BEATES WEEKEND SKETCH CHALLENGE - BIRTHDAY

Good morning! Well, yesterday my middle child turned 14 - yep, they are growing up! I can't believe that my little Tyler is 14, has a girlfriend, and towers over me by about six inches - LOL! We are having a BIG barbecue party today with all the family so I will be working very hard this morning and afternoon getting prepared! Yesterday I took pizzas to his school at lunch time for him and his friends, and then Tony took him and five of his friends to Cosmic Bowling (think dark alley with lots of flashing disco lights) from 9pm to midnight. They seemed to have a great time - no pics though because of the way the lights are! So, here is the birthday card I made for him! I used Beate's sketch this week for this one as I thought the sketch was awesome -I love this one and will use it again! I also did the inside of the card (every time I show Tony a card, he looks inside and most of the time, there is nothing there unless it is an occasion card so he was laughing when he opened this one and it actually HAD something inside!) Here it is! So, since I have a million and one things to do this morning, I will leave you with the recipe! Have a wonderful weekend!

Card Recipe:
Paper - Night of Navy card stock, Apricot Appeal card stock, Bashful Blue card stock, Whisper White card stock, Jersey Shore Designer Series paper
Stamp Sets - In the Stars, Sassy Suzie (for the sentiment)
Inks - Night of Navy classic stampin' pad ad stampin' write marker
Accessories - Large and Small star punches, Mat Stack and paper piercer, Ticket Corner Punch, Photo Frames punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge, Silver Brad

STAMP SOMETHING CHALLENGE - SAYING THANKS

Whoohoo, it's Friday! I love Fridays for a lot of reasons, but my newest one is because that is when STAMP SOMETHING posts their challenges for the week! I love being a part of this fabulous DT and had a lot of fun prepping for this one - after all, who doesn't like to thank those who are good to us?? And, what a perfect second challenge to say thanks to all of you who are participating and supporting this new challenge blog - love ya all and I have seen some FABULOUS challenge projects - I mean WOWs! So, here is mine: It is a mini two-pocket tote bag that holds three 3x3 cards in one pocket, and three envies in the other. I used the Porcelain Prints Designer Series paper for this project because I love how soft and beautiful this paper is! The little tote is basically made from one sheet of 12x12 (template from SU! regionals) that I embellished with a piece of Ballet Blue card stock and Certainly Celery card stock. I added scallops to both pieces using my Slit Punch, then paper pierced the scallops and overlapped the card stock on to the bag. Then, I used my Circle Scallop Punch with Ballet Blue card stock, and a piece of Naturals White card stock punched using my 1 3/8 Circle Punch. I inked the edges of both with Ballet Blue Classic Stampin' Ink and then stamped the image on the smaller circle in Black Stazon. The flower image is from the stamp set Heartfelt Thanks which is wonderful for watercoloring - so I did! Using my blender pen and my stampin' pads, I colored in my flower, then adhered the whole thing to the bag. The handles are made from Brocade Blue 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon, which is threaded through my jumbo pewter eyelets (yep, had to have 'em!). The 3x3 note cards come pre-scored and in three different colors but I used just the cream here. I added a piece of Porcelain Prints Dp to each, using my Ticket Corner Punch. I then faux stitched around the outside of each as well. I inked the edges of both the base of the card and the dp with Certainly Celery Classic Stampin' ink. The sentiment is mounted on a Circle Scallop Punch that is punched out of Naturals White card stock, inked up with Not Quite Navy, and paper pierced around the edges. The second layer is Certainly Celery card stock punched using my 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch and the edges are also inked. The sentiment itself is from the stamp set Circle of Friendship, stamped in Not Quite Navy classic ink on Naturals White card stock. It is punched out using my 1 inch Circle Punch and popped up on dimensionals! Lastly, I added a piece of Certainly Celery narrow grosgrain ribbon to each Scalloped Circle that I inked with Not Quite Navy classic ink. So, there it is - I am quite happy with it as it is going to someone special to me and I wanted it to come out nice! So, enjoy your weekend and don't forget to leave time to do the STAMP SOMETHING challenge - toodles!

TAMARA'S SKETCH CHALLENGE

I love Thursdays because it is time for a new sketch challenge from Tamara - whoohoo! Here is the card I did for this week - I wanted it to be a happy card since I am sending it to someone who needs to have a little joy in their life right now. I decided to do a square card so the base of this card is a piece of So Saffron card stock cut to 10 1/2 by 5 1/4 inches then folded in half. I then layered it with a piece of Pretty in Pink card stock and faux stitched around the edges (you know I love to do this and I am trying to stop so that my cards don't all look the same, but I can't!). Then, using a piece of Spring Fling Designer Series Paper, I cut a square, then cut it in half, then in half again so I had four little rectangles. I adhered one of these to each corner to give the card some dimension. Then, using the Stamp Set Enjoy Every Moment, I stamped the flower on to Pretty in Pink card stock in Pink Passion Classic Stampin' Ink and punched them out using my Circle Scallop Punch. I then stamped the smaller flower from the same stamp set on Pretty in Pink card stock, but using Summer Sun Classic Stampin' Ink and punched those out using my 3/4 inch circle punch. I added a Pretty in Pink Brad to each of these, popped it up on dimensionals and adhered it to the center of each of the larger flowers. I also paper pierced the scallops of the larger flowers, and popped the center one up on dimensionals as well. I also added a piece of So Saffron narrow grosgrain ribbon to this one. The sentiments (they are two separate stamps) are stamped on Pretty in Pink card stock in Pink Passion Classic Stampin' Ink and then mounted on a piece of So Saffron card stock. I faux stitched around these layers as well ( I know, enough already!) to the center of the "o" I added a build-a-brad; I used a piece of the Spring Fling Designer Series Paper for the center. I just love these brads - may they stay in the catty forever (along with my jumbo eyelets, lol!). And, there you have it, the sketch of the week! I loved it! So, what are you waiting for??? Get on over to Tamara's blog and find out what the other dt members did and post your own take on the challenge, I would LOVE to see it! Have a FABULOUS day!!

TOUCH OF NATURE AND AN AWARD

Happy Hump Day! I swear time is just flying by, wasn't it just Sunday??? Anyway, today I am sharing another swap card made with the butterfly from Touch of Nature. The base of this card is Close to Cocoa card stock, then layered with Afternoon Tea Designer Series paper. I will be so sad to see this paper go at the end of June, I just love it! I used my Ticket Corner Punch and then double faux stitched around it. I used my Slit Punch on a piece of Cameo Coral card stock and made a scalloped edge to attach to the side of the card. I paper pierced the scallops, then added three silver brads. The image is stamped on Whisper White card stock in brown stazon ink, then stamped again on another piece of the Afternoon Tea Designer Series paper, which really gives this butterfly some nice color and texture. I adhered just the center of the butterfly to give it a 3-d effect - here is a closeup. I love this effect and don't think I will ever get tired of it! I layered the Whisper White card stock on a piece of Cameo Coral card stock and then a piece of Close to Cocoa card stock. I used my Ticket Corner Punch on all three pieces and added more faux stitching around the two colored layers. I sponged the Whisper White card stock with Cameo Coral Classic Stampin' Ink to soften it. The sentiment is actually from the Garden Whimsy stamp set (love it!) and is stamped in Brown Stazon on to Cameo Coral card stock, then punched out using my Large Oval Punch. I then added a piece of Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain ribbon, popped it up on dimensionals and was done! For a finishing touch I added some dazzling diamonds with my two-way glue to both the butterfly and the bottom of the sentiment piece. Overall, I am pretty happy with how this came out! So, now I am thrilled to tell you that my good bloggin' friend Kathleen from My Happy Place nominated me for the Blogging with a Purpose Award - how sweet is she!!! I love her blog, she is mad talented, and I am so excited to get to meet her in person this year at Convention! Thanks Kathleen, this means a lot coming from you! I am supposed to nominate three people I feel deserve this, which is tough to do since there are so many of you out there who deserve this. So, I am going to pick these three:

(1) Corinne from Stampin with Roxy who has become a very special friend to me and is uber talented! Her blog is a must-stop for me everyday because not only does she blow me away with her creativity, but her posts are always interesting and heartfelt - love ya girl!

(2) Joan from AJCreations which is actually a blog she shares with her good friend and fellow demo Amy. I stop by and see them every day -they are very talented gals and I never fail to be amazed at their latest creations!

(3) Denise from Stampin with Denise who is awesomely talented and is someone I always stop by and visit with every day! She too has become a wonderful friend, and always has something totally great to share!

I also picked these three because they always stop by my blog to leave me words of encouragement or just to say hello and it means a lot to me! I could list about 50 more of you - LOL! but then I would breaking the rules *wink* So, I will leave it at this!

BON APPETIT!

Okay, I can honestly say without a doubt that this is my VERY FAVORITE stamp set - the VOILA fat chef and accessories, just love this guy!! It was on my very first order as a demonstrator and he is a much loved and used little guy! This is a swap card I made for a recent swap I participated in. The base of this card is Close to Cocoa card stock, which is layered with a piece of Ginger Blossom Designer Series Paper. The image is stamped on Mellow Moss card stock in black stazon. I used my corner rounder on all the edges to match the "roundness" of my chef - teehee!! I also stamped my image on a piece of the Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper, cut out his jacket and chef's hat, and paper pieced my little guy together! The pants and collar are colored in using my Stampin' Write Markers and a blender pen as is the spaghetti from the Voila Accessories stamp set and the platter. I lightly sponged around the Mellow Moss card stock in the same color and then added a piece of River Rock Double Stitched ribbon. The sentiment is stamped in black stazon ink directly on to the card. This is a simple card but I love the way it turned out! I hope you like it too!! Now, off to finish cleaning up from my crop - I hate putting everything away again after packing it all up - sheesh!!

MAY CHIPBOARD CLASS

Happy Monday all! I had a VERY busy weekend, what with being gone to the crop and then celebrating Mother's Day with my family! It sure was fun though! The crop was a total blast, but I am still recovering from my very late nights and very early mornings -LOL! But, I have full kid duty today since Tony is out of town for the day, which is fine with me, we can just veg out! And, I can put my scrap room back together *wink* So, today I want to share with you the class kit I am offering in honor of the Stampin' Up! chipboard specials running this month. It is a wall hanging made of chipboard coasters. I have several gals already signed up for this kit, so if you are interested email me and I will give you the details - and yes, I will mail it to you! I am very pleased with how this came out so I hope you all like it too! Here are some close up shots of the three sections. Here is the first one that I did that actually holds the ribbon to put the whole thing together. Then, the second one which is where I put my pretties kit to good use! And, the last on which ties the whole project together! I am not going to list everything I used here since it is a class, but feel free to send me an email if you have a specific question. I hope you enjoy looking at my class project as much as I enjoyed putting it all together! So, stay tuned for tomorrow when I will share another fabulous project! Until then, have a wonderful day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

What 'MOTHER' means

M... is for the million things she gave me,

O... means only that she's growing old,

T... is for the tears she shed to save me,

H... is for her heart of purest gold;

E... is for her eyes, with love-light shining,

R... means right, and right she'll always be.

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"A word that means the world to me

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I sure hope you have something special planned! I got back from my scrapbook weekend about midnight last night - it was really a lot of fun and although I did not get as much done as I wanted, it was totally a blast to hang out with everyone and just talk and laugh and enjoy each other's company. Isn't that what it is all about anyway??!! So, enjoy your special day and I will have something wonderful to share tomorrow! Smooches to all of you!