Friends and Labor Day

It's Monday!!  We have a Friends of Speedy TV challenge for you.  It's number 35 and today's theme is Labor Day.  I don't really celebrate it because I am always too busy celebrating my own birthday.  The long weekend is usually my birthday weekend and after forty plus years, I associate this holiday with myself and the beginning of school.  Only once in my education can I remember starting school on my birthday.  However, I have started school twice on my birthday since I began working for a school district.  This year my birthday falls on the holiday so I won't have to resume work on my special day.

 

Today's card is a birthday card in honor of how I think about the Labor Day holiday!  Why don't you play along with the challenge and maybe win a prize next Monday.  The set that is up for grabs is the fun set called Fabulous Dogs!!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

 

Details - Stamps: Lighthouses (MFP); Paper: Chipboard (MFP), Deepest Mahogany (MFP); Ink: Rich Cocoa, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso; Accessories: Nestabilities, Distressed Stripes ef, sponge dauber, scor-tape, linen thread, stampin' dimensionals, Copic & Touch Twin Markers.

 

Friends and Beaches

Good Monday morning to you!  I am up early today practicing getting ready for school with my soon to be first grader.  She's a touch resistant to giving up her cartoons, so I'll have to give the report on how it went later.  Today's card is for the current Friends of Speedy TV challenge number 34.  The challenge is to create a beach themed card.  I chose to use the set called Island Life for my card today.  I colored and cut out my main image and then trimmed around the sail, just enough to let it poke out of the oval shaped die cut.  I matted it and then created a base for it to rest on!

I hope you will find the time to play along with us at the Friends of Speedy TV.  If you do, you may win a great set called Background Fun.  Here's a peek at this set: 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Details - Stamps: Island Life (MFP); Paper: MFP, Basic Black; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Copic Markers, Nestabilities, paper snips, black burlap string, Square Lattice ef, corner chomper, stampin' dimensionals.



Oh Crab - Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's

August Blog Hop!

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Lesson Learned Featured August 14
Bring on the Sun Featured August 15
Tree Greetings Featured August 16
Oh Crab Featured August 17

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on August 18, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday August 17, 2012.

Isn't she the sweetest little fish that you have ever seen?  I thought she was darling and so I took a picture.  Just kidding, I made my layout look a bit like a polaroid picture and gave it a caption.  I inked up just a portion of a sentiment for this card.



Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to head to Tangii's blog now.

Details - Stamps: Oh Crab (MFP), Paper: Favorite Natural (MFP), Turquoise (MFP), Basic Black; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Copic Markers, paper snips, corner chomper, stampin' dimensionals.

Tree Greetings - Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's

August Blog Hop!

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Lesson Learned Featured August 14
Bring on the Sun Featured August 15
Tree Greetings Featured August 16
Oh Crab Featured August 17

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on August 18, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday August 17, 2012.



When I saw this gorgeous tree, I just knew that I had to hang a tire swing from it. I drew in the ground around my tree and added a little greeting to round it out.  I had a tire swing as a kid at my grandparents house and our sweet little neighbor has one in her front yard too.



Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to head to Tangii's blog now.

Details - Stamps:  Tree Greetings (MFP); Paper: Favorite Natural (MFP), Always Artichoke; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Copic and Touch Twin Markers, Scallop Edge Punch, black eyelet, stampin' dimensionals.

Bring On The Sun - A Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's

August Blog Hop!

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Lesson Learned Featured August 14
Bring on the Sun Featured August 15
Tree Greetings Featured August 16
Oh Crab Featured August 17

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on August 18, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday August 17, 2012.



Today's set has some of the most amazing sunflowers in it.  Can you believe it?  I colored and cut out a couple of the sunflower heads and then accented with a little bee.  The country feel of the sunflowers called me to use some gingham on my card too.  I finished up by covering the flower centers with some crystal effects and some mini glass beads. 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to head to Tangii's blog now.

Details - Stamps:  Bring On The Sun (MFP); Paper:  Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Recollections Autumn dsp; Ink: Tuxedo Black;  Accessories: crimper, MM edge distresser, paper snips, crystal effects mini glass balls, stampin' dimensionals, Copic & Touch Twin Markers, square punch.

Lesson Learned - A Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's 

   August Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Lesson Learned Featured August 14
Bring on the Sun Featured August 15
Tree Greetings Featured August 16
Oh Crab Featured August 17

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on August 18, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday August 17, 2012.



Here is my sample for today's set called Lesson Learned.  I had some fun with that stack of books.  I stamped it a couple of times, color them with primary colors and then punched them out.  Next, I sandwiched my sentiment between the books (like book ends) and threaded some taffeta ribbon through an oversized eyelet.  I finished off my ribbon with a burlap twine bow.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to head to Tangii's blog now.

Details - Stamps:  Lesson Learned (MFP); Paper: BG Basics White, Basic Black, Favorite Natural (MFP); Ink: Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Crop-a-dile, jumbo eyelet, black taffeta ribbon, burlap twine, Copic markers.

 

Friends and Colors

Hi and welcome to Monday!  It's time for another Friends of Speedy TV challenge and this week it's  a color challenge.  If you are keeping track, he challenge number is 33.  We are using pink, green and cream or gray.  I opted for clean and simple this week.  (Big surprise there, right?)  I embossed an oval, stamped my image, colored it with pencils and then stamped my sentiment.  A couple rounded corners later and I was done.  This should be a very exciting week for Mark's Finest Papers as it's another release week.  Stay tuned for some really great images starting on Tuesday!!

While you are waiting, you will want to play along this week.  The stamp set up for grabs for one lucky participant is called Blessings.  Here is what it looks like. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Asian Delights (MFP), Oopsy Daisy (MFP); Paper: Very Vanilla; Ink: Basic Gray: Accessories: Colored pencils, corner chomper, Nestabilities.

The Road Home Inspires

Today, I played along with one of the Flourishes Release Week challenges.  It was tough to get good pictures of the "country roads" around my home.  I did take this picture and I am a little bummed that my roses don't show up hardly at all.  They are the teeny tiny bit of red near that closest telphone pole on the right side of the road.  I want you to know this because we were to draw color inspiration from our country road.  I didn't use my colors in the same proportion as my photo.  I used kraft for the drying grass on the side of the road, gray for the road, yellow from the lane dividing stripe, red for my nearly invisible roses and of course a touch of green for all the glorious trees in my photo.

Here is my card.  It's as rustic and down home as where I live. 

I stamped the wheat for all the tall grasses you see on the road.  I inked up half of my butterfly to get a profile to fit into my design.  I used the burlap twine as a natural fiber found around our little hobby farm.  That sentiment just seemed to fit for today.  Calm is a good summary of the tenor of our home today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Beauty in Nature (Flourishes), Hello Hyacinths (Flourishes); Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler, unknown dp; Ink: Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, burlap twine, corner chomper, Linen & Canvas impression plate (PTI).



Sneaky Peek Apple

Hi there!  Today, I am sneaking in a shot at a new image and sentiment from Mark's Finest Papers.  This darling apple and sentiment are from a set called Lesson Learned to be released next week.  After playing with the Color Challenge Design Team at Splitcoaststampers for a whole month, I knew I had to play along with this week's challenge too.  The colors were Old Olive, Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple.  I didn't have Midnight Muse, so I substituted some Not Quite Navy.  I switched in some Rose Red for the Raspberry Ripple. I think it worked well.  For the little bit of sheen on my apple, I just sanded down my patterned paper.

We didn't have a great start to our day today.  We got a call from my BIL, who is a local police officer, and he warned us that one of our neighbors had been vehicle prowled during the night.  Sure enough, we had too.  We only lost a small flashlight, but the sense of violation is the worst.  Unfortunately, some of our other neighbors lost a substantial amount of property.  I hope the sheriff's department is swift in their identification of the prowler and recovery of our neighbor's stolen identification and property.

Sooooo, to correct the course of my day, I plan to do some crafting!!  Laundry, veggie picking and cleaning can wait a few hours.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Lesson Learned (MFP); Paper: Whisper White, BG Basics White, Raspberry Tart dsp, Sweet Pea dsp, Patterns Pack dsp; Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive, Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, blender pen, paper snips, sanding block, corner chomper, stampin' dimensionals.

Friends and Chalks

Welcome to Monday and I'm so glad you stopped by to see what the Friends of Speedy TV are up to today.  The challenge for this week is to use chalks on your card.  Let me tell you that some challenges are harder for me than others.  Today's challenge really pushed me.  I have a hard time with the feel of the chalk on my fingers.  I could get ink on my hands all day long and not bat an eye, but chalk makes me just want to cringe or go running for the sink.  I feel the same way are dried dirt on my hands.  Thank goodness for gardening gloves!!  I colored with my chalks and my blender pen. 

Anyway, you came to see my card!  I stamped my images and trimmed down my card to fit.  The I colored the image with my blender pen and my chalks.  When I was finished, I took my "messy" Versamark pad (the one I reserve for techniques) and inked up the whole card front and then embossed it.  I like this because it intensified the colors a bit and sealed in my chalks so I won't feel them!  I finished off my card with a bit of burlap twine that was wrapped twice and tied into a small bow.

Before you go, I want to show you which set is up for grabs if you play along.  It's the fabulous set called Buffalo Spring. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Details - Stamps:  Island Life (MFP); Paper: Favorite Natural; Ink: Tuxedo Black, Versamark; Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, blender pen, Clear ep, heat tool, burlap twine, glue dot.

Changing the Scenery

Oops!  I've left you all hanging for too long.  My good reason is that I have been stamping my heart out and not blogging.  Anyhoo, this is a card that I stamped out yesterday.  If you haven't heard, the Dare To Get Dirty challenges are all posted and they are a hoot!  This card was for Bev's Dare To Get Dirty challenge and I wish I could tell you all about, but they are for Fan Club members and we are not supposed to let the cat out of the bag about what the challenges are.  If you aren't a Fan Club member at Splitcoaststampers, you are missing out!  Join up now!!

I also used a Viva La Verve sketch on my card that I am sharing today and then my Verve stamps too!  It was a bit of a challenging sketch, but I think I pulled it off with my handmade flower.  I got all distressed around the edges because of the aged look of the papers.

I had better head out.  There are lots more Dare To Get Dirty challenges for me to do and some household chores that are knocking on the door too.  Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Small Phrases (Verve), Bloom & Grow (Verve); Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Everyday Enchantment dsp; Ink: Versamark, Lucky Limeade, Kiwi Kiss, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Elegant Leaves die (Verve), Floral Circles (Verve), glue dots, corner chomper, MM Edge distresser, Everyday Enchantment brads, stampin' dimensionals, Nestabilities, paper snips.