A - Just Because it's Monday - Kinda Post!

Happy Monday to you all, my friends!

I had opportunity to have some fun playing with a wonderful new digi image. There's a great new artist in town that I'd like to tell you about. Her name is Wendy Burns and she's recently opened an Etsy shop called Wendyburnsdesign where she sells her fabulous images.  You can find Wendy's blog HERE and see more of your amazing talent!

The image I used on my card is called "I Love My Puppy" and it can be found right HERE. If you purchase this image you actually get 4 options with it. One is the entire image as I have used it. Then you also get each of the components individually; the flowers, the puppy, and the pretty little girl. I just love the sweet and whimsical style! With all four files you have unlimited options of what you can create! This sweet image has inspired me to try something else that I hope to share with you in a future post!

Also, with this project, I have created my first center easel card. They've been appearing everywhere and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it! I have actually made this card for a very special person...my sweet young niece Rachel. I recently received some mail from Rachel that she sent "the old-fashioned way" - those are her words! lol This mail included a beautiful letter and a fabulous piece of artwork that she made for me! I can see her becoming a famous digital artist in the future, as she has amazing artistic talent! When she was tiny, she would draw stick people like you have never seen before, the detail was incredible!

Here is my card! I'm sorry about the shadows...the sun hasn't been out for days!

Here's a side angle:

Materials Used:

Papers: Prima - Sparkling Spring, Recollections Carstock;

Image: Wendy Burns Design - I Love My Puppy;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Punches: EK Success Border Punch - Scalloped Scallop,

Flowers: Mini flower punches from Recollections, Fiskars, and EK Success;

Die: Stampin' Up Sizzix Embosslit -  Beautiful Wings;

Ink: Distress Ink - Vintage Photo;

Ribbon: Details Accessories;

Pears: My Stash.

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I don't usually do this but I thought it would be fun to link up to some fun "new to me" blogs along with my usual hangouts!
Linking Up To:

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #84 - Anything Goes
Eureka Stamps Challenge #44 - Anything Goes
Make It Monday # 145
There She Goes #212 - Anything Goes
Lacy Sunshine Challenge #10 - Special Anniversary - Anything Goes
Quirky Crafts Challenge #12 - Fold It!
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Something Sweet
Word Play Saturday June Challenge - Summertime

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So pop on over to Wendy's shop HERE and take a peek at the rest of her lovely and whimsical designs!

Hope your day is full of sunshine...mine is starting to appear! :o)

LiaStampz Challenge #43 - Anything Goes

Hello again, my friends!
I'm here today to share my latest project for the new challenge over at LiaStampz! I had to buy this image as soon as I saw it in the store. Isn't it fabulous? This image really makes me laugh because it is SO my girls! One is a BIG hugger and the other is NOT a hugger...at all! The expressions on their faces are so precious...and very familiar to me! :o)
The image is called "Asha with Friends" and is available HERE. All of the other LiaStampz are available here at Whimsy Stamps. This image comes with a free page of sentiments, PLUS you can receive up to five custom designed sentiments of your own choosing! How fun is that? The sentiment on my card was one that I requested from Laura at LiaStampz! So head on over to store and be inspired and don't forget to link up to the fun challenge! :o)

Materials Used:

Papers: K & Company - Sweet Nectar, Recollections Cardstock;

Image: LiaStampz - Asha with Friends;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Cricut Cartridge: Essentials;

Ink: Distress Ink - Vintage Photo;

Flowers: Making Memories - Vintage Findings;

Pins: Gift from Susan.

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Linking Up To:

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #84 - Anything Goes

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I hope this scheduled post works out!
If the new challenge isn't up when you see this then just check back later!

Today is my 28th wedding anniversary and my Sweetie and I are off to enjoy a day of fun together!

I am so grateful forevery hour of every day of every year!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend too! :o)

Sushi Dolls #11 - Dolled Up

Happy Wednesday, my friends!
Thank you all so much for your sweet comments about the photo of me and my girls! You are all so sweet! :o)
I have a confession to make...I still play with dolls...Sushi Dolls! lol I had lots of fun coloring up this image from the June release called Dolled Up. Isn't she sweet? You can find here HERE!
Guess what? Susi is having an open Design Team Call. If you want to have some fun playing with dolls too, just pop over to the Sushi Dolls Blog HERE and read all the details.
I also had some fun playing around with my Cricut on this card. I love the intricate cuts that it makes!
It's been great getting back into my routine. I've been getting lots done so I'll be back very soon with more to show you! :o)

Materials Used:

Papers: Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe, Recollections Cardstock;

Image: Sushi Doll - Dolled Up

Prismacolor Pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits;

Cricut Cartridge:  Pretty Pennants;

Stamp: Stampin' Up - Itty Bitty Banners;

Fiber: Hemptique - True Hemp;

Pearls: Stampin' Up - Jewels - Basic Pearls;

Flowers: Maya Road - Velvet Blossoms;

Mini Clothes Pins: My Stash.

Hymn and Scripture Challenge #8 - Faith of Our Fathers

Happy Monday, my friends!

I am finally back into the swing of things after taking a much needed break. I want to thank you all for your sweet words and wishes regarding my daughter's wedding! It was a really beautiful day and all went just as planned! I opted to leave my camera at home and just treasure every moment. The official photos aren't in yet but others are sharing, and I will add one of my favorites at the end of this post!

Today I have a new Hymn and Scripture Challenge page for you. The hymn is called Faith of Our Fathers. It's a very familiar hymn to me and I have sung it many times. As I was going through the videos to find one to share, my husband remarked how sad the song sounded. He pointed out that it sounded like a song one would play at a funeral. You know what? He was right! Most of the copies did indeed sound very somber! If you look at the words to the hymn you see that although it does include some somber thoughts, it has a message of encouragement and hope. As it says in Hebrews 11 verse 1:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Here are the words to the song. Only one version I found had all four verses. The second verse is the one that was usually missing:

1. Faith of our fathers, living still,
   In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword;
   Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy
   Whene’er we hear that glorious Word!
   • Refrain:
     Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
     We will be true to thee till death.
     
     
     Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,

     were still in heart and conscience free;

     And blest would be their children's fate,

     If they, like them should die for Thee.
2. Faith of our fathers, we will strive
   To win all nations unto thee;
   And through the truth that comes from God,
   We all shall then be truly free.
3. Faith of our fathers, we will love
   Both friend and foe in all our strife;
   And preach thee, too, as love knows how
   By kindly words and virtuous life.

For my page I used the Scripture found in Romans 4:20-21. These verses talk about Abraham...one of our great "fathers" of faith. It says:

"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, 

but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 

being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised."

A wonderful note in my bible says: "Whereas works are man's attempt to establish a claim on God, faith brings glory to Him." Isn't that beautiful, and isn't that what we want...to bring glory to God? So let's live a life of faith, KNOWING that God will do ALL that He has promised us, and giving ALL the glory to Him! :o)

My page is very simple as the paper does most of the work. I used one of my favorite Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page sets. I fussy cut a few butterflies from a coordinating paper and added them. For the Scripture spot I did some playing with my Cricut E2. The title was also cut on the Cricut. Then I added the pearls and my page was finished!

Materials Used:

Papers: Susan Winget Nature by K and Company,

Recollections Cardstock;

Punches: Martha Stewart  Punch Around the Page - Wildflowers;

Cricut Cartridges: Alphabet, Essentials;

Stamp: Studio G - Faith;

Ink: Martha Stewart - Stem Green, Distress Ink - Vintage Photo;

Pearls, Gold Metallic Gel Pen: My Stash.

I used a gold pen to add some detail to all of the butterflies. You can see it a little bit in this photo:

Linking Up To:

Hymn and Scripture Challenge # 8 - Faith of Our Fathers

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #83 - Anything Goes

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Here is a lovely version of the hymn:

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Okay, onto some details of the big day! After the ceremony we all went to a nearby park for formal portraits. It was such a beautiful day! When these were finished the bridal party went on to have more photos taken at a pool hall and a fifties diner. I think I've mentioned that Andrea is totally into retro! I've seen a couple of the photos and they are so fun! I hope to share some of those with you too. In the meantime, here is one of me with my girls!

That's it for today! So sorry for the super long post! It looks like I've missed you all! lol Thanks for hanging in to the end! I hope to be back soon with more of something! Have a wonderful week! :o)

A Die for a Sketch - Challenge #13

Hello, my dear friends!
Today's post is another scheduled post. I am busy with family visiting after the wedding, and then I will need a few days to recuperate from all the festivities! I hope to be back to my blogging very soon! :o)
I want to thank everyone for their wonderful participation in our birthday celebrations at A Die for a Sketch! We had lots of fun with our blog hop, and very much appreciated all the beautiful entries for Challenge #12!
I don't have a project to show you for the Challenge #13 sketch. My project will be posted with the reminder post on June 20th. In the meantime, please go check out what half of the Design Team has done with this great sketch HERE.
Here is the new Challenge Sketch:

 

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Our wonderful sponsor this month is Bugaboo Digi Stamps!
You have the opportunity to win 7 fabulous Bugaboo Digi Stamps!

 

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Remember...the rules are very simple!
Create anything you would like using the Challenge Sketch and at least one die!
Then link it up at A Die for a Sketch! Don't forget to have fun with it! :o)

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Some New Fun For Me! LiaStampz Challenge #42 - Add a Flower

Happy Friday, my friends!
Today is a scheduled post because I'm very busy with all the last minute details for the wedding! Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! The festivities, and time with family, will continue for a few days afterwards so you may not be hearing from me for a little while!
I am very excited about today's post! A little while ago, while doing some digi shopping over at Whimsy Stamps, I discovered some fabulous images by LiaStampz. Some of them are so fun they made me laugh right out loud...and you know how much I like that! :o) So fast forward a little bit and I was invited to join the Design Team! Of course I said YES!! I'm excited about sharing some of their sweet images with you! All the links to Lia Stampz and the other DT members have been added in my sidebar, so please check them out!
Over on the LiaStampz blog there are some great challenges going on...twice a month! You can read the Challenge Rules HERE. You don't have to use a Lia Stampz image but if you do you can enter the challenge twice. You have the chance to win a prize or be the Spotlight Artist!  I'd love to see some of you join in the fun!
This Challenge #42 is "Add a Flower". How easy is that? We all love to add flowers to our projects, don't we? For my card I used the image called Lily and you can find it in the Whimsy store right HERE. Isn't she cute? She totally reminded me of Pippi Longstocking so I just had to color her hair red! The flowers are all cut with my wonderful new Cricut Expression 2! I'm really liking that fun machine!
Okay...must run! Please go check out the fun challenge and all the wonderful images! Have a beautiful weekend! :o)

Materials Used:

Papers: Fancy Pants - My Family

Image: LiaStampz - Lily found HERE;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Flowers: Cricut Cartridge - Flower Shoppe;

Punches: Stampin' Up - 7/8" Scallop Circle,

Fiskars - 1" Circle, Martha Stewart - Branch and Rose Leaf;

Stamp: Stampin' Up - A Round Array;

Ink: Distress Ink - Vintage Photo, CTMH - Cranberry

Ribbon: Offray;

Brads: My Stash.

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Moment by Moment Wedding Mini - Creative Inspirations #5

Hello, my friends!
You probably have been wondering why I haven't been posting anything wedding related, right? I've been too busy with DT work and wedding projects to do that! lol However, today I am combining my DT project for Creative Inspirations with a wedding mini.Usually when I make a mini album I just play with products that I love! This mini album is a little bit different. I put quite a bit of thought into what I will actually be putting in it! This album is for me to fill with some of my favorite photos from my daughter's wedding. I really like the elegant vintage style. My daughter's tastes run more toward bright colors and retro style, so this one is just for me!
When I had the flu recently I spent a little bit of time going through my favorites on YouTube. This mini album was inspired by this video HERE. These Imaginisce Now and Forever papers from the Creative Inspirations shop were just perfect for this project. I combined them with two different shades of kraft cardstock. The album measures 5" X 7" and it will actually hold a total of 36 photos that measure 4" X 6". Or I can put in less photos and do lots of journaling. As with all my mini album posts, I have quite a few photos to share. Let's begin!
Here is the front cover:

Everything is edged with either Vintage Photo Distress Ink or Tarnished Brass Distress Stain. 

That stain is my new favorite - hand's down! I embossed the spine paper and ran more stain over it.

I made all the flowers and sprayed them with Perfect Pearl Mist in Biscotti. 

I then added a few little ribbon roses and punched leaves.

Another view of the entire cover:

The "moment by moment" tag is part of the Now & Forever collection.

 Here is a close-up of the spine embellishment:

I wrapped crinkled ribbon right around the spine of the book and tied it in a bow.

 I then added another crinkled ribbon double bow on top of it. 

I added several Tim Holtz Baubles to a Trinket Pin that says "TREASURE" and pinned it onto the bow.

Here you can see the six pages:

This album is a pocket page design with a total of six pocket pages. 

Each pocket holds two tags that have been cut with two different Tim Holtz On the Edge Dies. 

The Vintage Doily cut tag is folded over the pocket page and embellished with lace and a flower.

The back tag is cut longer so that the decorative edge sticks out.

Again, everything has been edged with that beautiful metallic stain.

This is the inside front cover and the first page:

On the left is a strip of lace that holds some tags that were made from the sticker collection.

On the right is the Hanging Sign. It's the perfect place for the wedding information.

The sign is loose so a photo can go behind it if I want.

All the elements on the inside pages are adhered only on the edge so that a full-size photo will fit behind.

One the left is the "time to get ready" page. 

We're all going to the salon together in the morning and the photographer will be there to capture the fun!

On the right will be my daughter in her wedding dress!

These two pages are for the ceremony. 

I'm noticing that the right and left pages look like different colors on these 2-page photos. 

They are actually identical but it was very dreary weather when I took these photos.

Pretend you don't notice that! ;o)

The married couple will be driven around in a very cool vintage muscle car...not an old jalopy! lol

These pages will be for photos of them leaving after the ceremony!

On these pages I've added some embossed chipboard dies that I cut using a variety of Movers and Shapers.

On the left is the Lock and Key with a Muse Token that says "FOREVERMORE".

On the right is the Postage Stamp and some Mini Tickets.

All these elements were added using my paper tagger through an eyelet.

These two pages are for FAMILY photos.

 Last page and inside back cover:

On the left is a piece of embossed chipboard flourish with a flower. 

On the right is the rest of the embossed flourish with a tag made from one of the stickers. 

There is room for journaling on the back.

The two tags that fit in each pocket:

I stamped all of the tags exactly the same way. There are six of each tag.

One final photo:

This photo shows you the completed mini album from the page side.

So there it is! I really had fun making this one...although it did take me forever! I had to keep leaving it to take care of other things. This is a design that I will be using again and again! The way it's constructed it has room for all the embellishments and photos without over extending the cover. It will continue to lie flat and I really like that! 

I did list many of the materials that I used throughout my description. Most of the item used in this project can be found at the Creative Inspirations Design Team post. If you have any questions about anything...please ask!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you come back on Friday for my next post...I'm quite excited about it! Now I must get back to work! Happy days to you all! :o)

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