LSC239 - SOS ODBD!!!!

I saw the limited supply challenge today and immediately thought of this card. Here are today's limitations;

Your items might be an ink color, a shape, an embellishment, a certain kind of stamp (S cannot stand for "stamp" but it could stand for the name of a stamp set, or company) -- whatever you can think of to fit S.O.S.! For example, I could have chosen Swiss Dots Embossing Folder or "Stylin' Stars" (stamp set name) for "s" as well.

And here's my SOS;

S - Sentiment
O - One Layer
S - Shine

I really wanted to make the sentiment stand out on this card so it's all BLACK, baby! A one layer card is rare from me, but does happen on occasion. The shine is provided by the Pearl-Ex that I 'painted' the gorgeous dragonfly flourish image and a sprinkle of rhinestones.

Enjoy your weekend all!!!!

stamps; friendship (ODBD)
paper; whisper white (SU!)
ink; versamark (tsukineko), black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; pearl-ex (jacquard), adhesive rhinestones (unknown)

Challenge triple play

We've been putting in a baseboard heat system in our basement, which means I will have heat in my studio this coming winter. This is a very good thing. A real kick in the hiney cost wise, but still a very good thing. Today, we found out our furnaces don't work. Hmmm... Canada, near the mountains with no heat to the upper floors of our house... Hmmm... I guess my family is moving into my studio *LOL*!!! {sigh} This is a double hiney whacker situation here! I need a real job.

I must be totally on another planet because I saw yesterday's colour challenge and it didn't even move me. People, it had 2 browns in the list! *squeal* What was I thinking to not even react to it?!!! KRAFT and CHOCOLATE CHIP?!!!!! Oh heaven.

I used my chicken girl designs, 'into the woods' for this one. I looked high and low for red gingham paper, and I have none so I went with the next best option, red polka dot. I coloured the bear dude using a blender pen and reinkers which is a technique I'm totally out of practice with.

With summer almost over, I bid you a fond 'stay warm'!

stamps; into the woods (chickengirl designs - IHP)
paper; chasing butterflies (daisy d), brown, sandbox dotted swiss, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; antique linen, tea dye, brushed corduroy, walnut stain distress ink, cranberry adirondack (ranger)
accessories; double ended tags, rectangle and scallop rectangle nesties (spellbinders), brown ribbon (offray), hemp twine

CC232, WT232, AND LSC234 triple header!!!

I saw the colour challenge by Holly (toy) this week on SCS and all I could think was, 'I've never cut into Taken With Teal...' That afternoon, my Stampin' Up! mini preorder arrived and I had totally forgotten that I ordered the new 'Autumn Meadow' paper. There is quite a bit of teal used in that paper pack, and then I realized that I was about to cut into teal for the first time! Holy Moses, who knew?!!!!

As it turned out, I didn't get to it until yesterday afternoon. I started cutting and my DD came down and said immediately, 'Colour challenge, eh?' I asked how she knew and she said, 'You never use taken with teal. It's a nice combination.' Okay, she's right on both counts.

My challenge triple header goes like this;

Colour challenge; taken with teal, close to cocoa and very vanilla
Sketch challenge; FAILED! I realized too late I messed up the sketch, so it doesn't count!
Ways to use it challenge; warm and fuzzy - I fuzzed up the twill ribbon
Limited supplies challenge; masculine card with a schwack of stuff not to be used. Did it!

It's been awhile since I've really played on the SCS challenges. It felt good, and I'm going to make a point of trying to do more in the near future.

Have an awesome weekend!

stamps; Jesus (ODBD)
paper; brown, flat broke bling (bazzill), taken with teal, very vanilla, autumn meadows (SU!)
ink; espresso adirondack, tea dye, frayed burlap distress ink (ranger)
accessories; very vanilla HH, twill tape, scallop border punch (SU!), petite oval nesties (spellbinders)

LSC212 Spring Garden

I had exactly one hour to spare for the challenge today. I spent a fair bit of time discovering I have no spring flower stamps *snort*! I guess any excuse to buy more stamps is a good excuse. Then I stumbled on these pussy willows and figured they might be about perfect. Pussy willows are about the very first thing to come out around here. They arrive almost a month before tulips and daffodils.
I love the hope spring brings. I haven't seen any robins yet, but it doesn't mean they aren't here. I bet if I look around, I'll find some.

Late March and early April are our snowiest time of year, so this really is a good vignette of my muddy, barren garden...

Bring on the sun!!

stamps; scene in a garden (SU!)
paper; ever after (cosmo cricket), mud puddle, rope dotted swiss, coconut swirl (bazzill), cold press watercolour paper
ink; timber brown stazon (tsukineko), willow, juniper, latte, rust, hazelnut, lemonade reinkers (adirondack by ranger)
accessories; doily edge punch (martha stewart), clear skittles (the robin's nest), white twill (may arts), white satin ribbon (offray), hope charm (tokens by blue moon beads), hemp twine

LSC210 Moon Girl

Today's limited supply on SCS was time - 30 minutes. Okay now, raise your hand if you can relate to that sentiment. I think most of us can. Okay, I had to plan this out in my head and then look for everything. Well, I knew I was going to use this pre-embossed card from DCWV - easy peasy time saver there. Then, while I was looking for this pack of cards, I found my Elzybells stamps. Happy day!! Having to move out and back in my room I think will be a very good thing...

I stamped her and clear heat embossed and then coloured her with my copics. I'm not happy with the hair, but well, who doesn't have a bad hair day when in a rush!!! I pulled out a square nestie, got the placement wrong (rushing...) and sponged a little colour around this little darling. I doodled around her because, well, I don't doodle much and since I already mucked up the sponging, I figured I could royally muck up the doodles and there would be no further loss. The most time I spent on this card was erasing the chalk I had originally applied to some of the hearts.

Yup, I should just go back to bed... Or organize my temporary stamp room...

stamps; moon girl (elzybells)
ink; pitch black distress ink (ranger), pink pirouette (SU!)
paper; pre-embossed hearts card pack (DCWV)
accessories; square nestabilities (spellbinders), clear detail ep (ranger), yellow stardust gel pen (sakura), copic markers

If only I had an Irish blessing...

Dagnabbit, wouldn't this look fabulous with an Irish Blessing stamp? I don't have one. I wish I did. I really love the one by Our Daily Bread Designs, but I don't have it yet. *sigh*

The challenges I combined here were to use stripes made any way I chose. I scored the panels the chains are in, and they are my stripes. The second challenge was to use green on our cards. Done - I used my new Porcelain 6x6 pad from Basic Grey for the dp panel which Kate has, so go shopping because she has a schwack of new goodies from CHA just in stock at i {heart} papers.

I used Windsor stamp set from SEI for both the main image and the chain panels. This stamp set in on sale so if you like it, it's a nice price! I stamped the main image with versamark and embossed it with clear ep. Then I cut out the image using Labels Two nestabilities. While the paper was still in the die, I sponged it with ink. Yup - easy peasy and totally Irish!

stamps; Windsor (SEI - IHP)
paper; clover leaf swiss dot, coconut swirl (bazzill), kraft (paper accents), porcelain (basic grey - IHP)
ink; shabby shutters, peeled paint (distress ink by ranger), so saffron (SU!), versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; labels two nestabilities (spellbinders - IHP), detail cleap ep, Diamond stickles (ranger - IHP), moss/olive reversible ribbon (may arts), fresh mowed grass dew drops (the robin's nest)

LSC207 I'm SO stretching!!!

Today's challenge; stretch yourself. Use a technique or do something that isn't your norm. So I made a circle card. I cased Celebrate In Style by Flaxychick. I'm often not happy with how my circle cards turn out. This one is okay, and it's for a workshop, so it's simpler than I usually do. I'm not good at using white on a card, but I always think it looks lovely. I tried to use more white here than I usually do. I paper pieced as well - not a technique I use often. I doodled a little and used polka dots. I know polka dots are hot, but they just aren't what I gravitate to. Finally, I used black. Um, yah. Nuff said!

stamps; humor in high heels (SU!)
paper; whisper white, bashful blue, kraft, afternoon tea (SU!)
ink; bacic black (SU!)
accessories; white gel pen, basic black marker, sizzix large and small circle dies, mini brads, dew drops (those will come off for the workshop)

LSC207 Swell Noel Valentine IHP

Our design team challenge for i {heart} papers is to use seasonal papers in an unseasonal way. Well, I have a bunch of Christmas paper left over, so I figured it would be a no brainer to use it for a Valentine card. I used K&Co's 'Swell Noel' for here and coordinated cardstock with it. The direct links I used from Kate are listed in the recipe below. I have a bunch of fall-ish paper. I wonder if I could do Easter with it?...

Be sure to pop over to Splitcoaststampers and look for Kate's i {heart} papers banner for sale inforamtion for this weekend!!!

Take a few minutes for some inspiration and check out what the other i {heart} papers beauties did with this challenge!

Amber
Carolyn
Cathleen
Deb
Dee
Kendra
Lori
Merry
Sarah
Tracy

stamps; Hearts & Love (Inkadinkado IHP)
paper; swell noel (K&Co. IHP), ruby red, sprout, coconut swirl (bazzill), chantilly (paper accents)
ink; coral rose (colorbox chalk ink), pretty in pink (SU!)
accessories; labels one, large ovals and scallop ovals nestabilities (spellbinders IHP), adhesive rhinestones (heidi Swapp), rhinestone heart (Q&Co), double scallop border punch (martha stewart), eyelets (we R memory keepers), white satin ribbon (offray), pebbles pearlescent chalk (I Kandee), white gel pen (Sakura), cuttlebug embossing mini folder (provocraft)

LSC206 The Truth

The first time I saw this sentiment, I teared up. I believe that prayer is my FIRST, best line of defense or offense, as the case may be. I'm not one of these people who get up at 5am to spend an hour in prayer, but I do respect people who have that discipline. I'm still tired at 5am, and since I want to come joyfully before the throne of grace, I start my conversation with God when I am rested. I tend to be a little grumpy and don't make much sense when I am tired - my children are witnesses to this fact. Some days, I just need a nap!

This sentiment says;

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. - Abraham Lincoln


There were many times when I was nursing my children as babies I experienced promptings to pray for certain people or things. I have witnessed the power of prayer and it never ceases to amaze me.

I am one of those people with a constant conversation God happening. Some days it can be pretty one sided - that is never a good thing, those days that I talk so much that I don't listen enough or those days that the Holy Spirit is busy growing me. I don't always like being stretched. I don't like exercising either, but I know it's good for me too.

This card ended up a little heavier with the sponging than I intended, so if I case it, I'll go lighter around the sentiment. I think it's a genderless card which is good for me because I feel like I never have enough masculine cards.

Have a wonderful day!

stamps; Lift up our Hands (ODBD)
paper; brown, reed (bazzill), blue awning (K& Co), not quite navy (SU!)
ink; pearlescent chocolate (brilliance by tsukineko), tea dye, vintage photo (distress ink by ranger)
accessories; small and large ovals, labels two nestabilities (spellbinders IHP), brown satin ribbon (offray), chocolate brads (doodlebug), clear detail ep (ranger), cappucinno baubles (stampingbella), miscellaneous bead findings

LSC200 & HCE03 for IHP (what an alphabet soup kinda upload!)

Well, for likely the first time ever, I'm uploading a hostess club card before hostess club happens. I'm quite tickled with the way this turned out. Originally I planned to show my lovely ladies how to watercolour with Home for Christmas, but I realized that might take a week for us to complete. Keep it simple. So I'm going to pull out old faithful here - bloomin' beautiful. This set has had longevity that I'm surprised by. It's a beautiful set - stunning IMHO - but it's had a longer run in the catty than a set that started out in a mini typically has. All I can say is YAY!!!

So, I'll be teaching a little bit of watercolouring, but the real wow factor, I think, will be when I show versamark and clear ep on chocolate chip cardstock - delish! Such subtle impact! I used the baroque borders wheel on the edge of the inside of the card using versamark and then clear embossed it. I didn't dream this technique up - it's been around forever. I just like it and haven't shown it, so it's on the menu for Sunday.

stamps; bloomin beautiful (SU!)
paper; chocolate chip, bashful blue, watercolour cardstock (SU!)
ink; versamark (tsukineko), chocolate chip classic ink, bashful blue, mellow moss, not quite navy reinkers (SU!)
accessories; scallop edge punch, baroque border wheel, clear ep, bashful ble taffeta ribbon

This little gem is 1.25"x4.25". I'd never heard of scraplings until I read about it in the Holiday Challenge Extravaganza on SCS, but I want to celebrate the brilliant person who came up with these! So sweet. All my girls think so, and they keep picking it up to rub the ric rac ribbon. They want to know who will get it for Valentine's since they all want it...

I got my design team box from Kate at i {heart} papers this week - it was like an early Christmas present! I used my new velvet ric rac - this is so uber soft and it just looks wonderful! The striped designer paper down the middle is SEI's chocolat paper stack. You really should check out this line! It has sparkle butterflies, silver foil, and it's so many wonderful shades of pink and brown goodness. The sentiment, heart and hugs & kisses are from Impression Obsession's Sweet Hearts. I'll be using this set more over the next few weeks, so stay tuned! I think it's adorable and I love it!

stamps; sweet hearts (impression obsession IHP)
paper; pink chiffon (paper accents), chocolat (SEI IHP)
ink; pearlescent chocolate (brilliance by tsukineko)
accessories; clear ep (ranger), silverbells dew drops (the robin's nest), white velver ric rac ribbon (may arts IHP), diamond stickles (ranger), copic markers

LSC199 Forget-me-nots

I think this card ended up taking under 30 minutes once I decided what I wanted to do. The part that took the longest was allowing the stickles enough time to dry! I used a preview set that will be in the spring/summer SU! catty. As soon as I saw this set, I knew I 'needed' it. I love pocket silhouettes, and I do think this set will be as versatile and have the same longevity for me. I really don't think I'll be casting this set aside any time soon.

My sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms - it's a fave!

6 days until Christmas... ENJOY!!!!

stamps; sweet stems (SU!), bloom with abandon (CHF)
paper; whisper white, bashful blue, ballet blue (SU!)
ink; onyx black (versafine by tsukineko)
accessories; diamond stickles (ranger), markers (SU!), clear dew drops (the robin's nest)