Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Something Old, Something New!

Well, just by reading the title of this post one would think I was referring to a wedding. But this is not the case. For the Monday challenge at Stamp TV we were to take an old card and grab something off of that and combine it with something new to make a different card. It could be a previously  handmade one or a purchased card.

For my card design I took a part of the design from the inside of a purchased Christmas card from the past. It had a golden brocade look to me and I thought it would work wonderfully as a refurbished Christmas card.


So since it used gold in the brocade part which I put on the top and bottom of the white card base, I decided to implement gold embossing powder in the elements I added to it. So I stamped the poinsettia from the Gina K. Designs A Year of Flowers set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger twice with Versamark ink. I then added Gina K. Designs gold embossing powder and heat set it. I colored the first poinsettia image in with my red tones and fussy cut it out. But the second one I colored only the inner part in the red tones and fussy cut just that portion and was careful to save some of the outer petals so that they could be colored in with the green. I layered all of this by using pop dots to give the flower dimension.

Along each border I added some green rhinestone lines. My greeting is from the Gina K. Designs Festive Frames set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger and was stamped with Versamark ink and then embossed with gold embossing powder too!

I am so glad I took the time to search back through some of the last year's Christmas cards and discovered that beautiful embossed design. I think with the elements I added I created a fantastic looking Christmas card. Yes, I know! Tooting my own horn a bit but I really love the look! I hope you do too!

Well, it was a cold and blustery day but I hope that all who are traveling today and throughout the weekend have a safe trip. Take care all. And, Happy Thanksgiving!

God bless,
Verna

Saturday, November 22, 2014

One Layer Holiday---Seven Minutes Too!

Well, I know I said I would take more time to make a card and I did. This time I used up seven minutes to create this card design. The snowflakes and the sentiment are from Rubber Stampede. I have had these stamps a long, long time so I am not sure if they are still available or even if the company is still in business. But I am sure there are many companies who have similar stamps that would work as well.


First of all I used an anti-static pad over my card stock. Then I masked off the lower left to right corner. I used Versamark ink to stamp the snowflakes and then added silver fine detail embossing powder and then heat set it. Next taking a round dauber sponge I added Cranberry Tart ink from Gina K. Designs over the top of the embossed area. With a paper towel I removed as much of the ink from the snowflakes as I could so they would pop more. I then stamped the sentiment also in the Cranberry Tart. I finished the card by adding a row of rhinestones along the colored area and a silver metallic cord.

This is going to be also entered in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week which calls for a one layer card in as few minutes as you can make it. In other words, a race to the finish. LOL

One good thing about these quick card designs is that I got more made this week then I originally thought I would. So I am happy. I might make my goal yet!

Have a great weekend everyone!

God bless,
Verna

Friday, November 21, 2014

Less Than Five Minute Christmas

I had been dying to use this awesome little scene image from A Little Bit Festive Line by Sheena Douglas which I purchased at Crafter's Companion last year already. So since there was a challenge to do a one layer card in under five minutes at the Mod Squad Blog Challenge this week I thought perhaps I should try to use that on a quick card. I did it in a couple seconds under five minutes but I tell you I never colored so fast in my life. And, yes, I see it sort of shows too. Not as neat and precisely blended like I might do normally. The sentiment is from the set too, but I got it crooked and also did some smudging so I tried to add some dots. That sure did not help matters. LOL


I used heavy white card stock from Gina K. Designs and colored the image in with the Copic markers. That card stock is heavy enough so that the colors do not bleed through. I like that a lot for a one layer look especially since I don't have many water based markers anymore.

Well, I think I have rushed enough cards through for this week. Just got done with the cleaning too! That is an awesome feeling. I am not a fan of housework! Might do some baking yet this weekend or early next week still. But I am pretty much done and ready except for last minute details for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Take care everyone, have safe traveling if you are journeying to Grandmother's house, and count your blessings! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

God bless,
Verna

Under Five Minutes Card

Well, making a quick card and having it look fairly good is always a great challenge. And, when it has to be a one layer one that makes it even more interesting. For this card I had it made in 4 3/4 minutes. Now being it went that fast, it may not be my best work but still I thought it a nice CAS design.



I used only two colors of ink for my card. They were the Momento Cottage Ivy and Rhubarb Stock dew drops pads. The sentiment is from the Season's Greetings set from Gina K. Designs. The small holly are from the Gina K. Designs Peace and Joy set by Theresa Momber and the dotted lines are from the Gina K. Designs Lots of Dots set by Theresa Momber. I finished by adding some red rhinestones to the berries.

This is to be entered in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge. I had my stamps out yet and so decided to work up another design for this week. I sure enjoyed it too.

Take care and enjoy your weekend!

God bless,
Verna

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Ten Minute Card

At the Mod Squad Challenge Blog we were challenge to make a one layer card as fast as we could. Well, if I had not started with the jewels it would have been done in six minutes but adding those made it ten minutes. But I think the jewels add so much to the design. This time frame included folding the card and collecting some of the elements needed for it too!



I used the ornament and sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Season's Greetings set. The pine sprig is from the Gina K. Designs Peace and Joy set illustrated by Theresa Momber. Gina K. Designs inks used on this card are Christmas Pine and Cherry Red. I used Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury heavy based white card stock for the card so that I could use my Copics to color in the cones without it bleeding through. Worked great! I finished the card by adding jewels to the ornament.

I hope all of you are having a great week and will have a great Thanksgiving too! And to all who are traveling, have a safe journey!

God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Square Christmas Card

Normally I do not make square cards at all, but since I had this die cut out, I went with it and proceeded to make a square card with the frame that was made with the Die'sire-Decadence die from Crafter's Companion. I had used the center portion earlier in a card and this was still waiting to be used. So when I ran across it while cleaning I thought I might as well use it ASAP before it got lost.


I lined the Gina K. Designs Blue Denim card with white card stock. Then I stamped some snowflakes from the Gina K. Designs Fabulous Holiday Filler set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger in Blue Denim ink from Gina K. Designs around the steaming cups stamped with Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart dye ink. The cups are from the Season's Greetings set. Next I stamped the Merry Christmas from the Season's Greetings set over the top of the snowflakes.

I finished the card by adding some gems here and there. A clean and simple card which was made more elegant with the wonderful die. And this is a 6 x 6 size card so it is big!

I am still in the process of getting ready for the holiday weekend. So my posting to the blog will be pretty sparce. So forgive my absence.

Have a great week.
God bless,
Verna

Friday, November 14, 2014

Winter Deer Scene and More

Hi all,
Well, it has been quite a week for us at the Angerhofer household. I had this scene done earlier and was going to post it on the blog when my husband developed chest pains and of course, nothing else mattered but to get him to treatment and hospital care. Thank goodness we sought help right away as it prevented a heart attack. He had to have an angiogram and angioplasty done and now has two more stents in his heart  and he is doing so much better. Praise the Lord for that!  So I am sorry I have been missing in action. And, no doubt this may be the last posting until after Thanksgiving as I am way behind now on my cleaning. But I wanted to share this card with you first before I delve into that.



Shortly before this all happened I got an order of new dies in from Diamond Dies and I had to work up a card right away. I love the deer dies which in fact, is a whole family. And, isn't that a great tree? Perfect I think for fall and winter scenes. Along with the dies I used the snowflakes and sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Fabulous Holiday Fillers illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. And, my snow bank was fussy cut and using a sponge I added a little ink along the top to show the shadow of the snow bank.

With a Uni-Posca white paint pen I added some snow to the tree and also added a bit of white on the tail of the deer. Using a brown marker I also colored the antlers and put in some eyes. The deer was cut out of kraft card stock.

My snowflakes were stamped with Gina K. Designs white pigment ink onto Gina K. Designs light blue card stock and the sentiment was stamped with Gina K. Designs Red Hot dye ink onto the snowbank. To finish the card I simply added it to a base card of Red Hot Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury card stock.

This was an easy card to complete and do. I find it so fun to have some dies that work wonders for a card. Normally, I go for more the decorative type frames and backgrounds but I am so pleased with the look of this that I might have to invest in more of this type.

Anyway, now you know what has kept me occupied. But all is much better now and I am so very grateful and happy to have my man back home where he belongs. And, the Lord rode with me and helped me travel those icy roads for sixty miles to where he was hospitalized too.

I hope all of you have a great week and if I don't post again, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I have much to be thankful for indeed!

God bless,
Verna

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Snowy Nativity

There is an awesome frame stamp from Gina K. Designs which is a great  base for doing a gorgeous card design and it can be done for any occasion. I chose a Christmas theme. This frame stamp is available in the Fabulous Frames set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I chose to do some piecing with pattern papers from Gina K. Designs and also to do some stamping of the nativity scene images from the City of David set from Gina K. Designs.


The nativity scene was stamped directly on to the pattern paper. I stamped those silhouette stamps in Gina K. Designs Christmas Pine dye ink.  With an oval die from Cheery Lynn Designs I cut out the sentiment which is authored personally by me and printed out with my computer. Then around the sentiment I added Mini Gem Lines stickers to frame it. I think those tiny little gems are hard to place by my arthritic fingers as it seems I got them sort of crooked. But, that is okay too! I still like it.

My inside of the oval design and the outer parts of the frame were colored with Bic Mark-It alcohol ink pens.

We are still waiting for the wind, cold and snow to arrive. I thought I would work on a Christmas card today instead of baking. I wanted to use this City of David set again even though I used it many times last year and the year before. It is a favorite of mine as well as the new frame sets.

I hope you are having a good Saturday. I know mine is going quite well and I seem to be in a holiday mood as well today. But I resisted putting the Christmas CDs on. I will try to wait until after Thanksgiving to do that. LOL

Take care and God bless,
Verna

Friday, November 7, 2014

Lily Sympathy

I don't know if this is an issue for you or not, but I sometimes find it hard to make a sympathy card that will be elegant and subtle enough for such a somber occasion. And, sometimes as in my Rose for Clarence card I did a while back, that card was done for him personally, so it was easier for me to go to more brighter hues on his card. But for the general population I like to go with more subtle colors when doing sympathy cards.

Today I did a clean and simple card design using a lily image, some greenery and a sentiment from the Gina K, Designs Elegant Florals set illustrated by Theresa Momber. And, I am not sure how to color a lily which is predominantly white in color and have it show up that way. I debated between light blue shades and yellow and finally went with the yellow.


I stamped the lilies with Black Momento Ink and colored them in with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers. My greenery was inked with Green Asparagus ink from Gina K. Designs and stamped over the top of the lilies after I had them colored in. I then added the sentiment and did some sponging in blue around the edges of the card front. The final steps were to layer it to green asparagus card stock and then onto the main card of light yellow. I also added some little yellow pearls randomly on the card front.

I did this quite quickly while my Cranberry Nut Bread was cooling. So it really was quite a simple card to make. But sometimes the simpler the design, the better they look! LOL

Well, hope all of you who are in the big freeze that is headed in my direction stay nice and warm. I can already feel it in my bones! At least we are nice and cozy inside today and for the most part we did have some sunshine but lots of wind too! Anyway I hope you got to enjoy one last day of warmth.

God bless,
Verna

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Doily Birthday

The challenge at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog this week is to use a doily in your card or project design. Well, I just could not resist the challenge even though I should be doing other things and made a birthday card. I had a design in mind but it seemed to evolve into more than I had originally planned on. But that is okay as I am liking what finally became the finished design.


I used Gina K. Designs file borders cut from Fresh Asparagus card stock and pattern paper from her Wisteria Lane paper pack. Along the cut file borders I added a line of pearls in each scallop.

The doily was originally a white purchased one but I wanted it to be more in the purple shades so I covered it with Versamark ink and added Hero Arts Violet embossing powder and heat set it. In fact, I did two coats of the embossing powder on it.

My base card is from Stampin' Up card stock and is called Wisteria Wonder. Along the right edge I placed some Gina K. Luxury layering weight white card stock. I then placed the doily over that. And, next the pattern paper trimmed with the cut file borders was placed along the left side of the base card. I also added the sentiment Birthday Wishes which is from the Gina K. Designs Elegant Florals set by Theresa Momber. I stamped it in Gina K. Designs Wild Lilac ink.

To finish the card I made a bow of purple and white chiffon ribbons with my Craft-Dee BowZ bow maker and added some small gems in the upper and lower right corners. Those rhinestone gems were clear but I took my Spectrum Noir pens and colored them to match.

It is always good to have some birthday cards on hand. Sometimes I get so busy I forget to make a special card for a family or friend so this way I am a little more prepared. And, once again this is a more feminine design. I just could not figure out a way to add a doily to a masculine birthday card and still have it look appropriate.

Well, thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is going great!

God bless,
Verna

Monday, November 3, 2014

Deck the Halls!

Today I brought out an older set from Gina K. Designs called Deck the Halls and it is illustrated by Beth Silaika. Well, it is really not that old of a set. It was from 2012. But for this week's Mix It Up Monday we were to use older sets to create cards and since I am still working on my Christmas cards I figured this would be a nice set to use. This card was made to show how decorating a tree and our home is a big part of the Christmas holiday.


I stamped the Christmas lights in various colors onto the string so that they would be ready to put on the Christmas tree. I also stamped the sentiment on white card stock and then with the Oval Stackers Nesting Dies from Cheery Lynn Designs I cut it out. I cut out a larger one with red too. Once I had the two sizes of ovals layered together I then added some pine branches which are also cut from a die by Cheery Lynn Designs. I added jewels of all shapes, sizes and colors to resemble all the pretty balls put on a tree. The outside of the card was connected to the inside by stamping a corner with part of a string of lights.

Well, it seems blogger is acting up so hopefully, I will get this post ready soon. I have never had this happen before. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is going well too.

God bless,
Verna

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Sparkling Blue

Today I got out some old embossing powder which looked more like a glitter. And, the thought occurred to me that it might work into a beautiful Christmas card design. But when I looked at the embossing powder I realized it was really old. Get this! It says on the container to stamp with ink, then add the embossing powder and  place it over a lit light bulb or warm iron to emboss the image. Amazingly enough it still worked and I am very happy about that.


To make my background I took some red liner tape in two different sizes and laid them onto the white card stock. I then took off the red liner and added the glittery embossing powder and proceeded to make my background. Thank goodness I have a heat gun! I also happened to have some mini gem lines from Glittrazzi which I added in between the red liner tape strips

On white card stock using Versamark I stamped the swirly tree image from the Gina K. Designs Joyful Holiday set illustrated by Theresa Momber. I also embossed the tree with the glittery blue embossing powder. I then fussy cut around it and popped it over the top of my background using pop dots.

I placed the completed panel onto a base card of Blue Raspberry card stock. I finished the design by adding rhinestones to the tree. A sheet of white paper was added to the inside so I can have a stamped sentiment and write a short note.

Well, guess what? I think I have a blue sparkly looking kitchen floor now too. Maybe it is time to sweep but it does look rather attractive. LOL

I am entering this into the Mix It Up Monday challenge at Stamp TV and also in the Mod Squad Challenge for this week in which we were to use blue.

Thanks for coming by and I appreciate all your comments.

God bless,
Verna

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Blue Christmas

Well, here I am again today! I thought I had to help the hubby but the neighbor did it for him so I was free to work with the Blues again! And again I will enter this into the Mod Squad Challenge for this week in which we are to use Blue on our cards.


I used the same image as the card I did in the previous post but expanded the scene by using another small scene image from De-Stempelwenkel and this time I used Gina K. Designs Blue Denim ink to stamp the images. I placed the scene inside the Spellbinder Fleur de Lis frame which was cut out from Blue Denim card stock, but for some reason it appears to be more navy looking in the photo. My sentiment was once again from Gina K. Designs Peace and Joy set which is illustrated by Theresa Momber.

This is a very clean and simple card design but for me it seems to be more lovely than the way I used the blues in the previous post. I would like to hear what you think as well.

Well, that's all folks. See you next week! And, don't forget to turn those clocks back! For me it would be okay if they just kept it the same all the time. It just confuses my body!

God bless,
Verna

Winter Blues

The challenge this week at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog is to use blues for a Blue Christmas! So I went with a wintery scene for mine.


I love that little scene but I think it is almost too overwhelmed with the die cut square from the set called Decadence By Die'sire available at Crafter's Companion.  Never the less I made it this way and I still will use it for a holiday card. The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs Peace and Joy set. I added it to a Spellbinder oval die and then mounted it onto a Spellbinder ribbon oval label. I added pearls and rhinestones to dress up the card to make it a bit more festive.

And I think the next time I use that stamped image I will stamp it in a darker color. I believe it will show up much better. I guess that is how we learn. Not getting quite the outcome we had hoped for might mean we can do it over in a better way. But that is for another day I think. Time to put the toys away and do other things on this windy Saturday. I hope the weekend is a good one for you. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I will be able to do a different card with that image.

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...