Getting Sketchy with My Favorite Things

Hello again and welcome back!  It's been awhile since I've had two posts in one day so if you are looking for my 4 Crafty Chicks post, please scroll down a bit but please feel free to check this one out on your way down!

I got home from work a little earlier than usual this morning so, after I did the dishes and loaded the dishwasher and put a load of laundry in (gotta get that work done first, right?), I sat down to make a card.  I've really been enjoying Arielle's Colour Q challenge and this week's combo is no exception...soft and feminine:

When I saw the colors I immediately thought of my Pure Innocence girls.  I don't use them as often as I should so I pulled one and got to work.  I popped over to the MFT Forum at Splitcoast to find this week's MFT Wednesday Sketch:

I found a fun tutorial on how to draw grass with your Copics here and thought I'd give it a try...it turned out not-so-bad, methinks.  :)  I sponged the sky with Soft Sky ink but you can't really see it in this picture.  I love the twine for a balloon string... I got it stay put using a toothpick to apply a few dabs of Crystal Effects under the twine - a trick I got from from Verve owner and  Diva Extraordinaire, Julee.  Thanks Julee!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great Thursday!



Stamps: My Balloon (MFT)   
Ink: Soft Sky, Early Espresso, Versafine Onyx Black   
Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Kraft, Early Espresso, SU! DSP   
Accessories: Sewing machine, Crumb Cake seam binding, Copics, button, filigree brad, twine

Crazy Egg Challenge at the 4 Crafty Chicks!

Hey everyone!  This week has been a busy one around here with the kids off for Spring Break so I haven't had a whole lot of time for crafting but I *did* find some time to whip up a card for this week's 4 Crafty Chicks Crazy Egg Challenge!!  We've got a Recipe Challenge for you all to play along with: 1 ribbon, 2 patterned papers and 3 buttons.

The Cat's Pajamas had a fun Inspiration Challenge last week - take a peek at the pics:

I decided to take the colors from the first photo (light pink, red and white) as well as the red & white stripe from the straws as my inspiration.  I used the final Viva la Verve sketch for March to create:

Stamps: Jeremiah 29:11 (Verve)  Ink: Poppy Parade  Paper: Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Pink Pirouette, SU! DSP  Accessories: Baker's twine, sheer ribbon, paper piercer, buttons, crocheted flower, sponge dauber, Square Lattice embossing folder

Thanks for stoppin' by today!  I hope you will come and play with us at the 4 Crafty Chicks - there's even a fun prize up for grabs...  So, what are you waiting for?  Off ya go!  :)

Cute & Cuddly at Sentimental Sundays

Hi everyone!  Welcome back for another fun Sentimental Sundays' challenge!  This week's challenge is a theme challenge - "Cute & Cuddly" - so interpret that how you wish and run with it.  :)  I absolutely {heart} my Pure Innocence girlies and think they are some of the cutest stamps out there so that's what I decided to use for my card. 

I went off in search of a color challenge and found this one over at Colour Q that would work PERFECTLY with my "My Umbrella" set:

This week's sponsor at Sentimental Sundays is Heart Song Designs and they have just started a weekly sketch challenge.  I had so much fun participating last week that I was THRILLED to get a sneak peek at this week's sketch and use it for my card:

Stamps: My Umbrella (MFT)  Ink: Concord Crush  Paper: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Concord Crush, SU! DSP  Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Nesties, buttons, Bashful Blue satin ribbon, twine, paper piercer, Scallop edge border punch  Copics: Colorless blender, E00, E01, E25, E31, E33, E35, E37, E51, BG15, BG49, BV17, YG23, YG95, B000

Thanks for stopping by today!  The kids are off for Spring Break this week so I think I will be hanging out with them a lot... See you on Thursday for sure for a new 4 Crafty Chicks challenge - there's still time to enter this week's "Eyelets" challenge!

When Was the Last Time YOU Used an Eyelet???

Hi everyone!  So?  When *was* the last time you used an eyelet or two?  I must admit that I have a rather extensive collection of eyelets that don't see the light of day very often.  I have a feeling that many of us are probably in this same boat so this week's challenge over at The 4 Crafty Chicks (brought to us by Lori) is to use eyelets somewhere on your project.  They can be big or little but they've gotta be eyelets.  :)

I found this lovely, serene, springy color combo over at the Just Us Girls challenge blog and, even though they aren't my *typical* colors, I went for it...that's why it's a *challenge* right?

I came across a new challenge blog the other day - Heart Song Inspirations - and it's a sketch challenge so I thought I'd give it a try and used their second sketch:

I promise that I really *did* uses eyelets...they are jumbo ones and I originally didn't plan on having the bows on my card but....ummmm...  Did you know that ribbon doesn't *really* like to be punched through with a Crop-o-dile?  So, my bows are an attempt to hide an "oops!"

Stamps: 1 Chronicles 16:3 Plain Jane (Verve)  Ink: Baja Breeze  Paper: Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, SU! DSP  Accessories: Pink Pirouette grosgrain ribbon, jumbo eyelets, Crop-o-Dile, Nesties, paper piercer, chipboard swirl, MS glitter, Crystal Effects

I hope you will play along with us at the 4CCC - dig out those eyelets and get creative with them!  Can't wait to see what you all do!  See you all later - enjoy the rest of your week!

Sentimental Sundays Goes... Sentimental????

Morning everyone!

Sorry I am a bit late this morning - we have all been sick so being on the computer has not been at the top of my "to-do" list.  I will make this post short and sweet so I can crawl back to bed.

This week's Sentimental Sundays challenge is to focus on the sentiment.  That should be an easy one to do, right?  I combined this challenge with the Colour Q colors and the clean & simple stamping sketch.  This card is actually the second one I made because the first one (see below) didn't exactly *focus on the sentiment* so I made another one:

So here's the first card I made using the same Colour Q colors but I used the Viva la Verve Week Four sketch:

Thanks for popping by today - I will try to come and post the details for y'all later.  Enjoy your weekend!

Getting Sketchy With the 4 Crafty Chicks!

Welcome back everyone!  How's your week been treating you?  We've been trying to get rid of the nasty flu bug that has been going around lately - Zach was sick last weekend, Sam has been home since Monday AM and I've been feeling *off* the entire time.  Thankfully Josh and Curtis have escaped *knock on wood*...  Hopefully the worst is over and we can get back to normal soon.

Enough from me, though - you're here for a challenge!  This week's 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge is brought to us by Tamie (who is still in Florida enjoying the sunshine with Lori) and it is a sketch.  It is rather basic so feel free to dress it up however you'd like:

I will admit I had a very tough time with this sketch - I soooooo wanted to put a sentiment in the rectangle and had a hard time finding an image that I liked that worked.  After MUCH experimentation I decided to not even stamp anything and went for my bird punch instead.  Please forgive the photo quality - I have been having *issues* with my camera lately...

Stamp: Hanging With My Peeps (MFT)  Paper: Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Kraft, Basic Grey Cappella DSP  Ink: Early Espresso  Accessories: Early Espresso satin ribbon, sewing machine, button, twine, XL Bird Punch, Embossed Curve border punch (EK Success), paper piercer, dimensionals

That'll be it for me today.  If you have time, please stop by and check out what the other Chicks have created for Tamie's sketch - their links are to the left.  Enjoy your week!

Sentimental Sundays Goes Green!

Welcome back for another Sentimental Sundays' challenge.  This week's challenge is one that is very popular in Blogland these days - "Go Green!"  I suppose you could interpret that a couple of ways either to use the color green OR use something that is repurposed/recycled/reused...you decide!  But the most important rule - don't forget your sentiment!  We have had to disqualify some amazing entries from our winners list because they didn't use a sentiment...don't let that be YOU!

I have been really loving my Cat's Pajamas stamps lately (but need to buy some more because I'm sure you are tired of seeing the penguin and this whale...but they are soooo freakin' cute!)  Anyhoo, this week's TCP Tuesday challenge is a fun one: "We are challenging you to go back through our past TCP Tuesday Challenges and make a card using one of those past challenges."  Fun, right?  I have only recently discovered Alma and the gals so it was a lot of fun going back to see what I missed!  :)  When I got to TCP Tuesday #115 I found this AWESOME photo inspiration that I *had* to use because: #1 - The colors are PERFECT for the Sentimental Sundays challenge and #2 - We are in the process of renovating our kitchen and I have been scouring the web and magazines for backsplash ideas and have seen lots of tiles like these ones...delicious!

And then I thought...why stop at only one challenge?  Why not combine a couple more?  So, I went to TCP Tuesday #134 and found a sketch and then TCP Tuesday #118 asked us to use twine...easy peasy!!

Stamps: A Whale of a Time (TCP)  Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green, Cool Caribbean, Bermuda Bay, SU! DSP  Ink: Garden Green, Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Waves Cut-Ups Die (TCP), paper piercer, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, dimensionals, twine, buttons, striped grosgrain ribbon. Tab punch

Thanks for stopping by today - what do you have planned for the rest of your weekend?  Hopefully the weather is sunny and happy wherever you are.  Enjoy!

A Color Challenge at the 4 Crafty Chicks!

Howdy peeps!  How has the week been treating you thus far?  I've been busy (as usual) but it's been a good busy.  It's time for another challenge from the 4 Crafty Chicks who are down to two for this week and next... Tamie and Lori are off in Florida for some much needed rest and relaxation so Leanne and I are holding down the fort, so to speak.  :)  I'm your hostess with the mostest this week and I've come up with a lovely color combo for you all to work with:

I love the calmness that this combo inspired in me - how will you make these colors work for you?  I combined the colors with Jen's March Sketch For You to Try...a wonky panel???  Really???  UGH...I guess that's why they call it a challenge, right???  Here you go:

I tried to keep it as CAS as I could...

Stamps: Meditations (Verve)  Ink: Basic Grey  Paper: Very Vanilla, Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Lap of Luxury DSP (SU!)  Accessories: Sewing machine, sheer pink ribbon..that's it???

I hope you will join us for this color challenge.  As always, if you don't have these *exact* colors, please feel free to use whatever you have on hand that is close.  :)  Leanne and I can't wait to see what you create!

Wednesday Afternoon With Viva la Verve and Colour Q

Happy Wednesday!!  Halfway through the week already?  I am going to whisper this very, VERY quietly just in cased Mother Nature is listening...*the sun is out and warming everything up!  woohoo!*  I know spring is coming and I just have to be patient but I don't wanna wait - I'm ready NOW!

I enjoyed another awesome workout at the gym this afternoon and when I got home I sat down to create.  When I saw this week's Colour Q, it just made me happy.  Happy, happy, happy.  The colors are happy, the photo inspiration is happy and it all made me smile.  Take a peek:

Those cookies are too cute to eat!  I haven't used this week's Viva la Verve sketch (courtesy of Charmaine) and I thought it would be perfect for these colors:

The big circle in the bottom corner totally made me think of the sun (yes, I know I've got a one-track mind!) and from there, the decision about which stamp to use was easy:

Stamps: Psalm 84:11 Plain Jane (Verve)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Paper: Cool Caribbean, Basic Black, Whisper White, SU! DSP  Accessories: Nesties, adhesive pearls, paper piercer, stitched ribbon, crocheted flower, buttons, twine, clear embossing powder

I hope the weather is warm and spring-y wherever you are.  Make sure to stop back here tomorrow morning for a brand new 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge...it's *my* favorite kind of challenge this week.  See you then!

The Play Date Cafe & Mojo Monday

Happy Monday, everyone!  What have you got planned for the week ahead?  Hopefully the weather around here will start to warm up soon because I am plain tired of this cold and snow...SPRING - where are you???

When I got home from work today, I immediately sat down to make a card for this week's Play Date Cafe color challenge because it is one of my favorites - the color splash - and this week we get to choose which color we want to use for our 'splash'... I decided to go with yellow since I'm SOOOO ready to see the sun!

As always, Julee has given us another AMAZING sketch over at Mojo Monday - I still wonder how she does it week after week with sketches, challenges, designing new releases and she still has time for a "life?"  It boggles the mind... :)

Here you go - sorry for the picture quality...it is SOOOO hard to take pictures of mostly white cards.  Anyone have any tips or tricks to make that easier???

Stamps: 1 Peter 5:7 (Verve)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Basic Grey Basics White paper pad  Accessories: Clear embossing powder, chipboard swirls, Basic Black satin ribbon, Daffodil Delight satin ribbon, paper piercer, Nesties, Scallop Edge border punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, adhesive pearls

Thanks for stopping by today - I am off to pick the boys up from school and then we are heading to town to have supper with DH's family.  His brother is in town from Vancouver for a few days and we haven't seen him for over a year so that should be fun for everyone.  :)  Enjoy your Monday!