Tuesday - Thinking of You...

I found this sketch over at Sketch Saturday and wasn't sure if I was going to have the time to tackle it this week - it's a busy one - but found a a few minutes this afternoon to play around with it.

I combined it with Megan's Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo #6 - don't forget about her search for design team members - only a few days left before the deadline!

When I first saw these colors, I thought either masculine or sympathy - and I decided to go with a sympathy/thinking of you:

The stamps are all from Verve & the rest of the supplies are Stampin' Up with the exception of the embossing folders, Nestabilities, and adhesive pearls. 

Not sure what I'm going to do tonight - maybe another card?  Maybe just chillin' out on the couch watching TV...we shall see.  Tomorrow's a full day - work in the AM and then FINALLY a much-needed haircut and color!  Lori and I have the same hairdresser so we always make appointments together and make an event of it...I'm sure we'll hit the scrapbook store at *some* point... ;) 

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday - see you in a couple days.  Only 13 more sleeps until I leave for Europe!  ACK!  I've got so much to do... *sigh*

Look Ma, No Stamps!

OK - who else has a bazillion rub-ons that seem to sit and collect dust?  *guiltily raising hand...*  I really should get them out and use them more often since they make a card come together SOO quickly!

I popped over to Samantha's Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo challenge to find the newest combination:

I paired it with Jen's Sketch For You to Try:

Rotated it 180* and came up with this:

TA DA! Simple and quick - not my usual!  LOL  Thanks for clicking over - enjoy the rest of your day!  See you tomorrow.  :)

Mojo Monday - All You Need Is Love...

... and chocolate!  You can never have too much chocolate, right?  Those Cadbury Mini Eggs are going to be the death of me, I'm sure.  Every time I go to the grocery store they whisper to me...taunt me...and, more often than not, they end up coming home with me.  Anyone else have this particular weakness?  Come on, there's got to be one or two of you out there... :)

Today's Mojo Monday which means another fabulous sketch from Julee and the gals over at Verve.  This week's sketch, or should I say, sketches, come from Julee herself and give us the option to go round or square:

Julia and the gals over at The Little Paper Shop have a beautiful color challenge for us this week - totally makes me *feel* the sun...

I decided to go with the square option of the sketch and use Chocolate Chip, Kraft and So Saffron for my card:

Stamps: Love's Flower (Verve)  Ink: Chocolate Chip  Paper: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, assorted SU! DP, Kraft  Accessories: Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, Nestabilities, paper piercer, adhesive pearls

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out The Shabby Tea Room's new challenge and Stacey's Curtain Call color challenge!  See you later!

Gettin' Scrappy for the Shabby Tea Room!

Welcome to another Monday installment of The Shabby Tea Room!  This week's challenge was concocted by the Jill Hillard over at Jill's Card Creation: "Let's Get Scrappy!  Create a project using scraps."  Well, this was an easy one for me because most of my cards come from my scrap box.  I have a three drawer tower where I keep all of my cardstock and DP (organized by colors: red, orange and yellow in one, green, blue and purple in the next and neutrals in the other...anal, I know...)  Usually the only full sheet I have to cut for a card is for the actual card itself. 

I combined this challenge with Arielle's Colour Q #25 - almost a full half year of them already.  Hard to believe although, to me, it seems like she's been at it much longer than that!

My sketch is another square one - this time from the Papertake Weekly Challenge:

Such fun colors and a great sketch - normally I'd go with an Easter theme but I picked up a fun acrylic set at my LSS last week for less than five bucks and thought it would work for this week's card:

I started by punching 1-1/4" squares out of my scrap papers and then laying them on a piece of 5" x 3-3/4" in a 3x4 pattern.  After gluing them down, I dug out my sewing machine and zig-zagged the "seams."  Then I used my Top Note die to cut it all out.  The rest is pretty self-explanatory...I used Copics to color the image.  The ribbon was even a scrap I found in my ribbon jar!

Now it's your turn!  Each week Debbie chooses the "Tea Time Terrific Top Three" and a "Shabby Tea Room Winner" from the previous challenge and reveals them on Monday morning.  Wouldn't you love to be *that girl?  (or guy?)*  :)  Stop by and see what the other Special Friend Blend Designers came up with for this challenge - don't forget to leave a bit of comment love for them too:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz - {TSTR Creator} - Simple Treasures

Audrey Pettit - Audrey Pettit's Weblog

Jill Hillard - Jill's Card Creations

Nicole Segnere - My Craft Room Creations

Enjoy your Monday everyone!

Sunday Three-in-One 3-D Challenge

How much fun have I had???  I am not usually this ambitious but I was inspired by the JUGS gals to give it a shot.  Their challenge this week is to use any template of our choice.  Well, I don't own any templates but I thought I could come up with something all by myself...and that new slipcover box that Lauren is releasing April 1 is *mighty* cute...

I thought the Play Date Cafe's color combo would make a PerFeCT box set:

So I got out my scrap paper to sketch out some dimensions, decided on colors (Sahara Sand, Rose Red, Bashful Blue) and started cutting.  In hindsight, I should have made the top cover's back the same size as the front but now I know. : )

I made the box and then went in search of a sketch I could use to make four cards that was fairly clean and simple so I could reproduce them quickly and found this beauty from Crazy 4 Challenges:

Et, voila...

Whaddaya think??  Super cute, hey?  I'm very pleased with how this turned out and will definitely make some "tweaks" to my template before I make more. 

Thanks for stopping by this Sunday morning - make sure you go over and check out the Curtain Call's new color combo - it's a beauty!  Later, peeps!

Curtain Call 23 ~ Clean and Elegant

Is it really *that* time again?  How quickly this week went!  I guess if it's Sunday, then it's time for another Curtain Call and another BE-YOO-TIFUL color combo from Stacey:

Don't those colors scream elegance?  I *had* to use my Medallion stamp for this one because I think it fits the bill perfectly. 

I started by scoring 1" from the bottom and 1" from the right side to create a big square in the top, left quadrant.  I used Pretty in Pink to stamp the medallion on Whisper White and then I used Whisper White craft ink to stamp the medallion again - this time on Black CS.  I used some clear embossing powder and, after heat embossing, used my circle punch to punch it out.  Once I got it out of the circle punch and placed it on the pink medallion, I discovered I didn't like it - too much "round".  So I got my scallop circle punch out and put my "already cut" circle in the scallop punch - tricky work, I'll tell ya.  I eventually got it all lined up and punched out - thus, the flat edges on the flower!  :)  I layered it with a paper flower and a velvet flower from my stash as well as one of the new Sending Love Epoxy Brads from SU!  I used my Swiss Dots embossing folder to emboss the bottom and side panel before stamping the sentiment, wrapping the ribbon, and attaching everything to a Basic Black layer.  This is just about as Clean and Simple as I get.

I'm sure the other ladies of the Curtain Call Crew have some amazing projects to show you, so be sure to stop by and check them out:

Amy White at Devlinwhite Designs
Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity
Julie Smith at Paper and Such
Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections
Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden
Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection
Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Have fun and I hope to see you again next week for another super-fab color combo!

Love You Muchly...

Are you enjoying your weekend?  I sure am ~ the weather is absolutely beautiful and I've spent most of the day out and about with my family.  We went to town to go to Costco and the bank and then popped over to my BIL & SIL's to drop off a birthday present for their little guy who is turning three.  Zach wasn't feeling so great so we didn't stay for the party.

When we got home I made some mini Cinnamon Banana Breads and then sat down to craft.  I have been kind of scared of Riley's Color Dare colors this week so I've avoided them...until now:

I think I just have a *block* when it comes to using those bold brights...I've gotta get over it!  LOL  I paired it with Taylor's sketch:

I used a Pure Innocence image again... Flower Girl...isn't she cute?

Paper: Green Galore, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black, Kaleidoscope DP, Night & Day DP, Sending Love Specialty Paper  Accessories: Peony Nestabilities, sewing machine, Swiss Dots EF, Textile EF, black satin ribbon, button, hemp twine, glue pen, dimensionals, Copics, clear embossing powder, Versafine Onyx Black Ink

I paper pieced the shirt and pants and colored the rest with Copics.  After adhering the papers, I dug out my sewing machine and zig-zagged all the "seams"... I think it might be a bit *much* but I can't take it out now!  :)

I hope you will stop by tomorrow to see a brand new Curtain Call Challenge ~ Stacey's got a very elegant color combo for us this week.  See you tomorrow!

Three Challenges, Two Cards, One Sketch...

Are you as glad as I am that it's Friday????  OY.  What a week and I am POOPED!  I have had VERY little time to do anything let alone sit and craft so when I got home this afternoon I MADE time.  :)

I always have so many challenges that I *want* to do but I guess I have to accept the fact that I'm not always going to be able to do them all.  I thought maybe if I did two cards at once I could "kill two birds with one stone" as the old adage goes...

I've been looking at Samantha's combo for this week for a couple of days - they are great colors and I don't use Really Rust very often but I like how well they go together:

The Color Throwdown has a very soothing, calming combination for us - Garden Green is slowly becoming one of my favorite colors:

I decided that I wanted to use one of my new Verve Plain Jane's so I went in search of a sketch that would fit it and found today's Friday Sketchers' sketch:

Well, it *kind* of works... I had to rotate it 90* clockwise to make it work...

I'm heading off to get some supper going and then I'm going over to Lori's to help her finalize some Stamp-a-Stack details - hopefully we'll be able to get all prepped before I leave for Europe...only 17 more sleeps...ACK!  I am *so* NOT ready!

See you later- enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday Combo Card

Hey everyone!

I had so much fun with this morning's card - the colors are totally lovely together.  Megan over at Picture Perfect Creations is doing a super-fabulous job with her color combinations  - AND she's looking for some crafty gals (or guys) to join her design team!  If you think this might be you, pop over to the challenge for all of the details - you have until April 4 to apply!

I also used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch for this one. I realize now that I completely misunderstood the left side of the sketch - when I saved it to my computer, the white underneath the end of the ribbon "v" showed up as another strip of white part of the card...oops!  Sorry Karen!  I guess I should have gone back go the samples before I started...

I also made this card work for the Totally Stampalicious challenge of ribbon and polka dots - check and check.  :)

Recipe - Stamps: Farm Fun (jillibean soup)  Paper: Sweet Pea DP, Tea Party DP, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Nesties, clear embossing powder, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by - see you later!

8-in-1 Monday!

Wow...I sometimes shock even myself!  I don't think I've ever done a card that incorporated eight challenges at the same time.  Of course it helps when so many challenges have the same theme the same week.  :)

So, here are the challenges this card qualifies for:

• Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog gave us the theme "Spring is in the Air" and told us to interpret it however we wanted to.
• Crazy 4 Challenges also asked us to think "Spring."
• One more... Our Creative Corner Challenge's theme is "Spring/Easter."
• Paper Sundaes challenged us to use paper piecing somewhere on our project.
• Pile It On's theme: "Furry Friends."
• Wags 'n Whiskers is challenging us to "pop it up" and use dimension somewhere on our card.
• My sketch comes courtesy of Pals Paper Arts:

• And last, but not least, my colours are thanks to Just Us Girls:

I just received this cute image from Wags 'n Whiskers as part of my Sketch Saturday win a few weeks ago and thought it would be perfect for all of these challenges:

Recipe - Stamps: Some Bunny Loves You (Wags 'n Whiskers)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Paper: Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Assorted SU! DP, Whisper White  Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Argyle embossing folder, Copics, Bashful Blue satin ribbon, buttons, hemp twine, slot punch, paper piercer, dimensionals

I paper pieced her dress and hair bow, the flower and his shirt and tie.  I used dimensionals to pop up the flower as well as the entire image panel.  I will admit that this image is a bit more "cutesy" than I normally use but I think it makes a really nice spring-y card.  :)

Don't forget to stop and check out The Shabby Tea Room's new challenge as well as The Curtain Call's Color Challenge!  See you tomorrow!

The Shabby Tea Room - Challenge #2

Welcome to another Monday and another Shabby Tea Room challenge!  This week's challenge is brought to you by Audrey.  She's asking us to create a spring-inspired card with stitching of some kind on it.  Hmmm....

I found this sketch over at Our Creative Corner a few weeks ago and thought it would fit my image perfectly:

My good friend, Lori, and I went shopping at our LSS a couple weeks ago (shhhh...we were supposed to be at the gym....) and discovered a BRAND-spankin' new shipment of Nesties and Flourishes stamps they had just received but hadn't put out on the floor yet.  Lori and I got very excited, very quickly...:)

After digging through the stash, we each picked some and Lori was kind enough to let me take this one (there was only one of these sets and she wanted it too...) Thanks again, girlie!  I LOVE this image:

 

Recipe - Stamps: Strawberries (Flourishes), Faux Stitching stamps (unknown)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Garden Green  Paper: Pink Pirouette, Garden Green, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White  Accessories: Nestabilities, paper piercer, hodgepodge hardware, Copics, adhesive pearls, scallop edge border punch

HA!  I realize now that I used the Bella Rose paper AGAIN this week for my STR project!  LOL  The gingham has always spoken "spring" to me and the strawberries are spring/summer perfect.  :)  Shhhh...my stitching is totally FAUX!  I have stamps that work well for this kind of thing so I just stamped them with Versafine and then clear embossed to give them some dimension.  

Now it's your turn - you've seen what I created so your next task should be to visit the rest of the Shabby Tea Room Special Friend Blend Gourmet Designers to see what they came up with!

• Debbie Marcinkiewicz - TSTR Creator http://debssimpletreasures.blogspot.com/
• Audrey Pettit - http://audreypettit.wordpress.com/
• Nicole Segnere - http://fabric-paper-scissors.blogspot.com/
• Jill Hillard - http://jill031070.blogspot.com/  

Thanks for stopping by - I can't wait to see what springy-stitchy projects you create!

Are You Ready For Act 22?

Hello crafty peeps!  It's time for Act 22 over at the Curtain Call!  Prepare yourselves for a *bold* color combination from Stacey this week. 

I had a VERY hard time with these colors and even contemplated making another card because I wasn't totally pleased with this one.  Available time (or lack thereof) won out over my negative self-talk and this is what I was able to come up with:

Recipe - Stamps: LOVEbeetle Huggabugg (Stamping Bella)  Ink: Versafie Onyx Black, Pink Passion  Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Passion, Yo-Yo Yellow  Accessories: Embossing Folders (Argyle, Paisley, Spots and Dots), Pinking Circles Nesties, hodgepodge hardware, black satin ribbon, button, hemp twine, paper piercer, Copics, adhesive pearls

I love this little stamp - in fact I love all of these little Huggabuggs!  She doesn't see ink nearly as much as she should but when I saw the Yo-Yo Yellow and put it together with my little bug...well, that's my "classic" Volkswagon Beetle...bright yellow!  Don't ask me why!!??

Now you've seen what I came up with - - - be sure to stop by and see what the rest of the Curtain Call Crew did with these bold, bright colors:

Amy White at Devlinwhite Designs
Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity
Julie Smith at Paper and Such
Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections
Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden
Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection
Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Thanks for stopping by today - be sure to stop by tomorrow for The Shabby Tea Room's second challenge...it's a fun one!  Enjoy your Sunday!