This Event Takes the Cake!

Thanks for stopping by on this tasty blog hop. I hope you have been inspired! This is my entry into this fun event. A special cake! I call it: Vanilla Sugar Spice Cake. My husbands favorite cake ever is Spice Cake. I just couldn't make one slice...I had to make a whole cake! All these fabulous stamps were just begging for it!

This cake, takes the cake! Sorry I couldn't help myself...LOL

I have made this mixed media piece from a round box, turned upside down and covered with designer paper from my stash. To make it more interesting I have stamped it with hearts from Fleur Hearts set in a pale pink. The cake topper is made using a cupcake liner and I used 4 more, folded into sugar crusted rose buds. The large brown sugar crusted roses are made from sewing pattern tissue paper.

I have used pattern tissue, cupcake liners, glittered covered leaves, gems, pearls, pink glitter, lace, clear pink bubbles, stacked sequins, white dove, and these LOC stamps:

Flowering Gems clear art stamp set

Fleur Heart clear art stamp set

Happy Wishes clear art stamp set

Nature Walk clear art stamp set

Renaissance Hearts clear art stamp set:

Tasty isn't it? Let's have some more!...You're invited to feast your eyes on the Layers of Color Design Team and Guest Designer's Cake Party treats! Make sure to visit all the blogs and leave a "sweet" comment too! You won't be disappointed!

Layers of Color

Beatriz Jennings

Dawn Burnworth

Diana Queen

Grace Nywening

Gunn Thelin Knutsen

Guro Aarre

Heather Jensen

You are here: Heather Wombacher

Iwona Palamountain

Janice Whiting

Jennie Harper

Jessica Fick

Joan Ervin

Julie Overby

Kazan Clark

Keri Lee Sereika

Linda Lucas

Maxine Diffey

Melisa Waldorf

Nina Brackett

Sharri Seffens

Suzanne Czosek

Be sure to swing by Layers of Color Boutique and grab a FREE Cupcake Card Template!Your little party favor for joining in the fun! And when you subscribe to this blog and leave a comment, you will be entered into our Party Favor Drawing to have the chance to WIN this yummy Layers of Color art stamp set!...

Birdday Party art stamp set

See didn't I tell you this party "takes the cake!" So many fun things to win and see. So "have your cake and eat it too!" (I know, I know! I just can't help it! LOL) Have fun!

Sneak Peek #2

Well, my delicious dessert is coming along. Here is another sweet sneak peek. Any ideas? Remember the party is on Feb. 23rd there will be party favors, what's a party without a one I ask? and a chance to win a LOC stamp set. Visit Layers of Color for more details. If you are visiting me here leave me a comment! I would love to know what you think I am cooking up.

Busy Baking in the Studio

Look at these lovely paper confections I have been cooking up! This is what I have been baking up in the studio, as I get ready to start baking a delicious sweet for the LOC cake decorating party. This is sure to be an inspiring event. There will be 22 paper craft artists and card makers contributing their best recipes! I hope you will come and check out the blog hop and feast your eyes on all kinds of wonderful calorie free cakes and cupcakes.

Here is a bit of a peek to see what I am doing. Are you curious?

Tea Time Celebration Favors

Spring is a time to celebrate Easter, Mother's Day, and Spring Teas! It is a time when we start to linger longer outdoors in the evenings because it is still light out. It is also a time when it rains and winds blow in tumultuous clouds and spring storms. But I have the solution for the rainy, stormy, spring days.


Make some celebration favors. I used Layers of Color Flower Child stamp and dressed up this pre-punched purse from K&D Company. Add some glitter, antique buttons, paper lace and crocheted trim and voila! Cuteness!

Altered Art Thankfulness Book

This is my Grateful Book for the Layers of Color Designer Challenge. The challenge was to take a chunky child's book and alter it, the theme being what we are thankful for. Doesn't this theme lend itself nicely to the Fall season we are in? I used a big board book the kind that has flaps to open. I thought this an interesting element that would lend itself to the wonderful world of altered books. That is one of the things I love the most about altered books- the unexpected treasure that you find along the way, as you explore each page. Flaps are perfect for that! This is the cover and first inside pages, there will be more to come as they are completed. It is entitled: The Wondrous Gift. I got this out of an old 1883 Gospel Hymnal.

The first page is Faith and without it I am truly lost. This is true in all areas of my life. When I married and had my first child I turned a corner in life and followed a different path. On this trail I realized that I simply could not live my life separate from my faith...

and I am grateful I have never looked back.

There and many uses of symbolism, the colors gold, brass and copper. These metals are so beautiful when they are aged even thought they may tarnish on the outside the inside still glows with warm light when polished. Its reflective properties are reveal too. I often feel this way when I think about how God sees me. He is the one that rubs away the tarnish of my soul to reveal my uniqueness and who He created me to be. I am also able to glow with the peace of Christ. Sometimes in life others don't see this or don't even bother to look, its old, tarnished... no good. I think that is why I like things that are old and worn in all the right places. It reminds me that what I see isn't all there is in the journey that has been traveled.

There are words and music which are part of who I am, without them I am lonely. The jewel and key: reminders of how being grateful is such a jewel of character and is often the key to changing our perspectives in life.

I hope this inspires you to remember all that you have to be thankful for, letting all that you have overflow into generosity! That is my desire this Thanksgiving. I have so much to be grateful for....I hope my art expresses the gratitude of my heart.

2 Corinthians 9:10-12

10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 12This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

Layers of Color Challenge- Farm Animals

Of course I had to do chickens! Here is my entry for this weeks Layers of Color challenge! Be sure to check out my gallery too for inspirations.

Apples of Gold

Speaking of apples... Layers of Color challenge this week was just that, Apples!

I am reminded of the bible verse from Psalms 25:11 that says: A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

I use the Fleur Heart stamp as accents and the garden boarders stamp in gold. The apple is an original oil pastel that I did. I used gold ink to distress and highlight the stamps and I also embellished with a bit of glitter and a piece of old tape measure, a treasure for a swapping friend.

One of my Favorite Treasures-Books!

Books are one of my favorite things, aren't you thankful that you were given the gift of literacy? Another treasured kind of book is an altered book, they fascinate me! I have always had within me the spirit of exploration. As a girl I loved to wander the forests of my girlhood home and find special places just for me. Altered books fill this requirement for my soul. I love all the pockets and tags and flaps. They just beckon to me to explore and find the treasure within it's cover. I think I would have been a great pirate!

If you don't know by now, one of my dearest friends is our LOC challenge hostess Laura. Our first artistic project together was an altered book for each other. We used the letters of our names to guide our pages. This is an example of what Laura gave me.

Incidentally, she made this for me and gave it to me for my 40th birthday. What a gift, it still makes me tear up to think about opening this package I got in the mail. No one had ever made something so special for me, ever! A true treasure, just like our friendship! I know this isn't my art work but Laura's(I got permission to post this way) however, I thought it only fair to show her book since she used mine for the challenge inspiration!

So I guess in a round about way you eventually see my work and hers, just not in the conventional way-which is just how we like it!

Layers of Color Challenge- Metal

Here is this weeks entry for the Layers of Color challenge-Metal. Awesome challenge! I enjoyed this one, especially since I wanted to make a Baptism gift for V. I am really excited to give this gift because I hope that it will be a true Ebenezer in this gals life, that's why I made it. I used upholstery tacks for the metal requirement. On the pink fiber is a LOC Cross charm I made from shrink plastic. I added a bible verse around the

edge of the piece along with gold metallic picot trim to add just a bit of shine. I also used LOC Fleur Heart stamp with glimmer paints to add texture to one side.

To remind her to live transformed. I love the imagery of the butterfly. I like to use it to represent the life of the believer and our journey with Christ.

As it says in:

Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what

God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It has been a delight to see the Lord transform this wandering soul into a child of God. I have watched her shed her old wings of life to become a new creation in Christ Jesus. What a joy it is to welcome another child of God into the Kingdom of Heaven...can you hear the angels rejoicing?

Wishful Watching Waiting and Roses

Here is another entry for Layers of Color Challenge -Roses. Enjoy!

Layers of Color Challenge- Roses

Here is my entry for this weeks Layers of Color challenge. I know this isn't the traditional way to use roses but I thought that I would try something different. I was too excited to use this thriftstore find! It only cost me $2.00, a real steal! It already had this wonderful gold and cream patina to it. My kind of treasure!
I used some old hardware and of course added one of my signature roses to it in antique
brown-blue. I am using this treasure box to house all my ATC's. I used the fleur heart stamp and pearl boarders from LOC too, I think they add a wonderful textured detail to the edges.

Parading Prideful Peacock

Here is my last entry for a few weeks for Layers of Color Challenge:Exotic Birds. I will be vacationing with family at the Oregon Coast. My absolute favorite place to relax with my family.

The Peacock has been a symbol of pride and vanity, but I thought he was the perfect subject for the Exotic Bird theme this week. The Bible has lots to say about pride for example:

Proverbs 1:11-3

1 The LORD abhors dishonest scales,

but accurate weights are his delight.
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with humility comes wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity

Genius and virtue are to be more often found clothed in gray than in peacock bright.

~Van Wyck Brooks

Be back soon!

I've Been Making Lavender Wands

This is my version of a lavender wand. You have seen the traditional wands made from fresh lavender and woven with beautiful ribbons. I have some of these and have made some of these too. Here is my entry for Layers of Color Challenge, this weeks theme is, you guessed it one of my favorite things: Lavender! Well of course I have added a little bling that is sure to make any Lavender Sprite squeal with delight!

I used Layers of Color Fleur Heart stamp and enlarged it. Outlined it with purple glitter, added fibers and ribbons, silk flower, silk and beads, silver stars, tulle and glittery velvet leaves. I took these pictures outside by my lavender so it is hard to see the glitter- all the dark lines are glitter.

Strawberry Fields Forever!

I couldn't resist! Here is my entry for the Layers of Color Challenge: Berries! This is a door knob hanger. I have used Dover images, pretty paper, a transparency, velvet ribbon, antique lace and lace medallion, buttons and even a couple berry pics- too cute. I used a stamp for the letter 's' as well. I also made this 3-D and added a bible verse to the back from:

Psalm 67:5-7

May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
6 Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Lady Liberty -The Real Miss America!

I was asked by Theresa W. at Cottage Violets to enter her blog contest and write why I love America in honor of the 4th of July, Check it out! I also felt it appropriate to share what I wrote and show you what I did for the Stamp Something, Layers of Color Challenge, Salt and Faith Sisters.

I have had the opportunity to travel abroad to the Middle East and other countries. I have to say that being born in America is such a privilege! Prior to my trip I often took this freedom for granted. I really didn't think about it much except on the 4th of July holiday.

My perspective has changed. Today, I see my freedom in new light: I have the freedom, as a woman in this country, to worship God, live and work for what I believe, raise my family, home-school my children and speak my mind and heart without fear...I am grateful for this freedom. I praise the Lord for it! It was never so much appreciated until I came back and placed my feet on American soil, my homeland. For those who fight for MY freedom and OUR country there are not enough words...I am truly grateful for your sacrifice. I am grateful that you love this country, our freedom, enough to sacrifice your life so that I might keep mine AND my freedom. The only other person that did that for me was JESUS. I am eternally grateful, thank you!

This is such a small token but it is from my heart, as a symbol of my gratitude for living in America where Lady Liberty smiles! Background is the music My Country T'is of Thee, I used: paper, Layers of Color Fleur Heart stamp set, old photo ephemera, and a foil star.

Selling Sea Shells

I love the ocean, absolutely love it! If you read my story on my website you will see what I mean. I live in the Pacific Northwest and less than a mile from salt water. Growing up I lived right on the beachfront, what a life!

Many summer days were spent pondering my girlish thoughts among the clams, oysters, and seaweed in stinky blackened muddy sand. Many of my friends would get a boat before they got a car and the fishing village we called home is still a commercial fishing port. Many of the families in this community are still fishing in the family boats that head to Alaska in the summer months. My brother did this too. The fisherman's heritage is strong here.

I find a great sense of God at the beach! It brings me such inner peace and reminds me of the Almighty power of the Lord I serve. The force of waves and wind married with the smallest creatures and beautiful diversity! Ah I never tire of it!

Here is a bit of art to represent my love of the beach. This is painted raw canvas with Layers of Color Sea Life stamp, ephemera shell images decoupaged to the canvas, I also added pearlized powder for a little underwater glitz!

Paper Crowns

A crown shows the significance of a person, declares them as royalty... maybe in the middle ages! Now, they are a source of artwork, how cool is that? Here is my entry for Layers of Color Challenge I love my chickens they are a great source of comfort and a reminder of the country life I long for, so of course, my crown is entitled Queen of the Henhouse!

I used newspaper as the base, scraps of red paper, acrylic paints, colored glitter glue, clip art, coffee filters, buttons and feathers! I love its rustic appeal don't you? She is so cute with her two roosters standing guard and her little chicks gathered around her.

The second entry is by my mother, Carol V. She made my children crowns for Valentine's Day this year, isn't she quite clever? -(mom hope you don't mind that I posted your crown ;o)this one was for my youngest daughter! It too has feathers, glitter, clip art, a ribbon flower that I made years ago for her, and lots of tinsel trim! Great job mom!

Mother Dearest

In honor of Mother's Day. I was out of town so I am squeeking in at the last minute to post this art for an art challenge on Art Girlz and Layers of Color. Arty Girlz challenge was 3-D and for this post I use dimensional stickies to raise the image off the embossed wallpaper. And for Layers of Color the art challenge is embossed! So I not only used the embosed wallpaper but I also used metal tape and embossed a designed into that as well.

I also use acrylic paint, color pencils, fiber fuzzy yarn, antique button, heart pin, and stamped image using white ink!

Layers of Color Challenge

The Yellow Rose of Texas?... No Friendship!

In Floriology(language of flowers) a yellow rose signifies friendship and the blue For-get-me-nots, obviously mean remember me! This is my entry in the Layers of Color Challenge for May 3rd. I thought this appropriate and I am extending a yellow rose of friendship to all my new friends participating in the Layers of Color Art Challenge!

This is done on raw canvas with acrylic paints, collage image, glossy mod podge, stamps and buttons.

A Time for Everything

This is my entry for the Layers of Color Art Challenge

I have two friends I have known most of my life, well since the seventh grade anyway! Wow isn't that something? They are both so precious to me. I don't get to see them that much but when we do, we never skip a beat. And we have been there for each other and all the important stuff, weddings, funerals, and the births of our babies and newborn-recovery-month. We try to vacation together once every couple of years too!

Anyway, when we were in high school one of our things was to eat cheesecake together. Broke up with a boyfriend, oh bummer I didn't like him anyway!... let's get cheesecake! Quit the band... aw that stinks, time for cheesecake! Ace a math test- who hoo! Cheesecake time! Flunk an english test, NO WAY! Hey, I'm thinkin' cheesecake anyone? I think you get the idea! Now that we are older, its become cheesecake and a glass of wine :o)

There is a time to laugh and a time to cry

AND a time to eat lots of cheesecake with your girlfriends! ~Annonymous

This quote reminded me of my life long gal pals and this is a tribute to them. I hope this makes you laugh...for me it brings me tears of joy! Two friendships for almost 30 years! God has blessed me with so much... NOT to mention the extra fat dimples on my hinie! :o)

This is a 6x6 canvas board. I used paint, stamps, Layers of Color- Fleur Signature Art stamp set, and color pencils for the background. Altered photo, embelishments, ribbon, buttons, ribbon leaves, craft pearls(for hanger) and glitter glue for that girly touch!