One wedding photo

Wish I had a full length photo to share, but for now, here is a photo of the happy new bride and groom from my oldest daughter's wedding. :)

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 93 . . . Father's Day

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ. I missed last week, finally have returned from having my oldest daughter's wedding and helping my mom with a move. Lots of traveling, lots of activity, but new horizons for many in the family and hopefully, good ones!

Our hostess this week is the lovely and talented Lisa, who has selected this verse from Ephesians 6:2-4, "Honor your father and mother"~this is the first commandment with a promise~"so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

Lisa is challenging us to make a Father's Day card or a card praising our Father in heaven. And our sponsor is Simon Says Stamp! Be sure to check out the home page here to read Lisa's thoughts about her chosen verse and to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the design team.

I made my card to give to my husband. My own father is gone, but my husband is a stellar example of a man who has risen to the top as a father, and to children not his own. I have three children from a first marriage and the kids and I were on our own for quite a number of years before I met my current husband and he entered their lives. The kids, especially my oldest daughter, were of the opinion that life would have sailed on quite nicely without him, thank you very much, no need for you to get married again, mom. But what an incredible journey we have had.

It was never a question for my husband, he said when he married me he had to embrace them as his own children or it never would have worked. That he has done, all the while walking a delicate line of making sure the kids understand he was not here to replace their own father, who is still alive, but just entering in as an extra helper in their lives--patient, kind, understanding, generous, unselfish, encouraging--always there to support the kids.

This past weekend my oldest daughter got married, which is why I didn't have time to make a card for last Sunday's challenge. The wedding was beautiful, my daughter was, of course, the prettiest bride ever seen. She danced with her dad, her new husband danced with his mom, and then, as a complete surprise, my daughter called my husband to the dance floor for their own special, private dance. It was one of the best moments of my husband's life, a sweet reward for all of his efforts and the love he has shown. Above all, my husband has helped with the spiritual growth in our family because of his love for his heavenly father. All the kids have said that their faith walks would not have grown the way they have without him. Two of my kids are on mission trips this summer.

Parenting is never easy, step parenting is even harder and doing it well deserves a gold medal. I don't have one of those and most of you reading this probably don't either, but take the time to thank someone next weekend, father, stepfather, grandfather, or heavenly Father, who has poured themselves into your life. I don't have photos of the wedding yet, but hope to share some soon!

Have a great week, hope you can play along.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers All Aboard and Big Boy Toys (sentiment)

Ink: Ranger distress ink Weathered Wood

Mark's Finest Papers June release . . . Floating Along

This week's new releases are: All Aboard, Poppies Poppies Poppies, Sand Surf Relax, and Floating Along.
For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.
So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Floating Along? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)
For your chance to win: Comment on the following Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win Floating Along. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's blog post.

I am not part of the official hop but have listed the order below. I am out of town helping my mom move, she has no internet so I"ll be blacked out for a few days, but will look forward to visiting everyone's blogs when I return!

Had fun using the Wrinkle Free Distress technique with Ranger distress inks for the water lilies and the swan. Found some great paper that was a gift from a friend that I think complement the image wonderfully well.

On the second card I did an ornare pattern that looks really nice with the water lily stamp, I know its almost impossible to see in the photo. Had a great time with the stamps from this MFP release and you all are going to have FUN playing with them as well! Thanks for looking!

Emily
Nancyruth
Neva
Silvia
Faith
Claudine
Dawn
Marilynn
Patricia
Chrissy
Karen
Pam
Joanne
Kittie
Sharon-Guest Designer for June
Mark’s Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers June release. . . Sand, Surf, Relax!

Hello! Welcome to the June 2011 MFP New Releases Blog Hop!
This week's new releases are: All Aboard, Poppies Poppies Poppies, Sand Surf Relax, and Floating Along.
For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.
So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Sand Surf Relax? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)
For your chance to win: Comment on the following Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win Sand, Surf, Relax. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's blog post.
Emily
Nancyruth
Neva
Silvia
Faith
Claudine
Dawn
Marilynn
Patricia
Chrissy
Karen
Pam
Joanne
Kittie
Sharon-Guest Designer for June
Mark’s Finest Papers

Although I am NOT part of the official hop today and you can find on the main blog post some of the amazing creations by other design team members, I am listing the order here so if you're lost, you can follow along! Best of luck and happy hopping!

Just finished up my DD's wedding, now leaving for my mom's to help her move. Commenting and blog visiting will commence in the future soon I hope! Mom has no available internet, so I"ll be blacked out for a few days. Miss all you guys!

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Sand, Surf, Relax

Paper: Kraft, variety of browns

Ink: white craft, kaleidacolor browns, gray

Other: MFP twine, charm

Mark's Finest Papers June release . . . Poppies, Poppies, Poppies

This week's new releases are: All Aboard, Poppies Poppies Poppies, Sand Surf Relax, and Floating Along.
For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.
So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Poppies, Poppies, Poppies? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if the winner has already purchased this set!)
For your chance to win: Comment on the following Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win POPPIES, POPPIES, POPPIES. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's blog post.

Earlier this month I have been showcasing some more elaborate poppy cards, I just love poppies and they all are blooming in Michigan right now! I also wanted to showcase how a detailed stamp can be easy to use depending on your use of color or technique. My daughter got married this past weekend so my stamping time has been limited, I had lots more ideas but no time to implement them!

For this first series of photos, I made a simple set of notecards using kaleidacolor pads. Stamp the poppy in your chosen color, use a ruler to outline it so the card has a little more definition, add a sentiment and then mount it on a complementary color cardstock. I love the white cardstock from MFP and there are so many colors to choose from in the colored cardstock line, its easy to find a match for your DP or your inks.









For this next card I stamped the image in black. Take a watercolor brush or aquapainter and dip it into a reinker of your choice--in this case I used red, orange, yellow and green to mimic poppy tones--and spatter your cardstock. I used a crimper to give the card a bit of added texture, and added a little bee from a different MFP set that features pansies. Love that bee! This is such a quick card, ten minutes tops, except for cutting out the bee.



This next card uses the Ranger distress inks in a wash on your cardstock, wrinkle free distress technique I think its called, then once you have your color wash, stamp the image in black. I cut it out, stamped some poppies in the background in red, added a sentiment and bow and voila!, you're done. Again, except for cutting out the flowers, this is a ten minute job.



And just to show them to folks who might not have come to my blog previous to this hop, I have the more complex cards, with poppies colored in prismacolor pencils and the glitter window technique, that I did earlier this month to really bring out the details and color burst you get with poppies. Thanks for looking and happy poppying!!! (hopping). (I know, stop with the poppies already!)





Lois
Dawn
Anne
Peggysue -----you are here!
Connie
Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Geri
Lynn
Lagene-Guest Designer for June
Mark’s Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers June release . . . All Aboard!!!

Hello! Welcome to the June 2011 MFP New Releases Blog Hop!
This week's new releases are: All Aboard, Poppies Poppies Poppies, Sand Surf Relax, and Floating Along.
For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.
So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: All Aboard? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)
For your chance to win: Comment on the following Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win ALL ABOARD. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's blog post.
Lois
Dawn
Anne
Peggysue ----you are here!!!
Connie
Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Geri
Lynn
Lagene-Guest Designer for June
Mark’s Finest Papers

This particular stamp in this set reminded me of a book I loved when I was a child of a train that had to try so hard to get over the mountain to deliver its load of candy and toys to the children in the valley below, the Little Engine that Could! So I made a candy train for my card, hope you like it! Thanks for looking and happy hopping, good luck!

Divas by Design . . . Flowers!

Welcome to another challenge from Divas by Design! Every challenge is listed for two weeks, there is plenty of time to play along and this challenge involves the type of stamp that I bet EVERY stamper has on hand. . . flowers! This is a floral challenge, so pull out that favorite flower set or two or three, and play along!

For my card I am featuring a sneak peek of a new set that will be introduced by Mark's Finest Papers this month, Poppies, Poppies, Poppies. There are three different sizes of poppies in this set and great sentiments, although I chose for this card a sentiment from an older set as I wanted a specific saying to give this card to a good friend.

For this card I've used the glitter window or stained glass technique. Take a sheet of acetate and stamp your image using stazon or an archival black ink. You want to be able to see the image clearly, black is the best ink choice. On the stamped side, using a glue that dries clear, choose your first color; it is best to work from dark to light, and glue in your first area, then sprinkle the glitter on that spot. Set a timer for a minimum of 15 minutes, I usually do 20 minutes, to let it dry a bit. This is a great technique to use when you have housework to complete! When the timer beeps, return, shake off the glitter excess (you can even shake it onto a piece of paper and return it to your glitter container) and then apply the next color. Gradually the image will fill in and when done, flip it over and use the opposite side for the front of your focal point. That way the glittered side is in the back and won't rub off.

You can even get some shading on your image, if you use the right mix of glitters, just as if you were painting with them. For this image I used onyx and brownstone for the flower center, maroon and bright red, garnet, carnelian for the flower petals and fire opal for the highlights, and peridot, verdelite, gray green, dark green and medium green for the leaves.

I also got a chance to use a pretty border stamp just release from Flourishes and given to me for my birthday by a very dear friend.

Thanks for looking and hope to see you play along!

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Poppies, Poppies, Poppies (June release), sentiment from Thanksful for You, Flourishes Country Charm Borders
Paper: white, red, acrylic
Ink: black, black craft
Other: glitter (as listed above), Spellbinders nestabilities labels 18, red gingham ribbon, clear EP, PTI impression plate