Festive Challenges

Amazingly enough, I found some time to create a couple of cards today :O) Though I clearly should have been catching up on some work for this week :[ Oh well. At least I'm de-stressed for the time being!

Both layouts are from different sketch challenges. I like to see the amazing creations that others come up with for these challenges. It's inspiring to see such unique variety! Anyway...off we go.

Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketch #07

As usual, I LOVE the sketch that Lauren came up with! She always has something fun for us :O) I really am feeling festive today so I created Christmas themed cards. Naturally, red is the first thing on my mind when I'm coming up with my color combination, and instead of pushing the thought aside, I went with it! I know my main image is OLD, but I'm playing catch up in the crafting world this year :O)

I normally post my supplies in my SCS Gallery, but it didn't prompt me to today for some reason. I have no idea what I did wrong. So, I'm posting them here instead.

~ Supplies ~

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Sketch It and Short & Sweet

Paper: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Old Olive; Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy and Kraft

Ink: Stampin' Up! Mellow Moss, Old Olive and Creamy Caramel

Accessories: Stampin' Up! Natural Hemp Twine; Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy Ribbon; Michaels White Satin Ribbon and Rhinestones; Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch; Marvy Uchida Scalloped Circle Punch; Ben Franklins Red Glitter and thin Red Ribbon

Sketch Saturday #18

This is my second participation in the Sketch Saturday challenge. I really like their layouts and their design team :O) Such unique creations every week! Still feeling festive, I created another Christmas themed card. I used the Brayered Sky technique for the background. The tutorial is on SCS. I love navy, silver, soft blue, and white together for Christmas cards. It's hard for me to veer away from these colors each year, but I force myself too! Ha ha. I don't know why I like that combination since all the trimmings on my tree are white and gold. I don't think I've ever created a white and gold card. Hmm...maybe I'll give that a shot.

~ Supplies ~

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Warm Words, Merry and Short & Sweet; Rubber Stamped Winter Woods

Paper: Stampin' Up! Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Whisper White; Sizzix Silver

Ink: Stampin' Up! Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy, Basic Black, and VersaMark

Accessories: Stampin' Up! Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Brads; Spellbinders Rectangle Nestabilities and Ribbon Tags; Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl Embossing Folder; Sizzix Tags Die; Michaels White Satin Ribbon

Tag...You're It!

Yes, tag...like when we ran around the playground as kids...only now we're surfing the net :O)

Tagging Game Rules:
1. Link your tagger and list the rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog some random, some weird
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

My Tagger:
I have been tagged by a sweet young lady, Heather, who I made the acquaintance of recently through sharing projects and blog comments :O) She's sooo sweet! Truly!! She is open, genuine, and friendly and she makes adorable cards! Please check out her blog at Heather's Heavinly Stampations and give her some warm fuzzies!

7 Facts:
1. I've been in the Air Force for 15 years!
2. I've only been married for 2 years (yes, first husband :O)
3. I have 5 brothers and 5 sisters
4. I own well over 100 Longaberger baskets (pathetic, huh?) LOL
5. I lived in Hawaii for 6 years, Cocoa Beach for 5, and England for 2
6. I am a proud mother to a beautiful, 14 year old daughter - Tia
7. My best friend is also named "Kristin", her son was born the same month/day/year as my daughter, we were both single moms in the same career field in the Air Force when we gave birth...yet we lived across the world from each other and didn't meet until our babies were 18 months old :O) Now that's a small world!

7 People:
I'm such a novice on the blogging circuit...I can't even imagine someone following MY blog :O) So, selecting from that list is out. I decided to select 7 blogs that I frequent when I'm looking for some mindless, creative inspiration.

1. Catherine Martinez at Inksomnia - This is a sweet young lady whose projects are amazing! She regularly stops by my blog which I think is so sweet and thoughtful, and the way she shares her creations is so unique! She almost brings them to life :O)



2. Helena at Creating a Likeness - Helena left a comment on my blog recently and I spent about 30 minutes checking out her blog. She's VERY creative and talented! I'm so impressed with her style and the fact that she creates many of her own images. I need to branch out I think...I'm so reliant on a good stamp set :O) Helena may just inspire me to do so! Plus she's from the UK which I hold near and dear since my daughter was born there. I really miss it.



3. Rebecca at StampinWheeles - I came across Rebecca's site when she left a comment on mine also. She is very sweet and super talented! I really like her style :O)



4. Alicia Weiman at Happy Stampin! - I'm not sure if Alicia will even have time to play blog tag as busy as she is with her family and designing her wonderful creations! I really don't have a lot of online "blog" friends...but I really admire Alicia and her strength (from a distance). Read her blog to find out more. She's a strong, amazing lady with a wonderful talent.



5. Tiffany Johnson at I Heart Art - Tiffany left a really nice comment about the card I made for my mother's birthday on SCS. I don't know her per se, but I admire her work and her enthusiasm greatly! Her cheerful personality really comes across on her blog, which holds my interest...and her designs are amazing!



6. Leonie at A Stamper's World - Leonie commented in my SCS gallery yesterday on one of my blog posts early this morning. Her site is relatively new like mine so I thought it would be nice if others would check it out and show her some love :O) She has also shared some wonderful creations on her blog.



7. Hmmm...#7, huh? I really need to make more acquaintances :O) This full time career is really holding me back in the crafting world! LOL! Lucky number 7 doesn't feel so lucky. I could leave a link to my daughter's blog, but she isn't keeping up with it so she probably won't read my post for months. I vote to break one of the rules and post this entry without a 7th link...I have been trying to finish this up since last night...it's high time! Ha ha

So, there you have it. Tomorrow I'll try to share a post about the surprise my sweet husband had for me yesterday when I came home from work :O) Actually, I need to share what he brought me back from England two weeks ago also. Maybe I'll work on that first thing when the wheels are really turning!

Until then...have a good night!

Floral Bird

So, this has been an excellent weekend! I was able to make a card on both Saturday and Sunday!!! Oh, how I love to relax by creating something for someone. It really wipes away a stressful week :O)

I made this card for my sister's birthday. This is one of those times I hope she's NOT keeping up with my blog! LOL. Seriously, if she is, no worries. She'll just have a sneak preview of her birthday card :O) This is also my entry in the Sketch Saturday (#17) challenge. I've never participated in one of their challenges, but I hope to make it a habit. They have such a wonderful design team! Very inspirational.

I kind of stepped out of my comfort zone with this one. It's a little busier than I'm used to :O) I think it's pretty though! Reminds me of my Aunt's Victorian decorating style...

You can find the list of supplies in my SCS gallery.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

A Beautiful Baby Girl

Our close friend, Jes, just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, named Kayla! She's in Hawaii where we lived for six years, and we miss her dearly. She was my daughter's gymnastics coach for almost five years and was a huge presence in both of our lives. She takes full credit for Tia's gymnastics success...as she should :O) LOL

I made her a card to celebrate the occasion and also used Lauren's Saturday Sketch Challenge template for my design. I haven't participated in Lauren's last two challenges because I've been stressed beyond imagination at work and it was like a mental block when I came home and tried to do some mindless crafting on Saturday. My husband was also out of town so that was probably a big part of my slump as well. Hopefully the inspiration I've been feeling lately will stick with me and I'll find some more time to create! Especially considering I just signed on to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for the third time. Yes, third.

The story goes like this...when I lived in Hawaii, I was a hard core Longaberger addict. I sold Longaberger to support my habit of filling my house with their products, and stamping was a side project occasionally. I signed up to sell Stampin' Up just to purchase my supplies at a discount...both times. Well, this time, I'm actually excited about selling to other people and sharing some quality "Mindless Creativity" time with some of my friends and co-workers.

Wish me luck!

All supplies are listed in my SCS Gallery

Another September Birthday :O)

One of our co-workers celebrates his birthday this weekend, so I whipped up a quick card last night for him. The vision in my mind was manlier than what I ended up creating, but, I think it turned out okay :O)


Just a quick post tonight. I'm enjoying a glass of Syrah and watching a movie...ahh, the best way to top off a LONG week.


Best wishes for a slow, relaxing weekend...

His and Her Birthdays :O)

Birthdays and other occasions seem to be creeping up on me of late! I have half a mind to take a week of leave just to relax and make cards and jewelry :O) Wouldn't that be the life? A primary responsibility of doing what you crave, what you enjoy, what is soothing to your soul...maybe some day. Until then, I'll share some cards I finally had a chance to whip up!


Her Birthday

I made this card for a very good friend at the office. I had the outline of an original design floating around in my head for a while, but I just couldn't make it work on paper. So, I cased a card that Taylor VanBruggen made for Papertrey Ink while she was a Senior Design Team member. I loved the card back when she posted it and I still do today. I'm very thankful to her for unknowingly providing the inspiration I needed :O) I really like the end result.



His Birthday


This card was literally thrown together at the last minute before bed yesterday. My daughter's boyfriend asked me to create a card for a friend of his while I was making the card above. At first I wouldn't even contemplate staying up later to put something together, but when I stopped and looked around my craft table, I saw the focal image of the tree with the brayered sky background and decided to do something with it. I created the image over a week ago for a sketch challenge, but just couldn't get it to work, so I set it aside. Last night when I committed to making it into something, my random thoughts from last week kind of got thrown onto paper...without part of the original sketch design I was going for :O) I like the focal image a lot...it really reminds me of an African sunset even though the tree is definitely not from that country! The end result is "good enough" I suppose and acceptable as a "male" or gender neutral card...so I'm happy it worked out.


Supplies for "His" and "Her" birthday cards are listed in my SCS Gallery.

Thanks for Having Faith

I posted this card in my SCS gallery last night and promised to share the story behind it on my blog. So, here it is :O)

I made this card for someone at work who is getting ready to go to the mid-East for four months. She is in a significant leadership role at work and asked me to be her replacement while she is out. I was truly shocked, yet honored when she asked me a few months ago. Of course I agreed to take her place...I am so humbled that she thinks that highly of me and respect her so much, I could never say no. I'm nervous about it, but I pray often that I won't let anyone down.

When I saw Lisa Johnson's new Papertrey Ink stamp set, Remember, I had to have it! I saw this sentiment and knew right away that it was perfect for what I wanted to say to her. The inside says, "for having faith in me". I do thank her for having faith in me...and pointing out what she deems good qualities of mine (that I don't necessarily see :O). Please keep her in your prayers over the next four months.

My supplies are listed in my SCS gallery (all but the button and red hemp twine...the button was in a bag of buttons I bought at Michaels and the twine is from Stampin' Up!)

Blessings...and a Sophomore

Wow...the days are flying by this week after the long weekend! I'm so drained but I really want to share the card I finished last night and my daughter's first- and second-day of 10th grade pictures :O) First things first...my baby!


Tia...a Sophomore?!

Seems like just yesterday that I delivered her in England. How time flies when you're a parent :) I have to say the title of my card goes hand in hand with how I feel about my daughter. She is truly a blessing in my life. She is so intelligent, beautiful, talented, and athletic...I could never say enough about her. She has the biggest heart of anyone I know. Her spirited personality touches everyone around her in a good way, and I love her desire to learn and go for what she wants. She's bold, fearless, and crazy :O) Hee hee...in a good way of course! Just look at that sparkle in her eyes...she just pulls you in!


Blessings

So, I've been wanting to create some more gender neutral cards and fine tune the art of it. So, when I saw Martha Stewart's stamp set "Leaf and Branch" I bought it straight away (at Wal-Mart). I knew I wanted to mask the leaves in dark green and beige, but I wasn't set on whether I should color them in or leave the outlines. After I pulled the remaining elements of the card together, I opted not to color them. I like the clean yet rustic look of this card. I haven't found a use for it yet, but I'm sure I will sooner than I expect. I have wonderful friends and co-workers who look out for me all the time...I expect one of them will be seeing this on their desk in the near future :O)

My supplies are listed in my SCS Gallery.

Hope your week is speeding by as well! Can't wait for the weekend and more inspiration from my favorite blogs and SCS :O)