Inside Out Card

I had this piece of Basic Grey Junebug paper in my pile, along with this Tangerine Tango card stock, so I put them together today. To mix things up, I put the dp on the inside for the most part, and left a space between the two pieces to write a short note or sign a name. The butterfly punched shape is the Cuttlebug butterfly die. The best part is that now I have a butterfly to add to another project, all ready to go! The sentiment is from Sweet Little Sentiments by SU! There is a strip of lace under the dp on the front of the card, and I added rhinestones to the centers of some of the flowers.

Can you believe Monday is almost over? I see a Starbucks coffee in my future tomorrow morning! I have a list of challenges to get to and we are slowly preparing the house to put on the market, so things are busy busy! I hope you are having a good week! 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!

To My Enablers

I made these cards for my girlfriends, with whom I went on a shopping spree in July. It was a long awaited girls' weekend that we spent shopping, eating and chatting. Those weekends are so few and far between that we all relished it. With 8 kids between the 3 couples, you can imagine it's hard to get away! Never mind that we live in 3 different states :)

The bulk of our shopping took place at the outlets. Of course, I had to get something at Coach (two things actually). The sales were amazing and my favorite item was about half off. Therefore, so was the guilt at getting it! From the bag, I cut the strips of Coach paper and used the Bella stamp along with the Hanna Stamps sentiment to complete the card.

Our newest addition is 16 days old today. So far he has been sleeping, nursing, dirtying diapers and starting that routine all over again. It's so strange to have a newborn in the house again, we are all taking time to adjust. DS #1 started first grade last week, so it will be nice to settle into a routine this coming week. We hope! My mom has been here since Wednesday but goes home today and I will miss those extra hands. She has done all of my laundry for the past days and I feel spoiled... Thanks, MOM!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend and is enjoying the same beautiful weather we are enjoying here. Thanks for looking!

Trying to Get the Mojo Back

This week at work has been completely draining, emotionally and physically. I won't go into the drama, but I'm happy to say that the worst is over and we can go on with our day to day operations again. UGH.

Tonight, I just wanted to spend a little time alone with my stamps, without anyone coming in to demand anything from me. DH and I had dinner and watched a movie, then I had some time to play. I made this card for CPS #82. There are certain sketches I copy down each week, and this is one of them.

I stamped the flower row from A Little Bit of Happiness and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils, then blended. Using my circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities, I cut out parts of the images and layered them on Certainly Celery and orange (Bazzil, but not sure of color name). The DP is We R Memory Keepers White Out collection, Explore - Roam. The felt rick rack is from Wal-Mart and I don't remember where the velvet rick rack is from. The base is a 6x6 Certainly Celery sheet, folded in half.

Well, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow morning I am meeting my walking partner at 7:00 and we'll see how many miles we can cover by 10:30. Have a good night. Thanks for looking!

My Take on SFYTT

Well, I'm happy to report the dizziness is subsiding! Yippee.

ALSO, when I got home from work today, what did I see in my craft room?????????? DAYLIGHT! So, after we change the clocks on Saturday night, I might be coming home to crafting without the glaring overhead lights :)

This past weekend I stole a little while to tackle Jen's Sketch For You To Try. Each week, I print off her sketches, and never get around to completing a card for them. I'm not thoroughly pleased with this card, but I think I know how to improve it. I might make a "take 2" this weekend...I used the new SAB Friendship Blooms (again!), and my new Nestabilities scallop circle dies. The tag is from Target, a long time ago. I colored the flowers in by watercoloring with the same ink - Cool Caribbean, Lavendar Lace and Pretty in Pink. I used my 2-way glue pen to add glitter to the flower centers. The background paper is randomly stamped with the flowers also. This is all mounted on a pink base. Again, don't love it, because the images don't pop enough. But there's hope!

Thanks for all the well wishes as I moan about my dizziness! I really am not a whiner and know that my troubles are nothing compared to what some other bloggers are going through right now.

Have a happy Friday and Thanks for looking!

Bloom Where You're Planted

This card is from my Bella Binge a few weeks ago. Sadly, I have not had a chance to stamp in a week or so. Hopefully I'll sneak some time for ME this weekend between DH's business trips! I just love Veggiebella, and here she is, fresh from the garden...

I used Target DP, scraps of orange and green and white for the sentiment. The flower brads are Making Memories. The ribbon is pieces of scrap from my stash. Bella is colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended. Notice how I'm not coloring in the entire image anymore, but trying to use shading? I doodled around the white spaces with my orange gel pen. The sentiment is from Anita's, found at Michael's a few years ago. She just makes me want to drag out the gardening books and start planning, even though it's freezing here today!

Off to grab some dinner. Thanks for looking!

WCMD Challenge #1

I found this monochromatic challenge here at StampingMathilda for Just Johanna's World Card Making Day celebration. Base is a 5x5 square in yellow. The next panel has the faintest yellow stripe that doesn't really show through in the photo. The next layer is stamped with a flower flourish from Studio G (Michael's dollar bin) in Summer Sun. The smallest layer has the sun from SU's In the Sky stamped in Yo Yo Yellow. The sentiment is also stamped in Summer Sun and is from SU's All Year Cheer I. The bow is a piece of cotton twill dyed with a yellow marker and tied through eyelets. Thanks for looking!

Off to do more challenges. I told Justin he could have a turn on the computer after he counted to 100 bongo drum beats and he's at 90, so I'm off!

RAK For A Cause

Here's my RAK to send to the family mentioned in yesterday's post. I started with a light blue base, which is watermarked with swirls if you look really closely. The floral panel is Sketchy Daisies by Stemma, mounted on a textured mustard panel. The same blue is used for the smaller panel across the bottom and the sentiment (All Year Cheer I) is clear embossed onto a Giga Scalloped Oval punched from the same mustard textured cardstock. I pierced around the scallops to add a little something. Ribbon is from SU! grosgrain collection. Simple, simple, but I hope it brings them a smile.

I also finished my swap cards today. But after they were all sealed and ready to be mailed, I realized I forgot one of the layers I was going to add. Oops. They still look nice without it, but that final layer really made them pop. I'm not tearing them all apart to add it in now, though!

After this week of relaxation, I am tired! How can that be? And is it horrible to say that I have not missed work? Tomorrow is my last day to myself, as my hubby and son will be home with me all weekend. I'm hoping to sneak away for some Card Making Day challenges - we'll see if Justin takes a nap Saturday...

Masculine Card - Birthday or Whatever

This Alpine Socks paper just reminds me of something masculine. Maybe it's the color scheme of the paper or the shimmer in the background color. Whatever the appeal, I really like it and was happy to find that I had purchased 2 pieces of it when I needed to make this card.

My boss' birthday is later this week. We work at a library and spend much of our days drinking tea and chatting (yes, lots of work gets done, too!). I stamped the book stack from Hambo onto a scrap of white and colored with my pencils and blended with OMS, then cut it out and mounted it on vanilla. The bottom is sponged with Really Rust ink. I punched the corners using a small circle punch and mounted it on a blue piece with the same corner treatment. The tea cups are from SU! Year Round Cheer and are stamped with Really Rust on vanilla paper, colored with pencils and blended. The center one is cut out and mounted on a pop dot. This strip is mounted on a blue strip and then attached to the Alpine Socks background. The corners are the same technique as the small panel and adorned with brass brads. The whole is mounted on a rust 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch base.

Since there is no sentiment on the front of this card, it could be for any occasion. I did stamp Happy Birthday inside from SU! Favorite Greetings. Thanks for looking!

Happier than...

Sitting on my stamp shelf is the So Very set that I really like, but have trouble using. So when I saw this stamp on the Hambo Stamps website, I knew I had to get it. Then they posted it to their Seconds Sale when the manufacturer printed it backwards. It was fate. He arrived in my mailbox a few days later (LOVE their fast and cheap shipping!)



The striped paper is from CTMH, I forget the name. I also used some blue textured cs and scraps of pink, brown and white cs. The sentiment is stamped in Close to Cocoa. Mr. Piggy is stamped in basic black, colored with colored pencils and blended with OMS. The white panel with the image is sponged around the edges with Close to Cocoa applied with a cotton ball. I find this gives a better "puff" of color than the sponge that I have. The ribbon is from the clearance bin at AC Moore and is actually a dotted grosgrain that I reversed to show the solid side. That's it, nothing fancy on this card. It was very quick to put together.

I hope others can enjoy my humor. I'm going to send this card to my mom, who will know the ending of the phrase Happier Than.. and get a chuckle out of it. Thanks for looking!

Celebrate the Harvest

Inspiration struck me last night and I ended up staying up waaaaaaaay too late to work on this card. But I had sat at my stamping desk forever and nothing was coming to me. Then when I was thinking of going up to bed, BAM! I knew what I wanted to do. Here it is:

Thanks again to Cindy for the materials for this card. The stamps and patterned paper are from the stash she shared with me. The base is a basic red card stock that I picked up at the clearance section of Target, which is also where I got the black paper. The red houndstooth is from the Provo Craft Holiday Slab V and the apple stamp is from CTMH From the Garden (thanks, Cindy!). The sentiment is from SU! Loads of Love Accessories, and the ribbon is SU! grosgrain. The images and sentiment are stamped on white scrap and ink colors are Ruby Red and Gable Green. I used my small circle punches to notch the corners. I'm still waiting for my ticket corner punch to arrive, and think this technique fills in nicely until it does.

Makes me want to go apple picking and bake pies! Thanks for looking!

Fall is here...

Since Labor Day is officially past, I feel like I can start stamping for Fall. It is my favorite season. Apple picking, cool, crisp air, baking. Each Fall is like a new start for me. Maybe it's from all those years of schooling!

This card is a favorite of my creations. I used a great rust cs base, and beautiful patterned paper from Frances Meyer called East India. The maple leaf is from SU! Tags & More, stamped on a scrap that I chalked to match the patterned paper. The same technique was used on the diamond scraps for the oak leaf, from Year Round Cheer. The leaf panels are all layered on more of the rust cs. Using Brushstroke Alphabet, I freehanded the sentiment. I think the only ink color used is Really Rust.

While working in my new space this weekend, I stumbled on a solution to a problem I've been having with my cards. I have been using the cheap-o packaged blank cards from the craft store. Problem is that the size is 5x7, which leaves the scale of the images out of whack. I think the reason I like this fall card so much is that I cut the base card myself and the layout works much better in the smaller space. So what do I do with all those blank cards? And when will I have time to get to the craft store to stock up on more colors of cardstock?

My husband is heading out of town again for the week, so I am hoping to have some stamping time when my son goes to bed at night. I will take some pics of the new stamping space, too! Thanks for looking!

It's Your Day! masculine card

Here's another masculine card. I've been trying to increase my stock of these, and my neighbor has a birthday next week. He's an older gentleman, and I thought this would be a nice card for him.

I used (again!) a cream base. The images are stamped in Chocolate Chip on cream squares that were then sponged with Really Rust. I had never tried that technique, but I really like how it turned out. The cream was just too stark with the Choc Chip, and this blended nicely. The squares were mounted as a diamond onto textured blue cs. These were then attached to three wide panels of KI Memories patterned paper, Alpine Socks. Its very nice paper with a tiny bit of shimmer in the base color. After attaching all this to the brown panel, I tied dark brown ribbon (from a party favor!) around the left side, tying in a simple knot. The images are from SU! Year Round Cheer, which is an older set that I find to be really versatile.

Again tonight, I didn't have much time to stamp, but I did play around with a few techniques. The mineral spirits also work to blend my budget Crayola colored pencils and the resulting smooth color is wonderful. I don't quite have the budget to justify Copic markers or even Prismacolor pencils, and this will be a nice fill in until I can make the splurges! There is too much to explore and not enough hours in the day to try everything. I keep a list of things I would like to try and then when I sit down to stamp, it's there to prompt me. Do you do the same, or does inspiration strike when you sit down at your stamping space?

Thanks for looking! Have a good night.