Sparrow Sympathy Card

I was needing some masculine type sympathy cards and so I think these images of the sparrow and the nest which are digitals from the Artsystamper Nesting Sparrow set worked very well together for a masculine card design. I did my best to align the sparrow so it looked fairly realistic standing on the branch by the nest. The sentiment used on the card is from a no longer in business Sparkle N Sprinkle set called Memory in Our Heart which is designed by Donna Ellis. It is one of my 'go to' sets for sympathy cards if I don't have a digital sympathy sentiment in a set.

I blended on some blue ink around the design to make it look like  a sky background. Once I had that done I then stamped the sentiment on the outside and also inside the card.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful weekend and self distanced so you stay well. A young man who I taught in Sunday School passed away this weekend due to the Covid. He fought so hard and he was trying to beat it so he could be there for his wife and two little girls but he just grew too tired. It is so sad but the wonderful thing is that he was a Christian so we know that he will be resting with his Lord now. 

Everyone take care. Until next time God bless, Verna

Valentines

We only have one granddaughter and so I decided that perhaps she might like a Valentine with something other then a Lion on it. So with this vintage Stampin' Up wood stamp I made this little girl to appear on hers this year. I hope she likes it. This is my first card.

The background paper with the floating hearts is done by using a digital design from Jan's Digitals. I think I used that on all my Valentines this year except maybe for a couple. It came in really handy to have several sheets of it printed off. 

Here is the second card I made. It was using some freebie stamps that came from The Cat's Pajamas. The sentiment however is from Sweet' n Sassy. I just could not resist using them for a very, very simple CAS design. I like it and hope you do too!

Yesterday and today I finished all my Valentines and they can be mailed as February is starting Monday. How time flies! I also made several Christmas cards which I will be sharing one of these days too. So I have been busy!

I hope this finds all of you having a great weekend. Stay well and stay happy!

God bless, Verna

Birthday Wishes

Well, I am getting in under the wire for the Gina K. Designs Monthly Challenge. The theme this time is to use red as the primary color on a card and it had to be a special occasion such as a birthday, anniversary or some sort of milestone. Since I have lots of birthdays coming  up in the next months I decided my card would be used in that way. I love those pretty flowers.

I used two Gina K. Designs sets. The flowers come from the Bitty Blossoms set and the sentiment comes from a set that I believe was included as a gift in an order from Gina. And, there was no name for it but as you can see with the photo it is really a Gina K. Designs sentiment set. I stamped the flowers and the sentiment with Memento Northern Pine so that I could use it with alcohol ink markers. As you can see it almost looks black which is alright too. I used my Bic alcohol ink pens to color the flowers. I layered this focal image to Gina K. Design Red Velvet card stock before I added it to the white card base. The last step was to add some red rhinestone gems. 

So glad you stopped by to visit. I always love to read your comments too. They help to make my day a little brighter. Take care and stay well.

God bless, Verna

Christmas Kitten

 Well I had wound care again today and once again I made some progress. But even though it is healing I still tend to be a bit impatient at times. But when I feel that way I try to find something to take my mind off of it and so therefore finished up another Christmas card using a Spellbinder 3D stamp called Christmas Kitten. The sentiment I used is from Impression Obsession. Now I have my second Christmas card finished for 2021. At least it is a start and hope to make some every month.

Since this was a much smaller image I did not have the issues stamping it like I did the card I made before it. So I was happy about that. I stamped it in gray ink and then used my Prismacolor pencils to color in the package and ornament with the sprig of evergreen. The kitten I left pretty much alone except I put a light pink in the ears and on the bridge of his nose. Once I had the kitten all colored the way I wanted I then took some blue acrylic paint and with a paint brush tapped off some sprinkles on it to give some interest to the card. Then of course, I had to let the paint dry. After a few hours I then mounted it to the red card stock and finally to a white card base. 

I hope you enjoy seeing that cute little kitty. I know he has won my heart over. Everyone have a great night and I hope you all stay healthy.

God bless,

Verna

Wise Men Christmas

 Today is the day I worked on my January Rudolph Days Challenge entry. I got some new stamps in the mail and had to try one of them. I really struggled with it though and I think maybe the lack of strength in my arms and hands doesn't work so well with solid images like this one. But I persevered with the aid of my Misti and got a reasonable printing of it. I might have to see if I can find a video to find out a better way to work with this type of a stamp. It is a 3D Cling stamp from Spellbinders called Three Kings.

I was recently given a bunch of more vintage stamps and one set of wood pegs had the little pine branch on it so I stamped that around the edge of my white card base. Then I added the focal image to a layer of red and popped it onto the base showing the pine branch around the edge. I also used a paint pen to enhance the stars and the sentiment was computer generated.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all doing well.

God bless, Verna

Stencil From a Die Cut Negative

Yesterday we once again had a snowy day so I worked with some supplies I had on hand to make a card. Earlier I had die cut out several candles for future birthday card designs and when I observed how neat the die cut negative looked I thought I would try using it as a stencil. So this is the result of that afternoon activity. I made a slimline card which seems to be all the rage now!

The candles are from a Stamp & Die Block Duo from Impression Obsession. The inks I used for the flame were Gina K. Designs Wild Dandelion and Tangerine Twist. The candles were colored with a Hero Arts Ombre Meadow rainbow pad. And the sentiment and confetti images were from the Sweet 'n Sassy stamps Bold Birthday set. I used blending brushes to add the color through the stencil. The card base and layers were pre-cut and I got them from The Paper Cut.

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday, We have lots of sunshine today but it is still quite cold. At least it is not snowing. Take care and see you next time!

God bless, Verna

Friendship Valentine

 Once again I used some digitals to make a Valentine which will be similar to those I will be sending to the shut-ins this year. All my shut-ins are men so I went with a more masculine design by using the Lion image and sentiments from Beccy's Place Wild About You digital set. I used pre-colored images too. And the background is my heart pattern I made using Jan's Digitals hearts design from her Puttin' on the Ritz set. 

I die cut the lion using Gina K. Designs rectangle dies for the main panel and the red layer. The card stock is all from Gina K. Designs. I also carried the heart theme over to the inside as you can see by the photo below.

I think it turned out quite nice and I sure hope the gentlemen will like it. I may make a few more extra ones for my grandchildren too. Thanks for the visit and I hope all of you are doing well and off to a great start in 2021.

God bless, Verna

Flower Cluster Birthday

 Yesterday's mail brought a lovely surprise for me when I opened up an envelope from Altenew and inside was a free mini stamp set called Sweet Cluster. It was a thank you gift for all my purchases this last year from them. I had won a couple gift certificates so I shopped more then once. So it is always nice when a company does these little things to keep their customers happy. I know I was sure happy when I got it so since today was a blizzard I decided to put that little mini set to use by making a birthday card. I hope you like it.

I used other Altenew products on this card as well as the flower cluster which I stamped on white paper with Gina K. Designs Amalgam Obsidian ink. I then made a mask and covered the first cluster and then proceeded to stamp another image of the flowers only this time turning it a different direction. I then colored them with my Bic markers. I made another mask of the flowers and after I had them all masked  I took the Altenew Watercolor Stripes stencil and added some light green ink and then just here and there darkening it up with a darker shade of green. I used my blending brushes for the stenciling.  Momento and Gina K. Designs inks were used for the stenciling. I then cut the panel down and also cut around the bottom of my flowers. I placed this panel onto a red card base and then added the sentiment from the Altenew Floral Sprig set. The last step was to add some red and pink jewels and a white insert inside for my stamped or written greeting.

That was a fun way to spend a stormy afternoon. I was supposed to have a wound change session today but we canceled and instead the gal said I should come in tomorrow afternoon. It is so nice to have a hospital staff be so accomodating. I so appreciate it. I hope this finds all of you having a great day and that you are staying well on this winter day.

God bless, Verna

Tweet Valentine

 Well I actually worked with an acrylic stamp set today and used Gina K. Designs Amalgam Obsidian black ink to stamp the images. However the background of my card base was done with some digital hearts from Jan's Digitals using the Puttin' on the Ritz set. The cute little bird and sentiment I stamped and colored with Bic markers is from Sweet N' Sassy called How Tweet. That little bird set was one I used a gift certificate on that I won from the Coffee Lovers Blog hop a few months ago. So it was sitting in my supply for awhile. I am glad I got to use it as I think it makes for a great Valentine. The die cut hearts and the rectangle dies are from Gina K. Designs. I added a little pearl to each of the hearts to cover up the tag hole that was created with the heart dies. They were popped up with dimensional stickers.

Well this little Valentine I am entering in the new Mod Squad Challenge-Fly Away-Anything With Wings. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope all are continuing to stay well. Hopefully, soon we will all get the vaccine against the virus and life will be a bit more back to what it was before. As to being normal I am not sure that will ever happen. I guess time will tell. Anyway everyone take care.

God bless, Verna

Happy Birthday Bear

 I decided I had to join in on the challenge to help Double D's celebrate their 5th anniversary. So here is my card which also will be the one I will use for Jack's third birthday in February. I used the digital bear and pattern paper from Beccy's Place and the sentiment is from Artsystamper. Together they worked out great I think. Everything was already colored so it was just a matter of my arranging it digitally except for the sentiment which I fussy cut out and then added it to the card.

I am entering this in Double D's 5th Anniversary/Birthday Cupcake Challenge. I am so glad to join in on the celebration and I must say I have enjoyed doing their challenges often too. So fun!

Happy Saturday everyone! Take care and stay well.

God bless, Verna

First Card for 2021

 My dear sweet hubby went fishing so I figured it was a good time to make a Valentine for him and then stash it away in a safe place. Hopefully, I can recall where the safe place is when Valentine's Day comes. So often I forget which really bums me out. But usually it is where I thought it was but for some reason when looking for it the card will have gotten shifted or covered up by another. Well, I will take a chance that I will remember this time for sure. My hubby truly is a blessing to me and I hope he likes this card. I might even spring for the box of chocolates to go with it.

I used digital images from two of Jan's Digital sets....Valentine Wishes and Puttin/ on the Ritz. Together they worked quite well with the heart background and the box of candy. I used the already colored images for it. I was in a hurry to get it done just in case he ends up coming home sooner then I think. Hahaa! If that happens no doubt he caught some fish! These two stamp sets can be combined when you use the hearts from the Puttin' on the Ritz set for a background. While I was at it I printed out lots of backgrounds so that I can use them for my shut ins as well with a different design.

I am entering this in Jan's Digi Stamps January 2021 Challenge-Anything Goes.

Well this morning I had my wound care appointment and over the past few days I made quite a bit of progress. I hope and pray that continues every wound bandage change. So I was happy about that. I hope all of you are enjoying the new year and staying healthy too.

God bless, Verna

Happy New Year!

 Sorry this post is late in wishing you a happy new year but we ended up getting visitors on New Year's Day so I did not get to posting as I had intended. But I guess we can still wish all of us a much better 2021. It was so nice to see some family in person though and the littlest grandchildren enjoyed being on the farm again so they could play with the dog, romp in the snow and then later on enjoy some table games with us. Oh, and Grandpa gave some tractor rides too.  My daughter brought the noon meal and I made the evening meal for them before they journeyed back to their home. They only live 75 miles from us so it was nice to have a day visit with them. We even got some hugs. They sure felt good.

I wish to thank all of you wonderful blogger friends for blessing me with your good wishes and encouragement as I have been coping with this cancer and the Covid. Hopefully, I can soon put both of them behind me and be in a more normal mode healthwise. 

I hope all of you stay healthy too and that the new year will be a wonderful one for you as well.

God bless, Verna