together forever...(#tgifc08)

This was a fun challenge and just at the right time since our anniversary is this month! Can't believe we're already celebrating 15 delightful years!!

Here's the challenge sketch from tgifc.

another challenge for you! (pcccs#149)

I love love LOVE card sketch challenges and here's the one PCCCS#149 has going for this week.

 

 

(I know! Go ahead and say it! I'm going a little crazy with these challenges right now! It's my therapy and I'm loving it! You see, I don't have to manufacture any of the challenges; I just do them. Like an assignment! And while winning's fun, even though I seldom win I still enjoy this!)

tgifc throwdown (a challenging challenge!)

 

Ok!! I understand if you're a little confused here! I was too, until I studies the details which you can find on #tgifctd01 and then I was hooked!! It's a real challenging challenge!! Go check it out!

I was mostly ok with the pantry items, but hmmm, was I ever limited on my basket-ful of items! I HAVE EXACTLY 4 of them!! Both thinlits, and both ink pads/reinkers. SOOOO...you see how challenging it was?!!! If you ever need something to get your mind going check these people out! And believe me, you'll have fun meanwhile!! 

(Oh, and in the pantry items it says we could use clear blocks so I used them as my stamps! What else could I do?!)

Freshly Made Sketches (challenge 191)

If you know me, I'm a grunge freak. Or maybe I just love weathered worn-looking---ANYTHING! (Well, maybe not worn-out jeans and shoes, but....) Anyway, I am inspired by Freshly Made Sketches and how their goal is designing with NO worn-out or distressed edges and grunge! Keep it CLEAN!!! THIS is challenging for me, to be sure! And I love a challenge, so I made this card to go with the following sketch challenge:

NOTE: Even though Tara, Jane and I are taking a break from The Challenge Spark, I want to join other challenges as a way to keep creating. I seem to need something to inspire me so as much as I am feeling well enough I still want to post and enjoy challenges from other creators!

The Challenge Spark (gift packaging)

Jane from White Orchid challenged Tara from Country Girl Creates and me to do something different from cards this week. She wanted us to show her some gift packaging.

When I have a gift that is either too odd shaped, pretty or large to wrap, I like to use ribbons and just dress up the gift itself. In this case, I have this sign I painted for a gardener friend, and I used the Bouquet Bigz L Die to make a yellow flower in keeping with the garden theme as well as ribbon and I personally think it looks just fine to gift to my friend without wrapping it up!

I thought of making smaller flowers and giving away packages of seeds this same way....really anything would work!

(Since I had this post finished and scheduled for today before we decided to let the Challenge Spark rest for several months, I'll still post it.)

taking a break...The Challenge Spark

Hi everybody! No card for you on this post just an FYI that The Challenge Spark will be taking a break for several months during the summer. I expect that Tara, Jane and I will still post cards, but without our usual deadlines!

We'll keep you all posted when we start again!

But like I said, we'll still post our inspirations as we come up up with them!

Happy Summer to ALLLLL!!!!

what summer means to me (CYCI challenge #74)

Over on CYCI they have the "Summer Fun Edition" on for this week's challenge. Check it out:

Summer means fresh fruit and veggies to me. Maybe because I live in the north, I dunno, but succulent berries, crisp cucumbers, juicy peaches all speak to me as much as or more than frosty drinks. We live on bought produce for so many months of the year that when the seasonal fresh stuff is out I tend to go a little crazy! That's why I was inspired to make a raspberry card.

Stamps from Flourishes.

Challenge Spark (wings)

Recently our family camped out for three nights and it amazed me how many birds and butterflies (bugs too, yes!) there were around our campsite. So I decided this week we would celebrate "wings"! Wings of any sort. Tara from Country Girl Creates and Jane from White Orchid are also a part of this Challenge Spark. Go on over to their wonderful blogs to see what marvelous flying creature they've come up with this week!

This is the card I made for "wings". My mind instantly flew to my beloved Butterfly Basics and then I also remembered a card I'd seen long ago on Pinterest that I was SURE I'd pinned, but do you think I can find it now??? If someone knows which one I mean, by all means let me know so I can give the artist credit! There are several different styles of cards designed similarly to this on Pinterest, but only one that is really close to this, that I've seen. Anyway, the artist who created the original card used this same Swallowtail background stamp and folded and cut her card similar to the one I did here. In fact I think her colors were blues as well. However, I'm certain it was a single layer card but I just couldn't resist adding the die-cut butterflies in vellum to add a  little ethereal quality to it.

wild roses on the pebbles (CYCI#73 A Color Challenge) (picture tutorial)

"Can You Case It" Week #73  is a color challenge this time, using Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride, and Black. I KNEW I had to join this challenge since color SPEAKS to me! See which colors these are right below:

And now I must really give credit to whom credit is due...for the card I created this week! My Very Creative son brought me several wild rose buds sitting atop some pebbles in a bowl full of water. Soooo beautiful. So perfect for the color challenge this week! Now follow me on how I did it.

 First cut a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock 3" by 4 1/4".

 

Since I could find absolutely NO tutorials on how to make nice pebbles, I decided to just wing it, using a sort of Bokeh technique. I punched circles and tore shapes for masking from a piece of white paper.

 

Using ink black and different browns and tans, I "Bokeh-ed" (sponged) around, alternating masks, until I was happy.(I was happy the whole time, but this made me REAL happy!)

And THEN, I took those gorgeous Crystal Effects which I can't figure out how I ever managed without them, and I squeezed little water ways among the pebbles. I didn't let it dry enough, but you don't know that!!! Anyway, I attached it to my card front, a piece of black cardstock.

 

For my wild roses, I simply stamped a flower image from "Flower Shop" using Cherry Cobbler ink onto a piece of Blushing Bride cardstock. Then I punched it out and adhered it to my watery pebbles and black background.

 

The bird builder punch gave me some nice green leaves which I touched up with markers and gel pens. Oh! And I also added some verrrry thin pink strips to the edge of my pebbles to define them better. And that's all folks! Now YOU go make yourSELF a nice bowl of wild roses!

fly away....in loving memory

I must explain a few things. 

My dad just passed away and we laid him to rest on the 2nd of June, last Tuesday.

I have this "thing" with butterflies and while the last hymns were being sung at Dad's graveside a big huge yellow butterfly fluttered out of nowhere, breezed over the spray of roses and merrily went on its way. Ok, so I'm not one for quickly saying these things are so significant, but I wistfully thought to myself, "Fly away, Dad, fly away..."

So the cards I'm sending out as Family Thank-you's are butterfly themed. It so well suits my suggested challenge for this week: WINGS. I've thought a lot about wings these days: angel wings, butterfly wings, wings of prayer, wings of song.....yes, fly away....

Here are several of the cards I made:

I realize the picture quality is poor, but I was too tired to redo them! Sorry...!!

The Challenge Spark (Happy Birthday to You!!!)

Tara from Country Girl Creates challenged Jane from White Orchid to make a birthday card this week. While that's pretty open-ended as far as style and age, I figured I'd try and make a birthday card totally unlike anything I ever (well, usually) do. Something clean and simple, yet layered. I went through my most unused dies as well as chose a stamp set I seldom use. And this is the result!

Happy 29th Birthday...

...from your 110lb friend!!!!!