Delightful Night

I don't know about you but I'm having a very nice evening in my craft room. I'm getting a chance to look through things that I haven't been able to get to all week...like this Crazy 4 Challenges sketch. Unfortunately I missed the Get Sketchy challenge :-( I promising myself to finish GS#6 by the end of the weekend before I forget about it. Even for this Crazy 4 Challenges #2 I'm cutting it real close. I may even be too late but oh well, I got to work out a new Halloween card which generally have me stumped for ideas.

Because I don't have a distressing tool I used my scissors to distress the edges of my cardstock and paper.  I also distressed the popped up pumpkin.  I think it turned out quite well.  The sentiment is of course from the Grateful Greetings set I keep mentioning. The pumpkins are from the retired Carved and Candlelit set which is really too bad because it has a lot of versatility for Halloween and Thanksgiving/Harvest.  The dp is the Night & Day specialty paper .  This paper is also versatile if you like working with black and white because the paper pattern isn't specifically for halloween.

I'm going to go and brainstorm some more ideas. Take care my friends, have a fabulous weekend and hope to hear from you soon.

Thinking of You

Happy Thursday everyone! And last time I checked the calendar, Friday isn't far behind! Yahoo!!!  Although I have a very busy weekend planned, it will still be nice to sleep past 6:30 am. Last night I did manage to find some time to craft even though hubby wanted me to sit and watch Red Dwarf with him and I was dead tired. I don't know if you've heard of it but it's a BBC series and while it has some really good writing and it's funny at times, it's still not my thing. Even still, I sat down and watched a couple of episodes because it's obviously something he wants to share with me. I wonder if he wants to sit down and share my crafting? Now that would be funny. He does add positive feedback when I show him my work.

Anyhow, the top card I made the moon by using the 1 3/8" circle punch, sanding and inking the edges in Bordering Blue and then sanding again.  I know owls don't sleep at night but maybe he's content digesting his food LOL!! The sentiment is from the Grateful Greetings stamp in the Holiday Mini .  Now I know that it's on the more expensive side but it's a really useful, wonderful set because it has more than one sentiment for 4 major holidays/events. Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas and Valentines day.  I've used most of them except the Valentine ones because I'm just not there yet....I'll wait until the new year.

Now the bottom card was inspired by this card made by Ann over at  Creative Antics. They don't look the same but the simple layout idea was what inspired my card. I also used Old Olive instead of Always Artichoke for this card. Both greens worked well with the non-SU dp. I square scalloped White and Chocolate Chip cs and I punched holes in the Choco Chip and layered over the white. I also inked around the sentiment and popped it up with dimensionals. And those dimensional owls I picked up at THE big box store about a month ago knowing exactly which dp I needed them for.  Aren't they adorable.  I've seen them over at SCS as well.

Thankful Thoughts

Paper:  NSU! dp, SU! More Mustard, Always artichoke, Baja breeze

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bordering Blue

Accessories:  Chocolate Chip ribbon NSU owl, and scallop edge punch

Stamp set: Grateful Greetings

Kind Thoughts

Paper:  SU! Old Olive, Whispering White, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, NSU dp.

Ink:  SU! Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Dimensionals, 1/16 hole punch, NSU half pearls and owl

Stamp set: Kind Thoughts (Retired) 

Friendships to Chair-ish

Good evening all!  Hope the week has started well for all of you and that you enjoyed the weekend. We had beautiful weather here and enjoyed 2 birthday parties and a swap/sale on Saturday. Busy yes, but it's nice to see friends and meet new people. 

Here's my first card using my new non-SU! stamp set (which I bought before all the IDA hoopla) and I love it!! There are endless possibilities especially when you combine the set with all of SU! colour combos.  Since I was using a non-SU! stamp I thought I would try to stick to SU! for the rest of my supplies (relieve my guilty conscience LOL). I fell short at the ribbon though and had to throw in that green twill because I didn't have anything else wide enough that would go with the colours I chose. The So Saffron grosgrain is old stock since SU doesn't carry it anymore.  I was surprised to see that they only carry it in the 1/2" striped grosgrain which is limited if you're working with certain patterned paper or going for a more elegant approach.  Oh well, maybe next year they will put it back in the catty.

For this card I used Soft Suede ink for my outline colour. I really am lovin' that shade of brown and it is becoming my favourite neutral to work with. It's not as dark as Chocolate Chip or Close to Cocoa so it gives images a really soft look to them and it looks fabulous on Kraft paper don't you think?

It's too bad that the pictures can't show you the pop up on the bottom pieces of the couches and the pillow. I used dimensionals to enhance the 3-D effect of the stamps. The pillow is also slanted so that it appears to be laying on the couch. If only I were a good photographer and could highlight these details for you.

Anyhow, thanks for viewing the product of my latest inspiration.  Have a fabulous week!

Paper: SU! Kraft, Ruby Red

Ink:  SU! Ruby Red, Soft Suede,  Certainly Celery marker, Rose Red marker, Basic Brown marker

Accessorries:  SU! So Saffron ribbon, NSU green twill ribbon

Stamps:  On My Couch (NSU)

Crazy for Challenges #1

Finally, I got this card done. This is the card I had to walk away from because I was too tired to give it 100% and it probably shows. But it's done! It's late but it's done. I discovered the Crazy for Challenges (CFC) through the many blogs that I follow so thanks, ladies, for sharing. It looks like they are going to have some great challenges to share and as you know I like to start things from the beginning so that was a bonus.

Now this card did not turn out at all like I had thought it would. Originally I had wanted a rhinestone circle around the outer circle but it got messed up when I went to apply the rhinestone circle. And of course I didn't have more rhinestones to try again! Then I saw my rhinestone cupcake and have been waiting for the opportunity to use it. The scallop circle is made using my circle scissors and small corner rounder punch. I don't have a scallop circle die...yet! It's amazing how many tools you seem to 'need' for this craft! Does the list never end? Which tool do you use the most and couldn't live without? So the scallop circle is somewhat flawed but I think the rhinestones help to deflect the imperfections and this card still passes as a totally giveable card!

Sunday blessings to you and yours. Enjoy the last day of your weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Paper:  White CS, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede dsp ,
Accessories: Certainly celery ribbon, tag corner punch, 1/8 circle punch,  circle scissors, corner rounder punch. NSU Bling cupcake
Stamp: Sincere Salutations 

Creepy Crawly

I'm having hard time keeping up to date with the posting this week aren't I? It really has been a busy week and it's not helping that my two year old is refusing to take a nap and I'm exhausted because he's not sleeping well at night. Hopefully next week will be a better one. On the brighter side of things, my daughter really likes her Grade One class and teacher and my son is very happy to be a big boy going to preschool.  They are also very happy to be going to music lessons and are quite proud of themselves. Besides sleep, what more can a mother ask for?

I did try to get a challenge done last night but I got "stuck". Too tired maybe? or I may have been stuck because my last challenge (Get Sketchy #4) turned out so well for me that nothing I did gave me that same yippee kind of feeling. Does that ever happen to you? Nothing looks as good as.... Sometimes it happens if I see someone elses amazing version of a sketch and my brain automatically just gives up. Giving up is a whole lot easier to do when your tired too, isn't it?

Anyhow, here are a couple of Halloween cards I made last weekend before the back-to-school craziness began. I saw something similar on either SCS or another blog (they used only black and white) but if you recognize the layout please let me know so I can give credit where it's due. The wonderful thing about this card is how easy it is. The "hardest" part was colouring in the eyes and pumpkins. The top card uses a Going Gray card base and the bottom one uses a White card base.

Thanks for taking a peek at my update. Hope all of you have a fabulous weekend.  

Paper:  Night & Day Specialty dp , Going Gray, Whisper White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant

Ink:  Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Scallop square punch, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch scallop edge punch, paint brush, Pumpkin Pie ribbon

Stamps:  Haunting jumbo wheel , Sweet Centers, Grateful Greetings.

Get Sketchy #4

I'm sorry it's been a few days since my last post, but I enjoyed a whole weekend of nothingness, mindless, stay-at-home relaxing time.  Which was nice before everything kicks into high gear.  Preschool, school, music lessons, dance class, swimming are all on the agenda for my older two this fall.  Thankfully, the little guys isn't old enough to anything yet.

I did find the time last night, after the kids went to bed early, to complete the Get Sketchy Challenge #4 .  Unfortunately for me, I was inspired by NSU (Non-Stampin' Up) designer paper (See my dilemma here ).  It was very popular last spring and I just had to have it and most everything that went with it.  This is the first time I've gotten a chance to use it.  Just in case you have this dp in your collection, it went wonderfully with old SU In colours such as Groovy Guava, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, and Riding Hood Red.  

Anyhow,  I hope you enjoyed viewing my version of this fantastic sketch.  Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week.

Paper:  NSU dp, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Groovy Guava, Tangerine Tango, Ridinghood Red
Ink:  Ruby Red
Accessories:  Whisper White taffeta ribbon , scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, NSU rub-on, NSU rhinestones, NSU sewing machine LOL
Stamp set:  Sincere Salutations 


Please feel free to fill in the blanks in the comments section.

Wings of Hope

I know the title isn't very original but it fit the description of my card so well.  I've had the bottom card designed in my head for a month but this top one is something that popped into my head last night as we were driving to my in-laws for a fabulous roast dinner. (A bad cook is not something I can call my mother-in-law and it reminds me that my dh did not marry me for my cooking skills).

I can't remember how the thought process happened but the final thought was to have that ribbon of hope represent the butterflies body and I knew I had to give it a go.  I was also worried about being disappointed if it didn't work out the way I had envisioned.  Thankfully it worked out quite well.

The sentiment is from the SU! Hard to Say stamp set and so is the bottom card sentiment.  I think I will get plenty of use out of this stamp set over the course of my life. Originally I was going to use "Hope Happens" from the set of that name but I decided against buying it  because there were no other stamps in that set that I would use.  (I dislike it when that happens).

Like I said I designed this bottom card about a month ago and is quite generic in layout but it still holds a lot of meaning.  I'm sure that black is not really a colour that one would use for a card meant to bring hope but for me it was a way of symbolizing fear.  The silver cord is meant to symbolize a silver lining or a brighter future and of course there's that ribbon of hope.  I love the sentiment of this card!  The inside of the card says "You're my friend, so that means that you can put up with anything" which I thought was a great way to bring both hope and humour to a friend that needs a lot of both.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what you see.  Have a fabulous Labour Day weekend.  Here's to Hope!

Wings Of Hope

Paper:  Razzleberry Lemonade dp, Pretty in Pink

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Basic Black

Accessories:  Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die,  NSU Butterfly punch, NSU bling

Stamp set:  Ribbon of hope, Hard to Say

Ribbon of Hope

Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade dp, Pretty in  Pink, Mellon Mambo, Basic Black

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Basic Black

Accessories:  Square scallop punch, scallop edge punch, Silver cord Elastic cord (Holiday mini),  Latte designer buttons.

NSU= Non Stampin' Up!