LIM39 - Seeing Stars!

I'm a little late getting my card finished for the Less is More Challenge this week.  Mostly because I've been really busy...but also because I couldn't decide if I liked my cards.  I ended up making 3 different cards and decided to post them all.

This first card was made on a white card base.  The background paper is actually a sparkly silver paper.

I stamped the image (which is from PTI jar fillers) on white card stock, then colored around the stars and snowflakes with a Copic marker (BG0000).  I then cut the image out using a Spellbinder ornament die.  I coated each of the stars with silver glitter, and added white glitter dust to the snowflakes.  I also added fine silver glitter to the edges of the ornament.  I tied a three loop bow with some silver cord and suspended the ornament from the top of the silver background.  The silver background and the ornament are pop dotted for added dimension.

This second card was made by stamping the image (a very old SU) in Memento black.  I colored the image with Copics, then added a yellow highlighted background halo around the image.  For the white bands on his Santa suit and on his beard, I used a "snow" pen to color, then when it is heat set, it bubbles up for added dimension.  The stars he's tossing in the air are all covered with fine silver glitter, as are the stars in the pocket of the Santa suit.  I added a touch of glitter to the edges with a Sakura  clear star pen.  The sentiment was stamped on white card stock, and then cut with a Spellbinder banner die and mounted on the red textured and foil card stock like I used for the background.  The Santa image was cut out with a Spellbinder die and pop dotted on the red textured foil card stock.

This third card was made by embossing the white panel with a snowflake embossing folder and highlighting the snowflakes with a little glitter dust.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.  The star Santa is a very old SU stamp (I believe it's from the same set as the first Santa).  I colored him with Copics, then added a yellow halo around the star.  There is a touch of Sakura clear star pen around the edges of the white star.  I backed the star with some of the red foil card stock.  The white embossed background was layered on some gold foil card stock. I'd forgotten I had these Santa stamps...but they were perfect for a "star-studded" card! LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I truly appreciate all of your comments!  Until next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

OLW68 - Red and White

This week's challenge at Simplicity was to create a one layer card using only red and white (or cream and white).   I decided to use a red card base for my first card.

 I stamped with versamark and white ink and then added fine detail white embossing powder.  I heat set the embossing powder.  The sentiment on the actual stamp is Season's Greetings, but I masked that off before stamping and then added the Merry Christmas sentiment and also embossed it with white.  The snowflakes are just stickles I added.

For my second card, I really kept it simple.  I stamped a music stamp by Flourishes and then added a sentiment (also Flourishes) at the bottom....super simple.

I think at first I wasn't too happy with this card...but it's growing on me now.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your comments are much appreciated! Until next time....

♥ Hugs! ♥

LIM38 - Polka Dots and a New Layout

The challenge this week at Less is More is to create a card using polka dots.  I thought that would be super easy, but I was wrong.  I finally ended up with two cards to share with you.

This first card was made with a white card base.  I added a strip of polka dotted paper across the bottom and scored a line above it.  The sentiment is from PTI.  The candles are the new Flourishes Christmas stamps.  I stamped them with Memento ink and colored them with Copics.  Then I cut them out and pop dotted them on the polka dotted paper.  I added a little glitter in places and a bit of glaze to the ornaments, but it's hard to see here.  The glow around the flames of the candles was something I just added, that's not part of the stamp.

This is actually the first card I made and I wasn't really happy with it, but decided to post it anyway.  The ornament is a PTI die that I cut from white card stock then colored with a silver leafing pen.  I added red dots with some liquid pearls. The sentiment is from PTI, stamped in black and punched out with the slot punch then backed with red card stock.  I pop dotted the sentiment on the ornament.  The ribbon I used to string through the top of the ornament is some sparkly red braid I found in my stash.  The bow was tied with a neat little bow maker my hubby made for me.  I also have a dotted background by using an embossing folder, then backed it with red and popped it on the white card base.  The ornament is also pop dotted on the dotted background.

Thought I'd also share a new layout that I finished last weekend.  It's another photo of my maternal grandparents taken around 1952.

I used Basic Grey Curio papers for this layout. The flowers were all cut from one of the papers and pop dotted on the background.  I used a lot of inking and distressing on this layout.  The pretty lacy border across the bottom was cut with a Spellbinder die. The black corner scrolls are Bo Bunny rub ons.  The title work was cut with the Silhouette and colored with Copics to match the papers.  I added a bit of bling across the lacy border and 3 buttons at the top.  In the areas that are torn, I inked them heavily and added another piece of the Curio papers behind the tears.  I also added a tiny bronze tag that says "simple".  The photo is mounted on some photo corners that I punched with a punch I've had for years.The green leaves were cut with a Spellbinder die.  I tucked the journaling behind the striped mat and it reads:

These are my Mama’s parents, William and Ola Pace. I don’t remember too much about them because they were both gone before I was five years old. I have a cousin who has researched the history of the Pace family and my grandfather (William Pace) is a descendant of Richard Pace who received a land patent in 1620 and established Pace’s Paines Plantation which was across the James River from the settlement of Jamestown. It appears that my family has deep roots in America. 

I wanted to get this posted earlier in the week, but things have been rather hectic around here lately.  Hubby is home and doing much better and for that I am thankful.  It was a rough week or two.  Thanks for all your wonderful comments, they mean a lot to me.  Until next time.....

♥ Hugs! ♥

Challenge 45 - Punzel

This week, Laura at I am the Diva blog spot has challenged us to use the new tangle "Punzel".  This is a tangle by Rick and Maria at Zentangle®.  (The Zentangle® art form and method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is copyrighted. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com) You can find directions for Punzel here.

This was a tough one for me.  I've been practicing it over and over and I still don't have it quite right.  I keep waiting for the steps to "click" with me! LOL!

Here's my take this week...

The first time I tried this, I realized that I had done the tangle Chainging, so I had to redo it. This is not perfect by any means, but I am reasonably happy with it.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your comments are truly appreciated!  Until next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

All Tangled Up...but Slowly Unwinding

I've discovered that working on my tangles is a great stress reliever.  Things around our house have been very hectic lately, and I've found that if I sit quietly in the evening and spend a little time with my tangling, that it tends to calm me a bit.

Thought I'd share a few of my recent tangles.  Some were done while I was sitting at the hospital with my hubby, and then I did a few after I brought him home.

If you haven't tried tangling, you definitely should give it a try...it's fun and relaxing!

This first one is one I did while sitting in the hospital...kinda looks like the shape of a "real" heart, doesn't it? I had no string drawn for this one, just added to each section as I went along.

This next one reminds me of buds blooming.  I also did this one while sitting around in the hospital.

I think this next one is one of my favorites that I've done recently.  I love the mixture of light and dark...

The stress of the last few days finally got to me and these next two tangles are the results from the last couple of evenings.

This next one is just one I threw in for the fun of it.  Very simple...but I love it!

That's it for today.  I have a couple of cards I need to get made, and some work I need to finish. Thanks so much for stopping by! See you next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

Challenge 44 - Tangle in a Tangle

The challenge this week at I am the Diva blogspot is to create a tile or ZIA using a tangle or tangle section as your string, then to fill in the 'blanks' with other tangles. I've chosen to use the tangle Casella for my string.

I'm not sure, but I think it might be a little too busy...I'll have to think on that.  Not sure of the "name" of all the tangles I've used, so I won't try to name them.  

If you'd like to take a look at some of the other entries in the challenge, go here.

I will definitely give this another try later in the week.  Thanks so much for popping in!  And...thanks for your wonderful comments...they make my day!  Until next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

LIM37 - Cocktails...or a variation thereof....

It's been a crazy and hectic week for me, but I finally got my card made for the Less is More challenge. The theme for this week's challenge is:   

COCKTAIL

The Challenge rules are:  You may interpret this however you wish... your favourite tipple, the colours of a cocktail or a simply cocktail of colours. Let your imagination run with this one, it will be interesting to see how imaginative you can be.

Here is a little fun... you can follow the link to see what cocktail you are..

You are Made of...

I gave it a try and here's the recipe for me...

3 parts Fun
2 parts Sensitivity
1 part Shrewdness

And a Splash of Inspiration

Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!

HA! HA!

Since we don't imbibe in our house, I was really stumped for this challenge.  No stamps that would work...nothing.  This tested the limits of my overworked and overtired brain! LOL!  But....I finally thought of something...a cocktail dress!  Now, that will work.  Here's my card:

I had to make the card 5x7 inches in order for the dress and fit on it.  I have this really cool book I bought several years ago.  The editors are Klutz and the book title is Paper Fashions Fancy.  The book as templates for putting different dresses together and even includes some papers to used when making the outfits.  I used some of the papers from the book (kit) and designed a floor-length dress.  The top of the dress is made from black velvet paper and the bottom of the dress is made from a black flocked paper.  I added a few red bling at the dropped waist and a bling necklace.  I cut a slit in the bottom of the dress and backed it with some of the black velvet paper and added a bit of stickles for sparkle.  I also highlighted the unflocked parts of the skirt with a Sakura clear star gelly roll pen. The dress is hanging on a dress stand that is also included in the templates.  I simply cut it out and colored it with a gold leafing pen, then added a few black doodles on the bottom of the stand..  I also drew a solid line around the edges of the card with the gold leaf pen.  The card base is black card stock.  The red paper is a textured red foil paper and the white behind it is a glittery-sparkly paper.  The sentiment is from PTI and was stamped in Versamark and white ink, then sprinkled with fine white detail powder and heat embossed.

I'd also like to introduce you to our newest grandson....Pierce.

I took this photo when he was just a few hours old.  He stayed awake and kept an eye on all of us for quite a while.  He weighed in a 7 pounds 11.2 ounces and was 19.25 inches long.  True is...he's so small!  I'm always amazed when I first hold one of my grand children.  It's hard to remember my children being this small.    He's a cutie...and his big brother and sister are both excited to welcome their new brother!

Thanks again for stopping by.  I appreciate all your wonderful comments!  Until next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

Challenge 43 - Sunflower Inspired

The weekly challenge at I am the Diva blog is to create a tile or ZIA inspired by the sunflower.  I was really stumped by this one at first.  I designed my sunflower by drawing a circle for the center then drawing lines to section it off to add the petals.

My sunflower is drawn on a 6 x 6 card . I only used two tangles for my sunflower - Paradox and Shattuck...and then a big black dot in the center where all the lines meet.  I really like the way the Paradox makes the petals look.


Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate all your wonderful comments! Until next time....


♥ Hugs! ♥

Flourishes - The Name Game

This card is for the Name Game Challenges at the Flourishes.  The challenge is to simply use your initials as inspiration for your card or creation.  


My initials are SPG...so I used 
S -stamping
P - piercing
G - gem (the light in my lighthouse) 


I used stamps from Flourishes Guiding Light and Life Line for my card.

I stamped the sentiment, then the scene and colored the scene with Copics.  I cut it all out using a Spellbinder die, then layered it on a light blue card stock and trimmed a small border.  I used my SU piercing template to pierce the corners of the label and then pop dotted it on a piece of embossed white card stock pop dotted on a darker blue card stock.  I love the serenity of this card.


Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time....


♥ Hugs! ♥

LIM36 - One Layer with Heart(s)

I'm a little late with my card this week.  I've spent the last 4 days sitting at the hospital with my hubby. He's home now and on the mend.  I am thankful!

Our Less is More challenge this week is to create a one layer card with hearts on it.  Sounds simple...right?  Well, it took me a bit, but I finally remembered that I had a stamp perfect for this challenge.

All image stamps are from PTI.  The large bow and the jar base are from Friendship Jar Summer Fillers, the Hearts are from the Friendship Jar Spring Fillers collection.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts, and the pink gingham is from PTI.  I stamped the big bow, masked it off, stamped the jar under it, then added the hearts. the "xoxo" is another PTI stamp that I stamped each heart with.  Instead of putting a lid on the jar, I drew a little gathered top to look like the hearts are in a bag and tied up with a bow.  Then I colored it all with Copics.  Fairly quick and easy card once I figured out what I was going to do.  I wasn't going to add the gingham at first, but then the jar looked like it was floating on the card...and you know how I am about "grounding" an image! LOL!

Thought I'd also share a new layout that I finished last weekend.  This is photos of our little granddaughter, Helen Grace.

I used Echo Park papers for this and a SU graduation hat stamp.  The large arrow was hand cut and backed with a solid color.  The precious girl tag is a sticker from EP.  The Girly You Rock tag was made by stamping with a PTI sentiment, punching and circle, then punching 2 larger scalloped edged circles to back it. I'm telling you...these kids grow up FAST!

Tomorrow, I'll be at the hospital again...only this time it will be to welcome our newest grandson, Pierce.  He's scheduled to arrive around 1 pm on October 10.  Can't wait!  Now I'll have even more pictures to scrap! LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate all of your wonderful comments! I understand that some people have been having difficulty leaving a comment, so I changed my comment box to a pop up box.  I've been told that helps...so maybe it will.  Until next time....

♥ Hugs! ♥

OLW67 - Thinking of You

The One Layer Wednesday challenge is hosted this week by Jennifer Styles at Styles Inc. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, Jennifer has challenged us to make a card to send to someone letting them know we're thinking about them.

I think almost everyone can say they know someone who is battling cancer or who has had cancer. I've lost several friends and family members to cancer.  It's a horrid disease and our hope is that one day soon a cure will be found to stop or prevent cancer.

I've made a card for a friend.  I used a leaf stamp from TPC Studios and inked different parts of the stamp with three different colors...a red, orange, and a green.

A super simple card, I know.  I've added a verse on the inside that says:

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not Fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13

My friend doesn't have cancer, but is going through some tough times right now and I hope this card makes her feel special and wraps her in love.

Thanks for stopping by...until next time...

Hugs!

Challenge 42 - Hope

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. The challenge this week from Laura at I am the Diva, is to create a tile or ZIA inspired by hope -- however this applies to your life.  I've had many friends and relatives who have battled cancer.  Some of them won that battle, and some didn't.  I think hope is essential to anyone battling this disease (or any life threatening disease)...and my hope that a cure is found someday soon!

Here's my ZIA for this challenge:

The finished size of this is about 5x5 inches.  I've been doing a lot of tangling in the evenings while watching television with my hubby.  Here's a few of my newest drawings.

I love how this one turned out...lots of depth...and very clean lines.

I just finished this one, Lots and lots of lines....

 My friend looked at this one and said it made her think of under the sea...maybe all the "bubbles"?

I was inspired by a piece I saw here... I love the feathery edges on the big heart!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate your fabulous comments!!  Until next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

Made for Men - NOT ME....Cards!

I made a couple of cards yesterday that are definitely guy type cards.  I don't do many masculine cards, mostly because it's difficult to do...at least for me.

It also happens that the card challenge at St. Luke's Card Challenge blog this month is to make a masculine card. Can't say I'm overly thrilled with either of these cards, but they are masculine.

For this card, I used stamps from Flourishes.  I stamped the hourglass in brown Memento ink, then cut it out with an exacto knife.  I colored it with Copics.  For the sand I used a little white glitter.  I wish you could see it in person...it makes the perfect sand.  The sentiment was stamped on a piece of white cut in a rectangle and then I punched the corners with my ticket punch (SU).  The brown was embossed with a PTI wood grain embossing plate.  The blue scallops were punch with a Fiskars edge punch.  After seeing this posted, I think it might have looked better if I'd used a brown card base instead of a white one....oh well...next time!

This card was made from scraps ...yay me!  The car is from a TH set and I think this might be the first time I've used it.  I stamped it on white, punched it out with a 1.75 circle punch and inked the edges. Given my need to "ground" an image, I masked off the area under the car (and drew a line), then inked the ground with much darker brown.  The sentiment is from a Flourishes set (the one with the hourglass shown above).  I punched the sentiment out with an oval punch and inked the edges. I added a little faux stitching around the plaid and dull red pieces. I also backed the car image with a piece of brown card stock that was punched with a 2 inch circle punch.

I believe this second card fits the Less is More challenge this week too.  The LIM challenge this week is to make a card that uses the color of my eyes...which in my case is green (today...see previous post for an explanation of my changing eye color!)

Thanks a bunch for stopping by! Your comments are always appreciated! Until next time...

♥ Hugs! ♥

LIM35 - The Color of My Eyes

The challenge this week at Less is More is to create a card using the color of my eyes as the predominant color for the card.  Unfortunately, I have strange eyes...sometimes they're gray, sometimes they're blue, and sometimes they're green.  I understand that hazel eyes are like that.  As a child my eyes were a vivid blue...so I'm told; however, as an adult, my eyes are green most of the time.  See...I told you...strange!  So, I decided to go with green for my color.

I've made two cards specifically for this challenge.  This first card will be added to my stash of Christmas cards that I'm trying to get ready.  The chair is a CTMH stamp that was first stamped on the card, then on the green polka dotted paper.  I cut a mask for the chair and stamped the tree behind the chair.  The tree is a Flourishes stamp.   I cut out the green chair and popped dotted it over the stamped image.  If you've followed my blog for a while, you know how I am about grounding images..so I drew a little line behind the chair and tree to be the "baseboard".  I drew the "skirt" around the tree with a black pen and added a little glitter to the skirt.  Then...because I could...I added some red and green bling ornaments to the tree and a touch of glitter pen. The star on top was punched from silver paper and highlighted with a bit of glitter.  The sentiment is from PTI.

This next card will probably end up being a birthday card.  The lanterns are Lawn Fawn stamps that I've had for a while and couldn't figure out how to use them.  I stamped the lanterns on the card, then stamped them on some green patterned paper and cut them out.  I popped them over the stamped image with dimension tape.  The gold "cord" was drawn on with a gold Uniball pen.  The sentiment is from PTI.

I haven't completed a new layout this week, but since this little one will soon be 2 years old, I thought I would share an older layout with you.  This is my youngest granddaughter, Maggie.  She'll be two years old in November...and she is a joy!!  This was her hospital photo...can you believe it?!  She was definitely worth the wait!.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time....

♥ Hugs!