Autumn...

Hello Everyone! We have been having sunshine again in the South and wonderful Fall temperatures! Blessings abound!!

The weather and the falling leaves inspired today's card. I started with a white card stock base and then used the leaf stamps from Simply Chic Autumn stamp set to create the falling leaves. They are colored in layers with Primas. The Autumn sentiment is from the same set. I layered that onto the green card stock piece with dimensionals. The brown rafia bow is centered with a glittered maple leaf brad from Spare Parts.

I was really pleased with the way the colors in the leaves came together. I have always enjoyed coloring and it is even more rewarding now that I have "big girl" pencils!

Hope your Autumn is blessed and beautiful!


Blessings to you,
Vicki

Sweet Dreamers Challenge ASC 2

Greetings! Hope your week is starting well!

This week's Sweet Dreamers Challenge is a real doozy for me! It is based on a sketch made by Alyssa. Alyssa is ten years old and quite the crafter! Her mom, Tami, is also part of the blog group. Alyssa now has her own blog and offers sketch challenges each week. She has done a beautiful job this week and Sweet Dreamers wanted to participate.

I have done maybe two other sketch based cards so challenge was an understatement for me on this one! I started with the dove die cut and went on from there but I had no clue it would take me to "Bling City" I just decided to go big bling or go on to the next challenge!
So I did a shadow die cut of the dove in silver, used silver card stock for the background and embossed those with the CB. I had the sequin trim and silver ribbon in my stash. The flower is punched with a MS punch and then embossed with silver powder as is the dove. I adhered the flower to the card with a crystal brad. It doesn't show up too well in the photo, but, trust me... in the light you need shades for this card!!

I have absolutely no idea what I will use this card for but I had a blast making it! And I loved that I had to get out of my comfort zone to create! Even my animals have some sparkle in their coats as they all decided to visit as I was embossing! (We are easily entertained in my house!!)

Thanks, Alyssa, for a great sketch! I am so proud of you! Now you have to promise not to make fun of the old lady with all the shiny stuff on her card!! LOL!!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my bling adventure with me! I'll try to tone things down by your next visit! I can make no promises though... this was so much fun!!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

For These Gifts

Hello and welcome to Bountiful Blessings!

I have a very simple card to share today, but one that says a great deal! I guess I am pushing for the Thanksgiving holiday a little soon. We are barely into Fall. I just couldn't resist using this new stamp and punch! I started with kraft cardstock and stamped a background with images from a new PSX stamp set. I then layered DCWV patterned paper from the Fall Indian Summer Stack. The sentiment is stamped on ivory card stock with an image from the same PSX set. It's hard to read in the photo but says "For These Gifts We Gtve Thanks". The place setting is a 1 inch punch in textured silver with a 1/2 inch circle punched from textured copper card stock. The spoon and fork are punched out also. The sentiment and the place setting are then punched with a scalloped oval punch and adhered with dimensionals. I rounded the corners and added faux stitching as an accent. I then added the brown organdy ribbon by cutting a slit in the side of the card. I really like this stamp set and I am fairly pleased with the colors and layout of this card. Thanks for allowing me to rush the season a little. But, when you think about it, we should be giving thanks every day and not wait for a holiday, right?

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope you will visit often! It always makes my day to have you drop in! Feel free to stay a while and look around! You are never a guest, just a new friend I haven't met yet!!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Have a Ball! Sweet Dreamers Challenge

Hello and Happy Wednesday!

This week's Sweet Dreamers Challenge is to make a card using buttons! Buttons add so much depth and texture to a craft project. However, I am not a big user of them on my cards. I don't know why really...just not something I bring out very often.

When I saw this patterned paper in my stash, I got the idea of a gumball machine. I had the stamp and the rest seemed to fall into place. The base is colored with Prismas. I punched many many circles with a 1/2 " punch and layered them into the globe. I then added the buttons with large glue dots to bring them off the card a little. The gumball stamp was then adhered to the patterned paper and cardstock with dimensionals.

I think this is going to be a great birthday card for any age or gender. You can never have enough "neutral" cards in your stash, can you?

Hope your week is going well and you have time to check out the other Sweet Dreamers projects! They are listed on the sidebar.

Now go out there and Have a Ball!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

The Lord's Supper

Good Morning! I have something a little different to share with you today! I wanted to showcase a project my Mom has done for our church.

This picture doesn't show the real detail of the project but if you enlarge it, you can see the stitches better where my Mom crocheted this Lord's Supper. It is a huge piece (3' x 5') and she did it in record time. The picture is angled because of reflection from the camera.

I love to craft but I can never match the talent my Mom has! This masterpiece is now hanging in our church fellowship hall. What an heirloom!

Thank you for visiting today and I hope you will stop by again soon!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Pumpkin Post Its

Another Fall project for you today! This post it note holder was fun and easy to do. I first cut the cardboard and then covered it with patterned paper on the front and white card stock on the back. I stamped the pumpkin image on oranfe card and then embossed it. It is layered onto the board with pop dots. I used my Big Bite for the eyelets and threaded black craft wire through. A simple bow and adhered the notes and that's it! We can never have enough post its, can we?

Hope you have enjoyed your visit and will come back often!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Autumn Bouquet

Hello and welcome!
Today's card is inspired by the many many years of catering and floral design I have done. We often used pumpkins, squash, gourds, etc. as containers for our floral bouquets. These images reminded me of those arrangements. Each of the floral images is stamped three times and layered onto the embossed kraft card stock. The pumpkin is cut with a Cuttlebug die and accented with Prismas.
Fall foliage is always so beautiful and I was happy to have the chance to mimic it here.
Hope you all have a wonderful day and a great weekend!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Welcome Little One, Sweet Dreamers Challenge

Hi and welcome!

Today I have a challenge card for our Sweet Dreamers Blog Challenge, Ebony and Ivory! We were to make a card using only the colors black and white I had this infant image from Digital Two for Tuesday and was excited to have a chance to use it. I used white cardstock for the card base and stamped it with a carriage stamp from Simply Chic Stamps. I cut the image out with decorative scissors. I then layered the image with dimensionals and added the polka dot bow. I also added ribbon to the bottom of the card and adhered the sentiment stamp with pop dots. The sentiment stamp is also from Simply Chic.

Although black and white are not the typical colors for a baby card, I was very happy with the results of this one. Hope you like it too!

Take time to visit our other Sweet Dreamers and see their projects for this challenge. The list is on the sidebar. They are super talented ladies! Why not become a follower here and be sure to visit for our next challenge? Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

The Golden Thread

Good Monday to All! This card is one I made for two challenges this week. The St22 Sketch Challenge on Christian Paper Crafts and the Designing D.I.V.A.S challenge on SCS.

I used translucent vellum over white card stock for this card. I layered the ribbon according to the sketch and then layered the sentiment. The sentiment is stamped with SU craft Close to Cocoa and embossed with gold embossing powder. The card and sentiment layer are then outlined with a gold Zig marker. I also deckled the edges with decorative scissors.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you will come back soon. Have a great week!!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Happy Fall Y'all !

Hello and welcome! I realize it isn't officially fall yet, but it sure seems like it with the weather changes! And, of course, we are all working on fall themed projects! So that makes it fall, right? We'll have to include autumn in this, too!

I have a fall project today that I thoroughly enjoyed working on! I got to stamp and stamp some more! I created my own background paper for this pillow box doorhanger! I used two leaf stamps and went to town on orange cardstock!!I used a smaller leaf stamp as a filler. I also used the stamps as templates for the metallic leaves on the front. I used a large oval punch to make the doorknob opening. Then I added the green raffia bow to finish the look. All I can say is FUN...oh one more time...FUN!

Now I need your help! Do you think this sort of thing would be a good seller at a fall craft show? Wouldn't it be awesome to have this much fun making something and it sell, too?!?!? I need your honest opinions!

Thanks so much for your visit and I want to wish each of you Happy Fall Y'all!!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Sweet Dreamers' Challenge # 6 Share a Hug and I Love You Mama

Greetings! Today I have a very special card to share with you. This is the card I made for this challenge but more importantly I wanted to send my Mom a hug! She only lives about 1/4 of a mile away and we see each other almost every day. I know, I am blessed in that alone. But there's never enough ways to say I love you or give a hug to someone so special. My Mom has been there for me so many times when she needed a hug herself. When I was diagnosed with this eye disease and told I couldn't drive any more, she also became my driver. It's a full time job "driving Miss Vicki"! Never once has she complained or said she couldn't help. I owe her so much more than a card full of hugs can say.

She loves vintage things and when I found this vintage post card, I immediately thought of her. I made four copies of the card and proceeded to cut up the image to make the 3 D layers. Each layer is adhered with glue dots. I mounted the layers onto card stock which I had faux woodgrained in green ink. Then I added the border which was punched with a Fiskars border punch. I then adhered all this to a kraft card base. The card is very sturdy and can be displayed as a picture. As I had hoped, she loves it!

I use the phrase Bountiful Blessings every day and I truly have many. But none so precious as the blessings I receive from my Mama. I love you, Mama!

I hope you enjoyed your visit today and you will take the time to send a hug to someone special to you. It is one of the little things we do that means the world to someone who needs it!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Mark My Place

Hello and Happy Labor Day! Hope everyone is enjoying some time off!

I have some bookmarks to share with you today. I made these as part of the Scripture Bookmark Swap on SCS. This is my first swap and I am excited to see what comes in the mail!
I used a heavy textured card stock for the base of these. I then layered patterned paper. I stamped the florette and the scripture verse on vanilla card stock and layered that. As you can see, I rounded all the corners with a corner punch. As a final touch I added jumbo grommlets with my awesome Big Bite and then added yarn tassels. The back of the bookmark looked pretty rough where the grommlet came through so I punched small circles and made reinforcement tabs where the "teeth" were showing and adhered those. These were fun to make and I hope to make some more in different styles for a craft show I am doing in November.

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing my fun. Hope you will come back often and leave comments with your thoughts and opinions. I love hearing and learning from each of you!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Junk Mail Journal

Hello everyone! Hope your weekend is starting well! Today I have a reblessed item I received in the mail. It was an advertising booklet. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to make it into something else! I didn't even look to see who was advertised! The small photo shows the before version. This started out as a 12 page booklet. I glued some of the pages together to strengthen them. Then I proceeded to pick out the paper and cover the outside and inside with coordinating patterns. Now, what was once junk mail, has become my new idea journal! I will keep it handy to jot down notes on craft ideas or layouts or product use. I just can't seem to rely on my memory for those things anymore! Hmm....I find the cheerful paper inspiring already! LOL! Hope you enjoy it too! I am off to the craft room while the notion is still hot! Bless you for stopping by and hurry back! Hope you have a safe and blessed holiday weekend! To the craft room...AWAY and OH HAPPY DAY!!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Get Your Motor Running!

Greetings! Welcome to Bountiful Blessings! So glad you stopped by! Today's card was made for this week's challenge from Sweet Dreamers Blog Group. The challenge was to incorporate an image with a motor theme. I found this wonderful vintage motorcycle image at Digital Two for Tuesday. I love the look and detail of this image! I even added an extra layer of the image for dimension. The black and white combo seemed the best rather than trying to color it. I did, however, give him a jaunty little red hat and I "chromed" parts of the bike with a silver pen. The sheer ribbon is not my favorite but I wanted to soften the card just a little. I think this will be a great birthday card for one of my biking buddies! Be sure to check out the other Sweet Dreamers challenge cards. They are listed on the sidebar.

Hope you are having a super day and you will visit again soon! Until next time, keep your motor running and RIDE THERE!!


Blessings to you!
Vicki

Sweet Nectar

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful day! Any day I see a beautiful hummingbird flitting from flower to flower is a wonderful day for me! We have been blessed in our area to have these little jewels in abundance this year. When I saw this image it just made me feel good! Just like it does to see these birds in flight.

I used my scalloped circle Nesties to cut out the image. Then I colored it with Prismas and mounted it onto the card stock base with dimensionals. I also embossed the base card on both sides with the CB Frills folder. I added the twisted paper bow as an accent. I plan to make a set of these as a gift. Hope this card makes you feel good, too! Blessings to you!