May your Christmas be Bright

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Greetings! It is time, once again, for a new challenge over at Inkspirational! This time, we have a word prompt: Trend

 

 

There are all sorts of ways to define "trend" of course, and if you pop on over to Inkspirational, you will see each designer's unique approach. For my own card, I decided to go with a Christmas Card, as we are starting to see a wave of them with the Holidays upon us.

 

It is unusual for me not to have stamping on my cards, but I recently received a packet of free goodies with an order from Funkie Junkie Boutique and I thought it would be fun to craft a card using the items.  As well, I understand large die cuts are popular just now.

 

I worked with Magicals by Lindy's Stamp Gang and then layered my pieces on top of the panel before matting and attaching to a card base. 

 

We hope you are inspired to create a trendy project of your own to share with us! Thanks for stopping by! Yvonne



 

Je t'aime Paris

 

Greetings! It's time again for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  This time, the theme is "Wintertime in Paris."



I found this a bit of a challenge, but afterall, that is what this is, yes?! I selected several photo stamps and sentiments from Stampsmith and stamped them in black and white for the bleakness of winter.  The water color panel was stamped with resist ink and then colorized with Dylusions Ink spray.  The snowflakes were gifts from Linda at the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  You will just love the samples the other Design Team members created!  We cannot wait to see what you come up with.  Remember there is a $20 gift voucher from our generous sponsor, FlonzCraft, for one lucky participant! Thanks for stopping by! Yvonne

The Sky's the Limit

 

Greetings! My card today was created for the current challenge over at Make My Monday, where the theme is "Trees or Leaves."  As I was searching through my tree stamps, I remembered recently receiving some Photo Chips of trees from DarkRoom Door as a thank you for ordering.  A departure from all the color I have used lately, but I found it soothing somehow to work with black and white and neutral tones.  The sentiment is by Red Lead Paperworks, the ribbon is from Funkie Junkie Boutique and the pearls are Viva Décor.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Time to Fly

Greetings!  My post today is for the current challenge over at Make My Monday where the theme celebrates Earth Day and Nature.  I really love bird imagery and was excited to pull out some older stamps from Red Lead Paperworks.  I began by applying Bister to Hot Press Watercolor paper.  I wasn't sure I needed Bister when I purchased it, as I already have Brusho, but am glad that I decided to get it after all.  The colors are much more muted, perfect for this type of scene.  The birds were watercolored with TowBow Markers and the edge of the panel was stamped with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  A simple bow fashioned from ribbon purchased from the Funkie Junkie Boutique and my card is complete.  Thanks for stopping by! Hugs, Yvonne

A Touch of Spring

 



Greetings! So nice of you to stop by.  A special thank you to my newest follower, Ana! Today, I am sharing with you one of my newest creations using the April offerings over at Gecko Galz.  The background paper is from the Flower Power Paper Pack, the rabbits are from the Easter Parade Stamp Set and the bird panel is from Provence Garden.  I added a little bird nest using an image from Red Lead Paperworks.  To complete my card, I added ChitChat Stickers, a seam binding bow from my stash and a metal corner from Funkie Junkie.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Wishing you and your family a Blessed Easter.  Love, Yvonne

It's Time!

 

Greetings! My post today is a last in a series of posts for March 2015 Gecko Galz Imagery.  I cannot speak highly enough about the gorgeous images that Gecko Galz offers month after month, year after year. The image above is from the Fashionable Hats Collage Sheet.  It's funny, but I still find it hard to incorporate hearts into my cards except at Valentine's Day.  Anyone else struggle with this?  Thanks for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Life and Love

 







Greetings!  Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I am back to share with you another card I made with the March 2015 Gecko Galz imagery.  The gazebo and sentiment are from Oxford Impressions and the metal corners are from Funkie Junkie Boutique.  Best, Yvonne

XXOXX, Remember, I Love You

Greetings!  It is bitter cold where I live, and where many of you live as well.  A quick card to share tonight that I made just because Valentines Day is coming soon.  I began by stamping various images by Finnabair by Prima with London Fog Memento Ink.  Next I layered pink and white paper doily hearts over the card base. The image and happy cat are by Gecko Galz and were glittered up with Ranger Stickles.  A few die cut butterflies and a button, a complimentary gift from the Funkie Junkie Boutique with an order, and some ChitChat Stickers, Pearl Gems, Glitter Hearts and a seam binding bow complete my card.  I hope wherever you are, you stay warm. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.  Hugs, Yvonne

Love Is In the Air

Greetings! It is time, once again, for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  This time, our challenge is called "Tag Along with Us," and we are asked to make a tag. I began with a Jumbo Manila Tag from the Funkie Junkie Boutique. I layered ivory corrugated paper over top,trimmed to fit and tore bits of the corrugated paper off to distress a bit.  The edges were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The focal image by Lost Coast Designs was inked for the first time, and is one I have admired for quite some time.  It was matted with some burlap fabric with frayed edges.  The background of the tag was inked with images from Artistic Outpost's Generation Redux.

Embellishments include several tickets and paper string from Tim Holtz, a bottle cap with an image by Crafty Individuals.  The twill tape at the top of the tag and the heart gems are from my stash. I hope you will pop on over to FSC to see the gorgeous tags my Design Team Sisters have created, and then create and share one or more of your own with us!  As always, one lucky participant will win a gift voucher for $20 from our generous sponsor, FlonzCraft. Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Won't You Be My Valentine?

January marks the beginning of my journey as a Design Team Member at Gecko Galz and today I would like to share with you my first two makes as a Design Team Member.

Throughout the year, Gecko Galz will be cross promoting with other companies and the Design Team will be creating projects using both Gecko Galz products and those of other companies. For the month of January, we are also working with digital images from Basic Grey's "True Love" Paper Pack.  In addition to the images I used from Basic Grey for my card and tag, I also worked with the My Fair Lady Collection, True Love Stamps, and Victorian Cuties, all new releases for January at Gecko Galz. One lucky participant who submits a Valentine  project using both Gecko Galz images and Basic Grey images will win a gift certificate for $25 to use toward a shopping spree at Gecko Galz! Please see Gecko Galz Home Page for submission details and good luck to each of you! Hugs, Yvonne

Happy Christmas!

Greetings! It has been ages since I have made a card for a challenge over at Make My Monday.  I noticed their theme this week was to create a Holiday Project around "Santa, The Big Guy."  I just acquired this gorgeous set of images from Artistic Outpost called Snowy Woods and thought I would join MMM's challenge.  I began with a background paper from Tim Holtz, which I distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The focal image and sentiment were stamped with Fired Brick Distress Ink and the edges were blended with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The focal image in my mind carries the card so I kept my embellishments to a minimum.  The burlap, snowflake, button and burlap string are thank you gifts from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  The tartan plaid bow, game piece and cheese cloth are from my stash.  I am also entering my card over at the November Artistic Outpost Referral Program.  Thanks for dropping by! Hugs, Yvonne

Harvest Time

Greetings! Back today with an Inkspiration Post for our new challenge.  Please note, our challenges are now bi-weekly and beginning with this challenge will occur on Saturdays.  This time around, our challenge is simply:  Anything Goes.  It has been a super busy week for me and when I sat down to create my piece I realized the sky was the limit which can sometimes be daunting, at least for me.  I decided to look through my Gecko Galz images and found this beautiful image of a girl holding harvested wheat in black and white and from there everything feel into place.  I toyed with painting or using PanPastels on the card front but in the end decided to leave it white so the black and white image would pop. I purchased these gorgeous leaf dies by Tim Holtz late last fall and never had a chance to use them.  I had a lot of fun cutting them from white card and then chose a bunch of different autumn like Distress Inks to color them.  I added script text from Artistic Outpost using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  A bit of water drops using the spritz method came next.  I recently purchased the TH pumpkin and acorn dies, colored them with Gelatos and think they are nice addition.  Some black and white baker's twine and some brass leaves, a gift from Linda Coughlin with a purchase from her Funky Junkie Boutique and my card is complete.  Thanks so much for stopping by. Please stop over to Inkspiration to see what the rest of the team has to share with you and then I hope you will submit a project of your own.  Hugs, Yvonne

Oh So Pretty!

Greetings!  It's Wednesday and time for another Word Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards.  This time, our challenge is to use the word "Pretty" to create our card.  As I looked around my art studio, and went through some clip art images, this ethereal image by Gecko Galz of a beautiful woman holding and studying a bird caught my eye. The ephemera on either side of her, is also by GG.  Since I worked with an 8" x 8" card base in order to frame the paper doily, I wanted to fill in the background somewhat.  I decided to use a Dylusions Stencil and Dreamworks Embossing Paste (yes, the jar is probably a decade old).  I poured a small amount of Spun Sugar Distress Paint onto my craft mat and smooshed the embossing paste into it with palette knife to colorize it.  After it dried, I applied some Gesso to the embossed diamonds to tone down the pink a bit.  A length of pink lace along the bottom, some complimentary pink dyed seam binding, a metal embellishment, buttons softened with Gesso, (all compliments of one generous Linda Coughlin at The Funkie Junkie Boutique) a feather, some cheese cloth and some liquid pearls complete my card.  Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for your "Pretty" card.  My thanks to so many of you who wished me a Happy Birthday.  There is still time to sign up for my Birthday Blog Candy - see the sticky post at the top of my blog! Cheers, 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

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

Go Wild! See the World!

Greetings!  I am a bit late with this post, which should have been on my blog yesterday.  It is for the new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge where the theme this week is "Mail Time."  Lots of different ways to interpret this one.  I hope you will stop over to see what the Design Team has created for some inspiration and then create a project of your own for the chance to win a $20 gift voucher from our generous sponsor FlonzCraft.  

For my own card, I decided to work with a new plate of images from Crafty Individuals.  Both focal images include postmarks.  Everything was stamped with Timber Brown StazOn Ink and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The panel along the left side is from Classics#6 Stampers Anonymous, which I purchased recently from the lovely Linda over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I will also be submitting this to The Sunday Share Challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  

This has been an extremely emotional week for me.  My dear husband retired on Thursday after 36 years at his position.  Since we married 13 years ago, we have traveled throughout our State and the Country and have many wonderful friends we catch up with on a regular bases.  It caught me quite unaware that going forward I may not see most of these folks ever again.  Retirement is surely a transition, and a new beginning!  Thanks for listening and for dropping by.  Always love to hear from you.  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

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 

Sail Away

Greetings! A bit behind with my posts, so I hope you will forgive me for a second one this evening.  I wanted to join the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show where the theme is Passport to Fun and we are to create a Travel themed.  My husband is celebrating his birthday later this week, so I decided to create a card for the challenge that would also work for wishing him a Happy Birthday.  He is a sailor so my mind went to this gorgeous set of images by Crafty Individuals.  The clip art is by CI as well. The various images were stamped with Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.  The card was grunged up with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and splattered, carefully, with water drops.  In retrospect, I should have distressed my card first but, sometimes, you change your mind midstream!  Mini gears by Idea-ology and burlap string purchased at the Funkie Junkie Boutique complete my card.  I will also be submitting my card to the Sunday Share at Frilly and Funkie.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Imagine...

It is Word Wednesday over at 365 Cards and this week the word chosen is "Imagine."  As I pondered my stamp images and clip art, I in the end decided on this beautiful image by Gecko Galz.  When I look at this mother gazing at her sleeping child, I see her imagining her daughter as she grows into a young lady.  I began by painting a paper lace border purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique with Victorian Velvet Distress Paint.  The top portion of the card front was stamped with various complimentary images received from Crafty Individuals using Victorian Velvet Distress Markers.  The clip art image was framed with a Tattered Angels Chipboard Frame and layered with a paper doily to the card front. Liquid Pearls by Ranger were added to the frame and seam binding bows, a sentiment and button were also attached. I'll also be adding this post to the Sunday Share Challenge at Frilly and Funkie. Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne