My 250th post!

I swear, when I started blogging, I didn't really think that I'd make it to my 250th post. But 4 or 5 years later, here I am.

In some ways, it's taken me a lot longer reach this milestone than I'd expected or hoped. Life sometimes just gets busy. Other times, my motivation to craft is just not there. I have found that the times, like now, when I'm in an active blog group are ones when I'm most active. It helps knowing that there is a group of people who will pop over to your blog and comment on  your cards. I mention that because I hope that not only will you comment on my cards, but you'll also take a look at the blogs listed on my sidebar and give my cyber friends some love!

There really isn't much going on right now, so nothing else to share. I'm in a book/study group at church, looking at a book called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and I'm really enjoying it. We're gearing up for budget season on the school board. And I'm managing to keep up with my hockey pools this year. So life is good.

Here are my cards:

I've been spending a lot of my card making time working on my stash of card kits and this one has been there for a long time. I love the way the different label dies look together. And the 'Wish Big' stamp is actually punched out of the old SU ornament punch. The big dot embossing folder has really grown on me, too. 

CCEE1604 - Chocolate Cake Day

The toughest thing about this challenge was choosing which card to post for it. I make a lot of birthday cards that involve cake images. Why? Because I love cake. Birthdays are all about the cake and the presents, when you think about it. LOL. 

Make My Monday - Newest/Favorite Stamp

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes 

Love these darn birds! What more can I say? 

Card Details:

Wish Big - All Products Stampin Up

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Pool Party, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Stamp: I can't remember - it's retired.. will try to find the set name

Other: Embossing folder, framelits

Happy Birthday - All Products Stampin Up

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Unsure... 

Other: Cupcake Builder punch, oval punch, scallop oval punch, border punch, dots embossing folder

Bird Card

Stamps: Bird Crazy, Dyane Reavley verse

Cardstock: Bazzill White

Ink: Stazon Black, Memento Black

Other: Tombow markers, Sizzix dies 

A few challenges

Well, the rush of Christmas is over. It was a wonderful two weeks. I got to spend some time with family and friends. Got caught up on some email that had been sitting around... blogs  I follow, which have various things I like to pin (either a card idea or a recipe, usually). And I saw the latest Star Wars movie. It was fantastic. So much better than the last series.

I made 3 cards this week. I love going to my friend Angela's... she always gives us great ideas. And yet she puts out a nice range of stuff so that we can change whatever we want. My first card is a great example of that.

She made this card using the new balloon animal set from Stampin' Up. As much as her card was cute - and she had a lot of different samples of balloon animals to choose from (my friend did a fish, one person did a penguin, one did a giraffe, and so on) - I just wasn't feeling it. I have just never been all that enamored by balloon animals, and looking at the set, I just didn't trust that I'd have success with it. So I went in a completely different direction and played with the Sprinkles of Life set. 

I'm entering it in the following challenge:
Casology - Week 179 Simple

The next card I have is also for a challenge. 

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

I don't think I'm used to blending Stampin' Up inks anymore since I fell in love with Distress Inks. The top half of my rainbow isn't as well blended as I'd like. 

My last card is also for a challenge. This blog is a new one for me; I found it by accident through someone else I follow.

The Male Room - Anything Goes 

I love this stamp set. I don't think I'm ultimately going to buy it, though. Ang owns it, and there are too many sentiments I won't use. I've ordered the embossing folder. I have other masculine sets that will work really well with it.

Card Details - All products Stampin Up

Ice Cream Card

Cardstock: Mint Macaron, Whisper White

Ink: Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry. Sahara Sand

DSP: It's My Party
Other: Punches

Plane Card

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point

Stamps: Sky's The Limit

Ink: Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Blackberry Bliss, Marina Mist, Memento Black

Globe Card

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake

Stamps: Going Global

Other: World Traveler Embossing Folder, Circle Dies

June Blog Hop

It's time for the June 2015 VC Rocks Blog Hop!

This summer VC Rocks is celebrating its 15th Anniversary as a summertime online gathering place for those who love Stampin' Up! products.  So all of our blog hops will be a Celebration.  For June 2015, the theme of the Hop is:  CELEBRATE THE NEW.

Today I'm featuring some cards that I made while crafting at a friend's house. She's a demo & a few of us get together once a month to make cards. Sometimes we shop and sometimes we just pay $5 to cover the cost of her supplies. This time, I shopped. That said, for this hop, I used her stamps, and I only own one of the two sets I'm featuring today - though I will be getting the second one at some point! LOL.

 The first card didn't photograph well. I wanted to take the picture standing up so you could see the fold. I think this fold is called a Z fold and I would love to do a Make  & Take of it for VC Rocks if folks are interested. I do own the set (Butterfly Basics) and the framelits. Love it!  Thee verse is especially gorgeous. I think I'll use it as an encouragement card.

This card also has a unique fold and it features the Sprinkles of Life set. I don't own it yet, but I will be ordering it soon. I love that part of the proceeds from its sale goes to Ronald McDonald House. And in general, it's a great, versatile set. It also goes really well with the Cherry On Top DSP (not pictured) and washi tape, which I used here. And are the new In Colors fantastic or what?

Thanks for looking today! Hop on over to VC Rocks to see what else folks are posting!

Now that summer is here, I will have time to start sharing all the cards I've made over the past six months. I look forward to posting more!

Card Details

Butterfly card

Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Whisper WIte

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Blackberry Bliss, Garden Green
Other: SU Ribbon, framelits

Birthday card

Stamps: Sprinkles of Life

Cardstock: Watermelon Wonder, Whisper White, Soft Suede, Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla 

Inks: Mint Macaron, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Watermelon Wonder, Hello Honey

Other: Sprinkles of Life washi tape, Tree Builder punch, Tag Topper punch 

VC Rocks 2014 Blog Hop

Welcome to the first blog hop of the season for VC Rocks!

I love this group of stampers. VC stands for Virtual Convention. We are a  yahoo group that runs from April or May through the summer. The group has an active Yahoo group with discussion, RAKs, swaps, blog hops and challenges! The wonderful thing is that the challenges aren't time limited.... you can do them in any order, at any time during the VC Rocks season.

The theme of our first hop is Rock your Creativity with Stampin’ Up! Tools or Embellishments! I`m playing with a few tools today. My first card is a file folder card. It was these cards that made me fall in love with the Envelope Punch board. It is such a versatile tool! Of course, the envelopes you can make with it are wonderful. But it does so much more! There are so many great ideas for file folder cards as well as boxes and other great items that you can make with this great tool.

My first card also featured another Stampin Up tool I love, which is our punches. Although I`m sad to see the Create a Cupcake stamp set retire, I`m so glad the punch is returning!

My next card also shows how versatile SU`s tools are. The opening for the card is made using the new Scallop Tag Topper punch. I had hoped to write up short tutorial for this card, but I didn`t have time. There are multiple examples on Youtube, however. 

The card also requires a good trimmer, and the one from SU is the best one on the market, in my opinion. And I say that as someone who has tried a LOT of different trimmers in my relatively short crafting life! There is no way I could have hand cut away the cardstock on either side of the punched opening. 

My final card also requires the wonderful SU trimmer, as well as featuring some great punches. The fence post was made using the new hardwood background stamp. To make the individual slats of the fence, I cut along the lines of the image using my trimmer. Again, it would have been a mess had a I tried to hand cut the strips of `wood.`The points on the tops of the fence were made using a 1`` square punch. Note the clouds are made using the Cupcake Punch.

As you can see, Stampin Up sells a lot of tools that are very versatile and easy to use!

`

Card Details - All Products Stampin Up

Happy Birthday

Cardstock: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Gumball Green

DSP: Birthday Basics

Ink: Soft Suede, Tempting Turquoise, Raspberry Ripple, Soft Suede

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Yippee Skippee

Tools: Envelope Punch Board, Cupcake Punch

Happy Anniversary

Cardstock: Pistachio Pudding, Very Vanilla

DSP: Everyday Enchantment

Ink: Calypso Coral, Pistachio Pudding

Stamps: Petal Parade, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Tools: Scallop Tag Topper Punch, SU Trimmer

Thinking of You

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Crumb Cake

Stamps: Hardwood

Ink: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight

Tools: SU Trimmer, Cupcake Punch, Flower Punch, Oval Punch

To check out the other participants' blogs, head on over to VC Rocks! Note the hop officially starts at midnight Pacific on Saturday, May 24th.

Just Add Ink #198

Well, since I last posted, I've been reading a lot, resting and working on various professional projects. A few of us are going to do some craft fairs this year. I'm going to get involved as an adult mentor for Youth Sticking Together again this year. So proud to be supporting them. I've also got a couple other irons in the fire, but I'm not quite ready to share those yet. 

In order to get ready for the craft fairs, and just because I wanted to do it, I got more sorting done this week. The one photo box was set aside for completed cards I'm giving to my church and the other is for unfinished projects. In typical me fashion, I decided the best way to figure out what was what was to start by just putting it all out there in one big schmozzle.

Then I went through it piece by piece. The pile on the left is cards that are almost finished. For example, the top card (you can barely see it, but's one of the hedgie cards I blogged here), needs the sentiment reattached. Some need colouring. Others need a sentiment. All quick fixes.

The next couple of piles are card bases that are decorated with very pretty patterned paper, but there nothing else done - no sentiments, no images, nothing. They're almost as close as the previous pile, but not quite. Then I have 4x5 1/4 card fronts, and then images. Some of the images are ones I've stamped and some are ones I'm recycling. Not shown is a big bag of scraps that I'm taking with me tomorrow for a friend of mine.

I share all that with you as a long winded way of getting to today's card. Over at Just Add Ink they're having a blog hop and challenge featuring the new envelope punch board and/or the Thinlints Card Dies. I've got a fun birthday card featuring the Create a Cupcake set, Washi Tape and the new candy dots. I have tried to make this style card by hand and it was a LOT of work. These dies are just terrific. I made the base at my demo's studio, as I don't own these yet. I'll definitely be getting at least the circle die frame. That said, the label is growing on me, too, so I could well end up getting both.

Card Details - All Products SU!

Cardstock: Gumball Green, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Yippee Skippee

Ink: Island Indigo, Gumball Green, Pumpkin Pie

Other: Washi Tape, Candy Dots

Day 23... Almost Christmas Eve!

I can't wait until tomorrow. I swear in some ways I think I love Christmas Eve more than the actual day. I like to be active. The lack of down time tends to work for me. The gap on Christmas Day between the morning festivities  and dinner at 5pm always leaves me at loose ends.

Today wasn't super busy. I went out in the morning, and I've been home since. No shopping... went to the esthetician. I hate having my eyebrows done, but the girl who does it is awesome. We get along really well; she's a Grey's Anatomy fan and we tend to chat while she tortures me. ;)

So in the afternoon, I let myself recover. Treated myself to a candy cane doughnut from Tim Horton's. Eh, it wasn't my fave. It wasn't their fault. I am actually not a huge mint fan, but I felt compelled to try it once. \ They got my mocha perfect, which made up for it.

I have cookie dough in the fridge, so I should probably not blather on more. Here's a quick card in honour of said perfectly balanced mocha (I like mine to be more chocolate than coffee flavoured, in case you're wondering). I'm not sure why the photo is so blurry, but the card is gone, so I can't reshoot it.

 Card details: All products Stampin Up
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Stamps: Scentsational Season
Other: Framelits

Day 12/13 - Choirs & Christmas Closets

Ok, I don't know about merchandise, but hey... I like alliteration.

I cannot tell a lie. I intended to post yesterday, but I didn't get to it. My card reader was acting up, Blogger was giving me fits, and I just wasn't up to fighting technology.

 Yesterday I went to watch my friend's daughter perform with her school choir. It has been a tradition for the past few years, since her older kids started in it. This Christmas project is a great program; it is a fundraiser for the school. The mall actually makes a donation to the schools/groups who come and entertain - or at lesat they did in the past. I don't know if that was the same this year. I know that in previous years they set up the stage in the shape of a tree, but this year, it was just a regular one. I was disappointed in that change - it made the children harder to see. Still, I was lucky enough to get a good view, and my friends who were there took the camera for me, since they could move around and I couldn't. They're also just generally more adept with regard to knowing the best settings to use. 

Today I helped at the Christmas Closet. It's a great event. The children are always so proud of the things they find for the two special adults in their lives. They come in with their $2 and they put real effort into finding the perfect items. No child goes without - if they don't have the money, we give them a token for the two gifts. I believe the school then gets reimbursed for that amount from a local service club, or the PAC, but I'm not sure on that. I didn't have my camera with me today, but one of the staff got a couple pictures of the room between groups of shoppers. As soon as she sends it to me I'll post. 

After that a friend and I went up to say goodbye to the current location of my favourite scrapbook store. It was bittersweet; sad in that it's moving further away from a friend of mine, who lives in the town where it was located, and sweet in that it's going to be 5 minutes away from me when it reopens in January! I'd intended to get a picture of the old location but again, no camera (stupid batteries!).

Then tonight I went to another choir performance. This one was a local youth choir performing with an adult choir in town to do a night of Christmas music. It was lovely! They had nice combination of all age group numbers and performances of the 3 individual choirs (jr youth, senior youth, adult). My friend's daughter was part of the senior youth, and then when I got there I was pleasantly surprised to see 3 women from my church were part of the adult group.

And now a couple Christmas cards... no challenges until tomorrow, though. 

Plus a bonus birthday card... I've had this one for a while... I actually made to that are similar to each other at a card class one night (it was one of those make 10 cards, 2 each of 5 designs, classes). But the original picture isn't as good, and this one is a tiny bit different. Can you spot the difference? I will tell you that in both cards, the tab pulls out to reveal the phrase Happy Birthday.

Card Details - All products Stampin Up

Merry Christmas

Cardstock: Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green

DSP: Be of Good Cheer

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Teeny Tiny Wishes,
Other: Ornament punch, Modern Label punch

Noel

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Garden Green, Real Red

Stamps: Joyous Celebrations
Other: Embossing folder, rhinestones

Birthday card

Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Basic Black, Old Olive

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Basic Black

Stamps: Circle Circus, Create a Cupcake, Curly Cute
Other: Cupcake Builder Punch, Tab punch

Simon Says and A.R.T. Challenge #3 - Anything Goes!

I had hoped to post on Tuesday, but life got away from me. The last game of the Stanley Cup Finals was pretty epic, and, well, I spent time recovering from it. Now it's going to be draft day and then free agent frenzy time. But before that, tomorrow I have two graduations to attend and then it's a long weekend.

This card uses one of my favourite retired SU stamp sets - Morning Cup. I was lucky to have my turn in my stamp club in May, so I was able to use my hostess credits to get retired sets. I think I got everything off the retired list that I could possibly want. One of the reasons I never became a demo (aside from not wanting to compete with friends who are already demos, wanting to continue to support those individuals, and generally not enjoying sales!) is because I couldn't see myself having to stop using stamps I loved just because they're retired.

As stated in the post title, I am entering this card in two Anything Goes challenges. 

A.R.T. Card Challenge 

Simon Says Stamp

For those who don't know about the A.R.T. card challenge blog, ART stands for A Random Thursday. Each week they offer a different challenge. You can find the details on their blog. 

Also.. don't forget, as of Monday, Google Reader will be no more! I am still deciding if I should switch to Bloglovin or Feedly. Which do you prefer? Why? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great weekend!

Card Details: - All products SU!

Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Summer Starfruit

Stamps: Morning Cup

DSP: Patio Party

Other: Brads, Scallop Border Punch

Swap cards

I don't know where this month has gone! Life hasn't even been all that busy since Easter; I've just not done much in the way of crafting. Scrapbookin Adventures, where I scrapbook/make cards most Fridays, hosted a card swap that I participated in. They were due Friday. I didn't photograph all the cards I put in; just some of my favourites. What I liked about this swap is that you weren't required to make all the same card. Sometimes I'm just not motivated to make 16 of the same card, ya know? What's also nice is that because we make so many cards, and everyone's skill level is different, while we all want to make cards that are nice, they can be clean and simple.

This first card is one I made at one of our Stamper's 10 nights. It was the night that I officially confirmed that I do not want the cupcake punch,  or the Create A Cupcake set. Both both are cute, but they are not me. In retrospect, I'm not sure how I feel about the buttons. I had considered skipping them, and how I wish I'd gone with my first instinct.

Card details - All products Stampin' Up
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango; Cherry Cobbler; Tempting Turqoise
Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Tempting Turquoise
Stamps: Create a Cupcake; Bring on the Cake
DSP: Summer Smooches

Other: buttons; cupcake builder punch

 I started this card ages ago. It was something I worked on at a crop in October. The ink colour for the sentiment is technically wrong, but I couldn't find my turquoise ink pad. And I had originally planned to mat the image square. Not quite sure why I never got around to doing so. At the very least, I should've inked the edges.

Card Details - All products Stampin' Up
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Pool Party,Tempting Turquiose
Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners, Let's Party
DSP: Spice Cake

 This card, I have to admit, I love. I think it's the bright, spring-y colours. It's another one from a class, but this was a class at a scrapbook store here in town that has since closed. I kept the card in my stash knowing one day I'd have a reason to put a sentiment on it and use it.

Card Details: 
Cardstock: Bazzill
Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners
Other: Brads (Making Memories); flower (Prima);  ribbon (unknown); embossing folder (Cuttlebug)






I have no idea why I couldn't get this card to photograph properly. No matter what I did, for some reason the top kept getting cut off of the frame and the image came out blurry. Truthfully, I was also in a hurry and I really didn't have the wherewithal to fight with the thing after a certain point. I like that this card is very clean and simple. It'll be a great masculine card for someone.

Card Details
Cardstock: Bazzill
Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Itty Bitty Banners
DSP: KI Memories

This card is one I actually posted before; at the time it just didn't have a sentiment. You can view the original post here. I confess the photo may be a bit clearer. All I can guess is that my battery was low when I shot these photos.

Card Details:
Cardstock: SU, Bazzill

DSP:Unknown

Stamps: Seaside, Itty Bitty Banners

Other: Cuttlebug folder

Spring Fling

I ended up making a few more Easter cards with my scraps, so I have decided to post them and enter the Corrosive Challenge Blog's latest challenge - Spring Fling. Here are the last of my Easter cards. Again, I put them together using images from my stash of things I've stamped but not turned into cards yet. I made them to go with some gifts I've not delivered yet:

I had a wonderful Easter weekend. Friday I went to our church's evening service because I wasn't sure I'd make it to our Sunday one. Turns out it was good I did that, as I wasn't able to go Sunday, though for different reasons than I was expecting. Although it's a very sober service, I always find it to be one of the most rewarding of the year. Afterwards, I was able to wind down by going for ice cream with a wonderful friend who was visiting from out of town. It was a nice treat to see her on a Friday.

Saturday I had to go and get the last of the Easter treats for the kids. Every year for the past while some wonderful friends of mine have been bringing their kids over and letting me spoil them. We do an Easter party that consists of an egg hunt, egg decorating, snacks and often a craft. This year I tried a different egg decorating kit and we weren't too happy with it. The kit we tried this year is like a paint... you put the egg in a ziploc type baggie, add some of the colouring and roll it around. The results were very inconsistent and we all agreed that next year we'll stick to the tried and true dye tablets/hot water/vinegar.

Sunday I went for brunch at the home of one my oldest and dearest friends. Her daughter is 7 and she is adorable. Apparently, last year the adults were annoying her in their attempts to 'help' her find her hidden chocolate... it was too easy. So this year she did her search before anyone came over and instead, she hid eggs for us. It was super cute. Oh to be 7 again.

Later that day I went to my parents' for dinner. Mom and dad made turkey for us and my cousin's family. The six of us had a great visit and after dinner, the women (me, mom, my cousin and her daughter) played Dominoes... the 14 year old totally cleaned our clocks. I came in a respectable second place. Games of some sort are a tradition at all of our family gatherings, and in the last 5 or so years, the game of choice is always Dominoes. I miss Trivial Pursuit sometimes, but I do love Dominoes. And truth be told, I'm just glad to not have to play Charades anymore.

Card Details - 

Blue cards

Cardstock: Taken with Teal, Barely Banana? (SU)

Stamps: Festive Four (SU)

Patterned Paper: Unknown (Autumn Leaves)

Ink: Basic Black (SU)

Other: markers (SU) Brads (Making Memories)

Purple Card - all products Stampin Up

Cardstock: Orchid Opulence, Gable Green, Pretty in Pink? So Saffron?  

Stamps: not sure of the set names. Want to say Tagger's Dozen and Bitty Backgrounds, but...?

Ink: Basic Black 

Other: Brads, flower punch

Organizing my space - Part 1

Well, I had a wonderful time scrapbooking on the Oct. 14th weekend. Once I got home and started unpacking I realized I had a wee bit of a mess - to the point that some of the paper I took with me and didn't use woud not actually go back into the paper hoilders. And then I discovered a stack of paper I had bought over the summer and had not yet actually even attempted to put away. So I have decided it's time to finally get my stash organized and purged.

Mid purge... I forgot to snap a pic at the start of the process.

 The stack of paper I am putting aside for the next LSS garage sale.

 My paper holders, nicely labelled and put away in my armoire. All the drawers have clothing in them. The cupboard was empty so a couple years ago I decided to use it for sb related items. I also have my closet split in half this way. Pics of that to follow.

 A close up of my paper holders. I've got my paper organized by manufacturer; it's just how my mind works. I've labelled the holders on the side there so it's easy to see what I have and find the line I'm looking for. As well, the beauty of putting the labels here rather than on the hard plastic dividers is that they seem to come off easier. That will be helpful when I run out of certain company's paper and I know I won't be getting any more (Sniff. I miss you, Scenic Route).

 The bottom shelf... yes, my SU card making cardstock needs to be reorganzed, and possibly moved to a better location. I have more than that and it's NOT all going to fit. I don't actually know what's in that box beside it... I'm afraid to look at this point. :)

And 3 cards I made last week... we had our Stamper's Group last Tuesday. I actually made 6 cards, 3 for me and 3 for a friend who couldn't make the group that night. These are the 3 she chose - I made each version of the card a little different.

Card Details - All products SU!:

Christmas Card

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

DSP: Frostwood Lodge

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Markers, SNAIL adhesive

Birthday card

Stamps: Unknown

Cardstock Whisper White, Basic Grey, Bravo Burgandy

Ink: Old Olive? Possibly Always Artichoke

Other: Embossing folder

Cupcake card

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Circle Circus

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango

Other: Cupcake punch, Word Window punch, Round Tab punch

Four sketch challenge cards

Second post of the day.... if you want to see my take on Mojo Monday 210, go here,

Freshly Made Sketches #6

Repeat Impressions Sketch O511

Halloween Challenge: Cupcake 163  Repeat Impressions DCC1012 Simon Says Stamps,  Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge

 The Red Rubberneck TRRSS2

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge - TSSC195

Inkspiration Sketch challenge #77

I loved this clean, linear sketch from Inkspirations. It immediately made me think of the set Sunny Fun from SU! I really wanted to do a girl-y card, and since when I think popsicles, I think orange and pink, the card came together quickly. It could end up being a birthday card, but it may not.

Card Details:
Stamps: Sunny Fun
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Patterned Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade
Markers: Only Orange, Melon Mambo
Misc: Eylet Border punch, Word Window punch

Two cards - multiple Monday challenges

Last night I totally got on a roll. I think it was frustration as much as anything. I got a Making Memories trimmer at Christmas and had to return it because it was defective. Well, because I do most of my paper crafting at home, I hadn't the replacement yet (I just use the trimmer at the LSS; easier than taking the risk of dropping mine). I opened it today. And I had the same problem. Won't cut the paper (it basically scores it), the red locking device will NOT stay on, and it just does not work for me. So I'm taking it back yet again and getting the Fiskar's locking trimmer my friend has. I love it and I've never had a big problem with Fiskars products.

I think the reason I was particularly frustrated tonight by the trimmer troubles is that I was expecting to FINALLY get a Mojo Monday sketch challenge completed, as well as work on some challenges that are due today. I didn't get the Mojo Monday card done, but a good friend loaned me her trimmer so I was able to do two cards last night that qualify for a today's challenges. In fact, I my creative juices were flowing enough that I was able to combine multiple challenges with both cards.

This first card is for:

Paper Players #55 - Colour Challenge: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake.

Card Patterns Sketch 123

Party Time Tuesday - Square Card

This card is for a friend's daughter who loves the colour red. I'll colour it later, as I don't have any markers or watercolour pencils in the challenge colours. I had to use neutral ribbon for the same reason. I have to say that I quite like Crumb Cake, which completely surprise me. I am normally not a fan of  Kraft cardstock.

I will colour the image; I just don`t have the right colour markers so I decided to leae it blank for now. I will probably use lots of red in the popsicles, because it is the favorite colour of the little girl who will be receiving it.

The basis for this next card also involved combining a colour challenge with a sketch that I found suitable. The one difficulty I have with SU colour challenges is that  I don`t have any of the Patterns dsp packs; all mine have patterns with multiple colours on them, and those colours may well. not work with the challenge.

This second card is for:

Pile It On - Embossing

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge 111

PPA 101 - Summertime Bues

Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday - Summertime

Phindy`s Place- Buttons

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C95 - Summer Themed

HSS74 - Button it Up!

Card Details 

 Wish

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Basic Grey

Stamps: Sunny Fun

Ink: Stazon On Black

Misc: Very Vanilla ribbon, embossing folder, brad, border punch

Happy Birthday

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist

Stamps: Seaside

Ink: Stazon Black

Misc: embossing folder, buttons, border punch

The one about the dutch oven and the patterned paper....

Today's cards were chosen for posting because of a wonderful sermon we had in church today. Regardless of one's spiritual leanings, I think the lesson is of value.

The sermon was delivered by a woman who I hope will soon be the associate pastor spot in our church. She spoke about covetousness, because we were scheduled to wrap out a series on the 10 Commandments today.

Her sermon was rooted in a wonderful story about a friend who found a dutch oven she fell in love with, and how she coveted it, and regretted she hadn't seen it first. Her point was, I think that when we covet, we hold back part of ourselves... we can't be in fully in relationship, loving, sharing, giving as Christ would have us do, if we are wrapped up in what we don't have, or want more of.

Which made me think of the cards below. I used my 'special' papers on them... paper I had been holding on to - coveting - because they are no longer available. When I did use them to make these cards, I paused before I used them. Would the person appreciate them the way I do? Would they know to give them to 'special' people, who would also see their value?

Today I realized how wrong that is. Although ultimately I let go of those damaging thoughts, and gave the cards away happily, in that 30 seconds of doubt, I was coveting things more than valuing relationships, and that covetousness... the need for that car, or that job, or that one thing... that somehow we fool ourselves into believing will make us happy, content, whole - whatever word sums it up for you - is what keeps us separated from unity with others, and, if you hold those beliefs, from God. Once we get stuck in the scarcity mentality of 'I must keep...' or I must have...' we get cut off from the rest of the world.

And on that note, I give you today's cards. I hope you like them. And remember! Use your stash! Share those pretty papers, or that cute ribbon (or whatever supply(ies) you hoard out of covetousness).

At best, you'll bring people joy through your creativity. At worst, if you use it up, you'll have a good excuse to go buy more.

There will always be pretty papers.

Or dutch ovens, if that's your thing.

Supply list for cards 1 and 2: cardstock - SU Pumpkin Pie; Patterned Paper - Scenic Route(main), Basic Grey Nook and Pantry (mats, border on card #2); Stamps- SU Lexicon of Love, Let's Party (both retired); Ink - SU Pumpkin Pie

I can't remember the name of the line that the Scenic Route paper is from. Sorry about that. I used the sheet initially for a sb page, and then saved the scraps for cards, which tends to be my process (unless it's SU paper.... I can't wrap my brain around using it on layouts).

Supply list for Cards 3 &4: Cardstock: SU Pink Pirouette and Vintage Violet; PP: SU Razzleberry Lemonade (card #3, mat and matching strip, card #4) and My Minds' Eye (grey, purple card #4); Stamp:Lexicon of Love; Ink: SU Melon Mambo