Well ~ I Tried...

... and, regretfully, I think I failed miserably.  Maybe I wasn't "feeling" the colors or the sketch or maybe my mojo just wasn't flowing today but his card is NOT one of my better ones.

I'm sure this has NOTHING to do with the nice folks over at The Color Dare or the lovely ladies at Pals Paper Arts - it is completely MY fault that this card doesn't do either one justice:

So - take a deep breath and prepare yourself...

Recipe - Paper: Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay  Ink: Ruby Red, Bermuda Bay  Accessories: Marvy Uchida corner punch, paper piercer, white taffeta ribbon, button, twine, Cuttlebug embossing folders, sponge dauber, Martha Stewart border punch, slot punch, 1-3/4" circle punch, brads

That's all I'm going to say about this card.  Let's all hope the next one is MUCH better than this... ;)  Do I dare try again tonight???

*E.T.A.  In my despondence, I forgot to *thank* the team at the Color Dare for recognizing my submission last week as an honorable mention - I'm pretty excited about it!  If you would like to see which one it was, click here.

Mojo...Wednesday??

Happy Hump Day!

What a crazy couple of days I've had - I left the house before 8 a.m. yesterday and didn't settle back in to the house until almost 7 p.m.!  Needles to say I got LOTS done in town but NOTHING done at home!  I wasn't feeling that great this morning into the early afternoon but thought I'd take a stab at a card when the kids got home from school.

I'm back with another Mojo Monday contribution - this time I combined it with Arielle's Colour Q Challenge.  Here's the sketch to refresh your memory:

 

And Arielle picked the C-U-T-E-S-T little dress for the colour inspiration - makes me wish I had at least *one* girl to shop for!!  LOL

Arielle thought we might have trouble with the Regal Rose thrown in but, for me, the tough colour was that Orchid Opulence.  I have NEVER used OO in a card before - EVER.  I don't use my Bold Brights very often so it's kind of nice when a color challenge makes me step out of my box.

I used another one of Verve's Plain Janes - Psalm 121: 1-2 ~~ I just love these Scripture verses.  They are so versatile and the fonts Julee has chosen are incredible.

Recipe - Stamp: Psalm 121 (Verve)  Paper: Orchid Opulence, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Urban Garden DP, unknown SU DP  Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose  Accessories: Paper piercer, Nestabilities, Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, brads, Martha Stewart border punch, "Merry" Sizzlit, Swirls embossing folder

So there you have it - another attempt to make *someone* out there say "OOOOOOOH!"  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.  Tomorrow I will try to get caught up on the challenges I've missed this week - Thursday is a slow day for new challenges.  See you then!

Mojo Monday... MADNESS!

Welcome to another Mojo Monday!

Those Verve girls sure know how to give us a fabulous sketch to work with.  This week Teresa stepped in for Julee over at Mojo Monday and created this beauty:

I spent most of the day out and about so I didn't get a chance to sit until after the kids got home from school.  I pulled out some of my newest DP ( from my enabler, Lori) and got busy.  One thing led to another - this card didn't end up as I originally envisioned - and the end result:

Recipe - Stamp: Hebrews 11:1 Plain Jane (Verve)  Paper: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Designer Paper (SU!)  Ink: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink  Accessories: Paper piercer, adhesive pearls, ribbon, brads, Martha Stewart border punch, argyle embossing folder, sponge dauber

I have a VERY busy day planned tomorrow so I probably won't get time to do anything 'til much later.  Stop over at Mojo Monday - there are some really beautiful cards being created this time around (not like there's anything unusual about that!  LOL)  Enjoy your Monday night!

A Quickie...

Happy Sunday!

A quick post before I have to start organizing everyone for tomorrow's foray back to school - can I hear a "WOOP WOOP!?!"  I took a few minutes tonight to throw together a card for Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge and I used the JUGs Sketch again too:

 

Recipe - Stamps: Stem Silhouettes (SU!), Thankful Accents (Verve)  Paper: Going Grey, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Whisper White,  SU! DP  Ink: Basic Grey  Accessories: Adhesive pearls/rhinestones, grey taffeta ribbon, paper piercer, Martha Stewart border punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder, "Merry" Sizzlit, "Lots of Tags, Label 2" Sizzlit, sponge dauber

Thanks for looking!  See you tomorrow!

I'm on a Roll!

Back again but no time for idle chit-chat this post - supper's on the go and I've spent way too much time crafting today!  LOL

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge is another new, and I mean NEW challenge.  So new, in fact, that this is their FIRST challenge!  The challenge this week: "Because we are a new challenge blog, and this is a new year, our first challenge theme is--NEW! We decided it would be fun to use our Fussy and Fancy blog colors in our creations, but you may use any colors."  I decided to follow their lead and use their blog colors - looks a lot like Pink Passion, Basic Black, and a teeny bit of Certainly Celery to me.  :)

I hadn't done Taylor's Sketch from Friday yet so I clicked over to find...

 ...and came up with...

 

Recipe: Stamps - Treasure Life (CTMH), Thankful Accents, sentiment (Verve)  Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, Night and Day DP  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery  Accessories: Nestabilities, paper piercer, ribbon, fuzzy fiber, circle punches, adhesive pearls, sponge dauber, Swirls Embossing folder, Swiss Dots embossing folder

Only two more days until the kids go back to school and I can have some peace and quiet again!  They are actually pretty good but I think they are at the end of their patience with each other - every little thing seems to instigate a "discussion."   Thanks for stopping by!

Golly Gosh - What Nice JUGS!

 OK - get your mind out of the gutter!  :)  Of course I was referring to the Just Us Girls Challenge team...what did you think I was talking about?  This isn't *that* kind of blog...  ;)  This week they gave us an amazing sketch to get the mojo flowing:

For some additional inspiration, I clicked over to Splitcoast Stampers for the Saturday Inspiration Challenge.   This week's inspiration comes to us from Design Spirit Studio which "features the lovely creations of Spirit Lala, an artist in McDonough, Georgia. She creates whimsical clocks and fabulous jewelry from recycled windshield glass."  I was immediately drawn to this clock:

Isn't it BEYOOTIFUL??  The colors are soooo fabulous and the shiny, silver ringer-thingies on the top just make me smile.  I took inspiration from the colors, the bird, the flowers and the vines to create this:

Recipe - Stamps: Black Tie Birdies (Verve), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)  Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Cameo Coral, Real Red  Ink: Bermuda Bay, Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Corner rounder punch, spiral punch, paper piercer, Copics, red gingham ribbon, button, silver cord, Hodgepodge Hardware, oval punch, clear embossing powder, vine embossing folder, adhesive pearls

What do you think?  I kinda *like* these colors together.  My picture makes the Bermuda Bay look more turquoise-y or teal-y but if you put the papers together yourself you'll see how nicely they work with a couple of neutrals thrown in.  I paper pieced the balloons and used my Copics to color the birdie.  I was going to make this a Valentine's card but my sentiment was too big to fit in my HPH and I *HAD* to use the Styled Silver to echo the bright & shiny alarm bell thingy... great use of the English language, eh?

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  Later!

HaPpY NeW yEaR!!!

Welcome to 2010!  I have a feeling it's going to be a good year.  :)

I spent yesterday chillin' out and I didn't get a chance to craft so I woke up this morning and got right to it.  I was able to combine 3 challenges with this card:

1. Viva la Verve - The first sketch of the year is a great one and Amber has added a {twist} this year: "Every month this year we'll walk through a different room and every week I'll bring you some inspiration pictures of different rooms."  She gave us some pictures for inspiration but you could use inspiration from your own home if you wanted to.  I was drawn to the clean, crisp lines of this picture:

 

Surprised?  This picture is SO not my house, nor is it how I would decorate if given a bazillion dollars but I LOVE the colors and look - for someone else.  ;)  Here's the sketch:

2.  Crazy 4 Challenges - This week's challenge: "Let's have some Polka Dot Fun! Design a card/project using polka dots."  Easy.  :)

3. Our Creative Corner Challenge - "A new month brings a NEW hostess, Joycelyn will start off the new year with a new year's resolution "Clean and Simple". We will leave it to all of you to decide what clean and simple means to you...whether you go with less layers, or maybe no embellishments... whatever you decide."  I think this card is about as clean and simple as I've done for awhile...no bow, no buttons, no adhesive pearls (GASP!)  Yes, I do still have layers but, for me, if a card can fit in an envelope and NOT need extra postage, it's "clean and simple."  *grin*

Without further ado:

Recipe - Stamps: Give Thanks Plain Jane (Verve), Flower Lines (SU!)  Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Night and Day DP  Ink: Real Red, Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Nestabilities, paper piercer, Swiss Dots embossing folder, clear embossing powder, circle punches, ribbon

I really like how this turned out.  And for all you "sketch purists" out there: yes, I turned the sketch and yes, I realize it is supposed to be a square and yes, I know the sketch doesn't call for ribbon but I was really struggling with the "space" at the bottom and thought the ribbon was perfect for the "feel" of this card: clean, classic and a bit retro.  It's a girl's creative license to change it up a bit, right?

It's another chilly one here today so I'm guessing we will be sticking close to home today - which means more crafting!  YAY!  I need a coffee or something - my fingers are chilly.  :)

Catch ya in a bit!