flowers and the sentiment on the card are all from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Sad to say I think the flower image and I believe the acrylic tags are no longer available, but the sentiment I used is from Stamp Set 435 GRADUATION.

The dark pink card stock is similar to the color of the blossoms which were edged with white. By layering the white card stock with the sentiment onto black it all seemed to pull together. It was finished by adding some black pearls.

Well, I am glad I got a post in this week to share with you. And, I am still using the same computer. I have to threaten it now and then, and it seems to help. The threat of replacing it works wonders.

I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of the week too. God bless!

Flower Garden

Well, believe it or not it is melting somewhat some of the snow we accumulated this winter and with the rain that fell earlier in the week it is getting to be a skating rink out there in many spots. So I hope all who experience this type of conditions are careful when out and about.

I was in the mood to make flowers and decided to do a technique that I had not done in a long time. I stamped flowers and leaves with white pigment ink onto black card stock and added white embossing powder and heat set it. Then I took some Galaxy Markers and colored in the flowers and leaves. For now I am not designating this card for any special type of card, but if I decide later to want a birthday or get well type I can always add a sentiment.

The flowers are from the Gina K. Designs Doodle Flowers duo and the leaves are from the Love and Prayers set which came in the Journey of the Heart TV kit. I layered the flowers onto white and red card stock before adding it to the black base card. The addition of red and white gingham ribbon appealed to me, so I went with my instincts. To allow for stamping inside or writing a message I lined the card with white light weight card stock.

I will be entering this in this week's Mod Squad Blog Challenge.

Spring Hugs

When I saw this pretty pattern paper in the Gina K. Designs Journey of the Heart paper pack I knew it was going to be used in my St. Patrick's Day cards for the shut-ins. I just love the spring green, sand, white and navy combination of it, so I implemented those same colors in my card as well.

I know it is a clean and simple design, but it works for me when I have to make multiple amounts. I used the sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Whimsical Spring stamp set by Theresa Momber. Inside I added the sentiment from that set also which goes like this: Wishing You a Wonderful Day!

I am going to enter this in the Mod Squad Challenge for this week. I didn't think I would be able to enter at all as my computer is really an unpredictable contraption these days. And, who knows perhaps I still won't make it. LOL

Anyway, I am going to send these out in the mail tomorrow once I get them all written out. I always send a little note inside to make it more personal that way.

And, I hope all of you have a great rest of the week too. If the weather wants to still bring wintery stuff, then we have to bring spring into our artwork now.