For Ewe in Review

Ok I am going to admit that I am writing this very late at night (then scheduling it to post), so I cannot guarantee that it will be 100% coherent. After all I have been up since 6:30 am as that is when my children have decided it a perfectly decent time to wake up...I try to differ with them, but they don't seem to want to budge on this issue.

Anyway, I get the opportunity to show off one more of the newly released stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps. Sally Sheep is part of the Retro Cutie Critters line, which I absolutely adore! Now Sally is just looking completely fabulous all dressed up, don't you think? Actually the thought of a sheep being dressed up like this for some reason makes me giggle.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to paper piece her, lining up nicely with the Moxie Fab World Paper Piecing Challenge, in orange. i used a layout from an old Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #94 that I never got a chance to play with before. I added some white fun flock to her woolly parts...did that sound dirty or was it just me and my very sleepy mind! If it was, I apologize! Back to the card...I dyed some white taffeta ribbon with the Early Espresso marker...I apparently need some ribbon in this color because I keep doing this. The "For" part of the sentiment is actually from the Cutie Critters Sayings set from Paper Makeup Stamps and the "ewe" was created with an old alpha set I have.

Well that is all for me tonight...really should go to bed. I was suppose to be finishing up some birthday cards for my nephews and my husband went and got me involved in a movie...so now I have stayed up late and didn't get my cards done. Ah well, I will say it was a relaxing evening! Next week in addition to some new cards, I will become a baker...that is right new cake creations (and cupcakes) for my son's 6th birthday. I won't tell you what they will be so I don't jinx myself...just hoping that the ideas in my head work out! If you have never seen my cake creations thus far (mostly for my kids birthdays) take a look at my Gallery HERE. Until I post again, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Sally Sheep, Cutie Critter Sayings (Paper Makeup Stamps), Dot Alphabet (Walmart); Paper - Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Whisper White (SU!), Olivia Nectar Pattern Paper (BoBunny); Ink - Early Espresso, Cajun Craze (SU!); Accessories - Mini Glitter Brads (American Crafts), Cotton Ball White Fun Flock (Stampendous), Oval and Big Scallop Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), white taffeta ribbon (SU!), dimensionals, blender pen, white gel pen

Hopping with Some Dreams

So what is your dream? Dreams are hard for me...I am too much of a realist and I am always thinking about how said dream is difficult and unlikely. My husband on the other had is a big dreamer and I have to be very careful not to squash his dreams. My current dream is to find a way for my paper-crafting hobby to become a job (down the line when the kids are both in school full time), but my realist side isn't allowing the dreamer to think about what that might look like. Wow that was a little much for Blog Hop...sorry about that!

Did I mention that today is the Paper Makeup Stamps New Release Blog Hop?! Well it is and it is fabulous! You should be arriving from Jami's Blog (isn't Skater Cat just so cute?!), but if you didn't start at the beginning, make sure to head over to the PMS Blog so you don't miss a thing!

So this beautiful quote is what sparked my major self-reflection above. And it is a quote from one of my favorites, Walt Disney...I was the hugest Mickey Mouse fan when I was in High School and College...still am a fan, but I don't have any rooms decorated with Mickey right now. The colors for this card were inspired by the Paper Crafts Color Challenge #2. The stamp was colored directly with markers to get the words in different colors...oh and since I used markers, this qualifies for the Moxie Fab World Stamping with Markers Challenge!

So now you are to head on over to Tangii's Blog (wait till you see what she has for you!), but first make sure you note my letter for you:

Oh and we invite you to join us for a little Release Party over on the PMS Forum tonight at 9 pm! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Dreams Can Come True Wordart (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Sahara Sand, Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, Shimmer White, Sahara Sand and Wild Wasabi pattern paper (SU!); Ink - Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango Marker, Wild Wasabi Marker (SU!); Accessories - Big Scallop Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Glitter Brads (American Crafts), Corner Rounder (SU!), sponge, dimensionals

Pastel Gratitude Flowers

While the kids watch a little TV before they go to bed, I thought I would finally get this post up that has been waiting for me for a few days now! Then I have a feeling it is off to bed for me...starting up a workout routine apparently takes it out of you. Unfortunately my kick-butt Jillian Michaels workouts were getting harder and harder to find kid-free time for...my daughter has decided that waking up at a consistent (preferably later) time is just plain silly, so I was getting extremely frustrated with getting up really early to work out to be worried the whole time that I might not get to finish it because she would wake up. So what happens when I get frustrated about working out...I stop. So in an effort to find me some kid-free time, I decided to join a gym where they watch my kids! So here's hoping that this sticks!

Anyway, this is my final Color Challenge card...yup I manage to do them all! This is for the Moxie Fab World Pretty Pastels Color Challenge in honor of the Color Inspiration for Cardmakers special edition. My colors don't match exactly, but I got the "feel" of them with the colors I used. I cut a bunch of big scalloped circles of different sizes and crumpled them up and then tied them together with a white button brad. The big middle one was then attached to a white Lacey Circle as well. The pattern paper is from the retired Banbury collection from Stampin' Up!. The sentiment is from the Beautiful You set from Verve Stamps.

It looks like my next week will be pretty quiet here on the Blog...I will be preparing for a wonderful scrapbooking weekend with my good friends. I am hoping that I am preparing well enough ahead of time so that I can be uber productive that weekend...I feel very behind in scrapbooking since we haven't done it in awhile! But I am sure I will check in at some point! Till then, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps); Paper - Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Pale Plum, Lavendar Lace, Whisper White, Banbury Collection (SU!); Ink - Rose Red (SU!); Accessories - Big Scalloped Circles and Lacey Circles (Spellbinders), Lacey Scallop Border Punch (SU!), White button brads (Making Memories), paper piercer, dimensionals

Monster Celebrations

Is it bad when you sort of enjoy when a kid gets sick? i don't mean I actually like it when he feels bad or anything like that. I just like all of the snuggles he wants more of when he is sick. He is a fairly snuggly kind of kid, but still those sick snuggles just last longer. I mean, for goodness sakes, I actually snuggled and napped with him today! Obviously I will be happy when he is feeling better, but I will miss the long snuggles until next time.

I have another Color Challenge card. This one is the Moxie Fab World Neutral Color Challenge in honor of the Color Inspirations for Cardmakers edition. The layout for the card is the 3rd Viva La Verve Sketch Challenges. I went for a masculine card here for my brother-in-law's birthday...which reminds me, I need to actually mail the card to him now! George, the monster, from Paper Makeup Stamps is actually a very environmentally friendly monster...his actual shirt has the recycle symbol on it and his flag usually reads "Go Green"...which I probably could have kept since my brother-in-law is a Michigan State fan...although that pretty much goes against my University of Michigan blood. Anyway, I inked up the stamp with a marker, so I just didn't ink up those portions of the stamp...instant customizable stamp! So I paper pieced his shirt, flag, and bottle and colored his spots with just a marker. The sentiment is from the Little Moments set from Paper Makeup Stamps. I used my new pinking die from the Cat's Pajamas to get my two stripes element from the layout.

Only one more Color Challenge to go and I will have done them all. Kinda excited about that...not really sure why exactly...maybe because I don't normally get to finish multiple challenges like that very often. Anyway, last one is done and will be showing up soon. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - George, Little Moments (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Brocade Blue, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand Patterned Paper (SU!); Ink - Early Espresso Marker, Brocade Blue Marker, Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder (Provo), Pinking Edge Die (The Cat's Pajamas), Brocade Blue Brads (SU!), Tim Holtz Edge Distresser (Ranger), scissors, dimensionals

Moody Love

One more post before I check out for the night...see I told you I have been busy with these fun color challenges! This one is for the Moxie Fab World Metallics Color Challenge in honor of Paper Crafts Color Inspiration special issue. I used the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #174 for my layout.

I got the Couple of Moodies from Paper Makeup Stamps recently and wanted to get it inky. It is perfect for Valentine's Day or maybe even a wedding...basically anything love themed! I went for the less is more in the coloring area and I kinda like it! The cutie couple was embossed with gold embossing powder and I just colored the swirlies behind them with the Pink Pirouette marker. The hearts are chipboard hearts embossed with gold embossing powder as well. The final touch of gold was the scalloped piece that was embossed in gold that is behind the white panel. Speaking of the white panel...I actually used shimmer white, but you totally cannot tell in my pic. Hard to get a picture of that shimmer white I tell ya! The pink bow was my final touch. I kept thinking the card was too simple, so I stamped some text on the base pink cardstock tone-on-tone style...perfect touch.

That is all for me tonight. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - A Couple of Moodies (Paper Makeup Stamps), By Definition (SU! - retired); Paper - Pink Pirouette, Shimmer White (SU!); Ink - Pink Pirouette and Pink Pirouette Marker (SU!), Versamark (Tsukineko); Accessories - Heart Chipboard (SU!), Gold Embossing Powder (Ranger), Pink Satin Ribbon (Offray), heat gun, dimensionals

Baby Stardust

I am back with another of the Color Challenges in honor of the Color Inspiration celebration over at Moxie Fab World. Sorry, no witty insight into life today...I am actually at a loss for words. Strange, I know! Maybe because I am trying to do this quickly before I have to leave to pick-up my son from gymnastics...maybe those winter blahs are rearing their ugly head...whatever the reason, all I have for you today is a card (oh and I have a couple more coming too!).

So this is for the Monochromatic Color Challenge...the challenge was for some lovely shade of pink, which I had none of the exact shades, so I went with three shade of pink I did have! I used the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #91 for my layout and as I upload this I realize I totally did not include the little circle that was suppose to have text in it on my card...oh well! And since this card is Baby themed, it fits perfectly for the current Verve Diva Dare Challenge this month. So all of that being said, the card is pretty basic. The bunny was paper pieced and faux stitched with a white gel pen. The ribbon is actually two pieces: the white satin ribbon and then a piece of lace that I had.

Well in keeping with my not too much to say, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Practically Perfect (Verve Stamps); Paper - Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette (SU!); Ink - Regal Rose (SU!); Accessories - white gel pen (sakura), Labels 16 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), white satin ribbon (Offray), white pearl (Oriental Trading), Swiss Dots embossing folder (Provo), dimensionals

Bold and Brightly Tied Up in Love

Are you ready for some prizes...a whole bunch of prizes? Paper Makeup Stamps is helping Paper Sundaes Challenge Blog celebrate their First Birthday....and they are only one of the many sponsors (which means there is a lot to win and lots of chances to win!). The challenge this week is an easy one...just pick one of the past year of challenges and go with it! So make sure you check out the Paper Sundaes Challenge Blog for all of the details...there is a Blog Hop to go along with it!

So for my card I went with a recent Paper Sundaes challenge of using Circles. I chose the Viva La Verve Sketch Challenge #2 for my layout and the Moxie Fab World Bold & Bright Color Challenge in honor of the Color Inspiration Special Issue by Paper Crafts. And since this is a Valentine's related card, it just happens to fit the Paper Crafts January Gallery Challenge too! Wow that is a lot of challenges for one card...at least for me! I gotta say I loved this color combo, but it was a challenge to color a big image like this with just these colors. I had to really restrain myself from adding another color to the bunnies! Speaking of bunnies...aren't they just the cutest?! These are Billy and Bianca all tied up in love...makes me remember the days of high school when it was a form of courtship to duck tape the one you liked. I was duct taped a few times so I was pretty good at getting out of it too! I can distinctly remember that my now husband was one of those duct tapers back then! Anyway Billy and Bianca Love Bunnies are the latest additions to the Retro Cutie Critters line by Paper Makeup Stamps.

I colored them with an aquabrush and markers (for the colors) and an ink pad (for the black). The little "love" at the bottom is from the "with love" sentiment in the Little Moments Sentiment set from Paper Makeup Stamps. I happen to find a button from the Cat's Pajamas Candy Sprinkles set that matched perfectly so I went with that instead of a bow.

Four more color combos in honor of the Color Inspiration for Cardmakers issue to go...so you will see me soon! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Billy & Bianca Love Bunnies, Little Moments Sentiments (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!), Basic White (Papertrey Ink), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Melon Mambo Marker, Tangerine Tango Marker (SU!); Accessories - Black Satin Ribbon (Offray), Orange Button from Candy Sprinkles Button Collection (Cat's Pajamas), Heart Blocks embossing folder (Provo), thin white satin ribbon (Offray), Clear Stars Glitter Pen (Sakura), Circle and Big Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), aquabrush, dimensionals

Angelfish in Jewel Tones

Well Hugs and Fishes to all of you! Speaking of fishes, sometime I will have to go into our trials and tribulations with my son's fish tank...having some difficulty keeping fish alive! But I will spare you the story right now...mainly because I want to keep this shorter today.

I have been seeing the sneak peeks for the new Paper Crafts Color Inspiration Issue coming out soon and wow, I am loving it! Beyond sketches, color combos are my next favorite...talk about having to take the decisions out of my hand...all I am left to decide is what stamps will fit! So I jumped at the challenge to do the Moxie Fab World Jewel Tones Challenge in honor of the Color Inspiration Issue. Be forewarned that there are 6 color challenges and I am attempting to do them all!

I decided to take one more decision out of my hands and use the Mojo Sketch Challenge #172
for my layout. I stamped Angie the Angelfish, part of the Retro Cutie Critters line from Paper Makeup Stamps, in Whisper White and embossed her with white embossing powder. I tried coloring her in with a blender pen and ink pads, but the Not Quite Navy color looked more Ballet Blue then and didn't really fit. So I resorted to paper piecing her together from Elegant Eggplant and Not Quite Navy cardstock. Then I sponged So Saffron around her and added the stickles for some glitter!

That is all for me. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Angie the Angelfish, Cutie Critter Sayings (Paper Makeup Stamps); Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant (SU!); Accessories - Tiny Bubbles embossing folder (Provo), white embossing powder (SU!), Oval Nestabilities Die (Spellbinders), So Saffron Brads (SU!), Stardust Stickles (Ranger), dimensionals