Hello Fall

Happy Tuesday Peeps,

I hope your day was a good one. I spent most of mine doing drawings in Visio for two customer projects. I'm just learning the program and how we are going to be using it in my work, so I'm a bit slow with it right now. It's different, but kind of fun though. Probably because it's some thing different.

On Sunday evening I ran across a cute sketch on the Sunday Sip post at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog, and I thought I'd play along. It's a nice, simple sketch with lots of possibilities. I let some Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather patterned papers do much of the work.

The cups of coffee are from the Lawn Fawn set called Love You a Latte. One of my favorite LF sets. They are stamped with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. The stitched rectangle is Die-namics. I tied a small bow with two colors of Baker's twine and glued to the corner. Super simple.

For the inside of my card I used a new SU set called Merry Cafe. I love combining stamp sets.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday afternoon or evening. Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Love You A Latte set by Lawn Fawn and Merry Cafe set by Stampin' Up
Paper: Taylored Expressions dark red textured card stock, X-Press It blending card stock, Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather patterned papers
Other: Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangle die, Baker's twine, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Wishing You a Harvest of Blessings

Hello stampers,

Got home from work early enough to finish some reports that needed to be completed and then I had time to take some pictures of a couple of cards that I made yesterday afternoon. Before I get to those, I want to send prayers and good thoughts to all of the folks in TX and LA that are in the path of Harvey. Boy, are the news pictures of the flooding, especially in Houston, heartbreaking. It's just so amazing how weather events can be so devastating.

As yesterday was Sunday, we have a new Paper Players Challenge. This week, Laurie has a fun sketch for us to use. It seems that I've moved on to Fall themed cards lately and this one is no exception.

I started with the MFT Harvest Mouse set. Using a card base of Heavy Whisper White, I blended orange and gold Distress Oxide inks over the card stock. After it dried I randomly stamped the pumpkins and leaves using Distress Oxide brown and green inks. The lawn and hill was cut with MFT Stitched hill dies from Lawn Fawn Fall plaid patterned paper. The greeting is stamped with the same Distress Oxide brown ink. The mouse image is stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. Since these older MFT sets have dies that are solid, I ended up fussy cutting out the image because I should have used the die on the blank card stock then stamped the image. I forgot! At least it is a small image and not hard to cut out. I popped the mouse up with dimensionals and added some enamel dots.

For the inside, I used a Lawn Fawn Thanksgiving set called Cutie Pie along with one of the pumpkins from the MFT set and more Lawn Fawn plaid paper. I stamped the pumpkin, made a mask then stamped the pie. After all, for Thanksgiving everyone wants pumpkin pie!

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Harvest Mouse set by My Favorite Things and Cutie Pie set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Heavy and regular Whisper White, X-Press It Blending card stock and Lawn Fawn Fall patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Distress Oxide inks
Other: Die-namics Stitched Hill and Cross-stitched circle dies, enamel dots, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Your Kindness Means So Much. . .

Hi,

Another Sunday afternoon and that means another work week is almost here. Boo!

I had more stamping time this morning and took advantage of it to make a thank you card using the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and the colors from The Color Throwdown. The stamp set is another new one from the upcoming SU Holiday Catalog called Painted Harvest.

I started by masking off the center of a Whisper White panel leaving just a center rectangle with low tack tape. I made a couple of masks with  post-its for the flower, then randomly stamped it around the open area with Memento gray ink. The stamp set is one of SU's 2-Step Stamping sets and I used the same stamp pad to stamp both layers, the center and the texture dots. Love the look of the gray flowers for the background in the sketch. (I did make another card with this set using pinks that I'll post later in the week.)

For the card base front, I used the TE Burlap EF to add texture. The dies are all Die-namics.

Here's the inside:

I hope you're having a relaxing Sunday afternoon and evening.

Thank you for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Painted Harvest set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Pink Pirouette, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo gray and Memento tuxedo black
Other: Taylored Expressions Burlap embossing folder, Die-namics Pierced Circle, Fishtail Flags dies, and Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frame dies, black rhinestones, the Big Shot, dimensionals

When I Count My Blessings. . .

Hello crafty friends,

It's been another gloomy, drizzly day here in San Diego by the ocean. According to the weatherman, by Monday it will be over 90 degrees at the beach. It sure doesn't seem like it's possible today.

Another productive afternoon in my stamp room. I got a chance to play with some more new sets from the upcoming SU Holiday Catalog. This one is made using this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

I played around with several elements and shapes and in the end settled for background stamping, a circle and the little house tag. Remember the Spectrum Ink Pads from several years ago? I pulled one out to use thinking it would probably be dry, but it was still nice an inky. I love them for stamping fall leaves. I used it again on the inside for one of the larger stamps in this new SU set.

We are having dinner with two other couples in our hood. We hang out together frequently and have a great time. I hope you all have a fun Saturday evening too.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: SU Count My Blessings
Paper: SU Heavy and regular Very Vanilla, SSS Heavy Kraft and Lawn Fawn Plaid patterned paper
Ink: SU Spectrum Ink pad, Hero Arts Pumpkin Pie ink pad and SU Soft Suede ink pad
Other: SU burlap ribbon, Die-namics circle dies, TE House tag, SU rhinestone brad, SU candy dots,
the Big Shot, dimensionals

School. . . Thankful for You

Hello from a very gloomy and cold San Diego!

It's been foggy and drippy all day here. Don't know where the summer has disappeared to. I usually take my pictures outside, but because of how misty it is today, I set my card in front of my Copics to take the pictures.

While looking though my usual blogs last night after dinner I saw that Justin had posted the new challenge at Stamp, Ink, Paper. This week it's a Back To School theme. I really have no school themed stamps, amazingly, but I figured out something with this cute little PI set called "It's A Sign."

Of course, these great patterned papers from Echo Park help with the theme. I stamped the image in Memento tuxedo black and colored her up with Copics. For the sign I cut out a piece of black card stock and used a white chalk pen to hand write the equation on the "black board." I should have used a gold star instead of a blue one, though. (Do teachers still put gold stars on student's homework?) (It's probably all done electronically these days!)

Here's a look at the inside. The apple is from Lawn Fawn.

Tomorrow will be long and busy for me. I have to be in Los Angeles by 8:30 am and it's a 90 mile drive. That means I need to be out of the house before 6 am.

We have a friend coming for dinner tonight, so that will be fun.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence "It's A Sign" set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Real Red and X-Press It Blending card stock and Paper and Glue 6x6 pad by Echo Park patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Midnight Muse
Other: Die-namics Stitched Oval and Fishtail Flag dies, white chalk pen, blue enamel star, the Big Shot, dimensionals

It's Your Birthday

Happy Monday afternoon,

Did you get to view the eclipse? We had a little block party here this morning and watched it. In SoCal, the coverage was 57%, I believe, so nothing like the lucky folks where there was a total block of the sun. Still, pretty darn cool!

After the eclipse was over, I did head out to a customer site to do some things, but I didn't have to stay too long and was home by 4 pm. Enough time to write up another blog post. This card I made for  the Paper Players challenge. Joanne is hostess this week with a coloring challenge. How fun is that! I love to color! It's also a CAS challenge so I tried to keep things simple with lots of white space. I did add a layer, but I think it will still pass as CAS.

I started with a panel of SU heavy whisper white card stock. I stamped the falling leaves randomly down the left side and colored them with Copics. I then cut out the center using the Die-namics die. The tree branch was stamped on the cut panel with SU Soft Suede and I added the small leaves to the ends of the branch. For the owl, he was stamped on a scrap piece of paper, colored and cut out with the corresponding die, then mounted with dimensionals. I added a piece of Lawn Fawn fall plaid patterned paper behind and mounted it onto the card base with foam tape to raise it up. I kept the embellishments minimal just using 3 small glass beads in fall colors.

Here's the inside:

This little hedgehog is having fun!

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Jump for Joy set
Paper: SU whisper white, heavy whisper white card stock and Lawn Fawn Fall plaid patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Cajun Craze and Pool Party
Other: Jump For Joy Lawn Cuts, Die-namics Inside and Out Stitched Rectangle die, glass beads, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Tickled Pink

Hi and happy Sunday afternoon to all,

For my post today I have a birthday card made using a couple of challenges. The colors come from the current Sunday Stamps #159 challenge where the palette is a bright and summery one. The sketch comes from this week's Retro Rubber challenge. I have to say, I love how this one turned out!

I rotated the sketch one turn clock-wise to accommodate the tall flamingo image. This stamp set is Stampin' Up from 2002!  The images are stamped in Memento tuxedo black on X-Press It Blending card stock and colored with Copics. After coloring, I fussy cut out the image. The background plaid paper is Lawn Fawn and the dies are all Die-namics.

For the sentiment, I stamped the first part on the front of the card and it's finished here on the inside using Mambo Melon ink:

I have several birthdays coming up this fall, so I'm stalking up my stash.

Enjoy viewing the Eclipse tomorrow, and be sure to be safe viewing it. Our neighbor bought glasses for all of us and we're going to have a little party. The peak time is at 10:20 for us here in So Cal, and the sun will be a little over 50% covered. Our only concern is that our famous "marine layer," or low morning fog, may not clear in time to see the sun.

Thanks so much for stopping in this afternoon. Enjoy your evening,
Colleen

Supplies
Tickled Pink set by Stampin' Up from 2002
Paper: SU Regal Rose, Mambo Melon, Summer Sun, Daffodil Delight and X-Press It Blending card stocks and Lawn Fawn plaid patterned paper
Ink: Mambo Melon, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Die-namics stitched rectangle and stitched sun dies, the Big Shot, dimensionals and mini dimensionals

Live Live In Full Bloom and Happy Owloween Cards

Hello Crafty Friends,

It turned out to be a busy week for me just as I predicted. However, I did have a chance to make two cards during the week. I usually don't post multiple cards in one blog post, but I'm doing so here.

First up is a birthday card that I made for my cousin's wife using the sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketch #301 and the colors from this week's Color Throwdown.

Supplies
Stamps: Dahlia Blossoms set by Altenew
Paper: SU Mambo Melon and X-Press It Blending card stocks and SU In-color DSP
Ink: SU Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist, Mambo Mellon
Other: Concord & 9th Select A Size dies, enamel dots, foam tape, the Big Shot

This second card took all of 10 minutes to do last night while waiting for friends to pick us up. I saw the new CAS(E) This Sketch on their blog and immediately thought about the new SU Halloween DSP with stripes.

Of course, to go along with the new papers I used one of the new SU Halloween sets from this year's Holiday Catalog. Love this owl. He's stamped in Cajun Craze, Summer Sun and black inks.  The witch's hat is cut from another pattern of the same DSP set. The card looked like it need just a little something else so I added some small googly eyes and sparkly "Boo."

Supplies
Stamps: Spooky Cat set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Very Vanilla card stock and Spooky Night DSP
Ink: SU Cajun Craze, Summer Sun and Memento tuxedo black
Other: Dimensionals, Googly Eyes and Boo embellishments

Thanks for Your Amazing Hospitality

Hello crafty friends,

I hope you had a nice, restful weekend. My only complaint is that it was way too short! My work week is going to be busy, but at least that usually means the week will go by fast.

I had a few hours in my craft room today. Most of the time was spent doing some organizing. I did get a chance to make a card for the new Paper Players Challenge. Sandy is the hostess this week with a fun color challenge. The palette is perfect for a floral card and I actually have one in mind I want to make later in the week one evening after work. Today, I went in a very different direction with my card. Although, there are some flowers on it too.

I have not used this stamp set before, and thought I'd see what I could do with it using Sandy's colors. I think it turned out pretty well. I turned it into a thank you card to send to our friends in Massachusetts that we spent our vacation with last month.

I started by sponging Calypso Coral ink over the MFT brick stencil. After sponging with the coral ink, I sponged some Crumb Cake very lightly over the coral to create a slight darker shade. I cut the piece to about 1.5 inches wide to use as the front entry flooring. Next, I used paper from the SU Wood Textures DSP pack to stamp the door and frame, and the die was used to cut it out. There is also a die that cuts the actual door on three sides so it opens. Very cool! The inside is lined with some So Saffron card stock so it peeks through the windows. The rest of the images are stamped onto Whisper White with Memento black and colored with Copics that match the challenge colors. They were all cut out with the SU set dies too.

The card base is Bermuda Bay that is dry embossed with the SU Textured Stripes EF. I arrange all of the pieces to make my little scene. The tall flower vase actually has pumpkins on the stamp. I cut them off and hand drew the bottom of the vase with a black multi-liner pen. It worked out pretty well.

The inside is super simple.

It was not a quick card to make, but it was super fun to make the little scene, and I love it.

Have a great week everyone.  I hope to have some time in the evenings this week to play with more new stamps from the SU Holiday catalog and to make that floral card I have in my mind.

Thanks,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: At Home With You set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, So Saffron and Whisper White card stock, SU Wood Textures DSP and grasscloth paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay, Copics
Other: SU At Home with You dies, SU Textured Stripes Embossing Folder, MFT Brick Stencil, the Big Shot, diemnsionals, enamel hearts

A Cup Full of Christmas Cheer

Hi again,

One more quick post this evening of a Christmas card that I made using some new SU Stamps and dies. The sketch is from CAS(E) this Sketch and the color theme is from this week's Color Throwdown.

I stamped some snowflakes in the CTD colors on SU Whisper White paper and then cut a strip for the side of the front. The patterned paper is from a Doodlebug Snow paper pack from a few years ago, and luckily there was a piece left that worked for the colors. Using Memento black ink, I stamped the coffee cup over the snowflake paper that I stamped earlier, and fussy cut it out. (Not sure why I didn't buy the dies?) The other cup is stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with SU white EP onto Pool Party. I also stamped and embossed small snowflakes inside the cup. The coffee tops are made using retired Lovely Lilac card stock.

For the greeting band on the front cup, I stamped the whole cup onto the lilac paper with black, then stamped the two words in the area that would work for the band. I cut it out with scissors then used a black Copic to make the top and bottom borders. The " A Cup of" is stamped onto Powder Pink card stock and cut out with a SU banner die.

I finished off the front with some pink SU ribbon and turquoise baker's twine tied into a bow and a few sparkly white enamel dots.

Here's the inside of the card:

Time to watch a little baseball for me. Padres vs Dodgers this weekend. Good stuff!
Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Merry Cafe set and  Snowflake Sentiments by Stampin' Up - both from the upcoming Holiday Catalog
Paper: SU Whisper White, Lovely Lilac and Powder Pink card stock and Doodlebug patterned papers
Ink: SU Powder Pink, Pool Party, Lovely Lilac, VersaMark and Memento tuxedo black
Other: SU EP, heat tool, SU banner die, the Big Shot, SU Pink stitched ribbon, turquoise Baker's twine, enamel dots, dimensionals and mini-dimensionals

Happy Halloween- FMS 300th Celebration

Happy Weekend to everyone,

Do you have plans? Mine are playing with some new SU Fall and Christmas goodies that I ordered during the SU demo pre-order period. I'm loving everything in the Holiday Catalog this year and I kind of went wild with my pre-ordering. That's why I work! (Well, one of the reasons, anyway.)

Can you believe that The Freshly Made Sketches Challenge is celebrating their 300th sketch this week? CONGRATS! to all of the fabulous designers and to us, the participants. I know it's one of the fave challenges for many of us each week.

Speaking of new SU goodies, I've used one of the new Halloween stamp sets, die sets, and DSP for my card today.

The card base is the new Heavy weight Very Vanilla. Love it! I cut the two strips of DSP using Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flag dies, but cut off the flag part. The orange and black pumpkin die is from the Patterned Pumpkins Thinlits die set. I simply cut it out twice, once from Pumpkin Pie and once from Basic Black card stock, then put it together, gluing it over a circle punched from scrap so it would stay together. The fun stems and leaves are in the die set too. The sentiment banner is cut with the Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flag dies and it's stamped with a greeting from the new SU Spooky Cat set.  Speaking of the Spooky Cat, he's on the inside of the card, with his little mouse buddy.

The images in this set and super fun and it's a photopolymer set too, which are my favorite these days.

Thanks so much for looking in. Have a great weekend, whatever your plans are. And again, Congratulations to the Freshly Made Sketches team!
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Spooky Cat set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Heavy Very Vanilla, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie card stock and SU Spooky Night DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Archival Basic Gray, SU Smoky Slate, SU Pumpkin Pie
Other: SU Patterned Pumpkins Thinlits and Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flag dies, the Big Shot, enamel dots, dimensionals

Aloha

Hi all,

Yay, one more work day this week. I don't know about you, but I'm sure glad.

Last night after dinner I made this fun, beachy card using the theme from this week's Stamp, Ink, Paper challenge, and the current sketch from Sunday Stamps. I've used one of my favorite Avery Elle sets called Aloha.

I started with a Real Red card base and some "beachy" patterned papers from the Echo Park Paradise Beach pad. The tropical images are stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento black and colored with Copics. I cut them out with the corresponding dies and layered them onto the front of the card. For the horizontal band and the banners in the sketch, I used grass cloth paper. Beachy, right? I finished with a few enamel dots to balance out the elements.

I've used Taylored Expressions sentiments and image on the inside.

I really love this sentiment! Don't you wish this was an everyday dilemma?

Have a wonderful Friday. I'm hoping to finish my work project a little early in the afternoon tomorrow, then I have two boxes of new SU Christmas goodies to play with. Looking forward to that!

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Aloha set by Avery Elle
Paper: X-Press It Blending and SU Real Red card stock, Paradise Beach by Echo Park patterned papers, grass cloth paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Real Red, Copics
Other: Avery Elle Aloha dies, Die-namics Fishtail Flags dies, enamel dots, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Make A Wish

Well hello!

My blog has been quiet for the past few weeks because we were on our annual vacation to Cape Cod. We go every year with friends that live in Franklin, MA. We rent a house very close to Mayflower Beach in Dennis. It's always a fun and relaxing vacation. After our week "down the Cape," we went to Vermont where we took a cooking class at the King Arthur Flour company. We made three sweet breads. A six braided loaf, our choice of either a poppy seed twist or a raspberry twist and cinnamon rolls. All were quite yummy!

Mr Personal Chef and I got home to San Diego on Wednesday evening and we both worked Thursday and Friday. Lots of errands, etc on Saturday to do, so today was my free day. I went for a 4.5 mile walk in the early am, watched some baseball mid-day and then hit my craft room.

My friends at The Paper Players have a fun theme challenge this week called The Great Outdoors. I broke out a Lawn Fawn set that I bought a few months ago, as it seemed perfect for the challenge.

 

Using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch for my layout, the card came together pretty fast. I started with a piece of watercolor paper that I smooched with distress inks in blues and purples with a very liberal amount of water. I used my heat tool to dry the panel, then added another layer of brighter blue ink. The constellations and stars are stamped with SU White Craft ink and heat embossed with SU white EP. The card base and grassy hill are SU Night of Navy card stock and the sentiment is stamped with SU Night of Navy ink.

The foxes are stamped with Memento black on X-Press It card stock and colored with Copics, then cut out with the corresponding Lawn Fawn dies. Finally, I scattered some sequins around and used silver Nuvo drops in the center of the "shooting star."

Here's the inside. (Love this little heart constellation!)

Here are a couple pictures of the goodies we made during our class at KAF. It was a super fun class.

It's going to be a very busy work week for me. I'll be in four different cities this week, but all within driving distance which means I can sleep in my own bed at night. Always a good thing! I hope you all have a great week.

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Upon A Star set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Night of Navy and X-Press It Blending card stock and Strathmore watercolor paper
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks, Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Night of Navy and Craft White
Other: SU white EP, heat tool, Upon A Star and Grassy Hill Lawn Cuts, Nuvo Drops, sequins, the Big Shot, Wink of Stella, dimensionals