Gimme Five- 5th Sunday Challenge at ABAC

Hello! I am so glad you are here!  Today is the fifth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a special challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  Any time a month has five Sundays we do a 'five' challenge.  Your creation can have the number five, five embellishments, five stamps, five anything!  As long as it has something to do with five and is NOT a card, you're good!

I decided to do another page in my quotes journal and used five flower stamps to create my garden.  I found a quote by Hemingway "When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead." and I thought this was a great reminder to not take life so seriously.  I also wanted to make a fun page to go with the quote so out came the bright colors and a stamp set that I have not used in a very long time.  I had a lot of fun using the blender pen to 'paint' the flowers and the butterfly.  I also used pastels to create the sky.

I hope that you decide to do something for fun and join us in our Five Challenge!  Have a wonderful week!

Project Recipe: Stamp Set-Time Well Spent, Ink- assorted inks from the brights collection, Tuxedo black (memento), blender pen, pastels

A Mooving Card! Flashback Friday

Hello! As this is posting, I am road tripping with my girls to visit my best friend who lives near Indy.  We have been friends since I was in 7th grade and she was in 6th.  She was frequently my partner in crime and was also in my wedding.  Shortly after that she moved and we lost touch for a few years, but things were quickly back to our version of normal after a weekend reunion.  She often comes 'home' since they still have family living in the area, but I have yet to get up to see her.  So after a rather crazy week last week, I decided I needed a change of scenery and she was more than willing to be my get-away location!  I couldn't however leave you without sharing my most recent Flashback Friday!

I've had the cow image for so long that I have no idea where it is from... I'm sure it was a freebie, but have no clue who made it.  This was another of the images that went camping with me, so it was all colored up and in my stack of things to do.  My blogging friend, Lynn is always making fun and fabulous cards for her blog.  This cute cow reminded me of something I might see on her blog.  I think she probably would have done a better job with it too! :)

 

Along with the old digi, I also used a very, very old piece of hay dp-no clue who made it as it was a leftover in my scrap container.  The denim ribbon is now retired and thankfully I was able to buy an extra roll before it left. Love this ribbon!! The red dsp is from Summer Smooches (ret). Oh, and I couldn't resist using wiggle eyes either! I stocked up on those too! That means the only current items on here are the whisper white cardstock and the markers.  On the inside, I used part of a Michael's $1 stamp.  It says 'You're getting too old!'  I'm not sure who will be receiving this, but it will probably be one of my older siblings!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Hi!  I want to apologize for the Chicago earworms that may have been turned loose upon reading my title!  I had just realized that my last post was a Christmas card and today I have a Halloween card to share.  This led to a momentary bunny trail wondering how many days/weeks it was until Halloween and wondering what in the world was inspiring my creative process for early holiday cards.  The words entered my brain "Does anybody really know when it's appropriate to post these.", quickly followed by Chicago singing "Does anybody really care? About time?".  I'm not sure if you know this or not, but when the lyrics spirits whisper to you, you have to listen!  This led to my post title and an increased probability that my visitors would have the song running through their heads for the rest of the day (aka earworms-Thanks Butterfly for teaching me this word!).  My post really doesn't have anything to do with time or the band Chicago-like I said bunny trails...

Enough rambling!  I do have two cards to share with you.  The images were colored in the great outdoors on our camping trip.  I decided to use bright, fun colors on an  All Dressed Up's freebie.  They were too cute to be made scary anyway!

I don't normally 'do' Halloween cards, but there has been a recent increase in little people in our family and I thought they would like to get a fun card in the mail.

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope you take some time to be crafty this week! If you live in most of the US right now, it's a good excuse to stay inside with the A/C!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe: Paper- Summer Smooches DSP (ret), Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Ink-daffodil delight, real red, lucky limeade, island indigo, tangerine tango, Image-All Dressed Up, Accesories-blender pen, daffodil delight ribbon

Christmas in June- Early or Late? You decide!

Well, hello! Today is officially the first day of summer...longest day of the year...a wonderfully warm 92* with a humidity level that slaps you in the face if you're crazy enough to venture outside.  So I did what any 'normal' person would do to celebrate the first day of summer-I made a Christmas card!

Yes, I know there are oodles of days before December 25th, and believe me I'm nowhere near ready to think about shopping!  I did however print out several digital images to take along on our recent camping weekend.  It is a lot of fun to sit at a picnic table near a campfire and color.  One of the images was a wintery theme and a freebie from Newton's Nook Designs.  So today, to take my mind off of the extremely humid day, I made a bright and cheerful Christmas card using my colored images.

I also used some retired products including almost the last of my pumpkin pie dots dsp from the brights stack-I should try to do this more often. I really don't think I would 'need' to buy paper for several years, but what fun would that be?!  The midnight muse ribbon is also retired (we won't discuss my ribbon stash...). I think the only current supplies are the real red and whisper white cardstock, and the markers used to color the mittens.

Speaking of retired, I was starting to freak out a bit when I looked through the new SU catalog (check it out on my sidebar) and didn't see any Christmas sets.  Then I remembered an update I had seen.

You can still order some of the recent Christmas/Holiday stamp sets that are not shown in the new catalog.  Click here to view the carry over stamp sets.  These will be available until August 27th, so if there is a set on your wish list, don't wait too long!  There will be some new Christmas and winter holiday stamp in the new Holiday catalog that will be released later this summer.

Well, the family is vegging out in front of the tv so I think I'm going to try to get a little creative time squeezed in before bedtime!  Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Paper-real red, whisper white, brights dsp stack, Image from Newton's Nook, Ink-real red, pumpkin pie, not quite navy, Accessories-snow burst embossing folder, midnight muse ribbon, staples

Anything But a Card Challenge-Summer Lovin'

Hi! I am so happy you stopped by today!  It's my turn to share my project for the Summer Lovin' challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  I am sure that for most people, summer brings to mind beaches, barbecues, and swimming. Those are all marvelous summer activities, but in our household, summer has always meant SOFTBALL!  So I created a scrapbook page of DD#2 playing softball.  

This was her second year of softball-back when it was all about the cute socks, visor that matched the uniform, and picking clover in the outfield.  Now she is much less concerned about the socks, traded her visor for ultra cool sunglasses, and enjoys the constant activity of playing third base.  Of course, you can still catch her and her teammates giggling in the dugout, probably about boys... Sigh...

I started with a softball themed dp which made the background quite simple.  I did dress up the letter o in softball with a handmade softball embellishment.  I also added 'stitching' to the yellow mat.  The softballs on the journaling card were made using the retired stamp set, Home Run.

I hope my softball page has encouraged you to document your favorite summer activity too!  If you're not into scrapbooking, why not try an ATC, art journal page, mixed media, or just about anything else you can think of!  We would love for you to link up with us!!

Page Recipe: Paper-softball dp (not sure of creator), crumb cake, yellow cardstock from my stash, Stamp Set-Home Run, Just Journaling, Ink-crumb cake, real red, Accessories-1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, real red stitched ribbon

Flashback Friday-Return of the border stickers....

Did you ever go through your supplies and cringe at some of the things you purchased?  Things so bad that you smack your forehead as you say "What was I thinking????"  You know...those things you had to have because they were so cute/cool/trendy/on sale/in the store...    I may have made a few irresponsible purchases over the years, but most of my 'yikes' supplies were at one time a great purchase.  Border stickers are a perfect example.  When I started scrapping, these were all the rage.  No page was complete unless you had the perfect banner spanning the length of your page.  Coming up with your own title was crazy talk!!  So I had a huge pile of these wonderful stickers for every occasion you could imagine.  My mistake? Buying waaaaay too many of them and then realizing I could make my own titles and use paper I already had for a border.  So now I have a file folder full of various borders.  I could throw them away (and honestly a lot went to my girls for them to use for whatever), but I decided to challenge myself to use some of them.  I cut several apart and used them to frame photos on some pages, filled in some gaps on others.  I won't bore you with those pages, but I couldn't help but to share this one which is quite a throwback style...

Check out the fall border stickers in all their glory!! 

Top AND bottom!!  Gotta have the bookend effect!!

I am telling myself that the pages will be fine since the photos are several years old (not quite border sticker old, but still).  Maybe no one will know that they were put together in the present time!!  

So sorry about the glare on the page but with all of the rain we have been getting, I could not get a decent photo... Notice the glare off of the lovely glossy sticker! LOL!

So what was your 'I can't believe I own this' item?  I would love to know!!!  Even better, use it to make something and share a link to your creation!!!  Who knows, I might even give away a prize for the the best forehead slapping item!  Have a fabulous weekend!!

Scrappy Saturday

Hello! I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  I managed to get a few scrapbook pages put together this week.  Most of them were extremely simple, like five pages at a sitting simple, so I'm not going to share those.  They were much more about getting the people, place, and story onto the page.  I did however want to share this one-also very simple but a bit more interesting to view!

I am once again determined to use up some of my older paper stash and the green base has been with me for a long time.  The stickers were also as old as the hills... Felt good to use them and have a little fun at the same time!  I love the 'spunky saucy silly sister' one! Perfect for both girls!

The photos were from several years ago.  We would often go to the riverwalk in a nearby town after seeing the free movies they offer in the summer.  My oldest loved these trips because when she was a preschooler, we lived in that town and would often visit this park.  That is one thing we do miss about living in town, but now they have a whole farm complete with fields and woods to explore, and an awesome sledding hill for the winter!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I am so glad I am back in blogland!  It has been so much fun this past week catching up on my visiting.  If I haven't been to see you yet, I'll be there soon!! Have a marvelous day!

Page Recipe: Paper-green from stash, daffodil delight, Floral District (ret), Stamp-School Lines (ret), Ink-basic gray, Accessories-lots of stickers from stash, scallop tag topper punch, lucky limeade bakers twine

Another play with Blendabilities and the pits

Blendabilities and the Pits, sounds like a Motown group! Hee! Hee!  I am far from a blending expert; I am never quite sure where to shade and where to highlight, even after watching 'how to' videos.  But I was actually ok with the results of this card, not perfect but to horrific either!

I really like the tongue in cheek sayings in the stamp set Giggle Greetings!  Nothing like a little sass to brighten a dreary day.  I didn't really have a purpose for this card, but you never know when someone could use a smile.  So now I'm ready!

I don't really have too much to say today.  We are getting ready for a camping trip with some friends and I'm looking forward to some campfire therapy!  Bring on the S'mores and fire pies!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Card Recipe: Paper-old olive, cherry cobbler, whisper white, Stamp Set-Giggle Greetings, Ink-memento tuxedo black, cherry cobbler and old olive blendabilities, Accessories-vine street embossing folder, cherry cobbler seam binding.

Shopping list? I don't think so!

Hi! I am so glad you are here!  I'm not sure exactly what I should call today's creation, but one thing it is NOT is a shopping list holder!  Let me elaborate.  One of the things I set out to accomplish is getting some of my older Paper Pumpkin kits put together.  Today's kit was supposed to make a shopping list holder.  It even has a roll of lined paper that was to be attached at the top.  Don't get me wrong, I like shopping lists.  They are essential to me actually getting real food in the house instead of all of the impulse buys I would otherwise make.  But I already have a system.  We have a magnetic list on the fridge and the theory is that when someone uses the last of something, it goes on the list.  It works about 60% of the time with the other people in the house, but I use it 99% of the time so I call it a success.

So there I was, looking at a kit that I knew I really did not want to make, when I started thinking the lined paper would make a wonderful journaling strip for scrapbooking.  Then I studied the thick woodgrain embossed base...way too nice not to use for something... I'm still not sure exactly what to call this, but it will probably have a photo placed on it in the future.  Let's call it a wall hanging!  The only thing from the kit that I did not repurpose was the extra wide rubber band that was supposed to hold the paper at the bottom.  I still have it, but it will likely end up with a more practical purpose rather than decorative.

I also added lots of goodies from the artisan kit and even used up a

skinny strip of leftover dsp to make a rolled 'thing'.  It's not exactly

a flower, but it still looked pretty good with the other embellishments.

As I was making this, I was thinking about a fellow blog friend

who is going through a very rough time and decided

to use this sentiment from the Trust God stamp set.

I'm pretty sure everything but the punches, very vanilla cardstock, and soft suede ink are retired.  Felt good to use up a bit more of the older goodies!  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Project Recipe: Stamp Set-Trust God, Punches-decorative label, 1 3/4" circle, Accessories-paper pumpkin kit, linen thread, victorian crochet trim, artisan kit, inka gold metallic rub

Anything But A Card Challenges you to Summer Lovin'!

Hi! We have a brand new challenge at Anything But a Card.  Summer Lovin' is our theme and we would love to see your summer lovin' creations-beach, bbq, camping, vacation, sunny colors, anything that says summer to you is great with us!  The only thing you can't share is a card, hence the name of the site!  However, I am not sharing my DT project this week, so I CAN share a card with YOU!

This would be perfect for the theme if we could make cards! Mr. Riley is so ready to cool off in the pool, lake, or ocean...yeah! Let's go with ocean!  I made this for my nephew who has a birthday next month.  He would enjoy celebrating his birthday in the water too!

I played with the new Blendabilities markers on this one!  They are similar to copic markers, but Stampin' UP groups them in sets of three so coloring challenged people like me don't have to figure out how to get the perfect color shading.  Oh, how I love that!  I do have to confess that the flippers and the antlers were colored with copics.  While I'm admitting things, I fudged a little on the colors.  The marker family and cardstock is coastal cabana, but the blue in the dsp and twine is pool party.  But hey, at least they are both water themed!!  Honestly, I really couldn't tell that much difference.

Well, I hear the laundry calling my name (why doesn't it ever call my DH?), so I better get busy before it takes over again!  Have a wonderful week!

Card Recipe: Paper-coastal cabana, whisper white, basic black, sweet sorbet dsp, Ink-memento tuxedo black, coastal cabana, skin tones, and cherry cobbler blendabilities, soft suede, Stamp Set-Remembering Your Birthday (sentiment), Riley the moose from Riley and Co., Accessories-pool party bakers twine, scallop tag topper, crystal effects