Showcasing Sunflowers - Pt 2

Last week I showed you a pair of cards I created with The Cat’s Pajamas set - Sketchy Flowers.  I mentioned that I was able to make 4 cards out of the stamping, so I’m back today to show you a CAS pair made with parts from the first cards.  

When I stamped the first pair, I cut an inset frame out of the stamping using MFT’s Dienamics - Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle.  By cutting out that inset frame and allowing the under layer to show through, I had two tiny stamped scalloped frames left for another pair of cards.  I decided on a really Clean and Simple design using lots of white.  

I pulled out my Scor Board and my Scor Bug rotary tool to create a diagonal pattern on both cards, one using the bumps inverted, and one using the bumps out.  

Here’s the design showing the bumps out, so it almost looks like raised stitching.  The Bible verse is from Verve Scripture Medley 2. 

And here is the design that has the bumps inverted.  It almost looks like piercing on the design. 

To accent both of the cards I added one stamped sunflower and leaves and a few brown enamel dots to anchor the design.  

Another pair of encouraging cards that was quick and easy to make.  

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Showcasing Sunflowers - Pt 2

Scripture Series V

Wowee...it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to post cards from my Scripture Series! I’ve found this to be a hectic Winter and Spring.  I think it was getting behind having pneumonia for a month, and then renos at our house, and I feel like I’ve never been able to catch up!  Maybe today some of you are feeling like that too.  

But I’m finally back today with another pair of cards showcasing Scripture that means so much to me.  

Yesterday we put on a celebration for all our Administrative Staff at Church.  Once a year we Pastors make a special lunch for all our staff that faithfully fill so many significant support roles.  

And, because I like to, and they let me, (smile), one of my jobs is to make the cards for each of them that go with a gift.  

This first design is for one of our friends who served as a ministry assistant to one of our Pastors, in just a few weeks he’s graduating from Seminary and will be looking for a new role as a full-time pastor.  We’ll miss him greatly, but also really believe in him.  So for his card I wanted to also have an encouraging theme for his next phase of life.  I love lighthouses.  This pretty set from ODBD is called Light of the World. 

I stamped the lighthouse on XPress It Blending cardstock and coloured it up with Copics.  I really wanted to get that pop of red in there so I created stripes on the lighthouse design.  I added a frame with some MFT pierced oval dies to give it a porthole feel, even though I’m pretty sure portholes are circles.  

I wrapped some baker’s twine around the frame, added some brads and kept it in that masculine feel.  

I just barely fit the sentiment on the centre fishtale section (which is also almost not a fishtale as I had to keep the cut quite shallow.  I left off the reference for space, but it’s from Matthew 5:14 - 16.  

Next up is another masculine design.  It's not one I used for our Adminstrative staff, but one I created to send to my Sister-In-Law.  

The one drawback to this card that I regret is that the polka-dots do camouflage the sentiment a little, but I do love how the overall design worked out.  Its stamped with Verves set Scripture Medley 2.   I framed the sentiment with a scalloped die, added a bracket symbol cut with my Silhouette Cameo, and accented with some brads, black velvet ribbon and a ribbon slide.  

On the close-up you can see the verse a little better.  With such a powerful verse, you really want to see the message!

Thanks for stopping by friends.  Catch up with you soon!  

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Scripture Series V

Scripture Series IV

Back for another pair of cards with Bible verses as the centerpiece.

This design uses Verve’s set Scripture Medley 2, and I think it its a verse of encouragment and challenge all rolled into one.  Faith has substance and is a future hope, and yet we don’t see it yet....so that’s the challenge!

I combined some lovely damask and dotted papers as well as accenting with MFT’s Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle dies, Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles, and then the pretty bow is from The Cat’s Pajamas Easy Stitched Bow CutUps die.  

A few pretty pearls finish it off.  

Who doesn’t have days where fear creeps in and bullies us around?  This verse is such a good encouraging reminder of what to do.  

This next design uses a couple of sets, the verse is from Our Daily Bread Designs’ set, Scripture Series 1 and the background and accent flowers are stamped with Verve’s Dream Big (which I have on sale right now on my SALE PAGE if you’re interested).  I thougth the blossoms in the Verve set went well with these papers from Stampin’ Up from many years ago.  Including that stitched ribbon and the buttons too.  

A couple of the dies are from MFT,  Stitched Square Scalloped Frames, and Stitched Mini Scallop Circle,  and I believe the regular stitched circle die is from Simon Says Stamps. 

That’s it for today, thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you tomorrow with something HOT from Power Poppy!  

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Scripture Series IV

Scripture Series II

Today I’m back with another pair of cards in my Scripture Series.  This particular Bible verse is our daughter’s favourite verse, and we all find it to be such an encouragement of God’s might and his tender love.  

One of the things I’ve been doing in creating these cards is going through my stash of older designer papers and pulling out combinations I like to create the cards.  Without colouring as the focal point, I find that colour combinations and pattern play a more important role in creating interest on the card.  Plus, it helps me work through my mountain of older papers as well.  I thought this pretty white, red and green combo was fresh and perfect for this design.  

I started with Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Series 1 set, stamping in Wild Wasabi green ink and added some sewing to frame the image, a pretty heart (TCP’s Nested Hearts CutUps), finishing it off with a bit of Baker’s Twine.  

Next up is a verse from Verve Stamps that is also such an encouragement.  Because it talks about the Lord lifting our heads I wanted to use some bright sunny colours.  This set is now in the Verve Scripture Medley 2 set, but it used to be just a Plain Jane stamp set.  

I used a fun layout, and then embellished with some butterflies from TCP’s Butterflies CutUps, popped them up and added some enamel dots to accent.  

I hope these are an encouragement to you today as well!  

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Scripture Series II

Scripture Series I

Hello Friends,

My sister-in-law had a birthday recently and one of the things I like to do for her every now and then is to send some cards with Scripture on them.  She loves to give them to people in her life.  As I was making a dozen or so cards for her,  I thought I’d then show them to you over a few week's time.  Maybe it will turn into a bit longer series, as I’ll create more that I can then use too.

I find this to be a really good creative challenge, since most of my cardmaking has colouring as the center piece of what I do.  In all of these designs the sentiment, or Bible verse will be the centerpiece of the card, so its much more about layout, patterned paper and overall design that the colouring.  Most of the designs will have a clean and simple style as well.  So, I hope you’ll enjoy this over the next weeks, along with my regular style of colouring images for my cards.

As I looked through my stamps I realized that I have a lot of great Bible verses to use, so it’s really delightful to choose meaningful ones for these cards.  This first design uses an Our Daily Bread Designs set, Scripture Series 1.  I embossed the Bible verse from Psalm 73 onto watercolour paper and added in a wash of purples with my water brush.  Next, I framed it up with an MFT scalloped rectangle die, flipping the outside of the frame from the inner rectangle 180 degrees.  This adds some variety from the inside watercolouring to the outside frame.  

I added some pretty posies from a Verve set, Poppy Birthday, using several different purple inks between the layers.  On the background I used an embossing folder for the designer paper and sanded the paper a bit so that the white would show through.  Some scallops along the top and a bit of lace finishes the bottom edge off.  For a girl who doesn’t usually reach for purple first, I really like how it turned out.  And, a powerful promise of encouragement too.  

Next up is a design with a little more masculine style.  I used Our Daily Bread Designs set, Light of the World for this one.  On the cream patterned paper, I stamped the lighthouse image in Memento Summer Sky in the background and the Bible verse in the forground in Memento Olive Grove.  I created a little “port-hole” out of stitched circle dies, and then added more patterned paper and tied it all together with a double sailor’s knot and some buttons.  

So, there you have week one!  I’ll be back tomorrow with some Power Poppy colouring for you!  Thanks for dropping by!  

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Scripture Series I

Best of 2015 - Part 1

Hello Friends!  I’ve collected up my favourite creations of 2015 to recap for you again this year.  I realized as I looked at my posts that this was a year I didn’t have nearly as much time to create as in other years.  Working almost full-time for a good portion of the year really changed my creative time.  I still feel so grateful for the chance to colour and put cards together whenever I can, and I so appreciate you coming by to visit and your kind comments!  I hope to have a more regular blogging schedule in the year ahead.  

January

Powerful Poppies

Ocean Prayers

February

Poppy Birthday 

March

Can We Be Friends?

Need Space?

Dragon Baby

April

Birthday Bunny

Dreamy Galaxy

Bloom

May

Amazing Azaleas

June

Go Wild

Pencilled Poppies

Air Time

Back tomorrow for round two!  

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Best of 2015 - Part 1

Refuge

I have a friend who is going through an extraordinarily difficult time.  She has been on my mind and in my prayers a lot, so as I was digging through my stamps yesterday, I came across this verse that would be a good encouragement for her.  It’s from Verve - Psalm 94:15 .  It’s one I hope she can cling to.  

I used this week’s Mojo Sketch, as it was perfect for making the Scripture center stage.  I embossed the verse on Navy cardstock, used some stitched dies to accent the design, then coloured and added the flowers from Poppy Birthday to accent with some die cut leaves and paper from Carta Bella (Hello Again).  

I also embossed the inside of the poppy flowers and added some pearls to accent and go with the lace.  Below are the Copics.  You might be wondering where that navy came in?  I used it to colour in the center of the flowers.  It’s a subtle effect but rather than black flower centers,  the tone of the navy ties it into the design a bit better.  

Thanks for coming on by!  I appreciate your visit!

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Refuge

Poppy Birthday

I’m ready for something cheerful after a few snowy cloudy days, how about you?  After I finished my “chores” today I sat down to play a little with the Mojo Monday sketch and some Verve.  This set is called Poppy Birthday and I really love the sketchy doodly feel to the blossoms.  I also really love orange and fuchsia together for some bright cheerfulness so that’s where all this went.    The blossoms are stamped and coloured with Copics (see below for colours), and then cut out.  I created a circular frame with a TCP Cut Ups die and then plugged it all into the sketch with some random designer paper I had in my stash.  

I’ve looped some baker’s twine behind the flowers and stamped the background in Memento ink.  

Well, my last couple of weeks have caught up with me.  I’ve had a cold for a week, my daughter had the stomach flu yesterday, my husband has been gone for 8 days (coming home today!), and that’s left me as one tired girl.  I’m headed for a nap!  Hopefully this has cheered you up today!  

Thanks for dropping by!  

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Poppy Birthday

Amazing Poppy Birthday

Today was a GREAT mail day!  I ordered a couple of sets recently and 2 packages came today.  One is super top secret....(can’t wait to show you!), and the other package was a couple of sets from Verve.  I think the Poppy Birthday set is gorgeous and I couldn’t wait to get it!  So, I unwrapped it and stamped it right away!  

I love the multiple possibilities of this set, and I knew right away I wanted to start by stamping the outline of the poppies and then colouring them with Copics and layering them, using this week’s Mojo Sketch.  

The papers are Echo Park Style Essentials, and I used a Spellbinders Border die for the scallops and a little organdy ribbon.  Such a pretty font too don’t you think?  

Have an amazing day!  

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Amazing Poppy Birthday

Baby Boy Boat

The other day a friend of mine bought a number of cards from me and said, “Christine, you need more baby cards!”  It’s true, all my immediate friends are “done” having kids and it’s only the girls I’ve mentored over the years that are now having kids, so it’s not the first card I think of making :)  I thought I’d remedy that tonight, with at least one card.  I played with the Mojo Sketch of the week and a couple of Verve sets, To the Moon and Text Objects.   Great sketch isn’t it?  I thougth it would work with this nautical theme.  

The papers are Fancy Pants - Down by the Shore, and I’ve created a wavy border, some fishtale banner flags, adding some twine and enamel dots.  Sweet and simple!  

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Baby Boy Boat

Faith is the Substance

Just playing around a little bit with the Mojo Sketch this week.  I've been working on some new release things for Flourishes to show you .... soon :) , and just thought I'd take a little break to work with this sketch.  Verve Plain Janes are so great I have to say.  This one is Hebrews 11:1, and I paired it with another great Verve set One Person.  I thought the flower in that set looked a lot like the paper here, MME - Unforgettable.  I like the warm folksy feel it has.

I cut slits in the ribbon "leaves" to break it up a bit.  Since the sketch was quite detailed I wanted to keep things pretty simple, so some pretty pearl accents and that's it! 

Copics:  BG13, BG15, BG18, BG72, E27, E29, E79.  

Ink:  Memento Teal Zeal, Memento Tuxedo Black

Back tomorrow with Flourishes March Pre-Release Challenge!  Can't wait!

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Faith is the Substance

New Mercies

There's just something about yellow isn't there?  It conveys joy, hope, encouragement.  It's our youngest son's favourite color too :)  I think it's perfect for cards like this.

This is one more in the sets of cards I made for my SIL.  I love the words in this hymn and this sweet set from Verve - New Mercies.   What's been so fun about making these card sets has also been pulling out older supplies I haven't used in a while, in this case some older SU papers I had in my stash.

I colored up the sun and clouds with some copics and framed out the sentiment with a Fleur De Lis Squares from Spellbinders that are so pretty, and set that in front of an embossed square that mimics a bit of the floral clouds.  Finished with a bit of satin ribbon and some pretty green rhinestones.  

Hope you can come back tomorrow...I have something VERY special to give away!  Can't wait to show you!

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New Mercies

Hope Perches

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I made a number of card sets for my sister-in-law?  I haven't shown you all of the sets yet, and today's pair with the wonderful hope-theme seemed fitting for all we're experiencing :)   I love the thought of hope perching...ready to fly.  

This Hope Perches set from Verve seems perfect to pair with this little bird punch from SU!  I embossed the little bird with one of my folders to give it some extra texture and paired it with some older paper I had in my stash.  

Just a few pretty additions like the rhinestones and pretty lace to accent.  

As you can see I highlighted "hope" with an R27 copic just to make it stand out, because of course, that's the most important word in there :)  

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Hope Perches

Faith Is...

Back with another set for the SIL!

I picked some cool colours for this one.  One thing that has been really fun about doing this project has been digging out old papers that I haven't used forever.  While it's really fun to use what's new, I'm not a person who ever likes to waste, so it bothers me when I have older papers just sitting.  Papers that are perfectly great still.  This is some older SU paper, with a retired colour - Sage Shadow.  I always thought it was the prettiest shade of cool green.

I was going for a design that could still be a little masculine, so I cut out the Plain Jane - Hebrews 11:1 with Spellbinders Hexagons die.  Angular always seems to work for guys don't you think?  And I love how just a simple switch of papers gives a different look to each design.  

Along with the Plain Jane, I used some leaves from the Dream Big Set, stamped in Sage Shadow, trimming them out and accenting with a little corduroy button and some twine.  

We're limping along a little here with my husband's broken wrist.  I feel so bad for him!  He's still in quite a lot of pain and he's trying his best to live life as a lefty, but it's really hard!  Can't wait till we can get some news from the surgeon this week!  Otherwise I'm going to have to learn how to shave his beard for him :)  That could be interesting!

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Faith Is...

In Bloom Sets

I'm continuing to work on some card sets to send to my sister-in-law for her Birthday that I started showing you last week.  I've decided that I'm going to focus on sentiments in these sets, which is really unlike me :).  But I've been having fun with them, and the freedom to do something different with whatever I want to create with.  I've created 10 sets that I'll show you over the next weeks. 

My sister-in-law is a Bible Study Fellowship leader so I know she'll appreciate having the Scripture stamps.   You can click on these to make the pics larger.  I know when I show two at once it makes them look so small.  

This is made with another Plain Jane from Verve Psalm 3:3, and I've paired it with some MME paper I picked up from Michaels, In Bloom.  It's pretty isn't it?  I'm trying to create very similar cards, but with some change-ups in papers.  I sponged the sentiment in some soft Blush Blossom ink from SU, framing it out with some elegant Spellbinders dies.  

A little closeup, using this last week's Deconstructed sketch.  

A quick post for today! Hope this finds you well! 

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In Bloom Sets

Sister Sets

I'm working on some designs for my sister-in-law for her birthday.  I often make and send her cards because that's what she likes :), so I stock her up on cards to give.   I have a bunch of Verve Plain Janes I want to incorporate for her, and some other things...so we'll see how much I get done.

Here's the first 2.

I've used Verve's Isaiah 61:3, a beautiful word of hope.  My SIL loves red, so I pulled out this pack of older MME - The Station, and made similar cards, with the same layout and set of paper just put together slightly differently.

The dies I layered are really gorgeous, Spellbinders Exquisite Circles.  A little Ranger Distress Pumice Stone, some lace and pearls and that's it!

Enjoy your Monday friends!  I'm back at work tomorrow and also getting ready for the Flourishes Release this week!

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Sister Sets