Celebrating Mercy's 100th Sketch

Had to play along with Mercy's sketch this week because it is her 100th sketch!  I have used so many of her sketches, I'd be lost without them!

I pulled out this fun Recollections leaf DP as my starting point.  It reminded me of a jungle (sorry it's basically covered up here but the leaves look very tropical) and thus out came this cute little raffie from Wild About You.

Rest is pretty self explanatory.  In looking at the picture, I realized I forgot to outline the giraffe's eye with my black maker so it stands out more - ugh.  Just  pretend it is there, as I don't have time right now to take another picture.  I'm madly making cards for our school's craft fair next weekend and have lots left to make.  Time is slipping by waaaay too quickly and my craft area is quite the disaster right now!  I've also taken over the dining room table for assembly work so I'm spreading out around the house LOL!  Hope it is all worth it in the end and people are ready to spend some cash at the craft fair :)  

Got a wonderful treat the other day when my CAS Christmas card seen here made Nancy's Riliey's iPicks.  The perfect pick me up (no pun intended LOL!) amidst the chaos of mass production LOL!

Gotta run.  Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping in (((hugs))).




What's In It?
Stamps:  Wild About You
Paper:  Recollections DP, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Old Olive
Ink:  Brocade Blue
Accessories:  Scalloped Oval and Oval Nesties, Seeing Spots Embossing Folder, 5/8" Orange Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

ColorQing My New Verve Flowers

Sorry about the picture.  I had to do an indoor picture and didn't  have much time to take the picture so it's a lot on the green side LOL!  Will redo it in the morning.

Mercy provided yet another wonderful sketch and I decided to combine it with this week's ColorQ50.  I'm not totally sold on this card...the white needed something as it is a bit stark. My mind is saying I should have embossed the white background panel (yes, Swiss Dots came to mind, or at least some sort of pattern) and then stamping something on the celery panel rather than embossing it.  That's what happens when you are in a hurry.  May have to go back and change it up tomorrow LOL! 

I flipped the sketch so I could use more of my new Verve flowers....happy "sighs" continue LOL!  This time I cut and layered the flowers from the Dream Big set.  The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory.

Have a great Sunday!  I'm off to keep playing with my new Verve - hope you don't get sick of it!





What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Dream Big, (SU) Fancy Flexible Phrases
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Only Orange
Ink:  Certainly Celeary, Real Red, Black
Accessories:  Circle Nesties, Seeing Sports Embossing Folder, SU Border Punch, Button, Red Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Act 44

When I first saw this bright colour combination for this week, my first thought was: "Darn, I used Cheep Talk last week" LOL!  Being low on energy after a week of swimming laps didn't help much either.  However, despite my reeking of chlorine, having a high fatigue factor, and basically no mojo, I pressed on :)

Just loved Mercy's sketch this week so I was bound and determined to use it.  After much fiddling around with what to put in the circle, I opted to make a flower (I know, surprise, surprise LOL!).  Out came the punches and voila, a flower was born.  I Swiss Dotted the center of the flower as well as the white panel and in a stroke of genius (well, in my mind it was anyway LOL!) I used the leaves from Best Blossoms on the turquoise panel (it really is turquoise, the photo changed it on me!!) so they looked like they were coming out of the flower.  Some yellow ribbon and white half pearls finished things off nicely.

The rest of the Curtain Call Crew have some samples for you along with our August Guest Designer, Teresa Kline.

• 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) 

And, our August Guest Designer, Teresa Kline at enjoy the va.sunshine


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 44.  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 week and don't forget to celebrate my Blogaversary with me by entering for a chance to win some blog candy.





What's In It?
Stamps: Best Blossoms
Paper:  Real Read, Tempting Turquoise, Yellow
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, SU Flower Punch, SU Five Petal Flower Punch, SU Boho Blossoms Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, 5/8" Yellow Polka Dotted Ribbon, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Sweet 'n Sassy Snow Girl

Sorry about the dark picture....this bright sunshine is messing with  my photography...but I'll take a dark picture over rain outside any day LOL!


I wanted to use this sketch a few weeks ago when Mercy first posted it, but life won the battle...again...hate when that happens!  No worries though, because as it turned out, it was the perfect sketch for my cute little Sweet 'n Sassy snow girl!   I just love this image.  It's another one from the Snow Friends set that I love because the images just make me smile :)

After loading the picture to the post, I realized the colour combination is basically the same as one of my other snowman cards.....sorry!   I obviously tend to gravitate towards this colour combo when I make a snow themed card!  I added a touch of silver to this one and kept the splash of pink.  Some Swiss Dots for my snowy background, some pink ribbon, a snowflake, and some buttons for accents to finish off a definitely girly, Christmas card LOL!

Well, I survived yet another VBS week!  I am always exhausted at the end of it, but wouldn't trade it for anything as it is just too much fun.  Lots of good memories, songs to remember and sing along to in the car when we play the VBS CD and a full year to recover until the next one :)   A few of you have asked for a picture of my sari so here you are.  I wasn't really wanting to post this picture because I am totally exhausted after a week of VBS and look the part LOL!  Puffy eyes, big bags under them, looking as big as a house from this angle (note to self:  make sure son has a good angle for the picture next time LOL) when in fact it is really lovely on.  So...just for you, I have swallowed my pride so you can see what we looked like in our saris.  Just make sure you take about 50 pounds off my hip/thigh area in the picture of me, okay!  The yards or material and tons of gathers in the skirt are not doing me any favors in this picture - I look like I did when I was pregnant!

Off to get all my stuff priced for a LSS Garage Sale I'm taking part in tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with my sample for next week's Curtain Call colour challenge.  Thanks for popping in and have a fabulous day :D





What's In It?
Stamps:  (Sweet 'n Sassy) Snow Friends
Paper:  Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Silver
Ink: Staz-On
Accessories: SU Scalloped Border Punch, Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch, Twinkling H2Os, Buttons, Glue Dots, Silver Twine, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Embellish Mercy

Wow, two posts in one day LOL!  I have seen this colour combo on a few blogs I follow and since I just love it, I decided to play along.  It is from Embellish Magazine and you have to also use the colour combination along with a label on your card.  When I realized the deadline is today I had to get things in gear fast!!

I paired this challenge with Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge.  I haven't participated in one of Mercy's sketch challenges for a while so it felt wonderful to be able to do so again :)

I substituted a butterfly for the circle on the sketch, used my Martha Stewart Daisy border punch to add a fun border along the bottom of the main image panel, and used my beloved crutch, Swiss Dots embossing folder, for some texture on the background panel.  Brown half pearls and a button on the butterfly and I was good to go :)

Need to make a card for my daughter next.  She has her Grade 1 piano exam tomorrow so she is a total mess!  Poor thing is stressed out of her mind, mostly due to being a perfectionist and a worrier at heart.  Poor thing got double whammied from both sides on the perfectionist part (mind you, I am far from the perfectionist I used to be after having kids LOL!) and the worry part is all from my hubby, so he is the one that gets to have the coping talks with her.  She is very well prepared, and I think it is more the anticipation of it all that is killing her. Thankfully, they have Sports Day tomorrow so it will keep her mind occupied and not allow for a lot of worrying time.

Thanks for stopping in once or even twice today!





What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Jeremiah 29:11
Paper:  So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Daisy Border Punch, Stampin' Up! Butterfly Die, Labels Labels 2 Nestie, Brown Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Dimensionals

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

Embrace the Angled Panel And Make It Your Friend

I must admit when I saw Mercy's sketch this week I went "ugh" because I have such a hard time with off-angle panels.  Don't  know what it is about them, but they work me over pretty good.  However, I "embraced the angled panel and made it my friend" LOL!

I had a wonderful light bulb moment (have to take them when I can because they don't come too often LOL!) and decided to use the ribbon flower tag I had made for one of the last Verve release challenges.  It was the perfect focal piece and allowed me to make one of the fastest cards I have ever made.  Oh that I could be this creative this quickly on a regular basis!! 

The hardest part of this card was trying to decide what additional colour to add to the mix.  I dearly miss the Colour Combo Site which had Stampin' Up colours on it and allowed you to select colours and then provided colours you could mix with the ones you chose.  If anyone has a site they use for this, please let me know!  After a few tries, I settled on Certainly Celery for my punch of colour and called it a card.

Have a fantastic day and thanks for sharing a part of yours with me (((hugs)))

What's In It?
Paper: Night of Navy, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Scalloped Border Punches, Label 4 Nesties, 1/4" Lavender and Celery Grossgrain Ribbon, Blue Button, Twine, Glue Dot, 1/4" Hole Punch, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 20

This is my first attempt at my first official Curtain Call Crew Design Team card.  I love the colours Stacey came up with week and decided to pair them up with Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge.

Quite often when I see green in a colour combination I immediately think of flowers, my favorite thing to stamp.  Plus, I have no shortage of options since almost half my stamps involve flowers  LOL!  That being said, I pulled out my Verve Petals and Stems set and went to work. 

Since the red really "pops" against the other colours I used it for the flower colour and accented the middle with blue. Of course, where there are polka dots, a Swiss Dots embossing folder will be sure to follow LOL!  I used sheer red ribbon to tie in with the flowers and added a small, red, half pearl in each corner of the scalloped square to balance things off.  My final addition was a little happy birthday tag to fill in some of the space on that side.

The longer I looked at this card the less I liked it so I decided to make a second sample card as a back up (think I have some first time DT jitters here LOL!).  This time I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  I tend towards a lot of white space on my cards but this time red won out :D  I used a Marvy punch to make the daisies, embossed the centers of the flowers for some texture and finished things off with some blue satin ribbon.  I like this one better than the first one.  So, you get a twofer on my first Curtain Call Crew  DT colour challenge sample!  Just don't be expecting two cards every week, okay LOL!
 

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 and Sunshine 
• Melissa Hubert - My Paper Obsession 
• Shelley Germann - Stampin' Garden 
• Sue Kohler - My Inner Reflection 
• Stacey Sohafer - 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.  Every week, Stacey will select a person to receive her "Curtain Call Show Stopper Award" which you can post on your blog, so come on over and join the fun :D

Just to let you know, things may be a little quieter than normal for the next two weeks.  My kids have had their Spring Break extended to two weeks this year because the district had a large budget deficit and are saving money by closing the schools for an additional week.  That means mommy gets to do lots of activities with the kids and most likely not spend as much time in my stamping room. 

Hope to post a card sooner versus later.  Until then, thanks for sharing a part of your day with me!

What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Petals and Stems
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Real Red, Certainly Celery
Ink:  Bashful Blue, Real  Red, Certainly Celery
Accessories:  Oval Nesties, SU Border Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Marvy Daisy Punch, 5/8" Sheer Red Ribbon, 5 /8" Blue Satin Ribbon, Tag Punch, Red Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Some Bunny Loves You

I think I have finally recovered from the tears that were streaming down my face when Joannie Rochette skated in the Ladies Short Program last night.  If you are not aware of the story, her mom had a heart attack and died shortly after her flight landed in Vancouver.  She was coming to watch her daughter skate... Joannie decided to skate in the competition and her face told the story as she performed her routine.  She fully broke down at the end of her routine after the audience gave her a standing ovation.  Another Olympic moment and one that shows the wonderful support the audiences have been giving the athletes.  

Now for the card.  Square cards seem to be the flavour of the week, how fun!  Have always loved square cards and actually find them easier to "balance" than the standard A2 size.

I found this darling little bunny stamp in Michael's $1.50 stamp bin and just had to buy him!! He just makes me smile when I look at him.  I tend to stay away from images that require colouring because quite frankly, my colouring sucks LOL!  I need to enlist Dawn for some lessons as she is a master colourer (think I just made that word up LOL!).  I used Twinkling H2Os for the bit of colour and sparkle on the bunny and added a bit of grass to "ground" the image.  A "naked" button finished things off nicely.  

Glad you were able to stop by today.  Appreciate every one of you (((hugs))).

What's In It?

Stamps:  Michael's $1.50 Stamp, A Muse Stamps

Paper:  SU DSP, Almost Amethyst

Ink:  Mint Medley, Lavender Lace, Summer Sun, Pretty in Pink

Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, 5/8" Saffron Satin Ribbon, Twinkling H2Os, Blue Button, Dimensionals

Spring Fling

Another wonderful sketch by Mercy this week, though I did have to ponder this one a bit due to the side panels.  I originally wanted to put a butterfly in the oval but a few others beat me to it - a hazard when one does not do the sketch on the day it's released LOL!  So I merrily went to flowers because the temps have been so warm here it feels like Spring!  I also used Colour Throwdown #79.  What a wonderful mix of colours. 

My main panel came together wonderfully and I was able to use one of my favorite Penny Black floral stamps called Blush - very appropriate for this colour combo :D   The red oval gave me a bit of grief as it is such a strong colour against the other two in this combination that it needed to be balanced off.  After some fiddling with various options, I settled on the two thin strips of red at the top and bottom to hem things in.  Since I didn't have butterflies as my focal image, I decided to add them elsewhere - ha!  Love these Martha Stewart Butterflies and they filled things in very nicely.  I really tried to get ribbon on  this card because if felt a bit naked, but it just didn't work so I left things as they were.

Thanks for your continued support through your visits and comments (((hugs)))





What's In It?
Stamps:  Penny Black
Ink:  Sage Shadow, Real Red, Blush Blossom
Paper:  Sage Shadow, Real Red, Blush Blossom
Accessories:  Scalloped Oval and Oval Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punches,  Half Pearls, Bling, Dimensionals

Mercy's Curtain Call

Mercy brought us another long shaped card for her sketch this week.  It is always a good push for me to get out of my usual A2 card size "rut". 

This card is for my aunt's 80th birthday.  I used Mercy's sketch and combined it with the Curtain Call Act16 colour challenge on the Stamping with Stacy blog.  I've seen this challenge on a few other blogs and couldn't resist the yummy colour combo of Real Red, Kraft and Vanilla.

I flipped Mercy's sketch this week because I wanted to use my new Stampin' Up For All You Do set.  I have had my eye on this set forever, but the $38.95 Canadian (before taxes and shipping - ouch!) was too hard to swallow.  Thankfully, I had some birthday money to spend and it didn't take me long to decide where to spend it LOL!   I cheated a bit with the placement of the butterfly and the addition of the sentiment panel so hopefully Mercy won't come after me :D  Some chocolate half pearls on the flowers, butterfly and border punch as well as some red bling on the sentiment and it is off to my aunt later today. 

Only two more sleeps until the opening ceremonies - can't wait!  We almost got a chance at some tickets to the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday (anyone who volunteers gets tickets), but they decided to go after all - darn!  Regardless, I'm an Olympic junkie and our recently acquired digital cable to go with our HDTV will be very well used over the next few weeks.  Go Canada Go!!

Thanks for sharing a part of your day with me today (((hugs))).

What's In It?
Stamps:  For All You Do (SU), Savvy Stamps (sentiment)
Paper:  Real Red, Kraft, Vanilla
Ink: Real Red, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Punch, 5/8" Sheer Red Ribbon, Brown Half Pearls, Red Bling, Dimensionals

Swiss Dots Meets Flowers

 

I know I've said this before, but I just love Mercy's sketches.  They are nice and simple and they leave things wide open as to what you want to do with them.  You can keep things clean and simple or ramp things up, whichever you prefer. 

I took the easy way out today and used punches because I'm a bit sleepy this morning.   My daughter had a hard time getting to sleep last night and after giving her warm milk and taking repeated trips to her room to tell her to just relax, at 11:00 p.m. I caved and crawled into bed with her so she would fall asleep.  She definitely has my hubby's sleep genes because when my son and I hit the pillow, if more than a few minutes go by, we are having trouble falling asleep LOL!   Needless to say, my daughter is growing because things are getting pretty squishy in her twin bed when the two of us are in there.  Thankfully she fell asleep (probably after I did LOL!)  and when I woke up it was 1:30 a.m., back to my bed I went only to have to fight for my side of the bed because the cat had taken it over.  Amazing how that little ten pound creature can be so difficult to move out of the way when he decides it is his spot to sleep in.  Sorry...I regress!

I had a white, "swiss dotted" (think I just created a word LOL) panel sitting on my desk so I decided to use my SU flower punch to make flowers for this sketch.  The dots would give the flowers some dimension and it would be a nice change from having it on one of the card panels.  I punched the flower centers with another SU punch, used some ribbon from one of my ribbon bin dives at Michael's, added a scalloped border on the right and did some scoring on the main white panel to finish things off.  Think the embossed flowers are a keeper :D

Thanks for sharing a part of your day with me today (((hugs)))




What's In It?
Stamps: Hero Arts
Paper:  Real Red, So Saffron
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Flower, Multi-flower and Scalloped Border Punches, 1/4" Hole Punch, Ribbon from Michael's $1.50 Bin,  Scor-Pal, Dimensionals

Cherry Blossoms in Winter

This week's sketch by Mercy was a wonderful opportunity to use this set I haven't inked up yet!  Just love all the options you have with this set and since my prior post talked about cherry tree blossoms in spring making me happy, I had to carry the theme over :D

This is a pretty straight forward card.  Each flower is popped up and has a little bling to the middle.  I debated about having or not having a bird in the tree and ended up not adding it in - maybe next time :D  The flower border is a Martha Stewart punch I got for my birthday and the center of each border flower also got blinged (think I just made that word up LOL!).  Not sure if it is overkill, but it looked too plain without it so the bling stayed.  I tried various embossing folders for the white background panel and finally settled on scoring it at half inch intervals with my Scor-Pal to add a bit of "oomph" and dimension to that layer.  I finished things off with some ribbon along the bottom.

Thanks for popping in today.  I hope you have a wonderful day :D





What's In It?
Stamps: Season Of Friendship
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss
Ink: Positively Pink, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel
Accessories:  Scor-Pal, Bling, Martha Steward Border Punch, 1/4" Spring Moss Gross Grain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Raffies for Baby

This week's sketch by Mercy was another wonderful one to work with. Her sketches are so flexible and you can adapt them in so many ways (large panel, smaller one, flip it etc.)  that I just love them!!   

For this week's sketch I found a scrap of this wonderful DP.  It screamed "baby" to me and with Wild About You still on my desk (my New Year's resolution isn't going so well LOL!), it was a match made in heaven.

I wanted to use the elephant but felt the raffie worked better due to the spots on it matching the spots on the DP.  Of course, any time there are circles or dots, I have to add some Swiss Dots to tie in  -- sorry!  I think I need to freeze this embossing folder in a block of ice just like they suggest to people who have an issue using their credit card too much!  The rest of the card came together wonderfully (yeah a card that took  me under an hour to make!) and I finished it off with a bow on the giraffe's neck and some blue bling to fill in the empty space in the corner of the image panel.

Thanks for spending a bit of your day with me today and I hope you have a great one :D




What's In It?
Stamps:  Wild About You (SU)
Paper: So Saffron, Cool Caribbean, Unknown DP
Ink:  Bliss Blue
Accessories: Threading Water Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, 1/8" Hole Punch, 1/4" yellow ribbon, Blue Bling, Dimensionals