Thank you

 A few weeks ago, I made a box (pictured below) to hold a jar of  homemade strawberry jam as a gift.  You can read about that project here.  (As a side note, I made the first strawberry jam batch of the season this morning.  Yummy!!!)  I finally finished the card to go along with it.  I knew I wanted the card to match the box and the Viva La Verve May week 5 sketch is perfect.  It's nice and simple so I didn't have to add a lot of extra stuff.  Also perfect is the Timeless Tuesdays #171 challenge to create a thank you card and the Cutie Pie #19 challenge to use diecuts & punches.  I used the charming ovals dies from Verve to frame my sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Year of Flowers: Collection" and "Through the Trees" (sentiment)
Dies: Verve "Charming Ovals

Snowpenguin

 This is my second week as Guest Designer on the For Fun Challenges blog.  It's been lots of fun.  These week the theme is "Snowmen" and our awesome sponsor is Dearie Dolls.  The prize is 3 images that are showcased on the For Fun Blog.  And they are CUTE!!  I chose to use this adorable little penguin snowman (or snowpenguin) and his two buddies.  And be very impressed--I used markers for the coloring!  I never use markers (probably because I can't afford the really good ones) since I have a hard time creating any shading with them.  But I liked how it turned out this time and the marker colors matched the paper a whole lot better than my colored pencils would have.  I used the Viva La Verve May week 4 sketch and the C.R.A.F.T. recipe challenge: 2 or more designer papers, add a tag and use glitter.  I used a glitter pen to color the falling snowflakes and some chunky glitter for the snow on the ground.  You can see the "snow" better in the picture below and you can also see that I used flocking on the hat pom-pom and the collar of the girl penguin's coat.  Come and play along this week; you can get a jumpstart on your Christmas cards or add to your growing stash.

Supplies:
Paper: Basic Grey Christmas pack
Stamps: Dearie Dolls digital image, sentiment from Verve's "Ornamental Christmas"
Dies: Spellbinders scalloped tags and Floral Doily Motifs
Ribbon: SU!

F.R.O.G.

 Hi, everyone!  I've got some exciting news today: I am the guest designer for the week over on the For Fun Challenges blog!!!!  I'm super honored and excited to be playing along with these ladies.  This week's theme is F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God).  For the focus of my card (and to show that we rely on God for our strength when we have a relationship with Him) I chose to use this gorgeous sentiment from WORD Art by Karen.  She has tons of beautifully written Bible verses and sayings and they're all free!  I loved the flourishes on this one; so elegant!

 This week the challenge over at CRAFT challenges is to create an easel card.  It's really fun and easy, so give it a try if you've never taken the plunge before.  I also used the Pretty Pattern #61 sketch, the Stampin' Sisters in Christ #140 challenge to build up your card with layers and layered elements, and last week's Pretty Palette #60 challenge to use aqua, kraft and orange.  I was not very sure about those colors together, but I think I might be in love. : )

Here's a close up of the easel portion of the card.  Don't forget to go check out the For Fun blog and play along.  I would love to see your take on this challenge and as a guest designer, I will be visiting each blog to view the beautiful creations.

Supplies:
Paper: DCWV (aqua and kraft); SU! (orange) a little scrap from a Basic Grey pack
Stamps: PTI (Guide Lines 2); Clear Dollar Stamps (Elegant Flourishes); Word Art by Karen (digital file)
Dies/Punches: PTI (border punch and "Turning a new leaf" die); Spellbinders (Classic Ovals, large and classic scalloped ovals, large); Martha Stewart (butterfly punch)
Embellishments: little tiny pearls

From my Kitchen . . .

 This is my first ever entry into a JustRite Stampers challenge (#72: create a 3-D project) and it was quite a challenge since I only have one stamp set from them: From My Kitchen Set (I love their stamps, just haven't had the available funds to purchase any more).  So, I had to be creative and hopefully I used enough to fit the requirements.  I'm also entering the Timeless Tuesday #169 alphabet challenge (pick one letter and use at least 3 supplies/elements: I chose "R" for ribbon, roses, and round die cuts) and the Our Daily Bread Designs photo inspiration challenge.  I chose photo #4, which you can see below. 
A very kind and generous woman from our church came out earlier this spring and helped us trim our apple and pear trees.  As a thank you, I wanted to give her something and my homemade strawberry jam was just the thing.  My Time Made Easy has this awesome template (Jam Packed) that is designed for gifting jars of jam/jelly or anything else that can be packaged in a 1/2 pint jar.  Check out the last picture to see the inside of the box.  I started by stamping this gorgeous rose from PTI's "Year of Flowers: Collection" all over the box and then colored them with colored pencil.  That was a much better idea in my head!  I got so tired of coloring!!!

For the label on top, which turned out to be perfect for showcasing part of my Justrite Stampers set, I used a spellbinders Label 5 die, a classic circles, large die which I stamped with one of the borders from "From My Kitchen", another, smaller classic circles, large die on which I stamped the rose again.  I then stamped, colored and cut out parts of the rose and layered them all together with foam tape.  The photo above shows the depth of the rose and the photo below gives a better look at the label.

Then I made the little tag for the bow using a sentiment from the "From My Kitchen" set and a lightly stamped version of the rose all on a classic circles, large die.

To dress up the jar of jam a bit, I used a classic scalloped circles, large die and a classic circles, large die that I stamped with the same border as the label on top of the box.  Doesn't the box insert fit the jar perfectly!?

One hit wonder

This week's Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge #10 is to create a one-layer card.  Now, I am not good at using lots of layers, but using only one and making it interesting is hard!!  Guess that's why it's a "challenge".  I am also entering this in the Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge to use traditional Christmas colors (red and green).  All the stamps I used are from Verve's "Ornamental Christmas" (the tree branch, ornament, which is three pieces, and the sentiment).  I used a black pen and a ruler to create a border around the opposite side of the card to balance it out.  It still needed a little something, so I added a trio of silver flowers which have been sitting on my desk waiting to be used for something Christmas-y.

Seasons greetings

Every year I save some of the Christmas cards I receive because I think elements of them will be perfect to reuse.  The bird panels on this card are salvaged from a previous Christmas card.  They were way too beautiful to throw away.  I used the Viva La Verve May week 3 sketch, the Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #72 to use traditional Christmas colors (red and green) and the Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge to use any type of animal, bird, or bug on your project.  The papers are all from a DCWV Christmas pack and the sentiment is from Verve's "Ornamental Christmas".

Golden

 I am already making a serious dent in my Christmas cards for the year.  I so hope to be finished with them by December 1st, maybe this year I will finally make it.  This card uses the sketch from Creative Inspirations.  The papers are all from a DCWV Christmas pack, the tree is a random rubber stamp I got from AC Moore a long time ago (I colored in the star with a gold paint pen) and the sentiment, which you can see better in the picture below, is from Verve's "Ornamental Christmas" heat embossed with gold powder.

Christmas Day

Once again, adding to my Christmas card stash, I used the Sweet Sketch Wednesday #153 sketch (but I did turn it on it's side) and the Crafty Hazelnut's Chrismtas challenge to create a project using traditional Christmas colors (red and green).  It turned out a little differently than I had planned, but I think it's growing on me.  The calendar image was a bit more involved than I had anticipated.  The main stamp and the calendar additions set (month names and year numbers) are from Clear Dollar Stamps (from their clearance section I believe).  But once I got into the set, I discovered that it didn't have all the numbers for the dates, so I had to dig out an Inkadinkado set I got a while ago in a big sample pack.  I used the Christmas tree from PTI's "Places, Please" and a small circle from their "Simply Stationery" set to draw attention to Christmas day.  The border die is from PTI and I used the leftover pieces from the inside of the die to create the tab on the left hand side of the main panel.

For interest on the inside of the card, I used the same calendar stamp (stamped off on scrap paper first to lighten it) and stamped the tree in the Christmas square but didn't use the numbers to make it a little more simple.  The sentiment is from Verve's "Ornamental Christmas" set.

brother

This may be one of my favorite cards ever!  You know when all the papers and elements just fall together.  I don't usually have "fun" patterned papers, but I won a couple Basic Gray packs and LOVE the patterns.  I used the Mojo Monday #240 sketch, the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge to use something natural on your card (I used twine) and the Frosted Designs challenge to use lacing on your project (I pierced holes and laced twine through them on the main sentiment panel).  I was acutally making this card for someone else, but I loved it so much I knew I had to make it for my brother (even though his birthday isn't until July).  The "happy" and "birthday" are both from SU!'s "Flexible Phrases) and the "Brother" is from Verve "World's Greatest".

Inchies

A fun little Mother's Day card for my husband's mother.  We don't see her very often, but are going to visit her tomorrow on Mother's Day.  So, I needed a special card.  I used the Last But Not Least challenge to use inchies on your project (mine are acutally 1.5 inches, but 1 inch was just too small for what I wanted to do), the Stampin' Sisterhood #17 sketch challenge, the Timeless Tuesday #168 challenge: Pink-a-licious, and the For Fun challenge to create a card for a favorite girl.  The images are from an SU! summer sale-bration set (can't remember the name) and the sentiment is also from an SU! set (all about Mom, but that's not the name).  I stretched out the stems to fit the card and added liquid pearls to the flower bunches and the butterflies (Martha Stewart punch).

Celebrate

This card makes me so happy!  It is an anniversary card for my cousin and his wife.  I used the Skipping Stones Design #127 sketch, the Paper Variety challenge to create handmade flowers, and the Make it Monday challenge to create background paper from strips of patterned paper.  I created the flower with the blooms #3 die from PTI.  It creates such a fun layered flower.  The sentiment is from PTI's "Mat Stack 2" set and I used an embossing folder from cuttlebug for the top white panel.

Love

My sister and her husband are celebrating their 3rd wedding anniversary this month.  When I saw the Viva La Verve May week 2 sketch I was in love. ; )  I think black and white is the most elegant color combo specially with a little pop of color.  I used a new (to me) cuttlebug embossing folder for the background.  I inked it up before putting the paper in and created a mildly letterpress look.  I'm also entering the Delightful Sketches challenge to use distressing and the CRAFT challenge #154 to create a project celebration something (they are celebrating their 3rd blogaversary; go check out all the fun).  I distressed all the papers with black and creamy caramel (SU!).
Stamps: Verve "Text Objects", "To the Moon", "Accent Notes"; Skipping Stones Design: "Timeless Textures"
Spellbinders "Floral Doily Motifs"
PTI: border die

Royal christmas

So, I made this in purple for a challenge that closed before I got it posted.  But it still works since purple is the color of royalty and there is no one more royal than Jesus Christ.  I used the Viva La Verve May week 1 sketch and the challenge from Crimbo Crackers #15 to use a sentiment as the focal image. The papers are from a Hot Off the Press pack, but I added snowflakes in white ink to the left layer.  The sentiment is from Verve's Richly Blessed and the diecut behind the circle is the Mat Stack 2 die from PTI.