Perfect time for a challenge

Today I was asked to make a birthday card for a man who works with computers, so I decided to use the color combo challenge on SCS to try to make the card. I love the end result, although I was afraid of the color combo- bashful blue, old olive and more mustard. I watercolored the computer with the cake stamped inside (stamps from Computer Quips) using my Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I tried to make the screen have a grid like look, similar to the background, which was done with the Rough Texture wheel and DTP technique.
I distressed the edges of the blue, olive textured, and watercolor paper, and lifted them up with some pop-up glue dots for a little more dimension. Ribbon was from SU, it is now retired. Sentiment from Warmest Regards.


My Christmas card tonight is done with Old Olive textured, rounded the corners. The scalloped oval is a Daisy D's die cut. I added some SU ribbon and cut out the tree from Wondrous Gift, which was embossed in winter white on patterned paper, then used Crystal Stickles and a button for the top. The button was inspired by Julia at Belle Papier.

See you soon...

yes, I'm still alive...

I've been exhausted in the evenings all week, and last weekend was packed full of family fun. My daughter (2 1/2), rode a pony twice for the first time at our annual church festival last Sunday. This was a major feat for her- a girl who has had NIGHTMARES about horses being in the house (?) and many a night was scared to go to bed! I didn't get a picture, but she had this cute little grin on her face while riding, and her daddy and I stood back while the owner of the "pony" (actually a miniature horse) guided her. It was so cool to watch her do it! We encouraged her while she waited in line, reminding her that princesses ride on ponies! That night, I pulled a brand new Barbie nightgown (her first nightgown) out that was very princess-y and had Barbie wearing a crown with Pegasus, which we told her was a princess and her pony.

Anyways, my new job has kept me busy along with family life and trying to stay in shape, so I didn't feel up to much of anything this week at night. Tonight I decided to share a couple of cards, however. The one up top is for Beate's sketch this week, WSC20. I really had a tough time with it, don't know if I'm just tired, or what. But I've been wanting to use this designer paper from My Mind's Eye, called Friend's Paisley, it's part of the C'est La Vie collection. The red you see is the reverse side. I paired it up last week with Old Olive textured paper, thought it was perfect! Then tonight I pulled together the Not Quite Navy textured, some chipboard from SU's Ginormous Pieces (inked up in Olive and Celery) and dotted with a glaze pen. Oh, and I used a little Saffron paper to mat the paisley paper. Lastly, I used just a small piece of ribbon from SU that is so cute. There's no sentiment right now. I may or may not add one depending on what I decide to use this card for.

Next is this Christmas card. I need to do my cards, Christmas will be here before we know it. I used a Fabriano Mediovalis card, heat embossed the tree from Wondrous Gift in Winter White, inked with a sponge some Olive ink, cut out the star using the star stamp as my outline. I used Frosted Lace Stickles on the tree and star, which you can see up close here:

I only have a few cards done for Christmas this year, so I need to get on the ball. I'm waiting for my new set from the SU Holiday Mini before I kick it into full gear. Until next time, happy stamping!

My newest designs in glass tag jewelry...

I finally came up with a design that I'm IN LOVE with for these glass tags, purchased from Stampington & Company and now the colors (or lack of color) that I need in the glass tags are not available any more. :( But I will be seeking help in getting more of the CLEAR and pale colored glass tags and circles. I've enjoyed the ones I have had and creating with them is loads of fun. (See my red one in a recent Christmas ornament card post.) If you have any and would like to share them with me, please contact me. The first one (above) I used Autumn Leaf Prints, thought this would be the perfect fall addition to my wardrobe. It's fairly large in size, about 1.5" by 3", and was a very pale peach color when I started working with it, as you can see if you look at the bottom right or top left corners.

Above is 3 bare trees from Lovely as a Tree. I love the abstract look of this, it's exactly what I was going for. I had been pondering on this theme of designs for a few weeks or so. I'm not willing to share exactly how I made them at this point. But I would love your feedback! Below are two that I did with the oak leaves from the same stamp set. The green one is actually a small pale green glass circle tag that had a light shimmer to it. The other one, slightly larger in size, was clear glass when I started with it (as was the one with the trees).

Thanks for looking and for sharing your constructive feedback about my work.

I've been hard at work at my new job, which I'm loving so much! Every day is just getting better and better. I'm more relaxed in the morning, which allows my daughter time to get ready at her pace and not have to battle as much to get out the door. Praise the Lord!