Get Well

Someone near and dear to me is going in for heart surgery next week. It is a relatively safe procedure, but it is still something a little scary to face and I want to send a little heart-warming card (pun intended). While scouring my supplies, this red string caught my eye and an idea developed...

Supplies

Cardstock ~ Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Real Red

Stamp Sets ~ Perfectly Penned (retired)

Ink ~ Basic Black

Tools ~ polka dot embossing folder, heart punch, glue, dimensionals, round edge punch

Embellishments ~ Red string (not SU)

Kinda in Love with Kinda Eclectic

Today is Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration's New card sketch challenge. It's a fun sketch with a LOT of room for creativity. I like room!

Here's the Sketch!

The new Stampin' Up! catalog is out! Yippie!!! Along with over half of the new catalog, I fell in love with this stamp set the moment I saw it. It strays a little from my style of stamping, but I really love how soft and girly it is. What is happening to me? First it's flowers, now it's butterflies?

Here's my Creation!

What I Used:

Cardstock ~ Crumb Cake, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White

Ink ~ Crisp Cantaloupe, So Saffron

Stamp Set ~ Kinda Eclectic

Tools/Other Supplies ~ Paper trimmer, Apothecary Framelits, All Purpose Liquid Glue, Versa Mark, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Banner Punch

Embellishments ~ Essentials Wooden Elements, Natural Chevron Ribbon

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration ~ May Color Challenge

Woo Hoo it's Color Challenge time at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration! Today's challenge is FABULOUS. I absolutely love this combination. Midnight Muse and Summer Starfruit are magnificent together, then you add Crumb Cake to the mix and it's to die for!

I personally feel that this combination is perfect for a masculine card. Something that I don't have a lot of. I went with a generic greeting. One that could be used for several different occasions. I'm still quite addicted to arrows, so naturally they had to be included.

Curious about the Dots? I just drew them with a Midnight Muse marker, then applied a spot of Crystal Effects over the top. 

Supplies

Cardstock ~ Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit

Stamp Sets ~ Hello Lovely, Gorgeous Grunge, Off the Grid, Peachy Keen

Tools ~ Dimensionals, Anywhere Glue, Glue Dots, Decorative Label punch

Embellishments ~ Summer Starfruit twine (Sale-a-Bration catalog), Crystal Effects

Wine tags... You're the Best!

I live smack dab in the middle of wine country. Yeah, it's rough. There are so many wonderful wineries out here it's ridiculous. So, I thought I'd make some cute little wine tags. It's so much fun to give a bottle of my favorite to a loved one, but it's even better to be able to personalize it.

I absolutely LOVE this color combination. Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Crumb Cake. How fabulous is that? I love that it's masculine and modern. 

Supplies

Cardstock ~ Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse

Stamp Sets ~ Geometrical, Hello Lovely, Peachy Keen, Gorgeous Grunge, Off the Grid

Tools ~ Paper Trimmer, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Anywhere Glue Stick, Decorative Label punch, 1" Square punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 3/4" Circle punch

Embellishments ~ brass brads

Wine tag dimensions: 3" x 7 3/4" (score @ 3")

Fascinating Feathers ~ My infactuation

Today has been a long day. Shuttling kids to and from school, doctors appointments, moving hay, cleaning house, feeding critters, homework and dinner. To say the least, this week is catching up to me in a hurry. Come on Friday! Despite being totally exhausted, I decided to sneak to my She-Cave. I was only going to tidy things up, but I got sidetracked and fell into some stamps and ink. Oops! I don't know how that happened!

I think I am on a new kick. After making yesterday's card, I am hooked on a Southwestern theme. What better to show that off than wood, arrows, and feathers? I wanted to go with softer, more subtle colors, so I chose Sahara Sand and Soft Sky. I know that the Soda Pop Tops are retired, but I stockpiled them and need to use them. Besides, they're pretty amazing! I really like how this turned out. It is masculine enough for the manly man in my life, but it's also soft enough for any occasion. SCORE!

Supplies

Cardstock > Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Ink > Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Soft Sky, Basic Gray

Stamp Sets > Hardwood, Perfect Pennants, That's the Ticket, Peachy Keen, Off the Grid, Chalk Talk

Tools > Distress tool, paper snips, paper trimmer, Ticket Duo Builder punch, 1" circle punch, Dimensionals, adhesive, sponge daubers

Embellishments > Soda Pop Tops (retired), thread, Natural Chevron Ribbon

Finished Size: 4" x 5 1/2"

Teaching about Christmas

The kids have been learning a LOT about Christmas and Our Lord Jesus Christ at school. They come home with so much excitement and enthusiasm for this Christmas Season. I love our school and their ways of teaching and the wonderful strong foundation they are giving to the children. Okay, that's enough mushy stuff.

The kids school Christmas parties are just around the corner and of course I didn't have ANYTHING made up yet. We'll be making treats today and I'll be making tags this weekend. LOTS of tags! I finally came up with an idea for a card for their teachers. I wanted to do a chalkboard effect, obviously because they're teachers. This was such a fun card to make. The sketch came from the Paper Craft Crew for challenge #71. I hope you enjoy it. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Ink ~ Craft white StazOn, Black StazOn, Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets ~ Color Me Christmas, A Banner Christmas, Christmas Messages

Embellishments ~ Red ribbon

Just for You!

I've been on a Christmas-card-making rampage lately! It helps that it's only 12 degrees outside and I'm stuck inside. Or at least until it's feeding time an the farm critters demand my attention. 

Supplies:
Cardstock ~ Real Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

DSP ~ Glimmer paper in Champagne

Ink ~ Real Red, Craft White, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets ~ Positively Chevron, Label Love, Hearts a Flutter, Pretty Petites, Daydream Medallions

Soft Sympathy

I am addicted to French Foliage. I've been using the heck out of it lately. I always seem to get attached to something AFTER they retire it. Day late and a dollar short is my motto. Oh well, works for me. Once again, the need for a sympathy card sucks, but it WAS really fun to put this one together. I really like the color combo. Not sure if I'll be able to duplicate it ever again. lol

I really love doing detail work. The leaves seem to come alive with a little marker attention. Time consuming yes, but definitely worth it.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede, Soft Sky, Early Espresso

Stamp Sets ~ French Foliage, So Sorry, Truly Grateful

Other supplies ~ cream ribbon, burlap ribbon

Truly Grateful 3D

Anything but a card they said. Challenge it will be. This was created for The Paper Players latest challenge. A challenge indeed it was. I have been stuck in my little happy place creating cards for who knows how long. I've really never done any 3D objects. It was a really fun little project. Something new and different. I've been collecting jars for quite some time. I think this one was a jalapeno jar (don't worry, I washed it first). I can't stand throwing things away that I think may someday turn into a craft project.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP

Ink ~ Early Espresso, More Mustard, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Positively Chevron, Truly Grateful

Other Supplies ~ Linen fabric, burlap fabric, burlap ribbon, pool party ribbon

Gift Sets!!!

I've been working on putting some greeting card sets together. Today's color theme was Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake and Early Espresso. Oh how I do love that Crisp Cantaloupe! These are so handy to give as gifts too! This set includes...

"Happy Birthday"

"Thank You"

 "Grateful"

"Friendship"

Please let me know what you think!

So...Fine?

I set out to create a sympathy card. I hate making these. They mean something sad happened. But, on the positive side, I got to use my Positively Chevron stamp again! I have had the Fine Feathers stamp set for a LONG time, but I think this is only the second time I've used it. I'll be using it more from now on. I used the sketch provided by Retro Sketches for challenge #73, of course I embellished on it a bit. I LOVE how this turned out.

{{{INSIDE}}}

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, First Edition DSP

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Baked Brown Sugar

Stamp Sets ~ Positively Chevron, Gorgeous Grunge, So Sorry, Truly Grateful, Fine Feathers, Curly Cute

Other Supplies ~ Early Espresso embossing powder, Pearls Basic Jewels, Chalk Talk framelits, Soda Pop Tops, Itty Bitty Banner framelits

All supplies copyright Stampin' Up!

Trying Tuesday

Good morning peeps! Once again, I was up before the crack of dawn. My son fell out of his bed at 1:30am. I heard him hit the floor. He slept right thru the whole thing. I just don't get how they can do that. He's done it many times. He almost never wakes up. That's crazy! So, I've been tossing and turning since then. I've already been out working on a few projects and decided to sit down with a cup of coffee to see what the new challenge from Try Stampin' on Tuesday looks like. It's pretty simple, which gives me LOTS of room to create. I'm not sure if I like simple or not. Sometimes it gives me too much to think about. This one should be fun though. I haven't tackled a sketch like this one before.

Well, here is what I came up with. It's altered from my original idea in my head. 

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe Core'dinations

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride

Stamp Sets ~ Chalk Talk, Oh Hello, Lovely Little Labels

Other Supplies ~ Vintage faceted buttons, designer builder brads, (retired) stampin' up ruffle ribbon, natural colored thread (misc), crochet ribbon

A Retro Kind of Sunday

I got to have a day all to myself! Well, it actually ended up to be more like 3 hours, but it was just enough time to get my design finished for Retro Sketches challenge #69. I had so much fun creating this card. It turned out pretty darn close to what I had pictured in my head. Love it when that happens!

Supplies Used: 

Paper ~ Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pool Party Core'dinations, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk, Lovely Little Labels

Other Supplies ~ baker's twine, soda pop tops, basic pearl jewels, vanilla ribbon

Retro Challenge

Here's today's card. I created this for Retro Sketches challenge #68. I love how it turned out. I think Crisp Cantaloupe is my new favorite color. I'm totally addicted to making my own designer paper. I hope you like it too! 

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe Core'dinations

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe

Stamp Sets ~ Chalk Talk, Daydream Medallion, Gorgeous Grunge, Lovely Little Labels

Other Supplies ~ Designer Builder Brads, Vintage Faceted Buttons, Pool Party Ribbon, Pool Party Embossing Powder, Early Espresso Embossing Powder, Basic Pearl Jewels, misc. brads

Try Stampin' on Tuesday...

Here is my card for Try Stampin' On Tuesday's challenge #123. I had a little bit of fun and a little bit of frustration on this one. I'm not the kind that measures things out. I like to eyeball everything. I have no patience for rulers! So, this one kind of fought me a bit. I had a TON of fun creating the Pumpkin Pie cutout. I inked it with Everything Elenor, then added the Pool Party Embossing powder on top of that to add dimension and contrast. LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out. I'll be using this technique more often!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, DSP

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Pool Party, Soft Suede

Stamp Sets ~ Itty Bitty Banners, Everything Elenor, Gorgeous Grunge, misc. letter background

Other supplies ~ Pearl Basic Jewels, Soda Pop Tops, Brads, Pool Party Embossing Powder

Whoop Whoop! This card made the Top 3 at Try Stampin' on Tuesday!!!