FMS83: Just Believe

The very talented Allisa created this week's awesome sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.   It's a great one and I'm totally pinning it for future reference!  For me, it paired VERY well with this week's colourQ colors. 

You'll see that my card is a birthday card and there's a reason for that!   The amazingly talented Vicki at It's a Stamp Thing is celebrating a birthday this week and our team made birthday cards for her.   :) 

My card is pretty simple.  We had errands to run yesterday and my time for stamping was a little limited.   I guess that's why putting things off until the last minute is a bad idea, huh?   I still think it turned out pretty cute, so sometimes procrastination works out.  

Stamps: Just Believe

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Cheerful Treat DSP (retired)

Accessories:  Pumpkin Pie satin ribbon (retired and hoarded!), Basic Pearls

Tools:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslit

I think Laila has figured out the camera.  When she sees it, the cheesy grins begin.   It's pretty adorable.  :)   I'm sure you can tell from the picture that her eye is not looking so good.  We've tried everything we know to do to get that tear duct to open so we are going to a specialist on Monday to get it checked out.  He might say continue massaging, but I want to make sure that's really all that can be done.   It keeps getting raw and irritated and I hate that.  :/  

Blue Flower

    

Since I've decided to work on some CAS skills, I thought it might be fun to try out a couple of challenges that are just for that!   I am combining the sketch at clean&simple with the cue at CASology.

I guess I should have printed out the sketch instead of doing it from memory. :)  I guess my brain can't even handle something that simple these days.  I am having a second cup of coffee, so maybe that will help me the rest of the day.  I used one of my favorite tools, the Fun Flowers die, and two of my favorite colors.  Simple, but sometimes simple is good, right?  

I just love this girl.  We are having such a good week!   

Serenity Now!

I'm still trying to catch up on my Hope You Can Cling To cards.  Making a card a day is tough for me, but I'm trying my best!    I am glad we have the first week in November to play catch-up.  I can already see that I'm going to need it.  Today's card is a challenge by Jennifer, a breast cancer survivor.  Here's her description:  So my challenge for you is to create a card that evokes peace, calm, and serenity with a touch (or splash!) of pink. no pressures, no requirements other than to just enjoy, embrace, and have fun while you are making it! Don't forget you can play along too!   A discussion with all the challenges can be found here.

I started off in a different direction, but it didn't work out and I decided to try again with the clear block background.  My first one looked amazing and then I dropped an inked stamp on it.  I figure that goes along with the rest of my day where I went grocery shopping with no purse, somehow double loaded my Starbucks card, and left the grocery store without buying any meat for our dinners this week.   It's definitely one of THOSE days.  Yuck.   Anyway, I I like how this turned out once I finally got it together.   I think it evokes serenity.  It does to me after my day.  :)

Stamps:  Just Believe, Petite Pairs

Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso

Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslit, clear block, Early Espresso stitched ribbon, Basic Pearls

Just playing a little dress-up for our trip to Target last week.  :)

HYCCT Green Foliage

After a rough few days, Jason was finally off today and I got a break to go stamp.   Laila was sure a challenge for me for the three days he was working, so I'm glad to have him here for a few days.  It's much easier when we can trade off parenting.  :)    I'm trying to catch up with the Hope You Can Cling To challenges so that I can mail off a package of cards to the MD Anderson Cancer Center this week.   The challenge I worked on today was from Dina and here's her description:  Make a card inspired by a show tune!  Any song (title or lyrics) from any musical or movie will do – just let us know what song inspired you!  For my card I picked a song from Little Shop of Horrors called Somewhere That's Green and made this monochromatic card.   I hope that will work!  :)

Stamps:  French Foliage, Just Believe

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green

Paper:  Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, scraps

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Woodgrain embossing folder, Scallop Oval punch, Medium Oval punch, Regals buttons, Linen Thread

It's still been pretty warm down here in Texas, so I've been trying to get her in the rest of her summer clothes before it's too cold for them.  This girl sure did get a lot of clothes!   

FM59: Tasteful Trim with Ribbon

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project " with a Decorative Edge! "
2. Or Make a project with " Ribbon and/or a Bow. "
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project " with a Decorative Edge & Ribbon ".  

It's Friday Mashup time again!  Sadly this is our last challenge with the awesome Kasey.  :(   She is going out on a fun one though and challenged us to use ribbon and/or a decorative edge.  My thoughts immediately went to my favorite die, Tasteful Trim.  I love that thing!   It was such a great birthday gift to myself last year.  (I hope my Fun Flowers die doesn't see this post; I do love it too.) 

One of my recent goals is to work on clean-and-simple cards, especially those that are mostly one layer.   With a new baby coming soon, I know my budget and time are both going to be decreased and I figure the "less is more" philosophy is a good one for me to work on adopting.   I do find this style difficult, so you'll have to bear with me as I fumble my way through figuring it out.   I do like this one a lot and think it turned out nicely for such a simple card.   I even managed to fit in the decorative edge and the ribbon/bow without going overboard (I think anyway).    

I hope you'll take the time to come play along with us this week and to wish Kasey well as she moves on to future endeavors!   

Just Believe class card

Today I thought I'd share one of the cards we made last Friday night for my Girls Night Out class.   I think this was my favorite!   I took an idea from the Idea Book & Catalog and turned it into this beauty!   I love purple and green together; it is such a lovely combination.   Just Believe is a gorgeous set and you can do so many pretty things with it.   I'd highly recommend you put it on your wishlist if you don't have it already!

Before I go, I'd like to wish my sweet friend Anne Marie a very happy birthday!   I was hoping to make a card and post it today for her, but my poor room is in shambles.   I have been buying new shelving and reorganizing for a few days now.   We are supposed to have a rainy day tomorrow, so I hope it will be the time I need to finish up in there!

Stamps:  Just Believe, Tiny Tags
Ink:  Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade
Paper:  Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Beautiful Wings embosslit, jewelry tag punch, blender pen, Lucky Limeade ribbon, basic pearls
 

Pool Party!

I just realized that I haven't posted quite a few of my projects from the July and August Creative Crew challenges.   Not familiar with the Creative Crew?  It's an awesome group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators who work hard each month to design cards for super fun challenges over on Splitcoast Stampers!  We love making sure that there are plenty of cards featuring our wonderful line of products for all to see!   This was a July challenge to use one of the new In Colors.  I chose Pool Party and used my favorite tool and best friend the Color Coach to find the perfect combination for my card.   I seriously couldn't stamp without this thing.  If you don't have it yet, GET IT!   :)

Stamps:  Just Believe

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Not Quite Navy, Pool Party

Paper: So Saffron, ot Quite Navy, Pool Party, Naturals White

Accessories:  So Saffron Grosgrain ribbon (retired)

Tools:  Paper Piercer, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder

Side Note:  I'm disappointed in the quality of photos on Blogger lately.  If you want to see a better image, you can click on the picture and it will show you a larger, clearer picture.  

Enjoy your weekend! 

Technique Tuesday: Just Believe

Did you see that? Somebody tore my paper! :) 

I haven't been feeling well today, so I did a simple card today using a couple of different easy techniques. First, I tore my card stock. For me, this technique is VERY stressful because I do not like tearing up stuff. *shudder* I think I got a little carried away, but anyway... I then colored my stamp with markers. After it was colored, I lightly spritzed it with water and then stamped it. This gives it a slight watercolor effect without actually watercoloring. Cool, huh?

This card is similar to one made for a make-and-take at the Stampin' Up! convention last year, so you can find several examples of it online. I changed up the colors from the examples because I wanted to use some pinks tonight. 

Stamps: Just Believe

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive markers

Paper: Confetti White, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo

Tools: color spritzer

Accessories: Old Olive satin ribbon, linen thread, Brights buttons

Sale-a-bration Class/Workshop

(inspired by Laurie)

(inspired by Barb)

(Not my original idea, but it has been recreated so many times that I'm not sure who to credit for the original?)

Here are the 3 cards we are making tomorrow at a Sale-a-bration workshop/class.   The ladies asked for techniques, so I focused on the different looks that can be done with the Stampin' Up! sponges and ink pads.    I love all of them and I hope they will as well.