ColourQ 61 & CCCB33

Between sniffles & sneezes, I actually got to participate in the ColourQ this week.  Look at this fancy inspiration:

As a child, my grandmother had some peacock feathers and I was fascinated by the iridescent colors!!  What a sweet reminder of her!  Since my mojo has been replaced by a cold, I chose to make a very simple card using an idea I saw at the Baltimore Regionals; unfortunately, I cannot remember the talented demo who used the tree from Lovely as a Tree as a branch:

The tree was stamped in Wild Wasabi, and I used a marker to color over the “stem”.  Since I already had my embossing supplies out for the Paper Players challenge, I embossed the ornaments from Tree Trimmings in silver EP, then colored them with markers.  My Stamp-a-ma-jig made it really easy to position the ornaments and their strings!  I added some “sparkle” not only with the sentiment, but also with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the branches.  It’s backed with a panel of Pacific Point; here’s the inside:

This also qualifies for the City Crafter Challenge 33, which is “Blue Christmas”.  Thanks for visiting today---be sure to check out the CQC blog to see what the others came up with using these colors---and you play along too!

• Stamps:  Tree Trimmings, Warm Words, Lovely as a Tree, Heard from the Heart
• Paper:  WW, Pacific Point
• Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Versamark
• Acc:  Silver EP, Heat Tool, Corner Rounder, SAMJ, Markers, DD Glitter, Satin Ribbon, Silver Tinsel

PP26 Embossing Challenge

The baby is sleeping, the cat is snoring (really!) and we are all wheezing and sneezing…it wasn’t a good weekend in the Pugliese household!  So not much stamping or posting for me.  I did have a chance last night to play the Paper Players challenge 26 which is:

I had an idea for this in my head all morning at church, which was to make a pin using silver embossing powder and the Faux Metal technique……emboss a piece of cardstock three times with Versamark ink and your choice of embossing powder; at the last second after the third heating, press your stamp of choice into the still-warm powder and it makes a cool impression!  I thought the circular element from Artistic Etchings would be fun, especially with an Antique brad in the center.  I was going along okay until I decided to add some Gold Glory ink along the edges; then I thought I should probably emboss that with some clear EP so the GG wouldn’t smudge off.  I lost most of my impression then!  So I veered in another direction and just used it to make a sympathy card…..and added some gold embossing to the edge of the vellum piece I used on top:

I kept wanting to add a ribbon or bow or something, but since the colors are so masculine, I resisted!!  Here’s a detail of the actual element:

I added a scallop of Sahara Sand which was distressed with Craft White ink and some more Gold Encore ink.  It’s pretty heavy as cards go, as there are several layers of cardstock making up the emblem----remember I was going to make it into a pin!!!  I’ll pay for that when mailing time comes!  I love how the gold EP matches the Elegant Soiree DP so well.  I also embossed the sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers in gold.  You should check out the samples from all the Paper Players----they have some lovely things there and you can play along too!

I wanted to share a couple RAKS I got!  This is from my friend Penny, who made a lovely Thanksgiving easel card:

and a sweet little “package” from my friend Carol, received at the little stamping outing I attended two Saturdays ago:

and look what’s inside:

YUMM-O!!!  Thanks, Carol!!!  So far I have resisted the temptation to eat it because it looks so sweet, I don’t want to mess it up!!  And finally, a little pic to give you a giggle:

Already she’s giving us razzberries!!!!  Enjoy your day!

PPA70 Sketch

Ick….do you have the nasty cold that is going around our area?  I am fighting a yucky sore throat today, but I did manage to stamp a card for the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge this week:

I did switch around the squares a bit because the paper I wanted to use didn’t look right using this combo---I hope that’s okay!  I made a cheerful birthday card for my niece:

I used papers from Nursery Suite and Flight of the Butterfly and Warm Wishes for my stamps.  It was an easy sketch, nice & clean, I just added a few layers and a scallop from the Jumbo Square Scallop die, along with an oval scallop and some popped up butterflies….oh, and some pearls in the corners!  Hope she likes it!

Obviously, yesterday was the baby’s first Thanksgiving:

as well as her first sleepover at Grammie’s!  Here is her “morning face”:

Thanks for visiting!

Easy Christmas Cards

I had the last group of my Christmas card stamp campers a couple days ago, so I thought I would post the simple cards they made:

We are home enjoying family this post-Thanksgiving Friday—hope yours was wonderful! TFL!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish each & every one of you a blessed Thanksgiving!

My Sincere Apologies….

if any of you got an annoying spam email from me regarding SHOPPY BAG.  Just delete it and don’t open it, mark it as spam…..I apologize for the inconvenience.  It is one of those awful sites that takes all your friends’ email addresses and send them annoying stuff.  JUST DO NOT DO IT….to paraphrase a commercial!  And again, my apologies!

ColourQ#60

I finally had a chance to sit down and stamp tonight and make something with the ColourQ colors for this week:

Ooh, aren’t these sweet…reminds me of mittens my mom used to knit for us kids! I can knit a scarf, but mittens---I don’t think so! Luckily, I just got a set of Nestie mitten dies…so cute, and I cut a pair out on Saturday but hadn’t made them into a card yet…and guess what, they were Cherry Cobbler too! So here we go:

My Whippersnapper stamps were getting dusty on my shelf so I thought the Winter Schminter set would be perfect for this challenge! I used some BG Wassail paper; a snowflake die-cut from the Northern Flurries die and covered with some vintage glitter; a banner cut from Laura Pryor’s little banner die, and the snowflake on the mitten is from Waltzingmouse! I really spread the love around on this card! Here are a couple close-ups:

Hmmm, maybe there’s a bit TOO much going on on this card!!! Oh well! It sure was fun to stamp! And get this…I had just finished this card when I got an email in my inbox from…..Anna Wight! What a coincidence! We were doing a recipe exchange—so now I not only have some of Anna’s stamps but a recipe from her too! Edited to add: this card also qualifies for the Little Red Wagon challenge 56--to use some Basic Grey on your card! Woohoo!

If you need any details on this card, email me as the list is long! :D As we get ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, I hope everyone takes time to thank the Lord for the many blessings we have!

CAS94 & OLW27

How lucky that the card I made last night for Susan’s One Layer Wednesday Christmas card challenge had sponging…which is the CAS challenge today at SCS too!  I fell in love with this card from Jennifer, so set out to do one of my own….just a tad bit simpler.  I used some Whisper White textured card stock and the SU set Come to Bethlehem for my main image.  Before I stamped it, I used a Nestie to cut out a rectangle from a scrap of paper, used some Dotto to adhere it to the card, then sponged the opening with Marina Mist ink and stamped my image in Basic Black:

Since this card (and hopefully a few more I can do) will be going to prisoners to send to their families, I wasn’t allowed to put any bling on it…..so it really was clean & simple!  The sentiment is from a retired SU set called Star-Studded Season.  I like the rustic look the textured cardstock gives it.

Now, for a little bit about my stamping Saturday!  Here is a photo of all of us together:

Back row:  Janice, Jill, Carol, and me; front row:  Pattie, Denise, Cherie & Korin.

The whole shindig was put on by Korin Sutherland (poor thing---I mispronounced her name most of the day) and we had lots of food, fun and chatter—although not much stamping by me!!!  I guess I was having too much fun checking out everyone’s stamps and Copics and coloring techniques and all the other fun stuff that was floating around…..I think when I am in a crowd, I have stamping ADD!!!  But I had FUN, and thank you, Korin, for planning it all!  Here’s a picture of me with my sweet friend Denise:

And here are Carol and Denise; I blog regularly with Carol, but met her for the first time on Saturday:

and then me, Korin and Denise:

Here are Pattie & Janice, stamping away:

Thanks again, Korin!  Can’t wait to do it again!!!  And in the quiet of my own stamp room, I hope to play with some of the images and papers my friends so generously shared with me!  And on a last note, I just have to share this photo of my DGD wearing her new snowsuit…..it was really cold one morning so DD dressed her in it to bring her to Grammie’s:

She reminded us of little Randy in “The Christmas Story”!!!  Enjoy your day!

Paper Players #25

This week’s challenge at the Paper Players is a sketch by Nance:

I did a non-Christmas card today, in a color I rarely go to:  green!

I thought this was a lovely sketch with lots of possibilities!  I use elements from Friends 24-7, Vintage Vogue and Style Beautiful (the scallops) shades of Wild Wasabi, Garden Green and Chocolate Chip.  The DP, which was embossed with the Square Lattice EF is called Woodland Walk; I did some distressing on it to give it a “shabby chic” look.  Finally, I added some Victoria Crochet Trim, a little twine loop, a Vintage brad, and a little button and pearl embellishment. 

You should definitely try out this sketch and post your creation over at the Paper Players! They’d love to have you!  Thanks for looking today!

Oh, and I had a great time stamping with some friends yesterday---I’ll post some pictures in the days to come!!!

Now here’s a little shot of a sleepy baby just waking up:

Stampin Away….

Short & sweet today, as I am off to stamp with some friends…..I’ll tell you more about it when I get back!  I am so excited because hopefully I’ll get to meet some blog friends IN PERSON!!  Meanwhile, I thought I would share a couple cards I made with the Day of Gratitude set, since I shared my little turkey yesterday.  A hostess thank you card:

and a thank you card using the negative portion of a Top Note diecut:

Thanks for coming for a visit!  Email me if you have questions!!!  Oh, and I just found a lovely blog called The Gathering Place…..it’s not stamping-related, but she has a nice giveaway.  Check it out here!

Tom Turkey

I made a couple of these for my club hostesses this month, and now that all my clubs are done, I can share it!  (I like to keep things a secret!)  This little favor is made with a mint patty and the Days of Gratitude stamp set.  I did share it on SCS, so you might have already seen it:

The body is two 1 3/4” circles punched from Cajun Craze; I cut a tiny slice off each bottom so that my favor would stand up.  The head is a 1” circle of More Mustard.  I wheeled them with the Cornelli Lace jumbo wheel in CC ink.  The “wings” were stamped with More Mustard ink, then I colored over the lower feathers with a Cajun Craze marker and the middle feathers with a Pumpkin Pie marker.  I find that stamping the whole image first with More Mustard, then coloring over it with the markers, gives it better coverage.  The wattle is the Modern Label punch, trimmed, punched in Real Red; the eyes were 1/4” circles and the beak was cut freehand.  Everything was daubered with Cajun Craze.  Sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The patty was sandwiched between the two large circles with the feathers inserted between:

This was a real hit with my girls and was fun to make!

Some of you wondered if I “lost” my little pumpkin; no, she just hasn’t been very photogenic the last few days, but my DD snagged a good one last night!  She is just learning to hold her head up as she lays on her tummy---and she usually doesn’t like it!  But you’d never know from this pic!  Here you go!

Thanks for visiting today and have a blessed Friday!

PPA69

When I looked at the Pals Paper Arts challenge this morning at 6:30 am, all I remembered was “use fabric or ribbon”----I totally forgot it was supposed to be clean & simple!  Oh well, I hope they don’t eliminate me like on Dancing with the Stars!!!  I wanted to make  a special birthday card for a special friend and I was determined to use this Blueberry Crisp DP that I just had to have, and was basically sitting unused in my bin!  I grabbed some leftover satin from my DD’s wedding gown and made a flower—so that qualifies for my fabric.   Here you go:

But I would not say this was clean & simple!  “Out there” would be more like it!  Anyway, I hope my friend likes it!  There is some glitter on one heart along with some other embellishments:

Thanks for visiting today!

• Stamps:  Punch Potpourri, Friends 24-7, On Your Birthday
• Paper:  VV, Pacific Point, Sahara Sand, Blueberry Crisp DP
• Ink:  Pacific Point, Sahara Sand
• Acc:  Small & Large Heart Punches, Small Oval Punch, Oval Scallop Punch, Corduroy Brad, Satin, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Pearls, Victoria Lace, Dimensionals, Daubers