Watercolour Roses

Good Thursday Morning - Quickly before heading to school....

Yesterday afternoon was full of challenges to be sure. I saw THIS fantastically beautiful card by Debbie at Stylish Creations yesterday and knew right away I wanted to try her technique out. I am NOT a painter, or what I would call an artist and wow did I struggle with this.....in a fun sort of way though. I had my daughter watching over my shoulder (she brought the exercise ball into my stamping room to sit on... LOL). I had to come back to the computer to look at Debbie's card a couple of times.

I tried using my Whisper White card stock, but the inks ended up looking like I was doing a chromatography test (I had to remind Allison of her Grade 6 "Evidence and Investigating" unit in science.) I ended up using my watercolour paper - this is actually a practice piece - I may put some of the other ones on cards - but I need to do a lot more practicing too....I will persevere!

The sketch for this is from Splitcoast this week.

Gotta go - I have more to share with you after school. Have a great day!!!
Joan

Travelling Frogs??

Good Tuesday Evening.....
I'm off to a dinner meeting in a little while to wind up the planning committee for the Young Author's Conference. I finished these two cards this afternoon, so decided to share them with you before I went....
This happy little frog is from Meljen's Designs. I'm "froglady" on Splitcoast - so I usually grab anything with a frog on it. (Even my license plate is RIBITT). I've used the sketch from Lord Have Mercy!













My second card incorporates the colours from Splitcoast's Colour Challenge (Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom, Ruby Red and I added the black. The sketch is from Midnight Madness.
This is one of the sets from the upcoming Summer Mini from Stampin'Up! (Sentimental Journey). The background paper has been put through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing folder.

Well - off I go. I hope you have marvelous evening!
Thanks from taking time to stop by for a visit.
Joan

Pinks and Orange Galore

Wow - I need to move away from pink and orange for the rest of the week!!!!!

I created this first bold bright card yesterday evening for the sketch at 365 Cards. The colours got chosen because of the felt flower....I received them from a secret sister and they came in four colours - orange was my choice of the day.

I was excited this afternoon when the doorbell rang shortly after I got home from school and the UPS truck had delivered my pre-order from the new Summer Mini....so I got to play after supper. ( I actually got distracted for a little while with the puzzle I'm working on right now - what's up with that??)
I wanted another bright card for this ice cream cone so went to my Pink Flamingo paper......and orange was the partner colour. I used Summer Sun and Yoyo Yellow for the top scoop. The sketch for this card is from Midnight Madness from last week.
Finally - Today's/Yesterday's Mojo Monday Sketch. I had to do some thinking on this one.....but I like how it turned out. The colours - Black, Pink and White are from the Colour Chef this week.

There are a number of meetings coming up this week and a stampin' event on Saturday.....speaking of which - I have some cards I can share from a Diva Breakfast I was at on this past Saturday - Better get on that.

I hope your week is filling with things that give you enjoyment in your little corner of the world....thanks for dropping by!
Joan

Circular Patterns

I realized once I sat down to post these cards that all of them have circles on them....rounding out the day!

This blossom - which is from the Pretties Kit- was painted with a mixture of Crystal Effects with some drops of re-inker added to it so that it was Rich Razzleberry. Once the whole flower was covered I dipped it into Dazzling Diamonds to coat it. The petals are a little bit stiffer than usual because of the Crystal Effects. The centre of the flower is just a 1" circle covered with Crystal Effects and coated with microbeads. Challenges covered in this card:
Splitcoast - Colour Challenge 262
Our Creative Corner Sketch Challenge- sketch
The Corrosive Challenge - Texture
365 Cards - Glittery Blossoms
Our Creative Corner - Bows

I bought a package of window sheets quite a while ago and
finally pulled them out to use them. I like how vibrant they look on top of a darker colour.
Challenges for this card:
Card Positioning System - Sketch
CCEE - Silhouettes on the Shade

Finally - I happened across a challenge that involved shoes...Daring Cardmakers - "If the Shoe Fits". I haven't used this big shoe in YEARS...so I decided to pull it out and do the challenge. The sketch from Card Patterns worked perfectly with it.

I hope you are having a restful Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.
Joan

Glittery Butterfly Birthday

Good Afternoon -
I thought I'd better post this card before I wrote in it and gave it to my daughter. Bad mother that I am, I didn't have it ready for her yesterday, and when I got home from my meeting this morning she sat down and visited with me in my stamp room - so I didn't work on it then. I knew what I wanted to do though.....

I learned this at our Team Meeting this past week from Trish Miles.....I took a piece of sticky "strip" paper, and gently scoring through only the top "red" piece of plastic......cut strips and added glitter one colour at a time. Then I put the entire piece through the Big Shot with the large Butterfly Die. Next, I took a smaller square of sticky paper, covered it with the purple glitter and was very please to find out that the Embosslits Die worked through the glitter. Of course you can't see the "embossing" on the tiny butterflies, but who needs to with all that glitter!!!!

I've used Friday Sketchers sketch, and the bow falls into the challenge this week from Our Creative Corner.

Needless to say, my stamp room and I are completely covered with glitter. Good thing (or bad thing) I'm going out on the town tonight. LOL. Hope there is a bit of glitter in your day - thanks for stopping by.
Joan

Elephants and Owls

Happy Saturday -

Well, I have covered a wide range of challenges with this little elephant....
Mojo Monday - Sketch
Colour Throwdown - Pink, Grey and Old Olive
Ways to Use it Challenge - Angled Interest - diagonals
CCEE - Silhouettes on the Shade - I meant this elephant to be a silhouette - but I guess since elephants really are grey - he's not much of a silhouette - duhhh
365 Cards - Ribbon Taggies









Another challenge this week over at
365 Cards was to create a card with only rub-ons. Well....I have plenty of those that I haven't used up yet so this creation evolved using the sketch challenge from Splitcoast.

I'm hoping to get some projects done in the stamping room today. Tonight we are going out to watch Grant's band and I'm hoping the wind will stop howling before we have to stand outside waiting to get in to see them. It's all good.

Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stoppin' by.
Joan

Bright and Vintage Florals

Wooo Hooo it's Friday - and not a bit like spring!!!!! Gusting winds, rain/snow and my daughter is totally unimpressed with this weather for her 19th birthday.

This adorable little baby dress is the Fabulous Friday Freebie this week over at Sugar Creek Hollow today. The colour scheme of Plum, Lavender and Cream is from the Play Date Cafe. I coloured some cream flowers with the plum and lavender so they would co-ordinate and I finally was able to use one of these chipboard buttons with vintage photos on them. This little baby just looked like she would be ready to wear this dress anytime. I can see now though, that I need some more practice working with this border punch!!!! A bit slanted at the top!

Take a stop over at the other SCH DT members to see what new creations they have for you today.

Tracy-Owner♥ Dani ♥ Donna ♥ ME
Joseline-DT Co-ordinator ♥ Kristina ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah

Stephanie ♥Cheri ♥Kelly
Cassie

April Guest Designer
Martha

This second card uses the sneak peak stamp set from StampinUp! "Awash with Flowers". I took the sketch from this week's sketch at Lord Have Mercy!

I hope you are working your way into a great weekend....Allison is spending the evening with a whole whack of her friends at the West Edmonton Mall Water Park. Tomorrow night my son's band is playing so we'll all be going to that. Keep everyone out of trouble I suppose.

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Have a great Friday
Joan

Unlikely Birds

Good Morning -
As promised, here are the other two cards that are created with the Two-Step Bird Punch, but which are put together so that you can't see the birds at all.

The flower was a little hard for me to organize to make sure that it actually looked like a flower - but it's okay.

I like the little man - such a big huge mustache.

Again - these projects were designed by Deb at Crafty Person and are part of a "Class in a Flash" which is available through her company using Stampin'Up products.

I will be able to get some stamping done this evening after school - my husband is now sick with what I had over spring break and he went in early this morning to make
sub plans - I think I can count on my hands the number of times he has been absent from school because of sickness (in his 26 years of teaching!!!)

I hope you are well and healthy - and thank you for stopping by!!!
Joan

Clean and Simple

Good Morning - Just a couple of clean and simple cards I created a month or so ago using a Crafty Person "Class in a Flash". Debbie is incredible in creating kits with every detail taken care of including costs for various workshops. All of the cards in this "workshop" use the Two Step Bird Punch and the Sweet Pea Paper. Tomorrow I'll share two cards that aren't birds....made with the bird punch. I had a workshop last night and a team meeting today - so I'll look forward to doing more challenges tomorrow.

Hope this day hold bird songs and sun shine for you.
Have a good one and thanks for visiting.
Joan

Monday Marathon.....

Well, I had a very productive day - did laundry, cut paper for tomorrow night's workshop and sat down and created 24 cards for our Minister.

I used 1/2 of an old Simply Scrappin' Kit and went to town.....and not a challenge in the bunch. I'm a bit bagged now, so I think I'll go do a puzzle or play some games - or visit some blogs. Can't stay up too late - have to get up to go to school in the morning. These last three months are going to fly!!!!

I hope you had an enjoyable Easter Monday and thanks for stopping by.
Joan

Puddle Ducks and Feathers

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter. It was relaxing in our household.

I was enjoying a movie with my daughter this evening so missed the deadline for hooking this up to Mojo Monday - but it is the sketch I used for my first card. I love it when we get a choice of how to arrange the card. One day I'll be brave enough to make a round card! The image is from Squigglefly where there was a challenge to include flowers on your creation. Mine are a bit glitzy, but flowers all the same. This card also falls in to the Ways to Use It challenge at Splitcoast this past week of using a Sweet Child image on your card. I don't really have many images of children so was glad to be able to use this one - wish I had a duck friend who would splash in puddles with me. Actually, I do have a
friend (maybe two) who are more than willing to splash through fall leaves with me - so I'm sure they'd go for spring puddles also!!! (I won't grow up!!!!!!)

Ducks must be the thing of the day - my second card is for the Featured Stamper challenge at Splitcoast and THIS is the card I cased from Theresa Momber (Crafting the Web). It was exciting to see her as the featured stamper because I visit her blog every day! She has such incredible artwork within her card creations. I could never colour the way that she does, but I did have a little duck and created a near approximation of card.

I will be honest and say that when I pulled out scraps of paper in Yoyo Yellow, Garden Green, and Soft Suede I wondered whatever I would do with them. They were what was set for the Colour Throwdown this week and I wasn't sure if I could "handle it". I knew I didn't really want to have the yellow as the predominant colour so I pulled out the DSP that I had in the Suede and Garden Green. Then I challenged my daughter to pull a stamp set out of the cupboard without looking. As soon as I saw the feather from "Nature's Nest" I knew how I would work it. The sketch is from Splitcoast this past week too.

Well, I need to get some paper cut and hunker down and get some cards created for our minister. I probably should go to school tomorrow to see where I'm going on Tuesday - but then again, I may not since I haven't had much time to play this past week.

Hope all is well and healthy with you - Thanks for dropping by.
Joan

Challenge Catch-up

What a busy afternoon - I've had fun actually catching up on some of the challenges I missed while I was sick.

I'm kind of sorry I made this bunny pink only because a colleague of mine just had her baby boy. Nothing to say I can't remake it in blue!!! The adorable image is from Meljen's Designs. The sketch is from Friday Sketchers (shown below). Stamp Something is challenging people to create "Pink Somethings" and Our Creative Corner is asking people to "Break out the Buttons"










Oh, I haven't used googly eyes on a card for a very long time but this little guy just asked for them...especially when he's singing the Hokey Pokey!!!!
The Penny Black Saturday Challenge was "Check it Out"- to include checks in the creations. 365 Cards asked for a colour combination of green, yellow, red, orange and white. The sketch is from Sweet Stop Sketches and is shown below. Finally - CCEE wanted creations this week to include some silliness because of April Fools. So that covers the bases on this card.











Finally - This hat is my choice for today from Splitcoast's Inspiration Challenge from William Chalmers Millinery. Wow do they have some fabulous creations - too bad I don't wear hats - it sure makes me want to. I've also used the Midnight Madness Sketch challenge for this card because it fit perfectly with the three rows of rings.






That's all for this afternoon - I'm hoping to continue feeling well enough to go out with my husband tonight to watch our son's band perform. Can't stay out too late though because we've got to sing tomorrow morning. Hope you have had a wonderful Saturday - thanks for stopping by to visit.
Joan

Vintage Flowers and Cupcakes

Happy Saturday -
I still haven't recovered completely from whatever it is that has "bitten" me - but I did manage to get into my stamping room yesterday.
I love this Freebie from Sugar Creek Hollow that came out this past Friday. The image includes everything together - postmark/flowers/wasp/crown. I find it very unique and interesting.

I used rub-ons for the white swirls in the corners. I applied the rub-on to the saffron paper before I put it through the Big Shot with the Embossing Folder. I applied tiny little pearls to the flowers and to the crown. There is glitter on the wasp's wings, but they didn't catch the light this time.


This floral card was begun on Monday afternoon - before I headed to bed for the rest of the week (LOL). I was using the inspiration challenge from Splitcoast and a rendition of the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge.

My final card was created by my daughter for a friend of hers. She used to stamp with me every Monday night when she was 14. Then she stopped because she didn't like her creations. After she made this card, she asked if there were any types of cards that I needed. I told her and then asked if she was thinking of doing more stamping and she said yes - 5 years later!!!!! Gotta let them move at their own pace and love 'em doing it!!!

Hope you Saturday is a good one! Thanks for dropping by!
Joan

New Release Day at Sugar Creek Hollow

Today is a brand new day at Sugar Creek Hollow. We have some exciting news, new digis and a blog hop game to play today.

Here is a prayer journal I created with images from the digi set called "Behold I Stand". It includes 6 different images (3 sets of words and 3 pictures) I'm sorry that the words are a bit blurry in my photo.

Now, on to business....

First up, we want to welcome Martha from Creating Is Fun as our April Guest Designer. We also want to share that Kelly our March GD from Sandcastle Stamper has joined the SCH family as a full time designers. Please help me welcome these talented ladies to the team!

Now it's time to play and have some fun!!! Today is new release day. What better way to show you the new digis with a game? The game is to find a secret letter in each of the design team's blog. Post the secret letter in their comment before you move on. Once you have found the secret word, post the entire word on the SCH's website. If you followed the game correctly, you will have a chance to win a fantastic prize!! You must Visit each of the design team member's blog.

Here is a picture of the Grand Prize. In addition, you will win 2 SCH digi's your choice!

Remember to leave a comment if you can tell what my secret letter is...

I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me. Philippians 4:13

In case you have arrived here first, click HERE to start your hop and collect all of your letters.

Otherwise... here is the link
to see who is next. Have fun!!!!
Joan

Short and Sweet

Just a short post...then back to bed. I've been sick since Monday and frankly am quite tired of it. Today's the first day I've checked e-mail and I thought I'd quickly post this card I made Sunday afternoon before going to Chicago - which was Fantastic.

The apron image and words are from Sugar Creek Hollow - be sure to stop by here tomorrow for some fun with the DT members. The sketch is from The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

Now, back to bed for me! (I'm sure glad I don't have school this week!!!!! But this is NOT how I'd planned my spring break)

Thanks for stopping by!
Joan