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Hi everyone!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was busy but I did manage to squeeze in some time to make a card. My oldest son turns 12 on Sunday and I wanted to make him a card. I'm also taking the Stenciled Online Card Class so I knew I would use a stencil and play along with the class a bit. Then, I saw the latest sketch from the Less is More site and I was ready to create! Here's my card and the sketch below:

When stencils first came out several years ago, I was still scrapbooking a lot. So, the stencil I used on this card is a big 12x12 stencil with tons of numbers on it. I used some washi tape to hold the stencil down while I was inking it with distress inks. I used 4 different blues: broken china, salty ocean, faded jeans, and chipped sapphire. The panel that I'd inked, though, was too big for what I was hoping to do. So, I layered it on the card base and started thinking of what colors I could add to make it pop a bit more. As was looking around my room, I found a ribbon that had the turquoise color and some pops of color. I added the lime green strip and then the red label. I also wanted to add some twine and then I found the stickers (thickers) that looked like crimped cardboard and I knew that would tie in the twine. I stamped the sentiment in brown, too, and the card was done.

I really like how it turned out. The stenciling was easy and actually a lot of fun, too. Removing the stencil almost feels like magic when you see what's been created underneath. Hope you all choose to give it a try! :)

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Christmas Blessings

Hi all!

After an incredibly special and busy weekend, I found a bit of time to make another Christmas card. I used the latest sketch from the retro sketches site. I'll also enter this at the Word Art Wednesday site for their "anything goes" challenge. Here's my card and the sketch:

I LOVE sketches with simple lines and this sketch was perfect for the type of card I was looking to make! I used papers from a DCWV Holiday Paper Stack and the image and sentiment is from Hero Arts. I mounted the image on an apothecary label from Simon Says Stamp! and then added some ribbon, too. Simple card--but that's how I like it!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
Pat

Warm and Wonderful Christmas

Hi friends!

Yes, I know Christmas is over. However, I have a friend that has asked me to make her Christmas cards for next year and I'm trying to get a jump start on them. So, you will be seeing Christmas cards throughout the year from me! I'll also be entering this card at the Word Art Wednesday site for the "anything goes" challenge. Here's my card:

I really wanted the ornaments to stand out on this card. I used paper from DCWV's Lemon Flower stack and die cut the ornaments (Spellbinders). I then "hung" the ornaments on some ribbon and mounted them with dimensional adhesive. The background paper is also from the same stack and I layered that on a dark card base. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and I used the Apothecary Label die from Simon Says Stamp. Not a hard card to make but still elegant.


Thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Love, Honor & Cherish

Hi friends!

I'm quickly popping in to share a card I made over the weekend. I'll be entering it in two different sites. The first is retro sketches. I loved the sketch for this week! The second is V's Sweet Ideas. They had an "anything goes" challenge and those are always fun! Without further ado, here's my card and the sketch.

I chose to use a brown, light brown and red color combo for this wedding card. I stamped the text stamp (Fiskars) several times in vintage photo distress ink and then inked the panel in the same color. Then, I embossed the card base and adhered the main panel to some red cardstock. The sentiment (dollar stamp from a local craft store) was also inked and stamped with the distress ink. I used a scalloped circle die from Spellbinders and a circle die from Sizzix to layer the sentiment. I added some ribbon and some gems and the card was done.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Pat

Be Still My Soul

Hello friends!

Happy 2014! I can't believe how fast the last year went by. We now have another year to draw closer to Jesus, learn more about ourselves, try new things, and appreciate all of life's blessings.

Tonight I'm sharing a card I made for a dear friend whose father passed away during the holidays. She was a huge mentor for me and I wanted to send her a card to remind her that, not only am I praying for her, but God is with her during this sad time, too.

I'm entering the card in two different sites. The first is the Simon Says site that has a "something new" challenge. And the next site is the Word Art Wednesday site that always has an anything goes challenge. Here's my card:

So what's my "something new" with this card? Several things, actually! First, I used a new stamp set called "Lace Trims" from Penny Black. I had won the set several months ago but had never used it. I LOVE this stamp set! Second, I used washi tape on a card for the first time--ever! I know, I'm late on the washi tape bandwagon but I've always used it to hold my dies in place when running them thru my cuttlebug. Tonight, though, the washi tape I had worked with the color combo I was going for. Third, and I forgot to take a picture of it, I used my new Envelope Maker to custom make the envelope for this card. Super easy to use and I loved it!

Now, for the actual card, I used my distress inks. I stamped the border in broken china distress ink and then inked the rest of the paper with the same color. The sentiment is from The Craft's Meow (Beautiful Hymns) and I stamped it using spiced marmalade. I added some gems and the card was done. Not a hard card to make but I love how it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by, friends! Have a blessed 2014!
Pat

Christmas card

Hi everyone!

The kids and I are finally on Christmas break...Not much homeschooling going to happen these next 2 weeks so I'm hoping to get some crafting time in! I'm here to share another Christmas card. I'm entering it in several challenges. The first is the "bling it on" challenge at the Simon Says Stamp! Wednesday challenge blog. The second is the sweetest thing site that provided the sketch for today's card. Last, but certainly not least, is the Word Art Wednesday site that has an "anything goes" challenge (they have that challenge every week so it's fun to play along when you can.) Below you'll find my card and the sketch.

Isn't this a great sketch! I immediately saw an ornament hanging in the center of the card. All papers were from the Holiday Pack from DCWV. I used a die from Spellbinders for the ornament. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and I heat embossed it in silver. And I'm not sure where the fiber is from--it was hanging out on my craft desk so I used it. I added a ton of small gems to the ornament to fancy it up a bit and then some different gems on the little banner at the top. The sketch made the card super easy to make...but I love the colors on it.

There's still time to play along in all these challenges. Have a great Sunday!
Pat

Lawnscaping's Winter Blog Hop!

Hi everyone!

Today I get to participate in a very fun blog hop with the Lawnscaping crew! Today's hop is all about celebrating winter. There are A LOT of us participating today but MAKE SURE YOU COMMENT ON EACH BLOG because there's A TON OF PRIZES up for grabs! You should have arrived from Ann Tomaschik's blog. However, if you've gotten lost along the way or want to start from the beginning, head over to the Lawnscaping site and the complete list is there.



Without further ado, here's my card:

I chose to use Lawn Fawn's Winter Sparrows stamp and die set. This is a really cute set--and the dies made it soooo easy to cut out the little birds. I knew I wanted to make a winter scene. I also knew I wanted to make a shaped card so I used the spellbinders label 8 die to make the card base. I started out by stamping a snowflake several times with white pigment ink and then clear embossing it. Then I inked the front panel and the embossing resisted the ink. Although you can't see it very much in the picture, I also spritzed some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist to add some shine to the sky. Up close you can even see where the spritz activated the distress ink and you can see a few water spots. I die cut two branches and added some snow with the picket fence distress marker. Then, I stamped all the birds and die cut them out and adhered them with dimensional adhesive. I kept the coloring pretty simple and used the inktense watercolor pencils to color in the clothing. I stamped and cut out the greeting and added some baker's twine to the banner and the card was done.

For your next stop, you are going to visit Lenny's blog! I'm sure she came up with something lovely for the hop.

Enjoy the rest of the blog hop and thanks for stopping by!
Pat