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

Happy National Card Making Day

I am not making cards but I will share more of my Cards for Little Hearts that I did in the last few weeks. I enjoyed making these cards and I hope the children will like them too. And if you decide to make cards for this cause be sure to read all the guidelines first.

I also am sharing an ornament I made using a Gina K. Designs stamp from the set called Snow One Like You. I stamped the snowman with Staz On black ink to an acrylic ornament piece and then colored behind the stamped image with Galaxy Markers. When it was all dry I then put Versamark clear embossing on the back and added white embossing powder and heat set it. I also added some Versamark along the edges to make sort of a distressed frame and embossed that with gold embossing powder. I finished by adding a gold cord for hanging it.

Oh, yes! We dug the rest of the carrots and found one bigger then the previous one I posted of hubby holding it. Here is is resting on the scale.

At the biggest part of it my husband's hands would not quite touch. I am glad all are out of the garden now so that they don't grow any more. LOL I think the freezer will be packed this year. Last year we ran out during the winter but I don't think we have to worry about it for this coming season.

Well, take care until next time when I will post more of the Cards For Little Hearts that I made. Have a great card making day and weekend.

God bless,

Verna

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Winter Cards For Cards for Little Hearts Drive

Yes, it is that time again for the winter drive for Cards for Little Hearts. I have been making cards for the drive for the last three weeks off and on. But when I cut my thumb I had to quit for a spell until it healed more. So I was so happy when a wonderful lady, Kay Barnes of White Rose Crafts said she would donate sheets of stickers to help with the card making process. I am so grateful to her and so I am going to start sharing some of the cards I made using some of them. Not all of the cards used stickers though. I hope the children will like them as well. I won't be stating who makes the images or what brand of stickers were used but if you wish to know something just let me know.

I will post more designs in future posts. And, if you want to make some cards for the drive be sure to check out all the rules and regulations for the winter drive which is ongoing now until November 1st.
I wanted to get mine done and mailed off because I am going to be busy taking care of carrots.

All summer long my hubby said that we had a poor crop of carrots as so many of the seeds did not germinate. So I decided to give them as much time to grow as they could and when we got frost I thought we should use them. I wanted to make some soup so I told him to bring in about four carrots for it. So he certainly obliged. Below are the four carrots he brought in and I have them on a sheet of paper towel. They just fit on it except for the big one which went over the edges of the square sheet.

And I took a picture of him holding the biggest one. He was able to get his hands around it and we weighed it and it was 2 lbs. 4.4 oz.

I think even though not many germinated that the good Lord was certainly in charge because if all the seeds had grown I would be even busier. As it is I am sure I will have plenty of carrots this year and no doubt will have some for our kids too. Today he brought in a 3 gallon pail filled with 12 carrots which I scrubbed up as they had lots of mud on them. And, tomorrow I will peel and cut them up so that I can blanch and freeze them. So if 12 carrots fills a pail I will have plenty. There should be 2 to 3 more pails in the garden.

Well, have a great weekend and I will be back another day to post some more of the Cards for Little Hearts.

God bless,
Verna

Pumpkin Inchies Card

This afternoon I worked up a quick card by sponging a background, doing a bit of background stamping and then using as the focal point some pumpkin inchies, I added a sentiment and all the stamps used on this card are from Gina K. Designs Autumn Wreath Builder. I used a Spellbinder Die for the inchies and then added a thin border of black card stock to each.

I went the clean and simple route with this design but I still think it makes for a great design and I will be using it for one of my Thanksgiving cards.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Double D Challenge-Scare'n Up Some Pumpkins
Mod Squad Challenge- Use Inchies as Focal Point

Well, I have been making lots of Christmas cards so I have been very busy this week. They are for the Cards for Little Hearts Winter Drive. Also we have had guys in and out as they are installing a new furnace so with all the interruptions I did not get to posting any of them. But maybe next week I can get a few posted. I did take photos though.

Well in the meantime I want to thank all of you for the visits and wonderful comments. Have a great evening now.

God bless,
Verna