Sending Good Thoughts-FM160, CQC#241

Hello again!  This'll be my third post today, but I wanted to get this posted before my day got away on me!  I was inspired by the totally fun colour combo over at ColourQ and the challenge at Friday Mashup to make a get well card with their sketch.

Unfortunately I can't even just add this card to my stash.  We need to cheer up a young family member who ended up in the hospital last week, and finally after a few days of tests they discovered an infection.  I believe he's still in the hospital. but will hopefully return home this week sometime.

Here's my card...

I started with a base of Pool Party, on which I embossed the Dictionary stamp in Pool Party EP.  I stamped my Chocolate Chip layer with the Hardwood stamp and heat embossed my sentiment with Gold EP on a Pool Party banner.  Topped it off with one of my many, many buttons, and a little linen thread... and wah-la... DONE!

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to take a peek!  Seeya later!

xo Anita

Stampin' Celebration! Sketch Inspiration

Welcome back to another episode of Stampin' Celebration!  It's the middle of May (already) and we're back with some more inspiration for you.  This is a brand new challenge... click on over to the Stampin' Celebration website to see who our Pick of the Party for the last challenge was!

 This time around we have a sketch challenge for you...

I'm still on the nautical theme... but that's what all this gorgeous warm sunny weather will do to you... make you dream about being out on the ocean or lake... so that's what I've got for you today!  And, sorry if you can't find the sketch in my card... I got all turned around when I decided to turn it on it's side, but then forgot to account for the elements on the lower right hand side, and put them in a different spot altogether!  Oh well... all in the name of creativity, right?

 So it's pretty obvious what I've done here... and I have to confess that while I was making this card, I totally didn't even know what I really wanted or was even doing!  I was just sort of stamping and sponging all over the place... which is really a poor excuse for a way of doing things, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!  

Be sure to check out the awesome samples from the other DT members... there's so much inspiration there!  I'm looking forward to checking out all your lovely projects in the gallery... so be sure to play along!  

xo Anita

With Sympathy

Oops... I forgot to press publish, so here's my Friday card for you... a little later than usual, but it is still Friday!

I've got a spring-y card for you just as promised.  I really enjoyed using my Mixed Bunch stamps the other day.  Here's the card I came up with.

I hope you like it.  I like to make these cards before I really need them... they seem to be easier to make that way... or maybe that's just me!

OK, see you next week!  Have a fab weekend!

xo Anita

CMCC#18-Celebrate!

Welcome to my last post as Colour Me..! guest designer. (sniff, sniff)  I have had so much fun this last month and hope I was able really inspire you to play along with the challenges!  I love challenges for stretching your creative mind.... making you do things you wouldn't normally do... in a good way!

Thank you very much Hayley and Tara for inviting me to be your guest designer for the month of April!  I'll definitely be back to play along!  I always love the colour combos you inspire us with!  And thanks for all the 'love' and positive comments from the rest of the Colour Me...! ladies as well!  We'll see y'all around!

Ok, now on to business!  It's the fifth week in April, so 'Anything Goes' at Colour Me...!  Choose up to five colours to make a project with, link it up, and list your colours in your post.

For this week, I chose some colours right off of the Colour Coach.  I used Wild Wasabi, So Saffron and Perfect Plum.  I also used Very Vanilla as a neutral. 

This card came together very easily... which was just what I needed.  I think I'm going to find some other pretty colour combos and make a few more of these!  Who wouldn't want to receive one of these spring-y cards in the mail?  I know I would!

OK, that's it for me.  Come back tomorrow to see another spring-y card!

xo Anita

CMCC#17-Happy Birthday

Good morning everybody!  Hopefully your week is going great!  Ours is an exciting one... my husband's 'baby' sister is getting married at the end of it, so those plans are pretty much taking over our lives at the moment!  I'll be grateful when it's all over and we can breathe again!  But in the meantime it is actually pretty exciting!  This is our last sibling to get married, and pretty much the only wedding that my daughters will really remember, so we're trying to make sure it gets enjoyed as much as possible!  And by that I mean new EVERYTHING, hair appointments, limo rides... the works!)  Which reminds me... I have to make them a card still... and for that matter figure out what gift they'll get!  Oops!

But in the meantime, the girls and I at Colour Me...! have another challenge for you!  This one is so much fun!  I just love these colours!  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Here's what I came up with!

I used my Mosaic Madness stamp set and my SAMJ (obviously!) I could never have managed to do all that lining up with goofing up somewhere along the line!  So this is what I did... the top row, which is partly off the card, I double stamped with Pacific Point.  The next row I just stamped regular, which resulted in a little less intense colour.  Then Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, and Coastal Cabana.  The next row I stamped Coastal Cabana off once before stamping on the card, and the very last row, which is partly off the card and so light you can barely see it on here, I stamped off twice before stamping on the card!  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out... I should be, I took forever doing it, making sure I would not goof up!!!  The die cut is from Memory Box... the Happy Birthday Tidings... I just cut all the little leaves and flowers and birds off to get just the words.  I stacked five of them on top of each other, coloured the top one black, used my clear Wink of Stella pen, and topped that with a coat of Glossy Accents!  I just love the shiny, wet look that resulted!

OK, click over to the Colour Me...! challenge blog to check out all the details and other FABULOUS cards from the other design team members!  I can hardly believe my time as Featured Designer is almost up... I'm so glad there are 5 weeks for April!  Yay!

SC77S-Mid Month Inspiration!

Hello everyone!  I'll be short and sweet today!  I'm off on a school trip with my oldest daughter!  I've been sort of MIA lately and it's all due to this wedding we have in the family and the house that the bridal couple is renovating... or I should say... the house they have everyone else renovating!  Just kidding... but man oh man... it will be nice to settle down after all this excitement in a couple of weeks!  Anyhoo.... let's get to what you came for...

It's the middle of the month (already) so the ladies and I over at Stampin' Celebration have some sketch inspiration for you!  Click on over to their website so you can find all the ins and outs of how you can play along, and check out all the other DT samples as well!

Here's what I made... and forgive me... but these cards are hard to take a picture of without looking all wonky!

This card had a few firsts for me!  First time for that Watercolour Wonder DSP as well as the Circle Card Thinlits die!  Yes... I've had it for awhile, but just haven't had a chance to play with it.  My bad!  So it turned out pretty well after all... you should have seen me waffling back and forth over this and that, diddling around here and there... but in the end, this is it, and I like it!  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Here's a couple of other close ups... not that you really need them, but I took them, so here they are!

OK, that's it for me!  Seeya later for my Colour Me...! post!

Happy Birthday! CMCC #15

Welcome everybody!  Today I have another colour challenge from Colour Me...!  This is my second week guest designing for them, and I just love the colour combo they have chosen for this week!  So fresh and fun!  It reminds me of our week in Mexico last November!  Ahhhh....

At first I had in mind to design something in MDS using pictures from our Mexico trip... but I'm a little too busy designing something VERY COOL for my hubby's youngest sister's wedding.  And that is coming up in just over two weeks, so I am totally focusing on that in MDS.... and on nothing other!  Rest assured... I will show you when I can!

So instead of warm tropical vacations I have a bright flowery card for you instead.  Take a peek!

Isn't it a bright and cheerful card?  I only used the two colours from the palette, but I also did some second generation stamping to give a little background and depth to the flowers.  I also used the Vines EF from SU! on the Daffodil Delight panel, but you really actually don't see it much.  Oh well... it adds a little interest, doesn't it?  I agonized over what colour to stamp the sentiment in. Bermuda Bay... Black... Bermuda Bay... Black... and in the end I stamped it in Black because it drew my eye better than the Bermuda Bay, which just made it sort of blend in with all the flowers!  So there you have it!  A quick and easy card, but a beautiful one nonetheless!

I hope you'll click on over to the Colour Me...!  challenge blog, check out everyone else's beautiful projects, and then make some time to play along yourself!  You can find all the details here!

SC77I - My Friend

No tricks or jokes for you today, even though it is the first day of April.  But what I do have is a beautiful inspiration photo for you to kick off a new month at Stampin' Celebration.  Did you see all the beautiful entries last month?  Wow... and now we can't wait to see what you all come up with in April!

Look at this... 

Isn't adorable?  There are so many different directions and options you could take!  The colours for instance, or the bunny and the eggs for an easter themed card, or the tree stump and the vase of flowers... I let the colours, the tree stump and the butterflies and lace inspire me to come up with this card...

What do you think?  How did I do?

Now, we want to see what you will do with this inspiration photo!  Go check out the Stampin' Celebration blog and the other ladies beautiful projects, get crafty and then come back and link up your creations so we can see shat you've done, and for your chance to be the Pick of the Party for April!

Come back tomorrow for an exciting announcement!

xo Anita

Viva La Verve Sketch-Week #2

I also played along with the sketch for week 2 over at Viva La Verve.  Loved it!  It was so easy to put this card together, and I even pulled out some stuff that I hadn't played with in a loooong time! (If ever!)

OK, there's the sketch... and here's what I created!

My colour combo of Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay and Pink Pirouette is just lovely.  Sort of a feminine, burlap, vintage-y vibe... at least I think so anyway!  I stamped my Hardwood on Whisper White in Crumb Cake ink.  The white doily received a sponging of Bermuda Bay ink. I used my Little Leaves die, and when I was getting that out, I found these flower dies... who knew?  They are from the Birds & Blooms Sizzlits set of dies.  I finished them off with some sponging for depth, added a few pearls, and called it done!

Thanks for looking! 

 xo Anita

Gift For Baby - VLVMAR2014

I decided to play along with the Viva La Verve challenges.  I actually don't have any Verve stamps, but they're not snobby about that, so... I had some fun!  And who knows, I could be the winner of the $100 Verve voucher!  I love their sentiment stamps so much!  And  I love a challenge to get the creative ideas flowing too.  The first week of March has a sketch and colour challenge, and although it isn't necessary to combine them, I did.

Here's my card for week #1.

My Labels Framelits unfortunately don't nest that closely together, so I just cut around my white one by hand!  It turned out pretty good though.  The colour combo of Pool Party, Gumball Green and Baked Brown Sugar was perfect for a baby boy card, and there are a few ladies on our church who are expecting babies in the next couple months, so I'm sure to need one soon!

Thanks for looking!

xo Anita

Oh, Hello - DD#94

For this card I chose to play along with the Dynamic Duos.  They always seem to come up with awesome colour combos over there!

I wasn't too sure where to go with this one at first.  I wanted to go elegant (but not too!) and use the Lacy Brocade Folder for the dessert option, so this is what I came up with!

I started with Naturals White CS, layered with Black, then another Naturals CS run through the Big Shot with my favourite embossing folder.  I sponged More Mustard lightly over the embossing to give it a little more definition.  A simple fishtail banner, one of my Labels Framelits, my sentiment punched out with an oval punch, and I was done!  Let me know what you think!

xo Anita

Pssst... CCMC294, RS#106

So far... so good!  It's the first day of my spring break... and I am on a card making spree!  Our two oldest daughters are on a 'mystery vacation' with my in-laws for a couple days and our youngest is currently napping (knock on wood!).  Love it!  Although I know it can't be like this every day, I do have to do some catch up work in this house sometime!  But for now... I played along with a couple more challenges!  RetroSketches and Create With Connie and Mary.  I haven't had a chance to really play along with many challenges in the last couple months at all, so I am really loving these opportunities!

 

I turned this sketch on it's side and substituted banner shapes instead of the square shape!  I used one of the images from Summer Afternoon and coloured it in using my markers and a blender pen... and I must say... I love the result.  You may be wondering where the colour black is, well, sometimes when I am at a loss for how to add that in, I use it on the sentiment!  And in this case I also coloured the cart wheels with it.  The whole card is so spring-y looking and fresh.  I used the Pssst... sentiment on the outside and when you open it, it says... 'you make me HAPPY... thank you.'  Don't you think it sort of looks like the little dog has been hiding under the flowers and now is peeking out to say... pssst...  I think so!

Here... take a look...

Thanks for looking!  Hope you enjoyed!

xo Anita

To My Friend - PPA195

I finally played with my Hexagon Hive Framelit for the very first time!  I love that thing!  Now I just have to search around and see if there is a better way to get the paper to release from it!  Pretty finicky I tell ya!  Here's the challenge from the Pals Paper Arts I wanted to play along with this time!  I love the colours... they were perfect for my card!

Using my Big Shot and various punches, this card came together in almost no time at all!

I first stamped my Hardwood stamp on my So Saffron card base and another piece of cardstock that I then ran through my Big Shot with the Hexagon Hive!  I aligned it on my card base to match up the stamp, and adhered it with dimensionals.  I used my Little Leaves Sizzlits to cut a few little branches, stamped my Flower Shop flowers and punched them out with my Pansy Punch.  To finish it off I stamped my sentiment on a white banner.  Wah la...such a pretty card!

That's it for me!  xo Anita

Many Thanks! CQC#232, FabFri37

I played along with the challenges at ColourQ and FabFriday today!  I loved the sketch at FabFriday, it was different... and different is good!  And the colours at Colour Q were a challenge to say the least.... not because of the combo, but rather because I had about 6 square inches of Lucky Limeade left!  I very carefully fit my Word Bubbles Framelits on it, and then used my SAMJ to stamp on them!  Perfect!

You may be wondering where I got that small framelit on the bottom right, well, it's really the same as the one above it, I just ran it through twice to make it a bit shorter!  Finicky... but it worked!

Well... I would say that was a great use of the very last little bit of my Lucky Limeade.... lucky indeed, wouldn't you say!

See you soon for another card!

xo Anita

You're How Old? FMS127

Hi again!  This is my second post today, so I'll be quick!  I wanted to show a quick and easy card I made using the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches!  I used washi tape for the horizontal panel, and a stamp and matching die cut for the vertical one!  Lots of white space is certainly out of my comfort zone, but I LOVE the finished result so much, I made three of 'em using other washi tape I had.  Take a quick peek!

I think this one using the brushed gold cardstock and gold ink is my favourite!  So simple and easy, but so beautiful!

Here's the sketch I used!

And here's the other two cards I made using the same sketch... now I have a few on hand!

Just by changing the colour combo it is so easy to change the entire look, making it perfect for an adult, a little girl, or whoever you please!

OK, seeya later!  My in-laws are taking our two oldest girls and two other cousins to Vancouver Island next week for a couple days, so hopefully I'll be able to get in my stamp room while it's a little quieter around here!  We'll see!

xo Anita

SCIC#76 Sketch Inspiration

Ahhh... how I love Spring Break!  Today is of course still Saturday, but in my mind I am now officially on my two week Spring Break!  No school till March 31!  Yay!

Today also marks the new sketch inspiration at Stampin' Celebration!  See what I made!

I felt like some spring colours, and went with a bright, fun combo I've never used before!  The card base is Strawberry Slush and the embossed white panel is matted with Smoky Slate. LOVE!  Some Coastal Cabana and Crushed Curry ribbons, finished off with a couple Bermuda Bay flowers!  I seriously whipped this card up in 20 minutes from start to finish!  

Here is the sketch.  You can check it out and all the other DT members inspiring samples over at Stampin' Celebration!

Speaking of DT members... we are thrilled to have two very talented ladies join our team.  Let's give a warm welcome to Heather North and Lynda Day.  Definitely go check out their blogs by clicking their names.... they've got talent!

OK, so now it's your turn to get your creative juices flowing, and play along with our challenge!  You can either use the sketch, or the photo inspiration from the 1st of the month, or even a combo of the two!  Let's see whatcha got!  Bring it on... cards, 3D projects, scrapbooking, digital, hybrid.... whatevah!  Have fun!

Oh, we do have a couple changes to the challenge... you'll get sneak peeks of the challenge and projects the day before a new one comes up and the challenge is also open for a few days longer than before.  So... get creating and link up your stuff before the end of the day on the 27th!  We love to see your stuff!

Oh, Hello!

Happy Friday!  We're beginning day two of our long weekend already!  Today is the day that I will get into my stamp room!  But first, I'll quickly show you a card I made!

This one is very pretty, isn't it?

It's pretty self explanatory, so I won't bore you with any chit chat!  What a nice soft, spring-y card this would be to send to someone 'just because', don't you think?

I am blogging and designing over at mydigitalstudio.net today.... click on over to see some more spring-y inspiration!  Leave me some love!

Have a fabulous weekend!  Hope you get some crafting time in!  

xo Anita

Oh, Happy Day!

No school for us today!  Not due to the weather of course... but our teachers have a Pro D Day, so that means kids and bus drivers have the day off too!  Yay!  No school tomorrow either... also due to a Pro D Day!  So, after a three day work/school week for us, I will hopefully be able to make some cards or get some more scrapbooking done!  One can only hope!

I've got a cute little notecard to show you.  I made a set of these for my husband's grandmother's 89th birthday on Christmas Day.  She loved 'em!

These were just the cutest things when they were done.  They were 4x4, so still plenty of room to write a happy message in to brighten someone's day!  Hope you like 'em too!

That's it for me... with the kiddos home, time is shorter than usual!

xo Anita

I'm Back!

Yes... after a few weeks hiatus... I am back!  It actually felt sort of nice to just focus on a few other things for awhile.  I was doing some crafting, but not a ton... mostly design team projects.  I do have a lot of cards to show ya'll... ones that I made during the Christmas break of all things!  And the last few days I've finally had some time to really get back into it again, so there are a few more recent ones.  I won't show them all in one post... my computer would probably crash!

Let's get started!

I STILL had some Sweet Pea Stitched Felt Accents from a couple years ago.  I decided to stop hoarding that now was as good a time as any to make some pretty cards and use up some retired cardstock at the same time!  They're pretty simple cards.  Some of them are personalized with a monogram for some of my nieces birthdays.  They all use pretty much the same colour combo and  I used a variety of current and retired supplies, which is pretty much the norm for me anyway!

Check them out!

This one I cased from somewhere, something... but seriously, I made this in the Christmas break, so I couldn't tell you anymore who or what!  To be honest I can't even remember what punch I used for those leaves!  (although it must have been the Build a Blossom punch!) 

This one was for my niece, Anna, who turned three a few weeks ago!  You might think this isn't a very fun card for a three year old... but she's a real little lady!

You can see I'm using up some of my Old Olive grosgrain ribbon too!  That stuff just seems to last forever!  I used my Cloudy Day EF on this one, and it was VERY cute when all was said and done!

 

Surprise!  (for me!)  This one was for my daughter Carlye who turned 9 in January, but I forgot I even had this till right now.  I totally gave her a way different birthday card!   And there are no other nieces whose names begin with "C".  Oh well, there's always next year!

And this last one was sent off to Katie, another niece, who celebrated a birthday at the beginning of January!

Don't you just love the way they all turned out?  I was pretty pleased with my morning's work!  Yes, these all took me just one morning to make!  That's what happens when you use the same group of supplies to make a lot of different cards... you get efficient!

OK, that's all for me for right now!  I'm going to try to get some more cards up here for you... because believe me... there are plenty!  Seeyou later!

xo Anita