Calling All Winners of My Blog Candy!

Winners of my blog candy have been chosen and I still need mailing addresses. Please stop by. I'd hate to have to draw new winners.

Thanks
Barb

Whiff of Joy Challenge #41 --- Floral

It is already Thursday of this week and July is nearly over! Wow, where did the month go? But that's Ok. My son is back to the good ol' USA after 5 months at sea and will be here in 9 days! WooHoo!

In the meantime, I am keeping busy starting my stock of Christmas cards for this year. So when the Whiff of Joy Challenge #41 came along with a floral theme I thought "Poinsettias are floral!" So I am popping in one of the cards I have already finished.

Willow with a Muff is one of my favorite images and this time I kept her outfit really simple. I highlighted it with the brand new ultra pastel Copic #C00 Cool Grey. Then I painted on a coating of Shimmerz. I have also started coloring the skin with the Copic E000 Pale Fruit Pink, then I do a quick contour on the eyes with E00.

The gold mesh is from Hobby Lobby and the poinsettias are Prima flowers (I think). Anyway, they are gorgeous with a variety in a handy tin.

This was a very simple card to put together and I plan to make more. I hope you like it! And I hope you visit the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog and see all the inspired creations by the Design Team.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a glorious day!

Barb

In God We Trust

Inky Impressions 2nd Design Team Call

The first time I saw Lili and Angelica, the newest little girls from Inky Impressions, I was hooked! An instant fan! It has to be those big beautiful eyes!

When the uber-talented ladies at Inky Impressions announced the Design Team call I didn't have to give it a second thought! I would love to be part of this exciting new crew as more images are released. So, I started coloring the two images I had (I now have four and wanting more!) When I finished the images I couldn't decide which to use, so I did the obvious -- I made two cards!

Lili with the Birthday Cake

I really like this one the most of the 2 cards. Just something about the chocolate cake! (I just realized that every time I color this it ends up chocolate! hehe)

Both images are colored with Copics: E71 Champagne, RV11 Pink, Y21 Buttercup Yellow, and B95 Light Grayish Cobalt. Both cards use dp from the same DCWV stack. Die cuts are with Nestibilities.

Angelica Dreaming

This image of Angelica reminds me of when I was young, always day dreaming. Actually, not much has changed!

As part of the application for the Design Team Call, I should be posting a paper craft project that has stamping on it. I'm sorry to say that I don't have recent paper projects other than greeting cards. The cards have been my focus. I did a lot of scrapbooking for my son to showcase his Navy career, but he has those books. Please don't hold that against me as I would love to be part of the Inky Impressions Design Team!

Thank you for the opportunity to try out for the Design Team! Inky Impressions has a very promising future! The stamps are the highest quality and packaged so beautifully!

Barb

In God We Trust

Winners of My First Blogiversary Candy!!

WINNERS! WINNERS! WINNERS!

First, let me thank everyone who came by and helped me celebrate my first year blogging on Made For Keeps!! Your congrats and kind comments were so appreciated! Also, I have so enjoyed visiting your blogs and seeing more wonderful talent! I will be visiting to see more, for sure!

Now, on to the drawings. I used RANDOM.ORG to chose the winner of the box of goodies, and for each of the cards.

For the Grand Prize!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

15
Timestamp: 2009-07-28 20:24:12 UTC

Christina Hill!

Congratulations!

Card #1: Whiff of Joy Willow with Basket

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
31
Timestamp: 2009-07-28 20:26:39 UTC

Dragon Lady!

Card #2: Sarah Kay "First Kiss"

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

44
Timestamp: 2009-07-28 20:27:46 UTC

Lynn!

Card #3: Whiff of Joy: Oakley on Bench

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

37
Timestamp: 2009-07-28 20:31:09 UTC

Linanna Designs!

Card #4: House Mouse Friends and Fudge Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

32
Timestamp: 2009-07-28 20:32:30 UTC
Jacklyn Jessa!

Card #5: Angelica from Inky Impressions

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

26
Timestamp: 2009-07-28 20:33:46 UTC

Di

Congratulations to everyone! Thank you again for celebrating with me!

Please email me at madeforkeeps@gmail.com by Friday, July 31 with your postal address so I can send these goodies out to you.

Barb

In God We Trust

Whiff of Joy Challenge #40 --- Donalda's Sketch

Whiff of Joy's challenge this week features a terrific sketch by Donalda. She is a very talented designer and we can always count on a good challenge from her. All the cards by the design team are amazing, so be sure to check them out here.

I am into making Christmas cards right now in order to be prepared for the holidays. It is fast approaching and I hope to have plenty on the market in the next few weeks. So, I used Donalda's sketch and an image of Willow with a Muff for one of my holiday cards... and here it is:

This precious image of Willow was one of the first I purchased from WOJ last year. That was when my love affair with WOJ started and I am still totally hooked! When I colored this image last night I was in a pink mood so I used Copic R20 for her outfit. I love the softness of this card. Layering white and pink Constellation Jade card stock added a nice shimmer. Silver always goes so well with pink and I just bought the beautiful snowflake ribbon at Hobby Lobby. I added a delicate piece of paper doily for the snowflake look, some white mulberry paper for whimsy and a filigree disk for embellishment. Also touches of bling on the Nestie die cut around Willow. This card is going to be hard to part with!

Here is Donalda's image. Thanks, Donalda, for a wonderful sketch!

There are some very exciting things going on at Whiff of Joy! They just celebrated their first anniversary and put some new and adorable Party Animals stamps in their shop. Not to mention the Fall Stamp Kit that is still in the pre-order stage! I can't wait to get mine!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I appreciate your time and comments and love to visit your blogs, too!

Barb

In God We Trust

Inky Impressions Challenge #7 - Masking

One of my favorite things about doing challenges is learning new techniques or using techniques I haven't used before. That's what I experienced this week with the challenge over at Inky Impressions --- masking. Masking isn't new, I just haven't done much of it. I like the effect, though.

So, here is my card:

Isn't Angelica just beautiful? I stamped her image, masked it, then stamped the picket fence from Northwoods Stamps. What a perfect background for her. I colored the images with Copics, then I layered the colorful papers from S-E-I Black Orchid. Add some prima flowers and a couple of novelty brads and I have a fun friendship card.

I am crazy about these adorable girls at Inky Impressions and look forward to new images soon. Their design team is fabulous, too! In fact, there is currently a call out for new DT members. Check it all out at Inky Impressions.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I've been absent the past few days and have some catching up to do. I will actually have another post up tonight, and tomorrow I will be doing the drawing for the winner of my blogoversary goodies. I hope your week started off well!

Barb

In God We Trust

First Blogiversary Blog Candy!

This post will remain at the top of my blog thru July 27. Please scroll down to see new posts. Thanks for visiting!

Last week this blog turned one year old! It is so hard to believe I've been doing this that long! I am having so much fun and learning so much. Just look at these two cards.......... the card on the left is one of the first I posted. The card on the right is one of the most recent. What a difference!

• First I discovered Whiff of Joy stamps and fell in love!
• Then came Sarah Kay, House Mouse, Rubbernecker Stamps, Greeting Farm, Our Daily Bread Designs, Inky Impressions, and more.
• My tool box expanded with Cuttlebug, Nestibilities, Score-pal, Xyron, Papertrey papers and higher quality inks.
• My media went from pastels and colored pencils to PrismaColors and Copics (my absolute favorites!).
• How can I forget my favorite places to shop? Most are listed in the sidebar.
• But I wouldn't have advanced at all if it wasn't for the dozens of blogs I have found along the way, and the new friends that came with them.

So, to say thank you for making my first year such a blast I am offering a box full of goodies to one lucky winner! The box itself is just gorgeous! The contents is a variety of fun papers, stamps, and embellies.

Here is the top of the box. Beautiful, right?

Here are the fun surprises inside: Making Memories Just Chillin' 8 X 8 patterned paper; DCWV Safari Kids 4 x 6 Matstack; African Animals Rubber Stamp Kit; Victorian Butterflies Rubber Stamp Kit; Hero Arts Flower Branch with Owl rubber stamp; Safari Kids Chipboard Embellies; Safari Kids Pop Up Stickers; Colorbok Sticky Alpha Stax; Provocraft Party Brads; Around the Block Boy Brads; 3 yard spool of striped ribbon. Who knows, I might just throw in a few more things!

But it doesn't stop there! I will have five --- yes, 5 --- more drawings giving away some of my most recent card creations for the winners to keep for themselves or give away to make someone feel special! The cards I am giving away are these:

Here's how you could win the box of goodies or one of my cards:

• Leave a comment on this post and mention one of your favorite tools, techniques or stamps that you use
• Leave your comment by 8:00 pm CDT on July 27

That's all you need to do! But while you are here, have a browse and if you like what you see I would love to have you as a follower, then I can make even more new blog friends! You can link this post to your blog, too, if you like.

As always, thank you for stopping by! I appreciate the time you spend here!

Barb

In God We Trust

A Tribute to a Special Artist Who Taught Me.......

.... that white space is OK! If you don't already know Lynette over at My Stamping Addiction you just must check out her awesome cards. Lynette's cards are stunning in their simplicity. She makes it look so easy! But for someone like me who likes lots of texture and embellies it is not that easy to leave a lot of white space. But, in Lynette's honor, I used the old rule K.I.S.S., Keep It Simple, Sister!

Some folks have been asking me for simple note cards so, a couple of days ago I dedicated my cardmaking time to making note cards that are simple elegance (I hope). Thank goodness for my Cuttlebug, Nesties, and pop-ups. For this first batch I used a package of 3-D stickers from K & Company. These just stand alone and don't need much else. Scraps of card stock work really well on these note cards, too. So, what do you think?

But I didn't stop here! These were so much fun, that I took some image I had colored but no particular card sketch to use them on. So, more K.I.S.S:

So, Lynette, thank you for sharing your Stamping Addiction with us. Now I am addicted to elegant simplicity!

Please pay Lynette a visit. And if you are like me, try K.I.S.S --- you'll get hooked!

During my first year of blogging I learned so much from everyone in blog-land. Who knows? There just might be another tribute this week!

Barb

In God We Trust

House Mouse Challenge #47 -- White on White

It is just barely after midnight, which means this is one of those rare occasions that I have a card ready on the first day of a posted challenge! The challenge I am talking about is the House Mouse Monday Challenge and this week my very talented and dear friend Carolyn gave us quite a treat --- white on white. The image must be colored but the papers and embellies must be white. As long as I have my Cuttlebug for texture, my pop-ups for dimension, and ribbon for finish, I can do white on white all day long! The truth is, this is my first completely white on white and I love this style!! I have to do this again! Here is my card:

The image is the adorable angel mice heralding in the holidays. I colored them with Copics using the new ultra pastel B0000 (wings), V0000 (mouse on the left), and G0000 (mouse on the right). Then coated them with Angel Wings Shimmerz for sparkle. The paper is the luxuriously satiny Constellation Jade that I've had on hand for awhile. It is so gorgeous and perfect for a white on white theme. For that matter, I think I will have many Christmas cards made with this paper. Hmmm...

Ok, back to this card... Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and Score-pal for texture, add some snowflakes punched with the Cuttlebug dies, pearl accents, and snowflake brocade ribbon and I have at least one Christmas card done.

Oh, this was fun! Hey, why not play along if you haven't already? At least stop by the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog and check out all the great cards by the design team. You will be inspired!

Thanks for stopping by! Your time and comments are appreciated. Oh, and help me celebrate my 1st blogiversary by entering to win my blog candy.

Barb

In God We Trust

Whiff of Joy Challenge #39

It's been a beautiful weekend here in southwestern Missouri. Very mild temperatures, dry air and lots of sunshine. Great for sitting on the deck and watching the wildlife in the country. We have three little ground squirrels (I thought they were chipmunks) and they are so fun to watch chasing each other in the grass!

Well, on to the Whiff of Joy Challenge #39. This week it is piercing. I could do anything I wanted to as long as there was some paper piercing. I hadn't done any before, but bought the pad and piercer (that is one scary tool!) and some patterns so I was ready to go. Guess what? I love paper piercing!

For this card I used Willow and Toddler from the latest kit, Weddings and Babies. All of these new stamps are sweet and I like to color them in very light shades. So, I used Copics BV0000 for Willow's dress and BG0000 for the baby's layette. These are two of the 12 newest, palest shades of Copics and I don't know what I did without them!

Other details of the card:

DP: Basic Grey Wisteria

CS: Bazzill lavender and misc. ivory

Tools: Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss embossing folder; Nestibilities label die; Martha Stewart leaf punch

Embellies: Off-white roses, 1/8 inch satin ribbons, Joy tag from my stash

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate the time you spend here and the comments you so kindly write. Don't forget about the blog candy I am offering to celebrate my first blogoversary!

Barb

In God We Trust

Sunday Sketch and Stamp Challenge #7 --- Sketch by Ger

Two weeks have passed already and what fantastic cards and projects were posted over at Sunday Sketch and Stamp Challenge blog for challenge #6! Thank you everyone, and I hope you play along with us again this week --- and bring a friend or three!

Now it is time for SS&S challenge #7 with this brilliant sketch by Ger. I know I had fun with it! Why not give it a go? Then pop on over to SS&S blog, check out the design team's cards, and don't forget to enter the drawing. Yes, there is a prize!

Our sponsor this week is Wild Rose Studio and all of us on the design team used their adorable images for our cards. You don't have to do that, but you could win some!

Here is my card:

I did rotate the sketch to better accommodate the image (rotating and mirror image is allowed!).

I used the "Party Girl" image and colored it with Copics then blinged it up with rhinestones. The DP is SEI Black Orchid and the image is placed on black glitter paper. The flowers are cut from glitter paper with Cuttlebug dies. The stars are stickers that are embellished with more rhinestones. The letters are from a collection of old typewriter key stickers.

Inside is room for a personal note.

So, enough of my yakking! I can't wait to see your creativity! So, whatcha waitin' for?

Thanks for stopping by!

Barb

In God We Trust

Inky Impressions Challenge #6 --- Stitching

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all have fun weekends planned. If you have some time I highly recommend you pop over to Inky Impressions Challenge blog. You will fall in love with their brand new images, Lili and Angelica. I have a couple of their stamps and eagerly waiting for a couple more. These little girls are wide-eyed and adorable. The design team is a group of ultra-talented ladies, too!

For challenge #6 the theme is stitching --- real or faux. I have a sewing machine but it is still packed from our move. I haven't used it for years, not since I got into scrapbooking and cardmaking. So, for my card, my stitching is faux.

This image is Angelica's Daydream. I found sentiments about dreams for the outside and inside that seemed appropriate.

I colored her with Copics and framed the image with die cuts using my Nesties. The stitching is purple ink pen. The DP is from "Me and My Big Ideas" and the flowers from Oriental Trading Co. The paper "ribbons" are embossed with the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder.

The inside is a simple sentiment about believing in your dreams. I have a packet of these acetate tags and sentiments and they make nice accents.

Thanks for stopping by! While you are here, if you haven't already, pop up to the top of my blog where I have some blog candy to celebrate my first year of blogging on Made for Keeps. What a year it has been, too!

Barb

In God We Trust

Whiff of Joy Challenge #38

Two! Count 'em --- two! Two cards today!! Despite the severe thunderstorms cutting my sleep to only four hours last night, I have had a bunch of energy today.

I had already colored this wonderful image of Willow and Infant and planned out the card for the Whiff of Joy Challenge #38, so I wanted to get it in. Considering the time difference, I might be just barely sliding into home plate, but I wanted to post it anyway. The new Whiff of Joy Willow as Bride and Mother images are just so touching!

I colored Willow with Copics (but I forgot to make note of the colors). The papers are a variety of card stocks, two of them embossed with Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, and making the scalloped border with MS punch. The flowers are so dainty and pretty and I added a tiny pearl to each. With a pretty aqua ribbon and a few more pearls I have a card that I wish I knew a new mother I could give it to!



Thanks again for stopping by! Whew! What a day!

Barb

In God We Trust