FINALLY - Some *Free* Crafting Time! :)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Anyone want some white stuff?  I know I shouldn't be complaining because we desperately need some moisture but I just HATE the mud and yuck that goes along with the melting snow...  I'll get over it but I cannot WAIT for the sun to come back out.  :)

I haven't had much crafting "free" time lately - between DT cards and work and trying to keep everyone fed and clothed and my trip, this is the first time in a LONG time I have had time to to a CURRENT challenge!  And, OH, how I've missed them...  :) 

I found the Play Date Cafe's new color combo and LOVED the soft, soothing, BOY colors and KNEW what stamp I was going to use - another one of Totally Stampalicious's new releases!  I paired it with a new-to-me challenge, a sketch from CCEE Stampers, and got to work!

Recipe - Stamps: Sean Bugaboo Brat, Stella Birthday (Totally Stampalicious)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue  Paper: Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze, SU! DP, Very Vanilla  Accessories: Curved Rectangles Nestabilities, hodgepodge hardware, paper piercer, grosgrain ribbon, Copics, sponge dauber, clear embossing powder

I'm going to try and knock another one out before I have to head off to work - the kids have requested meatloaf for supper so I need to get that ready for them to put in the oven later.  :)  Enjoy your Thursday - thanks for stopping in!

My Europe Pics

Hey everyone!

I have uploaded some of my pics to Flickr for y'all to peruse.  I didn't label them all and MANY of them are architecture (boring for some, not for me...) so view at your own risk.  :)  You will also see that I have a fascination with lanterns, lamp posts and chandeliers...

Here's the link - have fun!  Let me know if it doesn't work...

Flowers Feed the Soul - PPC #10

Hello again!

It's time for another Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo and this week's combination screams S-P-R-I-N-G:

Y'all know how much I like to combine challenges so I found Sketch Saturday's newest and got to work:

I was in town on Friday waiting for my DH to get out of surgery (a little shoulder operation - he's good, no problem...) and my PIC, Lori, called to say that she and our friend, Leanne, were at the LSS if I wanted to join them.  Ummm...DUH!  LOL  Of course I stopped in!  I *did* have two of the boys with me so I couldn't stay long, but I did manage to buy some stuff'n'things...including the stamps I used for this card:

Recipe - Stamps: Mouse on Orange Daisy (Stampavie, Tina Wenke), From the Garden (Flourishes)  Paper: Certainly Celery, Bordering Blue, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, SU! DP (retired)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Nestabilities, oval punch, brads, hodgepodge hardware, paper flowers, Copics, paper piercer, clear embossing powder

Now make sure you stop in and see what the rest of the PPC-Creators team has done with these colors:

Allison Barroll

Lori Turner

Nicole Anderson

Sandy Tran

Trish Radacs

Jackie Weeks

Tamie Camp

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Paula McClane

Enjoy the rest of your day, see you next week and don't forget to SMILE!

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!

Act 27 - Is Spring Here Yet?

Can I just say how much I {heart} these colors???  Stacey put together a BE-A-YOO-TI-FUL combo for us all this week at the Curtain Call - take a look:

I found this sketch a few weeks ago over at Papertake Weekly and knew it would work perfectly for the image I wanted to use...another new stamp from Stamping Bella.  She is soooo cute!

Stamps: CherryBlossom Bittybloom (Stamping Bella), Whimsical Words (SU!)  Paper: Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, SU! designer paper  Ink: Melon Mambo, Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Pirouette  Accessories: Nestabilities (Labels Five), Perfect Polka Dots EF, sponge dauber, organza ribbon, button, hemp twine, Copics, adhesive rhinestones

I love these little Bittyblooms - can you say freakin' adorable?  I want them ALL!  LOL  I had fun coloring this image but I really need to expand my Copic collection.  My PIC, Lori, and I are taking an Intro to Copics class at our LSS next Thursday so hopefully we'll get some tips and pointers that we can use to make it a bit easier.  :)

Please take a few minutes to go and see what the rest of the Curtain Call Crew has done with these lovely colors:

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
Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections
Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden
Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection
Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day!  See you tomorrow with another Shabby Tea Room challenge.  :)

Totally Stampalicious Bugaboo Blog Hop - FUN!

WOOHOO - you made it!  Thanks for joining us for all of the fun and festivities that go along with a new release... and what a great release it is!

I am honored that the girls over at Totally Stampalicious chose me to help them out as a guest designer for the next couple of months 'cause these new images are right up my alley and TOTALLY adorable!  As most of you may have heard, Totally Stampalicious has teamed up with Jodie Mackrell of Bugaboo Stamps.  We are thrilled to be taking some of our favorite Bugaboo critters, kids and characters and turning them into RUBBAH!!! (Well...photopolymer, actually, but you know what we mean)! We have also added a few fun sentiments to the main images that we think you're going to love!!!  Just to keep you on the up and up, please know that if you are interested in the Digi Images, they are only available at Bugaboo Stamps and are NOT part of the Totally Stampalicious Digi Promotion.

Alrighty, after clearing my bleary, sleep-deprived eyes I sat down and decided to use the digi stamps of Desiree and Sean for my card as well as one of the sentiments from Desiree's set.  I combined Arielle's Colour Q challenge and rotated Papertake Weekly's sketch 90* to create:

Aren't they SUPER-CUTE?  There are EIGHT brand new stamps sets to share with you this release and they will be available at 10PM EST at the Totally Stampalicious Store!!

You should have arrived here from Laurie's blog but in case you didn't, here's the official Blog Hop order:

Totally Stampalicious

Stacy-Twinshappy

Vicki-Summerthyme Studio

Joycelyn-Stamps 'n' Coffee

Patricia-Stamping with Kokirose

Becky-Stampin' For Fun

Laurie-On the Bright Side

Melissa-My Paper Obsession

Lynnor-Just Add Glitter

Monique-For the Love of Paper

Cindy-Cindy Haffner's Corner

Make sure you visit everyone's blogs because TS is offering up THREE prizes that will be drawn randomly from all the Blog Hop-ees so be sure to visit everyone and leave a comment for your chance to win!  The prizes are as follows:

1st - $25 Stampalicious Gift Certificate

2nd - 2 Bugaboo Stamp Sets of Choice

3rd - 1 Bugaboo Stamp Set of Choice

The Blog Hop will end at 9PM EST Friday and the winners will be announced Sunday Night!  Happy hopping and enjoy all of the eye candy.  :)

The Shabby Tea Room Goes Sketchy!

Hey there everyone!

Thanks for stopping in for our sixth Shabby Tea Room challenge - can you believe we're up to six already?  Wow.  We couldn't do it without all of you and your support and participation so THANK YOU!

This week is a sketch challenge from our fearless leader, Debbie.  She has given us this sketch for inspiration:

I must admit that my interpretation was *very* loosely based on this sketch... I used two horizontal panels at the top and bottom but moved the central image over a bit and added some ribbon:

The stamp is a new one I got from Stamping Bella: "Izzie Has a Daisy"...so super-cute!  I paper-pieced her skirt and colored the rest with my Copics.  The designer paper is from another new Basic Grey paper pad, Kioshi.  I paired it with Stampin' Up's Sage Shadow, More Mustard, and Perfect Plum.  I found the plum satin ribbon in my stash - I forgot I even had it but I'm sure glad I came across it!  :)

As you are reading this, my dear son and I are enjoying our final couple of days in Europe - today's schedule sees us traveling from Florence to Rome where we will visit St. Francis' Basilica, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.  Tomorrow is another jam-packed day at the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, Piazza Venezia and the Forum before heading home on Wednesday.

Don't forget to stop by the homes of the other very talented design team members to see how they did with Debbie's sketch:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz - {TSTR Creator} - Simple Treasures

Audrey Pettit - Audrey Pettit's Weblog

Jill Hillard - Jill's Card Creations

Nicole Segnere - My Craft Room Creations 

Thanks for stopping in - see you in a few days!  :)