BABY BOY CARD...

I had a baby shower to go to tonight, so I whipped up this quick card using Stampin' Up!'s Nursery Necessities... I love it! The paper had some sparkle on it, so I used Iridescent Ice EP on the little elephant. Have a great weekend~ I'm off to bed!

Nighty night,

CSCC # 7 - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Well, after a very long day of running from Nana & Grandad's house to Oma's house...and eating at each stop, we survived Alex's first Thanksgiving! Poor baby, he's a week shy of 6 months, has no teeth, and wanted so badly to get his tiny hands on a turkey leg!

My Aunt Cindy emailed a couple days ago commenting that Alex looked like Charlie Brown with his round head now that it had straightened out (he was a baby conehead when he was born~ Jeff thought it would stay that way! LOL!) When my dad read her email to me, I thought it was funny she should say that, considering this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge was A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!

Dad wanted me to dress Alex up in yellow & draw Charlie Brown on the back of his head & take pictures (which I was fully willing to do...) but I couldn't find a yellow shirt. I did find some giant brown ric-rac that I would have put on the shirt, but instead incorporated onto the page.

I'm pretty much a newbie at scrapbooking, this is probably only my 2nd page ever! I better get with it, though, he's growing up really fast! This is the first page (of many~ I took pics all day!) of documenting his day today, so I thought I'd do a little Photoshop magic & turn him into Charlie Brown. I hope he won't think his mom's a kook when he gets older!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

MOJO Monday #62/ KWERNER's Color Challenge #32...

Yay~ here's a card I'm happy about! This is for Mojo Monday #62 and Kwerner's Color Challenge #32. The colors really looked Valentine-ish to me... so what the heck!

I used the Stampin' Up! sets Priceless, Baroque, and Wonderful Words! Also used Iridescent Ice EP on the red heart (yes~ it was stamped in Ridinghood Red classic ink, but as long as it's moist the EP will stick! It also helps that vellum doesn't soak it is like cardstock, so the image stays juicy a little long enough to dust it with EP) and Ridinghood Red taffeta ribbon. The other heart is the faux metal technique. The punch is Martha Stewart and the sticky half-pearls... who knows?

I used a sponge dauber and Ridinghood Red ink on the "lace"... something else you can't see is the red heart is stamped on vellum, and on the vanilla layer underneath are swirls from the pricelss set embossed in white ep... they kinda show through the vellum in real life!

Thanks for looking,

BEATE's Weekend Sketch Challenge #67/ MDCC#20

It's late, I'm tired, and it shows... but I decided good, bad or ugly, I would find time to stamp everyday... so here it is. It is what it is!

I used Beate's sketch and a color challenge from a site I found today, Mothers and Daughters Creations. The colors are Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow and Ridinghood Red.

For some reason I find the color challenges difficult. I never really seem to put together a balance. My card's Feng Shui seems to go terribly wrong somewhere...

I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away at those color challenges...

Sleepily,

TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS Cupcake Challenge #43 & KWERNER Color Inspiration #31...

Well, I couldn't help myself... I came home, fed bebe Alex and he's happily watching Baby Einstein, so I made another card using the color inspiration from kwernerdesign.com! I've also loosely based this card on Taylor's Cupcake Challenge... obviously this is not a cupcake~ sorry! (The cupcake stamps are coming out next, as long as Alex is happy!)

All supplies are Stampin' Up!, except the hardware... and I just love this stamp set, Harvest Home, which I used a few weeks ago on a card. The paper is Haiku.

Have a great weekend!!!

PCP Color Challenge #2/ Amy R's Friday Sketch! #37...

Wow~ I'm not sure I've ever done a card without layers before! It's a lot harder than it looks!The sketch was from Amy's Friday Sketch! from Prairie Paper and Ink... I somehow ended up on her blog a couple weeks ago... her work is really fabulous!

The color challenge is from a new(ish) site called Paper Craft Planet (PCP for short~ yeah, hope no one gets the wrong idea about a PCP challenge~LOL! Could get kinda cRaZy if you know what I mean...) Getting back on track, that challenge forum can be found here.

I used Stampin' Up!'s Mr. Twigster for this card, dry embossed a scallop circle and embossed the sentiment with iridescent ice.

Yay, tomorrow's Friday~ gotta get some sleep now!

KWERNER's Color Inspiration #31

My mom's birthday is tomorrow (today)... I made this card for her using Color Inspiration #31 over at kwernerdesign.com.

The image is actually the cupcake from stamping bellas cuppacakeabella... I just covered it with punched out vellum flowers!

I'm up late~ off to bed!

Bye for now,

MOCHA COCOA MIX IN A JAR...

Can you say "Yummy gift?" idea... I found the recipe below for Mocha Cocoa Mix on the Country Living website that looked perfect to make as little gifts!

I used my Nestability circle scallop dies with my Sizzix Big Shot for this gift. The image is from TayloredExpressions.com, the set is Season's Sweetings. The papers are Stampin' Up!'s Riding Hood Red cardstock and Ski Slope designer series paper. I used SU's Sticky Strip to adhere everything to the jar. I cut another scallop to put on the lid with the instructions for the cocoa.

Mocha Cocoa MixFrom Country Living (This recipe has been tested by Country Living)

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa, such as Valrhona
3 1/2 tablespoon(s) instant espresso
1 cup(s) sugar
16 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks

DIRECTIONS
1 - Make the mix: Combine all ingredients except the cinnamon sticks in a medium bowl. Transfer the cocoa to an airtight container. Store for up to 6 months.
2 - To make cocoa, whisk 2 tablespoons of the mix with 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the cocoa dissolves. Add 3/4 cup milk and a cinnamon stick and whisk until heated through. Serve immediately.

Enjoy~

TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS~ Cupcake Challenge #42

Here's my entry for this week's Cupcake Challenge! Last week I ordered 2 sets of her cute little cupcakes, Home Sweet Home and Season's Sweetings, which I used here. This sketch was great, and I'm finding that participating in these sketches is really expanding my creativity!

This card is all paper pieced, which seems to be my favorite thing to do right now! I also used lots of brads (Stampin'Up's More Mustard and Pretty in Pink). I'm usually far too stingy with brads and buttons... I'm trying to be better about that! Also used were Stampin' Up cardstock in Old Olive, More Mustard (the star), Always Artichoke and Riding Hood Red, as well as designer series prints papers in Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss, and lastly Sweet Always for the cupcake top! If you don't see a paper or brad mentioned... it's probably because it's from a competitor...oops!~(but you can email me to find out the details)!


The only other special thing I did was to use some funky tinsel ribbon on the tree... isn't it pretty? That was one of my scores from Target this past weekend! YAY!



Have a great Monday!

CSCC #6 - Gone With the Wind...

Well, we only got a sneak peek today, but I'm pretty sure this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is Gone With the Wind! If you have not played along yet you should!

I was inspired by Scarlett's ruffled white dress!
For this card I used vellum, which I punch with the Fiskars 'Eyelet' border punch. I also used Stampin' Up!'s stamp sets Priceless and Warm Words. I used Regal Rose 5/8' grosgrain ribbon and for the word cherish, I stamped it in Regal Rose craft ink, which I embossed with iridescent ice ep! The heart was stamped in Pink Pirouette classic ink. The card base was also Pink Pirouette.


Thanks for looking,

AN OLDIE~ BUT A GOODIE...

A co-worker of mine is getting married and her shower is today... I kept remembering & forgetting to make her a card. So I ran home at lunch & whipped this up! This retired Stampin' Up! set seems to be my "go to" set when I need to stamp a quick wedding card. I really love it~ it's such a sweet little image!

I colored a white Prima flower with a pretty in pink marker, put it behind another white flower & adhered it with a pink rhinestone brad. The border punch is from Martha Stewart. The dsp is once again, Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Always.

Bye for now!

KWERNER's Color Inspiration #30

This week's color challenge (thanks so much Kristina Werner!) is a wonderful palette, full of old olive/certainly celery/sahara sandy goodness!

I stamped the flowers of Inspired by Nature on whisper white cardstock in sahara sand ink, which I had 'wiped' onto the stamp in a vertical motion. On sahara cardstock I stamped the grass in olive and celery ( I wiped both colors onto the stamp, celery first, and then applied it to the cardstock) and then the flowers in whisper white craft ink over the grass~ which I then embossed. The "white" embossing powder I had doesn't really look white... oops!

Anyways, I sliced up the sahara cardstock & pasted strips back onto the white cardstock's image, lining the images up. Vi-o-la!


Off to mommy-land, have a great night!

CSCC #5 / MOJO #60

Well, I posted this card kinda late... !

sweet dreams,

MOJO MONDAY SKETCH #59

Happy Monday! My entry for yet another sketch challenge, this time hosted by Julee, blogger & stamper extraordinaire over at Poetic Artistry. She just posted the new challenge for this week... maybe I'll get a jump on it earlier this time around!

Here's another great set from Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Mini Catalog, called Season of Friendship. On this card I used Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard and Chocolate Chip. The patterned paper is Frosty Day DSP.

Hope you have a great day, I'll see you soon!

TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS Cupcake Challenge #41

Okay~ this is my 2nd sketch challenge & I'm having a blast! This one is from another site I follow/stalk called Taylored Expressions. This card served a dual purpose, not only as a challenge, but it was for my niece Abby's birthday as well. She's 7 years old and thought this was "beautiful"... it better be~ I got up at 6 am to make this card~ LOL!

I used cuppacakeabella for the first time on this card ~I had actually lost her! Sorry, bella! Anyway, this was the only other cupcake stamp I had, besides Stampin' Up! cupcakes... but I can see getting some of Taylor's sweet little cupcake stamps in the future!

The paper was again Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Always dsp, which I thought would be perfectly girly for Abby! So I paper-pieced bella's dress and the bottom of the cupcake. The "lace" punched on the bottom of the chocolate chip paper is from Martha Stewart, as is the glitter... I splurged the other night & bought the huge glitter pack... yay! I used a brad on the top of the cupcake & put a drop of Crystal Effects on it to make it shiny.

And again I used the funky "frosting" on this one, too. I wanted to give credit to the lady I learned this from on my previous kwerner post, but I had forgotten where I found it! Well here it is, super easy & super cool! After applying the "frosting" and heating it, I let it cool, dipped my paint brush in craft ink, painted it, and then sprinkled on some glitter. I really love this technique, and have excitedly used it on a few cards now! Thank you so much Donna Centamore (Butternut Sage Designs)! You can watch her video to learn how!

nighty night,

VERVE Holiday Release Sketch Challenge #1

I stumbled onto this challenge by Verve Stamps, on their main blog, which then led me to the Verve Stamps Forum on SplitCoastStampers.com. Starting this past Tuesday, they have had a sketch challenge everyday through Saturday, leading up to the release of their new stamps! I don't own any, but may re-think that soon! Also- I've never done a sketch challenge before, so since I've been in a "challenging" mood this week, I thought~ what the heck!

For this card I used Chocolate Chip card stock (obviously a color I care a lot about... I have to fight myself to make a card without it!) and the Stampin' Up! designer series paper, Sweet Always. The other colors are Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie. I think orange and pink are awesome together! The stamp set is A Happy Heart, which is in the Holiday Mini! (See the link for the Mini on the left of this page) I'm not thrilled with the Iridescent Ice embossed whisper white caft ink sentiment... I'll have to figure something else out next time...

bye for now...

CINEMA SATURDAY CREATIVE CHALLENGE #4...

Well, I decided to play along again this week... the movie was Grease, which I have never seen, believe it or not! This may sound un-American, but I have never really wanted to see it, and have actually gone out of my way not to see it!

Anyway, for the 'belts' on the skirts I used ribbon & rhinestone brads (I cut off the metals tines) and glued them on with crystal effects. You can't really tell, but the word sparkle has iridescent ice EP over whisper white craft ink!