Happy Birthday

I needed a birthday card so I decided to use these cute chicks from Limited Runs Digital Stamps Chicken Set. They are ready to celebrate! I printed extra images so that I could pop up the wings and beaks to add dimension. I used Distress inks to create the background as well as to color the images. The background is matted on blue cardstock then mounted on the white cardbase. The balloon and the hat diecuts are from the Tim Holtz Crazy Bird Accessories. The word bubble is from the Heidi Swapp Speech Bubbles set. "WooHoo" was created from Lawn Fawn Milo's ABC set and stamped in the speech bubble. "Time to Celebrate" is from Fiskars Hexagon Sentiments, stamped in black Versafine and embossed with clear embossing powder. A black and white dotted ribbon with a star mounted on it and a touch of stickles finishes off this card.
These cute chicks put me in the mood to celebrate too!

Challenges entered:
Your Scrapbook Place        Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy      3 in a Row - digi, sentiment, embossing
All Sorts Challenge Blog        Happy Birthday
Simply Create Too               Digi image
Crafty Catz                      Anything Goes with twist of more than 2 layers
Come and Get It                  Emboss It

Yellow Roses

I love yellow roses...'real' yellow roses! So if you want to get me a bouquet of flowers...my choice would be yellow roses! I was browsing through some challenge sites and came across Allsorts Challenge Blog - one I had never been to before. It caught my eye because the challenge this week is Ring a Ring O' Roses! To I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to do a card with some beautiful yellow roses on it! I used Stampendous A Bouquet for You stamp set for the image and the sentiment. I colored with Copic Markers and used a little Wink of Stella to add some sparkle. I punched the corners and added some crystal sequins to finish off the card.

 Allsorts Challenge Blog        Roses
Word Art Wednesday     Anything Goes
Polka Doodles Crafting       Anything Goes
Little Patch of Crafty Friends       Anything Goes

This Little Light of Mine

My desire is that my light, Jesus Christ in me, shine as a witness to what the Lord has done in my life. I make lots of mistakes...I'm human...forgiven and redeemed by my Lord...with a desire to be used by Him.
In John 16:33, Jesus says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." This digital image from Limited Runs brought this verse to my mind. We will have adversity, and we must be prepared to stand against the evil that would keep our light from shining. Just as this cute little bug has donned his "armor" in order to survive and shine, so we must put on the armor that is described for us in Ephesians 6:10-18. When we put on the belt of Truth, the breastplate of Righteousness, the gospel of Peace, the shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, then we can stand against the trouble in this world and let our light shine!
So I set out to use this unusual image in a unique way! I colored the image with Copic Markers. I layered the mask and the globe balls for dimension then glittered them with yellow stickles. I cut the image out with a stitched oval die. I used Gorgeous Grunge and Distress Ink to create the splats and splatters on the yellow background paper.  I mounted the image with mounting tape. I printed the sentiment and also used mounting tape on it. I added some Washi Tape at the bottom and mounted it on a grey cardstock base. I'm putting John 16:33 on the inside of the card.

I hope you enjoy my interpretation of this unique image! This card is entered in the following challenges:

Limited Runs            specified image
Simon Wednesday Challenge     a bit of sparkle
WWC119          Masculine Anything Goes
Crafting When We Can         Bright and colorful
Word Art Wednesday          Anything Goes
Crafty Catz                 Anything Goes with optional twist - mirror card

Bling, Glitter and Sparkle

When you see something sparkly...blingy...how does it make you feel? Sparkle lifts my spirits, makes me smile! It makes a dull item come to life! Last week, my allergist told me I needed to wear a mask while working in the yard to avoid getting sick again. I decided I'm going to add some bling to my mask to make it more fun to wear! :-)

I love the sentiment on this card. It's so true! I used a watercolor background for the base of my card. I stamped the sentiment with black Versafine then embossed it with clear embossing powder to give it a shine. I embossed the butterfly with gold embossing powder and added dots of glitter glue with gold embossing powder added to it. There are additional gold dots added with my gold pen. I also added a little more sparkle with gold sequins topped with a dot of stickles.  I finished off the card by adding some gold embossing powder to the edges and mounting on a white cardbase.

This card is entered in the following challenges:
Come and Get It        birthday
Simon Says Stamp     dots
StampingSensations  butterflies, fairies, fantasy
Word Art Wednesday      Anything Goes
Crafty Sentiments Designs       Bright Colors
Little Patch of Crafty Friends    Anything goes 
The Crafter's Cafe              Feminine

Rejoice

We are to 'rejoice and be glad'...in all things - the good, the bad and the ugly. That's hard to do when life doesn't always make sense or look like you had imagined that it would. But nonetheless, we are to rejoice. So I ask the Lord daily to give me His joy so that I can 'rejoice'.
I wanted to use this cute Magnolia stamp, London Tilda, and send it to a sweet friend who is going through a really tough time. I had a couple of CAS challenges in mind, so I went in that direction. I colored the stamped image with Copic markers and added Glossy Accents to the falling rain and the puddle under Tilda's feet. I splattered Pumice Stone Distress Ink onto the background then cut the image with a stitched oval die. I printed the sentiment, matted it and added it with mounting tape. I finished the card by adding faux stitching around the edge.

This card is entered in the following challenges:

Mustard Seed Challenges            sketch
Crafty Friends                             Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers CAS       Rain
Simon Says                                A hint of pink
Clean and Simple Mix Up          Stamping, Splattering, Copic Markers

Wake Me for Breakfast

Good morning! I confess...I am not a morning person. Even though I get up and walk most mornings at 7:15, my mind doesn't start functioning for at least an hour. My sweet husband is the designated 'breakfast chef' now that we are both retired. He is definitely a morning person. If I happen not to get up to walk, I stay in bed until he tells me breakfast is ready.  So I totally relate to this card!

At first I created this just using the digital image of the Emu holding the sign from Limited Runs Digital stamps. Then I decided I wanted to use it for a couple of other challenges so I added some stamping to it. I really like the end-product!
I used a border punch along the bottom of the card base. I used another border punch to create the pink lace strip and backed the bottom piece with the same color. I added a strip of fabric lace as well. I wanted to give this 'masculine emu' a feminine look! Then I decided to add a tuft of lace to create a tutu. I stamped the flowers on the image and in the corner, masking the sign to add them. I added a few more flowers and a punched butterfly in the corner. I used a nestibilities die to cut out the image. All color was added with Copic markers. The sign reads, "Wake Me for Breakfast"

I have entered this card in the following challenges:


Addicted to Stamps         stamped image, butterfly, flowers
Crafty Friends                 anything goes
Alphabet Challenge        D for Decoupage
Whoopsi Daisy               TicTacToe   digi,diecut, flowers
Limited Runs                  Use the supplied digi

Not Good with Words

This card was a direct reflection of my inability to think fast on my feet. There have been so many times that something was said to me and instead of being ready with a comeback, I let it go. Then later I can think of what I should have said. But it seems that I'm often just not good with words! So I can empathize with Elmo the Emu!

This card was created with a digital image from Limited Runs Stamps for their Challenge #3. I added the sentiment on my computer. My stamp with the same saying was too big for the sign. I used Shimmerz Water Color for the emu and the colors behind him. I die cut the image and both backgrounds. I wrapped the front image with twine before mounting it. I then added brown sequins to finish off my card.

I'm also entering this in the following challenges....

Mustard Seed Challenges          Sketch #1
Come and Get It Challenges      Make it Square
Crafty Friends Challenge            Anything Goes