Ice Fishing Valentine

If you live in a warmer part of the United States I don't imagine you are familiar with ice fishing unless of course, you saw the movie Grumpy Old Men. That is a perfect depiction of all the little villages on frozen lakes around our northern most states. And, here in our state of South Dakota it is a winter pastime for lots of people...men, women and children alike.

I only went once myself but then fishing is not my thing at all but I remember I was not too enthused because I could hear the ice making creaking noises and I was afraid I was going to meet my maker there on Big Stone Lake. And I was not in the mood for an icy swim. LOL

Anyway, I decided that this special ice fisherman stamp should be on a Valentine. It is an image from Sutter Stamps. I will tell the story behind that after you view the card.

I always wanted a stamp depicting an ice fisherman but was not having much luck finding one. I mentioned this to Carol Sutter of Sutter Stamps and I asked her if she ever thought of making such a stamp. She said she had but that she always drew from photos and she had not yet found one she liked. I thought about it for a few days and then I told her of a photo my son took when he and several others of the family were fishing one winter. I sent it to her by email and she was thrilled with it and she drew the image from the photo of my husband sitting on his pail and fishing. So my hubby is immortalized on a rubber stamp now. LOL

Now back to how the card was made. I used mostly negatives of dies to make this card. The center frame is from a bigger heart I die cut. And, all the little red hearts are negatives as well. I thought they were too lovely to waste so I had saved them for a later project. I am glad I did as they really look great on this card.

The pattern paper and the sentiment are from My Favorite Things. And, I fussy cut out the banner for the sentiment.

I think the ice fisherman will be on the cards for the men and boys I will be sending valentines to. I think the shut-ins will love to get a card like this as many of them used to enjoy ice fishing when they were healthy enough to do it.

Well, weekend time is here and I think I will be busy with other tasks. But maybe I will find a time to do a few cards too.

You have a great weekend and thanks for checking in.

God bless,
Verna

More of a Masculine Birthday

I really was stressed a bit as to what to do for a masculine birthday card and finally decided that a wood background might be just the ticket for any other image and it would then be more of a masculine look. So I went with a wood background that I made for it using a score board and swiping ink over it.  The day before I added some lines of glue to the card stock and let it dry over night. This sort of makes the wood more realistic looking. This tip was shown to me by my friend Karen on her blog Snippets. Hers is much nicer but maybe with practice I can improve.

I chose a dog image from Sparkle N Sprinkle and that way I thought it would appeal to all ages of the male gender. This image is from the Stamp Set 00-368P4-Animals-Scratchy. I not only have two brother-in-laws who will be having birthdays soon but also a grandson in March.

My pattern papers are from My Favorite Things and the Happy Birthday is a die cut from Cheery Lynn Designs. I used part of the wood grain paper to add a border between the pattern paper layers and also to die cut the sentiment. The dog was pieced onto the front of the wood panel and then I layered that onto a compatible color of blue card stock. The card was finished by adding a jute twine bow.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week which is to make masculine birthday cards.

Well, almost another week gone by. I can't believe how fast time flies! Thanks for stopping by too!

God bless,
Verna

Heart Tag Card

I was recently gifted with some beautiful Silver Glitter Paper which is from Stampin' Up and I immediately thought how beautiful it would work with making valentines. It was a 12 x 12 sheet but I cut it down to an 8 1/2 by 11 size and with the slim sections I had a perfect size to create a heart border and with the other portion of the cut off areas I used some of that for outlining my bigger heart and for the sentiment. The bigger heart is part of a heart design by Cheery Lynn Designs which was left over from the previous post. Using this I made a tag.

My design is really a clean and simple one but I added some watermark hearts with a Versamark pad using some little heart images from a set by Gina K. Designs called Stamp It Big which is illustrated by Carolyn King.

Oh, and once again I made a little bow using some Scor-Tape which I rolled between my fingers to create a rope and then rolled it in Gina K. Designs Silver glitter. This gave a little more embellishment to the simple Valentine tag.

Memory Box Die: Heart Chain Border Style No. 98277
Tattered Lace Die: With Love TL-ACD174
Cherry Lynn Designs Die: Heart Within My Heart DL178

This card will be entered in the Scrapy Land Challenge.

I so appreciate all who stop in and make comments. I treasure every one of them.

God bless,
Verna

Kid's Valentine

I have some grandchildren who usually like a Valentine from Grandpa and Grandma so today I decided to try and make one the little ones might relate to. I love the Newton's Nook Designs so I chose some of their images and a sentiment from the set Newton's Antics.

Most of the kitties on our farm are the striped kind so I tried to make him look more realistic to our cats. I used Bic Mark-It alcohol ink markers to color the image. I then cut out the design with a Marvy Heart shaped punch. I placed that over a die cut heart design from Cheery Lynn Designs. This was then placed on a pattern paper panel from Gina K. Designs which was layered to black and then added to the base card of white card stock. The panel layers are also from a die cut by Cheery Lynn Designs. The card was finished then by the addition of a black and red chiffon ribbon bow.

Cheery Lynn Dies used:

Card Maker's Stacker Nesting Dies ST 014

Heart Within My Heart DL178

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Inky Paws Challenge #28-Love Theme

Cheery Lynn Designs Blog Challenge

Well, it sounds like some snow moving into our region again and maybe some strong winds. So far it is just really overcast but the temperature is not too bad as we hit about 30 degrees above zero today. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday.

God bless,
Verna

Snowy Scene

We are in a winter wonderland here with snow covering much of our farm land and yard. So I decided to dig out a cute little snowy scene and create a card with it. I also used the negatives from some snowflake dies from Cheery Lynn to create a stenciled background with a stipple brush. The scene image is one I got as a gift and is from Cherry Pie Art Stamps.

I used Gina K. Designs Wisteria card stock and dye ink for this card along with the white card stock. My Wonky Stitched Ovals and Wonky Stitched Rectangle dies are from Die-Namics. After all was assembled on the base card I then added the double loop bow which I lucked out as being a perfect color match. I could not have planned it any better.

This is being entered in the Double D Challenge which is titled Brrrrr! I think this little scene depicts that.

Well, the weekend is here again and once again the week flew right past me in a whoosh! But I guess I was busy so that is why. I hope you have a great weekend too.

God bless,
Verna

Blue Wildflowers

I am taking a break from working with glitter and Valentines to get to something a bit more in the feel of spring. But warning you, I am still liking the blue color schemes and this time I used four different colors of blue ink plus a green.

For this card I used two sets from Gina K. Designs and both are illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. The sets I used are Wild Flowers and Wild at Heart. Some of the flowers I fussy cut out and popped up on the large big stamped background. Oh, and I used my MISTI to do the background as with my arthritic hands I sometimes need to do several stampings to get a good inking. So I was glad I did use it this time.

I used a Cheery Lynn Banners die for adding my sentiment and flowers.

Here is another view of the card. I think you can see the popped images much better with this photo.

The base card is Gina K. Designs Powder Blue card stock and I stamped the background and extra flowers and butterfly on white card stock. I also used white card stock for the die cut banner to which I added the sentiment and more floral details.

My Gina K. Designs inks of choice for this card were Navy, Blue Denim, Blue Raspberry and Powder Blue. The green ink was Momento Bamboo Sprout. It was handy and I was to lazy to run and get another shade. LOL But I really like that color with the blue anyway.

Well, thanks for stopping in and I appreciate all the lovely comments too.

God bless,
Verna

Kiss Cut and More

Another Valentine design created in the crafting area of my home. Again I did the kiss cut technique but also made my own fiber bow embellishment for this card too. I learned both of these things from Demo Donna at Sparkle N Sprinkle. I love to view the videos and learn how to use more of my acquired supplies.

I used a couple of dies in my design and lots of adhesive paper, glue, glitter and score tape. The frame die of red card stock was a square one but since I wanted it to fill an A2 size card I extended the frame. I did this by cutting the frame in two, gluing it to the base card at the top and the bottom and then over the bare area I added a double adhesive sheet which had silver glitter on one side of it, This created the illusion of a bigger frame.

My heart die cut was done with the kiss cut method and when I had the die all filled in with my glitters of choice, I then fussy cut a small border around it and peeled off the sticky layer and then added another edging of the red glitter. I wanted this design popped over the frame.

At the top of the frame I stamped the sentiment from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 6 set in Gina K. Designs Red Hot ink. I still thought it needed something else so I took a piece of 1/4 inch score tape and rolled it between my fingers and then dipped it in silver glitter. This made a fiber cord and I then created a simple bow with it and added it to my card.

Here is another view which shows more of the details from a different perspective.

Cheery Lynn Dies used:
Heart Within My Heart DL178
Sweetheart Frame FRM127

Gina K. Designs Prismatic Glitter used:
Red Hot
Silver

This card will be entered into the following challenges:
Scrapy Land Challenge
Mod Squad Blog Challenge
Mix It Up Monday at Stamp TV

Old Truck Valentine

Today I made a masculine valentine design on my card. I used an image of a classic pick-up truck which is from a multi-step stamp set called Classic Old Truck. I purchased it from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

In fact, we have a red one on our yard which is almost exactly like this. My hubby hopes to restore it some day (that is if he ever retires)!  Each year he keeps putting retirement off but I think once  you hit 70 you should do things that you enjoy more. But he does like farming so perhaps he is after all doing what he enjoys!

Anyway, back to the card. I went with blue since that is my husband's favorite color. He already seen me make one in red so I thought a different colored one would be nice to add to the fleet. I stamped the truck in various shades of blue for the body and ended up with the next steps in shades of gray and black. I then fussy cut it out and placed it on the panel I created with a stacker die set from Cheery Lynn Designs.

I placed this panel on a white card base and then added some hearts in the left upper corner. The sentiment which is a die cut from Tattered Lace was placed in the opposite lower corner to balance the design out. In the sentiment I added one red gem to the "O" to add a pop of color.

The Kitchen Sink Stamp set is:
Multi Step Classic Old Truck LRGC 039

The Cheery Lynn Die is:
Royal Scandinavian Boutique Stacker A2 Frame DL 313

The Tattered Lace Die is:
With Love TL-ACD174

This is going to be my hubby's valentine if you haven't guessed already. He went fishing this afternoon so I took the opportunity to be sneaky and make it while he was gone.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this week.

Well, at least it warmed up so that we got into the 20's above zero today. I am thankful for that. And, this morning I got a hair cut so I feel much lighter now. LOL My beautician does a fantastic job and I always love to go and see her. Thanks Rena!

Have a great rest of the day everyone.

God bless,
Verna

Lasting Hearts Card Drive

Today I made ten clean and simple note cards for the Lasting Hearts Card Drive which is a wonderful cause. The cards and some books will be given to mothers who have miscarried and are mourning and feeling an emptiness because of it. For more information check out Jennifer McGuire's blog post.

I did a scribble background with the Spectrum Noir Aqua markers and tried to get more of an ombre look with them. Then over the top I simply stamped the sentiment in black ink which is from Verses. I really like that sentiment and the photo below will show off the words much better.

Along with my card donation I plan to make a monetary donation too. I feel I was so blessed to carry all my pregnancies to full term and got the chance to watch my children grow to adults. So I know I cannot ever fully understand what these mothers go through, but if these cards and those books can ease their pain just a little then I am so glad to be a part of this drive.

Inside each note card I will add a little message and sign just my first name and the state I am from. I won't be putting any stamp on the back or adding any address labels either to the unsealed envelopes which are included as getting a card from a total stranger is part of what this is all about. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of the week.

God bless,

Verna

Kiss Cut Hearts

Well, hubby is engrossed in football and since I was not that interested I decided to work on more of my Kiss Cut Technique using die cuts and glitter.

I know I still need to have more Valentines so I chose a set of hearts from Cheery Lynn Designs for making my glittery design.

And in the process of adding the glitter I did a big goof! I was going to use the Scor-Tape along the edges and use the same red glitter but instead grabbed the pink shade. Thank goodness it was still a complimentary color so I continued on with the design.

I believe here in this next photo you may be able to see more of the glittery details. 

My base card was white card stock. And the sentiment I added is from Gina K. Designs and can be found on the Stately Flowers 6 set. Once I had the panel attached to the base card I stamped the sentiment in Gina K. Designs Cheery Red ink. The final touch was to add some pink rhinestones to the non-glittery part of the card. I had to tie in the pink goof somehow! LOL

Cheery Lynn Designs Die:

Two of Hearts DL128

Sparkle N Sprinkle glitters:

Fire Engine Red GL1007

Bridal GL1029

Shell Pink GL1022

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Scrapy Land Challenge

Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge

In previous posts there is links and a video to see how to do this technique. I thank all who have said they enjoyed seeing how this is a great way to get more from your dies. I hope you get a chance to try it. I know I am having fun with it.

God bless,

Verna

CAS Friendship Card

Today I brought out a new set from CAS-UAL FRIDAYS called Truth Is and stamped some flowers from it as well as the sentiments except for the FRIEND which was a sentiment stamp from Gina K. Designs. I went with a clean and simple look and added color to the flowers with my Spectrum Noir Aqua markers.

Once I had the flowers colored in, I die cut the main panel with a stacker die from Die-Namics. I then layered this onto a red card stock panel cut with the same die set and adhered these to the base card of yellow card stock. My FRIEND sentiment was stamped onto yellow card stock with red ink. I cut it out and layered it onto a piece of red card stock and placed it on the main panel. My card was finished by adding a few orange gems.

Die-Namics Die used:
Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stackers MFT 839

I am entering this into the Mod Squad Blog Challenge and also into the Spectrum Noir Monthly Challenge. 

We are still in a cold snap here so trying to work with bright colors and flowers seemed to make me feel a bit warmer.

I wish all of you a wonderful rest of the weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Friendship

Today I wanted to play with some new toys. New stamps and new dies as well as new pattern paper were tools I used today to create this card. Now this card could be a St. Patrick card or just a plain friendship card to my way of thinking so I am not sure how it will end up being used.

And here is the view from the front. I think maybe you can see the outside details a bit better with this photo.

The stamps and the sentiment are from the CAS-UAL FRIDAYS stamp set called Clover. I used Momento Danube Blue and Cottage Ivy for stamping the images and then colored them in with my Bic Mark-It alcohol ink pens.

Once I had the line of clovers and the sentiment completed on white card stock I then took the Die-Namics Die and cut out the center panel and also using the same die set to cut out the pattern paper panel too. The pattern paper is from My Favorite Things and is called Subtle Plaids.

I added a blue ribbon to the white center panel and also added another larger clover which was colored and popped up.

Here is a flat view of the design.

Die-Namic Die used:

Wonky Stitches Rectangle Stacker MFT 839

I am entering this in the Scrapy Land Challenge-Anything Goes and in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge-Friendship.

I am so blessed to have so many friends and many of you I have only met through the internet but none the less you are all very precious to me. Thanks for being my friend and for coming by now and then to leave such lovely comments.

God bless,
Verna

Kiss Cut Glittered Snowflakes

The theme for the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge this week is snowflakes so it was a great opportunity for me to try the kiss cut glittering technique with some of their snowflake designs. I think I like the outcome and this time I used a two inch double stick tape for my kiss cutting.

The sentiment is from Stampenback and is available at I Brake for Stamps. I always thought that was such a cute sentiment. The sentiment reads "Snowmen Fall From Heaven Unassembled". It was a perfect one for this theme. And below is a different view so I hope you can see more of the details.

My smaller snowflakes were placed on the Tear-ific double stick tape which was adhered to a piece of heavy card stock. Then I put it through my die cutting machine and only did a "kiss" on the tape so that it cut the taped area but not the card stock underneath. I used the Crossover and put my dial at 5 1/2 but you would have to experiment with your own particular machine as to where you need to put the dial or add a proper shim. In another post I added the video showing how the original idea came about and how it was done. You can see that POST here. In the video she tells how to use it with her machine.

Once I had the snowflake kissed onto the tape I took the Tim Holtz pick tool and removed the inner portions and added a darker color of glitter. After I had burnished that glitter in well and brushed off the excess, I then removed the rest of the snowflake design and added white glitter. I repeated the process of cleaning. I used a Swiffer cloth, but some use a special brush to remove it. The last step for the glittered edged panel was to remove all the layers around the snowflake and on that area I added a lighter shade of blue glitter.

The base card of white card stock has a darker blue layer added on the front panel. On this I then added the banner with the sentiment stamped on it. Over the top of the left edge of the banner I added the glittery panel and placed a white glittery ribbon along the right edge of the glittered portion. Now I was ready to add another bigger snowflake,  but first I had to add glue to it and then dip it in white glitter. Once it was dry I popped it over the top in the center of the snowflake panel.

My last step for the card was to add snowflake sequins on the darker blue area on the top and bottom.

The Cheery Lynn Dies used are:
Snowflake Set 2 B635
Snowflake 5 DL169
Pierced Banners DL303

Sparkle and Sprinkle Glitters used:
Lazer Blue G1074
Fascination G1030
Sparkling Snow G1003

I entered this in the Sparkle N Sprinkle Challenge too.

Well, I hope you liked my snowflake design. I guess it is the season for them as we have plenty of them around here. It is indeed a snowy winter wonderland! And really cold too! We reached 15 below zero this morning and it is up to zero for a high. So everyone stay warm if you are in the cold part of the country.

God bless,
Verna

More Glitter and More Blues!

Well, it seems I am hooked on using dies and adding glitter to them. And, once again, I went with the blues in my card. I hope I won't bore you too much with some of the same old things.

I have all of this glitter in my supply and just thought since I am no longer afraid to use it for sending cards to the soldiers through Operation Write Home I would try and use up some of what I have on hand. The OWH program was discontinued when the soldiers were withdrawn from the fighting areas.

So this is again using the Kiss Cut Technique which involves a die, sticker paper and glitters. You also need a pick or tool to pick up the various portions of the cut design. I have previous posts which give more details on how to use this technique. Check them out as they are the ones showing the Kiss Cut Glittering label. Oh, and I used a craft knife to separate the flowers from the stems so that I could get different colors on those areas.

I used the following glitters from Sparkle N Sprinkle:

Meadow Spark G1014

Fascination G1030

Bridal G1029

Sunny Daze G1038

The Die-Namite die I used is called "Beautiful Flowers" DN-1147. And the sentiment is one I have had for a long time and it is wood mounted and unknown to me. I do love it though!

After I had layered the glittered flower panel to the darker green I then placed it on a base card of white shimmery card stock from Stampin' Up! The card was finished by adding a double bow ribbon of ombre blues and some blue gems of various sizes.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Mod Squad Blog Challenge
Scrapy Land Challenge
Double D's Challenge

Well, the snow is falling and the winds are picking up and bringing in a cold front. So if this is affecting you too, I hope you are safe and warm. Everyone have a great weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Featuring Blue

Yesterday I was working with pink but today I am featuring the blue shades in my work. I made another card which can work for many occasions with the outside sentiment I added.

I used a brayer to create an ombre looking background for my focal image of flowers. They are from the Gina K. Designs set called Dogwood and Butterfly which is illustrated by Theresa Momber. I colored the flowers in with my Bic Mark-It alcohol pens. The ombre background was done with a Shades of Blue rainbow pad from Marvy. 

The base card is white but it was dressed up with the addition of dies to create frames and layers. The sentiment is also a die. 

Cheery Lynn Dies used are:

Royal Scandinavian Boutique Stacker A2 Frame DL313
Oval-Classic Stackers Nesting Dies XM-7
God Bless CARA-26

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Scrapy Land Blog Challenge
Mod Squad Blog Challenge
Double "D" Challenge

Well, that is all I will be making today. I hope your day is going well. We are getting some drizzle and so I hope the roads don't end up getting slippery as I have to travel tomorrow for a medical checkup. I am not a fan of icy roads or sidewalks.

Thanks for looking and I so appreciate all of the wonderful comments you leave me.

God bless,
Verna

More Kiss Cut Glittering

Since I had so much fun doing my first try at the Kiss Cut Glittering technique I decided I had to try it again. To see the video on how to do it check my first post here: Glittered Perky Poppy.

I used for inspiration the colors taken from this photo at the Die-Namites Challenge. I went with a more pinkish color then the photo but I still think it was close enough to qualify because it was a lighter shade of red.

The Die-Namites die I used was one of my favorites as I am a lover of daisies. I seem to gravitate to them a lot it seems no matter if they are dies or stamps. This die is called Daisy Bunch.

I also used a new stacker die I recently purchased from Cheery Lynn Designs called Royal
Scandinavian Boutique Stacker to make the pink layer panel for the card using some shimmery pink card stock that I got from Crafter's Companion. My glitters were from Sparkle N Sprinkle. The sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs set called Stippled Nature and it is illustrated by Beth Silaika.

I started to remove the leaves and stems first using a Tim Holtz tool with a point on it to lift them up and when I got to the blooms on the daisy image I cut off the stem and left the blooms still adhered to the sticker paper. After I had burnished the green glitter into the stems and removed the excess glitter with a Swiffer cloth, I then proceeded to remove the blooms but left the centers of the daisies still intact. Once the pinkish glitter was added and the residue removed I then removed the centers and added some gold glitter. Again I removed the excess glitter. The last step was to remove all of the leftover sticker paper around the daisy bunch and apply the white glitter and again rubbing it in well before I removed the residue. This then made the design ready to apply to the rest of the card.

Oh, also here is a tip for you if you try this technique. I tried to use gold glitter around a floral image to do this technique and the darker color seemed to overshadow the main focal image of flowers. So I recommend sticking to a white glitter to do the background for the flowers. I will show you a small photo of the card I made trying the gold and you can see for yourself that it does not stand out as well. In fact I had a tough time to get the photo to even show the roses.  I also used a Die-Namites die for this one called Rose Bush. It is another lovely die design.

This card I made today will be sent to a friend who is need of encouragement as she recently was widowed and she herself is very ill. I thought the pretty daisy bouquet was just the ticket to bring some joy to her life and maybe perk her up a bit.

Thanks for stopping in again and I look forward to seeing all your wonderful comments too!

God bless,
Verna

Winter White Valentine

I recently received some new dies and I just had to use it to create a card for Valentine's Day. That is the next winter holiday so I decided to use some winter white for the main part of it with just a bit of color in the focal image.

The rose and sentiment are from the Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 6 set which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I just love this set with it's pretty fonts and great images. I colored the rose in with my Bic Mark-It alcohol ink markers after they were stamped with Momentos ink.

The embossing folder I used is one of my favorites. It is called Swiss Dots and is made by Cuttlebug.

The Cheery Lynn dies are both from one set called Royal Scandinavian Boutique Stacker A2 Frame DL313. There are four dies in that set. I used the two largest ones.

I finished the card by adding a double loop bow below the sentiment.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Cheery Lynn Blog Challenge

Mix It Up Monday Challenge at Stamp TV

Well, here is my first card for the new year. I hope this is just the beginning of lots more as I so enjoy doing these little projects. Thanks for always stopping by and checking out what I am up to as well. I love to see your comments.

God bless,
Verna