Masculine Birthday Card

Since we have been having some rainy weather it inspired this observation of my life: When it rains, it pours!
After being mostly unemployed for a year and a half, I now find myself busier than ever with 4 jobs. And there is even a chance that more than one of them might actually become a paying gig! But when I say I'm busy, I mean I haven't had this many plates spinning in a long time. The only bad thing is that my wardrobe consists mostly of pajamas and I've gotten kinda used to wearing my "soft clothes".

This card is a testament to my ability to multi-task. I needed a card for my next Rubberstamping 101 class and yesterday was Ben's birthday. And even though I just made this today, I'm not late because we aren't celebrating his birthday until Sunday. And if that's not enough, the challenge theme at Hero Arts is masculine cards, well there you have it, this card is a three-fer!

I really love the combo of brown, cream, blue, red and a touch of black. It's a great combo to use for masculine cards.  I used a combination of papers from K&Company, Graphic45 and Fabscraps. The letters are Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type. The car stamp is from the Going clear set from Hero Arts and the birthday sentiment is from Essential Messages (yes, I was finally brave enough to cut a clear stamp; the operation was a success, the patient and the surgeon survived). I colored the car with Copics...still not that good but I'm undeterred. I added a bit Glossy Accents to the windows and headlights. The finishing touches are a scrap from a previous project and 2 little ancient tag stickers from my stash. Yes, my baby is 24, where does the time go?....no really, I want to know, I'm going to need to find some extra time somewhere.

Thanks for stopping by I love your visits....please leave a comment so I know you were here!

~ Philippians 4:13 ~

I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength!

Amen to that.

blessings,

nancy

Lily Pad Cards Color Throw-down

You do not want to miss this: the queen of color herself, Kathy Racoosin has thrown down this color challenge over at Lily Pad Cards:

Those colors shout summer and fun in the sun...can you hear them? It should have been the perfect opportunity make something with a beachy-sunny theme. But as is my usual process...I looked around at what was out already. So I grabbed some new Hero Arts sets and made a couple cards. I tested and played with ink colors until I had a combo that was close to the challenge colors.

For the citrus-y ice cream I used Memento dye ink in Tangelo, Dandelion and Pear Tart. I applied the color direct to the paper until I got the saturation I wanted. Then I stamped the image, from Life of the Party on each color. For the blue text background I used Hero Arts Shadow ink in Soft Pool and Distress Ink in Stormy Sky. I added Baby Blue Stickles to the cones and a scallop punched piece of paper from the Basic Grey Life of the Party 6x6 paper pad.

For this card I started with Hero Hues Designer paper in Sunshine, using it for the card base. I used the same ink from the previous card to stamp the images from Patterned Flowers and Luscious Frames randomly over the Canvas Stripe background. The scalloped border was punched from a scrap of white cs that I colored with Pear Tart Memento Dye ink using direct to paper. The sentiment is an SRM sticker.

Make sure you head over to Lily Pad Cards to get all the details and join in on this Color Throw-Down Challenge.

~ Psalm 46:10 ~

"Be still. And know that I am God."

blessings,

nancy

Another Attempt at a Scrapbook Page: Lauren and Reece

Over a year ago I won the most fabulous set of My Mind's Eye papers and embellies on the Wee Memories blog and I immediately fell in love and hoarded them. I took them out yesterday to begin an 8x8 layout for my great-niece's first birthday. I guess it's really a gift for her mom, but Reece is only one, I'm sure she won't mind.

The beautiful papers are from the Sundress line in the Laundry Line collection. I thought the colors were perfect for the photo. I gave Lauren the little Madras plaid dress for her baby shower. I just adore this photo taken last August when Reece was 5 months old.

It's just a simple little page and I left the journaling piece blank so Lauren can write her own thoughts. I'm giving the rest of the kit to her along with an 8x8 album, hoping to inspire another paper crafter in the family!
I used two Hero Arts stamps:Leaf Flourish (a favorite of mine) stamped in green on the title piece, and Write Your Own for journaling. Happy Birthday Reece...and Happy Scrapping Lauren!

~ Philippians 4:19 ~

"My God shall supply all your need

according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

blessings,

nancy

new stamps....

If you are here for the Lily Pad Cards Blog Hop, that post is HERE. Thanks.

My Fab Five winnings arrived this week:

I'm having so much fun with these...the Basic Grey cling flowers were used on the card HERE. I used the Small Solid Flower and Large Open Flower to make the background on this card:

This also features Hero Hues patterned paper and some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape. The subtle blue background was done using a Faber-Castell Gelato to ink my HA Floral Brocade Cling, then misting it with water, this is a second generation stamping. The Bird Collage was stamped over the top using Coffee Archival ink.

I also got a special package from Jane in Croatia. I ordered a Jane's Doodles Jane's Bakery Stamp set and some of the delicious buttons from her Etsy shop "Plain Jane".  Jane is so sweet, she even threw in some freebies; green buttons and some fun SRM stickers.

I'm looking forward to having some quality crafting time with those!

I've got one last card to share. It's made with Unity stamps and coordinating Cosmo Cricket Upcycle papers.

I  added Cosmo Cricket Upcycle Butterflies and Doilies Lovely Bits and twine from the Twinery.

~ Psalm 23:1 ~

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I have all that I need."

blessings,

nancy

Hoppy Fun with Lily Pad Cards

Welcome to the fabulous new Lily Pad Cards Blog Hop! I'm so happy to finally spill the beans about being a member of the Lily Pad Cards Design Team! What a thrill to be associated with all these wonderfully talented people.

The Blog Hopping fun started on Monday and has traveled the world via 7 blogs each day. With any luck, you should have arrived here from the blog of the mega-talented Kristina Werner.  Okay, this is a little like saying, "Now I'd like to sing a little ditty I just wrote" right after Sarah Brightman has just sung Nessun Dorma to a rousing standing ovation, but....

I'd like to welcome Lily Pad Cards to the crafting neighborhood with a card I made just for this occasion: 

I used a combination of Papertrey Ink, Lawn Fawn and Hero Arts stamps with papers from Basic Grey's Hello Luscious and Life of the Party collections.

Although the Lily Pad Cards Blog doesn't officially open until April 1, 2011, you’ll be able to see a new sneak peek every day until then. And you’ll definitely want to drop by because there are three prize packages with a total retail value of over $800- including a $100 gift certificate to a very popular online store! Go HERE for specific prize details and contest rules. Make sure to send Lily Pad Cards a friend request on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

This is the last stop for today but you won't want to miss what we have for you tomorrow starting with my friend from across the pond, the lovely and talented Lucy Abrams. Be sure to head to Lucy's Cards first thing Thursday morning (9:00 am EST).  If you hit a bad link, while hopping you can always go back here and click on the next link in the hop. Please report any bad links to webmaster@inlinkz.com

~ Psalm 19:14 ~

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

blessings,

nancy

Keep Cool

My favorite weatherman says we are going to have a bit of hot weather this week so I thought I'd make a card to encourage us in Southern California to "Keep Cool". The idea for the panels came from THIS card, it's Kristina Werner's Make a Card Monday card. I used some brand new Hero Arts flower stamps, Luscious Bold Flowers and of course the wonderful Lawn Fawn set "Swimsuit Season".

I hope you are all enjoying the Lily Pad Cards Blog Hop, there will be more fun and sneak peeks tomorrow at Lily Pad Cards. Don't miss it!

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ~

Always be joyful. Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances, 

for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

blessings,

nancy

Watercolor and Layered Stamping

I had an idea for this card to use some new papers I just got, but I just couldn't get it to work. I really wanted to use patterned paper though so I think I tried every paper in my stash but nothing good was happening. Things finally fell into place when I decided to channel my inner Jill Foster and play with ink and color.

The inky fun started with Hero Arts Silhouette Ivy (K5313), a stamp I use far too seldom, I'm afraid. I inked it with Versamark ink first, then I added some Distress inks to my craft sheet, spritzed them with water and used that to ink the stamp with color. I did this several times using Crushed Olive, Broken China, and Wild Honey inks separately. I heat set the watercolor elements then randomly over-stamped using Envelope Pattern (S5507) and Pumice Stone ink. The sentiment stamp (CRM163) from Stampendous was also stamped with Pumice Stone ink. The edges are distressed with Scattered Straw and Tea Dye Distress inks using an ink blending tool. I layered this panel to another inked panel. The only embellishing is some thin jute twine, an old HA flower from my stash and a pearly button. It probably could use a gem or two but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so there you have it!

~ Psalm 9:1-2 ~

I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

blessings,

nancy