Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Tuesday Morning Sketch 181

Good morning! Today is Tuesday, so time for another Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge. This week our challenge is being sponsored by
 
Gerda was kind enough to send the DT some adorable images with which to work, and I received this adorable little girl with balloon. Before I get to my card, though, let me share this week's wonderful sketch. Here it is:
Isn't that neat? You should see all the different ways the DT have used this sketch. It may surprise you how many different ways you can use this simple design. It's also time for the Judged Challenge. So our added twist is to use two ribbons.  You must do the twist in order to be eligible for the prize.
I started with a white card base and opted to use a piece of printed DP as my background. This is such a fun little image which I colored up using my Copic markers, and since I knew I wanted to use the card for a birthday card, I wanted it colorful and sweet. The pattern paper is again from my scrap bag (so happy to be using the scraps), but I "think" it is a piece of Recollections paper. I combined my two ribbons by adhering the pink ribbon to the top of the blue ribbon. I then used a Marianne die (CR1202) to cut a frame and cut my image to fit the middle of the frame. I added a ribbon rose and then large white pearls to the bottom (to create the design at the bottom shown as hexagons). I then printed the sentiment, cut it out and "curled" it before attaching it to the card.
Hope you will join us this week in our challenge. Hop on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketch blog and have a look at the wonder DT inspirational card. I know you will enjoy the eye candy there.


Friday, January 11, 2013

Some Like it Hot

It is time for a new challenge at Card Crafter's Circle. Last week our theme was Snow. This week we are going 180 degrees to the opposite end of the of the seasons with our "Some Like it Hot" theme. Now you should be well aware that I am one of those people who like it hot! Despite the thermometer in my house registering 71 degrees F, my fingers feel like ice cubes as I try to type. Yeah, you can blame it on poor circulation or thin blood or whatever else -- BUT, I don't experience this in the summer (grin). This may be too much information and you are probably sitting there saying "Get on with the challenge, lady!" So, OK, I'll move on with it.


Our Sponsor this week is new to our sponsor family at Card Crafter's Circle.  We offer a warm and hearty welcome to: 

Floppy Lattes Digital Designs ::All Digital All The Time
who is offering a wonderful $10 certificate to shop at the Floppy Latte store .... and if you use a Floppy Latte image in your creation there is a bonus for you! (Please make it very clear that you've used a Floppy Latte image in your creation.)
As mentioned, the theme for this week is Summer-Some Like it Hot! My image is of lovely butterflies and flowers -- definitely summer items in my part of the world. From spring until mid-summer (when it starts getting too hot for many flowers), our yard is covered with a myriad of flutterby beauties. It is a joy to sit on our porch or deck and watch them.
I've used a green card base this week with two patterned papers. I've added some large pearls and a sentiment (punched with a new bracket punch I received from a good friend for Christmas).
I hope you will take a few minutes to visit the Card Crafter's Circle blog and check out the lovely artwork of my fellow teamies. I think you will enjoy, very much, what you see. Then, hop on into your crafting zone and show us some HOT!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Is It Spring Yet?

Hello my fluttery friends. It is time, once again, for a new challenge at Flutter By Wednesday. This week we have as our sponsor, Bugaboo Stamps! They have such fun and whimsical designs, be sure to check them out!!

Bugaboo was kind enough to give the team digis to use and there is a generous prize to be won~ 7 digis of your choice from their store!! Hope you'll join in the fun this week!

This week's challenge is an easy one~ Open Challenge!! Anything goes as long as it has a butterfly or fairy on it!! Hope to see LOTS of entries!

My card features barefoot girl which I colored with my Copic markers. I'm ready for barefoot weather myself, so enjoyed using this image this week. After coloring her up, I layered quite a number of DP and aqua card plus added flowers and ribbon to carry the spring feel. Isn't that DP just yummy? It is all from Glitz Pack Laced Grace, a wonderful 8x8" pad. I topped off my design with pink gems and a computer generated Happy Spring sentiment.
 
Hope you will take the time to run over to Flutter By Wednesday and take a look at the other wonderful cards from our DT. You'll really be inspired by the lovely art work.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Tuesday Morning Sketch 180

 
 
Good morning again. I don't know where my mind has been as I thought I had pre-scheduled this blog entry last night (NOT). It wasn't until I went to a team mates blog that I realized mine wasn't posted. Don't you like that new sketch Melissa has provided for us? It is really a super one with which to work -- so versatile!
 
 
This week's challenge is sponsored by Freckled Fawn, and the prize is a $20.00 gift card. Freckled Fawn is owned and managed by Doe and Deer. Doe had a little dream and with a lot of hard work, a lot of prayer, and one very handy Deer, her dream came true. You will have a hard time, should you be our lucky winner, spending your gift certificate because you will want it ALL!
 
I've used a sweet Magnolia image and a Valentine theme for my DT card this week. The papers I've used are bits and pieces of various ones that came from my scrap bag (love it when I can use my scraps!!). Because they come from my left-overs, I no longer know which brand each is, so I do apologize for that. As you are aware, I do try, when I can, to let you know what I've used on my cards.
 
The cardbase is white with a layer of rose pink and then the green DP. My strips are coordinating bits of DP, and my ribbon is pink gingham. I cut the lighter pink circle using a lovely Marianne Craftables die (CR 1201), and I fussy cut my Tilda image then adhered her with foam dimensional dots so she would stand out just a bit. The little heart buttons have been in my stash for EVER, and the pink pearls are by Recollection. I moved the sentiment above my strips rather than below the ribbon so that it would show better. It is a small Valentine sticker (by Suzy Zoo - thank you Jessi for the help) that I'm not really totally happy with, but I discovered all of my Valentine sentiment stamps were too large for the space. I did try a computer generated sentiment, but again, that covered too much of my background paper. (I will confess that I have removed the sticker from my card, but not until after it had been sent for posting, so too late to take another photo for my DT submittal.) I may "play" with that element a little more (or not) until I find something I'm happier with - grin!
 
So, there you have it. Hope you will take some time and visit the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog to see the fantastic cards the DT have made for you this week. Of course, we are hoping they will inspire you (as well as our wonderful sketch), and you will join us in this week's challenge.
 
Now, I'm off to my corner for a 10 minute time out for having been tardy getting my blog shared this morning! Ya'll have a great day.


Sketch Challenge - Twist of Faith

Can you believe we are already eight days into the new year? I pray the year has been good to you thus far. It is time for our second challenge for 2013 at Twist of Faith and this week we are providing a sketch for you to use.
 
Feel free to flip it or whatever else you see fit, as long as your end creation layout resembles this original basic sketch... (the text used is only to identify the sketch!) And of course you're free to use any embellishments you wish! Have fun!
 
Our sponsor this week is Beccy's Place.  We're so happy to have Beccy's beautiful hand drawn images grace our pages, and you will have such a grand time with picking THREE (3) images of your choice should you be our randomly drawn winner.
 
My image from Beccy's Place is an adorable elf sitting atop a spool of thread. Now I am not a sewer, no, no, no, but I think this little fellow is so pretty, and I immediately thought of an old saying that I felt fit our Twist of Faith philosophy to a tee. I actually think I might have slightly mis-worded the phrase as I believe it uses the term "stitched" with prayer rather than "sewn" with prayer, but the concept (and the truth) is the same.
 
I colored my little guy using Copic markers on X-Press brand card. I cut the image, inked the edges with ColorBox ink and then matted it with black. My card is a tan base with a layer of black and then a layer of some VERY OLD (I'm saying at least a decade old) Club Scrap card. I've added a band of tan DP (matted with black) across the bottom and then my sentiment (matted with orange) centered atop the band. Lastly, I've added orange pearl gems.
 
In case you cannot read the sentiment, it reads: "A day sewn with prayer seldom comes unraveled." This doesn't mean that you will never have snags in your day, but it has been my experience that prayer has held ME together during those snags. Prayer keeps me calm and focused when I am faced with the challenges and opportunities God places before me. An anxious mind cannot see solutions or blessings -- we don't think rationally -- situations start unraveling and become worse. We forget to "be still and know I am the Lord." When we "pray without ceasing," we are able to stay focused and despite whatever our day may bring, we are assured that the garment of God's love will hold us forever.
 
This card looks a bit CAS, but the combination of the beautiful image and the background Club Scrap paper (it looks like a splash of water colors) really makes for a stunning card that doesn't need any thing more (sorry the photo doesn't truly capture the full beauty). I do hope you will take a few minutes and go over to our Twist of Faith blog to have a look at more Beccy images and the lovely art work of my fellow DT members.


Friday, January 4, 2013

Snow Goddess

For this Challenge at Card Crafter's Circle our Theme is:


There's No Business Like Snow Business


We want to see wintery, snowy creations.... many of us in the northern hemisphere have or have had snow this year (even if just flurries as here in Georgia).  Those of us sweltering in an Australian summer (such as our illustrious challenge leader) WISH  there was snow at the door!
 
The sponsor this week is MICHELLE PERKETT STUDIOS! Michelle presents a huge collection of beautiful images which include mermaids, fairies, and people!  As you will see from our DT samples at CCC, Michelle also offers other delightful images sure to delight you. Our random prize winner will receive their choice of one of the gorgeous images showcased by our design team in this challenge post!   We are thrilled to have MPS sponsoring our challenges... because the images are so beautiful... and because they will always bring a smile to your face!
 
True confession time here. Unlike many of my fellow teamies, I do NOT like snow. I do not like cold weather at all, so truth be known, if I were able (financially and life style wise), I'd be what is known here in the states as a "Snowbird." In other words, I'd fly south for the winter! I am a true southern gal with a strong preference to staying WARM! I live in Georgia, and at one time, that seemed to be adequately south. Blame it on global warming or whatever, but over the past decade, it seems as if the winter cold has been moving into my area of the globe with more and more frequency!
 
OK, enough about that -- grumbling doesn't accomplish anything -- my fingers are still feeling icy as I type (smile). I used Michelle's beautiful Snow Goddess image for my card. (We received three images from Michelle to use, so please hop over to the CCC blog and have a look at the other two.) I've colored this beauty using my Copic markers, and have kept my composition fairly simple so as not to distract from the beautiful image.
 
I've used a white base card and layered two DPs (both have small subtle snowflake designs) onto it. I've separated the two DPs using a white ribbon (Offray). I've punched white snowflakes using a Martha Stewart punch, and added rhinestone gems (Recollections) to the center of the punched snowflakes. I then matted my image with blue card and built this lovely card around it.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Flutter By New Year


It is a new year and time for new challenges at Flutter By Wednesday. Our challenge this week is In With the New! Use something new on your creation or use the theme "New", for example--new baby, new house, etc.! Just be sure to have a butterfly or fairy on your creation!

We have lots of wonderful inspiration from the Flutter By Team so make sure you stop by our blog and have a look.

I have created a lovely card using three simple colors -- white, pink and green. If truth be known, I am already tired of winter (and alas, it just began) and am ready for spring, so to lift my spirits a mite, I have used a butterfly and small flowers on my card. I have started with a pink card base for this sweet, feminine card. I've then layered it with a panel of white. I then dry embossed two panels using first "geometric rings" by Provo and then "damask" by Tim Holtz. I cut each embossed panel to size and then layered them onto pink matting.

The green flourish is cut using a Cherry Lynn die. The sentiment is a digi stamp by Sweet and Sassy which I printed and then cut into an oval. I inked around the edges of the sentiment with pink Colorbox ink. My butterfly is punched using a Martha Stewart punch. I punched it twice and layered the two atop each other for dimension. The three little roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts. My pink rhinestone gems are from Recollections.

At the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one, we traditionally start off with good intentions to make changes in our lives. We want to discard bad habits or improve other ones. We want a fresh start to do better, be better, live healthier. Being primarily creatures of habit, research has shown that within one month, most of us have abandoned our resolutions and returned to our old ways. Hum! Regardless, we all DO change in some way each day, and so it is that I wish each and every one of you "butterfly changes" that lead to a happier, more beautiful year for you and yours.

Happy 2013. May the year be filled with beauty and blessings for all of you.