Tuesday Trigger Meets Sketchbook Saturday

Check out this yummy cake photo that honors ombre for the latest Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge!  I thought it would be a perfect match for Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday challenge - LOVE this sketch!  I used a heart border from MFT's Hearts and Stitches set and stamped it in 4 different shades of pink: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo to hopefully create an ombre effect.  I popped that panel using foam tape, added a Melon Mambo flag and embellished with more die cuts - heart, leafy flourish and rolled roses.  I sponged the heart and leafy flourish with Memories Unicorn pigment ink.  Just as the butterfly is perched on the edge of the cake, I "perched" some dimensional roses on the leafy flourish.

Here's what else I used:

STAMPS: Tiny Tags (SU), Hearts and Stitches (MFT)
PAPER, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, White, Pear Pizzazz
ACCESSORIES: Tipsy Heart die by Sizzix, Leafy flourish die by Cheery Lynn Designs, Mini rolled roses Die-Namics by MFT, Crimper, Fishtail Flags Die-Namics (MFT), Tiny tags die (PTI), Brad.

Color Throwdown & SSSC

Hi everyone! It's time for another Color Throwdown Challenge and our hostess, Lori, was inspired by this fun little book bag!  Makes me want to go back to school again...NOT!! :-)

I immediately knew I wanted to play with this Fresh Cut Florals set with coordinating dies by W Plus 9.  I used Karen Giron's sketch for her Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and tweaked it a bit by adding a DP base that peeked out on either side of the white panel.

Remember, you don't have to have the exact colors listed...just use something close.  Be sure to use the keyword CTD257 when you post to a public gallery and you also want to link it up on the Color Throwdown blog.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the projects by the rest of the design team...along with our August guest designer below.  We have to say goodbye to Kendra as this month's guest designer, but wanted to thank her for sharing her wonderful creations with us!  Stay tuned next Wednesday when we'll announce our September guestie!

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor

Joan Ervin - Stamping With Passion

Lori Tecler - Inking Aloud
Lynn Put - The Queen's Scene

Melody Rupple - A Paper Melody

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy

Vickie Zimmer -  Smitten

                                    Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations (you are here)

August Guest Designer: Kendra Wietstock - Kendra's Card Company

What did I use?
STAMPS: Fresh Cut Florals (W Plus 9).
PAPER: Oh La La For Her by MME, On the Bright Side by MME, White.
INK: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red.
ACCESSORIES: Stitched Circle die by Lil' Inker Designs, Fishtail Flag STAX Die-Namics by MFT, Fresh Cut Florals dies by W Plus 9, Gold sticker dots by EK Success.

Life is a Journey

I've got a quick post with a CAS card for three different challenges: 

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge - use distressing

SCS Color Challenge - Night of Navy, Cajun Craze, Soft Sky  (with a dessert option to create a masculine card)

SCS CAS - "Going on a road trip" theme

I started with creating the plaid strip using MFT's Plaid Background Builder set.  I used a distressing tool then sponged edges with Cajun Craze ink.  A few enamel dots by MME completed it.  The sentiment has a trip/journey theme and I thought the plaid represented road crossings. 

STAMPS: Just My Type (Flourishes), Plaid Background Builder (MFT)

Thanks for stopping by...

Mojo Monday

It's the last Monday of the month and that means a circle or square Mojo Monday Challenge is on board! There are signs everywhere that summer is nearing the end and that means it will soon be time for frost on the pumpkins!  This little trio of pumpkins is one of my fave fall images to color, so thought Julee's sketch would be perfect to spotlight it! My card is 5" square and uses papers from MME's Lost and Found "Halloween" 6x6 pad.  I colored the image with Copics, fussy cut it and then popped it over the Classy Label die using foam tape.  I struggled with whether to add sequins or not...as you can see, the sequins won, but I'm still not sure I should have added them. 

Be sure to visit the other mojomakers below for more inspiration!

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen 

Mary Fish

Sarah Bigelow

Teresa Kline

Hope you can join us!  Would love to see your creation in the gallery.

STAMPS: Bountiful Harvest (Verve), Love Notes (Verve)

PAPER: Vintage Cream (PTI), Lost and Found "Halloween" (MME)

INK: Memento Tuxedo Black

ACCESSORIES: Classy Label die (Verve), Sequins (Avery Elle), Corduroy buttons (SU), Natural trim ribbon (SU), Jute twine (May Arts), Corner chomper.

COPICS: Y19, YR04, YR07, G40, G43, G46, E23, E25.

More Wedding Pics

No card creations on the blog today, but do have a few more wedding photos to share! The photographer took these in downtown Lynchburg...

Always love seeing some of the pictures in this sepia tone!

It's a rainy Friday, but I have to venture out to buy a new wireless router.  Grrrr...hate that the WiFi stopped working and not only do I have to buy a new router, but our cable company is requiring a $40 fee up front and then I have to pay $5.95 per month for technical support!!  What the _ _ _ _?  Sorry, but I'm really thinking technical support should be part of their customer service!  I pay quite a hefty monthly sum already for cable and internet service.  Enough ranting and off to find my umbrella!  Have a happy Friday!

Deconstructed Sketch

Jen has another great Deconstructed Sketch Challenge posted today! I'm also playing along with Splitcoaststampers' Ways to Use It Challenge to use beads.  I love that this challenge "pushes" me to use some supplies that I've forgotten - in this case it's microbeads!  I thought this sunflower - one of my fave images to color - would be perfect to add some brown beads to the center.  I also added Glossy Accents to the little ladybug.  The card base is a 5 1/2" textured pre-made card from a Recollections card and envelope set.  I then cut the green panel in a 4 1/2" square and continued to layer and layer.

Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Sunflowers (Flourishes)
PAPER: Graphic 45 "French Country" 6x6 pad, X-Press It Blending Card (for image), White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Jute twine, PTI Tiny Tags die, Copics, Glossy Accents, Microbeads, Rick Rack Die-Namics by MFT, Flag die by Lil' Inker Designs, Corner chomper, Stitched Rectangle die by Lil' Inker Designs.

Color Throwdown

Happy Wednesday everyone! Joan has a really yummy color palette for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge!  I'm really wishing there was a smellavision app for this photo!
Here's how I interpreted these great colors...

It's funny sometimes how a card evolves.  I had stamped a 4x6" panel of plaid using Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz inks and thought I'd feature a larger plaid area...but...I also wanted to use this large MFT sentiment that fits in their die.  I suddenly took a U turn and cut out the plaid using the same die, cut it in half and adhered it to both ends of the sentiment.  The scalloped rose was die cut from vanilla CS, then I sponged the edges in Rich Razzleberry.  The leaves were from my leftovers pile.  Just realized I used 5 different dies from 3 different companies!

Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Plaid Background Builder (MFT), Grand Greetings (MFT), Dream Big (Verve)
PAPER: Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Vintage Cream
INK: Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Peek-a-boo Dots Die-Namics (MFT), Royal Rose Die-Namics (MFT), Vertical Greetings Die-Namics (MFT), Dreamy Leaves die by Verve, Stitched scallop border die by Lil' Inker Designs.

Remember, you don't have to have the exact colors listed...just use something close.  Be sure to use the keyword CTD256 when you post to a public gallery and you also want to link it up on the Color Throwdown blog.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the projects by the rest of the design team...along with our August guest designer below:

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor

Joan Ervin - Stamping With Passion

Lori Tecler - Inking Aloud
Lynn Put - The Queen's Scene

Melody Rupple - A Paper Melody

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy

Vickie Zimmer -  Smitten

                                    Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations (you are here)

August Guest Designer: Kendra Wietstock - Kendra's Card Company

Hello Dahlias

There are three different challenges that I'm playing along with:

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge - Judy is asking us to use a doily.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - use aqua, green, orange colors.

 I'm not sure the girls will accept this as a CAS card, but I loved the colors anyway!  Since my doily was pretty large for Karen's layout, I tweaked it a bit and created a square version instead of A2 and offset the circle.  It's been awhile since I've colored with Copics, so I inked up one of Flourishes' new images from their Dahlias set.  I fussy cut around it, but really need to order the cut file.  Papers are from MME's Stella & Rose "Mabel" 6x6 pad.  A few rhinestones and a couple of die cut flags (Die-Namics by MFT) finished off this card.

Thanks for stopping by...

Freestyle Grunge

Joan has a really fun Technique Lovers' Challenge over on SCS today: freestyle design! It's simply choosing a variety of elements and textures and putting them together into a design that looks pleasing to the eye. One of my fave new SU sets from the new catalog is this Gorgeous Grunge set!  I love the fine lines and splatter stamps which add such a cool effect to a background.  I had a leftover open frame in my stash (using a Verve die) then started layering with a crocheted doily, some text leaves, primas, stick pins and ticket (which has a sentiment stamped from Verve's Small Phrases set).  I adhered most of the items using Tombow Multi glue and glue dots.  The stitched rectangle panel was popped using foam tape. The sentiment stamped on the ticket is from Verve's Small Phrases set.

I had a great lunch date with my daughter today!  Weather was perfect to eat at a fun local restaurant, The Purple Foot, that has an outdoor patio with fountains and gorgeous landscaping!  They have a wonderful wine (which explains the name of the restaurant) and gift shop, too, and we had to check that out.  Didn't buy anything (yet) but there are a few things I've mentally put on my Christmas list for a certain daughter - lol!  We had a lot of fun reading their menu with the greatest pita puns!  I ordered quiche and salad which was so yummy!  Check them out below...aren't they clever?!

After lunch I stopped at Michael's (that coupon was burning a hole in my pocket!).  Bought some acrylic paints so I can play with my new Gelli printing plate I bought last week.  I'll be posting some cards soon...or so I hope!

Thanks for stopping by...

Mojo Monday

It's the third Monday in August already and for the local children in our county, it's their first day of school!  It's also time for another great Mojo Monday challenge and Julee has really wowed us with a unique and fun sketch!  I went with an unusual color combo for me, and pulled out the retired Sage Shadow ink pad and then paired it with Wisteria Wonder ink which rarely sees the light of day in my stamp room!  I thought the colors blended in well with these papers from the "Fiddlesticks" 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye.  I can't seem to stop using my stitched dies from Lil' Inker Designs as well as sequins from my Avery Elle stash!

What else did I use?
STAMPS: Just For You (Verve)
PAPER: Fiddlesticks DP (MME), Wisteria Wonder, White (PTI)
INK: Sage Shadow, Wisteria Wonder
ACCESSORIES: Stitched circle dies by Lil' Inker Designs, Floral Circles and Elegant Leaves dies by Verve, Jolee's dimensional sticker bling, Avery Elle silver gray sequins, Fishtail flags Die-Namics by MFT, Tim Holtz tiny attacher (aka stapler).

Be sure to visit the other mojomakers below for more inspiration!

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere (sitting out this week)

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen 

Mary Fish

Sarah Bigelow

Teresa Kline

 I'll be looking for your creation in the gallery, so get that mojo flowing and join us!

Deconstructed Sketch

A late night (or guess I should say early morning) creation after getting off work. This is for the Free 4 All Challenge on SCS to use polka dots and it's also for Jen's Deconstructed Sketch Challenge. I paper pieced the elephant using lighter DP for his ears and popped his polka dotted head.  The giraffe was stamped twice then I fussy cut the mouth and popped it with a tiny piece of foam tape.  Love these fun papers from Echo Park's "Bundle of Joy" 6x6 pad!  Stamps are from Verve's "To the Moon" set - one of my fave "go to" sets for baby cards!  Thanks for stopping by...it's off to bed for me!

ACCESSORIES: Ribbon by SU, Jute twine, Button by SU, Piercing tool, Embossed large scallop punch by EKSuccess.

Freestyle Collage with CTD

There's another Color Throwdown challenge on board and Broni has a fun (and challenging for me!) color combo. I was inspired by a feature in Paper Crafts July/August 2013 edition and loved their section on freestyle collage.  To quote the magazine...it's a "layered and eclectic approach to design, seemingly unrelated patterns, embellishments, and textures...often in an asymmetrical way.  The combination may appear odd taken one element at a time, but put it all together, and collectively, somehow it sings."  Well...not sure that my card is singing a very pretty song, but it sure was fun to put together - lol!  I used multiple stamp sets and primarily stuck with an arrow/hexagon/sequin theme.

Here's what I used...
STAMPS: Happy Hexagons (Papertrey Ink), Gorgeous Grunge (SU), Borderline, Take Note and Stronger Love - all by Verve.
INK: Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Tangerine Tango.
PAPER: Fabrications 6x6 pad by Teresa Collins, White (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Hexagon Die-Namics by MFT, Sequins by Avery Elle.

Remember, you don't have to have the exact colors listed...just use something close.  Be sure to use the keyword CTD255 when you post to a public gallery and you also want to link it up on the Color Throwdown blog.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the projects by the rest of the design team...along with our August guest designer below:

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor

Joan Ervin - Stamping With Passion

Lori Tecler - Inking Aloud
Lynn Put - The Queen's Scene

Melody Rupple - A Paper Melody

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy

Vickie Zimmer -  Smitten

                                    Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations (you are here)

August Guest Designer: Kendra Wietstock - Kendra's Card Company

Tuesday Trigger with Retro Sketch

I loved the current Retro Sketch challenge layout and decided to pair it up with inspiration from the Tuesday Trigger photo.  Love the clean lines and the crispness of the navy and white together!  Then there's that kraft rug...ahhh...that was the inspiration for my embossed card base!  I brayered Crumb Cake ink over a plaid embossing folder then added white cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot.  I wanted to add the stripe element, so I embossed a couple of the stars with a striped embossing folder.  The room has a cottage decor feel, so I added a little homespun touch by using the stitched rectangle die and then I stamped a cross-stitched border at the edge of the flag.  The little star on the sentiment was stamped twice, then I cut it out and popped it with a foam dot for dimension.  I also added a touch of glitter using a glue pen for the adhesive.

STAMPS: Shining Star (Verve), Borderline (Verve).
PAPER: Kraft (Recollections), Night of Navy, White, Silver glitter card stock by SU.
INK: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake.
ACCESSORIES: Plaid EF by Cuttlebug, Nautical EF by QuikKutz, Star Die-Namics by MFT, Flags STAX Die-Namics by MFT, Stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inker Designs, Brayer, Rhinestones, Dazzling Diamonds glitter by SU.

So glad you stopped by...I always appreciate your comments!

Deconstructed Sketch

Here's my card using Jen's layout for the Deconstructed Sketch Challenge #113.  I used some beach-themed patterned papers from a Tim Coffey mat pad by K&Co.  I fussy cut one of the shells in the paper and layered it on a wooden button.  A quick and easy creation!  Here's what else I used...

STAMPS: Let It Be (Verve), Grid Paper (Taylored Expressions)
INK: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou
ACCESSORIES: Notebook punch by SU, Corner chomper, Jute twine, Button by Dear Lizzie, Postage stamp decorative scissors by Fiskars.

Wedding Reception Photos

As I promised, here are a few photos from Mark and Ashlie's reception. It was held at the old shoe factory turned Craddock Terry Hotel in downtown Lynchburg, VA.  Each hotel room has a different shoe plaque on the doors, so it's easy to remember that you're staying in the saddle shoe room as opposed to remembering a number - lol!  My favorite was this unique chair in the lobby along with the memorabilia of shoes through the ages!

The bridal party posing outside the hotel.

Newlyweds entering the reception room.  Notice the balloons...you'll see their purpose later.

Yummy buffet...salad, rolls, salmon, chicken, two different veggies, rice, potatoes.

Each round table in the room had these decorative centerpieces.

A beautiful, moving song sung by the bride's father and brother (it was a Kleenex moment for me).

Ashlie and Mark shared some of their journey of love.

 

The guests enjoyed a Power Point presentation of the newlyweds' growing up years.

So glad they didn't do the cake smearing routine!

Guests went outdoors into the courtyard and grabbed a balloon on their way.  We formed a receiving line and handed over our balloons as Mark and Ashlie greeted everyone.  They ascended the stairs...

...and amidst cheering and clapping, they released the balloons and kissed.

A happy ending to a beautiful reception and a new beginning of a great life together!