Triple Challenge Card, not bad for a Monday...

This is a triple challenge card focusing on three major requirements:

1) a leaf image as a focal point with pink for breast cancer awareness (Limited Supplies Challenge "Leaf if to Me, Baby" on SCS)

2) Sketch Challenge on SCS

3) Color Challenge to include Pink Pirouette & Kiwi Kiss from the new In Colors, plus Chocolate Chip

I still love my first hostess set from this seasons catalog, Organic Grace, with this beautifully detailed fern frond (which I'm counting as a leaf, LOL). My sentiment is from the "Hidden Garden" rub-ons, as are the little brown dots, and I accented the card with Felt Fusion flowers, a vintage brad and some scraps of ribbon from Michael's. The Designer Paper is Urban Garden. I ran my base card through my Cuttlebug to emboss more flowers in the background. Thanks for looking, and Happy Stamping!

Mojo Monday Sketch, just a tad late...

This holiday card has an old fashioned feel to it, courtesy of the designer paper and the new In Color "Riding Hood Red" (card stock and ribbon) which goes so wonderfully with Pink Pirouette (I usually don't find combining red and pink very appealing, but these two work well together). I used my scallop edge punch to quickly fashion a nice border at the bottom of my wide panel. My sentiment is from the stamp set "All Holidays". The sketch is Julee's Mojo Monday 57.

Julie's awesome note pad

I found the template for this project on Julie Buhler's incredible blog, Paper Pleasing Ideas. I had a few challenges floating around on my brain and they came together in this cute little "To Do" list. If I have to be in the office, I should have something pretty to look at, right? So I dug into my new "Afternoon Tea" designer paper and beautiful "Eastern Influences" stamp set to come up with this. In the process, I met the Stamp Something challenge "Something For the Birds" (to use a bird image, obviously!) and the Ways to Use It challenge of having only one word on my project. I really was in desperate need of a way to gather all my random notes together in one easy-to-refer-to spot, so this might just do the trick. What do you think?

A Spooky Sketch

Isn't this little guy cute? He's headed out for some trick or treating fun, just like my 4 year old who definitely wants to be a ghost for Halloween this year too. This card really is a mixed bag of things, including last year's halloween designer paper, the corner vine and happy spider from "Autumn Apparitions" and ghost from "Booglie Eyes". Tangerine Tango adds a pop of bright color to the background and I used the new Wide Oval Punch to double-mat my ghost. It's hard to tell in the picture but I added Crystal Effects to my spooky little guy to make him stand out a bit more. The card is based on a sketch at Prairie Paper & Ink. I wanted to be able to see all the words on my DP so I got some spare super-skinny white ribbon (leftover from my wedding, of all things -- I think we wrapped it around mini bubbles) and just colored it with my SU! basic black marker. Worked like a charm!

Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Gently Falling Snowflakes Sketch

Lauren's sketch for this week provided a great jumping-off point for this winter card. I used the new Little Felt Flurries and Ski Slope designer series paper from the Holiday Mini Catalog. My sentiment is from "A Cardinal Christmas", stamped in Chocolate Chip. My Scallop Circle punch created a nice dark background to highlight the larger snowflakes. Both of my flakes are anchored with a rhinestone brad from my Pretties Kit. Sadly, the satin ribbon is from last year's holiday collection and no longer available... but it just pulls all the colors together here, doesn't it?

Here's her sketch if you want to try your hand at it:

Gotta Love the Dollar Store

When you can take a $1 cutting board and turn it into a timeless gift of memories, you just gotta do a happy dance. I matted all my photos, rounding the corners. Added some Crystal Effects to my berries and flower centers, snipped out one of the poinsettias and made it 3-D with the help of my SU! dimensionals.
RECIPE
Paper: Holiday Treasures DP, Old Olive & Ruby Red cardstock
Stamp: A Cardinal Christmas
Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive
Tools: Wide Oval punch, Paper Distressor, Corner Rounder, Paper snips
Embellishments: Crystal Effects, Old Olive ribbon

Beate's Weekend Sketch

A fun Sunday morning spent stamping resulted in this beauty. As usual, in my eclectic way, I combined a bunch of online challenges into one card -- keeps my brain limber. This card combines 4 challenges:
1) Beate's Weekend Sketch
2) Way to Use It on Splitcoast (using a monogram)
3) SCS Color Challenge: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, & Kiwi Kiss
4) Stamp Something blog challenge to make something for a friend

I like everything about this card EXCEPT the fact that you can see my Snail adhesive through the "F" -- gotta go back and use my Adhesive Remover to try and get that off...

I swiped my Chocolate Chip stampin' spot across the chipboard cutout several times to get the saturation I wanted, then adhered my layered flowers (used my Boho Flower Punch & Felt Fusion) with a Hodgepodge Hardware silver brad. The designer papers are from "Haiku" and "Urban Garden" -- I just added a few Chocolate Chip doodled dots to the paper to make it pop a bit. "Absolutely Fabulous" is the stamp set that I got my sentiment from, just colored it with my Chocolate Chip marker and punched it out with my Small Oval punch before adding another piece of Hodgepodge Hardware. My ribbon is from Michael's and my chipboard is from Target. Don't tell my Stampin' Up! upline, LOL. ;-) Here's the sketch if you want to try your hand at it:

Thanks for looking, and have a great week!

Cell Phones + Drinks = This Card

One of the ladies I work with reported that during a recent trip, she dropped her cell phone in "a liquid" and now it doesn't work. I just couldn't resist a little good-natured ribbing with this card, which utilizes Lauren's sketch. I think the "Cheers to You" set will be lots of fun for different types of cards, and I really like the look that Crystal Effects gave to my glasses after I colored them with markers. The base is Pacific Point (one of the new In Colors), and I used Wild Wasabi and Bashful Blue for my other colors. I doodled along the edges with a silver pen.

Here's the template for the mug cutout if you want -- it's great for "Snowman Soup" (tons of examples of that on Splitcoast Stampers) but would be swell for Halloween (some sort of witches brew), a Get Well card (with instant chicken noodle soup or tea bags), a New Year's card (with Alka Seltzer)... what other ideas can you come up with?!

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

Beate's Weekend Sketch

My weekend treat to myself is stamping after a long week of work and keeping track of the boys. If stamping is like my "spa treatment", then Beate is like my "masseuse", providing sketches that help relax and unwind. :-)
I moved my images to the left because I was trying to use up scraps and my longest piece of Chocolate Chip couldn't reach completely under the full width, LOL... I had fun with my tone-on-tone butterflies, all in various patterns of Kiwi Kiss from Urban Garden, Haiku, and Green Tea Designer papers. I held off on ordering the "Pocket Sillhouettes" stamp set but now I'm so glad I did, I love the tiny details. My sentiment is from the mini catty's "Eat, Drink, & Be Scary", nestled under Hodgepodge Hardware with Very Vanilla ribbon.

My second card let me to play with my "Window Dressing" hostess set and new Autumn Vine DP in all its yummy fall colors. I stamped my window frame on watercolor paper in Black Staz-On, then colored it with markers & my blender pen, added the flowers, and stamped my kitty separately, sponged her, cut her out and popped her up with SU! dimensionals outside the window. My sentiment is actually a Christmas one from "A Cardinal Christmas" in the mini catalog, but I think it will work well year round. The new Wide Oval punch fits perfectly around the quote. A little paper piercing on the bottom strip adds some nice detail. Thanks for looking!

A Very Literal Inspiration Card

This card is basically just a CASE of the one Beate used for her Inspiration Challenge recently. I just love the cherry blossom branch in the "Eastern Influences" stamp set, and I combined it here with Ginger Blossom DP, Brushed Silver, Kraft and Creamy Caramel. I stamped the image in Basic Brown, and the blossoms & buds are colored with Cameo Coral.

Cute & Curly Mojo

I'm tickled with how this card turned out -- and absolutely loving the new Haiku designer paper, it has so many elements to it. This card is based on Julee's Mojo Monday sketch and includes the Color Throwdown combination of So Saffron, Baja Blue, and More Mustard. I used my new Cute & Curly stamp (and the punch that came with the set, which ROCKS!), layered it and added some rub-ons from the Eastern Elegance collection. The strip at the bottom was run through my Cuttlebug and I added a little flower from my Pretties Kit, topped with a new Baja Blue felt flower. Nestled on the other end are two More Mustard brads. So, what do you think? I'd love to get your comments and know who's out there following my blog... :-)

Tooth Fairy Visits

My 7 year old, Pierson, finally lost the big front tooth that's been hanging on by a thread for weeks... He heard that the Tooth Fairy collects teeth to build her castle -- I like that one.

Going rate for teeth in 2008 = $1.00

I Got Caught...

Believe it or not, I didn't use a single stamp for this card. I found the quote online, already designed, all I had to do was print it and cut it and pop it up with some Stampin' Up! dimensionals. I let the beautiful "Haiku" Designer Paper do the rest. This card was created for the SCS Sketch Challenge this week, along with the "Ways to Use It" challenge, which was simply to use a quote. I adore this quote, it's been sitting in a drawer waiting for the perfect time to use it...

Need some new Holiday stamping goodies?

The Holiday Mini is out!! Let me know if I can help you select anything. Of course you can now purchase all your stamping goodies online anytime you want -- just go to my StampMom ordering site (http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampmomsu/) to browse either the Holiday Mini or the Fall/Winter catalog. I'm happy to offer advice (solicited or unsolicited, LOL!!).

Great examples of all the stamp sets in the Mini are available on Splitcoast Stampers here if you're on the fence about anything or just want a little inspiration.

Stay tuned for info on my November Open House with my good friend Grayson (The Pampered Chef). It's never too early to start planning for the holiday season!