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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Moon Glow


This post is for the Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards. Today, our challenge is to create a card with as many items as you can that begin with the letter "R."  I chose to create a card with autumnal images featuring this gorgeous image of a Raven by Red Lead as is the chipboard tree. The image was layered over an orange tag, which was distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink and stenciled with the new Shattered Stencil by Tim Holtz and a one by Red Lead.  The rustling leaves clip art is from Gecko Galz, as are the pumpkins and Autumn Harvest sentiment.  The various elements were layered over an 8 x 8 card that was distressed with Vintage Photo DI and Idea-ology Tissue Tape.  I apologize for the delay in posting today.  My PC developed a virus recently and had to be hospitalized.  All is well now!  Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for today's challenge!  Hugs, Yvonne

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Blessings


Greetings!  My post today is entitled Blessings.  It is for the current challenge over at Inkspirational where we are challenged to create a project that is inspired by the gorgeous photo below.  

Before I continue talking about my card, I wanted to let you know, as valued friends, that my dear husband who has been battling cancer these past ten years, has suffered with several strokes this past week.  He is home now, and recovering.  Progress is slow, but we have much to be thankful for.  He can still see, talk and walk though the has lost use of his one hand.  As artists, we use our hands nearly every day in delight of our quest to create art.  How thankful I am for each day I still have this tactile function.  The doctor thinks with time and hard work he will regain use of his hand, so are thankful for that as well.  


For my card, I began with an 8 x 8 card base, which I distressed with Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.  I spritzed and flicked a bit of water on as well.  The beautiful image in the center of my wreath is from Gecko Galz.

The wreath was made from several die cuts and Grunge Board, all by Tim Holtz Alterations and Idea-ology. The pieces were painted with Ranger Rock Candy Crackle Paint and then using the Colored Crackle process I learned in Creative Chemistry 102, I blended various Distress Paints with a Blender Tool onto the pieces.  Next I used Tea Dye Distress Stain.  I think Vintage Photo Distress Stain would have been gorgeous, but alas, I do not have one.  

The pieces were assembled in a circle around the focal image.  A filigree metal corner, a complimentary piece from Linda Coughlin with an order from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and a vintage seam binding bow came next.  A simple sentiment by Gecko Galz completes my card. 

I hope you will pop over to Inkspirational to see what the rest of the Design team have dreamed up to inspire you and then consider joining us for our challenge!  Thank you so much for dropping by today my friends.  Love, Yvonne

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Tis Harvest Time


Greetings!  It is Wednesday and time for another Word Wednesday Card over at 365 Cards.  This week, our word is "Harvest." Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs.  The beautiful digis, the shock of wheat and the sentiment are by DRS Designs and were printed onto canvas paper, trimmed and water colored with Distress Ink.  The background was done with Distress Paints and the focal image is by Gecko Galz.  

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for your card. Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hugs, Yvonne

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Scary Cats and Pumpkins


Greetings! It's time for a new challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu! Our challenge this week is to create a project around Halloween. For my own card, I began with white card, stamping with a scary cat and the moon in the corner.  Next, the cat and moon by Red Lead were tinted with Gelatos. The bats and raven are stencils by Red Lead.  The card was then distressed with Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The sentiment is also by Red Lead, as are the Dresden cat and spider web.  The focal image is by Gecko Galz. A bit of seam binding and bakers twine complete my card.  Please check out Eclectic Ellapu to see all the great inspiration pieces and I hope you will consider creating a project of your own. Happy crafting!  Best, Yvonne

Let's Bake a Cake!


Hello!  The weeks fly by and here we are once again ready for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge.  This time around, we are challenged to create a card!  No tags, or other projects please.  For my own card, I began with an 8 x 8 card base. Using Tim Holtz Stencils and Black Soot and Festive Berries Distress Inks, I added stripes and random dots.  Next, using Wendy Vecchi Black Embossing Paste, I added stars using another Tim Holtz Stencil.  The focal images include the Blueprint Cupcake by Stampers Anonymous for Tim Holtz and two images from FlonzCraft.  Aren't they absolutely adorable?  To go along with the vintage color palette, I distressed all the edges with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I hope you will stop over to FSC and see what the rest of the Design Team has come up with and I sure hope you will submit a card of your own.  One lucky participant will win a $20 Gift Voucher for FlonzCraft, our generous supplier.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Yvonne

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Sewing Mends the Soul


Greetings my ever faithful followers.  I truly value your continued support and visits my to blog.  This week over at 365 Cards, the theme is Vintage, and for Wednesday, we are ask to create a card with vintage goodness that includes fabric in some way.  I had all sorts of thoughts about stamping on white or ivory fabric, but realized when I sat down to craft that all of my fabric is packed away and stored at the beach!  And so I moved on to Plan B! Back in the 80s, my former mother-in-law gave me a package of fabric squares suited to quilting.  I decided to work with a piece of blue gingham and stamped this new to me, adorable vintage little girl's dress with Black StazOn Ink.  The dress and all of the background stamps and sentiments are from Red Lead.  This was my first opportunity to ink them up and I must say they have fast become favorites of mine.  A hint of color was added to several of the buttons using Gelatos and my finger to blend.  I found the background to show through the fabric of the dress so I backed the dress with white card and trimmed it close to the fabric before adding it to the card front.  The entire base was distressed with Old Paper and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks.  I grunged up the dress with Old Paper as well as it seemed to bright white next to the background.  A bit of spritz and flick followed.  A seam binding bow, safety pin and some buttons came next.  The panel was matted with black paper and layered to an 8x8 card base. I look forward to seeing what you dream up for your own project. Thanks for stopping by.  Yvonne

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Explore, Discover, Dream


Greetings!  Just a quick post today before I head out to a Stamp Show in my hometown.  While cleaning up my art studio recently, I came across this card that I made recently for a challenge, but decided in the end to create something else.  As part of my studio clean up, I have packed away my beloved beach/ocean items. So for one last time, until next summer, here is a card I made celebrating my love of the beach.  The image is from Red Lead, the sentiments are from Artistic Outpost.  The background was done with Distress Inks.  I hope you are having a great weekend!  Hugs, Yvonne


Harvest Time


Greetings! Back today with an Inkspiration Post for our new challenge.  Please note, our challenges are now bi-weekly and beginning with this challenge will occur on Saturdays.  This time around, our challenge is simply:  Anything Goes.  It has been a super busy week for me and when I sat down to create my piece I realized the sky was the limit which can sometimes be daunting, at least for me.  I decided to look through my Gecko Galz images and found this beautiful image of a girl holding harvested wheat in black and white and from there everything feel into place.  I toyed with painting or using PanPastels on the card front but in the end decided to leave it white so the black and white image would pop. I purchased these gorgeous leaf dies by Tim Holtz late last fall and never had a chance to use them.  I had a lot of fun cutting them from white card and then chose a bunch of different autumn like Distress Inks to color them.  I added script text from Artistic Outpost using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  A bit of water drops using the spritz method came next.  I recently purchased the TH pumpkin and acorn dies, colored them with Gelatos and think they are nice addition.  Some black and white baker's twine and some brass leaves, a gift from Linda Coughlin with a purchase from her Funky Junkie Boutique and my card is complete.  Thanks so much for stopping by. Please stop over to Inkspiration to see what the rest of the team has to share with you and then I hope you will submit a project of your own.  Hugs, Yvonne


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Beatlemania


Greetings dear friends!  It is Wednesday and time for a new Word Wednesday challenge over at 365 Cards.  This time, the challenge is to ask someone in your family, or a friend, to give you a word for you to create a card around.  I asked my husband for a word for my own creation and he said "Quote."  Well, I immediately knew I wanted to used a new sentiment from a plate of images called Chalkboard Wisdom by Artistic Outpost with a line from a Beatles' Song.  I stamped several landmarks from London and a pigeon, also from Artistic Outpost, in the background and then added a clip art image, matted in red, by Gecko Galz. And there you have it, a simple creation, but my husband believes any one loving the Beatles would be delighted to receive my card.  Isn't he sweet?  Thanks so much for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne 

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Gathering Leaves


Greetings! There's a new challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu, and the Pink Team has stepped up to the challenge to create projects for the theme of "Celebrating Autumn."  Please stop over and check out their beautiful projects, and I hope you will be inspired to create one of your own.  I just love this time of year and really enjoyed working on this canvas.  I began by smooshing most of the recently released Seasonal Distress Paints onto a Craft Sheet and then spritzed with a bit of water and dredged the canvas through the paint. Several Tim Holtz Stencils were stenciled onto the canvas with Distress Inks and the honeycomb stencil, also by Tim Holtz, was embossed with Embossing Paste that was tinted with Gathered Twigs Distress Paint.  The stamped images are by Finnabair for Prima.  The gorgeous clip art is by Gecko Galz.  I hope you will join us and submit a project that celebrates Autumn. Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy this beautiful fall season.  Hugs, Yvonne

Once Upon A Time


Greetings! It is hard to believe another fortnight has passed and already it is time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge!  This time, the theme is to create a project with either a Mask or Stencil.  I hope you pop over to FSC to see what the rest of the Design Team have created to inspire you to create one of your own.  For my own project, I decided to work on a canvas rather than a card, which is where my comfort zone truly resides.  I recently purchased Gelatos and have been wanting to work more with them. I found a video online that shows laying Gelatos onto a Gessoed Canvas and then brushing Gesso over top of the bright colors to provide a creamy background. Next I used several Tim Holtz Stencils and Distress Inks to layer onto the canvas.  The rays at the top needed something so I cut out a yellow sun from fabric and adhered it to the corner and added some faux stitching.  The fun houses are by Francoise Papillon for Stampotique.  After stamping the first one, using a mask, I stamped another next to it.  The houses were water colored with Distress Markers.  The Mushrooms and Grasses at the bottom of the canvas are by Dylusions.  The children and kite are stencils by Andy Skinner.  The kite was embossed with Black Embossing Paste by Wendy Vecchi.  Buttons, twine, and chip board complete my card.  As always, FlonzCraft is our generous sponsor and one lucky winner will receive a gift voucher for $20. I hope you will join in! Best wishes, Yvonne

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Enjoy the Journey!

Greetings and welcome to my blog.  Thanks so much for dropping by!  Another week has flown by and it is time once again for a new challenge over at Inkspirational.  There are also a few changes. There is new leadership.  Several of our Design Team members were facing life changes and needed to relinquish a number of responsibilities accordingly.  We are now under the helm of Marina (thanks so much for taking on this responsibility) and of course as we bid farewell to some of the original Design Team, a huge thank you to Mynnette and Ellen co-owners and Ruth post coordinator for all their hard work in getting Inkspirational off the ground from its inception.  We have also decided to move to a bi-weekly format, allowing all of our followers a bit more time to create their own project.  As for this week's challenge, we have a color challenge, as shown below.  The twist though, is that you can pick either two or three of the colors with which to work.  I chose to use all three for my own creation.

I am working with a new to me image and sentiment that are from Penny Black.  The image and sentiment were stamped with Black StazOn Ink and then water colored with Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Pumice Stone to replicate the color palette above.  The image and sentiment were trimmed, distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink and layered over a gray mat which was first stenciled and embossed with embossing paste using stencils by Tim Holtz. A simple black and white piece of twine and metal tag holder by Idea-ology complete my card.  I hope you will pop over to see what the rest of the design team has come up with and welcome our newest design team member, Nonni, too.  Thanks for dropping by.  Best wishes, Yvonne

Harvest Maiden

Greetings!  It's Wednesday and that means it is time for another Word Wednesday Challenge over at 365 Cards! Our word this week is "Swirls."  I am traveling and was a bit limited as I left my swirl stamps back home.  Then I remembered these chipboard swirls in storage and immediately, my card came together.  The beautiful focal image is by Gecko Galz.  The stamped images on the card base are by Finnabair.  The base, focal image and doily were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and the swirls were colored with a Spun Sugar Distress Marker. A vintage seam binding bow complete my card.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will join in with a creation of your own.  Take care, Yvonne