last chance {Mojo!}

Hi Blog Friends!  I've got a Mojo Monday card sketch for you using some of my fave stamps and paper from the Summer Mini and today's the last day to get 'em before they're gone!  Here's a look at this week's Mojo 154 sketch - you have the option to make a round or square card. 

As you all know, I'm a sucker for challenges, and when I saw how fun the sketch was, I wanted to play!  I also wanted to pay tribute to some fun products I've enjoyed in the summer mini - namely this Island Oasis DSP!  This Sentimental Journey stamp set is so fun, too.  I love this little car!  Here's my full card:

These colors are such happy summer colors, so I guess it's appropo that I use them on the last day of August, with our summer winding down and fall right on its heels.  Don't these bright colors and prints just look like candy?  Here's the recipe for this card:

{Island Journey}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Sets: Sentimental Jouorney, Pedaling Past

*Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White, Island Oasis DSP

*Inks: Rose Red, Early Espresso

*Accessories: Island Floral Bigz die, Clear Scallop Square Bigz die, Scallop Circles #2 Bigz die, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die {upcoming Holiday Mini!}, Circle cutter, Linen Thread, Brights and Subtles buttons

Hope you like it!  Have a fantastic day. :)

a few snaps from Leavenworth, WA

Hello there!  If you've followed my blog, you'll know that I was recently in Washington for my sister-in-law's wedding.  It was in an adorable town called Leavenworth, WA and the scenery was just gorgeous!  From the Bavarian themed buildings in the main town, to the beautiful river cottages, it was definitely a fun place to visit.  Here are just a few pictures from our trip:

Have a fantastic day!

2S4Y card sketch time!

Hello there blog friends!  Hope you enjoyed your weekend.  I can't believe we're right on the cusp of September already!  Well, today is Monday, so that mean's it's time for this week's 2S4Y sketch.  The sneak peek photo above just shows you snippet of the fun ribbon {which is my current favorite ribbon treatment, at the moment!}.  Like it so far?  Well, first, let's take a look at the awesome sketch that Kazan created for the week.

So what I ended up doing is flipping this sketch upside down to create this card.

The fun stamps on the card are from our sponsor of the week, Paper Makeup Stamps and the image I used was Caliope with a Flower - so cute.  I just love the little sentiment, too.  It inspired me to create a little garden path of flowers from a variety of punches.  Then, I added some pearl embellies in the center and made them pop up with dimensionals.  So back to the ribbon....isn't that scrunched up look so fun?!  It takes a little bit of practice, but once you get the hang of it, you'll see that it's fun to do!  In this card, I used 2 strips of the double stick tape that's about 1/4" wide.  I think it holds the ribbon more securely when you have a wider strip of adhesive. Anyway, once you do that, you begin to apply the ribbon to the adhesive in a zig zag fashion, twisting the ribbon and using your thumb to pat down and secure the ribbon as you go.   Viola!  It's got such a unique look once you're done.  Then I added the button to accessorize and complete my treatment. Hope you like the card.  Here's another look for you:

What I love most about sketches is trying to figure out what sort of theme I'm going with, then I try to carry that through the card.  For this particular card, I really wanted to create a scene that matched the quote.  So, I got a little "punchy" and used some of my favorite bitty flower punches!  Hope you like the card!  Here's the recipe for you:

{Flower garden whimsy}

*Stamp Set: Caliope with a Flower, If I had a flower

*Cardstock: SU1 - Whisper White, Early Espresso, Nursery Suite Specialty DSP

*Inks: SU! - Baja Breeze, Blush Blossom, Pear Pizazz, Melon Mambo Markers; Basic Black Classic Ink Pad

*Accessories: Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Button, Designer Label Punch, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Trio flower punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Basic Pearls; baker's twine

So how about checking out what the rest of the 2S4Y Design Team's created? 

• 
  
  Angie
• 
  
  Courtney
• 
  
  Kazan
• 
  
  Kelly Marie
• 
  
  Laura
• 
  
  Regina
• 
  
  Stacey

We'd love for you to play along, so come visit us at 2S4Y and enter your card!

Have a great week!

Hauntedly embellished

I think I've been bitten by the challenge bug...I'm back today with another post - this time for the Embellish Color Challenge using squares!  Can you guess what I made?  Before I show you the full card, here's a look at the challenge for you:

Originally, I was going to do a flower theme, but as I looked at the colors a little longer, I decided to do something with Halloween.  The colors I used are SU!'s Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, and Certainly Celery.  So...here's a look at my full card.

I've been seeing lots of "house" cards, so that was my inspiration for creating a haunted house.  I used squares for the windows and stamped a spider web in each to give my house a frightful look.  Then for the door, I created a wreath with a spooky Halloween sentiment.  This was so much fun to do that I think I want to make a house card for each of the seasons!  I used the Smooch Accent Ink in Silver Fox to outline my windows and doors to make them pop.  Then for my wreath, how fun is that tinsel?  It'll be available in the upcoming SU! Holiday Mini.  The little blinged out door knob is from the Glimmer Basics brads collection.  Hope you like it!  Here's the recipe for you.

{Hauntedly Wicked Halloween}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Set: Wicked Cool

*Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery, Textured Basic Black

*Inks: Basic Black

*Accessories: Bat Punch, Scallop Square Clear Bigz die, Glimmer Brads, Tinsel Trim, 1" circle punch, Smooch Accent Ink

Hope you like the card and embellies!  I had a fun time playing along :)  Thanks for taking a peek at my blog!

birthday {grunge!} challenge card

Hi there!  I've got a quick share for you today - a card I created for the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 126, and colors that were inspired by the Color Q challenge...unfortunately, I missed the deadline for this challenge by minutes - boo!  Oh well..there's always next time, and at least I got to play in one!  I really loved the colors in the Colour Q, and had the idea of using the SU! Grunge Rock set, so this is the card I came up with. Here's what the challenges look like.

I'm really digging this Grunge Rock stamp set-so fun!  Hope you like it too.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

new blog look

Hi blog peeps!  It had been a while since I've tinkered with my blog header and layout, so I thought I'd change it up a bit and go with a whole new color scheme.  What do you think?  Since it's almost fall time, I decided to go with a more subdued and muted look.  I had fun making my new header in MDS and now that I've looked at the header a bit, I think I do like the black background with the Vanilla/Baja Breeze/Wild Wasabi color accents.  I also changed my sidebar graphics in MDS - I made the Modern Label "labels" that say "Links", "About", and "Follow."  I'll have to look at my page again tomorrow and see if I like the new change.  Would love to get your feedback!

In the meantime, I'm going to call it a night.  It's getting late!  See you tomorrow.

2S4Y Birthday Blog Hop for Laura!

Hi all!  Today, I've got a special card I've created for 2S4Y's blog hop for Laura Davis's Birthday!  Happy Birthday, Laura!!  Regina, a fellow 2S4Y designer, planned this little birthday tour and I hope you'll follow along with us!  Here's a look at my full card:

Isn't that image just darling?  It's from an SU! set called Greeting Card Kids and I just think it's so adorable!  I was excited to use it for Laura's birthday card!  I am also a big fan of this color combo from the new Love Letter DSP...so vintage looking and so yummy!  Hope you like it!  Here's the recipe:

{Birthday Wishes for Laura!}

All supplies SU! except where noted

*Stamp Set: Greeting Card Kids, Occasional Quotes

*Cardstock: Basic Black, Love Letter DSP, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla

*Inks: Basic Black, Early Espresso Classic Ink Pads; Riding Hood Red, So Saffron and Poppy Parade Markers

*Accessories:Top Note Bigz Die, Scallop Square Bigz Die, Victoria Crochet Trim, Basic Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Oval Punch, Modern Label Punch, Candy Cane Big Designer Buttons, Basic Rhinestones; Twine {PTI}

I've got one last look at the card for you:

Now have fun checking out the rest of the 2S4Y Design Team blog!

Angie

Courtney

Kazan

Kelly Marie

Regina

Rosemarie {you are here!}

Stacey

And last but not least, you can visit the Birthday Girl herself!

Laura

Feel free to pop on by and wish her a Happy Birthday!!

Toodles for now :)

Winner Winner!

Hi Blog Peeps!  Are you ready to find out who the winner is for the August Final Friday Giveaway?  Before I announce, I want to say that I appreciate you guys answering about the Mac vs PC thing.  Turns out that the majority of you are PC's!  I am one as well, but as I said, I have been intrigued with the Mac as of late.  Not going to take any immediate action because my PC so far is still serving its purpose :)

Anyway, let's have a drumroll for our winner, shall we?  And the winner is......

Lucky #11, who happens to be....

Juanita!!

Congratulations to you!

Here's what she had to say:

Thanks, Juanita - I'll be contacting you soon!  Thank you all for playing this month.  Stay tuned for September's Final Freebie Friday!

Wicked Halloween

Hi all!  I've got a quick share for you today to get you into the Halloween spirit in August :)  Here's a card I created with the Wicked Cool stamp set.  I also used the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die on the Wicked Fun Specialty DSP for the jumbo ric rac in the background.  I used a couple more fun products from the upcoming Holiday Mini - can you spot them?  If you guessed the Scallop Square Bigz die {there are 2 scallop squares on the die} and the new Designer Label punch, you guessed right!  Hope you like it! 

Have a great day!  Ciao for now :)

{congratulations!}

...to my beautiful sister-in-law, Erin, and her handsome new hub, Kyle!  We had a fun-filled weekend of wedding festivities in Leavenworth, Washington this past weekend, and it really was such a great time.  The scenery was gorgeous, and the ambience was just perfect!  I think this picture says a lot.  I love the horse-drawn carriage, and I think Erin and Kyle look so sweet riding in it.  The happy couple leaves for their honeymoon today, so I thought I'd send them off with a little tribute of their wedding day. (Tip: to view the video without my playlist music interfering, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the sound button in the playlist app to mute).  I'm practicing putting together videos, so hope you enjoy this one!


Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a good one :)

{love letter} for 2S4Y

Hi all!  Happy Monday! It's time for this week's 2S4Y sketch!  This was a freebie week, so we got to use any products we wanted to with Laura's sketch of the week.  How do you like the sneak peek so far?  I loved experimenting with the paper flowers!  I got that mottled look by spraying it with water, scrunching up the flowers, and then used a direct to paper technique by laying the flower onto the cherry cobbler stamp pad and lightly ran my fingers on the paper petals to get the color.  I used a similar technique on my Peony Flower tutorial.  Here's the fun sketch that Laura created:

I love this sketch - probably because I love working with panels and tinkering with mixed patterns.  For this card, I used the Love Letter DSP, and also stamped one of the panels using the Artistic Etchings stamp set. Here's a look at my full card.

What do you think?  Aren't those patterns so fun?  I love the color scheme, which is Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, and I also used Cherry Cobbler for the flower.  I'm getting lots of use out of the Curly Cute stamp set - love the look of the swirly greetings!  Here's one last look at the card for you:

Another fun accent is the baker's twine - that's one hot accessory I've been seeing on cards lately and I just love the look!  Here's the full recipe for you:

{Love Letter Birthday}

All supplies Stampin'Up! except baker's twine

*Stamp Sets: Artistic Etchings, Curly Cute

*Cardstock: Love Letter DSP, Basic Black, Very Vanilla

*Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Early Espresso {for the sponged edges}

*Accessories: Paper Flowers, Antique Brads, Regals Designer buttons, baker's twine

Hope you like it!  Thanks for dropping by today.  Now be sure to stop by 2S4Y - we'd love for you to play along!

inspired by {kites!}

Hi all!  I've been spotting a bunch of gorgeous kites on some of my favorite blogs, so I was inspired to create my own!  As you've probably gathered, I'm also very enamored by the Sweet & Sour DSP, so of course, this was my palette of choice.  How do you like the little sneak peek snippet of my kite?  Do you like it so far?  Well, here's the full view for you.

Believe it or not, this was super easy to make from scratch!  I used all kinds of fun favorite elements, like the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Basic Pearls, and Scallop Border punch.  I also used a couple buttons for good measure.  And, couldn't leave stamping out of it - I stamped my sentiment using the Curly Cute Happy Birthday sentiment.  You like? Hope so!  Once I get a chance, I'll post a quick tutorial for my little kite assembly.  You'll see it's a snap to do with just a little bit of scrap paper, too!  All the supplies I used for this project are Stampin'Up!, except for the bit of twine I used for the kite tail {PTI}.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  This week is racing past me, so you'll have to forgive my sparse posting this week!  Catch you guys a little later!  Bye for now.

2S4Y...{pirate's life} for me

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!  I kept singing that song when I was making this card.  happy Monday, all! This week's sponsor at 2S4Y is AI Factory, and this fun pirate's image is one of their digistamps!  Isn't he a cute pirate?  I think he is just adorable!  Here's a look at Kazan's inspirational sketch:

And here's my full card:

I turned the sketch on its side.  I was trying to figure out what sentiment to add, but didn't have any pirate like sayings.  My hubby, though, made one up that made me chuckle.  He said "I'd give you an arm and a leg for that treasure!"  Too funny.  I ended up tying something to my pirate's hook.  Here's the recipe for you:

{Pirate 4U}

*Stamps: Pirate {AI Factory}, Tiny Tags {SU!}

*Cardstock: {SU} - Wicked Fun Specialty DSP, Concord Crush, Whisper White, Basic Black

*Inks:{SU} - Concord Crush, Blush Blossom, Basic Black, Basic Gray, River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, More Mustard markers

*Accessories: Pinking Hearts border, Basic Black striped ribbon, Mini Vintage tags

Thanks for checking in today!  Now go and take a look at the 2S4Y site and come play along! 

love to Embellish on a Sunday afternoon

Hey there!  Are you guys enjoying your weekend?  Hope so.  I found some time to create a card for the Embellish challenge this afternoon.  You guys know how I love the challenges..the down side with the busy work and life schedule is that I don't get to play in these sketch and color challenges as frequently as I used to!  Anyhow, I'm glad I got to play today - it was good ol' relaxing creative therapy for me!  Here's what the Embellish challenge colors and theme are:

The colors I used are: SU!'s Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Peach Parfait, and Very Vanilla.  Now, as for the cute and quirky aspect of the challenge, I went with the fun trimmings from the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die (sneak peek from the Holiday Mini).  I just think they're so cute.  My sweet little "merci" sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.  Wanna see my full card?  Here you go:

Here's the recipe for you:

{Butterfly Trim Merci}

*Stamps: Merci {Lawn Fawn}

*Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Peach Parfait

*Inks: Early Espresso

*Accessories: Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Polka dots emobossing folder, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Beautiful Butterflies, Subtles buttons, twine, white gel pen

Thanks for visiting :)  Bye for now!

{cup o' tea} anyone?

Hey there again!  How's your Saturday going?  It's amazing how the weeks just seem to be flying by, and how much I look forward to catching my breath on Saturdays!  I'm so glad I got a chance to create some stuff to share with you guys, too.  Today, I've got a little pillow box share.  I am loving that die and what's funny is I'm trying to think of occasions or reasons to make favors to give out!  Funny, huh?  So this little share is one of those things that you can give to any girl for any occasion.  It' such a sweet little something - you can enclose a tea bag, jewelry, some tags, or some little trinket gift.  Here's a look at the entire pillow box:

So cute and easy to make!  As you can see, I played with all kinds of elements to create this favor.  I love packaging, so I had fun dressing up the pillowbox die.  I embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then embellished with the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die and the Pearls.  For the tag, I used the scallop oval punch and layered that on top of the new Extra Large Decorative Label punch that will be in the new Holiday Mini catalog.  Then I tooks some twine and wrapped it around the pillowbox, and secured my tag with a Subtles Designer Button.  Here's the recipe for you:

{Sweet Tea Pillowbox}

All supplies Stampin'Up! except for twine

*Stamps: Tiny Teacup

*Cardstock: So Saffron, Sweet & Sour DSP, Very Vanilla

*Inks: Regal Rose classic ink pad, Basic Gray, So Saffron markers

*Accessories: Pillow Box die, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Scallop Oval punch, Extra Large Designer Label punch, Basic Pearls, Subtles Buttons, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, twine

Hope you like it!  Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy your weekend!

Finally...August's Final Friday Freebie is here!

Hello there blog peeps!  I know it's taken me a while to post this month's Final Friday giveaway, but at last, here it is.  How fun is this Animal Cracker set?  Look familiar?  I had given one of these sets out before as well!  Wanna find out how you can win it? 

Here are the rules {only enforced by the "Honor System"}:
1. Leave me a comment on this post by midnight Pacific Time, Wed, August 25th, 2010.
2. On your comment, please make sure to include a valid email address or a blog URL (where I can leave a comment or have a way of contacting you). For those of you that are uncomfortable with leaving an email in a post, you can write your info like this: yourname at emailaccount dot com.
3. One comment per person please. :)
4. Anyone can play - international visitors welcome!

You can leave me a comment about anything you'd like, or you can answer this question.  Are you a Mac or a PC?  Random question, I know.  I am a PC wishing I were a Mac, I think.  I'm intrigued with the Mac, but maybe it's because I have such a fascination with Apple products at the moment.  For you Mac users out there, I would love to hear your thoughts...and same goes for PC's, about what you like best about your computers.  Look forward to reading your comments!

I'll be announcing the lucky winner on Friday, August 27th, so come back and visit!
Have a great day!

10 years

I love this picture of Michael and I on our wedding day.  Never mind that he's caught in a blink, but maybe it's symbolic..as we walk across the busy street of life, even with eyes closed, we can make it across together.  I feel so lucky and blessed to be celebrating my 10 year anniversary with my best friend.  I love you, dear husband.  Happy Anniversary.

oooh...spooky!

I know it's only August, but Halloween is right around the corner!  I wanted to share a quick card I made with more sneaks from the Holiday Mini - namely the spider web embossing folder.  How cool is that?  And, not to mention, the cute punch in the bottom corner.  Are you getting excited about the upcoming mini?  It's seriously chockfull of awesome products!  That's my tease for the day. 

Luckily, if you want to get a jump on Halloween, the Wicked Cool stamp set and the Bitty Bat punch are available now in the catty, along with lots of great Halloween stamps.  Feel free to check it out at my Demonstrator Website here, where you can shop 24/7.  Just click on the "Shop Now" button and you'll be on your way!

Have a good one!

sweet fairy {hello} for 2S4Y

Hi all!  It's a brand new week, so that means it's time for a new 2S4Y sketch!  If you've seen my last couple of posts, you'll know that I've been having lots of fun playing with some of my new SU! products.  Well, I happened to incorporate a few things in my card today as well {wink}.  This week's sponsor at 2S4Y is Character Cafe, which is where the darling image you see above is from.  It's a digi stamp called Fairy Belletif.  But before I show you the full card, here's a look at Laura's sketch:

There's lots you can do with this sketch!  Very versatile, yet love the nice and clean lines.  Now, here's a look at the full card:

Isn't this fairy image precious?  I'm not typically one for Fairies, but this one is so sweet.  I had a lot of fun embellishing her - from her wings to her dress!  Not sure if you can tell in the picture, but I coated her wings with the Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink - it's applied like nail polish and has a nice little glimmer to it.  Then, I went a little nuts with my half pearl embellishments - those are so fun to apply!  Tip:  I've found that using a tweezer to place the pearls makes it much easier to get it to the exact spot you want.  What do you think of the card?  Hope you like it.  Here's the recipe for you:

{Fairy Hello}

*Stamps: Fairy Belletif {Character Cafe}, Tiny Tags {SU!}

*Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Sweet and Sour DSP

*Inks: Crumb cake {used to sponge the edges}, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Pretty In Pink, Blushing Bride

*Accessories: Tastful Trim Bigz XL die and Very Vanilla Seam Binding {sneak peeks from the Holiday Mini}; jewelry tag medium punch, string, Smooch Pearlized Top Coat

So, how about you check out the fab cards at 2S4Y and play along!  Cheers :)