Merry Monday 78

Happy Monday, peeps!  Are you ready for another Christmas inspiration from Lesley and the Merry Monday team?  Here you go:

I saw an interesting challenge at Less is More, which was white on white!  I wish you could see this card in real life, it is so difficult to photograph an all-white card!

I used a retired SU set called Peaceful Wishes; I stamped the pine bough in white craft ink and embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.  The sentiment was stamped in Encore silver ink, and then I added a little bird diecut, embellished with a pearl.  It’s so hard to see  but maybe you can detect the sparkle here:

I also added a little scalloped line of silver glimmer paper:

And speaking of Less is More, they chose this card to highlight last week!  Happy news!  Now, let’s see what bird-embellished card you can create this week for the Merry Monday challenge!  Can’t wait to see what you create!  Check all the designs here at Lesley’s blog, Always Playing with Paper!

Cassidy was playing with her foam shapes last week; she had to add windows to her “house”:

as well as some 3D embellishments to her castle!

And lately she really doesn’t want me to take her picture!!  Uh oh!

Enjoy your day!

Paper Players 166

Happy Sunday, players!  Nance is our hostess today at the Paper Players and she has a fun Halloween challenge for us:

At my manager’s retreat recently, my sideline Pam Joel gifted us with a little Ghiradelli chocolate holder, which had been given to her by our upline, Pennie!  She gave me permission to share them with you, and I’ve made them into Halloween candy holders:

Spooky Bingo Bits is one of my favorite Halloween sets and I know it is retired, but it is still available through MDS!  So I am using it here today, along with some retired DP:

This one uses a hexagon from Six-Sided Sampler, along with some heat embossing and a scary bat!

This uses a big glimmer paper moon and a sentiment from Googly Ghouls:

And this uses some more heat embossing along with some googly eyes from last year’s Halloween kit:

And in here, you can see how the candy fits in:

Since this is picture-heavy, I will be sharing a quick tutorial on my blog on Wednesday, so be sure to come back!!!

And my little trio also uses the colors at the Fab Friday 28 challenge:

We picked out some pumpkins at our little local farm this past week:

But I think she liked putting the money in the box the best!!!

Enjoy your day!

Engagement Card

Happy Friday peeps!  Yay, the weekend is almost here!  Looking forward to spending some time with friends tomorrow!  A customer asked me to make an engagement card, and I really had to scramble as I realized I have very few stamps for that occasion!  But I remembered that I had some of these beautiful laser-cut cards from last year, so I looked through my stash of paper to find something to back the heart:

I first stamped the sentiment in Calypso Coral, then I embossed the flourish from Creative Elements in clear embossing powder on the front.  It’s a subtle look but very pretty.  I backed the heart cut-out with a paper that would work with the inside of the card as well, stamping a wee sentiment inside the flourish:

and added another sentiment and butterflies on the right side:

I finished it off with a couple of butterflies stamped in Versamark and embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder, punched and adhered to the side of the heart.  Oh, and I added that pretty bow!

I was all ready to give this to my customer, using the Blush Blossom envelope that came with the card, but that big honkin’ bow was really squished, so I used my new Envelope Punch Board to make one to fit!  How exciting!  This little tool is SO COOL!  I had some random scrapbook paper that complemented my colors and look how wonderfully it came out:

Thanks for visiting today!

My friend Martha gave me some glittery pumpkin stickers, so Cassidy decided to make her mom a card:




It opened the wrong way, but who cares?!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Creative Elements, Papillon Potpourri, Occasional Quotes (ret),, Wonderful Words (ret Verve)
Card stock & Papers	Designer Cuts Very Vanilla Card, Lost & Found Market Street (MME), K&Co DP
Ink	Calypso Coral, Versamark
Accessories	Clear EP,  Iridescent Ice EP, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Pearls
Tools	Heat Tool, Bitty & Elegant Butterfly Punches, Sponge Dauber, Envelope Punch Board

STR186 & STS5

Happy Thursday, peeps! I am continuing on my vintage Halloween theme, this time using a digital image of an old Halloween postcard.  I used the Seize the Sketch from this week:

as well as the challenge 186 from the Shabby Tea Room, which requires a pumpkin, burlap and twine!  So here we go:

I am in love with this fetching little black cat….and the quartet of jack-o-lanterns as well!  I turned the sketch a quarter turn to make it fit my image.   I stamped the background of my Early Espresso card with a cheesecloth stamp in white craft ink, and added a little burlap banner accented with a piece of pumpkin pie cardstock that I distressed, then separated so that it has a suede look to it.  I added a little distressing, a cool brad, some twine and a few Tim Holtz stickers:

Isn’t he a handsome guy….and check out the message on the postcard:

And sticking with the cat theme, here’s the inside:

Love this vintage look!

Speaking of cats, Cassidy told me today she was calling “heaven” on her toy cell phone:

I said “Heaven?  Who are you going to talk to in heaven?”  She said “Pumpkin!”  You may remember that Pumpkin was my 18-year old kitty that we lost about a year ago!  I almost cried!  The things this child thinks of!

Enjoy your day!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Cheesecloth (ret CHF); Halloween (Recollections) Black Cat & Pumpkin (100 Proof Press)
Card stock & Papers	Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Confetti Cream
Ink	Craft White, Early Espresso, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Burlap, Adhesive Sheet, Twine, Brad, Tim Holtz stickers, Digital Postcards (Luna Girl)
Tools	1/8" Circle Punch

MIM 140

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Just a little Halloween card today, based on the sketch from The Kraft Journal this week. Here’s the sketch:

I hadn’t done anything vintagey for a while, so I pulled out a couple of stamp sets and went to work!

I colored my image with SU markers; the mat and stars are pieces of black cardstock covered with SU’s Adhesive Sheets and sprinkled with the black glitter from the Holiday mini!  Love it! The owl's eyes are also sparkly, which you can see in the photo.   I also added some glitter to the stars on the stamped image:

The striped panel was brayered with Crumb Cake ink so as not to be so bright and to keep with the krafty look of my card!

And here’s the inside:

Our leaves haven’t quite begun to turn colors, but they are falling and Cassidy was quite excited to see them on the ground!



Last year, she had to ring the wind chimes with a stick….this year she can reach up and touch them!

Have a super day!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Halloween Set 1 (Rubbernecker); Vintage Halloween (Graphic 45)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Naturals Ivory, Adhesive Sheets,  Mischievous (MME)
Ink	Stazon Black, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Black Glitter
Tools	Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate and Sahara Sand Markers, Merry Minis Punch Pack, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Banners Dies, Big Shot, Circle Nesties, Sponges, Dimensionals

ColourQ 209

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Wow, it’s finally October!  I love this month!  Today’s inspiration photo from Arielle for the ColourQ is a real eye-opener!  What do you think?

I’d be a cheerful chick in the kitchen if I had this fun apron!  Speaking of which, I am finding I HAVE to use an apron in the kitchen lately…otherwise, what a slob I am!  Seriously!  I can’t tell you how many shirts I ruined over the last month!  So anyway, I went sort of literal, combining a buncha stuff for my card today:

I did use Coastal Cabana because I couldn’t find any Cool Caribbean cardstock, which really probably wouldn’t have mattered!  I used a plethora of stamps (see the list below), including My Digital Studio for the chicken wire background, which I printed in Pumpkin Pie!  My little scene was stamped in the challenge colors and put in a little polaroid window that I cut down a wee bit to fit!  I pinked my little “fabric scraps” and added my little chicken:

which I hope gave this card a down-home country feel!

And of course, after my card was all complete, I dropped my inky stamp onto the finished inside of the card, causing me to have to “piece” my sentiment!!!  Oh well!  Still worked out okay!

I couldn’t wait to see what the design team created with these colors, and you won’t be disappointed either!  Be sure to hop on over to the ColourQ blog to see what they did and share your creation with us too!
A few weeks ago I picked up some of Cassidy’s toys and had put them in a big tote in the basement.  JOY is finding your little phone again:

LOL—I know the picture is blurry, but it almost looks like she has stars in her eyes….and she is so excited, it cracks me up!  Enjoy your day---hopefully yours will be exciting too!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Four You, A Fitting Occasion, MDS Bunch of Backgrounds; Text Style On The Farm (PTI); Gurnsey Gingham (Unity); Unknown Background Stamp
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight
Ink	Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight
Accessories	Baker's Twine, White Stitched Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot, 1 1/4" Scallop Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Circle & Scallop Nesties, Pinking Shears, Polaroid Diecut (Lil'Inker)