MagentaStyle Challenge - Spring Card

Just a quick post to enter my card in the Magenta Spring Card challenge.  Today is the last day.  You can check out the challenge and Magenta's fabulous new lines here at http://lestylemagenta.blogspot.ca/2014/03/defi-magenta-mars-2014-march-2014.html .

Here is my card for the challenge

The stamped panel was stamped on watercolor paper with Magents's C0418.  I warercolored it with Distress Inks in bundled sage and frayed burlap.  The background was a stencil and I sponged the same two inks through the stencil for the pattern.  I dyed the white seam binding with the inks so that it would match perfectly.  The Thank You is a Magenta Peel Off, which I colored with the Peel Off markers before placing it on the card.

I am looking forward to seeing some green leaves on our trees soon.  In the meantime, I will stamp spring!

Blessings,

lynda

Blessing of The Heart Card For a Friend

Just a quick post to get this card up.  Busy Saturday here.  Lots of chores and errands to do, then Mass followed by our St. Pat's party at church.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Blessings,
lynda

Tulip Card

A quick post tonight to get the second card from Sunday's watercolor fest (see previous post).  I entered this card in the Mojo Monday sketch challenge at http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2014/03/mojo-monday-337.html .

Here's the sketch....

Here is my card....

I still have lots of the watercolor pieces left, so stop back later in the week and I will post the rest of the cards I make from them.

See you soon!

Blessings,

lynda

Watercolor Tiptoe Through The Tulips

I had my blog post all written, and somehow wiped it out, so her I go again.  I played with my Tim Holtz Distress Inks today with watercolor paper and Hero Arts stamps.  I started by spritzing the paper with water until it was wet but not dripping.   On some of these panels, the ones with the yellow and pink colored background, I created that effect by dabbing my ink pads on my craft mat, spritzing the craft mat with water until the ink blotches were very wet, then placed the blank watercolor card panel into the ink on the mat.  Next, I inked up the tulip stamp, spritzed it lightly, and stamped it onto the wet paper.  This created those fuzzy, faded tulips in the background.  I dried the paper with my heat tool, and when dry, I inked up the stamp again, spritzed the stamp this time, lightly, and stamped it over the others on the dry watercolor paper.  I added some ferns, and created splatters by dabbing my ink pads on my craft mat, then adding water and dipping my water brush into the ink and water, then flicking the color onto the card panels. 

And here is my first card:

Stop back tomorrow for more ideas from this watercolor session.

Blessings,

lynda

Sunshine Wishes

I'm getting my purple fix tonight with this card.  Penny Black stamps #3122 Sunshine and #3657 Wishes.....

I used several other PB stamps in the background, as well.  I had removed these from their blocks, so do not know the names and numbers.  

Inks are Tim Holtz Distress inks.  I inked the flower with milled lavender and dusty concord, crushed olive and forest moss, spritzed with water and stamped.  A little background stamping, a little distressing and I'm finished.

How you enjoyed your weekend.  Now I'm off to get things ready for work tomorrow.  Morning starts early.

Blessings, 

lynda

A Friend Inspires The Soul To Blossom Watercolor Card

I promised I would be back today with a card.  This was made for a wonderful friend, and now that she has received it, I can post it.  It is another card from the blue and green warercolored paper I made a few days ago.  Hope you enjoy it.  

Be sure to stop back tomorrow when I will have some finished cards from yesterday and today's stamping times!

Blessings,

lynda

Hope...a card from the heart

My card today sort of evolved as I stamped and colored and tried to make sense of and get control of my feelings.  It has been a difficult couple of weeks, with the devastating news of a dear friend's stage four endometrial cancer.  

I have known our dear Jackie for three years.  She was the cook/housekeeper at our church, where I am the secretary.  Jackie worked every Wednesday, and spent some time between chores in my office.  We joked that she was coming to confession when she sat in the chair in front of my desk.  We laughed together, we cried, we talked about everything and nothing.  She made me smile...she made everyone smile.  Her sassy countenance was a refreshing divergence from the every day frustrations our jobs brought.  I could feel myself perk up just knowing it was Wednesday and Jackie would be in.  

As I worked, Jackie's personality wiggled its way into my composition.  I chose yellow...vibrant, fun, soothing, promising in its playful hues.  Yellow is the color I choose to ascribe to Jackie....her kind smile and playful laugh that drew you in; her pride and joy when she spoke of her grandchildren, her nurturing yet straightforward nature....yes, it must be yellow.   Bright and full of life and joy and energy...and just a hint of irreverence.

When our pastor moved to another parish, it meant we no longer needed a housekeeper, so Jackie moved on to another parish.  But she stopped in now and then, and we kept in touch.  She met some of us for lunch regularly, and we always had the loudest table in the restaurant with all of us laughing at her outlandish stories.  

All too quickly, Jackie's visits became less frequent.  It was difficult to reach her by phone, and she missed a couple of our lunches.   And then the news.  Cruel.  Fragmented.  Cold.  Devastating.  And now the words no one wants to say, or hear, but must be talked about.....metasticized, chemo, surgery, hospice.  

Hence the word that emerged on my artwork....Hope.  Hope, because Jackie is a gift to each of us whose lives she has touched.  Hope, because even in sickness Jackie talks about life, and how good hers has been.   Hope, because hope keeps us going and gives us strength to be there for Jackie in whatever way she needs us to be.

I ask you for a favor today....please whisper a prayer for Jackie.  And every time you see yellow this week, smile and send another prayer on its way....for her, and for those who love her and are walking with her through this valley.   

Thank you.

lynda

Stamping and Zentangles....who knew?

I promised another post today, so here goes.  I'm ahead of schedule wih dinner, as what I thought was chicken that I took from the freezer was a ham bone.  So, I threw that baby into a pot and cooked it to make a yummy stock, and put it into the crock pot with some onions, Garlic, veges, beans, yadda, yadda and it's cooking while I'm happily going about my business.  Gotta say, the smell is making me crazy hungry for ham bone soup.  But it will be great to have dinner ready whenever we want to eat tonight.  I love, love, love my crock pot.

Now, on to two more cards I made yesterday:

Can you tell I was on a quest?  I had warercolored some textures cardstock and thought I would make as many themed cards as I could with it, the same colors, and the same blue and green fiber.   I also wanted to experiment with joining my doodles and Zentangles with my rubber stamps.

On the first card, the background is a Hero Arts stamp, with some Penny Black stamps, and that lovely Printworks verse.  The second card features Hero Arts background Penny black background and border, and the same fibers.  

Both cards are stamped and warercolored with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  The funky plant is a Zentangle drawn by me, hence why it looks different on both cards.   I love the way it stands out against the warercolored background.  Think I'm onto something here!

Hope you get some time to play this weekend!

Blessings,

lynda

Our Daily Bread Designs Card Challenge

This is my second post today, and is a card for Our Daily Bread Designs "create a shaped card"    http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/odbdslc192-shaped-card.html .  It could be any shape, but no straight edges.  This cars is for a dear friend who needs some encouragement.  This scripture from Psalm 91:2 seemed to be perfect.

Here is my card:

I used textured card stock.  Stamped and water colored with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in bundled sage, broken china and tumbled glass.

Thank you for visiting.

Blessings, 

lynda

Mojo Monday Challenge Card

I took a vacation day today and stayed home and played in my craft room ALL day!  I had such a wonderful time, just making cards and playing with my stamps, inks and zentangles!  This post is for the Mojo Monday challenge #334 Tall & Skinny  http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2014/02/mojo-monday-334.html .  

Here is the sketch.  The link above will take you to the MM blog and the rules.  

I needed a sympathy card, so pulled out some of my Penny Black stamps and the MM sketch, and went to work.  Here is my card: 

I used some textured card stock from my stash.  The butterfly and background stamps are Penny Black.  The phrase is from Gina K. designs Fanciful Tags set.  I used Tim Holtz distress inks bundled sage, broken china, and tumbled glass.  The butterfly was stamped, then water colored using distress ink.

Hop on over to check out some of the other submissions for the Mojo Monday challenge.  Better yet, why not join!

Blessings, lynda

Happy Valentine's Day Card

Well, so much for keeping it simple.  When it comes to hearts and soft pink and cream, simple just doesn't work for me.  This card did start out that way, but somewhere along the creative process it started begging for lace.  And pearls.  And flowers.  You get the idea!  I gave in and this became my Valentine card for my favorite guy...now to make one for my hubby!   Just kidding, of course this is for him.

The background stamp is from Stampin Up, hearts are Spellbinders dies embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Valentine verse from My Sentiments Exactly.

There you have it.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

lynda 

Soft Green and Mauve Cards

I love this color combination.  These Anna Griffin stamps work so well with his combination, don't you think?  The Anna Griffin background paper completes the vintage look I was going for.  

I couldn't  find the right green ribbon, so I made my own from seam binding and ink.  Check out his link to learn how to do this 

http://www.paperartscafe.blogspot.com/2011/02/technique-tuesday-crinkled-ribbon-for.html

I also used Anna Griffin embossing folders for the mauve piece behind the image panels.  I just sponged some ink over the embossing to make it show up a little more.

I hope you are keeping warm and cozy during these fiercely cold winter days and nights.  Spending time in my craft room with my stamps, papers and inks always gets me warmed up!

God bless!

lynda

Stamping Crop Project

Just want to share how much fun we had at our stamping ministry crop Saturday!  We each took turns "teaching" a project.  All of the projects were fun and we all learned some new ideas and techniques.  Here are some cards using my napkin technique:

I promised to put my project directions and card pictures on the blog, so here it is.  This is not a new technique, but I thought it would be fun to revisit it.  You need an iron and ironing board, some pretty napkins, plastic wrap, card stock, and large pieces of scrap paper.  

Just place a large piece of newsprint or scrap paper on the ironing board, then your card panel, then a piece of plastic wrap a little larger than the card panel, then the napkin (be sure to use only the top ply...most napkins have two plys, some have three).  Finally placa another piece of newsprint on top of this sandwich and press with a medium hot iron, no steam, for a few seconds till thelastic wrap melts and the napkin adheres to he card stock.  When cool, trim off excess napkin from the panel, and finish your card.

You will notice from my pictures that I ran some of my finished napkin panels through the cuttlebug with an embossing folder to give it some texture!

It's easy, and fun.  Let me know if you try it!

lynda

Fun card challenge

I just discovered a new to me challenge blog, http://fusioncardchallenge.blogspot.com.  This is the challenge sketch I modeled my card after...I used both the sketch and the idea of the photo.  Instead of coffee I used cupcakes, however!

It was a fun card.  I am doing short creative stints in my craft room, as I'm recouperating from 

Kidney stone surgery and I tire easily and still hurt.

Here is my take on the challenge...

Stop by and check them out!

Blessings,

lynda

Fall Card with Adirondack Ink Pads

I love using my Adirondack ink pads.  The colors are rich and earthy, and just perfect for making fall cards.  When I saw this challenge on the Our Daily Bread blog (Ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com)I knew just what stamp I wanted to use.  This butterfly stamp is a favorite of mine from the ODB line, and I usually make lots of spring cards with it.  I have had it in my mind for a while now to try it with fall colors.

I inked the stamp using just the corners of my Ink pads, adding colors from several different color pads.  This is an inking technique quite often.  I start with the lightest color and tap it one one area, then a darker color to another area, and so on, working to the darkest color.

After the stamp was all inked up, I breathed on it, stamped it, and immediately added clear embossing powder.  You can't tell from the photo, but the embossing really adds shine and depth.  I sponged the tile with the image on it to soften the cream.

I used this sketch from the Mojo Monday sketch challenge at Mojomonday.blogspot.com:

Stop by the Our Daily Bread and Mojo Monday blogs to see all the creative cards from these challenges.

On a personal note, I have been trying to pass a kidney stone since Friday, when a ct scan showed that it had moved from my kidney to my urethra.  Feeling pretty lousy all weekend with considerable pain most of the time.  I'm trying lots and lots of water and juice with lemon.  I read that lemon helps break down the stone, which I'm very interested on doing, as its a 7 mm stone.  I want that bad boy out.  I'd would very much appreciate your prayers please!

Blessings,

lynda

Tulip card

I saw these papers in my stash, and just had to use them.  Pawing through a bunch of stamped and dry embossed images I have in a box, I came across this tulip I had embossed a long while ago.  The colors I used on it made it the perfect accent for these papers and my card.  

Here's the result of that paper/image marriage:

The green is just the background, not part of the card.  I love the sheer ribbon and bow, and the tiny pearls.

Hope you're enjoying this gorgeous fall weather!

Blessings,

lynda

Fall Card Making Day

I spent this lovely day playing in my friend's craft room.  We pulled out some of our fall stamps and tried some techniques.  We had a great day of stamping, with inspiration, creativity, laughs, and fellowship.

We each made a card for the Mojo Monday blog challenge.  Here is my card for this week's sketch challenge:

I used her leaf die cut, then white embossed the fall words on the maple leaf.  Then I sponged Adirondack inks over the embossed words, and assembled the card.

This is the Mojo Monday blog challenge sketch:

Be sure to stop by and check out all the outstanding entries!

Blessings,

lynda

Zebra Card - Great One For The Guys!

I needed some cards for our card ministry at church that could be sent to guys, and noticed our stash was short. I decided I would whip up a couple, so I would have them for the next shut-in mailing. I resorted to one of my favorite color combos....black, white, and lime green. I love the crispness and drama of these colors together.

Stop back soon!

Blessings, lynda

A Thought Away Card

It's back to coral for this springy card! I seem to be using a lot of this color lately. Just a simple card with some stamping, a punch (EK Success) for the phrase ( Stampin Up), ansome dies, embossing folder, and, of course, some sweet little pearls...just so you know it's from me. Tee-hee.

This /'$&@/:~<£ fibromyalgia is really acting up today. We're celebrating Dans birthday with the kids today, so the little ones will keep me occupied!

Think spring!

Blessings,
lynda

Thinking of you card

I needed a masculine card for a coworker who is in the hospital. This was a bit of a challenge,as I am a 'no frills barred' kind of gal. I love to glam it up. I actually made this card twice....the first version is the same except it the other one has a bow and silkier ribbon, instead of a knot and this interesting ribbed ribbon.  This version is a tad more manly,I think. I had to hold myself back from adding more,but I am happy with it.

For the embossing on the right edge, I used a Cuttlebug narrow embossing template. I sponged some forest moss distress along the design to highlight it. The tree stamp is one of my old favorites from Magenta.

We're off to celebrate hubbie's birthday....but first I have to finish HIS card.

Till next time...blessings,
lynda