Fond Farewell to PPC...

Welcome back everyone!  This last Monday of February is a bittersweet one for me as it is my last week as a member of the DT over at Picture Perfect Creations...*sniff*  I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to Megan and the rest of the gals over at PPC - you are all AMAZING and I am very honored to have been a part of the team for the past eleven months.  Here's this week's color combo:

I found this great sketch over at the My Favorite Things forum over at Splitcoast and decided to use it and dig out my new Die-namics set I bought a few weeks ago:

Stamps: Textile Rectangles with coordinating die (MFT)  Ink: Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Peach Parfait  Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, SU! DSP  Accessories: Apron die (TCP), Pretty in Pink satin ribbon, twine, button, paper piercer

I hope you will come and join the fun over at PPC - I hear there might be prizes up for grabs to celebrate our 50th combo.  Enjoy your Monday!

Happy Anniversary at PPC!!

I'm so excited today!!  Wanna know why?  Of course you do.  :)  Today marks the one-year anniversary of challenges over at Picture Perfect Creations!!  I cannot believe it has been a year already...where does the time go?  I have had so much fun designing for Megan and working with the rest of the DT - they are an absolutely fabulous group of gals.  Do you think you have what it takes to be a PPC Creator?  Megan is on the lookout for some new DT members so let's see what you've got!

Let's get down to this week's special challenge - it's our regular color challenge with a 'twist' ~ we want you to make an anniversary card to help us celebrate!  Here's the combo to inspire your creations:

For my card, I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch - rotated 90*:

Stamps: Happily Ever After (Darcie's)  Ink: Basic Grey  Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green, Basic Grey, SU! DSP, DeLovely DSP (Cosmo Cricket)  Accessories: Paper piercer, White satin ribbon, sponge dauber, Lacy Circles Nesties, Circle Nesties, adhesive pearls

I hope you will play along to help us celebrate this week - I've heard there might even be prizes up for grabs...  :)  Have fun!  See you later!

PPC Specialty Challenge - Valentine's Day!

Hey everyone!  Happy Valentine's Day to you all - I hope you will all be able to enjoy some time with the ones you love.  :)  We've got a Specialty Challenge for you this week over at Picture Perfect Creations and it's...wait for it....wait for it... a VALENTINE'S themed challenge!  Go crazy showing us your V-Day-inspired creations!

For my card, I used the TCP Tuesday Sketch from a couple of weeks ago - don't you love it?

I *had* to use one of my new TCP stamps for this one - this little penguin dude is just the cutest - and I got to try out the whole "image outside of the nesties" thing.  Took a bit of figuring but I think it turned out OK:

Stamps: Got Love (TCP)  Paper: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo, DeLovely DSP (Cosmo Cricket)  Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Versafine Onyx Black, Melon Mambo  Accessories: Copics, paper piercer, Nesties, sponge dauber, clear embossing powder, dimensionals, sewing machine, Kassie's Brocade embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by - I've got a busy day planned after I get home from work this afternoon and, yes, it does include crafting.  ;)  I hope you will take a few minutes to play along with us at Picture Perfect Creations - we love it when you do!  See you later - enjoy your day.  :)

PPC #48 - Clean & Simple

Morning all!  I have been a busy beaver this weekend trying to get ahead of the game with my DT cards - the boys and I are taking another road trip to visit my parents for a nice, LONG weekend.  This week's Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo is one that was pretty easy for me:

The sketch I used is one from last week's clean&simple stamping:

Seriously, this card took less than half an hour - that's LIGHT SPEED for me!  :)

Stamps: Because I Care (SU!)  Paper: Cappella (BG), Origins (BG), SU DSP, Kraft, Concord Crush  Ink: Concord Crush, Crumb Cake  Accessories: Crumb Cake seam binding, vintage button, twine 

Wow... I think that's the shortest list of ingredients I've ever had!  LOL  And no paper piercing this time!  ;)  I hope you'll play along with us at PPC this week.  If you have time, please check out the rest of the PPC Creators' blogs - they love it when you do!  See you on Wednesday!

PPC # 47 & Another Viva la Verve Card

Hi everyone!  Welcome back for another Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo and, let me tell you, I {heart} these colors together:

I have been on somewhat of a Verve kick lately and this card is no exception.  I have used this month's Week One Viva la Verve sketch - it should look familiar since I used it on Saturday for my Colour Q card.  I totally dig the panels and the "balanced-ness" of it (is that even a word????) 

Stamps: Thankful Accents (Verve)  Paper: Old Olive, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, SU! DSP  Ink: Blushing Bride, Old Olive & Rich Razzleberry markers  Accessories: Nesties, paper piercer, corner punch, olive ribbon, dimensionals, adhesive pearls

Thanks for stopping by today - if you have time this week, please come and play with us at PPC.  These colors are perfect for those Valentines you have to make... See you soon!

PPC Monday

Welcome back, ladies (and gents?)  I spent a lovely weekend doing NOTHING...yes, you heard me right...nada.  Well, I suppose that's not *entirely* the truth - I did bake cinnamon buns, prepare lasagna for the freezer, and bake a couple of yummy, *healthy* loaves (Loaf Potion #9 from my Eat, Shrink and Be Merry cookbook) but I didn't craft one iota.  I *will* be crafting a bit later on, though.  :)

Today's Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo is a fun one - LOVE me some Cherry Cobbler:

And here's another one of the Vivia la Verve sketches - with a tilted panel...ACK!

Stamps: Be Mine Plain Jane (Verve)  Ink: Cherry Cobbler  Paper: Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Oliver DSP (Basic Grey)  Accessories: Flower Vines EF (Sizzix), twine, Bashful Blue Satin ribbon, buttons, fabric (SU!), Nesties, spiral punch

I'm running a bit behind this morning so I don't have time to post details but I will try to come back and edit after work.  Enjoy your day - I hope you will play along with us at PPC!

*ETA*  As I was typing this this morning, I was watching my husband try to get his truck unstuck from the snowdrift in our driveway that tried to eat him up... :)  Once he finally got himself out, he phoned me and told me not to even try to go anywhere today - so that means I get to stay home with my DS#2 and bake cookies!  Woohoo!  I'm sure I'll get to craft a bit too...

A Specialty Challenge at Picture Perfect Creations

Hello everyone!  Welcome back for a fun challenge at Picture Perfect Creations.  As many of you know, we usually have a color challenge for you all but this week, being the third Monday of the month, we've got a specialty challenge and it's one that ANYONE can participate in.  :)  We want to see your embossing - and you can decide if you want to use heat or dry or both!

I love this week's color combo over at The Play Date Cafe - so calming...  I decided to use Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, a bit of Kraft and Basic Grey:

The sketch is from Friday Sketchers:

Stamps: Accent Notes (Verve)  Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, SU! DSP  Ink: Soft Suede, Baja Breeze  Accessories: Perfect Polkas Dots embossing folder, Plum Blossom #1 embossing folder, twine, hat pin and beads & flowers (Pretties kit), paper piercer, Kraft tag die cut, Basic Grey satin ribbon, circle punch

I found this awesome rolled flower tutorial awhile ago and LOVE how the flowers turn out but I don't use hot glue for mine.  I use a little square of double sided sticky paper (Sookwang/Be Creative) and stick it to a piece of cardstock and then use my circle punch to punch out the base of the flower.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you will have time to play along with us this week at Picture Perfect Creations.  Be sure to stop and see how the other PPC Creators integrated the embossing challenge into their cards.  See you again soon!

PPC #45

Happy Monday, everyone!  Wow - have we ever got a LOT of snow this weekend...I stayed home all warm and toasty but my DH wasn't so lucky.  He *had* to go out but getting *out* wasn't the problem... it was trying to get back IN after MORE snow and wind made some pretty horrendous drifts on our LONG country driveway.  He ended up getting stuck on his way back in - no WAY would I even be attempting to go anywhere!  LOL  It gave me the perfect excuse to stay inside and CRAFT!

This week Megan has given us an interesting combination over at the Picture Perfect Creations Color Challenge - what do you think?

I started out following Tracy's sketch over at Eat, Sleep, Stamp *to-the-letter* but as it evolved, it didn't end up *exactly* like the sketch - my white panel is not centered, my image isn't centered and I rotated it 180 degrees:

The girlies over at Stampin' Royalty are celebrating their first birthday this week (has it really been a year already?) so they have asked us to make a birthday card so that's exactly what I did:

Stamps: Upsy Daisy (SU!)  Ink: Perfect Plum, Bravo Burgundy  Paper: Perfect Plum, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi  Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Square Lattice embossing folder, River Rock grosgrain ribbon, twine, scallop oval punch, oval punch

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope the weather is better than ours wherever you are.  If you're snowed in, look on the bright side...it's PERFECT for crafting.  :)  We'd love to have you join us over at PPC. 

Enjoy your week!

PPC #44 Meets Sweet Sunday!

Happy New Year, everyone!  Can you believe it is 2011 already?  It seems like just yesterday when all we heard about was "Y2K"... *sigh*  I must be getting old...  :)

This week's combo from Megan over at Picture Perfect Creations is a fun one that screamed BOY to me:

I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch as well as the Crafty Hos' Challenge to make a baby card and voila:

Stamps: Nursery Necessities (SU!)  Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, VersaMark  Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, SU! DSP  Accessories: Clear embossing powder, heat gun, Waves die (TCP), Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, MS border punch, Turquoise grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities (Large Circles and Scallop Circles)

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you all have a great first week of 2011!  If you have time, stop by the rest of the PPC Creators and see what they created.  See y'all on Wednesday!

Spread Your Wings and Fly ...

Hi everyone!  Here we are 2 days post-Christmas... have you all recovered?  I hope you all ate too much and laughed until your stomach hurt - that's the best part of Christmas.  :)

Megan has given us a great combo for this week's Picture Perfect Creations Color Challenge - I hope you will be able to play with us:

I made this card last week in my crafting frenzy and needed a CAS layout (something I'm enjoying more and more...) so I popped over to clean&simple stamping to see what they had for us and found:

Stamps: Beautiful Kindness (Verve)  Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Rose Red, Greenhouse Gala DSP  Ink: Night of Navy  Accessories: Paper piercer, Scallop Edge border punch, Beautiful Wings embosslit, adhesive pearls

I hope you will take a few minutes to play along with us this week - don't forget to check out the rest of the PPC Creators' blogs to see their amazing cards.  See you back here on Wednesday for a brand new Color Dare!

PPC Specialty Challenge - "Christmas"

Welcome to the last Monday before Christmas everyone!!!  Are you all ready to go?  I *think* I'm pretty close - I just have to wrap and buy a couple more gifts and I'm done.  :)  Whew...  what a busy holiday season it has been and it's not quite over yet!

This week's challenge at Picture Perfect Creations is *not* our usual color challenge - instead Megan has given us the theme of "Anything Christmas Related."  Easy peasy, right?

I found this week's challenge over at the Play Date Cafe and the first thought that popped into my head was definitely NOT a Christmas card - not with that yellow in there but I thought I'd give it a try anyways:

I started out with the Diva Coffee Break Design Challenge sketch as my inspiration but my card ended up evolving into something {a bit different} from the sketch:

Stamps: Warm Words (SU!)  Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight  Ink: Basic Black, Versamark Dazzle Frost  Accessories: Daffodil Delight sating ribbon, Oval scallop punch, oval punch, eyelet, Cropodile, silver cord, Baubles embossing folder (Crafts Too), adhesive pearls, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Iridescent Ice embossing powder

I started out with some Daffodil DSP as the main back panel but decided that it was *too much* yellow - it's just supposed to be a {splash}, right?  So I cut a new piece of white and tried to decide what to do with it because it was too boring for me!  HA!  I initially thoguht about embossing it but that would have been too much embossing.  Hmmmm...what to do?  I finally decided to ink the entire surface with Versamark and heat emboss Iridescent Ice onto it... I LOVE how it turned out!  Here's a close-up of the sparkly-ness:

If you have a few spare minutes this week, we'd love it if you'd play along with us at Picture Perfect Creations and if you need some more inspiration make sure to stop and see what the other PPC Creators did with these colors!  See you on Wednesday with a Color Dare combination that would be the PERFECT complement to this PPC Christmas challenge ~~~ I'm just saying... :)  Later, gators!