Smile - Someone Loves You!

s'more love | wet paint III

For this week's Color Throwdown Challenge using stamps from Reverse Confetti and PaperTrey Ink and our cheery color combo - navy, green and pink!

And here's a bit of inspiration from the CTD team and guests!

Color Throwdown Blog

Amy Rohl

Amy Rysavy

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Jodi Collins

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer 

Wanda Cullen
Amy Tsuruta - Tsuruta Designs - January Guest Designer

deconstructed simplicity

For this week's Color Throwdown Challenge in shades of aqua, purple, blue and yellow! I've used Reverse Confetti's Modern Floral Stack Confetti Cuts set along with a sentiment from PaperTrey Ink. I deconstructed both the die cut leaves and sentiment and then reassembled them on either side of a narrow strip of card stock to create a minimalist-modern-Orla-Kiely inspired card. Enjoy.

#ctd557 | #ctd | CTD557

Click on through the rest of the team links below along with our guests for more dreamy inspiration with this week's colors...

Color Throwdown Blog

Amy Rohl

Amy Rysavy

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Jodi Collins

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer 

Wanda Cullen

Lucie G, August Guest Designer, LucieG Cards

Color Throwdown 555 - hello

Hello.

I have my weekly Color Throwdown card to share with you featuring a dreamy combination of green, yellow, pink and lavendar. I'm not usually drawn to softer colors such as this, but I'm pleased with the results of my watercolored efforts. 

 foliage (99867) | hexagon (14228)

I also want to share the inspiration for my card which I came across on my "Cool Cards" Pinterest board. THIS card by Joy Taylor served as my literal inspiration but I used Silhouette cut files to recreate the shapes of her card and then stamped the teeny 'hello' from PaperTrey Ink's Desktop Design (I don't believe it's available any longer). 

#ctd555 | #ctd | CTD555

Click on through the rest of the team links below along with our guests for more dreamy inspiration with this week's colors...

Color Throwdown Blog

Amy Rohl

Amy Rysavy

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Jodi Collins

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen
Lucie G, August Guest Designer, LucieG Cards
Kelly Schirmer, Guest Star Stamper - Gingham Girl

Let's Fly Away with Sun Country!

No...this isn't a shameless plug for Sun Country Airlines! It's a little birthday treat I made for my dearest cousin and best friend, Jane, who just happens to work at the corporate office of Sun Country. Last week was her birthday week (here in WI, we like to take up an entire week for our birthday...pfff, what's one single day when you can stretch out the festivities for a week?!), so after making her that cute little PI Popping By card, I just had to make her a little bingo card to hang up in her 'workspace'.

There are so many goodies going on here, so I'll list them in bullet-style to keep it nice and neat!

• Take Off stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas which totally inspired the whole darn bingo card (!)
• CutUps Cloud Border die (duh...match made in airline heaven)
• Blueberry Divine Twine (perfect match with the Sun Country color scheme...another 'duh')
• MFT Die-namics You Move Me & stamp set
• PTI Masculine Motifs, Alpha-blocks and Polka Dots Basics II
• Sketch inspired by this rockin' card by my sweet friend, Leigh O'Brien

Ok, there you have it! Thanks for stopping by today, and please stop back for more goodies this week...
~Amy

Happy Birthday Fishes!

This card makes me giggle as do most of Kim Hughes' images because they're just so darn fun! I've combined Kim's Paper Smooches set, Birthday Buddies, with a personal photo of my son George and our sweet niece, Brea. George and Brea had a little fishing fun and are actually holding fish in the picture that they caught, so I decided to have a little fun with the it and added Copic colored fish from Birthday Buddies. You'll also notice a little woodgrain impression using my beloved PTI impression plate and a fun CutUps Big Pinking edge available from The Cat's Pajamas.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Amy

SCS Sketch Challenge 336 {DAD}

It's been 'forever' since I've played along with any of the SCS challenges, so I decided to pick up the sketch challenge from this past Wednesday and get started on a Father's Day card for Ed from the kiddos.

The card uses some of that great burlap that I found in Ed's shed, screw top brads, die cut letters using wood veneer sheets from The Cat's Pajamas, my beloved woodgrain impression plate from PTI, and retro signage images cut from a piece of patterned paper from K&Co. (Home Improvement Scrap Kit). I also distressed the edges of the woodgrain impressed layer, spattered it with brown ink and made a faux coffee ring by pressing the bottom of a coffee cup into brown ink and then 'stamping' it onto the paper.

I'm still working my way back into my old stamping schedule, so please stop back for more goodies this week!
~Amy

What's purple & green all over?

What's purple and green all over?! The card I'm about to share with you along with photos from my daughter's graduation party, of course! First off is the card that I made for my dear friend, Mary...

Next are random photos from Kendra's grad party this past weekend. Now that the party is over, I'm ready to get back in my stamping room. You'll notice a few paper crafted decorations...couldn't have a party without 'em, right?!

The party was held in my husband's shop, and while he worked his hinder off moving all the construction stuff out, there was that one piece of heavy metal ('the lift') that he insisted was waaay too heavy to move, so it graces a few of the pictures!

You'll notice burlap accents in the card and the party decorations, compliments of a great 'find' in my husband's shop--a humungous roll of burlap purchased years ago, sitting on a shelf just waiting to be noticed.

Thank you for 'pinwheels', dear Alma!

 

Thank you to my friends and family who helped with the party and to all of you who have checked back here at the blog to find the same old card from my last post!
~Amy

Just stuff...

It's been pretty scarce around here lately, so I thought I'd better pop in with a quick post to let you know I'm still around, still stamping (unfortunately only out of necessity), and still getting ready for Kendra's grad party in a couple of weeks. Here are a few cards I've made in the last week for Mother's Day and for a neighbor's birthday party we attended last weekend.

King of Rock uses rub-ons from Creative Imaginations...

Wife & Cousin cards use Verve-alicious stamps along with a digi image from Kerri Bradford's This & That: Spring kit...

I hope to have something 'real nice' for TCP Tuesday this week, so stop back!
~Amy

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 115

I've been meaning to participate in Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and finally got around to it last night. My card features sketch #115 along with new goodies from Verve and a sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas (Simply Said). I added a bit of texture with my PTI woodgrain embossing plate (love it). I'm on a green and purple kick lately as you can see here, and I think it stems from the purple theme of our upcoming graduation party!

I hope to be back later this week with something swanky for The Cat's Pajamas TCP Tuesday challenge, so please come back!

~Amy

Happy Birthday, etc...

I've got a few miscellaneous cards to share today, starting with my daughter's 18th birthday card that I made earlier this month...still hard to believe that she's "18"! This card uses stamps from My Mind's Eye (Lost & Found Market St. Adore Stamps) and PaperTrey Ink (Polka Dots II, Birthday Bash Sentiments) as well as border dies from The Cat's Pajamas (CutUps Large Scallop) and My Favorite Things (Die-namics Little Open Scallop Strip).

The next two cards are variations on a theme (ah, that reminds me of my piano recital days when I was younger...once I played "Variations on a Theme by Paganini"...loved that piece & thought the name sounded so 'cool'!). Anyway, these two cards feature another TCP CutUps die, Buttons, along with PTI's Turning a New Leaf, Birthday Bash Sentiments and Tea for Two.

Lucky me, I'm home today on a snow day and hope to squeeze a little stamping time in during George's nap this afternoon!

~Amy

Joyeux noel {SFYT}}

I cannot (cannot!) believe it's the last Saturday in October already, but alas, it is Saturday, so that means another great Sketch For You To Try. I had a little free time this morning to stamp because hubby shot a deer and promised George that he could go with to drag it out of the woods, which meant quiet stamping time for me (also known as "bliss")! Here's what I came up with...

I wanted a clean sorta vintage look, so I pulled out a favorite CHF set that puts me in that vintage mood. I stamped and embossed the snowflakes and sentiment using clear embossing powder and then embellished the main image layer with rhinestones and a felt bird (SU! Birds and Blooms die). Linen thread grounds the bird, giving her a spot to rest for a bit.

Finally, I did something I haven't done before and don't know if I'll try again: I used hot glue to secure the ruffles in the black grosgrain. I did this for stronger holding power (since I'd decided to ruffle the ribbon AFTER I'd secured the woodgrain embossed layers) and while that ribbon is not going anywhere soon, the hot glue was a bit tricky, and yes, I burned my fingers a bit, snort!

Here the list of SFYTT sisters playing along this week:
Jen del Muro & Lesa Smaligo

Amy Sheffer
Amber Hight
Jodi Collins
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

Hope you're all enjoying Saturday as much as I am (so far) and have a little time to get crafty this weekend!
~Amy

Belated Boss's Day Wishes

A quick post to share a Boss's Day card I made for our elementary school principal...a little late, but as the saying goes: better late than never! So...I ran out of room and chipboard, so Boss's Day is actually Boss' Day in my world..thinking they might just want to change it to my way, ha!

Have a great day!
Amy

Live Your Bliss {SFYTT}

Last night I sat down to work on my SFYTT card with good intentions of doubling up my stamping efforts, making either a wedding or baby shower card that I need for the weekend. Instead, I reached for a couple of new-to-me stamp sets and came up with this "just for fun" card.

I love that I was able to combine some of my favorites: my favorite color combo (kraft, black, chartreuse, ivory), my current favorite embellishment trend--banners, and a somewhat clean and simple look. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Here's today's original SFYTT along with a list of the girls from the crew...

Jen del Muro & Lesa Smaligo

Amy Sheffer
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

Have a great weekend...I'm off to do a little grocery shopping with Kendra and George. Ü

Amy

Card ingredients...
Paper: Kraft, Ivory, Chartreuse, Black (PTI); patterned paper (Jenni Bowlin)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss (SU!), Versafine Onyx Black
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages (PTI), Madison Ave. "Pretty Stamps" & Market St. "Adore" Stamps by My Mind's Eye-Lost & Found Collection
Accessories: linen thread (SU!), butterfly (Vintaj Arte Metal Decoratives), notebook die (PTI)

School Staff Appreciation Cards

I was asked to make cards to be placed in gift baskets for our school kitchen staff, maintenance crew and bus drivers. Here's what I came up, with the bus card created using a purchased template from Lynn Pratt.

ETA: In case you're wondering why I've left the horizontal layer hanging over the edge...these are card fronts, trimmed to 4 3/4 x 6 3/4" that will be placed on 5x7" cards that are currently being distributed for staff signatures.

Bus Drivers

Maintenance Crew

Kitchen Staff

Thanks for stopping in...be back Saturday with my SFYTT card!
Amy

Masculine Motifs {SFYTT}

My sketch card today is doubling as a birthday card for my 12 year old nephew...Happy Birthday, Anders! I love to create personalized birthday cards for my nephews and nieces, and you can tell from my card that Anders loves to hunt! Besides being an avid hunter of deer and turkey, he also loves to fish, and on top of that--he's an all around GREAT kid!

I used PTI's Masculine Motifs, stamping the deer image several times across the circle panel without reinking and I really like the look. It reminds me of early morning or early evening deer sightings, watching them graze in the early morning mist or as the sun sets. Ok, so my hubby loves to hunt, so there have been many an opportunity to look-see this familiar scene! The chocolate layer was embossed with PTI's woodgrain Impressions plate, ruffed up a bit on the lower edge for a little more texture. I added button twine as my lower horizontal layer and a bit of piercing to add more focus to the main image. Lastly, I think the mix of greens is sort of fun and gives that "camo" look, something we see much of in my house!

Let's see what the sisters have done with the sketch and give a warm welcome to the fabulous September Guest Designer, Tori Wild!

Jen del Muro & Tori Wild
Amy Sheffer
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!
~Amy

Apples for the teacher {SFYTT"

After a nice, hot summer filled with good times and memories with both family and friends, it's time for me to head back to work on Monday morning, so my SFYTT card was inspired by my thoughts of returning to school. In honor of this annual event, I've chosen PTI's Teacher's Apple for my card today. I've also attempted to fashion 'apples' from punched red circles fit with leaves using my MFT's Leaf Trio die and a snip of brown felt for a stem.

Can't wait to see what the girls have done with Jen's sketch today, because it was a bit of a head scratcher for me!

Jen del Muro & Ashley N. Newell
Amy Sheffer
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

Happy Birthday {SFYTT} x 2!

I have two cards to share for today's SFYTT, one that George gave Ed for his birthday on Tuesday and another using a cute image from this week's SFYTT sponsor, The Greeting Farm called Birthday Boy Ian.

This card will most likely be George's birthday card next month when he turns 3! It's hard to believe he's already that old, and while 3 years doesn't seem all that long, the mental, physical and emotionally growth in three years completely amazes me. Here's a little anecdote to prove my point: yesterday I accidentally let the 'sh' word slip out the front door within George's supersonic hearing range, after which he continued to discuss for the following 10 minutes all of the reasons I shouldn't say the 'sh' word, and what happens when mommy says the 'sh' word...only he didn't say "the 'sh' word", he said the real word, about 20 times. He already knows that it is theoretically "ok" to say sh** in a teaching context...boy, oh boy am I in trouble!

Oh, you wanted to know about the card deets? Ü Well, my cute little Ian is flanked by a die cut "3" using my Cuttlebug Red Tag Alphabet; there are subtle backgrounds stamped on the green and blue layers using PTI's Polka Dot 2 and ruler from It's Official. Finally, I pierced a half circle to emphasize and balance out the right side of the card.

The next card features a picture of my little George with birthday greetings for Dad. The PTI die cut ticket is stamped with a Verve sentiment that could make any dad well up...love Verve sentiments! The scripty paper is October Afternoon Thrift Shop and there's a bit of texture added with my PTI woodgrain impression plate.

You may have noticed that I flipped the sketch for my first card. I love both versions, as I do with all of Jen's sketches! Let's see if any of the other SFYTT sisters have flipped this week, ha!

Jen del Muro & Ashley N. Newell
Amy Sheffer
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

CAS {SFYTT}

Welcome to a new month of Saturday SFYTT, along with the reveal of Jen's new guest designer for August--always a fun surprise! I really like this week's sketch and think you'll find it's an easy one to work with; a sketch I'll be using again this weekend if I can find a little time to stamp.

I decided to go with a clean and simple (CAS) design, and not because of time constraints, but rather because I was just in a CAS sorta mood yesterday when I created my card. Please refer to THIS post by buddy Carole Burrage if you think CAS is the easy way out, wink! Don't get me wrong--I do love me some fun and frivolous embellishments, but sometimes I like to force myself to just stop the dang train and travel with one of my favorite mantras: less is more!

I used a combination of stamps from Verve and Papertrey Ink. The branch is from PTI's Turning a New Leaf, and the sentiment is from Verve's Dare to Be You. Other details include woodgrain embossing on the Spring Moss layer, button and twine, all from PTI as well. Clean and simple...less is more! Ü

Hope you enjoyed my "less is more" card today, and now let's get on with 'Rohl Call':

Jen del Muro & August Guest Designer
Amy Sheffer
Amber Hight
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

Carole Burrage
Megan Lock

~Amy

Skipping Stones Design {SFYTT}

This week's SFYTT is being sponsored by Skipping Stones Design, and I'm using their set called Garden Kiss for my card today. I really love the bird and butterfly images and all of the alternative backgrounds, or "kissing" stamps offered in the set! After making the first card using black and Kiwi Kiss (SU!), I liked it so much that I made two additional cards using Plum Pudding and Aqua Mist (PTI). Here's the set:

Here's a closeup shot of the Kiwi card showing the woodgrain embossing detail on the black layer. I used PTI's woodgrain embossing plate and absolutely love the look of it on black, so be watching for more of that to come!

Other fun elements of the card include a neat sentiment from Verve's Dare to Be You set, striped paper from Crate Paper's 5th Ave. collection, sheet music, buttons and twine.

I can't wait to see what the other girls have done with this fun sketch and more of the SSD stamps, so let's get on with the blog roll!

Jen & Andrea (June Guest Designer)
Amy
Jodi
Susan
Kelly
Leigh
Jenn
Megan
Sonja
Amber

Have a wonderful weekend!
~Amy

Reach for the Highest Star {SFYTT}

A good friend of mine asked if I'd make a graduation card for her to give to a young gentleman graduating from college, so I took the opportunity to use Jen's great sketch for the occasion. I've seen some great graduation cards using argyle, so I used a piece of October Afternoon paper from their 8x8 Report Card pad.

I left the inside of the card "open" for a personalized message. Stamps used are from PTI's Star Prints.

I hope you'll have some time to play along because this is a really fun sketch! If you do, remember to link your card to Jen's slide show. Ok, let's see what the rest of the crew has for inspiration:

Jen & Iwona
Amy
Amber
Jenn
Jodi
Kelly
Leigh
Megan
Sonja
Susan

Have a great weekend!
Amy