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!!

Fall Colors

This week's newsletter from Paper Crafter's Library had a challenge for a Fall Thank You card.  Every Monday they send out a challenge, but this is the first time I was inspired (or had the time) to try my hand at making one of their card layouts.  I love the colors of the card, but it was the simplicity that inspired me to make it. Using scraps of paper I have in my stash, I followed the directions given by Tracy in the video and made the following:

Another Friday Afternoon

Well, I've made it to another Friday afternoon not knowing where to begin or what to do. I'm torn between being creative or just sitting back and relaxing before my weekend begins.  I don't know about you, but on Fridays I find it hard to do anything but catching up on some me time.  I find that when one is creative, ones mind tends to wander from project to project (mentally.) When that happens to me, I get this feeling of being overwhelmed and cannot make up my mind about what it is I want to do!

This afternoon was no exception. I started out with some Praise and Worship and Bible Study. This is the easy part because it requires no thought on my part -- being in God's presence has a way of setting the atmosphere and clearing the clutter from my mind. I then prepared dinner for my mom and settled down to watch a show on TV.  It was during this period of rest that I started wondering where to begin and what to do creatively.  I checked my email, saw a few emails I subscribed to with different techniques to try, but frankly, I was still not motivated.  This brought me to writing this post. I think I made up my mind to just let myself relax today and start off tomorrow fresh and with a clear mind.

I won't leave you without something to view, though.  I made the following card on Wednesday, September 26th.  It was my older sister's birthday and I decided (last minute) to bake her cake (we meet for Bible Study on Wednesday evenings at church).  Needless to say, I was stumped for a layout for the card.  I then remembered an email I received from Bird's Cards with a card she'd made.  I loved the simplicity of the card, but more than that, I loved how elegant it looked, so I tried making my own version of this card.  I made this card the old fashioned way -- cutting and pasting.  There was no e-cutter involved, just my paper cutter, scissors, a paper punch, the Cuttlebug, bling, ribbon, and a stamped sentiment. See? Simplicity and elegance.  Enjoy!

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?