Taylored Expressions Meets ColourQ37

Taylor's sketch this week was a great one, and I also loved this week's ColourQ challenge, so it was a no brainer to combine these two challenges on one card :)

I inked up Inspired by Nature and then realized how large the image was in relation to the sketch - what can I say, all pistons were not firing at full speed when I was making this card LOL!   So...to the trimmer I had to go!

The  main image panel was stamped on cream Linen card stock so it looks like I didn't ink my stamp up properly, but in fact it is the texture on the paper.  I also placed it off center so the sentiment panel would fit.  Hopefully the challenge police are okay with it :)  My Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder added a little texture to the Artichoke layer and I used the corner rounded to make the scallops.  Since I don't own any Apricot coloured ribbon, had to go with saffron ribbon instead - rule fudging number two....shhhhh   A button and the Martha Stewart Butterfly finished things off nicely.

Thanks for popping in and sharing a bit of your day with me today :D




What's In It?
Stamps:  Inspired By Nature, Amuse
Paper:  Always Artichoke, Rudy Red, Cream Linen, Cameo Coral
Ink:  Always Artichoke, Rudy Red, Apricot Appeal
Accessories:  Diamons in the Rough Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder Punch, 5/8" So Saffron Satin Ribbon, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Dimensionals

May Your Life Be Like A Wildflower

I fell in love with this room because I just love using black and white and pink together!  I found this yummy Bo Bunny DP at my LSS and actually bought it for the reverse side, which is black and white, but this side was perfect (gotta love double sided DP).  It's on my list to look for next time I go back! I really do need to start buying more than one sheet of DP at a time when I really like it!

Amber's sketch is so fun this week!  I know I'll be using it again because of its unique layout.  I kept things simple by just outlining everything in black and using some sheer black ribbon and black half pearls to tie everything together.  A Martha Steward butterfly finished things off nicely. 

I just love this Verve sentiment!  I have been drooling over it for some time now and was thrilled when I won the set it belongs to.  There are so many wonderful sayings in this Verve Feel The Sun set!  Can't wait to use more goodies from it!

The kids are getting spinnier and the year end schedule crazier as school draws to a close!  Just fifteen days until school is out, so I 'm trying to squeak in as much stamping time as I can before summer hits and it gets pushed to the wayside more times than not.

Wishing you a fabulous day!


 


What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Feel the Sun
Paper:  Black, Bo Bunny DP, Pretty In Pink
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  5/8" Sheer Black Ribbon, Martha Steward Butterfly Punch, Black Half Pearls, Scalloped Edge Scissors, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Act 34

I had a bit of a shock on Friday when I checked the colours for this week's challenge before I set out to make my card!  I came to the horrible realization that I didn't have any of the exact colours for this challenge - aaaack!!  A very humiliating position to be in as a DT member.... hanging my head in shame!  With no time to hit my LSS, I had to substitute big time!!  Elegant Eggplant and Rudy Red for Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Durango, and thankfully, I had some card stock from my local LSS that was a close match to Sahara Sand and Basic Grey.  Needless to say, my feathers were more than a little bit ruffled, and it carried over into the making of the card!  Oh joy...

I actually quite liked these colours together, but getting them to work together was whole other story LOL!  After playing with some sketches and mixing the colours around, I finally settled on using this week's OCC sketch.  Phew!  Part two done :D   

The flower is made from an old SAB set that has never been inked up - oh  my!  I embossed it with white EP on Eggplant cardstock twice, cut them out, layered them, and added a crystal brad to the middle.  The Sahara Sand colour has one of the images from Verve's Accent Notes stamped on it in VersaMark.   While stamping it, I quickly realized having PTI's Giga Guidelines would have been a great help!  One of my Michael's ribbon bin diving adventures produced some grosgrain ribbon which I think is a very close match to Rich Razzleberry, and I was happy to be able to finally use my Fleur De Lis punch.  A small tag called it a day, about two hours after I started!  On days like Friday, one must be happy about the little things LOL!

Enjoy getting some inspiration from the rest of the Curtain Call Crew, as well as our June guest designer, Christina MacLaren. 

• 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 June Guest Designer, Christina MacLaren at Seaglass and Sentiments

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 34.  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 great day, and I"m wishing you a much easier card making experience with these colours than I had LOL!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) Friendship Blooms, (SU) Fancy Flexible Phrases, (Verve) Accent Notes
Paper:  Rudy Red, Elegant Eggplant, Sahara Sand, Basic Grey
Ink:  VersaMark
Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Fleru Des Lis Punch, Grosgrain Ribbon, Crystal Brad, Dimensionals

Colour Throwdown Meets Just Add Ink

I loved this week's Colour Throwdown as well as the Just Add Ink sketch so a double challenge card was in order.  

I didn't have pumpkin pie so I had to go with Only Orange and it was a stinker of a colour to photograph - ugh!!   Did the best I could to tone it down in Photoshop, but it still looks brighter and darker than it actually is on the card - trust me on that LOL!

Being that I am still on a Vintage Vogue kick (sorry....just love this set!!), I decided to ink up two of the stamps in the set which haven't seen any love yet.  The vine image is stamped in VersaMark on the right hand side of the blue panel (bit hard to see, but it shows up much more in real life and balances off the ribbon wonderfully) and the friend stamp fit perfectly in the half circle.

Since I had so much fun making the ruffled ribbon on my last card, I decided to do it again, only this time with a wider ribbon.  Love how much dimension it gives a card!  May have to get some more double sided tape at this rate LOL! 

Kids are counting how many days of school are left and I am still in deep denial about it LOL!  Weather has been yucky for weeks now, however, when it is rainy out it does make it a lot easier to stay inside and stamp!

Have a fabulous day, and consider this card made for all of you, my cyber friends, as a thank you for your visits and comments on my blog (((hugs))).





What's In It?
Stamps:  Vintage Vogue
Paper:  So Saffron, Cool Caribbean, Only Orange
Ink:  So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Only Orange, VersaMark
Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, SU Border Punch, 5/8" Orange Grosgrain Ribbon, Double Sided Tape, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Ruffled Ribbon Here I Come!

I was debating between using this room and the first room as my inspiration picture because both rooms are predominantly green, and in case you don't know, green is my favorite colour (insert happy "sigh"....).  Believe it or not, I even had celery coloured shag carpeting in my room when I was a teenager - boy does that date me LOL!  This room won out  because I love pairing celery with rose romance and so saffron.  However, I may just have to go back and make another card using the other green room LOL!

Celery was my base colour as per the room's walls.  When I saw the flowers on the bedspread, I immediately pulled out Verve's Petals and Stems set because it matches the flowers on the bedspread.  I added a butterfly as per the picture on the wall, and believe it or not, I even used a trendy technique before it is passe LOL!  Yes, I can now say I used ruffled ribbon on a card :D   Just love how it "grounded" the flower by acting as grass.  Best of all it was quick, easy and fun to do!  The bottom corner of the card seemed a bit bare so I added a button to balance things off.  This was a very fun card to make!

Wishing you a wonderful day, and thanking you for sharing a part of yours with little old me (((hugs))).
  




What's In It?
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Rose Romance, Bashful Blue, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink
Accessories:  Marvy Flower Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Butterfly Die, Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Verve's June Week 1 Sketch

This month Amber is taking us through kid's rooms!  How fun :)  If I recall correctly, a decorating magazine said kid's rooms are the only room you can have "fun" with and not worry about tying them into the rest of your house.  Must say, it's true in our house.

I chose this room as my inspiration because of the softer colours and nautical theme (not that I have any nautical type stamps - go figure LOL!).   I was intending on using lots of brocade blue with either kraft or creamy caramel and a splash of red, but the navy jumped in there and wouldn't leave!

Our family is celebrating all the May birthdays this weekend (yes, we are a bit late!), so these colours were perfect for my brother's card.  Since I don't have any star punches or dies (back to the top of my list they go!!) I had to settle on using this cute little pirate.  Don't think my 46 year old brother will mind....after all, boys will be boys, right :D  I coloured him with Twinkling H2Os and by the end of it all, I sure wished I had some Copics, never mind some colouring lessons LOL!

My attempt at an "out of the box" image using a nestie was a disaster because I forgot to tape the image in after I cut out the "out of the box" parts.  I ended up cutting off part of his shoes and my edge was horribly off.  However, there was no way I was going to colour another pirate, so I cut him out and mounted him on to the circle - I even managed to tape his shoes back on LOL!  Now I just needed something for the horizontal panel.  After seeing sailor's knots on some cards around blogland recently, I used Google to find some instructions, and voila, one sailor's knot for my card :D

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hoping to get more stamping time this week, so I should be back soon if all goes as planned.  Have a fabulous day!   





What's In It?
Stamps:  Lizzie Ann Designs
Paper:  Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Real Red
Accessories:  Sports and Dots Embossing Folder, Hemp Twine, Twinkling H2Os, Dimensionals

Curtain Call Act 33

I just love the colours Stacey picked this week!  They are fabulous together and this will definitely be a combination I use again - thanks, Stacey :D 

When I saw the large oval in Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge this week, I knew it was the perfect sketch for this week's Curtain Call because when I see large ovals like this, I immediately think of  Stampin' Up's For All You Do set.  I just love this set!  It fits perfectly in ovals and basically makes your card for you :D

This is a pretty straight forward card as my mojo is in sleep mode after not being used too much for the past three weeks!   However, I was thrilled to be able to use some of my favorite goodies when making this card: my beloved Swiss Dots embossing folder (sigh....), SU's new border punch, Nesties (how did I ever survive without them?!) and my favorite embellishment, ribbon.  What more can a girl ask for :D 

The rest of the Curtain Call Crew have some samples for your inspiration and over the summer we will be having a new guest designer every month! 

• 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 June Guest Designer, Christina MacLaren at Seaglass and Sentiments


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 33.  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!

Hope to be back soon!  The last three weeks have been crazy busy and I've really missed stamping!!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) For All You Do, Fancy Flexible Phrases
Paper:  Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, White
Ink:  Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories:  Oval and Scalloped Oval Nesties, SU Border Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, 5/8" White Satin Ribbon, Silver Brads, Dimensionals

I'm Still Here.....Sort Of....

Sorry to be so quiet this week.  My son was sick for five days starting this past weekend and into this week...fever, chills, pounding headache and he even puked a few times.  I spent three nights in a row in and out of his bed, poor little guy.  It's a nasty bug that is going around, and once he was all better and back at school, my hubby got it - ugh!  So, my week has been thrown all out of sorts by having people home to look after, but thankfully, one is now healthy and the other one is on the way.  Just hoping the rest of us don't get it!!

In addition, the high humidity we've been having this week is reeking havoc on my curly hair!!  I'm looking like a bush woman these days LOL!  No, I'm not going to post a picture - just take my word for it because even gel isn't helping!  Up into a pony tail it went and has stayed that way all week!   I was talking to Mark Madryga, one of our local TV weathermen (my son and his daughter have been in the same class for a few years so I know him quite well), and told him:  "Who needs the Humidex Index, you can just look at my hair" LOL!   

In the midst of all the above, I got two fabulous pick me ups this week!  I discovered my card for last week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge (you can see it here) was selected as the OCC Sketch card of the week!!  In addition, I won a subscription to the premier issue of Embellish Magazine.  Added bonus is my blogging buddy Maureen, at Buttons and Bling, has a card featured in it (yeah, Maureen!). Check out the Embellish Blog, it's full of all sorts of inspiration.

So, I guess I can't complain too much LOL!  I'll be back on Sunday with this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge.  Hopefully, next week I'll be able to stamp and blog a bit more because I dearly miss it as well as all of you! 

Have a fabulous weekend!

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! 

• 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 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

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