Space Explorers

I have some family members who are Trekkie fans so for their birthdays I made some cards for them with a space theme. I used images from two sets of Kindred Stamps sets called Space Explorers and The Next Space Explorers. I thought these would be perfect for my family members. One member even went to a Trekkie Convention in Las Vegas last year for her birthday so I thought this would be a nice reminder of the great time she had. Also the other young man was always a fan from little on. And, I know his sons are also so this should be a design that will be enjoyed by his whole family.

I worked on these cards little by little as I have been so busy with taking care of the garden but gradually I got them completed. I made them both into shaker cards too. The Sparkle Blend from Doodles Paper Playground is called Shooting Star and I thought it fit the space theme quite well.

The circle die used on the first one is from My Favorite Things Die-Namics Single Stitch Line Circle Frames and the die used on the other card is also one from my Favorite Things Die-Namics and is from the Blueprints 29 set.

Well, tomorrow will once again be a day to work with garden things. So until I post again I hope all are having a good week. Thanks for the visit too!

God bless,
Verna

Happy Trees

My friend Rosy recently showed a card she had made with this same stamp set I am  using today. In fact, her fun card was the enabler for me to order the set for myself. And, it must have been meant to be because another friend Mary has been very ill but she managed to send me a belated birthday card and she mentioned that her grandson loved to watch Bob Ross do paintings. So for that reason I made this card and sent it to her to pass on to her grandson if she wishes.

Now Rosy's card was much more professional looking and mine of course showed off quite a few happy accidents but even so I was pleased with my simple scene and did have a blast making it. The stamp set I used is from Kindred Stamps and is called Happy Accidents.

I was so excited that I even went on the internet and watched some of Bob Ross's videos showing how he painted his works. Wow! He makes it look so easy. I only had markers to work with. I wish I had a bit of his talent and maybe working with the right supplies might help.

At any rate I am also going to post this in Patti's blog where she wanted cards that might make her smile. She had some disappointing news lately so I hope this one gives her one or two!

Thanks for the visit and have a great rest of the week.

God bless,
Verna

Fall Blooms

While the mood was still with me to make a Fall card I decided to  use a stencil from Gina K. Designs called Mega Flowers and by sponging my colors onto a white card stock panel I made this lovely design.

I used the Gina K. Designs Lemon Drop, Warm Cocoa, Coral Reef and Amalgon Jet Black ink. Once I had all the design sponged onto the white panel I took a black pen and added some dots and splots to the centers of each flower. I also added a black and white gingham ribbon. And the sentiment is from the Stitched Leaves stamp and die sets. To finish the card I added it to a panel of Tomato Soup card stock and then placed a white panel inside where I can write  a message.

Quick and easy to make. I hope you liked it. I had the beans all frozen and so decided to make a fast card design. And, it helped that my mail today brought this lovely stencil too.

Thanks for visiting and for commenting. Until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna

Thinking Autumn

The new release at Gina K. Designs got me thinking of Autumn and all the gorgeous colors that season brings. So I brought out the Gina K. Designs stamps and dies from the Stitched Leaves Mini Stamp Kit and made this card and a matching envelope. I used the Kalaidacolor Autumn Leaves rainbow ink pad and the Versafine Black ink. All card stock is from Gina K. Designs.

I also lined the inside with a white panel so that I can stamp or write a message to the recipient. I really like this set and of course, I love the Autumn season too!

Have  good weekend and thanks for the visits.

God bless,
Verna

Have a Laugh!

I have almost always made copies of the cards I created and this one I am sharing with you is from my pre-blogging days. I used this funny stamp from Stampitcrazy and made a background scene for that lady image. The trees are also from Stampitcrazy.

 And, believe me on more then one occasion I have seen this type of hilarious thing happen. One time in church a lady had her dress caught up in her girdle and as she walked down the aisle to the front of the church everyone could see the nice white tight girdle she was wearing. When she sat down she was two pews ahead of me so I could not help her out but thankfully the lady in front of me pulled her dress out and politely told her "Excuse me" so that she might think she had bumped her and not feel so embarrassed. I don't know if anyone ever told her or not. And, I got toilet paper caught up in my panty hose and it was trailing behind me but thank goodness my sweet hubby extracted it before I went out in public.

Anyway with this card I decided I would join Patty's Linky Party  in hopes it might give her a laugh or two. She recently got some disappointing news so I thought some smiles were in order.

Thanks for the visit.
God bless,
Verna

Double D's Challenge-Tea or Coffee

Well, it was a "given" that I would need to enter this challenge for sure as I recently got  a new coffee stamp and die set and this was the perfect opportunity to try them out. The stamps and dies I used are from Newton's Nook and are the Cuppa Cactus sets.

I used a white card base and then added a strip of green gingham paper from Gina K. Designs in the middle. Over this strip I popped up the two cactus designs. With the use of my MISTI I stamped the sentiments from the set in Gina K. Designs Amalgam black ink. The last thing I added was some enamel dots from Stampin' Up!

I hope that I colored the cactus images okay as I have not seen very many of them at all. I did see some succulents which was referred to as hen and chickens I think and some of them had a pinkish hue to them here and there. So I went with what my memory recalled about them.

This is going to be at least one entry for the Double D's Challenge.

Well, that most likely will do it for me in the crafting department. I am nursing an ingrown toe nail  again so I don't like to be on it too much. It will be a couple weeks before I see the doctor so I am sort of babying it now. Have a great day and thanks for the visits.

God bless,
Verna

This Christmas

Happy Thursday! It is a rainy day so I get to craft a bit. Yay! I am trying to use some of my older stash of papers up for cards and I ran across this kraft card stock which had specks of glitter embedded in it so I used that for this Christmas card. The stamps used are from the Stamplorations Layered Holly stamp set.

Hopefully you can see the little flecks of glitter in it. It is very pretty when the light hits it just right. I stamped the holly and berries with Gina K. Designs Christmas Pine and Red Velvet inks and then I over stamped with the line image using Versafine Black ink. The last thing I added to the front panel was a Christmas Pine and White twine bow which I also got from Gina K. Designs.

I carried the theme over to the inside of the card too.

This will be my entry into the Mod Squad Challenge in which the theme is Christmas in July.

Thanks for visiting and hard to believe how fast the week has gone by. I love to read all the comments you leave and it is so nice that they all come to my inbox once again. Until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna

Daisy Birthday

This afternoon I got out my 3 Step Daisy stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps and used it to make a no layer birthday card. I folded my card base up and placed it in my MISTI and then proceeded to do all the step stamping.

The sentiment and the lady bugs are also part of the set. I am not so great at this multi step stamping but even if they don't quite align up like they should I still love the look I get with that process. And I am always in need of birthday cards. I used Gina K. Designs inks but there are lots of other brands that would work well for this type of card too.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge. The theme is a floral birthday.

I hope your weekend is going well. Until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna

July Twofer Challenge #7

I always love Darnell's Twofer Challenge and the one for July is a fun one again. The theme this time is beverage. Well, I did not use the same beverage but I did use the same beverage container so I hope it is acceptable.

My first card I am showing you is a friendship card and in this one I used the beer mug for a vase to hold the poppies. The beer mug is from a set by Repeat Impressions. And, the poppies are from a new Gina K. Designs set I got as an incentive with a qualifying order called Inspiring Poppies. That sentiment was also with the poppy stamp set. I colored the images in with Copic markers and also added a little sponging along the bottom to create a shadow..

The second card is a birthday card and this time I used the beer mug in the right way by trying to have it contain some beer. The frothy topping is also from the same stamp set by Repeat Impressions as is the sentiment. Most of the card was colored with Copics but I did add some sponging on the bottom. The pattern paper is from Gina K. Designs Casual Fridays paper pack. I think this makes a great masculine card design.

Well, that is my Twofers. I am glad I got to participate. The garden is starting to thrive and give off it's goodies so no doubt I will be in the preserving mode quite a bit. At least tomorrow anyway. I hope your week is going well and thanks for visiting.

God bless,
Verna

Bleach It Out

The challenge at Stamp TV that Gina K. posted in honor of the new release is to bleach out a design and make a card with it. So I worked on that while the rain was pouring. I chose the stamp images from Gina K. Designs Vine & Butterfly stamp set. I also chose to use some pattern paper from the Gina K. Designs Watercolor Garden pack.

Using some Gina K. Designs Red Velvet card stock and Versamark I stamped the daisy and the butterfly. I added Gina K. Designs fine detail black embossing powder and heat set them. Next I took plain old Clorox bleach and removed the color from the card stock. I used a water brush but I just dipped it in the bleach. After it had dried I then took and added just a smidge of color back in with my Zig Watercolor markers. I die cut the design with Gina K. Designs Small oval die and then layered it onto a black layer die cut with Gina's large oval die. When they were placed together it made a narrow black border around the design. I added a few black gems too. Pretty simple card but I do love the way it looks.

Have a great evening. Your visits and comments sure make me happy.

God bless,
Verna

Thump, Thump Away!

By the title no doubt you are realizing that I did the thumping technique on this simple no layer card. I used images from Gina K. Designs Festive Foliage stamp set. I did he solid images first with an inking from a pad and then with a marker I thumped or pounced onto the image using a different color and then stamped it. That is called thumping.

I had to do my thumping with some Zig water color markers so it might not look as good as if I had some inky Tombos or Memento pens. But I worked with what I did have on hand. I did not think Copics would work.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Blog Challenge-Thump, Thump Away!

Thanks for the visit and I just love to read all the comments you leave me. I will be back later today with another post. I got behind due to weather conditions so had to leave the computer alone. Until then take care.

God bless,
Verna

Nautical?????

I wanted to make a nautical card design and although I had some anchors and a few really small sail boats I felt for a birthday card for a young man it would be more appreciated if I did one which features an image which looks a great deal like Captain Jack Sparrow. So with a stretch of the imagination I did make a card which I hope will pass as a nautical designed card.

I had no dies that would work for this card but I did have a score board and a scalloped designed scissors so with these tools I constructed my boat and my sea. I even added in a shark. The Captain Jack Sparrow image is from Stampitcrazy and the sentiments are from Gina K. Design. I twisted some brown and white fibers together to sort of look like some rope. I assume there is rope on a ship and anyway I thought it looked okay.

Providing they will let me get by with calling this a nautical themed card I am entering this in the Double D's Challenge. I guess I took my inspiration from the sailboat. 

Thanks for visiting and I really love to read your wonderful comments too. 

God bless,

Verna

Winter Shaker Card

This afternoon I made a shaker card. And, what should have been quite an easy one to do turned out to be a mess for sure. I recently ran across a little packet of white micro beads and thought they would work great in a shaker card for a winter scene as the snow. Well, what I didn't realize that all those little beads once out of the packet were rolling all over the place. I had a mess. And, when I finally corralled a few into my shaker area my hand got caught on the double adhesive strips I had put down and once again those beads were all over the place. Al the adhesive strips were covered with them so I had to scrape them off. I decided that was not the route I was going to go. I cleaned up all the beads except for those rolling still around on the table and the floor and decided to substitute some sparkly snowy looking sequins from Kat Scrappiness. Well, they worked much better. So without further ado I present my shaker card for you.

I chose to use the tree, deer and sentiment from the Gina K. Designs Christmas Wishes set. I stamped the tree and then used some post-it note to mask off my snow line. Then I took light blue ink and sponged on the sky area. That was my background for the shaker area. Really a simple one.

Next I took an A2 size white card stock panel and with the Gina K. Designs Diagonal Striped Background stamp I made a red striped pattern paper. Out of this panel I used the large set of Gina K. Designs Single Stitched rectangle die set and cut my window using the middle die. Then I placed my acetate under that window. With double stick tape strips from Darice I proceeded to make my frame which was to hold the shaker elements.  Then very carefully I added some of those sequins and placed the frame over the top of my scene that I had created. I did not want to leave that shaker window plain so I took the middle and larger die and placed one inside the other and then die cut a frame from the Christmas Pine card stock. This was then added to the window.

My next step was adding the whole panel to a white card stock base. I find that by placing the base card in the corner of my MISTI or in the corner of my score board that I can align the top panel more easily to it and have it placed almost perfectly. I simply align the top panel up with the corner as well.

Well, that looked too plain so I stamped the little deer and colored it and used the dies that are with the set to die cut it out. I also stamped the sentiment and layered that to Red Hot so that I could add that to the card as well. I placed the deer in the lower left and the sentiment in the upper right corner. My final addition to the card was to use some Connect glue and add a few of the sequins to the outside of the acetate window.

It really is quite a clean and simple shaker design but it sure was a hassle for me to make. I hope it still will be appreciated by the recipient.

Thanks for the visit and I wish all of you a wonderful Fourth of July. I am not sure if I will get much more card making in as I have things to work on for our weekend get-together. So until next time, please take care.

God bless,
Verna

Celebrate Freedom

Wednesday is the Fourth of July so I thought I should get this post out so that I can wish all of you a wonderful Fourth of July celebration a bit ahead of time.  Being the holiday is in the middle of the week it sort of puts a cramp on long distance traveling but if you are traveling I do hope you have a safe trip. Also if you are shooting off fire works please be careful as well. Use safety precautions. As for us I am not sure if we will be doing much. Perhaps we may take in a few fireworks displays from the neighborhood which is always a fun thing. I think our family will get together on the weekend instead to celebrate not only the Fourth but our granddaughter's birthday.  So anyway in honor of that occasion I made this card for you. I hope the birthday of our country will make us recall how much our freedom means to us. And, we owe so much to all who sacrificed so that we could enjoy these freedoms.

The sentiment used for this card is from the A Jillian Vance Design Cross Stitched Freedom stamp set. I stamped it in red and in the center there is a star to which I added a light blue tiny star gem. This sentiment was die cut out and then layered onto a layer of red card stock before adding it to my starry fireworks display panel.

I made the fireworks with a die from Lawn Fawn. I took an Emboss embossing pen and swiped some of the ink along each fireworks design and then added some white embossing powder. After heat setting this it caused a bit of resist so that when I did the sponging on my scene I could still wipe off the ink with a paper towel and have the bursts show up more clearly. By diluting some white acrylic paint with water I also took a small brush and then tapped it to make little dots on the background to make it sort of look like stars. I also used the same cross stitched die to cut out this panel before adding it to a red card base. Inside I added a panel of white so that I can leave a message either stamped or written.

Dies used:
Lawn Fawn Stitched Fireworks
Memory box Cross Stitched Frame Borders

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says: Monday Challenge-Red, White And/Or Blue
Dies R Us Challenge #100 Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting and for your wonderful comments. God bless you and God bless the USA!
Have a great one!
Verna

Blue Christmas

I am still working on Christmas cards. I have been having so much fun with the Gina Marie Designs die I bought from Kat Scrappiness and this is just one of many ways I have used this die.

This time I dressed the card up a bit more by adding a snow flake pattern behind it. And, I used a variety of blue card stock shades on it along with ivory card stock. I also added some Wink of Stella to the snowflake die cut background and the background behind the tree design. The last step was to add some gems to the tree and stars.

The dies used for this card are;
Taylored Expressions-Snowflake Cutting Plate
Gina Marie Designs-Cut in Cut Out Christmas Tree

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Dies R Us Challenge #100-Anything Goes
Kat Scrappiness July Card Challenge-Crazy for Backgrounds
Muse: Christmas Visions103  I used the trees and snowflakes as my interpretation.

I hope I am not boring you too much with this tree design but I really am having fun working with it. It makes for such wonderful looking cards I think.

Well, hard to believe it is July 1st already. I wish all of you a great July filled with lots of crafty fun! Thanks for visiting too!

God bless,
Verna