DL.ART Thankful Thursday #173 and Random Acts of Kindness :)

Happy Thursday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! It's time for another Thankful Thursday Challenge at DL.ART!! The theme this week is a fun one: Valentine :)

I had two inspirations for these cards...first, the gorgeous Valentine Bundle from DL.ART. Aren't the ribbons beautiful? And the second is the fabulous Penny Black Happy Berries stamp sent to me from my sweet friend Alexandra of Art Scrap & More!! Thanks again for everything, Alexandra!! I absolutely love everything you sent :)

I started off by stamping the Happy Berries in Versamark and then heat embossing them with White Detail Embossing Powder by Sparkle N Sprinkle. I then inked the background with several different Tim Holtz Distress inks. For this card, I used Barn Door, Fired Brick, Festive Berries and Candy Apple. The edges were inked with Gathered Twigs. I then used a baby wipe to remove the color from the berries and to give a little texture to the Distress Ink. The ribbon is Red Hot Love from The Valentine Bundle. The button is a Poppystamps Stitched Button die and the red twine is from the DL.ART shop.

For this one, I used Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet, along with Gathered Twigs along the edges. The corner dies are Anja's Vintage Corners from Marianne Designs. This is my favorite ribbon - Sweet Pink from The Valentine Bundle. The pink twine is also from DL.ART.

The heart is from My Creative Time. I made it into a shaker with Stampendous Shaved Ice. Love is a Die-Versions Compliments Everyday die. Among the leaves, I tucked Sue Wilson Catkin Stems, which I thought mimicked the Happy Berries stamp set, Memory Box Botanical Stems and Marianne Leaves dies, along with baby's breath. "With all my heart" is a Tim Holtz Remnant Rub.

I am entering these in the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Love is in the Air + Red
2. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
3. Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - Something New (PB Stamp and DL.AR Ribbon)
4. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
5. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
6. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Random Acts of Kindness!!

My sweet blog friend Sherry of Createology has the most beautiful, generous soul. We crossed paths a few years ago and I am so fortunate and thankful to have met her in blogland. Among her many, many charitable deeds, she sews beautiful dresses for children around the world and she constantly sends random acts of kindness to her friends. I have been so fortunate to be the recipient of her generosity many times. I have a seaside image she sent to me that sits on my desk and brings me peace and joy each time I look at it.

I want to sit in that chair and look at that view every single day!! Joy!! Yesterday, I received an unexpected package from her and was shocked to open it to find this inside...

Look at this beautiful mermaid!! Sherry purchased this hand-sewn and painted mermaid several years ago from the artist's studio. She thought she would now want to live with me since I love everything mermaid. I was beyond touched...she's the most beautiful mermaid I've ever seen!! Then I looked at the tag from the artist where she named the origin (the Pacific Ocean) and the mermaid's name and not only did chills rack my body, but tears sprang to my eyes -- her name is Lana -- my Mom's name!! How perfect!! To say she will hold a special place in my home and heart is an understatement. I can only hope that when my mom sees her, she doesn't try to steal her from me :)

Thank you so much, Sherry and Alexandra for your kind, generous hearts!! I hope you all will visit both Sherry and Alexandra's blogs and tell them I sent you...not only will you find amazing inspiration, but even more amazing women!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Big hugs :)

Oriental Hidden Garden Card

Happy Monday!! I hope you had a great weekend!! It's my turn to post on the Die-Versions Blog and I have a card to share with you using two of the dies from the newest release, as well as several other Die-Versions dies.

For my card, I created a hidden garden. The gate is the new Whispers Oriental Screen. I cut it out in foam and adhered it to the cardstock for some dimension. Thinking of You is from the Compliments Everyday die. Tucked among the Wild Orchid Crafts flowers is a Whispers Daisy Flair die, which isn't currently in stock.

Open the gate to reveal the beautiful Whispers Geisha taking a stroll with her glittered parasol. She is joined on her stroll with several critters from the Wee-Petites Buggy die set. She's staring at the Whispers Butterfly Garden die (not currently in stock). I used a hole punch on some Velcro to keep the gate closed.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Little Scrap Pieces - Show if Off Saturday
2. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
3. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
4. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016 - January

Happy Saturday, everyone!! I hope all of my friends on the East Coast are staying safe and warm. I am praying for you. When I lived in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, we had a blizzard one year that completely buried my vehicle...and it was a Jeep Grand Cherokee!! We lost power for days and days. I really hope it's not nearly that bad and you are all safe.  Keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

I made a resolution to play along with Tim's Tags of 2016 and so far, so good :) I pretty much followed Tim's instructions HERE, using a few different items to give it a steampunk feel. For the embossing, I used Tim's Gears Texture Fade Embossing folder for the background. The stamp is from Tim's Mini Blueprints 3 stamp set.

I am entering this in Tim's 12 Tags of 2016 Challenge. Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)

Scrapy Land Blog Challenge #34 - Love/Valentines

Happy Wednesday!! It's time for a new challenge at Scrapy Land!! The theme this week is Love/Valentines PLUS a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries...there are over 40 to choose from. You could win a $15 gift certificate to shop at Scrapy Land :)

I created two mixed media Valentine cards for the challenge. The beautiful papers are from Craft and You's Wedding Garden paper stack.

The base layer is a Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles die. I popped up the top layer with foam tape.

I used Liquitex Modeling Paste between a The Crafter's Workstop 'Art Is' stencil. I like to use the Modeling Paste when I'm in a hurry because it dries pretty quickly.

A Die-Versions Heart Burst die was used below the heart. A Spellbinders Classic Heart was popped up with foam tape over a Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Heart. Love is a Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Handwritten Love die. I applied sticky tape to the cutout and added Sparkle N Sprinkle Diamond Dust glitter.

Sue Wilson Designs Faux Quilled Leaves, Memory Box Botanical Stems and Memory Box Chloe Stems were tucked among the Wild Orchid Crafts blooms and baby's breath.

A Poppystamps Stitched Button die was added to the DL.ART Pink Champagne crinkle ribbon. The butterfly is a Impression Obsession Medium Butterfly die. It was covered with Sparkle N Sprinkle Diamond Dust glitter. I used my new Tim Holtz Splatter Brush to splatter white acrylic paint over the cards.

Scrapy Land Products Used

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
2. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
3. Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes Using Glitter/Embossing Powder/Flocking
4. Where the HeART is - Anything Goes
5. Really Reasonable Ribbon - Look What I Got
6. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to Scrapy Land to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have created for today's challenge!! Then link up your Love/Valentine project using a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries!! I can't wait to see what you create :)