Crafters of Faith Blog Hop

To God who gives our daily bread

A thankful song we raise,

And pray that he who sends us food

May fill our hearts with praise.

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

Welcome to the first Crafters of Faith Blog Hop! We are so blessed to have you stop by and celebrate the beauty of AUTUMN with us! The Crafters of Faith blogging group is a joyous blending of christian friends ~ joined together to fellowship, share our faith, build friendships and craft together! If you are just visiting and would like to hop with us, welcome! If you hopping along already, you should have arrived from Darlene's blog.


This month, our hostess is Carol S! She gave us a wonderful Harvest challenge and here is what she asked us to create: "I love FALL, the colors and the smells! I would like to propose that we make a card with fall colors, it should include fruits and vegetables to remind us of the harvest. When my kids were small, I canned peaches and pears, made pickles and such. So much fun to open those jars in the dead of winter! I am looking so forward to the fall festival of Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles). To Biblical historians, this is the actual time of Christ's Birth and many people believe this will also be the season of HIS return. Blessings All!"

To celebrate in this glorious season upon us, here is the card I created for you:

I created my card using a stamp set from Our Daily Bread. Our Daily Bread is a stamp company that specializes in Christian images, Scripture verses, and inspirational quotes. An online friend (Judy) loaned this stamp set to me some time ago... and I love it! I just wish that my coloring skills could do justice to the gorgeous array of fruits in the bowl.

Here's the inside of my card:

From here, continuing hopping to Carol W's blog to see what Autumn splendor she has waiting for you! We also have a special little giveaway for one lucky hopper today and you can find that on Kelly's blog - the last stop on the hop!

Thank you for stopping by today! In this glorious season of Fall, and the wonders of the earth changing to gorgeous colors .... in a time of gratitude and thanksgiving ... we wish many blessings for you!

Image and Scripture: Our Daily Bread Fruit of the Spirit
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Paper Company Chocolate and Stampin' UP! Old Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, and Wild Wasabi
Designer Paper: Paper Studio Four Seasons Collection
Embellishments: Michael's Rhinestones and Stampin' UP! Wild Wasabil Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

SCREAM!

I don't know why, but I love making Halloween cards. Maybe it's because I like bold, bright, rich colors - and Halloween cards lend themselves to those colors.

I also think there are a lot of cute and fun Halloween images from which to choose.

For instance: Stampin' UP! Frightening Feline

I joined Joyce's Scary Good Halloween card swap just so I'd have an excuse to buy this stamp. LOL!

So, as I always do when I'm creating for a swap, I made a prototype of the card I would make... and then I looked to see if anything needed tweaking before making the other cards. (I'm bad that way!)

Yes, I thought it needed one little/subtle change...

Isn't it funny how rounding one corner makes such a BIG difference? I like it much better this way.

The inside has just a wee bit of color/fun:

Frightening? No, but fun feline, definitely!!!


Image: Stampin' UP! Frightening Feline
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Cardstock: Paper Company Black and Stampin' UP! Crushed Curry and Night of Navy
Punch: Crop-o-Dile Corner Rounder, Martha Stewart Fence, and Stampin' UP! Bat
Embellishments: Buttons (vendor unknown) and Stampin' UP! Crushed Curry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

Butterflies and Apples

You might wonder what butterflies and apples have to do with each other. (I'll admit, I never think of the two in the same sentence.)

Well... this is the 28th, so it's the day that the Calendar Girls blogging group is challenged by one of the members to create to a specific theme. Paola is the hostess this month and her challenge was a great one - though a very challenging one for me. LOL! (Those of you who know me, know I love a good challenge!!!) Thank you, Sweet P, for challenging me!

Here are Paola's instructions:

To honour a dear longtime friend of mine who passed away early today, I would like to request that you create a beautiful card using the following guidelines:




Your card must be a fancy fold, and have apples stamped on it -and colored-

(OR, if you don't own any apples's stamps, apples can be incorporated on your cards via designer papers,stickers,dies etc..), plus have at least one 3-D butterfly on your card too.



The main colors used for this challenge are to be your own favourite colors (use at least two of them please, and tell us which ones they are once you blog it.)



Why the apples/butterflies combos you may ask?


My friend used to bring me tons and tons of beautiful apples from her garden at about this time of the year as the fall season just starts to appear, and today, at the hospice, she was covered in a gorgeous handmade blanket full of beautiful colorful butterflies as we said our final goodbye....A bigger 3-D all white sequined butterfly was placed on top of her heart too...♥


Please note: Your cards are NOT to be sympathy cards at all, please keep them ‘happy/festive’ - as a celebration of LIFE in general! ♥


♥ Hug a friend today...life's way too short!

I couldn't find a single apple stamp in my stash - I know I have some, just couldn't find them - so I got creative. The instructions included "color" the apple, so I punched an apple (an old retired Stampin' UP! punch I have) and colored it with my Copics.

We were also instructed to use two of our favorite colors on our creation. The problem is, I don't really have favorite colors. (I like them all), so instead I went with my preferred hue - I prefer rich colors and bold/bright colors - but I do like a tinge of pastel, so I colored the butterfly on top if the stack of books a soft pastel yellow. ;)

Here's the inside (and a better visual of my unique fold):

You might like a closer view of my dimensional butterfly. I made it out of a Prima flower.

Please, please, PLEASE go to the other Calendar Girl blogs (they're listed in my left sidebar) and see what they made. I'm sure you'll be WOW'ed!


Image & Sentiment: Unity Books a Flutter
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Paper Company Black and Chocolate and Staples White
Designer Paper: DCWV Red Apples and Recollections Woodgrain
Embellishment: Butterfly made with a Prima Flower and lots of Michael's Rhinestones

Craft Us Crazy!!!

It's here! IT'S HERE!!!

After a few months of time off, so Jeri (the owner of the Craft Us Crazy Challenge) could focus on moving, the Craft Us Crazy Challenge Blog is BACK!!!

WOO HOO!!!

I am sooooooo excited!!!

Craft Us Crazy Challenges are two-week challenges, which allow crafters plenty of time to get creative and participate in the challenge. Another great thing about Craft Us Crazy Challenges is the and/or feature. The theme gives us a choice of _____ and/or _____. Isn't that cool?

Sooooooo let's get started!

This is actually Challenge #27.

Craft Us Crazy

September 27 - October 10

THEME: Halloween and/or Anything Goes

SPONSOR: The Cutting Cafe

I want to give a great big SHOUT OUT to The Cutting Cafe, who graciously offered the Craft Us Crazy design team some fun images to use for our creations for this challenge. The Cutting Cafe is also giving an AMAZING prize to one of the participants of this challenge. So, how about a great big THANK YOU to The Cutting Cafe!!!

I was so excited to be able to create with The Cutting Cafe Fun with Owls set to make this card...

Here's the inside of my card:

This card says: For OWL you do..... thank you

Jeri, if you're reading this blog post... those words are especially for you!

THANK YOU for all that you do for your design team, for your friends, for me!

Now friends and fellow card-makers.... it's your turn! I can't wait to see what you make for the Craft Us Crazy or Anything Goes Challenge!

Images: The Cutting Cafe Fun with Owls

Ink: Copic Markers

Cardstock: Paper Company Black and Staples White

Designer Paper: from my scrap file

Embellishments: Grosgrain Ribbon and Buttons (vendor unknown)

Ohh Laa Laa!

It's my Fashion Diva card...

As soon as I discovered (and joined) Kristyn's Fashion Diva card swap, I knew what stamp I wanted to use. I'd actually purchased this stamp set some time ago from a lady on Splitcoast - and shamefully, never had inked it up. So it was way past time.

I also knew I wanted to used some tulle on it, which I did.

Isn't that fun?

I went with soft subtle colors, minimal layout, and gorgeous pearls - all of which cry out FASHION DIVA to  me.

Did you notice that subtle scalloped corner in the bottom left side? I thought that was kind of classy.

I used a flower stamp image from the same stamp set and a little bit of the designer paper on the inside, too.

I sure hope Kristyn likes my card!


Images: Loralie Art Stamps Corset 1
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Staples White and Stampin' UP! Soft Suede
Designer Paper: K & Co. Wedding Paper Kit
Corner Punch: Crop-o-Dile Scallop Cut
Embellishments: Hobby Lobby Tulle and Michael's Pearls

A Light In the Darkness

Please Note: Today I have TWO blog posts, this one and the

{PIN}Spirational Challenges one that follows it. It is a really fun card, that incorporates a "found item" in its design. You won't want to miss it, so keep scrolling to my next blog post, too. ;)

When I found out that this week's Twisted Tuesday Challenge was going to be a "Back to the Basics" theme, I immediately knew I wanted to use one of my new Our Daily Bread stamps. They are stunning - all by themselves. They don't need a lot of embellishment, papers, etc.

Soooooooooooooo... here's what I made:

Twisted Tuesday Challenge

September 25 - October 1

Theme: Getting Back to the Basics

The Twist: There is NO twist this week.

Melina's idea behind this challenge is to remember how we used to create, before we had die cut machines, punches, etc. EEK! That was a while ago for some of us. But we can do this. REMEMBER WHEN...

And then have fun creating! Pretty simple idea. And fun, too!!!

Here's the inside of my card:

Image & Sentiment (these are separate stamps, but from the same set): Our Daily Bread Keep My Lamp Burning
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Cardstock: Paper Company Black and Stampin' UP! Soft Suede
Designer Paper: Paper Studio Country Red
Embellishment: Michael's Black Rhinestone

I Love Autumn!

I love the brisk air, the smell of wood burning in the neighbor's fire pit, the sound of children playing in the falling leaves, and I love this sight...

Isn't that a gorgeous sight???

Do you know where I got that picture? From the

{PIN}Spirational Challenges blog!

Woo Hoo! It is our photo inspiration for this week's challenge. This is going to be so much fun!!!

September 25 - October 1

Here's the card I created:

Do you see the found item I used?

It's the strip of green at the bottom - yep, a paint swatch.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you make, too! Have fun crafting!!!


Tree Images: A Muse Best of Times
Ink: A Muse Cranberry, French Roast, Nutmeg, Orange, and Sky
Cardstock: Paper Company Chocolate, Stampin' UP! Bashful Blue, and Staples White
Clouds: A Muse Die
Found Item: Paint Swatch
Embellishments: A Muse Bakers' Twine and Button (vendor unknown)

I ♥ Chocolate

... so I have another CHOCOLATE card for you today.

Yes, that's a REAL fun size package of M & M's.... 'cept it's filled with bubble wrap (to make it poof) instead of M & M's. My son Brock will enjoy eating the real M & M's. ;)

I made this card (a set of them, actually) for Barb's Caffeine card swap... so it has a Caffeine-type sentiment inside.

I also made two extra cards to mail to my two children - and I went with a different sentiment inside them....

M & M image: Too Much Fun
Caffeine Sentiment: Art Impressions
Color My World Sentiment: Endless Creations
Ink: A Muse Buttercup, Cherry, Evergreen, French Roast, and Orange; Memento Rich Cocoa; and StazOn Azure
Cardstock: Paper Company Chocolate and Stampin' UP! Brilliant Blue, Brushed Curry, Glorious Green, Only Orange,  Real Red, and Whisper White
Designer Paper: Recollections White Equilibrium
Embellishment: Michael's Rhinestones

Chocolate = Happiness

You know it! ;)

Making these punch-art chocolate candy bars make me happy, too! I love them! They are so easy to make and the use of real tin-foil adds so much fun to a card.

I went with a very neutral color scheme - and (*gasp!) NO designer paper on this card so that the candy bar would really show up.

Of course, I had to decorate the inside, too...

I'm sorry about the picture... for some reason it made the card look blue. Nope! It's Confetti White, just like the front.


hmmmmmmmm... for some reason I'm craving chocolate now. UGH!


Sentiments: My Favorite Things Dip Me In Chocolate
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Cardstock: Paper Company Chocolate and Stampin' UP! Confetti White and Early Espresso
Embellishments: Recllections Brads and Reynolds Aluminum Foil

Mystery Swappers

... it almost sounds like Mystery Shoppers... you know, those shoppers who secretly shop for the purpose of seeing how a store is treating its customers.

But no, Mystery Swappers is much more fun that that! It's a group of stampers who participate in a swap every other month. The hostess sends identical images to all the gals, who in turn create four cards for the swap. It's a mystery what the image will be, and we're not supposed to post a picture of our cards on our blogs/galleries until the swap is due.

It's time!!!

This round was due yesterday -

so I can show you my card!

Sam (way2cute on SCS) was our  hostess and she chose the Stampin' UP! retired Farm Fever image for us. She said she's in a church group called "From the Heart" that sends cards to people who are sick, have had surgery, or just need a pick me up. So I suspect, she's going to use her hostess cards for "From the Heart" ministries. Isn't that cool!?!?!?

Because the little guy is in bed sick, I decided he needed a "bug"... so I used a brad...

Oh, and it doesn't show up in the picture, but I added crystal effects to the thermometer.

Here's the inside of my card:

Yep... that's another "bug" brad. ;)

This was such a fun card to create. I love the image and hope Sam is pleased with my cards.


Image: Stampin' UP! Farm Fever
Cardstock: Stampn UP! Kraft, Regal Rose, and Riding Hood Red
Designer Paper: Paper Studio Four Seasons (Hearts) and Recollections Bold Basics (Stripe)
Embellishments: Stampin' UP Copper Hardware, Stampin' UP! Ribbon (Regal Rose and Wine Grosgrain) and "Bug" Brads (vendor unknown)

I'm soooooooooo Happy!!!

PLEASE NOTE: I have two blog posts today - this one and the Twisted Tuesday one that follows it. Please keep scrolling to see both of my cards... and be sure to play along with the challenges this week!

I don't know if you've noticed... but I am one of the newest design team members for {PIN}Spirational Challenges!

I'm so excited!

I am addicted to Pinterest - so I think this challenge group is such fun. Each week a picture is posted and participants are asked to create something based on that picture. Easy.... and fun!!!

Here's the picture for this week:

{PIN}Spirational Challenges

September 18 - 24

Here's my card:

I just love that fish - with his grumpy smile. It's from an older Stampin' UP! set that I've had for years and years. I was so glad to have a reason to ink him up again.

Lookie! i even put a little fish inside:

I hope you'll participate in {PIN}Spirational Challenges this week... and EVERY week!

Images: Stampin' UP! Fishy Friends

Sentiment: Stampin' UP! Whimsical Words

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers

Cardstock: Stampin' UP! Apricot Appeal, Bermuda Bay, and Crushed Curry and Paper Co. Black

Embossing Folder: Sizzix Tim Holtz Collection

Embellishments: Recollections Brads, Stampin' UP! Ribbon, and Stickles Glitter Glue