The Lord Will Indeed Give What Is Good

This card was made using the colors of black, kraft, and red.  The base card is craft with a layer of red and then a layer of black.  The top layer is kraft cardstock that I ran through a Cuddlebug cut and emboss folder.  Then I ran Versamark over the top to bring out the design.  It actually looks a bit like leather, though my pictures never do the cards justice.  I also cut out the middle part of the same die in red, cut it in half, and layered it behind the craft layer, letting the edges just peek out (did that make any sense?).  I used a saying from Our Daily Bread Designs and cut it out with a Spellbinder label die and used pop dots to attach it in the middle of the card.  I also rubbed a little Versamark around the edges and then edged it with red Tombow marker.  Then I used a die from Heartfelt Creations to cut out the red decorative designs on each side.

The flower was made from red tissue paper using a Tim Holtz Sizzix die.  The black center is also from that same die, and I had to add a little bling to the middle, of course.  The butterfly is also a diecut from  Heartfelt Creations.  It needed something extra so I added some bling to the wings!!

In case you can't tell, I love flowers and butterflies on my cards, and of course always need some type of bling!!

Challenges:

Our Daily Bread Designs Blog -  Anything goes with ODBD Challenge  asked to create a card or project with the colors kraft and black plus one other color.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC90)! - Anything goes but buttons and bows

Rum Balls Recipe

Our theme for the recipe swap at our stamp club is desert.  I decided to use one of my favorite Christmas recipes, Rum Balls (anything with chocolate is definetly desert).

When we first moved to South Carolina, we lived next to a wonderful, elderly couple.  Mrs Murphree was a tiny, Italian lady and was the best cook around.  She played Grandma to my children, brought me soup when I was sick, and shared her famous family recipe, Rum Balls.  My family absolutely loves these and we try to make them every year for Christmas.  The recipe makes so many that we freeze them and eat them way past the Holidays.

I used a 6" x 6" deep red base card and layered it with darker green cardstock.  I used light green plaid paper and embossed it with two different Cuddlebug folders.  I rubbed red ink on the ornament embossing on the left and used dark green ink on the fancy holly background on the right.  I used a Fiskar border punch to make the holly border in green and added more of the green, embossed paper on top.  I layered this on the card to create a pocket, in which I inserted a tag card that I created using a Sizzix die.  I used JustRite Stamps and round and scalloped Nestabilities to create the candy/message label on the front.  I colored the little holly leaves with tombow marker and sponged ink around all the edges.  I popped this up with pop dots so it would stand out more, then added lots of little red chrystals to the front.

I used a light green, decorative paper for the tag and sponged dark green ink around the edges on both the outside and the inside.  I used Martha Stewart punches to punch out the dark green holly leaves and lighter green pine.  On top of this I layered a poinsettia die cut with a little bling in the middle.  I made  a small round saying using JustRite Stamps for the message and the border, then used nesties to cut everything out.

On the inside I printed out the recipe, cut it out, and layered it on red cardstock.  I attached it to the tag and sponged red ink around the edges.




In case you can't read the recipe (it is a bit tiny to fit in the tag), here it is:

                                                      Rum Balls

                                                    Yield: 60-70

1 lb. box graham crackers                                 2 tsp. vanilla

1 (16 oz.) can Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup       1/2 c. margarine

1 (1 oz.) bottle rum flavoring                             3 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped.

1 (4 oz.) pkg. coconut

                                                             Dip

2 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips                           1 block wax

 

   Crush graham crackers into fine crumbs. Work in margarine, thoroughly. Mix syrup, flavoring, and vanilla and add to crumb mixture. Stir together.  Mix in nuts and coconut.  Shape into ¾”-1” balls. Put on cookie sheet and freeze.

   Melt chocolate chips and wax in double boiler.  Use toothpick to dip balls into chocolate (few at a time to avoid thawing). Put back in freezer until chilled.  Store in freezer or refrigerator.       

Mrs. Murphree passed away just a few weeks ago.  She was a very special lady!!

I entered this card in the following challenges:

JustRite Friday Challenge 041:  Holiday Recipe Swap    

One More Fall

I wanted to use some digital stamps from my friend, Bonnie at Pretties by Bonnie.  She has some great Fall ones so, of course, I decided to stay with my current theme.  I promise I will move on to something else soon.

I printed the digital pumpkin on cream cardstock and colored with Tombow markers.  I tore out the image and inked the edges with Distress Ink.  I layered this on some green decorative paper that I embossed with a leaf background and used the direct to paper technique using a green Adirondack ink pad.  Then I scrunched up the paper, spread it out, and rubbed on some dark brown Adirondack ink. 

This was layered onto a brown cardstock that was embossed with a Fall Cuttlebug embossing folder and then sanded to bring out the yellow core color.  This was layered on green cardstock, then layered onto a rust base.



I added two bling Fall leaves that I picked up on clearance at Michael's, along with a few jewels on the pumpkin's vine. I finished this off with a homemade "prima" rose that I inked up with various distress inks in Fall colors.

Thank you, Bonnie, for the great digital image that inspired this card.

Challenges I am entering:
The Cuttlebug Spot - Fall Theme
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC90 - Anything goes but buttons and bows.

Four Seasons

I am still in the Fall mood.  The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend but today it poured.  It seems that sometimes the darker, grey weather brings out the color of the leaves even more.  I noticed so much more color on my way home from work so when I sat down to do a card, my attention went to a stamp that was sitting on my table.  It is one of my favorite Fall sayings.  The rest of the card was created around that saying.

The above card was also designed based off of a sketch by http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com for their Challenge 135 shown below.

The Cuttlebug Spot also has a challenge with the theme of Fall.

Thankfulness

I talked to my sister today.  She is preparing for surgery in a few weeks since she found out she has cancer.  I know it is very hard for her but she can still crack a few jokes about events in her life.  It made me think how much I have to be thankful for.  I decided to create a card that could be a Fall/Thanksgiving theme but still be bright and cheery.

I used a stamp from Sparkle N Sprinkle that has Fall looking flowers but also beautiful butterflies.  I stamped it in brown and colored it with Tombow markers in bright Fall colors.  I cut it out along the edges and then layered it four times to add more color.  This grouping was then layered onto a a brown that was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I sanded the embossed wording to bring out the yellow core color.  This was layered onto a dark brown card.

This was a great card for the Flutter By Wednesday Blog Challenge - use a butterfly, fairy, or angel on your project.

Halloween Dress Up

I decided to do a Halloween card that was a bit different.  I had purchased a set that included this stamp from Sparkle N Sprinkle. 

The people in this stamp looked like they could be dressed up for Halloween so I stamped them in black on bright yellow cardstock.  The orange was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and rubbed over with black ink.  The bat corners are created by punching each corner of the orange with punch that is meant to be punching out two corner pieces, leaving the shape of a bat.  I added wiggle eyes to the two bat shapes.  The little spider in the corner is also from a Cuttlebug folder, cut out with a round nestie, and rubbed over with black in.


I entered this in a contest on the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog.  They have been celebrating their 13th birthday and have had several contests.  Their 4th contest is a Halloween card using their stamps.  I have quite a few of their stamps but had to be quite creative for this since I didn't have any that related to the Halloween theme.

Other challenges are:
Crazy 4 Challenges, also with a Halloween theme.
The Cuttlebug Spot - Totally Frightful theme.
Stamp With Fun - Halloween
Cuttlebug Challenge #54 - Halloween

Autumn

I wanted to add just one more picture.  Tonight several of my friends and I will drive all the way to Hendersonville, NC where we will meet with some wonderfully creative people.  It is our "not so local" stamp club and Bonnie and I will be showing everyone how to make the awesome Funky Fold Card.  Some of us also participate in what we call Fat Books.  It is like a card swap except it is a 6 x 6 card.  Our theme this month is Fall so I made this fun page.  

This is perfect for the Crazy 4 Challenge which is to create a Fall/Autumn card/project.

Also for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC89) with the sentiment as the focus.

Well, guess I better get to bed or I will be too tired to even go to the meeting .  Would hate to miss that since we always have a wonderful time, plus we get to make a quick excursion to the Mighty Dollar store.  Yeah!!

No Tricks, Just Treats

I had this awesome SVG that I downloaded for Make The Cut to use on my Cricut.  It is the black spider web frame.  I just had to use it so decided I really should make some type of Halloween card.  The pumpkin border and the fence at the bottom of the card are both MS border punches.  I then used a MS corner punch to create floral medallions, which I cut in half and used on the two sides. 

 

The center was cut out using a circle Nestie to show the cute pumpkin I stamped onto the yellow base.  I colored it with my Tombow markers.  I then stamped the round border and also cut it out with a circle Nestie, along with the inside.  I then pop dotted it to the front of the card.  Both the pumpkin and the border are from JustRite Stamps.

This was perfect for the JustRite Friday Challenge 040: Colors of Fall.

Crazy 4 Challenges ~ C4C59 also has a Fall/Autumn theme.

Fall, Fall, and More Fall

We have been having such beautiful weather and the leaves are starting to change even more.  My friends and I are planning to do a little excursion into the mountains soon to see all the beautiful color.  I am still in the mood for Fall cards.  I have also fallen in love with the Funky Fold Card technique that I used for my last card.  I was so excited because I won my first challenge with it.

Well, I decided to play with it some more using the Fall theme.  I used my borrowed set of stamps from Our Daily Bread (bet my friend is wondering where her stamp set went) to create a beautiful Fall scene with sunflowers.  I used chalks to color them. 

The fence is a MS border punch.  Behind the sunflowers is a scalloped oval that I lightly sanded to bring out the lined pattern in it. 







The leaves were cut out with a Spellbinder die and run through the Big Shot to emboss. 

Then I used the die as a stencil, added versamark, and then sprinkled different colored embossing powders on top to creat the beautiful coloring.  I had so much fun with these.  The message on top is also from Our Daily Bread, stamped onto a Cuttlebug Die.

I entered this card in the ODBDSLC33 Anything goes but with ODBD Stamps Challenge.

I also entered it in Our Daily Bread Designs Stamping In Time: On Assignment Challenge (SNTODBD20) using embossing powders.  I used 4 different embossing powders to "paint" the leaves on this card.

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C59 also had the theme of Fall so I thought they might enjoy this card.

Friendship

I am having a lot of fun these days because I have Fall break from school and actually have time to play.  Yesterday I went up into the mountains to visit my friend, Bonnie, and we played all day.  She had not seen a lot of my new toys from convention so we did a lot of sharing.  I had seen a new type of card called a Funky Fold Card at Sweeet Designs By Cheryl and so we decided to see if we could make one.  We had so much fun with it. 

Bonnie shared some very precious butterfly paper that she had been saving for a special card.  We used some of the same ideas and then went our seperate ways to create our own version.  I love this look!!


I used a new Nellie Snellen die to cut the butterfly borders on each side of the card.  I used a new MS border/corner punch for the bottom and also the inside.  The butterfly is a Spellbinder die, layered and embossed, and the saying is from JustRite, cut out with oval Nesties.


I concentrated on the butterflies on this card for the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge.   I love the theme, BFF - Buttons, Butterflies, and Friend(ship).  I am so lucky to have so many wonderful friends.


Cute Card Thursday had the them of "What's Buggin You" so I used butterflies for this, also.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC89) has the challenge to make the sentiment the focus.


Thank you, Bonnie, for letting me use some of your very special paper and an absolutely wonderful day!!

Happy Birthday Pop Up

 

This card is for the November card swap for my local stamp club, Stampin Divas.  We are to use a pop-up technique. 

 

I painted the stamped image with Twinkling H2Os.  The flower layer is made using a Martha Stewart Border/Corner punch, of course, and I used a corner rounder on each layer.
 

I love this type of pop up because you get to have two surprise messages.  When you pull the tab at the top, the card opens to reveal a message at the top of the card and also inside.  This is a real fun card to make.  I have to give a big thanks to my friend, Bonnie, at Love, Light, and Peace.  I am at her beautiful studio in the mountains playing and she was so kind to help me get this loaded today for all of you to see.

I gave this card a birthday theme for the Crazy4Challenges C4C58 challenge.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

 

 

  This is a card I did for 2 challenges.  The first challenge was for Our Daily Bread Designs with the theme of "leaves".  The 2nd challenge was  Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC88) with the challenge to ink and distress.  I created the top and bottom borders using a Martha Stewart border punch.  I used her corner punch to create the 3 leaves at the top of the oval.  I stamped the sunflowers stamps and cut them out using the only set I had (borrowed) from Our Daily Bread Designs.  I used Tombow markers to color them.  I layered them on top of a rust oval cut out using Spellbinders nestabilities.  The leaves are popped up to make them appear 3-D, though it is hard to see in the picture.  This is layered on top of another oval with the ends punched with MS floral border punch.  Both ovals are then layered on top of a Spellbinder label that I embossed with a leaf folder from Quick Cuts and then sanded. I used cardstock that was chocolate on one side and green on the other, so when I sanded it the green leaves came through.  I also sanded the edges of the label to give it a distressed edge.  The label is layered on top of a dark brown rectangle with both ends punched with the MS floral punch.  They just peek out under the label.  Everything is layered on top of the beautiful gold yellow card.  I sponged on some Tim Holtz Distress Ink on all the edges of the card, along with all the edges of the 2 ovals.  This really added to the color of the card.

The American Cancer Society

I have been extremely busy and have not had time to add any cards.  So sorry.  I have a few to add in the next day or so.


I just wanted to let any readers know that my daughter, Trisha Berquist, is an RA at college this year and her team is doing a fundraiser for Breast Cancer.  She has about 1 more week to collect.  What makes this more important to me is that I just found out that my youngest sister, Karla, has been diagnosed this last week with breast cancer.  Under these circumstances, I just feel the need to offer you an opportunity to donate.

If you are willing to send any kind of donation, please go to http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY11National?fr_id=28133&pg=pfind

Click on "Search for Walker" and enter Trisha Berquist and click Find. It will bring her up and you just click on Donate and it will take you through the process.

Thank you for any donations and also your prayers for my sister.

Marie