The Kindness of Another

 

 

 

Hello! It is a dreary, rainy day here in the western part of Tennessee where I live and I do hope the weather is better wherever you are. We've had rain for the past week and I am so ready for it to go away lol. On the bright side, we did not get the freezing rain that the weather man said we would. :)

 

I'm back with a thank you card that I made for a business associate of my husband. This particular gentleman learned that my DH wanted to take our son and his new wife (both are in the Army) to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl game in Atlanta on New Year's Eve (hubby & son are huge fans of LSU& our new DIL is a Clemson fan). Before my DH had time to call and buy tickets he received a phone call saying five tickets were on the way via Fed Ex. His associate wanted to treat them (us too) to the game because he appreciates their willingness to serve our country and realizes the sacrifices that they, like so many, make on our behalf every day. That was the inspiration for my patriotic thank you card and I'm using, Rescue Remedies Additions, from Waltzingmouse Stamps to convey our gratitude to him. We had premo seats in the Georgia Dome and were treated like VIP's. One thing is certain, kindness never goes out of style. 

 

For sketch inspiration I played along with Jen's Deconstructed Sketch No. 84 and it's a keeper. One slight change is that I flipped it because I wanted a horizontal orientation instead of vertical. I left the bow, or fussy embellishment, off because this is a masculine card. Otherwise, all the required elements are present. Be sure to check out this sketch and the archived sketches at Deconstructing Jen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Mr. McDonald, for your generosity and also for your service to our country!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

Have a fantastically magical day!

Designed by Lisa S. for Nicecrane Designs

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here to share with you a card that features an ATC from Alice Through Time ATC/ACEO Backgrounds by Nicecrane Designs. I'm excited about it because I'm a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland and these vintage images are a must have for Alice lovers everywhere. I used Deconstructed Sketch #63 by Jen Shults for sketch inspiration however I did move my sentiment to accommodate my ATC image. ;) There are several fab Alice collage sheets by Nicecrane Designs and here's a little preview.

This card came together super fast with coordinating papers from Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland 8x8 paper pad. Blue crochet trim separates my vertical panels and my pom pom trim adds a vintage touch while my natural twine & button add a homespun touch. I die cut a circle to stamp my sentiment on and a scalloped oval with polka dots adds some whimsy. A little faux stitching around the edge and I was finished in record time.

Designed by Lisa S. for Nicecrane Designs

The Alice collage sheets are wonderful to use for altered art, card making, scrapbooking, ATC's and more. If you fancy these you can see all of them by clicking the graphic below.

I'm entering this card in the Make It Monday Challenge #100, The Ribbon Reel Challenge #33-Button It, Paper Play Challenge Wk. 31-Layer it Up, and I'm linking up with 52 Card Pickup-Wk. 31 at the Old Back Porch.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
Lisa

Stamps: Birthday Surprise (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: ATC (Nicecrane Designs), Halloween in Wonderland (Graphic 45), cs
Accessories: Spellbinders Std. Circles Lg. & Big Scalloped Ovals Lg.; Vintage Style Buttons (Jenni Bowlin); natural button twine (WMS); black precision pen (American Crafts); blue vintage crochet trim & pom pom trim (LSS)

Son...

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!! Today we are celebrating our son's graduation from Basic Combat Training in the U. S. Army at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. It has been two and a half months since he left home and yesterday we were privileged to spend quality time with him during Family Day. He'll leave Saturday morning headed to San Antonio, Texas where he will complete his Advanced Individual Training and become a Biomedical Equipment Specialist. Next May he will graduate AIT and from there we are not sure where he will be stationed or deployed. One thing is for certain though, he has a bright future ahead of him and we are honored to be his parents.

I used the Deconstructed Sketch No. 57 for inspiration and I'm also entering this in the Make It Monday No. 95 linky party & The Kraft Journal: Anything Goes challenge.

Here's a photo of the inside using three different stamps to convey our message to him.

Hope each of you have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by today!
Hugs,
Lisa xx

Supplies:
Stamps: Compact Family  & Vintage Labels 18 (WMS), Small Phrases (Verve), Greetings (TCP Studio)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Noir Patterned Argyle/Paper Reverie (Making Memories), Whipped Mousse (Bazzill Basics)
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 18 die #3; French Scroll border punch (MS); diamond ribbon (Michael's); Platinum Liquid Pearls (Ranger); 3D Foam Dots (Therm O Web)

Happy 4th of July USA

Hello and welcome! In the U. S. Independence Day is just around the corner and several challenges are honoring it through our country's colors, our flag {stars & stripes} or the holiday itself. So naturally I played along with Tip Top Tuesday's #79 and Just Us Girls #141 challenges to express my patriotism. My sketch inspiration comes from the one and only, Jen Shults, and her sketches are always a challenge {that's why I love them!}. You can see the current Deconstructed Sketch #56 plus visit the archives for past sketch inspiration. I believe most of them are open to link throughout the year so it's not too late. The Crafty Catz #137 Embossing was great to play with because it gave me another opportunity to use my Stars Impression Plate by Taylored Expressions to emboss my vertical navy panel.

The colors of red, white and blue were established by the JUGS challenge and Independence Day or Stars & Stripes were challenge requirements of Tip Top Tuesday. I incorporated both on the TTT challenge and my stripes are represented by the red/white twine. The patriotic banner in the 4th of July Wreath set make my Picket Fence Border Die look festive. I punched three .5" circles using an EK Success punch and stamped the letters USA from You're My Type-Upper. Blue stars were strung onto red burlap string and red liquid pearls add another pop of color and visual interest. White brads anchor the four chomped corners and finish it off nicely.

Here's a Top Tip for you, to center your sentiments it is helpful to use a grid acrylic block and place all of the stamps & embellishments on it so you know everything will be centered properly. Also, It is much easier to stamp after punching but before when using a die. It just makes life easier! Another thing I did was to stamp my banners in blue ink so it would blend better. Seasoned stampers know this already but maybe it will help a newbie out there. :)

I'd like to welcome my newest blog followers and thank everyone for their encouraging comments. BTW, most of my recent posts have been CAS due to Father's Day and recent masculine birthdays but I'm happy to report that some "girl stuff" is on the way. :) Have a swell hump day {a.k.a. Wednesday}!

Note: I "Caught Their Eye" at Top Tip Tuesday with this Stars & Stripes card. WooHoo!
~Lisa

Supplies:
Ink: Memento Paris Dusk, ColorBox Chalk Ink Lipstick Red
Paper: Choice Snow White (TE), red, blue & white cs (Bazzill Basics)
Accessories: Take Note Frame 3 (TE); We R Memory Keepers 1.5" corner chomper, brads (PS); buttons (Hobby Lobby); red/white twine (Doodlebug); red burlap string (Maya Road); Copics B28 & R29; Ruby Red Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Happy 90th Birthday!

Hello and welcome! I have a birthday card to share today that I made for my FIL who will turn 90 on June 20th. Now that's cause for a celebration, right! I thought the colors of the Play Date Cafe Color Challenge 135 were perfect for a masculine card and the Deconstructed Sketch No. 55 was fun to work with. Last but not least I'm entering this in the Make It Monday #92 Challenge & the Ribbon Carousel Blog #56 Challenge. I have to say that I'd never have put these colors together on my own but the inspiration photo convinced me too {I'm glad it did}.

Since this is a very special birthday I wanted to personalize it so I used two different date stamps to record the year of his birth and his current birthday. I improvised with the sketch by adding ribbon at the bottom and a button & hemp bow. I somehow end up making masculine cards in the CAS style which is hard for me because I always want to add more, lol. I added texture by embossing a pool colored cardstock panel and rubbed Potter's Clay ink randomly over the front. The sentiment panel was cut from an aquamarine dp and I used the same color for the rhinestones on my die cut fishtail banners. Hopefully I tied everything together with clay as my third challenge color!

On a personal note, I promised in my last post to share my golden egg story with my regular visitors so here goes. When I was in 3rd grade my school hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and the grand prize was 'a golden egg'. This particular egg had candy, prizes & money inside but it was the golden exterior that I was after. I don't know why I was obsessed with it but I wanted to be the first to find it and win that egg. Obviously I didn't but a classmate named Lydia did and while I was happy for her I was sad for me. {So silly, I know} My DH & DD were shopping in early April and they spotted a Godiva chocolate egg wrapped in gold foil. They bought it & gave it to me Easter morning, which I thought was so sweet. Finally, after 40 yrs. of waiting I had my golden egg. Only, a greedy little mouse who loves chocolate ripped into it this past Monday night at 1:52am. How do I know this? He climbed up the secretary, which is beside my bed, and was on the desk shredding the foil. Very loudly I might add! :( It woke me up and that started a 2.5 hour unsuccessful mouse chase. My DH set out to trap him the next night but he got away with the chocolaty goods which really infuriated both of us. Yesterday when he came home from work he put his engineering skills to work and created the 'super' mouse trap. At 11:36pm last night that mouse learned a hard lesson in stealing. He's the second uninvited mouse we've had in 13 yrs. and I hope he is the last. As for the egg, it's in the garbage and the moral of the story is this-if I were meant to find that egg in 3rd grade I would have but I didn't. Life goes on! Hopefully you skipped this paragraph but if you didn't please accept my apologies. :-)
Have a great weekend!
Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Essential Messages (Hero Arts), You're My Type -Lower & # (TE)
Ink: Memento Potter's Clay
Paper: aquamarine dp-Laced With Grace (Glitz), graph dp-Fly A Kite (October Afternoon), pool & yam cs (Bazzill Basics)
Accessories: fishtale banners-Lacey Pennants dies (Spellbinders); Circles-Texture Fades (Sizzix); Date SMASH stamp (K& Co.) and We R Memories magnetic date stamp; ribbon & button (TE); aquamarine rhinestones (Kaisercraft); clay colored hemp cord

Easter Blessings

I spied a challenge this morning over at The Shabby Tea Room and I'm glad I did. The requirements were to use lilac, yellow, blue, kraft and a butterfly. I based this card on the Deconstructed Sketch No. 44 by the very talented Jen Shults and I'm totally in love with all of the layers, which means I'll definitely use it again. The inspiration photo celebrates spring and because I'm not sure whether it is okay to copy and post on my blog I'll just ask you to click on their link above to view it. Anyway, this one was a pleasure to put together and with its completion I'm one card closer to having my Easter cards made. :-)

I cut the various layers and backed each one with lilac cardstock which I also used for my die cut border. I've been hoarding some Creative Scraps by Crafty Secrets and used one for my focal image. Next, I stamped Easter blessings from Verve's Egg-stra Special set inside the frame and wrapped lilac twine around the rectangle panel and added a blue button. The butterfly was stamped onto Choice Snow White paper and I used Copic markers to give it a watercolor feel and dusted it with glitter to make it sparkle. Four lilac pearls anchor the base to the card and I love the combination of colors together.

That's all for me, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your weekend!
Lisa

Stamps: Egg-stra Special (Verve), Butterflies (MS)
Ink: Dusty Concord Distress Ink (T!m Holtz)
Paper: Webster's Pages postcard set, Blissful dp (Authentique), cardstock
Accessories: Creative Scraps-Easter (Crafty Secrets); Die-namics Dainty Lace Border (MFT); lilac twine (The Twinery); blue button (Buttons Bonanza); lilac pearls (Want 2 Scrap); Copic markers; sugar cube glitter (MS)

Irish Blessing for the New Year!

Good morning everyone! I'm here to share a card I made featuring the CR84FN45 Color Challenge colors  and Jen Shult's deconstructed sketch . This is my first challenge entry of the year and I'm excited to see where 2012 takes me, creatively speaking! I love the main colors of medium blue, orange and yellow and I paired them with one neutral which is black. I did flip the placement of embellishments but otherwise remained true to the sketch. The butterfly represents "new beginnings" and since we are in a new year I thought it would be nice to reflect that on my card. Here's the CR84FN45 photo which provided inspiration and our main colors for this challenge.

I layered several pieces of paper and distressed most of them for some texture. The base starts out with yellow then I added blue and black (neutral) and chose an orange houndstooth dp by MME that I love. I die cut a border from yellow cardstock and to add a homemade touch I "stitched" a border around the two main panels and stamped the Irish Blessing onto the main image. The stamped sentiment is from Verve's Blessings set and I loved it when I saw it as the quote in the CR84FN Color Challenge photo. So nice to have it as a stamp and I love Verve's stamps for just this reason, so many awesome sentiments and sayings.

Okay, that's all for me today. I feel like I am still in recovery from the holidays and hope to have more energy next week. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope each of you have a wonderful weekend. Two more things, I'd like to welcome to a new follower to my blog, Jenna, and wish my dh and his Tigahs good luck in the upcoming bowl game on Monday. GEAUX TIGERS! Note: I popped back in to edit this post and include the CR84FN photo graphic, seriously I am NOT a morning person. :-(
~Lisa :-)

Stamps: Blessings (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Fly A Kite Lime Twist (MME), cs
Accessories: Die-namics Faux Crochet Border (MFT); Mini Stitch Doodle Dot (Crafter's Workshop); Que Sera Sera Die Cuts (K & Co.); Bright Large Gemstone Stickers (MS); Buttercup Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Wildflowers (Prima); black gel pen

Colors of the Day are...

coral, light pink and aqua for the CR84FN Color Challenge! I like to combine color challenges with sketch challenges when I can and the Deconstructed Sketch Challenge is a perfect fit in my opinion. Jen's sketches are so much fun and I think this one really brings out the colors in the current CR84FN44 color challenge. You can check out Jen's fabulous deconstructed sketch and as always the first challenge of the month is sponsored. Here's my card using the colors of the color challenge and Jen's current sketch, DS29.

I started off with a base of aqua cardstock and repeated it on the embossed strip. A patterned dp from MME pairs aqua with white which is one of two neutrals I used on this card. The other neutral, black, is seen on the stamped flower images and sentiment. Coral is definitely the accent color here and I tried to give it some balance with the border punch, ribbon and bow, and brad placement. Light pink serves as a highlight color and I like the way these colors work together. 

The design team for CR84FN Color Challenge is taking a break for the remainder of the month and will return in January 2012. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks so much for the beautiful inspiration you always provide and the endless supply of challenging color combo's.

Have a wonderful day,

Lisa

Stamps: Making a Statement (Verve)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Aqua by Anna Griffin/All Night Media

Paper: Fine and Dandy-Tickled Pink (MME), Bazzill cardstock

Accessories: Fiskars notebook border punch; Loopy Blooms Die Set and Rounded Scallop Frame Die (Verve), Just My Type embossing border (Cuttlebug); Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers); brads (MME-Market St. "Love" Brads); rhinestones (Kaisercraft); coral twill ribbon (TE store)