Life Is What You Make It

Hello and happy Monday,

I'm getting my company car serviced today and they have a "recall repair" that will take most all day, so I'm stuck at home. I am pretty caught up on work reports already, so I'm catching up on blogging some cards that I made yesterday after dinner.

Donna has a fun layout this week at CAS(E) This Sketch! I like the large focal panel at the top and I actually used this sketch to make two cards. (The second one I'll put in a separate post later.) For this post, I pulled out some older stamps and dies from My Favorite Things.

This card was super simple to make. I covered the Whisper White card base with a piece of patterned paper. The bike patterned paper was cut with a Spellbinders Square die and glued to a Dapper Denim panel cut slightly larger. The Die-namics Bike die was also cut from Dapper Denim card stock. I glued it and the horizontal piece per the sketch in place and then mounted the whole panel with foam tape to the card front. The sentiment is from the MFT Pearls Of Wisdom stamp set. I used some puffy stickers from Life's Sweet (I think I picked them up at Michael's some time ago).

On the inside I used another MFT stamp set called Complimentary Greetings.

Have a nice day all!
Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Pearls of Wisdom and Complimentary Greetings sets by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Whisper White & Dapper Denim card stock and Studio Calico Here and There patterned papers
Ink: SU Dapper Denim
Other: Die-namics Bike die, Spellbinders Large Square die, Life's Sweet Puffy Stickers, Gemini Jr, foam tape

Hello

Happy Saturday stamping friends,

We decided yesterday afternoon to spend the weekend with friends in Riverside, about 2 hours away from home. We drove through the rain on a Friday evening and anyone who knows what Friday afternoon-evening traffic is like in SoCal knows that is saying something, LOL. It was actually not too bad and took less time than we expected. We arrived, had a yummy dinner and played some games before going to bed. Today is starting out fairly lazy and everyone is relaxing in their own way.

I made this card earlier in the week, but just got around to taking pictures Thursday evening. I received new release goodies from MFT and couldn't wait to put them to use.

I love these new frame Die-namics, and this new PI image is one of my favorites already. She was sure fun to color with Copics.

Don't know what we will be doing later, but I know we'll have fun doing it.

Enjoy your Saturday. Don't forget to check in tomorrow for The Paper Players.

Thanks,
Colleen

Supplies:
Stamps: Pure Innocence Spring Friends by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Pretty In Pink and X-Press It Blending card stock and Pebbles Garden Party patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Die-namics Oval and Rectangle Stitched Scalloped Frame dies, The Big Shot, Wink of Stella,

Just Because for The Paper Players

Hello,

Welcome to another The Paper Players challenge. This week we are on #279. Nance is our hostess and she has a sketch for us to use. This is right up my alley with the layers and circle element.

I was in the mood to color when I made my card so I pulled out my Hydrangea Bouquet set by Taylored Expressions to work with. Hydrangeas are one of my all time favorite flowers. I love how the tiny individual flowers form into big balls of flowers, and the fact that they come in so many colors from white to deep, deep blue. We do have them out west, but nothing like those that we see every summer when we visit Cape Cod. Of all the colors, I like the green and lighter pink blooms, so that is what I tried to create with my card today.

The image is stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I fussy cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals onto a Die-namics circle cut from Simple Stories patterned paper. The gingham paper is also Simple Stories and it matched SU Watermelon paper perfectly. The card base is stamped in SU Watermelon ink with the SU Hardwood background stamp. For added contrast I used a TE large scalloped border die and cut some Very Vanilla card stock to layer under the gingham, and then used the vanilla as the large banner element, cut out with a Die-namics banner die. The greeting is stamped on the small banner element, again made using a smaller Die-namics banner die. I finished it with some rather large pink and green rhinestones.

Stop by to see what the other ladies have for you today. Tons of inspiration!

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

Colleen Begley-me

I can't wait to see what you create. Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Here are some hydrangea pictures taken last summer "down the Cape." Check out this wraparound porch with the Adirondack chairs. It is a beautiful home in a neighborhood in Dennis, MA.

Supplies
Stamps: Hydrangea Bouquet set by Taylored Expressions & Hardwood by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Watermelon and Very Vanilla card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Simple Stories patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Watermelon, Copics
Other: Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX & Cross-stitched circle dies, TE large Scalloped border die, rhinestones, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Hello

Yes, Hello,

I hope you are all having a relaxing and fun holiday (Labor Day in the U.S.). I've been hanging out at home doing some stamping while watching U.S. Open Tennis and an afternoon baseball game. I did manage to get a few loads of laundry done, so at least one chore out of the way.

The card I made this afternoon works for several challenges. The sketch is the new Mojo Monday #414 and the color scheme comes from the CanYouCaseIt? #85 color challenge. The colors this week are brown, blue and yellow. Finally, the September Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge week one is "anything goes." I used some super cute Paper Smooches stamps for my card so I will post to it as well.

Here is the inside. I kept it pretty simple, but I think it's pretty cute.

Supplies
Stamps: Whimsical set and Flap Happy set (greetings) both by Paper Smooches
Paper: SU Early Expresso, Hello Honey and Very Vanilla card stock, My Minds Eye Stella & Rose patterned papers
Ink: SU Early Expresso and Hello Honey classic pads, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Accessories: Die-namics Stitched Curved Rectangle and large Fishtail Flags STAX dies, Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die, Doodlebug enamel shapes, Reflections hemp twine, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Thanks for checking in today,
Colleen

Hello Friend

Yes, Hello Friends,

Here's a sweet card that I made last night using the super cute Taylored Expressions set called "Let's Chat." I paired it with Taylor's Curly Border die because I think it looks like an old fashioned phone cord. I kept the colors very simple, just yellow, white and black.

The layout is the current Freshly Made Sketches # 125 sketch.

Here is the inside. I kept it simple with just the layered colored card stocks and some more Curly Borders. Room to write a note.

Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions "Let's Chat" set
Paper: SU Black, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White card stock and My Mind's Eye Meadow Lark pattern papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: TE Curly Border die, TE Layering Doily - Large, Classic circle Nestie, Kaiser gold and black rhinestones, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Will you watch the Oscars? If so, enjoy.

Thanks for coming  by,
Colleen

You Are Sublime!

Hello friends,

It's Sunday evening already. The weekend went too fast! Then again, don't they all? We had fun playing Skipbo with our neighbors both Friday and Saturday night. If you haven't played, it's a very fun card game.

I did get some stamping time in as well this weekend. I managed to get cards completed for a few of my weekly favorite challenges. This post has the card that I made for the  CAS(E) this Sketch challenge. I think my card turned out rather cute too.

The smiling limes were stamped with SU craft black ink and embossed with clear EP onto SU water color paper. I used my aqua painter to water color the images. The greetings were stamped in the same manner and embossed. After watercoloring, I used some Glossy Effects over the lime rinds and segments. All in all, pretty simple to make with lot of WOW. I like the look that the green enamel dots add to the card.

Supplies
Stamps: Fruity Friends set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Wild Wasabi card stock, SU water color paper, SU vellum,  and Doodlebug patterned papers
Ink: SU Craft Black, SU Wild Wasabi and So Saffron classic pads
Other:  Die-namics Fishtail Flags STAX die, Fiskars corner rounder punch, green enamel dots, dimensionals, SU clear EP, heating tool, aqua painter

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

Fruity Friends Note Cards

Hello all,

I sure hope your weekend has been a good one. I got in some stamping time both today and yesterday, as well as watching Wimbledon Tennis and Padres baseball. These three things equate to the best of times to me! I was a good girl and got in some exercise time both days as well. I Love those hour long beach walks.

I bought several colors of Washi tape a few years ago at a local store that had them on sale. I brought them home a promptly stashed them away. Digging through a drawer for something else yesterday, I ran across the rolls and decided to pull them out and see what I could come up with. I ended up making a set of note cards (blank on the insides) using Taylored Expressions Fruity Friends stamp set. I made eight cards total. Here they are:

The Washi tape was put onto some scrap white paper and then cut out with some SU Framelit dies as the background for the Fruity Friends. I also used the same technique for the tops, except using the TE medium scalloped border die. The fruit were all colored with Copics. I also used the TE Chicken Wire Impressions Plate for the background on the front of each card. It just seemed like it went well with the fruit theme.

I made matching envelopes for each note card. Not sure if I'll keep these to use or give them away as a gift. {{hmmm}}

Supplies
Stamps: Fruity Friends set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: Taylored Expressions card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Real Red, Lucky Limeade, Peach Parfait and Basic black.
Other: various colors of SU baker's twine, SU Hearts and Labels Framelits dies, SU corner rounder punch, TE medium scalloped border die, TE Chicken Wire Impressions Plate, the Big Shot, and dimensinals

I have a couple other cards that I used the Washi tape on that I'll post later in the week. In the mean time, have a great Sunday evening and coming week. Thanks so much for looking in,

Colleen