Simple Circus Circles

Whew.  It's been a rough day here today!  Jason is at work and Laila is being high maintenance!  She napped so well yesterday and then slept almost 12 hours straight last night, so I guess she's well-rested and thinking she doesn't need naps today.  We all know how babies with no naps are, right?!  We're hanging in there, but we are both exhausted at this point!   I did manage to squeeze in a simple birthday card for the HYCCT challenges.  This was a challenge from Lori and here's her description: My challenge to you is to use the letters HYCCT in your card or project! You can use any supply or technique, let your imagination go wild!! Please be sure to include what you used in your description!

Here's what I used for my creation:
H:  Happy Birthday
Y:  Yellow
C: Circles
C: Clean-and-Simple
T:  Twine

Stamps:  Perfectly Penned, Circle Circus
Ink:  So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Pool Party
Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Whisper White
Accessories:  Pool Party Baker's Twine, So Saffron button (retired)

Laila was chilling in her bouncy seat in the kitchen while I emptied the dishwasher and luckily I had the camera snapping pictures when Bandit decided to check her out.  The cats aren't sure about her just yet and all her flailing around tends to scare them!

CAS Duo Circles

Today was one of those days, so I needed a little creative time to refresh my mind and relax.   My doctor's appointment went okay, but with my blood pressure still being high it looks like Miss Laila will be here a week earlier than we'd planned.   We should hear from them this week about changing our scheduled c-section to the week of the 25th instead of on July 2nd.   So...I gotta stamp while I can!    I wanted to play with the Dynamic Duos challenge this week and thought it might be fun paired with the Clean-and-Simple challenge on Splitcoast Stampers.    I'm determined to get this CAS thing down!   

My first instinct with those colors was flowers, but I really am a bit tired of flowers.   I decided to try something with Circle Circus instead.  I think I'm one of the few people who like this set.   :)   It works great paired with Perfectly Penned too!    I tried to do a bit of layering with the circles so that it wasn't so flat; a bit of dimension can add a lot!   I'm still a bit unsure of all that white space, but hey, I'm trying!

Stamps:  Circle Circus, Perfectly Penned

Ink:  Regal Rose, Basic Gray

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Gray, Regal Rose

Tool/Accessories:   assorted circle punches, scallop circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Boho Blossoms punch, Basic Pearls

Sketchy Circles

Jenn created this super fun sketch for Try Stampin' on Tuesday this week and I just had to find time to play along.   It just screamed Circle Circus to me and I am a bit in love with that set lately.  :)

Hopefully it was okay to take a few liberties with the sketch.  My computer was off in my stamp room and I was too impatient to wait on it to boot up.  (It's seriously a dinosaur!)  I knew I wanted to flip it, but I didn't do it with all the elements in the right spot.   I still think it turned out pretty fun.   I'm trying my best to use up some of those soon to retire in colors!  :)

On another note, look what I got my baby girl today!  I love it!  

FMS28: Three Buttons

Lesley has another fun sketch for everyone at Freshly Made Sketches this week.   I know one of my blogging friends, LeAnne, will appreciate at she loves sketches and cards with any element of 3 in them!  :)

After seeing this awesome card by the super-talented Jenn, I just had to pull out Circle Circus and use it this week.   She's so inspiring, so be sure to go check out her blog.  I've been wanting to make some cards for younger girls, but I don't seem to have any stamps that work for that!   I decided to try a girly card for this one and I hope the brown and pink work for that.   I do have to say thank you to my friends Marla  and Mindy who have been so helpful to me lately when I'm struggling with my cards. They are always up for offering suggestions and encouragement and I love them.   Demo sisters are the best!  

This was one of those cards where lots of things go wrong, but I still like how it turned out.   I used Early Espresso for the card stock and buttons, but I somehow grabbed Chocolate Chip ink for the stamping part.   Does it show too much?   I was exhausted and done that day, so I decided to just let it go.  I also stamped a nice Chocolate Chip circle right in the middle of my Blushing Bride ink pad.   Have you done that?   I'm trying to figure out if it will recover or if I should get a new one.   I love that color and plan to use it even when it retires.   

I hope you're having a wonderful week.  I finally felt rested enough to go see The Hunger Games.   I fell in love with the books last year and was so excited for the movie.   No other plans for the week though.    Next week has so much going on that I'll take a restful rest of this week.   I have my April doctor's appointment complete with the 1 hour glucose test on Monday.  Fun, huh?   I hope to go to Babies R Us and Target to finish our registries afterwards.  Then there's stamp club on Friday and Easter on Sunday.  Busy, busy!   My mom is coming down on April 24th, so lots of cleaning to do before then too!

Online Extravaganza!

Here's another card we made at my all occasions class last week.   I think this is one of my favorite color combinations!   It is perfect for a masculine card of any type, even baby cards!    Paired with Circle Circus, it can become whatever type of card you need!    Just change out the sentiment for the occasion you need!

Stamps:  Circle Circus, Perfectly Penned
Ink:  Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Paper:  Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:   Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Marina Mist 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)

On Monday, November 21st, Stampin' Up! will be kicking off an exciting online extravaganza!   If you remember last year, there were some great deals and sales, so don't miss out on this!   This time there will be a 24-hour only sale from November 21, 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM (Mountain Time, so be sure to adjust for your time zone!) on two items!

The rest of the sale will run from the 21st until the 30th.   Some hints of the deals to come:

*Free digital downloads valued at $40 when you purchase My Digital Studio Express

*60% off select designer fabrics

*30% off an exclusive ribbon bundle

I'll have more information on Monday, but you can find the deals starting at 12:01 AM (MT) in my online store!   

Convention 2011

 The cards above and below were my swaps for Convention.  They were simple, but I think they were still pretty.   I will definitely step up my game if I decide to go again.   :)

 This was my gift for my sweet roommate.   I hope she liked them.   I wrapped up the bracelet in some pretty paper and ribbon, which you'll see below.

I had so many bags and I made a tag for each and every one of them.  My shoulders hurt and I am happy to be home and not have to carry them around anymore.  

Here's me and my roommate, the amazing Jackie Topa.    It was so neat to get to spend time with her and bounce around some ideas.   She has challenged me to put together a tutorial for a stamp camp or class, so that's what I'll be working on for the rest of the month.   You can check out her blog here.

I have tons of pictures from Convention over on my Facebook page, so be sure to go check it out if you want to see tons and tons more.    While browsing the display boards, I found my swap from the regional in Ft. Worth last year!   I was so excited!    

Finally, Jason surprised me and painted our kitchen Not Quite Navy and Baja Breeze while I was away.   Isn't it gorgeous?!    Now I need some Cherry Cobbler curtains, so let me know if you happen to see any!  

More Craft Fair stuff...

 I finally finished off my tile coasters and got them all packaged up and ready to sell.   I think they turned out great!   I <3 Circle Circus!  

I made up a couple of card kits for the kids because I would hate to leave anyone out.  I love how they turned out and I am probably going to make up a few more before my next attempt at an event.   This project was one that was easier for boys than girls!   That rarely happens as I find masculine/boy things difficult to come up with, but this was so easy!

Catching up....

 Here is one of the first projects I made this weekend.   I had never stamped on tiles before, but I saw a set made with this cool stamp set and just had to try it.   I love Circle Circus!   Add in some tiles and Staz-On and wow!   This will be one of the projects we make at my gifts class next month...with a matching card of course!  :)

 Here is a fall version of the Hershey candy slider.   I think French Foliage is one of my new favorite sets because you can do so much with it!  

 Here is a Christmas version of the Hershey candy slider.   I used two of our awesome Christmas designer papers for these and I think they turned out so great!

 Here is a little something different.   I was sick most of last week and a little down in the dumps.  I think someone giving me a little treat like this would have been a great pick-me-up.   I plan on making them up in a variety of occasions for my vendor fair!

 Here are two of the cards for my Christmas card class and those going with the Candy Cane Christmas option.   They were CASED from some cards I found on Stampin' Connection and Splitcoast.