2S4Y Challenge #60 & Photoshop Fun!

Wow...'had a busy day and evening ... worked in the yard 'till dark and still have more to do tomorrow so I won't be stamping {sigh}.  I'm cutting this one close to the challenge deadline.  I finished it late last night and  completely  forgot to take a picture in the daylight so rigged up my lighting a bit differently to accommodate a night time shot.   I've been playing with Photoshop Elements and thanks to a great tutorial from 

Tania Gould, I was able to blur the edges and give it that 'sultry' look...{fun!}

I'm lovin' the Waltzingmouse Vintage Labels stamps that are 'nestie friendly!' {cute!}

Recipe:  (All products Stampin'Up! unless noted)
Stamps:  Asian Fusion (PTI), Vintage Labels 4 (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Paper:  Cardstock:  Whisper white, Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo Patterned Paper:  Basic Grey, Ink: Peach Parfait, Rich Razzleberry, Other:  Rich Razzleberry button, linen thread. Tools: PTI Woodgrain Impression Plate, Spellbinder Die, Scallop Edge Die(SU)

PPA#57

TGIF ... The last of our August weekends is upon us...we are hopefully going to be out doing some clean up in the yard.  My perennial bed looks like a jungle!  I hear the weather is not going to be very nice this weekend, but that's kind of been the way the summer has gone.

Anyway, on to the important stuff!  This weeks challenge over at Pals Paper Arts is a 'Simply Sketch'... 

 

And simply is what I did!  I fell in love with Karen Giron's card here and it inspired me to simplify ...I think it's sweet!

Recipe:  (Products are SU unless noted otherwise)

Stamps:  Asian Fusion (PTI), Very Vintage Labels No.4 (Waltzingmousestamps), Paper: Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Vintage Cream (PTI) Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Ink:  Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Fresh Snow (PTI)

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #125

When I saw the TESC for this week I instantly knew the stamp set I would be using, PTI's Dot Spot! Easy peasy! Here's the full version ...

Recipe:  (All products Stampin'Up! unless noted)

Stamps:  Dot Spot (PTI), Vintage Labels (retired)  Paper:  Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, More Mustard, Whisper White  Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Poppy Parade, More Mustard  Other:  Kaiser Pearls

Curtain Call Color Challenge {Act 44}

This little gem is my submission for the Curtain Call Color Challenge - Act 44.  This is the first time I've played along with Stacey Schafer and the Curtain Call Crew ... The colors this week are bright and cheery ... nice as fall will soon to be upon us and I tend to start navigating towards the  warm, autumn hues.  I looked to the, oh so talented, Dawn McVey for inspiration here.  I pretty much cased Dawn's card on this posting here with very minor changes.

Recipe:  (Products SU unless noted otherwise)
Stamps:  PTI It's Official  Paper:  Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Tempting Tourquoise, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White DSP:  Sunny Garden Ink: Poppy Parade 
Other:  Linen thread, PTI Felt, Tempting Tourquoise Button Tools:  PTI dies & Impression Plate, Word Window Punch

ColourQ Challenge #47

I'm really getting into this challenge game ... there are so many out there, I doubt I'll be able to participate in but a few.  I missed the submission deadline for last weeks ColourQ #46 so I wanted to get my entry for this week
completed ...'tout de suite'!  Arielle was kind enough to comment on my late submission with praise and encouraging words to play along with the next challenge. So, here it is... 

Recipe:  (All products SU unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Butterfly Prints, Great Friend (sentiment)

Paper:  Cardstock:  Poppy Parade, Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Whisper White 

             DSP:  Poppy Parade Designer Series Patterns ,  More Mustard Designer Series Patterns & Thoroughly Modern

Ink:  Poppy Parade, More Mustard, Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray
Other:  Basic Pearl Jewels  

Card for my lefty friend...

My good friend Gerrie is a lefty.  She tells me that she drives people crazy with her 'backwards' ways!  Her 'card room', as she affectionately calls her crafty space, is set up for a lefty.  When I come over to play, I manage to adapt...I'm fairly ambidextrous  so I don't mind.  I saw this card quite sometime ago in a paper crafting publication.  I really wish I'd made a note of the original creator so that I could give them due credit.  Anyway, I knew Gerrie would get a kick out of it so I cased it, tucked it away and sent it to her for Left-Handers' Day, August 13th ... This list of names are famous lefties ... I made this in Microsoft Publisher and printed it off onto Crumb Cake cardstock.

Recipe: (All products Stampin'Up! unless noted otherwise)
Paper:  Cardstock:  Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake
            DSP:   Urban Oasis (retired)
Ink:  Basic Gray & Close to Cocoa (sponging edges)
Tools:  Cricut Expression (Accent Essentials, Plantin Schoolbook cartridges)

SSSC #82 & Color Throwdown Challenge #106

In an attempt to get myself in 'The Zone' as far as card making, I thought to follow up on my new year's resolution and start participating in some of the many challenge blogs out there.  This card is my entry for two of this weeks ... Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #82 and Color Throwdown #106

This card is for my Dad's 81st birthday, tomorrow.  Since I had the Kiwi Kiss already stamped and cut out, I took the liberty of substituting Kiwi Kiss for the Certainly Celery in the Color Throwdown Challenge.

Recipe:  (Supplies Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Wanted (Retired), Woodgrain, PTI Round & Round

Paper:  Cardstock: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake (Kraft), Kiwi Kiss DSP: Cosmo Cricket'sWanted

Ink:  Soft Sky, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Tools:  Scallop Circle Punch (SU), Marvy Jumbo Circle Punch, Spellbinder Circle Die, PTI Mat Stack 1 Die

ColourQ Challenge #46 ...Ya' Snooze...Ya'Loose!

I found some motivation last night and decided to make a card for the ColourQ Challenge (CQC#46).  Well, the card did get made, two in fact.  Since it was already dark when I finished, I didn't take pictures until this morning not realizing that the contest closed today at Noon Central time...BooHoo.  I will link them tomorrow just to play along!  Here's the first card...

Since I used the negative image from the die cut  for this little gem, I thought I might as well use the die for another card with the same color challenge, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze and Vanilla. Here is the second card ...

 
I used Papertrey Ink's Argyle Embossing Plate {love it!} to emboss the cardstock before cutting it out, then stamped an image from PTI's Round and Round (special edition anniversary set).  I must say, I am really please with both cards...maybe my Mojo has returned!




 Recipes:  All Supplies SU unless noted
Card #1: 
Stamps:  Friends Never Fade
Paper:    Cardstock:  Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla
              DSP:  Greenhouse Gala and Baja Breeze Patterns DSP (retired)
Ink:       Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze Markers
Tools:   PTI Mat Stack 1 Die, Medium Scallop Border Die & Argyle Impression Plate, Marvy Jumbo  Scallop Circle    Punch, 1¾ Circle Punch (SU)

Card #2:
Stamps:  Friends Never Fade, Round and Round (PTI)
Paper:    Cardstock:  Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla
              DSP:  Wild Wasabi Patterns DSP (Retired)
Ink:       Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze Markers
Tools:  PTI Mat Stack 1 Die, 1¾Circle Punch (SU), Fiscars Upper Crest Border Punch
Other:  Doodlebug Bumblebee Rhinestones

thanks {so much}

We woke this morning to another hazy day. The smoke from the BC forest fires has drifted our way and it's awful outside. Advisories are to stay in doors which I will gladly do! I thought I'd post a few of the cards I have managed to make through this creative drought I've been in before getting to the New Catalogue goodies.

I try to keep a stash of both thank you and birthday cards on hand. Today's card is one I had wanted to make for quite some time. I've seen so many cute examples of the flower pot card and found a tutorial here on SplitCoastStampers. It's a fun and easy little project that has that WOW factor card makers are always trying to achieve. This card was made in early June and has since been sent so Ill try to best recall the supplies I used. Sorry about the color difference in the two pictures...I'm still learning color adjustment in PSE...obviously I need more practice! Let me know what you think.

Recipe: (All products SU unless noted otherwise)
Stamps: With All My Heart, Great Friend, Tiny Tags
Paper: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence (Retired), Summer Sun (Retired), Dusty Durango (Retired)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry & Orchid Opulence Classic Ink
Other: White Satin Ribbon
Tools: Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, Extra Large Fancy Flower Punch, Scallop Border Punch, White Signo Gel Pen

Welcome Little One!

My mojo seems to have taken a summer vacation this year (more about that later)... anyway, when I got the news that a gal from my last Stamper's 8 just recently had a baby girl, I thought it time I snapped out of my funk and get busy! I really haven't made many baby cards but I had purchased some Papertrey Ink sets for this very occasion. Since it's a girl, I wanted to use SU's new in color, Blushing Bride.

The designer paper is the big polka dot print found in the Hostess Level 1 Designer Series Paper Pack...so cute...I love polka dots! The ribbon, too, is new from SU, it's the Stitched-Poly Ribbon in Blushing Bride. It's nice, easy to work with ... I like it! The PTI image was stamped in Black Momento Ink and filled in with copics. Two PTI Hibiscus buttons top it off {cute!}

I've been playing with Photoshop Elements lately, and tried my hand at making my own watermark brush. It actually proved to be pretty easy thanks to Kristina Werner's tutorial found here. I thought the little owl on top of the last 'n' went well with my new blog template. (You can click on the picture to make it bigger) Let me know what you think!

Recipe: Stamps: Baby Button Bits (PTI)
Paper: DSP: In Color Designer Series Paper Pack (Hostess Level 1) in Blushing Bride,
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Blushing Bride
Ink: Momento Black, Copic Markers
Other: SU Stitched-Poly Ribbon in Blushing Bride, PTI Vintage Buttons

To quote Julie Ebersole, 'Keeping it real'...

I parked myself with a cuppa coffee this Sunday a.m., nothing scheduled so thought I'd just peruse my favorite sites via my Google Reader ... I bounced onto Julie Ebersole's site, Paper Trufflez, as she always makes me smile! Today was no exception, her card was adorable, her words gave me a chuckle! Something I hadn't noticed since discovering her blog was one of the widgets on the sidebar ... B.W.O., it said. 'Had to see what this was all about so, I clicked ... so glad I did!
I've added the widget to my sidebar so you can read, for yourself, it pretty much says it all!

So, feeling the guilt about not blogging lift, I decided my blog was in need of a bit of a facelift. So, my coffee is now cold, but I think my blog looks pretty cute!

Since I'm here, and feeling no obligation, I'm feeling chatty! The summer has flown by and I've done very little papercrafting. I spent a good week (plus) tearing my hobby room apart, moving my PC and all it attachments and devices to the opposite side of the room and trying, with all my might, to organize and make this little space of mine a functioning one! In doing this I came across a vast amount of projects yet to be done. Most of them scrapbook pages. Since becoming a SU demonstrator, I fear I have pushed scrapbooking aside, focusing on card making and 3D projects. So, I challenged my self to try and do one scrapbook layout a week. Well, it took me a good week to get into the swing of scrapbooking again! Cards, for me are easy ... scrapbooking is much more difficult, I think because pictures are involved...memories that need to be preserved with thought. Anyway I'm almost finished with Evan's 9th Birthday layout ... oh, by the way, Evan just turned 17 in June ... see what I mean!!!

Extra! Extra! Stampin'Up! News Bulletin

Greetings All ...



Wow, August already! It's been a month since I last posted announcing Stampin'Up's New Catalogue. If you haven't received your copy yet and would like one, please contact me. It is packed with beautiful stamp sets, accessories and ideas, ideas, ideas!



Hey ladies, if you were considering having your own workshop so you can earn some of those beautiful stamp sets, now is the time! From now until August 31st, Hostesses can earn an extra $35 in Free Merchandise with a workshop totalling $450 or more! So, not only will you get your choice of a Level 1 or Level 2 stamp set from the New Catalogue (or current mini, if preferred) you will have $80 to spend on anything you wish! How great is that!



Contact Me for more information or to schedule your August workshop!