Feeling Punchy?

I created this card using punches (except for the gingham backround from TAC). I was inspired by something similiar that was done on a gift can in the new TAC catalog. This is another one of my projects that I taught at my class last night. It's fun and easy, my favorite kind!

SC184 Serene Sunflower

I love this Sketch Challenge from SCS! It's so refreshingly unusual. My cyber friend Cindy (Mothermark) was hosting the challenge this particualr week and I think she picked a good one! Hey, remember wire?!!! I was digging through my "stuff" looking for something else and re-discovered all my wire that got tucked away. I bet you have some too!

Hanna Chills

Yep, that's what I'm doing right now. Chillin'. Why?

1.Because I had such a stressful day at work today. I work in accounting and it's E.O.M for us and nothing is balancing for me! Yikes!

2. Because guess what? I think I'm coming down with a cold!!! I feel feverish, have a sore throat and my chest hurts. You do the math...

3. Because I love you guys and can't wait to get home and start blogging to see what everyone's been up to.

Well, now that I've vented I wanted to share this card I made with you. I'm experimenting with new card designs and thought this was a little different. I think I came up with it on my very own but who knows anymore! I also might have seen it somewhere and it stuck in my memory. It's almost Friday everyone!!! YIPPEEEEEEEEE

By the way, my friend Michele is giving away some cool blog candy this weekend! Check it out if you like free stuff!

Purple Coneflowers

This is a picture of a small portion of my flower garden.These are my new Purple Coneflowers that I thought had died! They came back for me and I am so thrilled... I love having gazing balls and little accents too. Some of the other flowers you see like the Baby's Breath and Zinnias are part of a summer garden seed mix I bought at Home Depot this year. I'm really pleased with the results so far.

Fabulous Flower

This is one of the projects that I prepared for my Park District Stamp Class I teach. I love the richness that black adds to any project... Here's how I did it:

I stamped the flower with SU (Craft) White
While it was still wet I used daubers and dabbed Lavender Lace and Almost Amethyst chalk over the image and this is what I got! Of course I used my white gel pen to make the (ever so popular) dots on alternating petals. It was E Z! Can you see the stick pin is placed by the ribbon? It's a "J" for Joanne! I'm gonna have each student pick a different initial to personalize their own card.

Tomorrow's Forecast

Wow! Another crazy week is behind us since my last post. I just can't seem to find enough time to stamp on a daily basis anymore and it's really bumming me out. I let things take priority that frankly, don't need to be. I just can't "crank 'em out" anymore like I used to! I have to add that summer is my favorite season and I love being outdoors with nature and SUNSHINE! Here in the Midwest we can go for several days without any sunshine in the winter so I savor every minute of it knowing what's facing us down the road. So, if you come to my blog for a visit and I haven't posted anything new, I'm probably in my pool or outside in my flower garden. Anyway, here's a card I made over the weekend using an image from Whipper Snapper. It's one of my favorite WS stamps! It's a clean, simple design. Did you notice that I photographed my card instead of scanning it? I think I'm gonna like doing it this new way. Then my cards don't appear "crooked" like in the scans. Hope you're having a great day and thanks for visiting my blog!

BSC Sketch #2

Is it just me or are Mondays getting harder and harder to get through... Thank goodness that most of this crazy day is behind me. Now I can have a little quiet time and do something fun!

Like I mentioned in my last post, over at Lizzie Anne Designs they are having Sketch Challenges to celebrate their two year anniversary. This is the card I made for Sketch 2. Obviously all stamps are Lizzie Anne's...

BSC Sketch 1

Lizzie Anne Designs is celebrating their 2nd anniversary next week! One of the things they are doing is running Sketch Challenges, using their stamps of course. This is the first sketch I tried.

Adventures in Babsitting!

I babysit our grandson Zach on Wednesdays and I have so much fun with him! He's 2 1/2 now and I couldn't resist taking pictures of him playing Hide and Seek with me. He's at that age where he thinks if he covers his eyes, you can't see him... lol Umm, not to brag or anything, but isn't he ADORABLE! ;-)

SDC4 Always

Wow! We're doing our fourth challenge already... This weeks challenge is to create a card using at least three embellishments, one being ribbon. Here' what I came up with.

Here's a link to the other Diva's cards:

Michele
Lynda
Sharon
Kimberly

Artful Angel

I love this sweet image for Artful Inkables. I made this as a "You're an angel" kind of thank you card. I used the Scallop Lace Punch from Martha Stewart to border. I wanted to mail this so I tried to stay a little low key on the bling.

FS73 My Friend Michele!

A few weeks ago the Featured Stamper on SCS was non other then my stamping friend Michele, commonly know as Chelemom! Well, I just had to do the challenge! For those of you who might not be familar with this challenge, a different stamper is chosen each week. You go into their SCS Gallery and choose a layout you'd like to use. You must change at least two things about the card. This is what I did.

What I used:

Stamps: SU Wanted, Hero Arts (sentiment)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, SU dp
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: SU star punches, natural hemp cord, brads, button snap (unknown)





Michele's Card

"Calgon, Take Me Away"...

Well, today was my first day back at work from my (mini) vacation. It was CRAZY!!! All I could think about was how much I wished I was sitting in the sun, sipping a nice summer drink... This card is in memory of more relaxing times. Umm, was I even off from work?!!!

How I did it:

Stamps: Art Impressions
Paper: Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise, Cool Carribean, Going Grey DP, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: Summer Stickers from the Dollar Store, Watercolor Crayons

SC183 Butterfly

Wow, have I been enjoying my (mini) vacation! Today is my last day though. Back to the ol' grind tomorrow... I've been swimming, walking, stamping. It's been awesome! We've had bonfires every night and I am sooo relaxed. One of the things I've done is try and catch up on some of the SCS Challenges. This is for last week's. I dug out an old (but favorite) stamp from an SU set called Wonderful Wings. I used Stickles lightly on a small part of the wings but you can't tell in the scan. I stamped the butterfly twice. The second one was stamped on watercolor paper and then cut out to give it a 3-D effect. I tried to take a side photo so that you could see the effect but my camera card is giving me a problem for some reason. Watercolor Crayons were used to color the image. Thanks SO much for stopping by.

How I did it:

Stamps: SU Wonderful Wings, Adias Cloth
Paper: SU Designer, Garden Green, Apricot Appeal, and Summer Sun, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: SU Photo Corner Punch, Gold Cord, Gold Brads, Stickles, Watercolor Crayons

SC183

Have a Star-Spangled Day!

Hope everyone has a great holiday. This was created with an old SU set called Star Spangled Day. I miss so many of these retired sets...

Coffee Break

I love this new set I bought from Hanna Stamps! It makes perfect "girlfriend" cards. Since I make many more cards then I need or sell, I like making them *thinking of you* themed so I can send them for no other reason. I have the next five days off and I am SO excited! I have no plans in particular. That fact alone makes it feel like a vacation...

Dotted Parrot

One of the things I enjoy to do is exchange images with other stampers. It's great way to work with new stamps since, although we try, we cannot own every single stamp from every {awesome}company! I "borrowed" this stamp from Lynda one night at my monthly stamping get together. Here's what I made with it...

Stamps: Artful Inkables (Pretty Parrot)
Paper: Orchid Opulence, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore
Accessories: Orchid Opulence, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore Markers, Swiss Dots EF, Prima Flowers, EK Threading Water Scallop Punch

Thanks Berry Much!

I created this simple card using an SU set called Tart & Tangy from the current mini catalog. I used the Martha Stewart Lace Scallop punch to create the border. The message was made on the computer. It's a gorgeous day here in Chicagoland! I'm home from a long day at work andI'm off to go swimming... :-).



Recipe:

Stamps: Tart & Tangy
Paper: SU Designer Paper, SU Purely Pomegranite and Wild Wasabi
Accessories: SU Scallop Circle, Martha Stewart Scallop Lace Punch, White sticky dots from JoAnn's.