~If friends were flowers~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. We sent our week-end guest on his way and I spent some of the day getting the bedroom and bathroom back in order.

 

Attempted to do some laundry and then in the middle of a drying cycle the dryer stopped running. My hubby said he will deal with it tomorrow. Hopefully it's something simple and not a new dryer. Don't know about you but I would rather spend money on something else really anything else!!

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for this week's CC #488 on Splitcoaststampers. I was the hostess and I chose quite an array of colors for this week's challenge.

 

It's about "all abloom". Our gardens here at the Marsh household are in full bloom and there is quite an array of color. So I am giving you quite an array of color this week. 

I chose 7 colors  and you had the option to pick 3 to work with or use all 7 of them.

 

The challenge colors are:

Blushing Bride

Daffodil Delight

Island Indigo

Lost Lagoon

Mossy Meadow

 Pistachio Pudding

Strawberry Slush

 

                   

The option this week is all about summer - so your creation is to reflect summer- flowers, beach scene, garden scene, summer fruits- you get the idea.

My card this weeks started with my designer paper. I used the “all abloom” collection from Stampin-Up. Once I decided the pattern, I looked for a sketch. I am using this week’s MojoMonday #355.

I used lots of dies on this card. Scallop and paper bow are MFT blueprints 3, The banners are MFT flag stax die. I used the Stampin-Up "fancy fan" embossing folder for some texture.
The doily is also MFT -dizzy doily cut in strawberry slush. I cut a white circle from a Spellbinders die.

The flower is from the Stampin-Up “secret garden” set. I stamped with strawberry slush ink on blushing bride card stock.

My sentiment is from the Verve set “dream big and stamped in lost lagoon ink.
That's my card for today.  It's late and time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time.......God bless.

Card Details:
Stamps: Secret garden (stampin-Up), Dream Big (Verve) 
Paper: daffodil delight, island indigo, mossy meadow, blushing bride, strawberry slush, ww, all abloom dsp (Stampin-Up) 
 Paper Size: A2 
Ink: lost lagoon, strawberry slush 
Accessories: Mft dizzy doily & flag stax dies, Spellbinders Matting Basics A & B dies, SU secret garden framelits and fancy fan ef   
I am also entering:
1.  Crafty Girls Challenge is an anything goes.
2. The Crafters Café Challenge is anything goes.
3. Creative Moments has an anything goes with optional twist of one flower.
4. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is to emboss it.
5. Sisterhood of Crafters has a die cuts/punches challenge.  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~celebrate your day~

 

Hello blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It was one of those laid back summer days for me. I went to the gym for a workout session with my trainer. Whew! It was a workout and I definitely was exhausted when I left the gym.

 

My hubby was on a golf outing today so when I came home I immediately tuned in to the HSN 24 hr crafting event. I bought some Martha Stewart punches and as I type this the show is still going strong. I saw a lot of things I liked and almost bought but I restrained myself (lol)!!

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #487 on Splitcoaststampers. Becky is our hostess and she chose soft sky, soft suede, pear pizzazz and crisp cantaloupe for our color palette. Our option this week is to make a feminine card.

I just bought this Penny Black stamp at the Pittsburgh Rubber Stamp Show. And, I also just watched this tutorial on the Spellbinder blog by Linda Lucas using Labels 8 dies. So that was my card inspiration.

I used soft sky for my card base and cut it with the Spellbinders labels 8 die. The next layer is soft suede cut with the Spellbinders decorative labels 8 die. The image layer is cut with a smaller Spellbinders  labels 8 die and I sponged in soft sky before I removed it from the die.

Stamped my coneflower image in crisp cantaloupe and pear pizzazz. My sentiment is stamped in soft suede and is from the Verve set "poppy birthday".

I used some rhinestones for a little bling and added a bow made from pear pizzazz seam binding.

 

That's my card for today. Time to get back to my HSN craft show........so until next time God bless.

 

Card details:

Stamps: Blush (Penny Black), Poppy Birthday (Verve) 

Paper: Soft Sky, Soft Suede, WW     

Ink: Cantaloupe, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Soft Sky (Stampin-Up) 

Accessories: Spellbinders labels 8, Decorative labels 8, Darice Rhinestones, Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding, 

Techniques: Die Layering 

 

I am also entering:

1.  Deep Ocean Challenge has lots of layers.

2.  Fan-Tastic Tuesday has an anything goes.

3.  Party Time Tuesdays has an anything goes challenge.

4.  Ladybug Crafts has a summer flowers challenge.

~winter wonderland~

 

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It was a rainy Saturday here in Pittsburgh and a bit on the cooler side. We have a week-end guest here from Florida and he is enjoying the rain and cool temps. It is a bit of a welcome break from the air-conditioner but I am ready for summer to return.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the Featured Stamper #387 challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  Judy was the hostess and she chose Nancy Thomas as this week's featured stamper.

 

The idea is to look through the Featured Stamper's gallery and chose a card to re-create in your style. I chose this card.

 

Since I don't have a birch tree die, I used some BoBunny designer paper that already had birch trees and a woodland scene in it. I used a Paper Trey ink die to cut the deer and the tiny red cardinals.

I also added a red frame around my winter scene. Used Spellbinders Mattings Basics A to cut. I punched a couple of snowflakes and used wink of stella pen for some sparkle.

My sentiment was stamped in Versamark and then white embossing powder. I used a corner rounder on the edges of the sentiment panel for interest.

 

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

 

I am also entering:

1.  Hiding in My Craft Room has a Christmas in July challenge.

2.  My Sheri Crafts is Christmas in July with lots of layers.

3.  Winter Wonderland has a "blue Christmas" challenge.

4.  C.R.A.F.T. Challenge has a Christmas in July.

5.  Divas By Design has a Christmas in July.

~hello~

 

Hello Blogger friends! thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life blog. We picked our first zucchini's (we had 2) from our garden. I decided to stuff them using a recipe I found on the Martha Stewart website.

first zucchini and tomato

 

They were delicious. Here is a link to the recipe if you want to give them a try. When I served mine I spooned a marinara sauce over the zucchini and dusted with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I will definitely use this recipe again since my hubby liked it as well.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for a friends birthday. I put the sentiment on the inside. But forgot to photo that- oh well next time for sure.

 

My card colors are from the CC485 on Splitcoaststampers. Peggy was the hostess and she chose hello honey, night of navy and sahara sand. Our dessert is texture - fibers, felt, embossing folders, mixed media etc.

My card is using a new stamp set from PaperTreyInk- "ombre builders". I die cut a tag with a Sizzix die and sahara sand cardstock and used several different patterns and stamped in night of navy ink.

My poppy flowers and sentiment are from the Verve set "poppy birthday". I stamped in night of navy on sahara sand cardstock.

I did a bit of stenciling on my backgroundg using a stencil from Plaid. I used hello honey ink for a tone on tone look. My hello word is cut in hello honey cardstock with a die from MFT - "happy hellos".

I used some cotton perle on my tag to complete my card. My card inspiration came from the PTI board on Pinterest.

 

Well that's it for me for today. Time to get busy with some household chores. I would rather be creating but we have a guest coming this weekend. So until next time........God bless blogger friends.

 

card details:

Stamps: Ombre Builders (PTI), Poppy Birthday (Verve) 

Paper: Hello honey, Sahara sand, night of navy, old olive 

Paper Size: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 

Ink: Night of navy, Hello honey 

Accessories: Sizzix Tag die, Verve poppy builder die, DMC cotton perle, Plaid stencils,
 

I am also entering:

1.  Totally Gorjuss has a tag it challenge.

2.  A Girl Who Crafts has an anything goes July.

3.  Country View Challenges has a stencil it.

4.  LadyBug Crafts has a summer flowers challenge.

5.  Crafting At the Weekend has an anything goes.

  

~There was a girl~

Easel card Closed view

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's a beautiful summer Saturday here in Pittsburgh.

There was also a rubber stamp show held here this weekend. So guess where I spent 5 hours of my day? There were make and takes and lots of product for sale. A fun day for any crafter.

I also went to a graduation party later in the day. The young woman who graduated is from our church. She is excited about going away to school and starting the next phase of her life. So my card for today was made in Jaime's honor.

 I used the colors from this week's color challenge #486 on Splitcoaststampers.  Barbara is our hostess and her challenge colors are: old olive, calypso coral and daffodil delight.

Option is to make a fancy fold card. I decided to go with an easel card. See tutorial here.

 My images and sentiments are from the Waltzingmouse set “half pint heroines”. I stamped the image and colored with the new Stampin-Up blendabilities in old olive and daffodil delight. My calypso coral color is a Copic marker. I then fussy cut the hot air balloon to place in the scene.

Easel card open view

For the finishing touches on the outdoor scene I started with the PaperTrey Ink die "in the meadow" to create my hills. The houses were cut from the Cheery Lynn Designs die "winter village". The sun and cloud are dies from MFT.

My thought process for the scene is the graduate leaving her home for college. Hence, the houses, hills and hot air balloon.  I thought the sentiments I used really described  who Jaime is as a young woman.

Well it's time to dim the lights in Charmed Life land for another day so until next time.........God bless.

Card Details:
Stamps: half pint heroines (Waltzingmouse) 
Paper: calypso coral, old olive, choc chip, ww, sweet pea dsp (Stampin-Up) Neenah White 
Paper Size: A2 Ink: memento tuxedo black 
Accessories: Cheery Lynn Designs winter village die, MFT sun and clouds die, PTI in the meadow die, SU blendabilities old olive, daffodil delight, Copic R22, R24  

I am also entering:
1.  Crafts For Eternity Recipe Challenge has a sports challenge.
2.  Crafty Calendar Challenge is summertime fun.
3.  Fussy and Fancy Friday challenge is all about girls.
4.  Sister Act Card Challenge is anything goes.
5.  Crafty Little Fairies has a summer fun challenge.
6.  Moving Along with the Times has a "girls just wanna have fun challenge.
7.  Time Out Challenges has a "fun in the sun".
 

~Blossom Get Well~

 

Hello Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. We have our youngest Grandson (Ethan) staying with us for a few days.

 

It's been a great time having him here. He played baseball with his Pap, worked outside, swam in the pool and last night we had a fire pit in the backyard and made s'mores. They were delicious and such a relaxing time of just talking and being together. Here is a photo of Ethan and my hubby.

Fire pit s'mores time



Now onto my card for today. I really like the Stampin-Up set "blooming with kindness". I needed a get well card for a friend who just had an operation. So when I saw this beauty made with this set on Pinterest, I knew I had to case it.

I changed a few things to make the card my own. I used sketch #491 from Splitcoaststampers for my card layout.

I stamped my flower images  directly on my designer paper. The paper is from Stampin-Up's "watercolor wonder" collection.

I stamped the bottom flower in daffodil delight. The top left flower in tangerine tango and stamped off once before stamping on the dsp.
On the bold image I stamped first with daffodil delight and again stamped off. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to offset the send image slightly and used tangerine tango ink.

The sentiment is from the Stampin-Up "perfectly penned" set. I stamped in cajun craze ink.
To finish my card I used some tangerine tango and daffodil delight ribbon. My butterfly is a Cheery Lynn Designs die.

Well, time for me to close this post. Ethan will be getting up soon and I want to enjoy the day with him before my daughter-in-law comes to pick him up. So until next time.......God bless.

Card Details:
Stamps: Blooming with Kindness, Perfectly Penned (Stampin Up) 
Paper: Daffodil delight, tangerine tango, watercolor wonder dsp (Stampin-Up) 
Paper Size: A2 
Ink: daffodil delight, tangerine tango, cajun craze 
Accessories: tangerine tango & daffodil delight ribbon, Pearls, Cheery Lynn Designs butterfly die   

 I am also entering:
1.  Crafty Girls Challenge is anything goes.
2.  Charisma Cardz challenge is anything goes.
3.  Divas By Design has a things with wings challenge.
4.  Stampin' Royalty has an anything goes challenge.



 

Masculine Card

 

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

 

Don't know if  I mentioned before that my hubby planted a vegetable garden this year. We usually have just tomatoes. But this year he planted lettuce, green onions, green and hot peppers, zucchini and cucumbers. Plus all our usual herbs.

 

We have been getting lettuce for about a month now. I just love going to the garden and picking it for our salad.

Yesterday, was our first ripe zucchini and tomato. I was busy last night searching online for a recipe for zucchini. I just wanted to try something a little different. The flowers in the background are mini dahlias. We have them on the table on our deck.

 

Now onto my card for today.  My card is using 2 Stampin-Up sets- "Just Sayin' and "gorgeous grunge". I cut the sentiment from the bubble framelits die. It is an accompaniment to the "just sayin' stamp set.

I used Stampin-Up reftro fresh designer paper and the MFT flag stax dies to cut my flags. The arrow is cut with another MFT die in Recollections cork paper.

To complete my card I used some May Arts chevron ribbon.
My card inspiration came from this one I saw on Pinterest by Mary Brown aka StamperCamper. Changed it a bit to make it my own.

 

Well that's it for me for today. Time to head over to my son's home for the day. So until next time.......God bless.

 

Card Supplies:

Stamps: just sayin', gorgeous grunge (Stampin-Up) 

Paper: crumb cake, coastal cabana retro fresh dsp 

Ink: early espresso 

Accessories: bubbles framelits (stampin-up), MFT flag stax die & lead the way dies, Recollections cork paper
 

I am also entering:

1.  SCS WT486  - Michelle wanted us to use balloons. I used speech bubbles. 

2.  613 Avenue Create is anything goes.

3.  CAS on Sunday has a one layer challenge.

~Proud to be an American~

Hello blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's the 4th of July and we are getting ready for a celebration this afternoon at a friend's home. Tonight we will attend a Fireworks display in our community.

 

It's a wonderful way to celebrate our American heritage. And, despite the things that are wrong in our country, I can still say that I am proud to be an American. In fact, our church has joined in with a national movement to pray for America for the first 7 days in July.  

 

Pray! in the 7th month, July

Pray! on each of the first 7 days of July

Pray! and fast on July 7th for 7 hours.....  

Now onto my card for today. This is another attempt at mixed media. I was happy with how this one turned out.

 

For this card I did a mixed media piece using a “faux tile” technique. I picked 3 colors of paint -I chose Ranger distress chipped sapphire, fired brick and a white acrylic. I cover my mixed media paper with bold strokes of the blue and red.

I used an MFT die to cut some chevrons and taped them to my card. Over the chevrons I laid some some drywall tape. I painted my white acrylic over that. This became my “grout”.
I like the texture that the painters tape gave. I was going after a flag look and I think I captured that with my background.

When the acrylic dried I carefully peeled off the chevrons and tape to reveal the background. To speed up the drying process I laid it in front of an open window. We have a good breeze going.

My images and sentiment are a stamp set from Flourishes “patriotism on parade”. I die cut a red frame with a Spellbinders rectangle die and  added stars to complete my card.

 

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

Card Recipe:

Stamps: patriotism on parade (Flourishes) 

Paper: real red, night of navy, ww, Strathmore mixed media paper 

Paper Size: A2 

Ink: night of navy, real red 

Accessories: Ranger distress paints-chipped sapphie, fired brick, white. MFT Chevron die, drywall tape (home Depot)

 

I am also entering:

1.  Mixed Media Mojo wants us to think patriotic

2.  A Creative Romance wants us to use the colors of our national flag.

3.  Bloggers Challenge is to use red, white and blue.

4.  Crafters Café is a red, white and blue challenge.

5.  Country View Crafts has a stencil it challenge.

Crazy for Challenges Guest Designer

 

Hello blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Can you believe its July 1 already. Summer is in full swing here in Pittsburgh with our hot and humid days. After our rough winter this weather is  so welcome, at least for me anyway.

 

I had my son, daughter-in-law and sweet granddaughter Phoenix Daisy for a week long visit. We had such a wonderful family time. I sent them back home on Sunday and now the house seems so quiet and empty. I will have them back for Christmas though.

 

One of our memorable events was going to the farm to pick strawberries and then make strawberry jam. Phoenix Daisy loves to help in the kitchen and she is only 3 yrs old. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of our jam making adventure and let me say it was an adventure. But, I did get 10 jars of jam and some of it I will give away for a small Christmas gift to some of my friends and family.

 

Now onto my project for today. This one I made for my final week as guest designer with the Crazy For Challenges team. Peggy's challenge was to make a card or project that depicts the season where you live. I immediately thought of July 4th. And, my June Paper Pumpkin kit arrived right in time for this challenge.

 

The kit contained everything I needed to make the pinwheels. All I had to do was find the right vase and add some stones to display my project. They make a perfect table decoration.

 

I also thought they would look good added to a napkin for a festive place setting.

 

Well, that's it for me for today. Drop over to the Crazy For Challenges blog and check out what the other talented designers have created.

 

So until next time............God bless.

 

I am also entering:

 

1.  Decorate to Celebrate wants us to create some July 4th decorations.