While I've Been Dreamin' You've Been Singing Over Me

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from the Stampin' Sisters in Christ.

This week's hostess is Pamela and she selected Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged." The challenge is to create a project, scrapbook page or card, to remind yourself or others that when God is unseen, it doesn't mean that He isn't there, He is always with you.

Scripture points to other scripture and when I read the challenge three things combined to help create my project. First, the verse that came to my mind to coincide with Deuteronomy and the challenge was 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you."

Then I saw this little digital angel by Mo's Digital Pencil, sleeping so peacefully, without a care in the world and it seemed to exemplify trust -- he doesn't look a bit afraid, does he? And the third thing that came to mind was one of my favorite songs by an artist called Chris Rice called "Smellin' Coffee." I can't find a track to link for you to listen to, but one verse in that song says,

"I remember reading you're the God who never sleeps;

while I've been dreaming you've been singing over me, yeah,

Singing about my freedom waking me up to hear your song,

Now I can't dance hard enough, cuz yesterday is gone, gone, gone . . . "

All these combine to remind me that God is always there, even when I'm asleep or dreaming, whether I see Him or not. God is aware, He is in control and He cares for me. We can have peace in our lives if we truly do cast all of our cares upon Him. He goes before us . . . what a wonderful thought! Before tomorrow comes, God has already been there, He already knows what is going to happen and He will be there to guide us through it if we trust Him.

Almost forgot to add we have Cornish Heritage Farms as our sponsor this week and if you look at the main challenge blog there is a great prize you can win for playing along.

To frame my little angel I chose the sketch challenge this week from the Midnight Madness blog, which you can find here. My mind always seems to work better with stamping when it is 'organized' with a sketch. If I have a layout, I can think better, if that makes sense? And I had a lot of fun cutting into some paper scraps I had been hoarding, little bits and pieces of flocked Heidi Grace paper that I was saving for . . . I don't know what . . . this card I guess! I was leery of digital images, I usually like to watercolor, but I was brave and pulled out my prismacolor pencils and gamsol and I'm pretty pleased, seems to work well. Thanks for looking, hope you get a chance to play with your ink and stamps this week.

Stamps: Mo's Digital Pencil, computer generated scripture (Edwardian Script font, 18 pt type)

Cardstock: Neenah Solar white, silver, scraps of Heidi Grace flocked paper and other bits and pieces from my scrap drawer, white shimmer, blue shimmer

Accessories: prismacolor pencils, gamsol, SU dazzling diamonds glitter, rhinestones, silver ribbon, vanilla hardware, pearls, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, random star punch, petite scalloped circle nestabilities

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is breast cancer awareness month and I when I saw the limited supply challenge on splitcoast to make a girly card, I thought of these stamps right away because I need to send a card to my SIL. She beat breast cancer ten years ago but this year has been struggling with a new form of cancer and just completed a round of chemo treatments.

I used the sketch from Midnight Madness challenge 24, you'll find details here. I made the card mostly in shades of pink, with just a touch of green (for the leaves on the roses on the robe).

This robe and bunny slippers just look so comfortable, don't they? Its a shame you can't tell from the photo, I used a variety of twinkling H20s to paint the robe so it looks as though it is made of satin. I have a wonderful pair of satin pajamas that is lined on the inside with flannel for warmth and this stamp always makes me think of those cozy pjs.

And can you see the roses by my window? The roses outside are almost gone now with winter on its way, so my DH brought me a mini bouquet of roses for the inside. I had to get those in the picture! Thanks for looking.

Stamps: Impression Obsession robe and bunny slippers, Technique Tuesday breast cancer set (ribbon), Stampin' Up Belle Toile (BG), Itty Bitty Backgrounds (roses on kiwi kiss paper)

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, Neenah solar white, shimmery white paper

Ink: Black stazon, gold EP, white craft, variety of reinkers

Others: Martha Stewart edge punch, oval nestabilities, cuttlebug vintage die, gold EP, rhinestones, paper piercing tool, twinkling H20s

Charlotte's Halloween

Everyone, please say hi to Charlotte. She is a bit shy, she's new, but she came to the Halloween party with her well loved, favorite dolls hoping to make friends. I saw this image and she just looked like a dork sister, so I brought her home (actually she came by post from Canada).

She's a little bit quirky but looks friendly enough. I might take a new photo tomorrow when the light is natural outside, I just cannot get a good shot of the colors at night time.

I have always enjoyed Halloween. As a family when I was young we highly anticipated the night we'd carve pumpkins with my dad while my mom roasted the pumpkin seeds. My kids enjoyed that when they were younger too and still enjoy the pumpkin seed portion of the evening even though they're in college. The seven year old still enjoys the carving portion and gets more advice than she probably wants from all her older siblings on the finer points of pumpkin faces.

Last year when I took my daughter out for trick or treat I saw the cutest thing, a little girl from India or Pakistan was in her native dress going out for her first time with her dad, and I got to watch her approach her very first door. She opened up the tiniest little drawstring bag purse and you could tell she was delighted to find out when you ring the doorbell they drop a piece of candy inside. This year when we go out I bet we'll have to wear our winter jackets, its been that cold!

This is for the Midnight Madness sketch challenge for this week, challenge 23, which you will find here. Also, be sure to follow along on their blog hop on October 16th, ought to be fun, there is a lot of talent on their design team.

Thanks for looking.

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps (Charlotte), a 99 cent spider web and spider from somewhere

Ink: Memento black, black craft

Paper: SU Black, Orange, Green, Eggplant, Lavendar and . . . Amethyst? Maybe?

Other: Irridescent Ice embossing powder, orange ribbon, black organdy crinkled with the heat gun, silver cord, brads, nesties, stickles, reinkers, aquapainter, cuttlebug vintage die

Cup of Cocoa on a wet day

The first photo shows none of the dimension of the card, so I tried to take a side version to show the parts of the card that are popped up.

This is for the challenge on Stampin' Sisters in Christ for a card of encouragement, thinking of you or praying for you. Just Because from PTI's Damask Designs set just fit the space, so I chose that.

This is the layout this week on Priscilla Styles Midnight Madness sketch challenge as well, cool sketch, although I had to scrounge around for a pin that fit. Because of the color scheme and theme of the card I didn't want to put any beads on the pin, so I glued on some buttons instead.

I wanted to use this stamp particularly after seeing Priscilla's card because we are having cocoa weather, so she inspired me to make a cocoa theme as well. And I never had any intention of popping up any elements of the card, until a gold pen I was using to mark dots on the cup leaked a huge gold splotch all over the cup. The rest of it was all colored, what to do? Cut and color another cup and then the cocoa label as well to balance things out.

This is mainly painted with WWC except for the silver on the cocoa tin, I used a silver pencil for that and you can see a bit of shimmer when you look at the card in person. Papers are SU, buttons are PTI, ribbon was a scrap I found in a drawer. I also chose the nestability shape for the main image because it reminds me a bit of the shape of a Hershey's cocoa can. :) Thanks for looking.

Barney's Late to the Tea Party

Barney really wishes he had gotten into this pic-a-nic basket before all the tea partiers emptied the contents. All he has left now is some scraps of honey left at the bottom of the jar.

Imagine, real life (nightmare work project) intruded on my stamping time this week. I am soooo late to the tea party its almost time for another one, but I've never been to Mississippi so I had to join in.

Poor Barney is going to overheat. Isn't it awfully warm for all that fur that far south? Wonder where we're going to go this week!

In addition to Teapot Tuesday, another challenge I enjoy that ALSO is listed on Tuesdays is Priscilla Styles Midnight Madness sketch challenges. Here the different elements of my card include the handle of the pic-a-nic basket in green gingham with some nice button closures. Barney is inside the basket eating his honey and there are two bees buzzing hopefully just outside wondering if there will be a smackerel left for them. I used dew drops for the flowers' center, they kind of looked like drops of honey to me. Thanks for looking.

Ladybug Rescue at the Tea Party!!!

The weather is warm on this estate in New York, but at least not as warm as Africa was last week! Whew!

The ladybugs are performing their own rescue from the Bug Thug as you can see, they have a net ready to spring on him as he is getting ready for our tea par-teee! As though anyone would invite a bug! They just bust into any outdoor gathering, you know how pushy they are.

Actually this is a very nice bug as you can see from his smile in the mirror and he probably is a good conversationalist too, so once the ladybugs realize their error and apologize and let him go, I think I'll chat with him as we sip our tea and eat our gluten free cookies.

I was pretty excited when I saw Mothermark's teapot challenge and Priscilla Styles' Midnight Madness sketch for this week because the idea for this card popped into my head right away. The layout for the sketch was perfect for the rescuing ladybugs!

The individual ladybugs are from an SU wheel, I rolled the wheel and then cut them individually. I wanted the ladybugs to look like buttons, so I colored them with copics and then added Crystal Effects glaze four times, drying inbetween, to give them a lot of dimension. The central image and the required side pieces for the sketch are both images from a Crafty Secrets set. I just love the images, they remind me of drawings from old books my mother had when she was a girl, or the illustrations from the original copies of the Wizard of Oz books. The other bugs I painted with reinkers, I have no idea whose paper I used and the rest is . . . there. :)

Also, if you click on the link for the Midnight Madness sketch challenge, you'll see my name there, I won some goodies from Seven Kids College Fund from last week's sketch. Thank you so much! I appreciate it greatly. Random draw, anyone can win who plays the sketch, so think about it!

Thanks for looking.

Midnight Madness Tulip

The kids needed a 50th birthday card for a party they were attending today. I had never tried the recessed window technique and I kind of like it. although it is difficult to fit it into an envelope. This is 5.25" square. The recessed window is 3 1/4" and the recess is 1/4" deep. You'll find the tutorial for recessed window on Splitcoast stampers here.

This also fits the sketch challenge this week for Priscilla Styles' Midnight Madness. They're always challenging and fun, if you have a chance, you should play along.

Stamps: Anna Griffin tulip

Cardstock: PTI lemon tart, SU Amethyst, SU Tea Party patterned paper, vanilla

Ink: Vintage photo

Other: green gingham ribbon, PTI vintage buttons, dazzling diamonds glitter, SU WWC, aquapainter, SU chalk

Snowmen and Toasters Don't Mix . . . Teapot Tuesday Mystery

The inspectors are CLUE-less as you can plainly see, searching high and low for the culprit to help Inspector Clousseau . . . to no avail. Yet . . . their playing cards could provide a clue were they only to look up!!! Innocent snowman by day . . . sinister character by night? Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth! (well no, he is frozen). And WHY is he carrying a toaster (plugged IN too, in case you didn't see the cord!) near figures made of frozen . . .water!?! (Sorry, unlike Marilyn Preston, the most lethal stamp I own is a toaster. :) But it works with snowmen). Someone warn them before it is too late. I think its time for a cup of tea . . .alone! These teapot tuesday tea parties are getting tooooo dangerous!

Now, I know I'll never be able to send this card to anyone, but I was laughing while I made this. Hope it might make you smile. I created this in response to the challenge for Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday. For more information on the Teapot Tuesday challenges, look for Mothermark's blog on my side bar under dork sisters.

The Midnight Madness Sketch Challenges (this card is a little out there!!!) can be found here. Thanks for looking.

(characters casted by Whipper Snapper, Inkadinkado, props by Clear Dollar Stamps and Martha Stewart)

J-j-j-j-Jojot Inspired!

It isn't often I get a chance to play in the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS, but this week's hostess is da Muddermark (muchas smoochas!) and the Featured Stamper is Joanne, or jojot and I know how much she looooooooves glitter! So I had to play! Joanne, this one is for you. Not literally, I need a birthday card for my daughter on Tuesday, and I wouldn't send you a glitterfied card anyway.

Joanne always frames her panels in black, for a very striking setting. Her creations are lovely and you can find lots of information and beautiful cards on her blog here.

I like to tease Joanne about glitter, because I brought a project once to a gathering to show everyone how to make the glitter window without knowing that Joanne has an eye condition that causes her to completely avoid glitter. So you can guess what happened . . . we had a glitter explosion which covered her head to toe in glitter.

Glitter window is time consuming but always produces a very sparkly, pretty result. Simple instructions for glitter window . . .

1. Stamp your image on acetate.

2. Using Art Institute dries clear glue, apply one color of glitter at a time.

3. Allow it to dry at LEAST fifteen minutes inbetween applying the next color of glitter. This is a great project to do when you have lots of little housework chores, set the timer, go about your business and when the timer beeps, go back and apply the next color.

4. Flip your image over and use glue dots or brads to attach the acetate to the layer underneath.

This also fits the Midnight Madness sketch challenge for the week, MMSC15 on Priscilla Styles blog. Thanks for looking.

Stamps: PTI Damask Designs (sentiment), Outlines for main image

Paper: Doodlebug Designs designer paper, SU black

Other: Art Institute dries clear glitter, Martha stewart glitter pack, SU vanilla hardware, black (glittery!) brads, Basic Grey fiber

Beauty for Ashes

That was the song that was running through my head when I started using a technique that Priscilla Styles posted on her blog for making that chiffon flower at the bottom of my card. You have to use flames to sear the edges of the chiffon and as I was making the flower, I was singing Beauty for Ashes. How often life descends into the flames, but with God's help he makes beauty from the ashes that we thought initially might destroy us.

The chiffon flower technique is very cool, I can see using it again. You'll find the instructions here.

The card layout fits the Midnight Madness sketch challenge #14 and I used my Flourishes Sweet Pea set for the first time, it was just the right size for this sketch and perhaps it suits the Flourishes challenge to make a card fit for royalty. The flowers are all shimmery because I painted them with Twinkling H20s, I love using those shimmery paints for flowers, because when teh sun hits the petals of a real flower, they so often shimmer beautifully.

I used a combination of Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette and Pixie Pink to paint the chiffon with an aquapainter to match the colors of the sweet peas. The flower looks more like a rose than a sweet pea, but I'll play with the technique some more and see what I can do. There are pink stickles along the edges of the petals and a PTI blush button sewn on with silver thread to match the silver threads in the ribbon underneath the flower. Thanks for looking, hope you like it.

© copyright Crystal Lewis
(Isaiah 61:1-3)
He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

When sorrow seems to surround you
When suffering hangs heavy o'er your head
Know that tomorrow brings
Wholeness and healing
God knows your need
Just believe what He said

He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

When what you've done keeps you from moving on
When fear wants to make itself at home in your heart
Know that forgiveness brings
Wholeness and healing
God knows your need
Just believe what He said

He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

I once was lost but God has found me
Though I was bound I've been set free
I've been made righteous in His sight
A display of His splendor all can see

He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

Midnight Madness Bloom

My great-grandfather was a china painter. Glad I asked my mom to clarify that! I am lucky to have a whole piece of his china in a cabinet in my home. The style when he painted was very ornate, lots of gold, lots of floral images. When I saw the challenge this week on Midnight Madness (sketch 13) I wondered if it would be possible to recreate the look of old china for their sketch.

There is another story of glass and china that belonged to my grandmother. She lived overseas and when she died my dad shipped home a box of glass and china so family members could all have a remembrance. The airlines must have drop-kicked the box out of the cargo bay at 30,000 feet because we didn't have anything left but glass dust when they were finished. I would have loved to have had a piece even as large as the 'fragments' on the side of my card.

So this is a combination of a remembrance of my grandfather on one side and grandmother on the other.

First I stamped the flower from Blooming Beautiful in gold craft and embossed it an the bee, then painted the images in with a variety of twinkling H20s. For the flower I used sapphire, wild blueberry and plum on the blossom. For the side china bits I stamped Belle Toile on vanilla cardstock, gold embossed it, then for both pieces I did the cracked glass technique. For those of you who have never tried it, you cover your image with versamark, sprinkle on clear EP and emboss it. You have to repeat this step at least five times to get a nice, thick layer of gloss on your paper. Other people use UTEE, I don't own any. Then you put it in the freezer for at least fifteen minutes and then when you take it out, you bend the paper to form crack lines. I used creamy caramel ink and a sponge to rub some ink on the images and a bit of it goes into the crack lines to help define them better.

For the belle toile panel, then I cut it into the squares for the sketch, to look like random pieces of broken china that someone is trying to put back together. At least, that's the effect I was trying to achieve. The flowers are those new primas, little roses, in white. I took reinkers in pacific point and creamy caramel with an aquapainter and painted them to match the blossom and the background, then put a bit of liquid glue on them and dipped them in gold glitter. Sponged the edges of the vanilla cardstock with creamy caramel.

Thanks for looking.

Stamps: SU Belle Toile, Bloomin' Beautiful

Paper: Vanilla, PTI Ripe Avocado

Ink: gold craft, creamy caramel, pacific point

Other: versamark, clear EP, sponge, gold EP, twinkling H20s, gold ribbon (PTI), prima roses, aquapainter, gold glitter

Midnight Madness with Tilda

This is for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #12. I found out about it from Grace's blog, she finds some of the most interesting challenges. It also combines for a challenge at the Just Magnolia challenge blog to use distressing. 

I started with the pink paper. I have carefully been sectioning out that one 12x12 sheet and using it sparingly, but this particular Tilda seemed like a natural to have a lovely pink dress in that paper. And I could see it right away for the tag too. 

I usually make the cards, clear some things away and then post the card a day or even a few days later, sitting at my computer and by that time I've forgotten paper and stamp names usually. Let's just say the bird and the flourish on the tag are more than likely from clear Inkadinkado sets, I know one is birds and one is Christmas. The paper is some kind of Basic Grey. (don't you love these specifics?)

I distressed the tag by crumpling it up, sponging the edges with Ranger distress ink in tattered rose to soften the pink and help it coordinate better with the Basic Grey DP. I sponged the circle of creamy caramel behind Tilda with the same ink. 

Tilda is paper pieced and watercolored with a combination of reinkers and watercolor crayons. The sponsor of the Midnight Madness sketch challenge said we could use artistic license with the sketch so it kinda sorta looks like it. . . maybe. I have the tag! And I have stitching around the edge of the tag on one side and an object in the lower left corner. Anyway, I thought the sketch was an interesting one., my first time playing in that challenge. Thanks for looking.