Scraps Card

I was in need of a last minute card and since I did not want to get all my supplies out I simply went to my scraps box and from those scraps I made this simple little card. It may not be completely a correct way of using the scraps but I thought it still made a cute design.

I will try to name all the supplies needed to make it but to tell the truth I am not sure I remember them all right off the bat. But I thought it looked like a nice snowy scene so therefore I am entering it in the Double D Challenge in which the theme is Let It Snow. This will also be entered in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge.

The supplies used are a cross stitched border die from Memory Box, a cloud stitched die from MFT Die-Namics, and an unknown scalloped rectangle die. And, yes, the clouds are part of the snowy line for the snowman who is from Heartfelt Creations. And, the pattern paper and card stock are from Gina K. Designs. The sentiment is from Altenew.

I hope this finds all of you nearly ready for Christmas. I am getting there but it takes me a long time. I got my baking done at least and some cleaning. So I hope by Sunday afternoon to have it all ready for when the first guests arrive. I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas too.

God bless,
Verna

One Last Card

I made one more card so that I could join in on the Kat Scrappiness Charity Blog Hop for Coffee Oasis. I was gone most of the day yesterday so this was the first chance I had to do a card for it. I think I am just under the wire too.

I tried to add the information to the hop here but I could not get it to work so please click on the link above to get the details. This is the last day I think.

As to the card I used images from the Joy Clair stamp set called Santa's Coming. The inks chosen were Memento ones and the sponging was done with Life Changing Blending Brushes. I also added some color into the scene with Sharpie pens. Oh, and I forgot to mask off the moon so I took some bleach and a sponge dauber to clear some of the ink away to show a moon.

Well, I hope you are all off to a good start for the week. All my card making supplies will be put away now unless I need an emergency card made. I will get back into card making after Christmas again. So if I don't post for awhile I wish all of you a most wonderful Christmas. Thanks for stopping by always and giving me such uplifting comments.

God bless and Christmas hugs,
Verna

Coffee Card #9

I had another gingerbread man and his girlfriend still laying on my work surface so I just had to implement them into a card for the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop. I just adore those gingerbread people from Cheery Lynn Designs.

I used products from several companies to make this card. Besides the Cheery Lynn Designs dies I also used a cup from the Concord & 9th Cup of Cozy stamp set which I cut out by hand. The sentiment is from the Altenew Holiday Wishes stamp set. The holly on the cup is from the Gina K. Designs Holiday Wreath Builder set and the pattern paper is also from Gina K. Designs. I finished the card off by putting a strip of the pattern paper inside. Oh, and the cup was colored with Zig markers. The white on the gingerbread people was done with a white paint pen.

Well, that concludes my series of coffee cards. I think I have enough extras made now so that I won't run short. I know there are a few I still need to give out. So this was a good incentive doing the hop to get that chore accomplished.

My next projects will no doubt be some baking and then start the process of clearing off the kitchen table and cleaning again for our Christmas gathering. Also need to put up the tree. So life will be busy and hopefully I can catch a few Christmas holiday movies too.

Thanks so very much for your visits and all the wonderful comments. Until next time have a great life.

God bless,
Verna

Cute Reindeer Christmas Card

First of all I want to apologize as I was tweaking with my blog and by doing so I lost many of your comments. But the good thing is that I had read all of them first so I thank you so very much. I now have switched back from Google + to what I had before and I think maybe now I have comments coming into my inbox again too. So maybe all this frustration is at an end. I hope anyway.

I am sharing a card I made last week as I was running short and needed to send out more Christmas cards and I had never posted it yet. I was so glad I thought of photographing it. So because I did take a photo I can share it with the Double D Challenge which is entitled Run, Run Rudolph.

The deer image is a printable from the Iralamija Shop and I framed it with a foiled die cut from Gina K. Designs called Royal Frame Die. The sentiment is also from Gina K. Designs. I am not sure if she still stocks that or not. The embossing folder is a deep design from We R Memory Keepers called Next Level Geometrics. The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon. I also used some foiling around edges of the main panel layer by using some glue and burnishing some foil onto it. 

I really was happy with the way this card turned out. It made me smile and I hope it made you smile too. Thanks for stopping by.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Card #8

This card used some foiling on it and even though I did not get the stripes on it perfect I am still going to enter this card into the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop. 

I placed strips of Scor Tape onto my white card base and then took the Gina K. Design Radiant Red foil and burnished it on so that I had a pretty foiled design. It sort of reminds me of peppermint. That made the background for the rest of the card. I did not have to use my laminator for this so it is a way to use foil without a heating device.

Using the Gina K. Designs Wreath Builder and the Holiday Wreath  Builder stamp set I made a wreath. I used Gina K. Designs ink pads and also Memento ink pads for the wreath images. I decided to add coffee items from the Gina K. Design Perfect Blend stamp set as well but I stamped them with black Memento ink onto white card stock and then colored them with a mix of Zig and Sharpie pens. After fussy cutting them out I popped them up on the wreath. The sentiment is also from the Holiday Wreath Builder set. I thought it was a good one for this design.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Challenge too.

Thanks for the visit and for all the sweet comments you leave me. I sure have been having fun creating so many holiday coffee designs and I have been so inspired by all the others who have entered projects as well. This is a great event to get one motivated. So I truly thank all who do all the work to put this hop together. Especially so to Amy. She is an amazing lady!

Well, maybe I will be back again tomorrow. But I might have to concentrate on other things around here. So until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Card #7

For this card I worked with Gina K. Designs stamps, pattern paper, card stock, and dies to make a black and white card. I hope you like the end result. I made it on purpose so that it would work for the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop. And the black and white was for the Stamp TV Monthly Challenge. And since I joined in on the Rudolph Days each month it will work for that as well. So I am getting mileage out of this one.

I used some black and white polka dot paper from the Gina K. Designs Petite Patterns paper pack. Then to that pattern paper I stamped snowflakes from the Christmas Wishes set and the Season's Greetings set from Gina K. Designs with black ink. Those sets also have dies so I die cut the nice big set of cups from the Seasons Greetings set. The Joy sentiment also comes from that set and that was just fussy cut and layered to some black to make it more prominent. Both the cups and sentiment were popped up. Before I added them to the card though I took some black polka dot Washi tape from Stampin' Up! and placed that underneath them. The last thing I did was add some rhinestones to the cups and the sentiment in the center of the snowflakes.

Well, once again I thank you for the visits and comments. I hope you are enjoying your week.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Lovers #6

Well with this entry into the 2018 Winter/Fall Coffee Lovers Hop I am jumping ahead to Valentine's Day.

Some time ago I was gifted a few die cuts from Laurie and one of them was this lovely stacked teapots design from Poppystamps. I only had the positive but since I wanted the pots to be different designs and colors I carefully added some pattern papers from Gina K. Designs behind them and then fussy cut around the pots. Now that believe me was a bit time consuming but I really liked how they looked.

After trying out different colors for a base card I finally decided I liked the black card base best. Next I took a Gina Marie Designs Stitched Hearts Die and cut two in red and a smaller one in white to which I added the sentiment from the A Jillian Vance Design Simply Said: Coffee & Jesus stamp set.
After adhering the designs to the base card I finished it off by adding some pearls and red rhinestones to the hearts.

Well, I thank all who are visiting and leaving comments. My comments are still a mess so I will just say it this way and I hope you all understand. And I hope many of you are hopping along too and having as much fun as I am.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Lovers #5

Technically it is still Fall so I thought I best sneak in this Fall To Go stamp from Unity Stamp Company for my next entry into the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. I really think it is a pretty stamp for a Fall card too!

I stamped it with black Memento ink and then colored it with some Sharpies. I had an older pack of designer paper from K & Company so I chose one of the designs for the background of the card. The card base is ivory and inside the card I also added a strip of the leftover designer paper. The designer paper was die cut with a My Favorite Things Die-namics set called Stitched Rounded Rectangle Stackers.

Well we did get snow last night. Only an inch but there is still a chance for more in the next days. But as long as I can be inside I don't mind.

I found my comments were going into Spam now but they are a hassle to retrieve so I will thank you in advance for visiting and saying such nice things. Until next time, take care.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Lovers #4

First of all I want to thank all of you for the wonderful comments. For some reason I am not getting notices in my email now. So please accept my apologies for not saying "thanks" to you during this down time. I was hoping by leaving a comment on my own blog that it might work, but that is not working either.

This is a card I made using dies and some pattern paper and card stock. No stamping at all on it.
This card of course is being added to the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.

The peppermint latte and the snowflakes are from a Cottage Cutz set called Peppermint Latte. And, the gingerbread man is from Cheery Lynn Designs.

For pattern paper I chose to use is some from Stampin' Up! And, all the card stock is from Gina K. Designs.

I added some sponging to the latte using the Life Changing Blending Brushes I got from Picket Fence Studios. And, the white on the gingerbread man was added with a white paint pen. I added a bit of red card stock to the back to make his buttons colored red. I wanted them to look like those cinnamon dots we use on cookies often.

I am also adding this card to the Dies R Us Challenge # 110 because the Cheery Lynn Designs gingerbread man is from a company whose dies they sell. The challenge calls for snowflakes and since I added a few I think this will qualify.

Thanks for the visit and rest assured I am looking at the comments even though I am not getting notices anymore. I don't know if others are having the same issues or not but it is very frustrating to me. Anyway, have a great rest of the weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Lovers #3

For my third card for the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog hop I made another card using one of the cute gingerbread dies from Cheery Lynn Designs. The stamped sentiment design is from Neat and Tangled and is called Warm Wishes. That and the Gina K. Designs pattern snowflake papers were die cut using Gina K. Designs square and rectangle dies.

I also added some Gina K. Designs brown twine as I thought it was a nice match to the gingerbread man. The white on the gingerbread man was done with a paint pen. And the coffee in the cup was done with a Zig marker.

I am so glad you stopped by.  If you get a chance I hope you consider joining in on the coffee challenge. They have lots of prizes to give out and you could be a lucky one.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Lovers #2

For my next submission to the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop I used the free digital from Stamplorations to make this card. I also used a sentiment from the Stamplorations Layered Holly set. I printed it out with my computer and colored it with a combination of Zig and Sharpies. The little snowflake die cut was one I had laying around so I added it to my cup.

Thanks for your visits and I realized this morning that I was not getting posts in my email when people left comments. So I hope I have that fixed now. I was glad I checked it out. So thanks for all those lovely comments.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Lovers #1

Hi all! The time for the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop has arrived and I must admit it did catch me off guard. I had not prepared ahead of time for it as I was so caught up with other things but this afternoon I did get one card done for it.

The tea cup and saucer stamps are from the Tea Party stamp set by The Ton. I made an extra saucer to put the gingerbread man on which is a die from Cheery Lynn Designs. The sentiment is from The Jingle All The Way stamp set by Carta Bella Designer Stamps. These images were placed on a white piece of card stock which was die cut with an Unbranded scalloped stitched die. I added a little plaid ribbon on the one corner which is one of the many beautiful ones from Really Reasonable Ribbon. I added some stickers to the tea cup and also by the sentiment. And some rhinestones were added to the gingerbread man as well as some white using a paint pen.

We had reasonably warm weather the last few days but it sounds like some nasty weather is moving in for the weekend. So it might be a time to stay put and get a few more cards for the hop made. Regardless, I am so happy you dropped by and I love to read the comments you leave.

God bless,
Verna

Singing Penguins

Well I do believe I am going to be short a few Christmas cards so with that in mind I decided to join the Mod Squad Challenge in which the theme is to use a critter on a holiday card. So I went with the cute Caroling Penguins from Penny Black and used them for a quick and easy card. Using my Misti I stamped the design with Memento black ink and colored them with Copics.

I used traditional Christmas colors for them and then used an Unbranded  scalloped stitch die to frame them. I also added a white piece of card stock inside to add a stamped or written message.
And, that was all it took. I do love that stamp from Penny Black.

The past few days except yesterday I have been addressing and writing out my cards. Yesterday however was my day to get a haircut and I must say I feel pounds lighter. LOL I told my gal to cut it very short as these days with snow and ice on the ground I don't like to venture out. I just am having it harder to manage my footwork on that type of terrain.

So wonderful of all of you who visit and leave comments. I tell you they are very much appreciated. Anyway, until next time take care and enjoy life.

God bless,
Verna

Many Thanks

I made a last minute card design after lunch today to add to the Mod Squad Blog Challenge for this time around. Since I often need thank you cards I went and made one of those trying to use the theme of the challenge in the card design. The way I understand it one is to use a central big sentiment and then stamp images around it. My MISTI was employed for this card too.

I used the Stamplorations stamp set called Trendy Spring Blooms. The flowers were stamped using a Hero Arts Omber Spring Brights stamp pad and the Gina K. Designs Amalgam Jet Black ink pad for the outer layer, sentiment and the leaves. The last thing I did was to add some rhinestone gems using the same colors from the inks I had used.

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. Thanks for the visit and for all the lovely comments you leave too. I am going to start writing and addressing Christmas cards this afternoon and listen to Christmas songs to keep me in the mood.

God bless,
Verna

November Rudolph Days Challenge

I had a CAS card already made for the November Rudolph Days challenge so I am sharing it with you today. It is made with another wonderful die from Gina Marie Designs called Cut in Cut Out Christmas Angel.

I used a sentiment from the Stampin' Up! set called Christmas Pines. And the Gina K. Designs card stock used was Cranberry, Ivory and Honey Mustard. The sentiment was stamped with Memento Black ink.

I really love this die and it really cut amazingly well with my machine. This was the only card I made with this die but I know it will be used lots more in the years to come.

Thanks for the visit and hard to believe the year is nearly gone again. And, thanks for being here with me so many times and for the wonderful comments.

God bless,

Verna

Snuggle Up!

The Double D Challenge is named Snuggle Up! So I thought using this tag design and by computer generating a sentiment I could perhaps along with the cable sweater embossing folder capture some of the inspiration from the mood board.

The tag is from the Christmas Carol printable collage sheet from the  Iralamija Shop. The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and the Cable Knit embossing folder is from Stampin' Up!

Sorry I have been missing so much. I spent a good portion of the week of course celebrating Thanksgiving and then I was trying to assemble all the gifts into one big box so I could get it sent off to Japan. I even baked some cookies to put in it. So that mission was accomplished today. Next I wrote up a Christmas letter to put inside some of the cards I will be sending out to family and a few friends. And no doubt I will begin addressing the cards for Christmas soon too.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I am so grateful for all of you who faithfully leave comments and read my blog. They are so uplifting to me. Now have a good weekend.

God bless,
Verna

November Twofer Challenge

I finally made a card or I should say two of them using the same wreath die but two different ways for Darnell's Twofer Challenge #11. I have been so busy with other things these past few days that I did not get any card making in until today. Both cards  use a die cut design from Impression Obsession Dies called Geometric Cutout 2.

The Christmas version uses a sentiment from Penny Black inside the wreath design. And, I backed the open area of the wreath with some green glitter paper. Next I added some red rhinestone gems and also some Christmas plaid ribbon. This white panel was then placed onto a red card base. I also added a white sheet inside for the stamped sentiment.

The second way for using the open die wreath design was for a sympathy card. I went with more Fall colors and used some colored die cut leaves from the Cheery Lynn Designs Flourish Leaf Strip to the wreath. The sentiment inside the wreath is from the Sparkle N Sprinkle Memory In Our Heart Stamp set. The white panel was layered to a light brown one and then added to the white card base.

That is my Twofers for this November. I hope some of you can enter into the fun as well. Darnell stated she is now including stencils along with stamps and dies for the challenge. So there are more options for you this way. I have the challenge posted on my side bar too.

Well, that will do it for me this week. This past weekend we had a wedding. And now I am busy baking and cleaning. We are having our family Thanksgiving this weekend and that is also the church bake sale fundraiser so I have been trying to keep up with both tasks. I hope your week is off to a good start and I thank you for the visit and lovely comments.

God bless,
Verna

Monochromatic Card

The new monthly challenge at Stamp TV is to make a monochromatic Christmas card. So I pulled out the snowflakes again from the Gina K. Designs Fruit of the Season Kit and made this card.

I used three different shades of blue inks and did the first inking in a lighter color and then with the other ink cubes I added a middle shade and then a darker shade. I simply tapped the last two colors here and there on the stamps which I had in my MISTI. That way I could always add more color if I wanted. Once the background was finished I die cut it with a Memory Box Cross Stitched Border die.

The ribbon I added had little flecks of metallic threads in it and they gave off an iridescent glow so I also added some gems that gave an iridescent look too. In the top photo you can see them glow a bit better.

I also die cut a white panel with the cross stitch die to place inside the card so that I can stamp a message and write a little note.

I am  entering this in the Dies R Us Challenge #108 in which we are to use a die with stitches.

Well, no snow for real here but we are getting rain. It is a dreary day. I hope where you are that regardless of the weather you are having a great one. Thanks for coming by and for the comments.

God bless,
Verna

Partridge In A Pear Tree

Yes, I know! I am singing that song too or as much of it as I can remember. Today I just did a simple colored design using Memento ink and Copics. I made a square card using the stamps from the Gina K. Designs Fruit of the Season TV kit.

I dressed  up the card a bit by using layers of coordinating colors and also adding some gems and a red and white twine. And, that was all it took to make a CAS card for holiday giving.

Thanks for stopping in on this dreary day. No sun and quite cool too. Fall is indeed in the air!

God bless,
Verna

Sunset on Lake Birthday

Well, I am not sure if I achieved the look I was going for but none the less I did enjoy making this card. I thought it would be a nice masculine design too. I used stamps from the Blue Knight stamp set called Silhouette Corner Foliage. I added these stamps to my background which I had made using sponging tools from Picket Fence Designs.

We are having a bit more dreary afternoon so I wonder if we aren't in store for some rain soon. It was sunny to begin with but according to my joints aching today I think we are going to see a change soon. I hope your day is going well. I am not doing any more then I absolutely have to. Feels like a lazy day to me. LOL Anyway, until next time you take care and thanks for visiting.

God bless,
Verna

Happy Halloween!

Have a fun fright night with trick or treat people or going to parties. Hubby and I are just hanging out at home and just in case, we do have some treats if someone should drop by.

By the way I forgot to leave an open area for the moon when I made this a couple weeks ago so I instead took one of the round sponge daubers and dipped it in bleach, blotted it off a bit and then with that dauber lifted off the color to reveal a moon. The pumpkin and crow die is from Cheapo Dies and the tree is from Diemond Dies. The witch stamp is from Frogs Whiskers.

Have a fun Halloween!

God bless,
Verna

Red Star

I always struggle with a solid image when trying to make it look fantastic in color. Well, the other day I saw this video by Jasmine Burgess who showed an easier way for me to do a more solid image by using second generation stamping. She did her design with a brush and water color paints but for mine I decided to stamp my image with a Memento ink and use Copics.

My subject matter was the beautiful Penny Black slapstick cling stamp called Red Star. I used a brown ink to do my second generation stamping of the image and I also used my MISTI. The card stock I  used was the white base weight from Gina K. Designs. That is thick enough that the Copics don't bleed through it. So by using that I was able to do it directly to my card without having to add more layers. The sentiment is also from this stamp set. I did use a bit of white paint pen to fill in some of the highlights.

I found that using the Copics instead of water colors is much easier for me to do then it is with a paint brush. Also my card stock will not ripple like it does with using water colors. To finish the card I simply added a few rhinestones to the center of the poinsettia.

Well, I don't know what you think but I am loving the look and the new way of using these solid stamps. This has always been one of my favorite Penny Black ones so I am glad I found an easier way to work with it and other solid images as well.

I am entering this in the Penny Black Creative Christmas Challenge. 

Thanks so much for coming by to visit and for all the wonderful comments. I hope your week is off to a great start.

God bless,
Verna

Little Elf Ava

This afternoon I played with another Penny Black stamp design called Little Elf Ava. I think she is such a cute little elf and so therefore she is holding a star in which I added the word Joy as she looks to be a joyful little one.

Copics were used to color the image. The Joy comes from another Penny Black stamp set called Peaceful Winter and is stamped in dark green ink. I had to find a small enough sentiment to put into the star sign. And, to dress the star up a bit I added some green rhinestones to match the stamped sentiment. The panel was die cut using the Out of the Box Technique so that it appears that the fluffy ball of her hat is outside the inner panel. The scalloped stitched dies used to cut the panels are from an Unbranded set. 

I am entering this card in the Penny Black Creative Christmas Challenge.

Thanks for joining me and leaving your wonderful comments. I read all of them.

God bless,
Verna

Holly Robin Christmas

I was cleaning off my crafting end of the kitchen table when I ran across this darling Penny Black design called Nature's Best. I also used part of a Penny Black sentiment from another set called Caroling Penguins. I thought the Joy from the sentiment would be perfect for this CAS design.

I stamped the design on white card stock with Memento black ink and then took the stencil from Picket Fence Studios and used my Life Changing Blender Brushes to fill in the background around the bird and holly image in a light blue. Then with a combination of Copics and sponging I finished coloring the rest of the design. This panel was then die cut with a MFT Di-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stacker die and then added to a red card base. To finish the card I took a white paint pen and added just a dot to each berry to make it look like it was shiny. And, of course, I added a white panel inside so I could write or stamp a message.

I am entering this in the Penny Black Creative Christmas Challenge. 

Thanks for visiting and I wish you a great weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Give Thanks

I made this card for the Mod Squad Challenge in which we are to make a Fall card and use the word Thanks on it. For my card I chose images and a sentiment from the Gina K. Designs The Simple Things stamp set.

I did some masking to make the scene. And, the focal panel was die cut with a MFT Di-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stacker die. All inks used were from Gina K. Designs except for the  pumpkin which was done with Memento black ink. The pumpkin was colored in with Copic markers. After adding the sentiment I then put in a corner design of black rhinestone gems below it. This panel was then added to the card base. Although it is not visible I added a white panel inside the card as well so that a message can be written or stamped.

I thank you for the visit and for all the lovely comments. Until next time you take care.

God bless,
Verna

October Rudolph Days

Oh, my! How fast the month goes by! So hard to believe that it is time for the October Rudolph Days Challenge. Well, I am prepared though and am featuring snowflakes in abundance for my card entry.

I chose to use the wonderful snowflakes from the Gina K. Designs Sparkling Snowflake stamp set which is one of the sets in the current Fruit of the Season TV kit. I also used a large Noel die cut which was a gift to me and I am pretty sure it is a Crafty Cuts die as I found the design on  the internet with a search engine. It is cut with sparkly blue glitter paper.

The snowflakes were all embossed with white embossing powder using a Versamark ink pad and some Gina K. Designs embossing powder. Then I took some Gina K. Designs Blue Raspberry ink and added some color with my new Life Changing Blender Brushes that I got from Picket Fence Studios. I really like them. The last thing that was added to the card was some rhinestone gems.

While I had that stamp set out I also made an ornament. I  used the big snowflake for that design. It was embossed in gold and then die cut with the dies the matching ones that came with the kit. I made it so that the stamped and embossed design showed up on both sides of it.

And I decided that I wanted to see if it would work on some purple vellum with which I made a sleeve for a battery operated votive candle. This time I embossed the flakes in silver embossing powder from Gina K. Designs.

I liked the votive candle look too, but I need to buy new candles as the battery in mine is nearly done in. LOL But I think you get the idea.

Well, that is my post for this morning. I hope you like all the snow I have been playing with. I know I sure had fun making these projects. Thanks for the visit and I hope your day is a good one.

God bless,
Verna

Ornament Card

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a great afternoon. My hubby had to travel out of town so I worked on a few cards and I wanted to share one I made with the Gina K. Design Holly Jolly stamp and die combo set.

This is a two step set and was made to go with some foiling supplies but I chose to use it simply as a stamp and die set. Now I am not all that great making two step designs and I was a bit off  kilter with this one too. But I took some markers and filled in the white gaps and therefore it is not so noticeable. All the stamps used are from that stamp set but I only chose to die cut the ornament. Originally I had planned a much bigger panel but just at the last minute I messed up a perfect design with an ink blotch which would not erase with the Tombo sand eraser. So I did the next logical step and cut the panel down. I layered it onto some Slate card stock and then to the Blue Raspberry card base. I also added a panel of white inside the card. The last items added were the gems to the ornament.

Oh, and I tried to get the illusion of the light bulbs shining by doing just a smidge of sponging with the same color of ink. One has to do this very lightly so I was glad with the new sponging brushes I recently got that it worked so well. I also added a little white gel pen on the bulbs to make them have some highlights.

Well, time to get back to reality and do the dirty dishes. I best have them all done before the hubby gets home or he will know I was goofing off all day. LOL Thanks for visiting and have a great evening.

God bless,
Verna

Fall Cup to Go

Last night I had to sit down and make a card for the Mod Squad Challenge which is to make Fall  Beverage cards. I, of course, went to a coffee themed one.

I had this unused stamp set from Unity Stamp Company called Fall to Go which worked in perfectly for the challenge theme. I stamped it on ivory card stock and then colored it with Copics. This panel was die cut with an Unbranded die. I also added some ribbons from Really Reasonable Ribbons in the right top and bottom corners. And, then this panel was placed onto a black layer before adding it to the ivory card base. And I really like that wonderful sentiment that came with the set too!

* * * * * * * 

Also on a more personal note I am sharing the card I made for my hubby for our 49th wedding anniversary which is today. It is not an elaborate design but it did take me a while to do it. And again for this card I used the Picket Fence Studios stencils and the Life Changing Blending Brushes to make the background. The sentiment was stamped onto that design and the I popped up the two cacti images. All the stamps and dies for this card are from the Gina K. Designs.Stuck On You bundle.

I don't think we will be doing anything special as both of  us have bad colds at the moment and it is probably best we not go out in public and spread it around. If we do get anything it will be most likely a carry out meal. We both are sneezing, coughing, blowing our nose and having weeping eyes together in unison. And all that going on is not like a pleasant sounding orchestral performance. I don't think any restaurant would like us being there. LOL We are gradually getting better but it is something that takes time to get over  and I don't take any cold meds as sometimes I think that prolongs the bug even more. At least we don't have any fever so that is good.

Well, I  best get on with my day here. I wish all of you a most wonderful weekend. I think I am going to take a break from card making and maybe see if there are some good movies to watch. I also have some reading that needs to be done as well so there are things to keep me occupied. Oh, and yes, housework is always there but who likes to do that? Not me, that is for sure! LOL

Thanks for the visit and lovely comments.

God bless,
Verna

Anniversary Celebration Card

I got some new tools recently so I was doing a practice run and I loved the way those tools worked so well that my practice design worked well enough to make a finished card. I hope you like it too.

The new tools I have recently acquired were some stencils and wonderful blending brushes from Picket Fence Studios. I was not sure how to use them so I tried a pouncing motion and that worked fairly well but later I tried a swiping motion and that was the way I figured they should be used. I was so lucky to win the blending stencils from Picket Fence Studios and while looking at how the stencils were used I discovered these new blending tools too. They are called Life Changing Blending Brushes. And, believe me, they are indeed living up to their name. I highly recommend them.

I first blended the circle in the middle of the card with a stencil with the pouncing method. Later I did a few swipes to try to achieve a colorful sunset look. And, then I stamped the pear silhouette branch and the sentiment from the Penny Black You + Me stamp set. The stencils come with a positive and negative so I  added the circle center of the stencil over my stamped design and then proceeded to use a swiping motion with the brushes to create a sort of sun ray look. 

I cut the panel out with a Wonky Stitched Rectangle die and placed it onto a black card stock base. After looking it over I decided it needed a frame around the circle so I also took some dies and made a frame. I just love the eyelet edging on the frame too. It really dressed up the card design.

Dies used:
Cheery Lynn Designs Nested Doll Circles CASO-15,
MFT Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle, and
a Cottage Cutz Double Stitched Circle.
Any brand of circle die would have worked but this one was the perfect size in my stash and so that was the one used to cut the center out of the Cheery Lynn Die so it became a frame. All I had to do was use an adhesive to fasten the frame over the stamped circle.

Inside I added a white card stock sheet so that I could write a message on it later.

This will be entered into the Scrapy Land {Challenge #100}. I thought the anniversary card would be an appropriate card for their celebration too!

Well, thanks again. I always enjoy the wonderful comments you leave. Have a great evening now!

God bless,
Verna

Another Halloween Design

Just a quick post to share one of the other Halloween cards I made with some long forgotten pattern paper I ran across. It had the spiders and cobwebs on it so I figured it was ideal for a Halloween card.

The scalloped stitched border and kitty dies are Unknown ones which I got from Cheapo Dies. And, the Happy Halloween is from Cheery Lynn Designs. This came together very easily too as it was just a few dies needed to go with that pattern paper.

Well, we had our electricity turned off for over an hour so I got a late start making lunch. Apparently some repairs needed to be done. But I can smell the food in the oven now so we won't be too far behind with our meal. I had some leftovers to warm up which helped.

Thanks for the visit. Until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna

Stripes & Dots Christmas

The Double D's Challenge is to use stripes and dots so I pulled out some long neglected Stampin' Up! papers, stamps and dies to create a little scene this afternoon. I had not even inked up any of the images in this set before and I am so sad about that as I really ended up loving this set. So here are some NBUS items that have finally seen some love.

It came together so easily too as the papers from Stampin' Up! were perfect for this challenge. I doubt I really need more Christmas cards but if not this year it will be a great one for next. And, anyway, I like to do scenes. I took my scissors and cut the snow line. The stamps and dies are from the SU Santa's Sleigh stamp and die bundle.

Well, we had a wonderful sunny day and got up to the mid 60's again so we are warming up and tomorrow sounds like it will be an even warmer day.  I am happy about that as I do not want winter just yet. Maybe Christmas Eve we can have a light snowfall. Most likely that is wishful thinking on my part. But it would be nice!

May all of you have a great evening. I am ready to pretty much call it a day here too. Thanks for the visit.

God bless,

Verna

Pumpkin Patch Halloween Card

Today I am sharing one of the Halloween cards I made recently. I found some scraps of pattern paper with a spider web and a spider and so I chose to add a pumpkin patch and a sentiment to complete the card.

I die cut the pumpkin patch design out of orange card stock and then with Galaxy pens and Copic markers I added more colors to the die cut. Then I placed the original die cut negative pieces back in so that there was a contrast in colors. The Galaxy pens color over dark papers so they worked great.

It just so happened that the orange color in the pattern paper was an exact match to the orange card stock I used to die cut the sentiment and pumpkins from. So that worked great. This scene was placed on a white panel and then from there layered to the purple card base.

Dies used:
Rectangle Single Stitch Die from Gina K. Designs ( for cutting the focal panel)
Happy Halloween from Cheery Lynn Designs
Pumpkin Patch from Cheapo Dies

I am entering this in the Dies R Us Challenge #107-Anything Fall.

I hope your week is off to a good start. I am trying to adjust to cooler weather and it seems my joints don't want to comply. LOL Anyway, I thank you for the visit and I hope you come by again.

God bless,
Verna

October Twofers

That time again! Darnell's new Twofer Card Challenge #10-Harvest is now ongoing and I had to join in on the fun! Since we find we are now bringing in all of the garden crop I thought some pumpkins might work for the harvest theme. We did not grow pumpkins but we did grow squash but I did not have any squash stamps to work with. So pumpkins will have to do. I don't have a carrot stamp either. LOL

I chose to use the Gina K. Designs Always Autumn stamp set for my pumpkin/sunflower image and the leaves. The Happy Thanksgiving sentiment is also from that set. But the sentiment on the sympathy card is from A Jillian Vance Design set called Simply Said: Sympathy.

I die cut this Thanksgiving card out with a My Favorite Things Die-namics die called Wonky Stitched Rectangles. I also cut another piece of the ivory card stock to place inside the card for a liner so I can add a message.

I had never made a sympathy card using a pumpkin and sunflower before but since this is the season for those items to be harvested I decided it would work and I was in need of a sympathy card anyway. I also used a My Favorite Things Die-namics die called Stitched Rounded Rectangles for this card and die cut a panel for the inside as well. 

Both cards are fairly CAS in design but I just love this pumpkin/sunflower image and decided it was pretty enough on it's own without a lot of extra details.

Well, I wish you all a wonderful rest of the day and evening. It is a chilly one here but we have seen the sunshine so we are feeling a little more rejuvenated. Thanks for stopping in and for the wonderful comments.

God bless,

Verna

Autumn Thank You

Today's card is what I call a quick and easy one. I simply used a Hero Arts Ombre Autumn rainbow pad and stamped the foliage from the Penny Black peaceful winter stamp set to make a frame and then added the sentiment in the center which is also from a Penny Black stamp set called a wish. The names of these sets were all in lower case letters so I highlighted them.

I am entering this in the Penny Black and More challenge in which the theme is October-Autumn Splendor.

Well, it really feels like Fall here and the forecast calls for a mix of rain and snow tonight and tomorrow. So far it is just rain. At any rate I don't like to hear that but I guess it will be a change of pace. I am so glad we have a functioning furnace now too!

I wish all of you a great rest of the day and thanks so much for the wonderful comments and visits.

God bless,
Verna

Happy Monday!

Before I get to my last batch of cards made for the Winter Cards for Little Hearts drive I want to wish all of my friends in Canada a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know I am grateful to have all you Canadians as friends as well as all my other friends from blog land. I hope you have some great celebrations. It is also Columbus Day here in the United States and many have the day off from work and school.

And an update on the carrots. So far I have 22 pints of frozen ones in the freezer. I am waiting a bit with the rest of them as I have a Schwans order coming and I am not sure how much freezer room will be left. In case you don't know Schwans is a frozen food delivery business and we have been customers of theirs for years.

Well, I wish all of you a wonderful day and I thank you for all the lovely comments and visits to my blog.

God bless,
Verna