Curtain Call Color Challenge

Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge was to use Regal Rose, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Rose Red & White together. At first, I thought there was no way I could put those together, but brought out the old faithful set, Garden Silhouettes, and made it happen! Hope you like it...it's a simple, no fuss card.

STAMPS: Garden Silhouettes (SU), Feel the Sun (Verve) - sentiment
PAPER: Rose Red, Summer Sun, GP white
INK: Rose Red, Apricot Appeal, Summer Sun, Rose Romance, Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Vintage buttons (PTI), MS Optic Dot border punch, Creative Memories corner rounder

Mojo Monday Time

Julee has an optional round or square Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge this week, so I opted for the round version...more challenging for me to do, but love the sweet little round cards in the end! The flowers were colored with Copics (Y15, YG03, YG13, RV23, RV25), cut out and popped with dimensionals. Thanks for visiting and commenting! It's a really hot and muggy Memorial Day in VA!

STAMPS: Dude (Verve - sentiment), Happy Days (Verve - flowers), Relax (Verve - surfboard)
PAPER: Destination Paradise (Me & My Big Ideas), White, Hibiscus Burst (PTI)
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: CB, Nesties, Copics, Tag die, Ribbon (PTI), Adhesive rhinestones, Sponge

Sweet Sunday Sketch

Karen Giron's SSSC was perfect to use another oval JustRite image (well, it was perfect after I flipped it on the side - lol!). I colored it with Copics, layered a couple of ovals & added a sailor's knot and shell border (thanks to a new MS punch). Have to run and head to work this afternoon. Will be blog hopping later today to make comments. Hope you are enjoying a beautiful Memorial Day weekend!

STAMPS: Oval By the Sea (JustRite)
PAPER: Autumn Meadows DP (SU)
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa
ACCESSORIES: MS Beach Shells border punch, CB, Oval Nesties, Brads, Peaches & Cream 100% cotton yarn, Copics

Kids' Rooms Inspiration

It's a new month (well, almost), so that means we have a new room in the house to inspire us for our Viva la Verve Challenge. This time Amber gave us 3 kids' rooms...and I chose the pink & orange girl's room. I usually cringe at this color combo, but the happy vibes from these colors are becoming irresistible! I love this fun, free digi stamp from Bugaboo Stamps...it's so quick and easy to color and easy to cut out with my Creative Memories circle cutter. Amber's sketch was a simple one and perfect for this digi image. Hope you like it...thanks for stopping by and hope you have a blessed and safe holiday weekend!

STAMPS: Free Digital stamp by Bugaboo Stamps, Thankful Hearts (sentiment) by Verve
PAPER: Citronella DP by K&Co, Tangerine Tango, White
INK: Versafine Black Onyx
ACCESSORIES: MS Optic Dot border punch, MS butterfly sticker, PTI ribbon, Brads, Copics

Let's Have Tea!

Today's Free 4 All challenge was to make a card inspired by something we collect. I have quite a few china teacups...thanks to an aunt who gave me a couple of them when I was young. I always loved the delicate floral designs and soon, I was seeking them out in antique shops, gift shops, etc. My teacup image was colored with Copics then cut out. DP from the Lilac Avenue Collection was perfect for my colors. A simple card with minimal layers and accented with some pearls, freebie ribbon from an order with Ellen Hutson and a brad tab & sentiment tag. Looks like a rainy Friday...instead of planting more flowers outside, I'll change my plans to working inside. TFL!

STAMPS: Tiny Tags (SU), Pansy Teacup (Stampendous)
PAPER: Lilac Avenue Collection (Kaisercraft)
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: CB, Dotted swiss EF, Copics, Window slot punch, Brad, Satin ribbon, Kaiser pearls

Color Throwdown

Loved the warm colors for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge! I chose some new DP by BasicGrey to pull them all together and used Roxie's layout from SCS's Sketch Challenge to create this floral card. The flowers were stamped, cut out, popped with dimensionals and highlighted with copper Stickles. Had to initiate my new MS border punch...love the new look it gives! Thanks for stopping by and commenting...I enjoy each and every one!

STAMPS: One Person (flower) & Blessings (sentiment) - both by Verve
PAPER: Max & Whiskers DP (BasicGrey), White
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa
ACCESSORIES: MS Optic Dot border punch, Copper Stickles

Curtain Call 31

It's been a long time since I joined in on one of Stacey's curtain call challenges. When I saw we were to use Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Night of Navy, Garden Green & White, I thought of the Tea Party DP that would would work perfectly. I started with the navy/amethyst panel & it just evolved into a tall card even though that wasn't my original plan. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by...

STAMPS: Wishful Elegance (BG image), Feel the Sun (sentiment) - both sets by Verve
PAPER: Tea Party by SU, Night of Navy, White
INK: Night of Navy
ACCESSORIES: CB, Lattice die (SU), MS arch lattice border punch, Leaf die (SU), 2-step bird punch (SU), Prima flower, Grosgrain ribbon, Kaiser silver pearls, Sponge, Labels Four Nestabilities

He Cares For You!

I combined the Color Challenge on SCS (to use Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Kraft & optional ruled paper) with Mercy Kerin's Tuesday Sketch Challenge. I layered 2 of the floral dies by PTI and topped it with a Prima flower. The border is cork (my kraft element). Thanks for stopping by...

STAMPS: I Peter 5:7 (Verve), One Person (Verve) - flourishes on sentiment panel
PAPER: Webster's Pages petite papers (Collection Triple Pack), Very Vanilla
INK: Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Bermuda Bay (sponged edges of flower)
ACCESSORIES: Spiral punch (SU), MS frond punch, Prima flower, PTI Blossoms II die set, MS scallop border punch, Brads

SSSC in CAS Style

Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge was used for the layout. I kept it clean and simple with the DP already having the flourish design in it. No stamping (except the small sentiment)...just some quick punches for the flowers and leaves, sentiment and butterfly. Since the card contains flowers & butterfly, I thought it also qualified for the CAS challenge on SCS to use a summer theme. TFL!

STAMPS: Verve (freebie with order)
PAPER: BW Mira DP by K&Co
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: MS Waterlily punch, 2-step bird punch (SU), Oval punches (SU), MS Butterfly sticker, Prima flowers

Black Magic Mojo

Julee Tilman has another great sketch on the Mojo Monday Sketch Blog that I combined with Holly's TLC to use the black magic technique. I stamped the image using white pigment ink, let it dry, colored it with watercolor pencils, blended slightly with an Aquapainter, then highlighted with a white gel pen. I always think of Karen Barber when I do this technique as she has mastered this to perfection! No sun out this morning...woke up to more rain! My 5-day vacation is over and it's back to work this afternoon. It was wonderful while it lasted. Happy Monday to all!

STAMPS: Serenity (Verve)
PAPER: Kioshi (BasicGrey), Black, White
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Metal coil embellishment, Ribbon, Watercolor pencils, White gel pen, Window slot punch & Scallop border punch - both by SU

Crystal Fight!

ODBD's Shining Light Challenge was to use a sentiment for a focal point. I used Cindy Haffner's sketch challenge on Crazy for Challenges and thought I would make a quick and simple card. NOT TO BE! The large crystal flourish decided it had a mind of its own when I removed it from the acetate! It stuck to everything except what I wanted it to stick to! We fought with each other and I declared myself the winner even though the design was 'slightly rearranged'. Guess that means it's time to stop stamping for today. The big plus to having a rainy Sunday is that I had time to make 3 cards plus take a nap! :-) Thanks for stopping by and commenting...

STAMPS: Hebrews 11:1 Plain Jane by Verve
PAPER: Capella DP (BasicGrey), Black, White
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Zva adhesive crystals

Animal House

Have been wanting to initiate my Max & Whiskers DP by BasicGrey, so the Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #4 to use an animal on a card was perfect timing! I wanted a simple layout, so found one on the Clean & Simple Stamping website. The image is a digi from Whimsie Doodles that was colored with Copics. The paw prints stamp is a tiny one that I've had forever and have no clue who made it. Thanks for 'pawsing' on my blog to comment! :-)

3 Challenges in 1

So many challenges...so little time...thus I'm combining 3 in one card. First, I want to recognize NCSUnikki, the featured stamper on Splitcoast this week. I enjoyed browsing through her gallery and I chose to CASE the colors from this card. I used the sketch by Loretta Lock for Our Creative Corner's weekly challenge and combined it with Julee Tilman's Ready, Set, Stamp monthly challenge where she challenges us to use a specific set. May's set is Up, Up & Away which is such a fun one to paper piece & pop & glitter clouds! The DP is from the wonderful Sweet Pea stack by SU. I noticed that I didn't brush off the glitter very well...it's all over the card (and me!). :-)

STAMPS: Up, Up & Away (Verve), Just for You (Verve) - sentiment
PAPER: Sweet Pea DP (SU), GP white
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa
ACCESSORIES: Silver brads, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Copics, Ribbon

Viva la Verve & IC

This is the 4th & last of Amber's Viva la Verve challenges for May and we have been taking our inspiration from different hobby rooms each week. Today we were to take inspiration from our own crafting space plus use her sketch. On top of my desk is a crystal jar (given to me by a friend at work) and it's filled with a variety of sea shells. I'm loving the new oval By the Sea set by JustRite, so I combined an image from that set with a sentiment & sun from Verve's Let it Shine set. I love making the sailor's knots with these sea scenes (see tutorial in my tip list on the right side of my blog). The image was colored with Copics. When I saw Stef's IC from Amy Atlas' Events website, I spotted the cupcakes on this dessert table and knew this Citronella DP by K&CO was the perfect match! I missed my stamp room yesterday, but had a fun mother/daughter day by going shopping. Today, I got down and dirty by digging out weeds, a couple of dead azaleas plus mowed the front, back and meadow grass! A good hot shower, the making of this card...I think I'll sleep good tonight! :-)

Color Throw Down

I used Roxie's Sketch Challenge for this card's layout and colors from the Color Throw Down Challenge: Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, & Baja Breeze. BasicGrey's Euphoria pad had some perfect DP for this. The birdie is paper-pieced, some quick oval punches layered for the sentiment and some 2-step stamping of tulips made this what I consider to be a CAS card. It's Wednesday already and May is flying by...no rain today but no sun either. Only 55 degrees and it's noon. :-( Might have to manufacture some rays by making another sunny yellow card - lol!

STAMPS: Terrific Tulips (SU), So Many Messages (Hero Arts) - sentiment, Decorative Birds (Hero Arts)
PAPER: Euphoria (BasicGrey), Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze, White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Certainly Celery