Congratulations Chris!!

Last night, my son Chris graduated from high school!  I can't believe how the time has gone by.  It seems like just yesterday he was pushing his trucks across the floor, heading off to kindergarten and playing in the mud.  Graduation was at night and I was using my new phone to take a picture, so the quality is not so hot, but here's my freshly minted high school graduate:

He was giving me a big hug but it looks a bit like he is choking me!!  And I was on my tippy toes in heels!!

Anyway, a while back I saw a great graduation card on Julie Beltramo's blog and I just had to make it for Chris.  If you click HERE you can visit her blog.  She even posted a tutorial on how to make the cap.  Chris' school colors are royal blue and red.  I didn't have a Stampin' Up blue to match, so I went with just red.  Here's my card:

I loved Julie's card so I kept pretty much to her design.  Thanks Julie for the inspiration!

Have a great day,

Linda

Stamping 411 Challenge

Brace yourself - two posts in one week!!  Holy Cow!!

I haven't tried a 411 challenge in forever and needed a birthday card, so I decided to combine the two.  I needed something bright and blingy.  Here's the sketch:

Drumroll please........

 
No time for the details tonight.  Shoot me an email if you need more info and have a great night

Wedding Card Case

Talk about a long break from blogging - jeesh.

I needed a wedding card and recently came across this one in my blog travels.

I cannot recall where I saw it and I saved it without remembering to include the artist's name.  Sometimes there is a watermark naming the original designer, but not in this case.  (If you know whose card this is, let me know so I can give proper credit.)

As I said, I needed a wedding card and loved this idea and decided to give it a go.  Here is my take on it:

As you can see, I kept fairly true to the original.  I wasn't sure of the bride's colors, so went with a little neutral bling in the silver paper.  Also, I didn't have the scallop heart, so free handed a black background on the bride's heart. 

All products are SU. 
Paper:  Whisper White and Basic Black CS, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink:  Basic Black
Stamps:  Word Play
Other:  Heart Punch, Elegant Lines EF, Basic Pearls and Rhinestones, White Taffeta Ribbon, 1/8th Black Ribbon

I sure hope the bride and groom like their card!!

Have a great day,
Linda

Oop-a-doodle-who?

Oh, I bet that's what you're thinking.

I know it's been, like FOREVER, since I last posted.  I would love to tell you I have a great excuse, but I don't.

I have a few thousand BAD excuses, though!!  Let it be enough to say that sometimes, life just gets in the way.

So, onto today's card.

I loved the color challenge over at PPA.  Check it out:

 
My card...

Now I must confess that I was totally inspired to watercolor my favorite flower stamp after viewing Ann Schach's card.  She is a member of the PPA Design Team.  I loved her card so much that I was inspired to try using my blender pens for a little coloring of my own.  Shameless, I know. 

I fussy-cut part of the image and popped it up on dimensionals.  Some seam binding and pleated ribbon offsets the sentiment (hope mom isn't reading this) and the sponged background softens the overall look.

Not bad for such a long break from paper and ink.  What do you think?

Well, head on over to PPA (click HERE) to check out Ann's card and the rest of the Team's entries.  I hope you find some inspiration there yourself!!

Have a great night!

Linda 

Freshly Made Challenge #31

Today, my husband asked if I would make a sympathy card for a man at work whose father passed away.  I don't know about you, but I don't like making sympathy cards.  I guess no one does really - usually the recipient is sad.  I always feel like the sympathy card has to be somber and peaceful at the same time.  And truthfully, I like happy cards with lots of ribbon and color and flowers.  Anyway, to add to the difficulty, this had to be a masculine card.  I decided to use the sketch from this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches (click HERE to visit their site) as a starting point. 

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:



I kept pretty true to the sketch.  In fact, I like this sketch way more than I thought I would at first glance and I can picture myself using it again. However, I hope that next time it will be a bright, cheery card for a fun and festive occasion. 

Recipe:
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Retired DSP from SU, Crumb Cake CS
Stamps:  Just Believe, Close as a Memory (retired)
Other:  Linen Thread

Have a great day,

Linda

Finally, a challenge or two

I carved out a little stamping time tonight.  I have been a bit lapse on entering some of my favorite challenges, so I made that my goal.  Although I only managed to get a few cards done, I was thrilled to be back to challenges.  I combined two this evening - a color challenge and a sketch.  The colors came courtesy of Pals Paper Arts:

The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches:

Now for my card:

 
My son needed a "girly" card for a friend's Sweet 16 party this weekend.  The invitation was pink and green with flowers and a ribbon.  I decided to incorporate those elements in the card and the color challenge was obviously perfect.  At first, I tried using SU's wide pink ribbon for the horizontal component, but despite SEVERAL attempts,  I just couldn't make it work.  So I ruffled the edge of the circle element and got the "girly" effect I was after.

I hope you get a chance to play with both of these fabulous challenges.  Click on the links above to visit their sites.  Even if you don't play along, you'll find tons of inspiration.

It's nice to be back.

Have a nice night!

Linda

Shamelessy Stolen Easter Treats!

That title says it all........

I have shamelessy stolen cased two fabulous ideas and made them my own.  Take a peek at Easter Treat Case #1:

Oh my - I got this idea from a very talented stamper, Sarah Wills.  She used the Mixed Bunch stamp set and Blossoms punch for hers.  However, I don't have those, so I improvised!  I was happy with the result.  For some of the "flowers" I set the stamped image right over the card stock piece (popped with a dimensional for a 3-D effect) and others were offset from the cardstock adding a bit more color.  Here's a close-up:

Also, Sarah used "Rolo" candies on her flowers, but my family is big into "Peanut Butter Cups," so I made the switch for my flower bunch.

And now for Easter Treat #2:

How stinkin' cute is this?!?! This gem came from Michelle Last who had a fabulous video tutorial that helped me case this project.   I loved the idea, but again, changed the colors and stamp to suit my taste.  If you look carefully, you will see that the jelly beans are all red, pink and purple with one apple green tucked in there.  These are Starburst Jelly Beans and I put my favorite colors in this sample as I plan to eat it myself!!  Shhhh.....

Here is a close-up of the chubby chick...

So there you have it.  My cased Easter crafts.  Courtesy of Sarah and Michelle. 

Shameless, I know.

Have a good weekend!

Linda

Inspired by Nature

Just a quick post today.  I've been super busy lately and finally found some time to stamp this weekend.  I made this monogrammed card using an oldie-but-goodie stamp set - Inspired by Nature.  I really love these flowers.  On this card, I stamped right onto some designer paper and used lots of markers - crumb cake, soft suede, barely banana, daffodil delight, certainly celery and old olive. 

The weather is a bit wonky here in New England and I did the best I could taking this pic.  The colors really are light, which didn't help the photography.

Have a great day!

Linda

Too Late!!

Well, I finally got around to some stamping tonight and couldn't wait to try the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  So, I made my card and fussed with the flower and ribbon and took a zillion pictures (night time + amateur photographer = bad photos).

Anyway, I was finally happy with the card and one of the pics.  I sat down to check the link for uploading my card to their site and it was closed.  CLOSED!!! 

Oh well, I was still pretty happy with the results so I am sharing them anyway!!

Aaahhhh - the lack of a photo box creates such icky wonderful shadows reminiscent of a sunny day!

I first saw this flower on a blog while surfing the web one day.  I can't remember where, but there was a link to a tutorial and I did save that - Valita's Designs and Fresh Folds.  Click HERE to visit her blog and check out the tutorial.  Shortly after a trial run with some other designer paper, I found another tutorial using felt on the ever-so-talented Leanne Pugliese's blog.  Check her out HERE.

Making the flower was much easier than I thought and so much fun.  I see lots more in my future!

Here's what I used on this card:

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla CS, Newsprint DSP
Ink:  Crumb Cake
Other:  Striped EF and Big Shot, Crumb Cake Tafetta Ribbon, Crimper, Antique Brad, Sponge,  Sticky Strip, glue stick (non-SU),  Dimensionals

Well, thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

Linda

Jelly Bean Treat

Spring is on the horizon here in New England.  It's suppose to hit the high 60"s today and may get close to 80 by Thursday!  You can't imagine how exciting that is.  Last year at this time, we were knee deep in snow. 

Well, with warmer temps on the way, I wanted to share a spring project we did at stamp club this past Friday.  Take a peek:







The punch art bunny was inspired by one made by Tanya Bell and another by Mary Fish.  Too cute.  These would be great to use as place settings or as treats to hand to friends and family during the Easter season. 

I tried to get a close-up of the bunny for you, but haven't figured out how to edit yet.  Anyway, I used the 1 3/8" and 1" circle punches for the body, the 5 petal flower punch for the ears and the itty bitty punch with coordinating button for his tail.  That little bit of bling is the perfect touch!

Well, that's all for now!!

Have a great day and if you're in New England - get outside!!! 

Linda