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!