GDP136 Celebrate in Gold

Hi peeps!! Happy Saturday!  Hope you've got something fun planned to do this weekend!  I have a masculine card for you today...they are sometimes a challenge, aren't they?   Today's uses the Global Design Project challenge to CASE Allison Okamitsu's cute little card here:

Although you could use any element from her card as an inspiration, I just loved the sketch, and since I have a few masculine birthdays coming up, I forced myself to go in that direction!  Since Awesomely Artistic was still on my desk, (I think I will need to do a tidy-up today!), the medallion in that set, which I rarely used, seemed to be a good element for those four little circles!  I heat-embossed them in gold on Thick Vanilla cardstock, diecut them out and matched them up with some Night of Navy cardstock and Eastern Palace Specialty Paper:

They look pretty embossed in gold, don't they...oh, am I allowed to say "pretty" for a masculine card???

Well, how about stylish?  This sentiment from Truly Tailored fits the bill; I diecut it and a Night of Navy mat with the Layering Ovals framelits to finish off the front of the card:

And here's the inside:

Adding it to my birthday stash!  So happy you popped in today!  And I don't have a Cassidy picture, but as I was puttering around in the kitchen yesterday, I just happened to look out the window and saw this:

It's a pileated woodpecker...I hear them in the woods, but they're very hard to see, they move FAST!  I know my PP teammate Jaydee has them all the time, but it's quite exciting to see one here!  Unfortunately, the maple tree just outside my window is dying and is going to have to come down very soon and my birds will have no place to visit.  I am very sad.  But hopefully we can replace it with another and it will grow quickly!!  Thanks for indulging my bird obsession!  Have a blessed day!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Awesomely Artistic, Truly Tailored
Card stock & Papers	Night of Navy, Thick Vanilla, Eastern Palace Specialty DSP
Ink	Gold Encore (ret), Night of Navy
Accessories	Dimensionals, Gold Embossing Powder
Tools	Heat Tool, Big Shot, Layering Ovals Framelits, Layering Circles Framelits, 1 1/4" Circle Punch

MTS226 and CAS131 Artistic Black and Pink

Hi everyone!  Monday, Monday...it's Monday again!  The weekend zipped by but I did get a little stamping time in after my company left; I used the Match the Sketch sketch and the CAS on Sunday color challenge of pink, black and white!

I was sad to see Awesomely Artistic on the retired list...it had such nice elements with an eclectic, vintage feel to them.  I thought it would be fun to make a CAS card with Melon Mambo and Basic Black...they are strong colors, but the floral is open and delicate, so the color isn't too overpowering:

I stamped the frame and dragonfly in Basic Black ink and fussy-cut them out, even cutting out the inner portion of the frame.  I used a sentiment from Wood Words inside the frame, as this is a customer's thank you card, and originally I had stamped it directly on to the floral image, but I didn't like how it got a wee bit lost, so I stamped it again on some vellum, layered it on the back of the frame and then re-lined it up with the original stamped sentiment.  Much better:

A black scalloped mat and some speckles from Swirly Bird gave it a little "movement", and I found some retired enamel dots in Strawberry Slush that matched enough!!  

A couple more pictures from Curriculum Night; this is the pot Cassidy made:

and the teepee:

and at one table, we could write a message with Indian symbols; this is what I wrote:

and here's John's:  a man goes fishing in the rain!  LOL!!!!

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Awesomely Artistic, Wood Words, Swirly Bird
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Basic Black
Ink	Basic Black, Melon Mambo
Accessories	Enamel Dots (ret), Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits

MTS223 and FF134 Dragonfly Birthday

Happy Monday peeps!  It's another cloudy, gray day here, with more snow flurries predicted tomorrow---but warmer temps later in the week, yay!  I thought I would try to bring spring inside by stamping a birthday card with the Match the Sketch sketch and the pretty colors from Fab Friday:

I dusted off Awesomely Artistic and pulled out the dragonfly image, stamping it in the three lighter challenge colors:

I used the same technique as I did on yesterday's card, a partial diecut with the Stitched Shapes framelits, then mounted them on Night of Navy scalloped mats and adhering them to a card that had been partially embossed with the Seaside embossing folder:

I stamped the sentiment from Beautiful Day directly on to the Fresh Florals DSP, using my Stamparatus, which was helpful because sometimes the DSP doesn't accept the ink quite as readily as regular cardstock!  Finally, on the inside, I used a sentiment from Truly Tailored (it's not just for guys!!), adding a couple more dragonflies:

So happy you popped in today!

This is what you get when you play Mexican train with a double fifteen set of dominoes and only two players!!!  It was quite the "train"!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

RRCB81 With Sympathy

Happy Monday, peeps!  Hope you had a good weekend!  The Retro Rubber gals have a wonderful sketch this week courtesy of Claire:

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card, so I looked in my "older" stamps and thought Awesomely Artistic (2015-2016)  would fit the bill.  I have seen some lovely creations by Charlet Mallett using white embossing powder and ink!  They're awesomely amazing!  So I decided to try the same technique with my floral image:

I used Calypso Coral and Wild Wasabi inks to color in my embossed image, letting the color wash around the outside of the florals as well:

I used Flourishing Phrases (2016-2017) for the sentiments inside and out, stamping the "with Sympathy) on a piece of retired Wild Wasabi DSP, then stamped the fern from Butterfly Basics (2015) over top of the sentiment:

My final embellishment was a layered butterfly punched with the retired Small Butterfly punch....I put a Calypso Coral layer between two vellum layers and added some pearl accents.  It's sad to need a sympathy card but I feel this one will uplift and encourage as well as comfort!

Cassidy had a little 24-hour tummy bug over the weekend, but based on this photo from a trip to Walmart, I think she must be feeling better!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Awesomely Artistic, Butterfly Basics, Flourishing Phrases, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Blushing Bride, Vellum, Calpyso Coral, Wild Wasabi DSP (ret)
Ink	White Craft, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride
Accessories	Pearls
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circles Framelits, Dimensionals, Softly Falling EF, Small Butterfly Punch (ret)

JAI370 and CCIC Herb Garden

Hi everyone!  I am squeaking in this card so I can make the Just Add Ink sketch deadline!  It's also for the pretty inspiration photo at Curtain Call!  Check them out:

I always need thank you cards, so I went to work, using images from Awesomely Artistic and Colorful Seasons, stamping them in Lemon Lime Twist and Wild Wasabi inks:

I added some "greenery" with diecuts from Bouquet Bunch and mounted it on a thick white card which was embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder.  My sentiment came from an old SU kit and was stamped in Basic Gray and trimmed to a narrow border, under which I added a Smoky Slate mat with a tiny little bit of washi tape peeking out:

My final embellishment were a few little sequins!  Thanks for popping in today!  

Cassidy and the neighbor boy were playing last week....Cassidy was frustrated because she wanted to pedal the trike....typical only-child attitude, LOL!  They finally ended up swimming, which was a happier activity!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Colorful Seasons, Awesomely Artistic, Hip Hop Hooray Kit (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Wild Wasabi, Smoky Slate
Ink	Wild Wasabi, Lemon Lime Twist, Basic Gray
Accessories	Sequins (from my stash), Washi Tape
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circles Framelits, Bouquet Bunch Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder

Awesomely Artistic WC Birthday

Happy Friday, peeps!  Yay, it's the weekend, although it is calling for lots of rain, it's okay...I have plenty of indoor activities to keep me busy!  I did some late-night stamping last night; I thought I would work on some light watercoloring and pulled out Awesomely Artistic and played around with it a bit:

I used SU's watercolor paper and Stazon ink, then watercolored the flowers with Daffodil Delight, Delightful Dijon and Tangerine Tango, and the leaves with Mint Macaron.  I added a little shading with Sahara Sand and mounted it on a Mint Macaron base.  I added a sentiment from Watercolor Wishes, along with some sequins and pearls.  I was thinking about entering it in Bonnie and Loll's CAS Watercolor challenge for May, which is flowers, but I am not sure it's CAS enough.  I'll try and if they toss me out, that's okay!

  

Thanks for popping in and enjoy your weekend!

Cassidy was determined to make her own PB&J for lunch the other morning:

Spreading the peanut butter was a wee bit of a challenge, but she did pretty well!  She is growing up too fast!

Stamp Ink Paper 79

Happy Tuesday again, peeps!  If you're looking for my TSOT post, it's here.  Today is my last challenge for the Stamp Ink Paper team, and Justin has a great one for us....forced me out of my Christmas card-making endless loop:

I just got some SAB goodies...yes, it's coming up to that time of the year!  In fact, I have a whole box of goodies that I haven't even delved into yet...too much Christmas going on!  But I did pull out Delicate Details and So Very Much, because I needed a thank-you card for a new customer.  Here we go:

Sweet Sugarplum is such a pretty shade, so I decided to create my card using it as my card base. I stamped the sentiment in white craft ink and embossed it with white embossing powder, then added some details from Awesomely Artistic, stamping right over top of the embossing:

and Delicate Details (LOVE this new set!):

And finally, I stamped a bird from Best Birds on thick white cardstock, diecut it out and added some very loose, light watercoloring with Sweet Sugarplum and Smoky Slate inks and an aquapainter:

I just love this little guy!  I hope you'll play with our challenge this week...I know it's a crazy time of the year but maybe you can squeeze in one more challenge!  Hope to see you at SIP!

We FINALLY got our tree up, although if this tree lasts until December 25, it will be a Christmas miracle.  It drops its needles if you just LOOK at it.  The dustbuster is a permanent fixture, plugged in and ready to use each & every day!  I am almost convinced to go artificial next year!

Of course, I had a helper!

Always clownin' around!

Enjoy your day!

SPDMIU21 and HSS250

Hi peeps!  It's Thursday, and on the downhill slide to the weekend!  I saw a very pretty color combo at Hand Stamped Sentiments, so I combined it with the sketch only from Sugar Pea Designs:

I have barely touched Best Birds OR Dapper Denim since I got them, so I was determined to give them a workout!  So here we go:

I stamped the background circle with the floral image from Awesomely Artistic, then stamped my bird on heavyweight white cardstock in Dapper Denim and diecut it with the Birds and Blooms die.  I usually use a blender pen when coloring images that are not stamped with Stazon, but I used an aquapainter this time and was pleasantly surprised that there was very little bleeding of the ink; just a wee bit, but I love the effect:

I stamped the ferns from both Awesomely Artistic and Butterfly Basics on the card behind the circle in Emerald Envy and Mint Macaron, then added the sentiment banner, also from Butterfly Basics.  A couple of flowers and sequins finished it off.  And here's the inside:

Now, to get this in the mail to a special someone!

Halloween night our church had a Trunk or Treat, where we decorated the trunks of our cars and had families walk around the parking lot and go trick-or-treating.  It was the first time we'd ever done one, and it was a lot of fun!  One young man works for a farm where they host events; these straw critters were part of the decor for one event and were left behind, so he snagged them for his "trunk"!

Cassidy had already done her trick-or-treating over the weekend, so she had a "modified" zombie prom queen costume (it was COLD) and was over-the-top excited to be the one GIVING candy out! She made sure every trick-or-treater had plenty for their bags! She has such a generous heart!

Enjoy your day and thanks for popping in today!