Encouragement for Bill

Word Art image from October 2015; DP by We R Memory Keepers (The side strips are borders of the same sheet); branch die - Cheery Lynn; the verse is mounted under the oval opening which is sponged and distressed.  There are narrow stickers barely visible at the bottom of the oval.
Sketch:   Sketch Saturday
Sentiment, no image:  Addicted-to-Stamps
Colors (Greens):   DRS Designs
Masculine:    Creative Card Crew
Vintage:    Allsorts
 Shabby Chic:  Deep Ocean
             Lemon Shortbread
             DLArt

Eureka Stamps Challenge #192 - April Showers bring May flowers

Tulips are a favorite of mine - such a lovely result of April showers - just not so much here in Arizona.  For this challenge I used the stamp "tulips" and the Blessings sentiment - both available as digis at the Eureka site.  The background is light purple, though on my screen it looks blue!  I added ribbon and some tiny punched butterflies, which I covered in sparkly purple glitter mixed with gold..  Please join us with your floral entries.  You can win 2 digis of your choice - 3 if your entry uses an image from Eureka.
CHALLENGES: 
Sketch:     Sweet Sketch Wednesday2
Inspiration:   Dar and Diane
Spring colors:   Little Claires
Glitter:  Sparkle n Sprinkle
Die cuts and flowers:  Inky Impressions 
Flowers:    Deep Ocean
Any:    Creative Fingers
             2 Crafty Girls 
             Crafting in a beautiful mess
             Creative Card Crew
             Doodle Pantry
             Not Just Cards       
             The Paper Nest Dolls        
             Through the Craft Room Door

Happy Mothers' Day

My mother and mother-in-law both passed away several years ago, and I still miss them.  They each lived to their mid 90's so were blessed with full lives.  They were blessings to us and I hope we were also to them.  Now we are in turn blessed to have a daughter and daughter-in-law who are great mothers to their children.  We pray for all mothers that they may know this love and be blessings and good examples to their families.
On to this card - I am a bit frustrated because I chose the colors for a color challenge, only to find I had had too many interruptions and missed the deadline!  But there are other challenges...
Image - One of my all time favorites - Stampin Up -Garden Collage; water color pencils;  Embossing - Darice Butterfies; butterfly punch - Marvy; sheer ribbon; Fiskars border punch.
Note:  I used my heat gun to "melt" the ribbon - was not careful enough and the whole strip melted away.  Suggestion - point the heat away from the card!
Sketch:    Mojo Monday
Flowers:   Mod Squad
Butterflies:   Cuttlebug Mania
Tic Tac Toe (top row):  Creative Knockouts
Any:     Inspiration Destination
              Creative Card Crew 
              Stamped Blessings
              Word Art Wednesday

Graduation - Jason

I try to use school colors for graduation cards - the school represented here did not really show colors, but, judging from uniforms and the graduation invitation, I think that black and burgundy are right.   You might be able to see that the top panel is burgundy, embossed with a portion of the Cuttlebug  Congratulations folder.  I lightly sanded this so some white will show through.  I used a bit of a Spellbinder banner die to "hang" the banner with the year on it.  Washi tape separates the embossed piece from the DP.
Sketch:    Iuesday Morning
Black and white, 1 color:   Crafty Creations
Banner:     Crafting for all Seasons
Any:    Creative Card Crew
             Through the Craft Room Door

Center Step Card - HB, Iva

This is my first center step card.  .I purchased a packet of pre-cut bases since I am not very good at cutting styles like this!  It has already been sent to my sister - in - law - I know this is a favorite color of hers.  The stamp is SU, and the Blessings is a Cheery Lynn die.    I used Washi tape on the inside, and added a couple of stickers to fill in spaces.
Use dies:   Creative Card Crew 
                  Crafty Gals Corner
Word Die: Stamped Blessings
Birthday   Penny Black at Allsorts
Spring:      Crafters Cafe
                   Deep Ocean  
Pastel:        Addicted-to-Stamps
Mult. Scores:  Scor-Pal 
Any:           Lost Coast Portal

Sending Sunshine

 I used my brand new prize from DRS - the sentiment and two branches.  Thanks to Robin, DT member at DRS, for her card inspiring me to combine the two branches in this manner.  I combined chalk pencils (branches, bird house) and metallic gel pens (leaves, trim) -for me, this is a favorite coloring style.
The oval die cuts are Spellbinders, and Tiny Flowers die cuts  are by Cheery Lynn.  The DP is cut from a framed piece that was probably designed to use for scrapbooks or perhaps for letter writing.  This sentiment makes me think of the oldie "You are my sunshine...".
Sketch/colors:         Your Next Stamp
Favorite coloring:    Incy Wincy
Die cuts:                  DRS Designs
                                 Creative Card Crew
Song:                       Crafting When we Can 
Nature:                     Cheery Lynn
Pastels:                    Addicted-to-Stamps
Spring:                      Deep Ocean
                                  Patties Creations
                                  Imagine That

Amazing Grace

Verse by Verve; Labels 6 die by Spellbinder; Spring DP by DCWV; lace; polka dot Washi tape; hummingbird by Cheery Lynn.  (The floral design and butterfly are part of the pattern paper)
Sketch #3:   http://vlvsketches.blogspot.com/
Lace:           http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Colors:        http://www.craftindesertdivasblog.com/search/label/Linky%20Party
Sentiment:  http://greatimpressionsstamps.blogspot.com/search/label/Challenge
Any:            http://www.flonzcraft.com/vsc/2015/08/17/challenge-35-anything-goes/
 

Happy 99th, Aunt Edith

Once again I need a card for a special milestone.  Edith is the last of our parents' generation - DH's aunt.  Her memory is fading, but I hope she will enjoy having her name and the 99 on the card.  IRL, the yellow-gold cs is more subtle than it looks on the screen.  I really like the look of the colored image from Antique Images.  I added a strip of lace just left of the image - not sure it shows up on the screen.
Sketch:   http://sweetsketchwednesday2.blogspot.com/
Lace:      http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Girlie:    http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com/
Birthday:  http://incywincydesigns.blogspot.com/
Any:      http://doodlepantryblog.blogspot.com/

Wedding - JJ and Annie

                                                                      

 First of all, my apologies for the terrible image - I need to work on my blogging skills - and also figure out how to arrange my photos.  It worked yesterday and not today!

Front of card:  shimmery cs; Cuttlebug border die; Sizzix embossing folder; sheer ribbon, SU Wedding Elegance sentiment; half pearls

Inside: (This is a tip.) I try to incorporate something from the invitation on my cards.  This time I used an actual part of the card - they had an overlay of vellum with initials (in light purple) and a swirl accented with a gem.  I took the entire overlay, trimmed on three sides, and used the folded piece on the inside of the card.  I printed the verse on a piece of the same shimmery cs, adhered inside the folded vellum.  I adhered this to the inside of the card with double stick tape.

Sketch:  http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shining%20the%20Light%20Challenge

Wedding:      http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/

Embossing:   http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/

                      http://glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ 

                       http://www.vssweetideas.blogspot.com/

Ribbon:         http://cuttlebugmania.blogspot.co.uk/

Sentiment:     http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/

Tip (not theme)      http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/

Pearls and swirls:   http://cardmaniachallenges.blogspot.com/

Any:              http://www.ttcrd.blogspot.com/     

                      http://www.craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com/

                      http://notjustcardschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

                      http://thepapernestdollschallenge.blogspot.com/

                      http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/2015/05/dlart-may-linky-challenge.html

Garden statue and gate

Once again, I encourage your help and suggestions.  I recently won the Garden Gate and Statue dies (by Marianne) - from Creative Card Crew.  I will be trying different things to place behind the gate!  This is an old stamp by Endless creations.  I added some leaves from a Sizzix die - using black to stay with the kraft and black theme.  I placed the Our Daily Bread sentiment on a punched border.  I aged the statue with a bit of black sponging.  Oh, yes, I cut an extra outer panel of the gate, spit it in half, and extended the fence on either side in this way.  Since I decided to add the statue I really did not need to do that.
Sketch  http://digisketchchallenge.blogspot.com/:
Kraft:   http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.ca/
Sentiment:   http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Flowers:       http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/
 Garden:      http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com/
3 dies (statue, gate, leaves):  http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/
Girl friend w/ Kraft:  http://www.thekraftjournal.blogspot.com/
Any:              http://www.scribbleandscrapcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/
                      http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/
                      http://pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.ca/  

Quick card

 

The card was quick - after I spent over 10 minutes trying to find the right color cs!  This is a Cuttlebug embossing folder - with the flowers lightly chalked.  For some reason I ordered several sheets of stickers I rarely used and thought this might work here (EKSuccess).  The butterfly is from a promotional sheet - this winter we have received enough return address stickers, other stickers and notepads - from charities- that could last several life times!
Quick and simple:  http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/
Flowers:     http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/
3 flowers:   http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/
Sentiment:   http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Any:      http://www.scribbleandscrapcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/

A new garden gate

I just received the Marianne die (for the gate) as a prize at Creative Card Crew, and I have been anxious to try it.  I thought it would work to place the Day for Daisies cherry blossoms behind the gate.  When I got it put together, it seemed pretty bare just behind the gate, so I unstuck a bit and slid in the row of tulips with the sentiment (dollar bin stamp) - the best I could do to rescue what I had already done!  Next time I will make more of a scene.  I added a couple of Cheery Lynn branches, and Rain drops - the clear and many colors are available at Classy Cards 'n Such.  The cherry blossoms are subtly colored with pink pastel chalk pencils; the centers are brown gems from Hampton Arts.
Sketch:  http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.com/
Spring:   http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.com/
Sentiment:  http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Colors (shades of blue):  http://www.drsdesignsblog.blogspot.com/
Cherry blossoms:      http://classycardsnsuch.blogspot.com/
Any:       http://adayfordaisies.blogspot.com/
Any digi:   http://doodlepantryblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/ants-in-my-pantry-digital-challenge-4.html

Birthday humor

Verse - Inkadinkado; checks and solid cs by AMuse; "trees" by We R Memory Keepers; black gems. Greens:  dark green cs mats; olive green checks, lime green tree.
Sketch / humor:   http://digisketchchallenge.blogspot.com/
Birthday:     http://disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.com/
Sentiment:   http://whimsyinspires.blogspot.com.au/
Green:        http://stampedblessings.com/amusing-challenge/
                   http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
                   http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/03/pile-it-on-59-green.html
                   http://www.craftindesertdivas.com/search/label/Linky%20Party
3 shades of green:   http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/
Any:           http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.com/

Inside and Out

    I had this stamp out and decided to use it again - I do not often use the same image right away!  I also do not often do more than put a verse on the inside of cards - thanks to the challenge, I am stretching a bit!  For the inside I used materials from a kit from Kanban (Lovely in Lace).  It did not reproduce well, but the color is a pale teal to match one of the stripes on the front.
Other supplies:  stamps by Unity; Die-Namics grass die; Doodlebug DP. Pizzazz Aplenty cord, shiny Fiskars metallic pens, glitter to give a sparkly look to the grass. 
The grass and cs mat are a dark green not black.




Sketch:    http://jwscrapshack.blogspot.ca/
Colors:    http://www.theunitystampco-challenge.blogspot.com/
Green:     http://qkrstampede.blogspot.co.uk/
                 http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/
                 http://www.craftindesertdivas.com/search/label/Linky%20Party 
                 http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Spring:    http://wagsnwhiskersrubberstamps.blogspot.com/
                 http://2cuteinkchallenges.blogspot.com/
Decorate inside and out:  http://glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Any:         http://notjustcardschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

On Eagle's Wings

This will go to friends who are now in extended care.
Technique / Supplies:
Stamps - On Eagles Wings (ODB); DP - Prima, Something Blue, Cuttlebug hearts; Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder (on hearts and grey bg),  Pizzazz Aplenty shiny twine
One per column: (left to right) - image & Patterned paper; die cut; solid cs & embossing; flowers (on DP); twine:  http://avenue613.blogspot.com/
Sketch:   http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/
Use ODB stamp:  http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/
Birds:  http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/
Wildlife (eagle) with embossing and die cuts:  http://cuttlebugmania.blogspot.co.uk/ 
Shabby chic (distressed edges; sponging with chalk):  http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Embossing and die cuts:  http://cutitupchallenges.blogspot.com/
Hearts:  http://eurekastamps.blogspot.com/ 
Any- inspirational:   http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/
Any:      http://lovetoscrapchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/
              http://cutedaisymay.blogspot.com/

Kitty HB

New- brand new roll of ribbon; metallic gel pens
Old (all have been around for a LONG time!):   Debbie Mumm DP,  High Hopes kitty, MFP sentiment, brads, Spellbinder oval dies
Sketch:  http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/
Colors (lavender, yellow, coral, green):  http://joannamunster.com/2014/12/15/ibsic-89/
Orange (coral):  http://fattastictuesday.blogspot.com/
For a child:   http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
New:  http://audsentimentschallengeblog.blogspot.com/
           http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.com/
Old/new:  http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/
Any, with High Hopes:  http://highhopesstamps.blogspot.com/
Any:   http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/
           http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com/

Get well, Ervin

DH's twin brother has been in the hospital again, pneumonia this time.  At his age, there are always concerns.  Your prayers would be welcome.  Fortunately, he should be able to go home today - still not too late to send get well wishes.
Old:  twine, rust cs, sentiment stamp; circle and wonky circle die.
New:  CS - My Mind's Eye Adventure pad (couldn't resist after Christmas bargain); pre-colored Dearie Doll
Sketch:  http://digisketchchallenge.blogspot.com/
Fave Previous challenge - spots and dots:  http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/
New beginning - beginning good health for BIL:  http://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-12-15T12:46:00%2B01:00&max-results=3
Any w/ twist - new:  http://diesruschallenge.blogspot.com/
Old/New:  http://eurekastamps.blogspot.com/
Any:  http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
         http://corrosivechallengesbyjanet.blogspot.com/  
         http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
          http://thepapernestdollschallenge.blogspot.com/
          http://avenue613.blogspot.com/

Thank you in the new year

Happy New Year!  May 2015 be filled with blessings for you.  This is also a thank you to everyone who designs, supervises, comments, creates - and more - to keep the blog challenges going!
The actual card will go to my sister-in-law.  She will be having shoulder replacement surgery next week - several months ago had back surgery that really did not work well, so it is not easy for her.  Your prayers would be appreciated.  I know she appreciates my cards, so I enjoy making them for her.
I am going to try some new things, but also use some of my supplies that have been gathering dust!  For the color challenge (teal, dusty blue, navy, white)  Jo at Trimgym (See C.R.A.F.T. below) created several bg papers - they were freebies and much appreciated.  I used two of them on this card.  I also used a Hampton Art stamp, with a 7Gypsies library sentiment, and some ribbon I have had for a few years. I added glitter to the stamped flower (SU Night of Navy ink.)
Sketch:  http://sketchandstashchallenge.blogspot.com/
Colors:  http://www.trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.com/
Old (stamps, ink, ribbon) and new (Pattern papers):  http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/
Bow:  http://jellyparkchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
Any, with glitter:  http://sparklensprinklecreativechallenges.blogspot.com/
Any:  http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
          http://notjustcardschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ 
          http://www.scribbleandscrapcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/
          http://kraftinkimmiestamps.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-krafty-previewsday-three.html

Chance is 21

Our friends have a grandson who is turning 21 - I used several images to relate to his interests.  I inked the embossing folder to give that panel a "dirt" look.  The strips at the top and bottom are cut from shape 'n tape sheets.
Sketch:  http://tuesdaythrowdown.blogspot.com/
Any embossed:   http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
Boys' card:  http://paperprettiesblog.blogspot.com/
Summer:  http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Monochrome graduation

I have a fairly long list of graduation cards and not much time, so I will need some quick and easy styles!  I think this works - when I get invitations I will try to create a card to match the colors.  This uses a Cheery Lynn Tiny Things die - which I bought when Joan had her Joan's Garden shop.  The flourish Frame folder is now available at Joan's Gardens - as is the Vagabond die cut machine I use.  The Congrats is a Cuttlebug die I have had for a while.  Two layers of purple are matted on white base.
Monochromatic:  http://artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
wings:  http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/
Purple, with Cheery Lynn die:  http://cheerylynndesigns.blogspot.com/search/label/challenge
Embossing:  http://sentimentalsundays.blogspot.com/
Die cut (no stamp), with layers and items from Joan's Gardens:  http://www.joanstouch.com/
Frame (embossed frame):   http://www.suzypantssmarty.blogspot.ca/
Spring (Graduations!!!)  http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/