Winter Flourishes

Hi Friends! I hope you have a fun week planned. I don't have anything in particular in store, but I always take the fun wherever I go...a girl can't depend on the fun just showing up. LOL!

My card today was some of my fun for the week. I got to play along with some challenges & with some new toys.

My first challenge is the Flourishes Timeless Tuesdays #202 to make or use something new. I am so excited to be using new Flourish stamps! I received the Winter Blossoms stamp set as a Christmas gift; and I purchased for myself a Mystery Bag which was filled with the Summer Blossoms & Life Lines un-packaged stamp sets, a 6X6 paper pad & lots of other goodies. What a deal for $15!

The second challenge is the Color Throwdown #224 to use Almost Amethyst, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and So Saffron. Love these soft colors. 

Next challenge is the Freshly Made Sketches #68 challenge. What a versatile sketch; you can 'dress it up' like I did here or leave it more CAS. It's definitely a go-to sketch! 

 

 Have a great week! Hugs, Marilyn

Merry

Hey there, Friends!
I hope you are having a good week. This week I have been catching up with friends that I haven't seen in a while.  I have been so blessed with good friends from different times in my life. Today I lunched with a girlfriend from my very first post-college job- we've kept in touch over the 30+ years & it is always so wonderful to see her.

My card today is for two challenges.

The Freshly Made Sketch #64 for this week was the design that I used. I have eight of these felt wreaths & I needed a sketch to accommodate. I think this FMS sketch fits the bill perfectly.

The colors I used were from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge #221. I'm so glad they chose Christmas colors because I'm still making my holiday cards. I love making Christmas cards- my favorite kind of card to make. I have so many Christmas stamp sets...I'm downsizing my stamp collection, but I can't part with any of my holiday sets. And look I barely used any stamps here...go figure!

That's it for me! Have a great weekend!
Hugs, Marilyn

Farewell CPS

Happy Weekend, friends! My card today was made for the very last CPS challenge- pick your favorite sketch. That would be a challenge to pick just one favorite from all the super CPS sketches. I did settle on the one below, CPS222. As sad as it is to see this blog go, I am happy for Tami Mayberry. I admire her for letting go of something she loves, the CPS blog, in order to make room for new exciting adventures in her life. I am also very excited as she will be working on Project Life which has become a recent interest of mine. Good Luck, Tami!!

I also used the colors from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge (CTD215) to use Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst & Black. 

I'm almost done with my Halloween cards & I'll be posting them every day between now and Halloween. So please come back soon. I really appreciate your comments & your friendship.
Hugs, Marilyn

Brilliant Blue- I love you!

Hello Blogger Friends! I hope you are having a nice weekend. Today I played all day...wow! It has been a long time since I've done that & it sure was fun. I visited with friend who was selling her handmade jewelry at an artist market which was located at one of the old parks with huge trees, gorgeous gardens & beautiful fountains. Next I went to a stamping event that another friend was holding. We made five cards- they were all so cool! The trees here in St. Louis are at their peak of fall colors & so driving was enjoyable too.

The card I made tonight was for two challenges. The first challenge was My Favorite Things' Wednesday Sketch Challenge (MFTWSC94) shown below. It is the first time I've played this challenge even though I have had good intentions of playing many times. They give away prizes & you can win even if you don't have any MFT stamps. How nice is that!?!! So check it out!

The second challenge was for the Color Throwdown Challenge (CDT214). The colors are Old Olive, Summer Sun, White & Brilliant Blue. Brilliant Blue is one of my very favorite colors. You may know that I love the color blue- any shade! And Brilliant Blue is at the top of my list. I have a few sheets of paper left & I am hoarding a partially used packet of 12 x12 for scrap-booking as it happens to be one of the High School's colors. (My youngest will be graduating with her undergrad degree in May...do you think I will ever get the HS years done?! HA! Maybe I should just start using it too! LOL)
Yet, I digress...anyway, when I saw this challenge, I just had to play.

One last note- I am being frugal these days as I look for a new position, so what this means for you is this: you will see a lot of retired (or not brand new) papers and stamps. This is a good thing for me as I have so many supplies; I am actually quite happy as it will help me pare down and it will spur my creativity to look at my current supplies in a new ways. Not having lots of new things certainly won't keep me from enjoying stamping and card making! 

I hope you like my card, but even more importantly I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
Hugs, Marilyn

Supplies:
Stamps: You're So Tweet (MFT- Pure Innocence), Tiny Tags (SU)
Paper: Brilliant Blue, Watercolor (SU), White (Neenah- Solar White)
Designer Paper: Prestwick, Playdate, Ski Slope (all retired SU)
Ink: Jet Black Stazon (Tsukineko), Ink- Brilliant Blue, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Bashful Blue. 
Accessories: Blender Pen, Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Brilliant Blue brads (SU); Yellow Bradletz (ProvoCraft- circa 2006)

Another Sunday card~ Life is Sweet!

Hi again! I made another card today. It was a little reward to myself for my work today. I continued sorting & organizing in my studio & converting my wood stamps. Plus I have started an inventory of my stamps by stamping the images on a 4X6 cards according to categories. One of these days, I'll show you how I converted my stamps...I am so happy with it!

Anyway, my card is for the Fall To Layout challenge(FTL144) over on the Clean & Simple Stamping Blog to use the sketch below. Isn't this a great sketch! I know I will be using it frequently. 

In addition, I made this card for the ColorThrowdown challenge (CTD145) to use:

I just love Baja Breeze so, how could I not play?!  I did a micro imitation of Kittie's floral sprays and wreaths along the sides of my tag. If you haven't seen her work, you must check it out. She's so kind to put up tutorials & she even personally helped me find the correct punches. How sweet was that?!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Marilyn

Stamps:Just Believe (SU), Sentiment (SU-unknown set)
Paper: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, White, DSP- A Walk in the Park (retired)- all SU!
Ink: Craft White, Baja Breeze (SU)
Accessories: Winter White embossing powder (SU), branch and branch 1 punches (MS), trio flower punch (SU-retired), Fancy Tags die (Spellbinders), pearls (stash)

So Sweet

Isn't this little girl and her kitty just adorable!? Well, I certainly think so. She's from Woodware USA. I got her on line at one of the bargain scrapbooking daily deal sites. I did not have any products from this company, but the price was right especially for the set of cute little girls. And I am very pleased with the quality of the acrylic stamp. I colored her with my copic markers. This card is for three challenges. First the Color Throwdown (CTD143) to use Old Olive, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, and a few optional colors. I didn't have any Pink Pirouette ribbon so I substituted Pretty ion Pink ribbon. The second challenge is the Card Positioning System (CPS219) using their sketch. Last this qualifies for the Woodware challenge #28 "anything goes".

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Mary & Friends (Woodware USA)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (momento), copic markers
Paper: Old Olive, So Saffron (SU!), White (Neenah- solar white), DSP- Lullaby Lane (Webster Pages)
Accessories: Ribbon: Old Olive grosgrain, Pretty in Pink satin (SU!), bow easy, Nestabilities- Label 4 (Spellbinders), button- stash. 

Sweet Sunday

Here's another card for me today. This one is for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge (SSSC109) and the Color Throwdown Challenge (CTD133).   The label is from GinaK Designs Lovely Labels 2 which coordinate with Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels; in this case Labels 14. I am really happy I purchased this set~ I find myself using it all the time.

Stamps: Lovely Labels 2 (GinaK Designs), Spring Mini (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi (SU!), Latte Matstack (DCWV)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, More Mustard (SU!)
Accessories: Elegant Eggplant Ribbon, Sheer Ribbon (Horizon Fabrics), Small oval punch (SU!), Labels 14 (Spellbinders), Leaf Stamp & Punch (MS), Yellow Glitter Glue (Studio g).

Thanks for looking!

Marilyn

Hello- I'm back!

Hello, friends! I'm back after a several week absence...all is well. I've been very busy with my professional work life so I haven't been able to spend much time in the studio. Boy, does it feel good to be creating again! I'm a little rusty...this card took me forever & I fussed over it last night and again this morning. I'm not sure how much I like it but I carried on anyway as I was making it for the Color Throwdown #129 challenge.

The colors this week were ballet blue, light and dark green. The light green is Certainly Celery and the dark green is Wild Wasabi. The sketch is my own & I chose some coordinating Basic Gray DP from the Euthoria collection for my panel. The horizontal strips are Wild Wasabi cardstock that was cut with small scalloped scissors and topped with Marina Mist 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon. The image is from the set Sweet Summer in the SU! Sale-a-bration catalog- a super cute set. I used Nestabilites scalloped circles for the main image and layer. I kept the die in place while I lightly sponged with Ballet Blue the background of the main image.

Thanks for stopping by after so long!

Marilyn

CTD109, SC297 and Stash Use

Isn't this a happy color combination? It is this week's color throwdown challenge and the colors are Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, and Pear Pizzazz. I used the SCS sketch challenge from today (CS297). I pulled out this retired set from SU! called Nature's Secret. I like the solid stamp with images and words make by open space (reverse images).

The stamper that inspired me to try the color throwdown challenge is Silke Ledlow; she's one of their guest designers this month. You can view her blog here. In my opinion, Silke is one of the best artists/designers of all time. I love everything she makes. When I am stumped for an idea or low on mojo, I head over to her blog. Pretty soon I will have an idea or I'll be creating a case of one of Silke's card. And besides being a super artist, she is so nice!

On another note, I have vowed to start using more of my stash~ it is not that I hoard it. I don't have a single thing that I hold back on using. The issue is that I buy too much and I don't seem to get around to using all of it. I think for so long, I didn't have much so if I saw a good deal, I'd buy it. I wouldn't pass it up & now I am overloaded with designer paper and all kinds of embellishments including ribbon. So I've put myself on a supply diet. PLEASE no fainting! And no, I don't need to have my head examined. I will still be buying stamps and card stock, but I am slowing way down on purchasing DSP and embellishments, so I can use up the stash. I am sure I'll break down at something(s) really pretty, cute, fun, adorable or otherwise irresistible. What do you do with all your things? Do you use them up? Certainly I am not the only one who over-buys {is over-buy even a word?}.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Image: Nature's Secret, Little Pieces (SU)
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo (SU); white (neenah), Yellow embossed (unknown- stash)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: wide felt ribbon (unknown-stash)

Favorites

I had a fun afternoon combining three challenges into one card. The first challenge was Cindy Motherway's (aka MotherMark) Teaparty Tuesday Challenge (MMTPT) over on Splitcoaststampers. This week we were to bring our favorite things to the "breakfast at Tiffany's" teaparty. I brought coffee (of course), blueberry muffins, bling and friends. The second challenge was the Color Throwdown (CTD76) to use Melon Mambo, So Saffron and Old Olive. The third challenge, SSSC53, was Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

Recipe:

Stamps: My Cuppa Joe (Gina K Designs), Friendly words jumbo (SU!)

Paper: Melon Mambo, So Saffron, Old Olive, DSP- Razzleberry Lemonade (SU!), Solar White Neenah)

Ink, Black, Melon Mambo, So Saffron, Barely Banana, Creamy Caramel, Elegant Eggplant

Accessories: jeweled brads, Melon Mambo ribbon, Small oval punch, scalloped punch (SU!), Nestabilities, blender pen, sponge.

Have a great week! Marilyn