Monday, April 30, 2012

Merry Monday 18

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It’s Monday---hope you had a great weekend!  It’s time for another Merry Monday sketch from Lesley at Always Playing with Paper!  Here’s the layout:

and here is my interpretation:

Merry Monday 18-LeAnne

I went a bit rustic and vintage with this sketch, using a wintry scene from Inkadinkado, stamped in Island Indigo and glittered with a liberal sprinkling of Dazzling Diamonds!  It was diecut using the Labels Framelits and overstamped with the Linen (retired) background stamp, as was the oval, stamped with an Artistic Outpost sentiment.  The vertical panel was stamped with Woodgrain and everything was sponged with Chocolate Chip ink.  That little ruffly ribbon adds just a bit of fanciness!  I really enjoyed making this!  I hope you will take this opportunity to get some Christmas cards made ahead of time, and play with us!  You can see what all the other designers made by checking out Lesley’s blog, Always Playing with Paper!

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Have a great day!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Paper Players 93

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Happy Sunday to you!  It’s time for another Paper Players challenge!  Lesley is our hostess, and she has an interesting challenge for you today!  It’s a “tic-tac-toe” challenge:

Choose any three of these elements in a row to make your card---just like tic-tac-toe!  I chose to go across the middle row:  I used Marina Mist for my blue; I used white grosgrain for my ribbon, and my “free space” was dry embossing.  Here is my creation:

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I had a piece of Marina Mist already cut with the Edgelits die, so I embossed it and the bottom of my card with the matching embossing folder, and cut a coordinating piece from the Patterns DP.   The oval Designer Frame added some additional embossing, and this little Bright Blossoms flower fit in there so sweetly!  To finish it off,  I added a little bit of white baker’s twine at the bottom:

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I stamped a  sentiment from Friendly Phrases and I was done!  Clean, simple and blue---my favorite color!  I hope you’ll play along with the tic-tac-toe challenge this week!  Be sure to stop by the Paper Players blog to see what the other designers came up with….it’s sure to be an interesting group of projects!

We hit a couple yard sales last weekend and got Cassidy some new toys.  The FP barn was a hit:

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I wonder what’s in there?   Enjoy your day!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Pretties in Pink

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I’ve got two pretty things in pink today!  The first one is a little post-it note holder; I made this as a gift to my eye glass technician; the temple pieces of my glasses have broken THREE times!  Once about a year ago, and the last two within the month—each side!  I expressed my frustration at the eye doctor’s office, and the technician was able to get me a brand new frame!  So I used the Freshly Made Sketches sketch 32:

to make my little gift:

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I used a combination of Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Melon Mambo!  Oh, and of course, my little owl has Cherry Cobbler glasses, just like I do!!!  My tech already called me and thanked me for her gift and said she adored the red glasses!  This is also for Stampin Royalty’s challenge 121 this week, which is monochromatic!

My next project is a birthday card using the set Mouthwatering, from the spring mini.  It’s only available until April 30th, so I was trying to get one more card in before I returned it to my friend, from whom it was borrowed!  I used Pink Pirouette again, along with Crumb Cake and some glitter:

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I wish you could see how sparkly it is IRL!  And I wish I had straightened out my bow before I took my photo!  Anyway, I just love this color combo, and I love that elegant sentiment from Bring on the Cake!  Have a super day!

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Cassidy was fascinated by some sunlight on our kitchen floor, and was running “through” it:

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

More Bright Blossoms

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I saw this card on Sandi MacIver’s blog and fell in love with it!  A really bright, cheerful creation!  In fact, all of Sandi’s creations are truly beautiful!  I set out to CASE it, just with a couple little changes, as I am trying to cut down on putting buttons on my cards so the postage isn’t so high!  The first one I made was for a dear friend who just lost her grandmother:

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I used Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo with a sentiment from Delightful Dozen.  Instead of buttons, I used the ruffled ribbon and added a little baker’s twine-tied bow.  When I cut the Summer Smooches Top Note piece in half, the other side was a cute red and white polka dot, so I made this:

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This one used Marina Mist, Real Red and Daffodil Delight inks; a sentiment from Short & Sweet, and some narrow grosgrain ribbon in Real Red.  Oooh, I just love this layout with these sweet bold images!  Thank you, Sandi, for such wonderful inspiration!

Uh oh, a little imp on the loose……climbing up stairs she’s not supposed to be climbing!

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

SSC252

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I just loved the Stamping 411 sketch this week!  I love that big panel just waiting for some pretty designer paper:

I had gotten my new Summer Smooches DP but really had not had any time to play, so I pulled out one of those bright, cheerful prints to make a birthday card for a special friend:

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I used markers to color the little floral image, then sprinkled them with Dazzling Diamonds; the Real Red panel was cut with the Labels Framelit and the buttons are from the Buttons #5 die. 

Here’s another little card I made using this set:

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A quick simple card using Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo and Certainly Celery.   I’ll have some other cards featuring this cute set, Bright Blossoms, tomorrow!  Remember, this set is available until April 30, then you’ll have to wait to see it in the new catalog!

You’re probably sick of seeing Cassidy “reading”, but she finds lots of places to do it, even if the book is sideways:

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Thanks for visiting today!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

ColourQ134 and CAS187

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Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Another exciting color challenge for the ColourQ today----Arielle really made me put on my creative thinking cap with this one:

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This definitely has an Asian theme to it, and I do not have anything evenly remotely Asian!  But I do have Pocket Silhouettes, which sadly is retiring at the end of May, so I pulled them out and followed the Clean and Simple Fall to Layout 187:

and here’s what I came up with:

CQC134-LeAnne

Although I had my doubts about these colors when I began, I ended up really liking this card!!!  That’s what challenges are for, right?  Each stamped circle was backed with a matching mat, and the two outer ones were embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder and enhanced with a little silver doohickey.  And don’t you just love that sentiment?  Sweet!  I hope you can find something fun, pretty and creative to do with these colors too!  Share your project with us over at the ColourQ blog and be sure to check out what the other designers did as well.  I am amazed each week at the different styles they come up with!  And as always, if you have any questions, shoot me an email!

Dana took these pictures of Cassidy trying to eat a dandelion puff:

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Cassidy didn't like the dandelion-001No, she’s NOT laughing!!! LOL!  Good thing she had that water bottle to wash it down! 

Monday, April 23, 2012

Merry Monday 17

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Hi everyone!  Happy Monday to you all---Lesley has another sweet Merry Monday sketch for us---and if you know me, you know I love things in threes, so I was happy to see this sketch:

 

You could substitute any type of shape or image for the three circles---just as long as you keep the general feel of the sketch!  I chose some subtle snowflakes for my card today:

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It’s pretty simple & straightforward---the snowflakes were actually stamped in Baja Breeze AND Sahara Sand to give them a bit of an aged look to match the My Minds Eye papers.  The sentiment was stamped in Cherry Cobbler on a diecut tag and I threaded some Baja Breeze seam binding to attach it to the card.  My card base is Naturals Ivory, which is a great warm neutral.  I colored some pearls with a Copic marker to match!  Remember, if you have any questions about my card, please feel free to email me!

I hope you’ll play with us this week to add to your Christmas card stash, or maybe just to get started!  Be sure to hop over to Lesley’s blog, Always Playing with Paper, to catch the latest designs the others have come up with, and share yours as well!

Helping Grampy wash the truck:

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Paper Players #92 – Nance’s Sketch

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Happy Sunday, everyone!  The Paper Players challenge is brought to you today by the lovely Nance, and she has a fabulous sketch that I just love!  Here it is:

I got some pretty new papers from My Mind’s Eye and I couldn’t wait to use them on my card today:

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Another card where the paper does most of the work!  I did add some stitching to the scallops and the main panel, and diecut a pretty butterfly with the SU Butterflies die.  Some pearls, a little button & twine, and a sweet sentiment from Curly Cute and my card was done!  This also qualifies for the Our Creative Corner Challenge this week, which is butterflies! 

I can see so many possibilities with this sketch, I am sure you’ll be seeing more of it from me!  Now, let’s see what you can do with it!  Be sure to link your creation at the Paper Players blog and check out what the other designers have come up with while you’re there!  I can’t wait to see what you make!

How about some sidewalk art?

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Friday, April 20, 2012

FMS31

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Yesterday was a busy day, nice outside, so I didn’t get much time to stamp!  I did make a quick card using this week’s  Freshly Made Sketches sketch by Rita.  Isn’t it pretty?
I wanted to send a card to a woman in our church who quietly serves our Alzheimer’s Support group, which my friend facilitates, by making cookies every month for them.  My friend wanted to make sure that each month she had homemade goodies to serve to her group, and I used to get volunteers each month.  Then, one month, a woman stepped up and said she would do it again for a second time…..and a third, and then she said she would just continue to do it.  She is very shy and quiet, but this is her way of serving God and our community, and it took a burden off me as well!  So this card is a little thank you for her:
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It’s a pretty literal interpretation of the sketch because I can’t seem to come up with anything really clever and spectacular lately; it uses Domestic Goddess DP and the Tiny Teacup (soon-to-be-retiring) stamp.  I did some stitching on the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border that had been punched from Calypso Coral, and added a couple little punched-out flowers in the corners.  Now……how about some spaghetti?
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Hands, face, ears AND elbows----she really enjoyed that spaghetti!  Thanks for visiting today!