Winter Tilda Sends Happy Birthday Wishes!

Good morning sweet readers,

Happy Saturday to you! Can you believe that January is almost gone? Where is time going! It seems the older I get, the faster time flies! Do you think it's because when we were younger, we had so much to learn that time seemed to be slower, and, now, as we age, there are fewer "unknowns" and time seems to fly? Remember being in school and that last hour of the day just seemed to drag by? LOL

I have a new card to share with you today. It's a birthday card for my sweet friend, Sharon, who has a birthday this week. Her favorite color is purple, so I thought a truly purple card would be perfect! Sharon lives a bit more north than I do and is always cold. With that in mind, I chose to combine a winter feel with birthday and purple! How's that for getting a ton of themes into a card! LOL

This is one of my newest Tilda stamps. I think it is probably one of my very favorites. She's been colored with distress inks. There are touches of glitter on the ground, snowflakes, and ends of her scarf. I even used two different colors of purple glitter on the scarf ends! There is glittery cardstock behind the image mat. The snowflakes are all sparkly, too. I "dunked" the large purple rose into glass glitter to add a frosty feel as well. Inside, I kept the snowy theme and added some pearls, rhinestones, ribbon, and a Magnolia gardenia. The beautiful flowers are from HOOKED ON CRAFT

Here are the shots. Please click on each image to get a better, more color true image. I hope you like what I've created.











Thank you for visiting! I am so glad that you took the time to drop by.

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:



My Time To Craft #171 ends 1/31 - My favorite embellishment flowers

Hotshot Crafts #3 ends 3rd Wk. of February - Flowers

Lily Pad Cards ends 2/23 - Patterned Paper

One Stop Craft Challenge #167 ends 2/2 - Stitching

Crazy for Challenges #121 - Layer it on

A Get Well and Happy Birthday Blog Post!

Good morning my cherished readers,

Today, it's gray and threatening rain. We had rain yesterday and very high winds. We should get more rain tonight and tomorrow. We need the water. I love it when it's cloudy because it's sunny most of the time. The clouds are invigorating! However, when we lived in Oregon, the sunny days were the days that sparked high bursts of energy! LOL

Today, I'm sharing with you a card that I've made for Hooked on Craft Challenge #16 - SOMETHING BRIGHT. I had a ball with this challenge! I love the color combo of blue and white. It always looks clean. I also added a shaker box with little white beads to resemble sea foam. Also, Hooked on Craft is having a Design Team call. Details may be found on the Hooked on Craft Challenge Blog. We'd love to have you give that a try, too!

I would love it if you joined in Challenge #16 - SOMETHING BRIGHT. The challenge will run from January 23 to February 4. The challenge objective is to create something which celebrates summer in Australia! Feel free to use bright colors, a summer theme, a beach theme, outdoor play - whatever summer brings to your mind. As always, Karen has a lovely gift for the winner. Come on, gals, give it a try!

Let me share my card with you. I couldn't use a flash because it would reflect off the shaker box, so the shot is a little dull. Here it is:



I just thought the image of the whale was too cute! I colored him with Copics, added Kindyglitz and Stickles under his chin, on his spout, and also on his side spots. It just added the right amount of sparkle. Next, I created the shaker box, added the ric-rack trim, and the flower cluster. The flowers are from Hooked on Craft. I did color one white rose with light blue so that it would match my card. Here are the links

Blue Trinket Pin
Large White Fern Leaf
Small White Mulberry Leaf
Blue Calla Lily
White Water Lily
35 mm White Rose
20 mm White Rose with blue tips colored w/ marker
14 mm White Rose
White Rosebud colored blue w/ marker

Here are the interior shots:






I hope this card brightens your day! Please join us at Hooked on Craft Challenges! It's a nice, easy peasy challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:


One Stop Craft Challenge #166 ends 1/27 - Under the Weather
Cupcake Craftroom January Challenge ends 1/30 - Anything Goes



A Special Birthday Card

I made this birthday card for someone pretty special to me! My sweetie! He hasn't seen it yet. It took me longer to make than I had planned! I used Cuddly Siblings from Magnolia's Sweet Crazy Love Collection on the inside and Edwin with his snazzy car on the front. All of the images were colored with distress inks. I this was also a personal challenge to use brown and teal blue. I'd never made a card with that color combo before. I did it to join in the fun some friends were having on their blogs. Here is one blog that shows the challenge this group of gals presented.

The colors are predominantly greenish blue (teal blue?) and brown. Inside, on the left, there is a pocket in which I will write a special message to my DH. The right side is a basic message that will remind him of the cake he so dearly loves to have around. Here are the shots:









I hope you like my card! If you have any questions, just ask! Have a great week!

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Magnolia-licious Highlights ends 1/31 - Anything Goes
Cards for Men Challenge #2 ends 1/29 - Boys and Their Toys

Tilda With Arrow Shows Trust

Hello sweet readers,

Have I got a story for you!

On my bathroom counter, right on the corner, I kept (the operative word is KEPT) a 32 oz. pump bottle of Philosophy's Falling in Love Body Lotion. That was (operative word is WAS) a $50 bottle of body lotion that I loved to use when I wanted to lure my DH! LOL

Last Monday night, I went to brush my teeth before going to bed when I realized that the lotion bottle was gone! I asked DH if he moved it for some reason. He said it was there over the weekend. I was quite perplexed. Where the heck did that bottle of lotion go?

Well, it seems my sweet Precious, the cat, has been a busy little girl. She's learned to clean! She's decided that she likes to have a glass of water on the bathroom counter that is just hers. When she is done drinking from the cup, she pushes it into the sink to empty it. It also seems that this clever little feline decided that my bottle of lotion was in her way when she would jump up onto the counter. So, to remedy the problem, she pushed my bottle of body lotion into the trash basket that is next to the end of the counter (where the corner is)!

As luck would have it, Tuesday is trash day, so she had to have done it over the weekend or on Monday prior to DH's emptying all the trash. DH didn't notice that this FULL bottle of lotion was in the trash basket because there were other things I had tossed into the basket which added unusual weight to the basket.

And now, my Philosophy Falling in Love 32 oz. bottle of body lotion is in the Washington County Landfill! Thanks to Precious! *sigh* So, I'm back to Clinique's Aromatics Elixir Body Lotion, LOL. Maybe Precious likes that scent better! LOL

I have a new card to share with you! I have to thank my DH for help on this as he came up with the sentiment on the front of the card. I chose to use the Tilda with Arrow stamp. Since the card will be given, most likely, to a male, I didn't want to make it too girly. I kept the colors sort of neutral, LOL! Tilda was colored with Copics.

Here she is:



Doesn't she look a bit worried? I'm not sure she is trusting Edwin! LOL Here are the inside pages:



My sweet friend, Rosie, sent me a set of stamps one of which has the XO on it. I just love that stamp! It fit perfectly onto the Magnolia tag, too! I used a yellow twill for the ribbon accents. I used a matching Magnolia border die. Love that tag and border duo!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you like my creation. I'd love it if you left a comment for me if you have the time.

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge #20 - ends 1/31 - Love is in the Air

Creatalicious Challenges #30 ends 2/15 - Love

Emerald Fairy Garden #16 ends 1/30 - green and gold/yellow

An Angled Accordion Fold Card

Hello Ladies,

Before I lose you with this long post, I was wondering if you can tell a difference in the quality of the blue photos vs. the red photos at the bottom. I used a different lens for the Tilda images. I had forgotten I had this particular lens and thought it might enhance my photos. Your opinion is much appreciated. This is a long post with two different cards. The first one is my DT project while the second card is our little Tilda.

It's time for a new challenge at Hooked on Craft! Today, for Challenge #15 - Try Something New, I decided to give an Angled Accordion Fold Card a try. I have to say, it was a lot of work only because of how I did it. I know it would have been a lot easier if I had used a heavy, almost cardstock weight, double sided paper and only did one side. But, that would have been too easy. I wanted to challenge myself! Isn't that what challenges are all about?

Challenge #15 requires that you challenge yourself to try something new - a new technique. The challenge will run from January 9 through January 21. You might want to give this type of card a go. I know there are lots of techniques out there. Find one that you've wanted to try and try it. I can't wait to see what you create. I, personally, would love it if, in your blog post, you share the link where you found how to do the technique and maybe a brief explanation. That way, others can grow in their techniques, too!

Here is the front side of my card:



Here is the back side of my card:



Isn't it cute? I used a lot of glittered cardstock to make the card very festive! I began by folding and scoring a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock at 4" and 8". Next, I decided how high I wanted it at the highest point. I drew a line and then cut on that line using my paper cutter.

The next step was to use a punch to punch a choo choo train border which I thought was pretty boyish. Now I was ready to do the decorating.

Because I am persnickety, I absolutely had to have each piece of cardstock and patterned paper match at the angled tops. That was not as easy as I first thought, but after a couple of tries, I got the hang of it. Let's look at each segment.



On the cover panel, I used the following items from Hooked on Craft:

Cherry Blossoms - http://www.hookedoncraft.com/flowers-and-leaves/mulberry-paper-cherry-blossoms.html
Roses -http://www.hookedoncraft.com/flowers-and-leaves/mulberry-paper-roses.html
Rosebuds - http://www.hookedoncraft.com/flowers-and-leaves/mulberry-paper-rosebuds.html

This panel was so much fun! I love that precious little stamp! Karen doesn't currently have them in her store, but keep checking back. I used Copic pens to color the image. I accented the image by adding Kindyglitz in yellow, orange, light green, dark green. I used a cyan piece of glittered cardstock for the background and cut it with one of my dies. The stamp is from my stash. I chose to use my Nesties dies and cut a scalloped background in a royal blue glittered cardstock.





On this panel, I used lovely aqua pearls from Hooked on Craft. I also used red Kindyglitz for the cherry nestled inside the whipped cream which I emphasized by using a texture paste. I stamped the sentiment and then backed it on the royal blue glittered cardstock.

On the back of the card, I used the following items from Hooked on Craft:
aqua pearls - http://www.hookedoncraft.com/embellishments/self-adhesive-pearls.html
bear charm - http://www.hookedoncraft.com/embellishments/metal-charms.html
bud and bow ribbon - http://www.hookedoncraft.com/ribbon/bud-and-bow-ribbon.html

Here are photos of the back panels:







I would like to enter this birthday card into the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #21 - Use the color blue

Challenge Up Your Life#60 ends 1/20 - Bingo (flowers, buttons, sparkle)

One Stop Craft Challenge #164 ends 1/13 - Bingo (Pearls, die cuts, buttons


Tilda Goes Bananas Over You

Oh, I had so much fun with this card! When I first saw this stamp, I thought it was hilarious and maybe very hard with which to work. However, it was a fun stamp to use and I had a riot with it. My husband was doing a little rhumba every time I called him in to get his opinion! Too funny! I wanted to keep the card bright and cheery. Here she is:



Tilda has been colored with Copics. The flowers are felt. I added some Kindyglitz to the purple grapes on her hat and a couple of the red beads on her necklace - just to add some sparkle. The sentiment is elevated on pop dots. I used deep red pearls on the sentiment and the image mat. There is machine stitching on each mat as well. I added a double layered flower to her dress and placed a yellow rhinestone in the center.

The inside is just as bright and cheerful. Here it is:



On the inside, I repeated the use of felt flowers and machine stitching. I stitched the buttons and added ribbon. I couldn't resist adding a banana!

I hope you liked my cards. I love how they turned out. Thank you so much for visiting. I hope you will take a second and leave a comment for me, please! I love reading what you write.

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter the Tilda card into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations Paint ends 1/14 - Inspired by Something Old (and in my case, it's Chiquita Banana which began in 1944)

Penny Black & More 1/31 - Love/Hearts

Our Little Angel, Tilda

Hi Sweet Readers,

How has your first week of 2012 been? Are you enjoying this very mild weather? It's like Spring here. We never had Winter. I hope that sometime between now and March (when we really start to feel Spring), it'll rain or do something drippy from the sky! I think the plants are confused!

I've been working on a special project for Hooked on Craft. I can reveal it on Sunday evening. If you wish to see it, come on back! I'll put the water on for hot chocolate (or iced chocolate, LOL).

Today, I have two cards to share with you. Both are examples of the Christmas cards I sent out this year. With my eyes as bad as they are, it took me forever to do the painting on the second one. Good thing I started in the early Fall otherwise, I would never had gotten the finished in time for Christmas. I'm finding that I can only color for about an hour and a half a day before I feel like I'm missing things.

I want to thank Cheryl Rowley for being my inspiration on the second card. Cheryl had used this stamped image on a card she posted in the Fall. My wheels immediately started turning and the finished result is below.

For the first card, I used our little Angel Tilda. Isn't she adorable. I did a lot of embossing on the exterior and interior. I added some rhinestones to add some sparkle. Here she is:



Here is the interior shot:



Next, is the holly card. I loved this one so much! I got so much positive feedback from the recipients, too! I was so surprised that so many took the time to contact me to tell me how much they loved this card. Isn't that sweet? It made all that work and frustration worth it! What do you think?



I painted each image with Distress Inks. I love the new colors and put them to good use! Here is the inside:



I used a ton of white cardstock, but it was so worth it! By doing the dry embossing on the inside, I made up for all the time I spent on the front side.

The last card I want to share is the card I made for my husband for Christmas. I won't share the interior as it has private thoughts just for him, but I thought you might like to see the front. Again, I colored the images with Distress Inks. I pieced the male bear's shirt so that it looked like a patterned sweater. On the girl bear's dress, I added some teeny tiny snowflakes. It turned out so well. He loved, loved, loved it. DH keeps all our cards tucked away in a file cabinet - every card, every occasion since we met 36 years ago! He's such a romantic.



Thank you so very, very much for stopping by! I love that you take the time to visit. Now that I've got so many projects done, I can work on my Magnolias! I'll try to be back tomorrow with more to share that I didn't have time to post!

XO,
Chris

Happy 2012!

Hello Sweet Readers,

Happy New Year to you! My wish for each of you is that 2012 will bring you much happiness, love, prosperity, and good health. I hope that each of you will find 2012 much better than 2011! ((((hugs to each of you)))

Did you have a wonderful Christmas? We had a delightful one. We celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary, too! That's a milestone, huh? Santa was very good to us. We are so blessed!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have vision issues. It's been getting harder and harder to do cards. There is a lot of glare, and the floaters in my eyes are getting pretty bad as far as I am concerned. My floaters are like jellyfish which line up right in the center of my vision field. The glare is like cataracts, but I've had mine removed and do not have more growing. The meds caused my cataracts.

Don't get me wrong, I know that there are others who are so much worse than I. It's just frustrating sometimes when I'm trying to see to create, am wearing two pairs of glasses at the same time, and still cannot see well. The doctor said that I've done very well over the past 20 years considering all that is going on in my eyes. I sort of feel that I have to get as many cards done as soon as possible before I can no longer do them. That's why it takes me days to do one card! I have to be very careful as I color, etc. Our sweet son gave me a light to wear on my forehead to help brighten the area where my eyes look when I'm creating. I haven't tried it yet. I hope it helps! :o)

Today, I discovered that I have not posted some cards that I did for Christmas. I hope you don't mind looking at one or two at a time this week. I don't want to bog you down with Christmas cards! Here is the first of a few. I used a green suede paper as an accent paper. It feels like velvet and is very pretty. I used Memory Box dies, Martha Stewart border punch duo, Magnolia tree stamps, Tilda (of course), Nestabilities, a base of white Bazzill with red and white Bazzill layers, watercolors, pop dots to elevate Tilda, ribbons from my stash, green Spica pen, and little poinsettias from my stash as well. I love the patterned paper! It is so cheery! I bought a ton of it, used it up, and bought more when I could find it as it's older!

Here are the pictures:









Do you love that green suede paper? It is so nice with which to work!

Thank you, dear, dear readers for visiting and sharing some time on my blog. I so appreciate it. I hope you will come back often this week to see my "catch up postings!"

Love to each of you,
Chris