Color Challenge ODBDSLC245

     Thanks for popping in! Today, I have a card for this week's color challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs.



     I used several ODBD products to create my card.

          Sentiment Stamp: Phil. C142 and No Words #F515 (for inside sentiment - Even when we do not have the words to pray, God understands and hears our heart.)

          Dies: Asters CSBD57, Fancy Foliage CSBD33

     I love playing with textures to create depth. You can see I had lots of fun with this card! I used five different textures here. I picked five embossing folders, but you could easily use just three. I matted the embossed panels with two different colors from the color inspiration ODBD gave us to work with. Color chart and link to all the fun is at the end of this post. I stamped the sentiment in a deeper matching color. This is also a great card for using up scraps. Check back tomorrow because I have used the same design on its side and made the card masculine.

     This card is for my mom. She is struggling so with her health. Getting cards really cheers her up. Will you pray with me for her now?

          Father, I thank you for such a fun mom. It's so hard to see her struggling so. I ask You to reach out and touch her. Give her strength to stand and walk again. Give her deeper faith in Your love and power. Please, bring a smile to her face today. Praying in the name of Jesus and in agreement with my friends who pray with me now. Thanks for remembering we are dust. (Psalm 103:14)

http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/



Anything Goes Challenge ODBDSLC244

     So nice of you to stop in today. I always love your visits and comments. Hope your day is as sunny as mine.
     Today, I have a card for the Shining the Light Challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs.

     This week's challenge is anything goes. I used the  Pennant Swag die and the Pennant Swag Alphabet stamps from ODBD on my card. I love being able to tailor my own sentiments with these two items. The die has a beautiful bow tied at each end to hold the flag in place, but they did not really fit my card, so I cut them off the finished piece. I will definitely use this set a lot!

    Tracy, a very sweet friend of mine from Australia, sent me the We Are Family paper collection from Echo Park Paper Co which I used to create my card.

     Check out all the fun at Our Daily Bread Designs here:

http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/     

May the Lord be glorified by the work of my hands,

Pamela

Fiskafriends The Power of Community Blog Hop and Giveaway

       Welcome to our blog hop!

     We are celebrating our First Anniversary with a Fiskafriend Blog Hop.  You do not have to be a Fiskafriend to visit and comment on our bloggers' posts. This hop is open to everyone! International visitors included! The theme of the hop is Anything Goes, so be prepared to find a variety of creative projects and ideas. 
     Giveaway prizes?  Of course! Everyone loves a giveaway! We will have an end of the hop giveaway with fabulous prizes. In addition to the end of the hop giveaway, some of our bloggers are offering giveaway prizes of their own on their posts.    For the complete blog hop list and to be entered in the Fiskafriends' sponsored giveaways, leave a comment on any of the listed blogs and follow the sponsor giveaway entry directions at: http://fiskafriends.blogspot.com/ 

     I am having my own giveaway too! Instructions to enter my separate giveaway are at the bottom of this post.

     I  have Easter cards to share with you on my hop stop.

     I've been playing around lately with the idea of what impact color and simple patterns can have in card design. I used a fairly bright pink on my first card. The gingham gives it a sort of country look, even with the fancy, white, die-cut overlay.

     I used the exact same design on my second card changing only the color and using a solid instead of a printed, oval layer. The second card is certainly more elegant than the first.

     I had a heck of a time photographing this second card. Something about the flowers is reading wrong through my camera. I'm sharing it here anyway, so you can at least get a better idea of what I'm talking about. The flowers in 'real life' are a much better match with this light peach background.  

     >>>DESIGNER TIP<<< To get my heat-embossed sentiment to match the curve of my oval panel, I curved the clear stamp as I placed it on an acrylic block. Kind of gives an extra life to a lot of my stamps.

 

      I want to show you the inside of my cards as well. I often don't put as much effort on the inside of the card, but I'm changing that. I like bringing a little something from the front to the inside - color and theme in this instance. I wish I had thought to put a piece of the die-cut vine on the inside to peak out from under the sentiment tag. Too late, the cards are already in the mail headed to their recipients.

   For the complete blog hop list and to be entered in the Fiskafriends' sponsored giveaways, leave a comment on any of the listed blogs and follow the sponsor giveaway entry directions at: http://fiskafriends.blogspot.com/ 

     Now, for my own giveaway. I have an e-book copy of my latest children's book, "Max, the Boy Raindrop" in which I created all the illustrations using only paper/cardstock and scrapbooking tools. I will also include a fun border punch from EK Success to send to one of my followers (US residents only). Join my blog and your name will go in the drawing. Let me know in your comment that you joined. If you are already a member of my blog,  tell me so and your name will go in as well. I will draw a name for my personal giveaway on Wednesday, April 1st.  Check back in to see if you are the winner. You'll have two weeks to contact me with mailing info.

 

Stacia #9314 is up next:   http://www.stampzone.blogspot.com

Start here: http://fiskafriends.blogspot.com/ 

1. Jean Bullock, #8889,  http://ez3dpopups.blogspot.com 
2. Susan Slomski, #6150,  http://sueinct.blogspot.com 
3. Cindy deRosier, #4113, http://www.cindyderosier.com
4. Tifany DeGough, #5942, http://inkblotsbytrd.blogspot.com 
5. Cheryl Waters, #002, http://blog.artsyfindings.com
6. Jean Marmo, #7358, http://pagesintime.blogspot.com/
7. Teresa Godines #6857 http://purplebunnypapercrafts.blogspot.com/
8. Michelle O'Driscoll #7586 http://scrapbookingsos.blogspot.ca/
9. Nancy Carroll  #11488  http://nancecarroll.blogspot.com
10. Maya Oren-Dahan #351  http://mayadahan.blogspot.com
11. Amy Martin Jones #8546 http://thetigershaven.blogspot.com/
12. Karen Poirier-Brode (Ladydoc) #2858 http://www.karenscorneroftheweb.blogspot.com
13. Tanya Napier #5407  http://mamabirdy-happinessishomemade.blogspot.com/
14. Pamela Haskin #8040 www.cottagebelow.com  (You are here.)
15. Stasia Sloma #9314 http://www.stampzone.blogspot.com
16. Tracy Moloney  #6773 http://tracyscraftyadventures.blogspot.com.au/
17. Kim Chenez #5612 http://scrapbooknstampingfun.blogspot.com/

 

       Here's what I used to make my cards:

          cardstock: white, pink, green the Paper Studio

          patterned paper: pink gingham, the Paper Studio

          die-cuts: overlay and oval layer, Spellbinders 5x7 Heirloom Legacy

                            vine, Our Daily Bread Designs Fancy Foliage

          punches: EK Success lattice chain and corner rounder

          stamps: Paper Smooches Easter Blessings

                          Our Daily Bread Designs Earth Verses

          flowers: Prima Marketing

          brads: Recollections

          ink: black pigment, ColorBox

          embossing powder: clear, Ranger

May the Lord be glorified by the work of my hands, 

                             Pamela

                

Sketch Challenge ODBDSLC226

     Sunshine is pouring into my studio today! Feels so good! Hope you have sunshine pouring in as well - especially hoping so for my friends living with so much snow of late.
     Today, I have a card for Our Daily Bread Designs' challenge.

      These are the products I used to create my card.
         
sentiment: Our Daily Bread Designs - No Words stamp collection - F515
cardstock:  Echo Park - We are Family collection
dies:  Spellbinders Paper Arts - Create a Card - S6-010
gemstones:  DCWV - adhesive jeweled sheet

     Here's the sketch we had to work with and a link for all the details on the challenge.
 http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/odbdslc226-sketch.html



     May the Lord be glorified by the work of my hands,

Pamela

DCWV Stack-a-holic Card Challenge February 2015

      Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you have someone special to love.
     I have two cards to share today. Both use the same sketch (below), but I need a feminine and a masculine card this year.

      Both cards use cardstock from the CANDY CANE LANE stack from DCWV. I just love finding ways to use Christmas papers in other ways like here with my Valentine's cards.

     As you can see in this feminine version I used the CLEAR ADHESIVE JEWELED SHEET also from DCWV. I love these sheets! So easy to cut and so elegant.

     I made the flowers using Our Daily Bread Design's Aster dies and Fancy Foliage dies.

 

      Now for the masculine version. The letters LYM stand for "love you millions" which my husband, Jeff, and I use to sign off on all our emails to each other. I used Fiskar's heart punch for the hearts on this card.

      And, here they are side by side.

     There is still plenty of time to create your own card and join in the fun over at DCWV. Here's the sketch we had to work with this month and a link for all the details to play along. http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2015/02/februarys-stack-holic-challenge.html



 

 May the Lord be glorified in the work of my hands,
Pamela

Anything Goes Challenge ODBDSLC224

     Thanks so much for stopping in today. I'm sending my exploding card over to Our Daily Bread Designs for their Anything Goes challenge.

     I started by cutting the top of my 5x7 card at two angles. It is a regular side-open card, but the two different sizes of pearls make it appear as an overlap-open. I used ODBD's Fancy Foliage dies and Asters & Leaves dies  to make my card. I added some pearl to the center of the flowers and then I hot-glued the cameo in place.  

     I made an exploding insert for the inside. As you can see I wrote a personal note on the bottom corner. Sorry about that. I forgot to take a picture before I signed it. This card is off to Mom today for her birthday.

      The deadline for this challenge is in just a few hours. Check out the challenge here: http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shining%20the%20Light%20Challenge

     Hope your week is filled with friends and love and inky fingers!

     May the Lord be glorified by the work of my hands,

Pamela

     

DCWV Stack-a-holic Challenge, January 2015

     Thanks so much for stopping in. It's hard to believe it is already time for me to post another card for DCWV!

     I had lots of fun creating this card! I played around with the new inlaid die cuts technique for my glitter-tree. I used the tree that I first die cut from the foil tag as embellishment. I cut the tree in half and tucked it under the strip of diamonds. Pretty, no? Then, I inlaid the light teal glitter-tree in the tag. To make the tree show up better, I tucked a scrap of teal foil behind the openwork  of the tree. Using a third color might have made that unnecessary. But, I like it like this.

     There is still plenty of time if you want to play along with us. Here's this month's sketch and the link to find all the details: http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2015/01/1st-stack-holic-challege-for-2015.html

     Here's what I used for my card:

DCWV - Foiled Cardstock Stack 6x6

            Noel Stack (Yes, it's Christmas paper. My rebellious side came

                               out to play. I just love her!)

            Adhesive Jeweled Sheet - the sheet is very easy to trim

Spellbinders - Whimsical Tree die

Our Daily Bread Designs - Friendship stamps

Horizon Fabrics -  sheer elegance ribbon 

May God be glorified in the work of my hands,

Pamela

 

Bright Shining Star of 2014 Award from Our Daily Bread Designs

          I am so very honored to be among the Bright Shining Stars of 2014 chosen by Our Daily Bread Designs.



     ODBD chose my black and silver Christmas card to feature in their  awards post today.

        I love ODBD and all they stand for. They make it so easy for me to share my faith and love of our Heavenly Father.  I am especially fond of their scripture stamps and dies.
     You can see the other Bright Shining Stars of 2014 here: http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/introducing-graciela-and-our-bright-and.html
     May God be glorified in my work,

Pamela

DCWV December Stack-a-holic Card Challenge

      Where does the time go!?! Already time for another monthly challenge at DCWV!

     I do thank you for stopping in. I know how busy we all get just a few days out from Christmas. I'm planning to send this Christmas thank-you card to Mom. She loves red, so I know this card will be a hit with her!

     I used the CANDY CANE LANE STACK from DCWV to make my card for this month's Stack-a-holic Challenge.

     Other products I used are:

          Fiskars:  All Year Cheer (sentiment)

          Our Daily Bread Designs: Sparkling Snowflakes stamps

          Our Daily Bread Designs: Snowflake dies

          McGill:  tag punch

          Ranger:  white pigment

          StampinUp:  white embossing powder

          Recollections:  white pearls

     There is still time to join in the fun. Here's a copy of the sketch DCWV gave us to work with as well as the link to get all the details.  http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-stack-holic-challenge.html

     Thanks again for popping in! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas,

Pamela



Our Daily Bread Designs Guest Designer - Week 3

     So happy to have you stop by my blog today on my third week as a guest designer for Our Daily Bread Designs. Today, I have an easel card that celebrates winter. 

     This card is 4.25" x 5.5" overall. I started with a white card-base folded to be an easel. I trimmed a patterned-paper panel from ODBD's Christmas Paper Collection 2013 to fit the front of the card. I just love the tone-on-tone snowflakes on this sheet, so much so that it was hard for me to actually cut it. I inked the edges in red and added pearls to the center of some of the snowflakes.

     Using a red patterned-paper from the same collection, I stamped and heat-embossed five snowflakes in white. I die-cut them, and as you can see on the bottom-left, I used two of them together to give depth to the card. I added lots of pearls to each snowflake because I love pearls!  

     I added a few red and white striped strips and tucked another of my snowflakes behind the sentiment tag which I stamped in red. I inked the edges and adhered the tag with foam tape.

     Now just for fun, here are some close ups of my snowflakes. I so love this collection of snowflake stamps.

     Thanks so much for popping in today. I always enjoy your visits and comments.

  ***

Our Daily Bread Designs products I used to make my wintery card:

 

paper - Christmas Paper Collection 2013

 

stamps - Sparkling Snowflakes #ECS08

              Snowflake Sentiments #ECS06

 

dies - snowflakes

 

For more info, you can see my card on the ODBD blog at: http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/





Holiday Challenge ODBDSLC217

     UPDATE: Just found out that my black and silver Christmas card won the challenge! So excited! Thanks so much to Our Daily Bread Designs for picking my card!

     I made this card for Our Daily Bread Designs' Holiday Challenge. I've always enjoyed using non-traditional colors for my Christmas cards. For this one, I used black and silver to get a more elegant look. I think black and white would also look good. Or, what about black and green!?! I guess I will be spending more time in my studio today.

     The patterned paper (DVWV Silver Script) already had the silver script on it. I used ODBD's Sparkling Snowflakes stamps (ECS08) to stamp all the snowflakes in silver and added a "diamond" to the center of each. I used ODBD snowflake dies to die-cut the big snowflake which I adhered with foam tape.
     For the sentiment, I used ODBD's Snowflake Sentiment stamps (ECS06). I stamped "Christmas Blessings" with black ink onto silver, satin ribbon. The whole stamp reads Snowy Christmas Greetings. But, since I only have this size of silver ribbon, I used just part of the stamp. This two words that I did use fit perfectly on my ribbon. I've been experimenting with stamping onto things other than paper. I'm pleased with how the stamp looks on this ribbon.
     There is still time if you want to play along with us. You can find all the details on Our Daily Bread Designs blog at: http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shining%20the%20Light%20Challenge
     Hope you will try some non-traditional colors on your cards this year. Hope you have a wonderful day!    

Our Daily Bread Designs Guest Designer - Week 2

ETA: Some of asked what the trim is behind the main panel of this card. It is a sheet of patterned paper that came with the collection. It has small, thin chevrons running across the paper. I just let a little edge peak out the sides to get this affect.
     Thanks so much for stopping in on my second week as a guest designer for Our Daily Bread Designs.

     I know we are headed into winter now, but I love this paper and the flowers on it. So, here you have my next card with pretty flowers, but they are in fall colors. That must count for something, no?

     I started this card by making a 5.5 x 4.25 card base. I cut a panel to fit the front and another panel about .25" smaller on each side. Then, I cut  a panel from a fence-and-flowers sheet as shown - I call it an envelope edge because it reminds me of the back flap on an envelope. I matted it with the same paper as my largest rectangular panel and adhered it with foam tape. The flowers were already printed on the paper. I added my own pearls and ribbon.

     I stamped the sentiment with ColorBox chalk in Wisteria which matches perfectly. Again, I used the same paper to mat the sentiment tag as the other panels. I fussy-cut flowers, added more pearls and adhered the flowers to the sentiment tag.

     To add balance to the design, I added pearls in graduated sizes in the upper left corner.

 

     Our Daily Bread Designs products used:

 

          Papers: Rustic Beauty Collection

          Stamps: No Words #F515

 

     I'm so excited to show you next week's card! It turned out really nice, but I'll have to keep you waiting and just say I created it with the winter season in mind.

     Thanks again for stopping in.

 

     My card on ODBD is here: http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/

Our Daily Bread Designs - Guest Designer Week 1

     I am so excited to tell you that Our Daily Bread Designs has asked me to be a guest designer for the month of November. Each Wednesday during November, I will create and share a card on their blog and mine.

     I have never cried over a card before, but this one brought tears.  I'll get to that later, but first I have to tell you how I made the flowers on my card. I so love how they turned out!



     I began by making a 5.5 x 5.5 card base. I cut a same-size panel and adhered it. Then, I matted a matching panel with black. The rebel in me made me scoot it off to one side. I kind of like my cards being a little different from others. I cut and matted a tag shape and stamped the sentiment in black. I used foam tape to adhere the tag.
    Now for the flowers! Again, the rebel rises up in me. I used the Fancy Foliage leaf die to make my flower petals. I love making my dies / stamps / embellishments work differently than for that which they were intended. I die-cut but did not emboss seven large leaves in purple and seven more in black. In the same manner, I die-cut seven small purple leaves and seven more in black. To give shape to the petals, I rolled them gently around a pencil. I glued one black petal to the back of each purple petal allowing the black to show just a little on one side to create shadow and depth. Then, I overlapped the petals and glued them in place. I found it was easier to first glue all the petals to a piece of scrap and then adhere it to my tag. I added a blue gem to the center of each flower and tucked a Fancy Foliage vine which I cut in half around the flowers. Now, for the tears.

     As I was looking through the papers in the ODBD Christian Faith Collection, I found a sheet that had stakes like those used to nail our Savior to the cross. I was so moved by the image of the stakes lashed together and the sentiment I chose to use with it. I made a point to cut each petal with an image of the stakes showing. I've been a Christian my whole life, and to be reminded of the sacrifice of our Lord just hit me in an unexpected way. I love our Lord so much. I tear up again as I write about it now. I will be keeping this card. I'll frame it and hang it over my desk so I am reminded every day of the sacrifice made on my behalf.

     Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. You can see more about my cards each Wednesday in November at http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/.

    

     Our Daily Bread Design supplies used:

 

          Papers - Christian Faith Collection

          Stamps - Earth Verses #F494

          Die - Fancy Foliage CSBD33

 

Anything Goes with ODBD Stamps Challenge - ODBDSLC215

     Thanks so much for stopping in today! I love your visits and comments, as always.

      I created this card for the current challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs. For this challenge we can make any card we want that uses ODBD stamps.

     I began by making a 5" x 7" white card base. I diecut a shaped hole and heat-embossed the sentiment on the inside of the card so that it would show through the hole.

     I heat-embossed and diecut two snowflakes and added rhinestones to one snowflake. I adhered the two snowflakes together with foam tape. Then, I adhered the pair to my card as shown with foam tape. Here's a close-up of the snowflakes. 

     Here's a close-up of the sentiment inside the card. 

     ODBD stamps and dies I used today:

          Snowflake Sentiments #EC506

          Sparkling Snowflakes #EC508

          Snowflake Custom Die Template



     There is still plenty of time to join in the fun. Check out the details here: http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/odbdslc215-anything-goes-with-our-daily.html

 

     Are you familiar Our Daily Bread Designs? They are a Christian stamp / die / paper company. I love their products and am excited to tell you that I am their guest-designer for November. You can sign up for their email list and/or like them on Facebook and you won't miss any of my cards in November. Sign up here: www.ourdailybreaddesigns.com

     You can also join my blog and you won't miss my cards. Just click on  "Join this Site" over there in the right-hand column and follow the easy steps to get my posts. 

DCWV July Stack-a-holic Card Challenge

UPDATE: So excited to learn my card was among the winners for its challenge. Thanks, DCWV! Love playing along in your challenges.


     Thanks so much for stopping in. Today, I have a card for the July Stack-a-holic Challenge over at DCWV.

     I used DCWV's The Home Spun Cardstock Stack to make my card. I had lots of fun making this card! I got to use several embossing folders and die cuts too. I used the darker teal/turquoise and cream cardstock from the stack. This color combo is my fave and I've saved every little scrap of these sheets. And, see? A good thing I did - look at the little flowers I had to make.

     There is still plenty of time to join in the fun with us. Here's the address for all the details and a copy of the sketch we had to work with.
http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2014/07/july-challenge-post-and-giveaway.html



   

One Layer Card Challenge ODBDSLC207

UPDATE: Excited to find out that my card was a winner in the challenge! Thanks so much to the folks at Our Daily Bread Designs.
    One layer!?! Only one layer? Okay, I have to admit this was a tough challenge for me. I love layers and layers and layers. I almost always have to put two postage stamps on my cards when I mail them.     

     This is a f-l-a-t card. But, I love it how it turned out.

     First, I used a Spellbinders' label die to cut a masking-label out of thin copy paper. I temporarily taped it to the front of the blue card base. (I cut two pieces of double-stick tape and taped them first to the back of my hand to take some of the stickiness away. Then, I removed them and used them to hold the masking-label in place.) Next, using ODBD's Birch Background #D213, I stamped the birch trees. Afterward, I removed the masking-label and discarded it. I stamped the sentiment in the blank spot left by the label. The sentiment is also ODBD. It's from the Earth Verses collection #F494.

     There you go. A flat card from me. I might have to make more flat, one-layer cards. There is still time to join us if you have your own one-layer card idea. Check out the details here: http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/odbdslc207-one-layer-cards.html



White on White Challenge ODBDSLC205

     I love working with tone-on-tone and monochromatic colors like this white-on-white card for the weekly challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs.
     I used Our Daily Bread Designs Friendship stamp collection to heat-emboss my sentiment. I also used Our Daily Bread Designs Fancy Foliage die. The other die cuts are Spellbinders Persian Motifs, Card Creator and EK Success Lattice Chain. There is still time if you want to join in the fun. Check out all the details here:  http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/odbdslc205-white-on-white.html
     Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you have a wonderful day!