Card of sympathy

...for the family of a dear online stamping friend from another board, Glinda Chasteen (known as "Dreis1" over at TwoPeas) who died on Christmas Eve. Anna Griffin stamps. I hope her family will receive an avalanche of cards from her sister stampers.

Four challenges!

I woke up this morning, wanting to partcipate in all these challenges, but really not having enough time to do separate projects for each one. So, after a little planning (as I was washing floors!), I managed to do them all with one project. Here they are:

Created by Hand...make a Christmas ornament (I used one of my favourite Christmas papers, from Kaisercraft in Australia, with each of eight circles outlined with Krylon gold leafing ink)

Crazy Amigo...use hearts (there it is, hanging off my ornament, stamped with this beautiful Quietfire Design calligraphy Christmas tree) stamp

Arty Girlz...make SMALL art (my ornament is 2 1/2" in circumference)

Pretty Paper Hearts...use symbolism ( I used the Christmas tree and the heart itself...each symbol being self explanatory)

And here's the little paper ornament:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. This may well be my last blog post till the New Year, as I'm travelling to Quebec to spend the holidays with my daughter, son, and grandchildren. I wish you all a wonderful, safe, and peaceful holiday!

Relax!

Kianel was kind to us today over at Ismaki, and gave us an easy sketch. I think she knows how BUSY we all are! (lol) The current theme over at Wednesday Stamper is bows!

Here's my interpretation of the sketch...with a bow It's a little "Happy Hopper" reminder for us all to take some time for ourselves over the busy holidays. Thanks Kianel! The sentiment stamp is from Impression Obsession.

I'm looking forward to more wonderful sketch ideas from all
the Ismaki gals, and more great Wednesday Stamper
challenges in the New Year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS everybody!

Christmas ornament

This week's Cuttlebug Challenge is to make something other than a card, and over at Wednesday Stamper, we're to use bows. I'm creating several of these, in different colours, to include in Christmas cards for special friends. For this one, I alcohol-inked glossy cardstock, cut it with the Cuttlebug Christmas Tag die, embossed it with the Winter House and Swiss Dots embossing folders, then added the ribbon and some beads with a Swarovski Crystal heart. The ornament looks the same on the other side as well. I've done these before and attached them to Christmas cards, but I must say, I like them better all alone as "tuck-ins." That way, I can use more beads too! (lol) I've decided
to use this one as "car bling," and will hang it from my
rearview mirror as a little festive touch as I drive
from Nova Scotia to Quebec to spend the holidays
with my daughter, son, and grandkiddies.
Ooohhh, I LOVE Christmas!

Thanks for the challenges, and thank YOU
for taking some time to stop by my blog today!

Christmas card

This card is for my musical sister, and was created to share in some fun challenges: Created by Hand Tuesday (trees trio template), Audrey's TMTA (Seeing Red; I created my ATC as an arch and incorporated it into a card, hope that fits the challenge...can ATC's BE different shapes if they're the correct size??), Crissi's and Julie's Arty Girlz Tuesday (Favourite Medium . My favourite medium for Christmas this year is using watercolour markers for stamps...such a simple and fun technique!), Sandy's Crazy Amigos (Keeping Warm...what better to keep us warm than MUSIC and LOVE?), Sammi's Crafty Muse (let's make a Christmas card!) and Nancy's Gothic Arch Sunday (trees).

I used a sentiment stamp from Quietfire Design, and a flourish stamp from Inkadinkado.

Thank you so much for visiting today.
I hope you're ALL keeping warm and happily preparing for the holidays!

Sympathy Card

I've done this card for a dear friend whose husband recently died after a very long illness, during which she nursed him and cared for him over a period of many years. The card follows Beatrix's sketch this week over at Ismaki. The coloured background was created with Ecoline watercolour inks sprayed over Arches 140 pound cold pressed watercolour paper. I embossed and distressed the small squares with Tim Holtz Distress Inks, then outlined the larger background with Krylon 18 Kt Gold Metallic ink. The sentiment and flourish heart stamps are made from Suzanne's beautiful hand calligraphy, from Quietfire Design. The images are from Lunagirl CD's.

I really hope this card as a sympathy card doesn't offend anybody's sensibilties. I believe that sympathy cards don't necessarily need to be sombre or floral, but that they can reflect enduring love that transcends death. This beautiful sentiment stamp from Quietfire Design fits what I'm trying to convey.

Thank you for visiting today.

Madonna and Child

The current challenge at One Powerful Hour is to use altered dominoes, and over at TGIF, it's "games."Well, I LOVE dominoes...not to play the traditional game, but for artsy play. For this card, I printed my favourite Madonna and Child (Bernardino Luini's altered image on tissue paper, then cut it into three equal pieces and affixed them over three dominoes, and clear embossed each. I used a little UTEE, some old MM letter rub-ons, then added a tassel and a silk ribbon rose.

I have a framed print of this beautiful image in my "Happy Room," where I'm
lucky to enjoy hours of creating and art play every day.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.

Christmas tag

This week's Created by Hand challenge is to use the colours red and green, and the fun gals over at Crazy Amigo want to see our tags! I'm really enjoying challenges where I can create things to use for Christmas! I made ten of these for my daughter to use on her gifts this year. I love this stamp, one of the new Christmas releases from Quietfire Design. It's so festive and elegant, and works so well on these Cuttlebug tag shapes.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.
I wish you a creative week!

Arty Girlz Challenge

This week's challenge over at Arty Girlz is frames. I cut the frame with my new MM Slice, stamped it with a music score from Quietfire Design, used the SU scallop punch for the border and computer generated the sentiment. Thanks for the challenge ladies!