Quick SCS Challenge

Hi Everyone!

Super quick card for today. I am helping Reagan with homework before heading off to gymnastics this afternoon. Today's card is for the SCS sketch challenge. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to work on it, so I just kept it really simple. No fancy techniques. Just stamps, ink, paper and a bit of ribbon. I thought the images from "Puns from the Past" would be good for the smaller squares on the side. I used my Making Memories edge distresser to rough of the edges of the Ruby Red and the Choc Chip mats a bit.
Nothing fancy; but I hope you like it, nonetheless. Have a great evening!

One Card for Three Challenges.

Good Morning!

I hope you are all having a great day so far. Mine has been relaxing and I got some time to do some stamping, so I thought I would try to accomplish as much as I can with the time that I had. So,this is my card for today's MMSC challenge, today's SCS color challenge to use Going Gray, Pretty in Pink and Sage Shadow. I was also intrigued by yesterday's SCS foil embossing technique. Put all that together and for me this is the result.
I started with a Going Gray base and added the layer of Sage with the white stitching around the border. The small white squares have flowers stamped from Basic Backgrounds in Pink; but it's hard to see them in the picture. The "Happy" letters are Thickers by American Crafts. So, that's all for me today. I hope you like it. Thanks for visiting me!

A Little Mojo

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Just a quick post to share my card for this week's Mojo Monday. I'm not sure why, but the coloring is off in my picture. The dark blue teal looking color on the card is actually Bermuda Bay from SU. The patterned paper is from Me and My Big Idea patterned paper pack that I have. I chose Dusty Durango, Saffron and Celery as my complimentary colors. The flower images are from the retired SU hostess set "Goody Goody Gumdrops" I colored them with SU markers and then used my watercolor pencils to fill them in. Super Simple and easy. Hope you like it! Thanks for visiting. I can't wait to see everyone else's Mojo today.

A Sketch is Only for Inspiration...right?

Hi Everyone!
TGIF to all my stamping friends! Sorry about not posting yesterday. I did work on some Christmas cards and actually got one finished; but I just never got around to scanning it and posting it. I was very excited yesterday to receive my box of goodies from Two Peas in a Bucket. It only had two things in it; but that's ok because I was happy with what I got. I got the Basic Grey Indian Summer Package and I also got the Hero Arts Cling Striped Circle Stamp. I knew that I couldn't wait to get into those beautiful papers and start creating. I already have layout plans for some of them; but I set aside a few that I thought would be great for cards. One was this curvy striped sheet that I cut a piece from for the bottom of today's card.
Now, today's card started out being my sample for this week's WSC from Beate. However, I decided almost immediately to flip it in order to make the paper work. I started with a 8 1/2 by 8 1/2 piece of Razzleberry paper that I folded in half to make the long style card. I added a 4 by 8 1/4 piece of Melon Mambo and then the patterned paper at the bottom. I stamped the circle in versamark and clear embossing powder on a piece of Crushed Curry and then used my Scallop Circle nesties to cut it out. In the paper collection package is a sheet of die- cut stickers and that is where I got the bird, the branch and the letters for the word "Autumn." I wrote the word "Blessings" with the Ranger Inksessentials embossing pen and then embossed with white EP. I added the white faux stitching and then the buttons at the bottom to finish the card.
So, as I said not exactly like the sketch; but the sketch definitely inspired me. Thanks for taking a look. I hope you like it. Have a great weekend!

A Skating Christmas

Good Morning!

Would you believe me if I told you that I spent all day stamping yesterday and this is the only thing I have to show for it. I started out with a vision and a sketch that looked nothing like what I finally ended up with. I started, it didn't work, I tried to adjust...no luck, so in the trash it went. I started again...twice and both times they ended up in the trash. I don't know what was wrong, I just couldn't get it together. I finally got this one done this morning! I have to say, that I rather like this one. I really wanted to use my Paper Pretties Gliding By stamp; but it is a large stamp and so I kept having a hard time figuring out where to put it and still have room for the background and other elements I wanted to use in the card. I started with a Tempting TQ base and added a layer of Ruby Red. I made the swirl background by brayering my CB swirls folder with Ruby Red ink and then running it through my CB with white paper. This is a very cool technique and I highly recommend trying it. One tip though, cover the embossing folder with a layer of Versamark and then brayer the ink on to it. This will make the ink smoother on the paper. Also, be sure that you place the paper carefully on to the ink and then don't move it around. Otherwise, you're ink will smudge onto the white embossed part of the paper. This happened to me; but I got lucky because I was able to spin it around and cover it up with the image. I stamped the Sophia stamp with Basic Brown ink and then used a variety of Copics and SU markers to color her in. I added the paper piercing around the Ruby Red layer and the green eyelets to finish the card. That's all for me. I hope I have better luck stamping today. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Madness has Begun!

Good Morning!

"Christmas Madness" you say? What is that all about? Well, quite simply that I am beginning to design my holiday cards for this year and for the next month or so that is probably all you're going to see. I always endeavor to have my Christmas cards done by Dec 1 in order to get them all mailed sometime during that first week. The other reason for the title is that this is also my card for yesterday's MMSC #20. Hard to believe there's already been 20 of them. There were a lot of different elements to this card and it took quite a bit of time to put together. I started with a Brocade Blue base and then I took my Cuttlebug and brayered my swiss dots folder with Navy ink before I added my white paper and ran it through the machine. Next, I added two small strips of Kraft to the top and the bottom. I ran a piece of Mellow Moss through the CB. I stamped the tree from "Lovely as a Tree" on White Cardstock with Versamark and Navy ink, and then added irridesscent ice EP before heating. The sparkle doesn't show up in the picture; but it looks really cool IRL! I sponged the bottom of the image with Moss ink and the top with a bit of Bashful Blue. I stamped the snowflakes from the retired set "Frosty" in Craft White Ink. (In hindsight, I should have heated them to try it...but I didn't, so they smudged a bit) I used my CB and petite scallop nestabilities to cut the ovals before I stamped the sentiment from "Best Yet" in Burgundy ink.
That about does it for me. I was really happy with the way this one turned out and I hope you like it as well.

A little Mojo for my Sweetie

Hi Everyone!

Here is my card for yesterday's Mojo Monday. This card is for my DH. I don't often make cards for him, mainly because he doesn't have anywhere to really put them. Still, we had a little bit of a spit spat yesterday morning and I guess this is my way of telling him that I love him always and forever. I decided that I wanted to make this card; but then realized that I don't really have any masculine time stamps. Again, I don't make a lot of masculine cards so I don't gravitate towards buying them. Oh well, any excuse to go to Michael's! Instead of buying a stamp set, I bought a package of Soft Spoken embellishments that had the sentiment and a couple of other "Husband" sentiments as well. I bought two sheets of patterned paper. One is Basic Grey and the other is GCD designs. I started with a Riding Hood Red Base and then layered it as shown here in the card. I tied a piece of black ribbon that extends off the edge of the card with a piece of gold cord tied around it; but unfortunatley, I cut it out of the picture. It was fast and easy to put together and I hope you like it. I hope DH likes it as well! Have a great day.

Catching up on Challenges

Good Morning!
I hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was fabulous, complete with a trip to Providence to see Disney on Ice and then DH traveled to NH yesterday for the NASCAR Sylvania 300, which meant that I had all day to do whatever I wanted. Guess what I did? You got it! I stamped. I caught up on 2 challenges, plus I uploaded my first card to the two peas gallery. I'm not posting that card here on my blog; but you can see it here if you'd like. I also got a chance to work on Halloween cards while I was watching TV. So it was definitely a great crafty day for me!
Ok, so on to the cards for today. The first one is for WSC 98 and for the SCS color challenge to use Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink and White. I started with a Soft Suede base and then added a piece of Basic Grey Paper. This sheet is from the "Sultry" line and is called "Fashionable" I stamped the sentiment at the bottom with Versa Mark and embosse with white embossing powder. The image and the sentiment are both from the SU set "Sip by Sip" I used SU and Copics to color it in. I changed the sentiment in the quote bubble to "Hello" which is from Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings"
The second card is for Friday's Get Sketchy challenge. I started with a Bashful Blue card base. Then I added a piece of paper that I had used the shaving cream technique to make a soft background. I thought this was a good way to get around the bonus challenge of not using any pattern paper. The rest of the card is as simple as it looked. I did get a chance with both of these cards to use my new scallop circle nestabilities. I stamped the image flower image from "A Flower for all Seasons" on white paper and then cut it out and placed it on the bashful blue circle.
Ok, so that's all for me for now. I'm going to try to do Mojo Monday sometime today and get it up tomorrow. Have a great day everyone!

Good Morning!

Just a couple of cards to share with you that I worked on yesterday before I get started on today's Get Sketchy and WSC challenges. Both of these cards have similar elements because I went to Michael's yesterday (yes, again) and bought some fantastic paper. (I hope to do a video soon and share all of the great stuff I've bought over the past couple of weeks). The DSP that I used on both of theses cards is from W R Memory Keepers "Explore" line and this particular sheet is called hubcabs. For the first card, I thought the circle side was fantastic to go with the brad that I put in the center of the Jumbo Flower from Making Memories. I used Apricot Appeal for my base and then ran the top white piece through my CB. The scalloped piece on the bottom is Brocade Blue, while the darker orange mat piece is from a new pack of textured bright cardstockt that I picked up at Walmart the other day. The ribbon is SU wide Saffron grosgrain and I used Chit Chat rubons for the sentiment of the ribbon. I couldn't crop the image that well, when I scanned it because the flower actually hangs off the side of the card slightly.
For the second card, I really wanted to use the leftover scrap piece of the DSP that I had used for the first card, so I just flipped it over and used the side with the stripes. The backside of the paper is actually four different squares of patterns, it's really cool. The end of this strip actually has red on it; but I didn't like it as much, so I covered mine with a piece of blue. This also meets two SCS challenges including the sketch challenge from Wednesday and the Ways to Use It challenge yesterday which was to incorporate numbers into our project. This is obviously for someone who has a birthday on Sept 27! The Celebrate at the bottom is from the "REMARKS" Alpha stickers from American Crafts. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, the last "e" looks a little different, I ran out of the dark brown ones and had to move to the next section, so it is a bit lighter...oh well, what can I say.
Ok, so that's all for now. I hope to work on some more things later. Until then, have a great day!

MMSC 19

Good Morning!

I finally got my MMSC card done yesterday; but didn't get a chance to post it. This is one of those cards that actually looks better IRL than it does in the picture. It is also an example of leave it alone when it's done. For example, I wouldn't have added the hard line around the flag on the mailbox. I did make one change after the picture and that was I moved the flower onto the other side of the little amber bling pieces.
I started with an eggplant base and then layered some rust paper (from a paper pack from Michael's). I used my all time favorite background stamp "Fine Lace" I embossed the sentiment "Sending thoughts and Prayers" with gold powder. I layered kiwi kiss with a piece of the left over patterned paper I had from my sketchbook that I shared in yesterday's post. I put five gold eyelets in the kiwi piece before running a piece of dark purple wire through them. I cut two ovals using my nestabilities and then stamped the Mailbox image from Our Craft Lounge "Garden Thoughts". I colored it in with a variety of Copic, SU markers and Watercolor Crayons.
Ok, I gotta go get everyone up and ready for school. Have a great day and thanks for visiting me. Leave a comment if you can. I love to hear what you all think!

Late Mojo

Good Morning!

It's only 6:00; but I figured I would go ahead and post this morning, especially since I am behind in this week's challenges. I have two things to share with you today. The first is a sketch book inspired by this weeks MACM from Kristina Werner. This was so much fun to do and I have already made two sketches in it. The sketch blocks are really small, so I recommend using a rather sharp pencil to do the sketches. Still, it's well worth it and super easy, so if you get a chance to do one, check out her video for all the instructions. I built my cover around a piece of paper from my new Me and My Big Ideas pad that I got at Michael's the other day (along with other goodies that I mentioned in Monday's Post) I chose Olive (non SU) Kraft, white and black for complimentary colors. I used my Jumbo Outline Alphabet stamps from SU for the "Create." I also used my stamp a ma jig to line up the letters. I highly recommend having this product, it is so useful and not just for alphabet stamps.
My second card is for Mojo Monday this week. I recently found a few stacks of patterned paper that I completely forgot that I had and decided and chose this piece with the circles in it because I thought it worked well with the circles in the sketch. The cupcake is from my new Inkadinkado stamps (also bought the other day at Michael's). I stamped it with Soft Suede ink and then used Copics, SU markers and aqua painters to color it in. I then covered the frosting with crystal effects and while it was still wet, I put some irridescent ice embossng powder on it and then set it with my heat gun. I tried to get a close up picture of it; but couldn't get that figured out, so you'll just have to trust me! It does look and feel really cool.
Ok, so I gotta get everyone up and ready for school. Have a great day and thanks for visiting with me!

A Happy Story...

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope your Monday is going well so far. I have had a fabulous day so far with everyone at school I was able to go to Barnes and Nobles and have a cup of coffee, read my new book for a few moments and then I wandered down to Michaels and got a few goodies including new stamps from Inkadinkado, a paper pad from Me and My Big Ideas, some glittery letters from Me and My Big Ideas, Funky Flower blossoms with pebble brads from Making Memories; and some K&Co Card Quotables Sticker Pad. I can't wait to play with everything. I was going to take a picture of it; but I couldn't get it all figured out with the camera. Anyhow, I can't wait to play with it and share with you.
I know that you are probably expecting a Mojo Monday card and I am going to try to do it later if I can. The card I have to share with you today is for a dear friend of mine who just had her first baby on Friday. This story is especially great for me to share because she has had one miscarriages and one stillborn child. This pregnancy was especially hard because of a condition she has which required her to be on complete and strict bed rest for the past 5 months. So, this card is for her and I hope that she likes it. I started with a Bashful Blue base and added a piece of Orchid Opulence and then layered a piece of pattern paper from a package that I got a long time ago I believe from the $ store. I embossed the whales from SU's Animal Stories on Garden Green paper. The light blue "It's a Boy" sentiment is a rubon from Making Memories that I put on to a Saffron oval cut with my nestabilities.
Have a great day!

Happy Blessings, Happy Fall

Good Morning!

It's early Sunday Morning and I bet you are surprised to see me in the blogging world! Usually I don't post on Sunday; but I wanted to share my card for this week's WSC and OCC challenges. This way I'm all caught up on challenges before the new week starts. This was a super simple card to do. I chose to do a smaller card for this one instead of a standard size card. I started with a 4 1/2 by 8 1/2 piece of Garden Green and then added the layer of Pumpkin Pie with the sentiment at the bottom. I cut a circle from Kraft paper and cut off the bottom and attached it, then adding the Summer Sun strip with the two brads. The Not Quite Navy Circle is 3 1/4 and the image circle is 3" The image is from the Happy Blessings set that SU released last year.It was the only set that I have that I can think of that would do for the OCC "Fall" challenge. Now, I have to apologize for the not so decent job of coloring on this image. I colored it with my watercolor pencils and blender pens. I colored it sitting on the couch in the living room last night, which is normally fine as long as it's during the day because the light from the window helps considerably....not so much at night time when it's dark outside! The lighting in my living room in that particular area is rather poor; but it's also the only place where I can see the TV. (Have I mentioned that I am a HUGE tv junkie!!)
So, anyhow, I hope you like it. Have a great Sunday and I'll be back tomorrow for Mojo Monday!

Late Afternoon Floral

Good Afternoon!

I started working on this card for this week's Get Sketchy challenge at about 9:30 this morning. Then I got distracted and then didn't get back to finishing it until a little while ago. DH has been home today working on a paper that he had due this afternoon, so I've not been able to get on the computer until now as well. I liked this sketch and even though you can't tell from the picture, it does open in a gate fold fashion. I started with a 4 1/2 by 11 piece of Razzleberry and scored it at 3 1/2 and 9. I layered the Orchid Opulence piece which I stamped with the Floral Background stamp. The flower is from Fifth Ave Floral and I stamped it on Crushed Curry paper and then cut it out before attaching it to a 3" white circle and a 3 1/4 Melon Mambo circle. I added the strips of Melon Mambo with paper piercing and stitching to finish the card.
I have a lot of blog hopping to catch up on, which I will hopefully be able to do later this evening or tomorrow. I can't wait to see what everyone has been up to today! Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening.

Hi Everyone!

I decided to work on some Halloween cards and a few layouts today so I don't have anything new to share with you at the moment. Still, I wanted to stop by really quick and share some of the fabulous creations I've seen across the blogging world this week. Some of these I'm sure you've seen as well; but if not they are definitely well worth taking a look at. Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow.

Beate's video tutorial on The Grid Technique
Dot Dot Stamping Designs Mojo Monday
Sendable Sentiments Mojo Monday
Our Two Angels in Heaven Mojo Monday
Lisa's Cards and Crafts Mojo Monday
Designs by Boo MMSC 18
Terri's Cards N'More MMSC 18

Also, if you are a GH fan don't forget to check out the WUBS tub and the WUB Blog. It's accessible through the tub page. It's full of great info about the carnival and has great spoilers and news as well.

Just a little "LOVE"

Good afternoon!

I hope you are all having a good day so far. Mine has been quiet with two of the three back in school. I could hardly believe that Tyler got on the bus this morning. He was such a big boy. Honestly, I think his dad was expecting a bit more of a reaction than he got, so it really was all a bit anticlimactic when Tyler just walked right on and sat down. I got a chance to do yesterday's MMSC challenge this morning. When I was thinking about what to do for this card, I looked through my book and realized that I had not used my "Circle Circus" from SU in a while and it all just came together from there. I started with a Navy Base and then added a layer of Burgundy that I had embossed with Martha Stewart Patterns Clear Stamps. I did the eyelets and string next followed by the main image panel which I stamped with Brocade Blue, Navy and Burgundy. This is an easy set to work with; but it does require a bit of playing to get the circles in a pattern that you like. I cut two ovals with my Nestablilites and then added the white stitching and letters. The "LOVE" stickers are from American Crafts "Remarks" letter sticker books
Ok, so that's all for me today. I'm off to tidy up my crafty mess before the kids come home from school. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Catching Up with the Mojo

Hi All!

I hope you all had a great labor day weekend. Our trip to New Jersey was fabulous and now we are getting ready to kick full gear back into the regular school routine. The first day of school is tomorrow for two of them and then Friday will be Jonathan's first day of pre-school. I did get a chance to do yesterday's Mojo sketch earlier today and then got busy, so I apologize for posting a bit later than usual.
I decided to use my new Paper Pretties stamp in honor of the beginning of school. I love to read and I hope to pass this love for books onto my children, so this stamp is just fabulous for me!
I chose an old Kwerner color inspiration combo of Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin, Pretty in Pink and Pomegranate for my color palette. It was as simple to put together as it looks, so I won't bore you with the details and I need to finish catching up on a few things around the house. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to visit me!

Get Sketchy 4: Hello Flowers

Good Evening!

Wow, I think this is the latest that I've posted in the day in a long time. I got my card done earlier in the day; but just haven't had time to sit down at the computer. We are heading out of town for the holiday weekend, so I've been busy doing laundry and packing etc. Reagan and I went out this afternoon for pedicures and then we spent time together this evening watching Hannah Montana and doing hair and I even got a massage! It was great...I love spending time with her and bonding over girly things.
So, here's my card for today's Get Sketchy challenge. I decided to keep it very simple and in fact only used one stamp, which was from the SU Polka Dots and Paisley's set that I stamped on the Melon Mambo background. I had such a good time use my Thickers from American Crafts the other day that I decided to break them out again, only this time I decided to use the green ones. The flowers are from Flora Doodles and were the inspiration for the rest of the card. The scanner makes the 3D images of the letters a bit blurry...sorry about that.
Ok, so I know this is super quick; but I still have some things to do. As I said, I'll be out of town this weekend, so I'll be back on Tuesday. Have a great holiday everyone!

Halloween Cards

Hi Everyone!

Today I want to share a couple of Halloween cards with you. These are two of three designs that I will be making to send out to family and friends. The third one will be the Halloween Wiper Card that I showed in an earlier post. Yesterday at Michael's, I found a set of Halloween stamps from Inkadinkado. They have a bit of an elegant flair to them which made them quite appealing to me, so I decided to treat myself to them.
As you can probably tell, there is quite a bit of embossing on these cards. For the first one, I embossed the "Happy Halloween" sentiment with white embossing powder and on the second card, the "Trick or Treat" is embossed with Versa Mark and Clear powder. I embossed the pumpkin with black powder. For both cards I used more of my SU "Cast-A-Spell" paper with cooridinating pieces of Pumpkin, Olive, Perfect Plum and Black paper. I also used my Top Note Die with my Cuttlebug as well as my Oval Nestabilities for the first card. These two cards are proof positive that you can create totally different looks with the same colors, one package of pattern paper and the same stamp set.
So, I hope you like them. Have a great day!

Keepin' it Simple.

Good Morning!

What a busy day yesterday! We went school supply shopping and got the oil in the car changed and did a lot of little things around the house and we played outside for a while too. I didn't get a chance to sit down and stamp until about 4:00 yesterday and then when I got done it was time to start dinner and so I didn't get a chance to post anything.
I actually made two cards yesterday, which is amazing given my complete lack of Mojo on Monday. If you saw Kristina Werner's MACM video this past week, the first card will look very familiar to you. I just loved the card and realized I had all the same materials and thought I would make my own version. I didn't have any of the Ranger paint daubers that she did, so I used a sponge dauber from SU and some acrylic paint and did my background with that. I used Kraft and Cameo Coral for my colors, with Chocolate Chip ribbon. It was super easy to put together and only took about 15 minutes to complete.
The second card is for yesterday's MMSC 17 challenge. Now, I looked at the sketch at about 8:00 yesterday morning; but didn't get around to doing it until later in the afternoon. I didn't go back to review the sketch before I started on it, so I was relying on memory. After I did it, I realized that I forgot the horizontal piece across the top. I really wanted to keep it simple. I don't know about you, but sometimes I really overthink my crafting process. I decided to just go with what I was thinking as I was thinking it instead of trying to plan and replan and then do. So, I grabbed some Grey, Sage Shadow, Ruby Red and Baja Breeze and used those as my color. I had not used my Fresh Cuts notes or that set in a long time and it seemed appealing for the layout (as I could remember it at the time) Again, this was a quick card and 30 minutes later this card was the result.
So, that's all for me today. We've got another busy morning; but I plan to do a bit of blurfing later. Until then, have a great day!