Cards and More Cards!

Here are some of the latest cards I made. Some were created using digital stamps (some of which I've had for years and can't remember where I purchased) and others I purchased on Etsy. Most of these have been colored using Copic Markers.

Enjoy!

Joy digi stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil

 

Angie Girl Stamp, Journeem from Unity Stamp Co.

Cuttlebug Embossing file 

Stampin' Up Beautiful You collection stamp

Color Your Day Lessons from Altenew

I reccently signed up with Altenew Academy for their Color Your Day classes which ran from July 16th throught July 21st. I was working on some invitations for an anniversary party (more on that in my next post) and was unable to take the lessons on the days they were scheduled.

Today was my first time attempting to view the class (I have access to it on the Academy's site). Lesson 1 is all about being inspired by color. The instructor provided us with her inspiration for the cards she made and urged us to open a magazine, scroll through Pinterest or anywhere we could find inspiration for creating our card.

My inspiration came from her color combination, brown and turqoise blue. I changed it up a little as I noticed there was a hint of orange in the photo she provided, so the colors I used were brown and orange.

I started out by stamping the Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp to my brown cardstock using Versamark and embossing with Stampin' Up's clear embossing powder. After heat setting the image, I grabbed the bottle of bleach from the kitchen, added some to the bottle cap and using a paint brush, painted inside the lines of the stamped images. Once dry, the backround of the flowers were light enough for me to color with my Copic Markers (Chrome Orange #YR04 and Buttercup Yellow #Y21). I added some Glossy Accents to the flowers for a little dimension.

I finished the card by die cutting the words "With Sympathy" three (3) times to make the words pop on the cardstock, then added some orange glitter for some sparkle. I further embellished the card with yellow adhesive gems.

Here is my finished card:

The God Who Is Everything

Why do we say (or think) we are lonely? Why do we feel the need to seek out things (or people) that gives us temporary pleasure (satisfaction) and after satisfying our need, we feel a void in our lives?

We search and cannot find true happiness because we believe happiness lies in the hands of another, in our relationship with someone other than ourselves, in buying or owning material things, not realizing that to be truly happy we must learn to love ourselves; we must learn to surrender our lives to the real lover of our soul, Jesus Christ.

Who knows us better than we know ourselves? God does. The psalmist writes, "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar." (Psalm 139:1-2, NIV).  There is nothing about us that God does not know. He knows our every thought. Every word we speak is known to him even before it is formed in our minds.  This knowledge of God speaks of relationship to me. It may be one-sided (on God's part) but can become a whole connection if we give ourselves over to him and invite him into our lives.

I am not alone, though it may appear that way because of my lack of a physical partner.  I am not lonely - God is with me every step of the way.  He is my companion when I feel lonely, he's my comforter when I'm in pain; when I need someone to confide in, he's my confidante; he is my BFF (best friend forever) and my BFL (best friend for life); he dries my tears when I'm crying; he heals me when I'm sick; he watches over me everywhere I go; he's my guide, my one and only, he's my everything. God is so much more than a fleeting thought; he's foundation, he's solid rock; he's strength; he's light; he's happiness; he's joy. He is everything we are looking for.

When you feel that yearning, that feeling you cannot describe; that lack of satisfaction, that emptiness inside, it is Jesus knocking at the door of your heart. Stop looking for that elusive lover. Stop searching for temporary pleasures. Instead, open the doors of your heart to receive Jesus and enter into relationship with the one who knows everything about you, for he knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5).  When you open those doors, you will find fulfillment in every area of your life and loneliness will be no more. 

Today's card features a Julie Nutting digital stamp. I stamped the image on white cardstock and colored it using Copic markers. I stamped it again, but this time I did it on a zebra pattern paper I had in my stash (the skirt) and yellow glitter paper (the hem of the skirt).
I paper-pierced both of these and glued them to the stamped image. I then used Stickles (yellow) to glitz up the blouse and head band on the image.  The background yellow/black paper is from here. The layered glitter paper is from a stash I've had lying around. I stamped Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made all things beautiful in its time" from Verve Stamps onto a white cardstock and die cut it using Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4 and Labels 25 (black background). finished the card by adding some embellishments from my stash.

Julie Nutting Stamps

I ran into Julie Nutting stamps while browsing a few card making blogs and fell instantly in love with them. I immediately purchased a whole collection on Amazon. I love the infinite possibilities of being able to create beautiful cards with these stamps.

My first creation was a farewell card for the organist of my choir who was leaving.  Knowing her love of fashion, I immediately made a card she could identify with and which spoke to who she was.  Here it is:

This stamp is called Megan. I stamped and colored her using Copic markers then paper pierced the skirt and top with card stock from my stash.  I then used Stickles to embellish the hem of the top and her boots. I layered the cut-out on a fancy frame and placed it over a colored burlap to match the colors in the skirt. The background paper is from the Animal Prints digital paper by Digi Diva.

The second card I made was for a 50th birthday party. This card started out with me creating a checkerboard flooring technique (tutorial is found here). Once I made the floor, I thought a Julie Nutting stamp would go just right with it. I Gessoed the card stock paper and used watercolor and reinkers to create the background. I then attached the flooring I made to the card stock.  I stamped the Doll with Swing Dress rubber stamp, cut-out the doll, colored with Copics.
I then paper pierced the skirt, again using Animal Prints by Digi Diva and embellished the skirt and blouse hem, and shoes (as well as added earrings and a bracelet) with Stickles. I cut out a dance hall ball, used Stickles to give it some dimension, and added some gold thread to give the appearance of a Disco ball hanging from a dance floor.  I finished the card by adding a Happy Birthday tag.

My third creation is a framed art using Julie Nutting's Lorena rubber stamp. For this I used watercolor paper to make the background. I used a mixture of pinks with a tinge of orange watercolor and swirled it on the background. Once dry, I stamped the rubber stamped image to the background and colored it with Copics. I placed the card stock in my printer and printed the scripture to the right of the stamped image (Genesis 1:31). I then used a double-sided card stock by Beyond the Page. I stamped the image again on the card stock and paper pierced the top and hem of the skirt with the black and white polka dot pattern (on one side), and the skirt with the pink Damask pattern (on the other). I attached these to the stamped image using glue stick, then embellished with rhinestones in pink and black. Once done, I glued these to an Cheetah print card stock from my stash, then attached that to the pink Damask paper used on the skirt. I then framed and embellished the finished art piece.

Here is a larger view of the art work and below that, the finished product.

Our Purpose

God made us for His glory. There's no ifs or buts about that.  The enemy of our souls has lied to us and tried to derail us from our purpose. But Jesus came into the world to steer us back on course. 1 Timothy 1:15 states, "Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them."

We had not been doing what we were made for, so God, in His infinite wisdom, sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ, so that we (humankind) could be saved from the hold the devil had on us. 2 Corinthians 4:4 brings that point home, "The ruler of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the message about the divine greatness of Christ. Christ is the one who is exactly like God."  Think about it, God loved us so much, He made the ultimate sacrifice for us and showed His love in Jesus' obedience to His will.  Take the time to analyze these words, and stand amazed at what God did for us -- sinners! Yes, we've all sinned and fall short of God's glory! - Romans 3:23

What say you? Can you fathom this? If you're not a believer, it might be very difficult for you to do, but for anyone who's felt and experienced the grace of God, this would not be hard to do. 

The enemy won't quit that easily, though. He will use our past behaviors or mistakes against us, but here are words we can live by and use to guard us from that threat, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," Romans 8:1.  Our sin was condemned in Jesus' flesh! Think about it -- our purpose is to live for Christ, to worship Him, to bring glory to His name. Every mistake or failure we have made prior to receiving the revelation of this fact, does not keep us from doing what we were made to do. 

Just sayin'

I leave you with these cards, which I feel are appropriate. The digi images are from Robert Jackson. I used Gimp to add the animal print background to the dress and colored the rest with Copics.

The second card, I just colored with Copics and used Stickles to add some glitz to the card.

Good morning everyone!

It's a beautiful, cloudy winter morning here in Southern California, but I'm loving being able to wear rain boots and snuggle up in winter wear, :-)  I've been very busy this week with making Valentine's cards, but I will not post any of them here today as I have lots (hopefully) more to make and I haven't had a chance to photograph the finished ones as yet.

Today I want to showcase the few cards I made this week. Here's the first one. I made this thank you card for the pastor of my church. I dance in a praise group and we minister on the 3rd Sunday of every month. This past Sunday, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we danced to his "We Shall Overcome" speech and Pastor Sauls, who's originally from South Africa and plays the African drums, was kind enough to play in the background to provide us with a beat for the dance. I used embellishments from my stash, with the exception of the swirl frame, which I got from here.

Oops, I just noticed the time and I have to leave for praise and worship. I will return later and upload the other cards for you to view.  In the meantime, enjoy your Saturday morning!

Ciao!!

Color Pop

I've often admired card crafters who make these awesome white cards, then place one colored embellishment or colored stamp to make the card pop.  Well, I've finally made one of my own!  I was reading Mama Dini's blog the other day and she was showcasing the Flourishes Beauty of Imitation challenge.  Dina was showcasing a card that became the inspiration for her card.  I was so impressed with it, I decided then and there to make one.

For this card I used the Retro Circles by Tim Holtz and embossed the front of the card. I then cut out the dies with the Beaded Circles by Spellbinders .  I stamped the flower that would be the "pop" in my card twice (once on the smaller circle and again on a scrap of white cardstock) from stamps in my stash, then used Copic Markers to color them. Afterwards, I paper pierced the extra flower and glued it over the stamped image on the circle.  Using glue dots, I assembled the circles on the card and finished by making a bow using Becca's Peg Bow Maker to further embellish the card.  I hope you like it!

Digital Images

Hi there!

Today I decided to showcase one of the many techniques I've been using in making my cards.  One of my favorite things to do is work with graphics.  There is so much you can do with them!  I'm constantly browsing the web in search of artwork/graphics I can use in my business (I think I mentioned before that I'm a VA by profession -- a creative one at that!) as well as for my card making hobby. Anyway, there are so many sites that offer digital stamps for purchase.  One  such site is Mo's Digital Pencil Shop.  I purchased the digi file, Gloria at the Pool, which I used for this card. I used Copic Markers to paint the image, then cut out the image with Spellbinders die and attached the image to the card base. I embellished the card with some bling and Stickles glitter glue.  Gloria seems to be having some fun. I may need to follow suit!

I also purchased this cute wedding file, Wedding Couple.  Copic Markers brought to life the image, and I highlighted it with Stickles glitter glue. I used my Cuttlebug to add dimension to the background layer of the card base, and embellished it with tiny pearls. They make an awesome pair!




I've had this cutie for a while now and finally found the time to use her for a card. I think I purchased the file from Mo's, but can't locate any information on her.  I used Copic Markers to color and Stickles glitter glue to add some dimension to her dress and the bows in her hair.  Using my Cuttlebug, I embossed the background layer to add dimension.

Isn't she adorable?