God's Creative Bouquet

Hello! I hope you're having a good week. It's time for a new challenge at Word Art Wednesday. This week our challenge verse is, Hebrews 1:10, "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." The Lord we love and serve is the one that made the foundations of the earth and created the heavens. He is the one that "upholds all things by the word of his power." (Hebrews 1:3) I know this week's verse was picked a while ago but what a great reminder for the times in which we live. The same Lord that made the foundations of the earth, created the heavens and upholds all things by the word of His power is taking care of us today. None of this takes Him by surprise and our King is still on the throne. When we take our eyes off the Lord and look around us, it's a pretty scary sight. However, I read a reminder recently that our King has never lost a battle. That has really stuck with me. Let's keep our eyes on the Lord and let Him handle all of this for us. He didn't promise it would be easy but He did promise to take care of us and love us no matter what. That's good enough for me.

Stamp Simply is our sponsor this week. I was able to play with some of their products and use them on my card this week. First I stamped the image from the Floral Cluster-Summer Roses with Memento ink on white cardstock. I colored the image with Copics and added white gel pen details. The Floral Cluster and Sprigs die set was used to cut out the image. (Side note: This die will also work with 3 other stamps sets made by Stamp Simply) Since I knew the image would hang off the edge of the card, I cut an additional Floral Cluster die cut out of light blue cardstock to back my colored image and give it a more finished look. I used a floral cardstock instead of patterned paper and embellished the flowers with Wink of Stella and a white gel pen. Stamp Simply's Fishtail Sentiment Banners were used to die cut the verse and the mat was fussy cut from light blue cardstock. The edges of the mat were highlighted with Wink of Stella and the rest of the card was given some white gel pen detailing.

Thanks to Stamp Simply for providing the stamp sets and dies for me to use in this project. I genuinely enjoy using their products. The stamps give a crisp image right out of the package, the Floral Clusters suite of products is pure genius and the Fishtail Sentiment Banners are so versatile. They are one of the die sets that I use the most on my card projects.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections #110 (white for card base), Darice (Dark Blue Flower), Light Blue cardstock brand unknown (I think Bazzill but I'm not sure), Pen & Gear (white for sentiment and image panels)
Stamps: WORDart by Karen (Hebrews 1:10), Stamp Simply (Floral Cluster - Summer Roses clear stamp set)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
Copics: BV02, 04, 08; Y38; YG21, 23, 25, 99
Tools/Embellishments: Stamp Simply Dies (Floral Cluster and Sprigs Dies, Fishtail Sentiment Banners), Spellbinders dies (Classic Circles Large, Grand Circles), Park Lane bling, Gelly Roll White gel pen, Wink of Stella glitter brush marker (clear)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Createful Heart Design #19 - Anything Goes
CCC Digi Creations #113 - Use a Flower/Flowers
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Flower Power

Thanks for stopping by to visit today. I hope you'll come back again soon. Please be sure to visit the Word Art Wednesday blog for more inspiration from the rest of the design team. Our sponsor, Stamp Simply is currently having a sale and only $1 shipping fee until 4/26/20.

My Favorite from 2017

Today, I'm back with some of my favorites of 2017. I missed posting my favorites from 2016, but when I posted my 2015 favorites, I kept the number to an even dozen. That's what I did this year too. I'm posting them in date order as they appeared on my blog. I hope you enjoy the look back. You can click the link on the card title to go back to the original post for full details.

Rejoice Evermore (fourth card in this post)

A Turtle and Her Books
 

Be Joyful

Barista Brentwood Owl

Declare the Works of the Lord

 

Tickled Pink Birthday

When You Feel Like Quitting

Land That I Love

Someone Remembers, Someone Cares

How You Bean?

Your Kindness Warms My Heart

Brentwood Birthday

Thanks for taking this trip down Memory Lane with me. Apparently, some of your favorites are mine too. :) I'll be back tomorrow with a card for the first challenge in 2018 for Word Art Wednesday. I hope you'll come back to visit soon.

My Favorite Place

The Turtle Couple stamp set is one of my favorites from Dare 2B Artzy. In part, because my husband saw it first, liked it and told me that I really should get it. :) Who was I to argue? So, whenever I want to make a special card for him, I frequently turn to this set. I hadn't made him a card in a while, he's been working extra hard, and I figured he could use some encouragement. I colored the turtle with Copics and then fussy cut her out. (I own the coordinating dies but didn't want the white edge this time). I did a little inlay die-cutting at add the heart shape to the card front. The sentiment was heat embossed directly onto the heart die cut. I decided to add something a little special and made a circle card instead of the normal rectangle or square. Nuvo Crystal Drops add some dimension and shine to some of the design on the turtle's shell and to her toenails. A white gel pen adds faux stitching and some accents to the turtle. A small rhinestone accents the flower on the turtle.Sequins topped with rhinestones finish off the card front.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper: Playing with Color 2 - Fall Patterned Cardstock
Stamps: Dare 2B Artzy (Turtle Couple)
Ink: VersaFine (Onyx Black)
Copics: YR04, 07, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24; Y17; YG95, 97; N5; E07, 09, 40, 42, 43; B23
Tools/Embellishments: Spellbinders Grand Circle dies, Gina Marie Designs (Double Stitched In and Out Cut Heart Die Set, Rainbow Crystal Rhinestones), The Paper Studio Sequins, Simon Says Stamp fine detail embossing powder (clear), Gelly Roll gel pen (white), Nuvo Crystal Drops (clear), Ranger Multi Medium Matte

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Dare 2B Artzy Challenge - Ship Shape (make a shaped card)
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Use Patterned Paper
My Creative Scoop Color Inspiration Challenge #26 - Must include something hand colored
Make My Monday Challenge #55 - Autumn Colors
Crop Stop Linky Party #32 - Must use items/brands found in the Crop Stop Store (I used Tsukineko, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, Fiskars, and Ranger)
Crafting from the Heart Challenge #176 - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope your week is off to a good start.

How You Bean?

I love this Brentwood Barista image from JessicaLynn Original Designs. It's currently on sale for only $1.99 so grab it while you can!! I colored Brentwood and his coffee cup with Copics and then used the colors from the image to make the "leaves" underneath him. I used Nuvo Crystal Drops on the hearts and Brentwood's eyes for dimension and texture. I added white stitching with a gel pen. Spellbinders Labels One and Grand Labels One Dies were used for the card shape.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (kraft and cranberry)
Stamps - Jessica LynnOriginals (Brentwood Barista Digi), Fiskars (Latte Love clear stamp set)
Ink: Versafine (Onyx Black)
Copics: E07, 09, 15, 33, 35, 37; YR 07, 16, 18, 20, 21; Y17, 19; C1, 3; YG95, 97; N5
Tools/Embellishments: Gelly Roll (white gel pen), Spellbinders Dies (Labels One, Grand Labels One), Nuvo Crystal Drops (clear)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Coffee Lovers Fall Blog Hop - Must have Coffee/Tea/Cocoa and Fall theme
Dare 2B Artzy  - Ship Shape (make a shaped card)
Dream Valley Challenge #163 - Autumn Colors
My Creative Scoop Color Inspiration #26 - Must have something hand colored

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope you'll come back again soon.

Gate-Fold Owl Card

I found the the Sizzix Owl Label Fold-a-Long Thinlets Die set on clearance at a local store but didn't buy it because my craft fund was depleted (I do *try* to be good). My husband insisted I tell him where it was in the store and went back to purchase it for me. I love his support of my obsession hobby. Of course, I figured it was only fair that he get the first card made with the die. I watched a couple YouTube videos to see how others had used it (specifically Jen Long and Christina Thomas) and combined some of their ideas to make this card. However, for the patterned paper owls, I lay the full-size owl on a single layer of patterned paper and then used the fold marks as lines for cutting the owls in half. This way I didn't have to get myself confused on which way the owl needed to be for the two sides.

I've had the sentiment stamp for awhile and had been waiting for the perfect card to use it for my husband. I used distress inks for shading the wings, head pieces, eyelashes and insert. The finished card fits in a normal A2 sized envelope.

Note: The card base die leaves a space in the back that is covered by the owl insert. When I make it again, I may back light colored inserts with a base colored owl to help disguise it this space.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill (brown), Recollections (cream)
Patterned Paper: Basic Gray (Oxford 6 x 6 - retired)
Stamp Set: Riley & Company
Ink: Taylored Expressions (Chocolate Truffle), Distressed Inks (Gathered Twigs, frayed Burlap)
Dies: Sizzix Owl Label Fold-a-Long Thinlets Die

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Outlawz Paper A la Mode Challenge - Use a favorite technique (distressing with inks)
CraftyHazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Use Patterned Paper
Mod Squad Challenge - Special Fold Card (mine is a gate-fold)

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I hope you'll come back again soon.

Delicate Thistle Card and an Update

I received this Delicate Thistle die from Simon Says Stamp awhile ago in some happy mail. However up until this week, I hadn't had a chance to play with it. After seeing how pretty some die cuts looked just by inking them up with Distress Inks, I knew that was how I wanted to color these beautiful thistle die cuts. After I die cut them from white cardstock and embossed them, I followed the advice I saw online (or maybe in a YouTube video) somewhere and kept them in the negative space while coloring/inking them. That definitely was helpful and kept them from tearing. First I kept the die in place and inked with the darker pink through the die openings. Then the die was removed and a lighter pink and green inks were used on the rest of the die cut. I set them aside to dry while I worked on the rest of the card.

I heat embossed some white cardstock with some of the smaller "swirly" elements from the Always and Forever clear stamp set by Simon Says Stamp (it is my go-to set for so many occasions) with white embossing powder.  I then took the two pink colors I used on the thistles to ink up this panel.  I also inked up another piece of white cardstock with just the darker pink ink. Then I got out my circle dies and cut several circles in graduated sizes using Spellbinders Grand Circles, Standard Circles Large and Small and Picot Edged Circles. The sentiment was matted on the solid inked circle and then on the Picot Edge circle. The thistle die cuts were cut apart so that they could be woven into the openings in the Picot Edge circle. Tombow Multi glue was used to glue stems to the back of the circle and to glue some of the pink parts of the thistle to the sentiment panel. Other part of the thistles were popped up with 3D adhesive dots or foam squares. Some of the stems were left free to add dimension. The Picot circle was adhered to a green circle and then popped up using fun foam over the heat embossed/inked circle.

Some faux stitching added some extra interest to the green circles. The Picot Circle was accented with small rhinestones and the thistles were accented with clear Wink of Stella. An intact thistle die cut adds some interior decorating.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #281 - Layer It Up
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge - Use Something New (the Delicate Thistle die cut is new to me and so is the technique is using Distress Inks to color my die cuts)
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenge #103 - Anything Goes
Sweet Stamps February Challenge - Anything Goes

UPDATES:

You may have noticed I have a new blog header. When I began blogging back in 2007, I primarily just scrapbooked. That was why I called my blog, "Steph's Scrap Happenings." Over the years, I've gradually become mostly a card-maker and paper crafter. Since I rarely scrapbook anymore and my online usernames revolve around my kitty, Sasha (aka Sasha Belle), I've decided to rename my blog Sasha Belle Designs. It's still going to look the same and I'll blog the same, it will just have a new name. I have also bought a domain name. If you want to share my blog with others, sending folks to www.SashaBelleDesigns.com is a lot easier than trying to remember the long blog address of www.StephsScrapHappenings.blogspot.com! Just a few small changes to stay technologically current. :)

I had a new watermark made to reflect my new web domain name. It was difficult to make that long blogspot address look nice on a watermark. When my friend Kathryne opened her new shop, Miss Daisy Stamps, and I saw she had custom watermarks, I was so excited. We've worked together the last few days and I am so happy with her Playful Kitty design. If you are in need of a new watermark, or adorable digis, I highly recommend you visit her shop. You won't be sorry. She is so easy to work with and does fantastic work!

In my last couple of posts I've mentioned using affiliate links. I belong to the affiliate programs at Amazon and Simon Says Stamp. Whenever you shop via one of these links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you. I greatly enjoy shopping at both of these sites and hope you will as well.

I'll link the products I used below. I hope you'll come back and visit again soon.

Simon Says Clear Stamps ALWAYS AND FOREVER Exclusive Set sss1012 *	Simon Says Stamp DELICATE THISTLE Craft Die S269 DieCember	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad WORN LIPSTICK Ranger TIM21513	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPUN SUGAR Ranger TIM27164
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PEELED PAINT Ranger TIM20233	VersaMark Ink Pad	Ranger Inkssentials MINI MISTER Spray Bottle Tool IMMR13593	Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel WHITE Two Pack 1919994
4" x 4" Clear Round Gemstones Sticker Sheet | Hobby Lobby | 607978	ink of Stella Clear Brush Tip Marker	Stampendous DETAIL WHITE Fine Opaque Embossing Powder DP100	Black 5mm Thick EVA Foam Sheet | Hobby Lobby | 330415
Spellbinders Picot Edge Circles	Spellbinders Standard Circles Dies - Small	Spellbinders Grand Circle Dies	Spellbinders Standard Circles Dies - Large
Georgia Pacific White Cardstock	Scotch Advanced Tape Glider (ATG)	Scotch 3D Pop Up Adhesive Dots	Scrapbook Adhesives 3D FOAM SQUARES Adhesive
Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two Applicators 62191	*03441 Fiskars PREMIUM CUT LINE Paper Trimmer 12 Inches	Dahle Self-Healing Cutting 18x12 Mat 10671	Cuttlebug Machine
Spellbinders Grand Calibur Machine

InLinkz.com