Anniversary Invitations

I recently completed invitations for a friend's 40th Anniversary and vow renewal celebration. I was inspired to make this invite after I saw Becca Feeken's Gent's and Ladies shoe from Spellbinders. The card panel was made using a design I found in Cricut Design Space. It required me purchasing 11x17 paper from Envelopes.com (based on the color combination from my friend's party and the size of the card, which was 6x5).

I cut the background panel and embossed it using my Cuttlebug and the Darice 5x7 Damask embossing folder. I cut the men's shoe from black cardstock and used scraps from the background panel (Paper Source's Stardream Quartz cardstock. This is one of my favorite stores to shop for quality invitation paper and coverstock) for the top layer of the shoe and using a needle inserted black ribbon as laces. For the woman's shoe, I used the Stardream Quartz paper as the bottom and top layer, cut the insole and bow from the red cardstock used for the card base and embellished it with a pearl. I finished the card by adding a strip of silver rhinestone bling. The inside of the card was preprinted and cut to fit inside the panel.

Clothespins have many uses!

Adding ribbon to the top panel of the men's shoe

Grateful I had a needle with an eye big enough to string the ribbon!

I love an assembly line!

Here's the final 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.

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?