Pinkalicious!

I have had a few ideas rattling around in my head for the JustRite Challenge #103  Things with Wings. Late last night I finally had some time to try and put one of the ideas into paper! This particular challenge also partners with Spellbinder Dies so I used a multitude of Spellbinder dies on this card!  I like Spellbinders because I am able to really mix and match shapes.  And if I cut a die shape out and it doesn't work with the card I am making I just put it into a basket with other cut die shapes to use on another card down the road.  This way I have a ready and varied stash of cuts in regards to shapes and colors.

 I decided to go with a "Breast Cancer" themed card as unfortunately, there are always so many people that I can send this card to. I have a sweet little set from JustRite that is all breast cancer themed....and I have used and used  and used this set.  I only ended up using the sentiment from the Be Strong set this time. I decided to enter this card into Our Creative Corner's Challenge Words, Words, Words as I think that this sentiment says it all!  Together we CAN find a cure. The little white embossed doily is from a JustRite set called Graceful Monogram and the white embossed pink background is a large background stamp called Sweet Lace.  When I started this card some of the inking and papers were in a second color of pink...ultimately I decided that was too much going on and so since I didn't want to sacrifice layers I decided to sacrifice color!  But all in all I like this card.  I am loving that background stamp.  This is the first time that I have inked it up and I can say it inked up beautifully and evenly the first time out! And, think about stopping over to the JustRite site.....there is a new challenge every Friday.  Also, there is still time to enter JustRite Challenge #103 Things with Wings.  So here is my card....Pink Rules!

And here is the inside.  I see know there is a bit of a smudge....so I will have to have a do over before I send this on. It's amazing what I see thru the camera that I don't always catch in RL!

Thank you so much for stopping by and all your kind comments lately.  I appreciate each and every one of them.

Be Well,

Sheila

Making My Own Window.....

After having so much fun taking part in the last JustRite Friday Challenge I thought that I would try again this week.  I loved the theme ... JustRite Friday Challenge #103 is "Things With Wings".  It is a challenge that also is shared by Spellbinder's meaning that on your card you need to use both JustRite Stamp's/Die's as well as Spellbinder Dies.  And, I had an idea almost from the second that I read the theme.  I wanted to make my own window out of Spellbinder dies and then fussy cut a stamped image to use with the "window".
I wanted to use THIS  beautiful JustRite background stamp and basically just ink up and fussy cut the birds and the flowers.  Which I did because I planned to put them in front of Spellbinder window of my own creation. I do have a Spellbinder window die....but it  was too small and too fancy for the image.  So, I decided to "make" my own window by cutting a large square from my Spellbinder die and then measuring and cutting a much, much smaller square die 9 times to make a 9 paned window.  Which turned out great once I finally got the measurements down right!  Then, I cut two frames, one in white and one in maroon to highlight the window and give some depth to the image.  I then embossed the white window frame in the "wood" embossing folder to give the window some texture.  I cut and colored out the birds a second time and popped them up on dots and stickled in the centers of the flowers as well as the leaves, the lettering and slight bits on the birds themselves.

Inside I used JustRite stamps for the message and then matted the white spaces on colored cardstock to match the outside colors.  I am pretty happy with how this turned out and made a "template" of sorts so that I am able to make this window again.  It is soooo easy and tempting to use my dies only for what they are originally intended....such as squares just for matting.  Today I am pretty pleased that I stepped out of my zone to "create" a new window out of dies that I had on hand.  I just wish that I was faster with computing the measurements!  So here is my card....

And here is the inside.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.  I love to have visitors and always appreciate the comments ;-D

Be well,

Sheila

It Never Ends!

The making of wedding cards that is!  Man o man I have had a lot to make this summer!  After today's card I have one engagement card and one more wedding card and then I think I will be done for a bit.  Although truth be told, they are some of my favorite types of cards to make because they can be so ornate and over the top.  This particular card is made for two people who are very, very close to me and have waited 35 years for the right to be married.  I wanted an elegant card that uses some of the traditional elements of wedding cards such as metallics, bling or ribbons but also had a distinctly masculine edge to it hence the black and silver color scheme.  I am so happy with how this card turned out!  I included two shots of the inside of the card....this, for some reason, was a really difficult color combo to photograph!  I am entering this card into Our Creative Corner's Challenge entitled "Words, Words, Words".  Although the words that I have at the heart of my card aren't a sentiment per se they certainly are words that speak volumes.  They truly do "tell a story" as much as any other type of inspirational quote!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you are heading into a great weekend.  Can you believe the summer is nearly over?  I can't......in Wisconsin it was so short this year!

Be well,
Sheila

Ice, Ice Baby!

Actually, the title refers to the ice-y blue shimmer card that I used for the following wedding card.  Please bear with me with regards to all the wedding cards that I have been posting.  My daughters' have required several lately and I still have two more wedding cards and an engagement card to go!  Anyways, I really love this particular card.  It uses one of my favorite JustRite Stamps paired with a favie Spellbinder's Die combo.  I decided to create an elegant, "cool and crisp" looking card using 120 lb white cardstock and shimmer blue cardstock. I love the results!

I apologize for the high shine on the photo.....I haven't managed to get that under control when using a shimmer cardstock or a pearlized embossing.  This particular embossing powder is great....it is a "pastel" powder which changes any color ink you use to the "pearlized pastel" version of that color!
Also, here is the inside.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  To all who have asked....my finger is getting better ;-D

Be well,
Sheila

Wedding Bells....and a Challenge!

Hi Everyone!  Thank you so much for the nice comments and emails regarding my Guest Designer spot over at My Sheri Craft's.  There is still time to get in on the "Back to School" challenge if you would like to take part. Also, my finger is healing and thank you for all the kind words regarding my recent surgery....like they say....getting old ain't easy!  Finally, I have a card for a JustRite Stamps Friday Challenge.  I have wanted to take part in these challenges for some time now but haven't had the time unfortunately.  Now that life is starting to slow down some I plan to be a regular over at that site!  I just love JustRite Stamps.  They are perfect go to stamps for me when making wedding, anniversary or birthday cards.  This week I have three wedding cards and a birthday card to make so I believe my JustRite stamps will be getting their exercise.  The challenge for this week was a color challenge with the following as the inspiration photo.  If you want, check out the challenge yourself over at JustRite Friday Challenge #102

Now I will readily admit that these colors are all lovely on their own but I struggled with putting them together into a card that didn't look too "precious".  I think what I ended up with works....I feel that the strong lines of the stamp as well as the sentiment being in black sort of "ground" the overall cutesyness of the card's colors.  I wanted to also include the roses that were in the picture as well as the delicate gold edging.  The edging for me came about with the mount that the sentiment is layered on as well as the color of embossing that I used for the the stamps.  I also busted out a new Spellbinder's die that I picked up at Hobby Lobby with a coupon too.  I wish my camera showed the softness of these colors a bit more.  It is a little hard to photograph today and I feel the pics don't do the card justice!  I also hand colored some roses and used a little enamel heart on the bow.  The bow is doubled...first I used one 5 loop bow and topped that bow with another 3 loop bow.  Kinda like it.  Then, I felt that the lower right hand side of the card became a bit heavy as I was trying to include the various colors so I evened the "weight " out by adding some flowers to the upper left hand side of the image.  I think that this works just fine as it is a wedding card and there is some lee way for going over the top with these cards!  Here is my card!  I am going to include it on two diff backgrounds in order to try and capture the colors....but am thinking it's a fail on both accounts!

Anyways, thank you so much for stopping by and please check out both My Sheri Craft's for my Guest Design gig as well as this new challenge I found over at JustRite Stamps!

Be well,
Sheila

Guest Designer!

Yippee Yahoo!  I am so excited to share some news with you.....I was picked to be a guest designer over at My Sheri Craft's Blog.  I won a challenge with this card to use the colors of yellow, black and white and the "prize" was a guest designer gig.

                                                    

Which has me tickled pink.  So, the road to these two cards is kinda funny though.....I received the email from Sheri the day after I had finger surgery on my right hand index finger.  Unfortunately after surgery found me with a dressing on my finger about the size and thickness of a sleeping bag!  Yikes.  And did I mention I am right handed......well, anyways, my cards were to be to Sheri by the third of August which, besides the finger issue I would also be leaving town on the 2nd for the weekend.  Time to put my thinking/creating cap on and completely "make" the card in my head in order to be good to the minute my bandage was off and the stitches were out on July 31st! And, my assignment was "Back to School" which is an awfully cute assignment and one that shouldn't have been hard but still had me stumped initially.  It is a fun idea but with one daughter graduated from college, another daughter halfway through her college career and our son beginning college this September cute little "Back to School" cards are pretty much a memory for me!  But then I thought about my little lunch buddy who is 6 1/2 and realized she would be the perfect person to keep in mind when I got to the crafting table.  I had several days to think and think and think and design and design and design these cards in my head before I was ever able to put hands (finger?) to paper!   For whatever delusional reason I somehow thought that I would have full use of my hand when the stitches came out.  Not the case.  I found out within 2 seconds that my finger was not bending and not able to hold a marker.....grrrrrrr.....time to change up my decided upon plan.  A quick trip to the store and voila!  A few cute and cheap images that I could substitute for my previously chosen idea.  I was able to keep the basic layout of the card and of course was able to use my Grand Caliber in order to die cut all the shapes and layers that I needed.  I ended up with three cards....both heavy on the die cutting as that was what I could do but I am fairly happy with them for being cards that I made with a sore hand and short time period!  And,  I want to give a shout out to My Sheri's Craft's Challenge Blog..please check it out.  You won't be disappointed!  There are really fun challenges and the inspiration examples are always gorgeous!  Anyways, here are my cards with a "Back to School" theme.  I am not sure which card sweet Sheri will choose so I have included all three here in my post.  I have a few other images that came on the sheets  I bought so I will make several more for my little lunch buddy and send her them every few days through out August.  This will be a great way for her to  get excited for the upcoming school year.

I want to apologise ahead of  time for any weird or odd errors in the posting.  I am out of town at a place where the internet is spotty at best and non existent most of the time.  I will just sign off now with a BIG THANKS to Sheri and ll the ladies over at My Sheri Crafts and to all of you for wading through this super long post.

Be Well,

Sheila