CTS181 and CASology 206 Work of Art

Hi peeps!  Phew, it's hot....I feel like singing Martha and the Vandella's HEAT WAVE!!  I decided to cool off with some cool colors and the CAS(E) this Sketch sketch and the cue from CASology:

                 

There are some really fun cards in the CASology gallery; I wish I had the creativity that some of these stampers have!  Mine is rather mundane, although I did do some sponging, which I haven't done in a while:

In the next few weeks, I am going to be highlighting some SU colors that I rarely use!  A wee challenge to myself, you could say!  Today I am using Tempting Turquoise....I love this colors, but for some reason, never think to pull it out!  I stamped the little paintbrush from the Hostess Set (last year) Love You Sew in Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist and Bermuda Bay, then added some speckles and sponging in Soft Sky.  I stamped the sentiment from Work of Art and added the swoosh from Love You Sew on top, as well as some sequins from my stash:

To do the sponging, I just lined up some Post-it Notes, stamped and sponged...easy peasy!  My final touch was to add a little baker's twine bow; I used the one-hole bow technique so that it doesn't slide off my panel.

Thanks for popping in today!

Cassidy made a little pot in Sunday School a few weeks back and we finally had time to paint it!

Have a blessed day!

SIP56 and FMS245 Joy To The World

Happy Thursday, all!  Can you handle another Christmas card?  The Stamp Ink Paper challenge is Christmas in July, so I combined it with the Freshly Made Sketches sketch from Jen M:

This is the first time I've pulled out This Christmas Specialty DSP....aren't these patterns pretty?

I received the Christmas set Jolly Christmas at the very end of the holiday catalog period last year, so this is the first time I've inked it up!  I used Rose Red to stamp the sentiment, then Mint Macaron to do some snowflakes.  I used an Impression Obsession die (Pine Boughs) to diecut some greenery in MM and Garden Green, then added a bow from the Mini Treat Bag thinlet:

And here's a little trick to get added value from your Layering Squares dies....if you look very closely, you can see where I actually adhered two pieces together (cut a straight edge across one of your squares), lining up the scallops to fit my stamped piece.  I love doing this....it's barely discernible and it's like getting a free set of rectangle dies!  Finally, the inside is stamped with sentiments and images from the Paper Pumpkin Christmas set from last year:

Thanks for popping in today!

 Cassidy learned to ride a two-wheeler, but the trike is still the best mode of transportation when you want to haul around the babies!

Have a blessed day!

TSOT279 Coffee Card

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  The week is almost halfway over!  I liked this week's sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  First, let me say that I LOVE coffee...I think one of man's greatest inventions is the coffee maker that has a timer so that when I get up in the morning the COFFEE IS ALREADY MADE!!!  BUT....I have not jumped on the coffee-cardmaking-blog bandwagon, for some reason.  I was pretty sure I didn't even have any coffee-themed stamps!  Not sure why....I guess I just like to drink it, not stamp about it.  But I saw this really cute Hero Arts set(CL758) and it comes with the frame and a lot of little words to fit inside.  And coffee was one of them!  So....I made a coffee card!

I have had this DSP for such a long time, I don't even know who makes it, but the bottom panel is the flip side of the big polka dot panel.  I embossed it with a Tim Holtz EF....and get this.  I didn't even realize this was a coffee cup embossing folder.  I bought it because I thought it looked like sand pails and I thought it was cute!  So I DID have something coffee-related and I didn't even know it!  Anyway, I sponged it to make it look a little vintage, and I stamped the frame in Early Espresso (hah) on Soft Sky, trimmed around it, then overstamped it with the Linen background stamp and some coffee stain images from Timeless Textures:

Then I remembered!!!  I DID have coffee stamps! I had a really, really old set from Rubbernecker called Coffee & Tea Inchies, so I stamped a couple of them on some brown polka-dotted paper and added an "enjoy" to finish it off.

So now that I have a coffee card, I am not sure to whom to send this!  And for what reason?  I guess that's why I never made a coffee card before.  Perhaps I could get a Starbucks gift card for someone and stick it inside, right?!  Glad you stopped by to hear my little coffee ramble today!  

Grampy surprised Cassidy by jumping in the kiddie pool with her yesterday afternoon after he came home from work!

And of course, Grampy is so easily tormentable!

Have a blessed day!

MTS132 and CCC32

Hi everyone!  I have two cards today for you...both using the Match The Sketch sketch; the first one also is for the Christmas Card challenge, which is "snowman":

    

I loved the set Jingle All The Way when it came out, and I just didn't have a chance to use it enough!  I bought some cute Christmas DSP on ebay but there is no manufacturer's name on it, so I can't tell you who makes it...but I thought the colors were fun to make a cheerful little Christmas card with the little snowman silhouette image:

I stamped the sentiment in Watermelon Wonder and the snowmen in Mint Macaron, then added some retired SU sequins.  This was a really easy card to put together...punch, punch, adhere!

While I was making the Christmas card, I saw these papers that I had been pushing around on my desk for a while; the corrugated paper is from a Paper Pumpkin kit a couple months ago; the Baked Brown Sugar strip and the plaid were just hanging out (because I am too lazy to put them away) and I thought they looked nice together!  What do you think:

The leafy images are from Every Occasion - is it too early to start thinking fall?- stamped in Tangelo Twist, again punched out with a 1" circle punch.  I embossed a little piece of Soft Suede with a leafy embossing folder, then added a scallop of Early Espresso.  I also stamped the sentiment (Watercolor Wishes) in EE as well:

These warm fall colors make me happy!

We are blessed to have lightning bugs (or fireflies) in our area, and Cassidy spent a couple nights in the yard trying to catch them.  My photography skills are basic at best, so if anyone knows how to take photos in the dark, let me know.  See that little thing that looks like a moon above her head?  That's a lightning bug!!!

   

Here, she actually caught one...you can see it in her hand...and we put it in a little jar.....and a few minutes later, we let them all go!

Enjoy your day!

CYCI128 Patriotic Clean and Simple

Happy glorious Monday, peeps!  The sun is shining, the air is cool and it's a beautiful day!  I made a very quick card today using the Can You Case It sketch:

 John's nephew is in the Navy reserves and is at Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virigina.  I totally forgot that I bought these Our Daily Bread Patriotic Collection papers, so I thought these would be appropriate for a card for a guy:

I hope he's not offput by the swirls and the little enamel star, LOL!  

The sentiment is from Paper Pumpkin; the stamped star is from Every Occasion, and the stitched circle is Lil'Inker!  I lined the inside with white cardstock so John & I can each write a little something to Phil to let him know we are praying for him!

The wee one is back from vacation, fresh and ready to show us her confident bike-riding abilities!  I know...no helmet, no sneakers, and she's riding one-handed!  But just look at that smug look on her face!  And NO training wheels!  I think a bigger bike might be in order come birthday time!

Enjoy your day!

Paper Players 303

Happy Sunday, everyone!  Phew, it's been HOT here in PA...lots of humidity and well, HEAT!  I was happy to stay inside and stamp a little bit for the Paper Players, even though Nance's color challenge really did challenge me!  But in the end, I loved it!  Here ya go:

 

Really packs a punch, right?!  I liked the most recent Paper Craft Crew Card sketch, so I went to work: 

A family member is going through a rough patch, so I thought this would cheer her up!  

I used Playful Palette DSP, and the chevron from Work of Art; flowers from the Paper Pumpkin set All About Everything; and the sentiment from another older PP kit!  I added some pearls (more PP!) and used a button from my stash and some retired Island Indigo ribbon for the embellishment:

The inside sentiment and "swoosh" are from All About Everything, and I added a little heart from Work of Art:

I hope that you'll play along with these fun colors!  I can't wait to see what you create!  Hop on over to the PP blog to see what the other team members have created, or you can check them out here:

• Claire
• Jaydee
• Joanne
• Laurie
• Nance 
• Sandy
• Linda
• Hannelie
• Colleen

And here's a photo of  my little grand-niece Emma, the birthday girl, having a snack before she celebrates with cake (that's Dana, John & me in the background!):

and then it was down to some serious cake-smashing!

By the time she was done, there was cake EVERYWHERE!  And I'm thinking that beautiful high chair was probably used by daddy and a few other relatives as well!

Enjoy your day!

CCMC414 and PPA308 Birthday for Emma

Happy Saturday, peeps!  I took a couple days off from my blog and went to visit my dad at the Delaware shore!  It was a nice little break!  But today we have a birthday party for my niece's youngest....she is an Irish twin!  I had never heard of that expression before, but little Emma and her older sister Lucy will both be one year old for about six weeks, until Lucy celebrates her second birthday in August!  My niece is a trooper, keeping up with these two!  They're adorable!  Anyway, I thought the colors from Create with Connie and Mary were fun and fresh:

And I matched them up with the Pals Paper Arts sketch from my sweet friend Ann:

I realized I don't have many "kids" stamps, so I pulled out my old standby, Storybook Friends, and some new Fruit Stand papers:

I stamped the image with Stazon and added some coloring with markers, then a sentiment from the same set at the bottom, along with one from an older Paper Pumpkin set at the top:

I made a "faux" candy dot with a little circle stamp and some Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers!  I also stamped the same dot and a little flower from Itty Bitties on the DSP!  Finally, the inside was stamped with a sentiment and candle from Sweet Stuff.  Oh, and I did add a Tangelo Twist ribbon too!

At one year old, I am sure Emma will be more interested in her gift than the card, but it was still fun to make!  Thanks for popping in today!

Cassidy is still on vacation, but I did hear she finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  Woohoo!