What the heck...

A second post for today. I've never played along with Seize the Birthday challenge, though I've wanted to. This week the task is to make a masculine birthday card. I can always use 'manly' cards for the sons/sons-in-law or other male members of the family. Aaannnnddd, I just so happened to have a newish set from Clear and Simple Stamps which hadn't seen the light of day until now. Oh how fun! So this is the sketch:

I flipped it from right to left. This qualifies as a masculine birthday card in my world, though I know plenty of ladies who like a cold one now and again...

All paper bits are random scraps, and the base is SU. CSS By the Glass Too stamps, Memento ink, SU ink, and random bling. See you all later.

more fun in the craftroom

Rather than finishing the reorganization in here, I'm playing. But it's okay, no one else will do it, so whenever I get around to it will be just fine. And besides, it's more fun to play with paper than to organize the supplies. I've played too at a few blog hops. Check them out...there are some nice goodies involved. First I hopped along over at Avery Elle, who are showcasing their new stamp sets. (Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my chin...) And then I popped over to Paper Smooches, and hopped along there. (Gosh darn it, more drool!!). And last, I hopped at The Alley Way Stamps. ('Scuse me while I go get a towel now...) If you don't own any yet, here's your chance. At some point soon, you should hop on over too!

Now. Let's move onto CASology and their latest challenge. Number 33 is circle. I love circles, second only to squares, but for some reason, I was stumped! Until late last night, right before bed. It did turn out fairly well, I did figure out how to incorporate circles.

So okay, it's lame, the "o" in oh, and the "o" in the exclamation point. But it's all I had *sigh*. If the pinging really fires up again, I'll make something else, just don't hold your breath. And if you think about it, long and hard, there might be a chuckle in it--(oh = o = circle). A teensy chuckle. Barely imperceptible chuckle...

Scraps of random black (cut with my Cricut), red, and blue cardstock, SU white base, and computer generated font. Well, who knows, maybe just like Arnie, I'll be back...until then, happy dances.

Snain

Raise your hand if you know what snain is...yep, snow and rain mixed, and that's exactly what's going on outside today. Being a stone's throw away from Lake Michigan, the biggest weather moderator in Wisconsin, has made for a warmish day, hence the rain. And that on top of heavy wet snow from last night. The plows came through already and created a wall about 3' high at the end of our driveway. Yipee. And my snow removal guy hasn't been here yet...with an upcoming appointment and Lenten services this evening. Should be fun...or not.

Have been thinking about the inspiration photo over at Muse all morning. It's so pretty. Deanna Jean really makes the most gorgeous cards. See for yourself:



Wonderful, isn't it? I liked the colors and the flowers, so I checked to see what was in my stash, and ended up making this:

The leaves and flower stamps are from PTI, and sentiment is SU. I used lots of different inks; SU, Momento, Color Box, and Studio G. Though it is difficult to see, all the yellow centers are popped up, as is the entire middle flower. Rather than fussy cut the flowers, my patience being short today, I just used a large circle punch. Simple. Happy dances everyone.

Sharing the Love; Long Post

Who doesn't know Amber Kemp-Gerstel over at Damask Love? If you haven't seen her work, and haven't checked out her blog, you definitely need to stop reading this and get over there. You'll be totally amazed, and I will wait right here for your return...

Okay, you're back! Amber has started a Share the Love campaign over on her blog, where we are encouraged to create something, divulge a blog crush, and play along. That task is both easy and difficult at the same time.

And since Amber can explain it so much better than I can paraphrase, here are the details. For all the color schemes, check out her blog.

I did create something. In fact I spent all day yesterday creating...and creating...and recycling.  My mojo called in sick (I know it was just taking a mental health day). But later in the day, okay, okay, round about 10:00 last night, my mojo reported back for work. And this morning, I got it right. Darnell, I had another "ping" moment.  This is my color inspiration:

I had chosen and spent all day working on another one, when this combination called my name. Had to use it. But more on this, and my creation a bit further down in this post.

Let's talk about Blog Crushes... If you want to know most of my crushes, just take a look at the blogs I keep track of over on the right side of my blog. If I put ALL of them on, I'd spend all day reading and zero time creating, so I'm somewhat limited... However, if I had to narrow things down a bit, I'd go with Ardyth, Darnell, Anita, Maria, Susan R., Jackie, Deanna Jean, Arielle, oh dear, that doesn't even begin to narrow it down...I could go on and on. So let's cut to the chase here. After thinking long and hard I have to say my blog crush would have to be Geri G. over at Manitoba Stamper. You might want to know why...and there are so many reasons. Geri's blog is clean and uncluttered. Her cards are beautifully CAS, inspiring, and always fun to drool over. She has real talent, which you'll see when you take a little side trip over to her blog. Besides being a wonderful card maker, she's also sweet and very helpful. And if you're lucky enough to have her as a blog friend, you're lucky enough. I want to say thanks to her for her kindness, and for being a friend. And I made this for her. Because I enjoy her friendship.

All colored bits are scraps (yay!!). The white cardstock and ink are from SU, and the sentiment is from CSS, Sweet Tooth.

So what are you waiting for? Go back to Amber's blog, and link up! Happy dances.

Beautiful Sunday

Quick post, as I want to try another card before the sunlight fades. I made a card using the monochrome color scheme from Dynamic Duos, and the gorgeous sketch from Unscripted Sketches.



I didn't have the exact colors, but IRL, they are pretty close.Here's my take:

All paper except card base is scraps (yay!). The base, and birdie inks are SU. Computer generated font. Triangles cut with Cricut. Sizzix Bold Pop birdie stamp with die. That's it. Happy dances.

Havin' fun in my craft room

Yep. I'm having a ball here in my little craft room. Been playing most of the day. Who knew paper crafting could be so fun and so calming at the same time?! I know you're with me on that. After this post, it's get a few chore things done and start some supper for DH.

Playing in two challenges with this one. First I'm popping this into PDCC#170.  Awesome color palette, which is below. And then it's going into Lucy's Cards and she's got a great sketch, which is also below.

  

I loooovvvveeee the colors over at the PDCC. And that sketch at Lucy's was perfect for what I had in mind. The last time I was at Archivers, I picked up some Studio Calico frames, and have been dying to use them for a while now. This challenge proved perfect. I'm still working on lighting, so bear with me...

I hope you can tell that the background is navy, and not black. The navy is Bazzill, SU white cardstock, Studio Calico frames, MME button, Jillibean Soup yellow polka dot, random gray polka dot, Bella Blvd chevron (in the little hearts), We R Memory Keepers twine. I cut the arrows, which are pointing to "heart you", with the Cricut. That's all folks. Happy dances.

Saturday...

I'm not sure if I've ever played at Stampin' Royalty before, but their inspiration photo would not leave my brain. You'll all know what I mean when I say I was forced (by my own brain) to play along. Had to. No pings this time, but plenty of "play, play, play..." whisperings. See what I mean?....

What little baby girl could resist sleeping under that tree? Sweet room. My take is inspired by the tree.

Looks orange-ish, I know. I tried everything--light box, natural light, even Picasa didn't help. So, you'll have to picture the pink. Not hot pink, not orange at all, just a nice bright pink. SU tree & bird stamp and ink. HA sentiment. Random bits of gray and white. The 'leaves' are the leavings (no pun intended...maybe) of a punch just applied to the tree. Random ribbon. Happy dances everyone. 

Pretty Day

It is a pretty day today. The world outside has been blanketed in white, and it's like a fairy land. I can say that because I don't have to drive in it, and someone else does the shoveling. Very enjoyable from inside the craftroom. I'm listening to TCM, my craft room is right next to the family room, and DH is getting our taxes organized while watching movies. Even these sweet, fun movies can't stop him from being a bit cranky. Next I'm going to bribe him into a better mood with a homemade apple pie. Come on over for a slice.

I've finished a card, and the one in my head wasn't the one that ended up on the craft table. But I like it. Going to play over at CAS-ual Fridays, where the theme is:

Use a bit of silver in the design. I've had some silvery metal flowers in my stash for a while, and today was the first opportunity I've had to use them. See what you think...

I used little scraps of dp to stamp a vase from TAWS Awesome Blossoms set, then fussy cut them. The little flowers are from Momenta. I masked off part of the sentiment from PTI's Tag-it #3 set, and used SU ink. A little bit of green gel pen for the stems and that's it. Oh, I popped up the vases. Easy Peasy. Happy dances.

Sa-weet!

Having lots of fun today. And managing to get a few jobs around the house finished too! Thought I'd play along with Addicted to CAS. Fairly certain this is my first time playing there...can't remember. Anyway, the code word over there is "Candy", and I have a really cute little set that DH got me for Christmas. Perfect time to utilize it. I'm cutting it close with my entry today, but there is still time if you want to get crafty.

Mine was a really CAS card. See what you think...

 SU cardstock, markers, and copic markers, and the stamps are all from Clear and Simple stamps. See you tomorrow. Happy Dances.

cleaning? what cleaning??!!

So far, I haven't done any cleaning. But I'll get there. And the laundry, and get a chicken in the oven for a slow bake....just not right this minute. Would rather play. I'm playing along with Lucy's Cards. Her sketch is so versatile, and I will probably go back to it again.

And this is my take on this fun sketch:

You know I'm trying to use up my stash, or at least use some of it, before buying anymore fun papers and embellies. Well, this paper and the hands are old. I'm guessing at least 6 years old. Both are from American Crafts Play Date line. The stamp is PS Word Salad, and the ink and white cardstock are from SU. IRL, the red hand doesn't look quite so garish. Happy Dances.

10MCD and other things

Snow's coming. That means it's a perfect day for crafting and cleaning. I took a few minutes this morning and made a card for Paulina's 10 Minute Craft Dash. Now I know that some of you are a bit intimidated by just the thought of trying to make a card in 10 minutes or under, but you really should give it a shot. Look at the little color flags, get the ideas pinging around in your heads, gather some supplies, set your timer, and go! While cleaning in here yesterday, I ran across a package of card bases by Doodlebug, that I won at a scrapping/stamping convention, oh, hm, about 2-3 years ago. Knew I had them, knew I liked them, knew I'd use them; it's just that they got "put away" well in my 'cards I am making' box. Probably the one box I've avoided for oh, hm, about a year. So yesterday when I was pulling stuff out and putting it away where it ought to be, I left these out determined to use them within the week. Then, this morning, I saw Paulina's challenge. And what do you know, I had a brown card base!!

So this is how it went...

Once I remembered the file folder card base, my brain pinged "office supplies"

Grabbed the spiral bound pad, stapler, a paper clip, a sheet of pink bling, white and blue scraps, the washi tape, markers and two sets of stamps. Then it was off to the races!

In 9:31 seconds:

                         1. Rip pink paper off pad, trim a bit, adhere to base

2. Tear white scrap, decide to leave top edge torn at last minute

3. Trim blue scrap, can't do any more messy edges, so cut clean

4. Staple white to blue

5. (and this was the most time consuming part) Use markers and color pencil stamp

6. Stamp pencil

7. Color senitment, stamp, and underline both images

8. Adhere to card base

9. Washi tape corners of pink

10. stamp small sentiment and adhere to tab

11. Breathe again!

12. Look at card--hate the way the tab sentiment looks

13. Rip off sentiment (here's where panic sets in...)

14. Don't look at timer, don't look at timer....

15. Find better sentiment stamp on TOP of others (whew!)

16. Color sentiment, stamp, trim and adhere to tab

17. Double whew!

18. Examine card...where's the paper clip??!!!

19. Grab paper clip and add a heart bling once it's on card.

20. Make a Margarita 

It really is fun! And here's the final, final project:

What a hoot...I had a blast making this and I can't believe that it came together in 9:31. I used the Doodlbug brown card base, random scraps of white and blue, and a no-name pad with multiple colors (pink here), washi tape, regular office supply staples and paper clip, unknown pink bling, SU markers, PTI enjoy stamp, PS Just a Note stamp, and Amy Tangerine pencil from Hey There. So I'm off to post this to the 10MCD. You should give this a try--it's sooo much fun! Happy Dances everyone.

Chchchchanges...

Don't be fooled, you're in the right place if you were looking for happy dance. I cleaned things up a bit is all. Not only on my blog, but also in my craft room. After two days worth of migraines, and some running around, I've been trying to clean up, pare down, and organize my little creating space. So far, it's working for me. Do let me know if you like the new look...I must admit I like the clean lines of it. And I've added a tab at the top. I'm sure you'll find it.

I actually did make a card today. Couldn't let one more day pass without having a little fun. I wanted to play along with the fifth challenge over at Muse. Here is the lovely card Marion Vagg created:

The beautiful lines and colors were my inspiration. Makes me long for summer...

Almost CAS. Not quite, but not a totally busy card. The lines make me happy. SU ink and white cardstock. Bazzill blue and yellow cardstock. Doodlebug flower sequins. Paper Smooches sentiment. Washi tape. And now, I either have to create or clean. Gosh, wonder what I'll be doing..... happy dances everyone.

TGIF...no wait...I'm retired!!!

Yeah, pretty much every day is Friday for me! Well, make that Saturday. Still not used to being retired, but so far, I am really enjoying it. CAS-ual Fridays (a good reason for thanking goodness it is Friday) has a fun challenge this week. Black and white plus one. Plus one color that is... and I chose blue. And kept it very CAS. Lots of lovely white space. This was a fast card, and I had a nice, quiet time creating, that is after the PING. Once the ping stopped reverberating in my skull, it truly went together quickly. Going to our church's Scrap and Stamp event tomorrow. Will be fun. We do it every third Saturday, except in December, and it goes from noon till 7pm. I'll post more details about it once I get more organized...

This is a really fun challenge, so you should go and play along too. Really!

I like the CASness of this card. SU white cardstock, grunge stamp, and black ink. Random black cardstock, PTI stamp, and Colorbox blue ink. That's it. Happy Dances everyone.

and I quote...

Several incredible bloggers out there have suggested using supplies in more ways than just the most straight-forward. That made sense to me, and so I thought, hmmmm....and then PING.....well, the ping came after seeing the sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch. So much lovely white space surrounding the focal point. And my goofy idea came to light. I used one set of quotation marks. Wha....t?!? Well in a flash, you can see exactly what I mean. First though, take a look at this yummy sketch:

and my simple take:  

I like it. I made it with a masked off HA stamp and Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Ink ink Orange and white striped Washi tape, and quotation marks cut with my Cricut using MME dp. That's it. Once again, Happy Valentine's Day and do a little happy dance!

More musing....

While I love that little eyeglass stamp, and the glitter applied to my other card for the Muse challenge, I really wanted to try something similar, yet different. The colors and straight lines still spoke to me, and so those are what I went with again. As per my resolution for the year, I am still trying most earnestly to scrap my stash. Some of my friends probably won't believe that I haven't purchased anything new (ok, ok, not more than a stamp set or two...) to use in my paper crafting endeavors.

Once again, this is the inspiration card made by the very clever and very talented Therese Calvird:

  

Be sure to pop over to Muse and see the cards inspired by Therese, and while you're there, play along!

This one is for my sister's birthday. My favorite part is the fabric covered brad (from Kaisercraft). Doodlebug purple dp, unknown lime, SU white, PTI sentiment, and Colorbox purple ink. That's it. Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

Quick one

A quick card for Unscripted Sketches 197. Great sketch. Will use this one again to be sure! Go play there!!

                                           And my take:

White SU cardstock, and funky little poms, a strip of MME dp, PS sentiment stamp, KI for Hampton Arts polka dot stamp, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger ink, scrap of Bazzill navy. Any thoughts?

Backwards and Forwards

Ash Wednesday is a good day for looking backwards and forwards. I won't get all weird here, and the card I made isn't an "Ash Wednesday" card (good grief, I hope there isn't a card category like Happy...well you get the idea!). No, it's really a thank you card for my friend, college classmate, and former coworker, Mary. She's brilliant. She's nice. She's the kind of person everyone wants in their life. And I have so much to thank her for. This little card is a small start. Looking back, so many wonderful memories, looking forward, so many more to make!

And I got the idea over at Muse. This is the current inspiration photo:

and I went with the colors, and basic straight-line design. 

IRL, the colors are bright, not garish, just bright. (gotta get a real camera). I used SU white cardstock and black ink. MS green, (excuse me..) peridot glitter. Eyeglass stamp from TAWS Adorabowl set, and the sentiment is from Hampton Art by KI. Bazzill purple and random green cardstock. I have to say glittering was fun. I got a phone call right in the middle of gluing, yet still managed to glue, glitter, AND talk on the phone all at the same time. Now there's a feat!

Fat Tuesday

Finished the errands, answered emails, and had plenty of time to get a little crafty. The nice people I worked with gave me a lovely gift card to Michaels in honor of my retirement. Hence, a note of thanks was in order. (just wanted to use that word...hence I did!) (I'll quit now..) And as it happens, CASology's cue card inspired me today. Darnell, Geri, I've had another PING!! From head to hands in no time flat. Wonder what's wrong with me???!!!! And if you haven't checked out CASology, you really must do so. It's way fun.

It really doesn't get much more simple. Love red. And like the way this turned out!

The reds used here are rich and lovely, though it's hard to tell from the photograph. For this card, I used SU white cardstock and inks, cut the scrap of red cardstock with my Cricut, and used a sweet DeNami rose stamp. On a sample, I tested red bling and stickles in the roses, but it just was too much, so this has been left unembellished and I think using anything on the roses would have detracted from their simplicity. Onto to happy dances y'all!

As my sister would say...

Well, Sue would say: "Knobs R Us!!"  Yep, that's a perfect description of me this morning. Ok, ok, that's a perfect description of me since January 22nd. That's right. I've been remiss in checking the "comments that need to be moderated" box in my blog, and so I popped in there today to find one from Maria F. over at rieslingmama. She left this for me, and I only saw it a few minutes ago:

So without further ado, a giant, thank you goes out to Maria. Bless your heart, and I am humbled and honored that you would pass this onto me. (Pardon me, I have this lump in my throat...) Sincerely and from my heart, thank you. Now, anyone who hasn't visited Maria's blog, get over there. The link is right up there, so once you've finished reading, go!

Did you know that 'Liebster' is the German word for 'dearest'? I'm sure I knew that as a child, but had forgotten it was up there in my brain.  This award is the "pass it on" kind, to be passed onto inspirational bloggers who have less than 200 followers. 

Here's what any Liebster award recipient must do:

1. Thank the giver and link back to her/him
2. Choose your five blog picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog (only choosing 5 is hard!)
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog
4. Cross your fingers that those you award Liebster to forward it to their favorite bloggers!

My five choices, in no particular order, are (and trust me when I say this is the difficult part!)

Natalie over at just cards - by N@Ali. Her style is perfectly CAS, with bold elements, crisp design, fabulous color,  and her cards always amaze me. The way she spells N@Ali tickles me too! She's got a great "wow factor!"

Next is Anita over at My Papercraft World.  Anita's blog is always a fun place to visit. And given the chance, I'd love to stop and visit her in person...who wouldn't want to go to FRANCE? Her cards are fun, creative, CAS, and always good for inspiration. If you need a little 'happy', this is a good place to find some!

Next in line is Xiumaiyuki. If you're a fan of CAS, and gorgeous, this is the blog to visit. Xiumaiyuki's work is fabulous. Elegant is another word that comes to mind. Love her work, and you will too.

And we come to Jenny. Her blog's name is "I dream in paper", and her cards are definitely dreamy. Jenny has a great sense of fun, and always manages to get that element into her CAS designs. If you want to see how she used the term, "parsimonious", you'll just have to click and go... A fun and fabulous blog!

For my final choice, Shelly over at Sweet Greetings. You'll find some great CAS cards over at Shelly's. She is one clever crafter. Love her use of white space, and the pops of color in her cards. I know you will too.

So, now that you have glimpses of these five wonderful crafters, make sure you visit their blogs and leave them a little note of congrats. Well worth it, I guarantee it.

Whew! Before I go, I want to thank Maria again, and to tell you that I could choose at least another five wonderful crafters. And boy, I'll be doing the Happy Dance all week, let me tell you. See you tomorrow.

Sledding

No...not me. Don't think the body would like that today. Or tomorrow. Or even the next day... Our church is having a sledding party, and someone has to go and make the hot cocoa and treats! An ideal job for a grandma! I managed to get all of my morning chores done and have had enough time left over to make a card, photograph it, write a quick post, and after this, some lunch! So...let's get to things...

Okay, first, I have a thank you to make. The wonderful DT over at Unscripted Sketches chose my card as one of their top three! Thank you so much. I am over-the-moon thrilled about being so honored. If you feel any shaking, that's just me doing the Happy Dance! They've got a great sketch again this week, so I will encourage everyone to play along -- it's a blast!

Now, over at The Alley Way Stamps Be Inspired challenge 21, there's this darling photograph, with hearts,  a cup of something, (cocoa?, hope so!) and cookies. Plus lots of wonderful white space, and you know how much I love that white space.... I struggled with this yummy photo until this morning, and Darnell, I had another PING. From brain to fingers in no time flat! Here's the inspiration photo:

And here are the results of such fine inspiration:

Now for the deets...

SU white cardstock, markers, and ink. The Alley Way Awesome Blossoms stamps, a random piece of red cardstock, embossed. I fussy cut the vase and pop dotted it, then used that red strip as an anchor for the card. It's a bit off center on purpose, as I wanted to balance it with the sentiment. Oh, and some Scattered Straw Stickles. Mustn't forget the "cookie" color!! So have a great day and do a little happy dance.

Snowed in...for the moment

I won't be complaining about the snow amounts here on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. I know that the East Coast is about to get hammered, and with many more inches/feet than we got through the night. And since I'm snowed in, why not play with paper?!!! Oh yeah.
I'm back to CAS. After a brief foray into the realms of the more pretty/fussy cards, I have to get back to what seems to work best for me. Ahhhhh...... Lots of clean white space on the card I made for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge. The theme is "Love Song" in honor of the upcoming Grammy awards. I chose Just the Two of Us, written by Bill Withers, William Salter, and Ralph MacDonald, sung by Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers, and won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1982. After raising our children, it's just the two of us here at home now. Not a bad thing. Lots of quality time for DH and me.

Be sure to head over to CAS-ual Fridays and play along to your favorite love song. (Dang! Lyrics!)

My take:

The idea hit like a "PING" in my head. And then it translated right to my fingers. Red scrap for the heart, which was punched through, as was the white. The image is really on the inside of the card, though it's difficult to tell in the photo. White SU cardstock and all SU inks, the image stamp is Amy Tangerine's Hey There, and a computer generated font. The inside is just for the DH, sorry....

Happy Dances.

What?! Again?!...

Yeah, with the snow falling like mad outside, it was a good day for spending lots of time in the craft room. I found another new-to-me challenge over at Lucy's Cards. I first saw it while looking at Kim's cards. I fell in love with the one she made, and so I thought I'd check out the challenge. Oh. My. Gosh. The sketch is lovely. And while I am more of a CAS card maker, I wanted to play this one. I had a hoard small stash of pretty paper that I was saving, and thought it would be perfect for her sketch.

And what the heck! Since it has my favorite polka dots, and the hearts and sentiment is from Paper Smooches, I'm going to play the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge (again)! 

All papers are SU, except the vellum. I cut leaves with an MFT die using vellum and made a flower, and used an MME brad for it's center. The seam binding ribbon and the ink are also from SU. As mentioned before the sentiment and hearts are from Paper Smooches. So that's it for now. Happy dances.