More is More

Happy Wednesday!  It’s been a busy day – all good.  Just got back from a little walk with the pup.  It’s about 60 degrees out – perfect cool air with the scent of fireplaces burning!  So happy to have this cooler weather after that silly heat wave…just hoping these temps stick around!

Early this morning I carved out some time to stamp just for fun…just ’cause I wanted to.  I don’t do that nearly enough anymore.  I used to play the Sketch Challenge on SCS almost every week and now I rarely play.  As soon as I saw today’s sketch (SC306) I knew I had to create something with it!  I grabbed the Tinsel & Twig Project Pantry from TE.  I had been hoarding it, but finally realized that Christmas will be here before you know it and I need to use up this beautiful kit – no time like the present!

Next I looked through my Christmas and holiday stamps and landed on this adorable image from Panguin Pals (TE). I colored the image with Copics and went over the lights and the star with Spica Glitter pens.  The ribbon on the present was covered with a clear glaze pen.  The penguin’s hat was accented with Sugar Sparkly Fluff adhered with a Quickie Glue Pen.  The image was cut out with a circle nestie and then layered onto a lacey circle and then a blossom nestie (see Spellbinders here.)  All patterned paper, cardstock, pearls are from the Project Pantry.  Ribbon is SU.  First I tied a knot and then with an additonal piece of ribbon I tied the bow around the know and that gave me the double tails.  I believe that ivory crochet trim came from Joann’s.

One more Christmas card for my stash.  I’m trying not to freak out about Christmas cards, but I am waaaaaaay behind.  I usually make 80-100 cards in 3 or 4 designs/batches.  I can hardly stand to make more than 25 or 30 of one design because I do NOT enjoy production stamping.  Usually by now I would have at least half, if not more, of my cards completed – and all of them done by the first week in December.  This year I don’t even have them designed or know what color cardstock I am going to use.  Acccccckkkkkkkkkk!  And I have NEVER skipped sending out Christmas cards….NEVER.  Even in years of great difficulty when I barely had my head above water…cards were sent.  So this is no time to wimp out!  I think I may send less than usual this year, but one way or another…Lord willing…cards will be made and cards will be mailed!

Check back with me in a month or so on that one.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Friday!  It’s time for another fun sketch from Taylor – TESC125.  I hope you’ll play along with us this weekend.  I was in need of a birthday card for a friend of ours of the male persuasion.  I have to admit that *guy cards* are not always my favorites to make, but I got to thinking…why do guy cards so often seem so somber and serious?  This particular friend has an awesome sense of humor – often leans over to say something to make me laugh in church – so I decided to try to create a fun happy birthday card still appropriate for man.  I hope I succeeded…you can be the judge of that.  What do you think?  Too girly?  Well I hope he liked it!

I pulled out some supplies from Taylored Expressions –  Sprinkled With Love stamp set and Summertime Project Pantry kit (cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, scallop sticker, blue candy dots) and added a retired SU sentiment set called Cheery Chat.  My images were colored with Copics and punched out with circle punches.  I added some of Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles for a special finishing touch.

On the inside of the card I added a little image from the TE set Sweet Occasions which coordinates perfectly with the images on the front of the card. The sentiment reads:

However you may celebrate,

Whatever you may do – 

hope you day is

filled with love and

wishes that come true!

 *

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*

And now it’s time to see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store for us.  Let’s go check it out:

• Alice Wertz
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Rosie Hughes
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by.  I am so looking forward to my class tonight.  Lots to do to get ready before then.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Friday!  Today we have a really fun sketch challenge from Taylor – TESC124. I have to admit that I was a bit scared when I first saw it…and then scared again when I printed it out and took it to my stamp table.  That being said, my card came together fairly easily and I ended up really having fun with this sketch!  I think you will too! It’s much easier than it might look.  Come and play with us!

I made my TE Choice Buttercream card base 9.25″ x 4″ to fit into a #10 envelope. I know some people really like to have measurements when working with a sketch – especially for an unusual card size – so I will give you mine for reference.

Card base – 9.25 x 4

black layer – 9 x 3 3/4

red dp layer – 8 7/8 x 3 5/8

3 black panels – 2 3/4 x  3 3/8

3 cream polka dot panels – 2 1/2 x 3 1/8

circle punch – 1 3/4 (layered onto Blossom nestie in black)

Of course you can tweak the sketch as much as you need to and you might want to try a different sized card altogether. Here’s my sample for the sketch:

That old fashioned phone is from the TE stamp set Weigh to Go!  Isn’t it so cute?!  I think this card is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t go into much detail except to say that the designer paper is an older retired SU line that’s all Real Red and Vanilla.  I’m almost out of this paper and will be so sad to see it gone!  Sentiment “hot line” is spelled out with Thickers and on the inside I will print “you have the hot line to my heart!”  I used an EK Success border punch and crocheted trim from TE.  I just love the way this card turned out!

Now let’s see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store for us today:

• Alice Wertz
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Rosie Hughes
• Sherrie Siemens
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend.  I’m looking forward to spending time with my nieces and my sister-in-law making my oldest niece’s wedding invitations.  I hope to share those with you soon!

Happy Friday!  I am so excited today to be playing along with the uber-talented Flourishes Design Team in a More is More Challenge hosted by Christine Okken.  When Christine asked me to participate I pinched myself and then I jumped at the chance!!  I thought it was so sweet of her to want to include me because I originated the idea of a *More is More Challenge* way back when. Here are the two cards I created featuring the gorgeous Flourishes set From the Garden along with Basic Grey Green at Heart papers.  I think the card on the left is quite pretty, but I really pulled out the stops and played to my heart’s content for the *more* card on the right.  I hope you enjoy.  🙂

For more details and to see what Christine has to share please hop over to the Flourishes Blog.  Christine – thank you so much for inviting me to play.  I had so much fun creating these cards and I’m so honored to stamp along side such an incredible team of designers!

Oh and if you’re wondering about the TESC, we’re taking a sketch break this week as Taylor and several of the Sketch Crew are in Chicago at CHA.  Have a fantastic weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thursday!  Today I have a card to share that I created for a special friend who’s daughter is experiencing some health issues. The card features Psalm 18:2

The Lord is my rock

and my fortress and my deliverer;

my God, my strength in whom I take refuge.

What wonderful words of truth of comfort!  The verse stamp comes from the TE mini stamp set Care & Comfort.  On the inside of the card I used another sentiment from the same set, “our thoughts, our prayers, and our love are with you.”

The silhouette floral image is from Summer Afternoon by TE and it was stamped with Versamagic Chalk ink in Pink Petunia. All the ink I used on this card was Versamagic and when I went to get the link from eclectic Paperie I noticed that it’s all 35% off, so you might want to check it out! Designer paper is October Afternoon Fly a Kite (cut into that pack for the first time) and I might have mixed in another OA pad – who can keep track? LOL!  I loved the idea of stamping directly onto the graph pattern from Fly a Kite.  I added a couple of Tiny Twinkles to the dragonfly.  Here’s the really funny thing – those 5 buttons…they were just sitting on my stamp table…and had been for awhile.  I guess they got left out at some point when working on another project and never got put away.  I was thinking I wanted just one more embellishment of some sort on the card and I noticed that those buttons were just the right color.  Serendipity.  I just love it when that happens.

I created this card with several SCS Dare to Get Dirty Challenges in mind – Sharon Johnson, Betty Wright, Cindy Haffner and Dawn Burnworth.  I wish I could have played more than I have this week. There are so many fun challenges!  if you’re a Fan Club Member, be sure to check them out and if you’re not you might want to become one and get in on all the FUN!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps – TE Care & Comfort, Summer Afternoon

Paper – October Afternoon Fly a Kite, TE June cardstock kit

Ink – Versamgic Chalk ink in Petunia Pink, Sea Breeze, Tea Leaves, Midnight Black

Other – Spellbinders Curved Rectangle Die, EK Success Diamond Lace border punch, Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles, Smooch Illuminate, pink twill, buttons, Corner Chomper

Happy Sunday!  I don’t often blog on Sundays, but today I had the privilege of being a sample maker for my sweet friend Sharon Harnist in her Dare to Get Dirty Challenge.  You can get the deets to play along here (you must be a SCS Fan Club Member).  I had a ton of fun creating this card.  I hope you enjoy it!

As soon as I saw the SU stamp set Favorite Thoughts I knew I had to have it!  It’s a set of 4 fun sentiments and this one says “Don’t treat me any differently than you would a queen!”  LOL!  How great is that?  Then when I saw the Maya Road crowns chipboard I knew it was a match made in heaven!  LOL!  The crown was inked with Real Red Craft ink and then covered in TE Fire Engine Red Glitter with the addition of Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles (Crystal).  I used 3 different embossing folders on the white layers.  The border punch is Arbor – doesn’t it look royal?  The nesties frame was die cut with Labels Nine (using 2 sizes at the same time) from Real Red cardstock and then covered in Versamark and heat embossed with clear ep.  The sentiment was stamped in Real red Craft ink and also heat embossed with clear ep.  It was then die cut with Spellbinders double ended tags and layered onto a Spellbinders fancy tag.  The final touch is red silk ribbon bow attached with mini glue dots.

You might also notice my new watermark.  🙂  When we got a new computer a few months ago I lost my generic watermark and my SU watermark in the transition.  It’s been driving me crazy and I’ve been meaning to look into getting a new one for a long time.  I decided to check out what my friend Karen Giron had to offer.  Wow – she has a great selection at only $2 each and she got back to me really quickly.  I purchased 2 for now (the elegant one you see above and also a more *cute* one.)  I plan to get more soon.  I highly recommend checking her out of you are in need of a watermark!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Happy Friday!  The Rocket Scientist has every other Friday off now (more efficient use of resources/personell at the Rocket Factory), so this is a long weekend for us.  I love this schedule!  Of course Friday means it’s time for the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge – TESC121.

For today’s card I challenged myself to create a card in 15 minutes using mostly supplies already out on my desk.  I set the timer on my phone and when the alarm went off…I…ummmm….set it for another 15 minutes.  And when it went off again…I….ummmmmm….turned it off and decided it was pointless!  I am unable to make a card in 15 minutes – even with a sketch and Project Pantry supplies all in hand.  The weird thing is that after 50 minutes spent on this card, it still looks like a 15 minute card!  Oh brother!  I love this stamp set and the kit I used…I just need to NOT be in a hurry when I’m stamping!

Stamp set is TE In the Park.  Cardstock, paper, scalloped border sticker are all from the Summertime Project Pantry.  Tree is colored with copics and I added some Flower Soft for fun texture.  Bike was colored with Spica Glitter pens and Sakura glaze pens.  The glitter and glaze pens are just perfect for the thin lines of the bike image and who wouldn’t want a sparkly bike?!  LOL!  Circles were cut with nesties.

Now let’s see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has in store:

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!  Be sure to check out the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges on SCS starting early tomorrow morning!