New Year means new growth!!

Good morning on this New Year's Eve day!! I am so excited about the new year that lies ahead!! Here is my card for today's sketch challenge from SCS. I decided since today was New Year's Eve, I would create a card that displays new life and growth. It is my hope and prayer that this new year is one of personal growth for myself and all of you. I desire to growth in my relationships, my spiritual life, and my talents. I look forward learning and growing in 2009! This card respresents that growth: I used Wild Wasabi DP for my bottom panel--stamped the tree in Basic Brown--stamped the leaves in Wild Wasabi and cut them out and used Precision Adhesive from CM to attach them--ran the brown panel through my Cuttlebug with a inked folder--finished it off with more leaves, hardware, and ribbon.

Mojo Sketch Challenge #67

Here are two cards that I made for this weeks Mojo Sketch Challeng #67. I always enjoy these challenges done by Julee from Verve.

Both of these cards were made using the Stampin'Up! Top Note die. I love it!! On the baby card I stamped the foot in Bliss Blue on Whisper white and cut it out, layering it on Bliss Blue DP. I threaded my ribbon through a large star eyelet and knotted it. I layers both pieces of DP on Basic Black. The sentiment is stamped over the Bliss Blue foot in Basic Black. My birthday card is made on Real Red cardstock. The perfume bottles are stamped in Real Red and touched up with a black marker. The single bottle is stamped, covered in Crystal Effects, cut out and layered two times then popped up with a dimensional. My sentiment is stamped in Craft white and finished off with a striped ribbbon. I hope you like these ideas!!

SCS Color Challenge

Tuesday brings us another color challenge from SCS--today we are asked to use So Saffron, Bravo Burgandy, and Handsome Hunter. I was with my friend this AM and she asked if I had seen today's challenge--I had not and when she told me what the combo was, I instantly thought of this stamp set (Inspired by Nature from Stampin' Up!) Perfect color combo for this--burgandy flowers--green reeds--yellow for the sun--YEAH!! I am really happy with how it turned out. After stamping it I sponged around the edges of both the main panel and the sentiment (which also brought out some of the burgandy--oh well) To complete the card I layered it in the 3 colors that were called for and attched the sentiment with a ribbon. Let me know what you think.....

Jazzy Inspiration Challenge

This card is made for the Jazzy Inspiration Challenge. My good friend Teresa is on the design team for this challenge and she encouraged me to participate, so....here you have it!! The challenge was to be inspried by this Jazz Album cover and use the colors--red, white, and black!! I love this color combination!! I think this color combo is so elegant. I love this mediallion stamp from Stampin' Up!! It was a promotional set when you ordered a subscripton to Country Living!! I ordered the magazine just so I could get stamp set. The album cover made me think of this Cuttlebug folder right away. The medallion was stamped in Real Red Craft ink and embossed with Clear embossing powder--I punched it out using my 1 1/4 circle punch and layered on a black piece of cardstock that I punched out with my 1 3/8 circle punch. My base card is black so I added a piece of white to the inside of my card and stamped the medallion again. Thanks Tenia, for the fun Inspiration challenge, and thanks Teresa for letting me know about this challenge.

I am going to sign off for now, but will be back later to add my card from the SCS daily challenge once it has been added and I have created a card. Happy Stampin to you all!

New Avatar!!

I have been using a picture of my daughter that I just love as an avatar ever since I joined Splitcoast Stampers and started my blog. I decided it was time to use my own picture--one day she may want to start her own gallery--she is becoming quite the stamper, and I need my own identity. So there you have it--the same ole me just a different face. This picture is my Soccer mom picture--taken at one of those many soccer games!! Oh by the way--both of my kids' teams had undefeated this seasons!! Yeah!!

I just love the sketch that Julee of Poetic Artistry gave for this weeks Mojo challenge. It is so quick and easy, but oh so very elegant. I also used today inspiration challenge from SCS--I will have to say I was stretched a bit when it came to chosing an inspiration piece from this website. I had a hard time thinking cards while looking at the Mackenzie-Childs website. I decided on this plate because I liked the way the flowers were on top of the checkedboard background. Thus the inspiration for my main panel. I stamped my background checkeredboard background stamp in So Saffron--next I stamped my leaves in Old Olive and then added die cut flowers from the Pina Colada Simply Scrappin set. My strip that divided the DP from the base is also from this Simply Scrappin set. My sentiment is from Verve.

I have missed stamping over the last week or so--too many Christmas activities!! I did have a very Merry Christmas though and I am hope you all did too!!

Mojo Sketch Challenge

One of my friends needed a card for a 6oth birthday of a friend who raises peaches. Here is what I came up with for her. I decided to use the Mojo sketch challenge from Julee of Poetic Artistry for this week. I cut my panel in such a way that the image would flow off the panel. I watercolored the image using my Stampin' Up! markers. Added two brads to finish off the image pane. My sentiment was stamped in Choc. Chip. The edges of the green layer were sponged. Thanks for looking!!

Scrap Craft Challenge

I made this card for the Scrap Craft Challenge--use recycled cardboard. I decided to use a ceral box. Tag was cut out freehand and I used a large eyelet at the top. I stamped the large pine from Lovely As A Tree by Stampin' Up! in Handsome Hunter and sponged around the edges with the same ink. The sun is stamped in More Mustard. I attached a tab and star to embellish the tag--sponging around all the edges of both of them. The sentiment is from Everyday Flexible Pharse by Stampin' Up! The ribbon is some recycled ribbon from Basic Gray and the ivy leaves are from a RAK goodie bag. My twigs were punched out of More Mustard paper with the MS fern punch. Another Christmas card done!! I am cutting it pretty close to the wire, but I have enjoyed using the challenges to get some additional ones done.

Happy Birthday Dear Jesus!!

Do you ever wonder if Jesus gets frustrated at what has become of His birthday?? I feel for all those out there that have December Birthdays. We went to a birthday party last night for one of our friends sons--they did a good job of making it special for him in the midst of all the Christmas celebrating at is happening. But as we talked we heard how hard it was to pick a date, decide on gifts, etc.--all because Christmas was right around the corner!! I challenge each of you to remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season!! Let's celebrate His birth!!

Inspiration for my card came from the above piece:

Today SCS gave us and inspiration challenge: pull somthing from BLOCKPARTYPRESS as your inspiration for your card. I love these magnets shown above and it inpired this card:

My base is an embossed square card from Michaels. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss and cut out the 3 cupcake squares. I sponges the eadges of each of the squares with their own color: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, and Baja Breeze. As I mounted the squares, I laid a pink striped ribbon underneath and tied it. My sentiment is from a retired Stampin Up set--I don't remeber which set it came from because I only kept the 2 sentiment from the set and added to my box of sentiments. But I love both this Happy Birthday and the Thank You that came from the set.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! In the hustle and bustle don't forget the reason for the reason--JESUS!! Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus!!

YUMMY, YUMMY CANDY!!

Yum Yum!! You have got to check out the Blog Candy here: Paper Monkey !! Their are so many goodies included in this big give so get on over and check it out!!

Today SCS challenge was so fun. Dawn has us going green.....

Recycle--Reuse--Reduce!!

Recycle--red twill band came off the blanket that my son got at his youth group Christmas gift exchange

Reuse--My large pearl at the center is one that the adhesive had come off of and was sitting in the pile of scraps--added a glue dot and it was back in working order

Reduce--I reduced the amount of wasted paper by cutting the center out of my large Choc. Chip layerand using it to mount my main image panel. I know alot of people do this all the time but to be honest this is my first time--I think I will do this again--saves me money too and thant means more stamps!!I used the I WISH simple scrappin set from Stampin Up to create my card. The main image panel was sponges with Mellow Moss ink all around the edges. Don't you just love this Christmas ribbon from Stampin Up!?? It is so pretty and it ties up so nicely. My sentimen was stamped in CHoc. CHip and accented with mini pearls.

Seasons of Joy

Here a card that I made for today "half baked" challenge on Spiltcoast Stampers. The challenge was to use half of an image in creating our card.

I used half of each of the ornaments from Stampin Up's Simply Scrappin I WISH set. I filled in the blank side with greenery I punched out with the Martha Stewart Fern punch. The topper was a strip from this same Simply Scrappin set and I decorated the center of the snowflakes with green gemstones. I hung the ornament with hemp knotted in the wholes. I added a sentiment stamped in Choc. Chip on Piroutte Pink and accented it with another green gemstone.

This card also completes the Color Throwdown Challege #23 to use Choc. Chip, Ridinghood Red, Pink Piroutte, and Green. I love this color combo and I am planning to use it on several more card this afternoon.

I hope you all are enjoying the joys of this season!!

Here is my card for today's SCS color challenge: Taken with Teal, Riding Hood Red, and Baja Breeze.

When I first read the challenge I thought--wow what a challenge!! But as I set to work with wintery scene unfurled before and I am quite pleased with how it turned out!!

The hard part for me was adding in the Taken With Teal--I decided to make that my ink color. So I stamped my trees and my sentiment with Taken With Teal and sponged it all over the edges of both the tree panel and the sentiment. The moon and snow were stamped with my craft white pad and then I added glitter to it. The back ground was run through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder and then sponged as well with the Taken With Teal. My sentiment panel was finished off using the ticket punch in all four corners. I chose this sheer white ribbon to complete the card. And there you have my winter wonderland. I love how it turned out. I hope you do too.

Warm Winter Wishes to all!!

Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow!!

Snowflakes!! Yeah!! Although I will say that I like snowflakes much better on paper than in the air. I do love to watch it snow and the way it slows everyone down it so cool but I don't like the cold so much!! So snowflakes on paper are much better in my mind. Here is the card I made for the SCS challenge to use only snowflakes, add some glitter or blind, and stay with monochromatic color scheme. I thought it turned out pretty good. I used snowflakes dp and added a felt snowflake, layered with a puched out snowflake. I also used an idea that I saw on another stampers card--take a pucnched out snowflake and add the top pieces from the MS fern punch to each of the ends--cool huh?? It makes the snowflakes bigger and more wintery looking I think. Thanks Joanne for the inspiration. You can see her card here:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...50449?si=WT195

Well it is Friday and I am ready for the weekend!! I hope you all have a great weekend.

I love these envelope cards! I have had this templete for many years but it has been tucked away and I kinda forgot about it until SCS had this challenge to use envelopes in some way.

The card is the envelope~~the triangles fold in and create a envelope that surrounds your card. If you would like to have a pattern just let me know and I can email a scanned copy to you.

I made two of them today for birthdays that are coming up. I hope you like them.

Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge #250

It has taken me a while today to get back infront of the computer--staff meeting, haircut, and a doctors appointment. I thought I would have time in between all of that but, everything was running over!! Anyway here I am to tell you all about my card today. Unfortunately it is a sympathy card!! One of my friends lost her father this past weekend--heart attack at a young age! The need for the card aside, I love how it turned out.

I use today sketch challenge from SCS. The card was created using Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, and More Mustard. I usually do not like how my watercoloring turns out but I love it today. I stamped the flower from Organic Grace by Stampin Up in Basic Brown and then watercolored it using my Aqua Painter and More Mustard ink. I added a million dots to the center of the flower with my Choc. Chip marker and then brushed over it--I like how it still looks like little beads. Next I cut them out and arranged them with several pieces of greenery that I punched out with my Martha Stewart fern punch. I finished it off with my sentiment stamped in Always Artichoke.

Thanks for looking!! I was so thrilled with how it turned out--I hope you like it too!! DEB