Christmas in July Glittered Snowflakes

Hi...another card for this week's Flourishes challenge going on till tomorrow!! This was a Christmas in July challenge. You know how long I have wanted to do a hanging "ornament" look on a card? Due to the strange angle of my camera and it being night time here, this is not the best photo. I will try to take another one outside tomorrow if the weather permits. I love Flourishes sentiments, and this one is from the "Christmas Postcard" stamp set. I set it off with a strip of rose quartz glitter and edgers die. This was time intensive, but if the glitter stays put, it will make a really pretty surprise in someones mail! Thanks so much for taking a peek!

Black and White-Tres Chic! FLLCBC1

There are quite a few challenges going on the Flourishes Blog this month!! This card's submission is using only black and white as your card design. This unique die is a Flourishes exclusive Key Hole die, combined with a new to me Doily Embossing folder by Sizzix. A few tiny rhinestones and simple black matting and you have a pretty quick card. I kept wanting to add ribbon, but it just did not look right! Now I need to be invited to an elegant affair so I can mail this first class!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and your comments are always looked forward to and make my day!!

Blessings~

Flourishes Textures of Nature Challenge FLLCJUNE13

This week summer hit my home state of Colorado with nary a Popsicle in sight...hot and windy with two days of record setting temperatures. Being outdoors right now is not something I want to do until around 9 o'clock in the evenings. Sun and dry temperatures have started another string of wild fires, none of which are near us, thankfully!
So it is good weather to stay indoors and play along with this month's new release Challenge at Flourishes: Textures of Nature.

My card used designer paper for the flowers in the corner and the library card...it is all one piece. The stamp of the little girl watering the flowers was added to the paper.  The sentiment and stamp are Flourishes, the touch of nature is the wood grain designer paper and the wood butterfly which I accented with three tiny rhinestones. The gorgeous ribbon is hand dyed and a gift from my dear friend, Diane Noble.
I have been doing a lot of watering our flowering pots this week...and I have one pot of basil that I hope to see flourish a lot soon!
Speaking of nature,right out the back door of my parent's home in Grand Junction (the western slope of Colorado) is the Colorado National Monument. You can see some of these rock formations as you look from their yard. My girls went hiking there the weekend of my Mom's memorial service at the house.

Sister solidarity!! I love this picture. Our daughter, Caitlyn, on the right...just moved to Saratoga Springs, New York two days ago. I miss her already. Our youngest, Erin and I plan to visit her in two short weeks.
Thanks for popping in...always appreciate hearing from you and what is new in your corner of the world.

Flourishes FLLCMAR13 Second Entry

Please see my previous blog post for details on this card using two blues and a pop of yellow for Flourishes March Spring release challenge! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jonquil Bookmark! FLLCAPRRW2

So today I told a friend that I did not own any daffodil stamps. Then I decided to enter this challenge at Flourishes for making a "bookworm" card or project, and the closest stamp I could find to fit in this embossing oval from SU! was called "jonquils." I think they must be the same as daffodils, but not sure. Either way, I used two embosslits and thought it jazzed up this bookmark, then added a green satin ribbon at the top. Thanks again for stopping in, we have lots of these yellow flowers poppin' up all over our neighborhood right now!!

SSIC 113~Christmas Tree

Another week has flown by so quickly...and it's time for a new Stampin' Sisters in Christ card challenge!

This week our hostess is the wonderfully talented Lisa from The Craft's Meow.  You can view the devotional on the SSIC blog and read along with the rest of the design team. It's always exciting to see each week's thoughts  and applications.

Well, we had a "sneak peek" of winter here a couple of days ago as overnight the snow caught us by surprise, leaving a scene of winter wonderland along with many damaged trees in our town and neighborhoods. The beauty of the fist snowfall of the year sparked the creativity in today's card. This week's challenge was to use "fall colors like crimson, orange or golds."

Crimson it is...and this Christmas striped ribbon reminds me of today's verse:

Isaiah 1:18" Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

I stamped the tree and gave it a gold halo with Tim Holtz antique linen and tea dye inks...(my touch of gold) and added a bit more gold with stickles along the branches. The crimson was added with the back panel and the red and white striped ribbon tied in a big fat bow. These oversized bows seem to be my trademark!

I see this verse as such a "gift" from God...the one we as Christians can celebrate any day...and that is the complete wiping out of our sins by a completely Holy God. Some may ask, "What is sin? " Sin as used in scripture means to "miss the mark." God has set a perfect and holy standard in the Bible. Just reading the Ten Commandments, none of us has to go far to realize that we don't meet any of them perfectly. God is holy, which means he is completely without sin. In order to enter in to his presence and enjoy fellowship with him...we also need to have that holiness imparted to us. Thankfully, we don't have to wait until some distant day far off into the future. God provided a way...and that is by believing in His son, Jesus Christ and repenting (turning away from) our sin. If any of this is confusing or you would like to know more about how to have your sins completely removed (past , present, and future) now and forever...please leave me a comment and we can reason together through the scriptures.

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This week's prize sponsors are a 10 pound gift card from Lily of the Valley. I just received an order from them yesterday, and can't wait to make a card with one of these adorable images!

 I hope you can join in our challenge this week...and be reminded of the weight that has been lifted as we rejoice over the promise of this scripture when we confess our sins and turn away from them...putting our trust in God's son as the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins.

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Today's card is also being submitted for this week's Flourishes

card challenge to use a tree or leaves on your card!

And one more submission for this month's Flourishes Christmas Card Challenge FLLCNOEL18!

Flourishes Farm Fresh Challenge

Today's card is for this month's Flourishes Farm Fresh Challenge! I combined two of the Flourishes sets, the "Seeds of Friendship" with the "Strawberries" for this card. The paper is from SU's designer papers in pure poppy and Papertrey Ink's white, and the pretty ceramic button was purchased awhile ago from an Etsy store online from "Tessa Ann."
I took this photograph outside, and as soon as the camera clicked, a bit of breeze blew my card off the upperstory deck railing into our lilac bushes. It rained last night. I was able to retrieve it with the help of a mop handle and hope it dries. Have you ever had one of those weeks?? I love this card and will be mailing it off soon, anyway!!
Edited: After an hour, the card looks fine, the waterspots have dried flat and you wouldn't even know it had gotten wet! I am relieved!

Baby Card

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon here! My great-nephew and his wife just had their first child, a baby boy last month~! This card was made using Flourishes stamps...the background was stamped with the baby rattle and I love this sentiment so much I wanted to use it on the front of the card. Since it is so overcast today, my card needed some editing. The colors are PTI lemon tart, and SU bashful blue. This was made for this week's Flourishes May sketch found here. Thanks for stopping in, enjoy your weekend!

Sing a New Song

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things."  ~Psalm 98:1

We've had a deluge of rain here for the past few days...more than I have seen in all the years of living here in Colorado. I think we came close to a record...but today, the sun came out and it is glorious with all the visible signs of spring following the rain!!
This card was made with the season of spring in mind...a season of renewal and flowers blooming, trees budding, birds singing, mallards quacking, geese ...well, what do geese do...hmmm?? We have a gaggle of geese that frequently visit the pond behind our house!   Oh, yes, geese honking!!
Flourishes is issuing several challenges this week on their blog to welcome their new release for the month of May!! I chose this challenge, "Three in a Row." My card uses three elements:  a die cut, lace, and pearls! There are actually two die cuts layered that my little singing bird is perched on! To view this challenge, visit here on the Flourishes blog.
Today's card is also being submitted to this week's Stampin' in Christ challenge to make a card using all things beautiful!
For my card, I used two nestabilities dies, the blossom and labels 4, Flourishes stamp set, prima papers, pearls, crochet lace, blue ribbon, and prima roses from the Flourishes store, and a bit of stardust stickles. The image was colored with copic markers!
Thanks for stopping in today!

Charming Gardener



A charming gardener, I am most definitely not. That is probably why I am so drawn to florals on cards, the vibrant colors and cascading blossoms on paper make me giddy!!
I attempted last year to dig up an unused space on the side of our lawn and went to top-notch nurseries with the idea of making a beautiful, bountiful, lush garden. I planted long stemmed daisies and gerberas, with the image of vases with fresh-cut flowers brightening the multiple spaces in our home. I waited expectantly and watched as the stalks reached dwarf length, flowers budded in tight gnarled knots, then withered away in the afternoon sun. Not one single bloom to show for the money and time spent!!
Anyway, this is a card for a Flourishes challenge , "A Cut Above the Rest." The challenge is to make a cut on your card. This sentiment was cut out using the deckled rectangles from Spellbinders, and circle nestabilities for the bird.
This card was also my first attempt at sewing...and was happy to say I only had the needle jammed once...yippee! This was one of those cards that was days in the making, I kept fiddling with the layout, then the origonal black base was too somber for the sentiment, so I cut it out and framed it with yellow and then mounted on a white base. At least with this card I have a single rose bud to show for my efforts!
What about you, do you enjoy gardening? And if so, do you have any tips?
Thanks for stopping by, and it's almost spring here in Colorado. Time to go plant some more stuff and hope for the best!

Winter Post Flourishes Christmas Card Challenge

NOte: please click on my card image and tell me what you see!!
No, silly, I am not still making Christmas cards!! But this is made for a Christmas card challenge from Flourishes monthly challenges on SCS. This month we were to make a card using something we had received for Christmas. I had initially planned on a saphire blue silk ribbon, but after completing this card with silver embossed image, pastel copic colored and silver pearls, the blue ribbon appeared a little garish and overwhelmed the card.
Which brings me to my point...note to self. Do not exacerbate yourself making a card to fit a challenge if the challenge ruins the card. Challenges are meant to help our craft, not ruin our cards. So after many attempts and angles, the ribbon was tossed and instead, I found a border from a received Christmas card, trimmed it, and added to the inside of my card for a pretty silver pastel border that compliments my card rather than competes with it. Sigh...feeling better now.
This will be a winter birthday card wish for a friend.
I plan on having blog candy for my next entry, so hope to see you then!!

Warm Winter Wishes

Good Friday afternoon!! I wanted to take a break in my day and show you some of my favorite things this time of year. My card is a "window" card, using the "Sweets of the Season" stamp set from Flourishes! I love the gingerbread men (women in this case) in this set, and paired it with the sentiment "Friends warm the heart" to make two "girlfriends." I love how this turned out, and hope it brings a smile to your face. The red ruffled ribbon and red nailheads are from Flourishes also. I used scalloped square nestabilities to make my window frame and a Martha Stewart doily. Stacy (Twinshappy on SCS) gave a tutorial a few weeks ago on how to make these, and this was my attempt. The little girls are dressed up with coat buttons made all white and puffy and stickles! This is for this month's challenge to make a "Winter White" card, mostly white with a touch of another color. I think it is no surprise my touch of color is red today!!
The backdrop for this card was a decorated Christmas tree I have in my kitchen...I love this tree and decorated it with this wide checked gingham I found at a local florist along with some tiny utensil ornaments and sugar cookies! It sits on my kitchen table this time of year.
Just sharing a little of what I've been up to...how about you?

Making a List and Flourishes Challenge

Hope you are having a blessed Sunday! I decided to share with you part of my planned small gifts to my ladies I am a "mentor Mom" to in our church. These are list makers, labeled "Holiday planners." The first is done in traditional red and golds with the candy cane striped twine on the buttons, and the second with non-traditional lavenders and aquas. The red and gold is stamped with sentiments from the Papertrey Ink set made just for these notebooks.
The mitten stamp is Flourishes, "Winter Wishes" colored in copics, then white shimmery ric rac is added along with aqua buttons topped with a snowflake and some bling. The doilies are Martha Stewart and are the perfect size to fit these Papertrey Ink notebooks. I used a template to cut the notebooks out and scor tape to glue the inserts of lined paper. They take a bit of time, but are so cute when finished!
Thank you for stopping by, I am still in the process of making Christmas cards and projects. They are my favorite to make, so mailing will still be awhile.
I am not in a hurry to get it all done, I would much rather take my time and enjoy the process. Life is hurried enough this time of year, don't you think??

Emerging Leaves

It's been a beautiful fall here...but the thing about this wonderful season in Colorado is it can all be over too soon! If we have a drenching rain, or a couple of very windy days...poof...it is over! So while I am thankful for the beauty inherent in this season, my gratitude is not based on the changing weather patterns, or the seasons, but on those things which do not shift with the changing winds, but are anchored deep in my soul. My faith, my love for family, my trust in a good God that sometimes allows bad things to happen for the purpose of growing me up and establishing my deeper in His word and His promises.
This card is for two challenges, the Flourishes October sketch challenge here, and Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge this week to make a thank you card. You can click on the SSC blog on my sidebar to view the entire challenge!
The stamped background in my oval is Flourishes "Thank You" set, the Leaf swag is SU! Country Blessings...and the technique is "emerging color" found on this week's Gina K's Stamp TV. I used Tim Holtz distress inks for the colors.
Thanks for stopping by, and wishing you a day full of blessings!

Hopeful Daisies

Today's card was made for two challenges. The Flourishes newsletter issued a challenge in conjunction with World Card Making Day to make a card any other size than a typical A2. This card is 4 1/4 x 6 1/2. There were extra entries given if the card had pink and also had a ribbon. I think I got the pink in, can you see it? You can find the challenge here.
The second challenge is this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch challenge here.
For my card, I used the Flourishes stamp set, Gerber Daisies and SU! for the sentiment. The cute button is handmade from Tessa Ann's etsy shop. The image was colored with various shades of copics, and I used a different method for the flower centers, you just pounce the marker lightly, which I did with two shades of pink. I left some spots white and then also went over with a signo gel pen to add a few more white spots. I like the way this highlights the flower centers. Scoring was added to frame the image.
Thanks for stopping by...we have a cloudy day here and a bit cooler weather. A perfect day to be here visiting with you!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge~by Me!

 

I am so excited to be the guest designer this month for the Flourishes Timeless Tueaday challenge!! As the guest designer, I was asked to submit a fun challenge and make a card to accompany it.
For the challenge if you already have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them...but if not, play along anyway!
You may visit the Flourishes Newsletter to read more about it, and submit your cards.


The Challenge:

Summer Sojourn

With the last days of summer, it is time to bid farewell to long languishing days and warm endless nights! The school bells are ringing and children are catching the bus (or mom's carpool) all over this land!
We stampers are always looking ahead to the next project, hailing in the next holiday...but this week before we wave our final good-byes to summer's end...let's take one last backward glance. This week's Tuesday Challenge is to capture a memory of this summer in your card. Was it canning the last fruits of the garden, berry picking, a summer trip to the ocean or mountains, family celebrations...whichever conjurs up a memory to you, put it in your card. Then along with your card, share your memory with the rest of us stampers so we can celebrate with you!!
Have fun creating!!

I just recently received this set, "Humming Along" from Flourishes, and knew right away it would get a lot of use. This spring, a family member unexpectedly sent me a one-of-a-kind patented hummingbird feeder made in Virginia. We took it to our mountain retreat in Colorado and I filled it and hung it on our small deck. It took a couple of days for the hummingbirds to find it, but once they did, it was so fun to watch. The birds were the smaller varieity, dipping and diving each other, but what really tickled me was they could perch on the edge and be still. Up until then, I had only seen them in flight, so it was a treat to view their full beauty and just how tiny they were! I was actually able to capture them in a photograph! So that was one of my many summer memories, just the simple joy of watching God's handiwork in nature!!

Stamps: Flourishes "Humming Along"
Paper: PTI white, SU! Presto Patterns, Bazill Pink, Basic Grey 6x6 pad (Lemonade)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Soft Sky
Accessories: White satin striped ribbon SU!, Labels 8 Nestabilities, Little Yellow School Bus stick pins, beads from SU! Pretties Kit, Basic Grey rhinestones,Circle Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping in, hope you will participate in the challenge!
Thanks so much Flourishes, for the opportunity to be guest designer this month!!

Serene Christmas

Today's card is my submission for this month's Christmas challenge by Flourishes Stamp Company! The challenge this month was to make a flat card, one that is mailable with one stamp. Now it didn't say the stamp had to be 44 cents postage, but that is what I think they are going for.
I have just recently received this set, Forest of Trees, and decided to create a circle mask using my nestabilities and sponging a soft sky ink around the inside perimeter. My image was inked and then a darker marker was thumped for color dimension, then spritzed and finally stamped on Flourishes watercolor paper.
I added some icicle stickles to the tree and some gingham ribbon around the corners attached with scor tape.
The sentiment was then added (holding my breath, I might add!)
I love the simplicity of this, although it took me a few tries to get the spritzing right on the paper.
Hope you enjoy! One card down...many more to go!!

Hide and Seek

Good afternoon!
So happy to be home again and near my stamp room!
This card was made for two of this week's Flourishes Challenges: the sketch was given by Cindy Haffner and I chose this sketch to fashion my card.
The second was a challenge "Kid's Play"...don't you just love that picture? The challenge was to make a card that reminded you of a fun game you would play from your childhood.
My chosen game was "Hide and Seek," one of the few I recall playing with all the neighborhood kids in the summer until it was pitch black outside and our parents would call us inside for the night!
So what does this hummingbird set have to do with the game "hide and seek?" We hung a hummingbird feeder last week at our deck at our mountain condo and enjoyed watching the tiny birds flit in and out to feast on the nectar. Well, my neighbor had warned me that I should bring the feeder in at night, as bears were attracted to them. I know this is true, as we had one on our deck hanging from the feeder with its greedy paws all over it, a couple of years ago. So, anyway, I didn't heed her words, and the next day, I found the feeder torn out of the railing and laying desolate on the deck. I watched the birds that afternoon humming around where the feeder had been, looking for it, and just hovering as if they knew it was there somewhere. It tickled me to watch. Well, next time I'm there, I'll put the feeder back up and remember to take it down at night!!
This card was a bit time consuming as I haven't stamped in awhile, or colored with copics. I finished all the shading on the flowers and decided there needed to be a bit more pop of color, so added some shimmering h2O's at the end and was excited with the effect it gave!
Hope you like my card today and the story that goes with it!
You can find these challenges on the Flourishes blog here.

Chocolate~Dipped Strawberry Recipe

This month the Flourishes blog issued a recipe challenge. I made my 6x6 recipe card using a variety of designer papers, paper-pieced my Strawberry Tilda image by Magnolia and added another stamped Heading perfect for recipe cards.



You can view the challenge here on the Flourishes blog:
http://www.flourishes.org/blog/page/2/
I have really enjoyed seeing the variety of recipes and even tried one for dinner last night...it was delish!
Please remember you can click on the picture to see it in more detail and also view the recipe. I find chocolate dipped strawberries are easy to make with just a couple of helpful tips...make sure your berries are cleaned and totally dry before beginning...and use a wooden skewer through the top of the stem (leaves attached for pretty contrast)...to dip. Dip and twirl to keep the chocolate on, and lay on waxed paper lined cookie sheet to set. The coating stays on better if you don't refrigerate for too long. Serve same day. You can also drizzle white chocolate over the semisweet chocolate for a fancier look. Just melt a few chips in a freezer ziplock bag in the microwave. (About 45-60 seconds for 1/2 cup) and then snip the corner of the bag with scissors. A perfect little tool to drizzle the chocolate!!
Thanks for coming by , hope this Tilda gives you a smile and happy cooking!!

Ribbon, Shimmer, Bling...a little bit of Everything!!

For today's Teapot Tuesday challenge...(click on the black and white teapot on my sidebar to read all about it!) ...and using this week's Flourishes sketch by Silke.

After I made the card, I looked again at the sketch and noticed the ribbon running through the lower panel with something on the side...thankfully was able to pry this oval up and added some ribbon under it and more bling!! So this card is a little blingy, but I still like it!

Wanted to join my friend, Cindy, and the Teapot Tuesday gang...but alas, today I am not having luck uploading my card...so hopefully they can bop on in here on the birdbrain train!

Thanks for looking!! Come join in the fun on today's Teapot Tuesday!!