colourQ #103

I was feeling very Teneale-inspired today and LOVE how my card turned out.  I love to stalk visit her blog because it always inspires me to try new things and work on my stamping skills.   My card today uses the color's from this week's colourQ challenge.  Aren't they gorgeous together?    One of my favorite things to do is mix embossing folders and I did it again on this card.   I love the Stripes folder; you can really use it on any type of card you make!    I have to give myself a pat on the back after I stamped my image panel.   I STRUGGLE with two-step stamping, but I finally got it to turn out!   I first inked up the image with Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz and then used Calypso Coral for the second step.   Yay me!   :)

Stamps:  Simply Soft, French Foliage, Petite Pairs
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Stripes embossing folder, sponges, Whisper White 3/8 taffeta ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig

JAI 86: Just Add Snow

I was in a snowman kind of mood today, so decided to make a Christmas card using this week's Just Add Ink sketch.   The lovely snowflakes are from my new Northern Frost die that came in my order yesterday.  I love it already!  The different snowflakes are all so pretty.   I think it works perfectly with my Snow Much Fun stamp set.    Isn't he cute?  I added a bit of bling with some Dazzling Details and Basic Rhinestones.  (and of course you can't see my sparkly glitter, but it is there!   :)

Stamps:  Snow Much Fun
Ink:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Staz On Black
Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Island Indigo
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Northern Frost sizzlit strip, Dazzling Details, Basic Rhinestones, blender pens

September Thank You Treats

I love my customers and I always like to include a little something in their orders to show my appreciation.  This month I used the 1 x 8 cello bags from the Holiday Mini to make these cute little candy treats.  Aren't they adorable?   You can make toppers for any occasion and customize them to work with the colors of your candy.   I can't wait to make some for Halloween, Fall, and Christmas!   Here I used my much neglected Funky Four set to make some playful treats.   :)  

Lovely Fall Colors

Ann presented an interesting challenge at the Paper Players this week:  make a card with plants or animals.   I thought about using my Sock Monkey stamp, but since it seems that nobody loves him but me, I went with another favorite set, Lovely as a Tree!   I figured French Foliage needed a rest, but I still wanted to use this awesome color combination that I seem to be stuck on.   It's a great way to use up those two packs of More Mustard that I accidentally ordered last year!   :)   I also used a fun technique called thumping to get those pretty colors on my tree.   If you like beating things, it's totally the technique for you!   Just don't abuse your markers or stamps too much.    My layout comes from this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.   Lesley made two cards using it, so I figured I'd try to keep up.   Finally, the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was to impress with embossing!

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree
Ink:  More Mustard, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Naturals White, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Neutrals DSP stack
Tools/Accessories:  Jewelry Tag punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon (retired),  that punch with the really long name (Dotted Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch I think?)

And speaking of animals, can someone please tell me how this could even remotely be comfortable?

FMS3: Falling Leaves

It's Wednesday, which means it is time for another sketch and a new featured designer at Freshly Made Sketches!  Isn't this a fun sketch?   Lesley really started us off with such a great set of sketches.    I love this one; the possibilities are endless on what you can do with it.   I had just gotten my Spice Cake designer paper when I saw the sketch, so I immediately grabbed French Foliage and went to work on my card.  Our weather is still pretty warm, but I enjoy hearing about the leaves turning up north.   I miss that as Fall is my favorite time of year.   Maybe I should get a leaf die and make my own pretty leaves and scatter them all around my room.  :)  

Aren't those colors lovely?    I think they are the perfect combination for this time of year.   I'm not a huge fan of More Mustard, but pairing it with the right colors makes a HUGE difference.   I think French Foliage would look stunning in any color; it is just one of those sets that you can't go wrong with no matter what you do.  I love the leaves that I stamped and cut out.   A bit of curl with the bone folder brings them to life on the card.  

I hope you enjoyed my card and find the inspiration to play along with us this week.   

Stamps:  French Foliage

Ink:  Early Espresso, More Mustard, Cajun Craze

Paper:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Spice Cake DSP, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (I'm sure they could have found a shorter name for that), Early Espresso Taffeta ribbon (retired), Paper Snips

Be sure to check out the rest of the cards from our fabulous design team and our super featured designer, Nance Leedy.  

Tui Nathan

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Jen Mitchell

CCMC167: Color Challenge

The deadline for the Create with Connie & Mary challenge was looming, so I hurried into my room to see what I could come up with today.    I'm so excited because I won a free subscription to their 2011 Holiday Edition!  Isn't that cool?!

This was one of those cards that I had an idea for and it just didn't come together.   I kept messing with it, but it just wasn't happening.  I probably shouldn't even post it, but hey, I did make one!    I wanted my little owl critters to look like they were caught up in my spider web, but I don't like the web really.  I should have went with my first thought to use leaves.   Oh well...   Hope everyone survived their Monday!

Play Date meets Inkspirations

Another challenge combo to share today!    I loved the colors from The Play Date Cafe and the sketch from Inkspirations this week.      These two challenges intimidate me, but I decided to play along anyway.  They have some amazing stampers on their design teams, so be sure to go check them out!  

I know, I know...Fun Flowers yet again!   It took me over a year to decide to spend the money on that die and now that I have it, I can't stop using it!   It was an investment for me as I'm a bit cheap at times, so I feel like I should make at least one flower card a week with it.  :)   I struggled to figure out which colors to use in each layer, but I hope I chose appropriately.   It was a fun card to put together and I love the purples with the yellow!

Stamps:  None

Ink:  Versamark, So Saffron, Wisteria Wonder 

Paper:  Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Fancy Fan Letterpress plate, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, paper piercing tool, In Color Dotted brads, So Saffron grosgrain ribbon (retired), Concord Crush Stitched Poly ribbon, circle punch

Triple Challenge for Fall

       

Look at all these fun challenges!   Even though it has been too hot in Texas to really be thinking of Fall, it is my favorite season.   Watching the leaves turn is one of the few things that I miss about living in Kentucky.   There's nothing like seeing the mountains ablaze in red, yellow, and orange.   Anyway, my friend Kathy made a gorgeous card this week where she combined French Foliage, En Francais, and emboss resist.    I thought I'd try that too, but in the fall colors.   (I like hers better because the Rich Razzleberry is so unexpected and one of my favorite colors.)   I used ideas from three challenges, this week's Card Pattern's Sketch, the autumn challenge at The Friday Mashup, and the fall challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I hope you like the Spice Cake designer paper because I can tell I'm going to be using it a lot!  :o)    It is just so pretty and perfect for fall projects.   For my leaves, I inked them in Versamark and then More Mustard before using my sponge daubers to add a bit of Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.   Once I stamped them, I embossed them with clear embossing powder so that I could use the emboss resist technique.   I stamped En Francais and some other elements from French Foliage over them to add some interest.  To finish it all off, I added some Early Espresso Baker's Twine and some tags.   You'll find hints of distressing and sponging as well; these colors inspire me to do a bit of that for some reason.

Here's a close-up of one of  leaves...doesn't it look real?!   I love it!

Stamps:  French Foliage, Tiny Tags, En Francais
Ink:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Versamark, Soft Suede
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake designer paper
Tools/Accessories:  Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Jewelry Tag punch, sponge daubers