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

MMM Challenge 26 - Christmas Box

Challenge # 26 at Make My Monday is to make a Christmas Box! I have long admired stamped, decorated boxes but have NEVER tried one before. My heart sunk a bit at the challenge, but then I realized here was my chance to move past NEVER, NEVER LAND!

I began by picking a box. I have a small stash of boxes that I cannot seem to part with and found this beautiful turquoise Tiffany square box. I love red, turquoise and black together and so I chose that for my color scheme. My stamps are from the Sleigh Ride plate by Artistic Outpost. Embellishments include some turquoise glitter gems, recycled tartan plaid ribbon, lace, red tulle and some red and white Bakers' Twine. I watercolored the image with Red Barn Distress Ink. Really love that technique. I kept the coloring simple to go along with the vintage feel of the image. Looking forward to seeing everyone elses boxes! Check out MMM's blog for lots of ideas from the Design Team and congratulations to both Mynnette and Val on being selected as the two newest DT members! Have a great week everyone! Yvonne

Ode to My Dear Brother

Here's another card that I made in the middle of a sleepless night, last night! It features a clip art image that I found in my Lucky Treasure Bag recently. It came to mind as I tossed and turned in bed last evening and so I just had to get up and bring him to life! I love black and white paired with green. I added a pop of red, some Bakers' Twine and black Liquid Pearls and a sentiment by Artistic Outpost. At the time, I did not realize it, but in retrospect, I believe I was drawn to this image as it reminded me of my dear brother, Steve, who would have celebrated his birthday yesterday had we not lost him to heart disease ten years ago. Steve and I grew up in the 50s. Playing "Cowboys and Indians " was one of our favorite past times as young children. I remember the year we both received cowboy hats, boots, holsters and guns for Christmas. We would make stagecoaches out of furniture pieces and played we lived in the Wild West for hours. It was a kinder, gentler time for certain. I miss that era and I miss you Steve. Here's to you! I love you.

Life is Good!

Just a fun card I put together when I couldn't sleep last night! This is the first time I have inked up these images and sentiment, all by Artistic Outpost from their Favorite Book and Typography plates. With bits of lace and seam binding, some shell buttons and lots of Wild Honey and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, my card is complete. I'll be sending my card off to my dear little grandson next week just to let him know I love him and to encourage him to keep working hard at school. Hope all is well with each of you! Best, Yvonne

Tuesday Trigger - Red & Rustic

Well it has been awhile since I have been able to join Moxy Fab Tuesday Trigger. My dear husband has had some medical issues that have had us out of the house these past few weeks. Great to be back! This week, the photo above entitled Red & Rustic is our inspiration for our card. I am currently away from home and have just a tiny stash of card makings with me. When I pondered the inspiration photo, I immediately thought Pumice Stone Distress Ink, stripes, red and browns. For my card, I distressed the edges of the card base with Pumice Stone DI. I chose papers in stripes, browns and red for the card front. I stamped a sentiment from the Typography plate by Artistic Outpost in Pumice Stone and cut it apart to put it on the various squares. The image, also by AO, is from the Favorite Book plate. Embellishments include seam binding and bakers' twine, both by Martha Stewart, and some copper Liquid Pearls. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with. Thanks for stopping by. Best, Yvonne

Twas the Night before Christmas...

It's Monday, and that means there is another challenge over at Make My Monday! This week, we are to make a Christmas Card and make sure to use snowflakes, flowers or foliage. Yikes!!! Here I am out of town with just a handful of card supplies, and I totally forgot to bring anything Christmas with me! And so, I pondered my piddly little pile of stamps, chose this young lad from the Favorite Book plate at Artistic Outpost in a chair and decided he was reading the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore. I cut holly and berries out of paper and added a bit of Stickles for sparkle and tied some Baker's Twine recycled from a pastry box around the image. Thank goodness for Distress Inks. Using primarily Peeled Paint and Barn Red, I distressed and water colored much of the card. The sentiment is handwritten. Now I really need to get cracking on the 300 Christmas Cards that need to go in the mail in short order! Hope everyone is doing well. Best, Yvonne

With Love and Honor

Okay, here's the skinny. My dear husband and I decided quite suddenly yesterday afternoon to head out of town for warmer weather when we learned that our furnace (boiler) will not be installed for another week and a half. I only had an hour or two of daylight to drive in so we hurriedly put our things together to get on the road as quickly as possible. Long story short, when I finally sat down today to make a card for my dear Aunt who will be 87 next week, I realized I put together a very odd assortment of stamps, paper and embellishments. I decided to make a challenge out of it though. Luckily, I had grabbed my Lucky Treasure Bag and most of my card is made up of clip art, buttons, fabric, lace and ribbon from my LT Bag! The sentiment is from the Typography plate by Artistic Outpost. My Aunt, my mother's sister, has always been a special part of my life, and is even more so now that my own mother is gone. I think she will appreciate the card and I sure hope her day is filled with much happiness. Best, Yvonne

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Greetings everyone! Well here we are again, looking at a brand new challenge, Challenge # 9, at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! The theme this time is "Dreaming of a White Christmas." Before I chat about my card, though, let me welcome Paula, the latest Fashionette to join the catwalk at FSC! Her card for the challenge reflects her exquisite style. You will love looking at her and the other designers creations and I know you will be inspired to enter your own creation. When we decided to go with Dreaming of a White Christmas my thoughts immediately went to this plate of stamps called Sleigh Ride by Artistic Outpost. I have only recently, and very tentatively done any heat embossing due to putting a nasty hole in my sofa years ago. I really wanted to my card to sparkle though, and so I pulled out pigment ink (I could only find Pink) and a white/silver embossing powder and embossed away! Unfortunately, even though I got advise on how to photograph to show sparkle, the weather did not cooperate and I apologize that the sparkle is not really displaying. I do love the sentiment's font. It seems so fitting and vintage. Embellishments are simple some pink pearls, pompom lace, baker's twine and glitter gems. Can't wait to see what each of you come up with. See FSC for the prize one of you will earn and of course, please remember, no Digis allowed, and we must be able to see your stamping. Here in the U.S., we are gearing up for Thanksgiving. I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the weekend. Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - For the Boys

It has been a few weeks since I have been able to participate in Bloggers Challenge. It feels good to join in again. The theme this week is called "For the Boys." I chose the plate called Generation Redux by Artistic Outpost. When this plate came out, I knew it was a company whose images were going to appeal to me going forward, and I have not been disappointed. I began with Kraft card stock and used a lot of Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo. Embellishments include recycled ribbon, a button, pieces of an antique dictionary page and liquid pearls. Why not join us at Bloggers Challenge? Thanks for dropping by. 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

MMM Challenge 24 - CAS Christmas

I love Mondays! It means another Make My Monday Challenge! For the month of November, we are exploring Christmas. For this week, Challenge #24 is to make a Clean and Simple Christmas Card with the emphasis on the sentiment. We are to keep multiple layers and embellishments to a minimum. I began with a white card base as MMM is looking for lots of "White Space!" For my Christmas image, I chose a stamp by Penny Black from some time ago. I stamped it with Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo inks. I matted the image with metallic gold background paper and attached it to the card front. For my sentiment, I chose "Noel" by Recollections. I embossed it in gold (big step for me as I gave up embossing when I burnt a hole in my sofa) and cut it out and mounted it to the card front with pop dots. To further draw attention to the sentiment, I wrapped a single strand of metallic gold thread around the corner of the card near the sentiment. Wishing everyone a beautiful week. Love your comments! Best, Yvonne

A Word of Encouragement

One of my oldest friends since childhood that I reconnected with through Facebook has been battling cancer for years. She battles again this coming Monday and I wanted to make her a card to let her know I am thinking and praying for her. I recently acquired some sentiment stamps from the Typography plate by Artistic Outpost that I think fit the bill along with these dear little girls from the Birds of a Feather plate, also from Artistic Outpost, that look a lot like my friend and her sister when they were little. I am thankful for my own good health and to having found my old friend again. I truly believe it is all in God's plan. Hope you are having a great weekend. Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 23 - Christmas Traditional and Vintage

Was sorry to miss out on Challenge 22 at Make My Monday while my hubby was in the hospital, but happy to report he gets stronger every day. With November comes a new challenge at Make My Monday - Christmas. For this week, we focus on Traditional and Vintage. I confess that although I purchased all my supplies for my nearly 300 cards I make each year back in early September, I just started working on them yesterday. I do that every year! My card for the challenge is not my card for 2011, but only my entry for this challenge. I began with an olive card base, added a vintage inspired clipping from a piece of paper purchased years ago at a stationary store. I choose the Joy and Happiness stamp by Stampington and Company and stamped it on glossy paper with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I distressed the image with Antique Linen, Peel Paint and Barn Red Distress Inks. I added gold photo corners and matted the image on gold metallic paper. Embellishments include portions of a gold doily, ivory tulle, red and white Baker's Twine (from an actual pastry box) and beautiful buttons that arrived from England recently as part of a Treasure Bag. Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with for the challenge. Check it out, if you have not tried MMM before. It's a great challenge site. Best, Yvonne

Make My Monday - Deezine Team Call

I was so amazed, and joyful, to learn recently that Make My Monday Challenge is adding two new Deezine Team Members to their challenge team via a DT Call. Although I started my blog several years ago, it was not until May 2011 that I stumbled onto "Challenges." All of a sudden my world changed! Yes, I gained some followers, and yes the number of people who visited my sight escalated one-hundred fold, but the most precious part of this discovery was all of the kindred spirit friends I made who share a passion for art, and in particular, cards and other projects made with stamps.

Through submitting to challenges, and viewing others blogs who submitted to the challenges, I found my way to Make My Monday. I immediately felt like the quality of your challenges was on a different plane and I look forward nearly every Monday to the next challenge.

I love the monthly theme, and the weekly challenges within the theme. I love the mid-week encouragement and the personal touch I feel when I hear from the Deezine Team members. I love the the work of the other entrants, and most of all I love the classy, elegant, vintage-inspired work that is shared by both the Deezine Team and the participants. Your challenge has stretched me as an artist. I am recently retired, and am excited to have the time, finally, to devote to growing my artistic passion. I enjoy communicating and pride myself on being reliable and responsible when given a task, responsibility or deadline and would be honored to serve on your Deezine Team!

As part of the DT Call, we are to create a card with a Celebration Theme. I gave this some thought, and decided to make a card celebrating the birth and promise of a new baby girl. The main image and sentiment are by Crafty Individuals are stamped in Versafine Sepia ink. The background images, stamped in Tattered Rose Distress Ink, are by Invoke Art. I took a minimalist approach to embellishments due to the vintage look I was going for and added pearl heart buttons, a bit of gingham ribbon and baker's twine. Thank you for this opportunity to be considered for your esteemed Challenge. Best, 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