Dynamic Duos 8 and Just Add Ink 123

Because Blogger lets us schedule posts ahead of time, it looks like I have been pretty busy in my stamp room the last week.  But the truth is that I haven't set foot in there since last Monday!  Yikes!  This has been an unusually busy week for me topped off with my father having medical issues that necessitated him going to the hospital on Wednesday so Saturday evening was the first chance I had to spend some time with my stamps.

All my favorite challenge sites were calling my name and I decided to answer the call from Dynamic Duos and Just Add Ink.

The sketch was a beautiful CAS one and I thought it would be perfect for the two-color themed challenge.  I thought about adding some patterned paper but ended up keeping the clean lines of the sketch as simple as possible.  I replaced the library clip from the sketch with an Always Artichoke button tied with some baker's twine and the stamped images are from Technique Tuesday.

I hope to make it back into my stamp room later today.  I always feel like I get rusty if I stay away too long! Thanks for stopping by!

CCMC207 and Some Exciting News!

Today I am not only posting a card that I made for the CreateWith Connie and Mary 207 challenge but I also get to tell you that I will be joining this fabulous group of Thursday stampers until October!  I was so excited when they asked me to be a part of the Thursday challenge team and I still can't quite believe it's true!  I owe a big "thank you" to Connie and Mary for giving me this wonderful opportunity.  Thanks ladies!!

My first challenge with them is this fabulous CAS sketch (a sketch after my own heart)!

I started with a base of Early Espresso then layered on some of the gorgeous Natural Compositions specialty paper with musical notes.  Then I added small layers of Raspberry Ripple and a paper pierced layer of Primrose Petal.  I followed that up with some Primrose Petal ribbon.  The sentiment is from Creative Elements and I embossed that in white so that it would really show up against the dark background.

Don't forget that it's not too late to subscribe to the Create With Connie and Mary New Catalog 2012 Edition.  There will be lots of tutorials using products from the new catalog and I, for one, can't wait to see them!

So be sure to stop on by CreateWith Connie and Mary and check out the design team interpretations of this sketch.  I know that you will be inspired to create something of your own!