Wattle On Over

Where or where is Spring? Here it is a few days away from May and we still are getting dreary, cool, sometimes downright cold weather. Enough already! Come on Spring!

Sunday was Featured Stamper day on Splitcoast and the FS of the day was Wattle from Australia. What a gorgeous gallery she has, so many wonderful cards to pick from. I chose her card titled 'A Bit of a Disaster'. All I can say I wish my disasters looked like this.

FS116

I changed the colors, the image, the Cuttlebug folder and added a flower and dewdrops. Love this card, it is so pretty and soft. The base is pale plum. Whisper white is embossed, using the Cuttlebug and embossing folder. The scalloped ovals are die cut with Nestibilities, paper pierced, and popped up on dimensionals. The top layer of the oval is vellum which has been stamped with versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder. This also is die cut and then layered with the stamped side facing down. The stamp I used is from Sing to the Lord, a set from Our Daily Bread Designs. Thanks to Wattle for such a beautiful inspiration.

Happy Stamping! God bless

Kleenex Boxes

Saturdays are Inspiration Challenges on Splitcoast and Steffi always comes up with the most unique inspirations. This one blew me away. I never knew there were so many different designs on Kleenex boxes. This is what inspired me http://www.kleenex.com/NA/Products/Kleenex-Tissues.aspx Kleenex Expressions,
and this is my inspiration.

IC177

The base is regal rose cardstock as well as the scalloped border. Whisper white was run through the Cuttlebug using the Tapestry folder. I then took the basic black ink pad and swiped it across the embossed paper, trying to get that black and white background like the kleenex box. I stamped Bloomin Beautiful twice and the sprig from Embrace Life. All coloring was done using Copics markers. Once the coloring was completed I then proceeded to cut out everything. I cut the flowers away from the vases, stuck the vases on the background and added dimensionals to the flowers to raise them out from the vases. Then added diamond stickles to the centers of the flowers for a little sparkle. Punched the border with SU's scallop border punch and paper pierced. I am not totally happy with the background because it came out looking kind of messy so am thinking of trying something else.

Enjoy your day and Happy Stamping!

Spring Song

Every Tuesday on Splitcoaststampers there is a color challenge and every Wednesday a sketch challenge. These challenges are a great way to learn new ways of creating cards and for me, have been a wonderful encouragement to step out of my comfort zone and try something totally out of my realm. This card "Spring Song" combines both challenges for this week.

For me, as a Christian, spring means new beginnings, new life, new opportunities to savour the beauty of God's creation. I love hummingbirds so when Stampin' Up came out with this set I just had to get it. When I look at a hummingbird, I know God is real, because only He could create such a wondrous creature.

The base is basic grey and the four panels are rose red. I used Basic Grey Sultry dp on each of the panels. The main image is stamped on whisper white with black Stazon ink. This image is actually one stamp, but I wanted the hummingbird to be out of the box so I cut them apart and cut out the hummingbird so I could pop it up on dimensionals. The coloring was done before I did any cutting. I used an aqua painter and re-inkers to color the image. The hummingbird is colored with rose red on the breast and throat, and the rest is creamy caramel with touches of garden green. The flowers are pink pirouette and old olive. There is just a touch of diamond stickles on the flowers and hummingbird. The flower square is also on dimensionals. To finish it off I added some pearl dewdrops.

Happy stamping! God bless

My Strength

Happy Wednesday! We've hit the middle of the week and all is well. Although, believe it or not, we had some snow today. At least you know at this time of the year it isn't going to hang around.
I was so excited Monday when my order from Our Daily Bread Designs arrived, I just had to sit down and make a card with this gorgeous set. I really appreciate how this company puts the Lord first and witnesses in such a beautiful, positive way. Way to go Kelley! Check out www.ourdailybreaddesigns.com

My Strength

This card is my witness. God truly is my strength, my refuge and ever present help. I have had 4 surgeries in the past 4 years and He has been there with me every step of the way. Thank you ODBD for designing this beautiful set.

The base to this card is SU night of navy which is topped by Basic Grey designer paper. The sentiment is stamped on a piece of the same dp in night of navy. This really is a very simple card to make. Whisper white is stamped with stazon black for the image and then I used my trusty sponge and sponged night of navy for the night sky and sponged always artichoke along the base. The light coming from the lighthouse is Shimmerz candle which is also brushed over the sentiment. The image is on night of navy cs and popped up on dimensionals, ditto for the sentiment. Added a few blue dewdrops and that is it. I wanted the image to have a darkness to it so that the light would glow through. This is such a powerful image that testifies of the power of God's love and how He cares for us through all those rough spots. His light draws us to Him and at the same time reveals the dangers that are out there. He truly is an awesome God!

I just found out this card is going to be the Card of the Week, May 6th on the Our Daily Bread blog. I am so excited and honored. I think that maybe what I tried to portray came through. Check out http://kellrick.typepad.com/our_daily_bread_designs/ on May 6th. Thanks Lorelei, you have made me very happy.

Happy stamping! God bless.

Easter Mouse

Oh boy, I can't believe this much time has gone by since I last posted. Been busy with Easter and family. As well, I am trying to sort out and re-arrange my craft area. I wish I could twitch my nose and it would be all done. But, that ain't goin' to happen. :)

SC223, Easter Mouse

I am such a fan of House Mouse Stamps and this one is so cute I couldn't resist it. This is such a wonderful sketch and I couldn't resist casing Roxie's card on SCS.

The base is bashful blue. The bottom panel is a piece of that gorgeous new SU textured designer paper that I then punched both sides with the SU scallop border punch. This is topped by bashful blue and then very vanilla cardstock. All were punched with the scallop border punch. The very vanilla was also scored with the Scorepal. The image is stamped on whisper white with stazon black and then colored with water color crayons and blender pen. Used a ticket punch on the image and sentiment. The sentiment is from Our Craft Lounge. Added dewdrops for the finishing touch. I liked this so much that I made three more using different colors for each one. I have 4 daughters so these were their Easter cards which can be seen at the top of this post.

Hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter.

Frog Hoppy

Can you believe it is Friday already? I don't know where the time goes? Tomorrow we are going to see my Dad who is 86 yrs. old and just moving into a Seniors Lodge. There is so much stuff to go through and get rid of. It always amazes me at how much 'stuff' we hang on to. I know whereof I speak, I have loads of 'stuff' too. But, I do believe my DH is the original pack rat. I am sure he has stuff from when we were first married 47 years ago. He always says "you never know when you might need it and it never fails when I finally get rid of something, then is when I need it."

LSC214

Well this little guy is perfectly happy as long as he has some flies to catch. I made this card for the Limited Supplies Challenge at SCS. A 1, 2, 3 challenge, meaning we had to use one color of cardstock, 2 designer paper patterns, and 3 embellishments. This was fun and simple and I am happy with the way this card turned out. The cardstock is SU Barely Banana and the designer paper is some of that beautiful textured paper from SU. The stamp set also is SU, Hoppy For You. Here are the details: the base is barely banana, then 2 pieces of designer paper. The images were stamped on whisper white. I used garden green for the frog and sentiment, black for the flies and chocolate chip for the log and this is layered on barely banana and popped up on dimensionals. The frog and 2 of the flies were stamped twice so I could cut out one set to pop up on dimensionals. Added the ribbon, flower and dewdrops for the embellishment. There you have it, "Frog Hoppy".

I am about to hop off to bed, it will be a long tiring day tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Stamping!

Together

Here is another card I made yesterday. I recently got this stamp from Stamp Oasis and I think it is so adorable. It is called Bears On A Fence.

Together

This card was not made for a challenge, this was for my own enjoyment. The base of this card is Bazill textured cardstock, sorry, but I don't know the name of the color. Also, this is a 6"x6" card. The image is colored using the Gamsol Magic technique. www.splitcoaststampers.com has an excellent tutorial for you to check out. Once the coloring was finished the image was stamped all over with Versamark Ink, then heat embossed with SU clear embossing powder. The layers under the image are Creamy Caramel and Wasabi Green cardstock which is topped by a piece of handmade mulberry paper that has grass and seeds in it. The image was cut out and popped up on dimensionals. Added a strip of Bazzil edging cardstock which was sponged with Baja Breeze ink. The panel at the top is cut out from a piece of SU designer paper which I then stamped with the Pretty Petals background stamp in Baja Breeze. Add small blue butterfly brads and there you have the finished product. AWE, they are so cute!

Happy Stamping!

Hoppy Easter

What a messy day this has been! We live in a 62 year old house and have slowly been renovating it. Today was the day to start on the last room to be done, the main bathroom. My DH has been gutting it all day and I am sure there is dirt everywhere. I better get used to it cause it will be that way for a while. He is having to do some changes to the plumbing, tear out some of the walls, tile around the tub, build a new cabinet, put in a new sink and toilet, tile the floor and paint. I can hardly wait to see what it is going to look like when finished.

While DH has been destroying the bathroom I made this card for the Color Challenge on SCS today. The colors are SU Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip. I made an Easter card cause chocolate and Easter just go together. :)

CC212

I recently got this adorable set from Our Craft Lounge so just had to use it. It is called Pea-Nut Bunny. The base is Riding Hood Red with a strip of SU dp 2"x4"running vertically. The image is stamped on whisper white cardstock with Stazon black ink. I used the Gamsol Magic technique to color it. This technique involves using Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. There is an excellent tutorial on www.splitcoaststampers.com for you to refer to. Once I had everything colored I cut out the basket, little rabbit, border and eggs. Added the eggs on dimensionals to the main image panel. Used SU scalloped circle punch for the red and the SU circle punch for the pink and stamped Hoppy Easter in chocolate chip on the pink circle. This was popped up on dimensionals and then added the basket and little bunny on the sentiment. I love stickles so to give a little touch of bling I used diamond stickles in a few spots. This is a great color combination.

Happy Stamping!

Jewelled Pears

Happy Sunday! What a glorious day it is. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and God is pouring out His blessings.
Yesterday I tried, notice I said tried, to post 2 cards at the same time and for the life of me could not get those pictures to move where I wanted them, so I finally gave up and just posted the one. Today is a new day so this time I will get it right.

IC173

It turns out that one of our Canadian stampers, Glenda Mosher, known as RobinRingTail on SCS, not only makes beautiful cards but also is a very gifted artist. The Inspiration Challenge was to check out her blog http://glendamosher.blogspot.com/ and use one of her paintings to inspire a card. I chose "Jewelled Pears" and am very happy with the results.

Once again, this is a very simple card to make. The size is not your normal 4.25"x5.5"; it is 3.5"x6". I needed a long card in order to fit 3 pears on the panel. The base is from Basic Grey's Stella Ruby. Love, love that paper! The center panel is SU Pumpkin Pie and Kiwi Kiss that has been distressed. Each pear was stamped twice so I could cut out one to pop up on dimensionals. The ink colors are Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron and More Mustard. The popped up pears have been painted with Ranger Cracked Glass which gives them a bit of a glow. Added some dewdrops and the sentiment to complete the picture.

Here is the recipe: Basic Grey - Stella Ruby; SU pumpkin pie, so saffron, more mustard, whisper white cardstock; SU Ageless Adornment stamp set; Robins Nest dewdrops; Ranger Crackle Accents.

Have a wonderful day, hug your loved ones and cherish your friends.

Black & White

Hello everybody, hope you all are well and enjoying the nicer weather. Of course here in Alberta you never know how long that will last. We tend to have very changeable weather.

Today I have managed to make two cards! I know, for some of you that is a drop in the bucket, but for me that is fantastic. I had great fun making these cards and am happy with how they turned out.

The first one "Black & White" was made for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS yesterday.

We could only use black and white, no color at all, which was fine with me cause I love black and white cards. They are so clean and crisp and can be very elegant.

LSC213

The base is basic black cut to 4.25"x5.5". The white is 4"x5.25" and has been run through the Cuttlebug using the folder that has grass and a bird on it (I can never remember the names of the folders). I colored the bird with a black Copics marker. The image is from SU Nature Silhouette and was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder. The image is layered on basic black and popped up with dimensionals. Added black eyelets with my Crop-a-dile, a photo corner punched out with SU photo corner punch, attached a bow with a glue dot and Voila!, it is finished. Nice and simple but quite effective.

I will post the second card tomorrow as it is getting late and I am getting frustrated with my pictures. They won't do what I want them to do. Talk to you tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary!

Well, here we are again. Hoping to get some response soon. But, you know what? even if I don't hear from anyone this is a great way to keep a record of my cards.


We had a huge dump of snow here on Sunday but it is much nicer now, so hopefully, Spring is just around the corner. I need to see green grass and flowers!!


If you haven't checked out splitcoaststampers.com yet, you really need to. Roxie posted a great challenge yesterday and this is the card I posted for it today.

This card also is for the CC211. Love the colors, they are very Spring-like. The card base is 4.25"x5.5". Baja Breeze cardstock has been stamped in the same color ink using the SU Paisley background stamp. The long panel is a layer of Kiwi Kiss and Pretty In Pink cardstock topped with Basic Grey LilyKate designer paper. I am in love with Basic Grey paper. The square is a layer of SU Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Pretty In Pink. The Pink as been stamped with Pretty In Pink ink using the SU Tres Chic background stamp. The image panel is Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White that has been stamped with Kiwi Kiss. The two sweet birds were stamped using Baja Breeze for one and Pretty In Pink for the other, then cut out, put on dimensionals and mounted on the branches. I loved the fact that the colors were pink and blue so I could have a girl and a boy. Oh, I know, I am a little weird, but that's okay. lol. The sentiment is stamped in Baja Breeze on Whisper White and layered on Kiwi Kiss. There are little dots of diamond stickles all over the card for a little bling. The final touch is the pearl dewdrops. I love the softness of this card.

Check out Verve Stamps at http://www.vervestamps.com/ for a look-see. They have wonderful, versatile stamps.

Have a wonderful day!

My First Post

Woohoo!! I have my own blog. Now what do I do??? This is going to be a real learning curve for me, but I invite you along for the ride. I will try to share some of my thoughts and my love of stamping. I do not profess to have great artistic abilities but, I do have a love of making cards. I recently retired so this new love has come at the perfect time in my life. Due to some disabilities I am somewhat restricted as to what I can do physically so stamping is a real answer to prayer. I have found that God always opens doors for us as needed. I love and serve Him with all my heart, mind and soul.


I have found the stamping community to be one of the most loving, caring and supportive groups you will ever find. You need encouragement, you will get encouragement. You need advice on anything of concern, you will receive that advice wrapped in love. Everyone wants to share the knowledge they have regarding stamping and are more than happy to do so. All you have to do is ask, and someone will have the answer.


Enough rambling! I am going to share the most recent card I made.

SC220

This was made for the SCS sketch challenge put out by Roxie every week. The base of the card

is SU barely banana followed by a layer of SU pretty in pink. Four panels of SU wasabi green were cut and four panels of SU designer paper were layered on top of each panel.
The image is from SU Ageless Adornment set and is stamped on whisper white cardstock with Stazon black ink. The butterfly was colored using re-inkers and an aqua painter. I sponged all over with wasabi green, added a touch of diamond Stickles. The image is layered on pretty in pink cardstock and popped up with dimensionals. Added Prima flowers and brads which I then brushed with diamond Stickles. I love bling! The final touch was to add some dewdrops from Robins Nest. Loved making this card and it makes me feel like spring is around the corner.
Hope you all have a wonderful day.