Life, Family, Home

Hello! Well, it is Wednesday, and that means there is a new challenge over at Inkspirational! This week, we are working from the sketch below.

For my own card, I chose to start with a white card base.  I stenciled a Finnabair doily with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.   The beautiful tags, a freebie from our sponsor "Eclectic Anthology" were printed, trimmed, distressed with Vintage Photo DI, tied with ivory burlap string and adhered to the card front. Some grunge ribbon and ChitChat Stickers complete my card.  

I hope you will check out the rest of the Design Team's inkspiration pieces and then join in the fun.  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Winter Wonderland

Greetings! It is Wednesday, and that means another Word Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards!  This week, our word is "Cool."  I immediately turned my thoughts to winter and this gorgeous set by Artistic Outpost.  In addition to creating a winter scene, I also wanted to keep a rather cool color palette.  My new Distress Glitters arrived while I was at the beach so I decided there was no time like the present to jump in and give them a try.  I must admit that I think I need to go back and review the videos again on using this new product as my glitter has yet to dry, but I love the vintage glittery look.  I simply applied Embossing Ink to the card front and added Distress Glitter.  In retrospect, I think I need to stamp onto cardstock, trim, add Gel Medium, and then add the Glitter. The children were stamped on the card stock, trimmed and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and adhered to the card front. A simple seam binding bow and an Idea-ology clip with a scrap of ribbon and cheese cloth complete my card.  I will also be submitting this card to the August Referral Program over at Artistic Outpost. Thanks for dropping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Celebrate!

Greetings! It's time for the Pink Team to step to the front over at Eclectic Ellapu with a new challenge.  Our theme this time around is "The Oldies, Happy Birthday."  If you read my other post for today, you know that I am somewhat without craft supplies!  This is a wonderful theme, but I was not able to do it the justice it deserves, though I truly tried to find images that would work.  My Design Team sisters have hit the nail on the head though, so I hope you will take a look at their inspiration pieces.  I have chosen this gorgeous image by Hero Arts.  Though the women are not old, they would be today, so please work with me on this one!  The sentiment is by Stamping Up.  (I found it out in our storage unit, which is filled with craft gear that I can live without while we are in transition.) Some wood banner pieces and scraps of card stock add a festive touch at the top of my card.  Vintage Photo Distress Ink subdues the bright white card stock.  Thanks so much for dropping by today.  Hugs, Yvonne

It's the Little Things

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for dropping by today.  I truly appreciate every single visit and every comment.  Today, it is time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge with a new theme of "Sew Sew." I must confess, I am at the beach and do NOT have my duffle bag with me.  I thought I would be heading home sooner and because we had company did not plan to craft while away.  A trip to our local craft store allowed me to scoop up the bare essentials to create my card.  The focal image is by Inkidinkado and I truly do love it.  The dress was water colored with a Broken China Distress Marker and the edges were torn and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The measuring tape by 7 Gypsies was stamped with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. Bits of ribbon, decorative fabric trim and lace and some Baker's Twine complete my card.  You will most certainly want to stop over to see what the rest of the Design Team has dreamed up to inspire you and join us in welcoming Laura to our Design Team family.  We look forward to seeing your creations, too, and remember one lucky participant will win a $20 gift voucher from our ever generous sponsor, FlonzCraft! Best wishes, Yvonne

Fly Away Nightengale

Greetings, and thank you for stopping by my blog today!  This card is for the latest challenge over at Inkspirational.  This week, we have a CASE challenge and are working from the beautiful sample below.  

For my own card, I began by stenciling Vintage Photo Distress Ink using one of Tim Holtz's new stencils onto a Kraft card base.  The focal image is by Red Lead and was water colored with Distress Markers.  The image was matted and layered onto a paper doily over the card base.  ChitChat stickers, cheese cloth and a complimentary metal corner piece from Linda Coughlin at Funkie Junkie completes my card.  

I hope you will take a moment to stop over to Inkspirational to see what the rest of the Design Team has dreamed up to inspire you and then create a project of your own.  For one lucky participant who submits for the entire month of challenges, there will be a gift card for $30 from our sponsor Eclectic Anthology.  

Best wishes to you, Yvonne

Adventure Is Worthwhile in Itself

Greetings! It's time for another Word Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards! Our word this week is "Adventure."  As soon as I saw the word, I immediately thought of several stamp plates over at Artistic Outpost:  Charles and Amelia and Industrial Backgrounds. The focal square was created with Bundled Sage, Rusty Hinge and Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint.  The various images were stamped onto card stock and water colored with Distress Markers.  The card base was also stamped  and the edges were distressed with Distress Inks.  Water was spritzed onto the card base for a bit of relief. Some Idea-ology gears, copper Liquid Pearls and paper string complete my card.  What will you create to define the word "Adventure?"  I also plan to submit my card to the August Referral Program over at Artistic Outpost.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

EveryTime a New Story is Told...

Greetings! It's Wednesday and time for a new challenge over at Inkspirational!  This week, we are creating projects based on the photo below.

For my own card, I decided to use the Cargo Stencil by Tim Holtz. I stenciled it onto card using Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Mustard Seed and Ripe Persimmon Distress Inks.  The edges were then distressed with Vintage Photo DI.  The focal image is by Gecko Galz and was distressed lightly with VP DI as well.  The piece was matted to orange and black paper, wrapped with a bit of grungy cloth ribbon and mounted to a card base.  

I hope you will check out Inkspirational to see the fabulous inkspiration pieces of the Design Team, and then create and submit one of your own.  One lucky crafter who submits throughout the month will win a gift card for $30 from our August Sponsor Eclectic Anthology.  

Hip Hip Hooray!

Greetings! It's Wednesday and time for another Word Wednesday over at 365 Cards.  This week, our word is Confetti! How will you interpret your project?  Looking through my clip art images, I came across this one from Gecko Galz.  I envisioned confetti coming out of the musician's horn and off I went!  Still working my way through the Tim Holtz Stencils, this time with the Stars Stencil.  I used Wendy Vecchi Gold Embossing Paste on the stencil.  The sentiment stamps are by AMuse Stamps.  Vintage seam binding completes my card.  I cannot wait to see your take on the challenge!  Take care, Yvonne

Flappers and Philosophers

Greetings, again! The Pink Team is up and ready to share with you their glorious creations for the latest challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu:  Art Deco. I have created a link to a website that I read before creating my own piece for any who would like to learn a bit more about this fascinating era.  

For my own card, I began with a card stock panel and working from images from the Flapper Fashions stamp plate by Artistic Outpost, I filled in the border using black StazOn Ink.  The flappers were stamped in the center and a date and sentiment were added last. The piece was water colored with Distress Markers.  It is difficult to see, but the border was given dimension with white Liquid Pearls.  After pondering a bit, I chose to finish off the panel with lengths of gold and white brocade tape that lend themselves to the Art Deco era. The finished panel was layered onto black and then mounted to the card front.  I resisted the urge to add further embellishments as this era seemed somewhat sleek to me. 

The rest of the Pink Team's projects will absolutely blow you away and are sure to inspire you to step back in time to create a lovely work to share with us.  I look forward to seeing your creations!

I plan to also submit this card to the August Referral Program over at Artistic Outpost.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best, Yvonne

Resilience, Loyalty, Determination and Spirit

Greetings! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  I am here to share with you the newest challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  Our theme for this time is Clean and Simple (CAS).  Now I don't know about you, but CAS does not come easy for me.  This is all quite amusing in that when I first starting making cards, CAS was my card style! I marval, now, at the sheer beauty of those who create CAS with finesse.  Anyhow, above is my inspiration piece for the FSC challenge.  I have been anxious to ink up this British Bull Dog and pennant by Crafty Individuals for some time.  I decided to add some splats of color on either side using another CI stamp I received as a complimentary gift when ordering. The overall card is 8" x 8" so I decided to mat the focal point with a red panel.  A crown brad in my stash completes my card.  I hope you will pop on over to FSC to see all the wonderful inspiration pieces my design team sisters have created for you and then I hope you will give this challenge a go, too! 

Our generous sponsor is FlonzCraft and one lucky winner will receive a gift voucher worth $20.  They have hundreds of unique images that you will want to peruse!  Thanks as always for dropping by and I look forward to seeing your creations over at FSC! Best, Yvonne

Here Fishy Fishy

Don't you just love that title? So catchy! (No pun intended.)  I received my set of Tim Holtz Stencils yesterday, had insomnia last night and could not resist trying one of them out!  The striped one was calling my name and a nautical theme as well, and so here is what I came up with.  The striped stencil was inked with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  The edges were inked with Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean DIs.  Spritzes of water came next.  After matting and adding these vintage Gecko Galz images, I decided the background needed a bit more umph.  Enter some scary fish from a Red Lead stencil inked with Salty Ocean.  The sentiment is also by GG.  A fish charm, some sequin bubble and a bit of cheese cloth complete my card.  Well that's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Florida Family Vacation

Greetings! It's Friday and I wanted to share with you a card I made for the current challenge over at Frilly and Funkie called By the Seaside.  As part of the challenge we are to include sea shells, real or stamped.  My card base in 8" x 8." The background is a new stencil from Red Lead inked with Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean Distress Inks.  The edges were inked with more of the same DIs. I spritzed water on the background and blotted to remove some of the color and create a bubbly effect.  The retro clip art image, sentiment, and fish charm are also from Red Lead.  The rub ons are by 7 Gypsies. The shells are from a visit to the beach many, many, many years ago! We decided to stay home this weekend, rather than go to the beach to take care of some things, so making beach art is the next best thing.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone.  Best, Yvonne

Paris Fashion

Greetings! It is time for Challenge #32 over at Inkspirational where this week we have a Color Challenge.  

I must confess, that working from my iPad, I carefully tried to match up the perfect shade of green and pink to create my card only to realize when posting it on my pc that my colors were a bit off.  The rest of the design team did a much better job than I did and I hope you will stop over to see their projects, which took my breath away!  For my own project, I worked with a beautiful mannequin image from KaiserCraft, which I inked with a Forest Moss Distress Marker.  The border punch called "In Stiches" is by Fiskers, the hangers are by Idea-ology and the sentiment is by Oxford Impressions.

Our sponsor for the month of August is Eclectic Anthology and one lucky winner will win a Gift Card valued at $30!  I hope you will join us for our August Challenges!  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

A Little Time for Tea

Greetings! It is Wednesday, and that means it is time for another Word Wednesday Challenge at 365 Cards.  This week, our word is "Time."  I decided to use this beautiful collage stamp by Crafty Individuals.  Working with a white card base, I chose to paint the background with Spun Sugar Distress Paint for a touch of color.  A doily was layered next, followed by my collage image, which was water colored with Distress Markers.  The embellishments were complimentary items sent to me by Linda Coughlin at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, when I made a purchase.  She is indeed generous.  I look forward to seeing what you create for this week's challenge! Thanks for stopping by.  Best, Yvonne

Sand Between Her Toes

Greetings! There's a new challenge over at Simon Says Monday Challenge and we are to create projects around an Ode to Sunshine.  I decided to work with the Boardwalk images from Artistic Outpost.  The background was made using various shades of Distress Paint.  The images were stamped with Timber Brown StazOn ink.  The sunbathers were watercolored with Distress Markers.  Seashells, a bit of burlap string and a metal seashell charm complete my card.  

Our Story

Greetings! For some time, I have wanted to give working with a canvas a try.  I finally decided to jump in today.  This canvas was prepared for a new challenge over at Our Creative Corner where Alison has challenged us to create a project around "Words, words, words."  I began smooshing various shades of Distress Paint on my craft mat, spritzed with water and pressed my canvas into the paint. Gold embossing paste by Wendy Vecchi was stenciled using Wendy Vecchi stencils.  The boy and girl, a stencil by Andy Skinner, were painted with Distress Paint.  The buttons were covered with Tarnished Brass DP and the words are rub-ons by 7 Gypsies.  I am still traveling and may have been tempted to add more to my canvas if I were back home, but I am very happy with my first attempt. Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Hugs, Yvonne

On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City

My sister has joined us for a week at the beach.  We were reminiscing about our times at the beach and boardwalk of Atlantic City as young people, before New Jersey voted to turn the nostalgic beach town into a haven for Casinos.  We found several videos on You Tube of the Diving Horse on the Steel Pier and the Diving Bell!  I remembered I brought along my plate of Boardwalk stamps from Artistic Outpost and decided it would be fun to get inky with them.  The card is 8" x 8" so I had a fair amount of real estate with which to work.  I initially tried Distress Paint for my background, but felt it was too heavy.  In the end, I just went with Distress Ink in Broken China and Vintage Photo.  The images were stamped on scrap card stock. The beach huts were colorized with Distress Stains and the bathers were water colored with Distress Markers.  Although I worked with Seasonal Colors of Distress Inks, I also wanted to add at vintage feel so I distressed everything with Vintage Photo DI.  I plan to submit this to the Artistic Outpost Referral Program for August.  Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne