Sketch For You To Try

Good morning!  I'm dropping by (literally) to share another card with you today. I was bound and determined to play along with this month's Sketch For You To Try within the time limit.  Mission accomplished!

I am on my way to the airport in just a bit to fly home once more for the Mountain Music Festival held in my home town.  A friend and I are the official photographers. If they only knew that I am totally pretending to be  a great photographer!  It's all the DSLR. It makes me look good, lol.  But they invited me back for a second year in a row. How could I say no? Mountains. Music.  Monsoons.  Cool weather.  Yeah, I'm there.


As for the card, I stamped a brand new (to me!) Plain Jane from Verve (such a great verse!), added a few little flowers to the lonely side of the card, and called it a day.


That's all for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Philippians 1:6 Plain Jane
Paper- Lemon Tart, Whisper White, Bitty Box Basics dp, Authentique Journey dp
Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- ribbon, nestabilities, buttons, MS flower punches

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning!  I really am not sure if I have missed the deadline for this sketch or not, but I thought I would play along anyways. It's been sitting, saved on my desktop for a few weeks and needed to be used on a card.  Leave it to me to save it until the last possible moment...

I pulled out some Authentique: Blissful dp and pulled my cardstock straight from the color palette. The flowers are my much underused Beautiful Blossoms #1 from Papertrey Ink. I love these flowers and yet I so seldom use them. I always forget about them, truthfully.  There are so many amazing flower stamps out there that I usually get sidetracked.  Tough problem, eh? ;)

I added some buttons as the flower centers, a whole lot of twine, and even an extra little strip of ruler dp across the middle. A couple tiny dots of glossy accents helped my twine stay where I wanted it to stay.

Hmmm... Yeah, submissions are closed. Darn! Oh well. That's what I get for procrastinating. ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Signature Greetings
Paper- Whisper White, Basic Black, Authentique: Blissful dp
Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- twine, buttons, nestabilities, beautiful blooms #1 die

Sketch For You To Try

Good afternoon! I am officially on Thanksgiving vacation! 9 glorious days off. I plan to fill those days to the utmost. It began this morning with being awoken, in bed, by one of my old college roomies and her 6-month-old daughter smiling at me. This was followed by cuddling on the bed with a bouncing, gummy smile!

Best. Morning. Ever.

I'm definitely squeezing in some card making, including some quality stamping time with some old co-workers tomorrow afternoon. Monday is Disneyland (and I am SO getting my Happy Birthday pin so that everyone has to say Happy Birthday to me!). Tuesday is my birthday (the roomie and I are totally having donuts for breakfast!) as well as the day my parents and I are flying up to Portland to celebrate Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband's family. Then it's back down here on Friday for some good relaxation, more stamping, and book-reading before school starts back up.

Yup. Be jealous.

I ran to the store to grab a few things for dinner tonight and a turkey to donate at church tomorrow. Man, those birds are heavy! Tonight's dinner? Chicken apple sausage with couscous. Yum!

My card today used this month's Sketch for You to Try. Lovin' all those straight lines again. I stamped the birdcage in black. The bird is stamped in yellow and then clear embossed for a little pop. I pulled out more new dp (Well, new to me! Just when I think I've caught up with dp a whole new line comes out! I can't keep up, lol!) and pulled my colors directly from it. The sentiment is actually from another set, Mat Stack 2 Collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Love Birds, Mat Stack 2 Collection
Paper- Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Lemon Tart, Authentique: Blissful dp
Ink- Basic Black, Versamark, Summer Sun
Accessories- ribbon, jewels, clear ep, black marker, dimensionals

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning! I'm just dropping in with my card to share with you today. This is another moldy oldie that I've been hanging on to, oh, since May. Yes, believe it or not, this card was actually made way back then, but then got slightly lost in the chaos of Open House, field trips, the end of the school year, and Italy. So, it's finally seeing the light of day.


This was a pretty quick and simple card. It uses some Lime Twist Out of the Blue dp, some buttons in lieu of a second circle, and some twine. Does this actually qualify as a masculine card? It quite possibly could be my first, lol!

The roomie and I are off to Disneyland again this evening. We're going to ride the new Little Mermaid ride (which is adorable!), catch the summer fireworks (good, but not as good as the regular fireworks), and watch Fantasmic (my favorite!). So excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Say It With Style
Paper- Kraft, Whisper White, MME's Lime Twist Out of the Blue dp
Ink- Really Rust
Accessories- twine, buttons, dimensionals, nestabilities

Sketch For You To Try

Good afternoon! I need to take a moment and be thankful for the blissfully cool weather we are having today. This is the first day where it has not been 90 degrees before ten in the morning in, well, I don't know how long. The house is cool. The windows are open. There is a delightful breeze blowing. I wish it would stay like this all summer long!


I sat down to play with Jen's Sketch for You to Try this morning, and pulled out some Stella and Rose Gertie dp to help the sketch along. I played with a few sentiments in the panel, but ended up with this beautiful sympathy sentiment from Verve's Forever in our Hearts. I hate making these kinds of cards at the moment when they are necessary, so it's good to be able to stash a few away for a rainy day.

The three little circle images in the corner truly had me stumped. I ended up with some buttons, but I'm not sure if they'll stay there for long, lol. I many photograph the picture and then take them off. Shh! Don't tell! Or, well, maybe not. They're kind of growing on my the more I look at the card.... Hmmm...

I am off to book club this evening. We read the book "Mudbound" this last month, and though I really enjoyed the book, it was also a frustrating, aggravating read. You see, the book takes place in the deep south during the height of segregation. I guess that fact that I became so angry with the blatant racism is a testament to how far we have all come since not so long ago! I am excited for our discussions tonight, and to find out what book is next! Did I mention that one of our gals just had a baby on Friday?! I can't wait to meet the little guy tonight!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Forever in Our Hearts
Paper- Kraft, Vintage Cream, MME Stella & Rose Gertie dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- ribbon, edge punch, buttons, twine, jewels

Sketch For You To Try

I'm barely squeezing in my Sketch for You to Try card before the deadline... Tonight! I've had this sketch saved on my desktop for the entire month, determined to play along. After all, how often does a sketch come along with all squared corners?! I finally had the chance to play along this morning.

Thank goodness for a glorious day off from everything. I literally have no where to be, no one to see, nothing that has to be done, all day today! I can't remember the last time I had a true "day off."

I pulled out some of my MME Stella & Rose Hazel dp for this card, matching a few odd colors. The inspiration launching point was actually that green piece of dp, and the rest were in the mix, so I figured they would work. :)

I stamped a flower from Feel the Sun twice, colored it with copics, and popped up the middle of the flower. A little button on top finished it off as well as gave it a little more height. Since this smaller flower didn't have any leaves (and it needed them on this card), I die cut some leaves from my SU branch die. A few pink jewels down in the corner finished the element of "pink" three.

This card also meets the requirements for this month's Diva Dare over on the Verve blog! Yay! The dare is "April Showers Bring May Flowers. I used a few Verve stamps on this card, including one of my favorite flowers!

The roomie and I are off to go see "Water for Elephants" this evening, and I'm so excited! I read this book several years ago after my mom gave it to me. It truly has the BEST ending of any book I have read. It really was perfect. I'm hoping that the movie doesn't change that element. The book club went and saw it on Monday of this last week, but I wasn't able to make it. Thank goodness I made the roomie read the book a few weeks ago in preparation for the movie's release. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stamps- Verve: Feel the Sun
Paper- Basic Gray, Vintage White, Simply Chartreuse, MME Stella & Rose Hazel dp
Ink- Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- button, twine, jewels, copics, dimensionals, Sizzix branch die

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning! I finally had the opportunity to sit and play with this month's Sketch for You to Try this morning (along with baking a banana cake!). I used some more of MME's Stella and Rose Gertie dp on this card and pulled all of my colors from the paper. I colored the image with my copics, covered the cherries and strawberries with some diamond glaze, and used some diamond stickles to added some shimmer to other little bits of the picture.

Sorry to keep this post so brief, but there are a million things that I need to take care of today. It was a crazy week at work, when it was supposed to be an easy week. Every big event ended up being cancelled due to the lousy weather (field trip, jog-a-thon, and hour-long disaster drill). Needless to say, I was stressing over lesson plans where none existed; filling entire days and hours with plans at the last minute. Crazy! I'm so glad it is the weekend.

I promise to have more for you tomorrow- cards AND words, lol.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Stampendous: Tiers of Treats
Paper- Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, MME Stella and Rose Gertie dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- ribbon, slot punch, copics, tea dye stains, dimensionals, diamand glaze, stickles, pearls, button, twine

Sketch For You To Try

Good evening! I am pleased to report that today went MUCH better than yesterday, lol. Today, we were lice-free, crying-kid free, and problem-free! Woohoo! And to make matters even better, we have a three-day weekend in honor of MLK Day. I am soooo looking forward to some good sleeps. :)

Here is baby card number two, as promised. It's a bit of a style departure for me, using a chipboard decoration, and bold graphics, but I really really like how it turned out! The sketch is courtesy of this month's Sketch For You to Try. I was going to add some Raspberry Fizz ribbon, but thought the twine spoke a little more subtly. A few pink jewels a la Maureen, and voila! One girly baby card! This one is heading right on out to its recipient tomorrow afternoon. One of my co-workers from my last school is having a baby this spring and we're showing her with some gifts tomorrow. :)

That's it from me this evening. A short and sweet post. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Bitty Baby Blessings
Paper- Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Very Vanilla, MME Ooh La La dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip, Raspberry Fizz
Accessories- twine, jewels, tea dye stains, dimensionals, MME chipboard

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning and happy post-Halloween! Can you believe that today is the first day of November? November may be my favorite month of the year! It's fall, for one. I love the crisper air with a warm sun. I love the vibrant colors that the leaves turn. I love Thanksgiving and turkey! And, well, it's my birthday month. :)

We had a nice handful of trick-or-treaters last night at our house. It was so fun to see them all dressed in their adorable costumes. I love watching their methodical picking-out of the candy. Truly, being the person answering the door is almost as good as being the trick-or-treater! And we have a bit of left-over candy, which is always all right with me! We put our carved pumpkins out on the porch along with our Mr. Potato Head pumpkins (the best idea ever!). My carved pumpkin unfortunately didn't make it to Halloween before getting to rotten and squishy. So sad!

It's back to the work grind for me today, being Monday. The month of November is absolutely going to fly by. We have so many holidays this month, I think we really only have about 13 days of school total. Crazy! And somehow I have to fit fall, Veteran's Day, and Thanksgiving into those 13 days. It's going to be hectic, but fun!

The card I have to share with you today is from Jen's Sketch for You to Try. I loved the various panels on it and vowed to try and play along this week. Plus, my Mitten Weather dp was still begging to be playing with. This little mini deck isn't going to last! I might need to order a few more to hold me over!

I mixed in some Distressed Dots dp with the Mitten Weather. I think the Fine Linen color looks lovely! I need to order some matching ribbon for future use. My scalloped circle nestie with some pearls finished it off. That's another thing I need to get one of these days: liquid pearls. There have been so many gorgeous cards made lately with liquid pearls that I'm really beginning to wonder why I don't own any already, lol. In the meantime, I'll keep using my half pearls.

I also delved into one of my new Verve stamps. This was actually from the last release at the beginning of the month, but I had not had a chance to ink it up as of yet. It fit perfectly in this little circle, thank goodness. And isn't that font gorgeous? Love.

So, that's all for today! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 46:1 PJ
Paper- Red Riding Hood, Very Vanilla, Aqua Mist, Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather dp, Distressed Dots dp (PTI)
Ink- Red Riding Hood
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, tea dye stains, dimensionals, pearls, nestabilities

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning! This was one of those special sketches that pretty much scared the living daylights out of me the first time I looked at it. Yes, that wonderful feeling of dread. The immediate desire to ignore it and hope it would go away. To cast it aside into my desktop trash can.

...And then a day or two passes and it's still staring at me. And suddenly inspiration strikes! The sketch isn't so terrifying anymore, full of doom and gloom. It's suddenly full of hope, and vision. Promise.

That was Jen's Sketch for You to Try. So, I sat down to conquer this little baby yesterday with (yet again!) October Afternoon dp in hand. I think these few papers may be my favorites out of the entire paper stack. I love the soft flowers, the colors, how it looks framed on kraft and vanilla. It's just a little bit of heaven on some dp. :)

Is it just me, or is everyone pregnant right now? It's been that way for a few months now. I've gone from never making a baby card to making more than I can count. I actually broke down and purchased a baby themed stamp set to help that mass card making along. I love this little onsie in Bitty Baby Blessing from PTI. It's just too cute. I stamped the sentiment inside so that it wouldn't upstage that ribbon. Seriously, that may be the yummiest cream ribbon on the planet (got it at Joann's). A little button/twine action on the bow and this card was complete. Oh, the sentiment inside says, "Babies are Heaven sent."

That's it for me today. I'm back to checking my work email every five minutes... hoping... reaaally hoping. So, off to go check it! hehe

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Bitty Baby Blessings
Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, October Afternoon Thrift Shop dp
Ink- Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, tea dye stains, nestabilities, dimensionals

Sketch For You To Try

Good evening! I'm back home once again (for yet another very short amount of time), and back in the studio. It felt so incredibly wonderful to take a few moments to sit and stamp today.

I had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family up in Oregon and Washington. And the weather was definitely better in Oregon. :) I spent Thursday through Saturday morning visiting with the parents of one of my dearest high school friends. I'm not quite sure what I've done to make them love me so much, but it's wonderful to be loved. And they are wonderful people. I never mind the little drive to go see them when I'm up their direction. And to make the trip even better, my friend from hs, Drew, drove up from Reno to surprise me! Best surprise EVER! We all ventured out on Friday to do some wine tasting and have lunch at the King's Estate Winery just outside of Eugene. Saturday found me in Washington for my sister's second wedding reception. It was a little rainy and a bit chilly outside, but it was beautiful none-the-less. We all gave our toasts once again (which I found out there on the spot! Good thing public speaking doesn't scare me... and teaching gives me lots of practicing thinking on the spot!), and had a delicious meal, all in the most gorgeous backyard ever!

We drove around Portland for a while on Sunday so that Sharon could show us the condo she and her husband are purchasing (escrow closes tomorrow! Yay!), and also the hospital that Sharon is now working at. Just a wonderful day for enjoying each other's company. And now I'm home, back in my own bed, cooking on my own stove. I think home is like a little piece of heaven.

Today found me not only stamping, but beginning the new school year shopping. I was having a bit of a difficult time getting motivated to do this, for the act of shopping was going to force me to accept the reality that summer is ending, lol. But, as usual, once the shopping started, I found myself getting more and more excited for the school year to begin. I love the full dreams and visions for the new year... The limitless possibilities. And the kids on the first day... They're so quiet and cute!

I used Jen's Sketch for You to Try from Saturday for the layout of my card. I was having October Afternoon dp withdrawals, so there really was no other choice for dp on this card. :) Love this stuff (if I hadn't mentioned that before, hehe). I paper pieced the onsie, added a paper pieced little duckie, lots of tea dye staining, some scallops trimmed with light blue tiny twinkles, and some text style stamped in more tea dye stain (just got my refills in the mail today, yay!). What you won't find of this card is ribbon. I know. Weird. I just couldn't figure out where to put it without the card feeling too busy, and attention being drawn away from the focal points. Hmmm... I can't remember the last time I created a ribbonless card!

I'm off tomorrow to drive down to San Diego and visit my bf from high school. Her husband, new baby, and she just moved down here from the bay area and I haven't seen them in the longest time! So excited to meet their new baby as well. (Now you know where the baby themed card was inspired from, hehe.)

Time to run! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Bitty Baby Blessings, Text Style

Paper- Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, October Afternoon Thrift Shop dp

Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories- nestabilities, tea dye stains, medium scallop die, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, dimensionals

Sketch For You To Try

Good afternoon! I'm still obsessed with my new October Afternoon dp, and this dp is all from the Fly a Kite line. Love these colors!!!

I decided to play along with Jen's Sketch for You to Try this week. I stared at it for a while on Sunday, thought to myself, "No way! Too many layers!" and then decided to tackle it anyway, lol. I eliminated one layer by adding a ribbon and bow. I just couldn't get flowers to work along the side of my sentiment. I added some Taylor's Tiny Twinkles alone the apron lace punch and in the corners of this Verve sentiment.

I think I'm just going to declare it Verve week here on the blog. I'm still bummed I missed all of the Verve release fun! Although, I was off having a very different kind of fun with the best of friends. So I guess I can't complain too much. :)

It has been so delightfully cool here in So Cal today! At noon it was still 66 degrees outside! Love it! I've had all the windows and doors open to let the fresh air in. I love June Gloom. It keeps things cooler during the day. All too soon it will be gone and hotter than stink the moment the sun comes up. It always seems to happen around the 4th of July.... *sigh*

My stamping buddy, Angie, is on her way over here today to drop off some supplies I ordered through her! Yay! My white cardstock is on the dangerously low side.... as are my dimensionals. And we always have fun showing off what we've created since the last time we saw each other. She's been branching into a wedding card/special orders business, and I'm still a hobbiest, lol. I love seeing the elegant creations she whips up for weddings! I'm always in awe.

Well, thanks for stopping by! I might squeeze in one more card before Angie gets here. :)
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Anais Nin PJ
Paper- Very Vanilla, Kraft, October Afternoon (Fly a Kite) dp
Ink- More Mustard
Accessories- ribbon, apron lace punch, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, dimensionals, nestabilities, tea dye stain

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

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

Sketch For You To Try

I can't even remember the last time I played along with Jen's Sketch For You To Try. It might have been back in the summer before life got busy, aka work started back up. But I just happened to cruise by her blog on Saturday and loved her sketch for this week. It also turned out to be the perfect sketch for some mass production Christmas cards. Boy did it feel good to crank those out yesterday!

I believe I was the definition of Miss Domestic yesterday, lol. I not only cleaned part of the house, I did all the dishes (twice), went grocery shopping, made latkes for Hanukkah, baked cookies for book club tonight, made the dough for my student's ornament parent gifts, made my parent helper gifts, and cranked out all of my Christmas cards... including stamps and addresses! Phew! Do you ever just have those days where you are in the mood to work and get things done? When I have those days at work, I'm there until 6 o'clock. When that mood pops up, it's best to let it lead.

I did turn Jen's sketch on its side and changed the main rectangle to an oval for a little more pop. I would have loved to have used some red ribbon on here, but I used it all up on my staff gifts Saturday. I put in a new order today so that I won't be without it for too long. I think PTI's Pure Poppy is becoming one of my new favorite colors.

Have a wonderful rest of your Monday! Four days left for us teachers until vacation! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Holly Jolly

Paper- Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, Whisper White, Rustic Snowflakes dp

Ink- Ocean Tides

Accessories- ribbon, jewels, nestabilities

Sketch For You To Try

Good morning! I have been trying to stamp as much as possible over the weekend so that I have few fun things to show on my blog while I am on vacation. It's going to get a little quiet on here for the next week or so.

I am heading up to Bend, Oregon to visit my bf and my sister until next Thursday. No stamping will occur during that time... I'm a little scared the mojo will be rusty upon return. But, it's vacation time, and that means leaving my little hobby behind.

I was excited to play with Jen's SFYTT again this week. I really like vertical panels she had, and decided to even brave the circle. During the blog hop yesterday, I saw a card with multiple circle nesties surrounded by flower nesties. Brilliant! I thought I would give that one a try right away. What a great way to get both of the core colors into my focal image!

Everyday Button Bits made it's way onto this card, too. I am soooo loving this set! Since I have this little current addiction to buttons, this set was right up my alley. I curved the sentiment and split it in two so that it would fit in the circle.

Well, I'm off to pack! I leave bright and early tomorrow morning. So excited to see them both!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits

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

Ink- Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories- Buttons, twine, ribbon, dimensionals, nestabilities