Over The Hill

This card is for my friend, Fred. He lives in Spruce Pine N.C. and is married to my sister/friend of 64 Years, Gail ( we met at age 2). He is an amazing mechanic and jack-of-all-trades. There is nothing he can't do except maybe give birth..but if he could build a machine for that.. he would !  He has just completed building a vintage airplane..that made it's maiden flight with no issues! He is also rebuilding a vintage car... so this Birthday card is for his 70th Birthday this month. I stamped the old truck and layered it with bronze metallic paper for the  MFP Simple Salutations Challenge # 115- Metal Embellishments.  I love the sentiment. It is just like Fred..he is just beginning to pick up SPEED! Happy Birthday, Fred!

Panda- You Make Me Smile!

This is an awesome sketch design for the MFPSpeedy TV Oriental Challenge # 55 and I thought my cute little Panda Stamp would fit this design perfectly. The background is an inked embossing folder of bamboo fronds. The happy panda seems right at home in this tangle of leaves. He makes me smile!

Autumn Tags

This week, the Mark's Finest Papers Friends of Speedy TV Challenge 142 is to create gift tags.  I usually attach gift tags to my packages and gift bags. The problem is that I generally want to write more on the tags than the tiny size will allow, so these are not only tags, but have a fold on the top so they open up like a card. They are also over sized!
These will be perfect tags to attach to my Fall gift bags....filled with home made jams, and pumpkin breads....that is, if I stop making cards long enough to bake!

These Tag/cards feature fall harvest stamps that are hand painted with watercolor pencils and adhered to a variety of papers.

Fall

Fall in Florida looks a lot like any other Florida season...but there are those occasional crisp cool days that remind  me of Fall leaves, pumpkins, apples and sweaters. This past weekend was one of those days with evenings in the 50's and days in the low 70's...so I made pumpkin-butternut soup , put on socks with my flip-flops, and created a fall themed card for the MFP Sketch With A Twist Challenge # 116 requiring stamped backgrounds and a set design. I can almost hear the leaves crunch under my feet.
Happy Fall!

Hello!

I'm so excited to finally have the opportunity to enter MFPSpeedy TV Oriental Sketch Challenge # 54.
I found these little stamps and used ink markers to color them using bright colors.
The lantern is my favorite part..so I thought I'd use it for the focal piece.  This card makes me smile! 

Zentangle- Flowers

What I like about making cards is that each one is unique and different. I love learning new techniques and being inspired by new challenges.  This week I learned a new word: "Zentangle" ! I had never heard of this unique way to use stamps until this Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge 231- Zentangle.

A zentangle is simply a doodle added to a stamped image.  I created this card using some flower stamps, doodling on the image with a black pen, and coloring in the designs using distress ink pens. I cut out the designs and layered them over contrasting papers. The result reminds me a bit of henna ink. It was a fun challenge.

Go Team

It's definitely football season...I know it because with a husband & a daughter who are huge fans..there always seems to be a game on the TV. Me?... I'm OK watching my USF Bulls and other Florida University Teams like the Gators but generally do not sit glued to the TV like my family. I would rather be creating cards about Football than watching!  That's what I did when I saw the Mark's Finest Papers Speedy TV Simple Salutations Challenge- Play Ball. I had some vintage design papers on hand and have been wanting to use them. This was the perfect opportunity. I used the papers for a background and then stamped the footballs and the salutation with my new MFP Stamp Set called "Tail Gate Party".
My husband walked by, say the card, and said, " That's Cool." I think so too!

Precious Memories

Having so much fun making old wood papers..I just had to enter one more into the MFP Tutorial Time on Speedy TV Challenge 118- weathered wood. Thank you again , Jane for this fun and simple technique. It has been so useful in creating Fall inspired cards. I know I will continue to use these great papers for future projects as well.
This weathered wood paper was created using distressed inks in colors of browns and greens.  I backed the card in a printed paper that featured bird nests.  The little bird was stamped in gold ink.  I really love the effect of this subtle card!

Autumn Blessings

This card was also inspired by the Tutorial Time Speedy TV Challenge 118- Weathered Wood. I used a variety of natural distressed inks to create the old wood look, and combined it with my daughter's favorite stamp of horses. The panel at the bottom was created using fall colored ink for autumn leaves. I embellished it with sparkly brads.

Although this color appears to be pink..it is really an autumn orange..but the pink doesn't look too bad either!

Happy Owl

I love it when someone gives me a new idea to try! This week, Jane taught us how to make ordinary paper look like old wood with a simple scoring tool & inks. I loved this technique and made several cards to enter into the Tutorial Time Speedy TV Challenge 118- Weathered Wood.
When I created this paper, it reminded me of old weathered planks I might find in an old barn. I used the paper I created and added the stamped owl ... because he just seemed to belong around an old barn.!
The side panel was created by stamping a combination of stamped leaves and a tree and using distressed inks.

Sew..What's New?Pink,Gray & Blue

After struggling to work with this new color combo from MFP Speedy TV Challenge # 80-Pink Gray Blue, I decided to try the simple approach. I selected a deep navy blue background and added strips of the silver/gray papers and rick-rack punched trim. I used my new Speedy Fox I'm in Stitches stamps on pink paper to create the pin cushion and scissors.  Sometimes, simple seems better!
Note: Once again, the gray color shows up in a strange green-gray color with my phone camera. It is really gray!.

Flowers for your Birthday

I love a challenge..and Wow..I got one with the MFP Speedy TV Color Challenge # 39 , which called for cards made using Gray, Blue & Pink. After pulling out a variety papers with shades  of these three colors, I selected a silvery gray background and scraps of a deep pink/blue patterned paper. I stamped my Birthday greeting and blue flower onto torn remnants of pale pink paper hand made by my friend, Barbara Washburn. (Thanks you, Barb!).   Not sure why the colors do not photograph true with my phone camera...but it really is shades of pinks, blues, and an accent of green!  Hope you like it! This one goes to my friend with a Sept . Birthday!

Colors in this card did not photograph true.. it is a deep pink... not orange!

Ruby Falls with Mom

My last blog featured a card I made from a family trip to Lookout Mountain/Ruby Falls in Tennessee. As I continued to look through family pics from that trip..I cam across this one taken the same day as the last with my Mother.  I had to laugh out loud as I recalled the drama this day. This picture was in front of one of the caves. As I recall, there were several caves and passes to explore..all with funny names like Goblins Underpass and Skinny-man's Pass. My mother had a lot of fears on this trip...and one seemed to be a fear of caves. She absolutely refused to go inside of them. This picture is one of the few that showed that she was along on this trip! Dad must have made her pose in front of it! She does look a bit on the serious side! Ha!  I remember that when we got to Skinny Man's Pass, a very tight squeeze through a  small gap between rocks... Mother refused to even try..she was afraid she was too big & would get stuck! I look at how tiny she was in these pictures and am thinking... "WHAT????" Great memories.... I had to capture it in this card to enter in  Mark's Finest Papers Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge # 80- Ruby Falls. Mom deserves a card alongside Dad's.

Me, my brother, and Mom in front of Goblins Underpass at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.
Circa 1954 or 55. 

Family Vacation: Ruby Falls

The newest Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge # 80-Ruby Falls had me rummaging through my family photo album in search of photos from our one-and-only family road trip in the 1950... a memorable adventure for 4 people crammed into a non-air conditioned car, through the South, in the heat of Summer, in the days before the Interstate! The pics I found not only inspired me to make a few cards..but brought back a flood of precious memories.
In the 1950's, our family did not have the "paid vacation" time nor money to spend on long travel vacations. Basically, we spent a few days at the beach with family every summer and loved it. I remember our excitement the year my parents announced that we were going on a real vacation to Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee!! I could write a book about this time of excitement, fun, & mishaps strong enough to still feel like yesterday...but instead will concentrate on the story behind the picture I included in this card from Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls!

Pictured in this card with me are my Father, and my brother at Lookout Mountain.  I recall it was the hottest summer on record at that time & I'm the only one dressed for it! My Mom is not in this picture because she was terrified she would fall over the edge. That's also why we were not closer to the edge! If you look closely, my brother is sporting a knife on  his belt. This was Dad's "special gift" to Ron during this trip..he could wear Dad's hand-made knife on the trip since we were going into the "country".. and the unknown. (Can't help but think that today, this would be called out as bad parenting). Ron was so proud to be trusted and was his special rite of passage! Amazing memories of  a more innocent time!
I hope you enjoy my card & the reflections.

Tailgating Party Invitation

I have never attempted to make a round card that opens before, but when the challenge presented itself on Friends of Speedy TV Challenge 141- Circular cards, I decided to try something new. Since Football season is underway and tailgating parties are popping up at the college and professional levels all over Florida....why not go ahead and make a party invitation!
I used football themed paper for a background with a black border . With my brand new Tailgating Party Stamp Set from Mark's Finest Papers, I inked the words and images onto the card.
Now, all I have to do is get my tickets to my Alma-Mater, USF...  and get the party started!! GO BULLS!

Beautiful Bouquets

Mark's Finest Papers Speedy TV Inspiration # 79 Beautiful Succulents was the muse for this card! One of the photos on the challenge page was of a bride with a beautiful bouquet. I thought it would be fun to use my newly acquired MFP -Paper Doll Frances Stamp Set and it turned out to be as fun as playing with paper-dolls! I selected a pale rose paper for a background and embossed some off-white card stock that I hand painted. The hand painted Frances doll is holding her beautiful bouquet and is waiting to be dressed in her floral gown made of velum and her sparkly floral headpiece.

Birthday Party Cupcake

Creating this card was a little bit like baking cupcakes! I wanted to create a card a child might enjoy receiving and enter it in the MFP  Friends of Speedy TV Challenge 140- Card for a Child .What says Child's Birthday better than a cupcake! The cupcake is cut from a patterned paper and the "ICING" was cut from a piece of Barbara Washburns's beautiful hand made pink paper that I embossed using a birthday folder. The candles and sentiment were stamped . When I finished, my daughter said she wanted me to save this card for HER Birthday!

Spotlight on Friendship

This is the first time I have made a card using a tutorial from Mark's Finest Papers Tutorial Time on Speedy TV Challenge 117.
This tutorial by Barbie, provided instructions for creating a card using a technique called "spotlighting". I  created this card for a friend, using a vintage stamp I had in  my collection.I hand-painted the spotlighted part with watercolors. I love the results!
 Can't wait to use "spotting" with other stamps. Thank you, Barbie for this tutorial!

red-blue-yellow color challenge

I created this card to enter in the  MFP SpeedyTV Color Challenge 37. We were to incorporate the primary colors of yellow, blue & red into our card.  This card was a nod to one of my favorite things to do with fruits..make delicious jam. Over the last 5 years, I have enjoyed taking "road-trips" to purchase fresh local fruit to use in my jams... Peaches from Georgia and North Carolina, Strawberries from Plant City, oranges from the local grove, blueberries from the nearby blueberry patch in Tampa! I have never canned pears, but had bought this beautiful pear stamp last year and decided to "can" it for this card. I cut the jar shape from pale yellow paper and stamped the red pear onto the jar. The lid is silver foil and the "glass" is velum overlaid on top. Both sentiments were stamped form my THANKS set.

Flower People

Flower Pot People!?!  Hmmmm. That was the subject for this week's MFP Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge #78- Flower Pot People.
I played around with my floral stamps..flower pots...garden stamps..but just could not get inspired. The only  images that kept creeping into my mind for some strange reason, were of the "flower people" in San Francisco in the 1960's...those beautiful girls with wreaths of blossoms intertwined in their hair. Before long, I found myself humming the lyrics to Scott McKenzie's summer-of-love anthem : "If you're going to San Francisco,be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"...  As the song and the images continued to haunt me, I dug through my box of stamps and pulled out one I love... a vintage lady with flowers in her hair. The rest of the card just sort of evolved as I happily stamped and hummed, and painted. I hope you can feel the LOVE!

This card uses bits and pieces from several different stamps. I masked the parts of the stamp I did not want to use, and combined them to get this lovely flower/lady. I used a paint brush and pastel inks to color in the stamped images.
The stamps used were: 1. A vintage style lady for the face, 2, Two separate stamps for the flowers & stems of the plant, and a Circle Flourish stmp surrounding the face. 

For a Child...

I have had lots of fun making this little-girl dress cards and thought it would be perfect to enter in the Friends of Speedy TV Challenge #140- Card for a Child.
I found the paper of vintage trains and wanted to use it in a unique way on this dress. I have a similar stamp of vintage locomotives and use it randomly to create part of the background.The polka-dot ribbon matched some paper I used for pop-out flowers. I'm thinking I know a few little girls who would love to receive this  card!

Silhouette!

I thought creating a card using a silhouette stamp for the MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge 227 would be easy..HA! Not today! This little card took some time!  I started with an original background using sponged & blended inks,spritzed with Perfect Pearls Mists in Blue Patina..  The birds rising from the field are from the Birds Galore Stamp set. I embossed them using bronze powder. The little girl silhouette stamp is from Craft Smart.  I stamped wildflowers onto the grassy area and added a few in her hand, and trailing from her basket.  This is what took so much time.  The sentiment is from Fiskars Make a Wish Quotes.

The colors are not at all true in the picture of this card. The birds and the horizontal stripe are not red at all, but are bronze.  I'm thinking I should stop using my phone to take these pictures!

Favorite Subjects

Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations Challenge #112  for this week is to incorporate my favorite school subject into a card. I loved school, and enjoyed most of my subjects. It would probably to be easier to shout out the ones I DISLIKED over the ones I favored! I had so many subjects I really enjoyed: Physiology, Earth Science,Reading & Literature, Creative Writing, Home Economics, and Geometry were favorites throughout my school days, and even til today. I selected writing for my card challenge. There was a time when I wrote short stories and poetry and aspired to be a writer. Turns out, I spent 38 years teaching others Reading,Writing, and Earth Sciences!  Such a joy to be able to teach the subjects I so loved myself. Perhaps it was a "meant to be"!

The stamps I used for this Writing themed card were the tools for that trade: writing pens and typewriter! The sentiment stamped on the front is essential for all who create..be it as writers, artists, or card designers! It takes imagination!
 

 I made this card to enter in the Mark's Famous Papers MFP Sketch With a Twist #113 Challenge, which required the addition of real or faux stitching.  This was right down my ally as sewing is one of my favorite hobbies. I first started "stitching" at about 6 years old when my mother taught me to embroider. I began making embroidered hand towels and pillowcases for my "Hope Chest". (Does anyone today even know what this is?)
Later, at about 10 years old, I started using the sewing machine and Mom enrolled me in Singer Sewing classes.  I loved making all my clothes and continued sewing for myself, my friends, and my children.  This challenge made me feel like I was making clothes again.....

The background square was created using a flower stamp inked with Color Box Petal Inks and enhanced with Copic Sketch pens. The little girl dress is embossed dotted-swiss pattern trimmed with "faux" stitches, vintage lace, ribbon, and appliques from my sewing box!  This was a fun card to create!

                                                     

Green, Black & White

These are colors that I do not generally use together on a card, however I was inspired by this week's Mark's Finest Papers,  MFPSpeedyTV Color Challenge #37 

I used black card stock and my 4- tree stamp which I inked with a pale green ink and stamped several times
randomly along the bottom two thirds of the card.  I then inked the same stamp with dark green ink and stamped it onto off-white paper.   I inked it  again with embossing ink and and reapplied it to the center trees. The powder was a dark green/black embossing sparkle powder.
I love the look of the "ghostly trees" in the background and the darker ones in front!

                                                     
                                            

Bear!

I made this card  to enter in a MFPSpeedy TV Color Challenge #111 that required the use of a stamp, a bear, and a greeting. This little bear is a cutie..not at all like the aggressive bear we have here in Florida!

The bear is stamped with black ink ,colored with colored pencils, and attached with pop up squares. The area behind the bear is created by overlapping leaf stamps using fall colored inks. The torn paper background is tree-bark  design embossed on paper.

Adding inked papers as backgrounds...

Tiring of the use of solid color or pre-made designs for card backgrounds, I played around with using my inks as a background for some of my favorite stamps.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Ink was applied like watercolors and Fall Pumpkin Stamp was added and 

colored in with watercolor pens.

My Favorite! I inked the paper strategically to create sky, earth at sunset, and water.
I stamped the tree/landscape stamp first. Next I stamped it again on acetate
and reverse stamped it onto the water to represent a reflection.
 

I inked the background and stamped this large tree stamp several
times over the card to create a forest.
The leaves were punched out.

Family Cards

Some of the first cards I made were for my family. I used old photographs of family members, and tried to  match or coordinate the photo with similar backgrounds or embellishments. Here are a few of my early creations.

I attached this photo with corners so it could be removed from card and not damaged.
The western images are paper from a pack of western themed papers.

This vintage picture of my Aunt taken in the 20's was joined by a variety of papers and cut-outs
from vintage beach themed papers.

I matched this vintage of my aunts at Coney Island, NY. with vintage beach papers.

Vintage picture of my Father & Grandmother at the beach in St. Petersburg circa 1924.
I used background papers from seaside vintage packet.

Another vintage picture of my brother with western themed papers, cut outs and
a western charm.

Vintage photo of my mother & her sisters in Rome ,Ga. Circa 1934.

I again used vintage seaside papers and stickers.

My father & my brother at Florida beach using seaside papers, and shell stickers.

 The background image is from a vintage photo at Indian Rocks Beach, Fl. I attached a vintage 1949 photo of myself at same beach.

 The left photo is a beach party circa 1962. It is paired with a similar cut out image taken from a pack of beach themed paper.

The Beginning...

For the past 5 years, I have been making cards, but have never blogged about them nor shared them outside of my family & friends. I think it is about time to begin sharing Peggy Ann's Cards!
I hope you enjoy them!