Happy Birthday to You....

Hello friends!!  The week is half way over, the weekend is fast approaching and the summer is just flying by!  Can't believe I need to start thinking about getting my kids school supplies and new clothes!!  Yikes!!  

Anywhoo... have a little card I made using the current Desconstructed Sketch.  Last week I was super excited to see that Jen had picked the card I submitted to her last DS challenge as one of her weekly favorites!!  That had me smiling all day long!!  This week I'm totally bummed because I wasn't able to get the card entered in time!!  Shoot!!   Entering the card in the Flourishes Birthday Wishes challenge.  The papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Tea for Two 6x6 pad and the stamps are from Flourishes, of course. 

I hadn't done one of my litte ribbon/tag combos in a while and decided to make one for this card.  The tag was stamped using Memento Bamboo Leaves and the sentiment using SU!'s So Saffron.  The ribbon (as well as the papers) is from my July Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kit.  The buttons are from DeNami Designs and the twine is from May Arts.

Thanks for stopping by.....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft; Bazzill cream & dark red; Stamps:  Flourishes:  Country Charm Labels & Botanical Bookplates; PP:  Cosmo Cricket; Ribbon:  unknown; Twine:  May Arts; Buttons:  DeNami Design; Dies:  Spellbinders Plain & Scallop circles & Grommet Tags

CCC #5 - Pond Life...

{for my Shining the Light post scroll down or click here)

Hello friends... I back with my post for this week's CASology challenge.  This week the cue word is "pond".  All the details can be found here.   Our guest designer this week is Joyce!

Once, again, when I saw the cue word I was a bit worried... what do I have that can be found in or around a pond???   First thing that came to mind was my Flourishes set "What a Catch".  The set has this cool image of a fish jumping out of the water as it tries to catch a fly which I used on the card.  I stamped the image using Memento's Tuxedo Black ink and then colored the image with Copic markers and then added the sentiment.  The layout I used is one that I have used many, many times for cards because it is tried and true and because it adheres to the simple design principle of creating a visual triangle.   The eye is naturally drawn to a visual triangle and it is easy to create one with your image and sentiment as I have done on my card.   The main image forms one side of the triangle while the sentiment forms another side.  The third side of the triangle is made by invisible connection between the end of the sentiment and the top of the image.  Make sense???  I hope so, lol!!

Thanks for stopping by....make sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team:
Melissa, Tracey, Jen, Ardyth and this week's guest designer, Joyce!   Can't wait to see what you come up with using this week's cue word!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Flourishes; Ink:  Memento; Copic Markers

ODBDSLC118.... If You Have....

Hello friends!!  It's Tuesday and that means time for another Shining the Light challenge!!! Yay!!!  This week the challenge team is asking you to use scripture on your project.  And as this is the first challenge for August the challenge team in welcoming the August guest designer, Linda, to the challenge team!!

I have had the ODBD set "Seed Packet" for quite sometime and finally got a chance to ink it up for this week's challenge.  The layout for my card is based on the current ISpy sketch.  I love the simplicity of the sketch and felt it was perfect to help me showcase the beautiful verse from the Seed Packet set.  The Bible is full of so many wonderfl verse, but I just love this one from Matthew 17 because it is just so very true... all you need is faith as tiny as mustard seed in what God can do and nothing will be impossible!  I framed the verse with papers from the My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Citron 6x6 pad and buttons from PTI.  The fishtail banners were die cut using my Fishtail Flag Stax dies from My Favorite Things.   I added a bit of twine to the buttons to give them a more finished look.  For some reason I just don't like empty button holes, lol!!

As always, we will be giving out a prize, a $15.00 gift certificate to be used toward stamps at the Our Daily Bread Designs store!!! Entries for the prize must be submitted by Sunday, August 5th at 8:00 pm EST. One random winner will be chosen and announced on Tuesday. While it is not required to use Our Daily Bread Design images and sentiments on your projects, we would definitely love to see them if you have them!! As a way of recognizing those who do use ODBD stamps we will be choosing three or more of our participants for the Shining the Light Award. In order to qualify for this award or join the challenge, you must use ODBD stamps and have your submission added to Mr. Linky by Sunday, August 5th at 8:00 pm EST. If you upload to Splitcoaststampers or any other online gallery, please use the keyword: ODBDSLC117. When creating your post on your blog, please include a direct link to the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by... please take some time to check out the beautiful projects created by my fellow "sticks" Lori, Jan Marie, Jan, Kathy, Chris, Sabrina and this month's guest designer, Linda! To join in the fun, please click here.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & kraft; Stamps:  ODBD; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; PP:  My Mind's Eye; Buttons:  PTI; Twine:  May Arts

Less Is More and Trying Out a Trend...

Hello friends!!  Happy weekend to you!  Boy is it GORGEOUS here in Western Washington!  Just checked the forecast and it says temps will be in the 90's by evening!! Yikes... a bit too hot for me, but going to enjoy it just the same!  Have a little card I made last night, but didn't get a chance to post until this morning.   As the title of my post indicates this is for the current Less is More challenge to use blue and green.  But what is the trend I'm trying out?  Washi tape!!  I have resisted it for a while now because it is just one of those things that I like when I see other people use it, but when I give it a try my results always appear less than stellar.  Anywhoo... I decided to be brave and give it a try!

For my layout I used the current Retro Sketch.  I pulled out a favorite Hero Arts set, Antique Flowers & Butterflies because it has a little butterfly perfect for the little grouping you see on the sketch and because it comes with matching dies!  But much to my dismay I discovered that the die for the little butterfly is missing!! Ugghh!!  So instead of die cutting all the butterflies I had to cut them out!  Oh well... they still look pretty.   The Washi tape I acquired during my last shopping trip to Impress Rubber Stamps.  I think my biggest problem with Washi tape is the two rolls I had I did not buy and sometimes when I have a paper crafting item that I did not buy it is hard for me to use because it isn't necessarily something I would have picked out.  I did a bit of fiddling with the tape to get the look I wanted and so I'm relatively happy with it and may purchase another roll this week when I go to Impress to pick up some dies I had on order.  My card would also work for CAS-ual Fridays, but not sure if I will include it in their challenge.  The current challenge at A Blog Named Hero is freestyle... anything goes so I will pop it into that challenge.

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Ink:  Stampin Up! Night of Navy; Washi Tape; Hero Arts gems

thank you....

Hello friends!  The weekend is here and the weather is absolutely fabulous here in Western Washington.  Last night I took the boys to a new wave pool that opened up recently and they had a total blast.   We will definitely be going back and soon!  

Have a card for a couple of challenges:  CASE Study and ColourQ.  CASE Study is celebrating it's 2nd birthday and Chupa has lots of fun things lined up.  The CASE Study challenge this week is to create a card using your signature style.   I don't know exactly what my signature style is other than I do love to make things that are clean and simple (CAS) in style.  The ColourQ colors this week are lime green, poppy red, tangerine orange, pale pink and white.   On Wednesday I made a quick run to my favorite stamp store, Impress, and picked up a few things one of which was a new Memory Box die called Fuschia Sprig.  I used that die, along with another Memory Box die, Piestra Tile on my card.  I die cut the fuschia using lime green and poppy red card stocks.  The fuschia flower was trimmed from the red die cut and then adhered to the green die cut.  The Piestra Tile die was used on a piece of white card stock as you see.   The pale pink was brought in through the card base and the tangerine color was used to stamp the sentiment.   Adhering the fuschia was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to get it done.   And there you have it... my signature style:  clean and simple (or stunning as my friend, Sue, would say!)

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Pink Pirouette, Lucky Limeade & Poppy Parade; Stamps:  PTI Signature Greetings; Dies:  Memory Box

For the Love of Blog Hop... Makin' a Scene

Hello friends!!!  Welcome to Our Daily Bread Designs Alumni Team's bi-monthly For the Love Blog Hop.    This week the Alumni team, along with some of the ODBD designers, are featuring a hop For the Love of ODBD scenic stamps!  Check out each link and leave a comment.  If you get lost along the way, head back to the ODBD blog for a full list of links.  One of the blogs is a hop "hot spot" and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to win a $15.00 ODBD store gift certificate.  So, all you have to do is hope along and see all the creations and leave a little love!  You have until Wednesday, August 15th at 6pm to leave a comment.  Enjoy all the beautiful designs using For the Love of ODBD scenic stamps!

If you got here from the blog of the super talented Angie then you are on the right track!  My card today uses the recently released ODBD set, Cat Sympathy.   I just love the sweet little kitty sitting there amongst the flowers... so cute!!   I stamped the image using Memento Rich Cocoa and then colored the image with Copic markers.  The image was then die cut using Spellbinders plain circle dies, as was the mat.  The paper are from the My Mind's Eye Breeze 6x6 paper pad.   The butterfly was punched using a Martha Stewart punch and a few gems were added to the body.    The cardstock is PTI's kraft... my favorite!

Thanks for stopping by.... now off you go to the blog of the sweet and talented Jan!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI; PP:  My Mind's Eye; Stamps:  ODBD; Dies:  Spellbinders; Punch:  Martha Stewart; gems; Copic markers