Two Cards

Today I have a couple of cards to share that were inspired by Maile Belles in this post. Love her simple, classic style. The small flowers are from the Papertrey Ink "Sending You" set, and I stamped them in Stampin' UP! Calypso Coral adding Ranger black enamel accents to the flower centers and attaching with dimensional adhesive. The card bases were stamped with an Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card in Versamark. The "buttons" are a Sizzlet die layered and covered with glossy accents.

It sure feels good to be stamping regularly again. Thank you for stopping by.

Hugs!

The Classroom WCMD Challenge 2: Pinterest Inspired

      The second challenge at Ellen Hutson's "The Classroom" for World Card Making Day was to be inspired by a the Pinterest photo to the left. Being drawn immediately to the pattern on the bedspread, I chose a stamp from Impression Obsession and stamped it in white and clear embossed it. Then, using Distress Ink's Spun Sugar and Papertrey Ink's Winter Wisteria, I applied ink to the card base. The white embossed image resisted the inks and gave me the look I was going for. I chose black for the sentiment to bring in the black pillows from the photo.

Thank you for visiting.

Hugs.

World Card Making Day 2012; Challenge 1, Holiday Greetings

                                                      

I'm thrilled to finally get some play time in my "rubber room" and participate in World Card Making Day! It seems like forever since I made a card.

In honor of WCMD, "The Classroom" is hosting a day of challenges from some awesome designers with a prize of a $150 gift card to Ellen Hutson's store up for grabs. 

The first challenge was to "create a holiday greeting", and since Julie used a collage of holiday sentiments on her sample card, I took the "greeting" part of the challenge literally. Starting with a Tim Holtz alterations folder, I created an embossed greeting layer and colored with a real red marker from Stampin' UP! a couple of the words for emphasis. Then I die cut a poinsettia using Spellbinder's dies, adding some gold bling to the center. A scrap of ribbon for leaves and a cherry cobbler card base and done! Whew! Boy am I rusty! But it definitely feels good to get inky.


Thank you for stopping by.

Hugs.

A Little Birdie Told Us....

My niece is expecting her second child, and this is the card I sent to the happy couple. The adorable owl is from Whimsy Stamps, and I colored him with Copic markers. Very CAS.


Anyone going to Stampaway in Cincinnati this Friday night or Saturday (or both)? It should be a great show!


Thank you for stopping by.


Hugs.

Stamp-a-Faire Limited Supply Challenge Entry

Your challenge is to create a project using the limited supply list provided below.  You can choose to re-create one of the designer projects or design something all your own.

These are the specifics that were provided to each of the team members.  You can use as many or as few as you like and any inks you prefer.  You may also add in dies, twine or glitter if you desire. Please do not use any other products besides those listed below, however you can substitute the Natural Beauties stamp set for another floral set if need be.

• STAMPS: Natural Beauties only (or another floral set as a substitute if needed)
• PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Simply Chartreuse
• RIBBON: Hawaiian Shores Bitty Dot
• BUTTONS: Simply Chartreuse

For my entry, I chose Pretty Peonies since I do not yet have Natural Beauties. Thanks for stopping by.

Stamp-a-Faire 2012

Hello!!!! PTI stamp-a-faire 2012 is here, and I cannot wait to see what Nichole and the design team have planned for us! 

Re-thinking Those Ribbon Scraps

Another CASE. This time Kim Kesti is the inspiration. Just when my ribbon is feeling neglected and the scraps preparing to be tossed. Now I'm re-thinking those leftovers. I think this makes a great masculine birthday card. What do you think?

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set called "Live Life".

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good one.

Happy Birthday, Garrett!!

Tomorrow my youngest grandchild turns one. I say this with every grandchild, but I can't believe he's a year old already. They grow up way too fast. I wish he lived closer so we could see him more often.

The inspiration for my card today came from this awesome card by Laurie Willison. It's a great layout that you'll be seeing from me again. If you've never visited Laurie's blog, you should definitely take a peak. But be prepared to spend some serious time there. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Hugs,

Colleen

It's Your Day

Does anyone else create a complete mess of their desk and entire surrounding area for one little card? Geez! Anyway... this card was born from the chaos of my "creative process" in making Carol's birthday card posted below. Same leafy branch, a Hero Arts cling background, PTI sentiment, a pp scrap and a teeny butterfly from SU.

Have a great evening, and thank you for stopping by.

Hugs,

Colleen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!!!

Today I want to wish my girlfriend, Carol, a very happy birthday!! Have a great day, sweetie! I'm so-o-o looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks. 

Because Carol is such a talented card maker, it is a challenge for me to create a "Carol worthy" card, but this is what I came up with. The gingham background and leaf branch (stamped twice) stamps are from Impression Obsession. I hand cut the banner and mat to accommodate the image. 
Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you'll pop over to Carol's blog and wish her a happy birthday. I know she would love it.
Hugs!

Trying to Jump Start the ol' Mojo

Although I have been spending time in my "rubber room", I can't say I have much to show for my efforts. Several Copic colored images, some random die cuts, and even some labels with stamped sentiments, but nary a completed card in the bunch. Very frustrating. Sometimes when I have difficulty getting a card to come together, I simplify. For me, a one layer card with a die cut and sentiment doesn't seem to stress me out like combining and layering patterned paper.  And it feels good to actually finishing something. So today, it's baby steps ... again.

Thank you for hanging with me.

Hope Your Birthday is a Slam Dunk!

This card is the result of a customer request for a basketball related birthday card. I downloaded clip art for the goal and used a Stampin' UP! basketball that I cut out and popped up. I printed the sentiment in an appropriate font and colored it with copics and then stamped the envelope to coordinate. 


Thanks for the visit today.


Hugs,
Colleen

Simple Colorful Banner Birthday Card

The title says it all. The banners were created from scraps of SU! patterned paper and wrapped over a piece of twine that I tied into bows at each end. I'm thinking now I wish I'd rounded the left corner or corners . . . hind sight blah, blah, blah.

Quick Card, Quick Post

Today got away from me, but I wanted to pop in real quick to share my one of my latest creations. The chevron background is from Impression Obsession, stamped using white ink on crumb cake card stock. The flower is a stamp with a coordinating punch from Stampin' UP! and my all time favorite SU! item. It is stamped in Poppy Parade and the seam binding was colored to match with a Copic. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and the scallop border was created by using a heart border punch and turning it upside down, resulting in  the mini scallop look. 


Thank you for stopping by.


Hugs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVAN PAUL!!!!!!!

My very special, sweet, grandson is 5 years old today!! I can't be with him, but will try to make up for that when I see him. Evan, Nana loves you and misses you so much! And I hope you have a wonderfully special day.

Wine Labels

I love wine. I also love to gift wine. What better way to thank a hostess than with a nice bottle of wine? So I've been making wine bottle tags using Papertrey Ink's wine bottle tag die. And I just received the latest wine stamp set and dies from My Favorite Things, so expect more of these in the future.

You can't see them too well, but there are small crystals on the earrings and crystal effects on the wine glasses and grapes.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy Birthday, Laura!!

Okay, yes, it's been awhile since I've posted. Sorry about that. I have been stamping; I've even taken photos of my cards, just not taking time to edit and share. Then yesterday a sweet girlfriend said she missed my posts, and I realized I missed posting.


This birthday card for my girlfriend, Laura, has very little stamping, but showcases my latest obsession love - dies. The window box, ivy and flowers use Memory Box dies. The window was created with a square punch and a rectangular piece of card stock. (My Madison Window die is on its way, he he.) The bird die is from My Favorite Things, and the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is from PTI. I'm rethinking the cloud....it seemed like a good idea, but seeing the photo, I wish I could snatch it off. Oh well. Laura seemed to really like it.


This card was fun to create. I've gotten so comfortable with the clean and simple style, it's nice to change things up a bit. Hope you enjoy it too.


Thanks for stopping by. Please don't give up on me....


Hugs,
Colleen

Sending A Smile

I just realized I hadn't shared this card. It was inspired by Lisa and if you've never been to her blog, you simply must go take a peek. Just be prepared to spend some time there. She's just plain awesome and beyond talented.

Snoopy is a Stampabilities stamp (I added the smiles to Snoopy and Woodstock) colored with Copics, and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Thank you for the visit!

Hugs,
Colleen

Way to Go - Emily!

A quick post of a card I'm mailing to my beautiful, smart daughter....one of them that is. The sentiment and card stock are from Stampin' UP!, and the balloons were made with a Martha Stewart punch. The border die is from Sizzix. Gotta run!

Thanks for the visit!

Hugs,
Colleen

One-Layer Wednesday: Two by Two Plus Masking

So pleased to be able to participate in this week's OLW challenge and to post it on the first day! The challenge is to use two images, two colors and masking. Sentiment is optional but must be in one of the two colors. Hmmmm... As I'm typing this I realize I may be stretching Susan's parameters a bit with my brown "image"/sentiment. I picked out two stamps  (image=stamp, right?) and never gave it another thought until I typed the word "image"... Can the solid header/title count? 

My two colors are SU! Early Espresso and Lucky Limeade. The stamps and twine are from Papertrey Ink.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate the visit.

Hugs,
Colleen

Less is More #55: Use Punches and Die Cuts

This is my second entry for the challenge this week at Less Is More. This card uses four different die cuts!  I love flower dies and punches and probably absolutely own more than my fair share, but that's ok =D This flower die from Papertrey Ink is one of my favorites, as is the large scallop die. A big thanks to Carol for coming to my rescue with this ribbon. The original 1/4" gingham I tried was way too narrow. In the picture it looks like I need to straighten and loosen it a bit though.

I appreciate the visit today and hope you'll come back soon.

Hugs,
Colleen

Less is More, Week #55: Theme - Use Punches or Die Cuts

As always, Mandi and Chrissie have a wonderful challenge this week on their blog - to use punches or die cuts. I chose two Martha Stewart punches for this cas card using multi layers vs. foam dots and creating a pompom for the party hat from twine. So simple! 

Thank you so much for taking time to visit.

Hugs,
Colleen

Happy Birthday, Harper!!

A BIG Happy Birthday wish to our granddaughter who's turning one today! Miss you and hope you had a great day, Harper Marie!

Less Is More Week 52 - Sketch

52 weeks of Less is More Challenges! I'm so happy to participate this week as LIM celebrates its first year of challenges supporting a clean and simple genre. Thanks Chrissy and Mandi!!

This week's challenge at Less is More is a sketch.

We were to adhere strictly to the sketch, keep the rectangular shape, in landscape orientation, with the band in a vertical position.

My card is a Valentine and uses Stampin' UP! and Papertrey Ink products.

Thank you for stopping by to see my card.

Hugs!

 

Papertrey Ink January 2012 Blog Hop!

I am thrilled to join Papertrey Ink in their first 2012 Blog Hop! It's a step in the right direction for me as I resolve (again) to participate in more challenges.

The directive from Nichole:  This month, in honor of the New Year, we are challenging you to pick your favorite project from 2011 and share it with all of us. To take it a step further, you are challenged to create a second card that is inspired by the favorite project you select. Your new version of an old favorite could carry over the color scheme, the layout or the stamp sets.

                                            So here is my inspiration card from 2011:  
           

And the new card.....

Using almost exclusively Papertrey Ink products (minus the heart punch), I opted to use the Take Three die to mimic the squares from the inspiration card and make a Valentine.

Have a great day, all, and thank you for stopping by.

Hugs,
Colleen

Thanks So Much

Today's word is "motivation" since this card was created solely for the purpose of utilizing this Papertrey Ink flower I've had on my desk for weeks. I love this flower (what's not to adore?), and it was time for it to have a home. The background texture is from a PTI impression plate, and the sentiment, label punch and ribbon are from Stampin' UP!. To mat the label, I simply punched an additional label in yellow, cut it in half and attached it to the sentiment along the top and bottom. Sheer genius, huh? But probably not my genius.

I should now be much more productive with that flower no longer taunting me . . .

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope it's been a good one for youl

More Flowers

This stamp set from Hero Arts with matching dies is a new favorite of mine. The thank you card's layout is similar to Elizabeth's birthday card from my previous post.Sentiment from Paper Smooches (another fav)

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs,
Colleen

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!

A special wish today to my beautiful daughter, Elizabeth, on her birthday!! I hope your day is as wonderful as you are, sweetie. Love you!