In Love with CTD and Verve

I just loved this week's Color Throwdown combo so decided to play along and use it for a Valentines' Day card as it would be fun to make one using these non-traditional colours.  I had to sub mellow moss for the olive and white for the vanilla, so hopefully the CTD police won't be too upset with two substitutions.  I really wanted to use this DP again as it caused white overload on yesterday's card and the kraft was a great solution to my issue :)

This Verve sketch created last year by none other than the uber talented Verve Diva, Amy Sheffer and is one I really liked working with as it is perfect for the Verve U die that was calling my name again (love that die!).  This time, I even added a tag o the sketch.  It is a very similar card to my first one using this sketch.  You can see it here if you like.

Our cold snap is over and the warm weather is coming in along with lots of rain and/or freezing rain for part of today - oh joy!   A few degrees colder and we would have been dumped on with snow - much to the kids disappointment as they have loved playing and sledding in the snow.  My fingers and toes will be thankful for the warmer weather as standing on the sledding hill for 45 minutes after school does not make them very happy LOL!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for sharing a bit of yours with me :)

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Fancy Flexible Phrases (SU), Love Notes, Making a Statement and Text Objects (Verve) 
Paper: Real Red, Mellow Moss,  Kraft, Heart Buds DP (Art Impressions) 
Ink: Black, VersaMark 
Accessories:Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties,  I Heart You Die Set and Tiny Sweet Scallop Die (Verve) 5/8" Sheer Black Ribbon, Dimensionals

Mojo Out Playing In The Snow

I loved this week's Mojo Monday sketch but think my little old creative gene is having too much fun playing out in the snow and therefore not showing up in the studio.

I think the issue is the DP I used as the pattern is small and there is so much white space on it I should not have used additional white on my card.  I'm blaming my faux pas on snow blindness from all the white stuff we have outside right now - okay....lame excuse....I tried....LOL!

We are freezing our little butts off out here.  -15C with the wind chill and though it may not be as cold as the prairies at -40C with wind chill, we are wimps out here as we don't get these kind of temps very often.  Off to get a nice warm cup of green tea so I can stay warm.


 

What's In It? 
Stamps:  Love Notes (Verve) 
Paper: SU DSP, Real Red, Black, Red Heart Buds (Art Impressions) 
Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, Mat EF, Marvy Heart Punch, Crimper, 5/8" Black Sheer Ribbon, Button, Twine, Black Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

You Make My Heart Flutter

Boy, can I tell it has been along time between stamping sessions....this SFYTT sketch ground my gears but good!  Kept it pretty CAS as the training wheels are back on for a few cards until I get going again.

This cute little bird stamp is from the Michael's $1.50 bin.  I coloured it with Twinkling H2Os and added some ribbon and a sentiment panel at the bottom to balance things off.  Nothing much too it.  Sorry I can't remember who the heart paper is by as I cut off the manfacturer somewhere along the way so the piece I had didn't have any info on it :(

The snow they were predicting for us seems to have bypassed us and headed south into Washignton State so that means I get a reprieve from shoveling LOL!  Thankfully the kids had a great day yesterday sledding down the hill .  The snow cat is still standing so all is good :)

Enjoy your day!

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Studio G
Paper: Unknown DP, Rose Romance, Old Olive, Cool Caribbean
Ink: Black
Accessories:Twinkling H2Os, Doily Die (PTI), Seeing Spots EF,, 5/8" Blue Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

In The Front Yard We Will Build A Snowcat :)

Well, they were threatening snow and it actually arrived today, with more to come throughout the week.  Needless to say, the kids are ecstatic and anyone that has to drive in it isn't LOL!  

Today we only got 2 1/2  inches of snow and it provided my daughter and I a wonderful, impromptu session of building a snow cat (she is an avid cat lover thus the snow cat vs. a snowman).  Just as I had finished shoveling the driveway, she got back from school, so we stayed out and had some wonderful mother/daughter time :)  Love creating memories like this! 

Here is a picture of our creation.  It's a bit hard to see but there are two legs in the front and of course, that stump to the right is the tail :)

 

And here is my wonderful daughter with her creation :)

  

Promise the next post will be a card.  Just had to share my afternoon activity with you :)

Blessings,

Yeah! Viva La Verve Sketches Are Back!

Now that it is January, the Friday Viva La Verve sketches are back and this is my card for the first sketch of 2012.

I went with a Valentine's theme as I just love making cards with hearts on them (you may very well get sick of seeing them as we work our way toward Valentine's Day!).

I paired a Spellbinder heart with an embossed "U" from Verve's I Heart You die set and added the hugs and kisses tag for a little extra something.  I may use it as hubby's Valentine's Day card as it has clean lines and not a lot of fru-fru stuff on it.

As far as the car issues goes, looks like the damage was all cosmetic - yeah! - so we should get it back by the end of next week.  The irritating part of this whole experience is the fact we were blamed for 75% of the accident!!!  When I asked why we are taking the bulk of the blame, I was told when you are turning left on a residential street (versus an intersection)  it is your responsibility to make sure it is safe to turn left, which includes watching out for someone who is coming up behind you!  Still haven't quite wrapped my mind around the logic of this rule as that is what blinkers are for (and the adjuster even admitted many people do not know about this rule....I wonder why???!!!).  Ridiculous is the polite word I'm using for my thoughts regarding this law and outcome to our accident!!  However, we are thankful nobody got hurt so we are choosing to focus on that instead.

Wishing you a fabulous weekend.  Planning on getting some inky time myself which bodes well for some posts next week :) 

 

What's In It?
Stamps: All Year Cheer I (SU)
Paper: Yours Truly (Echo Park ), Pretty in Pink, Basic Grey
Ink: Black, VersaMark
Accessories: Heart Nestie, I Heart You Die Set (Verve), Lattice Embossing Folder (SU), Button, Twine, Bakers's Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Self Directed Pick Me Up

 

This is another one of the Inkspiration cards I had worked ahead on before the challenge was shut down so I  thought I would share it with you.  Just love this colour combo and will definitely be using it again.

I am thrilled to say, skewed panels don't throw me into a tail spin the same way they used to - yeah!!  Guess practice does make perfect.  Or in my case, brings a much higher comfort level :)

It was a nice cheery card to post today as self imposed pick me up after our car was hit yesterday as we were turning into our driveway!!  The guy behind us didn't like our slowing down, and missed the signal light so he decided to pass us on the left side just as we were turning into our driveway.   Not a nice way to end a wonderful evening of volunteering to prep, serve and clean up at a community dinner that feeds 175 people!  Thankfully there were no injuries other than the cars and a bit of the front lawn.  The front left panel of our car and the front bumper are not a pretty sight right now as the bumper got ripped off the frame about a third of the way across.  Hoping the damage is just the superficial stuff we can see and nothing more as it was more of a side swipe than a direct hit.  Guess we'll find out soon enough...

This wonderful PTI flower die creates the best flowers :)   I don't think I'll ever tire of using it as they are so easy to use and fun to layer.  The leaves were made from PTI's Leaf Print dies (still sneaking in ways to use them even though Fall is long over lol). A fun breath of colour, flowers and thoughts of spring always make me happy :)

Still working for hubby so posts are going to still be a bit sporadic...will do my best to get back sooner than later.  Have a fabulous day and thanks for popping by!





What's In It?
Stamps: River City Rubber Works
Paper: Dots and Stripes (Echo Park), Black, Creamy Caramel
Ink: Black
Accessories: Stampin' Up Scalloped Border Punch, Crimper, PTI Flower and Leaf Print Dies, 1/4" Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons, Twine, Bling, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Beautiful In Its Time

The New Year is here and it is nice to have things get back into a routine, especially when it comes to getting some stamping time in :)

This week's Mojo Monday sketch was a good way to get the juices flowing again.  I decided to go a little on the shabby/girly side - for reasons unbeknownst to me.  Must be Diva Andrea's Diva Dust floating its way across the continent once again (waving wildly to you Andrea!).

This K & Company paper was perfect for my girly card and I paired it with some pleated ribbon with lace over top.  As you can see I had a few issues getting the ribbon straight on the card - ugh!   Going to have to fix that!  Added a butterfly and a flower as I am already wanting Spring to come!  Mind you I can't really complain about the weather as we have had a very mild winter so far (today was over 50F!) as well as some lovely sunny days thrown in amidst the rainy ones.  I just love spring so it can never come quick enough!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for popping by for a visit :)

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Verve  Plain Jane)
Paper: K & Company (Brenda Walton), Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Old Olive
Ink: Black
Accessories: Labels 18 Nesties, Martha Stewart Leaf, Monarch Butterfly and  Border Punch, Lace, Recollections Flower,  Pink and White Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Congratulations Star

I had worked ahead on my Inkspirations challenges so I had a few left over after the last challenge was posted in December and this is one of them. 

This masculine colour combo was great fun to work with and I paired it with this Skipping Stones Designs sketch which I saved in my sketch file in April of last year!  Can't turn down a fun sketch :)      

I used these wonderful, saturated colours to create some colour blocking and added a crimped star as per the sketch.  The horizontal panel was run through my Tim Holtz brick embossing folder to add a bit of texture.   Believe it or not, wrapping the twine around the star in just the right way took me forever!  Into my masculine card stash this one goes :)

Kids are back in school today and I'm going "aaaaaah......" as the house is all mine and I finally get to enjoy some crafty time before the craziness of activities and working for hubby begins once again.  Wishing you a fabulous day.



What's In It?
Stamps: Amuse
Paper: Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Black
Accessories: Sizzex Star Die, Tim Holtz Brick Embossing Folder, Black Twine, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Happy New Year and A Year in Review

 Happy New Year everyone!  Hard to believe it is the beginning of a new year!

Last year was a tough in many ways so I am glad to see it go and am looking forward to a better 2012 :)  I have the trials of 2011 to thank as I they made me grow in character, grow as a person, and caused me to reach new levels of patience and faith in a sovereign God.

Amidst the trials I was able to enjoy some special moments like my daughter's graduation from grade 7 and her earning the Citizenship Award, a great week of camping with friends, a fabulous two week vacation in Alberta visiting family and friends, and some wonderful quality and quantity family time (one of the things  I hold nearest and dearest).

In addition, I wish to thank all of you for your support and comments throughout 2011.  Your friendship and comments were all greatly appreciated and were often the ray of sunshine I needed in my day.  I look forward to a wonderful 2012 with you :) 

In closing, I thought I'd take a walk down my card making memory lane as many others have also done.  Here are each month's favorites for 2011 (along with a few doubles as I just couldn't decide LOL).

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

 

September

October

November

 

December

Thanks again and wishing you all a wonderful 2012 :)

Blessings,