For a Very Special Man

Here's a birthday card created for one of the most special men in the world to me - my dear Dad!  He is seventy five this month.
I used a sentiment from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Birthday Innies as it's just exactly what I wanted to say to a generous, funny, kind man of integrity who has been faithfully serving his God, family, church, community and country his entire life.
 I think that I'm most thankful for the example of the
 Father heart of God which he has shown to me.
I'm always looking for inspiration to create masculine cards and one of my favorite sets for this is Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Landscape Silhouettes.
To make this scene, I used a bit of masking with post-it-notes to create several layers.

Keeping the sun masked, I gave it all a quick spray with Dylusions Black Marble ink - afterwards I wondered if the result looked more like the view from his pickup windshield on the muddy drive back from a fishing trip in the back of beyond - but it's fun to experiment, right?

The inks which I used are:
Stampin Up Cool Caribbean, Night of Navy, Lucky Limeade, Barely Banana
Colorbox Black Licorice
Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

Dahlia Blessings

A card made for the Featured Stamper Challenge at Splitcoaststampers this past week honouring Marie-alice, aka ladybug91743 - HERE is the lovely card which inspired me from her gallery.

I used a stencil with SU's Cool Caribbean to create the background.  The flower image and sentiment are from Flourishes Dahlias - during the past few years dahlia's have become my favourite flower and I've found this set very appealing, the images being so much fun to colour. 

 I finished off by adding some turquoise sequins which I removed from a top in my wardrobe - 

I'm just not a sequin type of person when it comes to clothing, but it's a different story when it comes to cards!

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

It Has a Song

Another card in pink for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges at Splitcoaststampers, this time the challenge was to make a card with inspiring words.  I love this sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Happy Trails.  It reminds me that in the middle of life's confusion and troubles, we may not have answers to our questions, but we can always be who God has created us to be, and that brings it's own kind of joy.  

I used a stencil (Stampasaurus) to sponge the background in Stampin Up's Blushing Bride and then added the stamped birds (Memory Box)  I finished the left branch with a black marker as it didn't reach across the card.  The little pink daisies were created with Woodware punches and I used Ranger Enamel Accents for the finishing touches - I love how easy it is to give a "pearl" or "enamel dot" effect with this stuff!  (It also comes in white.)
Whatever your weekend holds, I hope it's a good one - thanks for stopping by today!

SNSS Design Team Favorites - Vintage Postcard

Hello!  This month the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Design Team are highlighting our favorite sets - Korin asked us each to design something with one of our favourite sets and those sets are 20% off until October 10th!

 I had a hard time choosing but I went for a set I reach for time and time again, Vintage Postcard.  Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I went for shades of pink with this creation stamping with SU's Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink.  I also used Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Heart Dies and the Pennants and More Dies (postage stamp) to create a little collage in the corner before finishing off the card with twine and a heart charm.  

I was trying to maintain a little bit of clean space even with a lot going on in the corner, so I hope that works!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and don't forget to check out the other Design Team Favorites, some of them just might end up being YOUR favourites too!

Flourishes October Beautiful World Tour

Hello and welcome to your stop in Belfast, Northern Ireland for the
 Flourishes October Beautiful World Tour!
We're so glad you've joined us!  I know you'll be inspired by the creations this month and don't forget that you are in with an opportunity to win a beautiful Flourishes stamp set simply by commenting on each of the designers blogs by the end of October!

If you're hopping along and have arrived from the Flourishes blog, you're in just the right place.
 If you've just stumbled across the hop here on my blog and want to check out all the BWT creations, you can start at the beginning right HERE.
This month our hostess is Dina Kowal and the challenge is 
MONOCHROME.

 Using the fabulous Flourishes set Dahlias, I coloured just one
 flower in the image to give a pop of pink and  added a touch of shading to the rest of the image.
I absolutely LOVE dahlias so this set is one of my favourites!
 Here's a photo my son took last month in the formal gardens of Mountstewart Estate on the Ard's
Peninsula here in Northern Ireland.  It's fun to be able to choose deep, rich colours when colouring these beautiful flowers, but because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I chose pink as my one colour to combine with the black and white.

I added some Ranger Enamel Accents, a bow, and a paper button as finishing touches!.
It's time to head over  to visit Meredith's blog A Delightful Waste of Time in beautiful British Columbia!
Thanks so much for stopping by, enjoy the rest of the hop!

Butterfly Hope

It's Hope You Can Cling To time over at Splitcoaststampers, a card drive to benefit the staff, patients, and even the patients families, at the MD Anderson Center in Texas.  I'm hosting a challenge called PINKterest, giving the participants 6 photos on a PINK theme from Pinterest to inspire a card creation.  Here is the photo I chose to inspire my card.

 I sponged the bg using Stampin Up's Orchid Opulence, Pink Passion, and Melon Mambo ink, adding several layers to build up a strong colour.

Instead of a scenery silhouette, I went for a butterfly - it's cut with a Cheery Lynn Designs die, and finished off with a matching button and black twine.

The sentiment is by Taylored Expressions, it's from a set I won by participating in HYCCT back in 2011!

Yes, not only can you help lift the spirits of women battling breast cancer by participating, but you can also be eligible to win some fabulous prizes from some very generous sponsoring companies. 

 It's not to late to join us, so find out all the details HERE!