The Crafts Meow Sketch

The Craft's Meow had a fun sketch so I decided to play along.  I was in the mood for another Valentine's Day card and this was the end result.

Love mixing cream and white together and since I never tire of hearts, my lacy nesties and polka dots, they were added to the mix.  The finished card was rather "plain" in my eyes so I decided to add some "oomph" by distressing edges.  It's amazing how therapeutic distressing edges can be {grin}!

A bit of a mixed bag on this card as there is some shabbiness and some clean lines - kind of like my work area LOL!  Regardless, it was a fun card to work on.

Now that I posted the picture, that crooked note is driving me nuts! Not sure if it goes with the flow of the card or if it's just my anal side kicking in - what do you think?

Thanks for popping in today and wishing you a wonderful day :)

   

What's In It? 
Stamps: Love Notes (Verve) 
Paper: Small Dots (Making Memories), Rose Romance, Cream Linen, Going Grey 
Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Lacy Circle and Heart Nesties, Note Dies (MFT), Crimper, Buttons, Twine, Dimensionals

Blessed

Diva Charmaine came up with this wonderful CAS design for this week's Verve sketch.

Since I popped over the line today to pick up new stamping goodies (compliments of some birthday money - happy sigh), I just "had" to initiate some of it wink, wink :)

I used PTI's word die and linen impression plate (which as been on my wish list forever!).  Then I stamped this fabulous Verve butterfly and had to fussy cut it as I don't have the matching die - yet LOL!  Twinkling H2O's provided my method of colouring and I used green so I could enter this week's Play Date Cafe challenge to use black, shite and a splash of green on a card.  The butterfly seemed a bit lonely up there all by itself, so a trail of half pearls solved that issue.  Think this is about as CAS as I can get :)

Now the waiting game begins - who will be the lucky winner of a $100 Verve gift certificate.  I'd be happy to comply and call it a belated birthday gift!!

Wishing you a wonderful day :)

 

What's In It?  
Stamps:   Blue Skies (Verve)
Paper: Black and White
Ink: Black
Accessories:  Twinkling H2O's, Word Die (PTI), Linen Impression Plate (PTI), Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #278

Yeah, it's round or square week over on the Mojo Monday blog which means I get to make a round card :)  Oh happy, happy, joy, joy!  Can you tell I like making round cards {grin}!

Dove into the Recollections MME paper pack from Michael's again and went with some brighter colours this time round.  I'm loving the red and turquoise together.  Of course, where there are flowers, there must be a butterfly...any excuse to use this die.  The sentiment and flower are from Verve's  Kind Words - love that set!

You can check out all the challenge details over on the  Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.
  

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

Have a fabulous day, and thanks for dropping by today!



What's In It?
Stamps:  Kind Words (Verve)
Paper: Mosaic Paper Pack (Recollections), Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange
Ink: Black, Only Orange
Accessories:  Lacy Circle and Circle Nesties, Flutterby and Pennant Trim Die (A Cut Above by Verve), 1/4" Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Just Us Girls #173

This week's Just Us Girls challenge is brought to you by yours truly.   I chose this inspiration picture even though it has fall colours as I wanted to mix it up a bit after all the Valentine's Day cards I've been making and seeing on line...having a bit of pink overload I think LOL!

I really wanted to pull out my leaf dies, but opted to go with orange roses, as per the picture, as I just love orange roses :)   Pulled out my rolled rose die from MFT and  went to work.

Here is a larger version of the inspiration picture for your viewing.  Just love the rich chocolate with the orange against it.  Hope it provides you with lots of inspiration and a nice change as well.

I was in the mood for a round card so added it to the mix and finished things off by adding half pearls as per the picture.  And, since this is a picture of a wedding cake, I added a "love" sentiment to tie in with the theme of the picture.

For some inspiration to get you going, just hop on over to the Just Us Girls blog, and check out what the Design Team has created.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card/project to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be selected as Chick of the Week.

I'm entering this into the current Simon Says challenge - to make a card that reflects what you are known for.    Think I can safely say, flowers, clean lines, and Verve stamps (butterflies, leaves and hearts could be added to the list but can't them all on one card LOL) 

Have a great weekend!  Back on Monday with my Mojo Monday card. 



What's In It?
Stamps:  Text Notes (Verve)
Paper:  Early Espresso, Certainly Celery, Only Orange, Pumpkin Pie , Cream Linen 
Ink:  Black, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Lacy Circle and Circle Nesties, Dreamy Leaves Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Rolled Rose Die (My Favorite Things), Crimper, White Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals 

Verve Thank You Card

This week's Verve sketch is a great one for using up some paper scraps, and I did just that.

Taking a break from Valentine's Day cards to use some wonderful fall colours from a paper pack at Michael's which is full of MME papers (Stella Rose, Gertie etc.).   I tried to make a frilly, punched border, but alas, my lack of math skills did me in once again as I couldn't work it out to get the spacing right.  So, clean, straight lines it was LOL!

Couldn't resist using my Flutterby butterfly die again and some rich chocolate for a pop of colour.  These colours just make me happy :)  To finish things off, I added some faux stitching down the paper panels.

Need to run as my daughter is in exam week at school and I need to quiz her on some things before taking her to one of her exams. Poor punkin is sick, so we are eagerly awaiting the end of exam week and looking forward to the weekend so she can just crash and get healthy.

Have a fabulous day!



What's In It?
Stamps: Lean on Me (Verve) French Script and All in A Row (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Mosaic Memories (Recollections), Early Espresso, Tan, Mellow Moss
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Black, Creamy Caramel
Accessories:  Flutterby Die and Recatangle Tag Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Crimper, 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, 1/4" Moss Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

CAS Valentine's Day Card

Was playing around with some things from my "to be used later" pile and made a quick and easy CAS card.  Since my PTI edger die was still out, I decided to use it again.

Verve's Jotted Heart die is one of my favorite dies and I never tire of using it.  I flipped the second one over so it had a different orientation, and the first one is crimped (though once again, the camera did not do it justice).

I fiddled with the sentiment panel and finally got smart and made it a double tailed banner.  A turned up  corner at the bottom carried the diagonal sight line, and all my accosted family members gave it a thumbs up.  Yes...I accost my family members when I can't make a decision about something on a card and get them to vote on option A or option B.  

Doesn't get much more CAS than this - unless you go with a one layer card and I'm not too swift at those!

Have a fabulous day :)

What's In It?

Stamps:  Rubber Soul

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance

Ink:  Black

Accessories:   Jotted Heart Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Edger Die (PTI), Crimper, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, Silver Eyelet, Dimensionals

Dynamic Duos #36

I decided to play along with this week's Dynamic Duos black and red challenge with a dessert option of a Valentine's theme.  Was in the mood for a dramatic card and this fit the bill.

Pulled out my neglected PTI edger dies and went to work.  The bas of the card went quickly, but I fiddled forever with the embellishment options and their placement on the hearts.  I finally settled on one black and one white one embellishment, leaving the middle one blank.  Crazy how those embellishments cause me such grief at times - ever have that problem or is it just me LOL?

All three hearts on the card are crimped, but it is hard to see in the picture.  Going to have to figure out a way for crimping to show up a bit better in my photos, as many a time it gets washed out.

Enough of my woes.  Have a fabulous day and thanks for popping by :)



What's In It?
Stamps:  Rubber Soul
Paper:  Real Red, Black
Ink: Black
Accessories:  Edger Die (PTI), Tab Dies (MFT), Heart Punch (Marvy), Crimper, Black and White Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #277

Ever have a sketch that just kicks your butt.  Well, this one did it to me and I'm still sore LOL!   It was just one of those sketches (sorry, Carole!).

In an effort to get some mojo going, I rotated the sketch, went with black and white with a pop of pink, and took a little creative license (aka:  omitting the three dots on the one panel and subbing a sentiment panel for them instead).

Figured my Eiffel tower die could cover a multitude of sins as Paris is the "city of love" and love forgives "creative license" LOL!  Some Swiss dots in the background added ab it of texture, blinged up the heart a bit, and rounded the top corner to "fill in" that space a bit.  Phew!  That was a brain burner, and as with any challenge, it feels great to have completed it :) 

You can check out all the challenge details over on the  Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.
  

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

Off to do some birthday celebrating today :)  Chef hubby will be cooking up some BBQ ribs tonite and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than a home cooked dinner with my family :)  If all goes well, I won't even have to do any clean up wink, wink! 

Have a fabulous day, and I look forward to seeing how you tackle this sketch!




Challenges:  Dorcerela (Heart and Button)

What's In It?
Stamps:  Rubber Soul
Paper:  Black, Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance
Ink:  Black 
Accessories: Eiffel Tower Die (My Favorite Things), Heart Punch (Marvy), Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Crimper, Corner Rounder, 5/8" Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Black Button, Bling, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Just Us Girls #172

This week's challenge is a colour challenge brought to us by Vicki.  She has selected the wonderful combination of white, grey and lime green.   I paired it with an old Sweet Stop sketch.

Since there was a lack of lime green in my paper stash, I chose this wonderful flowered paper by Jilly Bean.   My blogging buddy Dawn recently posted a card using Verve's Dream big set, and since it is one of my favorite sets, I decided it was time to pull it out again myself.  A darker shade of grey for the leaves and a pop of black and some bling did the trick :)

For some inspiration to get you going, just hop on over to the Just Us Girls blog, and check out what the Design Team has created.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card/project to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be selected as Chick of the Week.

Off to the soccer field we go today early Saturday morning - hoping the field is open  (so far no call of closed fields) as the temps have still been cool.  Fingers crossed for an open field and a win!  Then over to my mom's for an early birthday dinner celebration with the family.  Sunday afternoon my daughter has a piano recital and then I think I am going to go curl up in a chair with a blanket and a book Sunday evening just to relax a bit after a busy weekend (that is if my kids let me LOL).   

Have a great weekend!  Back on Monday with my Mojo Monday card.


What's In It?
Stamps:  Dream Big (Verve)
Paper: Green Onions (Jilly Bean Soup), Going Grey, Grey
Ink:  Black, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Lacy Circle and Circle Nesties, Dreamy Leaves Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Medium Scalloped Die (PTI), 5/8" Satin Celery Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Bling, Dimensionals

Cherish...

Found this fun Sweet Shop sketch in my sketch file and decided to give it a go.  Opted for a little more dramatic Valentine's Day card made with red and black.  Even used two more goodies from my "to be used later" pile - yeah! 

Had a big issue with the sentiment.  Swapped it out about three times as the font just didn't match the rest of the card - ever happen to you?  I'm not totally satisfied with this one (due to the sentiment panel issue), but ran out of options, so this is what I had to to with... :(

Good news is, this card is in the past and I can move on to another one!  That's what I love about his hobby :)

Have a fabulous day everyone and thanks for visiting today.  Your company is always appreciated!

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Studio G (Michael's)
Paper: Read Red, Black, Red Hearts (Recollections)
Ink: Black
Accessories:  Lacy Circle Nesties, Heart Punch (Marvy), Heart Blocks Embossing Folder (Provocraft), Crimper, 5/8" Red Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Paper Smooch Hugs and Kisses

The Paper Smooches Sparks blog has a sketch this week so I thought I would play along.  The vertical sketch on the right was my sketch of choice and though it ended up being covered up for the most part, it is there - honest LOL!  Also playing along with Delightfut Images' challenge of adding a tag to your card.

In my never-ending quest to decrease my "to be used later" pile, I pulled out a tag and heart die cut to add to the sketch.  Kisses became my focal sentiment and then I added the hugs as the two just go together :)   They are both from the We Connect set by Paper Smooches which is such a fun set!  There are many wonderful words which you can use individually or mix and match and piece together to form longer sentiments. 

Hoping the soccer fields are open for practice today as the boys need to focus after a month off as they are entering Cup play season.  The grouping they are in is very evenly matched - any team could win, which makes for some great games.  Just comes down to who wants it more.  Five weekend games and if they win this division they move on. If not, they can hang up their cleats until next year.  So...we need to get a practice in to fire them all up :)   Fingers crossed...!

 

What's In It? 
Stamps: We Connect (Paper Smooches), Background Basics Sheet Music (Papertrey Ink) 
Paper: Love Letters (Bo Bunny), Kraft, Cameo Coral, Real Red, Rose Romance 
Ink: Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Jotted Heart Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Tag Die (PTI), Crimper, 5/8", Lattice Embossing Folder, Coral Grosgrain Ribbon, Twine, Buttons, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Love Is Just A Word Until...

This week's sketch was a fun one to work with - thanks, Moe!  Since it was her sketch, I decided to use Verve's Stronger Love, a set that was inspired by her.

I kept things pretty simple and was thrilled to be able to take two of my favorite die cuts out of my "to be used on another card" pile - whoo hoo!!  Still add way more things to the container than I take out, but every little bit helps.  That being said, I took some rather "extreme" artistic licence with the circle elements on the sketch...but am very happy with how it turned out so it works for me wink, wink :)

Still chipping away at the purging and cleaning.  It's going to be a house wide ordeal so it will take some time to get it all done.  taking a bit at a time now after my initial dive into the basement over the holidays.  Feels good :)

Thanks for popping by today!



What's In It?
Stamps:  Stronger Love (Verve)
Paper:  Floral Symphony (Recollections), Early Espresso, Cool Caribbean, Going Grey
Ink: Black
Accessories:  Jotted Heart and I Heart You Dies (A Cut Above by Verve), Scalloped Border Punch (Stampin' Up),  5/8" White Satin Ribbon, Twinkling H2Os, Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #276

Today's Mojo Monday sketch was designed by Carole and I had fun playing with that large circle area.  I gleefully opened a new paper pack from Michael's (which I got with a 50% off coupon - score!), and settled on these papers as they have two of my favorite things - flowers and polka dots.

I had fun using three wonderful Verve dies to embellish the large circle.  Then, since the paper was rather busy, I pulled out one of my favorite sentiment sets, Lean On Me, as it has a nice bold font that showed up nicely against the papers.  Things were a little off balance, so I  added a second, complimentary sentiment with the banner and some faux stitching.  Lots of Verve goodness on this card - happy sigh :)

You can check out all the challenge details over on the  Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.
  

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

We all survived our first week back with a full schedule again and are back into the groove, albeit we were all very tired by the time Friday rolled around!   My son's soccer game got cancelled due to frozen turf (having lows of -5C and highs of 0C so the turf kept a deep frost and never thawed).  Thankfully, there is a make up weekend in the schedule for times such as these so we'll get to play the other team in a month.  Bonus: over two hours of extra time to do things at home and not freeze my buns off on the sidelines LOL!

Have a fabulous day!



What's In It?
Stamps:  Bloom and Grow, Lean On Me and Friendly Phrases (Verve)
Paper:  Cameo Coral, Sage Shadow, Real Red, The Sweetest Thing (Recollections), Starbucks Sleeve
Ink:  Black, Sage Shadow, Real Red
Accessories:   Scalloped Border Punch( Stampin' Up), Lacy Scalloped Circle Nesties, Elegant Leaf, Scalloped Flowers and Flutterby Dies (A Cut Above by Verve), Fishtail Flags Stax Dies (My Favorite Things), 1/4" Double Sided Tape, 1/4" White Satin Ribbon, Black Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Just Us Girls #171

This week's technique challenge is brought to us by Maria, and she has selected the Double Embossed Enamel technique.  You can find it here.  It is really more fiddly than hard and I quite enjoyed trying it out.

I started out covering the recessed side of my leaf branch embossing folder with VersaMark, placing my paper on top of it and then running it through my Cuttlebug.  From there, I covered the embossed side with bronze embossing powder and heat set it.  Final step was to place it in my script embossing folder and running it through my Cuttlebug to create the double embossing effect.  I loved the image so much I didn't want to cut it down too much so I just went with a very CAS card.

For some inspiration to get you going, just hop on over to the Just Us Girls blog, and check out what the Design Team has created.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card/project to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be selected as Chick of the Week.

Back to the soccer field I go today to do my soccer mom cheering, ahem...., yelling LOL!  My son's team is the playoffs and it should be a very good round of five games over the next five weekends as all the teams are very evenly matched.  Anyone can win - question is, which team wants it the most.  Fingers crossed :)  

Have a great day!


What's In It?
Stamps:  Amuse 
Paper: White, Early Espresso 
Accessories:  Leafy Branch and Script Embossing Folders (Provo Craft), White Half Pearls, Bronze Embossing Powder

Hugs

Since this fun Carta Bella's Devoted paper was still on my desk, I decided to use it for another card.

Pulled out this old CCMC sketch, my beloved Jotted Heart die from Verve, PTI tag die, and a few punches, and went to work.  Just love this "hugs" sentiment and it was a perfect fit for the tag sentiment on the heart :)

The clean out binge continues and I have a large load for the Salvation Army as well as a big run to the recycle depot with old electronics.  Love it when I am in a search and destroy mood as there is no time for the sentimental side to get in the way (aka: keeping things I don't use or really need).  Onward and forward I go LOL!

Have a fabulous day!



What's In It? 
Stamps:  Love Notes (Verve)
Paper:  Devoted (Carta Bella), Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Grey
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Jotted Heart Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Tag Die (PTI), Heart Punches (Marvy), Border Punch (Fiskars), 5/8" Blue Satin Ribbon, 1/4" Brown Satin Ribbon, Crimper, Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Enjoy

Playing along with this month's CARDS Blog Challenge.  Thankfully I had some MME paper that gave me the aqua colour I needed but had to sub in certainly celery for the chartreuse.  Must say I really do enjoy the colour combo.     

I paired the colours with this week's Retro Sketch and kept things on the CAS side.  The embossing folders provided the texture and I pulled out my favorite PTI flower die as my focal embellishment - happy sigh :)  Just wish I had the linen embossing plate to give that white panel a little something, but alas, it is still on my wish list.  Maybe it will crossed off on  my birthday. 

Short and sweet today as lots to get done. On a cleaning and purging binge and have to strike while the iron is hot!

Half way through the week and I think my body is now speaking to me again after making it wake up so early again.  Oh to be a morning person LOL!  

Have a fabulous day and thanks so much for sharing a bit of yours with me.




What's In It?
Stamps:  Small Celebrations (Verve)
Paper: Going Grey, Certainly Celery, Blink of an Eye (MME)
Ink:  Black
Accessories:   Flower and Tag Dies (PTI), Lattice Embossing Folder (Stampin; Up), Script Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), 5/8" White Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals