Not Missing the Train This Time!

So, last week I was a day late and a dollar short for the Create with Connie and Mary Color Challenge. This week, I'm not missing that train!! Connie and Mary have great challenges every week and I love playing along. It really stokes my creative juices.

This week's challenge is a sketch. When I first saw it, I thought, "Meh, I'm not going to be able to come up with something for this." Then I set it aside for a couple of days and had a piano moment. What's a piano moment, you ask? Well, I play a brain teaser game at work and when someone gets the answer all of a sudden, they say it's a "piano." Like when the piano falls on Wile E. Coyote--the idea comes to them instantly. The idea for this card hit me like a ton of bricks grand piano!


Here's Connie and Mary's sketch for the week.
 

I've seen others use the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder with the See Ya Later stamp set. I think it's adorbs the way the dots mimic an aligator's skin. I used the Envelope Punch Board to round the corners on the tag. I think that makes the tag spiffier (and the corner rounder may be the reason I purchased the punch board. Crazy? IKR?!). Here's my piano creation.

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Gumball Green; Card Stock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Black, Pistachio Pudding; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Pistachio Ruffled Stretch Trim, Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board)

My Very Own Color Challenge!!

So, I've been playing along in a bunch of challenges. It's been fun and inspiring--and it's really what keeps this blog going. I think it's about time that I host my own color challenge!! Whee!!

Somehow I stumbled upon a site called Design Seeds (For All Who Love Color).  Every day there are two new photos and color combinations. The photos and colors are simply gorgeous! I've been drooling over the site every day for a couple of months now, wondering if I have the chutzpah to actually host my own challenge. (Well, hosting the first one is easy...keeping up the momentum is what's going to be hard.)

Let's try a fortnightly challenge--every two weeks. Every other Friday. How's that work for you?

Ready for the first challenge? Here's your inspiration.

(Website: http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/color-school)

Approximate Stampin' Up Colors from top to bottom: Soft Sky, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit, Smoky Slate. If you want to play along, post your card to the InLinkz link at the bottom of this post. You can also email me a photo of your creation and I'll post it for you!!

Here's my creation. I used two Framelits from the Apothecary Accents set. I cut the Soft Sky medallion in half to use behind the Whisper White Medallion. I used one of the hole punching thingies from the Chalk Talk Framelit set on the "ears" of the rectangular Apothecary Accent piece so I could tie on the ribbon.

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Bermuda Bay; Card Stock: Summer Starfruit, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Whisper White; Accessories: Apothecary Accents and Chalk Talk Framelits, Decorative Dots and Square Lattice Embossing Folders, Bermuda Bay 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon)

An InLinkz Link-up

Colorful Birthday

Connie & Mary posted another color challenge for their spring collection (CCMCSPRING14-04). As usual, I never thought of putting these colors together--but now I really like this combination! I especially like the addition of black. I think it grounds the other colors without making them too garish--but it also makes them pop. 

The focal stamp is one from the See Ya, Later set you can get for FREE with a $50 order placed during Sale-a-Bration. It's probably my favorite SAB set. I used a panel of of Kaleidoscope DSP backed with a Basic Black panel. For some texture, I used the Scallops Textured Impressions Embossing Folder from the Occasions mini catalog. I cut the sentiment with one of the framelits from the Apothecary Accents set and used the same framelit to cut a piece of Crushed Curry, which I cut in half lengthwise to make a backing for the sentiment. I tied it all together (see what I did there?) with a piece of Bermuda Bay 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon.

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Basic Black; Card Stock: Crushed Curry, Basic Black, Whisper White; DSP: Kaleidoscope; Accessories: Scallops Embossing Folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits, 1/8" Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon)

See Ya Later, Alligator!

"See ya later, Alligator," my mom would say to me when I was a kid. And if I wasn't in one of my moods, I'd respond "After a while, crocodile." This Sale-a-Bration stamp set reminds me of my mom--and that's a good thing. My mom was a wonderful woman and I'm indebted to her. She always said she was proud of me. I hope I can always live up to her opinion. And I hope I can instill in my children the things she gave to me--always look on the bright side, pick yourself up and keep going, do your best, don't sweat the small stuff. Those are all platitudes we can all live by.

Anyway (as Ellen would say), here's a card I CASEd almost exactly from last month's issue of Stampin' Success--the magazine we Stampin' Up demonstrators receive free every other month. It's one of our perqs and it is full of ideas on how to use our wonderful products. I loved the simplicity of this card and I loved the negative banner cut. It took me a minute, but I figured out how they made the banner longer than the actual framelit. Can you figure it out? I also put a button on it and used the Silver Baker's Twine (because that's what I had). Easy-peasy and quick! (It's a good thing it was quick because despite my "snow day" I worked harder at home than I would have at work and I didn't get to my stamping room until after 9:30 tonight. I know; I'm cray-cray, but whatevs).

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe; Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Neutrals Basic Buttons, Silver Baker's Twine, Banners Framelit Dies)

You Are My Sunshine!

I've been wanting to try the sunburst technique, but it looked like "too much tension."  Lyssa Zwolanek shared an easy-peasy, no measuring tutorial on her blog (ALL Lyssa's tutorials are FREE).  I followed her directions and came up with this design.

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later: Ink: Island Indigo; Card Stock: Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White; DSP: Quatrefancy Specialty Paper; Accessories: Large Oval Punch)

My card uses the Quatrefancy Specialty Series Paper and a stamp the so sweet Sale-a-Bration stamp set, "See Ya Later!" By following Lyssa's instructions, you can make four sunburst cards in one fell swoop. So quick. So easy. So cute--if I do say so myself! 

You can earn this set FREE with a $50 purchase during Sale-a-Bration. I can't show you a picture of the actual product yet, but I can let you know the other sayings in the set: 

• See Ya Later, Alligator--Already Miss You!
• Once in a Lifetime You Meet Someone Who Changes Everything
• I Don't Believe That It's Your Birthday--You Don't Look a Day Older Than Last Year

Happy Birthday to Me!!

No, today is not my birthday. My birthday has passed. But since I shared the birthday stamp-a-stack cards, I thought I'd share one more birthday card with you. This card is by guest artist (and my BFF), Lynn Birus.  She's using it for a Sale-a-Bration swap card with our upline group, PROVERBial Stampers. Most of the products used on this card can be earned for free with a $50 purchase during Sale-a-Bration (January 28-March 31, 2014). You can earn the Sweet Sorbet designer series paper OR the "See Ya Later" stamp set OR the Decorative Dots embossing folder OR Crisp Cantaloupe baker's twine that's part of the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack--one with each $50 purchase. OR if you're like me and you #wantitall--you could get all 4 items with a $200 order! 

Isn't this card lovely? Lynn does such beautiful work. I especially like the black accents that really pop with all those pastels (and black is my fave color).

Contact me now to schedule YOUR Sale-a-Bration event so you AND YOUR GUESTS can earn free Stampin' Up SAB items with each $50 you spend on our fabulous merchandise!

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Basic Black Staz-On; Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pool Party; DSP: Sweet Sorbet: Accessories:  Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Crisp Cantaloupe Bakers Twine; Beautiful Wings Embosslit; Apothecary Accents Framelist; Tea Lace Paper Doilies; Mini Silver Brads)