colourQ challenge #260

What a glorious day is it here in East Tennessee! Still a little warm for my liking, but the sun and the sky are gorgeous and the mornings tend to be a little cooler, so if I drink my pumpkin spice latte first thing, it almost feels appropriately seasonal! This week's colors hint at fall while not leaving summer completely behind and I had them all, which has to be some kind of miracle!! A friend of mine is having a birthday next week, so I used this palette as my springboard for her card and I LOVE the way it turned out!! Usually, when I do a collage of flowers, I end up with weird white spaces or flowers that are grouped too tightly. NOT THIS TIME!! So, enjoy the weekend and go craft a little!!

colourQ challenge #257

I have discovered a new crafting hobby (or two!), which is why I have been neglecting this blog. I may have mentioned before that I am obsessed with all things fall, all things pumpkin, and all things cooler weather, and while we're not having any cooler weather here in E. TN, I can have a little taste of fall in my decorating and in my coffee! And our new house needed a beautiful new burlap wreath on the front door, so I learned to make one! More on that later! For now, let's talk about the great colors in this week's colourQ challenge! What a great combination! I had Bermuda Bay (of course!! it's turquoise!!) and Night of Navy, but had to punt with Kiwi Kiss and Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry. Since this Sunday is Grandparents' Day, I used this week's palette to make a card for my husband's grandmother. She hasn't been well lately so I made a fun, happy card that is sure to life her spirits. Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!!

colourQ challenge #252

And coming in just under the wire . . . drum roll, please . . . ME!!! I am still unpacking and getting my new space organized, but I managed to crank out a belated birthday card for a friend's mom and I really like the result! Of course, I had to substitute a few colors for this week's challenge, but I feel like I stayed true to the color scheme. This set, Daydreamer, from PTI, is one of my favorites. Remember, it has single dot stamps in several sizes for maximum versatility!! And the flowers and stems are lovely, too. The large one I used is just a little different from your usual floral which gives it high marks in my book. Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!!
 

colourQ challenge #251

 
Well, I'm not dead, at least not literally, but we have been moving and trying to sell a house, so my brain is essentially dead!! We have lived in the same house for more than 18 years and have accumulated so much stuff, I am almost embarrassed to talk about it! And for those 18 years, I have had a hard-and-fast rule that I WILL NOT have a yard sale. I would rather give stuff away than dicker with someone over a 25 cent item, but we simply had too much stuff to just trash, so Saturday is my very first garage sale. I DREAD IT!! I've been working all week trying to organize and price all of our treasures. I pray most of it sells because there is NO WAY that stuff is coming to the new house!! I have really missed these challenges and now that my NEW & IMPROVED craft room is finally done, I have no excuse. (I hope to post pics of the craft room soon!) I haven't perfected my photography skills yet and I definitely need additional lighting, but my inks and stamps are organized, so I'm happy for the moment! This week's colourQ challenge colors are really pretty! I only had Pretty in Pink so I substituted Tim Holz's Seedless Preserves and Picked Raspberry, as well as Cameo Coral for Calypso Coral. I almost never found my sequins because they were hiding in plain site, of course! Thanks for stopping by!

colourQ challenge #244

My uber-talented stamping friend (and now, my mortgage loan officer!), Annie B., made a beautiful card similar to this one a few months ago and I have been obsessed with it ever since!! It's a perfect card for colourQ challenge. And I had ALL THE COLORS AGAIN THIS WEEK!! Amazing! The sets I used are PTI's Circle Scribbles and Sketched Shapes. Annie B. put sequins on her card but I didn't have any that matched so I used this little blingy design I had in my stash. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!!

colourQ challenge #243

Holy colouQ, Batman!! I had ALL THE COLORS for this week's colourQ challenge! I cranked out this card in the 10 minutes I had while my hubby gave the little one a bath. Luckily, I had spent part of the day cleaning off my craft table for our house showing tonight so I found all my supplies lickety split! I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest and used the Daydreamer stamp set from PTI. I did not have an Orchid Opulence ink pad, so I used my marker and spritzing tool to spritz a little color to the entire white panel. I absolutely LOVE Bermuda Bay and Certainly Celery together. Thanks for stopping by!

colourQ challenge #242

I am completely in love with the colourQ color challenge colors this week! They are so bright and happy and beautiful!! They are perfect for the inspiration card I found on Pinterest. I used one of my very favorite PTI stamp sets, Watercolor Wonder, and embossed the PTI sentiment in white. This card went together surprisingly quickly, especially since I am very bad at random stamping. I almost used Green Galore instead of Kiwi Kiss and I am so glad I didn't because the kiwi definitely looks better. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy because of our military!!

Make It Monday #164: Cluster Stamped Sentiment

This week's Make It Monday challenge is a great one and I have seen some GORGEOUS creations based on this idea of a cluster stamped sentiment! My favorite is this one from the blog, Stempel Spass. I love the placement of the sentiment! For my card, I used several of the ornament stamps from Tree Trimming Trio and the larger dot from Daydreamer. I originally stamped the sentiment in Versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder, but it didn't show up at all, so I re-stamped it in black. I like the little bit of shadow that's visible behind the sentiment, and I love the bright colors! I used Tim Holtz Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, and Ripe Persimmon. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

colourQ challenge #241

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my card this week's colourQ challenge!! I found the inspiration on Pinterest and just recently received this wonderful large sentiment stamp from Neat & Tangled, which I adore! I inked the sentiment in Pool Party and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo ink and stamped on white cardstock. Then, I stamped the image on a piece of copy paper, cut it out, and adhered it with removable adhesive as a mask for my polka dots. I didn't have a polka dot stamp set, but I found three different dot sizes in my PTI Daydreamer set. Very exciting!! For the gold element, I used gold sequins, also from Neat & Tangled. I mounted my focal point onto a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock and then a Tempting Turquoise card base. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

colourQ challenge #240

So, as usual, I had an idea of how I wanted my card to come together for this week's colourQ challenge and, as usual, it didn't exactly go together as beautifully as it did in my mind! It didn't help that the inspiration for this card was stamped and I thought it used the chevron dies that I had. Oh, well, at least I had all the colors! And I always have sequins. I'm off to take some more meds for my allergies. It's such a treat to live in the pollen capital of the world (seriously!). Have you seen the funny that reads allergies are so bad this year, druggies are turning their meth back into Sudaphed?!? That kills me every time I see it!! Have a great evening!

Make It Monday #163: Envelope Wraps

This week's PTI Make it Monday Challenge was a bit of a head-scratcher, but since I had already made the card (and I absolutely ADORE this style of card and this stamp/die set!), I made a coordinating envelope. Mine is very similar to the example - I used my homemade coverplate for SU! Pool Party ink for the stripes. I used the Bigger Blooms stamp set and Tumbled Glass & Broken China Distress Inks and SU! Certainly Celery. Thanks for stopping by and join me in a collective cheer that TOMORROW. IS. FRIDAY!!!

colorQ challenge #239

This week's colourQ challenge #239 colors are beautiful!! As I've mentioned before, my Stampin' Up! colors that are about 8 years old are slowly but surely biting the dust, so I am replacing them with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. The colors are so vibrant and beautiful! For today's challenge card, I used SU! Pretty in Pink along with Spiced Marmalade (pumpkin), Ripe Persimmon (coral), and Peeled Paint (olive). The stamp and sequins are faves of mine from Neat and Tangled, and I used one of the stamps from SU!'s Gorgeous Grunge for the splatter effect on the card base. Thanks for stopping by today and have a blessed day!!

PTI Make It Monday #162: Paper Scrap Pie Charts

This week's PTI Make It Monday Challenge is a good one! And you know, they usually freak me out, but not this one!! I went to my enormous scrap folder and just started pulling out random scraps of paper. I thought my theme color was going to be turquoise, but it turned out to be green, but turquoise, or in this case, Aqua Mist, looks GREAT with the final project! I nearly ruined the whole thing because I thought I would use a small die so I adhered my pie pieces to a circle. Therefore, when I ran the whole thing through the Cricut using one of the dies from Fabulous Frames, I had bits of paper shooting out all over the place and the frame itself nearly fell apart! Once I put it all back together, I used the large frame and the inner medallion (both from one die) and added a random piece of coral cardstock for contrast. I stamped the sentiment from Round & Round on a banner I cut using another die from Fabulous Frames. I added a piece of Washi tape to the bottom and a button from PTI's Holiday Mix Vintage Button collection.

colourQ challenge #238

This is my third attempt at making a card for this week's colourQ challenge and, although I don't love it, I think it's OK. I had the hardest time incorporating the Kraft, so it is represented only in two little strips of cardstock. I also used Distress Inks in Seedless Preserves and Shabby Shutters. I added a bit of bling to make me feel better about the card. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

PTI Make it Monday #161: Watercolor Splats!!

Whenever I participate in a watercolor challenge, I always end up using my favorite shades of turquoise because blues and water go together like PB&J! So, for PTI's Watercolor Splats challenge, I used PTI Hawaiian Shores ink and Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers, Broken China, and Tumbled Glass. I die cut Stampers Select white cardstock using PTI's Wonderful Words: Birthday die and then added a few sequins from Neat and Tangled. The sentiment is from the Wonderful Words: Birthday mini stamp set and the card base is my favorite Hawaiian Shores. I didn't have the round brush so I used my Aquapainter with a little extra water in a bowl for the larger droplets. I think this turned out to be a perfectly beachy card! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Friday!!

Neat and Tangled Mini Card Challenge

This week's challenge over at Neat and Tangled's blog is mini cards, which I don't make often but that are lots of fun! I found the inspiration for these little cards on Pinterest and I LOVE the idea of the balloons extending off the top of the card. I used N&T's Everyday Circles stamp set and several Distress Inks that coordinate with some of my SU! cardstock. Thanks for stopping by. Go check out Neat and Tangled - you will find so much inspiration there!!

colourQ challenge #237

I love the colourQ challenge colors this week but, as usual, there were obstacles in my way that delayed my creativity this week. (If you've never sold a house, just plan to live where you're living now forever. It's a nightmare and I promise that if we ever make it to our new house, I will stay there forever! But I digress . . .) I only had Baja Breeze and Basic Gray ink pads and my So Saffron marker was a mess, so I tried stamping the colors on white and in white on colored cardstock and wasn't especially impressed with the results. I ended up picking the best looking ones and assembling a pretty nice card. I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest and I love it so much!! I used PTI's Bigger Blooms stamp and dies sets, which I love using because they are such fun to put together. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed Easter!!

Little Tangles Challenge #34: Masking

I am headed out of town in like, 5 minutes, so this will be a short post! This week's Little Tangles challenge is Masking, which I love but don't do very often. I embossed the Circle Scribbles in white, sponged on Milled Lavender Distress Ink, and then stamped SU! En Francais stamp in Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!