A Hoot of a Mystery!

I'm lucky enough to be a member (a tardy one!) on Split Coast that does a "Mystery Swap" every other month.  One of us chooses an image, stamps off sets for the members and sends it to the current hostess.

When the current hostess swaps out returns from the current round, these "Mystery Images" are included in the returns.  All participants make cards with these Mystery Images and then send them back to her.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It never ceases to amaze me how differently we all create when we begin with the same image!

Blah, blah, blah...ok...to the point:  April was our hostess for Round 18 of the Mystery Image Swap and she chose "A Hoot of a Day" by Unity.  Here's what I came up with:

Isn't that just the cutest owl every?  His little vest was paper pieced from scraps, and the 2 DP panels were from my scraps as well.

Here's a closer look at the little guy.  His hat has been spiffed up with red stickles and a gold Spica pen.  Then it was glued on top of the image.

I have a stash of small googly eyes that fit the image as if made for it!  He's colored with Spectrum Noir markers.

Another strip of some scrap paper was added to the inside, leaving enough room to write a personal message.

I hope that the others like what April's adorable image became in my hands!



April, thank you for such a cute and fun image for September's round!  And a BIG thank you for my little gift in my return!  April loves lighthouses, and made a little framed picture of a D. Morgan lighthouse image and sent it to me!  It's so pretty, her coloring is wonderful.  This weekend I'll take a picture of it and post it here for all of you to admire.

Thank you for stopping by, and for leaving me some comments.  They truly are a delight for me to read.

Favorite Bible Verse/Anything Goes Challenge

I'm happy to be a member of Crafters of Faith, an online group of card makers on Split Coast Stampers who love paper crafting and share their faith in God.

September's challenge is to pick any favorite verse and make a card using that verse.  I am in need of some sympathy cards so decided to get busy and get some done.  It took longer for me to settle on a verse to use than it did to make the cards!  But I do like how they turned out.

The verse is computer generated.  It took a while, making a jig with regular paper, taping the cut panel onto it and then running it through the printer.  It was a learning experience, hahaha.

The stamp is from DeNami Designs.  The image is stamped in green ink and heat embossed with Diamond EP by A Muse Studios.  I like it in green, to me the color signifies life and rebirth.

Here's a look at the inside panel, using a well known set from Stampin' Up:

The other inside panel was left white so that personal messages could be added before I sent these out.

That's it for me right now.  Actually, if this goes live on time, I will be doing the airport hop from west coast to east coast on the 30th.  My dear uncle's Celebration of Life memorial service is on the 28th and I will be coming home from seeing my family members out there. I urge you to hop over to the blogs of the members of Crafters of Faith and admire their September challenge cards.  Links to their blogs are in my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless you and your family!

Around the World with the Dueling Darlings

It's the 15th of the month and don't be shocked - I'm not even late with my Dueling Darling post!!  (a minor miracle, haha)  April & Kadie are our hostesses this month and here's their challenge:

"For September we decided that since there are so many cute stamps out right now with different country themes, that we would travel the globe and celebrate culture! Please find enclosed in your kit, a stamp that represents a certain country and papers and embellishments to match this travel theme. Feel free to make this month's challenge your own in any way. Whether it be with a sentiment or embellishment that reflects your own heritage or just by sharing with us in your post what your heritage is and what traditions you have in your family that celebrate those origins.

Looking forward to seeing your creations!
Kadie and April"
...And April added for the Dazzlers:
"To tell the truth friends, I loved the heritage and tradition theme and chose to send generic people that you can customize! I hope you don't mind!  I kept the accessories in black and white theme so they can coordinate with your design!

The stamps are from two sets from CTMH:
Family Ties - Adult
Family Ties - Children
The embellishments are from Michael's."

Well, this really got me thinking...and searching.  It seems that I have no travel-related stamps, or stamps that depict a certain country, or heritage that I can claim as my own...what to do???

Then I thought of what a great group this is, how different we all are, and the friendships we've formed.  Bingo!  I had an idea:

I decided to use the children images sent by April, and tried to color them differently, although the distinction is lost a bit in the photo.

The sentiment is from Inkadoo and always makes me smile.  And it's pretty true also!

As for my personal heritage, it's Slovak, Russian, German and Swedish.  About 1/4 each.  Lots of Pickled Herring, German Potato Salad, Sauerkraut and loads of incredible baked goodies that I don't even know the names of.  Weddings and family reunions were filled with music played on the accordion, (yes there were polkas) laughter, love and amazing food.  

Give yourself a nice break and visit the Divas & Dazzlers (links on the right) and admire their creations and read their own stories of their traditions and heritage.  Thank you for stopping by my little blog today!

COF August Challenge: Our Parents

Well, you can see that I'm catching up (slowly LOL)  Only 1 day late with this post!

I am fortunate enough to be a member of a group on SCS: Crafters of Faith.  Barb is our wonderful challenge hostess for August and she challenged us to make a card in honor of one or both of our parents.  Anything that brings them to mind...

Well, that's a tall order.  Could it be how my folks always fed hummingbirds, and helped me learn how to spot their nests?  Could it be the many fun memories digging clams, fishing or catching Dungeness crab?  Could it be working on cars in my Dad's auto shop?  The list goes on and on.

Then I spied a new addition to my stash from Whippersnappers.  Presto!  I knew that camping would be the theme of my card!

Isn't this a fun image?  I love the casual look to it, almost as if a child drew it.  It's colored with Derwent and Prismas, blended with gamsol.  The background sky is light grey and Stardust Stickles were used to highlight the starry night.  The flames have a coating of Crystal Effects by SU.

Here's the sentiment that I chose from Little Paper Shop.  (Sorry, but the package does not have a name for the set.)





My parents had me tent camping when I was only 6 months old.  We lived in the Pacific Northwest corner of Washington State and there's plenty of options for camping: ocean beaches, mountains, islands, even a rain forest!  There was a big gang of us that camped together, eventually forming the state's first trailer club.  It was a great way to learn about nature and have loads of fun too.

Thanks for giving us such a great challenge this month, Barb!  Many, many blessings to each of you & thanks for stopping by!

August Duel (Overdue!)

I lost my crafting brain this month...not sure where it went, but I'm working on getting it back.

My patient friends, the Dueling Darlings have a monthly challenge, due on the 15th.  Well I decided my funk had gone on too long and I needed to get back in gear!

Terry was the hostess for this month's round with the Dazzlers & she sent us an adorable House Mouse image to work with, and loaded her kit with great papers, ribbon and fun candi dots.  Here's what I came up with:

Terry's generous kit included this adorable apple paper.  I cut one out and put it on the tag, which was made with some other paper she sent.  Remember penmanship paper?  Yep!  That's what she sent!  Too clever.

Here's a look at the inside:

A strip of her school bus paper and more of the fun penmanship paper on the inside.  I've left it blank for a personal message for a friend.






Here's the back panel.  Just couldn't resist adding another school bus, they're so cute!

Thank you Terry for sending the perfect kit to inspire me to break out of my slump!  Now that I finally have my card posted I can go find more inspiration on the blogs of the Darlings.  Links are in my sidebar-go and check them out!

Unity's "Enjoy, Explore, Believe" is Image for Round 9 of Unidentified Image Swap

Here we are, the 10th of August and we who participate in the Unidentified Image Swap get to reveal this round's image and what we created with it!

This round is hosted by April and she gave us something a little different to work with: Unity's "Enjoy, Explore, Believe".  I really must thank you April, because this made me stretch and, if I may admit it, I'm a little pleased with the result!!

The idea was to make a bookmark with the sentiment, and include it on the front of the card with a pocket.  

I took a Very Vanilla SU envelope, sealed it and cut off one of the narrow ends.

Then it was stamped with a collage stamp by Hero Arts called "Musical Collage".  SU's Crushed Curry, Creamy Caramel, Tempting Turquoise and Cameo Coral inks were sponged onto the image.  Then the envelope was spritzed with Stardust Finishing Spray by A Muse Studios.  

When fully dried the envelope was then crimped and trimmed with brown crochet ribbon and flowers from my stash.

Here's a closer view of the envelope attached to the front of the card.

This is the sentiment as the bookmark.  SU's Tempting Turquoise and Chocolate Chip CS create the base layers, with a portion of the collage stamp watermarked on the TT layer.






The sentiment by Unity is sponged and edged, then the entire bookmark was also spritzed to give it the soft shimmer from the finishing spray.  When dried, an eyelet and satin ribbon was added.























Here's a view of the card front with the bookmark removed.



The upper edge of the card front is stamped with a French script stamp (not SU) that I've had in my stash for years, not sure of the origin, though!






























A great big "THANK YOU" to April for providing us with such a unique and different image this round!


Hopefully everyone who receives one of my creations won't be disappointed.  As for me...I can hardly wait to see what beauties my return will hold!


Thank you for taking the time to stop by and thank you for leaving comments.  They sure do brighten up my day!

Blessings to all of you.

"Each New Wave..." by D. Morgan

Over at the Crafters of Faith group, we host a monthly card challenge.  Our July challenge comes from Kelly:

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." ~ John 7:38

Hi Faith sisters!  This month’s Crafter’s of Faith challenge theme is inspired this verse and your theme is: Water!  

 It’s summer and many of us are enjoying the splendors of the outdoors – boating, swimming, walking along the lakes and rivers.   Summer rains, as heavy and burdening as they can sometimes be, bring us new growth all around ~ trees, green grass and gorgeous flowers blooming.   Even spiritually, many people accept Jesus into their hearts and become baptized in water and have beach baptisms.  Water is a beautiful, healing, essential!  This month, I want you to use WATER as your theme on your cards:  Be as creative as you like -  think boats, oceans, the beach, tilted watering cans, bird baths, falling rain, etc!   Let water be the focus of your card and extra brownie points for using the color BLUE!!   Blessings! 

As many of you know, I am a fan of stamps with the art work by D. Morgan and am lucky enough to have quite a collection.  Lots of them involve lighthouses and ocean scenes, so I knew right away that I would use a D. Morgan stamp for this challenge.  In the end, what may be my favorite won out:

It's stamped with Marvy Matchables ink in Dark Brown onto Wausau's Stardust CS.  The Stardust has little flecks of color in it and a slightly rustic texture, both of which I really like for scenic/nature cards.  The card is colored with Prisma and Derwent pencils, blended with Gamsol.

Here are two closer views of the sentiment:

The inside includes another blank panel of the Stardust card stock, and a panel of vellum that contains pieces of pressed grasses.  The sentiment is an old SU, stamped in Old Olive ink.

   

The card's front panel is matted onto a rust colored vellum that compliments the color of the row boat.

The only part of this great challenge that I forgot about was including blue!  It would have been easy to change the color scheme to blues, but I just didn't remember that part in time.  Sorry Kelly!!



Songs that accompanied me while making this card included Heart's "Dreamboat Annie" and a good many Jimmy Buffet tunes, sprinkled in with some Bobby Darin.  All in all, a happy escape from the daily grind.

Wishing you all a wonderful day and thank you for stopping by!