Toil & Trouble... with a little Poison on the Side.

Woo Hoo! My Stampin' order came! I am finally getting my hands on Toil and Trouble. I am obsessed with skulls. I don't know why, but I love them. So, when the Holiday catalog came out, Toil and Trouble was the first on my wish list.

I had a lot of fun playing with it today. I have so many more ideas burning in my head. I created it for Try Stampin' on Tuesday's weekly challenge but I'm not sure it really fits with the sketch. I got a little off track. Oops! I decided to make my own paper. I think I'm going to call it MCP instead of DSP. Don't get me wrong, I love Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper... BUT, everyone else has it too. I want to be different. Go figure. Here is what I came up with. I think it came together nicely.

Supplies:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ More Mustard, Pear Pizzaz, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze

Stamp Sets ~ Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge, Toil and Trouble, misc. alphabet stamp set

***I did not use any SU embellisments for this card. 

I used the Brayer tool to make the More Mustard and Pear Pizzaz paper. I like the effect better than using SU cardstock.

Woo Hoo!!! This card received a special mention over at Try Stampin' on Tuesday!!!

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

Truly Retro

Freedom! The kids went to play at a friends house today. Woo Hoo! That means my house will stay clean for more than 5 minutes and I get some STAMPING TIME! I'm taking every second I can get these days. We're still right in the middle of Harvest. I swear this is the longest year ever, or at least it feels like it. Probably because it's keeping me from my woman cave.

I felt a bit like Cinderella today. Mentally thinking, "Now if I manage to get all of my house cleaning done, I might have enough time to squeeze a card in." Rambling to myself is nothing new. My kids think I'm crazy. I like to have a conversation with the vacuum cleaner. It knows all my deepest and darkest of secrets.

As it turns out, I had JUST enough time to crank this one out. I created it for Retro Sketches challenge #74. I had fall colors in mind for this one. We're getting closer and closer to those pumpkin spiced drinks that I love! I also decided to change the way I photograph my cards. I'll work on the lighting...

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Core'dinations in Early Espresso, More Mustard cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Specialty DSP

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Baked Brown Sugar, More Mustard

Stamp Sets ~ Truly Grateful, Chalk Talk 

Embossings ~ Brads (coated with Pool Party embossing powder), White linen fabric (colored with the Brayer tool and More Mustard ink, Vintage Brads

*The embossing folder used for the background on this card is not from Stampin' Up!

Oh boy, it's HOT!

The AC in our house went kaput yesterday. It's miserably HOT. So, I skipped out on housework, sent the kids to daycare and locked myself in my woman-cave for the day. It has it's own independent air conditioner. BLISS! Here is what I came up with today. I'm loving the masculine feel. Burlap is my new obsession! This card was created for A.R.T. Card Challenge #5.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Very Vanilla, Early Espresso

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Pool Party, More Mustard

Stamp Sets ~ Label Love, Everything Eleanor, Gorgeous Grunge

Other Supplies ~ Clear embossing powder, Spice Cake designer fabric, Bitty banners framelits, Labels collection framelits

Non Stampin Up supplies ~ Brads, Burlap, ribbon