Classy and Fabulous

 

Greetings!  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I want to share with you a card I made recently using some of the new releases by Gecko Galz for the month of February.  I just love this new collection of images and background papers from the Coquette Digital Crafting Kit.  The corners were stamped with Black Archival Ink using an Oxford Impressions image.  The paper hearts are from Martha Stewart and the paper doily and seam binding bow are from my stash.  Thanks for stopping by today! Hugs, 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

Happy Easter

Above is my tag for March for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013.  Tim's gorgeous tag can be found here.  For my own tag, I covered a tag with paper printed from Gecko Galz.  The bunny image is from PSX and is matted with a die cut frame by Sissix.  The grass at the bottom of the tag was cut with fringe scissors by Martha Stewart.  A Tim Holtz die cut was used to create the sentiment banner at the top of the tag. The sentiment is by Studio G. Thanks for dropping by!  Hugs, Yvonne

To the Moon!

Hello!  It's Wednesday, and time for another Word Wednesday Challenge at 365 Cards where the word this week is "Space!" Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs and my image and sentiment are part of their fabulous collection.  I added a bit of Ranger Stickles to the main image and the heart punches by Martha Stewart are punched from dark red glitter card stock.  A bit of turquoise ribbon and my grandson's Valentine is ready to go.  I hope you will join us for your own take on the word "Space."  Best wishes, Yvonne

Emerald Anniversary

Greetings!  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  We've had snow showers, and it is bitter cold, but it could always be worse.  I am sharing a card with you that I made this afternoon for the latest challenge at Electic Ellapu where the challenge is to create an Anniversary Card.  Madeleen is the host and she gave us a table of colors to use for specific anniversaries.  My card will be for my oldest daughter and her husband who will celebrate 20 years of bliss soon, which calls for Emerald Green and White.  I chose to layer a green mat to my card base and addded some geometric ribbon along the bottom.  The focal image is by Stampsmith.  The quote by Victor Hugo is by A Muse Stamps.  The scattered hearts were bits of leftover recycled paper in my stash that I punched with a Martha Stewart punch.  Thanks for dropping by.  Have a wonderful week ahead.  Best, Yvonne

Yuletide Greetings!

Greetings!  Working on my Christmas Card Inventory with the latest Challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throw Down. The challenge this week is a recipe:  Patterned Paper, Glitter, and we most decorate the inside of our card.  In retrospect, I see a Valentine's Day influence on my card! But truly, the patterned paper by Martha Stewart is a leftover piece of Christmas card stock.  The postage stamp image by Inkadinkado was stamped with Red StazOn Ink.   I found myself breaking up the pattern a bit with the paper doily and lace trim.  Vintage seam binding and buttons, and a few ChitChat stickers complete my card.  For glitter, I used Red Ranger Stickles.  A close up below, hopefully gives you a better feel for the glitter.

I used more of the same paper inside and decided to add more Stickles as well!

I am still plugging away to create a total of seven of each week's design to meet my card goal for Christmas.  Wish me luck!  Best, Yvonne

Regal Greeting

Greetings! It's time for Week Two of 52 Christmas Card Throw down. This week, we have a color challenge.  We are to create a Christmas Card using "purple, white and metallic silver."  I decided to break out these ornament stamps from Stampin Up that given to me many years ago.  I confess, this was the first time they have been inked up.  The ornaments and sentiment were stamped with Seedless Preserves Distress Inks.  The ornaments were attached with foam dots and iced with silver glitter glue by Martha Stewart.  A bit of silvery ribbon, a paper doily, and some Chrome Liquid Pearls complete my card. Thanks for dropping by.  Yvonne

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

With the year quickly coming to a close, it is once again time at Fashionable Stamping Challenge for a new challenge. This time, the challenge is "To Die For."  We want to see your creations that include die cuts and/or punches and, of course, stamping!  For my creation, I chose this beautiful little girl with her teddy bear by Oxford Impressions.  After stamping and trimming her, I water colored her and mounted her to the card base with pop dots.  The snow flake border along the bottom is a die cut by Sissix for Tim Holtz.  The snow flakes are punches from Martha Stewart.  It is difficult to see, but all the snow elements and the little girl glisten with Ranger Stickles and Liquid Pearls.  As a finishing touch, I included tartan plaid twill ribbon.  I sure hope you will stop over to FSC to see what all my design team sisters have dreamed up.  Hoping you will join in as well for a possible prize if your creation is selected as the top winner.  Thanks for dropping by.  Yvonne

Happy Christmas!

It is almost impossible to believe we are up to the 10th week at 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style. The challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  For week ten, Linda created the tag below.  I have to tell you, this really took me back to my childhood.  My dad use to wrap the stand our tree stood on with brick paper and the brick on Linda's card just reminded me of my childhood instantly!  

For my own card, I was inspired to use a brick embossing  folder to incorporate brick in my own card.  I also included the number 25 and a scrap of cheese cloth as inspired by Linda's tag.  I was also inspired to select a vintage replica art image and in place of icicles, I decided to frost the top of my card with a portion of paper lace that I purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique some time ago. Some kraft and green striped paper, also from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, and a couple of snowflakes and vintage buttons complete my card.  

On a personal note, I am home again, after being out of town for three weeks while my husband under went some medical treatment.  It is so good to be back home.  We are hoping he feels better soon and that the treatments are successful. Thank you to each of you who have sent kind wishes of encouragement our way the past few weeks.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Happy Holidays!

Greetings!  Thank you to all of my dear friends who sent words of encouragement earlier this week concerning Hurricane Sandy.  I am happy to report that although we were prepared for the very worst, we were spared the heartache felt in New Jersey and New York.  Some how we managed to keep our power throughout the high winds and though we live one block from a river that flooded our home a year ago, we incurred no flooding this time.  This post is to share a card I created for The Funkie Junkie Twelve Tags of Christmas, Tag 7 Challenge, which is being sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. 

Linda has graciously allowed us to make other than a tag and I continue to make cards for the challenge.  Linda's beautiful tag is shown below.  For my own card, I was inspired by the following elements: the reindeer, the sentiment, snowflakes, and trees.  As my reindeer stamp seemed a bit contemporary, I chose a tree stamp by Studio G along the  same lines. The sentiment is also by Studio G. The snowflake stickers and punched snowflakes are from Martha Stewart.  

I hope you will stop back on Saturday evening for the latest challenge at Fashionable Stamping.  My posts will be scarce the following two weeks, as my dear husband is undergoing some medical treatments out of town.  Since the Hurricane, my Internet access has been spotty.  I will hope for the best and will try to keep up with all of you and your posts.  Best wishes my friends, Yvonne

Au Revoir Mon Amie

It's Monday and that means a new challenge over at Make My Monday!  I am truly enjoying this month of French Vintage challenges at MMM.  For this week, the challenge is to create a project in Tricoleur of Red, White and Blue.  I began with this vintage image of the Eiffel Tower by Stampsmith and stamped it in Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  The edges were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The stamped image was matted and layered to the card front over a black doily.  The sentiment is also from Stampsmith.  A variety of airmail stickers, by Martha Stewart were distressed with more Vintage Photo Distress Ink and added to the card front.  A bit of air mail Baker's Twine, an Eiffel Tower charm from my stash, and some Liquid Pearls complete my card.  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Apothecary

Well, here we are again, with another new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge!  A very timely theme of Halloween, using Halloween Colors for the next two weeks.  For my inspirational piece, I decided to create a background using a variety of Distress Inks in Halloween colors.  Images from Halloween Treats and Apothecary plates by Artistic Outpost were stamped on Specialty Paper.  Some of the images were water colored with Distress Markers and all of the images were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Markers.  Embellishments include burlap string from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, Copper Liquid Pearls and Spider Stickers from Martha Stewart.  I hope you will check out the other inspiration pieces by the rest of the Design Team and I hope you will consider making a project of your own for a possible prize.  Full details can be found over at FSC! Thanks for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Joyeux Noel

Today, I am posting my final card for my application for Mynnette's new Challenge Blog called Inkspirational.  For the last challenge, we are to create a card inspired by the photo below.  I LOVE this photo.  Probably no other color combination speaks to me like, gray, black, red and white.  

I immediately knew I wanted to use this stamp by Penny Black.  It is inked with London Fog Memento Ink and stamped onto Specialty Paper.  The bird was inked a second time with Distress Markers, trimmed and pop dotted over the first image.  White glitter glue was used to add ice to some of the branches and red glitter glue was added to a number of the berries for dimension. The image was matted numerous times and layered over a snowy/berry background paper by Martha Stewart.  The snowflakes were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and glittered with white glitter glue.  The tartan plaid ribbon from my stash and a metal bird charm by Idea-ology complete my card.  There is still lots of time to apply if you are interested yourself in joining Mynnette's new Design Team.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best, Yvonne

Tis Autumn

What a beautiful time of the year!  It is once again time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge, and how appropriate that this time the theme is create a project around Shades of Autumn.  For my inspiration piece, I was drawn to a beautiful plate of stamps by Artistic Outpost called The Outpost. When I think of Fall, I think of Fall Harvest and farming.  The farm scene was stamped on a vintage book page.  The edges were torn and then distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The stamped panel was layered over a panel that was sprayed with several Dylusion Spray Inks and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  A Sissix Doily Diecut was cut from Kraft Paper and tucked under the focal panel.  The Raven Ribbon, scooped up at the end of last season, was added to the panel above the sentiment, which is also from the AO stamp set.  Leaves were stamped over top scraps of paper that were sprayed with Dylusion Spray Inks, trimmed and added to the card front along with some Mulberry Paper Leaves.  Vintage wooden buttons, scraps of corrugated cardboard, Baker's Twine by Martha Steward, an Idea-olgy bird charm painted with Ranger Patina Paint, and Copper Liquid Pearls complete my card.  You will want to pop over to FSC to see all the inspiration pieces my Design Team Sisters have created, and I hope you will consider submitting a creation of your own for a possible chance at a great prize.  As we are a stamping challenge, please be certain to include stamping we can see and note that digis are not permitted.  Thanks for dropping by! Best wishes, Yvonne

Holly Jolly Christmas

Greetings!  I have been off line for a couple of days while I spent some quality time with my vacationing sister.  Need to do that more often!  Sharing a card today that I made for Week 2 of Linda Coughlin's (The Funkie Junkie)12 Tags of Christmas.  You may recall, we are not required to make a tag, so I am focusing on cards to meet my quota needed for Christmas Cards.  I must admit, Linda stunned me with her tag.  It is gorgeous and quite different.  You need to take a peek! While you at it, check out Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique for great items at great prices.  I did attempt to find foil sheets locally, but alas there were none and so I went in a different direction.  As for what inspired me, her sentiment, the gears (I used a Tattered Angels Postage frame covered in Stickles as a substitute for a Geared Frame, Santa (Oxford Impressions) and snowflakes (also OI).  The jingle bell is a punch from Martha Stewart.  Love the new tartan plaid braided tape I found at a sewing factory store yesterday.  It is quite flat and should go through the mail nicely.  Thanks for dropping by today and I hope you will consider joining in Linda's challenge.  Lots of time left!  Best wishes, Yvonne

Joyeux Noel

As I mentioned in a previous post today, I am on the road again.  I've brought some odds and ends of Christmas along in hopes of getting a few of my cards made.  I am way behind where I was last year at this time!  I remember purchasing this little booklet of Christmas Miniatures from Crafty Individuals at the end of the year last year and thinking they would be great images to used on one-of-a kind cards.  I paired the image above with stamps from Oxford Impressions and some snowflake stickers from Martha Stewart.  Finishing touches include vintage magenta seam binding, and some pearls.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best Wishes, Yvonne

Skating Anyone?

Hello!  Sharing a card today for Challenge # 189 over at 365 Cards with a theme of "Sporty."  As my children have been grown for so long, I truly don't have a lot of sport-related images.  In fact, this dear skater by Penny Black is the only one I could think of. The sentiment at the bottom of the card is by Denami.  I hope you will bear with me, as I have decided to incorporate Holiday papers, ribbons, and embellishments into some of my cards in the months leading up to Christmas in a effort to get a bit further ahead.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Best wishes, Yvonne

Joy and Happiness

I'll be traveling next week, so this is one of my last posts for a bit.  This card is for the current challenge over at Bloggers Challenge, where the theme is "Christmas in July."  I decided to pull out this stamp from Stampington, which I used some years ago for my Christmas Cards. The image and sentiment were stamped with Peeled Paint Distress Ink onto Specialty Paper.  The mulberry card base was wrapped with olive lace and gold strips and a band of winter white vintage seam binding fashioned into a bow.  The snowflakes were punched out with a Martha Stewart Punch and touched with gold glitter glue.  To fill in the bottom of the card, I added a handful of vintage brass bottoms in various styles.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Best wishes, Yvonne

A Green Spring

Happy Thursday everyone! I am posting a card today for a challenge blog that is new to me, though I have admired it from a distance on occasion through others' posts. The blog is Our Creative Corner and the challenge of "How Green is Your Spring" is to create a paper craft inspired by the photo above.

I selected this clip art image by Crafty Individuals for the green tones in the mother's dress. The Victorian Pink card base was layered with a mostly green designer paper. Green lace was wrapped around the bottom followed by a light green ribbon by Martha Stewart. The clip art image was layered over a paper doily that was distressed lightly with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Scroll work corners, compliments of Crafty Individuals, and the sentiment by Art Declassified were also stamped with Peeled Paint DI. I added two German Scrap bunnies in grass and some vintage buttons that are filled with Opal Liquid Pearls by Ranger Products.

Well I must hop like a bunny as I still have so much to do to prepare for the weekend. Have a great day. Best, Yvonne

A Girl and Her Dog

Happy Wednesday to each of you! After an overnight in the hospital, my dear husband is back home and doing much better. Thanks to each of you who expressed concerned. It's always a good feeling to have normalcy, isn't it? I managed to steal away for a few minutes today to make this card while my DH was having some tests. I have decided to try making some cards in a new shape. Change is good, yes? Using a robin egg blue card base, I added some beautiful white lace to the top and bottom edges. For my focal image, this adorable clip art image from a Miniature book by Crafty Individuals is matted and mounted to a white doily. I added Idealogy gauze flowers to the each side. The bow is fashioned out of vintage, gifted ribbon. The paper hearts by Martha Stewart hold vintage pale blue buttons. I am not sure what the buttons are made from, but it is not plastic. They are quite heavy and almost feel like clay or pottery! They are from my son-in-law's elderly grandparents who ran a General Store for many years. To add a bit of whimsy, I've stamped this Artistic Outpost sentiment from the Think and Wonder plate with Black StazOn ink. I hope this post finds you healthy and content. My best to you always, Yvonne