Remember This

I know I say this

a lot about paper companies, but nevertheless, I love Prima papers. I love quality products and Prima is definitely in that category. I recently purchased some of the Romance Novel collection from Blue Moon Scrapbooking and used it to create this card...

On an ivory textured 

cardstock base, I machine sewed two pieces from Harlequin and Bookplate forming a pocket about halfway down, then added a tab to the top right corner adorned with a TPC Studio rhinestone.

The Bookplate sheet

has a ton of lovely goodies that can be cut and used as journal cards and embellishments.

I stamped a Cloud 9 Design 

flower image onto white cardstock, colored it with Distress Inks then fussy cut it. Popped it up with 3-D foam adhesive. The pink shabby wrinkled seam binding bow sits on a piece of cheesecloth, and is topped with May Arts burlap string and an I Am Roses two-tone pink blossom. The button, key charm and paper doily are from my stash.

I left these note cards

blank so I can put on an appropriate message when I use it.

I'm so glad you stopped by today.

I love when you visit and I love dropping by your places and see what your doing. Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs!

Linda

Breaking Out 7 Gypsies

I bought several sheets

of 7 Gypsies paper on my last visit to Archivers, and among them were these...

In looking through my

purchase last night, I thought that these two patterns would be perfect for a thank you card. This is how it turned out...

The weather here is grey

and rainy... thus the poor quality of my photos... so sorry! The Penmaker keeps telling me I need to buy a new camera... I'd rather buy paper and supplies. 

I used black textured cardstock 

for my base and mats along with both sides of the 7 Gypsies papers. I distressed the edges with my Tonic Studios paper distresser and Black Soot distress ink.

The sentiments are from

two retired clear stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. The memo pin is from Idea-ology.

The gear and long fastener

are also Idea-ology, and the brad is My Mind's Eye Union Square collection. The arrow was cut using Alterations Mini Jalopy & Arrow Set. I cut the banner with Spellbinders Ribbon Banners.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Harvest Time

Basicgrey Challenges

post a new challenge every two weeks, their latest being... Harvest Time. Here is my entry...

Now you need to use

at least one Basic Grey product and I chose a sheet of their Clippings collection called 5th Avenue. It's that pretty polka dot with the neutral background and a hint of teal... love it!

I also used several

papers from the K & Company Tim Coffey Fall collection that I purchased at Michaels for half price... yow that a deal!!!!

The card base is kraft.

This was my first time 

to use my new Singer sewing machine, and I must say I'm very pleased with it. Although my old one was a top of the line and much better built, for what I paid for this new model, I believe it's the perfect machine for my purpose... so I did a bit of stitching  around the mat bases.

I used four dies on

this card... Alterations Distressed Doily and Spellbinder's Large Classic Scalloped Circles, Lacey Circles and Labels Seventeen. The "abundance" word charm is by AMM, the trinket under it is by Bo Bunny and the fasteners are Idea-ology. The paper doily is from my stash and it, along with all the paper edges, were sponged with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. The shabby, wrinkled seam binding is from Prairie Bird Boutique and the May Arts ivory burlap string came from It's Always Fabulous, both on Etsy.

All the flowers and skeleton

leaves came from I Am Roses. The largest rose was originally white, and I sprayed it first with Expresso and then Butterscotch Color Wash. Then it got a mist of Lindy's Stamp Gang Golden Sleigh Bells Starburst as did all the other flowers... the shimmer is amazing! 

I'm linking up my card to these challenges:

BasicGrey Challenges - Harvest Time

Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog - Fall Into Fall

Sentimental Sundays - Autumn

Tuesday Throwdown - Fall Colors

Don't you just love Fall?

It's my very favorite time of year... even if what comes next is my least favorite! But for now I'm going to enjoy every moment of this fabulous, colorful season. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Recovering...

After a week of anniversary

celebration, I came down with a broken mojo. With a day of rest, I believe I am now on the road to recovery. 

The papers are from

the 7 Gypsies 6"x6" Conservatory pad and edged with Old Paper Distress Ink.

The chipboard pieces

are from Prima, the rhinestones are by TPC Studio, and the four inch paper doily is from my stash along with the yellow button. The black burlap string is by May Arts.

All my flowers are

from I Am Roses and sprayed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. The leaves were punched from Martha Stewart's Oak Leaf and the light yellow shabby wrinkled seam binding is from Prairie Bird Boutique on Etsy. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Happy 46th Anniversary!

Isn't it funny how your

hair changes color after being married for forty six years? 

Seriously... I LOVE THIS MAN!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Heartfelt Sympathy Card

Hi friends!

Just a quick post here with a card I made last week to add to my stash...

I used the Graphic 45

Communique 12x12 paper pad for this and  Spellbinders Labels Seventeen dies.

For the sentiment

I used Kaisercraft's Sympathy Mini Clear Stamp Set along with TPC Studio's Autumn Harvest.

The Penmaker and I

are out celebrating our 46th wedding anniversary. Will see you next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Always Remember

September 11, 2001

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Today, among other important

events, is our son-in-law's birthday. The number of years I'm not at liberty to divulge, but I can show you the card I made for him...

I love My Mind's Eye,

and used Lost & Found 2 - Breeze for this project, along with one of their older brads.

I kept this pretty simple.

Since there was a bit of glitter already on the paper, and I didn't want it to look girly in any way, I tore into the edges with my paper distresser and sponged on Antique Linen Distress Ink to give it a more rugged look.

The Prima key is tied on 

with ivory May Arts burlap string... my "go to" twine for nearly every type of card... love this stuff!

At the beginning of

my post, I mentioned other important events. Well, today marks the beginning of the Penmaker and my weeklong anniversary celebration... the actual day being this coming Sunday. Forty six years... so we started the festivities early! I have a wedding photo to share on the big day... hope you'll stop in!

Thanks for the visit!

Hugs!

Linda

Second Floor Challenge #8

Julie and Nat's 

Second Floor Challenge #8 is: Using 3 or More Stamps.

Ugh... I don't know what

it is, but it seems I do my worst work at these SFCs. The girls come up with these unique challenges, but I can't seem make it off the ground floor. This is my 3 or more stamp attempt...

I wanted to go with just

inks on this, so the background is Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Wild Honey and a touch of Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Applied Spiced Marmalade using Crafters Workshop Mini Tile Texture stencil. I love how it turned out, but the affection stops there.

I stamped on these 

leaves with Jet Black Archival, then tried Dyan Reavely's Bleach Out technique that you can watch here. 

Stamping my text

directly onto the background, the words didn't show up quite enough. I re-stamped onto cardstock, cut the words into blocks, inked and glued them over top the first. That made them a little too close together. *

Getting braver, I stamped my

 Dina Wakley Silhouette Script onto the page with Black Soot and sprinkled on Utee and heat set. Good night!!!... now what have I done? * Guess I just have to go with it!

I finished with stamping 

a border of blanket stitching and sponging Black Soot around the edges. What more can I say?

I'm taking away two valuable 

lessons in doing this challenge... and I hope I will remember them.

• Don't stamp over a dark background... a bit of a whitewash could have helped and not destroyed the background.
• Test your stamps first before applying them to the page... especially ones you've had trouble with before. (This Silhouette doesn't seem to like me at all... but I think she could be lovely.)

It's all a fun experience...

thanks Julie and Nat for the chance to learn something new... I'll keep trying!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Monochromatic Memories

City Crafters Challenge

for the week is Monochromatic... set by our lovely Hostess, Linda Robinson.

Just make a card or project

using a monochromatic color theme. My card entry is rather creamy...

I went for the Prima

Printery collection teamed with cream cardstock and a dab of black. (I just realized that in taking my photos on a black background, you can't see my black cardstock card base... I'm so sorry for that! Nevertheless, there is a card base there... just rather hidden.)

The cream cardstock

mat is embossed with Cuddlebug's Script Texture embossing folder, the flowers are from I Am Roses and the leaves were made with a Martha Stewart Rose Leaf punch. The banner strip is a scrap of canvas I had leftover from another project. The chipboard butterfly is from Prima. 

I followed this week's

 sketch from Mojo Monday, which I think is one of the best I've ever seen... fabulous!!!

I hope you'll all have 

a pleasant Thursday evening. It's been so beautiful here this week. The Penmaker and I just took a quick run to Starbucks to enjoy the weather. You know what's back, girls... Pumpkin Spice Latte!!! Isn't that just the best news of the day?

I'm linking my creamy card to:
Faded Charm - White Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda

Grayden's Journey

It's Back To School time.

For some of us it means that the only difference is a quieter neighborhood and fewer people in the stores during the day. For some... a total change in routine. I've really enjoyed reading the blogs of some of you who are going through this change, as it brings back memories of my own struggles of those days. I can remember standing at the window waving to my kids as they drove off down the road toward new adventures in learning. The house always felt so empty and I longed for that van to roll back up to our driveway. Later after I started the book business and had to be on the road, we thought it best to home school. That kicked my life into a whole other gear... what a wild ride that was, but probably the best years of my life with my children. Times I'd never trade for anything!

Well, now my oldest 

daughter is walking in my footsteps, or at times, kneeprints. Home schooling is not an easy task, and I pray earnestly for her to have strength and endurance. 

Carrie asked me the other

day if I'd give her a hand in preparing Grayden's notebook for the school year. YES... I jumped at the chance, and here is the layout that will be slipped into the vinyl cover sleeve...

She had purchased

this map paper and I completely forgot to look to see where it was made. The other papers are all from the Graphic 45 Communique collection pad.

Grayden's was cut

out with my Alterations Vintage Market die.

The silhouette is by

Jenni Bowlin, the ruler from 7 Gypsies and the metal gears, flower and fastener from Idea-ology.

The word Journey is 

Graphic 45 Staples alpha stickers and the car was cut with Alterations Mini Old Jalopy and Arrow Set.

I hope your school

day memories are pleasant ones... and for some of you, now is the time to make happy ones that will last a life time.

I'm entering Grayden's Journey in these challenges...
Anything But A Card - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp! - Anything Goes

Sugar Creek Hollow - Vintage School Days

Tuesday Throwdown - Back To Books

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Linda