Verve's Inspirational Sketch Challenge Week 4

After the whirlwind of Verve Release sketches last week and catching up on the April Verve sketches, it is wonderful of Amber to give us a simple sketch to work with - thank you Amber!!  She also had some wonderful living rooms to chose from this week.  I just loved the feel and colours of this living room and thoroughly enjoyed creating this card :D

When I saw Maureen's fabulous card and how she used Kraft with these colours, I immediately wanted to do the same (thanks, Maureen :D).  This is such a fun combination to work with! 

The image is from one of my favorite, new Stampin' Up! sets, For All You Do.  It took me a long time to purchase this set because of its very hefty price tag up here in Canada, but I'm so glad I broke down and bought it because I just love it!!  That being said, my "cost per use" price will be decreasing quickly LOL!!  Added bonus, this image from the set saw ink for very the first time (I usually use the flower image).

I added brown half pearls to the centers of all the flowers and to complete the "rule of three",  I added some brown grosgrain ribbon and a brown button.  Some Itty Bitty Backgrounds on the rose panel added a little texture.  However, in hindsight (beginning to hate that guy LOL!) I should have stamped or embossed something on the lilac panel as well, but when rushed the old creative gene doesn't always fire on all pistons LOL!  I'm just loving this colour combo and definitely plan on using it again.

Phew, all my April Verve challenges are now done and the possibility of winning the entire next Verve release now lies in Amber's hands.  Wish me luck! 

Hubby and I are off to cook for the Kids Shine youth retreat at the church this weekend (about 80 - 90 people) so things will be quiet here until Sunday when I will be posting my Curtain Call Colour Challenge card.

Thanks for sharing a part of your day with me and have a fabulous weekend (((hugs))). 

What's In It?
Stamps:  For All You Do, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper:  Kraft, Rose Red, Lovely Lilac
Ink: Rose Red
Accessories:  Apron Lace Punch, SU Scalloped Border Punch, Brown Half Pearls, 1/4" Brown Grosgrain Ribbon, Brown Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Be Still My Heart, A Green Inspiration Room!!

Be still my heart, a green inspiration room!!  For those of you who don't know, green is my favorite colour so picking the inspiration living room this week was a total no brainer LOL!

My card was a bit of a shoe in as well because I used the butterfly in the sketch on my card.  Made for a nice quick card - well at least quick by my reality of what a quick card is LOL!

I used celery as my base colour (just love that colour...sigh...) and then added rudy red as I didn't have anything that was orangy-red in colour like the flowers in the picture.  I tried adding some blue as per the pillow on the chair but I didn't have the right shade so I went with saffron instead. Yes, there is a tiiiiiiiny little splash of it in the picture on the wall so I think I'm covered LOL!  Hoping Amber will let the small butterfly in the bottom left corner pass as the small rectangular piece as I couldn't think of anything else to put there.

Just one more of the April Verve sketches to go and I'm all caught up and able to enter my name for the chance to win the entire next Verve release - yeah :D  

Hope you have a glorious day!!





What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve)Floral Whimsy
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Rudy Red, So Saffron
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  SU Sizzex Butterfly Die, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, 5/8" Celery Satin Ribbon, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Still More Verve Challenges To Go

Another bright living room for this week's inspiration picture LOL!  Guess it ties in with the bright colours of Spring - at least that is my story and I'm sticking to it :D

Though orange is one of the dominant colours that jumps out at you when you look at this picture, I wasn't in an orange mood today (though I do quite like the colour orange) so I went with pink, green and yellow instead, and swung towards the lighter shades of those colours - hope that passes the Amber test!

All those Verve release challenges last week sapped my mojo a bit so this is a pretty basic card.  I used VersaMark to stamp a Beyond the Basics rose image on the celery and pink panels to give them a little something and then used my Swiss Dots "crutch" once again.  I took the easy way out and used a sentiment for the oval and over stamped it with the flowers from Stampin' Up's Happy Harmony set.  A bow with a button finished the card off, though I think I would have rather used a butterfly there.  However, I have been over dosing on butterflies lately so it was time for a change - don't want to get into too many stamping ruts!

With all the Verve release challenges taking priority last week, this week I get to focus on catching up on my weekly Verve sketches with inspiration pieces.  Nothing like eating, sleeping and stamping Verve :D

Just got wind of a blog called Really Reasonably Ribbon's Ramblings that has a ribbon and embellishments on line store out of New York.  They just created a Design Team and are offering some blog candy to celebrate.  Click on the link for all the details.

Have a fabulous day!!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) Happy Harmony, (Verve) Plain Jane
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, So Saffron
Ink:  VersaMark, Black
Accessories:  Scalloped Oval and Oval Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, 5/8" Stain Celery and Saffron Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Spider Cake For Spring Carnival

A few of you have asked for pictures of the cakes I made for the school's Spring Carnival.  I only have the picture of the spider cake because I took this picture in the summer when it was my son's birthday.  Three of the boys at his party asked if I'd be making it for the Spring Carnival so I made it again.  We were in too much of a rush to get the cakes to the school in the morning to get pictures of the other two.

One was an igloo cake.  We used marshmallows cut in half  as the "bricks" of the igloo, kept the entrance hold chocolate, spread some white icing around the igloo and then added coconut to it so it looked like snow and also sprinkled snow on the igloo itself.  Looked really good.  Never thought of it at the time, but adding a penguin or two would have been a great add on.

The last cake was a popcorn box - theater style. Used fruit leather to make the orange and red stripes on the box, made it an angled box at the bottom, cut the top in a dome shape and then stuck real popcorn all over the dome part.  It looked great and my daughter had a great time sticking the popcorn on with white icing so we could pile it high.

These are pictures of two cakes I made last year - had a bit more time to work with so was able to make some more detailed ones.  This one is a crocodile cake.

This next one is a dragon cake. Just love this cute little guy :D

This last one is a pirate ship cake I made a few years back which was a huge hit with younger boys.  Best part is it is really an easy cake to make.

Thanks for asking about the cakes :D The business of the week of the carnival is always worth it because the school makes between $4,000 and $5,000 by putting this carnival on and it is a fabulous family event. I got to work at the Crazy Hair station and had a blast creating "crazy hair" on a lot of kids LOL!

Blessings to all of you :D

Stamping 411

This sketch came from the Stamping 411 blog's Saturday Sketch Challenge.  Loved the simple layout and turned it into another Mother's Day card (getting tired of them yet LOL!) though the sentiment could be changed to fit any occasion.   I actually made two cards using different colour combinations but liked this one better so this is the one I'm posting.

The blank space in the top right hand corner was driving me nuts!!  It needed something pink there, and after tying a ton of different things in that area including a bow, corner piece, half pearls, and various punched images, the only thing that seemed to even half way work were the flowers as per the card below.  However, I think it is flower overload and they don't match the focal image flowers so I 'm still not happy with the card! 

The family has a split vote so the jury is out LOL!  Which card do you prefer, or should I put something else in that corner instead of the flowers or should I just leave it blank?  Let me know what your think before it drives me nuts!!

Just had a brainwave as I'm typing this - maybe a Martha Stewart corner punch would do the trick.  Off to give it a try!

Have a blessed day and I hope it involves a bit of stamping :D






What's In It?
Stamps: For All You Do, Well Scripted
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Brocade Blue
Ink: Sage Shadow, Brocade Blue, 
Accessories:  Apron Lace Punch, Diamonds in the Rough Embossing Folder, 5/8" Sheer Pink Ribbon, Silver Brads

Curatin Call Colour Challenge Act 27

When I first saw these colours I couldn't wait to use them because I just love them together!  That, plus the fact the inspiration piece consists of flowers was all I needed to make me one happy stamper :D   No need to even try to justify a flower card LOL! 

In keeping with tradition, I once again used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch.  I pulled out one of my favorite flower images from Stampin' Up's Close As A Memory set and went to work.

Since I don't own any Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette, I substituted with Regal Rose (wasn't sure if Melon Mambo was closer to Regal Rose or Rose Red) and Pretty In Pink.  The celery strip needed a little something so I stamped the butterfly image from SU's Beyond The Basics in VersaMark all over it.  A few Martha Stewart butterflies, a button and some dew drops finished things off.  Nothing fancy this week as I have had a insanely crazy, busy week, but I like it.  Actually, I love this colour combination so much I may just have to make another card using it  :D

The rest of the Curtain Call Crew have some wonderful samples for your inspiration:

• Amy White - Delvinwhite Designs
• Andrea Roose - Andrea's Scrap -und Stampel Blog
• Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) - Random Acts of Creativity
• Julie Smith - Paper and Such 
• Lea Lawson - Cupcakes & Sunshine
• Melissa Hubert - My Paper Obsession 
• Shelley Germann - Stampin' Garden 
• Sue Kohler - My Inner Reflection 
• Stacey Schafer - Stacey's Stamping Stage (Our Director) 

With such great colours to work with this week, and colours that lend themselves fabulously well to flower cards (had to throw that in LOL!), why not join us in in the fun.  Simply create a card using this week's colours and add your card to Mr. Linky on Stacey's blog.  If  you are uploading to a public gallery, please make sure to use the keyword Curtain Call.  Each week, Stacey will select one person to receive her "I Got The Lead At The Curtain Call"  Award as well as five people to receive her "I'm A Top 5 Curtain Call Show Stopper" Award which you can post on your blog, all the more reason to join in the fun :D

Thanks for joining me today - you guys are the best (((hugs))).





What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) Close As A Memory, My Sentiments Exactly, (SU)Beyond the Basics
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance, Certainly Celery
Ink: Positively Pink, Certainly Celery
Accessories:  Scalloped Square and Square Nesties, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Dimensionals

Happy 101 Award

Nicole over at Canadian Nickel Scrapin' gave me this lovely award.  She has been blowing me away with all the little critters she has been creating with her Cricut lately.  Check out her blog - you won't be disappointed!

Part of the award is to mentioned ten things that make you happy so here goes.

1.  The fact this insanely crazy, busy week is finally over LOL!

2.  The "smell" of Spring and all the flowers that bring colour back into the world after Winter. 

3.  Being a mom and having two kids I love to bits as well as an amazing hubby :D

4.  Going to a good brunch.  Breakfast is my favorite meal and I could eat it three times a day :D

5.  Seeing my kids and friends succeed at whatever they are trying to accomplish.

6.  Being able to challenge myself - be it in sports, using a sketch / colour / inspiration challenge or anything else :D

7.  Reading in bed.

8.   Sleeping in - a true rarity since becoming a mom LOL!

9.  Simply enjoying the beauty of nature all around me.

10. When our cat sits in my lap, purrs for a while, and then falls asleep.


I'm passing this award on to some fellow Canadian bloggers who make my day with their support and encouraging comments:

1.  Laurel-Lee - to celebrate her first Verve win!
2.  Maureen - her delightful comments make me smile daily :D
3. Tannis - in celebration of her birthday - Happy Birthday Tannis!! 
4.  Trish - for taking the time to regularly comment on my blog.

Enjoy ladies :D  You guys are great!

Verve Beach Party Release Colour Challenge

This is my last Verve Release challenge card - yeah!!  I don't know what was in the water on Wednesday, but I got four of the five challenges done in one day and didn't even have to stay up past midnight to do so - yes!!  A total first for me!  I sure wish all my stamping days went that well LOL!  That being said, I need to open my mouth, insert my foot and chomp down vigorously for saying the sketches were giving me grief, because they obviously had something going on that was working....I bow in Julee's general direction :D

Okay, now that I have my foot out of my mouth, on to the card.  The bright colours in this combination sent me straight to the Bold Brights.  I always think of flowers or butterflies when I see bright colours like these and this time butterflies won. Out came my Stampin' Up!Sizzix butterfly die and Martha Stewart butterfly punch and I was off and running.  I used a Martha Stewart Corner punch to fill in the corners and called it a card.  As an aside:  Do you ever wonder how much money Martha Stewart makes from sales of punches each year?  Would be very interesting to find out as I have definitely contributed to the total LOL! 

Today is the school's Spring Carnival so I am in full cake decorating mode.  They have prizes in four categories and if your cake wins you get an extra punch card for the kids to use at the carnival.  This year's cake entries are a spider, igloo and theater style popcorn bucket.  I made the spider cake for my son's birthday this summer and three of the boys asked if I'd make it for the carnival, so maybe I'll be able to win the animal category :D  It is really quite amazing how creative mom's get with these cakes -- as well as competitive LOL!  The carnival is a big fund raiser for the school and always a lot of fun to be able to socialize and enjoy the activities as a family.  Hopefully I'll get back in time to catch the end of the Verve release party on SCS, especially after having completed all the challenges.

Have a great weekend everyone and I'll be back on Sunday with a sample card of Stacey's Curtain Call colour challenge for the coming week.





What's In It?
Stamps:Sincere Salutions
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Green
Accessories:  SU Sizzex Butterly Die, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch and Corner Punch, Half Pearls

Verve Release Sketch #5

In keeping with all the other release sketches thus far, the horizontal panels of this sketch gave me some grief....it's just not my week for sketches LOL!

I  started off wanting to use ribbon for the horizontal stripes, but then I noticed my Martha Stewart Daisy border punch sitting out on my desk and the idea of a daisy chain in lieu of ribbon came to mind.  I punched a border strip and then trimmed off the daisies so I'd have a daisy chain to use.  The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory.

Four challenges down and only one to go :D  The last challenge is a colour challenge: green, turquoise and orange.   Bold Brights here I come LOL!

For those of you who have Friday night free and want to join in the fun, the Verve Beach Party Release is this Friday in the Verve Forum on SCS.  We'd love to have you  join us if you can make it.  It is always lots of fun and the Verve Diva's come up with some amazing samples using the new sets.

Off to tackle the last challenge - where there is the chance to win some free Verve there is a will and a way LOL!

What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Because of You
Paper:  So Saffron, Pretty In Pink, Brocade Blue
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Scalloped Border Punch, SU Sizzix Butterfly Die, Martha Steward Daisy Border Punch, Half Pearls

Verve Release Sketch #4

Julee is hitting all my weak areas with her sketches for the release this Friday LOL!  Off angle panels and I don't get along well at all -- what can I say, I'm a bit anal LOL!  Kept hearing Amber's words, "embrace the off-angle panel, make it your friend".  So I took a deep breath and went to work.

I saw Stacey layer this flower on her card here and I just had to make one myself as I just loved it!!   Actually, yesterday I made a card very similar to this one which I haven't posted yet so this one stole the show first LOL! 

This is a go to colour combo for me as I just love these colours together.  That being said, I am very sad to see Brocade Blue retiring and will have to make sure I stock up before it's gone for good!

The flower is framed with Label 4 Nesties and the stem is from Verve's Petals and Stems set, which is still one of my favorite Verve sets.  The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory.  

Three challenges down and only two to go - yeah!!  Back soon with the next one.






What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Petals and Stems
Paper:  Brocade Blue, Pretty in Pink
Ink:  Sage Shadow
Accessories:  Stampin'Up! Large Flower Punch,  5 Petal Flower Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch and Border Punch, Label 4 Nesties, Michael's $1.50 Flower Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Crimper, 1/4" Brocade Blue Grossgrain Ribbon, Pink Button, Dimensionals

Verve Release Sketch #3

This sketch is the third challenge of this week's Verve Release Party challenges.  When I first say it I flipped out a bit -  normal for me when there are multiple panels on a sketch LOL! 

I dipped into my Costco DP pack to find some papers that would work and came up with this combination.  I only used one of the printed papers and looking at the picture as I  type this maybe I should have used the printed paper on the top panel too...oh well, I'm just happy to have been able to get another sketch done!

Just love this verse and since there was so much cream space in the area I  over stamped it with the leaf from Best Blossoms.

Two challenges down and hopefully three more to go - can't resist the lure of winning some new Verve :D

Thanks for popping in today!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Hebrews 11:1, Best Blossoms
Paper: Costco DP Pack, Chocolate Chip, Cream Linen
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Verve Beach Party Sketch Challenge #2

Julee is killing me with her multiple panel sketches for Friday's Verve Release Party!  I am a simple stamper and some of the sketch challenges for this release are sending me running for the hills LOL!  However, I am always up for a challenge so I gave this one a try. Not totally happy with it, but it's one down and four to go - ha!

Was able to use my new Martha Stewart border punch (especially when I go to buy it with a 50% off coupon - score!).  Just love this row of flowers for edges.  Nothing fancy here or I'll never get through the sketches.  With a crazy busy week, I'm not sure how many of these I'll get done, but at least I can say I am one down :D

You are welcome to come and join the fun with the challenges or the Release Party on Friday.  Both threads are under the Verve Forum on SCS.

Have a fabulous day!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Psalm 121:1-2, (SU) Beyond the Basics
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance
Accessories: Stylized Flowers Embossing Folder, Silver Twine, Mini Flower Punch, Martha Stewart Daisy Border Punch, SU Scalloped Circle Punch, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

CAS Mother's Day Card

I loved this sketch so much that I had to use it again, this time to add to my Mother's Day card collection.

Since my last card using this fabulous sketch used butterflies and I needed another Mother's Day card, I decided to go with flowers this time round (surprise, surprise LOL!).  However, my wide scallop punch jammed on me when I was using it today - ugh!!  Off to the freezer it went and after a five minute time out in there, it was good to go again.  I believe the cause of the jam was using some card stock that was on the thin side so the punch bent the paper rather than cutting through it - at least that is what I'm hoping!  Note to self:  don't use this punch with thin card stock! 

Out came my Stampin' Up! five petal flower punch and my Martha Stewart leaf and butterfly punches.  After a bit of arranging (I still have issues with placing leaves around flowers), it was basically done.  Some half pearls and ribbon finished things off and voila, a clean and simple Mother's Day card to go :D

Have a fabulous day!




What's In It?
Stamps: (Verve) Because of You
Paper:  Rose Romance, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron
Accessories:  Large Scallop Punch , SU Five Petal Flower Punch, Martha Steward Leaf and Butterfly Punch, Half Pearls, 5/8" Celery Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Pals Paper Art Sketch #38

I loved this Pals Paper Art sketch when I saw it so decided to give it a go.  Sorry to bring yet another Mother's Day card your way, but they are the flavor of the month right now with friends requesting some.

I love this Marvy flower punch as it isn't a solid punch and permits the background colour to show through - kind of like the Apron Lace border punch.  I kept things simple once again and quite like the outcome.  The Swiss Dots embossing folder gives things a bit of texture and I just love the script of the Verve "Mom" sentiment.

It's killing me to have to keep things short and sweet today (yes, I have the gift of the gab LOL!) but there is a lot on the agenda and time is a ticking.  A big thank you to all of you who make my day by taking the time to visit me (((hugs))).  Have a good one :D




What's In It?
Stamps: (Verve) Because of You
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance
Accessories:  Marvy Flower Punch, Silver Brads, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Border Punch, 5/8" Saffron Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 26

Love the grays with a splash of yellow which Stacey chose for this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge.  That being said, I had a bit of an issue picking a sketch to use for this card.  For some reason, I couldn't wrap my mind or this colour combo around any of the sketches which were posted this week on the various blogs I follow.  Add that to my sketch designing skills being basically non-existent (believe me, I am forever indebted to those who create and share their sketches on line so I can use them LOL!) I had to move to Option B.

I have noticed my tendency to use a lot of Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges for my Curtain Call cards.  Not sure why, it just seems to work out that way.  Probably because I just love her sketches!  That being said, Option B entailed a quick click of the mouse and browsing through the Word file in which I keep all of Karen's wonderful sketches.  This one caught my eye and I was off and running, I mean creating :D   

Teresa Kline recently used the Verve flower image on this card and it inspired me to use mine.  The Swirls embossing folder matched the swirls on the flowers (I used the negative side), the ribbon was from one of my Michael's ribbon bin diving adventures, and the butterflies finished things off nicely. 

The rest of the Curtain Call Crew have some wonderful samples for your inspiration.

• Amy White - Delvinwhite Designs
• Andrea Roose - Andrea's Scrap -und Stampel Blog
• Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) - Random Acts of Creativity
• Julie Smith - Paper and Such 
• Lea Lawson - Cupcakes & Sunshine
• Melissa Hubert - My Paper Obsession 
• Shelley Germann - Stampin' Garden 
• Sue Kohler - My Inner Reflection 
• Stacey Schafer - Stacey's Stamping Stage (Our Director) 

We'd love it if you joined us too!!  Simply create a card using this week's colours and add your card to Mr. Linky on Stacey's blog.  If  you are uploading to a public gallery, please make sure to use the keyword Curtain Call.  Each week, Stacey will select one person to receive her "I Got The Lead At The Curtain Call"  Award as well as five people to receive her "I'm A Top 5 Curtain Call Show Stopper" Award which you can post on your blog, so come on over and join the fun!

Have a fabulous day, and thank you for stopping by and sharing a part of yours with me :D




What's In It?
Stamps: (Verve) Because of You, (Verve) Circular Sayings
Paper: Going Grey, Basic Grey, So Saffron, White
Ink: Going Grey, Summer Sun
Accessories: SU Border punch, SU Scalloped Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Swirls Embossing Folder, Silver Half Pearls, Ribbon from Michael's Value Bin, Dimensionals