Color Throwdown #60

I've had this card finished for a couple days, but I've been busy with several other projects, and haven't had time to sit down and post this. The challenge for the Color Throwdown #60 were:I was so excited when I saw these colors - what a fabulous combination. I'll start with my creation:Admittedly, I went really crazy with the layering of cardstock. I seem to be starting out with one version of a card, and ending up with something totally different lately. I started out with a base card of full of colored polka dots - boy what a change of card. I used the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set to create the flowers, and then used the Sizzix Buttons #5 to cut out the buttons in the center on my Big Shot. The scallop punch was used, and I used the crop-a-dile to cut out small circles in the scallops. I added a little bit of ribbon weaving on this card, and also some zig zag stitching on my sewing machine. A little too many layers?? Maybe, but I like it anyways!!

My Recent Birthday trip

Oh boy - anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I've been dreading my 30th birthday since I turned 29!! Crazy, I know, but there was/is something about turning 30 that just bothered me. So, when it came time for the big birthday a couple weeks ago, I was determined to not spend it alone. I couldn't spend it with family or my fiancee, so I spent it with friends instead - on the beach. Here are some pics (I love black and white photos).
So I have to admit, besides not having access to the internet that weekend (there was wireless in the lobby but it was soooo slow - I'm spoiled), I actually had a good birthday - can't ask for much more than sun, beach, and good temperatures. It wasn't too painful, although I ate way too much. I'll be spending several weeks working off that overly indulgent weekend.

PPA8 Challenge

The PPA 8 challenge was for a KISS card - clean with lots of white space; simple design; minimum time to create; limited layers and embellishments. Here is my card for this challenge:
I had a template for cutting out the tree, which I cut out of a piece of To the Nines DSP. I then used the Buttons #5 Sizzlit Big Shot die. I cut the buttons out of Always Artichoke and Pumpkin Pie cardstock, and To the Nines and Pumpkin Pie DSP. I adhered the buttons with glue dots or Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment was from an older set, and I attacheda couple pieces of ribbon using a staple. An incredibly quick card to make that was super simple, and I love how it came out.

SPCC Christmas Color Combo #2

I love love love making Christmas cards, so I couldn't not participate in the SPCC Christmas Color Combo. Here was the challenge:
I remember seeing this scrapbook image from a couple years ago with gifts along the bottom, and I thought that was perfect for this card. Here's what I did:


Ok, so I did actually stamp on this card, but admittedly not much. I used Real Red, Old Olive and Handsome Hunter on this card. I cut out the dots using my Big Shot and the Big Bold Cupcakes die. I used a few buttons from the Playground Designer buttons, hemp twine, ribbons from the newest mini catalog, and 1/4 white grosgrain ribbon. The image was from an old stamping set that I had. I was all ready to put a nice 'Merry Christmas' sentiment above the ribbon, but then I remembered that I had a 'do not open til Christmas' stamp, and I thought that woudl be perfect. This was a super simple card to do, but looks so fun!!

SPCC #15

This was such an incredibly hard challenge for me. First off, here was the Color Combo #15 Challenge:

I knew I wanted to do a halloween card with this combo, and thought it would be easy - boy was I wrong!! I had such a difficult time with this challenge, and sat down with this card many times to try and rework it until I had something I was finally happy with. Here is what I finally came up with:

The only original components of the first card that made it into my final card was the black card base and the rust stamped bracket. Nothing else really worked on this card, but I love the final version.

The stamped image was from the Twick or Tweet stamp set. I stamped it on Naturals White cardstock twice, and cut one of those images out to add a little dimension. The image was colored in with the Really Rust chalk from my Stampin Pastels. For the background, I cut out a Scallop Square using my Big Shot, and then added strips of various papers (from Night and Day DSP, Really Rust Cardstock) and Black Gingham Ribbon. Finally, the bracket was cut using my Big Shot out of Naturals White cardstock, and stamped with one of the stamps from the Circle Circus stamp set with Really Rust ink.

Mojo Monday Week 104 Sketch Challenge

The Mojo Monday sketch this week was a tough one for me. I needed a Thank You card for tomorrow, so I was restricted to that idea. I wanted to use this sketch for everything but a thank you card today!! Here is what I came up with:





I like this card better in person than in the pictures. The pictures fail to capture that I used dimensionals on the circles, so it's not as flat as it appears in the pictures. I used Sage Shadow, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, and Kraft for this card. The kraft background paper was made using a couple stamps from the Circle Circus stamp set. I used the same set on the strip of Melon Mambo paper. The thank you sentiment was from the Taggers Dozen stamp set. Both the circles and the flower/leaves were cut out using the Big Shot (Circles #2 and Birds and Bloom). I finished the card off with a few embellishments - eyelets and a filigree Brad.

This is not my favorite card, but I do really love the color combination. I'll be playing around with this color combination more this week.

Color Combo Challenge

This card was my final challenge card of the day, and was designed for the SPCC #14 color challenge. The challenge was to use the following colors on my card:

Here is my card for this color challenge:


I stamped a variety of snowflakes using Ballet Blue, Basic Gray, and Soft Suede. I punched three snowflakes out of each of these colors, and used a white gel pen to create stitching on the snowflakes, and topped the snowflakes off with white buttons. The Joy sentiment was stamped with white craft ink. I like the simplicity of this Christmas Card.