I [heart}2stamp (sfytt) and Flourishes (BBB21)

Happy Monday everyone - I hope your week is starting off great!  I am entering this card in the I{heart}Sketches April challenge at I {heart}2stamp (based on the sketch provided below) and the Flourishes Bring Back Beauty Challenge - The Beauty of  Friendship which is to make a card or creation with a friend in mind.  I made this card with my friend Karen in mind.  She has been on the fast track of the maze of life for the past couple of months (many times feeling like she is going in circles).  She is wonderful woman who has the uncanny ability to juggle more projects than most people can even fathom - and she has no real idea how amazing and strong she really is.  I keep telling her that she deserves a reward (much like this mouse and its cheese) :o).  This maze idea worked just perfectly with the April sketch (you'll notice I flipped the orientation for my card).  In retrospect, I wish I had used a lighter color on the maze background as it seems a bit too bold and the cheese doesn't stand out very well in the photo - but she will get the idea I'm sure.  This is actually a working maze too - so if she ever slows down enough to take a break she can play with her card :o). 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad that you did.  I hope you saw something you liked or that inspired you in some way.  I love to receive your comments so please feel free to pass me a little note.  Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up):  Cardstock -  Peach Parfait, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight.  Stamps -  Totally A-maze-ing (from the Occassions mini) and With All My Heart (retiring soon - May 31st).  The Maze game pieces are sold in package of 4 (from the Occassions mini).  DSP - Pattern Designer Paper Series Stack in Subtles and Brights (so saffron and pumpkin pie) and Just Add Cake.  

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge (4CCC) #87 - No Stamping Zone

Hello friends!  Tonight I am entering this card in the 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #87 - No Stamping Zone. This challenge appealed to me because I seldom make a card that doesn't have stamping of some sort on it - but yet I seem to buy a lot of that type stuff (usually with projects in mind that don't seem to make it to my craft table for a long time).   In this case I had actually used some of the products from this card to make a couple recipe boxes as gifts (for Christmas 2 years ago).  I was excited to have the opportunity to use some of my  left-over and neglected products! The DSP and chipboard are all from Cosmo Cricket.  I cut a 12 x 12 border strip of the DSP apart to make my card sentiment.  Thanks ladies at 4CCC for the opportunity to participate in this challenge - great idea and lots of fun! Hope you like my card :o) 

Freshly made Sketches Challenge #32

Happy Sunday everyone! My card today is based on the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #32.  I wanted to find a way to reward my kids for their honor role report cards (in addition to the A's money I already shelled out - ha ha).  The sketch this week worked perfectly for both my idea and this stamp set (which sadly will be retiring at the end of May) - I'm going to slip each card in their lunches tomorrow.  I had so many ideas for this sketch - I am definitely going to save it for my inspiration file for other cards.  Thanks Linda for a great sketch and the opportunity to play along with FMS.  Thanks to each of you for stopping by to visit my blog - I'm sure glad you did!  Happy rest of the weekend.  It's sunny here today - whoo hoo!

Details:  Finished card size is 5 1/4" square.  NOTE:  the Big Top Birthday DSP (122348), Take a Spin stamps set (121937 wood or 122015 clear) and the coordinating spinner hands will be retiring at the end of May.  This stamp set has 4 fun stamps (3 round and 1 square) that can be used for a variety of occassions such as birthday, thank you graduation, new baby, mothers and fathers day, etc.  The Game Spinner Hands come in a package of 12 for $3.95 (121893).  The 2 1/2" circle punch works perfectly for the round stamps in the set. 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Whisper white.  Patterned paper - Big Top Birthday (retiring soon).  Stamp - Take A Spin (retiring soon) - Game Spinner Hands are also retiring soon.  Ink - Real Red.  2 1/2 " circle punch (120906).  

MOJO238 and Creative Card Crew #9

Hello friends!  I am finally getting my entry done for the Mojo Monday Challenge #238 - this has been a crazy week for me - and TGIF!  As soon as I saw the sketch by Mary Fish I just knew I had to make a "baby quilt".

 I am also entering this card in the Creative Card Crew Challenge #9 -Ribbon.  The ribbon on my card is the 3/8" pleated satin ribbon wrapped around the back of the image circle and adhered with sticky strip.  Every blankie needs a satin ribbon on it somewhere - don't you think?   I know that this was one of the favorite features on my kids blankies.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad you did and I hope you like this card.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Here's a little closer view of the texture I used on the paper and how that ribbon is wrapped on there: 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - So Saffron (base) Certainly Celery, Whisper White.  Patterned paper - Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack in the Subtles collection (pretty in pink, bashful blue and certainly celery).  Stamps - Easy Events (duck) and Tiny Tags.  I stamped the image with Staz On ink and then colored it with a blender pen and ink from the refill bottles (pretty in pink, bashful blue, certainly celery and so saffron).  I used the tiny tag punch for the sentiment.  Each quilt piece is 1 1/4" square.  After I glued them onto a base I ran the whole thing through my Sizzix Big Shot using the square lattice textured embossing folder to give it a fabric look.

Merry Monday #17

Happy Friday!  The Merry Monday Challenge #17 is a really fun one this week as I love circles and I love things in 3's.  I had a really hard time narrowing down what I wanted to do for this challenge.  I did decide to flip the sketch though once I had made up my mind on the sentiment to use.

As you might be aware, Stampin Up is retiring a large number of products from its current catalog to make way for the new products coming up soon. It's sort of sad to lose some of my favorite stamps but it's also so exciting to be able to use new, fun stuff too (you will have the opportunity to purchase the new products starting June 1st!).   As I was cleaning out my stamp area to make room for the new stuff that I just know I will have to have, I came across a set that had been retired for quite some time.  I had really liked that set so I decided to dust it off a little and use the flower from it to make a new and somewhat unusual poinsetta for this card.  I'm also using another of my favorite "soon to retire sets" for the sentiment. This is another reason I love to participate in the Merry Monday challenges - my Christmas stamps don't have to sit in a drawer for a whole year before they get taken out and inked up again.     

With this card I'm using something old to make something new - and I like how that opportunity turned into a nice card that I can share with someone at Christmas (and you now through this blog).
The Stampin Up retiring list is now available on my demonstrator website (link is at the top of my blog). If you have a favorite set that you have been holding off on getting, now might be the time to snatch it up before its gone.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I sure do appreciate it, and I hope that you saw something that inspired you too.  Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Real Red, Whisper White and Crushed Curry (retired).  Stamps - Flowers from "God's Beauty" (retired) and sentiment from "Welcome Christmas".  Ink - Real Red and More Mustard (colored on the flower stamp with my Stampin Write markers). I stamped 6 flowers and snipped them out to layer using a mini brad in the center of each flower.  Patterned paper is the 2010-2012 In-Color collection (retiring in May).  I used the Petals A Plenty textured embossing folder on the background DSP and then sanded it very lightly. 

The Paper Players #92 - a sketch from Nance

Happy Thursday friends!  A couple of the ladies in my stamp group decided to issue a challenge of their own recently where each person brings in an item or two that they aren't quite sure what to do with and swap it in secret with someone else in the group (we do this through a numbering system).  After everyone has made their cards they bring back in and share with the group, and the person who brought the item gets to take the card that was made with it.  I love this idea and can't wait to see what I get back!! I got this darling little ladybug to use for my card which works perfectly with The Paper Players sketch #92 from Nance.  I decided to use this embossed sentiment on my card because no matter who I got this item from I consider them my friend (each one of the ladies I stamp with are very dear to my heart).  Hope you enjoy this card and thanks so much for stopping by!  Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up! except miss ladybug):  Cardstock - Pretty in Pink, Basic Black and Green Galore (retired).  Sentiment - Blessings from Heaven (embossed with Wild Wasabi powder). Border at the bottom is created with the Scallop edge border punch.  Patterned paper is from the Patterns Designer Paper Stack in the brights (melon mambo).   

CAS-ual Fridays CFC49

Happy Wednesday!  Tonight I am entering this card in the CAS-ual Fridays challenge (CFC49) for the first time based on the sketch below.   This is a great challenge for me because I do struggle a bit with the Clean and Simple (CAS) cards and often feel that my cards end up being more "plain jane" than Clean and Simple, so this is good for me to try.  If you get a chance, check out all the entries that have already been posted and the design team samples are awesome.   I am just amazed at the talent and ideas that have been generated by this simple sketch .  What a source of inspiration -  I'm so glad I found this site!

Need to be quick with this post or I will not make tonight's deadline so I'll be brief and say "Thanks so much for stopping by once again - I sure do appreciate it!"  Hope you like this very simple card.

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Whisper White and Soft Suede.  Stamps - Morning Cup.  Adorning Accents textured embossing folder was used for the sweet little hearts along the bottom (I sooo love my morning coffee - the hearts are very appropriate for me!).  I colored the image with my Copic markers.

Mo's DP2 Challenge - Flowers

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Mo's DP2 Challenge #131 is "Flowers"using a Mo's image.  This means to use flowers somehow in a project... as part of the image, as an embellishment, on the paper, etc.  I loved this darling image the moment I saw it and couldn't wait to "color it up" with my Copic markers.  I found a bunch of paper flowers that I had been stashing for awhile that were just the ticket for this challenge. So here's a little giggle... my daughter said "may your days be filled with... flowers.  Is that what it's supposed to say?" LOL.  I guess it could say that, and that would be okay, but I did finish the inside and it says "wonderful days" and then "Happy Birthday".  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad you did and I hope you like my card .  Hugs!
Here's a picture a little closer and from the side:

 
Supplies: Cardstock - Pretty in Pink and Whisper White (Stampin Up!), DSP - Patterns Designer Stack in Brights (melon mambo) and a retired Build-A-Bear pattern (flowers & green) - both from Stampin Up!.  Digital image and sentiment - Wonderful Year (by Mo Manning at Mos Digital Pencil Too).  Flowers - from my stash of goodies. Brads - from the mini brads (brights collection).   

Divas By Design Challenge 31 - Anything but a Card

Hello friends!  These are some Easter baskets I made for a class just before Easter that I would like to share with you and enter in the Divas By Design Challenge 31 - Anything but a Card. The ladies in my class had a ball making these baskets and I can tell you that not one of them turned out exactly like any of the others because they all put their own special creative twist on their projects (see photos of their creations below).  They were fun to make and the recipients loved them - they hold just the perfect amount of candy and money :o)  Thanks for stopping by to visit - thanks for letting me share my creation with you and I hope you saw something that inspired you! 

Details:  The base for all of these projects is the Sizzix Bigz XL Fancy Favor die.  The bunny uses the Sizzix Top Note die and the lamb and chick use the Sizzix Scallop Circle die.   I used brads to secure the ribbon handle.  If you would like specific instructions on these please just leave me a note and I'll be happy to share with you.  I was lucky to have received free instruction on the bunny a while back but hadn't ever gotten around to making one.  I took those instructions and then put my own creative twist on it, so I'm happy to pay it forward to you as well.  After seeing what the ladies in my class did the instructions are really only a guideline - see their Easter parade below:

Great job ladies and thanks so much for letting me share your fun creations on my blog today ;o)

My Time to Craft #177 - Fairy Nice

Hello friends! I made this card from my daughter's birthday.  She loves cupcakes - is absolutely crazy for cupcakes, so I thought the digital image was perfect for her.  Today I am sharing this with you and entering it in the My Time to Craft Challenge #177 - Fairy Nice.  This is the first time I have participated in this challenge and I was blown away by the samples the design team came up with.
Pretty simple and fun card for today - hope you enjoy it and thanks so much for stopping by! 

Supplies:  Cardstock - Lucky Limeade and Whisper White.  Digital stamp from Tiddly Inks (Cherry Bug) and colored with my Copic markers. Ribbon is Lucky Limeade sheer (from Sale-A-Bration).  DSP is from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack - regals collection.  Button is from a retired stash and the pearl is from Basic Pearls. 
   

City Crafters Week 105 - Just a Hint of Pink

Happy Monday Everyone!  Quick post this morning and then off to work.  I created this card to enter in the City Crafters Week 105 Challenge - "Just a Hint of Pink".  This challenge is to use black, white or grey (or a combo of those colors) with just a hint of pink on your project.  I have a middle school daughter who sometimes struggles with her identity and where she fits in.  I keep telling her "Be yourself, you are fabulous and don't need to be like everyone else".  This is what I had in mind as I was creating this card. Hope you enjoy this quick, clean and simple card.  Thanks so much for stopping in to visit - I'm sure glad you did.  Have a fabulous Monday!  

Supplies (all from Stampin Up):  Cardstock - Basic Black, Whisper White and Melon Mambo.  Stamps - Button Buddies (piggies) and Fabulous Phrases.  Ink colors - Basic Black and Melon Mambo.  Buttons from the Neutrals and Subtles Collections.  DSP - Twitterpated.  

Our Creative Corner - Butterflies

Hello and Happy Sunday to you!  This morning I woke up to sunshine and the sound of birds singing - how terrific is that?!  I haven't yet seen a butterfly this season but I'm hopeful that soon I'll be seeing them. The challenge this week at Our Creative Corner is to make a project with butterflies and to tell them why we like butterflies.   I think butterflies are one of God's finest creations.  To me they symbolize beauty, hope and blessings.  They are so delicate and yet so powerful in the wonderful, happy feelings they bring to people when they fly by (don't you just always seem to kind of suck your breath in and say "look there's a butterfly"?)  - or if you are the lucky recipient to have one land on you, doesn't it feel especially peaceful?  Anyway, that's why I like butterflies, what they mean to me and this is the card I would like to enter in this challenge.  Thanks ladies at OCCC for the fun challenge and thanks to you for stopping by to visit! Leave me a note if you saw something you liked - it always makes my day to hear from you.  Hugs!

Details and Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White.  The banner is from the Sizzix Bigz XL Petal Cone die (I had to snip a piece out of the middle to get it to fit on the card this way).  The sentiment is layered using the scalloped oval, Wide Oval and Small Oval punches.  Stamp set used are "Just Believe" and "Kindness Matters".  Ink colors are Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive and Peach Parfait.  The pearls are from the Basic Pearls set.  I used the Elegant Lines texured embossing folder for the background.  I snipped one extra little butterfly out and put it on top of one that I had stamped and folded the wings in just slightly to look as if it is in flight (not sure that reallys shows up as well as I would like in the picture though). 

Paper Players #91 and Freshly Made Sketches #31

Hey it's Friday - hooray!  It's supposed to be a nice weekend here and there are leaves starting to bud on all my trees - that makes me happy :o)  Today I am entering this card in two fun challenges - The Paper Players Challenge #91 and Freshly Made Sketches #31 - a sketch by Rita.  The challenge this week from Jaydee at the Paper Players is to create a clean and simple card using watercoloring. I used my blender pen and some ink droplets to "paint" my tree image on this card.  I added some watercolored swirls for clouds too.  Then I used the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches  to put my card together.  As you can see I flipped the sketch and used a square instead of a circle for my card. The result was a fairly quick and fun card to make.  Thanks for the opportunity to play!  Hope you enjoyed today's card.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - I'm sure glad you did. 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up): Cardstock - Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Real Red.  Stamp - from Easy Events.  Patterned Paper - Twitterpated (available in the Occassions Mini until April 30th).  Ribbon - 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon in Lucky Limeade.  I made the small heart at the bottom with my small heart punch and tied it on with a piece of the linen thread.  The image is colored with my blender pens and Lucky Limeade, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Pool Party and Crumb Cake inks. 

Mojo Monday #237



Hello Everyone and Happy Thursday! Is it just me or is this week sliding right on by? I have a workshop scheduled tonight with a baby theme. This week's Mojo Monday #237 sketch was really helpful with providing me with some creative mojo and the framework for this card. Hope the ladies in the group like it - and I hope you do too. If your creative Mojo is sluggish, go check out all the amazing samples that have been posted by the design team and other creative folks. I'll just bet the ideas will just start filling your head and you'll want to go create right away. Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm sure glad that you did! Hugs!  

Supplies (all from Stampin Up):  Cardstock - So Saffron, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink.  Patterned paper - Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack in subtles collection.  Stamps on front- Button Buddies (rattle) and Sweetly Said (sentiment).  I colored the rattles with my Stampin Write Markers in Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Basic Grey.  I added a few little pearls from the Basic Pearls to each rattle. Stamps inside - Baby Prints (available in the Occassions Mini only until April 30th) and A Word for You (sentiment). 

Merry Monday #16

Happy Wednesday!  Today I am continuing to build my Christmas card "stash" for this year by participating in the Merry Monday Challenge #16 - based on Lesley's (Always Playing with Paper)sketch below.  I loved what Lesley did by choosing just two colors to work with (she calls this a Dynamic Duo).  The first thing that came to my mind based on the sketch and the duo color scheme was Blue and Silver (love that combo together). I took a couple different pictures of this because it was hard to see the glittery snowflakes in one photo and the other photo shows the sentiment better.  I found that when stamping on the silver or gold paper that the image (or sentiment) is harder to see because of the "shine" of the paper until you tip it just slightly.  Anyway - I really enjoyed this sketch and I also used it to make a baby card for a class I have on Thursday (I'll share with you later this week).  Thanks Lesley, and thanks to all of you for stopping by to visit me today.  As a side note... I'm so excited to now have 13 followers!  Hugs! 

Details and supplies (all from Stampin Up):  Cardstock - Brushed Silver and Night of Navy.  Snowflakes were created with my Sizzix Big Shot machine and the Northern Frost Sizzlit strip using the silver glitter paper.  Sentiment from Delightful Dozen stamped in Night of Navy classic ink.  Patterned paper strips are from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack in the regals collection (navy).    

Mo's DP2 Challenge #130 "I See Spots"

Hello!  I am kind of rushing to get this posted as I am feeling wayyyy behind this week. I had intended to get my card in to Mo's DP2 Challenge much earlier this week but things have been a little crazy in my life lately.  I love to participate each week in this challenge because it always has a fun theme, darling images that usually invoke some sort of memory for me and... are  you ready for this? - a  chance to color (and practice using my Copics). I have loved coloring ever since I was a little girl and I still do :o)  Mo's DP2 Challenge #130 theme is "I See Spots".  This card has a few big spots and lots of little rain drop "spots".  I accidently found a fun new technique while making this card.  I had put some rhinestone raindrops on the card to look like rain but the color of the drops was just off for me so I was going to carefully peel them off.  When I went to remove the drops the sticky part stayed behind and was not coming off my card (oh dear!).  So I decided to put a little irridescent ice embossing powder on them and heat set them.  I was really excited with how they turned out.  Unfortunately I don't have any more of those drops (I think I had picked them up in a dollar bin somewhere) so I'll have to figure out how to recreate this effect on my own next time (or... it might just be one of a kind LOL).  Here's a close up view - maybe you can see the rain drops a little better. 

And here's a look at the inside - nothing spectacular, I just wanted you to see that I finished it :o)

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit and have a peek at my newest creation.  Hope you liked it and saw something that inspired you.  Have a wonderful and blessed day. 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up except digital image and Copic Markers): Cardstock - Pool Party, Whisper White and Daffodil Delight. Patterned paper - the new Summer Smooches DSP available on a pre-order through April 30th.  Digital image (colored with my Copic markers) from Mo Manning's Digital Pencil Too called "Singing in the Rain". Raindrops made with irridescent ice embossing powder. I used the Labels Collections Framelits Dies for the double framing of the cute little girl. Ribbon is 1/8" taffetta in daffodil delight. Brad is from the Sale-A-Bration freebies (ended in March 2012). Sentiments are from Petite Pairs.    

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #85, Retrosketches #7 and Paper Creations Ink! #23

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  Today I am entering this card in 3 fun challenges.  For the first time I am participating in the 4 Crafty Chicks' Challenge #85 - "Material Girl"  which is to use fabric/material on a project ( and they say "ribbon/twine doesn't count!!!").  I am also entering this card in the Paper Creations Ink! Challenge #23 "April Showers Bring May Flowers" and Retrosketches #7.   I remembered that I had these fun felt flowers from a stash of retired products, which I had almost decided to "garage sale" and then decided I just wasn't quite ready to part with them (do you have that problem too ever?).  When I saw the theme of the first two challenges I was knew they would be perfect to use on my project and then Retrosketches Challenge provided me with a great sketch (see below) to use for my springy felt flower inspiration.  Lucky me! 

Hope you enjoyed today's card and thanks so much for stopping by! I love to receive your comments - they always brighten my day - so please leave me a note if you would like. Hugs!

Details and Supplies (all from Stampin Up):  Cardstock - Peach Parfait, Melon mambo, Pumpkin Pie.  Patterned paper - Just Add Cake.  Felt flowers from my retired stash in Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Melon Mambo.  Sentiment from Pursuit of Happiness stamped in Classic Black Ink.  I used my scalloped edge border punch and the Finial Press textured embossing folder (on the card base). Oh and I almost forgot - I put a tiny little peach parfait brad in the middle of the flower group to finish it off.   

Freshly Made Sketches #30

Happy Monday Everyone!  Today I have put together a quick and simple card for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #30.  We spent the weekend doing college visits (gulp!) so I didn't have a lot of time to get my card together.  Fortunately I had this great designer paper that did most of the work for me :O).  Gonna make post this short and sweet as well since I need to dash off to work now too.  Thanks for stopping by - I'm sure glad you did! 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up):  Cardstock - Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Not Quite Navy.  Patterned paper - Big Top Birthday (122348) - I snipped the clouds from one of the pieces of DSP.
Sentiment - Petite Pairs (122495 wood or 1222497 clear).  Basic rhinestones (119246) finish it off and add a little silver lining to those clouds. 

Mojo Monday #236

Hello friends, I'm glad that you have stopped to visit!  I have been subscribing to Card Maker magazine for a couple years now and love the inspiration I get from it.  The magazine says that  Chevron patterns are one of the in things right now - so I thought I'd give it a try.  To help me get my "mojo" going on this card  I decided to use the Mojo Monday #236 sketch (did you get my humor there? I'm never as funny as I think I am LOL).  As you can see I modified the Mojo sketch in the sense that my lines are not straight (the zigzags), and I moved my ribbon to the bottom. I also took a small liberty with the sketch and added that one little extra piece with the sentiment on it.   I hope you enjoyed this card and maybe saw something to inspire you too.  Til' next time - hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up): Cardstock - Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, Whisper White and Real Red.  Patterned paper - Greenhouse Gala (retired).  Stamps - Fox and Friends (lion) and Sweet Cake (sentiment).  Ribbon - 1/2" Stitched Poly ribbon in Peach Parfait.  Punches used are the
1 3/4" Scallop circle and the 2 3/8" scallop circle.  I snipped off the bottom part of the DSP for the Soft Suede color to show through a little.  Ink is Chocolate Chip Classic ink.

Paper Players #90

Hello and Happy Friday!! Today I am entering The Paper Players Challenge #90 - A Color Challenge from LeAnne.  My goal here was to also create a "flat" card that didn't use embellishments such as buttons, brads, ribbon etc. (I got this idea from a past challenge at City Crafter's Challenge). This was good for me to try because I usually feel I have to add at least one of those elements somewhere.  But it's not truly "flat" as I used texture and lots of layering. I do like how it turned out.    
 

Here's a couple more views.  I was having a hard time getting it to photograph well so that you can see the subtle color mixing on the background. 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up): Cardstock - Not Quite Navy, Pool Party and Certainly Celery.  Sizzix Texture Embossing Folder "Manhattan Flower" (retired).  Stamp sets - Butterfly and sentiment from "Strength and Hope" (retired).  Background stamp - En Francais.  I stamped the background by first inking the stamp with certainly celery ink and then just quickly touching here and there with the Not Quite Navy stamp pad.  I heat set quickly to make sure it was dry before I used my finger daubers and added the Certainly Celery and Pool Party colors to it. I used that same method with the butterfly and then snipped it out to put on the card.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you saw something you liked or that inspired you. 

Retrosketches #6 and ColourQ Challenge 132

Hello!  I quickly got this card together tonight to enter in the Retrosketches #6 Challenge based on the sketch below.  I am also entering it in the ColourQ Challenge #132 as I used the colors from that challenge on my creation (as shown below).


The Retrosketches challenge closes soon so I'm gonna be quick on the details :o)  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up): Cardstock - Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White and Lucky Limeade.
Tea cup and sentiment - from My Digital Studio "Tea Shoppe".  I textured the white background using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  The little flower was punched from one of my Itty Bitty Punches and a basic pearl finishes it off.

Crazy4Challenges - C4C131

Happy Thursday Everyone!  I have found another new challenge to participate in today called Crazy4Challenges (oh my how appropriately named!).  I popped into their blog and was just amazed at the beautiful creations that the design team have posted.  The challenge for this week is to use the colors blue and white and one other color of your choice on your creation.  I LOVE blue and white (and red) together so I just couldn't resist participating in this challenge.  So hello ladies at Crazy4Challenges -and please accept my entry in the C4C131 challenge this week.

Details and Supplies (all from Stampin Up - except Copic markers):  Cardstock colors - Poppy Parade, Whisper White and Island Indigo.  Stamps  -  Greeting Card Kids (girl) and P.S. I Love You (sentiment).  Ribbon is 3/8" pleated satin in Baja Breeze.  Patterned Paper is Sweet Shop Speciality DSP.  Flowers are some of the Paper Daisies. Basic pearls are the accents to everything.  I used the 2nd largest size of the Hearts Collection framelits dies for the beautiful red heart.  I used my 2 1/2" circle punche to pop out my sweet little girl and used sticky strip to wrap that fun ribbon around the back of the circle before I adhered to the heart layer.  The heart is also textured with the Sizzix Perfect Polka Dots textured embossing folder.  I colored the image with my Copic markers and the sentiment was colored with my Stampin Write markers using Island Indigo and Pool Party colors.  The sentiment was made with two punches the Word Window punch and the Modern Label punch. 

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm sure glad you did and hope you saw something that inspired you.  I love to receive your comments so please feel free to leave me a note. 

Stamping 411 & Creative Card Crew Challenges

Happy "almost" Thursday friends!   Tonight I am entering this card in the Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge #250 and also in the Creative Card Crew #8 Kraft Challenge.  I found the Creative Crew Challenge through "inspiration viewing" (that means by popping into a couple of sites that I like to follow quite often) and thought it would be fun to give it a try. I think I might be becoming a challenge junkie and may need to seek therapy.  Oh wait... this is kind of my therapy LOL.  I digress..sorry.   I really liked the sketch at Stampin 411 and all the wonderful ideas from the design team and Kraft is definitely one of my least used colors of cardstock (though I don't know why) so this was fun for me to combine the two challenges.  Does anyone know of a challenge that requires the use of these other colors too? Just kidding - really!  I also incorporated an idea from a recent issues of one of my card magazines that used masculine papers and/or colors to create a feminine card.  I kind of like how it turned out and initially I wasn't sure I was going to be able to pull it off. 

Here is the sketch from Stampin 411 that I used and an alternate view of the card.  I did finish the inside but couldn't seem to get it to photograph well ;o( .  The sentiment inside says "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee.  Psalms 55:22.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm sure glad you did.  I love to read your comments so please feel free to drop me a note if you saw something you liked or that inspired you.  Maybe I've inspired you to find a new challenge to try too :o)

Details:  Finished size is 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".  All Supplies are from Stampin' Up!. Cardstock colors are Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze and Not Quite Navy.  DSP is Well Worn.  Sentiment is from "Thoughts and Prayers".  Flower is the Triple Treat Flower.  I stamped one flower on Crumb Cake cardstock using Not Quite Navy ink and a second one using Cajun Craze ink.  To get the layered effect I first punched the Cajun Craze flower with the  Fancy Flower punch.  Then I used the 5-Petal Punch on the NQNavy flower to get the middle part and popped that layer up with dimensionals (after inserting that little brad in the middle).  I also had stamped one other flower with the Cajun Craze that hadn't turned out dark enough for my liking so I punched out the middle of it with my 1/2"circle punch and put another little brad in the middle.  It landed on the card while I was trying to get the glue dots out and I liked where it fell so I stuck it there.   The larger circles on the card are from my 2 1/2" circle punch.  I used the square lattice texture folder on the Cajun Craze strip on the left to give the card a little more "oomph" and added three little navy brads at the bottom.