The Penny Black Blog Challenge

for this week is to make a card using the colors purple, Green, and cream.

I usually have a difficult time deciding how I want my cards to look and sometimes I go to my pagemap sketches to get an idea for my layout. (A lot of times I just can not visualize how my design will look.) Going to these sketches help me a lot; guess that I should use these sketches more often.

The stamp that I chose was perfect for this sketch. Most of the time when I begin a stamping project, I usually will stamp and color my image and then pick the paper and design. I do love it when I can make a card in under an hour. I guess if I used card sketches more often, it would not take me so long to make a card.
I spotlighted the 4th flower, but it is hard to see on camera. The image was colored with Prisma color pencils. I used yellow gems for the flower centers. The card sketch that I used came from here. The stamp set is Penny Black: Flowers & Wishes (30-047).

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful week end.

Inspiration Showcase Card Class

I am still on day one of the Inspiration Showcase Card Class. I have gone through the lessons for the first three days, but I am behind in class. That is Okay, I am having fun learning about all the techniques that Jennifer McGuire is teaching. She is an awesome teacher and she makes some gorgeous cards. Thanks Jennifer for teaching this class.
The technique that I used for this card is called "Patterned Paper Trapped Embossed Resist". I stamped the Lotus background (CG349) stamp with clear embossing ink onto pattern paper. Then I heat embossed with clear embossing powder. When the embossing was cool, I rubbed Faded Jeans distress ink all over the embossed paper. Then I buffed the resisted ink with a dry cloth. Once the technique was finished, I assembled the pieces for my finished card. The sentiment (Smiles and Laughter F2361) on the tag was stamped on white cardstock in black ink and I used a decorative edge corner punch for the bottom of the tag. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day.

These cards are for

three different challenges. My owl card, below, is for the CAS-ual Friday challenge (CFC #19). this week's challenge is to make a card that is paper pieced. I choose three owls from the "Owl Together Now" stamp set from Stampin Up! The paper that I used were scraps that were left over from other projects. I made this next card for the Hero Arts challenge. For more details on their challenge, please go here. The stamps are Hero Arts: Thoughtful Messages CL184, Tall Pumpkin G5269, and Traditional Pumpkin F5270. The pumpkins were colored with Prisma color pencils and I lightly blended some antique linen distress ink around the pumpkins using a blending tool.

This last card is an inspiration from Jennifer McGuire. I am currently taking the Inspiration Showcase card class that she is teaching on-line. The technique that I used for this card is called Paint Resist. I inked up the flowing flowers stamp with a pearl paint dabber and then let the paint dry before going onto the next step. After the paint was completely dried, I inked up a blending too with Tatered Rose Distress ink and inked around the outside edges. Next I applied Antique Linen to the center of the image. Then I buffed the image with a damp cloth to remove the resisted ink.

Stamps used: Flowing Flowers CG146 (hero arts). The sentiment comes from C.C. Designs (Amy R stamps) stamp set "Get well Sentiments".

Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day!

It seems that lately

things have been preventing me from making many cards. I keep telling myself that I will make the time to at least stamp a few images so that I can turn them into one or two cards. But, before I know it, the whole day has gone by and I feel as though I have not accomplished anything. It took me all week to make these three cards, but at least I did got them finished. And, now that I think about it, I did accomplish something positive. I will be entering these cards into this months challenge on the Hero Arts Flickr group. For the "time for thanks" card I used the following Hero Arts Stamps: Graph Background S5435, Big & Small flowers CL374, Blossom Art CL495, and So Thankful CL466.

The Hero Arts samps that I used for the Sunflowers card are: Three Sunflowers S5420 and Find Joy CL497. The Hero Arts stamps that were used for the butterfly card are: Silhouette Grass S5316, Antique Engraving CL383, Envelope Pattern S5507, and Everyday Sayings CL342.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful weekend.

CAS-ual Friday CFC18

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to enter this weeks challenge. I was having a little bit of a difficult time trying to decide which book to use for my inspiration. This weeks challenge over at casual friday's involves making a card that is black, red, and white and the inspiration is to be a book. After thinking about it for a very long time, I decide to use the book "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein. My inspiration came from the "Eight Balloons" on page 58 of this book. Here is my card--the balloon image comes from Hero Arts Celebrate All CL292 and the sentiment is a Gina K (stamp TV) stamp set and comes from the Follow Your Dreams stamp set. This card was easy and fun to make once I figured out what I wanted to do. Here is the poem that inspired me from "A Light in the Attic" :

Eight Balloons

Eight balloons no one was buyin' all broke loose one afternoon. Eight balloons with strings a flyin', Free to do what they wanted to. One flew up to touch the sun--POP! One thought highways might be fun--POP! One took a nap in a cactus pile--POP! One stayed to play with a careless child--POP! One tried to taste some bacon fryin'--POP! One fell in love with a porcupine--POP! Onelooked close in a crocodile's mouth--POP! One sat around 'til his air ran out--WHOOSH! Eight balloons no one was buyin'-- They broke loose and away they flew, Free to float and free to fly And free to pop where they wanted to.

Author: Shel Silverstein, "A Light in the Attic", page 58

I didn't have room to stamp 8 balloons; that is why there is only 6, but the poem was a great inspiration. Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful week.

It's been a while

since I've posted any cards. My Hubby and I returned home two weeks ago from our vacation and I am finally able to start making cards for a few card challenges. It was fun to visit different places but at the same time it was also nice to get home and return to a normal routine. anyway, on to my cards.

This card was inspired by Jill foster. I admire her work and love her style. I used the Hero Arts stamp "Antique Background" CG120. I stamped the image with Hero Arts Latte chalk ink. Then I colored the buttyerfly and dragonfly with Prisma color pencils and used distress inks around the images (Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, and Walnut Stain) The paper that I used is stampin Up paper that has be discontinued (can't remember the name of the colors) The edges were distressed with a distressing tool and distressing inks. When I was happy with the look of my image I mounted it on the base card. For this next card I used Hero Arts Froggy CL323 and Classic Messages CL414. I wanted the sentiment to say "Hoppy Birthday", but I didn't have a stamp that said "Hoppy", so I masked off the "A" on the stamp and replaced it with an "O". I thought that this would be a good card for a child's birthday. The die cut that I used for the sentiment is from Memory Box. The background was made with a few baby wipes and distress reinkers. I folded two baby wipes and then added drops of Broken China, Shabby Shutters, and Scattered Straw ink along the top of the folded wipes and ran the inked wipes horizontally and vertically along glossy cardstock. These two cards will be entered into the Hero Arts Flickr challange for this month. It was fun making these cards and I am looking forward to making more cards on a regular basis. Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

CAS-ual Fridays (CFC17)

I haven't participated in the CAS-ual Friday's challenges for over a month due to being away on vacation. This card is for CAS-ual Friday #17. The directions said to use stickers or rub ons. I didn't have any stickers so I used a playful butterfly rub on from Royal & Langnickel Brush Mfg, Inc and the title of the rub ons is: Butterfly Kids glitter #GAR1726G. The die that I used is called "frame" and is from Quickutz (C-0163-S-REV) I embossed the blue paper with the Swiss Dots (37-1604) embossing folder by Provo Craft. The embossing doesn't show up very well on camera. The hello sentiment comes from the Mini Marks Hildi collection from American Crafts.

This card was fun and easy to make. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.