Persian Motifs

Hi, everyone.  I purchased a duplicate set of Spellbinders Persian Motifs dies, and they are in an unopened package.  Now, I know most of you have done this yourselves!  It's too late for me to return the dies to the company purchased from, so I am offering them for sale at 50% off.  $15.00 plus $2 shipping.  Anyone out there want them?  They're gorgeous!



Thanks!  I hope you all had a great 4th of July, and your week is going well!

Hugs,
Clare

Bloom Where God Plants You

Hello, everyone!  Happy Summer!  The flowers are in full bloom, and butterflies are everywhere!  I love cards with both of these elements, and these from Our Daily Bread Designs are so impressionable!

This card made for the second week in July for ODBD's guests designs, is one that I really enjoyed making - different for me with the machine stitching on it, and simple.  I used the sentiment, "Bloom where God plants you" as part of the focal piece, from the new ODBD stamp set, Bloom.  To accompany the sentiment, I added a paper bow and twice-stamped butterfly.   Below are the complete instructions, and a list of supplies you'll need to recreate this beauty.

I cut a white card base to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".  From the new paper pad Blushing Rose Collection, I chose scraps from five sheets of different, but coordinating paper.  I laid them out in different ways to resemble a quilt, then tacked them down just in the centers of each scrap piece, so there wouldn't be difficulty stitching them to the card base through adhesive, which would eventually jam the needle or break the thread.  I used several different stitches, as my grandmother did on a crazy quilt.  On the inside of the card, I cut a piece of one of the patterned green papers to the same dimensions as above to cover the stitching back and loose thread ends.

There was some small beading in my stash that set the sentiment off, so I glued it around it.  The sentiment was stamped in green, and a little of the flowers at just the top of the flower stems stamp used along the bottom of this piece, in coral.  Both of these stamps are from the set Bloom.  I love the font this was written in!

The butterfly is a single stamp from ODBD, called Butterfly Single.  I stamped it twice on the same patterned paper to match, in Versafine Black Onyx.  The bottom butterfly was touched up with a little of the coral color just in the center at the body, extending out into the wing area to shade.  The top butterfly I left alone with color, but did apply some glitter to the body.  I glued the two bodies together just in the center, and manipulated the top one so that the wings would stand up some, and show the dimension of the bottom flutterby.  A little glue on the butterflies, and a paper bow with a button glued in the center finishes off this pretty card.

Supply List -

Our Daily Bread Design's stamp sets - Bloom, Butterfly Single
Our Daily Bread Design's Blushing Rose Collection
White cardstock
Versafine Black Onyx ink
Stampin' Up's classic Gumball Green and Cameo Coral ink pads
Sewing machine, pink thread
Button
Seed beaded trim
Aileen's Super Tacky Glue
tape runner
Glitter - Art Institute's #147 Pink Azalea Ultrafine Transparent

Thank you for coming to visit, and I hope you've been inspired in some small way!  See you next week!

Wish for you

Have you ever had a wish for someone and didn't know how to send it?  Hi, everyone.  I'm sure that this wishful card would delight anyone you had a good wish for.  I think it would wish someone a great day, a better tomorrow, a wish for good health, better health, a wish for healing, for comfort, for anything you can imagine.  Of course, it would be a good one to send to a girlfriend, mom, sister, aunt or even someone you've never met, but wanted to wish a good day!  Your pick!

I've been really fascinated by some of the newer Spellbinders dies, and I've used four of them here.  I'll be glad to let you know what they are if you'll just contact me.  The word, "Wish", is one of Stampin' Ups beautiful word stamps.  I've used them so many times.  I cannot for the life of me remember where I got the image of the tulips from - if you know, can you please tell me?  My mind has gone, and it's not in the last place I looked for it!

I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July weekend, and tomorrow starts a new week.  Have a great week, and I hope you'll visit again soon!  Thanks for coming.

Our Daily Bread Designs - "Goodness Rose"

Well, what a blessing it is for me to have been chosen as Our Daily Bread Designs July Guest Designer!  I was so surprised, and it felt like "a sweet kiss on the cheek from Jesus", as my friend Kaye used to say! 

It has been hard to find good quality and selection in bible verse stamps.  Our Daily Bread Designs is my "go-to" place!  I guess I'd better get to the reason I'm here - cards made using some of the newest stamps from ODBD!  For the month of five Wednesday's, I will tell you how I made the cards, then supply a complete list of ingredients.

My first is this 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card, made using white card stock as my base, then covering this with a piece of the wonderful rose cardstock in the Blushing Rose Collection.  Each sheet is gorgeous, so I'm sure whatever you pick to use will be beautiful!  I had some antique-looking ribbon trim in off-white that seemed perfect for an accent down the right side of the rose patterned paper, adhered to the back with ribbon tape prior to placing on the white cardstock base.  On a scrap piece of white cardstock, I stamped the frame from Vine Borders in pink ink, the sentiment from the Cherry Blossom set in light green, then cut out close to the edges, which I aged with a little distress ink.  I placed a pearl on each corner, and dimensional tape squares on the back. 

Inside, there are two scrap strips of the coordinating cardstock, and I stamped the "Thank You!"  from the Cherry Blossom set to the right of these, on the left side of the card.  To finish, I adhered the square sentiment to the upper left front, aligning the left edges of the cardstock pieces.  A 6" piece of scrap ribbon trim was folded in the shape as shown, and glued in place, with the rose centered on it.  An off-white pearl stickpin was placed into the center of the ribbon and pushed down until the pointed end nearly protruded from the rose and ribbon.

 

The small 1" rose is one I struggled with, trying to make my own pattern with ruffled edges on the petals.  I am pleased with how it turned out in the end.  There were 20 petals cut out of thin white cardstock, and shaded in pink and coral inks on the innermost parts of both sides of each petal, fanning out with color not quite to the outer edge.  I shaped each petal, then glued them all together, and hand-cut two leaves out of some coordinating green paper from the above cardstock collection.  If you're not into making your own flowers, a purchased rose will work just fine!










Supplies needed -

     Our Daily Bread Designs Blushing Rose Collection 
     Our Daily Bread Designs stamp set Cherry Blossom
     Our Daily Bread Designs border stamp set Vine Borders
     White cardstock, scrap of green for rose leaves
     White cardstock thinner than your card base for the rose or Purchased Rose
     Stampin' Up Pink Passion, Cameo Coral and Pear Pizzazz classic ink pads
     Pretty ribbon or trim
     Adhesive of choice - I used Aileen's Tacky Glue, dimensionals and double-sided tape

Springtime Dogwood

Hello!  In my last post on strawberries, I was talking about how good that fruit is in the springtime.  I love the flowers that bloom on the trees here in Tennessee, and the Dogwood is one of them.  There are several varieties, which makes for a rainbow of flowers!  I had a lot of fun creating this card, and I hope you like it.

 

This print of the dogwood is another I had in my stash, which I found when I found the strawberry print from last post.  Thanks to Spellbinders for some awesome die cuts which really added to the card's overall delicate feel.  I like to put one of the little punched butterflies on each of my cards. 

 

I hope this card has cheered you!  Please leave a little note in the comment section if you'd like.  I'd love to hear from you!  Best wishes to all!

 

Springtime Strawberries Look Good Enough to Eat!

Hi, Friends!  I love Springtime, and the beautiful, delicious strawberries it brings with it!  There is a strawberry farm not far from here, where one can go pick as many as desired, any size, but all delicious!  There is nothing more heavenly than to have strawberry shortcake with fresh berries layered with cake, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  This card reminds me of the farm, and the tasty berries we enjoyed a week or two ago.

 

 

The strawberries on this card are a digital print I found in my stash, and I'm sorry to say I don't know where I got it from.  The word "Spring" is from a set from Stampin' Up, and I'm sure it's been retired long ago.  The card base is Real Red from Stampin' Up, as well as the Green Galore ink used to stamp.

 

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope this post made you hungry for some fresh fruit!  Come back again!

I'm Back! And Happy Father's Day!

I hope all your guys out there had a great Father's Day.  We did more work than anything, but we didn't have any other choice. 

I really liked the way this Father's Day card turned out.  Heartfelt Creations has produced some fantastic stamps just for guys.  Those are what I don't have enough of.

The front of this card was stamped using the Heartfelt Creations World Map stamp.  I used Versafine ink in Onyx Black and colored just parts of the map with shiny colored pencils.  The continents were outlined using silver, gold and copper fine-tipped markers.  I tried it first using regular colors to make it look like a colorful globe map, but I didn't like the way it turned out.  These muted tones look so much better.  I punched a tiny slit in the fold of the 5 1/2" by 4 1/4" card where the twine tied in the Sailor's Knot would go through, so it wouldn't have so much bulk.  For Barbara Anders directions on how to make the Sailor's Knot, just click on the words.  The ends of the twine were taped on the inside left panel of the card, then covered with some pieces of cardstock from the Tradewinds matstack by DCWV. 

I don't know where I found the stamped images of the sailboat, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was Jane's stamp (the person who got me" hooked" on stamping)!  I used the muted colors again, and cut portions of the areas between the sails with a craft knife.  I mounted it with dimensional foam squares (which you can see if you look closely, shame on me), onto the compass from Heartfelt Creations Celebrate the Journey Sentiments stamp set, heat embossed in dark brown.  I applied this to the gold piece of cardstock, cut using the Spellbinders Card Creator Herloom Legacy.  (this is the way they have it spelled on the packaging)  To finish it off, I applied some self-stick copper rhinestones, and glued a shell from my stash through a few of the twine strings. 

I must say, it's good to be back after a long recuperation period!  Let's all knock on anything close by that's wood, so I don't jinx it!  After a fourth left shoulder surgery, and one on my right elbow, enough is enough, already! 

I've missed you all, and am so glad to have you visit!  Please refer my blog to a friend if you like it, and I sure do appreciate your visit!  Come back again soon!

Love to all, dear friends!

Christmas Angel

Hello, once again!  This has been a hard month for blogging and card making due to my shoulder surgery, but I will prevail!  Even with some nerve damage in my right hand (and I'm right-handed) I am still making the attempt to stamp and blog one-handed!  Nothing is gonna keep this crafter down!  It's actually part of my healing therapy!

Card layout design by Miranda

I'd love for you to leave a comment below, and become a follower of mine!  There's more creativity to come, so thanks for visiting, and I'll see you again real soon! 

Christmas in the Air, Part 2

Hi, there!  I have two more Christmas cards to share with you, made with some of the brand new Christmas stamps from Chocolate Baroque.  This first one was made using the huge 5" by 5" Big Bold Background Tangled Baubles stamp.  I re-stamped an ornament twice, cut it out, then scored the two down the middle and adhered just on the score lines to the front of the card.  On the main image, I heat embossed it in gold then shaded it with red and green glittered 3-D stamp paint.  With the addition of a gold sprig, and a few gold pearls, this card is complete.  This was a very easy card to make.

This next card is one of my favorites.  Whenever I think of Christmas, I remember that Christ the King was born, and he's royalty!  I love using purple and gold for these cards, for that reason. 

























This card was made using the Gothic Angels set, shown below.  Love it!  That lettering is fantastic!



Wishing you a wonderful Christmas in August!

Christmas in the Air, Yes, Already!

Hello, Friends!  I am so excited about the new Chocolate Baroque Christmas Stamps!  They are absolutely gorgeous!  I've combined some of the new stamps with older ones, to create a couple of cards. 

For the background on this card, I used the new Big Bold Background Holly stamp, and when I say big, I mean BIG!  These new backgrounds are a huge 5" by 5", with lots of varying surface details!  I stamped the Holly background with an olive green ink onto white cardstock, then shaded the leaves and berries with green and red 3-D stamp paint.  It's a new product that I found at a craft convention, and it's just amazing what it does!  I used a sponge dauber to apply this creamy, sparkly paint, which dries almost instantly.  I used a new die to cut the red, green and white lattice layers, and the sentiment tag.  "Yuletide Greetings" is from the new Chocolate Baroque Christmas set, Gothic Angels.  I re-stamped a few of the holly leaves, cut them out, then layered them at the bottom of the tag, with three red berries (red pearls).

This next card looks so elegant but was a very easy one to do.  Again, I used shades of teal ink, and gold 3-D stamp paint applied with a sponge dauber to create an old-timey look.  It adds such a sheen!  I used stamps from the Gothic Angels set, some printed paper, and a tree stamp from the Christmas Flourish set, shown below.  I heat embossed the larger script stamp image, and the tree in gold.

 

 

Thanks so much for taking a few moments out of your busy day to come by!  I appreciate your comments, too!