Falling for You

The challenge at IO is to use fall colors. I need a card for a guy so made this. I started with PTI canyon clay card stock and embossed it with my score board to make a place for the sentiment and embossed the top and bottom of the piece  and sponged some walnut distress ink on top.  I cut the IO wheat in different colors and tied with a piece of string. The I stamped the IO sentiment and cut the thoughts from smoky grey card stock.


                                        
I will enter this in the IO Falling for You Challenge

Down on the Farm

I am so happy that my good friend and personal cheerleader,Donna Pheland, has joined the  Double D design team. Donna encouraged me when I first started making cards and has continued to encourage me and inspire me with her fabulous designs. But now, on to the challenge. Look at this fun-filled mood board that Diane put together for us. 

                                                           
This mood board transports me back several years to when we lived on a farm. We had the barn, the livestock, the vegetables and the flowers, but I confess I dried my clothes in a drier. I was also excited when  I saw this mood board that Diane created.  I thought,YES, I have another excuse to use my barn die. I shared on a post some time ago that I made my husband a very expensive birthday card because I bought four die sets to complete his card. He loves anything that has to do with a barn cows, farming etc, and Karen Burniston had the perfect pop-up dies for his card. I only used two of die sets for this card, but at least I am getting some use from them. For my card, I chose the barn with the sunflowers from the Mood Board.

I started with a PTI In the Woods cover plate die cut and colored the leaves and branches. I backed it with a piece of card that I had sponged with dessert sand and summer sky Memento inks 

I cut and assembled the barn and glued it to the sponged piece and then placed the tree die cut on top. I added some haystacks and pitch fork in front of the barn. Both of these dies are available at Dies R Us

          

 The sun flowers are from Melanie Muenchinger's Stately Flowers 5 which is available at Gina K Designs.  I colored them with Spectrum Noir markers and then fussy cut them. 

Now it is time to think about life on a farm and check out the brilliant inspiration from the design team at Double D Challenge Blog. The designers are looking forward to your "Down on the Farm" creations.

Dies R Us Summer Vacation

The new challenge at Dies R Us is all about summer vacations. So many of my friends and relatives love the beach so I have quite a few images and dies that focus on this theme. I decided to try a double display fancy fold cut for this card. When folded it makes a gate fold card. 

 I started by making the card base and then layering it with black and then some wood  grained panels. I used my score board and smoked hickory distress ink to get this weathered wood look. I then began to fill my panels with beach related objects. I stamped the beach scene from Our Daily Bread in black and white and also in colors. I used the black and white on the outside of the card and the colored for the inside.  Then I cut several IO dies and Cheery Lynn Fun in the Sun dies to add to the card. A list of dies I used are at the bottom of the card. This is a time consuming project, but I have a friend in mind who will love it and appreciate the time it took to make. 

Cheery Lynn Fun in the Sun

Impression Obsession Seashells

Impression Obsession Beach Chairs

Impression Obsession Single Beach Chair

Impression Obsession Palm Trees

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Snowman Shaker Card

Poppy Stamps Challenge  this month is a Shaker Card so I put this together this afternoon. For the shaker part I used some small little white balls that were called faux snow. they were so light that they scattered everywhere when I breathed on them so I had to hold my breath until I got the top panel on. Looks like one of them stuck to the snowman's nose.

 I used the following dies
 Poppy Stamps Oval Snowflake Frame
Impression Obsession Evergreen Trees
Frantic Stamper Snowman

Double D Neutral Colors

Darlene put this fun Mood Board together for this challenge over at Double D Challenge Blog. I love all the texture and dimension that you can see in the different pictures.

A while back a good friend of mine(thanks Judy) sent me a stamp of a cameo. When I was younger, I had a beautiful cameo ring that my husband bought for me, Unfortunately, it was stolen when our house was broken into many, many years ago. When I saw the stamp, I thought about that ring. 

For this card, I chose the shades of white and brown and tried to get a bit of texture and dimension in the card. 

I used Sue Wilson Dies for the background and Spellbinders for the frame. I embossed the cameo in white onto kraft and the sponged it with walnut distress ink  until it was a nice rich brown. I also sponged around the frame.  I used some leaf dies from Gina Marie and flowers from Wild Iris.  Head over to the Double D Challenge Blog and check out all the fabulous inspiration from the designers. One lucky person who links up a Neutral Colored creation will have a chance to win this prize. Good Luck!!!

Sunshine Yellow Hugs

Back to my comfort zone. The challenge this month at Memory Box is Yellow so I started with a soft yellow base that I embossed with Swiss dot embossing folder. I covered that with Memory Box Aberdeen branches the placed it in a white frame. I used a frantic stamper die cut on top of the frame to add more detail. Then I used Frantic stamper fern. Spellbinder leaves and Memory Box Tall Choloe to add some greenery for the flowers.  The banner is cheery Lynn topped with Cheery Lynn Hugs. I had a couple of Memory Box butterflies from Butterfly exhibit so I put them on the banner.  T Some flowers from Wild Iris finished my card.

I'll enter this in the following Challenges
Memory Box Yellow
Scrapy Land Anything Goes

PTI Sentiment Strip Grounding

The Challenge at PTI this week is called Sentiment Strip Grounding. I had some free time this week so I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try  a CAS card.  Lexi did such a fabulous job showing us how. Not in love with my attempt but like I said it is out of my comfort zone. I used PTI  Up and
 Away stamp and die set.

Barb's Special Birthday

I have been blessed by finding this hobby after I retired. I never would have guessed that I would get to know  and become friends with so many people who love to paper craft as much as I do. Barb Campbell  is one of the friends I met (on line of course) several years ago. This week she is celebrating a milestone birthday so I wanted to do something special for her. Barb seems to like it when I make a fancy fold card so I decided I would make her a Double Z fold card.

Blue is her favorite color so I started with some Gina K powdered blue card and cut and scored it.  You can see Dawn making a similar card Here.  I changed the height to 51/2 for my card so I had a 51/2 by 51/2 square when folded. I picked some pretty Heartfelt Creations papers in blue for my dp, but since they came from two different collections,I wanted to make them match a bit better so I sponged them with distress ink. I also cut a  slightly larger black mat for each piece. 

Next I needed to make my focal flower. I stamped the Arianna flower from Heartfelt Creations in Versamark, embossed it in  Wow white powder and then sponged it in Stormy Sky. I used two of the largest petals .

I gave them some shape with my stylist and then glued them together and sprinkled some prills in the center.

I stamped a beautiful sentiment from Heartfelt on one of my panels.

Then I create my floral spray with greenery and flowers that I keep on hand.

I finished the panels with a few other embellishments including a Cheery Lynn bird bath and some Cheery Lynn tiny flourishes,and and IO wishes sentiment.  Happy Birthday Barb. Hope your birthday is as special as you are. Go on over to Barb's blog  and check out her amazing talent and wish her a happy birthday.
                     

I will enter this in the following challenges
Wow Embpssing Powder August Challenge Flowers
Cheery Lynn Back to Nature
Simon Says Beautiful Florals
Scrapy Land

Double D I Love Polka Dots

Are you ready for another fabulous inspirational board from Diane Double D Challenge Blog This time it is all about polka dots. I have a stack of paper from PTI that has several designs using the same colors so I chose two sizes of dots.  

I cut a piece of the Swiss dot pattered card 51/2 - 41/4 and a piece of larger dotted paper 51/2 - 4. I embossed the end of the smaller piece with a Swiss dot embossing folder then cut it down the center and folded the edges back on the diagonal.  I used two Poppy Stamps Mod Flower die cuts to layer on top of the Swiss dot layer. 

                                           

Next I went to my flower box to find a flower for the card. I found this one that seemed perfect. I made it from Heartfelt Creations Arianna Blooms. I stamped the flower in versa mark and embossed with white embossing powder and colored it with distress inks. Then I shaped it and put some prills in the center.  The green leaves are from Spellbinders the white leaves are Gina Marie and I used some Sue Wilson Dandelion Clocks. My team mates have created some fabulous inspiration for you on the Double D Blog. Go take a look!!!

Dies R Us Babies Challenge

The new challenge at  Dies R Us  is Babies  (human babies or baby animals). I decided to make a card for my newest great nephew. 

I started with navy and white card and layered them. The focal image is a Die Namites die cut, and the shoe is a Tattered Lace die. Not my usual kind of card. No butterflies or flowers but the sentiment is so dynamic that you don't need much more. 

Die-Namites

Tattered Lace  I used a different boy shoe but this one is available at the store now. 

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Summer Flowers

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I made this card for the IO Challenge Hello Sunshine and Simon Says Wednesday Anything Goes

I stamped one of my favorite IO sentiments in black ink. I used my Misty so I could stamp twice to get a sharp image. I use IO bird on a branch for my background greenery a cut bird die that I colored yellow and some butterflies from their insects dies. The flowers are from Wild Iris. 

I O Products

Lg. Bird on Branch - DIE161-N

Let Your Soul - D13038

Bird die C8589  DIE003-A

                                                                Insect Die  DIE139-I

                                                        And matching stamp

                                                                D5642

Christmas in July

We have a Brand New Challenge over at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog. We also have two sponsors for this challenge. 

Kat Scrappiness

Kat stocks the products that she loves and uses as well as what her customers request.  If you don't see it in her store, feel free to contact her.  She is happy to do special orders for you! Use the special discount code when you order.

DISCOUNT CODE for The Mod Squad Challenge: MSC10

Prize

$15 Gift Card to Kat Scrappiness

Our Second Sponsor is Sparkle N Sprinkle

 Prize
Pick up to $15 worth of digital stamps from any category HERE

.Challenge 

The challenge this week is Christmas in July.

So grab your Christmas stamps and dies and get a head start on this year’s Christmas cards and qualify for a chance to win one of these wonderful prizes.

 I started my card with a red card base. I layered that with a piece of white card embossed with Swiss dots embossing folder. I used a MFT cover plate cut in red on top of that and framed it with a Gina Marie scalloped frame available at Kat Scrapiness. I used IO pine branches, Cheery Lynn holly leaves, Spellbinders poinsettia, and Gina Marie pine cones also available Kat Scrapiness. The Peace sentiment is from Cheery Lynn.
I will enter this card at
 Scrapy Land Emboss It The Swiss dots pattern and the pattern on the Spellbinder's poinsettia.
                                     Cheery Lynn Christmas in July Peace sentiment and holly leaves
                                     Simon Says Monday Challenge Add some Texture

Judy's Special Birthday

My uber talented friend, Judy Woodland, will  reach one of those mile-stone birthday's this week. I won't say which one it is, but she is over the legal drinking age and she can vote. Judy's one of those people that makes everyone feel special. She is loving, and caring and one of the best cheerleaders in the world. I feel honored to call her my friend.  Judy's favorite color is purple and I know she loves flowers and butterflies so I put a card together for her with that in mind. I hope she likes it. Why don't you head over to her blog Judy's Happy Place to check out all her talent and wish her a Happy Birthday.

I will enter this card in Scrapy Land Emboss It

Poppy Stamps Fly Away With Me

Simon Wednesday Things with Wings

Simon Work it WednesdayWafer thin dies or stencils

Sue Wilson Australian Collection Background 

Sue Wilson  Dandlion Clocks

Frantic Stamper ferns

Poppy Stamps Happy Birthday Melody

Heartfelt Creations Sunrise Lily

Double D Challenge Shades of Purple

Purple is my favorite color and this inspiration board is full  of purple lusciousness that Darlene put together for this challenge. I took my inspiration from the colored material in different shades of purple.  Purple, however, is a hard color to photograph especially when one is camera challenged.

Prize for the challenge.

The dark purple looks black  and some of the pale  lavender looks white or pink.

                                              

 I started with a Tim Holtz die cut in dark purple. I cut it again in vellum and stamped and embossed the music staff in white. I backed that with apiece of lavender card embossed with Tim Holtz brick pattern. I used a Sue Wilson die cut in dark purple  and topped that with a Sue Wilson sentiment. I framed the entire piece with a pale lavender frame. Then I built my flower spray with some ribbon, Wild Iris flowers and Frantic Stamper ferns. 

The Double D team outdid themselves for this challenge and you are going to find amazing inspiration on the Double D Challenge Board.

Stephanie's Birthday

This is a Z fold card for my niece who loves the beach and anything that sparkles. I love this big bold sentiment from Cheery Lynn, and thought it looked great in silver glitter paper. I added an IO palm tree and star fish also cut in silver glitter paper.  I used a wood grained pattern done with my scoreboard and distress ink and a happy birthday embossed silver metallic card stock for my background.

For the beach part,  I stamped a seascape from Our Daily Bread in different colors by using markers to color the stamp. The MISTY made this a lot easier because some of the colors needed to be restamped.  I added an IO chair to complete the beach scene.

I will enter this in Simon Say Monday Nautical/By the Sea
                              Cheery Lynn  Anything Goes

Yellow Gingham

The new Double D Challenge  is Simply Gingham and Diane has created another fantastic inspiration board for us.  Look at all this fabulous gingham. 

Anything Goes With Gingham

 

 I love gingham so much that I created two cards for this challenge. They have similar designs but I switched up the color and embellishments. 

For this card I used the Gina Marie flower die and backed it with  white card that was embossed with a Swiss dot embossing folder. The leaves are fern dies from Gina Marie.  The hello is Diversions curly words and the butterflies, birds and flowers are IO.

Here is my other card.

I used the same Gina Marie dies,but this time I cut a white panel stamped it with an IO sentiment and backed it with some red gingham paper. I used IO strawberries and flower in the corner. My team mates have created some gorgeous examples for you HERE. We can't wait to see your gingham designs.

I

Celebrate in Shades of Purple

I got this fun new wine bottle and glass die set from Cheery Lynn and could hardly wait use it. When I ordered it. I thought about pairing it with Gina K Designs Better with Age stamp set.  I used a technique that has been around awhile Triple Stamping.

I cut my layers then used a stencil on the white layers. I stamped over that with the grape image then colored them with Spectrum Noirs. The I stacked the white layers on dark purple I cut the wine bottle, the glass, and the Cheery Lynn Celebrate sentiment three times and layered them for extra dimension. I added some Memory Box grape vines and a flower from Wild Iris to finish my card.  Think I am going to try a clean and simple card with the same supplies. 

I will enter this in the following challenges

Cheery Lynn Pretty in Purple

Simon Says Anything Goes

Simon Says Work it Wednesday  Use stencils or wafer thin dies.

Dies R Us Outdoor Fun

The new challenge at Dies R Us ,Outdoor Fun, starts today. Now this might not look like fun to you, but the older I get sitting on a bench in the middle of a garden observing the birds and butterflies looks like a ton of fun to me. 

I cut the bench pop up die in white. I traced the top part of the die in blue and bottom part in greenand then fussy cut them so they would fit around the bench.  I layered the blue card with the Spellbinder's lattice and topped that with Memory Box Aberdeen Branch die cut in green and added some white flowers and blue butterflies. I added some grass at the bottom of the bench and a few small flowers, I used the hexagons from another die cut to make the little path in front of the bench. I placed the Cheery Lynn bird bath in front of the bench and added some grass, flowers, and butterflies. A bouquet of roses just cut from the garden rests on the bench.  Head over to the Dies R Us Challenge Blog and see the fabulous outdoor cards the team has made to inspire you, and then make your own outdoor fun creation using a die cut or two and link it up. One random winner will receive a gift card to the store. We look forward to seeing what you will create for your Outdoor Fun. 

Dies available at Dies R Us Store

                          

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