Football for DH Means Stamping for ME!

Yup, ya gotta love having two boys who l-o-v-e to watch VA Tech play football with Daddy. Means more crafty time for moi... which is why I was able to do this SCS Inspiration Challenge this afternoon. I based my card on this beautifully-painted hotel room at Hotel Fox in Denmark.

And Lauren Meader just posted a fabulous sketch on her blog, which I simply turned sideways. Thanks for looking and, as always, I welcome your comments! :-)


RECIPE
Stamps: ALL NEW Organic Grace (Level 1 Hostess); Priceless; Merci
Paper: Tempting Turquoise Prints; Shimmery White; Baja Blue (NEW In Color)
Tools: Corner Rounder; Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder; Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch
Embellishments: Tempting Turquoise Ribbon

Weekend Sketch Card

This card is based on last weekend's sketch on Beate's blog, which I just now got to. The base of the card is SU!'s new In Color Tangerine Tango, stamped with Versamark and the small bloom from "One of a Kind" stamp set. The sentiment is stamped in Not Quite Navy to match the paper bloom I cut out from the new Urban Garden Designer Paper. A glossy white half-pearl from my Pretties Kit, attached with a Glue Dot, makes the perfect center. Strips from the delicately patterned Haiku DP flank both sides of my card.

Here's the sketch if you want to give it a try:

Beate's Inspiration Challenge

This card is for a colleague who is leaving for a long recruitment trip to Asia. I was thrilled to receive my beautiful "Eastern Influences" stamp set in the mail yesterday and decided to break it in for Beate's challenge. Everything went great right up until I went to glaze my flower with what I *thought* was a clear glazing pen. Turns out it was white. Shoulda gone with Crystal Effects. All the beautiful delicate lines are lost beneath the stupid glaze. But it's still pretty. I used the colors from the Our Creative Corner Color Challenge: Old Olive, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Chip. I stamped my flower on Watercolor Paper and used my blender pens and watercolor brush to shade it in. My background DP is from the retired "Ginger Blossom" dp (love that stuff!!)

Here are all the goodies that the nice UPS man just delivered to me in a downpour yesterday. Anyone who wants to come check them out, I'll be having an Open House on Sunday, September 14th. Drop in anytime between 3 and 5. More details to come! :-)

Sketch & Color Challenge Combo

I'm still catching up on sketches -- this is SC189 from Splitcoast Stampers. I used Julie's Color Combination of Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze (one of the new In Colors from SU!), and Garden Green and came up with this. I'd seen folks coloring their Hodgepodge Hardware with Sharpies, so I tried that but unfortunately my Green Sharpie isn't quite as close to Garden Green as I had hoped... oh well, c'est la vie. And while I have Baja Breeze paper, I don't have that color of ink, so I used my Bordering Blue marker to color some of my Pretties flowers. The ribbon is simply White ribbon colored with my Not Quite Navy marker. I tell ya -- those Markers are SO HANDY! :-)

Thanks for looking -- feel free to comment!

Back with A Triple Challenge Card

Finally, a morning to stamp! It seems to always be something else these days, but today I was determined to complete a challenge. This one is Color Challenge 179 from SCS, using the Saturday Sketch For You To Try from iheart2stamp.com. I purposely chose the flower image to meet the challenge of Stamp Something blog, which was to do a summery card of any type. I used my markers to color my stems and petals on the stamp individually, then just breathed on them a bit before stamping. I'm so pleased with how my medallion flower turned out -- I just kept adding layers to give it punch and dimension.

Here's the sketch if you want to give it a try:

RECIPE
Stamps: Close As a Memory, Warm Words
Paper: Bali Breeze DP, Elegant Eggplant CS, Old Olive Prints, Confetti White
Ink: All SU! markers -- Taken w/ Teal, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive
Tools: The Tearing Edge, Color Spritzer, Boho Blossoms Punch, Scallop circle Punch, 5-Petal Punch, CM Circle cutting system, Cuttlebug w/ Swiss Dots embossing folder
Embellishments: Flower Fusion felt flower, Pretties Kit rhinestone brad

Stampin' Up!'s New Fall/Winter Catalog

WOW, take a little vacation to Maine and look what happens -- the NEW Stampin' Up! catalog comes out!! Yup, there it was in my pile of mail, winking at me and saying "heh, heh, heh, whatcha gonna order first?"

Well, I just placed my first order and I am STOKED with what should be arriving in the mail soon -- new sumptuous Designer Paper (lots of Eastern and floral images), some unique stamps (already Die-Cut, thank you very much), new punches (bigger circles and ovals), and new accents (cute little felt flowers in the new In Colors, and some very fetching filigreed brads). Plus a whole box of catalogs to share with you! I'll be planning a New Catalog Open House for my local SU! customers one of these days, so keep an eye out for specifics.

Have a great day and happy stampin'!