Guest Designer!

I've been blogging for over a year and am so excited to have the opportunity to serve as a Guest Designer for the amazing Beccy Muir at Beccy's Place! I had fun creating this card with an image and sentiment from one of Beccys new releases named "Bonsai Set." (I love that the set includes six versatile sentiments! beccysplace.com/bonsai-digital-stamps) I used a scrap of vintage Chinese silk from my beloved Mom's treasure stash as a background inside of the oval die cut. (Although Bonsai trees are often associated with Japanese culture, I did a bit of research and discovered that they actually originated in China. So… the beautiful fabric really is a good fit!)
I usually photograph my cards on black, white or neutral background colors. However, I set this card down on an antique piano stool as I was setting up for a black background. The realized that the wood grain reflects the tree trunk. (The wood on the piano stool isn't just weathered, it's also scraped and gouged because it survived in my childhood home with six active children! My dad repaired player pianos so we spent hours sitting on this stool, pumping the pedals and singing as the piano rolls rolled along.  If you've never seen -or heard- a player piano, here is a YouTube video to show you one in action-
youtube.com/watch?v=L4gbjYtxT_c  (there are words printed on the piano roll, so imagine a group of kiddos belting out this classic song with all the correct words! PS- It also provided a great workout. Like biking a few miles!) 

Entered into: 

Word Art Wed Challenge- #342-343 Anything Goes     (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #204             (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

I've had this wonderfully intricate, and large, wood mounted stamp for many years. Was excited to find it, and several similar sentiment designs in large and small sizes, at Victorine Originals Stamps (www.victorineoriginals.com) Have always loved the elegant look of the image when it is embossed, so decided to make a card using Victorian shades of red and blue to reflect the colors on the current mood board at SumMoreFun. The addition of a delicate  butterfly allows me to also enter the card into the Butterfly Challenge "W",  I'm highlighting the color wine (butterfly) and wheat (kraft brown paper).

Entered into: 

SumMoreFun  Challenge- Mood Board           (summorefun.com) 
Butterfly Challenge- #103 Letter W                 (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

CAS-ual Fridays- #203 Heat Embossing        (CAS-ualfridays.blogspot.com)

                  

This nautical themed card (made for a challenge at Double D's) also fits into three other challenges related to summer and holidays/vacations. The iris fold ship is made using this template-  irisvouwen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/ship-in-bottle_3.html  The little flags on the paper clip, made with washi tape, add a bit of extra color and fun to the card. The 4th of July sentiment is from Whimsie Doodles and the other is computer generated in Papyrus font. (I added a closeup of the ship and paperclip so you could see all the details.)  

 
Entered into: 

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Summer Fun              (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Fun in the Sun     (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

The Paper Shelter- #347 Holiday Time                          (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Double D’s Challenge- Nautical                                       (daranddiane.blogspot.com)

Like millions of other growed-up kiddos, Dr. Seuss is one of my childhood heroes. So I love this digi from Bugaboo. The image only requires a small amount of color, so I paired it with a bold and bright striped background, fussy-cut the image, and mounted it with foam mounting squares to make it pop!

Entered into: Bug Dr Seuss sentiment 

Bugaboo Stamps-Anything Goes                                      (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

DigiStamps4Joy- #150 Anything Goes                            (digistamps4joy-sa.blogspot.co.za)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge                (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com)

QKR Stampede- #303 Anything Goes                             (qkrstampede.blogspot.com)