Sending Strength

Happy Monday!! 

I have had the day off and since I a finally feeling better after a week of being sick I have given myself some creative time. I had my eyes dilated today and found out that I need a stronger prescription for reading glasses. For someone who has always had stronger than 20/20 vision, this has been a bit disappointing for me. However, new glasses will help with the headaches I have been getting.

Today is also a sad day for me every year. I am actually glad that Columbus Day fell on this date. It is the 27th anniversary of my mother's death. I miss her each and every day but this day is always bittersweet.

Onto something happy!! Today I am posting a card that I created using the sketch from the Paper Craft Crew. I adore their challenges but alway am finishing up my projects after they close. 

The sketch below is what inspired my card. 

Instead of the circle, I decided to do a leaf that was die cut using Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves dies out of paper that I had done some ink smooshing on World Card Making Day. 

I paired the leaf with Feathered Friends Mini 1 from Ink to Paper. The sentiment is Simple Strips Sympathy by Taylored Expressions. 

I paired these with some pattern paper that I die cut using The Greetery's  Crimped Frame dies. I have been trying to use more patterns in my cards as of late because I have SO MUCH PAPER and I just keep buying more. A nice pattern paper is my weakness!!!

The paper I used is Crunchy Leaves by Prima and Full of Joy by American Crafts. I popped these up on a kraft card base that was embossed using the Sunny Studios Woodgrain Embossing Folder. I just LOVE how this card came out and will be sending it to a friend that I know is having a rough time of it right now.

Fall is my FAVORITE time of year and I did a bit of decorating a couple weeks ago but am just downloading my photos now. I created a wreath for my door.

I put my old scarecrow out with some mums. I don't decorate for Halloween anymore as we don't tend to get trick or treaters.

Above is my kitchen door and below is my front door.

I try to cover up my front stoop as we don't really use that door that much. I would rather people use the kitchen door because I can talk through the screen door!!

Well, that is all from me today. I thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS day!!!

Thinking of You

 Happy Sunday!! Just a quick jump in with a post for a couple of challenges. 

I used two challenges as the inspiration for my card. I used this weeks Freshly Made Sketches #456 and the Inspired By Challenge: Pumpkin Spice. 

As you can see, I flipped the sketch for my card design. I was inspired by the gray gingham from the badge and the yellow/gold accents.

Everything is from The Greetery, with the exception of the paper. The gingham is from Lawn Fawn and the strip on the side is a scrap.

I really love how this came out but wish the gingham was a brown gray rather than a blue gray. I think it came out really nice, though.

I added some Nuvo clear shimmer pen on the leaves and some Glossy Accents on the berries.

Well that is all from me today. I thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS night!!

A CAS-ual Fridays Spooky Halloween Card

 Happy hump day everyone!! Today I am over on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog with a Halloween card created from the new Spooky stamp set. Below is a sneak peek of the card I created:

I used a dot technique to make the sentiment POP off the background. Hop on over to the blog post to see how I created this card!!!

Let Your Light Shine

 Hi everyone!! Just a quick pop in tonight with a card I created today for two challenges. I wanted to make sure I got in under the wire!!!

I used this weeks CASE this Sketch #392 and The Color Challenge #613 as inspiration for my card.

I used five shades of Distress Ink on this card-Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Carved Pumpkin and Dried Marigold on the background. I know, I know, it doesn't look like it BUT I would not have been able to get the depth of color otherwise. I then covered the blended background with Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray.

I used the Penny Black Delicate Silhouettes stamp set with black Versafine ink to stamp the botanicals and the sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Friendship. 

I used the Pinkfresh Studio Slimline Lacy Edgers to die cut the purple border from a piece of scrap paper.

I LOVE how this card came out and have another piece of shaded cardstock that I plan to use to make an identical card.

That is it for me tonight. I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS night!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner and a Couple Cards for World Card Making Day

Happy Sunday everyone!!! Yesterday FLEW by and I only was able to make three cards, and one is sitting on my desk half finished. My mojo is just GONE and I was so disappointed because I set aside the whole day yesterday just to play. Don't you hate when that happens?

Now onto some FUN news!!! The two winners of the new products I collaborated on with CAS-ual Fridays  are.....

Sue D. you were randomly picked to win the Pinked Slimline Fri-dies and Lisa Elton for the Everyday Dragonflies Stamp and Fri-dies!!! Congratulations!! I cannot wait to see what you create!!! 

Onto my lame attempt at making cards for World Card Making Day. My first card I created for the Pinkfresh Studio Challenge #12 hosted by Arjita. It was to create a card using florals. Here is what I created.

I stamped the Modern Layered Florals with Pinkfresh Dye Inks. (I used the ink cubes from Over the Hills for the leaves and Heartbeat for the flowers.) I have had this stamp set for ages and this was the first time I inked it up and I LOVED it!! I layered my florals over a panel of pattern paper from the Celebrate 6" by 6" paper pack. 

The whole layout design was inspired by this weeks Freshly Made Sketches #455. The sketch was a square card but I changed it to a rectangle.

I added some Buttermilk Nuvo Crystal Drops in the center of the red florals to create the floral centers. I popped the sentiment, from the same stamp set, using some foam adhesive and then added some pink pearls around the edges. 

I really liked how this card came out!!! I even stamped and die cut a couple more florals using different colors to use on some future cards.

For my second card, I pulled out my PLETHORA of pre-made ephemera from Pinkfresh Studio to create my card. I used the Pinkfresh Challenge #6 and Challenge #12 hosted by Anne (6) and Artija (12). The challenges were to create a card with no stamping and florals. Here is what I came up with.

None of the stuff on this card is out there anymore. I am a paper and ephemera WHORE that buys it and then NEVER uses it!! It is terrible!! For this card, I combined Pinkfresh paper and Stitched Frames from the "Simple and Sweet" collection, along with flowers and die cuts from "Joyful Day." I then threw in a typed sentiment strip from the "Indigo Hills" set.

Not one stamped image in sight!!! I need to do things like this more often because it is fun to sit and layer things on top of each other. I added some Clear Wink of Stella over the flowers to give them a bit of shine, as well as some Nuvo Fresh Snow Glitter Accents in the middle of the flowers. 

For my final touch, I added some gold sequins across the card. I am so happy with how this came out!! 

Well, that is all from me today! I hope you all have a FABULOUS afternoon!!