For a friend...

This card is to honor a friend's incredible milestone, and I hope it's worthy! I used Just Add Ink's 90 Sketch Challenge for this one, and I absolutely adore the way the whole thing fell together...

And the sketch:

Sweet Birthday

I was just going through my latest pics, and realized I completely forgot to post my niece's 1st birthday card... the challenges I used are long expired now, but I thought I'd share it anyways ;)

Also, check out this fun blog candy on another blog, Melissa's Stampin' Voila

Mojo Monday 211 and Inkspirations 93

Today is my Dad's birthday, so I finally had a chance to use the lighthouse stamp I found, specifically for him last spring. Of course, shortly after that, Stampin' Up! released a set with one, but this is what I have ;)

The Mojo Monday sketch had a rectangle, just the right size (after flipping the sketch), and the Inkspirations color challenge was PERFECT for the lighthouse, and my dad's taste... although I swapped the Cherry Cobbler for Cajun Craze and Riding Hood Red ;)

And here are the sketches...

Free stamp set with 2 Simply Sent card kits!

This is a fabulous offer for all my class lovers, who love to make cards, but don't want to buy all the "stuff" or depend on their own creativity... easy peasy, but still personal, handmade cards, with a free stamp set. (No limit either... buy 4 sets, get 2 stamp sets... buy 6, get all 3 stamp sets!) Just throw in an ink pad and adhesive and you're good to go!

Here are the 3 Simply Sent sets and the 3 stamp sets, It's Your Day, Everyday Wishes, and You're Cherished, available. Please contact me directly to order though, as I don't have a SU website yet. Thanks!

A BIG SHOT deal for October!

Promotion Details: During the month of October, you can have the BIG SHOT for free (or choose up to $125 in products of your choice) when you purchase one of the starter kits and become a member of my team.

It's a perfect opportunity for a HOBBY STAMPER who loves our products to test drive the amazing discounts and perks of being a demonstrator. There's no commitment to sell and you will get the benefits until at least the last day of March 2012! Also, for those of you who already have a lot of the tools in the Starter Kit, you can get the Digital Kit instead, and get the My Digital Studio software, and a bunch of stuff to build your stash :)

DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS AMAZING DEAL

Taking Advantage of the Product Bonus

* Purchase a Starter Kit during the promotional period AND you will receive a Sizzix Big Shot Machine or $125 in Stampin' Up! products of their choice from any of our current catalogues.
* Click here to see the 2 different kits (They are semi-customizable as well)
* Once you pick and purchase a kit, you will be able to select your product bonus through the website approximately one hour after.
* Shipping is free on the kit AND on the bonus you choose! WOW
* Ensure that your free total comes as close as possible to $125 without going over since the Promotional Product Bonus order type will not allow items beyond $125 to be added to the order.
* You will have until November 30, 2011, to redeem your product bonus.
* You have the option to substitute a Textured Impressions Embossing Folder ($9.95 or less; see pages 218-219) for the Always Bird Décor Elements (p. 233) that comes standard in the Starter Kit.

As a member of my team, you will be able to take advantage of the demonstrator perks and privileges until at least March 31st, 2012….which includes Sale-A-Bration….our biggest sale of the year!

If you're interested, please contact me, and I'll help you get started.

Paris in the Fall

Just playing with some the beautiful new fall papers and stamps. I ended up with this sanded, linen postcard from Paris for the SUOnly 98, Pals Paper Arts 115 and Techno Stamper 195 challenges...

The SUO challenge was Leaves, PPAs was this fall picture below, and Techno Stamper's was this great sketch...

Birthday Pennants - Workshop Card #2

No challenges used here... just wanted to use all 5 new In Colors for my group who hasn't seen anything since our June class ;) The base here though, isn't Lucky Limeade, it's Pear Pizazz. The other card we'll be doing has the lime.

Creating Pretty Cards #4 (And Oct. Workshop card... yes ladies, it's coming soon!)

The lovely ladies at Craft Project Central have another challenge up, and as always, I love it!!! I was so excited that it had a prominent circle, which gave me the perfect chance to try my hand at this accordian flower (also called a medallion, or a lolly, on various blogs).

Here's the sketch:

Card Patterns Sketch 134 & SPCC Color Combo #119

I have a 2 year old boy's birthday party coming up this weekend, so I used the sketch at Card Patterns, and the colors at SPCC, which I think is my new favorite color combo (for now, lol)...

I had a little glitch with the greens, so it's not perfectly coordinated, but I think it still turned up pretty well... I don't have Lucky Limeade ink yet, so I used Pear Pizzaz, which is a good stand-in. BUT, I didn't realize until I was looking at the pictures I took, that the scrap I used for the green layer was actually Wild Wasabi, so now there are 3 different greens posing as one :P Oh well!

Here are the challenges:

Inkspirations #88 & Sunday Sketch and Stamp 74

I know I said my farewell to summer stamping already, but this color scheme from Inkspirations brought them back out for me... I should learn to never say never, especially when it's about something I love so much ;)

And the inspirations:

PaperWorks Co. #97 & SUO Challenge #28

Here's a cute, but simple, Fall card for StampinUpOnly's fall colors challenge, PaperWorks Co.'s sketch challenge and LateNightStampers fall challenge...

And here's the sketch...

Creating Pretty Cards #3 and Color Roundup #48

This color combo from Rubber Redneck was so far out of my comfort zone, I almost didn't try it, but I decided to give it a go and stretch myself. I did fall back on a sketch challenge from Craft Project Central I enjoyed earlier, and one of my favorite stamp sets though, to make it a little easier on myself ;)

And here are the challenges that inspired me:

JAI 86 & UDI Color Challenge 54

I haven't had a lot of time for crafting the last few weeks, so now that I'm jumping back in, I'm doing a bunch of challenges, just to play and get my mojo going again... so here's a random card, for the Just Add Ink sketch challenge and the Utah Divas International color challenge.

Here are the sketches:

Multi-Challenge Baby card

While I'm waiting for my friend's baby girl to be born sometime soon, the LateNightStampers Yahoo group challenge for the week happened to be a baby card, so I decided to make this one in advance. I also used the Color Throwdown color challenge, the Stamping 411 sketch and the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge to use embossing...

I love how the Stitched Stockings stamps and punches can also be used to make baby socks (and hobby horses too... coming here soon!). I also had fun going a little overboard with the embossing, to play it up for the challenge. I brayered the Stripes folder with Early Espresso to emboss the back layer; a Texturz plate on the Regal Rose square, and the Perfect Polka Dots on the RR scallop. A little smooch spritzon the EE scallop circle (from the Perfect Pennants Die) to give it some bling added one more layer of interest.

SPCC #117 & Super Sketch #98

One of the few things I can say I like about summer ending, is that it means Christmas is getting closer... next to Summer, Christmas is my favorite season. So, having done a "farewell summer" card in my last post, I decided to play with my new Holiday Mini goodies and make a Christmas card. I wasn't ready to go whole-hog and use red and green yet... gradual transitions here ;) Although it feels a little silly posting this now, since the sun has made a bit of a reappearance today, but oh well... it was cold and gloomy last night when I made this!

I used the colors from Scrapmaster's Paradise (but I swapped Crumb Cake out for Soft Suede, so I could use this Beau Chateau DSP)

And the sketch came from PaperWorks Co.