Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Christmas Sweater and Happy Thanksgiving!

I was so thrilled when a sweet friend said she would send me a few sheets of the Gina K. Designs Sweater paper pack which was an incentive from that company with a qualifying order. I did not order quite enough to get the pack but I so admired it and mentioned it in a post on Stamp TV. Today I got some happy mail with it included. So I decided I had to make a card using part of a sheet. And, to make it go further I only used a bit here and there between other layers so that I think I can get more cards from one sheet.


I chose to use stamps from the Gina K. Designs Christmas Wishes set. And, I confess. I messed up with the center snowflake so I simply made another and layered it onto red card stock and put it on the boo boo! It was too pretty to try and not salvage it.

Doesn't that remind you of the Christmas sweaters that often are seen this time of year. I think that is so cool and word is that later in the winter season Gina K. Designs will be offering the pack for sale. I do plan on buying that when the time comes.

Well, this will no doubt be my last post for this week. We have been invited to share the Thanksgiving feast with some neighbors who knew we were going to be by ourselves. So we are sure looking forward to enjoying some good eats and good fellowship. Then on the weekend is the wedding of our oldest daughter so we will be enjoying more good eats, fun and fellowship.

I am so thankful for all the great friends I have found in this lifetime and for my wonderful family. I wish all of you a most wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

God bless,
Verna

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Holly Christmas

The old weather has been affecting me a lot of late, but to try and not have my mind on it I am doing at least a card a day. And, some of them are fairly clean and simple but still it is a therapy tool that works for me. This time I made a card for the new Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge.


I am not sure if you can tell but all the card stock is the shimmery kind and I got it from Crafter's Companion. The more ivory looking card stock is supposed to be a gold but it really looks more like ivory in real life too. Still it is so pretty and goes so well with the various shades of green and the red shimmery card stock! I will show another angle of the card which might showcase the shimmer a bit more. However, the true colors are more like the first photo.



The sentiment is from a Gina K. Designs set called Winter Cheer which was in a previous year's Stamp TV Kit. I decided there were so many stamps on that set that had not been used that I better take care of that matter this year. I like that it is a bolder type of sentiment.

The Cheery Lynn Designs Dies used are:
Card Maker's Stacker's Nesting Dies ST 014 Rectangle A2 Size
Holly Leaves B183
Lace Corner Deco B B162

The berries were done with an old fashioned circle punch. I added a bit of white gel pen to make them look a little more realistic!

Well, that's my post for today. We had snow overnight! Not a lot and most of it is melted away again. That is fine with me! LOL

Thanks for stopping in again!

God bless,
Verna

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Monochromatic

I had company earlier today but after they were gone I worked on a card and had it ready to post for the Scrapy Land Challenge which is to make a monochromatic card. I went with green on green for this one. My mail yesterday brought a new die from Crafter's Companions which works for making Christmas cards. It is part of the Create-A-Card Christmas Collection series.


Now the great thing about this die is that the inside bauble can be used separately if one would like. And, I plan to use that alone and use it on some CAS cards as well. And, all the paper I used is from Crafter's Companion. Once I had the die cut frame added to the base card of lighter green, I then added the bauble die which was cut out of a darker shade of green.

The card was then finished by adding some pearls and glittered snowflakes which were sticky on both sides. I simply pealed off the outer sticker sheet and added the glitter and when it was covered to my satisfaction I then removed the back sheet of the sticker and attached it to the card. The snowflakes are from Scrapbook Adhesives. The glitter is from Sparkle N Sprinkle and is called Meadow Spark G1014.

Crafter's Companion has a lot of different Create-a-Card designs. I did like this particular one and it is called Decorative Bauble.

Well, it is a cold day here. This morning it was only 12 degrees above and still has not warmed up a whole lot. But with two of the grandsons here Grandpa put them to work helping him put the lights on our outside trees. That was a good time to take advantage of younger legs. So we are ready to turn them on after Thanksgiving.

Well, even though I had a busy week I am glad I managed to get a few more Christmas cards done. I might have to take a count and see how many more I will be needing too! I guess if I do go over they will be a jump start on next year. And, hardly any are the same design.

Well, have a great rest of the weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Friday, November 20, 2015

Silver on Silver

I found a Memory Box die cut that was done in the halographic duck tape and decided to get it on a card before I lost it in the shuffle of putting things away. So I went with a silver on silver card with a white base which (although it does not show) has little flecks of silver glitter in it.


I had some silver layering weight paper from Crafter's Companion so I added that to the white base. Then I glued the die cut to that. I saved a couple of the elements that fell out of the die and added them to the upper right corner. On the opposite corner I added a white ribbon which had some silver along the edge which caught different colors much like the halographic paper did. The finishing touch was to add some white pearls.

The Memory Box die is called Merry Christmas Tidings Style No. 98643.

Well, back to the grind of cleaning. It is so funny how inspired you can get when you run across something you had earlier put aside. You never know when the right time will be for using it. I will enter this in the Scrapy Land Challenge.

Well, that's really it for me this week. Not sure if next week will produce any artwork or not as it is a busy time with Thanksgiving and another daughter's wedding on the weekend.

You all take care in the mean time and I thank you for looking at my work and leaving such wonderful comments.

God bless,
Verna

Thursday, November 19, 2015

More Pattern Paper

Well, I had so much fun with making the last card with pattern paper that I just had to play again today before I put everything away tomorrow. And, this stamp set has been calling my name ever since I saw it, so I ordered it and I finally am getting to use it. I just love daisies so this was a "must" for me to own.


And, I love the colors used for the hand stamped pattern paper and for the focal big daisy. And, get this! The lovely sentiment is also on the set. After I had stamped the background paper I simply layered it onto red as I did the sentiment. The big bloom was stamped with a little pop of red in the daisy and so I outlined that too with red. 

And, aren't those cute little lady bugs. Too bad my eye sight is not as good as it should be as some of them have their spots flying into space. LOL But then again many pattern papers have a little off kilter look so I am sticking with it.

I used this stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps:
3 Step Daisy LRGC 001

This is going to be entered into the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week in which the theme is for us to make our own pattern papers.

Well, time to fix supper. Somehow hubby thinks we need to eat and that I better get busy. LOL So thanks for looking as I am off to do a bit of cooking. I think soup for us as it is a cold and windy night.

Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Making My Own Pattern Paper

This week the theme at the Mod Squad Blog Challenge is to make one's own pattern paper. I chose to use stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps to make my card design including the pattern paper I made to go with it.


My pattern paper is very simply done with one snow flake stamp. On the darker blue card stock I stamped the snow flake with Versamark ink and then added white embossing powder and heat set it. On the white card stock I added the snow flakes in with a matching blue ink. The two panels were the card front which were placed on a white card base.

Next I took a smaller panel of white card stock and on that I stamped the snowy pine trees. Around the sky portion I sponged on some blue ink. And, the bottom was left white to be the snow. And, on the snowy bottom was where I stamped the sentiment.

This was layered onto red card stock and then added to the front panels with a portion of each patterned paper area showing on the sides. I finished the card by adding a double bow ribbon and by also stamping a few snow flakes inside the card as well.

Kitchen Sink Stamps used are the following:
Multi Step Snowy Pine Trees LRGC 043
Greetings From the Woods SMC 041

I only had time today to finish this card that I started last night as today was wound care check up for me and also physical for hubby so you know where we were all day. LOL But I guess that needs to be done as well.

Well, I found out that company is coming Saturday so guess tomorrow will be spent putting all my crafty card making tools away so that we can eat around the kitchen table. It is nice to have a work surface but it isn't always handy when that is also where we eat and entertain guests.

So if I don't post again, I hope all have a wonderful weekend. And, thanks for all the lovely comments. I appreciate each one of them.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Let It Snow!

I have noticed that tags are all the rage right now and even though I seldom use tags myself on packages I decided to make one and put it on a card for either winter time sending or even as a Christmas or New Year's card. After all, tis' the season for snow too! And, I think they said we might have some in our forecast for the next day or so. I am told it won't be too much though! But I would rather have snow than freezing rain.

I planned to enter this into the Mod Squad Challenge but apparently they already closed the thread for it. The rules must have been changed, but at least I tried to enter it.


I used the colors of white, red and silver. My center snowflake in the tag is a die from Cheery Lynn Designs. And, the other snowflakes and the sentiment are from the Gina K. Designs set called Fun Year Round which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger.

I hand cut the tag and used that as the focal image for my card. The snowflake was die cut out of the white part and then I added silver behind it. By die cutting another red snowflake I was able to glue that into the empty spot and have my flake backed by the silver paper. I then mounted the tag onto red paper and fussy cut around the edges to create a border.

I stamped several more snowflakes around on the base of the card as well. In the upper corners I added corner embellishments which are from a die by Cheery Lynn Designs. I always thing they dress up a card so much.

I completed the design by adding a silver snowflake ribbon to the tag which is from American Crafts and some gems. The center white pearl in the big snowflake die is from Eyelet Outlet and the other silver pearls with the white pearls around it are from Basic Grey.

Cheery Lynn Dies used:
DL 166 Snowflake 2
B161 Lace Corner Deco A

I am entering this in the following challenge:
Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge

Well, since it is dreary rain filled day I thought I might as well do a little creative activity with stamps and dies. I don't know about you, but days like this tend to make me sleepy unless I can keep busy. So at least I stayed awake. LOL

As always I so appreciate your visits and comments.

God bless,
Verna

Sunday, November 15, 2015

November-IBSI 100th Challenge





Well, by the title I think you know I made a card for the November-IBSI 100th Challenge. I thought a milestone like that deserved a bit of attention and since I happened to have a couple sets of their stamps I figured it was a great time to jump in and join the fun!



There were several color options and several sketch options for which one could use as an idea for the project and I went with a sketch which I thought this poinsettia image would look great on.

IBSIC100- Sketch4

The set is from Inspired by Stamping and is called Poinsettias. It has six stamps included in it. I used one of the sentiments on the card after I built my background and colored the focal poinsettia image with Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers. I decided not to add the ribbon and instead added the holly leaves in a couple areas around the poinsettia which was popped up to give more dimension. I did however add several white pearls to give a bit of more elegance to the design.

Inspired-by-Stamping-Poinsettias-Stamp-Set

For some reason it has been another rough weekend with my joints showing their usual aches and pains, but it seems by doing some card making I sort of put those pains our of mind for awhile. So I consider this good pain management for me. So my hobby is good for more than just being creative. LOL

Well, thanks for looking and hope to see you around more this week. I still have a lot of Christmas cards to make so no doubt will be blogging later on.

God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Thanks Veterans!

I made a Thank You card for all the veterans past and present who served so faithfully for our people and nation. May the Lord bless all of them. Thank you for your service! Also a big thanks to their families too as they had to sacrifice as well.


On Tim Holtz water color paper I embossed the flag image by Embossing Arts with Versamark and added clear embossing powder which was heat set. Then I took blue and red Color Burst water color granules and placed them on that same paper and spritzed them with water. This way the embossed image showed through as white as the design has a resist now. My last step before adding it to a darker blue card base was to stamp the Many Thanks sentiment from Gina K. Designs and add a little star gem by it.

Oh, and if I use dark card stock for the base card I always line it with some white or lighter colored card stock so I can add a special message which can be either hand written or stamped.

Thanks for stopping in and for all the comments you leave. I read and appreciate every one of them.

God bless,
Verna

Monday, November 9, 2015

Tom The Turkey Again!

The Cherry Lynn Designs Blog Challenge for this week has been posted. So I decided to make a quick card using some ink, an embossing folder, a die and a sentiment. And, who should appear on that card but that old Tom The Turkey and today he is in the pumpkin patch again. Apparently those pumpkins did not get any frost on them yet. Ha! Ha! The theme for the challenge is to use Autumn Colors.


To make the background I added Autumn colors of ink to the Cuttlebug Pumpkin Harvest embossing folder and then placed a white piece of card stock between and then ran it through my Crossover to emboss it. I chose to ink up the back of the front side of the embossing folder.....the one with the word Cuttlebug on it. If  you wanted it embossed the other way then simply ink the other side.

I then added this embossed panel to the base card of white card stock. With Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart ink I stamped the sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Always Autumn set onto orange card stock and then fussy cut around it. This was placed on the panel at the top.

Next I die cut my turkey out of a gray card stock and then took some Ultra Fine Bic Mark-It pens and colored in a bit on the turkey to make it more realistic looking. This was placed below to complete the card design.

Cherry Lynn Die used:
Tom The Turkey B599

Well, I might not be around as much this week. I am trying to do some baking for the church bake sale on Saturday so my creative juices will be put to further use.

And, tonight I have to watch Dancing With the Stars. Somehow both hubby and I got hooked on that show and love to watch it. Perhaps because when we were in better shape we loved to go dancing. Now we seldom can even walk without limping. And I find it hard to dance with a cane. I am not an equivalent of Gene Kelly that I can jump, kick and dance around one. Ahhhh! This golden age!

Have a good rest of the day! Thanks for visiting.

God bless,
Verna

Sunday, November 8, 2015

The Ornament

Now to the ornament I chose to make for this year. It will be done in several different colors no doubt but I will show you the first draft of it today.



These were the dies I did not only for the ornament but for the card I did in the previous post.



For the ornament I chose the darker purple die cuts and then glued them to each side of the lighter lavender solid globe ornament. This way the design can be seen from every angle.


My next step was to make two little holes in the top so that I could thread a fine gold metallic fiber through the top.


I had this Lilac Pearl Pen and I used that to add some pearls to the ornament. I thought it dressed it up and made it a bit more elegant. Once it was dry on the first side I then turned it over and added pearls to the other side as well.

Memory Box Dies used:
Globe Ornament Style No. 98927
Portia Ornament Style No. 98920

I love doing ornaments out of paper. They are very light weight and also kid safe. I remember in year's past when there were only glass ornaments to decorate the trees with. They were gorgeous but if one fell off the tree and shattered it was a very bad situation as those tiny shards of glass were so fine it was hard to sweep or vacuum them all up. So I think to be on the safe side since I have small grandchildren I will stay with my paper ones.

Since this qualifies I will enter this also into the Scrapy Land Blog Challenge. The theme is Anything Goes.

Well, take care and hope this Sunday is a start of a wonderful week for you.

God bless,
Verna


2015 Ornament Card

This afternoon I decided to work on my 2015 ornament design. Each year I make a few ornaments from paper and use them on my tree and also give them out with a card as a little extra something from me to my sisters. I used dies from Memory Box to create my card and ornament. This first post will just feature the card design and I will do another post showing the ornament. The project for today involves using a positive and a negative of my die cuts.


The first steps was to make my light lavender and my purple panels and I used the Memory Box Cross Stitched Borders dies for those.



I cut out a ornament design from the lighter shade of purple and put that aside for future use.


I put pop dots to the lighter shade of card stock which by the way are shimmery ones I got from Crafter's Companions. I think that is why sometimes the purples take on a different shade. I added the pop dot panel then to the darker purple one and then placed it on a white card base.


Now see that nice open space. When I purchased the plain ornament die I also purchased a more ornate one as well. So I proceeded to cut some of those out as well.


Of course for this card I chose to use the gold insert. I added it to the panels I had placed on the card base. It fit right into that open area.


My next step was to make a simple gold ribbon bow and add that to the upper part of the ornament. I then added a sentiment which is from Gina K. Designs Winter Cheer set which I stamped in purple ink on white card stock. I fussy cut that sentiment and then added that to the card below.

But to me it was still very plain looking and so I finished the card by adding pearls to the ornament and to each corner.


Sleep eluded me last night for three hours and during that time I decided how I wanted to use those dies. This is not quite the traditional colors I had been using of late on my Christmas cards but I still think that they are very appropriate anyway.

Memory Box dies used are the following:
Cross Stitched Frame Border Dies Style No. 99124
Globe Ornament Style No. 98927
Portia Ornament Style No. 98920

I think I will enter this in the Scrapy Land Blog Challenge.

Thanks for looking and my next post will feature how I assembled my ornament.

God bless,
Verna

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Tree In Window

I loved the way the other cards I made using the Duck Tape came out so I decided to make a tree with the tape and have it appear through a window. I will be entering this in the Scrapy Land Challenge too!


Here is another view and this time it shows how the light picks up the halographic design. Not sure if I spelled that right but I think you know what I mean. Anyway when the light hits it just right it almost seems like it has lights on the tree.

 
I sponged on some blue ink to white paper to use for the background before I glued the tree over the top of it. Then I cut along the die cut to make it look more like a window and popped that over the top with double stick tape to make it raised. Along the bottom I added a strip of white paper for a window sill. And, the last step was to add some ornate corners on the top before I added this to the white base card.

I thought about adding a sentiment but I like it this way and will instead add my sentiments inside the card.

Oh, here is a tip. In order to make the Duck Tape cover I had to add two layers to a thin card stock and then when I die cut this intricate die I used the metal shim plate so that it cut it out completely.

Dies used:
Die-Namites "Winter Fir" DN-1117
Cheery Lynn Designs FRM 142 Window B
Cherry Lynn Designs B162 Lace Corner Deco B

Well, I cleaned most of the day so decided this evening to work on this card. It sure beats housecleaning! Haha!

Everyone have a great evening and thanks for taking a look again!

God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

1 2 3 Thanks

Today I worked with an awesome leaf stamp to create a background and also used a sentiment from the same Gina K. Design set called Simply The Best. I stamped the leaves in Autumn colors onto white card stock to make a patterned panel.



I used a base card of Cranberry Tart card stock and placed the panel on a piece of Prickly Pear card stock. All the card stock is from Gina K. Designs.

My sentiment was stamped in Cranberry Tart ink onto the Prickly Pear classic oval and placed on a inverted scallop oval of white card stock. As you can see just a slight bit of the white shows up between the layers. The final oval layer is of Cranberry Tart too. My oval dies are from Cheery Lynn Designs.

I finished the card by popping the sentiment and then adding one single white pearl by it before adding a white layer inside for my message. Oh, the leaves were stamped again on that inside white layer.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week. The theme is Give Thanks.

I am also entering this in the Mix It Up Monday challenge at Stamp TV for which we are to make our own recipe of 1 2 3. I used one pearl, two stamps (leaf and sentiment) and three colors of card stock (cranberry tart, prickly pear and white).

Thanks for all the wonderful comments you leave each post. I so appreciate them.

God bless and thanks for being you,
Verna

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Bokeh Cat Window

The Die-Namites November Inspiration Challenge was recently sent out to me in an email and so today I worked up my take on the inspirational photo. I tried to use the colors and also tried to make a bokeh effect behind the window scene.


I sponged the colors I wanted to use onto white card stock and then took a pencil and used the eraser end to add white solid circles to it. I think it sort of resembles the bokeh look. My pattern paper chosen was some that I thought might look like how the wall paper might look in the darkened room. With the black die cut image it appears the cat is looking outside at the lit up scene. Let's imagine there is a street light outside near by. Ha ha! I fussy cut around the image before I added it to the background paper.

I topped the card off with a black ribbon bow. I thought it could serve as some curtains on the window. All was then mounted on a base card of ivory card stock.

Here is the inspirational photo I used:




The Die-Namites Die is below:


You know I find it so relaxing to sponge on colors randomly and today this was so fun for me to make this simple card design. I did not designate it for any occasion, but instead will leave it for now as a note type card which I can always add a sentiment to if needed. Looking at the design now I think I could have sponged on deeper hues of the colors and it might have looked better, but what is done is done. 

I hope your week is off to a great start. And, thanks for stopping by. I best go and wash off my inky fingers now. I guess that is all included in the fun!

God bless,
Verna

Monday, November 2, 2015

Leafy Thanksgiving

I was still short of a couple Thanksgiving cards for my shut-ins list so I decided to join in the Cheery Lynn Designs Blog challenge again for this week.  The theme is Give Thanks.



Previously I had die cut a whole bunch of Autumn leaves with a Cheery Lynn die so I used them on my card design. Some of the leaves were sponged on with some red colors too!

The decor at the top of the card is another die called Allison's Ribbons and I used two of the strips from the die and layered them to make one ribbon across the top.

Also used were Cheery Lynn Designs dies for the ovals which showcase the sentiment which is from Gina K. Designs. I added some copper nail head gems around the sentiment and to finish off the card I also added some red rhinestones on the upper area.

Cheery Lynn Dies used:
Small Leaves #1 D133
Oval-Classic XM-7
Oval-Inverted Scallop XM-9
Allison's Ribbons B335

Thanks for stopping in and I just want you to know I love all your comments too!

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...