Thursday, April 30, 2020

Princess Birthday

Some time ago I bought this darling stamp set from Picket Fence Studios and today I decided to work ahead and make a card for my granddaughter who loves being a princess at times and at some times is a real tomboy. And, since she also loves unicorns I thought this was a perfect one for her. The little girl even looks like her. The name of the stamp set is Kylee's Unicorn.


Other supplies used:
Rina K. Designs Electro-Pop Neon Glitz
Rina K. Designs Electro-Pop Inks
Rina K. Designs Stencil
Tool for spreading the Glitz
Bic & Sharpie Markers
Gina K. Designs Card Stock
Gina K. Designs Jet Black Amalgam Inks
Adhesive
Misti

I am entering this is the Mod Squad Challenge-Get Your Happy On (you have to use a form of HAPPY on the card) Also no digitals.

Another sunshiney day but it did get cold over night as it was into the upper 30's. And we are needing moisture. Can you believe that? Every time they say we are to get rain we end up with a tenth or less and with the newly seeded crops it is imperative we get some rain soon so they will germinate and grow.

Well, take care everyone and I hope all are feeling well.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Pansies For Mom

I wish my Mom was still with me as I would have loved to give her a card with these beautiful Pansies on it. She would have loved it. But I know she will be celebrating in Heaven so I would not wish her back with me just so I could give her a card. Instead I will give it to one of my daughters or daughter-in-law. They will love it too.


I chose to use the colored version from the Jan's Digital stamp set called Pansies for Mom. I took a Spellbinder die from the A2  Curved Borders One set to add some interest on the edge and placed that onto a darker purple card stock. Then I cut the panel down a quarter of an inch on the top and side so that I could add it to a lavender card base. The sentiment is also from the same digital stamp set so I added that as well after layering it to a darker purple card stock. Then I took some blending brushes and lightly added some blue and lavender inks around the pitcher of pansies. The last step in the design was to add some lavender rhinestones.

I am entering this in the following challenges:
Jan's Digi Stamps April 2020 Challenge-Anything Goes
Artsystamper Digital Challenge #14-Springtime

Thanks for the visit and I wish you all a great evening and please stay well.

God bless,
Verna

Monday, April 27, 2020

Pansies

Well, this is a digital design and I used digitals from two different shops. I hope the combination looks okay and in my opinion it went together quite well with the two digital designer's products. I am so glad my computer is back working great so that I can still work with digitals too.


The pre-colored pansies and the sentiments are from Jan's Digital Shop and the background pattern paper is from Beccy's Place. The pitcher of pansies and the pansy stem were added to the background paper digitally but the sentiment was printed onto white paper and then cut out and placed onto the card. I used a Cutplorations Crazy Double Stitched Running Rectangle Stacked die to cut out the main panel. I then added a layer of white before placing it onto a light lavender card base. After I added the sentiment I placed three lavender rhinestones below it. I think this will be a Mom's Day card for one of my daughters.

I am entering this in Jan's Digi Stamps April 2020 Challenge-Anything Goes.

Thanks for the visit and I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Spring day.

Take care and God bless,
Verna

Scent of Lilac

April will soon be history and in a couple days we will welcome in May. That is the month when the flowers start to bloom more and more. One thing we always see in May is the Lilac bushes blooming and the wonderful aroma from them is beautiful and so sweet smelling. I love the scent but I do find that it does trigger more allergy issues for me so I usually only keep the bouquet of lilacs my hubby brings in for me a couple days as I am beginning to suffer with them there. But they are so very beautiful and I love that my man wants to please me with them. In fact, when we were courting my parents did not have a lilac bush so he dug up some roots from his Mom's and transplanted them to our yard as a gift to me. So therefore, I really like lilacs even if they do bother my allergies.


I colored the House Mouse image titled Scent of Lilac with my Bic and Sharpie pens and then brushed on some blue around the design with my blending brushes. I die cut the scene out using the Spellbinder rounded corner rectangle die set as well as all the other layers. The last thing I added was a few rhinestone gems from my stash.

I am entering this in the following:
HMFMC #315-Anything Goes with the option Better Together.
Jan's Digis April 2020 Challenge -Anything Goes

I hope this finds you all doing well still. We are okay here as well. So until next time please continue to stay well.

God bless,
Verna


Sunday, April 26, 2020

Dr. Susan

Here is another card made with the Rina K. Designs Electro-Pop Neon Glitz and the Rina K. Designs stencil. I also added a freebie doctor digital image from My Favorite Things. She reminds me of my lady doctor so therefore I will be sending this to Dr. Susan. I used my Sharpies and Bic markers to color her and then fussy cut the image out. The sentiment is from the same set. I popped up the doctor image and the sentiment to make it have more dimension.


I am so glad I grabbed those freebie sets from My Favorite Things. I hope this will be uplifting to Dr. Susan and let her know how much she is appreciated. And we just heard that where she has her clinic that there is the first case of Covid-19 in their town. So I pray she and all the healthcare workers there will be safe.

Well, happy Sunday everyone. I went to church by Facebook this morning. Not the same but it helps to make one feel like it really is Sunday. It seems I lose track of days since we are self distancing. Until next time, take care.

God bless,
Verna

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Neon Glitter Glitz and Stencil

While my computer was down I made some backgrounds using some NBUS items...a new stencil and some new Rina K. Designs Electro-Pop neon glitz. It is similar to her Mom's glitter glitz only in the neon colors. I also have the neon inks to match so this was a given that I had to try and make some backgrounds for future use. This is the first one I actually made into a card though. I used some Gina K. Designs card stocks for the card too.


The sentiment is one I have had for ages and it is a wood mounted stamp from Stampendous. I made a background panel in the same colors as the stenciled dotted design by swiping the ink pad onto white card stock and then with Gina K. Designs Jet Black Imalgam ink I stamped the sentiment over that colored panel. I added black card stock to make the bright panels stand out more.

This is going out in the mail Monday to the family who has just moved to a new home. I hope it will be a good way to let them know we wish them the best.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend.

God bless,
Verna

April Rudolph Days

Well, the computer is back and working again so I can now enter my card I made for the April Rudolph Days Challenge. I am so happy that I no longer have to just rely on the iPad as that was not fun! So here is the card I made for the challenge.


I chose to use the Picket Fence Studio Christmas Poinsettia star. This is a huge stamp  and I could not get all of it on an A2 card but just the portion I used looks great I think. The sentiment is also from Picket Fence Studio and is from the String of Lights stamp set. I used my old water based markers which I rejuvenated with some dipping in a little tub of water. The sentiment was stamped onto white card stock and then placed over the bottom of the poinsettia.

Thanks so much for putting up with my last two posts. I know they were really shabby the way I did them with the iPad but at least I got something posted this week. I found out I have too much stuff on my computer so a cleaning is in order.  I hope  all are well and until next time please take care.

God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Crocus Scene

Well before the computer crashed I managed to get another digital design done using Atrsystampers Digitals Early Spring Beauty set. I used a photo of a sky that a gal gave me years ago when we both belonged to a Yahoo group for scene card makers. I only used it once before but I still had it saved so this was the background that I added the crocus images to.  I added several bunches to make a little Crocus garden. Then with markers I added some earth below them.



I hope I can add this to the Artsystamper https://artsystamperchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/04/challenge-14-springtime.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ArtsystamperDigitalsChallengeBlog+%28Artsystamper+Digitals+Challenge+blog%29

Thanks for putting up with this glitch.

God bless,
verna

Computer Down



I used a stencil  from Stamplorations designed by Helen Gullet  and stamps from  a Stamps of Life stamp set. Also used blending brushes.
Well, of course my computer would go down when I was working with digitals. I will try to post by the iPad but I am not sure I know how. It took me awhile to figure out how to take a photo. But this was done with a stamp set I won. Posts will be short  and I most likely won’t enter challenges. I hope they can fix it. I want to enter Rudolph Days.

God bless,
Verna




Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Digital Day Practice

Well another light bulb idea that sort of did not work out as well as I liked. But for this one I again made my own background. I am entering this card in the Artstystamper Challenge #14-Springtime. I used one of the digital tulip image from the Early Spring Beauty set and printed it out as a line drawing and then colored it myself.


First thing I did was to make my own background by using a little jam jar and a stenciled background. The stencil is from a Sheena Douglas Design called Just Groovy by Crafters Companion. I used a Beach card stock and stenciled it on in shades of blue. When I took the photo I had the jar sitting in front of the background and then I printed out two of them right away.

Next I printed the line drawing of the tulips out and colored them with my Bic and Sharpie pens. They were fussy cut and placed on the jar but by doing this it took part of the jar design away. So with the extra printing I fussy cut out another jar and placed it over the top. I then just added a stem to that to make you think it was sitting in the water in the jar. (I guess I forgot to say I had water in the jar when I took the photo.)

Then I layered the design to black and finally to the pink card stock base.

It took me a long time to do this as I had a long phone call interrupt me. It was a bit of a trial and error on my part as to how I would accomplish this too. I had to figure out my system.

Hope all of you are doing okay. So far we are fine here. And, the sun is shining today too so that is good. We got the potatoes and onions planted in the garden as well this week. So it was a productive week so far at least in that respect.

Well, gotta go and do my dishes. They are still resting in the sink. No one else is a dish washer in our family now. LOL See you next time.

God bless,
Verna

Friday, April 17, 2020

April Twofers

Finally I got around to doing my April Twofers for Darnell's challenge. Again I  used digital stamps from Lili of the Valley. The April Twofers Challenge theme is Rain/Umbrellas so guess this will fit fine.


This first one I am showing was done with colored pencils and Gamsol. I also hand drew a sun to match with the sentiment which was from the Lili of the Valley Spring Sentiments set. The main focal image is from the Lili of the Valley Under the Weather set. I also used my blending brushes to add some blue for the sky.



The second card used the same image but for this one I computer generated the sentiment. I also took my old dried up markers and dipped them in water and got enough color out of them to do sort of a water color design. I was very happy and the points on the markers were so much easier to use then a paint brush. So I plan to save them just for this sort of thing. If they dry up completely I can always grab some color in the similar shade from an ink pad and do pretty much the same thing.


Again I did some ink blending with brushes for the sky and then I die cut the design with a Spellbinder die. I also used some pattern paper from my stash and die cut that with a larger die from the same Spellbinder set. I placed this on a yellow card base. Inside the card I finished the sentiment with the words "Brings May Flowers".

And that folks is my Twofers for April. I hope you liked them. No showers today and lots of sun. That is always good.

I am also entering these in the Double D Challenge as they fit their theme too which is Showers and Flowers.

Take care and God bless,
Verna

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Lili of the Valley Digitals

I found another source for digital images and since I could not find the perfect image in my supply on hand for what I wanted  I decided to use digitals from Lili of the Valley.  I used Under the Weather set and Spring Sentiments set for this card.


I colored the image with my Zig Clean Color pens but I am afraid my arthritis made my hands shake so the coloring is pretty awful. But at least I tried. I think next time I will make the design bigger and maybe it won't be such a fine detail for me. But this image did fit the theme I wanted so that was good. I also did some blending with brushes around the image to simulate a sky and tried to add some darker blue to make it look a little like rain clouds. I also added some white dots with a paint pen.

I am entering this in the Double D's Challenge-Showers and Flowers.

Well, the sun is shining here today so that is good and makes one feel a little more upbeat. And gradually it is starting to warm up a bit more too. By the weekend we are to have much better temperatures.

I pray all of you are doing well...please stay that way!
God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Toilet Paper Dudley

This image was another free digital design and it was from Whimsy Stamps. I thought it fit the present occasion perfectly and might give a bit of a laugh or two to the recipients of cards made with it. I turned this one into a birthday card by adding another sentiment on the bottom which was from the Gina K. Designs Grand Greetings stamp set.


Please excuse the coloring. I have only a few water based markers left and alas I had no green. But I did have a turquoise and a yellow so I used the two together to color my design along with some gray and brown. These were Tim Holtz Distress markers. After I had the image colored I took my Picket Fence Blending Brushes and added some light blue around the image. I hope my recipient of the card gets a chuckle on his "in house" birthday celebration!

Things went a little better for hubby last night. He did not groan as loud last night as he did the night before when he tried to get out of bed. He did not like the lift chair I put him in either as it made his arms go to sleep. It was made for a little woman and not for a guy. But I was glad it was available for him as it did help that first night a lot. Also some Aleve helped the situation as well. Maybe took some of the swelling down. But I am sure in time he will recover.

I hope this finds all of you well now and able to find some enjoyment in your "in home" isolation. I always find things to do. Creative cooking is on the schedule a lot these days. Haha! Take care and see you next time.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In This Together

This card features another free digital image from Impression Obsession which was designed by Lindsay. I downloaded the image and then used the PNG design and added it to some also free digital pattern paper from the Vase of Peonies set from Beccy's Place. It was a nice soft pastel and so I though Lindsay's design would look great added to that pattern paper. I think it is so nice that one can use images from two different digital sources and create great looking cards.


Again I colored over the designs with markers and a white paint pen. I then added it to a light blue card base. Inside I added a sheet of white paper for a quick note.

I sure enjoyed working with these designs. And I thank those who designed them for offering them for free. Also thanks for the visits and wonderful comments all of you leave me. Keep the faith and we will get through this together.

God bless,
Verna

Put On Your Positive Pants

Yesterday I downloaded some free digis at Impression Obsession from Lindsay and Nola. This is one of the designs I got and used today for making a couple cards of encouragement. I am afraid my coloring isn't all that great as arthritis is bothering my hands but I still like how they turned out. I hope you enjoy them too and I am so grateful to Lindsay and Nola for offering them.


I thought this was a cute design. I happened to have a direct to paper background photo on my computer that I did with lightly kissing stamp pads to a white card stock sheet. So I took the PNG form of these images and added them to that background. I then took markers and a white paint pen and proceeded to color in the rabbit design.


Here is the blue version and below is the one I did and added to a yellow card stock base.


I am not sure that was a great background to use but since I did it I decided to work with it regardless. I had another one printed out and tried to use bleach but that did not bleach out the colors so I just worked over the top of the pattern.

I hope this finds all of  you still feeling fine and staying safe. We are well here too except hubby slipped when coming off the tractor and fell on his back and hurt himself. But the doctor said no broken ribs but just bruising. But he is still mighty sore when he moves wrong or has to sneeze. So I hope he can soon feel better too. It is hard on a farmer guy when he has to sit still. So I found some things for him to do which might help pass the day for him that were not too strenuous.

Until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna

Friday, April 10, 2020

Nail It To The Cross

I have this magnet on my refrigerator that the Sunday School gave to us one year and I really like the verse on it and thought I would type it up and try to make a card with it. I wanted the verse to be the focal design so there is very little else on the card to take away from it. I did hand draw some nails so forgive me if they do not look too great. I thought it was a good verse for us to see at this Good Friday and give us the hope of the resurrection at this time when we are fearing the pandemic situation.


I took my blending brushes and applied some blue around the center and then around that some purple. I tried to give only light coats of these colors. Then I layered this to black and placed it on a dark pink card base. The last thing I did was add some rhinestones in each corner.

I wish all of you a most wonderful Holy weekend and that even though we may not be able to gather in churches like we normally would do at least we can still remember that Christ died for all sinners and that he rose again on Easter morning. Take care and stay well.

God bless,
Verna

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Banners Background

Well, it has begun. The first graduation announcement arrived  yesterday so I decided to get started on making a graduation card. I wanted to join in the Double D Challenge-Banners so I hope this style of banner will be okay for that. Even so this card will be used for a girl graduate whose invite we got.


Maroon and gold are the school colors so I incorporated them in with the sentiment banners from Impression Obsession. The sentiment is also from Impression Obsession as is the jumping girl graduate die. The outer frame using the crazy running stitch rectangle die is from Cutplorations.
All were layered together to a base card of light yellow. The graduate was die cut from gold mirror card stock.

Well, if those are not the right kind of banners then they will have to take it out of the challenge. It was the only banners I could find in my stash. I do like the pinked stitching on them.

Well, time to call it a day. Take care everyone.

God bless,
Verna

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Tulips

My tulips are almost ready to bloom but with some colder temps coming in again I am afraid they might freeze off. At least the tulips I print with stamps won't freeze and the good thing is that I can make them any color I want. I really like this stamp set from Stamplorations called Layered Vase so finally I used it to make a complete card. I sort of messed up a bit but hope I resurrected it well enough to be sent to someone one day. The last time I used this set it was for a tag.


I wanted the tulips to have a multi-colored look but it did not work out as well as I had hoped. But I still think it is not too bad. I die cut the panel with a My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched Rectangle die and then placed it on a yellow card stock base. I also added a sheet of paper inside so that I can write a message. A few rhinestones completed the card. Cards of this type can be used for multiple occasions and by leaving the inside blank I can make it more personalized when the time comes.

I am entering this in Jan's Digi Challenge # 11-April 2020 Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting and we are doing okay still. Sometimes a little bored but we can live with that. We try to keep busy somehow. My sewing machine is broke down and I hate sewing anyway so I ordered a couple masks for us in case we need to go out. Nothing fancy. But will suffice for our needs. So hopefully we will be ready for a store trip with more protection. Take care everyone.

God bless,
Verna

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Doodley, Doodley Do!

Yup! I decided to try my hand at some doodle designing. It is not the greatest but still I did enjoy the process. I hope you like my card I made too. I used a combination of digital images as well as regular rubber stamps and a die for the frame.


The flower with the butterfly on it was a freebie I got from Artsystamper for being in the Top Three. I had debated as to how to use it but when the current Artsystamper Digital Challenge #13-Things With Wings came up I decided to try and implement into a card. I colored that image and combined it with some stamped leaves from Impression Obsession. And doodling was done with a white paint pen to the leaves and the flower and butterfly. The sentiment is also from Artsystamper from the Koi Pond digital set. The panel was die cut with a My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched rectangle die. This was placed to a white card base that I had covered with some black and white striped paper from my stash. Last things added were some shadowing and the three black rhinestone gems.

Everything is still okay here and I hope the same can be said for you. We are staying home except for an occasional trip to the grocery or drug store. Take care everyone. Sending you all hugs!

God bless,
Verna

Monday, April 6, 2020

Easter Bunny Family

Well, I finally found some time to make a card. The last few days I have been writing out cards to send to others who are locked in their homes (especially elder ones) and thought perhaps they might bring a bit of cheer to them. But today I did manage to make a card for the Impression Obsession Challenge-Easter Fun!

I didn't think I could take part in the challenge but then when I ran across the Bunny Border die my light bulb moment occurred and I decided to try and make a card with that. It sort of looks like a scene so I hope you like my design.


I die cut the bunny border with white card stock and then added some pink to the ears with my Bic alcohol markers. I also die cut the branches with green card stock but cut away the birds and then used markers to add highlights such as brown for the branches and more green to the leaves. The bunny border was placed over a pattern paper which originally had white flowers on it but I wanted more color so I colored the flowers pink. After placing it on a blue card stock base I then added the branches and the sentiment.

Impression Obsession Dies used:
Bunny Border DIE664-T
Songbird Branch DIE518-M
Easter Joy DIE257-D

To find these dies and many more go to the Impression Obsession website.

We are still doing well and I hope the same can be said for all of you. Until next time stay well.

God bless,
Verna

Sunday, April 5, 2020

No Egg Recipes

The price of eggs is sky high around here as they say there is a shortage of eggs. So I did some researching and found this old recipe that my Grandma used to make. I thought I would share it with you. I won't be baking today but no doubt one of these days I will do one of these recipes.

Eggless, Butterless, Milkless Cake

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins
1 cup water
1/2 cup lard (shortening in my case)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp. soda
2 cups (rounded) flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Combine sugar, raisins, water, lard, salt, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg in pan and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add soda dissolved in a little warm water. Add flour and baking powder sifted together. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Yield: 12 servings but one can make them any size you want. I make them smaller due to the high carb content of raisins.
* * * * *

Also here is another one that is good that a friend reminded me of and I used to make this one a lot when the family was home..

Crazy Cake

3 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. soda
Mix the above together by hand.

Add:
3/4 cup oil
2 cups cold water
2 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix by hand. Do not use an electric mixer. Do not grease a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
* * * * *

Well, I hope one of these recipes or both might work for you too if you don't have eggs on hand. And if you have some eggless recipes I would love to hear from you too. Have a great week everyone and stay healthy.

God bless,
Verna

Friday, April 3, 2020

Great Horned Owl

I was so thrilled and happy when I got an email saying I had won Donna Ellis's Great Horned Owl Digital set. I could hardly wait to use it and so that was what I did today. I guess you could call this a NBUS design.



The first thing I did was sponged and brushed out a background using a stencil from Picket Fence Studios for the moon background. I took some slightly watered down white acrylic paint and flicked some specks on it to look sort of like stars. Once that was done I then photographed it so that it will be available for future digital design. I guess you might as well say I made my own little digi. LOL

Now that I had the background done I added the sentiment over the moon area. Next I picked out the owl image I wanted and then sized it before adding that to the design. And, finally I added some leaves from the set. I did get my design a bit bigger then I needed it but that was easily remedied by taking my paper cutter and cutting it to the size I wanted. Then I layered it to ivory card stock before finally adding it to a kraft card base.

The final addition to the card was to add another piece of ivory card stock inside so that it will be handy for writing or stamping a message.

I am so happy with this set and I thank Donna so much for giving the set to me. It is beautiful!
I know I will be using it often.

I am entering this in a new NBUS Challenge which Darnell and Lolly started. It is a just for fun type of challenge with no prizes but I think this one will qualify since this was a completely new digital set for me. I hope they think so too.

I hope that all of your week went well and that you are still healthy. We are still fine here too. Maybe a little antsy to go somewhere but we will manage okay I hope without getting into each other's hair too much. Until next time take care and have a great weekend.

God bless,
Verna

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Silhouette Sympathy Card

I decided to add another sympathy card to my supply as in the last month I used quite a few up so I figured it was time to replenish. I hope the need for one will not be for a long time though.

I used a digital set from Beccy's Place called Fallow Fields. It has the most wonderful solid images and wonderful sentiments too. I knew I would get lots of use from it and for this card I combined those silhouette images with a sponged background that I had taken a photo of and used that for the background behind the images and sentiment.


I added the flowers and then manipulated the butterflies in various ways to show them fluttering around in the sky. I layered this design onto black card stock and then added it to some ribbed light pink for the card base which matched the colors in the background quite closely. I also printed out n inside sentiment on white and added that to the interior of the card.

The past couple of days I have been working on some packets to send my three youngest grandchildren for Easter as it seems we will most likely not be getting together for the holiday. So I printed several coloring pages and also added some images so that if they so desire they can make a few cards of their own. I also added some colored sheets of card stock. When we finally do get together again I will give them some Easter candy too. But this might be something they can do while cooped up in their homes.

We are still doing well here. And, I hope the same can be said for you too. Hang in there! We are in this together and I am hoping that warmer weather will snuff the virus out. Until next time take care.

God bless,
Verna


Fluttering By

 First of all I want to wish all my Canadian friends a Happy Canada Day! I hope your day is extra special. This card I am showing uses an Al...