Lovebug

Hello again.  Thanks for stopping by.  I have one more card for y'all today.  Kierstynne was finally able to go back to school today and since she's homeschooled, I'm one tired Mama.  It's not as easy as everyone thinks to be a homeschool Mom.  It's just as much work as going outside my home.  

Kierstynne decided she wanted her hair cut today.  She's had long hair since she was a little girl and I couldn't believe that she wanted it shorter.  The wanted a wispy, angled cut.  Here's how it turned out:

I think she looks so much older than 9 now, but I really like it.  I think I did a pretty good job on it.  Yes, I went to beauty school.

OK..now that I have shown off my mini-me, on to the card.

I used the challenge from Cardabilities #91 Sketch to make this card.  I did change it up a bit because I didn't like all the elements on the same side.  I also followed the Craft Your Passion challenge which is #197 Face the Music.  You have to make a card based on a song.  I chose George Jones' Lovebug from 1965.  I am also entering this one into the Twisted Tuesday challenge this week.  #68 is to use Washi Tape and the twist: use something that starts with a "T", "A", "P", "E".  You only have to pick one letter, but after making my card, I realized that I had all four letter....T is for Tsukineko ink, A is for American Crafts Swirl Stamps, P is for Patterned Paper from the Paper Studio, and E is for Embossing using Spellbinders Dies.  I also used the Recycling challenge at Oldie but a Goodie by recycling the heart shaped brads and turning them into glue on embellishments, and the Created with Love #73 Winged Things challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  This is my last card for today and I will be back tomorrow with some more eye candy. Have a wonderful night and God bless y'all.

Recipe:
Image: Freebie from online
Stamps: American Crafts Swirls
Sentiment: On patterned paper and highlighted with Sakura Glitter gel pen
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Coloring Medium: Crayola Colored Pencils, Gamsol, Chalk, Sakura Red Glitter Pen
Cardstock: Recollections (Red and Black)
Paper: The Paper Studio
Brads: American Crafts
Washi Tape: American Crafts (Dots), Recollections (Stripes)
Tools: Fiskar's Trimmer, Cutterbee Scissors, ATG Gun, pop dots, Glossy Accents, 

Also entering into the Through the Craftroom Door challenge.

Day 10 of the 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop

Good Morning, my Horrifying Hoppers.  Welcome back for Day 10 of our month long hop sponsored by Smeared and Smudged.  Terra and Tori have worked very hard to put this hop together.  Thanks so much ladies, for all your hard work.  Just a little reminder..if you get lost along the way, the complete blog roll is to the right of this post.  For a complete set of the rules, sponsors and a list of the Scavenger Hunt winners, please hop over to Terra's blog.  Make sure to leave some love while y'all are there.

I wasn't too sure about this whole month blog hopping thing at first.  I haven't done alot of dark art, but I think you ladies are pulling me to the dark side.  I think I am about to cross over..not full time, but definitely more than I have been.  I have been having so much fun doing this hop.  

Today, I have created a card using three of Delicious Doodles images.  Teri is an amazing artist.  For this project, I used the "Pile of Bones" digi paper, "Halloweenie Bones Border" and "Gothic Bride."

This first picture is of the whole card.  I printed the border four times and layered them to make it kinda like chipboard.  I fussy cut it out and inked it with DI Vintage Photo.  I put it on two layers of pop dot squares.  The bride is colored with BIC Markers, Sakura Glitter pens and a #2 pencil.  I wanted a light shade of gray that I could really manipulate and I didn't have that shade of colored pencil, so I improvised.  I fussy cut her out and inked the edges with the DI.  I used Basic Gray card stock from SU for the card base, which is 5.5" square.  The background paper is from American Crafts.  I had a strip of fabric roses from Recollections that were a cream color.  I used a Memento Reinker to color them.  I cut this one off of the strip and added a few leaf die cuts.  I felt like it needed something so I added a burgundy mini rose to the center.

Here's a close up of my Gothic Bride.

And a close up of the rose.

This picture shows the card from the side.  It's kind of dark, but hopefully you can see the dimension.  I think I might go back with a gray marker and shade the pop dots so they aren't quite so stark.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.  I hope y'all liked what I had for ya.  Remember to keep on hopping to see what the rest of my Wicked Blogger buddies have created for your viewing pleasure.

Remember, today is the last day to enter the Haunted Bird House Giveaway.  My daughter will be picking the winner tomorrow.

I am going to enter this project in the Haunted Design House #177 Dimensional Halloween.

Day 9 of the 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop

So glad to see all of the Horrifying Hoppers.  Are y'all getting tired yet?  I know I'm not.  I can't wait every morning to see what my Wicked Blogger buddies have created.  Remember to stop in and see each one of them..you can get the entire blog roll on the right of this post.  Also, are y'all searching for the hidden images each day?  Make sure to stop by Terra's blog for a list of winners as well as the complete list of rules and sponsors.

Now, on to today's eye candy.  As I have been making my way through the blogs every day, I have been inspired to create some more altered art.  I haven't done but only 4 pieces since I have been scrapbooking and card making, so this makes #4.  It's a wall hanging and my daughter has already called dibs on it.  She wasn't too happy with me because I offered up my Haunted Bird House for a giveaway, but I assured her we would create another one for her room before Halloween, so she was ok with that.

Let me apologize for the darkness of the photo, but i didn't finish this until after 10 pm last night, so I had to use what light I had.  I started with a blank wooden plaque from Wal-mart and painted it flat black.  I used papers from Teresa Collins and American Crafts.  After adhering them to the plaque, I used my Tim Holtz sander and distressed all four edges.  I then inked them with DI Vintage Photo.  Both stamped images are from RSD. (Witch's Cottage and Countess Van Bloot).  I colored them with colored pencils and OMS. On the cottage, I used a gray BIC Marker to add the shadows.  I added some Sakura glitter gel pen to the Countess.  The tree and the bat are from Martha Stewart and are acetate stickers.  The three black flowers are from Wal-mart.

I hope y'all enjoyed your visit today.  Now, get hopping over to Lisa's blog to see what she has in store for ya today.

31 Days of Halloween--Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop hosted by Smeared and Smudged. I want to thank each of you for stopping by my blog and leaving all the love.  I truly appreciate each comment that is left for me and I do read them all!  For this month long blog of Halloween goodness you will be able to find the blog roll on the right side of my blog. For a complete set of rules, sponsors and the clue to the daily image Scavenger Hunt, please see Terra's Blog.  And while you are there, please leave some love for Terra and Tori for all of their hard work putting this together.

For today's post, I have created a card using one of our sponsors, Delicious Doodles, images.  I just love these images.  I don't do alot of dark, Gothic cards, but I do love Delicious Doodles images.

I made this card into an easel card.  The first picture is from the front and the second is from the side.

I colored the image with Spectrum Noir, BIC Markers and Sakura Glitter pens.  I trimmed down the image and matted it onto Red and Black Recollections card stock.  The card base is Black Coordinations card stock.  The patterned papers are American Crafts.  I added some double sided satin ribbon from Hobby Lobby and the spiders are from a pack of Halloween confetti that I found last year at the Dollar General.  I stamped the sentiment, which is from Queen Kat Designs, onto a very light gray card stock from Recollections with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Sakura Glitter pens and BIC Markers.  I used my Martha Stewart mini score board to add some score lines to the sentiment then matted it onto the same Red Recollections card stock.  I used two of the spiders as holders for the easel.

I hope y'all are enjoying the hop and will stick with us all month long for some amazing creations by the talent team of Wicked Bloggers.

An Anniversary Waltz

I have an anniversary card y'all this morning.  The image is a Doodle Pantry image that I colored with my American Craft's Chromatix markers.  I also used my BIC markers for some of the elements.  

I started this card with a card base made from SU Basic Black.  I used a piece of fancy paper from DCWV that I have been hoarding. My daughter keeps threatening to call the show Hoarders if I don't start using up my stash.  I keep telling her I'm not a hoarder that I'm a collector, but she doesn't buy it.  I also die cut a piece of silver glitter card stock to mat the image on.  I inked the edges of the image with DI Vintage Photo and used some ribbon from Offray.  To finish up the card, I added some black pearls from Queen and CO.

Thanks for looking at my project.  I truly appreciate it.  God bless y'all.

Challenges:
Pink Gem Challenge--Add a Bow
2 Sisters Challenge Blog--Romance
Red Carpet Studio--#25 The Wedding Singer
Retro Sketches--#52 Use a "Retro Sketch"  I chose sketch #43 to make my card.

Snowman Love

We are cruisin' right along this morning.  I have made it to card #4 already.  Not bad.  It's only been 15 minutes.

I did something a little different for this challenge.  Since we are coming up on the Valentine's season, I decided to make this a love card, but used a winter image.

This cute little guy is from A Day for Daisies.  I colored him in with my colored pencils and OMS.  I cut out the image using my Nestabilities.   I did use some Glitter Gel Pen on his hat for some sparkle.  We all love the bling right?  I began with a SU Whisper White card base cut to a 5" square card.  I added a strip of American Crafts DP that has been punched with my Fiskar's border punch.  I matted the image on the same DP then a Lacy Circle Large die cut.

To make the snowflakes match and not be washed out on the white card base, I used some snowflake die cuts that my precious friend Jan sent me.  I took my Memento Lady Bug ink pad and colored four of them.  For the other four, I used a red glitter gel pen to highlight the "branches" of the snowflakes.  Using a pop dot, I put the snowflakes together.  Once I had them on the card, I added some red gems from Queen and Co. to highlight the center of each snowflake.

I hope you like it.  I think it makes a cute Valentine's card.  The inside sentiment says, "I love you this much".  Very fittin' right?

Well, that's it for this post.  Onward James...God bless y'all.

Challenges:
A Day for Daisies--#62  Add some red

Playing Catch Up

Happy Monday y'all.  I hope all of y'all are ready for another week.  I am, but it's going to be a busy one.  I am really behind in my card making for last week.  I was super busy and didn't get all of my challenges done.  I think I am up to about 45 a week now.  It really helps me to stock up my stash for cards, but I am being over run.  I need to get some sold.  I probably should open an Etsy shop or put some on eBay.

I am going to post 5 cards here in this one post so that I can get them linked for the challenges.  I am going to be short and brief and just post the challenges they are for as well as the products, but not any details.  I will come back later in the week and post the details.  Sorry for being so short, but it's 3:20 am and I need to get to bed.

Card 1.  Sweet November

Stamp: Freecoloringpages.com
Sentiment: Hand written
Coloring Medium: BIC Markers, Spectrum Noir Markers, Glitter Gel Pen
CS: Recollections: yellow and green;  GP: white
DP: DCWV
Gems: Queen and Co.
Ribbon: Offray

Challenges entered:
Outlawz Friday Promarker/Copic--Birthstones
One Stop Craft Challenge--#214  Anything Goes


Card 2.  Mummu's Bike

Stamp:  Mummu's Bike Digi by Mo Manning
Sentiment: Dessert Diva
Coloring Medium: Colored Pencils and OMS
Inks: DI Vintage Photo (for edging)
CS: SU--Old Olive, Cajun Craze; GP--White
DP: American Crafts
Ribbon: Offray
Gems: Queen and Co.
5/8" Round circle punch (EK Success) (for making ticket corners)

Challenges Entered:
Outlawz Twisted Thursdays--Something with Wheels
Cute Card Thursday--#254 A Different Corner
Beccy's Place--Week 1  "B" card


Card 3:  10 Reasons Why

Stamps: Tami Mayberry--Just a Note; Nina Brackett--Heartily Yours Additions
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
CS: Gray, Tan and Olive--Recollections
DP: American Crafts; DCWV
Brad: Recollections
Punch: 5/8" Circle--EK Success

Challenges Entered:
Outlawz Color Challenge Tuesday--Gray, Green, and Tan


Card 4: Love Blessing

Stamp: TCP Faith Greetings
Ink: Memento Lady Bug
CS: Gina K--Heavy Base Weight White; Black-- DCWV; Red--Recollections
Tag: Hot Off the Press
Marvy Heart Punch

Challenges Entered: Freshly Made Sketches--#71


Card 5:  Faith

Please forgive the bad picture.  The card base is actually Olive Green, but for some reason it came out looking black and the sentiment strip looks tan when it is actually a dark yellow.  The glittered butterfly is teal green, not black.

Stamp: Tami Mayberry's Faithful Florals
Ink: Memento Bamboo Leaves; Anna Griffin Rose
CS: Olive--Recollections; Yellow--DCWV
DP:  K and Co.
Butterfly and Flower: my stash


Challenge Entered:
Outlawz Wednesday Sketch

A Little Thank You

Hello friends.  Thanks for stopping in to see my latest creation.  The card I made is going to be entered into four challenges.  Sketch Saturday has the sketch, My Time to Craft has a Things with Wings challenge, One Stop Craft has a Sparkle and Bling challenge, and Sentimental Sunday's challenge is for Thank You cards.

I started this card with Basic Black (SU) card stock.  I made this into a 5" square card to follow the sketch.  I used a piece of American Crafts DP for the background.  I added Olive Green (SU) and then Crumb Cake (SU).  The side pieces are the reverse side of the background paper which I cut down to 2"x1.5" and rounded the corners.  Once everything was put together, I stamped different thank you sayings from an Inkadinkado stamp set.  I used Colorbox Cat's Eye inks in shades of green for the words.  For the center thank you, I colored it with a green glitter gel pen for the sparkle.  I outlined it with my white gel pen and added faux stitching around the edges of the Crumb Cake and Olive Green.  I used a dark green BIC marker to add faux stitches on the side pieces.  For the bling, I added large gems (Queen and Co.) to the three corners and a black die cut butterfly to the bottom right corner.  I added three small gems to the center of the butterfly to complete the card.

I sure appreciate you stopping in today.  I hope you enjoyed my project.  Stay tuned for more creations soon.  God bless y'all.

Vintage Valentine

Hi there.  Don't you just love Valentine's Day?  I do. But for me, it's not just about the cute cards, chocolates and flowers.  It's a remembrance for me of the One who loved me enough to die for me.  The One who endured so much, just so that I could be redeemed.  That One?  Jesus Christ.  His love for all of us is the most wonderful example of Valentine's Day there is.  If there was a way I could send Him a Valentine's Day card, I would.  The best I can do is just to tell Him on a regular basis how much I love Him and am thankful for the His sacrifice on Golgotha's Hill over 2000 years ago.

Today's card uses a vintage photo of two darling angels.  I used my pink colored pencil to add some color to their robes while leaving the rest of the picture in shades of gray.  

I started with a piece of Real Red (SU) card stock for the A2 card base.  I inked the edges of the photo with DI Vintage Photo and matted it on a piece of Cream card stock (Recollections).  I then found a vintage post card image in my stash and inked it all over with the Vintage Photo ink to distress it a bit.  I chose a piece of DCWV brown and red rose patterned paper as the background.  I adhered the DP and then the post card image.  I added  a strip of double sided tape (American Crafts) to the center of the card and added the red gathered ribbon. I then used pop dots to adhere the angels. The sentiment is from Studio G and stamped with Memento Rhubarb Stalk.   I added some brads to the corners for a finished look.  

It's not overly cluttered with embellishments, but I think it has that vintage feel.  

I am entering this card into the ABC Challenges, the Robin's Fetishes and the Shopping Our Stash challenges for this week.

Thanks for coming by and I hope you enjoyed my card for today.  God bless y'all.

Faith

Welcome back.  I am on a roll.  I've been cranking out cards left and right this week.  It feels so good to get back to crafting.  I so missed it.  Today's card is for the Sentimental Sundays challenge.  The theme of the challenge was to use the negative space of a die cut and a text.

I used a piece of dark teal card stock that had a scalloped oval cut out of it.  I used the die cut for another card.  I then cut out a piece of neutral tan (The Paper Company) using the Classic Ovals Large from Spellbinders.  I adhered them together.  I used a stamp from the Faithful Florals stamp set by Tami Mayberry for the focal image and stamped it on Very Vanilla from SU.  I stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa.  The patterned paper is from American Crafts.

The card base is Early Espresso from SU.  I didn't want a whole lot of embellishments for this one because I wanted the sentiment to be the focus. I found this pretty blue flower in my flower stash and thought it worked wonderfully because it has three different blues in it.  I think it would probably qualify for a CAS.  Well, maybe my idea of CAS.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day and may the Lord God bless you.

Hoppy Birthday

Hello there.  How are ya today?  I am sitting here at 8pm watching it snow.  Now, I am sure you are asking me how I am watching it snow when it's dark outside.  Well, we have a big flood light on the corner of our house and it's very sensitive.  We just let the dog out, he triggered the light and I can see the snow falling.  We were only supposed to get a dusting.  Yeah, think they were wrong.

On to crafting.  The card today is for a 5 year old named Mikey whose family attends out church.  His mother, Megan, and I are friends and they just a had a new baby in Jun of last year.  Mike, the dad and husband, does wonderful photography.  Look him up on FB under Class A Photography.  You will be amazed, especially when you see the Christmas card that he made for this past year.

So, Mikey is 5 and a typical boy.  Like to wrestle with my husband on Sundays after church, likes to play outside and tries to catch every bug possible.  So, I thought this image would be just right for him.  It's from Dearie Dolls and this card is going to be entered into the Melonheadz Friends challenge which is Use a Digi.  It's their first challenge ever.  Let's make some noise for Melonheadz.  They have really cute images and some are free.  

I used two papers from American Crafts for the background.  I cut out the image using my cutter, then matted it on a piece of Olive Green and then a piece of Kraft.  I printed out the sentiment on the computer and cut it into little strips, inking them in Spanish Olive before adhering them to the right hand side of the focal image. I matted the focal image after inking it, onto two pieces of DP from American Crafts.   I colored the image with my colored pencils and OMS.  After adhering the image, I added three little frogs from the Recollections 3/D sticker collection.  

For the inside, I use the same DP as on the front and a piece of GP White for the journaling spot.  I hand wrote the sentiment and the thought bubbles.  The little fat frog is a Cricut die cut and I used my BIC markers and White Gel Pen for enhancement. 

I always forget to take the pictures before I write the sentiments.  I don't know I just do.  I hope you all liked this one.  I love little frogs and definitely love this card.  Have a wonderful day and God bless.

Some New Challenge Blogs

Hello there.  I have been searching for some new challenges to do.  I have found quite a few and thought I would try my hand and some.  So this is going to be a long post.  Be prepared to read for a while.  I am going to showcase some cards I made for the new challenges.

Cute Card Thursdays

This site can be found HERE.  The challenge for this week is Diamonds are Forever.  I decided to create a birthday card using an image from  Beary Wishes and the sentiment is from Dessert Diva.  I used my colored pencils in shades of pink and gray to color in the image.  I rounded the corners and inked the edges in DI Vintage Photo.  I matted the image on a piece of gray CS from SU and rounded those corners too.  The DP is from my stash and once again all corners are rounded.  I used the same gray from SU for the card base.  Because the theme is Diamonds are Forever, I used lots of bling to simulate diamonds all over.

I think it turned out pretty well, I just don't understand the shadow in the middle of the image.  Freaky.  Oh well, thanks for stopping in today and I hope I don't burn out your eyes as you keep reading.  


Card Making Mamas

I am loving all the DT examples on this site which can be found HERE.  The whole blog is beautifully designed.    This weeks challenge was to create and CAS card.  I chose to make mine a Valentine's Day card.    I used a stamp set from Studio G for the image.  I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black and Lady Bug Red.  I cut the image to 2.5" x 2" and matted it on a piece of red and a piece of black.  I adhered it to the bottom right and added two red hearts and a black on floating up toward the left had corner.

It is definitely CAS with lots of white space.  I am not a big fan of lots of white space.  I like to add embellishments.  The more I add, the more I like it.  But, for a creative break, these CAS cards are a nice  way to go.  Take a hop on over to Card Making Mamas and check them out.


Just Us Girls (JUGS); My Time to Craft

These two sites are just packed full of interesting ideas and challenges.  The JUGS blog can be found HERE and the weekly challenge is a color challenge.  Lime Green, Gray and White.  My Time to Craft has a sketch challenge for this week.  I combined these two as well as using it for the monthly challenge over at Beccy's Place.  

I fell in love with this wishing well when I saw it as a freebie.  I just love old fashioned wells.  We had one on my grandpa's farm when I was a child and I was facinated by it.  I knew I had to use this one for a card, but I didn't have the chance until now.  Using the gray and green combo worked very well with the way I had colored this image.  I love the sketch that we were challenged to use too.  

I used my colored pencils to color the image.  Everything was cut on my paper trimmer so this was a very easy card to put together.  I matted the image on SU Gray as well as used it for the card base.  The lime green and white are from my stash.  The DP is from a set that I bought right before Christmas from AC Moore.  It is by American Crafts and was in a cute pink binder system.  There are over 400 pieces of paper in the pack and I paid $19.99 for it.  Regular price was $59.99.  I thought it was a pretty good deal so I snagged it.  I used a Fiskar's Corner punch for the accents on the corners.  The sentiment is from a set of stamps that I got free but have no idea who designed them.

Thanks so much guys for stopping in today.  I hope you enjoyed the cards that I showcased and I hope your eyes aren't bleeding from such a long post.  I have three more cards but will put them in another post.  God bless you all.

Happy Day

Happy Saturday morning.  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.  The weathermen here aren't sure what they are doing.  First they call for snow then they don't.  You never know what we are going to get here.

Today's card can be used for a man or a woman.  It can be a birthday card, a thinking of you card, or even a congrats card.  I started with a Very Vanilla card base cut to 5.5" x 8.5", folded in half.  I used a piece of Early Espresso SU Card stock and a piece of Old Olive SU car stock both cut at 4"x5.25".  I then cut each of those panels in half diagonally.  I then took a piece of olive patterned paper from American Crafts and cut a panel  3.75"x5" and diagonally cut that one in half.  I matted the Early Espresso and Old Olive onto the base.  I inked the edges of the AC DP with Memento Spanish Olive so that the white edges didn't show.  I matted that panel onto the Old Olive card stock.  I used a stamp set from Hampton Arts for the three circles.  I stamped the sentiment in Spanish Olive and the two flowers in Memento Rich Cocoa onto Kraft card stock.  I used a Fiskars 1.5" circle punch to cut them out.  I adhered the three circles down the middle diagonally using pop dots for the middle one.  The bottom left corner needed a little something so I added three dark green gems to the corner.

  The computer makes the Early Espresso look like black but it's not.  I am entering this card into the Freshly Made sketch challenge #69 and the 365 Cards challenge, if I can figure out how to link that one.  If anyone follows the challenges on that site and knows how to link up, please let me know.

Thanks for stopping in today.  I hope you have enjoyed my work.  Have a wonderfully blessed day.