It's a JUGHEAD Birthday

Hi JUGS fans. Just a quick post today to honor our newest "JUGHEAD" (It's ok, that's what she calls us and herself) on her birthday - Elise Durenberger!  Happy birthday girly! Hope it's one of the best ever.

I used the Mojo Sketch from this past week and the colors from CR84FN's challenge for this week.

Happy Birthday Elise - your card is, as they say, in the mail but it won't arrive by your actual birthday so enjoy it when it arrives :-) 

I stamped the pink layer with one of my SU! background stamps for some subtle texture and pattern and used a new SU! embossing folder on the cream layer. It really makes a deep impression - quite stunning IRL. The image and sentiment are from PTI's Round and Round. Added a black doily using one of the new PTI doily dies, some ribbon and pearls and button and twine! Even though the pic doesn't show it too well it is ivory/cream CS I used.

Thanks for stopping by - PLEASE hop over to Elise's blog and leave her some love and feel free to create and post a birthday card for her as well.
Hugs n Smiles,

Mojo Monday and CTD

Hi everyone - a super quick post tonight with a card for two of my favorite challenges. Mojo Monday and Color Throwdown  - even though I'm up to my eyes in "stuff" I'm doing I had to play along with these two challenges.

I finally stepped out of the "" box and moved towards the NEXT special occasion - Valentines Day.

Here's the card I made. 

 Here's a close up so you can see the paper piercing, the 3D butterfly and the tiny charm.

Did some embossing with CB folder, stamped and embossed in white, BG is stamped in Versamark with Fancy Flourishes. Added a 3D butterfly and a hanging heart charm to my set for a touch of whimsy.

Papers: Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, Cranberry Tart (I don't know what Red Riding Hood red IS - it looked sort of cranberryish) and Wild Wasabi. Stamps are from PTI - Heart Prints and Heart PRint sentiments. Ribbon is SU Soft Sky. This was fun and sort of moved me down the holiday line towards February!! Thanks for stopping by - have a wonderful weekend!!

Just Us Girls Birthday Blog Hop!

Hi "JUGS" fans - today is a SPECIAL DAY! It's Kristin's birthday and Just Us Girls is having a Birthday Blog Hop in her honor.

If you are hopping along, you should have arrived here on my blog from Mona's blog. If you have arrived here without starting at the beginning of the hop, please pop on over to the Just Us Girls Challenge page and start the hop there. You will be directed to each DT member's blog in order - and you'll all be able to wish Kristin a very happy birthday.

Here's my birthday card for Kristin....

I used the Color Throwdown Challenge as my color inspiration. Fun colors, girls!

I also "loosely" used the latest Mojo Monday sketch as a starting place for layout inspiration.

I wanted to send Kristin some "relax girl!" sentiments so I'm using one of my favorite Stampin Bella stamps - the "Content-to-be-a-Bella". I paper pieced her pants and shirt - a wee bit o' copic coloring and some BIG birthday wishes for Kristin. Added a few pearls for pizzazz and a little embellishment.

Speaking of Kristin....did you know that EVERY PARTICIPANT in the JUGS 5 challenge gets a special gift this week - thanks to Kristin?!? If you have not yet played along with Challenge #5 on the Just Us Girls challenge site please stop by and play along. Be sure to scroll down to the Challenge #5 - (just below this post.)

NOW - be SURE to hop over to Tracey's blog and see what Tracey has cooked up for Kristin - you're almost to Kristin's blog - be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday when you arrive. :-) Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Mojo Color Throwdown Challenges

Just a super quick post tonight before we head out on our Fall Tour. I wanted to get in a Color Throwdown challenge this week. The girls from CTD have been SO supportive of the new Just Us Girls that I wanted to play with their challenge this week, too. I used this week's Mojo sketch and put together a card for an upcoming birthday.


I worked with PTI's Dark Chocolate, Gina K's Soft Sand and SU!'s Cool Caribbean (I was out of Aqua Mist so this is a wee bit darker in hue but still sort of aqua-ish) papers.

I won some fabulous Verve stamp sets in August and have not had a chance to play with some of them yet so I inked up the background stamp from Bountiful Backgrounds with Dark Chocolate and stamped it on the Soft Sand. Then I stamped the tea pot and cup from A Cup of Life set - paper pieced them with the Cool Caribbean. I used the CB Textile embossing folder for the Caribbean layer for some texture.

I inked up the polka dot BG from Verve's background set on the Sand layer then paper pieced the tea pot and cup with the Cool Caribbean.  Added some PTI ribbon, a layered set of Primas and added a cool brad in the center of the flower.

I included a close up so you can see the polka dots and paper piecing.

Thanks for looking - have a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to stop by the Just Us Girls blog for a brand new challenge tomorrow.

Lemonade Thanks - Mojo Monday

Well I actually got to play a Mojo Monday challenge BEFORE the weekend LOL. I loved this sketch - it went together really quickly by using some Lemonade Paper from Basic Grey - it's so easy when all the papers coordinate :-)

I was in need of a nice thank you so I used the sentiment from the "Beautiful You" set by Verve. I felt with the busy DPs that just a sentiment was enough. I love these sentiments - they are elegant and gorgeous scripty and the words themselves really speak to my heart.

I  added a little bit of bling as my embellishments - thought the fun, jazzy papers called for bling. Used my circle nesties for several layers for the focal image - you can't tell from the photo but the layers are popped up for some dimension. Did some soft sponging to accent the sentiment. I played and tried over and over to add some ribbon to this but either the color was wrong or the ribbon was too stuff or my bow looked horrible so I kept it clean and straightforward instead. :-)

Thanks to the Mojo team for always giving us such great inspiration.  It was fun to actually get this done early in the week for a change.

Have a great week and be sure to stay tuned for the NEW Just Us Girls Challenge on Saturday!!!! :-)

Mojo Monday #103

It's Mojo Monday time and I'm actually posting my card ON A MONDAY!!! Woo hoo. It's SO great to have a 3 day weekend. Here's the sketch we got this week -->
I decided to flip the sketch and work with it sideways. I created my own DP with the new Verve Bountiful Backgrounds - matted them on PTI's Enchanted Evening paper (LOVE that deep blue.) I stamped my new Verve "To Risk" sentiment in Enchanted Evening ink and cut it out with nestie's Label Four then sponged some of PTI's Chamomille tea ink to make it a bit softer. I inked up my CB Swiss Dots folder with the same Chamomille ink to pull it all together and also used the ink on my paper flower so it would match. I wanted a floral accent on the card to compliment the sentiment. Final touches included a strip of Enchanted Evening bitty dot ribbon, an Enchanted Evening button with a Rain Drop for the center of the flower.

Gotta love Mojo Monday and the DT - they really do jump start my Mojo for the week :-) Thanks, girls.

Mojo Monday

Wow - it's Wednesday already and I am just now getting around to posting my Mojo Monday project for this week. I love how Mojo Monday really helps me jump start my ideas. I needed a birthday card - and this provided the perfect starting point. I always print out the sketch and then turn it flip it etc before deciding. This time I decided to flip the sketch on it's side.

I knew the new Verve set, Party Time would be great for a BD card so I stamped and masked so I could create a more bountiful bouquet of balloons which I colored with Copics. I worked with two of my favorite colors, Groovy Guava and Soft Sky (now retired from SU!). The flourish is from Express Yourself set by Verve. I swaped out the circle for my new Octagon nestie and did a bit of sponging while the image was still in the die.

The rest of the deets are pretty self-explanatory this time as this is a really straight forward card. Just a lovely layout from Mojo and my card is done. :-)

Thanks for taking time to stop by.

Mojo Monday

I had to laugh at the title of my post - Mojo Monday - on Saturday - Work is keeping me SUPER busy right now as we prepare for a new school year to start up again - I really wanted to work with this sketch and just couldn't get to it till now.

I inked up my So Grateful set from Gina K Designs and used my new nesties Labels 4 instead of a circle. Was in the mood for red and brown today - did some sponging on both nestie layers but I slipped out of the die on the kraft layer so I ended up with some red on my embossed layer. *sigh* I just didn't have time to redo it.

Thanks for a great sketch Mojo girls!!! and thanks to my "followers" for taking an interest. :-) Have a lovely weekend. It's HOT and humid so maybe I'll get a lot of stamping done here.

MojoMonday

It's Mojo Monday time again - I wanted to do this week's color challenge on StampTV which was to use pink and green. I turned to Mojo Monday for a sketch to get me started. With all the fabulous new Gina K and Papertrey sets being released lately I've kind of been ignorning my flowers so I pulled out my Elegant Flowers (GKD) and went to work.



Here's what I came up with. Digital paper from Gina K, buttons from PTI. I'm have the day off from work today so this is a quick post - lots I want to get done.

Have a great Tuesday!

Thanks for looking :-)

MojoMonday 96

Well here it is time for a Mojo Monday challenge. I just HAD to do this one - I fell in love with the sketch and it gave me a great "excuse" to try my new papers from PTI and the new Everyday Button Bits. Here's the sketch -->

And here is my card:





I used the new Enchanted Evening color from the FABULOUS InBloom paper along with the solid Scarlet Jewel paper to create a rich color combo. I layered several circle nesties - sponged some summer sunrise in the center and some blue bayou around the edges of the focal image.

For my buttons I chose one each of the Scarlet, Enchanted and Lemon. I also chose to add a center accent to each button for some interest and because I have a heck of a time with threads!

Here's a snap of the detail on the buttons:

Finally I added a bit of Scarlet bitty dots ribbon, used one of the sentiments from the set with a ribbon tag nestie and a wee bit of sponging for depth.

Hope you are inspired to try a Mojo Monday challenge yourself if you don't already. It is a GREAT jumping off place to start a new project.

Thanks for looking - I appreciate the feedback from all you wonderful gals out there (ans guys too) in stampin land.

Mojo Monday #90

Time for another Mojo Monday sketch. I can't believe it's on #90 already! WOW!

This week I used some digital paper from Gina K Designs - this one is called Softly Spring and was designed by the very talented Emily Giovanni. I used Papertrey Ink's Smokey Shadow to mat the digi papers so it would not be quite as stark as black.


I flipped the sketch on it's side - added some ribbon and a few glitter dots (Gina K) and one of my favorite sentiment from Verve - it's a quote by Oprah and was exactly what I needed for this card for a friend. I love having the Mojo sketches to keep my layouts fresh :-) Before I discovered sketches I notice that all of my previous cards were kind of "boring" LOL.

Thanks for visiting! Have a super week.

Mojo Monday #85

It's Mojo Monday time again and I am so excited I had a minute to play again. I've been kinda busy *wink* and haven't been able to do some of the challenges I was going. BUT this sketch got my mojo moving with a Mother's Day card for my "niece" (aka best friend's daughter) who is celebrating her FIRST mother's day. Since my mom isn't here anymore for me to celebrate with I wanted to honor a new mother who is embarking on a joyful, challenging but fulfilling journey in her life. Happy Mother's Day Ashleigh! This one's for you and Toby :-)

The focal point image is from Beautiful You by Verve - it's the only Verve set I own (so far) but I really love how it stamps. I used Copics to color in parts of the floral image. PTI pink patterns DP accented with Spring Moss, a small flower and pearl and the Fleur de Lis edge punch. The sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages by PTI - it's beautiful!

Happy Mother's Day to all my wonderful friends in real life and in my virtual stamping life (aka blogland and photo galleries etc.) May your day be filled with blessings, hugs and smiles!

Mojo Monday #82

It's been a while since I got to do a Mojo Monday sketch - I needed an anniversary card for a friend who had a black tie wedding a year ago and thought it would be fun to do it all in black and white. I included a look at the inside also.

Recipe:
Stamps - Everyday Classics (Papertreys' anniversary set); SU Polka Dot BG
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - PTI True Black, SU Whisper White
Accessories - Gina K Designs Paper flowers (inked black), threaded water punch, PTI dotted swiss Black ribbon, PTI Vintage white button, SU Oval punches

Mojo Monday #78

Time for Mojo Monday Challenge #78. This week's sketch looked really interesting and I thought it would be perfect to combine with the StampTV Color Challenge this week which was to use Blush, Barely Banana and Certainly Celery. I used the tulip from A Year of Flowers (Gina K Designs). These flowers are so fun to color. I used my copics and tried to tie in the colors from the Peachy Keen digital paper from Gina K.

I wanted an accent color for the ribbon so I used the Melon Berry bitty dot ribbon from Papertrey Ink - it is not as dark as it looks in this picture - it's really a perfect compliment to the Peachy Keen paper.
A quick sentiment and some pearls of decreasing size and the card was ready - almost - I LOVE to decorate the inside of my cards AND the envelopes so here's a pic of those parts as well. Even my mailman loves the cards I send out cause he gets to see a "preview" on the envelope. :-)

Thanks for stopping by - I love reading your comments.
Hugs n Smiles!

Mojo Monday #77

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Time to try another Mojo Monday Sketch challenge. Couldn't get my mojo moving for this one but this is what I came up with. Used one of my favorite SU sets - Roses in Winter, some SU designer papers, PTI ribbon and Stampin Bella embellishment dots. So many of my recent cards have been yellow or orange so I went for a soft look with purples and greens.

Thanks Mojo team for some weekly inspirations!

Loonie Stampers #30

This week's Loonie Stampers Challenge (these can be tough - I have a lot of admiration for all of you Loonies each week) was Anything Butterflies.

I stamped one of Gina K's butterflies onto vellum paper and embossed it with Bridal Tinsel. I colored with a very pale blue copic (hard to see in the pic) then gently folded up the wings. I pulled it all together with some of this origami folding paper that my daughter didn't want but I thought I could use someday. It was so springy and pretty it just caught my eye this morning. I embossed and cut out a second butterfly to give this a 3D effect. White Glitter Dots from Gina K finished off the final piece. It is for a friend but I won't mail this one.

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

The second challenge I tried to work on was for Mojo Monday. I am new to Mojo sketches and have not yet figured out that I need to plan out my base layers/measurements BEFORE I start - LOL. I did it in reverse and created the focal point image with birds (I decided I REALLY need to try something other than flowers). Copic coloring (it was hard to get this shaded very well) - added a "tree" for the branch and bird house to hang from. Embossed with Cuttlebug "Mesh" folder which I inked up first with Lemon Tart Palette Ink. THEN I realized my main image was too big to use the way the sketch was laid out AND I forgot and put the sentiment on the focal image not down in the corner. SO - this was an experiment in how NOT to do a sketch challenge LOL. But I learned a lot in this process and stretched myself to try some more detailed copic coloring. I think I'll pass on Mojo for this week.

Enjoy! Spring is coming - it is - it is!!!

Blog Hop & Mojo Monday

My first Blog Hop with Papertry! Woo Hoo!
Well this has been a busy week. It's hard to work full time and play with all the challenges and blog hopping but I LOVE IT even if I'm exhausted. :-)

I had a card I thought would be perfect for this month's PTI Blog Hop but I had already published it as part of a PTI anniversary challenge [ you can view it here] so I figured I had to make a different one. Since I had not yet done the Mojo Monday Challenge I decided to combine the two.

It's not quite what I started out envisioning but I was short on time. (Had a fun night last night with some of my stampin' sisters!!) These challenges and contests sure have been fun and I think they are making me a better card designer overall. I have a long way to go to be on par with some of the amazing design team members out there but I'm working on it.

Thanks for stopping by. {{Hugs}} n smiles :-)

Mojo Monday #74

I've never participated in a Mojo Monday sketch but have seen some that I just love. I decided to give it a try this week with sketch # 74 and for some reason I have just been in a "purple" mood. This card was made with my new Guidelines Paper from Papertrey Ink. I love the soft colors.

The sketch was harder for me than I thought it would be but I like the final result. I have been in need of sympathy cards lately and wanted another one to have on hand.

Thanks Mojo team - this was fun.