Clearly Besotted Challenge #5

Happy weekend!  We've had family in town all week, but I managed to sneak into my craft room for some stamping time.  I wanted to play along with the Clearly Besotted Challenge, which has a gorgeous autumn color palette this month.

Source:  Design Seeds

My card doesn't exactly have an autumn theme, but I loved these colors and thought they would work beautifully for a fall wedding card.  I was fortunate enough to receive the Blooming Marvellous stamp set for a DT assignment, but I hadn't had a chance to use the rose image yet.  I stamped it in shades of yellow and peach along the edge of an ivory panel.

The sentiment is also from Blooming Marvellous, and I added the little row of x's from Basic Banners.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream, Smokey Shadow)

Stamps:  Clearly Besotted (Blooming Marvellous, Basic Banners)

Ink:  Hero Arts (Fresh Peach, Soft Cantaloupe), Stampin' Up! (So Saffron, Basic Gray)

Other:  pearls, thread

We're off to enjoy the beautiful weather today.  I hope you have some fun and/or relaxing plans for your weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Sunflower Surprise

Are you ready for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge?  This week's theme is Sunflower Surprise:

We have another wonderful sponsor for this week's challenge:  Clearly Besotted Stamps has provided each of the Design Team members with the Blooming Marvellous stamp set and coordinating dies, and they are offering these beautiful stamps and dies as a prize for this week's LEAD, as well!

This gorgeous sunflower doesn't need much embellishment, so I kept my design simple to show it off.  I die cut the flower and leaves from Oatmeal cardstock and stamped the corresponding images, then embellished the flower center with a chocolate button and some twine.

The kraft card base is debossed with a woodgrain texture, though it's hard to see in the photos.  Just a little bit of added texture to jazz up a simple design.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Kraft, Oatmeal), Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (A Boy's Life)

Stamps:  Clearly Besotted Stamps (Blooming Marvellous)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip)

Tools:  Clearly Besotted Stamps (Blooming Marvellous dies), Papertrey Ink (woodgrain impression plate)

Other:  May Arts (twine), button

I hope you'll visit my Curtain Call teammates to see their amazing creations this week!  Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog for links and to add your entry to the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a fantastic day!

Monday Mood Board #14 with Fresh Cut Florals

I picked up a few new stamp sets recently, hoping they would coax my creativity out of hiding. I'm determined to get back into the stamping groove, and the pretty little Fresh Cut Florals set from WPlus9 may be just the thing to get me back into my craft room.

I'm playing along with Dawn's Monday Mood Board for the first time:

In lieu of the ikat pattern in the graphic, I chose some dots and stripes from Echo Park and used shades of yellow, hot pink, and chartreuse.  Stamping and cutting these little flowers couldn't have been any easier, and I can see them getting a lot of use.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Harvest Gold), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (Dots & Stripes: Soda Fountain)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, So Saffron), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals dies), My Favorite Things (InstaFrame die)

Other:  sequins, thread

That's it for today!  I'm off to my LSS today to pick up some goodies for an upcoming project.  Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

The 12 Kits of Holidays--May, Take 2 (4 more cards)

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party), Papertrey Ink (Sweet Blush)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Pretty Patches: Umbrella), Papertrey Ink (Tiny Tags), Serendipity Stamps (butterfly)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag dies, woodgrain impression plate)

Other:  twine, Copic markers

As promised, I'm back with a few more cards made with last month's edition of The 12 Kits of Holidays.  Marybeth provided so many wonderful images, die cuts, and papers, I just had to spend some more time creating with them.

Patterned paper:  Bazzill Basics

Stamp:  Serendipity Stamps (Sun Garden)

Tool:  Paper Smooches (get well die)

Other:  Michaels (ribbon), Prismacolor Premier pencils, white gel pen

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Ocean Tides, White)

Patterned paper:  My Mind's Eye (Lost & Found Blush)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Comfort Food)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Comfort Food dies), Impression Obsession (Circle Shaker Frame die), Lil' Inkers (banner die)

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Ocean Tides, White)

Patterned paper:  My Mind's Eye (Lost & Found Blush), Recollections (Aqua Screen)

Stamps:  Lil' Inker Designs (Rain Boy)

Tools:  Impression Obsession (Circle Shaker Frame die), Papertrey Ink (banner die)

Other:  sequins, glitter

Not much time to chat today, as I'm off to my daughter's school and then a softball game tonight (if the rain stops!).  Hope you're having a great week so far, friends!

The 12 Kits of Holidays--May 2013

Hey there, friends.  Quiet around here, no?  I've spent the past month trying to chase a nasty stomach virus out of my house, and I'm still recovering from a week-long bout with it myself.  Hopefully better days are ahead.

This month's 12 Kits post is a mix of themes, including get well, thinking of you, and thank you.  Marybeth supplied us with lots of pretty goodies to get us going:

I have only two cards to share today, but I will be back with more once I'm fully recovered.  I particularly like the soft pastel shades of the first one.

Patterned papers:  My Mind's Eye (Lost and Found Blush), Recollections

Stamps:  Serendipity (Butterfly Garden, Miss You small)

Ribbon:  Papertrey Ink

Other:  Copic markers, Diamond Stickles

For the second one I'm kind of wishing I'd used contrasting papers, but the monochromatic look would work for a masculine card, that is if the man in question likes polka dots and aqua.  *grin*

Patterned paper:  Bazzill (Worth Remembering), Recollections

Tool:  Paper Smooches (word die)

Twine:  Hobby Lobby

Don't forget to visit the rest of the 12 Kits ladies to see what they've made:

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea
Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife
Tracey: InMyCreativeOpinion
Sharron: OnPapillionWings
Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper
Jeanne: AKeptLife
Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise
Kim: CupcakesCardsandKim
Kara: KandRDesigns
Kelly: GinghamGirl
Jessica: The Paper Parade

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays #74--Put your heart into it!

Welcome back, friends!  We're not quite ready to share our big secret at CAS-ual Fridays, but we do have a new challenge for you today!

This week we're asking you to put your heart into it:  show us your clean and simple design incorporating a heart.  Easy peasy!

Even more incentive to play along:  there's a prize up for grabs from I Heart Papers!

I wanted to play with the heart stamps from WPlus9's Heartfelt Mix, and I discovered that they make a fun and funky flower.  :)  The dotted line stamp made a perfect stem, and I used the gingham heart for the leaves.  A button center, a simple sentiment, and some subtle texture on the white panel, and that's it!

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Heartfelt Mix)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Regal Rose, Lucky Limeade, Chocolate Chip)

Tool:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Other:  button, embroidery floss

Go ahead, pull out all of those hearts you have in your stash and put them to work!  No need to wait for Valentine's Day to put a little love into your creations.  :)

I hope to get my craft room photos uploaded and posted over the weekend, since several of you have asked.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by today!

ColourQ #128 & Retro Sketches #2

Hello!  Sorry this post is up late today--I was having some technical difficulties getting my photo uploaded, but all is fixed now.

We're all about the green this week at the ColourQ!  Combining shades of green is always a challenge for me, especially when there are three!  But I got a little help from a sketch on Arielle's new challenge blog, Retro Sketches.  

I know it's hard to tell that all three greens are included, but they are, promise!  This pretty little dandelion stamp is from Annabelle Stamps' Garden Silhouettes.  I stamped it in Wild Wasabi, then added a few dots of Certainly Celery.

The sentiment, tag die, and Sunshine impression plate are from PTI.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Basic Gray, Garden Green), Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream)

Stamps:  Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes), Papertrey Ink (Dot Spot, Signature Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag die, impression plate)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ribbon)

Sorry to keep this short, but I have to get back to work!  Thanks for stopping by today, my friends!

ColourQ #127

Hi there, friends!  You all rocked the palette at the ColourQ last week--what a fantastic gallery!  Be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

Are you ready for a new color challenge?  Take a look at this week's inspiration:

I was happy to have earned enough reward points from Papertrey Ink to qualify for this year's anniversary set, Pretty Peonies.  Love the florals, frames, and butterfly in this set and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ink them up.

I started by stamping the large open flower across the card front in Calypso Coral, then added the solid leaves in Certainly Celery.  My only complaint about the two-step stamping of this image is that it was hard to space the flowers just the way I wanted them, but otherwise I think they're really lovely.

I used a Spellbinders oval die to deboss a frame directly on the card base.  The decorative frame and butterfly were both stamped and cut out by hand and layered with foam dots.  

To ground the design, I added a strip of Blushing Bride cardstock debossed with a diamond pattern and a scalloped strip of Dark Chocolate cardstock.

The Royal Court Design Team really knocked my socks off this week with their creations, so you'll want to visit the blog to take a peek!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I truly appreciate the time it takes for you to visit and leave a comment!  

Hope you have a fabulous day!

CAS-ual Fridays #29 & Get Inspired by Fashion Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

 Hi there!  My friend, Karen Baker, has a wonderful sketch over at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog this week, and this is one of the many challenges I've been missing lately.  I paired it up with this fashion inspiration in the Moxie Fab World, part of a week of challenges to celebrate their new special issue, Card Creations:  Get Inspired.

I wanted to capture the look of the houndstooth fabric in the photo, so I stamped PTI's Background Basics:  Houndstooth onto Vintage Cream cardstock, cut around it with pinking shears, and debossed it with the Linen & Canvas impression plate.  I added a stitched border to reinforce the fabric theme.

The jeweled brooch on the jacket inspired me to make a rolled flower with cream colored seam binding and a brad that had been gathering dust in my stash.  The leaves were cut with a Sizzix die from SU's Pear Pizzazz cardstock.

I stamped an elegant sentiment from WPlus9's Very Vintage Greetings on the cream card base, then debossed it with the other side of the L&C impression plate.  I popped the houndstooth panel up on foam dots and stitched a simple frame around it.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Stampin' Up! (Pear Pizzazz)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Background Basics:  Houndstooth), WPlus9 Design Studio (Very Vintage Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pear Pizzazz)

Tools:  Sizzix (leaf die), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), Fiskars (pinking shears)

Accessories:  seam binding, brad, thread

I'm noticing that my photos once again look darker on Blogger than they did when I edited them, so just imagine them a little brighter.  *smile*

I'm home today with a sore throat, laryngitis, and two kids with pink eye, so it sounds like the perfect excuse to do some stamping.  Hope you find some time for yourself today, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

ColourQ #103

Welcome back, friends!  It's a dreary day here, so I'm more than happy to be sharing some cheerful hues for this week's ColourQ challenge.  Wouldn't these dishes brighten up anyone's day?

The florals had me thinking immediately of Stampin' Up!'s Fabulous Florets.  After a few trials on scrap paper to get the right placement, I stamped the leaves with Pear Pizzazz in the bottom left corner of a white cardstock panel.  I added the large solid blossom in Wisteria Wonder.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but the large open flower is stamped in red and the smaller flowers are stamped in Calypso Coral.  I cut these out and popped them up on foam dots.

The sentiment is from PTI's Signature Greetings, and the whole panel has a pretty texture from the Linen & Canvas impression plate.  I adhered it to a Wisteria Wonder card base and wrapped some gorgeous Coral ruffled ribbon around the top.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Wisteria Wonder), Papertrey Ink (white)

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! (Fabulous Florets), Papertrey Ink (Signature Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral), Clearsnap (Scarlet)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ribbon)

This card is on its way to an amazing friend of mine.  I think she'll like it!

I hope you'll play along with us at the ColourQ this week!  Be sure to check out the samples from the rest of the Royal Court DT and link up your creation to be in the running for Colour Queen.

Thanks for visiting today!  Have a good one!

ColourQ #94

Good morning, friends!  Are you ready for a challenge?  Check out the bold color combo we are working with for this week's ColourQ:

Yikes!  This one had me pulling my hair out, but wait until you see the amazing DT samples this week. 

For my card, it started with the Beautiful Blooms II dies and stamps, which I used to make a layered flower in Tangerine and Daffodil.  I added two Simply Chartreuse leaves and a hand trimmed tag stamped with a sentiment from PTI's Tag-its #3.  The flower is adhered to a die cut doily and popped up on foam dots over a loop of Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon.

For the card base, I embossed a white cardstock panel with a Cuttlebug folder and adhered it to a Razzleberry card base.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight), Papertrey Ink (Simply Chartreuse, white)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Beautiful Blooms II, Tag-its #3)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango), Versarmark, Studio G (yellow)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (flower & leaf dies, doily die), ProvoCraft (embossing folder)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ribbon), button, DMC floss

I hope you'll play along with us this week!  I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone tackles this challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

CAS-ual Fridays #10 & Color Throwdown #149

Hi there, folks!  How's your weekend going so far?  We spent a lovely day at the beach with friends yesterday, so I feel somewhat rested and recharged.  Good thing, too, since I have lots to get done this week before leaving on a road trip!

I have a quick and easy card to share with you today.  This is the first time I've made a shaped card, inspired by the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.  I also tackled this week's colors at the Color Throwdown, though I had to substitute Peach Parfait for Apricot Appeal.

I used Spellbinders' Blossom Nesties to cut a white cardstock base, then covered it with layers of Riding Hood Red and Peach Parfait.  Some of the layers are stamped with Versamark using PTI's Polka Dot Basics.  On two of the flower layers, I cut slits in between each petal and curled them up for dimension.

For the flower center, I die cut a Peach circle and stamped it with a sentiment from PTI's Tag-its #1, then added a few red gems.

The leaves are die cut and stamped with PTI's Delightful Dahlia and tucked in between the white card base and the first red layer.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Riding Hood Red, Peach Parfait, Wild Wasabi), Papertrey Ink (white)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot Basics, Delightful Dahlia, Tag-its #1)

Ink:  Versamark, Ranger (Fired Brick), Stampin' Up! (Wild Wasabi)

Tools:  Spellbinders (blossom, circle dies), Papertrey Ink (leaf die)

Accessories:  Me & My Big Ideas (rhinestones)

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a good one!