Flowers and Friends

A fourth challenge card this week????? Unheard of for me, and this one came together so quickly I was able to get it done before work -- and with plenty of time to upload!! What took me the longest was deciding on the flowers to use.

The stamps are from Papertrey Ink -- I am in love with their designs, so beautiful. I used Spiral Bouquet and Beautiful Blooms. The colors are Chocolate chip, Ruby red and Groovy guava. I am not a big fan of guava so I have plenty of it to use up. If I can find the right colors to put it with I'm okay with it. It's just getting to that point that's tough, and I'm a color freak...go figure.

Thanks for looking. Stay warm and hope your didn't get dumped with too much snow. Our kids had school today which is a good thing because our teachers' were on strike in the fall and no snow days were allotted in the schedule...and we've had four already!! That means their last day of school will be June 27th!!!!! Anymore days off mean making them up on Saturdays -- how awful!

Color Challenge

And what striking colors these are: River rock, Basic black and White. I used the new Essence of Love set from the Occassions mini, stamping it in Versamark onto glossy white cardstock. I then brayered River rock over it for the resist technique. The butterfly was then stamped in black stazon on top. A touch of ribbon, some dimensionals, designer paper, black brads and a sketch challenge to follow and the card was complete. Quick and simple...gotta like that!!

Don't You Think It's About Time??!!

I mean, after all, it's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted a card! The only problem is, that seems to be the last time a sat down and relaxed to make a card!!!!! I had stamp camp last Sunday and it was VERY successful. Lots of work went into it so I had to get caught up on things.

Next Sunday I am meeting up with a group of friends for a shoebox swap. There is going to be lots of good food, plenty of laughs, and even some stamping going on. We got together last year and begged the same hostesses to have it again. After all, she's the gourmet cook of the group so why not!!!!

I found the idea for this card on someone's blog and for the life of me can't remember who. I really should write it down so I give credit where credit is due. The card base and some layers are Chocolate chip along with layers of Barely banana. The Bliss blue embossed layer is sponged over with White craft ink - love the effect. The DP is by Fancy Pants. The flowers I colored in with marker (saffron and celery) then rocked the edges with Close to cocoa ink. The ribbon slide comes from the new Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit found in the new Occasions mini catalog. The stamp sets are Close as a Memory and Define Your Life. Hope the other ladies enjoy making it too.

An "E" Award!!!!

How fabulous is that...thank you so much Heather for the nod! I am truly honored!! Heather (stampinmomof2cuties) nominated me for the blog Excellence Award a week ago and I just now found some time to cruise thru some blogs and there it was!! So sorry it took me this long to post my acceptance speech!! Heather has a wonderful blog and you can read it here: Ink On My Ear

Getting Ready for Stamp Camp

Wow, where do the days go!! I've been busy at work and this week will be no different. And I have to get ready for stamp camp next Sunday...for 22 ladies!!!!! This will be my biggest one ever. I usually hold my camps the third Sunday of every month in my home. Now my table can hold 8 comfortably so that is what I limit it to. I have three different time slots that the ladies must sign up for, then it's a marathon day of stamping and creating. My goal has always been to hit the 20 mark...well I've done that for two months in a row now!!!

This is one of the cards we'll be making. I cased a card from one of the featured stampers, StampingPam. I like some of the little details that make this card pop. I'm not much of a St. Patrick's Day person, but when I saw this set, Pinch Proof, in the new catalog, I knew I had to have it. I love the jumbo wheel too, Pinch Me. I used Garden Green and Certainly Celery for the colors and really like them together. Often monochromatic is difficult for me because I so love mixing colors, but this one just seemed to work.

Thanks so much for looking. I truly appreciate all of you!

Lovely Flowers

I just had to post this!! This is for today's color challenge - Ballet blue, Apricot appeal and Real red. I had my doubts at first but then just went with it! I tried really hard to stay true to the colors and used an apricot marker on the leaves of the flowers. I used the small swirl from Priceless on the apricot layers and Print Pattern on the red (may be hard to see). Like I said, I used markers on the flowers and sponged the edges with apricot. I've had a bucket of Prima flowers that hadn't been used...until today. One nice thing about a rainy day, you stay inside and stamp!!!

Another Sympathy Card

Here's another sympathy card to send off to a Wish RAK friend who is requesting them for her hospital staff to send out to grieving parents. The photo did not pick up the second generation stamping of the flowers which really gives this card dimension. I used markers to color in the flower by Rubber Stampede then overstamped with Weathered background and sponged the edges. Purple is definitely not my color but for some reason I really wanted to use it. I think the So saffron helped.

Thanks for looking. It's in the 60s here in Pittsburgh, but lots of rain. Sure beats snow!!!!!!! It's also a perfect day to stay indoors and stamp. Need to check out the color challenge for today!

Helping Out a Fellow Wish RAKer

One of the ladies on SCS put out a plea for help in donating handmade sympathy cards. She works in a NICU and the nursing staff mails cards out to the parents who have lost their sweet babies. A request was made to make the cards 5 x 7 to allow room for everyone to write a note inside. I used some of my Papertrey stamps for the first time...and absolutely love 'em! That paired with Basic Grey Infuse and this is what I came up with. DS thought the Mardi Gras beads were a perfect touch...and I think he's right!