Mojo Monday 226

Did you ever have one of those days when you're super excited about a few of your projects...you're on a roll....and then you create something that's not "up to par?"  Well today was one of those days.  I absolutely LOVED the way my previous card turned out.  I was pumped to get moving on the Mojo Monday sketch.

 I needed a birthday card for my brother so I thought this was a great time to get going on it.  And there's the problem....making a card for a guy.  I always want to balance my cards out with ribbons or rhinestones or glitter or something!  But on a guy card?  I couldn't do that.  I knew I'd use the square sketch, that was easy.  But what to do after that....well, after much deliberation, this is what I came up with:

To be honest, I'm not thrilled with it.  I almost didn't post it.  But that's the beauty of creating a guy card....chances are, they aren't going to care what it looks like anyway, so I'm posting it and I'm giving it to him.

And here's what I used:
Stamps: Cheers to You (retired)
Ink: Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, white gel pen
Paper: Early Espresso, River Rock, Well Worn dp, Not Quite Navy
Techniques: crimper, linen cord

Thanks for looking and I promise something a little bit more "up to par" next time :)

Stamping 411 Challenge

I discovered today how quick it is to make a card when you follow the challenge exactly as it is written...even the measurements are written!! I'm making an effort to use designer paper much more these days as I always buy it and then end up with tons of retired paper sitting in my stash.  I thought the Stamping 411 sketch was a great one for using up dp.  Check it out:

I quickly flipped through my current dp stash and found a few pieces of the Beau Chateau which gave me a great starting point.  And this is what I ended up with:

I really like the way it turned out.  And I did something I've never done before....not having any coordinating brads, I colored the pearls with my soft suede marker.  It certainly took a while to dry, but I really like the look!

So here's what I used:

Stamps: Thank You Kindly

Inks: Soft Suede

Paper: Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Beau Chateau dp

Embellishments: Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, Basic Pearls

Thanks for looking!

Friday Mashup #43

Back again...oh it feels so good to be stamping! I needed a baby boy card for the weekend and absolutely loved my baby girl owl card so I decided to use my owl again for the this one.  As with all baby boy stuff, I don't find it quite as cute as baby girl stuff (speaking from my own experience having 2 girls and a boy) but it works.  I used the Friday Mashup Challenge to get me going:

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project using "Something NEW in your stash". (Stamps, ribbon, pretty paper...anything!)
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "using the Sketch & something NEW in your stash".

Here's my "mashup":

I definitely used the sketch. As for "something new", I had received an assortment of soft subtle designer papers as a Christmas gift so I decided to open them up and use the Bashful Blue polka dot paper on this card.  Seems strange calling it "new" since Bashful Blue cardstock has been in my stash forever, but honestly, this is the first time I have ever had a designer paper to go with it.

So here's what I used:

Stamps: Short & Sweet

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Subtles Collection dp

Punches: Decorative Label, Owl Builder, Word Window

Big Shot: Perfect Details Texturz Plate

Hope you had a wonderful week!  Happy Weekend!

On Time...at last!

I was determined to enter a card into the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week. For the last two weeks, I created cards and as I went to enter them, I discovered the challenge had already closed. Not this time...I'm entering on Day One!!

Here goes...the sketch:

I needed a couple baby cards this week, so I started with a girl one.  I rotated the sketch and came up with this...what do you think?

 Here's what I used:

Ink: White Gel Pen for eyes

Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Early Espresso, Blushing Bride dp

Punches: 1" circle, Builder Owl

Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones

Feel like I've been on quite a roll lately, but I know it won't last :(  All this stamping has gotten me a bit behind on work so I'll be catching up on that this weekend.  Hope to be able to post again in the next week!

Sale-A-Bration is Here!

If you've been around Stampin' Up! for a while you know how exciting this time of year is.  For every $50 in merchandise, you earn one FREE item from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure.  Want to see what you can earn? Click on the SAB picture at the right.

I did it AGAIN!*

I can't believe it! I made 4 cards today! It's been quite a while since I've been able to spend so much time stamping. And it really wasn't that much time...just some really great challenges to motivate me and help me to focus.  I received this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches in my inbox a few days ago and rediscovered it when I was cleaning out my old emails today:

 

I saw a piece of the Paisley Petals designer paper sitting on my paper cutter and decided to use it for my background.  I also love the thank you sentiment from the Delightful Dozen stamp set when I need something long and skinny.  Here's what I came up with:

Here's what I used:

Stamps: Nature Walk, Delightful Dozen

Inks: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Paisley Petals dp

Embellishments: Chocolate Chip brads (retired)

Thanks for looking!

*For some reason I can't get it through my thick head that the FMS challenges end at noon on Mondays! Once again, I missed it!

Mojo 225

Do you ever punch out shapes for something and then realize they're not going to work for what you intended?  I had three 1" squares that I had punched out, thinking I would use them in the Stamping 411 sketch challenge over the weekend.  Turns out they were too big for the sketch so they were left sitting on my desk.  To my surprise however, I open the Mojo Monday blog this morning to find this sketch:

Perfect! As long as I could find the scrap paper that I punched my 1" squares from, I could punch one more and be on my way!  Sure enough I found it, and it just barely fit a 1" square punch.  I dug out my Season of Friendship stamp set and created this card:

Here's what I used:
Stamps: Season of Friendship, Thank you Kindly
Inks: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist
Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red designer paper (d/c'd)
Punches: 7/8" circle, 1" square, square scallop
Big Shot: Perfect Details Texturz Plate (on Marina Mist cardstock)
Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones, Dazzling Details (on tree branches)

Thanks for looking!

Friday Mashup 42 & Saturday Sketch Challenge 239

Tired of my cupcakes yet?? I hope not!  For some reason when I don't know what else to make, I always reach for my Create a Cupcake stamps set or builder punch.  After making the primary color cupcake thank you's for my daughter last week, she got one more gift that needed another one.  I decided to follow this sketch from Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge:

Then, looking for more challenges to enter, I saw that the Friday Mashup was all about color choice and a technique:

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using "Paper Piercing".
2. Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red & Early Espresso".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project with the "Color Combo & Paper Piercing".

And here's what I came up with:

Here's what I used:

Ink: Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride

Paper: Early Espresso, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red designer paper (d/c'd)

Stamps: Create a Cupcake

Punches: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, 3/4" circle, 1/2" circle

Big Shot: Square Scallop Duo

Have a great week!

Saturday Sketch Challenge 238

I'm back with more of these primary color cards! I'm really trying to use up this Big Top Birthday designer paper as it's not one of my favorites.  It does, however, work very well for kids birthday cards and as you'll see here, kids thank yous.  I saw this simple sketch at Stamping 411:

And here's what I came up with:

The colors didn't come out too well in this photo but when you're barely sneaking the stamping in, there's no time for retakes! 

Here's what I used:Stamps: Create a Cupcake, So Happy For You (SAB 2011, I think)
Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Real Red cs, Big Top Birthday dp

Freshly Made Sketches #17....almost :(

I'm really trying to stay on track this week.  I did some blog hopping this morning and found this sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

It looked easy enough to attempt even while my 2 year old was playing in the next room.  Here's what I came up with:

Unfortunately I went to post it and discovered that the challenge closed at noon yesterday! Oh well.  I'll be sure to pay closer attention next time!

Here's what I used:
Stamps: Create a Cupcake, So Happy For You (SAB 2011, I think)
Ink: Read Red, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Real Red cs, Big Top Birthday dp

Friday Mashup #41 & Super Easy Cards

So I went a little crazy making these cards because they were SO easy to make! I haven't had much time for stamping lately so when I saw this idea on Julie B's Stampin' Space, I took full advantage and made a bunch.  I entered this one in the Friday Mashup challenge because it just happened to meet the criteria (I love when that happens!):

With such an easy design I created all of these as well:

 

Sorry for the fuzziness of this last one (not sure why since I took every picture exactly the same way) but it says Get Well Soon from the Delightful Dozen stamp set.  I really love this set because of it's versatility.  It's nice to have a set that has one Mother's Day message, one Father's Day message, an Easter, Halloween and Valentine's message....these are all occasions that I don't make many cards for, so I really don't need a ton of stamps, just one for each is plenty. 

Hope you're enjoying the long weekend!

Stamp Club Returns!

Happy New Year everyone!  My club has been off since October with everyone's schedules being so crazy around the holidays.  But we were back together last night and I think the projects were a success! As people trickled in they had a chance to create a super easy card that I cased from Julie B's Stampin' Space.  It was a perfect card to make as we were waiting for everyone to arrive because it hardly required any instruction by me!  Here's one sample:

Once everyone arrived, I gave them a template of one 6 x 6 sheet of designer paper with various punches and pieces cut out of it.  By following the instructions and the layout they were able to create these three projects:

Once again I have to say thank you to Julie B for her inspiration on the candy holder.  My group truly enjoyed all of these creations and couldn't believe how quickly they were able to put everything together!