Remember Shirtwaist Dresses?

Greetings! It's time for a new challenge over at Inkspirational! Since there is a fifth week in July, that means our theme is "Anything Goes."

For my own card, I decide to work with two focal images, three women in shirtwaist dresses by FlonzCraft and a coat rack by KaiserCraft.  A bit of blue lace and a variety of buttons complete my card.

Our sponsor for July is A Day For Daisies and one lucky winner will win a Gift Card for $12 or three Digis.  We look forward to seeing what you create! Thanks for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Secrets of the Sea

Greetings! It is Wednesday and time for another Word Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards! Our word this week is "Glow."  Once again, I am traveling with my duffle bag.  I grabbed some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint to bring along, but otherwise was not sure where I was headed with today's project. To begin, I stenciled this sea of fish with Tarnished Brass DPs.  The seaweed was stenciled next with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  The card was next distressed around the edges with Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn DIs.  Next, I spritzed water into my hand, threw it onto the prepared card and dabbed it with a paper towel to remove some of the background ink.  I decided that the gold fish needed more depth.  I re-stenciled them with Ripe Persimmon DI.  To add more "glow" I added sequins for bubbles, painted seashells with Tarnished Brass DPs.  The prepared card was layered to a card base and wrapped with burlap string.  The sentiment was also stenciled.  All stencils are by Red Lead.  Loving working with them!  Have a great day.  Yvonne

Deep Blue Sea

Greetings!  It is once again time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  This time, our challenge is to create a project around the theme of "Script, Books, Pages, Print."

Wow! All kinds of ways to go with this theme.  I decided to work with a few Red Lead stamps that included text and script, as well as several stencils.  To add even more text, I tore up bits of a page and added it to the card front.  Sequins, burlap string, cheese cloth, sea shells, star embroidered ribbon and a metal mermaid charm complete my card.

For inspiration, please pop over to FSC to see what the very talented Design Team have created for your viewing pleasure. Our ever generous sponsor FlonzCraft will provide a $20 Gift Voucher to one lucky winner.  I hope you will join in and share your creation with us! Thanks for dropping by.  Yvonne

Fun In the Sun!

Greetings! It's time once again for a new challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu.  The Pink Team is up this week and our theme is "Anything Goes!

I decided to work with a number of stencils and clip art images from Red Lead.  I am really loving working with stencils.  Ever wonder how they resurfaced again after all these years?  (I am truly beginning to wonder if they will take a chunk out of rubber stamps in the market place.)

The sentiments were inked with Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  I love the retro look of the clip art.  I came across the little fish brads at my local craft store this week and thought they were just perfect to embellish my card.  A bit of seam binding, a snippet of cheese cloth, a clam shell metal charm and some burlap string complete my card.  

I hope you have a few minutes to see what the rest of the Pink Team have dreamed up to inspire you to submit a project of your own.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Sacred Wings, Morning Mist

Greetings! It is time for a new challenge over at Inkspirational! This week, we are working from the Sketch below.  I created my card while traveling about.  I guess sometimes it is better to not have so many choices when deciding on elements for a card.  

The bottom portion of the card was created by using Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink over a Tando Stencil.  The steampunk image by FlonzCraft was stamped with Black StazOn Ink.  The sentiment is by Red Lead.  Vintage black seam binding and some black liquid pearls completes my card.  I hope you will take a few minutes to see how the rest of the Design Team interpreted the Sketch and then consider creating a project of your own.  Our sponsor for the month of July is A Day For Daisies and one lucky winner will win either a $12 Gift Card or 3 Digis.  I hope your will play along! Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Happiness is Like a Butterfly

Greetings! It is Wednesday and time for another Word Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards.  Our word this week is "Butterfly." This week our sponsor is DRS Designs.  I selected this beautiful focal image and sentiment from DRS Designs.  The focal image was stamped with Gelatos and edged lightly with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  I painted the edge of a piece of white card stock with Gelatos and water to mat the focal image.  The single butterfly is a portion of the same stamp, and was stamped on a wood charm that was inked with Squeezed Lemonade DI and distressed with Mowed Lawn DI. Gelatos were rubbed randomly to create polka dots on the card base and a touch of green was added with a Wendy Vecchi stencil. A bit of green seam binding and some yellow Liquid Pearls complete my card.  I hope you will join us for this week's challenge.  Hugs, Yvonne

Remembering the Yellow Jackets of My Youth!

Greetings!  Thanks for dropping by today.  Just a quick post for the current Alpha/Dictionary Challenge at The Craft Barn where the letter this time is "Y" with a twist.  We need to include yellow on our project.  Unfortunately, I missed the previous challenge of "B" while traveling about, but hopefully I can catch up with that one too.  Since my name begins with a "Y" and I once had "Y" as a nickname where I worked, I looked forward to working on this challenge.  While browsing through the dictionary, I came across the word "yellow jacket."  Seemed fitting!  As a child, yellow jackets seemed to be drawn to me.  My dad would tell me to sit perfectly still and not show my fear and they would not harm me.  Didn't always work!  But, today, I am for some reason drawn to "bee" images.  I love them.  And so, I chose to use these bees and bee hive by Character Construction.  They are the closet thing in my collection to yellow jackets.  Behind the letter "Y" I matted the letter with a piece of white card stock that I stained with Squeezed Lemonade Distress Stain. I just received a number of bottles of DS from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and must say that for small projects, I will never need to worry about having the right color of card stock on hand again. Amazing product!  The hive and bees were water colored with Distress Markers and, also new to me, I added a touch of Gelatos! I must be very far behind, as I only learned of Gelatos this week.  I have been studying online tutorials and cannot wait to really give them a "go!"  Well, must run.  Have a big weekend planned with family and lots to do before then!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Hugs, Yvonne

This Is the Life!

One more card to share with you today! This one is for the current challenge over at Our Creative Corner where the theme is "Captured Memories." Our project must include a photograph on it.  I received the photograph image above with a recent order from Red Lead and thought it was a wonderful starting point to create a card for the challenge.  I matted the image with a piece of white card stock that was stenciled with a Wendy Vecchi stencil.  The collage images were stamped with Timber Brown StazOn Ink over the card front and water colored with Distress Markers.  The tickets, also by Red Lead, were stamped, water colored and added with dimensional foam dots. Snippets of seam binding, cheese cloth, twine, some metal shell charms, a wood word disc and bottle filled with sand completes my card.  We are celebrating my youngest daughter's birthday this weekend and have chosen this card as her birthday card.  I hope she likes it.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

She Sits Quietly By the Sea

Hello! Sharing a card with you that I created for the current challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show where the theme is "Good to be Green."  How we interpret the theme is up to us.  I thought briefly about upcycling something, but in the end, as green is my favorite color chose instead to create a card in green tones.  I worked with a stencil and clip art image from Red Lead.  The stencil was inked with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, matted and layered to the card base.  The bling, metal fish, and wood word disk are all by Red Lead.  A simple, and refreshing card, I think.   I am also entering this at Frilly and Funkie where the challenge is "Summertime!" Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

To Have Faith...

Greetings everyone!  There's a new challenge over at Inkspirational. This week we have a CASE challenge following the beautiful inkspiration piece below.  

I was immediately drawn to colorations and butterfly for my own piece.  Several Distress Inks were pressed onto a Craft Mat, spritzed with water and then card stock dragged through the inkiness.  The edge was torn off one side and the piece adhered to the left side of the card base.  A beautiful collage image by KaiserCraft was stamped with Black StazOn ink over the inked card stock.  The sentiment is by Red Lead.  Black Liquid Pearls, tissue tape by Idea-ology and vintage seam binding complete my card.  

Our sponsor for July is A Day for Daisies.  One lucky participant will win a $12 Gift Card or three free digis.  Please stop by Inkspiration to see the rest of the Design Team's projects and then we hope you will create something of your own.  Best wishes, Yvonne

The Innocence of a Child

Greetings! It's Wednesday and time for another Word Wednesday challenge over at 365 Cards.  Our word this week is "Playful." There are all sorts of ways to go with this word, but I knew immediately that I wanted to use this gorgeous clip art by Gecko Galz of a little boy making a castle out of wood blocks with the illustration of a much finer castle off in the distance.  The matted image was layered over a panel of white card stock that was sprayed with blue and white Dylusions Sprays.  (I read recently that you can contain the spray by placing the item to be spayed in a shallow box. It worked really well.)  The sentiment and toy images from Artistic Outpost were stamped on scrap card stock, water colored with Distress Markers, trimmed and adhered to the card from.  A bit of lace, some buttons and a bow fashioned from recyled seam binding.  I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week's word!  Take care and thanks for stopping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

How Lucky Am I?

No project to share this evening, but I wanted to share with each of you the wonderful Blog Candy I won recently thanks to the generosity of my Blogland Friend, Michelle.  Michelle has a wonderful blog and if you have not yet visited her blog, I hope you will visit.  I LOVE her unique and refreshing style.  

I am most excited about the goodies I received and cannot wait to put them to good use.  

I'll be back tomorrow, again, with several posts for challenges.  Thanks for stopping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Flora and Fauna

Greetings and thank you for stopping by today!  I so appreciate every visit and comment.  The weeks just keep rolling by and already it is time for another challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge (FSC).  For our current challenge, our theme is Flora and Fauna, which is a mix of flowers and animals.  I am still traveling about and had a hard time mixing the few animal images I had along with flowers (think elephant and giraffes!)  And so, when I saw this uninked image of birds and pussy willows by Red Lead, I knew I had found my focal image! The image was stamped with Black StazOn Ink and water colored with Distress Markers.  More and more, I find myself reaching for the Distress Markers rather than Distress Ink Pads for coloring in images.  How about you?  To balance out my focal image, I inked up another new to me stamp by KaiserCraft called Flutter.  It includes butterflies and if you look very close, tiny flowers.  The trio of sentiments are also by Red Lead.  A snippet of bronze lace, some black Liquid Pearls, and a scrap of twine rescued from a sales tag completes my card.  I hope you will stop over to FSC to see what the very talented Design Team have dreamed up to inspire you and then create a masterpiece of your own to share with us.  Please remember, though, that we are a stamping challenge, so digis cannot be used as your focal image.  As always, our generous sponsor is FlonzCraft. A sample of a card I made recently using a FlonzCraft image can be found here.  Best of luck to you in the draw for a $20 gift voucher.  Yvonne

She Sends You Hope and Heart

Greetings! It is Saturday, and time for another Challenge by the Pink Team over at Eclectic Ellapu!  Our theme this week is very appropriate given it is summer.  We are to create projects around the theme of "Flowers!"  I must admit, I had numerous false starts on creating my own project.  I am some nearly three weeks away from my art studio and still working from a very limited selection of images and probably even more limited collection of embellishments.  Finally, my card came together in my mind while I battled insomnia last evening!  I began with a black pre-folded card. This beautiful flower by Paper Artsy was stamped using Broken China and Peeled Paint Distress Paint.  I really like how it contrasts with the black card stock and Distress Ink would not have shown up if I placed it directly on the black card stock.  Some more Distress Paint in Wild Honey and Antique Linen was pressed through a Dylusions Stencil. The sentiment is by Red Lead and was distressed around the edges with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.  Simple embellishments include Tissue Tape by Idea-ology, buttons and burlap string and some vintage seam binding.  I hope you will pop over to EE to see the absolutely breathtaking inspiration pieces of the rest of the Pink Design Team and then submit a piece of your own.  Go on, get inky! Hugs, Yvonne

My Story

Greetings! I have been away from home nearly three weeks!  It has been fun in some respects, but I do miss having all my craft goodies close at hand!  We had seven inches of rain fall today! So...I decided to work on my art a bit.  I had brought my Gelli Printing Plate along with me, but had not had a chance to use it in nearly a year.  I made a number of backgrounds with acrylic paints and stencils, one of which I used to create the card above.  The sentiment/definition by Red Lead was stamped on white card stock and dredged with Peeled Paint and  Broken China Distress Ink. The stencil by Andy Skinner was painted with Broken China Distress Paint, trimmed and added to the card front.  A selection of buttons were added for dimension, along with Black Liquid Pearls.  Thanks for dropping by today.  Best, Yvonne

How Does My Garden Grow

Greetings! It is time for a new challenge over at Inkspirational!  This week, we are creating projects around the photo inkspiration below.

For my card, I began by cutting down to size a green and white gingham check paper bag that a purchase came in.  The edges were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the panel was adhered to the card base.  The mushroom image is from our sponsor for the month of July, "A Day for Daisies" who is offering a monthly prize to one lucky participant during the month of July.  The lady bugs and sentiment are from Gecko Galz.  A touch of ribbon, a few buttons and Liquid Pearls complete my card.  

We look forward to seeing your creations.  I hope you will pop over to Inkspirational for more creations to inspire you by the rest of the Design Team.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Live, Laugh, Love!

Greetings! It's time for another Word Wednesday over at 365 Cards!  This week, our word to create from is "Glamour."  I decided to work with several "free" images I had along with me that were included with the purchase of The Crafty Stamper.  The glamour girl is from Rouge Redhead Designs and the sentiment is by Visible Image.  The glamour girl was water colored with Distress Markers.  Simple embellishments include a variety of buttons and some tissue paper from Idea-ology.  

Finnabair Inspired

Recently, I was expecting to take my grandchildren to paint pottery. As most of you are aware, life sometimes gets in the way.  So...I found myself with my grandchildren at my doorstep and moments to come up with an alternative.  Having recently come across the talented blog of Finnabair and drooling over the possibility of one day signing up for one of her classes, I decided that I would introduce my grandchildren to her through the web and so we began!  I had picked up a package of Kraft Paper at the craft store on the clearance pile for less than one dollar with thoughts that it would be great to have on hand for little ones to draw on.  When Elizabeth and Alex arrived, we began by walking around my home to look for pods, leaves, twigs, stones, and anything else that would not wither away.  I showed them Finnabair's beautiful projects on her blog and we talked a bit about her "style."

I also introduced them to Water Soluble Oil Pastels.  Both of them tried placing various dried leaves under the Kraft Paper and rubbing the pastels over the top.  Buttons and bits of string and gauze were important embellishments.  

With not enough time to create another project, we spent the rest of our time looking at wonderful videos by Carolyn Dube at A Colorful Journey.  They are most excited to try Gelli Printing next time!

Thanks for dropping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Sharing My Joy

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to be the Guest Artist for the Summer Edition of Stampers Sampler.  The magazine is now available and as you can imagine, it was an absolute thrill for me and my family.  Stampington Company did a beautiful job of presenting my cards and I am most appreciative of this opportunity.  It almost does not seem real to me.  

I thought I would share with you a few of the other cards not shown on the first two pages shown above.  I originally auditioned for their magazine called Take Ten, so I tried to reduce the steps in each of my cards by utilizing background papers and keeping images and embellishments to a minimum.  

 I love this image and sentiment by Katzelkraft and thought it went well with the turn of the century background paper.  The horse shoe stickers represented to me the transition between horse drawn carriages and the automobile.

 For this card, I stamped an image I received from Crafty Individuals as a thank you for purchasing stamps.  The feather background paper seemed fitting and elegant.  I have had these feather buttons in my sewing box for several decades! The sentiment means "What's Up?" and is by Artistic Outpost.

For my final card, the background paper featuring beautiful upholstered chairs reminded me of this gorgeous image and accompanying sentiment by Artistic Outpost.  

It is Sunday here at the beach.  It has been a difficult first week of retirement for my dear husband who is struggling with a decade long health issue.  I hope wherever you are, it is a good week ahead.  I thank you for all your visits and words of encouragement. Love, Yvonne

Why A Bird Sings...

Greetings!  I am still traveling about with my duffle bag of craft goodies and wanted to share with you this card I made for the current challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show where the theme is "Anything Goes."  Probably one of my favorite techniques to try is pressing Distress Ink pads onto a Craft Mat, spritzing with water, and pressing card stock into the inky juice.  I used Mowed Lawn and Wild Honey here.  The bird collage and sentiment are from Red Lead.  The grungy border on the left is by Tim Holtz and was also distressed with Vintage Photo and Mowed Lawn Distress ink.  Have I mentioned that green is my favorite color before?!  My embellishments are limited in my bag, but I managed to find this snippet of white burlap that was just large enough to mat the sentiment.  Some black liquid pearls and some green seam binding sent with my most recent order at Red Lead complete my card.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Joie de Vivre

Greetings! It is July and time for another Color Challenge over at Inskpirational.  This time we are working with the colors below.  

For my own take on the challenge, the flower image and sentiment, both by Paper Artsy were stamped with Purple StazOn Ink.  The flower was colored in with a Milled Lavender Distress Marker.  The flower stem was inked with Forest Moss Distress Ink. Some lavender lace, a smattering of buttons including two in a periwinkle color were added to the bottom corner.  The seam binding appears quite vivid in the summer sun but in my art room seemed closer to the plum color above.  I hope you will pop over and see the absolutely gorgeous creations submitted by the Design Team and then consider sharing one of your own with us.  Our sponsor for the month of July is A Day for Daisies. One lucky winner will receive either a Gift Card valued at $12 or three Digis.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Fragile Heart

Greetings!  It is Wednesday and that means it is time for another Word Wednesday over at 365 Cards.  This week, our word is "Bliss."  A search online reveals that "bliss" can refer to feelings of enjoyment, pleasure and satisfaction.  

I chose this adorable vintage image by FlonzCraft to reflect "Bliss" on my own card.  The image on the left side is by Kaisercraft and the sentiment is by Red Lead.  Distress markers were used to water color the images and Vintage Photo Distress Ink was used to distress image edges, as well.  A bit of Melange Tissue Paper, some Liquid Pearls and vintage seam binding dyed with Barn Red and Vintage Photo Distress Inks complete my card.  Looking forward to seeing your definition of "Bliss."  Have a great day!  Yvonne