Stamp Simply 153 & MojoMonday 153

I saw Sharon's challenge earlier in the week, to use pleated ribbon on our card. I am so ribbon challenged I just kept putting it off. I had everything worked out for the card, decided to use this week's Mojo Monday sketch for this card, but could not get the ribbon to look presentable. Then I remembered this ribbon I bought probably 15 years ago that I used on a dress for my daughter, and decided to use it. Thankfully the color was right so I didn't have to change what I had already started on the card.

I used a 5x7 embossing folder on Kraft CS, inked and distressed the edges with a ruler. Stitched some sloppy lines around the edges, incorporating the ribbon in the stitching. Stamped the SU! image onto Neena Solar White paper, cut it into four panels, inked and distressed the edges as well, and attached to burgundy CS. Stamped the hummingbird from same SU! set with distress ink, cut it out and attached it to the ribbon. Attached embossed layer to SU! CS, added some Dew Drops.

It's Embossable at OCC, and a Mojo Sketch

Good day everyone!  This first card I made following the MojoMonday151 sketch.  I really liked this one.  I had this image sitting on my desk since I got back from Vermont in May.  I found the stamp at a scrapbook shop in Memphis.  I stamped it with dove gray Stazon onto glossy cardstock.  It doesn't show up well in the picture, but looks pretty IRL.  Cut out with Spellbinders Labels 11, as was the Kraft CS mat,  inked with Distress inks. Base card is SU! CS.  Background DP is from Mirabelle stack by The Paper Studio. Used Cuttlebug embossing folder on HOTP paper, running it through several times to get the "cracked" look from the paper breaking. MS Cornice edge punch, Spellbinders label for sentiment, which is from SU!

For this next card, a friend asked me to make her 30 thank-you cards, with specs being simple and earthy with a little glitz.  So here's my take on that.  I decided to use this card for this week's Our Creative Corner 
challenge...embossing, any kind of embossing.  This is a Quickutz  folder Shelbie picked out on our trip back from Vermont, from the same scrapbook shop in Memphis.  Embossed the paper, inked and distressed the edges, attached to base card.  Added yellow Stickles for the glitz.  Somehow I smudged some ink onto the CS, so it got covered with the tiny butterfly.  Thought it looked cute, so half the cards got butterflies. :)

Mojo Monday 150 Birthday

Today is my son Tyler's 17th birthday. Where did the time go? He is such a wonderful young man, and I love every minute I have with him! Crazy that three weeks ago today I got a phone call all parents dread. Tyler was involved in a serious auto accident in which the van he was riding in was struck from behind while they were stopped at a red light. Four vehicles involved, with the van being sandwiched between the car in front of them and the one behind them, which was hit by a commercial delivery truck. There was a fatality in the first vehicle hit, Tyler suffered a head laceration and concussion, Tyler's stepmother was in ICU for four days with serious injuries, and one of his friends was also injured in the accident. Everyone is home now and on the road to recovery. I still slip into Tyler's room at night to check on him. Everything can change in a flash.

This summer has been busy and my mojo has definitely suffered. I have made several cards and some sets of cards for friends, but Chuck has been using the camera for his work so I haven't been able to take pictures of all of them, or wasn't able to get the pics off the camera disc before he had to use it again. Hard to believe it has been three months since I posted anything! The clinic where I work is being sold at the end of September, so I have started looking for another job. Still doing massage therapy after regular work hours and hoping to build clientele there to fill in when the clinic closes.

So in trying to get my mojo jump-started, I used this week's Mojo Monday 150 sketch for Tyler's birthday card. Happens to be the first one of the month so there's a contest too. Yay! Used SU! cardstock for the base card. DP is DCWV Rustic Collection; the smaller DP scraps are Hot Off the Press. Sentiment from JustRite, cut/emboss with Nestabilities. All ink is Distress Ink. The image is from Inkadinkado Horse set. Tyler loves horses, and I was trying to make this a masculine card without being too juvenile. I think I succeeded. :)

Timeless Tuesday #7

I am finally getting around to the last two cards I have been working on this week. This one is for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, where hostess Cindy Haffner challenged us to use ribbon. *Sigh*...I love ribbon, have lots of it, but I am so ribbon challenged I rarely use it other than sticking it straight across a card. I really struggle with tying bows, other than on my shoes, and most of the time end up needing both hands and feet for a card bow. hee hee! Think I did okay on this one though. Yay! I had this image from Flourishes Coffee With Friends already embossed with copper EP and it was just the size for the Mojo Monday 78 sketch. Pic looks washed out, can't seem to get good lighting, but these colors look so good IRL. The bottom DP is a pale golden yellow, and the top one a bit paler, though they look blah in the pic. Wrestled with the ribbon and successfully got it tied how I like it without having to call my son in here to add a finger. : ) Stamped the sentiment directly onto the card, added the Dew Drops. Will get the other card posted shortly.

Stamps: Flourishes Coffee With Friends.
Paper: My Mind's Eye, Hot Off The Press Flowered Handmade pack.
Ink: Versamark, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Copper EP, ribbon, Dew Drops, corner rounder.

Think I Lost it Again

Here are a couple of cards for some challenges I finished several days ago, but I'm not very happy with how they turned out so hadn't posted them yet. I decided to go ahead and post them because I haven't been able to come up with anything else, so guess the ol' mojo has taken a walk - again. Hope it comes back soon, and hangs around longer this time. :)

First up is the card I did for the Whiff of Joy Challenge. This week was a sketch by Heather for us to follow. I colored the Willow With Flowers image with Prismacolors blended with baby oil, chalked around her and added Flower Soft. I think all the layers were my downfall with this one, I don't know. At any rate, all DP is by Hot Off The Press, including the shimmery BG. Made the flowers from scraps of the DP.

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow With Flowers, Verve Artful Elegance.

Paper: Hot Off The Press DP, The Paper Studio CS.

Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues on the flowers.

Accessories: Flower and leaf punches, Flower Soft, rhinestone, Stickles, Pebbles Chalks.

This card is for the Crafty Secrets challenge on SCS. This one had a recipe to follow, to use ribbon or lace, brads or buttons, and paper piercing. Thought I would use the Mojo Monday sketch to finish up. Should have been pretty simple with all that, but after coloring the image from the Garden Girls set I couldn't seem to make it come together like I wanted. Bottom DP is from My Mind's Eye. Had a piece of wide lace that I attached to blue CS, and then the matted image over that. Did the paper piercing in the scallops around the image. The flowers were from a MS hydranga punch, attached with brads, then added Stickles to the brads. Corners seemed bare, so I added some swirlies in a couple different shades of blue.

Stamps: Crafty Secrets Garden Girls, Verve filigree Fantasy.

Paper: The Paper Studio, My Mind's Eye.

Ink: Stazon.

Accessories: Lace, brads, Stickles, Martha Stewart Hydranga punch, Pebbles chalks, Nestabilities.

Chippy House Mouse

Still feel like my mojo is MIA, but the House Mouse challenge was a fun way to try to tweak it. The DT team wanted us to use chipboard on our design. I don't have any, but I found a coaster in my stash that I used as the base for my image, which was colored with Prismacolors blended with baby oil. I followed the Mojo Monday #76 sketch. Main card was run through Cuttlebug embossing folder. Cut the coaster down some, distressed and inked the edges. The pale green panel is actually a paint chip (going to be the color of my kid's bathroom - grin). I stamped the scroll from Verve Artful Elegance with Versamark, but it's hard to see on here. Rather than a sentiment like the sketch showed, I put the flower there, and a row of beads going across the bottom.

Stamps: HM Throwing Daisy Petals, Verve Artful Elegance.

Paper: SU! CS, paint chip, The Paper Studio, My Mind's Eye.

Ink: Colorbox Queues, Stazon, Versamark.

Accessories: Corner punch, flower and leaf punches, beads, ribbon, coaster, Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy embosisng folder.

Some Late Postings, and Where is My Mojo?

Hola! Had a total brain meltdown, or something. I finished my Christmas COTW #9 and the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday card last Thursday but somehow forgot about them. Did the Stamp Simply Challenge Friday and then remembered them Friday night. Thought I would get to them Saturday, but that didn't happen either, then I forgot again. Saturday our JROTC Booster Club was responsible for lunches for 448 JROTC kids from all over central and south Texas at the orienteering meet at Camp Bullis. Essentially the kids are sent out armed with only maps and a compass to run around in the woods on the Army Post and find different markers within a specific time frame. I think only two got really lost this time. : ) We got there at 7:30 in the morning. There were 12 of us parents out there spending most of the day battling that 35-40 MPH wind and cold blast that came through while doing hot dog lunches for the kids. One dad grilled up 1000 hot dogs, and six of us then did an assembly line of bunning and wrapping the dogs. Went smoothly, just very windy. At some point the dust got to me and the sneezing started, so I spent the rest of the day at home being lazy with Chuck and sneezing my head off. I think my mojo blew away with the wind. I haven't even sat down at my craft table, so until I find my mojo again, here's these two cards to check out.

This is the card I did for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday, to use vellum on the card. I followed the Mojo Monday #75 sketch for this. The Flourishes butterly was stamped on beige vellum then cut out. Base DP from DCWV. Pink and yellow DP were plain colors from My Mind's Eye. On the pink I stamped a flourish all over, and the yellow I embossed then inked the raised portions. Layered all pieces, attached the butterfly by its body and gently bent up the wings. Flower made with various size punches, Stickled in the center, then added a clear Dew Drop. Colored Dew Drops added beside the butterfly.

Stamps: Flourishes Butterfly Moments; Crafty Secrets Flourishes set.
Paper: DCWV Once Upon a Time, The Paper Studio CS and vellum, My Mind's Eye DP.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: MS cornice edge punch, CarlaCraft flower punches, EK Success leaf punch, Dew Drops, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.

Here's my Christmas card of the week #9 for last week too. Base DP is a piece of wrapping paper. Ran Versamark pad along edge of base card then embossed with gold EP; Inkadinkado Peace Wreath also embossed with gold EP. Cut that out with circle Nestabilities, cut out center and added vellum to backside to soften the center. Had added a felt poinsettia and leaves to the center, and...ick, so pulled those off and with that pulled off part of the background. So I filled in those spots with a gold Deco pen, and then covered that "window" with vellum to further camouflage that. Hopefully some of this week's challenges and sketches will help bring back my mojo. By the way...the boy's orienteering team took 2nd place, the girls team took 1st place. Woohoo!

Stamps: Inkadinkado Peace Wreath.
Paper: The Paper Studio, wrapping paper, vellum.
Ink: Versamark.
Accessories: Gold EP, Nestabilities.