Bluejay Birthday

 I am in need of a masculine card and so for this design I chose to use digital images from Artsystamper. I thought the bird would be perfect for a guy whose birthday is in the winter months. And winter is upon us. We had a blizzard yesterday....not much snow but we sure had strong winds to blow around what little we did get. And, our highs are below zero today!

I used the pre-colored bluejay from the Artsystamper Snowbird stamp set. I also added a sentiment from the Artsystamper Artsy Sentiment set. I love that script writing. And, I used a layer of pattern paper from the Artsystamper Wintry Paper Pack 2-Distressed Blue Pine and Cone design. A little sponging of blue ink around the blue jay before getting all the layers together and adding some blue rhinestones completed the card. The solid light blue card stock is from Gina K. Designs.

I am entering this in the Artsystamper Challenge #30-Winter is Coming-Final Challenge. I just had to join in on the final one as I had enjoyed doing these challenges so much in the past. And, I learned a lot from Bev too with all her wonderful videos so I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

Well, take care and may you have a great Christmas and a wonderful new year.

God bless, Verna

O Holy Night

 I am posting one last Christmas card that I made a few days ago using the Sweet n Sassy stamp set called O Holy Night. I felt it appropriate that I post it this Christmas Eve. I hope that this card will be a blessing to all of you as it is to me.

I blended my background with my brushes and then stamped the design over that using my Misti. That way I could align it perfectly so that the star was lit up with the yellow brushing. I fussy cut that circle nativity design and laid it aside. My sentiments were stamped in black and then I popped up the circle nativity scene in between. After layering the white layer to some purple I then added it to my white card base. 

Wound care is still making progress. I have very sensitive skin and so I am also dealing with a rash from some of the bandage materials. But it is not anything too serious and just is a bit uncomfortable with some itching. I am using some ointment to take the itch away and lessen the rash.

I wish all of you the blessings of this first Christmas scene and that you will have a joyous celebration of our Savior's birth. See you next time I post. I am not sure when that will be. It could be anytime now.

God bless, Verna

Ornament Card

 This card is one I made shortly before my cancer diagnosis and I had never posted it so I thought today was a good time to share it. I used some mirror and glitter card stock on it as well as an embossing folder.

I ran the mirror card stock through a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then added the sentiment over the top. The evergreen bough is a Diemond Die, the ornament and sentiment is from Gina Marie Designs and the Crazy Double Running Stitched die is from Cutplorations. Below is a close up showing how the mirror card stock shimmers.

I had another wound vac change again today and I did a bit more healing. So keep your fingers crossed that will be the case every time. LOL Tomorrow I see the oncologist. And, then Friday another wound vac change. So I am busy! Today I wrapped a few gifts too as well as made another Christmas card for one of them. Well, that will do it for me today. I have to plug in and get my batteries charged. I wish you all a great evening and stay healthy.

God bless, Verna

2020 Christmas Tree

 We have a beautiful evergreen in our yard that we decorate each Christmas and of course, each year we have to buy another string of lights in order to get it all covered as it grows that much. This year I could not find any lights locally so ended up buying some from Amazon. I hope you like our tree.

Were both over the Covid and I had another surgery last Tuesday to clean out my incision and now they have a wound vac pump on it. I had my second change of the dressing for the pump and the gal told me it was already starting to heal. She could see new flesh. So that was good news. I am feeling quite good now but most of my week will be running to doctors. I have four appointments this week. One down and three to go. LOL 

Take care everyone and thanks for the prayers and good thoughts. I am slowly making a comeback. I even made a card and a tag so I will post them another day.

God bless, Verna

November Rudolph Days

 Well I am doing a quick post for my entry into the November Rudolph Days Challenge. I made a simple scene using Altenew stamps. It is a very clean and simple design but I still like it.

The snowflakes are embossed with white embossing powder from Gina K. Designs. I also brushed on my sky with Gina K. Designs ink. I left the bottom white to represent the snow.

Thanks for visiting and I am still very listless and not very energetic. But I have less cough now and my throat is not so sore as it was before. I still don't have a good appetite though. But hopefully, I am on the way to being better.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

God bless, Verna

COVID-19

 Well we now have the virus in our household. Hubby started not feeling well Saturday and I told him if he did not feel any better by Monday he better get tested. Sure enough he has the virus and now I am started with the same symptoms as he did. Mostly like a head cold with sore throat, cough and runny nose. He had a low grade fever a couple times but so far I have not had any fever.

Anyway since I was to have an appointment on Wednesday with my surgeon I called in to see if I should cancel. They recommended I keep the appointment because of my cancer diagnosis but go to the outside clinic which was in the Emergency parking lot. So we did and parked in special slots with numbers assigned to them along with a phone number. So when we got there I called that number and told them Slot #5 and the surgeon and a nurse came out and checked my incision while I sat in the car. They both were gowned and masked up really well and so I hope that they will not be infected. But the good news is that my incision is doing what it is supposed to do....drain. I am to see him again after we are done quarantining.

We are instructed to rest a lot, drink lots of fluids, take Tylenol and so therefore I don't imagine I will be posting any cards for awhile again. At least before I got this COVID-19 I had sent out all the Thanksgiving cards to the shut-ins. So many of the nursing homes have this virus too. So I hope the cards will perk up those infected.  

It seems to be very catchy stuff. And, we always masked up but I guess that doesn't mean you will not get it. Only went to the grocery store and drug store. Also the doctors office a lot. So far we seem to have mild cases as the fevers are low or non existant in my case. I hope all of you continue to stay away from it.

God bless, Verna

Pilgrim Thanksgiving

 This is the Thanksgiving design I made to send to the shut-ins. It was very simple to do as I printed out the pre-colored images from Jan's Digitals Pilgrim Thanksgiving set. It was one of two colored versions of this image but I chose to use the one with a blue background. I am entering this in the November 2020 Jan's Digitals Challenge-Anything Goes.

I added the image and sentiment to my program and then proceeded to print them out. I cut them to the size I wanted and then layered them onto a Gina K. Designs Cranberry Tart card base. I also grabbed a sentiment from the set for the inside too!

Thanks for visiting! Each day I feel a bit better except for the old arthritis....as that never seems to end for me! Stay well everyone!

God bless, Verna

100th Christmas Card

 Well my goal of 100 Christmas cards has been reached so any I make above that amount will go towards next year's supply. I was glad I started in January making my cards so that I am not so rushed in finishing them. And, especially this year when I am still in recovery mode from breast cancer. I am very happy with this last one I made too.

The pattern paper, coffee and poinsettia are all from various digital sets from Artsystamper. All are pre-colored. If you look close you can see a slight variation in the background paper as I found out I was running out of ink. It originally was to be light brown but it ended looking more like lavender towards the bottom. I used it regardless though. The sentiment is from Cutplorations and I die cut it once in white and once in dark green and layered them together to give a different look. I thought it looked like the sentiment was more outstanding this way. The card stock base and red layer are pre-cut and from The Paper Cuts. The white and dark green card stock for the sentiment are from Gina K. Designs.

Not only is this my last Christmas card for this season but also the last entry I will be adding to the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop challenge. I have enjoyed making cards for this hop and it was an incentive for me to get back into my old hobby too. I think that was a great part of healing as well. 

Well, my focus now will be on a few Thanksgiving cards I will be sending to shut-ins this year. I have the elements all ready for assembling so it should not take me too long. Then I will write in them and get them posted. Until next time everyone stay well and have a fantastic life!

God bless, Verna

Snowman Mug

 Here is another Christmas design I made using the Stampin' Up! pattern papers, Gina K. Designs card stock, Cutplorations Merry Christmas die and Stamplorations Christmas Mugs Circles Printable sheet. All combined together they made another great looking Christmas card.

I am entering this in the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop Challenge. I wanted most of my cards for this hop to be Christmas ones. Today is the last day for the challenge too!

Thanks for visiting and I will be sharing one more card with you as well today!

God bless, Verna

Be Merry

 For this card I used several Artsystamper pre-colored digitals as well as some of the coffee themed pattern paper offered at Artsystamper. I arranged them on my computer program and then printed them out so that I could make a card with it. I hand stamped the Be Merry which is a sentiment on the A Jillian Vance Design stamp set called Simply Said: Whimsical Santa. The coffee cup digital I colored with my Copic markers and the sentiment was stamped with ink from Gina K. Designs. 

This will make me another Christmas card for my stash and it will also be entered into the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Challenge. There is still time to enter projects so if you are so inclined I would suggest you do it soon. Entries end Friday!

Thanks for visiting and for all the great comments.

God bless, Verna

Hot Cocoa Time!

 I decided to make a card showing that winter is the time for hot cocoa too. I chose to use The Penguin and Marshmallow stamp set from Stampingbella for my design. I colored it with my Copics and then sponged on a wintery looking sky with Gina K. Designs Navy ink. I used a fussy cut paper in a curvy  edge to use as a mask when I sponged on the sky. The next step was to add some flicks of snow from a paint brush with white acrylic paint by lightly tapping on the handle of the brush. Lastly I stamped the sentiment and then mounted this simple scene to a green panel before adding it to the white card base.

This card will be entered in the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers challenge which is ongoing this week. If you want to join in you have until Friday. 

Also I want to wish all the veterans past and present a wonderful Veteran's Day! Thank you for your service. God bless all of you!

Take care everyone!

God bless, Verna

Slimline Coffee Card

 I made another one for the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers challenge using more Stampin' Up! pattern papers. I also used the Gina K. Designs circle die set and a sentiment. The red and white card stock are also from Gina K. Designs. The little cute guy in the cup image is from the Stamplorations Christmas Mugs printable sheet. Before adding all the layers together I added a light tan ribbon and then placed some red rhinestones on it. The circle designs I popped up!

Have a great day everyone. And thanks for visiting!

God bless, Verna

Peppermint Christmas

 Another dip into my stash of pattern papers and among them I found some great pattern papers from Stampin' Up! I just love the striped one and also how great the peppermint candies one goes together with it. I used a Stamplorations Christmas Mug circles design from the Stamploration Printable division of the digitals and placed it onto a layer circle which was die cut using Gina K. Designs circle dies set. The red and black card stock is from Gina K. Designs. The Merry Christmas die is from Cutplorations. I really like that big sentiment. 

One other thing I used my Mini Blossom die cutting machine from Altenew to die cut all these dies. I love that for using small dies and find it much easier for me to manage a smaller machine.

I am entering this in the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Challenge. You can still enter a card or two as well as you have until Friday.

Thanks for the visit and have a great day! Sounds like we may get some snow this afternoon. Our weather was in the 80's last week and this week we have highs in the 30's. No wonder my arthritis is acting up. But such is life! Take care.

God bless, Verna

Confetti and Christmas Mugs

 I made another card for the 2020 Fall and Winter Coffee Lovers Challenge using products from Stamplorations and Gina K. Designs. I am entering this slimline card in the challenge.

The background was made with the Artplorations Confetti #1 stencil and then I used Gina K. Design clear embossing ink and Gina K. Designs gold embossing powder on it before heat setting it.

I fussy cut out the designs on the Stamplorations Christmas Mugs printable sheet and then to make a border circle for them I used Gina K. Designs green card stock and also Gina K. Designs circle dies.

The sentiment was cut from the same green card stock using the Cutplorations Merry Christmas die.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. Stay well.

God bless, Verna

Deck The Yard!

 In our neighborhood they have contests at the holiday season where home owners get their yards all decorated with all sorts of holiday designs. One year I saw where a home owner had this huge set of beautiful ornaments in their yard and it was so outstandingly beautiful. So with the freebie from Jan's Digitals and the Christmas Cardinals stamp digital stamp set I created my own version of a decorated yard for Christmas. I hope you like my slimline version. Digitals are very handy for me to use now that I am in recovery mode still.

I am entering this in Jan's Digitals November Challenge-Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting and take care. I am feeling some better each day but now I have a drainage issue from my incision which is a nuisance. I called the surgeon and he said this sometimes happens. It is lymph fluid draining off. I was a bit concerned when I first saw what was happening.

God bless, Verna

Seasons Greetings

 A few days ago I made a simple scene using the Altenew mini stamp sets called Pine Trees and Snowing. Together along with some blending of inks I created this scene. The pine tree set is a layering set. The snow was stamped in clear ink and embossed with Gina K. Designs white embossing powder.

I am entering this in the Double D Challenge-Pine Trees And/Or Pine Cones.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

God bless, Verna

Donut Ever Give Up!

 I took a bit of time to use some Artsystamper digitals to create a card that will fit the Artsystamper Challenge-Something Yummy and also work for the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop. I think I like the way it turned out and I can see this being a very encouraging card to someone who is feeling down and out from any situation. And besides I like coffee and also yummy donuts. Haha! Makes me hungry for one now!

Again I used a slimline design using the Artsystamper Coffee and...set and also the Artsystamper Coffee Break Paper Pack. The card stock used is from Paper Cuts and it is already cut to the size for slimline cards. Very handy and much easier to use for this style of card. The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

I hope this finds all of you having a great Saturday. 

Take care and God bless, Verna

2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop

 Well, it is that time again to share your coffee lovers (also includes tea and cocoa) themed cards at the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop. I won't be doing many entries myself because I am still in recovery mode from Breast Cancer surgery but any of you who are interested can get into the hop at any time now. 

I do have a couple cards though that will work for the hop. Awhile back I made a couple coffee Christmas designs using digital stamps from Artsystamper. I am lucky I only posted one of them so that I could share this one in the hop. I hope you like it. It is a slimline card.

Last year I said I was going to learn how to do something different and thus I put lots of effort into learning how to use digital stamps. This design was created from two stamp sets at Artsystamper and one free coffee pattern paper that she offered. I think they work great together.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you can find some time to join in on the fun!

God bless, Verna

Thankful, Grateful, Blessed

 Today I was inspired to work up a design for Thanksgiving and this will be entered in the Mod Squad Challenge. I used all Gina K. Designs products for it except for some inks and ribbon.

The leaves are from the Gina K. Design Stitched Leaves stamp set. The sentiment is from the Autumn Wreath Builder set and the printed paper circle around the sentiment is also from Gina K. Designs. I don't recall if they came with the Stitched Leaves Mini Kit or with another release. The card stock is all from Gina K. Designs but the ribbon I used is from Really Reasonable Ribbon. The ink for the leaves was a rainbow pad from Hero Arts.

Thanks so much for visiting. Take care everyone and stay away from the Covid.

God bless, Verna

Happy Halloween!

 I took an old (no longer in business) set from Sparkle N Sprinkle to create this spooky scene for you. I wanted to wish all of my fellow bloggers who are so faithful to me in commenting a wonderful and fun day! I hope you like this quick scene I made for you and that you have a spooktacular and fun day!

This involved a lot of ink blending with my brushes and then along with my Misti I stamped the images onto the card. I hand drew the ghosts however. I am sure you can tell they are a little messy looking. I used a white paint pen for them and the sentiment.

I had a great time making this and now it is rest time. I also made seven Christmas cards this week and maybe later on will share some of them with you. I do a card or two besides cooking and laundry and then rest in between. I am taking it one day at a time.

Thanks for visiting and please stay safe. Halloween is a great time to wear a mask but in this pandemic it is wise to wear it all the time when out and about.

God bless, Verna

Snippets Card

I delved into my snippets container and found these dies to make a simple Christmas card for the October Rudolph Days Challenge. I like how it looks too with these die cuts. 

The Peace sentiment is from Altenew and the Poinsettia Border Die is from Paper Rose. 

I hope this finds all of you having a great Sunday. Take care and stay well and safe.

 

God bless, Verna

Cancer Update and Blessings

 Well, I think I am very blessed as I saw my surgeon on Wednesday and he took the drainage tube out. Then Thursday I saw my oncologist and he informed me since they got all the cancer tumor and being there was no cancer in the lymph nodes that I don't have to take chemo. Instead I will be taking a pill every day for five years. He said it was very unlikely I would get cancer in the other breast too. So we took that as a great sign that the Lord wants me around yet for a bit more. I have to take a bone scan to see how strong my bones are as this medication he prescribed is hard on the bones. If my bones are too fragile then he will give me a different pill. Apparently this pill attacks estrogen and rids it from the body. So it might cause me to have more achy bones but since I was taken off Plavix I am now allowed to take Aleve which sure helps with the arthritis pain. So that is a blessing.

Also my dear daughter who makes jewelry gave me a pretty pendant with a wonderful saying on it. I wore it to my oncologist appointment and I also learned in the past few days how to take a selfie of myself with my phone. I have to keep learning new things to keep my mind active. So that is a blessing that this old gray mare can still learn a thing or two!

And here is the selfie of me wearing it. 

I might try and work on some cards again after I am all done with doctor appointments. I just know that I am so blessed to have come through this journey with such wonderful results. All the more reason to keep up with the mammograms ladies. I never expected this to happen after all good mammograms for the past years. But it goes to show that it can occur at any time.

Oh, we had our first snowstorm of the season too. Apparently more is coming for the weekend as well. That did not make me happy as I was hoping winter would not arrive this soon. But I guess it is moisture and we are in such short supply of that so I will call it another blessing instead.

I hope all of you are doing well and avoiding the Covid. It seems to be on the rise all over lately. But I know better days will be coming as far as the pandemic goes. We  just need to keep the faith.

And, working with my computer is much better too since we got a new keyboard and a new mouse. I thought perhaps I had a stroke and that I did not have a strong enough touch when I clicked on it as everytime I hit the mouse I got all kinds of pop up windows which never had happened before. But apparently hubby fell asleep too many times in front of the computer and dropped the mouse too many times as my son-in-law said the mouse was cracked. So there I go with more blessings. 

Well, I have chewed your ear enough for today. I just got the laundry in and soon I will have to figure out what to fix for lunch. I actually feel like doing more now. Well, what do you know? Another blessing there too.

Take care and God bless all of you,

Verna

Halloween Cards

 Well I got my Halloween cards done using the Artsystamper Sweet Spirits Stamp set digitals and some pattern paper from Gina K. Designs. They are very simple but at least I got them all ready to mail to the shut ins.

As to my health I am feeling fairly good. I do tire easily and am taking it pretty easy. I had help from my daughter for several days. I still have the drain  tube in but the surgeon assured me I am doing great. The pain is not too bad and with the help of some Aleve or Tylenol I can keep it in control. I am gradually doing more things but I am glad I had made a lot of meals ahead that can just be thrown in the microwave. 

The stool softner is no longer being taken as it was causing other issues. LOL So that is one less thing to deal with. But I think all in all I am doing quite well.

Thanks for the prayers and good thoughts and for the wonderful cards you have sent me. I am so appreciative of it.

God bless,\

Verna

Breast Cancer Update

 Well I am a little bit lopsided now but all went well and I got home this afternoon. Now I need to heal and do follow up and eventually get chemo. The good thing is that it was caught early and the lymph nodes were not infected at all. I sure had wonderful doctors and nurses caring for me. They were the best as far as I was concerned. I ended up staying overnight too. And I still need that haircut but maybe my daughter who is staying for a few days can trim me up a bit so I don't look like such a Raggedy Ann.  Hahaa! 

Below are the flowers and balloons that I got while in the hospital. They are all so gorgeous and I thank all who sent them. They are from my sister and her daughter and the other bouquet and balloons are from my children and their families. 

Take this as a reminder to be sure and keep up with the mammograms and get those girls check out every year. I am glad I was in that habit.

Take care and thanks for all the cards, good thoughts and prayers.

God bless,

Verna 

September Rudolph Days

Here is the slimline card I made for the September  Rudolph Days challenge.   I hope the link works as I don't know how to check it out for sure anymore with this new blogger. 

The pre-colored digital trio of poinsettias comes from Tiddly Inks. And I also added a sentiment from Jan's Digital Christmas Cardinals set. I thought the sentiment went so well with the poinsettias. After I printed the design out it was a simple matter of  layering to some green cardstock and then onto the white card base. 

Thanks for the visit and I hope you are having a great week. Stay safe!

God bless,

Verna

Happy Autumn!

I managed to make a few quick Autumn themed cards today using one of the printed papers from the Williamsburg Memories paper pack from Artstystamper. This one is called Leaf Fall Sidewalk. I simply printed out the pattern paper from Photos and then divided it into fourths so that I was able to get four cards from it. I then added a sentiment from a stamp set from Joy Clair called Hello Autumn. I am so glad to have handy papers I can print out so that I can get some card making in. And I wish all of you a Happy Autumn!

 On a personal note I apologize for this being a bit late for the first day of Fall. I have been going back and forth to several doctor appointments of late and finally ended up having a biopsy and found out that I have breast cancer. So on October 8 I will be having a masectomy. So this may mean I will perhaps not be doing a lot of card making for awhile. It is a good thing I have most of my Christmas cards done. I still need Halloween cards for my shut ins and will try to get them made too before I have the surgery. 

I am in good hands though with a wonderful surgeon. I may need to have chemo after that is over but time will tell. I won't be having radiation unless it is absolutely necessary. The good news is that it is the early stages and they don't think it has progressed to my lymph nodes. I need a haircut bad but I guess if having chemo makes it fall out that will solve that problem. Hahaa!

So all  you gals keep up on the mammograms. I never had any issues before but this one showed something amiss. So I guess you never know. Take care everyone and I hope the Covid is missing you all and I hope we don't connect with it either.

God bless,

Verna

Layers, Blending, Gems

 Well, it appears I am on the new blogger again and now I suppose I will be struggling to get this all figured out as to the new way of posting. I don't understand all those symbols they used which makes it a trial and error method for me. I am not very happy as I hate change.

I just learned of a new challenge so I am entering it. The new one is called Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I am doing it just for fun and in the process getting another Christmas card in my stash.

I chose to use the Layers, Blending and Gems column for my card. I recently got a new die from Paper Roses called Poinsettia Border Die. It was not long enough for my slimline card so I had to die cut two and piece it together in the middle. Over that splice I added the Gina K. Designs sentiment. I used my blending brushes to add some green tones around the edges of the layers and card base as well as the sentiment panel. The gems added to the poinsettias and to the sentiment panel were all from my stash and I don't know the manufacturer anymore as I did not have them in the original sleeves. All the card stock used is some pre-cut panels from The Paper Cuts. I  bought some that way as I thought it might hurry the process along for me. I am thinking of buying some slimline dies too but until I make a purchase these will work quite well. I even got envelopes for the cards.

Well, another weekend again. The week just flies by. It is a rather chilly day but I see the sun is peeking out now. So that at least makes one feel a bit warmer. My thoughts and prayers go to all in Oregon, California and Washington and other nearby states who are in those wildfires. So much devestation already and it does not appear to be anywhere near being contained. Not something else they needed to deal with besides the pandemic.

Well thanks for the visit and take care.

God bless,

Verna

Winter Deer Scene

Today I made a slimline card to enter into Jan's Digital September 2020-Anything Goes Challenge. I used images from two stamp sets of Jan's called Tree Scene Set and Winter Deer Set.

The images came pre-colored but I added additional color to the trees and then also brushed on some blue ink from Memento to create a skyline on the card. The shadow on the deer portion was more of a gray so I also added some blue color to match the shadows below the trees. The extra color was added with Prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is also from one of those sets. I then layered it to red card stock before adding it again to a white card base.

I still am not sure how to adjust things properly in a scene like this. As you see I had to cut off the tops of some of the trees. But it still makes for a nice scene.

Well, we dropped from 80 degrees on Sunday to the forties overnight on Monday. And, last night we were in the thirties and that is predicted tonight as well with it dropping down to possibly freezing. It is no wonder my joints ache. Hahaa! I also got the beets frozen this week too and hubby is covering up the tomatoes so they don't freeze. We got them in late and of course, that means they ripened late too. We only planted four plants this year.

Our grandson is out of quarantine since Labor Day. He is happy about that. I hope he doesn't develop any after symptoms now. But I guess the Lord is in charge of what happens next for all of us.

Well, take care everyone. Stay safe and well. My prayers go to all in those fires in California too and those who suffered damage from hurricanes and tornadoes.

God bless,
Verna

Harvest Anniversary Card

Digital play day again! I made an anniversary card using digials from several Artsystamper sets. Sets used for this card are A Bunny Harvest set, Artsy Sentiment Set and the Williamsburg Memories set. I sort of got my design a bit larger then I should have so some of the design had to be cut off in order to make my slimline card design. But I still think it looks pretty great! I used already colored images.

I combined two of the Williamsburg Memories backgrounds together for this card. To make it look like the grass was up right against the old building I took some colored pencils and drew in some grass to match. This was done after I had the scene built and printed out. First on the Open Office program I added the basket. Then I finished the scene by adding carrots, cabbage and the rabbit along the bottom. The last thing I did was to add the sentiment. The rabbit was not showing up as well as I wanted it to do after I printed it so I took a colored pencil and added some green to the cabbage and in that way the rabbit was more pronounced. I layered it onto an orange card base and then added a white sheet of paper inside so I can write or stamp another sentiment.

Hubby went fishing so when I got my housework done I thought I would play a bit with these sets I  purchased at half off. If you are interested you can still snag some awesome sets at half price at the Artstystamper website.

Thanks for visiting and I wish all of you a great weekend. I don't think we have anything special planned as I think most of our family is staying distanced these days. My grandson is improving every day. This morning he texted me that he was much better but still had achy joints. I told him to still continue to rest and not overdo it. He is still in isolation at his fraternity house. I so appreciate all the prayers for him too. I know they have helped with his recovery and our hope is that there will not be a relapse.

Well until next time take care and God bless,
Verna

Fall Flowers Birthday

I made another slimline card and used a stencil, stamp sets and inks to make a floral design with the colors of Autumn.

I made it a slimline card. The sentiment is from the Gina K. Designs Sketched Wreath Builder Stamp Set. The Gina K. Designs stencil is called Mega Flowers. I used my blending brushes and inks from Gina K. Design to color the flowers in a mix of reds, oranges and  yellows with the brown centers. I also added some Brown Bic pen dots to the centers and also around the sentiment to add a bit of simple doodling. A brown ribbon is  placed between the sentiment and the stenciled design. I bought some already cut pieces of cardstock from Paper Cuts so a lot of the measuring and cutting was already done. I even got envelopes to  use for them too.

Inside the card I used images and a sentiment from the Gina K. Design Happy Birthday to You stamp set. I thought that silhouette flower design sort of resembled the stenciled ones.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Double D Challenge-Colorful
MSC Challenge-Step Up Your Stencil
Gina K. Design September Monthly Mix Challenge

I was so happy I got another card made this week. My arthritis is some better so it worked out for me today to be more creative. Thanks for visiting and for the wonderful comments.

God bless,
Verna

Coffee Christmas

Those who belong to the Artsystamper Addiction FB page often get freebies and the background I used for this card is one of the freebies called Post Card Receipt Rings pattern paper. I  paired it with a coffee mug design from another Artstystamper digital set called Coffee And (more) and then grabbed the poinsettia from the Artsystamper Poinsettia Pair stamp set too. I did my arrangement on my Open Office program and then printed it out. I decided this would be a slimline card. After I cut it to the size I wanted I then layered it onto green and then to a white card base to finish it. With the large  piece of  pattern paper I was able to make another card using the same elements.

I thought about adding a sentiment on the post card but in the end decided to just leave it and only add a sentiment inside instead. I have gotten into making the slimline cards lately and I think mine might be a bit bigger then most people make theirs but these fit into a business size envelope easily. 

I guess I never heard what the proper measurements were supposed to be.

I just placed an order to Paper Cuts though for some already cut cards in the slimline design as well as some layering papers and envelopes. I thought this might save me from cutting up so much card stock to make just one card. I will see if I like them or not after they arrive.

* * * * *

On a personal note I just found out that my oldest grandson Tom who is going to college has come down with the Covid-19. He had a fever last night over 101 degrees. He is resting and taking Tylenol and drinking lots of fluids. Apparently someone in the Frat house where he lives had it and infected others. So if you would please say a prayer for him and all the others who got sick it would be much appreciated. 

I have been having lots of arthritis issues lately too so I am not getting much card making done. It is all I can do to make meals, wash dishes by hand and do laundry. Then in between time I have garden  produce to take care of and I try to rest a bit too. It sure slows me down. LOL So I may be missing with blog posts a bit more now too until I feel better. Our weather has been so crazy lately with high humidity, hot weather and storms. Now it has gone to a cooling trend and it seems with each weather change I feel it in my bones. But such is life I guess.

I hope this finds all of you well and thanks for the visits.

God bless,

Verna

Just a Heads Up

If you are interested in some good deals on digital stamp sets then check this out. I know I will be looking things over. I do love Bev's work.

I highly reccommend these sets she has and it sure helps when wanting to make some great looking cards in a hurry!

Take care everyone.
God bless,
Verna

Slimline Anniversary

I have several Fall wedding anniversaries in our family so because of that I decided to make a slimline anniversary card using a stencil from Artplorations called Peeking Sunflowers. I just love this stencil and am so glad I bought it. I ordered mine in the heavier form so that it would withstand more harsh use. And, it is just perfect.

I added the Happy Anniversary die cut sentiment from Tonic Studios and also stamped a couple bees which were in a set I won from a Stamps of Life set called Jars 2. With a Bic pen I added some dots to the center of the sunflowers and I thought it sort of dressed it up a bit more. The inks I used were from Gina K. Designs and I used blending brushes to add the colors through the stencil.

I am entering this in the following:
Double D's Challenge-Sunflowers
Stamplorations Never Ending Challenge-Anything Goes

I just love working with stencils and I hope you like the project I did with this beautiful one. Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a wonderful day!

God bless,
Verna

Joy Nativity

Today I am showing you the card I made for the August Rudolph Days Challenge. In fact, I made several of these until I ran out of the metallic bling that I used on them. The die is a Cottage Cutz Elite Die called Joy Nativity.  I got it in the clearance section and I love this die. It makes such pretty Christmas cards I think. I also used some metallic gold card stock from Gina K. Designs on my card along with a white card base. The die design was cut from white card stock as well.

I hope you can see that the card stock has some shimmer to it. It really looks much better in real life but this was the best photo I could get of it.

I hope all are well and having a good week. Take care everyone and thanks for visiting.

God bless,
Verna

A Bit Snarky!

I recently was checking out the images at Technique Junkies and saw this sentiment stamp called Kick Ass Shoes and just knew it would work out well for many of my lady friends who are having health issues. This card in particular is being made for a gal who had two surgeries in two months and now is battling infections.

I wanted to use the shoes by themselves so I cut them away from the sentiment....yes, sometimes I do surgery on my stamps. I then used the shoes to create a colorful background of lots of shoes so that it would be a perfect for my main focal image. But I screwed up when I put the shoes back into the sentiment. I put them in the wrong direction  but I figured it still wasn't too awful so I left them that way. I decorated the shoes up to make them look a bit more fancy with the addition of a single rhinestone to each one. Since I stamped the sentiment on sand card stock I thought it would look better if trimmed with some black before placing it on the kraft card base. I also added some  black glitter drops to the sentiment panel. Inside I also used the sand but added a bit of  black to trim that along the top and bottom as well.

I hope this card does not offend anyone. My feeling behind it is that it will bring a smile and maybe even a chuckle to my friend. I hope so. I don't want her to give  up! And, of course, she is in my prayers.

Take care everyone and have a great weekend. I so appreciate your visits and comments.

God bless,
Verna

Sunflower Hugs

Today I printed out a digital from Power Poppy which was offered as a freebie and then colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and some Gamsol. I  printed the sunflower onto sand colored paper instead of white and I like how it looks after I did the coloring.

After I had the design colored I simply added some orange and yellow rhinestone gems to finish it off.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Atrtsystampers Challenge #22-Fall Flowers
Double D Challenges-Sunflowers
Creative Confetti Challenge   

Oh, and on the bean card I hand drew last post. I finally finished the inside by adding this sentiment:

And I'm

not stringing

you along!

Well, that is all for me today. I hope you week is going well.

God bless,

Verna

Beans, Beans!

Well, the bean crop is going well this year and it is keeping me busy. I saw all those beans and got the bright idea to make a CAS card with some beans on it. Hey! I am no artist but how hard can it be to draw some beans, right? Well, it is not as easy as it looks but I did make a couple beans look passable. At any rate, I had some fun before diving into working on the beans. I hope it makes you chuckle a bit to see my feeble attempt too.

I drew the beans and then used Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol to color them. I have no idea who I will send a card like this to but maybe just will keep it as it reminder to me of a nice summer day when  the beans were abundant and how it was fun to create a card at the spur of the moment. Can't get much CAS then this. Hahaa!

I hope all are doing well. My week is filled with doctor appointments, a funeral, and church activities so this might be my only crafty design for the week. In the meantime, take care.

God bless,
Verna

White Space

The Gina K. Designs Monthly Mix Challenge is a Design Concept-White Space. So I decided to do a little bit of quick stamping and created this CAS note card design using the Gina K. Designs Bogo Flowers stamp set. I also used Gina K. Designs ink and white card stock.

With the aid of my Misti and some blending brushes I did a very simple design using the stamps from that set. Sometimes you just need a simple design and this one I thought would work for either a man or a woman.

Well, I have been busy so not a lot of time has been spent crafting. I did however manage to spend some money. LOL Now to find time to work with the new things. Most of them are digital designs so they will be ready and waiting for me anytime I can work with them. I hope this finds all of you doing well too. Thanks for the visits.

Take care and God bless,
Verna