FMS38: Peek-a-boo Owl

This month started my break from my design teams and I'm already missing them!   I had another bad weekend of not feeling well though, so I was glad not to have the pressure of having to create something.  I keep hoping these sinus headaches I'm having mean rain is in the forecast, but it's just been dry so far.   Maybe I'm just allergic to the 95 degree temperatures?    :)   Anyway, I needed to finish up my preparations for stamp club that's happening on Friday night so I decided to use Linda's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for our sketch card this month.   

Isn't it cute?  It's been a while since I've used my owl punch but I thought he was just perfect for a Father's Day card.    I combined him with a masculine color combination of Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, and Tangerine Tango and left off any frilly ribbon or bling.   Simple, but adorable!    I hope my ladies enjoy making it!

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Brights and Neutrals DSP stacks

Tools/Accessories:  Owl punch, 2 3/8 scallop circle punch,  1 3/4 circle punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch

FM60: For the Boys

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project for " That special Man in your life ".
2. Or Make a project with the " Sketch ".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a " Masculine card using the above Sketch ".

Know that old saying better late than never?  Well, that's me this week!  I had actually decided to take this week off from The Friday Mashup because I was feeling so bad, but after some new medicine and a night of sleep, I felt like stamping a little today.  Holly has such a great challenge that I didn't want to miss out playing along.  Now this will be my last card before I'm "officially" on maternity leave, but I still want to try and do some of the challenges if I can fit them in.  It depends on how I'm feeling and then how recovery and motherhood go if that happens or not.  I can't believe it's only 38 more days!  Yikes!   Anyway, on to the card, right?!  

I pulled out some retired designer paper that I really need to stop hoarding use up and the classic Lovely as a Tree stamp set.   It's an easy choice for a masculine card.  I did a bit of "thumping" on the tree to get in some different shades of green; one shade was just a bit boring.  :)    It's a pretty simple card, but it's hard to go all out with embellishments when you are doing something for a man.  Ribbon and bling just don't work without some serious creative effort!  

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain background

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Always Artichoke

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White, miscellaneous retired DSP

Tools/Accessories:  Vintage Trinkets, Color Spritzer, Linen Thread

I hope you'll come play along with us this week!  It's a great time challenge to get your Father's Day cards made before June hits!

Lovely Tree

In my last post I mentioned wanting to make a card of my own that was inspired by the cased card that I posted.  Well, here it is!  :)  I am having fun playing with my background stamps, sponges, and cutter kit.  For this one I added in an old favorite, Lovely as a Tree.   I'm pretty sure that's one of the best stamp sets EVER!   You can really use it for just about every occasion.   I didn't put a sentiment on this one, so it will go in my stash and get one once I find myself needing a certain kind of card.   

I actually had to break out Chocolate Chip for this one.  Believe it or not, I ran out of Early Espresso!   That's my favorite color and I guess I have been using it way more than I thought lately.   Do you remember the days when we all loved Chocolate Chip and thought it was the best color?   Poor thing.  I know here at my house it  started being neglected once Early Espresso showed up.  

Stamps:  Woodgrain, En Francais, Lovely as a Tree

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Naturals White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Cutter Kit, sponges, Twine, Always Artichoke buttons (retired)

Hostess Club Card #2

This beauty is the second card we'll be making at my stamp clubs this month.   Isn't it pretty?!  I am such a big fan of Lovely as a Tree.   One of the ladies in my Friday night group mentioned she'd like to try to the Crayon Resist technique so I decided to plan a card with it.   I love how it looks like snow!   I hope you can see it; I didn't want a lot of sponging on my main panel, but of course the more you add, the more the resist will stand out.   I'm really loving this combination of colors for Christmas this year.  I've never been a big fan of Wild Wasabi in the past, but I have to say, I love it right now!

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Woodgrain
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso marker
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Naturals White, Cherry Cobbler, Frostwood Lodge designer paper
Tools/Accessories:   white crayon, sponges, blender pen, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has managed to save some candy for the kids tonight.  :o)     I'm sneaking out to dinner with my dear husband and hiding out from all the scary monsters.   Our kitties get so stressed over the doorbell and will sometimes try to run out the door, so it is just better for us to avoid the whole candy thing.    I do miss seeing the kids in costume, but I usually catch a glimpse of them out the window after we get home.  

This Friday is my Girls' Night Out stamp club, so I worked on our first project this weekend.   I hope they will love Gently Falling as much as I do.   I modified last week's Just Add Ink card to work for club and Thanksgiving and I love it!   I don't use Pumpkin Pie a lot, but it looks pretty amazing with Early Espresso!   Per the request of one of the members, we'll be making this card from scratch.  It will be different for me to not be pre-cutting everything, but I hope it will help them learn how to utilize their supplies. :)   I have a nice cheat sheet started in My Digital Studio for them, so it should be pretty easy to put together.  

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain 

Ink:  Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie

Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Squares Duo, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Color Spritzer, Pumpkin Pie 1/4 grosgrain ribbon

Jason and I carved our pumpkins and got them all ready to shine for Halloween.   I think they turned out pretty good this year.  Mine is on the left and his on the right.   I really love carving them; I think more holidays should involve carving up things.  :)    This year we also roasted the seeds from them and they are delicious!

JAI 90: Sketch Challenge

First, I apologize for the lack of posts this week.  It's been one of those weeks mentally and my heart just wasn't in trying to create anything.   I decided to try making something today and here's my second card of the day.   The first one you'll have to wait on.  :)   My upline, Denise, was kind enough to lend me her Gently Falling stamp set so I've been putting it to work.   I'll definitely be sad to give this one back next week!  How gorgeous is that leaf?   I normally hate 2-step stamps as they don't fit completely in the lines, but I think I could manage to get over that with this one.  :)   Anyway, I thought it would be great for the sketch over at Just Add Ink.  I don't own an oval die, so I hope it was okay that I used a square!

Stamps:  Gently Falling, en Francais, Tiny Tags, Woodgrain
Ink:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, More Mustard
Paper:  More Mustard, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Squares duo die, Jewelry Tag punch, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, sponges

Try Stampin' On Tuesday #37

I hope you enjoyed the posts from the weekend.  We took a trip to Florida so I was away and didn't stamp for a whole 4 days!   I was ready to get back in my room and create today, especially since I got some new goodies yesterday!   I decided to try a new challenge today, the Try Stampin' On Tuesday challenge!   It was a very fun sketch to work with and I loved how my card turned out.    Bright Hopes is such an awesome set!  Do you have it yet?  :o)

The beaches of Florida were amazing, so I thought I should share a picture.  :)   Our friends got married on the beach at Navarre and it was just gorgeous there.    This picture was taken in Pensacola; we decided to stay there at a neat little bed-and-breakfast.   It was a nice trip and we stayed busy for the few days we were there.   I would love to go back someday and do a bit more exploring of the area.

Stamps:  Bright Hopes, Woodgrain background
Ink:  Garden Green, Real Red, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Garden Green, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP stack
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper and Stripes embossing folders, basic pearls, white baker's twine, Brights buttons, sponges, paper snips, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch

More Stitched Stockings

I was playing around with my Simply Scored tool today and decided to try my hand at making a fireplace for my stockings.  I think I actually like it!   I'd noticed a few different fireplaces with this set, but none that used scoring for the bricks.  This did take some time and a lot of sponging, but it was fun.   What do you think?   Does it look like a fireplace?  Can you see the score lines and the woodgrain on the browns?    I even sponged the base with white craft ink; I was a sponging fool on this one!

Stamps:  Stitched Stockings, Woodgrain background
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Real Red, Whisper White (craft)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Real Red, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:   Simply Scored, Stocking builder punch, Blossom Petals punch, sponges, paper snips, white baker's twine