CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #9–Krafts-Men!

Hello, Friends!

Well, you all have once again knocked our socks off with your amazing projects from last week’s Getting Edgy Challenge – OH EM GEE!!  I think you’re really going to love this week’s challenge, too.

This week’s challenge is to create a MASCULINE clean and simple card, and use Kraft cardstock in your design.  Easy enough, right?!

Our sponsor is the uber cool and extremely generous Kraft Outlet!  They’ve not only provided an amazing prize to this week’s T.G.I.F Club Winner (you’ll have to drop by the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is), but they’ve also offered you, our fabulous challenge players, 15% off any purchase if you use the discount code CASUAL (discount good until 7/6/11 at 11:59 PM EST).  How nice is that?!  Thank you, Kraft Outlet!!



I loves me some Kraft cardstock – there’s something about it’s versatility that makes creating so easy!  Hubby had asked me to create some cards for his teammates in a recent golf tournament, so I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to ink up A Muse Studio’s Swingin’ Day.  Check out that ginormous golf ball!!  If only the balls were really that big, I might be able to actually hit one every now and then!  LOL

One of hubby’s teammates was a lady.  I couldn’t leave her out, right?!  So I used the exact same layout and created a lady golfer card.  I think I like the girl one the best, but I’m pretty happy with how they both came out.

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS:  A MUSE STUDIO (Swingin’ Day); PAPERTREY INK (A Little Argyle)
INK:  FRESH INK (Pool and Tuscan Olive Pigment Ink); PAPERTREY INK (Fresh Snow Pigment Ink); TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink)
PAPER:  PAPERTREY INK (Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, and Kraft CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES:  WE R MEMORY KEEPERS (Corner Chomper); THE TWINERY (Caribbean and Honeydew Baker’s Twine); PROVO CRAFT (Swiss Dots Embossing Folder); EK SUCCESS (3/4” Circle Punch); STAMPIN’ UP (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

I can hardly wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s challenge.  I actually have another post that will go live in a few hours – so I hope you’ll come on back to see what it’s all about.  It’ll be worth it – I promise!!  In the meantime, thanks so much for your sweet comments.  They always make my day a “swingin’” one!

A Couple of Challenge Cards!

Hi Kids!

Wow!  Posting two days in a row – pretty good, huh?!  LOL  I’ve been really trying to play along with some of my favorite challenges that I’ve been missing lately, so I’ve got two cards to share with you today.


The first one is the for CARDS/CREATE Gallery Challenge, which is to create a card using lots of JEWELS.  Well, if that isn’t right up my alley, then I don’t know what is!  I recently picked up a super sweet sentiment set and coordinating rainbow and cloud die from Lil Inker Designs – are those clouds not the cutest?!  I blinged out the rainbow and stamped the sentiment on the clouds.  Easy peasy!


The second card I wanted to share with you today is another card for the Clean and Simple Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers – CAS125 – Red, White and Black color challenge.  Maya Road makes some of the most fun stamps and images, and this one is no exception, IMHO.  I stamped the typewriter image onto white CS and fussy cut it out.  I then cut out the piece of typewriter paper, and stamped the X and the O – the alphabet comes with the typewriter image.  Fun, right?!  The stamped text background is from the Papertrey Ink Background Basics: Text Style II set.


Before I head out today, I want to remind you about this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #8, which is to create a clean and simple card and use your border punches, rip some cardstock, whatever your pleasure to add a fun edge.  There are some amazing entries so far, but I didn’t want you to miss out in case you were planning on playing along with us.  You have until 11:59 PM (EDT) TONIGHT – do it!!

I plan to create a few more goodies to share with you this week, so I hope you’ll drop in again real soon!  Thanks so much for your sweet, sweet comments . . . they make me smile.

P.S. I Love You!

 

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

 

I had a chance to get some crafting done last night, and I wanted to share with you one of the projects that I created.  I love the Splitcoast Stampers Clean and Simple Challenge – it’s one of my faves, so I was glad to have some time to actually play along this week.  This week’s challenge is a color challenge – Black, White and Red.

 

I adore my Silhouette – I think I’ve mentioned it a time or two . . . haven’t really played with her since we arrived here in WA.  I recently purchased some really fun designs from the Silhouette Studio, and one of them was just begging to be used on today’s card.  I love the clean and graphic feel of the end result of this.  And it was super easy to make!

 

So, before I go, did you notice that I made some changes around here?  Yep, I got myself a brand spankin’ new blog header, sidebar buttons, siggie and watermarks!!  All thanks to the uber talented Karen Baker of The Bald Dragonfly.  I adore the clean and graphic lines and the striking color palette, don’t’ you?!  Karen was an absolute dream to work with, so if you’re in the market for a new blog design, I can recommend her without hesitation!!  Thank you, Karen, for making this my happy place!!  LOL

 

That’s it for me today, kids!  Thanks so much for stopping by – your sweet comments melt up my heart!  I’ll be back soon!!

 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #8–Getting Edgy!

 

Hola Chicas!!

 

Holy Guacamole!  You all blew my socks off with your out of this world amazing entries for last week’s Color Blocking Challenge.  Seriously, choosing my faves was super difficult!!  I love that you all are really digging these CAS challenges - this week’s challenge is another fun one!

 

This week’s challenge is to create a clean and simple project and include either a torn edge or use an edge punch or die.  Easy peasy, right?!!  Of course, there’s a fabulous prize at stake for the winning entry.  But you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to see what it is.  You’ll also find some amazing inspiration provided by the other Girl Fridays.

 

This week’s very generous sponsor is Market Street Stamps!  Market Street Stamps was kind enough to provide each of the Girl Fridays with some amazing stamps to get inky for this week’s challenge.  Oh my goodness – there were so many wonderful stamps to choose from that I had a really hard time deciding.  And are they delicious to work with – really great quality and super versatile!!  I’ll definitely be adding more of these lovelies to my collection.  Thank you, Market Street Stamps, for sponsoring our challenge and for providing us with your wonderful products – we so appreciate you!!

 

I chose one of Market Street Stamps’ backgrounds called Too Many Martinis.  So fun to work with!!  I had so much fun, in fact, that I created two samples for this week’s challenge!  For my first sample, I stamped the Too Many Martinis background using three different colors of ink and added coordinating self-adhesive rhinestones to really make those bubbles pop.  I couldn’t resist pairing this amazing background with some new A Muse Studio stamps that I had – can’t have a bubbly background without a fun cocktail, right?!!  I used a Fiskars edge punch for the upper edge of the background strip to fulfill the challenge requirement.

 

My second sample was created by masking the lower half of the card base and stamping Too Many Martinis with white pigment ink.  It’s more subtle, but still gives a great effect to tie in with the fun cocktail, don’t you think?   Did you notice the sugared rims on both of the cocktails?  Soooo fun, right?!!  And I used a scalloped border die to fulfill my edge requirement.  If you need information about any of the products that I’ve used in today’s samples, please feel free to drop me an email.

 

That’s it for me today, kids.  Sadly, I’m headed to a memorial service for our college friend today.  I’m so grateful for the many wonderful memories that I have of our friend and look forward to celebrating his life and the influence that he had on each of us.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and want you to know how much I appreciate your sweet, sweet comments each week.  You all sure know how to make a girl feel good.

Father’s Day . . . and some crappy pictures! LOL

Happy Wednesday!


I thought I’d pop in really quick and share the card that I made for my dad for Father’s Day.  Unfortunately, I got a really crappy picture of it before I sealed it up in the envelope . . . this is what pictures look like at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday night.  LOL  I don’t know why I’m such a night owl when hubby is out of town – somehow my mojo starts flowing about 10:00 p.m., and off I go!  Anyways, back to the card . . . I used a set that I bought from Geny Cassidy when she was clearing out some of her older PTI stuff.  It’s called “Out to Sea.”  My dad is a boater like no other.  I think he’d live on his boat if my stepmom would let him.  I stamp kissed the oars on my Hero Arts Woodgrain background – love how that turned out.  I’m sorry that the colors are off in the photo.  I used PTI Navy, Red, Kraft and White, but it sure doesn’t look like that in the photo!  Ugh!!


I had a really nice breakfast with my dad and my two sisters.  Since we’re hardly ever all together at once, I brought my camera, and we asked some rando smoker guy outside the restaurant to take our photo.  He kinda laughed . . . that should have been a hint that he wasn’t really excited about doing it.  Yeah, that photo pretty much sucks, too.  LOL  Sadly, it’ll probably be a while before we can get a better one.  Hopefully my dad had a good day regardless of my crappy photos.


And I hope that you all had a great Father’s Day, too!  I also hope that you’ve made some time in your schedule to play along with us at CAS-ual Fridays!  Seriously, the entries so far are ah-mazing, and I’m having so much fun checking them out!!  If you haven’t played yet, you really should – you can get the deets HERE and you have until 11:59 p.m. EST TONIGHT to enter.  DO IT!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Your kind and sweet words are what keep a smile on my face.  Don’t know what I’d do without you all.  Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #7–Color Blocking!

 

Hi Kids!

 

Wow!  We had another week of incredibly clever and delicious answers to last week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge – you all just continue to knock our socks off!!

 

This week’s challenge is something that is uber trendy these days – Color Blocking!!  You see it everywhere in fashion, advertisements, home décor – really when you look around you’ll see it in every aspect of design.

 

This week’s challenge sponsor is Crop Stop, a company that carries a plethora of die cutting folders, machines, and embossing products, among other things.  If you’re in the market for the latest die cut machines and related products, Crop Stop is the place for you.  I know there’s an amazing prize in store for this week’s T.G.I.F. winning entry, so you need to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see what the prize is!  Thanks for sponsoring, Crop Stop!

 

You can imagine that I had a freakin’ hay day with this challenge!  I loves me some clean and simple, but throw in some graphic and I’m a very happy girl!!  I was inspired by this photo that I saw on Pinterest.  I loved the graphic feel of this photo and took the colors and shapes from the photo and translated them to my card.  You, too, can be inspired by what you see around you!!  Do it!!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS:  PRACTICING CREATIVITY (Look Up Additions)
INK:  TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink)
PAPER:  FRENCH POPTONE (Blu Raspberry and Black Licorice CS); NEENAH CLASSIC (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS); PAPERTREY INK (Orange Zest CS)
ACCESSORIES:  WE R MEMORY KEEPERS (Corner Chomper); STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

 

I so hope you’ll give this week’s challenge a try – it really is a gas and has so many possibilities!!  Looking for more inspiration?  Head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog and get a load of the eye candy that the other Girl Fridays have provided for your creative pleasure!

 

That’s it for me today, chickies!  Hubby is basking in the sunshine in AZ for a week, watching some baseball (Go, Sox!) and drying out from the cold and rain here in “sunny” Washington!  LOL  So I hope to have lots of dedicated stamping time while he’s gone.  Thanks so much for stopping by today – your kind comments are the highlight of my day!

Wishing You Comfort . . . .

 

Hello Friends!

 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I certainly did – we had some beautiful sunshine in Eastern Washington, a great visit with family, and enjoyed the wedding that we went there to attend.  The bride was gorgeous!

I thought I’d pop in and share a sympathy card that I created for a friend who recently lost her husband.  We’ve all been friends since college . . . he was an amazing friend, and we will miss him desperately.  Sadly I’ve needed several sympathy cards recently, so this design has been duplicated multiple times in the last few weeks – now I just need to get them in the mail.  I was inspired by a card that I saw on Lime Doodle’s blog HERE.  I changed up the color palette a bit, as well as a few other details, but the bulk of the design is Debby’s.  Why mess with perfection, right?!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS:  HERO ARTS (Wood Grain Background); PAPERTREY INK (Turning a New Leaf and Wishing You)
INK:  TSUKINEKO (VersaMark); FRESH INK (Tuscan Olive and Dark Chocolate)
PAPER:  PAPERTREY INK (Kraft and Simply Chartreuse CS; Linen Vellum CS); FRENCH POPTONE (Hot Fudge CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES:  STAMPIN’ UP! (Early Espresso Satin Ribbon and Stampin’ Dimensionals); PAPERTREY INK (Mat Stack 1 and Mat Stack 5); SPELLBINDERS (Classic Circle Nestabilities); A MUSE STUDIO (Butterfly Die); KAISER CRAFT (Self-Adhesive Pearls); GLUE DOTS (Glue Dots); ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (White Embossing Powder)

 

I also wanted to remind you to be sure and play along with this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge.  Seriously, ladies, this week’s challenge is the most fun I’ve had in a long, long time!  Check it and get busy!  You have until Wednesday at 11:59 PM EDT.

 

That’s it for me today, peeps.  I thank you for stopping by and leaving the sweet comments that you all share with me – your words just make me smile.  Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #6–Tic Tac Toe!

 

Hola Peeps!

 

You all have truly outdone yourselves once again – last week’s entries were out of this world creative and amazing!  It was so hard for me to narrow down my faves, and I assume that the rest of the Girl Fridays had a hard time, too.  Keep those beautiful entries coming, friends – we so enjoy seeing your work and are thrilled to pieces that you’re playing along and having fun!!

 

I’m back today with the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #6 – Tic Tac Toe!  You get to choose three items to use in your clean and simple design, but you must choose them either horizontally, diagonally or vertically from the above graphic.  Fun, right?!  There are so many options and possibilities with this challenge that I think you’re really going to like it!

 

This week’s challenge is being sponsored by the uber talented and incredibly generous Tami Mayberry, who is the genius behind the Card Positioning Systems Challenge blog, as well as a brilliant designer in her own right.  Tami is also our very first Girl Friday Temp!  She has offered up a wonderful prize (it may have been designed by her – just sayin’!), but you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog to find out what it is!!  Thanks, Tami!

 

Here’s my answer to this week’s challenge.  I chose Buttons, Dies or Punch, and Emboss (the diagonal from bottom left to upper right).  I’ve listed the products used below, but I thought I’d point out a few details – the flower and leaf branch, as well as that beautiful sentiment, are from an A Muse Studio set called Wild Rose.  The polka dots are from the PTI Polka Dot Basics II set, and they were stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with clear ZING embossing powder.  The label die is Papertrey Ink.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS:  A MUSE STUDIO (Wild Rose); PAPERTREY INK (Polka Dot Basics II)
INK:  TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink and VersaMark); FRESH INK (Pink Lemonade and Tuscan Olive Pigment Ink)
PAPER:  PAPERTREY INK (Raspberry Fizz CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES:  ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Clear Embossing Powder); PAPERTREY INK (Mat Stack #4 Die and Lemon Tart Button); KAREN FOSTER (White Scrapper’s Floss); GLUE DOTS (Craft Glue Dots); STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

 

I so hope you’ll play along with us this week – I really think you’ll have a blast combining your favorite elements to create a Clean and Simple Design that will delight us all!

 

That’s it for me today – we’re headed to Eastern Washington for a family wedding.  It’ll be nice to get out of rainy Western Washington and enjoy a bit of sunshine.  Thanks so much for stopping by – I am so grateful for your time and sweet comments.  You have no idea how much they mean to me.  Have a great weekend!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #5–Sketch Challenge!

Hola Peeps!

 

Oh  My Gravy!!  The submissions for last week’s CAS-ual Fridays Graduation challenge were utterly amazing, and I, for one, am so amazed at the creativity that we’re seeing week after week.  Keep it coming, friends – we love to see what you got!!

 

This week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge is a super fun and clever sketch challenge, designed by our brilliant sketch guru – Laura Davis. (Of course, you all remember that she was one of the genius halves of the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge, right?!)

 

The Craft’s Meow has very generously agreed to sponsor this week’s challenge, which means that you all have the possibility of winning another fabulous prize – no doubt it’s a goodie!  But you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see what it is.

Here’s my answer to the sketch challenge.  Fun, right?!  I’ll list the products I used below, but I wanted to showcase just a few little things.  First, that amazing sunburst is an image from a new A Muse Studio set that I hadn’t had a chance to ink up called Grunged Sunrays.  And those clouds?  They’re made from vellum and were created using my Silhouette – oh how I love my Silhouette!!  I inked up the edges for some dimension.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS:  A MUSE STUDIO (Grunged Sunrays); PAPERTREY INK (Simple Sentiments)
INK:  TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black Dye Ink); FRESH INK (Mango and Bermuda Pigment Ink)
PAPER:  FRENCH POPTONE (Sno Cone CS); PAPERTREY INK (Raspberry Fizz and Harvest Gold CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES:  SILHOUETTE AMERICA (Silhouette Electronic Die Cut Machine and Cloud Border); STAMPIN’ UP (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

 

That’s it for me today kids!  Be sure and run right over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see the other beautiful samples that the Girl Fridays made to inspire you to join our fun challenge!  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Your sweet comments and the time you take to visit means more to me than you’ll ever know!!