Wishing You Sunshine

I am definitely missing Summer.  I received some new Close to my Heart stamps on Friday (thanks, Sandy) and just had to play with the wonderful images from Splendid Day.  They are so whimsical and I didn't even use the tree and tire swing image.  That will be a in later post.  Anywhoo, I pulled out some pics and came up with this bright and summery layout featuring our Virginia Beach trip two years ago.  Yes, I am a little behind. 

I love the combo of Summer Sun and Pacific Point DSP (both retired Stampin' Up)  and just had bring some sunshine into this homage to Pap-Pap with his grandsons.  I did a little paper piecing on the kites and really like the dimension it gives.  I may have to do more of that. The only thing I'm not sure about is the use of the red string on the kites.  Should it be white?  Hmmm.  What do you think?  Leave a comment and there might be some blog candy available.  I'm just saying... 

A Response to a Challenge

I made this card in response to a Design Challenge issued by Simply CindyCrafts http://www.simplycindycrafts.blogspot.com/  Here is a picture of the layout and colors to be used.

Luckily I had the DSP from K and Co. already laying out on my desk.  The stamps are from Bloomin' Beautiful (SU) and Treasure Life (CMTH).  I've been on a vintage kick lately so, of course, I had to sponge it, texturize it and add some bling.  I even broke out my blender pen and inks to color everything.  Botanical images are my favorite things to color.  I'm not a pink kind of girl, so I really had to think about how to incorporate the prescribed colors without it being to sweet.  Thanks Cindy for making me stretch myself.  Below is the inside of the card.  Decorated because it has to be as pretty as the outside.  You can really see the Smooch Spritzers (Vanilla and Log Cabin) in this pic. 

Prima Roses and NOT Birthday's

I made this card for a friend the other night at a free-for-all crop.  Everyone just brought whatever they were working on, some snacks, some wine and a little bit of chocolate.  You know you cannot stamp without chocolate, right? 

My friend is NOT celebrating a big birthday this year, so I decided to NOT sign the card so she could re-use it for someone else who WAS having a birthday.  A little bit of creative recycling, right?  Anyways, we had a blast and I at least got something done when I wasn't laughing.  Happy NOT Birthday, Kacey! 

More Birds!

These are a few other cards I created last weekend when I was playing with the Tim Holtz stamps.  I used some of the same materials, but just had a good time changing things up.  The nice thing about the K and Co. paper is that it also had a nice pack of die cuts to coordinate with the paper.  Not a big fan of fussy cutting.  I'd rather spend my time with ink than a pair of scissors.  I'm sure that tonight I'll be playing with this paper again.  Stay tuned.  

Origami Fever

My youngest child, Jake has had an obsession with paper since last April.  It started with a trip to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum where he learned how to make paper airplanes.  That consumed about 4 or 5 months and then he expanded his obsession to include making origami planes and figures. 

Consequently, I have a lot of paper laying around the house.  I thought it would be fun to use some of the excess paper deemed to "girly" for dragons and planes.  I decided to use it as a base for some cards and I really like the result.  I complimented the paper with a Hostess Level 1 stamp currently available from Stampin' Up.  I had so much fun coloring with my markers.  I hope you get some ink on your fingers today.

Vintage Birds

I found this new Tim Holtz stamp set and just had to play with it.  I also found some wonderful K and Company paper and some jewels in the bead section.  Mix it with some ink and card jewelry and viola...Vintage Birds. 

And the inside...

Making Valentine's

Today's post is brought to you by Saint Valentine.  My son, James, and I had to make a "bazillion" valentines for school (really only about 25, but you know how kids will exaggerate).  We chose a simple and not to "girly" a design and knocked them out.  I had purchased some Jolly Rancher lollipops and we built a little cover for them.  The dimensions are 6 1/4 inches by 2 3/4 inches.  Score the paper at 1/4, 3, 3 1/4, and at 6 inches.  Fold along the score lines.  Punch a hole in the bottom for the stick and add your embellishments.  I used a retired SU set called "Whooo's your Valentine".  It hard to find something valentine without being mushy.  I then added his named stamped on the back, because he was exausted (read: bored) and just couldn't find the energy to sign his name so many times.  Luckily, I had a wonderful clear mount alphabet called Rough Type.  I could just make his name, stamp and punch.  Easy Peasy. Then, I repeated the task with Jake only in Wild Wasabi.  Thankfully, this holiday is over for the year.

Supplies:  SU Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White cs, Rich Razzleberry ink, Modern Label, Hearts Trio and 2 1/2 inch scalloped circle, Whoo's your Valentine and Rough Type Alphabet, Rich Razzleberry ribbon and Dimensionals. 

A Little Behind!

Well, y'all know I am a little behind on my scrapbooking (only a couple of years!!) and I, ahem, **HATE** the traditional Christmas color combo of red and green.  It is truly one of my pet peeves.  I am not good at following "rules" so I had to try my own twist on a Christmas scrapbook layout. 

I used a retired Stampin' Up Designer Paper called Island Oasis and pulled my layout colors from there.  I used Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, and a lot of Rose Red.  The Swirly die and Island Floral dies are from Sizzix.  The "light bulb" is actually a leaf.  I didn't come up with the idea, but I really don't know where I saw it first so I cannot credit the originator.  The double page spread will accommodate 6 large photos and still has enough white space to not be overwhelming. 

I plan on getting the pics on, once I get around to having them printed.  You know, I am a little behind...

More Coloring

Now that I am back on the blogwagon, I need to show you some cards I made for one of my Mom's oldest friends, Sherry.  Sherry has been in love with frogs for a long time, so I knew that "Unfroggettable" would be the perfect stamp set for her.  I love it because I was able to break out my watercolor crayons and aqua-painter. I loved coloring in kindergarten and still love it today.  I'm just a big kid at heart.