LIM 52

Good morning, Friends! What a fabulous looking weekend it is around here! Is it really the middle of winter? A lot of the plants are a little confused, too! I won't complain too much (after the last two winters we have had around here) as long as the mountains get tons of snow! That's where we need it the most! But I do hope it rains around here some time...


Today's card is from a challenge that I haven't played along with, yet. I love to visit their blog and look at what they have going on but I haven't really every played along. And it looks like I won't get to play along with this one either as the deadline as passed. But I loved the challenge! The challenge blog is "Less is More". Great name, huh!! They believe in keeping things very clean and very simple. Love it! And I love how my card turned out, too! I took a strip of Whisper White and used my Full Heart punch to punch a heart. Then I too a piece of the Twitterpated designer paper and glued it to the front of a whisper White card base. The strip with the punched heart is popped up over that. Then I stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings in Riding Hood Red. As a finishing touch I added a heart that was cut with the Fashionable Hearts embosslit with a rhinestone. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!


Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings; Paper- Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Twitterpated designer paper; Ink- Riding Hood Red; Accessories- Full Heart Punch, Fashionable Hearts designer paper, rhinestone, dimensionals

SFF 020312

Good morning everyone! Thank goodness it's Friday! And it's time for a great sketch challenge at Sketch Frenzy Friday! This week's sketch was created by ME!! Take a look!

Sometimes I find it so hard to create a card from my own sketch! Weird, I know - lol! For my card I decided to combine it with the challenge at LNS which is to create a project using black, white and one other color. So take a look at what I came up with!

Another Valentine card! I used Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, and Whisper White. I took a piece of Whisper White and attached a piece of patterned paper from the Neutrals paper stack and a another piece of Whisper White that was run through the Big Shot with the Adorning Accents edgelits embossing folder (see the cute little hearts). Then I wrapped a piece of Basic Black narrow taffeta ribbon around this and adhered this to a card base of Basic Black. Then I took a piece of Whisper White and stamped the dotted heart from I {Heart} Hearts in black StazOn. I popped this up on the card. Then I stamped the polka dot heart (from the same set) in Cherry Cobbler on a scrap of Whisper White and cut it out. This is glued flat inside the dotted heart. Then I stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings in black StazOn and punched it out with the 1 3/8" circle punch and adhered it to a punched scallop circle that was punched from Basic Black. I colored in the heart with the Cherry Cobbler marker and popped this up on the card. The last thing I did was to add a rhinestone to the heart!


Be sure to go to Jennifer's blog by clicking 'here' and see what she did with this sketch. Keep going through the tour to get inspired. Then create your own project using the sketch provided. I hope you will play along and upload your creation to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog so that we can all see what you did! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day! 

CCMC 187

Good morning, Friends! Time to play along with another great challenge from the team at Create with Connie and Mary! This week we are being challenged with color. Take a look at these yummy colors!

The challenge colors are Concord Crush, Pool Party and Sahara Sand. I didn't even think about ever putting these colors together but they look so great! Take a look at what I came up with!

I really liked the idea of making a Valentine card using non-traditional "valentine" colors. I took a piece of Sahara Sand that was cut down and stamped the dotted heart from I {Heart} Hearts in Sahara Sand. Then I wrapped a piece of Pool Party seam binding ribbon around it. I glued this panel down to a piece of Concord Crush and then popped it up on a card base of Sahara Sand. Then I took a piece of Whisper White and used my Labels framelits and cut the shape. I stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings in Concord Crush and popped it up on the card. Then I cut hearts using the Fashionable Hearts embosslit from Pool Party and Concord Crush card stock and then attached them to the card. The last thing was to add some rhinestones. 


Have you checked out the rest of the designer's cards at the Create with Connie and Mary site? You won't be disappointed! Check them out and then create your own project using the colors shown. I always love to see what you all do with these challenges! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!


Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings, I {Heart} Hearts; Paper- Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Concord Crush, Whisper White; Ink- Concord Crush, Sahara Sand; Accessories- Pool Party seam binding ribbon, Fashionable Hearts embosslit, Labels framelits, rhinestones, dimensionals

Control Freaks Blog Tour - Love is in the Air

Hello everyone! Welcome to another Stampin' Up! blog tour brought to you by the Control Freaks swap group! You might have just come from my friend, Mary Brown's blog. I think she is just a genius!! Didn't you just love her projects? If you happened to land here or are a regular visitor, never fear! Just click on the button at the end of my blog post to advance through the tour. And eventually you will end right back where you started! Please remember that if you are visiting before the 20th, some of the links may not be working. You can come back on the 20th and go right through the tour without any hiccups!

So this month's tour is all about the LOVE! We will be featuring projects made with a lot of love but also showing a lot of love, too! I have three projects this month. Which surprises me as I woke up this morning feeling awful! Thank goodness I didn't have anything else to do and could take my time finishing up my projects. My first project is a simple card (do I do any other kind -lol).

I ran a piece of Very Vanilla card stock through the Big Shot with the new edgelits embossing folder. I hope you can see the cute little hearts that are embossed! Love them!! This is adhered to a piece of Poppy Parade and then popped up onto a Crumb Cake card base. Then I stamped the solid heart from I {Heart} Hearts onto a scrap of Very Vanilla with Poppy Parade ink and cut it out. It is popped up onto the card. I stamped the greeting onto a strip of Very Vanilla in Poppy Parade. I flagged one end and put in one of the new brads from the Everyday Enchantment ribbon and brad pack. This is adhered right over the heart. Very simple. I even thought it isn't too "mushy" for a guy!

My second project is another card. It is hard to tell from the photo, but I actually punched out an oval from Island Indigo with my extra large oval punch. Then I ran it through the Big Shot using the designer frames embossing folders. So when it came out, the frame had a hole in the center. Make sense? Then I cut around the frame. I stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings on Whisper White in Island Indigo. Then I put dimensionals on back side of the frame and adhered it to the greeting. I cut any excess Whisper White card stock so it didn't show around the outside of the frame. Then I took a piece of designer paper from the Twitterpated pack and stamped the dotted heart from i {Heart} Hearts in Island Indigo. This was adhered to a piece of Whisper White and then popped up onto a card base of textured Island Indigo. Then I stamped the other heart in Riding Hood Red onto Whisper white and cut it out. I glued down my frame piece and popped up the heart. I also added a flower that was punched from Blushing Bride card stock with the itty bitty shapes punch pack. I added a rhinestone to the flower and a few under the greeting as well. Very simple and not much of a layout change from the other card. 


The next project is one that I am really proud of! It is my first faux chenille quilted project!! I actually started this project last week (thinking I would use it for the tour) but got stuck on the binding. And that is why you will not be getting close-ups of this!! The binding is really not good but I can't complain too much because it is all held together - lol!!

I am not going to go into details on how I made this because you can find many tutorials on this kind of project. I did use the Twitterpated designer fabric. And I think it is SO cute!! It's not a potholder because it doesn't have any insulation. It is more of a table decoration! Remember the tea light mason jar I made for last month's tour? Well, doesn't it look great set on top of it? You could also set a plant on it or a bigger candle. Anyway, I am thrilled!! 

The Benadryl that I took a few minutes ago seems to be kicking in. I do hope there aren't too many typos and that you can understand everything. I am so glad you stopped by to see my projects! Now I am going to send you on to Gretchen Barron's blog to see the delightful projects that she has come up with! Have a super day!!

Recipe: Stamps- I {Heart} Hearts, Grateful Greetings, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper- Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Blushing Bride, Twitterpated designer paper; Ink- Poppy Parade, Island Indigo, Riding Hood Red; Accessories- Twitterpated designer fabric, rhinestones, designer frames embossing folders, edgelits embossing folder, itty bitty shapes punch pack, Everyday Enchantment ribbon and brad pack, dimensionals

CPS 249

Good morning, Friends! I hope your week got off to a great start! After a day off yesterday it is back to the routine around here. This week we get to add soccer practices to our schedule as the soccer team prepares for a tournament in Phoenix in a few weeks!


Today's card was inspired by a sketch from CPS. This sketch was from a few weeks ago but I loved the simplicity of it and wanted to give it a try. Having Valentine's Day on the brain, here is what I came up with. My card base is Whisper White that I ran through the Big Shot with the edgelits embossing folder. I rounded the bottom corners with the corner rounder and attached a strip of Riding Hood Red. On scrap Whisper White I stamped two hearts from I {Heart} Hearts in Blushing Bride and Riding Hood Red and cut them out. On a piece of Blushing Bride I stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings in Basic Grey and then attached the Blushing Bride heart to that before popping that piece up on the card. Then I popped up the Riding Hood Red heart over the that. I punched a flower from Blushing Bride using the itty bitty shapes punch pack and added a rhinestone. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!


Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings, I {Heart} Hearts; Paper- Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride; Ink- Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey; Accessories- edgelits embossing folder, itty bitty shapes punch pack, rhinestone, corner rounder, dimensionals

CCMC 183

Good morning everyone! I hope your week is going great! It's time once again for a fun challenge at Create with Connie and Mary! This week we are being challenged with color. Take a look at these lovely colors!

The challenge colors are Blushing Bride, Pool Party and Soft Suede. I love this combination!! And this is how I used these beautiful colors!

Time to put some Valentine cards together! This is a very clean and simple layout. I started with a piece of Blushing Bride. I stamped the Solid Stripes single stamp across the bottom in Blushing Bride ink. Then I stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings in Soft Suede. I tied a piece of Pool Party seam binding ribbon around this and glued it to a piece of Pool Party card stock. This whole panel is popped up on a card base of Soft Suede. Then I took a piece of Soft Suede and ran it through the Big Shot with the scalloped heart of hearts embosslit. I punched a piece of Pool Party with the full heart punch. I sponged the edges in Pool Party and glued it to the Soft Suede heart. Then I punched a small heart from Blushing Bride using the itty bitty shapes punch pack. I popped this up on the other hearts and added a pearl. There you have it!


Be sure to check out the other designers work with these colors on the Create with Connie and Mary site! Then create your own project using these colors and upload it to their site so we can all take a look! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!


Card Recipe: Stamps- Solid Stripes single stamp, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Soft Suede, Pool Party, Blushing Bride; Ink- Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Pool Party; Accessories- Pool Party seam binding ribbon, scalloped heart of hearts embosslit, full heart punch, itty bitty shapes punch pack, pearls, sponge, dimensionals

FTL 169

Good morning everyone! Here we are at another week. I just can't believe how fast it is all going! I know my son can't wait for Christmas break to get here, though. Everything just seems to go at record speed this time of year. We need to finish up the shopping and don't even talk to me about Christmas cards! Maybe I will get some sent out. 


Today's card was inspired by the sketch at Clean&Simple. When I first saw the sketch I didn't have any ideas. But after looking through a magazine, I saw ideas using two triangles for a Christmas tree. Well, I decided to give it a try and here is my result! I got my color cues from the Just Add Cake designer paper. And I think it turned out pretty cute! My card base is Poppy Parade and then I used the 3 1/2" circle die to die cut a circle from Blushing Bride card stock and that is glued to the card front. I stamped the words from Grateful for You in Early Espresso onto the circle. Then I cut the two smaller triangles from the Perfect Pennants die using designer paper from the Just Add Cake pack. I trimmed the ends of each triangle with the scallop edge border punch and curled them out a little. I cut a small piece of Early espresso for the trunk and a star using the stars die and So Saffron paper. The tree is popped up on the card and the final touch was some rhinestones. I hope you like it, too! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!


Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful for You; Paper- Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, So Saffron, Just Add Cake designer paper; Ink- Early Espresso; Accessories- rhinestones, 3 1/2" circle die, stars die, Perfect Pennants die, scallop edge border punch, dimensionals

Serene Pool Party

Good Monday morning! We have arrived safely at my parents' house. We got here yesterday afternoon. We left on Saturday and did some shopping in Denver and then drove the rest of the way on Sunday. So looking forward to some relaxation!! I can't believe that it is Thanksgiving!! Also, Saturday was Nick's birthday. We celebrated it on Friday. He got to open his gifts and we went out to dinner. He loved all his gifts and even has a little bit of birthday money to spend. I can't believe how big he is getting! I know I say it all the time, but it sure seems that time speeds up the older you get! I think that I will find some time to stamp while I am here - at least I hope so!

Today's card was inspired by a magazine that I had bought a while back. It had three snowflakes down the side. Anyway, it is very simple! I did cut the center of the snowflake out and popped it up on the center snowflake with a brad. Love the little "extras" in the Confetti White card stock! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Serene Snowflakes, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Confetti White; Ink- Pool Party, Crumb Cake; Accessories- Pool Party ruffled ribbon, silver brad, corner rounder, sponge, dimensionals

Monochromatic Christmas

Good morning everyone! It was pretty tough for me to get up this morning! I hope I can wake up so that I can get everything done that needs to get done. Yesterday we all went to get our flu shots. We have never had one before. This year we just felt like we should get one. So here's hoping we don't get the flu this year!

Today's card was one that I made thinking I might do it for the workshop I had last week. It's not my favorite but I do like the simple monochromatic look. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Delightful Decorations, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke; Ink- Always Artichoke; Accessories- linen thread, pearl, ornament punch, corner rounder, piercer, dimensionals 

Ornamental Greetings

Good morning, Friends! I hope you all are ready for a fantastic weekend! I can't believe how fast time is going but I seem to be saying that more and more (must mean that I am getting old). My son, on the other hand, can't wait for time to fly! His birthday is next Saturday and he is SO looking forward to it! Poor guy doesn't realize that we have not done any birthday shopping - lol! Guess that will be my priority next week! I have a demonstrator meeting later today and I have lots to do to get ready so I guess I better move on to the card...

I had a workshop this past week and we made this card. It is a SUPER simple card but I think it packs a nice punch. I love the monochromatic with a pop of color with the ribbon. Of course I had to add a little rhinestone for some bling! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Delightful Decorations, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Whisper White, Garden Green; Accessories- Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, rhinestones, ornament punch, dimensionals

Snowman Shaker

Good morning everyone! Boy was it a cold one this morning! I was so glad that my husband started a fire for us first thing! It was so nice not having anything to do last night! No practices or anywhere we had to be - so nice! Looks like we will have a few weeks of that before we are back to a busy schedule. And Nick makes sure to remind us that his birthday is coming up! Guess we better get to thinking about that!

Today's card is another shaker card. When you get the sheet of shaker frames, there are many different sizes and I was trying to think of some different ways to use them. This card uses the second largest shaker frame. And it works perfectly for the snowman image from the Tags til Christmas set. It was a little harder to make the circle frame because we don't have a punch that size. So I improvised a little but I do like the end result! I made it pretty much the same way I did this one. Gotta love those little jingle bells! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Tags til Christmas, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Whisper White; Ink- Island Indigo; Accessories- white baker's twine, mini jingle bells, window sheets, mica flakes, shaker frames, dimensionals 

CFC 26

Good morning everyone! And happy November! It's like we start counting down till Christmas. I guess it is time to start some serious Christmas shopping because I don't like to get out and do it after Thanksgiving! Nick had the day off today so we slept in. So nice! But he won't have another day off until Thanksgiving. He didn't go trick-or-treating last night. And I don't think he missed it. He really doesn't eat all that much candy anyway. And it's nice not to have it in the house so that I will be tempted! We watched a great Monday night football game instead. That was fun!!

Today's card was for the LNS challenge last week which was to create projects using leaves and/or trees. I wanted a different color combination so I looked at my Color Coach and this is what I found - Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze and Perfect Plum. Perfect Plum, really? But then I remembered a tree that we had at our last house. It was a Purple Autumn Ash. I loved that tree! The leaves turned the deepest purple in the fall. It was beautiful! So here it is on my card! I like the way it all came together! I also used the sketch at CAS-ual Fridays to get me going. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Confetti Cream, Always Artichoke; Ink- Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Perfect Plum; Accessories- neutrals buttons, linen thread, piercer, dimensionals

A La Card Monkey Challenge Guest Designer

Good morning, Friends! I hope your weekend is off to a fantastic start! It is definitely much colder around here! I think it should be a little warmer today, though. Nick has a soccer game later today and I do hope it warms up for that!!

I am excited to announce that I have been asked to be a guest designer at A La Card Monkey weekly challenge blog! Here is the super fun sketch they have for us!
 

So many fun ideas to use with these shapes! I used an idea that I got from my friend, Becky and combined it with this sketch. Take a look!
 

A cute and fun Halloween card! My card base is Basic Black with another piece of Basic Black that was cut down to which I glued my squares to. Then I punched squares using the 1 1/4" square punch - three of Rich Razzleberry, three of Pear Pizzazz, and three of Peach Parfait. Then I used the 1" circle punch to punch circles - two of Rich Razzleberry, two of Pear Pizzazz and two of Peach Parfait. Then I stamped the three images from the Batty For You set in black StazOn on Whisper White and punched out just the images using the 1" circle punch. The image circles are popped up onto the squares while the rest of the circles are glued flat. The squares are glued flat to the Basic Black piece and then to the card. I took a strip of Whisper White and stamped the greeting from Grateful Greetings and flagged the ends. This is popped upon to the card and then I added two rhinestones at each end. 

I hope you will take a look at the rest of the creative ideas at A La Card Monkey to get more inspiration! Then make your own project and upload it to their site. I look forward to seeing what you will do with this great sketch! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Batty for You, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Whisper White; Ink- black StazOn; Accessories- 1 1/4" square punch, 1" circle punch, rhinestones, dimensionals

Mocha Morning Christmas Tree

Good morning, Friends! It feels like winter has moved in! Actually it is just raining around here but the mountains are getting snow! It would be really easy to stay in bed and snuggle under the covers! Thankfully we can do that tomorrow! Nick has his first dance tonight! I was a little surprised that he wanted to go but I am glad, too. It will be fun to see how it goes for him.

Today's card is another that we did in Becky's card class this month. She said she got the idea from the PaperCrafts magazine. Well, this is my kind of card! I fell in love with this one! Instead of the traditional green tree, I used some of the beautiful Morning Mocha designer paper. I chose one of the pieces that has the gold/copper sheen to it. So rich and regal looking!! Could this be my Christmas card this year? Might be!! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings; Paper- Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Morning Mocha designer paper; Ink- Early Espresso; Accessories- small heart punch, Perfect Pennants die, piercer, basic pearls, dimensionals

SFF 102111

Good Friday morning everyone! So glad it's finally Friday!! Nick doesn't have school today so I will be sleeping in!! Ahhh!! Time for another great sketch challenge at Sketch Frenzy Friday! This week's sketch is brought to us by Tammy Baldwin. Take a look!
 

And here is what I came up with!
 

Because the sketch had stars on it, I wanted to use stars so badly! But I just couldn't make it work. So I moved on to something else. Don't know if I am completely happy with this but it's not horrible. I used the Delightful Decorations and the Grateful Greetings stamp sets. I stamped the ornament in More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive on Very Vanilla card stock. I punched out the ornaments with the coordinating punch. Each ornament has a gold brad and the Cherry Cobbler ornament as Very Vanilla taffeta wrapped around it. The card base is Old Olive with a strip of Cherry Cobbler. Then I cut a square piece of More Mustard and stamped the sparkle stamp in More Mustard and then sponged the edges. Then I took the piece and sent it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. This piece gets glued to the card. On the card base in the lower right hand corner I stamped the greeting in Old Olive. The More Mustard and the Old Olive ornaments are glued flat and the Cherry Cobbler ornament is popped up. 

Please be sure to continue through this blog tour by clicking 'here' to go to Jennifer's blog to see how she used this sketch. I do hope you will play along with us this week. Be sure to upload your project to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog so we can all take a look! We always love to see what you do! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Delightful Decorations, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Very Vanilla; Ink- More Mustard, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories- Very Vanilla narrow taffeta ribbon, gold brads, ornament punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, sponge, dimensionals

Autumn Splendor Club

Good morning everyone! I hope your week is going wonderfully! It seems to be going really fast at the moment! In fact, the first quarter of the school year will be over next week! Yikes! Where did that all go? Nick has a couple of big projects that will need to be finished up by then. Makes me go into panic mode but he seems to have it under control. Well, we will see! Might mean he doesn't get much time with friends this weekend...

Today's card is another one that we did for my workshop on Monday. I used Mary Jo's sketch to help me with this one. I wanted to do a fall/Thanksgiving card and this is the result! The gals seemed to like it! Pretty easy card! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings; Paper- More Mustard, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Confetti Cream; Ink- Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso; Accessories- antique brads, dimensionals 

Autumn Days Panels

Good morning everyone! I hope your weekend is getting off to a great start! Mine is as I slept in late this morning!! Must have been more tired than I thought. Seems like Nick is feeling better this morning. And I am glad for that! Still is coughing but at least he is not sneezing. 

Today's card was inspired by one that I did in card class last month. Of course, I did change it up. It really is pretty easy! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!


Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Days, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Confetti Cream, Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze; Ink- Cajun Craze, more Mustard, Old Olive, Early Espresso; Accessories- Early Espresso quilted satin ribbon, itty bitty shapes punch pack, mini brads, sponges