Tuesday, May 25, 2010

May Card Chain Challenge

I just got word that the card I sent to Agnieszka in Manchester, England arrived safely and wasn't lost somewhere over the Atlantic. Deborah, the delightful proprietress of the Card Chain Challenge or CCC gave us a really challenging sketch and color scheme this month. Or maybe it was just challenging for me. I couldn't make that color scheme work so I was determined to conquer the sketch. I had just gotten some new Lawn Fawn stamp sets and a really fun sentiment stamp by Great Impressions that I was anxious to use so I decided on a light-hearted weather themed card.

Here's a close up of the boots:
I had some fun with this, it is not my usual style which is why I love doing challenges, gives me a good reason to try something new.
I sent along another little card that I repurposed from a commercially made thank you card I recently received.  I just cut the lovely black and cream patterned card to make this simple design.
Even though I love making a special card that I hope will bless a new friend, I also really enjoy the excitement of seeing what will come in the mail from somewhere in the world. This month my special treat traveled all the way from Tina in Slovenia. I must mention the lovely postage stamps that were on the envelope, I'm sure they will find their way to a collage project at some point.
Here is the gorgeous card I received from Tina:
I love this card! I'm a neutral color person and this is right up my alley with the lovely creamy yellow on kraft. I love the one yellow rose featured and the pretty scalloped border. Tina also included some wonderful stamped panels for me to use. I always find that so thoughtful. Check out Tina's photostream and her blog for some gorgeous inspiration!
Thought for the Day: In my daily devotional reading today from Daily Light, I found one of my favorite verses. If you've ever received an email from me you know what it is....Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Here are some related verses to look up at your leisure: Psalm 31:19; Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; Psalm 36:7-9 and 1Timothy 4:8.
Blessings to you all,
nancy

Monday, May 24, 2010

London Calling...Around the World Challenge #4

Vicky at Clips-n-Cuts has the most inspiring challenge. It's called Around the World Challenge and with each new challenge there is a new country to "visit". For this one we are off to London, figuratively, though at least one of us, Virginia, is there literally. While working with the wonderful inspiration photo I got the idea to use these challenge cues to make a travel themed collection. I will remake the cards I did for Greece and Mexico into a 5 x 5 format to frame.
Here is this week's inspiration:
And here is my interpretation:
I did a "twinchie" style grid pattern using some images found online as well as some Hero Arts stamps. I computer generated the London text. I made the background sky with Cool Peri Alcohol Ink on matte cardstock. On the gray row of houses, I used the kissing technique with the Houndstooth pattern to give them the look of old stone row houses.
Thanks for looking and if you haven't played along with this fun challenge yet, give it a try.
Thought for the Day: This is a repeat but it's always good to remember Romans 8:28: "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God."
Have a wonderful week,
bless you,
nancy

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Play Date Cafe Challenge #30

I broke out the Perfect Pearls for this challenge at the Play Date Cafe and kept this card soft and sweet.
Here's the challenge colors this week:
I really took my cue from the words, pale and light, in the color descriptions above. Lots of white, some subtle polka dots and a spare gem or two.
And there you have it!
Today was my Clean and Simple class at Stamp Fever. We had a lot of fun and shared lots of creativity! Thanks to Kathy, Mary, Darla, Tina, Nancy, Tiffany and Ivy, I'd spend an afternoon with this group any time.  Here's some photographic proof of our good time:
Kathy and Mary

Tiffany and Ivy

Darla, a shy Tina and Nancy

And we couldn't pass up the chance for a Flickr group photo-op!
That's me hanging with the popular girls!

Great photo of Ivy and Tiffany! Check out their blogs to see some amazing art.

Thought for the Day: Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
bless you,
nancy

Thursday, May 20, 2010

32 Years of Love and Memories

Hi all, I thought I would do a little anniversary post today. My day started out just lovely with my wonderful hubster bringing me coffee and breakfast in bed. This goes with the flowers he brought home with him last night.
He knows I prefer bright unusual flowers that I can arrange myself, he outdid himself this year. We are planning on a casual dinner out tonight, most likely at a fun little Italian restaurant that our son Andy first took us to called Roman Cucina. They have the best shrimp and pasta in a lemon cream sauce.
So I made my hubs a little card to commemorate this special day:
I used the sketch from Inchie INKlings and the Hero Arts clear set Mix and Match Elements. The patterned paper is a scrap from the famous scrap basket of Jacqueline.
So let's leave you with a story (it's a bit lengthy, but worth it) of just one of the difficulties we faced with our wedding. When you see the photo, another difficulty (a photographer lacking in any talent for photography) will be very obvious.
So here we are, the happy couple just moments after exchanging our vows at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, Calif.  So do you notice anything interesting or unusual about my sweetie's tux? Of course other than the awful shade of chestnut brown- all I can say is the 70s were a very awkward decade when fashion totally took a hike! Getting back to the tux, you'll notice that my sweetie is 6 foot 4 inches tall and his tux jacket was made for someone about a foot shorter. But that's okay because his lovely peach ruffled shirt, yes that's right I said peach and ruffled- it was the 70s, I take no responsibility. Anyhoo, the peach ruffled shirt was at least 3 sizes too big.  Here's how the story of tuxes happened.....
We went to a very reputable tux shop, they were in all the wedding magazines and of course they had the coveted chestnut brown tux that I just had to have. All the guys went in for their fittings and got their orders in with plenty of time to spare. Check the tuxes off my list of things to do. We did our wedding on a shoe-string, the greatest expense being my dress which I found on sale for $350.00. (We should have spent a bit more than the $100.00 we did on the photog though). So, I'm feeling pretty good about everything with a check mark next to everything on the wedding preparation list.
Then came the rehearsal, the night before the wedding. All the guys were scheduled to pick up their tuxes on the way to the church that evening. When they arrived at the shop in the Westminster Mall they were greeted with sheer bedlam. Instead of the tidy appointments they had arranged, the shop was filled with men from 2 other weddings and a smattering of awkward teens looking for their prom tuxes. The store clerks had given up all hope, they had none of the tuxes ready due to some MAJOR scheduling snafu at the home office.
My hubby-to-be, his dad, my dad and our 4 groomsmen left the store and hurried to the rehearsal, keeping very tight-lipped about the tux festivities they had just witnessed. After the rehearsal and the lovely dinner made by my mother-in-law all the guys were heading back to the shop to see if any tuxes had materialized.
I had been made aware of the situation and went home to have a minor pity party.
The scene at the tux shop had not improved, who knows what became of the store clerks but our guys being resourceful took matters into their own hands because they just couldn't wait to wear those stylin' tuxes. Al's brother Ron, who was 16 at the time went in the back of the store and started tossing out pants and jackets and vests and shirts, anything he could find in the right colors. (I believe they could have rectified my ill-advised color scheme at this point but I don't hold it against them). So there they are standing in the lobby of the tux shop at the mall, trying on pants and jackets to get something that would come close to a fit. Now at this time there were 3 wedding parties and 3 random teens all doing the same thing. That must have been a riot to watch that scene through the window in the mall.
They finally acquired all the necessary pieces to clothe them all and just when they thought they were home free...Al remembered that he had ordered shoes (it was the 70s, he only wore flip flops or bare feet). He was sent to another of this esteemed tux shops stores in the South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa because they were the only ones who had the right shoes in a size 12.
In the meantime, I had come to the conclusion that I was getting married the next day even if Al showed up in cut-off jeans. I knew then that the wedding day was not as important as the shared life that came after it!
So back to Al at South Coast Plaza. He got there just as they were closing, but they had his shoes, hallelujah! He paid for them, and left the store through the mall while the clerk exited the store through the back after locking the door. It was only then that Al realized the mall had closed and he was locked in. Now this is one very large mall and he spent the better part of 2 hours searching for a security guard to let him out. It was after 1 a.m. when he finally left the mall.
Oh but we aren't home free yet...there was the little matter of suit pieces and parts that were not the right sizes and shirts that hadn't been laundered since the last occupant. One shirt even had a sleeve almost torn off (must have been one wild wedding). So my mother in law was up at the crack of dawn the next day to sort out the tuxes, mixing and matching to get everyone covered. Some of the guys were sewn into their pants so they would stay up and Al's shirt neck had to be gathered a few times as it was probably made for a gorilla. It was the only shirt with long enough sleeves for my tall drink of water.
So there you have it, this motley crew of wonderful men sacrificed their time, their effort and not a little of their dignity to participate in our sweet little ceremony. They looked truly rumpled, but at least the photographs are so bad it is very hard to tell.

Thanks for sticking with this epic tale!

Thought for the Day: It's not the wedding, but the life of love and sharing memories that is important. I hope that the trend will change from extravagant weddings and a high divorce rate to more thoughtful ceremonies that prepare couples for a life of imperfect days, disappointments and scattered happy moments. Because that is what makes up a life that is so much better when shared by two. A favorite quote of mine is an old Amish one: Choose thy Love, Love thy Choice; if you take time with the first part it makes the second part easier.
blessings to you,
nancy

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

52 Weeks of Inspiration~ Tag Tuesday is a Year Old!

I only wish I had been around since the beginning of Tag Tuesday. It is the creative challenge sponsored by Louise at Kard Krazy. I have been so inspired by the other artists each week. I've pushed myself to think differently and not just go with my first idea but to think about it and see where the inspiration will take me. I was so totally inspired this week that I made 2 tags with the theme to use 5 and 2 in the composition. For the first one I finally tried a real Jacqueline vintage style tag.
This one became what it wanted to be, I just sort of followed along. I did try to make it look as though the postage stamps with the 5 and 2 just fell onto the tag.
The other tag is a bit more festive to celebrate the 1st birthday of the Tag Tuesday Challenge:
It's a little difficult to see but I started out by using Tim Holtz masks of a 5 and 2 and then I layered on Distress inks over the top. The jester kitty is all blinged out and ready for a party.
Thought for the Day: Psalm 115:1 "Not unto us. O Lord, not unto us, but to Your Name give glory, because of Your mercy and because of Your truth."
Now I'm off to make an anniversary card for my wonderful hubster. We are celebrating 32 years of wedded bliss tomorrow. (I was a very young bride!)
blessings to you,
nancy

Monday, May 17, 2010

Around the World Challenge #3 -Mexico

Well I just took a little creative trip south of the border to participate in Vicky's Around the World Challenge #3. Here's the awesome inspiration photo:
I just love those festive colors! I also thought I would try out the sketch at Everything But the Kitchen Sink:

I spent way too much time on this, I wanted to get the colors and patterns just right. I finally just decided it looked okay and glued everything down.
I wanted to make the flower look like the tissue paper flowers we made as kids. It's just printer paper, colored with Copics and die cut with the Scalloped Circle nestie.
Stamps and Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts-CL389 Mi Casa, Cl272 All Occasion Messages. Magenta-34008-J (flowers)
Inks: Hero Hues Chalk ink Grass; Distress Ink-Stormy Sky, Mustard Seed, Barn Door. Memento Tuxedo Black.
Copics- Y15, R27
Thanks for visiting.
Thought for the Day: Proverbs 15:30 ~ "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health." Share a smile or a kind word today, not only will it bless someone else, it will fill you with joy too!
blessings to you,
nancy

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Playing at the Play Date Cafe Again

When I saw the colors for the Play Date Cafe Challenge #29 I thought of using a stamp I don't use often enough.
Here's the color inspiration for this week:

The Misty Garden Pattern from Hero Arts turned out to be perfect. With just one inking of the stamp I had my light and dark greens and a perfect place to add my pale blue. So here's my vision of the challenge colors:
That lovely trim was a gift from sweet Tiffany.  Every time I use this Misty Garden Pattern stamp I think of Jacqueline because she uses it so wonderfully and totally inspires me, so I added the Paris postage stamp in her honor.
Stamps and Supplies:
All stamps by Hero Arts- Misty Garden Pattern S5097; Paris A2202 ; Clear Design Frames and Messages CL130.
Making Memories-Flutter Trim; Kaisercraft Pearls in Bliss; Tim Holtz Distress Ink- Crushed Olive; Copic Markers- Pale Celestine, Baby Blue; EK Success Swirls border punch; Spellbinders Nestabilities- Standard Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large. Patterned Paper- Handmade Collection, K&Company.
Thought for the Day: ~ Hebrews 11:6  "Without faith it is impossible to please Him for those who come to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." I believe in God and I'm so happy that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
bless you,
nancy

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Clean and Simple Cards-Theme for my Next Class

I've been wanting to try my hand at clean and simple designed cards. I thought I would use that for the theme of my next class at Stamp Fever on Saturday the 22nd of May. We will explore some one-layer stamping, adding Stickles for a special touch. Then we will use a simple stamped motif combined with scrap patterned paper for a quick and pretty card. Finally we will stamp one image in several colors, punch out squares and assemble with bold black mats for maximum drama and effect. This will be the perfect opportunity to add to your stash of cards for every occasion.
Here's the samples:
One-Layer Stamping with Stickle bling
Simple stamping with paper scraps
Stamped image squares with black mats
I will have supplies for you make these 4 cards but you will have time to make more, so bring some blank notecards, paper scraps and your favorite sentiment stamps. 
If you are in the Southern California area (Stamp Fever is in the lovely City of Orange) contact Linda  to sign up, we will have a wonderful time! 
The number at Stamp Fever is 714 974-3552

Thought for the Day: Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you."   ~I've been working through some hurtful issues lately and I am seriously having to remember to forgive sometimes on an hourly basis. But I know that when God forgave me, I didn't deserve it, so I can't make that  a qualifier for forgiving someone else. Forgiveness frees the spirit and keeps the lines of communication open with God. Unforgiveness leads to bitterness, interrupted fellowship with God and steals your joy.
Bless you,
nancy

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Play Date Cafe #28 Better Late than Never!

Playing at the Play Date Cafe and I think I'm getting this one in just under the wire. I've been mulling this color scheme in my head for a week and finally I had some inspiration. Here's the challenge colors:
I've been making some inspirational little pictures to frame lately so instead of a card this is a bit of frame-able art.
I just love this bicycle stamp from Hero Arts, I've been using it a lot. The quote is computer-generated. I also used Hero Arts Wallpaper Flowers. Simple, clean and ready for white 5 inch square frame.
Thought for the Day: The devotion today by Pastor Greg Laurie really blessed me...I hope you will be blessed by it also, you'll find it HERE.
God Bless You All,
nancy

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Around the World Challenge #2

I am loving Vicky's new challenge over on Clips-n-Cuts. The theme is "Around the World" and for each challenge Vicky posts a gorgeous photo from a different country. This time the inspiration is Holland with the iconic images of a windmill and tulips.
Is that not a beautiful photo....if you can't get inspired by this, then I don't know. I really wanted to try to recreate the scene this time and not just use the color palette as my inspiration.
This is actually not a card, I plan to frame it to hang in my craft room. I pulled out a lot of different tricks and techniques for this one. I started out by searching in Google for images of windmills. I found this line drawing and after resizing it in Publisher I printed out 4 images on white cs. I used Hero Arts Screen Shadow to stamp each image using Distress Inks in Crushed Olive, Stormy Sky, Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey. Then I cut out each element of the windmill to paper-piece together.  For the background I started with white cs and stamped Clouds with VersaMagic Chalk ink in Aegean Blue and Sea Breeze. Then I went over the blue using a paint brush and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I tapped the ink on my craft sheet and spritzed with Perfect Pearls in water. This gave the sky a shimmery appearance and more depth of color. Next I used alcohol inks to add color. The alcohol inks give a different effect when used on matte cardstock instead of glossy cs. The colors I used were Lettuce, Lemonade, Peach Bellini, Butterscotch and Cranberry. I stamped an old Stampin Up tulip image in Hero Hues inks in Poppy and Punch. Then I stamped the little tulip stamp 6 times, colored with Copics and cut them out. The sentiment is from the HA clear set Treasure the Moments.
Thought for the Day: John 16:33 Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Thanks for dropping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit!
bless you,
nancy

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

"That's the Ticket" Tag Tuesday #50!!

I'm feeling pretty poorly today...a cold and allergies combined to get the better of me. I still wanted to do a Tuesday tag so I went low-tech digital to make my Ticket themed tag. You can find the Tag Tuesday Challenge HERE.

Since I have no ticket stamps or ephemera of tickets I went through my box 'o memorabilia and found saved tickets and such. I scanned them, arranged and resized them to fit my 3.25 x 6 inch tag base. I included a clipart tag image too. A little bit of stamping, some twine and a ribbon at the top and it's done!
Supplies~  Stamps: PTI-Fillable Frames; Hero Arts-Wallpaper Flowers, Houndstooth, Card Messages.
Twine-Making Memories (thank you Tiffany); Ribbon from Stamp Fever. Distress Inks- Black Soot, Scattered Straw, Spun Sugar.
Thought for the Day: James 1:25 "But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
I'd like to thank everyone who has been so kind to comment about my Thought for the Day. Your encouragement and lovely feedback truly make my day.
blessings to you,
nancy

Monday, May 3, 2010

Following Jacqueline's Lead

I noticed this morning that Jacqueline had a beautiful card on her blog that she made for two challenges. I thought it was a wonderful idea to play along with the same 2 challenges so I got a little inky and had some fun.  The first challenge is Card Patterns sketch #62 with this sketch...
The second challenge is at the blog ....wee Memories. This challenge is to incorporate any kind of writing or text in your project....this is so right up my alley. I think Hero Arts Old Letter Writing is my most used stamp, it just adds so much depth and interest to any project.
I realized as I was photographing this card that all my writing and text images came out very faint...they are there though, here's the close up....
I used 2 papers from Webster's Pages for this. I scanned one to reduce in size and also to layer my Bible verses on the fruit of the Spirit is Peace; my Thought for the Day from Saturday. I also layered some text, recolored to white, from a vintage children's prayer book over the clipart butterfly. I stamped my go-to stamp Old Letter Writing in Scattered Straw distress ink (also a go-to product) and then distressed all the edges with a distressing tool. The background is Raindrop background stamped in Dusty Concord Distress Ink with more Dusty Concord blended over the top.
Thought for the Day: ~ "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"
Galatians 5:22-23
blessings,
nancy

Saturday, May 1, 2010

This is how a non-scrapbooker celebrates National Scrapbooking Day...

That's right, I'm not a scrapbooker. I've tried but the big blank page totally intimidates me. I do love to play around with digital images in Microsoft Publisher though, so that's what I did this morning. I made two pages, one for each of my sons.
I scanned a patterned paper by Webster's Pages to use as the base for this page from Andy and Kellie's wedding. I used some digital images from Hero Arts and WordArt. I thought the photo and the background paper were so pretty that there wasn't much else needed.

For this one from Ben's time in Iraq I used scanned K&Company paper from the Marines Paper pad for the base. The other elements are from Hero Arts digikits Polky Dots and Dot Line. The ribbon and brad elements are from a digikit by Brandy Buffington called Boho Chic, it's free at Two Peas this weekend. I added some clipart dogs running across the page and WordArt.
Thought for the Day: Since I was scanning things today I thought I would scan today's page from my Daily Light devotional. It is just too good today and I couldn't select just one verse ~

Grace and Peace to you,
nancy