My Favorite Things Stamps Day 6: Best Friends and Calenders

It's Day 6 of the Release Countdown at My Favorite Things Stamps and there is quite a variety of stamps today - from cute to office-style.

I started with cute.  This is the new Wendy Burns Design set Best Friends. This card came together far more quickly than any other card I have done for this release.  Living in a houseful of men and teenage boys, I crave sweet and cute.  I also immediately knew that I wasn't going to color her.  Have you seen the coloring work of the rest of the design team?  Mad coloring skills!!  I knew I couldn't show her off well enough - but I am really happy with the look of just a couple of splashes of color.


When I first agreed to guest designing for My Favorite Things, I knew there was sure to be something by Wendy Burns or a Pure Innocence set - so I went shopping for fun and cute dsp.  I haven't used much dsp yet in this release - I'm having fun showing off the MFT color palette.  But this paper from the Teresa Collins You Are My Happy pad was made for this stamp set!!    The button is from My Favorite Things - it's Bubble Gum.
Now I am going to do something not-so-smart.  I am going out of my comfort zone.  My original plan was just to do the cute card today, but the other set was on my desk, right next to a free pad of paper that had come in an order.  The possibilities hit me over the head.  It's really not generally bad to go out of one's comfort zone.  However, as a guest designer, presumably I was asked because MFT liked my style and body of work.  And...my CAS style is comfortable for me - that's probably because I am not good at other styles no matter how much I admire them when I see what others have designed.  So jumping out of the box is probably not smart on a guest post!  Anyway...here's my leap...

It's busier and more collage-ish than my usual style - although some of you are laughing because it's not really a big leap. It's still just a few layers; however, it is missing my beloved white space!  It does allow me to show off a few things.  This is Lainie Lamb Design's Journal It - Pocket Calendar. Obviously it's intended for journaling or scrapbooking - but it makes a nice masculine birthday card too.  (If you get this set, be sure to check out the 3x4 Insert die as it is a perfect fit. Then be sure to check out all Lainie Lamb Designs stamps and Die-namics because there is an entire series of stamps and dies that go with "Journal It".)
I also used the new Blueprints 10 which was previewed on Day 1.  Other stamps and dies that I used are the DC Party Balloons, Party Balloons Die-namics and the Fishtail Flags STAX Die-namics.  Colors from My Favorite Things are Electric Red, Fuse Green and Chocolate Brown.  The image is stamped on Primitive White.  (The dsp is 7 gypsies Postale.)
I used the deconstructed sketch.

Be sure to head over to the My Favorite Things blog and leave your comment for today!

My Favorite Things Stamps Day 3: Doodles and Dots

It's now Day 3 of the Release Countdown from My Favorite Things Stamps.  Only a few more days to go until the full release on the evening of December 10th!

I had a great time getting cards ready for today.  The stamps are by Sunny Day Doodles and are called Be Your Best Self.  For some unknown reason, I don't have any of the previous Doodles in my collection.  I'm glad to have this set and I'm sure more will find their way into my collection!  My first card leaves the sentiment mainly black and white and shows that the stamps work well in a very clean and simple setting.


Also on this card are the Layered Hearts Border Die, a "button" and background from Blueprints 6, and a tag from the Pierced Traditional Tag STAX. (BTW - if you ever decide to get the pierced tags, know that the non-pierced Traditional Tag STAX is just slightly bigger so are perfect for layering behind the pierced tags.)  The colors on this card are Electric Red and Steel Grey.
I also want to show you another stamps from Sunny Day Doodles Be Your Best Self because it is one of my very favorite quotes.  This card also shows off the new Polka Dot Cover Up Die-namics.  This card is a little bit fussier than the first card. I didn't color the entire sentiment - just gave it some pops of color.

The little flags are from Blueprints 10 which was introduced on Day 1 of the Release Countdown.  The button is Lemon Drop.  The cardstock colors are Grape Jelly (the darker purple), Grapesicle, Sour Apple and Lemon Drop.  I used the Pierced Rectangle STAX for the sentiment, but I cut it down a little bit.  It's easy with the pierced markings because they kind of lock into place.  Just slide the die up and down or side to side until it "clicks" into place and you have a perfect re-sized cut.

My card uses the current sketch from Mojo Monday.

One last card for today.  The other item being previewed today is a full alphabet and full set of numbers - in the round.  They are the Negative Dot Alphabet Die-namics and the Negative Dot Numbers Die-namics.  We have a big birthday coming up in my house in less than a month - and the numbers worked perfectly!

The sentiment is from Birthday Sentiments and the background is the Woodgrain Background.  The tag is the from the Pierced Traditional Tag STAX.  I needed something to top it off under the twine - so I used one of the pierced circle from Blueprints 10 and folded it in half.  The star in the circle is also from Blueprints 10.  The twine is Natural Hemp Cord.

I have said that one of my goals during my time as a guest for My Favorite Things is to show off colors. Since this card is for a teenage boy, I looked through my color ring and decided to show off Safety Orange. I have to admit that I thought that was a funny name since I would have expected something with that name to be an almost neon orange.  But this is a rich brown mustard color.  I really like blues with oranges so added Blu Raspberry which is the darkest of the aqua colors available at My Favorite Things.  Black seemed too dark so I finished it off with Steel Grey.

Be sure to head over (or back) to the My Favorite Things blog.  There is lots of great inspiration from the design team and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a gift certificate!

See you tomorrow!

Quick Cards with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

There is absolutely no chance that I will ever be nominated for mom-of-the-year.  It was about 7 pm on Thursday night.  My two children were at a football game until 8 pm.  It suddenly occurred to me that they had the biggest weekend of their lives coming up and I hadn't made any cards of encouragement or congratulations.  It is the state marching band competition this weekend.  These kids have been working on their show starting with a two-week marching camp in July, into the school year, straight through daily rehearsals during fall break - and it's now the final weekend.

I am not a fast card maker.  You will never see me in the 10 minute challenges.  Even my simplest cards typically require multiple changes and re-dos - not to mention multiple photos and edits - before I am happy with them (and sometimes, I'm not even happy then!).  But Thursday night, in 60 minutes (OK, maybe 70 minutes) - I did six cards - and I mostly like them!

Thank goodness for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  They have great contemporary sentiments that work perfectly in these situations.  I did six cards for my two teenage boys, who aren't typically easy to make cards for! These first two cards were encouragement on Friday morning before the entire weekend began.  Noise...marching band...how perfect!  Everything comes from the Woot Woot set.



FYI: the flag and the "washi" tape were made with dies from My Favorite Things.I did get a starting point for this one from Freshly Made Sketches.

I am fairly certain we will end up placing higher than our marching band has ever placed.  We won't win it - there are a few fabulous marching band dynasties that win it year after year.  Our kids would be thrilled to be in the top 8 and are secretly hoping for 5th.  I'm thinking somewhere in the middle.  But assuming that they are thrilled with the outcome, here are the congrats cards.  All of these stamps are still from Woot Woot.


I was needing inspiration at this point, so I got these great colors from Sunday Stamps.  In real life, my blue is closer to the teal that is in the inspiration photo - but I edited so quickly I messed up the colors!

Then there are two cards that I am hoping never see the light of day and end up in the garbage.  Not that there is anything wrong with them - but it means my kids are disappointed.  The sentiment comes from Tech Talk and the asterisk from Exclamations along with the coordinating die. 

At quarter finals yesterday, the band ended up once place lower than hoped for.  One place higher and we wouldn't be up at 3:45 a.m. this morning getting ready to take them to the bus for semi finals.  One place higher would have moved their performance three hours later and after two of their main competitors which does make a difference in the judging..  They are discouraged but still hopeful of making finals tonight.  
Keep your fingers crossed for my boys and the Chaparral High School Marching Band!!!

Addicted to CAS: Teenagers

The current challenge at Addicted to CAS is "teenagers".  I have two teenage boys so it's a perfect challenge.  Of course, my boys require minimal color, basic stamps and absolutely no bling - so not typically cards that I display on this blog.  I did sneak some sequins in on this one anyway!

I have to explain this card.  My husband and 13-year old son were in Utah from last Wednesday through Sunday (we're from Colorado) at a lacrosse tournament.  Actually, it wasn't technically a tournament, but since they played teams from Arizona, Texas, Idaho, Nevada and even Colorado - and won every game - I think they can claim to be "best in the west".  I had just gotten this stamp set and was thrilled when I saw this stamp (although I am disappointed that the sentiment doesn't fit in the banner - you'd think they would design it a little better).


This design came from their uniforms...

He only came home with minor damage.

But it wasn't even lacrosse-related!  He and his teammates were horsing around in a swimming pool.  A dozen 13-year olds, horsing around in a pool...hmmmm....what could go wrong?  In Erik's case, it was a knee to the eyeball!!

• Stamps: Hero Arts/Studio Calico Miss You So Much
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Poppy and Smokey Shadow
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow
• Accessories: Darice embossing folder, sequins

Catered Crop: For the Boys

The current challenge at Catered Crop is "For the Boys" - we are supposed to show our masculine side.

In my world, I am surrounded by men and boys.  When I started stamping, I had young sons who actually enjoyed getting cards, and my husband has saved everything that I have given him.  So my stash of masculine images is quite extensive. I went a couple of different directions today.

My first card relies on a masculine image and a bold sentiment...


Isn't this guy a charmer?  Check out his blue eyes!!

If you aren't comfortable with masculine cards, Linda at Catered Crop has not only curated a Pinterest board full of inspiration, but has also provided eight tips and hints!!  A couple of them caught my eye and I thought I would give it a try.  She mentions the current trend of geometric shapes - arrows, stars, chevrons - that they can be masculine or feminine.  She also talks about a simple color palette change.  I put those two ideas together to show you how right she is!!
Feminine...with trendy arrows.

Masculine...exactly the same in every way except color.

It works!!!
Head over to Catered Crop and check out all of the inspiration, tips and hints - then join in!!  I'd love to see what you create.
Robot Congrats

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Bot Time
• Paper: Stampin' Up Taken with Teal
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics
• Accessories: Sizzix Sizzlit Congrats Die, Ranger Glossy Accents, Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder, various glitter pens

You're My Whole World

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Good Point, Words to Live By
• Paper: Papertrey Summer Sunrise, Stampin' Up Island Indigo
• Ink: Papertrey Summer Sunrise, Melon Berry, Harvest Gold, Limeade Ice; Stampin' Up Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade
• Accessories: misc buttons and twine

Deep in the Woods with TAWS

I have camped for my entire life.  My dad was a biology teacher (before he was my high school principal!) and loved hiking and camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  We took longer camping trips to Utah, California and Colorado in a pick-up truck with a camper topper.  That was back in the days before everything was "dangerous" so my brother and I got to ride on the camper bed over the cab of the truck - what a way to travel!!

Since I met my husband, camping has always been an important part of our lives - but it has changed over the years.  From backpacking with just the necessities in our packs - even sometimes in the middle of winter, to car camping with a tent but also coolers of great food and drink, to a pop-up camper (when the second child came along), and now - as old age sets in! - we have a small condo in the mountains.  We can hike, then come back to the hot tub with a glass of wine!!

So the new set Deep in the Woods by The Alley Way Stamps is going to see a lot of use in my house!!  A warm campfire and S'Mores makes for a perfect evening!


The Alley Way Stamps is now selling kits at a discounted price that include a stamp set (this one), paper (this is a piece from that pad), wood veneer and baker's twine.  Check it out!!  (I used different twine and the button doesn't come with it either.

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Deep in the Woods
• Paper: Stampin' Up Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Studio Calico Darling Dar 6x6
• Ink: Memento black, Copics
• Accessories: May Arts twine, button from A Flair for Buttons, misc gems colored with Copics

Celebrating with a Very Special Man

There is a very special man celebrating his 72nd birthday this week.  When his entire church family gathered to celebrate his 60th birthday, no one thought he would survive the year.  He has been fighting cancer for 12 years while still being a faithful and active church member; a caring husband, father and grandfather; and taking part in an incredible number of treatment trials that are sure to benefit tens of thousands of others.  Just this month, he was honored by the Melanoma Research Foundation with the Courage award.

Bill is passionate about his classic Porsche.  I've never seen it - so have no idea if this looks like a Porsche.  But I got this set years ago, strictly to use for his birthday and thought it was a perfect time to bring it out again!

I haven't seen Bill in quite some time.  My husband and I talk about inviting he and his wife for dinner, but then there's another e-mail about him undergoing yet another surgery.  As I was making this card, I realized (as I do every year) that I might not be making another one next year.  I'm putting this in the mail - and then I'm making a phone call!!
This card plays along with this week's Just Add Ink.  

• Stamps: Close to My Heart Roadtrip (old!), L'il Inkers Balloon Builders, misc sentiment and star
• Paper: Stampin' Up More Mustard, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake
• Ink: Stampin' Up More Mustard, Midnight Muse, Rich Razzleberry
• Accessories: L'il Inker Balloon dies, Studio Calico Wood Veneer, Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, May Arts twine

TAWS BE Inspired with 3 Girl Jam!

Welcome to the 3GJ/TAWS Cross Promotion Double Challenge Blog Hop!

The goal of this cross promo/double challenge is to introduce you all to 2 awesome companies, gather inspiration from both design teams and have the opportunity to enter 2 fun challenges!

I am on the design team for The Alley Way Stamps . For this week, we are teaming up with the design team at 3 Girl JAM which is owned and operated by the talented Julie K Bling and her 2 daughters. They make the most beautiful hand dyed crinkle ribbon and fun flair buttons - you can check out my button card here.

Every 2 weeks TAWS has a new challenge based on a fun photo called "Be Inspired" and 3GJ has their own challenge using 3GJ Crinkle Ribbon, so for this challenge the design teams are using the TAWS photo AND some great ribbon!!

I can't say that it originally occurred to me to make a masculine card with this luscious ribbon - but I think it works - and here's the inspiration photo that led me in this direction.

 

YOUR challenge will be to come up with a project using THIS photo, a stamp and ribbon. Remember the photo is for inspiration ONLY - be creative, use your imagination and show us what this photo inspired you to create.

Need some inspiration?

We hope you will hop through the line-up and see all the gorgeous projects the DT’s have created.

You should be coming from Jovan. If you started with me - you might want to head back to the TAWS blog to start at the beginning.

Your next stop is OmaGloria.

Here's the entire line-up for today!

TAWS~ http://www.thealleywaystamps.blogspot.com/

Jessica~ http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com

Jessica B ~ http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com

Arielle~http://snappystamper.blogspot.com

Julie Odil- http://muddypawsinkyfingers.blogspot.com/2013/03/im-hoppin-cross-promotional-mini-hop.html

Jovan- http://www.cardsbyjovan.com/

Kim~http://joyfulcreationswithkim.blogspot.com/

OmaGloria - http://omascrafts.com

Alison~http://www.stretchnbubbles2.blogspot.com/

Rebecca D- http://bloomingpink.blogspot.com/

Abby Henderson- http://scrappin-abby.blogspot.com/

Christine~ http://kartenchaos.blogspot.com/

3GJ Challenge Blog~ http://3girljamchallenge.blogspot.com/

At the TAWS blog and the 3GJ challenge blog, you will find out more about their individual challenges and have the opportunity to link up to not just one challenge but both challenges for the chance to win some awesome prizes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PRIZES:

1. Just hop though our mini hop and leave comments
2. Enter BOTH challenges (if you don't own any TAWS there are freebies here)

Prizes are TAWS stamp sets and a Bundle of 3GJ Crinkle Ribbon.

Thanks for hopping with TAWS and 3GJ.

We look forward to seeing all your projects!

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Love Knots, Doodle Frames (sentiment)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel, Kraft
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel, Kraft
• Accessories: 3 Girl JAM crinkle ribbon

Have an Epic Year!!

It's a big day in my house - my youngest is a teenager!!  Yes...I'm old.  (Actually older than you might think.  Erik, the new teenager, came home from school with a story that he thought was funny.  A teacher was talking about the first moon landing and how long ago it was - so long ago that the student's parents wouldn't even remember it.  Wrong!)

My kids get to pick their special meal on their birthdays - either home cooked or dining out.  Erik is usually quite fun as he is a foodie.  He likes new and unique food experiences and unusual restaurants.  He went an entirely different direction this year - - Golden Corral's breakfast buffet - - seriously!!!???



I am so uncomfortably full as I write this because I couldn't possibly say "no" to the second serving of biscuits and gravy!!

Then we wandered across the parking lot of Golden Corral to the bowling alley.


None of us even broke 100!!
Then I had my husband take a picture of my boys and I.

The shortest one is the birthday boy - a new teenager!  The biggest one actually has a birthday in a week - he'll be 17!  If anyone knows the trick to making a teenager smile, let me know.
After seeing the picture, I decided the boys needed haircuts - they both look like they have had bowl cuts.  But the only way to get Erik there was to bribe him with the extra treatments - it's $5 for that warm towel and head massage - but he loved it!!

Now we are home and Erik is settled into the recliner,  hair a little shorter and spikier, PS3 remote in hand, playing a new game.



With this picture, you can see why I went the direction that I did with his birthday card!!



I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I found this one really hard - that square piece under the circle gave me headaches.  But that's why they are "challenges"!

• Stamps: Papertrey Trey Ink Boy Basics: Game One, Grunge Me
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake CS and dsp, Pacific Point CS, Black CS
• Ink: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Pacific Point, Basic Gray
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Star Brads, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities Circle dies

Unca Dirt and Cookies

My brother's birthday was on Thanksgiving.   I actually made this card early but couldn't post it.  Last year, I made a card with a wolf on it and I posted it when I made it.  When we got together to celebrate, he held the unopened envelope to his forehead, closed his eyes - and said "I see a wolf".  My jaw dropped.  Turns out they read my blog...my jaw dropped even further!!  (Love you guys!!!)

To my children he is "Uncle Kurt", but when they were younger they didn't quite get his name right.  One child called him "Cookie" - that's pretty sweet.  If you say "Uncle Kurt" you can hear all of those "K" sounds and understand where "Cookie" comes from.

My other son's name for him didn't come out quite as sweet - "Unca Dirt".  But...I was doing a happy dance over this nickname when I realized that I had a stamp that said "Happy Dirtday"!!


The "dirtday" stamp comes from a Stampin' Up set called I Dig You - but the trucks in it seemed too young.  He's my younger brother but given how old I am, he is no spring chicken either!  I found an old Close To My Heart set called Little Builders that had more rugged trucks and he'll like the jeep as he used to do all of that rock-hopping, crazy jeep stuff. (Before he had two charming little girls who depend on him!!)

I used the sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

Guess what?  I did it!  For the first time IN MY LIFE, I experienced Black Friday (but it started on Thursday).  It was a strange and unique experience that I don't care to repeat.  Although I did learn from the people around me who became great friends in the 4 hours of sitting in the candy aisle at Walmart waiting for a TV to go on sale - that Walmart does Black Friday well.  First, we didn't have to wait outside in the cold.  Second, they had items distributed throughout the store and gave you maps when you walked in so you knew where to wait.  Third, the people from the food court had coffee carts they wheeled around the store!  I bet they have full-time staff that works all year on strategic planning for Black Friday.  I did witness one fight over crockpots - seriously??!!  My kids were bored...but we got everything on our list!!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up I Dig You, Close to My Heart Little Builder (old)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Night of Navy, the Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby brand) Stonewashed
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Night of Navy and Crumb Cake
• Accessories: Creative Impressions Metal Loops, Stampin' Up Night of Navy Taffetta, EK Success border punch

Your Number's Up!

This week's challenge at A Passion for Papertrey is called "Your Number's Up" - using numbers somewhere on your card.  I have a couple of big birthdays coming up right after Christmas - a new 13-year old and a new 17-year old so I thought I would get a head start on these.

Plus, in the back of my mind is A Passion for Papertrey's last challenge - to show an uninked stamp some inky love - I have so many uninked stamps that I'm going to focus on those as I play along with each challenge.  This week is "Grunge Me".  I love what I have seen done with it - and I have nothing else like it - but it really is out of my comfort zone.  I solved a little bit of my problem by not truly collaging(?) the stamps together - I just ran them up the side!


I used the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! to remind you that with Thanksgiving in the U.S. we are running the challenge for two weeks - so you have 9 more days to play along.  The sketch is truly flexible - my card for the design team was a pastel, glittery penguin - this card is masculine and grunged!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Grunge Me, Boy Basics: Game On (sentiment)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft, Enchanted Evening
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Canyon Clay
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Alpha Blocks Numbers

CASology: I Love My Family (most of the time!)

This week's challenge at CASology is "family".  There are some darling entries - little die cut families, the Holy family, children playing...but I went for a basic "love you" with a story behind it.

I was a guest at yesterday's Stampin' Up's Denver regionals...yeah!!  But I had left putting together all of my swap cards until the last minute.  I warned my family that I was going to be busy Friday night and then gone all day Saturday and they knew how excited I was.

So Friday night comes along and I am busily die-cutting but my family is convinced that I should be on the other side of the family room with them watching a TV show.  Grrrrr.  I got tired of hearing "but this is a family show" so I gathered up stamped paper, my Cuttlebug and my dies.  As I picked it all up, the dies proceeded to fly into my drawers of stamps.  Most were big and I could find them, but the little tiny leaf die from the $25 set of Cannery dies is gone.  Strike 1.

Then my oldest son, who is partially home-schooled, could only complete his week's goals if I worked with him on Grammar.  I warn him constantly to consider all of our schedules when he works out his goals.  Strike 2.

Then I got to bed by 9:30 because I had to be up early and wanted a great night's sleep for the big day.  My youngest ran in at 10:15 and totally woke me up.  Worst case scenario - I had managed to get a power nap before he came banging in  - so I did not make it back to sleep until 1:30.  Strike 3.

(I don't even need to go into the cats who always wake me up at 6 a.m. - but decided to bother me at 4 a.m. Saturday morning.)

So...here's the card...

And here's the reality of a loving family...

1. My husband spent an hour going through all of my stamps sets, then on his hands and knees looking for that darn leaf die because he knew it was important to me.  He didn't find it, but he sure tried!

2. My oldest very quickly realized that I was not going to be able to deal with grammar so he switched his schedule and took a Chemistry test that he had scheduled for Monday so that we would have time on Monday to do Grammar.  (Luckily, he aced it or I would have felt really guilty.)

3. My youngest only wanted to tell me that the first ever Big Bang Theory was on.  We have only recently discovered the show and we love it because we are total nerds ourselves.  We have so wanted to see how it all started so he was beyond excited and sincerely thought I would be thrilled also.  (And I probably should have been...but we do have a DVR!!)

And to top everything off, they listened with sincere(?) interest to all of my stories when I got home from Regionals yesterday!  My oldest even sat down with my door prize... (Out of 500 ladies and a few gentlemen, I won one of the door prizes - but it was the Spanish version of Teeny Tiny Wishes - I don't speak Spanish and I don't know any Spanish-speakers!)... but he still translated each phrase for me!

I love 'em - - - most of the time!

I tried this card in browns and it just wasn't working, so I looked at current challenges and found that Stampin' Royalty used two browns and added in Pool Party - I LOVE that touch of color!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Seasonal Sayings (a door prize for EVERYONE at the convention!)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Soft Suede and Pool Party CS, Crumb Cake dsp
• Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Pool Party
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Apothecary Accents Framelis, Linen Thread, misc brads

Never, Never, Never Give Up

This is my second post today.

It's a quick scroll down to The Alley Way Stamps sneak peek!

My teenager is suffering from a serious case of teenager-itis and after a long and difficult talk last night, I wanted to have a card ready to go for him this morning.

There is a perfect digi download over at Word Art Wednesday - it's a Christian group that has weekly downloadable Word Art - Christian and inspirational.  I discovered them through Marlena at Marlena Is Faithfully Crafting - she has wonderful cards and also amazing faith stories to go with each card.

I am still playing with Washi Tape for the Catered Crop Recipe challenge and I got the layout from clean&simple's current Fall To Layout.

• Stamps: Word Art Wednesday download
• Paper: Stampin' Up Soft Suede, Poppy Parade
• Accessories: Woodgrain Washi Tape from Love My Tapes, striped red from Queen & Co., EK Success postage border punch, Tim Holtz embossing folder

Snake, Rattle & Roll

It is my husband's birthday today and  I haven't had anything made for him - which was OK given that he's not back in town until 5 tonight.  My time on my own is coming to an end :(

The problem was that I really had no ideas either.  He's not a elegant/vintage/cutesy/retro/sweet kind of guy.  He is, however, a very clean and simple guy.  I can stick one little gem on a card and he'll wander by my craft desk and tell me it's too much, that I just ruined the card!!  So I kept my fingers crossed that the CAS-ual Fridays challenge would give me an idea.

Ta da!!  The challenge for the week is lime, aqua and navy which could definitely be a guy's card.  Then, I had in my head that I wanted to do something with The Alley Way Stamps (TAWS) because I wanted to remind you to wander over to their blog and leave a comment because they are giving away free stamps each day!!   Well...TAWS has a snake stamp (no implications, honey) and the perfect sentiment for my hubby.



This sentiment is going to get the biggest laugh.  You have to understand that my husband is a geologist.  He is passionate about the goings on of the earth - both ancient and current.  Never drive through the state of Wyoming with a geologist because you have to stop at each and every road cut in the middle of nowhere and study the layers.  
Less than two weeks before we were married, we were watching the World Series.  (I am going to seriously date myself here).  It was the game in San Francisco that, during warm-ups, the camera started to jiggle and then everything went dark.  (OK, it was 1989.)  As a geologist, my husband knew instantly what happened - an earthquake!!  And without any regard for the human impact of an earthquake but with utter delight over the shaking of the earth, my future husband danced around the living room singing "shake, rattle and roll"!  He'll NEVER live that down!
I tucked a few fun pennants behind the snake to keep it festive!  And I added just a strip of punched border.  That little strip is a big step for me.  I am such a geometric kind of gal, that strips should go the whole way - or better yet, matte the whole darn image - keep it regular!!  But it sure is fun to just have a hint of border!

I'm also submitting to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes.

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Tropic Topic and Get the Point
• Paper: Stampin' Up Midnight Muse
• Ink: Stampin' Up Midnight Muse, Kiwi Kiss, Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores, Memento black, copics
• Accessories: EK Success border punch, Ranger Glossy Accents (on his eyes!)

Unity Primitive Wilderness

I was busily indexing and putting away new stamp orders and just HAD to play with this new-to-me stamp by Unity, particularly given I remembered that the sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts had a large enough panel for these trees and the color challenge at Color Throwdown had natural colors including a blue for the birds!!

• Stamps: Unity Primitive Wilderness, Papertrey sentiment from Pretty Peonies
• Ink: Memento black and copics
• Paper: Stampin' Up Really Rust, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake DS and Baja Breeze dsp
• Accessories: Tim Holtz embossing folder, misc hemp and brads