Journey into Artistry

Afternoon Tea

2012-02-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I am sharing another card with you today made with images from the newly released London Elements by Artistic Outpost. I have also used images from Loverly London, also by Artistic Outpost. I just love how London Elements has expanded the versatility of the Loverly London and London Underground plates and I really love how the Afternoon tea and teacup, spoon and sugar can be used with this lovely lady to make a really feminine card. I began with Sea Salt card base and added some cabbage rose background paper. Images were stamped on card stock with Black Memento Ink and watercolored with Distress Inks. Embellishments include vintage buttons, cheese cloth, Ideology spinner pieces, and lemon yellow striped ribbon. Have you had an opportunity to check out the London Elements Artistic Gallery, yet? Why not make yourself a nice hot cup of tea, and browse through these beautifully inspired projects! Thanks for stopping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

Flourishes and Diamonds

2012-02-27T16:54:00.004-05:00

It's Monday and there's a new challenge over at the Make My Monday Challenge. We continue with the Romance theme and for Week #38, our specific challenge is "Flourishes and Diamonds." True confession: When flourishes hit the scene in the mid 2000s, I absolutely thought I had to have such a stamp. By the time I bought a set, I think I missed the wave. I rarely use them. So it was kind of interesting to unearth them for this challenge. I began with a mushroom colored card base, stamped flourishes by Autumn Leaves with Black StazO Ink. Black lace and vintage black seam binding were layered onto the card base followed by a white doily. The clip art image is from Love Letters 1 by Crafty Individuals and is mounted with black paper. A sentiment was added by Stampsmith to a Martha Stewart Label and attached to the card front. Rhinestones were added to the card front along with black seam binding bows and a vintage inspired rabbit die cut. Wishing each of you a wonderful week. Best wishes, Yvonne

Spring is Here!

2012-02-26T20:49:00.006-05:00

Well, it is Sunday evening, here in the states. My post today is for the current challenge at PanPastel UK Challenge. This week the theme is to include "Ribbon" in our project. I began with a piece of card stock. I added three different shades of PanPastels in shades of yellow/green to the card stock for a lovely soft background and trimmed my card stock into a tag shape. I wrapped a doily around the tag, inspired by a tag I saw on Pinterest earlier today. The stamped images are from the Birds of a Feather plate by Artistic Outpost. Finishing touches include eggs at the top of the tag are under Ideology Fragment Charms, vintage black seam binding, liquid pearls and feathers. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week. Best, Yvonne

For a Precious Child

2012-02-25T19:01:00.004-05:00

Wow! It is hard to believe that another two weeks have gone by and it is time for another challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge. For this time, our challenge is to create a project "Make it for a Child." This is actually the third card I created for the challenge. While the others were for a child, they just weren't the special one I wanted for our challenge. When I created this one, I knew almost instantly, this was the one! I'm sure I am not alone in this. I'm sure all of you have to feel like what you create for a challenge or an occasion is right, too!

For my card, I began by selecting this sweet image from a miniature book from Crafty Individuals. I matted the image and mounted it to a paper doily. Since the little girl is holding her favorite doll, I decide to stamp various vintage toys from Invoke Arts to compliment the main image. After trying different arrangements, I decided to group them together as though they were sitting on a toy shelf for the little girl to chose from. Simple embellishments include gifted braid, which I distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, seam binding, pearls, a heart sticker and metal winged heart from my stash, tied with a bit of Baker's Twine.

I encourage you to stop over to FSC to see all the gorgeous inspiration pieces that my sisters on the Design Team have created and I hope you will be inspired to created a project of your own to share with us. Please remember that we are a stamping challenge so we need to see stamping on your project. You will want to check FSC for all the specifics. Thanks so much for stopping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

'Tis Spring

2012-02-25T12:14:00.006-05:00

I hope you are having a relaxing weekend. For my post today, I created a card with a Colors of Spring theme for a new to me challenge over at The Stamp Man. I began by selecting this clip art image from Love Letters 1 and this butterfly image from a Miniature Book, both from Crafty Individuals. I mounted them to a soft pink doily, which was mounted to a mauve card base. I stamped the eggs and sentiment from the Birds of a Feather plate by Artistic Outpost with Black StazOn ink onto scrap card stock and watercolored the eggs with Broken China and Spun Sugar Distress Inks and mounted them to my card front. Simple embellishments include cream colored lace, winter white seam binding, a vintage-style rabbit die-cut image, a feather and pearls. I decided not to include a bird, as the feather and eggs suggest its presence, already! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Best wishes, Yvonne

P.S. Just reminder, about my Third Anniversary Giveaway. There is still time to leave a comment, through February 29, and be eligible for the random drawing!

Fly Guy

2012-02-24T09:01:00.005-05:00

It's Friday and the weekend has begun! My post today is for several challenges. The first is for Bloggers' Challenge. The theme this week is a color challenge of Red, Black and White. The second challenge is for Gingersnap Creations where the challenge is to create a project with Two Colors Only.

I decided to create my card using some of the new images from the Charles and Amelia plate and the Industrial Chic plate from Artistic Outpost. Normally, I would have been inclined to add a bit of color to the images, but for these challenges, that wasn't a viable option. I think the strength of these images stand firm with little to no added colors and keeping them mostly black and white lends a vintage feel to the card. Images were stamped with Black StazOn ink and Barn Red Distress ink and distressed with Black Soot, Worn Lipstick and Barn Red Distress Ink, with the exception of the gears in the background, which were stamped with Cloud White VersaMagic ink.

The plane is attached with pop dots for added dimension an embellishments include re-purposed ribbon, liquid pearls, sprocket from Idealogy, and photo corners from my stash. Hoping you have a fabulous weekend. Best wishes, Yvonne

Birdsong

2012-02-23T10:17:00.003-05:00

I recently came across a challenge blog called Dragrons Dream Tag It On (TIO) and am really enjoying the unique challenges they present us with each Wednesday. This week, our challenge is based on the novel "Bird Song." I must confess I was not familiar with the book, but I researched the plot and found it is based on WW 1, takes place in Paris and London, and involves romance and intrigue. Luckily, I also learned that PBS is airing Bird Song on Masterpiece Theater in April, so I hope to check it out. Looks like a good read, too! My tag includes images from a Miniature Book by Crafty Individuals, as well as stamped images from the Bluebird plate by Artistic Outpost. My tag began with a Mushroom colored card stock cut into a tag shape. As I studied the clip art images, I decided to pull out my PanPastels and voila, a mottled background of lavender, pink and purple! I began with white lace, but abandoned it for the intrigue of black lace. Oh the drama! A few pearls for the lady, some vintage black seam binding and a teacup for England, a magenta brad and some colorful braid for the top of my tag and my card is complete.

A Girl and Her Dog

2012-02-22T17:41:00.006-05:00

Happy Wednesday to each of you! After an overnight in the hospital, my dear husband is back home and doing much better. Thanks to each of you who expressed concerned. It's always a good feeling to have normalcy, isn't it? I managed to steal away for a few minutes today to make this card while my DH was having some tests. I have decided to try making some cards in a new shape. Change is good, yes? Using a robin egg blue card base, I added some beautiful white lace to the top and bottom edges. For my focal image, this adorable clip art image from a Miniature book by Crafty Individuals is matted and mounted to a white doily. I added Idealogy gauze flowers to the each side. The bow is fashioned out of vintage, gifted ribbon. The paper hearts by Martha Stewart hold vintage pale blue buttons. I am not sure what the buttons are made from, but it is not plastic. They are quite heavy and almost feel like clay or pottery! They are from my son-in-law's elderly grandparents who ran a General Store for many years. To add a bit of whimsy, I've stamped this Artistic Outpost sentiment from the Think and Wonder plate with Black StazOn ink. I hope this post finds you healthy and content. My best to you always, Yvonne

Artistic Outpost New Releases!

2012-02-22T01:01:00.016-05:00

The wait is finally over! Artistic Outpost is pleased to bring to you four brand new rubber stamp collections that are vintage, edgy, and extremely artful. We are happy to present: Diesel Punk, Charles & Amelia, Industrial Chic, and London Elements.

What is Diesel Punk? What happened to Steampunk? We still very much love the Victorian magic that is the rage of steampunk, however, we decided to advance the timeline and the trend to a more modern look. It’s like steampunk, but with a combustion engine. To us, Diesel Punk is a style that blends the “edge” of steampunk with the art and culture of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. We think of motorcycles, roadsters, red lipstick, trench coats, jetpacks, and jet engines. Three of our new releases evoke our interpretation of this style.

Below you will find images of these exciting new Artistic Outpost plates, projects I have created using the new stamp releases, along with some previously released Artistic Outpost images and sentiments, in some cases, to showcase how well all Artistic Outpost stamps work together. These new plates are available as unmounted sheets of red rubber or pre-trimmed and mounted on EZMount cling foam. Stamp sheet measures 8.5" x 5.5".

Diesel Punk: Includes images of good looking guys, a beautiful dame, a kid ready to be a rocketeer, and fast machines to tempt their fates.

For my card, I chose tones of ivory, red and black. The woman in this plate is so classy, I just had to set her off with black accents and a pearl! The vintage buttons, ribbon and lace compliment and complete her 40s look.

Charles and Amelia: Images featuring the king and queen of the skies when flying was more than transportation – it was an adventure.

For my card, I have incorporated images from both the Charles and Amelia and the Industrial Chic plates. I love how these images work so well together. The options are endless! I added a few metal sprockets and silver liquid pearls to complete my spirited card.

Industrial Chic: Backgrounds for any of your projects – steam, diesel, or any other kind of punk.

For my card, I again incorporated images from the Charles and Amelia plate with those from the Industrial Chic plate. The images from the Industrial Chic plate really work well for filling in my background as I challenge myself to stamp my backgrounds more and use less designer paper. He's one handsome fellow, don't you think? And the airplane in this plate, love it! I haven't used it my samples here, but I'll be showcasing some future samples with it.

London Elements: More of our favorite images featuring the fun icons of London.

What a great time for more London stamps! I really had a lot of fun with this card. I enjoyed working with all the new London landmarks and incorporating sentiments from the London Underground and Loverly London plates. The post card was created from the Ephemeral Background plate. My son is going to love the phone booth. He's a huge Dr. Who fan. I am especially enjoying having the pigeon image and London Bridge to add to my card making fun. And the tea cup...love it!

Speaking of tea, why not grab a cup of coffee or brew a pot of tea, relax and take a few moments to be inspired by the Artistic Outpost Design Team Members who have created amazing creations using these new releases? You are going to love them!

Gerrie Johnnic; Lisa Somerville; Suzanne Czosek; Anita Houston; Linda Coughlin ; Tracy Evans;

Vintage Romance

2012-02-21T23:36:00.004-05:00

Hello! I thought I would get this posted earlier today, but my dear husband has not been well. So here I am just before midnight, posting! Today, I am posting a card I made for this week's challenge over at Make My Monday, which is "Vintage Romance." After considering my stamps, I decided to use this clip art image from a Miniature Book from Crafty Individuals for my vintage image. I also stamped this beautifully captured version of the Eiffel Tower with Black StazOn Ink on glossy paper. The sentiment and the Eiffel Tower are Stampsmith images. My card base is robin egg blue, the matting is robin egg blue and red. Embellishments include a red doily heart, vintage lace and seambinding, German scrap and pearl accents. It's been a long day. Hoping tomorrow brings my dear husband closer to good health. Take care everyone. Yvonne

Third Anniversary Giveaway!

2012-02-21T00:01:00.002-05:00

It was three years ago, today, on February 21, 2009, that I took the leap and created my blog. For the first two plus years, I was posting away, and wondering how in the world I would ever get anyone to see my posts! It really was me talking to myself! Last May, I stumbled onto a Challenge blog while searching the Internet and suddenly I figured out how to find others who had the same passion as me for cards and other paper crafts.

I have met so many wonderful, talented artists through my blog, but even more important, I have made treasured friends. Friends that I chat with throughout the week, not just about our art, but about life. We pray for one another, we encourage one another. Am I lucky or what?

Some of my other Design Team sisters at Fashionable Stamping Challenge have recently held anniverary giveaways, and I thought it was such a gracious act of thankfulness, so I thought I would take their lead. As a thank you for all of you who brighten my world, I have pulled together some goodies that I would like to share with one lucky person. Between today and the end of February, if you would like to be included in the random drawing, please leave a comment on this post. A random winner will be selected in early March and I will post the winner on my blog on March 3.

Many of you who visit my blog are already followers, and I do so value your support, however, I am not requiring you to be a follower to be a part of the drawing, but of course if you would like to do so, here's thanking you in advance! Please feel free to let others know about the giveaway, too!

My best to each of you. Yvonne

Cheerio!

2012-02-20T19:18:00.005-05:00

Happy Monday, everyone! This card is for a new challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show - Take Your Pick: London, Paris or New York. As you can see from my card above, I chose London! I decided to go with non-traditional colors for my card and all images and sentiments, by Artistic Outpost, are stamped in either Black StazOn Ink or Wild Honey Distress Ink. The card base and the various elements were distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. A touch of Glossy Accents on Big Ben, vintage black seambinding, a crown, and an Ideology hinge clip and memento holder complete my card. Hoping your Monday is going well. Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne

Sweet Innocence

2012-02-19T13:32:00.005-05:00

This is my second post of the day. Please scroll down if you would like to see my first! I came across a new challenge today for me while working on another challenge. This one is for Card and Scrap and the theme is "Buttons." I began with my focal image, CI-277, by Crafty Individuals, stamped with StazOn, trimmed and colored with Copic Markers. The image was mounted with foam dots onto a doily that was distressed with Spun Sugar Distress Ink. I added pieces of background paper to the card base and stamped nursery images by Inkadinkado onto them. On the fourth section, I added a sentiment from Crafty Individuals. Embellishments include gingham ribbon, a pink safety pin, pink and white Baker's Twine, and vintage buttons. It's hard to see, but I also added some Frosted Lace Stickles to the various nursery images. Hope your day is going well. Yvonne

Little Cowboys and Horses

2012-02-19T12:40:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone! So many of my dear blog friends have been fighting illness and to each of you I am wishing you renewed health and strength. My first post for today is for a challenge over at PanPastels UK Challenge. This week, the challenge is "Animals." I started my card late last night for another challenge and had grabbed these horses before going to bed to add to my card. When I saw the PP Challenge this morning, I decided to pull out my PP and focus on this challenge instead. I began with this precious stamp of two little cowboys by Crafty Individuals. This was my first time using this stamp. I believe I was drawn to acquiring this stamp as when my brother and I were little, our parents would dress us up in cowboy vests, hats, holsters and boots. We were the apple of everyone's eyes and the subject of many photographs and home movies, I understand. Roy Rogers and Annie Oakley ruled the day. It was a different time. I added this lush dark red to the DP background paper to make the horses pop. I also added several shades of PP to the background of the Cowboys. Simple embellishments include a snippet of burlap, a vintage button and repurposed black safety pin and twine that were on a Valentine gift I purchased for my DH. Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne

A Dip in the Waves

2012-02-17T17:53:00.006-05:00

It's Friday! Let the weekend begin! It also means it is time for a new challenge over at Bloggers' Challenge. This week, we are challenge to create a project with a Beach theme. I recently acquired a new set of beach-themed stamps CI-278 by Crafty Individuals. In addition to the sun bather/wader, I was really drawn to the beach huts. We don't have beach huts to speak of along the eastern coast of the U.S., at least not at any of the beaches that I have frequented. When I first saw them, my interest was peaked. I sure would like to know how common they are and where they are popular! For my card, I began with Kraft card base. I built up my panel by tearing patterned blue paper to resemble waves going ashore. The top half of the card includes a sandy patterned paper. The beach huts were watercolored with Distress Ink and mounted with pop dots. The sun bather/wader was stamped with Black StazOn ink and also watercolored with Distress Inks. To balance my card, I added a sentiment included with the set, several sea gulls and a Bourne Mouth postmark. The panel was mounted to white and black paper and simple embellishments include aqua and white Baker's Twine and a vintage button. I love the beach and have the fortune of visiting it year round. Each time I go, I comment how I never grow tired of being there. Each time I am as excited as the time before. Years ago I purchased a mixed media wall hanging. Although I liked the design, it was the sentiment the artist added that caught my eye. It says "If you're lucky enough to live at the beach, you're lucky enough!" Have a great weekend. Best wishes, Yvonne

A Study in Mocha and Cream

2012-02-16T19:26:00.002-05:00

This is my second post for today. Please scroll down if you would like to see my first. I made this tag yesterday but did not get a chance to load it on my blog. It, like my first post for today, is not for a challenge. I just felt like getting inky! I recently received some beautiful goodies from Crafty Individuals. I get as excited about the package of free stamps that are included with my orders as I do about what I order. I stamped many of these most recent free stamps with Rich Cocoa Memento Ink onto a peach-toned tag to create a unique background and distressed the tag with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The sentiment, another free stamp, was distressed with more Vintage Photo Distress Ink and mounted onto the tag with pop dots. For my focal image, I chose this beautiful image from a Miniature Clip Art book from Crafty Individuals and mounted her on several papers with a touch of vintage lace. Embellishments include vintage buttons, Winter White seam binding, more vintage lace, pearls and a portion of an embossed piece of card stock, embossed with a TH embossing folder that was trimmed to fit the top of the tag and distressed with a bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I truly appreciate your visits and value all your comments. My best to you. Yvonne

And They Call It Puppy Love...

2012-02-16T19:03:00.005-05:00

Greetings! Dear Husband continues to not feel well so it has been a different sort of week craft-wise. I stole away for a bit this afternoon, with no challenge in mind. I just felt like working with my hands! I began by leafing through a clip art book from Crafty Individuals and found this dear little girl with her puppy dog. I was immediately drawn to the red in the photo. I decided to add blues and browns to my color scheme and from there, the rest just fell into place. The sentiments are from Studio G and embellishments include vintage buttons and lace, burlap, re-purposed ribbon, a doily and some Baker's Twine from Martha Stewart. I hope you are having a good day. For my friends across the sea, Happy Friday! My best to all of you, Yvonne

Dragon TIO - Time

2012-02-15T22:13:00.004-05:00

There's a new challenge over at Dragon Dreams - Tag It On. The theme is "Time." For my tag, I blended some PanPastels onto ivory card stock in pinks, reds and yellows and then using Black StazOn ink, I stamped a number of stamps from the Whimsical Melange plate by Artistic Outpost onto my prepared panel and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The focal stamps by Hampton Art were stamped onto scrap ivory card stock, trimmed and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The woman was mounted to a re-purposed gold doily and the clock and winged time piece were covered with glossy accent and mounted onto pop dots. The sentiment was created with Ideology stickers. Embellishments include vintage black seam binding and black and white baker's twine, black sewing snaps and stacked vintage buttons. My final step was to mount the tag to black paper to make the background pop. Thanks for dropping by!

Februray Artistic Outpost Design Team Blog Hop

2012-02-15T01:01:00.015-05:00

Hello! As a Guest Designer for Artistic Outpost, I am excited to have the opportunity to participate in the Artistic Outpost Design Team Blog Hop for the month of February that features projects created from these gorgeous London inspired plates: London Underground and Loverly London.

For my own project, I began with an unfinished wooden frame. I painted the frame with Picket Fence Distress Stain to create a crackle finish on the frame's surface. Having selected traditional red, white and blue colors for my project, I added some red and white ribbon to the top and bottom portions of the painted frame. Punches of black color were also added throughout my project. I selected and stamped images from both AO plates in Black StazOn ink, Barn Red or Faded Jeans Distress Inks onto glossy paper. All images were distressed with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. Some of the images were matted with red and blue card stock. The various images were arranged around the border of the frame in a manner that seemed pleasing to me. To showcase the loverly woman, I added a doily, some vintage buttons, cheesecloth and a teacup charm and a seam binding bow.

For the gentleman, I added black snaps, Air Mail Baker's Twine and a Tim Holtz fragment charm to draw attention to the "Pip, Pip, Cheerio" sentiment.

To the middle of the frame, I added a red paper backing to provide a backdrop for the "Keep Calm and Carry On" slogan to which I added a black crown. With the 2012 Olympics scheduled for London, I am thinking someone that I know who may be planning to attend who might enjoy this as a reminder of their trip.

Thanks so much for dropping by my blog. I hope you will visit the other Design Team members as they have come up with some very inspirational projects to share with you. You can link directly to their work below:

Robyn Sharp; Gerrie Johnnic; Lisa Somerville; Susanne Czosek; Anita Houston; Linda Coughlin; Tracy Evans

You might also want to consider creating a project for the Artistic Outpost February Referral Program in shades of red!

Happy Blog Hopping! Yvonne

Long Distance Love on Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings and Happy Valentine's Day to each of you! For today's post, I decided to craft a Valentine with a story. For the maiden, I chose this young girl in the Generation Redux plate by Artistic Outpost. She seems so wistful somehow. For the man of her dreams, I found him in the Gatsby plate, also by AO. My story is one of two lovers, she stayed back home to help her parents with their family business, he went off to an Ivy League school to pursue law. Though there are many miles between them, and culturally they live in two different worlds, he cannot stop thinking of her, nor she him! As for other supplies, the hand cut heart was cut out around the "Be Mine" sentiment, which comes from the Cutie Pie plate by AO. All the images were stamped with Black StazOn ink and distressed them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. My stamped elements were arranged on a black background, which was mounted to a white card base. I added doilies and part of a recycled printed paper bag, some burlap and a vintage button, seam binding, clip art and pearls. Wishing each of you love in your life. Thank you so much for stopping by. I really appreciate it. Best, Yvonne

Love and Romance

2012-02-13T19:02:00.004-05:00

There's a new challenge over at PanPastel UK Challenge Blog. For Challenge 5 the theme is Love and Romance. Although PanPastels are not required, I challenge myself to always include them in a project submission as a means of becoming more comfortable with them. For my card, I began with a white card stock panel and sponged pink, red and burgundy PanPastels onto it. I LOVE this color combination. It amazes me how such a tiny bit of PanPastels can change a white panel. For my main image, I could not resist stamping this beautiful image that just arrived from Crafty Individual (CI-338). I decided to leave her uncolored except for some distressing with Pumice Stone Distress Ink around the edges to cool down the deep red background. I also matted her with black paper and added some textured black hearts and pearls. The sentiment is by Rubber Stampede and the die cut vine by Sissix was sprayed with some Smooch Pearl Spray in Cherry. The panel was matted to a white card base with another black paper mat and the card was finished off with a vintage black seam binding bow. Wishing you a wonderful week. Thanks so much for dropping by. Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 36 - Hearts and Flowers

2012-02-13T18:18:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday everyone! Mondays mean a new challenge over at Make My Monday Challenge blog. During the month of February, we are focusing on Romance and this week our challenge is Hearts and Flowers. Additionally, they have asked us to consider using die cuts for our projects. I should begin by confessing that I own very few dies. I love seeing them on other's projects and make myself a mental note to get some, but then I buy stamps, ink and paper instead! I still needed a couple of last minute Valentine's so I rolled up my sleeves and dug through my paltry die collection by Sissix and came up with a vine, and a small label shape. The hearts are a punch by Martha Stewart. To my white card base, I attached a gray die label that I distressed with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I stamped a sentiment by Studio G onto scrap card stock with Black StazOn Ink and matted it with black paper and mounted it over my label shape. I die cut a vine from a dark silver metallic card stock and attached it to my card. Hearts were punched out of textured black and red paper and scattered over the card. Little red pressed flowers with pearl centers were added next. And finally, I fashioned a bow out of vintage black seam binding and topped it with a lace butterfly by Martha Stewart. Challenges are a wonderful thing. They encourage you to go beyond your comfort zone. Why not join the challenge at MMM?! Thanks so much for stopping by. I truly read and value every single comment left. My best to you. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - In Bloom

2012-02-12T17:03:00.005-05:00

Well the weekend is almost over! Between caring for a sick husband and finalizing Valentines for precious family, there has been little time for my artistic pursuits the past few days. I did manage to work on the latest Bloggers' Challenge, which is called "In Bloom." How we interpret is up to us. I just received a miniature book of clip art with flowers and butterflies from Crafty Individuals (CI) and decided to use this pink daisy for my bloom. I mounted it simply on a white doily and then mounted it to a manila tag that I hand dyed years ago with Easter egg dye. To mute the pink tag, I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The little girl looking upward is also from CI, as are the butterflies and dragonfly and sentiment. All the elements were added to a distressed background paper panel which was softened with Pan Pastels. The ribbon and bow were hand dyed with Spun Sugar Distress Ink. Finishing embellishments include stacked vintage buttons, pink and white baker's twine, lace and pearls. Thanks so much for dropping by. Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Monochromatic plus One Color

2012-02-11T19:00:00.003-05:00

There's a new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! This time around, the theme is Monochromatic plus One Other Color. I have been itching to work with a plate of stamps from Artistic Outpost that is new for me that is called "Apothecary." I chose brown tones for my monochromatic color and for my other color, I chose Wild Honey by using Wild Honey Distress ink.

I LOVE this Wild Honey color and I think it adds such a rich tone to my collage. It was fun searching for a variety of embellishments that fit within the brown tones or Wild Honey color. I chose a feather, a scrap of burlap, buttons and twine and a pen nib. I hope you will hop on over to FSC to see what the other Design Team Members have come up with for this this challenge and of course, we look forward to seeing what each of you have in store for us with your entry. Please remember this is a stamping challenge, no Digis allowed. Thanks for dropping by and best of luck in the quest for the prize! Yvonne

Happy Birthday Dear One

2012-02-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

The weeks roll by quickly! It is already time for a new challenge over at PanPastel UK. For week # 4, the theme is "Happy Birthday." I am new to Pan Pastels, and trying to expand my skills so I decided to try using a resist ink on my card panel before sponging on a variety of yellow and turquoise Pan Pastels. The background stamp is from Crafty Individuals and came to me free as a thank you for ordering some other stamps! For the main image, I stamped CI-84, also from Crafty Individuals and colored the little girls in with Copic Markers. The sentiment, by Hero Arts, wishes a Happy Birthday to the recipient. Embellishments include lace, ribbon, a doily, German Scrap and a paper heart and ribbon flower buds by Martha Stewart. I really am so glad that I found out about Pan Pastels and scouring the Internet for video "How To's." Thanks so much for stopping by. Yvonne

Cutie Pie, Please Be Mine!

2012-02-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings! Valentine's Day is coming soon and I continue to work on cards for the special people in my life. It is such a privilege to be able to let others know how much you care, don't you think? This sweet little Valentine is made with images and sentiments from the Cutie Pie plate by Artistic Outpost. I have really enjoyed working with this plate of stamps and have been able to use them for a number of different styles of Valentines. For this Valentine, I layered gingham check designer paper onto a blue panel and matted the panel onto a red mat. The majorette was stamped multiple times with Memento ink and Faded Jeans Distress Ink and pieced together. The majorette and puppy were watercolored with Distress ink. I stamped multiple hearts and added some of them with pop dots for dimension. The red doily was backed with white card stock to emphasize the lacy effect and I finished the panel off with some Red Stickles Glitter Glue and ribbons and mounted the completed panel onto a white card base. Thanks for taking time to drop by. Happy Monday! Yvonne

Mary's Lamb

2012-02-06T18:39:00.004-05:00

This is my second post for today. I got a bit behind the past few days as I tried to feel better. So, if you would like to see my first post, please scroll down! I have excitedly been awaiting the return of challenges over at Crafty Individuals. For the first challenge of 2012, the theme is Spring! For my card, I began with this sweet clip art image from Crafty Individuals. I matted the clip art with a deep pink mat to pick up Mary's bow. The balance of the card is also layered with yellows and deep pinks to echo the colors of the clip art photo. I stamped butterflies and a dragon fly from CI-292 and a sentiment from CI-277. Embellishments include a doily, a lacy butterfly by Martha Stewart, pink liquid pearls, German Scrap, vintage buttons and bits of Baker's Twine and some Winter White seam binding. I am one of those folks who pretty much enjoys winter, however, making this card has given me a true taste and yearning for springtime!

MMM Challenge #35 - Romance (Love Notes)

2012-02-06T17:55:00.005-05:00

This vintage-inspired card was created for the Make My Monday Challenge #35. For the month of February, the challenge is Romance. For this week, the specific challenge is Love Notes. My goal was to create a card that shows romance without specifically being for Valentine's Day. I began by creating miniature postcards by stamping a Postcard header from the Ephemeral Backgrounds plate by Artistic Outpost (AO) on small pieces of card stock. The script from the French Flight plate, also by AO, was stamped with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I bundled the finished postcards with Baker's Twine and added a German Scrap Rose and an Ideaology TH pen nib. The beautiful woman from the AO Gatsby plate is stamped with Jet Black StazOn ink. The background and the woman were colored with PanPastels. The hand-torn heart was painted with Ranger Picket Fence paint. The doily, image, postcard bundle and ribbon were heavily distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Finishing touches include pearls, a metal sentiment and vintage buttons with more bits of Baker's Twine.

CR84FN47 - Pink, Red and Light Blue

2012-02-03T19:03:00.014-05:00

Greetings! The weekend is upon us. Yeah! Feeling a bit better this evening, and hoping the weekend will make a world of difference. Thanks for all the well wishes sent my way. I decided to make a card for the current challenge at CR84FN. As shown in the inspiration montage above, we are to use pink, red and light blue and of course neutrals. My first thought was to grab a light aqua paper and ribbon, but I decided to challenge myself to really try to go with a more pure light blue, a color I don't often reach for. My second thought was that these colors work well for a Valentine, so that is the direction I chose. On a textured white card base, I layered pink and red baker's twine and vintage light blue ribbon. I then layered on a trimmed pink doily and a white one. I chose a sweet image from clip art from Crafty Individuals and matted it on red and light blue card stock. Paper flowers and rhinestones by Martha Stewart frame the image. I added a fluffy light blue bow to the left of the image and stamped a sentiment by Rubber Stampede onto a tag I found in my stash. Tag was distressed with Barn Red Distress ink and embellished with light blue Liquid Pearls. Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Hugs, Yvonne

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Words of Wisdom

2012-02-02T20:58:00.007-05:00

Greetings! Been under the weather for the last 36 hours. I don't usually get sick, so it really threw me for a loop. It took me most of the day to get into my studio, but sick or not, a card was calling me! This card is for the Gingersnap Creations Challenge - Words of Wisdom. I immediately thought of the Typography plate by Artistic outpost. I stamped it in Black Memento ink and then cut it apart and matted the words with black paper. I layered a doily to the card front, and stamped my image, from the Think and Wonder plate, also by Artistic Outpost and added soft color with PanPastels. The bird is from Birds of a Feather, by Artistic Outpost is colored with Copic Markers. Embellishments include lace trim , pearls and seam binding fashioned into a bow.Pin It

Stampsmith Challenge #27 - Love and Lace

2012-02-01T17:07:00.025-05:00

Greetings! Before I talk about my card above, I want to share with you that I was so excited to learn this morning that I was recognized over at The Stampsmith Challenge Blog for the tag I submitted in January for the Tag Art Challenge! Since it is February 1, it is time for a new challenge at Stampsmith. For February, we focus on Love and Lace and must use at least one Stampsmith stamp. I began with a taupe colored card base. I chose a number of stamps from the Stampsmith Paris Art sheet and the Eiffel Detail stamp for my focal images and sentiment. The Fleur-de-Lis stamp by Inkadinkado is mounted on pop dots for dimension. Vintage lace from a Lucky bag from Dezinaworld, some Winter White seam binding, vintage buttons, a bit of cheese cloth and a pin and some French inspired charms complete my card.

A moment of reminiscing: When I was in fourth grade, a woman came into our class room one day, gave each of us a French name, mine was Francois, and informally taught us French three days a week, through sixth grade. In seventh grade, French was offered five days a week with a promise that if you took French through the twelfth grade, you would be eligible for a trip to New York City for a weekend and would dine in a French Restaurant! I still remember what I ordered in that restaurant, and even though my family could not afford to send me on the French trip as a senior, I was happy with my NY trip. Fast forward twenty years later, and my oldest daughter had the opportunity to take that special trip to France. I went along as a chaperon, and unbelievably, roomed with MY French Teacher who was now also my daughter's! This plate of stamps means so much to me as it brings back memories of our time in Paris. Au Revoir! Yvonne

Birthday Greetings in Shades of Red

2012-02-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

I made this card for my youngest grandson's birthday who turned one last week! He was born a year ago, a month early, and earned the name Little Peanut immediately! For his first birthday, my daughter decided to have a circus-themed party. So, I thought it would be appropriate to make my grandson a Circus card for his birthday. My card is done in shades of red and made with images and a sentiment from several Circus image plates by Artistic Outpost, Send in the Clowns and Vintage Circus. During the month of February, Artistic Outpost's newly updated Referral Program is back with a theme of Shades of Red. For all the details, please drop in over at Artistic Outpost and check out the inspiration projects created by the Design Team. The winner will receive a prize package. We hope you will join in! My best to you, Yvonne

P.S. I hope you will indulge me. Below is a photo of my grandson with a Circus Tent he received as a gift and a photo of his Peanut Cake! Hugs.

Tuesday Trigger - Fancy Schmancy

2012-01-31T17:13:00.006-05:00

Greetings! It's another Tuesday Trigger over at Moxy Fab. This week we are to make a project inspired by the photograph above. I immediately thought of a pink and white Valentine when seeing the inspiration photo. Using a white card base, I layered pink striped background paper to the card base, used a Martha Stewart heart punch to make hearts in various colors that reflect the inspiration photo and then selected the Cutie Pie plate by Artistic Outpost for my main image and sentiments, which were stamped in Cocoa Brown Memento Ink. The Beauty Queen was colored with Copic Markers. She and the sentiments were finished off with Vintage Photo Distress Ink distressing. I assembled my card with Winter White seam binding and added some pearls (they reminded me of the sprinkles in the photo) and a button and baker's twine. Right now, I am thinking my granddaughter may receive this Valentine in a few weeks! Thanks, as always for stopping by. Best wishes, Yvonne

Romantic Valentine Wishes

2012-01-31T08:00:00.002-05:00

I am really having a lot of fun challenging myself to make Valentine cards by incorporating both traditional images with Valentine-themed images. For this Valentine, I chose these two handsome images from the Artistic Outpost Gatsby plate and added this sweet heart image in multiple shades of pink and burgundy from the Artistic Outpost Cutie Pie plate. I just love the vintage feel of Artistic Outpost's images! I chose London Fog Memento Ink for the couple and sentiment to give a bit of a faded feel to my card. The couple were layered onto several doilies and the card was completed with some lace, recycled ribbon, pearls and a flower. I hope your day is going well. Thanks for stopping by! Yvonne

MMM Challenge # 34 - Butterflies and Dragonflies

2012-01-30T17:51:00.016-05:00

Hello, this is my second post for today. Please scroll down to see my first post. This is the last week at Make My Monday for the Nature theme, and specifically, we are to use Butterflies and/or Dragonflies for Challenge #34.

I began with a white card stock panel and sponged on three different shades of PanPastels in orange tones. I next stamped on blocks of small fluttering butterflies by Inkadinkado in Wild Honey Distress ink with the thought of them being in the background, rather than front and center. Next, I stamped stems of flowers by Hero repeatedly with Black Versafine ink. I then stamped a butterfly and dragonfly, also with Black Versafine ink, trimmed them ,colored them in with Atyou Spica Glitter pens and distressed the edges with Antique Linen Distress ink. I added them to my card with pop dots. A sweet sentiment by Stampin Up was stamped on white card stock, distressed with Antique Linen Distress ink and matted with black paper and mounted between the raised butterfly and dragonfly.

On the left side of my card, I added a clip art image from Crafty Individuals, which I matted in black paper. This sweet image of a deer and a child seem to be looking out over the field of flowers and butterflies. Embellishments include vintage buttons, cheese cloth, black liquid pearls and orange and black baker's twine. I am so enjoying these PanPastels! I just love the velvety texture and softness it lends to my cards. Have a wonderful night. Best, Yvonne

Sparkly Valentine

2012-01-30T14:08:00.007-05:00

Greetings! It is already time for Challenge #3 at PanPastels Challenge UK. This week, our challenge is to create a project with Glitter and Glitz. For my card, I started with a white card stock panel. I sponge three different colors of PanPastels onto it and was rewarded with this rich red background. My focal image is clip art from Crafty Individuals. The sentiment is by Stampsmith. Sparkle includes metallic gold background paper panels, glittered German Scrap roses, and Stickles Glitter Glue. Embellishments include a doily, seam binding, embossed and punched hearts and rhinestone hearts by Martha Stewart. I have much to learn about PanPastels but am having so much fun! Does anyone have a suggestion for how to keep card stock from rolling up after spraying it with fixative? I would be most appreciative. Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful day. Best, Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges- It's A Guy Thing

2012-01-28T19:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings! It's time for a brand new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! This time around, we have a theme of "It's A Guy Thing." When I first began making cards, I struggled with making cards for guys. As time goes by, and as I have collected more masculine images, I am much more comfortable with designing masculine cards. For this post, I was excited to finally ink up this "Men with a Checkered Past" image by Queen's Dresser Drawers. I layered a vintage book page to a hounds tooth background paper, wrapped a length of brown twill tape around the papers and mounted them to a Kraft card base. My focal image was stamped on glossy paper and mounted to the card front with Kraft photo corners. To repeat the bee image on my main image, I stamped a bee from Character Constructions multiple times and watercolored the bees with Distress Inks onto a TH ticket stub. I also stamped a hat by Inkadinkado to replicate the hats in the main image. Finishing touches include a variety of vintage buttons, bits of twine and copper Liquid Pearls. I hope you will pop over to FSC to see what my talented Design Team sisters have created and then consider joining in on the fun. Just remember, FSC is a stamping challenge. Check out the details at FSC. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

Beyond the Sea, in Pastels

2012-01-27T13:36:00.009-05:00

I don't often submit a post to more than one challenge at a time, but decided to do so when looking at a few today. The first challenge is for Bloggers' Challenge - Texturize It. This week Lisa challenges us to create a project with Texture! I also don't often make tags, but here we go. For my tag, I first colored a piece of white card stock with various shades of Pan Pastels. I stamped images from the Beyond the Sea plate from Artistic Outpost, using London Fog Memento Ink directly onto the chalked panel or onto scrap card stock. I trimmed the various images as shown and chalked them with more PPs. (I have not worked with pastels since Junior High, some 40+ years ago, and I have to tell you, I think I may be falling in love again!) The clam shell gatherer is added with pop dots for dimension, as is the starfish in the bottom right corner. For texture, I added a scalloped border with a punch by Martha Stewart, some vintage lace from my Lucky Bag, pearls, bakers' twine, cheese cloth and seam binding. This tag is also for the PanPastels UK Challenge - Use Two of Something (I chose two flocks of birds) and for a challenge that I only recently found called Dragons Dream Tag It On Challenge where the them for TIO #18 is The Beach. I hope everyone has a good weekend. I am off to Philadelphia tomorrow to see my family as we celebrate our newest grandson's first birthday. As our other grandchildren delight us with all they are pursuing as a 6 and 8-year old, we nearly forgot how much joy a new baby brings to an entire family until our precious little one arrived last January and captured our hearts! My best to you, Yvonne

MMM Challenge # 33 - Leaves and Flowers

2012-01-26T18:41:00.006-05:00

Back again, with a second post for today! This post is for a Make My Monday Challenge - Nature (Leaves and Flowers). As I headed up to my art studio to work on this challenge, I gave some thought to what direction to go. When I thought of flowers, this old standby from Hero Arts came to mind. I stamped it with Festive Berries and Peeled Paint Distress inks. I chose paper leaves with a text imprint and stamped my background with this sweet little heart balloon from A Muse stamps that I just discovered in my stash earlier today and colored them in with a Copic Marker. With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought adding a doily and a loving sentiment by Studio G complete my card. I hope you are having a good day. My best to each of you. Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Element of Time

2012-01-26T13:48:00.006-05:00

Well it is Thursday, and I am finally getting a chance to work on last Friday's Bloggers' Challenge. I have been busy preparing inspirational pieces for an upcoming release of new stamps over at Artistic Outpost. The stamps are absolutely gorgeous. You will love them! With that project well under way, I turned to making a card for the theme at Bloggers' Challenge of Element of Time. I chose a clock stamp by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, and stamped it on a scrap of designer card stock with Black Versafine Ink. I had intended to add a spinner piece to it, but think now that it might have been a bit much. My clip art image is from Crafty Individuals and as you can see in the closeup below, it includes text that says "Time for Tea." I added vintage lace and buttons, some pink Liquid Pearls and ribbon and a pin and tea pot charm.

Matting with various papers and attaching the panel to a Mushroom colored card base complete my card. Once I decide who this card will be sent to, I may add an additional sentiment to the bottom of the card, though I would be comfortable with it as it stands now. Well, off to make some more cards! Take care. Best, Yvonne

Winter Blooms

2012-01-18T14:40:00.005-05:00

I am entering the card above into two challenges. The first is for the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. The inspirational photo, Winter Blooms, is above. As I studied the photo, I immediately felt drawn to pull out some soft gray card stock for the card base. I wish I had flower stamps that replicate these pretty pompoms, but since I do not, I chose a Petals and Patterns Boxed Set by Hero Arts. Next I chose Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Tattered Rose and Pumice Stone Distress Inks to stamp my flowers. I decided to only use three of the four flowers in the end and balanced my card out with a sentiment and some vintage buttons and cheese cloth. A bit of pink lace and some black and white Baker's Twine completes my card. The other challenge I am entering is for Crafty Cardmakers Challenge. For this challenge, the requirement is "No Floral Embellishments." Floral paper, stamps, etc. can be used, but no floral buttons, paper flowers etc. are to be added to our project. Hoping everyone is having a great day. A special thanks to my most recent followers for joining in and to all of my followers for your consistent visits and encouraging comments. I really appreciate your support. Best Wishes, Yvonne

Use it Tuesday - Winter Scene

2012-01-17T14:32:00.006-05:00

Greetings Everyone! Today is Tuesday, and that means another challenge at "Use it Tuesday." This week, for Challenge # 23, we are asked to create a project "All About Winter." I immediately knew what I wanted to do. This winter scene above is from one of the very first wood mounted stamps I ever purchased back in 1997. I was nostalgic about it then as I am now. Sadly, I have not picked this stamp up since I made thank you notes with it following Christmas 1997. The stamp is from a company called "Toomuchfun Rubberstamps." I looked them up online and they are still around, which made me very happy. Love to see entrepreneurship be successful. Back then, I simply inked my stamp with embossing ink and heat embossed the image in black or silver. Remember back before the Tim Holtz Craft Mat? I still have silver embossing crumbs embedded into my antique dining room table! This time around, I decided to give the scene a different look. I love looking at old illustrations (pre-50s) where other than black ink, there are only touches of primary colors used. So I stamped my image with Black Memento Ink and hand colored with Ranger Distress Inks. Day two for using my new PanPastels, I chalked in the sky with three shades of light blue. I did not want to detract from the main image so I kept my embellishments to a minimum. A few snow flakes from Artistic Outpost on pop dots, some black and white Baker's Twine and a sentiment by Inkadinkado, from three years ago, stamped with black Versafine ink. This sweet little card will be on its way shortly to my precious grandchildren whom I miss so, so much, to let them know I am thinking of them, with love, and to wish them a Happy Winter filled with fun. Have a great day. Best Wishes, Yvonne

Please Be My Valentine!

2012-01-16T17:31:00.004-05:00

I'm really getting in the mood for Valentine's Day! I decided to work with a new set of images I received recently from Artistic Outpost called Cutie Pie, but I also wanted to use this adorable image from the Think and Wonder set also from Artistic Outpost. I was going for a very vintage look, which for me is not real glittery, and also incorporates fewer colors. I also like the challenge of using a non-Holiday image in a Holiday card! By the way, Artistic Outpost will be releasing really awesome, new image plates shortly, but you can get a "Sneak Peak " awhile over at Artistic Outpost! Thanks for dropping by! Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 32 - Create a Scene

2012-01-16T16:33:00.005-05:00

The challenge over at Make My Monday for Week 32 continues with the Nature theme and specifically is to "Create a Scene." This is probably the very first "scene" I have ever created. I marvel at others who do them, but I always think I don't have the right stamps to try. I really wanted to give it a go, though so I decided to go through my old wood mounted stamps and came up with this beautiful group of Horses by Inkadinkado, Pinon Silhouette by Stamp a Mania, Woodland Grasses by Hero Arts and a sentiment by Anna Griffith. I am also entering this card into the Anything Goes challenge at Pan Pastels UK's Challenge blog. My PanPastels just arrived in the mail over the weekend, and I thought I might as well dive in. I began by adding PP in a light blue, pale yellow and olive green to cream card stock. The colors a bit lighter here than in person, so I will probably adjust my values in the future. Being my first try with PPs, I wasn't sure what would work with them. I was delighted to find that Memento Ink, which I used for the Pinon Silhouette and Horses worked well. I also found that I could easily watercolor the Horses with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and was able to distress the edges to give the scene a vintage feel. To finish off the card, I added some flocks of birds from the Beyond the Sea plate by Artistic Outpost, a border punched with an EK Success border punch and some Baker's Twine and a button.

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Butterflies or Bugs

2012-01-14T20:00:00.001-05:00

It is time for Challenge #13 over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! This time around, our theme is Butterflies or Bugs. I'm not sure about you, but for me, it has me thinking of Spring! Butterflies were a favorite of my mother's. Throughout her home, you would find butterflies pinned onto flower arrangements, curtains, and at Christmas, they were ornaments on her Christmas Tree! So when I set out to make my card, it was a comforting feeling to be making a card with Butterflies in honor of my precious mother who we lost 12 years ago, today.

I chose to use a set of Butterfly stamps and words from a set by Cavellini. I stamped the butterflies in a row, as a collector might do, and water colored them with Distress Inks. The white background seemed stark to me, so I soften it with more Distress Inks and some word stamps from the set. Embellishments include a flower trim, a doily, a vintage button and Baker's Twine, a dimensional glittery butterfly by Martha Stewart and some Ranger Stickles.

Please check out the FSC site for stunning inspirational pieces by the Design Team and then we hope you will give the challenge a go, too! As always, no digi stamps, please. You can find full details at FSC, along with the prize you will be working towards. Thanks for dropping by and Think Spring! Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Things with Wings

2012-01-14T16:39:00.005-05:00

This week has flown by! It is already time for another Bloggers' Challenge. The theme this week is "Things with Wings." My first thought was to look through my bird stamps, and then I remembered a book of images I received this week from Crafty Individuals. I found this image of three sweet angels, and they fit the bill for having wings! This is a bit of a departure for me, as I normally stamp images on my card, but it is good to try different approaches, I think! I did stamp the sentiments: Hope and Inspire by Stampa Rosa and Happiness by Inkadinkado. Embellishments include ribbon and pearls by Martha Stewart, a doily and some feathers, which seemed fitting. I hope you are having a good weekend. I am still dismantling Christmas and carrying everything to the third floor after learning my lesson in the flood back in September 2011 when I thought it was easier to store Christmas decorations in the basement! Would love to hear from you. Best, Yvonne

Very Exciting News

2012-01-12T11:32:00.006-05:00

I am thrilled beyond belief to share with you that I have been selected, along with several others, to join Artistic Outpost as a Guest Designer for a three-month term from February through May 2012! Since the very first time I set eyes upon AO images, I immediately connected with them. AO stamp plates uniquely inspire stories for artistic projects. If you are new to AO images, you will want to check them out! I particularly enjoy how you can mix images and sentiments from various plates to enhance your cards and projects. During the next three months, I will be creating inspirational pieces, along with the other Guest Designers and the AO Design Team, using the newly released AO plates. I'll also be sharing card designs, weekly, on the AO blog, and will participate in the Design Team Blog Hop! I look forward to working with the upcoming releases, getting to know the AO Design Team and Guest Artists better, growing my own skill-base and to making many new friends through this opportunity. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

Stampsmith Challenge #26 - Tag Art

2012-01-10T15:02:00.004-05:00

It has been some time since I have had an opportunity to join in to a Stampsmith Challenge, but with the Holidays behind us, I thought I would give it a go! To begin 2012, Challenge #26 is Tag Art and requires the use of at least one Stampsmith stamp. My tag features an image called "Love Under the Stars" by Stampsmith. It is stamped with Black Versafine ink onto Glossy Paper and mounted onto a black mat with black photo corners. The sentiment and postmark are also by Stampsmith. Embellishments include cheese cloth, ribbon and vintage buttons. The blue and yellow color scheme is not typical for me. It reminds of spring and I guess I must be longing for it to come soon! Thanks for dropping by! Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Color Challenge

2012-01-09T17:32:00.005-05:00

The challenge over at Bloggers' Challenge this time around is to create a project using the colors in an inspiration piece, which is actually a Kindle Cover! The colors: black, green, blue, purple and white. I started with a white card and then selected some designer card stock that includes blue, green, black, and white. At first, I was unsure as to how I could add purple to my card as there was none in the designer card stock. I decided to plug on, though, and selected a purplish matting for the designer paper. I also stamped my Artistic Outpost image with Milled Lavender Distress Ink and then matted the image with purple and black paper. Embellishments include Winter White Seam Binding, a blue twill tape, a paper doily, a safety pin and PARIS charm and a bit of cheese cloth.

MMM Challenge 31 - Nature (Animals)

2012-01-09T17:05:00.007-05:00

The Nature Theme continues for the month of January 2012 over at Make My Monday. This week, the specific theme is "Animals." How we interpret it, is ours to decide. Although I have a variety of animal stamps that I purchased early on to make cards for the men in our family, I was immediately drawn to a set of Animal stamps by Cavellini for this challenge. I found these vintage-style stamps in a gift shop in Vail, Colorado several years ago and had them shipped home. From the first time I saw them, I just saw them stamped in red ink and nearly every time I stamp with them, I chose red ink! I chose "Festive Berry" Distress Ink this time. A little different this time is balancing the red with mostly yellow. When I finished my card, I felt as though it just needed something. I decided some gingham check was in order and I really like what it adds to the card. The numerals are from Artistic Outpost. Embellishments include vintage buttons I received for Christmas, Baker's Twine and a red dotted bow I found at Michael's. I am thinking this might be a cute card for my youngest grandson who soon turns "one!" Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with for the challenge. Thanks, as always for stopping by.

Dressform Theme Times Three

2012-01-04T00:01:00.004-05:00

I came across a new challenge site, for me, while visiting one of my sister design team member's blog, Dot's Dabbles. She was entering her gorgeous, African Trio cards at the Crafty Cardmaker Challenge. The challenge was interesting to me in that you are to "Use it Three Times." It could be a stamp, a theme, a style, three ways. I had just finished some thank you notes all with a dressforms theme with stamps by Oxford Impressions and so I thought I would enter the challenge as well. These cards were created out of my now famous duffel bag, which I carry with me when we travel as I cannot bare to be without my card stash, and are made up of bits and pieces of mostly scraps. I am always facinated as to how color selection can make the very same stamps take on a completely different look or evoke a different feeling or era. Looking forward to meeting some new fellow artists over at Crafty Cardmaker. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 30 - Nature (Birds)

2012-01-02T19:07:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! As much as I love Christmas, it is almost refreshing to make some non-Christmas cards for a change, although I have to confess I am already poised to order some Christmas items for my 2012 cards! I have missed a few challenges during December due to the Holidays and other personal matters, so I was excited to check out Make My Monday today and see that the challenge for January will be Nature, and the specific challenge for this week is birds. I am currently out-of-town and have my trusted "duffel bag of supplies" with me. It is a good thing we are headed home tomorrow as I am nearly out of card stock! When I saw the theme of "birds," one of my favorites, I got a bit nervous. I have limited stamp plates with me. However, I got lucky in that one of the stamp plates called Typography by Artistic Outpost includes a sentiment with a border of birds. I stamped the sentiment and birds and then restamped additional birds on either side of the first image to give me a whole line of birds. My card also includes images from the Whimsical Melange plate, also by Artistic Outpost. I tried a technique, new for me, with this card; using sequin waste to add color to my card. I think this could become addictive! Well, thanks for dropping by. Best, Yvonne

FSC - New Year, New Stash!

2011-12-31T20:00:00.003-05:00

As this post goes live, it is a New Year in many parts of the world! Over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge, they thought it might be fun to use some of your new stash you received over the holidays to kick off the New Year! For my own card, I received a new stack of designer background card stock from my daughter. The stamps from Vintage Circus and Big Top Circus by Oxford Impressions were a gift to myself and are making their debut with this post. I stamped the various images and sentiments with Black Memento Ink and water colored the images with a variety of Distress Inks. I elected to keep the colors muted to give a vintage feel to my scene. The embellishments are limited to some Black Liquid Pearls and some black and white Baker's Twine, which I also distressed to tone down the bright white. You will absolutely want to check out the other Design Team Members samples for inspiration, and then it is your turn! Please remember to check FSC for the specifics. I wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

( I am also adding this card to Lisa Somerville's Blogger's Challenge - Celebrating the Circus Coming to Town!)

On New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T19:24:00.007-05:00

As 2011 draws to an end, I want to thank each of you who happen on to my blog, on occasion, regularly or just this once. It was early 2009 when I decided to create a blog. I spent the next two and a half years talking to myself, which was okay! In May 2011, while recuperating from my second knee replacement, I stumbled onto my first challenge, and I truly mean stumbled. I had no idea all of you were out there, or perhaps a better way to say it is that I had no idea how to connect to all of you. I was utterly amazed to say the least. Since May, I have become a follower of a number of blogs that speak to me, and I have learned so much from all of you. I have had the honor of becoming a Design Team Member along with an outstanding group of artists at Fashionable Stamping Challenge and have made precious lifelong friends. Like many of you, I plan to make my annual New Year Resolutions over the next few hours. Concerning my art, my resolutions include: Continuing to develop my techniques, continuing to encourage others in their art and with my art, continuing to create and share my cards with all of you and continuing to learn from you. I wish each of you a very Happy New Year and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! Best, Yvonne

Note: The card above is a birthday card for my brother-in-law. The stamps are part of the Steampunk Elements collection at Oxford Impressions. Inks are Distress Inks and Versafine. I am entering my card in Simon Says Anything Goes and Stampin for the Weekend (both "Anything Goes" themes.)

Whimsical Birthday Greetings

2011-12-30T13:36:00.003-05:00

My brother-in-law, and one of his sons, both celebrate birthdays in early January. They are also both graphic design artists. One of them will receive this card for their birthday. I began with a Kraft card base and using Distress Inks stamped images from the Whimsical Melange plate by Artistic Outpost onto the card front. I stamped the frame and sentiment and pendants onto ivory card stock, water colored with Distress Inks, trimmed and mounted the images to the card front. Embellishments include Baker's Twine and Silver Liquid Pearls for a pop of metal. I hope one of them enjoys it.

We are currently away from home. I am once again working out of a duffel bag and wishing for many supplies I left back home! Cannot bring myself to leave some of my stash at our beach condo as then I will long for it back home! It does make you work with what you have, though, which is probably a good thing. How about you? Are finding time to squeeze some craft time in now that Christmas is over?

We will have a quiet New Year's Eve and Day here at the beach. Back home, in Pennsylvania, in the heart of Dutch Country, we celebrate New Year's with Pork, Sauerkraut, Mashed Potatoes, Bread Filling, and Gravy (also hot dogs) for good luck and wealth in the New Year. At the beach, in Delaware, they celebrate with Pork and Black Eyed Peas. Any special foods where you live? Have a great day! Xoxo, Yvonne

TIO - Steampunk Birthday Greetings

2011-12-29T22:37:00.005-05:00

I was looking for a challenge today, and really could not bring myself to do anything more for Christmas. I have been making a list of challenges to check out and came across a non-Christmas challenge at Dragons Dream Tag It On, which calls for a tag that is either Steampunk, Victoriana or Gothic-inspired. I have a number of birthdays coming up in January for men in my family so I decided to mount these gorgeous stamps by Sam Poole that I recently purchased. I checked the fine print, and you can either make a tag or mount the tag to a card, which is what I chose to do. I used a lot of Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress inks and embellishments include Copper Liquid Pearls and Black and White Baker's Twine. Unfortunately, I now find the challenge is closed, but that's okay. I'll definitely check out their challenges again. In the meantime, check out this blogspot for some gorgeous tags by their Design Team! Best, Yvonne

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:29:00.003-05:00

Shortly after I began work on my Christmas Cards last year, I came across this image by Crafty Individuals. I immediately knew that it would be my image for this year's Christmas Cards!

Because of the volume of cards we send out, I forced myself to rethink the number of steps and layers this year. I purchased pre-cut, pre-scored, bordered cards and printed my sentiment inside directly onto the card stock rather than printing onto a paper liner. My husband keeps telling me sometimes less is more. I like how it turned out and have had positive feedback from recipients.

Whether you received one of my cards in the mail, or only via this post, please accept my sincere wish for you and your family to have a most blessed Christmas with your family. Merry Christmas! Best, Yvonne

Peacocks and other birds

2011-12-19T19:58:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, we celebrated my granddaughter's and her daddy's birthday. Isn't it special that they share the same birthday? Her daddy is a Graphic Designer and very artistic. Since her birth, and the birth of her brother, he has made them a cake each year for their birthday. As they were old enough to speak, they chose the theme for each party and daddy took it from there. This year, my granddaughter's theme was Peacocks and other birds. I had the privilege of making the birthday invitations, and unfortunately forgot to take a photo of one of them. It was a beautiful bejeweled peacock, though. And so for her birthday card, I chose other bird stamps and sentiments from the same set by Stampin Up and fashioned the card above.
With my son-in-law's permission, I am including some photos of the peacock cake he made. My granddaughter selected lemon as the cake batter flavor. My precious granddaughter, daddy and the cake are above.

It's the week of Christmas and I am really not close to ready. How about you? Well take care. Best, Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Traveling Around the World

2011-12-17T20:00:00.001-05:00

There's a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! For the next two weeks, we will be focused on the the theme "Traveling Around the World!" The skies the limit on this one. Will you choose a plane, a boat, or some other image to convey travel? For my own card, I decided to work with a brand new plate of stamps called French Flight by Artistic Outpost. A big thank you to AO who gifted me with the plate of stamps as a thank you for being published in the latest Take Ten Magazine with cards featuring AO stamps. I began with a white card stock panel and distressed it with Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans Distress Inks. I stamped the script in Iced Spruce Distress Ink over the distressed panel. The various images were also stamped with Distress Ins and mounted either directly or with foam dots for dimension. I added several words in Festive Berry Distress Ink for contrast. Bits of red, white and blue twine and ribbon, some silver Liquid Pearls, and some very vintage buttons complete my card. You will be delighted with the variety of samples on display at FSC by the other Design Team Members. As always, there is a wonderful prize at stake and please make sure to read the few rules associated with this challenge. Thanks for dropping by and I look forward to seeing what each of you dream up! Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 28 - Red Ribbon

2011-12-12T12:04:00.004-05:00

Good Monday Morning! Hoping you had a lovely weekend. My youngest daughter and grandson were with us over the weekend, which was lots of fun. My grandson is 11 months old and just so sweet! My husband and I went to his Holiday Staff Party for work on Friday night and my daughter and I went to see the Nutcracker on Saturday evening. It was extra special as my granddaughter and oldest grandson were both in the production. My trees are up, I have a good bit of shopping done and my Christmas Cards will be in the mail this week. Speaking of cards, over at Make My Monday, the Seasonal theme continues for December. This week, we are to include red ribbon. I chose my ever ready Sleigh Ride plate by Artistic Outpost. I water colored the image with Tim Holtz's Seasonal Distress Inks in Festive Berry and Evergreen Bough and distressed the panel with Iced Spruce. The image is matted in dark green and I used a red metallic ribbon that a friend gifted to me. The finishing touch is the German Scrap. I hope every one is well. Best, Yvonne

All Wrapped Up!

2011-12-06T19:30:00.006-05:00

I recently learned of a new challenge over at Crafty Individuals called "All Wrapped Up." I just found Crafty Individual stamps earlier this year and I really love their style! In fact, the image above is being used on my annual Christmas Card this year! When I thought about what to do for my entry, I decided to use this gorgeous little red box. I stamped CI-254 on white card stock with Memento Ink and matted the image in black paper. I added a few crystal glitter gems to give the stars sparkle.

The box is wrapped with red and white Baker's Twine and finished off with German Scrap Christmas Bells. It's clean and simple and very classy, I think. I decided not to add anything else! Looking forward to meeting some new artists who share my delight in Crafty Individuals images. Take care! Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 27 - Seasonal "Glitter"

2011-12-06T19:08:00.003-05:00

Greetings once again! 'Tis the Season isn't it?! Over at Make My Monday this week, it's a new theme for December: Seasonal. Anything goes as long as it has to do with the Season. The added requirement for this week is "Glitter." My card is nearly all glitter, but alas you will probably need to take my word for it as my camera isn't cooperating. I created a forest of evergreens for the background from the Sleigh Ride plate by Artistic Outpost with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I "loaded" the branches with Stickles Glitter Glue. The edges of the card base are also distressed with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. The little boy and girl are from the same set as is the sentiment. The tree in the little boy's hands is also glittered. A recycled tartan plaid bow and a "jingle bell" punched (Martha Stewart) out of green glittered paper and tied on with Baker's Twine. I am still hard at work on my Christmas Cards. It's an odd Christmas for me. Last year I had a knee replacement a few days before Christmas so we did not even have a tree! My dear daughter came up on Christmas Eve and pulled out a few decorations to make the house look festive and my best friend made Christmas Dinner for our whole family. This year, we lost all seven of our Christmas Trees to a flood in September. My dear husband and decided with needing to scale back in the next few years we probably don't want to replace seven trees. He is also recovering from surgery. So.....we purchased four Charlie Brown live trees and are just scaling back how many ornaments we use. A bit different, but it sure feels good to be able to decorate again! Hope all is well for you. Your comments are always read and valued. Take care. Yvonne

FSC - Dressmaking, Corsets and Accessories

2011-12-03T20:20:00.007-05:00

Well it's a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! For Challenge # 10, our theme is Dressmaking/Corsets/Accessories! I was really excited about our new theme. I have been dreaming of ordering these beautiful stamps from Oxford Impressions Dress Forms and Corsetry Plate for quite some time, and this gave me the perfect excuse! Images were stamped in London Fog by Memento and distressing was done with Milled Lavender and Spun Pink Distress Ink. Embellishments include a bit of ribbon and lace, a sewing needle and thread some buttons and snaps. Take a stroll over at FSC to see all the beautiful creations by the rest of the Design Team and we hope you will link your own creation! Please see FSC for the specifics concerning submitting to the challenge and to see the really neat stamps someone will win. Looking forward to seeing your creations! Take care. Yvonne

Use it Tuesday - Thank You

2011-11-28T11:56:00.005-05:00

There's a new challenge at Use it Tuesday! This time, we are to make a card 'Giving Thanks.' I have a lot of thank you cards to make right now, so this was perfect timing for me. I began with a white card base and wrapped it with several very old ribbons, one recycled from a gift box. I stamped my Inkadinkado image in Wild Honey and matted it with black and burgundy paper scraps. The sentiment is by Stampin Up and is a 2004 release that has not seen ink in almost as long. To finish my card, I added some rust colored leaves, some 10-year old raffia and copper liquid pearls. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was not what I had planned, but it turned out very nice. Thanks for dropping by and thanks for your comments. Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 26 - Christmas Box

2011-11-28T11:32:00.005-05:00

Challenge # 26 at Make My Monday is to make a Christmas Box! I have long admired stamped, decorated boxes but have NEVER tried one before. My heart sunk a bit at the challenge, but then I realized here was my chance to move past NEVER, NEVER LAND!

I began by picking a box. I have a small stash of boxes that I cannot seem to part with and found this beautiful turquoise Tiffany square box. I love red, turquoise and black together and so I chose that for my color scheme. My stamps are from the Sleigh Ride plate by Artistic Outpost. Embellishments include some turquoise glitter gems, recycled tartan plaid ribbon, lace, red tulle and some red and white Bakers' Twine. I watercolored the image with Red Barn Distress Ink. Really love that technique. I kept the coloring simple to go along with the vintage feel of the image. Looking forward to seeing everyone elses boxes! Check out MMM's blog for lots of ideas from the Design Team and congratulations to both Mynnette and Val on being selected as the two newest DT members! Have a great week everyone! Yvonne

Ode to My Dear Brother

2011-11-23T00:36:00.004-05:00

Here's another card that I made in the middle of a sleepless night, last night! It features a clip art image that I found in my Lucky Treasure Bag recently. It came to mind as I tossed and turned in bed last evening and so I just had to get up and bring him to life! I love black and white paired with green. I added a pop of red, some Bakers' Twine and black Liquid Pearls and a sentiment by Artistic Outpost. At the time, I did not realize it, but in retrospect, I believe I was drawn to this image as it reminded me of my dear brother, Steve, who would have celebrated his birthday yesterday had we not lost him to heart disease ten years ago. Steve and I grew up in the 50s. Playing "Cowboys and Indians " was one of our favorite past times as young children. I remember the year we both received cowboy hats, boots, holsters and guns for Christmas. We would make stagecoaches out of furniture pieces and played we lived in the Wild West for hours. It was a kinder, gentler time for certain. I miss that era and I miss you Steve. Here's to you! I love you.

Life is Good!

2011-11-23T00:22:00.003-05:00

Just a fun card I put together when I couldn't sleep last night! This is the first time I have inked up these images and sentiment, all by Artistic Outpost from their Favorite Book and Typography plates. With bits of lace and seam binding, some shell buttons and lots of Wild Honey and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, my card is complete. I'll be sending my card off to my dear little grandson next week just to let him know I love him and to encourage him to keep working hard at school. Hope all is well with each of you! Best, Yvonne

Tuesday Trigger - Red & Rustic

2011-11-22T14:10:00.005-05:00

Well it has been awhile since I have been able to join Moxy Fab Tuesday Trigger. My dear husband has had some medical issues that have had us out of the house these past few weeks. Great to be back! This week, the photo above entitled Red & Rustic is our inspiration for our card. I am currently away from home and have just a tiny stash of card makings with me. When I pondered the inspiration photo, I immediately thought Pumice Stone Distress Ink, stripes, red and browns. For my card, I distressed the edges of the card base with Pumice Stone DI. I chose papers in stripes, browns and red for the card front. I stamped a sentiment from the Typography plate by Artistic Outpost in Pumice Stone and cut it apart to put it on the various squares. The image, also by AO, is from the Favorite Book plate. Embellishments include seam binding and bakers' twine, both by Martha Stewart, and some copper Liquid Pearls. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with. Thanks for stopping by. Best, Yvonne

Twas the Night before Christmas...

2011-11-21T15:18:00.005-05:00

It's Monday, and that means there is another challenge over at Make My Monday! This week, we are to make a Christmas Card and make sure to use snowflakes, flowers or foliage. Yikes!!! Here I am out of town with just a handful of card supplies, and I totally forgot to bring anything Christmas with me! And so, I pondered my piddly little pile of stamps, chose this young lad from the Favorite Book plate at Artistic Outpost in a chair and decided he was reading the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore. I cut holly and berries out of paper and added a bit of Stickles for sparkle and tied some Baker's Twine recycled from a pastry box around the image. Thank goodness for Distress Inks. Using primarily Peeled Paint and Barn Red, I distressed and water colored much of the card. The sentiment is handwritten. Now I really need to get cracking on the 300 Christmas Cards that need to go in the mail in short order! Hope everyone is doing well. Best, Yvonne

With Love and Honor

2011-11-20T19:18:00.005-05:00

Okay, here's the skinny. My dear husband and I decided quite suddenly yesterday afternoon to head out of town for warmer weather when we learned that our furnace (boiler) will not be installed for another week and a half. I only had an hour or two of daylight to drive in so we hurriedly put our things together to get on the road as quickly as possible. Long story short, when I finally sat down today to make a card for my dear Aunt who will be 87 next week, I realized I put together a very odd assortment of stamps, paper and embellishments. I decided to make a challenge out of it though. Luckily, I had grabbed my Lucky Treasure Bag and most of my card is made up of clip art, buttons, fabric, lace and ribbon from my LT Bag! The sentiment is from the Typography plate by Artistic Outpost. My Aunt, my mother's sister, has always been a special part of my life, and is even more so now that my own mother is gone. I think she will appreciate the card and I sure hope her day is filled with much happiness. Best, Yvonne

Dreaming of a White Christmas

2011-11-19T22:28:00.005-05:00

Greetings everyone! Well here we are again, looking at a brand new challenge, Challenge # 9, at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! The theme this time is "Dreaming of a White Christmas." Before I chat about my card, though, let me welcome Paula, the latest Fashionette to join the catwalk at FSC! Her card for the challenge reflects her exquisite style. You will love looking at her and the other designers creations and I know you will be inspired to enter your own creation. When we decided to go with Dreaming of a White Christmas my thoughts immediately went to this plate of stamps called Sleigh Ride by Artistic Outpost. I have only recently, and very tentatively done any heat embossing due to putting a nasty hole in my sofa years ago. I really wanted to my card to sparkle though, and so I pulled out pigment ink (I could only find Pink) and a white/silver embossing powder and embossed away! Unfortunately, even though I got advise on how to photograph to show sparkle, the weather did not cooperate and I apologize that the sparkle is not really displaying. I do love the sentiment's font. It seems so fitting and vintage. Embellishments are simple some pink pearls, pompom lace, baker's twine and glitter gems. Can't wait to see what each of you come up with. See FSC for the prize one of you will earn and of course, please remember, no Digis allowed, and we must be able to see your stamping. Here in the U.S., we are gearing up for Thanksgiving. I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the weekend. Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - For the Boys

2011-11-18T22:55:00.005-05:00

It has been a few weeks since I have been able to participate in Bloggers Challenge. It feels good to join in again. The theme this week is called "For the Boys." I chose the plate called Generation Redux by Artistic Outpost. When this plate came out, I knew it was a company whose images were going to appeal to me going forward, and I have not been disappointed. I began with Kraft card stock and used a lot of Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo. Embellishments include recycled ribbon, a button, pieces of an antique dictionary page and liquid pearls. Why not join us at Bloggers Challenge? Thanks for dropping by. Yvonne

Vintage Christmas Wishes

2011-11-14T18:21:00.003-05:00

I recently checked out Ebay for the first time and came across this rare, retired stamp by Magenta called Christmas Carolers. I won the bid, obviously, and was shocked when the stamp arrived to see how "fat" maple wood stamps were years ago. Curious as to whether anyone out there has seen this stamp before. It's a funny thing, back in the late 80s I visited a home by Frank Lloyd Wright and stepped away from Colonial and Antiques to all things Early Modern. I still absolutely love Early Modern, but I am happy that I have fallen in love again with vintage. I guess it is true, we always come full circle. For my card, I softened the card front, background paper and doily with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, added some crinkled black ribbon, some gold braid, gifted to me by a friend, and added a sentiment and holly leaves by Art Declassified. Snow flakes were cut from a gold doily. No challenge for this one, just moved to make it in the middle of the night while my DH was recently hospitalized. Thanks for dropping my. Yvonne

MMM Challenge 24 - CAS Christmas

2011-11-14T18:07:00.006-05:00

I love Mondays! It means another Make My Monday Challenge! For the month of November, we are exploring Christmas. For this week, Challenge #24 is to make a Clean and Simple Christmas Card with the emphasis on the sentiment. We are to keep multiple layers and embellishments to a minimum. I began with a white card base as MMM is looking for lots of "White Space!" For my Christmas image, I chose a stamp by Penny Black from some time ago. I stamped it with Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo inks. I matted the image with metallic gold background paper and attached it to the card front. For my sentiment, I chose "Noel" by Recollections. I embossed it in gold (big step for me as I gave up embossing when I burnt a hole in my sofa) and cut it out and mounted it to the card front with pop dots. To further draw attention to the sentiment, I wrapped a single strand of metallic gold thread around the corner of the card near the sentiment. Wishing everyone a beautiful week. Love your comments! Best, Yvonne

A Word of Encouragement

2011-11-12T22:06:00.003-05:00

One of my oldest friends since childhood that I reconnected with through Facebook has been battling cancer for years. She battles again this coming Monday and I wanted to make her a card to let her know I am thinking and praying for her. I recently acquired some sentiment stamps from the Typography plate by Artistic Outpost that I think fit the bill along with these dear little girls from the Birds of a Feather plate, also from Artistic Outpost, that look a lot like my friend and her sister when they were little. I am thankful for my own good health and to having found my old friend again. I truly believe it is all in God's plan. Hope you are having a great weekend. Best, Yvonne

MMM Challenge 23 - Christmas Traditional and Vintage

2011-11-07T19:35:00.003-05:00

Was sorry to miss out on Challenge 22 at Make My Monday while my hubby was in the hospital, but happy to report he gets stronger every day. With November comes a new challenge at Make My Monday - Christmas. For this week, we focus on Traditional and Vintage. I confess that although I purchased all my supplies for my nearly 300 cards I make each year back in early September, I just started working on them yesterday. I do that every year! My card for the challenge is not my card for 2011, but only my entry for this challenge. I began with an olive card base, added a vintage inspired clipping from a piece of paper purchased years ago at a stationary store. I choose the Joy and Happiness stamp by Stampington and Company and stamped it on glossy paper with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I distressed the image with Antique Linen, Peel Paint and Barn Red Distress Inks. I added gold photo corners and matted the image on gold metallic paper. Embellishments include portions of a gold doily, ivory tulle, red and white Baker's Twine (from an actual pastry box) and beautiful buttons that arrived from England recently as part of a Treasure Bag. Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with for the challenge. Check it out, if you have not tried MMM before. It's a great challenge site. Best, Yvonne

Make My Monday - Deezine Team Call

2011-11-05T19:33:00.006-04:00

I was so amazed, and joyful, to learn recently that Make My Monday Challenge is adding two new Deezine Team Members to their challenge team via a DT Call. Although I started my blog several years ago, it was not until May 2011 that I stumbled onto "Challenges." All of a sudden my world changed! Yes, I gained some followers, and yes the number of people who visited my sight escalated one-hundred fold, but the most precious part of this discovery was all of the kindred spirit friends I made who share a passion for art, and in particular, cards and other projects made with stamps.

Through submitting to challenges, and viewing others blogs who submitted to the challenges, I found my way to Make My Monday. I immediately felt like the quality of your challenges was on a different plane and I look forward nearly every Monday to the next challenge.

I love the monthly theme, and the weekly challenges within the theme. I love the mid-week encouragement and the personal touch I feel when I hear from the Deezine Team members. I love the the work of the other entrants, and most of all I love the classy, elegant, vintage-inspired work that is shared by both the Deezine Team and the participants. Your challenge has stretched me as an artist. I am recently retired, and am excited to have the time, finally, to devote to growing my artistic passion. I enjoy communicating and pride myself on being reliable and responsible when given a task, responsibility or deadline and would be honored to serve on your Deezine Team!

As part of the DT Call, we are to create a card with a Celebration Theme. I gave this some thought, and decided to make a card celebrating the birth and promise of a new baby girl. The main image and sentiment are by Crafty Individuals are stamped in Versafine Sepia ink. The background images, stamped in Tattered Rose Distress Ink, are by Invoke Art. I took a minimalist approach to embellishments due to the vintage look I was going for and added pearl heart buttons, a bit of gingham ribbon and baker's twine. Thank you for this opportunity to be considered for your esteemed Challenge. Best, Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - As Time Goes By

2011-11-05T19:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings! It is sooooo great to be back on my blog and back to following many of yours. The past two weeks have been a blur as my husband underwent some surgery. My apologies to those of you who have been so kind to leave comments, I should be able to do a better job of responding from here out.

I am most excited about the new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenge (FSC). The theme is "As Time Goes By." For those who know me, it is no secret that I am a literalist! My first thought went to the movie with the song in it with the same name. I confess I have never seen the movie, but my research on the movie, Casablanca, led me to select the elements above for my card. The loving couple image is by Art Declassified. The beautiful Eiffel Tower is by Stampsmith. (I just love how you look up at the tower!) The postcard stamp was a gift by Crafty Individuals when I ordered some other stamps. (Thank you!) The plane is by K & Company, and the sentiment was made with an Alphabet Set by Studio G. Other elements include lace, number stickers, background musical paper, LOTS of Distress Inks, vintage buttons and Baker's Twine.

I cannot wait for you to take a peak at the creations from the rest of the Design Team. You will be so inspired! We cannot wait to see your take on the theme, too. Just a reminder, we must be able to see your stamping and, please, no Digis. See FSC for full details including the deadline for your submission.

Have a wonderful weekend. Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Fall Blooms

2011-10-24T12:39:00.004-04:00

The challenge at Bloggers' Challenge this week is to make a project with Fall Blooms. For my card, I chose these beautiful floral stamps by Hero Arts and stamped them in fall colors! I used Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo and Wild Honey Distress Inks. The flowers were trimmed and mounted onto background paper and mounted to a Kraft card. Embellishments include paper leaves, seam binding and Copper Liquid Pearls. All of these fall challenges have helped me get ready for sending out Thanksgiving Day cards, which will be a huge help as I am just getting started on my Christmas Cards. How about you? Are you where you want to be? Why not come join us at Bloggers' Challenge with a Fall Blooms card? Best, Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 21 - Orange and Black

2011-10-24T12:16:00.004-04:00

Happy Monday to everyone! The challenge over at Make My Monday continues to be Autumn for the month of October and the challenge for this week is 'Orange and Black.' As an option, it can be a Halloween card if you please. I began with a black card blank, added some orange and black designer paper. I stamped my image and sentiment both from Studio G, with Black Memento Ink and distressed the edges of both with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink before matting both with black paper. Both were added to the card front. My embellishments include Black and White Baker's Twine, a recycled portion of a die cut that previously was a label and that I received when purchasing card stock and some Copper Liquid Pearls. My granddaughter will probably be the recipient of this card. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with. Take a look at the DT's examples. Excellent! Best, Yvonne

Coffee & Cream with a hint of Dark Chocolate

2011-10-22T19:19:00.006-04:00

Greetings! Boy do we have a fabulous new challenge for you over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! For Challenge # 7, the theme is Coffee & Cream with a hint of Dark Chocolate! I hope you will hop over to FSC and check out all of the examples by the other Design Team Members. They are over the moon! You will be so inspired. For my own card, I started by stamping a Cafe scene and and an accompanying tray with coffee, both by Art Declassified in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I also stamped a street map of Paris by Stampsmith with the same ink. All images were distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink and then matted with Kraft card stock and black paper. The images were layered over a background designer paper and embellishments include Kraft photo corners, seam binding by Martha Stewart, a paper flower, gold cord and vintage buttons. The finalized panel was placed on a brown card base. I had the privilege decades ago of spending nine days in Paris and the surrounding area. I have fond memories of being offered coffee each morning with either hot or cold milk. I fondly remember the little bistros that lined the Paris streets and hope one day to return. Now we look forward to seeing what you come up with! Please remember we need to be able to see your stamping and no Digis, please. Bon Soire! Yvonne

Use it Tuesday - Challenge # 17 - Metal

2011-10-18T19:06:00.005-04:00

The challenge at Use It Tuesday this time around is 'Metal.' What I love about this Challenge site is that you are encouraged to dust off and use stash that has not been used in awhile. I immediately thought of these metal squares that I had been saving for years! I matted them with black paper and mounted them on a very old piece of red card stock. The ribbon is recycled from several Christmases ago. The sentiment is by Hero Arts. Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

Try it on Tuesday

2011-10-18T18:46:00.005-04:00

Came across a new challenge today called Try it on Tuesday. Their challenge this week is called 'Taking to the Skies.' The interpretation is open to us. The Design Members at Try it on Tuesday had many interpretations, I must say! For my card, I chose birds, a sentiment and a bird cage by TPC Studio. I added Antique Linen Distress Ink to most of the pieces and finished with a feather and Baker's Twine, a doily and Liquid Pearls. I really felt the card needed a pop of color so I added the ribbon at the top of the card. Looking forward to meeting some new folks at this challenge. Thanks for stopping by. Yvonne

Autumn Inchies - Flora and Fauna

2011-10-17T12:56:00.005-04:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Our weather was gorgeous all weekend and continues into the new week. Challenge # 20 at Make My Monday is Autumn Inchies - Flora and Fauna. I recently picked up this stamp by Inkadinkado and think it is perfect for this week's challenge. I painstakingly cut background papers into inchies and arrange them colorfully and then realized I needed to put them all back together to stamp my image! I am also submitting my card to Stamptacular Sunday Challenge for Challenge #134 - 'You Choose,' which calls for any card using a technique new to you. Although I have made a few cards with inchies, I have never attempted to stamp one image across multiple inchies. I have always stamped each block individually, so that is my 'new to me' technique. Looking forward to seeing what evryone else comes up with! Thanks for dropping by. Best, Yvonne

Bloggers' Challenge - Cardboard

2011-10-14T12:47:00.005-04:00

The challenge at Bloggers' Challenge this week is to incorporate cardboard into a project. I decided to use a piece of cardboard that was at the bottom of a stack of card stock. I die cut a vine by Sissix from the cardboard and sponged the leaves with Fresh Foliage Folk Art Paint and Crushed Olive Distress Ink. The focal image is from Generation Redux by Artistic Outpost. I added Kraft Photo Corners to tie into the card stock vine. The sentiment is by Stampin Up. Embellishments include a paper flower I found in my stash, ribbon by Michael's and Pink Pearls by Martha Stewart. I felt as though the card was a bit flat, so I added just a bit of Frosted Lace Stickles here and there on my cardboard vine. I really appreciate being challenge to go beyond the regular paper or card stock I would have pulled together for my project. It is good to grow! Hope everyone has a great weekend. Heading to the beach with my sister that I have not seen in ages and my husband. Take care. Yvonne

Moxy Fab - Textured to Perfection

2011-10-11T14:22:00.003-04:00

This is my first Moxie Fab World Challenge, though I have joined in on the a number of Tuesday Trigger Challenges. The challenge is to make a card that incorporates texture in an innovative way. I love texture and always try to add some to my cards. For this card, I challenged myself to look for ways to add extra texture. To get started, I grabbed this beautiful seashell embossing folder by Sissix and embossed Kraft card stock. I then distressed the edges of the panel. I immediately knew I wanted to use the clam shell gather from Artistic Outpost. To further the texture of my card, I tore around the image to reveal the soft paper at the core. I wrapped the panel in baker's twine and then added raffia as a bow to heap on more texture. Where I might have added stamped seashells, for today's card, I added real seashells and some pearls. The entire panel was mounted to white card stock. I thought the accent panel lacked texture so I added some with Copper Liquid Pearls for tactile appeal. Everything was mounted on a textured peach card base. Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday Trigger - Finesse the Dress

2011-10-11T13:45:00.006-04:00

It's another Tuesday Trigger at Moxy Fab! This week, we are to make a card as inspired by the dress above. I immediately thought of this previously uninked stamp by Inkadinkado and stamped it in London Fog Memento Ink onto a Turquoise scrap and matted the image in white and metallic gray. A simple gray strip punched with a Martha Stewart border punch replicates the hem of the dress. The scalloped doily behind the image also replicates, somewhat, the bodice of the dress. The sentiment is by Stampa Rosa and embellishments include gauze flowers by Tim Holtz and Baker's Twine by Divine Twine. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's takes on the photo! Thanks for dropping by. Best, Yvonne

Autumn Trees and Falling Leaves

2011-10-10T12:48:00.005-04:00

I don't usually combine challenges, but since several are along the theme of Autumn, I hope you will indulge me! Over at Make My Monday, the theme continues to be Autumn, and this week we are to make a project with AutumnTrees! At Bloggers Challenge, the theme is Falling For You and can be interpreted as we see fit. I also came across a new to me challenge called Stamptacular Sunday Challenge and their theme, #133, is called "So Distressing! " And so, with these challenges in mind, I created my autumnal card with an Orange card base. The trees by Rubber Stampede were stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on Glossy Paper. I distressed the tree image with Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey and Brushed Concord. The sentiment, also stamped in Rich Cocoa is by Hero Arts. Embellishments include leaf buttons, Scrappers' Floss, ribbon, and Liquid Pearls in Copper. I just love this time of year! Hope everyone has a great week. Best, Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenge - anything but a card

2011-10-09T08:56:00.002-04:00

Greetings! I have really been enjoying the challenges at Fashionable Stamping Challenge. The new challenge, "Anything but a Card"
should be very interesting. Looking forward to seeing what each of you comes up with! For my project, I chose to decorate an unfinished white linen picture frame. I began by stamping shells in Antique Linen Distress Ink onto the frame and added the sentiment in Black Versafine ink at the bottom of the frame. The bathing Beaty was stamped onto Glossy Paper and trimmed and mounted to the side of the frame. I added tulle, ribbon, shells, pearls and butterfly stickers by Tim Holtz. All stamp images are by Oxford Impressions.

Please check out all the projects by the Design Team for inspiration. Can't wait to see your entry! Please remember no Digis and we must be able to see stamping on your project. Best, Yvonne

Blogger's Challenge - Sketch Challenge -9/30/11

2011-10-05T19:58:00.008-04:00

Greetings! Catching up on last Friday's new Bloggers Challenge, which is a sketch this week. (See above.) I decided to use the beautiful stamp plate called Paris Exposition by Artistic Outpost. Not sure why I felt led to stay to all neutrals on this one, by I like it! Looking forward to seeing every one's entries. Best, Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 18 - Autumn- Resist Technique

2011-10-05T11:47:00.007-04:00

Greetings! It sure feels good to be back in blog land! I have been traveling for a while and though I had my card supplies with me, had no time to apply myself. I was very excited to see the new challenge for Make My Monday for October and was delighted to see that it is "Autumn." Specifically, for this first week, we are to use a "Resist Technique." Yikes!!! I don't know that I have ever used a resist technique. It is, however, what I love most about challenges... growing my skills. So...I did a search and found some really good videos on You Tube. I recalled having a Ranger Resist Ink Pad from back in the days when I did heat embossing (before I burnt a hole in my sofa). That was way before Distress Inks though. Don't you just love how Distress Inks have changed the course of card making? So for my card, I stamped this leaf collage by Northwoods Rubber Company with Resist Ink onto Glossy Paper. I added Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Dusty Concord and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks. I matted my image with white and then copper metallic paper. I layered a purple card stock to my white card base, added a beautiful copper ribbon, and my matted image. The sentiment is a portion of an stamp by The Stamp Pad Company, also stamped in Dusty Concord. Embellishments include paper leaves mounted on pop dots, Copper Liquid Pearls, Birds cut from ribbon, Baker's Twine and Raffia. Looking forward to a week of sunshine and warmer weather as we are still without a furnace as a result of last month's flood! Lot's of hot tea helps! Take care. Best, Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 17 - SteamPunk - Anything But a Card

2011-09-27T16:47:00.010-04:00

Really excited about the Make My Monday Challenge! I learned when going to their site for this week's challenge that I had been selected as one of the Top Three for last week's Challenge 16. I am both humbled and honored at being selected from all the beautiful entries. This is my first ever being selected at any Challenge so I am just thrilled. Check out the other winners noted as part of this week's challenge. You won't be disappointed!

This week, for Challenge 17, we wrap up SteamPunk with the specification of "SteamPunk -Anything But a Card." I am a card maker! I admit it. This is the second challenge in the past few days where I am stretched to go beyond a card base for my canvas. I searched my art studio and came up with this very handsome black box. It contained my Yearly Calendar that I purchased at Barnes and Noble at the begining of 2011. It was so gorgeous, 8.5" by 10.5" that I had previously tore off the front label and set aside for another day. For Challenge 17, I decided to decorate the top of the box in preparation to give the box and possible contents as a gift to someone. (My digital camera broke a few days ago and I am trying to get use to my husband's new camera so please forgive the shadows and waviness until I figure it all out. Not very mechanically incline, I'm afraid.)

I am really enjoying SteamPunk, have ordered some new stamps, but they have not yet arrived, and so I set to work with what I had on hand. I used two stamp plates by Artistic Outpost, Whimsical Melange and SteamPunk. I did a lot of ink distressing with Brushed Concord, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick and Antique Linen.

I added sprockets by Tim Holtz, sewing snaps, jump rings from my attempts at jewelry making, and tried to make a pair of spectacles from jewelry wire.

Not sure yet who will receive this box, but I think it will make someone happy. Looking forward to seeing what else everyone else comes up with and very curious about the new theme for October! Take care and thanks for dropping by. Best, Yvonne

Tuesday Trigger - Delightfully Random

2011-09-27T14:54:00.007-04:00

I cannot tell you happy I am to have found Tuesday Trigger at Moxy Fab! I absolutely love the trends, the inspirational photos and viewing all the entries. So many different interpretations of each challenge. This week's challenge is called "Delightfully Random." We are to create a project of our own based on our inspiration of the photo. The items that stood out to me were the doily, buttons, red and white check, spools of thread, bird and pennant. I am fresh out of mint card stock and decided to focus on what I saw as the primary colors in the photo: white, red and turquoise. To give my card a shabby chic, vintage look, I ink distressed my card base and the stamped images with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. My pennant, bird and house that reminded me of the envelope in the photo above are all by Artistic Outpost. I particularly enjoy how you can intermingle AO's images from various plates. For embellishments, I added a red doily and portions of another, buttons, baker's twine, liquid pearls and a die cut spool by Mr. Tim Holtz that was gifted to me by a friend and fellow design team member. There were so many ways to go with this photo and I am enjoying seeing what everyone else has come up with! Thanks for dropping by and for leaving a comment if you feel moved to do so! Best, Yvonne

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Vintage Inspired

2011-09-24T20:52:00.008-04:00

It's a brand new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge! This fortnight, we are making Vintage-inspired projects. For my card, I started with one of my "Go To" images from the Generation Redux plate by Artistic Outpost stamped in Sepia Versa Fine ink, distressed with Antique Linen ink, adhered with Kraft photo corners and matted in distressed black. I also stamped an Ephemeral plate image of a journal page also by Artistic Outpost in Antique Linen and also distressed with the same ink and matted it in distressed black. I stamped several additional images onto the distressed background paper from Generation Redux, added doilies that were also distressed and then added my matted images. To complete my card, I added die cut vines in Copper metallic paper, dotted with copper pearls, brown seam binding, a butterfly sticker by Tim Holtz, bronze silk leaves and a piece of vintage jewelery. Please check out FSC to see all the beautiful inspiration pieces by the Design Team and then let us see your own Vintage piece for a chance to win a wonderful set of stamps! Thanks for stopping by. Best, Yvonne

Bloggers Challenge - Travel

2011-09-23T16:38:00.004-04:00

It's another Friday and that means another Bloggers' Challenge! This week, Lisa has selected Travel as the theme. Each of us can determine from there how we will present our project. I started thinking about stamps I generally gravitate to when creating a Bon Voyage card, but in the end, went a different route. I began with this Montage image by PSX. I purchased this stamp 10 years ago when making wedding annoucements and invitations to my husband's and my reception. We were married on the beach in St. Croix and later had a reception at our home for friends and family. I also added a sentiment and image from Artistic Outpost, as well as a sentiment by Penny Black. The background is part of a map I cut to fit and distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I could not resist adding some Air Mail Divine Twine and a vintage red button to complete my card. Looking forward to everyone's take on the challenge. I hope you will consider joining in! Best, Yvonne

CAS Birthday Wishes

2011-09-23T15:57:00.007-04:00

A number of my dear friends are celebrating September birthdays next week. I decided to make some Clean and Simple cards to pop in the mail to them. My friend Sally has a cat and one of my other friends is a school teacher and loves children, so their cards reflect these things. It has been a very long couple of weeks digging out from flood waters. The insurance adjuster was finally here yesterday and today they hauled away all of the contents of our basement that were sitting in our driveway these past couple of weeks. It is sad to see items that you have used and are a part of your family for many decades taken to the dump. We have much to be thankful for, though, as others in our community have lost everything and cannot even live in their homes. Hoping everyone has a great weekend. Best, Yvonne

Make My Monday - Challenge 16 - Metal Steampunk

2011-09-19T14:17:00.006-04:00

Make My Monday Challenge continues with the Steampunk theme, this week with an emphasis on "Metal." You can tell Autumn is near as many of us seem to be gravitating to earth tone colors for our projects! For my card, I started with a berry colored card base. I distressed a white card stock panel with Antique Linen, Shabby Shutters, Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks. My images are from Tim Holtz Visual Artistry Collection and also from several plates by Artistic Outpost. For metal, I added sprockets by Tim Holtz and also sewing snaps. The panel was matted in black and then metallic copper paper and mounted to the card front. I think Steampunk is so cool and would probably never have had the nerve to give it a try, if it had not been for Make My Monday. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's projects. Thanks for stopping by! Best, Yvonne

Bloggers Challenge - Who's got the Buttons?

2011-09-16T12:03:00.005-04:00

The challenge this week at Bloggers Challenge is all about Buttons! I immediately set to work on my card when seeing the theme. A short time ago, when scouring my local fabric and craft store, I checked out the button aisle. Always looking for beautiful buttons on the clearance rack! I hit the jackpot when I found these beautiful gems with Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter! The German Scrap and ribbon just arrived recently and I pieced the card all together, adding distress inks, a sentiment by Stampa Rosa and some background paper to make this sweet card. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. After a week of working on remediation at our home and my sister-in-law's from last week's flood, we are off to the beach for the weekend. Spending time with our son and daughter-in-law who are down for a whole week. Best, Yvonne

Clean and Simple - 157

2011-09-14T14:02:00.005-04:00

The sketch above is the current challenge at Clean and Simple. I needed to make a birthday card for one of my nieces, so this sketch came in real handy. Stamps are by Studio G and inks are by Ranger Distress. Thanks for stopping by! Yvonne

Bloggers Challenge - Stars

2011-09-14T13:31:00.004-04:00

The challenge over at Bloggers Challenge this week is to create a project with Stars. The interpretation from there is ours. Since we just reflected on 9/11, I thought it would be appropriate to choose an image and sentiments from the She-roes plate at Artistic Outpost.

I will be sending this card to my neice for Veterans' Day, in November. Thanks for dropping by. If you would like to join the fun at Bloggers Challenge, please check out Lisa's blog for easy instructions. Yvonne