It's Been A Long Time

Hey are you still there? I know...it's been forever since I've posted. I'm back to work after having the summer off. It's nice to have some type of a schedule again. I love summer, but by the end of it I'm ready for some structure.

Here's a card I made a while back using some baroque letters that I got from Close To My Heart. You can't tell from the picture, but I outlined the letters with a clear glitter gel pen and they just shimmer in the light.

The base of the card is New England Ivy and I used a paper pack called Heritage for the pattern paper. It's technically not Christmas paper, but I just love the colors and the antique look to it.

I did emboss on the pattern papers after I layered them together. I had to be careful not to warp the paper with the heat tool since the papers aren't cardstock weight.

That's pretty much it. I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to post more often now that we're settled into more of a routine.

Heartfelt Hugs,

Jo

A Sketch Challenge

Well, it's been a while but I think I'm back to stamping. Sorry for the long absence. I needed a card for a family in our church. If you think of it, please pray for them. They were in the process of adopting a baby. They were paying for the mom's prenatal care and have invested a lot of money, not to mention their hearts. They just found out that the mom has changed her mind. She's decided to go back to the abusive husband and to keep the baby. I cannot even imagine.

Here's the card specifics. I actually used a sketch from Fresh and Fun. I used the measurements that Beatte gave and didn't alter the sketch too much. The paper pack I used was called More to Adore. I love pink and brown together. I also used a stamp set called Treasure Life. I love those florals! The message came from a set called Follow Your Dreams.

Heartfelt Hugs,
Jo

Quick Card Post

I have to post and run. My hubby has been gone all week and will be home soon (Yea!). I wanted to get this card up for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge. Hopefully Blogger cooperates with me LOL.

I embossed the background with clear embossing powder and then sponged Blush onto it so the design would show up. The watermelon is on dimensionals and for an added touch I put liquid glass on the seeds to make them raised and shiny like the real thing. I'm always needing birthday cards so this will come in handy at some point I'm sure.

Gotta run...

Heartfelt hugs,
Jo

Baby Sarah

I bought this stamp set because it reminds me of all the foster babies that I've had. This one looks like Baby Sarah. I did this one for Kristina Werner's color challenge (see link in sidebar). She gives a picture to look at for color inspiration. It's the only picture I could get before my camera batteries died. I don't think you can tell from the picture, but the image is popped up with dimensionals. It's kind of a simple card. I usually like more bling, but I know that the in thing is "less is more" so I'm trying that approach. Thanks for looking.

Heartfelt Hugs,
Jo

Color Throwdown Challenge

Wow! I didn't realize that a week went by without me posting something. I found a new color challenge blog (always on the lookout for those so let me know if you have another fun one). This one is a blog called Color Throwdown. The kids were playing fairly well so I had some time to play. I don't have the exact colors in the challenge, but the girls over there are so kind to let us use what we have :0) This card is a mixture of stamp sets: Celebrate Life (butterfly), Playful Flourishes and For Every Occasion. I figure if I have the sets it's ok to mix and match, right?

This card sort of evolved. I don't like plain cardstock so I stamped a flower on the blue background and I also stamped the butterfly on the yellow pattern paper. I think if you click to make the picture bigger you'll be able to see it. I also love texture so I added some by sponging white around the blue and Autumn Terracotta around the Buttercup piece. This type of card just needed glitter. I'll probably be still wearing it on my date with DH tonight :0) I added the last touch by punching flowers and scattering them around and dotting the centers with a white gel pen (can't live without one of those). Oh, I also distressed the edges of the card and message piece with scissors. Anyway, I hope you like it. It wasn't colors that I'd normally see together, but that's why it's called a challenge :0)

Gotta' run get supper for the kids so they can get to VBS. I love summertime!

Heartfelt Hugs,

Jo

Sketch Challenge

I made this card for my best friend. I told her about it this morning at church, but I forgot to bring it! She and I went on a girl's time away for a couple of days to Kansas City. We were told that we can't miss Archivers so we didn't. We went there twice LOL. We went shopping all over that store and that area and actually and spent our mad money without feeling guilty. I found a pad of cardstock that is absolutely gorgeous so I had to use it on this card. I can't really tell who made it except it says Ancestry.com. This card was also made with rub-ons from My Sentiments Exactly. Normally I'm a stamper, but I had to try these.

I'm submitting this for a sketch challenge over at Creative Corner. I love sketches and challenges! I can't resist one :0) I hope you enjoy this card. It was fun to make.

Heartfelt Hugs,

Jo

Sassy!

This card is for KWerner's color inspiration. I used the colors and I also copied the mood. I got this stamp years ago and up until today it's just been a decoration in my stamp area. It says it's made by Rocky Mountain Rubber Stamps in Ogden, Utah. It's sad that it took me so long to use it, but I really did buy it for a decoration. I don't know yet who I could send this card to. I'll have to ponder that one. I hope you get a chuckle out of it anyway.

Heartfelt hugs,

Jo

I was surfing and found this video on the Blessings on Paper blog and it's sooo cool. You have to see it. Thank you for sharing it Christy. Check out her blog. She has very pretty artwork.

Well my first challenge was a pretty small one LOL. Thank you Stacy for playing along. Her card is awesome. You can click on her card posted here to get to her blog. Stacy, please contact me for your blog candy :0)

Heartfelt hugs,

Jo

Anyone Up for Some Blog Candy?

I had so much fun stamping a card for Kristina Werner's challenge that I thought it would be fun to offer a challenge as well. For this challenge you can use whatever elements from the photo that inspire you. Be sure to post a link back to your blog in the comments section so we can all check out your artwork.

Entries are due Saturday morning (June 28th) at 10:00 (central daylight time). To make it even more fun I will be posting links to everyone's blogs and doing a random drawing for one person to receive some blog candy from me :0) Good Luck!

Heartfelt Hugs,

Jo

p.s. Kristina, please check post below for my entry to your challenge :0)

Gratitude

This card is for Kristina Werner's color challenge. The inspiration comes from the photo posted. I kind of went with the butterfly and the colors from the bedspread. I found it hard to stay away from flowers for this color combination. Of course, I'm the type of person that would want to pull out my flower stamps out every time! I have been having fun looking at everyone else's ideas. Thanks for stopping by.

Heartfelt hugs,
Jo

First Post!

No artwork to share today...just working on getting this blog up and running. There are lots of challenges out there and I need a place to post my entries so here I am :0) I hope that you'll take a minute to subscribe to keep updated on my creations. I'd love to have you along for the ride.

Heartfelt Hugs,
Jo