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!

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes Challenge

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge. The Birthday Bash stamp set that came out a couple of months ago is super cute, and I really wanted to use the sweet cupcake on my card. I punched out a circle from Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist cardstock, then stamped the "celebrate" sentiment on top. 

I stamped the cupcake with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then colored it in with Copic Markers, and fussy cut it before adhering it with foam dots onto the Aqua Mist cardstock. I stamped the candle with Stampin' Up Regal Rose Ink, and the flame with Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie inks (I used the rock and roll technique to get to the two colors to blend). 

To create the background, I adhered strips of washi tape and patterned paper, from Studio Calico, onto white cardstock. I stamped the stars, from Seeing Stars, above and below the washi/paper. I added a few enamel dots, also from Studio Calico, and some pink and white twine to finish off my card.

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

Jenny Mullens

Savannah O'Gwynn

Retro Sketches | Challenge #167

Hi there! This week's Retro Sketches sketch is based on one of my Gossamer Blue projects from a few months back. You can view the original card here (second card down).  

A few days ago I mentioned pulling out a box of supplies and working only with those products. I did that again last night with one of my older Studio Calico boxes, using stamps from the Morgan add on card kit. The box also had some silver labels, pink buttons, patterned vellum, and pink/white/gold Twine and Ink stickers. The only thing I added was some pink Papertrey Ink ribbon. 

I stamped the sentiment, flowers, and leaves with Avery Elle pigment ink. The little patterned circles were stamped with Memento Luxe pigment ink.

I've been hoarding this patterned vellum, from Studio Calico, for the past year. The pattern is perfect for layering over busy backgrounds, and I love the heavy weight and texture. I have a few bits and pieces left... I don't know if I'll be able to use it! 

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!

October Afternoon | Scrap Recipe Challenge

Last year I went a little crazy and purchased a lot of October Afternoon products... mostly the Daily Flash collections Snapshots, Milk Money, and All Boy. Each of these collections are perfect for scrapbooking photos of Evan and Jack. 

I check out the October Afternoon blog several times per week for inspiration and challenges, and this week's Scrap Recipe Challenge is a fun one: 

This was definitely a challenge for me! I used one piece of patterned paper, two pop drops, four stamps, eleven stickers. So... not exactly what the recipe called for. I also added two journaling tags.

Because this page is CAS (clean and simple), I added a few details to make it more interesting: I popped up each of the photos with foam dots, I added staples (with my tiny attacher) to several of the embellishments, and I offset the "true story" journaling card on the patterned paper. 

The bottom right photo... totally Jack. He can be such a ham, and gets really silly in front of the camera. I was cracking up when I was photographing him, so a few of the photos turned out blurry! He makes me work for good photos.

I am enjoying the creative process so much these days. I finally feel like I'm back in my groove, making both layouts and cards on a regular basis. The layout I created for Gossamer Blue, which will be featured on Gossamer Blue Blog later this month, is one of my all time favorite layouts. I can't wait to share! Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome weekend.

Studio Calico | Sunday Sketch

Hi there! A few weeks ago I pulled out my May Studio Calico card kit and created a card using a sketch posted on the SC Blog. They have a Sunday Sketch challenge each week, and although I'm too late to participate in the challenge, I really liked the sketch and decided to create a card anyway. Here's the sketch:

I flipped the sketch from horizontal to vertical, and used an awesome sentiment from the May card kit as the focal point of my card. I added a few copper stars and sequins, and two pieces of patterned paper, also from the card it.

I hope you are enjoying the start of summer vacation! I am so glad I get to spend this time with the boys, and we have a ton of fun activities planned in the coming weeks. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!