Sending Blessings to a Friend

 

 

            A very good friend did a wonderful act of kindness for me last week and to thank her, I chose to do the first week’s sketch for the VLV October Sketch Challenge just for her!  Thank you so much dear friend!  I love this week’s sketch with its strong, clean lines so I decided to keep it that way with my choice of paper and embellishments.  KISS (Scrapper)!  I also decided to go with the fall colors for this week, too.  I just love Autumn!  I think it’s my favorite time of the year.  My husband and I are talking about planning our yearly day trip up to the NC mountains to see the leaves.  They think it’s going to be another wonderful year for fall color!

·       Stamp set(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Trust God

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Old Olive & Soft Suede

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Old Olive, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze & Very Vanilla CS; Bazzill – Gold??; The Paper Loft – Autumn Splendor Collection: Orchard & Candy Apple

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Spellbinders – Classic Ovals Large & Classic Scalloped Ovals Large; Stampin’ Up! – Woodgrain & Chevron EF

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up! – Basic Jewels Rhinestones; Paper Studio – Maple Leaf Punch

This card is 5½” square.  The striped paper is 3.25” by 4.25”; Old Olive CS is 5” by 2”; Soft Suede CS is cut 1.75” by 4.75”.  After the measuring and embossing, it was just a matter of layering the pieces thought I did alter the order and put the Soft Suede on top of the Old Olive to showcase the woodgrain embossing.  I wanted an outdoorsy, tree feeling to the card to reinforce the tree theme in the patterned paper.  All of the pieces were distressed with Soft Suede.

          Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my card creation.  If you are so inclined, please leave me a comment.  They really make my day!

Many Blessings,

Donna

 

Falling for MOJO Monday 312

 

If you are coming here from MOJO Monday 312, I had a DUH!!! Moment and posted the inside of one of the cards!  So sorry, but I didn't know how to remove the pic!  :-( 

          

          It’s really beginning to feel like fall around Central North Carolina so my thoughts have been turning to fall colors!  My husband and I love to head to the mountains this time of year to see the fall colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway, so with our son having a birthday today and the need for a special card to send some friends, I headed right for my Heartfelt Creations Falling Leaves set.

·       Stamp set(s):  Heartfelt Creations – Falling Leaves & Pumpkin/Autumn Vines; Stampin’ Up! – Blooming with Kindness & Word Play; Papertrey Ink – Wonderful Words - Memories

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie & Cajun Craze

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Core’dinations Early Espresso CS; Early Espresso & Pumpkin Pie CS

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Spellbinders – Pumpkin Nestabilities; Stampin’ Up! – Woodgrain EF

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Jewels Basic Rhinestones; American Crafts Ribbon

My card is 5½” by 4¼”.  I stamped the “background patterned paper” using the maple leave shaped stamp starting with the Crushed Curry inkpad.  I cut out the 2 strips of Core’dination Early Espresso and ran them through the Big Shot with the Woodgrain EF and then distressed them with Stampin’ Up!’s sanding blocks to bring out the woodgrain pattern.  I chose to run the strips of ribbon along the horizontal axis instead of vertically.  It looked too busy with the ribbon on the vertical axis – besides, I wanted to showcase the lovely fall colored leaves.  The inside panel of each card is below along with the MOJO Sketch for this week for you to compare my take on the sketch.  These cards have a masculine feel to them as the recipients are males – our son and an old high school and college friend of my husband’s and his wife, but would be great cards for anyone especially during the fall.

Thanks for taking a minute and taking a look at my card creations.  Please leave me a thought or comment if you are so inspired.  I love hearing from my visitors!

Many Blessings,

Donna

 

 

 

 

Viva la Verve Faith is ...

 

           As promised in the previous post, VLVSep2013 week 4 was already done and photographed, too.  I found some much needed down time in my craft room after too busy a weekend.  I know as soon as I saw this sketch what I wanted to do – fine some pretty designer paper for the 3 strips and the card would be a snap!  The problem – all this paper from where I’ve been collecting it, but common sense took over – Go directly to SU paper and get an easy match for the solid cs!  Which I did, and it did saved a lot of time.  This card is 4.25” by 5.5” with right side opening!

·       Stamp set(s):  Verve – Plain Jane Hebrews 11:1

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Soft Suede

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Afternoon Picnic DSP, Pear Pizazz &So Saffron CS

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Stampin’ Up! – Ovals Collection Framelits & Vintage Wallpaper EF

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up! – Pear Pizazz Ribbon Seam Binding (ret.); Creative Imaginations – Floral Buttons Brads; Martha Stewart – Arch Lattice Border Punch

I cut the Pear Pizazz panel to 4” by 5.25” and then put one of the two shorter edges through my MS border punch to add a little interest and “old world charm” to the bottom of my card front.  I used the Vintage Wallpaper EF after I punched the border making sure that it was not embossed so it wouldn't tear easily when handled.  I love the florals on this paper in the designer pack by Stampin’ Up.  It just oozes romance, peace and tranquility from a different era and not like our too fast paced lives we live in this faced paced society of ours!  I need the constant reminder captured in this scripture verse to remind me that my Heavenly Father pursues His children constantly with His overwhelming love for His creation!  I may not be able to see Him, but He is always by my side!  Finally, I placed the bow on the upper right corner because of the pretty yellow roses on the upper left corner – designers choice!

Please feel free to leave me a comment.  I love your feedback!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Enjoy Today with Viva la Verve

 

          I’m getting the 3^rd week’s card posted late – so what else is new since my only deadline is this week – the 4^th week’s card is done and will also be posted today!  Yeah!  I really love these challenges but I’m not so fond of the way that life gets in the way of my crafting!  LOL!!!  I’m really hoping that my entry is drawn as the winner this month as I sure could use some more Verve stamps!  Hint, hint to someone out there!  Christmas is only 3 months from today!  Hint, hint!

·       Stamp set(s):  Verve –   Black Tie Birdies & Surely Goodness;  Heartfelt Creations – Bold Falling Leaves

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush & Pistachio Pudding

·       Paper:  Echo Park – Everything Eclectic 6x6 Pad; Stampin’ Up! – Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding & Pacific Point CS

·         Dies & Embossing folders:  A Cut Above Dies by Verve – Surely Goodness Die;  Heartfelt Creations – Bold Falling Leaves Die;  Spellbinders – Standard Circles Large;  Stampin’ Up! – Square Lattice EF

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up! – White Tea Lace Doily & Jewels Basic Pearl Large

My card today is 5.5” by 5.5” so that it can fit in the standard 6x6 envelope – it just makes it easier that way!  This stamp set is out of my comfort zone.  If you scroll through my blog you will see that most of my subjects are either floral/nature or verses for my focal point.  These little birds were cute and were on sale when I made my first Verve purchase, so…  After deciding to use the birds, I came across this patterned paper of hot air balloons and thought that they worked together well.  I matched up my patterned paper to my growing stash of Stampin’ Up! cs and the rest of the card just kinda came together.  I hope you’ve enjoyed my take on VLV week 3 sketch.  The sketch is below for your comparison.

          I love hearing your comments and have been very encouraged by those lately.  My family always loves my cards – but they “have to”, so your comments always are cherished!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Summer Hills

 

 

           I’ve spent some time today in my craft room cleaning up files as I get ready to stop being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator at the end of this month.  Since I was cleaning, I wanted to do a card to celebrate getting some work done in my craft room, but I wanted to keep it clean and simple.  This week’s Mojo Monday sketch filled the bill perfectly.  I also had gotten in some new Papertrey Ink stamp sets and 2 dies.  This is what I came up with for this week’s challenge.  My card is 4¼” by 5½”.

·       Stamp set(s):  Papertrey Ink – Summer  Hills

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Summer Starfruit(edges); Stampin’ Wright Markers – Rich Razzleberry & Summer Starfruit; Spica Pen – Pitch Black; and Versamark Watermark Pad

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party & Summer Starfruit; Daisyd’s – Autumn Collection {Fall in Love}

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Papertrey Ink Die – XL Rick Rack Border Die      

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Zing Embossing Powder – Black Glitter Finish

          The making of this card was fairly straight forward, and I finished it in less than 30 minutes – once I decided which patterned paper  (again, it's a "lost" oldie that's been found!  LOL!) and matched it with some SU papers and inks.  I hope you enjoy my offering for this week’s sketch challenge.  (See the sketch below!) I love to hear your comments so please feel free to leave me a comment!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Announcement

          I got a lovely and encouraging comment on my photo posted on Split Coast Stampers from the Verve Girl about this card from week 1's sketch.  When I went on Pinterest last night, I saw that she had pinned this card to one of their Pinterest Boards for customers work.  Rejoice with me, please!  It is so nice to be noticed by others outside my circle of friends and especially by one of my favorite companies!

          Thank you Verve Stamps for the recognition!

Many Blessings,

Donna

Viva la Verve Hello!

I have been making and sending the cards for my church to shut-ins, the sick and sympathy cards for a couple of months now.  Unfortunately, there are several at our church who have had more than one death and several how have been really sick and hospitalized for several weeks.  One dear lady has not been able to come to church since last October.  When I was given the request to send her another card, I decided that she needed to see something special, so I began looking around my craft room.  I wanted it to be fairly straight forward with bright happy colors and preferably with flowers.  My eye fell on the Viva la Verve September week 2 sketch and from there I started looking through my papers and found the Gingham Garden – perfectly paired sketch and paper!  I think that the bright cheerful colors will go a long way to cheering up our friend whom we have missed at church!  My card is 5.5” by 4.25”.

·       Stamp set(s):Stampin’ Up! – Mixed Bunch, Pretty Petites(ret.), & Thoughts & Prayers(inside); Verve – Psalm 3:3(inside)

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Pear Pizazz(edges), Melon Mambo & Daffodil Delight 

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Gingham Garden DSP, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizazz, & Melon Mambo CS

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Stampin’ Up! – Square Lattice EF; and Blossom & Petite Curly Label punches; Spellbinders – Beaded Circles & Labels 8 Dies   

           I decided to forgo any bling as I dressed up the card all over – inside & out as you can see from the pictures below of the inside, but with these bright cheerful colors, maybe there is enough eye candy for a shut-in!  I hope that I didn’t go over weight!  I pulled out the Mixed Bunch SS and coordinating punch and the rest just came together according to the sketch!  (I did try to flip the sketch and rotate it some, but I liked the sketch as it is with just a few adjustments to where I placed the “star” from the sketch.)  The part I played the most with were the rectangle blocks to get the proportion to please the eye as it moves across the card front.  Eventually I decided to make them the same size – 1 ¾” by 4 1/8”.  I was very pleased with outcome of my playing in my craft room yesterday and this morning. 

I hope that you have enjoyed my take on Viva la Verve’s sketch challenge.  I am hoping to get more Verve stamps as time goes on.  I won’t be a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator after this month so most of my allowance won’t be going to them!  LOL   You can also pray for me that I win some of their challenges – another way to “earn” some spending money!  Please let me know what you think!  I love knowing who has stopped by to check out my paper creations!

Many Blessings,

Donna

 

Surely Goodness and Mercy...

          I am a big fan of stamps that have a meaning deeper than just creating an attractive image.  Verve Stamps is a company that has some really beautiful stamps and sentiments in particular that meet my need for stamping products that go deeper than “just a pretty image” to paraphrase a saying!  This card layout is from the Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge, September 2013 Week 1.  I played around with some new paper that I ordered from PeachyCheap.com – a really great place to check out.  Their daily deals are awesome.  You can get them to your FB feed by liking their page!  The Viva la Verve Week 1 Sketch is below so that you can compare the sketch to my take on it!

·       Stamp set(s):  Verve Stamps – Surely Goodness SS

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, & Elegant Eggplant; Color Box Chalk Ink – Olive Pastel; Versamark Watermark Pad

·       Paper:  My Mind’s Eye (MME) – Fiddlesticks “You & Me” Bloom & Lucky Tapestry Papers; Stampin’ Up! – Wild Wasabi, Smoky Slate, & Very Vanilla CS; and Vellum papers

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Verve A Cut Above Dies – Surely Goodness;  Stampin’ Up! – Sizzlits Large Paper Doily & Edgelits Large Scallop; Heartfelt Creations – Classic Leaf Die;  Spellbinders – Lattice Rectangles

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  MME – Cut & Paste Charm Smile Enamel Dots; Zing Embossing Powder White

          It took me a while for make this card come together.  I played with different colors of cs for the doily.  I knew I wanted to use a doily for the circle in the sketch, but I didn’t get it to work with the other elements I was using until I rotated the sketch clockwise ¼ turn.  Then for some reason the color selection came easier.  Go figure – maybe a brain glitch until the layout was “right” for what I wanted to do?  I did learn something important.  I need to invest in more of SU markers.  I used blender pens to color the vellum for the stained glass effect on the flower.  Bad idea!  Too much moisture makes the paper curl after it is colored and dries!   (I had to back it with some Very Vanilla CS, and it still wants to curl up!)  Just adding to my wish list!  LOL!  I also played with the placement of the element on the lower right of the focus/sentiment area in the sketch.  The large scallop border below the yellow gingham check on my card was my solution.  I liked how it turned out.

I was really pleased with the overall softness of the card.  It has a bit of an aged look and is pleasing to my eye.  I hope that you like it as well.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!  I love hearing from my visitors!

Many Blessings,

Donna

MOJO Monday 309

 

 

          We’ve had a busy week around the house.  I’ve been trying to get to two sketch challenges – this one is the 2^nd one I’ve been working on but it has the earlier deadline, so you’ll get to see this one first.  I often combine cards that I need with sketches and blogs that I follow, and that is the case with this card.  Another friend from church has had his father pass away very suddenly this past week so I needed another sympathy card.  I tried to go masculine this time and used the brown/neutral family, but I wanted a pop of color to brighten it a bit and butterflies and a yellow flower just seem to be just what I wanted to do here.  Yellow for me reminds me of sunshine and therefore I also think about the Son of God who gives those who believe hope beyond this earthly realm.

·       Stamp Set(s):  Verve Stamps – Psalm 121:2;  Stampin’ Up! – Lovely As A Tree & Thoughts & Prayers (Inside)

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Soft Suede & Daffodil Delight Reinker

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Comfort Café DSP (retired), Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, & Daffodil Delight CS 

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Spellbinders – Lattice Rectangles; Stampin’ Up! – Embosslits Beautiful Wings & Fancy Fan Embossing Folder   

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up! – Jewels Basic Rhinestones & Simply Pressed Clay & Molds; American Crafts - Ribbon

The card measure 5.5” by 4.25”.  I used the Fancy Fan EF on the card base, as well as both patterned papers.  With such a monochromatic color scheme for the main card elements, I wanted to make sure that texture added some interest to the card.  That Fancy Fan EF is one of my favorites, and it sort of mimicked the pattern of the base patterned paper layer. 

I used the MOJO Monday sketch for the card layout with few variations except for the dimensions.  You can see the sketch below along with the photo of the inside of the card.  I hope that you enjoyed your visit to my blog.  Please feel free to leave me a comment.  I love to hear from you!

Many Blessings,

Donna