Celebrate!

Greetings! It's time for the Pink Team to step to the front over at Eclectic Ellapu with a new challenge.  Our theme this time around is "The Oldies, Happy Birthday."  If you read my other post for today, you know that I am somewhat without craft supplies!  This is a wonderful theme, but I was not able to do it the justice it deserves, though I truly tried to find images that would work.  My Design Team sisters have hit the nail on the head though, so I hope you will take a look at their inspiration pieces.  I have chosen this gorgeous image by Hero Arts.  Though the women are not old, they would be today, so please work with me on this one!  The sentiment is by Stamping Up.  (I found it out in our storage unit, which is filled with craft gear that I can live without while we are in transition.) Some wood banner pieces and scraps of card stock add a festive touch at the top of my card.  Vintage Photo Distress Ink subdues the bright white card stock.  Thanks so much for dropping by today.  Hugs, Yvonne

Green Giraffes

Greetings!  It's time for Challenge #10 at Inkspirational.  This week, we have a Color Inkspiration of Shades of Green.  

For my card, I dug through my scraps of paper for a variety of papers in shades of green. The giraffes were stamped with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, as was the sentiment by Stampin Up.  Simple finishing touches include green burlap string and vintage buttons. I hope you will join us this week with a creation of your own, and please stop by Inkspirational for lots of inkspiration by the Design Team.  We have a new sponsor for the month of March, Inspired by Stamping.  They are providing a $20 Gift Card!  Please see the Inkspirational Challenge site for complete requirements for eligibility.  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Thank you Sister!

Greetings! I working to replace my computer by the end of the week.  It was years past due!  In the meantime, I am limping along from a mobile device. This post is for Word Wednesday at 365 Cards where the theme is "Sister."  Our sponsor this week is Sara Smeby, aka Studio Sara, an Independent Stamp Demonstrator for Stampin Up.  My card is made with beautiful papers, ribbon and embellishments provided by Sara.  To complement the beautiful offerings, I've used a Sissix embossing folder and Tim Holtz Alterations die cut and Idea-ology ChitChat sticker,and a paper doily. There's a $20 gift certificate up for grabs so I hope you will join us at 365 Cards this week. Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne

Regal Greeting

Greetings! It's time for Week Two of 52 Christmas Card Throw down. This week, we have a color challenge.  We are to create a Christmas Card using "purple, white and metallic silver."  I decided to break out these ornament stamps from Stampin Up that given to me many years ago.  I confess, this was the first time they have been inked up.  The ornaments and sentiment were stamped with Seedless Preserves Distress Inks.  The ornaments were attached with foam dots and iced with silver glitter glue by Martha Stewart.  A bit of silvery ribbon, a paper doily, and some Chrome Liquid Pearls complete my card. Thanks for dropping by.  Yvonne

Being You

Greetings! A bit behind, so please forgive me for posting multiple times this evening.  The card above was created for a Photo Inspiration Challenge over at Our Creative Corner.  Doesn't this cake look yummy?

In addition to creating a project based on a photo inspiration, we were required to use at least two buttons and polka dots in our creation.  After layering several background papers on my Kraft card base, a pink doily was layered next followed by a clip art image by Crafty Individuals.  Embossed photo corners, vintage seam binding, an applique, three beautiful soft pink buttons made in Italy and a sentiment by Stampin Up complete my card.  Don't you love how challenges help you create cards you would have never created otherwise?  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Beach Baby

Just sharing a card I created this week as a commissioned piece for a friend of mine who is celebrating her mother's birthday this weekend.  Her mother loves the beach and has a lovely, cozy home at the shore, so I decided to create a card with a beach theme. The images are from Oxford Impressions, except for the Happy Birthday sentiment, which is from Stampin Up.  I am so glad my friend was happy with the card for her mother!  Thanks for stopping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

A Walk through the Tulips

Happy Thursday everyone! My house is crawling with technicians today. Putting in a sump pump (think concrete dust pouring out of your floor boards) and having the front of our home painted (trying to chop it into manageable pieces financially). I knew I had to be home today while they were here as we are using oil-based paint (think fumes) and would need to leave the doors open to the world so I stayed up to the wee hours last evening trying to get a few cards made. This is for the current Make My Monday Challenge. We continue with Spring as the March long theme and for Week 40 we are asked to make a card for either Mother's Day or a Thank You card. My mother, sadly, is no longer with us, so I opted for a thank you card instead. Except for the Thank You sentiment, which is by Stampin Up, the balance of the card is made up of images from the gorgeous Lovely Day plate. I began with a beautiful lacy doily I recently acquired through eBay and layered a gauzelike piece of cheese cloth over it. I stamped the beautiful young Dutch girl , embossed her with gold embossing powder, and colored her in with Tattered Rose, Peeled Paint and Worn Lipstick Distress inks. (Mark this on your calendar, as I rarely ever emboss!) Some of you have heard my hole in my sofa story before! I stamped the tulip bunches multiple times and trimmed them and colored them with Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, as well, and arranged them as though the maiden was walking through a garden of tulips! Embellishments are simply some lace fashioned into a bow, some vintage buttons topped with pearls, and even more pearls! Thanks so much for dropping by today. I hope you are having a good day. Best wishes, Yvonne

MMM Challenge # 34 - Butterflies and Dragonflies

Hello, this is my second post for today. Please scroll down to see my first post. This is the last week at Make My Monday for the Nature theme, and specifically, we are to use Butterflies and/or Dragonflies for Challenge #34.

I began with a white card stock panel and sponged on three different shades of PanPastels in orange tones. I next stamped on blocks of small fluttering butterflies by Inkadinkado in Wild Honey Distress ink with the thought of them being in the background, rather than front and center. Next, I stamped stems of flowers by Hero repeatedly with Black Versafine ink. I then stamped a butterfly and dragonfly, also with Black Versafine ink, trimmed them ,colored them in with Atyou Spica Glitter pens and distressed the edges with Antique Linen Distress ink. I added them to my card with pop dots. A sweet sentiment by Stampin Up was stamped on white card stock, distressed with Antique Linen Distress ink and matted with black paper and mounted between the raised butterfly and dragonfly.

On the left side of my card, I added a clip art image from Crafty Individuals, which I matted in black paper. This sweet image of a deer and a child seem to be looking out over the field of flowers and butterflies. Embellishments include vintage buttons, cheese cloth, black liquid pearls and orange and black baker's twine. I am so enjoying these PanPastels! I just love the velvety texture and softness it lends to my cards. Have a wonderful night. Best, Yvonne

Peacocks and other birds

Yesterday, we celebrated my granddaughter's and her daddy's birthday. Isn't it special that they share the same birthday? Her daddy is a Graphic Designer and very artistic. Since her birth, and the birth of her brother, he has made them a cake each year for their birthday. As they were old enough to speak, they chose the theme for each party and daddy took it from there. This year, my granddaughter's theme was Peacocks and other birds. I had the privilege of making the birthday invitations, and unfortunately forgot to take a photo of one of them. It was a beautiful bejeweled peacock, though. And so for her birthday card, I chose other bird stamps and sentiments from the same set by Stampin Up and fashioned the card above.
With my son-in-law's permission, I am including some photos of the peacock cake he made. My granddaughter selected lemon as the cake batter flavor. My precious granddaughter, daddy and the cake are above.

It's the week of Christmas and I am really not close to ready. How about you? Well take care. Best, Yvonne

Use it Tuesday - Thank You

There's a new challenge at Use it Tuesday! This time, we are to make a card 'Giving Thanks.' I have a lot of thank you cards to make right now, so this was perfect timing for me. I began with a white card base and wrapped it with several very old ribbons, one recycled from a gift box. I stamped my Inkadinkado image in Wild Honey and matted it with black and burgundy paper scraps. The sentiment is by Stampin Up and is a 2004 release that has not seen ink in almost as long. To finish my card, I added some rust colored leaves, some 10-year old raffia and copper liquid pearls. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was not what I had planned, but it turned out very nice. Thanks for dropping by and thanks for your comments. Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Cardboard

The challenge at Bloggers' Challenge this week is to incorporate cardboard into a project. I decided to use a piece of cardboard that was at the bottom of a stack of card stock. I die cut a vine by Sissix from the cardboard and sponged the leaves with Fresh Foliage Folk Art Paint and Crushed Olive Distress Ink. The focal image is from Generation Redux by Artistic Outpost. I added Kraft Photo Corners to tie into the card stock vine. The sentiment is by Stampin Up. Embellishments include a paper flower I found in my stash, ribbon by Michael's and Pink Pearls by Martha Stewart. I felt as though the card was a bit flat, so I added just a bit of Frosted Lace Stickles here and there on my cardboard vine. I really appreciate being challenge to go beyond the regular paper or card stock I would have pulled together for my project. It is good to grow! Hope everyone has a great weekend. Heading to the beach with my sister that I have not seen in ages and my husband. Take care. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 160 - Super Sketchy Sunday

Wow! Had a great five-day weekend away, including time with dear friends, but I sure did miss card making and updating my blog. Happy to get back on track again! At 365 Cards, for Day 160, we have Super Sketchy Sunday. I initially stamped my focal image from Artistic Outpost in Spun Sugar Distress Ink, but no matter what I tried with my scanner, she did not show up. I redid the focal image with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink so she would show. Thanks to my DH for the suggestion. The sentiment is by Stampin Up and I used a sewing kit including buttons and a safety pin from one of our travels.

So good to be back in Blogland! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 154 - Card Recipe

The challenge for Day 154 at 365 Cards is a recipe! We are to make a card that is 4.25" x 5.5 ."

We are to show scallops somewhere on the card, three buttons, an image and a sentiment. My cake (oops card) is finished! The image is by Artistic Outpost and the sentiment is by Stampin Up.

365 Cards - Day 147 - Monday Background Challenge

Greetings! Hoping everyone had a great weekend. Hard to believe hump day (Wednesday) is tomorrow already. I feel like I have been working on this card forever! It was done a few minutes at a time throughout yesterday and today around a bunch of other projects and appointments. The challenge for Day 147 at 365 Cards was the background. Specifically, half of the card is to be a solid background and half is to be polka dots, beyond that we were free to design the card to our liking. I pulled out the first polka dot paper I could find in my scrap bins and went from there. The baby blue color seemed to call for a baby card. I added various ribbons and then stamped the babies, by Stampin Up, and the sentiment in sepia ink by Versafine. The baby images were colored in with Copic Markers, although in looing at my post, most of the color does not show :-( This challenge really gave us lots of options. Looking forward to what everyone else comes up with. Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 142 - Image This: Earth

The challenge for Day 142 at 365 Cards is Imagine This: Earth. We are to make a card based on what this image brings to mind. I sorted through my stamps and settled on this set by Stampin Up. It is from 2004 so it's a bit dated, but I love all the images of trees, water, fish and birds. To me, this is what I think of when I see the word Earth! The sentiment is by Penny Black. I matted the images with gold paper and added some liquid pearls for a finishing touch. Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 139 - Super Sketchy Sunday

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Everything we ended up doing was different than we planned, but it was all good. Over at 365 Cards, for Day 139, it's a Super Sketchy Sunday. Like several others, I chose a portion of a doily for my main image. This green doily is so old the package it came in did not even have a UPC on it! At least I finally opened the package. The sentiment is from Stampin Up and it is stamped onto a fancy edged sticker by Martha Stewart. I just recently found this cool button on a clearance rack and I made the string button by punching a circle and wrapping baker's twine around it. I guess it is a very retrained, overall simple card but I like it. Have a good day. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 100 - My Happy Place

Today's challenge at 365 Cards for Day 100 is "My Happy Place." We were challenged to look around our home and find a place that just makes you feel happy and at peace. From there, we were to create a card inspired by that happy place. My happy place would need to be my outside space. I am fortunate to have gardens all around my home, three patios, and two fish ponds. (Our home and the home next door have common space and so we enjoy both our neighbor's pond and our own.) I am happiest when I am outdoors puttering around, pulling weeds, planting, arranging seating on my patios, or at the end of the day sitting and taking in the beauty of the day. I love when we can have family and friends to our home and enjoy the outside spaces. For my card, I chose an image of a wheel barrow full of flowers (that was me earlier today!) by Stampin' Up. I also added an image of a peaceful girl (it could be me!) by Stampington and Co. And finally, I included a sentiment about Happiness by Penny Black. I was thrilled to find a bunch of seam binding clearance priced at JoAnn Fabrics recently and used the purple for my card today. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your evening and stay cool. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Pet Week

The challenge over at Bloggers' Challenge this week is Pets. We are to make a card reflective of our family pet or one you would like to have. My pet is a Chocolate Standard Poodle named Josephine. I named her after my mother because she was born the same week my mother passed away. "Never say never." I never liked dogs with human names before. But when I thought of a French name for my dog, Napoleon and Josephine came to mind. I thought it would be nice to call out my mother's name every day in her honor. With my stepfather's permission I proceeded. Hopefully my mom is okay with it! The stamp set by Stampin' Up is quite old, but it does have a Parisian flair to it. The other "never say never" is that I never wanted a poodle. Never liked the fancy hair cuts! When I learned that poodles are hyper-allergenic and do not shed, and that you can cut them in a Sporting Cut, I was game. Josephine is eleven now, and is so sweet, so smart and brings the whole family lots of love. I sure am glad she chose me when I went to pick her out. Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

Parisian Birthday

I made this card for my husband's Executive Assistant. I love the iconic Eiffel Tower and the French girl on a Vespe seems to go well with it. I stayed with purples and blues, dusted the tower with blue chalk, and added rhinestone flower gems and a bit of lavender twill tape to finish it off. Mai oui!