Happy Birthday, Kathy!

I made this card to celebrate the birthday of my sweet friend Kathy.  She was the first demonstrator I really got to know personally and I absolutely LOVE her.  We haven't let the fact that we are in different countries stop us from becoming close friends.  I think she's amazing and super duper talented!   I hope you have a wonderful day my friend!  I wish I was there to celebrate with you!   (If I didn't time this post correctly, it's Jason's fault since he helped me with the time conversion.)   

I used a few challenges for my card, the sketch at Retro Sketches, the colors from The Paper Players, and the challenge of 3 b's from the brand new Black Tie Friday challenge.   I have been struggling with my creativity lately but I hope Kathy will think it's the thought that counts.  :)   

Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Papillon Potpourri, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Staz On Black, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze

Paper:  Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Basic Black satin ribbon (retired), Basic Pearls

      

FM76: Starburst!

It's my turn to host the Friday Mashup challenge this week and I settled on this fun sketch and the starburst technique.   I used this great tutorial to do my card.  I'm thinking challenged lately, so having that tutorial to help my brain sure paid off.  I think having a baby somehow decreases your number of brain cells or something because I'm sure struggling with anything that requires memory or too much thinking.   It's almost scary!  Anyway, here's the Mashup and my card: 

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project with the sketch.
2. Or Make a project with "Starburst technique".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "sketch and starburst technique". 

Yeah, it's that darn cat again!  I just LOVE that thing!    I'm going to be sad when Halloween is over and I have to put him away for the year.  I combined him with the fun Halloween DSP from the holiday catalog.  I love that paper too and was gifted some sheets of it by my friend Mindy.   She's spoiled me with stamping stuff lately!  I really like the combination of Tangerine Tango, Basic Gray, and Basic Black.   

Stamps Frightening Feline, Tiny Tags

Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Gray

Paper:  Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Basic Gray, Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Spider Web embossing folder, circle dies, Jewelry Tag punch, Basic Black 1/4 grosgrain ribbon, Black Rhinestones (retired), sponges

She just looks too cute in yellow!  

FMS: One Year!

Time to celebrate!  Today is challenge #52 from Freshly Made Sketches.  We have officially been going for one year now.  I wish I could say I'd done all 52, but pregnancy and a baby had me taking some time off.   I'm hoping to return with this sketch, but we'll see how things go.  Anyway, for this week we invite you to pick any of our previous sketches and work your magic!

This is one of the sketches that I missed while on my break. I really wanted to play along that week but just couldn't get things together to do it.  I jumped at the chance to do it this week and it was just as much fun as I thought it would be!  If you want to see the original creations from the design team, you can find them here. 

Look at all that Very Vanilla.  You already know that it's stressing me out.  :)   lol  I think it's a fun card though and it used up a few strips of DSP that were in my scrap pile.  I can't ever seem to use up my scraps.  If you see me on a episode of Hoarders, my house will probably be covered in paper scraps from my cardmaking.  

Stamps:  Bright Hopes (retired)

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, Festival of Prints DSP

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Snowburst, Petals-a-Plenty, and Lacy Brocade embossing folders, Regals buttons, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Basic Pearls

She's found her hands and thinks they are quite tasty!  :)

MDS Contest Entry!

How cool is it that Stampin' Up! is having My Digital Studio contests now?   Have you seen them?  If not, be sure to go over to mydigitalstudio.net to check them out!  I don't stand a chance as I'm pretty new to creating with the program (yeah, we won't discuss how long I've owned it, okay?), but it is fun to play along anyway.    I made this page to show off Laila and her gorgeous quilt.   I LOVE the You Are My Sunshine download.  It matches her nursery colors so perfectly!  

Texas has finally cooled down with the "cold front" that came through, so we are only getting to the high 80s today!   Woo hoo!  What a great way to welcome in the start of football season.   Go Texans!  

FM75: Back to School

I'm attempting to get back in the swing of things with my design teams, so here goes!    Holly has a perfect challenge for this time of year at the Friday Mashup this week.   I think just about everyone is back to school now, so why not make a fun card or project to celebrate?!   

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a "Back to School" themed project.
2. Or Make a project with "Sewing".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Back to School project with Sewing". 

I didn't mash it up this week as sewing is a bad word in my house.  :)  I wanted to make up some teacher thank yous for the local shop so this challenge was just perfect.  I LOVE the colors so much!   That Color Coach is great at suggesting combinations that rock!   

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids, Perfectly Preserved, A to Z (retired), Thank You Kindly (retired)

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom marker

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Cannery framelits, Window Frame framelits, Festive Paper-Piercing pack, Paper-piercing tool, Stampin' Pierce Mat, blender pen

My girl is learning to hold things! 

Another MDS page!

Yeah, still playing along with digital scrapbooking!  I finished another page and changed up the previous ones a bit too.  I like to go back and add stuff as I learn new things.  :)  First the new page:  

I'm still not sure on the picture alignment of this one but I got tired of messing with them for now.   I need to go back and fuss with those and the layers a bit more but I like where it is going at least.  It was based off a sketch I found on Pinterest.  Gotta love that website! 

I discovered the cool feature that lets you make a mirror copy of your pages so that you can do two page layouts like this.  That was so easy!  Design once and have 2 completed pages!  

Finally, a bit of stitching, an overlay, and a banner/flag added to this page.   

I hope some of you guys will get inspired to try your own digital pages soon!  Remember you can download the free trial and try it out for 30 days!  

Fab Friday Evergreen

Isn't this an awesome sketch?  My friend Mindy just started a stamping challenge blog!  With both her and my buddy Marla on the design team, I just had to go play along!   It was tough to give My Digital Studio the night off, but it was fun to go pull out real paper and stamps too.  :)   

I love non-traditional colors for Christmas and was inspired by the Festival of Prints stack to use Island Indigo and Early Espresso.   There's a hint of Baja Breeze in there too course.   I will admit that the amount of white space stresses me out but I'm leaving it alone.  I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to leave paper unstamped!   I think I'm a bit crazy.  Ha!    I hope you'll find time to go play along in their very first challenge.  The design team is AWESOME and have made a ton of great samples for inspiration!  

Stamps:  Evergreen, Teeny Tiny Wishes, All Holidays (retired)

Ink:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso

Paper:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Festival of Prints DSP, Silver Glimmer paper

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelits, Holiday Collection Framelits, 2011-2013 In Color Polka Dot brads, glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds

She just keeps growing!  They need to make a special bouncy set for girls with long legs. :)  

Back to Spool Special

Yay for free ribbon!!!  Or is that just me that likes free stuff?   :)  I'm so excited about this promotion.  I haven't had the budget to get this gorgeous ribbon yet but now I'll be able to play with it for FREE!  How awesome is that?!   I just love Stampin' Up!   They just spoil us so much with these great deals.   Choosing a color(s) is going to be hard, but I'm betting you'll see some Midnight Muse ribbon on my cards soon.   I just adore that color!  What's your favorite?

Want more details:

For the month of September, get a FREE package of 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon-an $8.95 value-for every $40 you spend!

Choose from the following ribbons:

• Gumball Green 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
• Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
• Primrose Petals 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
• Raspberry Ripple 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
• Summer Starfruit 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

In addition to that awesome promotion, they have also extended the two promotions from August!   You can still get the cool Halloween tray for signing up as demonstrator until September 16th AND the My Digital Studio 31% deals are going to continue until September 14th.  Be sure to visit my website to check out all the details!   

Now I'm off to do some digital scrapbooking while Miss Laila is napping.  :)   Have a wonderful weekend!