And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness
and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

Friday, July 22, 2016

SNSS Celebrates Christmas in July!

Hello friends, and welcome to 
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Christmas in July Blog Hop & Sale   

It's time for me to seriously begin working on my Christmas cards for this year…how about you?  The Creative Design Team at SNSS has just the inspiration you need to put you in the Christmas spirit, so grab your favorite beverage and hop along with us.  Just click on the team thumbnails at the end of this post and you will be taken to each of the designers' blogs to see the details for each amazing creation…the links will be at the end of each blog so you will not get lost along the way.  While you are at each blog, leave some love behind because one lucky person will be randomly chosen from all the comments to win a FREE (in stock) Christmas stamp set of your choice from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store!


For my sample, I chose to use the darling Season's Greetings stamp set!
Creative Nugget:  The Tree Background was stamped in brown ink on a Neenah Solar White panel then shifted slightly, stamped again with VersaMark ink and white embossed to look like snow. Distress inks were sponged around the edges and again across the bottom to create a few snow drifts.  A Darice embossing folder was used to create some snowy texture on the panel and white acrylic paint splatters added.  One of the Hillside Edges Dies were used to cut a hillside out of vellum on which the sentiment was embossed.  This was mounted to the bottom of the card and a Fence die cut added.  The images from the Season's Greetings stamp set were colored with Copic Markers, cut with the matching Season's Greeting Die Set, and popped onto the card. The two smaller birdhouses were tied to the tree branch with metallic thread. 


Here are the SNSS products used to make this card:

Here are several other cards created with Season's Greetings that were previously posted:




Okay…can you tell I really like this stamp set!  LOL!  If you like it, too, you are in luck because all currently stocked Christmas stamps at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store will be 15% off through the weekend.  Just enter the code CMASJULY at checkout to receive your discount!

Happy Hopping AND Happy Shopping!

Hope you've been inspired to make a few Christmas cards…have a wonderful day!

Hugs,
Cathymac

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Sweet Friendship

Hello sweet friends!  Today I'm hosting the Ways to Use It Challenge on Splitcoaststampers and we are using stripes…stamped, sponged, embossed, or even on designer paper. Easy, Right?  Hope you can join us.  Here is my card with stripes sponged through different stencils and embossed with an impression plate:

Creative Nugget:  The embossed stripes were cut with a Circle Cutter, stitched to a Layered Lacey Oval, and mounted onto the sponged and splattered stripes to make the background for the frangipani flowers from a new stamp set called Sweet as Perfume by Our Daily Bread Designs.  The sentiment was embossed, cut with one of the Oval Dies, and mounted to one of the Ornate Ovals. Ribbon, metallic thread, and colored rhinestones were added to finish the card.

Since friends are such a sweet blessing in our lives, whether they are close by or far away, this card was created for all of my very dear forever friends!

Creative Nugget:  The coneflower from the Forever Friends stamp set was randomly white embossed on a piece of Mixed Media paper and watercolored.  A Leafy Edged Border Die was used to create a curvy border for the pretty Cozy Quilt paper.  A frame was cut using the Lavish Layers Die and a Double Stitched Rectangle Die.  Distress inks were used to water color the white embossed coneflower.  Layered Lacy Oval Dies were used to cut and mat the embossed sentiment panel.  Crinkly heated ribbon was used to make the bow.

These cards will also be submitted for the following Challenges:

Word Art Wednesday #240 - Anything Goes
Pile It On #112 - Use Your Favorite Colors
Just Us Girls #352 - Color Week (Coral, Yellow, Pink)
Coffee, Chocolate, & Cards #113 - Fancy and Use Pink

Your visit means so very much to me…thanks so much for stopping by!  Find a friend and give them a big hug!

Hugs,
Cathymac

Friday, July 15, 2016

Take Another Look at the ODBD July 2016 Release

Hello friends!  Today Our Daily Bread Designs is taking another look at the July 2016 Release!  The flowers in this month's release are just beautiful as you will see as you hop to each of the Breadstick Designers' blogs!  


The Forever Friends stamp set and some of the new ovals dies were used to create the Double Z card below.


Creative Nugget:  The coneflower in the Forever Friends stamp set was stamped multiple times across the panels on the Double Z card and colored with Copic Markers and a Yellow Wink of Stella Marker.   Several more coneflowers were stamped on scraps of card stock, colored, fussy cut, and popped up for dimension.   The Z Fold border was lined with paper from the Beautiful Boho Collection and a Fence Die cut.  The sentiment was stamped on a label cut with one of the Layered Lacey Ovals Dies and tied to the fence.  Ribbon was used to keep the card closed.

When opened, the whole field of coneflowers is displayed.  A second sentiment from the Forever Friends set was stamped on a panel cut with one of the other Layered Lacey Ovals Dies.

Here are the fabulous new products from the Our Daily Bread Designs July 2016 Release that were used to make this card...



…and some other previously released products:


To see all of the breathtaking projects created with the July Release products hop on over to the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. Then click the links below to see the details for each beautiful project.  

Lori * Robin * Melissa * Julie * Sandee * Cathy 
Dawn * Lisa Sabrina * Diana
 Diane (Guest Designer) 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend…take time to smell the flowers!

Hugs,
Cathymac

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Chocolate Flowers

Hello friends!  Today is National Chocolate Day and Carla over on Splitcoaststampers has dished up a chocolaty challenge for us, WT591 Celebrate Chocolate.  I've decided to take all of the calories out of my chocolate creation and serve up some chocolate flowers with some warm sugary layers.

Creative Nugget:  The layers were cut with some delicious new dies just released by Our Daily Bread DesignsVintage Borders Dies and Layered Lacey Ovals Dies, as well as the Vintage Flourish Pattern Die and Ovals Dies.  Dark Chocolate, White and Cream card stocks were used as well as papers from the Vintage Ephemera and Ephemera Essentials paper pad collections.  The Frangipani flowers from the new Sweet as Perfume stamp set were stamped in Ground Espresso distress ink and color pulled in with an aqua brush.  A little blush was added with a Copic marker and Wink of Stella.  Silk ribbon was woven around one of the layers and Liquid Pearls were added to the flower centers to finish the card.

This card will be submitted for the following challenges:

ODBDSLC276 - Anything that Grows…with ODBD
Word Art Wednesday #238 - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps & More - Challenge #201 Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by…hope you were inspired!
Have a wonderful day!

Hugs,
Cathy

Friday, July 1, 2016

Welcome to the ODBD July 2016 Release

Hello friends!  Welcome to the Our Daily Bread Designs July 2016 Release!  Everything is coming up roses…I mean Iris, Coneflowers, and Frangipani at ODBD this month. The Bread Basket designers have out-done themselves with their samples…I think you will agree...the flower stamp sets and new ovals dies this month are gorgeous!

Three randomly selected winners will each receive a $25 gift certificate to the ODBD Store to be used toward the purchase of ODBD Stamps found in the "stamps column" of the website just for commenting on the Design Team cards!  You have until July 2, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. EDT to leave your comments on the Designers' Blogs for a chance to win!  The Winners will be posted on the ODBD Blog on July 3rd, so be sure to check back there to see if you won!


My first sample was made using the A True Friend stamp set.


Creative Nugget:  The iris flower from the A True Friend stamp set was stamped onto a Vintage Label and colored with Copic Markers using the Pointillism Technique.  The background layer was done with Color Burst pigment powders on Mixed Media paper. The Vintage Flourish Pattern Die, Layered Lacey Ovals Dies, and Vintage Borders Dies were used to frame the iris.  The sentiment was embossed on a Pierced Oval and layered onto a Layered Lacey Oval.  A bow was added to finish the card.

My second card was made with the new Sweet as Perfume stamp set.

Creative Nugget:   The frangipani flower cluster from the Sweet as Perfume stamp set was stamped randomly on the background.  An Ornate Oval was cut from the panel and colored with Copic Markers while the background flowers were colored with warm gray Copic Markers.  The colored panel was mounted on Ovals and Layered Lacey Ovals.   A Pierced Oval and a Layered Lacey Oval were used for the sentiment.  Some pearls and silk ribbon were added to finish the card.

Here are the fabulous new products being released by 
Our Daily Bread Designs this month that were used to make these projects…


…and some old favorites previously released:


To see all of the breathtaking projects created with the July Release, hop on over to the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. Then click the links below to see the details for each project. You are sure to love our blooming garden!  While at each blog, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible to win one of the three fabulous prizes!

Dawn * Lori * Robin * Melissa * Julie Sandee  
Cathy * Angie * Chris Grace * Lisa
 Sabrina * Diana * Diane (Guest Designer)

Thanks so much for stopping by…hope you are inspired by the hop!

Hugs,
Cathymac