Season's Tweetings! :)

Hello!

With Christmas quickly approaching, I'm popping in to share a card that was quite fun to make. It's a different style for me but that was part of the fun. Here's my card:

Where to begin? The background panel was made with a faux letterpress technique. I had tried this technique years ago and the idea popped into my head to try it again. So, I used my Sizzix folder and inked up one side of the embossing folder with Salty Ocean distress ink. I then squeezed the cardstock into the embossing folder and ran it thru the embossing machine. This is the look you get! It's not a perfect letterpress--which is what kind of annoys me--but it works on cutesy, artsy type cards. The center panel has the dies and stamps from Lawn Fawn's Winter Sparrows set. I've been using my inktense watercolor pencils a lot lately and that's what I used to color in their accessories. I added some stickles to the branches for the "snow" and also some Wink of Stella to the top of the yellow hat. Super easy card to make and these birds are just so cute! :)

Here's where I'm entering the card, too.
1. Simon Says Monday Challenge--an "anything goes" week.
2. Simon Says Wednesday Challenge--Winter
3. Cute Card Thursday--Sparkle
4. Word Art Wednesday--always "anything goes".

May you all have a wonderful Christmas and a new year filled with many, many blessings from Above.
Pat

Glory to God in the highest....

Hi friends,

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I'm popping in quickly to share I care I made over the weekend. Here's the card:

I love the simplicity--and truth--of this card! The angel is from Inkadinkadoo and the sentiment is from a wood mount stamp that I received as a gift many years ago. I believe it's from Stampin' Up. I stamped the angel in gold and then heat embossed it. I layered the image on black cardstock and the card was done...I contemplated adding gems or sequins...but chose, instead, to just it let be. This is one of those great cards to mass produce! Super quick and easy...yet lovely.

I'm entering this card in a few different challenges.
1. Party Time Tuesdays--"Anything Goes" challenge.
2. Inkspirational--use gold on a project.
3. V's Sweet Ideas--Holiday Card theme.



Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
Pat

Beary Christmas! :)

Hello friends!

I'm popping in again to share a card I made with one of my favorite images! I believe this is a stampin' up image that's retired and I got it from a friend. Love the teddy bears! :) Here's my card and the challenges will be below, too.

Aren't these little bears cute?! I began by die cutting the two panels with the Lawn Fawn large, stitched rectangle dies. Then, I stamped the image with versafine ink. I then used my distress ink (broken china) to stamp the snowflakes (from the dollar bin at a local craft store) on the main image. After that was stamped, I inked the background and masking the main image so that the ink wouldn't get on the bears. The bears were colored in with inktense watercolor pencils. I added some slight shading once the colors had dried. Always easier to add color once that initial layer has dried. I did add some Wink of Stella to the hat of the bear wearing a green sweater so there's a shimmer on the card, too. I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts)  and added the faux stitching using the distress ink/marker also.

The sketch I used also wanted an element on the outer panel. I chose to extend the snowflakes in white from the side and LOVE how that looks! Such a great sketch...may use it again for a birthday theme, too! :)

Here are the challenges and sketch:
1. Virginia's View Challenge--use distress ink
2. Simon Says Stamp! Wednesday Challenge--make a Christmas/Holiday card
3. CAS(E) this Sketch!--see sketch below. Great sketch, by the way!

Thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Celebrating the Greatest Gift

Hi friends!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I had a bit of time to play in my room tonight and wanted to share a card. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house--and I love that--but it always makes me wonder if I'm forgetting what Christmas is really all about. Sure, presents are fun...but this season is about remembering the greatest gift of all--the gift of Jesus! So, here's the card I created to celebrate this season.

This image is from Penny Black and I LOVE it! Mary holding baby Jesus and Joseph alongside them is just such an angelic image. I stamped the image on watercolor paper and then used my inktense watercolor pencils to color in the image. Some of the colors weren't quite as deep as I wanted them so I did use some distress markers, too. I love that you can use both these mediums so easily. I then used rubber cement to cover the image completely so that I could then color in the background and not worry about messing up the image. This works great as a mask! You just wait for the rubber cement to dry and then rub it off...super easy! As a final step, I spritzed the whole image with pearlized water so there's a soft shimmer to the image, too. I didn't want to detract from the image with a sentiment so I stamped it on the inside. It reads, "Celebrating the Greatest Gift of All" from Hero Arts.

I'll be entering the card in the following challenges:
1. Simon Says Stamp! Monday Challenge--create a holiday card.
2. Cute Card Thursday--the theme was "Little Angels"...again, it's open to interpretation but I'm sure there were tons of angels watching this scene and Mary looking at baby Jesus is so angelic, too.
3. Word Art Wednesday--an Anything Goes challenge. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by. And remember...Jesus is the Greatest Gift!
Pat

Hey Diddle, Diddle...

Good afternoon, friends!

I'm stopping in to share a card I made for a dear friend last night. She's enjoying a new baby and I wanted to send her a card. I'll also be entering the card into a couple of different challenges and you'll find the links and inspiration below my card.  Here's my card:

I LOVED this sentiment! I think it's so perfect for a baby card. The card was inspired by the image at the Runway Inspired Challenge (see below). I wanted to keep the card fairly clean and simple. It's not often that a baby card is graphic, too, so I was intrigued by the photo to try to make a baby card with it. 

This is a great way to use scraps! I cut out several colors and then adhered them on a white strip of cardstock. Then I trimmed down all the strips and realized that the strips weren't long enough for the entire card. So, I the strip--no one will ever know, right? The sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo and I used an apothecary label from Simon Says Stamp! as the die. The cut strip is right behind the sentiment. :) I fought hard against adding any more elements. Clean and simple is difficult for me but I walked away. 

Here's where I'll be entering the card:

1. Party Time Tuesdays--They have an "anything goes" challenge. Always fun!

2. Runway Inspired Challenge--I LOVE this site! Looking at a fashion statement and then trying to make it into a card...not as easy as it would appear! Here's the latest inspiration:

Thanks for stopping by!

Pat

Snowman Greetings

Hi everyone!

I'm quickly popping in to share a card. I'm busy getting ready for a holiday bazaar and trying to get a lot of cards done. I'll be entering the card in a few challenges, too, and you can see the sites listed below my card. Here's my card:

Isn't this a cute snowman?! I just love his little face! He's a cling stamp from Hero Arts and I love how happy he looks. I stamped him in Memento black ink but removed the ink from the snowflakes before stamping. Then, I used my broken china distress marker to color in the snowflakes and then stamped the image. I colored him in using my inktense watercolor pencils. Super easy and very bright colors. The sentiment is also from Hero Arts but I cut it so that it would be a long sentiment and not one word on top of the other. For the snow I added some stickles and it looks so cute in real life. Both the panel and the background paper were cut using Lawn Fawn's large stitched rectangle dies. These dies cut beautifully and leave such a nice detail on the edging of the paper.

Here are the sites where I'll be entering the card:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge--they wanted Holiday/Christmas cards.
Word Art Wednesday--"Anything Goes" challenge
CAS(E) this Sketch--see below. A sketch is the "starting point" for me. Sometimes I use it "as is". Other times, I try to envision something new with it. In this case, I thought the snowflakes circling around the snowman were the circle element with the sentiment still underneath.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Pat

Hanging Ornaments

Hi friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We just got back from visiting my brother and his wife and I'm sure I've gained 20 pounds since last week! :)

I wanted to share I card I made with a new stamp set I won from a Hero Arts prize package. I'll be entering the card into several challenges and I'll have those linked right after my card and description. Here's my card:

 I love this card! I loved getting the inks out (Colorbox) and heat embossing each ornament. I love the simplicity of the card, too. I used a t-ruler to add the lines to the ornaments and then a few pearls to the snowflakes. The sentiment is also from Hero Arts. I think I remember Jennifer McGuire making a similar card and she used an ombre technique to vary the shades in each ornament. I needed to make several cards quickly so I just stamped and embossed. Super easy card to replicate and you can change up the colors if you get bored (which I do when I make more than one card at a time).

Each challenge site was either a Holiday card or a picture challenge. The two challenge pictures included ornaments so I used that as the inspiration for the card.


Here's the different sites and challenge badges:
Simon Says Stamp! Monday Challenge--Holiday Cards
Curtain Call--see image below "Clearly Christmas"
Festive Friday--see image below
V's Sweet Ideas--Holiday cards
Word Art Wednesday--Anything Goes!

There's still time to play along with most of the challenges here... :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!
Pat