To God be the Glory

These greens, teals and blues are favorite colors.  The image was from a collection sent by a friend at Wish RAK (Splitcoaststampers) - she has a wonderful collection of stamps and I am one of the beneficiaries!  I used stamp n' stick (sticky paper) to create the pennants in the bg  The Blessings and leaf die are by Cheery Lynn, from Joan's Gardens shop.
Sketch, with blue, green and black:  http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/
Faux stitching (on the outer pennants):  http://cheerylynndesigns.blogspot.com/search/label/challenge
Uplifting sentiment:   http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/

Easter Blessings

I do have a couple of Easter stamps, but I have used them often, so looked for something different.  This SU Garden Collage image represents Easter well, I think.  I added a computer sentiment.  The image is colored with chalk, and I used new papers from a DCWV Heirloom stack.  The leaves and backing are cut from the same paper as the mat - it has a kind of mosaic pattern to it - perfect for leaves.  The flowers are by Petaloo.  Available from Terri:  Sizzix Garden Green dies, Memento Tuxedo black ink, and the Vagabond machine (http://www.atjoansgardens.com/).
Sketch:  http://seemsalittlesketchy.blogspot.com/
Dies:  http://sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com/
Flowers:  http://eurekastamps.blogspot.com/
Use:stamp, corner treatment, pattern paper, item from Joan's Gardens: http://www.joanstouch.com/  
Wings:  http://www.thehousethatstampsbuilt.com/
Any:   http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/
          http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/
          http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/

Die cuts, embossing and masks

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Edit:  My apologies to those of you sponsoring challenges and to DT members who are commenting - this is probably too late, but something weird has happened to my description - when I checked now (Sunday p.m.), I realized that my original description has vanished.
Products:  SU Designer greetings, JustRite sentiment; chalk pencils, misc. dp and cs.   Items available at Joan's Gardens:  Cuttlebug frame embossing folder, Sizzix Garden Green die (I cut apart the leaves from the branch).  I used a somewhat different masking technique - I used a scroll punch, and sponged oer it with SU chalk - I also masked a circle for the sentiment.  The color is way off, as I used More Mustard chalk - to match the mat.  (The "to you" is from a Just Rite set that was probably the first JR one I bought - not sure of the name but it is a Classic Circle Stamper..  I masked the rest of the stamp to get the "to you" that I wanted here.)

Sketch:  http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/
Chalk:  http://chalk-ah-lot.blogspot.com/
 Light Blue, golden yellow, white:  http://cupcakeinspirations.blogspot.com/
Pastels:   http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/
Any:  http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/
DP, corners, a stamp, item from Joan's Gardens (see above):  http://joanstouch.com/
Masking, JustRite stamp:  http://justritestampers.typepad.com/justrite-inspiration/justrite-friday-challenge/
Any:   http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/
Blue and yellow:  http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/
 For You:  (Vintage stamping challenge):  http://www.flonzcraft.com/vsc/

Swirly pink and white

(The blotchiness is not a part of the original photo.)  For the challenge at Love's Rubber stamps we were to use ugly papers.  I have a bit of the trellis-like dp showing - actually, it probably is not really ugly, but just looks that way after I have had it in my stash for several years.  It was part of a stack (DCWV, I think) that was one of the first I purchased - I am down to one more small scrap of this print!  The scrolls are in the frame, and the floral image is by Verve.  The frame embossing folder is available at Joan's Gardens.  I also used Versafine Tuxedo black ink, and my hard working Vagabond machine - both also available there - http://www.atjoansgardens.com/.  The lattice strip is a Cuttlebug die.
(Oops -the sketch I used has closed.  Oh, well...)
Ribbon and bow:  http://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com/
Pink and white, lattice, flower, item from Joan's Gardens (see above):  http://www.joanstouch.com/
Ugly paper:   http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/
Pink:  http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.com/
Spring:  http://stamplorations.blogspot.ca/2014/03/march-challenge-stamps-spring.html
Swirls:  http://sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com/

Shabby pink and white

I have seen so many "shabby chic" cards that I like a lot - and want to practice my version of the style .  I tore the edges of the K&Co paper - actually, I had some scraps that I pieced.  I used my snowflake EF (available at Joan's Gardens) to bind it together.  In retrospect I should have done this before I adhered the lattice strip - I do think it detracts from the trellis shape.  Oh well... next time!  The half circle is from Spellbinders Majestic Elements - sponged with pink chalk, as is the sentiment.  I used a floral sticker mounted on a sponged Labels One layer.  The button like flowers are from a bunch of SandyLion embellishments I got at a store closing.
Sketch #3:  http://vlvsketches.blogspot.com/p/link-list.html
Chalk (sponging):  http://chalknstock.blogspot.com/
Not square:   http://eurekastamps.blogspot.com/
Lattice, floral, pink & white:  http://www.joanstouch.com/
Floral, buttons, BG with script:  http://www.theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com/
Inspiration -lots of pink and flowers:  http://sugarcreekhollow.blogspot.com/

Glittery shadow

http://sparklensprinklecreativechallenges.blogspot.com.au/

Once again, the glitter has caused a huge shadow - I just have a bit of it in that corner  The glitter on the path did not cast a shadow.  This is a new Nellie Snellen embossing folder (Snowy Stairs) - a prize from Joan's Garden.  It is a larger size, so the final card is 5.75x7.5.  (If any  one has card samples of this, please let me know!).  I made a frame from a Martha Stewart edging punch - did a little surgery on the corners.    The sentiment is by computer.
CHALLENGES:
 http://beccysplace.blogspot.com/ - #20 - punches
http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/11/this-weeks-challenge-card_13.html - B&W Christmas, with a frame
http://paperplaytime.blogspot.com/ - sparkle
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - any, with comments
http://sparklensprinklecreativechallenges.blogspot.com.au/ - glitter

Glittery wreath/frame

As soon as I saw a challenge for a wreath I thought of creating one with the Cheery Lynn leafy die (from Joan's Gardens).  I think it works - and serves as a frame for the Stampabilities sentiment as well.  I hope the Lifestyle EF is not too busy as the bg.  I added glitter to the wreath and snowflakes - the sparkle does not appear to show here.
CHALLENGES:
Black and white Christmas, with frame: http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/11/this-weeks-challenge-card_13.html
Glitter:  http://sparklensprinklecreativechallenges.blogspot.com.au/
Wreath: http://beccysplace.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/a-month-of-holiday-cards-challenge.html
Sparkle:  http://paperplaytime.blogspot.com/
Mystery - the mystery of Christ's birth (as well as the "mystery" glitter you cannot see on the screen!):  http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/
Snowflake - using glitter and snowflake punch  I have had for a LONG time:  http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com/

I'm back!

Whew!  It has been a long time - a month, in fact...  I have almost forgotten how to do this.  I will not bore you with all the details - if I get ambitious I will do another travel blog or place photos somewhere.  DH and I just returned from a fabulous 28 day cruise.  We were on the beautiful Sapphire Princess, and cruised round trip out of San Pedro, CA.  We had 4 stops in Hawaii and 5 in the South Pacific, including Samoa and Tahiti - and we had about 18 sea days.   The ports were beautiful, and the sea days were wonderful - food, entertainment, and speakers were all great.  Now it is time to get back to somewhat of a routine - for a while, at least.
Needless to say - Christmas will be here soon and I have a lot to do!  This card features the Stampendous stamp, and misc. papers and ribbon.
Here are the challenges:
http://www.sweetsketchwednesday.blogspot.com/:  Sketch
http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/11/this-weeks-challenge-card_13.html:  Black and white Christmas, with a frame; the Cuttlebug frame folder is available at her store.
http://littleclairesdesigns.blogspot.com/:  Christmas theme
http://blog.ribboncarousel.com/:  Holidays, with ribbon.
http://beccysplace.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/a-month-of-holiday-cards-challenge.html:  #7, non traditional colors

Snowy Scene

This came from Joan's Gardens shop - I won it as a prize a couple of weeks ago.  It is a lovely scene which I sponged with chalk - some powdered and some regular.  I added Stickles to the snow.  I tried something new - stamping on a piece of satin ribbon  (Hampton Art sentiment), which I attached with  Nesties corner die cut.
Sketch (rotated):  http://seizethesketch.blogspot.com/
Chalk on dry embossing:  http://chalk-ah-lot.blogspot.com/
Any:  http://eurekastamps.blogspot.com/
Ribbon, corner treatment, Christmas item (lamps, sentiment, snowy scene), item from her shop:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/10/this-weeks-challenge-with-guest-designer.html
Scene:   http://c2cu.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-4-october-christmas.html

This is Christ the King

  http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/chnc-challenge-extra-for-october.html

This is a digital image and computer generated sentiment.  I have had this piece of burlap for a while - I think it came from some packaging - I thought it would go well with the image and papers.  The branches are from a Cheery Lynn die purchased at Joan's Gardens.
Sketch:  http://www.creativecreationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
Uplifting:  http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/
Any: http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.com/
Any:  http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/
Purple and green, tearing, layers, item from her store:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/10/card-by-joan.html
Christmas:  http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.com/
Any Christmas:  http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/chnc-challenge-extra-for-october.html

Birthday: purple, green and polka dots

I used a couple of papers from Paper Wishes; birthday die from Sizzix, and a bird from Cheery Lynn Tiny Things with Wings from the store at Joans Gardens..
Sketch:  http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/stamp-and-win-with-this-weeks-card-sketch-144/
Dots:  http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/
purple, green, layers, tearing, item from her store:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/10/card-by-joan.html
Any:  http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/

Pieced die cut

The challenge this week at Joan's Garden is just that - a challenge!  She has a link to a video showing paper piecing a die cut.  I really do not have suitable dies, but tried with this one - doing the leafy scroll in green and the flowers in red.  I added dragonflies (from Cheery Lynn Little things With Wings, available at Joan's store) and a trellis.  The trellis is cut from a piece of gold Shape n' Tape - nice for the narrow bits, as it is self adhesive.  The Verse is Our Daily Bread.  The bg is partially embossed with the CB Victoria folder,
Sketch (rotated):  http://feeling-sketchy.blogspot.com.au/
Any:  http://artimpressionsstamps.blogspot.com/2013/09/challenge-119-anything-goes-week-two.html
Any:  http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.co.uk/
ODB stamp:  http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shining%20the%20Light%20Challenge
Red and green, with pieced die, and a product from store:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/09/this-weeks-challenge_26.htmlhttp://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/09/this-weeks-challenge_26.html

Christmas 2013

I am still hoping some one will suggest how to do the faces of the shepherds!
Supplies:  Stampendous stamps, Studio G sentiment, Faith papers by Paper Studio, $1 star punch, Cuttlebug frame EF, Cheery Lynn branch die - purchased at Joan's Gardens.
The challenge at Joan's Gardens is to include paper piecing.  She has a link to a video on piecing a die.  I did not have a suitable die, but tried to replicate the technique with this stamp.  You may not be able to see it, but the palm branches are two layers  - for a bit  of the second color and also more dimension. 
I did the same with the shepherd's crook.  For the tree, I cut a lighter green piece - sort of cutting outside the lines.  Then I stamped on a darker green, cutting inside the lines.  This gives a sense of a few lighter fronds - our palm trees have different shades of green.  I also pieced the shepherds robes - and decided to make it look light the one on the left is facing the other way.  For the MFP challenge I used a second stamp to do the sheep on the left - the Stampendous clear stamp set has 3 images and a sentiment.  I used 2 of the images.
CHALLENGES:
Sketch: http://seizethesketch.blogspot.com/
Recipe (1 die (branch), 2 images (see above), 3 colors (red, green, beige):
Recipe (piecing, red and green, item from her store): http://www.atjoansgardens.com/search?updated-max=2013-10-02T10:00:00-04:00

Carol's birthday

This is DP (Daisy D, I think) that I have been hoarding - waiting for that special occasion!  My sister is younger than I and would not recall the family farm home with no indoor plumbing - in use when I was young.  She will remember the dozens (probably hundreds) of chickens she raised, butchered and froze - though that was many years ago as well.
The image is from Beccy's Place.  She used it for a sample - it has lovely highlights that I was not able to duplicate - I tried chalk.  The bird and branches are Cheery Lynn dies from Joan's Gardens.
Sketch:  thekraftjournal.blogspot.com/
Trees:  http://craft-roomchallenge.blogspot.com/
Any, with a Beccy's image:  :http://beccysplace.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/september-challenge.html 
Vintage:  http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com/
Fall colors, trees, bird, leaves, her product: http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/09/this-weeks-challenge-big-prize.html

Christmas - in fall colors

I am sure many of you have experienced this - there is a stamp set, or some dp, or other product - it looks great!  Then, when actually using it - you find it is very difficult to work with.  That is the case for me, with this DP stack.  It is called "Faith" by the Paper Studio.  It is not really Christmas paper, but I did purchase it for that purpose - as well as other.  So far, I have not found just the right deep burgundy to use for mats - but here, the light color does work. 
Enough of that.  Here re the details:  image - an unnamed cube.  The bird and bits of branches are Cheery Lynn dies, and the circles are from Spellbinders - all done on the Cuttlebug.
Sketch:  http://alotarubberstamps.blogspot.com/
Christmas is coming:  http://www.ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shining%20the%20Light%20Challenge
First row of tic tac toe (pattern paper, dies and punches, autumn colors):  http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/
Anything:  http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/
Fall colors, leaves, trees, bird, Cheery Lynn dies from the shop:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/09/this-weeks-challenge-big-prize.html
Back to nature - using Cuttlebug:  http://cuttlebugmania.blogspot.co.uk/

Cozy trees and snowflakes

I have not thanked the sponsors of challenges for a while - I have a special thank you to those who are providing Christmas challenges - I do need to get a better start!
Supplies:  Studio G image, SU sentiment, Basic Grey DP, Cuttlebug Snowflake EF, Cheery Lynn pine branches (from Joan's Gardens store); gold gel pen, edging scissors.
Sketch:  http://jwscrapshack.blogspot.ca/
Christmas, with snowflakes:  http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.com/
Snowflakes:  http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/
Christmas:  http://www.creativecreationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
Christmas, with cozy colors (To me, ivory is warmer than white - combined with burgundy);  Christmas dp; snowflakes, trees, die from her store):  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/09/this-weeks-challenge.html

Fall Scene

I knew I wanted to use this embossing folder for the challenge at Joan's Gardens - it just took me all week to figure out how to include all the elements.  I think I did it!
Embossing folder - Sizzix;  orange, green, brown chalk; butterfly by Cheery Lynn (sold at Joan's store); green and white checked ribbon.  The embossed layer is matted on a lighter card base which does not really show.
Fall, butterfly, green, brown, white, checks:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/08/this-weeks-challenge_29.html
Chalk: http://chalknstock.blogspot.com/
 Border (green ribbon):  http://blog.docerelashop.com/
Texture:  http://www.totallygorjuss.blogspot.com/
Nature - using Emb folder and butterfly die, on Cuttlebug:  http://cuttlebugmania.blogspot.co.uk/

Early Christmas #2

I am sorry the message does not show up as well on the screen as it does IRL.  I am kind of caught up on cards -  I had LOTS of orders to fill this summer - so I can get a bit of a start on Christmas.  I think this is a $1 stamp - marked Kolette Hall.  The image is under the circle opening. The DP is from a pad by Paper Studio called Faith - I like the burgundy and green with some tan.  I used that versatile die by Cheery Lynn - from Joan's Gardens shop.  I probably should have used a darker green this time.  I added a bit of a Dazzles strip - cream colored.
sketch:  http://designed2delight.com/blog/
Celebrate:  http://natalieandamy.blogspot.co.uk/
Bingo - (diagonal - die cut, free, stamp):  http://www.stephanie-whimsicaldesigns.com/2013/08/bingo.html
Christmas, red/green, nature, image stamped under the die cut opening, Cheery Lynn die available at Joan's Gardens:  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2101946730304982710#editor/target=post;postID=2607738375293208400

Early Christmas card

I am grateful for the Christmas challenges - but I will still be scrambling at the last minute!  This turned out busier than I like - just trying to figure out how to use some of the DP I have collected.  It is from the Paper Studio - I like it, just not for this layout.  The image is one on a nameless cube - placed behind the cut out circles.  I added CB letters, Cheery Lynn branches (turned into trees!) and a strip of Dazzles.
Sketch:  http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.com/
Celebrate (Christmas and Easter are my favorite celebrations of faith): http://natalieandamy.blogspot.co.uk/
Christmas, red/green, opening for stamped image, trees (from nature), Cheery Lynn branch die from Joan's Gardens store:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/08/this-weeks-challenge_22.html
Cuttlebug letter and branch dies:  http://cuttlebugmania.blogspot.co.uk/ 
Anything:  http://qkrstampede.blogspot.co.uk/

Deja Vu Vintage

This is very much like a card I just made - for two reasons.  First of all, I am using up the very limited supplies in our RV.  Also, I was showing the first card I made to my friend - another friend saw it, and said her mother would also be 90 in a few weeks - could I make the card for her as well.  This Recollection vintage scene, called Toile, is very much a favorite.  The other pieces are scraps.  It is hard to see, but all pieces are ivory and black.  The letters are CB Olivia dies,  I added ivory birds from another favorite - Cheery Lynn Little Wings, available at oan's Gardens shop..
Sketch:  http://sweetstopsketches.blogspot.com/
Die cuts:e/http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/
Numbers: http://corrosivechallengesbyjanet.blogspot.com/
Vintage, scenic bg, bird, die cut sentiment:  http://www.atjoansgardens.com/2013/08/this-weeks-challenge.html