SCS Sketch #248

Today's sketch on SCS's was a wonderful one. I had actually saved the card in my Favorites on SCS because I liked the layout when I first saw it! Nice and simple so you can play away with it :D

Speaking of my Favorites, I really do need to make a point of going through all the cards I have in there and cleaning things up as I have accumulated quite a few cards in there! A year ago I actually did go through and clean out a ton of cards. A year later, I think I'm back to where I started a year ago - ugh! Problem is I add cards to my favorites when I see a layout I like, a new way to use punches, different ways of layering a sentiment, ribbon treatments etc. There are so many talented ladies on SCS that the ideas are endless and unfortunately, my memory capacity isn't LOL! Now that I'm thinking about it, I should should go into my Favorites once a week and pick a card to either CASE (copy and share everything) or use as a starting point on a card. Now all I need is more time to be able to do it and more importantly, to remember to do it LOL!

Sorry, I regressed....back to the card. I thought this layout would be wonderful for a Christmas card as I've seen more and more popping up on blogs and SCS as companies begin releasing their Christmas lines. The first thing that popped into my head was Martha Stewart's snowflake punch. Just love it! I also love scallops (not the kind you eat - yuk!) so I pulled out my Marvy Square Scalloped Punch (nesties version is on my wish list!). Some fun DP gave me the colour combo and I used my all time favorite embossing folder, Swiss Dots, for some texture on the white panel. A bit of bling to the center of the snowflakes and silver ribbon with a bow up the side for a finishing touch. I used my new Bow Easy to make the bow. After hearing so much about it and watching a few You Tube videos, I used a 40% coupon at my local scrapbooking store to get one so I could try it out. I must say I quite enjoy it -- now I just have to stock up on glue dots to adhere the bows to the cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I always appreciate the company :D



What's In It?
Paper: Costco DP Pack, Non SU Blue
Accessories: Swiss Dots EF, Marvy Square Scalloped Punch, Sheer Silver Ribbon, Glue Dots, Bow Easy, Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch, Clear Medium Circle Brads from Michael's, Dimensionals

Tuesday Butterfly

I always look forward to Tuesday's because Mercy posts her sketch of the week. I just love her sketches and this one is no exception. It was fun going to a longer length card - a fun change from the standard card size I tend to always make.

Since I needed a horizontal stamp and I know I don't have very many of them, I dug through my stamps and found this wonderful Stampin' Up set called Priceless. The butterfly is fabulous as is the flourish. I then dug through my Costco DP pack and pulled out this DP. I'm not crazy about it, but I think it works. I matted it with Rose Red, stamped the flourish with Pretty in Pink and stamped the butterfly in Rose Red. Some Pretty in pink along the bottom and now all I needed was a ribbon. I was trying to go for monochromatic but it was just too pink for me so I decided to go with this lovely yellow satin ribbon to give things a bit of colour. Taylor's Tiny Twinkies care to the rescue. I used them on the butterfly body and flourish to tie in to the yellow ribbon, pierced the corners as they felt a bit "empty" and then popped up the main image panel and I was on my way.

The card cheered me up as today has been a very dreary, wet day. After 4 months with very little rain, it is hard to get used to it again! I even turned on the gas fireplace to take the chill out of the family room. Hopefully the weather forecast is correct in saying the sunshine is coming back and we will hold true to our usual Fall weather pattern of sunshine until about mid-October.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!




What's In It?
Stamps: Priceless
Paper: Rose Red, Pretty Pink, Costco DP
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red
Accessories: Taylor's Tiny Twinkies, Martha Stewart Lace Border Punch, Yellow Satin, Dimensionals.

Purple Specialty Twist

This week's Verve Sketch with a Twist was to use special papers. Lucky for me I had a piece of printed vellum in my stash from years ago. I fussed with the colour combo as I needed something dark to have the pattern on the vellum show up and finally settled on the purple. I used the debossed side of the Birds and Swirls embossing folder for the white circle as the embossed side was too harsh for the delicate vellum pattern. I chose this wonderful sentiment from Verve, added a couple of flowers in the corners to fill in the white space around the sentiment, and topped things off with some silver half pearls and the back side of a patterned ribbon because the colour matched my monochromatic card perfectly. September's Verve sketches are done and now I can focus on my daughter's birthday party tonite LOL!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by :D



What's In It?
Stamps: Verve
Paper: Non SU lilac, light lilac, Floral Fantasy Printed Vellum
Accessories: Marvy scalloped Circle and Circle Punches, Ribbon, Silver Half Pearls, Birds and Swirls Embossing Folder, Mini Flower Punch from Michael's, Dimensionals.

SCS Sketch #247

Today's sketch challenge on SCS was a wonderful one. Nice and simple, the way I like them LOL! I know I'll be using this one again.

I dug into my Costco DP pack again and came up with this striped DP. Matted it with the matching plain colour and then selected this wonderful image from Stem Silhouettes, one of my all time favorite SU sets! I added some Taylor Tiny Twinkies down the scalloped edge for a bit of pop and the Michael's $1.50 ribbon bin came to the rescue yet again. My ribbon bin diving/digging expeditions always pay off LOL! I wish they would bring it back out again as it has been missing for over a month now and I'm starting to get nervous as that bin is one of my main ribbon sources!!! Will have to check into it next time I'm there. Hopefully they are just giving it a rest and making people focus on the Halloween and Christmas ribbons they have out.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day! We are heading back up to 29C again today -- this summer weather has been AMAZING!!! Won't know what to do when it starts raining again as we've been so spoiled with all this sunny, warm weather.

Blessings,



What's In It?
Stamps: Stem Silhouettes (SU Set), Savvy Stamps (Sentiment)
Paper: Costco DP Pack
Ink: Rudy Red
Accessories: Taylor's Tiny Twinkies, Ribbon from Mike's, SU Scalloped Edge Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch #40

Today is my daughter's birthday and I can't believe my firstborn is turning 11...it just pulls at my heart strings!! Where do the years go?!! She is growing up so quickly I wish I could freeze frame her for a while. As some one once said, "it is hard to have your heart walking around outside your body" and I have so many wonderful memories I have treasured in my heart!! She is such a precious child who has an amazing faith and relationship with Jesus. Her huge heart, sensitive spirit, giving heart and helpful nature are but a few of the things I love about her. She has taught me so much by simply being who she is and has stretched me when I have to deal with and help equip her on how to deal with her emotional side (we are quite opposite here -- I'm not overly emotional and she very emotional!) . My prayer is that God would use me to equip and train her to be the best she can be for Him, that her relationship with Christ would grow deeper every year and that she would touch the lives of many. Happy Birthday, sweetheart - I LOVE YOU!

Now on to the card! This is another wonderful Tuesday Sketch by Mercy! If you are unfamiliar with her sketches, visit her blog Lord Have Mercy.

Since today is the first day of Fall I thought I would make an Autumn card. I found this fun polka dotted DP and decided to go with it. I pulled out one of my favorite SU sets Petal Prints. I stamped off the image once to give it a bit of shading, and used the Itty Bitty Background stamp for some flecks on the main image panel and around the tan panel. Since it was a pretty "dull" card, I added some Chocolate Chip cardstock for a bit of pop, used this yummy brown satin ribbon to match and added three brads on the main image panel. The card is still very dull in my eyes so I'm going to make another one with this sketch as it is such a wonderful sketch!!

Thanks for dropping by :D



What's In It? Stamps: Petal Prints Paper: Unknown DP, Chocolate Chip, Tan, Cream Linen Ink: Rudy Red Accessories: Chocolate Brown Satin Ribbon, Brads, Corner Rounder, Dimensionals

Birthday Mojo

This Mojo Monday sketch threw me for a loop at first glance. I need a card for my daughter's birthday tomorrow so I gave it a go. Half way in I was wanting to quit but too stubborn to do so... wish I had as this card took me over two hours to make and I'm not very happy with it!!

I chose the ribbon as a starting point and went from there. Still not sure about my final creation, but it was all my little creative gene could pump out today after a very busy weekend! September is always a crazy month in our house with two family birthdays, a SIL's birthday and my son's birthday party (his birthday is on the August long weekend, and there is usually nobody around so I do a party in September). Add the increase in scheduled activities and shifting from our lazy summer mode to Indy 500 pace and it takes a toll on this aging body LOL!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day :D



What's In It?
Stamps: A Greeting For A Reasons
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Lovely Lilac
Accessories: Ribbon, Heart punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, SU Corner punch, Mike's $1.50 Mini flower punch, Swiss Dots EF, Dimensionals

Verve September Sketch #4

This week's Verve Sketch with a Twist was to make a black and white card. I just love black and white cards. They are bold, sophisticated and have wonderful clean lines. Amber provided us with a wonderful sketch to go along with the twist too.

I dug through my Costco DP pack (tired of me referring to that yet LOL!) as I knew it had some black and white DP sheets in it. I found this wonderful sheet and went from there. I used the bonus stamp Julee sent with my last Verve order as it referred to flowers and the DP had flowers. The swirls of the script on the sentiment lead me to the Divine Swirls embossing folder and when you have flowers you have to have butterflies, right?! This sheer black ribbon was a nice soft finishing touch.

I have now completed my September Verve sketches - yeah!! It has been quite the week of creating and now I have to get back into my real life and get some things done around here :D

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my little corner of blog land.



What's In It?
Stamps: Verve
Paper: Costco DP Pack, Black, White Ink: Black
Accessories: SU Scalloped Border Punch, Martha Steward Butterfly Punch, Half Pearls, Divine Swirls Embossing Folder, Sheer Black Ribbon, Dimensionals

Verve Release Sketch #1

This is my last Verve Release Challenge card - yipee!! Would be great to win some Verve tonite at the release party as a result of completing the challenges, but I can't get too greedy as I won at the last release party. However, one can always wish :D

This was actually the first release challenge, but my "one creative gene" was in serious rebellion around this sketch for some reason so I left it for last. I pulled out some of the Hostessing DP I got last year or the year before and for some reason settled on the grey. Not exactly the first colour I think of when I think of butterflies, but there are some ridiculous politics going on in my son's soccer association that have had a very negative impact on his age group. I won't get started or you will be reading this post for a few hours!! Let's just say, they are not thinking through the impact or wide spread ramifications some of their decisions are having on this age group, and when if affects so many kids and only benefits a few, I get more than just a little upset!!! Enough said.

I just love this Great Friend set and don't know why it took so long for me to get it! In hindsight I think I should have embossed the butterfly, but time is of the essence as the deadline for completing the challenges is too close for comfort right now LOL! Sketch came together quite nicely and for the circle portion I used the Martha Stewart Leaf punch to tie into the leaves on the butterfly. The white panel is embossed with the Birds and Swirls embossing folder and the bottom grey section was crimped and then flattened a bit so the crimping wasn't so dominant. Three little flowers along the bottom was my finishing touch -- I can't tell you how often I have used that $1.50 mini punch from Michael's! I even got a second one just in case the first one wears out LOL! Lots of dimensionals popping up layers which you can't really see in the photo, but it looks great in real life.

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments. It makes my day to hear from you :D



What's In It?
Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Black, Greys, SU DP pack
Ink: Black
Accessories: Marvy Scalloped Square Punch, SU Circle Punch, Martha Stewart Leaf Punch, Birds and Swirls Embossing Folder, Paper Crimper, Sheer Black Ribbon, Michael's Mini Flower Punch, Dimensionals

Veve FLower Flourishes

I decided to use this Flourishes sketch for the Verve "Bring on the Bling" release challenge. I love this sketch and have had it saved in my sketch file for a while so I could use it to make a "soft" card. I hunted through my stash of stamps to see what stamp set would work with this sketch and also be a good "bling" image. I finally settled on his wonderful Blooming with Happiness set. Lots of flowers means lots of places to put bling - score!!

My next challenge was to work on selecting a DP that fit the "soft feel" I wanted to give this card. My "one creative gene" gets multiple challenges out of each sketch and/or challenge I do so I went to my trusty Costco pack of DP so my card stock colours would also be chosen for me (I'm going to have some serious issues when it runs out LOL!) Since the image had flowers I decided to use the Martha's Stewart flower border punch and paired it with the scalloped oval punch. In lieu of the challenge, I added silver half pearls to each flower center on the cake and the border punch. My final issue was to decide on sheer versus satin ribbon. I settled on the sheer ribbon as the satin ribbon felt to "heavy", but what I really wanted to use was the ribbon that has the satin strip down the middle with the sheer edges. I thought I had some in my stash, but apparently not - uhg! Needless to say, my ribbon list for Michael's is growing after each challenge I've done this week LOL! The good news is, four Verve Release Challenges down, and only one to go!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope describing some of my "creative issues" encourages someone else who is encountering similar ones :D I can't believe how much I have grown since the first time I picked up a stamp and how despite my lack of "natural artistic talent" (the athletic genes won out big time!!) I so very much enjoy this wonderful addiction -- oops, I mean hobby LOL!!



What's In It?
Stamps: Blooming with Happiness(Stampin'Up)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Costco DP Pack.
Accessories: Martha Stewart Border Punch, SU Scalloped Oval Punch, SULarge and Small Oval Punches, Silver Half Pearls, White Sheer Ribbon, Dimensionals.

Distressed Puppy

I used this week's Crazy For Challenges sketch for the fourth Verve Release challenge which was to use distressing on your card. This sketch was perfect for this adorable Penny Black stamp. I apologize for the quality of the colouring. I don't own Copics or water colour pencil crayons and gamsol, and my blender pen was dried out so I had to revert to pencil crayons (the things you find out about late at night and can't do anything about....!). I did feel like I was back in elementary school when I was colouring this little guy. However, issues I had back then came back to life... I realized I am not good at picking out colours to colour things. Probably a good thing I don't own Copics as I wouldn't be very good at colouring images any way LOL! Lucky for me, Penny Black colours their stamped images and I have been known to follow the colours they use more than once - though not in this case for some strange reason. Must have been the late hour when my brain had gone to bed even if my body is still up :D

I roughed up the edges of the four square panels as well as the main image panel. The sentiment needed a bit more of a lift so I pierced under it and then I balanced things off with a brad in the lower right hand corner. Not my best card, sorry!


What's In It?
Stamps: Penny Black
Paper: Vanilla, Cocoa, Tan, Paw Print DP
Accessories: SU paper distressing tool, brad, paper piercer, dimensionals.

Sweet Sunday Verve

Here is my second Verve Release Challenge card. This was another colour challenge card and it was a challenge!!! The colours we had to use were Deep Purple, Olive, Burnt Orange and Teal. I didn't have all the colours so I had to do a bit of substituting. These colours are lovely together but it took me a bit of doing to get it to work for me LOL!

I used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch as my layout and went from there. I merrily used my Fluttering By Verve butterfly (this is one of my favorite Verve sets) and since Pumpkin Pie was called for again, I got to use my only supply of orange ribbon again lol :D I pierced under the sentiment to zip it up a bit and then added the dew drops to the butterfly and up the side to balance things off.

Two challenges down three to go....

Thanks for stopping by!!



What's In It?
Stamps: Fluttering By (Verve)
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Turquoise
Ink: Eggplant Envy (retired)
Accessories: Marvy scalloped circle and circle punches, dew drops, ribbon, paper piercer, dimensionals

Mercy Meets Verve

This is a very busy week for me as there is a Verve Release Party happening this Friday over at the Verve Forum on SCS. Every time there is a release party, Julee puts out a few challenges which allow you the opportunity to win some free Verve!! I love Verve stamps and you don't have to ask me twice if I'll be doing them, or giving up a few hours of sleep to get them all done LOL!

The first challenge I did was one of the colour challenges. The Master Thread for the challenges for this month's release can be found here. I chose to start with Michelle's colour challenge because I just LOVE fall colours. We had to use Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Pumpkin Pie and Vanilla. Being sketch design challenged at the best of times, I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch so I could ink up this cute tree stamp I found at Mike's in the $1.50 stamp bin. I added some of Taylor's Tiny Twinkies to the tree for some sparkle and dimension, but it doesn't really show in the picture. Since the Rough Stripes embossing folder reminds me of tree bark, I used it on the vanilla panel. I wanted to go with a wider ribbon across the bottom, but this was the only orange I had in my stash so it had to do. I dressed it up a bit with a button and some piercing under it on the moss panel.

Thanks for stopping buy today - your comments make my day :D



What's In It?
Stamps: Mike's $1.50 Recollections Stamp
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Pumpkin Pie, Vanilla.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Marcy scalloped circle and circle punch, rough stripes embossing folder, Taylor's Tiny Twinkies, ribbon from Mike's, button, brads, paper piercer, dimensionals.

Mojo Button Boquet

After and incredibly busy weekend with my son's soccer practice, prepping for and teaching the grade 5/6 Sunday school class, my son's birthday party, meeting a new family who's kids I'll be watching after school and the usual house cleaning and laundry, today's Mojo Monday Sketch was the perfect way to relax. A nap almost won out though as "the lights are on but nobody's home" in this tired out body today LOL!

Now on to the card! I have seen so many wonderful cards made with buttons I thought I would give one a try. I particularly like the button bouquets and after finding some buttons that were being discontinued at my Local Scrapbooking Store (I spent an hour going through their collection) I had no more excuses not to try one LOL! I pulled out some SU DP that I got as a Hostessing Gift and my new Circular Sayings set from Verve, this is what I came up with. I enjoyed my button bouquet adventure and will no doubt make some more :D

Looking forward to Mercy's Tuesday Sketch challenge tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.




What's In It?
Stamps: Flower Filled (SU), Circular Sayings (Verve)
Paper: SU DP Pack, Non SU blue, pink
Ink: Sage Shadow
Accessories: Buttons, Nesties scalloped circles and circles, silver brads, dimensionals

Verve Sketch for a Friend

This week's Verve Sketch with a Twist was to make a card for a friend and you get bonus points if you make an envelope too. I had a heck of a time getting the envelop in the picture so I apologize for the quality of the photo. I'm still learning TONS about Photoshop...the old grey matter is getting a workout LOL!! I think I'll walk myself through the tutorials a bit at a time to learn all about it -- or take a class.

Today's sketch was the perfect opportunity to make a card for my SIL's birthday, which is later this month. We have three September birthdays in our family and we are all getting together in a few weeks at my mom's place to celebrate them all at once. I apologize that the sentiment is a bit blurry. When you stamp on Linen paper which has a bit of a grid texture to it, it is very hard to get a clean, crisp text. The sentiment reads "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly". This is very fitting for my SIL as she and my brother have just bought a house and have had to do quite a few renos to it. In addition, about 10 years ago she quit the career she was in and went to chiropractic school. Two years ago, she left the group practice she was a part of and started her own practice. I'm very proud of all she has accomplished and and want to remind her of the butterfly she has become through it all.

As for the card, I'm continuing to dip into my Costco DP pack and found this lovely grey and cream DP. I LOVE the colour cream (even though it isn't technically a colour). I wasn't sure if just two colours would work on this sketch due to the layers, but I think I got it to balance out okay. The grey panel strip gave me grief LOL! I tried multiple embossing folders but they were all overpowered the sentiment. I finally decided use my Scor-Pal and create a diamond pattern. Since the sentiment panel was cream, I used my scalloped circle nesties and embossed it to give it a bit of zip. I then added a butterfly from a Martha Steward punch and placed two half pearls on the body. The final touch was this yummy cream, satin ribbon tied in a bow. The envelope is one of the flowers from Verve's Because of You set and the butterflies are from the sentiment stamp.

I probably won't have time to stamp this weekend as it is crazy busy. My son has a soccer practice, I'll be teaching the Grade 5/6 Sunday School class and then my son has his birthday that afternoon. Can't wait for the Mojo sketch on Monday :D

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.


What's In It? Stamps: Verve
Paper: Costco DP Pack, Grey, Cream
Ink: Going Grey
Accessories: Scor-Pal, Cream Satin Ribbon, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Half Pearls, Scalloped Nesties, Dimensionals

Mercy Meets Dasher

Mercy had another wonderful sketch this week and I celebrated a full day all to myself at home (kids are now in school full time) by stamping away. It was a delightful way to spend my day :D

In keeping with working through my Costco DP package, I found this wonderful paper. I also got my SU Dasher reindeer so it was a perfect time to make a Christmas card. Sage Shadow and some Cream Linen paper I had matched perfectly.

I embossed Rudolf in Gold, used the debossed side of the Snowflakes embossing folder as the mat on the second panel, punched out the snowflake and added a brad for the corner item. My reindeer was a bit lost in all that cream space so I added a corner tab and another gold brad to balance things off. The finishing touch was some yummy cream satin ribbon. I was delighted with how this turned out and think I will make a few more as Christmas cards for family and friends.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.



What's In It?
Stamps: Dasher
Paper: Costco DP, Sage Shadow, Cream Linen
Accessories: Gold Brads, Gold Ultra Fine Embossing Powder, Corner Punch, Snowflakes Embossing Folder, Cream Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals.

Birthday Sketch Card

This was a wonderful sketch to work with. So many wonderful things you can do with it. I needed a card for my hubby who's birthday was today. I had to delve into the world of "masculine" cards and so I went to my "go to" masculine stamp, this wonderful Aspen leaf. As I've mentioned before, I'm working my way through a huge Costco DP pack I bought a few years back and this is the paper I decided to go with. Love the mustard and eggplant together - lovely rich, Fall colours. I added brads to give it a more "masculine" feel and then tried with all my might not put ribbon on the card LOL! However, it just didn't balance properly without it. I tried oval punches and circle punches for a sentiment in the lower right hand corner but nothing seemed to look right. Thus, I succumbed to having to use ribbon. Guess I could have gone with a knot or two knots side by side to fill the space....but time was tight so I went with what I had. Good news is my husband liked the card, and that's what counts :D

Thanks for stopping by and your comments make my day!!



What Is In It?
Stamps: Rubber Stampede
Paper: Costco DP, Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Paper piercer, ribbon, dimensionals.

Mojo Monday Sketch #103

I love Monday's because they bring a new Mojo Sketch. In addition, since this is the first Monday of the month, there is a chance of winning some Verve Stamps of your card is selected!! So, I'm trying again :D

I just love the Pocket Silhouette set as well as Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip and cream together so this was a fun card to be able to put together. I found this fun ribbon at Mike's and since it was chocolate and the silhouette stamp has "dots" on the tops of the flowers I decided to go with this combo. I added the Swiss Dots embossing afterwards and am not sure I'm sold on it, but it does give some dimension so it will have to do for now. I tried adding a sentiment to the image panel but it just didn't work too well with the silhouette stems so I left the main image blank.

My original concept was quite different than what I ended up with so if time permits, I may make another card based on my original concept for this sketch. Think it may be a good way to celebrate my free time the first day the kids go back to school before many other things start filling that time.

Trust you had a wonderful Labour Day weekend. Thank you so much for stopping by and let me know when you have :D




What's In It?
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Linen Cream
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Brown Polka Dotted Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals