Fall Flowers...

Well, again, this card ended up totally different than where it started from. As I tell my daughter, Kim, "This road will take us to where ever it is going!" But I like the results, not the color scheme I would have picked, but it is good to get out of the box and try something new!

I worked  really hard to use all Stampin' Up products, well, except for the background. I sponged natural white with a Chai tea bag (after I made a cup to drink) then I sprinkled it with instant coffee granules. My card wasn't as wet as it needed to be so I misted it with water and then it melted into the card stock. I dabbed with a paper towel (wish I had skipped that part). It looked too flat so I wrinkled it up while it was still wet. Then I mixed a little water with summer yellow re-inker and spritzed again. I dried it with a heat gun and then stacked a heavy box on it to flatten it out some. I also spritz it with Vanilla Shimmer to give it some glitz. I got this idea from The Pixie Cottage tutorial posted today.

I am entering this card in the following challenges -

365 Cards, Day 171, Wacky Color Wednesday to use Brown, Grey, and Yellow. Be sure to check out the DT card too - that's my daughter Kim!  (insert one proud mama!  :)

I used the Clean and Simple Sketch for the layout.

Incy Wincy Designs to use yellow.

Let's Ink It Up FIRST challenge is Anything Goes with a twist - I guess it's a lemon twist because they want to see some yellow!  Good luck with the new challenge!

The Pink Elephant to use ribbon and sparkles - look close (enlarge pic) and you'll see the 'smooch'!

Res-Q Challenge is looking for therapy ideas! Well, I tried a new technique on the card and that was fun and wrinkling the card stock was really good therapy!

Speedy the Cat's Challenge at Mark's Finest Papers is to make a Harvest Card.

Thanks for stopping by!  SAM

Sit On a Pumpkin!

No not really! It's the quote I used by Henry David Thoreau. What a hard card to take a picture of...just couldn't get the light or the focus quite right. Uhmmm, wait a minute, it's an automatic focus...enough said about my camera skills!

Here is the card...

This is another card by Designed to Delight Digital Stamps, Happy Harvest. I received this digi free by participating in last week's challenge. You can grab this from the store if you would like to join in. Whatever you decide, be watching for the first free digi she gives away at the beginning of the month and then join in for a free digi each week. Along with D2D, you can also use the digi to join in Double Delight to make a clean and simple card. Her definition of CAS is to make it less than an hour. I hope that doesn't count all the time it takes me to make up my feeble mind including the time I keep changing it!  LOL! I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in that pumpkin patch...

I went with a non-traditional fall color scheme by following the Color Create Challenge to use the following picture for an inspiration, being sure to include ivory, duck egg blue plus one other color, I went with mellow moss although it doesn't show well in the pic.

I also am entering this in the Fab n' Funky Challenge to use your favorite colors. Besides the Mellow Moss, I used Soft Sky from SU!. Too bad it's retired, I LOVE IT!

The sketch I followed is from Card Patterns Challenge and is shown below.

One Stitch At a Time asked for punches, took me 3 different tries to settle on the leaf border. Also for Alphabet Challenge "P" is for punches.

Enjoy your day!

SAM

Back to School!

Once upon a time there was a lady with 3 boys! One day, her youngest son started Kindergarten, her middle son began his first year in high school and her oldest is heading off for his last year of college. What a spread of years for these young men!

Anyway - I made a card to welcome the youngest to Kindergarten, decided her middle son would have his feelings hurt if he didn't get one (after all, I was there when he started Kindergarten, just didn't make cards back them) and then I knew the oldest would enjoy a card from Mrs. McDonald, since he started Kindergarten the first year I started teaching Kindergarten! Whew, shouldn't have said all that, it's making me feel old!

So here is the card I made for the oldest son:

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

The Cat's Pajamas for the color scheme of denim, kraft and candy apple red - gorgeous!

Hand Stamped Sentiment to follow this inspiration photo.

Pals Paper Arts to KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie) challenge, make it a masculine.

Hand Full of Stamps to think of September and October, I though about back to school.





The next card is for the son starting High School - Go Knights!

This card is being entered in the following challenges:

Treehouse Thursday Challenge  - Back to school theme

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge is looking for a man's world.

Stampin' for the Weekend is going back to school

ABC Challenge is focusing on the letter A, which for my school district is going back to work/back to school!

The Wildflower Patch wants embossing

Sentimental Sunday is anything goes!

Friday Sketchers to use their sketch
Alphabet Challenge to use ovals for 'O'
The Shabby Tearoom to use the soft, neutral and shimmery colors in the photo or the theme ... or BOTH!

And the final card is for the youngest son, one that I made sometime ago so I won't be entering it in any

challenges.

Thanks for stopping by!

SAM

A Sweet Happy Birthday...

A cutey of a Teddy Bear from Delightful Inspiration. This little bear digi is free this week and if you enter your card, you'll get another free digi next week. I didn't play along in July but I'm hoping I make it every week this month. To go along with this challenge, you can also use this digi to play at Double Delight Challenge which this week is challenging with the sketch I used. I also used the following challenges for inspiration on this card...

Joan's Gardens inspired the pink/white color theme and the 4 punched corners. She asked us to use a MS corner punch but allowed other punches if you didn't have one. I have several MS punches but alas, no corners!

Stamp Something Challenge with a photo inspiration with a lot of pink at a birthday party.

Sweet Stampin Challenge to be "Pretty in Pink".

And, Tuesday Throwdown to use a monochromatic color theme.

To embellish the following challenges were wonderful inspirations...

Fab n' Funky  to be spotty, dotty, and stretchy stripes.

Raise the Bar Challenge to use 'Pearly Whites"

Cute Card Thursday "Whateva!"

Cas-Tastic Wednesday Challenge to CASE a DT member, I chose Karen!

Crafty Card Makers is spotlighting punches, of which I used several, the circles and corners.

Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps to use patterned paper.

Stampin' Moments to make it round, I did circles and rounded the corners of each layer.

Pile It On to use butterflies, bees, or bugs

Frosted Designs to 'Celebrate Life'.

By the Cute and Girly to zoo animals, wild animals and even animals in fiction.

Challenge Up Your Life also is challenging us with a Celebration theme.

Charisma Cards wants Teddy Bears.

Corrosive Challenge is having a baby theme.

Creative Card Crew wants to see 'Cute and Girly!'

Flutter By Wednesday is an open challenge.

Penny's Challenge says 'Anything Goes'.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

A Posie and A Pocket...

Well, after a short vacation (to SU! 1010 Convention and a vacation with my DD Kim) I finally made a card! A pretty simple card but it still took me all day to get it done! Thanks Kimmy for your encouragement to get my creative juices flowing...

This is a pocket card, the white insert pulls out, just a great place to leave a little note. The flower is made by punching heart shapes and sticking them to a 'sticky circle'. All supplies are SU! except for the brad and the heart punch I used.  I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Curtain Call Challenge at Stampin' with Stacy with the colors in the following picture -

The sketch I used is from Our Creative Corner as shown in the following picture -

The next challenge I was inspired by is the challenge at Artful Inkables to 'Think Pockets'.

And to embellish the card I used the following challenges for inspiration:

Craftalicious  to  make your own flower

Cooking It Up with Katie to follow the recipe buttons, bows and blue

Everything But the Kitchen Sink to use buttons

Fab 'n Funky to use buttons and bows

The Anything Goes Challenge to use Punches

Alphabet Challenge to use Nature and that would be the flower

The Dutch Dare Card Challenge is anything goes

and Paper Play Challenge is also anything goes

Before I sign off I want to show you a 'not so good' picture of the card fronts I made for Stampin' Up 2010 Convention in Salt Lake City, Uhaul, oh, I mean Utah - the GPS had some sound system disorder in pronouncing words!

It was so much fun swapping and meeting so many fellow stampers. I decided before convention that I want to take the card fronts I collected in my swaps and attach them to Card Stock to make compleete cards for Operation Write Home. That is next on my to-do list, oh yeah, and go back to work this week...oh well, all good things must come to an end and I really used this summer for a vacation!

A Summery Birthday Wish!

Got out of my box to make a card with bright summery colors for a challenge at Delightful Sketches and for another color challenge at Dancing In Pajamas to use golden yellow, lime, and raspberry.

The cute little fairy is from Wild Flower Patch Kids called Flower Fairy Daisy, isn't she a doll? Reminds me of Kim as young child and the angel costume she wore...LOL! and the wish circle is from Designed2Delight! I am also entering this card at Double Delight to pitch a tent card and use the free wish digi from D2D.

This also fits the following challenges that helped me put this card together:

Flutter By Wednesday to include a butterfly, fairy or angel.

Bee-Crafty to make it 3D, the fairy is suppose to be sitting on the ribbon, so I bent her a little and popped out her legs.

Gingersnap Creations to use a fairy  

If the Shoe Fits to incorporate wings

Mark's Finest Papers to use a die cut, I used the rectangle nesties and the big scallop

The Pink Elephant   to use 3 layers, 2 die cuts (I used 2 die cut shapes, hope that works) and 1 ribbon

Card Positioning System I used their sketch, love the skewed panel!

By the Cute and Girly to think of warm summer days

Crafty Calendar to think of summer

Rosie D's to think of summer birthday

The Town Scrapper to make a tent card

Cute Card Thursday to remember, school is out, think summer!

Thanks for stopping on this "thanks goodness we're getting some rain" day!

SAM

365 Cards, Day 129, Aging the New...

AND I'M THE GUEST DESIGNER!

Oh yeah, I am helping 365 Cards celebrate achieving 1000+ followers. Pam decided to give the DT a vacation for this achievement (because we know the 1000+ followers are here due to their extraordinary talents!) and one of the DT members happens to be my daughter Kim who referred me as her replacement. It's hard to believe that Kim and I ventured into Blog Land just one year ago. I was looking for away to 'challenge' my card making skills by doing challenges on Splitcoast, then I discovered 365 Cards and pretty well made a card everyday for about 3 months. I told Kim about it and she said she was too busy (with work). But bless her heart she tried it and the designing bug bit her hard and she has been on 2 design teams!!! Now here it is one year later and she is celebrating her year with a Whopping Candy Party and I am celebrating by being invited to be a Guest Designer on 365 Cards!

OK, on to the challenge set before me (oh, by the way, before I accepted Pam's offer, she had to promise not to drink any of her special coffee!) The challenge is to: "age” your card using elements that were not originally created that way.  Just what I like to do!

So this be the front-

And this would be the inside-

I used a lot of Tim Holtz distressing ink and a distressing too to rough up the edges.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge -

Inkspirations Color Challenge

Crazy 4 Challenges - to use 2 or more ribbons
Magical Crafts Challenge - Flower Power
One Stitch At a Time - to use lace, ribbons and bows
One Stop Craft Challenge - to distress
Sweet Stampin Challenge - pearls and pins
Crafty Card Makers - use ink/stains/mists of some sort (I used SU! vanilla spritz on the flower, doesn't show well in the picture)
Pile It On - to use your favorite, I love to distress and the Tim Holtz distress ink pads are getting a good work out!
Wee Memories Challenge - a free for all challenge

Thanks for stopping by and thanks Pam for laying off the coffee!

Even Dogs Celebrate Independence Day and Freedom!

Especially our dog, Buddy! Get him on a trail of mice and moles and he's off! Of course he has to drag his Master (my DH) along with him for the hunt...what fun to watch those 2 guys digging in the dirt!

On to my card. This is my one and only card for our upcoming 4th of July Celebration! Thought about making a typical American Flag image but this cute doggy from Inktegrity caught my eye and he really does look a little like Buddy when he was a pup. Well, except for the tail. We rescued him and somehow or someone snipped his tail off. He still has just enough to wag and let us know he is happy.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Gingersnap Creations - Shades of Blue
365 Cards, Day 122 - Shades of Blue
Stampin Celebration - Red, White and Blue Inspiration Picture
Curtain Call Color Challenge - Red, White, Blue and Kraft
Wee Memories Suchins Challenge - Red, White and Blue
Meljens Designs - Red, White and Blue
The ABC Challenge Spot - X is for Xtra dimension (Doggy/Flag popped up)
The Allsorts Challenge - Embossing (red and blue are Cuttlebugged embossed)
I Love Digi Challenge - Embossing (red and blue are Cuttlebugged embossed)
One Stitch At A Time - Stars and Stripes
Heart 2 Heart  - Patriotic card with stars and stripes
Paper Cutz Challenge - Use Circles, Stars of Squares, any color theme
Penny's Challenges - something with a dog (Awe, Buddy, that's you!)
A Spoonfull of Sugar Challenge - cards with animals
Practical Scrapper - use a border punch (white scallop)
Paper's Pals Arts - Inspiration Photo of Fireworks in the sky
Card Patterns - the sketch I used
For Fun Challenge - Patriotic Card showing your country spirit
The Cuttlebug Spot - Independence with embossing
Sew Many Challenges - anything goes

Here's hoping everyone a safe and fun 4th of July!