Stampin' Up! Too Kind

It's my turn to host the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  I have a pretty simple one that can still be interpreted a few different ways.  I stuck to the script this week because my card idea was just perfect for the sketch I designed.  It's nice when that happens!  :)    Too Kind is still my favorite set in the annual catalog. If you don't have it yet, I seriously don't know why not!  It's AWESOME!   I used the Color Coach to get this color combo of Midnight Muse and Rich Razzleberry.   I LOVE them together!

See, pretty simple.   I love what the design team did with it and can't wait to see all the entries!

There's been a lot of "bow on" requests lately and this was her choice on Sunday.  Rawr!  I'm starting to fear that I have a girly girl on my hands.  Yikes!   This tomboy sports-loving mom won't know what to do with that!

Posting through exhaustion...

Dudes... I'm tired!   Now that Jason is working an extra day each week I feel like there's no breaks.  It's go go go and go some more.   I think being busy keeps me from being so down, but man, I'm worn out.  I did managed to stamp some yesterday and today, so I thought I'd share my cards.  This card was for Lydia's Sending Flowers challenge to make a card with flowers.  I used my favorite flower set, Too Kind.  I love the Raspberry Ripple on Crumb Cake!

This card is for Kittie's challenge to create a scene.  I tried to make it look like a framed scene, but eh...  not so much.  I'm just happy to have made a card.  I'm struggling with the challenges this year. 

I have one more, but I'll share it tomorrow.  I'm ready for bed!  :)

Someone got to see a real live sheep this week!

Stampin' Up! Too Kind

Okay, so I have a confession to make.  I am currently addicted to sequins.  :-/  I want to put them on EVERYTHING!   They totally don't go with this card, but I stuck them on there and they are stuck.   So...yeah.   I made this for Angela's HYCCT challenge:

My challenge to you is to make a card using words that are meant to inspire. What are words that keep you going? What's your mantra? Mine right now would have to be "Grow through it - you're stronger than you think you are" The inspiring words can be the focal point of your card or let the words go with the image you've used. 

A few weeks ago I found the live.love.laugh stamps in the dollar (or dollar fifty as this was) bin at Michael's.  Now I PROMISED myself I could NOT buy any of those stamps EVER again.  I have a ton of them in my shelf that have some dust (maybe a few inches) on them and I just don't use them.   But I loved this one...and it is a great mantra for life, right?!   Maybe I was psychic and saw this challenge coming even!  Ha!   Anyway, I love it and you'll probably be seeing a lot of it this month as I find it fitting for the challenges.

Stamps:  Too Kind, Miscellaneous awesome stamp
Ink:  Regal Rose, Old Olive
Accessories: SEQUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another picture from our park playdate last week.  :)   She's so cute.  I can say that, right?!

Stampin' Up! Camo?

Well it's pink, so you know it's another HYCCT card.  :)   This one is for Lee's challenge:

Yes! We can fight cancer and we can WIN! And we can show our strength in PINK CAMO !!!! Pink is not only my favorite color...but the color of October...and a camo version is inspirational to fight, fight, fight!! I'm inspired by so many who I know are currently battling breast cancer as well as other types....and THEY ARE MY HEROES!!! So let's show them that we'll be fighting with them side by side!!! 

You can use pink camo ribbon, patterned paper, digital paper....or you can even make your own camo paper!!! I made my own background paper by stamping a solid image repetitively in many shades of pink ink!! It's that simple! You can also use a pink and black re-inker and swirl it on white ribbon or white flowers and make your own pink camo design!! 

I didn't have anything that even resembled camo, so I tried to use Gorgeous Grunge to make a camo background.  I hope it is passable.  I added my favorite, a Fun Flowers die flower! 

Stamps:  Too Kind, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride

Paper:  Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Old Olive

Tools:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Boho Blossoms punch, Oval punch

Accessories: Brights Glimmer Brads

Laila hasn't been napping long in her crib, but she'll go back to sleep just fine in our arms.  I don't know what's going on with that, but I make sure my Nook is handy so I can snuggle with her and read.   She crashed on me today after sleeping about 35 minutes in her crib.  I wish she'd sleep in it so I could stamp.  lol  Mommy needs downtime! 

Stampin' Up! Too Kind for FMS

I'm totally running behind this week, but I did manage to make a card for Freshly Made Sketches.  Jen B. had a fabulous sketch for us and I figured I might as well try.  I'm not sure how great I stamp with only a few hours of sleep, but it's still better than the cards I made when I first started stamping.  lol   I was intrigued with the colors at Hand Stamped Sentiments, so I tried using those for my card.  I am struggling with Baked Brown Sugar a lot!   I don't know why I always end up using Too Kind for my cards, but it just always seems to work.  It's a fabulous set! 

Stamps:  Too Kind, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green

Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White, In Colors DSP stack

Accessories:  Whisper White 1/4 stitched grosgrain ribbon

I don't have a new picture of Laila for today, but I thought I'd share the awful cake I made at my second Wilton class last night.  It's definitely another hobby that requires A LOT of practice!  I was going to skip the class because I was so tired, so I guess a cake that I'm not face down asleep in is a accomplishment.  ;)

Stampin' Up! Too Kind

Things have been a bit rough here, so I haven't stamped since last week.   I do want to share a card though.  This is one from my last event and I thought it was pretty.   I haven't used the new in colors as much as I should; Strawberry Slush is so yummy! 

Stamps:  Too Kind, Wetlands

Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding

Paper:  Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Very Vanilla, In Color DSP stack

Accessories:  White Baker's Twine, In Color Boutique Details, Basic Pearls

Tools:  Butterfly Punch

She doesn't look impressed with the supplies at Michael's does she?  lol  I wasn't either, but it was nice to look around a brand new one that had only been open an hour or so.   It was all clean and organized.  I did pick up some canvas to try a mixed media project!  Now I need to read up on how to even start that.

Stampin' Up! Too Kind for FMS

The fabulous Jennifer Timko is our sketch creator at Freshly Made Sketches this week and has this fun one for you.   

I wasn't feeling so good  yesterday and didn't remember until about 3pm that I hadn't made my card.  Oops!   I had a class last night, so I had to hurry and hope that a card came together fairly quickly for me.  Well, Too Kind made sure that happened.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE that set?!   I was trying a new color combination from the Color Coach (Old Olive, Pool Party, Crushed Curry), but the Crushed Curry didn't seem to make it.  

Stamps:  Too Kind
Ink:  Pool Party, Old Olive
Paper:  Pool Party, Old Olive, Whisper White, In Color DSP stack (retired)
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Neutrals buttons (retired), Pool Party baker's twine (retired)

Laila had a pretty good day yesterday minus a couple of what Jason's calling timeouts.  ;)   She enjoyed a bit of reading in her chair so we could take some pictures of her in her cute outfit for grandma.

Stampin' Up! Too Kind for FMS

Allisa is our hostess at Freshly Made Sketches this week and she has a very versatile sketch that I just love.   Now my vacationing mojo is apparently on a month long cruise or something!  I can't say that I love my card, but I do love this stamp set and shabby bows.  Hopefully together they are okay.  ;)  

Stamps:  Too Kind, Fabulous Phrases

Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Calypso Coral

Paper:  Chocolate Chip. Calypso Coral, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP stack (retired)

Accessories:  Very Vanilla seam binding, Calypso Coral baker's twine, Basic Pearls, Neutrals buttons (retired)

Laila had a fun time at her party.  Here she was checking out what was going on in the party room.  :)   That room is now her playroom in progress.  We are working hard on it and it's coming together pretty well.  It needs some artwork now.  I have ideas, but I need some inexpensive white frames.  

Catalog Inspired Too Kind

Still hanging in there and trying to stamp.   Today I pulled out some old catalogs and browsed the card layouts a bit.  I found one using Upsy Daisy that I thought would also work with Too Kind, so I tried it.  I think it turned out okay!  I am trying to use up some of my retired DSP, so I used the First Edition paper like the original card had and some of last year's patterns of the Brights stack that were in my scrap bin.   If you wanted to make it with current products only, it would be easy to stamp the Dictionary stamp for the words background and use the new patterns of the colors families.  

Stamps:  Too Kind, Happy Day

Ink:  Old Olive, Real Red, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, First Edition (R), Brights DSP stack (R)

Accessories:  Linen Thread

Tools:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch

This is what our house looks like on a regular basis now days.  Laila LOVES books and can't just have one open at a time.  It takes me a while to pick up once she's in bed.  ;)   

Blooming with Kindness and Too Kind

I know... YUCK!  I am struggling you guys!  Majorly struggling.  I sat down today with my bottle of gesso that I hadn't used and tried to do something with it.  It didn't go so well as you can see.   I probably shouldn't even post this, but I think we need to share our good and bad.   I can already see a million things I could do differently, so maybe when my heart is back into stamping I can try again.  

With the leftover piece and some scraps from around my room, I did put together this 4.25 inch square cards and I like it a bit better.  It's super simple and kinda cute I guess.  I just wish I'd stamped the sentiment AFTER I put it together as it looks crooked and is driving me nuts now.  

I hope you are having a better crafty weekend!

Another picture from Laila's mall photo shoot.  I'm pretty sure she was crawling away yet again when they snapped it. lol

FMS90: Too Kind

It's time for a new sketch at the fabulous Freshly Made Sketches!  Linda C. is our hostess this week and she gave us this gorgeous sketch to work with:

For my card I used my favorite new set and favorite new color combination.   Too Kind is really awesome.  If you don't have it on your wishlist, I totally recommend that you add it!  It's lovely and so easy too!   The new Color Coach has the combination of Smokey Slate, Pear Pizzazz, and Pool Party listed and I am a bit addicted to those.  Aren't they great together?!  Man do I love my Color Coach! 

Stamps:  Too Kind

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate

Paper: Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP

Accessories:  Neutrals buttons (retired), Pool Party Baker's Twine (retired)

Laila LOVES books.  There's always 5 or 6 spread out around the living room and she is constantly flipping through them.  I love it!   I try to read a few to her every night and she cries and throws a fit when we finish lately.  That's good and bad I guess.  :)

VSN: Too Kind

Laila took a nap this morning that was actually a good one, no waking up crying, so I got to stamp a bit.   Splitcoast has a Virtual Stamp Weekend going on so I thought I'd try to play with some of those challenges.   The first one I did was to CASE a card of Lee's.   I chose this one and this is what I came up with.  I am really enjoying this stamp set!  It's so pretty and easy to do.   I'm so thankful that I bought it in wood mount!

Stamps:  Petite Pairs, Too Kind

Ink:  Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi

Paper:  Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi

Accessories:  Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Neutrals buttons (retired)

Laila loves this zebra!   She will put it in her mouth and crawl around with it.  lol 

Yay for New Stamps!!!!

I finally finished my Convention display samples today!  Yay!!!!!!!!  I was so excited to get to ink up my new catalog goodies tonight!   I decided to try the new sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch.   

Too Kind was one of the first sets that I fell in love with in the new catalog.  Now that's a bit shocking because I normally dislike...okay hate, two step stamps.   There was just something about this one though...  I really liked stamping with it, so yay!  The color combination is from my shiny new Color Coach too!

Stamps:  Too Kind

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP

Tools:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 3/8 circle punch

Accessories: Basic Pearls

It has been a fussy, clingy week for Laila.  I survived today, but I still have two more days alone with her.  Wish me luck!  This was us playing last week trying to get a picture on the giraffe.