Wonderful Wednesday - Color Dare #84 and TESC #133

Here we are again - it's Wednesday and you know what that means, right?  Riley's new Color Dare color combination.  This week's combo was fun to work with: Soft Suede, Night of Navy and Pear Pizzazz.  I originally thought I'd make a nice sympathy card but when I discovered this stamp in my stash of new goodies, I knew I had to use it.  Once I had the image, I went in search of a sketch.  I found one that fit the bill over at Taylor's Sketch Challenge:

Recipe - Stamps: Ornament Trevor (CC Designs), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)  Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, SU! DSP  Ink: Night of Navy  Accessories: Paper piercer, Optic Dot border punch, Copics, buttons, Pear Pizzazz poly-twill ribbon, Swiss Dots embossing folder 

Make sure to stop and see what the rest of the design team created with these fabulous colors - I'm sure they will awe and inspire you.  Thanks for stopping by today - see you tomorrow for a brand new 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge.

A Totally Stampalicious Monday!

Hello again!

It's been a LONG time since you've seen a Totally Stampalicious card from me on a Monday - MUCH too long and I apologize for that.  Joycelyn and Becky have released some pretty amazing Bugaboo Christmas sets so I thought I'd give you a peek of one of my faves: Christmas JJ.  This week's Totally Stampalicious challenge is to use a red bow somewhere on your card.

I have been admiring this week's Color Throwdown combination ever since Wednesday and it works perfectly for a Christmas card:

And Taylor's Sketch has a lovely, big bow so it was a match made in card-heaven:

Recipe - Stamps: Christmas JJ (Totally Stampalicious)  Paper: Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, SU! DSP  Ink: Riding Hood Red  Accessories: Riding Hood Red striped ribbon, Nesties, paper piercer, Copics, border punch (MS), button, twine, Modern Label punch, adhesive pearls, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by - check back in a few hours for a new Picture Perfect Creations Color Combination!  See you then!

An Inspiration Challenge at the 4 Crafty Chicks

Welcome back, everyone!  I have an inspiration challenge for you this week at the 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge.  Take a peek at this fabulous photo from Better Homes and Gardens:

Now, you can use whatever you want from the picture as your inspiration...it could be the colors, the shapes, the theme, the textures ...whatever!  Pretty much anything goes (within reason, of course!  LOL)

When I first saw this picture, I was immediately struck by the light fixture and the hanging "mobile"  and the very modern feel of this dining area.  Of course, as my card evolved, it ended up being NOTHING like I envisioned it would!  LOL  I thought the colors reminded me of So Saffron (for the rectangle on the wall), Pumpkin Pie (for the place mats on the table) and then Kraft and Espresso (for the wood).  The table looks like it could be set for a celebration of some kind so I went with a birthday card.  I found one of my Pure Innocence girlies and discovered that Taylor's Sketch would be perfect for it:

 

Recipe - Stamps: Birthday Princess (MFT)  Ink: So Saffron, Early Espresso  Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Kraft, SU! DSP  Accessories: Adhesive pearls, Scallop Edge border punch, Kassie's Brocade embossing folder, paper piercer, Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon, staples, Nesties, Copics

Over at Crazy 4 Challenges, it is Silke's birthday this month so she's asking us to make a birthday card - how perfect!  :)

So let's see what you can create using this picture for inspiration - I know we will ALL take different things from it and that's the beauty of an inspiration challenge...  :)  Make sure you go back to the 4 Crafty Chicks blog when you are done to link us up so we can come and see how clever you are.  Have fun!

A Fond Farewell...

Hello everyone! This week in The Shabby Tea Room marks the end of my six-month term as a Shabby Girl...*sniff*  I have had so much fun creating alongside these wonderful, creative ladies.  Debbie has been so incredibly gracious and supportive during the past six months and for that I want to say a heartfelt "Thank you."  I still feel very honored that she chose me to be part of her "baby"...

With all that out of the way, let's get to this week's Shabby Tea Room challenge - Audrey has given us this lovely photo as an inspiration to create a project featuring nature and/or the color green:

This week's sponsor in the Tea Room is Tiffany Doodles - they have a fabulous selection of digital images and this week's winner will receive six images, four images will go to the 2nd runner up and the 3rd runner up will get to choose 2 images!  How generous is that?

This week's colors over at the Picture Perfect Creations Color Challenge work perfectly together with TSTR challenge:

I used Taylor's newest sketch:

Recipe: Stamps - Poppy With Oval (Tiffany Doodles Digi), From The Garden (Flourishes)  Ink: Early Espresso Paper: Early Espresso, Bashful Blue, SU! DSP, Whisper White  Accessories: Elegant Lines embossing folder, Nestabilities, Copics, oval punch, Bashful Blue satin ribbon, hemp twine, sponge dauber  

Thanks for stopping by - make sure you stop by and check out the rest of the PPC Creators and the Shabby Girls' creations - their links are to the left. 

Enjoy your Monday - come back soon!

Curtain Call - Act 43 and the Dreaded Pacific Point...

Hello and Happy Sunday!

Here's a fabulous, bright, cheery color combo for you courtesy of Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge.  I love these colors - except for the Pacific Point.  *sigh*  I am really trying to {embrace} this color... I even bought the new Blueberry Crisp DSP from the new SU! catalog to help me with the process. 

I was trying to get a couple of cards done at the same time and needed a quick, simple sketch for this card and found a good one over at Taylor's Sketch Challenge.  I altered it a little and made a regular sized card instead of a long, skinny one like the sketch:

Recipe - Stamp: Cherry Blossoms (Flourishes)  Paper: Pacific Point, Whisper White, SU! DSP, unknown DSP  Ink: Pacific Point  Accessories: TCP CutUps Die (Flower Buttons), buttons, paper piercer, hemp twine, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, die cut tag, EK Success border punch

The rest of the Curtain Call Crew has samples to show you today, too, so make sure you stop by to see:

Amy White at Devlinwhite Designs
Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity
Julie Smith at Paper and Such
Lea Lawson at Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine
Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections
Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden
Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection 

and our fabulous Guest Designer for August...Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine.

...then play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge: Act 43 creation using Mr. Linky back over at Stacey's Stamping Stage.

I can't wait to see what y'all do with these colors - especially the Pacific Point.  *wink*  Have fun!

Two Throwdowns + Taylor's Sketch Challenge = ... joy in the little things

Hey there, crafty peeps!

Here's a quick post for you all - it is almost time for me to turn into a pumpkin and I wanted to get this posted before I head to bed.  I was out all day at work and then to town with my PIC, Lori, to get our nails done so when I got home I wanted to browse the blogs and check my email.  That was {all} I was going to do...until I saw the sneaky peeky on the Color Throwdown Facebook page:

Then I clicked over to a new-to-me challenge blog, Tuesday Throwdown, and discovered that their challenge for this week is Spotlighting.  I LOVE this technique but just don't use it very often so I was thrilled to take a crack at it again.  I remembered seeing Taylor's sketch this week and knew it was perfect for spotlighting:

I dug out my Cherry Blossoms set from Flourishes and a sentiment from Verve...

What do you think?  Isn't this sketch perfect for spotlighting?  I had a hard time with the Artichoke and Soft Suede together since it is kind of hard to tell the two apart from a distance but I think I made it all work. 

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you are enjoying your week!

Stars & Stripes at The Shabby Tea Room

Is it that time again?  I don't know about you but the weeks seem to go by quicker and quicker the older I get...

This week's challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room is brought to us all by Nicole - "Stars and Stripes" -  and the inspiration for your card/project is Old Glory:

Being as I'm Canadian, I didn't really feel *right* making an American-themed project but I *did* use stripes and the colors (and it is one of my favorite combinations...) I have absolutely nothing against our neighbours to the south - in fact my mom was born in Wisconsin and is still an American citizen - and I have MANY stampy friends to the south that I {heart}.

I used Taylor's sketch:

And snip, snap...

Recipe - Stamps: Heart Stripes (MFT, Pure Innocence)  Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Real Red, SU! DP  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Night of Navy, Real Red  Accessories: Square punches, Nestabilities, paper piercer, Copics, dimensionals, heart brad, alphabet brads, organza ribbon

Please make sure you stop and see what the rest of the design team did with this inspiration picture:

 Debbie Marcinkiewicz - {TSTR Creator} - Simple Treasures
Audrey Pettit - Audrey Pettit's Weblog
Jill Hilliard - Jill's Card Creations
 Nicole Segnere - My Craft Room Creations 

Thanks for stopping by - see you in a bit for some more inspiration!

Have a Bloomin' Good Day - PPC #12

Hi again, crafty peeps!

I'm back with another installment of Megan's Picture Perfect Creations Color Challenge and boy, was this one a tough one for me:

These are not colors I normally use or would put together but here they are so I had to make an attempt, right?  I'm not a quitter... *wink*  So, I went in search of a sketch I could use to make things a *bit* easier and found Taylor's newest over at the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge blog:

I found one of my new Pure Innocence girlies and got busy...

Recipe - Stamps: Blooming Good Day (MFT)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Paper: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Perfect Plum, Soft Suede, Kioshi DP (Basic Grey)  Accessories: Nestabilities, paper piercer, clear embossing powder, burgundy grosgrain ribbon, Copics, Hodgepodge Hardware, Spots and Dots embossing folder

Please take a few minutes to stop over and see what Megan and the girls have done with these colors:

Allison Barroll

Lori Turner

Nicole Anderson

Sandy Tran

Trish Radacs

Jackie Weeks

Tamie Camp

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Paula McClane

Thanks for stopping by - have a bloomin' good day!  :)

It's All Good at The Shabby Tea Room

Welcome to another fabulous week at The Shabby Tea Room - can you believe it's the end of April already?  This week's challenge is brought to you by Audrey and it is a color challenge inspired by this picture:

Don't you love all of the colors and patterns in these quilts?  I paired my colors - Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red, Kraft and a chambray blue - with Taylor's sketch from a few weeks ago:

To create this:

Recipe - Stamp: It's All Good (Daisy Bucket Designs)  Ink: Old Olive  Paper: Assorted SU! DP, unknown DP, Very Vanilla, unknown chambray blue cardstock, Ruby Red  Accessories: Paper piercer, adhesive pearls, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Kraft taffeta ribbon, jumbo eyelet, hemp twine, corner punch, button

Now go and see what the rest of the Shabby Tea Room design team has come up with for this challenge:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz - {TSTR Creator} - Simple Treasures

Audrey Pettit - Audrey Pettit's Weblog

Jill Hillard - Jill's Card Creations

Nicole Segnere - My Craft Room Creations 

Enjoy the rest of your day - thanks for stopping by!

Love You Muchly...

Are you enjoying your weekend?  I sure am ~ the weather is absolutely beautiful and I've spent most of the day out and about with my family.  We went to town to go to Costco and the bank and then popped over to my BIL & SIL's to drop off a birthday present for their little guy who is turning three.  Zach wasn't feeling so great so we didn't stay for the party.

When we got home I made some mini Cinnamon Banana Breads and then sat down to craft.  I have been kind of scared of Riley's Color Dare colors this week so I've avoided them...until now:

I think I just have a *block* when it comes to using those bold brights...I've gotta get over it!  LOL  I paired it with Taylor's sketch:

I used a Pure Innocence image again... Flower Girl...isn't she cute?

Paper: Green Galore, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black, Kaleidoscope DP, Night & Day DP, Sending Love Specialty Paper  Accessories: Peony Nestabilities, sewing machine, Swiss Dots EF, Textile EF, black satin ribbon, button, hemp twine, glue pen, dimensionals, Copics, clear embossing powder, Versafine Onyx Black Ink

I paper pieced the shirt and pants and colored the rest with Copics.  After adhering the papers, I dug out my sewing machine and zig-zagged all the "seams"... I think it might be a bit *much* but I can't take it out now!  :)

I hope you will stop by tomorrow to see a brand new Curtain Call Challenge ~ Stacey's got a very elegant color combo for us this week.  See you tomorrow!

My Contribution...

... to Taylor's Dragonfly Card Drive ~ you can read all about it on her blog.  I think it's a fabulous cause and I plan to make a few more cards before I send them off to Iowa.  :)

I used Tuesday Morning Sketches' challenge from this morning - was I ever surprised to see a *color* challenge!  I guess the old saying is true, "You can't judge a book by its cover," or, in this case, a "blog by its title."  Melissa chose dark brown, light orange, and ivory:

 

I used Taylor's Sketch:

Again, I didn't have any Apricot Appeal or anything *really* light orange but I did manage to find some old "My Mind's Eye" DP that I had forgotten about ~ I think it turned out OK:

The stamp is an old Hero Arts stamp called, appropriately, Dragonfly.  I have always loved dragonflies so when I read Taylor's blog post, I knew I had to help.  I hope you will pop over to her blog for more information and make a card or two of your own.

I'll be home all day tomorrow so I'm sure I'll have something to share with you then ~ later!

Celebrating Taylor's 100th Sketch

Wow - 100 sketches already?  Time sure flies...  Taylor has given us 100 amazing sketches and for a short time, you can download a file with every single one of them to keep forevah!!!  If you go to her blog, you will find a button on the right sidebar just under her "About Me" section.


Here's the 100th sketch:

I combined it with this week's Color Throwdown's challenge:

And created these two cards celebrating Taylor's 100 sketches:

 

  

 Not much time to post details right now - gotta get supper going before I leave for the gym tonight.  I will come back and edit when I have a bit more time.   

Thanks for clicking in - Congrats again, Taylor!!!