Let's Hang Out

Happy Saturday, blog friends. The gorgeous, warm weather we had in my area earlier in the week has left me yearning for Spring even more than before. It was so nice to be outside in a t-shirt and flip-flops enjoying the warm(ish) sun and getting some yard work done. It's rain, rain and more rain today, but oh, that taste of Spring was divine!

Today's card is my sample for Jen's Sketch For You To Try for this week. I've used a brand-new Flourishes set, Friendly Reminders, now available at Stamper's Dream, along with some beautiful, bright papers from the Mary, Mary paper kit by My Mind's Eye. Is that a Spring combo or what?!

Have a look at this week's sketch:



For inspiration, visit:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Angie Tieman
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Jenn Diercks
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Susan Liles (Susan may or may not play this week, but please pay her a visit regardless. She's had some unsettling news this week and would surely appreciate your prayers and some big cyber hugs.)

To play along, just upload your creation to the slideshow on Jen's blog. Each weekly sketch has its own slideshow, so be sure to upload to the correct one. From now on, Jen will be picking the next month's guest designer from the current month's participants, so be sure to strut your stuff!

I stamped the hat image three times, the first time on watercolor paper, where I added a light blue color wash around the image using a Tombow Marker (#491) and a water brush. Next, I stamped twice on Neenah white, trimming out the whole image once and just the hat the next time. I colored both of these layers with Copic markers. I added some of Ranger's crackle medium to the green board, hoping to get the look of crackled paint. It turned out looking more like a ruler (really! lol!). I embellished with some flowers and a glittered Maya Road chipboard butterfly (soooo lovin' these! you'll be seeing a lot more of them, I'm sure!). For the semi-circle panel on the sketch, I went with vellum so that I wouldn't cover up too much of the bright, happy green and white polka-dot pattern.

Please do not examine my sewing today. Oh my goodness, it's horrific! I'll tell you what happened. I wanted to try mixing in some small stretches of zigzag stitching to break up the straight stretches. To get it to look right, I need to shorten the stitch length for the zigzags and then go back to a longer stitch for the straight parts. Well, I kept forgetting to change the length, so I ended up with a very random (and unappealing) mixture of stitch length. Lesson learned, but now I'm out of the paper needed for a re-make :/

Thanks for checking in today. Have a fantastic weekend!




Stamps: Friendly Reminders(Flourishes)
Paper: Papertrey Rustic Cream and Vellum card stock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, Prismatics Kiwi (Dark), Prismatics Intense Pink, My Mind's Eye Mary Mary 12x12 Paper Kit
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, VersaMagic Tea Leaves (used on chipboard butterfly)
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Tombow Marker #491, Copic markers, foam adhesive, Ranger Crackle Accents, Prima flower (green), Michael's floral stem (pink flowers), Michael's glittery brad, Maya Road chipboard butterfly, green glitter (unknown), Spellbinders Circle and Peony Nestabilities, EK Success scallop border punch, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/4" square

Sweet Peas

I made today's card a little while back as a prototype for a baby shower invitation. Those of us hosting the shower all wanted to do something a little different from the traditional baby bottles, booties and such. One of the ladies suggested going with a sweet pea theme, so we've all kind of run with that. I was especially tickled because I had picked up this Lockhart Sweet Pea in a Pod image about a year ago, but it had not yet seen ink. Our guest of honor is expecting twins, so I had to alter the image just a little to suit - I just drew in a second face and added an "S" to the end of Sweet Pea. There, now we have twins!

Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to simplify the design a bit in order to get the invitations out the door. Y'all know I tend to be a "more is more" gal, but sometimes less is necessary. Here's the re-make:



I eliminated the blue halo and sponging on the image panel, the sponging/aging around all the paper panels, changed the twill/button/bow/tag to just a twill band with a punched circle for the sentiment, and eliminated all the beautiful stitching {sniff, sniff}. The good news? They only required one stamp!

The shower is next weekend, so I'll be working on favors next and maybe a diaper cake if I can make one that's pretty enough. Oh, and a gift ... hmmmm, what should I make for the gift? Love doing this kind of stuff!



Stamps: Sweet Pea in a Pod (Lockhart), Tiny Talk (retired Stampin' Up)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Vintage Cream card stock, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Accessories: Copic markers, clear embossing powder, Nestabilities, 5/8"natural twill, Papertrey button and twine, Fancy Scalloped border Piercabilities, Martha Stewart scallop border punch, sewing machine

Live the Sweet Life

I've had Impression Obsession's yummy Candy Jars stamp on my desk for months and have been too intimidated to ink it up. Why?? Now that I've colored it, I have no idea. Oh my gosh, was this a fun one! The image + the colors = pure joy.

I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah solar white card stock, colored with Copics and Prismacolor pencils, then trimmed out the image and added some clear glitter to the rock candy swizzle sticks. I was playing around with some different layouts and combos of patterned papers when yesterday's Splitcoast sketch challenge (#271) popped into my inbox. I took a look at the large focal image panel and decided to make it work. I also scrapped all the dp in favor of the fresh all-white design. The sentiment is from a Flourishes set, Cherries and Peaches, and is cut with a Labels 1 Nestie and tucked in between the two large rectangle panels. Fun!

Hope you're having a great week!




Stamps: Candy Jars (Impression Obsession)
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, white gel pen, clear glitter, glue pen, Papertrey ribbon, Cuttlebig D'Vine Swirls embossing folder, Scor-Pal, EK Success scallop border punch, Spellbinders Labels 1 Nestabilities, foam adhesive

You Light Up My Life

I've been so inspired by some of Mercy's unique card layouts lately, where an artfully arranged group of scraps accents her focal point image. You can see what I mean HERE and HERE. Aren't they fun? I wanted to give it a try, and this is what I came up with, using just scraps left out from other projects. Thanks for the inspiration, Mercy!

The sun and sentiment are both from Verve's brand-new Let It Shine, and the papers are a mixture of October Afternoon Farm Fresh and Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday. I stamped the sun and sentiment onto Papertrey Rustic Cream card stock, heat embossed, and colored with Copic markers. A second sun is stamped, colored, trimmed, glittered, and popped up over the first.

For the gotta-have-it-all folks, save 15% when you buy Verve's full Spring Fling Collection (through the end of the month, or while supplies last). That's all four of the new sets, plus five Plain Janes. Check out all that you'll get:



Okay, that's it for me today. I've been having a time in my stamp room trying to find my groove - wish me luck!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by today!



Stamps: Let It Shine (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate and Rustic Cream card stock, October Afternoon Farm Fresh dp, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Spellbinders circle and mega curved rectangle Nestabilities, EK Success scallop border punch, 5/8" natural twill, Papertrey button and twine

You ROCK!

How about a rocker grunge teen/tween card for today? I'm having so much fun with this new You're My Hero set by Taylored Expressions, filled with rock star images and sentiments. You're My Hero is the latest installment in the TE Giving Tree program. In case you're not already familiar with the program, every three months TE introduces a new Giving Tree set, and during those three months, $7 of each set sold goes directly to a designated charity. This month's set is in memory of Taylor's neighbor Darrin, who lost his battle to cancer last fall at the young, tender age of 10. I am truly honored to help spread the word about this wonderful cause. Head over to this post on Taylor's blog to read more about Darrin - be sure to grab some Kleenex on your way. If you're inclined to help out by purchasing You're My Hero, know that $7 per set will go to CureSearch. CureSearch unites the world's largest childhood cancer research organization, the Children's Oncology Group, and the National Childhood Cancer Foundation through their mission to cure childhood cancer.

My card uses Taylor's sketch challenge from this past Friday, TESC#103.



I modified it slightly to make it square. The papers, textured card stock, and ribbon are all part of the Rock Star Key Ingredients kit as well. I've been eyeing these Key Ingredients kits for a while now, and let me just say, now that I've had the chance to work with one, what a great value! Not to mention, there's just nothing quite like opening up that package of materials, knowing that everything has been carefully selected to coordinate. There are two KI kits this month. Rock Star is absolutely *perfect* in every way for You're My Hero, and the Easter Key Ingredients kit coordinates beautifully with TE's other two March releases, Favorite Peeps and Easter Blessings.

The guitar in this set comes in two pieces, the neck and then four different guitar bodies to choose from. My 9-year-old son liked the two with the flames best - go figure! I stamped three guitars in black ink, colored with Copics, trimmed them out, and popped them up against the grungy-looking notebook paper pattern (again, part of the Rock Star KI kit). I rock-'n-rolled the star in orange ink, then red, to create the two-color effect. For that bottom strip, I went with a strip of dry embossed circles (done with a Cuttlebug Frills folder).

Thanks for stopping by - Rock On! (couldn't resist - lol)

Joy Ride

Check out the new Joy Ride stamp set from My Favorite Things! Smitten, that's what I am! Cosmo Girl on a scooter? With her dog? How fun!

I made a little scene for her and her pooch out of Cosmo Cricket's new papers. Don't hold me to this, but I think the papers came from both Material Girl and Garden Variety (and none from CC's paper pack of the same name ... Joy Ride? How can this be?) The hills are cut from a green paper, the tree (from MFT's Grow Love) is paper pieced, and I put together the sun freestyle. The image is colored with Copics, trimmed out, and popped up for dimension.

Enjoy today!

Have I Toad You Lately

I get such a kick out of this fun frog/toad image from Penny Black called Viva Diva. Here, I've put it together with some new My Mind's Eye Little Boy Blue papers to make a card for my husband. The sentiment on the front is computer-generated. And the inside includes an "i love you" sentiment (I used a sentiment from a Penny Black Valentine set I already had on hand). I stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed, and colored with Tombow Markers, then finished it off with a natural 5/8" twill bow, a wooden button, and some Maya Road Scallop Brown Vintage Crochet Trim, all available from Stamper's Dream.

Stamper's Dream has load of new Penny Black images, plus tons of other new products arriving almost daily (Tosh and I were good CHA shopping helpers {wink}). You can find all the new things under New Arrivals.

Here's the inside:





The layout is this week's Sketch For You To Try:



And in case you missed it in my last post, there's LOTS more inspiration this week due to some new faces on the SFYTT team! YAY!!

Jen del Muro with guest designer Angie Tieman
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Jenn Diercks
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Susan Liles

Thanks for stopping by!