Relax and Enjoy

I don't usually combine lots of challenges, but there is something in the air out there in challenge blogland -SUMMER!  Summer officially opened for me yesterday.  The criteria for the first day of summer in our family is not a date.  The first day of summer consists of going "down the shore" (New Jersey speak for "to the beach") and stay there for at least 4 hours, and in addition you have to go to Strollo's Lighthouse for Italian ice - Lighthouse Italian Ice is the "taste of the Jersey Shore" and for diehard fans like me and mine, it's the taste of summer itself.  Yesterday, my boys had a half day at school.  We packed the car in the morning, and left right from there and headed down the shore.  We had Italian ice for dinner, and pizza for dessert.  It was a perfect first day of summer.

There are three challenges out there on the challenge blogs I frequently visit, for which this card is perfect:
Less Is More has a really fun and creative challenge this week.  It was the inspiration for my design. 
It is:

PICK A SQUARE

For their "Pick a Square" challenge, Chrissie and Mandi offer us a multiple choice.... well sort of ... you can choose which of the 5 SQUARES from their plan that you wish to use to place the image of your card, leaving the rest as PURE WHITE SPACE! Isn't that so fun and clever? I just love it!

The C4C challenge this week - C4C89 - is to create a project that features your favorite vacation spot or activity.  Well, my favorite spot is the beach, and my favorite activity is relaxing in my beach chair! Voila!

The Stamp Something challenge last week was to use beachy colors, and this week, it is to use a sentiment.  I did not get time to play last week, so with the beach in mind, this card combines the two.

The image I used is from Outlines Rubber Stamp Company's Split Layering Collage Collection - Seaside. I colored it with Copics and mounted it on 2 layers of square Nesties.  The sentiment is from MFT's Catch Some Rays.  I could not find it on their website to link it at this time.

Thank you for coming by.  I hope you have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

C4C Digi Birthday

It's been a long time since I created something, and I was so happy to get a chance to play today.  This is my take on this week's C4C challenge which is a sketch designed by Silke Ledlow, one of my favorite paper craft artists.  Here is the sketch:

I had purchased this adorable Pure innocence digi image some time ago from Heather Ellis.  When I saw Silke's sketch, I thought of this image right away and I went to work.  For my color scheme, I used this week's Color Throwdown#134 - Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Marina Mist.

These colors immediately put me in mind of an SU Sale-a-Bration bundle I recently purchased - Ice Cream Parlor DSP & Quick Accents Pack.  The DSP that I used from the pack has all of the challenge colors.  The solid, horizontal strips are embossed with SU's Square Lattice EF. 

My birthday girl is paper pieced and colored with Copics.  Her shoes are cut from SU's new red glitter paper.  I wish I had shoes like that...  For my accent piece, I used PTI's Love Lives Here for the scalloped circle, and Butterfly Dreams for the sentiment.

C4C Autumn Birthday

It has been far too long since I put ink to paper and created something.  Life is nuts!  I have a dear friend with a birthday tomorrow, so I made myself buckle down and make her a card.  For my layout inspiration, I used this week's C4C Challenge, which is a sketch by one of my very favorite artists, Silke Ledlow. 

I recently got Gina K's Autumn Splendor collection, and these sunflowers were calling me.  I colored the sunflowers image with copics, and went from there. I am pleased with the way it cam out.  Happy Birthday Barbara!

Ingredients
Stamps:  Autumn Splendor~Gina K.; Big Wish~Verve.
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Gina K Pure Luxury~Pure Ivory, Basic Grey~Indian Summer.
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx Black.
Accessories:  Nestabilities, Twill Tape, More Mustard 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Copic markers, Kaiser pearls, Sponge dauber.

Friend

This is my take on this week's Crazy For Challenges challenge, which is a sketch:

I just got this wonderful new set from Papertrey Ink called "All Booked Up".  It is wonderful for making so many different kinds of projects for book lovers, and there are matching dies available to make bookmarks, book plates, etc.  I just love it and thought this layout would be perfect for me to give it a whirl!

My materials are:
Stamps~Papertrey Ink's All Booked Up.
Papers~Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, White, Glossy White, BasicGrey Olivia DP.
Ink~VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black, Kiwi Kiss, Cameo Coarl, Baja Breeze.
Accessories~Scor-It, Papertrey Ink Book Plate Die, Sponge Daubers, Build-a-Brad, black embossing powder, Sticky Tape, Dimensionals, 1/2" circle punch, Nestabilities, Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator, Mat pack & piercing tool, Marth Stewart lace border punch..

Thanks so much for stopping in!

C4C Inspiration Birthday

Isn't this such a fun ensemble???  This is the inspiration for this week's C4C challenge.  I just love it.  I have been on vacation with my family for the last 2 weeks on beautiful Long Beach Island on the Jersey shore.  I loved my beach and family time, but I could not wait to make something upon my return.  So this is what I came up with for this challenge... 

There were a few things I wanted to do:  use some tools and papers that needed some love, keep it simple, and not take forever to make it.  I love the way it turned out!  I used my new Jumbo Scallop and Scalloped Scallop Die-namics dies and  from MFT and Basic Grey's June Bug DP . Those 2 things pretty much made up the background.  I just added the sentiment using Verve's Wonderful Wishes cut and embossed with Spellbinders Ribbon Tags Trio Two, and added some SU Real Red grosgrain ribbon and a button tied with black jute thread from Sharon Johnson's Ribbon Store. Volia!!! And it took a lot less time than usual!!  Mission accomplished.

C4C Easter

This week's challenge over at the Crazy 4 Challenges Blog is the sketch above. I have to laugh at myself... even though this is supposed to be "CLEAN & SIMPLE", it still took me a long time to get the color combo right and fuss with all of the elements until I was satisfied with it. In the end, I like the way it turned out. The base of the card is Perfect Plum, topped with a layer of Apricot Appeal. The DP is from Papertrey Ink's "Egg Hunt" collection. The image is one that I have had in my stash for a long time by Inkadinkado. I colored it with Copics on Neenah Solar White and matted it on Green Galore, Bashful Blue and Perfect Plum. The sentiment is from SU's "A Good Egg". Thanks for stopping in today!

Jon's Valentine

This is my take on this week's Crazy 4 Challenges Challenge, which is to use RED as the main color on your project. I have twin boys who are 10 wonderful years old. They are so different... both really great kids. This card is for Jon. He is so athletic, and tenacious, and funny, and dear... Skateboarding is one of his latest endeavors. I just got this Extreme Skateboard stamp from Stampin' Up just in time for Valentine's Day. It's perfect for his Valentine. I found THIS and THIS card by Englishrose over at SCS, and combined ideas from them for my inspiration. I stamped the image in Basic Gray, and then stamped off 3 more times to give it dimension and movement. I sponged around the outside of the image with Bordering Blue ink, added 3 black brads to the top left corner, and popped it up with Dimensionals. The DSP is BasicGrey's Sugar Rush. The Card Stock is Riding Hood Red, Bordering Blue, Basic Gray and White. The sentiment is from MFT's Clearly Sentimental About Chocolate set. I can't wait for my boys to see their Valentines tomorrow. Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

For the Love of Chocolate

I love this MFT set - Who'S That Chocoholic. It's funny, because I am not a chocolate lover, but so many people who are dear to me are. It is the perfect set for chocolate loving girlfriends. I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #57 for the layout.

This week's C4C Challenge is to design a card/project with a pink color scheme. I combined the two challenges to come up with this card. Both the image and sentiment are from MFT's Who's That Chocoholic set. The base of the card is SU Riding Hood Red. The DSP is SU retired Candy Lane. I paper pieced WTG and colored with Copics. The chocolates are glazed with a Sakura clear glaze pen to give them a little oomph! I really like this card and it is a perfect Valentine card for my friend and certified chocoholic, Dee. Thanks for stopping by today!

C4C Deer Friend

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this "Deer Friend" image from Memory Box. I had colored a whole bunch of these last week, so I keep using them for all sorts of things other than the Christmas cards for which they were intended. I am sorry to say that ship has sailed. It's New Year's Eve... Today, I used my deer friend for the C4C challenge. I love this sketch.

I am wild about this BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses DP as well. When I was thinking about what to do with this sketch, I ran across a color challenge blog called ColourQ. On the sidebar, you can click on an SU card stock color, and you are linked to color combinations and thus challenges, that incorporate that color. Very cool!! THIS one matched my Eskimo Kisses DP so well, so I used for my C4C creation for this week - Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Bashful Blue (I used Soft Sky because it matched the BasicGrey DP more closely) and a neutral. I am happy with the results.

This has been one heck of a year - quite challenging in many ways, for me and for many people I know. Tonight I am hanging out with my guys at home. We'll have some special treats and watch the ball come down. We were in Philadelphia earlier today at Dave & Busters Restaurant/game stop extraordinaire. We stood outside at 6:00 PM and watched a fireworks display on the river - gorgeous and magical. Wishing you peace, strength, hope and joy to you as the journey continues... Happy New Year!

Geometric Halloween

This week's challenge over at the Crazy 4 Challenges Blog is to create a card using at least three different geometrical shapes........Squares, Circles, Rectangles, Octagons, Triangles.......you name it, just make sure that you have three of them on! I decided to use Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #40 for the layout for my creation, and it took shape with circles, diamonds and rectangles. Fun!

Here is the recipe:
Paper ~ Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Black, Cast-A-Spell DSP, Imaginisce Hallowimsy - Lollipop Lizzy, black glitter paper.
Stamps ~ Autumn Apparitions
Ink ~ VersaMark
Accessories ~ White embossing powder, MS spider punch, Nestabilities, 1" circle punch, dimensionals, 1/2" orange polkadot grosgrain ribbon from Sharon Johnson's ribbon store.

Happy Birthday Mom!

We celebrated my mother's 87th birthday yesterday... we are blessed that she is in good health and still going strong. I used this week's Crazy for Challenges sketch - C4C7 - for the layout for this 5.25" card. This week's challenge from Our Creative Corner was a color challenge. I really loved the combination of Blush Blossom, Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter and Soft Suede. My mom is a bird lover, so I used Verve's Birthday Surprise for the main image. A little pink bling for the birthday girl, and voila! Happy Birthday Mom!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps ~Verve's Birthday Surprise.
Paper ~ Handsome Hunter, Blush Blossom, Soft Suede, Sage Shadow, White, Autumn Vine DSP (retired).
Ink ~ Soft Suede, Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx Black.
Accessories ~ Copics, Nestabilitites, Soft Suede 1/2" polka dot grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities, Hero Arts crystals, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug, Sponge Dauber, Crystal Effects.