Kraft, Black & Gold--for Christmas

I love using gold in my projects & wanted to ink up my new Penny Black Peace on Earth (40-256) stamp. Not sure I've ever used so much black on a Christmas card, but I think it works.  The star & baby Jesus are colored with a gold gel pen & then Stickles is added to the baby as well as the dots.  The window is made with Spellbinders Labels 2.  I masked the other 2 words so I could stamp "Peace" in Delicata Golden Glitz from this older Penny Black stamp called Happiness (3000F). Thin gold ribbon & dots finish it off. I'm entering the All That Glitters Is Gold challenge in the Moxie Fab World and Anything Goes at Simon Says.

Wet & windy all day--glad I didn't have to drive anywhere.  Wishing you a great week & thanks for your visit. 

Outside the Box--for Me

I admit it--I'm one of the printed paper hoarders.  My friend Linda gave me a gift bag when I met her during my Indy trip & one of the items was MME The Sweetest Thing paper pad. It inspired me to make a card just using the papers & a sentiment stamp from the MFT Thankful Leaves set. I have to say it was fun & I do really like how it turned out using the current MFT weekly sketch. All the edges were inked with old paper Distress Ink. I trimmed out the piece with the flowers & used my black glaze pen to highlight the flower stamens, a gold gel pen on the gold flowers & the clear star pen on the blue flower centers.  The "Thanks" stamp fit on the piece stamped in Memento Espresso Truffle (matched the stems) & I added 3 tiny dots with the gold pen. I mounted the top piece with foam tape & tied on some hemp. 

Windy & rainy here--glad I'm at home watching football!  Hope you have a good weekend, whatever the weather, & thanks so much for coming by.

  

Back Home & PTI Blog Hop

I had a wonderful week visiting my cousin & his family in Indy. His wife planned lots of activities to keep us busy while he was at work. On Saturday the rain & humidity were gone & a group of us took the Segway tour along the canal downtown.  Oh what fun & I actually had no trouble maneuvering the Segway! From there I had the special treat of meeting my friend, Linda. We connected in July 2010 when she saw my layout of Indy pictures & we've been friends ever since. 

Turned out Joy O., Kathy W. & Deborah N. were at her house for a crafting party, so I met all of them! There's a picture in Linda's photostream.

It was a long day of travel, but I had seen the PTI Blog Hop theme while waiting for my connecting plane in Minneapolis (I waved to Barb & Linda W.) so had an idea of what I wanted to do. A week of no cardmaking had me in withdrawl, so before bed I made my card. 

I used a cardstock circle frame for the base to glue on die cut felt leaves from PTI's set The Sweet Life. I used spray adhesive to attach the burlap to a square of kraft cardstock which was then mounted to the card front & the wreath was attached with foam tape. The sentiment which expresses my feelings to my dear cousin & his wife is from PTI Lovely Leaves.

Lots of catching up to do, so I'll be visiting you soon. Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the hop!

Edited to add: I'm entering my Autumn card in the Penny Black & More challenge. Edited to add: I'm also entering the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

My Turn to Travel

Very early in the morning hubby takes me to the airport & I'm off to see my Indiana family--the only ones left on my Dad's side of the family.  My cousin's wife has scheduled fun activities for the whole time I'm there.  If everything works out, I'll also get to meet some card-making friends in person--always such a treat! I won't have much computer time, so hope you understand when I don't visit you for awhile.

Here are the last of the Penny Black Color Challenges cards my sister & I made.  Laurie's Day 4 card uses an Impression Obsession tree die & a Penny Black sentiment from "in a pear tree", 30-035.  I stamped & trimmed the flag for her & she sponged the snow & did everything else.  Hard to tell, but she added Shimmer Spritz to the tree & the snow.

Laurie's Card

My card is for Day 5.  I stamped "melle papillon", 4300K in Delicata Golden Glitz.  I purposely used the Spellbinder Lacy Circle die so her dress would go past the circle. The butterflies were very lightly colored with a Faber-Castell colored pencil & her hair was lightly watercolored with Memento ink. The labels die is a Spellbinder & the embossing folder is Cuttlebug.  Thanks for all your sweet comments & you will hear from me when I get home.

Greta's Card

Goodbye to Sis

What fun Laurie & I had spending a week together! It went fast as I knew it would.  Flights worked out so that we picked up hubby returning from his genealogy research in Iowa, had him take a quick picture of the two of us and then said goodbye to Laurie as she headed home to a waiting hubby & puppy dog. It had been a year since we'd seen each other & we determined it will never be longer than that.  We weren't close as kids--being the oldest I was more a second mom to my brother & sister--but as adults we are truly friends & understand how special family is.  

We were finishing up cards until time to head for the airport.  Here are 2 more we made for the Penny Black Color Challenges.  Laurie's card is for Day 5 & mine is Day 4.  Fortunately, the rules say shades of the given colors are allowed. 

Greta's Card

My background piece is made by stamping Penny Black's "peacock feather", 40-203, in Ultimate Metallic Champagne on textured ivory paper saved from a store bought card.  Then I dry embossed it,sponged Memento Peanut Brittle on the edges & added the lace. Sue has me at least thinking about dry embossing every stamped image & so far I've loved it each time. Penny Black's dies "delicate wings", 51-010, were cut from 2 shades of green cardstock.  An additional body was cut & wrapped with gold floss.  
The open areas have Glossy Accents & then the entire butterfly is misted with Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold. Happy Birthday, 2912D, is an older Penny Black wood stamp that I frequently end up using.  The 3 green gems were colored with a COPIC to match.

Laurie's Card

Laurie used another Penny Black sticker she said reminded her of the 2 of us as kids except she always wore blue & I wore red. 











Thanks so much for taking time to check out my blog.  
I always love hearing from you.  Enjoy the rest of your week.

Christmas Card in Non-traditional Colors

I enjoyed the PTI MIM video showing striped heat embossing.  I don't have a large enough PTI sentiment, so decided to give it a try with this nativity scene from Star of Wonder. I used 3 Zing! embossing powders.  The die cuts are PTI Mat Stack 3 & I die cut a circle in the top one to make a window.  The scripture is one of the stamps in the same set.  Had to work today & then we watched football & then I finished this card, so it's very late & I'll keep the post short.  Thanks for stopping by.

Penny Black Color Challenges

I'm a bit late, but in case you've missed it, check out the Penny Black blog this week. There's a new color combo challenge each day & you have until Sept. 27th to play along.

My sister & I are having a great time (no men around to keep happy--LOL!)  Laurie only crafts when she's with me, & that's a shame as you will see by her beautiful card I'm sharing.

We pulled out some old Penny Black stickers & got to work.  Laurie took the Day 1 color combo.  She was able to change the green on the ornament by using glitter.  Love the layers she chose & the one rounded corner--& of course, the dots of Stickles & a pearl. The panel is mounted with foam tape.

My Sister's Card 

I decided to make a Valentine's Day card & began by cutting out the flowers from one sticker & layering it on my other one. (It's always great to buy 2 of a sticker sheet so you have this option.) I added Antique Linen stickles as the color combo I'm using is from Day 2. I also used a COPIC marker to change the stems to a shade of the blue we're to use & hopefully that's close enough--LOL! My sentiment is from Penny Black's "butterfly symphony", 30-148, clear set.  Love the row of hearts sticker--fun & easy to use.

Greta's Card

Thanks for stopping by. Off to tackle some of the other color combos--hope you'll join in! (Sorry about the formatting--can't figure out Blogger!)

Sister Time

Sorry I haven't gotten to all your blogs, but I'm working on it.  My nephew picked my sister up at the airport & then I brought her to my house.  It was fun to see my nephew & his family--babies grow up so fast!  Monday was a scheduled work day, but they didn't need me, so after an hour I got to go home.  This morning we left home at 4am to take hubby to the airport for another trip researching his maternal grandparents & now it's really "sister week!"  We started off making cards--surprise, surprise! Mine is for the Impression Obsession die challenge.  Since I own one IO die, I started by die cutting the Solid Tree die, DIE006-V, with thin cardboard & cardstock I inked with 3 brown shades.  I glued them together to make my own thin chipboard.  I masked a small area & inked it with 3 Distress Inks for the background.  
The sentiment is Marvelous, C5171. I distressed & softly inked the edges & then popped up the panel on my card. 

Laurie has an anniversary coming up, so decided to make a card for her hubby. They just finished re-doing the backyard which involved moving tons of rocks & laying stones.  One of her favorite things is the glide rocker. I'm telling you all this so you understand why she immediately picked this MFT sentiment stamp. I didn't have any paper or stamps or embossing folders with rocks, but then she realized she had a picture on her camera. 

Card My Sister Made

I found a Spellbinder that worked to make the frame she wanted & she put together this clever card.  
I know her hubby will love it!

I do appreciate all the comments & I will get around to see you soon.  PS--Laurie says to tell you hi, Sue.

Edited to add: I'm entering my card in the challenge at Penny Black & More.

Autumn Greetings

It's time for another DeNami Blog Hop & today's theme is Krazy for Kraft. The entire line-up & details on prizes can be found on the DeNami Blog.  You should have arrived by way of Andrea's Blog where I know you found wonderful inspiration! There's still lots to see so I'll get right to my card.  I knew I wanted to use Elegant Autumn Scene which I ordered with my gift certificate when my blog was drawn during a previous hop.  I began with various colors of Gelatos blended with my finger on watercolor paper.  Then I spread some Gesso in areas & let it dry.  After stamping the image which includes the greeting, I die cut the piece & dry embossed it.  The leaves & stems were colored with metallic markers & then more Gesso was applied to soften the colors. I attached my die cut to another one cut from thin cardboard to make it a bit thicker & stiffer.  The piece was spritzed with Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold & finished off with gems, gold cord & a little flower.  The card is die cut from kraft cardstock with some Gesso smeared on before spritzing with Tattered Angels.  
Now off you go to see what terrific ideas Thia's Blog has for you.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be in the running for prizes & enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Week in Review

We had our last day at Detroit Lake & the boat is now back in the garage.  Hubby got in the water, but the air temps were a bit chilly with the wind, so I just enjoyed riding in the boat.

We also celebrated our 34th anniversary. The card he gave me said "I love being in the same boat with you." Pretty sweet (& appropriate!), huh? 

An incredible storm with thunder, lightening & heavy rain reminding me of a summer with my grandma in Indiana hit while I was at work. My desk is next to the window & wow--it looked like the lightening was right there!

This week was my last chance to get ready for my sister's visit.  The guest room is also one of my craft storage rooms.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I even had the bed covered. Don't worry--I won't show you--even I couldn't bear to photograph that disaster--LOL! Happily, I did manage to uncover the bed & organize the storage bins/boxes so she can use the room. Hubby is still recovering from the shock!

Last night after work (not a fun day) I was really ready to make a card & this time I did a small one (3x3 3/4) for the PTI MIM challenge using fabric stabilizer (I used Wonder-Under) for fabric diecuts.  It was fun to find a few old fabric scraps I'd kept. This one was just what I had in mind for the Trendy Tree Tops die.  I attached the fabric die cut to another one I did from thin cardboard.  The cardboard heart was covered with gold Stickles & put back into place.  I used green felt for the trunk & did stamp it in green with the matching stamp before attaching it with foam tape.  "Thanks" is from the same stamp set.  

I love this thin brown velvet ribbon & it was just right for the look I wanted. The edges are distressed & the card is finished off with 3 tiny gold dot stickers. 

Off to do the final house cleaning. Thanks for your visit & I hope to see you again tomorrow for the DeNami Blog Hop--got that card done early. Enjoy your weekend.

  

Less is More with Penny Black

Penny Black is playing along with the Less Is More challenge this week, so I joined my Stamp Squad sisters (Judy, Penny, Rosemary & Lin) and came up with this CAS card in Fall colors.  I used Penny Black's "berry wreath" (4200K)--a stamp I was immediately drawn to the first time I saw it.  I colored directly on the stamp with Distress Markers bundled sage, barn door, spiced marmalade, dried marigold & fired brick.  Did you know these markers do not cross contaminate--no idea how that is possible!  Anyway, after inking, I spritzed & stamped on watercolor paper.  I die cut it with a Spellbinders circle, glued it to one corner & trimmed it even with the edges of the panel. After doing the same thing with what was left to the opposite panel corner, I used a smaller circle die on the 2 corners.  This stamp is beautiful with Stickles added to the dots, but you then loose the watercolor effect.  The sentiment stamp is also Penny Black ("moment of joy", 4303F)--one of my favorites) & I stamped it in Versafine Vintage Sepia. The panel is mounted to a kraft card & this will probably be a Thanksgiving card to one of my on-line stamping buddies. Hope I've inspired you to play along.  All the details are on the LIM Blog.  So glad you took time to visit my blog.

Autumn Flowers

  

Here's my card for the MFT Sketch Challenge. I must be thinking Fall as I ended up with the beautiful rich colors of the season done with Distress Inks pads & markers.  The card front & the flowers are spritzed with Shimmer Spritz Gold which gives a beautiful sheen in person. I'm thinking this will work for a Thanksgiving card. The scallop border is Spellbinders & the MFT products are Vertical Greetings die & Peaceful Wildflowers stamps & dies. Gotta work on my splotches--got bigger than I intended.  

Since I included a button, I'm also entering the challenge at A Blog Named Hero. Wishing you a great week. I'll be busy getting ready for my sister's visit, but hope to make a couple cards. Thanks so much for stopping by.  

Christmas in September!

My sister is coming for a visit this month while hubby takes a trip working on his genealogy--can't wait! It also happens to be her birthday month, so this will be an early celebration.  Laurie has always been the Martha Stewart of our family & one of her specialties when it comes to baking is homemade biscotti.  She knows it's the best gift she can give me for every occasion--LOL! I saved a Pirouline tin & decorated it for Christmas. Since she gives her biscotti to other people besides me, this will be one of her birthday presents. 

These are the main products I used (feel free to ask if you have questions): Printed paper by Echo Park, American Crafts blue pearl brad, White velvet ribbon, Red sparkle ribbon, Stickles Star Dust, Distress Ink weathered wood, Spellbinders circle dies, EK Success snowflake punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Penny Black stamp set "to you" (30-067).  

I'm entering the Holiday Food & Treat Wrap Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. Thank you so much for coming by & leaving a comment. 

Friends

Inspiration by Lori Tecler

Isn't it great that we all have different taste? Some projects just don't appeal to me & others immediately grab my attention.  When I checked the current Muse challenge I couldn't take my eyes off Lori's soft, soothing & beautiful card. The monochromatic palette & layout was so appealing to me I wanted to play along. 

One of the best purchases I ever made is American Crafts Botanique printed paper I got in a close-out.  I used one of my favorite sheets along with the solid Savory harvest gold by SEI.  The coordinating Flair badges came with the paper pack & I've really been hoarding them, so this card will go to a good friend I'm sure will appreciate it--LOL!  
The sentiment is from Penny Black's eloquence set & is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa. I'm also entering the Simon Says Anything Goes challenge. 

If you don't follow my friend, Alexandra, now would be a good time to start.  Check out the fabulous Faber-Castell giveaway on her blog.


Hope you're enjoying the weekend.  Thanks so much for taking some time to visit me.