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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Curtain Call Act 32


Sorry about the lousy picture - ugh!! (edit:  new picture now posted).  I didn't get a chance to make my card until Saturday afternoon this week (I usually have it done by Thursday) so I had to rush it because we were going out for Sushi for dinner (yum!!).  Let me tell you, rushed stamping and I do not go together at all!!!  I'm not happy with the card, and to add insult to injury, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it while the sun was still up so I had to use my light box, which is on my "To Do List" to work on this summer as it needs more and/or different lighting.  So....long story short, this was one frustrating card to make LOL!  I promise I'll edit the picture tomorrow once I have a chance to photograph it during daylight hours.  Okay, enough excuses and complaining (but thanks for listening!) and on to this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge :D

It is always such fun finding out what colours Stacey has picked for the week.  Even though she sends the Design Team a month's worth of colours in advance (I love that she is so organized :D  Thank you, Stacey!!!) I always enjoy opening my file and finding out what combination I get to work with for the coming week.  

I was immediately drawn to all the white in the picture, so naturally wanted to go that route on my card.  However, things changed along the way.  The inspiration for this card came from the fact that this verse was the focal  point of a conversation I had with a good friend this week.  Verve's Plain Jane Collection has this verse (as well as many other fabulous verses!) so out it came.  I also really wanted to use Vintage Vogue (it is one of my favorite sets right now), so I paired the two together for this card.  I started off using this week's OCC sketch, but couldn't make my ribbon work as per the sketch so I moved it down to the bottom and admitted defeat!  It's been one of those days.... LOL!

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

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 32.  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!

I have another crazy busy week ahead of me so posting will be light once again....sorry!!  Hopefully, things will slow down a bit after this week so I can get some good stamping time in before summer begins and kids are home 24/7.




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Psalm 46:10, (SU) Vintage Vogue
Paper:  Rose Red, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Rose Red, Summer Sun
Accessories:  Embossing Folder, Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, 5/8" Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon, Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Dimensionals
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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Psalm 121: 1-2


Amber let us use our craft area/room as our inspiration for this week's sketch.  I decided to use the paneling of the office station in my craft area since I look at it a good part of my day.  The picture showed it as a lot more gray than it is, and the flowers are part of a calendar that hangs on the panel.  That lead me to use Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, some of my Costco DP and pink as my accent colour.

Out came my Verve stamps to see what I could find to fit the oval. I settled on Psalm 121:1-2.  Just love this verse and it has been very appropriate lately.  I added some primas with brads and a pink bow, Swiss Dots for the background and Stampin' Up's border punch along the bottom to help fill in that space.  Not my favorite card, but what is done is done.

We had a fabulous long weekend :D  The house is now clean and in a good state of semi-ordered chaos versus the total chaos it was in before LOL!.  I finally got to plant the flowers, which I had purchased over a week ago, into my planters and garden.  Just love the wonderful splashes of colour they provide around my front door, front steps, as well as my front and back yard.  In addition, I was very touched when the mom of one of the girls who comes here for daycare gave me a gorgeous cedar hanging basket.  Hubby did a fantastic job cooking dinner for our dear friends who are moving away and we had a delightful evening together.  Thankfully they are only moving to Alberta so we will be able to visit them when we visit my hubby's brother and sister who also live in Alberta.  My brother and SIL dropped in the next night totally unexpectedly and we had a great evening with them too.  So, it was a nice mix of being able to get things done, visiting, great food and even the weather cooperated :D  

That's it for today.  Have a fabulous day and thanks for sharing a part of yours with me :D




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Psalm 121: 1-2
Paper:  Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Costco DP
Accessories:  Scalloped Oval and Oval Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Border Punch, Primas, Silver Brads, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Birds of a Feather


I chose this inspiration picture for week three of this month's Verve Challenges on SCS because of the plate with the bird on it.  You see, my wonderful blogging buddy Maureen over at Buttons and Bling sent me some "happy mail" a few weeks back and I have wanted to use it ever since!  She graciously sent some punched images of SU's new bird punch (which I do not own just yet and desperately want to get), along with some buttons and adorable linen flowers.  The colours were perfect to use for this inspiration challenge!  Thanks, Maureen (((hugs))).  This card is made in your honour :)

I gleefully succumbed to my newest addiction, kraft card stock, and paired it with some of the goodies Maureen sent.  I scored the kraft as per the pattern of the paneling on the wall (you can click on the picture to enlarge it if you want to check it out), used a green branch as per the colour of the branch on the plate, pulled in yellow from the flowers on the plate and used a coral sentiment panel as per the colour of one of the other plates on the wall.  A big celery grosgrain ribbon and a button on the sentiment panel finished things off wonderfully :D 

This was such a fun card to make and it came together very quickly, which is a rarity for me.  There must have been some of Maureen's creative juices on the goodies she sent!  Now I just have to patiently wait until I am able to get that punch.  I can be the "I want patience and I want it now!" type sometimes, but oh how I laughed when I realized I now get to practice and model what I tell my kids about patience!  Gotta love the lessons of life LOL!!     

Have a fabulous day and I'll be back soon with week four's challenge.




What's In It?
Stamps: Amuse
Paper:  Kraft, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Cream Linen
Accessories:  Scor-Pal, SU Bird Punch, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, 1" Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals
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Saturday, May 22, 2010

Curtain Call Act 31


Sorry to have been so quiet lately....life is running at a very hectic pace right now and my stamping time is suffering dearly!  I know this is a busy time of year, but always forget just how busy it can get!  The house is a disaster, we have two family birthdays this month (thankfully the dinner isn't until next weekend and Mother's Day is now over - phew), the plants I bought last weekend for my planters are still sitting on the deck waiting to be planted, and it's going to be an emotional weekend because we are having some very dear friends over for dinner before they move to Alberta.  Yup, think I am officially a wreck LOL!   Hopefully, I can get a lot done this long weekend so things are back in some semblance of ordered chaos :D

Enough whining, on to this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge!  Love the inspiration piece Stacey came up with for this week's colours.  I bet someone had a lot of fun painting this adorable little play house!  Being that there was green in the mix, my mind immediately went to flowers, but you'll be proud to know, I restrained myself and settled for butterflies instead LOL!

I have always loved how people use the grass image from SU's Inspired by Nature set in so many wonderful ways: from adding butterflies or flowers to turning some of the grass blades into cattails.  That being said, I decided to give it a go.  I must admit this set has been sorely neglected since I purchased it so today is its day to shine :D  I also used Flight of the Butterfly, my beloved Swiss Dots embossing folder, and miracle of miracles, I even found a Garden Green button LOL!  It felt soooo good to stamp and hopefully I can do some more this weekend!

The rest of the Curtain Call Crew have some great samples for your inspiration! 

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!

Thanks for stopping in today, you guys are the best :D




What's In It?
Stamps:  Inspired By Nature, Flight of the Butterfly
Ink:  Garden Green, Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy
Accessories:  SU Border Punch, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, Green Button, Twine, Pink Half Pearls, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Dimensionals
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Saturday, May 15, 2010

2S4Y Meets Performs The Curtain Call



When I first saw these colours my immediate thoughts were: "Staceeeeey! What are you doing to us!"  Quickly followed by:  "This is not going to be easy!"....."These are Halloween colours minus the pink and I don't own any Halloween stamps so I'm in biiiig trouble!" and finally...."I had better come up with something good because I'm on the design team!"   Nothing like stressing yourself out before you even get started LOL!  

Once the initial shock was over, I was definitely up for the challenge!  After all, I wasn't going to let some dumb colours get the better of me LOL!  I know, I know, I'm weird....who in their right mind competes against colours!  Well....you're looking at her (grin)!  With my ball playing and skiing days on hold for now, I must find some competitive outlet and today a mix of colours came a calling LOL! 
 
I picked a few sketches and used them to play around with various colour arrangements in the hopes of finding one that worked.  Thankfully, Kazan's Sketch #52 on the 2S4Y (2 Sketches 4 You)  blog came to the rescue.

Initially, I had multiple colours in the scalloped layers, but it was too busy so I changed them all to Kraft.  For the main panel, silhouette images immediately came to mind and after digging through my stash, I settled on Stampin' Up's Stem Silhouettes.  A few years back someone on SCS came up with the brilliant idea of stamping a circle in each flower head.  I loved the concept, and it was a perfect way to get all this week's colours in - score!!  I used Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie and Sahara Sand on the flowers and added a few black butterflies and some black sheer ribbon and called it a card.  Phew....I did it :D

Check out what the rest of the Curtain Call Crew came up with for this week's colour combination! 

We'd love it if you joined us too!!  I know it isn't an easy mix of colours this week, but I'm sure you can rise to the challenge just like I managed to, and take great pride in mastering Act 30!!  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!






What's In It?
Stamps:  Stem Silhouettes, Watercolour Garden
Paper: Kraft, White
Ink:  Pretty In Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Sahara Sand
Accessories:  SU Border Punch, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, 5/8" Sheer Black Ribbon, Half Pearls
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Friday, May 14, 2010

Verve May Week 1 Inspiration Challenge



May brings a new month and that means we get to move to another room in the house for our inspiration pieces over at the Verve Forum challenges on SCS.  This month, Amber has taken us to "hobby rooms".  Some day I hope to have a dedicated hobby room but for now, I just wish mine looked as neat as some of the ones in the inspiration pictures LOL! 

For some reason, it took some doing to select an inspiration room this week, but I finally settled on this one.  I focused on the turquoise and green panel hanging on the wall that had the daisies on it which is  located at the right hand side of the wall (you can click on it to enlarge it if you like).  Figured these were colours I could work with and hey, it had flowers on it LOL!

Out came my trusty Martha Stewart daisy punch for the flowers and I scored the the green panel to form a diamond pattern as per the pattern on the wall hanging.  The three dots on the sketch gave me grief so I settled on using butterflies, though in hindsight I could have made the green panel longer and used some ribbon and a bow there - darn hindsight!  The butterflies were not doing it for me so I added butterfly trials, but not sure I like them.  Actually, I don't like them at all, but what is done is done and I'm going to have to live with it - LOL!

Wishing you a a fabulous day and I hope Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods like it has here.  My iris are in full bloom, as is the grace ward, and my rhodos are exploding.  Even better, I now have my hanging baskets on the deck so life is good :)   

Thanks for popping in today!  Back on Sunday with the new Curtain Call Colour Challenge.




What's In It?
Stamps:  Hero Arts
Paper:  So Saffron, Turquoise, Green
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Daisy and Butterfly Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Apron Lace Punch, Brown Half Pearls, Scor-Pal, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

If You Don't Have PTI Leaves, Dig Into Your Stash


Amber found some fun hobby room pictures for this week's challenge and her sketch was for a longer size card versus the standard A2 size which is always a nice change. 

Even though I don't naturally gravitate towards blue, this room caught my attention because it was "swimming pool blue" - ya think LOL!  In addition, my eyes were immediately drawn to the rug with the leaves because I just love leaf images.  Of course, my first thought was " I sure wish I had PTI's Turning A New Leaf set", but since I don't (not yet anyway!) I went digging through my stamps to see what I could find in the leaf category.  Stampin' Up's Best Blossoms set came to the rescue.

I stamped the leaf image in Tempting Turquoise and paired it with Bashful Blue and white as per the predominant colours in the room.  To finish things off, I added three celery coloured half pearls to the leaves, as per the green on the lamp shade and book on the top shelf in the corner (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them and see what I'm talking about).  I finished things off by scoring the white panel to add some dimension and interest.

That's it for today, other than being in the mood to go swimming after seeing all that blue LOL!  Thanks for popping in and sharing a part of your day with me :)




What's In It?
Stamps:  Best Blossoms (SU), Circular Sayings (Verve)
Paper:  Turquoise, Blue, White
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise
Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Threading Water Punch, Scor-Pal, Half Pearls, Dimentionals
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Monday, May 10, 2010

Flourishes for Mercy



Yeah!!  I finally got to play Mercy's sketch challenge this week - even though I am just getting it in under the wire LOL!  My hubby and kids gave me some "uninterrupted free time" today as part of my Mother's Day gift (along with a fabulous meal cooked by my gourmet chef husband) and it was a no brainer what I was going to do with that time - much to my garden's chagrin and the weeds in my garden's delight LOL!

It felt wonderful to stamp again, especially with the craziness of the past three weeks now over.  I'm hoping to be able to get back into more of a stamping routine before summer hits and the kids are home all day, which always makes it harder to find time to stamp regularly.  However, I do treasure the days I have with them in the summer (even though they can drive me nuts at times LOL) because before I know it, they would rather be with their friends for the most part rather than with me.  Boy, I'm getting all sentimental on you LOL!  Think Mother's Day got me going because I just love being a mom, even though I still have the teenage years to deal with, but knowing that in just over ten years my "babies" will be adults and possibly out on their own makes me want to pour as much as I can into them while I have them at home. 

Now on to the card :D  When I first saw this sketch the first thing that popped into my head was Stampin' Up's Baroque Motifs set.  Just love this flourish image and figured it would be perfect to use with this sketch, and it was.  Don't you just love it when things work out the way you want them to -- insert happy *sigh*.

The sentiment is from Verve and I chose it because the script had curls in it that matched the flourish stamp fabulously.  A few butterflies, some sheer black ribbon, black and white half pearls and the card was good to go.  I'll replace the dark picture with a better one later today.

Wishing you all a fabulous day and thank you for sharing a part of it with me :D





What's In It?
Stamps:  Baroque Motifs (SU), Wishing You (Verve)
Paper:  Black, White, Glossy Silver
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Black and White Half Pearls, 5/8" Sheer Black Ribbon, Dimensionals
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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Curtain Call Act 29




Hello everyone!!  It feels wonderful to be back and posting after an insanely busy week!  The good news is it is over - yeah!  The bad news is, it took my mojo with it (insert pouty face with lower lip sticking out). Try as I might, things were just not flowing when I was making this card so I had to settle for the only thing that worked today.  To add insult to injury, I ended up with a dark picture since not only was my mojo disappearing but so was my daylight!  It's just been that sort of day LOL!

On to the card!  The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the inspiration picture was: "Darn!!  I wish I had that Stampin' Up! ornament punch so I could invert it and use it as a vase and add some flowers in it as per the inspiration piece."  No such luck - at least for now - as it will be in the new SU catty and is on my "to buy" list :D  Thankfully, I received my Vintage Vogue set this week (yeah!!), so I had some new rubber to play with.  Just love this set and not sure why it took me so long to get it!  Be warned, you may see it a lot over the next weeks LOL!  I couldn't get any yellow to work with what I had in mind, and the foliage image in the set just didn't look right in yellow, so thankfully I had some yellow striped ribbon from one of my Michael's ribbon bin diving adventures that I was able to use.  I definitely have a love/hate relationship with that bin....love the ribbon selection it has, but hate having to dig for it LOL!

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

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!

Thanks for popping in today and Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!   Hope you feel appreciated, loved and get a bit spoiled today :D 





What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) Vintage Vogue
Paper: Bordering Blue, Tangerine Tango, Summer Sun
Ink:  Bordering Blue, Only Orange
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Border Punch, Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Dimensionals
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Saturday, May 1, 2010

Curtain Call Act 28



What a wonderful mix of colours Stacey chose for this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge!  It's so much fun finding new colour combinations to use, especially ones I don't naturally gravitate towards.  Made my day to have to use Kraft again (even though it isn't the dominant colour in this card) as it is becoming my newest addiction :D  Hey, at least it is a change from Swiss Dots LOL!  

Speaking about new addictions, I'm having a hard time putting down the fabulous All About You set by Stampin' Up!.  Didn't hurt that it was still out on my desk just tempting me to use it again LOL!  Amy Ramsey's sketch from last week provided the perfect oval for the flower image so I was set to go create :D   I used my Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder to give the white panel some texture and stamped some Itty Bitty Backgrounds on the Rose Red panels for a little something.  White ribbon and some silver brads made a nice, visual, diagonal line and I finished things off by stamping the "for you" sentiment in the oval as there was too much white space there for my liking.  I'm loving this colour combo and will definitely use it again - thanks Stacey! 

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

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:  For All You Do, Fancy Flexible Phrases, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper:  Kraft, Rose Red, Night Of Navy, White
Ink:  Rose Red, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand
Accessories:  Scalloped Oval and Oval Nesties, Diamonds in the Rough Embossing Folder, 5/8" White Satin Ribbon, Silver Brads, Dimensionals
at 28 comments: