Mother Knows Best? *wink*

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Hello!

Ok, so I mentioned in my last post that my mother had quite the dubious reaction to the card I'm about to share with you…  She literally saw it sitting on my counter and said, "Huh (kinda high-pitched-like)….  Sooo... what did you do to this one?!?  I've never seen a card that looked like that before…"  (To her credit, she immediately started back-pedaling by asking me questions about color and technique…  but I saw through that!  :)

Now, I admit this one is a bit different, but that's ok every now and then, right?

I chose my colors based on the color palette over at The Play Date Cafe this week.  I love this combination -- it reminds me of the beach, for some reason!

Anyway, enough stalling…  Here it is:

  

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope the rest of your week goes by swimmingly!  :)

Color Challenged… Again.

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Hello again.

Tonight I'm popping in with a real quickie I made for the current color challenge over at the Play Date Cafe.  This one was a toughie for me because they were asking us to rock the neutrals, which I don't usually do too well… (Neutrals and I don't usually speak the same language.  At all.  Not even close.)

But it had been awhile since I'd linked up at TPDC, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I have a couple of weddings to attend this month and I thought these colors would lend themselves to that type of card, so there you have it..

Here's a look at the color palette we were playing with…  (I always think these colors look so good on Pinterest -- check my boards; they're littered with this stuff!  So where's the disconnect???  ;)

I'm off to bed -- been battling a stomach bug all day…  :(

Have a great Wednesday!  :)

Mad Dash

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Hello!  and Happy Friday!  Thought I'd try something new today and really push myself beyond my comfort zone…  I have mentioned before that I am not the speediest of crafters -- if fact, that's really putting it mildly…  Usually, every step in the process takes me a while (which, truthfully, is really what I love about this hobby -- it allows me the time to escape and just concentrate on making something  pretty (or "rilly pritty," as my young niece says!).

I have followed the "10 Minute Craft Dash" since Paulina launched it some time ago…  I was in shock and awe (and utter amazement) at what she and her DT were able to come up with in only 10 minutes!  But me??  I was too scared to try…  I knew I'd never, NEVER be able to complete an entire project in that amount of time!

The concept is simple -- take the assigned color scheme and 10 minutes and….  GO!!!

I guess you know where I'm going with this….  Today, I decided to give it my best shot.  Thankfully, the rules say you can gather all your supplies before you start your timer, so I did that (and even had them set out where I'd need them first: some by my paper trimmer, my dies by my Big Shot, etc!).  And I sketched what I wanted to do, and noted all the measurements I needed to cut to, and was ready to go!!  Took (several) deep breaths and started my timer!!!

Well, here it is (in 9:55.2, to be exact!!!  whew!):

{Would you believe that, of all the things that I thought might cause me to miss my time, it was taking all the sticky backs off of the pop-up adhesives that REALLY almost did me in?!?}

And the proof:

Now the trick will be seeing if I can clean up the mess I made in ten minutes or less!  :)  LOL!

Anyway, what fun!  I am totally going to be participating in this challenge again!!  :)

Hope you have a Fabulous Friday…  Thanks for stopping by!

A Heart Full of Love!

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Hello, hello!  Just wanted to pop in tonight to share some love with you!  (Literally!)  {Mad props to anyone who recognizes my title!}

This is a card created based on this week's color scheme over at Colour Q.  I love the pinks and the cheery spring colors…  I happened to still have a stash of the Konnichiwa line by Basic Grey that I had been hoarding saving for a rainy day (ahem…) and I thought these colors would be the perfect excuse to break it out!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great rest of your week!  It has been rainy here the last couple of days, but we sure need it, so I'm not complaining!  Bring on another couple of days of it -- I'm water-proof!  :)

Color Me Happy!

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Hello and Happy Monday!  I'm here today with a card that is, quite frankly, a bit of a stretch for me -- just something completely different than my usual -- and that, my friends, is the fun of it!  :)

I was inspired by two challenges this week -- the sketch over at RetroSketches and the challenge to use acetate (or vellum) on a card at CAS-ual Fridays.  I love the card by N@ Ali that was the inspiration for the sketch at RetroSketches and was drawn to not only the way she layered her shapes and embellishments, but also the COLORS (!) she incorporated.

I knew I wanted to be as bold with my color choices as she had been with hers -- and what better way than with alcohol inks??  Enter the acetate.  Perfect.  :)

Here's my take on both challenges:

I love the chunks of color and the Maya Road wood veneer butterflies (I colored them with alcohol inks and then coated with Diamond Stickles for shimmer!) are the perfect accents!  Super fun and very different, no??  Hope you like it!  :)

Thanks for stopping by -- here's hoping your week "promises" to be a colorful one!  :)

(can't help the cheesy -- rainbows are promises, after all!  :)

Just Because...

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***Before I get into today's post, I wanted to shamelessly plug, er, uh...  remind you about my first-ever giveaway I have going on this week!  You can find the details in this post, but really it's simple -- all you have to do to be entered is become a follower of this blog (if you aren't already!), and if you do, please leave me a comment so I can take some time to visit your blog and say "hi!"  I will run this thru 11:59pm CST Friday night, June 15th and announce a winner on Saturday, June 16th...  

Thank You and Good Luck!!!***

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming!  :)  


The card I'm sharing with you today is my take on this week's color challenge over at The Play Date Cafe -- which was a real bugger, btw!  :)  If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I heart my patterned papers and rarely do a project without them.  Well, the good folks over at TPDC must have had other things in mind when they chose this color scheme, 'cuz I had nuthin'!  I was gonna have to do a lot of stamping and coloring!  I also had in mind to use one of this month's sketches over at the Hero Arts blog as inspiration for this card -- Circles!

So here's what I came up with:

 Was hoping you'd be able to tell more about the different levels on this detail shot...

I'm pretty pleased with it, especially since (promise you won't tell anyone --  this is just between us...) this was my first time ever stitching on a card!  Ha!  :)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!  I would be super-honored if you would consider following this blog -- again, the giveaway is still open for another couple of days!!!  :)  Hope your week is starting off famously!

  

You've Got (bird-)Mail!

Pin It So, I've been doing this blog thing for a couple of months now, and while I'm still the "newbie" in most areas of the blog-o-sphere, there have been a few people who have not only offered words of encouragement and support, but who have also provided an endless amount of inspiration.  Virginia Lu of "Yes, Virginia" (which my mother tells me is from a song! :) is one of those people.

I originally was introduced to her work thru the Flickr Hero Arts group and quickly became an admirer.  Virginia shows no fear in attempting new techniques and her approach to blogging is honest and real and (often) very funny.  I appreciate that!

Anywho, Virginia often features pics and anecdotes of her super-talented kids and recently decided to host a challenge on her blog inspired by some photos her daughter had taken.  Check out the post here.  The challenge is a Rainbow theme.  I decided to use the color theme and send some encouragement of my own  -- so here we are --  Yes, Virginia....  I'm Inspired!

Thanks for stopping by...  I appreciate you and your kind words and I will be back later today with another little something I'm super-excited about!  Wishing you clear skies and much happiness today!  :)

ETA:  My mom thinks this looks like one of the "Angry Birds"  -- haha!  There will be no sling-shot dive-bombing attempts made on you or your residence as a result of viewing this post!  :)

Supplies:

• Papers: Echo Park "Hello Summer," Neenah "Solar White" cardstock
• Inks:  Memento "Rich Cocoa," Copic Markers, Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Vintage Photo"
• Dies:  Spellbinders Nestabilities "Labels 8"
• Stamps: Stamps by Judith (bird and envelope), Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings" (sentiment)
• Prima Flowers, ribbons by May Arts, seam binding, buttons, adhesives, "Diamond" stickles

You're Tree-riffic!

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Ok, so I am super-nervous about announcing this, but waaayyy excited about the opportunity, so I'm taking the leap:  I am submitting some projects for the Paper Smooches Sparks DT Call (whew...  now it's out there!) and have spent the last couple of days creating some pieces just in honor of this.

When I saw the inspiration photo below, I knew instantly what I had to do!  Check it:

The lime green!  The teal!  The stripes!  Oh my!  :)  And I had just gotten in my new Spring Groves stamp set -- and was dying to ink it up!  So here's what I came up with:

Ok, truth time:  I seriously modified the sentiment here by combining a couple of sentiments from the super-cute My Guy stamp set.  Here's a pic of that set:

Can you tell I combined the "tee-riffic" and "reel great" sentiments?  (Just for the odd occasion in which you would find yourself in need of a "You're Tree-riffic" sentiment??)  :)

Anyhoo, I hope you like it!  Methinks I do!!  :)  Thanks for visiting!  Please let me know what you think!

Supplies:

• Stamps:  Paper Smooches Spring Groves and My Guy, Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain
• Paper: Neenah Solar White and Prima "Alla"
• Inks:  Hero Arts- Hero Hues Black Dye and Mid-tone Shadow "Cup O' Joe" Ink, Tim Holtz Distress Ink- "Shabby Shutters"
• Twine, Stickles, adhesives

Happy Anniversary!

Pin It My grandparents, lovingly known by all us grandkids as Mime´ and Nana --

{sidenote:   it's all my fault -- as the oldest grandchild, I unwittingly named my grandfather "Nana" lo-o-o-o-ng before I was old enough to know that the name was typically one bestowed on grand-mothers...  (I was 18 before I realized that Nana was actually a feminine name!)...  The fact that my good-natured grandfather never even flinched when one of us girls called him "Nana" in public makes him even more of a man in my eyes.  He is truly a special man!} 

-- celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary earlier this month!

You know, all these years later, there is still some question about whether their anniversary was actually on the 6th or the 8th (or whether they even paid the preacher for his services ;) -- it's all in who's telling the story! -- but the things that are not in question are the ones that truly matter: a life and legacy of love and family and sharing and commitment...  And we are all blessed to have been witnesses to these.

Happy 66th Anniversary, Mime ´ and Nana!

Much love to you and yours!  Thank you for stopping by -- I would love to hear from you!  :)

Supplies:

• Prima patterned paper - "Madeline"
• Hero Arts stamp - "Everyday Sayings"
• Neenah "Solar White" Cardstock
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Vintage Photo
• Prima Flowers
• Ribbon, trim, other flowers by Recollections, beads, gems, adhesives