Motoring around Paris

I truly believe that until my husband and I visit our next European city ( or foreign place) - Paris will be my all time favorite place. And even then.....I had such a fantastic, wonderful time with my husband there last summer, that it will always hold a special place in my heart.....

This little motor bike is just perfect for these Paris images because so many people ride motorbikes or bicycles. This card was created for a demonstration I'm doing tomorrow at our Stampin'Up! Team's April Extravaganza put on by the wonderful Tamye Dunbar. I'm showing how to create the ribbon flower (which came out really dark in this photo - sorry) and how to use the border punches for curved shapes.

The card also incorporates the layering parameters in today's Splitcoast Free For All Challenge - "Ogres Have Layers". There are six layers on this card - so I've pretty much covered the bases!!!!

Hope you had a fabulous day this Friday - The sun is shining, we're heading into the weekend, and I'm not feeling tired after getting up early this morning to watch the Royal Wedding. Answered some of my daughter's questions - thoroughly enjoyed the coverage by CBC - loved not having commercials, and no mindless babbling by commentators.

Have a wonderful weekend - and thank you so much for stopping by for a visit!!!
Joan

Honey Hive

I haven't worked with these busy little bees for quite a while.....they're out ready to visit the flowers that are being requested over at Just Add Ink Challenges.

I used the Scallop Trim border to create a fancy edge around the Tangerine Tango circle. The piece of ribbon is just "laced" through two holes and the centre portion is covered by the paper flower.

I'm hoping to be up in the wee hours of the morning with my daughter watching the Royal Wedding.....or at least part of it. Luckily I don't have kids at today.

Hope your Friday is Fantastic and full of flowers! Thanks for stopping by. Joan

Sock Monkey in the Flowers

I'm pretty sure that if Sock Monkey didn't insist on coming out to play today, I wouldn't have taken so long to get this card put together. I had to walk away from it for a while!

The sketch is this week's challenge from Stampin' Royalty. I was surprised and honored to have my Sailboat Imagining picked as one of three "Stampin' Royalty Goddess Picks". Thank you Ladies!

Sock Monkey was coloured and cut out before I put her through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. Gives her a bit of texture that I may use again.

Tomorrow is the last school day of the week - the kids got off easy this week with only three days because of Easter Monday and our "Professional Development" day on Friday. Then there's another Extravaganza on Saturday - Wooooo Hooo!!!!! Livin' for the weekend.

Hope you have good plans on the horizon of your week - thanks for stopping by! Joan

Certainly Bashful Breezes

Today's card incorporates Splitcoasts' Color Challenge which is Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Baja Breeze and the SUO Challenge which is a Mother's Day card.

I sorry to say that I can't remember whose blog I was on last week when I saw how they took a strip of scalloped paper and (by cutting triangles into the "base") enabled it to curve around a circle. I'm familiar with the process from my sewing background, but I hadn't thought of using the technique on paper.

I pulled the aqua painter out again today to colour the bouquet and the Paper Daisies.

Hope Tuesday was a terrific day for you - Thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Stamp Set/s - On the Grow (Summer Mini), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper - Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Watercolour Paper
Ink - Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Staz-On Black
Other - Paper Daisies, Word Window Punch, Certainly Celery Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Subtle Glimmer Brads, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals

Triple Sweet Dreams

Monday's Clean and Simple Challenge over at Splitcoast was to use the "Artist's Rule of 3". I almost put three sailboats on my card yesterday, but decided that it would not have been clean and simple! So, I pulled out another of the upcoming Summer Mini sets, and an alphabet set that I haven't used enough.

Raspberries are my most favorite fruit and I'm dreaming of when I can go into the backyard to pick them off the bushes - I know I have a long wait, but I'm patient!

Hope your Tuesday is off to a good start - Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting.
Joan

Mojo Sailing

Happy Monday - Didn't have to go to school today so I was able to play in my stamp room this morning and worked on the Mojo Monday Challenge. (The sketch is shown below) I thought that this would be a masculine card - but it may be a bit too "swirly" for that.

I'd like to get some silly little jobs done today and hopefully get back to stamping later. I had a wonderful day yesterday with family at Easter Dinner. I hope your Easter was special too.

Thanks for stopping by - Joan

Stamp Set - Sail Away (Summer Mini)
Paper - Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Elegant Soiree DSP
Ink - Soft Suede, Baja Breeze
Other - Swirls Scribbles Sizzlits Die, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Neutral Jumbo Brads, Scallop Trim Border, sponge dauber, Mini glue dots, dimensionals

Happy Easter Flowers

Happy Easter to all - I hope you are having a wonderful day with your family.

Today I'm sharing a card I created yesterday for Our Creative Corner's challenge to make an easel card. I haven't made one of these for a while - I really like them.....here is the tutorial from Splitcoast by Beate Johns.

Again - Enjoy your Easter Holiday - He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!!!!!
Joan

Get Well Birdie

Well, I think I'm in a bit of a colour rut right now - I've produced a number of yellow/green/orange cards. I'm going to have to grab some different DSP!

This second card for today uses the sketch from The Sweet Stop and today's Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoast - from Pink Vanilla Boutique. The little white bird on this cutie's dress caught my eye - and that was it. I just know that my daughter, Allison, would be wanting to purchase things from here if she was a whole lot younger.

Off to enjoy some sunshine - Thanks for stopping by. Joan

Birthday Cheers to You

I am definitely not one to condone excessive drinking, but I thought these drink images would work well for a spinner card.....My daughter thought it would be great for someone turning 18.

Hope you are enjoying your Easter Weekend - I'm planning on doing more stamping & creating, and taking in some of the "Big Bang Theory Marathon" that is going on right now.

Thanks for stopping by - Joan

Sailboat Imagining

Wow - I lucked out on the watercolours today - if I do say so myself.
I was working through the Colour Throw Down - which is Navy, White and another colour. I pulled out all sorts of scraps to gain the second colour, but wasn't satisfied with what I was seeing. I knew I wanted to use the striped piece from the Regals Patterns DSP, and I knew I wanted to use the Sailboat image from the upcoming Summer Mini......so I finally decided to use Marina Mist as my second colour and tried creating a sky scene.

I just happened across a challenge that included a Nautical theme this week - over at Raise the Bar Challenge Blog. I had been looking for some sort of sketch challenge through the "Daily Dare" - and clicked on Raise the Bar's link - I was happy to join their challenge this week since I already had my sailboat in mind. They are looking for Blue/White/Stripes in the creations for this week.

I've also found a new Challenge Blog using mostly SU designs - Stampin' Royalty - and they are looking for "wet" watercolour cards this week.

The sailboat is stamped on watercolour paper with Staz-On Ink and being inexperienced in watercolour, I was excited to see how the clouds sort of formed by themselves through the ink. I was working with an aqua painter and just a dab of re-inker in the lids of the inkpads. For the sails, I used my aqua painter to apply Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.

I got our taxes done today too - so I'm clear for the rest of the weekend to relax and craft.

Thanks for stopping by - Joan

Remember When

It's amazing how small the world has become, and what we can learn about one another while blogging. Today's card incorporates the challenge this week over at "Just Add Ink" - which is based out of Australia - and the challenge is to feature friendship or mateship to commemorate ANZAC day - a historical day for Australia and New Zealand on April 25.

We need to remember things in history, both nationally and personally with our friends and family - so I figured the sentiment works well both ways. There's also the fact that this is Easter Weekend - which also gives those of faith a lot to reflect on, to remember and be thankful for.

The sketch for this card is from Splitcoast this week - although it has been skewed slightly.

Thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Concord Thanks

This colour combination is from Tuesday's Colour Challenge at Splitcoast - Concord Crush, Crumb Cake and (Ivory) Very Vanilla. I pulled out this "Awash with Flowers" set - I've seen numerous fantastic cards with it - I just have to figure out how to work the pieces. I'm happy with this monochromatic look though! Just gotta do more practicing with it!

Spent the evening at a trumpet "grad" recital for one of my husband's former Jr. High band students. It's cool to get invited to events where students have moved into a subject you taught them.

Thanks for stopping by - Joan

CAS Friends

I'm still not completely secure with rockin' the Clean and Simple card. Yesterday's CAS challenge over at Splitcoast was to create a card using this one by (Maureen)Mama Mo Stamps as inspiration.
I've also used LAST weeks Colour Dare Colours which were So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz and Pretty in Pink.
One of the sets, Fabulous Florets, from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalogue is where the floral images are from. I spritzed the pink flower with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch.

Hope your week is going well, and I thank you for stopping by for a visit. Joan

Mojo Butterfly of Hope

I hope you have had a Happy Monday - I finally got into my stamping room - life's busyness and laziness has gotten in the way. It felt good to do a challenge this afternoon! I always enjoy the Mojo Monday Sketches!!!

I received some new stamps and papers in the mail last week, so I'm hoping to be able to play with them and share some projects with you.

Happy Stamping - and thanks for stopping by.
Joan

Butterfly Hope

Happy Monday!
It was good to get back to school this morning, although I did have a wonderful spring break on Vancouver Island! It was fun coming back to a Stampin'Up! box too!!!! It contained the new "Strength and Hope" set from the upcoming Mini. I absolutely love this butterfly!

I've used the sketch from The Sweetest Thing and that fantastic Paisley Petals DSP.

Hope your Monday is fantastic - I thoroughly enjoyed making my breakfast without turning on the kitchen light this morning! Love, Love Love the sun!!!!

Thanks for stopping by - Joan