Time Well Spent

When I saw Deedee's  new digi, Time Well Spent, it just "spoke" to me as we say in our family.  I think it's another one of those versatile images that can be used for many different occasions. 

After coloring the image with copics, I cut it out with my nesties and then sponged it before removing the die.  I did the same thing for the sentiment. This sentiment really makes you think.  I frequently need this reminder that God's timetable is far superior to my own and I just need to trust Him.

I used some pearl flourishes and added 3 singles pearls in the bottom left corner.  I used a metallic marker to do a little highlighting on the watch.

Here's a pic of my interior decorating.  I cut a Fancy Tags 3 in half  and placed it behind my petite scalloped oval.

I am entering it into the following challenges:
Mojo Monday 188 - sketch challenge
Paper Sundaes Challenge #66 - use at least two of the following items: yellow, pearls, sparkle, and die cuts.  I used die cuts & pearls
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #108 - Use at least 5 layers

Supplies:
Sketch - Mojo Monday #188
Cardstock - Recollections, Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper - Cosco Cricket (Ever After), Cream/Black floral - Unknown
Stamp - Deedee's Digis (TimeWell Spent)
Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk (Charcoal)
Markers - Copic, AC Metallic Silver
Embellishments/Tools - Pearl Flourish (Recollections), Pearls (BG), Nestabilities (petite ovals, petite scalloped ovals, & labels 4), Fiskars Border Punch (Apron Lace)



Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Amazing Love

Today, as we think about what Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary, our hearts should be amazed at the love He showed us.  John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  Christ died so that we might have everlasting life.  What a priceless gift and what an amazing love!!

My card to day focuses on Christ's love for us.  I used the Amazing Love set from Deedee's Digis to make this card.  It's hard to believe this great set only costs $1.00!!  My card design is called a joy fold card.  Beate Johns has a great tutorial over on Splitcoast Stampers.

Here are a few more pictures so you can see the interior and other details.  I used a SU journaling pen for some faux stitching.  I distressed the edges of my cardstock & patterned paper and then inked them. I also sponged my focal image before removing it from the nesties die.

I used one of the Fancy Tags 3 dies for the edge detail.  After cutting it out & embossing it, I cut it in half and matched the swirls when I overlapped the edges.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Recollections, Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper:  BG
Stamps:  Deedee's Digis (Amazing Love)
Ink:  Colorbox fluid chalk, SU
Pens/Pencils - SU journal writer (Close to Cocoa), Prismacolor pencils
Embellishments:  Ribbon (Michael's), SU journaling pen, Spellbinders Nestabilities (fancy tags3, deckled rectangle, petite ovals, petite scalloped ovals

New Scripture Sets - Psalm 61:2

Have you seen the new Scripture sets Deedee's Digis just released?  Wow!  I am loving them!!  The two newest are:  Be Glad in the Lord and The Lord is Our Refuge.  Both sets are full of encouraging Scripture verses to include with another image, to use as part of what I like to call "interior decorating" or as the focal image on the front of your card.

For this card, I chose one of my go-to verses when I personally need encouragement and used it as the focal image on the front of my card.  It is Psalm 61:2 from the The Lord is Our Refuge set.  I love using Scripture as the focal image for several reasons -- here are my top three.   The primary one is because it's such a great witnessing tool and Isaiah 55:11 teaches us that the Lord's Word will not return unto Him void.  Second, what better way to encourage a fellow Christian than with God's Word? Third, there's no coloring required.  :)  This makes the card quicker and, in my opinion, easier to make.

I used the current Stamp TV  {STVSKSP21} sketch for this card.

Supplies:
Sketch:  STVSKSP21
Cardstock - Georgia Pacific and a misc. mustard yellow from my stash
Patterned paper - BG
Stamp -  Deedee's Digis - The Lord is Our Refuge
Ink - SU - creamy caramel 
Embellishments - Ribbon - Offray, pearls - Queen & Co, Nestabilities (petite oval & petite scalloped oval, decorative photo corners), Fiskar's border punch



Thanks for stopping by!

Home Tweet Home

When I saw this Home Tweet Home digi at Deedee's Digis, I couldn't wait to turn it into a card.  There's just something about the two bird houses that just appealed to me.  I also tried my new gamsol technique with this image.    After I cut out the image, I sponged it with ink to tone down the white of my cardstock. This week's Mojo Monday Sketch #185 was the inspiration for the card design.  I'm also entering this card in the Really Reasonable Ribbon #21 challenge.

I used the Scripture from the set to help with my "interior decorating."

Supplies
Challenges:  Really Reasonable Ribbon #21  Mojo Monday #185,
Card base: Strathmore Bristol
Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper:  Bo Bunny (Olivia)
Stamps:  Deedee's Digis (Home Tweet Home)
Ink:  SU (Creamy Caramel)
Embellishments:  Prismacolor Pencils, gamsol, Misc ribbon, Bazzill Just the Edge, Nestabilities deckled rectangle

A Quilt Inspired Card

This week I started thinking about using quilt block designs as a background for a card.  I did some looking around on the internet and found tutorials for a Quilted Card and a Bargello Technique (which I think looks like a quilt even though they say it's a needlepoint pattern) over at SplitCoast Stampers.  For this card I used the Quilted Card as my inspiration.  I changed my squares to 1" instead of the 3/4" squares used in the tutorial.  Also, if/when I do this again, a punch would be a better idea to make sure all my squares are exactly the same size.  This is a great way to use up those tiny scraps you've been keeping "just in case."

When I saw the Spring Blessings set at Deedee's Digis, I loved the Scripture verse because it was one of my Dad's favorites and I loved the butterfly/caterpillar sentiment. So, I decided to combine my quilt idea with this set and here's the result:

Here's a close-up of the details and then a pic of the interior.

I had the hardest time getting the words to be in focus.  I'm sorry if they're still blurry.  I'm going to try to retake the pics in natural light & will replace them if I get better results.

I am entering this card in this week's Stampin Sister's In Christ challenge #82 which is to include paper piecing in your main image and in the new Challenge #21 at Really Reasonable Ribbon which is to include die-cuts or punches and ribbon.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Strathmore Bristol, Recollections, Bazzill, Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper - BG (Lemonade)
Stamps - Deedee's Digis (Spring Blessings)
Embellishments - Ribbon (Hobby Lobby), BG Opaline half pearls, Recollections swirl, Nestabilities (petite ovals and petite scalloped ovals), Fiskar's border punch (Threading Water)

Thanks for stopping by!

He's the Catch of the Day!!

Our son had a birthday this week.  {How is it possible for my "baby boy" to be 25!!!} This meant that, once again, I needed to venture into the realm of masculine cards.  Since he's a fisherman, I thought the Catch of the Day set from Deedee's Digis would be perfect for his card.  This set has several sentiments for various "manly" occasions.

After coloring my image with prismacolor pencils {with a little help from my husband on proper fish colors}, I sponged the sky, edges of the image panel and darkened the water with inks.  I used an embossing folder to add some texture behind the image panel.  I inked the embossed panel to bring out the embossing.  To me, jute is the masculine version of ribbon so just about every card I make that is intended for a man has some on it.  :)

I also did some interior decorating inside the card.  I used one of the sentiments from this versatile set on a panel that I die cut & sponged. Some eyelets, more jute, more inking and another piece from the embossing folder finished off the inside.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Recollections, Georgia Pacific, Archiver's
Patterned Paper:  Reminisce (Fish Stories)
Stamps:  Deedee's Digis (Catch of the Day)
Inks:  SU (Creamy Caramel, Blue Bliss), Color Box Fluid Chalk (Olive Pastel)
Tools:  Prismacolor Pencils, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Bird Call), Spellbinders Nestabilities (Deckled Rectangle)
Embellishments:  Button (Fancy Pants), Jute, Metal Dot (Best Occasions), Eyelets (Oriental Trading)


Thanks for stopping by!  I hope it's nice and spring-y where you are and that you're able to enjoy a wonderful weekend.

Time to Bloom with a Deedee's Digis Blog Hop

Spring is such a marvelous time of year! A time of warming weather, of lengthening days, and best of all, a time of vibrant colors and new life -- a time to BLOOM! Join the Deedee's Digis Design Team today as we celebrate the (almost) start of this very special season with a "Time to Bloom" blog hop! 

If this is your first stop on the hop, be sure to visit the Crafting with Deedee's Digis blog, where you will find the directions for participating in the hop, a chance to win the grand prize of a $15 credit to our store, AND a little gift for you!  Also, be sure to read to the end of my post to learn how you can have another chance to win.

For my card, I chose to use this cute little butterfly image.  If you like him, you'll definitely want to stop by the Crafting with Deedee's Digis blog.  *wink*  Since this was a special occasion, I chose to make an easel card. I just think they add such a special touch to a card.

I colored him with my Prismacolor pencils and added stickles to his wings and the flower.  I think you can see this stickles a little better in this close up picture.  I also gave him a little bling on his antenna. I used my swiss dots cuttlebug folder on the pink panel for some added texture.

Easel cards usually have the inside decorated but also to go along with this week's Happy Monday Challenge, It's the Inside that Counts, I did a little more "interior decorating" than I usually do.

I colored in the butterflies around the sentiment with my gelly roll pens.  I also used them to add faux stitches around the sentiment panel and to dot all the "i's".  

I also used several of my nesties on the interior, the same cuttlebug folder, and used a fiskars border punch.


I'm entering this card in the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge # 80.  This week's challenge is to use our treasured supplies on a card.  I LOVE my nesties, stickles & BG paper.  All of those are included on this card and it's been made for a friend.  Friends are also treasures.


Supplies:
Cardstock:  SU, Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper:  BG
Sketch inspiration:  Mojo 180
Stamp: Joy & Blessings
Pens/Pencils:  Prismacolor pencils, Sakura Gelly Roll (pink star & green star)
Embellishments:  Ribbon - Hobby Lobby, Rhinestone - Recollections, Stickles (star dust)
Tools:  Spellbinders Nestabilities (Standard Circle Large, Lacey Circle, Deckled Rectangle Large), Fiskars border punch (apron lace), Cuttlebug embossing folder (swiss dots)

Your next stop on the hop is Tameko. I know you'll enjoy your visit with her.  She does beautiful work!

Before you leave, please be sure to leave me a comment in order to be entered to win $5 in free digis of your choice from the Deedee's Digis store! You have until 12 noon Eastern Time on Sunday to comment. I will choose a random winner then, and all winners will be announced on Monday at Crafting with Deedee's Digis -- be sure to check back then to see if you've won.  Thanks so much for joining us today, enjoy the rest of the hop, and come back soon!!  

Happy Spring!

A Fishy Thanks

Today I have a more masculine card to show you.  As I've mentioned before, I find masculine cards the most challenging of any to make. My husband & I wanted to send a special card for a thank you so I needed to make a masculine thank you card for a man who loves fishing.  Deedee's Digis Best Fishes set saved the day for me.  I used this week's sketch at Mojo Monday.

I used some jute instead of ribbon because not only is it more masculine but it reminded me a bit of fishing line.  I cut off the bubbles that came with the fish and substituted Robin's Nest Dew Drops. I put an eyelet on the tag as another reminder of fishing (i.e. eyelets on a fishing pole). 

I did a little simple decorating on the inside of the card too.  I kept it pretty simple because I just don't see a guy wanting to much fuss on the inside of a card.  :)

Supplies:
Sketch:  Mojo Monday 181
Card base:  Strathmore Bristol
Cardstock:  DCWV, Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper:  Echo Park (Little Boy), BG (Oh Baby!)
Stamps:  Deedee's Digi (Best Fishes) & Impression Obsession
Ink:  SU (Bliss Blue), Versamark
Embellishments:  Prismacolor Pencile, jute, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Stampendous EP (Midnight Black), SU tag punch, Nestabilities Circle & Lacey Circle, Eyelet-MM

Be sure to stop back by next Friday, March 18th, when Deedee's Digis' DT will be having a Blog Hop for an early celebration of the arrival of spring.  You won't want to miss it because not only will there be lots of inspiration but there will be PRIZES!!!  Be honest, who doesn't like the chance for free stuff?!  :)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

When Life Sends You Rain...

When I first saw this digi over at Deedee's Digis, I couldn't wait to play with it.  I loved the little duck & his umbrella.  I thought the puddle just asked for some type of watery accent.  This little guy would make any rainy day better.

I used PSE to allow me to put the sentiment in the cloud.  I used a cuttlebug folder for the swirls in the blue paper.  My clouds & duck are popped up with pop-dots. I used a clear star glitter pen for some accents around the cloud & for rain but it's almost impossible to see in the pictures. I used some crystal effects for the puddle under his feet.

Supplies:
Cardbase:  Strathmore bristol
Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific
Patterned papers:  Studio 8 Paper Company
Stamp:  Deedee's Digis (Puddle Dancing)
Embellishments:  Brads - Doodlebug, Sakura Clear Star Gelly Roll pen, SU journaling pen (Night of Navy), SU Crystal Effects, Prismacolor pencils, Nestabilities, Fiskars border punch (apron lace), Cuttlebug embossing folder (divine swirls)

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your weekend!!

Stephanie

Leap of Faith

For this card, I'm using the adorable Leap of Faith set available at Deedee's Digis.  I also used one of the three sentiments that is included with the bear image.  I love how this little bear is praying as she floats in the sky. I used sketch SC309 from Splitcoast Stampers for my card.

I colored my bear and the cloud with Prismacolor pencils.  Then I sponged the sky with ink.  After cutting out my sentiment with a petite oval Nestabilties, I sponged it with the same ink before removing the die.

If you look closely in this second picture, you can see where I paper pierced the edges of the two background panels. I use a piece of plastic canvas as a template for my piercing.  I have one piece (I split a large canvas with my daughter-in-law) I use for squares & rectangles and a round one for circles.  I know there are templates made for this purpose but each piece of plastic canvas was $1 or less.  This left more funds for other things....like stamps!  :)

Supplies:
Card base:  Strathmore Bristol
Cardstock - Georgia Pacific & Recollections
Patterned paper - Basic Grey (Kioshi)
Ribbon - Hobby Lobby
Spellbinders Nestabilities (Petite Oval & Petite Scalloped Oval)
Ink - SU (Blue Bliss)
Sketch - SC309


Thanks for stopping by & I hope you have a good weekend!!

Sending you a Cuppa Love

I love the colors in this paper.  The stripes on the tall mug were perfect for matching the color scheme.  This week's challenge at Crafting with Deedee's Digis is to use a heart on your card or project.  It could be a heart embellishment, paper, or whatever.  I chose to make a heart in PSE and put my sentiment inside.  Then I also used my nestabilities to add a small heart as an accent.  The sketch comes from Mojo Monday 174.

Supplies:
Card base - Bazzill
Paper - Basic Grey (Kioshi)
Cardstock - Georgia Pacific
Stamp - Deedee's Digis (Cuppa Love)
Ink - SU (Creamy Caramel)
Jute - Misc
Tools - Spellbinders (Petite Ovals Large, Petite Scalloped Ovals Large, Decorative Photo Corners), Cuttlebug Embossing Folders (D'Vine Swirls)
Challenges:  Crafting with Deedee's Digis - 1/17/11, MOJO174

A Valentine Tweet For You

I made my first Valentine for this year tonight.  I received the  Valentine Tweet digi stamp I used on my card for playing along with a challenge over on the Crafting with Deedee's Digis blog.  I decided it would be perfect to use on this week's challenge -- use pink & red.  I am also entering it in the challenge #71 at Stampin' Sisters in Christ (create a card or project that includes wings).

I outlined this chick's hat and the heart in her mouth with a glitter pen.  I thought she just need a little bit of sparkle.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Strathmore Bristol, Colorbok, Georgia Pacific, Recollections
Patterned paper - Colorbok
Stamp - Deedee's Digis (Valentine Tweet)
Embellishments - Ribbon (misc from stash), Prismacolor pencils, Sakura gelly roll pen (silver star)
Sketch - CPCST90

SSS88 & C4CC5 Challenges

This card is for the challenges over at The Sweet Stop and the Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge Blog.  I used SSS88 for the sketch and the challenge on the Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge Blog was to make a celebration card.  I apologize for the lighting.  The colors are much brighter in real life.

Supplies:
Card Base - Bazzill
Cardstock - Georgia Pacific & colorbok
Papers - Colorbok
Embellishment - Brads - MM
Ink/Pens - Memento Tuxedo Black (inside sentiment), Prismacolor pencils, Gelly Roll pen (clear star)
Tools - Nestabilities (Petite Ovals Large & Petite Scalloped Ovals Large), Cuttlebug embossing folder (Swiss Dot), Fiskars Border Punch
Stamps - Cheese Cocoa (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), Inside Sentiment - Studio G
Computer Font - Annie BTN

Happy Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our 26th anniversary yesterday.  He prefers my handmade cards over store-bought so, whenever possible, I make them for him.  For his anniversary card, I used this week's challenge sketch over at Crafting with Deedee's Digis.  Each Monday, Deedee posts a different challenge.  If you are new to digi stamps, she also has a "try before you buy" stamp you can download for free.  Here's the link so you can download your free digi heart stamp.  If you participate in the challenge, and use one of DeeDee's stamps, she'll send you this week's Dollar Digi for free!

I have some of her other digi stamps but this free stamp fit my need for a "romantic" stamp perfectly.

Instead of printing out the stamp and then coloring it like I usually do, I printed the stamp three times on regular copy paper and once on white cardstock.  I then took three small pieces of patterned paper and used a strip of adhesive at the top to cover where the stamps were printed on my copy paper.  Then I ran this sheet back thru my printer to print the stamps on my patterned paper.  If you try this, just make sure that the edge that goes into your printer first is the one that you adhere to the paper.  There's no need to adhere all 4 sides of the paper.

After printing the stamp on my patterned paper, I cut out & paper-pieced the image like you normally would adhering the pieces to the intact image on the white cardstock.  Then I used my nestabilities to cut out the image.  I embossed the image and sponged it with ink before removing it from the die.  I layered it on a piece of patterned paper that I cut with my lacey circle nestabilities.  I used a Gelly Roll Stardust pen to add a bit of sparkle to the heart "button" on the heart on the left.  I added some DMC floss and a brad to the heart on the right to mimic the design on the stamp.  Here's a close-up of that part of the card.

I printed my sentiment from my computer and die-cut, sponged & layered it like the focal image.  I popped both circles up on pop-dots.

I layered a piece of white cardstock on a piece of patterned paper for the inside of the card.  I used a punch to punch 3 hearts in a stripe of burgundy paper and adhered it to the top of the white cardstock.  I used my Gelly Roll pen to color in the hearts.  To spare you all the mushy stuff I'm just giving you a sneak peek at the interior of the card.  :)

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific
Patterned paper:  Basic Grey
Ink - SU
Stamp - Deedee's Digis
Embellishments - DMC floss, Brad from stash, Gelly Roll Pen
Tools - Nestabilities (Standard Circle Large, Lacey Circle), EK Success (heart punch)