Dynamic Duo #1

It's official!  The Dynamic Duo Challenge Blog is up and running!!  I am thrilled to be on the first design team/  I have all the other "Dynamos" linked up on my sidebar - be sure to check out their creations.

The first color challenge was chosen from a contest on the Dynamic Duo Facebook page - Lucky Limeade and Pool Party!!  The deal with this challenge is to use ONLY these two colors (plus any neutrals) on any paper crafting project - cards, scrapbooking, digital or other.

I love how cheerful these two colors are together, so I made a card of "comfort"...

I had so much fun working with these colors, I did a bonus card!

I do look forward to checking out of your creations with these colors. Head over to the Dynamic Duo blog for all the rules and to link up your creations.
I also look forward to seeing you back here next week - it's the second week of the month so the theme is "Subtly Yours" with appropriately subtle colors!
Wishing You Comfort

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers, Wishing You (tulips and sentiment), Hanging Out (grass), Background Basics: Circles (rain)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade
• Ink: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Going Gray
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Pool Party twine, Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers die, clear dew drops

Gratitude

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Inspired by Nature, Papertrey Ink Beautiful Butterflies
• Paper: Stampin' Up Pool Party
• Ink: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Basic Gray
• Accessories: misc gems and ribbon

Football & Cocoa for the Birthday Boy

Today's Friday Free For All challenge at Splitcoast Stampers was to create a birthday card for a young boy.  I don't actually need a birthday card for a young boy - but I did have a fun set on my desk from Sweet 'n Sassy Stampers called All-Star Cocoa.  (I had done a baseball card yesterday for the May new release blog hop.)

I pulled out some papers that I liked and then thought about pennants.  I turned to the various challenge blogs that I like on Fridays and found the perfect sketch on iSpy Sketches.

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps All-Star Cocoa
• Paper: Stampin' Up Jersey Shore dsp, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin, Olive and Bashful Blue CS
• Ink: Memento black, Copics
• Accessories: Sweet 'n Sassy grass die, square punch for pennant ends, misc brads

Sweet 'n Sassy May Release Blog Hop

It's May release day for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and, as usual, we are celebrating with a blog hop of all of the new stamps.  If you started at the beginning, you are a little over half way and I bet  you are amazed at what you have seen.  Sweet 'n Sassy is THE best stamp company for offering a variety of stamps and this month is the ultimate - elegant wedding images, vintage cars and cute little mice with baseballs - just a few of what you have seen.  

If you started with me - you might want to head back to the beginning: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog.

I had the fun of premiering two sets that are perfect for Father's Day or other masculine events.  My first card uses the set Gone Fishin'.  Isn't this one of the sweetest faces ever?

I plan to use this as a Father's Day card, but the set comes with other appropriate sentiments like "Happy Retirement" or just simply "Gone Fishin'!
My second masculine card uses the set All-Star Cocoa.  This set comes with Cocoa on a football and one a baseball, but given the men in my family are heavily into baseball season - specifically the Colorado Rockies - I HAD to use the baseball with Rockies colors.

A nice thing about this set is that while it includes some fun Father's Day sentiments, it also has a "#1 Coach" sentiment.

Card details are at the bottom of this post.

Don't forget to join us at 8:00 p.m. tonight in the Sweet 'n Sassy Gallery on splitcoaststampers for the official release party.  And...while you are waiting for that, be sure to hop and comment on everybody because Sweet 'n Sassy is giving away the ENTIRE release to one lucky hopper who comments.  YEAH!

Next on the hop is DJ Rants. Here's the whole list:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog

Korin Sutherland

Dina Kowal

Giovana Smith

Bridget Finlay

Taylor Usry

Monika Davis

Holly McMillen

Kim Singdahlsen <-YOU ARE HERE

DJ Rants

Cathy McCauley

Jennie Harper

Kim Schofield

Mary Faus

Jessica Fick

Gone Fishin':

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Gone Fishin'
• Paper: My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Happy Days
• Ink: Memento black, Copics, Tim Holtz Distress Iced Spruce (on edges)
• Accessories: Quickutz fishhook and fish dies (really, really old!), Nestabilities Labels Two, Stampin' Up Word Window Punch (sized down)

Most Valuable Dad:

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Gone Fishin'
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Royal Velvet, Stampin' Up Going Gray, black and silver shimmer
• Ink: Memento Black, copics
• Accessories: Misc star punch, Stampin' Up stripe embossing folder, Nestabilities circle and zig zag circle

I actually used the same sketch for both of these cards - it's hard to tell because they look so different.  It's this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

A Single Bird...In Sympathy

I make so many sympathy cards - but usually they are for our church card ministry and I don't know who will be receiving them.  It's easier that way.  Yesterday I had to make a card for a wonderful woman whose husband passed away unexpectedly in his sleep last week...at the age of 40.  How do you make a card for that?  I wanted a very peaceful card - with a single bird...but was completely stuck after that.  I turned to the Less Is More challenge for help and it was the perfect inspiration...

The memorial service was yesterday...such raw emotion...Heidi, you are in our prayers...

• Stamps: Our Craft Lounge Prayers and Blessings
• Paper: A slightly textured cardstock from my stash on the background and the bird
• Ink: Stampin' Up Basic Gray
• Accessories: Memory Box Nestled Bird, Stampin' Up bird punch (branch)

iSpy Graduation Cards

Now that I am through confirmation cards for the church, I am moving on to graduation cards for our graduating youth.  As usual, I didn't plan ahead - so I have a large number of cards to make in a very short period of time (translation: (1) nothing fancy or complex on the card and (2) components that can be parceled out to my 12-yr old, my 16-yr old and my 53-yr old...although I have a lot of bribing to do as they are still tired of cutting and gluing and addressing confirmation cards last week!)

I used this week's sketch from iSpy Sketches as I thought the various panels could be used with papers to add interest.

We had a phenomenal fund-raising concert at our church this weekend.  (I had a flyer a few days ago on this blog).  It was for an amazing family whose very young daughter is going through her fourth round of chemotherapy.  The bell choir was one of eight groups that performed.  We decided that, even though we are mainly a group of middle-aged Lutheran ladies (and a few Methodist men pinch-hitting on the giant bells) we were doing....LADY GAGA...to appeal to the sweet, but very sick, young lady.

{My husband just wandered over, read over my shoulder, and said "Ha!  Middle-age??!!  Only if you live to be a hundred!"}

I'm in the brightly-colored boa under "Christ is Risen"??!!  Check out the director...she's got moves!!  Then check out the gentlemen whose head you see right in front of her that never, ever moves...that's her husband!  

I posted this on Facebook and a wonderful (but potentially former) friend commented "So that's where the missing communion wine went!"

I hope we made you smile!
THE CARD DEETS:

• Stamps: Our Daily Bread As You Graduate
• Paper: dsp is from Flair Designs (I've had it forEVer) and CS to match is Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel and Peach Parfair, Papertrey Winter Wisteria
• Ink: Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel and Versamark
• Accessories: Seafoam White embossing powder, Cuttlebug border embossing folder, EK Success postage border punch

A Style Mash-Up

This week is one of my crafting friend's birthday.  Her style and my style couldn't be more different.  She is very well-known for her vintage/collage style.  She's published regularly and has a huge following on her two blogs: Nostalgic Collage' and A Nostalgic Halloween.  My style is clean - not necessarily simple - but definitely clean and fresh.

So for her birthday card, I attempted a mash-up of our styles...




This card has other nods to our crafting time together.  Just last week, we discussed how much we both liked "tiled" cards...check!  We both love script and text...check!  And..very early in our crafting relationship, she taught me how easy it is to take a cotton ball and rub from off the paper onto the paper to lightly antique the edges - and how nicely Stampin' Up's Creamy Caramel works for this...check!!
General Supplies

• Stamps: Papertrey Text Style for backgrounds, Sweet 'n Sassy Happy Day sentiment
• Paper: Curious Iridescent Poison Ivory (there is a light shimmer on the whole piece)
• Ink: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Creamy Caramel

Stamps by Square - starting in upper left

• Papertrey Ink Turning a New Leaf
• Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch with gem colored with copics
• Papertrey Ink Mehndi Medallions
• Papertrey Ink Wishing You dragonfly with Stickles
• Stampin' Up Great Friend
• Stampin' Up Silhouette Sentiments
• Stampin' Up Silhouette Sentiments
• Papertrey Ink Honey Bees
• Stampin' Up Old Olive Taffeta
• 
  

LIM: An Apple for Teacher!

This is my second post today, keep reading!!

The challenge from Less Is More this week is a simple sketch and a plea to keep it CAS with lots of white space.  This was the perfect incentive for me to create some teacher thank you cards.  I like to have a few in our church card sales racks and I just haven't gotten to them.  Love the pattern in this set of apples from Papertrey Ink!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Teacher's Apple, Text Style backgrounds, sentiment from Up, Up and Away
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy, Simple Chartruese, the text is black stamped off once
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Spiral Notebook die (trimmed down), misc gem and twine