Bonjour!

 

Greetings! Back again with another challenge at Inkspirational. This time with have a photo challenge, shown below. 



 

 

I hope that you will stop over to Inkspirational Challenges to see all the different projects the Design Team have created to inspire you and then consider making a creation of your own to share with us.

 

 

For my own project, I used a number of stamp images from Art Declassified and Carabelle Studio Stamps. I added a few butterfly stickers and some ruffled trim to complete my card.  Thanks for stopping by.  I always appreciate your visits and comments. Hugs, Yvonne

Season's Greetings

 

Greetings everyone! It's time, once again, for a new challenge over at Inkspirational!  This time, we have a word prompt:  "Gift."

 

 

I hope that you will pop over to Inkspirational and see how each of the Design Team members interpreted the challenge and then inspire us with a project of your own!

 

My card uses images from Crafty Individuals and Art Declassified. Thanks so much for stopping by! Best, Yvonne



Spring is in the Air!

 

Greetings! I apologize for the delay in publishing this post.  I quite simply lost track of the time.  My card above is for the latest challenge over at Inkspirational Challenge where the theme is "Spring."

 



 

For my card, I began by spritzing a water color panel with pink and yellow-toned Distress Spray Inks.  I collaged a paper napkin on next. It included the word Paris, so I decided to go with a Paris in Springtime theme. The images are by a now defunct company called Art Declassified. I spritzed them with the spray inks too for just a touch of color. A couple of chitchat stickers and some seam binding fashioned into a bow and my card is complete.

 

I hope you will check out all the fabulous makes by the rest of the design team and then submit a project of your own!

 

I'll be Home for Christmas

 

Greetings! There's a new challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu. This time the Pink Team theme is around gifts. You can make a gift or a project with a gift on it.

 

 

I remembered this now defunct company, Art Declassified, image I had with gifts as part of the set. The letters spelling Joy are from Oxford Impressions.

 

I hope you will stop over to see all the inspiring projects by the Design Team and then create a project of your own to share with us. Thanks for stopping. Yvonne

A Forgotten Old Favorite

 

Greetings dear friends.  So lovely of you to stop by today.  Today I am sharing with you a card I made for the new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  Our theme this time around is to create a project using one of your favorite stamp images that you have not used, or have forgotten for some time.  I am always excited to see what my design team sisters share and know you will be delighted too, so please take a peek over at FSC and then dig through your own stamps and share a project with us.  Remember, we are a stamping challenge, so stamping must be your focal point.  Flonzcraft, our generous sponsor is providing a $20 gift voucher to one randomly drawn participant.

 

For my own card, I began with a hot press water color panel, to which I applied Dylusions Ink Sprays in various colors and then pounced a water color brush dipped in water to blend the colors slightly. I splattered several shades of Dr. PH Martins India Ink on the panel next.  Dina Wakely and Unity Stamps were dipped in acrylic paints and added to the panel. The focal image, by Art Declassified, sadly now defunct, was one of my "go to" images for years.  It is stamped in Midnight Blue Archival Ink.  The sentiment by Dylusions was stamped with Archival Ink, as well, trimmed and mounted to the panel. Some photo corners and a bit of baker's twine complete my card. 

 

Thanks again for dropping by.  Looking forward to seeing your project! Hugs, Yvonne

Happy Anniversary!

My husband and I are celebrating our 12th Anniversary today at our condo at the beach.  He surprised me with a beautiful vase of pink tulips and carnations and red roses and bottle of French Champagne which we will enjoy with dear friends who are joining us for the latter part of the weekend.  Above is the card I made for  my husband.  It is difficult to see, but the card base was stenciled with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  The bee image is by Gecko Galz and the focal image is by Art Declassified, as is the sentiment.  Embellishments include some tissue tape, a scrap of white burlap, a chipboard heart painted with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, a vintage button, a snippet of seam binding and liquid pearls.  I am so blessed to have a partner with whom to share my life, and loves me.  As some of you know, my husband has been battling a very serious cancer since just after we were married.  He was initially given less than six months to live and this July it will be 10 years.  We are thankful for every day we have together and know that all the prayers throughout the years have been heard above.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  Hoping you are having a great weekend, too.  Hugs, Yvonne

Dance, dance, dance!

Greetings! There's a new challenge over at Make My Monday.  This week, it's a color challenge of pink and black.  I began with a black card base, wrapped pink lace around the bottom, tore bits of card stock that sopped up distress inks from my craft mat from a previous project.  The focal image is a digital image from Gecko Galz.  The sentiment on a scrap of digital background paper, also from GG, is from Art Declassified. Finishing touches include Tissue Tape from Idea-ology, and vintage seam binding and buttons.  Hopefully, this will work, as I am doing this with a mobile device.  Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne 

The Pointe Is...

Greetings!  I hope you are having a great weekend.  We are at the beach in January after a four month hiatus.  I am trying to get back in the swing of things with favorite challenges in 2013, so I wanted to give Lisa's challenge a try.  Congratulations to Lisa on her 300th Bloggers Challenge! Below is the sketch we were to work from.

For my card, I decided to use to different lengths of lace  for my "panels."  The ballerina is from Gecko Galz's Tiny Dancer Collage Sheet and the sentiment is from Art Declassified.  Thanks for stopping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Dance Ballerina Dance

One of my favorite Challenge Sites is Frilly and Funkie. They not only challenge you bi-weekly, they cater to all sorts of styles by focusing on Frilly one week and Funkie the next within the same challenge.  They feature tutorials that offer a wealth of knowledge and outstanding designers and the owner, Linda Coughlin, is very generous with prizes.  I had not had an opportunity to play along much last year, but am hoping that 2013 brings more opportunity to do so.  For their first challenge of the new year, we are asked to Follow our Muse.  That certainly means different things to different people!  I decided to start with an image I really liked and really focus on creating a card that touched my heart and hopefully the eventual recipient.  The main image is by Gecko Galz.  The sentiment is by Art Declassified.  Part of my Muse is a love of recycled, often vintage, buttons, lace and vintage paper.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Tell Me More

I thought I would revisit the Vintage Stamping Challenge site where a number of my dear friends from Fashionable Stamping Challenge serve on the Design Team.  The newest challenge is Vintage and we are to make sure to use flowers in our project.  For my card, the background paper is a floral background, though it is a bit difficult to see.  The focal image is by Art Declassified and the girl is holding a bouquet of cut flowers. Embellishments include vintage seam binding, and buttons along with a bit of tulle and burlap string, a paper doily, liquid pearls and a metal charm.  Thanks for dropping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

Home Sweet Home

The weeks go by so fast!  Once again it is time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  Our theme this time, selected by me, is "Home Sweet Home."  There are all sorts of ways to go with this theme.  My first thought went to this Artistic Outpost image from the Outpost plate, however, you could also make a house shaped card or a card with a bird cage.  The possibilities are endless.  For my card, I began with smooshing various Distress Inks on my Craft Mat and sopping up the inks onto white card stock.  I stamped my house image with Black StazOn Ink over the background.  The sentiment was stamped onto a torn piece of Kraft paper.  Simple embellishments include vintage seam binding and button, burlap string, and some beautiful die cut leaves compliments of the Funkie Junkie Boutique with a recent order.  I hope you will check out the inspiration pieces of my design team sisters and submit an entry of your own for a possible prize.  Please remember we need to see stamping on your entry as we are a stamping challenge.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

A Thing of Beauty

Hello!  My first post today is in response to Mynnette's Challenge to consider being selected for a the Design Team for a brand new Challenge blog call Inkspirational that begins in January 2013. Each week of the challenge, each month, will bring a new challenge:  CASE, Color, Photo Inspiration, Sketch, and Anything Goes when there is a fifth week.  To be considered for this Design Team, below is the CASE sample my card above responds to.  Other posts will follow for Mynnette's consideration.

I decided to work with stamps and die cuts I already own for my submission.  The oval label is a portion of a perfume label stamp by Art Declassified.  Using Distress Markers, I water colored the middle of the label with Lemonade DI so that it blended in with the background paper. The frame itself was water colored with Rusty Hinge DI.  The sentiment within the frame is from Stampsmith.  Not having a flower die cut, I chose this beautiful frame, also by Art Declassified.  The center was cut out to create room for a Crafty Individual clip art image.  The black vine, a Sissix die cut, accents the image.  Liquid Pearls complete my card.  If you are looking for a new Design Team to possibly join, why not pop over to On A Stampage.

Bee Mine!

Greetings!  My card today is for several challenges.  The first is for Challenge #183 over at 365 Cards where we are asked to create a card based on the colors above.  The card is also for a new challenge I learned about called Tuesday Alchemy where the challenge is to create a project inspired by the words "Bee," "Guitar," and "Lunch."   The images are from Art Declassified, except for the bees and sentiment, which are from Character Construction.  Distress Inks and Black StazOn Ink were used.  Simple embellishments include Copper Liquid Pearls and vintage seam binding.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Best, Yvonne

Gotta Have It!

There's a new challenge over at 365 Cards for Day 181 called "Gotta Have It."  We are to create a card showing something we need to have right now.  Now honestly, there is not much I need to have, as I truly believe I already have so very much, but in the spirit of the challenge, after giving it some thought, I pushed aside chocolate, a trip abroad, or a trip to the beach and decided I need some new fashions!  There is a decided crispness to the air, and fall is just around the corner.  I am longing for my soft sweaters and corduroys, though I am also wondering how close to the Holidays I can continue to wear cropped pants and sandals! And so, I have created a card with Fashionistas using images from Art Declassified.  To add an air of modernism, I chose red, white and black.  Thanks so much to each of you who have stopped by my blog this week and for your words of encouragement.  It means so much to me.  Take care, Yvonne

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Hello!  I want to share another card that I made for the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show where the theme is Hey Girl!  I selected this image by Art Declassified, stamped in Wild Honey Distress Ink on Specialty Paper and mounted it to a torn edge, crumpled and flattened mulberry colored background paper.  The matted image was added to a mulberry card base and honey colored background paper.  The sentiment, by Stampsmith, was stamped with Seedless Preserves Distress Ink and fits the challenge perfectly as little girls grown bigger everyday! Simple embellishments include a gift of hand dyed lace from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, Butterscotch Liquid Pearls, vintage buttons and seam binding and a die cut vine using upcycled craft paper that was mottled with Picket Fence Distress Stain.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

A Touch of the Orient

Greetings!  Thank you so much for stopping by my blog.  My post today is for our new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenge, which this time around is to make a project with an Asian theme.  I have always been attracted to Asian-style stamps and papers due to the fact that my son at an early age decided he was in love with all things Japanese.  Now, in the early - mid 80s, there was no internet, no cell phones, or personal computers.  Our only source of feeding his inspiration was to look for television shows or magazine or newspaper articles on Japan.  Ironically, a young man at church, with a similar interest to my son, made a connection in Japan, and lived there for many years.  Long story short, a Japanese family whose business was teaching English, brought many of their students over to spend three weeks with church families.  Our whole family was immersed in the Japanese culture over the next decade with many visitors to our home and to this day we stay in touch via FaceBook!  The young man from church would send my son age appropriate Japanese text books and by the time he entered college to study Japanese, he advanced out of the first five classes of Japanese, and the University created new classes for him specifically!  There is much more I could share, but I know your time is limited, so on to my card.  The images used on my card are by a sadly, now defunct company called Art Declassified.  All were stamped with Black StazOn Ink or Barn Red Distress Ink.  Simple gold thread embellishes the card, along with some handmade paper I folded into paper fans and wrapped with gold paper compliments of a Blog Candy win from Gabrielle.  I hope you will pop over to see all the mouthwatering inspiration pieces my Design Team Sisters have created, and I hope you will also give the challenge a go yourself for a possible fabulous prize.  Thanks so much for dropping by today.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Vintage Christmas Wishes

I recently checked out Ebay for the first time and came across this rare, retired stamp by Magenta called Christmas Carolers. I won the bid, obviously, and was shocked when the stamp arrived to see how "fat" maple wood stamps were years ago. Curious as to whether anyone out there has seen this stamp before. It's a funny thing, back in the late 80s I visited a home by Frank Lloyd Wright and stepped away from Colonial and Antiques to all things Early Modern. I still absolutely love Early Modern, but I am happy that I have fallen in love again with vintage. I guess it is true, we always come full circle. For my card, I softened the card front, background paper and doily with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, added some crinkled black ribbon, some gold braid, gifted to me by a friend, and added a sentiment and holly leaves by Art Declassified. Snow flakes were cut from a gold doily. No challenge for this one, just moved to make it in the middle of the night while my DH was recently hospitalized. Thanks for dropping my. Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - As Time Goes By

Greetings! It is sooooo great to be back on my blog and back to following many of yours. The past two weeks have been a blur as my husband underwent some surgery. My apologies to those of you who have been so kind to leave comments, I should be able to do a better job of responding from here out.

I am most excited about the new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenge (FSC). The theme is "As Time Goes By." For those who know me, it is no secret that I am a literalist! My first thought went to the movie with the song in it with the same name. I confess I have never seen the movie, but my research on the movie, Casablanca, led me to select the elements above for my card. The loving couple image is by Art Declassified. The beautiful Eiffel Tower is by Stampsmith. (I just love how you look up at the tower!) The postcard stamp was a gift by Crafty Individuals when I ordered some other stamps. (Thank you!) The plane is by K & Company, and the sentiment was made with an Alphabet Set by Studio G. Other elements include lace, number stickers, background musical paper, LOTS of Distress Inks, vintage buttons and Baker's Twine.

I cannot wait for you to take a peak at the creations from the rest of the Design Team. You will be so inspired! We cannot wait to see your take on the theme, too. Just a reminder, we must be able to see your stamping and, please, no Digis. See FSC for full details including the deadline for your submission.

Have a wonderful weekend. Best, Yvonne

Coffee & Cream with a hint of Dark Chocolate

Greetings! Boy do we have a fabulous new challenge for you over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! For Challenge # 7, the theme is Coffee & Cream with a hint of Dark Chocolate! I hope you will hop over to FSC and check out all of the examples by the other Design Team Members. They are over the moon! You will be so inspired. For my own card, I started by stamping a Cafe scene and and an accompanying tray with coffee, both by Art Declassified in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I also stamped a street map of Paris by Stampsmith with the same ink. All images were distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink and then matted with Kraft card stock and black paper. The images were layered over a background designer paper and embellishments include Kraft photo corners, seam binding by Martha Stewart, a paper flower, gold cord and vintage buttons. The finalized panel was placed on a brown card base. I had the privilege decades ago of spending nine days in Paris and the surrounding area. I have fond memories of being offered coffee each morning with either hot or cold milk. I fondly remember the little bistros that lined the Paris streets and hope one day to return. Now we look forward to seeing what you come up with! Please remember we need to be able to see your stamping and no Digis, please. Bon Soire! Yvonne

Use it Tuesday - Challenge #14 - Back to School

The challenge over at Use it Tuesday - Challenge #14 - is Back to School! Use it Tuesday is all about using your "Scrappy Stash." In other words, all those goodies you have been hoarding! I previously made a card for my grandson, which you can find a few posts back on my blog, but I still needed a card for my granddaughter, so this was a perfect challenge for me! I began with a very old piece of background paper with hopscotches all over it! The image called Lizbeth is by Art Declassified, sadly no longer in business. I love to use this image as my granddaughter's name is Elizabeth and her smile is very much the same as that on the image. I added some very old alphabet twill tape and some equally old paper flowers. The apple and sentiment are by Studio G. Sure hope my granddaughter likes her card. Thanks for dropping by. Best, Yvonne