Whoooo Loves You?

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Susan Roberts aka rainy....congrats, Susan!!  I fell in love with this awesome card from Susan's gallery, so I am case-ing it today. For my version, I chose a kraft card base and the 'Who Loves You' set from Divinity Designs LLC.  Due to the direction of the tree limb, I had to switch the layout to the other side.  After stamping the images, the owl and limb were highlighted with pencils and a white pen.  The edges of the card base were sponged for added interest.

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,

The Word of God

Hi, everyone!   This week's Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoast is to find inspiration from Renaissance Ribbons.....I chose this navy cotton ribbon since it reminded me that I had something very similar in my recycled stash.  More than a decade ago, I saved this twill ribbon which was wrapped around a stack of washcloths....what a score!!  Anyhoo.....I needed to make a quick birthday card for my nephew who loves to read.  I chose a retired set from Our Daily Bread designs, The Word of God, and designer paper from Bo Bunny.  I didn't want to cover up the book background, so the scripture verse and image were both fussy cut and popped up with foam tape.  Two enamel dots were added to the top corner.

Thanks for visiting with me today!

Blessings,

Happy New Year Snowy Deer

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Tina Wardell aka harleygirl50......congrats, Tina!  I chose this beautiful card as inspiration to help me create a bundle of Happy New Year cards to mail out next week.  I began by cutting a panel with the Double Stitched Squares Dies; left the panel in the die and sponged the background over scratch paper with navy ink.  The tree and deer images from 'Deer Silhouettes' were stamped in navy, then white acrylic ink mixed with water was flicked over the scene.  Once the paint specks were dry, the panel was matted with navy and adhered to a white card base. The greeting is from the 'Celebration' set.  (All of the products used are from Divinity Designs LLC.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

You Make Me Happy

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Lisa aka lovinpaper....congrats, Lisa!!  I chose this super cute CAS design to case today, but changed the colors, used hemp twine, and added a sentiment and pearls.  The floral image from one of my fave retired Stampin Up sets, Art of Life, was stamped after coloring the stamp with markers and spritzing, to give it a watercolor appearance.  The sentiment from 'So Many Sayings' (also retired by SU) was stamped in pink and cut out with Divinity Designs LLC Sentiment Strips Dies.  The die cut image panel and embossed card base were done with the Double Stitched Rectangles Dies, also by Divinity Designs LLC.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Triple Embossed Floral Heart

Hi, everyone!  This week's Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoast is to find inspiration from LTD Commodities.....wow, something for everybody there!  When I saw these awesome bracelets, I got the idea to use three metallic embossing powders on one image.  I won this awesome set from Lydia at UnderstandBlue a few months ago and have not inked it up until now.  The floral heart image was inked with versamark, then, one at a time, copper, silver, and gold embossing powder was sprinkled over the image and then heat set.  The sentiment was embossed the same way, then fussy cut and popped up with foam tape over some copper cord.  Three copper brads were added as a simple accent. The image panel was matted with copper and adhered to a silver card base.

Thanks for visiting today!

Blessings,

Snow-cowboy Hot Chocolate Treat Holder

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Nancy aka Pansey65.....congrats, Nancy!!  Wow, Nancy's gallery was filled with super cute and creative gift and favor ideas......my project today was inspired by all of them, mostly this adorable snowman muslin bag and these cute hot chocolate holders.  For my hot chocolate packet holder, I used the following items from Divinity Designs LLC: 'Country Christmas' Stamp/Die Duos, Festive Favors Dies set, and the Rustic Christmas Paper Collection.  The treat holder base was cut from black cardstock, then a gray wood-grain design from the paper collection was used to layer the front and tab.  Once the circle aperature was cut out, a piece of clear acetate was adhered to the inside and the sentiment was stamped with Stazon Jet Black. The snow-cowboy was stamped in Stazon, cut out with the custom die, then colored with markers and water-coloring. Two flavors of hot chocolate packets were lightly adhered inside the favor pouch (some were wider than the others.)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,

WINNER(S)!

Hi there!  On my Thanksgiving Day post, I offered to give away some goodies for one lucky commentor on that post.  Instead of choosing just one, I have decided to send goodie packages out to both:

Donna DeWitt and Rebecca JS

Thank you, ladies, for your comments!  Please send a note with your snail mail address to my email address on the side bar of my blog (which is spelled out so that it's not recognizable to spam-bot programs!) and in the description please list "Thanksgiving Post Winner".

I will send out your goodies a few days after I hear from you.

Blessings,

Divinity Designs LLC December New Release

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to the new release party for Divinity Designs LLC!!  To see the entire release plus some amazing design team samples, please visit the Divinity Designs LLC Blog or visit their Instagram page HERE.

Here are the products used for creating my card sample below:

Wow, I can't believe it's December already!  Though I'm not quite ready for snow, it's always fun to see new snow-people stamps!!!  I love the new Snow-Cowboy image and fun sentiments in the 'Country Christmas' Stamp/Die Duos set!!  One of my dear nieces has a Christmas birthday, so I thought that a snow-cowgirl themed card would be perfect!!  I've had some mauve pink suede fringe in my stash for over a decade and am happy to use it for this card to coordinate with the fringes on the vest!  The scene was sponged and the snow-cowgirl was both water-colored and colored with markers.  The sentiments were stamped directly onto the wood-grain designer paper from Rustic Beauty Paper Collection, then I drew in the comma and exclamation point with a journaling pen.  Pink rhinestones were added in the corners for a finishing touch. (The dies used are the Double Stitched Rectangles, Double Stitched Squares, and Squares.)

Thanks for hanging out with us today!

Blessings,

You Are Purr-fect!

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Kia aka kiagc....congrats, Kia!!!  Omigoodness, what a big and beautiful gallery!!!  I was looking for inspiration to help me create a birthday card for my hubby and this awesome card did the trick!!  It reminded me that I had not used the 'Purr-fect' set from My Favorite Things, which I purchased on clearance.  I had never tried to create a dimensional wooden floor before, so for this card I gave it a try.  The lines were drawn with a black journal marker and ruler, then a gray marker was used for the streaks.  Instead of the brown floor as in Kia's card, I decided to go monochromatic. The kitty cat was water-colored and a glaze pen covered the pink nose.  Silver heart sequins and gray baker's twine were added after sponging the edges of the card.

Thanks for visiting!!

Blessings,

Divinity Designs LLC November Design Team Color Challenge

Hi, everyone!  This month's Design Team Color Challenge is based on the Christmas Paper Collection 2014.  When the Christmas Dove Dies were released earlier this month, I knew right away that I wanted to create a 'suspension' card with the dove free-floating.  I'll share with you below step by step how I did this.....it's important to "get the horse in front of the cart".  

I chose two different patterns from the paper collection....the snowflake pattern for the dove background and a coordinating pattern for the sentiment panel and the 2-sided dove.  To create the two-sided dove, I simply cut one dove from the pattern side and another dove from the back side of the designer paper, then sponged the edges of both patterned pieces.  The snowflake paper and white mat were adhered to the front of the kraft card; the dove outline die was taped down and run through the die cut machine.....with the card open (unfolded).  I then (temporarily) adhered the inside layers, placed the die back into the same position on the front and cut out the opening.  (Note: I could have cut through all five layers at once, however, I was concerned that the paper would warp.)  I carefully removed the inside designer paper, attached string at the top and bottom of the dove cutout, then adhered the snowflake paper back down with permanent adhesive to hide the string.  The decorative dove pieces were then adhered together, with the thread in between.  The dove now swings loosely in the cut-out opening.  Baker's twine was added, along with a sentiment cut from the 'Inspiration Words' Dies, matted with the Pennant Flags Dies and Double Stitched Pennant Flags Dies. Note: The Die-Resizing Technique was used to shorten the banner....click HERE for my simple tutorial.

For the sentiment panel inside, I used the same paper as for the dove, stamped the scripture from 'Keep Christ', then added a few snow crystal cut-outs from the Christmas Dove Dies.  The designer paper panels were all cut with the Double Stitched Rectangles Dies and the white mats were cut with the Pierced Rectangles Dies.

Thanks for stopping by today!  To see the rest of the Designer samples for this challenge, click HERE and HERE.

Blessings,

Grateful

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  May all of you be filled with gratitude for the countless blessings we receive each and every day! To show my gratitude to you, my little band of faithful readers, I will randomly choose someone (sorry, US only) from the comments in this post to receive some blog candy (crafty supplies and cards created by me).  You have until Sunday, December 1st, to comment.  I will post the winner's name and ask you to email me.

Now, on to today's card.  You all know that I am obsessed with alcohol inks.  I created an AI panel on Yupo paper, using red, orange, a bit of green, and gold mixative, then die cut the leaves with the Divinity Designs Custom Stitched Leaves Dies (retired) and edged each with a gold marker.  The sentiment from 'Hello Friend Stamp/Die Duos' was gold embossed then cut out with the Double Stitched Ovals Dies.  The background panel was stamped with the Wood Background then cut out with the Double Stitched Rectangles Dies.  Gold cord and gold sequins tied everything together.

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,

Clean and Simple Thanks

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Susan aka Suzstamps....congrats, Susan!  I chose Susan's very first upload in her gallery to case.....I loved the beautiful clean and simple layout and doodled edges!!!  For my card, I began by cutting a scratch paper mask with a square cut-out.  Aqua Ink was sponged inside the square, then the flower stamp from 'Pressed Flowers'  was inked with markers, spritzed, then stamped.  The reverse mask was removed, the sentiment from 'Part of My Story' was stamped, then a journaling pen was used to doodle around the edges.  Two tiny pearls were added as an embellishment. (Note: both stamp sets are from Stampin Up.....got them free with my cardstock and supply order....yay!) 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Got Brains?

Hi, everyone!  Though I'm very late posting, last week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast was Lora aka alora......congrats, Lora!!  I cracked up when I saw this cute and comical chicken card and decided to turn the chickens in to zombies so I could use my Zombie Boy set which I just purchased from Whimsy Stamps a few weeks ago.  The background was created by using the Wrinkle Free Distress technique with purple, green, and brown Distress Oxide Inks.  The zombies were stamped with Stazon Jet Black, fussy cut, then water-colored and popped up with foam tape. I also used the following custom dies from Divinity Designs LLC: Pierced Rectangles and Sentiment Strips .  I will save this card for my nephew's birthday next month....he will get a kick out of it!! 

Thanks for visiting with me!

Blessings,

Lavender Sunset

Hi, everyone! This week's Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoast is to find inspiration from the Acorn online store......I chose this beautiful scarf.....the colors reminded me of a sunset.  For my card, I began by sponging the background sky with navy, lavender, pink, orange, and yellow.  A reverse mask was used to sponge the sun, then a torn piece of scratch paper was used to sponge random cloud lines.  The sponged panel and sentiment panel were cut with the 'Double Stitched  Rectangles' Dies. The 'Farm Fence' and 'Grass Lawn' dies were used to complete the background scene.  The vintage truck and flowers from 'Loads of Love' Stamp/Die Duos were stamped with Stazon Jet Black, cut out, water-colored, then popped up with foam tape over the scene. Three lavender hearts (cut with the same stamp/die set) were added.  (Note: all stamps and dies are from Divinity Designs LLC.) The truck windows, hubcaps, and heart centers were coated with a clear glaze pen.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

Blessings,

Divinity Designs LLC November New Release!

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to the November New Release party for Divinity Designs LLC!!  This release is full of winter cheer for sure!!  To see the entire new release, gorgeous samples, plus info on how to win some goodies, check out THIS POST.

Here are the items featured in my card sample below:

For my sample, I have created a fancy fold design with the following products: Keep Christ stamp set, Christmas Paper Collection 2019, and these custom dies: Four Panel Card with Layers, Christmas Dove, Letter Board, Scalloped Rectangles, and Pierced Rectangles.  The card base was cut from a 12x5-1/4 piece of white cardstock; the pretty layers were and colorful mats were cut from the new paper collection; the dove and snowflakes were cut from the Christmas Dove Dies set; the letters were cut with the Letter Board Dies set; stickles were used to highlight the dove, snowflakes, and designer paper layers.  The scripture stamps were both inked with teal, 'stamped off' onto scratch paper, then inked with lavender before stamping.  This created a blended coloring which matched the colors of the designer paper.

This is the 'open' view. (Note: Though I did not take a photo, the two center panels on the back were also layered with designer paper for a completed look in case the card would be displayed.)

Thanks for hanging out with us today!

Blessings,

Seagull Sunset

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Karen Thomas aka googoobaby....congrats, Karen!!  I absolutely fell in love with this card from Karen's gallery and tried to recreate it with the 'By the Bay' stamp set.  Though my colors turned out pretty bland, I kept the same clean layout and design....it was tough for me to not add any embellishments, but I resisted! :)  Once the panel was stamped and water-colored, I used a Pierced Rectangle Die from Divinity Designs LLC to frame it out.  The edges of the card base were sponged for a bit of depth.  All in all this card only took about 20 minutes....yay!!

Thanks for visiting with me today!

Blessings,

Divinity Designs LLC October Design Team Color Challenge

Hi, everyone!  Kelley has given the Design Team another fun Color Challenge this month, which focuses on the Retro Christmas Paper Pad.  I decided to pair up these yummy, warm colors with the new 'Loads of Love' Stamp/Die Duos set and the Chevron Background Die.  The truck and pumpkins were stamped with Stazon Jet Black, cut out with the custom dies, water-colored, then popped up with foam tape.  The sentiment panels (and sign post) were cut out with the Pennant Flags Dies and Double Stitched Pennant Flags Dies.  I was happy with the simplicity of this design, so, the only embellishment was the cranberry stitched ribbon.

To see the other designer samples, please click HERE and HERE, or visit the Divinity Designs LLC Instagram account.

Thanks for visiting today!

Blessings,

Dinoroar Birthday

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Claudette aka lamoore....congrats, Claudette!!  I love to mask and sponge scenes, so I chose this awesome card from Claudette's gallery.  Instead of trees and sun, I added grass and dinosaurs to my scene since I needed a birthday card for one of my nephews.  The stamp set I used is 'Dinoroar' from Stampin Up.  The dino's were stamped in Stazon Jet Black, then watercolored.  To finish out the scene, I used the following dies from Divinity Designs LLC: Clouds and Raindrops (stencil for clouds), Pierced Rectangles, and Double Stitched Rectangles.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Happy Birthday, Princess!

Hi, everyone!  This week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast is Diana Gibson....congrats, Diana!!  I chose this gorgeous card to case, but turned it into a birthday card for my niece.  Instead of an oval, I used a heart for the center and moved the sentiment panel to the other side.  The crown was stamped in Stazon Jet Black, colored with markers and sponges, then fussy cut and coated with a clear glaze pen.  Here is a list of items from Divinity Designs LLC used for this card:  Ornate Hearts Dies, Large Numbers Dies, Flourishes Embossing Folder, Pierced Rectangles Dies, Scalloped Rectangles Dies, Clouds and Raindrops Dies (tiny hearts), Easter Card Collection 2016 (crosses) and 'Princess' (retired from Our Daily Bread designs).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Never Stop Going

Hi, everyone!  This week's Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoast is to find inspiration from Cox and Cox....I thought that this rug was so cool, with the blended colors and copper colored fringe. For my card, I began by copper embossing the Grunge Cross onto white cardstock.  (Though this stamp set and coordinating die are retired from Our Daily Bread designs, I will not get rid of them since they are some of my faves for masculine cards.)  I normally would have created the Wrinkle Free Distress background first and then added the copper embossing, but I am so happy that I did the embossing first.  Once the inks (navy, green, brown) were smeared and spritzed onto a craft sheet, the raised embossing on the cardstock limited the saturation of the colors.  I love how it turned out!!  The inked panel was matted in white to balance the un-inked portions of the panel.  A separate cross was copper embossed, inked in the same manner, then cut out with the coordinating die and popped up with foam tape.  Brass brads and a metallic copper layer, along with a navy card base, rounded out the design.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

Blessings,

Divinity Designs LLC October New Release!

Hi, everyone! It's time for another awesome release from Divinity Designs LLC!!!  Check out THIS POST to see the entire release, designer samples, plus info on how to win some goodies!

Here are the items used in my card sample for today:

For my card, I began by choosing two patterns and two solids from the Rustic Christmas Paper Pad.  The truck and apples from the 'Loads of Love' Stamp/Die Duos set were stamped on white cardstock with Stazon Jet Black, cut out with the custom dies, then backed them with foam tape. I then stamped a 2nd truck onto a solid red sheet from the Rustic Christmas Paper Pad, cut out (by hand) just the truck body and paper-pieced it on top of the first stamped/die cut piece. The apples and truck windows were water-colored. The background was created with a wood-grain pattern; the grassy layers were cut from a solid green sheet with the Grass Hill Die and Grass Lawn Die, with a white 'Farm Fence' Die in between; the plaid frame was cut with from the same paper collection with two dies from the Pierced Rectangles Dies set then popped up with foam tape over the scene. The sentiment was cut out with the Treat Tags Dies and popped up with foam tape.

Thanks for hanging out with us today!

Blessings,