EONAC 16: Use Every Stamp?!

This week, Sue and Allison charged us with choosing a solid stamp set and using EVERY stamp in the set. Luckily, we could create more than one card! I chose By Air and made some cute cards for little boys. We always have little boy birthday parties to go to, and I usually have to scramble to make a card at the last minute.

I am swamped with movers, realtors and getting the house ready lately, so don't know when I'll stamp again :( I have so many ideas floating through my head that when I do have time, look out! Meanwhile, thanks for looking!

Well, Look At That!

Do you know that the printed card bases of these two cards are the SAME exact base? I didn't realize how different they can appear until I used the pale pink on one of them and the brighter pink on the other one. They are photographed in the same light and everything. Interesting to me, maybe common sense to some of you!

I'm posting twice today because I also wanted to participate in the EONA challenge this week, which was to use those card fronts you have laying around, unfinished. I had these images colored and matted, and never used them. I hope it counts! Since I have this box of printed card bases, I chose those to finish a few Thank You cards.

Thanks for looking!

Floral Miss You

I love to play along each week with the challenge that Sue and Allison post. This week, it's to use brads. I have TONS of these and was able to use the antique copper round ones as flower centers. They are just the right size for these little flowers from Vintage Vogue.

Since 90% of my crafty stash is packed away, and I can't make too much of a mess in my office until we have an offer on the house, I used these pieces left from another day of card making with this set. The sentiment is from MFT.

I had a whirlwind trip to TX this weekend. My plane was supposed to leave at 6 Friday evening, but didn't leave till around 8. By the time I got to my hotel, it was 2am TX time, which means 3am NJ time. I met with a realtor on Saturday and we toured 15 houses. After that, I met some colleagues of DH and had dinner with them, then flew home Sunday morning. I'm still exhausted! We just have to come up with our final wish list and send it to her. Then we can fly out again and hopefully make a decision and an offer. Let's hope for a quick offer on this place and we can be on our way!

Thanks for looking!

More Welcome Neighbor Fun

I am loving this little paper pad from the SU! Sale-a-bration!! It has so many cute patterns inside. And I LOVE the colors :)

Here I used the Bermuda Bay and Pretty in Pink with some Melon Mambo and Kraft. I also used the new heart punch and some Thickers that were in my stash. In fact, they've been in my stash so long they are no longer sticky - I had to glue them down. So this card fits the Monday Lunchtime Sketch from Mary Jo and the EONAC to use stickers! Yeah, double duty :)

I've been very selfish this week and have been using naptime to stamp. Although I have been caught up on laundry, that's about the only chore I've been keeping up with this week. I did go to the grocery store yesterday and have been cooking dinner, but that's about it. Oh, and Justin is making sure I make my bed every day :)

Tomorrow, it's a cleaning marathon as my mom is coming!! We have 65 baby shower favors to make by Tuesday when she leaves, so we'll be busy! I hope they come out as cute as they are in my head. I'll share when we're done. Meanwhile, look for a couple more posts of what I've created all week. Thanks for looking!

Mom, Don't Look!

This card combines the F4A7 challenge at SCS (it used to be the Limited Supply challenge), the sketch from Technostamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch 116, and the EONAC 12 to use up scraps. Who doesn't have scraps? I save every last bit of paper and am embarrassed to see how big my scrap stash really is. It's fun to go through the stash and try to remember what the original project was. Sometimes I think, "Oh, yeah, I loved that card." And sometimes "Oh, WHAT was I thinking?"

The papers here were sent to me in a swap a looong time ago, and the base is Rose Red. The letters are from MFT's Bling Bet and are decorated with Liquid Pearls. They are mounted on circles and Blossom One die cuts. I realize the Blossom layers should have been a lighter color to make them stand out a little more, but it's done.

We have had quite a week around here and are looking forward to a quiet weekend. I hope you have a good one! Thanks for looking!

It Can't Be Thursday Again Already!

Man, what a couple of weeks! Here's a recipe that creates NO stamping time: Add together one spring break for Justin a road trip for Easter. Stir in a sick Carter, including a trip to the doctor and hospital for chest x-rays. Toss in a business trip for DH and a sleepless Mama. Oh, and discussions on a big relocation in the not-too-distant future. Not fun...

Finally I had time to sit at my desk this morning, and the EONAC challenge 10 was the perfect one for me. This week, it is to finish those projects that are half-way done! I had these paper pieces cut on my desk from the last time I created, and the sentiments were printed from Sheetload of Cards over the winter. Maybe even from the Fall. Basically, I just assembled the pieces and didn't even stamp anything new. I do like the color combination, though!

To play along on SCS today with the Ways to Use it Challenge, I turned the sentiments on an angle. It worked perfectly because they are a little long for a standard A2 sized card.

I have more pieces in another dp to use up, but we'll see when I have more time. I think I hear Carter thumping in his crib upstairs now. I hope you have a good day and thanks for looking!

Two Challenges Sunday

I was able to sneak in a tiny bit of stamp time this morning, and whipped up these two cards. They were super quick because I only stamped the sentiment on one, the rest is all dp and embellies.

The first card is for the CPS160 sketch, which is very nice and easy! I might try it again later in the week with a long card, too. I do have three birthday cards to make this week for sweet little girls we know! The papers are Deja Views Fresh Print in Plum Stripes and Plum Blossoms. Rick rack and brads are from my stash. The "hi" tag is from a pack of tags I bought at Target years ago! Love that I can use up this stuff finally! The layers under the tag are cut with the Blossom dies from Nestabilities.

The second card is for the EONAC10, in which the sentiment is to take center stage. I have other ideas for this challenge, too. Hopefully I'll get to those later this week, too! So many stamp ideas, so little time :(

I used some EK Success Stacy Claire Boyd papers, Timeless Teal (from the Tres Chic Peacock Collection) that I have had in my pile for a long time. It doesn't have a date on it, but it has to be at least 2 years old. I love the colors, but always thought it would conflict with any image I paired it with. Pairing it with just a sentiment works! The sentiment is from Verve.

I hope you are having a good Sunday. We are expecting 3-5 inches of rain over the next few days, so I'm hoping the basement stays dry again. DH is headed out of town tonight and I don't want to be home alone with any disasters!! Justin is on break this week, so a couple of rainy days are going to be a blast. Maybe he'll want to stamp with me :)

Thanks for looking!

Puffy Paint and Stickles!

This week's EONAC was to use something messy. I have included acrylic paint, puffy paint and Stickles on this project. Originally, I also included heat embossing, but that part of the project got trashed. I tried to emboss snow falling on the glass to this frame, but it smudged, and then didn't fit with the popped-up snowmen. And strangely, the frame came with slightly tinted glass and made the image look funky, so it's just as well.

The image is Flaky Friends by SU! and is also what I used for Tracy's Christmas Card challenge this month. I am entering this project as my 3-d project this month. It was a bit cuter in my head, but I like how it turned out overall. The snowflakes are from that never-ending stash of confetti I've been trying to use up. The ribbon is from Target after Christmas a couple years ago. The frame is from the craft store, or maybe even the dollar store. I've had it around that long!

Tomorrow is the last day of school before Justin is on Spring Break, so I don't know how much I'll be creating next week. Maybe I can sneak some time in this weekend while DH is in town (he leaves again Sunday). We'll see. I hope you all have some quality crafting time in your future! Thanks for looking!

EONAC: Coloring with Chalks

Here we are at Monday again, and the weekend is a distant memory. I did have some time to play in my stamp room yesterday, but Justin wanted to create with me and I spent most of my time helping him make his cards (he CASEd two of mine from last week!). I also had a killer headache most of the day and that cramped my mojo a little, too.

These little notes are all I managed to make this weekend - using the SU! hostess set, Of The Earth. I colored the images using the Chalkboard Technique, which satisfies the EONAC challenge to use a forgotten coloring too. My chalks were buried in the back of a drawer and it was fun to use them again with this cool technique! The papers are all from the scrap pile, with the exception of the Kraft card bases on the larger cards. The embossing is done with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. The most used folder in my collection, how about yours?

We are drying out after a horrifically rainy weekend. So many of our friends have flooded basements, but somehow we managed to avoid that. We did move most of our things up from the basement just in case, though. I hope you are all doing well and are spared from any wicked weather. Bring on the sunshine! Thanks for looking!

EONAC Delight

This EONAC challenge kicked my butt, because I decided to drag out the Stamp-a-ma-jig. It was an exercise in frustration, with the original idea ending up as a series of smudges. There's a reason that is a forgotten tool! I ruined one of the last pieces of Very Vanilla CS I had - my SU! order better arrive quickly :)

The card is inspired by a bra in the latest Kohl's ad that came in the mail. I cropped the image so you could still see the pattern, but so that it was not obvious I was posting a bra on my blog! I used Perfectly Plum, So Saffron and Regal Rose inks along with the Delight in Life stamp set (one of my oldies-but-goodies). I used the SAMJ to line up the flower centers with the flowers and also to make the background on the plum layer. The sentiment is stamped on Regal Rose on So Saffron cs, cut out with the Labels Three die. The ribbon is from my stash, along with the rhinestones.

Today is a beautiful day and Carter and I have already taken a walk. I've gotten 4 loads of laundry done and have started to dig out the playroom/den. Just a touch of spring fever has me wanting everything CLEAN! I hope you have a good day, too. Thanks for looking!

Never Give Up

I'm still not sure if I like this card, even letting it sit over night. What's the problem? Maybe it's the yarn on the kite body that's rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe it's the bright yellow that is contrasting my cranky mood, making me almost smile when I don't feel like it? Who knows. Maybe it's the laundry that I know is waiting to be put away as I write this post!!

Anyway, this is for the EONAC this week - to use ribbon bits. I have TONS of ribbon bits because I'm too cheap to throw anything away! Seriously, you should see the tiny scraps of stuff I have in jars and bowls in my craft room :) You'd think I grew up in the Great Depression or something. The sentiment on this card is from Verve Stamps, Believe set. Julee donated $10 of each of these sets purchased to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. I love it - it has some beautiful flowers and of course the cancer ribbons that you can make in any color, along with Julee's great sentiments!

Well, I'm off to take advantage of nap time. Who knows how long it will last today. I hope you're all having a good day! Thanks for looking!

Lost Treasures

For this week's EONAC (number 6 already), the task was to use Primas or other flowers. We ALL have buckets of them, don't we? I know I do. Mine are in a pretty square glass bowl that is overflowing! I dug through the bowl for all these white and turquoise ones, and a few browns and assembled them with antique pewter brads. The paper was discovered in my stash as I was cleaning out and filling up my new paper rack. I was able to make this set of 4 note cards using the MFT sentiments. These were super-simple and highlight the pretty primas. I found lots of cool papers in my stash as I was filling the rack, so there are more sets like this to come as I try to USE everything!
That's it for today. I didn't get to stamp this weekend as my brother and family were visiting. My mom came down also, but had to leave earlier than expected because they were getting more snow at home. We had a great time seeing my brother and family and watching the cousins run around together. Makes me wish we lived closer every time we get together!
Hope you are having better weather than is coming our way. Stay warm and Thanks for looking!

Rule Number One: Follow Directions!

I have two cards to show today because I didn't do what I'm always telling Justin to do - read the directions first! So when I originally skimmed the EONAC5 post here, I missed that it was a sketch AND color challenge. Silly me, the sketch is right there! I sat down and made this pretty daisy card yesterday with some Kaleidoscope papers I found when sorting and filling my paper rack. The stamp is Daisy Jar by CHF and the sentiment is from Verve.
The second card here actually follows the sketch Allison provided and fills the requirements of the challenge. Orange was to be the primary color, which was intimidating at first, until I found this paper! Good thing I still had some left :) The image here is from SU! Dreams du Jour. A set I had to have and haven't used until today.
I don't know why this card was such a struggle for me - it took a long time to get the elements to work together. I had a raging headache all day, and that could be why. Thankfully DH came home from his business trip and I was able to take a nap before dinner. Couldn't have taken care of the kids myself otherwise!
Have a good night. Thanks for looking!

EONAC #4

This week's Everything Old is New Again Challenge is to use a stamp that you HAD to have, but have hardly used since getting it. I chose this Grillafella from Stamping Bella. I went through a phase of buying a bunch of Bella stamps, especially Fellas for those tricky masculine cards, and have not used them very often.

I had these dp scraps on my desk from making Justin's Valentines, so I cut a few into squares to patchwork the background. The image is colored with Bic Mark It markers - cheap, but effective. The base card is craft and I added some brads and piercing. The sentiment was also sitting on my desk and I don't know who made it...

Well, I'm logging off to watch the rest of the Survivor Heroes v Villains premier. CBS is really trying to compete with the Olympics! Good thing we just got a DVR :)

Have a good night! Thanks for looking!

Quick! Take A Photo While the Sun Shines!

We got a little snow overnight - just enough to be pretty on the trees, but not enough to make a mess of things. I like it that way! I wish I had the camera this morning when we were leaving to bring Justin to school, because our neighborhood cardinal was sitting in the neighbor's tree and looked so pretty against the white. He doesn't look that red in summer!

For today's card, I used the Everything Old Is New Again Challenge which you can find on Sue's blog.
The challenge this week was to find old ink pads that have not been used and incorporate them into your project. I chose Tangerine Tango, Perfectly Plum and Barely Banana. Not three colors I would immediately think of to combine, but I do like the finished product. The main image and sentiment stamps are Best Blossoms, and I used the rock and roll technique on the flowers. The background layers have French Script and CHF's Pretty Pattern. The ribbon is from my stash and the centers of the flowers are dew drops.

DH returns from a business trip tomorrow night and I can't wait! I need some SLEEP. Just when I think Carter is doing better at night, he reverts to feeding every 3 to 4 hours. The thing is, he seems genuinely hungry, so how can I let him cry? The killer is when I just get him back down at 6am and Justin comes in to wake me for breakfast at 7... If only I was a morning person!

Hope you are having a good week. Thanks for looking!