My favorite Spring stamp from Hero Arts

A versatile Spring themed stamp from Hero Arts is for me, most definitely this one.

My panel was distressed and sprayed with water then added two stamped layers - the Envelope pattern and the Old French letter stamps in faded jeans. When dry (very important) I embossed the Spring stamp, called Decorative birds, over the top, so it has three stamped layers.
I still haven't seen any swallows yet here, but this weekend is going to be very warm, so I'm hoping to spot them!! Can't wait.

This is a quick tag I made from a leftover watercolor stamped image. Only used the part of the image that looked o.k. Then added some coordinating patterned papers to the top and bottom, voila!

Hope you are all enjoying your week! First one to comment will receive something in the post from me!
My David is home sick again.....

(Edit - does anyone know who Barbara is, the first who commented - I cannot contact her and I need too....)

Art Creations Friday - last challenge

Another challenge blog which is closing after 2.5 years.. I remember taking part in their very first challenge and I want to be a part of their very last one. The image they supplied is the lady on the card, which is actually very similar to the very first lady image they posted on their blog! Made with the Pink Paislee patterned paper.

And I found a card with their first image which was this lady below:

Now I am wondering whether it is the same lady or not?

Wouldn't that be a coincidence if it was?

Sunday - Revisiting...February 2009

Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday.

I wanted to revisit a Vintage orientated card today and chose one from February 2009, below. If people ask themselves how do I keep record - then the answer is, I don't - the Flickr gallery does it for me! Once again, if you are out of inspiration, this is a great way to get it again :)

This is my original. I kept the original design, just changed the colors, stamps and image.

If you are interested in which stamps I used, yesterday I received the new Pink Paislee papers and stamps - these are totally up my street and I love them!

I am editing this post to show you a wild orchid we have growing in the garden. I believe this one is a ophrys sphegodes,  it looks like a bee. They are so beautiful. This is one of the common sorts.
Here it is a bit closer by:

Still thinking Spring

I found some coordinating scrap papers and thought the colors and images would give a Spring effect so I am continuing in the Spring theme. Also entering this in the CARDS challenge this week which is to create a grid.

Le parfum des fleurs means The perfume of flowers, but you knew that I'm sure! I also used Hero Arts Envelope pattern stamp for a subtle effect and I used my second 'Brenda' butterfly which I distressed in vintage photo to coordinate with the colors. I still have one 'Brenda' butterfly remaining. The first comment on this post will receive the tag!

 And this is a little project I made for Sunday school this weekend. Together with Marilène we have a class of about twenty children from the age of 4-7. They will all be making a little lantern like this, which I have to prepare this afternoon (yes, 20 of them!) but they have to decorate their own.
Our theme is 'The Word of God' and I wanted to illustrate how the Word of God is like a Light, as it spreads light wherever it goes, whenever it is read and proclaimed! I have used vellum behind the verse and will light up a candle behind it so that it lights up.

Your Word is a Lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Have a lovely weekend!

Jacqueline

Tag Tuesday - Think Spring!

So happy that Rebecca volunteered to take over the Tag Tuesday challenge! So sorry to see Louise have to pass on the baton, but she hasn't disappeared from the craft blogging world so I'm happy about that!

The challenge is to think Spring this week which is very appropriate as the weather is really gorgeous at the moment and everything is budding and will burst into life soon. I'm waiting for the cherry blossoms to bloom and I'm just so enjoying all the shrubs getting flowers and adding color to the garden.

In another light, it shows the pattern on the vellum better:

Thanks to Helle for the lovely die-cut butterflies, it seemed appropriate to use them today. Thanks to Sue for the birdcage and bird! I stamped over the birdcage with the Envelope pattern stamp. I white embossed the Lace stamp on vellum behind the birdcage. I could even make it light up with a candle :)

Tag nr. 2

The new challenge blog can be found here - everybody can join in. Thank you Rebecca.

(N.B - now and again you will see spelling errors in my posts - like asparagus - I called asperges - well that is the Dutch way of saying it. I am thinking and speaking three languages during the day so now and again I get mixed up and don't even realise it...)

Sunday - Revisiting...June 2010

rrI have just got back from Holland. I couldn't tell you beforehand because my MIL visits my blog now and again. It was a surprise visit as she was 80 years old on Saturday. She started to cry when she saw that all her children and grandchildren had gathered to surprise her. We had a lovely celebration time and enjoyed our stay. Joël stayed home with David, bless his heart, so that we would have our hands free to move around a bit.



Today I am going to revisit a grid card I made in June 2010. This is my case of it, which is probably a winter version of the summer version below.



Tonight I will be making quiche with fresh green asparagus.. It is the time of year to collect them fresh from the wooded areas where they grow wild and we have a little patch near to where we live where they can be found. I took a picture of our find this afternoon. They are delicious.

They are a little delicacy here in France.

Hope you are all well!!

Leaf Cluster stamp from Hero Arts

This is a case of a card by Shari Carrol which can be found here, its her video on how she made it using the layered watercolor stamping technique. I thought her elements went so well together and had to try it myself. I have invested in a design block Envelope pattern stamp and I think it will prove really effective.

This is another card using the same stamps but entirely differently. I used three different distress ink colors on a 10x15 sheet of acetate and misted with water for the background. (Actually, I found the acetate in the Cling packaging). Used Envelope pattern stamp over the background and then when dry, embossed the Leaf Cluster and Happy Birthday dictionary stamp over the top. Added some embellishment and gems.

It is still raining here - my son can't go to school because of an 'Orange Alert' which means that his transport is not allowed to go on the roads due to flood alerts.
See you next week ;)

Just a normal tag

NOT a tag with a surprise element (as was the theme on tag Tuesday this week) .... just won't come - but I wanted to make a tag, so a tag that I won't enter in this week's challenge it will be. Not that I haven't been thinking about it for a whole week.

I couldn't put wings on it. I thought of putting something underneath the post mark and turn it with a brad... but what????

Then I thought, I'm not going to post this because it's too empty, but adding something to it just didn't seem right.

Should I add something to the back of it - like a secret little envelope? I tried, but it was too small..... no luck this time - it has beaten me!

The frame is a Penny Black stamp.

Layered Stamping Technique Challenge - Hero Arts

No re-visiting this Sunday but showing you a few cards I made for the Hero Arts Challenge this Month which is the layering of stamps using the watercolor technique on cards.

This is the more recent one, using the Village Stamp which has been inked up, sprayed with water and stamped on a distressed background. I made the distressed background by spraying water directly onto a very old ink pad and applied directly to the paper. After it was dry, I used the Silhouette flower stamp, added four colors distress inks, sprayed with water and stamped over the top again. Added some gems (thanks Wilmi) and a sentiment in black, with a couple of butterflies (thanks Sue) to make it come alive.



This is one I made on Friday, which show the Village stamp a little bit clearer and has a pinky background.

I have a little share today, which really spoke to me! So much so, that I want to share it with you as an encouragement! It is from a Bob Gass devotional.

Quote

God Hears Your Prayers

 "Lord, the one you love is sick" - John 11:3 NIV

John records, '... Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick"' (NCV). Someone went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus and because they went, Jesus responded. The healing didn't take place for several days, but it was set in motion the moment the Lord was called on. Have you ever wondered where your prayers go? '

The friend who went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus said, '"Lord, the one you love is sick."' He didn't base his appeal on the imperfect love of the one in need, but on the perfect love of Jesus. He didn't say, 'The one who loves you is sick.' He said, 'The one you love is sick.' That's different. The power of prayer doesn't depend on the virtue of the one who prays, but on the unchanging love of the one who hears. Aren't you glad? You may be deeply flawed, you may not understand the mystery of prayer, but this much is clear: action begins in heaven when someone on earth prays.

Unquote

Dictionary Greetings from Hero Arts

Finally, some of the new Hero Arts stamps for 2011 have found there way to France and can be ordered on-line. That was a long wait!
The on-lines stores are very good over here. There is regularly a 15 - 30 percent discount on stamping supplies and  for over 30 euros purchase during the week and 15 euros in the weekend, postage is free! That makes it just do-able for me.

Here I used one of the greetings stamp.




This is a simple layered card for the recent challenge.

Another birthday boy and card share

Son nr. 4, Michaël,  is 17 years old today. Here he is in his new knitted jumper when he was two years old, I think.

I always prayed for a little boy (or girl) with brown eyes, like his dad, and had to wait until  Michaël was born. I was afraid that they would change color, but he is still our gorgeous brown-eyed boy today.

He received a prophetic word when he was dedicated to the Lord as a baby, that he would have a comforting heart towards those that are weak, rejected or despised. We have seen this manifested many times and I will never forget the day he stood up for a boy in the bus that got bullied. I was so proud. He is very musical, plays the mouth harmonica, drums, guitar and is teaching himself to play the piano.

I have to miss him now, for two years he is in Holland for Bible school but we have regular contact. Another huge blessing is that René's brother's family looks after him in the weekends so that comforts us too!
My heart just overflows with thankfulness to God!

I haven't been able to craft today as I have had visitors the whole afternoon, so I am posting a masculine birthday card which I haven't posted on my blog before, to suit the occasion.

Distress inks, Hero Art stamps - what else do you need?

Thanks for your sweet visits, I enjoy your company so much!!

Revisiting...... March 2010

Hope you are having an enjoyable day! We have beautiful sunshine, a lovely day. I am going back a year today!

I am revisiting a card I made in March 2010, below. It is a hybrid card as the flower is a digital image which I printed out, as is the flower on the above card, called Petal prints. When they are digital, they can be printed out in any size you choose. Both cards use patterned paper and both flowers have been distressed using the acrylic block technique. String and gems have been added. Just changing the flower,pp,  gems, distress inks, sentiment and the colors makes a world of difference!

Today I wanted to revisit a card I received from Pia. As it is a beautiful Spring card, I thought I would showcase it today.

Enjoy your day!

A taste of Spring

I have been stamping nests and birds the last couple of days and finally arrived at something.

I used downloads which I had in my files for the background. The bird is a Chickadee from Inkadinkado but I thought it was bigger i.r.l. The butterfly is from Hero Arts.

This is a little tag I was just fiddling about with some things Sue sent me,

And finally, some shots of the garden being Rosemary, Apricot blossom and a two-headed daffodil.

Have a lovely weekend!
Jacqueline

Moxie Fab - Tuesday Trigger

When I saw this inspiration photo it immediately reminded me of the Mimosa I had shown on my blog last Saturday. I love this gorgeous inspiration and although this beautiful bright color yellow is definitely not one of my 'go-to' colors I just had to create with it!!

Luckily I had received these pretty die-cuts from Sue which I thought matched the patterns on the doors. The black sentiment matches the boots and the door handle!
Thank you Sue - even the butterflies came in handy here. Can you see the tiny little heart in the 'O' of YOU in my sentiment? It's not a blodge!!

Sue had even sent a swirl die-cut which I sponged with Shabby Shutters and arranged behind the circle. I don't have yellow circles so I had to cut these out myself which is not easy!

Really enjoyable to leave my comfort zone for once!

All the entries can be found here on the Moxie Fab blog.

Mimosa - Springtime.

Revisiting..

I couldn't revisit an old card on Sunday because I was out visiting. We were invited to dinner in a beautiful region of France in the Mountains, about an hours drive from our house. I didn't have my camera with me... have vowed to leave one in the car in the future.
Here is my card, which is a case of the card below. I received the pp from Stella and printed a poem called 'Old Things' onto it before I stamped over the top with the Hero Arts Hydrangea stamp in Walnut stain distress ink. The beautiful double butterfly is from Sue from Suzz Stamping Spot.

This is the card I revisited. Actually, if you lack inspiration, it is a good idea to remake an old card, its such fun to use old stamps again, different papers and color combinations but using the same design!
 

Now I am visiting another card I recently received from Sue - she makes the most beautiful butterflies, and here they are sitting in the sun on a tree trunk warming their wings.

 Aren't the colors beautiful?!!
I am waiting for a stamp to arrive - I haven't had a new stamp for ages and ages... I need it for some new inspiration.
Hoping you are all well!!
 PS - I so miss the little thumbnail photos of freshly posted  blog entires in my sidebar! I have noticed that  everywhere - I want them back!!!