“On the wings of a …”

Hey all, Digistamps 4 Joy is having a DT call and a challenge! Digistamps 4 Joy will soon be a year old and they're looking for a new team to work with their diverse variety of images. Please send an email to jen @ jencraft . co . za (without the spaces...) with a brief description about your yourself, your blog link if you have one, and 2 -3 examples of your best work. Please also let us know which medium you like to use. Digistamps 4 Joy has fortnightly challenges, and all we ask of you is to design an inspiration card for each challenge, post it on your blog, and comment on the challenge entries.  We'd like you to be active on the DS4J group on CDAC, and participate in the various events, blog hops and challenges, etc.,  that DS4J is involved in.  And for that we will provide you with the images and necessary support that you require.  No real hard work, just a lot of FUN! Now for the challenge...I'm so excited because I've been invited to be a Guest Designer!! And this one is fabulous, not that they aren't all fabulous, but it gave me the chance to use one of my favorite types of stamp....a fairy! Don't you just love fairy's? With spring here and summer coming up we're going to be seeing lots of flying things....birds, butterfly's, bee's, moth's....or if you're really quiet and lucky, you might see a fairy fly by. So the subject for this challenge is "On the Wings of a....". All you have to do is use a digital image with wings! And boy did I luck out with the incredible image I was given to use. Now I could go on and on about it, but I think seeing is believing lol.

Is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I was in love with her as soon as I saw her. Let's get a close up of her....

Her name is Funky Fairy Kelly and you can find her here. I decided to put her on a Criss Cross card and I'll have to get back to you on where to find the tutorial, I can't seem to find it now lol. The sentiment is from Blue Bird Flats and it says Spread your wings and let the Fairy in you fly. The sentiment is on a insert that you remove. I used Prisma Scholar pencil crayons to color her and added some Gold Gelly Roll pen to the spots on her wings and around the sentiment circle.
So what are you waiting for? Oh...you want to know what you can win. Well check this out:

One random winner will be chosen (random.org) to win 3 images of choice from the store.

We will then have a DT's choice award. This award will go to the card / project that we vote to be our favourite (and must be a digistamps4joy image). This winner will receive a $6 gift voucher to spend in the store.

You do not need to use a Digistamps4Joy image to win.

We will choose 2 runners-up who we feel deserve a spot in the top 3.

       Challenge Rules:

You can use any image for the challenges. See above.

You have two weeks to enter the challenge.

Your entry must be new. No backlinking to previous posts.

Please link back to Digistamps 4 Joy blog.

Projects that do not follow the theme will not be entered into the draw.

Please use the Inlinkz to link to your CARD/ PROJECT only, please don't link to your entire blog.

You may combine this challenge with other challenges.

If you don't have a blog then please load your card/ project into the gallery on the website, and link to that.

The most important rule, however, is to have fun!

So spread your wings and fly on over to Digistamps 4 Joy challenge blog and join in the fun. And while you're there, why don't you check out their marvelous images for yourself. You can find their store here.

Supplies used:

Uncolored Image - Funky Fairy Kelly by Digistamps 4 Joy
DP (Polka dots) - BoBunny
DP (Butterfly's) - Create with TLC
Sentiment - Blue Bird Flats
Colored with Prisma Scholar and oms and Gold Gelly Roll pen
Prisma Mulberry Mini Roses
Flowers made with a small 5 petal punch and the BoBunny paper
Rhinstones were a win from some blog candy from Lori

Challenges entered:

Digistamps4Joy - Challenge #20 - On the Wings of a....
Paper Crafting Journey - Challenge # 11 - Anything Goes/ Your Favorite
2 Sisters - Challenge #41 - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Week 105 - Things with Wings
My Mum's Crafting Shop - Challenge #8 - Things with Wings
Take a Word - Challenge #31 - Wings
Crafts and Me - Challenge #37 - Punch it Out

Happy Father's Day

Hey all...so Father's Day is coming up and Digistamps4Joy has a great challenge to get those juices flowing for making a guy card. It's called Boys, Boys, Boys! The idea is to make a card for a guy...any kind of card as long as it's for a guy. Seemed like the perfect excuse to get working on my dad's Father's Day card.

So I went with an image that I've used once before...but it just seemed perfect for a Father's Day card. It's the Mark Twain image from Nicecrane Designs. I just love this image...I'm totally into scenary and so is my dad. I'm hoping that the flowers and pearls don't make it look too girly...but I just love the look of it with them lol. The fold that I went with is called a Funky Fold and you can find the tutorial for it here.

 The challenge is still running for another 4 days, so what are you waiting for...get over there and check it out. The winner of the DT Choice award (must be a Digistamps4Joy image) will receive a $6 gift voucher for in the store. There will also be 2 runners up that the DT feels deserve a spot in the top 3. So what are you waiting for...head on over and check out the challenge...and while you're there, have a look in their store...you won't be disappointed! They have something for all your cardmaking needs!

Supplies used:

CS - Bazzil
DP - Colorbok
Pearls - Recollections
Sentiment - My own
Flowers - Recollections Mulberry Mini Roses, homemade white one`s, and polkadot one`s from my stash
Colored with Prisma Scholar pencil crayons and oms

Challenges entered:

Digistamps4Joy - Challenge #19 - Boys, Boys, Boys.
Digi Doodle`s Best - Challenge #60 - Anything Goes

Fun in the Sun Birthday

I have a very dear friend who has a birthday coming up at the end of the month. And I was trying to figure out something especially different for her for her birthday card. I mean, flowers are nice, but I wanted something a little more fun and unique because she is such a fun and unique lady. And Guylou of Guylou's Inimitability gave me the  perfect idea. She has a new image out called Leah at the Beach. What better way to celebrate a birthday than to have some fun in the sun! She also had a challenge that asked you to make a shaker card, so this is what I came up with.

I made Leah on a beach with an actual beach background at sunset. She's had a long happy day at the beach. And just for a little something different...I'm sending my friend some sand in the shaker card...flowersoft sand that is! With a few shells just in case she likes to collect them.

You can find Leah at the Beach here, and the directions for the shaker card here. I then added a wonderful sentiment that I found at Splitcoast Stampers.

Supplies used:

Uncolored Image: Leah at the Beach by Guylou's Inimitability

CS by Colorblok

DP by Colorblok

Flowersoft Sand

Blue Moon Beads Metal Charms

Recollections Pre-adhesived flat backed pearls

Other embellishments in the sand from my stash

Recollections Mulberry Mini Roses

Portafolia Blue and Pink Flowers

Colored with Prisma Scholar pencil crayons and OMS

White Gel pen (for the umbrella handle)

Challenges entered:

Guylou's Inimitability - Shakerbox card

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Bloom and Grow

Crafty Pad Designs - Challenge 121 - Holes

Card Makin Mama's Challenge Blog - Challenge #20 - Recipe

Mami Doodles Digital Images - Challenge #26 - Spots and or Stripes

Shelly's Images TTT Challenge - 5/19/11 - Anything Goes

Happy Anniversary....to Us!!

Good afternoon all. As my title implies, we had an anniversary yesterday! Twenty-four years...wow...I still can't believe that it's been that long. When I first started thinking of a sentiment to put in my card to my dh, my first thoughts were "Holy crap...where the heck (other word actually used here but I cleaned it up lol) did all that time go?". But it didn't go with the theme of the card, so I had to discard it lol. I just can't believe that next year we will be celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary....now I know why it's called the silver...it's for all the silver going through your hair at this point in your life lol.

Anyways, I was going through some of our wedding photo's, just kinda remenising...wondering where the heck that skinny body went to....and it gave me my idea for my card. So, without boring you any more...here's what I came up with.

So the center picture is obviously me and my hubby, curtesy of a police photographer that my dear sister knew. I cut out the center and the border piece using my scalloped Nestibilities. I then decided that I needed to add a stamp and what better than a bride and groom. Helen, from Elephantastic, has this absolutely adorable bride and groom image that I thought fit this card perfectly. After all, the groom is wearing a top hat just like my hubby! I colored them with colors as close to ours as I could get and added some Star Dust stickles to the bride's veil and dress. I also added some to the mini roses cause you can never have enough gitter, right?

I thought the perfect sentiment was one that I got from Shannon at Shannon's Sentiments...kinda says it all doesn't it?

Supplies used:

Uncolored image by Elephantastic
Sentiment by Shannon's Sentiments
CS from my stash
Image colored with Prisma Scholar pencil crayons and oms, Gelly Rolls Metalic Pink and Gold gel pens.
Recollections Mulberry paper mini roses
Scalloped Nestibilities
Recollections pre glued flatbacked white pearls
Stardust Stickles
Crafty Punch Oak Leaf punch


Challenges entered:

Shannon's Sentiments - 3 flowers and No Patterned Paper
Shelly's Images - Bling is a Girl's Best Friend
Papertake Weekly - Bloom and Grow
The Crafty Pad Designs - Challenge 121 - Holes

Remember When

Remember when thirty seemed so old
Now lookn' back it's just a steppin' stone
To where we are,
Where we've been
Said we'd do it all again
Remember when

Those are some of the words to one of my favorite Alan Jackson song. And I thought that they would be the perfect way to introduce the challenge that Ignacio, from Nicecrane Designs, has going right now. Ignacio has now started having weekly challenges!! They run every Thursday to Wednesday. Now you can use any image, and still have a chance to win one of his fabulous digistamps and be able to post a "Top Three" badge on your blog. BUT, if you use one of his images  you will receive your entry  into the prize challenge!! Now you're probably asking yourself, what's so special about this prize challenge? Well I'll tell you, whoever win the prize challenge wins a $30 gift certificate to use in his store!! Yes, you read that right....A $30 GIFT CERTIFICATE !! Now how great is that? And if you become a member of his blog you never know what you might get in return. 


So this is Nicecrane's third challenge, and this week it's Remembering Your Childhood. I used an image that Ignacio so kindly gave to me. It's called Mark Twain...what's better for remembering your childhood than days spent lazily floating down the river with Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer? And as I remembered curling up with a Mark Twain story it reminded me of other things that I used to do as a kid. So without further adeu...here's my card.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good enough picture so that you could see the little cabin in the background (I was in a rush as we were already running late for the birthday celebration this card was going to lol). You could see the cabin well enough IRL, but not in my picture. I printed the Mark Twain image, that you can find here, onto a frame by Bird's Cards. Then colored it with my Prisma Scholastic pencil crayons and oms.

Then I added some "Memories" to the two side panels.

Then I took the fishing reel and fishing net that I got from Vickie at Nana Vic's and added them, just as a reminder of those lazy days spent fishing as a kid. You can find the reel, net and a few other fishing "goodies" at her store here. I then added my sentiment (I will have to get back to you on where I found that one cause the paper I wrote it down on is lost in amongst all of my crafting frenzie yesterday lol.

If you would like the tutorial on the Triple Twisted Easle Card, you can find it here.  I made mine 6x9, so that my squares were 3x3 each. And by the way...the gentleman I made this for loved it!

Supplies used:

Uncolored images: Mark Twain by Nicecrane Designs and Rod and Net by Nana Vic
CS and DP from my stash
Prisma Scholastic pencil crayons and oms
Gold and Silver Metallic Gelly Rollers
Recollections pre-sticky bronze flat backed pearls

Challenges Entered:

Nicecrane Designs - Challenge #3 - Childhood Memories

 

Harking back to a gentler time

Oh my goodness, I can't believe that it's been so long since I last posted. But have I ever got something unique to show you today. Ignacio, from Nicecrane Crane Designs, has just come out with a fabulous line of Victorian Calling Cards. That's right, calling cards!

History of the calling card:

When visiting friends, or "making calls," people would leave a card at the front door or parlor, even if the person they were visiting was home. They were used as a reminder about who had visited recently and deserved a visit in turn. Sometimes a loving greeting was added, though the card alone was considered a message.

It was considered a "red-letter day," a term that originated with the tradition of marking holy days in a church calendar in red, when a young "maid" or man was granted his or her first visiting card. As for babies whose cards were sent out by their parents, theirs was "the tiniest and daintiest of cards, fit for fairies!" according to one Victorian Lady, Margaret Sangster, in her etiquette book entitled Good Manners For All Occasions.

The fashions of calling cards varied with the trends; sometimes middle initials were fashionable, other times not; some cards were ornate such as these, while others were of a "severe style," particularly for the gentlemen.

Now isn't that a marvelous idea? Now Ignacio has a whole line of these beautiful cards and all you have to do is add your own information onto them. Here is the one that he so graciously did for me.

Isn't it absolutely stunning? I just love those wonderful little birds and their nest in amongst all those gorgeous flowers. And you could use these for so many different things. If you're a crafter it's prefect to give with an item that you have sold, or when you give a gift to someone where a card might not be an option. As for me I'm thinking of using it on the back of my cards,  etc. I'm sure that you could find many reasons to hand out such a beautiful card. If you'd like to see the whole line that Ignacio has, you can find them here, at Nicecrane Designs. While you're there, why not check out the rest of his store...he has some of the most fabulous Victorian images, paper, etc. So why don't you head on over? You won't be disappointed. And if you're interested in seeing what people have done with some of his wonderful designs, you can find some marvelous ideas on his blog .