Enjoy the Journey!

Greetings and welcome to my blog.  Thanks so much for dropping by!  Another week has flown by and it is time once again for a new challenge over at Inkspirational.  There are also a few changes. There is new leadership.  Several of our Design Team members were facing life changes and needed to relinquish a number of responsibilities accordingly.  We are now under the helm of Marina (thanks so much for taking on this responsibility) and of course as we bid farewell to some of the original Design Team, a huge thank you to Mynnette and Ellen co-owners and Ruth post coordinator for all their hard work in getting Inkspirational off the ground from its inception.  We have also decided to move to a bi-weekly format, allowing all of our followers a bit more time to create their own project.  As for this week's challenge, we have a color challenge, as shown below.  The twist though, is that you can pick either two or three of the colors with which to work.  I chose to use all three for my own creation.

I am working with a new to me image and sentiment that are from Penny Black.  The image and sentiment were stamped with Black StazOn Ink and then water colored with Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Pumice Stone to replicate the color palette above.  The image and sentiment were trimmed, distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink and layered over a gray mat which was first stenciled and embossed with embossing paste using stencils by Tim Holtz. A simple black and white piece of twine and metal tag holder by Idea-ology complete my card.  I hope you will pop over to see what the rest of the design team has come up with and welcome our newest design team member, Nonni, too.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Happiness is a Journey

 Greetings! Week six at Inkspirational and we are back with my favorite, the Color Challenge seen below.  I really like this color combination.  For my card, I started with a Kraft card base.  The plum butterflies were cut from designer paper I've had in my stash for years.  The sentiment is by Penny Black.  The die cut Tattered Floral uses Kraft paper too.  ChitChat stickers, lace, seam binding, buttons and liquid pearls complete my card.

I hope you will check out Inkpirational's site for stunning examples by the rest of the Design Team.  I cannot wait to see your take on the challenge!  Thanks for dropping by.  Hugs, 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

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

MMM Challenge 24 - CAS Christmas

I love Mondays! It means another Make My Monday Challenge! For the month of November, we are exploring Christmas. For this week, Challenge #24 is to make a Clean and Simple Christmas Card with the emphasis on the sentiment. We are to keep multiple layers and embellishments to a minimum. I began with a white card base as MMM is looking for lots of "White Space!" For my Christmas image, I chose a stamp by Penny Black from some time ago. I stamped it with Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo inks. I matted the image with metallic gold background paper and attached it to the card front. For my sentiment, I chose "Noel" by Recollections. I embossed it in gold (big step for me as I gave up embossing when I burnt a hole in my sofa) and cut it out and mounted it to the card front with pop dots. To further draw attention to the sentiment, I wrapped a single strand of metallic gold thread around the corner of the card near the sentiment. Wishing everyone a beautiful week. Love your comments! Best, Yvonne

Bloggers Challenge - Travel

It's another Friday and that means another Bloggers' Challenge! This week, Lisa has selected Travel as the theme. Each of us can determine from there how we will present our project. I started thinking about stamps I generally gravitate to when creating a Bon Voyage card, but in the end, went a different route. I began with this Montage image by PSX. I purchased this stamp 10 years ago when making wedding annoucements and invitations to my husband's and my reception. We were married on the beach in St. Croix and later had a reception at our home for friends and family. I also added a sentiment and image from Artistic Outpost, as well as a sentiment by Penny Black. The background is part of a map I cut to fit and distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I could not resist adding some Air Mail Divine Twine and a vintage red button to complete my card. Looking forward to everyone's take on the challenge. I hope you will consider joining in! Best, Yvonne

Tuesday Trigger - Garden Glory

The Tuesday Trigger this week is Garden Glory and the inspirational photo is noted above. As part of our entry, we are asked to explain what inspired us when designing our project. At first glance, my attention went to the geometric design on the chair. I remembered a background paper that looked very similar but discovered I had already used it. I settled on another paper that my daughter just gave to me for my birthday and really like how it pulls the greens and turquoises together. The brown table, though small, really grounds the photo so I added brown matting to my card. I stamped a flower by Hero Arts in turquoise and green to pay homage to the pillow in the photo and then added a sentiment by Penny Black in brown ink. Just like the photo, I added white flowers, which I probably would normally have thought was too much, but I like it. Congrats to all the winners from last week. Looking forward to seeing everyone's entries! Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 142 - Image This: Earth

The challenge for Day 142 at 365 Cards is Imagine This: Earth. We are to make a card based on what this image brings to mind. I sorted through my stamps and settled on this set by Stampin Up. It is from 2004 so it's a bit dated, but I love all the images of trees, water, fish and birds. To me, this is what I think of when I see the word Earth! The sentiment is by Penny Black. I matted the images with gold paper and added some liquid pearls for a finishing touch. Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne

365 Cards - Day 100 - My Happy Place

Today's challenge at 365 Cards for Day 100 is "My Happy Place." We were challenged to look around our home and find a place that just makes you feel happy and at peace. From there, we were to create a card inspired by that happy place. My happy place would need to be my outside space. I am fortunate to have gardens all around my home, three patios, and two fish ponds. (Our home and the home next door have common space and so we enjoy both our neighbor's pond and our own.) I am happiest when I am outdoors puttering around, pulling weeds, planting, arranging seating on my patios, or at the end of the day sitting and taking in the beauty of the day. I love when we can have family and friends to our home and enjoy the outside spaces. For my card, I chose an image of a wheel barrow full of flowers (that was me earlier today!) by Stampin' Up. I also added an image of a peaceful girl (it could be me!) by Stampington and Co. And finally, I included a sentiment about Happiness by Penny Black. I was thrilled to find a bunch of seam binding clearance priced at JoAnn Fabrics recently and used the purple for my card today. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your evening and stay cool. Yvonne

A Birthday Wish for a Dear Friend

I really like how this card came out. I love the leaf background paper and how I was able to trim it so that I could tuck the image of the young woman behind it. This stamp by Rubber Stampede is one of my favorites and I use it all the time. The sentiment by Penny Black is being used by me for the first time. I really like it though, so I plan to use it often. The icing on the cake: Fresh polka dot green/brown ribbon and several vintage buttons. I really love the feel of these shell buttons and often wonder where they were found.