Friend

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!  Jesus is Alive Forevermore!!

I've been putzing with this card this week and have it finished.  I was going to say that weeks ago and now I see it's been a couple of months... Quietfire added the dotted harlequin stencil -- background cut file to the silhouette store and I actually cut it right away (I sized it to be about 4" x 8") and then it sat on my counter waiting to be used.  One day I will use it as a stencil but this one I wanted in my background.  I have no idea why as they don't really look the same but it makes me think of lattice... maybe it was the long Winter and I wanted Spring!!  Anyway I decided this week that it would get made into a card and as I was thinking about what to layer it over, I remember some paper towels that had been used to sop up excess color off the craft mat and decided that would be perfect.  I cut a piece of cardstock bigger than my cut background, glued the paper towel to it and after it was dry, trimmed it to the size of the cardstock, glued the cut out to it and then sponged just a bit of vintage photo Distress Ink around the edges.  I knew I wanted flowers and greenery and one of Suzanne's wonderful calligraphied quotes.  As you can see, I chose I wouldn't have missed being your friend.  I stamped it on a scrap of cardstock, trimmed the top and sides, tore the bottom, inked around the edges with Archival Ink orange blossom and monarch orange, and tied twine around it.  The flowers and greenery are cut with Tim Holtz dies.  The greenery is colored with Distress Stain mowed lawn and stamped with a Wendy Vecchi background image using her Archival Ink leaf green.  The flowers are colored with Distress Stain scattered straw in the center and ripe persimmon on the petals and then I also added mustard seed in the centers.  Next I sprayed them well with Perfect Pearls Mist sunflower sparkle and let them dry.  Stacked 3 flowers together, added a brad to the center and then crumpled them up.  Glued everything on and attached it all to a folded card.

As I was getting ready to photograph the card so I could add it here and thinking about friends at the same time, a chorus we sing at church came to mind called I Am A Friend Of God.  I'm thankful to have Him as my friend!!  To have that saving relationship with my Lord and Savior!!!!  

A Flower and a Bird

Here's a card I made some time ago but hadn't shared yet.  For the background I started with a piece of natural sticky back canvas - stuck it to a piece of cardstock and stitched around the edges.  Next I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil and I'm pretty sure some of Wendy's Archival Ink, probably potting soil & cornflower blue.  I also added some kind of yellow, maybe Chrome Yellow Archival.  The text (Wendy Vecchi stamp) is stamped with cornflower blue.  Archival potting soil ink around the edges.  The flower (Wendy Vecchi Stencil, 3 Fresh Flowers) is stencil with Wendy's white embossing paste and after it was dry colored with Archival Inks (cornflower blue, chrome yellow, and fern green).  The grass (Wendy Vecchi stencil, From The Garden) is stenciled onto cardstock with fern green ink, cut out, and a bit more green added to the areas that weren't stenciled.  It was stuck along the bottom to the background and also stitched on.  The bird (Tim Holtz die) is cut from grungepaper, inked completely with Adirondack white pigment ink, dried well, and then colored with Archival Inks.  A black dot and then a small white dot for the eye.  Thread a button, glue it to the center of the flower, and layer the piece to your folded card.

Journal Pages - Working and Becoming

I created this first journal page earlier this week.  I was inspired by a post on Wendy Vecchi's blog HERE and I felt like just playing a little so I did a really quick page.  I made sure it was quick by not letting myself think too much and dragging it on, lol!!!  I punched a large oval to use as mask on the large background stamp while inking it with Wendy's Archival Ink potting soil - stamped it on the page.  Next I "sprayed" Distress Stains old paper and spiced marmalade keeping the old paper more in the center and spiced marmalade around the edges (somewhat).  Since there was color sitting on top of the paper and the page next door was blank, I pulled it over pressing the two together to transfer the extra color and then continued with the page I was working on.  I used Wendy's Stamp-it Stencil-it perfect peony on the left.  I first placed the stencil on and added Fresco Finish snowflake paint through the stencil (this is an opaque paint so it covered the Archival Ink).  I dried the paint and then stamped the image.  I didn't get it lined up exactly but that was ok.  Dried the black Archival Ink and then again used the stencil to add color to the flower - red geranium & carnation red on the flower, fern green on the leaves.  Dried the ink and used a white Sharpie paint pen to add highlights to the tips of the petals.  To add more to the background I applied snowflake paint through sequin waste in the corner areas and used Wendy's Add A Stencil stencil with orange blossom ink randomly around the page.  I stamped a border image on the lower part of the page but got it crooked - too crooked for me to just leave so I covered it with tissue tape, sponged on a little green ink.  Stamped the words and stenciled the bird with jet black Archival.  Stenciled the lines along the top and bottom with potting soil ink. 

I managed a little more play time yesterday and started to work on the page to the left finishing it up today.  I stamped the butterflies with jet black Archival not getting a good impression on the center butterfly so I stamped an extra one on a scrap of paper I could layer over it.  I used an EvoTemplate to draw the square.  The left side of the page was mostly without color and it was too much white for me so I rubbed on a little fired brick Distress Ink along the side and across the top and bottom.  I colored the butterflies using Distress Stains and a water brush - scattered straw on the upper wings, dried marigold on the lower wings and then a little bit of rusty hinge at the bottom of the bottom wings, frayed burlap on the body.  Again used Wendy's Add A Stencil stencil with orange blossom as a filler and also her dots with red geranium.  Stamped the leaves across the top with leaf green.  The words are stamped with jet black.  

And here are both pages together... individual but looking good side-by-side.

A Book For Bethany

I got a call from a friend of ours a week ago.  His neice, Bethany, a tennager, has been battling brain cancer for some time and the tumor was once again growing and the doctors have said there is really nothing else for them to do.  They were planning a prayer vigil for her this past Sunday afternoon and might I be able to make a book that people could sign and write notes to Bethany in.  This is what I made.  He wanted scriptures throughout the book and some decoration and her favorite colors are lime green and purple.  

For the pages I folded 11" x 17" cardstock making the pages 8 1/2" x 11".  The covers and spine are covered book board.  I sewed the book together through the spine with waxed linen thread and added some beads.  

I've included pictures of all the spreads in this post for anyone who wants to see (as I was editing the pics, I noticed that some of them are a little blurry - nothing I can do about that now).  I added color around the edges of all the pages alternating between lime and purple.  Each spread includes a scripture or quote and just a bit of decoration leaving plenty of room for writing and also for them to add some pictures from the day.   

For those of you who pray, please keep Bethany and her family in your prayers.

The longest journey..............

My final sample using the new Vintage Kraft Kit from Quietfire Design.  I inked the edges of the kraft card with Distress Ink and then stamped a flourish with white paint.  Cut the map printed paper so I had a border on the card, inked the edges with faded jeans Distress Ink and also added some inking through sequin waste.  I die cut the Tim Holtz On-the-Edge die, Townscape, from grungepaper leaving enough space below the houses to stamp the quote using jet black Archival Ink.  I inked the die cut with various colored of Distress Ink, masking as needed and then glued it tothe card.  I added white paint to the trinket pin and wiped off the excess just leaving paint in the letters and numbers and attached it as shown.  For the ribbon, I colored it with Distress ink and dried it.  Put a piece of double sided tape across the card and then attached the ribbon across making ruffles as I went.

To create is to touch the spirit.

Yes, another card using the Vintage Kraft Kit from Quietfire Design.  I attached the printed paper to the front of a kraft card trimming it even with the card and sponging on a bit of walnut stain Distress Ink.  I stamped the quote on the textured kraft paper with Archival Ink jet black.  I wanted ripped edges but in a fairly straight way, but not too straight (if that makes sense) and tried to tear it against a ruler which worked fairly well.  Then it occurred to me that I should have wet the paper and tried to tear it and as I wanted to pull out some little pieces along the edge so it wasn't too straight, I did go ahead and wet the edges which did help.  While they were still wet I dabbed Distress Stain rusty hinge along both edges, dried it well, sponged on a little walnut stain to tone it down and attached it to the card trimming the ends even.  My strip wasn't matching the printed paper quite as well as I'd like so I sponged some rusty hinge Distress Ink along the top and bottom of the card.  I colored a piece of the linen ribbon with the rusty hinge Distress Stain, dried it and glued it and the hand charm as shown.

Krafty Tag - Vintage Kraft Kit

I'm sharing another of the projects I created using Suzanne's Vintage Kraft Kit.  I glued a #8 tag to the corrugated paper, let it dry and then trimmed the paper even with the tag.  Next I rubbed brushed corduroy Distress Stain right from the bottle over the tag allowing some spots to stay without stain.  After it was dry I inked around the edge with Distress Ink walnut stain and stenciled some spots using sequin waste and Distress Ink faded jeans.  The printed paper I used for the tag is the one that looks like a faded ledger page.  I cut a border using Spellbinders Classic Scallop die set, inked over the piece with faded jeans, and stamped thank you with Archival Ink jet black.  I took the left-over piece from cutting the border, flipped it around and layered it as shown (no inking).  The butterfly is cut with Spellbinders Nested Butterflies Two die and the edges of the wings are inked with faded jeans.  For the center of the butterfly I used a scrap of the same printed paper but flipped it to the back side, created a paper bead and squished the bead flat.... Cool, huh!!!!  The flower is punched from the corrugated paper, the edges inked with faded jeans, sprayed it well with water, scrunched it up and let it dry.  This bled the ink inward and created wonderful wrinkles with the corrugated lines still showing a bit.  The center of the flower and dots to the butterfly are punched from scraps of the printed paper.  The white ribbon was colored with the brushed corduroy stain, scrunched, dried, twisted to make is narrower and tied around the tag.