"Incorporating A Napkin Into Your Design"

Hello Visitors, Viewers, Followers and Friends.
It is a lovely Wednesday.  Very cold and breezy in my part of the world.  We are back to wearing coats and turning the thermostat up for a warm and cozy temperature inside the house.  Since it is Wednesday, I  used Psalm 23:1 as a sentiment for my card. It is one of my favorite readings in the Bible.  I will be entering this one over at WordArtWednesday.   You will find great inspiration into the Word on  their web page.
I have oodles and oodles of cardstock, paper pads and scrapbook paper.  So, why do I use other types of paper on my cards.  As I told someone recently, I see paper in a different way than most people.  You could be at a restaurant and the paper they use could be something that you throw in the trash with no thought of using it for something else.  You could receive flowers wrapped in paper and again, throw the paper away without thinking of using it again.  The same can be said about a paper bag given to you by the clerk for your bought items.  You take the items out and the bag is trashed.  I may or may not throw that paper away if I can see another use for it (flowers, a background piece, etc.)
Today, I incorporated a napkin, yes, a dinner napkin into my design:

 

Entry for Challenge Weeks #224-#225 - Anything Goes   WordArtWednesday
Enabler's List:
cardstock/ designer paper: craft cardstock, Recollection light blue and black, Ranger water color paper, a piece of designer cardstock out of my stash that blended with the other paper and a dinner napkin
die: Spellbinders label 7 and Tattered Lace gatefold border die
stickers: The Paper Studio stick. a.bilities and Jolee's boutique
water colors: yellow and pink

pic of dinner napkin

picture of paper that came with some flowers
I used it to die cut some flowers to use for a later project.

This paper came from OCharley's Restaurant
The server had our bread wrapped in paper that looked like this.  I told her I was into scrap booking and I needed some clean paper to use in my projects and she brought me several sheets.

I bought some postcards when we were in Florida at the Botanical garden.  I was surprised when the lady placed my items in this bag.  Otherwise, I would have asked for one.  I've kept it to use in a project.

This is an entry for the  Outlawz Monday challenge

Monday's Greetings Challenge GCC040416, Absolutely NO corners

I know this was heavy into the images for today but I was glad you took the time to view.  Try looking at other kind of paper in a different way.  You may or may not trash it.

Sending you a hug and LOVE,

Lois

"ALL BECAUSE Of..."

Hello to all who are visiting today.
This includes friends, followers, visitors and viewers.
 
Are you amazed at the answer you receive when you ask someone "why" did they do something?  If it is something good they have done, they may say "all because you did it".  If it is something bad, they still may say, " all because of....".
Recently when I congratulated a person for something he did, his wife was quick to respond, "He did it all because of you (me)".  I was flattered (for a few seconds)  for him to do something because of me.  If I'm taken out of the equation,  then, why did he do what he did?
Someone else responded in the same way...they did something all because of me and what I had done or was doing.  It is good to give humans credit for doing something but today I want your focus to be on what Jesus did.  ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS...

We are getting very close to our celebration at the end of this month and the card I made for today reflects on "All Because Of Jesus".  He didn't have to go to the cross but He did.  He did it so love can and could remain alive.  Hope was/is reborn and joy was/is renewed.  I'm so glad of what Jesus did for me.   I praise HIM every day.

This card was done with light beige Recollection cardstock; bronze cardstock; craft cardstock and Neenah white cardstock.  Design Paper from Colorbok Signature Novelty.  I used layering on this card.  The flower stamp is from Inkadinkado beauty stems.  It was stamped with embossing ink and gold embossing powder was use (no other coloring was done).  A butterfly was used for the embellishment.  You are looking at the front and side view of this card.

This is a card that will be entered in the Wednesday sketch challenge at the Outlawz.   

Here we have Neenah white cardstock.  A piece of Designer Paper from K & Company  Best of Brenda Walton Paper Pad.  C Gill embossing folder was used. The center was cut out using Our Daily Bread double stitched circle.  White netting was placed behind the circle.  I cut a vine from Spellbinders Romantic vine die and the butterflies were also cut out.  The sentiment reads: "Sending Love and Sympathy".

Don't do it because of me, do it because of Jesus.

Sending you a hug and LOVE,

Lois

"And The Two Shall Be For One"

Hello February...the "love" month.   Also on the list:
American Heart Month; • An Affair to Remember Month • Black History Month
• Canned Food Month  • Creative Romance Month • Great American Pie Month
• National Cherry Month • National Children’s Dental Health Month • National Grapefruit Month
• National Weddings Month
You see, we have a lot to celebrate and do this month.

Today, February 1, 2016 is National Freedom Day.   National Freedom Day celebrates freedom from slavery, and recognizes that America is a symbol of freedom.   National Freedom Day was established in 1948 to remind us that America stands for, and is a symbol of freedom for all people. The roots of this special day come directly from the end of slavery and the signing of the 13th amendment outlawing slavery.

Celebrate this day by reflecting upon your own freedoms that you enjoy by being fortunate enough to be in America. Millions of people in the world are not free.

So much for history this morning my friends, followers, visitors and viewers. I had the freedom to craft in my room this morning and .....
I have two cards I'm sharing today that I made for the Outlawz challenges (Sunday and Monday).  The two cards shall become one post for the same website...did you get it?  See the title of this post.
If you didn't get it...it is okay.  We shall move on.

Our first card was made with Neenah white cardstock cut at 4.25  x  5.5;   black Recollection cardstock for the first mat adhered to the white cardstock, cut 1/8 inch less than the base; gold Recollection cardstock was the second mat cut 1/8 less than the black; pattern paper from DCWV The Heirloom stack was used for the focal mat.

To embellish this card, I used the Spellbinders book die to cut out the book shape and used a piece of scrap paper that had the word love somewhere on it.  I used my Cricut Explore to cut out gold wings and the dove from Design Space .  The Spellbinders Romantic vine die and heart die were also used . I copied and printed the scripture sentiment using my computer and printer.  This will be entered in:

 Monday Greetings Challenge GCC020116, Love is in the Air (Add something with wings)

Our next card was made using Neenah white cardstock cut the A2 length as above followed by a piece of black Recollection cardstock for the mat cut 1/8 inch less than the base.  The top mat, which is the focal area is a piece of Ranger watercolor paper.  Here is where the challenge directions took place.

Let's create our own background paper using inks, stamps, paints, watercolors, etc. The theme is up to you, just keep it CAS.

Okay, I pulled out the Tim Holtz's distress inks, a stamp, embossing powder and started on this project.   CAS means you have to leave a lot of  "white" or open space. I stamped the poppy image using clear embossing ink and then applied silver embossing powder over the top.  After masking the poppy,  I used the daubers ( scattered straw, mermaid lagoon, abandoned coral, spun sugar ) to ink a certain space around the image but did not apply too much pressure on the paper.  I wanted the look to remain soft so that the main focal image (the poppy) would stick out. I used a Faber Castell Pitt pen in black to write out "happy day".  The last embellishment that I used were five silver rhinestones.  I did not color the flower because I thought it looked elegant enough against the soft background.  This one is for:  CAS Challenge - January 31, 2016  at the Outlawz.

Thanks for your time and viewing today.  Be thankful that you have the freedom to enjoy life.  Maybe you can do a "two-fer" today.  I already know some of you have posted two cards as of this writing.

Sending you a hug and LOVE,

Lois

"What Day Is It For You?"

Hello Friends, Visitors, Followers and Viewers.
Is it your birthday?  Is it your anniversary?  Is it your "pamper" day (get you hair and nails done with a massage on the side)?  Is it your "lazy" day (lie around and do nothing, absolutely nothing)?

Well, if none of the above suit your fancy, how about these from the National Day Calendar website:
 NATIONAL FUN AT WORK DAY;  NATIONAL KAZOO DAY;  and NATIONAL BLUEBERRY PANCAKE DAY.    I'm doing two out of the three with a twist on one of them.
Yes, I'm going to have fun at work today and for dinner this evening, I'm using blueberries in someway as a dessert.

The fun begins here (Sorry for the pictures.  I hit something on my ipad and could not get my images to look better...will work on that later).

Card for Wednesday sketch challenge over at the Outlawz

Here is what I used:

• Neenah white cardstock; black Recollection cardstock; pattern paper from Craft Smith
• strips of quilling paper from Quilled Creations Beginner Quilling Kit
• ladybug stickers from EKsuccess
• used Fiskars punch and Spellbinders lacy circles die
• Offray white ribbon
• followed the sketch  at the Outlawz : Wednesday Sketch Challenge January 27, 2016

**Please note that I'm using a Beginner Quilling Kit.  Therefore you know what level I'm on.  These are some teardrops and "Y" scroll shapes that I'm practicing....many more practice sessions are needed.

Card for Outlawz

Twisted Thursday Challenge For January 28 to February 3 2016...optional twist..."Anything Goes"

As you can see,  my fun at work day involves flowers...those on greeting cards that I made and now I shall go and take care of the ones I have all around my house.   They need some water and some need to be potted into larger pots.

Thanks for visiting today.  Have a fun work day, play your kazoo and eat your blueberries.

Sending you a hug and LOVE,

Lois