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Showing posts from March, 2014

Fabulous Florets & 2 more challenges

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I seem to be thriving on challenges lately.  In fact they are what got me back to daily card making.  When my ideas run dry I just pull up a challenge (or 2 to be more efficient) and I'm off and running.  Some are harder than others but these came together nicely, though it did take a long time to finish all the pieces! The colors are from ColourQ Challenge #234 and the layout is for Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch #86 That right, it says Apricot Appeal.   And then I realized I not only had ONE sheet of card stock left, but I had an AA Stampin' Spot AND marker.  REALLY!   I was surprised too.  So, I had to use them.  Now, I'm not lovin the paper color (Yikes it is bright!), but blended with the Calypso Coral the ink looks spectacular!  The color combo reminds me of Hawaiian flowers and I tried to make them look like coral hibiscus, but a bit more old-time.  I used a long retired aida background stamp, Fabulous Florets, and Happy Watercolor for the sentiment. 

Horse Frontier

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Wow, today has been quite a crazy busy day!  After spending 3 hours this morning working on PTA budget for next school year, early school release, doctor checkup for son, and then a 'little' accident on the way home all I wanted to do was go home and play with my colors. Son and I are ok, as is the other driver who pulled out in front of me :(, and my car got us home, so both are huge blessings.  And I got to make two cards for you!  Here I am at midnight finally posting one of my newest creations. This little horse card is a Mother's day card for my mom.  She loves her horses!  I told her when I got this set that she could expect to get a card with it for every holiday.  And she has and hasn't complained a bit! I made this for two different challenges: Color Throwdown #285 and Case this Sketch #70   I used Naturals White as the base.  This is the most versatile of all the papers - I seem to use it more than WW these days!  I stamped the horse from Horse

Clockworks birthday

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Today has been a few steps back in the weather department.  Yesterday it was 70 and sunny and today it was rainy and 55.  But the weekend is looking like it will be incredible AND we desperately needed rain.  At least my garden is happy :) Today's card is another dual challenge card.  There are so many great color and layout challenges out there that it is hard to pick just one a day!  The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches #129 and the colors came from Colour Me Card Challenge #13. These colors are MUCH more playful than the pastels we have been using for the last few weeks.  I have to admit, I wasn't too keen on the colors to start with, but when I was putting the card together they really grew on me!    One of my favorite colors (that isn't purple) is Cajun Craze.  In the fall it is a go-to color, but for spring I usually don't reach for it. I just got the Arrow embossing folder and I really like the look it gives and the way it sends the eye to t

Happy Watercolor - HSSSC#182

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I am so excited!!!!  My entry into last weeks Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge was chosen as one of the Artist Picks!  Such an honor!!! Today I worked from two different challenges:  The colors were from the Colour Me card challenge and the layout was from Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch challenge. I pulled out the Hello Lovely stamp set for the background.  There are so many great 'bits' to make your own mosaic background in this set!  I paired it with the Happy Watercolor set out of the Occasions catalog.  I used Coastal Cabana to do the ombre background for the flower.  My favorite part of putting this card together was playing with the die cut flower I made with the Big Shot and the new Spiral Flower originals die out of the Occasions catalog.  This was my first time to try it out and I'm loving it!  So easy and flexible!  I will be using these a lot more.    A quick reminder to everyone that the Sale-a-Bration is only on until March 31, so

Spring Thanks

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Today's submission was created for the MOJO Monday sketch challenge. I am still in the Spring state of mind, especially since (thankfully) the weather didn't freeze my tomatoes last night.  Hoping we are done with freezes in north Texas until fall! Stampin Up products used: Card stock and Ink: Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, Chocolate Chip and Pear Pizzaz. Stamps: Summer Afternoon, Banner Greetings and Banner Blast (2014 Ocassions) Punches: Punch pack (flower), Banner Punch (Sale-a-bration) Framelits: Ovals Ribbon: Calypso Coral bakers twine I colored the image using blender pens.  I started out using Pistachio for the leaves and brown sugar for the cart and it looked blahhhh. So, on top I added some Chocolate Chip and Pear to liven it up.  It was pretty wet when I finished and the water had soaked through the card stock, but it dried nicely.  Since it was pretty fast to put together, especial

Stepping into the digital desgin world

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Today's card was done in My Digital Studio (MDS).  Its the first thing I have completed in the tool, though I have started MANY projects in it.  The layout was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketches layout of the week: I thought it was a nice clean sketch to play with.  I 'cowboyed' it up a bit since this card is meant for my nephew.  As of right now I have bought NO new digital material from Stampin Up for MDS, meaning all of the product I used here came with the tool, which you can get for $19.95!  It includes all SU colors (including retired ones!) and many of SUs proprietary punches and paper sets.  Great price for lots of content!  Contact me if you want to try it out for FREE! Thanks for coming by! Jean

Spring Honeycomb

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Hurray its FRIDAY!! Today's card is a mix brought to you by the ColourQ I'm loving the brights of the Calypso Coral and the return of Lucky Limeade and Going Gray from the retired stack.  Very peppy combo, don't ya think? I didn't get started til after the kiddos went to bed, so I opted for a quick card tonight.  Wanna see? First I stamped Flowering Flourishes in Going Grey (again an ink inherited from my sis!) on the white card stock.  Then I used the leaves from the Papaya Collage set in Lucky Limeade because I love the interest they give.  I stamped flowers from Fabulous Florets in Island Indigo and Calypso Coral.  I ran the whole piece through my Sizzix with the honeycomb embossing pad and trimmed. I wanted to add something in place of a sentiment, so I used more stamps from Papaya Collage, mounted them on a punched oval of Island Indigo and added some snips of Calypso Coral chevron ribbon (which I stapled on to make it stay :). This card make

Spring Butterfly

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Today's card is one I put together today for THIS week's Color Throwdown.  These colors scream Easter and spring to me so I was thrilled to put them to use.   I dug around for a brilliant blue ink pad in my retired supplies cabinet (thanks to my sister for whom I am holding on to it) and was happy to see it was still very wet after several years of storage.  Yeah SU!  I decided to use butterflies, or rather one big butterfly, to say hello to spring. I started out with the Parisian background stamp inked with Perfect Plum with swirls of Bermuda Bay on Whisper White card stock.  It got a little smeared because I was stamping on my ottoman watching season 2 of Game of Thrones and the ottoman isn't nearly solid enough get a clean image for a big stamp.  Sigh! I used Versamark and Brilliant Blue on the butterfly background stamp and clear embossed it.  The blue looked very bold so I toned it down with plum and Bermuda water colored in t

Preteen Masculine Birthday Card + Hand Stamped Sentaments color challenge #181

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Today's card is special to me. I made it for my DS 9th birthday on Sunday. He is a blessing every day and keeps me on my toes!  I had pulled out the ink for HSSCC181 and decided it was the perfect mix for his card. Can I just say how much I love the Tape It stamp set??  Any color washi tape anytime is just as convenient as it gets.  Plus Gorgeous Grunge and some sponging around the edges.  Rockin it! Sahara Sand, Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango and Crushed Curry ink.  Whisper White card stock.   Gorgeous  Grunge, Tape It, and Grunge Rock stamp sets. Retro Fresh Designer tape. Circle and Modern Label punches Reminder, only 11 more days to get FREE stuff from the Sale-a-bration catalog, so get it TODAY! Thanks for visiting; I'll be posting for a new challenge tomorrow! Jean

Take 2....

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Yesterday I posted a simple card I threw together for Color Throwdown #283 And this is the original:   Clean, simple, not too flashy.  I like it a lot, but I knew I was missing something...  Oh, texture, how I love you!  Splatter dots from the Gorgeous Grunge set in Versamark and clear embossing powder really added a little oomph, don't you think?  Honestly I think I could add a bit more sparkle (cause sparkle is almost never wrong) but I think I'll leave it as is and move on. Tomorrow there will be new challenges starting and I aim to work a few of them!  See you then!

Back in a flash....

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  I know, I know.  I disappeared off the face of the earth... craft wise, that is.  I've been here and I have crafted, but I never seem to get around to posting what I have  been working on.  But I am going to try to get back online for real.  This is my latest creation for Color Throwdown #283 Here is my take on those colors: I used Pistachio Pudding, Basic Gray and Tangerine Tango with the Brights DSP, hexagon & Blossom punches, Antique brad, retired clip and last year's Wacky Wishes hostess set. The card measures 6x6.  It was simple and quick to put together, perfect for a last minute thank you.  Imagine spritzing a little glitter on there or playing with a little Versamark..... Hmmm might have to dress it up a bit and repost.... My intent is to play along with several challenges to get me back in the groove.  I'm still selling Stampin' Up products; the occasions (spring) catalog is active, the 2014 Sale-a-Bration is in its last weeks,