Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Greetings! It is time for another challenge at 365 Cards.  Today it is Word Wednesday and the challenge word is "Shining."  For my own interpretation, I chose to create a card around the poem "Twinkle, Twinkle."  Spun Sugar and Broken China Distress Paints were spritzed with water and white card was dragged through to get this dreamy sky backdrop.  The focal image by PSX was stamped over top of the backdrop with Black StazOn Ink.  The sentiment by Stampendous was stamped, cut into pieces and added to the card front.  A snippet of lace and some buttons and seam binding tinted with more Distress Paint complete my card.  I normally would have added a solid length of seam binding, but think matching the mottled seam binding to the backdrop provides for a very dreamy look.  I hope you are having a great day!  Best wishes, 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

Live in the Moment

Greetings!  It is Memorial Day Weekend here in the United States.  The unofficial kickoff to summer, and an opportunity to pause and remember all of our countrymen and countrywomen who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  I have been poking around most of May working on my May Tag for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013.  His gorgeous tag is shown below.

This is my first year of playing along with 12 Tags and I must say it has been worth the effort.  Tim really pushes you to try new products and techniques but holds your hand throughout the process with a wonderful tutorial.  

From my perspective, working with Idea-ology Remnat Rubs was new to me.  Love how the inky juiciness of the Distress Inks worked on top of the Rubs.  Finally found my filmstrip ribbon and used the filmstrip ribbon and my Wonder Tape for the first time.  I did not have the enameled tags but used a grunge board key that I painted with Picket Fence Crackle Paint, distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and added a ChitChat sticker.  My Classics#5  images arrived during May and I used them on the tag as well.

Thanks for stopping by!  Yvonne

Hello, Hello!

Time for a new Challenge over at Inkspirational and this time we are working from the sketch below.  I decided to work with a Dylusion Stencil to replicate the diamonds in the Sketch below.  

Pumice Stone and Tumbled Glass were stenciled on a 5x5 card panel.  The edges were distressed with Tumbled Glass and Distressed Photo DIs.  A selection of vintage buttons were applied to the panel and the sentiment was stamped with Black StazOn Ink.   The prepared panel was matted with black paper and mounted to the card base.  

I hope you will check out the Inkspiration pieces of my Design Team Sisters and consider sharing a piece of your own.  Our sponsor for May is Tammy of Creatively Me.   

Thanks for dropping by! Best, Yvonne

Togetherness

Greetings! It's time for another Word Wednesday over at 365 Cards. The word for this week is "Together."  As soon as I heard what the word was, I immediately knew which focal image I wanted use.  I have had this previously uninked image by Crafty Individuals for some time, and thought it  fit the bill.  I smooshed Iced Spruce, Antique Linen and Scatter Straw Distress Ink onto a Craft Mat, spritzed with water and inked the focal panel. The focal image was overstamped using Black StazOn Ink.  The matted focal image was layered over the prepared card base.  For the card base, I repeatedly stamped a bicycle by Recollections, added a bit of tissue tape and distressed the edges with more Iced Spruce and Scattered Straw Distress Ink.  Some Idea-ology tickets, also distessed with ink were added to the card front.  Black seam binding and black liquid pearls complete my card.  I look forward to seeing your project.  Thanks for dropping by! Yvonne

"Viva Las VegaStamps! DT Call"

This post is for the Design Team Call at Viva Las VegaStamps!  I have been hoping to join a DT for a stamp manufacturer, and have always liked the edginess of Viva Las VegaStamps so I was quite excited when I learned of this opportunity.  The call asked that "you include in this post three samples of projects that best represent you and your style."  I decided to chose from my 2013 posts and below are my three picks:  

My first pick was chosen as I love color.  I enjoy smearing paint/ink onto card stock to create my own backgrounds and I love retro stamp images.  

As If It Were Yesterday

I chose the second project to show my love of modern, eclectic art.  I love using stencils and tissue tape.  

Inspire

For my third choice, I selected one of my vintage-styled cards.  I love all things vintage and truly enjoy selecting embellishments and fibers to complete my cards.  

One for the Boys

Fingers crossed!  Thanks for dropping by! Hugs, Yvonne

King of the Seas

Greetings!  My post is for the current challenge over at Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge.  This week, the letter is "K."  I was so surprised when I went through the "K" section of the dictionary to see how few pages there were!  I never realized that before.  A number of the words I might have chosen I knew had already been used, and perhaps the one I chose is as well, but not that I am aware of.  I chose the word "king crab!"  I love king crab!  I can still remember the first time my dad brought  home king crab legs!  Yum!!!  The images are by Paper Artsy, were stamped with Black StazOn Ink, my go to ink, and water colored with Distress Markers.  Continue to love this challenge!  Thanks for dropping by.  Yvonne

Seaside, Fresh Air

Greetings!  It is time for my very post as a Design Team Member on the Pink Team over at Eclectic Ellapu.  The challenge:  Anything Goes!  My passion is card making, but for Anything Goes, I decided to decorate a plain white frame.  I began by smooshing Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Broken China, Salty Ocean and Rusty Hinge Distress Paints onto a Craft Mat, spritzing with a bit of water and dragging the frame through the paint.  When  satisfied, I stamped a variety of images onto tissue paper and added them to the frame.  Several sentiments were added to the frame and stamped directly onto the frame with StazOn Ink or Distress Paint.  For whimsy, I added several sea-related metal charms tied with a green burlap bow.  All of the images and sentiments are from Paper Artsy including the focal image at the center of the frame.  The bubbles near each of the fish are Chrome Liquid Pearls.  I hope you will consider joining us for the challenge and you will certainly want to drop by to see what the rest of the Pink Team has made to inspire you.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Yvonne

Gone Fishing

Greetings!  It's time for another challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge!  Our generous sponsor is FlonzKraft and one lucky winner will receive a voucher for $20 to purchase some of their high quality images.  Our theme this week is called "Alter It."   Now I am the very first to admit that I am a card maker.  I rarely make tags and I even more rarely alter anything! However, if I am going to grow as an artist I need to take on new challenges, so I pondered and pondered and finally saw a bunch of ceramic tiles stacked in our garage that were samples purchased when I was trying to select flooring for our bathroom renovation seven years ago.  If you are a follower, you might have seen in a post yesterday that my husband is retiring at the end of June.  We plan to spend a lot more time at our condo at the beach and he is looking forward to going fishing!  I thought I would make him this altered tile that he can place on an easel or use as a paper weight. I forgot to take a picture of the tile before I altered it, but it was simply white.  Being new to this process, I began by stamping these gorgeous, new to me, images by Paper Artsy directly onto the tile with StazOn Ink.  I was not happy with the quality of the stamped image, so I bravely opened a bottle of Gesso, something else I know nearly nothing about, and painted over the entire tile.  When it was dry, I smooshed Peeled Paint, Salty Ocean, Broken China and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint onto my craft mat, spritzed with water and dragged my tile through it until I was satisfied.  I restamped my images onto tissue paper (more new territory) and adhered them to the tile with Glue and Seal.  For a bit of texture, I added some Idea-ology Mini Gears and Philosophy Tag, some burlap string and liquid pearls.  I've hidden the tile so my dear husband doesn't find it before it's time to give it to him.  Now, I just need to not forget where I hid it!  I hope you will take the time to check out all the absolutely fabulous projects my Design Team Sisters have come up with to inspire you and I sure hope you will challenge yourself to "Alter Something" and share it with us at FSC!  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Be As A Bird Who Sings

 Greetings! This post is for Challenge # 20 over at Inkspirational where this week we are to CASE the card shown below.  As you can see by the various Design Team Inkspiration pieces, every one CASEd in a different way.  I elected to follow the shape of the original card and losely followed the design with a stamped image toward the top of my card and a bow at the bottom.  

Rather than red and white, I decided to go with a more neutral color scheme.  I chose a background paper and stamped my focal image and sentiment, both by Red Lead, onto the background paper.  The birds were watercolored lightly with Distress Markers.  

Our sponsor this month is Tammy of Creatively Me.  I hope you will play along during the month of May for a chance at the following prize:

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I will be back this evening with a post for Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  Hope to see you then.  Yvonne

From This Day Forward

Greetings!  It is a beautiful, finally, spring day here in my part of the world and I hope it is for you too, wherever you might be!  My post today is for the current challenge over at Frilly and Funkie where the theme is "A Time for Weddings"  and we are asked to make a card with white and one other color.  Assuming black is a neutral, the only other color besides antique white on my card is the pink flowers in the frame.  Hopefully, this works for the criteria!  

A little bit about the background of creating my card.  My dear husband recently decided to retire!  He had been battling a major health concern these past ten years and it is just time for he and me to move on to the next phase of our lives.  We plan to downsize and are in the process of getting our home ready to sell.  I am pretty much breaking down my art studio, and only keeping out my essentials.  The rest of the items are being boxed up for wherever my new art studio will be or are being given away to friends who are just getting started in this wonderful world of art.  As I was boxing things up, I came across this gorgeous sticker by Penny Black.  I also found this near perfect length of pearls and lace.  Before I knew it, my card just came together.  The edges were distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink and Idea-ology ChitChat Stickers were added to the card front along with a length of lace, some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape, a paper heart by Martha Stewart and a few vintage buttons.  It is not often that I make a card  without some stamping on it, but here is one of those times!  Have a lovely weekend.  Hugs, Yvonne

Watering Geraniums

Greetings! This card is for a challenge over at The Craft Room Challenge where the theme is to "Stamp Your Own Background." I was drawn to this challenge as I recently gave away nearly all of my background paper and have been trying to create my own backgrounds.  I began by selecting this adorable clip art from Gecko Galz.  For the background, I stamped paint blobs by Crafty Individuals repeatedly with Spun Pink Distress Pink.  To soften the background, I added a bit of Tim Holtz Tissue Tape and a piece of lace. To pull out the red in the geraniums, I added a seam binding bow and painted a white paper flower with Spun Pink, Picked Raspberry and Barn Red Distress Paints purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I'll be adding my card to the Sunday Share at Frilly and Funkie, too.  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Be Not Simply Good, Be Good for Something

Greetings!  This post is for the current challenge over at Make My Monday where they are doing a Literary Challenge around Jane Eyre.   

Our project can an interpretation of the book cover shown above or around the story itself.  I chose to be inspired by the book cover though the sentiment by Artistic Outpost could easily be about the book content.  The focal image, fan and perfume bottle label are from Crafty Individuals.  The images were stamped with Black StazOn Ink and water colored portions were painted with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.  I really enjoyed this challenge.  Pink, Black and White bring back many memories for me of my childhood, back in the day!  Thanks for dropping by.  Yvonne

When You Wish Upon A Star...

Greetings! It is Word Wednesday over at 365 Cards.  Our word to work with this week is "Wish."  I had several ideas for this challenge, but when I came across this image from Gecko Galz, I knew this was the image I wanted to use.  Throughout my childhood I would look for the first star that came out each night and "make a wish."  To create this card, I smooshed Broken China, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint onto a craft mat, spritzed with water and dragged white card stock through the paint.  The edges were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The panels were matted and added to the card front.  Some gold tulle, copper liquid pearls, a wood star painted with Antiqued Bronze DP, a blue satin bow and some matted ChitChat Stickers complete my card.  I look forward to seeing what you come up with for the challenge.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  I read and treasure every comment left on my blog.  Take care.  Yvonne

Happy Birthday Dear Mynn!

One of my Design Team Sisters, Ellen, over at Inkspirational put together a Blog Hop to celebrate Mynnette Kitchen's birthday.  We were asked to CASE one of Mynn's posts in creating our own card to celebrate Mynn.  I chose this one:

Although Mynn's beautiful, original card was created with digis, the one above was stamped repeatedly over a card base and then water colored with Distress Inks. i added buttons and liquid pearls similar to what Mynn did on her card. I hope she likes it!  To see what others have created for Mynn join the blog hop below:

Ellen:  In a World of Craft

Shauna:  Creating with Paper

Sandie:  London Days

Ruth:  Flower Sparkle 
Yvonne:  Journey Into Artistry ( You are here!) 

Kylie:  Kylie is Addicted to Stamps

Marina:  My Perfect Life

Nikki:  Nikki Nicole Stalker
Meighan:  Stampin with Meighan
Want more? The Technique Time Tuesday DT is also hopping for
Mynnette's birthday! 

To further celebrate Mynn's birthday, we are also giving away blog candy.  In order to have a chance to win, you need to visit each blog and leave a comment on each one, including this one.  You have until 5:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 16, to leave your comments.  One of the blog hop sites will be chosen randomly and from there, one of the comments from that site will be randomly selected. The winner will be posted on Friday, May 17.

Happy birthday dear Mynn! Hugs, Yvonne

Inspiration and Good News!

Greetings!  A huge welcome to all of my new followers!  Sharing today a card I made for the challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show.  The challenge is to create a project "Inspired By" someone or something, the inspiration is ours to decide.  I am inspired EVERYDAY by a number of Artists that I follow online.  To pick one would be difficult for me!  When I sat and pondered the challenge theme, I decided to go in another direction with one of my favorite, and first discovered, stamp companies, Artistic Outpost.  From the moment I stumbled onto their stamp images I was smitten.  They pulled me in, help define my "style" through the use of their images and really helped me grow as an artist.  For this challenge, I decided to create a card with images I recently acquired by AO.  I love the rich details, the vintage-like, historical essence they portray.  I thought I was going to go with a lot of color when I first sat down to make this, but in the end, the images were so gorgeous on their own, I decided to stay more neutral.  I may give my original design a go another day, though!  I also wanted to share with you that I was recently selected to join the Design Team over at Eclectic Ellapu!  I discovered this challenge site earlier this year and have enjoyed a number of their challenge offerings.  I was delighted when I saw the call to join the DT and elated when I was selected.  I'll be back in a few weeks with my first piece for Eclectic Ellapu.  Thanks so much for dropping by today.  Yvonne

Up, Up, and Away!

Greetings! There's a new challenge over at Inkspirational and this week we are creating projects based on the photo inkspiration below.  

I decided to create a card with a bunch of hot air balloons using an image from Studio G, which I stamped repeatedly onto a card base and then water colored the images with Distress Markers. For a touch of sparkle, gem stones were also added.  What will you be inspired to create?  We have a great sponsor during the month of May in Tammy of Creatively Me.

I'll also be entering this card at Make My Monday where the theme is "Anything That Flys."  Thanks for dropping by!  Yvonne

A Mother's Love

Greetings! It is Wednesday and that means another Word Wednesday a 365 Cards.  This week, our word is "Mother."  How you interpret it is up to you.  Our sponsor this week is SRM Stickers I created my card and a matching gift bag using lots of their high quality, stylish stickers.  The focal image is by Gecko Galz.

I decided to stay with a black and white color palette and layered lace and stickers over the card base.  The black paper doily and paper flower accentuate the stickers and pulled the design together. I hope you will join in the challenges at 365 Cards this week for a chance to win a prize by our sponsor.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Yvonne

Wedded Bliss

Thank you so much for dropping by today!  It's spring, and that means weddings.  One of my high school friends reached out to me recently and commissioned a wedding card.  I was both excited and a bit nervous as we are doing this long distance.  My first thought was lots of lace and paper doilies but in the end I decided to go with more understated elegance as the bride to be is an architect and I kept envisioning straight lines.  The focal image and sentiment are by Gecko Galz.  The metal embellishment was a gift from The Funkie Junkie Boutique when I placed an order.  The embossed paper is handmade and from India. Vintage buttons, ribbon, paper flowers and gold tulle are from my stash.  I hope she likes it.  Take care, Yvonne 

She Walks a Fine Line

Greetings and Thank YOU for stopping by.  I truly appreciate each one of your visits.  Today, I am sharing with you my lasted page for the Alphabet/Dictionary Challenge over at The Craft Barn.  This time, we are to use the letter "A." If you are seeing this challenge for the first time, I am making a "book" of pages for my overall project.  I chose the word "aerialist" which means one who uses the trapeze, high wire or tight rope.  The images are from Oxford Impressions.  So vintage like, aren't they?!  The images were stamped with Black StazOn Ink and water colored with Distress Markers.  The edges of the images and panels were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Vintage buttons and a bit of seam binding complete my page.  I hope all is well with you and yours.  I was happy to learn today through an x-ray that my 13 year old standard poodle has NOT had a recurrence of lung cancer.  We are so thankful to enjoy her every day that we have her in her elder years.  Take care.  Yvonne

Beach Happy

Greetings! Headed home from the beach today.  (Just a short trip.)  Only have a few items along with me this time, but wanted to create.  Love this Gecko Galz image.  Matted it with designer paper, added a seam binding bow that was dyed with Lemondade Distress Ink and popped on a few buttons.  Hoping this card will cheer up one of my friends who could use a bit of sunshine.  Hugs, Yvonne

Cherish Everyday Life

Greetings Dear Followers!  So glad you could stop by.  Tonight, I have a card for you for the new challenge of "Anything Goes" over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge. Our ongoing sponsor is FlonzCraft.  I love, love, love retro images and was so excited to use this gorgeous stamp by FlonzCraft.  The background panel was created with Tumbled Glass and Ripe Persimmon Distress Inks and the focal image was water colored with Distress Markers in Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass and Spiced Marmalade. I am traveling at the moment (think duffle bag) so my embellishments are limited.  I only brought along white seam binding knowing I could "dye" it to match any card I made with DIs, which I did here with Tumbled Glass and Ripe Persimmon.  A few Chit Chat Stickers, Copper Liquid Pearls and vintage buttons complete my card.  I hope you will pop on over to FSC to see all the gorgeous creations that my Design Team Sisters have fashioned for you and I know it will inspire you to create a piece of your own for a chance to win a Gift Card to shop at FlonzCraft!  Take care and thanks so much for dropping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

All That We Behold

Greetings Fellow Followers!  I truly appreciate you stopping by today.  At Inkspirational we are up to Challenge # 18 and this week we have the Color Inkspiration below of Grape, Olive and Peach.

For my own card, I worked with Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint and Wild Honey Distress Inks.  I began by smooshing Distress Paints onto a Craft Mat, spraying with water and pressing card stock onto my mat.  I then stamped images from the Generation Redux plate by Artistic Outpost with Peeled Paint Distress Ink over the prepared surface.  The focal image, also from Generation Redux, was stamped with Distress Paint onto white card stock and distressed around the edges with Wild Honey DI and mounted to the card front over a paper doily that was distressed with Victorian Velvet DI.  The sentiment is from the Flower Market plate, also by AO. A bit of dyed lace, burlap string, a charm and a button complete my creation.  Now it's your turn to link up a creation of your own for a chance at a prize sponsored this month by Tammy of Creatively Me. Thanks so much for stopping by!  Yvonne

Country Roads Take Me Home

Greetings Dear Followers!  It's Wednesday and that means another Word Wednesday at 365 Cards.  Our word for this week is "Home."  I immediately thought of some fabulous images and sentiments over at Artistic Outpost.  I began by marbleizing a background panel with Broken China and Mowed Lawn Distress Paint.  The edges were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The focal image was added next with Black StazOn Ink, as was the word "Home."  The truck was stamped on scrap card stock, water colored with a Fired Brick Distress Marker and mounted with foam tape on top of the matted focal image.  Vintage buttons, liquid pearls and burlap string complete my card.  I look forward to seeing your creation. I'll also be submitting this to the May Referral Program at Artistic Outpost. Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne