Ocean Treasures

Once again I am working with lovely stamps from Sparkle N Sprinkle. This time I used images from Stamp Set-360 Ocean Treasures. I stamped a scene with them and used a combination of dye inks and Copics to color the scene.

I used the Cheery Lynn Designs Circle Classic and Circle Scalloped Nesting Dies. I cut the scene out with the Classic Circle die and then made a frame for it with the Scalloped Circle Die. I then added these to my base card of Ocean Mist card stock. The sentiment was stamped in Warm Cocoa ink on white card stock and added at the bottom by tucking it under a portion of the framed scene. To finish the card I stamped out the oval design on the stamp set but fussy cut out just the sea treasures to add to the right side of the card.

I am entering this in the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge which is Anything Goes. And, I am also entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week which says to use animals and birds are included.

Oh, and if you could not find the stamps I used on the card of my last post just contact Margaret at Sparkle N Sprinkle and she can get them for you. They are still working on their website and not all of the former stamps are included yet. 

Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

You're A Hoot!

Today I worked with a wonderful set from Sparkle N Sprinkle which is titled Stamp Set 432 Bird Swirl. This set has such cute images and I thought it perfect for the Mod Squad Blog Challenge in which we are to use an animal. And, since little birds and owls counted I went with the owl image and placed him on a branch from the set.

I used Ivory card stock for the base of the card and the Die-Namics Oval Decorative Doily die is cut from Dark Chocolate card stock. Both card stock colors are both from Gina K. Designs. I also used the Dark Chocolate to layer the pattern paper on. The pattern paper is also from the Spring Parade paper pack from Gina K. Designs.

 I used inks from Gina K. Designs in Dark Chocolate and Warm Cocoa to stamp the branch, the owl and the sentiment onto white card stock. These images were then colored in with Copic markers, I then took a Spellbinder oval die and cut out the scene.

I finished the card when all layers were adhered together by adding some brown rhinestones from Pebbles.

Thanks for looking and thanks also for all the lovely comments.

God bless,
Verna

"V" is for Vase

I decided I wanted to do another card using my initial and this time I chose to make this card. And, the initial "V" is for vase this time.

It is done in a clean and simple style and once again I decided to go with the black to showcase my vase of pretty blooms. My vase of flowers and the sentiment are from the Gina K. Designs A Little Something stamp set. I used Gina K. Designs black ink to stamp the flowers and the saying and I colored in my image with Copic markers. I tried to make the vase look like the light was shining on it with a white paint marker and then I went over it with a gray Copic. I never know for sure how to do that sort of thing, so hope it doesn't look too bad! LOL

My Spellbinder Majestic Labels 25 set was used to cut out the black card stock frame and also the inner portion with the closed center. The inner white center was originally on a white card stock panel but I wanted to have it backed by the black and with a border so I fussy cut around it. I am not that good at fussy cutting but I think it does not look too bad.

I finished the card by adding some red rhinestones along each side of the framed image.

This will be entered into the Mix It Up Monday Challenge  in which one was to use a card theme using the initial of your username.

We are having lots of fog today and the higher humidity is affecting my joints, so guess I will just not do too much more. I have to run a lot here and there to get the supplies I want as they are stored in various places around the house. One of the down sides of no craft room for sure. But then again making a card does make one forget they have pain.

You have a great rest of the day. Stay warm and cozy!

God bless,
Verna

Design Using First Letter of My Name!

Over at Stamp TV the Mix It Up Monday challenge is to use the first initial of your user name at the group in a card design. Well, since I go by Verna Angerhofer I found that a Valentine used the first initial of my first name so that is what I did for the challenge. Actually I guess my first initial of my last name is also used too! LOL

The balloons from the True Friends duo set by Gina K. Designs were stamped with Gina K. Black dye ink and colored in with Copics. I then layered that little panel to some black card stock to frame it. This was set aside.

My main card is red card stock so I took some leftover white heart die shapes and added them randomly on the main card. The larger one I stamped the sentiment Valentine from the Gina K. Designs Lovely Ladybug set in Cheery Red ink and then added some pearl bling. I also added some little red dots to the smaller white hearts on my card.

 I added the balloons that I had colored earlier to the bottom left corner. But before I placed them on the card I added some Glossy Accents to them. A close up of the balloons is featured below.

The card was then finished with the addition of some red and white twine. Inside the card I added a sheet of white paper so that I could add an inside sentiment or note.

So there is my V is for Valentine design. Now it was a bit of a challenge to find things that go with my initials but I think I might find another idea or two yet. We shall see what the week produces.

You have a great evening now.

God bless,

Verna

Narrow Spring Card

I joined the Stamp TV Kit Addicts group and there was a challenge to make a narrow card this month using images from any Stamp TV Kit that was put out by Gina K. Designs. So I decided to try a card with that size in mind and I really like the end result. Using pattern paper was also a requirement.

The size of the white base card is 3 1/2 " by 5 1/2". I also used Dark Chocolate card stock to layer my pattern paper on. The Spellbinder Labels 4 was used to cut a white layer and again the next size larger die from the Spellbinder Labels 4 set to make a Chocolate Brown layer. On the white layer I stamped the leaves from the Spring Blessings set from the Shabby Spring TV kit in Gina K. Designs Grass Green ink, Then I stamped the flowers also from that set in Gina K. Designs Bubblegum ink. A third blossom was stamped on another piece of white card stock and then fussy cut that out and popped over the other two blossoms. I finished the center white area by adding the sentiment from the same stamp set and some pearl bling. Before I put all the layers onto the base card I added a green ribbon across the top and tried to match the green color in the pattern paper as close as I could. 

This is a card that could work for many occasions with that sentiment I used. Hey! Even a Valentine!

Have a great weekend! Mine will be busy so no more art work for this week.

God bless,

Verna

Puppy Love

Today I did some stamping and also used some die cuts and a big heart punch for this card. I thought this might work for a design for a child or an adult who is young at heart!

The pattern paper and the sentiment on this card are from Gina K. Designs. The little scene which I punched out uses a tree and grass stamp from Stampscapes and the little puppy image is from Embossing Arts which is available at I Brake for Stamps.

The scene was stamped out with Black Staz-on ink and was colored with a combo of Distress Markers and also I used some ink pads from Andirondack for sponging on ink. A heart punch took in the part of the scene I wanted to capture. Once that was done I layered it onto red card stock and fussy cut around it to create a border.

My oval dies are from Spellbinder, On the white inner oval I stamped the sentiment in red before I layered it to the outer decorative brown oval. I then added this to the pattern paper and layered that panel with brown before I placed it on the white card base. I finished by adding my heart scene and a ribbon.

I hope you liked this little valentine design. As always, I had a great time and am happy I have another valentine for my future sending.

Have a fun and creative day!

God bless,
Verna

Ornate Lattice Valentine

For Christmas I treated myself to a few Die'sire Create-A-Card dies from Crafter's Companion because they were so elegant and would make up into a quick card when I needed one. But what I liked about the Ornate Lattice die is that it can be a building foundation for even more designing. With the use of Cheery Lynn Designs circle dies I replaced the center area with a plain circle of pink and white so that I could add a sentiment there.

I further modified the original die by cutting off the edges as I wanted to have a white layer of the base card show to match the white center. I cut the lattice out of Wild Orchid card stock. I then layered this onto a Bubble Gum pink card stock before adding it to the white base. If I had left the die in the original cut it would fit an A2 card all the way to the edge as it would have a border of the same card stock color.

I used the Gina K. Designs sentiment from the Stately Flowers 6 set again. I also added some little hearts that fell out of a previous die I had used from Cheery Lynn Designs. They worked great for extra bling.

I also purchased the Die'sire Delicate Flower Die set. With the dies from this set I cut a pink and a orchid flower and layered them together to make my bloom. I also added the little leaf design which came with the die set which I cut out in green card stock. To the center of this little flower I added a pink rhinestone gem. My card was then finished with the addition of a bow which I made with my Craft-Dee BowZ bow making tool.

Even though this is a more non-traditionally colored card design for Valentine's Day I think it will still work wonderfully. But it could be a design that would work for any occasion with just the change of the sentiment or colors used.

I had made this card earlier in the week and just now got to posting it. But I guess it is better late then never.

I hope you are having a good evening and I thank you for the lovely comments you always leave.

God bless,
Verna

Heart Within My Heart

Isn't that a neat title for this post. I have to credit it though to the lovely heart doily from Cheery Lynn Designs which goes by that name. That is another of my favorite dies to reach for at the Valentine season. And, look how many negative pieces one can use on other cards as well.  I so love using as much of a die cut as I can.

Again I went with the colors of red, black and white. I am finding I like how the various layers of those colors really make things pop. And, again, this is another fairly simple layout on my card but I still like it a lot.

My sentiment again is from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 6 set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I am really getting so much use from that sentiment and I just love the font on it.
I added a red and white gingham ribbon and some bling to finish the card. The base card is a red and white duplex card stock. Oh, and not sure it shows up very well, but I did use a Cuttlebug Heart Blocks design on the white panel. Below is a close up of that panel.

Well, another cloudy and dreary day here but I still enjoyed my afternoon of card making. And, slowly I am getting my supply of Valentines made...one day at a time! 

Take care everyone and have a super rest of the day!

God bless,

Verna

Take 2 Park Gazebo

Well, sometimes we make a card and just don't like how it turned out. That was the case with the card I showed you on the previous post using the D-Lites Gazebo image from Spellbinder. So I carefully removed the Gazebo and redid my scene with a new set of stamps. I think this is a better proportioned look and I am more satisfied.

I remembered that I had a large tree image from A Stamp in the Hand from year's back when I first got started into stamping. I was so tickled when it still produced a good image. Sometimes old stamps sort of die from old age but this one worked fine yet. So I began my new scene with that tree off to the left of the scene.

Next I added more grass using a stamp from Stampscapes.  And I added some birds also from Stampscapes. As you can see it is a really simple scene but when I added the gazebo die cut it brought more life to the scene.

I again used my sponges and added inks to the scene before I layered it onto black card stock and then again on to a raspberry/beige duplex card base.

So this is showing that sometimes one can rescue something you don't like and redo it. I always try before I toss it in the garbage. I am glad in this case I did.

Thanks again for stopping in and hope your day is awesome.

God bless,
Verna

Gazebo In The Park

Again I had a die cut that I just pondered for a long time as to how to use it. It was a Spellbinder Gazebo image and came already pre-colored with the blue. The only thing I could think of was to make a scene and place it in a park like area. This is what I came up with. I am not sure the proportion is quite right but none the less, the deed is done!

I think my scene made with all Stampscapes images looked better before I added the gazebo, but when I tried to remove it, it was stuck too well and so I left it alone. I used sponges to add dye inks to the matte clay coated paper I used. That is the best type for working with sponging on scenes and of course, I used Staz-On black ink too!

Other inks I used were Andirondack inks. Those are my inks I go to mostly for making scenes too. Others I have used are Distressed Inks.

That was refreshing to do. I have not done a scene in a long time so I might have to work on more for my card supply.

Well, it is a snowy day here but not so awful cold so it is a wet and sticky type. Started out as drizzle and now is all snow.

Hope your day is going well. And, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate all the comments you leave and read every one.

God bless,
Verna

Bird Cage and Other Dies Card

Still working with my wonderful stash of pre-cut die images. I wasn't quite sure how to make a card with the bird cage from Marianne Craftables but used the pretty leafy flourish from My Favorite Things ( I hope it is accredited correctly) along with a bird die image from Quick Kutz. And, the sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs Dogwood and Butterfly set. I used the pretty pattern paper from the Gina K. Designs Here Comes the Sun pack. My little flowers I added are from Jolees By You out of the EK Success line.

I used a two-tone blue duplex card stock for the card base.

A friend of ours is quite ill so I think this will be a card for him. I hope it helps him feel better soon.

Thanks for stopping by. I had other things to keep me occupied so that is all the card making I got done today. Having these images pre-cut for the most part helps them go together quite fast too!

God bless,
Verna

Heart Card

There is a contest at Cheery Lynn Designs to use hearts in your designs. Of course, Cheery Lynn Dies are to be used too. This is the card I made for that challenge.

My base card is a red and white duplex card stock. Over the red surface I added the Cheery Lynn French Lattice Small Frame. Well, in the cutting process my metal plate slipped and the very last part of the frame did not cut. But it looked to be salvageable to me so I left that part of the frame intact and proceeded to add it to the surface of my base card, Immediately I could vision bling placed down in that area so that was what I did.

My hearts are a duo set called the Two of Hearts. This is one of my favorite hearts from the Cheery Lynn Designs line. I layered the small red ones onto larger white ones before adding them to my card base. They were popped up.

In the upper left corner I added my red and white gingham bow made with my Craft-Dee BowZ bow maker. And, the sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 6 set.

I have had so much fun working with the dies these past few days and I can see myself doing many more too. These were all dies I had in my own stash this time.

I have been using those small micro makeup brushes and some Ranger Multi Medium Matte to adhere my dies. I am sure there are other glues that would work, but using those micro applicators is awesome for this. I really recommend them.

Well, thanks again for stopping by and for all the lovely comments.

God Bless,
Verna

Back To Valentines!

Today I got back into my Valentine making mode. And, this time I used some lovely die cuts that were gifted to me in a Christmas package from another stamping friend. I had meant to use some of them before but time had a way of getting by me. But today I used a few of them along with some other dies I had received from another friend and my lovely sentiment from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 6 which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. Two cards were made in similar fashion but with slightly different branches and backgrounds.

Dies used on the black background one are the Heart Chain Border from Memory Box, the leafy branch from Impression Obsession, and the bird from Quick Kutz. I used Gina K. Designs Cherry Red card stock, white card stock and a lightly patterned paper which is almost completely black and which is from My Mind's Eye, I added a red gingham ribbon and some red rhinestone bling to finish this card.

The second card uses floral pattern paper from Echo Park. Again the bird on the branch die is from Impression Obsession and I again used the Heart Chain Border from Memory Box. I chose not to add a ribbon to this one but did add some red rhinestone bling again to the sentiment.The card stock of choice this time was Gina K. Designs Cherry Red and Ivory.

I am so thankful for those lovely die cuts and dies that were gifted to me. They worked beautifully on these Valentines. I think these cards have a bit more masculine look to them too! I have some other ideas in mind for other die cuts I received too, so don't be surprised if I upload more in the next week or so.

Well, I hope all are having a wonderful weekend. And, thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Blue Daisy Thinking of You

Well, I am taking a mini hiatus from making Valentines today but did want to post a card I made which used sponging on the flowers and the panel layer. Since I was not sure if I wanted to use it for a Get Well or a Birthday card I decided to make it a Thinking of You one so it could be more versatile.

Only one stamp was used on this card and that was the sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Dogwood and Butterfly set. The rest is done with dies. 

The flowers are made from the Cherry Lynn Designs Daisy Strip Die. To color the flowers I used a sponging technique with a finger sponge implementing Gina K. Designs Sweet Corn ink in the centers and then on the petals I used a larger one inch in diameter sponge dauber which I used to add the Ocean Mist ink from Gina K. Designs. The flowers then had a matching yellow decorative brad added to the centers. I also shaped the petals a bit before I added them to try and get some dimension without it being overly raised.

The Fanciful Flourish die by Cheery Lynn Designs I just love and so I used that for the stem and leaves on my card. This is the 4 1/2 x 4 inch size and not the mini one. This was cut from Gina K. Designs Fresh Asparagus card stock.

All of this was layered over a Spellbinder Beaded Ovals die which I did not emboss. I wanted it to lay more flat on my panel.

My base card is Gina K. Designs Ocean Mist card stock and I added a dry embossed Cuttlebug layer which was originally in ivory card stock but I took some Gina K. Designs Kraft ink and sponged on color to that as well. Sorry I do not know the name of this folder as it came in a pack of several and was not named at all.

I was not sure if I preferred this card with a ribbon or not, but decided to add one anyway. I used Fresh Asparagus chiffon ribbon. I will let you judge. Personally I think I like the card better without.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my post again. And, I must say I appreciate all of your wonderful comments. Have a great day and weekend!

God bless,

Verna

Teal & Purple Valentine

The theme for the Mod Squad Challenge this week is to use Teal and Purple. But I had made up my mind to work on Valentines so it was a challenge to work up a design with those colors in mind. But I think I accomplished it quite well and I really love the end results. And if we used images illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger we got two chances to win, so I used some of hers from the Gina K. Designs line.

The flowers are from the Gina K. Designs A Year of Flowers 2 set illustrated by Melanie. By masking the flowers I managed to make a corner design which I fussy cut out. I also used a sentiment from another of her Gina K. Designs sets called Stately Flowers 6. Both are favorite sets of mine so it was a "given" that I would choose to work with those.

I used Copics to color in the flowers. These were the colors I found to most closely resemble the teal and purple shades. And, for the frame I used the Cherry Lynn Designs Sweetheart Frame. My card stock for the frame was a close shade to the color of my markers and after I had it all die cut I saved some of the hearts to add as extra embellishment. Along the bottom of the sentiment I added a section of a Mini Gem Line sticker from Glitterazzi Embellishments.

This card design was all assembled on a white card stock base. As a final embellishment I added the purple chiffon bow which I made with my Craft-Dee BowZ bow maker. If not for that little tool, I think I would be lost. It works much better for me since I have arthritic hands.

I really enjoyed working with these colors and I hope that the markers I used will be a close enough match to teal. That is a hard color to come by it seems. None of my card stock or inks seemed the perfect shade.

Well, I feel I accomplished a nice looking card for this challenge and I am so glad you came by to see what I did this afternoon too! Have a great rest of the day!

God bless,
Verna

Happy Hearts

Well, I think it is time I start working on some Valentines for my shut ins and for a few of the family members. I am not sure if I will make all one design or just a random array of them, but at least I have one done and this one will be entered into the Mix It Up Monday challenge at Stamp TV. Doing that challenge is always an incentive to me to work on something fun!

Using the sentiment over and over in the red and black colors of ink worked for making a pattern paper design. And, then I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Heart Blocks over the background to add some texture. That was the only stamping on the card and the sentiment used is from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 6 set which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger.

I did quite a bit of layering though with cherry red, pink, white and black card stocks. To finish the card I added some pearls along the pattern paper strip which is from the Gina K. Designs Fight Like a Girl pack.

I wish everyone a wonderful day and hope you can do some creative fun too! Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

First Anniversary Winner!

First thing this morning I put all the names in the hat and the randomly drawn winner of the first year anniversary prize is Donna Ellis. Please send me your information so I can send the prize out to you. I hope you enjoy the prize too!

Donna EllisJanuary 5, 2015 at 2:11 PM

Congratulations, Verna! I recall that I was your very first google follower, and then, your first bloglovin follower! You've come a long way in posting AND I have so very much enjoyed your artwork. Love all your techniques and the pretty art that is in each card. Wonderful 4x4 card to celebrate with! I'm looking forward to your 2nd year! hugs, de

But I want to again thank all of you for being with me on this journey. I cannot tell you how much joy doing this blog has been for me. I love to write, I love to do my cards and I love all my blogging friends. And, I love how you were there for me in the good and the bad times. I treasure you  all and I am looking forward to a wonderful 2015 as well. I wish you the same.

God bless,
Verna

Sketch Birthday

I recently was gifted this wonderful die frame for Christmas and I just adore it and love all the possibilities in which it can be used. And, when I saw the sketch and dare challenge at the Die-Namites blog I thought it was a great opportunity to use it. Butterfly Frame is the name of the die.

The dare was that one had to use pink besides using at least one of the Die-Namites dies. Well I only have one die so far from them, so it was all I had to work with. But I think with the wonderful pattern papers from the Gina K. Designs Fight Like a Girl pack I think I pulled it off. I also added various shades of flat daisies to make a more substantial looking bloom. I used my Craft-Dee Bowz bow making tool to make a bow that corresponded in similar pink shades. My sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs Stippled Nature set. 

My card will be lined inside it as the darker card stocks do not show up well when one stamps on them. I am still debating on an inside verse so that will be finished later on. That way I can have the verse fit the recipient!

Below is the sketch.

And here is the die I used:

I know I was limited on what I could do but I tried to sort of follow the sketch. Anyway, I had so much fun making this card design so even if I did not quite do the challenge right it was a great opportunity for me to get creative. And I always like to do my own interpretation of a sketch.

Thanks so much for visiting and for all the wonderful comments you always leave me. Have a great weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Another 4 x 4 Thank You

I like the small canvas one has to work with when making small 4 x 4 cards, Thank you cards in this size is the criteria for the Mix It Up Monday Challenge at Stamp TV so I decided to make at least a couple for the challenge. I really like this one a lot too!

And, again I did a fairly clean and simple design but I think that is part of the elegance of it. I always loved ivory, gold and black together so I went with those colors. The leafy branch image and the sentiment are from the Gina K. Designs Summer Blooms set. I used Gina K. Designs black ink to stamp them. I also rimmed the second panel with Versamark ink and then added Gina K. Designs gold embossing powder which I heat set.  I used black ribbon and layered a gold ribbon over it and then added that to the card.

Since Thank You type cards are required for the Mod Squad Challenge this week I am entering it in that as well.

We are having a blizzard today and all the schools and activities for the rest of the day were cancelled. It seems winter is getting feisty now. I hope wherever you are that you are staying safe, warm and cozy.

Thanks for stopping by.
God bless,
Verna

Never-Before-Used Schtuff

Well, here we are again with this awesome challenge to make use of never-before-used schtuff! And, for all the rules check them out HERE. I did this last year and it was a good way to use some things old that never had seen any creativity with them.

Below is the card I created and everything on it except for the black ink and light blue Spellbinder oval die cut are all NBUS. I even tried a new technique which is to embed portions of the negatives of a die cut into the original die frame design. Even the duplex card stock I used for the base card is new and was never used.

I used a Spellbinder oval die and over that I added the Die-Namites Butterfly Frame with a micro brush applicator dipped in Ranger Multi-Medium Matte glue, all three which I received from my hubby for Christmas. The sentiment from Verses I had purchased some time ago but never inked it before so that was my choice for this card.

Even though my oval die cut underneath the frame did not exactly match in size, I decided that I still liked it and would try to make it look like it was balanced on the areas where it did not quite fit. And, I am think it still looks great!

Now that was fun and I hope you get your NBUS out and do something creative with them as well.
Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

One Year Anniversary and a Give Away!

I cannot believe that I have a whole year of blogging under my belt. Yay! I did it!

First of all I want to thank all of you who encouraged me, assisted me, followed me and made such lovely comments all year long. Today marks the first year anniversary of my blog and I know having all of you there with me each posting helped to make it a most enjoyable adventure for me.

I made a simple 4 x 4 size card to commemorate the occasion. I used the Gina K. Designs Stippled Nature set for the flower and the sentiment. However, I only used the "thanks" portion of the sentiment for my little canvas. My flower was first inked up with Gina K. Designs Tomato Soup lightly and then edged somewhat with Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart before I stamped it onto the square orange card stock. I also edged around the square with the Cranberry Tart. I then added a black pearl to the center of the bloom. This was then layered onto the Spellbinder Fleur Di Lis Pendant die cut before I added it to the base card of ivory card stock. CAS but I think it has a bit of elegance with the use of that pendant die.

And to thank all of you who have been there for me this past year I am giving away a prize package. All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog. Only one per person and I will then put all the names in the hat and have hubby draw one out. You have until Friday to comment. I will try to post a winner on Saturday. Below is the prize I am giving.

Good luck everyone and thanks for making it a wonderful first year for me as a blogger. God bless you all.

Hugs,
Verna