Baby, It's Really HOT!!

Today was super hot...106 degrees!  I all wanted to do was to stay cool.  And looking at these Popsicle stamps, I could just taste them, brain freeze and all.  These stamps are by Stamps for Life by Stephanie Bernard.

Techno Stamper had this totally 'cool' sketch.  

Sketch Inspiration

Card Patterns For You

I started this card a few days ago.  I was stumped on what to do with the center of the circle.  Flowers? Stamped image?  So many choices and so much stash to choose from.  I picked it up today and it just came to me to start digging through my blue and red embellishments.  It's a mishmash of stuff.  I rather like it.

My sketch inspiration is Card Patterns: Sketch 169.

sketch inspiration

Enjoy inspired by Sylvia

You know me, cruising through all the many blogs that I follow.  I get inspired by so many people.  Today I was so drawn to this gorgeous card by Sylvia. 

Sylvia's Stamping Corner

 I am drawn to it mainly for the colors...green....my favorite.  But that is the sweetest part!  That is in the color palette of ColourQ this week.  Yea for me!

Color Inspiration

Cards for some great Dads

I got this rub on sheet from SEI several years ago.  It's chock full of male sentiments.  It came in a set that I got from Scrapbook Steals.  I didn't think I would ever use it.  I didn't have any reason to make father's day cards.  I didn't have any fathers in my life.  Until now.

I am always happy to join A La Card Monkey for their weekly challenge.  The design is simple, not frilly at all.  This is definitely different for me.  Being a mom of three girls, I know frilly.

sketch inspiration

Since I was making Father's Day cards, I made one for my man, who is dad to a cute little Corgi named Winnie. 

Rainbow of Color

I am so excited every time I sit down at my design area and see my stash get smaller and smaller.  At one time, I cringed at the thought of having to use a new 12x12 sheet of patterned paper, now I look forward to see how many cards I can use it on.

That is how I felt about this rainbow striped paper.  I got this free set of sentiments from My Favorite Things that I think fits so perfectly.  The flowers are dies from MFT too.  I used my circle cutter since I don't have any circle dies.

I am joining a brand new challenge to me:  Stampin' Royalty.  The sketch is very appealing to the eye, with square, circle, rectangles.  

sketch inspiration

Dance in the Rain

Raining season is over for us and onto June Gloom...only in Southern CA.  As I was looking through my (limited) stamp collection for a long sentiment, I was drawn to the umbrella set from The {Stamps} of Life.

A La Card Monkey's challenge this week is graduation themed.  Graduation was last week here so I chose to go with a different theme.

Sketch Inspiration

The color inspiration is from Dynamic Duos.  At times, it's hard to use just two colors, so it's definitely a challenge for me.

Color Inspiration

Shellibrate!

This week in the mail I got my stamp set from The {Stamps}of Life.  Oh my! I just love it...sea turtles.  What really makes this set so special is my recent cruise with my girls.  One of my daughters went to a Sea Turtle farm in Grand Cayman.
 
So this card is in her honor. 

I chose the color challenge from ColourQ.

color inspiration

The sketch is from a site that haven't participated in for several years.  It's like I just found them again, Techno Stamper: Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge. 

sketch inspiration

Unstoppable

5 months into my Journey and I am well onto depleting my stash.  This creation makes 110 cards created with my stash.  It's hard to believe that it's possible. I am UNSTOPPABLE!!!

I love participating in challenges.  I have not been able to make a large amount of cards recently so I am combining a couple challenges with one card.  I chose to enter Freshly Made Sketches and Daring Cardmakers.

Sketch Inspiration

It's so sweet that Freshly Made Sketches is having a blog hop for one of their designers, Rita that is out on maternity leave.  I am going to have hop over there and see everyone's blogs.

Color Inspiration

Daring Cardmakers June Challenge is was fun.  I chose to go with the triangles and the colors as my inspiration. 

Just a Note

I spent the long weekend camping in Southern CA.  My first time camping in CA and wasn't quite prepared for the extreme temps.  38 degrees at night and 80 during the day.  Next time I will bring warmer clothes!

Now I'm back to my craft space designing cards.  The colors that CR84FN Color Challenge are so beautiful.  It has my favorite...green! 

Color Inspiration

As I perused the blogs that I follow, I saw this sketch again and again and just loved it.  I am so glad that I had enough time to play this week in the iSpy Sketches challenge.

Sketch Inspiration

Paper Memories

As I put this card together, this mismatch of colors, stripes, polka dots, my memory takes me back where I first saw each piece.  The solid green and blue cs is from my olden days of being a demonstrator of CTMH.  The solid oranges (the middle flower petal and the paper peeking out under the cream and polka dots) is origami paper that my mom sent one of my girls who didn't want it.  The orange polka dot paper is from Target $1 bin a few years ago. The stripes along the edge and the paper the rosette are from a pack I got when I belong to a scrapbook club.  I've had these papers for years, hoarding them, not sharing them with anyone.  Now I've put them together into this beautiful card.

As for the other elements of the card, the pearls are new.  The dies for the large flower petals are from Sizzix and the rosette and border are from My Favorite Things.  These are also new.  I don't mind getting these items that I can use again and again that only help me deplete my stash.

I''ve chosen a new challenge for me this week.  Just Add Ink has this super cool sketch.  This sketch will be one that I will use again and again.

sketch inspiration

Come & Get It with Colour Create Challenges

Another mint card has been created.  Colour Create Challenge #96 colors are green, white and brown with a hint of purple/lavendar.

Green, Brown, White and a hint of Lavender or Purple.

The optional extra is
 A Metal Embellishment.

And here's the beautiful inspirational picture our talented Edna picked for us

color inspiration

The sketch inspiration is from Come and Get It May Challenge.

sketch inspiration

Minty Blue Flowers

Yesterday, the hospital called me to see if I would work an extra shift today.  I like to help my team out when I can, so I said yes.  I got a phone call at 5 a.m. to let me down easy, no, afterall, they won't be needing me.  So, today is a bonus day in the craft room.  I have big plans for today, so let's see what happens.

color inspiration

This is the first card of the day.  CR84FN Challenge #54 is my color scheme.  Mint, Blue and Neutral are the challenge.  I happen to have ALOT of cardstock in the mint green.  As much as I love green, mint green is not my favorite.  I will attempt to make more cards today with this cardstock. No promises though.

inspiration

Freshly Made Sketches #36 is my inspiration.  Such wonderful DT examples.

Very Graphic

Card Pattern Sketch 166 is the inspiration for my card.  I used that in combination with The Play Date Cafe color challenge 132 of Black, White with a touch of Mustard Yellow.  My first thought goes to bees, but to me, that's too practical, predictable.  So I went with graphic. 


The striped paper in the bottom right corner is some scrap paper as well as the checkered paper above it.  The paper on the left side is my creation.  The leaves are dies from Sizzix, punched out the inside and put it against white.  The stamps are by {The Stamps of Life} by Stephanie Bernard.  The yellow scalloped edge is actually circles that are cut in half.

Excellent way for me to continue my journey...Depleting My Stash.

Round the Corner

I broke my old corner rounder a couple weeks ago.  Well, not sure if I really broke it or that it finally died.  I've probably had that since the beginning of my journey, 18 years ago.  It has served me well.  I really liked this sketch from Retro Sketches and I had to get another corner rounder.  This morning I zipped into Joanne's and found that their punches were 50% off.  SWEET!!!  I also got some Cuttlebug texture folders that were 40% off.  What a fun day I've had.

sketch inspiration

I Did IT!! Card 100!!

I really like the sketch from Fetch a Sketch 24 so much that I made two cards from my stash.  The strips that I used where from my stash that came on a 12x12 sheet.  I had used up quite a few of them and had just a few left.  I might as well use them up on these cards.  And drumroll please....these are actually card 99 and 100!!!  Whoop! Whoop!  Why is this such a big deal?  This means that I only purchased pearls from Michael's and a small roll of purple ribbon from a 2nd hand store totally $5.30 in the making of the first 100 cards.  And I didn't use any of these products on these cards.

inspiration

I am so on track with depleting my stash.  I hope I am encouraging others to deplete their stash too.  Maybe, just maybe we can trade part of our stash with others...wouldn't that be cool?

Just Us Girls 137

Just Us Girls has a Color Challenge 137 that must have been looking at my cards this past week or so.  The colors are....are you ready?  Wait for it....wait for it...Blue and Yellow!  Can you actually believe it?

Inspiration

My card was totally inspired by one of their DT members, Lynn.  I absolutely love daisies and was do drawn to this card.  But then I used Poseys for my flower of choice.  The flowers and leaves are dies from Sizzix.  I got this oh so French sentiment from Michaels.  I used embroidery floss at the bottom.  I even decorated the inside too. 

MOJO Monday 242

Just when I think I'm done making blue and yellow cards, I find another patterned paper in my stash that is calling my name.  The only thing is, I am running out of yellow, which is WONDERFUL!!!  My plan is working....(villain laugh inserted here).  I love seeing that my stash is truly being depleted.

I love the vertical stamps that I got from My Favorite Things.  I also got the rolled rose die from there too.  I decided to cut out about 20 or so of them in a variety of colors so I can add them to cards as needed.  I added a large pearl for the center.  And to think that I didn't know what I was going to do with those large pearls. 

I am entering this into Mojo Monday 242 sketch.  I have been to their site in a while.  They always have outstanding sketches with wonderful examples.  And they are too big or busy to leave comments from the people who enter their challenges.  As a designer, I think this is very important for challenges.  We all like to have a nice little something in our inboxes for the work we are proud of.

sketch inspiration

Pure Joy

I look forward to my days off that I can design cards.  I love looking at my fellow designer's blogs and their creations.  It only spurs me on to create more.  My first card was inspired by A La Card Monkey #109.  

Sketch Inspiration

  I absolutely love this elephant, such a happy guy.

I am also entering this into Friday Mashup: It's All Ribbons and Bows.

How fun is this!

CAS-ual Fridays 53

Yep, today is Friday and I surprisingly am not working today.  I spent the day prepping my card making by cutting my 12x12's into card size and scoring the cards.  I die cut a bunch of flowers for future cards. I watched some videos. Like this one from Lynn Ghahary. It's been fun organizing but times a wasting.

My card is inspired by Lynn Ghahary.  I didn't use my circle punches to make the flowers but I did for the leaves.  That was my first time doing that.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  I tried not to overkill it with the pearls.  I added some other dies in the inside, which turned out rather cute.

I am entering this into CAS-ual Friday 53 challenge, using dies or punches.

Another Clean and Simple Card

As you can see, I am still in my yellow and blue color combo phase. I used several dies from My Favorite Things and from Spellbinders.  The sentiment is a rub on.  And I am so loving the pearls.  Still need to spruce up the inside.

 Always looking for great sketches to use up my stash.  Today I chose Clean&Simple 191.