SPCC #40 & Inspiration in Action Weekend Sketch Challenge 122

Bound for Los Angeles, California in T minus 12 hours. Yay!!! A bunch of girlfriends are getting together to celebrate Jennifer's stagette. I'm very excited to get away. I'll be gone till next Wednesday so I had to stay up and play this week's SPCC challenge. I haven't missed a week since I stumbled onto the site and I won't let a little vacation get in the way! I decided to pair it with Gretchen's Inspiration in Action Weekend Sketch Challenge 122. It's the first time I've played with Gretchen's sketches and I loved it!! Here's my take on both challenges. 

So Khuno got groomed on Tuesday at Fabulous Furballs and I was a little disappointed this time around. Fabulous Furballs is one of the few places that teaches students how to groom pets. So if you let the students take a stab at your pet it's 50% off! Normally they do a great job but this time he basically came back shampooed and blow dried. He didn't get his winter coat thinned out like he normally does and he was still shedding a ton! Oh well. For $35 it was still well worth the money to have him smell all non-dog and lovely! We did, however, decide that his furry "speed lines" behind his legs/elbows needed to be trimmed. After a few snips with my craft ribbon scissors, I went a little cutting happy and trimmed his belly and his bum too! His little bum is so cute now! It's perfect round and bobs back and forth when he walks with his now very tiny legs! Here's a little shot for your enjoyment!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!! Talk to everyone in a week! =)  

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Trendy Trees, Oval All

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Really Rust

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Really Rust, Whisper White

Embellishments: Eyelets, dazzling diamonds, Pretty in Pink gingham ribbon

Tools: Large oval punch, scalloped oval punch, Crop-a-dile, Big Shot, Textured Background Plates, Perfect Polka Dots Impressions folder

PPC-CC #5 & SFYTT March 20

So what does one do on a Monday off of work? Well today I managed to wake up at 10:00 (not bad considering I set my alarm for 9!) and do dishes and a load of laundry, including folding 2 loads from last week! I also mustered up some lunch for Jamie and I and before Jamie had to return to work, I left to meet my friend Daisy to help her pick out some interior/exterior items for her new house. Now we bought an older home, 41 years old to be exact and never had the "luxury" of picking out all the little details of our home. I always complained about this to Jamie and wishing that we'd bought new after seeing many MANY gorgeous new homes that friends and family are in. Well after today's experience, I'm glad I didn't buy new! She got denied her exterior colors because neighbors on either side already picked a gray siding so she can't pick ANYTHING in the gray family. The two homes also chose white trim so she can't have that either. She really wanted a white trim with dark gray siding but now she may have to settle for a semi-dark blue with an off white/yellowy trim. But the kicker? Even though she is settling for a color that she didn't even want in the first place, the darn blue siding is a $2000 upgrade! I was floored! We did our own siding last summer and most of the materials came to just over $2000. Pure robbery! There was also a bunch of things that were upgrades that cost 15 arms and 19 legs. It's ridiculous. Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm happy with our house (and if Jamie is reading this... I'm happy for now). Anyways so I was happy that I had time this evening to make another card. Here's my take on this week's Sketch For You To Try over at Jen del Muro's blog and Megan's Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo. Did you know Megan is having her first Design Team call? Pop on over to her blog (unless you're creations are waaaay better than mine.. JK!!). If you haven't already tried making one of those scrunchie flowers, give it a go! Super easy peasy. I just punched out 5 scalloped circles on Pretty In Pink DSP and scrunched them up over and over again. To finish off, I just put a rhinestone brad in the middle, sprayed some shimmer mist over it and scrunched some more! That's all for tonite folks! Thanks for stopping by! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Happy Everything

Ink: Elegant Eggplant

Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink DSP, Elegant Eggplant, patterned paper (Costco!)

Embellishments: Rhinestone brad, shimmer mist

Tools: Scalloped circle punch

PPC-CC #4 & FTL 83

Another quick post as now it's no longer 1:00 AM but 1:12 AM!! Like I mentioned in my post from 12 minutes ago, I'm cutting it super close this week to challenge deadlines. These cards combined PPC-CC#4 and Clean & Simple's Fall to Layout #83. I just found my love for Not Quite Navy and realized that I only have about 4 sheets of it left. Yet another thing to put on my next order. I am quite happy with how the cards turned out because I got to use the new punch I got with the bird & branch. (Total side note: I'm so tired I typed "girl" when I meant to type "bird"...I know... What the heck right?) Now I know the flowers from the Pretties Kit don't look Lavender Lacey but I swear it is! I just dyed them using the ink pad. They were even darker when wet and when I went to dry them with my heat gun there was smoke everywhere! That same card also looks splotchy but it's because I sprayed some bling bling glimmer mist on there. After making a few cards using white as the base, I'm really loving how it looks and I think I'll be making more cards using that white base. If you're wondering what the heck white thing is under the Pretties flower on the left card, it's actually a leftover felt flower I had cut that was sitting on my desk for about 3 months. Ok 1:20 AM, time to hit the sack!! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes 

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Lavender Lace

Paper: Whisper White, Not Quite navy, Lavender Lace

Embellishments: Pearls, Shimmer Mist in Frost White, Pretties Kit

Tools: XL 2 step bird punch, scallop trim border punch, scallop border punch, 

SPCC #39 & Sketch Girl 14

Boy I sure am cutting it really close this time around for this week's challenges. I had finished a few challenges this afternoon but my computer went wonky and wouldn't let me upload them from my camera! Anyways I'll keep these posts short and sweet because it's already 1 AM!! I've never tried using a sketch from Sketch Girl before but I've been a follower for some time now and it's about time I gave her awesome sketches a try! I love how they are a bit busier but yet, still really clean and simple. And this week's colors at SPCC are just so bright and cheerful! I rarely use Cameo Coral and I have no idea why. But paired with the right colors and presto! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Trendy Trees, Great Friend

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Summer Sun

Paper: Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade (I think that's what it's called!)

Embellishments: white embossing powder

Tools: heat gun, SU markers, paper snips

PPC-CC #3 & Design Team Call

Yay I can't believe I actually managed to get another challenge completed before  supper! Supper will suffer since I used my time to craft instead of cooking so we'll be eating frozen pizza... Yikes. Good thing I did that boot camp on Wednesday night! Megan started her new color challenge blog a few weeks ago and I've been lucky enough to participate in every one so far! She's on a roll with the challenges, going from biweekly to weekly and now even offering prizes! You probably already guessed it but when challenge blogs go that hardcore, they often require a design team and that's exactly what Megan is calling for. I've never given it a second thought to apply for any design team but I was talking to Jamie about it and it'd be a great thing to keep my butt in line with making cards. I also got to read about some of the great things being on a team can do. You learn new things, improve on your card making skills, and meet new blogging friends. Everything is a plus! So this card will be one of my submissions. If you're looking for a new challenge blog or even bigger, a new design team, check out her blog! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Of the Earth, Vintage Vogue

Ink: Basic Black craft ink, Rose Red

Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Rose Red

Embellishments: black embossing powder

Tools: Scor-pal, heat tool, 1 1/4" square punch

Fall To Layout #82 & SPCC #38

Well I've tried to be productive on my day off before having to work this weekend but I haven't accomplished very much at all! I set my alarm to wake up at 8 AM and of course I managed to snooze and wake up at 10:30. Why do I do that to myself? Instead of just setting my alarm for a decent time to wake up, I always set it waaaay too early and end up like today. Having 5 minute snoozes from 8-10:30!!! I think somewhere in my zombie sleeping state, I reset the alarm for 9, turned it completely off at 10 and finally woke up at 10:30. I'm really hoping to get a few challenges completed before the weekend because I've got a load of things on my to-do list and it doesn't help that I work the entire weekend and I lose an hour! Here's my take on this week's Clean & Simple Fall to Layout #82 and SPCC #38. I loved the sample card for the Fall to Layout challenge. It's a great example of less is WAY more. I'm going to gun for another card before I need to walk the dog, get dinner ready, shower.. You know, the other essentials other than stamping! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Congrats, Of the Earth, Petal Prints

Ink: Versamark, Dusty Durango

Paper: Soft Suede, Bashful Blue

Embellishments: Pearls, soft suede grosgrain ribbon, white & clear embossing powder

Tools: heat gun, scalloped border punch

Welcome Baby!

It has been a crazy busy week with work and after work engagements. Today I was convinced to go try out Survivor Bootcamp with a couple friends who are doing it. One of them wants to get fit for her wedding and the other is part of a wedding. I realized a few things tonight and one being that I have really really crappy muscles. The class meets Monday and Wednesdays for 1 hour. I almost died about 20 minutes in!! Many of the exercises I couldn't even do a modified version. I literally couldn't even keep my legs up to do a crunch or do another flippin' lunge. And 5 pound weights... way too heavy! I'm glad I didn't sign up for the boot camp and only took advantage of a one-time guest pass! 


Now on to another matter that has been making me super urked. If there are any nurses out there in Alberta reading this, I'm sure you're just as ticked as I am. Our collective agreement ends this month so negotiations started on Monday. Our union had put together a one-pager of requests to present to Alberta Health Services. It was short and sweet but AHS quickly turned that down threw a punch in our gut, face, and you can even say the ovary took a good hard hit. Not only do they want us to sign a 4 year agreement with 0% pay raises, they want to cut us on RRSPs, vision, starting salaries, axing benefits for part-timers that work less than 2 days a week and casual staff will always remain in the probationary period and "...can be terminated without cause and without recourse..." The list goes on and on! You name it and they want to cut it. Probably the worst point they presented was: "Delete the requirement to have a nurse in charge of each unit. One person may be in charge of more than one unit with no requirement that person be a RN." And yes, doing so is actually much more unsafe than it sounds. You can find more information on our United Nurses of Alberta website. 


Onto better news. A coworker at work just had a little baby boy!! So congrats to Christine! Here's a little baby card that uses the ever so cute Little Angel stamp set in the mini catalogue. You can find directions on how to make it at Lauren's blog. We made this super easy and cute card at Penny's workshop 2 weekends ago. For the little sleeves, instead of cutting strips of paper, I punched out 2 pieces with the word window punch, glued it down and trimmed the round ends off. 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Little Angel

Ink: Bashful Blue

Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Embellishments: Eyelets, shimmer mist in Frost White

Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, Crop-a-dile, Perfect Polka Dots impressions folder, Big Shot, word window punch, large oval punch

Color Throwdown #82 & Fall To Layout # 81

Another lazy Sunday for me today! I ended up sleeping in till 12:30! It was fantastic. I only woke up because Jamie woke me up. I've been trying to clear out a bunch of the random scraps I have laying on my table. I don't have a great system to store DSP scraps so they just end up sitting on my desk. I also have a bunch of card stock that's been cut that I "file" on my desk. A few nights ago I was hoping to participate in this week's Color Queen challenge, so I cut up 2 cards and decided to bling them up with some shimmer mist I made. The first card I used Platinum shimmer paint and the next card I used Frost White shimmer paint. So the first card picture is my take on Clean & Simple's Fall to Layout #81 and Color Throwdown challenge #82. I was in such a mindset to use up the two scraps of Night of Navy that I used that instead of Not Quite Navy. And I don't have any DSP in Ruby Red so I cheated yet again and used Real Red DSP. Hopefully I don't get my hand slapped! 

Here's what I did with the other half of my Night of Navy card stock with the Platinum shimmer mist. You  might not be able to see it but I got to use my Liquid Pearls again! This time I figured out what went wrong with the last time I used it. When it comes out, it sort of looks like a pile of poop or ice cream swirl so you're supposed to tap the paper to round it out. Being totally foolish I tapped it upside down and wondered why the heck it wasn't working. Well that only made it MORE poop/ice cream swirl like. You're supposed to hit it from the BOTTOM of the paper! So this time worked out better. Have a great Sunday! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Very Thankful, Fresh Cuts

Ink: Craft Whisper White

Paper: Old Olive, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, So Saffron, Ruby Red, DSP in Old Olive & Real Red

Embellishments: Liquid Pearls in Lemon Yellow (Ranger), Shimmer mist in Frost White & Platinum, white embossing powder

Tools: 1" & 1 1/4" circle punch, heat gun

Butterflies All Around!

Now how sweet is the new Beautiful Wings embosslit from Stampin' Up? I love love it and if you haven't already bought it, do it now!! It's been on backorder for over a month now so get your order in and wait in line! Here's a few projects we made at the last two workshops I held. 

This photo album is super easy. Cut out 2 sheets of card stock for the base (7 1/4" x 5") and score the top sheet at 1" in for the spine of the album. The cover white sheet on the cover is 6" x 4 3/4". The rest is up to you! I opted for brads to hold everything in place on the side but I wouldn't use anything less than sticky strip! The inside I used some translucent medium envelopes from Stampin' Up. 

Can you tell how much I love Rich Razzleberry? This pop-up card tutorial can be found on Splitcoaststampers. Instead of cutting a slit along the middle of the card for the "pop-up" section, I saw on someone's blog a couple years ago to use the word window punch and punched out a slot so my "pop-up" piece didn't have to be flat. Alrighty, off to bed! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps:Baroque Motifs, Asian Artistry, Very Vintage jumbo wheel, Vintage Labels

Ink: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Versamark, Rich Razzleberry

Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, So Saffron, Basic Black, Basic Gray

Embellishments: Organza ribbon, silver brads, Iridescent Ice embossing powder

Tools: Big Shot, Textured Background Plates #4, scallop trim border, Beautiful Wings embosslit, scalloped circle punch, heat gun, large oval punch, word window punch

PPC-CC #2 & FTL 80

Yay!! I'm actually posting before midnight! That's a huge accomplishment! I must say, setting up my crafting station in front of the television has REALLY helped me with my crafting. There have been so many nights where I've laid on the couch growing eyes like a potato. Then one night I realized I could craft AND watch TV at the same time! It's been working out great so far, except for those nights where I don't even have time to watch TV! Now I spent today's TV watching session creating a card for Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo #2 and I combined it with Clean & Simple's Fall to Layout #80. 


I had leftover Old Olive DSP laying around from a workshop that I had a couple weekends ago and was trying to find a use for it. I know my card doesn't match the sketch completely but I got to use up 2 sheets of my scraps! Three cheers for using up scraps! When I first stamped the main image, I was planning on coloring with some blender pens but then had an even better idea! 

I stamped everything out a couple times and cut out each piece and popped them up with some dimensionals. I think it turned out great! And to top it all off, I used even MORE scraps. The only thing that wasn't scrap was the main Soft Suede card base! Now that definitely deserves a pat on the back. 

Now before I sign off, I wanted to let you know what show I was watching tonight! Other than my beloved Criminal Minds (which has got me dreaming some pretty sick stuff), I'm totally hooked on Showcase's Drop Dead Diva. It's a show about how this skinny model "Deb" dies in a car accident, gets up to heaven and refuses to "die" so pushes a button and gets sent back to earth in a size 16 "Jane". I'm not sure why I'm hooked. It may be because I think the main character "Jane" is absolutely gorgeous or maybe because I really want "Jane" to hook up with "Deb's" boyfriend. He has really quite handsome and he's super sweet. I'm always such a sucker for love stories where the characters that should be together aren't and I just wait and wait to see if they finally make it back together. I think that's why I got hooked onto The Office with Jim and Pam (who by the way, are having their baby on this Thursday's episode!!!). Have a good night and boy, I think my photos are looking better! Always a plus! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps:Happy Moments, Happy Together

Ink: Stazon Jet Black

Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Kraft, Old Olive DSP

Tools: Corner rounder punch

SPCC #37, SFYTT Feb 27

Boy oh boy it sure is LATE! I've been crazy busy lately and haven't been able to post very much last week. I was busy prepping for a workshop for my good friend Penny and it was SUPER fun. I'll post more on the FIVE projects we completed another day! Here's my attempt at this week's SPCC color challenge combined with February's last SFYTT! There's some GREAT blog candy to be won and you still have a few more days to participate in all four SFYTT. 

I attempted to do an emboss resist technique where I stamped the Pumpkin Pie card stock with Night of Navy with the Fine Flourish stamp. Then I stamped the damask (is that what it's called?) image from Friends 24-7 and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I sponged Brilliant Blue all over the card stock and wiped off any ink that was on the embossed image. Now some may think that I cheated and used brown pastels on the tree branch but I actually mixed some Brilliant Blue and Pumpkin Pie together. Alright, it's super late and I need to catch some ZzzzZ's! Hopefully I can participate in this week's Stampin' Royalty challenge before the deadline is up! G'nite! 

Card Ingredients

All items Stampin’ Up unless indicated.

Stamps: Friends 24-7, Fine Flourish, A Little Birthday Cheer

Ink: Night of Navy, Brilliant Blue, Versamark

Paper: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Night of Navy

Embellishments: So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, eyelets

Tools: Big Shot, Texture Plates Kit #4, Modern Label punch, Coluzzle, Crop-a-dile, heat gun, paper distressing tool