Uh Oh

This Easter Bunny took a tumble on his bunny hop & fell down the stairs...one broken ankle, torn ligaments in the knee & a cast later, times are a-changing. The knee brace keeps me from bending the knee, & getting around is a challenge. Didn't know bunnies had knees, did you?

Since I will have to stay at a friend's house who does not have stairs, I don't know when or how I can create cards in the next few days. Not living where I keep my supplies will be another challenge for me but a pleasure for my friend!

Please hang around, don't go anywhere, & stay posted in the next week or two. I'll grow more uncomfortable not creating some kind of paper craft, so I'm sure something will work out soon.

My best to you!

Blue-Green Challenge

Trying to get all my challenges done before the weekend. This one was for color palette of blue, green & white. If we wanted, we could've added a twist with a piece of fruit on it, but I didn't do that.

Another Bunny!

Went through my stamps and found another bunny!

Red, White & Blue

Here is the same flower from Gina K Design's Whimsical Wishes by Theresa Momber but in a red, white & blue color palette created for a challenge at Gina K Designs Stamp TV, http://stamptv.ning.com/.

4/2/2013: WooHoo! This card won the Stamp TV Red, White & Blue challenge at Gina K Designs!

Beautiful Blue!

Not sure what I'll do with the card yet, but I saw this beautiful blue cardstock & just had to emboss the white flower with it. The image and sentiment are from Gina K Designs, and the colorful "background" is from Avery Elle...LOVE that wavy look!

Sketch Challenge

OK. I think I've finally reached my last Outlawz Challenge for the week. WooHoo! These new stamps I won from Unity are so HUGE it's hard to fit them on a card with anything else...so I kept it minimal, just enough to meet the sketch.

Layers 2

Here is another example of a card with multiple layers. I have created cards like this before using the same sketch, but I felt this was a good time to use the design for the layers challenge at Outlawz.

Stamps and cardstock are from Gina K Design.

Layers/Paper Piece

This is for two challenges: one to show layers, and the other to "paper piece" an image on the card (the butterfly). I enjoyed using multiple items for this one card: Gina K Designs Hope is Faith butterfly stamp and pure luxury ivory 80# cardstock; colorful cardstock from the Mariposa Matstack; PSX Detail Gold Embossing Powder; and Spellbinders Fancy Tags. I also included ribbon from my stash.

Blues

Here is a new card I created for another Outlawz challenge. This one requires blue, grey-blue & white. Love it! I included a new sentiment stamp won from Unity, with an additional sentiment "With Love" from Gina K Designs.

Butterflies are from Anna Griffin punch, vellum bird is a cut-out and the flourish is die cut from Sizzix.

Bunny in a Basket

This was created for another Outlawz Challenge requiring green as the color--the only color! We could use one neutral in addition to the green, but that's it. Challenge? Yes! I'm not one to use green very often for anything, so this was a challenge, indeed! Thanks for stopping by; hope you'll come back soon!

The Bunny in a Basket stamp is from Hero Arts, and Happy Easter sentiment is from Inkadinkado. Ink is from Stampin Up! and Copics.

Shadow Box

I created this for my son & his new wife & included several images that relate to their relationship. I stamped images & words from Gina K Designs onto Tim Holtz fragments, then coated with Glossy Accents. Lots of fun, quite a challenge, made with love.

The picture is a bit bright but you can get the idea.

Hey, Chickie!

This card was made for a challenge that called for buttons. I think my buttons got a bit out of hand; we can agree, this card was definitely a challenge!

Paper used for this card is from DCWV's Glitter Sweet Matstack, which is a load of paper in colors of sweet candy. Even the flower was circle-punched from that stack. The image is from Gina K Design's Basket Blessings, illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. Love those chicks!

Bunnies!

I made this card to begin my season of creating bunny cards. More will be added, but for now, this is my favorite.

The sentiment says Happy Birthday rather than Happy Easter because we have birthdays in the family very close to Easter.

Diecuts!

This is for another challenge that requires you to use dies cut with a diecut machine. Directions suggested using some that had been on the shelf for a while. Well, I got into my stash of older dies and found lots of fun stuff, including those included in this card. Hope you enjoy this card, because I had a great time creating the scene.

Green!

Today I am playing along with an Outlawz Challenge where your greeting card is supposed to include something green--anything green, like paper, die, ink.

A card like this was on a site I saw this morning. You can find her card here: http://scrappinnavywife.blogspot.com/2013/03/mct-thrifty-thursday.html.

For my card, I used older patterned paper in my stash that included some green and another patterned paper that would work for the butterflies. The white layer is embossed with dotted embossing folder and run through my Cuttlebug machine, which happens to be GREEN!

Thanks for stopping by--have a wonderful day! 

Sorry this picture is a little dark!

Stamp TV's Center Stage Alumni Blog Hop

This is Lori McAree's inspiration photo for the Center Stage Alumni Blog Hop. I am joining in!

 http://stamptv.ning.com/forum/topics/center-stage-alumni-blog-hop-inspiration-challenge-5?xg_source=msg_mes_network

 Here is my card using this photo for inspiration:

I created this card using Avery Elle's Fanfare from Simon Says Stamps for the image across the bottom. The sentiment and the two bunnies are from Melanie Muenchinger's Basket Blessings from Gina K Stamps. I added Stickles glitter on the bunnies to add a little sparkle.

Pinspired #5

I saw this last night & realized immediately I wanted to jump in and play along. This is my first time entering a Pinspired challenge.

Here is the Inspiration Photo from http://pinspiredchallenges.blogspot.com/rom

Here is my card using that photo for inspiration:

Fanfare!

I LOVE this background stamp, Avery Elle's Fanfare from Simon Says Stamps.com. It was the only item I ordered from Clean & Simple 2 Online Class but had to wait a month to receive it. Worth the wait, don't you think? The technique taught in class used this exact stamp. Using three colors of ink that will blend together nicely, start with the darkest color and work your way up the page. Inks used here include StampinUp's Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party. The sentiment is from Gina K Design's Bold and Beautiful. Absolutely love that font!

Dance!

This card was created to remind me, and all of us, the importance of making the most of each day, rain or shine. I used bright colors to help brighten my attitude on a dark, cloudy day. It worked!

The image was created using Umbrella4You stamps by Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life. As a club member, I receive one new stamp set each month for just over $10. You really can't beat that! Stephanie also has inks, embossing folders & Sizzix dies for sale on her site, www.TheStampsofLife.com.

I hope you have a bright, colorful day...don't forget to dance, rain or shine!

Gold Flourish

Today is another post for Gold Challenge on Gina K Design's Stamp TV. I stamped an image with VersaMark onto Kraft, heat embossed it in white & matted on black. This was matted onto Mariposa patterned papers of gold and black. Love this look! I added flourishes punched with Paper Shaper's Wave Flourish and placed the sentiment made by K & Co's Life's Little Occasions Bible Quotes across the bottom.

GKD Glitter/Gold Challenge

Hi there, thanks for stopping by. I have a new card for you that I just finished making for a challenge. Soon I will be joining more challenges from other sites, but for now I am participating in one.

Since we are in period of Lent, this is a good time to make cards that include the cross, Easter Lilies and other signs of the season. What better image to create in gold than the cross?

Using paper from the Mariposa Matstack and stamps from Gina K Design's Easter Blessings by Rupa Shevde, I created this card for the GKD gold challenge. Directions are to incorporate anything gold, including embellishments, ink, paper, etc. I enjoyed stamping the cross and heat embossing the image in gold. I could almost call this a religious experience if I hadn't been focused on not spilling embossing powder all over the table! Pooky-Blue was right beside me (see yesterday's post) until I turned on the heat gun...then he was off -- out of sight.

I enjoy sharing my cards with you. Please leave a comment so I will know you were here, & join my site if you'd like so we can stay connected with future posts!

Pooky-Blue Creates, Too

 This is my cat, Pooky-Blue, and he's the most awesome cat a gal could have. Most of the time, Pooky is right beside me, lounging across the couch beside my feet or in the crook of my arm. If I'm walking quickly from room to room, he slows me down by escorting directly in front of my path. The best, however, is when I'm crafting. He can tell if it's that time. As soon as I pick up ink, scissors or adhesive, Pooky JUMPS ups to his chair at the table, with front paw on selected paper for the day's project.

usharon59's photostream

usharon59's photostream on Flickr.

These are the cards I created while taking Clean & Simple 2 Online Card Classes in January & February, 2013. Lots of fun! I plan on taking more classes in the future.

Dear Becky

A dear friend of mine, Ms. Becky Czeck, recently passed away from cancer. She was only 44 years old. This was tough for me, as I recently recovered from successful cancer surgery myself. I was fortunate, but Becky began her cancer journey in Stage 4 and had little chance of surviving from the very beginning. Despite being critically ill for the past several months, she never lost her spirit. Her laugh was one you'd never forget. She would find humor in any situation & found it easy to share her joy with others.

With heavy heart I created this card for her mother. Designing a sympathy card during a period of grief was quite an experience. I took my time to make sure it was just right, in memory of Becky.

I used another image from Vogue Vases by Theresa Momber from Gina K Designs. The sentiment is from Tami Mayberry's All Occasion Tags, also Gina K Designs.

Butterflies!

The weather here in North Carolina is beginning to change from cool & overcast to warm(er) & sunny. Today I noticed we still had daylight after 6 PM. So Cool! I am very happy to be living where the days of cold, early darkness are fading into longer days of warmer sunshine.  Buds are beginning to peep through the ground. Birds are singing again, & before long, butterflies will be landing on our shoulders. I've been aching (literally, aching) for warmer weather. On days of winter weather, I often created cards with butterflies to bring some colorful happiness to my surroundings.

Today, I am posting cards that have similar images but have been crafted differently.

First is the image of a butterfly defined by using a mask with a butterfly cut from the center using Spellbinders Grand Shapabilities die. I inked the top half in orange & the bottom half in blue, using Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade & Broken China Distress Inks to sponge & blend toward the center. Three amber gems embellished the card just above the sentiment. I wanted a calm, subtle creation that was appropriate for the sentiment, "praying for you."

Second is the same butterfly, this time with the orange & blue colors switched & an image from Theresa Momber's Vogue Vases stamp set was stamped on top of the focal point. CREATE is stamped above the die-cut butterfly on the opening edge of the card, & a black and white polka dot ribbon runs across the bottom.

 

These cards were created for assignments during CAS2 (Clean and Simple 2) Online Cardmaking Class taken Winter 2013. I received special recognition for the second card for the die-cut butterfly opening to the inked image inside the card.

Hope you enjoy today's blog. I encourage you to leave comments in the box below so I will know you were here!

Now, go find some SUNSHINE so you can see all God has CREATEd for you today!

Hello!

March 2, 2013

Well, I finally did it. I started a blog. Don't quite know what to do with it yet, but I'll figure it out with time. Why did I start now? I miss writing. I want to share some experiences, some lessons, some creativity. I want to learn more from others who share the same interests, as well. Finally, I realized I might just have enough to put on a blog, so here we go!

As an author, a (former) gardener, a pianist, a Christian and an addicted stamper/scrapbooker/cardmaker, I'll have a variety of posts on here to share with you. Might not cover all of those interests but we'll see what happens.

Several friends have asked to read my articles, so as soon as I figure out where to put them on here, I'll include a link for you.

Probably the most I will post will be cards I create as a member of Gina K Design's Stamp TV online. To see what Stamp TV has to offer, please check out the web site. (http://stamptv.ning.com/) Gina K provides very clear, easy-to-understand videos that are free to watch & great for inspiration.

I also enjoy membership with Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life. Her online site includes videos, stamps, dies & inks. To check out her web page, go to http://www.stephaniebarnardstamps.com/index.htm. You will enjoy her hilarious videos as she attempt a "30 Second Card in 5 Minutes." Great stuff!

OK, to get us started, I am posting a card created while taking CAS2 (Clean & Simple 2) Online Card Making Class with Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner, as well as other popular designers. The background was created by running cardstock ("cs") through my Cuttlebug in a heart embossing folder (ef), inking in clear VersaMark & drying clear embossing powder ("ep") until melted. This made the paper feel almost like soft rubber--very flexible. Since it was nearly Valentine's Day when I created the card, I felt the sentiment should say exactly how I feel about my dear friends & family. You are so very special to me, & I do love you!

Have a wonderful weekend!