He Is Risen

I actually made this card for the ODBD No Coloring challenge several weeks ago.  At the last minute I decided the cross needed to be colored, totally forgetting that wasn't allowed.  So I saved it hoping there would be an Easter challenge & sure enough, that's the theme for the current ODBD Shining the Light Challenge.  I wrote down the products I used, but for the life of me I can't find that note.  There are a variety of inks & sprays & the Tim Holtz stencil, which I don't think I've used before.  The cross is ODBD & the sentiment is from The Craft's Meow--now out of business.  
This is my first time using the stamp set from TCM, so I'm also entering Darnell's NBUS challenge. Thank you so much for taking time to visit my blog. 
Edited to add: Also entering Anything Goes at SSS Wednesday & SSS Work It Wednesday.
Edited to Add: Entering Word Art Wednesday.

Tag Card

My friend, Martha, is known for her amazing tag cards. They have all the details & elements of a regular size card & that's not easy--at least not for me. Decided to give it a try, though, using ODBD stamps & one of the Beautiful Borders dies for the current ODBD SLC. The verse is heat embossed & I added Stickles to the wheat. Thanksgiving always sneaks up on me, so I'm glad to have another card ready to mail.  I'm also entering at SSS Wed & Pixies Snippets Playground.
I know there are hundreds of blogs & we can't read all of them, but you really should check out Martha's Creations.  Here's an example of her beautiful work--see what I mean?

Martha's Creations Tag Card

Faith Hope Love

White on white is a favorite, so when I saw it was this week's challenge at ODBD I decided to make a card & not wait until the last minute--for a change--LOL!  I recently re-read in an old stamping magazine that you add interest to an all white card by using various shades & textures.  I used 3 white card stocks--textured, regular weight & heavy weight.  I would love to add Verve products to my collection & I really like the Mojo Monday sketch. I've never entered that challenge--fun to try something new.  
ODBD Vintage Border 
Background is embossed with an old satin embossing powder, as are the Sweet William flowers. The image from Fancy Labels was embossed with white ep. The words are also from Sweet William & are stamped in Memento London Fog.  These leaf dies from 4EnScrap are really pretty cut from the textured paper. Pearls are still my favorite embellishment & are what I think of with white on white. 

I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Pixies Snippets Playground since the sentiment strip, flowers & label are from scraps.  In this case, I'm proud of myself for finally cutting into that beautiful white textured paper!  Love that you took time to come by--thank you so much.

Aqua Tulips

One of the things I've always loved about stamping is that you can make the images any color you want, so this time my tulips are aqua. There's actually a really good reason--the Viva la Verve color combo is aqua, green & brown.  I stamped & embossed 3 flowers using ODBD Tulip Corner, cut them out individually & actually colored with my Copics (BG05, BG09, G02, G07)!  This time my project didn't end up in the trash, so I'm making progress.  
My sister sent me a check for my birthday knowing I'd been wanting a particular die. This is the first card using my new Lil' Inker Stitched Rectangles, which I love! The sweet metal butterfly was picked up at the stamp store in Berkeley where my sister & I met my blogging friend, Sue, a couple years ago. Now I'm wishing I'd gotten several of them.  The metal qualifies my card for the current ODBD challenge. Volunteered to work today since I have most of 3 weeks off starting Wednesday--my "adoption leave" for being a puppy momma! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.  I'll catch up with you soon.
Edited to add: Just realized I could also enter this in Verve's Spring Has Sprung challenge.

First Easter Card

I was intrigued with Yana's video showing her technique for watercoloring with spray mists.  My spray mist collection is huge, so had to give it a try.  I used Heidi Swapp Bronzer & Tattered Angels English Ivy on watercolor paper.  I like the interesting almost grunge effect I got and, of course, the shimmer.  The current ODBD challenge is to make a shaped card, so I die cut my piece with Spellbinders Labels 17.  Then I stamped the largest image from ODBD Fancy Labels using VersaMagic Niagara Mist.  The ODBD Vine Cross is stamped in Memento Olive Grove, watercolored with the Bronzer & then stamped again in the green. The card front is spritzed with the Tattered Angels & the piece is mounted with foam tape.  Couldn't decide on any embellishments, so ended up leaving it as is.  This was an interesting experiment & I plan to try it again with other colors.  I'm also entering my card at Pixies Snippets Playground. I always get a little behind on my blog reading when I work, but I'll catch up with you soon.  So glad you took time to stop by. 

It's Been Two Years!

2 years ago today I heeded my friend Rosemary's encouragement to start my blog & I'm so glad I did. It's so much fun to share my love of cardmaking with people around the world. I've also reached the milestone of having over 100 followers--109 as of today.  I'm grateful for all of you.  I had a couple of very unexpected highlights this year:  being chosen as a member of the first Penny Black Stamp Squad & being picked as a Guest Designer for Flourishes.  To celebrate I'd like to send one of my followers a card & little gift. I'll do a random drawing on 2/26/14 from comments on this post.

Lai-Yoke's Gorgeous Card

The challenge at ODBD is to case someone you admire or a card you've wanted to case. There's a huge list of people & cards I could choose.  Lai-Yoke was the first person to ask for my address & send me a card, which she has done many times since then.  I chose to case this gorgeous Valentine now on display in my home.  She knows pink is my favorite color & we both love to use vellum.  My card is made with 3 ODBD stamp sets: Vintage Border Background, Don't Worry & Quote Collection 1. You can't tell from the picture, but the butterflies are stamped in Versamark & colored with purple & green Pearl-Ex which gives a lovely iridescent shimmer.  I have trouble using ribbons that have a design--thanks for the help, Lai-Yoke!  I don't use my Satin embossing powder very often even though I love the look.  It's perfect for the subtle background on the card front. 

My Card

The corner punch is MS & the bottom of the vellum panel is die cut with MFT wavy edge.  Love this little resin flower (added a touch of Stickles) & with it my card qualifies for the inaugural Butterfly Challenge begun by Mrs. A--one of my newest blogging friends.  Can't get the glare on the embossing out of the picture, so here's what the quote from Helen Keller says: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Thank you so much for visiting my blog.

Blessing from God

Click here for my DeNami Blog Hop card.

Down to the wire for the ODBD L-O-V-E recipe challenge.  I checked Dynamic Duos & found one of my favorite color combos: light green & soft pink.  Now I had the needed inspiration to create a card I really love.  It will be perfect for my college roommate who lives in the Midwest.  We've only seen each other a few times over the past 40 years, but I was overjoyed to get a lovely letter from her this past Christmas.  All the papers are snippets, so I'm also entering Pixies Snippets Playground.  

The stamps are ODBD Each Minute & Sweet William small.  The leaves are cut with a Penny Black die. I'm down to a small piece of this beautiful pink shimmer paper which was a great match for the flowers embossed on vellum using VersaMagic Pink Petunia. The vellum was attached over white cardstock & Liquid Pearls are added to the centers. Barely able to use the Cuttlebug embossing folder at the angle I wanted, but was able to stop just before it would have ruined the edge of the paper.  Gotta find more of this beautiful ribbon--only had a yard & it's almost gone now.  
L--layers, leaves O--ovals V--vellum E--embossing

Temps are above freezing, but socked in with no sun.  It's a good thing since we don't want 13 inches of snow to melt too quickly.  Had a wonderful treat this morning when I spotted a pair of Varied Thrush at the feeder.  Last time I had noted one was in 2008! The female flew away, but I managed to snap a picture of the male while he was in our apple tree (that's ice on the branches).  Hope you've had something nice happen today & thanks so much for stopping by.
Edited to Add: also entering Die Cut Divas, thanks to Dawn's reminder.

Beginning a New Year

I finally inked up my ODBD Mountain Range stamp to enter their current Anything Goes challenge. I love the image but hadn't come up with a way to use it until now. I embossed with brown ep, die cut with Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles & sponged with a variety of Distress Inks. The quote is from the ODBD set called Mountain & I thought it was pertinent as we begin a new year. Some of us may have goals or plans we know won't be easy & we just have to take one step at a time. You've truly blessed my life this year & I wish you a 2014 filled with peace & joy.

Not a Christmas Card

I have more Christmas cards to make, but took a break to make my ODBD Shining The Light challenge entry using dry & wet embossing. Love the Tim Holtz evergreen trees folder & it looks great used on this pretty green shimmer paper. Isn't it the perfect background for the wonderful Robert Frost quote? The stamp set is Quote Collection 1 by ODBD.  I used an old Satin Bronze embossing powder I haven't used in ages. 
You may have heard about the wintery weather in much of the United States. We woke up to snow Friday morning--the light, powdery kind.  We don't even get snow every winter & when we do it's usually dense & wet, so this is very unusual. 3-4 inches is nothing to many of you, but around here it's a big deal.  Here's a picture I snapped at a golf course 1/2 mile from our house.  Hope you're warm & enjoying the weekend.  Thanks for your visit.

Edited to Add: Also entering CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  I wasn't sure this would qualify as CAS, but doesn't hurt to enter--thanks for the suggestion, Carol.
  

Blessings

Missed the posting deadline last week, so I was determined not to wait until the last minute for my ODBD card. Didn't know how to use the sketch until I pulled out all my ODBD stamps. 

When I saw the Bird & Butterfly Labels, this idea came to me.  The image is black embossed & cut out with the coordinating Spellbinders Labels 18. Then I sponged on Distress Inks weathered wood, scattered straw & bundled sage using frayed burlap on the edges. 

The sentiment is from Sweet William-small & was black embossed on a white scrap.  The rounded end was cut with the same Nestie & the notch was done with scissors. I sponged it with the same blue & brown inks & mounted it with foam tape allowing the center to be slightly raised. The black background was a scrap piece embossed with a Cuttlebug folder & I used my crimper. Everything is adhered to a kraft card with ribbons & Enamel Dots for embellishment. I love being able to make more than spring/summer cards with this stamp set--now I have another Thanksgiving card ready to mail. I'm entering Simon Says Stamp Monday and SSS Wednesday challenges.

Hope you're getting a chance to be crafty this weekend & thanks for taking some time to visit my blog. 

Light

The CASology cue word is "black" this week.  I first thought of black cat, but didn't want to use that for a card.  My next thought was darkness & the song we sang growing up: "This Little Light of Mine." I've had the ODBD stamp set Spread Light for a long time & now I've finally used it for my very simple card.  The quote is not so simple--makes me stop & think. Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangles is used to cut the frame which I popped up over the quote which is gold embossed on ivory cardstock.  I kind of like the single black flower as the only embellishment.  

What do you think? Since I didn't use lace or ribbon, I'm entering the challenge at ODBD & the embossed sentiment makes it qualify for CAS-ual Fridays challenge. I've posted a lot of cards lately & I so appreciate that you've taken time to leave me comments.
Edited to add: ODBDSLC winner.

Do Not Worry

Inspiration Card by Virginia

I wasn't completely satisfied with the card  in my last post finished in under 10 minutes.  This post contains the final version which I'm entering into the MUSE Challenge and the ODBD Challenge (nature & a scripture.)  I used Virginia's cheerful floral inspiration card for my basic lay-out.  I didn't want to stamp my flowers quite so close together, so using a masked space for the sentiment didn't work.  Instead I die cut an oval in the panel stamped with a blossom from ODBD Sweet William-Small using Memento Grape Jelly & Lilac Posies.  The verse is from ODBD Don't Worry! & is stamped using Memento Cottage Ivy.  I made 3 changes to the card as it was at the end of 9 minutes & 23 seconds.  First I lightly colored the flowers with the same inks using a Tsukineko Fantastix. Then I added Stickles--I do love sparkle!  The last step was to carefully remove the panel from the card front, cut around the verse, add a lot more foam tape to the flower panel & then attach it over the verse onto a green panel & onto the card front.  Now that I look at pictures of both cards, there I things I like about each.  Feel free to let me know which version you prefer.  I'm happy you stopped by today.