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

Happy Birthday Clarice.....

First of all I want to say welcome to my new followers and also thank you to all of you who take the time to comment!  I really appreciate it.

Yesterday was my middle daughter's birthday and this is the first time that she has lived away from me for her big day.  She decided to stay in the town where she goes to college for the summer and really, I don't blame her as there is nothing to do in the town we live in!  She turned 20 and I wanted to commemorate her not being a teenager anymore with a more "elegant" looking birthday card.  I also plan to enter this card into two challenges....Retro Sketches #23 and also into Papertake's Weekly Challenge called "Die-ing for a  Punch" which is to use either dies or punches on your card.  I took two  photos of this card in order to get the right pic of the lovely blue color and then totally forgot to take a photo of the inside!  Which turned out very nice if I do say so myself.  All the dies are Spellbinders and the blue paper is Gina K. I think.....If you are ever looking for a quality card stock you need to try Gina K. luxury papers!  It is, hands down, the best card stock I have ever used.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Be well,
Sheila

Holla Yella! (and challengechallengechallenge challenge!)

So. Yup. Another yellow card.  I have this yellow paper just laying about because I am too lazy to put it away soooo I thought I would do up another yellow card that I can actually enter into a few challenges.  Woohoo!  A card for more than one challenge hardly EVER happens for me!  Anyways, I am entering this card into My Sheri Crafts Challenge #114 What's the Buzz which is to use the color combo of white, yellow and black .I entered one card into this challenge a day or so ago and that entry got me onto this yellow kick!  I am also going to enter this into Cute Card Thursday Challenge#278 Oranges and Lemons as this cardstock is the most lemony color I have ever seen!  I also am putting this card over at Papertake Weekly Challenge as this week it is Button's and Bow's and lastly over at my favie girls spot The Die Cut Diva's as they are doing Florals for the month of July.  Whew!  I don't think that I have ever entered a card in more than two challenges at the very most!  Feels kinda fun!  Almost like I actually have accomplished something on this most heat wavey hot Friday morn'!  So, onto my card.....

I used several complimentary Spellbinder dies on this card as well as some pre-made KaiserKraft roses that I decided to color with my copics to better match the cardstock.  Another little "duh" moment for me that I am embarrassed to say took me way to long to figure out....that copics could be used to alter and coordinate the colors of embellies.....yikes!  How long have I been crafting?  Anyways, the card is pretty self explanatory.  I used a vertical JustRite Stamp image  and added two little flourishes to the top and bottom of the sentiment.  I also used JustRite Stamps on the inside of the card....both the the little flourishey thingy as well as the sentiment.  This card is for a wedding of a very special couple to me.  I have known them for about 21 years and they have been together for app 35 and are finally able to get married this coming week.  Since the couple is older I wanted to use a more mature and stylish color palette and luckily this combo worked out really well!  Here is my card.

And here is the inside.  I wanted to try a more ornate inside to go with the fussy, fancy outside.  I also want to try this style of inside in an all white color scheme too....I think the layers of white would look really "rich" and luxurious!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and thank you for your comments.  I am slowly but surely making my rounds to all of my favie blogs to see everyone else's incredible creations.

Be well,
Sheila

Zinnia it Wonderful? And a tip.......

Okay....bad pun or bad play on words.  And, actually, I am not even sure that this flower is a zinnia but cut me some slack okay? - titles aren't my strong suit!  We are in the middle of an intense heat wave where I live and so I am  finally able to get inside and craft without feeling too guilty about it.  I am also on the downside of busy life for a few weeks and so that also gives me a chance to craft.  August will heat up with all three of my children moving from one place to another and so we have lots of weekends that will be spent moving kids and furniture.  Sheesh.....don't these kids know that mom and dad are 50 and 52?  Hmmmm, I am trying to think what age is the age that we parents are too old to do heavy lifting and moving.  My husband told the kids that we would help move but we would not help clean......Seriously????  -  the cleaning is the easy part!

 Yesterday I did a challenge.....and had a lot of fun with that card.  Today I finally got out my copics and colored.  Yep, I colored like a preschooler and boy oh boy was it fun.  And sooooo satisfying!  I haven't been able to find much time to color an image for a looooong time and so I went for a favorite theme of mine.....flowers and butterflies.  I also am still experimenting with stretching my dies.  I love a square card and have many square images like the one I used today but not many square dies.....at least the square dies I do have are never big enough for most of my images.  BUT! I do have lots of fancy rectangular dies.....and it took me the longest time and seeing many examples online before I put it together that other people were retrofitting their rectangular dies to fit a square card.  Duh!  So, it is a little more futsy than just cutting a die and placing it on the card but in the long run I like the results and more importantly I like that I can use my dies for more than one look!  So far I have only used rectangles but think that I can also use other shaped dies for this purpose.  My "mind's eye" doesn't see the possibilities right away so it takes me a bit to configure the dies....almost like working with a puzzle.

Today's card uses a large rectangular die from Spellbinders.  I cut it down quite a bit to get the square size that I wanted.  Then, I matched up the edging design and glued them down.  It is really hard to see the "seam" on this die but even so I decided to cover the seam with the ribbon.  While I am a "right hand corner ribbon" sort of gal this vertical placement is new for me and I like it!  The stamp image is a Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co. image which is one of my favie companies and the inside sentiment it from JustRite Stamps.  I am going to enter it over at Die Cut Diva's July Challenge.  It is Floral this month.  If you haven't visited that blog site I urge you to do so.  The ladies there are just the sweetest and they always have wonderful die tips.

I love the femininity of this card!  So fun to make after all the orange/black/white graduation cards!  I feel like it is "Springtime" in my cardmaking mind after the zillions of similar grad cards!

And here is the inside....not too fancy but just a little somethin'/somethin' to dress up the interior.

Now I am including here a past card that shows the die in all its full rectangular glory....changing it from a rectangle to a square really makes the die look different and fresh to my eyes ;-D

I also am going to include two other past cards that I made....grad cards that use the same design but I changed it up from a rectangle to a square by cutting down the die.  Can you tell I love this new option with my supplies?  Oh well, I am excited to discover something new...especially something new that doesn't cost me any moola!

Does anyone else have a cool new tip that they have discovered?

Thank you for stopping by today and thank you for wading/slogging/ trudging through my loooong post!  I hope that you all are having a good day and that you are enjoying your summer as well!

Be well,
Sheila

What's the Buzz.....

Well, that is the name of the challenge that I am entering this card into.....however the challenge really has to do with using the colors of black, white and yellow more so than a "bee theme."  And, seriously, I really tried to come up with a bee theme....tried pretty darn hard but couldn't deliver!  Then I remembered this lovely Silhouette stamp set that I had from JustRite Stamps and although I have never inked it up before this card it suddenly became the "perfect" image to do in these colors.  Yellow is a color that I don't often work with...if fact I believe I have only begun using yellow very recently so I am not too confident making a card with it.  But I thought this "cameo" or 'silhouette" image could be accented very nicely with yellow and besides I had this marvelous yellow and black plaid ribbon that I got on clearance ages ago that would be perfect for embellishing on this challenge!  I stamped, embossed and die cut and fussy cut the cameo and surrounding adornment.  Then I continued to use various Spellbinder dies and embossing folders for the rest of the card.  I popped different layers up on foam tape.  I colored the bling with a yellow Copic marker and also colored some pale "butter" colored paper roses with the same Copic to match the yellow cardstock.  I am entering this card into the My Sheri Crafts Challenge #114 "What's the Buzz".

I also finished off the inside with a sentiment stamp set from JustRite Stamps.  I love how it looks like it just belongs with cameo card!  I did mess up though by putting the border on the bottom of the sentiment portion...oh well! That's why it's called handmade!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I will fill my blogging buds in on what is/has been happening in my life in another post.  I just felt the need, the absolute need to sit down and craft today before I went stark raving mad!  Anyone else out there ever get those moments?  I hope I am not the only one!  Take care all!

Be well,

Sheila

Two Cards and A Challenge!

Hello...long time no post!  It has been busy here what with grad parties and the life I live in general.  We have just come back from a long weekend away at "Hnilifest"....my husband's family's yearly get together.  It was fun but at the end of a super crazy busy month so I am very glad to get the month of June behind me and hopefully, have a slower summer for the month of July.  In August, all three of our kids move as well as are oldest daughter's boyfriend so we have 4 moves on the horizen and that will mean busy, busy weekends again!

I have been making grad cards by the bushel lately and and have been following roughly the same design.  I just LOVE this particular design.  It goes together quite easily and to my eyes it looks very nice and neat when completed.  I have made it so often now that I can do it by memory for the most part with just changes to the overall color palette.  I really like the "JustRite Stamps" brand of stamps for this type of card and purpose.....and so many of the stamps coordinate with Spellbinder's dies so it is a win/win for me with regards to pulling off a nice card without too many ripped up versions along the way!  I have decided that I love to craft but that my artisitic and creative abilities are somewhat lacking and so it is nice to have supplies that cater to those deficiencies as well as bypassing them!

I have two cards to share with you today.....I actually would have had 4 but forgot to photograph the other two and have already mailed them out.  Bummer because one of them was just gorgeous with a color palette of pale peach, pink, yellow and white.....such a soft but "refreshing" summer color scheme!

The first card that I am going to share is a birthday card that I have made for one of my very best friends.  She has a early July birthday and so I decided to incorporate a bit of a red/white and blue color scheme as well as pops of yellow for highlight.  I also did something different with the inside.  I bought this large....LARGE heart in a discount bin last winter after Valentine's Day but when I got home I felt it was actually too large to work with the way I wanted too.  But lately, I have been putting it inside my cards for a soft background.   I really like the way it finishes off the card and it is a small print therefore making it easy to write over.  I am planning to enter this card into the My Shari Crafts Challenge #113 "Happy Birthday America" which is to make a birthday card for someone.

My second card is one that I made for a girl that Corm has gone to school with since they were in 4 year kindergarten together.  I have liked this kid from the first day and am so happy that they have stayed in the same group of friends all of these years!  

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope that your July is off to a great start!  We are having cooler than normal temps here but it is just lovely out....no rain, warmish breezes and SUN!

Be well,
Sheila