For Queen Marie

Last Friday's Queen for the Day at SCS was momof5sons aka Marie.  Marie is such a sweetheart and encourages me so much!  I am so glad she was chosen as the Queen and I sincerely hope she enjoyed her reign.

I used the black and white color scheme from this beautiful card and also this card as my inspiration.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Thoughts and Prayers, All Holidays

Ink:  Basic Black, SU Marker (Basic Black)

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black

Other:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips EF, Basic Pearls (colored with permanent marker)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Introducing

I wanted to show you one reason we are so busy these days....

I'd like you to meet Jack Matthew born Tuesday.  He's our newest little bundle of wonderful. (Grandson that is.  All the pleasure without all the pain!)

Big brother Luke hasn't decided what to make of him yet!

Here's Luke hee hawing at Cowboy Camp last week.

Thank God from whom all blessings flow!

Enjoy!

Busy as Bees

This will be a super busy week.  I guess that's why I thought of bees for the Less is More Challenge.  This week the challenge is a......

SKETCH.

Here is what I did....

This is such a simple card, but it took four tries to get the bees right without any smudges.  Then it took two tries to get the sentiment straight!

Thank you so much for the lovely challenge Mandi & Chrissie and for all the wonderful inspiration from the LIMettes!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Nature Walk, Three Little Words
Ink: Black StazOn, SU Marker (Daffodil Delight)
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Watercolor

Thanks again for stopping by and for the comments you have been leaving.

Enjoy!

Fabulous One Layer

This week's One Layer Wednesday challenge, hosted by Susan, was to make a one layer card using this beautiful inspiration photo from Pinterest...

The first thing I noticed was the flower in the right front jar.  I believe it may be a Lenten Rose, but I could be all wrong.  You know me, I sometimes get my flowers mixed up, but I'll give it a name anyway!

That Lenten Rose (or whatever) reminded me of the large flower in my new Fabulous Florets set.

I stamped the large outline flower in River Rock and used a blender pen and ink in the top of the inkpad to give it just a hint of color.  I used the River Rock marker over the center to give it a bit more definition.

Then I masked the flower and stamped the 2 solid flowers in Daffodil Delight to form a triangle. 

I punched a border across the bottom front and dotted between the scallops with the marker, scored a few lines and tied some narrow taffeta ribbon as finishing touches.

What a fun challenge!

Thanks for stopping by to visit.  I hope you come again soon.

Enjoy!

Growing a Card

I really struggled with the Color Challenge at SCS this week to use Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Crumb Cake.  The dessert option is to use something from the kitchen.

I started off to do a masculine card, but couldn't quite get things to go right.  Then I saw this card by Vicky Hayes, and had an Eureka moment.  Vicky creates the most beautiful cards and is a constant source of inspiration to me.

Enough chit chat.  This is what I did.....

I used sticky notes, which I keep in the kitchen.  Do you think that qualifies for dessert?  I did have to remove them though.  They really detracted from the design!

The stickies masked off an area that I sponged with Crumb Cake.  Then I stamped with French Script (the old version of En Francais) also in Crumb Cake, and ended up with the flowers which I inked with markers.  I removed the mask and did a little jig!  I know, it's an old trick, but a new one for me.

The layout is from Paper Players #52;  a CAS sketch challenge. 

And Stampin' B's #116 challenge this week is to use a Friendship sentiment.  This Friend sentiment is from the You're a Gem set and it's in the new catalog.

Then I stepped it up a notch with a bit of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.

And took it another teeny, tiny notch with a teeny, tiny butterfly.

I wasn't sure about the butterfly but decided he could stay.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Pocket Silhouettes, French Script, You're a Gem
Ink:  Crumb Cake, SU Markers (Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Whisper White
Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Beautiful Wings Embosslit

Thanks for coming to visit and for the lovely comments.  They inspire me!

Enjoy!

Out to Sea Again

I've really enjoyed this Open Sea set.  I was so disappointed that it didn't make it into the new Idea Book and Catalog.  It's such a great set for the men in our lives!

I actually did part of this card at Scrap & Share a couple of weeks ago.  It's been sitting on my desk waiting to be shared.

The ship's log stamp was inked with Crumb Cake and stamped off then stamped on Very Vanilla.  Then I stamped the ship on top with Chocolate Chip.  The log was subtle enough that I didn't need to mask.

There is a compass attached to the inside.  It was stamped with Chocolate Chip and stamped off, then punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and matted it with a 1 3/8" Chocolate Chip Circle.  I punched a hole with the 1/16" hole punch and threaded it with a piece of linen thread.

I'll submit this to the SCS Ways to Use it Challenge to do a card without white cardstock.  She didn't say no vanilla or white so I think this is ok.

And the Technique Lover's Challenge on Monday, again at SCS, was to do a card with an Old World Look.  This is probably too clean to be considered "Old World" by anyone else's standards, but it looks old to me.  Maybe that's because it's been sitting on my desk so long!  LOL!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  The Open Sea

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  1 1/4", 1 3/8" & 1/16" punches, Linen Thread

Thanks so much for the visit.  Wish we could've shared a glass of iced tea and a few giggles!

Enjoy!

Hollyhock Mambo

I think it was last week or maybe the week before I did a card with a garden of hollyhocks.  This design piece was still laying on my table and it seemed perfect for a tall, skinny card!  And that was the CAS challenge this week on SCS.

Or is this a gladiolus?  Hmm...maybe I need to get my flower book out and check!

I stamped the image with Black StazOn painted with ink and a blender pen.   The card is   3 1/4" x 6 1/4" and fits in the SU open end envelope.  I'm not sure why one of the rhinestones doesn't shine like the rest.  Maybe I need to replace that before I send it out!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Fast and Fabulous, Short and Sweet

Ink:  Black StazOn, Melon Mambo, Garden Green

Paper:  Whisper White, Scraps of Watercolor, Melon Mambo & Basic Black

Accessories:  Blender Pen, White Gel Pen, Ticket Corner Punch, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping in to visit.  I've been enjoying your comments.

Enjoy!



Monogram

Another of my favorite challenges is Less is More. The challenge this past Saturday was to do a card with a Monogram.

monogram:

Definition monogram ( ) n. A design composed of one or more letters, typically the initials of a name, used as an identifying mark.

So in effect, your monogram should represent the word it's standing for and not be a part of it.

You can use any means you fancy for creating your monogram... die cut letters, stamps, computer printouts, masking techniques... wherever your creativity leads you, we'd love to see it.

And the card needs to be a Clean and Simple (CAS) card.

Clean & Simple

A design of card with clean lines, minimal elements, areas of white space and few or no embellishments.

White Space

An area of the card which has no image, layer or embellishment.

This can be any colour dependent upon the colour of the card blank.

My friend Susie of Sharing What I Love is doing Scrappin' Sundays where she uses up some of her scraps.  She has a linky tool so we can link our cards there too.  I'm loving giving some of my scraps a home!  This week she used some stickers left over from kits.

I've never bought any kits but I found these stickers that I had found for $1 somewhere.  They'd been tucked away and forgotten.

So I got 2 challenges with one sticker!

Nothing fancy, just popped the sticker on a scrap of Vanilla and that on a scrap of Concord Crush.  I used another Vanilla scrap with a Nestie and popped the whole thing on a Vanilla card.

There were other stickers in the package too.  So I didn't stop at one...

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you'll come back soon.

Enjoy!

Butterfly Dreams

It's almost time for the One Layer Wednesday challenge and I've yet to post for the last one.  Last Wednesday, Susan challenged us to use yellow, orange and aqua.  Susan's card, with her simple yellow & orange sailboat on an aqua ribbon, was so perfect that my mind got stuck and for days I couldn't think what I wanted to do.  Finally, I settled on this little butterfly, which is the only stamp I've ever used from this set.  Not very original but I like it anyway.

I used some of the new In Color ink that will be available in the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  The Aqua is Pool Party, the orange is Calypso Coral and the bottom butterfly is Daffodil Delight (a regular color).

I used the Confetti paper for a strong base and also for the lovely flecks that look like stuff in the air.

My frame is hand drawn.  That's why it's not perfect.  I will admit that it's straighter than usual and I held my breath the whole time I was drawing it.  Nearly fainted!

And here is what I did with my practice round.  It was fairly straight and I hated to waste it.

 I matted it with Calypso Coral and love the pop it gave.  Not one layer but still CAS I think.  I even added a little bling in the corners.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Dreams du Jour, All Holidays
Ink:  Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, SU Markers (Pool Pary & Early Espresso)
Paper:  Confetti White, Calypso Coral
Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit.  I hope you come back soon and thank you for the lovely comments.

Enjoy!

CASEing Mary

Last week's Featured Stamper at SCS was Mary, aka StamperCamper.  I wanted to CASE several of her cards, but only got to do this one.  I have others printed out and I hope to use them for inspiration later.

Here's what I did....

I kept the layout but my back layer is black instead of green, used butterflies instead of flowers and changed the colors.  I also used a different sentiment stamp.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Wow Flowers
Ink:  Basic Black
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo
Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Embosslit, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Pearls

I hope Mary enjoyed her week as Featured Stamper.  Maybe I'll get a chance to look through the gallery of cards made in her honor.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy,

Catching Up

I have cards on my desk to blog about and cards on my work table to photograph and blog about.  And I have blogs that I need to comment about. Seems like the only thing I've had  time to do is make a few cards.  It keeps me sane.

My wonderful Dad had to go into a Nursing Home on Friday.  I wasn't able to make that trip with him and I hate it.  My brother and sister accompanied him and I've been able to talk to him every day.  Happily, he seems to be ok with it.  It was his decision and it's a relief to know that he is safe.  I still wish he was closer so I could keep an eye on him.  I'm thankful that he can still make good decisions and hope that his quality of life will be better with regular meals and medication as well as some old Vets to discuss war stories with.

I made this card for the Color Challenge at SCS on Tuesday to use Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive.  We also needed to round one corner.

We did a similar card at Creative Arts (soon to be Papercrafting) on Wednesday, but we used Garden Green.  I really like the softness of the Old Olive better.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Teeny, Tiny Wishes
Ink:  SU Markers (Old Olive, Chocolate Chip)
Paper:Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Accessories:  Blender Pen, Corner Rounder Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit.

Enjoy,

Bright and Happy

Here's a card that I did yesterday.  I ended up veering from the intended design, but I'm really happy with it.

The Paper Players challenge this week is a color challenge that I couldn't pass up!

I love these bright colors and knew they would be perfect with my new Hello Blossoms stamp.  This stamp is in the Summer Mini catalog and will be available until August 31.

I used my Boho Blossoms and Itty Bitty Shapes punches so I could have an extra dimension on my flowers.  After punching, I used a large stylus and rubbed it in circles around the flower to pop the edges out.

And of course I had to emboss the Melon Mambo piece with my Square Lattice Embossing Folder before attaching the bow.

I really like that I was able to use all scraps except for the base card and ribbon.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Hello Blossoms
Ink:  SU Markers (Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight)
Paper:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo
Accessories:  Boho Blossoms & Itty, Bitty Shapes Punches, Square Lattice EF, Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, Basic Pearls

I'm so glad you stopped by.  I hope this card brought a smile to your face as it did mine.

Enjoy!

Mini Card Sets

Here is one of the mini card sets (3" x 3") that I made for my Stamp Club.

I used the Punch Potpourri Level 1 Hostess set.

And this one.

I used the Strength & Hope set for this.

They were really fun to make.  The tutorial for the holder is in the Splitcoaststampers resources.

I'll be back later with a challenge card.

For Queen Lee-Ann

Last Friday, Lee-Ann (Shadow's Mom) was named Queen for the Day.  This is the card I chose for inspiration.  I left off the red and just used the blue and white for my color scheme.  And I changed the layout and sentiment.

We made this card in the Papercrafting group yesterday and several people at the Scrap & Share group on Saturday used this layout too.  I pulled all my blue and brown scraps out so everybody's card was different.

I've got to tell  you that everyone loves to do the embossing.  I think my BIG SHOT was one of the best stamping investments I've made!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Sincere Salutations

Ink:  Pacific Point, Pacific Point SU Marker

Paper:  Naturals White, Pacific Point

Accessories:  Ticket Corner Punch, Big Shot, Square Lattice EF

Thanks for the visit.  I hope you come back again soon.

Enjoy!

Scrappin' Sunday on Tuesday

My friend Sue at Sharing What I Love has a special feature on Sunday's.  She calls it Scrappin' Sunday and she makes a card from her scraps.  Everything is scraps except the base card.

I have a ton of scraps.

Really, you wouldn't believe how many I have.

The scraps seem to multiply.  I use them, but the bags still get fuller.

So I'm going to do Scrappin' Sundays with Sue.

I'm late.  But you're used to that aren't you?

Do you have scraps?  Follow the link above to Sue's blog and get some good ideas.  Then add your card to her linky.  We'll have lots of scrappin' ideas in one place.

One advantage of being late is that the CAS challenge at SCS yesterday was a sketch inspired by mocjen (Jennie).

Two birds with one stone so to speak.

But wait, the TLC Challenge at SCS yesterday was to do patchwork.

Sometimes being late has it's advantages.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Strength & Hope

Ink:  Whisper White

Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, DSP, Daffodil Delight

Accessories:  White EP, Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Fine gauge wire

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I love all the comments and hope to get time to comment on your cards too.  Wish I didn't need to sleep!

Enjoy!

Framed

It's Saturday and time for the Less is More challenge.  This week's challenge is to do a

One Layer Card

IN THE FRAME

We would like to see a frame of some sort or something in a frame... we'd like you to be as inventive as you like.

You could doodle, draw, emboss, ink, paint, colour, print, stamp, emboss resist, mask or any other method you can come up with to get a frame of sorts into your design.

Here's what I did.....

And the One Layer Wednesday challenge this week is to

Make a one-layer card inspired by sun, sand, sea,

summer, the beach, the late, the cottage (or all of those).

I used the colors from the Color Dare challenge: Cajun Craze, Baja Breeze & Not Qutie Navy.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Sail Away, Live Laugh Love

Ink:  Baja Breeze, SU Markers (Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze)

Paper:  Naturals White

As hot as it is  here, a day at the lake feeling the breeze on my face would be most welcome!

Thanks for stopping by to visit.  Last time I looked your smiling faces were back on my sidebar.  I like them there!

Enjoy!



Turtle Trouble

Hi Stampin' Friends.  Anybody have an idea how to get followers back?  I seem to have lost your pictures.  What's really wierd is that if I go to my blog from my hubby's Google Chrome, everybody is there smiling at me!  Maybe this is an Explorer issue?  I found out how to fix the comment snafu.  Hopefully this will be an easy fix without having to use the Google Chrome.

I finished my gift sets for the Stamp Club last night.  I'll share them with you next week since I don't want to spoil the surprise.  And yes, I've been poring over my new catalog. I did preorder one set.  Maybe next week I'll get a chance to mount it and give you a peek.

I've been working on this troublesome turtle for a few days now.  For some reason, after the ink dried, he looked kind of red!

I stamped this guy with Early Espresso and used some Soft Suede and a blender pen to color the shell.  Then I thought I'd shine up his shell and went over it with my VersaMarker, sprinkled some clear embossing powder and heated him up.  Maybe he didn't like being cooked!
I used some Crumb Cake to sponge the ground beneath his feet and on his underside.

Then I masked the pesky little guy and stamped the berries behind him.

I won't even tell you what happened the first time I tried to do this card.  It was pretty disgusting and it went headlong into the trash bin!

The colors are from the ColorQ challenge this week.

And for some added interest, I added paper piercing which is the Ways to Use It challenge this week at SCS.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Nature's Nest, Pocket Silhouettes

Ink:  Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler

Paper:  Very Vanilla

Accessories:  VersaMarker, Clear EP

All those followers out there, I miss seeing your smiling faces, but I'm still enjoying your comments.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Colored Embossing

I've been busy today trying to get gifts made for my Stamp Club.  We'll be meeting this weekend and I waited until the last minute.  Shame on me!  I'm almost finished but I need to get in there and do some more this evening.  So this will be a quick post of a card I made a couple of weeks ago and never posted.

This was for Technique Challenge #324 to color an embossing folder then emboss and for Color Challenge #322 to use Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery & So Saffron.

No stamping, just coloring the Flower Garden EF with markers and embossing.  I seem to remember that I colored the flowers a bit after with a marker.  I think this technique works much better with bright colors!  This embossed image is lovely plain, but coloring it really makes it stand out!

I used the Ticket Corner Punch on the image and the Blushing Bride mat and mounted it on a piece embossed with my favorite Square Lattice EF.  I tucked a piece of Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon under the design.

Thanks for stopping by.  Sorry to make this so short.

Enjoy!

Hollyhock Garden

Hello crafty peeps.  I have finally put down my new cattie, for a few minutes anyway.  I have to put it out of sight to remove the temptation.  I'm like that with cookies and chocolate too!

I did get a card made for the Color Challenge at SCS to use Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette & Melon Mambo.  Dessert is a round embellishment which I totally forgot.

I stamped with the outline stamp in Black StazOn on a scrap of Confetti White cardstock.  Then I put a drop of re-inker of each of the pinks in a lid and used my Aquapainter to color the blossoms. A drop of Old Olive and the Aquapainter colored the stems & leaves.

I used a very simple CAS layout on an embossed Confetti White card.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Fast & Fabulous, Short & Sweet

Ink:  Melon Mambo, SU Re-inkers (Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive)

Paper:  Confetti White, Melon Mambo

Accessories:  Corner Rounder, Word Window & Modern Label Punches

I love to use this set for two-step stamping but I like it with the watercoloring too.  I'll be sad to see this set retire from the hostess sets, but, believe me, there are lots of awesome choices to take it's place!

I'm so glad you could join me today.

Enjoy!

Thoughts and Prayers All Around

The Queen for the Day, at SCS, last Friday was Mary aka jandjcc.  I want to CASE many of the cards from her amazing gallery!  Here is the card that I chose to CASE this time.  And here's my version....

I really loved the way she swirled the flower spray.  I went with a brighter palate, mainly because these were the colors in the Color Throwdown last week.  I'm too late, as usual, but I'm glad I tried these colors.

The branch and flowers were inked with SU Markers, Certainly Celery and Pumpkin Pie.  After I stamped once on the card, I stamped again without reinking on an envelope.  Then I went back with my Melon Mambo marker and colored the centers of the flowers and finished them off with a dot from the White Gel Pen in the very center.

I'll send this over to Paper Players for their Kind Thanks Challenge.

And the TLC challenge, at SCS, is to Decorate the Envie.

I'm going to have to stop.  Mr. Brown just delivered my new IDEA BOOK & CATALOG and I keep having to stop and look.  I think I'll stop this and just concentrate on that!  I wish I could show it to you today :>(, but I can tell you that most of my favorites from the mini catalogs made it into the big one!  Yeah!!  And there's five new In Colors too and well as the wonderful In Colors from last year.  Hopefully I can get my head out of the book long enough to make another card to share with you tomorrow!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Oh, and I was a top pick at jac-inks last week.  That gave me a big smile!

Enjoy!