Vintage Christmas Pair

Hi everyone!  It's Monday, and I have a dentist appointment first thing....why in the world did I ever schedule that on a Monday???  Anyway, I have two cards today for the Jingle Belles challenge, which is vintage Christmas!  I peeking into my vintage Christmas stash and found some cute Crafty Secrets pages and cut a couple apart to make some notecard-sized cards:

The background of these images seemed to match Soft Seafoam perfectly!  On my Santa one, I embossed the front with a knit-type embossing folder, then added a Poppy Parade mat, some glimmer paper stars and a little diecut sentiment:

I backed the sentiment with some glimmer paper too: 

For my snowman card, I randomly stamped some snowflakes on the card front, added a little sentiment flag and some Pistachio Pudding twine:

And the inside uses some Paper Pumpkins sentiments and snowflakes:

Thanks for popping in today!  No pictures, but I'll have some interesting ones tomorrow!!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Paper Pumpkin (ret), Northern Hearts (ret), Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Poppy Parade, Soft Seafoam, Very Vanilla, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps
Ink	Soft Seafoam, Poppy Parade
Accessories	Dimensionals, Pistachio Pudding Thick Twine (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Season of Cheer Dies ( Concord and 9th), Layering Square Dies, Stitched Tag Dies (Pretty Pink Posh), Cozy Knit EF (Fun Stampers Journey), Star Punch (ret)

IB67 Rainy Day Party

Hello peeps!  It's Thursday...yay, the week is almost over!  We are taking another load from my dad's house to the auction tomorrow and Saturday, so it's going to be a busy weekend, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

Laurel has a delightful Inspired By inspiration prompt for us today, and she convinced me to break into some "hoarded" papers from Simple Stories' I Am line!  So here we go:

And here is her pretty prompt:

I went with the colors more than the theme, but I did use some cloud dies to create my focal point:

I diecut them in Very Vanilla cardstock, then added some Dazzling Diamonds layers behind them (a wee bit hard to see), and stamped some sentiments on them.  I did add a few little sprigs behind them because the Sunday Stamps sketch was perfect for it:

They were diecut from the Flourish thinlets, colored with a Flirty Flamingo marker and accented with a bit of Wink of Stella!  I think I will send this card to my college roommate---she just had her hip replaced and could use some cheering up!

I hope you'll play with our fun challenge this week...proof that a party even on a rainy day can be fun!  Check out all the samples at the IB blog!

A warm day calls for a walk in the creek!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Lil' Inker Cloud Nine??(ret), Mini Tag Sentiments (Divinity Designs, Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Dazzling Diamond Glimmer, Blushing Bride, I Am DSP (Simple Stories)
Ink	Balmy Blue
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Rainbow and Clouds Die Set (Lil'Inker Designs), Flourishes Thinlets, Flirty Flamingo Marker, Wink of Stella Marker

Inspired By 45 Pom Pom Christmas

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Time for another Inspired By Challenge!  You'd better put on your sunglasses, this one is bright!!

I had a lot of fun making it though...a little out of my normal style, but when you see Laurel's prompt, you'll see why:

I don't even know where I got this deer stamp, but I know I've never used it!  I stamped him in Poppy Parade, then gave him some glittery pompoms; I found some brightly-colored striped paper in my stash and went with the colors:

I punched out different cardstock circles with my 1/4" circle punch and added some Martha Stewart glitter...that was the most challenging part of the card, LOL!  I added a stitched frame, some stitched borders and a little tiny stitched sentiment.  It all went on a card base embossed with a snowflake EF!  The sketch is from Sketch Saturday:

The design team has created some fabulous creations as well...be sure to check them out at the IB blog and share yours with us too! (There is another deer in my stamp set and I might just have to use it for another card!!)  Thanks for popping in today!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Deer (Unknown), Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Lemon Lime Twist, Poppy Parade, Marina Mist (ret), Misc DSP
Ink	Poppy Parade, Call Me Clover
Accessories	Glitter (Martha Stewart), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Double Pierced Rectangle Die (Avery Elle), Stitched Rectangle Frame Die (My Favorite Things), Stitching Lines Dies (Ellen Hutson)

PP416 Birthday Sketch

Hi everyone!  I hope everyone on the east coast weathered the storm okay!  We got rain, rain, rain!  It was a good time to stamp!  Anne Marie is our Paper Players hostess with an awesome sketch for us this week!  Check it out:

I really need some birthday cards, so that's what I went for today!  So here we go:

I had a few other challenges in mind while creating this card; Little Red Wagon wants distressing; the Color Throwdown has a rust, teal and cream challenge; and TGIF is featuring washi tape and baker's twine:

So I went through my huge stash of 6x6" pads and found some papers to match the colors; after sponging and distressing them a bit, I adhered them to a Very Vanilla card that had been stamped in Sahara Sand with the Linen background stamp, and I sponged the edges of that too!  I used a tag punch to create a little tag on which I stamped a bird's nest, then added a little watercolored bird diecut from the Birds & Bloooms die:

I mounted some retired washi tape on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and added some linen braid for the horizontal piece; I know it's not baker's twine so if I get "disqualified", I understand!  Finally, on the inside I added a feather stamp and a sentiment from Perennial Birthday:

And just for fun, I created another card, this one is a thank-you for a friend of mine, using Share What You Love DSP and a sentiment from A Big Thank You:

I fussy-cut a flower from the floral DSP and tucked it under my ribbon, then colored some pearls with a Mint Macaron Blend to add a little oomph:

I hope you'll find some inspiration from Anne Marie's sketch...I already have several more ideas in my head, it's a great one for using up pretty DSPs!!!  Check out what the other designers created:

·        Claire

·        Jaydee

·        Joanne

·        Laurie

·        Nance

·        Anne Marie

·        Sandy

·        Elizabeth

·        Annie - off this week

·        Jan

·        Ann

Cassidy earned her orange belt this week:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Perennial Birthday, A Big Thank You, Soft as a Feather (ret), Linen Background (ret),  Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Watercolor, Petal Pink, Basic Black, Share What You Love DSP, Fall Break DSP (Carta Bella), Fall is in the Air DSP (Echo Park), Botanical Tea DSP (Graphic 45)
Ink	Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Lost Lagoon, Cajun Craze, Basic Black
Accessories	Washi Tape (ret), Linen Braid, Dimensionals, Pearls, Soft Sky Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Birds and Blooms Thinlets, Tag Punch, Sponge Daubers, Aquapainter, Stitched Shapes Framelits

Leafy Sympathy

Happy Friday, peeps!  Not sure why, but I struggled so much with my card today!!  I used the FMS sketch:

and I love things in threes, but I think because I was trying to match the colors in the washi tape, I just wasn't feelin' the love!  Oh well....it's on its way and hopefully the family will get some comfort from it!  

My vertical panels are from the Stitched Labels dies, cut from retired Baja Breeze cardstock, and my leaves are from Lawn Fawn, cut from Poppy Parade, Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow.  The washi is from Simple Stories' Winter Wonderland, and the sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Design's Mini Tag Sentiments:

And since I used washi tape, I am also entering this in Festive Friday's washi challenge:

Hanging on to summer outfits as long as she can!

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

AYSI185 Eclectic Blues

Hi everyone!  Yay, it's Friday, and it looks like it will be a nice weekend ahead for us!  My dad had to be put in the hospital for a couple of days for his leg and hopefully he'll come home today...he is not a good patient, LOL!  Thankfully my sister has way more patience than I do since he is living with her!  Anyway, it's time for another As You See It challenge, and it's a beauty!  What do you think?

What a gorgeous color combo...bright and bold!  I used the Sketch Saturday sketch, squeaking it in under the wire:

And here we go:

My card base was embossed with the Tufted EF, and I used Gallery Grunge and Touches of Texture to create an eclectic panel in the three challenge colors.  I added a diecut mat in Dapper Denim and a little stitched banner for my sentiment, then finished it off with some baker's twine and sequins:

I like this sentiment!!  Good for lots of things!  Thanks for popping in, I sure hope that you will play along with our challenge and add some bright colors to your creation!!  See you in the gallery!

Since our neighbors allow us to swim in their pool all summer long, when I found a pool tube (on sale!) that looked like a doughnut, I thought it would be a fun way to thank them!  They can't use it until next year, but by the look on Jackie's face, she was pretty excited:

 

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Touches of Texture, Gallery Grunge, Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Dapper Denim (ret), Lemon Lime Twist
Ink	Bermuda Bay, Dapper Denim (ret), Lemon Lime Twist
Accessories	Baker's Twine, Sequins from my stash
Tools	Big Shot, Tufted EF, Blends, Blender Pen,  Stitched Sentiment Strips Dies, Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX Dies (both My Favorite Things)

RRCB87 A Winter Sketch

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  It's time for another Retro Rubber Challenge, and this time the talented Claire has created a pretty sketch for us:

I started by looking through some of my retired Christmas DSP and I found some scraps from the Winter Frost Specialty line, so I used that for my color theme of Smoky Slate and Pool Party!  So here we go:

I know I used this same set (Winter Wishes, 2015) a while back for another Christmas card, I guess I am just drawn to these images!  I used the sled this time, stamping it in Basic Gray and Versamark, then heat embossing it with clear embossing powder and watercoloring it in:

After I fussy-cut it, I mounted it on a piece of embossed cardstock, a Pool Party mat, and a Silver Foil scallop, then added some silver thread and a couple little fussy-cut pine cones.  I stamped this sentiment on the inside and added some Pool Party boughs:

I didn't save the box this sentiment came in, so if anyone knows the name of it, let me know!! I know it's probably about the same age as the Winter Wishes set!  Edited to add:  Thanks to Karen; the stamp set is called Cheers and it was from winter of 2013!

I hope you'll play along with our sketch this week and give some of your older stamps some love!  Remember, they have to be at least a year old, and you need to tell us how old they are in your post!  So get stamping and share your creation with us at the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog!

So our wee little robins finally hatched!  Very carefully, Cassidy peeked in but she could only see a couple of little beaks!!

The babies weren't making a peep, just sitting there with their beaks open, waiting for mom and dad to feed them!

And mom and dad were close by, making quite a racket, letting us know they weren't happy we were intruding!

I quickly stuck my phone above the nest and took one picture....then we scooted out of there!  I can see four little beaks, but it's hard to tell...they certainly are not very attractive when they're newborns, LOL!

Soon they'll be flying out on their own!  How cool!  I also saw my first oriole yesterday as well as a scarlet tanager!  No pictures, but I was excited that I at least saw them!  Thanks for popping in today and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Winter Wishes (ret 2015), Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs (Our Daily Bread Designs 2016), Cheers (ret 2013)
Card stock & Papers	Rustic White (Papertrey), Pool Party, Silver Foil, Winter Frost DSP (ret)
Ink	Versamark, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Silver Twine, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Quilt Top Embossing Folder, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Layering Ovals Framelits, Aquapainter

AYSI 176 Sketch Time

Happy Friday, everyone!  I am looking forward to this weekend, although it's going to be a busy one, I'll be with friends and I'll be EATING some yummy meals!  Hope you have something fun planned too!  Today we have a new As You See It challenge, and it's a sketch:

I admit that at first, I had no idea what I was going to do with this sketch! But I had some gorgeous CTMH Chelsea Gardens papers on my desk from another project and I thought how fun it would be to use ALL the pretty patterns from the package on one card!  So that's what I did:

It took me some trial and error to determine exactly what size to cut the shapes, so if you're going to create one yourself, I cut each piece to 7/8" wide, then I cut the rectangles to 1 5/8" and the squares are (obviously!) 7/8".  I was thrilled how this turned out and I can see this sketch being a great one to use up those little scraps of DSP we hate throwing out!  I used a small corner rounder punch to round the opposite corners of each piece of DSP, and for the squares, since they're rather small, I lightly adhered them to a longer piece of scrap paper; that gave me something to hold on to while I positioned the DSP into the punch!

The sentiment was stamped in Basic Gray ink and I stamped a spray from Blooms and Wishes in Sage Shadow ink over top of it.  It was die-cut with the new stitched circle that's in the Stitched Label Framelits dies that are coming out in the new catalog, and matted with a scalloped mat in Smoky Slate:

The corners were embossed with a cross-stitch die that is also in the Stitched Label Framelits....have I mentioned how much I love this die already?!  For the final touch, I added some little silver pearls to the inside corners...aren't these patterns SO pretty?!

 

The design team has come up with some amazing ideas for this sketch...be sure to check them out at the As You See It blog, and play along with us too!

This goofy child:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Blooms and Wishes, Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Chelsea Gardens DSP (Close to My Heart)
Ink	Basic Gray, Sage Shadow
Accessories	Silver Pearls, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circles Framelits, Stitched Labels Framelits, Project Life Corner Rounder Punch (ret)