Playing with my favorite stamp!

Hi friends!

Please forgive me for the long absence! Life has been hectic but seems to be slowing down a bit now. How has your summer been so far?

Today I'm sharing with you a card I made using my new favorite Hero Arts stamp, Leafy Vines. I LOVE this stamp! I had been wanting it for awhile. I'll be entering it in the A Blog Named Hero challenge (use your favorite stamp) and also the Simon Says Stamp and Show (anything goes). Here's the card and the challenge badge.

Isn't this stamp beautiful?! And when you add the silver embossing to it, it just comes alive! Since the stamp is rather large and the main focus of the card, I chose to simply add a couple of vellum butterflies and then the sentiment. I used the apothecary labels from Simon Says Stamp! and one of the coordinating sentiments from that set. I heat embossed the sentiment, too, and the card was done. An easy card to make--but so elegant!

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! :)
Pat

S is for Slanted Stamping!

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Ours was busy but a quiet Sunday awaits at the end of this week...

I wanted to share a card I made for the latest challenge at the Simon Says Stamp & Show site. The challenge? Share something that starts with the letter "S". So, maybe you love Simon Says Stamp! and you use some of their products. Or maybe there's a stamp that you love and you use that stamp. Whatever you use, it needs to start with the letter "S". Also, the Inkspirational site has an "anything goes" challenge that I'll play with, too. Here's my card and the challenge badge is below.

I LOVE this flower stamp from Teresa Collins. And I really wanted to have the stamp slanting downward across the card. It took 2 attempts but I finally liked how it looked. (I could almost picture a dress with this design, too.) I inked the stamp with Frost White Colorbox ink and then heat embossed it in white. The sentiment is also from Teresa Collins and I used my spellbinder die to create the label and then added a few gems to add some bling. Getting the stamp lined up the way I wanted was really what took the longest on this card but it's simple and elegant.

Hope you can join in on the fun--there's a great prize up for grabs! :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Thinking of You

Hello everyone!

I'm popping in to share a card I made for a young lady who is struggling right now. Her name is Maddy and if you follow Simon Says Stamp! you probably already heard about her situation. Life isn't fair sometimes. But, we can all help each other through the hard times by encouraging one another and praying for each other. I'm also entering the card into a couple of different challenges in the hopes that more people come by the blog and also make cards for Maddy. First up is the Lawnscaping site that has a CAS challenge. Although the clean and simple look appears easy, it's actually not and I struggle with wanting to put more on the card when I participate in these types of challenges. The second challenge is from the Word Art Wednesday site. The challenge is "anything goes" but it also wants us to add an encouraging word. So, although the sentiment on my card is simply "thinking of you" it is an encouraging one for someone who is going through such a hard time. Below you'll find my card and the challenge badge.

I started out by using a VERY old square punch from Creative Memories to make those 3 windows. I then used a Flourish embossing folder from Cuttlebug and used my scoring board to add a couple of lines in between the embossed area and the windows. I punched out some butterflies (Martha Stewart) and then added some pearls to the center. Then, I stamped the sentiment (Teresa Collins, I believe) and heat embossed it. I layered the front of the card to some dark navy cardstock so that the butterflies would stand out a bit and then the card was done. Pretty easy...but hoping it brings a smile to Maddy's face. Please, if you have a bit of extra time, consider making a card for her. You can send cards to this address:

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Maddy Justice-Patient
262 Danny Thomas Place
Attention Mail Stop 108
Memphis, TN 38105

Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend! See you soon!
Pat

Lifting you up in Prayer Card

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a great week. Mine was insanely busy because we start our vacation tomorrow! Yay! So I've been a busy little bee packing and cleaning and getting ready for our week of fun!

Tonight I wanted to share a card I made for a couple of different challenges. The first site is Unscripted Sketches. I saw their sketch for the week and IMMEDIATELY knew I was going to play! And then, the always fun site at Simon Says Stamp and Show. Their challenge for the week was entitled, "fly". I'll be honest, what I had originally envisioned is not AT ALL what I ended up with. So, here's the sketch and my card: Well, I took some artistic liberties with the sketch this week. I had thought of using the chevrons but, for some reason, the thought of clouds popped into my head and I chose to go with clouds and a hot air air balloon. All stamps are from Skipping Stones. I heat embossed the clouds and the sentiment and then paper pieced the hot air balloon. I added some faux stitching and the card was done. Easy yet sure to lift someone's spirits.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Color Blocking!

Hi friends!

After quite the busy weekend, I decided to take some time to catch up on some blog challenges. First up is the challenge over at the CAS-ual Fridays site. It's a technique that is really difficult for me for some reason...so I really wanted to try a clean and simple card with some color blocking. Here's the challenge badge and my card:
I've always seen cards where people have taken an acrylic block and used it to color block. I decided I would give that a shot with a rectangular acrylic block. I used my distress markers and then misted the block before stamping. Then I heat embossed a Hero Arts stamp and punched a small orange butterfly. I added a few gems and the sentiment and the card was done. It took a little longer than what I thought it would but it was kindda cool to try a new technique.

Hope you can join in on the fun--and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

The Camera Craze!

Hi again!

Yes, it's post #2! I have been itching to try my hand at the latest Moxie Fab Challenge--the camera craze! My husband loves photography and he does several jobs on the side during the summer. I wanted to have a stamp that featured a camera for a card for him. Sure enough--the Moxie Fab site featured cameras and I knew it was time to play along. Here's my card: I wish I could tell you what company made these 2 stamps but I found them in the dollar bin at JoAnns or Michaels. I decided to stamp the sentiment all over the card in silver. Then, I stamped the camera and heat embossed it. I wanted a splash of color so I mounted the camera on red cardstock and then adhered the piece with dimensional adhesive. Stamping the sentiment took a bit--but it was so much! The card is easy to make and I'm sure my husband will love it--and smile! :)

Thanks for stopping by--and have a great week!
Pat

Be Still, My soul...

Hi everyone!

Oh, how I've missed making cards and sharing! Life has changed so much this past month but today I get to share several cards (in several posts!) and make up for lost time! First up is a card I am entering into the Simon Says Stamp and Show! blog and the CAS-ual Fridays site. The challenges were to use a stamp that you love but don't use often and to make your own background paper.

Without further ado, here's the challenge badge and my card: I love stripes...but I hardly ever use my Impression Obsession stamp! I knew I wanted to make more of a masculine card and stripes really lend themselves well to that look. So, I inked it with Versamark and heat embossed it with silver powder. Quick and easy way to make your own background paper! I like that the stamping wasn't perfect--it's more of a rugged look. I then stamped the sentiment which are lyrics to one of my favorite hymns. I added just a couple of deep blue gems and the ribbon. Voila!

Thanks for stopping by and see you with another post soon!
Pat

Tuesday Trigger Notion Card

Hi friends!

I know, it's been a long time since I've posted. It's been a long time since I've crafted, too, but I did get some time tonight and I wanted to share a card with you. The fun Moxie Fab site posted a Tuesday Trigger last week that caught my eye. I LOVE using ribbons and buttons and twine on my cards and the challenge was to use notions. So, here's the inspiration photo and my card: I used a beautiful new stamp set called "Beautiful Hymns" from The Craft's Meow. The repeated pattern is actually a small stamp that I stamped using Versamark ink and then heat embossed. And the sentiment has the lyrics of the hymn Amazing Grace. I'm currently loving the gray and soft pink color combo and the ribbon was perfect for this card!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!
Pat

Color Throwdown 162 and RCC23

Yes, this is my 2nd post of the day! My men are still out enjoying the day so I have been having fun in my room... :)

This post contains a new challenge for me, though. Although I love participating in sketch challenges, I'd never done a color challenge before. But the great colors that came up for this week in the Color Throwdown were calling my name! Here's their swatch.

Also, the ribbon carousel site had an "anything goes" challenge where you basically just had to incorporate anything that came from a spool to participate. Since I love ribbon, this was an easy one to incorporate for me!

Here's my card.

I started out with some dark brown cardstock and I then layered a kraft-colored panel on top. I didn't like the look of the kraft cardstock, though, so I altered it a bit using tea dye distress ink. That looked a bit more rich to me. Then, I took some light yellow/cream cardstock and using my versamark dazzle pad, I stamped the damask (I think?) Hero Arts stamp on that. I heat embossed with clear powder b/c I wanted something subtle on the cream paper. Then, I cut out a sizzix label and stamped the sentiment in broken china distress ink. I looked in my very messy ribbon drawer and found this ribbon from Li'l Davis Designs that matched well with the colors. Finally, I stamped out a butterfly using the Martha Stewart 3 in 1 stamp and punch butterfly and adhered it to the label, too. I had originally envisioned a different card with bigger elements in blue but this worked, too.

Thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Square Sketch Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

Hi all!

I have to admit, I follow tons of blogs...but this week, I've absolutely LOVED Moxie Fab's challenges. If you aren't familiar w/the website, click here. This is one of the featured sketches this week.

I hadn't really done a card like this--much less a square--so I thought it'd be fun to join in the fun. And with homeschooling back in full effect next week, why not milk the small bit of extra time I do have?! :)






Here's my take:

I started out w/white cardstock and I stamped the butterfly in black soot distress ink. The butterfly is one of my favorite stamps and it's from Hero Arts, I think. Then I stamped the butterfly again on a separate piece of paper and heat embossed the image. I took my Broken China and Chipped Sapphire distress inks and colored in the butterfly. Then, I cut it out and adhered it w/dimensional adhesive. I then squirted a bit of water onto my mat and used a paintbrush to blend the colors just a bit more. Once it was dry, I added the pearls and stamped the sentiment (which is from the dollar bin at the Craft Warehouse). Done! :)

Hope you can play along...and thanks for the comments--they brighten up my day! :)

MOJO200

Well, this is a first. Although I've checked the Mojo Monday blog for many, many months this is the first time I've actually done a card for their weekly challenge. I tend to like simple cards so the sketch they put on the Mojo blog seemed extra appealing to me this week.

I started out w/some patterned paper which I slightly inked on the corners w/some vintage photo distress ink. I decided to add a strip of brown cardstock w/some pawprints heat embossed along the length of it. Then, I stamped the sentiment "happy birthday" over and over on the punched out circle shape. I used an old Stampin' up stamp for my little bear image and matted it on some more pattern paper. I added a white ribbon and tied the bow separately. For the final touch, thanks to Kristina Werner's inspiration, I added faux stitching along the card w/a white pen.

It was fun!

Thanks for stopping by!