GDP123 Congratulations for Sawyer

Hi peeps!  It's Wednesday, halfway through the week!  My nephew (the same one who did our remodel) and his wife had their baby yesterday, a little brother for Jameson!  I loved our As You See It sketch for his week:

so I thought I would use it again, this time flipping it so my little critters weren't staring off into space on the other side of the card:

I opted to do something a little different than a traditional blue card; my nephew is an avid outdoorsman, so I thought these little forest creatures from Thankful Forest Friends would be fun:

The plaid paper is from Carta Bella's Christmas Delivery but it works great here, don't you think?  I stamped each of the critters and fussy-cut them out, then added some black grosgrain ribbon and a few little enamel dots.  The congrats stamp is from  last year's Suite Sentiments.  The Global Design Project's challenge theme is "New Beginnings", so I am entering there as well:

And here are the happy parents:

We are thrilled to welcome Sawyer into our family!  You can't tell from here, but he looks just like his big brother!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Thankful Forest Friends (ret), Paper Pumpkin
Card stock & Papers	Rustic White (Papertrey), Christmas Delivery DSP (Carta Bella)
Ink	Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Enamel Dots, Candy Dots, Grosgrain Ribbon (all ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Banners Dies (Nestabilities)

Birthday Kitten

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I am having a very lazy day today...it's snow flurrying outside, I don't have any big plans and I am still in my jammies, LOL!  I have a birthday card this morning, no challenges, but I thought it was sweet enough to share.  I saw this card by Mary Fish recently and had a "duh" moment...why didn't I think of using the small stitched squares to make a quilt?!

A little girl in our church is turning one soon; she won't appreciate the card, but hopefully her parents will!  I used some scraps from a MME 6x6 pad called Nostalgia to create my background quilt squares, then stamped the kitten from Every Little Bit on some Soft Sky cardstock and fussy-cut it out:

I added some shading with a Soft Sky marker (and colored her nose too!), popped it up on a Stitched Shape circle and added a little banner with a birthday sentiment.  The "1st" is from SU's Little Numbers, and it was also cut from the same DSP pad.  I just love the soft subtle colors in these papers, especially made into a "quilt"!!! 

Thanks for popping in today--enjoy your day and be blessed!

My little kitten has lost another tooth...now her smile is evenly-gapped on either side of those front teeth, LOL!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Every Little Bit (ret), Mini Tag Sentiments (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Soft Sky, Nostalgia DSP (My Mind's Eye)
Ink	Marina Mist
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Little Numbers Thinlets (ret), Bitty Banners Framelits (ret), Soft Sky and Blushing Bride Markers, Dimensionals

ABC Christmas Challenge Antlers and Bird

Happy Monday, peeps!  Hope you had a good weekend!  We took a little trip to Delaware to see my dad, it's always good to get away for a wee bit!  

I have been neglecting my Christmas cards and I found a new-to-me challenge called ABC Christmas; their first challenge of the year was "A" for antlers and "B" for birds.  I actually felt very rusty trying to make these cards...not sure what my problem was, as I have tons of Christmas stamps, old and new, but I really struggled with these, so you'll have to just bear with me!  I'll share the bird one first:

I used a CTMH image and stamped it twice, once in Rose Red and again in Mossy Meadow.  I cannot say when the last time was that I used Rose Red!!  I colored the images with Blends, fussy cut them out and glued them together...(I think this is the section that seems awkward to me, I'll need to revisit this differently!)...then die cut a little bird in Kraft and Rose Red (for his wing), did some sponging and popped him up on top of the Crumb Cake ribbon.  I added a little black eye and some white touches...actually, he's so sad that he's sitting on this unattractive card that I think he's actually crying. :(  I did some stitched border diecutting and mounted the panel on some green DSP from Carta Bella called Christmas Delivery.

But I do really like this embossing folder; I got it last year and never used it!  It looks great with Pear Pizzazz!

For my antlers, I got a  deer stamp set and die from Etsy recently and I can't even remember the name of it!  I used the die to cut out the deer from some Wood Textures paper and used the same Carta Bella paper for my background:

The banner was stamped on Naturals White in Chocolate Chip and fussy-cut; the greenery was stamped in Mossy Meadow and I hand-drew the berries with a Cherry Cobbler marker.

These cards wore me out...I need some practice!  Although I don't think I am as worn out as Eden seems to be.....you can tell she is out like a light!  That tongue cracks me up!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Prince of Peace (Close to My Heart), Deer (unknown)
Card stock & Papers	Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red, Cherry Cobbler, Naturals White (ret), Wood Textures DSP, Christmas Delivery DSP (Carta Bella), Kraft (ret)
Ink	Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Mossy Meadow (ret)
Accessories	Crumb Cake Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot, Banner Punch, Birds & Blooms Thinlets,  Stitched Shapes Framelits,  Rectangle Stitched Dies (Lil Inker), Deer Die (unknown), SU Blends, Sponge Daubers, White Chalk Pen, Pine Bough EF (ret), Cherry Cobbler Marker

Paper Players 368 A Sketch from Nance

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Today at the Paper Players, Nance is our lovely hostess with a fabulous sketch:

I even followed the colors of the sketch, LOL!  I made two cards for this challenge, as I needed a couple of thank you cards!  I used Laurel's Inspired By: Kitchen Love cute inspiration photo for my colors:

I remembered this cute DSP from a few years back, I am pretty sure it was called Domestic Goddess, and I paired it with the little grater from last year's Perfect Mix set:

I stamped the grater in Pool Party ink and colored it with Pool Party blends, and although you can't see it here, I coated the whole thing in Versamark and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder, so it's cool and shiny!!!  If you check out Laurel's card, she uses an adorable gingham button, so I was inspired to make one of my own with a gingham stamp, a button die and some Poppy Parade ink!  It sits atop a little bow from the retired Cupcakes and Carousels Embellishment kit!!  I added a scallop of white and two banners for the horizontal piece:

And just for fun, I made another one using the flip side of the plaid paper...most everything else is the same, but I left off the scallop border around the circular element.

I have been hoarding this paper, I'll be sad when it's all gone!  Thanks for popping in today, be sure to check out what all the other PP designers created...you can see them all on the Paper Players blog...and share your creation too!

Cassidy loves a little ice cream snack after school, and I made her keep the ice cream in the freezer downstairs....otherwise, I would be the one eating it all!  (Out of sight, out of mind, right?!).  She was tired of running downstairs to get it so she made me a sign and taped it to the fridge:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Perfect Mix (ret), Text Style Gingham (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Domestic Goddess DSP
Ink	Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Versamark
Accessories	White Thread, Cupcakes and Carousels Embellishment Kit (bow, ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Button Die (ret), Dimensionals

As You See It 168 Amazing You

Hello, peeps!  Friday brings us another As You See It challenge, a pretty sketch:

Since I was already experimenting with my Blends, I thought I would use the small flower from the SAB set, Amazing You.  This time I used the Rich Razzleberry shades on one of SU's notecards:

First, I stamped the image in Smoky Slate on the card front, then layered a piece of Pick a Pattern DSP over top.  I stamped the flower again on Thick white cardstock with Memento ink, colored it using light and dark Rich Razzleberry and dark Cherry Cobbler Blends, then fussy-cutting both the flower and the leaves and layering them on the front:

I also took a scrap of Sweet Sugarplum cardstock, stressed it with my bone folder until the fibers broke and split the paper into two layers, cutting one layer into a banner.  Using the inside of the cardstock gives it a soft suede-like look and that shade really coordinates nicely with the Rich Razzleberry hue!  I also added some silver thread and a scattering of small rhinestones.  My sentiment is from Better Together, stamped in Rich Razzleberry!  This little card is already out in the mail!  

I think this is a fabulous sketch and we've been thrilled with all the beautiful creations you've shared with us lately!  I hope you'll come play with us as well....you have two weeks to play!! Thanks for popping in today...enjoy your day and be blessed!

Eden's first night of puppy obedience school!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Amazing You, Better Together
Card stock & Papers	White Notecard, Sweet Sugarplum, Thick White, Pick a Pattern DSP
Ink	Rich Razzleberry, Memento Black, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Rhinestones, Silver Thread
Tools	Rich Razzleberry and Cherry Cobbler Blends, Dimensionals

Playing with Blends

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I don't have any challenge cards today but I do have a couple projects I made using SU's Blends...I am getting more comfortable with them and hope my customers will try them as well!  

My first project is a little pizza box that I covered with Delightful Daisy DSP, on which I attached the butterfly from Beautiful Day, stamped in Craft White ink on Vellum cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder.  On the underside of the butterfly, I colored the wings with the Calypso Coral light and dark Blends, and dried it quickly with my heat tool: 

I attached the "amazing" diecut, cut from Powder Pink cardstock and sponged with Calypso Coral ink (a tip I got from Mary Fish), with glue dots.  I love that effect.  And did you know that you can color pearls with the Blends?!  Check out the "head" of the butterfly:

In the same color theme, I stamped the flower from the same set in Calypso Coral and the leaves in Old Olive on thick white cardstock, then colored them with matching Blends.  I did use the Light Pink Pirouette on the petals as well. After fussy-cutting them out,  I mounted them on a piece of Bundle of Love Specialty DSP, popping the flower up on dimensionals.  SOMEHOW I got green ink on the center of the flower, so I stamped another center, colored and cut it out and popped it up too!  I found  a little piece of Gold Foil cardstock that was left over from cutting a scalloped edge, so I used it as an embellishment, and again, added some pearls I colored with the Blends:

 

Another "amazing" diecut finished it off along with the "you" from Amazing You:

I'll have a couple more samples coming up soon!  Thanks for popping in!

The look you get when someone doesn't want her picture taken while she's practicing:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Amazing You, Beautiful Day
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Gold Foil, Vellum, Powder Pink, Calypso Coral, Bundle of Love Specialty DSP
Ink	Craft White, Calypso Coral, Old Olive
Accessories	Pearls
Tools	Big Shot, Celebrate You Thinlets, Calypso Coral, Light Pink Pirouette and Old Olive Blends, Dimensionals, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Pizza Box

IB3 and GDP122 Get Well Soon

Happy Wednesday, peeps! Hope you're not too snowed in, too flooded or too ice-jammed, wherever you are!  There is some crazy weather out there!  I am not sure if that's why my card-making is feeling stifled, boring, blah, whatever.....but I really feel like I am in a rut!  SO I am trying to do some different stuff!  I was appalled at myself when I realized I had about five 6x6 pads that I didn't even remember purchasing...cute ones, too...so I thought I'd better use some! BoBunny's Petal Lane collection worked great with Laurel's Inspired By photo challenge as well as the Global Design Project's sketch this week:

So here we go:

 My first step was to do some embossing paste hearts on my card....and my SU embossing paste, which I've only used a couple times, is getting dried out!!!  Grrr!  Anyone else have that problem?  I just added a little water but I am not sure I got the consistency right, but I did it anyway, using a heart stencil mask.  I layered on some of the BoBunny papers, added some Pick a Pattern washi tape and some silver and white baker's twine:

I used a Chalk Talk die to cut out the yellow paper, then added a diecut heart, some silver sequins and a heat-embossed get well sentiment from Papertrey:

 

Hopefully, this card will cheer someone up!  It cheers me up when you come and visit my blog, too, thanks!  

Cassidy and Ganae had off Monday, so Dana took off too and they all took Eden for a walk since the temps were pretty nice:

Unfortunately, along the way, they came across a dead deer; we do all live out in the country, so it's to be expected.  I'll spare you the details, but they both made "crying" faces.  Here's Cassidy's:

Silly girl!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Keep It Simple Get Well (Papertrey)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Petal Lane DSP (BoBunny)
Ink	Versamark, Basic Black
Accessories	Pick a Pattern Washi Tape, Silver Sequins and Silver Baker's Twine (both ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Chalk Talk Die (ret), Embossing Paste, Hearts & Stars Decorative Masks (ret), Dimensionals, Bundle of Stitched Shapes Star Die (Simon Says Stamp)

SIP Color Challenge

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  As I write this (on Monday afternoon!), our family is basking in the Eagles' win and looking forward to the Super Bowl....and I can't believe I am actually saying that!  Growing up, my high school did not have a football team, (although they now do), so my high school memories only include going to basketball games.  Hence, football doesn't really thrill me; I still struggle with understanding the plays and scoring, despite John explaining it over and over.  But I do enjoy my family getting together and having fun, so I am all for that!

Okay, on to our Stamp Ink Paper challenge this week.  I must confess that these colors were a struggle for me, so I apologize if my card is less than stellar!  Sometimes you just have to let it go, right?  So here we go:

Of course, I normally try to steer away from the obvious, which would be hearts and valentines, but I went with the flow today and created a Valentine card using some pretty My Mind's Eye Honey Cake 6x6 papers as my starting point:

I used my favorite layout, using both sides of the paper, then added a tag with some elements in the challenge colors.  I used a SU Calypso Coral Blend in the lighter shade to color in the "you" at the bottom of the tag, then cut the diecut from Calypso Coral cardstock.  A glimmer heart, Raspberry Ripple embellishment and stitched ribbon, and a little snippet of doily finished it all off:

I hope you'll pop into the SIP blog and check out what the other designers did....there were some fabulous creations that will inspire you a lot more than mine, LOL!

The weekend before the big game, the family went to Dick's Sporting Goods and Cassidy had a chance to sign a big game board....I am sure her signature helped the Eagles win, don't you think?!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Love Tags ( Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, Confetti White, Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper (ret),  Honey Cake DSP (My Mind's Eye)
Ink	Calpyso Coral
Accessories	Raspberry Ripple Stitched Ribbon and Decorative Elements (ret), Small Doily (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Triple Heart Punch (ret), Greeting Tags Die (Poppystamps), Small Love You Die (Simon Says Stamp), Stitched Border Die (Lawn Fawn), Light Calypso Coral Blend marker, Dimensionals