Influenced by Susan’s Garden…

A few years ago, I was entertaining the notion of taking my A2 cardmaking to a different level and direction. It was then that I stumbled upon an article within the Chameleon Pen’s e-newsletter showing the outstanding paper flowers by Susan Tierney-Cockburn. Wow! So extremely impressive.

I searched Susan out on Facebook and You Tube and continue to be amazed by her talents. (What I first found interesting is that she only designs dies. It is up to you to give the flowers shape and life.) She is the reason I have challenged myself to study and create flowers.

Last October, Susan presented a project entitled Southern Magnolia, Y’all! That tutorial has intrigued me ever since. I have been collecting her dies for the last few years and realized last week that I actually had all the ones she used for that project…I just had to give it a go.

First, let me direct you to Susan’s original tutorial: https://stierneyc.wordpress.com/2017/10/. Impressive!

For the most part, I followed her technique. The only major changes I made were to use White Foamiran for the flower and Stickle’s Rose Gold for the berries.

I do wish Susan lived closer as I would be visiting her studio regularly. For now, I’ll have to settle for her weekly FB/YT classes. If you had trouble finding her site, go to Elizabeth Craft Designs and look under Susan’s Garden Spot.

Thank you for dropping in today. I’m really excited with my results, but mostly with the chance to express my admiration for a gifted lady and her love for flower creations.

May God Bless You and Yours.  

In Our Thoughts…

Welcome! Thank you for dropping by. The coffee pot is on, so pour a cup and relax for a few.

Today’s card was designed for a new friend and his family. We wanted them to know that our thoughts and prayers were with them during this difficult time in their lives.

Sympathy cards are the most difficult for me to create. Usually, I stay with a more traditional appearance.

As a rule, when a specialty cards is needed, Jim and I will talk about the style of cards we send. Since I did not feel comfortable with the results of my first, more traditional card, I asked Jim for help.  That was when he suggested that our new friend might appreciate one with my flowers.

Flower – White Foamiran die cut using the Sweet Peony die by Heartfelt Creations. The petals were accented with Gelato’s Pistachio.

Leaves – Light Green, Indian Batik papers from USArtQuest, cut with Sizzix’s Garden Greens die.

Top layer background – Green Felt like paper (source unknown)

Cardstock – Elizabeth Craft’s White Soft Finish.

Mandala Shaped laser cut chipboard (source unknown) painted with the Vintage Metallic Watercolor paints from USArtQuest.

Again, thank you for visiting today,

Till later,

May God Bless You, Everyone!

Friendship…

What a wonderful day and especially since you dropped by. Thank you. Why not pour a cup of coffee and relax for a moment?

During the past few weeks, I have been reflecting upon our many friends, especially those celebrating upcoming anniversaries. Each couple has a special place in our hearts. We love each one because of their own beautiful and unique characteristics. Got me thinking about friendship.

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Friendship, per Wikipedia … Although there are many forms of friendship, some of which may vary from place to place, certain characteristics are present in many types of such bonds. Such characteristics include kindness, love, virtue, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, loyalty, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other's company, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one's feelings to others, and make mistakes without fear of judgment from the friend.

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Materials for today’s card:

Flower – Soft Peach Foamiran die cut using the Small Sweet Peony die by Heartfelt Creations. The petals were accented with Gelatos' Tangerine. For the centers, Lemon Chiffon Prills from USArtQuest.

Leaves – Light Green, Indian Batik papers from USArtQuest, cut with Sizzix’s Garden Greens die.

Top layer background – Green Felt like paper (source unknown)

Cardstock – Elizabeth Craft’s Pale Peach Soft Finish. (Outer side peach and inside is white.

Fan Shaped laser cut chipboard (source unknown) painted with the Vintage Metallic Watercolor paints from USArtQuest.

Double-sided tape and hot glue.

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Time to get back to my “card-room” and start another project.

Till later my friend,

May God Bless You and Yours

Across the Years and the Miles…

“If you make one, true, long-lasting friend in your life time, you are truly blessed.” My father gave me that advice as my best friend and her family were leaving North Carolina for Hawaii. Our fathers were Marines. At that time, we were 13 years old. During the next 60 years, we managed to stay in touch even-though there were sometimes hundreds or thousands of miles between us. I feel so blessed that today, we can pick-up the phone and still talk for hours.

This card is to celebrate her and her husband’s 49^th anniversary. Hope they have many more of these special occasions.

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The flowers are a pale peach Foamiran, blended with Mango by Gelato’s. The centers are Lemon Chiffon Prills. The Mandala is a laser-cut design found through 14 CraftBar and accented with several pearled watercolors. The leaves are die cut out of USArtQuest’s, Indian Batik Marble – Harvest Green.

It is always such a joy to create special cards for special people. This month, there are at least four more anniversaries and two birthdays (one being my husbands!). Guess I had better get off the computer and back to my “card room!”

Till next time,

May God Bless You and Yours

Materials:

Foamiran from Whimsy Stamps

Prills, watercolors and Harvest Green paper from USArtQuest

Laser-cut Mandala from 14 CraftBar

Dies - Unbranded

(T+Y) x 3…

Thank you for dropping by today. Here in Michigan, we finally have had some long-awaited rain. Our desert brown lawn actually has a little green showing. But wouldn’t you know, just as the drought started, our push mower/trimmer died! So later today, it’s lawn-mower shopping!

We all know people who go out of their way to do the “behind the scenes” jobs. The three cards presented here today are for all the extra cleaning and TLC given by three wonderful ladies in our church. We recently had a new custom kitchen made to replace our old, well used kitchen in the church building. These three ladies gave up their day to polish and make the kitchen (and assembly hall) shine. Wish there was another way to express our thanks for all they continue to do for our Christian family.

Since I love to surf the net for something different in card-making products, I discovered Flonz Crafts, a family owned supplier in New Zealand!  They carry a lot of fantastic vintage stamps which captivated my imagination. The three stamps I used for this project are from their Vintage Flowers Engravings / Large Sheet 8"x 10"collection. They are just the perfect size for an A2 note card.

I stamped the image with a Gunmetal ink and heat set with a fine clear embossing powder. Next, I finished adding my color using the delightful Chameleon Pens. These pens were a joy to use, and the finished coloring was what I had imagined.

Hope this project will encourage you to look into different areas for exciting and diverse stamp designs. There is so much out there, just have fun.

Till next time –

May God Bless You and Yours

Something Very Old & Something Very New…

Oh, I am SO excited that you dropped by today. I really want to share this project with you.

As you may or may not know, I was extremely involved in the wonderful and challenging hobby field of cast-ceramics. That was my passion for creating and teaching from 1970 till I finally retired in late 1999. One of the very first projects I created was to stain a coat-of-arms plaque then accented and highlighted it with a product manufactured by Jaygot. The product was called Luster Paste. It was always a stable in our home studio.

When I closed my studio in 1982 to pursue other ceramic related avenues, I set my Jaygot Lusters in a safe place. Needless to say, over the years, they became forgotten items- till last week.

This type of product has always been around under several different descriptive names and I often considered purchasing “the newest” product trends for papercrafts but was hesitant. (Actually, I recently did purchase something called a glaze wax). At any rate, upon the rediscovery and rejuvenation of my dear, old faithful Lusters, I completed this, my latest card adventure.

Special Note: This card was actually inspired by Susan Tierney-Cockburn’s A Patriotic Bouquet video: (https://stierneyc.wordpress.com/author/stierneyc/).

The background papers are from Elizabeth Craft Designs: Whisper Blue and Soft White.

The die used for the blue is part of an unbranded set.

The Bucket’s paper is from Neenah’s Starbeams collection Copper.

The papers for the leaves and ferns are from USArtQuest’s Indian Batik collection, Forest Green and Light Sage.

For the flowers, I used White Foamiran and added USArtQuest’s Prills, Lemon Chiffon, for the stamen.

All the dies are from Susan’s Garden Notes (Elizabeth Craft): Galvanized Bucket #1525, Ivy Vine #1297, Ostrich Fern #1424 and for the flower, Amaryllis #1208.

All the accents and highlights were accomplished by using the Luster Paste and applied with daubers:

·         Light Blue for flower centers and tips

·         Charcoal for the outer edges of the Bucket and handle.

·         Lemon Gold for the Bucket high lights.

·         Green Gold and Charcoal for adding dimension to the leaves and ferns.

Wish there was a way to pass on the excitement that I experienced creating this Thank You Card. Bringing the flowers to life, arranging the leaves in the Bucket, even just creating the background die cut. It was so rewarding seeing this one come to life.

Well, I have again just rambled on and on. I do hope you will search out some of your long stored-away craft-type products and see what you can create.

Till next time,

God Bless You and Yours

Birthdays are Special…

 

Thank you for stopping by today. Creating cards, especially when the card is for a very special friend’s special celebration, is always a joy.

Birthdays are Special for everyone. I know, some of us want to have that “it’s all about me” special day but refuse to acknowledge how many times we have celebrated that day. Well, for the lady who received this card, that is not the case. She seems proud of her 45^th celebration of her 21^st Birthday!

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For the flowers, I selected a Red Foamiran purchased through Whimsy Stamps to die cut  with Heartfelt Creation's Large Sweet Peony. I then accented with Chameleon Pens’ Burgundy, full strength. I used Prills for the stamen (not sure of color name). The leaves are die cut from US Art Quest’s Indian Batik Marble – Harvest Green. The laser cut medallion was purchased through 14 CraftBar.

 

The papers are a Navy Blue and Golden White Pearlescent.

 

Well, till next time, I hope you will have fun crafting!

 

May God Bless You and Yours

 

 

Southern Magnolia…

If you have ever been in the Southern States, you know the love affair shared by all for the beautiful Magnolia Trees. For most, seeing that magnificent tree, says you are home.

For me, today, while designing this anniversary card, I really started feeling a little longing for those old carefree, youthful days in both North Carolina and Virginia. Sometimes, those by-gone years bring back beautiful memories.

Now, to get back to reality!

For today’s card:

As you are aware, I love creating flower. I get excited using either paper or Foamiran. And today, I did a little of both.

The Flower:

Using White Foamiran from Whimsy Stamps, I die cut one layer for each petal of Susan’s Garden Notes #1142, Southern Magnolia. To create a more realistic center, I blended both sides of each petal with Chameleon Pens YO2-Mellow Yellow and NU2-Light Peach. Working with these pens is always a joy and I am always amazed with my outcomes.

To form the petals, may I suggest you watch Lady E’s video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2xzNHEpaAI&t=591s.

Go ahead, I’ll wait…Isn’t she great!

(Because I only have one hand I use a ball stylus to open each petal instead of pulling with both hands to form the petal cups.)  Next, I hot glued my layers then added “GoMamGo” Prills from USArt Quest to the centers.

The Leaves:

Again, using the Southern Magnolia die set, I cut 2 layers of Indian Batik Marble Forest Green paper from USArtQuest. Using the smallest ball stylus, I created the veins. I used a thin foam forming pad to work on in order to get a deeper vein. For the glossy effect, I used a VersaMark pen to cover the up-side of the petals. Then I heat embossed them with a fine clear embossing powder.

The Medallion:

I really love the wonderful selection of laser-cut chipboards that I have found on the 14 Craft Bar site. Take a look and I think you will be amazed!

Ok. Now just assemble as you wish using the cardstock of your choice.

Sure hope you could follow my ramblings – outside of a few hot glue burns, I had a great time with this card.

Thank you for spending some time with me today. Hope you will drop by again. Till then, may your cardmaking projects always be exciting and well received.

May God Bless You and Yours

Celebrating 70!

Just a quick, more masculine type project today. More than easy but makes a statement.

A friend and retired, yet very avid auto-mechanic, just celebrated his big 70^th birthday. He is a lifetime Michigander and proud of it. Well, that explains the background for this card -- a Michigan road map, scanned and reprinted. The unbranded stamped vehicle was stamped with black ink then heat embossed with a fine clear embossing powder. The “70” was die cut through the map. I then glued a small piece of black paper behind the cut out. Because it looked “flat,” I used a VersaMark pen to the numbers and again heat embossed with a fine clear embossing powder.

Wishing everyone a Great Summer! And if you are traveling, enjoy the trip and return home safely.

May God Bless You and Yours!

Special Occasions…Special Flowers…

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope your summer is going well and your creativity is "flowing!" 

This first card was designed for a very special lady who has been a great friend and adviser for my mother during her last years. It was difficult to express my gratitude for all she has done. Thank you just never seems enough.

My desire was for a delicate and very feminine arrangement. Soft colors and delicate rose-like flowers, seems to speak volumes of love and respect.

This flower die is one of the originals from Heartfelt Creations, Vintage Floret. I used white Foamiran and accented with a pale pink blush. The centers are a golden white shade of Prills.

  

This second card is to help a young lady celebrate her special 18^th birthday. In a few weeks she will be on her way to college. I felt it was time she receives more adult type cards.

The flower die I used is a new die by Lady E, Flower #2. Like most of my larger flowers, I used white Foamiran and added a purple colorization to the edges. This turned out a little larger than I expected but really love this cut.

Well, guess it is time to finally start my spring cleaning. OK! I missed spring! Summer cleaning?

Take care and have a wonderful and safe July!

May God Bless You and Yours!