Joans Gardens #11 Card Challenge

I decided (very late) to submit a card for Joan's Weekly Card Challenge. She has great weekly challenges and I waited to the last minute to design and finish my card.

Here is what is needed for Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge #11

Use the colors Peach and blue (teal)
Use some Butterflies
Add something Frilly

Here is my submission for this weeks challenge:

I really like this color combination. I started with a 6"x6" card in teal. Paper is from Core'dinations. Next I cut a 5"x5" square from a peach Core'dinations cardstock. I also used the Spellbinders Lattice Pendant on that beautiful peach Core'dinations paper. Next I used a doily and colored it with a teal colored Smooch Spritz. The ribbon is from May Arts and the stamp is Passion Flower from Innovative Stamp Creations. Butterflies were made using a Martha Stewart punch.

I am submitting this very close to the deadline, but it will still be in time.

That's it for now, thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon,

Reminisce sent me.......

Hi Everyone,

About a week or so ago I participated in a blog hop over at Reminisce. They were giving away some new papers and to one lucky winner a collection of all the new lines. Well, I was lucky to win paper from the new line of my choice. The Celtic collection was so appealing to me, so I chose that one. The postman delivered my prize today and I wanted to share this amazing paper with you. The papers are soooo nice. I included two pic's for you. I received die cut stickers (sentiments and borders), 12X12 papers and glittered shamrock embellishments. What a great sampling of this line. I can't wait to use papers from this wonderful line. The papers are double sided and can be used for lots of different designs, not just St. Patty's Day.

I will be using the sentiment stickers and the shamrocks on my St. Patty's Day cards next year, for sure.

Here is a card that I designed today using ippity kit # IPK-117. It was snowing a little, earlier today, so I thought the yellow flowers would chase the cold and snow away.

I stamped the flowers onto watercolor paper with Marvy #43 Brilliant Yellow and used a waterbrush to soften the stamped image. Stamped the swirl with in Giovanni's Garden by Fresco. This is a permanent ink so I painted the swirl using Marvy #96 Jungle Green and softened that somewhat. Punched some small butterflies and added some bling and ribbon.

AND ON A SAD NOTE...............

In Memory

I'm sad to report that a friend to many at a lot of stamp conventions, Norm Weed (husband of Polly of Polly's Pals) died Sunday, March 27. He was stricken last Thursday on the way to Heirloom's show in Portland and wasn't able to recover. Polly is requesting no calls or e-mails at this time, but you are welcome to send cards to her at 40995 Prominade Chardonnay Hills, Temecula, CA 92591
I copied this info from Marco's site, just in case you weren't aware of this sad information.
 

Well that is it for today,thanks for stopping by,

Watercolor and Spring

Hi Everyone,
Spring is slow in coming, we are expecting snow tonite and up to 1". So........ lets think spring. One of these days we will be wishing for cooler weather. LOL.

Since spring is on the horizon, I made a watercolor that exudes springtime flowers. Art Impressions has the nicest stamps that make great watercolor scenes. So I made a beautiful scene, added handmade flowers and punched a great accent strip using a Just Imagine/Kreations punch. A little leaf ribbon from May Arts adds to those handmade flowers and here is the card.

Well, I decided to submit this card to this weeks Art Impressions Challenge #9 - Watercoloring. Hope you enjoyed this and I hope it inspires you to do a little watercoloring. Thanks for stopping by,





Thanks and more.................

Hi Everyone,
I would like to thank everyone for stopping by my blog for the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog hop last week. I read all the wonderful comments that were left and I want you to know I appreciate those comments so much. Also, I want to thank you for stopping and looking at my post on the Just Imagine/Kreations blog. I post directly to their blog every other Sunday.

I have been out of town for the last 4 days. I went to the Memories Scrapbooking Expo held in Columbus, Ohio Mar. 25 and 26. I ran into old friends and it was so nice to see familiar faces, especially Gina. While I was gone, I received some new stamp sets and I just fell in love with this new set, called Bird Swirl. I thought I'd give you a sneak peek because the set is not available just yet. This set is really cute and has 13 stamps and I know you will really like it. Stay tuned and as soon as it is available I let you all know and I will post another card creation. Then, just in case you are interested, you can go to Sparkle N Sprinkle to check the set out further.

On this card I used Labels 10 from Spellbinders and it seems that I use it quite often. So, I would say, it's probably my favorite die set. The ribbon bow on this card is utilizing 5/8" satin ribbon.  The glitter used was Parisian Mist (G1037) and Sparkling Snow (G1003) from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Well I have a few more projects I need to get completed, so....... I will see you soon. Thanks for stopping by,

Sunday's Inspiration

Hi Everyone,
Today was my turn to post over at Just Imagine/Kreations. Click here to check out the post and learn more about some cool flowers... they will look great on that card you need to make, or maybe that gift bag or ..... you know, just about any project you are working on, and, best of all, they are easy to make.

Well that's it for now, have a great day and let me know what you think of these easy to make flowers.

SPARKLE N SPRINKLE'S NON-TRADITIONAL MOTHER'S DAY BLOG HOP

Hi and welcome to my blog.
I'd like to welcome you to the Sparkle N Sprinkle non-traditional Mother's Day Blog Hop, which began at the SparkleNSprinkle Home Blog.

Hopefully you have been enjoying the beautiful cards presented by my fellow Sparkle Team designers Jill, Joan and Anne. Our Mother's Day inspired hop is non-traditional because we're displaying cards which honor special women in our lives, whether they are Moms or not. We hope you will enjoy these feminine cards, and perhaps create something special for the dear women who regularly and meaningfully touch your life. Today, my card is made with Wilma in mind. Wilma is mother to a great friend of mine and she is the closest to being my mom. I lost my mom many years ago and still miss her every day. But Wilma has been a great substitute mom.

Great news!!! Set 265, which is the set I used, is in re-release and available right now at a discount. Clicking here will take you to the SparkleNSprinkle page for this stamp set.

Here are some components of my card:

Flowers in Vase and Verse stamps are in set 265

Buttercup Petal Embossing Powder EP389

Glisten Embossing Powder EP135

Spellbinders Ovals  S4-112
Copic Markers: BG10, YG03, Y06, RV14

Click here for detailed directions for my card.

Blog Hop members:
Jill Jacobsen
Joan Petty
Barbara Bruder -  you are here
Julie Zipple
Donna Maligno
Eleanor Jenkins
Erika Taylor
Judy Rozema
Julie Warner
Linda Lowe
Patti White
Shona Erlenborne
Donna Ellis

Before hopping on over to Julie Zipple's place for further inspiration, please leave a comment here on my blog to be eligible for a great prize! AND don't forget to leave a final comment on the Sparkle N Sprinkle home blog about a woman who has inspired you.

Have a great and inspired day!!!!!

Crop Stop Challenge #11

Hi Everyone,
Well spring has finally arrived and not a moment too soon. I decided the beautiful poppy image from StacyStamps would compliment the sketch for the current CropStop challenge.

Products used:

Copic markers: R37, G94, YG03, Y08

Embossing Folder: Crafts Too (Stars) CTFD 3002

Spellbinders Dies: Stars S4-092

Paper: Designer Paper (unknown) CS PopTones, Stardream and Basics

Ink: India Ink Black

Well, thanks for stopping by and have a great day,

It's Spring, finally......................

Are you ready for it???? Spring arrives tonight at 7:21 EDT. I think everyone is so ready for warm weather. So, in celebration of the arrival of Spring, I designed 2 cards for your viewing pleasure.

The first card has a flower from the new Zinnia set I just received recently from Crafter's Companion. The set is so cool. Love the flowers and the fairies that are in the set. You may want to check them out. The white sheet utilized  a crimper to get that interesting background.

Pink reminds me of spring. So I thought this card would be a great card to usher spring in. I used a stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms in the Silhouette Blooms I set. (Sadly they are no longer in business.) I love this monochromatic look. The side borders were made using punch #304 from Just Imagine/Kreations. I added an embellishment that I made using embossed metal, covering a large piece similar to a domino that my friend Angie gave me. I added alcohol ink to the metal piece and I attached it with a ribbon. It really adds interest to the card.

Well that is all I have today. Have a great start to spring and thanks for stopping by,

Joan's Gardens Challenge #10

Hello everyone.
I thought I'd share with you a card I made for the challenge at Joan's Gardens for this week.

Here is what Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge #10 is calling for:

Use the colors Pink and Green

Create a thank you card.

Use some kind of stripes

Use something scalloped

I just received a few new sets from Crafters Companion and this fairy is one of those sets.  I thought she would look perfect in pink and green.

I used my circle cutter from Just Imagine/Kreations to make the scallop and used Labels Four dies from Spellbinders and colored with Copic markers.

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

C4C78 Challenge

Hello everyone,

Here is a card for the latest challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges. It's International Earth Day on March 20, so, our challenge for this week is to create a card that has a tree somewhere on it. I love trees and the tree stamp I used is one of my favorites. So here is my submission.

I have used:

 a bare winter tree - Great Impressions

colored dots - Stamps by Judith

Labels 10 by Spellbinders - S5-022

odd shape used for leaves - Hero Arts

Scallops made by Circle Cutter - Just Imagine/Kreations

Ribbon - Michaels

Cardstock- PopTones

Hope you enjoy the card

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon,



A Sneak Peek

Hi Everyone

Last night the time changed to Daylight Savings Time (DST). Not my favorite time of the year. It takes my internal clock about 2 weeks to readjust. But that means that spring is close. In fact it will be here next Sunday. And I am so looking forward to warmer weather.

I've made my first post at the Just Imagine/Kreations blog. You may want to go over there to check it out. In the meantime, here is a sneak peek.

I'm working on a couple of new ideas, so, I have to get back to work so I can show you what I am coming up with. Hope you have time to check out my post at the Just Imagine/Kreations blog.

Well that's it for today, thanks for stopping by and I will see you soon.

I'm Back ...........

I know, I know,  I've been missing in action. I went to visit a friend in Tennessee and had a blast. We got caught up on our lives, went shopping, went out to eat, met neighbors at a luncheon and then I showed Dianne some new things I have learned. So, now I am back, but I must have left my muse in Tennessee. I am having a hard time coming up with ideas. Bummer!!!!

I have Thank-You cards that need to get finished, so I am hoping that will bring my muse back home. On Sunday I will be posting my first post on the Just Imagine/Kreations blog so you will want to check out my post. By the way, have you looked at any of the posts there lately??? Well, the new DT members are showing off their ideas and they are fabulous, so make sure to check in at Just Imagine/Kreations for new ideas using their punches and circle maker and all the other cool tools they offer.

Its been raining here, and its the perfect time to go to my studio to finish those Thank You cards and get my project done for my Sunday post at Just Imagine/Kreations.

 I will be back to show you new pieces of inspiration. See you soon, thanks for stopping by.

March is National Craft Month

Hi Everyone,
I think my cold is finally just about gone. I am feeling pretty much like my normal self again.

Do  you believe it, today is March 1st. I am amazed, we have 2 months of 2011 under our belt already. The time just is clicking away isn't it. And March is National Craft month, so I plan on posting some great ideas for everyone.

No only is March a new month, it means I can share some exciting news that I've been itching to tell everyone. I have been selected as one of the new designers for the Just Imagine Crafts Kreations Design Team. Just Imagine Crafts Kreations has a great line of 4 in 1 punches and other products as well. Their punches are so versitle, you will get more than one look out of just one punch. How cool is that!!! You will get to see that in upcoming posts. I bought some punches from Just Imagine Crafts Kreations last summer, so, I have a few already in my punch collection. Can't wait to show some of the great looks you can get from just 1 punch.

I bought a stamp set from Unity Stamp Co. not too long ago (BB-764A Bella Fiori)  When I saw the set, the flowers were just calling my name so, I just had to buy this stamp set. Recently I needed to make a few Thank-You cards so I decided to use stamps from that Unity set. As I looked at the images I decided to watercolor the flowers and here is one of the cards I came up with. By the way, check out the corner on the watercolor paper, it reminds me of a tulip and looks so great with this tulip stamp. That corner was punched using a new punch I just received from Just Imagine Kreations.

Well, I am off to see a great friend in Tennessee for the rest of the week. I will try to post while away, so you may get to see what we are up to in Tennessee, so stay tuned!!

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Barbara