Happy Fall

 **Scroll on down for my Color Throwdown card**

It's a welcome time of year for me when the temperatures dip just a

wee bit from the sweltering humid days of summer. I've already gotten some fall decor in the house which I'll share with you below.  This is an exceptionally happy week for me with having our daughter who is a traveling nurse - currently going to start her second contract in Omaha - home for the week!  Our oldest son and his wife just had a baby on 9/12 - just minutes before midnight - and we're so thrilled to welcome Matilda Mary into our lives!  Can't wait until Sunday when we plan to travel to DC to see her! 

Oh, yes...I do have a card to tell you about - lol!  I was inspired by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge fall floral theme and also used the great sketch for the Retrosketches Challenge.  Nothing says fall like some mums, so I dusted off PTI's Mum's the Word set and found an old PTI Fall Prints and Patterns 8x8 pad and I was ready to roll.  I used Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery and Old Olive inks by SU.  The coordinating floral dies make it so quick and easy to whip up a quick card!

I'm a huge fan of Pinterest and this centerpiece for my kitchen island is the result of a couple of inspiration photos I came across.

I love hydrangeas and never thought to mix them in with a fall arrangement, but I totally love it!  Here are the pics that inspired me...

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this rather lengthy post!  Happy fall y'all!

Color Throwdown #410

Hello everyone!  I'm hosting the new Color Throwdown Challenge this week and hope you will enjoy playing with these colors - peach, aqua and gray - as much as I did! 

I chose 3 washi tape colors that were close to the colors as my starting point since I wanted to do a corner collage layout.  I thought this Blooming Button Bits set from PTI was a great take on the inspiration photo with the stitched leaves and similar florals.  After stamping with Pool Party and Crisp Cantaloupe inks (SU), I fussy cut the floral collage and popped with foam tape.  I stamped some gray splatters using WPlus9 Silver Lining ink and a stamp from SU's Gorgeous Grunge set.  The sentiment is from PTI's Bitty Bouquets.

Big congratulations to Susie Moore of The Dies Have It!  She's our guest star stamper this week and a regular participant in our challenges!  Be sure to stop and visit her blog.

For more details on how to play along, head on over to the Color Throwdown Blog and you'll find the information on the right sidebar!  You can also visit the rest of the design team's creations for more inspiration...see links below:

Amy Rohl 
Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here)   
Karren Johnson - September Guest Designer    

Altenew Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop

The Color Throwdown Challenge blog is joining in the Altenew Ultimate Challenge blog hop! For details...check out the post HERE.   I've been a long time fan of Altenew since the company started and just had to play along!  Here's my card using their Peony Scrolls and Painted Greetings stamp sets...(you just might be getting a sneak peek of tomorrow's colors for the Color Throwdown challenge - wink, wink)!

I white embossed the florals on Ranger watercolor cardstock, colored with distress markers, blended with an aquapainter then die cut using the coordinating Peony Scrolls dies.  The striped paper is from the Snap! Color Vibe pad by Simple Stories.  

Thanks for visiting and hope you'll check out this fabulous hop and join in the fun.  There are great prizes up for grabs!

Mojo Monday #465

Julee has another fun sketch for the Mojo Monday Challenge, so I hope you'll jump right in and join us this week! 

I felt an urge to do a nautical themed card and the two Verve sets - Learning to Sail and Strong Anchor - are perfect to mix and match elements together!  I used papers from Authentique's Seaside Collection and paper pieced the sails. I colored with distress ink markers and added clear Wink of Stella to give some shimmer to the sun and the waves.
I chose to skew both of the top panels since the sentiment references learning to sail in a storm, so naturally the panels would be rocking back and forth!  In reality, I had a smudge mark and this was the best way to cover it up! :-)  I'm sure no one else ever has that problem. #saidnostamperever
  
If you'd like more inspiration for this sketch, click on the mojomakers' blog links below...or...you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and click on the first seven thumbnails.
Julee Tilman (Owner)
Justin Krieger
Lori Tecler
Marisa Ritzen 
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline
Wanda Cullen (you are here)
 

Celebrating Friends

Good Saturday morning blog friends! I created this card for a brand new challenge - Where Creativity Meets C9 - and the theme is "celebration".  I am also playing along with The Challenge where it's color week.  Check out their gorgeous color palette...LOVE!  

It's so easy to create your own patterned papers with C9's Wildflower stamp set (along with the splatter stamps from their Brushed Blossom set).  I embellished with

a trio of coordinating flower dies (don't you just love the open, airy design?!).  I was limited in my sentiment choices until I thought about the many friends I've made over the years and decided to celebrate a friend.

Here's what I used...
STAMPS: Wildflower, Brushed Blossom and Wonderful Women stamp sets by Concord and 9th.  
PAPER: Perfectly Plaid Fall by Lawn Fawn.
INK: Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Daffodil Delight by SU; Versafine Onyx Black.
DIES: Wonderful Words, Floral and Flutter by C9; Edge Essentials (tiny scallop) by Reverse Confetti; Stitched Fishtail Flags Die-Namics by MFT.   

I'm heading out to work soon with my Virginia Tech scrubs all ready to roll!  Big game tonight with Tennessee at the Bristol raceway with a record-breaking crowd predicted!  Go Hokies!

Sending Smiles

While waiting for laundry to finish, I decided to create a card for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and also The Card Concept Challenge. I was inspired by the rainbow of colors in the inspiration photo, so proceeded with what I consider a clean and layered style.  I started with 7 distress markers and colored horizontally then spritzed lightly with water.  I used the ABC Panel die to cut the base.  Floral images were colored, die cut and popped with different thicknesses of foam dots.  Black and yellow enamel accents were added to

some of the flower centers.  Here's a list of what I used...

STAMPS: My World (sentiment) and Toucan of Friendship (flowers) - both by Reverse Confetti.
PAPER: Ranger watercolor, Black, White.
INK: Versafine Onyx Black.
MARKERS: Barn Door, Carved Pumpkin, Squeezed Lemonade, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag, You're It

I was inspired by Melissa Bickford's great layered floral tag and decided to play along with the current Tag, You're It Challenge #55.  I stamped the florals (Mini Modern Blooms by MFT) with Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade and Garden Green inks.  The tiny dots were stamped with Bermuda Bay.  Patterned paper is from Bo Bunny's Key Lime 6x6 collection and the tag is MFT's Traditional Tags STAX Die-Namics.  The sentiment is from the Fancy Words Confetti Cuts set by Reverse Confetti.  The tiny scalloped borders are Edge Essentials - also by Reverse Confetti.

Time for this gal to be heading to bed...midnight oil is running low!