Freshly Made Sketches 302

Jumping in and playing along with Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I saw the sketch and had an idea, so I tried to find time to see if that idea translated well to paper.  I am happy with how it turned out.  I had the watercolor background in my stash waiting to be used, so yay for one less thing being stored. :) I've been trying to use more vellum lately too as it's been sitting unused for a while too. I hope you like it!

Before I run off and get ready for playgroup, I thought I'd share pictures of Laila's school.  

 This is the library.  It is amazing. I wanted to just move in!

 I took this when we were walking in.  It's neat because all the grades have their own hallway.

 Her classroom.  They are still waiting on tables for the room.

She made herself at home.  She was pretty overwhelmed, but she did hug her teacher by the end of our visit.  I hope she's excited to go on Monday.  I'm a bit nervous about figuring out drop off and all that, but Jason took off all next week.  I'm happy to have backup! 

...and more Dirty Cards

You guys!  I am still stamping, but I'm tired!  I keep telling myself I don't have to finish them all, but then I find myself making a list of what I need to work on.  lol  I have about six more left, so Jason swears I can do it.  We'll see. :)  This card was a fun one.  I made background with Distress Oxides that I didn't need, so I die cut this pretty Stampin' Up! butterfly from it.  I kept the background simple so it would be the focus.  The embossing paste adds interest without taking away from the pretty colors of the oxides.

It's a MONARCH!  lol I got a newsletter from Inspired by Stamping and they send out digital freebies on it.  One month is was this one and I was so excited.  I finally got it printed up and used it for a challenge.  We are still raising and releasing them.  We had a lull, but the mommas have been in the garden like crazy again lately.  Most of our releases have been female as well, so maybe they'll come back.  

I didn't love this one. I fussed over it, but I couldn't get it to turn out like I'd imagined.  The background is Distress Oxides and the arrows are from my Cameo.  

I figured it was a good time to start teacher cards.  Simple, but I like it. I need more stamps for teachers as these are the only two I have!

And finally, one of my favorites.  I made the background with shaving cream, reinkers, and a stencil.  So fun! If you haven't tried that technique. go to Splitcoast and check out the tutorial.

I'm hopping off to go get ready for Game of Thrones!

PTI Make It Monday Color Blocking

Still enjoying Fall in my stamp room. :)  I saw the PTI Make It Monday challenge to do some color blocking and thought it might be fun to use this pretty mum set.  I probably should have used some different colors to make the middle layer of color stand out better, but I like how it turned out anyway.  I do want to try it again with one of the different techniques they shared.

August is my busiest birthday card month, so I need to get some made! My best friend from grad school is my next one, so I'm working on a cute science themed card for her right now. I hope it turns out okay.

Happy Friday!  Enjoy your weekend.
Rita

Papertrey Ink Mum's the Word
Inks: PTI Terracotta Tile, Canyon Clay, Cocoa Bean
Gansai Tambi Watercolors
Canson Watercolor Paper
Stampin' Up! Early Espresso cardstock

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday 286

Today's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge was to make a coordinating pair of cards.  Same supplies, different look.  I love this Mum's the Word set and thought it would be fun to use for the challenge.  I think they are different enough.  I love the colors.  I know we are about to start Summer, but man!  Fall is my season and I am ready for it already.  :)

I was going to add embellishments, but I actually liked the plain cards.

I'm off to make a Costco list and see what other errands I need to run.  I tried a trip out earlier and was able to do one out of three on my list.  It seems to be that way lately.  Either something I need is out of stock or in today's case, the overnight return at the library was broken.  Grr!

Papertrey Ink 2012

One more card to share for the Papertrey Ink Celebrating the Past, Present, and Future event.  I actually had a set from the 2012 day, Hello Sunshine!  I love sunshine (well, as long as it's not over 75 outside) and love stamps that feature it.  I did a wash with Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry and then used Crushed Curry to make the sun and rays.  It's a fun and cheery card and I can't wait to mail it out.

I hope everyone had a good weekend.  We didn't do much. Jason had to mow yesterday and I felt bad most of the day.  The pollen is just awful already.  I seem to have a lot of days that start with a headache that doesn't go away.  Yesterday's was bad, so I was lazy.  Now I have a lot of clothes to fold.  Ugh.  Folding clothes and emptying the dishwasher are my most dreaded chores.  It's also bathroom day, so man!  So much fun, right?  lol  It's raining, so I guess there's not much else to do anyway.  

Have a great week! 

Papertrey Ink Mum's the Word

I managed to make another card for the Papertrey Ink Celebrating the Past, Present, and Future challenges.  This card was inspired by the 2013 look back and a card made by Wanda.  I didn't have the stamps featured this time, but I used the colors of Wanda's card with a set I did have.  I added some vellum over my large panel to play on the vellum leaves of her card.  I have another panel I tried first and got a little too water happy, but I think I can use it with the vellum like this one.  It hides a bit.  :)

Hopefully you can see the inspiration.  

Now I have to go clean my desk AGAIN.  I'm the messiest crafter! 

Sketch Saturday with PTI

Papertrey Ink has a fun series going on right now.  Not only are they looking back at the history of the company, but they are hosting challenges as well.  Today they are looking back at 2014 and I was so inspired by the colors of so many of the cards, especially the one below that was made by Betsy Veldman.  I decided to use those along with the new sketch at Sketch Satruday to make a card.  :)

    
Isn't that die awesome?  I thought about my mom when I saw it, so I had to get it.  I am going to save this card for her birthday in April.  I think she will like it. It's so fun to find stamps and dies that remind you of people you make cards and projects for.

Better Weather Days Ahead

Yay for October!  This is my favorite stamping month because of the Hope You Can Cling To challenges on Splitcoaststampers.   If you haven't heard about them, go over and check them out.   The first challenge is from Lydia and she asked us to make a card inspired by our least favorite weather.  Living in Texas, I hate being hot.  The sun is not my friend at all and neither is the humidity!   I thought I'd use my Lawn Fawn dies and make a card that would be useful for someone going through a tough time.   The layout is based on the current sketch at The Paper Players.

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink Hello Sunshine

Ink:  Versafine Black Onyx

Paper:  Stampin' Up! Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Tools/Embellishments:  My Favorite Things Blueprints 20, Lawn Fawn Spring Showers dies, Lil' Inker Stitched Rectangles dies, Stampin' Up! Crushed Curry Baker's Twine, Stampin' Up! Neutrals Buttons

We were so excited to find that we had caterpillars in our butterfly garden!!   They will be Monarch butterflies, so that's even more exciting.  It is so fun to just watch them eat and crawl.   

Freshly Made Sketches Sunshine

It's Wednesday and time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   Linda is our hostess this time and she has a super cool sketch this week.  My first card was a bit of a bummer, so I thought up a new idea and ran in my room and made it in record time yesterday.  Laila and I are having a rough week, so stamping just isn't happening much.   These cute dies from Lawn Fawn and a sentiment from PaperTrey Ink helped me put together a card I love super fast.  :)   Can't beat that!

Hopefully Linda forgives me for flipping the sketch.  I think I still have the sketch in there, just a bit different.  Pretend it fell over.  Ha!  

Here's another shot of Laila at the park last week.  :)   She was all excited to be in the "big girl" swing.  

Make It Monday with PTI

Can you believe it is almost a new year?!   I can't.  I did sit down last night and think about my crafty goals for next year and wrote them down.  I feel like having that reminder there on my desk might be the key to making them happen!   One thing I want to do is to get back to doing challenges and trying new techniques.  I miss that so much!   It helps me improve as a stamper and stretches my creativity and I just need to make time.   I decided to start early and played along with the Make It Monday challenge at Papertrey Ink.  

We had family spa day today to relax.  Laila loved it and didn't want to get her feet out!  lol

So Much Hope

Beware!  I'm behind on posting cards so there's a lot of my Hope You Can Cling To cards in this post.  :)   Enjoy the inspiration.

First is my stair step card for Kim's challenge.  I used my sweet little snowman from My Favorite Things.   I love this stamp so much!   I added in a pink scarf to honor the theme of the challenges.

Gail's challenge was all about keeping connected.   I didn't have any telephone stamps, but I went with the "girl time" idea of a coffee date.  I know when I'm struggling a nice coffee date with a friend really helps me recharge.  

I made this tag a while back but never found a way to use it on a card.  When I saw Barbara's challenge to use embossing paste I thought I could do a pretty background and add my tag.   It still seems a little plain, so I might add a few butterflies on the white layer before I put it in the mail.

Patricia's challenge was all about spraying ink to get lots of dots and/spots.   I don't love this one and will probably try to do a different card.  I tried a million things to get it to look better, but it is what it is.   We all make a dud sometimes, right?  lol

Stacy's challenge was "show me the love" and involved making a card showing love without putting love on the front.   I used my sweet little hedgies from Lawn Fawn.  

Robin's challenge was to use one of several resist techniques.   I went with a crayon rubbed resist technique.   I put my paper on the raised side of an embossing folder and rubbed my crayon over it.  It reminded me of my favorite childhood toy, Fashion Plates.  Once I did that, I inked up my brayer with Crumb Cake and ran it over the paper to make the resist show up.    It seemed too plain, so I did sponge some Early Espresso around it as well.   Fun technique!

Jeanne's challenge was all about pink balloons.  I have a strange fear of balloons, so I tend to not buy a lot of balloon stamps.  I did have this cute little chick that I hadn't inked up yet, so I added her to the big sentiment from Winnie & Walter.  

Whew!   That's all for now.  I am trying SOOOO hard to get all 35 challenges done, so you might see another long post from me soon.   

My mom went home today.  :(   We are sure going to miss her.   It has been so wonderful to see how much love she has to give to our little girl.   I wish we didn't live so far apart.

Sunshine and Flamingos

This was my first Hope You Can Cling To card for this year.  It is for Lori's challenge, Hope Shines Bright, and I love the sentiment.   The stamps are from Papertrey Ink and I love all the sentiments in this set.  Here's the link to all the challenges.

The first HYCCT challenge was to use a technique that seriously scares me, Paper Tole.  lol  Leave it to Lydia to do that, right?   I finally got a card made though.  I hope I did it correctly as I felt a bit clueless!  

Can you see the dimension?  It makes for a super fun look if you have the patience to try it.  :)   The flamingos are from Newton's Nook, the sun from SU Kinda Eclectic, and the sentiment from Mama Elephant Up & Away.   

We had a bit of a battle for control of the guacamole the other day.  A certain little toddler LOVES it and wanted to steal the bowl!  :) 

Happy Father's Day

Have you subscribed to My Paper Pumpkin yet?  I had signed up ages ago but never got around to assembling the cards so I canceled it.  With all the new improvements, I decided to jump back in and I'm so glad that I did.   This Father's Day stamp was in there this time and I love it.  As you can see, you can use the stamps for anything, not just the cards it comes with!  I'll actually assemble and post the kit cards later this week, but I wanted to share this one today.  I am going to enter it over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Stamp Challenge since it is Anything Goes week.

Stamps:   My Paper Pumpkin, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Versafine Black
Paper:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley DSP (retired)
Tools:  PTI Tag Sale #5 die, The Cat's Pajamas Mustaches Cutups
ribbon scraps, Neutrals Candy Dots

Jason called me in the playroom the other day to show me this.  It's always crazy what happens when the man of the house is in charge.  ;)  We are having a rough day, so send lots of calm mommy vibes my way.   It's almost 3 o'clock, so there's hope of surviving the day!

Make It Monday (or Saturday)

I had just a bit of time to play around a bit this week so I decided to try a new technique.  I saw this on PTI Make It Monday and decided to have a go of it.   I love emboss resist, so I'm all for a new way to do it!  :)   If you have any little small stamps, it's a great way to use them!   I used all my yellows including So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, and even revived More Mustard!  The sentiment is from PTI and the circles from MFT.

Laila got this horse for her birthday LAST year but never really cared much for it.  I had put it away and decided to try it one last time before finding it a new home.  Well, she LOVES it now.   She's tried to take it to bed with her and the other day she even had to ride it outside.  It's too small for her now, so I need to look for a little ride on toy that's more her size and that has the ability to steer!

Freshly Made Stars

It's Freshly Made Sketches day!   Karren is our hostess and sketch creator this week and I love the sketch she challenged us with.   I seem to have lost a stamp set in my super messy room, so I didn't get to make the card I originally wanted to do.   I did need more teacher cards for my vendor event this weekend, so I decided to change it up and go that route instead.   I'm not sure I love the result, but after the day I had yesterday, I'm happy to have made one at all.  

Isn't that a fabulous sketch?  Maybe I'll find my missing set soon and complete my original idea.  It's half done now and taking up space on my desk.  

Laila got to dye an egg at my mom's for Easter.  Well, kinda.  She managed to put one egg in before she dumped the cup out everywhere.  She had blue legs for a while.  :)  My little Smurf.  Hopefully we have better luck next year.