My 1000th Post–really and truly! A 365 Card Challenge and a FREE template

Gracious – this milestone sneaked up on me.  I know that my yearly date will come up soon because I have that little counter gadget in the side of my blog but the actual number eluded me until I saw it on my blogger dashboard somewhere in the 990’s.   Wow.  It has been quite the journey. 

My blog has been a gift and joy in my life.  I’ve come to know many of you as friends over the years.  My family has joined in blogging too.  My blog has been a journal and I often love to comb back to compare what has transpired in previous years.  When I began my blog I prayed about it and asked the Lord for guidance on what the content should be.  As I was faithful to blog afterward, amazing things have happened, one of the most amazing to me, and still is today, is that I have developed many talents and I’ve been able to share them with YOU! 

One thing that was important from the beginning, and still is, is that this blog will always be a “safe” place.  I like to keep it simple.  Though I do sometimes promote some products and friends designs – and have at times sold my own designs through shops – I’ve still always made some ‘extras’ for YOU because being a stay at home wife (by choice) I know that there have been many times I’ve been blessed by the generous designs and items from others.  I like to pay it forward – and all the glory to the Lord for anything I’ve given that might have helped you. 

THANK YOU all so very much for visiting me and the encouraging comments you leave.  You have no idea how much they mean to me.  Thanks also to those of you who have chosen to “follow” me, it tickles me to know you would find my site a place you like to keep current with. 

♥♥♥♥♥

I am determined to learn my Silhouette SD inside and out and so today I wanted to “Print and Cut” a graphic.  Oh MY.  Good thing that I had lots of time sequestered away here for it took me several hours and lots of paper.  I decided to combine today’s challenge at 365 Cards with this technique. Thanks to my dear friend Valinda who spent the morning with me online while I grumbled and crumpled paper after paper and kept saying “I know you can do it.”

Today’s Day 149’s Background Challenge rules were:

Divide the background into 4 parts - 2/4 must be solid color and 2/4 must have a pattern.  The colors and patterns to not have to be the same on each part.

And here is my take on this challenge and also a tutorial on the lace I “made” for this card.

 

I got the image from Create with TLC (see, one of those generous places!)  I asked my Silhouette SD to trace the image and then I made an oval around it and then I asked it to print the graphic and then cut it out in the oval shape.  After something like 6 attempts I finally got it! 

I then created the beautiful Damask Oval shape using Photoshop and then I saved it as a PNG and that will be my gift to YOU at the end of this post!  Here’s more about this card. 

I used watercolour pencils on the graphic.  I inked the edges of almost everything.  The stamp is a Studio G, purchased at Michaels. 

Here’s the story of the lace -

 

I’m a girl who likes to “up cycle” things.  Being a stay-at-home anything requires one to be inventive in accumulating supplies.  I’d bought this frothy item a long time ago.  Now, you might see this as a pretty bit of lingerie or a nice cami – me, I saw it as lace. 

And, in fact, it is!  15 + yards in fact, after stripping it down with scissors.  Ha!

And because I did not want to be bothered with sewing I simply used a bit of very thin wire to gather the lace nicely.

Once I had it gathered then I cut it to the width I desired. 

I stuck it onto my card using double sided tape. 

Though there were a few things I’d do differently next time, I learned a lot of new tools and helpful techniques today. 

Do YOU have a good tip or technique you would like to share?  Please leave me a comment and I’d be glad to post here!

♥♥♥♥♥

 

And, as I promised, I am giving away a FREE template for YOU to use.  I will provide it in a zipped folder – a PNG, 300 dpi and also a .studio file for anyone visiting who has a Silhouette SD.  This is fine for you to use for your personal or commercial projects only I ask that you credit me and also link back to me, please.  And if you use my items in a project I’d LOVE you to show me!  Just leave a comment with your email or blog site.

Just click on the graphic to be taken to the download.  Enjoy!