Freshly Made Sketches #32 and Color Throw Down #189

Happy Monday Everyone!

While I'm sipping my coffee this morning, I thought I would share my latest challenge card with you.  Today's card was made for the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  I paired that up with the latest color challenge at The Color Throw Down, which was to use So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Calypso Coral and Pool Party.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

The sketch was intended to be for a square card, but I made a standard A2 card in landscape orientation.  I confess that I struggled with this color combination and thought about ditching it, but sometimes it's good to be pushed out of your comfort zone.  That's why I do challenges in the first place -- to make me think out of my box and do cards I might not normally come up with on my own.

The focal image is stamped on water color paper.  I used a combination of my blender pens and aqua painter with my ink pads to color it.  I can't believe this is the first time this stamp set has seen ink.  It was one of those "gotta have it" moments when I first saw it!  I used my Framelits to cut the image and its So Saffron mat (another gotta have it product).

I hope you take the opportunity to visit both challenge blogs and check out the other awesome projects.


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Merry Monday #17

Happy Sunday Everyone!

There's a great challenge blog, Merry Monday, that I've been meaning to participate in, but just haven't so far.  The premise is that if you participate each week, you'll have a great stash of Christmas cards already done once the Christmas card season is upon us.  Great idea.  Great challenge.  This week's sketch is simple but fun:

And here is my take on it, with a really OLD Stampin' Up! set:

My card's a bit plain and simple, but I tried to jazz it up a bit with some Dazzling Details and my Atyou Spica glitter pens, as well as some Recollections background paper that also had an embossed shimmer to it.  I popped up the circular images with dimensionals.

Be sure you pop over and say hi to Lesley and the gang at Merry Monday!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

A La Card Monkey #106

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I am so excited that I'm about to bust at the seams!!  I was selected to be a Guest Designer over at A La Card Monkey!  After months of applying to different blogs to be on design teams and getting shot down (insert sad face here), I was super excited to be asked to be a Guest Designer!!

This weeks' sketch is combined with the theme "Something Blue."  I love blue!  And I don't know about you, but I always struggle to make "manly" cards.  For some reason, I instantly gravitated to The Open Sea for this card.  Here's the great sketch:

And here is my interpretation:

 I kept thinking this card needed "something" else, but I decided to quit while I was ahead.  Besides, most guys probably don't want a lot of frou frou on their cards!

A BIG thank you to Terry and Shirley for asking me to be a Guest Designer at A La Card Monkey.  I hope everyone pops over there to check out the inspiration and enter the weekly challenge!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

A La Card Monkey #105

Two posts in one day after not posting for an entire week....what's up with that??!??!?

One of my favorite weekly challenge blogs is A La Card Monkey.  Great sketches...great themes...fun hostesses.  I just can't understand why more paper crafters aren't jumping on their bandwagon!!

Anyway, this week is another cool sketch, along with the idea of something borrowed.  Well, I don't have anyone to borrow from.  I thought about making a wedding card (you know...something borrowed, something blue....) but nixed that idea.  Just couldn't get in a wedding frame of mind.  Here's what I created instead:

I have to confess when I got this stamp set, I didn't think I would ever use it.  I love the Everyday Enchantment designer series paper that coordinates with it, but the stamp set just didn't float my boat.  But in the last month or so, it's kind of grown on me (sounds like some freak medical condition!).

Please be sure to go over to A La Card Monkey, check out the other cards, and enter one of your own!!  You'll be glad ya did!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I don't know what I've been doing the past week, but it certainly wasn't blogging!!!  Sheesh!

Are you a pet lover?  I certainly am ... especially a dog person!  I love my furbabies.  And after diligent searching, I finally found a pet sitter last year that I trust!  Teresa and Mandy at Passionate Pet Care took fantastic care of our dogs when we went to my daughter's wedding last May, and again this February when we traveled to Arizona for my mother's 82nd birthday.  What a relief to have someone taking care of the dogs and the house when we're gone!  If you're in the Spring/Houston area and need a pet sitter, I highly recommend them!!

Teresa was looking at my my Etsy shop recently and decided to commission me to make some thank you and sympathy cards for her business.  So I've been working on extra special cards for her this week.  The one I'm showing you today is one of the thank you cards I designed especially for Passionate Pet Care.

Isn't Mr. Puppy cute???  The "throw back" parts of this card are the paw prints and the "stay woof sit bow wow" sentiment.  These two items come from an old Stampin' Up! set entitled "Woof Woof!"  And, yes, for those equal opportunity kitty lovers and SU history buffs, I do also have the "Meow Meow" set!!  ;)


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday (early) and A La Card Monkey #104

Happy Early Thursday Everyone!  (Also known as late Wednesday afternoon!)  I'm posting a little early so I can make the challenge deadline over at A La Card Monkey tonight.  The challenge over there this week is a sketch plus cupcakes!!  I used retired SU colors and a retired SU Sale-A-Bration image.

I made this card Monday when it was dreary and raining all day.  The colors kind of reminded me of sherbet and perked me up!  You can't really see it well in the photos, but I colored over the entire cupcake with my clear Atyou Spica pen, and the flame with the gold Atyou Spica pen.  And, of course, I had to add more "bling" with rhinestones all around!

Be sure to pop over to A La Card Monkey and check out the other great entries.



Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

WOYWW 150 and a parade of elephants!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  It's time for our weekly trek around the globe to have a peek at the desks of other creative souls.  This fun blog hop is courtesy of Julia at Stamping Ground.

This picture was taken late yesterday as I was sorting through retired or soon-to-be retired stamp sets that I've decided to part ways with.  Scroll down to my previous post to see what is for sale if you're interested.  (Homespun Plaid, Always Elegant, Bold Line Alpha Upper and Numbers are already spoken for.)

On my last trip around the globe, many of you noticed the elephants in my window sill.  Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg!

I used to have another full shadow box of elephants, but my ex-husband knocked them off the wall by accident one day, and most were far too shattered to be repaired.  The ornately tiled elephant on the middle left that is facing to the right was my very first elephant.  This shadow box was made by my father, and he would sneak into my room and measure my elephants to make sure they had a perfect spot, especially the blown glass one below.

Does anyone remember when Avon was selling their version of Beanie Babies?  That's where these two colorful guys came from!

My elephant collection started years ago when my Grandma took me to a museum in St. Joseph, MO.  There was THE.MOST.AMAZING elephant collection there, and I was so smitten with them.  And the rest, as they say, is history!

Be sure you pop over to Julia's and have a go at visiting all the other creative desks!!


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Retired/Retiring Stamp Sets for Sale

Now that the retiring stamp set list has come out from Stampin' Up!, I've spent a good chunk of my afternoon going through my stash with an open mind and heart as to what I want to keep.  I've set aside  a fairly good sized stack of sets I am willing to part with to make room for new stuff!!

This is a mix of wood mount and clear mount sets.  I've decided to be "realistic" about selling them, and am asking $5.00 per set, plus the cost of Priority Mail shipping, whatever that may work out to be.  I do have a PayPal account, so you can pay me that way if you'd like.

It's first come, first serve, so if you see something you want, you better pipe up, as I've also emailed this out to several people as well.  Next.....Craig's List for whatever doesn't get snapped up right off the bat!  ;)

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

The Paper Players #91 and Cardabilities #53

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  I hope you're having a great week so far.  After much needed rain Sunday and Monday, we're having some lovely sunshine and not-too-hot temps today.  Jazz and I went to Petsmart for dog food (and toys!), and he enjoyed a little one-on-one time with one of the kitties up for adoption.  Ok, maybe it was more like a face off through the plexiglass!

My card today is for The Paper Players challenge for a CAS card with water coloring, as well as the sketch challenge at Cardabilities.  I used two In Colors (pool party and lucky limeade) plus ivory naturals card stock.  I thought it came out with a spring/vintage feel to the card.

I hope you have a wonderful week.  Please pop over to the challenge blogs mentioned above and have a peek at all the other wonderful entries.


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

SU Retired Stamp List

Click here to see the list of retiring wood mount and clear mount stamps.  You can order these through me until May 31.  On April 25, the list of retiring accessories and Definitely Decorative items will be released.

It's always sad to say goodbye, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the new catalog has to offer!!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday, The Paper Players #90, and Retro Sketches #6

Happy Thursday Everyone!  Boy, that blog post is a mouthful, isn't it??  ;)

My card today plays along with two great challenge sites.  The first is a color challenge from The Paper Players (Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, & Certainly Celery).  And second, I'm joining the sketch challenge at Retro Sketches for the first time.  I've been following their sketches, but this is the first time I've played along.

And the "throwback" part of my card is an older SU stamp set that I WON (tee hee) as blog candy from Heidi after a Friday Mashup challenge (thank you, Heidi)!

My picture is a little dark here, but you can see the little bit of shimmer I added to the jars with my clear Atyou Spica pen.  I tried to not get carried away with adding Not Quite Navy to my card, because I wanted it to have an overall soft, pastel feel, along with a clean and simple look also.

A peek at a bit of "love" added to the inside.

I hop you pop over to both of the challenge blogs and have a look at the other entries.  Trust me, it's fun and inspiring!


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

WOYWW 149 and The Friday Mashup 53

It's time for another hop around the globe to browse at crafty desks everywhere, courtesy of Julia.

Just the usual card crafty catastrophe going on in my neck of the woods!

And all the craftiness -- or at least a good chunk of it -- was to make a card for the weekly challenge over at The Friday Mash Up!  It's a fun challenge this week to combine a fancy fold card with a Tic Tac Toe smorgasbord of items.  I chose to try my hand at the Joy Fold card from a tutorial at Split Coast Stampers.  Super fun, and pretty easy, too.  I got a bit carried away with layers of designer paper I think, but that's the way it goes.  And for my Tic Tac Toe items, I chose flowers, ribbon and neutrals.

I used some of my stash of what I think is some of the yummiest designer series paper Stampin' Up! has ever put out there -- Spice Cake.  Such a shame it had a limited run!!  I probably could have added more embellishments, but the card was getting a bit thick as it was.  So I decided to stop while I was ahead.

I hope you all take time to visit the other crafty desks around the world, as well as pop over to The Friday Mash Up and see the other wonderful designs!  Safe hopping!!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Happy Easter / Resurrection Sunday

Luke 24

Jesus Has Risen

 ¹ On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

May you all have a blessed Easter celebration, remembering why we rejoice.


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!