Dreaming of my Summer Vacation

Greetings! It is hard to believe that two weeks have flown by so soon and it is already time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge (FSC)!  Our challenge this time is "Dreaming of Summer."  When I started thinking about my own project, the first thing that comes to mind when summer approaches is vacation.  I LOVE to travel all over the place and see new things, try new foods, learn the history of a region, meet new people, but just now with my husband's health, we are staying much closer to home.  If I had to pick my most favorite place, hands down it would be the beach!  I was so excited a couple of years ago when Artistic Outpost released their Boardwalk Stamp Plate.  As a young girl and even a young adult, Atlantic City, NJ, was our vacation spot. I have fond memories of the Steel Pier, the Diving Bell, the white, sandy beach, getting dressed in the evening and promenading on the gigantic, wide boardwalk.  It was almost like being in Hollywood!  But I digress...For my card, I stenciled various Tim Holtz Stencils with Distress Inks onto the card front. The images were stamped either directly onto the card front or onto scrap card stock and watercolored with more Distress Inks. The edges of the card were also distressed with Distress Inks. Some of the images were popped up with foam dots.  I had fun digging through my stash of preserved, miniature starfish and sand dollars and adding them to the front as well.  To finish off my card I tied a scrap of gauzy cheese cloth to the top of the card and added a metal sand dollar charm by Red Lead Stamps for a bit of shine. I hope you will pop on over to FSC to see what else the Design Team has dreamed up for you and submit a creation of your own.  Remember, we are a stamping challenge, so your focal images need to be stamped.  One lucky submitter will be selected to win a $20 gift voucher from our sponsor, FlonzCraft.  Best wishes, Yvonne 

British Summertime at Inkspirational

Greetings!  I am so excited to share with you my first project after getting back into the swing of things over at Inkspirational Challenge!  We are creating projects, as we are inspired by this gorgeous picture below:

I was immediately drawn to this picture!  I love the colors, the ocean, the balloon, the sailor, the mermaid, the whale and the sailboats!  For my own card, I began by spritzing several shades of Dylusions Spray Ink onto my card base.  Next I stamped some new images from Red Lead Stamps onto scrap card stock, trimmed and water colored them with Ranger Distress Inks.  The ship in the top right is by Paper Artsy and was stamped directly to the card front.  A few bits of cheese cloth and a snippet of ribbon tape complete my card.  I hope you will stop over to see the rest of the projects the Design Team has come up with to inspire you and then submit one of your own!  

On the Fourth of July, Part Two

Hello! This is my second card creation in celebration of the Fourth of July, here in the United States.  In case you missed it, the post before this one has the first!  While there was a quiet dignity in my first card, this one is a bit more bodacious and cheeky.  I liked them both and so I created this one too.  Like the first I began by sopping up Faded Jeans and Barn Red Distress Inks.  I tried to go more blue, but it needed more pizazz so I grabbed a bottle of Dylusions Spray and added much more red.  The images were matted in black for depth and the sentiment is part of the collage sheet by Gecko Galz from which the images came.  It is entitled, "Little Miss Firecracker."  Thanks for stopping and have a great day.  Best, Yvonne

On the Fourth of July, Part One

Greetings to all my followers and Happy 4th of July to all of you in the USA.  My husband asked me to create a card to celebrate the holiday. Gecko Galz released two gorgeous collage sheets in June called Little Miss Firecracker (1&2).  This image reached out to my heart immediately.  The background is done with the Tim Holtz stencil using Tarnished Brass Distress Paint.  The rest of the card front was sopped up with Faded Jeans and Barn Red Distress Ink.  The edges were blended with the same inks, as well. The sentiments are from Artistic Outpost.  The metal disc by Idea-ology says "Inspire," however, the sunlight obliterated it. Speaking of inspired, Tracy Evans has a beautiful tag over at Artistic Outpost that I saw before creating my card.  I feel her influence in my card.   I found this faded red bow in my stash and am using up some of the last of my star ribbon tape.  Wherever you are, have a wonderful day.  I'll be sharing another Fourth of July card in my next post.  Hugs, Yvonne

Vintage Furry Friends

Hello!  So good to be back over at Eclectic Ellapu after a four month hiatus.  The format has changed a bit with both the Pink and Purple Team posting challenges simultaneously, every three weeks.  For the Pink Team, our challenge was to create a project around "Furry Friends."  I immediately thought of these vintage images from Artistic Outpost which were stamped with Ranger Archival Ink and watercolored with Ranger Distress Inks.  The arrows and splatters are Tim Holtz Stencils.  Please pop over to see what the rest of the team have created and we look forward to seeing what you create, too!  Hugs, Yvonne

So Good To Be Back - Flowers for Fashionable Stamping Challenge

Greetings!  It is good to be back after a four month hiatus from Blogland!  I am so thankful for each of you, dear friends, who have inquired, prayed, and sent encouragement to me while my husband was recovering from a major stroke back in February.  He was away in rehab for three months and I am so happy to have him back home.  The first few weeks were an adjustment, but we have settled into a routine and he was the first to encourage me to return to my art.  And so, for my very first post, I think it is fitting that it be for the very first Design Team that I was ever on, Fashionable Stamping Challenges.  My thanks to everyone of the Design Teams for allowing me this time away and letting me know I was welcome back when I was ready.  The challenge this time around at FSC is Flowers!  I love flowers, often they are the subject of my water colors, but I do not have a lot of flower stamps.  As I went through my stamps, I came across these two beauties from Paper Artsy! I stamped them with Black Archival Ink, trimmed them and water colored them with Ranger Distress Inks.  The card base was stenciled with a Tim Holtz Stencils and Wendy Vecchi Black Embossing Paste.  The bumble bees by Red Lead are rather large, but are proportioned well to the focal images, don't you think?  The balance of the card base was filled in with some images from Artistic Outpost. A few scraps of vintage dictionary page and some very old craft thread complete my card.  I hope you will stop over to FSC to see the gorgeous samples my Design Team Sisters have created and considered sharing one of your own with us.  As always, there is a prize to be awarded for one of the submitters by our generous FlonzCraft.  Thanks, again, for dropping by and for all your comments.  They mean so much to me.  Best, Yvonne

Taking a Leave of Absence

You have all been such faithful followers and encouragers that I wanted to let you know that I will not be posting to my blog for awhile. Following my post last Saturday evening, my husband suffered a rather serious stroke on Sunday morning, was in ICU for three days and was just moved to a step down unit.  He is still in a precarious state for further injury and will need a lot of inpatient rehab.

As I am staying with him round the clock, I will not be creating and posting for a bit.  At odd times, I do hope to be able to still visit your blogs. Please feel free to email me anytime.  Hoping to be back soon.

Hugs, Yvonne