I Love You

Hello,

Happy weekend. It's another hot one here in SoCal. I'm staying in, with the fan on, and stamping today.

The card I have for you today I made for my niece in Colorado. On Wednesday her kitty got out and had been missing until this morning. Thank goodness she was found, as my niece was just heartbroken. She has had Toulouse for around four years and takes her back and forth from home in Oregon to school in Colorado each year. Toulouse has been great company, as all pets are. So to celebrate Toulouse's return and to let my niece know I'm thinking about her, I'm sending this card.

The sketch comes from this week's Freshly Made Sketch #201.

I started with some pink card stock as the base and layered silver polka-dot vellum over it. Then I smooshed some pink and gray ink onto water color paper and cut it out with a Die-namics stitched rectangle die. A polka-dot embossing folder was used on the gray card stock element and the dark pink circle element was cut out with two pierced circle Die-namics.

Supplies
Stamps: Three Amigos set by Mama Elephant
Paper: TE light and dark pink card stock, SU Smokey Slate card stock, Tim Holtz water color paper, SU vellum, X-Press It Blending card
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics, Distress Gray ink marker and SU pink marker used for smooshing technique
Other: Die-namics stitched rectangle and pierced circle dies, Sizzix embossing folder, SU heart sequins, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Keep cool and thanks for looking,
Colleen

Happy Harvest

Well, it's back to work Monday,

I know I have another busy week in store, but hopefully it will "fly" by, LOL. Yesterday I made a card using the Sweet Sunday Sketch #283. It was a little breezy and foggy at the coast, so I was in a fall mood.

This is a fun sketch with the three panels. It has tons of possibilities though I kept my card's layout very close to the sketch. After coloring with Copics, I used my Wink of Stella glitter pen over the mail box and some green Stickles on the random dots in the image.

I'll keep this one in my stash until September, then it will probably go to my sister or my niece.

Supplies
Stamps: You've Got Mail - Fall stamp by Taylored Expressions and Happy Harvest stamp also by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Early Expresso card stock, X-Press It Blending card and Doodlebug Friendly Forrest patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Early Expresso and Copics
Other: SU small corner punch, sequins, Wink of Stella glitter pen, green Stickles, dimensionals

I hope you have a great week and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Home For the. . .Holidays

Hi all,

I hope you are having a relaxing weekend.

This week, the Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge has an inspiration challenge for us. Here's my take on it.

Using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch layout, I used some of the colors in the photo and the foliage as my inspiration to make a Christmas card. The jars spelling out HOME made me think of the sentiment "Home for the Holidays."

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Wreath set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Crumb Cake and Garden Green card stock and SU Trim the Tree DSP stack
Ink: VersaMark
Other:  SU white EP, TE Leaves die, Lawn Fawn tag die, Queen and Co red pearls, Baker's twine, The Big Shot, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

# AWESOME!

Hello,

After doing my Saturday chores and errands, I had time to make a card for the Freshly Made Sketches #200. Congrats! to everyone at Freshly Made Sketches who bring us such fun sketches every week. I made this card for my nephew, who as I write this, is making his way from Portland, OR to St. Paul, MN for college. He and his mom, my sister, are driving the 1800 miles and they started out this morning. Since I already have his mailing address at school, I will mail this Monday so it's there about the time they arrive. I thought it would be fun for him to get his first mail at his new "home" away from home.

My nephew is a fine musician, and he mostly plays guitar. He also writes and sings. This image is actually a Ukulele, and I believe he plays it as well. And, the sentiment, #Awesome, because he is!

Supplies
Stamps: Ukulele wood stamp from @RSP, Hawaii, Music Notes wood stamp from Great Impressions and #Awesome! stamp from Reverse Confetti
Paper: Taylored Expressions Choice Snow White and textured navy card stocks
Ink: SU Night of Navy, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie ink
Other: Die-namics Inside Out Diagonal Stitched Stax Rectangle die, sequins, the Big Shot,

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Cowabunga!

Yea, it's Friday!

I have had a very busy week with very long days. I'm working today, but from my home office, which means I can squeeze in some "other" activities.

I had been meaning to get a card made for LeAnne's Beach Challenge over at The Paper Players blog all week, but by the time I got in each evening, I was too pooped. Yesterday I managed to finish pretty early and was home at a normal time, and I finally got a card made.

The challenge is CAS Beach. I have tons of stamps that would work and I kept going over designs in my head. In the end, I picked this little guy, which will make a great birthday card for another little guy who is learning to surf.

For the background, I smooshed some blue water color markers on an acrylic block and applied them to the lower corner of the white card stock. After it dried, I embossed it with a TE bubbles embossing folder. The image is colored with Copics and I used Glossy Accents on his eyes and surfboard.

Supplies
Stamps: Hangin' Loose with Kona by Our Craft Lounge
Paper: SU Island Indigo card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Zig Real Brush watercolor markers and Copics
Other: Taylored Expressions bubbles embossing folder, Die-namics Pierced circle die, the Big Shot, dimensionals

I hope you all have a fab Friday.

TFL,
Colleen

Bring On The Boos!

Hi again,

I made this card way back on Tuesday evening, but never got around to taking a picture so I could post it, until this morning.

I had decided to make a Halloween card (it's never too early) and while looking though my stash of patterned papers, I ran across these from Jillybean Soup and Lawn Fawn. No they aren't Halloween papers, but I used them anyway, LOL. The layout is the Mojo Monday 410 sketch.

I like how the circles and polka-dots on the papers go so well with the main sketch elements. I bought a little tin of plastic googly eyes a few years ago and the largest size fit the sketch element well.

Supplies
Stamps: Making Spirts Bright set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Night of Navy and Peach Parfait card stock, JillyBean Soup and Lawn Fawn patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Die-namics pierced circle dies, Spellbinder classic circle die, Fiskers corner punch, Wink Of Stella glitter pen, Glossy Accents, sequins, Archie McPhee Emergency Googly stick-on Eyes, the Big Shot and dimensionals

TFl!
Colleen

Love Will Keep Us Warm

Hello,

Happy weekend all. Yesterday I had a very relaxing day here:

Me and a zillion others as it's been pretty warm (for us) lately. I took lunch, my book, some magazines and music and made a day of it.

On to a card, the real reason you've stopped by. I'm playing in a relative new challenge and it's the first time for me to play along. It's called the StampInkPaper Challenge, and this is challenge number nine. It's a sketch challenge and I love to create using new sketches. I'm also playing along with this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge. This week it's "anything goes." I pulled out some older Paper Smooches stamps and made a Christmas card.

The images are from the PS set called Warm Hearts and are stamped with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I used my Wink of Stella glitter pen on the tops of the holly leaves and all of the hearts. IRL it's very sparkly and pretty. The background paper is new SU from the Holiday Mini.

Here's the inside:

The inside greeting is from another PS set called Joyful Greetings.

Supplies
Stamps: Warm Hearts and Joyful Greetings sets both from Paper Smooches
Paper: SU Smoky Slate and Old Olive card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Merry Moments DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Cherry Cobbler, Copics
Other: Die-namics pierced circle die, Spellbinders classic circle die, Taylored Expressions Falling Snow embossing folder, SU Tinsel Trim, Wink of Stella glitter pen, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a great Sunday and TFL,
Colleen

Let's Party!

Hi,

I started coloring these cute "party animals" last night and finished them up tonight after work. I think this will make a perfect birthday card for my cousin who lives on a ranch in Northern California. He is the ultimate outdoorsman.

The layout is from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch.

Supplies
Stamps: Party Animal set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Crumb Cake, Watermelon Wonder and Bermuda Bay card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Cherry On Top DSP paper stack
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copics
Accessories: Die-namics pierced circle and fishtail flags dies, Stickles, Expresso Dimensional Pearls, Wink of Stella pen, enamel dots, the Big Shot and dimensional

TFL!
Colleen

Thank You

Hola friends,

It's been forever since I played along with a Paper Players Challenge. Today, Claire has a pretty color combination for us that I though would look nice with this SU set called A Whole Lot of Lovely. I can always use more thank you cards too. I kept the layout fairly simple using the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch, #135. What makes this card shine, in my opinion, are the added embellishments.

I started off coloring directly on the stamp with my SU Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Crumb Cake markers. After coloring was completed, I stamped it onto some SU Whisper White card stock. It's cut out with a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die and layered onto a Spellbinders Scalloped circle. The Crumb Cake background is dry embossed with the SU large circle EF. Per the sketch, I added the burlap ribbon along the top of the SU DSP and tied it off with some turquoise Baker's twine. The flowers have rhinestones in the centers and in keeping with the circle theme, I added the enamel dots in the upper corner.

Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: A Whole Lot of Lovely set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay and Whisper White card stock and SU Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink: SU Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay and Old Olive markers, SU Bermuda Bay pad
Other: Lawn Fawn and Spellbinders circle dies, SU embossing folder, SU burlap ribbon, Twinery Baker's twine, SU and TE rhinestones, Studio Calico enamel dots, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

It's back to work for me after being off for two weeks. Can't say I'm looking forward to it, LOL. Have a great week everyone.

TFL!
Colleen

Life Is Good - Relax

Hello again,

This is my second post this afternoon. Guess I'm on a roll, LOL! I made this very quick card using the current Freshly Made Sketch. In addition, I'm playing along with the current Crazy 4 Challenges - Lighthouse theme.

I used the ink smooshing technique with three Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers applied to an acrylic block. I spritzed some water on the block and on the watercolor paper, then pressed the block to the paper. After it dried, I stamped the images with Memento tuxedo black.  Unfortunately, the photo doesn't show the embossed background. I used the Taylored Expressions Cloud embossing plate on the card front. IRL it looks pretty cute with the lighthouse image.

Supplies
Stamps: Life Is Good set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU whisper white card stock, Ranger water color paper and  Doodlebug Sunkissed patterned papers
Ink: Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, Memento tuxedo black
Other: Lawn Fawn stitched banner die, Taylored Expressions Cloud embossing plate, turquoise baker's twine, sequins, The Big Shot, dimensionals

TFL!

Colleen

Happy Fall Y'All

Well Hello,

Yes, it's been forever since I've posted on my blog. It's been a very busy summer so far for me. I've been doing traveling for work and for vacation, and my crafting time when I could squeeze some in, has mostly been devoted to doing some quilting. I'm making some baby quilts for a friend who is having twins. I will post my finished pieces once done.

I had two really, really fun trips over the summer. In mid-July I had my 60th birthday. My bestie and I went to the Oregon wine country and stayed at the Allison Inn and Spa for a long weekend. Talk about pure luxury! Then the last week of July and first week of August, Denis and I took our annual trip to Cape Cod with our Massachusetts friends. Our rented vacation house this year was only a block from the beach in the Dennis area. Being on the Cape is just pure relaxation! Here are pictures of our house and Mayflower Beach. The first day it was cloudy as shown in these pictures. The rest of the week was all sun.

I sat down this morning and made a card. Looking through my saved blogs, I noticed that this week's Mojo Monday sketch is the contest sketch for August so I decided to make a card using the sketch. The theme for my card comes from Stacy's Curtain Call -Orchard.

This cute SugarPea image is colored with Copics. Her overalls are paper pieced and I used YR23 and YR24 to do some shading on them. To compliment the stamp and keeping with the Orchard theme, I used some older SU DSP called Orchard Harvest. I added some rhinestones and an enamel heart on her pocket.

Supplies
Stamps: Bountiful Blessings set by SugarPea Designs
Paper: SU Raspberry Ripple and Early Expresso card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Orchard Harvest DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Early Expresso, white gel pen, and Copics
Other: Die-namics Stitched Rectangles, Pierced Fishtail Flags, Spellbinders circles dies, Fiskars corner punch, TE sequins, Ranger Multi-matte medium, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for looking in,
Colleen