Sweet Sunday Sketch #62

Good evening! I took a little break from stamping this weekend, mostly because I really wasn't home to do any stamping. :) I made my Viva la Verve card quickly on Saturday morning before stamp camp, but I spent my time after stamp camp visiting with my parents whom both happened to be in town at the same time. It was a great evening full of chatting and catching up.

Sunday found me off to church at an earlier service than normal, again with my parents. Our church was having a big blood drive on site, and I really wanted to donate finally! I haven't been able to donate before because of the restrictions: I've been out of the country in no-no countries, had immunizations that strictly forbade me to donate, and/or I didn't weigh enough. But no more! I'm all clear! What a wonderful opportunity and gift to give to someone, somewhere in need. Well, donating blood ended up taking forever (long line! But isn't that a blessing in itself?!). By the time I finished I literally had to fly home in order to change before heading off to the opera with my roommate. And don't worry. My roommate drove to the opera. :)

We've attended the Long Beach Opera's performances for a few years now thanks to a friend who plays in the orchestra. LBO is notorious for performing more modern, lesser-known, often very strange operas. Needless to say, they are always entertaining. Yesterday we saw Nixon in China. Not sure how that was turned into an opera, but a composer named John Adams saw potential and did it! lol We definitely enjoyed ourselves, and the accompanying music was beautiful. Mostly rhythmic... Almost no melody.

Enough blabbering... Onto the card! I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch for this card. I pulled out some older, much loved but lately neglected, dp from My Mind's Eye. I started out with pink instead of orange, but that quickly changed. Orange just felt much more comfortable. Some buttons, a stamped background with a Verve set, and it was ready to roll! I really did envision a bow on here, but after making one couldn't find a place it would fit. The bow just made the whole card feel off-balanced. So, here is my first bow-less card in a long time!

Four more days until Spring Break! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Accent Notes, PTI: Blooming Button Bits
Paper- Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Orange Zest, My Mind's Eye dp (Tres Jolie)
Ink- Orange Zest, Baja Breeze
Accessories- buttons, dimensionals, apron lace punch

Viva la Verve!

Good afternoon! It's such a beautiful day outside today! I can't wait to get outside and garden a little bit this afternoon. I need to clear out some old plants from my classroom's plot at school so that they can plant new veggies on Monday in honor of our reading Peter Rabbit. So fun!

I also of for some stamping at Stamp Camp this afternoon with some friends. We haven't met in since January, and I missed that one because I was sick! I'm so overdue to hang out with my stamping buddies!

This is the final week of March's Viva la Verve challenges, and our final kitchen inspiration. Amber let us find our own pictures this week to be inspired by. I quickly hopped onto Google images and searched "traditional kitchens." I'm a traditional girl at heart. :) I found this GORGEOUS kitchen and the browns and aquas just spoke to me right away. Love! Someday, I'll have a house of my own, and I going to have a great kitchen! It's my favorite room in a house (besides my bedroom, that is, lol).

I pulled out some dark chocolate and ocean tides paper and dp, played with some jewels, border punches, and ended up with this! I tea dyed the edges of the sentiment, as well as added just a touch of bling to one corner.

Hope your Saturday is just as sunny and springy! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Big & Bold Wishes
Paper- Whisper White, Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate, Bitty Dots dp, In Bloom dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip, Ocean Tides
Accessories- tea dye inks, ribbon, dimensionals, jewels, scallop edge punch

Meditations

Good morning! I have a random card I created, but it was inspired by a card Dawn McVey made a few days ago. See it here. I loved the simple layout with the little buttons in the corner, and thought, "Hey, I can do that!" Love those moments! I wasn't sure if I was going to get some stamping time in last night. We gained some unexpected company for the next three nights. Very welcome company, though! But the house was empty when I got home from work yesterday, so I sat myself right on down to start getting crafty. :)

I pulled out one of my favorite verse stamp from Verve, Meditations, (plus it's really big and long which worked well with a big rectangle panel, hehe). What a wonderful reminder to keep telling myself throughout each day. I glittered up the edges of the verse instead of tea dying them for a little shimmer. I also moved the bow off of the image and down to separate the two dp panels. So happy with how this turned out!

It's the morning of our big school musical production! Our all-school rehearsal went well yesterday, other than it being two hours long. My poor little first grade kiddos were getting pretty antsy by the end! But they did so well! And they sounded even better. This morning, bring on the parents, and the grandparents, and the uncles, and the aunts.... They're going be awesome!

Today also brings me down to five days until Spring Break! Hooray! I don't really have any definitive plans at the moment, but sometimes that's all right. I can always use some down time.

Thanks for stopping by! And Happy Friday!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Meditations
Paper- Groovy Guava, Spring Moss, Whisper White, Tea Leaves dp, Bitty Box dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, glitter, glue pen

Taylor's Sketch Challenge #105

It's been a few weeks since I've had the opportunity to play along with Taylor's Sketch Challenge and this felt like as good a week as any to jump right back in. I've been seeing so much of this color combo all over the blogosphere and had to be a part of it. Isn't it pretty?

I was initially inspired by this amazingly gorgeous card by Debbie Olson. She posted it back during the PTI release a week or two ago. Then, Jackie Pedro just had to go and make a card using the exact same combo (she was also inspired by Debbie Olson)! I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I've been wanting to play with this combo, and this was the final kick in the pants. :)

I pulled out my In Bloom set and sat down for some coloring. I've been in the mood to use my copics lately, as they have been much neglected recently. I do love to color, but most of my stamps don't require it.

I added a little tiny glittered frame around the sentiment using my fine tipped glue pen. The corners felt a little lonely, so I paper pierced them just a tad. Lastly, I used a button as the little circle detail so that I could also fulfill the requirements for Lisa Johnson's Poppy Seed Challenge: use buttons, polka dots, and Spring Moss on a card. Done!

We have an all school dress rehearsal this morning for our Spring Musical. So excited! Music is one of my favorite things in school, and getting to watch my kiddos perform just makes my heart happy. Hopefully my wiggle worms will be able to sit for the whole hour!

Only six more days until Spring Break (today doesn't count because it already started. Logical, right?!)!

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: In Bloom, Giga Guide Lines
Paper- Kraft, Whisper White, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- copics, ribbon, dimensionals, fine tip glue pen, glitter, button, twine, paper piercer

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch #66

Good morning! I whipped up a quick card for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch before Lost came on last night. :) I've gotta squeeze 'em in where I can! Overall, I kept this one pretty simple. I inked up a previously uninked image from my Everyday Button Bits set, settled on a two button tree instead of a three buttoned tree, and finished it up.

I guess I'm not too chatty as I type this up. I blame it on being midweek. :) I'm always more tired on Tuesdays than Mondays. I think it is just that the adrenaline from Monday is gone, and Tuesday brings me back to reality, lol. Needless to say, I go to bed really early for the rest of the week. Sleep is my friend!

Happy hump day! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- Kraft, Whisper White, Dark Chocolate, Turning a New Leaf dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, dimensionals, tea dye inks

Mojo Monday

Good morning! I was super productive last night and managed to finish yet another Mojo Monday card on Monday! I did adapt the sketch into a typical A2 card. I just don't have the long envelopes to fit a long rectangle. Well, that, and my long rectangle cards just never turn out well, in my opinion, hehe.

I think I have an addiction not only to my tea dye inks, but also to Raspberry Fizz! I don't know when it happened, but it sure did. I've made more cards in the last week with Raspberry Fizz than in my entire stamping career! Something about the color just hits me right this month. It's bright, but so perfect. Especially the ribbon. The satin ribbon is a must have!

I pulled out some My Mind's Eye dp that I grabbed at CHA back in January and got down to business. I kept things really simple. That polka dotted paper was busy enough all by its little 'ol self. I did tea dye the edges of the sentiment once again. It's a beautiful addiction, no? :)

Have a wonderful Tuesday! It's staff meeting day, so a longer one at work. And Lost is on tonight! YAY! (Another great addiction, lol)

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Happy Birthday PJ
Paper- Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, Whisper White, MME Oh, La La dp
Ink- Raspberry Fizz
Accessories- whole punch, ribbon, dimensionals, nestabilities, tea dye inks

Sweet Sunday Sketch #61

Good evening! After a little day off yesterday, I'm back to stamping this evening. Amy and I traveled over to church, ran a few errands (one of which involved pedicures!!!!), and then came home to have a little car washing party. The weather was gorgeous outside yesterday, and after multiple rain storms, followed by wind blowing dust, followed by rain, etc, etc... It was time for a washing. We both agreed that there is something hot about shiny, clean cars, hehe.

Amy and I were also talking about the fact that next Sunday is Palm Sunday! I can't believe that Easter is already around the corner. Where does time go? Though, I am really looking forward to Spring Break. This week and next week to go and then it's here! Yay!

I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch for this card, and from the colors you can see that I definitely had spring and Easter on my mind. :) I used a big off-center bow instead of a paper piece. I liked how the paper hung off, but the perfectionist in me just couldn't get passed the asymmetrical feel of the card. Oh well, lol. Big bows work, too! I stamped a few swirls from Beautiful Kindness around the edge of the circle and added some tea dye ink also. I think those are my new addiction... The tea dye inks... How did I live without these for so long??! I love how they can tame that so-bright white into a white with depth.

Well, that's it out of me for today! I've already finished my Mojo Monday card as well (I know!!! Productive night!), so that will be up tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Everlasting Life, Beautiful Kindness
Paper- Baja Breeze, Spring Moss, Whisper White, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Plum Pudding, Certainly Celery
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, tea dye inks

Viva la Verve!

Happy Spring! It's a lovely day here... Low 70s. My next stop today is the chair out in the sun with my book. So excited! Spring was my big influence once again today for my Viva la Verve card. Well, spring, and this pretty apron from our walk through kitchens this month. Plus, I still had all those bright springy colors sitting out from my card last night. :)

Amber sure gave us a doosey of a sketch this week! Not one circle, but three circles and hanging off of vertical panels. Eek! I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with my card, but it's definitely not a flop, and I don't mind sharing it with you all.

I started with my Let it Shine set... Which I just realized is mislabeled!!! It's in a Big Wish package! And here I've been labeling my cards with this set Big Wish... cause that's what it said... But then I got to thinking that calling this set Big Wish didn't really make a whole lot of sense. A little investigating later, and I was right! hehe I stamped one of the sun images (which also makes a great flower!) onto Bitty Dots dp, colored a few petals with my copic marker to make it a bit darker, and popped them up. I also added a little glitter strip at the bottom of the green.

I'm off to friend's house this evening for a birthday barbecue. I'm bringing a corn, tomato, and avocado salad as my side dish. It's a Paula Dean recipe and soooo yummy! It will be good to spend time with good friends, and outdoors, too!

I hope your Saturday is full of blue skies and sunshine as well! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Let it Shine
Paper- Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush, Whisper White, Spring Moss, Pretty Pastels dp, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- Raspberry Fizz, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- ribbon, copics, circle punches, glitter, double sided tape, dimensionals

Fall to Layout

Good evening! Just a quickie card to share with you this fine, almost spring evening! I can't believe spring formally begins tomorrow. I know some of you have been buried alive in snow, but I've so been enjoying the rain we've been getting here in So Cal this year. Growing up in the mountains, weather was always excited... adventurous. Down here in So Cal, we get so little weather at all that anything is exciting!

I must have spring on the brain tonight because this is a pretty bright card. I don't tend to use a whole lot of my Raspberry Fizz paper, but it was calling my name tonight! That and this Fall to Layout Sketch has been staring me in the face for a week now, hehe. And here is what emerged. Definitely clean and simple. It probably took 15 minutes to create! I might whip up a few more of these as a gift box for someone sometime in the future. Either that or I'll get distracted by another sketch and just keep creating random cards, lol.

I'm enjoying a quiet evening at home. My roomie is off getting her hair cut, and then dinner afterward, so I've go the house to myself. I finished off the remains of our corned beef dinner from St. Patrick's Day (yum!), and plan on reading for a while before bed. I think I'm addicted to my book. It's really good!

So, until tomorrow morning, Happy Friday! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits
Paper- Raspberry Fizz, Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, apron lace punch, buttons

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch #65

I'm officially done with conferences and still have one more minimum day at work to tackle some long neglected piles of stuff in my classroom. I love free work time! I tackled my desk today, which tends to be my default drop zone for anything that I don't know where to put at the moment, lol.

I have a quick card this evening for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch. Though, upon completing it I realized that I didn't line up my vertical panels like the sketch. Whoops! We'll just pretend it was supposed to be this way. :)

I used one of my new Verve Plain Jane's for my sentiment and stamped my favorite flower from Because of You in the background. I am going to a friend's birthday barbecue this weekend, and this will be the perfect card! No glitz and glamor on here... Just a simple as is card. Guess I'm a little tired.

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Because of You, Happy Birthday PJ
Paper- Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Parisian Breeze dp
Ink- Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
Accessories- nestabilities, ribbon, dimensionals, tea dye ink

Mojo Monday

Good evening! This is a little later post than usual due to being interrupted by Chuck. :) I finished this before, but had to take a little break to go watch it with my roomie. We love that show! Plus (on a really fun note!), I just found out that one of my student's parents directed an upcoming episode! I think I squealed when she told me about it, hehe.

Anyways, be amazed. I have completed a Mojo Monday card on Monday! I know! My evening actually began completely devoid of any inspiration. I kept glancing at the few sketches I have saved on my desktop, but nothing was speaking to me. I began lamenting about this to my roommate, whom then suggested that I make her mom a birthday card. Amy's mom is really close to all of us college roommate girls. We love our Mom Cora! Amy suggested the colors blue and white, with tulips (they're Dutch- Cora was actually born in the Netherlands). So, this is what evolved out of that conversation. Inspiration comes in strange ways, sometimes. :)

It ended up being a perfect card for Cora and I can't wait to send it off to her. My next question to Amy was when her mom's birthday is.... The answer? The end of April! lol Well, at least I'm really prepared. :)

I've survived one day of parent conferences with one more to go! Then I get lots of prep time the rest of the week, which is wonderful!!! I'm so excited to actually catch up on things and get ahead on some others. It makes my life just a little bit happier.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Wishing You

Paper- Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Urban Garden dp

Ink- Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze

Accessories- ribbon, jewels, nestabilities, dimensionals, tea dye ink, apron lace punch

Sketch For You To Try

The mojo is back! lol

I whipped up this card yesterday afternoon using Jen's Sketch For You to Try once again. I was running out of sketches to work with! I need my Sunday, Monday, Tuesday punch! Back to this card. As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew what colors I wanted to work with. I did originally plan some Old Olive on there, but quickly nixed that one when Pale Plum came along. :)

Is it horrible to say that I'm in love with this card? I really love how it turned out. It was one of those cards where I had a big grin on my face the whole time I was making it because it just kept looking better and better. Ah, if only that would happen every time... Maybe it was because my new Cards magazine came in the mail today. I subscribed back in February, but this was the first issue to come to my door (I missed yours, Maureen! So sad!). I think I have a new favorite magazine!

Today is another relaxing day. Amy and I are off to church later this morning, and then we're going to attempt see the new Alice in Wonderful movie. Amy's been dying to see it since the first rumors of the movie were released, lol. Not sure if we'll see it in 3D or not... That's to be decided. Then it's home for another calm evening. Maybe more stamping?! We have another round of parent conferences at work this next week, so I'm going to enjoy my calm today. Most of my conferences are all piled onto Monday and Tuesday, which will leave me lots of work time in my classroom. So looking forward to that! It's always nice to feel like I'm getting ahead instead of falling behind.

Here's wishing you a relaxing Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Big Wish
Paper- Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Whisper White, Cottage Wall dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- twine, button, dimensionals, copics, tea dye inks, nestabilities

Viva la Verve!

And, I'm back with another Viva la Verve. I loved Amber's sketch for this week and woke up with a card in mind. It's a bit different from my normal, but I still like it!

I stamped half with the polka dots from Bountiful Backgrounds and pulled out some dp for the other half. I couldn't figure out a stamp to use in the center narrow rectangle that I liked, so I went with a big butterfly all covered in stickles for some shimmer. I slot punched the sides of the sentiment, strung some ribbon through, and added a few tiny jewels. Done!

Today is nothing but a relaxing day for me. And I'm soooooo looking forward to it! I'm going to read, maybe make another card, work on some taxes... All normal Saturday things. No running all over, flying all over, etc. Just be home. Though, I am going to watch my roommate perform in her symphony orchestra concert this evening. But that's fun! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful Saturday!
Supplies-
Stamp- Verve: Bountiful Backgrounds, Meditations, Beautiful Kindness
Ink- Enchanted Evening
Paper- Kraft, Enchanted Evening, In Bloom dp
Accessories- ribbon, slot punch, nestabilities, stickles, jewels

Viva la Verve!

Good evening! Can I just begin by telling you how glad I am that it is Friday? I literally woke up this morning thinking, "I get to sleep in tomorrow!" hehe Though, my definition of "sleeping in" is getting smaller and smaller. I am usually so tired on Fridays that I crash between 8-9, lol. That translates into me waking up at 7am ready to go!

I have my Viva la Verve card from last week to share with you this evening. Again, another card that was created in my mojo-less evening, but the more I stare at it tonight, the more I think I like it. Maybe it's just that the background is too busy or something.... Not sure. I added some black stickles to the flowers for a little shimmer and of course, a big bow. :)

I've already glanced at this Friday's Viva la Verve over on the Splitcoast forum and have an idea for what I'll do in the morning. Fun sketch! Thanks for stopping by tonight!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Because of You
Paper- Basic Black, Old Olive, Whisper White, Urban Garden dp
Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- stickles, ribbon, dimensionals

Sketch For You To Try

I think it's been a while since I've had the chance to play along with SFYTT. But, I was in the mood to stamp, and this was the sketch that invoked any little hint of mojo. Inspiration and creativity were totally and completely avoiding me tonight. Maybe it's just Thursday and I'm tired. My report cards are done, and I actually have time to stamp, so of course I couldn't think of what to do. Sheesh.

So, I'm halfway content with this card. I think it needs a little something more. That little bit of oomph, lol. But that's just not happening tonight. It's done, and actually a card that I can put up on here (believe me, you don't want to see the other one I made tonight, lol).

I stuck with a rather simple color palate. Added a rather simple bow (a bigger one just felt overwhelming when I tried it... Too many focal points), and a little tiny, understated flower in the top corner of the circle. Sweet and simple... and done! Phew!

I think I'm going to go crash on the couch and read for a while before bed. I'm reading The Hiding Place which comes highly recommended. It's also one of those books that I can't believe I have never read before. I really enjoying it! Have a wonderful rest of your evening!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages
Paper- Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Scarlet Jewel, Whisper White, In Bloom dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, twine, tea dye ink, nestabilities, MS flower punch

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch #64

Well, report cards are finally back up (though still a bit on the slow side). I attempted to work on report cards for about six hours yesterday with no luck. Needless to say, we were all pretty frustrated at work this morning! Fix it now! :) And that they did (are doing). So, all of my grades are entered and now it's off to finish up my comments.

But before I dedicated myself to finishing my report cards, I snuck in a little stamping time. My new Verve stamps came in the mail today, and this card was completely inspired by my present. I pulled out some "sun" colors and got down to conquer Mercy's Tuesday Sketch for this week. Some paper piercing, jewels, a whole lot of dimensionals, and some pulled ribbon later the card was complete. I actually started that scalloped bottom with a scallop edge punch, but switched to apron lace, and then inspiration struck! If you haven't tried this simple technique, it has such wonderful effects. I simply pulled one of the saddle stitches to tighten the bunching. If you pull it really tight it creates a cute flower shape. I'm going to actually have to try that one of these days.

Back to the salt mines! hehe Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 84:11 PJ
Paper- Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest, Whisper White, Autumn Abundance dp
Ink- Really Rust, More Mustard
Accessories- ribbon, dimensionals, jewels, paper piercer, sponge