CTD735 Guest Designer

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  I am excited to be playing along with the Color Throwdown team today as a Guest Designer!  Color Throwdown was my very first design team and I always had such a great time! Here is their color palette for this week:

These colors seemed masculine to me, but I wanted to go in a different direction, so I pulled out some older Authentique papers featuring this vintage image in navy, then went to work:

I added a Chocolate Chip frame, diecut with a new SU die called Radiating Stitches, positioned so that it framed the floral image.

I stamped a butterfly from Butterfly Basics, punched it out with the matching punch, and mounted it on a piece of Cajun Craze, also diecut with a circular Radiating Stitches die:

A Charming Sentiments sentiment was heat embossed with some white ink and powder, then diecut and added to the frame.  Some twill ribbon and enamel dots finished it off.

Since I had the inside portion of the frame sitting on my desk, I used it for the inside, added a Night of Navy butterfly, a little sentiment and diecut heart:

I have a friend who is going to be having some surgery soon, so this will be in the mail to her!  

I hope you'll play along with the CTD colors this week!  Share them over at the CTD blog!  Thanks for visiting today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Charming Sentiments, Butterfly Basics (ret), Tiny Tags Messages (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip (ret), Genuine DSP (Authentique)
Ink	Cajun Craze, Night of Navy, Craft White
Accessories	Dimensionals, Cinnamon Cider Ribbon (ret), Enamel Dots (from my stash)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Radiating Stitches Dies, Charming Sentiments Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Small Butterfly Punch (ret), White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

Butterfly Basics Sympathy

Happy Monday, everyone!  I have a sympathy card today using the sketch from Sunday Stamps as well as the Tickled Pink challenge from Retro Rubber:

So here we go:

Butterfly Basics is from 2015, and I stamped the flowers in Basic Gray, watercolored them with Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo and Pear Pizzazz inks, then fussy cut them out.  The butterfly was stamped in Smoky Slate and watercolored as well:

The woodgrain background was stamped with some of the collage images from the set, and I added a sympathy sentiment from Hero Arts (also 2015). 

I layered the butterfly with another butterfly stamped in Blushing Bride, and gave it a little rhinestone embellishment:

The inside sentiment is one of my favorites from Stamp Simply:

Thanks for popping in today!

Here's what I have been doing for the last week...what is it about a 1000-piece puzzle that makes you forget all your housework?!  Thanks to my friend Peggy for lending it to me!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Butterfly Basics (ret, 2015), Sentiments CL342 (Hero Arts, 2015), Farmhouse Scriptural Quotes (Stamp Simply, not sure of age)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Smoky Slate, Shimmery White, Heart & Home DSP (ret)
Ink	Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate, Versafine Black
Accessories	Rhinestone, Dimensionals, Blushing Bride Twine (ret)
Tools	Cut & Emboss Machine, Stylish Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Aquapainter

As You See It 227 My Favorite Movie.....

Helloooo, everybody!  Thank heavens it's Friday!  What a week!  The As You See It challenge is a really fun one, I don't think we've ever had one like this!  Heather is asking us to make something that reminds us of one of our favorite movies!

One of my favorite movies (and book) is To Kill A Mockingbird.  I know the movie is NOT about a mockingbird, but as I love birds and it's been real fun this spring to watch them outside my windows, I decided to make a bird card!  (And it's not even a mockingbird, sorry!) So here we go:

I found this pretty Lost and Found Blush paper in my stash; it only had the tiny birds and the garland up in the corner already on it; the rest has been stamped in Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride and Rococo Rose with various stamps from my stash; I just love this little bird:

He is from an Artistic Outpost set called Birds of a Feather, as is the print and egg background.  After stamping him in Early Espresso, I watercolored him in a bit, then added the Sahara Sand print background, some fern fronds in Blushing Bride and a wee little smattering of honeycomb in Sahara Sand  (both from Butterfly Basics):

I found a little scrap of pink gingham, so I scalloped the edge of it, adhered it to the side and fastened a little burlap trim to it.  I added a Papertrey sentiment, and my final addition was a smattering of sequins.  For the inside, I stamped a sentiment from Watercolor Wonder on top of another fern frond:

Did you know my mother's name was Fern?  My siblings and I always laughed and said it was because her father was a florist, although we thought her sister's name should have been Rose or Lily instead of Grace! Anyway, I always think of her when I use this stamp!  I just love this card, the colors are so pretty and I think that bird is as sweet as can be!  And since I used patterned paper AND stamped on it as well, I am entering this at Little Red Wagon, where they want patterned paper or make your own!

How will you be inspired?  I hope your favorite movie isn't a zombie one or something, LOL!  Share your creation with us at  As You See It...I can't WAIT to see what you make, and be sure to stop by the blog to see what inspired our designers...you might get a giggle!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Birds of a Feather (Artistic Outpost, Butterfly Basics (ret) Watercolor Wonder (ret), Take Three Fall (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Blush DSP (Lost & Found)
Ink	Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride, Rococo Rose, Early Espresso
Accessories	Linen Braid, Sequins from my stash
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Be Mine dies, Sponge Daubers

IB108 Clusters Sympathy

Hi peeps! Wow, the week is just whizzing by!  We have a new Inspired By challenge today...check this one out:

Isn't that a pretty vignette?  Unfortunately, I needed several sympathy cards recently, so you may see a theme for a few posts.....but this challenge did give me a chance to pull out some lovely elements to mix and match! 

I started with some papers from Julie Nutting's French Flea Market by Photo Play, using some blue for my background, a stripe for my banner, and a pink brocade for my florals; I stamped them in Basic Gray, fussy-cut them out and added a little shading with some Copics:

I just LOVE the tag die from SU's new Bonanza dies, so I cut one out from Whisper White cardstock, stamped a few elements on it from the retired Butterfly Basics stamp set, and mounted my florals on it.  I also added some twine and sparkly sequins:

I stamped and diecut a little butterfly, embellished it with a little glimmer dot, and I found this chipboard button in my stash....IRL it matches a little better than it does in the photo.  The sentiment was also stamped in Basic Gray and is from Our Daily Bread Designs:

For my inside, I used a past Paper Pumpkin sentiment, stamped in Marina Mist, and I also stamped the fern again behind it:

The DT has some lovely samples using the photo as their inspiration....please check them out at Inspired By and share your creation with us as well!  Can't wait to see it!

Cassidy had an inservice day yesterday, so we spent the day together!  She helped me unpack a big SU order; she set up a "store" in the living room and I had to "shop" for all my customers' orders!! Then she took the box apart, re-taped it and made a play house for her dolls with it!

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

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Paper Pumpkin sympathy (ret), Mini Tag Sentiment (Our Daily Bread Designs), Flower Garden (Tim Holtz), Butterfly Basics (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, French Flea Market (Photo Play)
Ink	Pineapple Punch, Basic Gray, Certainly Celery (ret), Marina Mist (ret)
Accessories	Sequins, Chipboard Button, Baker's Twine (from my stash), Glimmer Dots (ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Bonanza Dies, Copics, Small Butterfly Punch (ret)

CTS272 Guest Designer

Hi peeps, a second post for me today!  I was uber-excited when Chrissy from CAS(E) this Sketch asked me to be a guest designer for this week!  Check out this fun sketch:

I used the sketch to make a Mother's Day card for Dana, and I used a couple of SU sets to create it in shades of green:

I started with a Very Vanilla base and stamped images from Butterfly Basics (retiring) and Touches of Texture (staying) in Mint Macaron.  I added a butterfly diecut from some of last year's SAB Mint Macaron glimmer paper, and a few little sequins:

The sentiment was a combination of Papertrey's Daily Design Sentiments ("happy Mother's day") along with the "daughter"from Fiskars Celebrate Family set, stamped in Tranquil Tide.  Dana really liked it!  And I hope you'll play along with us too at CAS(E) this Sketch!

We have had some wicked weather this week...if you're on the east coast, you know what I mean!  We had hail and torrential rains on Saturday, lots of lightning and rain on Monday and Tuesday!  Here's a shot from Tuesday night, in downtown Oxford, PA!   That sky was ominous!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Butterfly Basics, Touches of Texture, Daily Design Sentiments (Papertrey), Celebrate Family (Fiskars)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron Glimmer (ret)
Ink	Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide
Accessories	Sequins (Sylvia's Etsy Shop)
Tools	Big Shot, Bold Butterfly Framelits

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)

GDP110 Thanks a Bunch

Hi everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  I'm playing with the Global Design Project sketch for this week:

I just love this sketch!  I decided to digress from typical fall colors for my leafy creation and chose the colors from this pattern found in the Autumn Harvest DSP:

I stamped the Soft Sky panels with the honeycomb image from Butterfly Basics; the leaves are from Colorful Seasons, and the sentiment is from Wood Words:

The diecuts are from Seasonal Layers; baker's twine is retired Pistachio Pudding, and I added some sequins from my stash!  I also added a tiny sprinkle of Dazzling Diamonds glitter behind the leaf diecut for a little sparkle!  Thanks for visiting today!

Cassidy finally learned how to go all the way across the monkey bars!  She has been watching Ninja Warriors and tried to imitate their movements, and it worked!  The last time she tried to do this, she was four and fell and broke her arm!!!

Goofball!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Colorful Seasons, Wood Words, Butterfly Basics
Card stock & Papers	Thick Very Vanilla, Watercolor Paper, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz,  Autumn Harvest DSP
Ink	Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories	Sequins from my stash, Pistachio Pudding Thick Baker's Twine (ret), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Seasonal Layers Framelits, Dimensionals, Aquapainter

SIP121 Tic Tac Toe with Paper Pumpkin

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  I had a great couple of stamp classes yesterday; my TOPS rally on Saturday, church on Sunday...my time has been crunched, so I was happy to see the Tic-Tac-Toe challenge at Stamp Ink Paper this week because I knew just what would come to my rescue!!!

Last October's Paper Pumpkin kit featured leaves, diecuts and sequins (the top row across) to create a shaker card!  Perfect!  I whipped this up in no time and created a birthday card for a special friend:

Of course, shaker cards are a challenge to photograph; here it is standing up and you can see that fun crackle stamp in the background.  I used sentiments from Butterfly Basics for my birthday greeting, along with some coppery baker's twine and another leaf from this month's  Paper Pumpkin!!!

I really just wanted to hoard these sequins, they're so pretty!

And the inside:

This challenge has lots of possibilities, so we expect to see lots of entries in the gallery!  Get creative!

Now here's something you don't see every day...a shark walking the aisles of Walmart.  Well, anything is possible at Walmart, LOL!  This would keep you very warm on Halloween, that's for sure!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Butterfly Basics, Paper Pumpkin, Oct 2016 & October 2017
Card stock & Papers	Paper Pumpkin, Cajun Craze
Ink	Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze
Accessories	Sequins, Baker's Twine from Paper Pumpkin
Tools	Dimensionals