Freshly Made Sketches for Mom

I got myself together and am back with my Freshly Made Sketches crew this week!   Cindy has a great sketch this week that worked so perfectly for the card I wanted to make my mom!   I wanted to make a card with a quilt feel to it and the MFT Blueprints 20 die helped me do that!   I added a favorite SU sentiment from my retired stash and called it done!  I love the color combination of Smokey Slate, Pool Party, and Pear Pizzazz!

I'm off to get more coffee.  It's a dark, rainy day here and I stayed up too late last night watching the series finale of Dexter.   It had me in tears, so it took me a bit to calm down and sleep.   What a show!  I don't know what we'll watch now that we finished it.  

She made me breakfast the other day.   Chicken and a cinnamon roll.  Yum???  lol She loves to help cook, but rarely plays with her kitchen set.  She prefers the real kitchen! 

Merry Monday Flourished Poinsettia

Merry Monday!!!!!   I know, I know.  Mondays are usually blah, but starting the week off with a festive Christmas card can be a good pick-me-up.   The Merry Monday Challenge is perfect for that.  Bonnie has a great challenge this week to use flowers on your holiday project.   It was a bit of a challenge for me in that I don't really have any stamps that would work.   Thankfully my Cameo came to the rescue and I managed to whip up a card.  (It's design #36525 at the Silhouette Online Store in case you need that info.)   I went super simple and let the flourishes of the flower and sentiment shine.

Gorgeous inspiration photo, right?!    I hope you'll be inspired to play along this week! 

We recently started buying produce from a local farm and I think Laila really likes it.  :)   

Stampin' Up! Branch Out

It's Wednesday and you know what that means!  Freshly Made Sketches!  Yay!  The amazing Linda is our hostess this time.  I just adore her and I hope she feels the same (and forgives me for messing up the sketch!).  lol    Laila has something going on lately and just does NOT want to nap.  I was behind and had to throw together a card in about 30 minutes yesterday.  This was the end result and it's a bit off from the sketch.  I should have looked again before I stamped, but the time was short and it is what it is...  :)

See?  My card is a bit off.   I hope it's close enough to pass.  When you add in a toddler, I think close is good.  I'm going with that anyway!  :)  

She managed to rub a lot of food into her hair at dinner yesterday.  Hot mess! 

Fab Friday Evergreen

Isn't this an awesome sketch?  My friend Mindy just started a stamping challenge blog!  With both her and my buddy Marla on the design team, I just had to go play along!   It was tough to give My Digital Studio the night off, but it was fun to go pull out real paper and stamps too.  :)   

I love non-traditional colors for Christmas and was inspired by the Festival of Prints stack to use Island Indigo and Early Espresso.   There's a hint of Baja Breeze in there too course.   I will admit that the amount of white space stresses me out but I'm leaving it alone.  I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to leave paper unstamped!   I think I'm a bit crazy.  Ha!    I hope you'll find time to go play along in their very first challenge.  The design team is AWESOME and have made a ton of great samples for inspiration!  

Stamps:  Evergreen, Teeny Tiny Wishes, All Holidays (retired)

Ink:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso

Paper:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Festival of Prints DSP, Silver Glimmer paper

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelits, Holiday Collection Framelits, 2011-2013 In Color Polka Dot brads, glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds

She just keeps growing!  They need to make a special bouncy set for girls with long legs. :)  

Just Add Kathy!

I hope you don't pass out when you see this post!   I actually did a challenge that I'm NOT on the design team for!   It feels like forever since I've done that.   I just had to play along with this one though.   The challenge this week at Just Add Ink is to CASE my awesome friend Kathy!   So, I did!  :)

Here's the card of Kathy's that I picked to do:

Gorgeous, huh? I thought so.  In fact, I got bought the square punch just to make similar cards!   I just hadn't found the time to do one yet, so this challenge was perfect!  I wanted to do a birthday card for mine, and here is what I ended up with:

My pictures never turn out that great anymore, but I promise this is just stunning in person.   I combined some of my favorite sets, both current and retired, along with one of my favorite colors, Early Espresso.    I didn't have the Neutrals brads, so I used some of the much-neglected Vintage Trinkets instead.   I think it turned out wonderfully and now I'm thinking up other stamp sets that would work with this design.   Thanks so much Kathy for the inspiration! 

Stamps:  Gently Falling (R), All Holidays (R), French Foliage

Ink:  Early Espresso

Paper:  Early Espresso, Naturals White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, sponges, 1 3/8 square punch, Vintage Trinkets

Saying Goodbye Class

Preparing for this class made me a bit sad. I hate to see products retire, but getting new things more than makes up for it. I think you'll love the new catalog, but don't forgot to pick up your favorite retiring sets before they are gone!   I will have one more project to share with you tomorrow, so stay tuned!   :)

Isn't this little box adorable? It is perfect for a little thank you gift! So Many Thanks stamp, Night of Navy ribbon, and the stylus are all retiring this month. 

Stamps: So Many Thanks

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Night of Navy

Accessories: Night of Navy 1 1/4 striped ribbon, basic pearls, linen thread

Tools: Big Shot, Fancy Favor die, scallop circle punch, circle punch, textured lattice embossing folder, Itty Bitty punch pack, stylus

Here is another perfect little treat holder! It uses the two tags die and can be decorated for any theme or event. It makes a little tent that is perfect to stash a few Hershey Nuggets. :)

Bugs & Kisses and the gorgeous pumpkin pie ribbon are both retiring this month. 

Stamps: Bugs & Kisses

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: 1 1/4 Pumpkin Pie stripped ribbon, Brights Buttons, linen thread

Tools: Big Shot, Two Tags die, Fancy Favor die (for the grass)

Need an easy, but festive way to use up some of your retiring designer paper? Make giant candles! Isn't this a fun card? I love it!  Thanks to Carol for the inspiration!   

The hostess designer paper stack and All Holidays are on the retiring list. 

Stamps: All Holidays, Build a Blossom

Ink: Peach Parfait, Concord Crush

Paper: Hostess in-color dsp stack, Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Whisper White

Tools: Blossoms Petal punch

Accessories: In Color Glimmer brads, Dazzling Diamonds

Simple, yet sweet is how I'd describe this card. I adore this stamp set and will definitely be keeping it in my retired stash. The tree is one of my favorite stamps and the little owl is just too cute.   This card was inspired by Julie's beautiful card found here.  

Forest Friends and the Jolly Holiday designer paper are both retiring this month.

Stamps: Forest Friends, Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink: Chocolate Chip Markers: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Jolly Holiday designer paper

Tools: paper snips, scallop border punch

Accessories: chocolate chip ribbon (retired)

Need a fun idea for a teen? The Extreme Elements stamps are perfect and definitely something I'd recommend getting before they are done. I LOVE playing with Extreme Guitar and am sad to see that it is retiring. 

I am going to go back and sponge some pink ink on the white circle. It is just standing out too much for me. :)

Stamps: Extreme Guitar, Grunge Rock

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, versamark, Basic Black 

Paper: Melon Mambo, Subtles Patterns Designer Paper stack, Glossy White, Basic Black 

Tools: Big Shot, Stars #2 die, circle punches, square punch, brayer

May Creative Crew Challenges

These two cards were designed for the May Holiday/Seasonal Focus.  I used the same rough layout, just flipped it for the second card.      CCREW0511HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - Holiday/Seasonal Focus -- Family Time!  This month we're doing a his & hers challenge. Choose one layout and make a masculine card and a feminine card!   

These two projects focus on the DSP/Color Focus challenge of using the Elegant Soiree DSP or all neutrals with a splash of Baja Breeze.   CCREW0511DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - DSP/Color Focus: 
-- Go neutral with a splash of color! Instead of whisper white or very vanilla, try naturals white or ivory, confetti white or cream. Large emphasis on neutrals. Look to the Elegant Soiree DSP this month for inspiration: All neutrals with that splash of baja breeze! You do not have to use the Elegant Soiree DSP but that is the look that we're after.

My final creation was a difficult one for me as I am not good at "vintage".   It ended up being a very soft, elegant card with just a hint of distressing.   I love the vintage trinkets and they are perfect for this look.  CCREW0511CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - Catalog Focus -- So Distressing. Use the Distressing Essentials kit, cutter kit, sponges, daubers. Make the new look old.


The last challenge is one that I didn't do, the scrapbooking focus.   CCREW0511SF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - SB Inspiration Focus: -- Vintage Pages. We want to see black and white or Sepia photos! We want the page to look like it's from a by-gone era, think antiquing, distressing, lace, etc.


I encourage you to play along with us over on Splitcoast this month and upload your beautiful creations!   Be sure to use the challenge id and creativecrew in your keywords so that we can see you work.  :)   

Creative Crew Teaser Part 4

Here is my final card for the Creative Crew design team May challenges on Splitcoast. Just a few more days and you'll be able to see all of them in their entirety. :) 

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, All Holidays, En Francais

Ink: Baja Breeze, Soft Suede

Paper: Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Elegant Soiree

Tools: Paper Snips, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Accessories: Basic Pearls

Pearls, Pearls, Pearls

(This card is dedicated to my favorite blogger, Ann Schach.   She truly inspires me to try new ideas and use my supplies in new ways.)

I guess I must have been stamping in my dreams because the idea for this card was in my head when I woke up from my nap. I'm not sure it's exactly what I pictured, but I think it turned out okay. I love that it is elegant, yet simple. That combination is perfect for wedding cards! 

I will probably cry tomorrow after using so many of my precious pearls, but oh well. :o) You only live once.   

This is for the Pals Paper Arts challenge PPA87, Use Punches.  

Stamps: Four Frames (promotion!), All Holidays
Paper: Basic Black textured card stock, Shimmery White card stock
Ink: Basic Black
Tools: Scallop Edge Border punch, Decorative Label Punch
Accessories: Basic Black satin ribbon, Basic Pearls

Mojo Monday, March 28th

I hate taking pictures at night because my cards never look as good as they do in real life and with some sunlight. Anyway, this is for the Mojo Monday sketch that you can find here.

I think I'm going to need an intervention soon. I can't stop using pink and making flowers!

Stamps: All Holidays

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso

Paper: Greenhouse Gala Designer paper, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Tools: Scallop Circle punch, Scalloped Edge punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Accessories: In Color Glimmer Brads, Pear Pizzazz ribbon, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon