I'm back and I promise not to blind you all this time although I *did* use yellow again.  NOT Yo Yo Yellow (I think that color will be kept on the shelf for a L-O-N-G time...) but Stampin Up's Crushed Curry. I got the color inspiration from the Pals Paper Arts Challenge Blog I found last week and the sketch is, once again, Julee's Mojo Monday sketch:

Recipe - Stamps: Ornamental Christmas (Verve)  Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, retired DP (SU!)  Ink: Old Olive, Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Nestabilities, clear embossing powder, heat and stick powder, Martha Stewart glitter, spiral punch, sponge dauber, CB embossing folder, Soft Suede polka dot grosgrain ribbon, button, gold cord

Much easier to look at than my first Mojo attempt, right???  I know I didn't use any scallops but since I used them on my other card, I wanted to try something different.  This card is much sparklier in real life than in the picture so just *imagine* that...

K - that's going to be it for me tonight.  It is going to stay freaking cold for one more day and then it's *supposed* to warm up a bit - I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Take care and stay warm!  Only 11 more sleeps 'til the big guy drives his sleigh ~ are YOU ready?  I'm not... ;)

WARNING - You May Need Sunglasses...

WOOHOO!  Another Snow Day ~ -33*C plus a wind chill right now and I'm sure it was colder this morning when they decided to close school.  On the positive side, it is sunny and clear outside and I'm INSIDE creating.  :)  But, the sunshine is NOT the reason you may need sunglasses reading this post...

Don't say I didn't warn you!  This card is exceptionally bright.  Very, very, very bright.  You'll get a hint of why when you see the colors Embellish Magazine has given us this time.  Don't get me wrong, I totally {heart} the color combo but I do NOT use bright yellow E-V-E-R.  In fact, I took the plastic wrap off of my Yo-Yo Yellow ink pad this morning 'specially for this card... sad, eh?

It's Monday which means Julee has given us another fantabulous sketch to inspire us over at Mojo Monday.   It's another sketch with circles, and I *was* tempted to use my new Verve stamps but I controlled that impulse.   :)

 

OK - here goes...are you ready?  Sunglasses on????

I didn't want to blind you all at once so I thought I'd just give you a teaser to convince those of you out there who thought: "I don't need sunglasses.  How bright could it be?  What is Melissa thinking?" to go and get them...NOW.  :)

Here it is - are you ready???  You might *not* want to click on it to make it bigger...that's a lotta yellow all at once.

Recipe: Stamps - Snowflake Spot (Stampin' Up!), Many Merry Messages, Label (Daisy Bucket)  Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Cool Caribbean, Yo Yo Yellow, Chocolate Chip  Ink: StazOn Timber Brown, Chocolate Chip, Yo Yo Yellow, Cool Caribbean  Accessories: Nestabilities, Martha Stewart border punch, shrink plastic, gingham ribbon, silver cord, button, adhesive pearls, paper piercer, Swiss Dots CB EF, heat gun

Can you all still read??  I'll give you a minute to recover...





So... you needed the sunglasses - was I right or was I right?  Seriously, I have never made a card with this much yellow so these colors really made me step out of my little box.  It also gave me a chance to use my shrink plastic that has been collecting dust on the shelf for far too long.  I {love} the little sentiment charm - like a little ornament.  And you all know I canNOT make a card without pearls...I almost put them around the scallop circle but it was too much.  HOW there can EVER be too many pearls, I'm not sure but this was one of those times. 

If the sun isn't shining outside at your house today, hopefully my card brought the sun inside if only for a few minutes.  :)  Enjoy the rest of your Monday everyone and STAY WARM...

*Is it January 21 yet??? *

Snowy Saturday's Three Challenges in ONE!

Hello again everyone! I hope you are enjoying your Saturday wherever you are. It is freakin' C-O-L-D here today: -31*C (that's about -20*F for my friends to the south...) Remind me again WHY I live in Canada??? ;)

But, the weather does give me a good excuse to stay inside and craft - like I really *need* an excuse? I haven't done Jen's Sketch For You To Try for a LONG time so I popped over there to see what she has this week:
Great sketch, isn't it???

Then I remembered a new weekly Color Challenge my friend Tamie did on her blog a couple weeks ago so I clicked over to Scrapmaster's Paradise to see this week's combo:

I was really feeling click-happy so I "happened" upon another FAB blog: Moxie Fab World. See - it even has FAB in it's name! This week's challenge was to create a paper crafted holiday project (card, gift bag, tag, layout, home decor, etc.) that incorporates some kind of critter. Well, I can do THAT! :)

Recipe - Stamp: Snowman Bird (Hampton Art) Paper: Kraft, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, SU! DP 6x6 paper pad Ink: Bashful Blue, Versafine Onyx Black Accessories: Nestabilities (square and Labels Three), ticket corner punch, slit punch, CB embossing folders, paper piercer, kraft ribbon, button, snowflake/tree brads, adhesive pearls, Copics, sponge dauber

I wanted to try Gretchen Barron's technique to make that cool two-toned scalloped border and it works perfectly on this card.

I feel like I *should* be out and about braving the crowds to finish my Christmas shopping but I really just want to stay inside, drink Chai tea and craft. Enjoy the weekend everyone. :)

Another Mojo Madness and a New Color Challenge

Are you tired of me using the Mojo Monday sketch yet? I apologize if you answered *YES!* but I really think it is a FABULOUS sketch - so versatile. If you are here for the first time, here's the sketch:
I found a new Color Challenge while I was blog surfing the other day. Dawn McVey has her own line of stamps at Papertrey Ink and a new set will be released on December 15 so stay tuned for that. Anyhoo - this week's color challenge is pretty cool...

Since I still had Soft Sky out on my table from the last card, that's what I used for the light aqua option. I also used Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Kraft and Very Vanilla and some retired SU! DP. And, YES, I used my new Verve stamps again. I AM IN LOVE with this flourish circle frame... LOVE IT!!

Recipe - Stamps: Thankful Accents (Verve) Ink: Chocolate Chip Accessories: Nestabilities, ticket corner punch, circle punches, swirls embossing folder, swiss dots embossing folder, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, satin ribbon, sponge dauber, dimensionals

That's going to be it for me tonight - it's supposed to get C-O-L-D and snowier this weekend so I'm seeing much more crafting in my future...*insert big grin here*

Enjoy your night and thanks for stopping in.

EXCITING Friday!

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I am soooo excited! I finally got some time to craft and since I hadn't checked out this week's Color Throwdown, I clicked on over to find this week's color challenge (more on that in a minute). I saw the colors and scrolled down some more to see who the Featured Stamper from last week's challenge was (and it was a beautiful card from Debi's Crazy Life), scrolled down a bit more to see that MY PIC, Lori, received one of 3 Honorable mentions for this card, and that YOURS TRULY won some absolutely fantabulous Magnolia Stamps!!! Could the day get any better??? Oh yeah...CRAFTING!!!

This week's Color Throwdown was this and I combined it with the Viva la Verve Sketch over at Splitcoast:


I HAD to use some of my new Verve stamps so this is what I came up with:


Recipe - Stamps: Thankful Accents, Grateful Heart Plain Jane (Verve) Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink Paper: Riding Hood Red, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, Whisper White, SU! DP Accessories: Nestabilities, ticket corner punch, corner rounder punch, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, clear embossing powder, argyle embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, button, red metalllic cord, slot punch

I've got supper in the oven so I hope to have time to do one more card tonight. Thanks for stopping by - only 14 more sleeps! Are you done your shopping???

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???