Fab Friday and Rockwell's Colors: Hang In There

On Sunday, I did the nectarine card for Jackie's challenge at Rockwell Designs to use the 2013 Pantone Spring Fashion Colors.  I got there to load it up and she had moved on to Lemon Zest.  But that is OK, because each of the colors goes until September 22 - you can go back and play with any of the colors.

I also had my eye on the sketch at Fab Friday and I thought it would work well with a Lemon Zest sun.  Plus, I hadn't cleaned my desk from yesterday's use of the charming critters from Mama Elephant's Up and Away and they just were not ready to be put away!!

I'm just happy I got to craft for a couple of days in a row.  My summer break from college courses was only two weeks so I have been back to a full-time schedule.  It's not so much that I don't have the time to craft, after all, many of you do it with full-time jobs and young children.  I just don't always have the brain power to craft.  I haven't had to read textbooks, do problems, study and write papers for a very, very long time.  I'm hoping my brain wakes up soon as the plan is to go back into the work world next summer after I graduate and I'm going to need the gears to be moving a little faster at that point.  I'm not consistently making it around to everybody's blogs to comment but please know that I am loving seeing what you do.  Even when I don't have the brain power to create a card, I can alwayts relax by looking at all of your beautiful creations!

• Stamps: Mama Elephant Up and Away
• Paper: Stampin' Up Summer Sun, Echo Park Dots and Stripes Candy Shoppe 6x6
• Ink: Memento black and Copics
• Accessories: Spellbinders dies, Avery Elle Lemonade sequins, dot of Liquid Pearls on his tail

The Paper Players: Sending Smiles

I hadn't treated myself to "cute" stamps in a long time, but this set from Mama Elephant was a must!!


Check out the clouds that this sweetie is floating through!

I had so much fun making this card.  I realized that I don't color very often anymore but I LOVE it and need to do more!!
I also had a great sketch to work with.  The Paper Players had a tall panel and I knew it would perfectly!

• Stamps: Mama Elephant Up and Away
• Paper: Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana, Simple Stories I {heart} Summer dsp
• Ink: Memento black and copics
• Accessories: Taylored Expressions clouds impression plate, Mark Richards White Glitter Dome stickers

Pantone Colors on Rockwell Designs: Nectarine

The latest color that is highlighted on Rockwell Designs as a Pantone Spring Fashion 2013 color is nectarine!  I thought it bore a remarkable resemblance to the new Stampin' Up Color Crisp Cantaloupe. Hmmm...nectarines and cantaloupe!!

But instead of going fruity, I decided to use feathers.  There are so many lovely feather sets out there and it's such a gorgeous look.  I went with the Clearly Besotted set Fancy Feathers. (FYI: in the U.S. Clearly Besotted is available at Simon Says Stamp.)  I hesitated to use this set mostly because I was inspired to get it based on two cards from one of my favorite designers: here and here.  Kara's cards are truly stunning and I knew nothing that I made would quite measure up.  It doesn't...but I'm still happy with it...it's hard to go wrong with these graceful feathers!!

(FYI: I took the wrapper off of the ink for this card and discovered

that the cantaloupe paper is more nectarine-ish than the ink is!

I hate it when that happens!)

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted Fancy Feathers
• Paper: Stampin' Up Smoky Slate
• Ink: Stampin' Up Smoky Slate and Crisp Cantaloupe
• Accessories: Clearly Besotted Fancy Feather dies, Avery Elle Citrus Blend sequins, Divine Twine Oyster Twine

Catered Crop: Let's Make Lemonade

The current challenge at Catered Crop is Summer Lovin'.  Here's my problem.  I do not love summer.  I truly hate being hot and Colorado just seems to get hotter and hotter every summer.  Older homes, like mine, weren't even built with central air.  We did add a swamp cooler - but swamp coolers rely on dry air and the storm clouds seem to come in every day just to raise the humidity and make me miserable. So I just can't get away from the heat!  (Of course, those of you who live in Colorado are shaking your heads right because we have actually had a couple of wonderfully cool days in a row!!)

So Summer Lovin' challenges are always a problem for me.  My inspiration this week comes from my children's complaints!!??  I have a frozen drink that I make a batch of at the beginning of each summer and my kids have just reminded me that I forgot this year.  It's a fruity frozen slush drink that does include lemonade.  There is nothing redeeming about it - as it begins with a sugar syrup (not only not healthy but it also takes forever to get the sticky remnants out of the kitchen each time a drink is made!)  This whole discussion put summer drinks into my mind and, while my frozen drink isn't lemonade, what is more representative of summer than a frosty glass of lemonade!



I also used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I used it exactly as is because I loved the fresh, clean and open look for my summery card.

I've had my frozen slush drink recipe for 40 years.  I got it from a family friend when I was just a child and typically make a batch every summer.  If you are not concerned about the sugar - nor the mess - here's how you do it...

---

4 cups sugar 6 cups water 46 ounces pineapple juice 24 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed 12 ounces frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed 5 bananas, mashed 6 bottles ginger ale
Measure sugar and water into saucepan.  Heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Refrigerate until cold.
Mix chilled mixture with pineapple juice, OJ, lemonade concentrate and mashed bananas.  Pour into 5 1-quart containers, cover, label, and freeze.
At serving time, half fill glasses with ginger ale; spoon in frozen mixture to fill.  Stir. Enjoy!

---

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Lemon Squeezy
• Paper: Simple Stores I {Heart} Summer 6x6
• Ink: Memento black, copics
• Accessories: Avery Elle sequins, Papertrey Ink tag die, The Twinery Caribbean Twine, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter

CAS(E) this Sketch! Ah-mazing

It's new sketch time at CAS(E) this Sketch!  I have to admit that I found this one to be a little tricky.

I fumbled through a number of ideas and then the light bulb came on!!

Before reading any further, can you figure out what I was going for here??
It's a water fountain!!  Inspired by the water show that happens every time the Colorado Rockies score a home run!

FLICKR: Wally Gobetz

Just because I found it tricky doesn't mean that you will.  And don't forget - you can flip it too!!  Hope you play along!

• Stamps: Impression Obsession Striped Banner, CAS-ual Fridays Exclamations
• Paper: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay
• Ink: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist
• Accessories: Ellen Hutson Iridiscent Water Sequins

CAS-ual Fridays: Count Me In

It's my husband's 55th birthday this weekend!!!  Of all of the cards that I make, cards for my husband are absolutely the hardest.  He is such a totally plain and basic kind of guy that any decoration is too much.  But..I'm a cardmaker...I have to add something.  I did want to use the number "55" to play along with CAS-ual Fridays Count Me In challenge.   Then I made two entirely different cards.

I think this looks like my husband - although those few little dots might put it over into the "too much" category for him!

I actually did this next card first.  I came up with the tag which I really liked - but then spent way too much time struggling with what to do with it.  I'm using a sketch from Lisa at dahlhouse designs but even with this fabulous layout, I'm still feeling like the background could be different/more/less/something...I don't know??  What do you think? (Keeping in mind my very basic husband for whom the three patterns is likely going to be too much!)  

Wowzers!

• Stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Exlamations
• Paper: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Real Red, Little Yellow Bicycle Just Because 6x6 pad
• Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy
• Accessories: WPlus9 tag die, Paper Smooches Numbers dies (the smaller ones), May Arts twine, Stampin' Up dots

Turning 55

• Stamps: Paper Smooches Digits
• Paper: Stampin' Up Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Confetti Cream, Simple Stories Happy Day
• Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso
• Accessories: WPlus9 tag die, May Arts twine, Papertrey Ink Impression Plate

Dynamic Duos and CAS on Sunday: New SU Stash

I was a little late placing my first order out of the new Stampin' Up Catalog and I just picked it up from my demonstrator.  I can never decide if my first new catalog order is boring or not.  It seems like my entire stamping budget for the month is taken up with new colors - ink, refills, paper, etc.  I only ended up with a few stamps - one stamp/punch combo, one wheel, one single and one hostess set.  Three of the four are represented on these cards (so I could claim NBUS!! - Never Before Used Schtuff!)

The first card uses the colors from Dynamic Duos.  There is a butterfly option but I didn't have butterflies in my Stampin' Up NBUS!

Then I realized that I should have gone with new colors too.  I saw the challenge at CAS on Sunday which is Kraft and Twine and decided not only would it pair well with one of the new colors but it would be a nice look for the gingham wheel.

Now I can happily claim that these sets are "used" and I can put them away!!  (Sadly, with the size of my stash and the amount of new "schtuff" that finds its way into my house, I don't know when these stamps will see ink again!  Can you relate?)
Calypso Birthday:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Flower Shop, Gingham wheel, Banner Greetings
• Paper: white and black
• Ink: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, black
• Accesories: Stampin' Up Pansy Punch, Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, Hobby Lobby brand brad, misc twine

Strawberry Birthday:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Flower Shop, Gingham wheel, Banner Greetings
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, white
• Ink: Stampin' Up Strawberry Slush
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Pansy Punch, Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, Papertrey Ink Kraft button, May Arts twine

Rockwell Designs: Grayed Jade Season's Greetings

Just two days ago, I started playing along with the color challenges at Rockwell Designs.  The idea is to use a Pantone Fashion Color each week.  Currently, the color is Tender Shoots and my card is here, but there is no time limit so I wanted to go back and pick up the first color - Grayed Jade.  (All the colors are here.)  The prize is a free blog header!!


I did realize a mistake after I got the card made and photographed.  We are playing with the spring Pantone colors and I made a Christmas card.  Ooop!  (ETA: Making a spring card isn't a RULE of the challenge!!  It just seemed strange when I thought about it that I made a Christmas card!)
My excuse is that I hadn't played along in the month long challenge at Merry Monday (Anything Goes) so Christmas cards were on my mind!!
There are some more great colors coming up - be sure to check it out!

• Stamps: Hero Arts Winter Moon, Many Branches, Papertrey Ink Faux Ribbon (sentiment)
• Paper: white
• Ink: Stampin' Up Sage Shadow, Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides button, pearlescent crochet thread, Ellen Hutson Iridiscent Water Sequins, Lil' inkers Stitched Rectanges

CAS(E) this Sketch! Bundles of Birthday Wishes

It's Thursday!  And time for a new sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch!

My family has a favorite family iPad app called Show of Hands.  It asks a variety of questions - from current political issues to choosing between peanut butter and jelly - then it shows you the nationwide results grouped by state, age, income and political affiliation.  We think, we laugh, we have intense discussions.  Just this week, one of the questions was your favorite geometric shape.  You should have seen my family's faces (remember...all men and boys) when I started getting all excited and shouting "hexagon".

Having told that story - I didn't use hexagons on my card.  I had planned on it, I really did.  But every so often I get a strong mental image of a card and I just have to go for it (all the rest of the time, my cards are a lengthy series of trials and errors!)  This bouquet of balloons just called my name!


CAS(E) this Sketch is having a design team call.  Check it out!  Of course, your cards have to be CAS - the link has tips on that - but CAS sketches are so very flexible.  You aren't locked into a specific number of layers or sizes or colors.  This sketch had five elements and a sentiment - you can go a lot of directions!

• Stamps: Li'l Inkers Balloon Builders
• Paper: white
• Ink: Stampin' Up Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Candy Dots, L'il Inkers Balloon dies

Rockwell Designs: Pantone Color Challenge

Jackie Rockwell of Rockwell Designs and founder of such fabulous challenges as Muse, CAS(E) this Sketch! and Fusion - is now running a fun little challenge on her blog - to use the Spring 2013 Pantone Fashion Colors.  She is using them one at a time (and in a fun little twist, she changes her blog header to match the current color!)

She's offering up a prize too - a free blog header!  If you haven't seen her work - just look at my blog - she designed it and I absolutely love it!

I also want you to make sure you still have Rockwell Designs in your blog reader.  It's been the perfect storm for Jackie - she was changing blogs about the same time we were all moving off of Google Reader and it seems that a whole lot of people lost her blog in the mess.

The current challenge is Tender Shoots (Jackie has samples on her blog).  I found it a little difficult to match (partly because my PC shows it as an entirely different color as my iPad shows it).  I picked Papertrey Ink's Limeade Ice, although I think it's yellower than Tender Shoots.



I did start out in a different direction - I've never worked with Limeade Ice except in small doses so my first card kept it minimal. I like this card a lot but I decided I challenge myself to really showcase the color.


This cards uses the new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Bless You

• Stamps: My Favorite Things Cheerful Blessings
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice, Stampin' Up Smoky Slate
• Ink: Memento Gray
• Accessories: Memory Box Lorelai Outline Leaf, MFT Fishtail dies, Papertrey Ink Soft Stone button

Sending Happy Thoughts

• Stamps: WPlus9 Strictly Sentiments 2, Hero Arts tweed background
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice, Stampin' Up Smoky Slate
• Ink: Stampin' Up Smoky Slate, WPlus9 white
• Accessories: Memory Box Dragonfly die, Taylored Expressions birch tree, misc clear sequins

The Color Throwdown 5th Anniversary! Love Is In the Air

The Color Throwdown has been giving us color inspiration for five years!  I haven't even been in the blog world for 5 years.  My blog opened on November 13, 2010.  My first color throwdown card was just 4 days later on November 17th.  So they have been an important part of my crafting career!!

I've waited a little long to participate in their fifth anniversary - it's closing by end of day today!  They are having a big party with lots of prizes and a ton of great inspiration from current and past design team members.

I played around with a number of ideas.  Most of what I was playing with involved coloring images. Have any of you had the experience that lots and lots of your Copic markers are going dry all at once? I think we all jumped on the bandwagon at about the same time - and so my markers are all about the same age and are all failing.  Sadly, even though I had a cute image for this challenge - my markers coordinating with Crumb Cake and So Saffron aren't functional.

So...new direction...I also had new-to-me dies on my desk (NBUS!!! Never Before Used Schtuff!).  I have loved the stitched squares and rectangles from Li'l Inker Designs.  When I decided to order the stitched circles I also filled my cart with a number of other basic dies - sun, clouds, balloons and the instant camera die.  I love the added interest of the stitching on their dies!


Thank you to Color Throwdown for five inspiring and fun years!!

• Stamps: Li'l Inkers Balloon Builder, Hero Arts tweed background
• Paper: Stampin' Up So Saffron CS and dsp, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake
• Ink: Memento Black, WPlus9 White
• Accessories: Li'l Ink dies: Stitched Rectangles, Large Sunshine, Rainbow and Clouds, Balloons; Trendy Twine Strawberry Cupcake twine, misc heart gem

The Curtain Rises!! Feeling Nautical

It's finally here.  The curtain is rising at Curtain Call!!  Here is the very first inspiration challenge!

And...the amazing sponsor for this week...Verve Stamps!  Verve provided the entire design team with the set Strong Anchor and the matching dies.  The Lead for this challenge (the winner chosen by the design team) will also receive this set free!  Thank you Verve!!

The inspiration is definitely nautical - but if you aren't feeling nautical or don't have any nautical supplies - check out what else is hiding that picture.  Look at those shoes and sunglasses and what about the royal blue handbag and floppy hat.  Or just the fabulous fresh colors of navy and yellow and green.  Or the layered postage shapes and all of the woods! I look forward to seeing what you come up with!  Here is how I was inspired...using the Verve Strong Anchor set...

All of the challenge details are over at Curtain Call.  In general, use the inspiration to create a new project, then post it and link it, and you have until July 25th, 8 a.m. CDT to do it!

• Stamps: Verve Strong Anchor
• Paper: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, MME Kate & Co. Oxford Lane 6x6
• Ink: Stampin' Up Going Gray, Night of Navy
• Accessories: Verve Strong Anchor dies, Papertrey Woodgrain Impression Plate (on ship's wheel), Spellbinders square and postal square, My Favorite Things fishtail dies, May Arts twine, Studio Calico sequins (FYI: the Studio Calico sequins come in a fun multi-pack with the woodgrain sequins(!), dark blue, yellow, lt gray and pinkish.  I wanted to use the blue and yellow but they are fairly big and I did a small 4x4 card - so the blue and yellow on my card are actually from Ellen Hutson)

It's Almost Here!!

The wait is almost over!  Curtain Call goes live tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. CDT.  I am so looking forward to everybody seeing the results of the last few months of hard work - the dream team, the great challenge, the design team cards and the surprise sponsor!!  But I am equally as excited to see what all of you come up with and link back.  Be sure to check back tomorrow!!

Catered Crop: Button Up!

The current challenge at Catered Crop is to button up!  I pulled out an older stamp set that I had never used - one of those sets that leaves room for buttons as part of the design.

(The amazing Darnell has started an entire movement called NBUS - which is to use your "Never Before Used Schtuff".  I am very guilty of getting new stuff and looking at my old stuff as..well...old and out-of-date even if it is still totally cute!  So here it is, Darnell, a NBUS project!!!)


As usual, there is an amazing Pinterest board for your viewing pleasures over at Catered Crop.  I hope you pull out your buttons and play along!
I've not been getting a lot of cards done this week :(  I had a two week break from college courses, but they have started up again.  I find the first few weeks and the last week to be the hardest parts of each term.  The first week or so is spent figuring out how much time each class is going to take and how best to manage the workload.  This term is going to be a lot of intense reading and, sadly, subjects that I don't love - staying awake is going to be my biggest problem!!  (It seems like a good excuse to spend even more time crafting, doesn't it??!)

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Everyday Button Bits, Tiny Tags
• Paper: white
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Simply Chartreuse
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink buttons in Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Aqua Mist and Melon Berry, Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags die and Woodgrain Impression Plate, L'il Inkers stitched squares

CAS(E) this Sketch! That's How We Roll!!

It's time for another fun sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch!  This one has a nice little vignette.

The frilly oval and the bird in the graphic took me to a vintage look - or at least my version of vintage!

Isn't that a cute die?  I needed it like a hole-in-the-head, but it just jumped into my cart, so I had to use it before it got tucked away and quite possibly forgotten.  I do have to admit that it is a little bigger than I imagined it would be - it's not going to be easy to tuck in as embellishment - so I made it the focus!
I look forward to see what you all create.  My favorite part of my card making week is browsing through the incredible variety of cards that are linked up at  CAS(E) this Sketch! 

• Stamps: Simon Says Stamp All Occasion Banners
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Soft Stone, Stampin' Up Smoky Slate
• Ink: Stampin' Up Basic Gray
• Accessories: Memory Box Vintage Bicycle, Ellen Hutson Iridescent Water Sequins, Simo Says Stamp Tilted Banners dies, Cuttlebug embossing folder, My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy Decorative Buttons

Curtain Call: Only 5 More Days!!

If you haven't been following the design team countdown at Curtain Call be sure to head right over and check it out.  The entire team has been announced.  What a dream team!!  I have to pinch myself to realize that I'm actually part of it!


And...if you haven't marked your calendars yet...Monday, July 15th is the first challenge!  I've seen the design team cards, I know about the sponsor and prizes, and I can tell you that you do not want to miss this one!

photo credit:  www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

{Just a note on the graphics on the Curtain Call blog - - under Stay Connected, the blue plus sign is bloglovin' and the three yellow lines is feedly.}

Paper Smooches Designer Drafts: God Will Guide You

When I saw this week's sketch at Paper Smooches - I immediately envisioned a small sailboat on a big sea.  My idea was that we are so small, but God is so big and will always be our guide!

I started out with "mistier" colors, but they were getting lost in all of the white space.  So I checked current challenges and liked the red, blue and kraft at Pals Paper Arts.

I wanted to pull out an old picture and show you our sailing experiences, but I think I have opened every folder on my computer and can't find it.  It's a wonderful shot of my two boys in their younger days on our sailboat with snow-covered mountains in the background.  Our boat is docked at the Frisco, CO marina on Lake Dillon right at the summit of the Colorado Rockies.  So it's a very unique sailing experience.  It can actually be fairly difficult as the winds swirl unpredictably and can be very strong.  Here are a couple of other pictures that I found from 2004 when we were all so much younger.(Notice that the mountains don't look huge - that's just because the boat is docked at 9,000 feet up!)

• Stamps: Paper Smooches Wicked Nauticool, Spiritual Sampler
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake
• Ink: Stampin' Up Pacific Point, Real Red, Memento Black
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Ellen Hutson Iridescent Water sequins

Stacey's Stamping Stage and Seize the Birthday: It's Your Day!

I put a badge on my sidebar awhile back about the birthday party at Stacey's Stamping Stage and then I never got my own card done to promote it.  There's just a few days left, but if you haven't checked it out - Stacey has a large number of great prizes as part of this party!!  All it takes is making a birthday card and linking it up!

As I was staring at my craft desk feeling a little uninspired - I also thought I'd add a challenge into the mix to give me a start and decided to use the sketch at Seize the Birthday.

For my regular readers - yes, I used the same stamp set yesterday and yes, I found the cupcake top that the cat stole!!  Isn't it a fun set?  Can you see why I didn't want to lose that stamp?

• Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Cupcake Party, Papertrey Ink Tag-Its 10 (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, MME Hip-Hooray (it was buried really deep in my stash so could be very old!)
• Ink: a large variety!
• Accessories: Li'l Inkers Stitched Circle Mats, Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags die, misc twine, misc enamel dots, Ranger Glossy Accents

Operation Write Home: So Sweet Birthday

I so like playing along with the Operation Write Home sketch challenges.  First, they provide measurements - talk about making it easy!  And second, for me they are an extra challenge in that they tend to be layered and not in my CAS comfort zone.  It gives me a chance to pull out patterned papers and extra embellishments.  In this case, I decided to try to use a variety of elements from July's Simon Says Stamp kit.  I've been getting these kits for months, and I rarely venture beyond the stamp set and perhaps a scrap of paper.  In this case, I used two papers, a border strip and a sticker sentiment!!  (I didn't use the straws, nor the Washi, nor the buttons - so I wasn't entirely successful in utilizing the kit - but you gotta start somewhere!)


I love the cupcake layers in this stamp set - there's even a layer under the frosting for the actual cake!

Crafting was a challenge this morning!

And now I am crawling around my family room floor on hands and knees looking for the stamp for the top of the cupcake that she stole.  Luckily, I had today's card finished - but I really would like to use this set again!

• Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Cupcake Party (SSS July kit)
• Paper: Lily Bee 6x6, red CS (SSS July kit)
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist, Fine Linen, Harvest Gold, Stampin' Up Daffodil, Real Red and Old Olive
• Accessories: Lil Bee stickers, Queen & Co 12" border stickers (both from SSS July kit),  Ranger Glossy Accents, Divine Twine Cherry