Mojo Monday Madness - Take Two!

So - I told you I LOVED this week's Mojo Monday sketch and I really, really do! I love it so much, I made another card and combined it with this week's color challenge over at Splitcoast: Always Artichoke, Barely Banana and Rich Razzleberry. You wouldn't *think* that those colors would go together but I think I made them work.

Recipe - Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral (Stampin' Up!) Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke, Lovely Flowers DP (hostess) Accessories: Nestabilities (scallops and circles), Martha Stewart heart border punch, adhesive pearls, ribbon, button, silver cord, Fifth Avenue Floral embossing folder (Stampin' Up!), paper piercer

Guess what came in the mail today??? MY NEW VERVE STAMPS! WOOHOO! Unfortunately I don't have time to play with them tonight (much to my dismay), but I hope to get inky with them tomorrow so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by - only 17 more sleeps 'til Christmas...are you ready???

Mojo Monday MADNESS!

OMG! I am soooo excited today! To start things off, it's a SNOW DAY!! YIPPEE! That means no school, no work and it's all about ME! :) It is in the -30*C's this morning and I am so glad I don't have to go anywhere.

THEN, if a snow day wasn't enough to make my day, it is MOJO MADNESS over on Julee's blog. That means not only is this week's sketch fun and beautiful but Julee's got PRIZES up for grabs too!! Can you say AWESOME?

I wanted to use my new Verve Stamps ~ this sketch would be perfect for the big, circular frame in the Thankful Accents set ~ but they aren't here yet!!! I'm hoping they'll get here this week so I can make another card. I decided to make a Christmassy card and this is what I came up with:
Recipe - Stamps: Christmas Greetings (Stampin' Up) Ink: Old Olive Paper: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Dashing DP (SU! retired) Accessories: Sheer ribbon, gold cord, button, Swiss Dots and Swirly CB Embossing Folders, adhesive pearls, Nestabilities Circles and Pinking Circles, sponge dauber

Do you love it as much as I do? The picture really doesn't do it justice ~ I'm thinking I should have done the sentiment in Real Red instead of the Olive but...whatever. :) And, of course, I *HAD* to put pearls on it! LOL

OK - so that's my first entry for Mojo Madness. I totally {heart} this sketch so I think I will be using it a LOT this week. Thanks Julee!

Stay warm everyone - only 18 more sleeps until Christmas! Can you believe it???

An Interesting Color Combination...

It's me again - I've been busy enjoying the peace and quiet while DH and DS#3 were gone and DS #1 & #2 were doing "quiet" activities. Love it.

I checked out the Viva la Verve Sketch forum on Friday but the new sketch hadn't been posted yet so I thought I'd pop back in to see if it had been posted yet and, lo and behold, there it was:

Looks pretty simple, right? I combined it with the Diva Coffee Break Designs Challenge for this week which was a color challenge:

Wow...those are some interesting colors...BUT I persevered and came up with this:

Recipe - Stamps: Plain Jane (Verve) Paper: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Basic Gray, SU! DP (Urban Garden, retired) Ink: Going Gray Accessories: Nesties (Labels Nine), Gray Taffeta ribbon, button, silver cord, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, Swiss Dots EF, sponge dauber

I realize that the pearls are a *bit* off but not much I can about it without making a mess of it all so I have to look the other way. :)

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day wherever you are. Tomorrow's Mojo Monday ~ can't wait!

Taylor's Sketch Challenge and the Color Throwdown

I hope your weekend has been as relaxing as mine has. I spent yesterday in front of the fire while crafting and reading - couldn't get much better as far as I'm concerned! :)

I found Taylor's sketch for this week and combined it with the Color Throwdown. Thanks to both for great inspiration:


This card started out as a Christmas card when I remembered some SU! DP from last year I knew I had somewhere but ended up, well, as not-so-much a Christmas card! LOL And I think this might be the first card I've ever made that has NO STAMPING on it!


Recipe - Paper: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, SU! retired DP Ink: Chocolate Chip Accessories: SU! Rub-ons, various circle punches, oval punch, swiss dots EF, ribbon, silver cord, alphabet tiles, buttons, paper piercer, adhesive pearls

I'm still not too sure about this card but "whatever!" That has become my mantra lately..."WHATEVER." :) I had fun making it and love the color combination.

I am ITCHING to get my Verve stamps Lori and I ordered last week - I've got a bazillion stamps but none of them are really inspiring me right now. I dig through my cupboard and none of them scream, "Use ME!" Do you ever feel like that?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - maybe I'll have time to make another card or two this afternoon while DH and DS#3 are out at a 4-H Christmas party. We shall see... :)

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Who wants some snow? Come on...don't be shy... I've got enough for all of you. Wanna see??? This was the view from my back door yesterday afternoon:

Doesn't it look wonderful? It would be nice except for the 50 bazillion mile-an-hour wind coming from the northwest...ICK! But, on the plus side, I'm warm and toasty and I don't have to go anywhere. I've hunkered down - fire roaring, baking butter tarts, doing laundry, candles lit and I'm crafting. Really...what could be better??

So, I made a card yesterday using this week's Sketch Challenge and Color Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. The colors are Very Vanilla, Basic Black and Soft Suede.



Recipe - Stamps: Sleigh Bells Ring (Stampin' Up!) Ink: Versafine Onyx Black Paper: Basic Black, Soft Suede Textured, Very Vanilla, Night and Day Specialty Paper Accessories: Clear embossing powder, color spritzer, adhesive pearls, photo corner punch

The picture isn't very good since my camera is acting up and I had to use my son's camera - also the acetate polka dot window sheet has a weird reflection on it...oh well, I digress. :)

I'm off to do Taylor's Sketch Challenge. Be back later - stay warm!

Another Mojo-filled Monday

It's a Winter Wonderland here - finally! The snow came down all day today making for some not-so-fun driving conditions but "... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... " I had to go to the city this morning to do some running around and then my youngest called me from school to tell me that he wasn't feeling well. "Mom, can you come get me? What's wrong? I just don't feel very good. Did you throw up? Yes." *sigh* But, I'll tell you this, he sure didn't *seem* too sick when he got home and grabbed the snow shovel and started to clear the sidewalk and deck...hmmm.... ;)

Anyhoo, when I got home I stoked a roaring fire, made myself a cuppa coffee, turned on the "Glee" soundtrack and sat down to check out Mojo Monday. Julee came up with another fabulous sketch and I got to work:
I started by looking for a stamp I hadn't used before and I found one I bought a couple of years ago and had never seen ink. *bad bad bad* I stamped it and colored it and the rest of the card came together pretty quickly. The sentiment is from a My Favorite Things set called "Say Charge." I moved the sentiment to the other side of the card because otherwise it would have covered up most of the fun part of the image.


Recipe - Stamps: favorite time (Penny Black), Say Charge (MFT) Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versafine Onyx Black, Copics Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive Accessories: Spiral Punch, Nestabilities (Scallop circle, pinking circle, circle), paper piercer, color spritzer, CB Swiss Dots embossing folder, adhesive pearls, circle punch, Sizzix tag die-cut, gingham ribbon, star eyelets

I have been using white a LOT in my cards lately - I just love how crisp and fresh it makes a card look. I'm not sure what I'll do with this card but I'm sure I can find someone to give it to... Thanks for stopping in - tomorrow is the Color Challenge over at Splitcoast so we'll see what I can come up with for that. :) See you then!

All Five Challenges???

Yep, I did it! I finished them all! YAY ME!

We made gift card holders at our monthly group get-together a couple of months ago so I thought I'd use that for inspiration. When I clicked the links they gave us over at the Verve Blog, I realized that my holder is kind of a combination of Link #2 and Link #3 - it has a belly band like #2 but the card itself is like #3. So, without further ado...here it is:
Recipe: Stamps - Best Yet, Snow Flurries (Stampin' Up), Miscellaneous reindeer (Michael's) Paper: Soft Suede, Real Red, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DP (SU!) Ink: Real Red, Soft Suede, VersaMark Dazzle (Frost), Versafine Onyx Black Accessories: Nestabilities (Square and Scalloped Square), Designer Label punch, circle punch, clear embossing powder, Copics, sponge dauber


I don't own the Word Window punch so I improvised and used the Modern Label punch to make the slot for the gift card to fit into. I had never used the VersaMark Dazzle ink before but I think it add just the right amount of sparkle. Hmmm...speaking of sparkle... I think the reindeer's nose needs an adhesive rhinestone - red, of course! I'm going to do that right now. (Imagine me rolling my chair over to the other end of my counter, finding my rhinestones and sticking one on...) Yep - it looks MUCH better! :)

I'm going to roast a turkey and watch my football game later tonight - GO GREEN!! Thanks to all the ladies over at Verve for giving us some WONDERFUL challenges this weekend to celebrate the new releases. I was over at my friend Lori's house last night and we put our order in - WOOHOO for free shipping over $50!! Remember to stop in and order before tomorrow night to take advantage of the sale.

Thanks for clicking in - I hope you all enjoy your Sunday.