Crazy For Challenges Guest Designer

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.  I am starting off my weekend with my 3rd post as the June Guest Designer for the Crazy 4 Challenges!

 

Peggy is our hostess and for the 3rd week of June she gave us a great sketch to work into a card.

 

I made this card for my hubby for Father's Day.  I used a new die from My Favorite Things to create my card. It's a Die-Namics centerpieces die-  “you mean the world to me".  I received it in my latest MFT order.

I cut the world 3 times. Once in pool party, once in gumball green and then again in basic gray. I used a Spellbinders circle die for the world image in pool party. I took the gumball green land masses and popped them in the blue world. I wanted some dimension.

Under the basic gray panel, I added tempting turquoise and gumball green to highlight the words. I added a turquoise heart with my hubby’s name. The letters are from the words in the die. To complete my card, I die cut some chevrons from a Stampin-Up die.

The background designer paper is from the Stampin-Up “nautical expedition” collection.

Hope you can play along with the "Crazies" this week using this fun sketch. Take a minute to drop by the Crazy For Challenges blog and check out all the fabulous projects from the team.

Card Recipe:
Paper: pool party, tempting turquoise, gumball green, smoky slate, basic gray, nautical expedition dsp 
Paper Size: A2
Accessories: MFT “you mean the world to me” die, SU circle thinlits die, Spellbinders Matting Basics A & circle dies. 

I am also entering: 
1. Country View Challenges has a masculine theme. 
2. LadyBug Crafts has something for the boys and use die cuts.
3. Mema's Crafts has an only men allowed challenge.

Super Hero

 

Hello Blogger friends!! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Been busy the past few days getting ready for my son and his family to visit. They will be here with us for a week. My little granddaughter is excited to be coming back again for a visit. They were here in April but it was under such different circumstances.

 

We will be spending time with my other son and his family that live here in Pittsburgh. It will be good for all of us to be together again.

 

I plan on taking Phoenix Daisy to one of our local farms and hopefully to pick strawberries. We also bought her a little 2 wheeler because she has learned how to ride without training wheels. She is only 3 so I think that is impressive. Lots of other plans but I am not sure at this point how much of it we will actually do.

 

Now onto my card for today. I created this for the Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge #482. I was the challenge hostess and I chose a kaleidoscope of colors with basic black, white, crushed curry, strawberry slush and bermuda bay. The option was to make a father’s day or masculine card.

My card layout is the June Viva la Verve week 1 sketch. The background paper is from the Stampin-Up designer paper “kaleidoscope collection”. It’s so perfect for a masculine card.

The larger sentiment is from the Waltzingmouse set “man of the hour”. To make the “hero” word stand out, I colored with a bermuda bay marker. The Father’s day wishes sentiment is from the Verve set “strong anchor”.

The pierced middle panel of crushed curry is die cut from the MFT blueprints 3 die. My stars are what completed my card and the die is from the Verve ‘starry die”.

 

That's my card for today. Time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time........God bless.

 

I am attaching a video of my sweet little granddaughter. She was a flower girl in a wedding recently. I laugh every time I watch this. She was on a mission to get her rose petals thrown. Enjoy!

 

I am also entering:

1.  Verve Diva Dare has a "it's a man's world challenge.

2.  Cupcake Inspirations has a "for the boys" challenge.

~Best Dad Ever~

 

Hello Blogger Friends!! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Today is Father's Day, and we spent it with my son and family. We had a delicious dinner and just enjoyed each other's company.

 

My daughter-in-law grilled flank steak that she marinated in some delicious herbs and olive oil. She made a pasta dish with red potatoes and green beans that my hubby and son really like.

 

I made a tossed salad and some baby back ribs and that was our dinner. For dessert she made a rhubarb and cream pie. It was so yummy and there was none left between the 7 of us.

 

We brought Ethan(youngest grandson) back here to spend the night and enjoy the day with us tomorrow.

 

Now onto my card for today. I made this one for a friend of mine who wanted to give it to her hubby for Father's Day. I was looking though my stamps and saw this Waltzingmouse "man of the hour" set. It has some really great sentiments. When I saw this one my creative thoughts started flowing and I came up with the idea for this card.

 

I pulled out my PaperTrey Ink holiday home stamp set and dies for the houses. I stamped them in red, choc chip and old olive.  The rolling hills is a die also from PaperTrey Ink. My MFT dies cut the sun, clouds and arrow. Stamped my sentiment in choc chip ink.

 

And that is my card for today. So until next time.......God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1.  Addicted To Stamps has an outdoors challenge.

2.  Glitter 'n Sparkle has a Father's Day challenge
3.  That Craft Place has a "Men" challenge
4.  Country View Challenges has an "only men allowed" challenge

Mixed Media Birthday

 

Hello blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It was a beautiful sunny day here in Pittsburgh. I spent the day doing some cleaning and then shopping for a gift or my hubby or Father's day.

 

I thought I would have the family here for dinner tomorrow but with my grandson's baseball schedules that won't work. So, I think we are going to my son's home for lunch. It will be good to spend the day together.

 

Now onto my card for today. This is another mixed media card that I made for CC474.  Karen chose the color palette of very vanilla, pink pirouette and pistachio pudding for colors. She didn't want us to do any stamping on our cards. .

 I did a mixed media stenciling on this one. Somethingthat used to be out of my comfort zone, but I find that I am getting somewhat comfortable with it the more I do it.

I used a Heidi Swapp stencil and some gloss gel medium on very vanilla cardstock. Before it dried I sprayed some Heidi Swapp seafoam color shine. IRL it has a great gloss that isn't picked up real well in the photo. I really like how my background turned out.

I went to my stash and found these embossed tulip designs.  I bought these from QVC ages ago. I die cut a butterfly and my birthday word to complete my card.

 

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time ........God bless.

 

Card recipe:

Paper: pink pirouette, pistachio pudding, very vanilla 

Card Size: A2 

Accessories: Heidi Swapp stencil and seafoam color shine, Liquitex gloss gel medium, -Happy Easter Embossable Designs, PTI birthday die, Cheery Lynn Designs butterfly die 

Techniques: stenciling, mixed media  

 

I am also entering: 

1.  Open Minded Crafting has a something with wings challenge. 

2.  Bloggers Challenge is Flowers. 

3.  Fussy and Fancy has a things with wings challenge. 
 

Guest Designer Stencil Card

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I am starting off my weekend with my 2nd post as the month long Guest Designer for the Crazy 4 Challenges!

 

Peggy is our hostess and here is her challenge to us: "Seems that using stencils has taken off in the papercraft world. You do not have to run out and buy a stencil for this challenge. You can use die cuts, punches or stickers to make a stencil. Let’s see some stenciling creativity"!

I have several unused stencils so I decided to use one of those instead of creating one from a die cut. The one I chose to use is the MFT "sun-ray" stencil.

 

I had this idea brewing in my head for making a graduation card with it. Needed a grad card for my friend's son. The school colors are red and white.

 

I sponged some Ranger distress wild honey and squeezed lemonade inks on the stencil sun rays. 

I used a Spellbinders circle die and stamped my sentiment in real red ink. The sentiment is a single stamp from the Stampin-Up Wordplay set - "dream". 

My grad cap (H166) is from Great Impressions Stamps. To complete my card I added a few die cut stars using the Verve "starry die".

 

That's my card for this week's challenge. Drop over to the Crazy For Challenges Blog to see what the rest of the talented design team has created.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: WordPlay (Stampin' Up), Graduation Hats-H166 (Great Impressions)
Ink: Real Red, Wild Honey, Squeezed Lemonade
Paper: WW, real red
Accessories: MFT sun-ray stencil die, Spellbinders circle dies, Verve starry die

I am also entering:
1.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is "stencil it"
2.  Word Art Wednesday has an anything goes challenge.

 



More Mixed Media

 

Hello blogger friends. Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I was sitting here ready to type this blog post and I had an interesting phone call from my neighbor.

There was a bear sighting in our community. And it is a big 400 lb. black bear nonetheless. I live in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and I am just wondering where he came from?

 

The 2nd sighting is only about a mile from my house. So that was a bit disconcerting. Even as I write this I have to giggle at myself. I spend more time indoors crafting that outside. My hubby is the avid gardener not me. Oh well, I hope the bear moves onto to a more secluded area (lol)!!

 

My card for today is another mixed media piece. On this card, I started with a Heidi Swapp bird stencil and sponged pistachio pudding and spun sugar inks. I like the soft look.

To add some background texture, I mixed some gloss gel medium with spun sugar distress paint and Martha Stewart ballet slipper acrylic paint to get the pink pirouette color. Used a flower stencil from Dylusions and a metal butterfly stencil.

I used a PaperTrey ink die to cut my birthday word and added some pearls to complete my card.

 

Well, it's time for me to hit the road. I have to pick up Ethan ( youngest grandson) at school today. Then Aidin has a baseball game at 6:00. So until next time........God bless.

I am also entering:

1. Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is paint.

2. UnStampaBelles has a mixed media challenge.  

3. Eclectic Ellapu has a "pinks" challenge.

Gesso Resist Card

 

Hello blogger friends. Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.

 

We started off our day with church. Today there were missionaries from Peru visiting. They are a great group of Peruvian Pastors. They had a message that really resonated with me.  Basically, it was about God being with us during times of adversity and providing comfort.  I really liked what they had to say as did our congregation.

 

This afternoon we went to Ethan's (youngest grandson) baseball game. They were playing over our side of town and at a field that was about 15 minutes from our church. They lost the game, but it was a good time nonetheless.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one is a mixed media that I created with the colors of so saffron, smoky slate and strawberry slush from the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #480. We were also to use twine on our cards.

so saffron, smoky slate and strawberry slush

 

For this card I created a mixed media using a gesso resist technique. It’s just like emboss resist but you use gesso instead of embossing. This was a fun technique and I like how my card turned out. Here is a link to the tutorial that I followed.

I took my Hero Arts background stamp and covered it with gesso and placed my cardstock over the stamp. When it dried I used Ranger distress inks –wild honey and picked raspberry and sponged over the gesso. I used a baby wipe to remove the ink from the gesso.

Then I used the embossing folder that is part of this stamp set. I like how it highlighted the flower, butterfly and friend word.

Cut some notes and a few butterflies, added some twine to complete this card.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Friend (Hero Arts) 
Paper: Smoky slate, strawberry slush, so saffron (Stampin-Up), Gina K White 
Paper Size: A6 
Ink: Wild Honey, Picked Raspberry (Tim Holtz distress inks) 
Accessories: Liquitex Gesso, Hero Arts Stamp and Embossing folder combo, Twine, MS butterfly punch, MFT notes die, SU pearls, Mink Ink blending tool (Ranger)
Techniques: Gesso Resist 

I am also entering:
1. 613 Avenue Create- anything goes/optional create something for your best friend.
2  Crafting Musketeers Challenge is to use a stamped image.
3. Crafting At The Weekend- has an anything goes.
4. Mixed Media Mojo Challenge #1. Use at least 2 mediums and stamps.

~Father's Day Wishes~ C4C239

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I am starting off my weekend with my first post as the month long Guest Designer for Crazy 4 Challenges! What a talented group of crafters! Thanks for the invitation Peggy! 

 

The first challenge is "Man Made".

 

How many of us need more masculine cards in our stash? Have some men/boys that have a birthday coming up? A special sport event? Graduation? Father’s Day is just around the corner too! So let’s see some masculine cards/projects!

I am so behind with my Father's Day cards so that's the route I took. I decided to use the Stampin-Up "open sea" set and designer paper from the "nautical expedition" collection. I used this card from Pinterest as my inspiration. Made changes to make it my own.

 

My background panel is smoky slate and I stamped some of the images in early espresso ink. Layered not quite navy on this panel. Used the Mft "flag stax" dies to cut the pennants from the designer paper.

 

The image panel is also smoky slate and I stamped images in early espresso and the ship in not quite navy. I used some burlap underneath this panel. To finish off my card, I die cut an anchor and stamped my sentiment.

 

That's my card for this first challenge. Drop over to the Crazy For Challenges Blog to see what the rest of the talented design team has created.

 

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Open Sea (Stampin-Up), Strong Anchor (Verve)

Ink: early espresso and not quite navy (Stampin-Up)

Paper: smoky slate, not quite navy, nautical expeditions dsp (Stampin-Up)

Accessories: MFT flag stax die, Verve strong anchor dies, David Tutera burlap ribbon

 

~Psalm 121~

 

 

Hello blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I am gradually getting back into my card making after our devastating loss over a month ago.

 

 

I made this card for the color challenge #478 on Splitcoaststampers.  Karen was our hostess and she chose real red, old olive and daffodil delight. Dessert option is embossing on white.

My card is using some new goodies that I received recently from Verve Stamps. The flower is from the “poppy birthday” set and the sentiment is a “plain jane stamp” –Psalm 121:1-2. This scripture is so real to me right now.

I stamped the flower in black ink on real red card stock and cut with the matching die for this set.
On the sentiment panel I did some generational background stamping with one of the sets smaller poppies.

The card layout is from an old Viva la Verve sketch. I used Julee Tilman’s card as my inspiration. See her card here.

My background embossing is using the Cuttlebug birds and swirls folder. The designer paper is from the Stampin-Up “quatrefancy specialty” collection. My other yellow panel was embossed with the Stampin-Up “fancy fan” embossing folder.

I used the MFT blueprints 3 for my bow to complete my card. That's it for me for today. So until next time........God bless.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Poppy Birthday & Psalm 121:1-2 (Verve) 
Paper: whisper white, real red, daffodil delight, old olive, Quatrefancy Specialty Dsp 
Paper Size: A2 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, real red, old olive 
Accessories: CB birds & swirls ef, SU fancy fan ef, MFT blueprints 3, Verve build a poppy die

Our Potted Plants

Celosia, alyssum, coleus, gerbera daisy

petunias

celosia, zinnia, trailing ivy geranium

gerbera daisy

bougainvillea

another petunia pot

first harvest red leaf lettuce

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I am gradually making my way back into blogging as well as crafting after our devastating loss about a month ago. I am searching for a new normal but I know that my crafting is a calming diversion for me.

 

So in the next days I will be showing what I have created in the last couple of weeks. I thought I would show today my hubby's stress reliever. He is an avid gardener and I took a few photos of his container plants. They are on our deck.

 

I also took a photo of our first harvest of red leaf lettuce. He hasn't grown any lettuce in years. This year he decided to make a bigger vegetable garden. Our sweet granddaughter, Phoenix Daisy, will be coming for a visit this summer. We want her to go out into the garden and help pick vegetables.

 

If you look close on the bougainvillea photo, you will see my hubby in the background. Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.........God bless.