Pretty in Pinks

I was in a 'pinkish' mood the last few days. I get on kicks like that; colors, stamp sets, dies... And I know you know exactly what I mean. Tracey got me to thinking about 'traditional' vs. 'non-traditional' color schemes. While she was talking about the Christmas season, I was thinking about all the cards I make. Do you ever do that? I've had pink scraps out on my desk, and wanted to use them in less traditional ways. One tag hit that mark, one card might have come close, and the third is completely traditional. Let's have a look, shall we?!

Speaking of Tracey, she's running a super fun series called 25 Days of Christmas Tags. Oh the inspiration you'll find there....my goodness! You've got to check this out, and play along. This is her fifth year of doing this too. She's amazing. If you want to play along, just pick a tag to CASE, identify who's tag it is, and link up. Did I mention she's also offering prizes? As if seeing all this goodness and being inspired wasn't enough...

My tag CASEs Lindsay Amrhein who is on Avery Elle's DT, and is from Day 1.

I love the simplicity of this. Now my photos are so hot today...have no clue as to why... 

There's that pink I was talking about. You can see I was inspired by the bear and the blue and the dies. It's a HA bear, sentiment, and die, LF hills and tag, Tumbled Glass ink, Studio G pink ink, some random pink polka dotted ribbon, and a bit of the Twinery twine. Oh, and some diamond Stickles for snow. 

Next pink is a card for FMS. My card has a rather liberal interpretation of the sketch, so I hope it still qualifies.

Here's mine:

My watercolored "circle" is a bit more centered than in the sketch, but the rest of elements are there, I think. Pink watercoloring, Poppystamps die with a scrap of vellum, RC sentiment in Smoke ME ink, and a silver sequin. If it doesn't work for the sketch, I hope the DT removes it.

Last pink is a chunky pink. At least that's how my eyes see it. This was inspired by a card by Brandi Hall. She is one of the Geniuses that Kelly Latevola has CASEd. I loved the design of Brandi's card, and the colors as well, but try as I might, my 'like' colors weren't working for me. Once again, I thought, 'pink.' 

There's still time to play along and nominate a Genius of your very own! I'd like to nominate Kim Heggins from Cupcakes, Cards and Kim. Her work is brilliant, and she's one of the nicest people in the whole, wide world. I just love her!!

Here's Brandi's card:

 

And mine:

Those shiny, gold polka dots really trip my trigger. This paper is from MME. A couple of strips of gold cut from a scrap, a few gold sequins from N&T, and a ME stamp embossed in gold. It looks so much cooler in real life. *sigh* Stinky photographer, that's the problem! Happy dances everyone!!

Happy Birthday Lynn!!

It's Lynn's birthday today!!!! Woohoooooo!!!!!!!!! You know Lynn; she of The Mango Boys and Me blog fame! Yep, THAT Lynn! I don't need to tell you that she is one of the sweetest, nicest people out in blogland, and that she makes the most delicious CAS cards - you already know that! But did you know that she's a 'superwoman?' For sure she is! Works full time, mother to four boys, supportive wife, loving daughter, involved with her church and community....and I swear she doesn't sleep! She does all this with a smile on her face. Incredible. Since it's her special day today, I do hope you'll stop over at her blog and leave a little birthday wish.

Now normally, this is the part where I'd throw a little birthday party. Unfortunately, I had a bad run of migraines and ended up taking my 'break-the-cycle' meds, which knocked me out of commission for two days. The fog has finally left my brain, but there just isn't enough time to do justice to a party. But we'll have cake.... Sweet little cakes....

Don't they look just perfect for a Fall birthday?! I can almost taste it...

And for once in my life, I mailed birthday cards out on time, and Lynn should have received this one yesterday, at least I hope so....

Happy Birthday Lynn. You are a treasure in this blogworld, as well as to all who know you. I am blessed to call you friend, and hope your birthday and the coming year is full of all things wonderful. Wishing you every happiness that your special day brings!

Now if Lynn doesn't mind, I'm going to add to her 'birthday' post since I'm so far behind. I'm going to send her card over to Jennifer's Share Handmade Kindness Challenge. 

And I have two more cards to post here. The first one is for The Challenge where dear friend Geri is the Featured Designer, and the ever darling Darnell is Guest Designer. It's also going to visit the Sunday Stamps Challenge. Here is the sketch and the color palette:

And here is my card. 

And my last card is headed over to Kelly Latevola's CASEing Genius Challenge. I've chosen to CASE a card by Kara Vrabel, of kandrdesigns. It's CAS and full of color and fun.

This is Kara's card:

And this is my take on it:

In addition, we're to nominate another person whom we love to become a Genius. I'm nominating Geri Greening of Manitoba Stamper. Not only is she a dear, dear friend, but she's also an incredible cardmaker. Head over to her blog and take a peek!

Because I've kept you long enough, I'm not listing my supplies here, but you can always email me if you have any questions. Happy Dances everyone.

Getting Right To It, Or Nearly So...

Getting right to the cards today. I need to make a sympathy card for a friend whose mother-in-law has passed. I didn't know Nancy's mil, but I have seen a cool photo of her. It's on the cover of Nancy's book.

Love how cool she looks waving her hat. If memory serves, this was taken in the 1940s. Excellent book, too. But I digress...

My first card will head off to my first time playing at this challenge: Cupcake Inspirations. Check out the inspiration:

Love this color combination. My take:

I cut one of my treasured, but no longer hoarded pieces of TC for MME papers for the base. There's a bit of Michaels white, and a scrap of pink striped paper. A ME stamp using Jeni Bowlin ink, and three HS enamel stars. QAEZPZ. 

Next up is a card that I'm submitting to Kelly Latevola's {CASE}ing Genius Challenge.

Wait till you see the gallery of Geniuses; brilliant and wonderful crafters all gathered together in one place. Here, we are to CASE one the geniuses in the gallery. I've chosen the wonderful and talented Amy Tsuruta of Tsuruta Designs.  This is Amy's card from Kelly's post that I've chosen to CASE.

Next we are to nominate someone we love to be a Genius. I nominate Anita Raffo from My Papercraft World. Hopefully, you've all seen her work; it's brilliant. And besides that, she's an absolutely wonderful person! I blessed beyond measure to spend time with her at the Lake House Adventure last year.

Now my card is similar, yet different from Amy's as you'll see:

For this, I found a large black & white scrap of dp and I cut it to fit the base of the card. I watercolored a slip of watercolor paper and die cut it with some NBUS dies. Another scrap of blue which was pretty darn close to the blue paint, cut with the next size up die. A SC stamp in Versafine ink, 2 little enamel dots and one pretty PM flower. Love the simplicity of this card. Wanna play along with me? You should! Head over and check it out. I promise you'll have a blast! Happy dances everyone!!

Happy Birthday Tracey!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!!! Someone special out in blogland is having a birthday today....Yep, it's the lovely and enchanting Tracey McNeely! Most of you know her, and have visited her blog, or have 'seen' her through her DT duties on various Challenges. Be sure to pop over to her blog and wish her a happy day. And just in case you've been living in a parallel dimension, her blog addy is:  In My Creative Opinion.  I think we're all ready to party too, aren't we. Just a little fun. Miss T really deserves one!

Thought some Fall table settings would be nice!

And some non-traditional birthday cakes too. Yum!

And a few little gifts.... This first one is a sweet little bird feeder, and you can just make out a bee house to the left!

She has a new house in the woods, and wouldn't this planter and bench be just the ticket for summer gatherings?! And a nice place to sit with a book.

And a small water garden just because it's so pretty!

For those cool Fall and Winter evenings, when she wants to curl up and read, or watch a little television, this duo would be welcome I'm sure!

Some pretty vases just for fun

And a sweater I thought she'd like

Girl's gotta have a bit of CAS bling to wear with the sweater too! This just might fit the bill!

"A card?," you ask... Oh for sure! Something fun. And something I hope she likes too! A bit of whimsey for our birthday girl

(I won't list the details here, but if you want to know about any of them, shoot me an email at: kastmanbuenkeratgmaildotcom. You know what that means...)

Dear Tracey,

It's your special day today. I hope you celebrate in exactly the way that makes you happiest. So glad I've gotten to know you through this blogworld, and someday, it would be lovely to meet you in person! Besides being 'cardmaker extraordinaire,' you are 'woman extraordinaire!' I am, and many others are as well, blessed to call you friend. Happy Birthday sweet Tracey!!!

Now go! Go over to Tracey's blog and leave her some birthday wishes! Woohoo!!!!!

(And if she doesn't mind, I'll pop this little card into SSS Wednesday (Anything Goes) Challenge, and Seize the Birthday too.)

Feels Like Winter Today

All of a sudden the weather turned cold with winds out of the Northwest. More wintery than Fall complete with gray skies. I don't mind so much... I'd much rather it were cooler than hot. Put a nice pork roast in the crock pot, with onions, carrots, and potatoes; perfect weather for a meal like this. Made a card too... As you can tell, I'm feeling well enough to do a little cooking, and a little crafting. It's a good thing!

It's been a while since I've played at CASology. Heck, other than yesterday, it's been a while since I've played anywhere! But I am determined to get back to normal, and that means crafting and playing. The Cue Card at CASology is:

 

And while I am at it, I'm throwing this card into the challenge at Time Out, which has a Christmas theme with the option to use pink/purple. I opted out of the option. 

I'm hoping that my card qualifies for CASology. It has layers, but it also has loads of lovely white space. If it's too froo-froo, I hope the DT removes it from the gallery.

All Michaels white cardstock. The frames are from ME, the 'winter' die is from EP, and the snowflakes are from LF. I cut the heart with my Silhouette. Those snowflakes were cut in glitter paper, but the sparkle doesn't show up in this photo. And yes, I put all those little bits and bobs back into the spaces. Very therapeutic. And that's all I've got for today; a weather report, a dinner menu, and a card. Goofy, isn't it?! Take care everyone, and happy dances!!

Still in my Jammies...

It's nearly 10:00 in the morning, and here I am still in my jammies. Not going anywhere, and no one's coming over, so why the heck not?! Been away from blogland far too long... I was absolutely blessed last week; I got to go spend three full days with the little grandchildren in Madison. How much fun did we have???!!! Amidst the homework and the other daily things, we managed some time to make a couple of crafts, which they had a blast doing, and I had a blast letting them just take off and create. We shared a great time cooking, playing, crafting, and hanging out, and the littlest was kind enough to share her virus with grandma as well. The day after I got home, I knew I had one of "those" colds. Not just a sniffly nose, but a full frontal head and chest thing; been nearly turning my lungs inside out from the coughing, and part of it has turned into a sinus infection - oh goodie.... But I'm feeling a bit better, and had a thank you card to make and get in the mail. It's taken me about 5 days to get it finished; have had limited energy levels, plus it's no fun to craft when you have to blow your nose every other minute. However, I'm determined to be done with this virus, and feel like reconnecting with you all.

So I was working on a card in my head, with no thought of challenges. I just wanted a Thank You card. And lo, and behold, I found four, count 'em, four challenges that this little card fits into! Who knew?! Things have a way of working out, don't they? This will head into all three SSS challenges; SSS Monday (use a past challenge; I'm using one from May of this year, "thank you"), SSS Wednesday (anything goes), and SSS Work It Wednesday (Thank You). And over at Stempelkuche the challenge is not to use any stamps on our designs.

Here's the card:

Now before I get into the full detail mode, you all have seen the amazing creations that Hannelie makes, haven't you? Well, she uses her Silhouette Cameo in such amazing ways, that I thought I should expand my horizons a bit more.  Thanks sweet Hannelie for being such an inspiration! The polka dotted paper, and the tag were created from Print and Cut files! The tag was blank, so I found a font I liked, moved it onto the tag, removed the red outline, and gave it a rich black fill. The polka dotted paper was another tag, and I just made it bigger and then used a ME die to cut it to this size. There's an old vellum leaf die cut on the tag, and some nested gold thread. A bit of Michaels sheer black ribbon and I think that's all. While this took me forever to make (hack, hack, cough, cough, blow, blow), I think it could be done now in a matter of 10-15 minutes. This card feels right. You know what I mean? When you create something that speaks to your whole insides? I wish you could all see this irl... Would it be wrong to say that I love this one? It makes me happy and I hope it makes you happy too. And speaking of happy....Happy Dances everyone!

Two Cards and a Credenza

Sounds kinda like a book title rather than a post title, doesn't it?....

"One day," said the credenza to the lawn chairs, grill, and gardening tools in the garage, "One day I'm going to go live in that nice, warm house. And I'll be filled with awesome papercrafting supplies, just you wait and see." The grill just laughed. "Don't you know that the City Sewer and Water Department will have this street torn up all Spring and Summer, and you'll be shoved up against the walls in the Fall just like the rest of us," he snorted. "And then there's that lady," he said "She's got more things to do than to just clean you up and paint you! We'll just see if you ever get finished and moved inside." The grill and all the other things in the garage laughed. They laughed at the poor little credenza every day, but the credenza never gave up on her dream. Still, the others in the garage laughed and laughed. Until yesterday....

And (woohoo!!!) here are a couple of photos so you can see:

*sigh*

Room for all the stuff, and an empty drawer on the bottom waiting to be filled...

This is the view from the family room doorway. My craftroom is a former bedroom and is a pass-through room to the family room. You can see the original bedroom door with its pretty glass knob.

This is the view from the opposite corner. You can see the paper tower, which is about four and a half feet tall and is full of 12x12 papers....Those too, will be changed out at some point. Only 3 more scrapbooks to make, and then I'm going to cut them down to 6x6s and make room for other supplies. Card supplies. And until DH learns to use his cell phone better, we're stuck with the landline...hopefully soon he'll spend time with the manual....

*sigh*

I know it's not a very big deal, but I love it. She's around 50 and is solid as a rock. I just cleaned and spray painted her up nicely. Oh! And my birthday present from DH is a new non-skid frosted glass top. I'll be calling the glass company on Wednesday, as I'll be out of town starting tomorrow after church.

And as promised, I have a couple of cards to show you. The first one is for Muse, where Michele has inspired us with this beauty:

And I came up with this:

It really isn't crooked...I forgot to 'straighten' it in Picasa, and am too lazy to redo it... All the papers are scraps. And I used the 'Print and Cut' feature on my Silhouette to make that little typewriter. The 'hello' is also cut with my Silhouette. And though they're hard to see, I added a few sequins which were sent my the lovely Maria in a birthday card! 

Next is a card for two new-to-me challenges. Stempelkuche (Stamp Kitchen), where we are to use a frame, and then into Hero Arts Holiday Cardmaking Challenge. A mix of NBUS and older stamps.

A scrap of red onto which I added the MFT frame. I wanted a bit more red in my design, so I added that middle strip, and a popped-up snowflake brad (torn off legs...) liberally dosed with some diamond Stickles. The sentiment and the little gnome are both NBUSish HA stamps. I embossed the sentiment in white, and Copic colored the gnome. The snowflakes are from a now defunct company (boo-hoo), My Cute Stamps, and are stamped in ME Smoke ink. I love that little guy! And since I need to get a few more things done, I'll go for a bit. Might not get a chance to comment till later next week, but I will try to at least stop by and see what you're making! Happy dances everyone!

It's a Good Day

I know it's Monday, but it's still a good day. My darling nephew and his sweet wife came home today with the babies. Miss Emma is glad to see mommy and daddy, and all's right with the world, pretty much. They'll all have some adjusting, but it won't take too long... And thanks, everyone for the kind wishes for this young couple. You all really touch my heart.

Spent some time in the craft room this morning, after getting a few things done. Still have more to catch up on, but I'll get to it eventually today. Wanted to share a couple of cards. The first is for the current Tag You're It challenge, and the second will hop right into City Crafter Challenge. Over at CCC, the theme is to use scribbles or doodles. There's still time to play in both of these, so why not join me in the gallery?!!

I liked the kraft and red, the Santa and gold; that's what my sad, little brain glommed onto when I went to make this. My take on Kelly's fun card:

Now I'd like to say that I made those skinny stripes on that kraft paper, but I didn't; it came that way, and I don't know who made it, sorry. Those stripes are actually clear embossed. I cut the tag with my Silhouette, which was not really a tag, but something I found and resized to fit my needs. The stamp is from EH, as is that sentiment. Funny. NBUS LF snow flakes cut from a scrap of mat gold paper. The red stripes are scraps too. Some gold ribbon and twine. Black Versafine ink, a little GA on the shades, and some flocking on Santa's hat. 

Next is my card for City Crafter.

I saw Anita's use of this stamp set, Doodle Buds by WPlus9, and knew I couldn't live without it. Came into good use here! Colored the doodled flower with Copics, and found this scrap of dp in the giant, ever-multiplying scrapbox. Liked the way it looked with the flower. A scrap of black to frame said flower, and one pink sequin. The die is from ME, and is one of my all time favorites. Perfect size. And now back to (ugh!) cleaning and doing. Happy dances everyone!!