Just Two

Yes! That was the challenge at the Stamp TV Mix It Up Monday this week to use just TWO colors! And  neutral colors were included so it made it a bit more limiting! Now for some reason I did find this a challenge, but I think I managed to pull this one off at least.

I did some embossing but I think it was not a good day with the humidity higher, but this was the best I could do considering that. Because there were mini flecks of white embossing powder, which for some reason I could not remove as they seemed to fly back on, I also added some bigger flecks by using pearls.

I chose the pine image and the sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Peace and Joy set illustrated by Theresa Momber. I stamped them in Gina K. Designs White pigment ink onto Cranberry Tart card stock and used some white embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Inside the card I added a white sheet of card stock and also stamped the pine cone image and a sentiment with Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart dye ink in order to tie the inside and outside together!

I seem to be into a pearl or sequin sort of frame these days. I can see where ones of various sizes sure can dress up a pretty clean and simple card.

Well, that's all folks! I did my usual card a day. I might get done by the time it comes to send cards at Christmas! LOL

Have a great day! And God bless all of you!
Hugs, Verna

A Rose for Clarence

Today I heard the news that my good friend Clarence died this morning. He and his wife Phyllis were my bosses for 13 1/2 years and were the publishers of the Grant County Review. As a young girl I was employed shortly after high school. When all my children were out of the nest I went back to the work at the newspaper and spent another 10 1/2 years working for them. They were not only my bosses but my mentors and good friends.

Today's card is for him. Normally, I might not use flowers on a card for a man, but Clarence was not only a great newspaper man but he was also a man who loved to grow flowers. He was especially proud of his beautiful roses. Many times during the years I worked there we would see a beautiful bouquet of them gracing the counter in the outer office. So my card was made especially with him in mind today.

The rose is from the Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger and the sentiments used are from the Gina K. Designs Elegant Florals set by Theresa Momber.

I stamped the rose on white card stock with Momento black dye ink and colored it in with my Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens. I then fussy cut it out and popped it on a dark green card base with mint green and dark green layers. I stamped the sentiment in dark green ink onto the mint green and placed it on a layer of red. I popped the rose over the top of these layers and then added some red rhinestones of various sizes to give a more elegant look to the card.

I will always feel so blessed to have known this lovely couple and I know after his wife Phyllis died that he was very lonely for her. So I hope they both rest in peace now and are enjoying their reunion in Heaven with their Lord.

Thanks everyone for stopping in and I am always appreciative of your lovely comments.

God bless,

Verna

I Love Big Ribbon!

A few years ago while shopping after Christmas I ran across this beautiful gold embossed chiffon ribbon in the bargain bin! I thought it was so gorgeous that I had to buy it. I had no idea what I would use it for, but today I decided I wanted to create a Christmas card with it.

The ribbon is two inches wide and is so filled with those lovely trees and gold flecks of falling snow. So with the help of the two snowflake border stamps from the Gina K. Designs set called Fabulous Holiday Fillers illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger and the sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Peace and Joy set illustrated by Theresa Momber I created a background. I embossed the JOY with Halo embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle. It has a little extra color with the gold which sort of matched the embossing on the ribbon.

I stamped the snowflakes with Red Hot ink from Gina K. Designs and also used Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury White and Red Hot card stock.

Not sure if this will inspire you or not, but I am glad I picked up that big wide ribbon. I can see where so many of those great ribbons could be used for beautiful and festive Christmas cards.

I am having so much fun making Christmas cards and I think this is my favorite type of card to make. So for this reason I am entering this in the Mod Squad Challenge in which we are to make our favorite types of projects.

Happy stamping everyone! And, thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Thank Goodness There is Piecing!

I really like to make cards using the frame template from the Gina K. Designs Fabulous Frames set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. And, Melanie also designed a set called Fabulous Frame Fillers and another new one called Fabulous Holiday Fillers. And, I was doing okay until it came to putting really small images into circles. I messed up almost every one of them. I think being partly blind in one eye messes with me so that I don't see quite well enough to get a good result. But I was still determined to make that frame I stamped into a fairly usable card. And, with some piecing I think I did just that!

Besides using the frame I also used pine and cone image and sentiment from another Gina K. Designs set called Peace and Joy by Theresa Momber.  I colored in my image and the outside of the frame with my Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers. I found some pattern paper that I thought worked from the Blizzard Paper Pack from Gina K. Designs. Now I happened to have some ribbon that had dots on it and almost matched the stamped dotted red pattern that I added from the Fabulous Holiday Fillers so I used that. The glare from the lighting does not show the dots really well on the ribbon, but if you look closely I think you can see it towards the bottom. And, yes, it is not perfect, but I think I salvaged it quite well. I might have to resort to more paper piecing as I think this is a very lovely look!

I will enter this into the Mix It Up Monday challenge at Stamp TV and also in the Mod Squad Challenge.

Thanks for checking in and hope your Sunday was a great one. Have a wonderful new week too!

God bless,

Verna

Deer Wreath Christmas Card

I have been so fortunate to win lots of different crafting supplies over the years of my card making career and one thing I won that I had not used up yet was some blank ivory note cards. So this year I decided to use them for my own personal stash of cards. And, again I went with a fairly clean and simple look. And, having the MISTI certainly helped me align up the wreath and the berries correctly too. I used it for adding the sentiment as well. On a separate piece of ivory card stock I used my new MISTI tool for stamping multiples of the deer by just rotating the paper.

I think the hardest thing about creating this card was making the tiny bow with arthritic fingers and fussy cutting out the deer. And, I used up some leftover plaid ribbon that I had won in a grab bag to decorate the card. One could use left over pattern paper easily enough too, but I just adored this ribbon so wanted to add it to this particular one. I simply took a tape runner and ran it along the underside of the ribbon and adhered it to the borders of the front panel.

I used Gina K. Designs images from the Poster Board Christmas set by Rebecca Oehlers. The deer image was from another set from Gina K. Designs called Season's Greetings. Ink colors used were Gina K. Designs Christmas Pine, Warm Cocoa and Cherry Red. My little bow was made with my Craft-Dee Bowz bow making tool.

I am all set up to make five of this design. All that is left is to assemble them. Hopefully, by the end of the day I can have many more cards done for my holiday sending which I usually start to do shortly after Thanksgiving. That way I have plenty of time to do other holiday activities. I am quite a ways from my goal yet though, so look for more Christmas cards in the future on my blog.

This card will be entered into the Stamp TV Mix It Up Monday challenge and also in the Mod Squad Challenge for this week which is to make your favorite type of card. By now I am sure many of you know that I prefer clean and simple.

Thanks for looking and have a great day. It is a beautiful one here in South Dakota with lots of sunshine after our rains of yesterday.

God bless,
Verna

Sequins in the Sky! Santa's Coming!

I worked up another clean and simple card design for Christmas giving. To this scene I added some of the home made sequins again to make it look like a starry Christmas Eve.

The Santa and Sleigh image is from Gina K. Designs Poster Board Greetings set by Rebecca Oehlers. And, the trees are from the Gina K. Designs The Northwoods set by Theresa Momber. I sponged on two shades of blue to make the sky. Then I simply stamped the images in black ink. My sequins were made from haliographic paper and this time I used two different sizes of sequins. I added a ribbon from American Crafts which had a Merry Christmas already on it before I layered it to the white base card.

I love to create clean and simple cards. And, I think that Santa and Sleigh work so well for Christmas greeting cards.

This card will be included in the Stamp TV Mix It Up Monday Challenge and also in the Mod Squad Challenge as well.

Thanks for stopping by. I so appreciate it.

God bless,
Verna

Poinsettia Frame

Today I had to do some baking so I only managed to get one card done for my Christmas supply. I think I will enter this into the Mix It Up Monday Challenge at Stamp TV for this week in which we were to make a Christmas card.

For this card I chose the lovely Festive Frame set from Gina K. Designs which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I stamped it with Momentos Black ink and then colored it in with the Spectrum Noir Markers. Over the top of the panel I applied a good coating of Versamark ink and sprinkled on clear embossing powder. After I heat set this the panel really shimmered. I also think it makes the colors more vibrant too. The photo below shows that shimmer.

I layered the panel onto a layer of Gina K. Designs Red Hot card stock and then onto the base card of Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury Ivory card stock. My card was finished by adding a double ribbon bow of Honey Mustard organza.

Well, thanks for looking and I hope all of you had a wonderful day.

God bless,
Verna

Do It Yourself Sequins

I recently saw a video on the internet which showed how to make your own sequins. I had to try it myself. You can see the video here: DIY Sequins. One of the members at Stamp TV linked us to this video and I am thrilled. I made a simple card design and dressed it up with my sequins I made from Haliographic Mirror card stock. That paper picks up colors from it's surroundings too so it is very versatile and works with many projects.

I happened to have some mirror card stock on hand so I knew as soon as I found the time I wanted to try this technique out. I think it is so cool! My images are from Gina K. Designs as are the inks. I have lots of music and guitar lovers in my family so I know this card will be a great collection to my own stash of cards.

I hope you can view the video and find ways of making your own sequins. It is a great way to use up scraps and save money too!

Thanks for stopping by and hope your day is wonderful!

God bless,
Verna

Grow Old With Me

Forty-five years ago I married my soul mate, the love of my life. Sure seems like it should not be that long ago, but that's the truth! LOL And, here we are with four children and five grandchildren later. For the most part we have had a great life together and have been truly blessed.

It wasn't until I saw pictures of him as a little boy that I realized we had seen each other early on in life when we were 10 and 8 years old. We both were visiting my cousin, Jim, who was in the hospital.

It was many years later when we met up again and this time he was with another girl. Oh, I thought she was so lucky. I even told my sister Alice that I hoped that some day I could meet up with him again and marry him or at least find someone else very much like him. He was such a nice young man.

But the timing was not right! It took a couple more years before I saw him again. He was home on leave from the Air Force and I recognized him. So with a burst of courage I went over to him and said "Hello".

He remembered me but did not remember my first name. But he said, "I know you! You are the Brandt girl who drives the blue Ford with a streak of dust behind it." LOL So apparently I made some sort of impression on him.

That was the start of our courtship. We dated for the six weeks leave he had and when he left again for the Philippines and a short stint in Viet Nam we kept up the romance via letters. I wrote him every day. He wrote as often as he could too. In fact, his sister used to look me up on my noon break from work to find out the latest news about her brother. They only got a few letters whereas I had many more. And, those letters meant the world to both of us. I used to read his over and over again until the next one arrived.

When he came home in February of 1969 we kept dating and in June of that same year he proposed to me on my birthday. I was so happy and of course, I had to say "Yes". Since we both grew up on a farm, we decided that was what we wanted to do as well. So after our wedding on a Sunday afternoon in my home church we took a short honeymoon to the Black Hills and on our return moved onto his family farm. And the rest is history. We have lived there ever since and are still farming too!

So my card I created for him is from the Gina K. Designs stamp set called Farm Life which is illustrated by Theresa Momber. I love that set. I think I used it for a card for him another year, but I still think he will like it.

I used the Spectrum Noir colored pencils to color in this scene. I tried to make it look like early Fall with the grass and the leaves changing colors. And, I just love the sentiment. I thought that a perfect addition to the scene,

We are going to go out for lunch today after church and celebrate. Yipppeeee! I don't have to cook or do dishes!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you did not notice that the Happy Anniversary sort of got a bit crooked. Oh, well! If it were perfect you would not know it was a handmade card, right?

God bless,
Verna

Recessed Frame Card

Today I decided to get back to creating Thanksgiving cards. Or should I say one. LOL I seem to take more time and put more effort into things these days, but maybe that is okay too! At any rate I do like my card I created.

Again I went for a fairly clean and simple card but making a recessed frame took me lots longer than I thought it would as I could not find an oval die that would exactly fit my frame so I did the best I could with my best fitting one. It is a Spellbinder die. It was a little longer and not as plump as the frame but I think it doesn't look too bad.

I used Gina K. Luxury Ivory, Tomato Soup and Dark Chocolate card stock. Yummy! That sounds like a good meal to me for a cold and windy day such as we are experiencing. LOL

The stamps I used are from the Gina K. Designs The Simple Things TV Kit which includes the The Bounty of Blessings and The Simple Things stamp sets.

I stamped the pumpkin in the center of a piece of Ivory card stock with Gina K, Designs Dark Chocolate dye ink. I then colored it with Spectrum Noir markers and placed it behind the top panel of Tomato Soup card stock using some pop dots so that the pumpkin image was recessed. My frame was stamped with Dark Chocolate ink also.

I am so glad I have a Misti now as the first stamping of that frame was not completely covered, But now if I use the Misti, it is not a problem. All I did was ink it up again and restamp and this time I got every inch covered. I also did the same thing with the sentiment so that I had a nice dark stamping in the Dark Chocolate ink. That Misti perfectly aligns my images so I don't have a problem eyeballing and it also eliminates the use of a stamp positioner.

I added  some Tomato Soup twine to the Tomato Soup card stock panel and over that placed a little sunflower from Jolees By You from EK Success. I added the black pearl to the sunflower too. The card was completed by adhering it to the base panel of Dark Chocolate card stock and inside I lined it with some Ivory card stock to which I stamped another pumpkin image in the lower left corner along with an inside sentiment.

I am entering this card in the Stamp TV Release Party challenge in which we were to make a recessed frame on our card. I think this was really easy to do too except for the time spent searching for a die.

Thanks for looking and I so appreciate all the comments you leave too. Have a great weekend!

God bless,
Verna

Misti for Making Cards

I was so happy when my Misti arrived in the mail today. That stands for Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented. And, you can find them at My Sweet Petunia. In the upper top there are various links to learn about it. And, since she makes all her own right now, she sells out fast as there are limited supplies. But soon she is hoping to be making them more readily available as she is working on contracting a company to do them for her. To find out when she has more on hand, either join her Facebook page or get her blog through email.

Here is what a Misti looks like.

And with this tool I managed to make five Christmas cards in just a short span of time. In fact, less then 30 minutes once I  had my design figured out and all my supplies on hand. I used some older stamps I had from Posh Impressions and inked them up with the Momento Dew Drop pads. I added some ribbon and then layered my design on pine green card stock. My card base is white so I did not have to add a liner to it. A few little red rhinestones were added to the holly and the holly in the sentiment as well.

I got the message that Operation Write Home was in short supply of Christmas cards and that they extended the deadline. They wanted people to send in at least five cards to take care of the small shortfall for this season. So I decided to try this method. I think it took me longer to get the cards ready for mailing then it did to create them.

I know that this will be a great tool to own. What makes me so happy is that once you have your design ready to stamp, if a bad impression takes place, you can re-ink it and stamp again and it will land right in the same place on the card stock. No more trying to eyeball it or use a stamp positioner.

I recommend you check Misti out and see for yourself what an awesome tool this could be. I know I am happy with it and plan to use it over and over. There are many videos available on different ways of using it as well. I know for me it will be awesome to have for stamping backgrounds. With my arthritis sometimes I tend to not get a good impression, but no worry now! I can always do it again and make it work. This should save a lot of wasted card stock for me.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed seeing my quick and easy card too.

God bless,
Verna

Anniversary

Today I was in the mood to make a scene card and upon looking through my stash of cards I noticed I did not have any anniversary cards on hand. So I decided to make one with my Stampscape images.

It is a fairly simple scene. I first punched a circle in a Post-It note and placed that on the white card stock where I wanted my moon. I then made another mask for the sky line with a Post-It note. Next I took two shades of blue and sponged on color. I used the lighter color around the moon so that it looked like the shine of the moon lighted up the sky more.

With another mask I then sponged on the green grass. When I had all the color down like I preferred it, I then inked up my Stampscape images with black ink and added them to the background I had created. I finished by adding some stars with a white gel pen and the sentiment.

The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs. Stampscape images used are the couple, sedge filler, oak row and the large elm.

Nothing like a moonlight stroll to promote romance, right? Thanks for looking at my little scene.

God bless,
Verna

Grow Stronger-Stamp Out Cancer Card

This last challenge that I am participating in at Stamp TV wanted us to use lots of awareness colors for several types of cancer but not to use any pink. So this is the card I created to depict it. We all know that there are so many kinds of cancer that strike people every day and this is a good time to bring forth a type of card that would work for any of them.

I used the chevron pattern from the Gina K. Designs Pretty Patterns 2 set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I also used the butterfly from the Fight Like a Girl set and the sentiment is from the Hope and Strength set.

I used Gina K. Designs ink colors Wild Lilac, Turquoise Sea, Fresh Asparagus, Sweet Mango, Sweet Corn and the butterfly and the sentiment were stamped in Navy. My card stocks of choice were Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury White and Navy.

A very clean and simple card design but still with all those vibrant colors it is very cheery looking too! And, you may note that I used Gina K. Luxury Lovely Lavender card stock in the background because that is the color for all types of cancer.

Thanks for looking and for viewing all the cards I created for Stamp Out Cancer. I was not able to do all the challenges but those I did meant a lot to me and made me more and more aware how a beautiful card can cheer someone up who is not feeling well.

God bless,
Verna

Fight Like a Girl!- Stamp Out Cancer Card

I worked with my new happy mail that came today from Gina K. Designs. I got the new set called Fight Like a Girl as well as the new pattern paper pack also called Fight Like A Girl. And, Gina is so generous that with every order placed with her for these products she will be making a donation to the Cancer Society.  I just had to order so that there would be more money generated for such a great cause.

And I really love all the stamps in the set as well as the gorgeous pattern papers. For the butterfly image I colored it with Spectrum Noir colored pencils and blended it with a Spectrum Noir blender marker. I am out of the Gamsol solution but I found that in a pinch this will work too!  I popped the butterfly on the octagon shaped card which was cut out with Spellbinder dies. I also added some red rhinestones in the center of the butterfly to dress it up a bit and added a double ribbon bow of pink and white satin trimmed organza ribbon. My base card was a deep red and white duplex and I simply added a layer of black and then again the layer of the pattern paper before placing the butterfly on it.

Here is a different angle of the card I created. The challenge this time was to use a card that was not square or rectangle, so I went with the octagon shape.

I hope this will bring someone encouragement when it arrives in their mail box. I am so glad I have a few stamps that will work for such a thing as this. When this disease hits, it means a lot to get some mail from those who are keeping them in their thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for looking and stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Strength & Hope-Stamp Out Cancer Card

I did a sketch design for the Stamp TV "Stamp Out Cancer" challenge. Every day there is a new challenge and I did manage to get this one in.

I used the butterfly and sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Strength & Hope set illustrated by Theresa Momber. I colored the butterfly with my Copics. The pattern paper is from Gina K. Designs as well but it is year's old and I don't recall the name of the paper pack. The doily die is called Chrysanthemum and is from Di-Versions. I added some ribbon from BoBunny and some pink rhinestone bling to complete my card design.

Having a sketch takes a lot of the thinking out of the design, So this worked up fairly fast for me. I hope you will keep all those who are suffering with cancer in your thoughts and prayers too. Hopefully, one day we will stamp out cancer for good!

God bless,
Verna

Cute Halloween Verse

I immediately was taken with this cute image with the verse embedded in it from I Brake For Stamps. So I ordered the image and that was several years ago. Finally, I am using it in some of my Halloween cards for the people I send cards to. I still love it and that just proves that I have way too many stamps apparently if it takes this long to get to using them. LOL

This is the first one I did and it involved some fussy cutting of the image. It is a very clean and simple card design though. I sponged on color except for a few dots which were from my Copic orange marker. I stamped the image with Ranger Distress Black Soot Ink. After putting all the layers together I simply added a bow and some pearl bling.

Here is another way I used the image.

This time I simply stamped it on the white card stock, sponged on the color except for the dots and the ground area which were done with a Copic marker. I then added a ribbon and layered it to black and white duplex card stock. Another CAS type of card.

So thought I should show you that in between other tasks around this farmstead, I also managed to get a few cards done for my shut-ins and others I send cards too.

Hope your day is going well. Thanks for stopping by too!

God bless,
Verna

Faith

In honor of October, the Cancer Awareness Month I made a card using pink and I also added lilac to it. I am sure that for many who have breast cancer or any type of cancer that FAITH is very comforting for them and plays a big part in their recovery. So I made a card using a Bible verse that was on the Gina K. Designs Wild Flowers set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I think it expresses what I am trying to say best!

I used the pattern paper from Gina K. Designs Sunshiny Day paper pack. I showcased the sentiment by using the Spellbinder Opulent Ovals set. I stamped the image in Wild Lilac ink by Gina K. Designs. Card stock colors used were Wild Lilac, Bubble Gum Pink and white, all by Gina K. Designs. After adding the ribbon and putting all the layers together I added a flower to finish the card design.

I am adding this card to the Stamp TV Stamp Out Cancer #3 challenge in which we are to make a card illustrating one word. I am sure you know now that my word is FAITH. I am also going to enter this in the Mod Squad Challenge in which we are to make a card in honor of Cancer Awareness Month.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate all the wonderful comments from my followers.

God bless,
Verna

Halloween Scene

I am back to Halloween card making and once again, only got one completed as I had to go and do some things in the garden before the weather turns colder on the weekend. But I was glad I had time to do at least one card.

I used images from Gina K. Designs for this card. I don't have any Halloween stamps from her but I did have pumpkins and I was able to carve one up suitable for the occasion with my black Copic marker. LOL

The pumpkins and the sentiment are from the Always Autumn set by Theresa Momber. The cute fox image is from the Bounty of Blessings set from The Simple Things TV Kit released in September.

My images were stamped with Black Momento ink and colored in with the Copics. For the sky I sponged on some Gina K. Designs Ocean Mist dye inks. I fussy cut out the fox.

Card stock colors used were Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury White, Black and Wild Lilac. On the Wild Lilac panel I added Gina K. Designs Mango Polka Dot and Lime Dots Wild Washi Tape by starting off with the green in the center diagonally. Then I guestimated the right spacing with alternating the two colors.

After assembling all my layers together I then added the little fox by using some pop dots to give more dimension.

I am so glad I took time to craft this little Halloween design. Nothing fancy but I sure do like how it turned out.

I think since it has a critter on this card I will enter it in the Mix It Up Monday challenge for this week.

Thanks for looking and hope you have a great rest of the week.

God bless,
Verna