A Colored Bird

Today, the Friends of Speedy TV are only using their colored pencils.  It felt like a sort of back to basics kind of day, so that is how I made my card.  I did use a Splitcoaststampers sketch to kick off my card.  I liked this sketch because it worked well for my image that I had in mind and seemed to match my interpretation of the challenge.  Then I stamped this pretty little bird on a pussy willow branch from a Mark's Finest Papers set called Pussy Willows for my main panel.  I colored the image with some colored pencils and shaded just a little bit.  I added a sentiment from the same set and a couple of buttons that I threaded with a vanilla paper strip. 

I have the day off today and will be spending it with family.  We are preparing for my husband to leave on a vacation.  I hope you enjoy your day today...you are in my thoughts.

Details - Stamps: Pussy Willows (MFP); Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Le Jardin dsp; Ink: London Fog, Basic Gray; Accessories: Random buttons, stampin' dimensionals, colored pencils.

Using Stickers

Hi there!  Thursday was my turn to hostess another Ways To Use It challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  I chose stickers as my theme for this week's challenge.  I figure that just about everyone has some kind of sticker in their stash.  My sticker here is a clear sentiment sticker from Cloud 9 Designs.  It has been in my drawer for at least two years.  Every else about my card is rather simple.  I die cut a couple of hearts.  I embossed and sanded one for a little more interest.  I distressed the edges and really worked my corners for some more shabbiness. 

I used a sketch from My Favorite Things.  Sometimes I find their sketches a bit challenging.  That probably means that I need to keep at those for a while.  I also worked in a Stamp 2 Spend challenge offered up by Kelly to make a card and send it to someone.  This will be my anniversary card for my husband.  I'll have to tuck it in his luggage, as he will be traveling on our anniversary.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Paper: Very Vanilla, Chatterbox Inc. dp; Accessories: Cloud 9 Designs sticker, Musical Flourish ef, edge distresser, sanding block, Heart Framelits, square punch, stampin' dimensionals.

FOSTV Thanks You

It's Monday again and time for another Friends of Speedy TV challenge.  Today we are making thank you cards.  It's just the right time of year for that sort of thing.  Well, anytime of year is good for thank you cards, really!  I went with kind of a masculine feel today and a clean and simple design.  I'm a clean and simple kind of girl and I really love silhouettes!  This one was fun and all I had to do was just mask and sponge in a little ground!  

I used a sketch from the clean and simple stamping blog to get me going.  Those are always great.  This one is particularly versatile and I can totally see myself using it time and again. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Details - Stamps: Buffalo Spring(Mark's Finest Papers), A Walk in the Woods (Mark's Finest Papers); Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Welcome Neighbor dsp; Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Nestabilities, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, stampin' dimensionals.

Flashin' Back Clean and Simple

We are flashing back to our first clean and simple card.  You can check out the Flashback Friday challenge here.  For me, that means going back to the very beginning of my Splitcoaststampers gallery.  Back then, almost four years ago, I wouldn't have been able to define my style.  As I continued on in my hobby, I found my style and it really leans more toward clean and simple than anything else.  You'll have to pardon my photography skills back then.  I have learned a thing or two in four years about making my cards appear more like they really are.  But then, who hasn't? 

I originally made this card for a Kristina Werner color inspiration challenge.  The colors in the challenge are So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie and Wild Wasabi.  It's fun to look back, isn't it.  I don't think I have ever put these colors together since!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Artfully Asian, Embrace Life; Paper:  So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi; Ink: Stazon Black, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust; Accessories: Self-adhesive twill tape, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Pen.

Happy Birthday Michelle

We are using it again, this time with a birthday theme.  In honor of her birthday, Michelle, our fearless leader, hostesses today's Way To Use It challenge. Today's challenge is a choice challenge.  You can either make a birthday card, which I did, or you can make a card with your favorite things.  Michelle is an enabler of the best kind and is happy to be enabled as well.  Let's help her find a way to spend that birthday cash!

I went super simple today.  I have had this designer paper for a while and finally decided to cut into it.  That is after I found the perfect sketch to work with.  The sketch is this week's CPS sketch.  I strayed just a teeny bit by rounding some corners.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Best Dad Ever; Paper: Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Jillibean Soup dp; Ink: Brilliant Blue; Accessories: Corner Chomper, stampin' dimensionals.

A Tropical Feeling

Yep, I've got a tropical feeling.  I watched an episode of No Reservations last night in which Anthony Bourdain visited Cambodia.  It reminded me very much of my visit several years ago to Thailand.  It makes me long to go back to SouthEast Asia.  I'm very jealous right now as my husband prepares to travel with his brother to Thailand in just two weeks.  I resurrected this card from early 2011.  I'm fairly certain that it never made my blog. 

I originally made the card for a mini VSN challenge back in April during the Pirate Party VSN.  Lori McAree hostessed the challenge and made it lots of fun! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Balmy Breeze, Windows To The World (Flourishes); Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White; Ink: River Rock, Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso; Accessories: Stampin' Sponge, sponge dauber, post-its.

A Gatefold Challenge

The Friends of Speedy TV are offering up a challenge today to make a gatefold card.  If I am right, I suggested this little challenge.  I wanted my Black Eyed Susan to be the star of the show, so I left the design fairly simple.  I did sponge ink on my focal and sentiment panels and the edges of the patterened paper.  When you open up this little gem, the sentiment opens to the left and the image opens to the right. 

I want to wish you all a belated Happy New Year and wish you all wonderful adventures for 2012!

Sorry for the short post today :)  My daughter and I are off to have fun on our very last day of winter break.  It's back to school for both of us tomorrow.

Details-  Stamps:  Black Eyed Susans mini (MFP), Peaceful Nuthatch (MFP); Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White, Sweet Pea dsp; Ink: Rich Cocoa; Accessories: Copics, Nestabilities, word window punch, modern label punch, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals.