Dynamic Duos Debute (DD#1) and Creative Card Crew #10

Hello Friends!  I love the saying about "When Life Gives You Lemons..." - but this is even more fun :o) - BIG grin.  Seems like I have been receiving my share of life's limes lately so I literally laughed out loud when I came across this stamp set.  Thankfully, I still have more blessings than limes!  It was nearly 80 degrees here today - oh boy would it have been wonderful to sit on the porch with a couple of my best gal pals and some of those pesky limes :o).  I'm excited to enter this first ever Dynamic Duos Challenge.  The fun colors for this first challenge of Lucky Limeade and Pool Party worked perfectly for this card.  Congrats Lesley and crew - I'm looking forward to fun things from your group! Your debute creations are wonderful and inspiring.

I am also participating in another fun challenge from the design team at  Creative Crew Challenge #10 - Sentiment as Focal Point.  I really like this challenge because I love words and sayings almost more than I like the stamped images - to me the images really enhance the sentiment.  I'm hoping this sentiment focus will get someone giggling like it did me. 

Here's how I finished the inside (notice I used some more of those fun Dynamic Duo colors):

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit my blog. Hope you enjoyed my card!  I love to see my viewer numbers climbing.  I like to think that this means I have had one more opportunity to inspire someone. I enjoy getting your comments too - so please feel free to leave me a note. Hugs!

Details and supplies: Cardstock - Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Whisper White (Stampin Up!). Stamp set - Unity Stamp Company & jillibean soup (When Life Gives you LIMES).  I embossed the drink glasses with black embossing powder then used blender pens and Lucky Limeade ink (the inside glass was done the same way but with Pool Party ink). the "salt" on the rim of the glasses is the Dazzling Details glitter glue from Stampin Up!. To get the two toned sentiment, I colored it with Stampin Write markers in Pool Party and Lucky Limeade.  The background paper is my own personal design (grinning) which I made using an older Stampin Up! set called Tart & Tangy and randomly stamped all over the Whisper White piece (random is hard for me - I still want to make it fit into a random "pattern" - but I resisted the urge this time and just went with the flow). The border strip on the bottom is from My Favorite Stamps Die-namics - Mini Monarch Border (the border on the inside of the card is the reverse piece of that).  I finished it off with a strip of Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon and a glimmer brad.  The sentiment on the inside is from a retired Stampin Up! set called Enjoy Every Moment.  I hope you will Enjoy Every Moment - bye for now. 

Mo's DP2 Challenge #133 & 4CCC Favorite Embellishment

Hello everyone - hope you are having a wonderful day!  Doesn't the cute little fella and his dragon just make you smile?  In deciding what image to use and the theme I wanted to use for this week's Mo's DP2 Challenge #133 - Anything Goes, I went with something to make me and hopefully others smile.  After 7 years of working for a great company, and wonderful bosses, I will be losing my job soon to a Corporate buyout.  There are many at this Company who have been there lots longer than me and some that were very near retirement age.  While this is a very sad event for me and so many others, I also see it as a new opportunity.  I try everyday to find something to give thanks for, or make me smile while I'm waiting for that new opportunity to reveal itself (and I have complete faith that it will).  So, I chose to make a card that would remind me and others to find a reason to smile and to enjoy the blessings we have been given (big and small).  I also decided to enter this in the 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge - Favorite Embellishment since this card uses one of my favorite embellies - ribbon.  Hope you enjoyed this card and thanks so much for stopping by!  Here's how I finished the inside and the suggested sketch from Iulia from the design team at Mo's Challenge is also there too.  Hugs!

Supplies:  Finished card size is 5 1/4" square.  Cardstock: Pacific Point, Whisper White and Green Galore (all Stampin Up!).  DSP is from DCWV - All About Boys stack, and Celebrations (red hearts strip) from SU!.  I used the Labels Collection Framelit Die for the main image piece.  Digital image is "Kitchen Knight" from Mo Manning's Digital Pencil Too and colored with Copic markers.  Ribbon is the 1/2" scallop dot ribbon is chocolate chip (SU!). The sentiments are from Stampin Up!.  Buttons and small red ribbon piece are all from my stash of stuff.  Ink color for sentiments is Pacific Point.  

Freshly Made Sketches #33

Hello friends! Tonight I am entering this card in the Freshly Mades Sketches #33 based on the sketch from Jen Mitchell below.  We have several family members and friends graduating this year (including my son - gulp!) so getting my cards done for all of them has been foremost on my mind this past week. This card covers four of my family member's school colors.  I also made several more with a black and white theme for all of the other graduates.  This sketch was a great one to use for mass producing cards!

Here is the inside of the card - that black piece is actually a pocket I created that a gift card (or cash) can slip right into (sorry, I didn't have a g.c. or cash on hand to pop in there to show you how it looks - that is the next thing I need to get done!).  I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. 

Gonna make this a short post tonight as I promised myself I would get to bed at a decent hour for a change.  Even though this card has several layers it will still only need one stamp and no special handling to pop in the mail.  Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm sure glad you did. I hope you liked my card and saw something that inspired you.

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy and Basic Black.  Patterned paper - Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (Regals collection - Cherry Cobbler stripes, and Neutrals collection - black dots).  Sentiment is from Word Play.  Graduation caps were printed from My Digital Studio. I colored the sentiment with my Stampin Write markers using Basic Grey, Basic Black and Cherry Cobbler.  I sponged a little Not Quite Navy around the circle with a finger dauber.  I used the 2 1/2" circle punch for the sentiment.  The sentiment inside is from a retired set - embossed with white embossing powder.

Monochromatic for Divas by Design and Mojo Monday 239

Hello everyone.  This past week has been somewhat of a blurr for me, crazy scheduled, somewhat stressful and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself that I haven't had any "fun" time for me.  I missed participating in a couple of my favorite challenges :o(  but I can say that I got a ton done that needed to be taken care of - and that's a good thing (always look for the positive) :o).  The MOJO Monday challenges usually help kick start my creativity and I had just enought time to get a card in this week.  I decided on the round shape for the Mojo Monday 239 Challenge because I already had this shape on hand from when I was designing baby cards for a recent workshop.  I had intended to make a bib out of it - but didn't get it finished in time.  I was a bit stuck with what to do with it though because everytime I looked at it, all I saw was baby (and quite frankly... unless I have a whole lot of friends who have babies in the very near future, I'm set for a long time on baby cards - LOL).  I saw that the Divas by Design challenge 33 was Monochromatic so I decided to work with the blue theme and see what I could come up with.  I am generally more inspired when I have a subject or occassion in mind, but  after a tough week my brain was still not in the creative mode and I couldn't seem to come up with a person in mind who loves blue. So... I decided to think of a theme that I have very little cards on hand for and noticed that I didn't have a single "get well" card and there have been a few times this past year it would have been handy to have one.   If you are still with me after all that rambling - thanks so much!  I sure do appreciate that you stopped by to visit my blog.  Happy Sunday!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Bashful Blue and Marina Mist.  Bashful blue DSP from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack.  Bashful blue tafetta ribbon.  Sentiment from Delightful Dozen stamped with Marina Mist Ink.  I put a few little flowers from the Bordering on Romance Set at the top and bottom of the sentiment (using Versamark) - it turned out a little too subtle for me so I decided I needed to add a little bling with the basic rhinestones (colored with a sharpie marker).  I also used the decorative label punch.  The cardbase is made using the Sizzix Scallop Circle die.  I used the perfect polka dots textured embossing folder on the first layer (this is one of my favorite texture folders).   
Finished card size is 4 1/2" round and fits in the medium square envelopes.

Sweet Baby Boy Card

Hello - I'm so glad you stopped by to visit me again!  Today I am sharing another card with a stamp set out of the SU Occassions Mini catalog.  I just found out that this set will be carried over to the new catalog and I'm so excited! If you have been following this blog you will have noticed that I have used these stamps quite a lot.  That's because I think they are just too darn precious!!  This card is a clean and simple card that focuses on the sweet reason to celebrate.  You could step it up with some buttons or ribbon or brads too. You could even add a strip of the Basic Pearls across the bottom by the scalloped edging.  I chose to keep it simple.   Hope you enjoy this card and it inspires you to make something sweet!

Supplies (all are from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Baja Breeze, Pool Party and Whisper White. Patterned paper - Domestic Goddess (122355). Stamps - Baby Prints (125470 wood or 1254732 clear). Classic Ink - Baja Breeze (111833).  Punches - 3/16" corner (119871), 1" circle 119868), 1 1/4" circle (119861) and 1 3/8" circle (119860).  Border punch - Scallop trim border (118402).

Retrosketches #9

Hello friends!  This is a card I prepared to enter in the Retrosketches Challenge #9 - based on the sketch below.  This sketch helped me use several items from my extra stash that had been laying on my craft table for awhile.  These little butterflies are the extras from some thank you cards I made (using a technique that I saw on the blog of Mary Fish called Stampin Pretty).  They are first stamped in versa mark then embossed in Melon Mambo and Tangerine Tango. Then I took a finger dauber to randomly place some color in each butterfly using melon mambo and pumpkin pie classic inks - a fun process. After the inking process I used by Stampin Up Butterfly punch to cut out the shapes.  I had stamped this sentiment strip (from an older SU set) for a different card quite a while ago that I decided not to use at the time - but this time it worked perfectly.  So... after deciding on the first two elements I needed something that would then bring it together and none of my pattern paper seemed to fit the bill for what I had in mind. So, I dug around in my stash and came up with this fun, leafy flourish rub-on.  I used my often neglected confetti white cardstock because I like the specs of pinks, oranges and greens that give the card a little more depth (not so flat looking).    Hope you enjoy my clean and simple card for this challenge and thanks for stopping by to visit! 

Stampin Up products used: In-color 2011-2013 cardstock (lucky limeade). Embossing powders - Tangerine Tango (123106) and Melon Mambo (123223). Butterfly punch (119848).
Note:  Stampin up products used that will be retiring at the end of May 2012 are: Confetti White cardstock (102028) and Flower Fest (122278 wood or 122280 clear) for the butterflies.  Five of the six stamps in the Flower Fest set have a coordinating punch - it would be a good one to get before it retires as it is very versatile.

P.S.  I am working on figuring out a better system for taking photos of my cards so that they showcase better on the blog (especially the lighter colored ones).  If you have some ideas that you would like to share with me as far as a good set up - or what works for you, I'd love to hear them! 

The Paper Players #93: Anything Goes - Tic Tac Toe

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I had one of those "I feel terrible" moments yesterday at work when I realized that I had completely spaced my friend Cindi's birthday.  Now I knew it was coming up, and even had a sticky note (actually 2) to remind me, and somehow it still snuck right by me!  Don't you just hate when that happens??  So last night I made this card to give it to her this morning (hopefully she won't see this post until after I give it to her - don't want to spoil the surprise).  Here's what I put on the inside:

This is the left over piece of cardstock that I cut my main labels shape from for the front. Cindi will appreciate this because neither of us can throw away something that we think we might be able to use later :o).  Hugs to you Cindi - so sorry this wish is late!! 

After I put this together I realized that I had also used elements from this weeks The Paper Players Challenge #93 - Anything Goes, Tic Tac Toe, so I decided to share with you too.  My tic-tac-toe entry uses  blue, ribbon and dry embossing and die cuts for my "free" space.

Here's an up-close look at the card elements:

Thanks so much for stopping by to vist - I'm sure glad that you did!  I hope you saw something that inspired you today.  Have a wonderful, wonderful Wednesday.

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Note: I used a bunch of my favorite products from the Occassions Mini (ended 4/30/2012) and others that are soon to be retiring to make way for the new SU catalog.  I'm sad to see some of this stuff go - but can't wait to see what is new that I can play with.   Cardstock - Pear Pizzazz and Wisteria Wonder (both 2010 - 2012 In-Color which are retiring at the end of May) and Whisper White.  Stamp and sentiment are from the Occassions Mini (which just ended) called Apothecary Art.  The die cut shapes are from the Framelits Label Collection (Sizzix Big Shot).  The 1/2" stitched-poly ribbon in Pear Pizzaz is also retiring on May 31st.   The DSP is called Pocketful of Posies (retires 5/31/2012).  I colored the image with my Copic markers.  The inside sentiment is from the On Your Birthday set (111664) - also retiring May 31st. 

I'd hate for you to miss out if there is a retiring product that you really love.   I am offering a "grab bag" of 6x6 retiring DSP (10 pieces) and some ribbon, with every $50 order that you place between today, May 2nd, and May 20th.  There is still time to get some of these products - my link to my demonstrator website is at the top of my blog (www.daniellevincent.stampinup.net). Some of these products will go quickly and when they are gone they are gone. This is my own personal special offer (not a Stampin Up promotion) and your order will be shipped to you directly.  To get your free "grab bag", you will need to leave me a comment on my blog to let me know you placed an order and the address I can send your grab bag to.  If you are one of my active customers here in Montana you can contact me to place your order and receive your DSP grab bag.