SSS32 Gingerbread Boys

Here we are with another Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge and for today's card I used a digital image from SNSS, 'Gingerbread Couple'. The image consists of a boy and a girl gingerbread, but I chose to use only the boy image for this card. I paper pieced the little outfit, using the same dotted pattern paper as I used for the first square layer beneath the sentiment.. After paper-piecing and coloring the image, I covered the 'bread' portions with Crystal Effects to give it the 'shine' factor. As you can tell, I wrote the sentiment freehand...this card will be used for one of my grandson's and I wanted something that would work for him....so I just decided to write it out by hand, nothing fancy about the sentiment at all!

Be sure to visit the blogs of the other Sugar Baby Team Members and see their fantastic cards for this sketch.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend with family and friends. My schedule for this coming week is super busy and I may not get much stamping done. But, I'll definitely be back next Saturday with the new SSS33 challenge.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the Sweet N' Sassy Stamps Website....Korin has 2 new digi sets posted and they are super cute!

If you get a chance to join us for the SSS32 Challenge...be sure to post a link to your card on the Sweet Stop Blog...I'd love to see what all of you do with the sketch.

Spend time with family and friends and then,

Make time to create, but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barbg(WV)

SSS31 Christmas Squirrel

I'm back with another Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Card! Included with the challenge this week, we had to use some kind of 'sewing' technique on the card....it could be 'faux' stitching, machine stitching, or free-hand sewing. For my main image, I chose a digtal image from 'Mo's Digital Pencil'...it was just so cute, I had to have it. I love his little collection of acorns...looks as if he has been quite busy gathering food supplies for the upcoming Holiday meals...or perhaps he is out sharing his wealth with other little squirrels less fortunate than he is....but whatever his intentions, he is a cutie and I had a fun time coloring the image.

For my 'stitching', I simply did a free hand stitch on the edge of the red panel using some gold embroidery thread.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week, celebrating the Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends. The Lord has blessed my family abundantly this last year and I have so much for which to be thankful.

Here is my 'short list' of blessings:

1. good health

2. wonderful doctors

3. a loving church and church ministry

4. my 3 children who are all grown and married and have blessed my life with 8 beautiful grandchildren...with more to come

5. my Dad, who is still living and in good health at the age of 77

6. good friends...including those of you who take the time to read this blog and post encouraging feedback

7. the honor of working with Sweet N' Sassy Stamps and Korin....allowing me to share my 'art' with all of you...and for the inspirational talent each of you share with all of us

8. the privilege of being an 'American'...the freedom it allows me to live my life as I choose ...and for those who have willingly served and/or given their lives in an effort to keep us a free nation

9. a loving husband who keeps me 'grounded' and encourages me in all that I do

10. Knowing that I can put all of my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father who loves me more than I could ever deserve.

Don't forget to check out the Sugar Baby Blogs for more awesome inspiration with this newest sketch challenge.

Have a wonderful week of Thanksgiving and may all of you be blessed abundantly!

Spend time with family and friends and then,

Make time to create but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barbg(WV)

SSS30 Christmas Candle

Here we are with another Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge. For this week's challenge, I'm using a Sweet N' Sassy digital image titled 'Christmas Candle' -- illustrated by Leah Cornelius.

It was very difficult to 'capture on camera' all of the layers I used for the poinsettia of the main image...I printed the image 3 times, coloring the poinsettia of each. From the extra images, I cut out 'sections' of the flower and added them to the main image by gluing just the 'inside edge' of each section....curling the outer edges in an upward direction...the 'center' of the poinsettia is attached using a 'tiny glob' of Zip Dry glue (allowed to dry slightly). You can see just a hint of the layers with this side-view picture, but it is so much more evident IRL! For a touch of sparkle, I've added just a 'hint' of red stickles to a few of the floral petals. A little 'highlighting' using a White Inkssential Gel Pen completes the image.

The 'Candle'..... Diamond stickles were added to the main portion and then for dimension, I've added 'Crackle accents' (Inkssentials) to the top 'melted' portion of the candle and also to the flame. Crackle accents is similar to Crystal Effects but once it dries you get a bit of a 'crackled' effect...similar to the 'cracked glass' technique.

I had planned to use 'shimmery gold' cardstock for the layers of this card, but because I am totally 'organizationally challenged', I couldn't find it! So....I resorted to versamark ink, gold embossing powder, and my brand new 'Heat It' Tool (Ranger) to give a similar 'sparkle' for this card...it worked out OK but if I could have found it,the gold cardstock would have been better. Oh well.....

If I were to make this card again, I would add the 'gold element' to the top right corner, rather than leaving it 'white'....

As always, I encourage you to visit The Sweet Stop and play along with this newest Sketch Challenge. And be sure to check out the other Sugar Baby Design Team blogs....the ladies are super talented and never cease to AMAZE me with their awesome talent!

Links for the Sweet Stop Sketch and Sugar Baby Blogs on posted on my side-bar.

If you decide to play along, please post a link to your creation on the Sweet Stop Blog .... We'd love having you join us and will look forward to viewing your creative designs!

On Another Note

This last couple of weeks, I've not been able to keep up with all of you who 'follow' my blog...well, not nearly as much as I would like...but I do hope to be back to a more 'normal' schedule after next weekend....at least, that is my goal. In the meantime, please know that I'm not ignoring any of you on purpose and I do appreciate your patience as well as your loyalty....not to mention all of the sweet and kind comments many of you have left on my blog! I certainly don't feel deserving of such praise but do appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to share your thoughts and encouraging words with me. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a blessing you are in my life.... I'm so very grateful to God for every one of you!

This weekend...share your time with family and friends....and then,

Make time to create but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barbg(WV)

Edited to add: I'm having trouble with the spacing for my blog...I either end up with way too much space between paragraphs, or all of the paragraphs run back to back and the whole post looks cluttered.....grrrrrrrr!

Princess Kaylee

We have a new little princess in our family! October 7, 2009 this new little princess was officially adopted into our family by my middle daughter, Shari, and her husband Jim. My daughter, who always considered herself to be the princess in our family, now has a little princess of her own! The story of how this new little princess came to be a part of our family is much to long and complex to share with you today.
However, I would like to tell you just a little about the person God used to give us our new little princess.

Not long after her birth, our little princess was placed into the foster care system. At about 6 months old, she was placed into the home of my daughter's 'best friend forever and always'... Aimee. Aimee is a beautiful young woman, both physically and spiritually...and she is the one whom God used to bring this new little princess into our family! I believe Aimee's actions not only demonstrate a remarkable spirit of 'self-less-ness' but also a geniun spirit of Christian love and kindness.

From the very first day Kaylee arrived in the home of Aimee and her family, they not only took care of her physical needs, but also lavished her with love and affection. Aimee took advantage of every opportunity to teach Kaylee of God's love. She and her family began praying with Kaylee on a daily basis, and part of those prayers were asking God to watch over the life of Kaylee as well as asking God to work in the hearts of those in the court system who would be making important decisions regarding her precious life. Aimee loved little Kaylee with her whole heart but she also knew that God's love for Kaylee was far greater than her own.

Shari and Aimee are blessed to enjoy a very close and loving friendship and Aimee knew of Shari's deep desire to one day adopt a daughter of her own. My daughter and her husband had been working with a Christian adoption agency in an attempt to adopt a little girl from Panama...a process which ended without success. Around this same time, Aimee approached Shari with the idea of becoming a foster parent and eventually taking Kaylee into her home...and to make a long story short... Shari and her husband (Jim) did indeed become foster parents to Kaylee and after a long and difficult 2+ years, are now the adopted parents of our new little princess, Kaylee Mae! It is Aimee whom God used to nurture and care for 'the little princess' and then lovingly and graciously give her over to the hands of my daughter and family to finish the work God had begun nearly 4 years ago! And because Aimee and Shari remain BFF, Aimee and her family will always be an important part of Kaylee's life.

And Aimee, if you should read this post, I want to personally thank you for sharing your life with my daughter and for the precious gift you have given her! Your thoughtful prayers and loving spirit have blessed our family with this precious gift of life, a gift for which we will always be thankful!

This past weekend, an Adoption Party/Birthday Party was held in Kaylee's honor. And of course if you have a party, you most often have presents. So of course I made a card 'fitting for a princess' to go along with my present for Kaylee... and I am sharing that card with you today!

I'm very happy with the end result and hope you will enjoy it as well.

This Princess Digital image is from 'The Character Cafe', titled 'Princess Ally'. I did have to do a 'little' altering to the original image. Much like the Magnolia images, this little princess did not have a 'mouth'....and I was certain 'my' new little princess would NOT understand why that was...so, I simply added a little smile to her sweet face.

The image is colored with Copics, and glitzed up with Stickles and Pearls. For the card base I used PTI Select White, and have added a purple textured paper to the outside base layer. The pattern paper is from Fiskars 'Brittany's Castle Collection' and has lots of shine and sparkle in the design. The shimmery scalloped piece behind the Princess image is by Best Occasions 'Prismatic Paper Pak' (from Walmart) and each piece in this pad is super shimmery (which made it a little difficult to photograph).

The main image is attached using dimensionals. With my pattern paper, I used an EK Success Large Scallop Border Punch that also leaves a little embossed line at the edge of the scallop . The ribbon is sheer and shimmery and is from Walmart, but I don't remember the brand name.

I wrote the 'Princess Kaylee' sentiment free-hand style and 'doodled' the border around the edge of the image.

For the inside, I simply did a 'computer generated' sentiment ...adding a smaller princess image...printing it onto a Bold Pink Top Note Die Cut layer....Why?....Well because....my little princess loves the colors Pink and Purple! After coloring the princess... again, I used a white gel pen around the edge of the die cut and then added a few pearls around the finished edge.

OK....I think that covers the basics.

Now, go spend some time with your family and friends and then...

Make time to create, but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barbg(WV)

And here is a picture of my princess with her little princess:

Kaylee loved the little hat and princess necklace included with her present and immediately wanted to wear both....she insisted on wearing them for this picture...isn't she precious.

SSS29 Merry Christmas

Oh my word...another week seems to have flown by! Today we have a new Sketch Challenge at the Sweet N' Sassy Sweet Stop and the card I'm posting today is for this fantastic challenge. I enjoyed using a new Hampton Art Rubber Stamp I had purchased on sale at my local Michael's store. It took me a few 'attempts' to get the look I wanted, but once done, I'm happy with it. For the main image, I inked the complete stamp with Versamark Ink and then I inked the top portion of the stamp with black ink and after stamping the image onto my white cardstock I embossed it using clear embossing powder. After cleaning my stamp, I inked the lower portion of the stamp with Versamark Ink and then with Brilliance Red ink, stamped that portion on a scrap piece of white cardstock and then heat embossed using Irredescent Embossing Powder...this gave the image a slight glimmer. I cut the lower portion out and attached it to my main image layer using dimensionals. For the inside of the card, I simply cut out a portion of the pattern paper and glued it to a piece of white cardstock, added 2 shimmery black brads and attached that layer to the inside of the card.

After completing the card, I wasn't completely happy with the lower right portion of the card, so I made a second version and will also share that card with you at the end of this post.

I hope all of you will stop by the Sweet Stop and join us for the challenge and if you do, please be sure to add a link to your creation at the end of the Sweet Stop Post. And don't forget, for MORE inspiration, visit the blogs of all the Sugarbabies...they are listed by name on my side bar...just click the name and you will be directed to their individual blogs. The other Sugar Baby team members are extremely talented and I'm sure you will enjoy their blogs.

And, Korin has created another fantastic group of stamps called the 'Sunbeams' and you can now pre-order the first set. Be sure to check out the Sweet N' Sassy Stamps Website for more details and to place your pre-order!

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy time with your family and friends and then...

Make time to create but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barbg(WV)

SSS29 Merry Christmas Version 2