Stampin' Up! Wildflower Meadow

Here's another one of the cards I made for the display boards.  I wasn't a big fan of using the entire Wildflower Meadow stamp, but in smaller doses I thought it was okay.  I used the coordinating embossing folder on some Core'dinations paper and thought it made for a fun look.

Stamps:  Wildflower Meadow
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party markers
Paper:  Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party Core'dinations, Whisper White
Accessories:  Early Espresso stitched grosgrain ribbon, Basic Pearls
Tools:  Big Shot, Wildflower Meadow EF, sanding block, Finishing Touches Edgelits

Yesterday was a rough day in more ways than one.  Laila has another molar coming in so we were up a lot (2:30 until almost 5) with her.   She was pretty fussy most of the day and had some epic meltdowns.  We did manage to go to the cemetery and release balloons and put out some cheery sunflowers.   After that we come home for a bit and then went to Build-a-Bear.  We let her pick out her own animal and she homed in on this cute bunny and wouldn't let go.  Now we have a cute bunny named Eli for her.

Stampin' Up! Tag It

I thought I'd share another sample I made for the Convention boards today.   We were given the Tag It set, but not the matching framelits so some serious creativity was required to use them.   For me anyway!  I kinda dreamed up the idea for this card and it turned out so cute!  I really had a blast making it.  

Stamps:  Tag It, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Baked Brown Sugar

Paper:  Pool Party, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, In Color DSP stack, Daffodil Delight (or So Saffron; I can't remember!)

Tools:  Circle, Pennant, and Cupcake punches

Today would have been my Eli's 5th birthday.  It's so hard to know what to do on his birthday as we can't buy a cake and have him blow out the candles as we sing.  We can't buy gifts for him to open. It's just a sucky day and I usually spend most of it crying over the unfairness of it all.  Laila and I picked out some pretty sunflowers, so we'll take them out to the cemetery and release 5 red balloons I guess.  I was thinking this year we'd get a little cupcake and start to tell Laila stories about him and share it with her.  It's never an easy day and I just hope for the patience and strength to make it through.  

More Dirty Cards

Still working on some Dare to Get Dirty challenges... I managed to do two of them yesterday.   I had to pull out this barely used retired set for one of them.   I haven't really used it much but it does come in handy for some of the challenges sometimes.   I used some new products though; the Crisp Cantaloupe DSP and ribbon.  YUMMY!

Stamps:  Carry On

Ink:  Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Basic Black

Paper: Basic Gray, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, In Colors Stack

Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones, Crisp Cantaloupe ruffled trim

Tools:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips EF, Ticket Corner punch, Bitty Banners framelits

For this one I actually picked up a sheet of patterned paper at the craft store because I didn't have anything that met the challenge requirements.  Ummm....it totally made me appreciate how amazingly awesome Stampin' Up! paper is.  It was so thin and cheap and only printed on one side.  I'll take ours any day over that!  I had to cover it with gesso just to make it look presentable enough for a card!

Stamps: Happy Day
Ink: Basic Gray, Basic Black
Paper: PTI White, Basic Black, Recollections DSP, Whisper White
Accessories: gesso
Tools:  Color Spritzer

I'm going to take a break on some days this month and share my other sweet baby with you.   August is SMA Awareness Month and tomorrow is/would be my Eli's 5th birthday.  Because of SMA, he was only with us for a bit over 5 months, not 5 years like he should be.   If you haven't heard of SMA, please take time to read about it.   It's especially important for those who are thinking about starting families.

Stampin' Up! Too Kind for FMS

The fabulous Jennifer Timko is our sketch creator at Freshly Made Sketches this week and has this fun one for you.   

I wasn't feeling so good  yesterday and didn't remember until about 3pm that I hadn't made my card.  Oops!   I had a class last night, so I had to hurry and hope that a card came together fairly quickly for me.  Well, Too Kind made sure that happened.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE that set?!   I was trying a new color combination from the Color Coach (Old Olive, Pool Party, Crushed Curry), but the Crushed Curry didn't seem to make it.  

Stamps:  Too Kind
Ink:  Pool Party, Old Olive
Paper:  Pool Party, Old Olive, Whisper White, In Color DSP stack (retired)
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Neutrals buttons (retired), Pool Party baker's twine (retired)

Laila had a pretty good day yesterday minus a couple of what Jason's calling timeouts.  ;)   She enjoyed a bit of reading in her chair so we could take some pictures of her in her cute outfit for grandma.

Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grunge

I didn't get any more stamping done yesterday, so I thought I'd share another one of my Convention display board cards.   I think this one is my favorite out of all of them.   I am a big fan of Smoky Slate with Coastal Cabana!  The Calypso Coral really stands out against them too! 

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Oh Hello

Ink:  Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral

Paper:  Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, In Color stack

Accessories:  I can't remember what those things are called!  We'll go with In Color Doodads. :)

I let Laila have a little rice cake that we got in the Citrus Lane box and she decided to shove the whole thing in her mouth.   Crazy girl.   She's in extreme temper tantrum mode lately, so I didn't dare take it away from her.  She managed to eat it okay, but from now on she will only get half of one if she gets them.  ;)

Double the Dirty!

Still doing a few of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoast.  They have some really fun ones so far!   I know I won't get to do them all, but it's fun to see how many I can get done.   I'm trying to use some of my retired stuff as I really have so much.  I keep thinking I want to order some new stuff but seriously?!  I could stamp for the rest of my life and only need cardstock and maybe some ink refills.   Hello addiction!

For this card I used a favorite set, Perfectly Preserved.  I still can't believe it retired!  It's like the cutest set ever!  :-(  

Stamps:  Perfectly Preserved, Banner Greetings
Ink:  More Mustard, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso
Paper:  More Mustard, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla. Orchard Harvest DSP
Accessories:  More Mustard 1/4 grosgrain ribbon (retired)
Tools:  Big Shot, Cannery Framelits (retired)

Stamps:  Wild About You (retired), Sweet Essentials, Positively Chevron
Ink:  Pool Party, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Pool Party, Crushed Curry, Brights DSP stack, Whisper White, Pool Party Coredinations
Accessories:   Buttons (retired), White Baker's Twine
Tools:  Big Shot, Chevron EF, Sanding Block, 2 1/2 circle punch

Double the Flowers!

I managed to do a couple more of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges this morning!  Yay!  It's so nice to have Jason home.  :)   For this one, I decided to combine it with my "Scrap Card Sunday" idea.   The flower and the strips of black DSP are all from the scrap bins.  Yay, right?!

Paper:  Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, scraps
Accessories:  Basics Glimmer Brads
Tools:  Big Shot, Beautifully Baroque EF (retired), scallop circle punches, Boho Blossoms punch

One of my best demo friends lost a family member this weekend so I wanted to make up a card to send to her.  I bought this set to have on hand for these occasions and I think this was my first time using it.  I need to make up a set of cards to send to my mom to give out, so I might use this layout for those as well.   

Stamps:  Love & Sympathy, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Old Olive

Paper:  PTI white, Melon Mambo, Gingham Garden DSP, scrap

Accessories:  Whisper White 3/8 taffeta ribbon, White Baker's Twine, Brights buttons 

Tools:  Big Shot, PTI tag sale #5 die, Bitty Banners framelits

I'm not sure where to laugh at this expression and attitude or fear for the years to come!

Stampin' Up! Positively Chevron

If you are a member of the Fan Club over on Splitcoaststampers, today started the super fun Dare to Get Dirty challenges!  I am not sure how many of them I'll get to do, but I managed the first one at least!  I used my new Positively Chevron stamps and the watercolor embossing resist technique.   Pretty fun, but a lot of work to clean my Aquapainter.  :)

Stamps:  Positively Chevron, Hello Lovely
Ink:  Versamark, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Watercolor Paper
Accessories:  Brights Designer buttons, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Basic Rhinestones, Clear Embossing Powder
Tools:  Heat Tool, Aquapainter

My girl is 13 months old today.  Nobody told me the "terrible" tantrums and attitude started this early.  Yikes!!  She does not like to hear no or to not be given what she wants and she's sure to let you know it!