Every Good Gift

I hope your week is going well and that you will be able to spend time with loved ones tomorrow.  For the new challenge at Word Art Wednesday, our focus verse reminds us where gifts come from.  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17  This is a great verse to reflect upon as we think about all our blessings tomorrow.  We need to remember that the Lord is the source of all good gifts/blessings and be thankful to Him for them.  It seems that Thanksgiving gets greatly overlooked and we got straight from Back-to-School into Christmas.  However, I really enjoy the day to reflect on all the blessings (or gifts as this verse says) that the Lord has given to us.  What a loving and kind Father we have in the Lord.

This week I took a break from fall colors and used this verse to emphasize that people can be gifts as well.  This verse is on the front of a birthday card that is intended to let the recipient know that they are considered a great gift from the Lord.  One of our sponsors this week is Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps.  Some of the DT were generously provided with images to use this week and I got to play with Pretty Flowers.  The flowers were colored with Copics and then the centers were accented with Diamond Stickles.  Mojo Monday Sketch 271 was the inspiration for the card design.

I did some interior decorating and was able to carry the flower theme to the inside my highlighting just one of the flowers in the image.  The finished card is just under 5"x7".

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill (yellow, blue), Georgia Pacific (white)
Patterned Paper:  Pebbles (Family Ties)
Stamps:  WORDart by Karen (James 1:17), Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps (Happy Flowers), Hero Arts wood block stamp (Special Birthday)
Ink:  VersaFine (Onyx Black)
Copics: YG03, 05; Y11, 13, 15, 17; B000, 23, 26
Tools/Embellishments: Staedtler fine tip marker (dark blue), Offray ribbon, Stickles (Diamond), pearls (The Paper Studio), Spellbinders dies (Standard Circle Large, Petite Scalloped Circle Large, Rectangle Large, Big Scalloped Border Petites), Marvy Circle Punch

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Scrapbook Blessings Club Challenge #34 - Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash Challenge #179 - Free is Good (Use something you got for free - I received the two digi stamps, the Staedtler marker and the ribbon for free)
Papertake Weekly - Take Your Pick (I chose the Product Theme - Ribbon and/or Lace)
Sweet Stamps Challenge #197 - Bordered Sentiment
V's Sweet Ideas Challenge #28 - Anything Goes

I hope you'll be able to find time this week to play along.  Our generous sponsors have some wonderful prizes to be won.  There's also a free digi and lots of inspiration from the rest of the DT over on the Word Art Wednesday blog.

I am thankful for each of you that comes to visit me here.  Your comments are read and greatly appreciated.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Winter Woods

This is my second post for today.  If you are looking for my Word Art Wednesday post, please scroll down a post or click here.I have several cards to share with you today using Winter Woods.  Masculine Christmas, birthday and/or Praying for You cards are a snap with this set.  In each of my cards, I used the scenes from the set.

First up is this masculine birthday card using this week's Outlawz  Sketch Challenge.  Deedee's Digis is sponsoring the sketch challenges this month.  Why not play along for your chance to win some free digis?

I colored the deer with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol.  The background was colored with Copic markers.  Some Sparkly Fluff was used on the snowy ground and on the trees.  Die cut snowflakes topped by buttons, twine and stickles complete the wintery scene.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill (navy), Creativity Inc. (brown), Georgia Pacific (white)
Patterned Paper:  Bo Bunny (Snowfall 6x6 pad)
Digi Stamp Set:  Deedee's Digis (Winter Woods)
Tools/Embellishments:  Copics, Prismacolor pencils, gamsol, baker's twine (The Twinery), buttons (Making Memories - 5th Ave.),  stickles (Diamond), Cuttlebug embossing folder (Snowflake), Spellbinders dies (Create-A-Flake Four), Sakura Gelly Roll pen - white, Our Craft Lounge Sparkly Fluff (sugar)

I'm entering this card in the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Release Day Challenge - Create a Wintery Birthday Card.

Next is a Christmas card using the same image but in a Center Step fold card.  A tutorial on making a Center Step card can be found on SCS here.  This time the entire scene was colored with copics and again accented with Sparkly Fluff.  Die cut snowflakes and a brad finish off the tag and some tiny bling accents some of the snowflakes.

This is a side view of the card. As you can see there's plenty of room to write a note.

These are the Copics I used.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill (navy), Recollection (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white), WorldWin (vellum)
Patterned Paper:  Bo Bunny (Snowfall 6x6 pad)
Digi Stamp Set:  Deedee's Digis (Winter Woods)
Tools/Embellishments:  Copics, Spellbinders dies (Create-A-Flake Four), Our Craft Lounge Sparkly Fluff (sugar), brad (American Crafts - Denim), rhinestones (The Paper Studio), My Favorite Things Die-namics (Pining Edge)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Fan-Tastic Tuesday Challenge #62 - Anything Goes with a Twist - Masculine
V's Sweet Ideas Challenge #28 - Anything Goes

Now for a moose card.  The moose scene was colored with Copics and accented with Sparkly Fluff.  I kept this one pretty simple.  The sentiment was printed on vellum.  The vellum strip is wrapped to the back and attached.  The pinking edges also help adhere it to the card front.  The image was popped up over the background.

These are the markers I used.  The un-marked marker is BG000.


Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill (navy), Recollection (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white), WorldWin (vellum)
Patterned Paper:  Bo Bunny (Snowfall 6x6 pad)
Digi Stamp Set:  Deedee's Digis (Winter Woods)
Tools/Embellishments:  Copics, Our Craft Lounge Sparkly Fluff (sugar), My Favorite Things Die-namics (Pining Edge)

 For this last card, I used the pre-colored Moose scene.  Another very simple design with a couple die cuts and some faux stitching.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific (white), DCWV (blue), Recollections (kraft)
Patterned Paper:  Pebbles (Family Ties 6x6 pad), My Mind's Eye (Dolled Up 6x6 pad)
Digi Stamp Set:  Deedee's Digis (Winter Woods)
Tools/Embellishments:  Spellbinders Dies (Squares Large and Small, Classic Rectangles Large), Staedtler fine tip marker (brown) 

Whew!  I think I got carried away with this set.  We have several family members that love the outdoors so using this set was a no-brainer for me.  :)  If you've hung in there this long, thanks for sticking with me.  Have a good day!!

We Give Thanks

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for another challenge at Word Art Wednesday. Our theme verse, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name." Psalm 100:4,  reminds us that our expressions of thanksgiving and praise should be directed to the Lord.  He is the source of all of our blessings and definitely deserves the "credit" for giving them to us.  We are so rich in God's blessings, it sure seems the least we can do to daily thank Him.

For my card this week, I used my MFT Blueprints 1 dies and one of the downloadable sketches you can get for them.  I really like these mix-and-match sets.  They make card design so easy!! Deedee's Digis We Give Thanks set was perfect for this week's verse.  I used a 100 Copic on my Pilgrims to add some additional shading and to cover the edge after fussy-cutting.  I added some Wink of Stella to the girl and her pumpkin.  The buckles on the shoes were given some clear star gelly roll pen.  I realize real Pilgrims didn't go for glitz and shine but....another case of artistic license.  :)

The inside is fully decorated.  The buckles on his hat and shoes were given a little shine with a clear star gelly roll pen.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Bazzill, Georgia Pacific, Recollections
Patterned Paper:  American Crafts (The Classics - Red Fern)
Stamps:  WORDart by Karen, Deedee's Digis (We Give Thanks)
Tools/Embellishments:  Staedtler fine tip marker (black), baker's twine (The Twinery), ribbon (The Paper Studio), Copic 100, My Favorite Things Blueprints 1 dies, Sakura Gelly Roll Pens (white, clear star), Zig Wink of Stella Clear marker

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion Challenge #240- Pumpkins or Turkeys (I have one of each)
Eureka Stamps Challenge #115 - Give Thanks
Path of Positivity Challenge #20 - Gratitude
Shopping Our Stash Challenge #178 - Thankful (Thank You or Thanksgiving)
Sweet Stamps Challenge #196 - Thanks
Clear It Out Challenge - Anything Goes
Going Gray with Scrap Creations - Give Thanks
PDE Linky Party - Pilgrims, Indians, Turkeys or Scarecrows
Outlawz Challenges - Monday Greetings - Thanksgiving

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you will have time to stop by the Word Art Wednesday blog to pick up your free digi and to see what the rest of the Design Team has made.

Lakeside Birthday

Today I have a simple masculine birthday card to share with you today.  The image is colored with copics.  After making a frame, the image is mounted behind the frame with pop dots for some dimension.  The woodgrain paper seems to go with the outdoors theme and gave a great place to add the sentiment.

The interior decorating carries the same theme.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Georgia Pacific (image), Recollections (cream), Core'dinations (dark red)
Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye - Howdy Doody 6x6 Pad
Stamps: Flourishes (In Nature), Stampendous (Birthday Greetings)
Ink: Versafine (Black Onyx), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Distress Ink (Tea Dye), brads (Making Memories), Spellbinders Dies (Circle Small, Petite Ovals Large and Small), Copics

 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion Challenge #239 - Begin with "B" (birthday, boats, blue water/sky)
Fab 'n Funky Challenge #237 - Happy Birthday
Paper Pretties Challenge #336 - Masculine B'day
MilkCoffee Challenges - Hand Color Image

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you're enjoying your weekend!!

Menu Planning Board

A customer sent me this link to a Menu Planner and asked me if I could make one.  She wanted to give it as a birthday gift to a friend.  This friend has some of Sara Mincy's artwork in her home and really likes that style.  As I looked at Sara's blog I noticed she has lots of bright colors, mixes solids, stripes and polka dots and even has some collage type designs several places in her home.

The way this board works is that you write the meals you make for your family on pieces of cardstock.  On the back of this you write what ingredients you need to have to make it and the location of the recipe.  This helps with planning your grocery shopping list and makes finding the recipe easier.  You can color code your meals to help with variety.  Example: Red meat on red cardstock, meatless meals on green, chicken/fish on yellow, easy meals (soup/sandwiches, eating out, church dinner, etc.) on white.  Use whatever works for your family.  Then you can use packing tape to laminate these meal strips for durability.  My customer is taking care of this part of the project so I just made white strips (1.5" x 3.5") to help me with spacing.  The strips are stored in the top box.  The meals you choose for the week are attached to the appropriate clothes pins and after the week is over moved to the bottom box.  Once the bottom box is full, all strips return to the top box and the process starts over. This helps prevent constant repeats.

I started with an 11x14 canvas.  I cut scraps of scrapbook paper and cardstock into squares and rectangles and Mod Podged them all over the canvas.  I then gave it a couple extra coats of Mod Podge for durability.  The eventual owner has several young children and will hang this in her kitchen so I tried to seal everything for durability and ease of cleaning.

I wrapped washi tape around the edge of the canvas and then sealed it with at least 2 coats of Mod Podge.   The clothes pins have washi tape on the top that is also sealed.  The days of the week were stamped and then punched out and backed with another punched circle from cardstock.  Again these were sealed before being adhered to the clothes pins with Multi Medium Matte. The clothespins were adhered to the canvas using hot glue.

The boxes were made by covering thin chipboard with cardstock.  Decorative edge dies were used on the corners.  The boxes were sealed and adhered to the canvas with hot glue.  The letters, heart and star were painted with acrylic paint.  After being sealed they were attached with hot glue.  The star, heart and scalloped border were given Enamel Accent polka dots.  Strong magnets were attached to the back with Glossy Accents so that it can be hung on the refrigerator.

This board was a lot of fun to make.  I haven't used this much paint and glue in a long time.

Tip for Top Tip Tuesday: When covering clothespins, to make coating with paint or Mod Podge easier, clip the pins to a folded piece scrap piece of paper. Line the pins up on one edge and tuck the other side of the paper under something heavy on a bookshelf.  The fold allows them to hang free to dry.

Supplies:
Cardstock & Patterned Paper - Many from my scrap basket
Stamp Set (Scrappy Cat  - Letter Sweater clear stamp set)
Ink:  VersaFine (Onyx Black)
Other items: Plaid Acrylic Paint (Black, Real Blue, Red Apple), Mod Podge (matte), Bella Blvd Washi Tape (gulf Dot), Craft Essentials Washi Tape (red and blue dot), My Favortie Things Die-namics (Mini Scallop Edge), Spellbinders Die (Fair Isle Border Petites), Marvy Circle Punches (3/4" and 1"), Wooden Letters, Star, Heart (Plaid Wood Letters 1-1/4" Collegiate), clothes pins (Canvas Corp - Canvas Home Basics), magnets (Horizon Group Super Strong Neo Magnets), Ad Tech Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks, Enamel Accents (white)

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Always Anything Goes With a Twist Challenge #6 - Use a Canvas
Scrapbook Blessings Club #33 - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion Challenge #239 - Begins with B (board, boxes, blue)
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge - Use 3 or More Papers
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use at least one star

Thanks for stopping by today.  And don't forget to step out of your comfort zone (bright colors are outside of mine) sometimes when crafting and see what happens.

So Very Thankful For You

We continue the Thanksgiving theme this week at Word Art Wednesday.  Our verse is, Ephesians 5:20, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  It's so easy to take those closest to us for granted.  Our words have a tremendous power to encourage or discourage our loved ones.  Just a simple, "thanks for taking out the trash" or "I appreciate all you do to provide for us" or "thanks for listening" can mean so much.  It doesn't matter if it's their "job," appreciation is like food for the soul.  This year, let's make a point to let our loved ones know that we do notice and appreciate the little things (as well as the big things) they do for us.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for my card design.  The circle sentiment is printed on vellum and backed with cream cardstock.  The frame allows the adhesive to be hidden.  The sentiment is accented with individual pearls and pearl swirls add some movement for all of the leaves.

The pre-colored image was printed on text weight Opal Mica/Metallic paper.  It has a cool shimmer to it. As soon as it came out of the printer, I sprinkled it with clear embossing powder.  It makes it look like regular heat embossing.  I love this way to emboss digis.  The red berries in the image were accented with stickles.

I put this week's focus verse on the interior this time.  It also was printed on vellum and backed with cream cardstock.  After adding the frame, I added more pearl swirls to set it off.  For the right side, a scalloped border around the sentiment and along the patterned paper strip finish off the interior decorating.

Supplies:
Cardstock: The Paper Temptress (Opal Mica/Metallic Paper-text weight), Bazzill (brown), Recollections (cream), WorldWin (vellum)
Patterned Paper:  The Paper Studio (Bella Bohemia 12x12 pad)
Stamps: WORDart by Karen (Ephesians 5:20), Deedee's Digis (Autumn Blessings)
Tools/Embellishments:  Pearls (Want2Scrap), Stampin' Up embossing powder (Crystal Clear), Stickles (Christmas Red), ribbon (Michael's), My Favorite Things Die-namics (Mini Scallop Edge) Spellbinders Dies (Circles Large and Small, Petite Scalloped Circle Large, Rectangle Large, Deckled Rectangle Large, Petite Oval Large, Petite Scalloped Oval Small)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Mojo Monday Sketch #371 - Sketch
Path of Positivity Challenge #20 - Gratitude
Catered Crop - Gratitude Attitude
Scrapbook Blessings Club Challenge #33 - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown #221 - Swirls and Pearls
Sweet Stamps Challenge #195 - Lovely Layers (not counting the card base, my card front has 9 layers of paper)
Fan-Tastic Tuesday Challenge #61 - Anything Goes with ribbon

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today.  I hope you'll come back again soon.  I also hope you'll have time to stop by the Word Art Wednesday blog to see the other projects by the Design Team and to snag the free digi.

In Everything Give Thanks

Hi!  I hope you are having a good week.  Can you believe it's November already?!?  It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just a couple short weeks away.  This month, at Word Art Wednesday, our focus verses are concentrating on thankfulness and gratitude.  Our word art this week comes from Diane's Daydream Designs.  You can pick up the free digi from the Word Art Wednesday blog and enter your project(s) for an opportunity to win some free digis of your choice.  Our verse this week reminds us that giving thanks in everything is what God wants us to do.  Notice that we're to give thanks *in* everything not *for* everything.  I've talked with two different people in the last two days who experienced great trials in their lives.  As we talked, both of them related to me various things for which they were thankful.  Being thankful doesn't mean we don't hurt or that things aren't difficult but it does mean we can look for positive things and thank the Lord for them.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for my card design.  The candle image is from Deedee's Digis (and is also available at Diane's Daydream Designs).  The background panel was dry embossed.  There are lots of layers and faux stitching.  Baker's twine and a button accent the banner and the candle image was given a coat of Wink of Stella clear marker before being covered with Glossy Accents.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific (white), Bazzill (both shades of orange)
Patterned Paper: American Crafts - The Classics (Red Fern)
Stamps: Diane's Daydream Designs (1 Thess. 5:18), Deedee's Digis (Autumn Blessings)
Tools/Embellishments:  Staedtler fine tip marker (brown), Wink of Stella glitter marker (clear), Glossy Accents, Cuttlebug embossing folder (Victoria), The Twinery baker's twine (Cappuccino), La Mode button, My Favorite Things Die-namics (Mini Scallop Edge)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Mojo Monday Sketch #370 - Sketch
Scrapbook Blessings Club Challenge #33 - Anything Goes
Sentimental Sundays Challenge #231 - Anything Goes
Catered Crop - Gratitude Attitude
Eureka Stamps Challenge #113 - Count Your Blessings
Shopping Our Stash Challenge #176 - Leaf Me Alone (use leaves in your project)
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
PDE Linky Party - Autumn Colors
Path of Positivity Challenge #20 - Gratitude

Thanks for stopping by today.  I truly am thankful for all those who visit and for those who leave comments.  Your comments are a great encouragement to me.