..and more cards!

Believe it or not, I finally finished all the HYCCT challenges today!  I'm just so happy to have met my goal.   It seems impossible with two club meetings, a design team, and a toddler but I did it.  I'll be posting the last one tomorrow for Freshly Made Sketches, but here are the others that I've finished over the past few days.

Sheri's challenge was to make/cover a notebook or note pad. As a former nurse she knows how important it is to write things down, so these notebooks are perfect for that.  I kept mine simple, but it's pink and ready to go! 

Edna's challenge was to make a card that could be from or to a group.  I struggled with this one, but I thought my group of birds saying thank you could be from a group.  They all have their hearts out in thanks, right?!  ;)   I need a stamp of a bunch of bananas!  

The final challenge was from Lydia and it was to make a black and white card with a splash of color.  I cheated I guess with my mat, but hopefully she'll forgive me.  I had been wanting to use the Fight like a Girl sentiment but hadn't been able to make it work before.  It seemed perfect for this splattered card!

Laila didn't get candy for Halloween, but she did get an owl to add to her collection.  :)

Happy Friday!

What a week!  I am so worn out, but I've been trying to stamp when I can.  I don't think I am going to meet my goal of doing all 36 of the HYCCT challenges, but I haven't given up just yet.  I wanted to share two more of them with you today.   This one is for Lisa's mixed media challenge. I've never really done mixed media that I know of, but I tried it here.  There's a lot going on with the background, but it doesn't show up so well in the picture.  It has gesso, glittered acrylic paint, stamping, and some clear embossing.  I added some of those adorable felt flowers that I hoard and added a simple sentiment.

This next challenge was a hard one for me.  Paula asked us to make a card inspired by a fairy tale.  Now I am a bit rusty on my fairy tales, so all I could think of was a frog, shoe, or a princess.  Do I have stamps for those?  No.  So, Cinderella's pumpkin just had to do.  I decided to make it a fall card because this DSP needs some love.  :) 

Laila didn't go trick-or-treating, but she still got all dressed up to visit some of our friends.   Maybe next year she'll be allowed to have a bit of candy and go around to a few houses.  She really liked her costume, so she might be wearing it every now and then.  She looks so cute in it that I don't mind that at all.  :)

FMS94: Rainbow of Happiness

Time for a new Freshly Made Sketch!    Linda S. is our sketch creator this week and she gave us this great sketch to work with. When I looked at the sketch before bed the other night my brain somehow got the idea for a rainbow.   I'm all about trying out ideas that come to me like that because you never know if they will make amazing cards or you'll be like "brain, what were you thinking?".   This one actually turned out okay and I kinda like it even though it's pretty simple.   I am still in the mood to use up scraps and this one used a few random 1/2 strips I had in my bags.   

Stamps:  Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Real Red

Paper:  Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

Tools:  YNS cloud die

Laila got a lot of cute clothes for her birthday.  Here she is modeling the cute outfit that Jason's coworker got for her.   I'm hoping the rest of our week goes okay as her gums are pretty swollen and she appears to be teething.  We say goodbye to grandma today so I'll be back to my three days alone starting tomorrow.   I keep thinking these are the weeks that I wish I liked wine.  lol   Not really, but it does get a bit challenging at times.  ;)

Stampin' Up! Too Kind for FMS

Allisa is our hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week and she has a very versatile sketch that I just love.   Now my vacationing mojo is apparently on a month long cruise or something!  I can't say that I love my card, but I do love this stamp set and shabby bows.  Hopefully together they are okay.  ;)  

Stamps:  Too Kind, Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Calypso Coral

Paper:  Chocolate Chip. Calypso Coral, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP stack (retired)

Accessories:  Very Vanilla seam binding, Calypso Coral baker's twine, Basic Pearls, Neutrals buttons (retired)

Laila had a fun time at her party.  Here she was checking out what was going on in the party room.  :)   That room is now her playroom in progress.  We are working hard on it and it's coming together pretty well.  It needs some artwork now.  I have ideas, but I need some inexpensive white frames.  

Blooming with Thanks

  

Believe it or not, I stamped AGAIN!   I'm trying to work on challenges and having fun again.   It seems to be working too.  Yay!  I appreciate those of you who have taken the time to leave encouraging comments or sent emails.  I appreciate it so, so much.   I also have some news to share! :)  I was chosen as a display stamper for Convention 2013.  I got the email yesterday evening and am so excited...and nervous.  I won't get to go to Convention to see them in person, but my friends are under strict orders to take lots of pictures.

Now on to the card... I combined the fun new sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday with the awesome colors at Dynamic Duos.  

I actually like this one.  :)   I don't normally say that, but I think the flower from Blooming with Kindness just makes me happy.  It's just so pretty!   I added a cute little butterfly from Papillion Potpourri and a sentiment from Fabulous Phrases.   Three great sets are bound to make a lovely card aren't they?  

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases, Blooming with Kindness, Papillion Potpourri

Ink: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie

Paper:  Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Brights DSP stack, misc. retired Bashful Blue DSP

Accessories:  Bashful Blue 3/8 Taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls

Tools: Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3 inch circle die, Scallop Border punch, Petite Butterfly punch

Someone has outgrown their mat.  lol  I don't know why she wanted to get on it yesterday, but it was cute.  We've had a much better day today thank goodness.  She was up crying for over an hour at 3am last night though.  I took her to the doctor today just to make sure nothing was wrong.   She's fine, so no clue what's causing her to be so fussy.  Hopefully it goes away and soon!!!! We are now on week two of cloth diapers and still learning by trial and error about those.  A few more kinks to work out and I'll be 100% in love.  I'm at about 93% now.  ;)

Be sure to come back tomorrow for a new card for Freshly Made Sketches! 

CAS Summer Silhouettes

Okay, so it's been ages since I got to post!  We went to Kentucky for Easter and just got back on Tuesday. Yesterday was chore/unpacking day and today Jason went back to work.  I've been washing cloth diapers for two days trying to get them ready to try and doing the normal grocery shopping, etc.   I thought I'd post a card I'd originally made for the display stamper try-out and then update you on the current SU news!  So here's the card:

I really love how it turned out.  These are two of my favorite colors and part of the big news is that they are sticking around.  :)   Yay, right?!  

Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Tiny Tags, Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Island Indigo, Pool Party

Paper:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White

Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Neutrals Designer Buttons

Tools:  Jewelry Tag Punch, Paper Snips

Now for the specials and news: 

There's going to be a change in the current line-up of colors!  I'm so excited about it.  I love that some of my favorites are staying around.  I will definitely miss Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy (my kitchen is painted in those colors), but I think I like Pool Party and Island Indigo better.   Here's the list of the new colors and the ones retiring:  (you may need to click on it to see it a bit better)

The other awesome news:  Free shipping!!!!!!!   This weekend, April 6-8, all orders qualify for free shipping (except expedited ones of course).  Woo Hoo!!!!!!!   If you like any of the retiring colors, it will be a great time to stock up on those because as of now, they are while supplies last ONLY.   Yikes.  You can order through my website, http://ritawright.stampinup.net if you'd like.  I appreciate any and all orders, big or small.  :)

Can you believe she's 9 months old???   She's crawling EVERYWHERE now!  We just put up another baby gate and I think I'll be heading back to Target soon for one more.  She's "talking" more now with lots of dada and an occasional mama.   I have to thank one of my sweet readers, Janice, who sent me a couple packs of coffee to help me keep up with her.  :)   

She did not like sharing with her cousin, Lauryn.  lol  We are going to have to work on that.  

FMS77: Dreaming Birds

It's Freshly Made Sketches Day!   It also happens to be my ninth wedding anniversary. Jason should get some kind of award for putting up with me for that long!   Anyway, our new sketch is from the awesome Jen Timko.   I love the sketch, but I just could not decide on a stamp set this week. I kept looking and looking over my shelf and nothing was popping out at me.  I decided to make the rest of the card first and then focus on the stamped panel.  

I'm not sure where I was going with the cages and the birds.  I thought I'd use the colors from the Paper Players this week and this is what happened.   Maybe green owls will be all the rage soon.  ;)   I'm not sure if my little bird is dreaming of being in a cage or the other birds are dreaming of being out, but somebody is hopefully dreaming of something. 

Stamps:  Aviary, Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Regal Rose, Pool Party

Paper:  Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Regal Rose, Pool Party, In Color, Neutrals, and Brights stacks

Tool/Accessories:  Pool Party baker's twine, Neutrals buttons

We got a little sneak peek of Laila's Easter pictures and I thought I'd share.  This must have been taken during the five seconds she wasn't grabbing the props.  :)  

Happy Birthday to Me!

It feels like ages since I last posted.  It has been a very emotional time for me with all those beautiful children being murdered and I just haven't felt like stamping at all.  Normally I turn to creating when my mind is troubled but it just wasn't happening this time.  I did manage to make it into my room to get my card made for Freshly Made Sketches this week.  It was not easy for me to make, but my sweet friends Anne Marie and Mindy were kind enough to let me bounce ideas off them via our phones.   It's good to have friends like that when your mojo is missing.    I made a birthday card because today is my birthday. :) 

When I saw the sketch I automatically thought Fun Flowers, but then I couldn't find my die.  I couldn't come up with anything else since I had my mind set on a flower, so I grabbed my scallop circle punches and put this simple flower together instead.   I wanted to add the banners, so I moved the sketch around to make that work.  I hope Tui doesn't mind.  :)    I did use a new product from the upcoming Spring catalog, the honeycomb embossing folder.  It's pretty neat, huh? I like it a lot!  

Monday finally saw an end to her throwing up, but now my poor Jason isn't feeling well. He fell sick yesterday on his birthday.  :(  The good news is that my mom arrived yesterday to stay for two weeks, so it will be nice to have an extra set of hands around.  I'm so happy that she made it down for Laila's first Christmas!    I just hope we don't end up passing any of our sickness on to her.   

Retro Edge

Yesterday was so busy that I didn't get a chance to upload my card!   Now I have two that I haven't shown you because I stamped a bit today too.  :)   I'm going to show you today's on this post because I like it better.  I used the awesome sketch from Retro Sketches this week for it.  It is also a Hope You Can Cling To card for Lynn's challenge to use a decorative edge on a card.  Remember you can find the master challenge list here if you want to make some cards!  

I'm stuck on using Gently Falling in these colors.  It's just so pretty.   I am going to have to challenge myself to use it in more traditional colors again.  lol  I've also seemed to have the color spritzer tool on my desk a lot these days.   Just be sure you guys let me know when I need an intervention.  :)

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Soft Suede

Paper:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, Island Indigo baker's twine, Neutrals buttons, color spritzer tool

I realized today that I hadn't shared my favorite picture from Laila's three month photos!  How adorable is this one??  We just LOVE it!  I can't believe she's going to be four months this week.  My little one is just growing up too fast.  

Text Me a Butterfly

I'm tempted to just post the picture for this one and run away.   What a challenging challenge!   I got an idea in my head and then it just wouldn't work!   I changed out papers and added layers...it was an all day event! I finally gave up and this is what was left.  lol   I used the sketch from iSpy Sketches and Theresa's HYCCT challenge:  My challenge to you today is to simply make a card that FEATURES TEXT in some way in your creation. Use a stamp, patterned paper or even pages from a book, but use text somewhere and have a little bit of fun creating a card that will be well received.

Stamps:  Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Basic Black, Pretty in Pink

Paper:  Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, First Edition DSP, Subtles and Neutrals DSP stacks

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies die, Scallop circle and circle dies, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Black Rhinestones (retired)

We got dressed up and went out shopping yesterday.   It lasted for a whole 30 minutes before the crying started, but we were out.  I'm really starting to struggle with depression from being stuck in the house so much.  It seems like so much work to get things together for us to go out, but I'm going to have to work on doing it more often.  Today we went to Target and she did great!  It was a quick trip, but again, we were out! Now if we can just get this nap situation back under control...   I guess I shouldn't complain too much about her short naps as she's been sleeping all night, but it's rough to not have a break all day!  If you smell me through the computer, it's because I haven't showered today!   :)

More Dirty Cards

I'm still trying to play along with the Dare to Get Dirty challenges over on Splitcoaststampers.   There are some really fun ones, so if you have a Fan Club membership be sure to check them out!   

This was my first card of the morning and I think it would rock if I'd had one more cup of coffee before I started it.  I wish I'd moved that top flower up just a bit so that they didn't overlap so much.  Oh well...it's still pretty and I'm sure my grandma will appreciate it anyway.  :)

Stamps:  Reason to Smile, Watercolor Trio
Ink:  Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake (marker), Versamark
Paper:  Crumb Cake
Tools/Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ruler, sponges

Isn't this berry sweet?   Ha!   I just got the pennant die and I love that fun circle shape.   I have a wonderful friend in mind for this one and I hope she likes it.  She's sweet indeed!   This uses that awesome sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday again too!

Stamps:  Tart & Tangy, Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Real Red, Old Olive

Paper:  Real Red, Old Olive, Brights DSP stack, misc Old Olive paper, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Pennant Die, Finishing Touches edgelits, Circles #2 cie, Jewelry Tag punch, Old Olive 1/4 Grosgrain ribbon

This is a cute card that I created while playing around with the new Holiday Framelits.  I wanted to see if I could use them without the stamp set.  It turned out okay I think, but it's not really what I think of as a "me card."

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Real Red

Paper:  Real Red, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, assorted green cardstock

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Holiday Framelits, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Petals a Plenty embossing folder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Basic Pearls

It's so tough being a baby.   :) 

FMS37: Wild about My Sketch

It's my turn to host the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  It's my last one before I take a break for maternity leave.  I will miss it, but I am officially TIRED.   These next 5 weeks are going to be long with the temperatures up in the 90s and my feet nowhere to be seen!   

For my card I used the awesome colors from the Dynamic Duos challenge again.   I just love them!    I have no idea what occasion you'd use this card for, but I think it's pretty cute. It  sure is heavy though!   I guess I got a little heavier than usual on the number of layers.  I must be channeling my friend Anne Marie the layering queen.  :)  

Well if you've been by the FMS blog you know that this week I was blessed with the sweetest surprise from my DT members, the lovely ladies from the Paper Players, and my sweet friend Kathy.   They shocked me and organized a baby blog hop that I was clueless about!    The FMS ladies even made decoy cards to post on our DT blog so that things looked normal!    I'm still surprised and have been crying over their beautiful gesture all morning.  Be sure to go follow the hop and see all the gorgeous creations that they made using my sketch!  

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Hall

Erna Logtenberg

Jen Mitchell

Jennifer Timko

KathyTanner

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Nance Leedy

Tui Nathan

Tara Murphy Bourgoin

colourQ meets Paper Players!

 
Well, after waking up at 4am this morning, I decided I should try to go stamp for a bit. I actually finished 3 cards and had a nice time stamping just for fun.   With pregnancy, two design teams, and club/class cards, I don't often find time to do challenges or make a card just because I feel like it.   I definitely need to get back to that; it was relaxing and just plain old fun today!   My first card combines two challenges, the gorgeous colors of colourQ and the fun polka dots of the Paper Players.

I hope a different fold will still count as clean-and-simple.  I kept it pretty simple other than that I think?    I really LOVE this color combination.   I'll definitely have to add that picture to my color inspiration board on Pinterest; I want to sure it again for sure!   I used a retired hostess set that I LOVE along with Fabulous Phrases.   I'm a bit bummed that the Scallop Circle #2 die is retiring as I use it a lot, but I'll hang on to it and sneak it in every now and then.  :) 

Stamps:  Love & Care, Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder

Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3-inch circle die, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon

Another Trio of Sketches

Last night I hosted a card class to say goodbye to a few retiring sets and designer paper.   I enjoyed my last set of cards that were all from the same sketch, so I went with that theme again.   :)   Here's the sketch we used from Pals Paper Arts:

I thought this was a fun one, but it sure did take a lot of punching!  I hope the ladies didn't end up with carpal tunnel after making 9 cards.  Here's our first card, the masculine version using Grunge Rock:

I'm really going to miss this set.  I bought it to challenge myself and fell in love with the fun images.   I always enjoy using it and to me, that's a sign of a great stamp set.  :)   We used a strip of the retiring Flirtatious DSP in Daffodil Delight.   I think that pattern was non-girly enough to work.   Ha!    Our next card was the feminine version of the card and my favorite of the three.   It was inspired by Deb's beautiful card that you can see here.  

This one uses more retiring designer paper, Paisley Petals.   It also uses a sentiment from Trendy Trees which is a new stamp set for me.  One of my demo BFFs was kind enough to gift it to me.  (Thanks, Mindy!).   I love the colors of this one!   I struggle to use River Rock sometimes, but it works great with Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy.   Finally, here's our kids version of the card with a flipped version of the sketch:

Fox & Friends is the set that I'm most sad about losing.   Well, not losing because I will be keeping it, but not using it for classes I guess I should say.   It's my favorite set for kids and it has definitely earned it's keep over the past few years.   If I had to recommend one set that you should get before it's gone, it's this one!   I also used a small strip of another retiring dsp, Cheerful Treat.  It was a hostess choice this year and I got so much use out of it.  I just love the fun bright colors!   I hope you enjoyed the projects!   I want to do more of these, so you'll probably see quite a few sketch trios in the future.   

Just to update, my labs came back okay and I am NOT on bed rest nor do I have pre-eclampsia!   My blood pressure is still a little high and I have awful congestion/headache, aching ears, and a cough.  I'm hoping that will clear up soon as it's tiring to feel so yucky all day.   It's only 44 more days until our little girl is scheduled to be here!

Football Thank Yous

One of my customers (Hi Andrea!) needed some red/white/blue football thank you cards last week and I was able to help her out and whip up a few.   I haven't made five cards in a week for a while now, so doing them in one day was a challenge!   Add in that they were manly cards, didn't get ribbon or pearls, AND I had one stamp set with sports and I was a bit stumped.   I hope she liked how they turned out!   

Now I figured I'd show you what I bought with the money from these.  :)  I have been trying really hard to buy things on sale or consignment.   Since this was a bit of surprise fun money, I let myself splurge a bit yesterday.  

I LOVE these shoes!    They remind me of the felt flowers we had in a mini catalog a few years back.   I hoard really love those flowers and have a few packs put back to smile at.  :)  Maybe I can make Laila a hair clip with them to match her shoes.   Now she just needs a matching outfit too!