No Bones About It

I created a card using a Stamp It Up' set called No Bones About It. I am entering this card into the Simon Says Monday Challenge-Based on a Book and into the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes.

As soon as I saw this set I immediately thought about the book and movie Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I really like this set and I am sure I will be using it a lot to make cards for my grandsons who I think all liked that movie. In fact, this is for one of them for his birthday.

I also carried the theme over into the inside of the card too.

By using my MISTI I was able to line up these images just perfectly. And, I made my dinosaurs in all colors so that it would be a bit more cheery looking. For a one layer card I think it looks pretty neat!

Well, I have been working on my craft area trying to dispose of some things and rearranging as well. And, I just know that every time I do rearranging I end up not remembering where I put things. But hopefully in time I will figure it all out again. LOL

Thanks for coming by and for all the wonderful comments you leave.

God bless,
Verna

Reddish Goldfish

I just love working with the Hero Arts CL945 Color Layering Goldfish stamp set which I had purchased at Tupelo Designs. But I was curious if goldfish were in other colors then gold and I did find that by using a search engine that they were. One color was more of a reddish look to it so I decided to try my hand at making a card with those colors.

I just love how the fish looked and for them I used Gina K. Designs Red Hot, Sweet Mango and Black Onyx inks. For the grass I used Red Hot and Fresh Asparagus. The stones were stamped with Blue Raspberry and Blue Lagoon and of course, the sentiment was stamped in black as were the air bubbles.

I die cut the scene out using an old Spellbinder set of mine called Large Octagons. I then outlined the scene with a thin layer of black. This was placed on a red panel which was embossed with a Darice Honeycomb folder and then die cut with a Die-Namics MFT-839 Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stackers die. The card was completed by placing all onto a white card base.

I am entering this in the a2z Scrapbooking February 2017 Challenge-Any Shades of Red and also in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge in which we are to use geometric designs. I guess a hexagon and a rectangle will qualify for that too.

Well, it has been a busy week. I cooked huge batches of potatoes as they are not keeping very well with this warmer weather and froze some as hash browns, some in mashed potato blocks and some as scalloped potatoes. It is a way of saving them and also makes for easy fixing later on too as most only have to be reheated in the microwave or fried in a pan, I can just take out the amount I need. I worked on that for three days.

Next week I am hoping to tackle some rearranging of my art supplies and purge a little. We shall see how that goes. And, the snow missed us but we are having colder temperatures. I hope that the winter weather for those who received it will not be too upset as with it coming at this time of year we know it won't stick around long.

Have a good weekend. And thanks for the comments too.
God bless,
Verna

Ride Into the Sunset

A longtime friend of my husband passed away recently and he was very fond of riding horses so today I made a sympathy card for his family. Hopefully, this will bring some comfort and fond memories to them.

All of the stamps except for the sentiment are from Sutter Enterprises. The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs. I also used a rectangle stacker set of double stitched dies from Cottage Cutz. The scene was cut with the largest die but I wanted to have the outer layer also to have the double stitch design so I took the next smaller size die and cut it twice and then pieced it together to make my second layer. I could have covered the split up with a ribbon but I decided to leave it alone as it again showed a double stitched design in the center.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge in which we are to use geometrical designs. I was told that die cuts would qualify and on this one I used the rectangle stackers.

Thanks for your wonderful comments and I appreciate your visits.

God bless,
Verna

More No More Lines

Well, yesterday afternoon I got some new stamp sets in the mail and of course, I immediately wanted to try the No More Lines concept using colored pencils again. This time the image was much smaller and therefore I found this to be a bit more difficult. But I persisted and came  up with this simple design.

The key to doing this with colored pencils to have very sharp points on them. I was constantly sharpening mine so that I could get a bit more detailed look. The focal image was stamped with a light pinkish orange color so that I could see the design but easily color it up with the pencils.

I used the floral wreath from the Sparkle N Sprinkle Leafy Flower Spring Wreath Stamp Set #815 for the focal image and I took the sentiment from another Sparkle N Sprinkle set called Teacup Pansies Stamp Set #833. The sentiment on that set fit in better with my design. Isn't that a pretty font too?

This white panel was die cut with a Cottage Cutz Double-Stitched Rectangle Set CCB-021. I think the double stitching looks so nice for a border.

I am entering this in the Power & Spark Challenge: Say YES to NO Lines and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes.

I must say I have been having fun doing this no lines look. It is worth trying and if you can master it, I think it looks great. I am hoping that with new markers which I have ordered that I can get that look with them too eventually. Thanks for stopping in and for your sweet comments.

God bless,
Verna

Going No Lines

Last night I decided to try a new way of using stamps to make a no lines design. I stamped the image with light pink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. I found this to be more controllable for me then markers as sometimes with my arthritis I tend to shake somewhat. I was inspired by this blog post by Kathy Racoosin. She even has a video which was very informative to me.

Now in no way can I compete with Kathy's talent but at least this was one I thought I could safely post to my blog as it isn't too awful. I used the Wild Prairie Rose image from the Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 7 set which is illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. With my Prismacolor pencils I was able to color the flowers and use the pencil included to blend them. I know Gamsol works too, but I am all out at the moment.

I wanted a big bold sentiment so I used one of them from A Jillian Vance Designs Simply Said: Sympathy set. When I want a big sentiment for a sympathy card I find I am always reaching for that set as it has such a pretty font and wonderful messages.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Power & Spark Challenge: Say YES to NO Lines
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Fantastic Florals

Well, our week is off to a good start. And, we have been having temperatures in the 60's for highs. Unbelievable for this time of year but it sounds like it is back to winter by the weekend. So we are enjoying it while it lasts.  I hope you have a great week too and thanks for all your visits and comments.

God bless,
Verna

Goldfish

This card is a clean and simple design using the Hero Arts Color Layering Goldfish CL945 stamp set. I wanted my design to appear as it would in a fish tank. I am trying to come up with masculine cards and I thought this one might work for any age male.

My goldfish was stamped onto a white panel using the Gina K. Designs ink colors of Sweet Mango, Honey Mustard and Black. The weeds were stamped with the colors of Gina K. Designs Faded Brick and Fresh Asparagus. The stones I added to the bottom were stamped with Gina K. Designs Turquoise Sea, Blue Lagoon and Blue Raspberry ink. The sentiment was stamped with Gina K. Designs Black.

Before I added the stamped scene to my base card of turquoise card stock I die cut it with the Die-Namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stackers MFT-839 set. I also cut another white plain panel out and put that to the inside of the card so I can stamp a verse or write a note.

When I first stamped the goldfish I stamped it upside down. But since nothing else was added I simply turned the card stock the other direction. So my fish ended up swimming a different way then I thought it would originally. LOL

I am going to enter this card in A Blog Named Hero Challenge. The theme is to go clean and simple.

Thanks for swimming by and for your awesome comments.

God bless,
Verna

Gears Birthday

Today I made a masculine card using only dies except for the inside in which I will stamp a greeting. I am in need of birthday cards for the guys so that was the purpose of this card creation, And one of my favorite tools to use in card making is my die cut machine...the Crossover. The use of dies is a great way to add texture too!

I used the card stock colors of red, blue and silver. The gears were cut from the Gina K. Designs Metallic Silver card stock and used with some Gina K. Designs Red Velvet and some blue of unknown origin.

Besides the dies used I saved some of the little circle digits from the gears and used them as extra embellishment on the card. I also added some light gray card stock inside the card to make for a lighter surface for stamping a sentiment.

Dies used:
Cheery Lynn Designs Just For You Oval B784
Memory Box Deluxe Gear Set Style No. 98962
Memory Box Cross Stitched Border Dies Style No. 99124

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamps Blog Monday Challenge-Favorite Tool
Mod Squad Blog Challenge-No More White
Scrapy Land Challenge #60-Add Texture

Happy Saturday to all! Thanks for taking the time to stop and comment.

God bless,
Verna

Hydrangea Sympathy

Well, one type of card that is always in demand is sympathy cards it seems. And, the older I get the more those types are needed. So with that thought in mind I decided to use my new Altenew Garden Hydrangea set along with A Jillian Vance Design sentiment set called Simply Said: Sympathy. I like the big hydrangea for the focal image and I thought the large script sentiment worked well with it. Now the hydrangea is a multi-step set so please excuse if it is not perfectly aligned. Sometimes I have issues with that.

For the flower I used the Gina K. Designs ink colors: Powder Blue, Wild Wisteria, Wild Lilac and Edible Eggplant. I also used the Gina K. Designs inks Grass Green, Fresh Asparagus and Christmas Pine for the leaves. The sentiment was done with the Edible Eggplant. The stamp images were done using my MISTI so that I could get fairly good coverage. After coloring the images I took a white paint pen and put some dots in the centers of the hydrangea blossoms.

I fussy cut all of the leaves and the flower and then added them to my card base. The finishing touch was to add some blue rhinestones.

I am entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Fantastic Florals.

Well, here it is the beginning of the weekend already. And, I hardly got anything accomplished with card making this week. I best not waste too much time watching movies. LOL Some free previews were featured so we took advantage and watched a few of them. I understand there might be more this next week. I will try to confine it to the evening only. Whatever your plans I hope you have a great weekend. And, once again thanks for stopping in and for all the wonderful comments.

God bless,
Verna

Florescent Edward Elephant

I have been eyeing the four florescent Zig Watercolor markers in my set of 60 for quite some time and finally I decided to use them on a card featuring Edward Elephant. This is an image from the digital set from Sparkle N Sprinkle called Edward Elephant St. Patty's Day #2. .

The colors appear less intense in the photo then they actually are. For some reason I always get a washed out look and this seemed to be the closest one I finally captured.

I colored the digital image in with the Zig Watercolor markers using the florescent colors of pink, yellow, orange and green. The elephant was colored in with the light gray. After the image was colored I die cut it with a scalloped circle die. I placed this on a black panel which was embossed using the Darice Honeycomb folder.  I also die cut it with a cross stitched border die. This black panel was added to a similar green colored card base.

I thought that was just too plain so I die cut some zig zag chevrons from white card stock that I colored in first with the Zig markers of orange and yellow. These were added to the right and left corners. The card was finished by adding some tiny shamrock fingernail decals onto the black panel.

Dies used:
Cheery Lynn Designs XM5 XM Scalloped Circle
Die-Namics MFT Stepped Up Chevron
Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders Style No. 99124

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Scrapy Land Challenge #60-Add Texture
Mod Squad Blog Challenge-No More White
Double D Challenge-Ric Rac/Zig Zag
Dies R Us Challenge #67-Think Spring (I always think of Spring when I start making St. Pat's cards.)

Once again I look forward to your visits and wonderful comments. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support you extend to me each post.

Until next time may the Lord bless you.

Cyber hugs,
Verna

Edward Elephant

I have been working on some St. Patrick's Day cards for the shut-ins this week and did this one using the already colored digital image from the Sparkle N Sprinkle Edward Elephant St. Patty's Day #2 set. I tried to pair my colors as close as I could to the already colored image.

Well, I am a novice at using digitals but I did manage to do one with the colored image of Edward Elephant but I misjudged on the size. It was too big for my open circle dies so I thought I would use the only other circle sets I had that were enclosed in the center. They had bigger circles. Well, that did not work well. This image is supposed to have the sentiment printed around it but my die cutting with the bigger die took a portion of the sentiment off and it was all crooked. With the enclosed center I was not able to see exactly where to position it. So my only option was to fussy cut the sentiment off and make my card without it.

And, when I layered it on a dark green circle I see I did not get the image centered. Oh, dear! But I will show it anyway.  I had a scrap of the pattern paper I had made with the digi shamrock from the set and colored it in and just added a strip of that for contrast.

Well, after this mishap I have decided that I need open circles of a bigger size. So I spent part of my afternoon perusing a web site where I won a gift certificate to and one of the items I have on order now is a new set of larger circle dies. Now if this was not a digital stamp I could have hand stamped inside a white solid circle but for an already printed design it just does not work well. Another reason I like the kind of stamps I can hold in my hands and control more.

I sort of lost my enthusiasm for making cards for a few days and spent some time watching movies with hubby over the weekend. And, we celebrated our Valentines day a bit early with a purchased meal. No cooking or dishes to do then. I also was gifted with a card and some Dove chocolates. We will share the chocolates. And, on Valentine's Day he made breakfast and made me a heart shaped pancake. Such a romantic fella I have! LOL I did give him a handmade card and also made him a special supper too!

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day as well. And, thanks so much for all who stop in to see what I am doing these days. I very much appreciate those visits and your lovely comments.

God bless,
Verna

Hi Grandma!

My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter loves to call Grandma Verna now and then. She seldom says much but loves to listen to Grandma talk to her. I saw this cute image on the Loads of Love set by Penny Black and decided this would be a good valentine design to use for her. She also loves kitties so this I know she will like. I did not add any bling at all since she is a toddler.

I embossed a white panel with this Cuttlebug design from the Winter Wonderland collection. I just love that plaid design. I then rubbed some red ink onto the surface of it. And, I cut that panel with a die. I also used a die set to cut out the kitty image. I did several of the outer circle ring so that the insert of the image is recessed.

Dies used:
Die-Namics MFT-948 Single Stitch Line Circle Frames
Die-Namics MFT-914 Blueprints 29

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge-Cute
Crop Stop Linky Party #25
Mod Squad Blog Challenge-Heat or Dry Embossing

Heart Flutter

I am back to the Valentine mode. I used a negative of a Cheery Lynn Designs heart die cut, an embossing folder and some stamp images from the Hero Arts CL867 Color Layering Butterflies. I stuck with shades of red except for some white and black added for contrast.

First thing I did was die cut a heart so that I could use the negative. I applied the heart to the panel with some washi tape that I folded over so that it was then sticky on both sides. I find that releases well and does not tear the paper. Next I took the Gina K. Designs ink colors of Dusty Rose, Lipstick and Red Velvet and sponged on color to that panel being careful not to get ink under the heart mask.

Oh, and here is a tip: If you do get some ink under the mask I found that a little bit of a white paint pen applied lightly will erase it quite nicely. Only dab it on, let dry and then apply more if needed.

I removed the mask and I proceeded to stamp my triple stamped butterfly in the heart center. I used the MISTI to align the layers up correctly. With a Memory Box Cross Stitched Border die I cut the panel out to the size I wanted. Next I placed that panel into a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Floral Fantasy and ran it through my machine. The result was that the whole panel was embossed then.

This panel was then added to a black layer. I took two styles of ribbon...one red with white dots and the other black gingham and layered them together before adding them to the panel. I also used both of the ribbons together to tie a simple knot bow.

I was ready to place this on a white card stock base. I then added the sentiment from the same Hero Arts set and some bling to finish the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
a2zScrapbooking Challenge - Any Shade of Red
Mod Squad Blog Challenge - Dry or Heat Embossing

Well, the afternoon just flew by. I only got this one card done and now it is time to concentrate on what to fix for supper. I hope you are having a wonderful and fun day. Sun is out here and even though it is chilly yet, we are looking forward to warmer temperatures next week. Thanks for your visits and comments. They are much appreciated.

God bless,
Verna

Hug a Heart Card Drive #6 2017

Today I did a few cards for the Hug a Heart Card Drive. Check that link for more details. These cards go to children who are Heart Center Patients at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. I was a bit late in getting started but since the drive is open until February 14th I thought  would do a few at least. All are the same basic design and made quite simple without any embellishments. But they still will hopefully bring some smiles to little children who have heart illnesses.

I used the cute little hedgehog image which is from the Penny Black Loads of Love set. I had used that for some Valentines so figured they would work for this type of card too. Now these cards were not to be Valentines but are to include hearts in the design. That is why I went with more non-traditional colors for my hearts. The sentiment is from A Jillian Vance Design set called Simply Said: Happy Daisy.

These are for children up to the age of 19 so I figured the little hedgehog would be appealing to boys or girls of all age groups.

The lavender gingham paper is from Gina K. Designs and the plaid papers are from My Favorite Things.

The inside of the cards are to be left plain with no sentiment added so that the nurses can write a hand written message to each child. One is also to include envelopes for each card. And if a darker card base is used they said to include a white or lighter colored liner so the message can be visible when it is hand written.

If you would like to join the drive you can send cards with envelopes to: Christina Hor, P.O. Box 517, Dublin, Ohio 43017. And be sure to include a note with your full name, mailing address and email address as there will be some prizes given as well. The card drive ends February 14. Mail the cards in a bubble wrap envelope or box so that they will arrive in great condition.

Well, thanks so much for coming to visit again. I love to see all of the comments you leave too!

God bless,

Verna

Hearts

Once again I brought out the You Had Me At Hello stamp set which is a collaboration of Unity
Stamp Company and Gina K. Designs. I made a valentine with lots of hearts on it. I used some older pattern paper from Gina K. Designs which I think is now retired. It was a lighter shade of pink so I decided to stamp more hearts from this set onto it.

I used Gina K. Designs Dusty Rose and Cheery Red inks for my card. The big hearts were stamped in the Cherry Red and the big focal lacy heart was stamped with the Dusty Rose. I also used Dusty Rose card stock from Gina K. Designs. Inside the big heart frame I stamped the Happy Valentine's Day sentiment with the Cherry Red. By using my MISTI tool I was able to get good images of all the stamps.

Before putting all the layers together I added two strips of ribbon to the panel and placed the big heart frame over them. I also made a bow of that same ribbon which I put at the top of the heart frame.

I am entering this in the Dare2BArtzy Blog Challenge.

I made this card yesterday after the big game. That sure was an exciting one in the second half. I was just so shocked to see the outcome. It even kept my interest and I am not that big of a football fan.

Well, have a good evening and thanks for you sweet comments. I love all of them;

God bless,
Verna

Using A Favorite

Today I used a new favorite stamp from Penny Black called Trumpet Song along with an old time favorite sentiment which is made by Double D Stamps from Olivia, MN. This wood sentiment stamp was given to me by a friend and I only have the sticker on it to go by to know for sure where this stamp was made. Double D's might be the name of the store or it could be the designer of the stamp. At any rate, this sentiment has been used inside and out of many of my cards for years and especially on Get Well and Sympathy types.

I used my MISTI to make this card and I colored directly onto the stamp with my recently purchased Tombow markers. With the set came a blender pen so I used that to sort of blend the colors together. My card stock of choice was Gina K. Designs Ivory. I die cut a portion of the design with a Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders die that  I wanted for my card and placed it on another base card of ivory card stock. The sentiment was then added with Gina K. Designs black ink.

I am entering this card into the Penny Black and More Challenge. This month's challenge is to use a favorite stamp.

In year's past I used to have morning glories in almost this same color. I always admired them when I went out to the barn each morning in summer to do the milking and cleaning of equipment on our dairy farm. So this brings back wonderful memories indeed. Of the flowers....not the milking chores. so much. LOL

Well, I think I best get back to making Valentines. But this was a fun break and I am thinking the Trumpet Song stamp will be a stamp that will be used many times as well.

You have a great week now and thanks for all the great comments.

God bless,
Verna

Bubble Wrap Flowers

I enjoyed making some more bubble wrap paper using a brayer and a rainbow pad. This time I used small bubble wrap and after it was inked up I laid the paper over the top of it to capture the colors. They were a more pastel design and would have worked great for a baby card but instead I used two new die sets I recently acquired for the first time and created a bouquet of flowers with them.

Since these die sets had their virgin use today they will qualify for Darnell's NBUS Challenge as well. I am so glad she does this as it spurs me to get out more things and work with them.

I know the main photo does not show the bubble wrap designs very well so I have done a couple of close ups of the dies used for the flowers.

Cheery Lynn Designs Dies used:
XL-24 Nested Flower Pots
B777 Floral Bouquet Kit

I am also entering this in the Scrapy Land Blog Challenge #59-Anything Goes.

I think I am coming down with a cold or maybe it is a reaction to the flu shot I got Wednesday. At any rate, I ache and have a few cold symptoms. And, it could be either as the nurse said she was coming down with a cold. I hope whatever it is that it is short lived.

Well, here it is the weekend already. I sure had a good week for the most part so I hope the weekend is a good one too. Thanks for visiting and for your wonderful comments.

God bless,
Verna

Sympathy Card

This time for Darnell's NBUS Challenge I chose to use a napkin plus some never before used dies, new markers and new stamp set. Well, normally I would have worked with an already printed napkin but you know as hard as I looked I could not find any such thing at all in my cupboard. I only found a simple cheap white napkin so I used that by dressing it up a bit. And I was inspired to use a napkin as I saw that Darnell had used one in her latest post and she did an awesome job with it. But she had a printed one so I hope my improvisation will compete a little bit with hers.

As you can see with this next photo I simply took the cheap white napkin and worked with that.

The first step was to make it more stable so I added it to a piece of Sparkle N Sprinkle Super Adhesive sheet. Then I took my lavender and purple inks and added some color to it. And, the last step to make it even more stronger was to cover the whole thing with my Versamark clear ink pad, sprinkled on some Gina K. Designs clear embossing powder and heat set it.

I then placed this over the card base of Gina K. Designs Lovely Lavender card stock. Next I added some lace along each edge and in the center added a die cut design of hearts from Whimsy Stamps.

The lace was also then covered with a row of pearls on each side of the napkin embossed strip.

The floral design and sentiment on the bottom of the card is from the Unity Stamp Company with a new set called Peace, Courage & Memories which is illustrated by Gina K. Designs. I used my new Tombow markers to color directly to the floral stamp and using my MISTI got it to take the color by repeatedly adding the colors of inks. This design was then cut out with a new die from Cheery Lynn Designs. I only used one of the dies in the set. And, I finished the card design by adding some lavender rhinestones to the floral image.

Dies used:

Heart Border Die by Whimsy Stamps

Mirror Mirror Doily Frame DL286 by Cheery Lynn Designs

Stamp Set:

Unity Stamp Company/Gina K. Designs Peace, Courage & Memories set

I am also entering this in the following challenges:

Double D's Blog Challenge-Lavender and Lace

Stamp TV Mix It Up Monday

Mod Squad Blog Challenge-Hearts & Flowers

Scrapy Land Blog Challenge # 59-Anything Goes

Dies R Us Blog Challenge #66-Hearts

I accidentally deleted all of my emails so if you wanted to hear from me about something I guess they are gone forever as I cannot find them. You will have to contact me again then. Hopefully, I have all of the main information in them somewhere else. But I did a search engine to find all of the challenges I wanted to enter and sent the links to myself. I don't know if you have ever sent yourself emails, but it seems I am doing that more often of late. I think it might be an age thing for me. LOL

Anyway, I did learn how to resize my photos and at least some things are getting back to normal. And, yesterday I got good report from the doctor so I guess I am good to go healthwise for awhile again. 

Thanks for stopping in and for all your comments. I am always so happy to see what you have to say. Take care and I hope your week is going great. I know it sure goes fast of late.

God bless,

Verna