Mojo Monday

Good morning everyone! It's another Mojo Monday Challenge day and this time it's Carole who has provided us with a great sketch!  I knew I wanted to create a birthday card, since our fearless leader, Julee, has a birthday this week - Thursday to be exact!  HaPpY bIrThDaY, Julee!  I'll confess my creative juices were not in action when I went to create this card last evening.  I pulled out this chevron cutting plate and die cut the BG using the new SU color, Smoky Slate.  I won't bore you with details of the many attempts and redos that occurred after that, but this is the final result which doesn't make me want to do any somersaults, but it will have to do!  I did get really excited when I discovered that the center portion of the Rounded Scallop Frame die fit perfectly as a layer behind the sentiment stamped on a Classy Label die shape!  It's the little things - lol! :-)  I stamped 5 of the flower images on X-Press It Blending Card, colored with Copics, then fussy cut and layered with foam dots.  The silver bling is by Jolee's. 

If you're needing some more inspiration with this challenge, please visit the other mojomakers' blogs below...OR...you can hop on over to the Mojo Monday blog for details and you can click on the beginning thumbnails to see what they created!

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen 

Mary Fish

Sarah Bigelow

Teresa Kline

Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Birthday to You Plain Jane (Verve), Small Celebrations - flower (Verve), Sunny Days - leaves (Verve), Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inker Designs).
PAPER: Sunshine and Sprinkles DP (SU), Strawberry Slush, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Old Olive, White, X-Press It Blending Card.
INK: Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive.
ACCESSORIES: Chevron cutting plate by Taylored Expressions, Verve dies (leaves and label), American Crafts ribbon, Dimensional stickers (bling) by Jolees.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge

It's been awhile since I played along with the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, but thought their current challenge - to use a number or numbers on a CAS creation - was perfect to break out some numbered washi tape that I've never put to use!  This was so quick and easy - an under 10 minute card!  I was also inspired by a CAS card in Heather Hoffman's gallery on SCS that you can see HERE.  She is the featured stamper this week and has a lovely gallery that I enjoyed browsing!

STAMPS: Gorgeous Grunge (SU)
PAPER: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, White
INK: Tempting Turquoise
ACCESSORIES: Corner chomper , Washi tape by Recollections, Sentiment die by PTI.

Another weekend off has come to a close! :-(  We had a gully washer downpour this afternoon, but fortunately it waited until after my husband got the grilling done.  BBQ chicken is one of our fave foods on the grill - using a sauce that's been handed down through his family.  Thanks for stopping by...

In the Mood for Flowers

I recently discovered a new (to me) stamp company - WPlus9 - and then found out they had a Monday Mood Board Challenge happening on their blog!  I couldn't resist playing along since I'm in love with their Fresh Cut Florals set that has limitless possibilities for design!  I used Chupa's layout for her current Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #100 - love this one!  She's got some great prizes for this special milestone, so I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed!


 So, what did I use?

STAMPS: Fresh Cut Florals (WPlus9)
PAPER: Violet Leaf Mat Stack (DCWV), White (PTI)
INK: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder
ACCESSORIES: Fresh Cut Florals die set, Corner Chomper, Rhinestones, Baker's twine.

It's another stifling hot and humid day here in VA!  Thunder is rumbling in the distance as I write this post.  Have a great Thursday and thanks for stopping by!

Feeling Nautical

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday! This is my second card for the day (pssst...scroll on down for my Color Throwdown creation)!  Stacey Schafer has gotten her stage up and running again with a new challenge - the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  She has this wonderful nautical themed collage photo for our inspiration and since Verve is the first company sponsor on board, I just had to use the Strong Anchor set - my fave from Julee's last release!  I'm also playing along with Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge - which you can see I've flipped.

Here's what I used...

STAMPS: Strong Anchor (Verve)
PAPER: Beach Boardwalk (Carta Bella), Night of Navy, White
INK: Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight
ACCESSORIES: Labels Twenty Three Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Nautical die set by Verve, Large scallop border Die-Namics by MFT, Jute twine, Silver rhinestone sticker by Recollections.

Heading out to work shortly and it's looking like another thunderstorm is on its way. :-(

Color Throwdown/Retro Sketch

I merged my sample for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge with the Retro Sketch Challenge! I always love the designs that Arielle and her team come up with each week! Lynn has thrown down some awesome colors for us and I couldn't resist using some new stamps - Fresh Cut Florals - by W Plus 9 for my card.  This set has coordinating dies and the combinations of flowers and arrangements is literally endless!

I did my "flower arranging" in a mason jar image by Flourishes after coloring with Copics (BG0000, BG000, BG10) then fussy cutting.  It's a bit hard to see the doily and Nestie circle that form the BG to the flowers.  I love the "Charles" dotted chevron EF for the base white panel.  The sentiment was created using Fancy Framed Tags Two dies.  Some turquoise rhinestones finish off the card.

Hopefully you got to celebrate with us last week for our 5th anniversary bash and hopefully you were one of the lucky winners!  Remember to check back on the Color Throwdown blog tomorrow (Thursday) to see if you're a winner!

While you're at the CTD blog, check out the design team's samples - as well as our talented guest designer, Stacey Schafer - for more inspiration! 

My enabler's list:
STAMPS: Fresh Cut Florals (W Plus 9), Garden Picks (Flourishes)
PAPER: Tempting Turquoise, White (PTI), X-Press It Blending Card, Chocolate Chip (SU)
INK: Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip.
ACCESSORIES: Doily (SU), Circle Nestie, Fresh Cut Florals dies by W Plus 9, Fancy Framed Tags Two dies by SB, Aqua rhinestones by KaiserCraft, Charles embossing folder by Cuttlebug, Corner chomper.

Can't wait to see what you create!

Mojo Monday

Good Monday morning! It's another week and another great sketch by Julee for the Mojo Monday Challenge! I went with a very literal and CAS interpretation of the layout.  I thought the dotted butterfly image coordinated well with the Verve polka dotted ribbon, so I stamped, fussy cut and added black rhinestones to it.  Love this scrolly (how's that for a new word?!) frame which I die cut using Verve's Occasion Frame die then popped it with foam tape.  The white panel was  embossed using the Charles embossing folder by Cuttlebug - keeping with the dotted theme.  The embellishment is by Recollections.  I sure am glad SU brought back Bermuda Bay as it's always been a fave of mine.  So there you have it...quick and easy sketch which you can dress up or down with so many possibilities.  If you want some more inspiration, check out the creations by the other mojomakers...

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen 

Mary Fish

Sarah Bigelow

Teresa Kline

Can't wait to see what you create!

STAMPS: On Occasion (Verve), So Fluttery (Verve)

Stamping Marathon

I've had my stamping mojo rolling along all day in between grocery shopping and laundry loads! I finished 3 submissions for Paper Crafts latest call (deadline is Monday), made my sample for the upcoming Dare to Get Dirty challenge on SCS that I'll be hosting toward the end of July and then I just now finished playing with some new Reverse Confetti stamps for Jen's Sketch For You To Try Challenge! Whew! We've had three (maybe four...sorta lost count) rain storms throughout the day! It dampened quite a few local plans...our town's Summer Extravaganza, an outdoor wedding, etc. Since I couldn't get outside very long, I hit my stamp room!

I used some new papers that I picked up while on vacation and found that Crushed Curry matched well!  It's a color that rarely sees the light of day from me, but thought it worked for this card.  I used Verve's I Heart You die after stamping the circle BG pattern from Reverse Confetti's Whole Lotta Dots set.  The chevron stamp in the border and the sentiments are from RC's Arrows 'n Elements set - so many fun possibilities!

Here's my enabler's list...
STAMPS: Whole Lotta Dots (Reverse Confetti), Arrows 'n Elements (Reverse Confetti)
PAPER: Violet Leaf mat stack by DCWV, White (PTI)
INK: Crushed Curry (SU), Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: I Heart You die by Verve, Corner chomper, Word window punch (SU).