A Card with a View and A Card with a Knot

Happy Friday everyone! We had a gorgeous summer day here in Massachusetts today - sunny and warm but with a breeze and no humidity - not many days like this! I have two cards to show you today - first is my card that I made way too late last night (or early this morning!) for the Ways To Use It challenge on Split Coast - to use a photo on your card.
My DH and I went to Ireland a year ago in celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary and I took a gazillion pictures. The picture on this card is of the entrance to St. Kevin's Abby. I printed it on watercolor paper and cut the edges with dekle edged scissors to make it look like a photo edge (the way they used to when I was young - although they had a white border then also! does anyone else remember that?). I layered the photo to a cuttled panel and a DP panel, sponged everything in Close to Cocoa and added these great new Prima artful flowers and leaves. Aren't these flowers beautiful? and I love how the picture printed on the watercolor paper - it looks almost three dimensional here don't you think?

Stamps: Sentiment - Inky Antics
Paper: certainly celery, kraft, water color paper, DP - Basic Grey Mellow
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Close to cocoa
Accessories: Dekle edge scissors, primas artful collage flowers & artful leaves, sponge, foam dimensionals, distresser.
My second card was made for the Limited Supplies Challenge - to use a knot on your card.

I was asked by a friend to make a wedding card for her to give to her niece and she wanted it personalized and to use Wasabi color. Luckily (!) I recently purchased the Just Rite Monogram stamps so was ready to take this card on!

I attached the ribbon to the back of the panels and then used a shorter piece and knotted it around the flat ribbon twisting it so the dots showed on each end of the knot. I cut the circles with my nestabilities and added dew drops on a few flower. This pretty paper by Die Cuts with a View has glitter already on the flower centers - don't know if you can see that in the picture.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to look at my creations - I'll be checking out your blogs too - leave me a comment so I can hope over to see you! Have a great night!

Stamps: Just Rite Monogram
Paper: White: PTI, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue: SU, DP: Die Cuts with a View Rosies Glitter Print-Pocket Full of Posies
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: foam dimensionals, ticket corner punch, dotted grosgrain: Michaels, Nestability Circles, dew drops,

A Tree of Hope and a House Too Small

This is my card from yesterdays Sketch Challenge at SCS. I finished it too late to load it - I had to get to bed! But here it is today - and I really love how it came out!

I used Michelle Zindorf's Northern Lights tutorial here as inspiration. Michelle is such a terrific artist and she makes a tutorial every day on her blog - you really have to check her out!

This is the sketch we were given.

I had to make panels 3 and 4 the same size because of the size of my tree stamp and I turned it on it's side. I sponged the River Rock panel with certainly celery and Blue Bayou leaving a clear space in the middle - and then stamped my tree from the Natural Heritage set by Artful Inkables with black ink. I love this tree and sentiment don't you? I used the Distressed stripes cuttlebug folder on the black panel and I attached little blue square brads to the corners of the blue bayou panel.

Stamps: Natural Heritage- Artful Inkables
Paper: River Rock, Basic Black, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky: SU
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Certainly Celery & Blue Bayou: SU
Accessories: hole punch, blue square brads, petite rectangle nestabilities, glue dots, cuttlebug, Distressed Stripes folder, foam dimensionals

Next up is my card for Amy Rysavy's A-Muse-a-Palooza Ambassador Challenge - we had to use the layout of 4 punched circles on a square. My card is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4.

I first traced circles on a piece of Very Vanilla CS and then stamped my images within the circles the way I wanted them placed. Then I colored the images and paperpieced the pillows, lampshade and girls dress. All the images are Amuse. I had this circles chipboard piece (forever!) from a Stampin Up On Board Accents set so I was happy to finally use it! I covered it with this pretty DP from 7 Gypsies (after I punched the holes out of it!). I attached it to the vanilla stamped piece with foam dimensionals. I cuttlebugged the card using the Floral Fantasy folder then attached the chipboard over it.

You can see the detail of the paper piecing better in this close up.

I stamped the Irish Proverb (from Amuse) onto a piece of Very Vanilla and used my Labels Trio Spellbinder die to cut and dry embosss it. I attached that onto the chipboard piece with foam dimensionals. I stamped New Home (which is a piece of a Michaels $1 stamp that has a house above it) onto a piece of Very Vanilla and punched it with the tab punch. I did a little paper piercing on it, sponged it and attached it to the side. The foam flower has a little bit of stickles on the center for a little sparkle. I'm really happy with how this came out!

Thanks so much for stopping by today - now I'm off to do today's Ways to Use It Challenge - to use a photo on your card - I'll be putting that up tomorrow - have a great night!

Stamps: Irish Proverb, Couch, Kissing Couple, Lame: Amuse, New Home: Mike's $1
Paper: Bordering Blue, Very Vanilla: SU, DP- 7 gypsies Olana
Ink: Bordering Blue SU, Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: tab punch, arctic ice stickles, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, spellbinders Label Trios, cuttlebug, Floral Fantasy folder, sponge, foam flower: Petaloo, SU on Board Accents, SU marker: Not Quite Navy, Prismacolor markers, Sky blue light, light cerulean blue, cool gray.

Vera Amuse-ing Summer Tote

Hi Everyone - today I have a fun little paper summer tote to show you that I made for the Amuse-A-Palooza Challenge 2.

Here is the Vera Bradlee bag we were to use for inspiration.

And here is my summer tote.

I had this perfect designer paper by GCD called Plane Flowers with all the same colors as the Vera bag that I immediately thought I'd use for this challenge. Then, as I was trying to see what Amuse Stamps I had to go with this, I realized my Summer Tote pattern would be the perfect thing to make rather than a card.


This cute little bag measures about 3 x 2.5 and it comes from the book called Paper For All Seasons by Sandra Lounsbury Foose. You can find it on Amazon.com.


I used 2 Amuse Stamps - the pool and Happy Day. Perfect for this summer time bag! I colored the pool with my Prismacolor markers.

The ovals are Petite Oval Nestabilities. I punched the ovals for the sentiment - added an eyelet and tied it on the handle with a piece of hemp from The Beadery. This would be perfect to hold 4 3x3 cards - or some lip balm and life savers, any small summer items.


You can see other bags I've made listed under 'bags' (oddly enough!! LOL) on my right side bar.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm off to work on my SCS sketch challenge card - may not be posting that until tomorrow - depends on how long it takes me!

Stamps: Amuse: Pool, Happy Day
Paper: Night of Navy, Ruby Red, Naturals Ivory, DP: gcd Plane Flowers
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: nestability petite ovals, oval punches, Prismacolor markers - Sky Blue Light, Tuscan Red, foam dimensionals, glue dots, blue hemp: The Beadery, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

Two Opportunities - and Three Projects

Hi Everyone - just wanted to share some fun opportunities that I recently found on line.

First - Kristin at Artful Inkables is looking for Design Team Members - so if you have ever thought you might like to do that - check it out here. I just sent my application in to them so wish me luck!

And Heather, over at H&M Stamps is having a really fun promotion - buy a certain number of her stamp sets between now and September - and have the opportunity to win some fun prizes! Check that whole thing out here. Check out her fun stamp set with a Statue of Liberty - that will be perfect for the upcoming 4th of July holiday as well as her barbecue set!

And now I'll share two projects that I did over the weekend and didn't get a chance to upload until now! I made this fun two pocket bag for the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS this past Sunday. YLM (Cindy) was the chosen stamper this week. I chose this card of hers to case.
My changes were - I used different color designer paper, made a ribbon handle instead of DP, and made a Sunflower instead of the one she had.

I loved the flower on the bag - and I have been wanting to make more of these adorable two pocket bags ever since I made one for the challenge a week or so ago. I learned how to make this wonderful sun flower using graduated sizes of nestabilities when I attended a workshop Lauren Meader ran at The Papertree in Manchester, NH (see info on that here).


The paper is Cosmo Cricket called Be Good: Peppermint Candy. I cut 5 sizes of scalloped circle nestabilities out of More Mustard, sponged the edges with Close to Cocoa, cut slits on the sides of each scallop, and ruffled the 'petals'. Then I layered them using foam dimensionals and attached the leaves by Prima. The bee is from PapertreyInk - Honey Bees set and I highlighted it with yellow stickles.
You can see the tutorial for the two pocket bag here:

Stamps: bee: PapertreyInk Honey Bees
Paper: More Mustard, Bazzill Brown, DP Cosmo Cricket
Ink: Close to cocoa
Accessories: 5 graduating sizes of scalloped circle nestabilities, Prima Artful Leaves, super sticky red tape, yellow stickles, circle punch, Summer Sunrise Twill: PTI, sponge, foam dimensionals, Fiskars Embossing tool, slot punch

My 2nd card is a Snowman Happy Flag Day card. A coworker commissions me to make snowmen cards for every holiday. She sends them to a friend in Florida as a running joke they have. You can see some of the other snowman cards I've made for her here.

This snowman with the cute bird perched on his nose is by Inkadinkado. The card is Night of Navy and the DP's are by GCD - Bedtime stories and All Boy Argyle - I thought they looked kind of 'flagish' on this card! I colored the snowman with Prismacolor markers. Then I stamped the flag hat on a scrap, colored it, cut it out and layered it over the real hat. I popped it up on foam dimensionals.
On the inside I dry embossed a piece of white cs with my square Nestability cut it out and stamped it with this stamp from My Sentiments Exactly and Karen Foster Snap Stamps.
And finally I'm throwing in the snowman card I made for Mother's Day that I forgot to upload when I made it!
This cute little guy is by Hampton Art Stamps and in real life he is holding a little gnome like snowball creature but I have him holding a pretty flower bouquet for Mother's day. The paper is Two Scoops by Basic Grey.

So..... that's it for today! Thanks so much for coming by!

The Magic of Tilda

I was the host for this weeks Double Dare Challenge that I do with a small group of friends at Split Coast. For my challenge - I sent everyone this stamped image of Tilda by Magnolia Stamps as well as a piece of designer paper - some got this one from Stampin Up and some got a piece from PapertreyInk.

You could add anything else you wanted - you just had to use the image and the designer paper.

I cuttlebugged the card with the Polka Dot folder but you can only see one line of dots at top and bottom! I used the Gamsol method of coloring with watercolor pencils and you can see a Splitcoast tutorial for that here.

I just love these sweet Tilda's - they have her in many outfits, sometimes sitting, sometimes holding flowers or sweeping. Magnolia is a company in Sweden and you can see the European influence in their designs. There is a boy named Edwin and other characters as well. They also have flowers, benches, chairs, walls and I just saw a whole new summer line listed on their site today.

But back to my card...... I used my Petite Oval Nestabilities to frame Tilda and mounted the ovals with foam dimensionals. I added the pretty ribbon from PapertreyInk underneath the oval and tied a small piece in a knot around the flat piece. The sentiment is from PapertreyInk Favor It Baby set and I just stamped it in Onyx Black and punched it with my SU oval punch and mounted it with foam dimensionals.


You can see the other's Tilda cards here. They'll be loading them all week. There should be 9 of them when everyone is done.

Thank you so much for coming by today!

Stamps: Tilda: Magnolia Stamps, Sentiment: PapertreyInk Favor It Baby
Paper: Groovy Guava, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla, DP - Designer Series - all SU
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: Petite Oval nestabilities, oval punch, Gamsol, paper stump, Prismacolor watercolor pencils, ribbon: Summer Sunrise Swiss Dot Satin; PTI, cuttlbug, Polka dot folder, foam dimensionals.

I Have Learned the Secret of Living

This is my June Bible Verse submission for the Divine Design Monthly challenge on Splitcoast.



Last month and this month I made mine a frame so I can stand it up on my desk at work or my counter at home where I will see it every day for the month. The idea of the challenge is that you will memorize your verse each month and that way become more familiar with the Bible. I chose this Bible verse because it reminds me to be happy where I am and with what I have. We really already have everything we need if we allow God to be in our lives.


I used 2 coasters and my nestabilities to create this pretty frame. The back piece is covered with My Mind's Eye - Wild Asparagas/Baby Girl Floral and the front scalloped piece is My Mind's Eye - 29th St. Market/Beautiful Blossoms. The verse is computer generated and I overstamped it with a cute flower stamp from Imaginesce.

My cuttlebug will cut through this THIN coaster with the Nestabilities (don't use med or thick coasters). It takes a couple of passes through but works well.

I found this wonderful tutorial for making these here on Amy Rysavy's blog.


There is a kickstand piece on the back so that it stands up or you could put a magnet on the back to attach it to your fridge or file cabinet.
The "blessed" is from the PTI set Papertray and is stamped on a piece of wide twill with Onyx Black Versafine ink. The flowers added in the corners are Jeweled Florettes by Petaloo.



You can see my June Bible Verse frame here and my 4x4 Bible verse cards here.

Thanks so much for spending part of your day with me today!

Stamps: flower: Imaginesce, Seniment: PTI Papertray
Paper: 2 thin chipboard coasters, DP: My Minds Eye
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Ruby Red
Accessories: wide twill, corner rounder punch, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, Nestability squares, Scor pal, Jeweled florettes by Petaloo

An Asian Inspiration

It hit 100 degrees here today - from 56 yesterday - what a jump! We had a wedding to attend this morning but luckily the church was still cool and the reception was on the lower floor - so it was quite comfortable. But the temperature just kept going up all day. I did some weeding and transplanting in my gardens this afternoon and it was brutal out there - a beautiful sunny day if you didn't have to do anything but sit in the shade and sip mint julips (what are mint julips anyway??!!!)

My card today was made for the Inspiration challenge on Split Coast. Stef gave us pictures of a beautifully done bedroom from a magazine. I chose the closet panels in this picture for inspiration. As soon as I saw it - I knew what stamps I would use and what I was going to do.

I had to make my card 6x6 card to accomodate these large Asian panel stamps by Stamp Oasis - the one on the left is called Spring and the one on the right is Fall. I used my new narrow rectangle nestabilities to dry emboss the woodwork framing (see, I DID need to get those!) and some Stampin Up hardware brads for the door knobs (a gift from my SCS and blogging friend LeAnne - Thank you! ) I used Color Box ice blue chalk ink on Very Vanilla with Buckaroo Blue panels. It's all mounted on a piece of speckled vanilla that was in an SU designer 12 x 12 pack.

This is a very simple card but I love the way it came out - just like I envisioned it - I love when that happens - don't you!!?

Thanks for checking in with me today! I should be back tomorrow with a card for the Featured Stamper challenge.

Stamps: Stamp Oasis
Paper: Speckled White, Buckaroo Blue, Very Vanilla
Ink: Color Box Chalk Ice Blue
Accessories: SU hardware brads, dimensionals, narrow rectangle nestabilities, cuttlebug machine