Happy Birthday

Hello all,

TGIF tomorrow! I'm looking forward to the weekend, but then I always do.

I got home from work earlier than usual today and decided to do some stamping, so I pulled up this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch to make a birthday card for a friend. The sketch seemed pretty perfect to make a masculine card.

Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Birthday set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Night of Navy, Summer Starfruit card stock and My Minds Eye patterned papers
Ink: SU  Gumball Green and Night of Navy classic pads
Other: Die-namics Happy die, Die-namics Fishtail Flags STAX die, Die-namics Star STAX die, SU red star eyelets, sewing machine, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Showered With Love

Hello,

This is the 2nd card that I made yesterday afternoon. The layout is this week's Retro Sketch #99 and the colors are from this week's Dynamic Duos #87. The colors are black and hot pink (melon mambo) with a  "dessert" option of using an umbrella on our card. Here's what I came up with.

                                      

Supplies

Stamps: You Make Me Happy set from Taylored Expressions

Paper: SU Whisper White, Black and Melon Mambo card stock and SU DSP

Ink: SU Melon Mambo classic pad and Memento tuxedo black

Other: SU round punches, SU scalloped punch, SU corner punches, Kaiser black rhinestones, pink heart rhinestones, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

May Happiness . . .

Hello,

I hope your weekend was a relaxing and fun one.  It seemed really short to me, so I'm feeling that it's just to bad to have to go back to work tomorrow. I didn't get any stamping time yesterday, but I did late in the afternoon today. Here's a card that I made for the Colour Me. . .! #4 challenge. This week's challenge is "color me playful" and the colors are Gumball Green, Blushing Bride, Pumpkin Pie and Pool Party.

I pulled out one of my new Stampin' Up sets and I love the way this card turned out.

                                                           

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch #120 for my layout.

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Congratulations by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Whisper White, Pool Party and Gumball Green card stock and Stampin' Up DSP
Ink: SU Gumball Green, Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Pumpkin Pie markers and classic ink pads
Other: Die-namics Fishtail Flags dies, classic circle and oval Nesties, SU Framelits, My Minds Eye orange enamel dots, pink, orange, light blue and green Stickles, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for coming by and have a great week,
Colleen

Merry Christmas - Merry Monday Meets Mojo Monday

Hi,

It's Monday and I had an early work day today. That means I had time this afternoon to make a card using the Mojo Monday #329 sketch and the Merry Monday #92 challenge.

                                 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Lodge set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla card stock and Simple Stories Holiday patterned papers
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy Distress
Other: SU EF, classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, Die-namics Fishtail Flag STAX die, TE polka dot chocolate ribbon, Stickles, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Well, I'm off to cold Chicago tomorrow where it will be about 70 degrees colder than here. Burrr!
Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

2/14

Happy Sunday everyone,

I've had a fun day stamping. I got 3 cards made for 3 of my favorite weekly challenges. This card is for The Paper Players #179 challenge, which is to make a one layer Valentine's Day card. Yes, this was certainly a challenge for me. I love layers! Here's what I came up with:

The color scheme that I used is from the January Reverse Confetti Color Challenge. The colors this month are orange, aqua and yellow. Probably not colors usually associated with Valentines, but hey, why not.

I used some of my new Reverse Confetti stamps from this month's release. Jen has some cute, cute stamp sets.

                               

Supplies

Stamps: Whole Lotta Hearts and Crushin' sets by Reverse Confetti

Paper: SU Confetti White card stock

Ink: SU Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight

Other: Baker's Twine, Fiskars corner punch, and SU clear rhinestone

Have a great weak and thanks,

Colleen

Believe In Magic

Hello,

I hope your weekend is going well. I had a very lazy Saturday, mostly spent sitting and reading and listening to music via Pandora. I had programmed in a channel featuring some music from my high school and college days and throughly enjoyed listening.

This evening while tuning in to the Australian Open Tennis matches on ESPN, I made a card for the Merry Monday #91  Christmas challenge. I'm trying to keep up with this challenge each week and realized that I had better get a card made as there is only one more day. I used the current Freshly Made Sketch # 119 for my layout.

This week's MM challenge is to use a snowman or snow people on our card. I pulled out this cute MFT stamp set and some retired SU DSP with snowflakes. I added some red and white sequins and some Stickles for a little sparkle. Here is the simple inside, and the stamps here are from another MFT set.

Supplies
Pure Innocence Happy Heart Snowman by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Baja Breeze and Whisper White card stock and SU DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Riding Hood Red and Copics
Other: classic square Nesties, Die-namics fishtail flags STAX die, TE Impressions plate, sequins, Stickles, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Have a great Sunday and thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Your Smile Is Like Sunshine

Hello and TGIF,

Last Sunday when I made my card for the current SSSC202, I realized that I didn't make a card for the previous SSSC201. I love circle elements on cards, so of course, I had to use the sketch. I had been talking with a couple friends over the weekend, one lives in Chicago and the other lives just outside of Boston. Both areas were having lots and lots of rain, so my card is inspired by them.

I stamped the image on SU white card stock, made a mask, then stamped the rain in Smokey Slate ink. The rest of the image is colored with Copics and the raincoat is paper pieced. After coloring the puddle, I went over it with a Sakura Glaze Pen. Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Whose That Girl set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Crushed Curry, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock and SU DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Smokey Slate
Other: classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, Kaiser black rhinestones, Sakura Glaze Pen, SU small corner punch, Fiskars large corner punch, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Speaking of Chicago, I will be flying there on Tuesday for a work meeting through Friday. Today in San Diego as I was driving home this afternoon, the external temp reading on my car said  83 degrees. The highest temp for Chicago next week is expected to be 18 degrees. Quite the difference and this southern Cali girl is going to be COLD.

Have a great weekend all and thanks,
Colleen

I "Mustache" You A Question

Hey all,

I got home from the San Francisco bay area today, one day early. Yippee! Love to be home! It was a successful work trip, though. Weather was fabulous in Northern California too, as it is here at home in San Diego.

I made this card for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch last Sunday before I flew up, but I didn't have a chance to post it. I actually made two cards, one for the current SSSC #202 and one for the SSSC #201. I'll post the card for SSSC201 later in the week.

Here is my card for #202. Another Valentine's Day card.

I used the Taylored Expressions January Key Ingredients stamp set and papers.

Here is the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Kiss Me set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE teal and snow white card stock, SU Crumb Cake card stock and Crate Paper "Love Notes" patterned papers
Ink: SU Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Strawberry Slush and Crumb Cake
Other: rectangle and scalloped rectangle Nesties, TE hearts impressions plate, Die-namics Fishtail Flag Stax die, SU tripple heart punch, sewing machine, SU clear rhinestone, Kaiser pink rhinestones, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Happy "Hump Day" tomorrow and thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

May This Year Be Your Best Every

Hello,

I have to fly to San Francisco this afternoon where I'm working through Wednesday. After packing this morning, I had a few hours to kill so decided to see what the new Paper Players challenge is. This week's challenge is brought to us by LeAnne and it's a color challenge.

Now, I do have all of these S U inks and card stock, but while looking through my stash of patterned papers, I found some that were very close to LeAnne's colors. I liked happy the papers, so I went with them. The sketch is this weeks MFTWSC158.

Supplies
Stamps: Birthday set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Primrose Petals and Whisper White card stock and misc patterned papers
Ink: SU Primrose Petals
Other: classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, flower rhinestones, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Enjoy the rest or your Sunday and thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Hey, Foxy!

Good Saturday afternoon bloggers,

I received my new Reverse Confetti stamps in the mail yesterday and couldn't wait to ink up Freida Fox. OMG she is just too cute! Valentine's Day 2014 card #2 done.

I used the January Sketch For You To Try layout for my card along with papers from the January TE Key Ingredients kit.

Here's the inside of my card:

Supplies
Stamps: Quirky Cuties, Freida Fox and Whole Lotta Hearts sets by Reverse Confetti
Paper: Taylored Expressions bright pink, teal and snow white card stock and Crate Paper Love Notes pattern papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Poppy Parade
Other: SU corner punch, Kaiser pink rhinestones, TE heart brad and tab, pink and teal Stickles, dimensionals

I hope your weekend is wonderfully crafty! Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Love You

Hello,

Today's post is a card that I made for the 2nd challenge at Colour Me...! CMCC#2 is to use two colors, specifically Melon Mambo and Marina Mist. I thought it time to jump into making Valentine cards, and the pink worked well for this. I used the current Freshly Made Sketches #118 for the layout.

Here is the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Valentine Defined set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU whisper white and marina mist card stock
Ink: SU melon mambo and marina mist
Other: SU hearts embossing folder, classic square and scalloped square Nesties, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Have a great Friday and thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Merry Christmas, Merry Monday Post

Hi blogging friends,

Leslie started the 2014 Merry Monday challenges this week and I'm going to try to do most of them. What a great way to ensure that you have a good stash of Christmas cards when the time comes to mail them in Dec, right? We'll see how it goes with my work travel schedule, which looks to be more frequent this year than last. In fact, I'm starting off the travel this month. Next week in Berkeley and the following week in Chicago. (I'm sure hoping for a warmup in the weather, LOL)

This week's MM #90 challenge is to use ribbon or twine on our card. Pretty simple and this week's Retro Sketches #96 had the perfect layout for ribbon.

Here's the inside view:

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Doodles set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU real red and whisper white card stock and very old patterned papers from I don't know where
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: circle and scalloped circle Nesties, TE Curly border die, Fiskar corner punch, SU real red candy dots, TE bright red ribbon, red, green and yellow Stickles, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Graphic Greetings Birthday for The Paper Players 177

Hello all,

I hope your weekend was fab. We went to Redondo Beach Saturday evening to spend some time with friends. Had a great dinner out Saturday then did some shopping in Manhattan Beach this morning. The weather was super nice in the mid-70s and not a cloud. (sorry friends in the mid-west and east)

After getting home around 3 pm today, I spent some time organizing my SU DSPs, then I made this card for the first Paper Players challenge of 2014. The challenge this week is to make a card using the "chalkboard" technique, which I love. I went totally easy and used one of Taylor's Graphic Greetings stamps.

Supplies
Stamps: Graphic Greetings Birthday stamp by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE blue and green card stock, SU black card stock, Websters Pages patterned papers
Ink: Versamark and SU craft white
Other: SU white embossing powder, heat tool, Fiskars corner rounder punch, resin flowers, dimensionals, glue gun

Thanks for looking in and have a great Monday,
Colleen

Be Like A Flower. . .

Hello,

It's Friday afternoon after a very short work week and I'm glad it's the weekend already. Next week will be hard with having to work five whole days, LOL.

Unfortunately, I was in need of a sympathy card last week. I used the current Sweet Sunday Sketch #200 (CONGRATS Karen!) to make one.

Supplies
Stamps: Summer Afternoon set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE green and vanilla card stock and My Minds Eye patterned papers
Ink: SU Old Olive and Poppy Parade
Other: Classic Oval Nesties, Die-namics dies, Kaiser pearls, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Love Can Transform the World

Happy Back To Work Day! At least for me, LOL.

I made this card for the current MOJO Monday # 326 challenge. The papers and stamps are from the Taylored Expressions KI kit from October 2013. When I received my kit, I really wasn't "inspired" shall we say, by the stamps but I do love how this card turned out. I think I will try using these stamps and papers for more Valentines Day cards this year. You just never know how things will look until you actually make something, right?

After stamping the camera and fussy cutting it out, I placed a small rhinestone heart on the side and covered the lens and flash areas with Crystal Effects. Unfortunately, there was some slight bleeding of the ink, but fortunately it's not quite so noticeable IRL. I used the small heart stamp from the set and stamped inside a few of the little hanging Polaroid pictures in the background paper. Love that look! I did the same on the inside here:

Supplies
Stamps: Instant Love by Taylored Expressions (October 2013 KI)
Paper: TE card stock and Recorded by Websters Pages patterned papers
Ink: SU Raspberry Ripple and Bermuda Bay
Other: Die-namics Fishtail Flags STAX dies, Kaiser dark pink rhinestones, heart rhinestones, Crystal Effects, TE ribbon

Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

For the Birthday Boy

Happy New Year!

I'm having a relaxing day, stamping and watching TV. I started off with the Rose Parade this morning, now I'm watching the Rose Bowl Game. Rooting for Stanford as my little sis is an alumni.

I saw that Kim posted the new MFTWSC157 sketch this morning, so I started my stamping with it. My colors come from a new color challenge blog called Colour Me!. Today is their first challenge which is to use a single color, Island Indigo, along with a neutral. I chose to use Crumb Cake as my neutral and make a masculine birthday card.

In the photo, the Island Indigo looks more dark blue than IRL, but I really did use Island Indigo CS and ink. The dies and stamps are from My Favorite Things.

Here is a look at the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Birthday Sentiments by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Island Indigo, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock and My Minds Eye patterned paper
Ink: SU Island Indigo and Crumb Cake
Other: Die-namics Triangle Screen die, Die-namics Star STAX dies, SU Crumb Cake candy dot, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Have a super week and thanks for stopping in,
Colleen