Wicked Tess

When I saw this weeks PPA60 I had an idea. Take Tote-tally Tess and make her Wicked Cool! But I had a problem...I do not own the Tote-tally Tess stamp set. I was in a pickle.

Jade to the rescue! Because she lives in NV she was going to have to do the stamping for me, but she allowed me to instruct her on how I wanted the card to look. What a sweetie poo...I love her!

So...here she is...hope you like her!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a Christmas card I made for this week's Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge #168:

I would have liked to make something patriotic...just something to commemorate the day. But I have no patriotic sets. So, I made a card that represents peace.

May we all feel that peace today and always. May we never forget that horrific day nine years ago. May those who have fallen rest in peace. May those who serve our country come home safely. May our country never see anything the likes of what happened on 9/11 again.

And may God bless you all the days of your life.

Same card...different paper.

This card is another version of the card I created yesterday. I really liked the way the card turned out, so I wanted to make an SU only version of the card. Here it is:

The Elegant Soiree DSP is SO, well, elegant...I just love it and how can anyone resist those rhinestones?!


Here is a closer looks at the flowers:

I WON!!!!!

I cannot believe it! I won Shelli's Color Creation Challenge for the month of August!!! I'm so happy! I don't think I'm ever going to be able to get to sleep now!

Sweet Sunday Sketch

This card started out as an entry for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #84. I took my inspiration directly from Karen Giron's card. Everyday I go to her blog and say to myself, "That is such a great card. I want to make one just like it!" Today I did...not exactly, but it is kind of sort of like it.

When thinking of the colors I was inspired by this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #75.

Then I remembered this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge #58 was Pretty in Pearls and I knew I had to finish it off with them.

So, thanks for looking!

TESC126

Here's my entry for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #126.

I added some of Taylor's Mulit-Colored Tiny Twinkles. Can you see them? This was my first time using them and I must say...those little suckers are tough...but SOOO worth the extra added BLING!

TFL

Paisley Prints

No challenge today...

But, here is the second card I plan on doing for my first class.

TFL :)

Here's my entry for the Color Throwdown #106.

I subbed Pear Pizzazz for Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue for Soft Sky. I also snuck in some Marina Mist.

This photo stinks...I swear my cards really do look prettier in person. This card is gong to be the very first card I make for my very first stamp class!!! Yipee!

TFL

Retired Hostess Set

Here is a card I made fo my buddy Stacey who's birthday is on the 20th!

I used this week's Colour Q Challenge #46 as well as the Clean and Simple Stamping Layout 103.

I used the retired hostess set from last years SU! catalog, Wings of Friendship...because the sentiment that I used for the inside says, "Your friendship means thae world to me." Which is very fitting for my buddy Stacey!

TFL

Look what I got in the mail...

Yesterday I recieved this birthday card in the mail from my niece Jade. I love it! Thank you Jade! Today is my birthday, so I didn't want to say anything when I got it yesterday...because I know she always checks my blog in the morning and I wanted to surprise her with her own card! :) I love you, Jade!

Here's some news...the extremely talented and super sweet Leanne Pugliese is a Grandmommy!!! (You know her from the Color Throwdown, Colour Q and, of course, her awesome blog Wee Inklings) Her beautiful daughter had an equally as beautiful little baby girl!

So, head on over to her blog and show her some love! Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Holiday Mini - Cute Christmas

I was a little hesitant to get this stamp set, A Cute Christmas. But when I was at convention they decided to offer it in a bundle with the Candy Cane Christmas DSP and the Candy Cane Buttons...I knew it was going to be mine, all mine! (all of which will be offered in the upcoming holiday mini catalog)

So, I got these buttons and WOW they are big and beautiful! The paper has glitter and that stamp set...so, stinking cute!

The Mojo Monday Sketch 152 had this curly label design thingy that looked just like the Decorative Label punch (also in the mini catalog)...so, I just had to use it. The red frame around the ornaments I made using one of the stamps in the Tags til Christmas stamp set. (you guessed it...from the new mini catalog)

Needless to say, I LOVE everything in that mini catalog coming out on September 1st...I just hope I have enough ink to last me through the holiday season!

OK...TFL!!!

Shelli's Color Creation Challenge

So, apparently, Shelli Gardner (co-founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!) has a challenge/contest on her blog, soshelli.com every month.

This month she has challenged us to use one of the color combos from the fantastic Color Coach and make something. She asked that we go out of our comfort zone and use colors that we may not typically use.

For me those colors are More Mustard and Bravo Burgundy. Wouldn't you know it...on the back of the Bravo Burgundy swatch there was a color combo I just couldn't resist.

On that swatch the "Sweet Set" color combination is Bravo Burgundy, More Mustard and Crumb Cake. Thank goodness for the Crumb Cake otherwise I would have been lost!

So what do ya think? I hope Shelli likes it! TFL

CTD105 & SSSC80

Ok...so, here are the cards I made for, both, the Color Throwdown 105 and Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 80:


Why two cards you ask? Well, here's my story...I always have a story.

At first I made this card:


And I liked it...I did, but I thought, " Man, that wisper white sure is bright. I wonder how the image would look on natural white paper."

And here are the results of that:


The problem is, I think I might like the whisper white better. What do you think?

Aghhh...whatagonnado? TFL

Yum...yummy!

How much do I love this stamp set? A lot!!!! It's so stinkin' cute and yummy looking.



So, I know that I added a few more colors in, but this card is for the challenge over at Stacey's Stamping Stage {Act 42}. I figured the base colors of the card has the colors...right?! lol

I made this card and kept trying to add something to the middle of the panel, but decided against it. Nothing was looking quite right. Anyone got any suggestion?

Let me know...TFL!

Colour Q and Mercy

This is my entry for Colour Q 45 and Mercy's Tuesday Sketch 86.

I kept making mistakes when I would stick something down I'd realized I had missed a layer. Then I had originally put the little girl down on a plain backgraound and it looked way too blah...so I had to pry her back off the page. Ugh!

LOL...all in all I like how this came out...though the photo doesn't do her any justice. I need a new camera or maybe I just need to learn how to use the one I've got. :)

TFL

Mojo Happy Halloween

Here is my card for this weeks Mojo Monday 151.

I have had this stamp set for YEARS!!! I love it! It was actually on the very first order I have ever made with SU! and it's one of my favorite sets.

The colors were obvious...doesn't everyone make their halloween cards in these colors? LOL

Hope you like it...TFL!

K.I.S.S. Masculine

Here is my entry for PPA54:

It is supposed to be simple and well, I think this is simple. I was going to put some punched out gears and some twine, I resisted the urge to dress it up...I didn't even punch out the sentiment! This card took no longer than 5 minutes to make...all in all, pretty simple.

TFL

Too bad...so sad

Did you ever wake up in the morning with an idea and you just couldn't wait to make it into a card?! But then when you do, it wasn't what you thought it would be? Well, today is one of those days for me...{sad face}


So, here's my story...it's a long one so brace yourself! Anyway, you know that place between awake and dreaming...when you still remember your dreams? This morning I was there and I pictured a card using Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #85 and using a technique and stamp set we used at convention with the same color scheme. In my head this card was SO pretty and I actually fully awoke hoping that the Color Throwdown #104 was going to be the colors I was thinking about using. But, what are the odds of that...right?

Well, I went to the CTD blog and, OMG!!! there they were!!!! The EXACT colors I had dreamed about!!! Fate, right?! So, I spent time with the boys all morning...finally got the little one down for a nap and the big one was upstairs playing with his pal, Uncle Stuart. What a perfect time to go downstairs and make my masterpiece.

As fate would have it I'd create something that is not at all how I pictured it and though I am very sad at how this card turned out I am posting it anyway. I can't explain what happened, but I blew it and am now too sad to stamp. But, the story was fun to share anyway.

Thank you SO much for visiting my blog today and reading my winded story. Have a great evening everyone!

Mission 4 Macie

About a month ago, while doing my daily blog hop, I hopped on over to Snappy Stampin' w/Arielle and saw this card and LOVED it! I had never done a digi stamp card, but knew that this little image would be my first!

This Sugar Stick Mission 4 Macie digi is for such a great cause. I just hope I did her justice. You'll be seeing her again here, I'm sure.

I figured since my main image wasn't SU! I could throw a few other things non-SU! in there too. I got the colors from this weeks Colour Q Challenge 44 and the sketch is Sweet Sunday Sketch 75 from back in June.

TFL

Welcome Baby

This is my entry for Curtain Call Color Challenge {Act 41}. This challenge just screamed baby boy to me...seeing as how I only have boys, I seem to get that a lot.

Let's see...this is the first time I ever used my Choo Choo stamp set and the Lattice embossing folder. I think it turned out ok...a little bit crooked, but I'll fix that...lol!

TFL

Always Elegant

Two posts in two days?!!! Here is my Clean and Simple 101.

It's not exactly "clean and simple" but it has the same layout. LOL

I'm so digging this new Elegant Lines embossing folder. It is SO beautiful and, well, elegant.

I tried applying rhinestones, but stickles worked best. For some reason I'm having a hard time editting my photos...they not looka so nice (in the best Italian accent I can do).

Hope you like it!

Just for you

 

Wow…I haven’t blogged in SO long I almost forgot what it was like.  I’m so sad that I have missed so many awesome challenges and blog hops. (ie, Color Throwdown 100)  But I’m back and with a Clean and Simple one.

I have never done a Clean and Simple  Sketch Challenge before.  So, I figured why not start with their 100th Sketch!!!!

This is the newest beautiful Stampin’ Up! set Just Believe.  I LOVE this set and got it free at MY VERY FIRST CONVENTION last week!!!

I hope to be posting a lot more often…it helps when you have a clean desk. ;) TFL

Sweet Pea

This is my entry for this weeks MOJO Monday 137, as well as, Colour Q 31.

I bought this Fox and Friends set months ago and this is the first time I have used it!

Yet again, I used a texture plate and cannot see it in this photo. :(

Anyway, I was nervous about the sketch, but fell in love with the color combo the moment I saw it. I have to admit I added a couple of colors to it, but it's little details. Hope the Royal Court doesn't mind. ;)

Check it out! Colour Q has a prize this week. It's a pack a paper! But there's a catch you have to get a buddy to ener the challenge as well and if one of you get picked...you both get a pack! Cool, huh

I HAVE A BUDDY!!!! My sweet JADE entered...just for me! I love her!

TFL

I STAMPED TODAY!!!!!

WOW! I go for so long without stamping at all...it makes me sad.

So, here is my entry for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 67 and also the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge 57. The flowers are retired SU! and the paper is some stuff I had lying around in my craft room.

I even dry embossed the white with my texturizing plate, but it's hard to see in this photo. I think I need a new camera. Oh Dear Husband... ;)

Check out the challenges and let me know what you think.

For You

I am totally digging on this new set. It's beautiful! I saw this "technique" in the new mini catalog, on the King of the Grill set, and thought I had to do it with this Element of Style set.

I'm trying to use my stock of colors that are going to be retired soon. Cameo Coral and Ruby Red are being used on this one. I used them in the watercoloring too...God I love watercoloring! Jade got me hooked on that...thanks, babe!

I'm entering this into the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #56.

Embrace Life, again!

Here is my entry for the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge 55 and MOJO Monday 135.

Man, this card has A LOT going on...I just realized it! LOL Okay...so here it is! TFL!

Embrace Life

Here's my entry for Color Throwdown 88 and Pals Paper Arts 38.

Ok...so this time I flipped the sketch to the other side because the Embrace Life would have looked weird on the other side...I think.

Once again, one of the colors on CTD was Tangerine Tango and, nope, I still do not have that color...though I will soon. Tee Hee! So, I used Dusty Durango (a color I will truly miss when it is gone) and the brads are Pumpkin Pie. The other two colors are Basic Gray and So Saffron/White.

Hope you like it! I think it could have been better. Oh well, TFL!

Happy Bird-Day!

Stacey's Stamping Stage {Act 26} had some very simple colors for her challenge today. I have not, nor ever wanted to, use my Crushed Curry, but I think it actually looks good with the grays.

I started with the colors from Stacey's Challenge and went on over to Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch 65 for the layout.

I flipped the sketch onto the other side. Not because of any "creative licence" or anything...I just cut the bird a little bit closer to the right by accident...LOL.

The DP is from the Cool Kids Simply Scrappin' kit and I just couldn't forget the stickles for his little party hat! I think this card would be cute for a a kid or an adult. TFL!

3-3-3 challenges in 1

Check it out! I have three challenges on this one little card!

With the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge 134, I used the colors from the Color Throwdown 87 (too late to submit...boo hoo) and the Pals Paper Arts Challenge 37 (a theme challenge of flowers) and...Ta-dah!

I'm kind of diggin' this card. I love this stamp set and do not use it nearly enough. So...yeah...there you have it! TFL

Way to go!

Wow...it has been a while since I have stamped. I have had a rough couple of weeks, but I'm back now and ready for action!

Though I have not been stamping, myself, I have been checking out all the challenges and itching to join in. The sketch for this card is the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 63. Though submission is closed...I just had to use it! Karen's sketches are always so clean and crisp.

I'm not late for submitting into the Colour Q Challenge 27. I have never entered a Colour Q challenge before this. When I saw the colors I fell in love. Tangerine Tango (which I don't own, so I used Pumkin Pie), Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise (I used Bermuda Bay, because I had scraps lying around) and Soft Suede. They are such boy colors. I just love them all together!

So, I hope you like my card. I also hope I get back into the swing of things this week. TFL

Smile!!!

I really love using my watercolor crayons and could not wait to have a layout that I could use this stamp set on. This is the PPA34 challenge sketch and it seemed like the perfect layout to use with my Picnic Pals!

My buddy Stacey thought I should use Cameo Coral as the matte for my central image. Thank you, Stacey!

TFL

Meet Charlotte!

Here is my entry for this week's Color Throwdown 84. I love the colors this week and HAD to play along. Though I had to sub Soft Sky with Bashful Blue and Tangerine Tango with Pumpkin Pie...I also threw in some Really Rust. ;-)






I know...I know....this is not an SU! stamp, but I just love her so much! The first time I saw Charlotte I thought she looks just as how I imagine my daughter would look, if I ever have a daughter. Her tossled hair, big eyes and askewed little skirt remind me of myself as a youngling. So, I had to have her!

With Sympathy

Do you have stamp sets that you are just not quite sure what to do with one or two of the stamps in the set?

Well, I just the love the For All That You Do stamp set and use it often. But that little square stamp with the flowers I have been stumped on for a while. Jade said she had never used it before either.

So, we told eachother to make a card using that stamp. Here is what I came up with and HERE is what Jade came up with!

You're too Kind

This is my submission for this week's MOJO130 sketch. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Why ever did she put that Garden Green scalloped edge?"

Well...because Shelly (that is what I call myself at times...noone else is allowed to call me that though) had a different circle panel before that had a Garden Greenish embellishment on it and by the time Shelly changed out the panel it was far too late to take off the border.

So...life goes on. I don't think it's all that bad...the green in the flower helps. Tee hee.

I love this paper and want to use what I have up so I can justify buying a different patterned DSP. Ho-kay...peace out!

Pendant Park

Finally!!! I got a chance to make a card for the Pals Paper Arts Challenge this week. I have missed out on it the last few weeks...bummer. But here it is PPA33! It is a color challenge this week and what interesting colors they are. Garden Green, Certainly Celery and Kraft. I have the two green inks, but not the Kraft...so I used Kraft DP and Close to Cocoa ink. Hope the design team doesn't mind me improvising. ;-)

A lot of people made St. Patrick's Day cards, but I'm not Irish...not even on St. Patty's Day. So, Pendant Park was my go to stamp set when I saw these colors. I even managed to fit in al the stamps in the set!

So, head on over to the PPA site...there's blog candy this week! Whoo hoo! Did I mention this is also the SC271 for this week? I did now!

Another Jade Challenge!

Here's another challenge Jade gave me. It was a color challenge. Certainly Celery, Pixie Pink, Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay. Wow...was this a tough one! But like Jade told me, "That is why it is called a challenge."

I was totally lost as to what stamp set to even use...let alone how to lay it out. But with the help of Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #60 it made this card a little bit easier to come together.

I'm still not completely satisfied, but it's kind of growing on me a little bit more everytime I look at it.

Card with Bookmark

This is my entry for this weeks Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge 129. It took me forever, but I finally got it done. The sketch they put together this week made me think of a bookmark holder. So, this is what I came up with:

I love this Cottage Wall paper and before it is retired I plan on using it all up. Butterflies are always welcome on my cards as well. TFL

Pink Monochrome Challenge

Here we go again...Jade and I challenged eachother to make a Pink card. We were allowed to use Whisper White as our stamp base. I hope I stuck to the rules of the challenge. I don't have a lot of pink supplies...so this is what I came up with.

Black, White and Gray

So, here is another challenge set forth by Jade. She challenged me to make a card only using Black, White and Gray. That's really tough for me...I wanted desperately to throw in some color. I know the embossing got all freckled, but I'm still pretty happy with the end result. I was inspired by an episode of Cake Boss that I saw a while back. He had to make three black and white cakes for Bride Magazine. They came out beautifully...as all of his cakes do. Did you know that Cake Boss is taped in Hoboken, New Jersey? Though I have never been to his bakery I used to party hard in Hoboken almost every weekend. Ahh, too be young again...LOL.

Epoxy Brad Challenge

My niece Jade and I have decided to challenge one another to do things we have a hard time with. She actually challenges me...she's been doing this way longer then I have. So, like the sweetheart she is, she sent me the new Chocolate Chip 1/4" Sending Love Epoxy Brads from the Stampin' Up! occasions mini and challenged me to make a card using them. I'm not good with embellishments, but when I saw this Folded Paper Frame on splitcoaststampers.com I just knew I had to use the brads on it! Beate Johns is responsible for A LOT of the different tutorials on Split Coast and I have decided to challenge myself to make as many of her tutorials as I possible can.

Wonderful Mother

This is my submission to this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge 128 and the card I made for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I had this wonderful idea in my head and I just don't feel that I executed it as well as I had hoped. I'm posting it anyway, because it's been hard for me to get downstais and stamp at all these days. So, I'm posting whatever I produce...no matter how awful I think they are. LOL TFL

Happy Birthday, Human

Color Throwdown Color Challenge 82 is Old Olive (me favorite), Not Quite Navy and Ruby Red. I found this challenge kind of tough, but I have been finding every card I make tough these days. I think I'm losing my mojo...which by the way, I also used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch for this card. Ahh...whatareyagonnado? TFL