Sweet Baby

A while back a co-worker asked me to make some baby themed cards for her.  She wanted about six of them to send to a friend who was expecting a baby.  I told her that I'd be happy to make some for her but I was secretly scared.  If you've been here before then you know that baby cards are not really my thing and I was a little afraid that anything I made would be kinda lousy.  But I'm nothing if not adventurous in my craft cave so for the last few weeks I've been busy doing baby card searches and pinning a few that caught my eye.

We don't know whether the baby is a boy or a girl so I've been trying to stick to neutral colors.  The card I've got here was inspired by THIS adorable card and features the colors from Colour Me (kind of unconventional for a baby card), the sketch from Pals Paper Arts, and conveniently, the baby theme at The Card Concept.  And I got to use a brand new stamp set so I'm linking up to Darnelle's NBUS challenge too (just under the wire)!

I'm not sure mine looks as quite like a bib as my inspiration card (I think it might those in-your-face colors), but it does look better in real life.  It's a cute concept and I'm pretty sure the recipient will like it!

My vacation is winding down (insert heavy sigh here) and it's back to work on Monday for me.  I've had some fantastic weather this week and got a lot accomplished outside in the garden digging up weeds and flowers that had gone rogue.  I love that feeling of a job well done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Onesie Two-sie (WPlus9)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Natural White (Neenah); Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive (SU)

Ink:  Early Espresso (SU)

Accessories:  Houndstooth embossing folder, Daffodil Delight seam binding ribbon (SU) 

More Verve and Deconstructed Sketch 100

If you have visited my blog over the last few days you will know that I was very lucky to be part of the May release team for Verve stamps.  I spent the last four days showcasing cards that were made with some brand new stamps sets and I've got a couple more to share today and tomorrow.

This card uses the stamps from On Occasion as well as the Occasion Frame die.  My layout is from the Deconstructed Sketch No. 100 celebration and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for this particular stamp set.  From there I decided on a Father's Day card which lead to these colors, which I think are particularly masculine.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  On Occasion (Verve)

Paper:  Avery Elle Kraft; Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy, Baja Breeze (SU)

Accessories:  Midway Button (October Afternoon); Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon, Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon (SU)

Freshly Made Sketches 82

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It is, of course, time to reveal the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches designed this week by Jen Brum!

I was very happy that the challenge this week at The Paper Players was one using the soon-to-be retired Baja Breeze because it gave me an excuse to use up some of the pretty DSP from Twitterpated.  And I've always thought that color looks pretty awesome with Island Indigo and Rich Razzleberry.  For the flower I cut three of the smallest flower from the Daisies #2 Sizzix die and layered them together with an Antique Brad in the center.

The ladies at Freshly Made Sketches have cooked up some great designs this week so be sure to head over there and check them out.  I can't wait to see you in the gallery!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Brighter Days (Verve)

Accessories:  Flower Daisies #2 die (Sizzix); Antique Brad (SU)

Thank You for Inkspirational 9 and CTD31

I meant to post this card the other day and I totally forgot!  I still feel like I'm trying to catch up after going almost four days without Internet access earlier this week, so I've been somewhat discombobulated.  Anyway I wanted to share this card that I made for the Inkspirational sketch challenge with the colors from Color Throwdown.

I broke out the pretty flowers from Summer Silhouettes to do these colors justice.  I stamped the leaves from that set thinking that I had a die to match.  Well, I don't so I fussy cut them with a lot of patience.  It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and I didn't even rip some of the delicate stems!

Well that's it for me today.  I'm off to run some errands than it's back to creating in the old craft cave!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Made for You (SU)

Freshly Made Sketches 73

It's Wednesday and, of course, that means Freshly Made Sketches in my house!  This week, the sweet Jen B has provided our sketch and as soon as I saw it I was in love!

This card is too late for the Color Throwdown challenge, but I really loved these colors and wanted to make a card with them so that's what I did!  I used some ancient Basic Gray DSP called Urban Oasis which I then layered with a Pink Pirouette circle that I stitched around the edge.  The horizontal layer is nothing but a bit of Very Vanilla that I embellished with some zig zag stitching and a bit of black washi tape.  The layered flowers are stamped in Riding Hood Red and finished off with a big ol' pearl in the center.

I hope you have time to join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  As always our amazing design team has got some great cards to jump start your creativity so be sure to pop on by and check them out.  And I hope you can join us in the gallery.  We love to see you there!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Secret Garden (SU), Hope Blooms (Verve)

Accessories:  Secret Garden die (SU), Basic Pearl Large (SU), washi tape

Freshly Made Sketches 71

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today over at Freshly Made Sketches, we've got a great sketch created by the oh-so talented Linda Callahan!  I decided to do a valentine.

I pretty much followed the sketch to a "T" but added a few little embellishments along the way.  I stitched some Crumb Cake cardstock onto a layer of Pool Party, then crimped the Cherry Cobbler tag with the Chevron embossing folder.  I finished that off with a big eyelet, some seam binding ribbon and a little baker's twine.  The big heart is from an old set called Love You Much and the sentiment is from P.S. I Love You.

I made this card thinking that I was following a particular color challenge only to find out that I was supposed to use Very Vanilla instead of Whisper White.  Rats!  But I still think it looks pretty cute!

So pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches and check out this fab sketch and the cards from the DT.  Rita and I must have been on a subconscious link because our cards are eerily similar!

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown 225 and CAS(E) This Sketch 11

The colors this week at Color Throwdown are really pretty, so last night I sat down with an idea and the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  By the time I was done I wasn't really happy with my card so I figured I'd sleep on it and see if I liked it any better in the morning.

But I woke up with an idea for a better card.  I had plans to carefully pry certain bits of this card apart and replace it with my new and improved bits but then I remembered that I sewed the important parts of this card together and there was no way I was taking that apart.  So the card stays.  I used the new Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration catalog which I accidentally ordered in wood.  So all in all I've got a card I don't love made with a stamp set that is aggravatingly on a wooden base, which I also don't love.  I hope the rest of my day gets better.

I'm going to think positive thoughts for the rest of the day, because this afternoon the Patriots are playing the Baltimore Ravens for a spot in the Superbowl and I don't want to jinx it.  I'm nervous about the game and being somewhat superstitious I've been wearing either a Patriots sweatshirt or a Patriots t-shirt every day for two weeks.  Hey, don't judge me.  Like they say in the commercial, it's only weird if it doesn't work!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 54

We're halfway through the week folks!  Yay!  And Wednesdays around here mean an awesome new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  This week Jen T has got a great sketch with lots of possibilities!

As per my usual, I spent quite a bit of time wandering around my stamp room looking at this stamp set and that trying to figure out what I wanted to do with this sketch before I decided that I could do a little something with the color challenge at Fab Friday and this adorable stamp set from The Alley Way Stamps.

This card ended up being not quite what I had envisioned when I started, but it's close!  Why does that always seem to happen to me?  I mentioned in a recent post that my mother took up candlepin bowling a few years ago and has started up with her bowling league again so I suppose she'll be pleased and surprised to get this in the mail.  You may be unfamiliar with candlepin bowling, but I'm sure my fellow New Englanders know what it's all about.  You can read about it here.

I hope you have time this week to pop on by Freshly Made Sketches and join us this week.  The uber-talented design team has got some fabulous cards to show you which I know will get your creative juices flowing!

MOJO253 and Hand Stamped Sentiments 130

I've been trying to use some of the new In Colors recently and then I stumbled on the mother of all In Color challenges this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  At first I was a little intimidated by trying to use all five colors at once, but I took a few days to think about it before I came up with this using the latest MOJO sketch.   

I started with some Very Vanilla which I layered with some Midnight Muse and another layer of Very Vanilla which is embossed with PTI's Guide Lines impression plate.  I layered some stitched Midnight Muse DSP and some Summer Starfruit DSP from Comfort Cafe.  The layered flower is Verve and although it's hard to tell in the picture, the big layer is stamped in Raspberry Ripple and the smaller one in Primrose Petals.  A little Primrose Petals Dahlia finishes off the center of the flower.  The leaves are stamped in Gumball Green using a Verve leaf.  The sentiment is from Much Appreciated.

Once again we've got another hot day on tap.  Although the sun is not out the humidity is pretty high and everything and everyone is hot and sticky!  Later on I'm off to Plymouth for lunch with my mother and sisters.  Hopefully, it will be a little cooler at the coast!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 44

Welcome to Wednesday and a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week it's a sketch from yours truly!

Now the funny thing is that when I saw this sketch on our design team blog, I thought "holy moly, what was I thinking?"  But once I sat down at my desk to attack this sketch make my card, I figured it wasn't really all that bad.  I did change it up a bit and made a square card instead of a rectangle.

One fun thing about my card is that it is chock-a-block full of sneak peaks from the new mini that is due out August 1st!  The gorgeous leaves and acorn with their rock-and-roll color are from Wonderfall (I can't seem to resist a stamp set with leaves in it) and the lively and colorful DSP is from Orchard Harvest (which I've already used twice in the short time I've had it and that generally means that I really love it).  I even managed to sneak in a Brushed Bronze Designer Button tied with a bit of baker's twine.  I wanted a simple sentiment for this card and waffled a bit about what to use, but ended up with the clean "thank you" from Just Believe.

Now head on on to Freshly Made Sketches and check out the cards from the design team who, judging by the fabulous cards they've made, didn't have nearly as hard a time with this sketch as I did!  Here's a handy-dandy list for you:

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jennifer Timko

Allisa Chilton

Jen Sannes

Ann Schach

Linda Suarez

Jennifer Brum 

colourQ 142

Tuesday means another awesome color challenge by our colourQ fearless leader, Arielle.  Week after week she manages to find the most inspiring photos with interesting color combos that always challenge me to think of colors in a whole new way.  Well, this week the colors made me want to attempt a sketch challenge that was nothing like I'd ever tried before.

Here are the colors:

And here's the sketch from retro sketches:

When I first saw this, I thought "no way."  My brain couldn't comprehend what I was seeing and I wanted to just close my browser window and pretend I never saw it.  But as it turns out I couldn't pretend it didn't exist.  In fact, I studied it very carefully and decided that I would try and make a card using many of the elements of the sketch.  I'm a left-brain kind of person and tend to interpret things quite literally so that's why many of the elements of my card echo the sketch quite a bit.  I did change it up some and in the end I'm quite pleased with it.  (Secretly, I keep staring at it because I can't quite believe that I made this - it's so far outside what I usually do).

So now it's your turn.  Head on over to colourQ and check out what the design team has put together to amaze and delight you.  I hope you can join us this week!

Dynamic Duos 4 and Retro Sketches 13

It's like baby-ville around here lately.  That's right - don't adjust your set - you've arrived at the right blog.  I just don't normally do all that many baby cards.  But my cousin and his wife are expecting a baby soon and I needed a card for the shower next month.  By some strange cosmic interference, the colors this week at Dynamic Duos and the latest retro sketch were absolutely perfect for what I had in mind.

All I can say is good thing I bought some baby stamps recently.  I think this is the third baby card I've made this year alone.  And that's saying something - because I've had a long baby drought.  Yesterday, of course, was the baby blog hop in Rita's honor and today I switched gears to make a boy card in lovely shades of blue.

The hand stamp is from Baby Prints which I embossed in white.  The "baby" stamp is from a retired sentiment set called All Year Cheer II.  I did a little zig-zag stitch around my tag, just because I love doing that and I think it adds a little pizzazz to something that would otherwise be kind of blah.

I'm so glad you took the time to stop by!  See you soon!

colourQ 135

There are some gorgeous colors over at the colourQ challenge this week.  Arielle has got such an eye for capturing colors that not only look fanstastic together, but also for making me think outside the box.  This week was no exception.  I used Early Espresso as the anchor color that brought everything else together.

I think I must miss my little Janome Sew Mini because I've been doing a bit of sewing on my cards lately.  I dragged it out for this card because I just love the bit of texture that stitching gives.  For this card, the patterned paper is some Pool Party DSP, the flower and leaves are PTI, and the sentiment is from Great Friend.

Don't forget to pop on over to colourQ and check out the inspiration from the design team.  Then I hope you create something of your own to share with us!

Friday Mashup Challenge 20

It's Friday and that means it's time for another Friday Mashup challenge!

So, here's the "Mash Up!" challenge:

1. Create a project using “Buttons.”
2. Create a project using "Cupcakes".
3. Or "Mash it Up!" and create a project using "Cupcakes and Buttons"!

As you check out the projects from the other design team members you may notice that we added some extra touches.....Paper Piercing and Paper Piecing, so if you're really up for a challenge add those techniques to your project as well!

I know cupcakes are all the rage, but I don't own anything cupcake-worthy so I had to content myself with buttons.  That was no trouble for me because I love buttons!

And I sort of added in some paper piercing.  Only I added thread to the pierced holes and called it sewing!  I love this color combo of Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Basic Gray and Old Olive.  It's a little earthy and not very summery for this time of year, but I think it looks terrific.  I only wish the sentiment showed up better.  It's from the Cottage Garden stamp set and I probably should have wet embossed it so that it was more prominent.  In real life it's not as light as it appears here, though.

Now, head on over to the Friday Mashup and check out the challenge and the samples from the design team.  And while you're there check out the "Fan Favorite" challenge.  Your idea could be featured on a future challenge.  How cool is that?

Thanks for stopping by today!

ColourQ 82 and Sketchbook Saturday 8

There's a whole lot of green goodness going on over at the ColourQ this week.

Isn't it wonderful?  It is if you like green (which I do).  And that little bit of Baja Breeze is a perfect complement.  I was anxious to try this challenge, so I quickly chose the Sketchbook Saturday as a layout for my card.

I think I have a weakness for scallop circles because I always seem to want to make cards with them!  I thought this was interesting because the bottom of the circles is hidden.

The stamped image I used is a little bit outside of what I normally choose.  It's from the Flower For All Seasons stamp set.  I got it as a freebie during Sale-A-Bration because it seemed like a good stamp set for watercoloring.  I don't watercolor all that often, but every time I see a card that is watercolored, I love it.  This is the first time I've used this set and I actually colored most of the image with my blender pens, so I'm not sure that is technically considered watercoloring.  There are three other images in the set, so hopefully they'll see some ink as the seasons progress!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today.