Stephen Graduates

On June 15, our grandson, Stephen, graduated from Jones College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois. He finished high school well. This summer he is a life guard at one of the beaches along Lake Michigan there in Chicago. His plans are to go to Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama. He reports on August 8. We are proud of what Stephen has accomplished and will be praying for him as he begins this new season of his life. This picture was taken in August of 2016. I haven't been too good at taking pictures the last few times we have been together.

This is the graduation card that I made for him. It is a full sheet of Brocade Blue SU card stock folded in half making the card 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". I think most stamps are made for the smaller A2 size card so it becomes a challenge to make a focal image that looks appropriate on the larger card. 

My inspiration -- Stephen's school colors were blue and white, and the school mascot was "The Eagles". Earlier this week as I was thinking about making his card, the verse of Isaiah 40:31 came to mind. As I looked at some cards on the blog  of "Word Art Wesdnesday", I started to come up with some ideas. I made the inside left panel first, then the front. After the card was together, I had to work at finishing the inside right panel. Finally! it is finished and ready to be mailed.

. . .those who hope in the

LORD will renew their

strength. They will soar

on wings like eagles;

they will run and not

grow weary, they will

walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

July 3, 2017 

I feel honored that this card was chosen as one of the "Favorites for the week ending July 2" at SplitcoasterStampers.

Pretty Blue Flowers

This was a card I made just because I wanted to. I had been working on cards for my class. There were some things I wanted to try and this is the card I created. I love sponging. It is pretty cool to be able to create a shape onto plain card stock with a mask, ink and sponge dauber. The flower stamp is from the set "Touches of Texture", stamped with Memento Gray Flannel ink and colored with the new watercolor pencils from Stampin' Up.

Sponging and Masking

These are two of my favorite techniques. That was the topic for our June Create, Challenge, Encourage Stamp class. We made three cards using three different types of sponging and some masking.

This card was made using on oval mask to sponge the colors onto plain white card stock. I used blue and green ink and a large sponge dauber. After the sponging is complete you can add the stamped image and sentiment .

The steps for this second card were a little more involved. I first stamped my images onto plain white card stock and cut into the oval shape using a Spellbinders Nestabilities die. Without removing the paper from the die, I turned it upside down and embossed using my silicone rubber mat. Still leaving the oval in the die, I turned it right side up and lightly sponged over the die onto the card stock. The result is a small white edge to the image which creates the appearance of an additional layer.

I posted this third card a few days ago on the blog. With just a few stokes of ink over some masked lines, I created the illusion of a landscape. Very simple way to add depth to your stamping.

New Dies

This is my first card using the new die set from Stampin' Up called "Eastern Medallions Thinlets". I used a white card base and the top layer is Lost Lagoon card stock from Stampin' Up. I am already convinced that these are going to be fun and interesting dies to use.

Touches of Texture

Yesterday, I needed a birthday card. I wanted to make a new card. I chose one of my new stamp sets from Stampin' Up called "Touches of Texture". This is the card that I made. The image was stamped with Memento Gray Flannel ink. Then I used my SU watercolor pencils and a blender pen to add color to the flowers and leaves. I used a Rich Razzleberry card base and Rich Razzleberry ink to finish the card. The birthday greeting is from the set "Express Yourself" and the butterfly is from the set "Papillon Potpourri" stamped on pink card stock in Rich Razzleberry ink. Using a glue pen I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter around the edges.

I used the layout on the front to decorate the inside of the card. I used my laptop to create the greeting and printed it on  white card stock. Then added the stamping.

This card was mentioned in the "Weekly Favorites for week ending July 2" at SplitcoastStampers.
Thank you!

Father's Day 2017

Saturday evening I wanted to make a Father's Day card for my husband. I wanted him to know how much I love him.  He was also a wonderful father to our two children who now have families of their own.

This is the card I made. The stamp is from Stampin' Up's "Moon Lake". It was stamped on a natural card stock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink. The designer paper was from my collection. I was pleased with the way it turned out. Don really liked it also.

This afternoon I was trying to work on some cards for the class I am doing on Saturday. The topic is "sponging and masking". I decided to make the same card but add just a few touches with a sponge and some ink. The sponging gives the image more depth. I like how it turned out. The sentiment on this card is from the Stampin' Up set "Wetlands".