Blue Friday

It is blue Friday here in Seattle, we are rallying for the Seahawks!  I have never seen so many people wear blue and green.  My daughter and I are even sporting blue and green nail polish for the occasion!  :) Normally, I don't much care who wins, but Seattle teams don't see a lot of glory, so it is nice to see this for a change.  Check out this pic of the beloved Needle.

Meanwhile, I know there are a few Bronco's fans reading this and I like them too, those of you reading AND the Broncos.  I spent a couple of college years in Colorado.  One of which the Broncos went to and won the Superbowl.  I went to Denver and saw John Elway and the team in the parade, it was pretty awesome.  So don't go away hating me you Broncos peeps!  For the record, I don't want the Broncos to win since they have been there and done that, but I like them. :)

No matter what team you cheer for, here is a Superbowl cocktail you can make.  Admittedly, it is favored to the Seahawks since Marshawn Lynch is the skittles guy and the pic is blue and green.  BUT you could make this with orange skittles just as easily and call it the "Bucking Bronco" or "Magic Manning" or something like that.  It is bound to be pretty sweet though, so don't drink too many!

So onto the creation.  Officially we haven't started our posts for the Top Dog Dies Design Team, but I wanted to share one project I've made anyway.  This is a little creation I made using their Photo Mat die and Photo Props accessories as well as the Leafy Flourishes set.  This pic is of my lovely daughter S and her cutie friend on S's 6th birthday.  They had so much fun!

I am not sure this is a card, it opens like a card, but I think of it more as a little memory frame.  You can set it up like a framed photo, but the beauty is you can open it up and see the original pic and there is info on what the pic is and when it was taken.  You could give it as a thank you card though, that would work just as well. I used a piece of transparency for the layer between the top mat and the photo to protect the picture and allow me to put the accessories on but still keep the original picture in tact.

I finished it off with a few embellishments and a sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches.  The sentiment pretty much says it all.  :)  Oh...and the colors work for Blue Friday! Thanks for stopping and happy Blue (or Orange) Friday to you!

PS- did you see the Top Dog sale on Stamp-n-storage?!  Awesome!

Dreaming of Delicata Gold

Welcome to another Fusion Challenge!  Did you see the entries last week?!  UM....FABULOUS!

This week is going to be just as fantastic, just wait until you see the challenge inspiration and all the DT creations- WOW!  Here is the fab photo and sketch we are working from.

I used the hearts from the photo and the bones of the sketch.  What I really enjoyed doing was glitzing it all up with gold.  Behind the hearts is washi, backed with CS to make it sturdy and popped up with dimensionals.  The wood chip hearts (Freckled Fawn) that go on top were squished (...very technical term) into my Delicata Gold ink from Tsukineko.  This is easily my favorite ink at the moment and I can't seem to get enough of it.  Soooooo luscious and sparkly!  And I think it works really well in contrast to the DP.

So, I hope that you will come and play with us this week!  You can find the rules and information for linking up on the Fusion Card Challenge Blog.

Question of the day- what is your favorite ink brand and color?

Entering into:
The Pink Elephant 235- Love
The Curtain Call Challenge- Love Letter
Ribbon Carousel Challenge #89- Love, Birthday's and Chicken Soup

Lotta love going on out there! :)  Thanks for stopping!

Inspired by Yainea!

I love this round of Lawnscaping Challenge!  They have so many talented designers both on their blog and FB page, so it was fun to pick one (from the blog) and create a card that payed homage to them.  The card can be inspired by one of their cards, their style or a technique you saw them use.

It was hard to pick just one, but I've admired Yainea's stuff since before she was part of Lawnscaping, so I went with her as my inspiration.  Perusing her blog, this card caught my eye, such a lovely valentine by her (see right).  There is something about the diagonal that is different, maybe just because you don't see it all the time but I love it.

Here is what I created using my inspiration from Yainea!  It was so easy to make the slant, I just traced around my ruler, using the width provided by it and wahlah!  After deciding I wanted clouds inside it was easy to finish this card up.  A little DP and cork for the balloons was perfect for paper piecing.  While we are discussing...I actually have a confession to make to go along with it....I have had this set for a long time, since it first came out....and this is the first time I inked up the balloons!!!!  I know, I can't even believe it myself, but it is true.

So thank you Yainea and all the LF, Lawnscaping blog and FB DT, you all do amazing work and continue to inspire!

You're Swell!

It is Sunday friends!  I don't know about you but I wish I could push rewind so that it was Friday evening all over again. :)  But since I can't I'll have to try to enjoy the last moments of "freedom" before Monday work comes back.

This is a card I made this last weekend.  I was inspired by the Reverse Confetti color challenge for the month and was fortunate enough to borrow this adorable set from a friend.  I think my card has a masculine feel to it, don't you?  The colors could go either way, but maybe the shapes, plus colors, and what is a more or less CAS design for me (yeah, I know, still busy) makes it feel masculine.  

Since we are talking about masculine cards, today's Question of the Day is- what are your go-to masculine colors?

Thanks for stopping!

Papertrey Inspiration

Happy Saturday!  I  wasexcited as this is my first time particpating in the Papertrey Blog Hop Challenge. Look at this inspiration photo, how could I not play. :)  I don't have any PTI yet... and I stress YET because I have an order going in today! So...I removed my link from the page, because I didn't even think about that.  Duh!  I am feeling like a jerk! :(

What I did use was my Balzer Designs map stencil and traced every teeny tiny state on pink ombre DP from Crate Paper.  I traced the compass in the lower corner.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stampand I fussy cut that out too and popped it up with dimensionals.  The finishing touches are the wood chip geotag with the heart inside focusing on the word "you," as well as the washi and the sequins.

Since I can't enter this into Papertrey, how about I enter into Dynamic Duos where the combo is Pink and Black?! :)  And another entry to Ribbon Carousel since I again used Washi.

This card has a pretty fun feel and would be great to send to someone across the country for valentines day. I may do just that. :)

Through the Woods

What do you think of when you are in the woods?  Me, I picture myself, walking through the woods.  Calm and serene with a stream trickling over rocks somewhere. Above me, the birds chirping and the squirrels chattering.  Ahead of me is a clearing, and as I walk into the meadow I find a rainbow of wildflowers and a doe with a fawn nibbling the grass on the other side.  Pretty darn peaceful  to think about. This is the vision that inspired today's card for this week's Cut-it-up Challenge Blog.  I used two dies, one is a border die from SU! and the leaves and tiny butterfly are from Simon Says Stamp.

Now... I encourage you to find your version of Through The Woods for CIU.  You can make it whatever you want but you need to incorporate wood in some way (you can see that my chevron paper is wood grain).  Of course you also need to use a die cut to qualify and follow the CIU blog.  You can view the full rules here.

Should you choose to join us (and I hope you do!) there is a prize up for grabs!  A stamp set of your choice for Scrappy Moms.


Again, be sure to check out all the DT's amazing inspiration over at the Cut-it-up Challenge Blog.  You have until Feb. 5th to come play along.

I had the pleasure of crafting with a couple of my friends last weekend, Kimberly Wiener and Amy Tsuruta.  It was so fun and this weekend I get to see my girlfriend Sarah D.  Today's Question of the Day is- what are you plans for the weekend?  

Happy Friday!!!!!

CAS Bokeh Hearts

Hello!

I made this last weekend and had yet to share it so thought I should probably get it up here!  This CAS card was inspired by a friends FB banner that featured bokeh heart lights!  Fab-u-lous with a capital F!

Here is what I made.  Very simple using a few different soft tones of ink and including gold with the various sized Lawn Fawn hearts (they are from several differnt sets).  I added a sentiment from one of my Neat and Tangled sets, I love the font on these!  Wahlah- so easy!

I am entering it into the Little Tangles-One Layer Challenge  and the Paper Players One Layer Valentine.

Thanks for stopping!

So Silly!

Here I sit watching the Seahawk's game.  I am not a big football fan, but I usually watch the playoffs and superbowl and my team is doing AWESOME!  So I am jumping on the bandwagon. :)  My daughter and I even painted our nails blue and green, it was fun.  When the hawks score, she is doing so fun little dances for us, she is so silly!

Speaking of silly, I made my first valentine card and it uses the new PS set Enjoy the Show.  It is so fun to use the clown and have him wearing valentine colors and juggling hearts. :)  The colors are soft and lovely, inspired by the paper from the Love Notes paper pack by Crate Paper.  This layout is fabulous, I used the Freshly Made Sketches 119.  I used washi for the strip across the middle, but backed it with white CS to make a little more sturdy and so the other DP wouldn't bleed through.  I am also entering this into the PSSparks Challenge Anything Goes, Dynamic Duos #86 and Ribbon Carousel- Love (I didn't know Washi counted!!!! Yay!).

Time for today's Question of the Day- How many valentines do you give out each year and to whom?

Enjoy the rest of the game!

why do birds suddenly appear...

Every time you are near....  Sorry, I couldn't resist and when you see my card you will know why. :)

But first, welcome to the week two FUSION challenge!  I am hapoy to repirt that week one was amazing!  Sooooooo many wonderful entrues, thank you all for playing!  Be sure to go and check out the winners.  Of course, we hope you play along this week too!  Here is this week's inspiration.

 

And...here is how i played.

Now you can go over to FUSION and check out all the other inspiration. I am telling you that what these ladies have cooked up is DYNAMITE!

Thanks for stopping and I can't wait to see what you create this week!

PS- entering this into Ribbon Carousel Challenge, Word Art Wednesday Challenge, and Mojo Monday. 

CAS Card and More Crafty News!

Hello Friends, Happy Monday to you!  I hope you enjoyed the weekend?!  For the first time in weeks I sat down and cranked out about 5 cards, it felt sooooooooooooooooooo good!  There is just something about crafting that is so invigorating to me!

I wanted to share one of those cards with you here today.  This card features some lovely hues of blue and brown and a sentiment from Sweet Stamp Shop's Color Wheel embossed in gold and these Dear Lizzy feathers. Miss Amy T. gave me these feathers for my birthday in June (yes June....) and I have been hoarding them ever since!  The DP colors were just too perfect to not use them, so I broke them out. Of course you know I am crazy for Challenges, so I am entering this card into the CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge, the Color Throwdown Challenge and the Stamplorations Stamps Feather Challenge, I think the reason for all three is obvious. :)

I also have some very exciting crafty news to share with you today.  I am part of the Top Dog Dies Design Team!  AND....check out my fabulous teamies!   Whoa!  You can check out the announcement here.  I can't wait to get my hands dirty and use some of these dies and hope you will come and check it out.














So that is the big news for today and I thank you for reading.  :)  I am working on a Seahawks inspired card to give them some extra juju for the Superbowl, which I *know* they will be part of, so stay tuned for that. Today's Question of the Day is- What team will you be rooting for in the Superbowl?  I know there are a few possibilities still, but given the teams in now, who do you hope will be there?

White as Snow

Welcome to another Cut It Up Challenge!  This week we are playing with the theme White as Snow (with a touch of color).  I know some of you out there on East Coast and parts of Canada are BURRIED in snow. Hopefully you are enjoying it a little?  For those of us that aren't in the snowy parts of the world, this challenge gives us all a chance to play with the fluffy white stuff. :)

You know how the challenge works right?  Just follow the CIU blog, make a new creation and include a die cut and link it up.  As my kiddo says, "easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!"  Be sure head over to CIU to check out the full rules and the other ladies inspiration.  Oh and did I mention the prize?  Yep, there is a $20 gift certificate from Cute as a Button up for grabs!  Come on over and play!

Before you go I want to share my creation with you.  I made a white on white card using a SU! snowflake embossing folder and the "hello" die from Simon Says Stamp.  Now you may have noticed that I took the "touch of color" very literally.  There is a little bit of silver twine tied around my white ribbon on the edge, do you see it?  Originally I intended to add more color, but I liked the way this looked as is, so I decided to stop there.

Question of the Day time!  I gotta know, what is your favorite thing to do in the snow?  Me.... I've done some skiing (I like that but don't own the gear), I've snowboarded (OK, but I am kinda a wuss), I enjoyed making snow caves and tunnels as a kid and I got some new snowshoes for Christmas but haven't had the opportunity to use them yet (no snow here), so that leaves my favorite thing, which is sledding!  I know there are things I am missing like snowball fights and snow angles, etc., so please share your fave.

Thanks for stopping friends!

It's Fusion Time!

Here it is folks!  This is my first official post and challenge at a DT member for the Fusion Card Challenge Blog.  You already know I am ecstatic to be part of this fabulous team and experience, so let's get to it.  Here is this week's inspiration:

How to play:

1. Play with just the sketch challenge.
2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the the rules page before playing along.

Now I'd love to show you how I was inspired by photo.  I went for the Fusion this week, using the inspiration photo and the sketch.  I obviously picked up on the orange and patterns and you might see the touch of mint in the pillow, well I emphasized that as well.  I used some of my We R Memory Keepers chalkboard DP.  I couldn't resist the fabulousness of it and I love the sayings, "spread your wings," "let's go be adventurers," and "live our dreams."  While I used the layout, I decided to move my flowers (which I used in place of circles) around a bit for fun.  The stamps are from Sweet Stamp Shop's Elegant Flowers set and stamped in a retired SU! color of Cameo Coral.  I have no idea why they retired that color, I love it!  I stamped "Happy Everything" on the inside from the Sweet Stamp Shop Set Elegant Greetings.  

OK, your turn!  Let's see what wonderful creation you can come up with.  :)

Winners: Be sure to check the Fusion linky to see when the deadline is.  Winners will be chosen by the team after that, we each will choose one favorite! The winners will be announced at 4am (PST) in two weeks!!  Be sure to link back to the Fusion blog to win and best of luck!