Black Friday Challenge...

I know I'm a little late with this one...

Stamp Something has a great weekly challenge, and I've been trying to participate. This week's challenge was in honor of "Black Friday", and I really kept with the theme, lol!


I think my card is very crisp and clean, very graphic. It was a little easier than I thought it would be, and for once, the card just flowed out of me. I loved that!

Thinking of You card details:
Stamps: Fancy Florals (Verve)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Basic Black, Versamark
Accessories: Dotted Swiss embossing folder (Cuttlebug), ribbon, embossing powder

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Paper Craft Planet Color Challenge

I love Paper Craft Planet! If you haven't joined, you should!

They have a color challenge each week, and this week, the colors were fabulous! I do have Christmas cards on my mind, so I really struggled (unnecessarily I know) with using some of my Christmas stamps on the card.


I had to sneak a little summer yellow in there for the star, but I stayed true to the colors chosen and I really think Santa looks terrific!


And when I bought my crop-a-dile, it came with little bags of eyelets. The snowflakes were in one of those little bags, and they look wonderful on the card. I smooshed them a little too hard, but I don't think it takes away from the card.

Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays! card details:
Stamps: Ho-Ho-Holidays (SU!)
Paper: Kraft (PTI), Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Taken With Teal, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Taken With Teal, Summer Sun (SU!), StazOn jet black, Versamark
Accessories: eyelets, Winter Wonderland embossing powder

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

I hope...

I hope ya'll all had a great Thanksgiving. I think all the food is just about gone, thank goodness, 'cause I can't eat leftovers much more, lol.

Today I have a few cards I've made ready to post. I'll get them up as quickly as I can, but I have Mia today, so it's gonna be hit and miss, lol!


I started this card with the Mojo Monday sketch from Poetic Artistry. I love her sketches, and I love her stamps! But nothing spoke to me, nothing but the sketch. I teamed the sketch up with the colors from this week's colors from Paper Craft Planet, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.

And then, Our Creative Corner had a challenge that we were to use snowmen or snowflakes! WooHoo! Three challenges in one card!


I used my new Martha Stewart embossing punch, I love it!, and some old SU! vellum. Inkadinkado stamps always work and I just love how it came out! I chose not to put a sentiment on the front of the card, it's inside.

Snowman card details:
Stamps: Warm Holiday Wishes (Inkadinkado)
Patterned Paper: old vellum (SU!)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red (SU!)
Accessories: Versamark, embossing powder, embossing punch (Martha Stewart)

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

How Gorgeous!!!

I found a link to a fabulous chandelier on Kristina Werner's blog this afternoon...I was going to see some of the gorgeous cards entered into her weekly color challenge. But then I found her post about the chandelier. WOW!!!!!

And to top it off, her friend, Patty, who made this, is giving one of them away!!!!!

And she's giving away a set of .pdf instructions on how to make some of her fabulous designs as well!!!!

To try to win the .pdf instructions, click here and go to the Talk of the Town. The calendar is fabulous!

Click here, and go to the Talk of the Town for the chandelier! I can't tell you how gorgeous this chandelier is!

Leave a comment for either or both, and then put a link on your blog to her blog. WOW! How easy!

Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #32

One last post for today, I promise, lol!

Another fabulous color inspiration challenge has been posted at Kristina Werner's Design Blog. The colors are Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Whisper White and Sahara Sand or a metallic color. Since I don't have any Sahara Sand, and I really liked the idea of the metallic colors, I went that way.


I used the "faux metal" technique that was highlighted a few weeks ago at Splitcoast Stampers, and used some of my snowflake stamps to create the "metal" ornaments. The silver embossing powder was the perfect choice!


I'm not going to repeat any of the bad things I said while trying to get the layout just right, but I will say that I really, really love the final look!

I used several different stamp sets, all different companies. So I really mixed it up! The Riding Hood Red shows up brighter than it really is, and the contrast between the Very Vanilla and Whisper White wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Holiday Cheer card details:
Stamps: Snow Burst (SU!), Winter Wonder & Ornamental Christmas (Verve)
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Riding Hood Red (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon, silver & red tinsel embossing powder

Happy Holidays! And thanks for looking!

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #7

Another great Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge! And #7!!! Don't you just love these??? This week the movie chosen was A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving! This movie is a MUST in our home! Even though my girls are grown, they still watch it!

Problem --- no Charlie Brown stamps...what to do?


I follow a great blog, The Stampin' Academy. And a while ago, Angie posted a fun little video tutorial how to use your punches to create a little turkey! It was pretty easy, but small. So, I decided to use my BIGGER punches and make my own!


I used my giga scallop circle punch and a giga circle punch by Marvy, as well as a 2" circle punch by Fiskars. I cut a 2" square and cut it down to 1¾" for the hat, and used what I trimmed off to make the brim of the hat. I also used the boho blossoms punch from Stampin' Up! to create the feet and beak. And I found this pack of wiggle eyes at Dollar Tree, and aren't they cute!


I had so much fun figuring the turkey out --- and I'm going to make some more of the bigger version of the turkey for my dinner table Thursday. Maybe placecards?

Give Thanks card details:
Stamps: Tall Oaks (Verve)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Really Rust, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: Giga Scallop Circle punch, Giga Circle punch (Marvy), 2" circle punch (Fiskars), Boho Blossoms pucnh (SU!), buttons, wiggle eyes

I hope you like my card! And gobble gobble!

Cupcake Craft Challenge #15

I love the Cupcake Craft Challenge! Sometimes it's a color combo, sometime it's a sketch and other times, it's a theme. For the Cupcake Craft Challenge #15, the theme was "sweets and treats".

I used a fabulous sketch from Amy Celona from UStamp4Fun! She used some really great Stampin' Up paper -- blue! Very non-traditional!


But I just had received an order from Papertrey Ink and it had some really fabulous holiday paper in it. And I really wanted to play with it, so I used the sketch from UStamp4Fun with the paper!


It wasn't until I was completely done with the card that I realized I had really mixed up all the supplies I used, lol. But I really liked the way the card came out and I will be using the sketch again.

Merry and Bright card details:
Stamps: Cause for Celebration (SU!), Ornamental Christmas (Verve)
Patterned Paper: Holiday Vintage Prints (PTI)
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Kraft (PTI)
Ink: Real Red, Always Artichoke, More Mustard (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Our Creative Corner & Paper Craft Planet Challenges

One day, ya'll are gonna get so tired of all my challenge cards! LOL!

If you haven't joined the Paper Craft Planet group, you should. There are tons of great stamp companies, stampers and scrappers that belong to it! You can even tailor your interests to a single stamp company! Really kewl!

This is a great sketch from Our Creative Corner! And I got the color combination from Paper Craft Planet! Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral and Riding Hood Red, FABULOUS!


The Cameo Coral really threw me, that's a hard color to work with. I used a piece of very old Stampin' Up patterned vellum that had a swirl of the coral (or so it looked to me). And if you look closely, Mia added a few touches of the color around the trees, which after I "fixed" it, looked ok.


Again, I apologize for the slightly dark pictures, it's too windy to take pictures outside and I can't find the proper lighting in my house.

Happy Holidays card details:
Stamps: Lovely As a Tree (SU!)
Paper: vellum, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral and Riding Hood Red (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #13

A couple of weeks ago, I found a new blog challenge at Kaboodle Doodles. I don't have any of their products but one day I will, lol.

This week's challenge is to create a card that is not a traditional looking card. They want shapes!!! So I decided to use a template that I found a while back. My friend, Susan, asked me to make baby shower invitations for her neice's shower... she's having a girl! So I'm trying this out! I found this fabulous template at Stampington & Co.


I printed the template directly on the cardstock, which was an issue. The black edge showed and I spent an hour carefully trimming it away. Very time consuming.


I stamped and embossed the skirt, sleeves and hem of the dress. I realized AFTER I did all that that I should have cut some patterned paper and overlaid the template, but of course, I do everything the hard way.



I had to work hard to get good pictures of the hem of the pinafore, and none of them are great. We're a little windy today, so I couldn't go outside to take a picture. But when I was done with the card, it reminded me of many of the little dresses my 3 girls wore when they were little...good memories!

Baby Shower card details:
Stamps: Figures of Speech (SU!)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette (SU!)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: ribbon, embossing powder

I am taking constructive criticism. Please tell me what you think!

Sketch Saturday/Jewelry Inspiration

I've been trying to create different sized cards lately...small 3x3, square 4x4 and other sizes. Not every card needs to be the standard 4¼x5½. How many cards do you buy that are the same size???

So in a not so great attempt at a 4x4, I used the sketch that Sketch Saturday issued in their challenge on Saturday.


And as usual, I was thrilled when Stacey's Stamping Stage put out her latest Jewelry Inspiration Challenge! I love how she uses the colors from pieces of gorgeous jewelry as her inspiration!!!


I'm going to admit that I'm not crazy about my card. I think I made it too small for either the colors or the sketch. I'm not really sure why. Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!


I think the card looks "crowded". What do you think?

Friend to Friend card details:
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes (SU!)
Patterned Paper: DSP - unknown (SU!)
Ink: Versamark, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss (SU!)
Accessories: flowers (Prima), buttons, embossing powder, scallop circle punch (SU!)

I am taking constructive criticism. Please tell me what you think!

Color Throwdown #20/Jehkotar Challenge #33

I love the Color Throwdown! It's one of my favorite color challenges! This week's colors are fabulous (as usual), but for some reason I had a tough time working with them.


And a few weeks ago, I found a great sketch challenge at Jehkotar CardChallenge. I could see using the colors from the Throwdown with this sketch, no problem!


I really worked hard with these colors and the sketch. I think I created 4 other cards and threw them out because I thought they were terrible. I know I'm new, but take my word for it, they stunk!


I bought this great little stamp, Elf Anya, from Pink Poison a couple of weeks ago and this was the first time I used her. She's so sweet!!!


I really worked hard with these colors...but I hope you like her!

Merry card details:
Stamps: Elf Anya (Pink Poison), Ornamental Christmas (Verve)
Patterned Paper: DSP unknown (SU!)
Cardstock: Sage Shadown, Elegant Eggplant, Rudy Red, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: StazOn jet black, Sage Shadown, Elegant Eggplant, Rudy Red, More Mustard (SU!)
Accessories: flowers (Prima), buttons, brads

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Friday's Sketchers Sketch #29

I think I'm color challenged, lol.

I see a sketch I want to try out and I have a tough time coming up with a color scheme. I can't figure out what that is!

Ya'll all know I love challenges. They make me think, they really challenge me to come up with something new (for me) and different. But I really struggle with colors.

Friday Sketchers has great sketches...I just wish I did a better job of picking out colors. Anyway, here is this week's sketch.


I liked the long card and yes, it did challenge me. I don't usually do this size of card.


I used my new Poppy BittyBloom from Stamping Bella. Isn't she sweet! I love all the BittyBlooms!!!!!


I tried to use all autumnal colors and I think I did a pretty good job. Not just with the paper, but also with the sketch. You tell me!

Give Thanks card details:
Stamps: Poppy BittyBloom (Stamping Bella), Tall Oaks (Verve)
Patterned Paper: DSP - unknown (SU!)
Cardstock: Handsome Hunter, Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: StazOn jet black, Handsome Hunter, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgundy, Blush Blossom (SU!)
Accessories: brads, flowers (Prima)

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Gone With the Wind

WOW! Gone With the Wind has got to be my all time favorite novels (yes, I've read it) and one of my favorite movies! And being a "southern girl", it's a must in our reading and viewing pleasures. I was so excited when I figured out this week's movie for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #6 was Gone With the Wind!!!

I based my creation on a fan, one of many, that was in my grandmother's trousseau. The fan is ivory (yes, I know, that's a huge no-no today) and it is carved with snowflakes. I asked my grandmother why, and she told me that she loved snow and that her father bought it for her on a winter trip he took to New York before she married.


Fans were an absolute must for a southern girl...it's hot down here in the summer! And a "proper" southern girl doesn't sweat. She "glows" or "mists" and the hand fan was the only real form of cooling for a woman. The fan was also VERY important in the world of romance. Imagine, flirting with your eyes across the room with Rhett Butler, lol!


I found the template for the fan at Mirkwood Designs, and the directions were very easy. I can see making more of these! Her design was very simple and direct. Check it out!


I think my only problem was shading the fan "blades" with the blue ink. Shading it really wasn't the problem, getting it to show in the pictures was! I think I took 20 pics, and not one really showed good. I promise the fan is much prettier IRL.


After my grandmother passed away, my mom took all of her fans and had them put in shadow boxes. She made sure they were protected as best as we could. The fans are all gorgeous, and I'm so glad I asked Grandma about them. Each of her fans has a little story.

Fan details:
Stamps: Snowflakes (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Very Vanilla
Ink: Versamark Watermark, Bashful Blue (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon, embossing powder, cosmetic sponges

Now for a little fun fact of my own...my grandparents were at the Atlanta premiere of Gone With the Wind in 1939. My grandmother only spoke about it briefly, saying that Clark Gable was very handsome, and she thought that Vivien Leigh was not as pretty as she thought that Scarlett needed to be, lol!

I hope you like the fan! And thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday!

There are so many fabulous blogs out there. I can't begin to tell ya'll how much I enjoy learning from so many wonderful bloggers! My only wish is that I lived closer to them. That way I could pick their brains more, lol!

I absolutely love the sketches that are at 2 Sketches 4 You. They are what I call "versatile" with the ability to go from simple to elegant to funny with just one element. Great sketch huh??


I need to replenish my stock of birthday cards, and I think I've made a good start. I tried to use some of my new copic markers...I think I need to take a class on how to buy them (and what) and then use them.


I do love my Bella's!!! And I think this one is my favorite stamp of all!

Happy Birthday card details:
Stamps: cuppacakeabella (Bella Stamps), Fancy Florals (Verve)
Paper: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red (SU!)
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Rose Red (SU!)
Accessories: embossing powder, ribbon

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday...

I admit that I usually overthink when making a card. I have the perfect excuse, lol. When I first started scrapbooking, I was taught by a wonderful young woman, Jessica, and we created what were called the "50 pound" pages, lol!

So over-embellishing and weighing down my cards come naturally. I really have to push myself to keep to simple and clean designs. To not overuse something (like glitter) and let the card make itself.

I surprised myself last night. I got the colors from Kristina Werner's Design Blog challenge and sat down to make a card for it. I have a process, get the colors out in both ink and paper and go from there. Look for stamps that I think will work and then do a quick search for patterned paper.

Then I found a new challenge...A Spoon Full of Sugar and you were to use flowers, paper, stamps, etc. I just couldn't find any patterned paper that I could see on the card.


But the colors this week are gorgeous! And you'd think flowers would be easy. I really expected something "more", but I am truly happy with my card. Keeping it simple was simple.


I used a stamp that I bought after Kristina made a fabulous card with it. I love it! I can see using this stamp a lot!


Simple, easy peasy, no fuss right?

Happy Birthday card details:
Stamps: Flirty Play (My Mind's Eye), Fancy Florals (Verve)
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon, scallop circle punch, ¾" circle punch

Please tell me what's good and bad about it! And thanks for looking!

Mojo Monday...on a Tuesday? Again?

In the hurry of a not so normal Monday, I forgot to check out the sketch at Poetic Artistry. I can't believe I did that!


Great sketch huh? I sat down last night to work on it (no, Mia was NOT sleeping), and I saw this great paper I bought on another road trip! BoBunny!!! Who doesn't love BoBunny paper! And then I really screwed up! ARGH!


I'm posting the card, booboo and everything. I was supposed to put 3 brads, eyelets, something at the top of the main image...And I had the brads sitting there right in front of me, but for some reason, I forgot to put them. And I used permanent adhesive so I couldn't take the card apart! WAAAAA!


I still like my card...and the red and blue of the patterned paper is so different. This could become a favorite paper for me.

Friendship card details:
Stamps: dots (Art Warehouse), bird (Martha Stewart), sentiment (Artful Inkables)
Patterned Paper: Santorini Mediterrani (BoBunny)
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red, Creamy Caramel (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon, scallop punch (fiskars), vellum

I hope you like my card! And thanks for looking!

Today's Last Post

I promise this will be my last post for the day...I'm still doing laundry and getting ready to start dinner, lol. I'm going to work on a few more projects tonight, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to post them. Aren't ya'll glad? LOL!

I got this great stamp set (and my first) from Taylored Expressions! The cupcakes are just too cute! And on Fridays, she has a challenge. For the first time, I got to use one of her stamps and participate in her challenge! WOW! I'm so excited!

This is the sketch for the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #42.


And here is my entry!

Home Sweet Home card details:
Stamps: Home Sweet Home (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock: Bravo Burgundy (SU!), random Bazzill cardstock,
Patterned Paper: really old scrap of patterned paper (LOL!)
Ink: StazOn jet black, Bravo Burgundy, Really Rust, Lavender Lace, Close to Cocoa (SU!)
Accessories: glitter (MM)