*** Find Joy ***

Happy Sunday!  Hope everyone had a wonderful fall weekend!  We've had the windows up all weekend letting the cool fall breeze flow inside.  However, we are going to be back in the low 80s this week, so looks like Indian summer isn't over yet!

Here's a fun and whimsical card tonight.  I've had this stamp for quite a while and I don't know why I haven't used it much.  It is such a fun image!  Lots of color possibilities with it.  I chose a bright yellow as a splash of color.

The challenge at ColourQ this week was black and white with a spot of color and over at The Pink Elephant, the challenge was polka dots and stripes.  I love how all the patterns came together so well here!  I stamped the image and then colored it with Copics Cadmium Yellow.  I decided to use a frame on the outside this time and so I cut the frame from an old Sizzix frame die and popped it up with pop dots. 

The black chevron background on the card base and the yellow polka dot paper is from the Park Bench collection from Fancy Pants Design.  The yellow dot on the frame and the yellow chevron are from Hello Summer by Echo Park.  The music banner is actually a piece of music washi tape on white cardstock and cut with a small banner die like the other banners from Taylored Expressions.

I wanted to continue the music theme a little so I stamped some music notes in jet black on white cardstock, fussy cut them and glued them to the yellow frame.  The music note stamp is from a graduation stamp set and I cannot remember from where.  The used a tab die cut for the sentiment, both of which are from Taylored Expressions.

And the black bow I made from black cardstock using a template and tutorial I found here.

FOR FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:

The Pink Elephant Challenge - Polka Dots & Stripes

ColourQ Challenge

SPIES:

STAMPS: Carousel horse (Inkadinkadoo); Sentiment - "Sending Smiles"(Taylored Expressions).

PAPER: White and black cardstock. DP: "hello summer"(Echo Park); "Park Bench"(Fancy Pants Design).

INK: Jet Black (Staz On); Copics - Cadmium Yellow

EXTRAS: Square die cut (Sizzix); banner die cut (Taylored Expressions); Tab die cut (Taylored Expressions); Bow template; music washi tape.

Sept 2013 Honors

 Cupcake Inspirations:

Selected Top 5

Inspired By Challenge #88

Winner

Live, Love and Laugh Your Butt Off!

Happy Monday!  It's been a very cool one here in the Triangle of NC.  I was hoping for the average Indian Summer of low 80s so we could continue swimming in our pool, but looks like it's not going to happen.  <sigh> <sigh>  However, our dogs shall be happy because cool weather means lots and lots of walks!  I guess I'll trade in my swimsuit for my walking shoes.  <sigh>

But I digress.  Tonight it's not about swimsuits or walking shoes, but it is about UNDERWEAR!  I just loooove this stamp set I rented from Raisin Boat!  Another one that may be on the purchasing block!  I'm beginning to think Raisin Boat is really a conspiracy to get us to once and for all BUY the stamps, not just rent!  LOL  They do have a lot of cute sets.

This one is, well, underwear!  I had a hard time choosing which sentiment I wanted on this card.  They are all so funny!  I chose the color scheme at the Little Red Wagon challenge this week --- Black, white/cream and kraft.  I paper pieced my underwear (that just sounds a bit strange) using patterned paper.  The stamp set comes with a little clothesline stamp, but I decided to go twine instead.  And as I was choosing the background paper, I decided I wanted a little more texture behind the underwear, so I ran the background paper through a Tim Holtz emboss folder (I think it's the honeycomb one, but it fit with the chicken wire pattern on the paper).  For more punch, I punched a scallop punch to put behind the background.  Then, I remembered I had lots of tiny little clothespins and grabbed some of those.  I kind of followed a sketch from Clean and Simple, # 254.

FOR FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:

Little Red Wagon # 203 - Black, White/Cream and Kraft

Clean and Simple FTL#254

SPIES: 
STAMPS: Underwear and sentiment - Undies in a Bunch (Raisin Boat).
PAPER: Kraft and black cardstock. DP - Little Black Dress (Basic Grey).
INK: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
EXTRAS: Clothespins, twine, black gems, scallop border punch.


And now I must go and pick up underwear off my craft table!  Bahahahhaha!  No, seriously, I have extra little paper underwear on my craft table.  I guess it really is true --- you can never have enough underwear!  LOL  Ok, getting punchy again.  I must go...

Blessings!

Cut From The Same Cloth

A retro kind of card tonight for Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger challenge.  I thought this came out really cute for a retro "far out" wedding card!  I took a piece of cardstock and sponged diluted Dylusions ink across it, let it dry and then ran it through the Big Shot in a striped emboss folder.  Then, I cut out the tshirt and dress form.  Then, I cut the conversation bubbles and stamped the sentiments onto them.  I used some of my Washi tape for the background and popped up the sentiments and shirts.  And, the tshirt is actually cut from a baby onesie die cut that I just cut off the bottom.  The sentiments are from Raisin Boat again, one of the sets I finally broke down and bought after renting since I have very few wedding stamp sets.

FOR FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger

SPIES;
STAMPS: Sentiments - Perfect Pear (Raisin Boat).
PAPER:    White cardstock.
INK:  Dylusions Spray Inks (Ranger Ink)
EXTRAS:  Striped emboss folder (Cuttlebug); Tshirt die cut (My Favorite Things); Dress From (StampinUp!); Thought Bubbles (Taylored Expressions); Washi tape.

Blessings!

Something Old, Something New

A very shabby card this morning.  When I saw this challenge a The Shabby Tea Room, I knew what I was going to use -- some old pumpkin die cuts, a new Tim Holtz emboss folder and some old screen from our kids' torn down tree house.  The screen actually feels more like fabric than screen.  I don't know if it is the style of screen or the fact that it is about 45 years old!  Either way,  I confiscated a bunch of it to use in crafts.   Shopping Our Stash's challenge this week is "use your oldest flower".  The lace flower sticker has to be one of the oldest I've had for forever!  In fact, I've lost them and found them more times than I can count!  hahaha  And so it is pretty fitting that I used old screen, an old flower sticker along with a new stamp set from Raisin Boat for a wedding card. I've been renting stamps from Raisin Boat for about a year now.  It's really cool to have new stamps to try out and not break the bank!  However, I have recently purchased some of my favorite sets from them!  LOL

FOR FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:

The Shabby Tea Room Challenge 

#184 The White Challenge

 

Challenge #119 - Oldest Flower

SPIES:
STAMPS: Sentiment (Raisin Boat).
PAPER: White and kraft cardstock.
INK:  Toffee Crunch (Memento).
EXTRAS: Lace ribbon; twine; kraft oval die cut tag; screen; pumpkin die cuts; heart die cut (Sizzix); embroidered flower sticker; brown button.

Blessings!

Rock For Hope

 

I was away from crafting yesterday, but for a very good cause!  The Hubs and I volunteered at the Rock For Hope Concert in Raleigh, NC, featuring N.E.D. (No Evidence of Disease), a rock band of 6 Gyn oncologists who perform concerts throughout the country to raise awareness and money for Gyn cancers.  You can visit their website:  www.nedtheband.com.  They even have CDs and Tshirts! If they come to your city/state you should check it out!   In one way or another, unfortunately, cancer touches us all at some point in our lives, either ourselves or a loved one.  These docs are committed to caring for women with Gyn type cancers, some of the hardest to detect and deadliest cancers. 

Here I am with Dr. John Soper, one of the band members and my former surgeon.   When I went to him it was 90-95% certain my problem was not cancer but, they still wanted to rule it out and due to my PKD issues, my Gyn wanted me to have an expert surgeon.  Dr. Soper at UNC Hospital was the man!  He was and is a very dedicate, very compassionate, caring man and doctor.  Due to my issues, he always joked with me that I needed to be a little more boring.  Well, while he helped rid me of my Gyn issues, unfortunately, I'm still not so boring!  LOL  Just ask my family and friends!

Yet, during my year long patient relationship with Dr. Soper, I encountered many of his other patients, mostly in the waiting room, who were already battling or on the cusp of battling a Gyn cancer.  It truly affected me because I could have been one of them.  Other women in my life still could.  And, I also couldn't help but remember someone dear to my family and me who lost her battle with uterine cancer 34 years ago.  She was only 19 at the time.  I was 17.   I wished both the information we have today and these doctors had been around then and able to help her.  I also lost an aunt a year ago to bone cancer via breast cancer.  I don't want to lose any more women in my life to cancer, any cancer.

That is why Dave (The Hubs) and I helped out today and why you see those banners on my blog for N.E.D.   It's also for all the women in my life, including my fellow blogging, crafting friends! Every woman, teen to elderly, needs to know of the types of Gyn cancers and the symptoms, which are very similar to other conditions and diseases, which makes it harder to detect.                                                                                               

  So, I try to do my part by being a fan of N.E.D. and giving them shout outs and giving to cancer research through them. 

N.E.D.

Blessings and Rock On!

Aged To Perfection!

 

 I love the way this card turned out.  The DP paper is very old.  So old I no longer have the wrapper and I do not remember where I got it.  I still have most of it too.  It was perfect for this challenge.  And the stamp set I used, "Aged To Perfection" is from Fiskars and a new purchase for me a couple months ago.  Funny, I'm a wine drinker, but up til a couple months ago, I had no wine stamps! Go figure.

Anyway, I got all of the stamp almost together and decided the cream cardstock the stamps were on needed a little umpf so I embossed it and then lightly sanded some of it to give it a more "aged" look.  LOL  I have no idea why that is funny.  It's late. I'm punchy.  Or as I said in my younger years, I  have the "stupids".  LOL  Oh dear let me get off here and go to bed!

So I had hoped to enter this into the Drunken Stampers challenge, but missed the deadline.  Such is life.  Yet, I used the sketch at Freshly Made also, so not all is lost.

SPIES:
STAMPS: All-Aged to Perfection (Fiskars).
PAPER:  Brown and cream cardstock.
INK: Staz On Jet Black. Copic Markers:  Dull Ivory, Light grape, Amethyst, Olive, Verdigris, Yellow Green, Spring dim green,.
EXTRAS:  Fringe ribbon; emboss folder (Cuttlebug).

 Night & Blessings!

~ Everlasting Love

Happy Friday Night!  A simple yet elegant card tonight for the Runway Inspired Challenge.  Such a gorgeous photo inspiration and when I saw it I knew I was going to use this pink muted paper.  I love how the card turned out.  As every card maker knows, when you are in the middle of creating, cards have a way of going their own way.  I just kind of randomly stamped the one branch stamp to create the border and as I was about finished, I noticed the branches have somewhat outlined a heart image, which was perfect since this is a wedding card.  I wasn't sure how I was going to use the tulle, but then I found tulle I had started into a bow and so I decided to use it behind the sentiment and hopefully it emulates a bridal veil because that was what I was going for.  I didn't try cutting it straight on the bottom, I just folded it all together and cut it in a "V" shape.  I didn't want to take away from the veil and sentiment so I just added a simple navy silk ribbon and a vintage pearl button I had.  I carried over the pearls onto the sentiment with some pearl gems.  I'm kind of lovin' this card!

Runway Inspired Challenge #44

SPIES:

STAMPS:  Vine (Inkadinkadoo); Damask label-Vintage Dreamer(Taylored Expressions); Sentiment -Wedding Blessings(Our Daily Bread).

PAPER: White cardstock.  Pink muted DP cardstock.

INK: Nautical Blue (Memento).

EXTRAS: White tulle; navy ribbon; white pearl button; pearl gems.

{Caught A Bug}

 

TGIF!  Been working in my craft room all day, not necessarily stamping, but finishing up moving in my new room (pics to come).  Here is one of the cards I have been working on, a CAS card for a couple challenges.   I'm not sure but this may be one of the few "get well" cads I've ever made.  I just thought this would be cute twist on "catching a bug".  The VW bug and sentiment are part of a stamp set, Wheely Great, from Taylored Expressions.  If you haven't noticed throughout my posts, I loooooove Taylored Expressions stamps!  Just had to give a shout out!  I colored the VW bug with Copics.  I used the arrow stamp because I thought it looked similar to tire tracks.  The color scheme at Cupcake Inspirations this week I thought were great for a cheerful get well card.  I used the sketch at Sunday Stamps and, Less Is More's theme this week is "Get Well".

FOR FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:

SPIES:
STAMPS:  Jar (Inkadinkadoo); Bug, arrow and sentiment (Taylored Expressions).
PAPER:  White cardstock.
INK:  Memento Tuxedo Black & Tangelo; Copics- Black, Orange, Ice Mint, Holiday Blue, Cool Gray No. 5.
EXTRAS: Teal gems.

BEWARE!

My third card for Wednesday!  Wow.  I just might faint!  Not only did I get some cleaning done, I made 3 cards all in one day.  THAT has not happened in a very long time (so much in one day)!  LOL  This card is for CAS(E) this sketch! challenge.  I started with a white card base and actually stamped the decorative paper and then adhered it to the card base.

The branch is from Inkadinkadoo and randomly stamped.  The trio of bats is Recollections, the single bat and the sentiment are part of a stamp rental set from Raisin Boat.  Then, I decided to add a little color so I sponged a bit of Memento Tangelo and Chrome Orange Copic marker in the center of the "moon/sun" and added a "goosebumps" orange gem.  I also cut out a 2nd big bat, added Glossy Accents and popped it up on the stamped image and finalized the card with small black gems along the sentiment.  

 

SPIES:
Stamps:  Branch(Inkadinkadoo); Trio bats (Recollections); Single bat and sentiment(Raisin Boat).
Paper:  White cardstock.  DP-American Crafts.
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black and Tangelo.  Chrome Orange Copic.
Extras:  Glossy Accents; Black gem dots; Orange "goosebumps" gem.

Blessings!