Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 26

I promise, one of these days, I'll have my Double Dare Challenge post up on time! But for now, here's this week's challenge a little late...

Naki's pick this week is to use retiring product

My pick was to include stripes





Here's what I came up with:

Here are the DEEtails:

So, what the heck was I thinking when I picked stripes for the challenge today, because I just wasn't feeling in a very stripey mood! I opted for some diagonal stripes using some washi tape I got a while back from Japan. Then I added a Martha Stewart doily, some greenery using the Little Leaves Sizzlet, an Aviary bird cage and and a clay flower. The new Simply Pressed Clay and molds are quite fun to play with! I added a sentiment from Upsy Daisy. Both the stamp sets used for today's card are retiring - Boohoo :( Both are also stamped in VersaMark and embossed with gold - so lovely! :)

Make sure you visit Naki's blog to see what she made for this challenge! Then create your own card with stripes and your favorite retiring SU! product. Be sure to leave us a comment with a link to your card!

Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge

Another fabulous Pals Paper Arts Challenge starts today! Hooray! Margaret Moody always creates the best sketches... Check out her sketch for the challenge below.

DEEtails:

I was in the mood for some bright yellow blooms, and came up with this unexpected color combination - not too springy, but still very cheerful... I used some polka dot DSP in Soft Suede, layered onto a Cherry Cobbler card and stamped the image from Upsy Daisy in Daffodil Delight. I matted my image with some Soft Suede and adhered it to my card with Stampin' Dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from SU!'s Upsy Daisy onto some Daffodil Delight card stock and punched a hole on the tag. I added some linen thread and tied up my card. Hope you like it!

I'd love to see you play along with our challenge! You'll have the rest of March to play along with Margaret's sketch. Feel free to use any brand of product you like and link up to Pals Paper Arts! Have fun! :)

Fabulous Flowers

Today I'm the guest stamper over at Pals Paper Arts and we're eager to welcome spring and the fabulous flowers that the season brings for us!

Here are the DEEtails for my card:

I started out by punching several scalloped circles and Floral Fusion blooms out of various patterns of Sweet Stitches DSP. I crumpled them up a bit and layered them onto some Whisper White card stock, matted with So Saffron and Riding Hood Red. I liked the shape of the bouquet in the inspiration photo, so I tried to follow the shapes and sizes when I layered my flowers. Then I added some Pearl Jewels in various sizes and clusters. I stamped the sentiment from SU!'s Upsy Daisy in Riding Hood Red on some So Saffron card stock, trimmed it down to size and used a Scallop border punch along the edges. I like how the scalloped edges add a little more interest to the card. Thanks for peeking in today!

Don't forget to check out the new I {Heart} Ribbon Challenge! I can't wait to see your creations!

In The City

Can you guess where we were last Saturday? :) Every other Spring, my dad and his family meet up with us for a week long vacation. This year, we visited New York and Washington DC. I've been really into this blue-ish green color, which has been inspired by our visit to the Statue of Liberty. In fact, today my nails are painted this color, and I'm wearing a tank top to match and a hoodie with this color printed on it. I started calling it Liberty Green. Giggle. I decided to use this color (although the color on the card is a little more blue than my Liberty Green) and made a city scape card as a thank you to my dad for such a fun trip.

I've also decided to enter today's card in this week's Wee Memories Color Inspiration Scrappy Saturday Challenge. It's a perfect fit, especially with the storey behind my inspiration. :) DEEtails for my card: I sketched out how I wanted my city to look before I started out, then cut various building shapes out of Designer Series Paper from the Neutrals collection. I layered the buildings on my card and added a teal bow. Then I tucked in the stamped sentiment from SU!'s Upsy Daisy set and adhered it with some Stampin' Dimensionals. I love the lines and the simplicity of the card, with a great splash of Liberty. :) Hope you like it too! Don't forget there are just a few more days to enter my first I {Heart} Ribbon challenge! The winner will receive a selection of ribbon from Stampin' Up!

Upsy Daisy

This week's ColourQ challenge is just fabulous. I love these colors, don't you?

Here are the DEEtails:

I stamped the image from SU!'s Upsy Daisy in VersaMark ink on Daffodil Delight card stock and embossed it with some white embossing powder. I added a Scallop Edge border in Early Espresso before adhering it to my card, layered with some Kiki Kiss, embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and tied up with some Early Espresso Grosgrain ribbon.

If you haven't checked out my I {Heart} Ribbon Challenge, it's all about ribbon flowers. Hope you'll play along!

Another Doily Card

So, there are quite a few changes around here... I'm not completely satisfied, so bear with me as I slowly make more changes. I promise that most of the content of the blog will remain where it is, and I'm just doing design changes.

Meanwhile, here's today's card... with you guessed it! A doily :)


This one is for the current Color Cue Challenge. Aren't these some fabulous spring colors?


Here are the DEEtails:

I stamped today's doily with the image from SU!'s Upsy Daisy set, and layered it over a piece of leftover Dotty Biscotti from yesterday's card. I added a bit of Scallop Edge Border in Lovely Lilac and a turquoise ribbon from my stash. I topped it off with a sweet bird from SU!'s Always set, stamped in VersaMark, embossed, and popped up with some Stampin' Dimensionals.

Thanks for peeking in today! :)

Time for Tea

Who doesn't love tea and cupcakes? :) Today's card is for this week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. Check out this cool swirly cupcake/mini cake!

Here are the DEEtails for my card:

I used a bit of Pale Plum card stock for my background, which I matted with some Night of Navy card stock. I stamped some flourishes that I had in my stamp drawer (I'm not exactly sure who makes this stamp) and the sentiment from the Upsy Daisy set. Then I adhered a doily to my card (I can't help myself!) and the digital tea pot stamp from Prairie Fairy, which I printed on Baja Breeze card stock, colored in with my Stampin' Write Markers (Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, and Wild Wasabi), and mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals. I created the little flower bud with some Night of Navy Striped Grosgrain ribbon and some Pear Pizzaz leaves, punched from the Bird Punch. I adhered it to a Baja Breeze Seam Binding double bow, which I tucked at the bottom of my teapot. For my final touch, I colored some Rhinestone Jewels and laid them over a couple of the swirls from my flourish. Love a little bling every now and then! :) Hope you are having a great weekend!

Psst! The Seam Binding Ribbon is now a part of my fabulous ribbon share for a limited time! Check it out here!

Inspiration Island (And Some Photos!)

I keep promising DEEtails from my trip earlier this month, so I'm finally here to share a couple of photos from fabulous Hawaii. My mom's family is from Hawaii, so we decided to make a long weekend a short trip to surprise far away family, who we haven't seen for a couple of years. And boy, did we surprise them. :)

Okay, I'll be honest and tell you that I spent all my time hanging out with family (and shopping) that I forgot to take out the camera... Some of these photos are from a previous trip to Hawaii, but the photos are too fabulous not to share.

Gorgeous water lily from my grandma's garden. Looks fake doesn't it?!

Koi from a floating restaurant that we frequent. We were there for "feeding time"!

Don't be fooled by his vibrant feathers and charming looks. This bird is totally obnoxious. He belongs to my Aunt's neighbor and squawks non-stop. His favorite phrase is "shut up." Not kidding!

Butterfly display at Neiman Marcus. I don't think this is unique to Hawaii, but it's still so pretty!

The vivid colors of Hawaii are fabulous. I especially love how green everything is there! The flowers are so beautiful and everything just looks so fresh! I was kind of inspired by a combination of the photos above to make this card.

Here are the DEEtails:

I started by stamping the tree from SU!'s Season of Friendship set and randomly adding leaves in Pear Pizazz and Old Olive, then carefully cut it out. I really couldn't put that annoying bird on my card, so I opted for some cute pink flowers instead. I used my Itty Bitty Punches to create Regal Rose flowers with Daffodil Delight centers punched from the Owl Punch. I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock and added some Old Olive Striped Grosgrain, tied with some Linen Thread. Then I stamped the sentiment from SU!'s Upsy Daisy set.

Special DEElivery:

This card was mailed to my Aunt in Hawaii along with a bunch of her favorite Starbucks Cinnamon gum that's always so hard to find!

Color Inspiration: Jewel Tones

Here's another Moxie Fab World Color Inspiration challenge! Here is the Jewel Tones color combination:

Here are the DEEtails

I started with a Sahara Sand card and added a band of Taken With Teal, embellished with some Summer Sun Scallop Trim border and some Elegant Eggplant Grosgrain ribbon. Then I added a piece of Elegant Eggplant card stock stamped with the SU! A to Z image and tucked a piece of Crushed Curry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon underneath. I layered on a Summer Sun Decorative Label punch, stamped with the sentiment from SU!'s Upsy Daisy set and some felt flowers and teal brads from my stash. Hope you like it!

Special DEElivery:

This card is for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Thank You For Your Friendship

Today I'm sharing a card made for my personal challenge - working my way through the Paper Crafts Color Inspiration magazine. Here's the first color combination.

Here are the DEEtails:

Being a color challenge, I really wanted to let the bold colors take center stage. I started with a piece of Bermuda Bay card stock and a piece of Raspberry Tart DSP. I added a strip of crinkled Old Olive Eyelet Border underneath and a little banner, stamped with the sentiment from SU!'s Upsy Daisy set. I added a little flower with a rhinestone brad from my stash and a swirl of Rhinestone Jewels. I adhered everything to a Chocolate Chip card, allowing a bit of color to peek through. Hope you like it!

Special DEElivery:

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop.

I'm out of town this week, so most of my posts from the past week and upcoming week were written ahead of time. My husband said I was like a machine, cranking out these cards last week so I could post every day. Hehe! I'm feeling a bit like a celebrity this week, with all the fabulous comments you have been leaving me! :)

Today I thought I'd answer one of the questions I received. This one is from Queen Mary - love that name :)

Nina Dee, you said you wanted to get more personal this year so I have a
question to get you started! How does your inspiration work? Do you see the
colors and envision a card? Do you envision a stamp? I love your card but I'm
really too literal in my card making to be very good at inspiration challenges,
so I'd LOVE to know how your brilliance begins!

Thanks Queen Mary! :) First off, I only do inspiration challenges that inspire me. I have to like the picture in order to create a card based on it. It's important to find a challenge blog that has the types of pictures/photos that inspire you and fit your card-making style. If you're looking for a great challenge blog, click the DEEsign Challenges butterfly under my banner to see a number of challenge blogs that I like to participate in. Another great place to find inspiration is magazines and catalogs.

When I start an inspiration challenge, I look at the photo and focus on elements of the photo that really stand out to me. As I think about my card, I choose elements that look like things that I can duplicate (this is sometimes limited, based on my supplies) - it might be a flower, the lines in the photo, or even the placement of objects in the photo.

Here is a bit of my thought process in creating cards for a few of my favorite Cupcake Inspirations Challenges:

I loved the tiny flowers in this inspiration photo and knew I could "copy" the line of flowers. The pearls and lace border were other elements in the card that stood out to me. (Click here to see the card I made).



Here's another one... I loved the bold, bright colors and I the cute doily. I also liked the contrast of the cupcake wrapper peeling away from the chocolate cupcake, so I made sure to include a Chocolate Chip and Whisper White contrast on my card. (Click here to see the card I made).


Here's a photo where the balance of everything was just perfect, so I completely copied it all - the over sized flower, the pearly center, a big bow, amber jewels, even the background. (Click here to see the card I made).


Hope that gives you a little insight to my creative process. :) Thanks again, Queen Mary!

Razzleberry Daisies

Today's card was made for the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge.

Here are the DEEtails:

I love the Crumb Cake patterned papers in the Thorougly Modern DSP, so I pulled out a sweet daisy print, cut it down to size and rounded the corners for the background of this card. I added some Striped grosgrain ribbon in Rich Razzleberry, then stamped the Upsy Daisy image in VersaMark ink on Rich Razzleberry card stock and and embossed it. I trimmed the image and rounded the corners and adhered it to my card. I then stamped the sentiment from the Flight of the Butterfly set. I added a Crumb Cake butterfly with a Rich Razzleberry button and a Linen Thread bow. So simple, really!

Kindness

Wow. I just realized that all my cards this week are green. :)

Today's card is for the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge. I turned it sideways to create this card.


Here are the DEEtails:

I started out with a piece of Pink Pirouette card stock and stamped the flowers from my Upsy Daisy set in Pretty in Pink. I stamped a portion of the sentiment from my Heard From the Heart set over the flowers in Wild Wasabi ink. I added a Pretty in Pink mat. Then I wrapped some striped grosgrain ribbon around my Wild Wasabi card. I stamped the rest of my sentiment towards the bottom of my card, then adhered my stamped image above it. I took some more striped grosgrain ribbon and tied a big, fluffy bow and adhered it to the side of my card. Then I took two Pretty in Pink corduroy brads, used wire cutters to cut the brad off, then adhered them to my ribbon with some glue dots.

Thanks for stopping by!

Loving the Striped Grosgrain Ribbon? Take part in Ribbon Share Option 2!

And don't forget to take part in my Inspire DEE Button Butterfly challenge! I can't wait to see your creations!

Happy Daisies

I think I love Kim's challenges Off The Wall Craftiness because I love wedding decor. :) I think this one jumped out at me because I love green!

Now, I really need to get me a chandelier stamp! I think they are just beautiful! Anyway, Here are the DEEtails for my card:

This card is simple, really. I started with some Old Olive card stock and stamped the image from my Upsy Daisy set in Whisper White ink and embossed it. Then I added a bright pink bow with a bit of ruffle trim from my stash. I used my fabulous new Decorative Label punch to punch around my sentiment from the Full of Life set and added an extra layer in Melon Mambo. Then I added some layers of Whisper White and Basic Black card stock and adhered it to an Old Olive card. Voila! :)

Happy Birthday Shelley!

Yesterday was my mom's boss's birthday and of course she created something fabulous for her. I actually got to help her on this one and I am so pleased with how it turned out! Shelley is a "Junk Artist," so my mom wanted to create something that reflected her artistic and eclectic taste, while showing off her love for birds. After thinking through a variety of options, we decided to create a bag using leftover fabric scraps.

I rummaged through my mom's stash, then cut and laid out all the pieces. She pinned everything and sewed it all together. Here's the back of the bag:

We teased, each other saying that I was a fancy designer and my mom was a minimum wage laborer. Then, when I decided to make a matching card, I "hired" my little brother to "work" too. He helped to punch and apply adhesive to all the Itty Bitty flowers. He is quite the scammer though, trying to convince me that he had cut his finger (he didn't) and needed worker's comp as well as overtime while he helped me clean up the mess afterwards. Aren't little brothers fun?

The DEEtails are very simple:

I started with a Poppy Parade card and added an Early Espresso mat to a Very Vanilla background. Then, with the help of my brother, I punched and adhered a bunch of Itty Bitty Shapes flowers in So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzaz, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, and Early Espresso to match the colors of the bag. I added a ruffle of Striped Grosgrain ribbon (also used on the bag) and an Early Espresso bird with a Poppy Parade wing. Then I stamped the sentiment from my Upsy Daisy set and added a Poppy Parade mat.

Happy Birthday Shelley! I hope you enjoyed your day!