SASI - challenges

Cuppie turned 1 this weekend - you can read all about it HERE. Taylor and her team filled the day with challenges, every single hour a new challenge was issued. I haven't played in all of them, but I did get a few in this weekend!

This first card was for challenge #6 by Laura - a sketch challenge. Yes, you know how much I love sketches. My youngest daughter is convinced that I do not create anything without a sketch - LOL! I made 2 cards this weekend and didn't have a sketch for either - she'll be SO PROUD of me!

I think this image is simply adorable - it's from Whipper Snapper called "A Hug for Ike". All paper was left over from last year's Christmas season; the Dark Chocolate was embossed with the Cuttlebug embossing folder, Snow Dots, and highlighted with White Snow ink from PTI. Ike and his friend were colored with Copics and also watercolor pencils - don't you just want to give them a squeeze?

The next card I created was a combo submission for Taylor's #1 inspiration challenge and Karen's #2 sketch challenge. I love the bright, fun and funky patterns in Taylor's inspiration challenge and the simple layout of Karen's sketch made these birthday cards a treat!

The cupcake is from Unity's "Sweet Yummy Cupcakes" set; such great cupcakes in this set and Taylor LOVES cupcakes, so it was a home run all the way. :D

I kept the coloring extra simple using a clear Spica glitter pen for the black wrapper and the pink swirls on the wrapper; the orange dots are done with a souffle pen so it's a 3D effect. Looks so cool IRL.

Hopefully you can see the sparkle in this close up photo. (Dont' forget, you can click on any image to see a larger version). The bright paper is another snippet from the Junkitz Salsa collection - such great paper. Again, I'm trying to use up my DP before it takes over the craft room..and YOU think I'm joking!

Thanks for stopping by; I love when you pop in! Hope you have a great week! Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Whipper Snapper A Hug for Ike; Unity Sweet Yummy Cupcakes
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Rich Cocoa
Paper: PTI's Hibiscus Burst, GKD's 80 lb. Pure Luxury White, Junkitz Salsa, Bo Bunny DP
Accessories: nestability dies, Copics, Spica Glitter Pens, SU! Water color pencils, cuttlebug Snow Dots embossing folder

Butterfly Note Cards

Greetings friends! How's your Labor Day weekend going? We're enjoying ours - it's been a nice, laid back, relaxing weekend! Still have plenty of laundry to do (YUCK!!), but I'm taking my time!

Today I have some note cards to show you - anyone that has been reading my blog for long, knows I love making note cards - more like a post card - just front and back, they don't open. I needed some quick and easy cards for a friend so I tore into some of my new My Mind's Eye (Pretty Please) paper (another one of my favorites); used Stampin' Up's Butterfly Bigz Die and went to town and made these in a snap!

Isn't that butterfly pretty? I edged the butterfly in PTI's Hibiscus Burst to give it a little definition and attached just the center of the butterfly with a glue dot so you can raise the wings making it 3D - so dainty and pretty.

Here is one of the individual cards I made; nothing fancy, but quick and easy. And here are the 4 I made, all in less than 30 minutes - WOOT, WOOT - love that!! :D

Thanks for popping in; hope you have a great weekend!!

Hugs, ~M.




WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: NONE!
Ink: PTI's Hibiscus Burst
Paper: PTI's Hibiscus Burst, GKD's 80 lb. Pure Luxury White, MME Pretty Please
Accessories: nestability dies, SU! Butterfly Bigz Die

Forever in Our Hearts

It's the weekend - woo hoo!!! I'm ready for the weekend; I haven't been sleeping well for 2 weeks, so I'm really looking forward to the extra day off!

I had a friend request a couple of sympathy cards so I used sketch challenge #240 from SCS; such a great layout. I used paper from Basic Grey's Porcelain pack - oh I love that paper; so soft and pretty! The chocolate circle has the foliage from "Forever in Our Hearts" embossed with clear embossing powder - kind of hard to see in the photo, but I love the way it looks!

The main DP has some brighter pinkish/orange in it, so the main "card" portion is PTI's Berry Sorbet, the rest is PTI's Dark Chocolate & Sweet Blush.

I once again used my favorite punch on the inside - Martha Stewart's Arch Lattice.

I hope you have a great weekend and thanks for popping in! Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Verve Visual Forever in Our Hearts
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Various VersaMagic Inks
Paper: Basic Grey Porcelain, PTI Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate & Berry Sorbet
Accessories: embossing powder, nestability dies

We Can't Wait to Meet You!

Greetings friends! I had a friend request a baby card for expectant parents of a little girl. I used Taylor's sketch (TESC80) for the layout.

I used Verve Visual's "Practically Perfect" stamp set - isn't this little bunny adorable?? I colored her with Copics and then used the Colorless Blender to give her a furry kind of look...how did I do?

I added clear glitter to her necklace, bow and the swirls around her. The paper is from Hobby Lobby - trying to use up my scraps before my scraps take over my craft room. LOL

The image is stamped and layered using Nestability Dies; I added 1 button from my stash and 2 buttons from Papertreyink. Notice, I left my buttons NAY-KED, are you okay with that? Our middle daughter agreed they looked okay! :D

The outside says "A baby is a bit of stardust blown from the hand of God"; the inside says "Congrats" and in the lower right-hand corner, "We can't wait to meet you."

Such a fun card to make; I hope the parents enjoy it - maybe they'll put it in her baby book!

Thanks for popping in; I hope you're having a great week. Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Verve Visual Practically Perfect
Ink: PTI Scarlet Jewel, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: DP from Hobby Lobby, PTI Hibiscus Burst & Scarlet Jewel
Accessories: ribbon, buttons, Copics, nestability dies, spica atyou glitter pen

Cinnamon - Birthday Style & Lord Have Mercy! Style

Here I am, back with another one of Mercy's fabulous sketches - MTSC36. My image was a bit big for the sketch...but I made it work! I had a customer request a couple of b-day cards for "tweenagers" so these are the cards I made. I love this paper by Junkitz - always perfect for any birthday card. Such bright colors and don't you just love those cupcakes?

I sewed the cupcake paper to green and blue DP from the same paper pack, layered over the striped DP. Love the bright colors. I colored "Cinnamon" from Penny Black with Copics and matched the girls clothes to the various colors in the DP. I stamped the oval from Amuse to ground the girls as they walk along. And see that blue flower? It was ivory - just like the other one...I colored it with my Copics. One of my absolute favorite things to do with Copics - change the colors of flowers and ribbon!!

I have so many cards to share - let's hope this week is MUCH better than last week. URGH...I moaned when I woke up and realized it was Monday. LOL

Oftentimes when mothers are asked if they are ready for their children to return to school - they emphatically reply YES (you know, kind of yelling?)! Not me! I prefer the lazy days of summer - I wish those lazy days had a bit more structure, but they are so 'calm' compared to school days!!!

Our oldest made cheerleader, our middle one is playing volleyball and fall softball and our youngest is playing football and fall baseball. That makes for lots and lots of practices and games - think something going on every single night!! Exhausting!!

That's it for now; I'm glad you stopped by, hope to see you again soon. Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Cinnamon by Penny Black, Oval by Amuse
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: DP by Junkitz, SU Taken with Teal & Certainly Celery, GKD 80 lb. Pure Luxury White
Accessories: ribbon, flowers, brads, sewing, Copics

Upsy Daisy on TESC79!

Seems like a strange title huh? Well, that's because I've been up since 3:40 a.m. today and it is now 10:30 p.m. - haven't slowed down yet. Don't ask, just pray I get some serious sleep soon!

I participated in Taylor's Cupcake Sketch Challenge #79 this weekend - I'm sooo into PTI's Berry Sorbet right now - it's like an addiction. Guess as far as addictions go - that's not a bad one? HA!

In this first card you can really see the sparkle I added to the tips of all the flowers (you can click on any image to see a larger size...might help you see the sparkle!). I also added lots of dimensional pop dots to this particular card and pulled out some Crate Paper I had - the flowers in the Crate paper match perfectly to PTI's Sweet Blush & Berry Sorbet. Rather than using Sweet Blush, I strictly used the opposite side of the Crate DP.

I stamped the Upsy Daisy image from Stampin' Up in Berry Sorbet and then used a clear Spica glitter pen for the tips. I also sponged the edges of this card with PTI's Berry Sorbet before removing the Nestability Die. Love that look - inspired by Julee Tillman of Verve Visual. I did the same thing with the circular Nestability. This card includes paper piercing in each of the four corners.

The next card is IDENTICAL except for a few tiny things. :D

On this one you can see I did some paper piercing on the actual layer with the flowers as well as to the left of the Crate DP. I really enjoyed Taylor's sketch; hope you get the chance to play along!

Thanks for popping in; hope to see you again soon! Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Upsy Daisy by Stampin' Up!, PTI's Mixed Messages
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: DP by Crate Paper, PTI Berry Sorbet & Vintage Cream
Accessories: Nestability Dies, sponging, paper piercing, Spica atyou Clear Glitter Pen

Wishing You

This a card I made several months ago for the SCS sketch challenge #232 as a birthday card. I hope you like it!

Have a great week; hugs ~M.

Hot Chocolate Anyone?

I FINALLY made my first Christmas cards...I've seen so many being made and I'm just not ready to go there yet. LOL But I'm sending some cards to my aunt in OK, so I thought it would be fun to make a couple Christmas cards to include in the pack.

And you know me...I had to use a sketch AND I had to make 2 cards. :D That's just the way I am - great way to build up my stash of cards.

Isn't this little girl adorable drinking hot chocolate? Her name is Willow by Whiff of Joy. The sketch is by Janette for one of their sketches this week on the Mojo Monday blog. They have had some incredible sketches this week.

The DP is left over from last year's Christmas stash from SU! I love two-sided paper - just love it and this is no exception.

The girls were colored with copics - oh such fun; something so therapeutic about coloring! I colored these while our youngest was at baseball practice and then finished off the cards yesterday afternoon.

Both girls have sparkly coffee mugs, you just can't see it in the pictures.

The sentiments within the circles are from Verve Visual - I think one of the few red rubber sets they ever created and I actually won it from a blog. WOOT!!! Not sure if I had ever used it before yesterday - yikes!

Thanks for popping in; I hope you enjoyed the venture into Christmas-time which will be here before we know it!! Are you ready?

Have a great week; hugs ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Willow with Hot Chocolate by Whiff of Joy
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Old Olive & Real Red
Paper: SU! DP, Old Olive & Real Red, PTI Vintage Cream
Accessories: Nestability Dies, Threading Water Punch, Ribbon by Michael's, misc. red jewels

On My Couch

Lisa Johnson recently released 2 stamp sets that are so much fun - On My Couch & On My Couch Additions. I've seen so many cards with these sets but had yet to ink them up myself...until this past week! I found some time and combined the stamp set with Taylored Expressions Cupcake Sketch Challenge #76. You all KNOW how much I love sketch challenges - I have tons and tons to use still. :D

In fact, I'll be back this weekend with my first 2 Christmas cards using a Mojo Sketch, be sure to stop back by!

I seriously have a new love in my life...Papertreyink. I just love their stamp sets, paper, buttons, ink - you name it, if they have it, I "think" I need it. I work very hard to convince my sweet friend Toni that she needs their products too. Yes Toni, you're welcome!!

OK, on to the card. I used Papertrey's Berry Sorbet & Kraft card stock for this one. Isn't that polka dot chair just adorable? And that little pillow? What do you think about the DP I used for the pillow and the background behind the chair (just below the scalloped circle)? You see, that was a print job gone bad!! I was almost out of colored ink so my paper came out peach, pink and purple - URGH, nothing pretty about it but I've saved it for several months and it worked perfect with my color combo! I used just the peach portion and tossed the rest!

I kept with the theme of dots and embossed my Berry Sorbet with Cuttlebug's Swiss dot folder. All layers were edged with Papertrey's Vintage Cream ink and the dots were lightly sponged with the same ink. I made two identical cards just changing the inside sentiment - again, such fun stamp sets!

I'm glad you popped in; I love when you visit. Have a great weekend! Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: PTI On My Couch & On My Couch Additions
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet & Vintage Cream
Paper: PTI Berry Sorbet & Kraft, GKD 80 lb. Pure Luxury White
Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dot Folder, Nestability Dies, Threading Water Punch, Ribbon from Michael's

Forever in our Hearts & School Pix

Hello friends!

Several of you may have read about the tragic death of Tom Murphy, an executive with Sprint Communications; such a horrible, horrible death! A couple people I work with know Tom; but particularly my boss. They were pledge brothers, have taken vacations together, gone fishing, skiing, etc. My boss's wife has known Tom even longer than my boss; so life has been tough this week. I wanted to make a sympathy card and finally made time tonight. The kids were exhausted after their 1st day of school, so they hit the sack early, leaving me some creative relaxation time. Ahhhh....

Anyway, back to the sympathy card. The layout is from Lord Have Mercy's Tuesday sketch - again, another great sketch!! I used Basic Grey's Porcelain paper; after My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey is my next favorite paper...in case you haven't noticed, I'm addicted to DP! Guess that's a pretty safe addiction, right? I paired it with PTI's Berry Sorbet and Vintage Cream.

I used the new stamp set from Verve Visual called "Forever in our Hearts"; the set has such incredible sentiments as well as images. On the small strip across the bottom, I stamped the small leaf image in PTI Vintage Cream (definitely one of my favorite inks).

Also on the main sentiment panel, I stamped the large leaf image in Vintage Cream, heat set it and then stamped the sentiment in Berry Sorbet. Since I was using Mercy's sketch, I stitched across the top and bottom of the oblong panel and then used my favorite MS punch, Arch Lattice across the bottom of the card.

I'm glad you stopped by and for a bit of fun before you go...some pictures from our first day of school! Please note, we have one teenager (yes, she has the teenager attitude going on - can't you just SEE it); one that likes to smile and one that doesn't like to smile. Bet you can identify them all. LOL

Have a great week - Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Verve Visual Forever in our Hearts
Ink: SU! Basic Black, PTI Berry Sorbet & Vintage Cream
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream & Berry Sorbet, Basic Grey Porcelain
Accessories: MS Arch Lattice Punch, Sew Mini, Brads,