This is another black and white challenge. I stamped the flourishes on a white card base with StazOn Jet Black ink using clear stamps by Inkadinkadoo. The main image is from Magenta and is stamped on white with StazOn Jet Black and mounted on black CS; both ovals were cut using Nestabilities. Embellishments are photo corners punched using a Stampin' Up! photo corner punch. The sheer black ribbon is from an unknown source, but I suspect I bought it from my LSS (Local Stamp Store).
For all of you out there traveling home on this Memorial Day holiday, have a safe trip.
For all our veterans, past and present, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service to our country. I have been able to enjoy my life in this wonderful country, secure in knowing that there are men and women willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe from harm. God bless you all.

It has been so long since I posted here, but it has been a month of absolute chaos here. The drain from the a/c unit in the attic stopped up, filled the drain pan, and overflowed, ruining both bathrooms and a bedroom closet. Construction to repair the damage is still ongoing but should be finished this week.
Because of all the mess we have been in for the past month, artistic inspiration has fled screaming for help. The muse has been visiting elsewhere while I wasn't looking. Now that things are coming back together here, my muse has been teasing around the edges of consciousness.
This card was the answer to a challege for numbers. I don't usually work in a larger format, but the clock face seemed to call for it. The card is 8-1/2" wide by 5-1/2" tall. The card base is a light orange, topped with a dark gray embossed card stock. I bought it in a pad of 8"x8" papers, promptly tore all the paper out of the pad, and quickly forgot who made it. The papers in the pad are really cool, though, and I think I bought it at Michael's two or three months ago.
The next layer is a strip of medium orange paper, which I stamped with black ink from Marvy Matchables. The stamp is one of my favorites and was made by Eclectic Omnibus. I then ran it through the Cuttlebug, using the Traffic Jam embossing folder. The large clock face from Magenta was heat embossed with JudiKins' Silver embossing powder on a piece of glossy black card stock and cut out. It is topped with a clock face from B Line Designs which was stamped on ivory card stock with black StazOn ink and cut out. I colored the eyes with a Grayish Olive Copic marker and the lips with a Light Prawn Copic marker.

Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush ... and a haze over the meadow. What could be more beautiful than a spring morning in Texas?
I did not take this picture, but I applaud the photo artist who captured the distant fog before the sun completely obliterated it.
Scenes like this are the reason I welcome spring each year in spite of my instinctive love of snow which we rarely see in this area. Most things in life are a tradeoff ... and let's admit it, there are days when bluebonnets beat snowflakes!

This card was made for a "Green with Envy" swap. The background paper was stamped in aqua Brilliance ink using a star stamp from Denami Designs. The main image is from Endless Creations as is the "Hello!" image. I stamped both images with StazOn Cactus Green ink. I then trimmed the large image and mounted it on green CS before attaching it to the card base. Another strip of green across the bottom of the card, some self-adhesive paper lace (a gift from my sister-in-law), and green Stickles completed the card.
It's wildflower time in Texas, and the bluebonnets along the highways turn the hills a dark purple from a distance. The Indian paintbrush is in bloom, the Queen Anne's Lace is just starting to bloom, and the land of 5,000 wildflowers is vibrant once again.

Mothers always enjoy talking with their children ... or at least I do. My son, who is stationed with the US Coast Guard in Alaska, called me last night and asked me if I would be home this afternoon. I said that I would be, and he told me he had arranged a delivery for me. I thought it would be probably be flowers because that's what he sends when he asks about my plans. Since it is close to Easter, I wondered if he was sending me Easter lilies which I love.
About 2:00 the doorbell rang, and I hurried to answer it. Through the frosted glass I could see a bouquet of flowers. When I opened the door, a deep voice said, "Were you expecting a delivery of flowers?" The deep voice belonged to my son. How thrilled I was ... and how surprised!
The card I have shown here is in response to a Puzzling Predicament challenge. The card base is dark brown card stock, and I used another piece of background paper from one of the many pads residing in one of my drawers for the puzzle. I mounted it on terra cotta CS before mounting it on the brown card base.
As for the puzzle, I used the puzzle set of Tamp-A-Tiles by tracing around each piece of the puzzle. Then I used a small stencil brush to stipple Marvy Matchables Pale Orange over most of the background and Dark Brown over the tracing. After that I stamped the face, the eyes and the lips in each of the puzzle sections. The face and eyes were stamped with Dark Brown, and the lips were stamped with Adirondack's Wild Plum and overstamped with Adirondack's Eggplant. The face and eye stamps are by Stamp Francisco, and the lips are from Stampabilities. I colored the eyes on the face image with a green Pigma pen, the eyebrows with Copic's Burnt Umber, and the lips with PrismaColor's Mulberry pencil.

Baseball season has returned ... and the Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians 9-1 at the Ballpark in Arlington today. I've been a huge baseball fan all my life and started as a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. My late husband was from the home of the Texas Rangers, and I switched allegiance which lasts until this day.
This absentee blogger has also returned. The past weekend was not stamp oriented since I was trying to clean up a huge mess from a remodeled bedroom and partially remodeled kitchen. The bedroom is finished, and the kitchen is almost there. I love the results of remodels but hate the process. This was occasioned by water damage in the house over the years and has proven to be a smart move on our part. During a 5" rain storm a couple of weeks ago, there were no leaks!

The above card is one I made for an Artist's Choice challenge. I have had a book of Asian background papers for a long, long time, and I decided they would be perfect for showcasing the new cherry blossom stamp by Inkadinkadoo that I bought recently.
The card base is pink, and I used the cherry blossom background paper cut 1/16th of an inch smaller than the card. The other two background papers were in the same book of papers, and I highlighted the long rectangle and the circle with more of the pink CS. I stamped the cherry blossom image with Marvy Matchables' Dark Brown and mounted it on a dark brown CS scrap. A sheer ribbon was the finishing touch for a relatively simple card ... if you don't count trying to match up colors which border on the unusual.
I think it is time I use my Bind-it-All, so I'm going to watch the DVD that came with it. I have used one in class but have never used mine. It's about time.

The challenge today was to make a black and white ATC. This was stamped with a Hero Arts stamp on Cougar Opaque white card stock and mounted to black card stock, then mounted again on white Cougar Opaque CS. The base of the card was black CS, and a white ribbon with black dots was tied around the ATC. The mounted image was attached using foam tape.
The black card stock I used for this ATC is some I have had for a long time, and I have never known who made it. The back of the CS is white, and the front is not exactly glossy but does have a sheen to it. I bought several sheets of it, mainly because of the white backing. It's so nice to use for a card with a black base but yet be able to stamp or write a message inside.