Bloom where you're planted

Here is the inspiration photo this week at CR84FN:

When we bought our house back in the early 1970s, it came with a red rose bush.  We have moved it so many times over the years, as our gardens have grown, and it continues to thrive no matter where it's placed.  Currently it's over on a side of our house that is out of the way, and I forget about it, but my husband, as he mows the lawn, notices it and frequently cuts off a bloom and brings it to me.  So endearing.  That's the thought I had as I made this card - a single red rose.  This will be my Valentine to him, not overly gushy, but steadfast, just like him......He probably won't get the significance, but that's okay, I do. 

Supplies: turquoise and brown cardstock, red BoBunny dotted paper, Hero Arts CG102 Antique Brocade, CL163 Always Heart, Memories Art Print Brown ink and clear embossing powder, ecru lace, red pearl heart gems

This also works for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Love is in the Air.

Pink, red and white

At the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog, the challenge is to use pink, red and white.  Here is my submission, using a tiny pink gingham ribbon from RRR:

Supplies: white, 2 shades of pink and burgundy red cardstocks, Our Daily Bread Designs 1st Corinthians stamp,  Hero Arts CL311 Valentine Flourish, Memories Port Red and spun sugar distress inks, Martha Stewart doily punch and tiny rose embellishments, Really Reasonable Ribbon pink gingham ribbon

Wee Memories sketch challenge

Wee Memories has given us a sketch as the challenge this week:

Here is my take on it:

In answer to a few questions, the flower-striped paper that I used at the top of my card is a scrap of paper from a company called Paper Adventures "k.p.kids&co"(designs by Kari Pearson), and the pattern is called Flower Garlands.  I can't be sure, but I'd guess it came from Hobby Lobby.  It's been in my stash, hardly used, so it could be several years old.  Apologies for not identifying it earlier, as it was the basis for this whole card. 

Supplies: Hero Hues carnation layering paper, October Afternoon Fly a Kite dp, Paper Adventures "Flower Garlands" dp, Hero Arts CL405 Blossom Art, CL267 Card Messages, flower button

Hero Arts Fabric Flower Pins

Now I can share the project I was working on at the beginning of the year.  Hero Arts needed lots of these fabric flower pins to hand out to their customers at the recent CHA convention in Los Angeles, and so they recruited some of their loyal followers, asking each of us to make 100 of them.  Here is my contribution - it took me a little less than 35 hours from start to finish!

Supplies: Hero Arts S5485 Many Petals, CG134 Large Flower, CG236 3 Leaves, pink and lavender printed cotton, solid green fabric for leaves, CH206 Sunshine Print Flowers, CH165 White and Cream Flowers, CH176 Spring Felt Buttons, CH148 Card Buttons Spring

It was a real thrill to see them being worn in the pictures that were shared from CHA!!  Here's a little video that Jennifer McGuire posted today on the Hero Arts Blog.

Here is a tutorial made by Sally Traidman, the "inventor" of these flower pins, if any of you would like to try them for yourself.

Penny Black's first sketch challenge

At the Penny Black Blog, Jenyfur has challenged us with a sketch for her first card challenge.

I don't have any Penny Black stamps with me here in Florida, but fortunately I did bring down a set of Penny Black stickers that I bought years ago and have never used.  It's called Hearts and Flowers.  Here is my submission, following the sketch almost exactly. 

Supplies: red and cream parchment cardstocks, Martha Stewart double loop punch, October Afternoon Thrift Shop dp, Penny Black Hearts and Flowers sticker, nesties labels four, Hero Arts CL434 Just Find Me (sentiment), fired brick distress ink, winter white seam binding, button, white twine

I think this makes a nice Valentine for a friend!  Thanks so much for visiting!

CASE study #24

I'm slowly getting back into my challenge routine; one I've been playing in most weeks is CASE Study.  Here is the inspiration card that we are to case:

Here is my take on Mercy's card:

Supplies: blue cardstock, ledger paper, passion fruit BoBunny dot paper, versafine onyx black ink, Hero Arts CL383 Antique Engravings, E5388 Traditional Butterfly, CL493 Live Life, Sizzix swiss dots embossing folder, tiny pink buttons

Shabby Tea Room challenge #46

Isn't this inspiration picture from the Shabby Tea Room wonderful?  It was chosen because most of our country is in the midst of a deep freeze, and it is a beautiful capture of winter at its loveliest.

I love the crisp white against the beautiful blue.  Here is my submission for this week"

I'm also entering this into Really Reasonable Ribbon's Heart challenge.

Supplies:  aqua and white cardstock, versamark ink and white embossing powder, Colorbox Frost White ink for flourishes, Hero Arts K5298 Blooming Heart, CG110 Flourish Background, impression obsessionCL65 Love is All Around, winter white seam binding, Hero Arts spring button

A splash of lilac

I've missed playing with the Play Date Cafe challenges!  This week it's black and white with a splash of lilac.  I have really grown to enjoy these "splash" challenges!  Here is the lovely inspiration:

And here is my submission this week:

Supplies: white, black and dotted lilac cardstock, versafine onyx black ink, Hero Arts S5341 Lace Background, K5175 Houndstooth, CG130 Butterflies, CL493 Live Life, ribbon, lavender gems, ek success scallop border punch

CR84FN challenge 12

Isn't this inspiration graphic from CR84FN a lovely one!  I was a little wary of using kraft with the pastels, but, as usual, after playing with the colors, I really like this combination!

Here is my submission for this challenge.

I'm in Florida now as a snowbird, and brought down a limited number of supplies, one of which was this vintage rose print that I printed off at home (sorry I can't remember where I snagged it).  I used that as my start, and added some pearly Core'dination Amethyst cardstock, running it through my Textile embossing folder, along with the kraft card base.  Thanks to Donna Mikasa, I ordered some winter white seam binding and dyed it with spun sugar mixed with some water to make it pale pink.  I added a doily, the sentiment and some pale pink pearls.  I think this one will be a Valentine for my parents! 

Thanks, Mona, for these lovely colors!

Supplies: kraft and Core'dinations Amethyst cardstocks, vintage rose print, paper doily, hand-dyed seam binding, spun sugar distress ink, Hero Arts CL311 Valentine Flourish (sentiment), pink heart pearls

Some pink Valentines

I'm still making Valentines.  These 2 have several things in common: the papers and the Sizzix embossed background.  I'm so glad I got this folder; it works really nice for Valentine's Day cards without being too obvious.   

This first one uses some new Hero Arts flower stamps and a doily.  The flowers were paper-pieced using my favorite ginghams and dots for both the flowers and the leaves.

Supplies: white and St. Valentino Core'dinations cardstocks, Amuse pink and green petite gingham papers (a gift from from Robin), The Paper Store Baby Girl Pink Gingham, BoBunny green gingham, BoBunny double dots Passion Fruit and Avocado designer papers, Hero Arts CL495 Blossom Art, Paper Salon sentiment, versafine onyx black ink, Sizzix embossing folder with hearts and swirls, paper doily, pink gems

And this one has very little stamping.  I used my scalloped heart nesties to make a negative image to pop above the gingham background, and then centered a smaller nestie heart in the center, also popping it up.  The papers are some of the same used above, and I added the beautiful white lace ribbon and a tiny pearl heart.

Supplies: white and St. Valentino Core'dinations cardstocks,  Amuse pink gingham, BoBunny passion fruit dot designer papers, versafine onyx black ink, Sizzix embossing folder, white crochet lace (a gift from Carole), pink pearl heart

I'm entering the first one in Wee Memories "Anything Goes" challenge this week and the second one in the Really Reasonable Ribbon's Heart Theme challenge and into the Tuesday Trigger challenge at Moxie Fab World.

It's a GIRL!!!

Just had to share my joy in learning that our second grandchild was born this morning, and she's a little girl!!!  Alma weighed in at 8 lbs.10 oz, and both Momma and baby are doing great! 

Having had 2 boys myself, a male dog, and sweet little Liam, our first grandchild, I was hoping for a girl!  Here's a rerun card, that I've already shared here, but I sure had a little girl in mind while I was making it!

Blooming Heart Valentines

As I said in my last post, I usually send out lots of Valentine cards each year, and in the past each one was completely different from the next.  But I haven't started mine yet for this year, and I'm beginning to panic, so I thought I'd try doing a design 3 times, just varying the colors and sentiments.  Here are my first 3 cards using the Hero Arts Blooming Heart stamp, and all stamped on kraft cardstock:

This first one was stamped in versamark and embossed in white, framed in black, and then added to a white card base with the sentiment stamped in black.  The skinny black and white gingham ribbon and script-stamped butterfly with a heart gem were added to finish.

Supplies: kraft, black and white cardstock, Hero Arts K5298 Blooming Heart, AR109 Heartfelt Wishes, versamark ink and white embossing powder, versafine onyx black ink, gingham ribbon, Martha Stewart butterly punch, white heart gem

This one was stamped in versamark and embossed in a pink embossing powder, then framed in pale pink parchment cardstock, punching the edge with the hearts.  The sentiment was stamped using the same embossing powder.

Supplies: kraft and pale pink parchment cardstock, Hero Arts K5298 Blooming Heart, CL301 Hugs n Hearts, versamark ink and Stamp n Stuff Blushing Pink Pastel embossing powder, Martha Stewart lacy heart edge punch

And for the final card today, the blooming heart was stamped in black ink and colored in with pink colored pencil, framed in black, attached to a pink card base and finished with my newest sentiment set and some pink gems.

Supplies: kraft, black and pink cardstock, versafine onyx black ink, Hero Arts K5298 Blooming Heart, CL493 Live Life, pink Prismacolor pencil, pale pink gems

90 Minute Scramble

At the Hero Arts flickr group, every couple of weeks we have what is called a 90-minute scramble.  The hostess posts a challenge, in this case Barb asked us to "Frame It Up", to use any kind of frame we'd like and complete our card in 90 minutes.  Here is my card for today; the wreath is my frame for the sentiment:

Since I used pink and green, I'm also entering this into The Ribbon Girl Color Challenge #4, and because of the hearts it also fits into Really Reasonable Ribbon's challenge #16: Hearts.

And also I can use this as a Valentine this year - I usually send out about 30 of them, and I'm just now starting!

Supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts CG215 Wreath of Leaves, CL310 Hugs&Kisses Heart, versamark ink, peeled paint distress and worn lipstick distress inks, clear embossing powder, Really Reasonable Ribbon pink dotty grosgrain ribbon, punched hearts

White and bright

The Shabby Tea Room challenge #45 is "White and Bright", to use white and only 1 other color.  Here is my submission:

Inspired by a card on the Hero Arts Blog by Kelly Rasmussen, I used a doily that Agata sent to me as a mask on white cardstock, and sponged on broken china distress ink to bring out the detail, then continued the sponging all around the doily image.  Then I overstamped the script in the same ink, and my sentiment in black ink.  The flowers were stamped and embossed in white on 2 different aqua/turquoise cardstocks and cut out, then popped above each other, finishing with a button.    Here is a detail to show the layers on my flower:

Supplies: white, aqua and turquoise cardstocks, broken china distress ink, versamark and white embossing powder, versafine onyx black ink, doily for masking,  Hero Arts stamps CL496 Layered Flowers, S4878 Old Letter Writing, AR130 Handwritten Sentiments, pale blue button, white twine