Sunday, January 31, 2016

Stenciled Flowers and Stamped Script...MUSE Challenge #150, STAMPlorations January Theme Challenge~Stamps and CAS, Anything Goes



Hello again,

My previous post took all the 'babble' out of me, sooooo...just a quick jaunt to share my interpretation of Jenni's beautiful card


over at MUSE Challenge #150:


I drew inspiration from:
  • pink & green 
  • script
  • flowers
No sentiment because...well, I didn't want one. That simple!  For now, it's just a note card. A little quirky but I rather like it...

Since my stencils and script stamp are from STAMPlorations, I'm heading over to

STAMPlorations January Theme Challenge~Stamps and CAS


STAMPlorations~Anything Goes


Thank you for spending time with me today; I enjoy your company immensely~




CAS Valentines X 2....Freshly Made Sketches #221, STAMPlorations Anything Goes, CAS and Sketch Challenges, Addicted to CAS #80~Red, CAS, My Time to Craft Challenge #134~Love is all Aroundology #182~Adore, Simon Monday Challenge~Love is in the Air

Hello wonderful friends!

Long time no crafting, posting and, I'm embarrassed to say, very little commenting!  I won't bore you with my many excuses, except to say: treadmill times...on high speed!  Everything is fine, but January became one extraordinarily hectic month.  As a result, I'm behind in everything, be that visiting my fabulous crafting friends, dealing with laundry, spending quality time with my husband (I've was gone for 10 days, 'working' in my home city where my family resides...) and so on.  Hopefully, February will be a little tamer, a little calmer, a little slower...and a whole bunch more infused with creativity and designing time.

I returned from my 'marking blitz' late Friday evening and on Saturday, decided that Mr. Mojo needed a workout.  Total cards: three. You're seeing two Valentine cards (although one is an 'oldie' created before my trip), destined for my niece and nephew's kindergarten and day care teachers.  I have a total of 9 to make, so...need to get crackin' on hearts and love sentiments.

The first was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #221



Simple stenciling, negative die-cut and sentiment....quick and easy (Yayyy....)

The second (I actually made three of these pre-trip), inspired by STAMPlorations~January Sketch Challenge


is another QACAS (quick and CAS).  The Valentine is die cut three times, with the top layer being shimmer paper. In real life..sparkly...


Hope the extreme simplicity of these is alright, because WOW...I found a number of challenges to enter: 
STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge~Anything CAS Goes



Addicted to CAS Challenge #80~Red


CASology #182~Adore


My Time to Craft Challenge #134~Love is all Around

Simon Monday Challenge~Love is in the Air

STAMPlorations~Anything Goes


Again, apologies galore for my lack of consistent visiting. I'm wearing my "Worst Commenter" crown with pride (NOT!)   I subscribe to Feedly, so your lovely creations are seen and given some ‘thought bubble’ love which, I hope, you receive telepathically.  As much as I want, deeply, to catch up on EVERY SINGLE card, the reality is: I simply can’t.  My efforts would see me falling even further behind, so I’m hoping beyond hope that you’ll accept my ‘excuses’ and let me start with a fresh slate.  I’ll make a more concerted effort to stay caught up but as we know:  Life happens.

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me; I treasure your visit!


  

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Amazing...Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #344~Gold, Cream, Blush

Hello,

Cupcakes, anyone?  I thought you'd say yes, so here I am, along with my wonderful teammates and our Surprise Sweetie, Pamellia, and two guest designers from our sponsor - Adrienne and Megan - to invite you sample the tasty, pretty confections we're serving at
 Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #344:


Aren't these gorgeous...and check out the mountain-sized swirls of icing...I think I want the ones that spell *LOVE*.  Yes, being a wee bit greedy!

Gold, cream and blush saw me reaching for  my elegant lacy butterfly from So Suzy Stamps, inked in Delicata Gold (the shimmer is so pretty!), an Amazing die cut from MFT, and a trio of cream coloured pearls.  Easy and, according to my husband and mom, quite pretty (although they do tend to be biased *grin*)


Our sponsor this week is Freckled Fawn, who will be providing a prize for a randomly chosen winner:


Soooo...after we've had our dessert, I hope you'll head to your crafting haven and use the Gold, Blush and Cream combination to create a delectable delight for us to feast our eyes on.  I know your designs will be wonderfully creative and wonderfully inspiring!

See you in the gallery!



Thank You For Your Kindness...MUSE Challenge #149

Hello,

I'm sitting at the kitchen table at my mom's (yayyy...) preparing, shortly, to head off for six days of marking provincial diploma exams. While reading/grading essays from 8am-4:30pm (or longer...) is an arduous task, being here with mom, and having niece and nephew time in the evenings makes everything good.  Really, really good!  Of course, I won't have crafting time (didn't bring my mobile crafting unit...), but hopefully, I won't fall toooo behind in commenting. In the event I do: my apologies!

Anyway, before I dash out into the city streets, I have two cards sparked by Tracey's fabulous, sweet inspiration at MUSE Challenge #149


Her pretty flowers reminded me of a set of CB butterflies...so I brought them out for a play.  Their nestled atop some flourishes, which are hard to see, but they are there...

Version one is more 'random' than Tracey's,


while the second follows her 'arrangement' a bit better. Wish I had one butterfly, the size of those I used, that faced the other direction, but...oh well.  A trio of butterflies, flittering this way or that, still makes me smile!


Time to get going...

Wishing you a most marvelous Saturday; thank you for spending part of your day with me

Friday, January 22, 2016

Birthday Plane...Tag You're It Challenge #39, The Male Room #27~Babies and Little Boys, STAMPlorations~Anything Goes




Hello, and welcome to Tag You're It Challenge #39, where my talented teammate, Erin, has created this darling vacation venture tag to inspire us.  Check out the details: a full on travel scene, complete with a blue sky, funky clouds, a forest and a cutie-patootie little camper!  Makes me want to go on a road trip!


Here's my translation of Erin's tag, using my Clouds Stencil from STAMPlorations, along with  a plane and sentiment from Clearly Besotted.  How ironic that I would create a flying scene when I'm terrified x fearful of flying!  Anyway...hope it makes you smile and that, down the road, it will do the same for a little guy...


Also sharing at:
The Male Room  #27~Theme


STAMPlorations~Anything Goes


Such a variety of launching points for this Tag You're It challenge. I'm excited to see what caught your eye and your imagination.

See you in the gallery!

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; so very deeply appreciated!


Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Rose Thank You...Addicted to Stamps and More #177, STAMPlorations January CAS Challenge and Anything Goes


Hello,

Time to pull out your markers and pencils, your paints and brushes, your inks and sponges for this week's

Addicted to Stamps and More #177


My very, very CAS cards today feature a single rose from STAMplorations, coloured with my new polychromos pencils. Only one little issue with those pencils: I didn't buy ENOUGH!! Oh my stars...they are awesome! I need to find some textured paper to use with them, as cardstock, while it works wonderfully, doesn't have much 'tooth' for the colour to hold fast to. I think water-coloured paper would work...but I'm being picky, as I want white, rather than 'creamy-ish.'  More items on my never-ending wish list...



As added incentive to play along, a lucky winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to spend at


Trust me: I have a few of Kylie's sets and they are fabulous!

Please be sure to head over to ATSM #177 to see what the rest of my amazing teammates have designed for this challenge. Then, *make your mark* and join us in the gallery! See you there soon!



Also joining:

STAMPlorations January CAS Card Challenge



Thank you for spending part of your day with me; hope your visit brought a smile to your face, as it has to mine!




Sunday, January 17, 2016

Thinking of You and Happy Birthday...MUSE Challenge #148, TIME OUT Challenge #47~Birthday, Seize the Birthday~Clean and Simple

Hello,

Popping in quickly to share my not 'quite' so out of this world cards (unlike my previous post *grin*) for MUSE Challenge #148, where wonderfully talented Anita has designed a sweet ditsy floral get well CAS creation to inspire and delight...



Her pretty on-a-vine flowers reminded me of one of my favourite stamps that hasn't received enough TLC of late...and I sure remedied that! 

I drew inspiration from Anita's 'vines', her four flowers and her simple, thoughtful sentiment....


Since that one was super quick, a second one *had* to happen. I could readily have spent all afternoon making a set (or seven) of these...and I will, at some very soon point. Here's the sister card...


My CAS birthday card is heading off to:



Enjoy your evening immensely...we have a roast cooking (thanks to my husband's culinary skills) and oh, the taste-buds are a-tingle! Thank you for spending time with me; so appreciated!


You're Out of this World...Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #343

Hello!

My wonderful DT and I, along with our immensely talented Guest Designer, Vicki, and two special guests from our sponsor, Your Next StampDeborah and Sue - are inviting you to play along with Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #343


Aren't these cupcakes a-dor-a-ble?  They remind me of one of my favourite rides in Disneyland (from a visit years upon years ago): "It's a small world, after all; It's a small world, after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small, small world."  Okay, now that I've planted that song in your head...

Moving on to my inspiration.  I'm not going to lie: I struggled with this challenge for two reasons: cute small child images are not part of my collection and the image I really, really wanted to use wouldn't work because my printer wasn't cooperating! Grrr...Oh well, I'll save it for a down-the-road challenge.  After spending hours fretting, fussing and recycling (Mr. Recycle has a full tummy), I went in the only direction I could think of: focusing on the word "WORLD" and came up with these...(be warned: a bit of a stretch. I dub myself the DT Oddball for this challenge!)

The first batch of the 20 Valentines I'm making for my nephew's daycare pals, using Lawn Fawn's Monster Mash, Neat and Tangled Ink Splat, The Alley Way Stamps' Learning Curve, and Poppy Stamps' Mainstreet tag dies. Given the colours and glitter, I think these will be going to the girls...





Hope you don't think I'm 'out of my mind' with my 'out of this world' tags and that they brought a smile to your face!

Soooooo...how are you inspired by "Around the World'?  Let us know by creating a card/project and joining us in the gallery.  As I mentioned earlier, our challenge this week is sponsored by Your Next Stamp, who are generously offering the winner a $20 gift certificate. Incentive!!

Please check out our blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our guests have created. 
Looking forward to visiting you!!

Also entering:
Cute Card Thursday Challenge #408~A Bit of Fun

The Paper Players #278~Clean and Simple Valentine


Wishing you a wonderful Sunday.  We have a cloudless blue sky today, so sending some sunshine your way!


Friday, January 15, 2016

Inkspirational Challenge #100~Blast from the Past!!

Hello!

Guess whaaaat??  Today is Inkspirational's 100th challenge!!!!

Our first challenge  was on January 2, 2013 and we are pleased to say that four of the original DT members (Sandie, Shauna, Yvonne and Marina) are still on the team. Another of the original members, Kylie, has not only agreed to be our Guest Designer, but also kindly offered to sponsor this challenge with a prize for a randomly drawn winner......



What are we inviting you to do for this celebration?  Turn back the hands of time and join us in
Inkspirational Challenge #100


Your mission, which I know you'll accept:  to select a previous COLOUR CHALLENGE and use that palette as inspiration for your card.  Easy peasy!  If you head over to the main blog, you'll see amazing cards created by our talented GD and sponsor, Kylie, along with my teammates: KimSandieMarinaPiaShauna and Nonni.  You'll also see a list of challenges/colours; pick one, pick four...come play along!

My card draws from Inkspirational Challenge  #32~Light Pink, Green Bean, White


These soft colours simply called for some stenciling and sponging...a pop of black and a trio of sparkles...


Quick and simple!  If I can do it, so can you!  Looking forward to seeing your *Blast from the Past* colour challenge in the gallery!   

Also joining:

Simon Says Monday Challenge~Stencil It
Uniko Studio Challenge #28~Anything Goes
STAMPlorations~Anything Goes

Wishing you a wonderful Saturday; thank you for spending part of your day with me!  So appreciated!