Pile it on #13 -- Make it Round + one more

Happy Sunday! So I have been looking forward to the pile it on challenges on Sundays, and this weekend the challenge is to make it round and that could have been polka dot dp or a circle nestie on an A2 card, but the first thing that came to mind was a circle shaped card. For my second challenge, I am using the color challenge from the Aug 22 Our Creative Corner challenge blog. The challenge was to use the new InColors, and I took that to mean all of the new Incolors ;p

So, to be perfectly honest, I am not thrilled with this card. So, why post it you ask? It took me so stinkin long to make it I just had to post it! LOL

I stamped the sentiment on some acetate. My husband gave me this huge roll of this acetate back when he was packing up his office to go to Iraq and although I have wanted to use it I have not really known how. I tried to cut it with my nesties & cuttlebug and that didnt work out so well, so after I finally got the sentiment to stamp somewhat cleanly, I just cut it out and added the ribbon. I did stamp with stazon jet black thinking it would be easy peasy. Maybe today is just not a good crafting day for me!

Here are the details:

Stamps: everyday jar-gon (cdstamps)

Paper: rich razzleberry, crushed curry, mambo melon, bahama bay, whisper white

Ink: Stazon Jetblack, mambo melon, crushed curry, rich razzleberry,

bahama bay, dusty durango

Tools/Accessories: Circle & Pinking Circle nesties, watercolor pen,

soft suede & bahama bay ribbon, acetate, staples

Easy Breezy color & Twisted Sketch challenge

Hi again! Yep I am posting again! I came across a new color challenge blog, Easy Breezy "Kewl" colour challenge and really wanted to play! I paired it with the sketch challenge from shirley's 2 girls / Twisted Thursdays the twist for this week is to "paint it red" have your main color be red.
The color choices for the "kewl" color challenge are: Ruby Red, Brocade Blue, Certianly Celery & Crushed Curry. I chose to add whisper white as a neutral. I, once again, combined two stamp sets, Everyday Jar-Gon and Summer Blooms Dahlia (sentiment) both available at Clear Dollar Stamps...I saw the idea for the fish and flowers together on Laurie's blog, she did it for the clear dollar blog hop - which is going on till Aug 31 - I hope you dont mind that I lifted it from you Laurie! It was accidental at first! ;p Thanks Laurie!

The details:

Stamps: Everyday Jar-Gon & Summer Blooms Dahlia (CDstamps)

Paper: Ruby Red, Crushed Curry, Brocade Blue dsp, Whisper White

Ink: Stazon Jet black, Crushed Curry

Tools: mega nestie curved rectangle, swiss dots embossing folder, watercolor pencils

Just as a note, I did stay true to the colors when coloring the fish, I used both the red and yellow pencils and blended them together to make my "goldfish". gotta love those watercolors!

Thank you for stopping by and for the great comments! You really do make my day :0)

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #34 Got Batteries?

Hi Everyone! The weekend is upon us once again and Yeah! It is time for the clear dollar weekend color challenge over at paper craft planet. This weekend our hostess is the uber-talented Cassie, and you might say I am biased because she is my best friend, but really there is no arguing the magnatude of talent Cassie possesses! Ok, I'm laying it on a bit thick, right! LoL!

Anyway, (love you Cassie!) The colors she chose this week are: Not Quite Navy, More Mustard & Basic Grey with an option to add Baja Breeze and a neutral of White or Vanilla. When I first heard these colors, I must admit I was taken a bit off guard. More Mustard is a color a rarely pull out on purpose... But, as always, the hostesses have great vision and take the "challenge" of the color challenge seriously. So, this is what I came up with!

I, of course, opted to add Baja Breeze, one of my favorite colors, especially when paired with Basic Grey. I also chose my new stamp set Bitty Bots, a super fun set by one of my fav's, the talented Kim Teasdale . It is available at Clear Dollar Stamps -go check out their brand new store! As always, I am grateful for your visit and comments!

Details Details ...

Stamps: Bitty Bots (CDstamps)

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Basic Grey dsp, Baja Breeze

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, More Mustard

Tools/Accessories: Pinking Circles Nesties, Word Window,

Grey watercolor pencil, watercolor pen, sponge,

Basic Grey Bling

Clear Dollar Guest Designer Challenge September 09

Hi Everyone! Can you believe September is just around the corner? Man, this year has gone so fast! My little boy will be turning 6, the weather will soon become bareable and new stamps will be coming out at Clear Dollar Stamps! All good reasons to be happy for September. But also it is time for the Clear Dollar Guest Designer Challenge! Find out all the details at Lori's blog, Clearly iStamp and give it a shot! The challenge this month is two fold. First it challenges us to use the colors Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie & Not Quite Navy with an optional Always Artichoke and Vanilla or White for a neutral. (I opted to not use the Always Artichoke simply because I have none.) The second part of the challenge is to use the provided sketch. You have the option to do one or the other or both. I chose to do both because I love both color and sketch challenges!


Thank you for stopping by! I am grateful for each and every comment I receive! So Thank you!

Details, Details...

Stamps: Charlie Gardens & Everyday Jar-Gon (candy & sentiment)

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla,

Chocolate Chip dsp, Pumpkin Pie dsp

Ink: Stazon Jetblack, Not Quite Navy

Accessories/Tools: Watercolor pencils, labels 4 &

curved rectangle nesties,word window, watercolor pen,

mosaic embossing folder,dimentionals,

sponge, orange striped ribbon from clear dollar

Color Throwdown#57 + Papertake Weekly #22 = 79? lol

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! I just found out that basketball practice is cancelled, and although we really like basketball, it is really nice to not have to drive out to post this evening! So, this gave me some time to work on a couple challenges! This one covers two challenges, which I love to do, take a color challenge and combine it with a sketch challenge. **fun**
The colors, given to us by the Color Throwdown are Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Positively Pink. I am an admitted su color snob, and I am not familar with Positively Pink, so I substituted Regal Rose, which seemed pretty close to me ;p The sketch is from the Papertake Weekly blog, a fun challenge blog I just recently came across. The stamp set I chose is called Everyday Jar-Gon, a brand new set from Clear Dollar Stamps, click HERE to check out this stamp set and all the other great new items at Clear Dollar! As always, I Thank You for visiting my blog! Have a great day! Dont forget to stop by PaperBlooms for a fun challenge AND to visit my BFF Cassie's blog to check out her blogiversary blog candy give away!

Details ...

Stamps: Everyday Jar-Gon (cd stamps)

Paper: Bashful Blue, Certianly Celery, Whisper White, Regal Rose dsp

Ink: Stazon JetBlack, Bashful Blue, Regal Rose

Accessories/Tools: su ticket punch, Large Rhinestones, Bashful Blue gingham ribbon, watercolor pen, dimentionals, swiss dots embossing folder

Paper Blooms Challenge -- Use a Bloom but not as a Bloom

Hi Everyone! The time has come again for another great and fun challenge over at the PaperBlooms challenge blog! These last two weeks went by so fast! Where did the time go? It seems like time has sped up a bit since my son started Kindergarten, which is good? I dont know... anyway, I am excited to tell you about the challenge at hand for the next two weeks. But before we get to that, I would like to say Thank You to everyone who participated in our "Home Decor" challenge. I am personally inspired by everyones individuality and creativity!

And dont forget to stop by the PaperBlooms Challenge Blog to check out the Featured Artist from this last challenge! Maybe it is YOU! If its not you this time, dont be discouraged, try again and it could be YOU next time ;)

Ok, on to business at hand. The challenge is to use a bloom (or flower) for something OTHER than a flower! Fun, right! I love a challenge that makes you think outside the box! There are SO many great possibilities out there! I have been holding onto this particular idea and bloom for a couple months now just waiting for the opportunity to try it out. Mind you , it was just an idea and when I sat down to my craft table, I was not convinced I could pull it off! I mean how was I going to get a bloom to look like an umbrella on a card? Well, determined to make this work, I went ahead and made the card leaving a space for my "umbrella" and I took my bloom and generously covered one side of it with Glossy Accents, bent it over a fat pencil and let it dry. Once it was dry (it took quite a while) I secured the ribbon to the now stiff bloom and affixed the umbrella over the skunk, who is raised up with a couple dimentionals, with a few glue dots.

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! And she takes custom orders! What more can you ask for? ;)

On to the details:

Stamps: Cute Critters & Christian Critters (sentiment) CDStamps

Paper: Basic Grey, Whiper White, Pink Flamingo dsp

Ink: Basic Grey, Stazon Jet Black, Baja Breeze, Green Galore

Accessories/Tools: Scallop Octagon & Tag Trio nesties, Leah's bloom,

Ticket Punch, Sponge, Glossy Accents, Ribbon from Scrapbookpal.com

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for the wonderful comments! I cant wait to see what everyone comes up with!! This one will be FUN!! Happy Crafting!!

Robotic Birthday Party Invites

Ok, so my son's 6th birthday is just shy of a month away, so maybe these invites are a bit premature, but I have a couple of good excuses... A) I had an idea B) I just got this new stamp set & C) I wanted to try out my new watercolor pencils... So I went ahead and made a few invitations for the small birthday party we will have for Connor at the end of September.

I used the layout from a PaperTake Weekly sketch (#21) from a couple weeks back and my new stamp set designed by another one of my fav's Kim Teasdale. It is called Bitty Bots and is available from Clear Dollar Stamps.

Details Details ...

Stamps: Bitty Bots (CD stamps)

Paper: Basic Gray, Watercolor paper, Basic Grey Lime Rickey dp,

YoYo Yellow, Green Galore, Melon Mambo, Brillant Blue

Ink: Stazon Jet Black

Accessories/Tools: Word Window punch, watercolor pencils,

watercolor pen, dimentionals, mosaic embossing folder

Finished size is 4.5x4.5

As always, I thank you for stoppin by my blog and for your sweet comments! It all really does make my day!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #33 Twirly Time

The weekend already? Time has really started going by fast since my son started kindergarten three weeks ago! I thought it would be the opposite since I am a stay at home mom and my boy now spends 7 hours a day at school, but the days speed by, and so have the weeks!
Anyway, to the task at hand. Right after not having to wake up to an early alarm clock, the Clear Dollar Weekend Color challenge over at paper craft planet has to be my favorite thing about the weekends! This weekend we have the great pleasure to be hosted by the lovely and talented Lisa. Her color choices this week are: Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, Certianly Celery, a white and/or brown for a neutral, and as an optional addition, Tempting Turquoise. How much fun are these colors? I love how happy and cheery they are! I always struggle to choose out a stamp set to use! Luckily, my newest clear dollar order arrived just this afternoon so choosing my stamp was a breeze today. I chose this super cute set, My Little Ballerina designed by one of my fav's Shawnee (go visit her blog, she has great music along with great creations! ) Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for leaving your sweet comments, they really do make my day! After your visit here, you should stop by my BFF, Cassie's blog and check out her sweet blogiversary candy and all her awesome creations as well!

On to the details:

Stamps: My Little Ballerina (CDStamps)

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Certianly Celery, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Flamingo dsp, watercolor paper

Accessories: Certianly Celery ribbon, Tempting Turquoise brads

Tools: Sponge, Tempting Turquoise, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink SU markers,

word window punch, eyelet border punch, dahlia nesties, circle nestie

Wild about Twisted Color Piles! A 3 in 1 Challenge

Hello Everyone! I feel like it has been a long time since I have posted! I spent the last few days painting my entire downstairs, except for the bathroom, and that pretty much wiped me out for the week! But today I made it into the craft room and got to work on some challenges! I had fun combining three challenges into one project. This card incorporates colors from Color Throwdown, which are Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede; the sketch challenge from Twisted Thursdays S2G, the twist is to use punches - I used the word window punch and the ticket corner punch from SU; and the final challenge is from Pile it On where the challenge is to make a masculine card, plus at least one more challenge. I would call this card masculine because I feel ok about sending it to my husband who is currently in Iraq.
I watercolored the lion first with dusty durango, and on his legs I topped the dusty durango with a light watercoloring of soft suede and his cheeks and ears is the dusty durango ink left over on my watercolor pen, and I watercolored his face with a tiny spot of soft suede. It was fun to watercolor two colors together for a different effect, and besides, I really did not want an orangy lion or a brown lion ... so I have an orangy brown lion! LOL
Well, thanks for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts and ideas! It really means alot to me!

The Details:

Stamps: Zoo Critters (clear dollar stamps)

Paper: Dusty Durango textured, Soft Suede,

Throughly Modern dsp, & watercolor

Ink: Stazon JetBlack, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Dusty Durango & Bermuda Bay ribbon

Tools: word window, ticket corner punch, dimentionals,

sponge & watercolor pen

My BFF's Blogiversary!! Candy alert!

My Best Friend, Cassie has taught me pretty much everything about stamping, crafting, posting and blogging! And she is celebrating her Blogiversary! One year since she started " A day in the life of a home schooling mom" Go visit her blog HERE to check out her awesome creations, and to get a gaze at that yummy blog candy she is giving away! The blog candy give away is open till Aug 31, so hop on over and tell Cassie hi!!

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #32 Chocolate Anyone?

The weekend is here already, and already it has come to a close. Man, time has flown by, especially these last two weeks since my son has started kindergarten. So seeing how its the weekend it is time for my favorite challenge of the week, the clear dollar stamps weekend color challenge over at paper craft planet. This week's hostess is the talented Alex, and the colors she chose are Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Very Vanilla with an optional light pink. As you can see, I chose to omit the light pink. I was having a complete creativity block this afternoon as I sat down to make my submission for this week. I L O V E these colors,! I just could not think of how to use them. The last thing I wanted to do is to repeat a stamp set that I have used repeatedly the last couple weeks. Frustrated, I turned to my brainstorm buddy, my bff, Cassie for inspiration, she suggested I use one of my very first clear dollar stamp sets, Chocoholic. Who doesnt love chocolate, right? Although this card turned out kind of basic and simplistic, I am overall happy with the effort, and last minute too, right? ;p

Here are the details:

Stamps: Chocoholic (CD Stamps)

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Stazon Jet Black

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla & Taken With Teal cardstock

Accessories: Basic Grey Bling, Glossy Accents

Tools: Mosaic squares embossing folder

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and saying HI! All the comments you each leave really do make my day! :0)

Piling it on a Color Throwdown #55

Hello Everyone! This week's color challenge over at the Color Throwdown blog really intrigued me! So, I just had to make a card for it! The colors this week are: Kraft, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, black & white. How fun! I have not utilized these new in colors much yet, so I was very excited to get to work with them. I also incorporated the challenge over at the Pile it on blog, and that was a hard one ... the challenge there is to use NO dsp and add one more challenge. Well, I LOVE dsp, so it was really hard to omit it on this project. Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment and say hi!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Shining Strength (sentiment) & Walk in the Park (CD stamps may SOM)

Paper: Kraft, Basic Black, Whisper White, Crushed Curry & Melon Mambo cardstock

Ink: Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Creamy Caramel

Tools: Labels 4 & Large curvy rectangles nesties, Word Window,

sponges, d'vine swirls embossing folder

Accessories: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry ribbon, white brads

It's not a Card Challenge Paper Blooms Challenge

Hi Everyone! The time has come again for another great and fun challenge over at the PaperBlooms challenge blog! These last two weeks went by so fast! Where did the time go? I am excited to tell you about the challenge for the next two weeks. But before we get to this week's challenge, I would like to say Thank You to everyone who participated in our "Peek-a-Boo" challenge. I am personally inspired by how many different takes there can be for one inspiration!

And dont forget to stop by the PaperBlooms Challenge Blog to check out the Featured Artist for the peek-a-boo challenge! Maybe it is YOU! If its not you this time, dont be discouraged, try again and it could be YOU next time ;)

Ok, on to today's business .... the challenge is to Not Make A Card. That is right! Do not make a card. This time, we challenge you to Make a home decor piece, whatever you'd like. Sounds like fun, right? I always love thinking outside the (card) box and do more with my supplies. This challenge was just that, a challenge because when I have made things like this in the past, I am making them with a certian person in mind or for an occasion gift. So today I had to find inspiration elsewhere. I had a totally different idea going into this project, when I say totally different, I mean totally different, as in I had some chain, decorative paper clips and square and circle metal tags out. Yeah. Sometimes I just dont get what I am thinking! 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: Heard from the Heart & Cheep Talk (SU)

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Pink Flamingo dsp (su), Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun

Accessories: Leah's handmade crocheted PaperBlooms

Summer Sun corduroy brads, glue dots &

a picture frame I had around the house

Thanks for stopping by! I cant wait to see what you gals come up with! I know it is going to be spectacular! Now go forth and craft! LOL

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #31

Just like my last post, I went into the craft room today with a purpose. Not only to create a card for a friend, or just to participate in a challenge, but to keep the healing process going. (I am not looking for sympathy, I have just been sharing a little bit of what I have been feeling this past week.)

Anyway, this card is for this weekend's clear dollar stamps weekend color challenge over at papercraft planet. This week's hostess is the very talented Shawnee and the colors she chose are: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss and Sahara Sand. I love these colors so much that I held on to them after they retired, and that is a first for me! lol

And just now, when I looked at Shawnee's example again, I realized that I used the same nestie AND the same embossing folder as she did! That was totally an accident! But, I guess great minds think alike, right ! lol again..

I used two Clear Dollar stamp sets this time, Peony and Shining Strength. Thanks for stopping by ! I hope you comment and say HI!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Peony & Shining Strength (CD Stamps)

Paper: Sahara Sand, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Urban Oasis dsp,

Watercolor paper

Ink: Baja Breeze, Stazon Jet Black, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: Labels 4 & Curved Rectangles mega nesties,

watercolor pen

PS: I just realized after looking at my SCS gallery that I used this same stamp set two CDSWCC's in a row! Oops! I guess that means I "need" to go shopping at clear dollar again! lol

The Pink Elephant #26 Recipe Challenge

Good Saturday Afternoon everyone! Today I went in the craft room with a purpose. Not only to participate in a challenge or two, but I needed a Thank You card for some sweet RAK that came in the mail today, and my go-to box is just about empty! So, I had a little fun with this one. This one is for the recipe challenge over at The Pink Elephant. The challenge is to use 3 brads,1 flower and dsp. I ended up using two stamp sets from two different companies, dsp from Basic Grey and my "sun" is a handmade crocheted flower from Leah's Esty Shop. My 3 brads are also from Basic Grey, two are with the sentiment and one is the center of my sun/flower. I paper-pieced the dsp onto the tank tops and undies - Kraft paper is under leaving the clothespins popped up a little bit. ;p Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Season of Friendship (su) & Hanging Out (CDstamps)

Paper: Barely Banana, Kraft, Lime Rickey dsp (basic gray)

Ink: Basic Grey, Soft Suede, Glorious Green, Green Galore, Only Orange

Accessories: Lime Rickey Brads, handmade flower (leah's esty shop)

A Special Journal for a Special Friend

Admittedly, I have been struggling with my creativity lately, it has been a hard week which made getting in the craft room even harder. But, God laid it upon my heart to make a journal/memory book for my good friend who lost her husband last week. And in that, I found some craft room mojo and got to work. Once I felt like it was"okay" to have a little fun, I jumped in.

This is a 8.5" x 8.5" notebook that I covered using Urban Oasis dsp (su), Going Grey textured cardstock, Basic Grey cardstock, Kiwi Kiss Buttons & Ribbon, Baja Breeze Button & Ribbon, Whisper White cardstock with "remember when" rub on from Bright Delight rub ons (su) and a beautiful handmade embellishment from Leah's Esty Shop.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! And thank you for your sweet comments, they really bring a smile to my face :0)

One Baby Journal, Two Totally Different Looks

So, I had to run to Target yesterday and since my son is now in Kindergarten, I decided to take my time and look around. I love to go check the clearance by the stationary aisles. Yesterday, I hit a jackpot! I found these baby journals (in hindsite I should have taken a before picture lol) part of Parent's magazine line of baby/child organizational stationary products. Well, at 75% off, I could not resist. And I have two friends who are going to be having baby girls in the next couple weeks, so what else would I do with a journal but cover it with paper! LOL!


For this one I used Tall Tales DSP, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, Rose Red cardstock, Old Olive cardstock and dahlia & circle nesties. The center circle is to slip in a picture.






For the second baby journal I used Cottage Wall dsp, Orchid Opulence cardstock, Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, White Organdy ribbon, & a circle nestie to make the opening for the picture.

I just love this DSP, it is so elegant and rich. These books cost just $2.74 each, and with a little paper, glue and ribbon they have been transformed into (hopefully) nice gifts! I dont think they will end up in a drawer! LOL

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for taking the time to leave a comment! It really does make my day to hear what you think!

Twisted Thursday challenge #20

Welcome to Thursday... It has been awhile since I have posted, I just have not been up to crafting this week... the result of the death of a close friend of our family. I figured getting elbow deep into some paper, ink, stamps and nesties would make me feel better, but I just havent been able to sit down and enjoy anything this week. I apologize, I dont want to be a downer... SO, my best friend Cassie's daughter's birthday is just around the corner so I had the perfect excuse to put aside the meloncholy and get to stamping. I used the sketch from this week's Twisted Thursday challenge blog. The twist is to use polka dots. As soon as I read "polka dots" I knew I wanted to use this super cute set designed by Shawnee at Clear Dollar Stamps called Biggest Wishes (only $4.99!!) because of the polka dotted birthday cake. Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughts and comments. It really does mean alot to me that you come visit my blog!

Here Are The Details:

Stamps: Biggest Wishes (CD Stamps)

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Rose Red, Bashful Blue

Paper: Bashful Blue, Rose Red, Rose Red dsp, Whisper White

Tools: Ticket corner punch, Ribbon Tag Trio, Lg Pinking Circle & Lg Circle Nesties

Accessories: White Organdy Ribbon

Clear Dollar Weekend Color Challenge #30

Well the weekend is upon us once again and it is time for the Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge over at PaperCraft Planet.
This weekend's host is the very talented Lisa and the colors she chose are Sage Shadow, Regal Rose, More Mustard with an optional Copper and White as the neutral. This card is the result of my just playing around with an idea late last night. I am not totally satisfied, but I am posting it anyway because a friend of our family passed away last night and I just dont seem to be able to focus on much today. Since I dont have any Regal Rose ink, I decided to paper piece the Peony, which is designed by the super talented Kim Teasdale , using the Regal Rose dsp from the 6x6 stampin up dsp pack. I watercolored using a Sage Shadow marker, and sponged the More Mustard ink around the masked Peony. Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments.

Here are the details:

Stamps: Peony by Kim Teasdale (clear dollar stamps)

Ink: Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Stazon Jet Black

Paper: Sage Shadow, Regal Rose, Watercolor Paper, More Mustard

Accessories: Dew Drops

Technique: Paper Piecing, Sponging