Sunday, 29 April 2012

Be Still and Know


Today's Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers is Linda (abbysmom2198) and I used Linda's lovely layout for this card using one of my favorite verses of Scripture.
The dp panels are stitched onto cardstock....this kind of layout appeals to me as it gives space to mix a couple of dp's and leaves room for a bit of nice, clean white space.
The flower is layered up with die-cuts using My Favorite Things Flower Trio and Leaf Trio Die-namics, and the verse is a Plain Jane from Verve.
The leaves, punched with a Martha Stewart leaf punch have been scored down the middle and shaped slightly with a stylus on a foam mat.
Supplies include:
Memory Box Delicate Vine die
Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles
SU Lucky Limeade carstock
Paper Mill Shop white linen cardstock
Sewing Machine
SU Lucky Limeade ink
Pearls
Echo Park Victoria Gardens dp
Woodware butterfly punch

Saturday, 28 April 2012

Chevron Butterfly


I had this negative die-cut butterfly sitting there waiting for inspiration to finish it - it came through Rosenberry Rooms, the Inspiration Challenge website at Splitcoaststampers today and I decide to add a punched flower body.  
The bg was made using the fabulous My Favorite Things Chevron Stripes Die-namics and scraps of dp.  The butterfly was cut with a Marianne Design Creatables die.  I punched some flowers, layered them and added black pearls for the butterfly body.  I added an MFT sentiment from their Pure Innocence set Because You're Special and a scored frame to finish.  
I'm needing a lot of "thinking of you" cards these days, there's so many people who are really on my mind - sickness, grieving, stress, financial and family worries.  It reminds me of the words of Jesus... 
"in this world you will have trouble."  Thankfully He also said   
"....but take heart!  I have overcome the world."
John 16:32,33
Supplies include:
Marianne Creatables Butterfly Die
Woodware small flower punch
Scoring board
Paper Mill Shop white linen, black cardstock
Memento Tuxedo Black ink


Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Vintage Postcard


Here's a card I made for the Sketch Challenge at Splitcoaststampers today - Korin gave us a great sketch which is really easy to work with.  I went for a vintage look and made the top panel quite large - this is the first time I've used Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Vintage Postcard set - it's SO much FUN, there's a lot of different images and elements you can combine, layer and play with.  
I love the vintage look - I can still remember my Grandma's attic above their garage in Vale, Oregon
(which had Grandpa's old Model T Ford in it) and I went up there once or twice, fascinated by all the old and yellowed keepsakes - it was scary thanks to wasps and spiders!
All edges have been sponged with Ranger Distress inks.
I used two copics to tone down the brightness of my coloring so that it would give a vintage hue - I find that 
E41 (more subtle) and W1 (darker) work well for this - BUT please if YOU are trying it, test it out on scrap paper first - no one wants to ruin a beautifully colored image on the last few strokes!!
I love the Bible verse underneath the Postcard title:
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Proverbs 25:25
Supplies include:
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Light of Christmas bg
Twine (Creative Expressions)
Pearls
Sewing Machine 
Copics
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Ranger Distress Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap ink
SU Baja Breeze ink

Sunday, 22 April 2012

White Roses


Here's a card I made for two challenges at Splitcoaststampers  - the Inspiration Challenge at  BHLDN (specialising in wedding things) where I was inspired by this Cape Jasmine Bottle Stopper and the Featured Stamper Challenge where I was inspired by Karen's (kthaman) beautiful card.
I used My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Rose Die-namics to make the roses from felt and their Fancy Flourish Die-namic for the greenery.  
I recently got a Marianne Design Creatables butterfly die and was told by several people that if the cardstock stuck in the fine bits of the die, to add a layer of waxed paper between the die and the cardstock.  
I can't find waxed paper readily here in the U.K. and didn't have any parchment paper either, so I tried a layer of saran wrap or cling film as it's called here in the U.K. - it worked perfectly and the cardstock slid out of the die easily all in one piece.
I used a scoring board to score lines along the edges of the sentiment strip.
Supplies include:
Marianne Design Creatables Butterfly Die LR015
Joy Craft leaf die
White felt
Scoring Board
Pearls
Versafine Black Onyx ink
SU Whisper White cardstock
SU Lucky Limeade cardstock
SU Thank You Kindly

Friday, 20 April 2012

Dress Up Diva


Here's a card using the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Club #68 sketch this week.
I had fun coloring this cute little diva from MFT's Dress Up Diva set - I have a couple of friends I could send this card to - doesn't everyone know one or two diva's and don't they make life more fun??!!
With that little strand of pearls around her neck, it just seemed right to use some pearls for embellishements!
I recently found some twine that has a creamy hue rather than stark white and I like the way it matches cream  based dp's and cardstock - it's made by Creative Expressions.
I used MFT's By the Letter Die-namics for the word DIVA - I love being able to use these die-cuts to spell a word on a card.
Supplies include:
First Edition Dream Catcher dp
Pearls
Copics
Twine (Creative Expressions)
Sewing Machine
Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Everyday Miracle

I made this card for the Sketch Challenge posted by Taylor over at Splitcoaststampers.  Masking and sponging is one of my favorite things to do, so I broke out the post-it-notes!
I cut a circle from a post-it-note with a Nestie and attached that where I wanted the sun to be, saving the whole post-it-note for later.
I cut hill shapes on a post-it-note  and used both bits for this scene - while sponging the hills I used the top bit of the post-it-note to give the hills their shape and keep the sky area covered.  While sponging the sky, I used the bottom half of the post-it-note hill shape, to keep the hill area covered from being sponged with ink. 
Then starting at the top of the hills, I attached the cloud die-cut (using Papertrey Ink's cloud die), sponging blue ink only at the top of it, starting ON the die-cut and moving off onto the panel.  I kept layering the clouds in this way randomnly, until nearly at the top of the panel - I find it achieves a better look to end with blue sponging at the top of the sky panel.
I then removed the circle shaped mask from the sky panel and attached the post-it-note that the circle was cut FROM - this allows sponging INSIDE the circle for the sun, while masking the blue sky.
The top panel is stitched and popped up and the sentiment comes from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Everyday Miracles set. 
I love this sentiment - I was reminded of it last night at our small Bible study...one of the ladies told us of a something that happened during the week which had amazed her - she almost missed it's signifigance until one of the other ladies told her she'd been woken out of her sleep to pray about it at the time - all of sudden, God's hand in it became obvious!
We tend to think of miracles as HUGE deals that would stop us in our tracks, but I'm convinced that they happen daily, and we simply don't have our eyes open a lot of the time.
Supplies include:
Marianne Creatables Bird and Branch die
Papertrey Ink cloud die
Paper Mill Shop white linen cardstock
SU Lucky Limade, Chocolate Chip cardstock
Versafine Black Onyx ink
SU Cool Caribbean, Barely Banana, Yoyo Yellow, Lucky Limeade ink
Sewing machine

Sunday, 15 April 2012

Birds of Hope

I had the pleasure of choosing the Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers this week and hostessing my first FS challenge - sweet Shellie Daniel, aka shellied, is in the spotlight this week and I chose this card HERE to CASE from her beautiful gallery.
I used a trio of sweet birds from Paper and Such using the set Song in my Heart and added a sentiment, Hope Perches Plain Jane from Verve.
The sky is sponged using a Papertrey Ink cloud die-cut after masking the birds with post-it-notes.
The pearls have been colored with a copic to try and match the shades of the ink and dp.
This verse comes to mind when I think of the word "hope"
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
I Corinthians 13:13
Hope ranks right up there with faith and love...I HOPE you're experiencing all three today!
Supplies include:
Echo Park dp
Pearls
Copics
Sewing machine
Spellbinders Nestabilities Ovals
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Papertrey Ink Cloud die
SU Cool Caribbean Ink