Vital Signs

I'm way behind on my Hope You Can Cling To and my design teams cards this week.  :(   Stamping just hasn't fit in my schedule as well with Laila's reflux acting up.   We did get some different medicine last night so fingers crossed that it will work the entire month and not crap out on us the last week.   I did put together this fairly simple card over the past few days.  It is for Ardyth's challenge:  Make a project inspired by one (or more) of the 4 main Vital Signs : heart beat (pulse), temperature, blood pressure and breathing.  I thought the chevrons and hearts were perfect for this one!  :) 

Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink 

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Chevron embossing folder, Heart punches, Subtles buttons, White Baker's Twine

My little pink giraffe.  :)

FMS 17: Blue Valentine

It is my week to host the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and here is the sketch I came up with to challenge everyone.  I was excited because I saw a reason to pull out my new favorite thing, the Tasteful Trim die!   I am definitely happy that I picked it to use my awesome birthday discount on from Stampin' Up!   It is such a great die; who doesn't LOVE rick rack?!  

I decided to continue my efforts to get a lot of Valentine's Day cards made up.   I took the colors from the the Pals Paper Arts color challenge (Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla) and came up with this card.   I do have to go back and straighten up that crooked rick rack, but just pretend it is straight, okay?  :)    I wanted to leave off the ribbon and bling to make it a truly masculine card, but I felt that it really need SOMETHING and that ended up being rhinestones!  

I hope you'll come play along with us this week!    

FM38: Be My Valentine

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project using "Watercoloring".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch & Watercoloring" .

With everything going on last week trying to figure out if we were going to go out of town or not, I wasn't able to do my card for the Friday Mashup.   My mind finally settled enough today that I thought I would at least attempt one.   I was hoping to watercolor, but my Aquapainter seems to be clogged up or something.   Anyone had that happen and have any suggestions?  I tried hot water, but it didn't work.   It is ancient, so it might just be time to buy some new ones.   Anyway, I decided to do a card with the sketch, but I probably should have looked at it again before I started my card.  I think it is still kinda close, but I'm not sure if my little envelope is close enough to the bottom.   I tried though...that's more than I've felt like doing for a while now.  

I was able to use a few new-to-me products and a much neglected one as well.   The scallop envelope die was one of the first I purchased, but I never seem to use it for much of anything.   I thought it would be cute to stick some of my new heart products in!   Thanks to all the wonderful sales of the past two months, I'm all set for Valentine's Day with new punches and I {heart} Hearts.  I also used my birthday present (the one I got myself), the Tasteful Trim die.   I love that thing already.   For my colors, I decided to play along with the colourQ challenge this week to use black, white, and one other color of our choice (red).   I even used my light tent that Jason got me for Christmas too!   I hope it will help my poor pictures, especially during the dreary winter days. 

I hope you like my card and will find time in the next week to play along!   Last week's challenge is still open as well, so you have lots of opportunities to create.  

Thanks to everyone who left comments and well wishes on yesterday's post.   Hugs back to you all.   

Before I go, I thought I'd share some of our baking.   I made some yummy cranberry orange scones and Jason makes homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  

I used this recipe, but made my own orange glaze with orange juice and powdered sugar.  Yummy!  I'm addicted to anything cranberry/orange, so these were a perfect treat last week. 

I don't have the recipe for these as it is in a booklet that came with our bread machine.  I will just say they are delicious and leave it at that.   I'm sure I gained 5 pounds eating them!  

FMS 15: Be My Valentine

Time for our last sketch of the year at Freshly Made Sketches!   Cindy designed our sketch this week and boy did she challenge us!    I am not good with tilted anything on cards, so it took me a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to make.   I am officially done thinking about Christmas cards, so I moved on to the next fun holiday, Valentine's Day!   Crazy, huh?  

It feels a bit plain to me, but I wasn't sure what else to do with it.  I wanted to add some embossing, but I wasn't sure it would look right on the pink panels.   Greeting Card Kids is seriously the most adorable stamp set ever.  I love it!   I wish we had a few sets of them covering every possible holiday and event.  :)    

I hope you'll play along with us this week before the craziness of the holidays sets in next week!  

Stamps:  Petite Pairs, Greeting Card Kids, I Heart Hearts

Ink:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom (marker), Staz On Black

Paper:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Brights and Subtles DSP stacks

Tools/Accessories:  Blender Pen, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, small heart punch, Pretty in Pink 1/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)