So Shellie Challenge

Each month Shelli Gardner has a challenge on her blog that is open for everyone to enter.   Winners get a free stamp set, so it is definitely a challenge worth entering!  For the month of February, she asked everyone to submit projects using the awesome Sale-a-bration products from this year.   I thought my club card would be a perfect entry as it uses just about all goodies you can get for free!  I did redo it and take off the sentiment that was bugging me and I like it much better now.   I think the Everyday Enchantment designer paper is one of my favorite Stampin' Up! products of all time!  It is just amazingly beautiful don't you think?!

Stamps:  Kindness Matters
Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Paper:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Everyday Enchantment designer paper, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, Paper Snips, Everyday Enchantment ribbon/brad bundle, basic pearls

FMS24: My Sketch!

Time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! This week is a sketch that I created, so I hope you will find time to play along!    I consider myself a pretty square person, so of course there's lots of squares in my sketch.   I think I'm going to have to challenge myself to use a circle for the next one I design.  :)

Do you ever dream up your cards?  That's totally what happened with this one!   I woke up with an idea in my head and here it is!  In my original design, I used some rolled paper flowers but they didn't seem to work once I put them on my card.   They were just too bulky or something.   Thank goodness for the Boho Blossoms punch; it rescued my card and saved me from having to start over.   

Don't you just love the black and daffodil together?   I think my dream must have been influenced by the fabric that we picked out for Laila's quilt.  (and no, I can't sew!  My mom is having someone make it for us!)  Here's what it looks like:

It's a retired fabric and I have to give my husband credit for finding what we have.   He emailed Etsy sellers who were selling things made with it and looked at so many online fabric shops.  I call this his project of love even if he won't be the one doing the sewing.  :)

I can't wait to see what you create with my sketch this week!   

Totally Laila

No card today, but I wanted to update after our ultrasound today.    Thankfully, all parts were accounted for and she looked NORMAL!    She was extremely hyper though!   We didn't get a lot of good pictures, but I'll share two of my favorites.

She was determined we would NOT see her face today and kept her hands up there the whole time!   I'm not sure if she's play peek-a-boo already or if she might be practicing her boxing skills.  

How cool is this one?  I love it.    It was fun to see her little hand so clearly!     There's another one of her foot as well, but I am a bit tired of running to the scanner, so I'll try to scan that one in later.  

Finally, here's another outfit that we bought for her last week.   I don't want to overdo it with the crab stuff since that is Eli's thing, but I had to get her at least one outfit.   Plus it was navy, which I love.   There's a big red crab embroidered on the bum of this one and I love it.   

I guess I need to take a break on buying stuff as my friend is determined to make us have a baby shower.   I am pretty sure you aren't supposed to have one for the second baby, but she thinks we need to celebrate.   My mom is now in on it too, so I think we are helpless to get out of it!   Thankfully it is months away so I can put off stressing over that for a while.  :)  

I'll try to get some stamping in soon now that I can quit worrying about Laila so much!   I hope you aren't getting too sick of hearing about her!  It is so hard not to share the excitement.  

FM47: Kissing!

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the "Kissing Technique".
2. Or Make a "Round" project.
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Round project featuring the Kissing Technique".

Didn't Holly pick the cutest graphic for her challenge this week?  I love it!   At The Friday Mashup, we are all about kissing this week!   Now you should have done a lot of real kissing last week on Valentine's Day, so perhaps you need a break this week?  Let those stamps do all the kissing!  :)   That's what I did.  (Sorry, sweetie!)

I didn't have a lot of solid image stamps to pick from, so I decided I should make another card with my favorite new set, Send Me Soaring!  My first attempts at kissing created some cool faux snakeskin kites, but I finally found some other stamps that worked better for more normal looking kites.  I know, I know...you want to see what snakeskin kites look like.  Maybe I'll put them on a card next week.   What fashionable diva wouldn't want a purple snakeskin kite birthday card, right?  

Lots of stamping and lots of fun colors on this one!  I hope you enjoy it.  :)   Be sure to stop by the Friday Mashup blog and vote for the Fan Favorite challenge!

Stamps:  Send Me Soaring, Paisley Prints, Fresh Vintage, Dot Dot Dot

Ink:  Pool Party, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade

Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Baja Breeze, Welcome Neighbor DSP stack (retired), Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, circle punches, blender pen, paper snips

March Stamp Club

My next round of stamp club starts next week and I thought I'd get ahead a bit and work on the projects for it  in advance.  :)   I've found it is much easier to create without the pressure of a looming deadline.  I wanted to use some of the beautiful Sale-a-Bration projects and thought this would be a good start.  I think I'll remake it and leave the sentiment off the bottom as it is annoying me.   

Stamps:  Kindness Matters (SAB), Teeny Tiny Wishes 

Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Poppy Parade

Paper:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Everyday Enchantment (SAB), Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad pack (SAB), Basic Pearls, sponges, paper snips, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Just a few random things...  I'm not the only paper crafter in our house now!   Jason decided he liked origami, so I got him a kit to play around with.  This flower was one he made me for Valentine's Day.   Wasn't that sweet?  It came with a beautiful poem he wrote as well.   It was awesome to get something so special.  I got my real gift last month in the form of an iPhone 4s, so it was great to still get a little something on the actual day.  

Finally, here's another cute outfit that we bought for Laila on Monday.  I am totally IN LOVE with this one.  I think I even jumped up and down in Kohl's when we found it.   I'm not a big dress person, but I love little sailor dresses and wanted one small enough for her first professional pictures.  I'm not sure about that headband and bow, but we'll see.  :)

FMS23: Soaring Kites

Check out this sketch from the super talented Tui Nathan.   It's a fun week at Freshly Made Sketches for sure.  I hope you'll find time to join us and share your beautiful work with us.  

My card was very much inspired by my sweet friend, Mindy.   She uses Calypso Coral quite a bit and I thought I'd try it as well.   I paired it with Poppy Parade and I do like the result.   I'll just say that I LOVE Send Me Soaring.   In fact, I've tried to talk all my demo friends into getting it ever since we used it at the Regional event last month.   It is just SO FUN!  Who doesn't love kites?  :)   

Stamps: Send Me Soaring

Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade

Paper:  Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Hostess DSP stack (2011, retired)

Tools/Accessories:  Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack, blender pen, Brights brads

On another note, look at this adorable outfit I found for Laila!  I love it.  Now I know it has pink in it, but I've decided that I like Melon Mambo pinks, just not a lot of Pretty in Pink pinks. Plus, who can resist brown and pink together, especially when it involves a cute giraffe.  :)   It was nice to take a day off from worrying about something being wrong and just enjoy buying her some cute things.  Our big ultrasound is on Monday, so I hope that will be all good news and we can really start working on her room and relax a little about her being okay.  It is tough being pregnant after a loss like we had.  We are halfway there though and so far, so good.  

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)

Donation and a Card

What do you think?  Would that be a tote of goodies you'd like to own?  One of my friends, another mom who lost her first child to SMA, was working on silent auction items for an upcoming fundraiser gala and I wanted to help out again this year.   My contribution last year was much smaller, so it makes me happy to see how much more I was able to do this time.  I hope it goes over well!  If you are near Denver, you can click here to find out more information on the event.  

Now on to the my card...  One of the comments I hear a lot about my work is simple.  Simple is a bit hurtful when I think about how much time/effort goes into a design, so I've decided to work on stepping up my game a little.  To do that, I decided to pick a card that I loved, but felt was outside my ability/skills and attempt to recreate it.  I chose this beauty by Laurie and sat down to work on it.  (To be honest, I'm not a big fan of copying ideas, so this was difficult for me in more ways than one.)   I will say that it was fun to work on and I hope I can take what I learned making it and apply it to another card that I design myself.   Keep your eye out for that one as I already have some ideas!  :)  Note to self:  BUY the Neutrals buttons ASAP!