Flourishes - Timeless Tuesday #164

Mona, at Flourishes, has asked that the challenge this week be to "use a fruit theme"!

Absolutley nothing says Spring like fresh fruit, fruit trees, fruit everywhere!

After the week of card kit cutting and re-organizing my room and cleaning the rest of the house, my right thumb just was NOT up to coloring an image (at least, not doing a very good job of it)

I think the simplicity of using this stamp with brown embossing powder was enough to set off the beautiful details of the designers artwork.

The sentiment was stamped and decorated with three little golden marquis shaped rhinestones to resemble seeds!

The butterfly was graced with a gold bling head himself!

Loveliness in it's simplicity.

Somethimes the best way to see the beautiful detail in these stamps is to stamp them and leave them alone...no coloring.

I think this card is a good example.

Thanks, Flourish, for this challenge!

Doesn't everyone love chocolate?

With the past weekend being Easter,

I have had my share of the tradional candy and sweets.

But, I thought it would be nice to be able to present a special friend with more than just a simple card , or just a little package of chocolate.

I have a dear acquaintance that has been so wonderfully thoughtful over the last few years, and never askes anyone to do for her. She is so very SWEET!

A nice box of chololates or a gift card for her favorite

coffee latte drink at Starbuck's would make her very happy!

So, for the Waltzing Mouse challenge this week ,

I made this SWEET set that I know I would love to receive, "just because".

The "Sweet" label stamp from Waltzing Mouse's "Rescue Remedies"

was perfect for such a wonderful confection!

And, wanting to use something besides the basic folded card base, I decided to make a tri-fold but place the sketch horizontally! I have to humor myself sometimes... lol!

Inside...  truer words were never spoken!

I had better deliver this before there are no more truffles left to share!

The sketch challenge at Waltzing Mouse!

Happy Spring!

This card was made for the sketch challenge over at

Craft's Meow

I used the sentiment from Craft's Meow's, "Fly Free".

The DP is My Mind's Eye, "Lost and Found, Madison Avenue" collection

The flower is Prima and the little brads are brown felt ones from my stash.

I love using ribbon as a border, especially ruffled a bit!

It seems strange making a Spring card when the temperature is in the low 90's today!

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Stampendous and Dreamweaver hook up!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!

I know it was a quiet one for us.

Get ready because the next few days holds some great inspiration!

Check out the great projects and a chance to win some wonderful products! I know I am very impressed with these great stencils and stamps! And together? WOW!

Have fun!

JustRite is so totally "just right"...

My card for this week's JustRite Inspirations challenge...

     Use JustRite stamps to make your own designer paper!

The background was made by stamping rows of the fleur de lis border from the

"Greetings from Paris" stamp set, heat embossing each row in black as I went.

The "postcarte" from the same set was stamped in Momento, Rich Cocoa.

(Notice that adorable little postmark that is also included in that set!)

I inked up the postcard really well so that it has a seriously vintage look,

and added the crocheted trim for a color POP!

Note, also, that the g.c.d. paper I used was heavily textured. This makes for a very interesting look when you stamp and emboss, not allowing the image to stamp solidly.

Fantastic when you're going for that old, vintage effect!

I love the cameo craze, so I couldn't resist including a soft bow and a sweet

black and cream cameo and homemade bow pin!

Still needed something...hmm...

some subtle black Zva swirls topped it off perfectly!

What I have is yet another card with my FAVORITE colors..red and black!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sending "Good Fortune"...

My card for MFT this week is for my DIL's birthday!

It was so much fun choosing this little gal's outfit and those papers!

I used KaiserCraft's "Le Chateau" paper pack, cutting out the little bird cages and framing one in a color block.  The second littler one needed some love,

so I had the little Pure Innocence girl hold onto it.

The background is embossed with Cuttlebug's "Mary Ann" folder,

and has the look of a Japanese screen.

The sentiment is done in a "cookie fortune" style. Yes, I know, fortune cookies are Chinese...but then, why do they give them to us at our local Sushi restaurant?  hmmm... confusion setting in...

 I placed a little bauble from my stash in her hair. A girl has to look pretty, you know!

To finish off the inside, I stamped a bird cage image, and continued the paper patterns, leaving plenty of room for our birthday wishes!

Please leave a comment and let me know you were here!

It makes my day to read your kind words!

Entered into the MFT WSC Getting Sketchy Challenge #66

Have a great day!

DCWV- First Card Challenge!

Yippee!

Erin Madsen, from Die Cuts With A View, has announced that she is starting a new sketch challenge at the
DCWV Diary blog!

CARDS!

Yes, now there is yet another way to win some great papers from DCWV!

April Stack-A-holic Challenge Card Sketch

I use a lot of these wonderful papers on my cards,
as anyone following my blog has noticed!

BRIGHT, CHEERFUL, FUN!
This particular paper is from the Celebration Stack!
Love that it is neither boy or girl specific!
The banner is actually direct from a page that has numerous types of banners printed right on it. All you have to do is trim however you like!
Easy, right?
I just added a bit of twine and baubles.

I finished the inside off with a simple banner, cut again from the banner pattern in the stack, and stamped a little birthday wish!

Thanks again, Erin, for thinking of those of us who make cards AND layouts!
I had so much fun creating this!
Happy Weekend, everyone!

Skipping Stones Challenge #122

Whee! I love Skipping Stones Design's sketches! This week's is no different!

I really like the simplicity of this sketch,

and it leaves itself open to so many possibilities!

I wanted something bright and cheerful for Spring!

I love the lacey look of this butterfly from the "Always Here" stamp set.

When heat embossed, it has the look of the old, vintage lace pieces I remember seeing at my great-grandmother's house many, many years ago...

The paper I used was DCWV, "Tres Chic".  Isn't it gorgeous?

Just lightly sparkled....yummmm...

MFT Challenge #65

I had posted my card entry to MFT on the Gallery at Splitcoast Stampers last week, but hadn't posted to my blog. I thought perhaps there are those of you who are also big Pure Innocence fans that would like to see yet another of the little gals!

Masculine birthday card!

I'm always at a loss when it comes to whipping up a quick masculine birthday card!

Flourishes is asking for

"Birthday Cards"
 in this current challenge.

I think this meets both requirements!

I love this stamp from Flourishes of the Medallion, and it heat embosses so beautifully!

So much detail and class!

Now, bring it on!  I'm ready for at least one more male birthday!

For that matter, I can't think of any of my gal friends who wouldn't

enjoy a card like this!

I am thrilled to submit this in the challenge at Flourishes!

DYSU Challenge #66- Friendly Critters!

And this week at Do You Stack Up! the challenge is

5 Gift Certificate

Winner’s choice of 7 digital images

Winner’s choice of 4 digital images

MY CARD:

Image by Stampendous

This card was made for a special little guy!  I baby-sat a teacher-friend's baby from the time he was just 3 months old until the school year ended when he was 15 months!  This means spending every single weekday, just the two of us, cuddling and bonding.  He was as much my "grandbaby" as my own.  Although his mother has since had a second baby, and is a stay-at-home mom, we still remain close and get together for lunches and playdates at the park.  These are truly special times.  Noah turns 3 this month, and I still can't get enough of this bright, adorable, well-behaved child!

 3 months

6 months

Now!

(Don't ask me what's with hand thing...)

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Check out the rest of the Design Teams adorable animal creations!

And make one of your own to enter and possibly win some great prizes!

Stampendous joins Altered Alice!

It had to happen! 
Stampendous has the most sweet, vintage Alice in Wonderland stamp set! 
And Altered Alice's blog has the coolest challenges all based around the storybook characters from Wonderland!

They're joining together at Alice's place to see just what everyone can come up with.

The prize?  This gorgeous set of stamps!

How I would love to own these!

I made this card shaped like a mirror, and chose to illustrate Alice with her reflection. The frame was cut with my old Creative Memory Oval Cutter, and then embossed with my Cuttlebug folder simply labeled "Sentimental". Then, I lightly rubbed over the top with embossing ink. The raised areas picked up the ink so that my Stampendous "Aged Aqua" embossing powder would adhere and, when heated, accentuate the pattern. I like the way it turned out.

The mirrored image was stamped on the back side of the vellum to make it appear cloudy, along with the checkered floor. I then glued Blue and Silver Glass Glitters around the refelcted image to add mystery...

The original image was colored with gel pens due to the fact that the embossing powder would have damaged my Copics. But I like this look so that's fine.

I added the stop watch, a metal key charm, and a door lock charm all hanging from a
vintage clothing pear pin. 

I like the way it has a very steampunk look to it, but still remains romantic.

A very cool birthday card, indeed!

Inside:

Perhaps this would make up for being "very, very late"!

Happy stamping!

Also entered in the challenge at

By the Cute and Girly (Once Upon a Time..)

A most difficult challenge...

You would think a simple,

single layer layout on a card would be simple!

Think again!

The Waltzing Mouse sketch challenge this week is to create a card using only ONE layer...that means no die cuts, no mats, no layers of any kind!

 For those of use who love to use ribbons, and trims, and all sorts of goodies piled on our cards, this was HARD!

 I stamped and embossed the label from Waltzing Mouse "Holiday Labels 14"

and the sentiment from "Rescue Remedies Additions" directly onto pattern paper from Prima's "Songbird" collection.  Then, I stamped and glitter embossed a few extra little

birds!  It was really difficult to walk away at that point.  This really challenged me as far as keeping it simple and one layer!

Entered at Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenges

Stampendous Layout!

Mother's Graduation

May, 1951

Sorry the photo quality is so bad...I had already taken this to my parent's house when I thought about taking a picture. Without my good camera or a proper spot to shoot it, the picture leaves a bit to be desired.

My mother's graduation took place in the Midwest where all the flowers were in bloom at a local park.  She recalls it being a beautiful Spring day and I wanted to give her a page that reflected that same feeling.

Here, though, you can better see the glimmer of the embossing powders! I love these! They add shimmer and shine to my projects without being so very glitter and bling!

On this page, I used the "Aged Rose, Ivory, and Aqua" powders and heated them from the underside.  You can see more of this "Encrusted Jewel technique" on U-Tube, courtesy of Fran at Stampendous.

The sweet little butterfly is K & Company, and the flowers are Prima!

I also heat embossed the Stampendous "Rose Corset" image onto a vellum envelope and included a little tag for my Mother's own journaling.

~Just something I wanted to share~

Have a wonderful day!