Unity Stamps Challenges

Hello again friends!!

Last week I entered two challenges at Unity Stamps.

The Color Challenge April 14 – 21

 

Using teal and green combination, I made this card for baby. Earlier in the day I made a card for my sister who was going to a baby shower but I didn’t take a picture of it.  So I made this one using a Sizzix die I found on sale at Hobby Lobby, by Stephanie Barnard,  Triple Circle Flip-its.  I couldn’t find teal cardtock so I took white cardstock and my acrylic paints and made some!  Easy peasy!

When  you open it, it reveals another sentiment.

These cards are hard to photograph, but I did the best I could.  I used the Hello Little One kit.  I first stamped the animals on gray cardstock using black ink, I cut them out and added the small hearts in red.   I added the black, gray, and white cord for added texture.

The second card is very similar, but instead of using the die, I just made an old fashion 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card using coordinating papers from a 6×6 stack.

I just happened to have some googly eyes in my stash small enough for these elephants.  Aren’t they cute!!  I also added three hearts in three different sizes.

Here’s a close up of the elephants.

Anything Goes Challenge – April 21 – 28

This time, I didn’t have to spend time making a card, because I created a card for my cousin’s daughter when she got married in Phoenix two weeks ago.

I used the Cherished Moments kit by Angie Blom.  You can see more on this card in one of my previous post here: 

Lastly, Angela Magnuson, the owner of Unity Stamps made a video on the Face Book  Unity Stamps Show and Tell group  and challenged us to “RE-CREATE a card like Angela made (using any UNITY stamp) and post it in the comments below for your chance to win a grab bag of {100 stamps/sentiments!!!}”

Wow! I want to win 100 stamps!!

So this quick card was created in less than five minutes!

I used a feather from the  Beautiful is Never Perfect kit by Angie Blom.  I so love the detail!!

Angela stamped her feathers one on top of the other one, but I just randomly stamped mine so the details could be seen.  I used three different colors of distressed inks, and “wallah!”

I also used one of the sentiments that comes with it inside double stamping it for a shadow effect.

So much fun playing in my craft room!

I just finished reorganizing my craft room and I found so many things I don’t use any more.  I will be posting what I have for sale here and my FB page.  There will be stamps, stamps, and more stamps, as well as a “never used – new” Making Memories Slice machine with design cards and accessories, Cricut cartridges, embossing folders,  a gypsy, two Jukeboxes that hold six Cricut cartridges each for designing or combaning your own images, and lots more!

Until next time, you have yourselves a great week and keep on creating!!

Carmen

 

Life Book 2016 – Your Story, Your Altar

Welcome back my crafty friends!  I’m posting a little late because I was focused on something else last week and didn’t have time to finish my lesson, but here it is!

Your Story, Your Altar with Roxanne Cobble

Roxanne’s specialty is journaling, but I did her lesson on a regular 11 x 14 watercolor page to include in my Life book folder.

I started out by collaging different ephemera (magazine cut-outs) one with a focal point that I could paint over with acrylic colors to match, then added other complimentary colors.  After that was done, I jotted down events that made a big impact in my life and I illustrated them on the focal point ephemera.

The biggest impact in my life was when my dad, my husband, and I went through Cancer, one right after the other.  It all started with my dad.  At this time he was getting incontinent and I would always ask someone to please go with him to the bathroom.  One day, I asked a friend to go with him and after he met me at the table, he said my dad was bleeding.  My dad didn’t want to bother me so he hadn’t told me he was having problems.  I took him to see his regular doctor who then sent him to a urologist.  After examining him, he said he had a Cancerous tumor in his bladder.  He was 97 years old at the time and the urologist said that if he was his father, he wouldn’t do anything about it and just let him run the course. I thought o myself, “Well, he is not your father, so let’s do something about it!”

He had the tumor removed and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment – and yes, he survived.  The funny thing about all this is that my dad had a great attitude, or maybe memory lapses, through the whole process and would ask  what were the treatments for every single time.  I would remind him that he had Cancer, and he would say, “No, I don’t have Cancer!”  Perhaps that’s what helped him get through it.  And I’m thankful for that!  He lived two more years after this, but died of pneumonia, not Cancer five months short of his 100th birthday.

Then my husband’s PSA was checked on one of his routine appointments and the numbers were higher than normal.  He had another one done a month afterward and that’s when he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.  The Urologist gave him a choice to just wait and see or have treatments.

After many weeks of research, he decided that the best thing for him would be to have a prostatectomy.  “Get it out!” He said.

He had a wonderful young surgeon who believed in saving as much as he could of the nerves in the area, and left markers where the prostate was so the affected area could be found by an X-ray in case his counts went up again.  A year later, his numbers did go up again, but thanks to the markers the surgeon left in his body, he went through radiation treatments and killed what cells were left!

While my husband was going through his surgery, I started  having some unusual pain in my right breast.  I didn’t pay much attention to it because I was taking care of both my dad and my husband and I didn’t have time for me, until the pain got so sever I couldn’t touch my breast.  A few weeks later, my breast developed an “orange peel” skin.  That’s when I decided I better go see my doctor.

I explained what was going on but he refused to look at my breast because I had just had my yearly mammogram and it came back normal.  Instead, he sent me to get an ultrasound.  As I lay on the examining table, I could hear the tech say every once in a while, “Mmh” and she kept going back and forth to the same place.  I asked her, “Is something wrong?”  She replied, “Oh, no, nothing.  Your breast is very dense and I can’t see anything on the screen.”

The next week, I went back to the doctor and he said the ultrasound was normal, but I was adamant that something was wrong.  He insisted that everything was OK, but I was convinced otherwise.  So, he sent me to a surgeon who took one look at my breast and set me up for a biopsy.

 My mother had Breast Cancer and I felt the tumor before she went in for surgery, so I though I knew what to look for, but this was different.  Hers was a solid hard mass.  What I felt was pain around the areola and the breast was very tender.  Sadly, my mother succumbed to the disease after fighting it for eight years.  I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me.

So a word of advice to you, my friends; if something does not feel normal, please check it out and insist on getting a second opinion.  It could save your life.

To make a long story short, I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  Left untreated it could lead to the Cancer breaking through the wall of the duct to other parts of the body.  The Oncologist said the tumor was 8 cm. and gave me a rating of Stage IIIA.  I had a good chance of survival because it was confined to the breast area and a few lymph nodes.

After undergoing chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and radiation.  I am still here and in remission now for nine years this coming May.

See, I told you Cancer has made a big impact in, not only my life, but the life of my loved ones as well.

Thanks for sticking with me this far!  So now on to my project.

In this picture you can see the important events in my life in addition to the Cancer story.  I married my husband in 1972, I had my daughter in 1975; the moving van indicates the 13 moves we’ve made, and the best vacation ever – Cancún, Mexico, and of course, my art is in the middle of everything!

I did add other events that had a big impact in my life, but the focal point is Cancer and Hope!

I added “this is where God lives.”

Another sad event in my life, was the divorce from my first husband.  It wasn’t all sad, because I had my first child, a son,  in 1970.

I added the feathers as a symbol of “finding my wings”

You will notice that in addition to the doodling, I also added stamping.

I stamped, “The best things aren’t things” in this section.

I also added  metallic molding paste in two different colors through one of Heidi Swapp’s new art screen, Dream.

Our favorite vacation destination, Lake Tahoe.

I spent a lot of time adding doodles which help me relax while sitting with my dear hubby watching TV.

I added this last image of a girl in a canoe, because I’m afraid of water and I’m hoping one day to get in the water and swim – that’s a Big Dream for me!

Thanks for coming by, and hope you return to visit again!!

Hugs, and well wishes!

Carmen

Unity Stamps Photo Challenge April 7 – 14.

Since I didn’t have to make a project for this week’s Life Book 2016, I spent my time making cards for a couple of challenges.   I hope you read my previous post about the projects I created for Club Scrap.

This week’s photo is open to interpretation as you can see by the image.  I’ve seen a few of the cards people have made for this challenge and many involve rain drops.

I chose to concentrate on the colors instead of the raindrops.

I went to Hobby Lobby and found a Spellbinders Stained Glass die cut on clearance.  I think this was an excellent purchase and will make great use of it.

I used the You do This stamp which has several words you can insert in the banner.  I chose “amaze.”  I then cut out the letters and the banner individually so the “stained glass” wouldn’t be obscured.  I used silver cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot.

I die cut another piece using white cardstock and used it as a mask, then used inks, colored pencils, and markers to add the colors on the photo.

Here’s a close-up

I really enjoyed making this card although had to take my time to color each segment of the “stained glass” and fuzzy-cut each letter.

I hope you enjoyed your visit here, and until next time,

make some art!

Carmen

Life Book 2016 – Week 16 and Club Scrap Technique Challenge

Artist Interview With Roben-Marie Smith!

This week we didn’t have an artsy lesson, instead Tamara interviewed Roben-Marie Smith who is an awesome teacher and artist.  Tam does this once in a while so we can catch up on some lessons we’ve missed or try and redo some lessons we are not happy about.  It is also a good time to go back and revisit the lessons we’ve enjoyed and make a new project. 

I thought about redoing Roben’s lesson from last year because I wasn’t very happy with it.  I’ll be doing that this week too.

Instead, I made some cards for a couple of challenges.

Technique Challenge at Club Scrap

I subscribe to Club Scrap to get information on their new releases and to be inspired by their scrapbook pages and cards made by their Artists Team

The technique for this month was the Stained Glass look hosted by Lisa Dolezal.

I jumped right in because I found a stained glass die on clearance at Hobby Lobby!

Lisa used Color Burst Powder, but since I don’t have Color Burst powder, I used Colourcraft Brushos Crystals and Magical Micas from  Lindy’s Stamp Gang.

I started by spraying water on the watercolor paper, then using the shaker container, I applied only three colors that would not make mud – Color Brusho in Lime Green; Rose Red, and Yellow Ochre.  The results were stunning!  I got a clear vivid image I was thrilled with.

After the Brusho powders  dried, I cut out the background and the “stained glass” out of shiny silver cardstock.  I did notice that the cardstock came out with a strange texture because it picked up the scratches from the plate when I ran it through the cutter; but I took advantage of that since it made it more realistic.

I cut a piece of acetate and glued it between the watercolor paper and the die cut and added pink floss and tied it in a bow.  Then I glued this piece to two other pieces of cardstock.  Then stamped the sentiment, cut it apart and adhered it to the stained glass.

This is a closeup of the background and the sentiment.

Second Project

 

This is the technique that Lisa demonstrated using the Stamper Star

In my haste, instead of following the directions, to  stamp and emboss the image first, then add the Color Burst powder, I used the dried watercolor paper with the Brushos, then using my MISTI, I stamped the image a couple of times to get a good impression.

The results weren’t as stunning as Lisa’s project, but I managed to save the project by adding several different mediums to the paper like stencils, molding paste, other stamps, then I added black ink to the edges and adhered it to black cardstock so I can put it in a frame later.  I’ve had this stamp so long, I don’t remember the name of the kit, but I also used the alphas and the border that came with it.

A few close-ups

I’m going ahead and adding this to the challenge as well.

Thanks for visiting!

Carmen

 

 

 

Two Cards and Two Inking Techniques

Hello, my stamping friends.  Today I want to share a technique I learned at Club Scrap hop to introduce their new stamp kit Dahlias.

I made two cards to enter into the Unity Stamp sketch challenge, but I missed the deadline.

Card Number One

 I went ahead and shared it with the group and I had someone ask how I did the inking on this card.

First, I stamped the flower from the Everything Joyful & Beautiful kit on specialty paper, but you can use any nice card stock available. I used Ranger Archival Ink.   I then created a rectangular mask using  low tac masking paper.  I used the grid on my cutting pad to align the rectangle so it would come out perfectly centered on the paper.  Then, using four different colors of distress ink and a sponge, I dabbed the colors making sure the paper stayed in place.

Once you remove the masking paper, you are left with a beautiful frame. Then I stamped the sentiment and the three hearts that came in the kit.  I then stamped the three hearts on white cardstock and used the same inks and used a circle punch.

I matted it with violet card stock and popped it up on top as well as the three circles to follow the sketch.

Next time, I’ll take pictures as I go along.

Card Number Two

This card was also inspired by the Dahlias post at Club Scrap.

They showed cased a card stamped with white ink on black cardstock.  It is not exactly the same because I added hearts instead of buttons.

I used  the Remembering You blooms kit  using only the flower which I stamped several times with Dew Drop Brilliance fast-drying pigment ink in Platinum Planet, and added some silver drops and a butterfly punched out of patterned paper.  The layered hearts are from my stash.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and the links for more information.  Stay tuned or the next challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carmen

A Family Wedding and a Couple of Cards

Hello, my sweet crafty friends!  Get a cup of coffee because this turned out to be a loooong post.  Last week we attended a family wedding in Phoenix.  We were invited to two back to back, but were only able to attend my nephew’s.

My nephew is a DPS officer  with a very funny sense of humor.  He wanted the wedding to be laid back and very informal.  He made all the arrangements for the wedding. He ordered the invitations, which were decorated with a ball and chain; set up the venue, at the Hardley-Davison’s of Scottsdale; engaged the bride’s daughter-in-law to be the photographer; and asked my daughter, Zonia, to officiate at the wedding at the Chapel at the dealership. Seems odd, but it worked out perfectly.

The ceremony involved the immediate family and used Native American customs, as well as Catholic traditions.  My daughter used a prayer that her grandma Chefa used to say for the family, Prayer To St. Joseph, as a guide. She thought it would be perfect because according to Catholic tradition, St. Joseph personifies the perfect family head.

She asked my nephew’s dad and his two uncles to take part in the ceremony.  Instead of the traditional wedding lasso in the Catholic ceremony; they gave the bride and groom a necklace and his dad used a feather to bless them in the Native American tradition.

She had her aunt give them the Blessing for the Journey, which his grandma used to give all of the children each time they embarked on a new journey.

And here are  Mr. and Mrs. David and Cindy Lucero, and granddaughter!  It was so cute, she didn’t want to leave her grandma, so she was also part of the ceremony.  When they exchanged rings, Cindy gave her a little ring too

That’s my daughter, Zonia, in the background.

Their first dance – so sweet!

This is the whole family enjoying the festivities.

The bride’s son and the awesome photographer!

Wedding Card Number One

Making the wedding card  was so fun.  Since Dave used a ball and chain for the invitation, I used the theme together with his law enforcement background.

I made a tri-fold card with the yellow tape and hand cuffs.

The band comes off to reveal the inside of the card.

I used a couple of Unity Stamps, George and Scarlett the couple and the sentiment from the November Kit Love is a Magical Thing.

Inside the tri-fold.

I drew the ball and chain  for each one and a pair of handcuffs for the groom.

Wedding Card Number Two

Since we weren’t able to attend my cousin’s wedding, I made them a very special card using a Unity Stamp called Cherished Moments and the sentiment from the same kit as above. I’m going to enter this in a future challenge.

The last time I was at Hobby Lobby, I saw some Joleen’s stickers for a wedding, so that was my inspiration for this card.

I colored the couple with watercolors on watercolor paper.  I bought some satin fabric and cut out each segment of the dress and pieced it together.  I added a piece of tulle and glued some gems on it as well as her hair and dress, then added the bow.  I also added stickles to each fold of the dress.

OK, folks, I hope you enjoyed a bit of family fun and pictures.

Until next time!

Thanks for visiting!

Carmen

Life Book 2016 Weeks 14 and 15

Week 14 – Our Lady of Compassion with Shilo Sophia

Retitled:  Compassion Personified

Shilo Sophia is a beautiful person on the outside as well as the inside.  She is part of the Contemporary Symbolist Movement.

She puts her heart and soul into every painting she creates and does it all with deep spirituality.  She is also a wonderful poetess.

I am a deeply spiritual person also, but I  follow the Bible’s teachings of worshipping only one God.  therefore, I followed the way she painted, but not her form of spirituality

I was having problems with the video stopping, and going, and getting no voice, so I just clicked on the progression bar and followed her technique.

I didn’t take more time than I needed because I wanted to finish it up quickly, but I think I will be taking one of her free class just to see what I missed in the Life Book class.  I’m sure there will be lots of techniques I can use for future projects.   She really made it very simple to follow along and this is what I created at the end.

There were four words that I added on each corner, Patience, Joy, Tenderness and Compassion.  I only used three colors, but I really like how everything just worked together.

I call this piece – Compassion Personified

Week 15 – The Ripple Effect – Your Story Matters with Tamara Laporte

Tam wrote:  “This week’s theme is all about getting in touch with the interconnectedness of us all and how each and every one of us matters in this world. We will symbolically represent this theme in the form of a drop of water falling into a larger body of water, making ripples.”

I really liked this theme, because I find it so true.  Everything we do in our lives for someone has repercussions – good or bad.

She taught a shaving cream marbling technique that I’ve been wanted to try, but never had a occassion to use.

I just had to go to the new Hobby Lobby near my house (ahem) to buy some Daler-Rowney FW Acrylic Water-Resistant Artist Inks to use on this project.  They are aaaaamazing!!

I used smaller watercolor paper for this project because I didn’t think I had a big enough container to spray the shaving cream on, so I used an 11 x 8 1/2 paper.

We were to write in the ripples of the water something we did at one time in our lives that had a rippling effect on someone else’s life.

The closeup of the marbling effect – so much fun!!

Although I used a little too dark paint on top, you can still she some of the marbling.

This is a closeup of the water drop that looks a lot like a person, but I forgot to draw a small heart on the “body”.  I will when I go up to my dungeon, err, my craft room!

I was having trouble looking at the picture in the PDF that I downloaded, so I went looking for one on Google.  There were so many different ripple effect pictures I could choose from, but I fell in love with this one:

It came with a quote which I thought was perfect:  “When you truly love life and people, you start a ripple effect that changes the life of another, who in turn changes the life of another…”    I’m sure it was computer generated, but nevertheless, I downloaded the picture and tried to paint it as close as possible.

I wrote the quote on the ripples coming from the heart splash.

There was not much marbling on this background, but I think it makes a good contrast with the rest of the project.

There you have it, my friends.  Looking forward to another week.

Thank you for stopping by and please leave me some love in the form of a comment.

Carmen