Color Dare for Mom

Hi Stamping Friends!

Do you ever have a card idea in your head and then when you make it, it doesn't turn out at all like you had planned?  Well that's what happened with this card.  I've been thinking about it all week, but when I finally sat down to make it, I was totally disappointed in how it turned out.  I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with the fact that I had very little time to make it and take a pic of it.  Oh well!  My MIL will still appreciate it!

Can you believe that I've had Lovely Letters for about a year and never used them?!  I received them last year as part of my Sale-A-Bration rewards.  I kinda kept forgetting that I had them!  The card base is Tempting Turquoise, layered with Lovely Lilac, and Shades of Spring DSP.  "Mom" is stamped in Pale Plum.  The colors are from the THE COLOR DARE challenge blog.  This is CD63.  The sketch is from the PALS PAPER ARTS challenge blog.  This is challenge PPS38.

I'm still considering starting my own challenge blog.  It would be a weekly inspiration challenge.  I was really excited to be contacted by Candace Lawlor who thought it was a great idea and said she would help me host the challenge.  We've been emailing back and forth and are trying to get it up and running soon.  So if you are a challenge lover/junkie/addict (like I am!)... stay tuned!  I'll keep you updated about what's going on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Krystal's Weekly Favorites Blog Hop #11

Hi Stamping Friends!

Another Sunday and another post of my weekly favorites.  Some of these are sneak peeks of the new Summer Mini catalog that you can start ordering from on May 1st. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!



Cottage Magic by Jenn Diercks at STAMP YOUR HEART OUT

 

Elements of Style by Corie Foster at LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Fox and Friends by Jodie Kutz at COME, STAMP WITH ME

Island Floral by Cindy Beach at STAMPS, PAPER, AND INK

beautiful Wings by Nancy Riley at iSTAMP

Old & New Colors by Lorraine Rowe at LORRAINE'S STAMPIN' SPOT

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Go, Graduate! Challenged

Hi Stamping Friends!

I wanted to give you a sneak peek at a new stamp set that will be available in the Summer Mini catalog beginning May 1st.  It's called Go, Graduate and it has some really fun images.  Of course I had to pick the two hardest challenges this week and combine them.  What was I thinking?!  Here's my card:

Not totally diggin' this creation, but you win some and you lose some.  This one is NOT a winner.  But it does show off the new Go, Graduate stamp set and the Square Lattice Impressions Folder!  The two tough challenges I used were the sketch challenge from the MOJO MONDAY blog.  This is MOJO134.  I also used the color challenge over at the STAMPING 411 blog.  This is Color Inspiration #119. 

A difficult layout, plus four challenging colors, does not equal a jaw dropping card.  What a bummer.  I guess that means I need to go practice more stamping with my new toys!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Doubly Sweet Challenges

Hi Stamping Friends!

Have you ever made a card that just makes you smile every time you look at it?  Well that's what this card does for me.  I just LOVE how it turned out!!

Isn't it yummy?!  I combined two "sweet" challenges for this card.  The colors were inspired from the HOPE STAMPS ETERNAL blog.  This is Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #54 CIC54.  The sketch comes from THE SWEET STOP sketch challenge blog.  This is Sweet Stop Sketch #51 SSS51.

Isn't this a super fun sketch?!  Just the right amount of details without being busy.  For my inspiration, I used the front cupcake and chose the colors Regal Rose, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla.  And of course I had to use a cupcake!  Plus I loved the rose itself and the little lacey leaves.  My card base is Chocolate Chip layered with Old Olive and Regal Rose that has been embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder.  The DSP is from the Sending Love Specialty pack, that is still available through April 30th.  The cupcake image comes from the Crazy For Cupcakes set, and the sentiment comes from Birthday Bliss.  I used my SU! markers to color the cupcakes and I blinged up the frosting with a little Dazzling Diamonds.  The roses were made using the Flower Fusion Sizzlet die and the leaves are made with the Little Leaves Sizzlet.

CRAZY FOR CUPCAKES   #111618   $23.95

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Happy Stamping!

Refuge and Contraband

Hi Stamping Friends!

Today's card was designed for a friend who will be going on a 2 week mission trip to Fiji.  She wanted to send out some cards asking for friends and family to pray for her.  So I quickly whipped up 15 of these yesterday.

I was in such a hurry to take this pic that I didn't even bother to straighten the ribbon.  It's all wonky!  The cross stamp is from the set called Refuge and Strength.  The green flowers and leaves comes from Thoughts and Prayers.  And the sentiment is from Verve.  That is not the name of the set, that's they name of the (whispers very quietly) "other" stamp company I bought it from.  Did I just hear you GASP?!  I know!  I have to confess.  I do have two other stamp companies that I have purchased from... Verve and Our Daily Bread.  They just have such wonderful Bible verse stamps.  I just couldn't help myself!  Everything else on the card is from SU!  This is the first time I've used my Elegant Bouquet Impressions Folder.  I don't know why I waited so long to purchase it, because it's wonderful!

And since I'm confessing and showing my contraband stamps, I thought I would show you the bookmark I made for all the ladies I went with on my mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

I think I made about 26 of these.  Again the Refuge and Strength cross.  This time paired with the flourish stamp from Friends 24-7.  This verse stamp is also from Verve.  Can you tell I LOVE my Beautiful Wings Embosslit die?  It's hard not to use those adorable butterflies on every card.  They are just the perfect size!  It was so cute, after I had given the each lady their bookmark, some of them asked me to sign the back.  I felt like such an artist.  :)

REFUGE AND STRENGTH   #115056   $23.95

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Grab Your Shades!

Hi Stamping Friends!

Better grab your shades beacuse it's going to get BRIGHT in here!  This cheerful color challenge comes from STACEY'S STAMPING STAGE.  I really wanted to use my Cheep Talk set, since I've had it for quite awhile and it has never seen ink, and I thought these fun colors would be perfect for it. 

I also used the sketch challenge from the STAMPING 411 blog.  This is their Saturday Sketch Challenge #146. This is just a great classic sketch.  Perfect to use for workshops or stamp camps.

Here's my card:

Do you have your shades ready?

Pretty bright huh?!  I used Pixie Pink for the card base, layered with Whisper White.  On the WW I used the Daisy Dash Jumbo Wheel with Yo-Yo Yellow ink.  Then I embossed it with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder. The Yo-Yo Yellow flower is made using the Floral Fusion Sizzlet die.  The Only Orange and Green Galore grosgrain has been retired for some time.  I figured the colors were retiring, I better use up that old ribbon!

Well I better get back to whatever it is I SHOULD be doing, instead of just doing what I WANT to be doing.  :)

CHEEP TALK   #113204   $26.95

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

ColourQ Tuesday #28

Hi Stamping Friends!

Woo Hoo!  It's another COLOURQ Tuesday!  This week Arielle gave us some fun, bright colors to play with.  I think they kind of have a fun retro feel to them.  Like a 50's style diner.  I had such a great time playing with these colors, that I created three cards... again! 

The first card uses the sketch from the CLEAN & SIMPLE blog.  This is Fall To Layout #85 FTL85.

Here's the card I sent in to Arielle:

I love everything about this card except that panel under the Pumpkin Pie Striped grosgrain.  At first I had only the ribbon, but it looked too plain.  Then I added the Ruby Red panel, and that was working for me either.  Then I added the Regal Rose and when that still didn't work, I finally gave up!  Not sure what else I could have done differently.  For this card I used the new set that will be in the next SU! catalog, but it is available for purchase now!  It's called Awash With Flowers and can I tell you that I LOVE this set!  I just can't stop using it!

For the next card I used the sketch from TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS.  This is sketch #108 TESC108.  Super cute layout with all the different panels.  I was having some difficulty finding various DSP in these colors.  I finally decided on some patterns from the Sweet Pea stack that is in the Occasions Mini catalog.  The blue is really supposed to be Taken With Teal, but I think it works for Bermuda Bay too.  I did flip this sketch on its side.

Here's my second card:

I'm not sure how often you'll find blue leaves, but I think it works!  These first two cards also work for the theme challenge over at the PALS PAPER ARTS blog.  The theme is Flowers.  I have a feeling they are going to get TONS of uploads this week!  The pink almost looks like Cameo Coral in this pic, but I promise it really is Regal Rose.  The stamp sets I used in this card are Sweetheart and A Little Birthday Cheer.

The last card uses the Sketch For You To Try at Jen del Muro's blog i{heart}2stamp.  Another fun sketch with lots of layers and panels.  I may have overdone the polka dot theme with this one.  This is the card that made me think these colors had a retro feel to them.

And finally, card number three:

Isn't it just delish?!  Makes me think of malt shops and sock hops and Chevy's with big tail fins.  The DSP is from the Sweet Pea stack... again!  The stamp set is called On A Pedestal.  Be sure to check out what the other ColourQ gals have created with this fabulous color combo.  Just click on the links on the sidebar.  I still have to pinch myself to think that I get to hang out with such talent! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Sketch Girl!

Hi Stamping Friends!

Well I found another challenge to participate in.  As if I didn't have enough challenges to play in already!  This is a bi-weekly sketch challenge blog called SKETCH GIRL!  And this is their sketch #15.

I used the color challenge from my favorite online Stampin' Up! community, STAMPIN' ADDICTS.  If you love SU! products as much as I do, you should come hang out with us!!  This is for challenge SACC50.  The colors to use are Ruby Red, More Mustard, and Pumpkin Pie.  My first thought was, oh, those are fall colors.  But after looking at a couple of the samples, I changed my mind.  They really are beautiful for spring colors too. 

This card also fits the theme challenge going on at the PALS PAPER ARTS blog, which is to use flowers.  Well now, that's an easy challenge! 

Here's my card:

Don't those colors look happy together?!  The card base is Pumpkin Pie.  The MM DSP strip is from the Welcome Neighbor Pad that was available during SAB.  The PP DSP strip is from the Sweet Pea Pad that is available in the Occasions Mini catalog, through the end of April.  This is one of my all-time favorite DSP packs!  If you haven't ordered it yet, you should!!  So many great patterns in it.  The Ruby Red DSP is from the Autumn Tradition pack in the regular catalog.  The flower images are from a new stamp set called Awash With Flowers.  It is a sneek peak set that will be in the new catalog in July.  But the cool thing is you can get it now!  I LOVE this set so much more than I thought I would.  I bought it in Clear Mount and am so happy I did.  Expect to see lots more of this stamp set!  The sentiment comes from the On A Pedestal set.

That's it for today.  Come back tomorrow to see my creations for the ColourQ color challenge.  Yes, I did say creationS!  I never seem stop at just one card.  I don't think I'll do that every week, but Saturday is my stamping day and I just love to keep on stamping! 

I'm still tossing around the idea of starting my own challenge blog.  It would be an inspiration challenge, using party/entertaining ideas as inspiration.  I'm thinking of calling it Stampin' Celebration.  Whadya think?  Crazy huh!  I'll keep you posted of whether or not I go through with it.

AWASH WITH FLOWERS   #120549   Clear Mount $27.95

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Krystal's Weekly Favorites Blog Hop #10

Hi Stamping Friends!

Just wanted to share with you some of the fabulous Stampin' Up! creations I saw in blogland this week.

Always On My Mind from Renee at STAMPING FOR SANITY

Fun With Vellum by Carrie Gaskin at ARTISTIC AVENGER

Flight Of The Butterfly by Lynn Put of THE QUEEN'S SCENE

Card Sketch by Rosemarie Diel at ROSE'S WORLD

White On White by Sandi MacIver at SANDI MAC IVER

And remember yesterday when I shared this invite I did for a customer?

Well here's the matching name banner I made for the baby shower as well:

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a very blessed Sunday!

Beach Baby

Hi Stamping Friends!

I create lots of custom made invitations and announcements for customers.  It's what started my love affair with stamping.  I started off as a scrapper.  And I'm still am a scrapper at heart (although I haven't scrapped since last April and that was for someone else!)!  But I love when someone calls me for invites and I can pick their brain about party ideas... what's the theme, what colors are you using, is it casual, elegant or somewhere in between.  So when a friend for church emailed me this picture and said she needed some baby shower invitations, I was super excited!  Check out this adorable tabletop decoration:

Isn't it darling?  What a fun theme for a baby shower!  It comes from this fabulous entertaining site called Hostess With The Mostess.  And let me tell you, if I could afford it, I'd have a party every weekend!  This site just made me drool.  Well I love nothing more than an Inspiration Challenge, so I set to work to come up with the perfect invite.

Here it is:

I just loved the blue and orange combo in the pic, so I dug out some retired DSP called Jersey Shore.  I stamped the sailboat image from Nursery Necessities onto a piece of paper.  Then I used my copy machine and enlarged it.  I cut it apart and traced it onto the white backing that comes with the SU! DSP ( I NEVER throw that stuff out!).  Then I traced it onto the Jersey Shore DSP (25 times!) and cut it out and glued it (using a SU! gluestick) to some Bashful Blue cardstock.  The Bashful Blue is layered onto Brilliant Blue.  The Rope Twine adds an authentic nautical look.  It's no longer available through any catalog, but you can purchase it online through your demos Clearance Rack.  I LOVE the Clearance Rack!  So many great bargains!!

I remembered I had some cute white buckets tucked away, that would make adorable party favors, so I tied some Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain to the handle and made this:

How fun is that?!  It would look perfect filled with some blue and orange M & M's or even some colorful gummy fish!  I love parties with a theme that you can have fun with.  My friend also wants me to make a banner with the baby's name on it, so I'm going to work on that tonight and hopefully post a pic to this post tomorrow afternoon.

So now I've been thinking... I wonder if I should start an Inspiration Challenge around this whole party theme?  I know there are TONS of challenges out there, but they are sooooo fun to participate in!  There are color challenges, sketch challenges, cupcake challenges, embellishment challenges, etc.  Do we really need another challenge?  I'm not sure, but I'm tempted.   Of course that would proably add extra stress to my life and that's the LAST thing I need.  :)

NURSERY NECESSITIES   #113506   $31.95

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!