Moxy Fab - Tuesday's Trigger - Cherished Squares

I recently stumbled onto the Moxy Fab blog and their Tuesday Trigger Challenge. The challenge this week is called 'Cherished Squares' and the inspiration photo is just above. I followed the Moxy Fab column in the PaperCrafts magazine for many years but had never checked out the blog. It is a great column that keeps you abreast of changes and new trends in the world of card making. I'm sure I'll be checking the blog often now that I found it!

For my card, I decided to begin with a Kraft card base. I decided to do inchies, though mine are 1.5 inches a piece. I chose colors in the inspiration piece, and some of my stamps, all by Inkadinkado, are circular like the centers of the afghan square. I think the lacy black border on the side replicates the crocheting too. My art style, like the rest of how I interpret life, is pretty literal, though I've been trying harder to break out of my box a bit more. Looking forward to meeting some new friends through this challenge. Have a great day everyone. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Embossing

The challenge this week at Bloggers' Challenge is to include any kind of embossing on your project. A few of you might have seen a post on my blog from a couple of days ago, where I explained why I would always choose dry embossing, if I have the choice. After years of heat embossing, one day I realized that my sofa, which was directly in front of my computer desk where I worked on cards at that time, was smoking away and I had burnt a sizable hole in the back of my sofa! What is worse, my sofa is now center stage when you enter our sunken living room, and the back is the first thing you see! Suffice it to say, I have covered the 'boo boo' with a beautiful afghan!

Enough of that...I chose a folder by Cuddlebug with numbers on it and embossed Kraft colored card stock. The numbers reminded me of school children and I remembered this sweet image and sentiment from the Think and Wonder plate by Artistic Outpost. I stamped the image twice, and mounted the trimmed black and white one onto the red and black image with pop dots for dimension. Some vintage buttons and baker's twine complete the card. Thanks for stopping by and I hope if you have not joined the challenge, you should consider giving it a try! Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 151 - Friday Background Challenge

The challenge over at 365 Cards for Day 151 is to use at least three layers in your background. I chose to add a large piece of background paper over most of the card front. I also added another strip of background paper, punched with a border punch by Martha Stewart, and finally, I added matting to my focal image which was stamped and distressed with Distress Ink onto glossy paper. The images from the Lovely Day plate are by Artistic Outpost and the sentiment is by Inkadinkado. Some crafter's thread and pearls complete the card. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!! Yvonne

For my Grandchildren

I took my grandchildren to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie earlier this week. I thought it might be fun to make each of them a card and send it to them and let them know how much fun I had with them. The movie was all about Winnie looking for honey and Eeyore trying to find his tail. At the very end, Winnie had to make a choice between finally getting some honey or taking Eeyore his tail that he had found. I'll let you guess the ending, but I think what my granddaughter summarized that she learned from the movie is priceless: "Friends are more important than honey, but honey tastes sweeter than our friends!" Have a great day. Yvonne

Today's the Day!!!

In February 2009, I started my blog, named it "Journey into Artistry," with my First Post and looked forward to eventually starting my own card business. Life has a funny way of twisting and turning. Since that first post, a lot has happened. I have grown as an artist. I have been published in the leading stamp magazines 17 times. I have gotten to know a number of the elite artists in this craft. They have openly, and warmly shared of themselves with me.

I have also had two knees replaced! Glad that's behind me. As I prepared to return to work following my second surgery, I learned that my "day job" was gone. Losing one's job is never a happy occasion, however, I quickly realized this was my opportunity to finally do what I am passionate about, provide a service to others and enjoy myself in the process.

And so the journey continues. I announced my intentions on Facebook this morning and look forward to working with my future clients in providing them with custom, quality, and reasonably priced cards, announcements, invitations, tags, etc. Wish me luck! Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 150 - Thursday Background Challenge

The challenge for Day 150 at 365 Cards is to do either wet or dry embossing for the background of our card. The last time I made a card with wet embossing, I burnt a hole in the back of my sofa! So that isn't going to happen...For my card I chose a Cuddlebug folder with a lot of words describing a special someone. I decided to keep my card front simple by devoting most of it to the background so as not to cover up the words. For my focal image, I chose this beautiful girl from Stampington and Company, matted in red and embellished with a few chrome liquid pearls. To finish off the card, I wrapped some baker's twine in red and white around the bottom. This card front will eventually be added to a larger card front in a textured white as I prefer a larger card than I can make with my embossing folders. Hope to join the challenge tomorrow. See you then!

Use it Tuesday: Challenge #12 - It's a 2-fer

I came across a new challenge today while checking out another artist's blog. It is called Use it Tuesday. The current challenge is to use two items on your card that you have been hoarding. Wow! I headed to my art studio and thought where do I start? I looked up at my shelving and saw these adorable bear stickers that have been there since 2003. And so my card was under way. I also found these pink stickers from Martha Stewart that I picked up on the clearance rack some time ago. I know this makes three, but the light pink card stock is also from 2003 when I made my first grandchild's baby announcements! Looking forward to meeting lots of new artists at this new for me blog challenge. Thanks, Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 149 - Wednesday Background Challenge

Already Wednesday! Hard to believe. Had lunch today with someone I met 40 years ago and had not seen in nearly 20 years. It is so good to reconnect with people you care about! Love it. Before I went off for lunch, I put together the challenge for Day 149 at 365 Cards. It is a week of background challenges. Today, 2/4 of the background is to be a solid paper and 2/4 of the background is to be patterned paper. I had this pale yellow cardstock on my desk that I had previously run through my BigKick. I trimmed it with deckle shears and added a lovely patterned vellum in between the solids. For my focal image, one of my go to images from the Generation Redux plate at Artistic Outpost. A simple frame, some pearls left over from a Vintage challenge and some tulle behind the sentiment, also by AO. Looking forward to the rest of the background challenges for this week. See you next time. Yvonne

MMM Challenge 8 - Vintage Lace and Pearls

Wow! Monday's come fast at Make My Monday! I really am enjoying this challenge blog. It is helping me to branch out and create cards I might not ordinarily create. As the title implies, we continue to make vintage cards this week for Challenge 8 with an emphasis on lace and pearls. Does the fact that I had to go out and buy pearls last week and this week tell you my style is not normally vintage?? I decided on a pink background paper, actually a card trimmed to fit another card blank, a leftover Christmas blank card with a deckle edge. I border punched the pink panel with a punch by Martha Stewart, layered lace and seam binding over top and then began stamping my images and sentiment from a plate called Birds of a Feather by Artistic Outpost with Sepia ink by Versafine. The bird is by TPC Studios and the heart stickers and pink pearls are by Martha Stewart. I added distress inks and Copic markers for a hint of color. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's work! Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day148 - Tuesday Background Challenge

Exciting day for me over at 365 Cards. My card for Day 145 "Dress it Up" was selected as a Spotlight Designer. This is a great Challenge Blog if you're looking to try challenges and want a variety of opportunities for recognition. For today's challenge, Day 148, we continue with backgrounds. We are to stamp our sentiment (or even part of the sentiment) all over the background. For my card, I chose to stamp multiple (taking artistic liberties)sentiments that accompany the Oz Collage plate of images from Artistic Outpost. For the foreground, we could decorate it any way we wanted. I chose an image of the scarecrow and added Dorothy's shoes, shined up with a red glitter pen, on foam dots. Baker's twine completes the card. I'll also be entering this card for the July Referral Program at Artistic Outpost. Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Really enjoy any comments you leave. Yvonne

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 146 - Super Sketchy Sunday

The challenge for Day 146 at 365 Cards is another Super Sketchy Sunday. The sketch above from Pam is our inspiratin. I chose to tear the edges of some background paper to reflect the wiggly lines. I decided to remove the cord on the shipping tag and replace it with ribbon. I recycled the cord by threading it through the buttons on the card. My image by Inkadinkado is one of my all-time favorites. I used some copper liquid pearls to finish the card. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! Yvonne

TSC18: Vintage

I recently discovered that one of my favorite stamp companies, Stampsmith, does challenges on their blog! I am in absolute awe of the entries on this blog, but decided to put that aside and make a card of my own for their current challenge (TSC18) that calls for vintage and the use of at least one stamp by Stampsmith. I love this Paris plate. It is my go to plate for images for my oldest daughter for her birthday and for her and her husband's anniversary as she and I did a nine-day tour of Paris and the Loire Valley when she was in high school. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope to get to know some of the other designers/artists who contribute to this blog. Please leave me a comment if you care to do so. Yvonne

Clean and Simple Stamping Challenge #150

I came across a new (for me) challenge today called the Clean and Simple Stamping challenge. Since I have been told often that my cards have a Clean and Simple style to them, I thought this might be a good challenge to try. I think I can learn a lot from the others who also participate in the challenges at this blog. For challenge #150, the sketch above is to be used. I chose bright colors to complement the wood block images and buttons. The sentiment is by Anna Griffen. Hoping to make some new friends through this challenge. Please consider leaving a comment if you stop by. Thanks and have a great weekend. Yvonne

365 Cards- Day 145 - Dress it Up

Today's challenge at 365 Cards is "Dress it Up." Specifically, we are to dress up an image three ways. I chose this adorable little fairy by Lost Coast Designs and covered her dress with netting, and decorated her wings with glitter glue and liquid pearls. This card will be headed to my husband's niece for her birthday! Thanks for stopping by! Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 144 - So Random

The challenge for Day 144 at 365 Cards is "So Random." We are to make a random card for no particular occasion, but no thank yous or birthday cards, though. The only absolute is the card must have a sentiment. I chose these beautiful stamps from the Paris Exposition plate at Artistic Outpost. The sentiment "Quoi de neuf?" means "What's Up?" 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 141 - Dream Color Combo

The challenge for Day 141 at 365 Cards is: Dream Color Combo. We are to make a card with a dream color combo that always seems to work beautifully on your cards. I chose Pink, Black, White and Silver. I think this combo shows off vintage stamps well and certainly were huge colors together back in the day. The stamps are by Art Declassified. I used Pumice Stone and Spun Pink Distress Ink to distress the edges of the main image. I added a vintage silver button, some black and white baker's twine and some silver liquid pearls. Thanks for dropping by. I am anxious to see what everyone else picked for their dream color combo! Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Summertime

The challenge over at Bloggers' Challenge this Friday is Summertime! Very appropriate given the heat wave we are enjoying in many parts of the U.S. It was 103 yesterday here . I love the stamps Lisa chose for her card by AO! The are the epitome of summertime. For my card, I chose some of my very first unmounted stamps I ever purchased by Oxford Impressions called By the Sea. This set reminds me of the many years my family spent in Atlantic City, NJ before they brought gambling to town. It was such a gentile place. You dressed up every evening and walked the boardwalk! For my design, I chose to keep most of the images in black and white due to the vintage nature of them, though I added some color with the yellow card stock and to the umbrella, towel and shells with Copic Markers. Other embellishments include netting and liquid pearls. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and can stay reasonably cool. I am also entering this card at 365 Cards - Day 143 - Having a Heat Wave! I would love to hear your comments regarding my card, if time allows when you stop by. Thanks so much. Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 7 - Vintage Shabby Chic, Torn or Crumpled

I've been waiting all week for another Monday to roll around to see what the next challenge was over at Make My Monday. I was not disappointed. Challenge 7 is Vintage Shabby Chic, Torn or Crumpled. For my main image, I chose this vintage stamp by Inkadinkado and inked it in Pumice Distress Ink for a softer feel and then shaded the stamped image with Spun Pink Distress Ink. I matted the image with a torn background paper also distressed the edges of the matting with Spun Pink Distress Ink. The flowers by Artistic Outpost at the bottom are also stamped in Pumice. I added lace, trim, a piece of a page of a very old book, which I crumpled up and smoothed out. The piece of the page was a little too big so I tore off a couple of pieces. I stamped both of the pieces I tore off with the words "Inspire" and "Hope" in Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Other embellishments included pink German Scrap, vintage buttons and pearls. Can't wait to see wait to see what everyone else comes up with! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for leaving a comment. I really appreciate it. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 140 - Raised Up

The challenge at 365 Cards for Day 140 is Raised Up. The challenge is about giving dimension to an image. Our specific challenge is to raise up two different parts of an image off the card. I chose this beautiful image of a circus poster from the Vintage Circus plate by Artistic Outpost. I shaded most of the poster with Distressed Inks. I re-stamped the center section with the main poster twice and cut out the poster and then just the tiger. After coloring both pieces with Copic Markers, I used foam pop dots to raise the main matted poster and then raised the tiger again with more pop dots. The sentiment is also from Artistic Outpost. I finished the card with some black liquid pearls. Thanks for stopping 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 138 - Saturday Collage Card

Since I got through the whole week of Collage Challenges over at 365 Cards, and finally realized that I had done every day so far, I felt I had to finish out the week on Saturday. With insomnia ever present, I headed to my studio to work on the challenge at 365 Cards for Day 138 that required Tearing, Piercing and Painting. What a challenge indeed! I could not find my paper piercing tool and everything thing I used tore huge holes in my paper or my holes were terribly crooked. I finally found a paper needle and got a half decent green panel pierced after more tries than I care to reveal. The tearing was easy. For my paint, I used water color pencils and then turned them to paint with a blender pen. The dog images are from the Adventure plate by Artistic Outpost, the sentiment and paw prints are by Studio 112. It was a great week of challenges! Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 137 - Friday Collage Card

Where's Waldo? The challenge for Day 137 at 365 Cards is: A photograph, a vintage-style item, and soft colors. The photo is obviously the photo and the soft green card stock and ivory seam binding and pom pom trim represent soft colors. However, what is vintage inspired? Is it the metal brads? Perhaps the seam binding and trim? How about the 1955 photo of me on my sled in a red coat and leggings in front of my family's car? Your pick! Have a great weekend. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 136 - Thursday Collage Card

It's been a week of Collage Cards over at 365 Cards! Thursday's challenge was Sponging, Scallops and Stitching. For this card, I dusted off a pair of shears that makes scallops, and dug out a stitching stamp by Hero Arts that I am not sure I've previously used. Always thought it looked like real stitching on other people's cards but never had the courage to try it myself. My focal image, shaded with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, and sentiment are from the Think and Wonder plate of stamps at Artistic Outpost. Such an adorable couple of children! The color combination is odd, but I like it! Thanks for stopping by and have a super weekend. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - My Everything Sketch

Wow this day was NOT off to a good start. I stayed up last night to get a jump on some other cards so I would be ready to post to my blog early today but when I tried to blog this card, my scanner would not work. Panic City!!! I was almost resolved to heading to Staples to finally buy a wireless printer when I tried one more thing and got my scanner back. So...here is my take on the Bloggers' Challenge - My Everything Sketch. The stamps are from the The Outpost plate by Artistic Outpost. The top rectangle is a portion of a larger stamp. I think the watch in the center fits well with the sketch. Had to fill in those empty spaces, though, with buttons and liquid pearls. Really enjoying the Bloggers' Challenge each week. It is so nice to get to know the other artists a bit better. Hope you will join us. Have a great weekend. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 133 - Monday Collage Card

The challenge at 365 Cards for Day 133 is to make a card using lace, pins and glitter. I was a little worried about this one as I don't have much in the way of pins. Before I allowed myself to play in my art studio, I forced myself to go through some non-art items to give away. And what do you think I found? This lovely heart stick pin that I picked up in a Valentine's Day box of goodies on the clearance rack years ago! It was fate, I had to make this card. I also popped into our local JoAnn Fabrics store yesterday and this beautiful hem binding lace, which had been on clearance was marked down even further to .50 per package! And so I grabbed some of my new lace, my stick pin and one of my favorite Magenta Stamps for my image. The sentiment is by Studio G. As for the glitter, I just could not bring myself to add it to the image, so I added gems and then coated them with Stickles Glitter Glue. The tulle gave me a place to anchor my stick pin. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day! Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 135 - Wednesday Collage Card

I just love these challenges over at 365 Cards. As someone new to challenges, I find this blog really builds my confidence. Everyone is very friendly. Today's challenge is to make sure to use chipboard, fringe and patterned background paper. I just picked up these chipboard pieces today by Martha Stewart. The fringe is as old as the hills! I'll be sending this card off to one of my nieces this weekend. Thanks as always for stopping by and your kind, encouraging comments. I love hearing from you! Yvonne

A New Challenge!

I stumbled onto a new challenge today called Make it Monday Challenge. The challenge for the month of July is Vintage and the theme for this week is Embossing. It can be heat or dry embossing. For my card, I chose a script and musical embossing folder, both by Cuddlebug. I grabbed a set of stamps by Art Declassified that remind me of a vintage Paris scene. I am also submitting this card to 365 Cards - Day 134 Card Challenge. You are required to use rick rack, buttons and pearls for their challenge. Happy to have found a new challenge that appeals to my style and continue to be challenged by 365 Cards! Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Floral Frenzy

This seemed like such an easy challenge over at Bloggers' Challenge when I first read about it, but when I had insomnia in the middle of the night, and decided to get started on my entry, I struggled with my approach! I couldn't decide if I wanted my flowers to be the background paper, the stamp or the embellishments. In the end, I remembered a stamp by Anita's that I had that had lots of flowers on it and I added felt flowers over some of them. The "Mother" sentiment is by Studio 112. Perhaps it was the hour of creation, but I decided to keep my card clean and simple. I have really enjoyed seeing everyone else's creations. Why not enter too?

365 Cards - Day 132 - Super Sketchy Sunday

The challenge over at 365 Cards for Day 132 is the sketch noted above. This card came together very fast for me, which is unusual. As soon as I made my card blank I seemed to immediately know how my card would look. I grabbed the red patterned paper and the red paint chip and decided upon my images from there. The "Childhood" stamp is by Art Declassified and I stamped it on glossy paper. The paper button is from Studio 112 by K & Company. I love the drama black paper adds to my cardmaking and recently bought an entire ream of black paper when my supply from 10 years ago was finally depleted! Thanks so much for stopping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 128 - Ad Inspired

The challenge over at 365 Cards for Day 128 is Ad Inspired. The photo above from Pier One was the inspiration for my card. It was a challenge in that I had little in the way of background paper in the right color family. I improvised by putting together mostly solid and striped papers in the colors in the photo. I am pleased with how the card came out and think it says "fun!" Thanks so much for stopping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 127 - Triple It

The card challenge over at 365 Cards for Day 127 is called Triple it. We are to use something on our card three times and then three times again. For my card, I chose this beautiful image from the Gatsby plate of images by Artistic Outpost. For my triple, I chose three shell buttons, all in the same shade of ivory. I wanted to keep the card soft so I chose Pumice Stone Distress Ink for the image and Kraft colored photo corners and beige seam binding as my embellishments. The background paper added a nice touch with the butterfly and fern so I really needed little else. I always appreciate hearing from those who stop by my blog. Have a great day! Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 126 - Color Scheme

Greetings! Hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day Celebration this past weekend! Pam at 365 Cards chose the red, white, blue and yellow scheme above for Day 126, which happened to be the Fourth of July. I immediately grabbed the Hero stamp plate by Artistic Outpost when I saw the challenge. Wasn't sure how I would fit yellow into my card, but I like how it turned out. I've said it before, but will say it again, I really appreciate how 365 Cards challenges me to produce cards I would never have tried otherwise. I really enjoy every one's different approach too. It is a great way to stretch and grow artistically! Have a great day friends. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 125 - Super Sketchy Sunday

The challenge over at 365 Cards for Day 125 was a Super Sketchy Sunday. Pam's sketch is shown above. After selecting a light pink card stock, I immediately knew I wanted to use these beautiful images from Artistic Outpost from the Flapper Fashions plate. I added just a touch of silver liquid pearls and a little color with Copic Markers. I've always loved pink and black ever since I was a little girl! Guess you can tell I was born in the 50s! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. Yvonne