Stampin' Up! Just Sayin'

It's been a week, so I figured I should try to post something today!   It's just been so busy that I haven't had time to stamp!  I spent my free time last week cleaning and rearranging my stamp room.  I'm glad I did because Jason got me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas.  I'm a bit scared of it, but I'm going to try to do a project with it soon.   For today I wanted to use some new products that you'll be seeing in the Occasions catalog that starts soon.   I used the sketch as Pals Paper Arts as my inspiration.   I hope they think I'm close enough to it anyway.  ;)  

There's an awesome little pack of designer paper in the catalog that has the combination of Coastal Cabana and Real Red.  I just love them together!   I used a new embossing folder, that paper, and a fun new stamp set, Just Sayin'!   

I'll share some of our holiday fun today.  Mom made up some gingerbread so that Laila could cut out some little men.  It was messy, but fun.   :)

Stampin' Up! Perfect Blend

Watch out world!  I made two cards today! 

So I think I mentioned earlier this week that I wasn't sure about Baked Brown Sugar.  Now I can't say I dislike it as much as Summer Starfruit since I actually OWN it, but I'm struggling to use it.  I saw the new color challenge at Pals Paper Arts and decided I'd try to use it again and see how it went.  I think my card turned out okay and there might be some acceptance of the color after this card.  ;)   I loved last week's Mojo Monday sketch, so I used it for this card since I didn't have time to play last week.  

Stamps:  Perfect Blend, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar

Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, Epic Day DSP, In Colors DSP stack

Accessories:  Neutrals buttons (retired), Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, Basic Pearls

Tools:  Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Distressing Tool, sponges

Peekaboo obsessed!! 

PPA150: Valentine Colors

I need to get serious about making those Valentine's, so I decided to work on a challenge card.  I never seem to find time to play along with many challenges these days and I do miss it.   I loved the colors at Pals Paper Arts this week so I combined those with a previous sketch from Mojo Monday. 

Hopefully it's not TOO dark. It started off that way but I tried adding in some Melon Mambo layers to get more pink in there.   I love that heart embosslit but I always forget to use it.   I definitely need to leave it on my desk so that it gets some use this Valentine's season.   Sounds like Miss Laila is up from her nap, so I'll keep it short today.   Have a great weekend!

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!

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!    

PPA120: Faux Linen Sketch

So lately I've been feeling pretty down and not really enjoying stamping as much as I usually do.  My cards are all feeling a bit plain and boring for me too.  Sad face, right?    Today I found myself a bit ahead of things, so I decided to sit down and do a challenge for fun.   I wanted to add a new technique into the mix as well.   I find that expanding my skills and trying new things a breath of fresh air, so I thought that might be just what I needed.   I decided to play along with the Pals Paper Arts sketch and to try the Faux Linen technique.   I haven't used my new Distressing Essentials kit very much yet, so it was a perfect time to put it to use!  

I used the Tea Stain ink on my image panel and I don't think it was quite dark enough to allow the linen texture to show up in my picture.  I know next time to go darker for that part, but I do like how the card turned out.  I seem to be drawn towards browns right now; maybe because of all the dead trees we have from the drought?   Or maybe cheery colors just aren't fitting my mood?   Either way, I do like mixing them up.  I never thought I'd be using Soft Suede as much as I have been!  It is a bit of an ugly color.  :)  All the panels are sponged to give them some depth and I pulled out my favorite retired ribbon, Early Espresso satin.  

Stamps:  Best Friends Forever, Nature Walk, En Francais

Ink:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Tea Stain distress ink

Paper:  Glossy White, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Neutrals Patterns DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Distressing Essentials kit, sponges, Early Espresso Satin ribbon

Gratitude

After a pretty crappy day yesterday, I decided to go play in my stamp room a bit before I went to bed.   Making a card is the perfect cure for the blahs!   I wanted to play along with a couple of challenges, so I decided to combine the Pals Paper Arts color challenge to use River Rock, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso with the Friday Mashup challenge to make a Thank You or Gratitude card.

Now I make a lot of cards and I like some of them, LOVE others, and hide a few too.   This card is one that I LOVE and I'm amazed at how well it turned out!   I have been trying to use some stamp sets that have collected a bit of dust, so that's where I got the Vintage Vogue inspiration.  I wasn't sure about brown flowers, but I am in love with them!   I think this card will go in my "I'm keeping it forever" stash.  :)    Now it is an overcast day here in Texas, so my photo truly doesn't do this one justice.  I tried different locations and different lighting, but it just wasn't happening today.   I really need to get that light tent ordered!

Happy Sunday!

Stamps:  Vintage Vogue, Petite Pairs, En Francais
Ink:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock
Paper:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Tools:  Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 die, circle punches, paper snips, Basics glimmer brads, Early Espresso satin ribbon (retired)

Red and Pink Christmas

Well, I've said many times that I love non-traditional colors for Christmas, so here's a bit more proof!     When I saw the color combination at Just Add Ink this week, I knew I'd be doing a Christmas card.   Cherry Cobbler always makes me think Christmas and I knew I could somehow work in Blushing Bride with it.   One of my favorite products is Cherry Cobbler seam binding, so that was my first thought when I saw the Pals Paper Arts challenge to use ribbon.   Nothing makes bows quite like the seam binding.  I love it!

What do you think?   I have a friend who just loves pink, so I know where this one is going next month!   :)

Stamps:  Bright Hopes
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, embossing buddy, heat tool, Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

Gently Falling Duo Challenge

I had a wonderful day crafting with my two best friends today!   I got up early this morning and made us some soup and banana nut bread to snack on during our girls' day.  They were both yummy and helped fire up our mojo for some card making!    This was the card I worked on today; it uses the fun sketch from Pals Paper Arts.   I love this sketch and will definitely be filing it away for future reference!    I also wanted to play along with The Friday Mashup and use twine on my card.   I adore baker's twine and seem to be using it way more than ribbon lately.

I am really enjoying Gently Falling, so I'm pretty sure I'll be putting an order in for it tomorrow.  :)    To start my card, I played around with my Color Coach and decided I liked the look of Calypso Coral, So Saffron, and Early Espresso together.  Once I figured out how much of each I wanted to feature on my card, everything went together pretty easily.  

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Falling Leaves
Ink:  Early Espresso (ink and marker), So Saffron (ink and marker), Calypso Coral
Paper:  Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, So Saffron
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Modern Label punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Antique Brads, sponges, Color Spritzer (just for you, Ann!)

PPA109

Last night and today I took some time off of "work".   I decided to just stamp with no thoughts of what was retired, what my customers might like, etc.  It's nice to just have a fun day doing whatever strikes your fancy.   My goal is to get back to participating in a challenge every day.   I enjoyed doing it before and my skills really improved during that time.  

This card was made for the Pals Paper Arts challenge to use Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red, and Basic Gray.   Not being a fan of the coral and red, I definitely found this one to be a challenge!   As I looked through my stamps, Paisley Prints caught my eye.   I LOVE paisley and had to buy this set last year right before it retired.   I figured it was time to use it again, so I inked up my leaves and got busy.   The slightly cooler temperatures we've had the last 2 days has really helped me get in the mood for fall.     I never thought 90 degrees would feel like fall, but when you've had a summer of 100+ temperatures it kind of does!  We have some nice lows at night this week, so I'll be cuddling up in my blanket and enjoying them!

Stamps:  Paisley Prints (retired), Falling Leaves
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red
Paper:  Basic Gray, Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack
Accessories:  Basic Gray taffeta ribbon (retired), In Color Dotted Brads
Tools:  Paper snips, paper piercing tool

What?

I finally get chosen as one of the top picks on the Pals Paper Arts challenge and this is what I follow it up with?   Can you see my sad face?   I hate when I have an idea and it turns out all crappy.   This card serves as a reminder for me.  No punch art allowed in my craft room.  Just stamping.  Stamping = pretty.   Hopefully everyone makes a yucky card every now and then.  I am just dumb enough to post mine I guess.  :)  Or maybe I should have made this more positive and totally convinced you that this was a true work of art?     I blame it all on the Daffodil Delight.  We are not friends.

Okay...moving on.

Wish Pig

Isn't he cute?    This is one of my favorite color combinations and two challenge blogs asked us to use them together this week!   How cool is that?!    Our Creative Corner and The Friday Mashup! are both awesome, so go check them out and play along with these super fun colors.   If you like poking holes in your paper, try the Pals Paper Arts challenge to do some paper piercing on your card.  It's fun!  

Stamps:  Wish Big, Button Buddies
Ink:  Real Red, Tempting Turquoise
Paper  Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Brights Designer Paper stack
Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones, Real Red taffeta ribbon
Tools:  paper piercing tool

Two Challenges in One!

I'm trying to get back in the groove of doing daily challenges, so here's my card that I started last night and finished up this morning.   It uses the sketch from the Pals Paper Arts challenge and the inspiration picture from Stampin' Royalty.  I am slowly warming up to Delicate Doilies and getting a feel for how to use it.   I LOVE the new Flirtatious designer paper; it is gorgeous and has a nice range of colors to work with.

Stamps:  Delicate Doilies, Vintage Labels (retired Sale-a-bration set)
Ink:  Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink
Paper:  Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Flirtatious designer paper, Neutrals designer paper stack
Accessories:  basic pearls
Tools:  circle punches, scallop trim border punch, paper snips

In Color Owl

Today is a lazy Sunday so I decided to keep my card simple. Mr. Owl is so adorable that he doesn't need much to make a card super cute. 

This card is for two challenges, the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink and the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts.

Stamps: Tiny Tags
Ink: Poppy Parade
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, In Color Hostess paper
Tools: Big Shot, Little Leaves die, Lots of Tags die, Owl punch

My Eyes!

This is bright, huh? Daffodil Delight is another one of those colors that I tend to avoid, so I decided to try and use it on my card for the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge. The color combination came from the Color Coach. 

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Tiny Tags

Ink: Concord Crush

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, Brights stack, Greenhouse Gala

Tools: Scallop circle punches, circle punches, paper piercer

Accessories: In Color Glimmer Brads, Concord Crush ribbon

Flowers and Cake

Two challenges in one day! This was one of those cards that I actually come up with during my sleep and I think it got a little lost in translation. I won't say I love it because the idea in my head was SPECTACULAR and this okay, but not quite there.  

This is for the Pals Paper Arts challenge to use flowers. I recently purchased the Itty Bitty punch pack and was ready to try it out, so those are my flowers along with the embossing. 

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, En Francais

Ink: Concord Crush

Paper: Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush, In Color Hostess pack

Tools: Itty Bitty punches, stylus, Big Shot, Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, basic pearls

Here's a little close-up of some of the details:

Warning...sneak peek ahead!

How about a sneak peek from the upcoming Summer Mini catalog? I love this striking Fabulous Florets set already. The image on the main panel is gorgeous, but look at that background paper I made using the other stamps from the set. I love making my own unique designer paper and this set is perfect for it!

This card is for the color challenge presented on today's Pals Paper Arts blog. You can find it here: http://www.palspaperarts.com/2011/04/ppa-87-celebrity-color-challenge.html

Stamps: Fabulous Florets (Summer Mini)
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz
Tools: blender pen (I don't have the Pear Pizzazz marker, so I improvised with the ink pad and blender pen), Itty Bitty punch pack
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz ribbon, Basic Pearls

(The layout is actually an old sketch challenge from Splitcoast.)

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

Thursday Challenge: Pals Paper Arts

The Pals Paper Arts challenge this week is to emboss.   I pulled out my embossing folder and got to work.   I had an idea in my head that I had been wanting to do for a while, so I started working on it and found that my mental image was much prettier than the actual end product.   I scrapped the first card and tried again using pinks.   I've been in a mood for pinks lately, so I had hopes that I would be happier with my second attempt.   While I do like it better than the first, I'm a bit let down by it.    I wanted to post it anyway just so you know that you won't always love every card, nor will they always turn out perfect.    You can, however, keep working and improving on an idea and you will be a better result with time.   I'm going to keep this one rolling around in my head and try it one more time next month.   Stay tuned...


Stamps: Inspired by Nature
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Confetti White
Tools: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder
Accessories: Old Olive satin ribbon, linen thread, retired button