Color Throwdown Challenge #181

Today we have a super girly palette that Lynn chose over at the Color Throwdown!  I LOVE girly cards, so these colors just sang to me ♥

I really wanted a fresh look to my project, so I chose some of my older paper that fit this palette perfectly, MTME A Loving Heart.  I also printed a couple of sheets from Fresh Fabric Collection 2 and Collection 3 for my green panel, flowers and leaves. I cut the blooms with my MTME Fanciful Flowers cut file and staggered the two layers of each to really show the dimension my foam tape created.  I knotted some white craft thread on each button to give a different look.

My base label that showcases the "You mean the world to me" portion of my sentiment was cut from the MTME Be Dazzled cut file. I cut a 1" strip of white cs and used the corner of a square punch to trim the "v" on each end and stamped my main sentiment, "For Someone Special".  Both sentiments are from the MTME Just For You stamp set.

My layout was inspired by Chupa's sweet Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #50.

That's all I have for you today, but my teammates have a ton of inspiration to share.  Check them out:

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda

Jenny Peterson ~ February Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you're having a wonderful week!

Color Throwdown Challenge #180

This week's Color Throwdown Challenge is being hosted by the very talented, Lori, who chose this fun palette:

I decided to make an inspirational card for someone very special to me who is feeling a little overwhelmed this week.  I fell in love with the Deconstructed Sketch #39 when I saw Amy Sheffer's beautiful card, so I based my layout on it. 

I recolored my MTME Blue Skies paper and went to work stamping and assembling.  I cut my round panel with the Large Spellbinders Nestability Circle and sponged So Saffron prior to stamping my MTME Stay Strong sentiment and floral accents and layering on a doily. 

My little bird came from the MTME A Little Birdie cut file.  I stitched a button to it using some tangerine jewelry twine and added a couple of big loops.  I cut my scalloped layer using the MTME Border Builders Elegance cut file, layered another piece of patterned paper and added ribbon and a prima.  Truly a very simple card when you break it down.  I just hope it inspires my sweet recipient ♥

Be sure to swing by my CTD sisters' blogs for a great variety of crafty inspiration!  They whipped up some doozies!!

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda

Jenny Peterson ~ February Guest Designer

Oh!  Before I forget...here is a photo from my trip to Richmond to meet some of my CTD sisters and Debbie Olson.  We had so much fun and I LOVED getting to meet these wonderful ladies who I've gotten to know so well in cyberland. 

Clockwise from Left:  Me, Lori Tecler, Danielle Kennedy, Bar Anders, Broni Holcombe

Danielle stayed the night at my house and was soooo gracious.  She brought me a framed print of one of her AMAZING photos that I mentioned was my favorite (Love In A Mist) :]  Isn't she SWEET?!  I couldn't believe it!  Check it out:

Okay, my friends.  That's all I have for you today.  Thanks for popping in *~*

Color Throwdown Challenge #179

Happy {belated} Valentine's Day, my friends ♥  I'm hosting the Color Throwdown Challenge this week, so I'm here to share my palette and my card!  I kept the colors girly in honor of the special day...plus they came straight from my new MTME digital paper pack, Candy Kisses, so it was a bonus ;]  Check it out:

I love this soft palette that can easily be bold if you hone in on the Poppy Parade ;]  I was feeling extra feminine when I created my card so I leaned toward the softer side...especially after I saw Chupa's awesome sketch for this week (Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #49)!  She has such a talent for whipping up sketches that are fun and easy to work with!

I cut my branch and my flowers from the Branching Out cut file  My sentiment is from the Sensational Sentiment set, and I stamped on half of the vellum Framed Elegance cut file.  It's hard to read, but I didn't want my sentiment to be dark and contrasting in a way that takes away from the softness of my card.

I stitched my floral panel and my sentiment panel to a piece of patterned paper from my Serenity pack, careful to avoid stitching over my words.  I also punched a butterfly form a scrap of poppy colored music notes paper I recolored from my Wistful Musical Magic pack, and stitched it directly to my cs.  I adhered my branch and blooms with glue dots.

That's all I have for you today, but be sure to swing by the rest of the CTD gals' blogs for a ton of creative mojo!

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda

Jenny Peterson ~ February Guest Designer

So Very Thankful...

I finally finished up another card I started working on last Tuesday!  I needed another thank you card, and the CTD178 palette along with the Mojo Monday sketch (MOJO227) and some of my patterned paper made for a card that came together easily.

I used my Sentimental Occasions stamp set for my focal sentiment, and the coordinating Occasional Labels cut file to frame it.  I stiched on a piece of patterned paper from my Fresh Cut Expressions Collection 2 pack that worked perfectly with Keva's palette!  The brown panel was cut with a Recollections border punch and adorned with white, ruffled sewing trim, some pretty Marth Stewart ribbon, and a prima.

I added a large antique brad to my text panel and some more MS ribbon to give a little visual interest.  I also added some brown stitching to my yellow panel and the base panel.

That's really all there was to it.  Simple, yet lots of stuff going on :]  Hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing weekend!  I'll see you here again on Wednesday for the CTD challenge - I'm hosting ♥

Color Throwdown Challenge #178

Time is truly flying this year.  I can't believe it's already February!  A couple of things stand out to me...we don't have a lick of snow, and I've already missed TWO Color Throwdown challenges :[  The fact that time is flying just means I'm super busy.  Work and my commute soak up a lot of my time, but I'm not complaining.  I thrive when I'm busy, so it's all good ;]  Today, Ms. Keva is our sweet hostess, and she chose the PERFECT palette for a masculine card...which suited me just fine since I'm in need of a masculine Thank You card!  The timing couldn't have been better.  Check out her cool combo:

My card is clean, simple, and flat enough to mail (which is a huge accomplishment for me :).  I used sheets from two of my MTME digi paper packs, Shutt-erfly (recolored), and Get Graphic - Collection 2.  I used Crushed Curry in place of Summer Sun because I'm out of the latter cs.  I chose the MTME Trendy Tags 2 cut file for my sentiment which is from the MTME Sensational Sentiments set.

I added some twill ribbon, hodgepodge hardware and four brads and called it a day.  It's possibly a little TOO simple, but it's just right for the recipient :]  My layout was inspired by the Mojo Monday (MOJO227) sketch.

I almost finished another card with this same color combo and layout, but it's not quite finished.  I'll post it in a day or two :]  Thanks for stopping by today.  Before you head to your craft room to whip up something amazing, swing by my CTD sisters' blogs for a ton of inspiration:

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda

Jenny Peterson ~ February Guest Designer

Hope the rest of your week is low speed and relaxing ;]

Achoo! Bless you...

Hi friends.  I’m popping in to share my third project as Our Craft Lounge's Artist of the Month!  This is the time of year for runny noses and head colds, so I thought a little decorated tissue pack would make a cute, yet thoughtful gift for my co-workers who are a little under the weather.  I chose to work with two sets today to make my simple project.  I stamped the “ACHOO!” sentiment from the Say It With Flowers set, because I wanted a simple font that I could stamp repeatedly.  

The “Bless you” sentiment, the tissue box and bowl of soup came from the Running Sick set.

I saw the cutest dyed doilies on my friend, Dana Gustafson's blog the other day, and just HAD to give them a try!  The original tutorial was posted by Charlotte's Fancy.  I kind of followed Charlotte's tutorial for the first three colors I tried...but I used SU ink droppers instead of food coloring.  The pastel colors were really pretty, but I love BOLD regal colors, so I changed it up a bit.  I put my white doilies in a Pyrex dish and squirt a LOT of SU ink on them.  The doilies kind of absorbed the ink, but not edge to edge, so I put the dish under the faucet and simply turned the water on just until it hit the doily (very slow drip) and then shut it off.  I'm talking a DROP of water...literally.  I then moved the doily around to completely absorb the ink and used the same mixture for my next doily.  Check out the difference in the color hues!!  I LOVE the dark ones :]

The "blue" doily is actually plum in person...it's gorgeous!!  I used the Garden Green one on my tissue pack decoration.  You'll notice I cut a fancy 4.25"x4.25" white frame to go under my doily so that the colors of the tissue pack wouldn't show through.

I also cut an Occasional Label out of my MTME Fresh Cut Expressions Collection 1 pack of digi paper, and stamped my ACHOO on the layered oval.  I colored the soup bowl and tissue box with Copics and layered them with dimensional tape.  The Bless You sentiment was a perfect fit for my SU punch using another sheet of digi paper from the same pack.  A little ribbon and a prima finished off my project :]

Easy, cost effective, cute little gift!!!  Love those kinds ;]  Hope you're inspired to get crafty!!  Thanks for stopping by.

The Importance of Exercising During and After Cancer

Hi friends.  I'm sharing a special post today written by David Haas.  David contacted me and asked if I would be interested in posting one of his articles about cancer awareness, to which of course I happily agreed.  I'm very blessed to report that my mother is a breast cancer survivor, which is one reason I take cancer awareness seriously. 

I wanted to make a card to share with David's article, so I made use of the Color Throwdown's first challenge of the year.  Bar's color choice was perfect for my card:

David is a Guest Blogger for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, so I did a little research and found that the ribbon awareness color for Mesothelioma is pearl.  I used some satin white ribbon to depict pearl, and recolored my MTME Amour paper (swapped pink with gray) to follow the palette ;]  My layout was inspired by the Mojo Monday challenge (MOJO222).

As for David's article, he eloquently educates us on the importance of exercising during and after cancer.  I hope you'll take a minute to read his important message whether you or someone you know has been affected by cancer.  You never know when this type of knowledge will be useful in life.

The Importance of Exercising During and After Cancer

After you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you have to reassess your entire life. How you eat, when you sleep, and how you care for your body are all factors of life that you must tailor to survive cancer. Whether you are a cancer survivor or recently diagnosed, changes have to be made to your lifestyle in order to maintain your health. However, both cancer survivors and those who have been recently diagnosed should consider the health benefits of continued fitness both during and after cancer.

If you already have a fitness routine when you are diagnosed with cancer, it can be beneficial to continue with it. However, you should adjust your exercise routine to ensure that you do not overexert yourself during treatments. Cancer changes your body. While you are undergoing cancer treatments, your doctor may recommend that you decrease the intensity of your workouts, as well as tailor your fitness routine to ensure that you are getting the maximum benefits, and not hurting yourself.

Maintaining an exercise routine while you have cancer and after you have cancer can help you in a variety of ways. Exercise can help you maintain your weight, as well as keep your bones, joints, and muscles healthy. Exercise also helps with your mental well-being. Having a healthy mental well-being while you have cancer is vital to getting better. When you feel good about yourself and know you are keeping your body healthy, it can boost your mood.

After you go through cancer, you need to slowly build your health back up. Exercise is an ideal way to help build up your health because you can tailor exercise routines. For example, you can slowly build up how much rigorous activity you do as you start to feel better. Typically, adults need to exercise at least five days a week for 30 minutes a day. However, as you go through cancer or build yourself up after cancer, you can tailor this amount of exercise to fit your needs.

While studies are not conclusive, research has indicated that people who have a regular exercise routine have a lower risk of developing certain types of cancer.

When your doctor gives you a cancer diagnosis, it does not matter what type of cancer it is. Whether it is breast cancer or mesothelioma, the news is always devastating. However, when you keep yourself active, it can help you overcome the obstacle of cancer.


Thanks for letting me share my card and David's important message. I hope you found it enlightening. 

Please be sure to visit the CTD gals today while you soak up your creative inspiration.  You can find their links over at the CTD blog :0] 

I hope you all have a wonderful, prosperous 2012 ♥

Color Throwdown Challenge #172

Happy hump day!  It's Wednesday which means it's time for another Color Throwdown challenge (CTD172)!  This happens to be our last palette for the year, but be sure to check back starting in January for a new feel to our challenges ;]  This week the sweet and talented Kerri!  Check out her fun colors:

I had to use Sara's new paper, Femmie Flakes & Fuzzies...it had all of the colors I needed!  I recolored the dark gray to brown, but other than that, I left it as is.  The blue is more of an aqua, but I had to use it because I don't have any Bermuda Bay :[ 

I went with a template again, because 'tis the season!  I packaged some DELISH peanut butter and dark chocolate chip cookies I made for a co-worker in the fun Pick of the Petals package.

I stamped Merry Christmas from my Sentimental Occasions set on the So Sentimental Frame cut file and embossed it with white powder.  I trimmed the lid with some pretty aqua ribbon and a big button.

The snowflake on top is one of the free cut files I offer on my blog.  You can find it HERE.  I layered a snowflake "button" from my stash to finish the top.

That's really all there was to it!  Hope you are inspired to play along with us for this last challenge of the year!  Be sure to swing by our amazing DT's blogs to see their fun projects :]

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda
Lydia Fielder ~ December Guest Designer

Thanks for popping in. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!