Poinsettia Wreath Christmas Card...

 

Glacielle Design had an end of month sale and I couldn't resist the digital wreath stamp set, if you are interested the sale is on for a few days.  I did use a sentiment from one of the SU Paper Pumpkin kits and I turned the Just Add Ink sketch sideways, I was inspired by Tis the Season for Friends at Inspired By... I love the color of the poinsettia.   For those of you who visit from time to time you may caught on that I have a love affair with Poinsettias (perhaps because my mom loved them.)    Thanks for stopping by and have a safe week,   Kathy

 

Hosea 6.8 card....

There are lots of things I love about fall, the leaves turning colors, the leaves falling, relief from the summer heat, but the days getting shorter is not so good for me.   I chose this verse, because it's a reminder of how God uses the seasons in our lives.   I followed the Color Challenge ctd666 at Color Throwdown and used the sketch at Try Stampin on Tuesday. It isn't the verse for this week at WordArt Wednesday, but I am linking it there also.  My daughter liked the card.  She's visiting and I'm going to let her pick out some cards to take with her.   Since I don't sell for any companies, I am not listing what I used on this card, but just ask if you want to know something!   Thanks for stopping by,   Kathy

 

Vintage Dresses Card...

Some of my favorite times spent with my mother involved her "sewing" clothes for my sisters and me.  It was always so much fun to pick out the fabrics and patterns (although if we could not find a pattern, I drew her a picture and that worked just as well.)   When I saw the challenge over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge, I thought of red dress patterns, black and white trimmings, fabrics, rick rack and ribbons, oh my!   I had been musing over how to use the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches and decided this would work.  I went online at Etsy and downloaded a dress patterns digi, which of course I can use again...I saw one that was lingerie (vintage) and thought how cute that would be for a Lingerie Shower invitation. It took some doing but all in all I like the way it turned out.  Even my real red ink looks worn out and vintage on the sentiment.   I've got to order a re-inker!       Thanks for stopping in,   Kathy

 

Playful Penguins family Christmas card...

Making a slimline card and making a card with Playful penguins for the Inspired By challenge were two things on my card to do list.   When I saw the Freshly Made Sketch today I realized I could combine the slimline with the DSP and create a sweet Christmas card.    The sentiment is a retired CTMH but all the rest is current SU.    I fussy cut the critters, ran them through the xyron and then placed them on the green trees background then cut that with a sizzix square die and ran them back through the xyron.   I call it their family Christmas Card.   I'm sure their mom is so proud of all her fellers!           Thanks for stopping by,   Kathy
 

Black and White Polka Dot Pumpkin?

Behind every card is a story...the photo at Inspiration Station Blog was the beginning of my creative quest to make this card.   The lady in the photo looks perplexed (perhaps I was projecting my perplexity onto her.)  I had made a card with pumpkins for the last challenge, so what to do...while browsing through Etsy's downloadable paper packs for fall paper, I came upon some "interesting and different" paper.  It had polka dot pumpkins fall chrysanthemums in fall colors, but I liked the look of the black and white one.  It was my "great pumpkin."   I was inspired by the Inspiration photo to do a pumpkin again, but the color scheme was inspired by Card Concept challenge and I used a Try Stampin on Tuesday sketch.   I downloaded the paper and in basic Paint cut out the Panel and copied it in a Word program and printed.   Die cuts and Embossing folders added visual interest.   Thanks for looking,   Kathy

PS if you are interested, I made this masculine Card from the TSOT sketch 528...somehow I missed the date to link it by!   Ugh...need to watch that in future!  

 

Reel Deal Birthday Card...

The sketch at Try Stampin on Tuesday baffled me until this weekend.   I was looking thru my Power Poppy Digital stamps and came across the top image and could see this coming together.  I used Cinnamon Cider CS and the panel is an Etsy digital paper download.  I'm also participating at Seize the Birthday "anything goes."  It looked like rusted corrugated metal to me,  I used an SU embossing folder to add some depth.   I used watercolor pencils.  The sentiment is also from an Etsy download.   Since I don't have a dedicated scrap room, but use my guest bedroom, I am moving more to digital.   I plug in my flash drive and store everything there.

Thanks for stopping in.    Kathy

 

Lots of lines Birthday Card....

The challenge at Seize the Birthday is "Use a stencil."   I usually just do the anything goes, but I decided to use a stencil, only problem, I didn't have one, so  I ordered a collection from Amazon. To be honest,  I really was clueless about what to do until I made the stenciled panel and remembered this SU set Celebrating with flowers, and because my stenciled piece had curvy vertical lines Idecided that the panel needed horizontal straight lines.   I followed the sketch  from  Freshly Made Sketches.   I don't use purple or variations of it very often in my art work, but today I decided to be adventurous, and in addition to SU granite gray, I grabbed fresh freesia and soft succulent (from this years in-colors.)  The flower in this set doesn't stamp very well,  but maybe that's actually part of it's allure, definitely has that handmade look!  I finished it off with soft succulent enamels.  The way my MOJO has been this week, I'm just happy to get something made!         Thanks for stopping in!         Kathy

  

Vintage Vibe (hybrid) Christmas Card...

One last card this week, using a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.   The elements include a "fussy cut" wreath from Winter Rustic Papers download by Glacielle Designs, Sentiments from CTMH (retired) and SU Glad Tidings.   The Wood look Panel is from a download Etsy Design Lovers Studio.   I added the buttons to give it a Vintage look.  I had to print some extra holly and fussy cut to cover up a red ribbon that was on the wreath and it's a 5 x 7 card.   It will hold one of those newsletters that everyone thinks their friends are so happy to receive detailing how wonderful their lives are (although with Covid I'm sure everyone's lives has been affected to some degree). I did not reduce the wreath enough but I'm learning!    Thanks for looking and have a great week.    Kathy

 

Yellow Daisies Card...

I ran across this card (the card is below the stamp set) earlier today at Glacielle Designs that inspired me to make my card,  and it is loosely based on this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  I had planned to use some flowers that I downloaded a couple of weeks ago, but the colors just didn't work out--I don't think I let the print out sit long enough before I watercolored the images one of the flowers was bigger than the other.  The leaves are digital printouts.  Anyway I decided to use a stamp from the retired SU set Bloom With Hope and the sentiment is from the retired SU Autumn Blessings set.   It was in last years fall Occasions catalog (I think).  The DSP is SU retired and I used an embossing folder to give it more texture.   Thanks for looking,  Kathy

 

Psalm 119.125,129 Card

Thanks for stopping in.   Today when I visited WORD art Wednesday, I decided to try and create a verse card every other week using their freebie downloads.   The sketch I'm using and the color combo (off white, orange and blue) is the current challenge at Fusion Card Challenge.  While not their exact colors, this color combo is highly unusual for me, but all in all I like it!.  I have no idea what color the CS is, but the sequins are Blue Belle (last years CTMH color of the year).  The stamp and dies are from Autumn Greetings and the die set that goes with the stamp set.   The plaid is SU retired from last year.   The thread is linen also retired SU.  The card is 4 1/2 by 6 ish and the kraft panel is a piece my daughter had left over many years ago when she was scrapbooking.      May the truth of these verses take root in our hearts as we consider  how good and kind our creator God really is.    Blessings to you all,   Kathy

Gray with pop of red Christmas Card...

Welcome, thanks for stopping in!    Today's card is made up of three challenges.  I usually always start with a sketch and work from there and today's sketch is from Try Stamping on Tuesday.  One of the things I like about their sketches is that you  have a little over 2 weeks to figure out what you want to do.   The other two challenges are Sparkles Christmas Challenge # 129  Flora or Fauna and CAS Christmas "gray and red" which is one of my favorite combinations and since I bought SU's DSP Peaceful Place, I will be making quite a few gray/color cards this season!    The poinsettia is from Poinsettia Petals, which along with the die cuts is in the current SU catalog.   The leaves from a retired set Amaryllis Abloom provide a tone on tone look behind the wood look oval and the base is smoky gray.   The poinsettia is water colored with Real Red and Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil.   I am trying to kick my pepsi habit, and coffee just doesn't do it for me, so I apologize for how dull this must sound!      Have a safe weekend,   Kathy

 

Fall Festival Card...

It's time to play at Inspiration Station Blog again.   I won the random drawing for # 14 and recieved 2 digital images from ConieFongArt  Etsy.   After looking at the picture for challenge #15 I chose a set that included pumpkins,Sunflower, Happy Thanksgiving, and the image you see above.   I picked a floral bouquet called Floral Garden...very nice and there was lots of other cute images.  Looking at the photo took me back to my childhood living in the mountains of western NC.  I started thinking about how much we kids had in the fall.  We walked everywhere we went and at Halloween, the country miles did not slow us down in our quest to score big in the candy department.   I'm going to limit my trip down nostaglia to one other fall event that I might have enjoyed even more, "Chinquapin hunting."  These nuts could be eaten raw after peeling back the burr and rescuing them.  I read online that their flavor was similar to a Hazel nut,  although after not eating one for over 50 years I couldn't tell you!.   We would take every bucket we could locate and joining the neighbors from all over the county off we would go after school until dark and on Saturdays.   My sister and I were very close with 6 1/2 years between us with her being the oldest.  She looked out for me (and still does) and I followed her every where she went, so at 5 maybe 6 I joined the big kids for the hunt.  We probably shared ours at home, which probably worked to my advantage since you can see in the picture that robbing these burrs of this much desired delicacy required probably more skill than little delicate fingers possess.   The picture also reminded me of the many places we lived, always off the beaten path and  barely even paths to the houses some of the time, much less roads.   I roamed the mountains at will, changing my clothes when I got off the bus and walked (those trails) home, staying out until supper.   I loved when the leaves changed colors.   We moved to the upstate of SC when I was 12 and from that point on, neighbors were closer and when my husband and I bought our present home inside the city limits, we still had trees but let's just say we often know more of the neighbors business than we want to know, and probably vice versa.   My card takeaway was to use my new fall image and incorporate the colors from the picture.  Just being thankful to the Lord that we have seasons of harvest.  I colored in with Water Color Markers, I guess practice and you tube will bring improvement...the basket folder is old.   It was a fun challenge.

Thanks for stopping by, kathy

 

Galvanized metal Christmas card....

A week ago I saw this sketch on someone's blog (not sure who) but I visited the blog and decided to play along over at Fusion Card Challenge.    My card is a digital download from Glacielle Designs Wonderful Winter. I ended up doing the sketch since I wanted to try the poinsettia, and I learned that it isn't easy to color something this small with my colored with SU watercolor pencils,  Anyway I ended up putting an SU enamel in the center of each poinsettia, because there was no way for me not to smear in cherry cobbler.  I added more of the enamels,  they are in the current SU Occasions.  Thanks for looking!  Kathy

 

Wedding Bouquet Card....

My daughter came home for the weekend and she asked if I had a wedding card for a friend of hers.  and while I probably do have others, but I wanted to do something with the design for this week at FreshlyMade Sketches.   I am also participating in the Water Cooler Wednesday "All About Occasions" challenge and The Flower Challenge number # 61 "Use A Shape."   This card by JoAnn, helped me envision my card.   I have done flowers both live and silk for friend's weddings, creating both round and cascading bouquets.    In the 70's and 80's it was popular for cascading bouquets to almost touch the floor.  The bouquet shape I chose for my card is a "modified cascade" since the ribbon goes down toward the bottom of card..   I've done hand tied real roses and created a hand tied look in silk flowers. I also make arrangements to use when our "extended family" meets at the Evitt Cemetary once a year to decorate the graves of our loved ones.   If you would like to see I have some pictures and tell about our custom here.  Right now I am trying to get proficient at using SU watercolor pencils on watercolor paper, both on images I stamp as well as digital images.   It's a work in progress for sure!   On today's card I used an old CTMH stamp and a retired SU stamp set also, gray granite and basic white with a dotted swiss embossing folder as well as painted the center flowers with nuvo shimmer mist.  Thanks for stopping by!      Have a healthy week,   Kathy

Habakkuk 2.44

 

WordArt Wednesday is a source for beautiful Bible verses that you can download and use on your cards.   I am using one of their verses on today's card.    The sketch is inspired by Tuesday Morning Sketches and the dotted panel is from Sunflower Papers at Glacielle Designs.    The ribbon Blushing Bride is in the fall 2021 SU Occasions and the flowers are petite petals (retired).  My sweet cairn terrier, woke me up at 7:00 AM to go outside, (as a retiree I sleep late when I can)  it was pouring buckets and thundering and neither of us wanted to venture out the door, but when you gotta go you gotta go!    We have one more day to go and our current rainy season will abate (or so the weatherman says!)     Thanks for stopping by and blessings to all of you!       Kathy

Christmas Chickadee...

The Retro Rubber challenge this week is a  tic tac toe.   I managed to get across the bottom and down the middle.       The sentiment is SU and has been retired for years and just happens to be one of my favorite to use because it stamps so clean.  .   The bird and branch are CTMH and has been over a year since they were in a book.  The bird is die cut!   I was able to use markers and my stamparatus to get such a clean branch by coloring the branch and needles separately.  The panel was computer generated and I also stamped the bird on some of this paper and the base is Gray Granite.   Just a simple and clean Christmas card.       Thanks for stopping in, comments are welcomed!        Stay safe!         Kathy    

 

Digital Peony,,,

 There is a lot of round going on over at Tuesday Morning Sketches, so I grabbed a doily and downloaded this Peony from Glacielle Design.    I've included a tutorial from Power Poppy on how to watercolor computer generated images.     The tutorial recommends watercolor paper,  I did not do this method, but I will someday try it!  I used watercolor pencils and a brush and dabbed the brush on the part I cut away.   I printed on a 4x5 piece of cs in photo, using photo helps limit waste.   Using smoky slate as the base I added new enamels from the SU 2021 fall occasions.    They are having a sale through today at glacielle Design if you use the code FLASH60.    Their papers and images are gorgeous.  I'm loading all it on a flash drive so as to avoid crashing my computer.   More and more I see the need to move toward hybrid...I still love to die cut, fussy cut paste, and glue but I have developed a slight tremor so it can be challenging when stamping!     Thanks for stopping by,   Have a safe awesome week!    Kathy

 

Dog Hair-Who Knew?

With all that's going on in the world around me, I decided I needed to concentrate on "fun" for awhile.

I bought "Kinda Pawsome" from the bin project (big sale) and it has the cutest little dogs with dies and adorable sayings. I ussd a sketch from Try Stampin on Tuesday  I would send this to the dog lovers in my life just to say hi and encourage them.   Have a great weekend.    Thanks for dropping by,   Kathy