Friday, November 27, 2009

Jenny's Birthday



This is Jenny's birthday card. I find myself remembering the day of her birth and that beautiful 6 lb. bundle of wonderful in a pink blanket. She was all we had hoped for and more and we didn't realize how much we would love her. I remember the day we came home from the hospital and her Daddy sitting on the edge of the bed just looking at her in awe. She led us a merry chase through the TERRIBLE twos and beyond. We survived the teenage years, barely, and proudly watched her graduate from college, marry and become a mother herself.


We are so proud of her and love the person she has become even more than that baby in the pink blanket. She has her own blog. Check it out. She is the most creative writer and often has me rolling with laughter or brings me to tears with the beauty of what she writes. I love the way she sees the world and the way she makes the world a better place.


Enjoy,

Bonnie

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. May you have time to count your blessings.




Recipe for card:

Stamps: Freshcut, Holidays & Wishes

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Markers, Crushed Curry Ribbon, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer


Enjoy,


Bonnie

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Second Challenge This Week


The card sketch challenge gave a layout to follow. I'd show you the diagram but I'm not sure how to get it on here. This was a little easier for me to do and, since I am in the Christmas mode, I did it as a Christmas card using my favorite stamp set, Lovely as a Tree. I used Handsome Hunter, Real Red and Very Vanilla Card Stock and the Merry Moments Decorative Paper. The tree is stamped in Always Artichoke. I used my Close to Cocoa marker to lightly do the trunk and branches. It looked a little bare so I used some red gems from my stash to dress it up.
This one was quick and easy. If you would like the dimensions for cutting, email me and I will be glad to send them to you.
Enjoy the day.
Bonnie


Challenges

I've just started participating in some of the challenges on Splitcoast Stampers and thought I would share the ones I did this week.



First is for the Clean and Simple challenge CAS41 to do a card that is inspired by a Vera Bradley handbag. I had a lot of trouble with this. These handbags are beautiful but not what I would describe as Clean & Simple and my brain doesn't seem to want to move "out of the box" and just use the colors. So, I basically copied the handbag as closely as I could with the stamps and stuff I had. Here's what I came up with. By the way I chose the Peacock one.





I used the Playful Petals stamp set. It is on the dormant list this year but still available. I stamped the large flower and tiny flower in Basic Black and colored with the Summer Sun & Tempting Turquoise markers. Then I cut the big flowers out and adhered them to the card front which I made from, one of my favorites, Bermuda Bay card stock. I cut off the parts of the big flowers that were going to be under the middle strip to adhere to the corners. Then I punched with my Boho Blossoms punch and cut out the tiny stamped flowers to make the centers and stuck them on. For the center strip I used a pieces of Basic Black and Whisper White. The top black strip is punched with the Eyelet Border Punch. I layered the Boho Flowers and the tiny stamped flower and put them together with a More Mustard and Tempting Turquoise brads to finish the strip.


It turned not to be too simple but it is bright and pretty.

I hope you enjoy it.

Bonnie




Friday, November 20, 2009

Holy Family


Here's another Christmas card and yes I do dream about Christmas cards! What can I say. I am obsessed!
We used this stamp set for a recent Stamp A Stack and I wanted to try this set in gold. I had the elements stamped but couldn't figure out what to do with them until I saw a challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. It was what I was looking for!
The base card is out of Very Vanilla and stamped with the Sanded Background stamp and Gold Encore paint. The Holy Family is from the Holy Triptych set. I also stamped it in the Encore Gold on Vanilla, then embossed it with the Gold Stampin' Emboss powder. It was mounted on a piece of Brushed Gold and a Square Fire Rhinestone brad was inserted in the star. I cut 2 squares 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" out of the brushed gold and overlapped them a little behind the matted piece.
What do you think?
Enjoy,
Bonnie


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Christmas Thank You

I thought this would work well for those Christmas thank you notes. I haven't used this Elegant Thank You often. I don't know why because it is so classy.



I used Real Red cardstock for the base card. The Whisper White layer was embossed with the Big Shot Machine and the dotted Texturz Plate then matted with Handsome Hunter. The stamp was inked with Handsome Hunter and Real Red markers and stamped on a scrap of Whisper White. I punched it with the Scallop Square Punch and punched a piece of Real Red with the same punch. A piece of Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon finishes off the card.

Enjoy,

Bonnie

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Season's Greetings




Another easy peasy card! Seems to be my favorite kind these days. I used the Many Merry Messages stamped in Handsome Hunter and matted in Real Red. Merry Moments DSP fills the background and Real Red grosgrain ribbon with a Vanilla Ribbon Slide from the Hodgepodge Hardware finishes it off. I'm really glad I bought the Many Merry Messages stamp set. It has 4 greetings for the fronts of cards and 4 sentiments to stamp on the inside.


Thanks for stopping by. Let me know what you think. I welcome your comments.


Bonnie

Monday, November 16, 2009

No Ink


I didn't use any ink on this card....honest! It's a great option for people who are afraid of ink! The background is from the Merry Moments Designer Paper pack. The ornaments are punched from Real Red cardstock with the new Ornament Punch and 3/4" Round Punch, then decorated with the Merry & Bright Rub-Ons from the Holiday Mini catalog. Quick and easy and all Stampin' Up!

Bonnie

Sunday, November 15, 2009

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

There has been a flurry of Christmas cards being made around here!

I can't decide if this is mistletoe.....







or is it holly?









Both cards use A Cardinal Christmas stamp set. The mistletoe card is made with Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock and Old Olive ink. The berries are flatback pearls. The holly card is made with Whisper White and Real Red cardstock. The berries are inked with Real Red. The leaves are inked with Garden Green and "thumped" with Handsome Hunter. The sentiment is stamped in Handsome Hunter.



I'm not sure which I like the best.



Bonnie

Saturday, November 14, 2009

My first blog!

One of my goals for this year was to start a blog. I think I'm finally there. It took 10 months to get my courage up! I have the book "Google Blogger for Dummies" by Susan Gunelius that has been helpful. My cyberfriend, Michele, whose blog inspired me to want to have one of my own, has been so helpful in helping me get started. Her blog is http://micheleforce.blogspot.com/. She has the most awesome blog. Michele thank you so much for your help as well as inspiration.



Instead of a card for my first blog, I wanted to share my wonderful family with you. They are my biggest fans and I love all of them dearly. This was the first time we had ever, and I mean ever, had everybody in the same place at the same time. It was a special day and I'm so glad we got a picture to commemorate it because it's a day that I hold dear to my heart.

Bonnie