Bringing Home the Tree

This month at the Hero Arts Blog, one of our challenges is to make a scene.  This morning as I was looking through the newly posted cards at the Hero Arts flickr group, this card of Robin's caught my eye, one thought led to another, and memories of cutting our own Christmas tree each year came flooding back.  We did this every year of our married life, until soon after the boys left home.  We have room for a 8 or 9 foot tree, and after we no longer had their help, my DH and I just could not manage putting up a big live tree anymore, so it's been a big artificial one ever since.  I miss that fresh pine smell!  Anyway, here is my card, inspired by  Robin:

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts S5215 Clouds, soft pool shadow ink, CL464 Sending Holiday Cheer, Memento green and brown markers, versafine onyx black ink, clear embossing powder, Sizzix swiss dots embossing folder, glue pen and prisma glitter, CL478 Going, red card stock, EK Success snowflake punch

Here's a closer detail to show you the glitter along the snowbanks, and on some of the "snowflakes" (dots):

Yellow Roses in a jar

Here's the photo inspiration for the Ribbon Reel challenge this week:

I carried yellow roses at my wedding, so they are very special to me.  Nowadays I would arrange them just like this, so my card reflects that:

supplies: turquoise card base, October Afternoon "Thrift Shop" background, EK Success corner rounder, paper doily, PTI  Friendship Jar and Friendship Jar Spring Fillers, vellum sponged with tumbled glass distress ink, white card stock, Hero Arts K5056 Garden Roses, versafine onyx black ink, Hero Arts digital Flutterbies, colored pencils, JoAnn's turquoise ribbon

Flourishes Scavenger Hop

At the Flourishes Blog, they're in the midst of revealing this month's new stamps!  You should see the first 2 - scrumptious!  In order to have a chance to win the whole new release of 4 sets, their challenge is to visit several blogs and get a clue at each, then use all of the clues as a recipe for making a card - how ingenious is that?  They made it really fun!  Here is my card using the clues:

supplies: peachy pink card base, Sizzix "Swirly Vine with Hearts" embossing folder, white card stock, Spellbinders Fleur De Lis diecut, Flourishes Lenten Rose set, pink paislee  (pink) and Gertie (green) design papers, versafine onyx black ink, smallest dies from PTI's Beautiful Blooms II #1 flower dies, K&Company Handmade Gem Flowers, Recollections pastel pink pearls, thin stitched grosgrain ribbon from Sue

I used the Lenten Rose Set, and paper-pieced it, using papers from pinkpaislee's Hometown Summer (pink gingham) and My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose "Gertie" (green).  At the last minute I decided to use a die-cut flower instead of the stamped ones - I think it gives this simple card some more dimension.  I wish I had a big voluptuous ribbon, but I don't have the right color, so I used this thin grosgrain ribbon, wrapped twice around to give a little more presence.

All White.....

.......with only a colored image is the challenge at Simon Says Stamp this week.  Here is my entry:

supplies: shadow grid white cardstock, unknown C'bug or Sizzix embossing folder, Hero Arts H5426 Artist's Butterfly, CL129 Anytime Messages, CL115 Designer Butterflies, MW017 Sunshine Dual Tip Markers, versafine onyx black ink, clear embossing powder

One of my friends gave me this embossed panel (thanks, Yvonne or Carol) and I thought it was the perfect white background for this challenge.  I just added a colored and cut-out butterfly, popped up, and the stamped butterfly trail and sentiment.

Playing with Poppies

My sweet friend, "sista", little sis Virginia Lu recently went on vacation with her family to Lake Louise.  She shared with me a few pictures that her husband Dr. John took of the beautiful surroundings there, and I thought they were so lovely that I asked her if I could use one of them as an inspiration for a card. Here it is, compliments of Dr. John Lu:

 Are these Iceland Poppies?  Don't know......but they are gorgeous, aren't they?  How many variations of creams and yellows and golds and oranges are there?  So I got to playing this morning, and here was my first attempt.

supplies: white,  Core'dinations guava, Hero Arts Mandarin layering paper, F3045 Elegant Poppy, CL184 Thoughtful Messages, versafine onyx black ink, Memento Hero Hues sunshine markers, cream and green Prismacolor pencils, EK Success diamond scallop border


I used this Hero Arts stamp from 2004 called "Elegant Poppy", and colored it with markers, and colored pencils, and mounted it on Mandarin layering paper.  One of the poppies was stamped a 2nd time and popped above the panel.

Then I thought of this stamp from 2005 called Shaded Glory.....it looks enough like a poppy that I tried that next, against a distress ink sponged background.

supplies: white and cream and DCWV Green #1 card stocks, scattered straw, mustard seed, wild honey, orange marmalade, and shabby shutters distress inks,  F3254 Shaded Glory, CL156 Treasure the Moments, vintage photo distress ink  

And then I tried it using both of the stamps, since one is an outline and the other is a shadow stamp.   I followed the above example, but to finish, I overstamped the elegant poppy flowerhead only in vintage photo over the already stamped shaded glory flowers.

supplies: same as above, but using dark cream parchment as the card base and using CL497 Find Joy set as the sentiment.

It's not perfect, but I think this one is my favorite.  Of course, none of them get anywhere near to the real thing, but I had fun in the process.  I made a conscious  decision not to use any embellishments on these, and just enjoy the stamping process.

Thank you so much, Dr. John, and Virginia, for sharing these with me - it was almost as good as being there! Virginia will be sharing more of these pictures in the upcoming days, so be sure and visit her blog.

Inspired by Kathy

Today on Kathy's post, she showed us a card she made to please herself.  I liked that idea;  I think when our mojo is lagging it's a good idea to just play for no other reason than to create something that pleases us.  Kathy is known for her white dots and they do add a wonderful extra to her creations, example being the flowers in her post today.  So I decided to find a flower that I could minimally color, just to highlight it a bit, and add some white dots just like she did.  You should know by now that I love color, and particularly pastel color, so I chose the lightest shades of a few Hero Arts layering paper packs (and the lavender one from Penny Black) to stamp my flower on:

supplies: white and camel card stock, the lightest shades of each Hero Hues layering papers packs in Sea, Sunshine, Blush, and from Penny Black, Purple Mountain, and grass from the Foliage layering papers, flower from Hero Arts CL443 Good Thoughts, and sentiment from an old Archiver's/Hero set AR130 Handwritten Sentiments, Memento markers in Sea, Sunshine, Blush and Floral, and a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen, assorted buttons and thread, Sizzix Tim HOltz Caged Bird and Branch with Leaves dies, twine


Since Hero Arts makes so many coordinating items, I used their Hero Hues Memento markers to add a bit of shading on each flower, then Kathy's white dots, and centered each one with a coordinating button.    I am finally starting to get some dies; I used my most recent purchases, the Tim Holtz Caged Bird and the Sizzix Branch with Leaves to fill out my card.  Here's a detail, showing the flowers a little closer.

Dare I enter this into the Moxie Fab World's "Fanatical about Botanical" challenge?  Cath will probably say "please don't!" ........I already entered 9 other cards!  

This card will be going to Canada, to thank Nat for a package that I received from her today, as a winner in her 90-minute scramble a few weeks ago.   

Back to my pastels

The challenge at My Mind's Eye Blog is to use this sketch and primarily My Mind's Eye products:

 I am kind of new to MME; just recently found the Stella & Rose pads at Archiver's, and next door at Hobby Lobby some 12" papers from the Lost & Found Collection. I love this sage green and pastel pink combination!   Here's how I combined them:

supplies: ivory card base, generic sage green card stock, Lost & Found "Madison Ave Sisters Lace" and "Market Street Lovely Shabby Chic", Stella & Rose "Hazel" and "Gertie" pads, Sizzix Branch with Leaves, Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant die, Nesties Labels One  and classic circles dies, Hero Arts CL380 Truly Appreciated (sentiment), CH231 Woven Lace Ribbon

I used the edge of the "Lovely" paper for the tiny strip of glittered pink above my lace, and also for the center of the fleur de lis die cut.  Here is a detail:

One more botanical

I was thinking about the challenge at Moxie Fab World: Fanatical about Botanical and couldn't believe that I didn't use one of my favorite flower stamps for a card to enter.  I don't think I will ever tire of this Hero Arts Hydrangea stamp - it is one of my all-time favorites.  I usually color it blue because I've always wanted one of the blue ones in our garden.....supposedly they don't do well here in NE Ohio, so this is as close as I can get.

supplies: kraft card base, background paper: K&Company "Brenda Walton Flora & Fauna" ledger paper, Hero Arts K5376 Hydrangea, K5354 French Post, LL040 Woodland Ferns, CL490 Sending Smiles Messages, Versafine Vintage Sepia and Onyx Black inks, shabby shutters and vintage photo distress inks, Prismacolor pencils, crochet lace from Carole, blue button from my button jar, natural twine, sewing machine and thread

Kathy's Color Palette, featuring Whimsie Doodles digitals

Good morning!  Today at Lily Pad Cards our monthly challenge features some colors chosen for us by Kathy:

We got to play with some Whimsie Doodles images, and I chose one called Dig You Leah, because these colors just said "beach" to me!   Here's my card:

supplies: kraft card stock, sun and wave papers from The Dollar Tree, DCWV tone-on-tone scrap shaded with antique linen distress ink, Whimsie Doodles Dig You Leah, colored pencils, Papertrey Ink sentiment from Friendship Jar set, Versafine onyx black ink

Music and Roses

supplies: pink parchment card base, cream card stock, Memory Box "Valise" design paper, Hero Arts K5340 Silhouette Meadow Flowers, CG222 Music Background, versafine onyx black ink,  Papertrey Ink tiny tags dies and stamp and sentiment, wide pink gingham ribbon, Recollections "Boutique Fleur"

Hello blogging friends.  I seem to find myself in a little low period and nothing I make seems to please me.  I don't want to lose you, too, so today I'm sharing a card I made for the last call at Papercrafts Magazine for their January/February issue.  It didn't get chosen, so I can share it with you today; it was for the stamp kissing category.  I kissed the music background to the silhouette flower stamp before stamping.  The text background is from the Memory Box "Valise" collection, and is all about music, so I thought this was a good match for my theme.

My posts may be a little sporadic as I work through this period, but I'll at least be around once a week for the Lily Pad Card posts on Fridays.  And I'll be visiting your blogs, too, hoping that something there will spark my imagination again.  Thanks so much for all your support; I appreciate it more than you know.  Hugs!

Lavender, celery and gray

Here's the current photo inspiration at CR84FN for the next 2 weeks:

For someone who doesn't much care for purples, I certainly am getting my quota of them this week!  Still, I do like this lovely green next to the lavender.

supplies: dove gray and medium gray, K&Company papers from Susan Winget's Spring Blossom (green) and Watercolor Bouquet (lavender), Penny Black 4037K Mixed Media and Papertrey Ink Embellishments (sentiment), versafine onyx black ink, lavender and green Memento markers,Nesties labels one,  printed lavender ribbon, square button, white twine

Purples

At Jay Gee's Nook, there is a lovely photo inspiration that I thought I'd have a go at:

For whatever reason, purples are not my color, though I love purple flowers.  So I thought I'd start with this little handful of violets and see where it led me:

supplies: cream parchment, lavender, eggplant and kraft card stocks, Stampa Rosa #M59-804, Versafine Vintage Sepia ink, colored pencils, vintage sepia and tea dye distress inks, Hero Arts S5264 Antique Flower Background, CL272 All Occasion Messages, dusty concord distress ink, ivory crochet lace from Carole, lavender button and pearls, natural twine.

CAS-ual Fridays - a long tall card

CAS-ual Fridays has challenged us to make a CAS card that is 4" wide and 9" long.  Here's my entry, using a digital stamp from Jen Allyson in her Vanity Fair Persimmon set that I found it at Design House Digital.  I elongated it to fit this card before I printed it.

supplies: white card stock, digital image, watercolor pencils, Hero Arts CL491 Made with Love, versafine onyx black ink


This will work for Jay Gee Nook's challenge, using purple, the Moxie Fab World's "Fanatical About Botanical" challenge, and also Simon Says Stamp and Show's "Anything Goes" challenge.

Another quilt card

At the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog, there is a sketch challenge:

I went literal again, and made a quilt using the papers from My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose "Hattie" pad, and added in some hearts to go along with my sentiment.  I only have 3 sets of Our Daily Bread Designs stamps (and one of them is a Christmas one), so the word "Love" is the only stamp that would work on this card.

supplies: aqua and kraft card stock, My Mind's Eye "Hattie" paper pad, Paper Shapers 1 1/4" square punch, EKSuccess country heart punch, Sizzix Swirly Vines with Hearts embossing folder, Our Daily Bread Designs 1 Corinthians  stamp, Hero Arts CL272 All Occasion Messages, Versafine Deep Lagoon ink


I'm entering this into the Simply Scrapping Crafts challenge: No Cream or White, and into the  Simon Says Stamp and Show: Anything Goes challenge.