Snow Day

Good Sunday morning all,

Today is supposedly the start of a really HOT week here in southern California. So far, it's not too bad, but it's only 9:00 am too. I think the weather report said that Tuesday was going to be the warmest. Not too surprising as Sept and Oct are our two warmest months of the year usually. There shouldn't be too much impact to me other than maybe warmer daily beach walks after work.

Last night I had some stamping time and I got a couple cards made. Today's card uses Jen Shults' Deconstructed Sketch 71 for the layout. I used some patterned papers from Simple Stories called Handmade Holiday and a Pure Innocence set called Snow Day.

I paper pieced most of the image, using Copics to color the face, hair, mittens, tights and snowballs. I sponged some Distressed green ink around the edges. After coloring the snow, I applied some Diamond Stickles and I used some white Liquid Applique for the fur trim on the hat and the boots. The wooden snowflake button is from my stash of buttons. Then, just a little sewing wrapped it all up.

Here's a look at the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence Snow Day set and Christmas/Winter Greetings set both by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock and Simple Stories Handmade Holiday patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler, and Tim Holtz Forrest Moss Distress Ink
Other: Stickles, Liquid Applique, sewing machine, SU 1" round punch, wood snowflake button, SU linen thread, Die-namics dies (outside and inside) the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a fabulous Sunday. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Bake Me a Cake Birthday Card

Happy Saturday afternoon,

I hope you're having a good weekend so far. I spent this morning organizing my TE and Die-namics dies into a perfectly sized sturdy box that a friend gave me. It used to be a shoe box, and boy it really is perfect. It opens like a file drawer. I cut some heavy cardboard panels and added magnetic strips to hold the dies. I'm very happy with the end result. The only thing left is to cover the box with some nice papers to jazz it up a bit.

On to my actual card. A few weeks ago, I saw this card by Shelly Mercado and absolutely fell in love with it. I knew that I wanted to CASE it, and since I have a good friend whose Birthday is Oct. 1, I made this card for her casing Shelly's card. I changed some things like the background and some of the colors. I love how graphic and colorful it turned out.

And the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: You Take the Cake set and Graphic Greetings Birthday stamp by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE Choice Snow white, SU Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo card stock and Stampin' Up Polka Dot DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Melon Mambo and Island Indigo
Other: TE Bake Me A Cake die, TE medium scallop border and TE Curly border dies, Seeing Spots EF, SU Perfect Polka Dots EF, Crystal Stickles, Kaiser rhinestones, Sakura Quickie glue pen, the Big Shot, and dimensionals.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

SFYTT Birthday Card

Hi all,

Ahhh, it's Friday tomorrow, and that means it's almost the weekend. Do you have any plans? Nothing special going on here this weekend, but next, we're off to the Central Coast wine country for a five day weekend with friends. I can't wait!

I needed a birthday card for a friend's son who is turning two on Oct. 5. I decided to use Jen's SFYTT layout for September. Clearly, I'm just squeaking my card in before the end of the month.

Because the card is for a little boy, I used Taylored Expressions Life Is A Circus set. I thought it would be perfect for a two year old, paired with very bright, mostly primary colors for the papers and the coloring.

 The images are colored with Copics. The patterned papers are from SU and have a great circus theme.The star boarder is also from TE.

I'm also entering this card in The Catered Crop Knot Now Recipe Swap. My ribbon is tied in a square knot, so I think that qualifies.



I made the inside of the card very colorful as well:

Supplies
Stamps: Life Is A Circus set by Taylored Expressiosn
Paper: SU Whisper white, Real red, Yoyo yellow card stock and SU DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Real red, Gumball green and Copics
Other: TE Star border die, SU Gumball green ribbon, SU punches (inside panel), sewing machine, Crystal Effects (on the seal), the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Grateful

Hi and happy Wednesday all,

I got home from work earlier than expected today. Love it when that happens. After finishing some reports, I had some time to post the card that I made last night for this week's The Paper Players challenge #114. This weeks challenge is a sketch. I thought I'd do something fall-ish, but I didn't want to do another Halloween card. (not sure why since I still need a few more for family and friends). Here's what I came up with.

This is a SU only card made with a stamp set from last year called Always Thankful. I'm not sure that I had inked it up until now. The papers are from this year's Holiday Mini catalog and some of my current favorites.

Since it was pretty late last night by the time I figured out what I wanted to use, I was too lazy to color the whole image. I stamped it in Early Expresso onto confetti vanilla CS and was going to leave it. Then I decided to do this old technique of coloring just a portion of the image and spotlighting it. I'm liking the way it turned out. I hope you do too. For the spotlighted portion, I stamped it on another sheet of confetti vanilla CS and then colored it with my aqua painter using the classic ink pads. I then punched it out with the 1 1/4" round punch. The base was punched from Early Expresso with the 1 3/8" round punch.

Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Always Thankful set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Early Expresso, More Mustard and Confetti Vanilla CS and Orchard Harvest DSP
Ink: SU Early Expresso, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Lucky Limeade classic ink pads
Other: SU medium and large oval, 1 1/4 " and 1 3/8" round and corner rounder punches, SU More Mustard brads, SU Square Lattice EF, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in today,

Colleen

May Your Holidays . . .

Hi everyone,

I hope that your week has started off well. Today I have another Christmas card. I made this card Sunday afternoon and used Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch 168. The sketch this week certainly lends itself to having a sentiment front and center, and that's exactly the direction I went.

Once I decided what papers and stamp set to use, this went together rather quickly. Love that! This is an SU only card.

Supplies
Stamps: Snowflake Soiree and More Merry Messages sets by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Real Red, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla card stock, SU Champagne, Silver and Red Glimmer paper and Candlelight Christmas DSP
Ink: SU Real Red and Gumball Green classic ink
Other: SU Merry Mini Punch Pack, sewing machine and dimensionals

Thanks,
Colleen

Happy Halloween

Hi,

Here's a card that I made this past weekend for Jen's DS70 sketch, and to add to my Halloween card stash. The papers are from the TE Halloween Project Pantry kit.

I stamped Frankie 3 times, in black, in gumball green and in pumpkin pie inks, then cut out his shirt and pants separately and pieced them onto the third image stamped in black. The little witch was stamped once in black and once in wisteria wonder. Her dress was cut out and pieced onto the black image. The rest of each image was colored with Copics, then cut out and popped up with dimensionals onto the circle. The spider was stamped directly on the circle. I added the googly eyes to all three. The spiderweb border is from the recent TE release.

Supplies
Stamps: Googly Ghouls set by Stampin' Up
Paper: Taylored expressions  black and buttercream card stock and Pebbles Tricks and Treats patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU wisteria wonder, gumball green, and pumpkin pie classic ink and Copics
Other: classic circle and lacy circle Nesties, TE spiderweb border die, TE orange ribbon, SU corner rounder punch, SU googly eyes, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks all,
Colleen

Dress Up Diva

Happy Sunday afternoon all,

I hope everyone had a good weekend. We went to an "end of summer" party yesterday afternoon-evening and had a great time visiting with friends.

Today, it's been kind of a lazy day, but I did get in some stamping. This card I actually made last week one evening, must have been Wednesday or Thursday as the sketch is MFTWSC 90.  I've had this stamp set for awhile, but I don't think I've inked it up until now. I had lots of fun coloring her, and I think she turned out quite fetching.

Most of the paper is from the Sept. KI kit, as well as the wooden button and the pearls. I colored the image with Copics. After coloring the boa, I went over it with Crystal Stickles. Love the way it turned out. Her hat is paper pieced and shaded with a BG Copic. The flower was punched with the SU Boho Blossom punch and gold ink was brushed on the tips of the petals. I pushed in the center and added one of the pearls from the KI kit. The hatband  was covered with Lagoon Stickles after coloring. 

Here is the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence, Dress Up Diva set, by My Favorite Things
Paper: TE yellow and light blue card stock, X-press It Blending white card stock, MME The Sweetest Thing - Tangerine patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Calypso Coral classic ink pad and Copics
Other: Labels 4 Nesties, Die-namics small doily die, Want-2-Scrap pearls, Stickles, SU Boho Blossom punch, TE wooden button, yellow/white Baker's Twine, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope your coming week is a good one. Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Oops-A-Daisy

Hello,

Friday tomorrow. Yea! It's been a busy work week for me but I did manage to sneak in some stamping time last night to make a card for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #167. My Sept. KI pack was on my table so naturally, I choose it for my papers. I need a couple birthday cards for October birthdays, so with that in mind, here's what I came up with.

The daisies are from the TE set Oops-A-Daisy. I stamped them on some TE watercolor paper and colored them with Tim Holtz Distress Markers. (I'm still getting the hang of coloring with them) I used my aqua painter to push the color around. The flat flower was cut out with the circle Nestie. The other two were cut out with the TE coordinating die, then popped up on dimensionals to make the arrangement. I sponged around the first flower with some pink SU in before adding the other two flowers.

The distress markers used are: bundled sage, barn door, antique linen, spun sugar and tattered rose. (Don't you just love the color names on these markers?)

Supplies
Stamps: Opps-A-Daisy set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: Sept KI Kit, red and pink card stock and MME "The Sweetest Thing - Tangerine" patterned papers and Taylored Expressions watercolor paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Pink Pirouette, and Tim Holtz Distress Markers
Other: classic circle Nesties, TE Oops-A-Daisy and small scalloped border dies, TE ribbon (KI kit), Want-2-Scrap pearls (KI kit), aqua painter, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Happy Friday all, and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Key Ingredients and The Paper Players {LOL}

Good morning all,

Hump day and half way through our work week. Last night after watching baseball, I decided I was in a stamping mood, but there wasn't much time before bed. The Paper Players challenge #113 looked like just the ticket for a quick card. I still had my new TE goodies on my table. The new Let's Chat set is super cute and the images are perfect for a CAS card.

The challenge is to make a CAS card with banners. I thought the ever-popular LOL would be a fun sentiment to go along with the texting smart phone image.

Since this is essentially a one layer card, I used the TE circles impressions plate to emboss the background. The squiggly border is also one of my new TE goodies. Love it! All of the papers are from the Sept. Key Ingredients kit.

Here's a look at the inside. I kept it pretty simple as well.

Supplies
Stamps: Let's Chat by Taylored Expressions
Paper: all from TE Sept. KI kit, Yellow, Gray and White card stock, The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine by MME patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Summer Starfruit
Other: TE Circles Impressions Plate, TE Small Layering Doily, TE Squiggly border die, TE Tall and Skinny Alpha letters, SU pennant punch, yellow pearls, the Big Shot, and dimensionals.

Have a great day all and thanks,
Colleen

You're FA-BOO-LOUS!

Hi all,

We were visiting our good friend in Los Angeles this past weekend, so I didn't get any stamping time until Sunday evening. Since my new Taylored Expressions goodies came last week, I decided to ink up  one of my new sets and make another Halloween card.

I used Jen's DS69 for the layout.

The purple background was embossed with the TE Spooky Impressions plate and the other side of the plate was used on the circle background. The patterned papers were also part of my new shipment from TE. After coloring the image with Copics, I cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals. Then added some orange Stickles over the boots. For a little extra bling, I added some orange rhinestones in the center of the Os in BOO. The spider brad is left over from last year.

Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: FA-BOO-LOUS by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Elegant Eggplant and TE Choice Snow White card stock. Jillybean Soup Staples Collection II patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Elegant Eggplant and Copics
Other: TE Impressions plate, TE green polkadot ribbon, orange Stickles, sewing machine, spider brad,
Kaiser orange rhinestones, classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks all,
Colleen

Too Cute To Spook

I'm back with another My Favorite Things sketch card. This one is for the Sept. guest challenge. I really liked the sketch for this so I decided to play along.

I added to my Halloween stash and used the super cute PI Little Witch set. The papers are from Basic Grey and not Halloween papers at all, but I liked them and the colors work well. Don't you agree?

and the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence Little Witch set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Elegant Eggplant and X-Press It Blending card stocks and Basic Grey Indie Bloom patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Elegant Eggplant
Other: Die-namics Mini-tabs and Fishtail Flags STAX dies, SU scalloped circle punch, SU orange corduroy button, SU Spider Web EF, silver Stickles, orange glitter candy dots, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for checking in today,
Colleen

Fall Is Fun

Happy Monday everyone,

Here's another card that I finished this past weekend. The sketch is the MFTWSC88. I had a blast with this one. I think because I love working with fall colors and themes. Also, I used several dies on this one, which is always fun.

The patterned papers are SU. Love, love, love the colors in this paper pack. I colored the PI girl with Copics, then fussy cut her out and popped her up on dimensionals. Crystal Effects was used on the caramel dripping down the green apple, and I added some green rhinestones to accent the scallops on the circles and the first border, and a red flower rhinestone for her hair. Just a few extra touches.

Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence Caramel Apple set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Confetti Vanilla CS, X-Press It Blending CS,  and SU Orchard Harvest DSP
Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler, Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Die-namics Squiggly Border and Jumbo Banner Day STAX dies, Big Scalloped and classic circle Nesties, Kaiser green rhinestones and Hero Arts flower rhinestone, Crystal Effects, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

A Very Merry Christmas To You

Hi again,
This is my second post this evening.


Here is my card to play along with Jen's Deconstructed Sketch #68. Yes, another Christmas card. I'm so happy to be adding more to my 2012 stash. I believe that I've mentioned before that this SU set is one of my very favorites this year, and I just love using it. So many options with it, and just too cute.

The DSP is from the SU Holiday Mini catalog. I'm liking the red and browns together. Instead of using a scalloped border, I used the mini banner Framelits and made a flag border. I've seen some of these around blogland and like the look so I decided to give it a try.

Here's a look at the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Scentsational Season set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Very Vanilla and Real Red card stock and Candlelight Christmas DSP
Ink: SU Early Expresso, Crumb Cake and Real Red classic ink pads
Other: classic circle Nesties, SU Scentsational Season Framelits, SU Mini Banner Framelits, SU Edgelits, SU snowflake dies, red buttons, twine, sewing machine, Kaiser red rhinestones, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great week all and thanks,
Colleen

A Friend Is. . .

Well, the weekend is almost over. Hate when that happens, LOL. It was a nice one though. Yesterday, we went shopping. I seriously needed some new work clothes and I wanted some new fall bedding. Got both. Yay! Last night and this morning I got in some stamping time and made a few sketch challenge cards that I can post throughout the week.

The one I'm posting tonight is for the the Freshly Made #51 sketch.

Supplies
Stamps: The Nicest Things set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Island Indigo, More Mustard and Very Vanilla CS and X-Press It Blending CS, SU Orchard Harvest DSP
Ink: SU Island Indigo classic pad, Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: SU Framelits, SU Edgelits, SU embossing folder, SU ribbon, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks all,
Colleen

Boo

Hi all,

I'm back this afternoon with my card for Jen's Deconstructed Sketch #67. Again, just squeaking it in, LOL.

Today's card is another Halloween creation using papers and stamps from the SU Holiday Mini catalog. In fact, this is an all SU card.

I inked the recessed side of the spider web EF with black ink before running my tag through. The black layer was also embossed, with the SU wood grain EF. I stamped the spider twice, cut the images out and popped them up on dimensionals. I stamped Boo on the small tag and then sponged with grey ink.

Supplies
Stamps: Googly Ghouls set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU basic black, tangerine tango, and very vanilla and SU Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP
Ink: SU basic black and tangerine tango
Other: SU orange stripped ribbon, SU orange rhinestone brad, SU Spider web and Woodgrain Embossing Folders, SU corner rounder punch, SU linen thread, twine, sewing machine, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Only two more work days to go. I hope they're good ones. Thanks for coming by all,
Colleen

Surf's Up

Hi stampers,

Here I am squeaking in a card for MFTWSC87 just before the new sketch comes out tomorrow. I decided to go with a summer themed card to celebrate the last few weeks of the summer. Here in San Diego, we've had some awesome weather lately, perfect for the beach and surfing. I'm sure this surfer chick would be enjoying herself.

The patterned paper is from Echo Park called "Splash". After stamping the image with Memento tuxedo black ink, I colored it with Copics. (I never remember to keep them out to take a picture of the ones used) I stamped the small flower three times in the surfboard, then added pink Stickles. Once those were dry, I covered the surfboard with glossy accents. I added the pink Stickles to the center of the flower as well.

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence "Surf Chick" by My Favorite Things stamps
Paper: SU Not Quite Navy and Whisper White card stock, X-Press IT Blending card stock and Splash by Echo Park pattern papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Die-namics Hibiscus, Die-namics Jumbo Squiggle, Die-namics Fishtail Flags Stax, Stickles, Glossy Accents, sewing machine, SU ticket corner punch, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Happy Christmas - MOJO 275

Hi fellow stampers,

I hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day weekend and Holiday. This is one of my favorite weekends to hang at home and watch TV because I love watching the US Open Tennis tournament. I was good and got in an hour of exercising each day, did some house chores, but mostly, I watched some really good tennis.

This afternoon, I decided to do some stamping as well. I realized it was Monday and time for the new Mojo Monday sketch, so that's the one I decided to work with. Lots of layers, my kind of sketch, to play with and I really enjoyed putting this one together.

Here's the inside:

I took the opportunity to add to my 2012 Christmas Card stash and pulled out one of my new favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up. In fact, other than the Nesties, this is an all SU card.

I see over at The Paper Players site, the current challenge #111 is a "theme challenge" to make a card with leaves or trees, so I'm entering my card there as well.

Supplies
Stamps: Scentsational Seasons and More Merry Messages sets by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede and Whisper White card stock and SU Snow Festival DSP
Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green and Summer Starfruit classic ink pads and Soft Suede marker
Other: SU Framelits, SU Woodgrain EF, classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, SU corner rounder punch, SU Gumball Green stitched ribbon, sewing machine, white gel pen, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great week all and thanks for stopping by,
Colleen