Rose's Bike Ride

I've had this stamp coloured for about a week now but only just got around to making it up into a card. The stamp is called Rose's Bike Ride and is from Whimsy Stamps - Wee Stamps. She is coloured with Copic markers and I have added some glossy accents to the flowers. I used distress ink to ink around the edge while the picture was still in the Spellbinders die.

You can't really see it in the photo but I've swiped some gesso across the DP and then inked over the whole lot with DI Tattered Rose. There is then a diecut circle which has been embossed with Spellbinders enhancing elements gold rounds one and inked with distress ink. The tag, purple flower and metal "leaf" have had frantage shabby pink EP added to them.

I am entering this card in the Shabby Tea Room challenge - Week #211 'Bits and Bobbles'. This is the inspiration photo, and you need to include flowers, buttons and a print/sentiment.

Materials:
Copics: C1, C3, C5, R11, R20, E00, E11, N4, N8, R12, E44, E47, V25, R14, V22, R17, V20, N6, YR21, E25, V28, R05, R02, R00, YG05, YG00, E40, YG0000, B0000, E42, N2, YG17, YG03, E31 and colourless blender.
Stamps: Whimsy Stamps - Wee Stamps "Rose's Bike Ride" and the sentiment is also Whimsy Stamps but I'm not sure what collection it is from as it came free with a magazine.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Ink Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet
Cardstock: Bazzill textured Fawn and Flamingo, X-Press It blending card, Our Daily Bread Designs, Heart and Soul Collection, Prima Marketing Jodie Lee Designs Delight
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Labels Eight, Cheery Lynn Dies Tags 1, Sizzix circle framelit, Spellbinders Nestabilities Enhancing Elements Gold Rounds One
Other: Stampendous! Frantage Shabby Pink embossing powder, Versamark watermark pen, flowers from my stash, Bo Bunny Blossoms Blush Zinnia, Beutron Craft Button, AnnaBelle Stamps Hemp Twine natural, X-Press It clear gel glue, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape, X-Press It double sided tape, Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals Vintage Trinkets leaves, lace from my stash, Creativ Lace ribbon, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Vanilla Breeze, Prima Marketing Say it in Crystals and Atlier traditional gesso primer.

ODBDSLC196 - Any ODBD Stamps

This the last challenge in our series of 4 challenges where we are celebrating the 6th Anniversary of Our Daily Bread Designs being open for business! To finish off the celebrations we want to see your creations using your favourite Our Daily Bread Designs stamp. This challenge will run for 2 weeks!

 I have so many favourites it was hard to choose! Here is what I came up with:

I've used a number of stamps and dies from Our Daily Bread Designs including Missing You, Don't Worry, Scripture Series 1, (Large Bird Background), ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies, ODBD Elegant Oval Dies, ODBD Decorative Corners Dies, ODBD Ornate Borders and Flowers Dies, ODBD Beautiful Borders Dies and ODBD Blooming Garden Paper Collection.

For more inspiration for this challenge please visit my talented design team sisters:

Chris Olsen ~ Linda Carson ~ Diana Nguyen

Cheryl Scrivens ~ DJ Rants ~ Robin Clendenning

To see all the creations from the designers in one place or to join the challenge, click here. You have until 8 pm Sunday, 6 April EST (or 8 am Monday, 7 April AWST) to join us. For this anniversary challenge you may only use Our Daily Bread Designs stamps. If you participate you have the chance to win a $15 gift certificate toward ODBD stamps at their store or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award.

 We would love to see your creations!! 

(Please remember - for this challenge - ODBD stamps only!)

Some more pictures of my card:

I've used Green Tara flowers (both 2 cm and 3 cm) and used E70 and YR01 Copic markers to colour in the very edge of each petal. I then dripped some Copic colourless blender various ink from the edge of each petal which pushes the colour a little further down each petal. I have sprayed some Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Down the Rabbit Hole over each flower then, once dry, added some Stickles Star Dust.

The butterfly stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs' Don't Worry set actually faces the other way, but I have mirror stamped it. I did this by placing a large clear stamp face down on one of my acrylic stamping blocks and then stamped the butterfly onto the back of this clear stamp. I then took the clear stamp with the butterfly stamped on it and stamped that onto my cardstock - which gives the mirror (or reverse) image of your stamp.

You may have noticed that I have Our Daily Bread Designs' Large Bird Background in brackets in my list of products used at the top of my blog post. Well that's because I did use it - but you can hardly see it once I finished my card! I used Perfect Medium to stamp the background on the Blooming Garden DP and then added Perfect Pearls Pewter. It does give a little more "interest" to the background - but I really did cover it up in the end!

Isaiah 40:8 is my favourite Bible verse (you can see it at the top of my blog) and even though I didn't use it on the cover of my mini album - I did write about it in my post. I've just copied and pasted what I wrote back then about why this verse is my favourite:

 

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever!"

I love this verse simply because it reminds me that God is eternal and His Word is everlasting. God's creations are so beautiful and breathtaking - magnificent sunsets, stunning flowers, breathtaking scenery - but God is so much more than all of this. All of these eventually disappear - sunsets are fleeting, flowers wither and die and landscapes change in many ways. But God is our rock and never changing. It's so comforting to know He is always there for us - solid as a rock.

The verse also speaks about God's plans (in the wider context of the book of Isaiah (and the Bible)). While man's plans and purposes can change constantly (and we may think we're fine without God), God's plans will prevail over all. Ultimately, no matter how "good" we think we are or "mighty" or "strong" we are nothing compared to God and cannot help ourselves. The book of Isaiah is about God's judgement and salvation. In Isaiah, God punishes His rebellious people but also has compassion and rescues them. It talks about an ideal King (the Messiah) that will come to save them, and save us. We are all sinners and deserve God's wrath; however, Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and if we believe in the suffering and rising again of the Messiah (Jesus) we will become "oaks of righteousness" to glorify God (Isaiah 61:3), having everlasting life with Him.

I am entering my card in Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #124 - Anything Goes.


Materials List:
Copics: E50, E53, E55, E57, E59, B000, B00, B02, B05, Y13, Y17, YR01, YR04, YR09, E30, E31, E33, W3, G24, G20, G28, G46, G14, G03, YR01, B02, B05, E70 and colourless blender. (Also used colourless blender various ink.)
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Missing You, Large Bird Background, Don't Worry and Scripture Series 1.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Old Paper, Crushed Olive and Shabby Shutters.
Cardstock: Bazzill textured Bitter Chocolate, X-Press It blending card, ODBD Blooming Garden Paper Collection, Kaisercraft Precious Moments
Dies: ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies, ODBD Elegant Oval Dies, ODBD Decorative Corners Dies, ODBD Ornate Borders and Flowers Dies, ODBD Beautiful Borders Dies and Spellbinders Nestabilities Lacey Ovals.
Other: Green Tara 2 cm and 3 cm white mini roses, Stickles Star Dust, Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Down the Rabbit Hole, Inkssentials Glossy Accents, X-Press It clear gel glue, Ranger Perfect Medium, Ranger Perfect Pearls Pewter, Copic Opaque White, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape, X-Press It double sided tape.

Competition Winners!

For the last few weeks I have been dying for the next issue of the Australian Simply Cards magazine to arrive in the post as I knew that the winners of the Cardmaker of the Year 2013 were going to be revealed!

Well my magazine (Issue 66) just arrived this morning and I was so excited to see one of my cards in the highly commended section!

The overall winner is Anne-Maree Campbell from Queensland and the runners up were from all over (from Western Australia to New Zealand)! Congratulations to the winner, runners up and highly commendeds. All of the cards are FANTASTIC and I highly recommended buying a copy of the magazine just to have a look! (Plus its full of other cardmaking goodness!)

These are the three cards that I submitted to the competition:

This is my card that made it into the magazine (page 78) as a highly commended entry! Image - Flourishes Picking Wildflowers.

Digital Stamp - Mo Manning End of Summer - coloured with Copic markers

This is a two-fold card (more photos below). Image from Whimsy Stamps - Wee Stamps - Silver Fairy.

With front panel open

With inside panel open. Poem - stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs Footprints set. There is another image from ODBD (same set) embossed with clear embossing powder to the right of the poem.

Looking forward to the Cardmaker of the Year 2014!

Materials List:

Top Card:

• Stamps: Flourishes “Picking Wildflowers” and AnnaBelle Stamps “Flowers with love” – sentiment
• Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, Bazzill 12”x12” textured cardstock (dark blue), DCWV “Sky’s the Limit” (PP) and DCWV “The Homespun Stack”.
• Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities “Gold Labels Four” and Spellbinders Shapeabilities “Fancy Framed Tags Two”, Spellbinders Shapeabilities “Bitty Blossoms” – all cut with the Sizzix Big Shot.
• Ink: Memento “Tuxedo Black” and Distress Ink (DI) “Salty Ocean”, “Chipped Sapphire”, “Crushed Olive” and “Forest Moss”.
• Copic makers: BV01, 11, 13, 17, 23, 25, RV95, 99, R00, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, YG91, 93, 95, 97, 99, G24, 28, 82, 85, 94, 99, B12, 14, 16, 18, 60, 63, 66, E00, 01, 23, 25, 29, 97, C7, 9, 110 and colourless blender (0).
• Other: American Crafts Zing! clear embossing powder, Distress Stain “Antique Linen”, Tim Holtz Idea-ology brown paperstring, X-Press It double sided tape high tack, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape, X-Press It clear gel glue, Clearsnap Smooch Spritz Vanilla Shimmer, Stickles “Star Dust”, stylus, Susan’s Garden “3 Pads”, Carl Craft Rose Leaf punch, KaiserCraft Elegant pearl flourish, Inkssentials Glossy Accents, AtYou Spica “clear”, two papercraft pearls and Inkssentials cut + dry foam.

Middle Card
• Stamps: Mo Manning digital stamp “End of Summer”, Colourful Shapes wood stamps “Butterfly” and “Three flowers” (from Spotlight).
• Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, Bazzill 12” x 12” textured cardstock (dark green), DCWV “Sweet Tangerine” – patterned paper (PP).
• Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities “A2 Matting Basics (MB) A” and “A2 Matting Basics B” Spellbinders Nestabilities “5”x7” Matting Basics A” and “5”x7” Matting Basics B” – all cut with the Sizzix Big Shot.
• Ink: Black printer ink (HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus), Distress Ink (DI) “Peeled Paint” and VersaMark watermark stamp pad.
• Copic markers: BV000, 00, 23, YR00, 12, 15, 18, 24, 27, Y11, 13, YG0000, 00, 03, G24, 40, 46, 82, 85, BG70, 72, 75, 78, B00, E0000, 00, 11, 13, 29, 39, 43, 44, 47, 49, N1, 5 and colourless blender (0) + 110.
• Other: Teresa Collins – Tell Your Story – orange seam binding, X-Press It double sided tape high tack, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape, Beutron Craft Buttons, AtYou Spica #00 Clear, Inkssentials Glossy Accents, American Crafts Zing! clear embossing powder, Scor-Pal (to make card base), Fiskars rotary trimmer and X-Press It clear gel glue (attach buttons).

Bottom Card
• Stamps: Whimsy Stamps – Wee Stamps “Silver Fairy”, Stamp-It sentiments, Our Daily Bread Designs “Footprints Set” and Prima Marketing “5 stamps”.
• Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, Bazzill 12”x12” textured cardstock (pink), KaiserCraft “Vintage Timeless”, “Sweet Nothings”, “Timeless Classics” and Merci “Vintage Romance” (Patterned Papers (PP)).
• Dies: Sizzix circle framelits and Cherry Lynn Designs “Turkish Lace Doily” – cut with Sizzix Big Shot.
• Ink: Memento “Tuxedo Black”, Distress Ink (DI) “Old Paper”, “Spun Sugar”, “Worn Lipstick”, ”Tea Dye”, Distress Stain (DS) “Spun Sugar”, “Antique Linen” and VersaMark Watermark pen.
• Copic markers: BV0000, V000, RV00, R0000, 00, 01, 02, 05, 20, Y000, B0000, 00, E00, 11, 41, 43, 44 and colourless blender (0) marker and various ink.
• Other: FabScraps chipboard word “Je t'aime”, Prima Marketing – Prima Flowers – Fairy Rhymes collection, Green Tara 4 cm white heirloom blooms, X-Press It Tripletac glue, Clearsnap Smooch Spritz Vanilla Shimmer, Ranger Stickles “Star Dust”, X-Press It Mask It, Ranger mini mister, Stampendous! Fran-tage Embossing Powder (EP) “Shabby Pink”, Lindy’s Stamp Gang “Magic Moon Pearls” EP, AtYou Spica #00 clear, Sizzix Texturz Texture Plate “Hearts”, Green Tara 18 mm cream lace, X-Press It clear gel glue, Inkssentials Glossy Accents, American Crafts Zing! clear embossing powder, Prima Marketing Finnabair “Mechanicals” (Vintage Trinkets), Martha Stewart “Classic Butterfly” punch and ScorPal.

ODBDSLC195 - 6th Anniversary

This week marks the 6th Anniversary for Our Daily Bread Designs being open for business! This is the 3rd challenge in our month long celebrations of ODBD's 6th Anniversary! The challenge this week (ODBDSLC195) is to use 6 of one item on your card (i.e. 6 layers, 6 gems, 6 patterns, 6 words etc.).

For my card I chose to use 6 squares showcasing 6 stamps. I've also used 6 die cut items on my card (the two ladybugs, two leaves on the left, swirl leaf on the right and then the daisychain background underneath the squares). And I've used 6 different Our Daily Bread Designs stamp sets on my card (the 6th one is on the inside). Here is my card:

And this is the inside of the card showing the last stamp set that I used - ODBD All Occasion sentiments:

The 6 stamps sets that I've used are Don't Worry (butterfly in top left), Fuchsia (top right), Zinnia (middle left flower, two ladybugs and sentiment), Daisy (middle right), Lotus (bottom right) and All Occasion Sentiments (sentiment on the inside of the card)

The dies I've used are Zinnia and Leaves (2 ladybugs), fancy foliage (3 leaves) and daisy chain background.

I've used two of the Our Daily Bread Designs paper collections on my card - Blooming Garden Collection (diecut with daisy chain background) and Heart and Soul Collection (pink papers in background).

For more inspiration for this challenge please visit my talented design team sisters:

Chris Olsen ~ Linda Carson ~ Diana Nguyen

Cheryl Scrivens ~ DJ Rants ~ Robin Clendenning

To see all the creations from the designers in one place or to join the challenge, click here. You have until 8 pm Sunday, 23 March EST (or 8 am Monday, 24 March AWST) to join us. For this challenge you may use any stamps but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps we would love to see you use them! If you participate you have the chance to win a $15 gift certificate toward ODBD stamps at their store or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award (the Shining the Light Award is only for those who use ODBD stamps).

We would love to see your creations!!

The verse I've used on my card is Proverbs 17:17, of which the first half of the verse says "A friend loves at all times". Proverbs were primarily written for instruction and many express a contrast or describe the consequences of a particular action. This proverb reminds us that a friend, a true friend, loves at all times - which means we love the person when they are going through good times and we still love them when they may be going through hard times (even though other people may abandon them). It's not easy being this type of friend - to love at all times - but one we should be striving for.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Word Art Wednesday - #123 Anything Goes;
2. Craftitude - #60 Anything Goes or Add a Little Green;
3. QKR Stampede Challenge - #79 Anything Goes;
4. Scrapping4funChallenges - #12 Flowers (I've used stamped flowers);
5. Stampin for the Weekend - Anything Goes; and
6. Sister Act Card Challenge #48.

Material List
Copics: V01, V04, V06, V09, RV000, RV21, RV23, RV25, RV29, R22, R24, R27, R29, YR04, Y13, Y17, YG21, YG23, YG25, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97, YG99, G46, BG99, B000, B00, B02, B05, B32, B34, N1, N3, W2 and the colourless blender.
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Don't Worry, Fuchsia, Zinnia, Daisy, Lotus and All Occasion Sentiments (on the inside).
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Distress Ink Worn Lipstick, Crushed Olive and Shabby Shutters.
Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, Bazzill Textured cardstock Artic and Bitter Chocolate, ODBD Blooming Garden Collection and ODBD Heart and Soul Collection.
Dies: ODBD Daisy Chain Background die, ODBD Zinnia and Leaves dies and ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies
Other: Inkssentials glossy accents and Copic Opaque White.

Cup of Thanks

The Featured Stamper this week at SplitcoastStampers is Diana Nguyen (aka YoursTruly)! I've only known Diana a short time (mostly through Our Daily Bread Designs - as we are both on the challenge team) and I love her cards! She makes beautiful CAS cards - and they're ALL so elegant and stunning! You can visit Diana's SCS Gallery here. To play along the instructions are on this page.

I had a wonderful time looking through Diana's gallery and decided to CASE this card. Here is my card:

I added glossy accents to the lemon wedge and centre of the daisies

I kept basically the same layout but changed the sentiment and picture (as I didn't have the same ones). I also added extra background DP and used a hexagon pattern embossing folder instead of a the chevron pattern that Diana used. My twine/floss is also brown/white instead of the blue/white and red/white ones that Diana used. But I hope it still counts as a CASE card!

Materials used:
Copics:
   Cup - B91, B93, B95, B97, B99
   Coffee - E41, E43, E44, E47
   Leaf and Lemon - Y11, Y15, G20, G03, G09 and colourless blender
   Daisies - G85, YR01, Y11, Y15, E11, E35
   Ground - E41, E43, W3, W5 and colourless blender
   Sky - B41
Stamps: Flourishes Grab a Cup
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx Black and Distress Ink Old Paper
Cardstock: Quill XL Multiboard dark blue and black, X-Press It blending card, Bazzill Kraft cardstock, Prima Marketing Jodie Lee Designs Delight
Dies: Sizzix circle framelit
Other: Craft Concepts embossing folder Bees Delight, Inkssentials Glossy Accents, SewEasy Floss Cream Soda, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape and X-Press It double sided tape.

Another ODBD shaped card

A few weeks back one of the challenges at Our Daily Bread Designs was to make a shaped card. I made a heart shaped card - you can see it here. But I also made another shaped card - I just haven't had time to post about it until now! Here are some photos of my card:

And this is the inside:

I have used Our Daily Bread Designs Never Thirst stamp set and coloured it with Copic markers. The sentiment is also from the same stamp set. I used ODBD Elegant Oval Dies to create the shaped card.

I love this verse, John 4:14, as it tells us that Jesus is our everlasting water. We may drink of water from this world, but we will be thirsty again - things of this world cannot satisfy us. To drink the water that Jesus gives us, to have a personal relationship with Him - through acknowledging who Jesus is and what He has done for us - that He came to earth to die for our sins, has conquered death and rose again - through this we may have eternal life with Him. And as we get closer to Easter - this is what we should be celebrating (and every day!) that Jesus did die on the cross for our sins...but the story doesn't end there - he rose again! How awesome is that! Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins and conquered death! And if we believe in Him and all He has done for us, no matter what sins we have committed, we can have eternal life with God!


Materials List:
Copics: C1, C3, C5, C7, B00, E51, E53, E55, E57, E59, Y11, YR04, G21, G24, G28, E70, E71, E74, E77, E79.
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Never Thirst
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Distress Ink Walnut Stain
Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, Bazzill textured cardstock Bark
Dies: ODBD Elegant Oval Dies
Other: Distress Stickles Rusty Hinge and AnnaBelle Stamps 3 mm sprinkles Icicle.

Mini Accordion Album

For an Our Daily Bread Designs challenge last week I made the cover for a mini album that I was making. You can read about the cover here. As I said in the other post I watched this video for inspiration and to get an idea on how to make the album (never having attempted one before)! In the video she uses envelopes, but I didn't have any the right size, so I made my own.

My finished album has covers that are 5" square. My envelopes are 9" x 4.5" and open at both ends. I made 5 envelopes for my album (but you could make your album larger (or smaller) by using more or less envelopes). 

To make each envelope I cut two pieces of DP - one was 9" x 4.5" and the other was 9" x 5" (this allows for a 1/4" "turn down" to stick the other DP to). So for 5 envelopes you need 5 pieces of DP cut to 9" x 4.5" and 5 pieces of DP cut to 9" x 5". I turned down the top and bottom (long sides) by 1/4" on each of the larger pieces. Added some double sided tape and then stuck down the smaller pieces to make my 5 envelopes. I then folded each of the envelopes in half and glued them together (with triple tac glue) using the pattern below.

Excuse my terrible paint skills - but this is just to show the pattern for the envelopes. The black lines are the front and back cover. Each coloured line is a different envelope.

I wanted to put little pull-out pages inside the envelopes so I used my Carl Craft CP-2 7/8" circle to punch semi circles in the centre of each end of the envelopes to enable the pull-out pages to be "pulled" out. It would probably make more sense to punch them before you glue them together - but I didn't have much trouble punching them after they'd been glued.

I then used double sided tape to attach DP and my photos to each "side" - 10 in total. And used my Copic 0.5 mm black multiliner to tell our story.

For the pull out pages I cut Bazzill textured card to about 4.25" x 4.25" (I made 10 pages). I die cut some tabs using the Tim Holtz Alterations Tiny Tabs and Tags Sizzix die. I glued one of these to one edge of each page before attaching DP (cut to 4" square) to each side of the page. And then added my photos and words (to both sides). (The edges of just about everything has been inked in Distress Ink Walnut Stain.)

This is one side of one of my pages. You can see the diecut tab at the bottom and one that is attached on the left side of the page. (Please excuse the "blocks" of colour in some of my photos - just wanted to protect my girls' names and birthday's etc.)

Once I was happy with the envelopes and pull-out pages, I attached the front and back cover. One thing I am most annoyed about is that I forgot to add the ribbons inbetween the envelopes and the front and back cover so you can tie it all shut! So I've had to add a ribbon that wraps around the whole album - not too bad but it would've looked much nicer with the ribbons at the top and bottom.

Here are a few more pictures:

As you can see from the photo above I have my tabs sticking out from the edge of the envelopes, even though they're in the semi-circles that I punched out. I wasn't originally going to add tabs, but when my husband tested pulling out the pages he couldn't do it (and this is going to my grandparents) so I thought adding the tabs would be a good idea. The tabs do stick out past the envelopes but they do not go over the edge of the "line" of the front and back cover - because my covers are larger than the folded envelopes, leaving about a 1/4" border. Hope that makes sense!

This is my back cover. The stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs Swirly Bird. I've used Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink over Grace Taylor Blossom DP.

This is the "larger" side of the album. You can see the tabs where the pull-out pages are. (Again, please excuse the "blocks" of colour - don't want all our personal info on the WWW!)

This is the "smaller" side of the album with one pull-out page partly "out".

Overall, I really like this type of album. Using the 5 envelopes (and the pull-out pages) you essentially have 30 "sides" to place photos and write anything you want. I think they make a great present and I'll definitely be making some more of these!

Thanks for stopping by!

ODBDSLC194 - Amethyst, Lavender or Purple

It's Tuesday again and it's time for Our Daily Bread Design's Anniversary Challenge #2. In case you missed out last week - Our Daily Bread Designs' are turning 6 this month and we are celebrating by having Anniversary themed challenges throughout the month of March.

Since amethyst is the gemstone for the 6th anniversary the challenge this week is to use lots of amethyst (the colour), purple or lavender on your project!

I enjoyed stamping and playing around with some of the new sets from the March release to make my card:

I've used the Bee Happy stamp set from the March release and the honeycomb mini background (also from the March release). The dies I've used are Elegant Ovals, Zinnia and Leaves and Beautiful Borders. The gorgeous paper is from the Blooming Garden Collection.

For more inspiration for this challenge please visit my talented design team sisters:

Chris Olsen ~ Linda Carson ~ Diana Nguyen

Cheryl Scrivens ~ DJ Rants ~ Robin Clendenning

To see all the creations from the designers in one place or to join the challenge, click here. You have until 8 pm Sunday, 16 March EST (or 8 am Monday, 17 March AWST) to join us. For this challenge you may use any stamps but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps we would love to see you use them! If you participate you have the chance to win a $15 gift certificate toward ODBD stamps at their store or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award (the Shining the Light Award is only for those who use ODBD stamps).

We would love to see your creations!!

Materials List
Copics: Y13, Y15, Y17, BV000, BV00, BV02, BV04, BV08, G43 and G46
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Bee Happy and Honeycomb mini
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Dusty Concord
Cardstock: Bazzill textured Pansy, X-Press It blending card and ODBD Blooming Garden Collection
Dies: ODBD Custom Elegant Oval Dies, ODBD Custom Zinnia and Leaves Dies, ODBD Custom Beautiful Borders Dies
Other: Prima Marketing Say It In Crystals (pearls), Inkssentials glossy accents, Annabelle Stamps 30 mm paper petals (coloured with Copic markers), silver brad (coloured with BV08 Copic marker), purple ribbon (from my stash), Atelier Gesso Primer and WOW Clouds stencil.

When it rains...

I really enjoy making cards using Annabelle Stamps, but I haven't used them as much as I would've liked to lately. I visited their blog tonight and realised that the February challenge is nearly over and I haven't entered! So I made this card tonight to enter it in the challenge. AC176 February challenge theme is Love. Here is my card:

I chose to get my watercolour pencils out for this one (leaving my Copics aside for once). I added some glossy accents over the heart, ribbon/bow in the girl's hair and over the raindrops (plus some extras) for added texture.

Copics: None
Stamps: Annabelle Stamps A Beautiful Day
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Walnut Stain
Cardstock: Bazzill kraft, Ranger watercolour paper, Annabelle Stamps mini paper pack
Dies: Spellbinders nestabilities labels seventeen, Spellbinders shapeabilities fancy framed tags two
Other: Annabelle Stamps 9 mm chocolate/cream striped ribbon, Inkssentials glossy accents, Derwent watercolour pencils, Pentel waterbrush

Black and White

This is my second quick card that I made yesterday - again, being inspired by the Flourishes challenge (#260) - Less = More challenge to create a card with stamping but no colouring. For this one I simply stamped my image in clear ink and embossed it using white embossing powder.

Copics: None
Stamps: Flourishes Picking Wildflowers and the sentiment is from Flourishes Winter Blossoms
Ink: Distress clear embossing ink
Cardstock: Quill XL Multiboard (white and black)
Dies: Spellbinders nestabilities majestic elements Resplendent Rectangles
Other: Stampendous Detail White embossing powder

Flourishes on Kraft

Made a few quick cards yesterday...this is one of them. Got inspired by the Less = More challenge over at Flourishes to create a card with a stamped image but no colouring! I freaked out at first (because I LOVE colouring my images) but then decided to give it a go :-) Here is my card:

Copics: None
Stamps: Flourishes Winter Blossoms
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Vintage Photo
Cardstock: Quill XL Multiboard (black), Bazzill Kraft, Prima Marketing Jodie Lee Designs Delight DP
Dies: Spellbinders nestabilities lacey ovals, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Tags and Flags
Other: Beutron Craft button, Teresa Collins Tell Your Story trims.

ODBDSLC193 - Metal or Sweet

It is Our Daily Bread Designs' 6th Anniversary this month! To celebrate we will be having a series of challenges related to the 6th Anniversary of Our Daily Bread Designs throughout March. 

For the first challenge, ODBDSLC193, since the 6th anniversary is related to iron or sweets, the challenge is to use something metal or have something sweet on your creation.

I thought this was a perfect opportunity to make a cover for a mini album that I am currently making. Here is my mini album cover (and I've chosen to use metal - can you spot it?):

For more inspiration for this challenge please visit my talented design team sisters:

Chris Olsen ~ Linda Carson ~ Diana Nguyen

Cheryl Scrivens ~ DJ Rants ~ Robin Clendenning

To see all the creations from the designers in one place or to join the challenge, click here. You have until 8 pm Sunday, 9 March EST (or 9 am Monday, 10 March AWST) to join us. For this challenge you may use any stamps but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps we would love to see you use them! If you participate you have the chance to win a $15 gift certificate toward ODBD stamps at their store or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award (the Shining the Light Award is only for those who use ODBD stamps).

We would love to see your creations!!

I've never made a mini album before - and I'm having so much fun making this one. It is my Nanna and Grandad's 60th wedding anniversary very soon and we haven't seen them for quite a while so I thought it would be nice to make a mini album to send them some pictures of our family (I know they both love seeing photos - especially of their Great Grandchildren). I originally watched this video to get the general idea but I didn't have any envelopes (like she uses) so I made my own "envelopes" from DP. I'll show you the whole project once it's all together - at the moment it's still all in pieces! For now - here are some more photos of the cover and a bit about how I made it.

I started off with a piece of 2 mm chipboard cut to 5" x 5". I covered it with Blossom DP (and the back has a smaller piece to hide the edges of the front piece). I then stamped some flowers from Our Daily Bread Designs Ornate Borders and Flowers using white gesso (first time I've tried this technique and I like it!) over the bottom half and let dry. I used Distress Ink Stormy Sky and Mowed Lawn to ink around the edges and a little into the middle.

I stamped the sentiment (from Our Daily Bread Designs Zinnia - one of the sets from the March release) and die cut it using one of the ODBD Elegant Oval Dies (and sponged around the outside with Distress Ink Shaded Lilac while it was still in the die). I then used ODBD Daisy Chain Background Die to die cut ODBD Blooming Garden Collection DP (both from the March release) and sponged Distress Ink Stormy Sky over the DP while it was still in the die (gives dark blue centres to the daisies). I then die cut the daisies with ODBD Elegant Oval Dies. I made a border with the Elegant Ovals and inked with Shaded Lilac. Then adhered all these layers together popping the sentiment up on foam tape.

These purple flowers are from the Zinnia stamp set. I used the smallest Zinnia (which is the largest flower you can see) and fussy cut the two top layers. I coloured these with Copics and adhered them together. I also stamped and coloured a ladybug and bee - both from the Zinnia set. The largest flower, ladybug and bee are all die cut with ODBD Zinnia and Leaves Dies.

For the leaves I have used the ODBD Blooming Garden Collection DP again with ODBD Zinnia and Leaves Dies and ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies. They are all sponged with Distress Ink Peeled Paint while still in the dies.

For the challenge I chose to add some metal to my creation. Two of the leaves are metal and the smallest purple flower (one with the glitter) is also metal. All have been covered with white gesso and then inked with distress inks (seedless preserves, shabby shutters, peeled paint, shaded lilac and bundled sage). Lastly I've added some glossy accents, Stickles (Lavender and Thistle) and Distress Stickles Shabby Shutters.

If you're interested you can see the rest of my album here.

These are the Our Daily Bread Designs sets that I've used on my cover:

Another verse that would go really nicely on this cover (instead of the Friends are Flowers sentiment (although don't get me wrong - I love that one there too!)) is Isaiah 40:8 which is my favourite Bible verse (you can see it at the top of my blog) and is a stamp in the Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Series 1. The verse says:

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever!"

I love this verse simply because it reminds me that God is eternal and His Word is everlasting. God's creations are so beautiful and breathtaking - magnificent sunsets, stunning flowers, breathtaking scenery - but God is so much more than all of this. All of these eventually disappear - sunsets are fleeting, flowers wither and die and landscapes change in many ways. But God is our rock and never changing. It's so comforting to know He is always there for us - solid as a rock.

The verse also speaks about God's plans (in the wider context of the book of Isaiah (and the Bible)). While man's plans and purposes can change constantly (and we may think we're fine without God), God's plans will prevail over all. Ultimately, no matter how "good" we think we are or "mighty" or "strong" we are nothing compared to God and cannot help ourselves. The book of Isaiah is about God's judgement and salvation. In Isaiah, God punishes His rebellious people but also has compassion and rescues them. It talks about an ideal King (the Messiah) that will come to save them, and save us. We are all sinners and deserve God's wrath; however, Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and if we believe in the suffering and rising again of the Messiah (Jesus) we will become "oaks of righteousness" to glorify God (Isaiah 61:3), having everlasting life with Him.

I am entering this project in the following challenges:
1. Word Art Wednesday Challenge #121 Anything Goes;
2. Fashionable Stamping Challenges - #67 Anything Goes; and
3. As You Like It - Favourite 3D texture -My favourite item to create 3D texture would have to be foam tape. I use it on just about all of my creations and love how something so simple can enhance your projects so much! I've used it in a few places on my project - under the ladybug, bee, sentiment, under the purple metal flower and to create my 3D flower (Zinnia).

Materials List:

Copics: 

   Zinnia - V01, V04, V06, V09, E44, E29

   Ladybug - R22, R24, R27, R29

   Bee - Y11, Y17, Y38, N1

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Zinnia and Ornate Borders and Flowers

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Shaded Lilac, Seedless Preserves, Bundled Sage, Mowed Lawn, Stormy Sky

Cardstock: 2 mm chipboard, Grace Taylor Blossom DP, Our Daily Bread Designs Blooming Garden Collection and X-Press It blending card

Dies: ODBD Elegant Oval Dies, ODBD Zinnia and Leaves Dies, ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies, ODBD Daisy Chain Background Die

Other: Atelier traditional gesso primer, Inkssentials glossy accents, Stickles Lavender and Thistle, Distress Stickles Shabby Shutters, Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals vintage trinkets leaves and Green Tara metal embellishments flower.