Congratulations

Hello everyone!

I feel like it's been forever, since I made anything, just for fun.  With softball season starting and work being crazy, I haven't had much creative mojo.  Since the weather is gray and overcast, and I'm home alone today, I decided to make some stuff.  I turned off my cell phone (which was more difficult than I expected, and an eye opener), turned up the music, and just created lots of fun things.  Here is the first card I made today.

The colors in my photo are a bit washed out, but this was the best of the bunch.  In real life the colors are much more vibrant.  I clear embossed the flower onto some watercolor paper, and then used my distress inks to watercolor it.  I then used one of my green Copic markers on a piece of vellum, for the leaves.  I love how the leaves have a bit of striation from the marker.  I wish the photo would have been better, so you could see it.  I added my sentiment, not stamped in black for a change, and some sequins to finish it off.  I had to fight the urge to add more stuff, but decided that keeping it CAS would be best.  LOVE how it turned out!  I'm going to submit this for the following challenges.

Color Throwdown #344: Coral Pink, Pale Yellow & Spring Green (I got as close as I could)
Freshly Made Sketches #188: Sketch
Simon's Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
The Paper Players #247: Tic Tac Toe (I used sequins, embossing & die cut)
Pile It On #71: Focus on Coloring (I colored with distress inks)

I'll be back soon, hopefully, with another something crafty.  I hope you have a wonderful day!

What's In It?
Paper: SU! Very Vanilla & Watercolor Cardstock
Stamps: Reverse Confetti Fancy Word Coordinates, Stampendous Zinnia
Ink: VersaMark, Tattered Rose, Picked Raspberry & Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, Copic: G43
Accessories: Detail Clear Embossing Powder, Memory Box Lorelai Leaf Outline Die, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins

Mission EMBOSS-ible!

Hello my friends!

I'm so excited to have you stop by today!  I have a card to share with you, as a guest, over on the jingle belles blog.  Lauren and Stephanie make amazing holiday cards each week, so I was thrilled to be joining them for the next two weeks.  I'm sure you know by now, how much I enjoy making holiday cards as well, so this was a win/win for me.  This challenge is one of my favorites too, embossing.  Here is the card I made.

I wanted to keep things simple, so that the focus would be on the embossing.  I included both wet and dry embossing on my card, as I love both.  I wanted a pink poinsettia, and think it turned out pretty well.  I used the colors from Color Throwdown #331, as they really struck me as being beautiful, and played into my love of non-traditional Christmas cards.  I added some leaves, and a few Pretty Pink Posh sequins, and was done.  I like the simplicity of this card, with the embossing and the sentiment as the main focus.  I'm going to submit this card for the following challenges.

Virginia's View Challenge: Embossing
The Card Concept #30: Photo Inspiration
ODBDSLC230: Sketch (my loose interpretation)


Stephanie and Lauren have created two beautiful cards for your viewing pleasure, and I do hope you'll head over to check them out.  Maybe you'll get the chance to play along and slowly build your holiday card stash in the process? :-)

Have a wonderful day!

      





What's In It?
Paper: Neenah Desert Storm Cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Cotton Candy Cardstock
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Peace On Earth
Ink: VersaMark, Simon Says Stamp Doll Pink Dye Ink
Accessories: Simon Says Stamp Detail White Embossing Powder, Pretty Pink Posh Pink Peonies Sequins, Sierra Scroll Embossing Folder, Spellbinders Blossom 2 Dies

Rejoice

Hello, hello!

Yesterday was a hot and humid day here, so I stayed indoors, and made stuff. :-)  The girls went to the pool for the last time this year, and came back looking like lobsters. lol  I'm glad my daughters sunburn will turn into a nice tan, but feel bad for her BFF, who will stay bright red and then just peel.  Poor girl.

Here is the next card I would like to share with you.

When I saw the colors for the newest Color Throwdown challenge, I knew immediately that I wanted to play along.  Then the new Freshly Made Sketch was posted, and I decided I wanted to make another non-traditional Christmas card.  Love it!

I've combined the following challenges in my card today.

The Cutting Edge #8: DT Inspiration (I flipped the sketch to accommodate the card posted)
Color Throwdown #306: Night of Navy, Pale Plum & Pear Pizzazz
Freshly Made Sketches #150: Sketch
Papertake Weekly: To Die For

I'm off to fix a few meals for this week, and then read up on my new toy, a Keurig for my office.  I'm excited that I won't have to walk across the parking lot for coffee anymore.  It's already annoying to do that when I have to use the restroom. lol

I hope ya'll have a great day!

Happy Birthday

Hiya!

How's your day going, so far?  My alarm went off this morning, and I think I hit the snooze button four times, which isn't like me.  I was so exhausted, but unsure why.  I'm sure my day is going to be chaos too, since I was out four days last week.  I'm thinking quite a bit of coffee will be added to my diet today. lol

After we got tired of watching movies yesterday, my daughter went up to play video games, and I made a couple more cards.  Here is one of them.  I think it turned out very cute.

I think this is the most white space I've ever had on a card.  It was difficult for me not to want to keep adding stuff to it.  I love these Paper Smooches stamps.  I don't really enjoy "fussy cutting" anything, but these are very easy to cut, and they don't look mutilated like some of my images. lol  I know exactly who will be getting this fun birthday card.

I was excited to combine all of the following challenges.

Color Throwdown #305: Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Kiwi Kiss & Tangerine Tango (I got as close as I could, with what I had)
Mod Squad Challenge: Masculine Birthday
Seize The Birthday: Anything Goes
FTL #303: Sketch
The Paper Players #209: CAS Kids Birthday Card

Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge: Anything Goes

I'm off to work, hoping today will go smoother than I expect.  I hope everyone has a great day!

Stay crafty my friends!

 





What's In It?
Paper: SU Tangerine Tango & Whisper White cardstock
Stamps: Paper Smooches Cuteasaurus, Sentiment Sampler & Birthday Buddies
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink, SU Coastal Cabana dye ink, Iced Spruce distress ink, WPlus9 Sweet Nectar dye ink, SU Blendabilities Old Olive, Smoky Slate & Skin Tone assortment

Birthday Wishes

Hola y'all!

I hope you've had a wonderful Saturday, and that the weather is being nicer to you than it is to us here in NW Iowa.  I've got three teenage girls who have been at the pool for most of the day, and they're headed back for the midnight swim around 9pm.  I'm glad they're keeping themselves cool, and entertained. lol

I needed a birthday card for a friend, and this is what I came up with.  It's not too girly for a guy, is it?

If you know me, you know I have a difficult time with masculine cards.  I have taken on the approach that if I keep it simple, it works out better.  This is a good example of that, I believe.

I've combined the following challenges in my card:

Creative Belli #173 - Stars
Color Throwdown #250 - Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo & So Saffron (I used colors I thought were close)
Freshly Made Sketches #94 - Sketch
CASual Fridays #109 - Polka Dots
Annabelle Stamps #167 - Polka Dots

I'm going to take the girls to dinner, then we're having shaved ice, before they head back to the pool.  I'll be back soon with another something fun.  I know Monday I've got two really cool posts going up for some new DT work.

Hope you'll check back soon!
Hugs!

Christmas Card Challenge Week #44

Greetings ya'll!

I'm happy to be back in the swing of things, craft wise, and happy to bring you my next Christmas card.  This weeks challenge is tags.  As always, please remember that these challenges are optional.  Any Christmas/Winter/Holiday card will do.  The idea is to help jump start your Christmas mojo and get your stash started.  Here is the card I created for today's challenge.

I wasn't expecting this to turn out quite so nice.  I had the idea in my head, but it turned out better than that. lol  I really love it.  I've combined the following challenges into my card as well.

MFT Get Sketchy 9/28 - Sketch
Inky Impressions #26 - Punches or Dies
Color Throwdown #161 - Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade & Chocolate Chip (I got them pretty close, hopefully)
The Ribbon Girl - Christmas (must use ribbon)

I do hope you'll head over to the CCC blog to see what lovely projects are posted.  They're all pretty fantastic!

Hugs!

Woo hoo!

Not too shabby to start off the weekend.  Check it!

For THIS card here.

Have a great day!
Hugs!

Christmas Card Challenge Week #36

Hi ya'll!!

This is going to be a short post for me today.  I've worked from 6am to 11pm, everyday, since Tuesday.  I'm completely exhausted, and headed back to bed.  I have another Christmas Card challenge for you.  This week we're recycling.  For this weeks challenge, click HERE.

Can you tell where I tookt his picture?  Yep, out on the steps behind our warehouse, at work.  Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes, eh? lol  So, I loved this challenge.  I had a hard time coming up with something though.  For my recycled part, I used the backing off of some dimensionals that I used up.  I ran them through my Cuttlebug with my Snowflake dies from MFT.  It's a cute card, and I loved this weeks Sweet Stop Sketch (#120).  I also used this weeks Color Throwdown (#153).  All in all, it turned out well, and I have another card to add to my stash.  How many do you have done this year? :)

Please keep in mind that the challenges are optional.  Any Christmas/Winter/Holiday card will do.  You don't have to use a Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamp on your card, but we sure love it when you do.  I hope you'll head over to see what the lovely design team, and our new guest designer have created for you today.  They're all really nice, as usual.

Hugs!

Thank You

Hi everyone!

How was your weekend?  Did you get lots done?  I was actually able to accomplish everything I set out to do.  I got caught up on laundry, went grocery shopping, and purged/reorganized my craft area in my bedroom.  Oh, and I also went to a crop on Saturday night with the gals.  It was so good to get crafty again.  I'm hoping to be able to do that more often, now that things at work are starting to calm down just a bit. 

So, I have been following Chupa's blog for a while now, and have been wanting to play along with her Sketchbook Saturday sketch challenges, but hadn't had time.  Fortunately, I finally got the chance to use her sketch, #14, on Saturday.  Here is my card.

I combined the sketch with Color Throwdown #144, which is Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Certainly Celery.  I didn't have the exact match on the green, but the Nestie on the bottom of the flower is actually a light green.  Have I mentioned how in love I am with the Square Lattice embossing folder from Stampin Up? lol  I adore it and I try to use it every chance I get.  Love how it makes patterned paper almost look like burlap or canvas, sort of.  Anyway, I'm going to add this to my stash that is in severe need of replenishment.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a great week!

Hugs!
 

Twisted Sketches #57 - Happy Mother's Day

Hello my friends!

It's time for another Twisted Sketches card.  This weeks twist is: Shine - any how, any way.  For this weeks sketch challenge, click HERE.

I'm really digging how my card turned out.  I used this weeks Color Throwdown (#139) and think these colors are really great together.  For the "shine" part in my card, I die cut a transparent butterfly that I sandwiched between the twine bow and Prima flower.  It's very pretty in real life. 

My fellow design team friends have created some amazing cards for your viewing pleasure today.  I do hope you'll head over to see what they've created.  Always so inspiring!

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs!