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First Edition Moment

First Edition Moment published on 14 Comments on First Edition Moment

I had a little time today to play some challenges that I love.  What a bonus!  Stampin’ Celebration is one of my favorite inspiration sites and they have a really pretty piece this week.  At least on my computer, I saw River Rock, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla as the way to go.  I also found a great sketch over at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge so off to stamping I went.

The colors really made me want to play with my Every Moment stamp set.  This was one of the first sets in this year’s catalog that I completely fell in love with!!  I have also seen the friends of this little chickadee on my bird feeder lately.  Hopefully I captured his colors closely.  I used some of the First Edition DSP in the background for some visual texture and sponged it with Soft Suede and Early Espresso on the edges.  The image was watercolored using River Rock, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  I really LOVE those colors together!  For the last detail, some Espresso Satin Ribbon was cinched in a bow using an Antique Brad.

I had some trouble capturing this card.  It just seems prettier in person but you get the idea, at least.  So happy to have you drop in today.  I’ll be back tomorrow with another ColorLab Challenge.  Until then, have a great day!

Stamp:  Every Moment; Paper:  First Edition DSP (Occasions Mini), Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Watercolor, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  River Rock, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Antique Brads, Blender Pen

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ColorLab 22

ColorLab 22 published on 10 Comments on ColorLab 22

Beautiful blues!!  That pretty much sums up the color challenge from ColorLab this week.  Take a look at this wonderful inspiration:

While I have to admit that it was really tempting to be literal with the challenge and use snowflakes (and I am certain that it would be pretty together), I really need a birthday card.  I also “needed” to finally pull out my new things from the upcoming Occasions Mini to put them through their paces.  I opted for the beautiful flowers from Fast & Fabulous (Hostess Level 2).  I initially inked the filler stamp with Baja Breeze and then sponged on Marina Mist and Pacific Point.  Then I inked the outline stamp with Night of Navy.  The new Framed Tulips Impressions Folder was used for the side panels.  Finally, I layered the Night of Navy Satin Ribbon with the new Baja Breeze Seam Binding and cinched the bow with a button.  The layout come from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 97

I hope the birthday girl enjoys this because she is a special niece.  I will be back next Tuesday with a new card from the SUO Challenges.  Until then, I hope that you enjoy a peaceful and joyous holiday season.  Thanks for stopping in today!

Stamps:  Fast & Fabulous, Elements of Style; Paper:  Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Whisper White; Ink:  Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Pacific Point, Night of Navy; Accessories:  Night of Navy Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Seam Binding (Occasions Mini), Neutrals Buttons, Framed Tulips Impressions Folder (Occasions Mini), Big Shot, Thread

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A moment for the scarlet tanager

A moment for the scarlet tanager published on 5 Comments on A moment for the scarlet tanager

Yes, the scarlet tanager.  At least by me, this is an under-appreciated bird.  In fact, I didn’t know anything about it until I was looking for bird colorings.  It seems appropriate that he should get his own post as an apology.  What is this bird??  Here is a picture:

Cute little fellow, isn’t he?  I was looking up red birds because I was using the color challenge from Splitcoaststampers CC300.  The challenge was to use an old challenge and I chose CC233 Real Kraft Chocolate.  I admit that I used the colors a little loosely and I actually used Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake (Kraft) and Early Espresso.  I think I hit the spirit of the challenge but wanted to use my current papers.  I also used the sketch challenge from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 95.  Karen outdid herself again with a really usable sketch!  I changed it to a rectangle instead of a square.  It seems I had a hard time following directions today!

I stamped my image on Watercolor Paper and chose the phrase from the set too.  I watercolored with my blender pen using Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  I am so in love with this stamp set and can’t wait to make more cards with it!  I chose papers from my Deck the Halls DSP (Holiday Mini).  Isn’t it great that it works so well for a non-holiday card??!!  I had run completely out of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding and finally received my replacements….can you tell?  Love that ribbon and I’m happy to tell you that there are new colors coming in the Occasions Mini (yes, those are on the way, too!).  I chose an Antique Brad and bunched the ribbon, punched a small hole with my 1/8″ hole punch and attached the brad to the image panel. 

This is a birthday card and I try to make sure that the December birthday people in my family get a distinctively non-Christmas card.  I think this accomplishes the goal!  I’ll be back to Christmas stamping for the rest of the week and you can expect to see my Color Lab card next.  See you again soon!

Stamp:  Every Moment; Paper:  Deck the Halls DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Watercolor paper; Ink:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories:  Antique Brads, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Blender Pen, Dimensionals, 1/8″ Hole Punch

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Mmmmm…Sweet Chocolate Cherry Crumb Cake

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No, not a recipe for Thanksgiving but what a great idea!!  Instead this uses the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 94 and the Splitcoast Color Challenge 298, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake.  Not much time today so I’m just going to post the card.

I colored the Day of Gratitude medallion with my Espresso, Cherry and Crumb Cake markers.  The Square Lattice Embossing Folder came out again for the Crumb Cake panels and I added some Espresso Satin and a button with Linen Thread as final details.  I love the different feel this medallion takes when you change up the colors! 

I’m not sure I’ll post again before Thanksgiving so I wish you a safe and happy holiday!  See you soon!

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Candy-colored Moments

Candy-colored Moments published on 9 Comments on Candy-colored Moments

It must be my lucky week because this was chosen as the SSSC 93 Winner!  Thanks, Karen!

It is week two as a design team member for the ColorLab Color Challenge and this week was definitely more of a challenge for me.  Julie chose the beautiful colors from the Candy Cane DSP – Real Red, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze and Garden Green. 

ColorChallenge19

They are super together but…oh, no…I don’t own that paper!!  So I started looking at what I DO have in those colors and you know what?  I found more choices than I thought.  I had Real Red and Baja Breeze in my Play Date DSP, and more Real Red in my Patterns Designer Paper Stack (Brights) plus additional Baja Breeze in some retired papers.  I thought about the colors as I was drifting off to sleep (boy, I hope that I am not the only one who does that!) and it came to me that I should use my new Every Moment set.  I have had this set on my wish list since I first saw this catalog and finally was able to get it!!  I chose the word paper from the Patterns Pack and a bit of Baja Breeze DSP from Play Date.  I added Basic Gray as a neutral to ground the colors a bit.  I think this Gray is really pretty and don’t use it enough.  I did a little light watercoloring on Whisper White paper with my Blender Pen.  Remember, when you are coloring on this very smooth paper, think of coloring as dabbing on color instead of blending color.  This helps the paper stay nice and smooth.  I think these colors make for a very happy card!

I stamped the inside of the card with the butterfly again and a Happy Birthday sentiment.  This sketch comes from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 93.  What a fun layout! 

I hope you enjoy these colors.  I’d love to see what you can do with the ColorLab challenge this week so pop on over and post your card!  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Every Moment, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Patterns DSP Stack Brights, Play Date DSP, Whisper White; Ink:  Real Red, Blushing Bride, Garden Green, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray; Accessories:  Neutrals Designer Buttons, 1/8″ White Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Blender Pen

Gratitude for River Rock

Gratitude for River Rock published on 9 Comments on Gratitude for River Rock

My stampers here know that River Rock became my go-to color when it was first introduced as an In Color by Stampin’ Up.  It is quite a color chameleon, frankly.  I love how it skews green when paired with blues and moves toward brown when paired with brown family.  It is absolutely lovely with Soft Suede and the introduction of Early Espresso completed the set for me.  So why haven’t I made more cards with this color??!!  Can’t tell you (other than I am also in love with Cherry Cobbler and Cajun Craze and Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz……)!  Imagine my joy when I saw the Pals Paper Arts inspiration picture this week.  Lots of River Rock leaves, Soft Suede tree trunks, a Very Vanilla Sweater…take a look:

October 3

I also found this great sketch from Karen and her Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 89:

I found some very old DSP and knew it was just perfect.  One of the leaves from Day of Gratitude got the Ilina Crouse treatment.  I knew this technique would be great with lots of color combinations.  Today it is River Rock, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  The tip from Pals Paper Arts is to remember layers and I added a torn layer underneath the image panel.  I thought it would add balance to the frayed ends of the ribbon.  Here is the final result:

I am thrilled with the masculine feel of this card and may do a birthday variation, too.  Hope your weekend has been full of fun.  My kids had their first leaf pile jumping of the year…one of my favorite things!  Thanks for stopping in!

Stamp:  Day of Gratitude; Paper:  Retired DSP, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Ink:  River Rock, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Espresso Satin Ribbon, Linen Thread, Neutrals Buttons, Sticky Strip, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals

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Day of Gratitude

Day of Gratitude published on 7 Comments on Day of Gratitude

This is, in fact, the name of a new stamp but the phrase means so much more.  Gratitude is an attitude!  I know that I run through my life so quickly sometimes that I forget to say thank you to the many people who bless my life.  Something about the change to fall weather reminds me of all the things for which I am thankful.  Today, I am infinitely thankful for my weekend.  I was so lucky to attend Stampin’ Up’s Regional in Baltimore on Saturday and have an entire day of stamping, fun, business training and swaps.  I know…that is a lot to be thankful for!  Now consider the fact that I got to be with my wonderful upline Brandi and I have even more to be happy about.  But the most amazing thing is what happened for me to have this opportunity.  My husband is in the Air National Guard and travel is the nature of his life.  Even with the best laid plans, many times he simply must be gone when we thought he could be home.  Last weekend was one of those times.  I had never been to an official Stampin’ Up function and could not miss the opportunity to go to a Regional so close to home.  I signed up knowing the risk that he wouldn’t be here.  Sure enough, that is what happened.  A dear friend and a wonderful sister-in-law stepped up to watch my boys so that I could take this time for myself.  How can I even express my gratitude to them??!!  Both boys had a fantastic weekend and I was able to enjoy my time knowing what good hands they were in.

Fortunately, part of the package of goodies for Regionals was the Day of Gratitude stamp set from the Holiday Mini.  The entire set is so beautiful and the projects on Saturday that used it were so much fun to create.  There is nothing more inspirational to my stamping than a new set so of course I needed to use it right away.  Even better is that the set expresses exactly how I am feeling.  Here is one of the cards for my gracious helpers this weekend:

This card uses a few challenges.  The first is the So Shelli Challenge (from Shelli Gardner) to create a project using Fabulous Fall as the motivation.  The Our Creative Corner challenge this week uses these colors:

They pretty much say Fabulous Fall, don’t you think?  The sketch is from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and was so fun to use.

I hope you have a wonderful week and, just like the stamp says, your common days are transformed into Thanksgivings. 

Stamp:  Day of Gratitude (Holiday Mini); Paper:  Cajun Craze (smooth and textured), More Mustard, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Old Olive, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Neutrals Designer Buttons, Dimensionals, Thread (dyed using Early Espresso marker)

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OWH Birthday Bash Challenges

OWH Birthday Bash Challenges published on 8 Comments on OWH Birthday Bash Challenges

What a birthday celebration it has been for Operation Write Home!  The weekend held some serious challenges and there is still more to come.  Just check out this post for an idea of the fun.  Some stamping superstars have gotten in on the act too.  Karen over at The Sweetest Thing posted her Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge with the extra challenge to send the card to Operation Write Home.  Well mine will be included in this box:

It is almost ready.  My oldest son’s second grade teacher has agreed to have the class make some more Dear Hero letters so I’m making space for those priceless gems!  I must admit that I can’t wait to see them.

Karen’s sketch this week is great (make sure you make a card with it and send it on in):

My card today also uses Stacey’s Curtain Call: Act 47 colors.

 

Wonderful, masculine colors aren’t they?  Why yes they are and guess what?  Sharon at No Time to Stamp has a Let’s Hear It For The Guys challenge.  Her biggest stipulation is no bows.  If ribbon goes on, it goes on in a “manly” way.  Ok, well I think I did it within all the constraints.

If you click on the picture, you can see some more of the detail in the card.  One of my stampers this week is a wonderful “repurpose” fan and she brought over some tulle scraps she had and wanted to see what I would use them for.  I put it down and sponged over it to give some cool texture to a one-layer card (posted below).  I liked the effect enough to try it again here on the panels.  The way the texture mimics the Square Lattice Embossing Folder was something I wanted to see…and I think it works.  I stamped images from Le Jardin Botanique (retired) over the tulle as well.  I like how it took girly feel out of the florals.  The button was tied onto Early Espresso Satin Ribbon with the very manly Linen Thread.  With all those challenges in one card, this qualified for the Pile it On challenge site as well.  Wow, they put together some serious challenge combinations!

Here is the card where I first experimented with the tulle.  It may be my favorite one-layer card I have ever made.  Other sponging and stamping over the tulle, it is straight forward but that tulle adds so much.  Hope you like it too (it is already safely tucked into the OWH box).

Seems I have done quite a bit of typing yet again.  I guess the great cause over at Operation Write Home really has me inspired.  Food for thought:  As of September 13, 2010, Operation Write Home has sent 549,112 cards to our deployed heroes.  Think about making yours some of the next to be sent!

Card 1:  Stamp:  Le Jardin Botanique (ret); Paper:  Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Whisper White; Ink:  Early Espresso, Always Artichoke; Accessories:  Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Neutrals buttons, Linen Thread, Tulle, Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Card 2:  Stamp:  Le Jardin Botanique; Paper:  Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Soft Suede, Night of Navy; Accessories:  Sponges, Tulle

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Lattice Lotus

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Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days.  I had my new catalog Open House last week and then had company in town.  Today is the first time I have been able to pull out some stamps for a while.  I was so happy to see this beautiful layout over at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

This seemed like an easy one to do quickly and I was right!  The colors for the Color Challenge at Splitcoast CC281 are Crushed Daffodil Pizzazz (Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz).  I pulled out my Friend Never Fade (I know…again) and my brand new Square Lattice embossing folder for my Big Shot.  Well now I see what all the hype is about.  This folder adds so much for so little actual effort!!  The oval is the smallest from my Ovals die and it is backed by the Scallop Circle punch.  This is also my first time using the new Pear Pizzazz 1/2″ Stitched Poly Ribbon…love it!

I really love this little lotus flower (I think that is what it is).  A nice quick card that still feels special!  Just what I needed today. 

Thanks for dropping by…have a great day!

Stamp:  Friends Never Fade; Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush; Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush; Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Ovals Die, Scallop Circle Punch, Pear Pizzazz 1/2″ Poly Ribbon, Dimensionals

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New Friends!

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Is there anything better to spark creativity than new stampin’ stuff??!!  I certainly can’t think of it if there is!  Yesterday, my box of new Stampin’ Up paper, stamps and accessories showed up and I got some time to break into it this morning.  I have to say that no matter how beautiful I think the designer papers are going to be, the paper from Stampin’ Up always goes way beyond my expectations.  I ordered the new Greenhouse Gala paper (p. 173) and the coordinating Friends Never Fade stamp set (p. 99).  All I can say is WOW!!  I thought the the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 76 would be perfect to highlight both the stamp set and the DSP.

The coordinating accessories are the new Brights Collection Designer Buttons (p. 186) and the new 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon in Daffodil Delight (p. 191).  The latest addition to the buttons is this one with cool variations of color throughout.  The skinny ribbon is going to be so fun to work with, too!!  I used the words from the Silhouette Sentiments (Level 1 hostess, p. 11) to finish the card right off.  I stamped a matching flower inside and the card is all ready for a friend who needs a lift right now.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about all the new offerings in the Stampin’ Up catalog.  I hope this card brightened your day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Friends Never Fade, Silhouette Sentiments; Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Greenhouse Gala DSP; Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze (all Stampin’ Write markers); Accessories:  Brights Designer Buttons, 1/8″ Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals

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