Merry Monday Star Shaker

It's Monday and time for a new challenge at Merry Monday!    We really hit the hot, humid days in Texas this week, so I had to go for a nice clean-and-simple card.   Lori is the hostess this week and asked us to use stars.  I think I got that covered!  :)  There's a ton of different ways to use them and I can't wait to see the gallery this week.  I love stars!

Doesn't this picture make you want to create some of those 3-D stars?!  I don't have a clue how, but now I'm in the mood in to make them!  :)

One of my dear friends brought by a tricycle (or as Laila says, a motorcycle) and helmet last week.  She likes it, but she isn't so good at pedaling just yet.   After two major meltdowns, the motorcycle is put up for safe keeping.  I hope we are finally in the last stages of teething as her molars are coming in right now.  Oh my.  She's grumpy and so are we!  lol   I did have a great Mother's Day though and got lots of love and snuggles.  (and a set of Copics!)

Stampin' Up! Ornament Keepsakes #2

Miss Laila is napping so after I grabbed a quick shower, I headed to my room to stamp.   :)  Yay!  I decided to tackle this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  It's a fun one for sure.  I used a lot of the supplies that were still on my desk from yesterday's card, so it's another strange Christmas color scheme.

I love my square framelits for these kind of cards.  They make it so much easier!  

Stamps:  Ornament Keepsakes, Pennant Parade

Ink:  Basic Black

Paper:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley DSP

Accessories:  Basic Black 1/4 grosgrain ribbon (retired), Neutrals buttons (retired), linen thread

Tools:  Big Shot, Square Framelits, Ornament Framelits

I hear a little voice in the monitor, so I'm off to get my girl.  I hope you all have a great Monday and fabulous week.  :)

Stampin' Up! Ornament Keepsakes

Man.  It's been a rough week here. I don't think I slept much Thursday or Friday nights and was so worn out. I have been trying to sleep every time Laila naps so that means NO stamping.  :-/    Thankfully the diaper rash that's kept us up is almost all healed and I slept great last night and took a nap today!  That means I was able to stamp some today.  I decided to play along with CAS(E) this Sketch and Dynamic Duos.  

   
I wasn't sure about black and gray for a Christmas cared, but I figured I'd give it a shot.   I think it turned out so elegant!  I love it.  I had originally intended to use a tree image, so I embossed the black in the woodgrain folder.  I hope it doesn't look bad with the ornament.  I still liked it and left it.

Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Pennant Parade
Ink:  Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Accessories:  Basic Black Chevron ribbon, Large Rhinestones
Tools:  Big Shot, Woodgrain EF, Ornament Framelits

We had French toast for dinner tonight and let Laila try a bit of maple syrup.  It makes an excellent hair product.  ;)

Cards, cards, CARDS!

Did you survive the time change?  It's rough when you have a little one in the house.  No extra hour of sleep here for sure!   We've had a busy day, but I found a bit of time to stamp and then blog tonight.   I have a few days worth of Hope You Can Cling To cards to share.  This first one is for Kathleen's challenge to honor our elders.  I tried to do a vintage card with gold... I don't like vintage OR gold, but I do like doilies and Fun Flowers.  :)

This simple shaker card was for Judy's challenge to use acetate.  I still love this snowman and am sad that he's retired.  He's too cute to not use! 

Joyce's challenge was a subway art one.  I used the So Many Thanks photopolymer set and some Gorgeous Grunge splashes for this one.  Simple, but we won't discuss how many times my tired self smeared it and had to start over.

This last one is for Holly's challenge to make a holiday card with glitter.  I used my old snowflake die and some silver glimmer paper to add some sparkly snowflakes mixed in with some Midnight Muse ones stamped with the Endless Wishes photopolymer set. 

Whew...that's a lot of cards.  

My little mischievous pumpkin.  

Merry Mini Christmas

I'm a bit over Christmas cards since I've been making them since July, but my club ladies and I are doing a swap and cookie exchange at our December meeting and I need to work on some ideas for that.  Since my Merry Minis stamps were still on my shelf uninked, I figured it was about time to change that.   I bought them after seeing this cute card in our monthly demonstrator magazine's July edition.   I don't normally CASE cards, but it was just so adorable that I wanted to try to make one.   I'm not sure it will be my swap, but it's a cute card I can send out to someone if not.  :)

Now on to something even more cute...

Here's the picture we picked from Laila's Santa picture proofs! I LOVE it so so much!   There were several poses that were great, but I just fell in love with this one.   I already made and ordered some Christmas cards today using it.  :)  

Christmas Pennant Trees

I thought I'd share one of the cards I originally designed for my Christmas card class.   After looking at it a few times, I decided that it was really too much work for a quick, simple class.  It's still flat and easily mailable, but a bit too detailed to make a lot of at once.   I love the mix of greens and the little scene it creates though!

Stamps:  Pennant Parade, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Whisper White, Gumball Green, Brights and 2011-2013 In Color DSP stacks
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Vintage Wall Paper Embossing Folder, Petite Pennant Builder punch

Here's a picture from Laila's photo shoot for the Hope Calendar:

She's been doing some better, but we did have a pretty rough midday yesterday.  I finally swaddled her in the evening and she napped great.   I think she was just cranky from not sleeping much in the morning.   Those arms just move so much and wake her up so she must be wrapped up to sleep well.   I did call the doctor today about her progress with the Zantac medicine.  She seems to have more stuff coming back up and is now spitting up some.  Feedings are not always that great either, so maybe we need to make more changes...I guess we'll see.   I hate feeling so clueless!  I just want my baby to feel good.  

Nine days?

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted.  It has been a rough nine days though, so please forgive me.  Laila has been so fussy and such a handful that I've just been exhausted both physically and mentally.  I'm not sure who has cried more, me or her.   The doctor thinks she has reflux and we started some medicine on Tuesday, so we are waiting (and hoping) that she will start feeling better soon.   Thankfully she's been giving us some big smiles which help us cope with the crazy crying spells.   Anyway, upset babies are bad for stamping mojo so I really haven't stamped anything except for the last card for my Christmas card class that is tomorrow.  I thought I'd share that with you and let you know that I'm still alive!

Trying to keep with the simple and easily mailed theme, I put together this card with the Pennant Parade set. I think it is a bit adorable and cute.  Flagged banners seem to be popular right now, so I added in a few of those to keep it trendy.  

Stamps:  Pennant Parade

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso, Real Red

Paper: Lucky Limeade, Real Red, Whisper White, 2011-2013 DSP stack, Brights DSP stack

Tools: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants die, Petite Pennant punch, 1 3/4 circle punch (I think?) 

My sleeping beauty.  Lately she seems to need swaddled to settle down and sleep, but normally she loves to stretch out like this.  Hopefully we get back there soon! 

One sketch, three cards!

If you are looking for my Friday Mashup post, please click here or scroll down.  

Yesterday I had a wonderful lunch with two of my club ladies and we came back and stamped a bit afterwards.  I wanted to show them the versatility of a sketch, so I made up three designs for us using this sketch from Papered with Love.  I knew one of them had recently purchased the Top Note die and thought this one would be a perfect way to show her how to use it.  :)  

Our first card was the feminine version!  I used the same colors from my Freshly Made Sketches card this week because I am really loving them!  (I know, PINK!)    I kept it fairly simple, just added a bit of stamping on the card base with a small stamp from Raining Flowers.  

Stamps:  Raining Flowers

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Pretty in Pink, Subtles DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Top Note die, Tasteful Trim die, Fun Flowers die, circle punch, Blossom Builder punch, crimper, Neutrals glimmer brads

Our next project was the masculine version and of course I had to use The Open Sea!   The Color Coach gave me this gorgeous color combination; it has two of my favorites, Crumb Cake and Not Quite Navy.   For this one we used a background stamp on the card base, the Netting stamp.  It adds a bit of interest without taking away from the main image.   We also embossed the Top Note with the Houndstooth embossing folder. 

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Netting background

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red, Naturals White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Top Note die, houndstooth embossing folder, circle punch, Neutrals buttons, White Baker's Twine

Our final project was the child version!   For some reason I just love this one; it seems fun I guess?  We left the card base plain this time, but embossed the Top Note with the Stripes embossing folder.   Button Buddies was being neglected, so I thought it would be the perfect image for this one.   I used the pennant stamp set and punch to give Mr. Piggy a party hat with a bit of bling.    Isn't he cute?

Stamps:  Pennant Parade, Button Buddies
Ink:  Real Red, Pacific Point
Paper:  Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Top Note die, Tasteful Trim die, Stripes embossing folder, circle punch, Pennant punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack, Brights buttons

If you like this concept, we'll be doing it again next Friday night!   I'm having a Girls' Night Out stamping event where we'll take a sketch and do 3 cards each of 3 different designs.  It starts at 6:30pm and is only $20!   You can check out the details and RSVP on my website.  I hope to see you there.  :)