Look...

This is a simple card I made with scraps of black and white paper (and a white card base that I'd messed up on), and one of smARTworks' new collage images. This one is called Looking, and I just love the sentiment...

The card measures 4 1/4" square, and is pretty straightforward. The only embellishment is a white "bride" flower (available at Michael's), with a tiny black button brad as the center (Making Memories). Just stamp, trim, and layer onto the card - doesn't get any easier than that...

Take some time to look for good things today!

Count Your Blessings

As I was emptying the camera's memory card this morning, I realized I'd never shared this card. It's another sweet, praying girl from Daily Bread, but this time I paired it up with a sentiment from Blessings. I added just a little color to the image with prismacolor markers; I have just a few of those, but hope to add a couple more to my collection when I find a good sale :) I used papers from the BasicGrey Stella Ruby collection - love the vintage feel of these, and I thought they coordinated nicely with the image.

And can I just point out that I tilted the square? And no, it's not a sketch (LOL!) I know I've been doing a lot of sketches lately, but it's definitely helping me feel more comfortable with mixing shapes and patterns.

Happy Birthday!

Just a quick birthday card to share today. I'd seen birthday candles used as card embellishments, and always thought it was really cute, so I gave it a go. I kept the card really simple; it's 5 1/2" square, and I layered on this adorable double sided Daisy D's paper (and yes, the edges are already pinked). I did stamp the birthday cake (smARTworks Cake Time) over the plaid, then flipped the corner over and added just a bit of pale yellow. I stamped the sentiment, then added the candles. A little hint: I had a hard time finding an adhesive that worked with the candles themselves, so I tied them really tight, and then used red liner tape to adhere the bundle to the card using the ribbon.

Also wanted to share a very cool idea I ran across yesterday. As I continue to organize my crafting space, I really want horizontal storage for my pens and markers. I've tried the plastic drawers, but they just weren't working for me. Haven't really seen many options, either, which I found surprising. But check out this THIS great idea! You know I'm going to be saving my crystal light containers now :)

Tea Party in the Round

Well, Dina is our hostess this time around, and she challenged us to make circle cards. I'd only made 1 circle card in the past, and remembered having a hard time with the layout... and this time was about the same :) I ended up going with this collage - I like that there are some straight lines with the eye image and sentiment. There are a several stamp sets here: Worries (sentiment), Bits of Time #1 and #2 (key, clock), Love Eyes, and Kings (crown - stamped in silver brilliance ink - the photo just happened to capture the reflection) The card base is bazzill bling, and I cut it with a coluzzle (and yes, it fits in a standard notecard envelope). The tulip is because my 3 YO thought I needed a "pretty flower" and plucked it before I could form the word, "No!" so I figured I might as well use it :)

This second card is from my first attempt at a circle card, but the panel just looked too plain and I couldn't decide what to do with it... Mojo sketch to the rescue! It has sort of an Indian vibe to it with that background paper, and the sponging around the flower is brilliance copper ink so there's a bit of metallic shine. I stamped the flower (Daisy Trio #2) with mostly palette inks: 1st (solid) layer with raw sienna; 2nd with L'Amour red and giverny green, with some red versamagic in the center; 3rd with boudoir blush, veridian leaf and sepia versafine in the center. The little palette cubes seem to work well to ink up these images, but even the larger versafine pad worked fine by just "dabbing" ink on with the corner. I overstamped the sentiment (Wonderful/Marvelous) with black versafine, then completed the card with papers from the BasicGrey boxer collection.

Want to see what the other smART cookies have created? Then check out In the Works, Mama Dini's Stamperia, Dee's Studio & Sweet Somethings!

In His Presence

The theme for the current Salt challenge is presence, and I immediately started thinking about Psalm 139. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, His hand will guide me and hold me fast. What an amazing promise! I pulled out my concordance to see where else the word "presence" is used, and came across this passage:

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.
They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness.
For you are their glory and strength...
(Psalm 89:15-17a)

The phrase "learned to acclaim you" really jumped out at me. We are always in His presence, but the true blessing comes when we've learned to delight in that, to praise Him at all times. And it doesn't just happen - we have to make it a habit.

I decided to highlight the first verse on this little door hanger made from a coaster. I started by stamping the path (Stampscapes) onto some BasicGrey paper, then added just a tiny bit of color to it with prismacolor pencils. I printed the verse, then trimmed and adhered it. I added the heart/cross rub-on (from Joann's - they have a nice little section of faith-based products now!), then glued it all on to the coaster. I added some ink to the edges, then ran the ribbon through two eyelets.

You've Bean a Blessing

I mentioned smARTworks' new "Trios" line earlier this week, and here's my first finished product. The flowers are all beautiful, but I just love this mug set. Dina designed the images to start with the lightest color and darken progressively, but I wanted to see how it would look starting with the darkest image on the bottom. I love how it turned out! My initial mug is stamped with sepia (Versafine, same ink I used for the sentiment), then the second layer is wheat (Versamagic), and the final highlight is white (Technique Tuesday). I can see myself having a lot of fun playing with colors on this image :) Anyway, after I'd stamped my initial image, I noticed the Mojo33 sketch I'd jotted down earlier in the week, and figured that it worked pretty well with my mug. I layered it with papers from the BasicGrey Sugared pad, playing around until I came up with this combo that's feminine but not overly girly. The final touch was the three little embellishments on the side... and yes, those really are coffee beans. A bit corny perhaps, but I love it!

And We Thank Him...

I wanted to share this really simple card made with the smARTworks Daily Bread set. I love black and white cards, but don't make them all that often... I think it really works here as it just lets the sweet image shine through. I stamped the little girl, then outlined her with a light gray marker. I cut and embossed the panel with rectangle nesabilities, then used the coordinating scalloped die with black. I layered it over a scrap of paper (Oriental Trading), and then stamped the sentiment directly on the card. Isn't it precious?