2 More Weekend Challenges - One Card

I have a sweet little card that I made this afternoon for this week's Curtain Call Color Challenge, Act 71 and this week's Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge, # 97. I've used the level one hostess stamp set from Stampin' Up's Occasions Mini catalog. 

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The flower vase is stamped on SU water color paper and colored with my aqua painter with SU inks then cut out with circle Nesties. (The red plaid paper looks more pink in this picture but in RL it's deep red.) 

Supplies

Stamps: A Slice of Life by Stampin' Up

Card stock: SU crumb cake, so saffron, cherry cobbler and SU water color paper

Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye

Ink: memento tuxedo black, more mustard, so saffron, cherry cobbler

Other: classic circle and eyelet circle Nesties, silver pearls, SU more mustard ribbon, TE red heart hat pins, curly vines EF, TE medium scalloped border die, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

The inside greeting is "thinking of you" and I think I'm going to send it off to my mom tomorrow. 

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Sweet Sunday Sketch Time

When I saw Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch 106 this morning, I immediately had an idea for a card using the Stampin' Up "Sew Suite" products that are in the Occasions Mini catalog. I had used them yesterday to make a card that I really like, so I wanted to see what else I could come up with.

I did make the card I had in mind, and I may post it later in the week. (Not really sure about that yet.) You know how when you put much time and effort into something and then it's just not what you envisioned? Well, that's how it turned out.

So, I made this card.

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I do like this one! :-)

Here's a peek of the inside:

This is another Pure Innocence stamp, called 4 Leaf Clover,  that I got about a month ago and had not inked up yet. Since it's close to March and St. Patrick's Day, I thought it was a good time to play with her. I think these stamps are perfect to practice Copic coloring as well.

Supplies

Stamps: 4 Leaf Clover Pure Innocence by My Favorite Things

Card stock: SU early expresso, daffodil delight and TE choice snow white

Patterned paper: Pebbles Tree House

Ink: memento tuxedo black and rich cocoa, Copic sketch markers

Other: classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, TE picket fence die, SU brads, twine, button, and thatched square EF, TE crocheted flower, pop up glue dots, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Happy Monday to everyone,

Colleen

Rub-Ons and CAS 129

Today I have a card that I made using the Clean and Simple Fall To Layout 129 sketch. I really like the way this turned out and it was pretty fast and easy. No stamping! The center panel and side trim images are rub-ons from the SU Occasions Mini catalog.  Nesties, punches and a bow make up the rest of the detail.

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Supplies

Rub-ons: Sweet Stitches from Stampin' Up

Card stock: SU early expresso, regal rose, daffodil delight and very vanilla

Patterned paper: SU Sweet Stitches

Other: SU punches, SU Vintage Flower Adornment, Labels 4 Nesties, pink 1/8" ribbon (Michaels), SU Square Lattice EF, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Happy stamping,

Colleen

Just Add Ink 57 Color Combo

While looking through the most recent Crate and Barrel catalog last week I saw a pillow that was appliqued with spirals and circles. The spirals reminded me of the Die-namics rolled flower die. I thought that I'd play around with the look on a card and see what I could come up with.

Here is the inspiration photo:

And here is my card:

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The pillow in the inspiration photo is made with felt. I thought about doing the spirals on the card in felt, but decided to use paper for the first try. I may do another version with felt to see how it looks. I crumpled the paper for the medium circles to give them a little more definition. The centers of the  yellow flowers are white candy dots colored with a Copic marker to match cherry cobbler.

The color scheme comes from the Just Add Ink #57 Color Combo challenge. This week's colors are river rock, cherry cobbler and daffodil delight. 

Supplies

Stamps: Bring on the Cake by Stampin' Up

Card stock: SU river rock, cherry cobbler, and daffodil delight

Ink: SU cherry cobbler and Copic sketch marker

Other: Die-namics rolled flower die, SU circle punches, candy dots, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Birthday Girl

Happy Friday.  Are you ready for the weekend?

I was not very sleepy last night so I stayed up and stamped. This is a previously uninked Pure Innocence stamp that I got about a month ago from My Favorite Things called "My Balloon." Another cutie for sure. I usually paper piece the dresses, but I decided to practice my Copic coloring with this little gal. You'll recognize the layout as February's Sketch For You To Try.

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Supplies

Stamps: My Balloon by My Favorite Things

              inside: Bring On the Cake by Stampin' Up

Card stock: SU not quite navy and TE choice snow white

Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye

Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copic sketch markers

       inside: SU not quite navy, pear pizzazz and peach parfait

Other: classic oval Nesties, Die-namics rolled flower die, TE medium scallop border die, SU punches, My Mind's Eye square tag, green candy dots, green stickles, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a wonderful Friday evening,

Colleen 

TE Blast From the Past Blog Hop #8

Welcome to my stop on the TE Blast From the Past Blog Hop # 8.  The February rules are to "go green" with our projects by using the color green or incorporate something recycled in our project. For this hop, we are using stamps released prior to December 2010. 

Since I have time on my hands these days (not back to work yet), I decided to do two projects and "go green" both ways.

My first project incorporates the color green, and I've used Sankari's fun sketch for the layout. "Destination Seattle" was released back in July 2010.  I've also used two additional TE stamps to create the scene. The clouds are made with the "Cloudy Days Big Background" stamp and the travel coffee cup in the circle is from the "Let's Do Coffee" stamp set. To make the colorful sky, a mix of SU sahara sand and baja breeze inks were used to ink up the stamp. I masked off the skyline and then stamped the clouds trying to get some of the open areas directly over the city. Cuppie's umbrella was paper pieced with green striped paper and popped up on foam tape. Her rain coat (cupcake paper) was pieced with green paper that was run through the SU square lattice embossing folder then stamped and cut out. The traveler in cuppie's hand was stamped twice, cut out and popped up on foam tape as well. The three circle elements are white and red buttons stacked with green paper in the middle to mimic the circles in the patterned paper. The rest of the image is colored with Copic's. The inside of the card uses the sentiment that comes with the stamp.

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the inside:

Sankari's sketch:

For project two, an old tea box is recycled into a gift box to hold a matching set of birthday and thank you cards. Here's a picture before it's transformation.

The gift box holds eight cards, four each of two different styles. Two of the four say "Happy Birthday" and two say "Thank you." I've used the February Key Ingredients kit for all of the papers and ribbon in this project. The stamp set is "Summer Afternoon" released in June 2010 and the greetings are from the "Fresh Flowers" set released in April 2009.

Here's the box all dressed up:

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The birthday cards:

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The thank you cards:

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Supplies for Project 1

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Destination Seattle, Cloudy Days Big Background and Let's Do Coffee 

Card stock: TE greens, red and choice buttercream

Patterned paper: from My Mind's Eye

Ink: SU sahara sand and baja breeze, memento tuxedo black, Copic sketch markers

Other: rectangle Nesties, SU circle punches, paper crimper, SU white and red buttons, SU twine, red clear dot embellishment, foam tape, SU EF, mini glue dots, and the Big Shot

Supplies for Project 2

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Summer Afternoon and Fresh Flowers sets

Card stock: TE light blue, chocolate brown and choice buttercream

Patterned paper: Lush from My Mind's Eye

Ink: SU early expresso and baja breeze

Other: classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, TE scalloped eyelet border and small scallop border dies, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles in aqua and aqua Kaiser rhinestones, TE blue ribbon, mini glue dots, the Big Shot, and foam tape

I hope that you've enjoyed your stop at my blog. Thanks so much for stopping by,

Colleen

Thanks - February SFYTT Card

Happy Wednesday all,

I was playing around some more with my new stamps from TE and came up with this cute, and bright, little "Thank You" card. I used February's Sketch For You To Try for the layout.

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Supplies
Stamps: Cozy Cottages from Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE choice buttercream
Patterned paper: Modern Homemaker by October Afternoon
Ink: memento tuxedo black, SU real red and Copic sketch markers
Other: classic circle Nesties, TE ribbon and button, pink bakers twine, ruby red liquid pearls, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

It's Never Long

The road to a friends house IS never long! These new stamps are from the Taylored Expressions February release. The set is called Cozy Cottages and it's the newest set in Taylor's Giving Tree Program. $7.00 for each set sold is donated to Habitat For Humanity. There are some darling stamps in this set! 

The color scheme comes from this week's Curtain Call Color Challenge, Act 70.  Such bright and cheery colors this week.

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The houses are water colored with an aqua painter to give them that washed out Tuscany look. { anyway that's what I was going for :) } I found some patterned paper in my drawer that matched the pear pizzazz and tempting turquoise colors perfectly. The card stock, ink and ribbon are all from SU. I recently got the Swirly Vines embossing folder at a local store and I love the look.

Supplies
Stamps: Cozy Cottages from Taylored Expressions
Card stock: all SU, pear pizzazz, tangerine tango, and whisper white
Patterned paper: Summertime by Echo Park
Ink: all SU, basic black, tangerine tango, pear pizzazz, tempting turquoise, and real red
Other: Sizzix EF, SU tempting turquoise ribbon, curved rectange Nesties, TE paper flower, My Mind's Eye green rhinestone brad, Kaiser turquoise rhinestones, Die-namics scalloped die, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope your week is a good one.
Thanks,
Colleen

Birthday Wishes and SSSC 105

I don't mind sayin', this card took me forever to make! It was one of those "create as you go" things. Nothing clear in my mind from the start so I just kept fussing. In the end, it's not too bad, but, it was very close to becoming one of those "more isn't always better, sometimes it's just more" creations. lol!

The sketch comes from Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge. Always a fav of mine to do. Most all supplies are SU on this one with the exception of Copics for coloring, expresso dimensional pearls for the icing and the sewing.

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In my effort to practice sewing on paper, this card ended up with a  ton of it. The stamp set is the level one hostess set from the current Occasions Mini catalog and the DSP, ribbon and buttons are all sale-a-bration goodies.

Supplies
Stamp set: A Slice of Life from Stampin' Up
Card stock: all SU, old olive, pacific point, marina mist and whisper white
Patterned paper: Ice Cream Parlor DSP
Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: SU Ice Cream Parlor ribbon and button pack, expresso dimensional pearls, classic circle and lacy circle Nesties, sewing machine, the Big Shot, SU corner rounder punch, and dimensionals

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

"Springtime" for Sweet Stop Sketch # 96

I have one more card to share this afternoon. Since I still had the February Key Ingredients kit on my desk I decided to use it to make a card for this week's Sweet Stop sketch challenge. Besides the sketch, this week there was an addition to the challenge to make a spring themed card. I pulled out one of my new Stampin' Up sets called Easter Blessings. Like many, I was attracted to the little girl silhouette stamp included in this set from the current Occasions Mini catalog. I've seen it used on many cards lately around blog land and they are all so cute. Here is my version today:

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Again, all of the card stock and patterned paper are from the TE February key Ingredients kit, as well as the paper flowers and brads. Labels 9 Nestabilities was used to cut out the image instead of using a square as in the sketch.

Supplies

Stamps: Easter Blossoms from Stampin' Up

Card stock: light blue and choice buttercream from Feb KI set

Patterned paper: Lush by My Mind's Eye

Ink: SU early expresso

Other: SU oval and corner rounder punches, paper flowers and brads from the Feb KI kit, Labels 9 Nesties, the big shot, SU pop up glue dots, and dimensionals

That's all from me today. I'm looking forward to the Sweet Sunday Sketch and Curtain Call Color challenges tomorrow morning, so I'll be back tomorrow after the cards are made. 

Colleen

Only As. . .

My niece called me earlier this week very excited. She had just gotten a call from her first choice college that she has been accepted for attendance next fall. Way to go Rach! In honor of this special occasion, I made this card to send to say "congratulations". 

All of the card stock and patterned paper are from the February Key Ingredients kit. I love the papers that Taylor picked out to put in this month's kit. I also love the poem that makes up this stamp from the TE New Beginnings set, and thought it perfect for a young lady getting ready to embark soon on college life. 

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All of the stamps are from this same TE set, New Beginnings, and  the TE Frame It Up 1 die was used to cut out the stamped frame and poem. For a little added bling, pink Stickles were used on the outlines and center of the rose and pink rhinestones accent the frame.

Supplies

Stamps: New Beginnings set from Taylored Expressions

Card stock: dark red, light green and choice buttercream from the February Key Ingredients kit

Patterned paper: Lush by My Mind's Eye

Ink: SU cherry cobbler, pretty in pink and pear pizzazz

Other: TE Frame It Up 1 and Leafy Branch dies, SU border punch, pink Stickles, pink rhinestones, the Big Shot, and diemnsionals

Have a great Saturday evening and enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Colleen

Hugs and Kisses Gator Valentine's Day Card

Hey again stampers,

My second post today is a Valentine's Day card made for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge 104 and Stacey's Curtain Call Color challenge, Act 69. When I saw the colors that Stacey picked out for us this week, tailor made for Valentine's Day cards, I took the opportunity to make one for a fun little four year old guy named Nic. I hope he likes this cute gator with the sparkly hearts.

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Karen's sketch:

Curtain Call Colors:

Lots of embellishments on this card. One of the trendy looks that I love is sewing on cards. I bought a very inexpensive mini sewing machine several months ago for this purpose. I'm trying to use it more, and clearly I need the practice. Not sure if it's the lightness of the machine, but I have a really difficult time keeping things straight. Plus the zig-zag stitches (there are 3) are all big. So, I'm not "in love" with it, but I will keep practicing. Eventually, I will figure out it's quirks.

Supplies

Stamps: Animal Valentines and XOXO both by Stampin' Up

Card stock: all SU cherry cobbler, real red, crumb cake, whisper white and SU red glitter paper

Patterned paper: Stampin' Up DSP (actually from a Christmas themed pack)

Ink: memento rich cocoa and cherry cobbler. Crumb cake, yellow and black SU markers

Other: SU triple heart and round punches, SU thatched square embossing folder, red glitter candy dots, sewing machine, the Big shot, quickie glue pen, and dimensionals.

Time to get something else done besides stamping. Our friends, Nic and his parents, are coming later for dinner. I can give Nic his card.

Have a great week all,

Colleen

Tweeting by. . . Sweet Stop Sketch 95

I inked up another new stamp yesterday afternoon to play along with this week's Sweet Stop Sketch challenge #95. The rectangle shaped panel was perfect for a PI girl. I decided to make this one really bright and summery. These green papers came with my last Taylored Expressions order, and since green is one of my favorite colors, I decided to use them to help show off this little girl. As you can see, they were used to paper piece her cute little jumper dress. The tee shirt and heart sash are pieced with some pixie pink card stock. Using a glue pen sure makes gluing small pieces like this easy.

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Supplies

Stamps: Pure Innocence "You're So Tweet" by My Favorite Things

Card stock: SU whisper white, pink passion, and pixie pink

Patterned paper: from Taylored Expressions

Ink: memento tuxedo black, Copics

Other: Rectangle nesties, SU pink felt flowers, TE green buttons, TE green ribbon, Kaiser green pearls, EK flower border punch, SU punches, SU twine, TE pink flower rhinestone, the Big Shot, Quickie glue pen, and dimensionals.

Now it's time to work on some Sunday sketch challenges. Have a fabulous day,

Colleen 

Mojo Monday sketch 177 - You Lift Me Up!

Good Saturday afternoon all,

A quick post this afternoon with a card I made for this week's Mojo Monday sketch. It took me a couple starts to come up with something I liked for this sketch. Persistence paid off and I really think this one turned out fine. I combined a couple different stamp sets, some new tools and embellishments and some paper piecing to pull it all together.

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Supplies

Stamps: XOXO by Stampin' Up and Cuppie Love Scenes by Taylored Expressions

Card stock: SU basic grey, real red and whisper white

Patterned paper: SU Love Impressions

Ink: SU real red, memento tuxedo black, Copics

Other: TE Impressions die, TE clouds die, SU round punches, TE brads, the Big Shot, sewing machine, and dimensionals

I hope your weekend is good. Thanks for stopping by today,

Colleen

If You Can Dream It - MFTWSC6

Happy, happy Friday,

Is everyone looking forward to the weekend? We are having dinner out with friends tonight. We're going to a new concept restaurant called a "Pop up".  Apparently it's the newest "thing" dining.

Today I have a card that I made for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch challenge. This is the first time that I've participated in this challenge. I liked that the layout this week seemed to call for a sentiment based card. They are not my usual style, however, I've managed to make two this week.

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Supplies

Stamps: New Beginnings by Taylored Expressions

Card stock: SU textured grey, textured black and whisper white

Patterned paper: Echo Park "Be Mine"

Ink: memento tuxedo black

Other: Die-namics rolled flower die, Zva pearl flourishes, Kaiser pearls, SU punch, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great weekend everyone,

Colleen

Life Is Short, Eat the Icing First

Hi again everyone,

Since it's Thursday, I decided to make a card this afternoon and participate in The Spotted Chick's Krafty Thursday # 47 challenge. I'm using one of my new PI stamp sets. (as I mentioned earlier, I did a lot of craft shopping to relieve boredom over the past month) These little girls are sooooo cute! For the layout, I followed this weeks Sweet Stop #94 sketch.

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and here's a pic of the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence "Hello Cupcake" by My Favorite Things
Card stock: SU crumb cake, night of navy, marina mist and TE choice buttercream
Patterned paper: Jen Allyson and SU
Ink: SU night of navy and crumb cake, Copics
Other: classic circle Nesties, TE picket fence die, TE impressions background die, SU felt flowers, blue candy dot, expresso dimensional pearls, red liquid pearls, china mist Stickles, the Big Shot, and dimensionals.

Back tomorrow with a card for the Wednesday MFT sketch challenge. Have a great evening,
Colleen

Go Confidently - SSSC103

Well "hello" fellow stampers,

After four weeks of restriction from using my right arm for pretty much everything, I have finally been given permission to begin doing some "light" tasks. Of course, one of the first things I asked my Dr. and Physical Therapist about was paper crafting. After explaining what tasks it involves, I was given permission to do so with a limit of 40 minute blocks of time. You can't imagine how happy this has made me! Forty minutes flies by, since I'm a little on the slow side using my left arm/hand for things like using the Big Shot, my large paper cutter, and even inking and stamping, but, I'm so happy to be able to start to craft again.

While I have not been able to make anything for the last four weeks, I have been checking in with many of you daily out in 'blog land" and I have seen beautiful and inspiring examples. Thanks to you all for helping to keep my spirits up in my down time.

I've made three cards over the last couple days. The one I picked to show today is for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge, #103.
As I've said before, the SSSC is one of my favorite challenges to participate in, so that's what I picked to get started again. I love this week's sketch. I pulled out some bright and summery papers, some butterflies and ribbon to pull it all together.

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For the last month, I've been pretty much limited to reading, watching TV and surfing the internet, which, translates to shopping. I have many new stamps and supplies that I can't wait to use!

Supplies

Stamps: New Beginnings by Taylored Expressions

Card stock: SU cherry cobbler and whisper white

Patterned papers: Walk In the Park by Echo Park

Ink: SU early expresso

Other: SU ribbon and twine, classic circle, big scalloped circle and curved rectangle Nesties, orange candy dots, butterfly embellishments from TE, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Colleen