Did You Miss Me???

I have to say I DID miss all of you!  I have been so busy over the last few weeks I truly have not had time to sit and do anything.  I'm not sure that will change much over the next week but I'm going to try my hardest to get back to my daily "me" time.  

After spending 2 wonderful afternoons making cards at a Stamp-a-Stack and then today at our monthly group get-together, I realized how ticked off some of you become when I don't post for weeks on end!  :)  Please accept my apologies and feel free to give me a kick in the butt if it happens again.  I promised my peeps I would do something tonight and here it is:

I made this card for Week 4 of the Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge over at Splitcoast.  Each Friday a new sketch is posted and if you complete all of the sketches over the course of the month, you are entered in a draw to win all of Verve's NEW RELEASES.  I *think* I read that there are going to be 9 new sets released in a couple of weeks - I am so excited to see what Julee's come up with this time.

So, in addition to this being a sketch challenge, a {twist} is thrown in to confuse and confuddle us.  This week's {twist} was to use acetate somewhere on the card.  For those of you wondering what the heck acetate is - - - remember transparencies from school?  Well, that's what acetate is.  I've got an entire box of it in my drawer that I just don't use because, well, I don't really *have* an excuse. . . I just don't use it.  

So, I started by stamping my little pumpkin guy from Verve's "Hello Pumpkin" set with Onyx Black Versafine ink and then clear embossing it.  I colored him with my Copics and paper pieced the hat.  I used my Georgia Peach DP again because I love it and it was conveniently still sitting on my counter!  I layered him on Regal Rose and popped him up on the next layer.  I used Old Olive twill ribbon to wrap around the second layer which I also used my "butt cheek" corner punch on.  I used my Swiss Dots CB folder for the Regal Rose base.  The closer I got to finishing the card the more panicked I became trying to figure out where I was going to use that acetate.  When I started putting the card together, the corners were looking a bit empty so I thought this would be my chance to sneak in that acetate.  I got out my Doodle This set and my black Staz-On ink and stamped the corner doodle image on to the acetate.  Then I used my Photo Corner punch to punch out parts of the design.  I layered the small acetate corner onto a larger Old Olive photo corner and voila - there's my acetate!  I finished the card off by paper piercing around the bottom DP layer and the sentiment.

So - that's it for tonight.  I actually did make a little acetate box to go along with the card but didn't take pictures of it - maybe tomorrow!  I will try to get back into my usual routine but I'm not making any promises - this week is pretty crazy with basketball and Reach stuff.  

Hope you all have a great week!

Mojoliciousness Monday!

Welcome to another fun-filled week!  I am really looking forward to this week - Lori and I are planning a little road trip tomorrow morning to visit an old friend, my kids are going skiing with their grandparents from Wednesday night to Sunday, I have a 2-day conference to go to on Thursday and Friday and I'm sure I'll throw some quality time with my hubby in there somewhere.  OH - I will also have LOTS of time for UNINTERRUPTED crafting!!  WOOHOO!

So, Julee's Mojo Monday sketch this week is another example of her amazingness:

Isn't that a great sketch?  How does she do it week after week?  I know I couldn't!  When I saw this sketch, I immediately went to my Plain Janes but decided to use my Jeremiah 29:11 verse instead.  I stamped it in Regal Rose on Whisper White and cut it out with my Nesties.  I used my Georgia Peach DP again - only because it was still sitting out on my counter and I was too lazy to clean it all up!  I made the main background white but I divided it in half and Cuttlebugged each half with a different embossing folder: Swiss Dots and the-swirly-one-I-can-never-remember-the-real-name-of!  For the horizontal piece I used So Saffron CS and my Martha Stewart border punch for the base to the Georgia Peach DP and Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon.  Instead of the flower on the sketch I tied a bow and instead of the scalloped image I used flowers.  I really like how this one turned out:

I added some pearls to the corners after I ticket corner punched them and the rhinestone brad in the center of the flowers gives it a bit of sparkle.  What do you think?  I totally love how these colors work together - maybe I should have bought more of this paper!!!  

That's it for me tonight - happy crafting everyone!

Two-'fer

Hi again!  Thanks for checking back on a blustery night here in Central Alberta - crazy winds all night last night and throughout today.  I've been battling a headache ever since I woke up this morning so even though I wanted to craft, I didn't want to think.  Luckily, there are some LOVELY ladies that do some of the thinking for me by posting weekly sketch challenges!  I've been wanting to use the Georgia Peach DP (retired, sadly) since I got it a couple of weeks ago but just haven't had the opportunity.  Tonight I grabbed the chance to use this bright, fun paper for two cards.

Jen had an interesting sketch for us and Our Creative Corner's weekly challenge was to use 2 or more hearts on a card:

Remember last week when I said I didn't have many stamps that were circle-oriented??  Well, that certainly made this sketch a wee bit more difficult but I persevered.  I dug through my acrylic stamps and found the "Be Loved" set by Cloud Nine Designs.  I stamped 3 images with my Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed them and colored them with my Copics.  While I was coloring one of the images, I had a bit of an "oops" so I dug through my embellishments and found this glass heart charm to cover it up - WHEW!  Not exactly the look I was going for but it works.  I used my Nesties and layered them on some Regal Rose circles.  The fourth image is from the "Love Matters" set from Stampin' Up.  I stamped the flowers with Pretty in Pink and then stamped the sentiment with Old Olive.  Some ribbon, fibres, brads and Cuttlebugging complete this card:

The second sketch is for the Viva La Verve Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers.  The {twist} for this challenge was to also use embossing somewhere on the card.  I have to admit, my embossing was kind of an afterthought - I clear embossed the main image and the sentiment.  The sentiment is from SU!'s "Small Sayings" set.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have used my Bella because she's a bit too big for this sketch but she's SOOO cute!  LOL  I used the same Georgia Peach DP and coordinating color cardstock, Copics etc.   I used my oval Nesties to cut the image and Old Olive layer and then used dimensionals to pop her up.  I used 3 black brads at the top and 3 little buttons at the bottom to finish this one off:

What do you think?  I just smile when I look at this paper - it's so "happy!"  I have a feeling I will be using this paper a lot in the future since I have put myself on a No New Paper Diet - I have entirely too many sheets of DP so I need to use them up (or at least put a dent in them. . .) before I buy anymore. . . Sad, isn't it???

Thanks for stopping by - see you tomorrow!

Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #53

I'm not sure how these ladies keep coming up with sketch after sketch week after week, but I'm sure glad they do!  Taylor gave us another fun one to work on:

I was over at Lori's yesterday to do some visiting and creating and we both decided to take a stab at Taylor's sketch.  I decided to "copy" Lori by stamping an image in a very light color first then stamping the sentiment over top in a darker color.  

Stamps: Beautiful You (Verve)  Ink: Blush Blossom, Riding Hood Red  Paper: Kraft, Blush Blossom, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White  Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, paper poker, Nesties, Swiss Dots & Texture EF, adhesive pearls, brads

I hope to be able to get a couple more cards done this afternoon after my cinnamon buns and bread are finished baking - enjoy your Saturday!

Color Throwdown - Thursday Sketch Trio

Happy Thursday everyone!

What a great week it has been. We only had school 3 days due to "Professional Development" days for the teachers so I'm spending today and tomorrow getting crafty!

I haven't been over to the Color Throwdown challenge lately so I was curious to see what this week's color combination was:

My initial reaction was, "Ummmmm . . .what?"  I would NOT have ever in a bazillion years thought to put Brocade Blue with red and black but I was up for the challenge.  

The first card I did is for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch:

Julee seems to come up with one amazing sketch after another, week after week. . . I think her sketches are my favorites to do.  I started out by picking my stamp image for this card.  I am VERY short on birthday cards so I chose SU!'s "Crazy For Cupcakes" set and stamped the tray of cupcakes on Whisper White.  I colored the image with my Copics and cut it out with my Labels One Nesties.  I layered it on the Brocade Blue also cut out with my Nesties, paper pierced the left side and added some pearls.  The right-hand side of the background is some Basic Black I ran through my CB in the Swiss Dots folder and the left side is some printed vellum I found in my stash.  Some gingham ribbon, a sentiment from the "Best Yet" set and I was done:

Card number two was inspired by Our Creative Corner's weekly sketch:

I admit I was puzzled for quite some time with this one.  I don't have many stamps that are circle-oriented so I had to dig through ALL of my sets.  I found the heart image in the "Doodle That" set from SU! and the sentiment is from the "Best Yet" set - again.  The ribbon is from a box of ribbons I got at Costco a LONG time ago - at the time I thought they'd get SO much use but, unfortunately, this is the first time I've ever used this particular roll!  I Cuttlebugged the Brocade Blue background, added a filigree brad to the heart image, used my Nesties to cut the circle shapes and voila:

Today's final card for this week's Splitcoast Stampers' Sketch #213:

This one came together pretty quickly.  I stamped the "Upsy Daisy" image with my Onyx Black Versafine ink and then clear embossed it.  I sponged some Bashful Blue over top and then cut it out with my Nesties.  I layered it on Real Red and Whisper White and went to work on the background.  I used some more of the printed vellum on a Basic Black layer, ticket corner punched the corners and added some pearls.  The vertical panel is a piece of black I edged both side of with my Martha Stewart border punch and added a strip of blue down the middle.  The horizontal panel is some more of the gingham ribbon on top of Basic Black.  A couple of bows were added just because I thought they needed to be there!  LOL  Some flowers in the bottom right complete the card:

So - that's it!  I'm hoping to spend tomorrow with my peep, Lori.  We haven't crafted together for awhile and Josh had been asking for WEEKS to go over to their house so tomorrow just might be the day!  

Gotta run and get supper started - enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

Cupcake Challenge x 9 = Mucho Fun!

What a fun weekend I had!  Taylor is celebrating a year of Cupcake Challenges and she and her Cupcake Crew came up with not ONE, but NINE amazing sketches for us all to play along with.  Let me tell you - I was so "in the groove" I was up until the wee hours on Saturday night/Sunday morning.  For those of you who KNOW me, that is UNHEARD of!  LOL  Not only are there some great sketches but each sketch hostess-with-the-mostest is also offering up some great prizes.

Since I have so many cards to get through, I won't put a lot of details about each one but I will post the recipe.  I have been trying so hard to use up my scraps and papers I've already cut into so all of these cards were made from this part of my stash.  Hopefully, if you click on each picture, it will open a bit bigger so you can *see* it.  I did use my Copics for the first times on these cards - I think I did OK with them but I still have a LOT to learn (and many more colors to get!)  SO, without further ado. . .

Taylor's Sketch

Stamps: Billybootabella (Stamping Bella), sentiment from "Rain or Shine" (MFT)  Ink: Onyx Black Versafine  Paper: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana, Whisper White, Ginger Blossom DP  Accessories: MS border punch, Nesties, Copics, GG stitched ribbon, flowers, brad, oval punch, designer label punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, clear embossing powder

Jackie's Sketch

Stamps: Sweetybellas (Stamping Bella), unknown sentiment  Ink: Onyx Black Versafine  Paper: Rose Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, DP  Accessories: Nesties, Copics, clear embossing powder, adhesive pearls, Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon, Swiss Dots EF, black brads

Jami's Sketch

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Warm Words  Ink: Not Quite Navy, Versamark  Paper: Urban Garden DP, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, WW  Accessories: Top Note Die, Nesties, clear embossing powder, Hodgepodge Hardware, Swiss Dots EF, Kiwi Kiss ribbon

Ana's Sketch

Stamps: Eastern Blooms  Ink: Ruby Red, River Rock, Versamark  Paper: Ginger Blossom DP, River Rock, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, WW  Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Nesties, silver brads, clear ambossing powder, pewter jumbo eyelets, River Rock stitched ribbon, bird/grasses embossing folder, flowers

Vicki's Sketch

Stamps: Snowman Bird (Hampton Arts), sentiment from MFT's "Baby It's Cold Outside"  Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Real Red  Paper: Ski Slope DP, Real Red, Old Olive  Accessories: Nesties, Copics, pewter jumbo eyelets, ribbon, tab punch, brads, Martha Stewart border punch, paper piercer

Donna's Sketch

Stamps: Meditations (Verve), Faux Stitching  Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip  Paper: Bella Rose DP, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss  Accessories: Flowers, rhinestone brad, ribbon, 1-1/4" square punch

Sherrie's Sketch

Stamps: Lovey Huggabugg & sentiment (Stamping Bella)  Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Bravo Burgundy  Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Whisper White  Accessories: Nesties, Copics, grosgrain ribbon, adhesive pearls, Martha Stewart border punch, Swiss Dots EF

Stephanie's Sketch

Stamps: Unknown cupcake stamp  Ink: Onyx Black Versafine  Paper:  Regal Rose, Taken With Teal, Chocolate Chip, SU! DP (retired)  Accessories: Birthday embossing folder, Nesties, Copics, ribbon, chocolate brads, pink heart brad, clear embossing powder

Monika's Sketch

Stamps: Happy Heart Day  Ink: Onyx Black Versafine  Paper: Hawaii Papaya DP, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip  Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Tangerine Tango Ribbon, flower, brad

Well, that's all of them! I hope you will all go over and take a look at each of the sample cards the Cupcake Crew has put together. I had so much fun and any it was a good excuse to craft in exchange for a chance to win goodies!

Have a great week!

I Tried - *Really* I Did. . .

. . . to not use any pearls on this card.  You have to believe me {insert pleading look here}.  In fact, I had the entire card put together and was even taking pictures of it before I just couldn't stand it any longer!  That space down below the scallops was just too perfect for some tiny Pomegranate pearls.

Let me back up a bit - it's Viva La Verve Sketch Friday over at Splitcoast and this week's sketch was pretty straight-forward and the "twist" this week's was to use flowers:

I was out and about this morning and stopped to check out the scrapbooking section at our local drug store.  I picked up a pad of DP from K&Company that was the jumping off point for my card:
Recipe: Stamps: Meditations (Verve), Inspired by Nature (SU!)  Paper: So Saffron, Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, "Urban Rhapsody" (K&Company)  Ink: Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate, Barely Banana  Accessories: Nestabilities, paper flowers, rhinestone brads, paper piercer, Martha Stewart border punch, Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, adhesive pearls, sponge dauber

I've been having trouble taking a good picture - it's either too dark or too bright. . . this one's too dark.  But my readers are so very clever, they can *imagine* what it really looks like!  

Taylor is celebrating a year of Cupcake Challenges with 9 sketches this week so if I'm going to finish all of them, I'd better get busy!  Later!