Always

Here it is...my card creation for Jen's Saturday Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT). If you're a follower of my SFYTT cards, you'll note that two weeks ago I made a Halloween card; last week a snowman Christmas card; and threatened to do something in a Valentine's Day theme for this week! That's pretty much what I did, although I sent this card off to someone in the mail already.

I've been visiting a blog favorite of mine Pine Is Here by Heather Nichols, and I really like the homespun sweetness of her new set Rustic Branches available through PaperTrey Ink. Seeing all of the wreaths using Heather's set made me want to create my own sort of wreath, so I punched out 4 different colored hearts, arranged them in a circle on vellum with bits of adhesive (just enough to make them stick but not too much) and then fired up my sewing machine and went around and around, about 3 or 4 times. I actually hadn't decided on a sentiment to use prior to making the heart wreath, but when I found always on my mind, forever in my heart, it was a match made in heaven! The additional heart/button/linen thread highlights the sentiment and pulls it all together in a symbolic sorta way.

Here are links to the other SFYTT chicas and their eye candy...check it out! And hey, come play along...make your card according to the sketch, upload to your blog or SCS and use the keyword SFYTT. Have a great weekend!

Jen & Bonnie
Carole
Amy S.
Susan
Shannan

Silhouette Trio

After finishing my Urban Upsy card from the last post, I kept on stamping and made a trio of 3x3 cards with a matching box using the same Urban Garden DSP and my new Pocket Silhouettes set. The talented Laurie Schmidlin created this tutorial on SCS a couple of weeks ago for the beautiful box that holds the 3x3 cards. For some reason the top of my box is a little larger than it probably should be, but the taffeta ribbon holds it all together nicely! I am really loving this color combination: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Basic Gray and the way the Urban Garden papers pull them all together so perfectly.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Jen's Saturday Sketch!

Here's a sneak peek...

Urban Upsy!

Yesterday was my first official day of teacher inservice, followed by another inservice day today and an open house this evening. When I finally got home, I found my first order from the new SU! catalog waiting for me, so after tucking George into bed and making sure my teen daughter was locked in her room (just kidding!), I tore open the box and grabbed one of the new sets, Upsy Daisy, and the new paper pack, Urban Garden. I had a moment of panic, wanting to create something really fun and exciting that wasn't going to take me until midnight but knew I was "rushing it"; trying to do too much in a short amount of time and just making yourself crazy in the process. Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves? Is that a female thing? Are you sick of my questions?

Anyway, I forced myself to *keep it simple*...Sharon/notimetostamp would be so proud of me...and I am pleased with the result of my simple effort. I so admire other stampers who create simply beautiful things that look so awesome, yet so effortless. Check out my sidebar to see a little *effortless awesome* work by Val Stangle, Sharon Johnson & Dawn McVey. Don't get me wrong...I don't mean their work is effortless; they just make it look effortless. Ok, so I've typed *effortless* so many times that it appears to me that I've spelled it incorrectly...mebbe that means it's time to stop typing and get some shut-eye, ha!

Just a note about the card: the main image is stamped twice--once full strength Kiwi Kiss and again a smidge to the right without reinking...it's hard to see the *shadow* in my picture.

Thanks for stopping by...see you tomorrow!

Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Paper: Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue, Urban Garden DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: scallop edge punch, round tab punch, Kiwi Kiss ribbon

Teapot Tuesday

Well, like I said in my last post, I was off to check out my buddy Cindy's Teapot Tuesday Challenge. This is the 9th week of her TT challenges, and the first time I've participated. Cindy is one of the most talented stampers and on top of it all I *know* she could make a substantial living as a stand-up comedian, and on top of that she's just an all around nice person; did I ever tell you that she threw a baby-card-shower for me last fall when I had George?! If you ever need a good belly laugh, check her out her blog. Cindy has a *thang* for teapots and as a result must have quite a collection, so each Tuesday she's featuring a picture of one of her teapots as stamping inspiration. First is the picture of the teapot and then my card.

*ETA: I went back and added a trio of buttons because it just needed them!

Supplies
Stamps: Mixed Bouquet, CHF Motivational Centers & Pretty Pattern backgrounder
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, River Rock
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, River Rock, PP, BB, Versamark
Accessories: scallop edge punch, ivory organdy, Irridescent Ice ep, sponge, aquapainter

Birthday Invite & A Challenge

Two things to share today and then I'm off to check out Cindy Motherway/Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge.

If you tuned in for the previous post, you saw a birthday card for George's first birthday coming up in a few weeks (can't believe it!). I'd started on the invites at that point but no *final final* except for the color combo: Kiwi Kiss, Brocade Blue & Tangerine Tango. George really seems to be taking a liking to dogs and is even saying something close to the word "dog", so I thought I'd go with the whole *dog* thing! The invite combines two different stamps set in a mod sorta way: SU!'s Eat Cake and TCP's It's A Mod Mod World. I know it's not baby-boyish, but I like it and it was easy peasy to mass produce. I always figure that half the bunch receiving this invite doesn't give a hoo-hoo about stamping, so why spend oodles of hours creating something that's going to end up in the round file anyway, eh?!

Second card is for TLC183: Faux Embossing...a fun technic using your trusty stamp-a-ma-jig! Click here for all the details. I've always loved this set, Peaceful Wishes, but hadn't ordered it until it was retiring and just inked it for the first time for this card. Here's what you do to achieve the faux embossed look: stamp image in white craft ink and then stamp image again in coordinating cardstock color ink just off to either side a smidge using your SAMJ. Get it? If not, check out the link above for more detail.

Invite supplies
Stamps: TCP It's A Mod Mod World; SU! Eat Cake; Hero Arts Clear Designs Alpha (1)
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Brocade Blue, WW
Ink: same as cardstock

Challenge card supplies
Stamps: Peaceful Wishes
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Naturals Ivory
Ink: RHR, Craft White
Accessories: scallop edge punch, SAMJ, ivory taffeta, mini library clip

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

I was checking out a few of my favorite blogs this morning, stopped by Taylored Expressions and decided to participate in her weekly Cupcake Sketch Challenge. Seems I have to be challenged to sit down and create lately, so this was the perfect opportunity to get started on a birthday card for George's 1st birthday! His birthday isn't for a few weeks, and I haven't finished the invites yet, but I do have the colors picked for them, so I went with the same colors for his card: Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango and Brocade Blue.

If you'd like to play along with Taylor's sketch, just remember to use the keyword TECC30 when uploading to Splitcoaststampers and then leave a link on her blog Taylored Expressions. Here's the sketch:

Supplies
Stamps: SU! Everyday Flexible Phrases; Hero Arts Clear Design Bird Branch Alphabet
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Confetti White, Kiwi Kiss, Brocade Blue, Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Cuttlebug dots folder, American Crafts Thickers (glittery dots), circle punches, Target $1 spot mini flower punch, sewing machine & thread

Inspiration Challenge #142

For today's Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers...taking inspiration from a Marimekko brand umbrella. The umbrella I chose as inspiration can be seen here. The colors in my card are a bit more contrasted than my inspiration, but I wanted to pair the new In Colors, Riding Hood Red and Tangerine Tango, and I'm pleased with the results. Because the colors are so bright and bold, I chose to keep my layout and embellishments simple.

Supplies
Stamps: All Holidays, Dotted
Paper: RHR, TT, WW
Ink: RHR, TT
Embellishments: scallop edge punch, mini library clip, May Arts striped ribbon