Focal points

Last week I won the random drawing over at Our Daily Bread Designs, Yay!  This meant a 15.00 gift certificate in their store.  In the event I would win the drawing I had a stamp set picked out. So when I won the drawing I had the new set ordered in about 15 minutes and it shipped that day which meant I would have it in time for this weeks drawing!! I was a little busy last week so the card Just got made and I will enter it in this weeks challenge!  

I don't enter a lot of challenges- about three a week, I see some cards are entered in a dozen or more, that is not for me.  I try to keep my card making on track with purpose - to encourage others, whether it a bible verse or just a pretty card I try to stay true to purpose. 

 I love  card making; it is a small scale art form that I can do and maybe teach others.  The whole process is very relaxing and gives me an opportunity to express my self, I like the idea of helping others to do that too!

Teaching is one of the purposes of this blog, I try to offer tips on card making, supply recommendations, and just fun random artsy stuff. 

Approaching card making as an art form gives the card maker a framework for creativity.  It isn't just slapping together papers, coloring a rubber stamp image schlocking it on a card base and adding a 'thinking of you' sentiment.  It may be that at first, but if this craft gets a hold of you, it becomes so much more!

There four basic elements I will be teaching a online class on in the near future :
Focal points
Composition
Color
Quality
To produce beautiful cards you have to invest some time in understanding  these basics and then making them happen.

My card today (and entry in the Our Daily Bread Designs ), using my new stamp: I used the verse as the cards'  focal point.  This card is pretty simple when you look at it, but it contains layers and textures and a unique gate fold that makes this card very nice ( in my opinion).  I'll have to make an envelope to mail this card, and that will give me another opportunity for creativity.

When I started making cards I really had no style (that takes time) and I tried making cards at card classes, I just never felt happy with them ( I still go to card classes and think my cards flunk every time)  It really does take some time to develop as an artist and enjoy the process.  I still make lots of duds, but I have a great deal of fun in it along the way!

Stop over to the ODBD challenge and make a card, enter and you might win a stamp set too!  ODBD has lots of beautiful quality stamps in sentiments and images!

Here are two images for you that I think would make a beautiful focal points, two very different styles.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M

It's my Birthday and I'm relaxing and free bees!

Today is my 55th birthday.  That sounds like such an enormous age!  I have a problem with my brain remembering I am that age and not 30.  I was at a cookout on Saturday with my oldest kids who are 30, and their friends who practically lived at my house during the teen years and now have families of their own - Where did the time go?   A few minutes ago I was ordering Pizzas and making cookies by the truckload and now they are talking about advanced degrees and mortgage interest rates.  Life is good!

Now that I have hit the ripe old age of 55 I understand a tad more the verse that says with God 1 of his days is as a thousand years with men.  With our experience of time past (memory) there is almost no feeling of time.  It does seem like yesterday I was trying to figure out how to buy back to school clothes and pay the rent, or bringing them home from the hospital..... I have always made the choice to remember the sweet things in life.  Let the hardships and injustices  go, they hold no good thing for today.

I have received some very beautiful birthday cards:

from Donna:

From Crystal 

From Miyuki

from Sue

From Jenn

from Sandra

From Lyn

From Lorrie

There are even more I haven't photo'd yet

I feel so very blessed!

I'm going to leave you a gift of some sweet images:

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a happy day!

Ginny M

It's the big day here!

It's the wedding  day and I'm blogging and cooking ...   The Caterer will handle the main menu  but there were a few requests for a few family favorites so they will be there too.  Last night we had the rehearsal and then the rehearsal dinner.  We had a BBQ at the house for the wedding party and what a great time.    Watching the bride and groom last night as they rehearsed their vows I thought what a great couple they are now and how well they fit together emotionally and spiritually.  I can't wait to see how God Blesses them as I know he will. 

Everything   is waiting for that  moment when two people become one and start their lives together.

In the meantime here are some fun images for you, I think these would be great colored up!

Enjoy!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M

fun images for your stash

Hi everyone, Hope you are having a great week!  I'm leaving you with some dun images while we are busy with family events!  

Enjoy!

These are public domain and free for you to use!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M

Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge and Boot Camp

My only daughter is at boot camp for the next 6 weeks, this will be my second child to go into the military.  I am very proud of her!  She received her Bachelors degree two years ago and decided to pursue an engineering job in the military.  This was a dream of hers during her Senior year at high school, a dream that took 8 years to happen. 

I'm writing to her and I eagerly await every letter she sends.  

This is the first time I have been able to  reach out to her in the language of cards and letters, and I have to say I am totally enjoying it.

I made this card for her to send today, and I will just add a few simple words of how things are here - not much different than the last time I wrote to her or the time before that.  

Really it is like creating a flip book of a few words of encouragement, one page a time, when read all together, it will say "I Love you".  

But for today, I want her to remember this verse:

The verse is by the Loving Savior who cares about every detail.

The Stamp is by Our Daily Bread Designs.

Thanks for stopping by!

OSA swap card

Card for an Oriental Swap Arts.  Working on my alcohol marker coloring! 

A few more days before the wedding, working on getting caught up on things NOT wedding related! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Ginny M

cowboy card and a freebie

I made a cowboy card for Steve for fathers day, we are both had horses when we were teenagers.  We had a lot of fun conversation around fathers day dinner - telling tales of the times we fell off the horses!  I used my Spectrum Noir Markers for coloring and Tim Holtz for distressing.  I also spent some time late last night looking for examples of creating depth in coloring.  I realize my Cowboy is pretty flat and I needed more time to make him a little dimensional. 

 Here is a link to a site where I found some great coloring tutorials:  

http://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/drawing-lessons/mediums/markers-drawing-techniques.html

I may try this image again to see how I do after spending some time studying - but right now it is time to go meet with the caterer, 4 more days till the wedding!

I'm leaving you with this great cowboy for you to give it a try too!

I've also entered this in this weeks Crop Stop challenge, stop over, make a card and enter it you might win a nice prize!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Ginny M

popular designs freebie

I've received a lot of positive feed back from my Zuni pots post, so as a thank you and fun Sunday treat, I'm leaving you with a few more beautiful South Western designs!  Enjoy

Thanks for stopping buy!!

Ginny M

envelope card

I have an OSA swap card that needed to be made and sent out.  This swap was for an "envelope card.
I 'm a little late because I didn't have an idea for this .  So I sat down this afternoon and just got to it.
I decided to do an Asian beech scene. why a beach seen?  Well because sand was easier to do than grass.

I grabbed a couple of images from one of my Dover books, tweaked it until I had what I wanted.

Started pulling colors

Using  Color I always have a blotter sheet, test paper and a pallet tool no matter what medium I use.

Working in the color

I pull all the markers I think I will be using and have ready

The card in it's envelope shell

Fun, Fun!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

Ginny M

Happy Birthday Steve!!

It our Youngest's 21st Birthday!

The next Mr & Mrs. Maxam!

Planting

Funny how some things happen, I wrote a letter today, I've waited a long time to contact the person I was writing to.  About 34 years.  I won't go into details but I wrote to the person that brought me the gospel in South West Texas in 1980.  I wanted to tell her the rest of the story, how my life and her planting turned out.  I wanted to tell her how Good The Lord has been to me.  

I wrote the letter before I made my card for this weeks Word Art Wednesday  Challenge and the beautiful new verse from Jeremiah:

I was  at this friends house out in the middle of nowhere also called Sanderson TX and I felt the Lord tell me I needed to pray.  I did and in that time He told me it was time to go home to CT.  I did not want to go to put it mildly.  I understood even then sometimes you just had to obey the voice of God whether you liked it or not. 

The Lord gave me that verse in Jeremiah as a promise and he included one more verse, the one right before it: 

 Jeremiah 17:7 says, 

"Blessed is the man that trusteh in the LORD; and whose hope the LORD is". 

I went back kicking and screaming and in my heart clutching that promise that if I would trust Him it would be good, very good.  I did trust him and He did keep his promise.  My life has been richly blessed in so many. many ways

He also promised one day I would go back.  The I thought it would be two years not decades!

But His way has worked so much blessing in my life, I can't even begin to list it all.

I made my card for  my friend , typed a long letter and mailed it off.

I will wait to hear back and if I do I will send her my WAW challenge card:

I colored this with my Spectrum Noirs, quite happy with them!

If I can leave a thought with you today: 

Trust God, he knows what he is doing, walk in His ways and you will never be lost.

Thanks for stopping by,

Ginny M