Simply Elegant...

Good morning, my friends!  I'm already melting in this heat...how 'bout you?  I won't whine anymore... I'll just say that I'm a big fan of Spring - how's that for being positive? lol!

I'm also a fan of the Clean and Simple cards (CAS) although I enjoy a wide variety of styles.  This week's Try it Out *T* is to create a CAS card - lots of white with one pop of color (the image can be multicolored).  My card today looks very different than I first imagined, but I'm happy with the results.  I love when that happens!  It truly is clean and simple with a twist of elegance : )

This image is from Elisabeth Bell's new release for SCACD, Sampler Edition #5 - 'Just For You.'  This stamp is so incredibly versatile!  I didn't know how much I loved it until I inked it up (just refilled my ink pad with Memento refill, Tuxedo Black).  Can you imagine using this stamp for a Thank You card; Birthday; Thinking of You; Sympathy; Friendship???  You see, that's only the ones off the top of my head!

This card was put together very quickly.  I've colored with copics, but of course you could use your fave products.  B34 B32 B00; G28 G24 G21 G20; RV 32 RV11; C0.  The vase is sprinkled with Glamour Dust here and there and Stardust Stickles around the edge of the image for a bit more bling!  The ribbon is a very lush velvet I've had in my stash forever...  I love how it pops against the white embossed background.  I just love white embossed paper... it's soooo pretty : )  Silver pearls and an epoxy word sentiment finishes it off.  Sweet and simple!

I can also see using Flower Soft on this image.  That would be gorgeous!  This time, I chose to keep it simple, but watch out next time lol!

Challenges Entered:
Papertake Weekly - In the Garden
For Fun - Fave Coloring
Stampavie and more - Anything Goes
Totally PaperCrafts - Swirls & Pearls
Creative Inspirations - Oldest Velvet Ribbon
KL Stampin N Scrappin - Dry Embossing
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Rest... Flowers from the Garden!


Wanna play in the challenge with us?  Head on over to the SCACD Blog to see the other GORGEOUS, and I mean GORGEOUS creations the DT has waiting for you!  Then ink up one of your stamps from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design and show us your CAS cards!!!

While you're at the store, check out the new Kraftin' Kimmies and Lockharts!  Any of the stamp lines Susana carries are allowed in the challenges AND the first week of every month, a prize is offered.  The winner gets to choose any stamp from the store (excluding sets).  How cool is that?

Thanks so much for stopping by.  You know how much I love our visits!!!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Crafty Cardmakers Photo Inspiration

I'm a Crafty Cardmakers Guest Designer this week!  Yippee!!!  Thank you so much, Vix, for allowing me to play in the challenge with all of your talented designers!  I appreciate your thoughtfulness in thinking of me : )

Do you enjoy photo inspiration challenges?  I do!  This one was a little tricky though...  Take a look at this!

I decided to take the blues and greens from the photo.  Well, ok - so maybe my card is more blue than green, but hey, it's all good!

This is Andrea's Kitties which you can find Here.  She's colored with my fave copics and given a nice coat of Stardust Stickles on her dress and hair bows.  You can't see it in this photo, but I also made her shoes shiny by applying Diamond Glaze.  Quick and easy to use!  I love it : )  The dp is a digital download from Bearly Mine Designs.  I adore these fabulous papers!

The punches I used are:  MS lace and Paper Shapers Photo Corner Fancy.  I had these cute lil' flowers in my garden stash, so I figured it was time to use them.  How do you like that perfect bow?  Compliments of Bow-Easy!  Now that I know how to use it, I will be using it ALL the time!!!  I LOVE it!  If you don't have one, you are missing out, I'm tellin ya... There is even a tutorial by Suzanne Dean showing you how to use it.  You gotta check it out! Here.


You'll also want to see the fabulous work the Crafty Cardmakers Design Team have waiting for your viewing pleasure!


Have you entered my candy yet?  Take a peek in my sidebar...


See you soon!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Tea Anyone?

Happy Happy Wednesday!!!  Other than being hungry...(so what else is new lol!) I am doing well!  I am very excited about the possibilities that God is bringing my way.  Beginning in September, Master's Harvest & theWay Christian Fellowship will be sponsoring, "First Place 4 Health."  This is a Christ-Centered Health Program which focuses on the whole body, not just dieting.  We are made in the image of God and we need to include our spiritual side as well as the physical.  Anyway, I can't wait to see who God brings and how He will work in our midst!  I suppose that I'll have to find a countdown type of gadget to put on my blog so you can see the pounds melting away...or not - more accountability for me!!!

I adore teapots and teacups - don't you?  When I saw Teacup Mouse by Melissa Jenkins, I HAD to have it lol!  My card today is for Paper Romance Challenge #7, which starts tomorrow.  Won't you join us this week?  Cindy has challenged us to add stitching to our projects.  I was going to use my sewing machine, but my table is overloaded with stuff... so I used a template by Crafters Workshop to poke holes around my circle, which you can find Here, and connected the dots with my atyou Spica pen in Melon.  Pretty cool, huh?

The 'pearls' around the die cut were created with Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White.  The more I use this product, the more I LOVE it!  It's sooooo easy and a real money saver.  The corner embellishments were cut out with Paper Shapers punch - Photo Corner Fancy and again topped with a couple of 'pearls.'

This lil' cutie is colored with copics:  R27 R24 R22 R20; G28 G24 G21 G20; B00; E25 E21 E00 R20.  Do ya think I could leave off the bling?  Of course not!  The rose petals and the tiny hearts have a splash of Stardust Stickles hee hee..

I have new paper - yay!!!  This is from the Olivia paper pad by BasicGrey - soooo pretty : )  The top 'valance' was made by punching a border in three different papers, adhering them together and then using foam pop dots to lift it up.  Nice and easy... Finished this card with a small bow and voila!

Challenge Entered:
Paper Sundaes - Lots of layers
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Rest... Tea with a friend!
Stempeltraume - Green + 2 other colors

Check out the great NEW products that Amy has at Paper Romance!  More and more items are coming in all the time.  New High Hopes stamps by Dustin Pikes and Melissa Jenkins - soooooo ca-ute I say!!!

I hope you enjoyed my project for ya today.  I'll be back again tomorrow with a CAS (clean and simple) card along with the SCACD Try It Out *T* girls!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Elisabeth Bell Candy!

Have you heard?  Elisabeth Bell is offering some dynamite candy!!!  

Run over and enter to win Here.  Ends July 16!

NEW!!! Make a Mess Mondays!!!

I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!!!  The thing is... I haven't even seen it yet LOL!  Tomorrow begins a fabulous NEW venture with the SCACD DT.  Here's a little hint - do you like to get messy?  Do you crave something new for your projects, but not sure what?  Are you tired of the same ol' thing?  Then THIS, my friend is for you!

Please feel free to grab the blinkie, head on over to Susana's Custom Art & Card Design and let's get our Mess On together!!!  This is gonna be sooooo much fun - I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

 May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Howdy Pardner!

Edited:  I can't believe it - grrrrr!  I scheduled this to post on Thursday!  I don't know what happened :(  I'm so sorry SCACD girls.  Blogger must have gone bonkers!  Now I need to check to see if my other post went live when it was supposed to...  Anyway, I'm home now!!!

Good morning, my friends! I pray that you are all well and filled with JOY today!!!

As you read this, I am away from home. I've been called to support a very dear friend whose daughter-in-law is in the hospital. Please pray for Ali... thank you!

Today's card was so much FUN to create. I had to stop myself from adding more. When is enough, enough? My style tends to be fairly clean and simple, so sometimes I struggle with WHAT to add.

Our challenge this week at Try It Out *T* is Crazy Quilts!  Make a patchwork quilt using either real or faux stitching.  Believe it or not, I actually quilted (fabric/batting/fabric) the background.  I'm sure that you CAN tell cuz the blocks aren't straight lol!!!  After I quilted the blocks, I sewed it onto cs.

I found this fringe when I was shopping the other day.  I already knew that I wanted to use Howdy for this challenge, so I was sooo excited when I saw it!  To make sure that it wouldn't come off, I used Scor-Tape to secure the fringe onto my 'quilt'!  In case you haven't seen this stamp yet, Howdy is one of the fabulous stamps in the NEW Elisabeth Bell for SCACD Sampler Edition #5 collection.  Whether you buy one at a time, or purchase the whole sheet (which saves you money!) you'll always have very good quality stamps and oh so ca-uuuuute images lol!

Yes, of course I colored her with copics hee hee!  Here's what I used:  Skin - E11 E21 E00 R20; Hair - E35 E34 YR21 YR20; Browns - E18 E17 E15 E13; Blues - B34 B32 B00.  Susana has convenient copic bundles which Suzanne J. Dean has put together if you are looking to add to your collection (or just starting out!).  When I first began my copic collection, I purchased the bundles.  That way I knew the colors would work well together!  The blue pearls as well as accents on the hat and shirt are Viva Decor Glitter Liner - Blue Sapphire.  This tube is gonna last me forever, it's so big lol!

The 'rope' and bow, made from Beading Cord was glued with Fabric Fusion.  It worked very well and won't come off any time soon!  I also glued the brads on with Fabric Fusion, but any good adhesive will do.

Head on over to Follow Your Heart where you'll find some outrageously GORGEOUS pieces of art from the SCACD DT.  You'll leave with tons of inspiration!

Please remember to use any of the stamp lines that are available at SCACD when joining in the Challenge.

The 1st week of each month has a prize for those that participate that week. 

ONE lucky winner picked at random can choose a stamp - (excluding any sets of stamps) 

THIS IS A PRIZE WEEK so get creating!

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More New Products at SCACD!!!

• Krafting Kimmie Stamps

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Thanks for visiting me today!  I hope you enjoyed my project...  I should be home late tomorrow night, so it will be awhile before I get to post again (no crafting, no computer... what am I gonna do???).  I miss you already - sniff sniff.

I appreciate your prayers.

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Candy Winner & More!

** Closed **

Winner Announced!!!

Hello friends!  It's time to announce the winner of Teacup Girl by stamping bella.  Again, thank you so much for coming by to visit me now and then.  I can't imagine my life without you : )

Congratulations to........

#28

that's you, Cole!!!

Please contact me to claim your prize.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone who entered!!!  So, what's next?  How would you like to own Tilda with Hearts?  I have used this stamp only once!  It is practically new...

This is the actual stamp you will receive.

Blog candy is for Followers only.  Do you occasionally leave me comments?  Please feel free to enter.  I KNOW how hard it is to get to everyone's blog and leave zillions of comments, so I'm not saying that you have to come every day lol!  Please pop in every now and again to say hello : )

If you'd like to give Tilda a home, please enter below.  I will keep this open until July 31.  Want an extra chance to win?  Post this on your sidebar.  Easy : )

Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!  I send you great big hugs and lots of love and blessings!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Try It Out Thursday #74

* To see my card for CLP Challenge, click Here *

Welcome my friends!  Today is the first day of July (to my Canadian friends, "Happy Canada Day!")...the next thing we know it will be Christmas - yikes!  Can someone please tell me who is taking all this time?  It's certainly not camping out at my house lol!

Today is also the LAST day to enter my candy Here.  Winner will be announced July 2!

Well, I promised you a project with a product that I've never used before.  This week's Try It Out Thursday is to use Flower Soft as well as a sketch.  I actually have used the Polar White Flower Soft for snow before (sorry, I lied - but not intentionally - I forgot!).  I wasn't sure what I was going to do this week, but this GORGEOUS stamp by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD kept calling my name!!!  Have you check out the NEW RELEASE yet?  I'm tellin ya that you're missing out...

This is Carousel Dreams by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD Sampler Edition #5.  Isn't it a beaut?  She's stamped with Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black.  It's the only ink I stamp with...  I had so much FUN coloring her.  How do I know that it's a girl?  By the color pink, silly!!! lol!!!  My fave copics were used to color her:  Horse - E59 E53 E51 E50, Mane, Tail, Hooves, Pole - E18 E17 E15 E 13, Reigns, Saddle - RV34, RV32 RV11 RV10 RV00, Leaves - G28 G21 G20.  I didn't color the flowers, but applied glue and Flower Soft in Ultra Fine Raspberry Fizz.  The border punch is from Fiskars.

Beautiful Memory Box dp (Gossamer) adorns the kraft cs.  The front is shorter than the back, but I see that my photography is lacking to show you that detail properly...  When it's closed, you can still see the background paper, pearls and punched pieces.  I hope you can see the dimension of the Flower Soft, it really stands out!

The whole card received a few spritz's of Maya Mist in Iridescent Pearl.  It is sooooo pretty!  It gives everything a nice shimmer!  The gorgeous roses were also given a bit of Stardust Stickles for extra bling : )  You know that I can't make a card without it lol!!!

Here's the fabulous sketch for Try It Out *T* #74.  Come join us!!!

*New Product Alert*

Websters Pages including vellum/die cuts
Lockhart Stamps New Release (these are a must see!!!)
Oliver and Olivia from BasicGrey - 6 x 6 paper pads

Challenges Entered:

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Animals
Pollycraft - Pinkalicious
ABC = Dimension
Bunny Zoe's - Nice and Girly
Stampavie and More - Sparkling

I hope you enjoyed my card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Until next time...

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~

Believe in Yourself

Happy Wednesday my friends!  Another week half over...  and just one more day until the winner of my blog candy is revealed - yay!!!!!

The weather here has been H-O-T!  Yuck!  I think this has been one of the busiest weeks I've had in awhile too.  I really don't like HOT and BUSY in the same sentence.  It just wears me out LOL!

I'm posting this a day early since I have a Try It Out Thursday project for ya tomorrow and I won't be home much in the next couple of days.  So today's card is for Paper Romance Challenge #5.  Our theme this week is "Red White & Blue."  Couldn't tell, could ya? hee hee...

I've used this cute High Hopes stamp from Paper Romance called Gertie, Millie & Hattie.  They are just so adorable decked out in their finest!  Amy also has a sentiment stamp (which I didn't notice before!) which fits perfectly with this image.  Chicks with Hat-itude - Gotta love it : )

ooooo sparkles!!!  I used my Quickie Glue pen and Glamour Dust on the bodies so they would stay white.  I LOVE Glamour Dust for that reason!  It's a super fine glitter that you can use alone, or you can add it to other products such as Flower Soft!  Now that I've found it, I can't do without it lol!  I also gave the beaks, legs and feet a nice coat of Diamond Glaze (another of my faves!).  It shines and gives more dimension to the image.  Background paper is called Simply Dots from Bearly Mine.  I love Donna's digi papers!!!  I'm not sure where I got the sentiment stamp... but it's backed by a Fancy Tags label from Spellbinders.

Now you still have today to enter Paper Romance Challenge #4 which is Buttons and Bows.  Then on Thursday, the new challenge begins.

If you play along with us at Paper Romance Challenge, you could be the winner of a $5.00 Gift Certificate to Paper Romance!  If you're loading into an online Gallery, please use the keyword prc5.  We would love to see you use any stamp that Amy carries, but it's not mandatory.  So come join the fun!!!
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TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!  

10% off orders of $25 or more at Paper Romance!

Use code word PRChallenges 

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Challenges Entered:
Daisy Doodles - Summertime


Please be sure to come back tomorrow to see what I have cooked up for ya.  I've done something that I've never done before... is the suspense killin' ya? lol!  Soon, my friend...soon...

Lots and lots of love ♥

May God bless you , keep you and comfort your soul ~

Red White and Blue

Hello my friends!  I just learned that one of my friends is leaving for a week long camping trip.  She goes every year with her mom, kids and best friend and her kids.  They've been doing this for the last 10 years.  Doesn't that sound like a ton of fun?  She said that they have special wine and food that they ONLY have when they go camping.  Such a wonderful tradition.  I know that there will be many hours of fun and laughter.  I need fun.  I need laughter.  I wanted to hide out in her camping gear, but she wouldn't go for it...  That's OK.  I make my own fun LOL!

This is the day the LORD has made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

There.  All better : )

In six days, it will be the 4th of July.  I am signed up to work at the fireworks booth as a fundraiser for my church.  I'll be working a couple of hours this afternoon and then again on Thursday.  I hope we sell A LOT!  Do you celebrate on July 4 with a B-B-Q and fireworks?  Last year, we went to a friend's house for B-B-Q.  Hmmmm.... I don't know what we'll be doing this year.

Today I have a patriotic color theme going on for my Karen's Doodles US Challenge card.  I do not often use red on my cards, but I really like the red and blue together and white to 'tone it down' a bit!  This is Bigsby Juggling.  You can find Karen's digital image Here.

I've colored this lil' guy up with copics.  B06 B05 B02 B01 B00; C9 C7 C5 C3 C2 C1; R29, R27, R24 R22 R20.  Of course, I needed to add some bling!  I covered the balls and the die cut scallops with a nice coat of Glamour Dust.  I LOVE the transparency of this product!  The circles and scallop circle was cut out with my nesties.  The corner 'swirls' are from my EK Success Punch.  I cut off one of the swirls on the end that had two.  I think I like them better this way : )  Rhinestones are added on each end for more bling and dimension.

 

I used pop dots to layer the die cuts.  Take a look at the white decorative piece under the ribbon as well as at the top and bottom of the image.  Believe it or not, I actually followed through on Becca's tutorial and made a 'postage stamp' size of her Right Angle Punching Technique!  I made four of them (one is under the bow) and edged them with Ballet Blue SU ink.  I love this color blue which works very well with the digi paper from Bearly Mine.

Cool ribbon, huh?  I used my wonderful Bow Easy for the bow... LOVE this tool so much!  I don't know what I ever did without it!!

PRIZES!  PRIZES!  PRIZES!  Here's what you could win if you enter in Karen's Doodles US Challenge (Red White & Blue):

• 1st Place - 3 Digi stamps of their choice from Karen's Doodles
• 2nd Place - 2 Digi stamps of their choice from Karen's Doodles
• 3rd Place - 1 Digi stamp of their choice from Karen's Doodles

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New Release Now Available!

Elisabeth Bell for SCACD Sampler Edition #5

Now Available at SCACD!!!

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Lots and lots of love to you, my friends! 
Oh, one more thing...  MY BLOG CANDY ends on July 1 - that's only three days away.  Have you entered yet?  Don't miss out on the chance to win a brand new stamping bella stamp : )

See you soon!

May God bless you, keep you and comfort your soul ~