PLUNGING THAT BASS!

So this week at

The Paper Plunge

it's "all about that base"!!!  So many times we make fancy cards, but often the base is the star of the show! All our cards this week feature the "base" or main layer as the focus of the card.

Here's mine:

I decided to use some beautiful DSP as my focus. It's from the 

Pretty Petals DSP Stack. OMGoodness are the colors in that little stack beautiful! So bright & vibrant! These designs are totally worthy of being the focus of the card!!!

The sentiment is just a simple piece from A Dozen Thoughts! I wanted it to be simple so as not to distract from the DSP! I think it worked!

And copping to some retired ribbon! I have (or had) some nice Old Olive ribbon I was going to use on this card, and I ended up using the last of it on a swap I am doing! So I had to shuffle to get some ribbon! So sorry for that, but you get the idea! And there are tons of other Old Olive choices you can use. It would even be pretty with NO ribbon!!!

So hop over to The Paper Plunge & see the cool bases our designers have come up with for you!!!

Happy Stampin'!!!

COLORING WITH GUMBALL MOJO!!

Yup, this week's Coloring Down the Lines Blog Hop is "green with envy"!!! lol

So maybe you've "gumballed" over from Amanda's blog? Maybe you'll "gumball" over to Laura's blog when you're done! Either way, lots of good stuff to look at on this "roll"! Ok, I'll stop with the puns now!!! lol I crack myself up!

Combining challenges again this week! I'm using the Mojo Monday 332 sketch to create our hop card (see sketch below!)!!!

So here's this week's challenge (if you haven't figured it out yet!):

Gumball Green, So Saffron, Melon Mambo

    OR

  Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Marina Mist

Added Piece - create a Clean and Simple card

Lovin' these colors because I'm officially DONE with winter!!!! The "green" makes me think spring!

So here's my card:

Oh ya, that's a big honkin' flower!!! Spring!  That's why I chose this particular group of colors! Springy! Said it again! lol

The flower is cut using the Floral Frames Framelits.  I curled the edges with my Bone Folder. Adds a little extra dimension! 

I apparently was feeling hexagonal, because I used the Honeycomb embossing folder, the Six-Sided Sampler Stamp set, and the Hexagon Punch! Hmm.  

Throw in a little Stitched Satin Ribbon & a few Itty Bitty Punch Pack pieces & it makes a cute card!

Oh, here's the Mojo Monday sketch that I used!

A little different but same idea! Couldn't do the heart thing again! I've done so many Valentine's Day cards lately I needed a break! Plus, did I say I need spring!lol

Also, I think it's a pretty Clean & Simple design to satisfy our added piece!  I tend to be a kinda CAS girl anyway! :)

So keep "rolling" with our gumballs this week! It's a great hop week!!!

Happy Stampin'!!!!

IT'S COLORING TIME AGAIN!!!!

Welcome to this week's Coloring Down the Lines Blog Hop!!! Small group this week, but still filled with lots of beautiful creations!!!

Hi there to everyone hopping through the blog hop! You're here from

 Amanda's amazing blog!!! When you're finished here, hop on over to 

Liz's lovely blog! Then keep going!!! Lots of beauties here!!!

So this week's challenge is

    Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand

     OR

            Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, Cherry Cobbler

Added Piece - CASE a card from Pinterest

Now I love to CASE Pinterest, so this was a fun one! Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card for my DIL. Her Gramma passed away last week. I just thought these colors led beautifully to this theme. And I CASE'd one of my fave Pinterest cards!

I chose the first set of colors to use this week!

 

So here's the Pinterest card:

And here's my card!

It's  

It's a little different but pretty much the same! lol 

I used the lovely Love & Sympathy stamp set. I use that flower a lot. Not just for sympathy cards!!! 

I used my new Banner Framelits from the Occasions Catalog! When I first saw them, I thought they'd be a waste. I mean, anyone can cut a banner, right?? Well I sure was wrong!!! I have used those framelits so many times!!!!

Sponges were used for the shading. Started with the lighter color 

(Sahara Sand) & moved to the more vibrant color (Soft Sky). I like to call this the "stencil" technique. I'm sure it has a "real" name, but that's mine! 

I finished it off with the Pearls Basic Jewels for a touch of class. I think it makes a beautiful sympathy card. Very simple, but very powerful at the same time.

So until next time! I'm hoping to make some pretty cards to post here today. We are having a big snow storm! I'll be stampin' in my jammies!!!! 

Happy Stampin'!

CLEAN & SIMPLE FUN!!

I love making my cards "clean & simple"!!! I'm not really one to add all kinds of lace & ephemera & stuff! 

So I enjoy using the sketch challenges on the Clean & Simple blog as a 
kick start to some of my cards!

So here's the current sketch:

Simple, right?

I decided to make a Christmas card with it! Now I'm totally not into Christmas yet, but when I was looking for stamp sets to use, I passed over my new Christmas stamps just waiting for some love! So I said, what the heck!

Here's the card I came up with:

I used the Wonderful Wreath from the Holiday Catalog as the base where the dots are in the sketch. See, the designs don't need to be exact-just a guideline.

 I love my Natural White cardstock for a card base. It's a little thicker than the Whisper White, & has a more "distressed" texture.  

The Merry Christmas sentiment comes from Sassy Salutations! The beautiful DSP is from the Season of Style DSP pack-again, in the Holiday Catalog!

 I must admit, the ribbon is retired from last year's Holiday Catalog, but since I only have a bit left, I thought it worked with this card!  Finish it off with some Rhinestone Basic Jewels &it's done!!

So while a bit early for Christmas, I guess I have a good start on a design for my cards!!! Just wanted to share a CAS today!

Happy Stampin'!!!!

CAS? NOT SO MUCH!

So I started off the the Clean and Simple sketch 255, but I think the card ended up anything BUT clean & simple! 

So here's the original sketch:

I really wanted to use my new Photopolymer stamp set Settin' Sail! I soooo can't let go of summer, and I figured since it's Labor Day weekend, this is my last hurrah to keep summer going!

So here's what I came up with!

It's a bit busy for a CAS card, however! But I did pretty much keep to the sketch.  

The paper is from the Venetian Romance DSP Pack! I thought it kinda looked like water! I love the versatility of this DSP pack! Not only are the colors & designs amazing, but they're also very diverse! Just interesting to look at-like I'd want to use it to wallpaper a room!!!

To compliment the Settin' Sail stamp set, I pulled out the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set! It's supposed to look like water was splashed on there! I think it kinda does! 

The colors are Real Red & Island Indigo. Nautical, right? That lighthouse is so neat! It's one of my favorite things to look at when I go to the ocean! The New England coast is full of historic lighthouses. One of my favorite is Nubble Light in York Beach, Maine. I grew up not far from Nobska Lighthouse in Falmouth, MA! 

 

Nubble Lighthouse, York Maine, July, 2013

So when I saw this stamp set, it was a must have for me!!! I thin it would've been a little more clear if I'd used the ink pad instead of the  

Stampin' Write Markers, but I wanted it to be two-toned! Works for me!

So just a summer share for today! I'm afraid you may be seeing summer stuff in December! It's just way too short for me!!!

Happy Stampin'!!!

CLEAN & SIMPLE!

Well if you follow me you know that's kinda my style! I found this great new blog, Clean & Simple! Every week they give a neat design that fits right in with my likes!!!  I decided to give it a try this week!

I thought it would be fun to use my new stamp set that I got from Prize Patrol at Convention this summer! Now I'm not a huge Halloween person, but I do need a few cards to send to fam & friends. So I thought this would work fine for this design!

Here's my card:

With the exception of the Whisper White cardstock, all materials come from the amazing Holiday Catalog!!! The stamp set is Halloween Hello! I kinda love that little bat!  The DSP is from the Witches' Brew pack! It's all quite lovely!!!!  

The Rhinestone Basic Jewels make up the bling at the top! Do they look black to you? Well they are! Hmmmm. Now you're thinking, "I thought they were clear!" Well, you're right! They are! Or they were! Now they're black-I simply colored them with a black Sharpie & voila!!! Black gems! Pretty, huh??

Here's a close-up of my little bat friend! Which is ironic because we just had the 2nd bat in 2 weeks flying around in the house!!! Aaaagggghhhhh!!!!

So hope you liked my little Halloween card! You should head on over to the Clean & Simple blog & see all the great creations there!!!!

Happy Stampin'!!!