Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. I pulled out my Summer Lovin' stamp set and created a fun background with line art stamps and pigment ink. 

Is there anything cuter than a hot pink crab?! I don't think so. I love how this background turned out and it's super easy to do! I always start by stamping in the lower right corner and work my way up and over, making sure to keep the spacing relatively similar. 

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure you check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration: 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Good morning and welcome to this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge! 

I received an order of new Paper Smooches products last week, including the gorgeous fern dies I used on today's card. I love how detailed and delicate they are! I die cut one from Limeade Ice patterned paper and the other from Simply Chartreuse cardstock (both from Papertrey Ink). I stamped the diagonal stripes with Memento Luxe Pear Tart ink, and the sentiment with Archival Jet Black ink. The button is from my stash and the gems are from Hero Arts.

Stamps: Chit Chat, Kissables 2. Dies: Foliage 2.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration! 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Picture Perfect Challenge

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Picture Perfect challenge. I love the bright colors and graphic feel of the inspiration picture:

  
I used three Paper Smooches stamp sets on my card: Mini Monograms, Blissful Banners, and Teen Routine. I started by trimming four pieces of cardstock and adhered them to my card. I stamped the images, from Teen Routine, onto white cardstock with Memento Dew Drop ink and adhered it to my card. I added a "happy birthday" banner to the front, with pop dots, and added the "dude" with the Mini Monogram stamp set.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration: 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

Gossamer Blue | Inspiration Blog Hop

Good morning! I'm so sorry this post is a bit delayed. I screwed up the scheduled time and my post didn't go live at 8am. We are at a soccer picnic but I ran home to hit "publish"! 

Isn't this bicycle the cutest? I used enamel dots for the center of the wheels, and sprinkled gold sequins over the card. The soft blue is so pretty as a background.

I hope you are having fun with your August Gossamer Blue kits! Check out the rest of the team for more inspiration:

Alex Hunter Anabelle O'Malley Andrea Gray Brenda Smith Brenda Weaver Diane Payne Emily Spahn Eyoung Lee Felicitas Mayer France Wisniewski Heather Leopard Jill Cornell Jill Keller Kasia Przybyt Kathleen Graumuller Kellie Winnell Kelly Xenos Laura Rahel Crosby Michelle Wedertz Michiko Kato Olatz Garaiyurrebaso Patricia Roebuck Rebecca Luminarias Sian Fair Stephanie Buice Yana Smakula

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge. I love these challenges... I get a chance to pull out any stamp set I want and create something fun. 

I used the Space Cadet stamp set and Speech Bubbles Dies. The patterned paper is from Studio Calico and the enamel dots are from Gossamer Blue. The space ship and alien were colored with Spectrum Noir markers and Copics.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration: 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

Gossamer Blue | August Projects

Hello there! Welcome to the August release for Gossamer Blue. My favorite kits are always the Bits & Pieces kit and the Life Pages Add On #3. 

First up is a card using the paper pad and large blossom tag from the Bits & Pieces kit. I added gold sequins from the mason jar mini kit. The October Afternoon washi tape is from Life Pages Add On #3.

Up next I have a card using a Life Pages card, two die cut whales, some washi paper strips, and an enamel heart. This card came together quickly and it's perfect for a birthday card or a lunchbox note. 

 

This next project is my favorite this month. I used my new Hero Arts pink to red ombre ink pad and the October Afternoon stamp set from the Bits & Pieces kit to stamp the fish onto white cardstock. I added a striped tag, gold glitter circle, and pink anchor to finish it off. 

I love the mason jars in this month's kit... so cute! I added a small flower die cut, gold sequins, gold heart, and "happy" die cut to the jar, then tied twine around the top of the jar. I adhered the black and white striped paper, from the 6x6 pad, to the card base. I love how this paper contrasts with the bright colors of the rest of the card.

Make sure to check out the new releases from Gossamer Blue! You can see the main kit here and the add on kit here. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes Challenge

Hello there! For this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge I had fun mixing and matching two stamp sets and three die sets, creating a fun "clipboard" card. 

I started with a piece of patterned paper that I've had in my stash for a few years. I layered a piece of green cardstock on top, then trimmed down a piece of lined notebook paper (also an "oldie" from my stash) and adhered it at an angle on my card.

I used Paper Smooches' Clipboards Two stamps and dies on top of the lined paper. The sentiment is a combination of dies, the Birthday Word Dies, and a stamped sentiment from Party Posse. Party Posse will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first Paper Smooches stamp set I purchased, many years ago. I fell in love with the cute images and had to have it! 

After I adhered the sentiment and stamped the "wishes", I still felt like my card needed something. I die cut flowers and leaves from Flowers 2 Dies, then added a handful of enamel dots and sequins.  

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the Paper Smooches Sparks blog, and the other design team members for more inspiration!

Audrey Tokach

Lisa Arana

Heather Hoffman

Savannah O'Gwynn

Retro Sketches | Challenge #173

Hello crafty friends! Today I have a card for this week's Retro Sketches challenge. Here's the sketch:

I combined a couple of different stamp sets for this card. The elephant and "YIPPEE!" sentiment are from Studio Calico's Ciao card kit add on, and the "Celebrate" and "It's your special day!" are from Papertrey Ink's Heart-2-Heart Mini Stamp set #5. The patterned paper is also from the Ciao kit, and the enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the Retro Sketches blog for more inspiration!

Gossamer Blue | July Inspiration Blog Hop

Good morning! It's the 15th, which means it's time for the Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop! 

The July kits were a lot of fun to work with. I used the 6x6 paper pad, from the Bits and Pieces kit a lot this month. For this card I used the striped pink paper and the "hello" gold foil sentiment from the July Main Kit. 

I added a few puffy stars, a wood button and some stamped flowers to finish off my card. 

 Make sure to check out the rest of the design team to see their favorite projects using the July kits!

Gossamer Blue Blog

Alex Hunter  

Andrea Gray 

 Brenda Smith 

 Brenda Weaver  

Caylee Grey  

Chantal Philippe 

 Diane Payne 

 Emily Spahn  

Eunyoung Lee 

 Felicitas Mayer  

Heather Leopard  

Jill Keller  

Joy Taylor  

Katarzyna Przybyt 

 Kathleen Graumüller 

 Katie Ehmann 

 Kellie Winnell  

Kelly Xenos  

Michelle Wedertz  

Patricia Roebuck 

Rebecca Luminarias  

Sandra Dietrich 

Sian Fair  

Stephanie Buice  

Yana Smakula

Paper Smooches Sparks | Picture Perfect Challenge

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Picture Perfect Challenge. I love the inspiration photo this week!

I started by doing some tone on tone stamping with Botanicals 3. I used Impress Fresh Ink in Slate stamped on Papertrey Ink's Soft Stone cardstock. I die cut Happy Birthday five times from True Black cardstock and layered them together. After I adhered them, I used my Black Spica Marker on top for added shine.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration:

Audrey Tokach

Lisa Arana

Heather Hoffman

Savannah O'Gwynn

Grandpa | Traditional Layout

After I created a handful of card using the July Gossamer Blue kits, I pulled out this photo of my Dad and Jack, taken a couple of years ago, and created a layout. The large black letters were the inspiration for my page. I wanted a bold title that took up a portion of the lower half of the page. 

I used a variety of kits from the July release on my layout, including the Life Pages Main Kit, the Main Add On Kit, and the Bits and Pieces Kit. 

The "always choose the adventure" stamp is one of my favorites from this month's Life Pages Main Kit. I added a wooden button, a "special day" stamp (from a previous Life Pages kit), and a couple of puffy stars as accents.

In the bottom corner I created a cluster of elements, starting with a Simple Stories tag (not from the GB kits), "happy memories" tag, flair, a few stars, and some sticker strips. 

I measured the inside of the slide frame and printed my journaling out to fit. After I adhered the journaling/slide to my layout, I added the arrows and "fun" cork stickers, orange and white label, "observations" wood veneer, and more puffy stars.

Make sure to check out the rest of the Gossamer Blue gallery for more inspiration! You can purchase the July Gossamer Blue kits and add-ons here. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Gossamer Blue | July Projects

Good morning! The July Gossamer Blue kits are available and I have several projects to share today.

First up is a card featuring the stamp set from the Bits & Pieces kit.  The Bits & Pieces kit is always my favorite add-on, and this month is no exception. The wood buttons and paper pad are perfect for cards! 

July Gossamer Blue Bits & Pieces Kit

I don't drink coffee, but this sentiment is too cute not to use. The red/pink wood button fits nicely inside the coffee cozy of the stamp.

I used letter stickers, from the Life Pages kit, for the "congrats" sentiment on this card. The house die cut, from the Bits & Pieces kit, works great for this card.

My last card features one of the tags with vellum from the Life Pages Main Add-on. I added the vellum sentiment to the tag, then used foam dots to adhere the tag to the card front. 

Check back tomorrow for a layout using the July kits, and the 15th for the Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop! I hope you have a fantastic holiday weekend.

Paper Smooches Sparks | Designer Drafts Challenge

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Designer Drafts challenge. Here's the sketch:

I used some patterned paper from an old Studio Calico 6x6 pad as inspiration for my card. The colors felt very tropical to me, so I pulled out Botanicals 3 and stamped a few of the leaves/flowers from that set, then fussy cut them. I die cut Frame 4 from pink shimmer paper, and the sentiment is from Sentiment Sampler. I added dimensional adhesive behind the frame and the top two flowers. 

That's it for me today! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration!

Audrey Tokach

Lisa Arana

Heather Hoffman

Savannah O'Gwynn

ColourQ | Challenge #295

I haven't played along with the ColourQ challenge in awhile, but this week's inspiration photo and coordinating color challenge is so pretty! Navy, pink, gold, and white. I love it. 

I used this beautiful butterfly stamp, Swallowtail, from Stampin' Up! in the middle of my card. I stamped it with Versamark, then used gold embossing powder (from PSX) to heat emboss the image. 

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but I die cut a banner from vellum, then stamped "you're the best" (from Papertrey Ink's Sunflower Bouquet) with VersaMark, then used Blush Zing embossing powder to heat emboss it. The gems and pearls are from Hero Arts.

That's it for me tonight! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. 

Muse | Challenge #122

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today I have a card for this week's Muse Challenge. Here is the inspiration photo:

Here is my take on the challenge. The Funky Town patterned paper was my starting off point. I love the color combination: Papertrey Ink's Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, and Ripe Avocado. I also added Sweet Blush and Aqua Mist.

I added the confetti and stars, from Party Poppers at the very end. I felt like the card needed a little something extra in the white space surrounding the balloons. I also added a few enamel dots, from My Mind's Eye, to two of the balloons and the middle of the bow.

I used Papertrey Ink's Birthday Style for the balloons, string, and bow. The banner and sentiment are Wplus9's Basic Banners stamp set. The stars and confetti are from Papertrey Ink's Party Poppers set. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! 

Gossamer Blue | June Blog Hop

 

Good morning and welcome to the Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop! I had so much fun creating projects using this month's kits, especially with the Dear Lizzy products (washi tape, circle tags, cards & envelopes set). 

For this card, I used three strips of washi, from the Dear Lizzy washi booklet, and adhered them at an angle on a piece of A2 white cardstock. I adhered a gold glitter star on top of the washi, then used foam adhesive to add a sentiment. A few enamel dots finish it off. This card came together in no time at all, and it's probably my favorite project from this month. CAS perfection!

 Make sure to check out the rest of the design team to see their favorite June projects!

Anabelle O'Malley 

Beshka Kueser 

Brenda Weaver  

Caylee Grey  

Cindy Liebel 

Emily Spahn 

Eunyoung Lee  

Diane Payne  

Heather Leopard  

Jill Cornell 

Jill Keller Katie Ehmann 

Laura Rahel Crosby  

Melanie Blackburn  

Michelle Wooderson  

Michiko Kato  

Sabrina Alery  

Yana Smakula

Retro Sketches | Challenge #168

My Studio Calico card kit arrived last week (yay!) and I used the adorable stamp set to create this week's Retro Sketches card.

I used a sentiment banner from an older kit, and patterned paper from the Cirque card kit. The chipboard heart is also from Cirque, and the enamel dots are from Galileo. I love the color of the enamel dots in this kit. I believe they are by Twine & Ink... I adore just about everything they make.

I hope you can join us this week at Retro Sketches! You can check out more inspiration and link up your projects on the Retro Sketches blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Make It Monday #214 | Stamping with Neutrals

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge: Stamping with Neutrals.

I used four different stamp sets on my card: Background Basics: Chevron Stripes, Note Niblets, Rosie Posie, and Rosie Posie Step 2. I picked up Note Niblets mainly for the sentiments. I love the diagonal stripes of the four main sentiments. 

I used three different neutral ink pads: Impress Fresh Ink in Slate for the chevron stripes, and Papertrey Ink's Soft Stone and True Black for the leaves. I stamped the flowers in Avery Elle's Aquamarine and Sea Glass. 

I had a hard time lining up the two step flowers because the pigment ink is opaque. I practiced several times on scratch paper before attempting to stamp the flowers on their matching die cuts. The leaves were a bit easier to line up, but I still practiced a few times to get it right.

That's it for me today! Check back tomorrow for next weeks Retro Sketches challenge and card. Thanks for stopping by.

Right Now | June 2015

He:

Has been a joy to be around this summer. Silly, funny, enthusiastic. Qualities I don't always get from him, and I'm soaking it up. 

Got the biggest grin on his face when I told him about the baseball camp he is going to next month. He is already looking forward to it. 

Is acting more and more like a "tween" and less like a little boy. So mature and articulate at times, but hello eye rolling. Oh how I hate the eye rolling.

Made the A/B honor roll for the fourth quarter, despite four teacher changes this year and our divorce. I am so proud of him.

Is still a healthy eater, when I'm on top of it. He loves cheese sticks, yogurt, carrot sticks, cantaloupe, watermelon, broccoli, and corn.

Is not excited about going to a new school next year.

Totally rocks his new, short hair cut. I love that he's not constantly pushing hair out of his eyes.

Rarely gives me a genuine smile when I ask for a photograph. I'm not sure how I got this photo of him, but this smile? Melts my heart.

Wants to stay up late and watch America's Funniest Home Videos and American Ninja Warrior.

He: 

Totally rocked his "faux hawk" during the last week of school. Complete with green wash out hair dye. He loved it.

Is still into music, and his favorite song right now is All About the Bass by Meghan Trainor. Animals by Maroon 5 is a close second.

Is a master at playing: art projects, imaginative play, Kiwi Crate boxes, Playmobil, digging in the dirt, swimming, coloring, xBox, puzzles. This kid loves to play.

Tasted watermelon for the first time and liked it. For those of you who know Jack, and his struggles with trying new foods, this was huge.

Will still hold my hand, give me hugs and kisses, and loves to snuggle.

Loves the pool and could spend all day swimming. He hated the pool as a baby/toddler, but that changed last year and now I can't keep him out of the water.

Is very excited about going to a new school next year.

Can't wait to go on an airplane next month. Flying to Washington is one of his favorite things, and he is a wonderful traveler.

Is all about play dates these days, and went on his first sleepover a few weeks ago. I received a text from his friend's mother the next day, and she said that Jack announced at 8:45pm that he was going to bed, and he was asleep a few minutes later.

We:

 Have already gone to the aquatic center twice, Pump it Up, Fired Up Pottery, the neighborhood pool, the park, and a Manatees baseball game this summer. It's going to be a great summer vacation.

Are settling into a routine as a family of three.

Need to start eating dinner together again. Our dinner time hasn't been consistent, and I haven't been cooking as much as I should be. That needs to change.

Are counting down the days until we fly to Washington. 

Plan on having an amazing summer together.

Gossamer Blue | June Projects

The June Gossamer Blue kits are now available for purchase! I have several projects to share, featuring the main scrapbook kit, Life Pages kit, and add-ons. I loved working with the bright colors, wood veneer, puffy stickers, and a gold accents this month.

First up is my Life Pages only card. I colored the wood veneer "just smile" piece with pink Memento Luxe pigment ink and let it dry before adhering it to my card. I LOVE the vellum hearts, and I added a few small puffy hearts on top. The black and white twine adds a nice contrast to all the bright colors.

Next up is my Scrapbook Kit only card. A cute cluster of elements down the center of my card and a tag for the sentiment. I almost recolored the heart wood veneer piece, but in the end I left it plain.

One of the products included in the Bits and Pieces kit is a pack of pre-made, pre-folded cards, and matching envelopes, from the Dear Lizzy collection. The gold polka dot card is super cute, and I added a chipboard "hello", some hearts and enamel dots to dress of the plain card front.

This "hello" card is also from the Dear Lizzy pack. I added three gold glitter hearts, from Seven Paper, and called it good. These cards can be left as is or dressed up for a personalized touch.

I used another vellum heart for this card, and layered a "hello" white foam glitter sticker, plus three gold hearts onto white cardstock. Another very CAS card, but I LOVE how this turned out. The white glitter stickers are very pretty in person... but they don't photograph well! I think I used all but two of the vellum hearts from this month's kit and I plan on buying another pack.

Make sure to check back on the 15th for the Gossamer Blue Inspiration blog hop! I will have another card or two to share, and you can hop over and see projects from the rest of the design team. Have a wonderful Sunday, friends!