Grid Cards

Hello friends 😊  I am back with some grid cards I've created since the end of summer.  I was inspired by Jacqueline de Groot's creations, after revisiting her blog after many years, and soaking in her words as well as her creations.  What a lovely woman, and I do so enjoy looking at her cards.  Her work inspired me to try grid cards.  It was fun to try.  Here are a few examples of what I came up with:

Stampin' Up! Organic Grace flower, Bliss butterfly, Canvas background; Inkadinkado Botanical Script Background (hydrangea); Rubber Stampede Monkey Paw Fern; pearl; vintage thread; tag; old gardening book page

I'm entering the card above in the NBUS challenge.  The old gardening book page I used as background paper is new to me from a local thrift store.  What a great find!

Stampin' Up! Organic Grace flower, dragonfly, Itty Bitty Accents flower punch, Canvas background, Nature Walk bird; Inkadinkado Botanical Script Background (hydrangea); Rubber Stampede Monkey Paw Fern; pearls; burlap ribbon

Stampin' Up! French Script background, Organic Grace flower, Canvas background; Inkadinkado Botanical Script Background (hydrangea); Rubber Stampede Monkey Paw Fern; pearls; tag; crochet lace; twine

Here is something interesting, and makes me really ponder the ways of God.  He is truly wondrous.  Earlier this summer, I was looking around on Pinterest and stumbled upon one of Jacqueline's cards.  I thought, "Oh yeah!  I remember her!  I liked her cards years ago."  So I went looking for her blog.  I read her posts from most recent to oldest - even though many of them are years old - on my lunch breaks, and sometimes before bed.  As I read backwards in her blog, I discovered that she had breast cancer.  She spoke of her faith continually, and I was learning new things as I read her blog as though it were a book.  I looked forward to each "chapter".  Then, in late August when I had my mammogram, and then a second plus ultrasound, and finally a biopsy with cancer diagnosis, I realized why the Lord had led me to read Jacqueline's blog.  Her words were filled with hope, and she praised the Lord continually throughout her trial.  She came through it, and watched sons get married, and grandbabies be born.  It brings tears to my eyes writing this. 

Jacqueline, if you ever wind up reading this post of mine, I thank you for sharing your trial and your faith on your blog.  It was of great benefit to me.

God is good.  He is always good. 

Three Anniversary Toasts

Hello there!

In my stash of cards, my "Wedding / Anniversary" category is really slim.  So one day I got out a few stamps and made three anniversary cards with those same supplies, changing the patterned paper for each card.

Papertrey Ink Propose A Toast glass stamp & matching die, Inside And Out: Love sentiment; rhinestones; Rubber Stampede grapes rubber stamp

Bizarro grape cluster; Papertrey Ink Propose A Toast wine glass,Inside And Out: Love sentiment; Hero Arts Old French Script Background stamp; ivory dots

Bizarro grape cluster; Papertrey Ink Propose A Toast wine glass,Inside And Out: Love sentiment; Hero Arts Old French Script Background stamp; ivory dots

Definitely need to make more, but goodness, there are only so many hours in a day and so much energy in this girl!!  LOL

Thanks for dropping in!

Autumn Pear

I squeezed this card in today, between cleaning the house and taking a walk with a friend.  We have company coming for dinner tomorrow night, so the house must be clean; no getting around it!  But all morning I was thinking about what kind of fall card to create for the Mark's Finest Papers challenge that ends today.  Here's what I came up with:

I am also playing in the City Crafter Challenge, where the inspiration photo is this:

The picture seems to glow, and I love that swirly tree. 

I tried to capture the essence of that with the swirls and sponged background.

A couple of close-ups:

This picture shows the black embossing best.

A trio of olive pearls.

To create this look, I started by using black embossing powder/heat tool/Versamark ink and the swirl stamp from Baroque Motifs (SU).  Once the embossing was done on the white cardstock, I then sponged on the following colors in this order:

• So Saffron
• Summer Sun
• Apricot Appeal
• Pumpkin Pie
• Certainly Celery
• Old Olive
• Elegant Eggplant
• Basic Black

I began with the lightest color in the middle of the paper and as I progressively added colors, my sponging moved outward.  After using just a bit of Eggplant and Black at the end, I also used the direct-to-paper technique to edge the layer with Black.  It is matted on a black layer of cardstock as well, then attached to a white card base.

I feel like Michelle Zindorf when I play with sponges like this.  She is uber-talented with sponges and brayering, if you've never seen her work.  It's worth taking a visit to her blog, even if all you do is look (and never try the stuff she does); she's amazing.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Colleen

Stamps:  Baroque Motifs, Pear by Rubber Stampede

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink:  So Saffron, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black; Memento Tuxedo Black for pear image

Other:  heat tool, dimensionals, pearls ($1 selection at AC Moore), SU black embossing powder, Copic markers, sponge