Happy Dance

The kids are back to school! I'm totally doing my happy dance. I kinda feel bad every morning as I peel out of the school parking lot. Kinda. I love my children dearly, but this mama needs a break! I'm definitely looking forward to getting back onto our normal schedule. Especially looking forward to that quiet time. Yeah, I mostly spend it cleaning something. At least my house can stay somewhat clean for more than 20 minutes. Today, I got to spend a little time out in my woman cave. I'm extremely behind on my projects. I think it's been over a week since I last stepped foot in there. So I locked myself in and went to work.

Since the kids are back to school, I needed to create a card for Kylie's (2nd Grade) teacher. I don't have ANY school-related stamps. None. Zip. Zilch. I totally had to comb through my stamp sets to come up with SOMETHING that would do. The sketch is from the Paper Craft Crew for challenge #57. The color combo came from The Paper Players challenge #161. I really liked how it turned out. Another fabulous color combo that I would have never come up with on my own. 

The sketch:

My take on the sketch and color combo:

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White

Ink ~ Strawberry Slush, Certainly Celery, Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate

Stamp Sets ~ Positively Chevron, Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge, From my Heart, Hearts a Flutter, That's the Ticket, and ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers

Embellishments ~ Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Hardware Clips Essentials

*white string (not SU)

Light as a Feather...

I love peacock feathers. So much that I have one inked on my back! I have always loved the Fine Feathers stamp set. I don't use it nearly enough. I used the sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments for challenge #167. It's a fun sketch. Lots of room to create!

The Sketch

My Take...

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Whisper White, Island Indigo

DSP ~ Epic Day

Ink ~ Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Island Indigo, Tempting Turquoise, Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, Midnight Muse

Stamp Sets ~ Fine Feathers, From the Heart

Other Supplies ~ Woodgrain embossing folder, Basic Pearl Jewels,*burlap (non-SU)

Slight Detour...

So... I'm a Gemini. I'm eclectic. I'm scattered, unpredictable and hard headed. When I want something, I want it done yesterday. I hate waiting for anything. So... Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea {this morning} to transform our boring and outdated nightstands into something magnificent. Wait? For what? Plan? Yeah right! I marched myself down to Home Depot this morning after I dropped my girl off at school. Chose a color, bought a brush and high tailed it home.

One coat of paint {which was the perfect color}, a little bit of elbow grease and BAM! I wish I would have taken pictures of them before I got my hands on them... but that would have required planning. I don't plan. Since I don't plan, had to head BACK to town to pick up some stain. Maybe should have put a LITTLE thought into this huh?

I can't wait till the hubby comes home. I didn't run this project by him. Why would I? He'd probably say "no" anyway. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Common farmer knowledge. Very frustrating for an eclectic, scattered, unpredictable and hard headed wife ;)

What do you think of my little handy man? Quite dashing I think, but then I'm a little biased. He didn't last long though. Thankfully my attention span is a little bit longer than his...

Done!!!!

I'm in {LOVE}

Now, what else can I paint?

Many Leaves... Many Loves

Vacation is over. Kids are back to school. Summer is ending and Fall is in the air. I enjoyed my first Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks this morning. First of the season I should say. I'm a longtime addict. Oh Starbucks...

Since the kids are both at school today (I have one in preschool that only goes part time), I thought I'd get back on track and get a card created. We visited family in Seattle, Wa. over the weekend and I needed to come up with a Thank You card. No, I didn't have any in my inventory, believe it or not. Oh darn, an excuse to make one. he he!

This card makes me think of warm cozy Sunday nights, hot tea, fuzzy socks and the kids giggling under their livingroom forts. I used the sketch from Retro Sketches challenge #78. It was a fun one. Lots of room to be creative!

Here is what I came up with... I love everything about this card. Love the colors, love the textures, love the layers, love the leaves... Many loves!

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze

DSP ~ Sweater Weather

Ink ~ Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzaz, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze

Stamp Sets ~ French Foliage (retired), Harvest of Thanks (Holiday Catalog)

Others ~ Woodgrain embossing folder, Apothecary Accents, Artisan Label punch, Adorning Accents Edgelits

*Non-Stampin' Up! brass brads, linen 

Whew! That was a lot. It took me a good part of 3 hours to complete this card. I kept changing things and adding things as I went along. Of course I really didn't have a plan except for the sketch. I love my whims!

WHOOP WHOOP!!! This card was chosen as the RetroSketches ROCKstar!

Trouble Again

There's trouble again. No, this time it's not my 4 year old. It's SU's New Toil and Trouble stamp set. I LOVE this set. If you know me, you know I love skulls. I had a lot of fun putting this card together. I originally created it for Retro Sketches's latest challenge. I'm still going to enter it, but I'm not sure I really kept to the sketch. Funny how that happens. Oops!

Supplies

Paper ~ Bravo Burgundy, Baked Brown Sugar, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, :Lucky Limeade

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Baked Brown Sugar, Bravo Burgundy, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, 

Stamp Sets ~ Toil and Trouble, Chalk Talk, Oh Hello, Hello Lovely, Sketch Alphabet

Embellishments ~ Early Espresso embossing powder, Soda Pop Tops, Hemp Twine

*I also used a non-su miscellaneous alphabet stamp set

Thinking of You

This card was created for Mojo Monday's latest challenge, but I missed the deadline by one  hour. Really? Such is my luck, he he he! Oh well, I still have a purdy card to show for my effort. Here is what I came up with. This is the first time I've used this stamp, even though I've had it for quite a while. I really liked how it turned out. Love the colors. I swear, that Calypso Coral speaks to me. I also love the DSP. Unfortunately it's retired {pout}. 

Supplies

Paper ~ Everyday Enchantment DSP, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Soft Suede

Ink ~ Calypso Coral, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzaz

Stamp Sets ~ Thinking of You

Embellishments ~ Antique Brads, Burlap

Copy Cat

I can't take an ounce of credit for this card. I found it on Pinterest. I loved it so much, I had to recreate it. I changed it just a tiny bit, but not enough to make it my own. It was a fun one to make though.

Supplies:

Paper ~ Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze

Stamp Sets ~ Harvest of Thanks, Gorgeous Grunge, Positively Chevron

Other SU Supplies ~ Woodgrain embossing folder, Floral Frames Collection framelits, Apothecary Accents Collection framelits, Boho Blossoms punch, Pearl Basic Jewels, Very Vintage Designer Buttons

Misc. Supplies ~ burlap