Happy Tuesday!

    
Since I'm still being a lazy pregnant lady, I used my leisure time to stamp again today.  :)    I did manage to fit a bit of laundry in there too, so at least I feel a bit productive.   Growing a baby is hard work though, right?!   I decided to combine two fun challenges today, the awesome sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday with the awesome colors from colourQ.   While I did order a few more new stamp sets, right now I'm enjoying the two I do have.  So...it's Happy Hour again today!

Don't you just love this stamp set?   It's just so fun and perfect for summer cards!  I added a few more new goodies to this card too, the Finishing Touches Edgelits and the Chevron embossing folder.   I think it turned out great considering I struggled a bit with all the layers.  Cheers!

Stamps:  Happy Hour

Ink:  Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Lucky Limeade

Paper:  Marina Mist, Lucky Limeade, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Night of Navy DSP (misc. retired), 2011-2013 In Color DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelits, Chevron Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones, Regals buttons, Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine

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

PP99 with Card Patterns 169

  
I found a bit of time to stamp today.  Honestly, it's too hot to do much else!   I broke a sweat just adding a bit of sponging to my card.    I saw this really cool sketch over at Card Patterns and decided to combine it with Lesley's awesome color challenge at The Paper Players.

I'm still not sure about this one.   This stamp set is most definitely a challenge for me!    I'm not a two-step stamping kind of girl.    Now why I keep buying some of those I don't know.   Silly me!   I love the colors and love the sketch, so maybe I'll try them again with one of my favorite stamp sets.  :)

Stamps:   Reason to Smile (July Promotional set), Petite Pairs
Ink:  Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack, Cheerful Treat DSP (retired)
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 die (retired), 3-inch circle die, Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine, In Color Designer Printed Brads, Neutrals buttons, sponges

HSSCC121: Yellow Flowers

The challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week is totally Laila's colors so I just had to play along!   I needed to get some thank you cards made for all the lovely gifts my friends have been sending and this was the perfect challenge for that.   :)  

For this one I used more new goodies from my last order.    The flower images are from a stamp set called Reason to Smile and will be a great promotion for July!   Be sure to check back in July for the details on that; it will definitely make you smile.  :)    I also used the new Finishing Touches Edgelits for the cute little border on the Daffodil Delight layer.   I just love these colors together!   

Stamps:  Reason to Smile, Petite Pairs

Ink:  Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Going Gray

Paper:  Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Going Gray, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelits, Basic Gray 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retired), Stamp-a-ma-jig

Before I go, I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from the nursery.  Last club meeting we were discussing the letters that I had bought and what to do with them.   A couple of the ladies had the idea to cover them in fabric and my sweet friend Shannon took on the task!   Didn't she do an amazing job?!   I love them!   Below is a Pinterest inspired project.   I needed some inexpensive decor and thought the fabric covered embroidery hoops were perfect!  They are fun and made one of the short plain walls a bit more festive.  :)

DD5: Cheers!

I've been wanting to play along with the Dynamic Duos challenge all week but kept waiting on my new designer paper!  Once it got here the week got busy and of course I put it off.   This morning I finally realized the deadline was today so I HAD to do it or miss out on the fun!   I decided to use my new stamp set (again!) and a new embossing folder, the Chevron pattern!  I think it's fun to emboss designer paper; it just adds some fun to it and fun is what Happy Hour is all about, right?!  

Aren't those colors great together?   I'm normally terrified of color challenges but I'm trying to embrace them and gain some confidence in mixing them up.   Island Indigo is one of my favorite colors for sure and red...well, who doesn't love red?!   

Stamps:  Happy Hour

Ink:  Real Red, Island Indigo

Paper:  Real Red, Island Indigo, Whisper White, 2011-2013 In Colors DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Chevron embossing folder, Scallop Circle punch, Circle punch, Brights Glimmer Brads

cQc140: Cheers!

colourQ is one of my favorite challenge blogs because for me it is just that, a challenge!   It always inspires me to try to use more than a couple of colors and a more clean-and-simple approach.  This week's challenge has some of my favorite colors, but I would never have thought to put them together!  

Forgive the bad picture; I guess photography at 7am is not my forte.   :)    I got a new box of goodies from Stampin' Up! last night and was so excited to use my new Happy Hour set!   I don't like alcohol, but I love these fun glasses with all their accessories.  As a bonus, there are great sentiments to go along with them!    Thanks to my great customers, I was able to earn this set for free and I'm very thankful as the baby budget makes the stamping budget almost non-existent.   Totally worth the trade-off of course.  :)

Stamps:  Happy Hour

Ink:  Island Indigo, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade

Paper:  Island Indigo, Real Red, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:   Simply Scored, Basic Rhinestones, Stamp-a-ma-jig

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

Reflections....

I hope you guys don't mind a post without pictures?   As I woke up at 3:30am today and sat in the quiet calm of the house, I took a bit of time to reflect over this past week and over the past few years as well.    I think many of you know my story, but for those who don't I thought I'd share part of it again.  

Before we go too far back, this past week has just been an amazing experience and really highlighted what Stampin' Up! means for me.   I had a nice week as far as creativity goes; it has been a while since I could say that!    It started last Sunday with a pick at the Paper Players, continued on to a top pick at Dynamic Duos, a card featured on the Splitcoast Stampers Facebook page, another pick yesterday at the Paper Players, and then the Featured Stamper spot in the Splitcoast challenge this week.    That's not too shabby and made me feel better about my work.   I don't always have a lot of self-confidence so those type of things help keep me going and trying harder.    More importantly though, some of my wonderful friends that I've made through my demonstratorship surprised me with the most amazing blog hop that still makes me tear up even now.  I admit that making friends doesn't come easy for me, but I love these ladies and all that they have brought to my life.  Finally, two of my very dear customers/friends tracked me down and took me to lunch this week just because.   To have local friends is a real blessing for me and without SU, I'm not sure that would be happening in my life!

When I signed up as a demo almost 2 years ago, I didn't have hopes of it being very much.   I was just lost and needed something.   It had been almost a year and a half since we'd lost our five month old son, Eli, to spinal muscular atrophy and  I was just drifting along.   I was existing, but not really living.   Starting a little business gave me something to focus on, something to take my mind off the grief and hurt that still hung over me like a dark cloud.   I slowly started meeting customers along with some other demos online.  I enjoyed creating with the great products I was selling and I think that started to show through in my work and interactions with customers.   Slowly that creativity and those relationships helped me begin to heal.   I now have a small club and a few other customers that I cherish and enjoy spending time with.   I have fellow demonstrators all around the world who are treasured friends and sisters.  I have a supportive, loving husband who never says a word about how many stamps I have and is always up for offering advice on each and every card I work on.   Finally, I have my little girl who will be here in 4 weeks to bring sunshine back into our lives and our home.    I feel like a very lucky woman right now to say the least.  

I'm really not sure I'd be here today without all that Stampin' Up! has brought into my life.   Those dark days were bad, but stamping was the light that kept them from taking over.   To each person who has brought a little ray of sunshine to my life over the past 2 years, I say thank you.