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!

My First Easter Card for 2010

I think you will see more on my blog than usual now. After I got over the initial shock of our beloved fur baby, Cotton, passing away, I am pushing myself to start creating again. It is definitely therapeutic, but I couldn't make myself even get off the couch for a while. I hope I will be able to do a layout of him to frame very soon. Right now, at least I have been able to make some cards. This is the first Easter card I have made this year. I actually felt bad that it wasn't about Christ's resurrection, but I am sure these dancing bunnies are rejoicing over His resurrection, don't ya think? This card fit the criteria for two challenges this week. One is from the Copic Challenge Blog. If the link doesn't work, it is in my sidebar. This week they wanted an Easter card, and you were supposed to use your Copics to color your embellishments. I used my Copics to color in the Prima flower that I used. It was originally solid pink. I didn't realize that Copics would do so well on coloring embellishments - I tried it on ribbon, too (not on this card), and it turned out great. There is a video tutorial on the site if you want some more ideas. I also colored my dancing bunnies with my Copics. The stamp is just so cute, I think. It came from Cowtown stamps, and if you haven't seen their stamps, please have a look. There are so many great stamps and the prices are also great! Btw, I stamped the image and then heat embossed it. I can color better with my markers when the image is slightly raised from embossing (a tip from someone who has trouble staying in the lines! lol).

Down below you can see the closeup of the flower I colored and see where I added a few pink Stickles for some bling. I also posted another picture of the card, because the first one is from a scanner, and the edge of my round embellie was cut off. So I wanted you to see it all!

The other challenge that this card is for is from Stamp Something. The link is also in my sidebar if this link doesn't work. Their challenge this week is a recipe challenge. We had to have dp, buttons and ribbons. In case you can't see my white ribbon, it is from the K & Co. Smitten collection. The solid blue dp is from Basic Grey and the blue dotted paper is from Creative Imaginations. Oh yes, the pink dotted paper is from Best Creation. I inked the edges of everything with Tea Rose Distress Ink. The Happy Easter die cut is from Bo Bunny also. I used Pop Dots on both my die cut and stamped image to give them some dimension. The buttons are from my stash and actually match much better than the pic shows! The blue gemstones are also from my stash.

Hope you like my dancing bunnies card. Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a blessed day!

Our Daily Bread Shining Light Challenge 3

Even though I am not at all happy with the pic of this card, and how washed out it all seems to look, I don't have time to take a photo from another angle. In fact, I didn't have time to fix it with my photo editing software either - which would have helped, I think. So here it is, in spite of my whining, because my deadline is upon me! This is my card for Our Daily Bread's 3rd Shining Light Challenge. This challenge is called "Secret Admirer", because we pick an artist or card we admire and case it. I chose to case the extremely talented Chris Olsen's card using the "You are the Potter" set. I hope you can see her card here, but if not I will come back and fix the link. I have had so many computer issues that I will be lucky to get this in on time. We were supposed to change 2 things. I changed the frame's shape, but I got really close. The big changes were the dp and I don't have a machine to do stitching. Oh yes, I used brown ribbon, but I had the exact lacey (is that lace exactly? lol) ribbon that Chris used by Wrights. Will come back later with more info on how I made the card. Right now, I am just trying to get it in! The link to Our Daily Bread is in my sidebar. I love all of their stamps, but unfortunately this is the only set I have! $$$ is tight right now, so I am hoping to win more of their stamps. : ) They are beautiful AND they glorify our Lord. Can't beat that! Go have a look at all their goodies and all the wonderful talent there also.

More later on how I made my card! Have a blessed day.

Altered Creation - 8 x 8 Family Christmas Mini Album

ALL HEARTS COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

This is an 8 x 8 mini album I made to sell on ETSY. I also made it for the Altered Challenge Group at the Challenge Master's site. However, I didn't get it finished in time for the December Challenge. I made this using my Bind-It-All. The front and back cover are the sturdy Bind-It-All covers. There are 8 inner pages, which are made with thick manila folder pages completely covered with patterned paper. This means there are 10 actual pages for journaling and pictures. With a few exceptions, the format is basically that the left page has room for journaling, and the right page has a place for pictures. I used pp from several companies, but a great deal of it, including the covers, are Websters Pages. I used a lot of Bobunny, also. These are 2 companies I always love. There are Christmas embellishments and words throughout the book, all with a slightly shabby chic look. Obviously, I have added LOTS of ribbon to cover the white O wires.

Here are the first 2 pages:

Next is page 3. The journaling card says "My ten greatest joys.....".

Next is p. 4 on the right hand side. The wreath on the Websters Pages pp makes a natural picture frame:

Here is a closeup view of that page with a fabric sticker saying "sweet" adhered. I love the 2 birdies kissing:

On page 5, I have made 3 circular spots, all with an acrylic overlay. One has lines for journaling. I love the glittery, embossed Bobunny pp:

The next page is p. 6 on the right side. It has a large area with cream colored cs where photos can be placed:

Here is a closeup of the top of the page with a lovely Prima rose:

Next is p. 7. The journaling area is from Teresa Collins:

Page 8 has a large tag which can be used as a photo mat. Some fancy gold tinsel ribbon is tied through the hole punched at the top of the page. Notice lots of the pages have the little snowmen or penquins, just as a little cute embellishment to provide some continuity throughout the book:

Next, we flip to p. 9. This page has a photo mat with a journaling tag tucked down behind it. I punched a hole at the top of the tag and put more tinsel ribbon. I also added white and green pearls. You can write whatever you like on the tag and place it back behind your photo. Santa and his reindeer are part of the Websters Pages pp. The sentiments are fabric stickers:

The last inner page is page 10, which has a large area for photos. At the bottom is a small circle with lines for journaling. Next to this is a little white Christmas flower and the words blessings, believe, and magic. The top of the page (next to the penguin) is a 3D embellishment that says "memories". Their are bells on transparency type paper at the top of this page and this type of embellishment is also found throughout the whole book:

Finally, we come to the back cover. It is covered with Websters Pages pp., a diecut from Bobunny and a circle definition from Making Memories. Also a border element from Websters also:

Hope you enjoyed looking at my mini album. It is for sale! I just have to get it on ETSY, and I thought I would try selling on some of the other Handmade sites this time. I figure lots of us will be getting our holiday photos about now, so lots of people will be in the market for a Christmas mini album. If anyone is interested in seeing any other close ups of any of the pages, please let me know! Thanks, and have a blessed week!

Cocoa Mouse with Some of My Fav Doily Hearts

With Valentine's Day drawing near (Yes, it is drawing near!), I made a card using one of Sweet n' Sassy Stamps' digi stamps - Cocoa, Be Mine. I love Sweet n' Sassy Stamps, and now I have tried some of their digis. I love them, too. This weekend was their Digi Day Challenge at SNR Card Universe (link in my sidebar). Our creation was supposed to use pink and red, and this is what I came up with. Since the challenge at A Spoonful of Sugar (link also in my sidebar) was to use hearts, even though Cocoa already had a heart in his cute little envelope, I added a couple of more lace doily hearts. I always loved those when I was a little girl, and I still do. The pp I used was from Creative Imaginations, and I colored my cute little image with Copics.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!