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!

For My Little Love Bug

This week's Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch was a fun one! You can find Sketch 108 HERE.

I needed to make my son a Valentine card, so I sat down last night after they went to bed and made this one. He loved it and chuckled this morning over the heart on the bug instead of a spot! The papers are all scraps of red, white, and black. The ribbons on the left are from my stash and the dots are a strip of Target DP from last year (or maybe even the year before). The image and sentiment are Kim Hughes for CHF.

I'm off to wake up Carter who has been a VERY sleep baby last night. He gave me the best gift ever - went to bed at 6:30 and didn't wake up till 4, then went down again at 4:30 and is still sleeping (it's 8am now). Have a Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Thanks for looking!

My Punny Valentine

These are the Valentine cards Justin gave to his friends at school. The red were for the girls and the blue for the boys. I used SU! Pun Fun and colored them with markers. Quick and easy with some layers of DCWV Spring Stack dp and 1/4 inch ribbon. Since the kids were snowed out of school last week on Wednesday and Thursday, then had a long weekend for President's day, they just went back to school yesterday. Talk about a surprise break! All the parents were happy to have them back in school - I thought we were early for drop off yesterday and the line of cars was already down the street!

Those 6 days of Justin home and DS on a business trip really cramped my stamping style. However, I did run out on Saturday afternoon before DS flew out and shopped a bit. I picked up a paper rack from an art store that was going out of business. I had no idea that it was going out of business, and ran in for a flesh colored marker only to find the store empty and all fixtures for sale. It was the last day they were there, and I snagged it for a pretty good deal. I'm filling it up and it will be SO much better to see all my papers when crafting!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! 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!

Teacher Valentine

The sentiment inside this card will be "You are the apple of my eye." LOL. I made it for Justin's teacher, using some DCWV papers (those packs last forever, don't they??) and some Imaginesce Snag 'Em stamps. The apple actually has a face on it, but I masked it off. The card base is Rose Red and the white panel is Cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dots folder. The sketch is from Techno Stamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #107. At first, this sketch intimidated me, and I mulled it over all week long. Finally I had some time to create last night and got this done!

Hopefully today I'll have more time to play in my stamp room. I need to spend some time cleaning it up, then I'll have room to create! It's a disaster since I dash in to make a card and push everything aside when it's time to make the next one. Have a great Sunday, everyone! 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!

Happy Birthday, PTI!

Have you been over to the Papertrey Ink blog yet to see the birthday celebrations? Yesterday they had a fun scavenger hunt, today it's a card challenge. More will follow for the rest of the week!

Here's my entry for today's birthday card challenge. I chose the image from Becky Oehlers, from her new line of stamps. I can't wait to see the whole set, because this little house image is too cute! I had fun layering the elements and stitching (my first stitching on a card) :)

I used my Bic Mark Its to color and then stitched with embroidery floss. The sky and grass are sponged with Bashful Blue and Wild Wasabi inks. The sentiment is from my stash - don't know the maker. The button is also from my stash.

Happy Birthday to PTI - here's to many more years of great designs! Thanks for looking!