Christmas Wishes

I am trying to achieve a glittery affect without making all the mess that comes with using real glitter so I decided today I would use my Sakura Clear Star glitter pen. I also worked with Gina K. Designs images from the Christmas Wishes set which was part of a past year's Christmas TV kit.

The second photo shows how the pen leaves a bit of shimmery affect on the snowflakes and also on the tree where I added a bit to simulate lights or ornaments. The white panel was a pre-printed design on white card stock which was the basis of the card. From there I added a red, green and a white layer on which the design was stamped. I then stamped the snowflakes all around the center design and added a paper ribbon which is a die from Cheery Lynn Designs called Allison's Ribbons. The finishing touch was to add the glittery look with the Sakura  pen. But I still thought it was a bit plain so I added the red rhinestone gems to make it a bit more festive and elegant.

I am going to put my craft things away for today. I have other things that need attention but I was glad I still took a bit of time to enjoy my hobby gone wild. LOL

Take care and enjoy your weekend.

God bless,

Verna

Snowflakes and Splatters

Well, back to a Christmas card and one which I splattered some white pigment ink with a toothbrush by inking it up and then taking my finger and running along the brush part so the ink would spray. It is a bit messy but then I like getting inky.

The snowflake stamp and sentiment are from the Gina K. Designs set called Winter Blocks which is illustrated by Tami Mayberry. I used Cherry Red inks and card stock as well as the white pigment ink and white card stock to construct the card. My border below the blocks is a Cheery Lynn Die called Allison's Ribbons. And, I also added some pearls at the edges of the sentiment.

A very CAS card design but I always think snowflakes are associated with Christmas as well as just plain wintery type cards.

Well, that is all for this week for me. I plan to just take it easy over the weekend. Let's see how that works out. LOL

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great weekend too!

God bless,
Verna

Happy Halloween!

I worked up a cute little card the other day with a Halloween theme even though I had all the cards made for my shut in list. I got a new stamp set from Inspired by Stamping and just could not resist. It is a cute little pumpkin set which features different facial parts on it so you can create and make your own carved pumpkins but only on paper. I really like the set too! It is called Pumpkin Faces.

I stamped my pumpkins on white card stock and then colored them. Once they were fussy cut out I then applied them to another piece of white card stock to which I had sponged on some blue for the sky and also some green for the grassy area. To make it look even better I die cut Cheery Lynn Barbed Wire out of black and made it look like the pumpkin couple were perched right in front of it. With the aid of some pattern paper and the Happy Halloween die from Cheery Lynn Designs I had completed my card design which was on a base card of lighter orange card stock.

This is entered in the following:
Inspired by Stamping Blog Challenge (I chose the colors)
Mod Squad Blog Challengehttp://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/10/bold-and-beautiful.html?

Thanks for looking. I hope your Halloween is a great one.

God bless,
Verna

Holly and Bird Christmas

I started this card a couple days ago and finally got it finished. I used my Spectrum Noir Aqua Color markers and I did go a bit outside the line but I still liked the end results. And, by watering down a bit of the blue color which was applied to an acrylic block I brushed in some sky. I am still learning how to use the aqua pens as they are really juicy.

I also added more of the holly to the end of the branch by coloring it and fussy cutting it. Believe me fussy cutting that was tricky and then I glued it in place. The images and the sentiment are all from the Sparkle N Sprinkle Stamp Set 507 called Christmas Holly. I like so many of the images and sentiments on that set. I thought this little bird was so adorable.

I layered the focal image onto die cut panels of Christmas Pine and Red Hot card stocks which were cut with Memory Box Cross Stitched Borders dies. And, I ended up with it all attached to the white card base.

This card is being entered into the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week which is called Bold and Beautiful!

Traditional Colors Christmas

I don't know about you, but I still prefer the traditional colors for my Christmas card making. So with that in mind I made another card using several Cheery Lynn Designs and will enter this into the Cheery Lynn Designs Blog challenge for this week which is entitled Anything Goes.

And, I am also a fan of poinsettias so I was in the mood to have that grace this lovely background die which is cut in Christmas Pine card stock and graces the white card base. I also added some white pine branches and pearls to the flower. Actually, technically the poinsettia is really a cluster of leaves and not a flower but I still think of it as a cool blossom.

I also combined three of the designs of Allison's Ribbons die and created one layered one to go across the bottom. I am loving that new die set too!

I cut a white oval to go over the oval in the center of the background where I wanted to put my sentiment. I was then ready to add the sentiment which is from Sparkle N Sprinkle. That sentiment is small enough to fit in a close space so I have used it a lot on my Christmas cards.

Below is another view of the card. I am hoping from one of the photos you will see all the details I added.

Cheery Lynn Dies:

Card Cover Maker #4 CAFR 11

Allison's Ribbons B335

Pine Branches B146

Oval-Classic XM-7

Poinsettia C145

Thanks for looking and I hope your Sunday was a wonderful one.

God bless,

Verna

Red & Gold Floral

The Mix It Up Monday challenge at Gina K. Designs is to use red and gold in your artwork. I had some free time today so decided I would work up a design for this challenge.

I used the Gina K. Designs Simply The Best stamp set and the gold embossing powder was from Gina K. Designs also. I fussy cut the gold embossed big flower to add to the awesome flourish embossed in gold on the white panel.

I added a faux ribbon accent by using Allison's Ribbons die which is made by Cheery Lynn Designs. The larger was die cut from Cheery Red card stock and the smaller inside portion was die cut in white and then with Versamark ink and gold embossing powder I heat set it to make it gold.

Each panel was cut from a Memory Box Cross Stitched Borders die before I layered them onto the white card stock base. My card was finished with the addition of the sentiment and some red rhinestones.

Thanks for stopping by and hope your Saturday is going great!

God bless,
Verna

Flip Flop

Today's card is one I started on last night when I saw the email from the Mod Squad Challenge Blog which stated the challenge for this week. I am telling you this is a CHALLENGE but I hope I managed to pull it off by using a heart image and making it into a line of evergreen trees and using them in a scene. All stamps used are from Kitchen Sink Stamps too.

Besides using the stamps I also found these cute little snowmen yesterday when in town which are from Jolee's. I thought they would be a cute snow couple to dress up my card. I also used white pigment ink and added that to the snowy portion and then added some white embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle which had some glitter with it. So my snow sparkles in person but not sure you can see it on the photo.

The sky was sponged in with a light blue dye ink and all other stamped images and sentiments were done with dye ink as well.

Stamps sets from Kitchen Sink Stamps used are:
Multi Step "Sweetheart Roses" MINI 011
Multi Step "Tree Friends" MINI 020
Greetings From The Woods SMC 041

Well, since I am into Christmas and winter designs I had to make it in that theme. I think it turned out quite well myself. No snow here but we are getting much needed rain, so that is good.

Hope your day is going well!

God bless,
Verna

Christmas Town

I had to join in on the Scrapy Land Challenge again and work with some of the many brands of dies they sell on their site. The challenge was to use dies and either dry or heat embossing. I went with the dry embossing.

I used the Cuttlebug Winter House embossing folder on white card stock and with Bic Mark-It Ultra Fine markers I colored in the design. I then cut that panel out with a Memory Box Frame Die and layered it onto a panel of Christmas Pine card stock which was also cut with the same frame die but in a larger size. I placed this onto the lower right corner of my Cherry Red card base.

Next I took another Memory Box Die and cut the snowy borders with white card stock to add to the red card. After they were  added I then added some white pearls to the design and also added a green ribbon bow. The sentiment which I used is from the Gina K. Designs Winter Blocks stamp set which is illustrated by Tami Mayberry.

Memory Box Dies:

Frosty Border Style No. 98171

Cross Stitched Frame Borders Style. No. 99124

I thought this might be how Santa's home might look at the North Pole so that was why I named it Christmas Town.

Well, it sounds as if rain is in the forecast. I am thankful we have the corn all combined now and if it rains we can just sit back and rest. We need the rain too!

God bless,
Verna

Ho Ho Ho!

One has to use Santa in a Christmas card too I think. Santa was just stamped on white card stock with Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart dye ink and then layered onto Cranberry Tart card stock before I added it to a die cut frame.

To make the frame I took some silver plain pipe repair tape to see if it would work as well as the Duck tape I used for my last blog post. Well, here is the low down on that. It does not work as well as it is a heavier tape. I placed three strips of it onto a card stock panel so that I would have a large enough surface to die cut the frame. I took some Tim Holtz Mushroom Alcohol Ink and rubbed it all over the surface to give it an old vintage look to the metallic surface.

Now normally when you die cut the frame all the pieces fall out or are cut through. Well, luckily all that cut this time was just the outside edges, except for three pieces which fell out. I decided I liked the look even better this way as it was more of an embossed look. So I simply glued in the three pieces that fell out and used it that way on my card base of Cranberry Tart.

A very clean and simple design but I really am pleased with the way it turned out. I added a piece of white card stock inside to have a surface to stamp an inside verse and write a message.

The Santa is from Stampitcrazy,net. It is a nicely etched Santa and instead of coloring it in I simply stamped it in the Cranberry Tart ink. If you are looking for vintage style Santas she has several to choose from.

The only die  used was the Cheery Lynn Japanese Lace & Flourish Frame DL137. I am going to enter this in this week's Cheery Lynn Designs challenge which calls for a vintage theme.

Well, it is a beautiful Sunday here with lots of sunshine and wind.  Many leaves are falling off now and the colors of Autumn are wonderful too.

I hope you are having a great day and thanks for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate every one of them.

God bless,
Verna

Duck Tape Christmas

For the wedding last month I wanted to cover up all the advertising on my cane so I bought a roll of fancy duck tape and wrapped it over the offending advertising. Yesterday I was looking at that tape and wondering if it would work to make a card with it. I decided to try using it for die cutting. It did work well and I am very pleased with how the card looks too. **Note: Duck Tape and not Duct Tape**

In order to make the tree I had to lay down two sections of the tape on card stock before I cut it out. I then used glue to add it to the red card stock. But the snowflake border worked well just the way it was on a single piece of tape so all I had to do was take the backing off after die cutting and place it on my card stock. That sure was easy. Here is a photo of the tape on a roll.

The sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 5 set. I just love the font of that greeting.

After adding all the layers onto the white card base I cut a thin strip of the tape twice so that I could put just a hint of it along the outside of the red layer. I thought it gave it a more finished look.

Dies used: 

Memory Box Frosty Border Style No. 98171

Die-Namites "Winter Fir" DN-1117

I think this will qualify for the Mod Squad Blog Challenge this week too, so I am going share my card there as well.

Have a great weekend. I love all the great comments you leave.

God bless,

Verna

PEACE

Here is a scenic card I made with a combination of die cuts and some stamps. I also used Tim Holtz Distressed Inks and a white gel pen.

I took two panels of white card stock and the one I inked all over with Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire Distress ink for the sky and the other one I inked up with Tim Holtz Stormy Sky Distressed ink for the snowy part. I let them dry for awhile and then took the heat gun to speed up the process.

I took the Stormy Sky panel and then using a Spellbinder A2 Curved Borders One set cut the wavy line for the snow. I set this aside until I could add the tree which is a die from Die-Namites to which I added some white from a gel pen. This was glued to the sky panel.

Now I was ready to add the snowy line and I adhered the two panels together. I was then ready to cut the scene out with the Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders die. In the sky portion I added a bit of white dots from the gel pen to make the stars. In the snowy bottom I added a deer from Stampscapes. I then added this completed panel to the white base card. My final thing to do was to stamp the PEACE which is also from Stampscapes with the Chipped Sapphire ink. I then took the Memory Box cross stitched smallest die and cut it out and then popped it on the completed card.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week and the theme is Winter & a Die.

Well, I missed out on any card making yesterday since I was busy freezing carrots from the garden. I have about one third of the crop frozen and from that I got 12 pints. With the big crop of carrots we are getting this year I figured I best spread it out over a few days. That was enough washing, peeling and slicing for me to do in one day. And, then I still had to blanch, cool and bag them. So it was a busy day for me.

I hope the week is going well for you. Thanks for the nice comments and for stopping in to see my projects.

God bless,
Verna

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

For all my friends in Canada I created a card which I thought might let you know that I count you as one of my greatest blessings too! Happy Thanksgiving Day Canadian style!

I used pattern paper from Gina K. Designs and also a sentiment from her line of stamps. The oval dies are from Cheery Lynn Designs as are the larger rectangle dies and the leaves. Some of the leaves were cut from white card stock to which I had added various shades of Fall colors. And, the rest were cut from plain card stock. After layering everything together I finished the card off with a black bow.
I forgot to add I put some little orange and yellow gems on the oval layer with the sentiment. Not sure where they came from or who made them but they seemed perfect to me.

Supplies are listed below if you want to check into them.

Pattern paper:
Gina K. Designs Grateful Heart pack

Sentiment:
Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 5 illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger

Cheery Lynn Dies:
Card Maker's Stacker's Nesting Dies A2 size ST 014
Oval-Classic Stacker's Nesting Dies XM-7
Oval-Inverted Scallop Stacker's Nesting Dies XM-9
Small Leaves #1 D133

I am entering this in the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge for this week which is to use black and orange.

I hope my Canadian and friends all over the world are having a wonderful day. Thanks for being there for me.

God bless,
Verna

Pink & Green Christmas Card

Today I made a card using an embossing folder and die cuts. I went with a pink poinsettia in honor of this being Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am entering this in the Scrapy Land Challenge in which the theme is Anything Goes.

My base card is white and I outlined the Cuttlebug snowflake embossed layer with some pink shimmery paper from Crafter's Companion. Over this embossed outline I added the Merry Christmas Tidings die from Memory Box cut from Stardream dark green, but I cut it apart into individual sections to use it on my card.

In the upper corner I added the poinsettia in the same shade of pink and the pine branches with the dark green card stock. In the center of the poinsettia I added a small floral rhinestone gem and I also added some rhinestone gems of the same color here and there on the card background. The snow flakes in green were originally connected to the sentiment but they were things I cut off to use individually.

Dies used:
Memory Box Merry Christmas Tidings Style No. 98643
Cheery Lynn Designs Pine Branches B146
Cheery Lynn Designs Poinsettia C 145

The Cuttlebug embossing folder is the snowflake patterned one which is from a set of six in the Winter Wonderland Collection.

Oh, and on a personal note I am no longer having the four ply wraps on my leg. I am down to a support type stocking which certainly feels much better to me. The wraps had a tendency to cause rubbing sores on my legs and this stretchy type stocking doesn't do that. Hip Hip Hooray! I am delighted with the new progress. God is so good!

Thanks for stopping by and for all the lovely comments. Have a great weekend!

God bless,
Verna

Leafy Thanksgiving

One more card at least for this week and gradually I think I am building up my stash of cards for the Thanksgiving holiday giving. This card will be entered into the Mod Squad Challenge Blog contest in which the theme is Get Your "FALL" On!

The little circle cuttable with the lovely pattern was what inspired me to create a background to look similar to it. They were a freebie with an order from Gina K. Designs and even though there is a pattern paper pack to go with them I was not an owner of it so I made my own to try and match.

I used an image for the leaves from the Gina K. Designs Whimsical Wishes set which is illustrated by Theresa Momber. And, the sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 5 which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I tried to match my inks as closely as I could. And I noticed that the ivory card stock was not quite as dark as the cuttable so I took ivory ink and sponged over the background. I am not sure this was a good idea but never the less I did it. LOL And, even though it lightened up the inks I still think it works.

I die cut the cuttable with a circle die from Cheery Lynn Designs. And, the outer circle was from a Marvy circle punch.  By layering the pattern paper to the dark red card stock I was able to make it match the framed cuttable. Oh, and the gold fiber was also a freebie in my order. I used that to dress up my panel before I added it to the ivory base card. The finishing touch was to add a little flower design on top of the gold bow center.

Thanks for checking in and for the lovely comments you always leave. I very much appreciate all of them.

God bless,
Verna

Die-Namites October Inspiration Challenge

I am so loving working with dies and so when the email came in with the new challenge at Die-Namites Blog Challenge for October  I knew I had to join in. The challenge is to make a Halloween or Fall type of project and there is also an inspiration photo too.

I went with the colors from the inspiration photo seen below.

The die I chose to use is called Daisy Bunch and I cut it out with white card stock and then colored it with my Spectrum Noir Aqua Pens. I also used a Darice embossing folder called Leafy Vine Border and to that I used different colors of autumn colors of ink to swipe around the edge. I then added the Daisy Bunch in the center and added this leafy vine panel to a white base card.

I finished the card by adding the sentiment which is from the Gina K. Designs Always Autumn set.

Well, another Thanksgiving card done. I thought I would take a break from turkeys but I do have more of them die cut so they will be back soon. LOL

Take care and God bless,

Verna

Turkey Scene

Well, I got my turkey die out again from Cheery Lynn Designs and decided to pair him with some pretty images from a Gina K. Designs set of stamps which is perfect for this time of  year. I also used the Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers to color the image.

This time I made my turkey with gray card stock and I like him that way too. I used Bic Mark-It alcohol ink markers to color in part of the wings and tail feathers with gray and used red for the head except for the white portion which was done with a white gel pen.

Next I stamped my pumpkin image with black ink onto white card stock and colored that with the Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers.  Yes, another new acquisition lately and I first ordered only two sets and since I like them I have ordered the rest too.

After I had my pumpkins cut out I put that and the turkey aside while I took some white card stock and sponged on some blue for the sky and some brown for the ground. When this was done I die cut this out using the Memory Box Cross Stitched Borders die. Now it was ready to add to the base card of yellow.

After all layers were together I then added my turkey and then popped the pumpkins up over old Tom. The last step was to stamp my image.

Cheery Lynn Die:
Tom the Turkey B599

Memory Box Die:
Cross Stitched Frame Borders Style No. 99124

Stamps from Gina K. Designs Always Autumn set illustrated by Theresa Momber.

Thanks for stopping in to see my one card design for the day. It is cloudy and dreary here today but so far no rain. I was hoping the sun would shine, but maybe tomorrow.

God bless,
Verna

Twiggy Halloween Wreath

I received the notice for the next Cheery Lynn Designs Blog challenge yesterday which is to do a Halloween themed project. So since I had recently splurged on a few new designs from them I decided to enter this card into the challenge.

Oh, I am feeling better too since Arthur Ritis is not around quite as much as he was yesterday so I decided it was time to play a bit. And taking some Aleve helped too!

I used a base card of white card stock. I then took the Cuttlebug Pumpkin Harvest embossing folder and covered the inside of the folder which has the word Cuttlebug on it with various shades of Autumn colored dye inks.  I placed a white panel on the folder and ran it through my Crossover to get the pattern background. It has been a long time since I used that embossing folder and I thought it might work well with this card.

I cut this embossed panel down a bit with a Memory Box Frame die and also cut a size larger one out of Gina K. Designs Tomato Soup card stock. I layered these together and placed them onto the base card.

Next I cut out the Cheery Lynn twiggy wreath and the sentiment with Gina K. Designs Chocolate Brown card stock. I also cut another sentiment out of Tomato Soup card stock. I glued the wreath onto the card. The two sentiments were glued together purposely off kilter to leave a little shadow of the brown to give more dimension to the saying before I glued that on my card.

My border was the Cheery Lynn Designs Barbed Wire. It comes with a set of two but I chose to use the smaller of the set.

Cherry Lynn Designs Dies:
Happy Halloween Twiggy Wreath B469
Barbed Wire (Set of 2) B405

Memory Box Die:
Cross Stitched Frame Borders Style No. 99124

Well, that was a fun project and even though I may only get one done a day it is still relaxing to do some card making. Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

World Card Making Day

Today is World Card Making Day and that means I should be making lots of cards. Well, my old friend Art Ritus is visiting and to tell the truth, he is making a real pest of himself, so therefore I only got one card done. None the less, one is better then none. So with that in mind let's show you what I did.

As you can see it is just a simple scene but I always think that scenes are perfect for a sympathy card. Especially for the masculine type.

I used images from the Kitchen Sink Stamps line. This particular set is called Multi Step "Birch Trees" EX-LRGC 001. I also used a Kitchen Sink Stamps sentiment which is found on the Simple Sentiments MINI 006 stamp set.

The first part of the trunks and branches were stamped in with Gina K. Designs Kraft ink which I stamped off first onto scratch paper before adding it to my white card stock. Then the next step for the trunks was done with Gina K. Designs Charcoal Brown. Next was to add the leaves so I did the first step with Gina K. Designs Grass Green and used Gina K. Designs Christmas Pine for the second step. To finish the scene I then added the woodpecker with the Charcoal Brown. I sponged in some Pool ink which is an older pad I owned called Sea Brights and was made by Ranger. The last thing then was to add the sentiment with the Charcoal Brown. My card was then ready to layer to some dark brown card stock and then to the white card base.

I hope all the visitors you have this weekend are much easier on you than Art is. Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Square Card For a Friend

I made a small 4 x 4 size card for a friend who is going through a rough time right now and I thought this might bring a little smile and help cheer him  up.

I used images from the Gina K. Designs Bounty of Blessings set. The sentiment is also from that set too. I colored the owl with Bic Mark-It markers and stamped the leaves and branches with Gina K. Designs Dark Chocolate, Sweet Mango, Brick and Kraft inks which are from the Gina K. Designs line. The pattern paper is from the Gina K. Designs Poppy Prints paper pack. I also used some Tomato Soup colored card stock to frame the focal design on the Ivory card stock and the pattern paper layer.

Thanks for stopping by and hard to believe that tomorrow is Friday already. Where does the week go? It seems each one is faster and faster the older I get. LOL

God bless,
Verna