Limelight Sketch Challenge 20

Yep, it is the 20th sketch challenge from the Limelight DT. I have a lot of fun with these, I'm always in need of a good layout. This week is no exception, plus the focus was on a giant circle-you know I love 'em! Our product focus this week is Pearls! Limelight carries lots of choices-Kaisercraft self-adhesive pearls, Liquid pearls, pearlescent paper (Shimmerz can have this effect when painted all over cardstock! Take your pick and give it a go. Here's the sketch to work with, and here's what I came up with.This little Bee by Stampendous just makes me smile. I got him a few years ago when I saw Beate using him on her blog. He has been collecting dust ever since. I actually squealed with delight when I saw that Mandy got him in the Limelight store. You know what's even better, Stampendous is doing up some of their stamps on cling foam making storage so much easier and the price a lot better. I also used the Heart of Old background stamp by Unity and the sentiment comes from Tiny Trinity. I used Liquid Pearls on my daisy and on my faux brads (I punched out little circles of black cs). Wanna see what I would have used had I had them on hand. I love Kaiser products, they are self-adhesive and look wonderful. Guess what's going on my next order! Okay, so come play along, use your pearls and the sketch.

Be sure to link your creation to Mandy's blog for a chance to win:Three packages of Kaisercraft Pearls of the winner's choice! How's that for a prize?

Now, follow me to see what the other DT members have come up with. Becky, JenMarie, Ryann, Lorie, Lee, and our guest designer, Rebekka.

Hugs, Lisa

p.s. don't forget about the Great Ribbon Round Up. For every three yards of ribbon you purchase, you may choose ONE YARD OF RIBBON FREE (of equal or lesser value, please)! Simply note your ribbon choice in the Comments section during checkout. If no free ribbon is selected, we will include a yard of our choice

It's Wednesday and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed

I am not usually the type of person who gets overwhelmed or stressed. My DH does enough of this for the both of us, LOL! I am a pretty laid back and go-with-the-flow type of gal. Okay, don't laugh at me, but my feelings of being overwhelmed are stamp related. Do you ever feel like there is TOO much going on in the stamping world all at once and you are trying to do it ALL and you can't? YIKES! I love new releases and challenges and birthday/blogaversaries, but I feel like my mojo is suffering. I know I don't have to all these challenges, but they are fun and I like to be a part of the celebration. I guess I should just take a step back and breath. Stamping is supposed to be fun and it is my stress release, it shouldn't be causing my stress. Plus, there are way MORE important things in Life (gasp! I know, did I really just say that? LOL!). Okay, enough rambling. I do have a fabulously CAS scrapbook page to share with you. Thanks to Jennifer Buck and her awesome CAS sketches, I've been keeping up or better yet, catching up on some pages.

I also used the Unity Birthday Celebration Challenge Day #1-baja, ruby red, saffron and kraft color combo for this layout. Here's the linky to the sketch. I love it and plan to do the same page for my middle guy's preshool photo just with different colors and papers. Have a great day! Hugs, Lisa

See How I've Changed!

This is going to be fun. There She Goes is kicking off their May new releases and with each release, Jessica posts a challenge. Usually you have to stamp something. This month her challenge is to See How We've Grown. So here you go, this is the first card I ever uploaded to an online gallery. I had been stamping for a few years prior to discovering SCS, so this isn't the first card I ever stamped ( I do have that one, I show it off at my workshops when I demo. My girls get a kick out of it!) but the first card I shared on a public site.

I know, the card isn't so bad (I actually still like it, but it was also a CASE from an SU mini) BUT the photograph-YUCK! I have learned so much along the way. LOL! Okay, I decided to show you the first card I ever made. Let me go get it and I'll be back...

....okay, here it is. I think I had too much fun with that color spritzer tool! LOL! So now the next part of the Challenge is to share one of our FAVORITE cards we have made. This is actually hard for me. I was just glancing through my gallery and there are lots of cards I love, all for different reasons. So here are two more recent cards that are definitely FAVES of mine.

and this one , guess I'm still liking chalks since I used them on this card. LOL!

So, go take a walk down your own memory lane. See where you started and look how far you've come! Thank goodness we all learn and grow along the way! Hugs, Lisa

CAS Tuesday with Trees and Butterflies!

Another great Challenge my Miss Boo (Jen) on SCS for Clean and Simple cards. This week we had to use just little bits of ribbon on our cards. Using ribbon is NOT a challenge for me, you know I love it and have a ton of it. Right now, using little snippets of ribbon is one of my FAVE things to do, especially if it's paired up with a button. My first card is SUO! I saw this card on the Clean & Simple blog, and wanted to try it. I put the little trees on a tangerine tango hilltop. I stamped with Chocolate chip, Pumpkin, Perfect Plum, and Apricot craft inks-they look wonderful on the Kraft.

My next card uses, yep, you probably guessed it....Unity stamps. These are from the gorgeous April KOTM! I think I said it once or two before, I think Unity does a great job with butterflies. The are always so pretty and unique.

Here I used my little snippet of ribbon to dress up this butterfly. I also stamped the image twice, once in black ink directly on the saffron dsp and then again with versamark on the kraft cs. I embossed it with clear embossing powder and then cut out the wings and popped them up to give some dimension to the butterfly. I stitched with a zigzag stitch all around my main panel. Hey, did you know Unity is turning 1. True to their generousity, Angela and her gang are giving away TONS of prizes. Check out the fun ALL week long in the SCS Unity forum.

Have a glorious Tuesday! Hugs, Lisa

Shine On!

The beautiful weather continues here in Cinci. The sun shines on! I just love this card, and I haven't shared it with you yet. I made one similar to it around Valentines Day and it sold right away at an open house I was at. I re-created this one for a submission and I never heard back so I'm guessing it's a no. Oh, well, I still love it. Hope you do to.

Supplies: Shine On (unity)

Paper: Ocean Tides, ripe Avocado, Stampers Select White (PTI) Kraft (SU)

Ink: choc. chip, raspberry fizz, ocean tides, ripe avocado

Access: Raspberry fizz satin ribbon, swiss dots embossing folders, scalloped circle nestie, collulzle, janome sew mini, heidi swapp ghost heart, Bittersweet brad, Spring Bouquet Punch

Check out the Great Ribbon Round-up at Limelight!For every three yards of ribbon you purchase, you may choose ONE YARD OF RIBBON FREE (of equal or lesser value, please)! Simply note your ribbon choice in the Comments section during checkout. If no free ribbon is selected, we will include a yard of our choice. Hugs, Lisa

Fun with White

The Ways to Use it challenge on SCS this week was to use all white (you could color an image that was stamped onto whit cs) products-cs and embellishments. I stuck to the rules and made a crisp, clean all white card. The butterfly was cut out of vellum cs and linen vellum cs (by PTI). I used one of the hat pins from the pretties kit to add some pizza to the pretty butterfly. I did add one pop of color with the sentiment (from Matchbox Messages) stamped in Tangerine Tango!
I really like this! I can't believe this was my first Ways to Use it challenge. I know I'll be back to play, it was a fun challenge. Hugs, Lisa

PTI Blog Hop

I was sooo excited when I saw the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Challenge this month-use a My Timeless Template, by Lauren Meader. I have purchased one and I LOVE it. It is the All Boxed Up template and it makes the cutest little gift set for cards. Today is the 25th and I just so happened to have a baby shower to attend this afternoon. So I got a two-fer with this one. I love to give my friends a stack of handmade cards they can use as thank-you notes once the baby arrives. So here's what I did. I used kraft, Spring Moss and Aqua Mist with accents of Chocolate Chip for my color pallet. I made a total of 8 cards and matching envelopes with the cute little turtle from Pond Life (I know, you all probably think this is the only PTI set I own, LOL! TRUST me, I own many, I just don't have any of the baby sets. Use what you got, right?). I also used my trusty Polka Dot Basics to make giant vintage cream dots on my cards and the box.

I made 4 cards with Aqua Mist as my base and 4 with Spring Moss as my base, the layout is the same for all 8 cards. Once I had my design, this project really came together so fast. If I had to guess, I'd say it took me an hour, maybe a little longer. Not bad if you ask me! I know my girlfriend is just going to squeal when she sees these and I'll pat myself on the back for another job well done! Man, I love this craft :) Can't wait to see all the wonderful projects created with Lauren's templates. They really are worth the $5 and an instant upload. Happy Hoppin'! Hugs, Lisa

Hip Hop Hangover, a quickie!

Not a lot to say today, I know, I've been talking about the weekend all week. I LOVE when the weather turns and we can be outside. I think tonight we will kick of the weekend of beautiful, warm, sunshiney weather with a trip to Kings Island Amusement park. We have season passes and the boys love to go. They are dying to see the new roller coaster, Diamond Back. We have been watching it's progression all winter long. Tomorrow is a soccer game and then we are heading out to the lake with some friends. I can't wait! Okay, I said I wouldn't babble on today, so here are my Hip Hop Challenge cards. The first challenge was: Unity's Almost Birthday-make a birthday card with non-traditional birthday stamps. I used Wish Sticks.

The second challenge was: Colors of the World-make a card using blues and greens and earthy neutrals. I love this hat image from the April KOTM. That's all I have for today. Check out the Hip Hop Hangover thread for the full list of HHH participants this week. Anglea will also have it up on her blog sometime later today. TGIF!

Hugs, Lisa

Stamp Something with Penguin Pants

Penguin Pants. The name just makes me smile. They are the sponsor this week for our Stamp Something challenge-showers and flowers. We are celebrating Spring, whether it's with showers or flowers. Come play along with us. I was privileged to have gotten my hands on some of the Penguin Pants stamps. I used Weather or Not stamp set for this card. I had so much fun making it. I love the curved sentiment and the little cloud (I don't have one in my stamping collection). I added crystal effects to the raindrops and sponged the sky, clouds, and grass all for some extra details. Everything else is colored with copics. Be sure to stop by the Stamp Something blog and see what my fellow DT members came up with. Stop back by for my Hip Hop Hangover post. This weekend I have some PTI goodies with the blog hop going on tomorrow. Have a wonderful Friday! I get to go on a nature hike with my DS's class today. The sun is shining and I got my flowers planted. Life is Good! Hugs, Lisa

Recycled Butterfly

I'm sure you are all aware that yesterday was Earth Day. I loved that both my boys came home from school talking about recycling and keeping the Earth clean. Joshua had a doozey of a question about Green House Gases. Whatever they learned in school has made a bit of an impact on them since they both made great efforts yesterday. Joshua came in from the bus with an empty plastic container he found in the street (it was garbage day yesterday and it was windy, I think the container had blown in the street from a neighbors) and he put it in our recycling bin. Later that evening, Ryan turned off the light in his room AND in Joshua's since no one was in there (this is huge, since turning off lights is something I can't get them to do, LOL). Wednesday is the Unity Addicts Challenge and we were asked to create with something recycled. I had gobs of brown packing paper from the SU box I got yesterday (my SAB rewards arrived) sitting in front of me so I tore off a bit and ran it through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Butterfly Die.

The sentiment is from March KOTM and the butterfly stem image is from this month's kit. I'm excited about the May 1st KOTM Challenge being posted in the Unity forum on SCS. A Guest Designer spot is up for grabs for those who play. You can only play if you have the kit, so be sure to order yours today! Okay, back to the card...I finally got my hands on some Aqua Mist colors from PTI. ahhhh, such a sigh of relief I felt when I opened this color. The polka dots are some of that Jillybean Soup dp that Becky sent me. Love it! This card just makes me smile. I'm planning to lay some mulch and plant some flowers today. It is supposed to be gorgeous here this weekend. Can you say 80 degrees! Oh, yeah, high of 84 to be exact and just think two days ago it was high of 39. That's the Midwest for ya! Hugs, Lisa

Check This Out!

Stop by Limelight and check out their new goodies. They have NEW Basic Grey Lime Rickey and Wisteria!!Dew Drops , NEW SHIMMERZ COLORS, and NEW PINK CAT STUDIO are also in the Limelight!!Also, Pearl colored Pearls are back in stock! Hooray!

SALE

It's the Great Ribbon Round-up!For every three yards of ribbon you purchase, you may choose ONE YARD OF RIBBON FREE (of equal or lesser value, please)! Simply note your ribbon choice in the Comments section during checkout. If no free ribbon is selected, we will include a yard of our choice.

FREE

FREE SUMMER STICKERS With each and every order (regardless of amount), we will be including a summer-themed sticker sheet from Pebbles, Inc. These are perfect for scrapbooking, card making, or sticking on envelopes! I personally think they coordinate VERY well with our Cling Changito Chef stamp or any of our summer stamps!

Just so you are in the know! Happy Wednesday! Hugs, Lisa

Happy Birthday To You!

This one is for Kristin. Many have said it and I am fortunate enough to also have found some great friends because of this craft. Kristin and I became friends last year because of a swap group, GSG, that we belong to. We spent 4 days together last summer at SU Convention and had a blast. She is such a fun, genuine, and sweet person (not to mention talented stamper). Today is her Birthday and this is her card. I hope it arrives in her mailbox today. I was so excited to make this card. I have been dying to cut into other material using my Big Shot (it cuts over 40 different materials you know). I finally went out and bought some cork and felt last week. I used my Big Bold Cupcake die to make this fun card with my felt. I was disappointed in my selection of colors (why do they make felt in such yucky colors?) I was able to find a few fun colors to buy along with a few basics, like white, brown and black. I added stitching detail and am now feeling confident with my zig zag stitch on my sewing machine.

I know, this is probably not a big deal to some, but I am quite proud of myself and was so happy to send this off to someone who will truly appreciate it! The whole card is SUO expect for the satin ribbon, it's raspberry fizz by PTI. I even did up the inside of the card and am kicking myself for not taking a picture of it.

Here's a tip for you about adhering felt to your card: After I had all the pieces cut out, I panicked about how I would attach the felt since glue will bleed right through the material (remember I use mono multi on almost everything). I am so glad I still have some snail sitting around. It came in handy, as I used it on the felt pieces. Worked like a dream. If you've used felt before, how do you attach it? Be on the look out for my next project using cork. Now to find some fun fabrics to try. I think that's my next Big Shot adventure. Happy Birthday Kristin!

Hugs,Lisa

CAS Again, this time Cards!

True to my Tuesday posting for the past 5 weeks or so, here are my CAS challenge cards I did up yesterday. We were using kids bedding from JcPenney for our inspiration this week. LOTS to choose from. I did one card, SUO and another with some Limelight Products (well, you know what I mean. Products Limelight Papercrafts carry). So here is the pillow I saw and LOVED. Seriously, I think I want this pillow for my craft room. It is sooo cute. Right away I knew I had the perfect stamp for this challenge, Love & Meaning by Unity. I pieced it up with some random SU dsp in pinks and oranges and the plaid print is by October Afternoon . I then finished the flower centers off with a button and some Kaiser clear droplets. The ribbon is yummy Hibiscus Bitty Dots satin ribbon by PTI. It is a perfect match to Regal Rose. Speaking of Regal Rose, I used this color paired up with it's monochromatic partner, Rose Red for the next card. Here is my inspiration piece (click over on the 5th thumbnail).

I used the Full Heart Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, and Word Window Punch for this card. The sentiment is from the Trendy Trees stamp set and I embossed it in white. The kiwi striped dp is from the Rockability dsp paper pack. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a fun, card for a special someone. I finally took the plunge on something I've been dying to do. Have a great Tuesday!

Hugs, Lisa

CAS-Scrapbook Style

One of the blogs I follow and check almost daily is the oh-so-talented Jennifer Buck. I've been seeing her post these Clean and Simple Scrapbook challenges on her blog and keep telling myself I NEED to do some of these. They are great layouts and make for quick pages, something I need these days because of the ever growing stack of photos I have to scrap. I whipped out these two pages in a little over an hour (thanks to Nicholas needing some help and attention). Here's the sketch from last week, CASSB04. And here is my page. The catch with this sketch was that you HAD to journal on your page. No big deal for me since I always journal. Here's the story behind this page. It's really not a story, it just says, " It's all about the video games. NOT all the time, but they play their fair share, especially in the winter months. Here all 3 are into the Nintendo DS."

This next one is a 1 photo layout, something I find myself doing more and more these days. I used to never put just 1 picture on a layout and now I find I can make it work. I had put off buying the SU scrappin' kit, 2 Sweet, because it was so girly. But I loved the color combo and the lined "notebook" paper in the kit. So, I finally told myself to just get it. Plus, I told myself, with the basic grey color I could make it work for boy pages. This is the sketch for this week, CASSB05. Try it. I did and I love how it turned out. Don't you just love playing airplane with little kids. Tim was quick one day and took this picture of me and Nicholas. He giggles so hard that it makes me laugh and I almost end up dropping him. I love those belly laughs!

Hopefully you'll be inspired to scrap something this week. Start small and you'll feel good!

Hugs, Lisa

CAS or Not?

There has been some interesting convo over on SCS regarding this topic. CAS stands for Clean and Simple. I use the term all the time. I like to think I am more CAS than not. With saying that, there are plenty of cards I make that don't fit this category. The definition of CAS is really open to individual interpretation. AJ started this thread yesterday and there is a lot of good input. AJ refers to it as Less is More. I like to think this is how I often create. Most of my cards are quick to make, I don't spend a lot of time on them simply because I have to be fast. The time I get to stamp each day is limited. I don't have an hour to spend on 1 card. Often times I have been thinking about the cards or projects I'll be making long before I actually get to sit down and stamp. I guess I have most of the creative process complete before I sit down. CAS, I think, is the overall look of a card-not a lot of layers or embellishments, one or two main colors, and a main focal point. I made this card yesterday and labeled it CAS. It didn't take me long to create and there are not a lot of layers. I guess it is my version of CAS. I'm sure there are many that would NOT classify this as CAS. See, there is a lot of grey area to this definition. Of course to me, the TRUE creators of FABULOUS CAS cards are Julie Ebersol, Kristie Lee Hersch and Kristina Werner, even Nichole Heady. So I ask you, What is your definition of CAS? Is this card CAS or not? Food for thought on a dreary Sunday! Hugs, Lisa

Look How Sweet Cherrio's can Be!

Here's a page I did this week. I loved these shots of Nicholas with my dad (his Papa, boy does he love his Papa). Nicholas just crawled right up on his lap and Papa was more than happy to share his Cherrio's with him. The layout if from Scraps, ect. Magazine.

Have a good one! I'm off to a busy day of soccer, sunshine, and hanging out with the boys!

Hugs, Lisa

Hip Hop Hangover with my KOTM!

This is my second post for today. Please scroll down to see the Stamp Something Challenge.

If you are looking for some Unity inspiration, then you've come to the right place. I have new Unity rubber in my hands. Yep, my April KOTM arrived in my mailbox just in time for me to use some of the images on the Hip Hop Challenge cards yesterday. I just think these little trees are the cutest. Not to mention the adorable little birdies nestled in the tree tops. Thanks to my dear friend Becky, I also had some fun new paper in my hot little hands by Jillybean Soup. She read my mind! I discovered these papers last week and have been drooling over them ever since. This first card is for the Hole-y Unity challenge-add some piercing to your card. You can see mine along the left edge of the tree panel. I've even been spongin' in some sky and grass on my cards this week. I'm liking the look and am getting a feel for the right touch with the sponge. Here's the next challenge card, which was to use a Bow on your card. Easy 'nough, I do bows alot! Isn't this dress form image just darling?

I had fun with more of that paper and pieced together that image. This is just a nice, simple, any occasion card. Okay, off to do some blog hoppin'. See the full list of HHH participants here in this SCS thread or stop by Angela's blog. As always, I am so happy you hopped on by!

Hugs and TGIF! Lisa

Blue, Green and Yellow Somethings!

See, I told you I couldn't get enough of these rub-ons. They are just so pretty. Today I pulled out some soft sky for my blue. The Stamp Something Challenge is sponsored by Cutting Cafe and it is a color challenge. Please use Blue, Yellow and Green on your creation. I added some lemon tart and spring moss (both Papertrey Ink colors) cardstock to the pretty Basic Grey, Urban Prairie rub-ons. I love using my full heart punch to add a few large scallops to a card. I finished off the card with some spring moss grosgrain, a PTI New Leaf Vintage button and some Urban Prairie brads. Again, today there is NO stamping on the card. Quick and easy! Come play along and link your card to the Stamp Something blog, while you're there be inspired by the rest of the DT! Check back to see my Hip Hop Hangover creations, It's a 2 post Friday! Hugs, Lisa

The Week is Flyin'!

The kids still had Monday off to finish out their Spring Break and it is making for a super fast week. I'm kind of glad though, the good weather is coming this weekend (sunny and 70 !!!). Today is a Limelight Sketch and Product Focus Day! Here is the sketch to work with. It is a classic and so easy to work with. Plus it's a square card, which you know I love, especially if it is 4 1/4 size! Our product focus this week is Rub-ons! You know you got 'em, go find 'em so you can create something beautiful with 'em! I picked up some of these GORGEOUS Basic Grey ones from the Limelight store. I couldn't put them down yesterday. There is no stamping on this card.

Up for grabs this week is a package of Basic Grey Silver Summer Rub-ons! And there's a BONUS.... Oh, yes, you can have TWO entries into the random drawing this week? How, you ask?

• 1- You get one entry for creating a card and posting it to your blog or in an online gallery (details below).


• 2- This week, if you get a friend to create a card for this challenge, and they post it to their blog or in an online gallery, YOU get a second entry! Just leave a second comment on Mandy's blog post telling her who you sent over! Now, this has to be a NEW participant, someone who's never done the Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge! (Yes, if you get LOTS of friends to join in, you get one extra entry for each friend!)

Here's how to play:**Use the sketch provided along with your favorite Rub-ons!!**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC019.**Post a comment with a link to your card on Mandy's post by Sunday, April 19, at midnight (or before winner is drawn Monday a.m.).**PRIZE ~ One package of Basic Grey Silver Summer Rub-ons! Winner is chosen randomly!**Hope that YOU will play along!! :) Don't forget that you can get an EXTRA entry this week by getting a friend to play along, too!

Here's what the rest of the DT has done: Becky, Jen Marie, Lorie, Lee, Ryann, and our guest designer, Rebekka. Have a great day! Hugs, Lisa

Here's Two from Yesterday!

Aside from all the excitement around here, I did get in some stamping yesterday. Here are the two CAS cards I did. They are the same with a different color scheme. I LOVE the kraft one, it's my fave.

These both use the very pretty stamp set, Feel the Joy, from Unity. It is only $6!!!! Don't forget to VOTE. I made the MFT Idol Top 10 for this week's Judge's pick. You get to vote for the winner. Stop by and take a look at all the fabulous entries!

Today is the 15th of April. Hopefully it is a happy tax day for everyone. Just in case it is not, Mandy over at Limelight just made your day a little better. Whether you will receive a refund or have to pay, Limelight Papercrafts wants to give YOU a Stimulus! Enter the code TaxDay at checkout to receive 15% off of your ENTIRE order! Hugs, Lisa

Judges Idol Week

ETA: I MADE the TOP 10- Please GO VOTE! I'm just soooo thrilled, thanks again to the judges!
This week is for the Judges over in the MFT forum. The top 6 idol contestants have this week off and the judges (the general stamping public)get to play. We had to create something using MFT stamps of course. A top 10 will then be chosen by some of the MFT DT members and then the vote goes back to the public! It's all so exciting! I got my package of new MFT stamps last week while I was in MI so I knew I had to get them inky. Kim released two adorable little boy sets. I was all over them, since you know there is nothing but testosterone in my my house. I decided to make a little Quiet Time play kit for Nicholas. We are still working out the no-nap thing which happens about 3 days a week. I still need MY quiet time, so he has to find something quiet to do on those days he doesn't sleep. Here is what came up with. I used a nugget tin I had in my stash to make a little container to hold all the cuteness. I even added a little twine handle thanks to my crop-a-dial (punches through metal like butter!). I decorated the outside with some kraft cs, and October Afternoon dp and a piece of black satin ribbon. The sweet little boy and train image are from the Cuddle Up Carter stamp set ($ from this set goes to charity ) I used my Billboard alphabet die to punch out the letters onto real red textured cs. Here are the little guys. I turned them into little cute stick puppets! I stamped onto stampers select white cs and colored them with my Copic markers (did you read, Papertrey Ink is going to be selling Copics!) then attached them to craft sticks. The little coordinating animals were attached to tooth picks (I trimmed down the ends so they weren't sharp and pointy). These little guys are from the Ben Paperdolls set. I tell you if you liked paper dolls (and even if you didn't) when you were little, you will love this set. I had so much fun coloring and piecing the parts all together. Here is a picture of all the little pieces and how they fit into the tin.

So wish me luck and if I make the top ten YOU have to go and vote. I'll update with the voting link after 10 am EST, once the top ten is picked. Thanks for stopping by today!

HUGS, Lisa

Two Just Finished Pages

I really am feeling behind in my scrapbooking. I just got a few of the scrappin' kits from SU and they make for great quick pages. With that being said, I can't decide if I will actually add anything to these two pages yet. I think they both need a little something else, but I don't have the stamps I want to use on them yet. I am getting the Just Beachy set with all those cute little fishies for my SAB rewards and I do think I will add a few of those little guys to this first page. The title reads, Something Fishy. Nicholas made this mess one afternoon when he climbed on the table and dumped out the whole bag of fishy crackers to help himself with a little snack. Oh, and my strips are straight, for some reason they look so crooked here. I hate photographing 12x12 pages, can't ever get it to look right. This next page is almost a direct CAS of the sample from the Hoppy Days scrappin' kit. I loved how Ryan was showing Nicholas all about this Caterpillar last spring. I really want the fuzzy Caterpillar image from the Unity set, Little Buggers, but it is one I don't have. Most likely, these pages will stay the way they are. I am not one to go back and rework a page, we'll see. I just wanted to make sure I got them posted today since I told you I would. Have a great start to your week everyone!

Hugs, Lisa

A little MFT on a Saturday

I'm keeping this short, I feel like the day is already slipping away (and it's beautiful outside) since the boys slept in which means I got to sleep in. I can't remember the last time I slept till 8:30am when the kids are around! I made these two cards last week for the MFT release challenges-the other ambassador and guest designer challenge. The first card was the Ambassador challenge #2 (remember I hosted the #1) and we had to add texture to our card. There is lots of it on this one- the fun flock, the crystal effects, the crimmped paper (the striped panel), and the dry embossed swiss dots.

This next card was my entry for this month's guest designer spot. I am loving these fun little monsters that MFT sells. The set is called Monster's Ink. We had an inspiration piece to work with and I went for the colors and how they swirled together. I tried to create that look with sponging ink onto glossy cardstock and then used that to piece my little monsters together. I'll be back on Monday with some scrapbook pages. I've been working hard to complete some pages and make a dent in my pile of photos. Have a great Easter! Hugs, Lisa

Stamp Something with Shapes

This week's Stamp Something is hosted by one of our very own DT members, Marcea Watkins! She is offering up an adorable Sugar Nellies stamp to 1 lucky winner. Her challenge to us was to create something with different shapes. The minimum number of shapes to be used on your card is two, but the skies the limit on the max. I think this is such a unique challenge. I used some of my favorite shapes on my card-circles and stars and even some octagons (thanks to the fun baja breeze pattern in the A Walk in the Park dsp pack).

My layout is one I saw on the Card Patterns site a few weeks back. I didn't get a chance to play along in their challenge, but I really liked the design of the card. The rotated square even makes for another shape-a diamond. Be sure to link your card to the Mr. Linky on the Stamp Something blog for a chance at the prize. Have fun with shapes this week! Hugs, Lisa

Oval All from the Occassions Mini

Here is the last of my swap cards to share with you. I don't think I showed this one yet. This card uses the fun color combo of Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Summer Sun, and a touch of Kiwi. The oval sentiment is from the new set, Oval All that fits perfectly with the new scalloped oval punch. I colored the flower in with my markers and added a touch of crystal effects to the center. The white cs is shimmery white and it gives just the right sparkle! We are on our way back into town today. I'm just hoping the weather warming back up. It has been fridge ed here in Cinci and in MI. Just when I thought I could put away our winter coats! Hugs, Lisa

In Michigan

Hello from Michigan! Tim is working long shifts the next two days so I am took the boys up to MI for a quick visit. My BFF since first grade is in town with her little boy (they live in Oklahoma City and we don't to see each other very often) so I took the opportunity to see my parents and to spend some time with Sara. I didn't want to leave you without any inspiration (just in case you were looking for it) so here is a card I did last week. Kind of a funny story behind this one. I made it for a Stamp Something challenge, that wasn't even the challenge. LOL! I thought I was doing good, getting my DT work done early, only to find out that I had it all wrong. I love how it turned out and the fact that I used an older stamp set (which is still current, BTW) makes it even better. When is the last time you used Doodle This? Do you even own it? If not, you can still get it. It really is a pretty flower set.

My color combo is Pink Pirouette, Apricot, and Chocolate Chip. I added some accents with my white gel pen. OH, and look what I discovered? The jumbo brads fit inside the jumbo grommets perfectly! Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow! Hugs, Lisa

CAS Monday on a Tuesday

It seems that Tuesday's are going to be my CAS day around here. I have been stamping the CAS challenges for 5 weeks now. This week's challenge was to use distressing on your CAS cards. This was a little hard for me. CAS has a bit of a "messy" look to me and the definition of CAS is clean and simple. I also seem to do lots of layers when I use distressing on my cards. A challenge is a challenge and here is what I came up with. One card uses Unity and the other is an SUO card.

So My distressing on this card comes from the use of my little distressing tool that comes with the SU cutter kit. I love these little bundled up tools, that distressing was the reason I got the cutter kit. I also added some distressed ink around the edges of some of the panels. Stamps used are Enjoy Life (got it FREE on a Hip Hop Thursday, gotta join the fun for a chance to win some) and the butterfly is from the March KOTM. Everything else is SU!

I also made this one by combining two new sets available in the Occasions Mini, Forest Friends and Matchbox Messages. I made another little baby girl card, I don't know why, I know no one having girls right now. The distressing was done with just ink this time. As cute as that little deer is in Pink Pirouette, the more I look at this card, the more it kind of bugs me. I rarely do this, but I think I need to re-work this card and do the deer up in Chocolate Chip. What do you think? Come play along with the CAS challenges, they really are a great way to start your week stamping!

Hugs, Lisa