ColourQ 88, FTL143

Hello, peeps! It’s Tuesday and that means another awesome color challenge via the ColourQ:

What an elegant palette—and I wish I could wear this skirt. Unfortunately, I think it might get a tad bit dirty as I tool around the yard on the John Deere! LOL! Anyway, I did an old technique on my card that was popular many years ago when I first started stamping: faux marbling. I am sure that’s not the proper name but that’s what I am calling it today:

The marbling is done on glossy paper (this is important!) and uses cotton balls, alcohol, reinkers and a Gold Encore reinker. Put a little alcohol on your cotton ball and add a couple drops of ink…no more than three colors and they should be in the same or near color family. Here, I used Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso. Then add a little bit of gold ink and daub the entire surface of your glossy cardstock. The alcohol causes the ink to pool & puddle. You must heat dry or let it air dry thoroughly…..it takes a while! This also uses the Fall to Layout #143:

I added some Fun Flowers embossed with Elegant Lines EF and a Very Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware element, which is retiring. Here’s a closeup of the marbling:

I wish I had used a little more gold, as it is not showing too well here! Anyway, I thought it mimicked the pattern pretty well! So let’s see what you come up with using these elegant colors! Sashay on over to the CQC blog to play along as well as see what the other designers have come up with!

• Stamps: Tiny Tags
• Paper: Very Vanilla, Glossy, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
• Ink: Cherry Cobbler
• Acc: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake reinkers; Gold Encore reinker, Square Lattice, Elegant Lines & Perfect Polka Dots EF; Fun Flowers Diecut, Circle Punch, Cotton Balls, Alcohol, VV HPH, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Bird Punch, Pearl, Sponge Daubers

CAS122 Grad Card

Just a quick little post with a quick little CAS card today, so I can get this out in the mail!  The CAS challenge at SCS is Play on Words…and it was a perfect opportunity to use this little Tiny Treat set for a graduation card.  (I apologize for the not-so-hot photo!) 

I used a sentiment from the same set as well as a sentiment from Sentiment Flags  set and  its  corresponding die.  Looking at the image here, it looks a bit lost—perhaps I should have used a smaller square!  Oh well!  The embellishment is actually a bookmark; it and the ribbon are adhered with Dotto so the recipient can pull it off and use it as well as what will be tucked inside! 

My DD took this hysterical picture of Cassidy after a loooong nap:

Must have been a tad bit sweaty!!! LOL!  Thanks for visiting today!!  If you have any questions about what I used today, just let me know!

Paper Players #50

Hi everyone!  Happy Sunday and that means another Paper Players challenge!  I am the hostess today and I have chosen “Kind Thanks” as the challenge for the week---make a card or project as a way to thank someone!

My card will be going out to a special blog friend who is always encouraging me and makes me laugh with each and every comment!  I started with Taylor’s sketch (even though I am sure I missed the deadline):

and pulled out a set that will be retiring from this catalog, Fresh Cuts.  I chose a “fresh” color combo, too, of Pumpkin Pie and Baja Breeze:

There are lots of fun details here!  An extra couple of elements:

and some white embossing, pearls and baker’s twine:

And you can’t tell from the photo, but this Sweet & Sour DP has a beautiful swirl already embossed on it…just gorgeous! 

So let’s see what kind thank you creation you can make this week and share it with us at the Paper Players blog!  YOU could be chosen as a Cut Above or even the Headliner of the week!

• Stamps:  Fresh Cuts
• Paper:  WW, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie & Baja Breeze Patterns DP, Sweet & Sour DP
• Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Craft White
• Acc:  Corner Rounder, Circle Punches, Nesties, White EP, Bakers Twine, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Pearls, Modern Label Punch, Dimensionals

Thanks for visiting today!

Card Monkey 59

Wow, I was thrilled when Terry and Shirley of a la Card Monkey fame asked me to guest design again this week!  And what a fabulous challenge---a vintage themed sketch:

I pulled out Nature Walk and a K&Co pad of DP, along with some other little embellishments, and went to work:

Ooh, so much sweetness going on here!  I stamped my birdcage in Basic Gray ink on a piece of patterned paper, added a couple bees here and there, and mounted it on top of a scalloped piece of vellum on which I had stamped French Script:

I added some shabby seam binding, lace, a crimped “ruffle”, some glittery embellishments, and a fussy-cut flower….and added a Tiny Tag sentiment.  So yummy!

Make sure you boogie on over to the Card Monkey blog so you can see what the other designers have come up with and try your hand at this challenge too!  Thanks for visiting today—if you have any questions, please just shoot me an email!

FTL141 Baby Card

I made this card last week and just now am posting it…..it used the Fall to Layout 141 from Clean & Simple:

and here it is:

My girlfriend’s son & daughter-in-law had their first baby, my friend’s second granddaughter.  Too bad they are here in PA and the DGD is in CA!!!  But they will see her next week!  I think this little rubber duckie is as cute as all get-out.  It was simply colored with SU markers and mounted on several different layers---the celery one being from the new Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch!!  TFL!

And here’s my little rubber duckie:

• Stamps:  Every Little Bit, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Paper:  WW, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Pawsitively Prints & Regal Rose Patterns DP
• Ink:  Stazon
• Acc:  Eyelet Border Punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch, Nesties, Marker, PomPom Trim, Neutral Button, Floss

Kitty Birthday

Happy Thursday!  What  a glorious day it is here in PA---all that humidity blown away, and a cool refreshing temperature has replaced it!  Delightful!  Today’s card is for a man in our church, which fits the Pals Paper Arts masculine color challenge:

I also used the sketch from Create with Connie & Mary:

And here’s my card:

John is our small group leader, a very wise man, lots of fun, and is known throughout the community for his kitty rescues!!!  He has taken in hundreds of stray cats that people drop off by his house; he feeds them, takes them to the vet for shots & neutering, and then finds homes for them.  If he can’t find a home, he has a “Cat House” in his back yard with lots of nooks and crannies, food and soft blankets for the kitties to cuddle up on!  What a soft heart he has!  So this card is for him! 

It is also for today’s SCS WT 325 challenge, which is to use Diecuts.  I didn’t actually use a die; I used a punch, so I hope they don’t throw me out!

Miss Cassidy, although not crawling yet, finds ways to get into Grammie’s stuff:

Oh well, what’s a few tissues?  Thanks for visiting today!

• Stamps:  Bring on the Cake, Long Fellows, Four Frames, Afterthoughts
• Paper:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Patterns DP in Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard & Night of Navy
• Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard , Crumb Cake
• Acc:  Decorative Label Punch, Dimensionals, Hemp Twine, Word Window Punch, Neutral Brads, Night of Navy Marker

Color Throwdown 144

Hi everyone!  It’s Wednesday and that means the Color Throwdown team has thrown together another color combo for us….I haven’t played in a couple weeks, and Cathy’s pretty selection had me itching to jump in:

It seems that most of my cards have been pretty simple lately, as I have been doing some stuff around the house (as well as babysitting!) so I hope you don’t mind simplicity!  The Fabulous Florets set was already sitting on my desk, and I had seen this lovely card on Lisa’s blog and thought it would be fun to do some watercoloring again, this time without the embossing:

This card is 4 1/8” square; the stamped panel is a piece of 3 3/4” square water color paper., which really makes watercoloring a breeze!  I used my aquapainter and some reinkers, masking the floral images for the final step of stamping the greenery.  I also added some spritzes with my spritzing tool (still getting the hang of THAT!) and I (gasp!) cut apart the Happy Birthday sentiment from Curly Cute so that I could easily position it the way I wanted. 

Oooh, this was fun and easy and QUICK!  And just a reminder---the Stampin’Up! Retired List comes out today---if you need a copy or want to place an order, just let me know!

I was looking through some older photos of the baby and realized I hadn’t posted this cutie:

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to play along with the CTD girls, too---all the info is on their blog! :D

• Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Curly Cute
• Paper:  Certainly Celery, Watercolor
• Ink:  Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie
• Acc:  Aquapainter, Spritzer, post-it notes for masks, Pearls, dimensionals