IHP DT Challenge

Hello my friends!  (It's been awhile since I've posted, so sorry about that!) Today is our monthly DT challenge at i {heart} papers so I have a fun project to share with you today! Our challenge this month is to use our favorite charity's logo as our inspiration. This is the charity and logo I chose:

I knew nothing about Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow, until my Mother-in-law was diagnosed with it in December of 2005. There is no cure for this disease but there are medications and treatments to help prolong a patient's life. In September of 2006 my Mother-in-law underwent a stem cell transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. It was a very tough year of recovery but her body responded well and she is in what is considered a "partial response" to the transplant for the past 4 and 1/2 years! We are so thankful to live near one of the top medical facilities that specializes in this type of cancer and so very thankful that she is doing so well! My Mother-in-law returns to the clinic every six weeks for her myeloma numbers to be monitored and, so far (praise God) she has not needed any further treatment, although we know that that day will eventually come. You can read more about the MMRF on their website HERE.

 Now onto my card!

I chose the branch and acorns from the logo as my focal point and used this bird image from Unity's Bird's of a Feather set. I colored my image with Copic markers. My bird is burgundy to signify the color of the Multiple Myeloma awareness ribbon. All of the DP is from Basic Grey's Oxford collection. I also used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch from Karen's blog.

Please check out my fellow DT member's chosen charities and projects and leave them some love or even a donation to their chosen charity!

Carolyn

Deb

Gretchen

Kendra

Loretta

Lori

Lynn

Megan

Tracy

Kate

Thanks so much for stopping by!

stamps: Bird's of a Feather (Unity)

ink: memento tuxedo black (Tsukineko)

paper: very vanilla, crumb cake (SU!); Oxford DP (Basic Grey)

accessories: scallop border punch (Fiskars); labels 14 nestabilities (Spellbinders); ivory silk ribbon, natural twine string (Creative Impressions); Copic sketch markers; jet rhinestones (Zva Creative)

A Pirate's Life

It is very hot here (and will be for the next few days) so we are spending our time inside reading and having movie marathons! Yesterday we watched Pirate's of the Caribbean 1 and 2 with 3 on the agenda for today. I also have found some time to sneak away and stamp {grin}! I needed a card for a 10 year old boy, and with pirate's on the mind, I dug out my Ahoy, Matey set by Stampin' Up! I colored my pirate with my Copics and layered him on some Little Boy DP by Echo Park. Just a quick and simple card but I know he will love it!

Thanks for stopping by and stay cool!

stamps: Ahoy, Matey (SU!)

ink: memento tuxedo black (Tsukineko)

paper: night of navy, very vanilla (SU!); Little Boy DP (Echo Park)

accessories: oval nestabilities (Spellbinders); Copic sketch markers; ribbon (SU!); button (Basic Grey); twine string (May Arts)

Crazy Collage

Hey friends! Thursday's ways to use it challenge, to create a collage using at least 4 different stamps, had me intrigued so I gave it a shot! I like the look of collage but I don't usually make "collagey" kind of cards, I'm more of a clean with lots of layers girl. I knew this would be a challenge! I started with a couple of elements that have been laying on my desk in the "to be used someday" pile. One was this lattice die cut in crumb cake and another was the early espresso branch. I first took the lattice die and stamp a large script background on it (stamp #1) then I layered it on a piece of early espresso card stock that I had already stamped with another background stamp, wonderfully worn (stamp #2). I die cut a scallop tag and stamped some subtle eggs (stamp #3) and the word "friends" (stamp #4) on it and layered that on the lattice piece. I stamped my bird (stamp #5) in dusty durango, carefully trimmed him out and popped him up on the branches. I added a border of dusty durango and a dotted ribbon to complete my collage. I put it all on a 4 1/4 inch square card base. Voila'- I love it!! (Hey it's an all Stampin' Up card too!)

Thanks for stopping by!

stamps: Wonderfully Worn, En Francais, Just Believe, Nature Walk (SU!) 

ink: crumb cake, early espresso, dusty durango (SU!)

paper: crumb cake, early espresso, dusty durango (SU!)

accessories: lattice die, bird builder punch, ribbon (SU!); scallop tag die (Sizzix)

Love in the Doing

Hello again my friends! Boy, have I missed crafting and blogging! My daughter and I had a fabulous and inspiring mission trip with our church youth group to Michigan. We met some great new friends and served the community with hard work and love! I can't tell you how thankful I am for the blessings I have in my life- even the little ones like a nice soft bed to sleep in! Sometimes it takes a trip like this to appreciate those kind of things! I think we are finally caught up on our sleep so it's back to our regular routine again.

While I was trying to get my creative side flowing again, I came across this stamp set from Our Daily Bread Designs called Mother Teresa. We were introduced to a woman in Benton Harbor whom we were going to help by repainting her house. When she heard our group was from Minnesota, she said "Wow, that is love to come all this way to paint my house!" I know that all of the time I spent scraping old paint and repainting the house again was done with love and pride and I think the kids in my group felt the same way so I had to use this sentiment on my card today.  I framed it with a labels 11 nestabilitie accented with buttons. My DP is all from the Country Drive collection by Echo Park and the ribbon is by May arts.

I will leave you with a picture of our last day on the shores of Lake Michigan. This is some of the youth in our group reflecting on the wonders of God's creation! Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to give thanks for the blessings in your life however big or small!

stamps: Mother Teresa (ODBD) 

ink: garden green (SU!); spun sugar distress ink (Ranger)

paper: vintage cream (PTI); Country Drive DP (Echo Park)

accessories: circle, lacey circle, labels 11 nestabilities (Spellbinders); buttons (Making Memories); natural twine string (Creative Impressions); celery twill ribbon (May Arts)

Christmas in July

It's Christmas in July?! The Our Daily Bread Designs Stamping In Time challenge is to make Christmas cards! It's kind of hard when it's 85 and sunny to get in the Christmas mode but I took out my Angel from Our Daily Bread Designs and set to work. I colored her with my Copics and then added glitter to her wings. My DP is all from the Jovial collection by Basic Grey. I added some antique linen distress ink to the vanilla paper to tone it down a bit and to match the DP a little better. I inked my sentiment 3 different times and used my stamp positioner to make it fit in the circle shape.

Thanks for stopping by!

stamps: Angel (ODBD)

ink: memento tuxedo black (Tsukineko); antique linen distress ink (Ranger)

paper: very vanilla, basic black (SU!); Jovial DP (Basic Grey)

accessories: border punch (Martha Stewart); circle and scallop circle nestabilities (Spellbinders); oval cutter (Creative Memories); ribbon (May Arts); glitter (SU!); rhinestones (Zva Creative); Copic sketch markers

Be a Friend

Thanks for being my friend! I do appreciate all of you that visit and the comments that you leave here and in my gallery! This is just a quick little card I made using some Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky DP and the Happy Greetings set from SU! My daughter and I are still on our mission trip and, hopefully, we are making some new friends ourselves!

Thanks again for stopping by!

stamps: Happy Greetings (SU!)

ink: rich razzelberry (SU!)

paper: very vanilla, rich razzelberry (SU!); Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky DP (MME)

accessories: scallop scissors (Fiskars); wonky rectangles, circle and scallop circle nestabilities (Spellbinders); baker's twine (Divine Twine); button (Fo Fa La); floss (DMC); sewing machine

Blowing You Kisses

Hey there my friends! Are you enjoying the warm days of summer? I know we are! We spend as much time as we can outside. This fun pinwheel die from Lil' Inker Designs is the perfect accessory for summertime cards. I used some Stella & Rose Mabel DP for the pinwheel and used a small button for it's center. The sentiment is also from Lil' Inker Designs and coordinates with the pinwheel die. I used some teeny tiny brads to secure the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your summer day!

stamps: Pinwheel Die and stamp set (Lil' Inker Designs)

ink: chocolate chip (SU!)

paper: crumb cake, tangerine tango (SU!); Stella & Rose Mabel DP (MME)

accessories: pinwheel die (Lil' Inker Designs); button (?); natural twine string, crochet trim (May Arts); modern label punch, large oval punch (SU!); tiny brads (MFT); paper distresser

Happy Birthday America!

I love the 4th of July! I am so thankful to live in the United States and celebrate this holiday! Hope you are enjoying your day as well and thanks for stopping by!

stamps: God Bless America (ODBD)

ink: memento rich cocoa (Tsukineko); antique linen distress ink (Ranger)

paper: very vanilla, cherry cobbler, night of navy (SU!); DP (?)

accessories: Copic sketch markers; sewing machine; word window punch (SU!); silver baubles (Sierra Pacific Crafts); border punch (EK Success); ribbon (May Arts)

Good Works

Hello my friends! My daughter and I are on our way to Michigan with our church youth group on a mission trip. We are going to be working with kids and the elderly in a small community on the shores of Lake Michigan. We will be gone all week so if you could, please pray for us and our group and that our work will make some kind of impact on the students in our group and the people of this Michigan community.

My card today uses a verse from Romans that I think is appropriate for our trip. I stamped the verse in early espresso and cut it out with a labels 14 nestabilities. My DP is from the Hello Luscious collection by Basic Grey. I added some lace and pearl trims and a bazzill flower with a corduroy brad for it's center. This is also my submission for this week's Our Daily Bread designs challenge to use any ODBD set to make a project.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I do have some posts scheduled while I'm away so please stop back!

stamps: Scripture Collection I (ODBD)

ink: early espresso (SU!)

paper: very vanilla, early espresso (SU!); Hello Luscious DP (Basic Grey)

accessories: lace trim (May Arts); brown twine string (Creative Impressions); tiny pearls, corduroy brad (Zva Creative); flower (Bazzill); labels 14 nestabilities (Spellbinders)

The Sweet Life

Happy Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day! I'm sure you celebrate this unique holiday every year, right? Yeah, I didn't know it was today either but thanks to the Free For All challenge on SCS, I discovered some fun new holidays to celebrate all year long! You can find a list of them on this website. I chose this cute little PI girl from MFT to make my ice cream card. I colored her with my Copic sketch markers and layered her on some Summer Days DP by Echo Park. The layout I used is this week's MFT sketch challenge. I colored my ice cream orange because my new favorite flavor is "Summer's Dream" by Schwan's. It is orange sherbet and vanilla swirled together. Yummy!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I will leave you with a joke (since it is also International Joke Day!): What's a polar bear's favorite food?

A Burrr- ito of course!!

stamps: Make Mine a Double (MFT)

ink: memento tuxedo black (Tsukineko)

paper: white, hibiscus burst (PTI); Summer Days DP (Echo Park)

accessories: circle nestabilities (Spellbinders); Copic sketch markers; pink silk ribbon (Creative Impressions); Dainty Doily Die-namic (MFT)