SPLASH'n FUN / USSIS #57...

Here's my baby, playing in the tub...giving him a bath means YOU get one, too! Alex has had strep the last few days - fun, fun! So obviously my stamp time has gone out the window... but my huggy/snuggly time with Alex has trippled! He's usually too busy getting into things to think of me...- lol!

I did manage some digital scrapping... which is becoming rather addictive! I used the feel the way about digital photography the way I've felt about digital scrapbooking - UGH! I loved working in the darkroom and resisted getting a digital camera forever. But once I did, I was glad. With scrapping - it's something I love, working with the paper, ribbon, but I just don't have time. It takes me longer than a card, so I stick to cards! But digital scrapping - it IS an art, just different. I can sit on the couch with my laptop & hubby at night, instead of being in another room. And with Alex sick right now, I can steal a couple minutes without leaving the room...

This week's Unscripted Sketch is SUPER FUN! It was cool to use the square element to showcase a few smaller photos... if you have the time, you should play along this week! I used KateF's kit Dibble Dabble that I found at pickleberrypop, the tag and stitching are from other kits. I need to go buy another flash drive for all these digi kits!

Bye for now...

SO SWEET / FTL #91 & SCIC #3...

I bought a new border punch a couple/few weeks ago & hadn't made a flower out of it yet, so I figured I better go ahead & get it out of my system - lol!

I started this card on Tuesday night (around 11pm!) and just didn't get to finish it until last night... not that it was overly complicated, I just didn't get any stamping time... I loved the inspiration over at Stampin' Celebration! - I hate that I couldn't get it done to enter. Have you checked it out? They have so many wonderful "not just a card" samples each week! I also used this week's Fall-to-Layout for this card.

The pleated layer under the ribbon is vellum. I bought a pack of vellum about 10 years ago while I was taking a digital printmaking class, 250 sheets, and I think I have 15 sheets left! I love that stuff! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. The paper is from Stampin' Up!'s Bella Bleu collection, so lovely. I used SU's 3 flower punch for the purple flower under the pearl brad. The background was embossed with a SU! texture plate - I took Kari's advice and added some extra cardboard to the sandwich before running it through the Big Shot to get a deeper impression, worked like a charm!

Bye for now...

YOU MAKE ME SMILE + FLOWERS / CD #68...

Time for some Color Dare action... Riley got her days mixed up & posted this week's challenge a day early [before I could get my sample to her... ] haven't we all been there? Half the time I don't know WHAT day it is ~ LOL!

I've been seeing so many cards lately that were very graphic & square~ish, so I thought I'd go with that for this card! It only took 5 minutes to put together, using punches & dies! The paper is Stampin' Up! & the dies are Papertrey Ink. The sentiment is PTI & I used their white hybrid ink - isn't it amazing? SO WHITE! I have a confession, though... when I first pulled the ink out of the box it looked brown! I was so ticked! I told my husband, "how could they pack this and not notice it isn't WHITE?!? Then I realized the "clear" lid on it was actually tinted brown... how much of a dork am I?!?! Sorry, PTI - I should have never doubted you!

Bye for now...

ELI & BUTCH / CQC #34 & TESC #114...

HaPpY TuEsDaY! We have some awesome 'boyish' colors over at the colourQ this week... Having a rambunctious little boy myself, I really enjoy the challenge of boy cards!

I paired the colourQ challenge with Taylor's cute sketch... a couple of the DT at the colourQ did, too - which I think is super neat!

This image has been sitting on my desk for a while, just waiting to be colored... it's from Mo's Digital Pencil, called Eli. Her little boy digi stamps are so SWEET! I can't wait to build things like this with Alex! The sentiment is retired Stampin' Up!... sorry I can't remember the name!

This morning when I was feeding to dog, Alex started calling out "Chen, Chen..." which is meant to be Chance. It's so cute listening to his new words - he's started immitating so many things that we say... which at some point could be scary - lol! Alex does impress, amaze and inspire me, though, I love seeing the world through his eyes!

Have a beautiful day & thanks for dropping by!

LOADS OF BIRTHDAY FUN / TSG #56 & CP #65...

HEY HEY - It's Jessica's birthday! The Trendsetters planned a little surprise blog hop to honor her birthday - isn't that cool?!?

So for this week's 'On the Edge' challenge over at There She Goes, we were to alter our corners & use a border punch... so my altered corner serve as the 'embellishment' for the sketch challenge from Card Patterns - which I also turned on it's side!

This set is Loads of Fun from There She Goes, and it IS loads of fun! I used the word 'birthday' from TSG's set, Aim for the Clouds. TSG's challange last week was to use lineart as a background, so I used it again this week... I'd fogotten how neat it is. The patterend paper is from My Mind's Eye, Quite Contrary, Mary Mary, Best of Friends - what an astonishingly long name! The cardstock & ribbon is from Stampin' Up!, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze & Gable Green.

Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA, I hope it's a great one & that you don't have to do any laundry! And if you see this, email your address to me & I'll send you your card!!!

Bye for now~

MANLY ARGYLE BIRTHDAY / MTSC #73 & THS #4...

I made this card for my FIL's birthday a couple weeks ago... and then forgot to post it! He's the kinda guy that doesn't mind a little ribbon - lol!

This is the first time I played along with the monthly color challenge over at Two Happy Stampers- I figured I could get away with the Rose Red if I only used a little! I paired it with Mercy's awesome little sketch... even though the deadline has long passed for this sketch, you should go check out her current one! And you still have a week if you want to play along with the Two Happy Stampers!

The argyle stamps & buttons are from Papertrey Ink, the label stamp is from Waltzingmouse & the sentiment, cs & ribbons are Stampin' Up!

Hope your Monday is awesome~ thanks for stopping by!

SWEET FAMILY / USSIS #56...

Happy Saturday! For this week's Unscripted Sketch Sketch It Saturday challenge I made a digital layout. I'm really starting to enjoy digital scrapping these days... it super fun! (I don't think this morning's challenge is up yet as I write this, so if you're wanting to get a head start, feel free!)

Every once in a while Alex decides he wants to "hold baby", and this time I snapped some pictures! I used a couple digital kits I found over at Two Peas in a Bucket for this layout. The first kit is 'Bloom' by Vinnie Pearce, from which I used the papers. The other kit is by Brandy Buffington, called 'My Animal Friends', from which I used the tags & alphabet. The buttons and some of the stitching are from a Michelle Underwood kit. I used brads and the eyelet punch border from Stampin' Up!.

Amazingly I already had the font, called Little Days which I'd downloaded from Urban Fonts. I love this site, not only because of the free fonts, but you can also type in some text & the examples of the faults will be displayed in what you type. TOO COOL!

Hope you're having a great weekend so far & don't forget to make a little time to play this week's Unscripted sketch... we'd love to see your take on it!

Bye for now~

CIRCLE FLOWER FRAME/ /PDCC #30...

I bought one of those $1 wooden frames last week from Michael's & had NO PLAN for it... until I saw the super sweet colors over at the Play Date Cafe this week!

I was on LeAnne's blog yesterday looking at this card & she has a link to a cool Lolly Chops tutorial. Well, hours later as I was clicking all over Lolly Chops site, I came across these super cool flowers that originally came from Julie Edmonds. They both used felt, but I really wanted to use paper... Since the flower is too gargantuan for an envelope, i decided not to do a card & to use the frame instead... I'd be shocked if this whole project cost more than a couple bucks!

It's almost 2 am - think I should go to bed now...

Nighty-night!

BON VOYAGE / ACT #30, JAI #18 & CCCB #5...

Everyone is in bed... YAY STAMP TIME! I put this card together really quick, so I could enter Stacey's challenge...

This card is for 3 challenges... Stacey's perplexing colors, Just Add ink's sketch & City Crafter's Parisian theme!

The image of the Eiffel Tower is printed clip art I Googled, and then I used Papertrey Ink's Damask stamp to add the pink. The kraft layer has 2 retired Stampin' Up! background stamps, the Harlequin inked with black and French Script inked with Soft Suede. I hand wrote the sentiment.

On a side note, today has been tragic. A family that attends church with my grandparents lost their 2 year old in an accidental drowning. Please pray for this family. As a mom of a two year old, my heart breaks for them & I can't fathom how one would be able to live with such a horrific, unbearable tragedy. Hearing news like this shakes me to the core.

DARLING DUDS / CP #64 & PTW...

Isn't this image adorable? Who wouldn't think little clothes hanging on a line isn't cute? I couldn't resist it...

I used the sketch from Card Patterns & moved it around a little for this baby card, and also used the challenge of incorporating flowers from Papertake Weekly... the flowers are in the paper.

This is a digital image by Kathy Martin, called Darling Duds. I used Jen Allyson's Spot Color Simple Shades #1 digital papers from Two Peas in a Bucket. The image was digitally paper-pieced, but I did cut out the little clothes and pop them up with 3D dots. The safety pin is from my 4 year old embellishment stash... I don't think I've EVER used one - lol! The punch is from Martha Stewart, the Pinking Edge Scallop. Cardstock & ribbon used is from Stampin' Up! - Regal Rose & Sage Shadow.

Happy Thursday!

LOADS OF {dirty} FUN / MTSC #74, TSG #55 & CTD #93...

Here's a wacky card I threw together this morning... I honestly never thought I'd use this sentiment, either! I think it's fun, though...

I combined three challenges for this naughty little card (let's not go there), Mercy's brilliant sketch that I once again adulterated~ actually I forgot about the bottom panel because I didn't have her sketch in front of me this morning. I also used the gorgeoux [pronounced gorjwa] colors from the Throwdown and a cool technique challenge from There She Goes to use line art as a background.

The super cute laundry basket is from There She Goes, as is the scandalous sentiment... as you can see this is a beautifully quirky set called Loads of Fun! I LOVE IT! There are a whole bunch of other sentiments as well, that are sassy & sweet! I suppose I could have emphasized the detergent bottle, but it didn't seem as cool as the panties - lol!

My mom said, "Who are you giving this to?" If I don't give it to hubby, no one's getting it! I'll probably just pack it away in one of the many boxes of cards I have. Jeff thinks I should sell them on Etsy... anyone try that? What has your experience been?


Bye for now & thanks for dropping in!