Tuesday Trigger - Fancy Schmancy

Greetings! It's another Tuesday Trigger over at Moxy Fab. This week we are to make a project inspired by the photograph above. I immediately thought of a pink and white Valentine when seeing the inspiration photo. Using a white card base, I layered pink striped background paper to the card base, used a Martha Stewart heart punch to make hearts in various colors that reflect the inspiration photo and then selected the Cutie Pie plate by Artistic Outpost for my main image and sentiments, which were stamped in Cocoa Brown Memento Ink. The Beauty Queen was colored with Copic Markers. She and the sentiments were finished off with Vintage Photo Distress Ink distressing. I assembled my card with Winter White seam binding and added some pearls (they reminded me of the sprinkles in the photo) and a button and baker's twine. Right now, I am thinking my granddaughter may receive this Valentine in a few weeks! Thanks, as always for stopping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

Romantic Valentine Wishes

I am really having a lot of fun challenging myself to make Valentine cards by incorporating both traditional images with Valentine-themed images. For this Valentine, I chose these two handsome images from the Artistic Outpost Gatsby plate and added this sweet heart image in multiple shades of pink and burgundy from the Artistic Outpost Cutie Pie plate. I just love the vintage feel of Artistic Outpost's images! I chose London Fog Memento Ink for the couple and sentiment to give a bit of a faded feel to my card. The couple were layered onto several doilies and the card was completed with some lace, recycled ribbon, pearls and a flower. I hope your day is going well. Thanks for stopping by! 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

Sparkly Valentine

Greetings! It is already time for Challenge #3 at PanPastels Challenge UK. This week, our challenge is to create a project with Glitter and Glitz. For my card, I started with a white card stock panel. I sponge three different colors of PanPastels onto it and was rewarded with this rich red background. My focal image is clip art from Crafty Individuals. The sentiment is by Stampsmith. Sparkle includes metallic gold background paper panels, glittered German Scrap roses, and Stickles Glitter Glue. Embellishments include a doily, seam binding, embossed and punched hearts and rhinestone hearts by Martha Stewart. I have much to learn about PanPastels but am having so much fun! Does anyone have a suggestion for how to keep card stock from rolling up after spraying it with fixative? I would be most appreciative. Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful day. Best, Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges- It's A Guy Thing

Greetings! It's time for a brand new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! This time around, we have a theme of "It's A Guy Thing." When I first began making cards, I struggled with making cards for guys. As time goes by, and as I have collected more masculine images, I am much more comfortable with designing masculine cards. For this post, I was excited to finally ink up this "Men with a Checkered Past" image by Queen's Dresser Drawers. I layered a vintage book page to a hounds tooth background paper, wrapped a length of brown twill tape around the papers and mounted them to a Kraft card base. My focal image was stamped on glossy paper and mounted to the card front with Kraft photo corners. To repeat the bee image on my main image, I stamped a bee from Character Constructions multiple times and watercolored the bees with Distress Inks onto a TH ticket stub. I also stamped a hat by Inkadinkado to replicate the hats in the main image. Finishing touches include a variety of vintage buttons, bits of twine and copper Liquid Pearls. I hope you will pop over to FSC to see what my talented Design Team sisters have created and then consider joining in on the fun. Just remember, FSC is a stamping challenge. Check out the details at FSC. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

Beyond the Sea, in Pastels

I don't often submit a post to more than one challenge at a time, but decided to do so when looking at a few today. The first challenge is for Bloggers' Challenge - Texturize It. This week Lisa challenges us to create a project with Texture! I also don't often make tags, but here we go. For my tag, I first colored a piece of white card stock with various shades of Pan Pastels. I stamped images from the Beyond the Sea plate from Artistic Outpost, using London Fog Memento Ink directly onto the chalked panel or onto scrap card stock. I trimmed the various images as shown and chalked them with more PPs. (I have not worked with pastels since Junior High, some 40+ years ago, and I have to tell you, I think I may be falling in love again!) The clam shell gatherer is added with pop dots for dimension, as is the starfish in the bottom right corner. For texture, I added a scalloped border with a punch by Martha Stewart, some vintage lace from my Lucky Bag, pearls, bakers' twine, cheese cloth and seam binding. This tag is also for the PanPastels UK Challenge - Use Two of Something (I chose two flocks of birds) and for a challenge that I only recently found called Dragons Dream Tag It On Challenge where the them for TIO #18 is The Beach. I hope everyone has a good weekend. I am off to Philadelphia tomorrow to see my family as we celebrate our newest grandson's first birthday. As our other grandchildren delight us with all they are pursuing as a 6 and 8-year old, we nearly forgot how much joy a new baby brings to an entire family until our precious little one arrived last January and captured our hearts! My best to you, Yvonne

MMM Challenge # 33 - Leaves and Flowers

Back again, with a second post for today! This post is for a Make My Monday Challenge - Nature (Leaves and Flowers). As I headed up to my art studio to work on this challenge, I gave some thought to what direction to go. When I thought of flowers, this old standby from Hero Arts came to mind. I stamped it with Festive Berries and Peeled Paint Distress inks. I chose paper leaves with a text imprint and stamped my background with this sweet little heart balloon from A Muse stamps that I just discovered in my stash earlier today and colored them in with a Copic Marker. With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought adding a doily and a loving sentiment by Studio G complete my card. I hope you are having a good day. My best to each of you. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Element of Time

Well it is Thursday, and I am finally getting a chance to work on last Friday's Bloggers' Challenge. I have been busy preparing inspirational pieces for an upcoming release of new stamps over at Artistic Outpost. The stamps are absolutely gorgeous. You will love them! With that project well under way, I turned to making a card for the theme at Bloggers' Challenge of Element of Time. I chose a clock stamp by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, and stamped it on a scrap of designer card stock with Black Versafine Ink. I had intended to add a spinner piece to it, but think now that it might have been a bit much. My clip art image is from Crafty Individuals and as you can see in the closeup below, it includes text that says "Time for Tea." I added vintage lace and buttons, some pink Liquid Pearls and ribbon and a pin and tea pot charm.

Matting with various papers and attaching the panel to a Mushroom colored card base complete my card. Once I decide who this card will be sent to, I may add an additional sentiment to the bottom of the card, though I would be comfortable with it as it stands now. Well, off to make some more cards! Take care. Best, Yvonne

Winter Blooms

I am entering the card above into two challenges. The first is for the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. The inspirational photo, Winter Blooms, is above. As I studied the photo, I immediately felt drawn to pull out some soft gray card stock for the card base. I wish I had flower stamps that replicate these pretty pompoms, but since I do not, I chose a Petals and Patterns Boxed Set by Hero Arts. Next I chose Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Tattered Rose and Pumice Stone Distress Inks to stamp my flowers. I decided to only use three of the four flowers in the end and balanced my card out with a sentiment and some vintage buttons and cheese cloth. A bit of pink lace and some black and white Baker's Twine completes my card. The other challenge I am entering is for Crafty Cardmakers Challenge. For this challenge, the requirement is "No Floral Embellishments." Floral paper, stamps, etc. can be used, but no floral buttons, paper flowers etc. are to be added to our project. Hoping everyone is having a great day. A special thanks to my most recent followers for joining in and to all of my followers for your consistent visits and encouraging comments. I really appreciate your support. Best Wishes, Yvonne

Use it Tuesday - Winter Scene

Greetings Everyone! Today is Tuesday, and that means another challenge at "Use it Tuesday." This week, for Challenge # 23, we are asked to create a project "All About Winter." I immediately knew what I wanted to do. This winter scene above is from one of the very first wood mounted stamps I ever purchased back in 1997. I was nostalgic about it then as I am now. Sadly, I have not picked this stamp up since I made thank you notes with it following Christmas 1997. The stamp is from a company called "Toomuchfun Rubberstamps." I looked them up online and they are still around, which made me very happy. Love to see entrepreneurship be successful. Back then, I simply inked my stamp with embossing ink and heat embossed the image in black or silver. Remember back before the Tim Holtz Craft Mat? I still have silver embossing crumbs embedded into my antique dining room table! This time around, I decided to give the scene a different look. I love looking at old illustrations (pre-50s) where other than black ink, there are only touches of primary colors used. So I stamped my image with Black Memento Ink and hand colored with Ranger Distress Inks. Day two for using my new PanPastels, I chalked in the sky with three shades of light blue. I did not want to detract from the main image so I kept my embellishments to a minimum. A few snow flakes from Artistic Outpost on pop dots, some black and white Baker's Twine and a sentiment by Inkadinkado, from three years ago, stamped with black Versafine ink. This sweet little card will be on its way shortly to my precious grandchildren whom I miss so, so much, to let them know I am thinking of them, with love, and to wish them a Happy Winter filled with fun. Have a great day. Best Wishes, Yvonne

Please Be My Valentine!

I'm really getting in the mood for Valentine's Day! I decided to work with a new set of images I received recently from Artistic Outpost called Cutie Pie, but I also wanted to use this adorable image from the Think and Wonder set also from Artistic Outpost. I was going for a very vintage look, which for me is not real glittery, and also incorporates fewer colors. I also like the challenge of using a non-Holiday image in a Holiday card! By the way, Artistic Outpost will be releasing really awesome, new image plates shortly, but you can get a "Sneak Peak " awhile over at Artistic Outpost! Thanks for dropping by! Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 32 - Create a Scene

The challenge over at Make My Monday for Week 32 continues with the Nature theme and specifically is to "Create a Scene." This is probably the very first "scene" I have ever created. I marvel at others who do them, but I always think I don't have the right stamps to try. I really wanted to give it a go, though so I decided to go through my old wood mounted stamps and came up with this beautiful group of Horses by Inkadinkado, Pinon Silhouette by Stamp a Mania, Woodland Grasses by Hero Arts and a sentiment by Anna Griffith. I am also entering this card into the Anything Goes challenge at Pan Pastels UK's Challenge blog. My PanPastels just arrived in the mail over the weekend, and I thought I might as well dive in. I began by adding PP in a light blue, pale yellow and olive green to cream card stock. The colors a bit lighter here than in person, so I will probably adjust my values in the future. Being my first try with PPs, I wasn't sure what would work with them. I was delighted to find that Memento Ink, which I used for the Pinon Silhouette and Horses worked well. I also found that I could easily watercolor the Horses with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and was able to distress the edges to give the scene a vintage feel. To finish off the card, I added some flocks of birds from the Beyond the Sea plate by Artistic Outpost, a border punched with an EK Success border punch and some Baker's Twine and a button.

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Butterflies or Bugs

It is time for Challenge #13 over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! This time around, our theme is Butterflies or Bugs. I'm not sure about you, but for me, it has me thinking of Spring! Butterflies were a favorite of my mother's. Throughout her home, you would find butterflies pinned onto flower arrangements, curtains, and at Christmas, they were ornaments on her Christmas Tree! So when I set out to make my card, it was a comforting feeling to be making a card with Butterflies in honor of my precious mother who we lost 12 years ago, today.

I chose to use a set of Butterfly stamps and words from a set by Cavellini. I stamped the butterflies in a row, as a collector might do, and water colored them with Distress Inks. The white background seemed stark to me, so I soften it with more Distress Inks and some word stamps from the set. Embellishments include a flower trim, a doily, a vintage button and Baker's Twine, a dimensional glittery butterfly by Martha Stewart and some Ranger Stickles.

Please check out the FSC site for stunning inspirational pieces by the Design Team and then we hope you will give the challenge a go, too! As always, no digi stamps, please. You can find full details at FSC, along with the prize you will be working towards. Thanks for dropping by and Think Spring! Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Things with Wings

This week has flown by! It is already time for another Bloggers' Challenge. The theme this week is "Things with Wings." My first thought was to look through my bird stamps, and then I remembered a book of images I received this week from Crafty Individuals. I found this image of three sweet angels, and they fit the bill for having wings! This is a bit of a departure for me, as I normally stamp images on my card, but it is good to try different approaches, I think! I did stamp the sentiments: Hope and Inspire by Stampa Rosa and Happiness by Inkadinkado. Embellishments include ribbon and pearls by Martha Stewart, a doily and some feathers, which seemed fitting. I hope you are having a good weekend. I am still dismantling Christmas and carrying everything to the third floor after learning my lesson in the flood back in September 2011 when I thought it was easier to store Christmas decorations in the basement! Would love to hear from you. Best, Yvonne

Very Exciting News

I am thrilled beyond belief to share with you that I have been selected, along with several others, to join Artistic Outpost as a Guest Designer for a three-month term from February through May 2012! Since the very first time I set eyes upon AO images, I immediately connected with them. AO stamp plates uniquely inspire stories for artistic projects. If you are new to AO images, you will want to check them out! I particularly enjoy how you can mix images and sentiments from various plates to enhance your cards and projects. During the next three months, I will be creating inspirational pieces, along with the other Guest Designers and the AO Design Team, using the newly released AO plates. I'll also be sharing card designs, weekly, on the AO blog, and will participate in the Design Team Blog Hop! I look forward to working with the upcoming releases, getting to know the AO Design Team and Guest Artists better, growing my own skill-base and to making many new friends through this opportunity. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

Stampsmith Challenge #26 - Tag Art

It has been some time since I have had an opportunity to join in to a Stampsmith Challenge, but with the Holidays behind us, I thought I would give it a go! To begin 2012, Challenge #26 is Tag Art and requires the use of at least one Stampsmith stamp. My tag features an image called "Love Under the Stars" by Stampsmith. It is stamped with Black Versafine ink onto Glossy Paper and mounted onto a black mat with black photo corners. The sentiment and postmark are also by Stampsmith. Embellishments include cheese cloth, ribbon and vintage buttons. The blue and yellow color scheme is not typical for me. It reminds of spring and I guess I must be longing for it to come soon! Thanks for dropping by! Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Color Challenge

The challenge over at Bloggers' Challenge this time around is to create a project using the colors in an inspiration piece, which is actually a Kindle Cover! The colors: black, green, blue, purple and white. I started with a white card and then selected some designer card stock that includes blue, green, black, and white. At first, I was unsure as to how I could add purple to my card as there was none in the designer card stock. I decided to plug on, though, and selected a purplish matting for the designer paper. I also stamped my Artistic Outpost image with Milled Lavender Distress Ink and then matted the image with purple and black paper. Embellishments include Winter White Seam Binding, a blue twill tape, a paper doily, a safety pin and PARIS charm and a bit of cheese cloth.

MMM Challenge 31 - Nature (Animals)

The Nature Theme continues for the month of January 2012 over at Make My Monday. This week, the specific theme is "Animals." How we interpret it, is ours to decide. Although I have a variety of animal stamps that I purchased early on to make cards for the men in our family, I was immediately drawn to a set of Animal stamps by Cavellini for this challenge. I found these vintage-style stamps in a gift shop in Vail, Colorado several years ago and had them shipped home. From the first time I saw them, I just saw them stamped in red ink and nearly every time I stamp with them, I chose red ink! I chose "Festive Berry" Distress Ink this time. A little different this time is balancing the red with mostly yellow. When I finished my card, I felt as though it just needed something. I decided some gingham check was in order and I really like what it adds to the card. The numerals are from Artistic Outpost. Embellishments include vintage buttons I received for Christmas, Baker's Twine and a red dotted bow I found at Michael's. I am thinking this might be a cute card for my youngest grandson who soon turns "one!" Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with for the challenge. Thanks, as always for stopping by.

Dressform Theme Times Three

I came across a new challenge site, for me, while visiting one of my sister design team member's blog, Dot's Dabbles. She was entering her gorgeous, African Trio cards at the Crafty Cardmaker Challenge. The challenge was interesting to me in that you are to "Use it Three Times." It could be a stamp, a theme, a style, three ways. I had just finished some thank you notes all with a dressforms theme with stamps by Oxford Impressions and so I thought I would enter the challenge as well. These cards were created out of my now famous duffel bag, which I carry with me when we travel as I cannot bare to be without my card stash, and are made up of bits and pieces of mostly scraps. I am always facinated as to how color selection can make the very same stamps take on a completely different look or evoke a different feeling or era. Looking forward to meeting some new fellow artists over at Crafty Cardmaker. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 30 - Nature (Birds)

Happy New Year! As much as I love Christmas, it is almost refreshing to make some non-Christmas cards for a change, although I have to confess I am already poised to order some Christmas items for my 2012 cards! I have missed a few challenges during December due to the Holidays and other personal matters, so I was excited to check out Make My Monday today and see that the challenge for January will be Nature, and the specific challenge for this week is birds. I am currently out-of-town and have my trusted "duffel bag of supplies" with me. It is a good thing we are headed home tomorrow as I am nearly out of card stock! When I saw the theme of "birds," one of my favorites, I got a bit nervous. I have limited stamp plates with me. However, I got lucky in that one of the stamp plates called Typography by Artistic Outpost includes a sentiment with a border of birds. I stamped the sentiment and birds and then restamped additional birds on either side of the first image to give me a whole line of birds. My card also includes images from the Whimsical Melange plate, also by Artistic Outpost. I tried a technique, new for me, with this card; using sequin waste to add color to my card. I think this could become addictive! Well, thanks for dropping by. Best, Yvonne