Mojo Color Throwdown Challenges

Just a super quick post tonight before we head out on our Fall Tour. I wanted to get in a Color Throwdown challenge this week. The girls from CTD have been SO supportive of the new Just Us Girls that I wanted to play with their challenge this week, too. I used this week's Mojo sketch and put together a card for an upcoming birthday.


I worked with PTI's Dark Chocolate, Gina K's Soft Sand and SU!'s Cool Caribbean (I was out of Aqua Mist so this is a wee bit darker in hue but still sort of aqua-ish) papers.

I won some fabulous Verve stamp sets in August and have not had a chance to play with some of them yet so I inked up the background stamp from Bountiful Backgrounds with Dark Chocolate and stamped it on the Soft Sand. Then I stamped the tea pot and cup from A Cup of Life set - paper pieced them with the Cool Caribbean. I used the CB Textile embossing folder for the Caribbean layer for some texture.

I inked up the polka dot BG from Verve's background set on the Sand layer then paper pieced the tea pot and cup with the Cool Caribbean.  Added some PTI ribbon, a layered set of Primas and added a cool brad in the center of the flower.

I included a close up so you can see the polka dots and paper piecing.

Thanks for looking - have a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to stop by the Just Us Girls blog for a brand new challenge tomorrow.

Lemonade Thanks - Mojo Monday

Well I actually got to play a Mojo Monday challenge BEFORE the weekend LOL. I loved this sketch - it went together really quickly by using some Lemonade Paper from Basic Grey - it's so easy when all the papers coordinate :-)

I was in need of a nice thank you so I used the sentiment from the "Beautiful You" set by Verve. I felt with the busy DPs that just a sentiment was enough. I love these sentiments - they are elegant and gorgeous scripty and the words themselves really speak to my heart.

I  added a little bit of bling as my embellishments - thought the fun, jazzy papers called for bling. Used my circle nesties for several layers for the focal image - you can't tell from the photo but the layers are popped up for some dimension. Did some soft sponging to accent the sentiment. I played and tried over and over to add some ribbon to this but either the color was wrong or the ribbon was too stuff or my bow looked horrible so I kept it clean and straightforward instead. :-)

Thanks to the Mojo team for always giving us such great inspiration.  It was fun to actually get this done early in the week for a change.

Have a great week and be sure to stay tuned for the NEW Just Us Girls Challenge on Saturday!!!! :-)

NEW - "Just Us Girls" Challenge

Well stampers - in honor of World Card Making Day, Kristin and I thought we give you a new sketch challenge to get you motivated and moving. Since it's "Just Us Girls" hosting a challenge this weekend we assigned keyword JUGs1 to this challenge. (As an aside... this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so while JUGs seemed "inappropriately appropriate" we mean NO disrespect with the acronym.) We liked the "Just Us Girls" as our challenge name but we both know women who have been affected by breast cancer, some who are survivors, some who, sadly were not. Meanwhile, here's our sketch (thanks Kristin for making an awesome sketch for us.)

I decided to play along with the Embellish Magazine Color and Polka Dot Challenge - as soon as I was DONE with my card I went to the web site and discovered that the challenge ended October 1 - LOL - so I was a day late and a dollar short but I wanted to share it anyhow. I used the JUGs new sketch and Ashley's colors to come up with this card for an upcoming Girls' Night Out. Stamps are from Verve - I just LOVE these images - so unique, fun and different from my normal style. The colors are truly amazing together! Here's the color map Ashley had put up and you will see why I used shoes for my image!

I stayed pretty true to the JUGs sketch and there are polka dots galore on the card - from the Swiss Dots CB background and accent strips to my own embossed polka dot paper (the Summer Sunrise layer). A couple of nestie layers and a few vintage buttons from PTI. Simple but FUN!

Now - we HOPE you will play along with us this week. If you link your card to a gallery be sure to use keyword JUGS1. Then go to Kristin's blog (at the bottom of the post) and link to Mr. Linky so we can see what you created. We're excited to have you here this week :-) Stay tuned for more exciting news coming soon ;-)

The following ladies are providing some additional inspiration this week:

Kristin
Dana
Lisa

Wishing you a super weekend! Hope you are all planning in participating in World Card Making Day in some fashion. Thanks for stopping by and do come try our sketch! We will visit your blogs and check out your creations.

Pretty Woman

Post #2 today - scroll down for some Birthday Love as well :-)

This week I played along with a new challenge that I was not familiar with, called Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. The movie this week, selected by diva, Gina K, was Pretty Woman. Going with the idea from one of my favorite scenes, I chose to use the brown & white polka dots - I don't have a dress stamp but I have these fabulous new Verve stamps with polka dot shoes and handbag!!! So here's to you, Vivian - you DID learn to "Express Yourself" and you certainly showed that "You've Got Style" (inside).

A really simple card but it turned out kinda fun - for a special friend who is a "shoe diva".

Got to scoot - here's a peek at the inside also. Thanks for looking. FUN challenge.

Edited to add: OH BOY - now that I am all done and posted I went back to the site and realized that part of the challenge was to PAPER PIECE!! YIKES - sorry that part got right past me - I know I could recreate this card and paper piece the purse but I won't have time - so thanks for a chance to play along - I'll try to remember all the rules better (gotta take my Ginkgo Biloba memory pills I tell ya)

Mojo Monday #103

It's Mojo Monday time and I'm actually posting my card ON A MONDAY!!! Woo hoo. It's SO great to have a 3 day weekend. Here's the sketch we got this week -->
I decided to flip the sketch and work with it sideways. I created my own DP with the new Verve Bountiful Backgrounds - matted them on PTI's Enchanted Evening paper (LOVE that deep blue.) I stamped my new Verve "To Risk" sentiment in Enchanted Evening ink and cut it out with nestie's Label Four then sponged some of PTI's Chamomille tea ink to make it a bit softer. I inked up my CB Swiss Dots folder with the same Chamomille ink to pull it all together and also used the ink on my paper flower so it would match. I wanted a floral accent on the card to compliment the sentiment. Final touches included a strip of Enchanted Evening bitty dot ribbon, an Enchanted Evening button with a Rain Drop for the center of the flower.

Gotta love Mojo Monday and the DT - they really do jump start my Mojo for the week :-) Thanks, girls.

Mojo Monday

Wow - it's Wednesday already and I am just now getting around to posting my Mojo Monday project for this week. I love how Mojo Monday really helps me jump start my ideas. I needed a birthday card - and this provided the perfect starting point. I always print out the sketch and then turn it flip it etc before deciding. This time I decided to flip the sketch on it's side.

I knew the new Verve set, Party Time would be great for a BD card so I stamped and masked so I could create a more bountiful bouquet of balloons which I colored with Copics. I worked with two of my favorite colors, Groovy Guava and Soft Sky (now retired from SU!). The flourish is from Express Yourself set by Verve. I swaped out the circle for my new Octagon nestie and did a bit of sponging while the image was still in the die.

The rest of the deets are pretty self-explanatory this time as this is a really straight forward card. Just a lovely layout from Mojo and my card is done. :-)

Thanks for taking time to stop by.

Express Yourself Birthday Gift Set

Woo Hoo! I received my Verve sets that I won in August and am SO anxious to try them all. I started with Express Yourself to make a birthday card for my son's girlfriend. I cased a couple of the Verve Divas to do this one - Jen del Muro's card used polkadot paper with this set which I LOVED. Then Amy Sheffer's card provided the inspiration for the main image. So, using PTI True Black, Raspberry Fizz and B&W designer paper here's the card I made. I stamped one shoe, masked it then stamped the second to create a "pair" of shoes. Masked the 2nd shoe then stamped the purse so it was behind the shoes, added one of the sentiments from the set. Colored the shoes and purse with Copics, used Labels One nestie for the shape. I sponged some True Black on the pink nestie layer to create an illusion of another layer. A black brad for the snap on the purse, some Raspberry twill ribbon, prima flower and bling and I was done. Made a coordinating inside and envie as well.

For the gift, I had a set of lotion and shower gel as a little something to give so I turned to My Timeless Templates for packaging. These bath products were a bit too tall for some of the templates so I turned to Pack a Picnic (with no lid) to hold her gifts. I used the polka dot stamp from my new Verve Bountiful Backgrounds to create a polka dot DP (black on raspberry) (have to practice this more) to coordinate with the card - here's the finished gift set -->

Ever wonder what to do with those GIANT black buttons from PTI?? Well here was the perfect place to use one as a real statement on the front of the basket.

Finally, I added a small gift tag, tied to the top of one of the bottles and nestled it in the top of the basket. All in all, I think she'll like it!

I've been on a real My Timeless Template kick lately - they are SO great for packaging up gifts. Be sure to stop by tomorrow (Sat) for another My Time to Create Template Challenge!! (hmmmm Maybe that's why I've been on such a template high lately?!?)
Thanks for looking -have a great weekend.

Verve Anni-Verve-Sary Challenges

Do you know Verve Stamps? I only own one set (so far) but they are hosting an Anni-Verve-Sary challenge this week. There are 5 sketches to do then post them all. - WHEW - I am finally done - So - here are the cards - scroll down to see them all. I had hoped to make a Captured Card Case template box to hold them in - just haven't finished that.

Edited to add: Guess what??? - I WON!!! Yes, I won the Verve challenge and my prize is the entire August release!!! I am over the moon excited I tell ya!! God is good and his abundant blessings are received with a grateful heart.

I wanted all the cards to go together as a set - I used all Verve Stamps from my Beautiful You set along with Afternoon Tea DP from SU! I love this DP and had not used it in a long time - I know it's discontinued now but it was a fave color set. Thanks for looking! This was a great challenge!!!






































Thanks for looking - this was a really fun challenge and something I'll have to remember for future gift sets. :-)

Mojo Monday #85

It's Mojo Monday time again and I am so excited I had a minute to play again. I've been kinda busy *wink* and haven't been able to do some of the challenges I was going. BUT this sketch got my mojo moving with a Mother's Day card for my "niece" (aka best friend's daughter) who is celebrating her FIRST mother's day. Since my mom isn't here anymore for me to celebrate with I wanted to honor a new mother who is embarking on a joyful, challenging but fulfilling journey in her life. Happy Mother's Day Ashleigh! This one's for you and Toby :-)

The focal point image is from Beautiful You by Verve - it's the only Verve set I own (so far) but I really love how it stamps. I used Copics to color in parts of the floral image. PTI pink patterns DP accented with Spring Moss, a small flower and pearl and the Fleur de Lis edge punch. The sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages by PTI - it's beautiful!

Happy Mother's Day to all my wonderful friends in real life and in my virtual stamping life (aka blogland and photo galleries etc.) May your day be filled with blessings, hugs and smiles!