Thanks Healthcare Workers

I am so thankful for all the healthcare workers who are putting their lives in danger to deal with this pandemic. Jan Mahew of Jan's Digi Stamps is offering this stamp set that I used on this card free and it is called Angel of Mercy. Go to her site to obtain it. See the promo code she shows above the set.

I used the pre-colored design and the sentiment to which I had added a heart included in the set and printed them. Next I used a die cut from Gina Marie Designs called Loopy Rectangle to cut the panel. I also added some Gina K. Designs digital paper called Penny Candy which I printed out and added to a white card base. Over that I added my die cut focal design.  A piece of the pattern paper was also added inside. It is hard to see the pattern of the paper as the die took up most of the card front. I also added some Wink of Stella to the wings. The photo below will show off the shimmer that appears on them when it is tilted to the light.

I thank Jan so much for this free set. It is so appropriate especially at this time. I hope that all the healthcare workers will be safe and if they do get infected that they will recover. This not only includes doctors and nurses but the scheduling, billing, public relations people, custodians and cleaning crew. All are leaving the safety of their homes so that the people get the care they need.

Thanks for visiting and I hope all of you are doing okay too.

God bless,
Verna

March Rudolph Days

Here is my entry for the Scrappymos March Rudolph Days challenge. This will be a quick post as our internet is not very stable so I will rush through it.

I used Cutplorations dies for the tree and the sentiment. And, the frame is from Impression Obsession. The card stock and pattern paper is from Gina K. Designs and the silver glitter card stock is from Crafter's Companion.

Thanks for stopping by and we are doing well yet. Hang in there everyone and stay healthy!

God bless,
Verna

Easter Cross Card

I finally got back to some card making and so I made four Easter cards similar to this one. I used a digital image from the Church Sympathy set from Jan's Digitals. Instead of placing a sentiment inside the oval design I added a die cut cross from gold mirror card stock which was one of three in the set I got from Impression Obsession.  And the sentiments I added were from Gina K. Designs.

This time using that pre-colored digital oval design with the flowers I turned it upside down before adding the cross die. I like it that way too.

I am entering this in Jan's Digital Challenge #10-Anything Goes.

Now on a personal note: The reason I have been missing in action is that we had a pipe break under the kitchen sink. We had water in the kitchen area and also in the basement. So that meant shutting off water to those areas and trying to locate repairs for it. This called for a trip to town as we did not have the things on hand to fix it so hubby took a risk and sought out supplies to fix it. He worked two days on getting it done and it was a really hard job to do by oneself. He thought about getting a plumber but since he was home bound more he figured he could do it alone. And, he did but we still have one more issue. We do not have our drinking water reverse osmosis system working now so that means a repair guy will be coming later this week to work on that. But we have some bottled water we can drink and for cooking we are using the soft water. It will get us by.

So some cleaning got done whether we had planned on it or not. With so much water it took quite a bit of time. It leaked in the basement onto some old clothes saved for a lady who wanted to make rugs and also onto the tread mill. So that tread mill is unplugged and going to be allowed to dry out well before resuming use of it. We still have the bicycle to pedal at least which is not something that is plugged into electricity.

So just in case you wondered why I was missing in action that is the reason. I did manage to get several cards written and sent out though to people I thought would like to be encouraged and cheered during this health crisis. My sister is still in the hospital as her legs still are not working too well. She might go to a nursing home but then again she may just stay there because  there are the most cases of Covid-19 in their town in South Dakota. She is doing okay so far as that threat goes. We had hoped she would be going to her own home soon too. I feel that might be the best place for her.

Well, everyone stay healthy. I think I will get some bread flour out of the freezer and warm it up and try to bake some bread one of these days. I keep it in the freezer to keep it fresh longer. I just hope my yeast is still good enough to get it to rise. We might end up with hard tack bread like in the old west  days. Haha!

Take care and God bless,
Verna

Tulip Tag

I don't often make tags and if it had not been for a challenge to do so I most likely would not have made one. So I hope I pulled off a nice looking tag with the stamps and dies I used for it. When I bought the tulip vase stamp set I did not realize what a huge stamp it was so therefore only a portion of the design shows on the tag. But it still is a good representation of Spring.

I used the biggest of the luggage tags from Cutplorations (from Stamplorations line) and added the tulip design from the Stamplorations Layered Vase set. When I stamped the solid parts of the tulip I realized that there was a fine line crease along the edges of the tag and therefore the stamping did not take hold in those places. So I went and took a marker which matched the colors and colored over those solid parts. The sentiment is also from the same stamp set. I wanted a bit more detail so I took a black marker and decided to doodle on a simple dotted look close to the edge. I also brushed on some blue inside the tag and around the outer portion brushed on some pink. The last addition was some ribbon I had in my stash.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Mod Squad Challenge-Project
Double D Challenge-Welcome Spring

A cloudy and dreary day here with some rain and snow mix coming down. A good day to stay inside. I hope your day and week has gone well and that all of you are still healthy. Until next time, take care!

God bless,
Verna

Hello Spring

More and more it is starting to seem more Springlike but later tonight we are to get snow again. But even with the snow I still can see the signs of Spring everywhere. We got to 50 degrees yesterday. So with the thoughts of Spring in mind I brought out a recent acquisition die from Cottage Cutz which is a wonderful little scene design. I used it on this card.

I die cut the design out from white card stock and then colored in all the details with my Bic, Sharpies and Crafters Companion mix of markers. Once I had it all colored I added it to a white card stock which was brushed with color and then to the card base. Then I die cut a frame from Impression Obsession with pink card stock and placed that around the scene. The last element I used on the card was to stamp a sentiment from the Flower Pots stamp set from Impression Obsession.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Double D Challenge-Welcome Spring
Dies R Us Challenge #141-Things With Wings

Thanks for stopping in and I love the social interaction we get by sharing our card designs. Hugs to all of you.

God bless,
Verna

Digital Sympathy Card

I seem to be needing more and more sympathy cards these days and so with the help of the Jan's Digtital Church Sympathy set I made another one using one of the designs from it. I sort of got the oval a bit out of sync from the original but I still think it worked out well. I cut it out by hand and then combined it with some yellow gingham paper. I am just so enjoying making use of that paper. I hoarded it for way too long.

That beautiful sentiment is also included with the set. And again I chose to use the pre-colored design for the card.

I am entering this card in the Jan's Digi Challenge #10-Anything Goes.

Thanks for the visit and stay healthy everyone.

God bless,
Verna

Lots of Layers

Normally I am not a card maker that uses a lot of layers but since the challenge at the Artsystamper Digitals Challenge #12 called for Lots of Layers I decided to oblige. And for this card I also used a photograph of some alcohol ink paper I had made and took photos of  years ago. I am glad I did  because it will come in handy for making cards digitally. I thought it looked pretty with the pre-colored waterlilies images in the Artsystamper Koi Pond set.

I combined the alcohol ink background with some bright pink card stock to create more layers. Then after I fussy cut out the waterlilies I arranged them in layers also on the top panel. The sentiment is also from the same stamp set.

I took quite a bit of time to make this as using layers is not my usual mode of card making. I cut the layers out with my paper cutter and forego using any dies this time.

Thanks for the visit and enjoy staying isolated more in your homes. We are so lucky we have a hobby that can occupy us when we are away from the outside world. Stray healthy.

God bless all of you,
Verna

Easter Joy

My original intention was to make Christmas cards but then I realized I did not have enough Easter cards made for my shut-in ministry so I worked on an Easter card instead. I used all dies on my card which was backed up with a background made with my blending brushes and a variety of ink brands.

The dies used for this card are one of three crosses from the Impression Obsession Cross die set. And, I also used a couple cuttings of the Impression Obsession Songbird Branch set. And, the finishing touch was to add the sentiment Easter Joy which is also from Impression Obsession.

I used gold mirror card stock for the cross and the branches were die cut from white card stock and then colored with a mix of my Bic and Crafter's Companion alcohol ink pens. The sentiment was just die cut with black card stock.

I love this cross die and when I recently won a gift code to Impression Obsession this was one of the dies I chose to spend it on. The empty cross to me symbolizes that our Lord Jesus lives! And because He lives we know that we too will be with Him in Heaven one day if we believe. I think Easter is my favorite holiday because of this.

I am entering this in the Dies R Us Challenge #141-Things With Wings.

On a personal note my oldest sister was hospitalized yesterday with Influenza B and pneumonia and I spent a lot of my night in prayer that the Lord would watch over her. Well today her daughter messaged me that she has much improved and if all goes well she will be able to go back to her home in a couple days. She is 88 years old so it was of course a concern due to her age. But even if the Lord did say her time on earth was done I know she was ready and would be just fine. That was a comfort to me too.

I hope all of you are staying healthy and that we all do our part to take care with our normal routines and keep the safe distancing practice and the washing of hands. The schools here are closed and lots of businesses are trying to provide for their employees. If you want to eat out it is recommended you do" take out" or "drive though". But for us we mainly will just stay home more. Anyway, take care everyone.

God bless you,
Verna

March Twofers-Spring Chickens

More then likely when you think of Spring chickens you would think of little chicks. But on my parent's farm a Spring chicken referred to the chicks that were grown up big enough to start laying or ready for butchering. And that was usually by mid June. Mom kept the hens for laying eggs and the roosters were, of course. used for fried chicken. Spring chickens made really tender and juicy fried chicken. And, we never kept them as pets but instead they were a means of income for my Mom and Dad who had lots of debt due to the many operations my brother had to endure before he died. So between the income from the chickens and the eggs my Mom also sold the cream separated from the milk our Holstein cows produced. All were sold at the local creamery except for the dressed roosters which were sold to her customers who always put in their orders ahead of time. After she got her money for these sales then we would go to the grocery store to buy our supplies for the week. I thought a little explanation should be given as to why I chose to use these chicken images. These are the cards I made for Darnell's Twofer Challenge for March.

For my cards I chose to use an Inky Stamper set called Chicken. It included the cute chicken image and also sentiments along with the chicken tracks and chicken wire. There also was a die with the set and I used that as well to cut out the chickens. On both cards the chickens were popped up.

I went with fairly CAS designs for both of the cards. This first one I am showing was depicting a White Leghorn chicken which was mostly what my Mom raised. I guess their legs were not completely gray but it seems they scratched in the dirt so much that as a kid that was the perception I got when seeing their legs. Anyway, this is a card I thought someone who was ill or just feeling a little down might enjoy.

This last Twofer I tried to make my chicken look more like a speckled Rhode Island Red by coloring it with two shades of brown and then taking a white paint pen and trying to make the mottled look of the feathers on them. I had a leftover frame from some other project using a Cutplorations die and that was added to the design. The focal panel was a beige ribbed card stock that I had in my stash. The card was finished by adding some gems. The sentiment reminds me of when I get stuck on a design and cannot figure out a conclusion to it. Many times I have had to walk away and leave it sit.

My Mom got what they called "straight run" chickens so until they grew up a bit we had no idea if they were hens or roosters. And, even if she did order White Leghorns now and then a chicken of a different breed would be in with the batch. They came in the mail and when they arrived we had to go to the Post Office and pick them up. Wow! Could all those little chicks make lots of noise with their constant peeping. I can imagine it nearly drove the Post Office crew batty. I am not sure where my Mom ordered them from but I rather suspect it was from a Sears or Montgomery Wards catalog. We  seemed to get lots of things from the mail order catalogs.

Anyway, I hope these Spring chickens will work for the Twofer. I just love those chicken images. I hope you get a few chuckles from these designs too.

Take care and until next time God bless,
Verna

Upcoming Card Artist

This week I have been enjoying having my granddaughter Anna stay with us for a couple days. She wanted to make some cards so I am sharing one of her cards on the blog today. This is a baby card she is making for her Kindergarten teacher who is going to have a baby. Since we do not know if it was a boy or girl baby expected we chose to use a  Beccy's Place digital called  Quilted Horse. If you follow Beccy's Place blog you will find all sorts of free digital images one can use for cards and this is one of them. It came in a pre-colored or black and white line version but we chose to use the colored one.

She did a pretty good job fussy cutting out the image. Then I found her a yellow and white gingham panel to place the horse on and next she added that panel to the mint green card base. Grandma helped her position it a little bit. She then was able to stamp the sentiment from a now retired Sparkle N Sprinkle set with Gina K. Designs Jet Black Amalgam ink and the help of the Misti.

Anna wanted to decorate the inside of the card as well but this time she chose to do her own drawing and used colored pencils to create a garden scene along with a rainbow. She also stamped Congratulations which is also from a now retired Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp set.

Below is our little artist concentrating on her finished project. She was really putting lots of effort and thought into her design too.

Anyway Anna and I both wish you a wonderful weekend. And, stay healthy everyone.

God bless,
Verna and Anna

Best Friends

I wanted to make a card for the Impression Obsession Challenge-Best Friends but it was a little bit of a challenge for me as I did not have any people stamps or dies that would work as one has to use only Impression Obsession products. But I put my thinking cap on and finally came up with this for my entry. These two little chicks are best friends.

I die cut two of the chicks from white card stock and colored the dies parts with markers. I then die cut the frame in white and black and used the white portion to make my background using stamps and markers. I also brushed on some blue for the sky and thus made a background scene and placed my chicks in the foreground. It sort of reminds me of them looking in through a window from outside. The sentiment and tulips are also Impression Obsession products.

Supplies used:
DIE860-WW Large Frame
DIE962-J Chick Frame
CL872 Flower Pots stamp set
CL653 Mini Messages 3 stamp set
Gina K. Design Card Stock
Crafters Companion Dotted Glue Runner
Blending Brushes
Bic and Sharpie Markers
Gina K. Designs Ink Pads

All of these products except for Mini Messages 3 can be found at the Impression Obsession website. I think perhaps that is a retired set.

Have a great weekend everyone. I plan on writing out several cards for shut ins and also for lots of March birthdays. And don't forget to move all your clocks ahead Sunday morning. We do ours before we go to bed. I sure will miss that hour of sleep though. It always takes my body a while to adjust. In case you get confused always remember the saying: "Spring Ahead, Fall Back".

Take care and God bless,
Verna

Is That Neon Enough??

Well, it sure looks bright and cheery in person with the rainbow of neon colors. To make that background I took blending brushes and used the Gina K. Designs Electro Pop Neon Inks by Rina K. And, I took Rina's advice and have a blending brush for each color as they are very juicy and vibrant inks and I did not want to contaminate other ink pads. It is a "just in case" for me as I don't know if they would do that or not.

The stamped designs are from the Gina K. Designs Bold & Blooming stamp set. I used Jet Black Amalgam ink to add them to the neon panel with the use of my Misti. That tool is a must for me as I almost always need to do more then one stamping. My hands and arms are not as strong as they used to be now so I need repeated stampings.

After the panel was all stamped I then die cut it with a Makers Movement stitched rectangle stacker die and then I placed it on a neon green card base. I made it even more neon looking by adding a bright pink panel inside the card.

This birthday card hopefully will make someone feel real happy and not give them a headache from all the brightness. Anyway, this is how I made my rainbow of neon colors work for me.

I am entering this in the Mod Squad Challenge-Bring On The Neon. I think it will work for the March Monthly Mix challenge at Gina K. Designs too. That challenge calls for rainbows or rainbow of colors in your design.

So happy you stopped by and I hope none of you have any headaches or bad dreams after seeing this bright and bold creation. If so I am truly sorry. Until next time please take care

God bless,
Verna

Marriage

Another recent acquisition for me was the Beccy's Place Wedded Bliss digital set. With that set I made this card which I thought would work not only for a wedding but also for an anniversary. And, I love how the already colored image matched so well to the green mirror card stock I used with it.

After I had arranged all the designs and sentiment onto my program I then printed it out on white card stock. I die cut that panel out with a Maker's Movement Stitched Rectangle die. Also with another die from that same Maker's Movement set I die cut the green mirror card stock which is from Crafter's Companion. I adhered all the layers together and then I added a die cut bow from the mirror card stock. It is the bow that goes with the Cheery Lynn Christmas Bell die set. And, lastly I added some green rhinestones to the design.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Artsystamper Challenge #11-Green, Green, It's Green They Say!
Double D Challenge-It's All About The Green!

Thanks for visiting and it is hard to believe that it is already almost the end of another week. My week was so much better being I feel good now. I hope all is well with you too!

God bless,
Verna

Springtime Robin

I recently acquired this Robin digital set from  Beccy's Place as it is being retired and I wanted to grab it before it was no longer available. I love it and I can see this design working for Get Well, Sympathy, Spring or Thinking of You type cards. I used the colored digital design so no credit to me for the coloring. I love the way Beccy has it colored.

After I had the design arranged along with a sentiment I then printed it out and cut it down to a 5 x 3 3/4 size panel with my paper cutter. With blending brushes I added some blue around the robin image. I then layered that panel to a pink layer of pearl shimmer card stock before placing it onto a white card stock base. 

The image used is from the  Beccy's Place Robin set and the sentiment is from Beccy's Place Fallow Fields set. It is nice when one can grab a sentiment from another set and add it to a card design much the same as when I make cards with my other non-digital stamps. 

I am entering this in the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #36-Sponsored by Donna Ellis

Jan's Digi Challenge #9-Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting. I hope to be back later today with another post so don't go away. 

God bless,

Verna

Kitchen Tag Card

I admired a die that my blogging friend Leslie Miller used on her card recently and I was prompted to purchase the die for myself as I loved that darling apron design. It is a Cottage Cutz die set called Kitchen Chef. I also used the wonderful March digital stamp design offered free at Beccy's Place Challenge. I printed the yummy cheery pie design and then die cut it with an Impression Obsession tag die called Stitched Tag. To this tag I added a sentiment from the Impression Obsession Flower Pots stamp set.

I die cut the apron set out of white card stock and then with blending brushes and markers added my colors. I thought the apron with the cherry on it worked well with the cherry pie digital image. And, note the cloth under the pie is a blue and white gingham too. I also brushed on color around the edges of the gingham card stock too. Some white paint pen was added to the cherries and the hearts. When all elements were finished the way I wanted them I then assembled the card.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Beccy's Place March Challenge-All About Food
Dies R Us Challenge #140-Tag, You're It!

Another fun day of crafting. And, once I get the dishes done I will work on a few more card designs. I have lots of ideas roaming around these days now that I am back to feeling normal.

Take care and God bless,
Verna

Sympathy Card

I had been admiring this church design at Jan's Digitals for some time and finally today decided I needed to have that on hand for making sympathy cards. I love the designs and the wonderful sentiments. I know those sentiments will be carried over to other card designs as well. I like the wonderful font of them.

The image included a lot of green but when I saw that pretty pink flower I could not get it out of my mind that perhaps it would look great on a photo I took of some pink satin. So that was what I  used for the background. The digital set is called Church Sympathy.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Jan's Digi Challenge #9-Anything Goes
Artsystamper Challenge #11-Green (hope enough green to qualify)

I like to have a few sympathy cards made ahead of time. And, this will be a set I will be using a lot. Thanks for visiting and I wish all of you a great rest of the day.

God bless,
Verna

Going Green!

In a few days I will have to get my cards out to the shut ins for St.Patrick's Day so I thought this set would work well for my friends. I used the Lucky Oxalis digital set from Artsystamper for my creation. I do love this set of stamps and also included are extra files of pattern papers that work great with the whole digital set.

Those pattern papers and the oxalis image and sentiment work so well together and just by using some varied shades of green card stock I was able to create a great looking card. The enamel dots are from Stampin' Up! I had two shades of them so decided they would work well too! Oh, and I messed up and used two different dies to cut out the designs. The under layer was die cut with a Maker's Movement die and the outer layer was die cut with a Memory Box Cross Stitched Border die. I guess they both fall in the stitching category at least. LOL

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Artsystamper Challenge #11-Green, Green, It's Green They Say!
Jan's Digi Challenge #9-Anything Goes

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood! Oh, that was Mr. Roger's line I guess. But really it is a gorgeous sunny day and I love it. And, my thoughts and prayers are with all in Tennessee who were in the line of the tornado. So sorry to hear of that disaster!

Until next time God bless,
Verna

Spring Birthday Card

Well one of the first signs of Spring is when they announce that the ice on the lake is no longer safe for driving on with vehicles. So hopefully we won't see such cold temperatures that it will freeze up again. All the fish houses had to be off by the end of February in our state so hubby got his home this weekend.

But I am not making a fishing card but instead making one with pretty Spring blossoms on it. I wanted to join in the White Rose Crafts Mood  Board Challenge which is on their Facebook page. You can read all about it at the White Rose Crafts LLC Blog post. I think most of you will find something you own in your stash that will qualify you for entering. They carry lots of nice products. The last two months we did not have enough entries to give away the prize so I hope this will encourage you to go for it this month. And it is nice prize too!

The stamp set I chose to use is from Inkdadinkado called Doodle Flowers and you can find it at White Rose Crafts LLC. And the sentiment and die are also available there and it is called Count Your Life by Ultimate Crafts. The die used to die cut the main panel out is a Memory Box Cross Stitched Border die from my stash which was not available at their store. 

I colored the design in with my Bic Alcohol markers and then used my blending brush to add some blue ink around the edges and to make a bit of a cloudy look in the sky. I also added a piece of white paper inside to add a message.

Well, I am happy to say I almost feel normal. I think I got some sort of flu as it has been a week of feeling weak, tired, chills, achy joints, no appetite and tummy ache. But today I am much improved. I hope it lasts now. Thanks for visiting and for looking at my simple card designs of the past week. It was a forced effort and I am sure it showed. But this time I put more time into my work and I like it better. So anyway, I hope your week is off to a good start. See you next time.

God bless,

Verna

Cherry Pie...Yum!

The free digi at Beccy's Place March Challenge-All About Food is such a yummy cheery pie and  kitchen utensils design. Well I grabbed that free digi and combined it with some other digital designs from Becky's Place and created this card. I think it will end up as a birthday card for a gal who I know is a great cook and baker. I think she will enjoy it.

I chose to use the already colored image and placed it on a piece of pattern paper from the  Birthday Bear digital set. I also added a sentiment from the Fallow Fields Digital set. Once I had all these arranged on my computer I then printed it out on white card stock. I layered the design with some brown card stock and then placed it onto a peach colored card base.

I had a little strip of the pattern paper left from trimming the design down so I added that to a piece of the brown card stock and placed that inside the card. I know I really love this card and am certain to be using these digital designs a lot.

Thanks for visiting and I hope your Sunday is going great.

God bless,
Verna