Variety is the Spice of LIfe!

Good morning peeps! For this month's BootCamp lesson Paula is teaching us how adding variation to your design can add interest.

I chose a CAS design and used flowers in different styles, color, and size for my variety.

I love how this turned out, but only Paula can decide if it fits the BootCamp lesson. My inspiration comes from a recent His & Hers Online Card Class where Jennifer McGuire had a lesson on Masked Borders. I'm gravitating to CAS style cards right now and this technique really struck my fancy. I will definitely make more of these.

Supplies:
Stamps - flowers, leaves, & sentiment - SSS Card Kit of the Month for March 2013
Ink - Ranger Distress Inks in Crushed Olive, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black.

Well peeps, it's time for me to go. Thank You for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Roses For Mom!

Good morning peeps, and Happy Mother's Day to all my family and friends!

I heard from my son a little while ago and we had a nice chat. He lives 6 hrs away so I won't get to see him today... but that's O.K. because he was just up last week. This afternoon my daughter is taking me out to my favorite restaurant to eat. Yay!

My card is made by using supplies from the May 2013 SSS Card Kit of the Month. You just can't beat this deal, and, it's mailed to your door every month! This is what came in my kit:

I stamped the roses and leaves in Frost White by Color Box, and heat embossed. I used my Ranger Distress Markers as water colors to get the softer color. [I used: Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Broken China, and a water brush] I CASEd one of the sample photos that came in the kit because I just love the look. Jennifer McGuire designed the sample card. The link to Jennifer's blog, Jennifer McGuire Ink, is here.

Well, that about does it for me today. Thanks you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

His & Hers Cards

Howdy peeps! The weather has been so beautiful here in NE Ohio, except for today. :(  It's been rainy, cold, and damp. BUT... this is Ohio so I'll just hang around a day and the weather will change.

I haven't been around much lately. Not because I don't want to, but I just haven't had the energy. I battle on and off with depression and it has been acting up. A lot of it is situational, meaning certain things going on will make it worse. Right now it's issues with my mom, who is 90, and in the nursing home. She's had slight dementia for awhile but right now it's starting to get a little worse. Mom know exactly what she want to say but can't say the words. She knows what is going on with her and gets, understandably, upset. So sad!

Hoping to get on a brighter note: My doctor increased my med dosage and I'm starting to have some desire and energy again. I'd like to share with you 8 cards I just made. I made them for this week's Midweek Throwdown [MWT] on OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. The challenge is to make two cards, one for Him & and one for Her, using the same layout. You can find this challenge here.

The layout is one Kristina Werner used in the Online Card Class I took recently. Ironically enough the class was titles "His & Hers". The classes are fantastic and a great source for learning and inspiration. I used to following 6x6 paper pads: Set 1, Indie Chic Nutmeg by My Minds Eye; Set 2, Renew collection by Authentique; Set 3, Hope collection by Authentique; Set 4, Hers, Carefree collection  and His,Original collection, both by Authentique.

The background paper is cut at 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and I used two border punches for the sides. Hers is by Fiskars and His is by EK Success. The white strip is 2" x 4 1/4" with rounded corners on one end. For my ribbon I used a 1 1/2" circle punch and a 2" scalloped circle punch, both by Fiskars. The banners on the ribbon are cut at 3/4" with one end cut to make the V. The sentiment is from Very Special clear stamp set in the Jan 2013 SSS card kit of the month.

Well, that's about it for me. Thank you all for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Mojo No Go

Happy Sunday peeps! I've been taking the Online Card Class called His & Hers this past week. Just so ya know... I'm reluctantly posting my cards for 3 lessons. My mojo, like Elvis, has left the building! One great thing about paying for these online classes is that I always learn a lot, the teachers are fantastic, great sample cards and videos, and unlimited access to the student galleries.

Of course all this great stuff doesn't help when you're mojo won't cooperate. Ha! So without further ado I'll get to my cards I made.

Day 1 - Thinking of You - Kristina Werner, teacher - using circle elements
His: I'm really loving this one. The mustache print and stripes are from a double sided paper by Fancy Pants Designs called Mustache Fever. Perfect for guys.

Hers: I really like this one too. I just had trouble with my lighting so it looks kind of washed out here. The doily stamp is from a SU set called Delicate Doilies.

Day 2 - Happy Birthday - Christina Kowalczyk teacher - using vellum
Hers: This one isn't too bad. My strips of vellum are 1/2" wide and I colored them with Copics. [Y15, YG03, BG01, R22] I attached the strips, at angles, to the back of the white piece. Believe it or not, the sentiment is actually straight. I think the angles of the vellum make it look wonky.

His: This has to be my favorite of the two, which is good considering I have trouble with masculine cards. I used Copics to color my vellum [ BG01, BG05, YG03]. The squares are 1 1/2", the HAPPY is sticker letters.

Day 3 - Sympathy - Kristina Werner teacher 
His: I love this one too. I love Washi tape so I used two designs on this card. The music design is by Theresa Collins, don't have a clue about the woodgrain. I found it at a LSS. I stamped the sentiment with Brushed Corduroy distress ink and used a distress marker [same color] for the dash line. These are by Ranger.

Hers:  Yeah.... no! The Hers version was an epic fail. 

Well there you go peeps. My mojo may not be where it's supposed to be but I had fun trying to get it back. Now it's time for me to get a cuppa coffee, prop my feet up, and put the heatin pad on my tired, aching back.

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

It's all about the Owl

Happy Sunday my friends. After all my whining last week about my problems I can honestly say the week has been great... YAY!!

Have you ever stressed out about something and then halfway through you ask yourself... "what's your problem lady?". I did that with this weeks Sketch Challenge over at OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. The challenge, by the way, is sponsored by Doodle Pantry which has some awesome digital stamps. I used Doodle Pantry's pre colored Owl and one of the sentiments from the digital set, Quirky Owl, to make this card.

Here's the sketch:

My interpretation of the sketch doesn't have the small circles [which can be anything]. I tried lots of things like various shapes, bling, buttons, you name it, and nothing looked right to me. It seemed off balance with the owl. So I finally said "what's your problem lady?", and left those elements off. Yep, I talk to myself when I'm crafting. Ha!

You can find the Quirky Owl set here. The set come with 2 owls, one black & white and one in color, two digital sentiments, and 2 digital papers.

Well, that's it for me today. Enjoy you day and thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed your visit with me!

Pretty in Pink... and Gray

Hi peeps, I'm back again for the second post of the day. The Midweek Throwdown, last Wednesday, over at OWH is a Color Challenge using your favorite color combo. You can check it out here. Right now I'm into the colors pink and gray. I just love how they look together and right now they're very popular.

The DSP is is by Bo Bunny's Isabella collection called Isabella Becoming.  The swirl print is one side and the soft lattice motif in light gray is the back side. It's just soooo pretty. The card stock is by Bazzill. For the first sentiment I used Inky Antics' Autums Dogs set, and the second is from Lawn Fawn's You've Got Mail set.

Now I have to scoot again. Thanks so much for stopping by, again, and I hope you enjoyed your visit.

OWH Sketch 168

Hi peeps, guess who?? Yep I've been MIA again by that little 'ole thing called life. Broken toe, broken car, broken washer... will it ever end? Momma said there would be days like this but she never said they would come one right after the other! On the bright side... I've had more time, especially with the broken toe, to make some cards.

This week's sketch challenge over at Operation Write Home's blog Stars & Stamps has been tons of fun! You can check it out for yourself here. This is the sketch:

It's great for double sided 12x12 papers and also the 6x6 paper pads. This sketch can also be mass produced very easily. Here's what I've made:

For this brown set I used two different shade of Kraft cardstock for my card bases because I couldn't decide which I liked the best. I found the woodgrain, by TPC, at Hobby Lobby and the patterned paper is by Inque. I found it a while back at a local craft store and it's the only time I've ever seen that brand of DSP. The sentiment is from Simple Sentiments by Inky Antics. All the card stock used in my cards is by Bazzill.

Once again, with this green set, I couldn't decide which color card base I like best, so I used both of them. The DSP is a double side 12x12 is by Echo Park's This & That collection called Dots & Plaids. For the sentiment I used Cuttlebug's die, With Gratitude, and die cut just the Thanks.

This pink and gray set is the last I made using this week's OWH sketch. Yep, it's pink and GRAY, even thought it looks black in the photo. I used a double sided 12x12 by Bo Bunny's Isabella collection called Isabella Becoming. The sentiment is from You've Got Mail by Lawn Fawn.

Well peeps, I best be scootin along. I want to Thank You for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit!