Red, White & Blue For You

 

Hi, I’m back with a post for 2 challenges for this week – one ends today and one tomorrow.  MOJO Monday is celebrating its 300^th weekly challenge with prizes from several sponsors.  I’m also entering this in SCS Color Challenge 433 – RED, WHITE & BLUE (7/2/13); this is a first time submission for me to this challenge.  I’m trying to do more challenges to stretch my creativity and grow my design sense!  This card is 4.25” by 5.5”.

·       Stamp set(s):  All Stampin’ Up!:  Elements of Style, Everything Eleanor & Itty Bitty Banners

·       Ink(s):  SU:  Cherry Cobbler;  Tim Holtz Distress Inks Vintage Photo

·       Paper:  SU:  Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy (ret.); Bazzill:  Navy textured cs; Rusty Pickle:  Rockin’ America Independence Day – how appropriate and also from my stash!

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Cuttlebug – Swiss Dots EF; SU:  Cloudy Day EF (ret.) and Framelits – Bitty Banners; Spellbinders – Classic Scalloped Squares Large & Beaded Circles

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Archiver’s – Shabby White Embossing Powder; Zing – Clear Embossing Powder; Recollections – Rhinestones; American Crafts – Ribbon

I had some difficulty matching cardstock to my chosen All American Paper that I chose for my theme for both challenges.  I added the embossed flourish on the Bravo Burgundy CS to give my project a little something beyond just a “red” color.  I like that it adds some interest and depth to the project.  I embossed the navy cs with the Cloudy Day EF to go with a bird in flight stamped image.  I stamped the bird with Cherry Cobbler ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder – same for the sentiment!  The circle is the other side of the paper that I used as the first layer on my card.  I brought the circle forward one layer from the sketch to use it to mat the sentiment.  The stars on the circle are rhinestone shaped stars that cover up the white stars on the paper – gotta have some bling going on somewhere.  I edged the square stamped image in Cherry Cobbler.  I decided to distress the image and the card base with Vintage Photo because the white was too stark against the darker colors.  The first layer of the paper also was more of a distressed look to it, too.  I am overall pleased with the outcome and have another card to put back for the special men in my life since I think that this card has a masculine vibe to it!

Thank you for stopping by my corner of the world.  I hope you enjoyed what you see and will come back to check on my work from time to time!

Many Blessings,

Donna





Summer Breezes Hello

 

         I was checking a few of the blogs that I follow where I know that the owner participates in color challenges (which I’ve never done before) and came across the Color Throwdown blog.  This week’s inspiration picture was flowers in a mason jar and the colors remind me of my mother’s peonies that bloom in late spring where I grew up.  One of the colors they used, I didn’t recognize, but the others were Stampin’ Up!’s colors.  I chose to substitute the new In Color Coastal Cabana for that one.  I also decided to use a jar like the photo inspiration because the new color reminded me of the older canning jars that my mother pulled out every summer when our garden started to produce lots of veggies to can and freeze.  You may remember those jars or find them now in antique stores.  They are sort of a blue/green color.  I’m also using the first week’s sketch from the Viva la Verve July Sketch Challenge.  I failed to do the last step for June’s challenge so I'm trying again.  I sure would like to win the gift certificate as there are a lot of stamps with matching dies that I’d love to get off my wish list and into my craft space!  Wish me lots of luck!  The card is 5.5” by 5.5” so that it fits easily in the 6” by 6” inch envelopes.

·       Stamp set(s):  Stampin’ Up Perfectly Preserved (ret.) and Friendship Preserves (ret.)

·       Ink(s):  All from Stampin’ Up!:  Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink (ret.), Regal Rose, Old Olive, & Coastal Cabana 

·       Paper:  All from Stampin’ Up! – Pretty in Pink (ret.), Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, & Very Vanilla; and from Prima Flights of Fancy Collection ‘tip toe”

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Cuttlebug:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder; Stampin’ Up!:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder; Framelits – Ovals Collection, Window Frames, Cannery Set; Embosslits, Beautiful Wings

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Big Shot, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue, sponge daubers

I liked the sketch from the Viva la Verve July 2013 Challenge, but I rotated the background 90° so that I had the oval going vertically instead of horizontally across the background papers.  The Prima paper has a nice distressed look with the browns and neutrals in the papers so all of the edges were inked with Crumb Cake ink.  I liked the way the Coastal Cabana pulls the colors from the butterflies out for an extra special accent and the Pretty in Pink brightens the Prima Paper a bit for some contrast in the pink family I used for this card.  The overall effect of the card does remind me of the colors of summers spent at home growing up and the canning Mom did every summer.  Pleasant memories of home come to mind, which at the time weren’t so pleasant spending summer afternoons stringing beans, shelling lima beans and black-eyes peas.  Not so fun doing it at the time, but the eats were good come winter!  Miss you both Mom & Dad!  I’ll be seeing you again when my race is finished here!

Thank you for stopping by my corner of the world and taking a look at my interpretation of these two challenges.

Many blessings,

Donna

Viva la Verve & Father’s Day, 2013

 

        I have been meaning to enter Viva la Verve for a while now and found this month’s sketches in my inbox just prior to starting to work on Thom’s Fathers’ Day Card.  I wanted to let Thom know what a great father he is while keeping the card masculine.  I’m going to try to create cards with all of June’s sketches before the end of the month.  I sure would love to win one of their gift certificates to buy some dies and stamps!  J

·       Stamp set(s):  Heartfelt Creations – HCPC 3363, Inspire Me Sentiments & HCPC 3434 Book Frame 2;  Impressions Obsession – Happy Father’s Day; Stampin’ Up! Fabulous Phrases & Lovely as a Tree      

·       Ink(s):  Early Espresso (Stampin’ Up!) 

·       Paper:  The Paper Loft – Hooked on Fishing & Huckle Berry Pond; Stampin’ Up! – Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Blue Bayou (retired) & SU Core’dinations Early Espresso

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Stampin’ Up – Apothecary Accents; Spellbinders Blossom Three; My Favorite Things Die-namics Washi Tape; Embossing Folders – Stampin’ Up! Chevron & Woodgrain

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up – Antique Brads, Designer Buttons Spice Cake(retired), and Linen Thread; Fiskars Heart Punches

Since the front of the card would not have a lot of stamping to make for interest, I decided to emboss using embossing folders to add depth and to distress later with sanding and inking.  The button in the upper right corner was added in addition to the sketch elements to add some interest to an almost monochromatic color scheme.  The proof of a card is in the reaction of the recipient, in this case my husband.  He loved it!  I rest my case!

As always, thank you for stopping my blog and taking a look!  I would enjoy hearing your comments!

Many blessings,

Donna

PS:  Here is what the inside of my card looked like!

MOJO MONDAY 296

 

          I was in need of a card to go with a gift for a 5^th grade graduation.  My church has adopted a Title I school in our city.  This is the 2^nd year that I’ve been working with this lovely student and I needed a fun card to go with the beautiful new book bag with her monogrammed initials.  This is my offering using the MOJO MONDAY 296 card sketch!  All of the items are Stampin’ Up! products unless otherwise noted!

·         Stamp set(s):  Chalk Talk(new item)

·         Ink(s):  Primrose Petals, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze(retired), Crumb Cake

·         Paper:  Bazzill Yellow CS, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Pale Aqua(retired SU CS without name), Pennant Paper from my stash with no designer noted,

·         Dies & Embossing folders:  Sizzix SU Embosslits:  Flower Burst & Beautiful Wings; Spellbinders Beaded Circles, Sizzix SU TIEF Chevrons   

·         Embellishments/Other things of note:  Ribbon – American Crafts, Hampton Arts Glitter Glue; Basic Jewels Rhinestones, sponge dauber, sponge, Big Shot

I used the Flower Burst Embosslit to cut out the flowers in Primrose Petals and Pala Aqua CS.  I used a sponge dauber on both flowers to apply Melon Mambo Ink to the rose colored flower and Baja Breeze to the soft aqua flower.  I stamped the sentiment with Primrose Petals ink and cut and embossed it with the Beaded Circles die; I inked around the edges*with Primrose Petals Ink.  The piece of yellow cardstock was embossed with the Chevron EF and then applied Crumb Cake Ink with a sponge to bring out the texture in the paper and add depth to the card.

The really cute Pennant/Triangle paper was cut to 4” x 5.25” and mounted onto the Primrose Petals card base after affixing the two pieces of American Crafts ribbons to the front.  All this to say:  the card fits nicely in an A2 envelope and measures 4 ¼ by 5 ½.  I used the Beautiful Wings embosslit to make the butterflies to add to the card to make it a bit more playful for an 11 year old girl.  Overall, I am pleased with the outcome and hope you found it worth your while to stop by my corner of the ether world!

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment so that I know that you’ve stopped by.

Many blessings,

Donna

Graduation Congratulations!

          I am going to be the proud mother of a graduate of East Carolina University’s Graduate School.  Our daughter will be receiving her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy this weekend and will be a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist.  AND, she already has a job!  GOD is sooooo GOOD!  Anyway, I had to make her a special card to celebrate the occasion!  She likes daffodils but I don’t have any stamps of these that she hasn’t already seen in a card from me.  I choose to use the Daffodil Delight CS because it is soooo cheerful.  It matched fairly well with the yellows in Graphic 45’s French Country Collection.  Midnight Muse matched with the blue in this collection, too.  I had my inks & my paper!  That’s always a great start!  I used the MOJO Monday 291 sketch for this card and rotated it 90°.  Go to:  http://mojomonday.blogspot.com for the sketch!   

• Stamp set(s): All by Heartfelt Creations – HCPC 3468 Tattered Blossoms, HCPC 3471 Tattered Collage, HCPC 3363 Inspire Me, and HCPC 3449 Door to My Heart

• Ink(s):  Memento Tuxedo Black; SU inks:  Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Midnight Muse, and Crumb Cake

• Paper:  Graphic 45 French Country Collection Déjà vu; watercolor paper; SU cardstock – Daffodil Delight & Midnight Muse 


• Dies & Embossing folders:  Dies:  Spellbinders Labels 8 & Fancy Tags; Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Ovals; and Heartfelt Creations Tattered Blossoms Die(HCD 722).  Embossing folder:  Sizzix for SU Vintage Wallpaper  


• Embellishments/Other things of note:  Kaiser Craft Pearl Brads-Ice Green, SU Basic Jewels Pearl Large, Mark Richards’ Mosaic Mosaique 5mm Cream tiles, SU ribbon seam binding Very Vanilla, sponge daubers, sponge, and SU Blender Pens

I stamped the Tattered Collage with the Memento Ink and used blender pens to color the blossoms and leaves.  I distressed the background of the image with a sponge and Crumb Cake ink.  I stamped the Tattered Blossoms on Daffodil Delight and cut them out with the coordinating dies from Heartfelt Creations.  I cut out the stamped image and matted it on the Daffodil Delight CS – both cut with Labels 8.  I distressed the yellow mat and the 3 pieces of coordinating strips of paper with the EF and distressed the raised images with Crumb Cake using a piece of sponge.  All paper was edged with Crumb Cake and a sponge dauber.  The two Tattered Blossoms were attached over a flower on the collage piece with a pearl brad.  The Tattered Collage pieced was popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals and pearls were added to the 2 smaller flowers.  I placed the 3 tiles on the right side of the card to move the eye across the card front and add balance.  The inside of the card’s lower left corner was stamped and sentiment added to complete the card.

I absolutely love the companies that are working with the die making companies to coordinate stamps with dies.  It is one of the best trends the industry is doing, and Heartfelt Creations tops the list with their teamwork with Spellbinders in my humble opinion.  Brilliant, simply brilliant!  I’d love to see Stampin’ Up! do a lot more of this to keep themselves competitive in the market.  They have great stamps & inks but not enough coordinated with Sizzix to cut out their images.  I don’t buy many punches due to their weight and size.  SU has so many beautiful stamps that are crying out for a die!  Let them know what you want – I do!!

As always, thank you for stopping by and taking a look.  Let me know what you think and join my site!  Many blessings!

Donna

PS:  Here is a peek at the inside of the card!