Happy Birthday Monkey

Just a quick post before I move on for the day...Lots to do.

Today's Technique Challenge was to encorporate three previous challenges into one....TLC20 using the baby wipe technique, CC30 using bravo burgundy and creamy caramel and SC40 for the sketch. This was very fun and it whipped up quickly.

For the little monkey's fur I used the two re-inker colours (Bravo Burgudy and Creamy Caramel) on the baby wipe and dabbed it onto the vanilla cardstock instead of rubbing it on. Don't ya just love this little guy.....he's going to be in the new Catalogue in August. He comes with a number of fun things to put in his hand - the cupcake was the best one for today's colours.

Better go - Sun is shining, lots to do - Happy Day.
Thanks for stopping by - JOAN

No matter how busy I am though....I will be participating in this weeks "Dirty Dare 08" on Splitcoast. Check it out!

No outhouse Available...

Well, that title is pretty fitting.....I don't have a stamp of an outhouse (although I did actually create one with the "Neighborhood" roller - okay, it was fancy with windows and shutters, but it could have been an outhouse). Also, currently we don't have our upstairs bathroom available.....it's completely gutted. New paint on the walls as of yesterday; the tub and sink will be put in today and hopefully the tiling started.

This wonderful little piece of art is the feature for today's Inspiration Challenge. It's a piece from Kay Lamb Shannon's Gallery. I also don't have a rooster stamp for today, but I created one from "A Little Birdie Told Me". The other little birds in the group have been paper pieced with scraps.....So I guess every one of them is "One of a Kind."

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stamping - JOAN

Thanks to two Dawns!

Right off the bat, I would like to thank Dawn Easton and Dawn Griffith for the inspiration for this card. Dawn E. used this Explosion Card fold for today's Limited Supply Challenge - to make a uniquely folded card. I thought Dawn's was so cool, that I had to try it. I was able to whip this card up quickly because Dawn G. had such an easy to follow tutorial on how to create it. The colours I used are Groovy Guava, Pumpkin Pie and Soft Sky. The central black flourishes are Cherished
Memories Rub-Ons. The outer swirls are embossed in black from Sweet Shapes.

When I find out what the retiring stamp sets are, I always take them out of my cupboard and set most of them aside for the annual garage sale. I am finding however, that there are a number that I keep going back to. I may be keeping more retired stamp sets this year than usual....we'll have to see what the new catalogue brings.....IT'S SO EXCITING!!!!!! I can't wait for Utah!!!

Oh, and Happy Day....the little brown truck delivered the new In Colours and some new sets......I'm getting itchy fingers.....I just LOVE the new blue!!!!!!!!!

Happy Stamping - JOAN

Wow, Early Thursday!!!

It is absolutely CRAZY early for me to be doing this post, but I lucked out and the challenge was already set on Splitcoast. I decided to meet the challenge before I went to bed because I'm going to be paint hunting and cabinet making tomorrow....so......

Thursday's "Ways to Use it Challenge" involved spice.....from your cupboard....way cool!!!!! (or hot depending on how you want to look at it. ) The cards that were posted already are awesome so be sure you check them out.

I decided to use whole peppers. My colours are Mellow Moss, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip....because those were the best ones to match the little peppers. This was fun, I did it in probably half an hour....and now I'm heading to bed. Once I'm done my chores tomorrow, I'll probably do the Colour Throwdown Challenge of the week.

Thanks for dropping by....Hot Happy Stamping - JOAN

Cards and an Aged Room

I am always amazed by the colour challenges. I really ended up liking these three colours together....Almost Amythest, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi. For the floral card, I used this week's Technique Challenge which was the Grid Technique. I don't have a ScorePal, but it was quite easy to create the grid on my small paper cutter with a scoring blade. I like the effect with the white grid showing "under" the stamped image.

Today's Sketch Challenge is featured in the Star card and the colours are used again. I had to add the Birthday Wishes tab at the very last instant because somehow, from somewhere, a little black smudge appeared on the card. So, it had to be covered up.

I spent some time last night cleaning photos off of the computer and came across the ones I took of my "new" stamping room in the summer of 2006. It had been my sewing room. I took EVERYTHING out (except the rug) and redid the whole thing myself. I took pictures again today because there is definitely a difference. You can scroll down to see the photos if you like. I've tried to keep the similar angles next to one another - 2006/2008. It may not stay set up right though once I post.

Thanks for stopping by. This rainy weather has been good for one thing besides the plants....I'm cool enough to get some cleaning done. Always the summer chore. Happy Stampin' - JOAN

Apricot Thank You

I got up WAY too early this morning so when I went to check the Technique Challenge on Splitcoast, it hadn't been posted yet. (Yeah....WAY too early!!!) So, I went looking for another challenge and realized I'd missed the challenge at Our Creative Corner on Saturday. So....this lovely dining room is the inspiration. My card turned out a bit darker than what I first intended because I added the ribbon, but I still think it's okay. All of the stamped parts, expect for the En
Francais in the background, are embossed using the Always Artichoke Craft ink and clear embossing powder.

I have a number of errands to run today, including trying to get the Tigger cat into the vet. Have a good one yourself! Thanks for dropping by.
JOAN

Today's Challenge Cards

Happy Sunday...
Wow, Wedding Cakes have changed since I got married 22.5 years ago! Yesterday's Inspiration Challenge was from Cupcakes from Vancouver. Wow, they have fabulous designs. Unfortunately I couldn't get a copy of the cake that I chose for inspiration - it's called "String of Pearls". When I saw the cake I knew exactly what I wanted to do on the card. My only disappointment is the glare of the one little glue dot holding one of the strings of beads on....oh well.



The second card is for today's Featured Stamper Challenge. This was a hard one....Stephanie has so many fantastic cards. What I ended up doing was merging two of her designs together.

Here are the two I chose to "case".






Thanks for stopping by - Happy Stamping - JOAN

Just a quick post this morning before I get stamping to thank Nikki for the above award which she gave a couple of days ago. (Thanks so much Nikki, I could send it back to you!!) I always enjoy visiting her blog to see the fabulous things she's created.
I will now pass this on to the following three ladies whose blogs are also full of inspirational projects and which I look forward to visiting each day....so I hope you visit them too.

Dawn
Mary
Jessica

Have a wonderful day, I'll be back later with some posts.

Sweet Summer

Okay....I've gone outside the SU box and used my first Stamping Bella on a card. I got some of them this past week and this one worked for me for today's limited supply challenge. We needed to make a summertime card with only three layers, limited embellishments and no designer paper. During the summer I love to sit on my deck with a cup of coffee and a book. I've actually taken two Bella stamps - the Late drinker does not have books next to her - Yipee for markers!

I'm also posting this card for this weeks' challenge over at Stamp Something....They're looking for Triple Plays - Three Colours, Three Layers and Three Embellishments.

One quick question to Bella users - I have the stamps, I have a block, how to I get the stamp to stay stuck on the block while I'm using it? (What a Newb!)

I promise not to bore you with all the family scrap pages I make, but I wanted to share these two. I'm using Stampin'Up!'s Simply Scrappin' Kits and am wonderfully pleased with how the colours actually go with the photos I have. I'm working on both son and daughter at the same time. I'm thankful for the scrapbook layouts that people have posted on their blogs.....it gives me a jumping off spot! I'm also going to delve into the past scrapbook sketch challenges on Splitcoast!

Hope the sun is shining where you are....it keeps popping behind clouds here - JOAN

Smiles, Mice & Winnings

This first card is for the Ways to Use it Challenge today which was to have mini things on your card. I used the sketch challenge from yesterday and included beads to dot the "i's" and centres of the mini daisies. I used microbeads for the centre of the big flower. To put the chipboard petals on, I used mini glue dots.

I love these colours together...I picked them up from the "Colour Throwdown" . I love them together - Pretty in Pink, Rose Red and Sage Shadow


This adorable little mouse was sent to me by Lynn (allee's-on Splitcoast) as a Thank you - I love the rhinestone raindrops!















Finally....here is a photo of the loot I won with a challenge a couple of weeks ago at Stamp Something. Thank you very much ladies. I love doing your challenges.

Hope everyone is having a great day - Thanks for stopping by - JOAN

Boho Flowers

Boy it has taken a while to get this posted!!! Oh well.
This is today's Sketch Challenge. I really like it and there are tons of wonderful interpretations in the gallery.
I used the markers to colour in the individual rings on the medallion image. I hadn't used these little felt flowers for a while either. Funny how we forget about things that we have.

The rain has stopped...although I'm not sure if it's for good. Hope life is sunny wherever you are.
Happy Stampin' - JOAN

Weddings and Monkeys

This first card has been made for a wedding I'm going to on the weekend. It's cased from the Featured Stamper Challenge on Sunday. I changed Teneale's card by including the Technique Challenge from yesterday which was a Suspension Card. Beate's instructions were super easy to follow and are here.

You can't tell to easily from the photo, but I have created a shadow of the swirl image by stamping it on white with Versa Mark. The little white flowers are VersaMark too. I love using these little pearls from the Pretties Kit and because they glisten so nicely I'm using this card for the Dazzle Challenge over at Stamp Something.














My second card is for today's Colour Challege of
Barely Banana, Groovy Guava and Chocolate Chip. When I saw these colours I immediately thought of bananas and monkeys. Since I don't have any bananas or big trees I decided to create a wheelbarrel of monkeys.

The sketch for this card is from Our Creative Corner although I turned it on it's side so I could hang a monkey off the handle of the wheelbarrel.



Hope you're having a great Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by - JOAN

Catch-Up

I almost hate the first two weeks of summer. I'm beginning to move out of my laziness and get my butt in gear for things that need to be done around here....housework, yardwork, stamping.....
This first card is actually from last weeks Inspiration challenge. The quilt, from State Fair Bedding, had bold prints included so I figured the Ginormous Flowers were perfect for it. I clear embossed one flower on white glossy paper and rubbed Close to Cocoa for the background. The white "dots" around the brown edge are hole punched. I wouldn't have chosen these colours but the quilter was smart....they do go together rather well.

Next, is actually today's Inspiration Challenge from Mackintosh Enamels. I love these dishes. I used the Sketch Challenge for this week and the Technique Challenge. However, I came no where near to "pouncing" with the chalk. I was downright brutal with it. I clear embossed the leaves onto regular white cardstock. Next, I used the blender pen to colour in the leaves with Wild Wasabi (Oh yeah, this is the colour challenge too). Once that was done I took a sponge dauber and scrubbed Certainly Celery chalk into the white cardstock. The colour shows up a bit better in person. I would have kept the whole card green but I added the definition in Purely Pomegranate for the challenge.










Finally, I'd like to share this card I received from my "Devine Secret Sister" from Splitcoast. I just love it. The leaf backgrounds have turned out more yellowy in the photo. There's actually more rose in the original.


Today's chores are to clean out the garage until I can't stand the heat. Then I'll work on a few more scrapbook pages. I'm debating whether to post them or not. They are first attempts!

News of the week......the surgeon has finally agreed that I've jumped (not literally) through enough hoops for a total knee replacement. I know I want/need it but I'm now scared to death. Still waiting for the date though....3-6 months from now.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by - Happy Stampin' - JOAN

Chalk Pouncing

I'm not totally happy with the way this card turned out....or how it photographed. I was using Monday's Chalk Pouncing Challenge. The base of the card has Apricot Appeal and Certainly Celery chalk rubbed onto it with a kleenex. The Baroque Motif swirl was stamped with Versa Mark and then pounced with Teal chalk. The bling is not SU but a part of a Happy Mail package I got from my Splitcoast Divine Secret Sister. It was very exciting to receive in the mail! ( I love how the bottom stone is sparkling!)

Thanks for visiting - Happy Stampin' - JOAN

Birdie Hello

Happiness is knowing a stamp set is not retiring....I just got this Zoofari set recently because I wanted some funner (yeah I know it's not a word) images. I like these little birds.

This was suppose to use a sketch challenge from two weeks ago, but looking closer now, I'm not sure that it's that much on the mark....oh well. White, Wild Wasabi and Taken with Teal were the colour challenge this week and I love them together. I used the re-inkers and a blender pen to colour the birds in accordance with the Technique Challenge. I'm glad I did because it gives them some variance in colour.

Today's agenda....coffee & read, stamp, and I'm pretty sure that we're going to Edmonton to find sink, tub, toilet and vanity for the main bathroom. There always has to be some room that gets totally demolished in the summer. Yeehaw....here we come.

Stay cool, it's suppose to be hot here again today.
Happy Stampin - JOAN
I decided I'd add another post to this one....this is for today's Featured Stamper Challenge. Today's stamper is Michele from "Chelemom" on Splitcoast. I've linked to her gallery and the page that has the card I cased (she's labeled it SC169). Michele's was originally done in browns, which I love. My spotted piece is another scrap I found in my "scrap drawer". Maybe it won't be so stuffed if I keep using pieces each day!!

Happy Stampin' - JOAN

Summer....Yipeeeee!!!!

Well, I've made a copy of this previous weeks' challenges on one sheet so I can play a bit of catch-up. Slept in.....read my book on the deck with my coffee, and now I'm trying to stay cool in the basement with my stamps. What a wonderful start to my summer vacation!!!

The whole back piece of this card was made a couple of weeks ago for a sketch challenge....it didn't work for what I had planned that day, but it's been sitting on my table waiting to be used. The focus piece is suppose to be circular, but I missed that part when I put this together. I added the little bird sentiment which takes in the Technique Challenge of using re-inkers for watercolouring, and also the Ways to Use it challenge which asked for birds to be part of this weeks projects.

I know they start WAY too early in the mornings (4:00am here in central Alberta) but I love listening to the birds' songs! Hope you all have some pleasant music in your day, thanks for dropping by - Happy Stampin' - JOAN

June 25

Well, I wouldn't say that we're out of the fog yet, and I'm not guaranteeing daily postings yet, but it sure felt good to stamp tonight. And....TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!! (Okay, we still have to go back for staff stuff on Friday - but the end is near.) :)

I did the sketch challenge today. This card looks brighter in person. I decided not to clutter it with tags & stuff. I even tossed out the trial of a background print of some sort. This will probably be the last time I use these little seed packages for a while because I have now used up all that I stamped, so that's a good thing.

The central image is matted on bashful blue, but I've also coloured the background with marker and then dabbed it with the edge of the brush tip. I guess I was sort of going for a Monet look. I hope not to have offended the Master!

Thanks for dropping by, I will be posting more often now for sure!!! - JOAN

June 16

As soon as I saw these vases for the inspiration challenge from Acacia last week I knew I wanted to try something......it doesn't show up totally clear in the photo, but I inked up the Floral background stamp and then kissed the dotted background to it to make the background image. You get just tiny bits of the flowers within the different boldnesses (a word????) of the dotted stamp. This is also the sketch challenge for last week.

The weather just may be picking up here.....I just might - MIGHT look forward to recess supervision tomorrow.....LOL.

Thanks for dropping by - Happy Stampin' - Joan

Quick Post

Wow, it seems like forever since I've posted anything. And it's been forever since I've spent any time in my stamping room....I HAD to get this card created for my husband for Tuesday. He goes to a lot of meetings for the Alberta Teacher's Association, and so he can be away from school a fair amount....He is lucky enough to have a particular sub whom he can count on and so this is a card created to thank her for all her work in taking over his classes in Math (1,2,3), Band (Treble & Bass clefs) and Phys. Ed. The school colours are blue, grey and white....I would have loved to put a bull dog on, but I don't have one. I suppose one must exist somewhere.

I'm going to try to get into my stamping room more this week....I still have a bunch of marking and report cards to create.....but I think I'll have a bit of time for a bit of fun too. Thank you for your comments on the last post wishing us a speedy and good end of the year.

Thanks for dropping by - Happy Stampin' - Joan

June 10

I apologize that things may be a bit slow around here this week. It's concert week for my family and there are a few other events that need attending to. Both Amy and I are marking too, in preparation for the last report card of the year. The time will pass too quickly before June 26 arrives. And then we'll be jumping for joy and falling down with exhaustion!!! LOL

I still want to stamp so I'll post when I do......Keep stampin' for us!!!!!

JOAN

Colourful Seeds

Wow, it took forever for this card to come together. This is created for this weeks Sketch Challenge. It seems I'm not the only one into circles right now...LOL. Since flowers grow outside and you have to deal with insects and such....I'm also posting this to Stamp Something's challenge this week which is to create a wild card of some sort.

For this card I used my Blooms and Bulbs wheel. I like these little seed packages. I layered Bashful Blue grosgrain and White Taffeta ribbon. There's no hardware, no bows....I think after 2 hours I just wanted it stuck together!!!! However, I now have bits and pieces to use to create more cards. Does anyone else have a draw full of prestamped, precoloured pieces just looking for a card base?

I was going to go to school today to clean some things up, but I don't feel like it anymore. We're going to see kd lang tonight, so I think I'll just relax and enjoy my afternoon.

Thanks for dropping by.....Happy Stampin' - JOAN

Year End Celebration Invitation

Stepping away from Stampin'Up! for the morning....here is the awesome invitation that Amy made for our staff wind up at the end of the year. Emerald, the tiger, is our school mascot, and Amy had a stamp made of his head and paws so that we could make more personalized cards for different events. A lot more fun than letterhead....even though Emerald appears on that too. He's just so cute.

Hope you have a great day, thanks for stopping by. Happy Stampin' -JOAN

Challenging Colour Challenge

Okay....so I get a new stamp set in the mail this afternoon, and am excited about using it...especially since it's die-cut!!!! And what colours do I have for the challenge today???? Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Real Red.
Honestly, I have seen some fantastic cards with these colours, but I didn't know how I was going to work it....I'm actually sort of pleased with what I ended up with 'cause there isn't too much red.
You can't really tell that the central piece is soft sky. I coloured in the large flowers using the versamark pen.
This is the set featured in the Make the Fresh Cut promotion that Stampin' Up! has on right now. You can click on the link on the sidebar to find out more.

Shades of Eliza

It took me a while to decide on a movie dress for this past Saturday's Inspiration Challenge. It's amazing how many dresses I thought of which came from black and white musicals from MGM. I still have thoughts for a vibrant one...if I can make it work; but here is my rendition of Eliza Dolittle's outfit in My Fair Lady. (Which oddly enough is black and white, so I guess it was just meant to be.) I've used the layout from this weekends challenge on Stamp Something.

I filled in the lines of sticky strip with the black chuncky glitter and then tried to fill in the empty spaces with Dazzling Diamonds. I am wondering what I ever did without the coluzzle cutting system. I love making circles!!!!!

Well, off for now. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We're in our Canada Day Week at school now. Amy has tons of great prizes for the kids to win for her contests. I'm tense about the assembly on Thursday, but I'm trying to keep it low key......(ha ha ha she laughs madly!!!)
Thanks for stopping by - Happy Stampin' - Joan