Monday, July 30, 2012

Following a Sketch

I am rushing the Christmas season, but with it being so hot in Tennessee, I am in the mood to make cards for cool weather.  This card is for Our Daily Bread Designs challenge ODBDSLC117 of following the sketch below.
This is my card from the sketch above.  I used a  stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs' Loving Memories collection.  I also used the center part of Cheery Lynn Designs' Canadian Kaleidoscope Doily  die.  I really like taking apart and putting different dies together to make an original one to fit my needs and space.  The center of this doily cut out of silver cardstock was a perfect fit.

Post Cards

I have really gotten into making post cards lately.  The postage has constantly increased and making post cards helps a little with the cost of mailing.  Also, if cut the right direction, I can make three post cards with the same amount of cardstock that I make two cards.
 
I hope these post cards will inspire you to try your hand at it.  They are fun to make.  However, I do have to cut down a little on adding 3D embellishments.  The Modge Podge that I use on  them helps to keep the embellishments on, gives the card a sheen, and makes them have more stability.  The top post card is also being entered into Simon Says Stamp and Show's challenge of What Do You Say?

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Second Week of "Give Me Five" Challenge

We are beginning our second week of the challenge "Give Me Five".  There has been some great entries so far, but the Design Team would like to see more.  You have a whole week so enter and show us your take on the challenge.  Remember we must be able to see the arm, foot, claw, wing etc. on your image.
The Design Team  hopes their creations below will inspire you.
Vicki
I chose the Country Scarcrow image from Meljen Designs.  Don't you think he is cute?  Also, I happen to notice today that he is on sale for 50% off.   Take a peek at the Meljen Design site and see what else is on sale and if there is something there you can use.  I colored my scarecrow with Copics and made my own little bench / wall for him to sit on and rest.  I know he must bes tired rom standing all the time!!!

I am also entering this in  Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge of What Do You Say?
Michele
Poor Humpty. He doesn't need someone to "give him five" he needs someone to help him so he doesn't fall! I colored this fun Meljen's Designs digi with colored pencils and layered it on two different layers of designer paper, throwing in some other embellishments to add to the fun. One more week to play along; I hope you'll join in!
Sharon
This week I have used an image from Michelle Perkett Studio "Scooter" to make my "Give Me Five" card. I've used torn paper to make the background along with a strip of mesh - would you belive I found this whilst cleaning out our shed - it's actually builders gyprock joining tape but it's much better suited to crafting I think!!!
Petra
I designed this tag aorund a number sticker from K&Company. The background is very inky again with covering a plain rectangular white tag with distress inks and stamping with various stamps. The sticker is layered on vellum and attached to the tag with some machine sewing.
Rene
I used the cute Cherry Mouse from Meljens Designs, our sponsor for the two weeks, to create my ATC. I coloured him with pencils and added some Glossy accents. The background is my own scribbles, done with fine liners.
Jenn
Jenn made a card using "Boy &; Dog" from Meljen's along with a sticker sentiment from SRM Stickers. I believe the slingshot is a game piece from an old Monopoly game - felt sticker paw & bone are from my stash.

Beach, Sand and Surf

Beach, Sand and Surf --that is the theme at Just Some Lines this week.  I used the Beach Girl 2 image and made a little beach scene.   The little beach girl is colored with Copics.   The sentiment reads "Play, Smile, Treasure"  My times at the ocean are a trreasure as that is my favorite place to go.  I don't go in the ocean much any more, but I do love to watch the waves.  This is about the only place I can go and really relax.

This card is also for Tuesday Throwdown's Paradise challenge.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Challenge # 48 - "Give Me Five"

I'm a little late in posting (and I wasn't able to finish my sample) as I ended up in bed Sunday afternoon not feeling well.  I am okay now, but I am way behind. so I will finish my piece later.   In the meantime I wanted to get the new challenge posted.

The challenge this time is "Give Me Five".  It is really a very broad theme.  You must have an image that has a foot,  a hand, fingers, paw,  or claw.  In other words, your image should show appendages or extrimities.  The scope is broad.  I hope you find this a fun challenge.  NOTE:  I will let this challenge run until Monday, August 6 at NOON.
Rene
My little card was made to look like children's art. The Humpty Dumpty was coloured with pencils, blended and then cut out. The background on the little card was done with pastel chalks. A red fine liner was used to write my message on the little flag! Hope this will bring a smile to someone's face!
Michele
The digis from Meljen's Digital Designs are just darling and I had fun coloring this frog with pencils, laying him out on some coordinating designer paper and providing some bugs for him to snack on. Any art you make with people or animals is sure to have a hand, foot, paw or some such. So I hope you will join the challenge.
Petra
This little mouse holds the cherry very tightly with its little paws .... I don't think it will give it back any time soon! This very cute mouse image from Meljen Designs sits on a little tag cut from Magnolia and Cosmo Cricket papers. I doodled around the edges and added a little sticker '5' and some ribbon.
Valerie
Hi you all, here is the tag I have made for 'Gimme 5'. I used an outline drawing of a hand, which I doodled in black and red, and fixed the hand with a brad to some patterned paper with a brad so that it can wave. Added one of my fave sentiments, and that was it! Have a good week you all, Valerie
Jenn
Jenn made a card using "Diggin' a Hole" along with the matching "Can You Dig It?" sentiment from MelJen's Designs. Animals are great images to use for masculine cards, and this one turned out just how I wanted it to. DP is a digi paper from The Dwelling Place.
Sharon
I've used the "Dapper Frog" from our sponosr "Meljen" for this weeks creation! I started off using the image to make an ATC which I then turned into this card. I love the little "Giggle" ticket to match the Frog's Grin!


I am excited to have as my sponsor for this challenge Meljen Designs.  They have a wonderful supply of digital stamps in their online store that you must go by and see.  Meljen Designs is offering 4 stamps to the random chosen winner.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Another White on White


I realized recently that I really needed to learn how to make handmade flowers that I really am proud of.  Therefore, last night I was deterined to made a decent-looking flower.  So I sat down and said  "I am going to make a flower that I really like."  Well I punched, cut twisted and glued   Below is the FIRST one I tried and I really like the way it turned out.  It is not perfect, but as the first one, I am really pleased.  Now I've got to work on perfection and speed. 

I made a second white on white card again for the Cheery Lynn Designs' challenge with that theme.  I love the CLD dies.  This card has the Polynesian Sail Oval die and to the side I place my precious flower,  I needed some folliage so I used the inside pieces that you get from the Japanese Garden die.  As additional embellishment I placed two small butterflies.

I usually buy my CLD from Beverly at Classy Cards and Such.  She carries all the CLD dies and much, much more.  There are stamps, cardstock, the Bow Easy, as well as the dies and she is so fast in shipping her orders!  She is having a challenge of Homemade Flowers (CCNS # 12),  Well, this card definitely fits the theme.

Drop in at both the Cheery Lynn Designs and Classy Cards and Such site.  I am sure you will be addicted like I am to both of these sites..





                                       


Saturday, July 21, 2012

White on White

I enjoy taking dies, cutting them, and making my own design.  He is one I did using Cheery Lynn Design dies.  The oval die is the Japanese Garden Lace Oval die, Behind it I placed the French Lattice die and cut off the parts that extended past the oval circle.  At the bottom I put part of the Victorian Romance Flourish die by cutting the scroll-like ends off as it was too big.  As a finished touch, I added three very small pearls on the flourish.  I am not sure why the pearls are showing up green other than they are almost as old as I am.   In the corner is a small sentment as I didn't want to take away from the design I had made.  I think this makes a great wedding card or even a sympathy, depending on the sentiment inside.

I have entered this is Cheery Lynn Designs White on White challenge.

Friday, July 20, 2012

My Treasure

Look what I received in the mail the other day!  It is a book  (and many other goodies) I will treasure.  And it is from Lynn Stevens of Trash to Treasure Art.!  Isn't it beautiful?  I had always admired what Lynn posts to her blog, but seeing a piece of her art in person makes me realize that pictures on  her blog do not reveal all the detail work of this talented artist.  My husband said that I was going to wear the book out just looking at it and showing my local stamping friends.  I just can't stop looking at all the detail.  Below are some pictures of it and of the goodies she sent me.....only because she is so nice and sharing.  Thank you Lynn.  I can't wait to use all my precious little goodies you shared.











Thursday, July 19, 2012

Collage Post Card

I made this post card for a friend who sent me the most beautiful piece of her artwork. I hope to post a picture of it and all the goodies she sent. This post card collage was so much fun to make.  To ensure that the Post Office doesn't tear all the pieces of the collage off the card, I used Modge Podge.  This also gives the card stability. 

I hope to take a picture of all the goodies that were sent to me and post latet this evening.  I hope LS likes her post card.



Looking Out My Window

This is a sick card I made using  the Window A die from Cheery Lynn Designs.  The flowers and sentiment are Stampin' Up stamps.  This card is fun and fairly quick to make.  However, there aaren't many flowers this year at my house and the drought and heat have really hit Tennessee.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Challenge - "Silhouettes"

The Design Team has given some beautiful pieces of inspiration and we really haven't had the response we were hoping for on our challenge.  You have another week in which to enter.  There are loads of Silhouettes stamps available and there are even digitals, some of which are free on the net.  So get inspired with the  Design Team and put in your entry.  Just click on the first entry of my sidebar and it will take you directly to the challenge post which is a couple of posts below.
Vicki
Since I send out many cards each week as part of  an outreach ministry, the cost of postage really puts a bind with our budget. Because the cost of postage is a concern, I have just started making post cards.  This is one of the first I have made.  It has a silhouette by Floppy Latte image on a background made shaving cream..  As subtle emblishments is a small sticket of a butterfly and two fans made from a small piece of a Cheery Lynn Designs die.  In the corner is an acrylic stick-on word.
Michele
I have become a big fan of the Floppy Latte silhouette images! I love them. So many creative opportunities. This is another Floppy Latte image which I've arranged with a variety of designer papers and elements. My "dream" stamp is by Inkadinkado. I hope you'll join in the fun!
Sharon
I decided to make a CAS card for this week's Silhouette Inspiration using the Floppy Latte "Love my Striped Bonnet" Image. I used a new die cut to cut out the image and added a seam binding border at the bottom along with a handmade flower and  gem. The marbled papers are some of my favourites.
Jenn
Hi there - this is Jenn, I made a page in my art journal using Fairy Moon from Floppy Latte. I printed my image directly onto some designer paper , and used coordinating paper for the whole page, from Graphic45. The image is popped up with dimensional dots.


For week 2 of the *silhouettes* challenge I have made a very simple tag with a tree and owl silhouette. The tree is from Tim Holtz, the owl is a digi-stamp. I distressed the background over a small round of paper to make a moon mask.Have a good day you all! 
Valerie

Petra
This week I stayed with a black&white monochrome silhouette scheme. The two lovely ladies are images from this month's sponsor Floppy Latte Designs. I printed the images, cut them out, covered them with glossy accents and layered them on nestabilities shapes and a dry-embossed white A6 card. The little sentiment is stamped with a WildRose stamp. As finishing touches I added a little black bow and a teeny tiny bling.
Rene
My inspiration for my card came from my love for sewing. It also tells of the generations of seamstresses in my family. The silhouette adds to the vintage feel of the card, of days gone by.

Silver and Gold Sympathy Card

As leader of my card group at church, I make numerous sick and sympathy cards.  Here is a white card adorned with silver and gold.  I don't know why the scanner picked up some blue as it is heavy silver cardstock that a friend gave me.  It is a very bright silver.  The mat is gold cardstock on which I stamped a sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs.  On top of that I use a Cheery Lynn Designs die called Polynesian Sails. This was cut out of silver. In order to join the Classy Cards and Such I needed a handmade flower. I do not really have anything to make the pretty roses yet (that is on my Wish List) so I took the center of the Polynesian die and cut it down to size. Then I used a punch and made some petals out of gold. The center is a brad with a stone.  This is a flat flower and hopefully will not cost additional postage.

This card is for the Cheery Lynn Designs' challenge of Silver and Gold and for Classy Cards and Such's challenge CCNS #12 Handmade Flowers.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

No Squares nor Rectangles

Just Some Lines is having a challenge the next two weeks in which you should not use a square or retangle.  This is the card I made for the challenge.  I cut circles to use as my mat  behind the Spellbinders die.  The beach girl, a Just Some Lines image, was colored with Copic markers, cut out, and then posted on top of a die of watery designer paper.  As embellishments I used some stick-on fish.  Drop over to Just Some Lines and check out their challenge.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Birds in Hats Coaster Swap

I took part in AlphaStamps' "Birds in Hats" coaster swap. We were to make three to exchange. However, I was having so much fun, that before I realized it I had made four. Therefore, the hostess of the swap will get the fourth one I made, which is the one with the two men. Here are the ones I made. I hope the gals who get them are pleased. I can't wait to receive my coasters.
The first coaster I made uses a piece of embossed designer paper.  On top of that I put some ribbon which has lace on both sides.  I stamped a Magnolia stamp, colored her with Copic markers and then cut her out.  After that I cut out the three AlphaStamps birds.  One bird was placed in the basket on the stamped image.  Since the swap is "Birds with Hats", I cut out the three hats and placed them on two of the birds.  The third  hat I put in the beak of one of the birds so it can be for the third bird.  The sentiment was computer generated.
I really like the background on this coaster.  I had a piece of designer paper that had circles on it.  I was playing around with some stencils and put some red squares on top of the paper by using a stencil.  I thought that this really look wild.....like a circus.  Thus the idea of the unicycle, an Artist  Outpost stamp.  I cut it out and put on one side.  Since the swap dealt with birds, I decided that the bird could ride the unicycle.  Can't you just hear him say "Whee...!"?
I knew I wanted to do one of the coasters with a musical theme.  This coaster has a background of music which has been distreesed with tea.  On it I used a phonograph (stamp unknown) and a diecut of a music note.  The guitar (a Nashville touch) is made of silver glitter.  The two AlphaStamps birds and hats complete the coaster.  The sentiment was also computer generated.
I was having so much fun that I didn't notice I was making more coasters than I needed.  Therefore, I am designating this one for my hostess, Carolyn Hays.  It has a page from an old Alice in Wonderland paperback as the background.  The two men are from my stash.  Again the birds and hats are from AlphaStamps.  It seemed that one of the birds was making the man's hat a nest....thus the sentiment.  In the corner are some peel-off stickers.  As a final touch are some alphabet beads which form the word "Birds".

If you have a chance to make a comment on this post, plesse tell me which coaster you like best.


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

More Information About My Current Challenge

The current challenge "Silhouettes" is being sponsored by Floppy Latte.  I imadvertantly left off that  they are giving a $10 gift voucher from their shop.  If you are the winner chosen by a\random generator and have used any image from Floppy Latte, you will get an extra $2.00.

Floppy Latte is having a Christmas in July sale with 35% off all Christmas images as well.  This is good until the end of July.

By the way, they are adding a few additional silhouettes in the Christmas category.  Now is the time to get creating!  You have two weeks to link your creation at the bottom of the post below.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Challenge #47 - "Silhouettes"

You will have a wonderful time with this challenge as the theme is Silhouettes and you will find no greater assortment of Silhouettes than at my sponsor's site.  My sponsor is none other than Floppy Latte.  Look below at the beautiful silhouettes that the Design Team used in their creations. 

Do you have some silhouettes stamps or digitals in your stash?  We would love to see them.
Vicki
I used Floppy Latte's "Music of Love" for my silhouette card.  It is a center-step card.  I love working with black and white so I didn't add any other color.  The base card is covered with black and white designer paper and on the tag is the word "Dance".
Sharon
I decided to make a tag this week for this Silhouette Challenge and have used the "Summer Party" image from our sponsor Floppy Latte. I used a film strip die cute to put the image and "Best Wishes" wording behind and used black, white and pink colour combo.
Jenn
This is Jenn here - I made a sympathy card for one of my best friends, Linda. Linda's father passed away the other day and I thought this Garden Fantasy image from Floppe Latte Designs was perfect for a sympathy card. I kept the colors black and white with just a splash of yellow. There's just something so elegant and pretty about silhouettes.
Michele
Silhouettes are classy aren't they? I love this cameo silhouette by Floppy Latte Designs. It is so clean and beautiful that I opted to keep things simple. Starting with green card stock I layered designer papers and embellishments to create this card. I hope you enjoy this challenge!
Rene
What is easier than sponging, using stamppads? I created a dawn sun rising on the picture and card. The deckle edged picture was layered onto some bright pink paper. I added 3 rhinestone flowers & some glitter to her wings. 
Valerie
For my DT piece this week I have made an easel card, using the lovely silhouette from Floppy Latte Digitals, *Music of Love*. I have printed the image onto some gloss paper, over-stamped it with music notes (LaBlanche) and distressed the background in gradient colours. I have kept the embellishments simpke, just a ribbon and a small flower with liquid pearls at the centre. The text is mounted inside the card as easel-stopper. Have a good week, Valerie
Petra
Love this Lady with the striped bonnet - an image from this month's sponsor Floppy Latte. She reminds so very much of the bygone times and the Ladys you probably saw at Henley Regatta or Ascot. The base for this card is slightly textured ivory card. The background is inked with various distress inks and a flower stencil. The flowers are also coloured with distress inks. The finishing touches are some seambinding which I coloured using inkand some pearls.

Floppy Latte Designs

I am so please to announce Floopy Latte Designs as my sponsor for this challenge.  If you do not have an silhouettes, I would like to suggest that you check the site out.  I am sure you can find something there among her wonderful digitals.  Just click on their logo above.