BEATE'S WEEKEND SKETCH CHALLENGE

Hi all! I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far! I have TONS of anniversary invitations to get done today (70) BUT I did take some time to play and make a card using Beate's sketch for the week! I will admit to having some difficulties with this one, I don't know why but I did! I finally was happy with it but it took me waaaayyyy longer than it should have - LOL! I did change the sketch slightly: instead of horizontal dp pieces, I did mine diagonal, but everything else is the same! I also stamped the G from the sentiment twice, cut one out, popped it up on dimensionals to give it some depth. I made this card for my son Tyler who will graduate from the eighth grade on the 4th of June - they have a ceremony and everything! I have mixed feelings about this - I am so proud of him, but I also want him to stay my little boy (although at 68", he is 6 inches taller than me already!) So, it is with a smile on my face, but tears in my eyes that I will watch him receive his grad diploma from middle school and join the ranks of the high school. Time is going by too fast for me! So, I will leave you with the recipe and then, back to stampin on my invites! I need to get them finished so that I can move on to my class projects - it will be all stampin' for the weekend, but none just for "fun" (although to me, it's ALL fun!) Enjoy your weekend!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Not Quite Navy card stock, Brocade Blue card stock, Naturals Ivory card stock, Western Sky Designer Series Paper
Stamp Sets - Great Grads
Inks - Not Quite Navy Classic Stampin' Ink, Not Quite Navy Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories - Brocade Blue Brads, Vintage Antique Brads, Circle Scallop Punch, Photo Corners Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mat Stack and paper piercer

FEE FIE FAUX....TIMES THREE!

Happy Friday - whoohoo! Time for another fabulous STAMP SOMETHING challenge and this weeks is ROCKIN'! It is to try something using a faux technique which can be any faux technique you want. I decided to use three different ones on my card to give you an idea of how some of them look, especially if you have never done them before. But, don't worry - they are easy peasy and oh so much fun!!!! The base of this card is Chocolate Chip card stock, which I then layered with Whisper White card stock. But, the card stock was first layered with small pieces of masking tape, sponged with Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Close To Cocoa, and More Mustard Classic Stampin' inks, then embossed with Clear embossing powder and heated with my heat gun until it dried. This is called the faux leather technique and makes for a pretty cool background. The image is stamped on Very Vanilla card stock using the Faux Shaving Cream technique. First, I used a solid stamp (best for this technique) from my Bronc Buster Stamp Set, and inked it up with my Creamy Caramel classic ink pad. Then, I rolled over the inked up stamp with my jumbo wheel Seeing Spots that I inked up with Chocolate Chip classic ink. I then blew (called huffing)on the stamp to moisten the ink again and stamped it on the paper. See the two colors - I like this effect! So, once the image was done, I used my Ticket Corner Punch on both the Very Vanilla and the Chocolate Chip card stock I mounted it on. For my third technique, I did double faux stitching around the whole image (I know, what a shocker!!!) The sentiment is from the One of a Kind Stamp Set and is stamped on Very Vanilla card stock in Close to Cocoa classic ink, then punched out with my Small Oval Punch. I then mounted it on a piece of Chocolate Chip card stock that was punched out with my Large Oval Punch. I added a piece of Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain ribbon and popped it up on dimensionals. Lastly, I added two Jumbo Pewter eyelets which I threaded with my Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain ribbon and I was done! I LOVED playing with this weeks challenge and I can't wait to see what you all come up with! Make sure you check out the STAMP SOMETHING site to see what the other talented DT members did - it will inspire you! Have fun with this one! Have a FABULOUS long weekend!

TAMARA'S SKETCH CHALLENGE 45

Whoohoo, it's Thursday - you know what that means doncha??!! Another fabulous sketch from Tamara! I am having the best time with this DT - it is so fun to put my own personal take on each sketch. So, here is mine for this week! I decided on some fun, summery colors for this one - I am so ready for summer and school to be out! The kids have three more weeks to go - no more homework, yippee! So, this card is to remind me that it is coming! The base of this card is Pretty in Pink card stock which I then layered with Spring Fling Designer Series Paper. I used my Ticket Corner Punch and then did some double faux stitching. Then, I distressed a piece of Pretty in Pink card stock by using my tear ruler and then inking up the edges with Regal Rose Stampin' Ink. The top layer is So Saffron card stock which I punched using my Ticket Corner Punch, added two Jumbo Pewter eyelets, and threaded with some Pretty in Pink narrow grosgrain ribbon. Then, I added some stitching around the edges and sponged them with Regal Rose Stampin' Ink. The image is from the Stamp Set A Little Birdie and is stamped in Black Stazon on Whisper White card stock, then stamped again on Spring Fling Designer Series Paper and paper pieced - isn't it cute??!! I then mounted it on Pretty In Pink card stock, using my Ticket Corner Punch on both pieces, then added some So Saffron brads to each corner. The sentiment is stamped in Black Stazon on So Saffron card stock, then punched out using my Small Oval Punch and mounted on a piece of Pretty in Pink card stock that is punched out with my Large Oval Punch. Lastly, I added a piece of So Saffron narrow grosgrain ribbon, added some Regal Rose Stampin' Write marker accents around the edge, and popped it up on dimensionals! I hope you like my take on this week's sketch and I really hope you try it for yourself! Make sure you get on over to Tamara's site to see what the rest of the DT did with this fabulous sketch! Toodles!

SBS9 MONTHLY SKETCH AND COLOR CHALLENGE!

Here it is, Wednesday again - hump day, whoohoo! So, today I am going to share a card that is for two challenges hosted by my SBS9 sistahs - the sketch and the color challenge. The color challenge this month is hosted by Louise and the colors are green and blue. The sketch is hosted by Tracy and is fabulous so make sure you check it out! I made a square card because well, I love square cards - LOL! I used my One of a Kind stamp set as it is one of my favorites and I have not pulled it out in a while. This was a really fun sketch and I see myself using it again so thanks Tracy for such a wonderful sketch this month! As for my color choices, since I had to use green and blue, I decided to go all out with it and I am pretty happy with how it turned out! I will leave you with the card recipe and as always, if you have any questions, please holla!!! My family is still sick but thankfully I have not caught it! It is a stomach bug, ughhhh! the worst! So, here is hoping I can stay healthy....I think I will just hide in my stamp room until it is all over - *wink* Have a wonderful day!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Pumpkin Pie card stock, Tempting Turquoise card stock, Old Olive card stock, Whisper White card stock, Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper
Stamp Set - One of a Kind
Inks - Black Stazon, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories - Slit Punch, Large and Small Oval Punches, Tempting Turquoise narrow grosgrain ribbon, Mat Stack and Paper Piercer, Build-a-brad, Stampin' Dimensionals, Tempting Turquoise brads, Flower Fusion felt flowers

SICK KIDDOS AND SICK HUBBY MAKE FOR NO FUN!

Hi all! Well, life is not fun in my house these days - everyone but me is sick!!! So, instead of playing in my stamp room I am playing nursemaid! Not much room for creativity there - LOL! But, I thought I would share a picture of a visitor I had that was staring at me through my stamp room window - I could not believe it! It is a young buck and he was just cruising around the driveway checking things out (click on pic for better view!)

But, once Dexter saw him, this is all you could see of my visitor! He took off for the woods and I have not seen him again! At four months now, Dex has become a great watchdog, and really lets strangers know he is around - which is good for me since Tony travels a lot with his job. So, I thought I would share this today and I hope to be back tomorrow with some fabulously inspired (hah!) projects - LOL! Enjoy your day!

A BABY GIFT FOR A FRIEND - AND A DT SUBMISSION REJECT

Happy Monday all! Well, today I am going to share with you a gift set that I made for a friend who recently had a baby. He was a preemie and spent some time in the NICU but is home now and making his family very happy! The products I used are not all Stampin' Up! for this particular project because I wanted to use the Graphic 45 Baby to Bride collection. Although I will tell you, my embellishments ARE Stampin' Up! - ya know, I can't help myself!! So, first I altered a paper mache box that I filled with little baby onesies. Lots of ribbon and pearls, and sponging because I really wanted that vintage feel for this project. All of the paper used on the box is from the Graphic 45 Baby to Bride paper line and I have to tell you, I really love it! I covered every side and the bottom of the box with coordinating paper and added flowers and ribbon to the top as well as ribbon to each side. There are small half pearls added to the flowers that came from my Pretties Kit. The card is also made with a lot of the Graphic 45 line, but there are lots of Stampin' Up! items as well. The base of the card is Blush Blossom card stock, then layered with G45 dp. I used my Corner Rounder to soften the card and added a row of scallops using the Blush Blossom card stock. I made the scallops using my Slit Punch, paper pierced holes in the scallops, and added small half pearls from my Pretties Kit. The image is stamped on Naturals Ivory card stock in Brown Stazon, and is from the Stamp Set Bundled in Love. I then stamped the same image on a piece of the G45 dp and cut it out to paper piece. The bunny tail is from the end of a qtip, I just pulled it off and adhered it with a mini glue dot. The sentiment is also from the Bundled in Love stamp set and is stamped on Blush Blossom card stock in Mellow Moss Classic Stampin' Ink. Then, I added a piece of the Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (love it!). I double faux stitched around the outside of the card and then single faux stitched around the inside layers. Lastly, I added two jumbo pewter eyelets and threaded some lace from my stash through them (sorry, don't remember who makes this!) I know she has received this already so I feel safe in sharing - LOL! I really hope she enjoys this small gift from me and is spending wonderful time with her little miracle now that he is home! And yes, as the title of my post says, I did submit this as a DT project but was not chosen! But, I am okay with it because I loved the project and hey, you can't make them all, right??!! Have a wonderful day and tomorrow I will be back with a really cute project - yep, all Stampin' Up!

SOME RAKS TO SHARE

Good morning all! I have been blessed with receiving some wonderful RAKs this week so today I want to share them all with you! I can't believe the wonderful things I have gotten - I am such a lucky gal! This first one is from Cheryl Moody who sent me this beautiful card and two really cute candles - one is chocolate, and one is coffee! I love this! You can see Cheryl's wonderful work on her blog God and I on the Railroad Tracks. This next one is from Erin. She sent me this really really cute holder with a treat bag. Aren't they wonderful! And, look what is inside the holder - how did she know I don't have that set???!!! Thanks so much Erin, this rocks! You can visit Erin at her blog Scrap, Stamp, and Be Merry where you will love what you see! This gorgeous
card is from my friend Latisha - I absolutely love the colors she used, totally beautiful! Latisha's blog is A Busy Little Craftee Bee and you need to check it out because she has mad talent! Thanks for the gorgeous card Latisha!

Then, I received this beautiful frame from Michelle as part of a Pay It Forward she hosted - I can't believe how gorgeous this frame is! I have it now hanging up in my craft room and I just love it! Michelle's beautiful creations can be seen on her blog A Stampin We Will Go. Thanks Michelle, I just love it! And last but by no means least, I received this very cute luggage tag and card from my friend Debbie - look at the butterfly charm? You know I love butterflies - LOL! I totally love this Debbie, thanks girl! Debbie's blog is StudioBeeCreations so stop by and you can see more of her wonderful talent! I told you I was a lucky girl - look at all the wonderful things I received! Thanks to all of you from the bottom of my heart - it really means a lot that you took the time to send me something - smooches to all of you!