Oh Happy Day!

Hello crafters,

My second day of vacation and I've been running around like crazy. Too many errands! We pick up our visitors from the airport at 8:00 pm and many of those errands were to get ready for them. We are super excited for them to arrive.

Yesterday I took all of my stamping supplies out my room and they are in a pile in the garage, so this post will be my last for a few weeks to a month until I get everything put back together again. After our friends leave, the room will be painted then I'm putting in some IKEA furniture for storage and a new desk.  I've also ordered some ink and drawer storage from Organize More. Those should be arriving any day now. I can't wait to get everything done, and I plan on taking this opportunity to do some purging of things that I don't use.

Today's card uses this week's Sunday Stamps sketch challenge. It's a fun sketch and I enjoyed working with it. I've used some new Mama Elephant stamps. These flying elephants are too cute!

I found this patterned paper with the constellations and thought it would be fun to pair with the elephant flying high with his balloon. The images are stamped with Memento tuxedo black, colored with Copics and cut out with the set dies. I've used a TE cloud border die for the horizontal element. I cut it twice, once in white and once in mint to make a shadow for the white. For embellishments I've added a few enamel stars and brushed a liberal amount of Wink of Stella over the balloon.

Here's the inside:

Don't you love those little caps?!

Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Fly With Me and Scripty Bday sets by Mama Elephant
Paper: SU Mint Macaroon, Dapper Denim, Whisper White, X-Press It Blending card stock
the patterned papers are from my misc stash bag, so I don't know the company.
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Dapper Denim
Other: Fly With Me dies, Taylored Expressions Border Cloud die, enamel stars, Wink of Stella clear, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

You Are So Loved

Hello crafters,

I have tons to do today as today is when I start packing up my craft room. Since it's still relatively early here on the west coast, I'm indulging in a little internet time before I get started.

I had a very productive Sunday as far as card making. There's a fairly new challenge blog, Inspired By Challenge, that is in it's second week. I first saw it on this post by my friend,  LeAnne, and thought it would be fun to play along. Looking through my paper stash I found this cute envelope paper and built my card around it and the inspiration photo.

The critters are from the Mama Elephant Woodland Gifts set. The Tree dies used in the background are from Lawn Fawn and the Stitched Hill die is Die-namics. The images are stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock and colored with Copics and cut out with the set dies. Before popping them into the scene using dimensionals, I cut out the background with a Spellbinders Scalloped Square die and matted it using a Spellbinders Square die in Real Red. The ribbon is SU.

Here's the inside using more images from the Woodland Gifts set and a sentiment from SU.

Wishing everyone a great day! Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Woodland Gifts set by Mama Elephant, Good Greetings by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Whisper White, Real Red and Mint Macaroon, X-Press It Blending card stock and misc patterned paper (loose sheets that I have bagged up from various 6 x 6 pads)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Real Red
Other: Woodland Gifts dies, Spellbinder dies, Lawn Fawn dies, Die-namics dies, SU Red stitched ribbon, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

Happy Heart Day

Hello crafters,

I sure hope you're all having a fabulous Sunday! I've spent most of the day at my stamping table and it's been fun. I'm trying to get in lots of stamping time before tomorrow when I start cleaning out my room and putting everything in the garage prepping for our company, then my room make-over.

Since today is Sunday, it's time for a new Paper Players challenge. Laurie is this week's hostess with a timeless color theme of Red, Kraft and White. I think we all love this combo. Since I know that Laurie loves dies, I pulled out some new Mama Elephant dies to make my card.

This die set is call Favor Bag-Dog dies. (you can also make a cute kitty). I cut the shapes from SU Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stock. For the dog, I sponged some Distress Burlap ink over one of the ears and the nose circle. I also used a Copic brown pen and white gel pen to make some freckles. Using a pencil eraser dipped in pink ink, I stamped his pink cheeks.

On the kitty, I used a pink Copic to color in the inside of her ears and her mouth. On both, I covered the noses with Glossy Accents.

The hearts are made using an SU heart punch. The sentiments are heat embossed with white EP.
Here is the inside:

All of the stamps are from various Mama Elephant sets except the one that says "happy heart day." That is Lawn Fawn. The patterned paper is I don't know. I found it loose in my drawer and it was perfect for my card.

Have a great Sunday evening all. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Fly With Me and Woodland Gifts sets by Mama Elephant and Conversation Heart Add On set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Real Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Basic Black, Powder Pink card stock, ??? patterned paper
Ink: SU Real Red, VersaMark, Copic markers
Other: Mama Elephant Favor Bag-Dog dies, SU large heart punch, Lawn Fawn Stitched Heart die, SSS white EP, heat tool, Gemini Jr, dimensionals, Glossy Accents, SU mini glue dots

Handcrafted Hello

Happy, Happy Friday Crafters,

I love Friday's for the obvious reason that the work week is done, but this Friday is even more special because I'm on vacation for two weeks. Our friends from the Boston area are arriving on Tuesday evening for a week, and we have some fun planned. After they leave, I have plans for my craft space. I have ordered new furniture, from IKEA, and storage, from Organize More, so my second week off, I'll be redoing my space. I plan on taking everything out, painting, then putting in the new furniture. I CAN'T WAIT!

After dinner last night I made a card using this week's Freshly Made sketch. Like many, I've let the patterned papers do most of the "work" and I do like the way it turned out. The stamps are from SSS February kit.

I stamped the greeting using my Misti to make it nice and dark. The final inking was with VersaMark so I could heat emboss it to make it shiny. The craft tools are not embossed.

Here's the inside:

The Olympics start tonight, and I'm looking forward to watching. Are you?

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Crafty Friends set by Simon Says Stamp
Paper: SU Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy and Whisper White card stock, SU Pick a Pattern DSP
Ink: SU Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy, Crushed Curry, Memento tuxedo black and VersaMark
Other: Die-namics Fishtail Flags and Inside and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle dies, clear EP, heat tool, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

I Need S'MORE

Hi and Happy Tuesday to all,

I hope you're having a good day. I'm still fighting this cold that I picked up on my last work trip. It's getting pretty tiresome too! My stomach muscles are sore from the coughing. I decided to just hang out at home and do office work today thinking that the downtime would help. I need to be in Los Angeles the rest of this week and it's going to be some long days too. What's keeping me going is that after Friday, I'm off for the next two weeks. Woot-Woot!

Claire is the hostess this week over at the Paper Players with a fun Valentine's Day theme challenge. I pulled out some newish Lawn Fawn Valentine's Day stamps to make my card.

This is a pretty simple card and all of the stamps and dies are Lawn Fawn. I cut the center of the brown patterned paper with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Heart die, then again using the blue striped paper. I glued them down to a kraft card base. The S'mores are stamped with Memento tuxedo black, colored with Copics and cut out with the set dies. The greeting is stamped with SU Strawberry Slush ink.

Here's the inside:

I used some Expresso Dimensional Liquid Pearls for the melted chocolate on the S'mores and red Liquid Pearls for the heart in the sentiment for my embellishments. Sweet and simple!

Thanks for stopping in today,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Sweet Friends set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: Simon Says Stamp kraft card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock and Pebbles Forever My Always patterned papers (part of the SSS Valentines 2018 Card Kit)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Strawberry Slush, Copics
Other: Sweet Friends dies, Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables dies, Diemensional Pearls in Expresso and Red, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

Happy Birthday

Hello,

Today was one of those interesting and fun days at work, even though I was just doing one of my usual work tasks. I spent the day at SeaWorld San Diego installing a new analyzer in the laboratory. After I finished this afternoon, the lab manager took me to see a few of the rescued marine animals that are recuperating from various injuries. One was a large green sea turtle that was rescued from San Diego bay. He has a huge chunk of his shell missing after being hit by a boat propeller which had become infected. He also had intestinal blockage because he'd swallowed a large amount of discarded fishing line. Luckily,  he is recovering well with the expert treatment he's receiving from the veterinarians at SeaWorld. There was another sea turtle that was brought in today, but I didn't learn what his issues are. I also got a tour of the "fish"room. It's the kitchen where all of the meals are prepared for every "resident" of the park. Also, very interesting and tons of work.


I have my card for this week's Paper Players sketch challenge. Nance is this week's hostess with a great sketch. I've been having tons of fun with the new Fruit Basket stamp set from Stampin' Up. For this card, I've used some images in the Tutti-frutti paper pack in the fruit bowl as well as the paper in the background.

I stamped the bowl with SU Pool Party and Bermuda Bay inks, then fussy cut it out.  I also fussy cut some of the watermelon slices from the Tutti-frutti paper and arranged them in the bowl. They are glued onto a circle cut out using a Double-stitched Die-namics die. That is layered onto a Real Red circle cut with a Spellbinders die. All of the background patterned papers are from the Tutti-frutti paper pack too.

Here are a few more cards that I've made using this set.

Yay, it's Friday tomorrow. My only wish is that my cold is better.

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Fruit Basket set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Whisper White and Real Red card stock and Tutti-frutti DSP paper pad
Ink: SU Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Real Red
Other: Die-namics Double Stitched Circle and Fishtail Flag dies, Spellbinders circle die, Fiskars corner punch, Gemini Jr, dimensionals