One in a Million

Hi all!  Back again with another card project.  This is one that I made using my Cricut and the Lacy Labels (vine), Wild Card (card, sign) cartridges.  I wanted to try out my new stamp and coordinating dies from Heartfelt Creations.  The hydrangea was stamped onto water color paper and embossed in gold.  I stamped the individual blossoms the same way and water colored the images with Tombow markers.  The main image can be overlaid with the smaller blossoms for a dimensional flower but I wanted only the one blossom, in gold/gold crystal to stand out to use with my sentiment, Your One in a Million.  The stamp set comes with a "one in a million" sentiment, but I used the one from a Flourishes set because of it's size.

The image was popped up with foam dots and then the sign with the sentiment is popped up with double foam dots on top of the flower on one side to make it level as you can see in the picture below.  I added some doodles and accents with gel pens and colored my clear Dew Drops with a purple and blue Copic markers to match my flower.

When closed the pattern paper shows through the scallops on the front of the card and there is a lavender circle inside to write a message on.  I will do another with this versatile stamp and die set with the smaller blossoms.  Thanks for all the sweet comments!! Next post will be another quilling project.  Until then,

Shalom,

Sonya

How've You Bean

Hi all, hope you are having a great summer!  Have another card for you today.  I have been wanting a tea/coffee stamp for some time and when the stamp sale was going on at my LCS I finally got one!  This is one of the cards that will go in my Etsy shop as soon as I can work out the shipping details on the store.  The coffee/tea cup was stamped onto water color paper and embossed with clear embossing powder, then water colored with my Tombow markers. 

Then I inked the edges with Distress Inks, Antique Linen and a bit of a sage green ink also.  The steam is accented with some clear glitter and the coffee in the cup has Crystal Effects for some shiny liquid look. I love the way the blue pops off the card!  I cut them out with my oval Nesties and added some brads.

The matt layers on the base of the card are from K & Co. and I used two coordinating glittery and foil card stock/paper in a opposing triangle pattern.  I used my new Cricut Expression to cut the flourishes out in brown with a black shadow.  They are accented with a gold gel pen. A brown bow finished the front.

For the inside I stamped the row of coffee beans onto water color paper and again embossed them in clear embossing powder and water colored them with my Tombows.  They are layered and matted with the same papers as the front.

The sentiment "how've you bean" was also from this cute stamp set and was embellished with two of the coffee beans.  A writing space is made from oval Nesties atop the triangular matts, the edges inked with Distress Tea Dye for that "coffee" look.

It was a fun card to do and I love the colors! Tomorrow I will have a "shape" card to share with you and be sure to check back as I still have a stash of cards ready to post!

Shalom,
Sonya
Thanks to all who stop by and visit my little blog, I hope you enjoy!!! Leave me a comment or contact me a the link on the sidebar if you have any questions!

Waterlily Easel Card

Hi all, I have a card to post that I entered a contest with at Cuttlebug Challenge, and WON!!!! Thank you!! The challenge was to make an easel card and use a Cuttlebug embossing folder on it.  The image is Flourishes Waterlily and has some beautiful images that I had yet to ink up.  The water lily, lily pads and fish are stamped onto watercolor paper in black Stazon and then embossed with clear embossing powder.

I then water colored them with my Tombow markers and a waterbrush.  The water the fish are swimming in is also watercolor paper sprayed with a blue and gold glimmer mist and Tombow markers.  It has a really pretty shimmer to it.  I cut the fish out and adhered them to the water.  I wanted it to look like they were swimming under the water so I cut a piece of acetate the same size oval as my water and popped it up a bit with foam tape.  Then I cut out all of my lily pads out and layered them around the edge of the "pond", popping some up with foam tape for dimension. 

Then I cut out the water lily and blossom and attached it to the lily pads. The large lily at the base of the card was made with large punched sunflowers shaped, chalked and layered in a water lily look.  The center is a 3/4" quilling strip that I fringed and instead of pulling out the fringes, I pushed gently down on the center of the fringed coil to make it bow out on the sides.  I added some glitter for shine. The lily pads next to it are punched from a large circle punch with the edges cut off with paper shaper scissors.  I then cut a wedge shape out of one side and added a green brad at the center.  It is sitting on more "water" paper.

Swirl Cuttlebug embossing folder was used on the back layer, glitter card stock layer and MS punched borders.  A bright pink bow and CB embossed sentiment finish of this card.  I love this flower and will have to make more of them in different sizes!  Thanks again to the Cuttlebug Challenge site for picking my card!!!

I still have more projects finished and waiting to be posted, so check back to see!

Shalom,
Sonya
Y'all sure do leave some sweet comments, Thanks!

Sweet Pea Pink FTTC55

Hi, all!  Have a bad head cold that I caught from the grandkids that has made doing anything a challenge.  So I decided to post a card and enter it in a challenge! The Flourishes Timely Tuesday Challenge (FTTC55) to be exact. I also have been working on some quilling projects that will be posted at the first of the month.  But, back to the card details.  I used Flourishes Sweet Pea image and embossed it in white on watercolor paper.  Then I watercolored it with my Tombow markers, not easy to do with white on white!! 

Used my new MS Edge all Around punch to frame the image and then added some flower edged sheer pink ribbon and a little bird charm and some pink pearls to finish it off.  Hope that random number hits mine, I'd like win some more stamps!!! lol!!  All of the energy is used up, going to take some more cold meds and go to bed. Thanks for voting on the poll on my sidebar! Until later,

Shalom,

Sonya

Thanks for all the encouraging comments, y'all are sweet peas! Had to do it!

Lily of the Valley MMSC41

Edited to Add:  So honored to have this card to be chosen for the Midnight Madness Gold Star Award!

Hi all, Been playing with the new Fred She Said flower images again.  This time with the Lily of the Valley.  I also entered this card in the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #41, you can see the details here and the sketch below. 

I printed the lily of the valley image onto watercolor paper and used my Tombow markers to watercolor it.  Then as I did with the pansy teacup image, I cut out a base image and then layered 4 layers of the flowers and leaves to give it dimension. Since the flowers were small I used a thin picture mount double-sided foam tape so that the layers would be a bit closer.  The little white blossoms have a Stickles sparkle that draws your attention and is really diamond-like in real life. 

The sketch as you can see has three panels with some "stitching" and I did that with my metallic gel pens.  Also it has the button accents which was something that I haven't reached for as an embellishment much.  So I found some pretty green tone buttons out of my stash and added some white, cream and gold pearls and of course I couldn't go without a green crystal or two!  I also added the button and pearls to the lily image instead of a bow that would have covered up too much of the image.  But, I have to use ribbon, right, so I added the little ribbon tabs under the main oval.  And the base green cardstock layers is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

Tracey made it hard to decide which flower to play with next as there are more awesome flowers in this new release that you can see at the Fred She Said site here.  The Fred She Said Blog Hop runs through tomorrow so if you didn't get a chance to hop through the beautiful creations that the Design Team made with the new flowers then stop by the post here.You still have a chance to win a $20.00 gift certificate to the Fred She Said store! 

I still have two cards finished that I will post this week also!  Thanks for all the very encouraging comments on my projects, y'all keep me challenged!  Until later,

Shalom,

Sonya
Comments always welcome and appreciated!

Teacup Pansies

Hi all! Just a little update for the lack of posting and then to the card details. We have been on a camping trip with the 3 grandkids, daughter and son-in-law.  My oldest daughter is going to have her fourth child, a girl, and is due April 1st, so we decided to go now rather than wait.  My grandson LOVES dinosaurs, hence the reason we camped at Dinosaur Valley State park.  Which just happens to be down the road from Dino World, a theme park with over 100 life size dinos. He was in dino heaven!!!  We watched the weather forecasts and knew that it was going to be cold and wet the first day, maybe two that we were there but decided to go because it was going to clear up and be nice.  Right.  After a 4 1/2 hour trip we arrived, set up our travel trailer and their tent. It began to sleet with a snow mix.  I said wouldn't it be nice for it to snow enough to cover the ground.  Well, I got my wish because when we woke up this is what we found:

A snow covered park, snow covered dino's to my grandson's delight!  Eleven inches of snow had fallen!  So pretty and the kids played all day in it.  My youngest daughter was not happy that she couldn't come because of her nursing classes at Steven F. Austin SU and would miss the snow.  Not so!  The same system went right over Nacogdoches TX and she didn't miss a thing!  I can't wait to see the pictures of her sliding down a snow covered hill on a trash can lid!!!!

Now to the card details.  I made this card for the February 15th Fred She Said Blog Hop but would not get to post because we were camping.  I can't seem to get my auto post to work so Tracey posted it on the Fred She Said site as the first Blog Hop Stop.  Thanks Tracey for letting me participate while away!  This is one of her new release digi images and I couldn't wait to play with it, I love seeing these cheery pansy faces brighten the brown winter Texas landscape!

First I printed out the Teacup Pansy image 4 times onto watercolor paper. I heat set the images so that they wouldn't run when watercolored.  Then I watercolored the images with my Tombow markers and waterbrush.  I cut one complete image out as my base and then cut portions of the pansies out to layer onto it to give it a lifelike dimension. The topmost layers of the pansy petals are not just flat layered, I tilted the petals in a more lifelike position as you can see in the close up and tilted pictures.     

The centers of the pansies are accented with Stickles glitter for a little bling and the white swag on the teacup is painted with a white mica watercolor paint.  The dots are a white gel pen. The bow on the teacup handle is the same shade of purple the pansies are but it didn't seem to translate as that in the picture. 

The teacup image is popped up onto a Spellbinder Fleur de lis pendant accented with Stickles glitter and lavender pearls. I used my new Janome Sew Mini to sew the four panels.  The DP paper reminded me of china and coordinated beautifully with the blue of the cup, I purchased it at Hobby Lobby some time back and don't remember the name, sorry. The inside of the card is decorated with the Flourishes sentiment "Live life in color", from the set with the beautiful peacock, perfect for this card. It is also on Nestability die labels. I used another of the fleur de lis pendants in cream as a place to write a message.  You will see more of Tracey's new flower images in the days to come, they are awesome!

If you want to participate in the February Fred She Said Blog Hop, start here and see what the other wonderful Fred She Said design team members have created for your inspiration!  A $20.00 gift certificate to Fred She Said will be drawn from all who participate in the Blog Hop and find the words that make a sentence.  You can see the details on the FSS Blog Hop start page, have fun!

Well off to watch the Olympics and create more cards!  See you later!

Shalom,

Sonya

Comments always welcome and appreciated, I have read each and every one left for me on the FSS Blog Hop Post!! Thanks so much!

World Card Day Fred She Said Challenge!

Hi all! Still here and getting better day by day, but still to slow for me! It takes me about 3 times as long to create a card as I cannot sit at the table for long, but I'm glad to be able to do it at all. The card above is for inspiration and an invitation for you to enter the World Card Making Day Fred She Said Challenge!

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Tracey has a lot of great new digi images to choose from and they all can be colored in many different media; computerized paint programs, Prismacolors, Twinkling H2O's, Copics or whatever else you can come up with! Because the are digi you can layer them, resize them and create unique projects!

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In the card above I used the mum from the fall flowers collection and watercolored it with my Tombow markers. It is a gate fold card and by turn up the right hinge the card will open. The designer papers are an elegant mix of wine colored velvet embossed and a faux snakeskin white, and pink crystal bling! And here's a first for me - NO RIBBON! Hope on over to Fred She Said store and pick a digi image or two and enter the challenge! I'd love to see what you create, you can link to your project hear but you must enter on the Fred She Said site to have a chance at the blog candy!

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Here are the details from Tracey's blog:

WORLD CARD MAKING DAY CHALLENGE

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To celebrate, Fred, She Said Designs is offering a $25 CAD Gift Certificate to the Fred, She Said Store and a $25 USD Gift Certificate to one of Fred's favourite stores for dies, embossing folders, stamping stuff and embellishments - http://www.cropstop.com/
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The challenge starts NOW and closes Monday October 12th midnight EDT. To enter,all you need to do is post a new card on your blog using any Fred, She Said product or freebie! Enter a link to your challenge entry post URL using Mr. Linky below or via an email attachment to Fred's email if you don't have a blog - (please put FSS Challenge Entry and your Name in the subject line) If Mr. Linky is acting up, you may post in the comments of this post, the link to your entry. The winner will be selected Tuesday October 13th by random draw.Please give it a try and don't forget to tell your friends :) .... and Happy Card Making!

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Remember: You may enter your link here to show off your project BUT it does not enter you for the challenge!! To be entered you must go to the CHALLENGE POST on the Fred She Said site and post the link to your project on Mr. Linky.

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And I also would like to say a big hello and congratulations to my paper soul sister Lisa Phillipi as the newest member of the Fred She Said Design Team!!!! And also, a sad good-by to Donna as she is having to leave the DT, we will miss you, but looking forward to your beautiful creations as time allows!

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Hop on over to the Fred She Said site and see all the new digi images and enter the challenge! I can't wait to see!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are always welcome, post your link to your projects here to share and, to have a chance to win, enter on the challenge, post on Fred She Said site!

Give Thanks Pomegranates

Hi all! I'm still here, just not as perky as I would like to be! I am not using the walker around the house but on longer trips I use it as I still tire easily and the pain from the chest tubes is never down for long. But I have been able to put my quilling supplies on a tray and sit/recline on the bed or couch and create. Tomorrow I will show you some of the DT projects made for Custom Quilling. And I working on a card , that I hope to have together today, that shows some of the new digi stamps from Fred She Says!
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But for now, I have a card that was made for a Flourishes challenge and that I was going to post here when I returned home the day of that fated "outpatient" procedure! So, here it is and it is quite timely as I truly do GIVE THANKS to the Lord for bringing me through this time and for His continued Presence during my recovery! I also thank and so very much appreciate all the encouraging notes and emails that you are so sweet to send!
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I stamped and embossed the Flourishes pomegranate image and sentiment in bronze and watercolored it with my Tombow markers. The edges of the DP and the pomegranate image were inked with Tim Holtz's distress inks. I layered the images and panels with a border punch. Topaz crystals were added to the border and the brads for sparkle and a taffeta shimmery bow added to finish off.
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Well the medication is kicking in and time for me to rest a bit before I can get back to creating. If you have created any projects that have been inspired by any you have seen here, leave a comment with a link so that I and all who visit can enjoy them!
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Shalom,
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Sonya
Comments and links to your projects always welcome!

Water Color Book Mark Card

Hi all! Well we are back! For the last two weeks we have been on the run and out of town and getting Rachel back to Stephen F. Austin to finish her last year of nursing school!!!! I am exhausted and glad to be back home! We had a great time and I will share some pics later. The last couple of days I have been trying to get caught up on some design team projects that I should have finished up BEFORE I left! Well they are done now and in a few days I can share them with you. But for now I have a quick card to show you that was in my "done" stash.

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This thank you card has a little gift book mark attached to the front. I stamped and embossed in gold the image and then watercolored it with Tombow markers. I edged it in gold and then mounted it on a Nestie scalloped rectangle which I pierced along the edges. A tassel was added to finish off the bookmark. The bookmark is held on by a small blue binder clip for easy removal. I have had this cute plaid designer paper and though that it fit the color scheme and design. A short post for today, be back later with more on our trips!
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Shalom,
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Sonya
Comments are always welcome and I appreciate and read them all!

Fred She Said New Release!

Hi all! I have been MIA lately because of a recurring problem with my once removed gallbladder again. The almost constant nausea and pain have not been favorable to be in a creative mode which hasn't made me very happy. I have been to the Dr. and the ER with the problem and now have another Dr. appt. to get a referral for a specialist!!!!! I have done some research on the issue and hopefully will get to the bottom of the problem once and for all!

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But, I have finally finished this card! I used the newly released Little Miss Bitty digi stamp from Fred She Said. She is so cute and there are several versions of her to color and embellish for a project. Cute Little Miss Bitty has these cute flowers to go with her many ensembles! They are quick and easy to color and cut out. I printed her and her flower garden out onto 90lb watercolor paper and watercolored her with my Tombow markers. She is popped up on dimensionals. I accented her and the flowers with a Sakura pen and glitter to make it sparkly! Quilled leaves were added to finish the flower garden border.

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Check out Fred She Said for new digi stamps and a great tutorial by Tracey on making super fun background paper with digi stamps (which is free!!!). Spread the Fred! I will be posting the Custom Quilling DT projects tomorrow and will have another Fred She Said new release coming up! If you make a card with Fred She Said digi stamps or have a quilled project to show off, post a link in the COMMENTS below, I'd love to see them!

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments and project links always welcome!

Fred She Said Take Out Box

Hi all! Here is another project using Tracey's digital flowers. The box is Sizzix's Take Out Box and is in a medium yellow CS. This little box is so versatile and can be used for small gifts, gift cards, table favors for parties and weddings! I used the digital Dahlia's from Fred She Said and printed three sizes of the dahlia's outline along with the leaves on 90lb watercolor paper. Then I watercolored them with my Tombow markers. After the were dry I cut them out and glued the three dahlia sizes together and "fluffed" the petals up. Yellow glitter glue was added to the center, but a quilled coil or fringe flower, flower soft, button or a crystal could be used also for a different look.

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I added the floral punched daisy that has a tight coil center and some green quilled "vines" along side the blue dahlia. The flowers along with a punched sentiment tag accented with a blue crystal sit upon a yellow Nestability label 2, which is popped up with dimensionals onto another label 2 die cut. Both label die cut edges were inked in a corresponding color, the blue one also has a pierced border. It is hard to see in the picture but the blue dahlia and leaves are accented with a Sakura pen.

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To help open the box I added a ribbon tab with a small flower brad, and the top is held closed with a velcro dot under the label. The box is finished with a gold wire handle and blue grosgrain bow on front. It was really easy and fun to make and the box becomes another gift!

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If you haven't tried Fred She Said digi flowers and stamps, hope on over to Tracey's site and see all the great things she has to offer! You don't even have to color to use them, she has some wonderful sets that come in color and ready to use! Just print and cut them out and embellish them how you like! Check out the Fred She Said Design Team's blogs links listed on the right sidebar under the FSS blinkie for more great designs using these digi stamps!

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Until the next post,

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments always welcome! If you want to see "how you do that" on any project, just let me know!

Water Color Rose Card

Hi all, here is a card made from one of my new stamps. It is a mosaic stamp and the pieces actually match up but I wanted to mount them as individual vignettes. I watercolored them with Tombow markers and popped them up with dimensionals. The card is photographed in front of my rose garden that happens to have the same color roses in abundance!
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The embossed DP was from a specialty paper pack and is layered onto the same yellow as the roses tips are. I inked it in yellow and pink to match. I love the vine ribbon and thought it would go nicely with the roses. Gold "pearls" are used as an accent on the base and on each corner of the rose panels. Finishing up is the bow made from a taffeta two tone wire edge ribbon that I purchased to make vintage ribbon flowers but since it was a perfect match, I guess I will have a few less ribbon roses!
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I have a few projects that are in the line to be done and will post those as they are marked off the list! I also have a kit coming from Jerri K that is a card that incorporates the embossed cutout technique and when I finish I will post it also. Thanks for all the encouraging comments, I love to hear from those who stop by my little blog!
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I was thinking about doing a tutorial so if you want to see anything special just let me know!
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Until the next post,
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Shalom,
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Sonya
Comments welcome, let me know if you want to see a tutorial!

Mother's Day Card

Hi all! Happy Mother's Day to all who are a mother or those who are a spiritual mother showing love and giving encouragement to those who no longer have their mothers with them. This card has an embossed and cut out front panel. I stamped the image in gold and watercolored it with Tombow markers. The style is a CASE (copy and share everything) of Jerri K, see link on sidebar, I love her work!

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This is going to be a short post as we have just gotten back from Nacogdoches and S.F.A. at the Big Dip ceremony. Our senior nursing student daughter Rachel dipped her "ax" (S.F.A. mascot is a Lumberjack) hand in purple dye and received her senior ring. We also loaded up the truck with some of her things from her dorm, which has grown exponentially since we took her there last August, so she won't have so much to move back home. I am very tired and tomorrow is going to be a busy day, so until the next post,

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are always welcome! Have a great day!

Wild Flower Water Color

Hi all, I have been in water color mood lately and even though it doesn't look like it I do have quilling projects in the works, but they are not finished yet. One is a quilled card and the others are Keepsake Wedding Invitations and I will post them as soon as I get them finished. In the meantime I will post the cards that I enjoy making (relatively instant gratification on a finished project, YKWIM?). If you want to see any tutorials on any technique, quilling or anything, let me know. You can either comment or email me at the link in the sidebar.
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I love my Me & Carrie Lou stamps which this card features. The image was stamped and embossed in gold embossing powder then water colored with Tombow markers in Jerri K's technique and style. I cut it out and edged it where the water color paper showed with a 24Kt pen. It is popped up with dimensionals on a lightweight piece of white card stock that I ran though my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. I must be going through a "bold" color phase because that is what I seem to be choosing lately! But I do love a beautifully soft and subtle pastel or classic white/gold combination for cards also and have some designs in mind to do.
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The sentiment is stamped and embossed in gold and is the "Aaronic Blessing" Numbers 6:24-26, which is layered Nesties and popped up. I made this card for the mother of my bff since grade school, who will be 89 this year! This sweet and generous lady, and my friend, rescued me in a difficult time of my life and I will never forget what they did for me, or my bff's non-stop friendship to this day!
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And, I have another picture to show you. It is of the BLOG CANDY that I won from Lisa Phillippi's challenge (see sidebar for the link to her site). It was such a surprise because I didn't know what it would be! The sunflowe card is a similar one that she had made and posted on an online forum we both are member of (StampTV). I loved it and said to my self, "I wonder where the other half of that flower is?" Well, now I know, it's right here in my hand! It is really a cute design and I love polka dots! There were some cute flower stamps and I have a card in mind to use them on. Also some neat clear card boxes, gift boxes to decorate and flowers! Neat Blog Candy, Thanks Lisa!
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DON'T FORGET my 5000th view BLOG CANDY giveaway, see this post for details and leave a comment with your choice for a chance to win the day the counter hits 5000! See you tomorrow!
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Shalom,
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Sonya
Click on "comments" to enter for a chance at the BLOG CANDY and say hi!

Water Color Indian Paintbrush

Hi all, I know it's a Texan thing, so here is the second card of the Texas wild flowers, the Indian Paintbrush. This is the bits of red mixed in with the bluebonnets that cover Texas this time of year along with other colorful wildflowers. Here is a link to a BEAUTIFUL example of what the fields and highways of Texas look like covered in bluebonnets . Here is a link to another picture the two flowers together. One last link to where I would like my last home to be, so I could arise to see my Lord amongst this beautiful display!

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The card is a CASE of Faith Hofritcher's style (Stampin with Markie's Mom on sidebar) again. The Indian Paintbrush image is water colored with Tombow markers and is the companion to the Bluebonnet card from yesterday using the same layout and embellishments.

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Don't Forget my 5000 view BLOG CANDY! See the post here for details and comment with your choice for a chance to win! I have another card for tomorrow, so, until then,

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Shalom,

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Sonya

Click on "comments" to enter for BLOG CANDY!

Water Color Blue Bonnet Card

Hi all, here is a card for my native Texas heritage and my love of flowers as you already know! But first, it will soon be my 5000th visit hit and time for another BLOG CANDY giveaway! This time you will choose what the candy will be. Leave a comment on this post from now and through the day the hit counter hits 5000 and vote on your choice of three BLOG CANDY giveaways!

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The choices are:
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1. A QUILLED/or STAMPED CARD made by me,
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2. or A WATER COLORED STAMPED IMAGE FOR YOU TO ADORN A CARD MADE BY YOU,
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3. or YOUR CHOICE OF DIE CUT EMBELLISHMENTS, SHAPES, OR THINGS (ANIMALS, BIRDS, BABY RELATED, ETC, LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM)
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To enter leave a comment below with your choice, your link if you have one, LINK to this BLOG CANDY page on your site, and enter now and through the day the counter hits 5000! Winner will be chosen with at random from all who enter!
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Now for the card. The bluebonnets and other wildflowers are blooming in Texas and it is an awesome display of God's beautiful glory! You will see many cars stopped on the side of the roads where there is a field of blue, red, yellow, a rainbow of colors, taking pictures!
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I used one of my 2 new stamps, a bluebonnet and water colored and cut it out with my Tombow markers. It is has iridescent glitter on the white areas of the flower as a highlight but isn't showing well in the photo as it is overcast and sprinkling as I took the photo! It is done in the style of Faith Hofritcher and you can see her site here.
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I love her color combos and style. She really does it much better than I do! I like to attempt to replicate/CASE (Copy And Share Everything) styles and designs of other great card artists to learn new techniques. When I do I will always interpret it with some of my style and try to make it my "own" a bit. It is always that way anyway when you try to recreate something you see, it will always be a bit different from person to person and that's what makes it art!
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The bluebonnet image and sentiment is popped up with dimensionals. I shaded the edges of the card stock with a darker ink color and added the dots as Faith does. Decorative brads and a brown metallic ribbon finish the card. Tomorrow I will post the other of the set, the Indian Paintbrush card. Remember enter to win the BLOG CANDY!
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Until tomorrow,
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Shalom,
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Sonya
Click on "comment" to enter!

Water Color Pink Azalea

Hi all, we are back from our Spring Break trip to Lake Travis. It was ok, but, what were we thinking -Spring Break, Austin/U.T. college students, and a lake. We like to go in our RV and take in nature in all it's beauty and sounds etc. But instead there was the boom boom of party music all night, college kids driving hanging out the windows hootin' and hollarin', slaming car doors, even boats on the water with loud music! There must have been 30 in one camp space! So we came home a day early so we could get some sleep! We will know better next time, not to go on Spring Break!

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So, on to the card. I made this card for the parents of a good friend who we celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary with today. It was fun to look at their wedding album and hear the stories, the Bride wore a light green knee length ribbon dress. You know the kind that has the swirly ribbon sewn on it and fit her personality to a "T" *. I love to look at blogs and card galleries for ideas and tips on card designs, colors and embellishments. Problem is that I bookmark them but don't remember them all. Also I purchase different supplies to make a card and then forget why I bought it. So, I made a list of card sizes, shapes, folds, embellishments, techniques, stamps, die cuts, designs, embossing etc. and now use it so that I can get a variety of cards and use my ever increasing supplies more efficiently. This card is the first on the list.

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I used one of my Cuttlebug embossing folders to emboss the swirl design on the white card base. Then I stamped the azalea in black Stazon several times and water colored them with my Tombow markers. Have I told you how much I love water coloring with them! Next I cut them out, highlighted the stamens with yellow and lime green glitter glue and added a red crystal to the centers of the flowers. I cut out the layers with my scallop and circle nesties in a matching pink , a coppery pink metallic and white card stock.

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On the top white I layered the azaleas and popped them up three layers high with dimensionals to give them some depth like an azaelia bush and popped this white layer up. Next I cut out the smaller scallop layers from the coppery metallic and white card stock and used my Cuttlebug alpha die to cut out the "45" which is also popped up with dimensionals. To finish the card I made three pleats out of shaded wire edge ribbon and ran it diagonally under the layers and hanging and scrunching the two tails out the bottom side.

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The picture does not do the dimension and shiny card stock justice! I think I will have to make a photo mat with this stamp using the same technique, I love how it looks! I want to thank Lisa Phillippi for her Blog Candy Challenge - I Won, Yea! She will have more challenges so stop by and enter for a chance to win!

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Thanks to all who have left all those encouraging comments, I read and appreciate every one! If you leave your link when you comment, I can visit your blog/site also (the reason I don't get much sleep! lol). * To see the meaning of "to a T" click here.

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Until tomorrow's post,

Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are always welcome!

Lavender Wildflower Card

Hi all, here is the second card that I made for my aunt. I used my brand new Me & Carrie Lou wildflower stamp so that I could practice Jerri K's water color technique. The image was stamped and embossed in gold on water color paper and then I water colored it with Tombow markers. It has a lavender wash around the outside of the image but it isn't as dark as it should be, more practice!
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The base card is a pretty pearlescent medium lavender and has a mottled lavender DP layered onto it. I cut the water color image out and used my 24kt gold leaf pen to edge it. The wild flower stamp is pretty alone but I had those little lavender punched flowers with pearl centers left over from a previous project and decided to accent the panel with them.
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Finally I finished it with a darker purple bow and popped up the sentiment medallion with dimensionals. I still need more practice with this technique and if you want to see the "real thing" click on Jerri's blog link on the side bar, it is amazing! I have another card that I made today for a paper soul sisters blog challenge and I will post it tomorrow. Have fun with paper and scissors or the beautiful weather if you are luck enough to have it!
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Until the next post,
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Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are always welcome, drop me a note!

Blue Hydrangea

Here is another card using the hydrangea stamp that I love! it happens to be one of my favorite flowers and comes in some amazing colors, so you will see it again! The flower was stamped and embossed in gold then water colored in Tombow markers on watercolor paper. I had to try Jerri K's tutorial, which you can see on her blog here: http://jerrikay.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/01/31/water-color-tutorial/ , and didn't have any Me & Carrie Lou stamps yet, so I used the closest kind. It was my first attempt at her watercolor technique, I still need more practice to get it down. Though, I doubt that mine would ever compare to hers!
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The blues are really vibrant in the flower and the very blue card stock was the only one that made the hydrangea pop. I cut out around the image and then used my 24K pen to highlight the edge. Next, I layered this onto a piece of metallic paper with a small swirl design, it doesn't show up as pretty in the picture as it does IRL.
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Then I accented it with blue crystals and added a sentiment that is popped up with dimensionals, then a sheer gold bow was added to finish. I can't wait to get some Me & Carrie Lou stamps to practice on!

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Drop me a comment on how you like it! I am going to finish up a couple more of the take out boxes and post them. Thanks for visiting, have a great day!
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Until the next post,

Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are very welcome! Take a moment and leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!