Merry Monday Challenge #68

Good morning friends and happy Friday!  It feels so good to have my windows open and the air conditioner off!  I know it's summer, but hey......I wait all 9 months of winter to be able to open the windows and then we head right into hot and muggy!  I know, I know, complain, complain, never happy, but I really do like having my windows open and listening to the birds sing! :0)  But anyways, on to my card for today.  I hope you're not sick of Christmas cards yet, because I've been having a great time playing two of the Christmas challenge blogs out there - Festive Fridays and Merry Mondays.  There's even more than these two out there folks, but two is enough for me right now. :0)  Today my card is for the Merry Monday challenge and here is the design template they've given us to work with:

 

And here is my take on it:

 

 

This one was a hard one to photograph so bear with me here.  In fact, click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll be able to see the snowflake a bit better.  For photographing purposes, maybe the Cappucino colored Coredinations paper with the gold embossed snowflake (Northwoods Stamp Co.) wasn't the best idea, but in real life it was a great idea...it is so cool and vintage looking!  I layered it with a piece of the POW gold glitter paper and it just really stands out.  I used SU!'s "Script" stamp for my background (with SU!'s Crumb Cake ink) and then used scraps from my stockpile for the 3 flag banners.  To finish I added a snowflake cut with a Spellbinders die from more POW gold glitter paper, a red button and some bakers twine (The Twinery).   Another quick and easy card, and I have to admit that I really like the sketches Merry Monday's gives us to start with....sure makes the mojo juices start flowing a lot more smoothly!! :0)

Make sure you check out some of the other great entries over on the Merry Monday site (http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.com/) and also check out the 4 FANTASTIC cards Lesley posted...she made it into the top 5 of Gallery Idol!  Her red, white and black Christmas cards are just simply stunning!!

Have a great weekend everyone and I'll be back next week with a card for my newest son in law whose birthday is tomorrow and definitely check back in on Monday as I have a special surprise to share!  Thanks for stopping by and sharing a part of your day with me...I LOVE it when you do! :0)

Festive Friday #11 - Element Challenge

Good morning friends.  The latest challenge at Festive Friday's is an element challenge - to use a tree in your card.  My card is a little different for me as there is NO stamping anywhere on the front of it, but I have to admit I really like how this card turned out.  Other than the photographing of the card that is!  My colors are a "Pool Party" color that is more green than blue, but my camera makes it look more blue than green no matter where I take the picture....grrrrr! 

I love the contrast of the red glittery "merry" (PTI die) and the greenish blue of the background paper (Echo Park) and tree's (PTI die).  The tree in front is cut from a scrap of really shimmery paper that really stands out IRL.  I also embossed my snow hill with a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder.  A very simple design but a card that I think really "pops"!

Make sure you check out the rest of the cards over at Festive Friday's....some awesome entries! (http://www.festivefriday.blogspot.com/)  Thanks for stopping by today and have an awesome Wednesday! :0)

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop Challenge

Hello friends.  Posting a little later than usual as we had college orientation today for my youngest...gosh I feel old!  And probably a good thing I'm better at stamping than school...chemistry, biology, medical terminology, psychology - yea, I definitely think I'll stick with stamping! :0) 

The challenge this month at Papertrey Ink was to use a touch of gold in your card.  I kept mine very simple but am very pleased with the way it came out!  Take a look:

I started with a white card base, then added another white layer that I embossed with a SU! ef and then sponged very lightly with SU!'s Going Grey ink.  I loved Papertrey's challenge last week so much with the colored vellum flowers, that I used that idea again and embossed my flower image (Gina K - Year of Flowers) first with white embossing powder, and then again using the rock n roll technique with gold embossing powder just on the edges of the flowers.  I used SU!'s Regal Rose & Primrose Petals inks on the backside of the flowers with a q-tip to add some color.  I finished off the card using PTI's "Boutique Borders: Thanks" stamp set (Dawn McVey) for my sentiment and embossed on either side of the sentiment with the little flourish in gold also.  It came together very quickly once I had the idea, and I love how elegant it looks!

Make sure you check out all the other entries for this challenge...some absolutely beautiful cards! (http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/) Thanks for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0) 

MIM#121 - Colored Vellum Flowers

Hello friends.  Found some time last night to play with the Make it Monday challenge, and while I'm not crazy about my card, it's one of those that kind of grows on you over time.  My mom brought me over a whole flat of strawberries earlier this week (I think she was hoping for some homemade jam!), and so I wanted to use PTI's "Strawberry Patch" stamp set to make a thank you card for her.  I know technically the strawberries aren't a flower, but hey, they started out as a flower, right?! :0)  Take a look:

I love the general idea of my card and the colors (even though the polka dot background is looking more blue than the actual turquoise blue it really is!), but there are little things that bug me about it.  The strawberries in the picture don't look too bad, but in real life the white embossing powder turned a real light pink from the red ink I used to color them and not the crisp white I was hoping for.  The other element I wanted to incorporate into this card was the chalkboard technique, and because of the textured cardstock I chose, when I went to draw my lines around the edges of the sentiment, they didn't come out too smooth.  I know I'm probably being way too picky, but when you get this idea in your head of how it should look and it doesn't come out that way...well any of you that stamp know what I'm talking about, right?  RIGHT?  Thank you! :0)

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and I'll be back next week with some more inspiration.  Thanks for stopping by. :0)

Watercolor Thanks

Good morning friends and happy Friday!  Don't you just love the sense of anticipation that comes with Friday's and the weekend?  We don't even have anything special going on this weekend (for once!!) and I still love knowing it will be a more laid back pace for the next 2 days! :0)  Maybe even some more stamping time?!  Although to be perfectly honest, I've been on a really big reading kick lately and just can't seem to put them down, so we'll see about the stamping.  But anyways, I told you beginning of the week I had been doing some water coloring and here is the 2nd card I made using that same technique:

  My inspiration and starting point for this card was a photograph of a sunset.  My colors used were SU!'s Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Pretty in Pink, & So Saffron.  The tree image is also SU! from the "Serene Silhouettes" stamp set, and the sentiment is from a retired SU! set.  The twine is from The Twinery and the silver nailhead is from Gina K.  These water colors are so easy to do and I think quite lovely in their simplicity!  So if you need a quick and easy card, keep this technique in mind! :0)

Really want to play in PTI's Make it Monday challenge this week, but I'm struggling to come up with a card after seeing all the beautiful cards that have already been submitted.  We'll see if the mojo and extra time this weekend come up with anything!  Thanks for stopping by today and have a fabulous weekend! :0)

A Little Purple Bow

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post as I have a busy day today, but wanted to show you a card that started from just a tiny purple bow...

My friend Nelda from bible study had found a small bag with 2 of these bows and wondered if I could use them on a card, and of course I said "of course"! So the little purple bow was my starting point, and after I matched it up with SU!'s Elegant Eggplant ink and cardstock, this is what I came up with. I used the French Script background stamp (SU!) and the flourish from the "Priceless" (SU!) stamp set for my background, the flower is from "Field Flowers" (SU!), and the sentiment is from "Watercolor Trio" (SU!).  I also used SU!'s oval and scalloped oval punches for the sentiment and a Martha Steward punch for the butterfly.  Amazing what can evolve from such a tiny element! :0)

Have a great Thursday friends and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do!
 

Merry Monday #67

Good morning friends.  Playing with the Christmas challenges again, and today's card is for the Merry Monday challenge. 

This was a fun layout to play with, and I decided to use a stamp that hasn't seen any ink in years and years! The set is called "We Three Kings" from Our Daily Bread Designs, and I not only love the detail of the image, but also really like the sentiment that goes with the image.  This is one of those cards that I wish you could see IRL, as I spritzed the image with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in iridescent gold, and it really sparkles along with the gold star, but I could not get that sparkle to photograph no matter how hard I tried...grrrrrrr!!  But anyway, I really liked how this card turned out and think I will be making a few more to add to my stash! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Wednesday friends!