Feeling Challenged...

Hello! Do not adjust your monitor... Yes, this is the second post of the day, and it even qualifies as another Flashback Friday!  Lack of sleep and lots of coffee does wonders for my crafting abilities!!

I love visiting challenge sites!  They often kick my mojo back in gear, when nothing else will.  Unfortunately, I have not played along with many challenges this summer.  But then I saw a very interesting challenge at Shopping Our Stash-Something New!  Now for the average crafter this would not seem like much of a challenge, but if you visit SOS, you will know that their primary purpose is to get you to use your stash, you know...everything you bought with intentions of using it and then either misplaced it, grew tired of it, or forgot why you bought it (not that this ever happens to me :D ).  So the challenge to use something new is not an invitation to go out and buy something new, that really wouldn't be a challenge... but to use something that has never been used.

I didn't have a problem finding something that had not been used; my challenge was choosing which item to play with for the first time.  After digging through some older papers and chipboard stickers, I came across a full sheet of monkey stickers.  My daughter and I HAD to have these a few years ago when we spotted them in an Archiver's in Chicago. Guess what's going on my project!!!

I chose to do a scrapbook page because the monkeys were so large, and I really wanted to use a new stamp that I found while shopping at Big Lots.  I don't normally buy a lot of stamps other than SU, but could not pass up the sentiment on this baby!!  I also found a yellow piece of cardstock in my stash that reminded me of ripe bananas.  What would go better with a monkey?! The chipboard title that I found in a drawer, was still sealed in the original packaging. I know I had a reason for buying that...

I did not put a picture on my page, because I am now on a search for the perfect family photo, one that will fit the sentiment!

After watching me use some of the precious chipboard stickers, my DD, and partner in purchasing crime, decided to make a card.  Now remember... I didn't want to make a card because I thought the monkeys were too big...

Sigh...  I realize that I helped put her feet upon this path, but she is obviously guided by a higher power in her creativity!  Her composition is often WAY better than mine!  While we still need to work on her stamping skills, I think the cockeyed stamping really works with this card!

Very limited SU items on this one! I used a bit of chocolate chip cardstock and black stazon ink for my page.  Be prepared to see some projects featuring my new products very soon!!

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to dig through your stash and play along!!

Flashback Friday with Cottage Wall

Hello! I had every intention of creating this post earlier, and just as I was winding down my MDS session for the evening, I realized I had not posted my Flashback Friday. So now here I sit at 1:30 in the morning creating my post! So if I get to rambling or talking foolishness, you know what's up!

This week, I decided to use an old Page Maps sketch that had lots of squares on it.  I thought this would make for a clean and simple card, plus use up some of the retired DSP that is crowding my paper hopper!  I decided at the last minute to give it a quilted look and used my square lattice embossing folder.  Then I just added a few brads and I think it turned out pretty good!

My oldest DD even gave it her approval, although it does have a lot of purple in it, so it might just be the color talking...

I took the easy way out with the squares and used my punch. I know... it's probably not much faster than the trimmer, but I do love that I can line up the pattern when I use a punch.  Not to mention that it validates my purchasing yet another punch... 'Yes, Dear...  I really do need ALL of them!'

My Flashback items are the Cottage Wall DSP (ret) and pale plum cardstock (also retired).

Well, I am heading off to bed! Thanks for stopping in!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-pale plum, old olive, Cottage Wall DSP, Ink-rich razzleberry, Stamp Set-Fabulous Phrases, Accessories-1 1/4" square punch, brights brads, square lattice embossing folder, big shot, paper piercing set

Merry Monday Sketch 14

Well, I managed to squeeze in one more card for the Merry Monday Past Sketch challenge!  Today's card uses sketch #14!

I was trying to come up with a card for this sketch and saw the piece of green patterned paper from the retired Ski Slope.  I thought it would make a nice little wreath and after that the rest just fell into place!  I couldn't resist breaking into one of my NEW stamp sets! Joyous Celebrations will be available next month and features images that fit perfectly into ovals or circles!  I used one of the sentiment stamps in the center of the wreath.

To make the wreath, I used two scallop punches.  I find that it is much easier to punch the smaller scallop first, then line up the larger punch around the 'hole' left by the first punch. A few colored rhinestones and a little bakers twine bow finished it off nicely!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit today! I hope you have a wonderful day and happy crafting!


Card Recipe:  Cardstock-baja breeze, whisper white, Ski Slope DSP (ret), Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Set-Joyous Celebrations, Accessories-2 3/8 scallop circle punch, large scallop circle punch, white bakers twine, rhinestones, red Sharpie,  chocolate chip scallop dots ribbon.

A Merry Monday on a Tuesday!

I thought I would try to squeeze one more card into the past sketch challenge at Merry Monday.  I used sketch #13 for my card.

This could easily be considered one of my flashback cards with all of the retired goodies on this! I used a little more of my stash of Ski Slope DSP and also pulled out the Stitched Stockings stamp set and matching punch (both sadly retired...).  I also dressed this up a bit with the red glimmer paper and red sharpie colored rhinestones! Fortunately, neither of these are on the retired list!

Well, I survived another year of Kids Camp! We came home Sunday evening, took showers, ate a quick meal, and went to bed! I was the first to wake at 9:30 Monday morning!  The weather was perfect for camp! Don't get me wrong, it wasn't 'cool' during the day, but there was a refreshing breeze the whole weekend and the humidity was low. We even used blankets on Saturday night! Saturday, while my DH and another officer were grilling chicken, they were talking about the camp and the our friend mentioned that the grill was built for the first camp.  We looked at the base of the grill and sure enough, there was the date.  Next year will be the 25th camp and DH and I have helped with either 15 or 16 of them! Wow!! I'm not sure if that is commitment or the need to be committed!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit and I hope you find some time to be crafty this week!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-riding hood red, whisper white, chocolate chip, red glimmer paper, Ski Slope DSP, Ink-chocolate chip, old olive, Stamp Sets-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Stitched Stockings, Accessories-stocking builder punch (ret), basic rhinestones, bitty banner framelits, red sharpie

Scrapbook Monday at Hollywood Studios

Well, I survived another year of Kid's Camp! This post was created in advance because I knew that when we arrived back home on Sunday evening, I would be wiped out and not feel like doing anything but getting a shower and crawling into a real bed!  I'm hoping after a morning of sleeping in, I will feel much more human and find some time to create in between loads of laundry!

I have four MDS layouts for your viewing pleasure today.  They are all from Hollywood Studios.  We were told by several people how crazy we were to go there during the Star Wars weekend, but we figured why not get the added benefit.  All things considered, it wasn't insanely crowded and most of the people were waiting in line at the character meet and greets so we pretty much breezed into everything else.  It was however incredibly HOT! Good thing this was the smallest of the Disney parks!

Entering the park-a view of the sorcerer's hat, views of the 'streets' of Hollywood, 

a picture of the Roger Rabbit billboard (Catie loves this movie!)

pictures from Beauty and the Beast- a fabulous show with gorgeous

costumes, great effects, and wonderful singing, also our first show

A trip into Animation gave us some insight into creating an

animated movie.  I fell in love with the replica of the artists' 

work areas. They were a creatively cluttered and messy 

dream!-must be crafter's envy!

The girls loved seeing all of the Brave displays.  They also took

a short class to learn about drawing characters.  They both left 

the class with their own sketch versions of Dopey from 

Snow White. Super Cool!!  We even got a quick peek at 

Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl on their way to a greeting

station. The girls reverted to youthful giggles as the 

couple waved at them. Silly Mom did not have her camera

ready and missed that shot...

I am a very bad blogger and forgot to write down exactly which papers I used...  Still not used to this whole digital scrapbooking thing!

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that all of us find some time to be crafty!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Working my way through the sketches...

While I am at camp, I thought this would be a great time to schedule some of my other Christmas cards.  After all, if I'm sweating away in the heat, my blog should at least have something wintry and cool!  I have been diligently working my way through the sketches at Merry Monday.  This is sketch #12.  Very clean and simple and would be a great design to use if you had to make several of these.

I have the tendency to rethink my cards after they are finished.  While I like the simple design of this, I think when I use this sketch again, I will emboss the base or use a background stamp to dress it up a little.

I even used some retired DSP on this one (I really do need an intervention...) and now I don't feel the least bit guilty about the new purchases that are sitting on my table just waiting for me to use them!!  

I hope your weekend is wonderful and wish you happy crafting!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-riding hood red, Ski Slope DSP (ret), Stamp Set-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Ink-black Stazon, Accessories-whisper white taffeta ribbon

Flashback Friday and Merry Monday

Happy Friday, everyone!  As you are reading this, I am preparing for a weekend campout with 21 rowdy and hungry 10-12 year old boys! Woo! Hoo! I am praying that a cold front moves in and we have zero humidity for a few days!! Don't need to add stinky to the list of adjectives!!  I honestly have to admit that while this is usually a very hot and tiring weekend, I really enjoy it! Crazy, right?!

I am proud to announce that these are the last two cards using Merry Moments DSP (at least for now...)  I am still planning on using up some of my other older Christmas papers and of course there is the NEW paper that's sitting on my table begging to be used!  But for now, Merry Moments is being re-retired!

I used sketch #11 from Merry Monday and made two cards, both very similar, but using some different supplies.  I used  the retired corduroy buttons and brads on both.  I'm so glad I bought extras of those when they were in the clearance rack!!

I colored my rhinestones with a red sharpie so they would add some color and shine to the ornament.

I used up the last of my leftover scallop ovals from my cricut.  It was the wrong size for the intended project and I just knew I would find something that would work with this one!

My Flash Back items are: Merry Moments DSP, corduroy buttons and brads, the scallop oval, and the sentiment is from the retired set Star Studded Season.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that it's raining if you need it and dry if you don't!!  -I found myself wishing for a way to collect and transport rainwater from flooded and soggy places to other parts of the world that are in dire need of the water...  Now that would be something worth researching!  But anyway... have a great weekend and I hope you find some time to be crafty!!

Card Recipes: Cardstock-very vanilla, Merry Moments DSP, Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Sets-Tags til Christmas, Star Studded Season, Accessories-chocolate chip corduroy buttons and brads, linen thread, ornament punch, basic rhinestones

Scrapbook Monday-Magic Kingdom

Hello! So glad you popped in to visit me and my little ol' blog! I am always so happy when I see I have a new follower or read someone's comments! It really is so amazing to me that out of all of the various blogs out there, we manage to stumble across others that really speak to us and make a connection that while it's not a 'physical' friendship, it still picks up our spirits and inspires us to try new things and keep creating.  So I really appreciate everyone who stops by to visit!

I know it's hard to believe, but I have more MDS Disney pages to share.  I feel like that lady.  You know, the one who invites everyone over for dinner after her vacation and then shares her 5 hour slide show with them...  I am hoping that since they are scrapbooked pictures, you will forgive me!  The three pages below are from our first evening at Disney.  We went to Magic Kingdom and managed to finish about half of the park before the fireworks began.  It was a very enjoyable evening and we actually had a nice breeze and cooler temps. 

Pictures from the restaurant... our first stop.  Check out

the Lady and the Tramp artwork on the plate-it was

CHOCOLATE!!!! So cool!

It was incredibly crowded in front of Cinderella's castle,

making picture taking a little difficult...

Various pictures from our evening.  After this page is printed, 

I'm going to let the girls do the journaling on the back to 

capture their impressions of the evening.

I had hoped to check out a website a friend of mine used for her Disney album, but without internet service, was unable to do that.  I'm hoping to find a day this week to download some Disney digi art and I may end up changing some of my original layouts, as well as use them on the new ones.  I did manage to make my own little Mickey head using buttons!  The first two pages used the brocade dsp in brocade blue.  The third page is real red with a brocade blue distressed stamp around the entire page.  I also lightened the opacity on the red so it wasn't quite so bright.

Well, that's it for today... Unfortunately, I have reached the point in my summer vacation where I have to start working again.  Mostly from home, but it makes me realize I don't have too many lazy days left... and I'm already cringing at back to school shopping and book rental!  If only summer could last another month!

Have a great week and happy crafting!

Merry Monday Challenge and Internet issues

Hello! I'm back with another post this weekend!! I'm trying to get some of my Christmas cards squeezed in here before I go crazy with my new goodies!

I have another card using the Merry Moments DSP and some other retired goodies!  I even broke out the color spritzer to 'age' my image. Almost had to knock the dust off that baby! But I do love the effect from the splattered marker ink!

 

I used sketch #10 from Merry Monday.  They are still running their past sketches challenge so I'm also entering this one to play along with the current challenge.  This runs until the end of July so you have plenty of time to play along!!

If I have not been by to visit your blog lately, I promise I have not forgotten you!  We were without phone and internet service for over a week, so I wasn't able to get online unless I packed my laptop to the library to use the free Wi-Fi.  If it wasn't for scheduling posts ahead of time, my poor blog would have been really neglected!  We are now back in service and hopefully they have fixed my connection issues so I can pop in and visit all of you crafty people!!

Have a great evening and hope your week is wonderful!!  Happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-garden green, real red, very vanilla, Merry Moments DSP, Ink-soft suede, real red, old olive, garden green, more mustard, early espresso marker, Stamp Set-Christmas Postcard, Accessories-color spritzer, chocolate chip ribbon (ret.)

No... It's not a Christmas Card!

Surprise!  And you thought I had abandoned my other supplies for Christmas!  I am happy to say that nearly everything on this card is fairly new!

Today we have our Crafty Sistahs' team meeting.  I decided to participate in the swap this month.  Each month there is a swap offered with a different theme, technique, or challenge.  This month's swap was using the new in colors and the big shot.  While I love the freedom of this type of theme, it took me forever to decide on a card! I really wanted to use the NEW stamp set Reason to Smile and finally found an old Clean and Simple Stamping sketch that would work nicely with the image.  I also knew I wanted to use the midnight muse paper from the Comfort Cafe DSP.  I love the fabric like pattern on this paper!

So here is the sketch...

and here is my card...

If you are checking out this image and the name of the stamp set and wondering 'where in the world did she find this...', I have some news for you!

In the month of July, when your Stampin' Up order totals $50 or more (before S&H) you can order this lovely stamp set for $5!!!!  Let me know if you would like to place an order and add this beautiful set to your supplies!

 

So on this card, I have used all 5 of the new in colors, the new Comfort Cafe DSP, the new Bitty Banners stamp set and framelits, and the exclusive stamp set!  How's that for new goodies!!  And even better-I get to bring home some wonderful cards created by my fellow crafty sistahs! Can't wait!

I hope your weekend is extra special and crafty!  Thanks for visiting!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-very vanilla, midnight muse, primrose petals, raspberry ripple, Comfort Cafe DSP, Ink-summer starfruit, gumball green, midnight muse, black Stazon, Stamp Sets- Itty Bitty Banners, Reason to Smile, Accessories- bitty banner framelits, beautiful wings embosslit, dazzling details