Honoring Anne (QFTD58)

Our queen this week is jdmommy. Anne's favorite color is RED as everyone knows. I CASEd her Inspiration Challenge card called "Floral Branch". Where Anne used Crushed Curry, I used Real Red to honor her for all her beautiful cards using red. I used a different border punch and different stamps and ribbon. I stamped the branch from "Thoughts and Prayers" and the sentiment from "Short & Sweet". I moved the sentiment from the bottom to the top to accommodate my image. I punched the little flowers with the Punch Pack Flower Punch and embossed them. I added tiny black pearls to the centers. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! except the border punch and pearls. Thanks for stopping by!

PASS the "P's" PLEASE!!! (TSC0429)

This week's Presenter for the Twisted Sistahs Challenge is ME!! The challenge is called "Pass the "P's" Please. The first "P" is for Pet. You MUST have a Pet on your project. It can be one you have, one you have had or one you might like to have. I used to have Pet Parakeets. Not Polka dotted ones like this one, and they weren't Peach colored either, but I had to use some Patterned Paper to do some Paper Piecing. I also did some Paper Piercing in the corner. I couldn't leave my Pet Parakeet hanging, so I Punched him a Perch. I also Punched some Petals and Poked them with a stylus to make them Pop up and look more like real Posies. Of course, I had to Put something in the centers, so I Picked Pearls!! Only one thing...I should have used Purple!! LOL! Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Great Butterflies (CCEE1117, WT320, CC320)

The CCEE Stampers Challenge is to add a butterfly to your card. I think these butterflies are making that bear happy! The Ways To Use It Challenge is to make a card for a boy. I think this would make a nice card for a boy. I tried to make the bear look happy instead of scary. The Color challenge for this week is Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Baja Breeze. I have a lot of neutrals here, but the main image panel IS those colors! The card is 4.25" square, and I used Naturals Ivory, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stocks. The bear and sentiment are from "Under the Stars". Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Triple Challenge (CC320, MMTPT143, SC330)

The Color Challenge for this week is to use Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Baja Breeze with a dessert option to do some embossing of any kind. I embossed the little flowers. The Teapot Tuesday Challenge is to be inspired by a teapot that had a blue bird on it. We are to send our cards to the person who is to the left of us in the gallery. Great idea to send cards to each other!! This is also for the Sketch Challenge for this week. I think I might be caught up already!! I used Bashful Blue for the base card, and I used Bashful Blue DSP (retired) and Taffeta Ribbon. I used Baja Breeze for the mat and the ink to stamp the birdie from "Punch Potpourri" (hostess). I used Certainly Celery for the leaves and 1/2" circles. The sentiment from "Sincere Salutations" was stamped with Black Stazon. I used the Bird & Branch Punch for the bird and leaves and the 4-petal flower from the Punch Pack for the white flowers. The centers were done with the Bashful Blue marker. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

I'm Away

I'm at a hotel in Reno for a Spa Day with friends from church. There are 14 women here. We had a wonderful dinner last night which took us over three hours! Lots of great food, good wine and fabulous desserts. We had the waiter take our picture, and as soon as I find my camera, I'll upload a photo. Today, I'm having a massage at 11:00 a.m. and then I will be using the Spa facilities for the rest of the day. That includes sauna, steam room, hot tubs, and pools. If the weather is nice, we will have lunch on the terrace. Yesterday, it was windy, so we're all hoping for no wind! Anyway, there will be no card making until I get home tonight or maybe I'll make my tea party card tomorrow morning. Have a great day everyone!! I am!!!! :)

Sweet Thank You (CAS116)

The Clean & Simple Challenge for this week is called "Artist's Rule of 3's". We could use three images, accessories or panels depending on how we wanted to interpret the "threes". I used three images. I used three punches and an embossing folder on this, and it still took no time at all. the base card is Crumb Cake and is partially embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder. The images from "Pretty Postage" (Summer Mini) were stamped with Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White, but I tried to remove the ink from the bottom part and use a Crumb Cake Marker, but not all of the red ink came off. I still like how they turned out. I punched them with the new Postage Punch and then matted on Cherry Cobbler that was punched with the 1-1/4" Square Punch. The horizontal strip was punched from Cherry Cobbler with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch. The sentiment is from my old stand-by, "Short & Sweet". Everything used here is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

CASEing Shelly (FS220)

This week's Featured Stamper is Freshn'Sassy. Shelly has such an awesome gallery. She makes lots of sets of cards, so she upload several at a time. She sure does crank 'em out!! I chose to CASE her "Welcome Baby" card. I changed the papers and stamps, and I didn't make that adorable baby in a blanket. Instead, I stamped and paper pieced the baby buggy from the "Baby Bundle" set. I moved the brads from the square panel onto the buggy and popped up the buggy. The sentiment is from "Short & Sweet", and I stamped a border of diaper pins from that set on the inside. The base card is Pear Pizazz and the matting is Chocolate Chip. The papers came from my scraps. They are: Animal Stories, Delicate Dots (retired SAB), Sweet Pea (retired) and the yellow (Daffodil Delight) from the Brights Pack. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Easter for Mom (C4C84, ODBDSLC58)

This is for the Crazy 4 Challenges challenge to make an Easter card and for Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge which was a sketch. The rose and leaves are from Michael's, the ribbon is from Mark's Finest Papers, the Nestie and stamps (Daffodil Tag Set) are from Our Daily Bread Designs, and the card stocks (Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla), inks (Black Stazon and Melon Mambo), DSP (Springtime Vintage), Crocheted Lace, embossing folder (Perfect Polka Dots) and Dimenstionals are all from Stampin' Up!
This view shows the inside with the Easter sentiment. The little flowers were punched with the four petal flower from the Punch Pack, embossed and a White Gel Pen was used for the centers. This is the Easter card I'm giving to my mom tomorrow. She just turned 96 on Thursday. Thanks for stopping by!!

Orange and Yellow (F4A61)

The Free 4 All Challenge on SCS is to use orange somewhere on our cards. Well, this Greenhouse Gala DSP has these beautiful flowers that are orange and yellow. I used Peach Parfait for the base card, the DSP, the circle punched with the 2-1/2" Circle Punch is Wild Wasabi and the scallop circle punched with the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch is Whisper White. The quote from "Occasional Quotes" is stamped with Wild Wasabi ink. The little flowers were punched with the four petal flower from the Punch Pack, embossed and the centers were colored with the Peach Parfait Marker. The ribbon is Peach Parfait Ribbon. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Thanks X3 X3 (TSC0422)

The Twisted Sistahs Challenge was presented by Wannabcre8ive. Shirley challenged us to make a card with blues and browns. We had to have a half or quarter circle plus at least two squares. If your main image is a square, you have to have at least two other squares. I think I covered everything! I used Soft Suede and Baja Breeze plus some DSP that is mostly Baja Breeze. I used my Postage Stamp Punch and "Pretty Postage" stamp set for the first time. I added the Baja Breeze Ribbon Seam Binding with a bow to bring it all together. The new punch and stamp set will be available May 1st from the Summer Mini Catalog. Everything except the Nesties is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Ovals & Verses (WT319)

The Ways To Use It Challenge is to use ovals. One of the suggestions is to use oval shaped die cuts on our cards or projects. I made this tissue box cover for a friend from church whose birthday was today, the same day as my mom's. I used Spellbinders Labels #10 for the top and all four panels with the verses on them. The verses came from Verve, the nesties came from Spellbinders, the borders EF is from Cuttlebug, but all the rest came from Stampin' Up! The card stock is Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and Whisper White. Thanks for stopping by!!

No Butterflies (CCEE1115, SC329)

First of all, last Thursday's CCEE Stampers Challenge was to use pink and black. I'm sure late with that, but I still wanted to do it and I just haven't had time until now. This is also for this week's Sketch Challenge. Roxie had to put it on her blog, Paper Scraper, because she could get online but not on SCS last night or this morning. That's what I call dedication though! Her sample had butterflies on it, and many others did too. I left off the butterflies so that you can see how the new Triple Layer Blossom Punch works. It punches three different ways and you can use all the pieces in so many different ways. Here, I punched the white with the third setting and the pink with the second and overlapped the white on the pink. I popped up the blossom on the black that was punched with the Scallop Circle Punch, and that was popped up too. I used a 1/4" Circle Punch for the centers of the blossoms. I used the same punch to punch the black circles that I put the Basic Jewels Rhinestones on. The sentiment is from "Fundamental Phrases". Top it off with Basic Black Satin Ribbon, and there you go! Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Psalm 7:4 (CC319, MMTPT142, ODBDSLC57)

I want to do so many challenges, but I just don't have the time, so I have to combine them. This is for the Color Challenge which is to use Concord Crush, Ivory and Crumb Cake. The dessert option is NO dp. I embossed the vanilla panel for my background. The Teapot Tuesday Challenge is to bring tulips to the party. I used ODBD Tulip Corner stamp and the Tulip Tag set for the verse. The Shining the Light Challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs is to do NO coloring. We can sponge a background but NO coloring. I sponged the Very Vanilla panel with Concord Crush ink, making sure that it was just slightly darker in the corners where the tulip flowers would be. I stamped the Tulip Corner with Versamark and heat embossed with Gold EP. The verse was stamped with Black Stazon. Other than the stamps and the Nesties, everything else used here is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Simple Things (CAS115)

The Clean & Simple Challenge is to follow a sketch by mamamostamps shown here. My image panel is slightly smaller to accommodate the smaller image and I used DSP instead of embossing the bottom. The image is from the new "Touch of Kindness" set in the Summer Mini and so is the sentiment. I used Crumb Cake for the base card (as did Maureen) and Whisper White for the main image panel. I water colored the image with Water Color Wonder Crayons and an Aqua Painter. I used Pawsitively Prints I DSP (retired) and So Saffron Ribbon from an SAB Ribbon Bundle (retired). I have a whole bottle of yellow flowers I need to use up, so I used two of those along with a brad from the retired Rich Regals Brads. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! except for the flowers. Thanks for stopping by!!

CASEing Sue (FS219)

Well, I was crowned queen, and with that came the responsibility of commenting on every card made in my honor. I had no time for card making! I still have some commenting to do, but I made this card this morning before church, and I'm just now getting a chance to upload. This week's Featured Stamper is none other than my friend Coffeestamper (aka Sue, aka Perk). Sue is one of the Twisted Sistahs. We have been online friends for a while now. We've traded images a couple of times too. She sent me this chicken image and the chicken wire image, and I even had to ask for more chickens! LOL! I'm running out of chicken wire now! Anyway, I just had to use one of the RAK's (Random Acts of Kindness) that she sent me when I CASEd one of her cards. I chose to CASE her "WHAT'S UP CHICK" card. The only changes I made were the colors, the sizes of the panels and I made a bow instead of a knot. Oh, and I moved the photo corners out a bit or the lower one would have covered part of the chicken. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Queen for the Day

Guess who was chosen as this week's Queen?! ME!!! I haven't made a card today because I've been so busy commenting on all the nice cards they've made in my honor!! They've said such nice things about me, too! I'm blushing now!! I'll be back to making cards again tomorrow!!

Four in a Row (CC318, SC328, WT318, TSC0415)

This card is for four challenges in a row. Tuesday's Color Challenge for this week is to use So Saffron, Pretty In Pink and Pear Pizazz. There's a dessert option which is to use punches which I did. Yesterday's Sketch Challenge had several layers, and I already did a card for the challenge, but I used that layout again for this card. Today's Ways To Use It Challenge was called "Hey People!". We were to use images of people on our cards. I used the two little girls from "The Nicest Things". Tomorrow's Twisted Sistahs Challenge was presented by irishgreensue (aka Greenie or Sue). She challenged us to make a card with paper piecing and something popped up for dimension. She gave us a dessert option, too. We could use buttons on our cards. The pink dress bottom is paper pieced with the same DSP as the first matted layer. The green dress is paper pieced with DSP from the In-Color Paper Pack (hostess), and it's Pear Pizazz. The yellow apron is paper pieced with some retired So Saffron DSP. I actually stamped the basket again and colored it with markers before cutting it out and paper piecing that. The medallion is popped up and has a sentiment from a new stamp set called, "A Touch of Kindness". It will be available in May from the Summer Mini. The buttons are Pretty in Pink from a retired Soft Subtles Button Collection, and I tied bows using White Bakers Twine (also in the Summer Mini). Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Bunny Love (SC328)

I changed things a bit to make this week's sketch into a square card (5-3/8" square). I received this image and sentiment from an online friend, Coffeestamper (aka Perk, aka Sue). When she stamped the sentiment, she punched it out with a 1" circle punch, so I added the 1-1/4" Pumpkin Pie, 1-3/8" Old Olive and the white scallop circle layers to create the medallion. I used Pumpkin Pie Textured card stock for the base card and Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive DSP's (retired) for the other layers. I added the Flower Brights Brads for addition embellishment. Everything used to make this card came from Stampin' Up! except for the image and sentiment. Thanks for stopping by!!

The Love Bus (MMTPT141)

For the full story behind this, go to the Tea Party challenge thread. We are to bring guitars and/or vehicles to this party. This card is going to Tom who has Down Syndrome and loves music and cars. My bus was cut with the Cricut Machine using the Doodlecharms cartridge. The base card is Gable Green with a layer of Yoyo Yellow that is stamped with the flower from "So Happy for You" (SAB). The bus is stamped with the same flower and has the little guy in the window from "Loads of Love Accessories". The letters in his name and the guitar are stickers, and I used brads for hub caps and the Zig Painty silver for the bumpers. I think Tom will like it. All the ink, stamps and card stock are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

ORANGE! (CAS114)

The bibs shown above were to be the inspiration for this week's Clean & Simple Challenge. Lots of people went with cute little elephants or giraffes and monkeys and made baby cards. Guess which bib I picked!
Yep, the plain orange one at the top! I dared to be different I guess. Besides, I wanted it to be VERY Clean and Simple! LOL! I just used Pumpkin Pie card stock and rounded the corners, added two buttons, embossed with a button border and added the sentiment. This would be a great card to give someone who had made a hand sewn item. The sentiment is from "So Happy for You" which was a recent SAB set. The buttons were from my stash. Thanks for stopping by!!

CASEing Becky (FS218)

Our Featured Stamper this week is bspinks. Becky's wonderful gallery included this "Hugs and Kisses" card. The title made me think of this "Bugs & Kisses" stamp set from Stampin' Up! I changed the stamps, colors and layout. I added the popped up sentiment panel. The base card is Daffodil Delight, the mats are Marina Mist, the DSP is Pawsitively Prints I and the main panel is Whisper White. I used Marina Mist In Pad and Daffodil Delight Marker. The bow is made from Marina Mist wide striped ribbon. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Evergreen (C4C82, ODBDSLC56)

The Crazy 4 Challenges challenge is a color challenge. We are to use brown, green and vanilla. To me, those colors spell nature and masculine. The Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge is to make a card with no ribbons. You could use lace, hemp twine, cording or string, but no ribbon. I was going to use some hemp twine on this but felt it didn't need it. The quote and the silver embossed frame are from the ODBD "Eternity" set. The Spellbinders Nestie is from ODBD as well. The tree and pine cone are from Stampin' Up!'s "Lovely as a Tree" set. I also used SU!'s "Woodgrain" background stamp and the wood grain EF is from the Sizzix Tim Holtz collection. I used a Naturals Ivory base card and stamped and embossed the Soft Suede layer. The die cut piece is Very Vanilla sponged with Soft Suede ink. The tree and pine cone were stamped on Very Vanilla with Always Artichoke and touched up with the Soft Suede Marker. I did some fussy cutting on the tree. I used the MS Branch punch to punch the pine branches at the bottom. Thanks for stopping by!!

SPARKLE!! (TSC0408)

Our Twisted Sistahs Challenge this week was presented my Lesley (aka Marleygo). She asked us to make a birthday card with lots of sparkle and no pink. I didn't add any leaves to this flower because I wanted it to be monochromatic with yellows. I used Daffodil Delight for the base card and the die cut flower, Whisper White for the next layer, Pawsitively Prints DSP for the next layer which was also embossed with Petals a Plenty EF. I embossed the sentiment from Water Color Trio with Gold EP and added glitter to the petal tips. The gingham ribbon is from Mike's. I used a Fire Circle Rhinestone Brad in the flower center to give it even more sparkle. Everything is from Stampin' Up! except the ribbon. Thanks for stopping by!!

Bliss (WT317)

The Ways To Use It Challenge is to get out those old decorative scissors we used to use and put them to use. I used the Jumbo Zig Zag scissors to cut the green panel. Thank goodness they invented border punches! With the border punch, you can make things even. With the scissors, you never know where to begin and how it's going to end. As you can see, me zig zags don't match at all, but I hope the ribbon throws off the focus on the borders! The image is a House Mouse image that a friend stamped off for me and I water colored it. I used Naturals White, Real Red and Wild Wasabi Textured card stock. The ribbon is retired red gingham. The sentiment is from "Bliss" which is an SAB set, so it's no longer available. It sure fits this image though! Thanks for stopping by!!

Just for You (SC327)

This week's sketch is the kind I line with nice, clean lines and not so many layers. The base card and mats are Basic Black, the next layer is Melon Mambo, the horizontal layer is Melon Mambo DSP and the main image and sentiment layers are Whisper White. I used "Just Believe" and inked up the stamp with markers (Melon Mambo, Regal Rose and Old Olive) and huffed before stamping. I used Melon Mambo Ink for the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes. There's a sentiment with the same words in the "Just Believe" set, but it was too big for this. I used a scrap of Regal Rose Textured card stock for the little flowers that were punched with the 4-petal Punch Pack Punch. The leaves were punched from Old Olive with the Bird & Branch Punch. I used a Silver Glass Mix Bead in each of the flower centers and Basic Jewels for the embellishment at the bottom of the card. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

Love is like a butterfly... (CC317, MMTPT140)

This week's Color Challenge is Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade and Pear Pizazz. I used Pear Pizazz DSP from the In-Color Pack (Hostess) and layered it on a Naturals White base card. The image is a coloring page from AnimalJr.com, and I colored it with SU! Markers. I added grass punched with the Martha Stewart Grass Edge Punch. The mats are Baja Breeze and Poppy Parade. The butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and sponged to look like the one the kitty is playing with. The Teapot Tuesday Challenge is to bring cats and butterflies to the party. The card will go to a lady in Idaho who has had serious health issues and needs some love and encouragement AND prayer. The sentiment inside from "Butterfly Prints" says, "Love is like a butterfly... it goes where it pleases and pleases where it goes." Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! except the punches and the image. Thanks for stopping by!!

Psalm 47:2 (ODBDSLC55)

The Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge for this week is to use a bird or birds in our design. The base card is Naturals Ivory with a layer of Old Olive and then a layer of Springtime Vintage DSP. I love that paper! I die cut a piece of Very Vanilla with the ODBD exclusive Nestie, sponged it and then stamped the scripture from ODBD Scripture Collection 3. The bird and flowers were stamped with Marina Mist using "Punch Potpourri" (hostess set), and then I punched them using the Bird & Branch Punch and the Boho Blossoms Punch. I also punched the branches out of Old Olive. I embossed the flowers and added Basic Pearls to the centers. I used a tiny Basic Pearl for the bird's eye, too. The main panel and bird are popped up with Dimensionals. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! except for the verse and the Nestie. Thanks again for stopping by!!

CAS Color Challenge (CAS113)

This week's Clean & Simple Challenge is a Color Challenge. We are to use soft aqua, soft yellow and white and we have the option of using a bit of bright color in our image. I used some retired colors on this. The base card is Naturals White and the main image panel is Whisper White, but the embossed layer is Soft Sky (remember that one?) and the matting is Barely Banana. I used Soft Sky ink and stamped one of the "Four Frames", but I used Bermuda Bay to stamp the sentiment using the brighter color option. The ribbon is Baja Breeze Ribbon Seam Binding, and the little flowers were punched with the four petal punch from the Punch Pack, embossed and tiny Basic Pearls were added to the centers. Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

CASEing Irene (FS217)

This week's Featured Stamper is DandI93. Irene's gallery is loaded with awesome cards. I chose to CASE her "Thinking of You" card. I changed it from a square to an A2 size card. I don't have octagon Nesties, so I changed the shape of that layer and mat to a square. I didn't use a sentiment and I left off the bow but still used pearls. I also used a different color, Regal Rose, and I used a different flower stamp, "Fast and Fabulous". I colored mine with Markers. Everything except for the Nesties is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

CASEing Lois (CCEE1113, QFTD54, TSC0401)

The CCEE Stampers Challenge is to NOT use any buckles, buttons, bows or brads. I didn't. Lois (aka Clownmom) is the Queen this week. I CASEd her "Just Butterflies" card. I changed the colors and stamps, added a sentiment, used die cut butterflies instead of punched and I used a punched strip at the bottom. Oh, and there's no paper piercing on mine. The Twisted Sistah's Challenge was presented by Brat Cards. Terri asked us to make a card with an unexpected surprise inside. When the card is opened, all those extra butterflies will fall out. I know it can be irritating to get that confetti in a card because it just gets all over the place, but these butterflies can be used on other cards! Thanks for stopping by!!

Gift for a Friend

I belong to a bulk buy group that gives us the opportunity to purchase things that Stampin' Up! doesn't sell and get it at a lower cost than we would if we were buying things on our own. We recently had the opportunity to purchase checkbook covers, business card holders, clear plastic boxes that work for gift sets among other things. Here's a checkbook cover and business card holder for a friend of mine who is having a birthday this month. I'm also giving her a couple of fragrance items plus an incentive stamp and Basic Black Stampin' Spot. They all coordinate color wise. The little stamp and spot has a topper made with the same Springtime Vintage DSP. I'm sure she'll just love the gifts. Thanks for stopping by!!