Grungy Thank You

Another quick post today - another PD day at school - and we're going to be taking Elliot for a little bit this evening.  This grungy creation is…..you guessed it…..going to be included in the All Occasion Stack.  I will have details up very soon for registering.

And - in honour of that, I'll share a couple of pics from a week ago when he and his auntie were running through the sprinkler…..they had a great time - but it wasn't that hot out!

They had a blast - thanks for visiting today.

Joan

Sprinkler Fun!

Wow - it's been a busy day!  I had to be at school today and spent a lot of time cleaning up a room that I will be using as an art room this year.  Then, when I came home we had to tear apart our master bedroom in preparation for hardwood flooring - all the other spaces were ready - we were waiting on the bedroom until the last minute.  So I've done some heavy labour today - and now I've relaxed with a bit of arting and an MDS Monday page.  Feels weird not being on the DT anymore - but I'm thrilled to see that Yapha has joined the team.  I ALWAYS enjoyed her challenge entries!

So - for My entry this week - I've used photos we took a couple weeks ago (I now realize I need to go back and add the date).  My husband had put the sprinkler on because the grass needed it - and I coaxed my daughter to play with Elliot in the sprinkler.  Oh, they had a good time.

Holly has us using overlays this week - and I love, love, love overlays!  I used the Epic Overlay letters and for the bit in the background….Natural Composition Overlays - both of which are favourites of mine.

Here is the sketch…..

I hope you've had a fabulous day!

Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Joan

World Map Birthday

I'm going to be at school all day today - Professional Development and setting things up - so I'm not sure if I'll be getting a challenge done today or not.  So I'm leaving you with a card I created earlier this week - and it's also going to be included in the All Occasion Stack on September 19th.

Have a totally fantastic day!

Thanks for visiting!

Joan

Clean and Simple

I just love creating backgrounds with out small flower stamps.  Over the years (and it's coming up 9 for me) there has always been at least one little flower in the catalogue that I like doing this with.  I've created this Clean and Simple card specifically for the SUO Challenges today - but I had an ulterior motive too - I'm going to be using this design for one of the cards in my All Occasion Stack on September 19 - Keep the date in mind - more details about registering will be coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by - Have a great day!

Joan

Christmas Wreath

This week over at Merry Monday they are looking for wreaths on your creations.  I don't have a wreath stamp anymore - so I ended up creating one with the "Daydream Medallions" set.  This is one set that I have not used enough!  Sort of gets forgotten!

I just may be using this, or a variation of it for one of my Christmas stack cards in October.

It's a busy busy week - our railings are being put in today (slowly but surely), the flooring gets done - and we head back to school - to get ready for the kids next Tuesday.  And quick - just like that - the gears are changed!

Hope your day is going well!

Thanks for dropping by.

Joan

You did It!

This afternoon I created a card using the Paper Players sketch and Sunday Stamps colours.  I found the colour challenge a bit had - but I'm relatively happy with the end result.

The Old Olive sheet was embossed with the Large Polka Dot embossing folder before I stamped it with the Gorgeous Grundge splatter.  Gave it a bit of an unusual effect.  I punched the large circle out of the centre of the piece and lined it with a piece of Sweet Taffy DSP.

I was very pleased with how well the new Satin ribbon took the Stazon ink.

Hope you're having a wonderful day.  I think I may head to school tomorrow to see what's up - and when I come home we'll have new stair railings!  Most of the major removal work has been finished - now we're heading into a week of new decor.  Should be fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Bokeh Mashup!

Yay - I learned a new technique!  This week's Friday Mashup was to use a die cut of some sort and the Bokeh Technique.  It was supper easy and I've even created a background in one of my arting journals - all ready for a mandala.

I created two cards for this challenge only because when I finished the first one I realized I'd forgotten to use a die cut - and I always try to do both of the mashups!  It was just as well, anyway, because I didn't let my greeting dry and ended up creating some "shadows" when I was adding the circles.  That's why my greeting is on a label rather than the technique piece.  I like how both cards turned out, and will be using  bokeh for one of my techniques this fall.

In the process of creating the cards, I ended up creating my own circle stencil using the circle thinlit dies….

The "base" of the bokeh technique is a watercolour background.  Cut a piece of watercolour slightly bigger than you want for your card, coat it completely with water and, using an aqua painter and re-inkers, drop your desired colours onto the watered paper.  Gently brush the colours around until you get the effect you want, and let it dry.

Here is the background I created in my art journal - you can see the different layers of circles a bit better - and the smallest, darkest circles are just the sponge dauber - daubed!

I hope this all makes sense - the video that Friday Mashup has provided - and I linked to above - is very helpful.

Have fun! - That's the important thing!

Joan

Kick up you Heals

I joined two challenges today and used the new Hearts and Stars decorative mask!  I love the scattered effect it has.  I sponged Calypso Coral on the left side and gradually worked to Crisp Cantaloupe.  The boot is coloured with Lost Lagoon ink and a blender pen - that way I was able to get a lighter shade on the bottom of the boot.  

The colour selection is from the Colour Me! challenge and the Paper Players are looking for children's Birthday cards this week.

Be sure to read to information about the SHORT & SWEET deal Stampin'Up! is offering right now.

see THIS post.

Have a fantastic day!

Joan

Hey!

I love the simple little "hello" greetings from the new "Hi There" stamp set.  Quick, short, sweet little words for cards that could be used for anything.  I've used the Freshly Made Sketches sketch today.  I often have trouble keeping my cards  clean and simple - so it's a good challenge to participate in - even though this is a bit geometrically busy!  LOL.

Here's their sketch - lots of opportunity for wonderful interpretation!

Hope your day is going well.  We're starting to paint the ceilings - the home renos have begun!  Hope we're able to get settled back in before school starts!

Have a good one!

Joan

What's Up?!?

Well - a post in the middle of the week - woohoo!  I've been in my stamping room most of the morning tidying, updating blogs and decided to do a challenge since I took all my examples off my board in my workshop room.  I need new examples with some of the new products from the new catalogue.  So - I participated in the Sunday Stamps sketch challenge.  I'm going to miss being a part of this design team and I thank Holly for the shout out on the blog.

For my creation I used the "What's Up" stamp set and it's co-ordinating punch.  I also cut some extra arrows using the Thinlits Label card dies.  I coloured the rhinestones with the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilites marker!  Love, love, love being able to do this!

Here is the sketch!  As you can see, I chose to use arrows instead of flowers - but the sky is the limit on the shapes you can put on your card!

I haven't been doing a lot of posting, but I have not been inactive!  I spent a week creating 160 Thank You cards for a friends of Allison's who got married this past weekend.  I'm still not showing the card - since Kelsey is away right now.  As soon as I know they've opened their wedding gifts I will share a picture of the Thank You card and the card I  created for Allison to give to Kelsey.

Stay posted - I will be adding information about classes and such that I'll have planned for the fall.

Hope you have a great day!

Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Volley, Soccer, Basket…..BALL

It's my turn to host at MDS Monday this week, and I thought I'd go for lots of layers - overlapping images, overlapping DSP and overlapping photos.  You could also include layered embellishments in a little grouping. And don't forget to use the drop shadow to help make everything pop off the page.  I was pleasantly surprised that the soccer net image gained a bit of dimension with the shadow behind it.  Most of all - have fun with all the layers!

Here is the sketch and when you are finished be sure to link your project back to the MDS Monday blog. 

I'm sorry to say that this is my last posting as a member of the MDS Monday Design Team.  I have thoroughly enjoyed creating with these amazingly talented women!  You can be sure I will continue participating  in the challenges and learning fun ways to get more out MDS!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting.

Joan

Making Music

This week at MDS Monday Cindy has us using one of the photo templates from MDS.  It's a great way to use larger photos or to focus in on portions of a photo to highlight them.  When Elliot was introduced to Auntie Allison's guitar he had fun strumming and "singing" along with his Dad playing.  There is so much music in our family - the little guy doesn't stand a chance not to pick up some sort of instrument as time goes on.

Here is the sketch Cindy has for us

My apologies for being a couple days late in posting this - we were preparing for company to arrive and time got away from me.  Be sure to link up your creation to the MDS challenge blog.  We're still doing our DT Call.. This will be the last challenge to enter. Just add (DT) next to your name on your entry in the Linky Tool. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan