IB73 Hello Friend Wreath

Happy Thursday, all!  The Inspired By challenge kind of snuck up on me this week...I almost forgot to do it!  I threw this card together at the last minute, LOL!  It really doesn't do the challenge photo justice:

And here's Laurel's pretty prompt...isn't that one gorgeous wreath?

For my background, I used some Wood Textures DSP, then added a Champagne Foil "wreath".  For the flowers, I chose some new In Color gingham DSPs, diecut with a My Favorite Things stitched flower die:

And since there are new faceted dots in all the new In Colors too, I added one to each center!  So cute!  I diecut some leaves and greenery from Soft Seafoam, then added a banner and a Braided Linen bow.

Both sentiments inside and out are from past Paper Pumpkin kits...I love that the photopolymer sets can be curved to fit a Bitty Banner die!

And since the Little Red Wagon challenge this week is Flower Frenzy, I'm tossing my hat in the ring...or tossing in my card, as it may be!!

What will you create using this beautiful wreath as your inspiration?  I must say, the design team has outdone themselves!!!  Check them all out at the Inspired By Blog!  Thanks for popping in!  And I thought I would share these photos I took the last time I was cleaning out at my dad's; I guess I didn't visit him very much in the spring, because I never remember seeing these rhododendrons in such blooming glory:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Paper Pumpkin (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Soft Seafoam, Rococo Rose, Wood Textures DSP,  In Colors DSP in Rococo Rose, Seaside Spray and Purple Posy, Champagne Foil (ret)
Ink	Rococo Rose, Seaside Spray, Highland Heather
Accessories	In Color Faceted Dots, Braided Linen Trim, White Enamel Dots (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Circle Dies (Nestabilities), Patterned Pumpkin Dies (ret), Stitched Flower Dies (My Favorite Things), Bitty Banners Dies (ret)

Stampin Miscellany

 

Hi everyone!  Yay, it's Wednesday...the week is half way over!!!  I have a couple miscellaneous cards today; the first one is for the color challenge at Inspire Create (and while you're there, you need to check out the card that Karen F made....all the cards are cute, but hers is exceptionally so!): 

I was just sort of playing around with this new stamp set, It Starts With Art, and thought I would use the challenge colors....it didn't turn out too bad, so I decided to finish it!  It's uber-CAS, just one layer, but here we go:

I used markers, ink and an aquapainter to color in the design, but really, the sequins pull it all together!

 

I am looking forward to playing with this set some more...especially the matching dies!

The next one uses a stamp set from 100 Proof Press, which my friend Colleen always uses and then I feel like I have to have them too!  This uses the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch for this week:

Again, I was just playing around with some inks and scrap paper from my stash, and luckily, it turned out pretty good....so I just kept going!  I diecut the image with a square stitched die, but it didn't look right with the sentiment going across the shells, so I had enough of a scrap to diecut a wee little bit more, butted the edges together and put the sentiment on top.  If you look closely, you can see the stitched line right under the sentiment banner:

I ran a Soft Sky card through the Subtle embossing folder and adhered everything on top.  Aren't these shells pretty?  I resisted coloring them in, but some day, I'll do that!

Thanks for popping in today!

Although I wasn't doing any coloring,  Cassidy was....she is getting Jack and Jill magazine and there are always some art projects in each issue:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Follow You Art Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	It Starts With Art
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White
Ink	Stazon Black, Granny Apple Green, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Sequins from my stash
Tools	Markers in Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green, Pumpkin Pie, Aquapainter

Sympathy Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Itty Bitty Greetings, Shell Plate (100 Proof Press)
Card stock & Papers	Soft Sky, Early Espresso, Misc scrap
Ink	Gray Granite, Craft White
Accessories	White Embossing Powder, Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Heat Tool, Big Shot, Subtle Embossing Folder, Square Stitched Dies (Lil'Inker)

RR111 Beauty in All Things

Happy Tuesday, peeps! It's time for another fun RetroRubber challenge...a tic-tac-toe!  Check it out:

I chose the diagonal line of Tone-on-Tone, Flowers and Sponging!  I managed to do quite a bit of the tone-on-tone and sponging, LOL!  So here's my creation:

The rose image is from Unity's Kit of the Month for June, 2011....I stamped it in Versamark ink on our new Rococo Rose, cut it with a stitched rectangle die and sponged the edges.  My Sahara Sand card base was stamped with the Floral background stamp (2005) in Sahara Sand ink, and it was sponged too!  The Soft Suede panel was stamped with the French Script background stamp (2006) and it was liberally sponged too!  My white doily was sponged with Crumb Cake ink to give it a vintage feel, and these retired organdy roses were glued on and sprinkled with some vintage glitter after being brushed with some glue:

I added a little braided twine trim to finish it off!  The inside is blank, because I haven't quite decided for what occasion I'll use this! I haven't done a vintage piece like this for a long time, it was fun to do!  I hope you'll play along with our challenge too!  Just remember that your stamps must be at least a year old....not ancient like mine, just at least a year!  Share it with us at Retro Rubber...can't wait to see what you create!

So we have had this crazy robin around our house, I think I mentioned it in an earlier post....he has made a nuisance of himself, sitting on our car mirrors and making a mess:

On Saturday, I ran some errands and left my car out while I unloaded things from the back; I left it in the drive with the windows partially down.  When I went to get back in the car to go to a banquet at church, the robin was INSIDE MY CAR!!!!

  

He was right next to the open window, but couldn't quite figure out how to get out.  I had to open two doors before he flew out.   And yes......he pooped ALL OVER the inside!!  But it was really funny!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	All Smiles (Unity), Floral Background, French Script Background (both ret)
Card stock & Papers	Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Rococo Rose
Ink	Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Versamark
Accessories	Braided Twine, Doily, Organdy Roses (ret), Glitter
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Sponge Daubers

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)

PP442 CAS Plants

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Hope you are having a good weekend so far...today it's Laurie's turn to be our Paper Players hostess, and for her clean-and-simple challenge, she's chosen plants!  What a great idea!

I didn't think I had any "plant" stamps, but I did remember this sweet little set from a few years back called Pocket Silhouettes...and I am so happy with the way this turned out!  I stamped three images in Call Me Clover and added a sentiment from Picture Perfect Birthday:

Since the CAS on Sunday challenge this week is polka dots, I added a "planter" of Call Me Clover polka dotted DSP, diecut with a Stitched Rectangle die; I like how it mimics the dots in the plant image! 

I had this retired stamp set, Sincere Salutations, in the same stamp case as the silhouette, so I went ahead and used it for my inside, stamping another little silhouette down at the bottom.  Everything went on a Call Me Clover card base.  And since I didn't get my birthday sentiment quite centered, I added a pearl (another polka dot, LOL!) that I colored with a Blend to create a more balanced sentiment!

I love this card, I am going to be hard-pressed to mail it out, LOL!  I hope you'll play along with our clean-and-simple challenge!  Can't wait to see what you create!  Be sure to check out the rules at the Paper Players blog and while you're there, see what the designers created as well!  Thanks for popping by today!

Scary girl!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Picture Perfect Birthday, Sincere Salutations, Pocket Silhouettes (both ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Call Me Clover, Call Me Clover In Color DSP
Ink	Call Me Clover
Accessories	Pearl, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, SU Blend

FMS388 Merry and Bright

Hello, peeps!  FINALLY we are having a nice, sunny weekend...it's actually kind of hot!  I'll take it, no rain!!!  How about a Christmas card to celebrate, LOL?  I was a little stumped by the FMS sketch this week:

I had started to use this cute little kitten in a mitten for another challenge but realized it might work for the FMS one, so here we go:

My card base is Crumb Cake and the stars were stamped on some dark green Tim Holtz paper in Mossy Meadow.  I stamped my kitty on some watercolor paper, colored him in with an aquapainter, inks and markers, then fussy-cut him out and popped him up on some plaid Christmas paper from my scrap pile:

I had a hard time figuring out whether or not to put a sentiment on the front; I finally found a wee little one from a past Paper Pumpkin set and stamped it on some gold-color paper from Graphic 45; I used the same paper and ink to stamp the inside sentiment on a die-cut banner from Concord and 9th.

I am in the mood to make a few more Christmas cards....my stash is low!  Be sure to come back tomorrow to see what the Paper Players are up to....it's not Christmas, but I think you'll like it!  

I lured in this little ginger last week with some goldfish crackers "bait"...and I got him hooked!  LOL...he's my great-nephew Sawyer.  He was definitely more interested in the snack than the softball game in the background!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Mitten Kitten (Lockhart Stamps), Star (Unknown SU, ret) Paper Pumpkin (ret)m Christmas Cheer Turnabout (Concord and 9th)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Watercolor, Tim Holtz Seasonal Ideology DSP, Graphic 45 St Nicholas DSP, Plaid DSP (unknown)
Ink	Stazon, Mossy Meadow, More Mustard (ret), Real Red
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Aquapainter, Big Shot, Ribbon Banner Die (Concord and 9th)

IB72 Pretty Pillows

Happy Thursday, peeps!  I was so excited for today's Inspired By challenge!  Not only was it a beautiful challenge, but I finally got to use a new set from the upcoming catalog called Free as a Bird!  I am in love with this set!  So here is my creation:

And here is Laurel's prompt....so sweet!

I already had a Very Vanilla stitched frame sitting on my desk, so I backed it with some Gingham Gala DSP, then stamped the bird and some of the florals several times on Very Vanilla Thick cardstock, using my Stamparatus.  I watercolored all the elements, then fussy cut them and adhered them to the frame:

I added a pretty sentiment from the same set:

And I embossed the card front before adhering everything with the Subtle embossing folder for a little extra texture!  I love how this turned out!  

Can't wait to see what you create with this inspiration photo....I had to laugh when I saw my teammate Michele's card...we were on the same wavelength!!  Be sure to check out all the samples at the Inspired By blog!

Speaking of birds, a mama robin took over a nest that was under our shed from last year; not sure it was hers or some other robin's, but she laid four eggs in it:

A couple of weeks later, we had four little baby robins:

Yesterday, I checked the nest, and all of them had fledged except one!  When I stepped near, it took a shaky step and flew down to the gravel; my sister got close enough to get a picture of him:

Her phone takes amazing pictures, doesn't it?!  Hopefully he got brave and flew up in a tree before nightfall!

Thanks for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!