RRR Patriotic Challenge Card "God Bless America"

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Hello Everyone!

Wow July 1st already! That means it is time for another fun Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge!

Hope you will come join us @ Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings for our "Patriotic" challenge.
Be creative, have some fun, and enter for a chance to win an awesome prize!

My sample card was done using this beautiful "Let Freedom Ring" digital stamp from Clear Dollar Stamps.

I colored it with Tombows, added some sparkly embossing on the stars, metallic watercolor on the pole and chalked in some clouds.

The papers I used are all from The Paper Temptress.

They are: Heavenly White, Red Pepper Thick Columns, and Lapis Lazuli Mica Metallic. 

I chose to only use one embellishment on this card so it would show off that gorgeous Royal Blue Swirls ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon. It is one of my all time favorites!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - Stars and Stripes

Quirky Crafts - Ribbons

Stamptacular Sunday - Stars and Stripes

Cuttlebug Spot - Independence Day

All Sorts - Embossing

Please head over to our design team blog and see the other beautiful samples the rest of the team have prepared for you. I am sure they will get your creative mojo juices flowing! ;)

As always, I appreciate any comments you would like to send my way!

Hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy holiday weekend!

Hugs,

True :D

CDS Sneak Peek ~'A Cuppa Kitty" ~ Another one of my Illustrations

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Hello All!

Today, I have an exciting post! I get to show you another one of my stamp illustrations that will be available for purchase at Clear Dollar Stamps on July 1st. The set is called "A Cup Full of Happiness" and comes with the image plus several different sentiments. 

This is such a fun stamp to color. I have done it in several colors to look like all of the kitties in my life. This one looks like my cat Nother, who was the model for the stamp. I will show you another version on Saturday.

I colored the kitty with Prismacolor pencils and watercolor pencils, then paper pieced the cup and saucer. I then added some UTEE to add some shine.

Remember...you can click on any picture to enlarge!  ;)

The beautiful ribbon and bow are from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

It is their Olive Wrinkled Ribbon.

Please check out the other girls who are sneak peeking this image today.

(If their posts aren't up yet, please check back later)

 Laurie

Tricia

 Lisa

 Gloria

 Rebecca

 Sarah G

Katie

Also, go to Lori's blog to check out all of the other sneaks and new July stamps.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly ~ "In Stitches"

Zig-zag stitching inside and out!

Creative Inspirations ~ "Paper Piecing"

The cup and saucer are paper pieced.

Stamp With Fun ~ "Birthday"

Sentiment says..."Wishing You a Cup Full of Birthday Fun!"

Crafty Angels ~ "My Favorite Stamp"

Right now, this is my favorite stamp because I designed it! ;)

My Time to craft ~ "Zig-Zag"

Zig-zag stitching inside and out!

Everybody Art ~ "Birthday"

Sentiment says..."Wishing You a Cup Full of Birthday Fun!"

Pile it On ~ Do Something Creative With Cardstock

I paper pieced my cup and saucer then glazed it. Does that count as creative?  ;)

Practical Scrapper  ~ Use Flowers

I used flowered cardstock...one of the options listed. ;)

Fresh Brewed ~ Anything Goes

I Did It Creations ~ Use Dimension

ABC ~ X-tra Dimension

Digi Doodle ~ Anything Goes

Corrosive ~ Flowers

I have flowers on my DP...does that count? ;)

Crafty Ann's ~ Embossing

Sew Many Cards ~ 

Caardvarks ~ Embossing

Speedy The Cat ~ Flowers

Floral DP. Hope that counts. ;)

Card Recipe:
STAMPS USED: Clear Dollar Stamps ~ "A Cup Full of Happiness"
CS/PAPERS: Bazzill Clover Swiss Dots and K&Company's "Life's Journey"
INK: Staz-On Jet Black, Colorbox cat's eyes in Olive and Chestnut
ACCENTS/TOOLS: Olive Wrinkled Ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon. Wizard and round and scalloped round, and rectangle and scalloped rectangle Nestabilities. Sewing machine with tan thread, UTEP, VersaMark refill, old paintbrush, heat gun, water pen, Scor-tape, glue, double sided foam tape.
COLORING: Prismacolor watercolor pencils #'s WC2944, WC2929, WC2947. Prismacolor colored pencils #'s 747 and 7451/2
TECHNIQUES: stamping, watercoloring, sewing, embossing

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving comments! I would love to hear what you think about my newest stamp image! ;)

Hugs,

True :D

Faux Glass Flower Bookmark

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Hello All!

Today I tried a new technique for making flowers.

These were hand punched from designer paper, detailed with Tombow markers, shaped, then coated with UTEE. I love the effect I got. If you click on the above photo to enlarge, you can get a really close look. The centers are yet another technique called "Faux Brads". I will gladly do a tutorial for both techniques if anyone would be interested.

I used Clear Dollar Stamp's "Heartfelt Sentiments" set to add an olive green watermark to the tan DP to pull some of the leaf color in. I also used a sentiment from the same set. It simply says "You're Fabulous".

That gorgeous, gorgeous  ribbon page marker at the top is a sample that Bonnie from "Really Reasonable Ribbon" sent me to play with. It is her "Wine Velvet Ribbon" and it feels scrumptious!

I entered this project in the following challenges:

Pile it On  ~ Get Creative with Cardstock

Practical Scrapper  ~ Use Flowers

Crafty Creations ~ Add Shine to Your Creations

Fresh Brewed ~ Anything Goes

I Did It Creations ~ Use Dimension

Bunny Zoe ~ Nice and Girly

ABC ~ X-tra Dimension

Digi Doodle ~ Anything Goes

Corrosive ~ Flowers

Crafty Creations ~ Shine and Bling

Crafty Ann's ~ Embossing

Sew Many Cards ~ Anything Goes

Caardvarks ~ Embossing

Speedy The Cat ~ Flowers
Paper Take Weekly ~ In Stitches
My Time To Craft ~ Zig Zag
I also entered it in WT276 and IC238 Split Coast Stampers challenges

Hope you will all check out the sneak peeks that are going on at Clearly iStamp right now. 

 I will have a peek to show you tomorrow done with one of my stamp illustrations. Hope you will come back and check it out!

I would love a quick comment to let me know if you like the flowers and if you would like me to work up a tutorial to share.

Hugs,

True :D

My Baby Playing the Guitar and Singing.

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Hello All!

I was surfing YouTube and found a few videos that my son Kurt did messing around with his guitar and a new video camera. He would probably have a cow if he knew I put one of them on my blog bu...t oh well....Mooooooo! LOL!

Hope you will take a listen. I am very proud of him! Guitar lessons paid off!  ;)

Since he didn't put his face in the video, here is a picture of him and his beautiful fiancé' Kristin.

Hugs,

True :D

"Apple Barrel" ~ My last "I Brake For Stamps" GDT card ;(

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Hello everyone!

Today I played with another "I Brake For Stamps" image from their MS71 full plate.

Other cards that I have done with this plate are:

"Just Peachy"

"Cherry Pie"

They have extended the coupon code that I can offer my followers! You can receive 10% off your entire order by using the code SAVE10True. 

This is the last card that I will be doing for my guest DT stint. I have loved using their beautiful images!

Thanks Della!

I used Bazzill Swiss Dots in Clover for the base with some Kraft pieces for contrast.

I don't normally use ribbon that is this big but I thought it would work great as a kind of second focal point.

The fun Ribbon and trim are from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

They are: 

2.5" Jute ribbon in Lemongrass

7/8" Red Gingham

Jute String

I used watercolors on the image and the sentiment was added with a Sharpie marker.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Hugs,

True :D

OK...I admit it....I am spoiled! LOL!

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Hi and happy Wednesday!

We are more than half way to the weekend!

I just love my mail lady! She is always bringing me fun stuff...stamps to play with, tons of pretty papers, gorgeous ribbons! Today's package was pretty cool too!

While I have been making due with the 30 colors of Tombows that I had, I always wanted to get the full 96pc. set. Just couldn't bring myself to do it because you can mix watercolors to match any shade you need. Why pay the price for the Tombows?
After I used them for awhile, I started seeing how vivid the colors are in comparison to watercolors. I finally just took the plunge and hit the "confirm order" button really fast before I could change my mind again! LOL!

Am I making you want some too? You can get them @ Clear Dollar Stamps.

96 pc. set (like mine)

individual colors

10 pc. Clearly Coordinating sets (these match the CC papers and ribbons perfectly, and are great for deciding if you like them before buying more)
Rustic Fall

Spring Whispers

Summer Fun

Look for lots more Tombow coloring tutorials from me!

Now..if I could just make myself buy a new video camera! LOL!

Gotta go...got new toys to play with!

Hugs,

True :D

True's "Tweets" and Two Tutorials! Tombow Coloring and Winkled Ribbon Videos

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Hi Everyone!

This week Clear Dollar Stamps released my first ever digi illustration that is available for purchase. The set is called "Love Tweet Love" and comes with 3 different scenes and 4 sentiments for only $3.00! Instant download...instant gratification! LOL!
Don't forget the "Resting Bird" freebie that you can get with any purchase!

The cool thing about digis is their versatility. You can resize them to fit a card, enlarge for scrapbook pages, or print them out for your kids to color like a color-book page.  These images are so easy to color. You can do it on the computer with a paint program, use watercolors, colored pencils, Tombo or Copic markers, etc.  It is so fun to color that I did a quick video to show you just how easy it is.

The image is printed and colored on watercolor paper which is on sale right now for 25% off @ The Paper Temptress!
Use discount code "blog".

Click on the 4 arrows in the bottom right hand corner of the viewer to watch it in full scree. Hit your "esc" key to go back to normal size.

The beautiful ribbon I used is "1/2" Lavender wrinkled ribbon" from Really Reasonable Ribbon.
I have added another short video to show you how I did the ribbon treatment.

Right now, Bonnie has a Father;s Day weekend special going on and you can get 15% off ribbons and other embellishments!!!! Use coupon code "JUNESALE".

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Kaboodle - "Anything goes with a dash of purple"
My Time To Craft - "Make a card for someone special"
ABC - "W" is for Weather
Charisma Cards - "All about BLING"
Lots To Do - "Birds and Wings"

Sweet Stampin Challenge - Clean and simple

Make sure and join us at "Really Reasonable Ramblings" for our challenges on the 1st and 15th of every month! The current challenge is to create a boarder with ribbon and it runs through the 30th of June. Click HERE to see the details.
Card Recipe:

STAMPS USED: Clear Dollar Stamp's - "Love Tweet Love" digi
CS/PAPERS: The Paper Temptress's Amethyst and Azalea mica metallic's, , Basic Grey - "Sugar Rush", watercolor paper
INK: ink jet printer
MARKERS: Tombows #'s 452, 603, 173, 725, 528, 946

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Really Reasonable Ribbon's - 1/2"  lavender wrinkled ribbon, sewing machine and purple thread, water brush,  glue pen, clear embossing powder, heat gun, Ranger Stickles in Cotton Candy, The Paper Studio's glittered mini brads, Score Tape,

TECHNIQUES: Water coloring with Tombows, Sewing, Ribbon art.


Thanks so much for dropping by! I hope you will take a second to let me know you were here and if you would like to see more video tutorials.


Hugs,
True :D

I have a new digi illustration releasing today @ Clear Dollar Stamps!!!

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Hi Everyone!

Just a quick post to let you know that today is "New Digi Release Day" at Clear Dollar Stamps. The really cool part is.....one of them is mine!  :) Woo hooo!

Introducing my "Love Tweet Love" set which is available today.

It is just $3.00 for 3 images and four sentiments that download instantly to your computer! Plus..you get this month's beautiful freebie image "Resting Bird" illustrated by: Laurie Wilson, with your purchase too!

I chose to paint mine on the computer for these CAS cards because I am making lots of them!!!!

Painting digitally is so fun! If you have not tried it you should. There are lots of paint programs out there, many of which you can download free!

Digis are great for markers and watercolors too!

Check out the awesome cards my friends Lisa, Linda and Laurie did with this set!

You can also see more cards with my set plus all of the creations with the rest of this month's wonderful digi releases on our June 2010 Digi Sample Gallery. Also...check out today's post on Cleary iStamp  and see slide shows of all of this month's digi creations.

Don't forget that you get a free digi with any purchase. This months freebie is "Resting Bird" by: Laurie Wilson.

Card Recipe:
STAMPS USED: Clear Dollar Stamps:  "Love Tweet Love" digi
CS/PAPERS: Clear Dollar Stamps - Clearly Coordinating: Lime Juice, Tickled Pink, Powder Puff, Budding Lilac
INK: ink-jet printer and accented edges with Martha Stewart Pigment Ink tear drops stack
ACCENTS/TOOLS: Clearly coordinating Ribbons: Lime Juice, Tickled Pink, Budding Lilac, Tangelo Smoothie, Cuttlebug and embossing folders, Color Printer, glue
TECHNIQUES: dry embossing, digital

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Please leave a quick comment so I can feel the love! tehehehe!

Hugs,

True :D

And my blog candy winners are........

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Hello All!

While my eyes are still too blurry to visit all of your blogs yet, I do need to go ahead and let you know who the winners of my blog candies are.

The name drawn for the main Mega Candy is.....

Spicy Cat Chick!!!!

Please email me your email and snail mail addys.

The consolation/bonus winners who will receive  Digital stamps and matching digi papers from Cuddly Buddly are...

Beth

Orit

Darla

Please email me so I can get your email addy.

The consolation/bonus winners who will receive April Blossom Designables by Barbara Anne Williams of Bits of Ivory, distributed by Cuddly Buddly Crafts are...

Wendy ten Hove

Mummylade

The Paper Princess

Please email me so I can get your email addy.

Congratulations to the winners! I wish each and every one of you could have won!

Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments, well wishes and prayers! I will come around and visit all of you when I can!

I would also like to give another shout out to all of my design teams from the past and present who so generously sponsored this awesome blog candy. You all ROCK!!!!!

Hugs,

True :D

Coloring tutorial and update

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Hello everyone!

Just a quick post to let you know that I am recovering nicely from my hysterectomy. Off of pain meds!!! Wooo hooo!  I am getting my newly diagnosed diabetes under control and my vision is slowly improving. Hopefully I will be back to crafting next week! :)

I did a video tutorial on watercoloring with markers for Clearly iStamp using one of the stamps that I illustrated for Clear Dollar Stamps. I would so love it if you would

GO CHECK OUT MY TUTORIAL 

and leave us some love.

Thanks for all of the well wishes, prayers and comments!

My friends/followers are the BEST!!!!

Hugs,

True ;)

"I will be MIA for awhile, but I've got " MEGA multi company blog candy!!!!!

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This Candy is now closed.

Hello my friends!

I will be in the hospital for about 5 or 6 days for surgery, and will miss seeing all of your sweet comments! I am the type that has to check my computer every time I pass it to see if there are any new ones! LOL!

I have some cards set to auto post, but this post will remain on top until the candy draw, so make sure and scroll down to see my newer stuff!

Like, I said, I love comments so here's the scoop....I am hoping for so many comments by the time I get home (and feel like blogging) that I can't read them all in one setting. I have 6 weeks recovery time off from work and plan on hitting everyone's blog who was so kind to spread some love my way, and leave you a comment too! That should give me plenty to do with my time off! :)

I have been blessed to be on a lot of awesome design teams, past and present! A bunch of them wanted to help me out with my candy offerings! I don't have pictures of all of the candy's because some of them will ship or download directly to you, and some of them will be "you picks". For the ones that don't have pictures, click on the links to see what you can pick from!

Here is a list of what one lucky person will win from my wonderful  design team companies.

Patricia @ The Paper Temptress is offering a special "True's Faves" package of MY favorite TPT papers!

She will also be selling the "True's Faves" package for a special price @ her store!

It is a bit of a mish-mash assortment but that's me! They are all jaw-droppingly beautiful!
The colors on the stack aren't showing up the right colors for some reason but you can click HERE to see a list of colors on TPT blog.
Notice that pretty label?  Patricia asked me to design the label for her marketing packages. Too cool! :)

Bonnie @ Really Reasonable Ribbons has donated this beautiful 10 piece assortment of pretty ribbons! Yards and yards of beauty!

Kim @ Cuddly Buddly is donating these 3 rubber stamps!

As a bonus, she wants me to draw the names of 3 more people to receive free digital stamp downloads and the matching digi papers! How cool is that?!?

Here is another bonus....3 more lucky winners will win a set of April Blossom Designables by Barbara Anne Williams of Bits of Ivory, distributed by Cuddly Buddly Crafts.

Cuddly Buddly has started up a "Work With Us" program that allows artists to see their digis through them and Barbara is one of those awesome artists!

Shawne @ Studio 313 Exclusive Creations is giving away $25.00 worth of digis of your choice!

A brand new digi shop with ADORABLE images!

Karen @ Charmed Cards and Crafts is pitching in a digi collection (approx. 10 images!) of your choice.

You are going to have a hard time picking from all of these wonderful collections! :)

Della @ I Brake For Stamps gave me a wonderful 8" by 10" sheet of Rare Garden Image stamps!

Click on the stamp set link above then scroll down to see samples made with this set. They ROCK!!!!

Tracey @ Fred She Said  is giving away a $5.00 gift certificate to her shop!

Check out her adorable freebies too! You'll be hooked on Fred!

Maggie from the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog is donating some Cuttlebug embossing folders!

They have some fun challenges. You should play along sometime!

Here are my offerings:

100  handmade mulberry flowers and leaves. Assorted sizes and colors!

I just ordered a huge amount of these from The United Kingdom and thought I would share. Foreign flowers! Tehehehee!

If you are the lucky winner of all of these fun goodies, you will have everything you need to make dozens and dozens of beautiful cards!

How do you enter you ask? 

#1 ~ Become a follower (if you aren't already).

#2 ~ Post a picture of my MEGA Multi Company Blog Candy in your sidebar with the following link back to mine. 

http://truesgiftsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/

Get an extra entry if you do a quick post on your blog also!!!

#3 ~ Come back here and leave a comment to let me know you have done it.

I hope you will grab a cup of coffee or tea, set back, take a peek around my archives, and comment on some cards too! Don't worry... strolling through my archives is not mandatory. I just appreciate the fact that you are here!

#4 ~ Keep me in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery!  ;)

I hope you will help me spread the word. Put it in your sidebars, post it on a blog post, mention it in forums you visit! Just wherever you can will be appreciated!

I think this is going to be a lot of fun!

Thanks so much to my wonderful sponsors and  to all of my friends for your visits and well wishes.

I will come around and visit your blogs as soon as I can!

Hugs,

True :D

*** True's Update***

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Hello All!
I thought I should come on long enough today to at least let you know that my surgery went well and I am on the road to recovery. It is still painful to sit up for a long period of time and my eyes are very blurry from all of the pain and anti-nausea medications I am on. I am not able to read the words on the computer screen so I have yet to get a chance to come around and thank all of you for the sweet comments on my blog candy post. I was able to see some of your comments on my Blackberry while I was in the hospital (before they switched my pain meds for home) and I am touched by all of the kind words that have been posted on my behalf!
I know I need to set a time to close my blog candy, but don't see being able to do much this weekend. I will set a closing date of Saturday, June 12th. If there is anyone that still would like to enter my "MEGA MULTI COMPANY BLOG CANDY" , now is your chance.

Join us in a Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge ~ My "Ol' Truck" Card

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Hello All,

This is another pre-posted card. I am either still in the hospital or this is my first day home and I haven't sat down at the computer yet. As soon as I am up to it, my blogging will be back to normal!  ;)

Really Reasonable Ribbons is going to have a challenge on the 1st and the 15th of every month  where will post new challenges with themes. The only rules are to follow the theme, use ribbon and post your links to win. Each challenge will be open for 13 days. So the challenge for the 1st will be open until the 14th at 5pm CST. A winner will be chosen and that winner will win a $10 gift certificate to use as they choose at the Really Reasonable Ribbon store. We will also be picking our top 3 sweethearts. that will have a badge to proudly sport on their own blogs. This is our very first challenge. For all of the details, come to our design team blog Really Reasonable Ramblings.

For our first challenge we ask that you do a  MASCULINE CARD and use ribbon.
Great timing with Father's Day just around the corner!

If you play along with us in this challenge and upload your card to a public forum, please use the code RRRC1 in your keyword or tag box, so we can find it.

I just love the Natural Jute Ribbon and thought it would work great for a masculine card.

I picked the Green and Deep Blue crepe ruche papers from The Paper Temptress that work really well with the jute. I also used their Black Leather on the scalloped frame. Then attached it to a craft cardstock base.

 I used this adorable "Old Truck" - colored digi set from Fred She Said.

If you have not signed up for my Mega Multi Company Blog Candy....What are you waiting for? LOL!

Thanks for dropping in!

I hope you will join us in our very first challenge. :)

Hugs,

True :D