For God So Loved the World.....

That is the sentiment on the Easter card I have made this time. I am making this for 2 challenges this week. One is new to me. It is Our Creative Corner. They want an Easter theme this week. The other is a challenge site that I often give a try - Stamp Something Fun. They also want an Easter theme this week. If either of these links don't work, they are both in my sidebar.

The sentiment and lovely cross image came from a clear stamp set called "Spiritual Sketches" from Inkadinkado. The blue card base is 5 x 7. I cut and dry embossed white card stock with a Label 4 Nestie and stamped my cross image there with brown Brilliance ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I do like the way that slightly raises the lines in my images - which makes it easier for me to color with my Copics. I did use a glue pen to adhere a few lines of Crystal P.K. Glitz glitter at the top of the cross to simulate a sort of glow coming off of it. The sentiment was also done with brown ink and clear ep. I did this on a small rectangle of white cs. I then rounded the top corners and used a Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom. I adhered both white cs pieces with EK's 3D Dots for dimension. I adhered K & Co's Smitten self-adhesive ribbon in white to the left side of the card, along with 2 little blue Offray bows. I added the brown Pink Paislee rub on vine to the right side. I cut out a little butterfly from some vintage pp from my stash and adhered. Also added 3 white pearls on the top right corner. Oh yes, the little brown heart by the sentiment is also a PP rub on.

Thanks so much for looking! I love all the cute Easter cards with bunnies and such. I make quite a few of them. However, I really love this card, as it reminds us of the reason we celebrate

Easter in the first place! It is amazing to think that the Lord gave His only Son to die this way for us. Of course, the fact that Jesus rose again in 3 days is the true message of the cross! How marvelous that those who believe in Him and love Him as our Lord and Savior will also rise and be with Him in Heaven! What a wonderful blessing, and may all of you have a blessed day!

A Cute Newborn Chickie Welcomes Spring!

This is my card for the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining Light Challenge 5. This week is the first time they have used a sketch for this challenge. I love the sketch. I am only fortunate enough to have one of their awesome stamp sets, which you must use in these challenges to be eligible to get a Shining Light Award. However, I am still eligible for the random drawing for a $15 GC toward their store. So I am hoping to WIN some more of their stamps until my finances improve and I can actually start buying them!

I should have downloaded a pic of the sketch for you to see, but you can click on the link above or the one on my sidebar and have a look at it. You can also see all the gorgeous examples the DT did to inspire us. Also check out the info on their anniversary activities that are starting on the 13th, I believe. FUN things to do and more chances to win their goodies! Now, on to my card. The card base is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4. The front is totally covered with the yellow (with some pink in there) paper from the Basic Grey Lemonade collection. I know it looks kind of greenish in the pic, but that's my scanner, I guess. The pp used for the bottom scallop and the matching pp across the bottom is also from the Lemonade Collecion. I used the Fiskar's Threading Water border punch on that bottom strip. The solid pink paper ribbon is from K & Co's Smitten Collection. The sentiment, Welcome Spring, is from Unity Stamp Co. The image of that cute little chick just hatching is from Cowtown Stamps. I really love that stamp company. They have so many CUTE stamps! Right now there is quite a sale. You should check them out, too. I stamped the image with black pigment ink and heat embossed it with clear ep. I colored the image, including the blue background, with Copics. I outlined both of the scallops that I punched with a darker blue Copic, so that that both pieces would pop. I also adhered them with 3D Dots for dimension. I finished it all off with blue gems in the upper corners and 2 small Prima flowers on the lower scallop.

Hope you liked my card. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

My Flower Card for Fun on Friday Challenge 42 by Cindy & SSCC Challenge 29

Well, I finally did it. I have been the Journaling Challenge Hostess for the Christian Paper Crafts Magazine forum for several months now. (If the link doesn't work, it's in my sidebar.) Before that I was a member. Before that I was a lurker (such a creepy word! lol). In all that time, I think I have made ONE creation for the site. There are a couple of reasons. One is that my life has been so crazy lately that I haven't created much at all. I think the 2nd may be that I am truly intimidated by all the great talent there, and so I feel like my creations must be amazing! Theirs sure are! You definintely need to stop by there and have a look. You will see what I mean. You will also meet so many sweet, encouraging, devout sisters in Christ. You will find awesome Bible studies by Natalie, wisdom filled devotionals by Marcelle, many challenges based on Bible verses by others. I will not name everyone, although they all deserve it. The goal of everyone is to have fun creating while spreading the Word! How perfect is that?

Anyway, Cindy Coutts, who is the owner and is such a kind, caring servant of the Lord who works so hard, does a Fun on Friday challenge weekly. There is no time limit, so you can go back and do older challenges. I really like that. In fact, that is what I am doing. This card is from the challenge before last. We were supposed to have flowers in our card. This is challenge Fof42.

When Randi at CPC saw this card, she was kind enough to suggest that I should send it into the latest challenge for Stampin' Sisters in Christ, Challenge 29 which is all about joy. It is based on Isaiah 12:6. I had already looked at the challenge and marveled over the beautiful examples done by the DT (including Randi's gorgeous card!), but hadn't really thought this card quite fit. However, after Randi's suggestion, I went back and looked more carefully at the challenge and decided that if I am sending someone happy thoughts, that's a card that expresses joy! I definitely was joyful when I made it, as I am anytime I get all involved in a project. So this card is going to SSCC also! I really appreciate Randi's suggestion because the prize this week is a totally cute stamp from Humble Pie Stamps. I would love to win that!

My card is 5 x 7. I took a white card base, cut out Rusty Pickle pp just slightly smaller than the card and adhered. I used Spellbinders Nestabilities Label 4 to cut out and emboss white cs. We have been discussing heat embossing on the board lately, so I almost always heat emboss & did so on this card. I stamped a flower image with a stamp by Me & My Big Ideas with Cranberry Stampabilities PIGMENT ink. Let me stop and say that I believe people that are having trouble with heat embossing should use pigment ink and see if that doesn't help. It is the best ink for heat embossing imho. I stamped the bottom with a green ink by Brilliance Dewdrops pigment ink.

Here is the important part! I poured Ranger Antiquities embossing powder in Claret over the blossom portion. I poured Ranger Super Fine Detail ep over the green ink. It is important to note that any of the distressing ep (to which Antiquities is similar), you get a look that is not smooth and almost glittery. A closeup of the blossom is below so you can see what I mean. You can also see the P.K. Glitz glitter in Wine that I used to edge my blossom here and there. I thought one blossom needed some bling. If you have never used P.K. Glitz glitter, you should try them or at least have a look at their website. They have about a million colors and the texture is so fine. I found them at a convention I went to several years ago and had to buy one of their kits. I bought their sticky paper too. It is unreal. The glitter ALWAYS sticks to it. Back to the subject at hand, I used a glue pen and poured the glitter over my image. This glitter stays better than any I have found, unless you are using a glitter glue.

Speaking of glitter glue, for my sentiment, I punched a 1 1/2 in. circle out of white cs. I stamped the sentiment (from My Sentiments Exactly) with the same Cranberry color, but I used the Clear ep for it because the fine ep does better with small letters. I punched a 2 in. scalloped circle from some cs from my stash that seemed to match the Cranberry. I then used Stickles in Pink over each scallop. I wasn't perfect about this at all. Just wanted some bling. I adhered some white Satin ribbon across the bottom, adhered the sentiment circle to that with 3D Dots, along with 2 pearls and a little flower. I also adhered 3 colored pearls on the top right of my pp. I adhered my Nestabilities label with 3D Dots also. I just like that little added dimension.

Here is the closup of the blossom.

That's it. I'm going now to upload my card. Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a blessed day!