Simple Snowman

 Hi friends!  Can you believe that December is almost over?? Wow. Sorry I missed you for Christmas. December is such a busy month here.  Jason's birthday is the 18th, mine is the 19th, and then we have Christmas... We didn't even do anything fancy, but it still kept us busy. I also fell off my bed, which I always forget is higher than I think, and busted up shoulder pretty good, so I had to take a break from pretty much everything. It's feeling some better now and I go to my first day of physical therapy tomorrow. I'm hoping that won't be an extended thing since it has already been so long since the fall anyway. And... I did this. 

I was just so lost after losing my Bella the day before Halloween. I went to the pet store and my eye caught this sweet boy and the rest is history. He is a snuggle bug who loves my lap.  I adore him. He's 8 months old and the best. We'll see how he does at the vet today for his checkup. :)

Now on to the card. Blogger was giving me issues with trying to upload pictures so today I ended up downloading a new browser and was able to do it. This card using the MFT snowman that I love. I want to enter it in the Splitcoast Stampers clean and simple challenge, the Papercraft Challenges snowflake challenge, and the MFT Color Challenge. 

I'm off to finish my coffee and shower before we head to our vet. Have a wonder last two days of the year. 

Rita

Rainy Days

Hi friends! How are you? Still hanging in there here. Texas has opened back up a lot, but we are still staying home most of the time. We've visited a park and I made a quick trip to Target, but that's about it. I've been stamping a ton, but I haven't been good at posting them. I have been trying to mail them as I make them instead. I hope they bring a little cheer to the days of my friends.

Today's card is for the CAS challenge at Splitcoast. It was to use blues, so I grabbed my distress inks and made a rainy background. Kinda fun!

So that's it for me. I am off to fed the cats and the frogs, make some cocoa, and read for a bit. Have a peaceful Sunday.

CAS Paper Players

Clean and simple is an idea I continue to work on, so I thought I'd play along with this fun challenge from Anne Marie at The Paper Players.   I combined it with the CAS challenge today from Splitcoast which is to be inspired by the word school.   Now what I was thinking (and I am going to say I wasn't) picking the image I did, I do not know. Talk about some seriously fussy fussy cutting!  Yikes!    I already struggle with my scissor skills on a normal day, so this was most definitely a challenge.

People always seem to get paper piecing and paper piercing mixed up.  I actually did both on this one, but the piecing happens on the dress, bow, shirt, boy socks, and books.   Those tiny little spaces were awful to cut out let me tell ya!   I kept losing them my desk and was happy when I finally got them all glued down.  I love this color combination so much!  I think my current three favorite SU colors are represented.  :)

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids, Thank You Kindly (retired)

Ink:  Staz On, Rich Razzleberry plus Crumb Cake, Blush Blossom, and Daffodil Delight markers

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Brights and In Color DSP stacks, Cottage Wall DSP (retired)

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Snips

One of my favorite pictures from her 1 month photo shoot.  It's hard to believe that she'll be 2 months old next week.  The days are just flying by!  

CAS Duo Circles

Today was one of those days, so I needed a little creative time to refresh my mind and relax.   My doctor's appointment went okay, but with my blood pressure still being high it looks like Miss Laila will be here a week earlier than we'd planned.   We should hear from them this week about changing our scheduled c-section to the week of the 25th instead of on July 2nd.   So...I gotta stamp while I can!    I wanted to play with the Dynamic Duos challenge this week and thought it might be fun paired with the Clean-and-Simple challenge on Splitcoast Stampers.    I'm determined to get this CAS thing down!   

My first instinct with those colors was flowers, but I really am a bit tired of flowers.   I decided to try something with Circle Circus instead.  I think I'm one of the few people who like this set.   :)   It works great paired with Perfectly Penned too!    I tried to do a bit of layering with the circles so that it wasn't so flat; a bit of dimension can add a lot!   I'm still a bit unsure of all that white space, but hey, I'm trying!

Stamps:  Circle Circus, Perfectly Penned

Ink:  Regal Rose, Basic Gray

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Gray, Regal Rose

Tool/Accessories:   assorted circle punches, scallop circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Boho Blossoms punch, Basic Pearls

Class Cards & a Challenge

I finally stamped this week!   I have had a pretty blah month, so I haven't felt like getting in my room and stamping very much.   I am trying to make myself go do it this week as it improves my mood so much.   I have a clean-and-simple class planned for next week, so I decided to work on some ideas for that and to do at least one challenge as well.   

This card was inspired by Maureen's card found here.   I love her style!    This one is my favorite of the three cards I'm posting today; I think it is lovely.   The layout uses the clean-and-simple sketch for this week's challenge on Splitcoast.  

Stamps:  Apple Blossoms, Vintage Vogue

Ink:  Baja Breeze

Paper:  Greenhouse Gala designer paper, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze

Accessories:  basic pearls

Tools:  mat pack, paper piercer, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies die

Here's another simple, yet elegant card.   Here I used one of my favorite colors, Pear Pizzazz to give Elizabeth her first inking.    I find this stamp to be a tad bit challenging, but I like how this turned out.  

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, Elizabeth

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz

Paper: Greenhouse Gala designer paper, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories:  basic pearls, Very Vanilla 3/8 taffeta ribbon

Tools:  Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Finally, here is my challenge card for today.   This is for the color challenge on Splitcoast to use Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla.   This is one of those cards where the idea just didn't translate like I wanted, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it.    It might end up being one that I take apart or add to once I think about what needs to be changed to make me love it.  :)

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

Paper:  Jolly Holiday designer paper, Woodland Walk designer paper, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Tools:  Big Shot, Fancy Favor Die (I love the little border that it makes!)

Double Challenge!

It has been a few days since I've made a card and boy did I miss stamping! Today I combined a couple of challenges: the first was the SCS clean-and-simple challenge to use chocolate, sand, and baby blue, while the second was the Friday Mashup challenge to make something baby-themed. 

You can find the challenges here and here.  

Stamps: A Slice of Life (retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake
Paper: Neutrals designer paper stack, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, retired Bashful Blue designer paper