RE-Inspired with Freebies

It is the second week of the BE-Inspired Challenge over at The Alley Way Stamps (TAWS) and it is a CUTE picture...

So I get to RE-inspired you to play along.  And as an added thrill today, the stamps that I have used on my card have just been announced on the TAWS blog as a freebie with $40 purchase through the month of December!

I love the colors and I was particularly drawn to the stockings - I liked the random splashes of color.


You need a close-up to see that the card really does sparkle!!

A big thank you to two challenges that helped me with this card...
retrosketches

colourq - Although I am very sad to announce that I am officially out of my first ever Stampin' Up color.  I have ink and paper back to Mint Melody and Mauve Mist (anybody remember those?)  But I pulled out my Glorious Green pad to make this - it was dry - so I rummaged through my ink refills and then rummaged again and again...it's gone.  I am officially out of Glorious Green.  There is nothing quite like Glorious Green - I used Garden Green on this card.

CAS(E) this Sketch #7!!

This is my second post today. 

The Alley Way Stamps blog hop is just a post away!!

After a Thanksgiving break, CAS(E) this Sketch! is back with a fun, new sketch!

Be sure to check out what all the rest of the design team has done - I am constantly amazed by how many different ideas come out even with such a simple sketch!

Here's my take on this sketch....

Give it a try!  Have fun!  And be sure to link up so we can all see your ideas!

• Stamps: Avery Elle Framed Fonts, Bright Days
• Paper: Stampin' Up Island Indigo
• Ink: Stampin' Up Real Red, Summer Starfruit
• Accessories: MFT Arrow and Fishtail dies

Blog Hopping with The Alley Way Stamps

It's blog hop time for The Alley Way Stamps  (TAWS) - there are fun new stamps - if you follow the TAWS blog there have been sneak peeks the last three days (I did one yesterday!).  Today, when you hop, you get to see all of the new stamps!

If you started with my blog, be sure to head back to the beginning at The Alley Way Stamps.

TAWS is releasing a wonderful new background stamp.  Woodgrain is so in - and it works for so much.  On sneak peek day, you saw the new Love Knots woodgrain done in pinks and there was a video tutorial on doing it in bold blended colors.  I still need Christmas cards - so here is Love Knots used slightly differently.


{This card was made with love and prayers  for a wonderful family dealing with chemo  for their 8-year old for the fourth time.   They get a little break in December, but it's not over.}
Then...a very different stamp style...Doodle Frames...

Aren't these fun???  I'm a clean and simple card maker and these are perfect!  You could plop one of these fun frames in the middle of a card and they are each interesting enough to totally make the card!!

Next on the hop is Lyndal

THE FINE PRINT from TAWS:

One person will win ALL 3 NEW SETS!! YEP!! So if you want that person to be you.. all you have to do is comment on the hop! 

Here are ways you can win.. You can pick and choose which ones you want to do.. but the more you comment, the more chances you have to win.. 

1-Comment on The Alley Way Stamps Blog

2-Comment on the DT girls blogs (below)

3-Post about it on facebook or your blog

4-Like us on Facebook

(leave a separate comment for each that you do)

 You have until Nov 30th by 9:30 PM TAWS time to leave comments.

Here are the DT Blogs to visit

Alison
Annette
Arielle
Audrey
Danielle
Jessica
Kim <===You are here!
Lyndal
Tracy

A big thank you to two challenges who helped get me over a drop in my mojo as I was creating these card:

The Paper Players

The Color Throwdown

The Alley Way Stamps Sneak Peek: Petal Pushers

It's the most wonderful time of the month - - - tomorrow is the new release blog hop for the December stamps at The Alley Way Stamps.  If you have been following their blog, the last two days have been sneak peeks of a Doodle Frames (fun!!) and Love Knots (a very sweet background!).  This is the last day of sneak peeks and we are previewing Petal Pushers.  This set is full of fun, cute and funky flower building elements, but I went a different direction.  I needed a sweet and gentle friendship card for a sick friend, so I used subdued colors and the branch with buds and made a "Best Buds" card!!


I added some Stickles to the buds to make them look soft and dewy.

The flower pot is stamped in Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, then I took a slightly darker Copic marker and lightly sketched in some highlights.
If you check out The Alley Way Stamps blog you will see other fun cards with this set!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for our full hop!
I used the sketch from i {heart} sketches:

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Petal Pushers (soon to be released!)
• Paper: All paper from the Oct 2012 kit from Simon Says Stamp.
• Ink: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap, Copics
• Accessories: Spellbinders Narrow Oval and Scalloped Oval dies, Stampin' Up Scalloped Border Punch, Basic Gray Taffeta and Stickles

Warm Wishes on Merry Monday

It's the last Merry Monday of the year so I absolutely had to be sure to play along.  I dabbled with Merry Monday when they started at the beginning of the year, but I didn't get serious until about August.     I love how far ahead I am on Christmas...for me, being far ahead means I am not mailing on 12/26!!  But I could be completely done had I played from the beginning.  Next year, I guarantee I will be there on Challenge #1!

This card should have been SO easy.  I had a strong mental picture from the moment that I saw the sketch.  But it would not translate.  I saw bright stamped snowflake circles on top of the nordic print (too busy), I tried punched snowflakes (didn't have the right sizes), I tried bright pink buttons with pink paper under the gray (couldn't find anything to go between the buttons)...I refuse to add up how long I spent on this simple card.  I dug to the bottom of my Christmas embellishment box and found an old container of plastic embellishments which I ended up using, but even that was difficult (cute mittens then not three of the same color).  Am I whiny today, or what?  I shouldn't be because, in the end, I like the card!


Don't look too closely at the picture though, because as a final blow, I could not get a picture with accurate colors.  The sparkly centers and the small snowflakes match IRL but are a truer blue than in this picture.  No matter what setting I tried on the camera, the sparklies came out more turquoise but the small snowflakes stayed blue.  I am so tired of looking at this card - I just color-corrected in Photoshop!!!

• Stamps: WPlus9 Fairisle Backgrounds, Winter Wishes (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Going Gray, Pool Party
• Ink: Stampin' Up Going Gray, Versamark
• Accessories: Detail White Embossing Powder, American Crafts Holiday House Winter Plastic (really old!), Pebbles Glitter Candy Dots

Papertrey Blog Hop: Cover Art

This is my second post today!

This month's Papertrey Ink blog hop challenged us to be inspired by Cover Art and gave us a few samples that we could use.

I loved the grays and pinks of Great Expectations and also the small strip of pink - so I came up with this very simple card.  I also uses a button from the new set Button Up which came in my mail yesterday!!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Think Big Favorites #3, Button Up
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow, Raspberry Fizz
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow, Soft Stone
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Button Up die and Double Ended Banner Die, Smokey Shadow button, misc glitter (on button die), twine and gems

Believe with Merry Monday

I'm squeezing a Merry Monday challenge in under the wire.  I am so far ahead on Christmas cards this year thanks to Merry Monday.  My plan today is to spread out of my Christmas cards, assign them to people and see where I stand.  I actually think that I have enough - it's just a matter of whether I have the right cards for everybody - then I can focus the next few weeks and be done!  Thank you, Lesley, for your Merry Monday inspiration!

• Stamps: Technique Tuesday
• Paper: Stampin' Up Real Red CS and dsp, Best Creations glimmer paper
• Ink: Stampin' Up Real Red
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Snowflake Punch, American Crafts button, MFT Fishtail Flags and a Santa hat that I ripped off a Merry Christmas sticker (yes, I bought the whole 3d sticker for the Santa hat - I have got to find a die for a Santa hat!!!)

ColourQ and Birthdays!

A dear friend had a birthday yesterday.  The colors from colourq were absolutely perfect for her!!!

This was such a fun combination of warm and cool colors.  I also added some festive silver.  This was quite a stretch for me as silver didn't go with anything.  But I so liked the surprise of the Bermuda color - I decided to pair it with a silver surprise!!

The layout comes from cardabilities:

• Stamps: Avery Elle Framed Fonts
• Paper: Stampin' Up Cajun Craze, Concord Crush, More Mustard dsp, Silver Glimmer
• Ink: Stampin' Up Concord Crush
• Accessories: Spellbinders labels, Stampin' Up Cajun Craze button and Flower Brad, Pebbles Glitter Candy Dots, gems colored to match Concord, My Favorite Things Fishtails die

Unca Dirt and Cookies

My brother's birthday was on Thanksgiving.   I actually made this card early but couldn't post it.  Last year, I made a card with a wolf on it and I posted it when I made it.  When we got together to celebrate, he held the unopened envelope to his forehead, closed his eyes - and said "I see a wolf".  My jaw dropped.  Turns out they read my blog...my jaw dropped even further!!  (Love you guys!!!)

To my children he is "Uncle Kurt", but when they were younger they didn't quite get his name right.  One child called him "Cookie" - that's pretty sweet.  If you say "Uncle Kurt" you can hear all of those "K" sounds and understand where "Cookie" comes from.

My other son's name for him didn't come out quite as sweet - "Unca Dirt".  But...I was doing a happy dance over this nickname when I realized that I had a stamp that said "Happy Dirtday"!!


The "dirtday" stamp comes from a Stampin' Up set called I Dig You - but the trucks in it seemed too young.  He's my younger brother but given how old I am, he is no spring chicken either!  I found an old Close To My Heart set called Little Builders that had more rugged trucks and he'll like the jeep as he used to do all of that rock-hopping, crazy jeep stuff. (Before he had two charming little girls who depend on him!!)

I used the sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

Guess what?  I did it!  For the first time IN MY LIFE, I experienced Black Friday (but it started on Thursday).  It was a strange and unique experience that I don't care to repeat.  Although I did learn from the people around me who became great friends in the 4 hours of sitting in the candy aisle at Walmart waiting for a TV to go on sale - that Walmart does Black Friday well.  First, we didn't have to wait outside in the cold.  Second, they had items distributed throughout the store and gave you maps when you walked in so you knew where to wait.  Third, the people from the food court had coffee carts they wheeled around the store!  I bet they have full-time staff that works all year on strategic planning for Black Friday.  I did witness one fight over crockpots - seriously??!!  My kids were bored...but we got everything on our list!!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up I Dig You, Close to My Heart Little Builder (old)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Night of Navy, the Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby brand) Stonewashed
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Night of Navy and Crumb Cake
• Accessories: Creative Impressions Metal Loops, Stampin' Up Night of Navy Taffetta, EK Success border punch

Abundant Blessings to You and Yours

At this time of Thanksgiving celebration my thoughts turn gratefully to you with warm appreciation.
Thank you for being part of my card-making journey.

• Stamps: Verve Harvest Blessings, Bountiful Harvest
• Paper: Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry, Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate and New Leaf, K&Co Alleghany Plum dsp
• Ink: Memento brown and Copics
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Bird and Leaf punch and Itty Bitty Banners die, Papertrey Ink Summer Sunrise button
• Challenges: Mojo Monday

Goodbye Little Turkey...See Ya Next Year!!

I am blessed with that rarest of things - a husband who cooks - and not does he cook, he insists on doing the entire Thanksgiving feast.  This means that I have time to play!  Thanksgiving is at my house this year but just a small gathering, my family and my brother's family.  That means besides the adults, we have my two teenage boys and two little girls.  So I wanted to throw together something quick and cute.  Not too much work because the children will have them pulled apart before we eat - but just a little decoration.

The little turkey found in Cover-Ups by The Alley Way Stamps HAS to be one of my all-time favorite turkeys.  (Plus, you can get him in a biggie-size in the set It's Fall About You.)  He is so much fun to color!  So I pulled him out one last time this year for this silverware holder...


The holder is from a pillow box die - mine is from Papertrey Ink - I know Sizzix and maybe Stampin' Up have them also.  After I cut it out - I cut the the top off straight.  A little embossing, paper and ribbon and it's perfect for the silverware!!
And...between the turkey ("Gobble, Gobble") and silverware (gobble, gobble, yum!), I thought this was a perfect entry for this week's CASology challenge:

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Cover-Ups, names are computer generated
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Orchard Harvest dsp, Very Vanilla CS
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa and Copics
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Pillow Box die and Bookmark die (which I cut shorter for a tag), Stampin' Up Old Olive ribbon and Cherry twine

Little Tangles Neat & Tangled

Neat & Tangled stamps has a new challenge blog: Little Tangles  (LOVE the name!!)  Their first challenge is to "Say Hello".  Since the first set that I purchased from them was Just Hello - I really had no choice but to play along!

If you don't have any Neat & Tangled stamps, the challenge blog includes free digis!!!

I LOVE great customer service.  A good experience will bring me back over and over and this company does it well!  Just this week I got a package from them with a stamp set that I already owned.  When I emailed, Danielle nicely reminded me that the original stamp set had a flaw and this was a replacement - the flaw was in the girl elf.  I had already used her - do you see a flaw in this sweet elf??

Details here.

But apparently there is a flaw and this company went above and beyond and sent me a whole new set (plus a freebie stamp!)  I will definitely be shopping at Neat & Tangled!!

I used this week's sketch from Technostamper:

• Stamps: Neat & Tangled Just Hello, Little Tangles (the curly stripes on the yellow panel - and just a bit of them by the phone)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Raspberry Ripple, Buckaroo Blue (VERY old!), Papertrey Ink Summer Sunshine CS and dsp (this is a very odd combination of colors, but I originally had some patterned paper on it and was matching the paper - later I decided I liked this clean look better!)
• Ink: Memento Black
• Accessories: misc black twine, one teeny gem on the phone dial

Technostamper is a fun challenge that allows me to put the linky code on my blog so you can see what others are doing with the sketch - you can even link yours here!

Peace on Earth (with Dimension!)

I was looking at all of the current challenges that I wanted to play this week while life was a little easier without running the kids to schools and practices, etc.  (Plus, my husband cooks Thanksgiving dinner so I am free and easy!!)  There are so many, I decided to combine three in this card!


I started with the technique challenge at Technique Tuesday: 3D Punched Elements.  They have a nice picture tutorial of how to put these together!  For my tree, I used two different blues and then covered every other panel with glitter - just trying to give the tree some shadow an dimension!  (If you ever have group cardmaking events with kids and teens - this is a great technique to use - check it out here!)
I was going to do a traditional green tree, but the Winter Blues challenge at CAS-ual Fridays called my name.  I'm glad it did, because the blues led me to the beautiful sentiment and the soft background paper.

In keeping it very clean and simple, I went with the current sketch at iSpy Sketches. 

• Stamps: Verve Star of Wonder
• Paper: Stampin' Up Silver Shimmer, Bashful Blue, Bliss Blue (retired), Going Gray (retired), Bo Bunny Powder Mountain
• Ink: Stampin' Up Brocade Blue (retired)
• Accessories: WPlus9 Pretty Patches Tree die, Bo Bunny Powder Mountain gems, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter (applied with spray adhesive)

Thankful For You

It's my day to post over at The Alley Way Stamps.  There isn't much longer to revel in rich fall colors - so I used Framed to create this fall scene, along with a leaf and sentiment from It's Fall About You and a little background pattern from Background Check.

This is going out to my dear friend in hospice care.  I am truly thankful and will always be thankful for her friendship over the last 48 years!! I'm playing along with the current challenge at The Friday Mashup: a thank you project with leaves 

And I'm playing with Simon Says Stamp: Thanksgiving/Thank You.

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Framed, Background Check, It's Fall About You
• Paper: Stampin' Up Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Basic Black,  K&Co Fall Harvest Mat Pad (I've had it for a number of years so probably long retired!)
• Ink: black
• Accessories: misc twine

Your Number's Up!

This week's challenge at A Passion for Papertrey is called "Your Number's Up" - using numbers somewhere on your card.  I have a couple of big birthdays coming up right after Christmas - a new 13-year old and a new 17-year old so I thought I would get a head start on these.

Plus, in the back of my mind is A Passion for Papertrey's last challenge - to show an uninked stamp some inky love - I have so many uninked stamps that I'm going to focus on those as I play along with each challenge.  This week is "Grunge Me".  I love what I have seen done with it - and I have nothing else like it - but it really is out of my comfort zone.  I solved a little bit of my problem by not truly collaging(?) the stamps together - I just ran them up the side!


I used the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! to remind you that with Thanksgiving in the U.S. we are running the challenge for two weeks - so you have 9 more days to play along.  The sketch is truly flexible - my card for the design team was a pastel, glittery penguin - this card is masculine and grunged!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Grunge Me, Boy Basics: Game On (sentiment)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft, Enchanted Evening
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Canyon Clay
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Alpha Blocks Numbers

Snow on the Lawn

This is my second post today.

There's a new challenge out there - Addicted to CAS and their first challenge is "snow".


Isn't this totally true???
But...this is the first and last time that I will be using this stamp.  Does anybody see the error?  I was raised by a 9th grade English/Grammar teacher so very little gets by me.
The words mean to say that my lawn looks as good as my neighbor's lawn (notice the apostrophe).  By not including the apostrophe, this stamp is actually saying that my lawn looks as good as the little old couple that live next door!!  NOT their lawn - but THEM!!
Funny story about my neighbors.  Over the years I have watched this elderly couple tend their lawn.  I have always kept a careful eye on them when I saw them outside as they always seemed so fragile.  (As a side note: we all live on 5 acre plots surrounded by fences and gates so none of us get to know our neighbors.  I think most of us move out here so we don't have to know our neighbors.)  Recently I saw a notice that the owner had died so I dropped by with sympathy card.  It turns out that I've been wrong all of these years - the fragile elderly couple who tend the lawn are the kids of the people who live there!!    Wow!  The gentlemen who just died was 102 years old!

I also used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

• Stamps: The Stampin' Place
• Paper: Stampin' Up Sage Shadow (retired), Papertrey Pineforest, Cloud9 Stocking Stripe dsp (the snowflakes are on the paper)
• Ink: Stampin' Up Sage Shadow
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Calypso Twine, Memory Box die, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter (on tops of trees and houses)

A Trio of Gingerbread Man

This week's Merry Monday challenge includes a trio of circles right down the center with an offset banner.  I stared at this one for a long time because I could NOT figure out how to do a centered column of circles.  I was crafting at a friend's house and loudly complaining about this trio of circles.  Finally my friend said, "Do they HAVE to be circles?" and it broke me out of my box.  (Of course, if you check out the cards by the design team, THEY didn't have any problems dealing with the trio of circles!)

I still don't own these stamps and the Stampin' Up mini is almost over.  Plus, I got a peek at the new mini(!)...it shows carryover items and it does NOT show the dies for this stamp set - so I'm guessing it's no longer available next month.  Hmmm.....

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Scentsational Season, the sentiment came from one of my friend's Stampin' Up sets but I don't remember which one
• Paper: Stampin' Up Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Frostwood Lodge dsp
• Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede, Early Espresso
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Holiday Collection Framelits, Stampin' Up ribbons in Espresso, Red and Marina

Arsenic and Old Lace

I absolutely love the challenge at Catered Crop: Arsenic and Old Lace.  What a fabulous title for a challenge (AND for a great movie!)  The "lace" part is obvious...the "arsenic" is something a little rugged or rustic, like kraft paper, hemp twine or burlap.

I have to admit that I was reading about this challenge while I was in the mountains (re: an earlier post about lack of a working furnace in my home) and I must have misread it.  On my way home from the mountains, I stopped by Archivers and was hunting for something "rusted" so I found metal embellishments that I liked.  They do have a "rustic" look, right?  Plus, although I didn't notice it at the time, both of the dsps that I chose have a wood look to them.  So, I'm calling it a done deal!!

Lace and rustic is not my normal style (that's why they call them challenges, right?) so I did rely on two different sketch challenge...then I didn't have to focus on that creative element also.

My first card is for my dear friend in hospice.  She lives right smack dab in the middle of the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Have you ever looked at a map of a National Forest or Park and seen one little patch of private land - that's my girlfriend!  So the lace and "rustic" were a perfect combo for her:


This card uses the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

I also found another metal embellishment that I liked - a set of Tim Holtz Christmas tokens - so I decided I had to do another Arsenic and Old Lace card!!  Although this sweet image is as far from a mystery/horror movie as is possible!

The sketch for this card comes from Try Stampin' on Tuesday.  

Funny story - I was writing this post, feeling OK but not great about this card.  I brought up Try Stampin' on Tuesday and realized there was a piggyback challenge to use red.  The card that I had at that point included a blue bird - I had photoed and edited the card for this post but was feeling like something was missing - it was a bit dull.  I saw the "red" and knew a little red bird would add a vibrancy that was missing.  Here's the original - you be the judge!

No One Like You

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Larkspur (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crushed Curry, Core-dinations blue, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Dilly Dally Curious Plank Paper
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow, Chamomile Vintage Touch
• Accessories: graphic 45 Metal Butterfly, MME Follow Your Heart Be Amazing Twine, misc lace

Bird on a Post

• Stamps: Elzybells (this company is gone, but Elisabeth Bell designs for other companies and has digis!)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Blue Bayou, Soft Suede, TPC Studio Woodland Winter Snowflake Stripe
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Copics, Stampin' Up Soft Sky (just sponged on the edges of the white)
• Accessories: Tim Holtz Christmas Muse Tokens, Spellbinders Label die, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter (on Suede scallops), misc lace, ribbon and twine