Clear Dollar Guest Designer Challenge August 09

I cannot believe it is the end of the month already! July just flew past me! Which is good and not so good. Good because we are another month closer to seeing my husband again and not so good because my son starts kindergarten August 3rd. The end of the month brings us other good things though, like Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peeks from the very talented CD design team, and another chance at the Clear Dollar Guest Designer Challenge. I look forward to the challenge of "doing my very best" along with the sketch, color, inspiration, whatever the challenge may be.

This month, it is a sketch challenge. which can be found HERE. I wanted to challenge myself even more by choosing my paper first, I wanted to use this bright & vibrant dsp, Pink Flamingo, from Stampin up and I knew I wanted to use Yard Yabber designed by Laurie Wilson because it is such a fun set.. So, this 8"x4" card is what I came up with when I added pink flamingos, a lawnmower and a sketch together.

Here are the details:

Stamps: Yard Yabber - CD Stamps

Paper: Pink Flamingo dsp (SU), Tempting Turquoise, Summer sun

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Basic Grey

Accessories: Button Bouquet, Playground Buttons

Tools: Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, Nesties: (2) Labels 4 - to make frame,

large pinking circle, watercolor brush, sponges, dimentionals

Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts, I know I say it everytime, but, your kind words really do bring a smile to my heart! :0)

"Peek-A-Boo" PaperBlooms technique challenge 7/29

Hi Everyone! First of all I would like to thank each of you for your great participation in the PaperBlooms challenges! I personally am inspired by each one of your creations, So Thank You!

Next, I would like to welcome Carla to the PaperBlooms design team! Visit her blog to check out some awesome creations! Also check out the rest of the design team for even more inspiration : Shelly, Rose, Sherry, & our leader, Leah.

Ok, now on to this week's challenge! The task for you all to tackle is to make a peek-a-boo card. "What??" Well, make a card like usual, except, hide your sentiment somewhere on your card.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy right?

I have to admit, this one had me stumped. I called my best friend, Cassie to toss some ideas around, and in the midst of talking about other ways to play peek-a-boo with my sentment, this stamp set from There She Goes jumped to the front of my mind and we were off to the races. I actually made the coffee cup before I made the card. It is not unusual for me to make cards kind of backwards. lol

And remember, you do not have to use Leah's paperblooms on your project to play along! If you would like to find out more about these amazing hand made embellishments, check out Leah's Esty Shop! She takes custom orders AND offers free shipping! What more can you ask for? ;)

Here are the details:

Stamps: CoffeeCafe from There She Goes

Paper: Soft Suede textured, Throughly Modern dsp (su), whisper white, bermuda bay

Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories: PaperBlooms hand made embellies, summer sun & kraft corduroy brads (su),

soft suede ribbon, hemp twine

Tools: Paper crimper, Labels 3, Ticket corner punch

Technique: Peek-a-Boo, Paper piecing

My first Pile It On card

Good morning and happy Monday! I know most people do not associate the words "happy" and "monday" together, but I do! Its the begining of another week with new challenge ! (and some better tv) Our weekends are so boring... I am sure I will have a different outlook next week when my son starts school! Well, over the weekend I was checking out some of the great entries on the paperblooms challenge blog and noticed alot of you use this pile it on challenge blog So I HAD to check it out! How fun is this! This week, pile it on challenges us to use watercoloring and at least one more challenge. I decided to combine the following challenges:

1. Truly Scrumptious - sketch + add beads - I dont have any beads but loved the sketch
2. 365 Cards - add dimention - the front tree is popped up.
3. Paper Take Weekly - choose your own color combo, which I choose Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper white, Soft suede
4. and finally Pile it on except I did not like my butterfly after I watercolored it and tossed it in the trash. I changed my mind and went with the tree. I intended on watercoloring, but got side tracked. Story of my life ...

Here are the details:

Stamps: Walk in the Park - May SOM from Clear Dollar Stamps, Teeny Tiny Wishes (su)

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Cottage Wall dsp (su)

Ink: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence & Old Olive (su)

Accessories: Clear Rhinestone brads (su), Dimentionals, Sponging, Word Window

Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughts and comments, they really do make my day!

Yes, I am a yard geek! 2 splitcoast challenges in 1

I am, what you'd call, a yard geek. I love working outside, mowing, weeding, planting, watering, all that goes into it. That is why I HAD to have this stamp set from Clear Dollar! It is called Yard Yabber and has 21 stamps all related to working outside. Since we moved to El Paso, TX, I have alot less "yard" to tend to, more rocks than anything else, but I do take pride in our outside spaces and do all the work myself. And I like yard work so much that yesterday morning, I decided to go ahead and tend to the long overgrown grass across the street from my house. It is not exactly in front of anyone's house, so no one takes care of it, they just ignore it as they step over the grass and weeds to get to their mail. {sigh} Anyway, I will stop myself from going on any further on the subject of neighborhood pride and get on with my card details. :0) I incorporated two Splitcoast challenges for this card. The first one is the Clean & Simple challenge from Monday which is to use "Tuquoise, Orange and Yellow" on a clean & simple card.
The second one is the Limited Supply Challenge from Friday "Get your Motor Running" use a motorized vehicle as the focal point on a limited supply card. Since a lawn mower has a motor I figured it fit into the challenge. And I was dying to ink up this stamp set! I was hung up with using realistic lawnmower colors" but quickly remembered that any colors will work, and that husquvarna yard tools are orange! LOL!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Yard Yabber from Clear Dollar

Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black

Accessories: Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, large pinking circles nesties

Color Throwdown #52 + Our Creative Corner Sketch = Fun!

So its kind of a lazy saturday around here, we got our errands done early and I dont feel like doing house work, so I have been hanging out in my craft room while my son plays wii next door. Today I did 4 challenges, wrapped into 2 cards. This one fuses the color challenge from Color Throwdown which are: Certianly Celery, Perfect Plum and Chocolate Chip, and the sketch from Our Creative Corner together, the end result being this card. I just love these colors together, they are so elegant yet down to earth and cozy. I also love a good flower stamp, and this one,Bloom Summer Dahlia, designed by the amazing Kim Teasdale
definately delivers the goods. I just love Kim's work, just click on her name to see what else she has to offer over at Clear Dollar! You will not be dissapointed!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Bloom Summer Dahlia- Clear Dollar Stamps

Paper: Cottage Wall dsp (SU), Chocolate Chip, Certianly Celery, Perfect Plum & Watercolor paper

Ink: Perfect Plum, Certianly Celery, Chocolate Chip & Stazon Jet Black

Accessories: Hand made crocheted butterfly embellie from PaperBlooms,

clear rhinestone brads, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, certianly celery ribbon

Tools: Aqua Painter, Nestabilities Labels 4

Just as a note: If you like this cute handmade butterfly, check out Leah's Esty Shop! She has THE cutest handmade embellishments! From flowers to butterflies, crocheted to felt, all adorable. And she takes custom orders if you are looking for a specific color and she offers free shipping! What more could you ask for?

Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts! It really does brighten my day to hear from you all!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #29

Yeah! It is Friday! Mark another week off the calendar! (you military wives know what I mean)

I am not only excited for that, but it is time again for the Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge over at papercraft planet! This week's hostess, Cassie has chosen some amazing colors to challenge us with! Basic Grey, Bermuda Bay and Only Orange. I love challenges with the "outside the box" color combos, and this week is no exception! After much deliberation and staring at my clear dollar stamps, I chose to use this cute little patchpal elephant designed by the amazing Shawnee at Clear Dollar Stamps. I know, I know, I just used him earlier this week! I really wanted to use my brand new yard yappers set, but just could not envision how to incorporate these colors! I guess I could have made it a husquvarna mower! (lol they are orange) Ok, so maybe only a yard work geek (me) would think that was funny. Just as a note, I cut the top note die intending on using it in the bahama bay throughly modern dsp, but when I saw the negative, It just seemed right. So, I trimmed around the opening to fit the card front and we frame our little elephant. And I still have a throughly modern top note die cut ready for the next project! Anyway, thanks for stopping by and visiting! And thank you for your sweet comments! You guys really do make my day!

Here's the details:

Stamps: Patchpal Elephant and Tag It - July SOM - (sentiment) CD Stamps

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Basic Grey, Bahama Bay, Only Oragne

Paper: Basic Grey, Only Orange, Throughly Modern dsp (su)

Accessories: Large white brads (su)

Tools: Top note die, (used negative for frame), 2 Circle nesties,

dahlia nestie, sponges, aqua painter

Waddle on over! Sketch challenge #SC238

Here is my take on today's sketch challenge over at splitcoast. I was very excited to see a clean and simple sketch, and I had to stop myself to add more to it. I actually like the clean and simple, I also like ribbon, brads, and nesties, so there is a power struggle between the two styles of cardmaking! ha ha ha.. So today I chose to ink up these cute little penguins (zoo critters) from clear dollar stamps. I just love these little guys and today was the day they got their first kiss of ink. Thank you for stopping by and for leaving you thoughts and comments, they really do make my day!

Here's the details:

Stamps: Zoo Critters (Clear Dollar stamps)

Paper: Throughly Modern dsp (su), basic black, whisper white, watercolor

Ink: Rose Red, Basic Grey, Stazon Jet Black, Only Orange

Tools: Swiss Dots embossing folder, aqua painter, sponges, ticket corner punch

Mojo Monday 96

Cassie and I have this great friend, Karen, she is going to have her first baby, a girl, in just a few short weeks. I live in Texas, Cassie in Georgia and Karen in North Carolina. We once could share a laugh around the table, now we are scattered across the nation because each of our husband's are in the army. So, Cassie and I wanted to do something nice for Karen, and we offered to make her baby announcements. Cassie and I are splitting the task in half, so Karen will get a variety of cards to send out to friends and family. This is the card I came up with, the Mojo Monday sketch challenge is what inspired me and it is from this week's mojo challenge that I took this sketch. On the inside I stamped the traditional "baby's name, birthdate, height, weight"- (a stamp I got at AC Moore a few years ago) - and cut a slit with the stampin up slit punch to hold a picture. Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughts and comments, they really do make my day!!

Here are my details:

Paper: Certianly celery, tempting turquoise, confetti cream, pretty in pink (su),

basic grey lemonade dp

Stamps: Patchpal elephant & Patchpal message - Clear Dollar Stamps

Ink: Basic Black, pixie pink

Accessories: Certianly celery ribbon, basic grey lemonade brads, SU markers - pretty in pink, tempting turquoise, certianly celery

Tools: Word Window, large pinking circle and circle nesties, sponge

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #28

So this weekend's color challenge over at papercraft planet is actually a non-color challenge aka use white. To be perfectly honest, I had a very difficult time getting excited for this one. I love color! But our hostess, Katie, put a difficult challenge out there, and I love the end result. Upon reading Katie's blog I saw that it is mostly white Katie is looking for, so I guess I could/should have gave the leaves a hint of green... On second thought, I probably would have gone overboard with the green and ended up coloring the whole thing. lol. Anyway, thanks to you Katie for really making me think outside the box!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Summer Blooms Dahlia designed by Kim Teasdale
Ink: Stazon Jet Black

Paper: Coated White Pinstripe, Textured Whisper White

Accessories: Glossy Accents, Dazzling Diamonds (su), White & Ivory ribbons from Clear Dollar

I used Glossy Accents on the bottom layer of flower petals to give them some dimention, but you cant really see it in the picture. And, I also fully intended on adding a few clear rhinestone brads by the sentiment but, as you can see, I totally forgot. And, I am entirely too lazy to go back and redo my posting. lol.. Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts! It really does make my day to hear from my stamping friends! :0)

Happiness Is ... Splitcoast sketch challenge 237

Good Thursday Morning! Gee... do you think I like my new stamp set Loads of Fun (su)? This is the second card in a row I have made with it! Not to metion my new favorite color - rose red - lol.. This one is for this week's sketch challenge over at splitcoast hosted by Roxie. I turned the sketch on its side to accomodate all my vehicles. I had a plan that included the loads of love truck but it just would not fit, so, like always, I revised my idea a little bit. Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts!

The Details:

• Paper: Tall Tales DSP, Rose Red, Rose Red DSP, Old Olive, Watercolor
• Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive, Basic Gray
• Stamps: Loads of Fun, Warm Words
• Tools: Watercolor pen, Word Window Punch, Sponges
• Technique: Watercoloring, Sponging

Very Punny Animals! Paper Blooms Inspiration Challenge

Welcome to the July 15th PaperBlooms Challenge! This week, it is an inspiration challenge. Your inspiration is to use an animal as your main focus with a punny sentiment. Sounds fun, right? Clear Dollar Stamps carries a wide variety of punny animals to choose from, as I am sure may other sites do, but, I am partial to Clear Dollar, so I chose to use this cute turtle from cute critters. So, play along with Shelly, Rose and I. And of course, the very talented Leah. Leah is the very talented lady who creats all these beautiful handmade paperblooms crocheted embellies! They are so amazing, check out Leah's Esty shop! You will be happy you did!

Ok, here are my details:
Stamps: Cute Critters (CD stamps)

Paper: (all stampin up) Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin pie, Pumpkin pie dsp, watercolor paper

Ink: Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin pie, Chocolate chip

Accessories: Chocolate chip corduroy brad, mosaic embossing folder, handmade bloom from Leah's Esty Shop

Tools: Labels 3 and Dahlia nesties

Remember, you dont have to have any of Leah's amazing blooms to play along, but if you want, you can check out what she has to offer HERE. She even takes custom orders! I cant wait to see what you all come up with!

UPS came today, and I had to play the retro way!

What a great suprise to open my front door to find a stampin up box just waiting for me! My new dsp, stamp set and other goodies just calling my name to come out and play. I made a little challenge for myself today, I limited myself to one set of dsp, one stamp and these three colors... I just love this stamp! It is from the brand new Loads of Fun set from stampin up, it coordinates with Loads of Love. I paper pieced the windows to mimic curtians and had to stop myself from coloring the door. Camper doors are always white! I did cheat a little bit on my challenge and added the sentiment from another stamp set, Loads of Fun does not come with sentiments, just a couple trailers and some fun vehicles to put on the flat trailer. Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your comments!

Here are the details, everything listed is Stampin Up:

• Stamps: Loads of Fun and Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Paper: Throughly Modern dsp Soft Suede, Rose Red, Bermuda Bay
• Ink: Rose Red, Soft Suede, Stazon Jet Black
• Tools: Circle & Labels 3 Nesties, Word Window, Corner Ticket Punch
• Accessories: Large white brads
• Techniques: Paper Piecing, Sponging

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #27 I'm Just Beachy!

So we are back from Houston. It was great to spend 10 days with our family, I was sad to miss last weekend's color challenge, so I had to get home in time to play in this weekend's Clear Dollar weekend color challege over at paper craft planet! The very talented Alex is this weekends host, the challenge is to use a dark brown, a rust or dark orange, a blue, kraft and vanilla as a neutral. It totally shows that I have been away from my craft room for a while, I was stumped! I just sat there staring at my clear dollar stamps with no ideas flowing, and finally something clicked and this card is the result. It is pretty much one dimentional, and looking at it now, I probably should have sponged a couple of clouds to give the sky some interest. Anyway, Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your thouhgts! And break out those colors and get creating!

Stamps: Charlie Summer Fun

Paper: kraft, bashful blue, really rust, tempting turquoise, delicate dots dsp, watercolor paper

Ink: really rust, chocolate chip, stazon jet black

Tools: pinking circle nestie, aqua painter

Technique: paper piecing (swimsuits) paper tearing (beach and shore)

Happy 4th of July!

My son and I are spending the holiday week with my husband's family in Houston. We have been here for 2 days now and as great as it is to be with family, {sigh} I miss my paper, stamp and inks. I did not bring any along because I have too hard of a time choosing out what to bring and besides, I would most likely forget something that I would need. :0)

The picture above is my son, Connor with two of his Aunt Shelley's Rottweillers, Shyanne (upside down) and Zoe. And below is Connor with the third Rottweiller, Rascal. We have our boxer, Oscar here too. He is having a blast playing with the other dogs, and so is Connor!

Well, I will miss playing in the clear dollar weekend color challenge this weekend! I cant wait to see what everyone comes up with this weekend! Have a great holiday!