Creative Journey

Thought of You Today...and smiled {Mojo Monday 281 | Shabby Tea Room Week 154}

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since my last post mostly because I have been focusing on my "one little word" for this year: RENEW.

I have asked God to reveal to me the areas in my life which need renewal...relationships (with Him, my family, my loved ones, and friends), my heart and spirit, the use of the gifts and talents He has given to me, and so much more! To think of them all at once becomes quite overwhelming, but I am so thankful that He is gracious enough to reveal to me only one area at a time and to focus on only one thing at a time. Each moment becomes an opportunity to change, and it has been a blessing (and challenge!) to be able to see and experience changes within myself and the way I think that creates a renewed perspective and outlook on my life.

Yesterday I had the blessing of a few moments to get my creative juices goin'! How excited I was to finally have some time to be inspired and to focus on creating something with all of you in mind. When I think about the privilege of sharing a project with you, I feel so warm and happy inside! So I just wanted say thank you for taking the time to visit right now! I love the thought that you are here, and I truly hope that you may be inspired to join in on the challenges that I am sharing with you today!

For this project, I was inspired by this week's sketch #281 over at Mojo Monday. Those of you who know me know that I love using sketches as a springboard for the projects I create, and the Mojo Monday sketch blog is a great source of inspiration every week!  Here's this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

The following is my take on the sketch. I chose to use hearts in place of the circle elements in the sketch and this is what resulted:

Another place I often go to for inspiration is The Shabby Tea Room, and the challenge this week was to use the colors aqua and brown with a silver embellishment. For this project, I used silver glass glitter as a border around the hearts. I just love the shimmer and bling glitter adds to this project! :)

Supplies used: Paper (Prima, Recollections cardstock), crystal swirls and ivory flowers (Prima), doily, lace, ribbon and rose (craft store)

Please take a moment to check out the following challenge blogs that are hosting some wonderfully inspiring challenges as well:

• Ooh La La Creations Challenges - shimmer and shine challenge
• Dream Valley Challenges - ribbon and bling
• Stampavie and More - lots of layers
• The Ribbon Girl Blog - February colour challenge
• The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - pretty pastels

I plan to add these to the list of challenge blogs I will visit for inspiration, too!

So will you join me this week and create something pretty with either the sketch or the challenges I shared? I hope so! If you do, please feel free to comment and leave a link to your project! I would love to see your creations!

 

Birthday Wishes - Mojo Monday #271 - 'Shabby Chic Holiday' #144

Hello dear friends!

It has been a long time since I have had an opportunity to post on my blog, and it's high time that I've done anything creative!  I have forgotten how much I enjoy paper crafting, and today has been a day during which I made a wonderful creative mess all over the house! I have left scraps, glitter, embossing powder, and ink in three different rooms of our home in order to create just one card that I will be sharing with you today.

Today's project is inspired by the Shabby Chic Holiday challenge over at the Shabby Tea Room. When I saw the inspiration photo, it really got my creative juices flowing. This week's Mojo Monday sketch also made it simple for me to put what I had in mind together to create the following card. I actually took the sketch and turned it upside down...

I embossed the aqua panel using a folder from Couture Creations and then layered a die cut arch from the layered elegant swirl set by Heartfelt Creations and cut from silver glitter paper on top of it.  The floral patterned paper is mounted on more glitter paper and layered with cream and aqua lace.

The flower was made using the Spellbinders Rose Creations dies and then painted with pink glimmer mist and a layer of diamond stickles. It rests on top of a die cut element from the Spellbinders vintage lace motifs set and is embellished with silver leaves.

The sentiment is bordered with a glittered name plate from Making Memories, and the card is completed with a Prima crystal swirl.

My dear husband blessed me with an early Christmas present, and I was able to choose my gift this year. I do believe that he is weary of trying to figure out what I would like to receive, and I didn't make it any easier because I delayed in giving him any form of wish list (I really didn't know what to ask for since I already had everything that I needed and wanted already!).  Well, the dies and embossing folder used in this project were part of his gift to me, and I am so grateful that I was able to put them to good use today!

Here are the two images that inspired this project. I hope that you are inspired to be creative this week! If so, please leave a comment or link to your project below, and it would be my pleasure to see what you've created as well!

 

 

 

 

I LoveYou Forever...Mojo Monday 227

Happy Monday to you all! :)

I have a few projects to share with you today inspired by the following challenges:

John 3:16 Challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ

Pink challenge  #134 at the Pink Elephant

 

For the first card I used this week's sketch at Mojo Monday 227:

Here's my take on the sketch:

I used the color combination from the Love is in the Air recipe challenge at Our Creative Corner. 

The grey floral and pink patterned paper are from My Mind's Eye and the journaling card and tag are from Daisy D's.

The Tattered Angels chipboard frame was painted with Shimmerz Poinsettia Pink Blingz and embellished with Prima flowers and pink seam binding ribbon. Layered under the frame is a white doily and Making Memories metal border. I used Prima rhinestone swirls to complete the card.

Next is a card inspired by the Love is in the Air recipe challenge at Our Creative Corner and the following CPS 5th Anniversary Day 8  sketch #102:

The pink MyMind's Eye patterned paper is layered on top of grey shimmery DCWV cardstock. I layered a pink Melissa Frances glittered heart on top of a heart shaped doily. Using a EK Success border punch, I created a short border using silver glittered paper from The Paper Studio.

To complete the card, I embellished the heart with Prima flowers, a Creative Imaginations epoxy sticker and Prima rhinestone swirls.

 

For the next card I used CPS 5th Anniversary Day 7 Sketch #242:

 

 

Starting with a cream card base, I mounted kraft colored cardstock that was embossed along the edges using my Scor-It tool. Layered on top of the kraft cardstock are patterned papers from My Mind's Eye and DCWV shimmery grey cardstock.

A length of lace is used as a border as well as a length of pink seam binding ribbon and a piece of Making Memories metal border. An embossed and stitched mini tag is tucked under the ribbon border.

Under the Tattered Angels chipboard frame is a piece of text patterned paper from My Mind's Eye. The sentiment is made up of Making Memories mini alpha stickers and a K & Company epoxy sticker. To complete the card, a glittered heart from Prima is combined with a Prima flower and a seam binding bow, and pink Prima rhinestone swirls are added to finish it off.

 

The last card I'll be sharing today was created by using the Moxie Fab Fancy Schmancy color combination and  CPS 5th Anniversary Day 4 Sketch #220:

My Mind's Eye patterned papers are stitched and layered on top of a white card base for this card. The label was cut from a piece of My Mind's Eye patterned paper and adhered on top of a lace border.

The Tim Holtz name plate frames a sentiment cut from a piece of Creative Imaginations ribbon, and dark pink seam binding was threaded through the sides of the name plate. Finally, the "yours" rub on is placed above the name plate and a Prima flower and pink rhinestone swirls complete the card.

If you've gotten this far in this post, I thank you!!! I had a productive weekend and Monday morning and just wanted to share the projects I created with all of you today. I hope and pray that you enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Lucky in Love...Mojo Monday 226 | True Love Always...CardPatterns 150

Happy Wednesday to you all! I can't believe it's the first day of February already! A month has gone by, and this year has been filled with so many blessings already! Thank the Lord for His wonderful grace! :)

Today I'd like to share a couple of projects. The first one is inspired by the love and hearts challenge at Truly Scrumptious and this week's color challenge #47 at CR84FN:

and the Mojo Monday Sketch #226:

My card didn't turn out to be either round or square, but a shaped card based on the Prima journaling card I used for the background. Take a look at what I created:

I layered some lace, a Jenni Bowlin bingo card, ribbon, flower trim, a Tattered Angels chipboard frame, mini alpha and sentiment stickers, and a Melissa Frances glittered heart on top of the background paper.

I love this color combination! It's one of my favorite combinations for Valentine's Day!

Next, is a card inspired by the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger - Fancy Schmancy challenge, the So Romantic challenge at the Kraft Journal and this week's CardPatterns Sketch 150:

Here's the inspiration photo from the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger:

This is my take on the challenges:

Inspired by the colors from the Moxie Fab inspiration photo, I started with a chocolate brown cardstock base for the card, My Mind's Eye striped patterned paper and tan ledger paper, layered with a length of embroidered lace with a zig zag stitched border.

The card is embellished with a Tattered Angels chipboard frame, Recollections pearls, a Daisy D's journaling tag, and a Creative Imaginations sentiment. 

Finally, a Melissa Frances glittered heart, Prima flowers, a vintage silk flower, and pink seam binding ribbon are added to the card to finish it off!

I have to say that I truly enjoy participating in challenges because they provide the spark of inspiration that I need to get a project started. Here are a few more challenges that you may want to try this week as they have been a source of inspiration for the projects shown above:

Show Us Your Style at Stampin' Sisters in Christ

Ribbon Challenge at the Secret Crafters Saturday Challenges

Lovely Lace Challenge at Paper Play Challenges

Diamonds or Pearls Challenge at Stamptacular Sunday

I also wanted to thank CardPatterns for the honor of having this card for Sketch 149  chosen as one of the Super 6 for the week. I am so blessed to be able to display this on my blog:

Please check the CardPatterns challenge blog this Saturday for a new sketch! I have the blessing of being a guest designer there for the upcoming Sketch 151 so you'll also see the project I created with it!

So...are many of you creating handmade cards for your loved ones this coming Valentine's Day? If so, I would love to see your creations! Post a link here so I can see what you've made for your special someone, and I'll visit your blog and take a peek!

I hope you all have a wonderful day today!

 

http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/2012/01/challenge-124-ph-48.html

Lots of Love and A Whole Lot of Pink - Mojo Monday 224

Hello Friends!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! We happened to get a few clouds on Saturday, and then we had some showers on Sunday which was quite refreshing. However, it also brought some coldness that we have not had in a while (yes, we are spoiled here! ;D ).  Despite the clouds and gloomy weather we had today, I was able to create some projects with colors that brought some brightness to my day!

The first card is inspired by today's Mojo Monday Sketch #224:

Here's my take on the sketch:

For this card, I used patterned papers from My Mind's Eye, Prima flowers, Martha Stewart trim, and Recollection rhinestone swirls.

The next card is inspired by the Card Patterns Sketch #148 and the Pixie Dust Paperie January Love Notes challenge:

Here's my card:

There's more My Mind's eye papers on this plus die cut images from K & Company's Valentine Ephemera Die Cut Cardstock pack. I also used the filigree border die and round floral dies from the Limitless Layers collection by Paper Trey Ink and an eyelet circle die from Spellbinders. The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby, the lace is from Dollar Tree, and the rhinestone swirls are from Prima.

The last card that I'll be sharing today is inspired by Cardabilities Sketch #47 and the Pixie Dust Paperie January Love Notes challenge:

The background paper is from 7 Gypsies, and this card is layered with a Wilton circle doily and some pink My Mind's eye patterned paper punched with a Martha Stewart border punch. The momogram card is from Fancy Pants, and the mini tickets are from K & Company's Valentine Ephemera Die Cut Cardstock pack. I used Paper Trey Ink dies from the Limitless Layers collection and the Doily Details Collection. Finally, I used Prima flowers and swirls to complete the card.

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope your week is filled with lots of love and colors that make you happy, too! :)

Many Thanks...

Good afternoon! What another beautiful day we're having here!  I can see the bright blue skies and lush green hills through the windows near my desk, and it's absolutely lovely! Praise God for His wonderful creation!

Today, I would like to share a couple of projects that I've created. Both are thank you cards, and I have to confess that I have enjoyed making them! Whenever I create thank you cards, I am reminded of the blessings for which I ought to be thankful, and my heart simply fills with joy at the thought of how gracious the Lord is to us!  I will have to share about our family's experience this past Thanksgiving at a later time, but it is one of the events that truly reminds me of His loving care for us in the midst of an unexpected disaster and potential tragedy.

Well...on to the projects!

The first card was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday sketch, the Pink Elephant TPE130 Challenge, and the Moxie Fab World Die Cutting Challenge.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on the sketch:

See that pretty rose? Well, that was actually created using Tim Holtz's Tattered Pine Cone die. When I assembled the flower, I simply formed it by curling down the petals and shaping it to look more like a rose rather than a pine cone!

For this year, I've decided to try to use as much of the papers and embellishments that I've been saving to create more projects. I'm hoping that I'll be able to whittle down some of my accumulated stash so that I can justify buying new stuff soon! Heehee! :)  I used a Teresa Collins text paper for the background, a piece of damask paper from My Mind's Eye Home collection (from the 6x6 paper pad), a journaing card from Creative Imaginations, and a sentiment stamp from Paper Trey Ink's Think Big Favorites #1 stamp set. 

This card is also embellished with lace from Hobby Lobby, Prima crystal swirls, and glitter paper swirls that were die cut using Tim Holtz's Elegant Flourishes die. I stitched the Melissa Frances glitter heart and added a couple of flowers from Michaels to finish it off!

The next card was inspired by the With Thanks Challenge at Creative Inspirations.  I didn't get it posted in time before the challenge deadline, but I wanted to give credit for the inspiration source. :)

For this card, I embossed the card front with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, layered a length of pleated ribbon from Hobby Lobby onto a piece of stitched patterned paper, added a journaling card from Creative Imaginations, and layered the left over piece of the journaling card from the first card above. The sentiment is made using Making Memories mini alpha stickers, and the card is finished off with Prima flowers, a Tattered Angels chipboard frame, and Sizzix swirls die cut from green glitter paper.

Thanks so much for visiting today! May you all have time to create something beautiful, and I hope you all have a blessed week!

Happy New Year!

Hello dear friends!

I hope and pray that all of you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season! I know I say this often, but I can't believe how quickly time has gone by! It has been quite some time since I have updated my blog, and I thought it would be a good time to begin again with a new project that I just created today. Yes, it's the first one for this year, and truth be told, it's probably the fifth project that I've created in the past year (REALLY! No joking! :D).

This is the card that I created using today's sketch (Sketch #222) over at Mojo Monday. The MM sketches and designers are so inspiring! I just had to pull out some papers that I had been hoarding in my stash and make this:

Please forgive me for the dark photo. After such a long break from blogging, I feel like I'm re-learning how to photograph and edit photos all over again! Hehe! :)

Here's a close-up of the front of the card:

The papers are from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Collection called Portobello Road. I used the papers from the 6x6 paper pad, and they are perfect for making cards like this! The banner and sentiment were cut from the papers in the pad and were embellished with a bit of Ranger Crystal Stickles, silver alpha stickers from Stampendous, and aqua seam binding ribbon. The flower is from Prima, and the ribbon and trim are from the local craft store. I also embossed the paper beneath the mini banner with a damask Cuttlebug embossing folder for added texure.

I am looking forward to being able to share more creations with you all again, and I am already planning what I will be posting in the near future with you. There are some loose strings that need to be tied, and I will be working on those hopefully this weekend so stay tuned!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! It is a true blessing to be able to create again! I hope that you are inspired to create something with the sketch as well, and if you do, please let me know! I would love to see your creations, too!

Much love and blessings to you all!

~ Christine

Glitz Maya Collection Cards

Good morning! Today I’d like to share a couple of cards that I created using some yummy Glitz Design products from the Maya collection!  As a part of the card design team, I am so very honored to be able to use their wonderful products for these projects, and this collection was the first thing to catch my eye after opening up the box of goodies from Glitz Design. I love the vibrant colors and grungy feel of this collection, and I just knew that I would dig into them first for my debut projects with Glitz Design!

The first card was created using this past week’s Card Patterns Sketch 64. I used navy blue Bazzill cardstock for the card base and layered a white cardstock mat which was punched with an EK Success border punch on top of the card base. Next, I took a piece of Glitz Design patterned paper (Maya Polka from the Maya collection) and stitched a border around it with my sewing machine.

 

Then I die cut a piece of navy cardstock, embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder, painted a layer of Blue Into Town Shimmerz Pearlz on it, and added a gold border using my Krylon gold metallic marker. On top of this die cut piece is a die cut  and embossed chipboard heart painted with Grammie Berrie Shimmerz Pearlz. I added a Prima flower and the Glitz Design sentiment sticker and adhered it to the card front. Finally, I wrapped a piece of crinkled seam binding and a bow embellished with a gold button onto the card.

The second card was inspired by this week’s sketch 139 over at the Mojo Monday blog. This time my card base was made from white cardstock, and I used another piece of Glitz Design Maya Polka patterned paper. What can I say? I love it! I punched the bottom border using a Martha Steward border punch. Next, I drew a border around the patterned paper and embellished it with pearls in each corner as well as along the bottom border of the paper.

 

I cut a piece of Glitz Design Maya Damask paper and painted the edges with white gesso. On top of this piece is a measuring tape sticker from Glitz Design, a die cut chipboard that was embossed, sprayed with Shimmerz Snow Storm Vibez spray, and painted with Green with Envy Shimmerz Pearlz. After adhering the chipboard piece to the card front, I embellished it with a Prima flower and a couple of crinkled seam binding pieces.

Thank you for joining me today! I hope that you’ve enjoyed seeing the new Maya collection products from Glitz Design on these cards. They were so fun to work with!

Thank You - Mojo Monday 129

Good Monday afternoon! I hope  you all enjoyed your weekend! Unfortunately, mine wasn't as pleasant as I had hoped. We were supposed to go to my twin nephews' birthday party yesterday, but I experienced a very bad headache and noticed that my blood pressure was out of control  (it wouldn't even register on our blood pressure monitor, and I took it five times!!). Well, I knew then that I would just have to stay home and get some rest. Today I'm feeling much better, and even more so after creating this card. I believe that being inspired and enjoying the process of creating actually makes a huge  difference in my mood! I always leave my craft area feeling happy! :)

 

This card was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday sketch, and I used lots of Prima goodies on this! The patterned papers, journaling paper, flower, crystal swirls, and lace are all from Prima. I sprayed the tag with some Shimmerz Razzle Dazzle Berry Vibez, and the green patterned paper was spritzed with Hermit the Frog Vibez and Baby's Breath Spritz. I also sprayed the journaling paper with Baby's Breath Spritz. The thank you sentiment is a new stamp from Teresa Collins' Chic Bebe Girl collection. After stamping the sentiment, I sprayed it with Hermit the Frog Vibez and Baby's Breath Spritz, edged it with some Martha Stewart clear coarse glitter, and adhered it to the card with foam mounting tape. The border punch is from Martha Stewart and the seam binding ribbon is from this etsy store.

I'd like to thank all of you who have already shared your first love story with me these past couple of days. They have been such a blessing to read! If you haven't done so yet, please take a moment read this post and leave a comment sharing your love story by this Friday. You'll be entered in the drawings for one of these RAK's:

 

I hope you have a wonderfully creative day, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Thank You Card

Good morning! It looks like it will turn out to be a beautiful day today...at least that's what I'm hoping for after all the rain that fell here yesterday. I must admit that we are spoiled with nice weather most of the time so when it comes to rain, which we certainly need, it often comes as a surprise and I, personally, begin wishing for clear skies again. Isn't that silly of me?  :)

Well, today I'd like to share a card I created which was inspired by quite a number of things. First, I happened to watch Rhonna Farrer's tutorial for making these great fabric flowers yesterday. I've been wondering how to create them for a while now and her video tutorial was so easy to understand! I ended up creating six flowers using some aqua organza fabric I had on hand and using one of them for my project below.

The card layout was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday 125 sketch and the colors come from Melissa Phillip's color palette from the Paper Trey Ink color challenge. 

Isn't this color palette simply delish? I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for this week's Cuttlebug Challenge (which happens to be a fabric challenge as well!).

After embossing the aqua cardstock, I misted it with some Shimmerz Sea Monkey Vibez (love that color!). The dark raspberry Bazzill bling cardstock and vintage music paper were cut using a design in SCAL and cut with my Cricut. The music paper was lightly misted with Shimmerz Sea Monkey Vibez as well.

The sentiment, which is from Paper Trey Ink, was stamped with Stampin' Up white craft ink on pink K & Company patterned paper, and then embossed with white embossing powder. 

Finally, I embellished the card with some ribbon, the rolled fabric flower, and my favorite Prima embellishments: flowers and crystal swirls. The dark raspberry flower was spritzed with Razzle Dazzle Berry Vibez. I created the light pink flowers from white tissue paper using a Sizzix die, painted the edges of the petals with Shimmerz Ballet Pink Pearlz paint, and sprinkled a little Martha Stewart glitter on them. The flower centers are rhinestones from Darice and the largest one is from Blue Moon beads.

I need to get started on my special "love" project for my hubby today. Actuallly, it's just as much for me as it is for him...it's inspired by I Corinthians 13, and I know that it will be a blessing to meditate on those verses as I create it.  Hopefully, I'll have it done in time for Valentine's Day!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a blessed day!