Two Paper Divas Inspiration

I really love sentiment stamps and making cards that showcase larger ones.   I now have several from the awesome ladies at Two Paper Divas and I wanted to show you another one today.   Isn't it awesome?!   I paired it with a new product I recently added to my stash, Sakura Koi Water Colors.   This was my first attempt with them and I just love the colors. I can't wait to use them a bit more and learn more about them.  :)

Stamps:  Life is About Crayons
Ink: StazOn Jet Black
Paper:  Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Ranger Distress Watercolor Cardstock
Other:  Misc sequins, baker's twine, Sakura 24-Piece Koi Assorted Water Colors Field Sketch Set with Brush, Heidi Swapp Color Shine Mustard, Lil' Inker Stitched Rectangles dies

She is really loving this snowman "pack pack".  lol  We had to put money in it, so she's carrying around her first dollar.  She already told Grammy that she needs shopping money.  Ha!

Stampin' Up! Four Feathers

It's Wednesday and time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  Jen M is our sketch hostess this week and what a sketch it is.  I was a bit stumped at first, but my card eventually came together.  The more I look at it, the more I love it.  :)  

Distress inks aren't the best for stamping, but I managed to make them work enough for my card.  They were on my desk and provided my inspiration, so I went with it.  lol   I pulled out some of the old Confetti White cardstock from SU. I love this stuff and it gives some interest without actually having to splatter or distress.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Four Feathers, Altenew Label Love
Ink:  Distress Inks, Night of Navy
Paper:  SU Confetti White, Night of Navy

We took a little Target trip today and Laila got to shop with a gift card that my mom had sent her.   She has never seen Frozen, but she loves this snowman guy!   We have a cup already that she picked out and now we have this backpack.  lol  I think she might be getting another gift card soon to buy the movie.  Spoiled much?

Prickely Pear Monday Inspiration

Monday inspiration from Prickley Pear time.   I still have some Christmas stamps that I haven't used, so I wanted to finish showing those off.  I love this beautiful sentiment so much.  I paired it with some great paper that matches it and some little heart embellishments.   I love when things go together like that. :)

Stamps:  All Hearts
Dies:  Tree die

Jason traded in our car for a new one this weekend and Laila loves it!  She is a big fan of red cars, so she's happy that her daddy finally got a red one.   lol   (And note, she's still rear-facing.  If you aren't aware of the benefits of extended rear-facing, I'd recommend reading up on it!)

Have a great week!

SSS Ice Cream!

One of my Christmas gifts was an assortment of 6x6 paper pads.  I love them and pulled one out this week to play along with the challenge over on Flickr for Simon Says Stamp.  I actually used a sketch from Retro Sketches, but I didn't get it uploaded to link it in time.   Seems to be a common problem for me lately.

I think we are crossing over into another "fun" new toddler thing of "I can do it myself".   Oh my.  

Double Challenge Snowman

I got to run away from home for a bit on Thursday to stamp and have lunch with some friends and this was the project I worked on.  I loved the current challenges at Curtain Call and the new sketch from MFT Stamps challenge, so I decided to combine them.  I love how it turned out! I'm still learning to use distress inks, but I am enjoying them!

  
Aren't those great?  I took the idea of the scarf and used my MFT Pure Innocence snowman.  :)   I love this stamp so much.

She's finally asking me to take her picture again.  We went through a major "NO!" stage every time I got out the camera, so I'm happy to get to take some again!  She's getting so big.  It's crazy that she'll be three in less than 5 months. Sniff, sniff.

Stampin' Up! Yee-Haw

January...  how are those resolutions going?  I tried not to make any demanding ones, just a few crafty ones and to follow through on the one I made last year.  So far, so good!    I decided to do a no-spending month this month so that I have time to play with all my new goodies (and neglected, forgotten older ones).   This set has been on my shelf for a while, so when I saw Darnell's NBUS challenge I decided to join in and this was my first pick to ink up.  

I hope you guys hadn't given up on me and Stampin' Up!  I'm just finding myself (lol) and using a bit of this and that.  This one is almost all SU except for the Copics I used to color it and the bit of twine I tried to make a lasso with.   I still love much of my SU stuff, but I just needed a little detour.  My goal is to do a nice mix of companies since I think that's what I enjoy most.  :) 

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Yee-Haw

Ink:  Early Espresso, Mememto Black, Copics

Paper:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Neenah Solar White

Others:  Stars embossing folder

Two Paper Divas Flowers

I thought I'd share another Two Paper Divas card with you today.   It's been so rainy and dreary here, so I made a happy card with some yellow to brighten things up a bit.   Rumor has it we might see some sun today, but it's looking wet and yucky to me!   Anyway...   The stamps I used go with the Seed Packet stamps, but I wanted to use my new tag dies so I went for a card without the packet this time.  :)  

Stamps:  Banners #2, Seed Packet Accessories #1
Ink:  Mememto Black, Early Espresso, Copics
Paper:  Stampin' Up! So Saffron, Early Espresso, Brights stack, Neenah Solar White
Other:  My Favorite Things Blueprints 20, Stitched Traditional Tags STAX, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Stampin' Up! Neutrals buttons, Early Espresso and Crushed Curry Baker's Twine, Early Espresso Seam Binding

It was very cold yesterday, but we safely delivered Eli's flowers and had a nice walk around the cemetery.   <3 nbsp="" p="">

What's Shaking?

It's Wednesday, which means Freshly Made Sketches day.  Our sketch this week comes from our awesome pilot on the team, Jen Timko.   I decided to try and make my first shaker card.  I am not so sure about it, but I learned some things in the process to make the next one easier.  That's what crafting is all about, right?  Learning and trying new things.  

My creativity and enjoyment of creating is a bit off this week.  Today is the sixth anniversary of the day we lost our sweet boy and my heart feels a little more broken than usual.  I've tried to keep stamping as it's very helpful and calming, but I know not to expect fabulous results.   And that's okay...  it's not about making something that we love every time, but enjoying and savoring the process of being creative.  Such wonderful therapy.  

Sweet Eli.  Forever 5 months, 12 days old.