Photo Inspiration and Furry Pearls for Our Creative Corner

Hello there! I wanted to share this week's challenge over at Our Creative Corner. I am a day late with my card, because I had a crazy couple days leading up to the weekend. More on that, coming soon. But, I finally got my card finished and am so excited to share the current challenge with you. The fabulously talented Miehsia Liu is our hostess this week and she has a great photo and color inspiration challenge for us. Here are the challenge details in her own words: 

"We would love to see a color combination of orange and blue with tones from white, cream to a bit of brown." 

I based my card design on the wonderful sketch over at Stamping 411. I know I say it a lot, but I REALLY love their sketches and the fun inspiration on their site. Check it out, if you have never visited them before.Thanks, ladies! 

Here is a close up of this really thick, layered flower. I'm pretty sure this one will be hand-delivered to the recipient because it is absolutely not fitting in a standard envelope to mail. Oops! I sponged all of the edges with some Soft Suede ink to add some extra interest. It seemed like it needed a little distressing. As an added bonus, there is a random "fur-deposit" from one of my four-legged buddies stuck under one of the pearls. I am not going to tell you which pearl...I would hate to ruin the surprise. I attempted to edit most of it out of the close up photo below. Ugh...sorry about that. :/ 

Thanks for stopping by to visit. If you have a chance this week, I hope you can play along with us over at Our Creative Corner. Be sure to visit the rest of the gals on the Design Team to see their beautiful creations, too. 

Linda Coughlin- The Funkie Junkie

Vicki Burdick- It's a Stamp Thing

Sue Butler- Scrumplescrunch
Anita Houston- The Artful Maven Haven

Anne Marie Hile- Stampin' Anne

Wendy Janson-  It's All About Stamping
Marcy Kaminski - En Papillote Arts
Holly Kean- Kean On Paper 
Irena Kowalczyk (aka Rudlis) - Love, Life and Crafts
Meihsia Liu- Simply Paper Crafts
Tui Nathan- Stampin Time
Lori Rider- The Diva Stamper
Kristin Tierney- Lilly Beth Boutique
Sharon Wheet- Designs by Sharon

Our Guest Designer this week: 

Lin Brandyberry- Sending Hugs 

Have a HAPPY day today, 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Perfect Punches
Paper: Everyday Enchantment DSP (ret. SAB), Peach Parfait, Pool Party and Very Vanilla card stock
Ink: Peach Parfait and Soft Suede (for sponging) Classic ink
Punches: XL Oval punch, Boho Blossoms punch
Accessories: Designer Neutrals Buttons (new), Apothecary Accents Dies (new), Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls and Stampin' Dimensionals

Hand Stamped Sentiments #74: Buttons!

Hi there! It's Hand Stamped Sentiments Tuesday! This week we are all about projects featuring BUTTONS! Any buttons, any design...we want to see how you can showcase these little gems on YOUR creation! 

If you have visited my blog before you may have heard about my fear, ok, that was a bit dramatic...how about my weirdness about "naked buttons". If given the chance, I always seem to want to thread some string, cord, floss...etc. through these little buggers. Well, I decided to use the Bitty Buttons today, backed with card stock from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. Funny, when you add a card stock backing to these tiny buttons, threading them is a complete and utter nightmare. I spent TOO much time trying to force Baker's Twine through them before finally accepting defeat. My bitty buttons are "au naturel" and I am proud of them! I think...

My color combo is from the INFAMOUS SU! Color Coach...Daffodil Delight, *new* Lucky Limeade, *new* Island Indigo...with a splash of Real Red thrown in for fun. (That was my creative effort!) This card was also my attempt at a somewhat clean and simple (CAS) creation. I have been envious of all of the designers that can use "white space" perfectly, every time. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!! :) I tried a "less is more" approach on this one. I don't know if it was effective, but I tried! 

Finally, here is the inside, ready to compose a hand-written note:

So, bust out your buttons ("naked" or "dressed up") this week and play along with us at Hand Stamped Sentiments! Please stop by and check out what the rest of the Design Team has cooked up, too. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend out there and thank you so much for visiting today. :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Short and Sweet
Ink: Real Red Classic ink
Paper: Real Red, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White card stock
Embellishments: Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder, Baker's Twine, Small Heart punch, Small Oval (ret) punch, Large Oval punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, 1/2" Circle punch, 3/4" Circle punch, Bitty Buttons, Stampin' Dimensionals, 

CAS Northern Flurries

Hi there! How is your Tuesday going so far? When I saw this color combo for this week's challenge at The Play Date Cafe I knew I wanted the silver to be front and center...I just wasn't sure how to do it. I pulled out Basic Grey, Soft Suede and Brushed Silver card stock as my color combo. I just got the Northern Flurry embossing folder in my order last week and have really been wanting to break it in. I guess that was my starting point for this clean and simple (CAS) creation.

This embossing folder is so pretty on it's own, especially on the sparkly silver card stock. I added some jewels to the center of the snowflakes, then to the corners for a little extra sparkle. The sentiment is heat embossed in silver on Soft Suede card stock. I originally added Soft Suede ribbon then just felt like it wasn't quite right, so I layered a piece of Basic Grey ribbon over the top. It seemed to work better together. I am really happy with how it all came together. What do you think? I struggle with CAS cards because I always feel like I should do MORE with them....ugh! 

*For the inside, I just kept on embossing using the ornament and sentiment from the Contempo Christmas set:

One last thing, I wanted to share a little "furry-love" with this photo from Mr. Emmitt Rowley, taken on Thanksgiving. He has a few toys that are his absolute favorites and this little bull is one of them. (note the hind legs by-the-way...CUTENESS, right??) We had a vet visit today for a check-up and vaccinations, because we have finally come to the conclusion that he is most-likely a permanent "house-guest".  All went very well at the vet and afterward he went to Petco for some treats and a new toy. :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Perfect Punches (front) and Contempo Christmas (inside) 
Ink: Versa-Mark
Paper: Soft Suede, Basic Grey, and Brushed Silver card stock
Accessories: Northern Flurry embossing folder, Silver embossing powder, Scalloped Circle punch, Ornament punch, Embossing Buddy, Soft Suede Polka Dot ribbon (retired), Basic Grey Taffeta ribbon (I think it is retired, too??)  and Jewels

Thanks for stopping by today! 
Happy stamping, 

Pals, Paper and Pearls

"Merry" Labor Day! :)

 

This is the first week that I have participated in the Pals Paper Arts Challenge, PPA58. I am a big fan of this site because some of my all-time, favorite stampers are part of their design team. Shhhh, I am a "PPA groupie", I have looked but never had the guts to participate. I don't know why. The theme this week was "Simply Pretty in Pearls". Let's be honest, what gal doesn't LOVE pearls?? As soon as I saw the theme I was instantly inspired. (Maybe it had something to do with the picture in their post of Audrey Hepburn from "Breakfast at Tiffany's"...since it is one of my favorite movies!)

As I have been thinking about Christmas over the past few days (see THIS earlier post), I decided to continue that trend with my card. I have to say that The Snowflake Spot (sadly, retired) is one of my absolute favorite sets, EVER! As soon as I decided to participate in this challenge, I KNEW I wanted to use it. 

For my color-combo, I consulted my new "creative buddy", the SU! Color Coach. I really don't use a lot of *blue* in any of my creations. But I really like the new Marina Mist color and decided that it was finally time to challenge myself to take it for a spin. Marina Mist + Bashful Blue + Silver = one really gorgeous combo! Although it is tough to see in the photos, my snowflake image is stamped on Shimmery White cardstock, for a little added flair.

The new Glass Glitter from the Holiday Mini Catalog is fabulous!  Because I can't just decide on a project and NOT add lots of little details as I put it all together, I went with the glitter border. Glitter is so easy to adhere to any project with a layer of Sticky Strip. It's TOO easy, maybe that's why I couldn't help myself! HaHa! 

Stampin' Up! Supply List:

Stamps: The Snowflake Spot (retired), Perfect Punches

Ink: Marina Mist classic ink, Versa-Mark

Paper: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver, Shimmery White cardstock

Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Glass Glitter in silver (Holiday Mini), sticky strip, Scalloped Circle punch, silver embossing powder, Silver elastic cord (retired)

Non-Stampin' Up! Supplies: pearls

Thanks for visiting! 
Enjoy your day,