Life is Good...Well it Could Be Better

Ahhh, I am late...I am late...I am late for an important date! See life seem to have gotten in the way. This week I managed to get a cold during the summer, so I allowed myself to rest a few days, but then realized I was now behind on my commitments. So I managed to get this card together for the Sweet Stop Challenge before leaving for a camping weekend, but I didn't get it posted until now. What is worse is this is my last Sweet Stop Challenge as a Sugar Baby...so wouldn't you know it with my luck, I am late! I got it in on time for the Sweet Stop blog, just failed to get it here in time. So as my time with the Sweet Stop Sugar Babies ends, I thank them all for a fun 6 months and I especially thank Korin for giving me this awesome opportunity! I have had a blast and I know you will see me again...as I really do have a hard time making a card without a sketch anymore!

So we are now at Sweet Stop Challenge #62! I was trying really hard due to the "not feeling well" and camping stuff I mentioned above to keep this card simple and quick...yeah it definitely wasn't quick! Think part of it was the "not feeling well", but not sure why this was difficult to pull together. Anyway I started off with a rub-on from the Eastern Elegance collection (retired SU!) and adorned it with red rhinestone stickers. I pulled out the Raspberry Tart DSP (again retired, but oh so loved) as used that for my other layers. The giant sparkle red rhinestone sticker is from Bazzill...love that thing! My last details to make the card complete were the little groupings of red rhinestones at the bottom and on the skewed piece and the row of white dots along the horizontal piece.

So now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies (and bid a fond farewell to those others that are leaving): Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with this week's sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog. Stay tuned to the Sweet Stop blog to also see who the next Sugar Babies will be...I am sure they will inspire you! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - None; Paper - Rose Red, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart DSP (SU!); Ink - None; Accessories - Eastern Elegance Rub-ons (SU!), Red Sparkle Rhinestone Sticker (Bazzill Basics), Red Rhinestone stickers (Darice), Scallop Border Punch (SU!), Red Sparkle Ribbon (JoAnns), White Gel Pen, dimensionals

A Sweet Father's Day

My poor husband is not getting as much as a Father's Day as I have done for him in the past. Trying to stain the deck and fit in visits with our fathers is not leaving a whole lot of time for him! Plus he already has his gift! Oh well! The kids will make him a little something so hopefully that makes him feel better. What plans do you have?

Well speaking of Father's Day, I of course needed some cards! So I turned the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #61 into a Father's Day card...and looking back on it, I see I not only turned the sketch, but changed it a little as well. Well it is suppose to be a starting point, right?! Anyway, I colored the tree stamp directly with markers and stamped it on Whisper White cardstock and then cut it out with oval Nestabilities. The sides were sponged with Sahara Sand. The patterned paper is from To the Nines by Stampin' Up! Some more tearing, distressing, and sponging to make the previous stuff not so "bright" and the flag "Father's Day" with a corduroy brad (love these!) finished off my card.

But, but there is a twist this week...you need to finish off the inside of the card too! Not something I do very often, so I kept it simple and just brought some of the design elements from the outside to the inside. So more tearing, distressing, and sponging...then it was done. I really love the earthy masculine feel to the card...perfect for Father's Day.

So now you need to check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a card yourself...don't forget the twist of finishing off the inside as well...and post it to the Sweet Stop blog for a chance to win a prize! Have fun getting inky, a wonderful Father's Day weekend, and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Forest Friends (SU!), All Year Cheer III (SU!), Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - To the Nines Pattern Paper, Sahara Sand, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Sahara Sand (SU!); Accessories - Chocolate Corduroy Brad (SU!), Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Photo Corner Punch (SU!), dimensionals, scissors, sponge

Bridal Shower Sweet Stop

I have been a busy little bee on my end. See my husband's cousin is getting married and I am helping throw her a bridal shower this weekend. She is an amazing woman and it may have taken longer than she expected to find her "One", but it was all worth the wait! And man are we helping her celebrate. So for her shower I did the invitations, party favor boxes, and an advice tree...all of this you will see in another post...really hoping she is excited about all of it as I am! So even though my week prior has been a lot of really late nights, it was all worth it to celebrate with her this weekend.

So obviously I needed a Bridal Shower card for her party, so I used the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #60 to create one. Now I will admit I took some artistic liberties here and I will say that I followed the guide of the sketch and not the specifics. Does my card look anything like the sketch? Anyway the flower from Verve Stamp's Beautiful You was stamped and embossed in black twice on the Pomegranate Splash cardstock and once on the Raspberry Cream patterned paper. Then I pieced it together and gave it some dimension. A large pearl sticker finished it off nicely! The greeting was embossed in black as well on the oval shape...my oval went a different direction that the sketch, but it is an oval...more than I can say about the flower that is taking the place of a rectangle! The same patterned paper was used for the strip across the card and I embossed the shimmer white (hard to capture that shimmer on the camera) cardstock with the Textile embossing folder. Then the card was finished with a white satin ribbon.

Now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog. Have fun creating and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps), So Many Sayings (SU! - retired); Paper - Pomegranate Splash (Bazzill Basics), Shimmer White, Basic Black (SU!), Bittersweet Raspberry Cream (Basic Grey); Ink - Versamark; Accessories - Pearl Stickers (Oriental Trading), white satin ribbon (Offray), Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder (Provo), Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Scallop Edge Punch (SU!), black embossing powder, scissors, dimensionals

Purple or Pink?

I am officially declaring myself a gardener! Ok I may be jumping the gun just a wee bit. All I have right now are strawberries (big, juicy, yummy ones!), so I have no idea if the rest of what I planted will work out or not. I really should take no credit for the strawberries. I planted 6 plants last year and just let them do whatever...they kind of took over. I had no idea they had the sprawling nature. Now I have lots of strawberries...although some bugs have gotten to quite a few, we have a nice little supply in the fridge. Kind of fun! Anybody else trying to grow anything? We will have to wait and see about my pumpkins, corn, beans, sugar snap peas, and tomatoes....not real confident, but hopeful.

So it is Saturday and that means it is Sweet Stop time! Sweet Stop Sketch #59 is a nice simple one...definitely one to go back to a lot. I was in need of some anniversary cards, so I went that route. I stamped the background stamp, By Definition (SU! retired), in Orchid Opulence, rubbed it with my embossing buddy (the important step that I always forget!), then I stamped the first bird in Versamark. I embossed him with clear embossing powder, then masked him and stamped the second bird behind him which was embossed again. Then I sponged Elegant Eggplant over top of the birds and finally cut them out with an Oval Nestabilities. The branch was stamped with Elegant Eggplant and then stamped and cut out of the flower background paper for the leaves. I really wanted to use lace on the card, but none of the lace I had on hand looked right, so I used the Eyelets Borderabilities to create a pseudo lace. Some pearls to pretty every thing up and I felt complete.

I liked how it turned out so much and I needed a second anniversary card, so I gave it a shot in pink, vanilla, and gold. I think I like the purple on better...If I had a vanilla ink pad that actually was opaque instead of the gold, I might have liked it better. What vanilla ink pads do you all recommend? My Very Vanilla one from SU! is not so good...wasn't from day one. I would have sent it back, but I did not open it for like 5 months or something after buying it! Oh well!

So now you need to go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch yourself and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog. Have a great time getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details - Purple

Stamps - Anniversary Birds (Verve Stamps), By Definition (SU!); Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Orchid Opulence, Whisper White (SU!), Hydrangeas (Paper Pizzazz); Ink - Orchid Opulence, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White (SU!); Accessories - Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Eyelets Borderabilities Petite, Crystal Clear and White embossing powder, pearl stickers (Oriental Trading), Ticket Corner Punch, sponge, dimensionals

The Engineering Details - Pink

Stamps - Anniversary Birds (Verve Stamps), By Definition (SU!); Paper - Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla (SU!), Hydrangeas (Paper Pizzazz); Ink - Pretty in Pink, Rose Red (SU!); Accessories - Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Eyelets Borderabilities Petite, Crystal Clear and Gold embossing powder, pearl stickers (Oriental Trading), Ticket Corner Punch, sponge, dimensionals

Superstar Sweet Stop

Whoopsie! I am a wee bit late on posting my Sweet Stop Sketch card! After my extremely busy week last week, my body shut down over the weekend...fever, chills, aches, you name it...so I am still recouping from that! Doing much better now, just still behind. I did get my card on the Sweet Stop blog, just didn't get my own blog updated till now!

Anyway, my Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #58 card was made for a graduation card. So I pulled out some paper from the High School Mat Stack (DCWV) and my Verve Seeing Stars set. The silvery crazy lines on the stars are part of one of the papers in the stack...I just stamped the stars on the back side and cut them out...a star punch would have been much easier! I crumbled, tore, and distressed the white panel behind the star and then ran my Crushed Curry marker over the edges. Same was done for the greeting half-oval. Finished it off with some sparkle silver brads in the corners. Well since I am late and catching up, I will leave you with that!

Go check out the creations by all of the Sugar Babies! Then make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog! Have fun getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Seeing Stars, Starlight Starbright (Verve Stamps); Paper - Crushed Curry, Whisper White (SU!), High School Mat Stack (DCWV); Ink - Basic Black, Crushed Curry marker; Accessories - silver glitter brads (American Crafts), dimensionals, scissors

Quick Sweet Stop

Ok I feel like I am slacking a bit again this week. It has been a rough week for me and I felt very lucky to have even gotten this card made! This week consisted of laying 10 yards of mulch on my own, making 36 bridal shower invitations (to be shown later), baking and decorating a cake for my daughter whom turned 2...all while being sick! Ugh! I am ready for a day off!

So in light of the fact that I am tired, I will keep this short. I obviously needed a birthday card for my daughter...totally cannot believe she is 2 already!...so I used the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #57. I loosely followed the sketch...but had to change a few elements to make it work for my daughter who loves Elmo! So I thought out this card ahead of time, but when I actually sat down to make it, it took me only 20 minutes...that is super fast for me! Yeah it is pretty basic, but I like basic and it only too me 20 minutes. I was shooting for 10 minutes, but I struggled with the rhinestone addition. Anyway, I made Elmo from punched/die cut shapes...found lots of renditions on Splitcoast Stampers. I stamped a "2" randomly on Green Galore cardstock in Green Galore ink and used a satin black ribbon to finish it off. I felt there was too much blank space at the top right corner on the dotted paper and rhinestones directly on the paper didn't look right. So I added a part of the word window punch there and put the rhinestones on top. I had wrote the text around Elmo...I just couldn't figure out how to get it around the bow and it was already stuck down so I couldn't move it up. So there you have it. Hopefully next week I will be a bit more "fancy" or "creative" than I have for the last two weeks.

Now go check out the creations by the rest of the Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a better card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog. Thanks for going easy on me and for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - None; Paper - Real Red, Green Galore, Basic Black, Whisper White, Only Orange (SU!), Baby Safari (Little Yellow Bicycle, I think); Ink - Green Galore (SU!), Black pen; Accessories - Scallop Circle, Circle, and Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Black Rhinestone Stickers (Darice), Word Window Punch (SU!), 1/4" Circle Punch, Black Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

No Mojo Sweet Stop

Wow why is it so tough getting back into things after a vacation? I think I got a little to used to no cooking, no cleaning, and lots of sleeping! It made it even harder when we came back to the squalls of May...seriously so many rainy days since we got back! But the weekend is suppose to be nicer, so I hoping my motivation should be better with the weather!

Well with the hard time getting back into the normal routine, I also had a very hard time trying to find my mojo...oh where did that little mojo go?? So I apologize in advance for my card for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #56. I really gave it my best shot, but it just wasn't happening and I didn't have it in me to try again! Ugh! Anyway, in case there are parts you like (go easy on me...remember no mojo!) I stamped the greeting...my husband bought this one for me at Christmas...apparently he expected a card with it and there is a spin on the sketch: For the Guys...stamped it in Basic Black and then cut it out with a circle nestabilities. I embossed it and sponged the Bravo Burgundy ink over top. I used a gold Gelly Roll pen to highlight the "Dad". The paper is from the High School Mat Stack by DCWV.

Now go check out the far better creations by the rest of the Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a better card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog for a chance to win a prize!!! Oh and don't forget the Spin: For the Guys. Thanks for going easy on me and for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - World's Greatest Dad (Greenbrier); Paper - Bravo Burgundy, Pacific Point, Whisper White (SU!), High School Mat Stack (DCWV); Ink - Basic Black, Bravo Burgundy (SU!); Accessories - Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), white star brads (Oriental Trading), Gold Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), Rub-on Black Stripe (SU!), White Gel Pen (Signo), scissors, dimensionals

Flowers for Grandma

Well our vacation was a blast! My son did awesome through it all. Couple moments of complete and utter crankiness due to not sleeping enough, but they usually ended in a nap, which is not something he does often. But when he wasn't going to bed till about 10 pm and only sleeping in an extra hour or so, his body just plum wore out a couple of times! My husband and I just had the best time seeing his reaction to Disney World, the rides at Disney, the Cruise ship, snorkeling, and the Atlantis Resort aquariums. I am not sure how he processed it all. And for anyone that is looking for a vacation with kids, let me tell ya a cruise is a fantastic way to go! The kids activities kept him entertained and he kept choosing "Camp Carnival" over having dinner and seeing the show with us...which was kind of nice to get some dinners where you weren't trying to keep him entertained the whole time. Overall, a wonderful experience!

So now that I am back, all of the sudden it is Mother's Day...so glad that I thought to make my last cards Mother's Day cards because I just wouldn't be able to get them together by Sunday otherwise! Anyway, obviously I made my Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #55 another Mother's Day card...this time it is for Grandma. Grandma is a pink fanatic, so I of course had to oblige. I pulled out the Raspberry Tart DSP from Stampin' Up! and stamped the flowers from Greenhouse Garden in Rose Red and Cameo Coral to match. All of the flowers were cut out and layered together and a pearl sticker was added to the centers that are visible. I pleated the ribbon mainly because I couldn't figure out where to put a bow or knot. Then the scallops below the ribbon also got some pearl stickers. Last touch was to pierce holes around the main panel.

Now you have to check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog...we would love to see what you do with the sketch! Have fun getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering.

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Greenhouse Garden (SU!), Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Old Olive, Rose Red, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart DSP (SU!); Ink - Cameo Coral, Rose Red; Accessories - 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon, Pearl Stickers (Oriental Trading), Scallop Edge Punch, Word Window Punch, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, dimensionals

On the Beach

Well Happy Saturday to you! As you read this, I should be running around with my son and husband through the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom park. We are on a little vacation...just in time according to my husband. Isn't that funny when you finally get to the day you leave for vacation, you feel like there is no possible way you could make it one more day?! We decided to only take our son on the trip (quick Disney trip and then a Bahamas Cruise) and leave our daughter home with the grandparents. She still takes an afternoon nap and we felt like that would be tough to work around when you only have so much time at each port...plus she won't remember right?! Ok feeling a little bit guilty leaving her behind, but we will manage to have fun!

Since I will be enjoying some relaxing beach time (or at least relaxing deck time), I went for a beach theme for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #54. I stamped the beach chair image from the retired Sketches set in Versamark and embossed it with Crystal Clear embossing powder. Then I bleach painted the image...funny thing, I overdid the bleach on the first one, so i had to do it again and the bleached part came out a completely different color (talking vanilla to blue!)...apparently different lots of cardstock bleach differently! The rest of the card is fairly self-explanatory. I separated the hemp twine which is made of three strands...it gives it a cool crimpy rough look.

Now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog. Enjoy getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Sketches (retired SU!), Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Apricot Appeal, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum (SU!), Shell pattern paper (unknown); Ink - Versamark, Perfect Plum; Accessories - Antique Brass brads (SU!), Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), hemp twine, small starfish, dimensionals

Sparkly Sweet Stop

Well happy Saturday to ya! We are expecting rain which is kind of a bummer since I was hoping to get to some yardwork. Maybe it will be scattered rain so I can get a little bit in.

It is time for another Sweet Stop Challenge! Sweet Stop Challenge #53 to be precise! This was a fun sketch to use...can definitely see using it again. I will begin by saying I may have gone a little sparkly crazy on this one...oh wait, is it even possible to go sparkly crazy? I think not! Although I will say that you can get too much glitter on furniture....seriously that stuff just goes everywhere when you use it! I stamped the large flower from the Women of Life set by Papertrey Ink in Versamark and then used Heat n' Stick powder to get the glitter to stay. I have had this stuff for years, but never used it...pretty cool...the glitter does not come off once you set it. The I stamped the flower center in Pumpkin Pie and popped it up a little on the flower. The stem was stamped in Gable Green. The color combo was taken from the Verve Beach Party Release Color Challenge of Aqua, Orange, and Green. I made the small flowers opposite of the large one (pumpkin pie flower with glitter center). The ribbon is some cool sparkly ribbon I got around Halloween time in the $1 section of JoAnns (although I think they were $2.50).

Now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelly, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog. Enjoy getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering.

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Rainbow Sherbert DSP, Gable Green, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Gable Green, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise; Accessories - Turquoise Glitter (Martha Stewart), Heat n Stick powder (SU!), Scallop Edge Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Sparkly Orange Ribbon (JoAnns), scissors, dimensionals

The Sweet Less Traveled Road

Welcome to Sweet Stop Saturday! Hope that all of you are having a great weekend! This week's challenge, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #52, has a spin and a prize up fro grabs...so pay attention! The spin is to use buttons and bows on your card. Sounds easy enough, right?!

My lovely sister-in-law will be graduating law school (I think technically she has already graduated, but just hasn't walked yet) in May and she also became a US citizen...so I figured she is overdue for a congrats type card. I love this quote from the Verve Stamps Beautiful You set, especially for those that have just achieved something big (law school qualifies!) and /or made a big decision (in her instance becoming a US citizen...she is from Poland). I colored the sentiment with Dusty Durango, Taken with Teal, and Old Olive markers, then stamped it. I used some flowers from the Eastern Blooms stamp set. The paper is from the retired Bali Breeze collection...still love those papers!

So my buttons are obviously my little flower shaped buttons by SU!, but my bow was a little harder to come by. I liked the look of my ribbon "stripe" behind my flowers, but I felt like any bow on that would take away from my flowers...so I tied my button on the stamped flowers with some hemp twine and made my bow there...that counts right? I just couldn't get a bow any place else, so it will have to do!

Now go check out the creations by the rest of the Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Then create a card with the sketch (don't forget the spin!) and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog to get in the running for a prize!!! Hope you all have fun getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps), Eastern Blooms (SU!); Paper - Bali Breeze DSP (retired SU!), Taken with Teal, Dusty Durango Textured, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Dusty Durango marker, Taken with Teal marker, Old Olive marker, Button Latte buttons (SU!), hemp twine, scallop border punch (SU!), white taffeta ribbon (SU!), dimensionals, glue dots, scissors

An Elephant and a Baby

Happy Saturday all! I think we are suppose to have warmer weather this weekend...I sure hope so cuz this little cold spell sucked! But it did bring a lot of rain and so everything is very green and I finally have Daffodils and Tulips starting to bloom. My kids and I actually even started some seeds inside for some vegetables and flowers. Not really expecting much, but thought it might be fun for us to "care" for our garden. I am not known for a green thumb though, so I am just hoping we get a couple crops out of this to show the kids.

This weeks sketch, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #51, was a fun one and one that I can see falling back on in the future. I needed another baby boy card for some very late congrats and found this adorable digi image at Sweet n' Sassy Stamps called Bella and Baby. Can you get much sweeter than elephants and babies...I think not! I printed him three times (2 times on patterned paper and once on white) and cut out the different sections of the image. The elephants body, then head and trunk (with the baby in the trunk), and then just the baby. I "tried" to add some shading to the elephant with a blender pen and ink pads (feel like I am getting closer and closer to wanting to buy some Copics) and just colored the baby and the elephant's toes straight with markers. All of this was popped up with dimensionals which you can see better in the detail shot.

For my angled element, I stamped a Baby Script stamp (old from Inkadinkadoo) in Ballet Blue on Ballet Blue cardstock. That panel and my elephant image were matted onto Green Galore cardstock. The Special Delivery sentiment (from the Practically Perfect set of Verve Stamps) was stamped in Ballet Blue, punch out, matted, and then hung on the Green Galore grosgrain ribbon. The last touch was the striped green brads by K & Company.

Now go check out the creations by the other sugar babies: Audrey, Candace, Dana, Julie, Kathy, Kelli, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make your own card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog! Have fun getting inky and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering.

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Bella and Baby Digi (Sweet n' Sassy Stamps), Practically Perfect (Verve Stamps), Baby Script (Inkadinkadoo); Paper - Green Galore, Whisper White, Ballet Blue (SU!), Rainbow Sherbert Patterned Paper (SU!); Ink - Green Galore, Ballet Blue, Ballet Blue Marker, Blush Blossom Marker; Accessories - Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Provo Crafts), Green Galore grosgrain ribbon (SU!), 1" and 1-1/4" Circle Punches (SU!), Striped Green Brads (K & Company), dimensionals, scissors

Teenager Sweet Stop

Well I hope that this post finds everyone in a wonderful Easter weekend. The weather had been beautiful here, we put up my son's new trampoline (his birthday present), and we have enjoyed having Daddy around. But through all of that I try to remember the true reason for the weekend...that Christ sacrificed himself to us from our sins...pretty much makes me want to cry every time I really think about that and all that He endured. We haven't been to a Good Friday service since we had kids...just feel the service is so somber that I don't want them being a distraction from what people need to get from the service. Anyway, I miss those services (someday we will go back when the kids are a little older and can sit still) because they force me to acknowledge the sacrifice and remind me to thank God for all He had done. In place of a Good Friday service, I read about this awesome little thing you can do with kids the night before Easter: Resurrection Rolls (the directions are down at the bottom of the post...no pictures, but it doesn't sound hard!). Puts that Sacrifice in a way that helps kids understand it too. I plan on trying this for the first time this weekend...wanna join me?

Well now on to the Sweet Stop Challenge #50! Ok so we all know that male cards are tough, right?! Well how about teenager male cards?! Holy cow...talk about tough! So these are my attempts at making some birthday cards for my teenage nephews (18 and 14). For my first card, I used some paper from the Rock Star Mat Stack by DCWV and then stamped my striped stars (from Verve's Seeing Stars set) in Basic Black on Going Gray cardstock. I cut out all of the stars and assembled them on a circle of scrap cardstock. Then I stamped the greeting, cut it out and embossed it with Circle Nestabilities, and then sponged the Going Gray ink over top. The greeting was just popped up over my circle of stars. Since once again this is a male card, I felt I couldn't use ribbon, so I placed my circle of stars over a strip of white cardstock with a Star brad and some distressed and curled strips of paper. I added a strip of paper on the inside (just adhered on the sides) to hold the gift card...cuz' you know I cannot buy an 18 year old a present!

Then since I was in need of another teenager male card, I decided to use the sketch to make one more...so lookie here, two cards with one sketch! This time I flipped the sketch though because the patterned paper I wanted to use was a more horizontal design. So the pattern paper (High School Mat Stack by DCWV) looked like a notepad paper with scribbles and spilled ink on it...so I decided it needed to look like it really came from a 14 year old. That means it couldn't be neat and tidy...no, it had to be crumpled and worn. So I crumpled it, distressed the edges, and even tore it a little before I glued it down. Then I used a coordinating piece of patterned paper from the stack to cut out the dark brown circle for my greeting (mainly because I did not have a brown that matched it!). It too was crumpled, distressed and torn before being mounted on a Kraft circle. The greeting was cut out of Bashful Blue cardstock with the Cuttlebug Birthday Wishes die. I couldn't resist adding a little sparkle to the star with a Clear Star Gelly Roll pen. Last touch was some hemp twine which I realized could be separated at the ends to give this awesome curly fuzzy stuff.

So there you have it...my versions of a teenager male card...kinda glad that is over with for awhile...really want to get back to some girly things now! Anyway, make sure to check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Audrey, Candace, Julie, Nancy, Renata, Korin, and the 3 NEW Sugar Babies, Dana, Kathy, and Kelli!!! Please make sure to stop by their blogs and leave them some love! Better yet, make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog! Have a blessed Easter weekend and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details - Rockstar Card

Stamps - Seeing Stars (Verve Stamps), Starlight Starbright (Verve Stamps); Paper - Rock Star Mat Stack (DCWV), Basic White (Papertrey Ink), WHisper White, Going Gray; Ink - Basic Black, Going Gray; Accessories - Star Brads (SU!), Silver Brads (SU!), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ticket Corner Punch (SU!), dimensionals, scissors

The Engineering Details - Happy BDay Card

Stamps - None; Paper - High School Mat Stack (DCWV), Bashful Blue, Kraft (SU!); Ink - None; Accessories - Cuttlebug Birthday Wishes Die (Provo), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Clear Star Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura), hemp twine, dimensionals

Sweet Stop Baby

Well happy Saturday everyone! I am in the middle of a full 24 hours by myself! Can you believe it? My husband had a hockey game through work with the branch in Canada and my in-laws are back from Florida and they took the kids! Let me tell you...it is fantastic! I got the house cleaned up and it has stayed clean for longer than 10 minutes, I got myself some yummy Thai food, and I started tackling my ever-looming photo album project (working on 2007...yup that far behind...don't judge me!). It has been good so far and I have a little more time before I pick up the kids. Pretty much exactly what I needed after the last month of single parenthood!

So I pretty much took the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #49 at face value...in other words I stuck to the sketch almost completely! And since I have been sick this week and my mojo was missing a tad, I kept my card on the simple side...hopefully still worthy though! I printed the Precious Baby digi stamp from Sweet n' Sassy Stamps (how cute is that image?!) on Whisper White cardstock and simply colored in parts of it with my SU! markers. I used a blender pen and ink pad on the tree trunk because it was a bigger area that I felt needed a little more definition. I added black brads in 3 of the corners as dictated by the sketch...see I told you I stuck to the sketch! The red panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder and the pattern paper was the retired "" set from Stampin' Up!. The sentiment came from the Practically Perfect stamp set by Verve Stamps.

Well this week is the last week for some of the Sugar Babies. We will be introducing some new Babies next week, but please give some extra special attention to Ann, Jodi, and Nicole as they share their last cards as Sugar Babies! Then check out the rest of the creations by the rest of us: Audrey, Candace, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin! Better yet, try the sketch out for yourself and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog! Have a fantastic rest of the weekend and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Precious Baby Digi (Sweet n' Sassy), Practically Perfect (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bashful Blue, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White (SU!), Banbury DSP (SU!); Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black, Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa, Real Red Marker, Bashful Blue Marker; Accessories - Black Brads (SU!), Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Red stitched ribbon (JoAnns), dimensionals

Sweet Stop Furry Lion

Well I am having a very busy week...hence my absence from anything stamping related! I am actually lucky that I am getting this post set up! My baby boy turned 5 on Friday! How can that be? I swear it was just yesterday that he was born! Hard to believe it. So as you read this, I am entertaining 12 four and five year olds in my house for his party. It should be pretty fun. We went with a Ninja Warrior theme...anyone else watch that show? I will explain more later and post pics of all.

So this week's Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #48 was used to make my son his birthday card. This week you get to break out your flock because there is a fuzzy wuzzy spin to the sketch! I turned the sketch immediately because I planned on using my lion from the Stampin' Up! set Wild About You...it fits better in landscape than in portrait orientation. The lion was stamped twice...once in pumpkin pie and once with the mane being More Mustard. I added brown flock to the mane and popped up his head over my base lion. The rest of the card was kept simple as it is for a 5 year old boy! And due to my major time constraints as I write this (trying to get ready for the party), I am not going to go into anymore detail. Let me know if there are any questions.

Now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a card with the sketch yourself and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog...we would love to see it! Have a great weekend and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Wild ABout You (SU!); Paper - Bordering Blue, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard (SU!), pattern paper (Basic Grey); Ink - Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Basic Black; Accessories - Bordering Blue eyelets, hemp twine, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Deckle Scissors, Crop-a-Dile, Button (unknown), dimensionals

Flower Sweet Stop

Well happy Saturday to you all! We have a busy Saturday around here. We actually get to see my husband this morning (shocker I know lately) as we are taking the kids to a kid-oriented performance at the Detroit Symphony and then my son has another birthday party to attend to...then only one more week until his birthday party! I think I am most excited about getting to spend some time with my husband...seriously he is working way too much right now!

Before I get into the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #47 for this week, I would like to take a moment to toot my own horn! My Mojo Love Birds card was selected as one of the winners of the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #128! So exciting...new Verve Stamps coming to me!

Now onto the regularly scheduled programming...it is Sweet Stop Time! I will apologize in advance if you are tired of seeing this paper from me...it is a large pack of paper and it is really pretty...hard to not use it! Anyway, I stamped the base flower from Greenhouse Garden in Pink Passion and then the detail flower in Real Red. The stem was first stamped in Kiwi Kiss and then Glorious Green. The "Mom" sentiment is from the Women of Life stamp set by Papertrey Ink.

The hummingbird is actually from the top of the pattern paper...I cut it out and then cut out the wings of a second one. The second set of wings was glued on just to give it some more dimension. The last touch was to add some pearl stickers to the scallop edge and the center of the flower.

Now go check out the rest of the creations by the Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog! Have fun getting crafty and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Greenhouse Garden (SU!), Women of Life (PTI); Paper - Glorious Green, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Passion, Whisper White (SU!), Sunshine Pad (Me & My Big Ideas); Ink - Pink Passion, Real Red, Kiwi Kiss, Glorious Green; Accessories - Pearl Stickers (Oriental Trading Company), Scallop Edge Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, dimensionals

Sweet Stop Birthday

Well, lookie, lookie, it is Saturday! That means that it is Sweet Stop time! The week's sketch, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #46, was a great one, but for some reason I was not in the mood. Not sure if the mojo was gone or what, but i definitely struggled with this one. I needed a boy's birthday card for one of my son's upcoming birthday parties...it is like birthday city around here! Looking back on the card I see some things I would change, but oh well!

Anyway, I pulled out an old SAB set, Alphabet Soup, and colored the stamp directly with markers. This was layered on Riding Hood Red (old In Color) and Green Galore. I used the Birthday Wishes embossing folder for the block underneath the image. It needed a little something extra so I dragged my white craft pad across the top. Looking back I think this should have been layered on Green Galore too, but too late now! I used a strip of the pattern paper with the Scallop Trim Border Punch on a Summer Sun strip.

Now go check out the rest of the creations by the Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop blog! Have fun getting crafty and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Alphabet Soup, Quirky Numbers (retired SU!); Paper - Transportation Dots pattern paper (TCP Studios), Brocade Blue, Green Galore, Summer Sun, Riding Hood Red (SU!); Ink - Summer Sun marker, Green Galore marker, Brocade Blue marker; Accessories - Cuttlebug Birthday Wishes embossing folder (Provo), Brocade Blue Brads (SU!), Scallop Trim Border Punch (SU!), 1" Circle Punch (SU!), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ticket Corner Punch (SU!), dimensionals

Friendly Sweet Stop

Well, well what do you know...it is Sweet Stop time! Is it Saturday yet? Not sure why it has been a rough week...maybe it is because my husband just told me that he will need to be working longer hours and most Saturdays for about a month. I think the looming thought of little to no breaks is a huge weight on my shoulders. I love my kids, but I get worn out from them sometimes. Between the chatterbox boy that literally never stops talking or asking questions to the starting to talk but still screams far too much little girl I feel like I could go crazy some days! So I may be using my therapy sessions on here more often! Not feeling very chatty this evening (the whole huge weight thing), so let's get right to the topic at hand.

This week's sketch, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #45, was a tougher one for me...remember I am an engineer by trade, so putting things askew is not something I do very often. But that is why I love sketch challenges...it forces me to do things that I wouldn't do very often! I threw a weird, in my opinion, color combo together. Started out normal with Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo, and Bermuda Bay, but then I threw in the Blush Blossom because the largest button I had for my flower happen to be that color. But I think it works...or is it a little strange? Anyway I used the Women of Life stamp set by Papertrey Ink making the largest flower more of my focal point. The ribbon is by Offray (from Wal-Mart...love it when I find cool ribbons there cuz I can sneak them in the grocery bill!).

Now go check out the creations by the other Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Leave them some love and the create a card of your own and link it up to the Sweet Stop Blog! Have fun and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo textured, Bermuda Bay, Blush Blossom, Whisper White; Ink - Kiwi Kiss, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Blush Blossom, Whisper White Craft; Accessories - Pink Polka Dot Ribbon (Offray), white gel pen, old button, hemp twine, dimensionals

Two Cards for One Sketch

It is Sweet Stop time once again! If you are waiting for my hilarious-unless-you-actually-to-do-go-through-it story of my trip down to Florida with my kids and sister, I am going to make you wait a little bit longer. I don't want make this post too long...but I promise to share it soon! I am sure you will all be waiting with baited breath!

So this week's sketch challenge, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #44, has a slight twist...flowers! You can have flowers on the card anywhere and in any size, just as long as there is a flower somewhere! I decided to make my four squares into one picture...kind of a mosaic picture thing. I stamped the image from the Summer by the Sea set from Stampin' Up! in Brilliance Graphite Black ink on watercolor paper. I watercolored the image getting my colors from the patterned paper underneath. My mosaic picture was mounted on black cardstock. All of that is popped up on my patterned paper. The last touch was some pink half pearl stickers. I kept it pretty simple.

But the layout (minus the flower part) made me really think of a masculine card, so I went for it. Once again the card is kept simple...which works even better for a masculine card. I stamped a few circles from the Circle Circus stamp set randomly and then cut it up into squares. The greeting, from Seeing Stars by Verve Stamps, was stamped on a square in Night of Navy ink. Each square was mounted on Sahara Sand and then all of the squares are on Really Rust. The Night of Navy patterned paper is from the Stampin' Up! Hostess patterned paper pack. The last touch was pewter brads in the corner of the stamped squares.

Now you need to check out the other Sugar Babies' creations: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet make a card with the sketch (don't forget the twist) and link it to the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details - Female Card

Stamps - Summer by the Sea (SU!); Paper - Pink Passion, Basic Black (SU!), Sunshine Pad (Me & My Big Ideas), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black, Glorious Green, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Passion, Real Red, Bashful Blue; Accessories - Aquabrush, Pink Half Pearl Stickers (Oriental Trading), dimensionals

The Engineering Details - Male Card

Stamps - Circle Circus (SU!), Seeing Stars (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bordering Blue, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Night of Navy Pattern Paper (SU!); Ink - Bordering Blue, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Night of Navy; Accessories - Pewter Brads, dimensionals