IB66 Speckled Eggs

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Hope your week is going well....I haven't felt very crafty lately, my craft room has been a disaster so hopefully in cleaning it up I might find my mojo!  Today is Inspired By day, and I have to admit that this is one of my favorite challenge photos ever.  I nudged my mojo along enough to make this:

And here is Laurel's prompt:

Aren't they pretty?  And when I saw this photo, I knew just what I wanted to use!  I had this SU stamp Soft as a Feather many years ago and sold it....and then regretted it!  I found it again on ebay a while back and this is the first time I have "re-used" it!  I began by painting a page from an old book with some white craft paint, then stamping the nest on it with Early Espresso ink.  I stamped the eggs from the same set, along with some others from Nature's Walk and colored them with Pool Party Blends, then cut them out and popped them up:

I diecut the book paper with a Spellbinder's die (thanks, Claire) and mounted it on a Pool Party card that I ran through the Woodgrain embossing folder, then sponged with Crumb Cake ink.  (Since this folder really weakens the fibers of the paper, I adhered a piece of cardstock to the inside left side of the card to stabilize it.)  Finally, I added a linen thread bow, some tiny punched hearts, and stamped a sentiment and some "stitch" lines, both from Close to My Heart sets:

I left the inside blank; it might be an encouragement card, a sympathy card or an Easter card....I haven't decided yet!  I hope you'll play along with our pretty challenge this week at Inspired By too!

I saw directions to make a little Easter basket in the latest BH&G, so I thought I would try it out with Cassidy....and it was a bust!  It was a little too fussy for her, although she really gave it a good try! 

She was relieved when I told her she didn't have to finish it, LOL! (Grammy even thought it was a challenge, LOL!)

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Soft as a Feather (ret), Nature Walk (ret), Stitched Borders, Inspired Words (both Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky (ret), page from an old book, Naturals White
Ink	Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Linen Thread
Tools	Big Shot, Woodgrain EF, Curved Matting Dies (Spellbinders), Triple Heart Punch (ret), White Craft Paint, SU Blends, Sponges

Vintage Nature Walk

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  We survived the big storm...it wasn't really much of a blizzard, a few inches of snow and lots of sleet!  Gave me some time to spend in my craft room, though!  I created a vintage sort of card, one I haven't done for a while, and it incorporated three challenges:

The Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration sketch challenge, the Retro Rubber challenge and the SU Only Challenge of Things That Fly!

I pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets, Nature Walk (January 2011) and paired it with Tiny Tags (January 2010) for my vintage creation today:

I don't remember the name of this DSP, but I am pretty sure it came out around the same time as Nature Walk; I added some additional "flying" things, stamped directly on to the DSP with Marina Mist ink, in the form of bees and butterflies:

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I stamped the bird with Versamark and Marina Mist ink, then heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder so I could watercolor him a wee bit with Marina Mist ink.  I did some diecutting to mount him on a stitched circle and scalloped square, then added my embellishments:  leaves, paper button, little tag, burlap, lace and stitched ribbon trims!

Remember this button die?  It's one old die I will never part with!  I cut out the button three times and adhered them together, then stamped it with the woodgrain image from Timeless Textures...it really looks like wood!  I did the same thing with the Flourishes leaves:

I left in the inside blank; I could use this as a get well or a birthday card, or just about anything!  Love this little bird!

We went out sledding yesterday but the wind was pretty wicked and raw, so we didn't stay out too long, but we got in a few good rides! Cass & Dana almost ran into a tree, but it was still fun! At least we got a chance to use the new sled I just bought to replace the one I broke last time I went sledding, LOL!

Enjoy your day!

Project Details--All Products Stampin Up Unless Otherwise Noted
Stamps	Nature Walk, Tiny Tags, Timeless Textures
Card stock & Papers	Naturals White, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, DSP (ret)
Ink	Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Versamark
Accessories	Burlap Ribbon, Stitched Marina Mist Ribbon (ret), Crochet Trim (ret), Linen Thread
Tools	Big Shot, Button Die (ret), Flourish Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Layering Squares Dies, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Tiny Tag Punch

Stamp Ink Paper 80 - Get Well Bird

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I am thrilled that I've been asked to be on the Stamp Ink Paper DT on a permanent basis!  Today's challenge is cardmaker's choice!  

Honestly, this was more difficult than I imagined, because I have SO MANY favorites!!  My favorite on  any given day might change with the season, my mood or the holiday!  Anyway, I decided in the end on this sweet bird from Red Lead, along with some other images I randomly stamped on some pretty Pool Party-hued paper from Fancy Pants:

It wasn't hard to choose my favorite color, and I love birds, and I love collage stamping, and I love shabby ribbon, so the rest was easy!  There are feathers, eggs, lace and postmarks, all stamped in various shades.....the eggs (Nature Walk) were colored with some ink and a blender pen, cut out and popped up:

I added a tag, also lightly stamped with a honeycomb design:

and the inside sentiment was stamped over the egg image as well!  I never have enough get well cards, so this is beginning my stash!  I'll have the supply list at the bottom!

Just thought I would share a photo from the weekend get-together with John's family!  Here are some amazing women that I am blessed to have in my family:

Me, John's sister Mimi, John's sister-in-law Colleen, and John's stepmother, Trish!  Mimi is a great hostess and we had a wonderful brunch together.  And here are a few of the guys...they seem to be deep in discussion, probably solving the world's problems:

John's BIL Charlie, his stepfather Bob, John, and Dana's boyfriend Wayne!  I think the girls were having more fun than the guys, though, LOL!

Enjoy your day and thanks for popping in!

Project Details
Stamps	Nature Walk, French Foliage, (both retired SU), Butterfly Basics, Delicate Details (new SAB), Trendy Feathers (Stamplorations), Bird (Red Lead), Hero Arts CL342 (Inside sentiment), Our Daily Bread Designs Mini Tag Sentiments (Tag sentiment)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Basic Gray, Park Bench (Fancy Pants)
Ink	Basic Black, Basic Gray, Pool Party, Soft Sky
Accessories	Hand-dyed shabby seam binding, black & white baker's twine
Tools	Big Shot, old Cuttlebug tag die, dimensionals, sponges

Get Well Duet

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I needed some get-well cards, so I perused some challenges, checked out my DSP stash and went to work!  First one uses the Mojo Monday 442 sketch:

I know I was gifted this cool paper by someone but  I just can't remember who it was....but isn't it fun?  This particular card is for a young man, so I tried not to make it too girly, although I did use Watermelon Wonder for the circle...hope he doesn't think it's too pink!  The sentiment from Technique Tuesday was heat-embossed in white, and I used panels of Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Tangelo Twist and So Saffron and an assortment of stitched dies:

I finally used one of SU's epoxy stickers too, just for a fun effect!

The second one uses Inkspire Me's sketch:

I've been pushing this little scrap of polka-dotted paper around my desk for a while, so I thought it was time to use it when I saw the layout!  I stamped the bird from Nature Walk in Early Espresso and added a wee bit of shading in blue and tan with a blender pen:

I know I'm supposed to have a bow in the lower righthand corner, but I chose to put my sentiment from A Dozen Thoughts there and added the bow on the burlap trim above.  To do the burlap, I put a small piece of adhesive sheet on the back of SU's burlap ribbon and ran it through a scallop die.  The little lace is tied with linen thread.  It was all mounted on a Baja Breeze card that was stamped with the Hardwood background stamp in white craft ink.  

So happy you could pop by today!

We had some incredible winds in the last few days, so we got out Cassidy's kite.  I was doing really well until......

Yep, there really are kite-eating trees!  Honestly, my kite-flying skills are SO BAD I never imagined I would even get it airborne!  So there it is....still in the tree!  It was a pretty one too, so sad!  And I have a huge field behind the house that would have been perfect...no trees.  I learned my lesson!

Enjoy your day!

SC77, CC7 & FMS130

Happy Thursday, everyone!  A three-challenge card today! 

I used the Freshly Made Sketches sketch from Linda:

The inspiration photo from Stampin’ Celebration 77:

And the butterfly challenge from the Card Concept 7, where I used the "Shabby Chic" style:

I used several different images from Pink Paislee, SU’s Nature Walk, and 100 Proof Press, stamping them collage-style on a Naturals Ivory panel and matting it with a So Saffron panel trimmed in Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  I stamped the butterfly again in Stazon Black and watercolored it with So Saffron ink, then mounted it on a vellum scalloped circle that had been pierced in a circle:

Since this card is going to someone who is going through a very difficult time, I added my favorite CHF verse to the inside:

Cassidy & Grampy doing some artwork outside on the patio:

Enjoy your day!

CAS Sympathy

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  I am late today---I had stamp camp last night where we made some nice Christmas cards, and this morning was so refreshingly cool that I relaxed a bit!  It’s a welcome relief from the hot, humid weather we’ve been having!

I needed two sympathy cards this week….I had a couple of ideas in mind and then I got my SU order with my holiday mini items, so I broke open Magnificent Maple and made a one-layer card:

Again, this is one of those cards that looks so much better in real life!  I embossed the leaf with Versamark and gold embossing powder, which makes it eligible for the CASology 54 challenge, which is “gold”; I added some twine around the stem, which qualifies it for the CAS on Sunday challenge, which is kraft and twine.  After embossing it, I made a mask and stamped the French words from Nature Walk and did some sponging, then stamped the words from Blessings from Heaven. 

I have received several nice cards in the mail recently and I thought I’d share one a day with you!  This one came a while back, but I don’t think I shared it; it’s from my friend Teri:

Even if I did share it, it’s worth sharing again!  I love this color combo and this is one of my favorite vintage SU stamps!

Finally, Cassidy spent some time playing with her dolls and some chalk; thankfully the chalk washes off easily because she was covering every available doll surface with purple—even her scalp!

Enjoy your day!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Magnificent Maple, Nature Walk (ret), Blessings from Heaven
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake
Ink	Versamark, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip
Accessories	Gold Embossing Powder, Piercer, Linen Thread, Sponge Dauber
Tools	Heat Tool