Retro Sketches #73 and A Chocolate Affair!

I finally inked up my new Chocolate Affair CTMH stamp set. I was SO excited to order, couldn't wait, in fact, then I've been saving it! I'm bad about not using them if I don't break them out of the package as soon as they arrive. I don't know why -- but I'll let it sit there even longer if I don't open immediately.

I paired it with this week's Retro Sketch:

 

I also used paper from the Teresa Collins 6x6 Family Stories paper pack (great colors in this pack, BTW):

 

 

I added the burlap ribbon, chocolate twine, button, and bling to finish it off, but keeping the fun & rustic vibe going. It's hard to see in this photo, but I subtly stamped the checkerboard pattern (from CTMH Geometric Backgrounds) on the cupcake circle , using Latte ink from Amuse Studio. I even dabbed a bit of the ink off before stamping to keep it very light.

 

That's it! Thanks for stopping by to visit!



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Dynamic Duos #67

After spending days clearing out my room and culling down my "stash" via eBay and Goodwill, I'm finally finding time to get back in my room and putter. I had hit a point that I needed to really clean up before I could go any further! It was driving me crazy.  =)

This morning, after not getting enough sleep last night, I decided to chill in my crafty space and have some quiet time.

I made this card for the Dynamic Duos challenge:

 



I inked up my new PTI "Autumn Pieces" stamp set. It's alot of fun and not a set that would be in my usual stamping repertoire. I stamped the individual floral pieces in columns using Smoothie and Sorbet CTMH ink. The panel is matted in Smoothie cardstock. I stamped the sentiment from PTI's "Bigger Blooms". My twine is "Cantoloupe" by The Twinery. It was such a perfect match -- I love when that happens. ;-)

 

 

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

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Trendy Triangles Challenge

I'm always slow to hop on the "trendy bandwagons". For some reason, it takes a while for new phases to grow on me. I'm even that way in fashion trends (which puts me WAY behind because I don't like to buy clothes!) The hexagons took me a while to warm up to and now I love them. I think I did a little better with the triangles; they grew on me quicker than usual. Maybe, I'm adjusting and getting more "with it". Wouldn't that be nice? A girl can dream anyway!

I made this card for Moxie Fab World's Trendy Triangle Challenge.

I trimmed my triangles by hand, simply by halving several 1-inch squares of scrap paper. I played around with paper placement hoping something would speak to me and I decided I liked the off-centered large triangle formation. I gave it more dimension by using 3-D foam tape on three of the solid colored triangles. I stamped my sentiment (Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler) on the small banner, adhered it, then tied a twine bow. All of this is backed by a PTI Kraft card base. 

Thank you for stopping by to visit!

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One Layer - Clean & Simple!

I'm all about "clean and simple" cards these days. And, I really love doing only one layer -- even though it feels like cheating. :) I think to myself, "That's a piece of paper folded, with a couple of things stamped on it. ? What's the big deal?" ... BUT it can look so neat! And, it's the most fun.

CASual Friday's challenge this week is to use aqua, green, and orange colors. Paper Players is to make a card using one layer.

AND, I liked the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch: 

I used my new PTI Live Love Life stamp set (You can do all SORTS of one layer cards with these fun images. I like to just monkey around and play with this set.) and CTMH colors of Lagoon, Juniper,and Sunset. I dropped a few enamel dots on it all and called it a day. The sentiment is from PTI's Bigger BLooms set. (I'm a fan of that scripted font.)

See? Nothing to it. It really does feel like cheating. 

Thank you for stopping by to visit! 

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Tuesday Trigger: Craving Navy

I haven't played along with the Tuesday Trigger for quite some time. If you ever read my posts, you know I'm forever "complaining" about wanting to do more and more crafty jobs, but not enough time. Participating in all the challenge blogs is right up there. My goals are quite lofty considering my work load and amount of time leftover. But, I have a feeling I'm not alone. It's the plight of the paper crafter. We all wave that nerd flag proudly. "More crafty time, more crafty time!"

This weeks Trigger with the white, navy, and khaki jumped at me. I love those colors together. 'Course I think you could put navy or khaki with anything and I'd be all over it like ducks on a junebug.

Throw in those stripes and the pattern on the rug? ... I'm there like swimwear!

Here is my card, inspired by the colors and patterns seen in the photo:

I stamped the chevron pattern in Amuse Studio's Latte pigment ink using TAWS Background Basics stampset. The die cut the label (Cricut Artiste cartridge) and stamped the stripes in CTMH's Outdoor Denim using CTMH's You Are... stamp set. I also stamped the sentiments from that set, stamping the banner on scrap paper, trimming it and adhering with 3-D Foam Tape. In reality, it's a cool amount of dimension. On this photo, I'm not so sure it translates. I added the little bakers twine bow (The Twinery) before putting the whole label onto the card base. Clean and simple! Voila!

Thanks for stopping by to visit. -- be sure to check out Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger for oodles of inspiration. 

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Holiday Gift Card Challenge

I've only recently began venturing into the world of making gift tags. And, OF COURSE, I decided I really like it. I swore the whole time I was scrapbooking and everyone was making cards that I wouldn't do it! I didn't need another vice, I would say. I've got enough going with the scrapbooking. .... well, guess what happened? Yeah, that's right. I started making cards. Now, I'm addicted and rarely scrapbook. And, as everyone knows, once you go cards, it snowballs. The gift tags are fun. So I plan to do more in the future. And, I made a holiday one last week for the PaperCrafts Holiday Gift Card Challenge.

I found my Holiday Cards and More (Vol. 8) issue to be uber inspiring. As usual. Which I feel compelled to define my meaning of "inspring". I flip through the magazine, methodically view each project, and sometimes just open it up to a page and start glossing through the beautiful artwork only to ooh and ahh and think "I want to make something like that. I have to remember this." and so on and so on. ... VERY rarely, if ever, does the magazine make it up to my desk with me and I produce something inspired! ha! But a girl can dream, right?

I was inspired and reminded about one of my favorite new stamp sets of last season, Peaceful Pinecones from PaperTrey Ink. I impulse ordered that baby as soon as I saw it appear on their website last year. And, I still love it! It was loads of fun to see beautiful projects made with it and think - "I have that stamp!". (Doesn't usually happen. .... with the number of stamps I have, I don't see how odds go that way, but nonetheless.)

 

 

 

My paper is some that's been haunting my stash for eons, from the K&CO. Brenda Walton, Peppermint Twist line. I've loved all that paper (and it's a good thing, because I see it everytime I open that drawer! What does the paper do? Have little paper babies when we are not looking?!)

 

After stamping the pinecones and branch in cocoa, chocolate, and olive inks, I used my glue pen to dab spots somewhat strategically and add "Crystal Snow" (Stampendous). I did that some last year on projects and love how the snow looks on the pinecones. I stamped the sentiment, making a white folded banner (I really have to break down and buy a die to make this easier! I'm so stubborn sometimes.), and adhering it with foam tape. The burlap ribbon is CTMH that I cut in half lengthwise to thin it down. I then secured a red button with red twine from Doodlebug Design. It turned out so cute. .... I'm afraid this might make me want to make tags for our gifts this year, but seeing as it's a struggle to even wrap them all, I'm hoping my common sense prevails and I don't bite off more than I can chew! (Wouldn't be the first time, believe me.)

 

Thank you for stopping by to visit! 

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Seize the Sketch #1!

I'm excited to add a new challenge blog to my list! Even if I don't have a chance to play along, I love to peruse the new challenges and everyone's artwork. It's inspiring. Since I daydream about making projects far more than I actually do it, having go-to sources online at my fingertips is quite important to me. :)

Here is the first sketch by Seize the Sketch:


And here is my "simple" card to go along with it. I really wanted white stripes on a white base -- and that's what I actually did. (That's rarely how it works!)

 

Unfortunately, I did need a sympathy card and I needed it to be masculine. So I went with the blue patterned paper label. I really liked how the white embossed sentiment (Words of Comfort, CTMH)popped against it. The sequins are Studio Calico.

 

Thanks for visiting!

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CAS-ual Friday #111 -- Buttons

Hello!

I'm popping in to share a card I made for CASual Friday's 2 week challenge to incorporate buttons. Second day of the kids back in school, and of course, I have a million things to do! ; ) All those things I said "Aaaah. When school starts back.....Later -- when school starts back..." YIKES! That time is  now.  The kids were excited to go back and have made it great so far. (The 6am rise-time is starting to hit home though. I expect full rebellion by the end of this week, if not, then the first of next week.)



I also made this card to share in the August Gallery Challenge over at PaperCrafts Connection for "sunshine-filled" cards. I thought it worked perfectly since I wanted to use the sunshine die and yellow button for CASual Fridays.

I love how it turned out!

 

I stamped the rainbow stripes on the card base using the reverse side of a stitch stamp from CTMH Stitched Together stamp set. I then rounded the corner of my accent piece and used my PTI Woodgrain Impression Plate. I die cut the yellow sun (PTI Heart to Heart die set) and tied twine through a button before adhering. Trimmed the banner and added my masked sentiment from YearRound Cheer, CTMH.  The yellow sequins are Studio Calico.

 

Thanks for visting!

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The Paper Players #157

Hello! Today I'm popping in to share a Fall Decor project I made  using up scraps and my Artiste Cricut Cartridge. The kids are off playing and entertaining themselves and (I'm scared to say it out loud) NOT fighting, so I'm knocking out a few computer "errands"! It only seems consistent with life's ironies that days before we go back to school, they decided to play peacefully and give Mommy peace! Could this have been the case in June and July? Well, of course not! That's just not how it works! =)

On to my project which works perfectly for this week's Paper Player's Challenge: Fall themed ABC (Anything BUT a Card).

I literally cut the leaves and the pieces for the decorative "ornaments" (I, honestly, don't know what they are called) from scrap paper, most of them being plundered Fall scrapbooking kits. I die-cut the words using the Artiste Cartridge, as well, saving the negative on my 8.5 x 11 cardstock (PaperTrey Ink's Rustic Cream). A piece of dark brown cardstock is mounted behind my accent piece before slipping into the frame. I splurged and spent a whole $3 on this document frame at Wal Mart. I wanted to keep my size 8.5 x 11 rather than trimming down to an 8x10 standard photo size. After gluing the decorative ornaments together, I wrapped twine and tied a bow around the largest one. I also die cut additional, smaller leaves and secured them onto the same ornament, along with a wood button. I stamped the word "is" using my CTMH Chocolate Alphabet using Cocoa dye ink. 

Thanks for visiting! Hope you are having a great week in the new month!

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CAS(E) This Sketch #39

Happy weekend!

It's a rainy, cloudy one here and our house has been kind of lazy today. It's been nice. I spent some time in my room this morning to craft but mostly became glued to a movie and episodes of my DVRd favorites on the TV. HA! It's quite relaxing. I love it.

I'm on to share a card I made yesterday for this week's challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.

I rotated mine this time, mostly because I was dead set on using the die-cut sentiment I already had and it needed the space! 

I love the colors and how this one turned out -- all from using the flower and sentiment that was laying on my desk, abandoned from a previous "idea gone bad". (My sister's terminology)

My dotted papers are Recollections from Michael's snatched up when they went dirt cheap, and I've almost used it all up! The dots just work for so much and I'm quite the fan. I used the yellow framing here to tone down the formal look the red flower gave me on white and gray. (I almost pulled out some black, but thought that would take it more formal and I was aiming for fun & happy with the dots.) The flower is stamped and trimmed from my Card Word Puzzle (CTMH) stamp set. Die cut sentiment is from my Artiste Cricut Cartridge (CTMH). I embossed the white panel using my Linen & Canvas impression plate (PTI). I could use that on every card, I think. =)

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

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