Sweet Sunday Sketch #33

Good morning! It's officially my last day of summer vacation, and what am I doing? Working in my classroom. lol

I usually never work the day before school, choosing to stay home or do something fun to say goodbye to my break. But this year, I really need this last day to keep prepping things for the first day of school. Tuesday morning, ready or not, here they come!

I tried to make several cards over the weekend just in case I am waaay too tired to stamp this week. The first week is always to exhausting because I'm out of practice. Out of practice standing for hours on end, talking for hours on end (especially the first week!), and being "on" for hours on end. Thankfully, it's only a four day week since we start on Tuesday, and then a three-day weekend due to Labor Day on Monday the 7th. Kind of a hard start for introducing routines, but hopefully, they'll (the kiddos) work with me.

I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch for my card today. Nice and sweet and simple. Love it! I clear embossed some more polka dots, added some ribbon, a bow, some buttons, and called it a day. I realized I need to order some in-color buttons! I had to scrounge through my other collection and find something as close as I could. I would have loved to have a razzleberry button on here, but I had nothing that matched. Grrr...

Other than that, it's pretty self-explanatory card. I think...

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits, Polka Dot Backgrounds
Paper- Soft Suede, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry
Ink- Soft Suede, Versamark
Accessories- ribbon, clear ep, buttons, nestabilities

Viva la Verve!

Wow. It feels like forever since I've done a Viva la Verve sketch. I think it's really only been two weeks, but still! Julee is playing substitute for Amber while she's on vacation. It's a great sketch this week, with a fun twist! The twist was to use little round things. I loved that this sketch allowed me to opportunity to play with my new EK Success punches!I picked these up at Michael's a few weeks ago and they had been sitting, neglected in my punch drawer, waiting for their shining moment. That moment finally came!

As for the color combo, I took inspiration from one of the new dp sets in the SU catalog. I don't have the dp, but I do have the colors! I felt like this card would be way too busy if I had used dp anyways. It's a great solid color sketch card.

I also pulled out my Wishing You set from PTI to use the tulip image. I thought it would fit this long, tall panel well, and it has "rounded" edges at the top! Perfect! My last little round things are the jewels that I clumped around the sentiment.

This card is going to be headed off to Pittsburgh within the next week to one of my old college roommates. She and her husband will be celebrating their second wedding anniversary on the 15th. Her wedding was so much fun! It was the first time in several years our whole college gang reassembled, and in Pittsburgh instead of Southern California, no less. We all stayed in the same hotel, and pretty much got no sleep the entire weekend. Good times, good times.

The picture does have a story behind it. There were five of us roommates. Heather (the head) was the first to move away after college. Therefore, we made her head and bring it with us to all major events where we are all getting together. Due to some really unfortunate timing, Heather wasn't able to be in the wedding and make it out to Pittsburgh. So... the head came instead. We had to get some photos with Heather in them! This picture is therefore all five of us roomies.

So Leesh, this one's for you! :) Love you my roomie!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Wishing You...

Paper- Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence

Ink- Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories- EK Success edge punch, stickles, jewels, dimensionals, Old Olive ribbon

More Budding Blossoms

I warned you that I love this little flower image from Verve's latest release. After using it a few days ago, I couldn't wait to play with it some more!

For this card, I stamped the flower in garden green, then again in Pretty in Pink. I cut out the pink blossoms, popped them up, and covered them in some Stardust stickles for a little shimmer. The polka dots are from the new Bountiful Backgrounds set. Lovin' this one too! I clear embossed the polka dots for some dimension in the background. A big, pink button and some wrapped twine finished this quickie off. Love how this one turned out!

I have a few more random ideas for this little stamp, and hopefully time will allow me to try them out in the near future! Enjoy your weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Budding Blossoms, Bountiful Backgrounds

Paper- Garden Green, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Ink- Garden Green, Pretty in Pink, Versamark

Accessories- stickles, twine, button, clear ep, dimensionals, nestabilities

Mojo Monday

Good morning! I actually had time to make a Mojo Monday card for the first time in three weeks. Sheesh time flies! I hereby admit that I like the circle in this sketch. Maybe it's because it's small, maybe because it's surrounded by a rectangle. I don't know what it is, but it works. :)

I pulled out some more of my beautiful Cosmo Cricket Everafter dp and got down to business. I knew I wanted to make this a more elegant card, and ended up making a sympathy card. Fortunately, I don't need these very often, but when I do I'm always glad to have one on hand. It's so hard to make them when they are needed.

For another shock today, there is no ribbon on this card. Nor are there buttons! I kept it oober simple with just jewels to adorn the card. With sympathy cards, you want your words to be the main focus, not all the business (in my opinion). Well, at least that's the direction this card took, and the story I'm stick to! lol

This morning is the big "all district" welcome back celebration. Basically, it's where everyone gets together and goes "yay for another fantastic year" at 8:00 in the morning. hehe I guess it is always fun to see everyone though. We also have our first staff meeting immediately following back at our own school sites. I'm usually not a giant fan of staff meetings, but this one I'm looking forward to. I'm excited to meet everyone on the staff and start learning the culture of the school, and what makes it tick. The afternoon will be ours to work away in our classrooms. Thank goodness! I'm really close to being done. Definitely down to the little details, but I can definitely use all the time allowed! Kids come on Tuesday!

Have a wonderful Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Forever in our Hearts, Leaf PJ

Paper- Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Sage Shadow, Cosmo Cricket Everafter dp

Ink- Barely Banana, Going Gray

Accessories- nestabilities, jewels

With Love....

... From Me to You.

hehe. I can't help but singing the Beatles song whenever I use this sentiment. This was a quickie card that I whipped up a few days back while I had my Urban Garden dp out. I had this little scrap of Whisper White paper and decided it just needed to be a little square card. It's a 4x4 card. The ribbon took a little cajoling to get the green sides to show (I really don't like how they made the back side white), so forgive the slightly tattered looking bow today. Poor thing was pretty mangled with all of my twisting and pulling. I also popped up the entire panel with dimensionals.

I'm off in my classroom once again today setting things up and meeting with new teammates. The countdown is officially on to the first day of school. Less than one week! Ack! Here's to staying sane amidst the chaos! ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Urban Garden dp
Ink- Not Quite Navy
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, corder rounder punch, dimensionals

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #36

Good morning! I'm up bright and early again today to keep working on my classroom. Today is my last unobstructed work day. Though, our principal just told us he's going to give us all afternoon Friday and Monday to work instead of sit through endless staff meetings!!! Whoopee! I'm liking this guy already!

I had a little bit of daylight left over after setting up my room to create a card for Mercy's Tuesday sketch. I love the simplicity of her sketch this week and chose to honor it by not using too many layers... At task not that difficult for me. ;)

My new Verve set Budding Blossoms was calling my name, and I love, love, love this flower image from the set. I can't wait to play with it some more and try some fun things! For this one, I kept it simple, stamping it in Tangerine Tango, and adding some jewels for some sparkle.

Now for a little fun! hehe. I made two cards for this challenge, both very similar. I couldn't decide between the two for submittal, so I thought I'd just post both of them. Can you "spot the difference?" :)

These two cards are off to the lovely secretaries in my new school office. These amazing ladies have bent over backwards answering question after question for the all throughout the week. They're made phone calls, sent e-mails, run copies, unlocked my room for me (the past teacher lost the key! lol)... Talk about making me feel right at home! A little flower to go with the flower stamp should do it.

Thanks for stopping by today!






















Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Budding Blossoms, Circular Sayings
Paper- Aqua Mist, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow dp
Ink- Tangerine Tango
Accessories- ribbon, jewels, dimensionals, nestabilities

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!

Good evening! Welcome to the Papertrey Ink blog hop! This is my first official Papertrey blog hop and I'm super excited!

August is the month that Papertrey celebrates all things autumn! What better way to get inspired for the upcoming season change than each other! The challenge this month was to create a project inspired by any aspect of fall. Things like textures, colors, autumn leaves, patterns, pumpkins, and more.

I decided to try something I don't do too often: creating my own dp. I don't really own any PTI fall stamps, but I do have some leaves! I grabbed the leaves out of In Bloom and stamped them in some varying shades of brown to create my dp. I also used some fall colors as my core colors. I broke up the sentiment and stamped a few leaves peeking onto the corners. A big, beautiful brown ribbon and some jewels finished off the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy the little taste of fall!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: In Bloom
Paper- Very Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise
Ink- Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel
Accessories- ribbon, jewels, SU scallop edge punch

Monday, Monday

Since my stamping time is going to be a little limited this week, I decided to combine Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

I kept this one pretty sweet and simple. I don't have Melon Berry and Hibiscus Burst paper, so I pulled out my Groovy Guava and Berry Sorbet instead. Hope that works, Dawn! :) I whipped out my Everyday Button Bits, added a Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, and Melon Berry button as my balloons.

I'm back in my classroom again today, probably slaving away on some tiny little detail. I think I finished up most of my shopping over the weekend, so that should help as far as time actually at the school site. I had forgotten how much work switching grades is! It's been four years since
I've done that.

This week will be a little bit slower since I don't have two Broadway shows scheduled! lol I'm actually going to get to go home after working. What a concept! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla, Berry Sorbet, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- Berry Sorbet ribbon, buttons, SU scallop edge punch, circle punches

Taylor's Sketch Challenge #79

Ok. Maybe I'm a little slow on the uptake, but when did Taylor switch the name of her challenge? What happened to cupcakes?! I guess I should just be grateful there is a fun sketch to play with each week. ;)

Anywho, this is the card I whipped up for Taylor's sketch this week. I decided to keep it simple with only minimal embellishments, and (shock!) no ribbon! I couldn't figure out where I would stick it!

I immediately reached for my Everyday Button Bits set and got to work. I haven't used my Urban Garden dp for a little while, so that came out too. I had forgotten how much I love this paper! I popped up the entire panel, curved the sentiment and broke it into two pieces, and made some button flowers. Love those buttons....

I'm off to church this morning and then running more errands for my classroom. I really only have three more solid working days before staff development begins and I want to milk 'em for all they're worth!

Have a lovely Sunday, and thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Urban Garden dp
Ink- Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy
Accessories- buttons, dimensionals, circle punches

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #35

All right! Card number two in two consecutive days! I have really been loving playing along with Mercy's Tuesday Sketch and this last week's was no exception! What a fantastic layout. Yet another one that I am sure to use again and again.

I took some color inspiration from a card Dawn McVey made a few days ago. I can't wait to get my purple buttons in the mail! They should be here Monday or Tuesday.

I guess this is a pretty simple card over all. I combined two dps from PTI, used my EK Success wavy edge punch, added some ribbon, paper piercing, and a little sentiment and called it a day. I kind of feel like it might be missing something... maybe some jewels somewhere, but I can't figure it out... Oh well. I stamped the flower three times, cut three layers, and popped them up on dimensionals.

I'm off to run some errands this morning, meeting my aunt around lunch, and going to a concert at the park this evening. The California Symphony is going to play a bunch of Broadway music! Should be lots of fun... I'm planning a great picnic dinner for my roomie and myself. Don't have a picnic basket, but I'll find some way to improvise.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Circular Sayings, PTI: In Bloom

Paper- Bitty Dots dp, Bitty Box dp, Kraft, Whisper White, Plum Pudding

Ink- Vintage Cream, Perfect Plum

Accessories- ribbon, EK Success edge punch, dimensionals, circle punches

Viva la Verve!

I'm back! And I alive, for the most part. I cannot believe it has only been one week since I came back from vacation. I think I could swear up and down at this moment that at least one month has gone by. I don't think I could have packed any more into the last seven days!

I've been working like a maniac in my classroom, trying to move in and get set up for the first day of school. It's a new grade level to me, so the list of supplies I need to get are endless. The classroom was missing a ton of basic things (i.e. a stapler, tape, ruler, etc.) which was making it a little difficult to put up walls. I managed to borrow a few things from teachers and the office, but quickly rushed out to buy them the next day.

I did succeed to roping a few people into coming with me to help out. (yay!) Thanks to Mom, Brian, and my roomie, Amy, things are moving along nicely. I think I'm officially out of the "panic" stage, and into the "concerned" stage. hee

School starts on the first, so I still have a few days next week before staff development begins to square things away. It's gonna be race to the end for sure!

We did escape my classroom for two nights in a row to see 'Spamalot' down in Los Angeles, and 'Fiddler on the Roof' down in Orange County. Topol was starring as the lead... So incredible! I think I sat there with a giddy smile on my face the whole time. Watching him sing "If I Were a Rich Man" was pretty unforgettable.

Anyways, I got home from working in my classroom today determined to sit and stamp something. My new Verve stamps came in the mail yesterday and have been calling my name all day long! :)

I used Amber's new sketch this week, and her twist was to use our favorite color combo. I have several favorites, but this is a combo I always end up gravitating to. Love that dark aqua and brown together. It just makes me smile!

I popped up the oval, colored with my copics, and colored a little glitter pen onto the blossoms, but you would never know it from this picture.

Thanks for stopping by tonight! I'm soooo looking forward to getting some more stamping in this weekend!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Budding Blossoms, Bountiful Backgrounds
Paper- Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Ocean Mist (PTI), Paper Loft dp

Ink- Chocolate Chip, Memento Rich Cocoa

Accessories- ribbon, copics, Spica glitter pen, nestabilities, dimensionals

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #34

Good evening. It's been a longer day around here, but all-around good one. I got all of my paperwork turned in at the district and they're printing up my contract!! I also saw my new school for the first time, and even spent a little time poking through my classroom. The room used to be a third grade room, so I need to figure out what kinds of things/supplies I need to go get. Tomorrow is a big day for moving more of my stuff in, and setting things up in the classroom. Yay!

Tomorrow, I am also going to see Monty Python's "Spamalot" down at the Ahmanson theatre in Los Angeles! Soooo stinkin' excited! There's a big group of friends going along and I can pretty much guarentee we are going to laugh until we cry.

I made this card yesterday for Mercy's Tuesday sketch. I can't really decided if I like it or not, but figured I might as well post it. I'm thinkin' this card fell victim to the "just back from vacation and I haven't stamped in a while" mojo-less pit. hehe

I still had some Washington Apple dp out from my Sweet Sunday Sketch, and figured I might as well keep on using it. I (finally) just got Cheap Talk. This was one I stared at in the catalog forever and debated back and forth on.... But I've seen so many cute cards made with it that I finally gave in.

Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies-
Stamps- SU: Cheap Talk
Paper- Whisper White, So Saffron, Red Riding Hood, Washinton Apple dp
Ink- Bashful Blue, Tangerine Tango, Basic Black
Accessories- Stampin' Write Marker, dimensionals, brads, ribbon

Sweet Sunday Sketch #31

Good afternoon!

I'm back in California and attempting to get back to life. Everything got a little crazy while I was gone. I did end up getting the teaching position in South Pasadena! I'm officially a first grade teacher this year! They're getting smaller and smaller on me. I started out in third grade, then went to second for three years... Now I'm getting the tinier guys. Should be lots of fun though! My summer is officially coming to a close, but I am feeling so incredibly blessed to have a job when it was looking like that was an impossibility. God is good!

I have about one week to set up my classroom before staff development and school start.... It's going to get a little crazy around here. Don't be too concerned if I disappear from the blog for a day or two...

It felt so good to sit down and stamp today. I immediately started with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch for this week.... and she threw some LAYERS at us! Ack! I reached for some coordinating SU dp, and got cranking.

Some simple layering, a few little jewels in the corners, and a big bow (of course) finished off the card. I made the main panel a little smaller to fit the sentiment and made the indicated sentiment the bow. I guess I cheated a little, lol. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Beautiful Kindness

Paper- Red Riding Hood, So Saffron, Whisper White, Washington Apple dp

Ink- Red Riding Hood

Accessories- ribbon, jewels

Mojo Monday

Good morning! Only one more day until I'm back. My flight comes in really late tomorrow night, so my first stamping day will be Friday! Sooo excited to get back into the groove! I have some serious catching up to do. I missed last week's Viva la Verve and the new VLV is posted this Friday- my first day back. I've also missed Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch. I'll be home too late to submit it, but I think I'll still give the sketch a try. Mojo Monday also came around once again, but I have a few more days to finish that one up.

The card I have for you today actually uses last week's Mojo Monday sketch. I made it before I left on vacation, but figured it could wait until this week for the blog reveal. :)

I love, love, love this sketch! I know, I'm not usually a giant circle fan, but I like this one! This is definitely one of those sketches that I'll keep around and use again.

I kept my card simple, but elegant. I pulled out my recently neglected MS punch to add a little something to the card. Not much else to say about it that you can't just see by looking at it. lol

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you on Friday!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Forever in our Hearts
Paper- Sage Shadow, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla, Cosmo Cricket Everafter dp
Ink- Sage Shadow, Tangerine Tango
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, MS edge punch

Blog Award

Oh my goodness! I was over visiting a blogger friend of mine, Kelley, when I noticed that not only had she been given a blog award, she was passing it on to me! Thank you so much, Kelley, for making my day!



Here are the Deets of the award:

- Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

- Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

It is always such a task to figure out who to pass awards on to. There are so many fantastic blogs out there that give me oodles of inspiration each and every day. I'm not so sure I can come up with the requested 15 blogs, but here are a few that I feel definitely deserve this award. Beautiful blogs, for sure!

Here are my nominations for this award:

Maureen- Buttons & Bling

Tricia- Simply Stamping

Emily- Art From the Heart

Sarah-Jane Kale- Janeybell

Karen- The Sweetest Thing

Thanks again, Kelley, for the honor!

You're So Sweet

Good morning and Happy Monday! I'm still on vacation here in Bend, and tonight's the night we're going out to celebrate my landing a job (we think, lol). We're going to The Pine Tavern and I am so ordering the pork medallions with a cherry sauce. Yumm-o! I've only eaten there one other time about five years ago, but that dish is one I've tried to recreate here at home dozens of times. It's about time to have the original again so that I can keep working on my own recipe! :)

I have a simple card for you today. I just got the top note die from SU. I know, I'm a little slow on the uptake for this one. Guess I just needed some convincing that I could actually use this. I pulled some more of the new in colors that I had yet to touch (even though I love them!).

I tell ya, Bermuda Bay is a tricky color to photograph... It kept coming out blue on my computer. I seem to have this problem with turquoise colors. Definitely something I'm going to have to play around with some more and see if I can get them to photograph true to color.

The bow definitely took some tweaking to get only the polka dotted side to show. And I think my sentiment is ever-so-slightly crooked. Dang it! But once it's on there it's too late. So, just pretend it's perfect. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits

Paper- Bermuda Bay, Sof Suede, Crushed Curry, Razzleberry Fizz dp

Ink- Versamark

Accessories- ribbon, top note die, cb, white ep, branch die, white gel pen, SU scallop edge punch, button, twine

Birthday Wishes

Good morning and happy Sunday! As you read this, I'm still on vacation up in Oregon. I've had lots of fun bf time and great conversations. We've made sure to get in some good shopping (yay no sales tax!), and definitely some good food. On Friday, I got the chance to hang out with my sister a little bit. She picked me up in the bus she drives for Bend's Therapeutic Recreation department, and I joined her and the other interns for some Get Fit time. We drove the bus around to pick up all of their adult participants (dealing with everything from Down's Syndrome, to William's disorder, to spinabifida). Such a blast! It was walking night. We found a great trail, did some stretching, walked a bit, did some crunches, walked some more, got wet in the sprinklers, and then headed home. It was so amazing to get just a glimpse at what Sharon has chosen as her career. I am so much more in awe of her after living it for just a few hours.

Today, I'm off to church with my sister again. I'm going to serve in the early service to help out my bf (whom is a children's pastor at the church), and then attend the second service with my sister. I love that I get to spend time with both of them while I'm here!

I have a random card for you today. It's rare day when I don't start a card with a sketch, but I had some scraps lying around from this card a few days back, and thought I might as well whip something up with them. I hate throwing away larger scraps. Especially scraps that just happen to be cut to a certain size already!

Since these two colors scream happiness to me, I decided to make this another birthday card. I'm still working on replenishing my stash. I pulled out my Everyday Button Bits yet again, glued some buttons on, added some jewels and called it a day.

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits

Paper- Whisper White, Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, Bitty Dots dp, Bitty Box dp

Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black, Crushed Curry

Accessories- buttons, jewels, nestabilities

Viva la Verve!

Good morning and happy Friday! I'm a little late showing you this card that I made for last week's Viva la Verve sketch challenge. Amber didn't give us a sketch this week. Instead, we were to cruise through the Diva's galleries and choose a card to case. So fun!

I immediately knew I wanted to go through Amber's gallery in honor of her hosting and creating Viva la Verve in the first place! Plus, she just has some seriously fabulous style. There was a twist this week, however, and it was a bit of a doosy. If the Diva we are casing used dp, we are forbidden to use it, and vice versa. Eek! Thank goodness Amber is fantastic at using no dp! :)

I chose to case this card by Amber. I loved the layout and definitely opted to keep that. I changed the color scheme, moved the ribbon, took away the circle (yay!) and added a butterfly. I also added some stickles around the perimeter of the sentiment and on the butterfly.

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Beautiful Kindness, Philippians 4:4

Paper- Whisper White, Aqua Mist, My Mind's Eye dp

Ink- Tangerine Tango

Accessories- ribbon, twine, button, stickles, dimensionals, nestabilities