Color Me Beautiful Challenge #5 and a Flashback Friday (sort of)

It's Friday again! Funny how they keep coming around isn't it?! Although I have to say that this week's Friday couldn't have come at a better time! It has been one crazy week at work and that usually means very little crafty time for me!  We have been expanding our programs at work until we no longer have any room to grow and were blessed to have a building donated to us for relocation.  Unfortunately, this wonderful gift has been sitting empty for years and needed MAJOR renovation.  Most of this was completed by skilled laborers who donated their time, but now we are at the painting and finishing stage and that means all able bodies get to do some volunteering during their off time.  I painted my NEW classroom yesterday with my wonderfully understanding DH who has been so awesome through all of my stressed out and worn out days!  I am so glad that we are finished with that lovely project!  My next volunteer project will be the playground and landscaping-way more fun!!  But enough of my chatter... On to the Color Me Beautiful challenge!

And what a gorgeous color combination it is!! I really don't know where Carole and AnnMarie come up with these wonderful inspirations, but I want to visit all of the photo locations!!!

Doesn't this make you feel so peaceful?  I can only imagine the incredible scent of lavendar that would come from a field like this and just listen to the wind swishing through the wheat... Ahhhhh......

and here are your colors to play with...

I knew as soon as I put these colors together that my card would have a nature theme.  I hate to admit that I do not have river rock OR sahara sand inks... Must remedy that! That left out a lot of stamps that I considered using and then I remembered my retired butterflies.  I know that many demos sell the stamp sets once they retire, but I have several that I refuse to part with because they are just so versatile and wonderful.  Butterfly Prints is one of these sets. Guess this kind of makes my card a Flashback Friday too!

This card is something of a double CASE. I made a card extremely similar to this here and that card was inspired by my upline Kelly's card.  My photography for this one is horrid! It was pouring down rain and my indoor lighting does nothing to enhance the beauty of the vanilla smooch that is spritzed on the entire card (looks more like blobs, here...) and the river rock layer is stamped with the flowers from another stamp set using versamark. You can barely make them out if you squint, get really close to the screen, and stand on one leg! LOL!

Well, I hope my terribly photographed card has encouraged you to visit Color Me Beautiful and see the better quality photos of the rest of the team! Quite a talented bunch, and I am amazed at the gorgeous creations that get linked up each week!! So if you have some time and want to play, we would love it if you would join in the fun!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend full of lots and lots of crafty time!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-sahara sand, river rock, wisteria wonder, elegant eggplant, whisper white, Ink-elegant eggplant, wisteria wonder, Versamark, Stamp Sets-Butterfly Prints (ret), Language of Friendship, Accessories-butterfly punch (ret), eyelet border punch (ret), elegant eggplant scallop dots ribbon, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch spritz

Anything But a Card Challenges #2- Texture

So glad you stopped in to visit my little ol' blog today!  We have a challenge going on at Anything But a Card Challenges to make anything but a card with TEXTURE!!  Think fabric, canvas, wire, fibers, embossing, layering, crimping, studs, jewels...you get the picture!  Now any of my regular followers will be shocked that my first thought was FABRIC. Yes... I know...don't faint on me!  It is true that I do not sew if I can help it, but for whatever irrational reason, I have quite a bit of Stampin' UP's fabric.  Some were give aways from my upline, others I bought thinking I would do something with them.  Not that the reason matters, what is important is I have this stuff just sitting in a container taking up space and taunting me.  So when I saw the new sticky rounds in the Holiday catalog, I knew that this could be the solution to my neglected fabric stash!

Here is what a non-sewing scrapbooker does with fabric (and ribbon)...

Now I have to give a small warning... These can be a bit frustrating until you get the hang of twisting and sticking as you go, but once you get the hang of it, they are a little addictive.  I had intended to make one or two out of fabric, but ended up making several, some made with seam binding ribbon as well!  Between the fabric flowers and the Vintage Flowers embellishments, there is quite a bit of texture on this page.  This might have posed a problem if I was going to put it in an album, but I decided this one will be going in a 12x12 shadowbox frame, so 'lumpiness' will not be an issue! Oh, it's not showing up in the picture, but my cardstock base is textured too!

You still have time to play along with us and link up your creation with texture!  Hope to see you there!!  

Page Recipe: Cardstock-Baja breeze, very vanilla, pear pizzazz, Springtime Vintage DSP (ret), Stamp Sets-Curly Cute, Reason To Smile, Accessories-Baja breeze & rose red seam binding, vintage flowers, bird builder punch, springtime vintage fabric, scallop trim border, jumbo sticky rounds

Under a Tuscan Sun-Where's the wine?!

Hello and happy Friday!  I always look forward to Fridays, but today is even more wonderful because I have a 1/2 day of work and then I'm going shopping, all by myself! Watch out craft stores and Barnes and Noble...here I come!  I'm hoping this 'me day' will help me get my internal scheduling back on track! And just in case you're wondering, no this is not why I'm asking for wine... I like to enjoy my wine at home, thank you!

As if a child-free afternoon of shopping wasn't great enough, today is also the first day of the new challenge at Color Me Beautiful and OH MY! is this not a gorgeous inspiration picture?!

and these yummy colors...

Now do you understand why I'm dreaming of an overseas vacation and a glass of wine? sigh... This is my 'off week' and with my crazy schedule, I did not create an inspiration piece for this week's challenge, but I am definitely using these colors when I have my crafting time this weekend! Hello Fall!

The ladies have made some wonderfully amazing and inspiring projects so be sure to stop by and leave them some love and I hope to see you link up your own gorgeous creations so I can get all dreamy over them too!

You will notice a little plea to turn off word verification on this week's challenge.  I understand the whole spam commenting and how annoying it is to delete those comments, but there is nothing more sad for me than wanting to leave someone a little love about their creation and not being able to read the crazy insane jumbled letters and numbers to prove I'm not a robot...  So if you are wanting us to comment on your gorgeous work, please turn off the word verification! Please and thank you!!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!!

Tiffany's Color and Sketch Challenge-Just a little bling...

Hello! I hope you week is going well and you are finding lots of time to be crafty!  Personally, I feel like my wheels are spinning, but I'm going nowhere... Lots to do and trying to keep track of everything is not conducive to my crafty mojo!! I think I need a vacation (and yes, I do realize that I just went back to work!) so I can relax and play!

Every month my team leader, Tiffany, gives us an envelope with cardstock pieces and a sketch.  If we choose to accept her challenge, we must use the sketch and the colors she chose to make a card.  We can add a neutral and embellishing, but it has to be in the colors she gave us.

When I saw the sketch with the circles at various heights, I thought of ornaments and knew it would be a great chance to use my new ornament stamps and framelits.  I did not know I would be trying three different ways to 'hang' them...  I created everything on the card and embellished the ornaments with a little bling (rhinestones and dazzling details), then set out to hang them on my card.  My first thought was linen thread, but then the thread would be taped on the back of the card and I wasn't thrilled of trying to cover it up.  So I thought, I'll use the night of navy marker and draw lines.  It didn't look horrendous, but it also did not look beautiful.  So as I'm looking at the lines I thought 'What would happen if I used the string of rhinestones...' and I tried it on the second and fourth ornaments.  Beautiful! Next came the strings for #1 and 3...um....wow...that is a LOT of bling...  See for yourself!

Now that is one sparkly card! And definitely NOT what I normally create! Stampin' Anne, eat your heart out!! Tee!Hee! For those of you not familiar with Anne Marie's work, she is the queen of all things glittery (and pink!)!!

It took a little time for this to grow on me, but my girls loved it and I'm thinking it may go to one of my girly girlfriends for Christmas.  I'm just glad that I completed the challenge on time and was able to play with my new toys!!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and that we both find some time to be crafty!! I really need to scrapbook!!!! Have a fabulous day!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-old olive, whisper white, Brights DSP stack, Ink-old olive, pretty in pink, night of navy, Stamp Set-Ornament Keepsakes, Tags til Christmas, Accessories-Holiday Ornaments framelits, ornament punch, word window punch, pretty in pink dotted scallop ribbon, 3/4 " circle punch, RHINESTONES, silver dazzling details

Sorry card...you didn't make the cut...

As many of you already know, I am on the design team at Color Me Beautiful and AnnMarie and Carole really come up with some fabulous color combinations!  I saw the colors for this week's challenge and immediately thought HALLOWEEN!! and I proceeded to make a card, which I quickly decided was not going to be my DT card.  Silly, I know, but I feel like if it's going to inspire someone else, I really need to LOVE it! So I made a new card which was posted on the challenge blog.  But, I didn't hate my Halloween card, so I figured I might as well share it on my blog.  So even though it didn't make the cut for the challenge blog post, it's getting a little love from my personal blog! Apologies in advance for the shadows...

While I really need to use up my DSP, I didn't have a pattern in these colors that I thought matched cute little Frankie's personality! So out came the embossing folder and the sponge daubers to add a little something to the otherwise basic cardstock. The rhinestones were colored with a sharpie to match the rich razz paper. I was thrilled with how well they matched!

So there you have it... I know I'm not the only one who critiques her work, and generally even if I don't love it, someone else does.  I really hope that in some way this is inspiring and I would love it if you found the time to join us in the color challenge!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-tempting turquoise, basic gray, rich razzleberry, lucky limeade, whisper white, Stamp Set-Googly Ghouls, Ink-Black Stazon, basic gray for sponging, Accessories-chevron folder, big shot, lucky limeade ruffled ribbon, basic rhinestones, glimmer brads, word window punch, modern label punch, decorative label punch, googlies, dimensionals

It's Challenge Time!!

Hello! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  I just saw my oldest DD hop onto a travel bus  and head to Washington, DC, so I'm suffering mixed emotions... Thrilled for her wonderful experience, worried that something might happen, overjoyed that I will not have to listen to my girls argue for a few days, and sad that I will have one less girl to talk to...  But enough about me!  Here's something for YOU!

Anything But a Card Challenges has something new for you!  Here is our latest challenge-

"we are asking you to incoporoate TEXTURE into your project.  It can be thru fibers, fabric, canvas, burlap, embossing, corrugated paper, multiple layers, ribbon flowers,  3 d rolled flowers,  thread, twine, buttons, gems, etc.  Just so long as it's not a completely smooth project it should work."

Simple enough right?  So if you are so inclined, create something with texture and link your fabulous creation to the challenge blog!  The Week 1 design team has some wonderful inspiration pieces for you to see too! I am part of the Week 2 designers, so you will have to check back in to see my 'lumpy' project!!

Have a wonderful week and wish me luck at keeping my sanity until DD is safely home!

Color Me Beautiful Challenge #3

Hello! It's Friday! My favorite day of the week! Not only does it mean the weekend is here, but it's also time for a new color challenge at Color Me Beautiful! I am having so much fun playing with the wonderful color combinations and this week is no exception!

Check out these yummy colors...

and our color palette...

Anyone else hungry for eggplant Parmesan, or is it just me?!  

When I originally saw these pictures they really called Halloween to me.  So I made a Halloween card, but me and my nitpicky, wishy washy ways, I wasn't loving that card.  It wasn't horrible, but I really wanted something better to share, so I went back to the drawing board and made a new card...

Nope, not Halloween... but I like this one a lot more! Plus, it gave me the excuse to pull out some new toys and play with them!!  AND I have another Christmas card completed!! Bonus!

Have I mentioned that I love the bundles in the Holiday catalog?! As if coordinating stamp sets and framelits weren't wonderful enough, you also save money when you purchase them together!! How could I NOT buy them????

I hope the inspiration picture, color palette, and my little ol' card have encouraged you to pull out these SU colors and some SU stamps and play along!! I'll be patiently waiting to see your wonderful creations!

Be sure to check back later this week and I'll share my first attempt card with you.  Like I said, it's not horrid and I like it, but it just wasn't WOW like I wanted it to be.

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-basic gray, lucky limeade, whisper white, rich razzleberry, tempting turquoise, Ink-rich razzleberry, tempting turquoise, basic gray, Stamp Sets-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Ornament Keepsakes, Accessories- Holiday Ornaments framelits, white bakers twine, basic rhinestones, snow burst embossing folder (ret), Punches-modern label, word window, 1" circle, scallop oval

ABACC #1 My first project!!

Hello!  It is week two of the bi-weekly Anything Goes challenge at ABACC (anything but a card challenge) and I am one of the featured designers this week!  If you haven't already checked out the other ladies work, you really need to pop in!  I am in awe of the talent coming from this group and feel just a tad bit intimidated!  But only a little!!

I had a chipboard journal in my stash for over a year, from last year's Stampin' UP regional event as a matter of fact!  I kept meaning to get it out and play with it, but never felt inspired until now.  I inked the chipboard with very vanilla craft ink and then proceeded to add lots of different shades of brown from the neutrals collection.  It also got a good dose of early espresso and crumb cake from the color spritzer.  Nice and grungy!!

I used the more mustard and soft suede cardstock, the linen thread, and the mini clothespin which came in the chipboard project kit.  I did not however choose to decorate it like the project page.  I pulled out the daisy from Reason to smile, inked it up with crumb cake and then colored the center with pastels.

I'm planning on using this for a quotes, verses, thoughts, etc. journal... something to make me think and be a better person, which is why I chose the sentiment from Just Believe.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first creation for ABACC and that you will make time to play along if you haven't already, and if you have, well...play again!!

Project Recipe:  chipboard journal (retired), Cardstock-more mustard, soft suede, naturals ivory, Ink-very vanilla, early espresso, crumb cake, soft suede, Stamp Sets-Reason to Smile (ret), Just Believe, Accessories-linen thread, pear pizzazz seam binding (ret.), color spritzer, pastels, mini clothespin basic pearl, 1 3/4 and 2 1/2" circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, non SU flower punch

Back to 'spool' time!

Hello! Just wanted to share the latest fantastic deal from Stampin' UP! During the month of September, you can celebrate your kids heading back to school by scoring some FREE ribbon for your crafting time!!

If you are interested in placing an order, be sure to visit my online store.  If your order is $40 or more, you will be prompted to choose your favorite colors of the free ribbon!  Be sure to use the item number from here and not the one from the catalog!

Have a fabulous day and I hope you find some time to be crafty!!

Challenge #2 at Color Me Beautiful!

Hello all! I am so far behind today, I think I passed myself twice trying to catch up!! I had every intention of having this post scheduled for first thing this morning, but ended up going out to eat with family last night and then completely forgot.

But anyway, my creation today is for the DT at Color Me Beautiful.  I actually did not have to make a card for this week since I'm on the second team, but the colors were just too pretty not to use, so here I am!  Take a look at the lovely inspiration photo...

and the list of colors...

and finally... My card!

 

I loved the gorgeous flowers in the photo and thought the wildflowers image from Just Believe would work to recreate them. Using markers to color the image made it easy to pull 3 of the 5 colors into my card. While I still think it might need a little something, I have yet to decide what it is and will just have to see what I come up with later.  There's a good chance it will grow on me too!

So if you think you might like to join me in the challenge, head over to the blog and check out the other design team members' lovely creations and get the details.  Remember, you do NOT have to use all 5 colors to qualify!  I was so happy to see a blogging buddy link up during last week's challenge and hope many more will join this week!!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, Ink- Always Artichoke, Raspberry Ripple, Calypso Coral, Stamp Set- Just Believe, Accessories-square lattice folder, word window punch, modern label punch, Victoria crochet trim

Scrapbook Monday- the last of the Disney album!

Well hello there! Hope you had a great weekend!  We are celebrating Labor Day today, so the girls and I have a day off of school! YEA!!!!  DH is also off work by some bizarre chance, so hopefully we will find something fun to do!  Sleeping in is on the top of my list, after that, I'm good with just being able to do whatever!  Might even get some crafty time squeezed in!

I want to apologize for my lack of creative posting and commenting lately.  I have been battling a major head cold for a week.  One minute I would feel fine and then suddenly it was like being hit by a truck.  So I have been running on what little steam I had to keep up. But I'm almost 100% again, so look for me to be peeking in on your blogs soon!!

I am sharing the last of my Disney pages with you today.  These are still from Animal Kingdom and are pretty simple.  It is so amazing to me how easy MDS makes it to make a nice page with little effort.  Even a fancy page doesn't take too much time!  I have to admit that while I LOVE using MDS and it has made this album a piece of cake to finish in no time, I really miss my 'hands on' pages.  So I will be sharing some paper crafted pages next time.  I'm sure MDS will still be making an appearance from time to time!!

Even with a fast pass, we did have a bit of a wait for this

ride.  It was SO worth it! Even though we knew that trenching and 

natural barriers separated us from any real contact with most of the 

animals, it was so amazing to be so close to the free

roaming animals.  The ostriches even laid their eggs right next to 

the road we were riding on!

All of the shows at Disney were fantastic, but we were

completely wowed by The Festival of the Lion King.

Amazing scenery, gorgeous costumes, and so much talent 

in one show!  The acrobatic 'monkeys' (actually real people 

in costume) were fantastic and we all had chills as

the cast sang the grand finale song!

As we were preparing to leave, I happened to glance over

at a couple who had stopped on a bridge and were looking

at the trees.  They were filled with hundreds of white birds,

who were coming in to roost for the evening.  We learned from

a cast member that they were native birds and were free to

come and go as they pleased.  They simply chose to roost

in this spot.  Again, we were so impressed with Disney's 

efforts to make this a true place of conservation.

Well, that wraps up my little peek into our summer vacation.  I hope you enjoyed the pages and maybe found a layout to use, or bit of inspiration from them.  Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!!

Anything But a Card Challenge #1

Hello! So glad you stopped by my little space in Blogland today! I am super excited not just because you're visiting me, but this is my very first post as a part of the design team for Anything But A Card Challenges (known from this point on as ABACC)!

To keep things simple for our first challenge we have an Anything Goes challenge!  That means as long as it's not a card, you can do whatever your heart desires!  So be sure to pop by to check out the details and link up with us!  I can't wait to visit your blog and see what amazing creativity you have shared with us!

My project will not appear on the challenge site until week #2, so you will just have to wait and see what I've been up to!  Here's a hint... It's not a card!! Tee! Hee!

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope to see your talents being shared at ABACC!!

***Update:  The challenge will go live at 8:00 AM Central Time Zone.  Sorry for any confusion!!

Color Me Beautiful Challenge #1 and new toys!

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by to visit today! I am bursting with excitement about the new color challenge at Color Me Beautiful!  I have to admit that all of that purple threw me a little, and I debated skipping a shade, but I kept thinking of a dear blogging friend who adores purple and thought "What would she do?".  Well... she would put every bit of purple in there!  So I did!!

I am thrilled to be a part of this group of very talented crafters and hope you stop by the blog to check out their amazing work as well!

This is our beautiful inspiration piece...

and here is my very first color challenge piece!

I recently ordered the stamp set Daydream Medallions and the coordinating framelits, Floral Frames.  I thought this would be a great set to use all of these pretty colors together. And of course, it also allowed me to play with new tools!!  This came together so quickly, which was a good thing since I was working under the gun to get it done on time!  It's hard to tell from the picture, but each layer is popped up with dimensionals and the edges are curved a bit too.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the long weekend with my girls.  We were planning to have an outdoor family reunion today, but the rain had other plans, so now I have a free Saturday to be all crafty! Rainy days are perfect for that!!  Although...there is also the distinct possibility I may just take a nap!  Rainy days are great for that too!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and happy Labor Day to all who are celebrating this holiday with me!  Make some time to be crafty and I hope to see your wonderful take on these colors at Color Me Beautiful!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-rich razzleberry, basic gray, perfect plum, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder, Ink-perfect plum, lucky limeade, wisteria wonder, Stamp Set-Daydream Medallions, Accessories-Floral Frames framelits, vintage wallpaper folder, lucky limeade ruffled ribbon, wisteria wonder bakers twine, neutrals buttons