Painting the Town Red

Good evening! It has been an absolute whirlwind weekend, and I am completely devoid of any energy.... Bed is sounding better and better and it's only 6:30. The roommate reunion went amazingly and we all had a blast... And not much sleep. :)

I alluded to a big surprise for Heather a few days ago... Well, it was that our fifth college roommate was flying in from Pittsburgh to join us for the weekend! There were five of us girls that lived together during college and truly became those lifelong friends. This was the first time we have all been together since our roommate Janice's wedding 5 1/2 years ago! Crazy! But it was so wonderful to just pick up right where we had left off. My cheeks are rather tired as well!

We picked up Alesha from the airport on Friday afternoon and headed straight down to Anaheim to meet Heather and her fiancee, Josh. A quick walk through Downtown Disney to kill some time for dinner, a pretzel to ebb the hunger, and then it was off to dinner at PF Chang's. We stuffed ourselves silly!

Heather is a massive Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf fan, so our next stop was a coffee run. Then, it was back to the hotel, ditching the boys, and lavishing Heather with some lingerie for her upcoming wedding. That was followed by hours of talking, catching up, and sharing our lives with each other once more. I spent the night in the hotel with Heather, which resulted in a few more hours of talking and getting very little sleep... But it was so worth it!

The following morning, we met up with everyone again, plus all the rest of our college gang of friends, to go to Disneyland for the day. I am so incredibly blessed to have these people in my life, and to have a weekend just like the old days, was such a gift. These moments come so few and far between now that we're all getting married and spread across the country, literally. And it was wonderful to spend time with and get to know a little bit more the newest addition to our quasi family: Josh.

We dropped Alesha back off at the airport this afternoon, and now Amy and I are back home, utterly spent, but thoroughly content. Have I mentioned that I have an early bed time this evening?!

So today I simply have a few pictures to share with you. Cards will come in the next day or two depending on how many nights it takes to catch up with my sleep, lol.

The college gang. Back together again!

Thanks for stopping by!

Verve Release Challenge Card #4

Here's card number three for challenge number 4! I'm still celebrating (and trying to score some free Verve goodness) Verve's stamp release this Friday. I'm going to miss the release party, but I'll be out doing something even better!

My bf, Heather, is flying down for a conference this weekend, and is going to extend her stay down here in So Cal so that we can visit for two days. Friday night, the old college roomies are getting together (along with her fiancee, Josh) to have dinner. Then, we girls are stealing Heather for a night of giggles and lingerie! Yup, Heather herself told me that this would be our one and only shot to embarrass her before her wedding in June. And that we full-on plan to do. After a few round of mini golf, of course! And we have one more HUGE surprise up our sleeves for Heather, but juuuuust in case she's reading this, I can't reveal what that is until after Friday night. :) Saturday, we're all heading to Disneyland. It's going to be a wonderful weekend!

This third card for the fourth challenge (phew!), was also a sketch challenge. I'm still loving my Hawaiian Shores paper, as well as Julee's inspirational colors, and figured I might as well keep working with them. I also pulled out more Green Boutique dp, stamped the sentiment (love this font!), and glittered the rim of the oval (which is really hard to tell from the picture... But I'm tellin' ya... This thing sparkles!). I love how this one turned out. I might make a few more of these and box 'em up as a gift in the future. It was quick and easy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Happy Birthday

Paper- Hawaiian Shore, Whisper White, Green Boutique dp

Ink- Basic Black

Accessories- ribbon, apron lace punch, glitter, nestabilities

Verve Release Challenge Card #1

Good morning and welcome back for my onslaught of cards created in honor of Verve's Release Week Challenges aka the Beach Party! The first of five challenges is a color challenge... So summery and fun! I think I might do all of my challenge cards with this combo, hehe. I pulled out more Hawaiian Shores cardstock (the more I use it, the more I love it!), some Orange Zest, and the perfect matched Green Boutique dp.

First off, you should know that this card was heavily influenced by this amazing card created by Dawn McVey a few weeks ago. (In other words, this is a very obvious case.) I kept the layout, stamped my own bookprint with PTI's Text Style, added some orange framing, and orange flower, and some orange ribbon. Of course, other than the text stamp, the flower and sentiment are Verve. :) I was really in the mood to do some coloring when I made this card, so a big flower was an easy choice. And I'm always looking for an excuse to pull my copics out.

I did lots of staining/antiquing on this card as well. I used my tea dye stains on the scallops, still didn't feel it was dark enough, and eventually pulled out my Creamy Caramel ink and rubbed it all over the scalloped edges! Love how it turned out! I also distressed and curled up the edges of the scallops to make them stick up a bit.

Soooo happy with how this turned out! I am in love with this flower Feel the Sun. I'm not a huge cutting-it-out fan, but I love to do this flower and pop up that center. And I couldn't resist sticking a big Hawaiian Shores button in the middle of it. I had to sneak a bow onto this card somehow!

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Accent Notes, Feel the Sun, PTI: Background Basics: Text Style
Paper- Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, Whisper White, Green Boutique dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black, Wild Wasabi, Orange Zest, Creamy Caramel (rubbed on)
Accessories- ribbon, scallop edge punch, copics, dimensionals, tea dye stains, button, twine

Verve Release Challenge Card #3

Good morning! It's release time for Verve, and that means 5 fun challenges to play along with this week! And even better? No projects!!! All cards. Phew! I might actually finish all five this month (never finished last month, eek!).

I'm starting off with the third of five challenges, and it just so happens to be a sketch challenge. I also went with the literal interpretation (if ya hadn't noticed...) of the sketch. I loved the colors so much that I just had to do that exact thing. Plus, it made my life a little bit more simple.

I stamped some polka dots on the aqua in white, and embossed the vertical panels with some Swiss Dots. The verse was stamped twice, once in black and the second time in Hawaiian Shores. I punched out the HS center and popped it up on dimensionals. I then went around with an orange copic marker to color in the outside circle.

Lots more Verve-y goodness to come! Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: 1 Peter 5:7, PTI: Polka Dot Basics
Paper- Whisper White, Hawaiian Shores, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black
Ink- Basic Black, Hawaiian Shores, Moonlight White
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, copic, swiss dots embossing folder

Sweet Sunday Sketch #65

Good morning! I have my card for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch to share with you today. Tonight (or tomorrow morning) I will have the beginnings over some Verve Release Challenges to share with you! I'm so excited for the release this weekend. But yesterday, before the madness began, I sat down to make this card.

My card was heavily influenced by the fact that my cousin and her husband just had their third baby, Ezekiel James, on Thursday. They live in Texas currently while her husband attends Dallas Theological Seminary, so it will be a little while before I actually get to meet the little guy, but I'm excited none-the-less! I went shopping and got the most adorable little boy outfit to mail to them, and this card is going to accompany it.

I stuck to some boyish colors, stayed away from bows, snuck one little flower button on there, and kept it as simple as I could. It is a baby card, so it can be a little girly, right?! I stamped the branch in Kiwi Kiss, then rock and rolled it in Old Olive to add some darker color to the edges. My tea dye stains tamed the white a bit, and then I tried a new technique: ribbon pleating. LOVE! Though, I would image it would be a whole lot easier with a sewing machine. Someday... *sigh*

I have a sub in my classroom today so that I can attend the RIF hearings at our district office. It should be a thrilling day. I'm taking some papers with me to grade. :) But, it's good that everyone is making sure everything is being done properly and according to the law. It just makes for a long, legal (like a court room, but in the district building) day. I did grab some pork chops to make for dinner tonight, so at least I have something to look forward to when I get home! :) Pork with an apple-cherry glaze. And I think I'm going to try some couscous as my side dish. I have some scallions and pine nuts lying around... I think I can whip something up with that. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages
Paper- Enchanted Evening, Spring Moss, In Bloom dp, Bitty Dots dp, Whisper White
Ink- Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Enchanted Evening
Accessories- buttons, glue dots, tea dye stain

Viva la Verve!

*Sermon link now fixed. :)

It's week three of Viva la Verve and we are continuing our stroll through living rooms this month. Amber gave us some great inspiration pictures, and at first I was incredibly tempted to use the blue room. It would have been a gorgeous Baja Breeze/Chocolate Chip combo.... One of my all-time favorites. But the green room kept calling to me, sneaking into my thoughts, until I gave into it.

I was completely inspired by the curtains and the couches. I love the monochromatic feel of the couch, and the repeated designs. I had to pull out my Giga Guide Lines and Guide Lines sets to see if I could replicate a few of the patterns. I chose two medallions with swirls on the ends of them, and stamped them out. The back piece like the curtains, and the front, smaller piece like the couches. And don't tell Amber, but I increased the size of the sentiment panel, hehe. It just needed a nice, big print, and I love the way this big strip across the middle carries the symmetrical motif of the card (Phew! Throwing big words at ya today, lol!).


So, there ya have it! I'm off to church in a bit. Our pastor introduced a new sermon series last week on Celebrating Recovery (yes, introduced, not started), and the first sermon in the series will be today. Last week's sermon was absolutely amazing. The kind that I will never forget... Ever. Life-changing. And that was just the introduction! I can't wait for the actual series! A couple smaller errands to run after church, and then it's back home to the stamping studio. I have a few more sketches saved from this week that I really want to play around with. And my book is calling my name. :)


Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Guide Lines, Giga Guide Lines
Paper- Spring Moss, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Ink- Old Olive
Accessories- ribbon, pearls, nestabilities

Fall to Layout

Good afternoon!

I think after a week of vacation, I had forgotten how exhausted being at work makes me, lol. I literally came home each day and crashed on the couch with a book (often dozing off for a blissful mini-nap). I thought about making cards, but just couldn't drag up the energy. And I've been on book-binge as of late. Have I mentioned how much I love to read? I consider myself a certified book-aholic. There's nothing quite like curling up with a book and getting lost in my imagination. :)

I have also officially survived my first first-grade field trip! Phew! The kids actually all did really well, and it seems like they had a wonderful time. We went to see a musical production of Beauty and the Beast (not the Disney version, but the actually fairy tale). It was a little stressful getting back to our buses, but we all made it safe and sound. I absolutely crashed when I got home, though. I think I slept for about 2 hours on the couch, hehe.

Anyways, after some fun bridal shower shopping for my best friend this morning, I came home inspired to tackle last week's Fall to Layout. I adjusted the card sketch down to an A2 size since I don't have any special longer envelopes. I love the little leafy images popping up on the right side of the sketch and knew I wanted to use my Turning a New Leaf set for this card. I also receive my new Cards magazine yesterday, and my color combo was inspired by a card by none of than Dawn McVey. I loved her little jewels next to the leaves and just had to do that, too!

My roomie's out of town this weekend, so I've got the house to myself. It's soooo quiet! I miss having someone to talk to in those too-quiet moments. I'm looking forward to her return on Monday. But it is kind of fun to have the cable set to the Broadway station all day long. :) There's no one here to make me change it! heee

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Turning a New Leaf, Giga Guide Lines
Paper- Spring Moss, Bitty Box dp
Ink- Plum Pudding, Old Olive
Accessories- ribbon, jewels

Book Club Monday

Good morning! I have a random card to share with you today. This was a card made for Sue Berker's blog, but I didn't end up using it. Don't know why, just didn't. I pulled out some more of my purple papers (I've been rather drawn to them lately), and more twine. I think I've rediscovered twine as an embellishment. I've tended lately to only use it in buttons, but have forgotten how lovely it can look wrapped around a card in place of ribbon.

I'm off to book club this evening! So excited! We meet once a month, reading one book during that time. It was my pick last month, and we will be discussing the book Sarah's Key tonight. Since I had already read the book (it was my pick, and I always do this on purpose to allow myself the chance to work on my "to-be-read" pile), I read two books in its place: The Hiding Place, and Firefly Lane (a tear-jerker!). Both great books! I'm excited to find out what we'll be reading this month. The gal who's picking this month always chooses rather different, interesting books... And they're not always my favorite. But I always read them and give 'em a shot. That's one of the things I love about book club: I'm constantly exposed to different forms of literature that I may have never picked up on my own.

It's also back to the work grind for me this morning. Spring Break was wonderful, and full of wonderful people and experiences. And oh, how I wish there was still one more week of it! lol

Have a lovely day. Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Beautiful Kindness
Paper- Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Bitty Dots dp, Whisper White, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Plum Pudding
Accessories- twine, nestabilities, white gel pen, dimensionals, pearls, tea dye stain

Viva la Verve!

Good morning! I'm back with the second Viva la Verve challenge for the month of April. Amber has us walking through living rooms this month, and I absolutely loved the first inspiration picture she provided. The earthy tones, the darker colors, those great curtains! In fact, the curtains were my inspiration launching point. When I really started staring at the picture, it struck me that they appeared to have a similar pattern as some Cosmo Cricket dp I have lying around. Bam! The card came together in my head.

I did start out by stamping some images on those two center panels, but quickly nixed 'em. They made the card feel waaaay too busy. That background dp did enough talking all by its little ol' self. Some flowers (which I've literally had sitting around for years), buttons to spice them up a bit, and some twine finished up that side of the card. The left side felt a little lonely, so I added a row of deep red bling to balance it out a bit. Lastly, I stained the perimeter of the card and the sentiment to dull the cream a bit.

Amy and I are off to church this morning, and then to grandma's to help her with some quick computer things. I think today is officially going to be my garden planting day as well. I always plant a summer veggie garden during spring break, and I've certainly waited until the last possible minute to do that. But I'm so excited! Fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers.... Yum!!!

Have a lovely Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Psalms 121:1-2 PJ

Paper- Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Sage Shadow, Pure Poppy, Cosmo Cricket Early Bird dp

Ink- Wild Wasabi

Accessories- nestabilities, jewels, primas, buttons, twine, tea dye stain

Mojo Monday

Good morning! It's contest week over on the Mojo Monday blog and I had to participate. Gotta get my some Verve goodness! I submitted this card a few days ago, but have been so busy here on the blog that it's just now making it's blog debut.

I went with some bolder colors than my norm, but I think I like 'em. I might play around with them a little more and see if I can find the magical balance, but this wasn't too bad. I stamped some polka dots with white ink on the kraft cardstock, and then added some Bitty Box dp for the two square panels. Some white gel pen spiced up the scallop nestie a bit. And I once again pulled out my tea dye stains to mellow out that bright white around the sentiment as well as the perimeter of the card.

Now it is time to cross my fingers, toes, arms, and legs and maybe some Verve will come my way. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Hebrews 11:1 PJ, PTI: Polka Dot Basics
Paper- Pure Poppy, Kraft, Whisper White, Bitty Box dp
Ink- Pure Poppy, Moonlight White (Archival)
Accessories- nestabilities, jewels, white gel pen, tea dye stains, dimensionals

Viva la Verve!

I'm exactly one week behind in posting this card. Therefore, it is a good thing that we have until the end of the month to finish all of the challenges for Viva la Verve! :)

Amber gave us what I thought of as a difficult sketch this week. Something about that oval being the only thing in the top half and a big empty bottom intimidated me a bit. Soooo, I decided to turn the whole thing sideways, made the oval a little larger, and got down to business.

We're walking through living rooms for the month of April, and I really loved the purple room inspiration that Amber provided. Aren't those pillows awesome?! Love them! Of course, they really don't match my living room, but they're still fun to look at.

I pulled out some old Haiku dp to help match some of the movement in the pillows, added some Raspberry Fizz ribbon (still lovin' this stuff!), and a lovely flower from Feel the Sun. I colored in a few of the petals with a copic marker to make them ever-so-slightly darker.

It's my last weekday of Spring Break. So sad! Where did it all go? Can I have another week?! I'm off to return to the windshield repair place in a bit. I've got some air leaking through and it's making a really annoying whistle when I drive. I hope they can seal it up so it stops! Then, it's back to stamping... So looking forward to some quality time in my little studio today!

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Happy Mother's Day, Feel the Sun
Paper- Going Gray, Rich Razzleberry, Raspberry Fizz, Whisper White, Haiku dp
Ink- Old Olive, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, copics, nestabilities, dimensionals

Fall to Layout

Good morning! It's another beautiful day here is So Cal. The rain has moved on out and spring is back in full force (as well as my allergies!). Beware of this longer post today. :) Lots of pictures to share!

We had Mom Cora for one more day yesterday and decided to check out some local gardens nearby our house called Descanso Gardens. I had no idea this place was even there before today, but man, oh man, was it gorgeous! I definitely plan on heading back there in various seasons to take in the over 100,000 camellias, and thousands of other types of flowers. Today we saw the camellias in bloom, as well as a lilac garden, tulip garden, and lots of other flowers whose names I am not familiar with. LOVE that place! I took along my big Canon to get some extra good shots of the flowers. Here are a few of my favorites.

We were immediately greeted by these beauties when we entered. They were mixed into the tulip beds.

Next up was this amazing rose bush/tree in the rose garden. We were a little early in the season for the actual rose garden, but his cascading tree was absolutely STUNNING!

I love, love, love how this shot turned out. I was playing around with aperture and this shot turned out just as I envisioned it. I loved the contrast of this big, lone poppy against the tiny blue and yellow wildflowers.

The lilac garden may have been my favorite. A solid several acres of just lilacs... And we made it just in time to catch the end of the blooming season down here. It smelled absolutely heavenly in this garden. I think I could have spent all day just in there.

And lastly, a group shot in the Japanese Garden to commemorate the day. That tree was sooooo pretty!

And finally, here is my card for last week's Fall to Layout sketch. I once again pulled out an older color combo from a VLV card last month, and got to stamping. It's pretty simple, but the colors make me smile! And Maureen's right... They do look like Disneyland colors... And that's the "happiest place on earth."
Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- Pure Poppy, Basic Black, Whisper White, Cosmo Cricket dp
Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- ribbon, scallop edge punch, dimensionals, buttons

Featured Stamper

Good morning! I have the huge honor today of being April's featured stamper over on Susie Berker's Blog- Sharing What I Love. She contacted me about one month ago, and I immediately said yes! Do make sure to stop by her blog, leave a little love, and check all of Sue's amazing creations (serious talent alert!). She also features a guest stamper on the 7th of each month, and I've had a blast cruising back to January to check out each one!

And on a completely random note, I went to Disneyland yesterday to meet up with a whole slough of friends (everything from past co-workers, to roommates, to college friends, cousins, and other friends). I think the whole world was at Disneyland yesterday! Anywho, while there, we ran into this person.... Anyone recognize him? hehe. We were just slightly star struck. Especially Janice, on the left, whom admitted having a secret "puppy" love for him. "He was Joseph!" she exclaimed. So fun!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #63

Good morning! Just a quick drive-by post today as we're heading out to Disneyland in just a little bit. But I just had to get my card for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch submitted.

I pulled out a color combo I used a few months pack on another card (loving this combo more and more!), and whipped it out. I couldn't figure out where to put a bow without overwhelming the card, so a little strip of ribbon had to do.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages, Turning a New Leaf

Paper- Scarlett Jewel, Raspberry Fizz, Terracotta Tile, Whisper White

Ink- Cranberry Crisp, Raspberry Fizz

Accessories- buttons, ribbon, nestabilities, scallop edge punch, dimensionals