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Create with Connie and Mary Color Challenge

Today's Create with Connie and Mary's Thursday Challenge has some FUN colors!  Nice and bright!  I almost went with a Christmas theme…the colors could easily be used for that holiday, but decided to go with flowers instead.  I pulled out my Vintage Vogue stamp set (so glad it is in the new catalog) and brightened it up with these bold colors.  We'd love for you to play along with the Thursday Challenge and upload your creation over on Create with Connie and Mary blog.  Don't forget to state CCMC107 in your blog post or gallery when you share your card!

I started with a base of Old Olive cardstock.  I ran a piece of Whisper White thru the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder, then placed on a thin mat of Real Red cardstock.  I inked up the Just For You greeting from Afterthoughts, a Level 1 hostess set, with my Real Red and Pink Pirouette Stampin' Write Markers and stamped it on Whisper White.  I stamped the vine border from Vintage Vogue with Old Olive Classic Ink along the bottom.  I also stamped the large flower from Vintage Vogue with Real Red and small flower with Pink Pirouette on scrap Whisper White cardstock, cut them out and placed them on the front of the card, along with a couple Old Olive leaves.

In the center of the large flowers, I punched the round flower from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack from So Saffron cardstock and placed the matching clear Itty Bitty Button, thread with Linen Thread and tied in a small bow.  The small Pink Pirouette flowers, I used a Rhinestone Jewel in the center of each for some added sparkle!  The Whisper White cardstock was layered on Real Red.  I wrapped the Old Olive Satin Ribbon bow around and adhered to the back!

I like this card a lot!  The bright colors really pop with this set.  Again, I hope you play along.  Check out what the other Challenge Team Members did this week over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Morning Cup

Well, I'm DEFINITELY needing a Morning Cup of coffee today!  My husband woke me up getting ready this morning, usually I just sleep thru him getting dressed.  And, then my mind started going on all the things I need to do before leaving for Convention next week!  My poor blog has been suffering from neglect!  I have several things lined up for my Blog the rest of the week, then NEXT week is the Tour de Freaks Blog Hop!  I know you'll enjoy that!  Of course, I haven't even STARTED my projects for that!  lol!

I started by using Technostamper's Monday's Lunchtime Sketch Challenge (TSSC130). Then  I used one of my favorite sets from Stampin' Up!'s new catalog…called Morning Cup!  I love the little sayings in it.  Perk up would be a nice greeting to use when sending to a friend to cheer them up!  I took my colors from the new Sunny Garden Designer Paper…nice BRIGHT cheerful colors!  I did tone down the base card by using So Saffron instead of Daffodil Delight.

I added a strip of the Sunny Garden floral print to the left side of the So Saffron base card.  I ran the Poppy Parade piece thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder, then added the Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon around it and tied with a knot.  I stamped the stack of cups in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, then carefully used my Stampin' Write Markers and AquaPainter to color them with Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Sahara Sand and Peach Parfait colors.  I added the words Perk Up! in Chocolate Chip ink.  The Whisper White was layered onto Chocolate Chip.  Finally, I wanted some bling to "perk up" the card and used a couple of Stampin' Up!'s new adhesive Rhinestone Jewels…I LOVE them!

This card just makes me HAPPY this morning…but it is time for another cup of coffee!  I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Stamping 411 – Morning Cup

It's time again for Stamping 411's sketch challenge.  It is always so much fun doing these sketches each week and I've gotten to know my fellow designers and admire them and their talent!  5 of us earned cruise which is amazing!  Here is this week's sketch inspiration.

I knew immediately that I wanted the new Stampin' Up! stamp set, Morning Cup, when I saw it in the new Idea Book and Catalog!  I love that it represented both tea and coffee images…since I'm a equal opportunity caffeine drinker!  lol!  I thought this sketch would be perfect for that set, so I pulled it out of my box and mounted it on my wood pieces!

You can see a theme from my last two posts…Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist again!  Hey…it was already on my table, might as well use them, right?  I started with a base of Daffodil Delight cardstock.  I ran the Whisper White band thru my Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder again.  And I ran the Marina Mist strip thru the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder and layered on top.

For the focal piece, I stamped the teacup and steam swirls in Basic Black, then watercolored with my AquaPainter and Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write Markers.  I stamped the teapot on scrap Whisper White, watercolored with the same markers and then cut it out with my Paper Snips.  It is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I used the AquaPainter and my Sahara Sand Stampin' Write Marker for a little shadow work under the teapot and teacup.

I stamped the greeting, "tea 'rific" in Basic Black on Marina Mist and punched with the Word Window punch and placed on the focal piece, cutting off the right edge.  The Whisper White piece was layered on a longer piece of Daffodil Delight and I wrapped some Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon around to the back, then made a bow for the front, securing it with the Daffodil Delight Designer Flower Brad.  It was layered on Basic Black cardstock for a little pop!

Fun card with a FUN set!  I know I'll be using it a lot!

Make sure to check out the rest of the Stamping 411 Operators this week to see how they interpreted the sketch!  I know I love to see what they've done!  Then get out your supplies and play along!

Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge

This week over on Create with Connie and Mary's Thursday Challenge it is a sketch challenge!  Mary made up an awesome sketch from MDS for us to use.  Remember, it is for inspiration only, feel free to flip it around and use it as you are inspired!  Then upload your card over on the InLinkz gallery on Create with Connie and Mary!  Make sure you put CCMC106 in your post!  And, check out what the Challenge Design Team did this week…they are AWESOME!

And here is my card for this week!  I LOVE the colors of Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight together!  Throw in a little Pear Pizzazz and you have a P-A-R-T-Y!  lol!

I started with a base card of Marina Mist and embossed the front with the new Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder.  I cut a piece of Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper and layered it on Daffodil Delight cardatock.  I wrapped some Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon around and tied a knot.  (I'm SO happy we have some new colors in the Taffeta!)  I embossed the Pear Pizzazz piece with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder and rounded the corners.

For the focal element, I stamped the large flower from Stampin' Up!'s Level 2 Hostess Set, Punched Posies, in Daffodil Delight Classic Ink on Whisper White and punched with the Fancy Flower Punch.  I stamped it again in Marina Mist and punched out the center with the 1" circle.  I stamped the leaves in Pear Pizzazz and cut them out individually.  In the center, I added a new Daffodil Delight Designer Button and added some Linen Thread tied in a bow in the center.  Finally, I used the X shaped flower punched from Daffodil Delight cardstock with the Itty Bitty Punch and placed it where the sketch shows brads.  I love how it turned out!  What do you think?

Again, check out what the other Challenge Team designers did over on Create with Connie and Mary this week!  FABULOUS!  Then get out your stuff and play along!  We love to see your creations, too!

Elements of Style

Wow…sorry!  The holiday weekend was busy, and lots of paperwork remaining from earning the cruise PLUS my Customer Appreciation Parties have consumed all my time!  I wanted to at least post something today so you know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!  I also decided to go to Convention, so need to start thinking about swaps and packing to go!  Yikes!

I don't think I ever shared my Control Freaks Swap card for the Spring Mini!  Since I had 35 to make, I knew I didn't want to color in the flowers…but I liked how the Soft Suede Classic Ink looked stamped on Sahara Sand!

I started with a base of Soft Suede Cardstock, then layered on Rich Razzleberry that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder.  I reversed the Polka Dot Ribbon to the solid side and wrapped around it.  I cut the Top Note with Sahara Sand cardstock, then stamped on the large rose from Stampin' Up!'s Elements of Style in Soft Suede Ink.  I added some speckles on each side with the Color Spritzer Tool.  I punched a Scallop Oval from Soft Suede, then stamped For You from the same stamp set in Rich Razzleberry on Whisper White, punched with the 1 1/4 Circle, and layered on the 1 3/8 Rich Razzleberry Circle.  I added two Gold Mini Brads on each side.

Hope you have a wonderful week.  It's Tuesday already so a short week for most!

Stamping 411 – Friends Never Fade

This was just one of those cards that took me TWICE as long to make as it should have!  It is an EASY sketch…but I was trying to force an image that just competed with the bold background paper.  Maybe I should have used only half the DSP, but that wouldn't have followed the sketch very closely.  Oh well, here is this week's Stamping 411 sketch challenge.  I think I ended up "rescuing" it by adding an additional piece of cardstock under the ribbon.

I started with the returning Baja Breeze cardstock for the base, then layered on the awesome Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper.  I added a strip of Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  If you look closely, I used my Scoring Blade to run design scoring lines above and below the ribbon for some extra texture.  I created the bow from Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon and secured it in the back.

I inked up the floral image from Stampin' Up!'s Friends Never Fade stamp set in Pumpkin Pie and stamped on Whisper White, then matted on Chocolate Chip and Pear Pizzazz (I'm going to LOVE this color!).  Finally, I stamped Thank You from Thank You Kindly in Chocolate Chip on Baja Breeze and punched with the Modern Label punch. 

I hope you think I rescued it, too!  lol!  Make sure to check out the rest of the fabulous Stamping 411 Design Operators.  I know their cards will be awesome as usual!

Bloggers Challenge – Patriotic

I missed out on doing the Bloggers Challenge last week…I was a little busy working on earning the Cruise!  But, I wanted to make sure I did play along this week!  The theme is Patriotic cards in celebration of Independence Day, of course!

I knew I wanted to use July Fourth again, too.  Although I'll probably use it again a few times before I put it away…the firecrackers could be birthday candles and the stars can be used at ANY time!  It really is a versatile little set!

I started again by using Pacific Point as the base of my card and layered on Poppy Parade…my two new favorites for patriotic colors!  I added another layer of Whisper White that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder.  I made my own "designer paper" by stamping the fireworks in Pacific Point and Poppy Parade on Whisper White, then layered it on Pacific Point and wrapped the Real Red Satin Ribbon around to adhere to the back (I can't WAIT to get all the new ribbons I ordered!!)  I punched a Pacific Point 1 3/4 Circle, then added the Poppy Parade Large punched Star.  And, finally, a little heart Bitty Button.  Did you know that the smallest heart in the Heart to Heart punch fits it PERFECTLY???  Thanks to Mary Brown for that little tip!

OK…hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend!  Be safe!

Create with Connie and Mary Challenge

It's Thursday and time for another Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge!  This week's theme was 4th of July!  A great reason to celebrate!  (Although I certainly don't know where JUNE went!)

We want to celebrate the addition of our Challenge Design Team, too!  We have four FABULOUS women joining us…their talent amazes me!  WELCOME!

Carrie Gaskin — Artistic Avenger

Deb Currier — ARTfelt Impressions

Lisa Martz — Get Your Stamp On!

Stacey Schafer — Stacey's Stamping Stage

And now for my Fourth of July submission.  I've done several cards, so I decided to do a little favor you could have on hand at your picnic!  Fill it with candy or some small "snaps" fireworks for the kids!

I used one of the returning colors, Pacific Point for the Pillow Box, cut with the Bigz Die in my Big Shot.  Before I folded it on the score lines, I adhered a strip of Whisper White that I stamped with Stampin' Up!'s July Fourth fireworks in Pacific Point and Poppy Parade, one of the NEW In Colors coming TOMORROW!  After folding it, I used the 5/8 Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon to hold it closed and tied a knot at the top.  I stamped two large stars from July Fourth in Poppy Parade and Pacific Point, then punched with the Large Star Punch.  Finally, I inked up the greeting with my Stampin' Write markers in those same colors and stamped on scrap Whisper White, punched with the 1 1/4 Circle, then layered on a Poppy Parade 1 3/8 circle.

These would be pretty easy to make up a bunch of them…the Big Shot does the hard part!

Make sure to check out what the rest of the Challenge Team did this week over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Alaska Cruise!

Yes!!!  I earned the Alaska Cruise thanks to the "BESTEST" friends and customers in the world!  My husband and I are thrilled to be cruising next May!

All of you mean SO much to me…I'm thankful that Stampin' Up! has allowed me to touch your life!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart!