colourQ challenge #328

This week's colourQ challenge color palette includes one of my very favorite colors: Melon Mambo. It's the perfect shade of pink! I am doing Papertrey Ink's anniversary challenges this week, along with making a few little Valentine projects for my favorite family members, so I decided to make this week's project simple, although I really like the way it turned out. I used my Cameo to cut the white lacy heart and then an old SU! flower punch for the flowers. Those little flowers needed a lit oomph so I added a tiny pearl to the centers. Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!

PTI 9th Anniversary: Grab & Craft Challenge

Today's PTI Anniversary Challenge is a Grab & Craft challenge - grab all the items you want to use for your project in 5 minutes. It's a good thing I already knew what I wanted to make, because it took me 5 minutes just to locate the stuff I already knew I wanted to use!! I found the inspiration for this sweet little card on Pinterest and I adore the color palette - it's so springy and soft. I guess I'm inspired by the warmer weather here in East Tennessee. I used the following products by PTI - Hawaiian Shores ink and cardstock, Lemon Tart cardstock, and Daydreamer stamp set. I also used SU! Daffodil Delight and Certainly Celery inks and twine by Doodlebug Designs. Thanks for stopping by today - I'll be back tomorrow with the latest from PTI!!

PTI 9th Anniversary: Introducing Dress-Up Dolls & Stamp-A-Faire 2016

Have mercy, I had no idea how to approach today's PTI 9th Anniversary challenge! I am not much of a clotheshorse so I was afraid my closet would be sadly lacking in inspiration, so I thought about using a Vera Bradley purse, but as much as I LOVE those patterns, they make my head spin when I try to duplicate them. So, after only getting 3 hours of sleep last night, I decided I might be able to glean some inspiration from this top, which is one of my faves. I embossed in black ink on watercolor paper an image from another retro SU! set called Doodle This. I used PTI Hawaiian Shores and Berry Sorbet along with SU! Not Quite Navy and Tim Holtz's Mermaid Lagoon to loosely watercolor in and around the images. I had no idea what I was going for, but this is what I have. I looked through my tremendous stash of cardstock for a piece of SU! Soft Stone but I didn't have any so I used Kraft for my card base and sentiments from Brushed Blooms on a little banner. Thanks for stopping by today and have a blessed weekend!!

Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary: Team Intro & Project Favorites

This week, Papertrey Ink is celebrating its 9th anniversary, which means lots and lots of beautiful projects and prizes and all kinds of goodness! Every day, there will be a new challenge and my personal goal is to participate in every one of them! I decided to start of with a simpler card since PTI challenges are the ones I usually have the most trouble with. I had three of the five colors in the Color Recipe I chose - I subbed SU! Certainly Celery for Limeade Ice (that's a tough color to match!) and Tim Holtz's Spiced Marmalade for Summer Sunrise. I used one of my favorite PTI sets, Brushed Blooms, and PTI's new Phrases & Praises. The card base is Hawaiian Shores, which is one of my favorite shades of turquoise. Thanks for stopping by so late (it's after midnight here in East Tennessee) and have a great weekend!

colourQ challenge #327

This week's colourQ challenge colors didn't really appeal to me at first but once I started making my card, they grew on me. After seeing Papertrey Ink's Pedal Pusher stamp set revisited last week, I am completely obsessed with bicycles! I found this cute little die on sale at Hobby Lobby and I think I like it, although I may still have to buy Pedal Pusher in the near future! I created a little basket of flowers using two sizes of flowers from PTI's Cup of Cheer stamp set. I didn't have Cherry Cobbler (of course!!), so I subbed Riding Hood Red and Tim Holtz's Fired Brick. The sentiment is from PTI Splat and the background stamp is a retro SU! stamp called Bella Toile. You might still have that one, too! I have always loved it. A little Pool Party banner and a Kraft mini clothespin and VOILA! - this week's colourQ challenge submission is complete. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

colourQ challenge #326 (part 2)

So, I literally cannot create a project any more without a colourQ color palette! I just received SU!'s new Sale-a-Bration stamp set called Botanicals for You and I must say, I am disappointed. I have never really liked SU!'s take on "clear" stamps, especially since the ones that are still mounted on rubber don't adhere well to acrylic blocks and are not trimmed very closely to the image. I threw caution to the wind and trimmed the excess rubber from all of the stamps except the large sentiment and they worked better. Then, the worst possible thing happened!! I. RAN. OUT. OF. ADHESIVE!! So, I used a glue stick (!!!) to put this card together, which is really awful even if it is a SU! glue stick. Hope you're having a great weekend! I'll be back when I get some more adhesive!

colourQ challenge #326

This week's colourQ challenge colors lend themselves beautifully to one of my favorite cards to make using SU!'s A Happy Thing stamp set. You may not know that my last name is Lemmons, so I absolutely had to have this set. I have made so many quick, beautiful cards with this little lemon. I had all the colors this week except for Wisteria Wonder so I subbed SU! Lovely Lilac. My LL ink pad is so old and faded that it's very similar to WW. My Old Olive marker is way too dark for this card, so I used the ink pad and a blender pen for a lighter shade of olive. I stamped the lemons in brown (I promise!!) even though it looks black. Since I'm running low on some of my colored cardstock, I've been using white card bases for most of my creations. White on white is very clean and lovely! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

colourQ challenge #325 (part 2)

 
I like my second attempt at this week's colourQ challenge much better than my first! If you make a lot of sympathy, encouragement, or thinking of you cards like I do, Papertrey Ink's Phrases & Praises is a must-have stamp set. I created a circle mask and stamped this week's colors using assorted dot stamps and SU!'s Grunge stamp set. I made this card because I recently saw an Instagram post by Jennifer McGuire about a card drive for Lasting Hearts, an organization run by a mom named Kimberly who miscarried twins but didn't feel comforted by her doctor because the doctor wasn't emotionally equipped to console grieving parents. Enter Angela Miller, who wrote the book, You are the Mother of All Mothers. Kimberly's goal is to provide grieving mothers with a copy of this book along with a handmade card to offer comfort. Please click on the link above if you would like to send cards for the Lasting Hearts card drive or make a donation to purchase books. Thanks for stopping by - I hope you're having a great day!

colourQ challenge #325

So, this past week has been a little insane! My dad went into the hospital on Monday to have a tumor removed from his bladder. He did very well post-surgery and was released in the afternoon. By 7 p.m., we were in the ER because of excessive bleeding. If you've ever been to the ER, you know that nothing happens especially quickly so hours and hours later, he was admitted and spent the next three days with a blood clot that the doctor eventually had to remove surgically. My sweet daddy is almost 80 years old so any kind of surgery is scary. My sweet mama stayed with him the entire time and thanks to my sweet hubby and a snow storm that closed schools all week, I was able to be at the hospital quite a bit, too. My role in these situations is comic relief and we had lots and lots of good laughs! He's home now and we are so thankful. I told you all that to explain that I haven't had much crafting time this past week. Now everyone is home and things are getting back to normal so I am back in my craft room. I had none of this week's colourQ challenge colors so I subbed SU! Rose Red, Regal Rose, & Daffodil Delight and PTI Classic Kraft inks. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

colourQ challenge #323 (part deux)

I'm a little tardy to the party with my second card for this week's colourQ challenge, but Facebook has changed the way it stores synced photos and I couldn't find the this picture anywhere on my phone until just now. Hooray! I used PTI's newer Phrases & Praises stamp set and my favorite Altenew set, Painted Flowers. The tiny Pool Party flower is from PTI Mini Blooms. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

colourQ challenge #323

This week's colourQ challenge colors are beautiful reminders that spring will be here before we know it, although in E. Tennessee, we haven't had much of a winter . . . yet! As I blogged yesterday, I found the inspiration for the card on Lizzie Jones's blog. I used PTI's Friendship Jar, Life, and Mini Blooms stamp sets. I didn't have all the inks this week, so I subbed Tim Holtz's Picked Raspberry and SU! Pretty in Pink. I thought Kraft ink would be hard to use on my card, but it blends beautifully. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Thinking of You Mason Jar card

I had no idea it had been so long since I blogged! The holidays were busy but wonderful! We spent Christmas Eve with my parents at our church where I narrated the impromptu nativity we do every year and Morgan was a shepherd. It is loud and chaotic but so special nonetheless. We always conclude the service by singing "Silent Night" by candlelight - it's a very blessed evening. On Christmas Day, we went to my parents' house for lunch. We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating Bailey's 15th birthday and celebrating Christmas with Chris's family. Miraculously, and after having worked 4 p.m. - 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Chris was off the entire week after Christmas!! And now we have gotten so lazy that going back to school and work this week has been a beast. Well, enough reminiscing  . . . here's the card I made yesterday. I LOVE IT!! I found the inspiration for the card on Lizzie Jones's blog. I used PTI's Friendship Jar, Life, and Mini Blooms stamp sets, and PTI's Canyon Clay and Aqua Mist, SU!'s Kiwi Kiss, and Tim Holtz's Mowed Lawn inks. Thanks for stopping by, Mary Ann!! Hope you're having a great day!!

colourQ challenge #318

This week's colourQ challenge colors are perfect for autumn. It's still pretty warm here in East Tennessee, but we have been blessed with some beautiful fall color - the trees have been gorgeous shades of brown, yellow, orange, red, and my 5-year-old's favorite, burgundy! I used PTI's new stamp set, Phrases & Praises, which I already know I'll be using a lot. I just love large script sentiments! I smooshed kraft, honey, and rust inks onto an acrylic block, spritzed the block with water, and then gently placed the block on a piece of white cardstock. It took several tries to get something I liked but keep trying if you do this technique. I stamped the Scripture in espresso and die cut leaves in the other three colors to frame the sentiment. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Cornbread Dressing Casserole

This is my very favorite cornbread dressing and since I can't find the recipe anywhere except in my recipe book, I decided to put it here so all of my faithful followers (Mary Ann!!) will have another delicious Thanksgiving recipe in your arsenal of delicious recipes!!


CORNBREAD DRESSING CASSEROLE

4 slices bacon (you're already hooked, aren't you?)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix
2 cans (15 oz.) cream-style corn
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 T. poultry seasoning or dried sage
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees - spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside - cook bacon till crisp, them drain and crumble, reserving 2 T. drippings in skillet - add onion and celery to skillet and cook till translucent, stirring often - remove and cool slightly - combine cornmeal mix, sour cream, butter, eggs, parsley, poultry seasoning and pepper thoroughly - add onion, celery, and bacon - pour into prepared dish and bake for 45 minutes (or longer) till lightly browned or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

colourQ challenge #316

OMGosh!! This week's colourQ challenge colors nearly killed me!! I only had the olive ink pad and my attempt to colors acrylic stamps with markers was, like it always is, disastrous. So, Dusty Durango ended up looking more like Pumpkin Pie, and I subbed an old curry colored cardstock from SU! for Hello Honey. But, if you ignore a few color inconsistencies, I think you'll love this card as much as I do!!! I used PTI's new set, Cup of Cheer, because who can resist a cute coffee set with dies for all those adorable cups!! The sentiment is from another coffee stamp set but I have no idea which one or who made it. I hope you had a great day and that you thanks all those special veterans in your life. They are the reason we are the land of the free!


Edited: I replaced the picture of my card after I stamped in Tim Holtz's Wild Honey distress ink a little bit of steam from the sentiment set I used. What a tremendous improvement this little detail adds! And to make sure the steam fit into the space above the cup, I masked the cup with a piece of paper and perfectly placed the steam.

Celebrate the Magic of Christmas!!

Nothing thrills my little heart more than finding a card on Pinterest that I can actually complete without pulling my hair out and that's what I found today! My sweet daddy LOVES Bill Gaither and his tremendous singing group, and they are coming to town in concert the first of December, so he is getting an early Christmas present! But I needed a masculine Christmas card for his tickets so this is the one I made just now. I love green and blue together, and I just happened to have this piece of patterned paper by Pebbles called Stargaze (there are constellations on the reverse side). The plaid doesn't scream Christmas but with a tree from SU! Lovely as a Tree and a holiday sentiment, it's PERFECT! I used Tim Holtz's Mowed Lawn distress ink and PTI's Hawaiian Shores ink and cardstock. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

colourQ challenge #315

This shouldn't come as a surprise but I had none of this week's colourQ challenge colors!! So I subbed Tim Holtz's Peeled Paint and Mermaid Lagoon and SU! Rose Red and Really Rust - I think they're fairly close. This stamp set is a PTI anniversary set, Funky Florals, that I borrowed from my dear stamping buddy, Leigh Ann. This was a challenging color combo for me and I don't love the way I put the colors together, but craft time is fleeting this week so here ya go! And, as I am prone to do when I'm not super confident with my design skills, I added a few rhinestones. When in doubt, EMBELLISH!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle card

We have a precious little friend in Morgan's preschool class who was diagnosed with leukemia a few months ago. This past week, her treatments were pretty tough on her and she hasn't been able to come to school. We figured she wouldn't be able to go trick-or-treating last night, so we took some treats to her! The owl topper was a cinch to make with circle dies and the Bigz Top Note die. I don't have a white gel pen at the moment (tragedy!!), so I punched a little circle with my tiniest hole punch and adhered it to the black eye circle. Our little friend looked so cute dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle so, today, I made her a little ninja turtle card that I found on Pinterest. I used oval and star dies, an embossing folder, and a few sticker letters. I absolutely love how it turned out and I think our friend will love it, too! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!!