From my sweet and dear friend Rita..a new blog award.

I was touched and humbled to receive this blog award from Rita today! Rita has become a very sweet and dear friend to me...and in a relatively short time...such is her friendship! Thank you Rita! :D You must check out her blog...she makes stunning Paper Art Work!

http://ritaloyd.blogspot.com/

The rules for this award are that I must list five things I love to do and then pass it along to five other people.

Now like Rita says on her blog, this is going to take some thought! I love to do so many things!! But here are five I came up with for the moment!

1. Feeling the Holy Spirit flow through me while singing and after singing God's praises at church!!

2. Having my grandchildren over to play with me!

3. Playing Farm Land and Farmville on Facebook...more of an addiction really!

4. Playing in my craft room!

5. Hug my hubby Richard!

And I pass this Blog Award onto (and I'm guessing I have to choose different people from Rita) :

Jennie http://www.bloominpaper.blogspot.com/

Diann http://diannsartspot.blogspot.com/

Paige http://shewhomuststamp.blogspot.com/

Shelly http://www.shellyraewood.blogspot.com/

Wanda http://wandascrafts.blogspot.com/

Visit their blogs and you will find lovely Paper Art!

Fall Card

I've just finished this card for a card swap on one of the groups I am on, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARTHavenCreations_Friendships/. As you can see, the theme is 'Fall'. I had a shaker box outline printed on some cardstock that I have had for ages! So I decided to 'use it up'...a phrase my hubby doesn't like...but it's now become a joke at home about using things up...so I guess he has got used to it after 30 years! :D Anyway, the cardstock the shaker box was printed on was plain white, so before cutting it out, I

used the direct to paper method of coloring it with chalk inks. Then after cutting it out, I did the same to the back of the box flaps as they would show through the window. Once the ink was dry enough to handle, I used red line tape to tape in the plastic window (recycled from plastic packaging!). I then added the leaf confetti, and glued the back flaps together to complete the shaker box. I decided the box needed more ink, and used a contrast chalk ink on the edges. The small piece I had cut from the middle of the box for the window was also edged in this contrast ink and then I glued it to the top right hand side of the card, and using red line tape again, I taped the shaker box onto the card front. I then added a real skeleton leaf as an accent and used my Cricut to cut out the words for the card which I glued onto the small square at the top. Hope you like it! :)

An ATC swap and a card swap!

This first image is the ATC I have made for a swap I am in with one of my groups, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/craftycardcreators/ . The ATC was 'A for " and we made what we wanted for the A. I chose the old staple, 'A for Apple'! The ATC is actuallystraight...it looks like a slice was taken off the top right hand edge in this pic!
For the background, I used a previously stamped cardstock with gold flecked crepe paper glued on at an angle. On top of this I glued cut out apples and the sign with apple on it. I used my Cricut for the other letters.
This card is for a swap I am in with http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARTHavenCreations_Friendships/ . It is for a monthly drawing...the chosen winner gets to have all the cards entered...pretty cool as there are some great entries already! For my entry, I first made the silver bar on the left hand side of the card. I covered a piece of card with clear embossing ink and dipped it ink side down in sterling silver UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). Then I heated the UTEE with my heat gun until it melted. I repeated this several times until I got the silver thickness I wanted. While the UTEE was still hot, I pressed a seashell border stamp into the UTEE and left it until it cooled. (Before stamping the border in, I covered the stamp in the clear embossing ink for easy release). I then trimmed any overflowing excess around the border edges. The green/blue background paper on the card was corner trimmed with a punch, then glued down on the card. The mermaid was stamped on silver paper with dark green ink and clear embossed. I then cut around the image. Then I stuck the image to the same cardstock as the card, and trimmed around the image once again. This was glued onto the background paper. The silver bar was taped down with red line tape. I then added some glassine silver shell stickers as accents. Hope you enjoy my two latest creations! :D

Journals for Cancer Patients.

As with any other journal, it is a place to write down your thoughts, wishes, hopes despair and inner feelings. Shirley Nagel, has recently had this disease touch a member of her close family and she created one of these journals for her loved one. The journal has become a place for important phone numbers, medical instructions, notes for daily tasks, and love notes for the future.....yes, a life line! What a wonderful way to express feelings and thoughts that you may need to note.

If you would like to be a part of this and create Journals for Cancer Patients, please contact Shirley Nagel at SRCattle@aol.com for more information. The journals can be created by using a black & white composition book available at chain/discount stores. You can cover the front and back with beautiful papers and then decorated it as much or as little as you like. Leave the pages inside blank for the recipient to write down whatever they want to.

I hope many of you will think about this sweet endeavor that Shirley N. is organizing and pass it on to your friends. It is fine to showcase the cause on your blog and to include Shirley N.'s email address for contact purpose....always use Journals for Cancer Patients in the heading title. At some point in life, this disease touches every family.

My husband had prostate cancer several years ago and opted for extensive surgery. It was a very scary process and he has permanent nerve damage from the surgery causing some permanent health issues...but as he says, he's alive! I think Shirley N.'s Journal Project is a wonderful one...and I think she's pretty wonderful to to do this too! I hope those of you reading this will participate! I certainly intend to after my return from a visit to England very shortly!


Love Shirley B.

Some cards I made recently for some swaps I'm in.

This card was for a swap where ribbon had to be on the card somewhere. The background paper was from a 12" x12" paper, the ribbon is wired ribbon I've had in my 'stash', and the image is Paper Tole...several layers of paper on top of each other to give a 3 D effect. Each layer is carefully worked on with a shaping tool so that the edges curl down. It takes a time but is worth the effort! I love to Paper Tole and have done several 8 1/2" x 10" framed pieces that all sold very well...I need to make another to actually have one on display in my own home! :) I also made the envelope to coordinate with the card.

This is for an image swap where we can use the image anyway we like. I chose to make the image look like a photo...I printed it out on glossy photo paper. On the top is a shaker box containing punched suns from gold paper, micro beads, and two kinds of glitter. The words were cut with my new Cricut Create...how did I live before I bought it!?! :D And I made another coordinating envelope to complete the set.

This is for a 'sketch' swap card. This is where a picture of a card sketch is posted and we make our version of it. I used a variety of papers from my stash, layered along with ribbon. Then made the flowers from bought material flower petals and accented them with 'jeweled' centers. The words were made with my Cricut. And once again, I made a coordinating envelope.

The pictures loaded backwards for this next card...a human loading error! It is showing the insert from the mini envelope I made on the front of the card - the next photo is the envelope flap closed! And you can see I used scraps from the previous card to make this one! Waste not, want not!

Here is the card with the flap closed. I used a pop-up square cut in half for the closure, making the top sticky side less sticky by tapping on it with my finger! Then it could open easily but still remain closed securely. Flower petals and 'jewels' are the accents.

This is an ATC. The background is a napkin (peeled the top layer of the napkin off and used that). The fairy, stars and words are clear stickers, and I added layered material flower petals to make the flowers and accented with 'jeweled' centers. On the bottom and right side are metallic paper borders.

This card is for a 3 layer swap. The first layer is a deep, almost maroon, pink cardstock, then the second is pink and white background checked paper, the third layer is the same as the first. On top of this I put a transfer of cherries...actually a transfer for putting on wood etc. but they work great on cards too! Especially since I got it on sale! :) The words are made with my Cricut also and are cut from the first cardstock.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my cards and thank you for visiting! :D

Love Shirley B.

I got a blog award!

I have been given this award from my good friend Gloria! Thank you Gloria!! :)



To pick up the Circle of Friends Blog Award:
Cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog.Nominate at least 5 other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends.Link to your nominees, within your blog post and include these instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post.To show your appreciation to the person who gave you the award, link back to their blog. Finally, comment on the recipient’s blogs, to let them know they've received .

Here are my 5 nominees...gosh...try choosing just 5...and not being able to include Gloria!

Angie http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/angiesartfulllife/
Shelly http://shellyraewood.blogspot.com/
June http://artfreebies.blogspot.com/
Celeste http://celestelombas.blogspot.com/
Wanda http://wandascrafts.blogspot.com/

All wonderful artists and well worth checking out! :D