A Random Pick

  Tonight’s card is my take on Mercy’s Tuesday Sketch Challenge #81, featured this week on the Lord Have Mercy! blog. With nothing specific in mind for the sketch, I told myself I would use the first set of stamps I randomly pulled from the storage box to make my card. The only stipulation was that the stamps would work for the sketch. My first pick netted this set from Basic Grey. The fact I had matching paper within arm’s reach made the process much easier than I thought it would be. It was kind of fun, in fact.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Olive cardstock; Basic Grey Porcelain 6x6-inch paper pad; Olive, Baby Pink, and Blush ink pads; Basic Grey Porcelain Gracious Bitsy and Flourishes Wreath of All Seasons stamp sets; KaiserKraft pearl accents; Martha Stewart Butterfly punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Ovals set; Sponge dauber; 3M foam mounting tape.

Hi! How was your day? Mine was a good one, albeit routine until the end of the day when I came home to two little boys I hadn’t seen in nearly two weeks! They’d had a fun day with Grandpa. Saturday is my day! I cannot wait.

Tonight, I’m going to take it easy – maybe stamp a little something so I have something to show you tomorrow night. Until then, take care, and thanks for stopping by!

 

Another One of "Those" Cards ...

With a vision of what I wanted to do, I sat down last night to make a simple (or what should have been simple/easy) card.

It's my take on this week's Stamp Simply Challenge on the No Time to Stamp? blog. The theme is "Half Circles." I've had a bug to make a card using paper doilies since seeing this awesome card on Sarah's Sarah's Paper Tray blog. Isn't hers a sweet card? I've been happy to see cards made with doilies on Sarah's and other blogs since I still have a stash from the last time they were in vogue.

About my not-so-simple simple card, I cut my doily in half and determined that the best way to adhere it to the patterned paper would be with a glue stick. Wrong. The patterned paper buckled. Of course, I didn't notice until the card was almost done, and while I tried, there was no fixing it. Instead, I made an attempt to rescue my butterfly. Wrong. It tore, and the whole thing went into the trash. Card #2 was perfect until I deemed that some Liquid Pearls would look nice on the butterfly's body and wings. Wrong. It looked like hell-o. Luckily, butterfly #2 was not quite as stuck to the paper as #1. Only a smidgen of paper came off with him, leaving a white patch that I was able to cover up with butterfly #3.

Were I so persistent in other areas of my life, I'd be rich and famous. LOL. That was quite an adventure for an OK card. Oh, and doily #2 was glued to the patterned paper with Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive carefully applied with a toothpick. Butterflies #1, 2, and 3 were stamped with VersaMark and chalked with Sorbet and Tulip.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Sorbet cardstock; Perfect Day paper packet; White doily from my stash; Sorbet and VersaMark ink pads; Basic Grey Ambrosia Bitsy Bohemia and Close To My Heart Say it in Style stamp sets; Kaiser Kraft pearl accents; Spring Soft Chalks.

While less frustrating than last night's card-making endeavors, it was a busy Monday. It was a sad day, too. Miranda's paternal grandfather died early this morning after having suffered a stroke last Wednesday. His funeral is Friday. With Dustin and Miranda's birthdays to celebrate this week, I was waiting to hear about the arrangements before attempting to make any kind of plans. There's no waiting until the weekend either, because Dustin, Miranda, and Cameron (a groomsman) are going to the Twin Cities for a friend's wedding on Saturday. Thinking about "available" time, our little celebration might just end up having to wait until next week or maybe Sunday evening when they get back from the wedding. At 29 and 27, I have a feeling my "baby" and his fiancée don't care as much as their mother does. LOL.

The only other news I have is that I have managed to catch yet another cold, which, so far, is manageable during the day and miserable at night. Enough about me. How was your day? I hope it was a good one and your week got off to a great start.

One last thing tonight, take a look at the Scrap My Scraps challenge on Erin's Inky Smiles blog. Participating was great fun. I'll let Erin tell the story ...

Sketch Challenges and Simple Saturday ... on Sunday

How's your weekend going? So far, so good for me. The party yesterday was great fun. The birthday girl is the sweetest little thing, and it's so cool to see my sister as enthralled with being a grandmother as I am.

About my cards, this first one is my take on Weekend Sketch Challenge #82 hosted this week by Mary Jo Albright on her Beauty Lies Within blog.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Blush, and Garden Green cardstock; Basic Grey Porcelain 6x6-inch paper pad; Blush, Garden Green, and Bamboo ink pads; Basic Grey Porcelain Bitsy and Close to My Heart Say it in Style stamp sets; Basic Grey Porcelain Brads; Sponge dauber; Sanding block; 3M foam mounting tape.

As soft and subdued as my first card is, the second one is bright and bold. The sketch is Jen Del Muro's latest A Sketch for You to Try on her i{heart}2stamp blog. Isn't that some wild and crazy bird paper? I love it and thought this would be the perfect sketch to show it off. As for the buttons, I don't know if I got carried away or not. Instead of using Glue Dots to attach them to the card, I sewed them on using crochet cotton. I stamped the Big Pinks paper flower with a stamp from the Spot on Backgrounds set.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Citrus Leaf, and Topiary cardstock; Basic Grey Lime Rickey 6x6-inch paper pad; Topiary and Orange ink pads; Hero Arts Anytime Messages and Close To My Heart Spot on Backgrounds stamp set; Just Blooms Big Pinks paper flower; Hero Arts buttons; White crochet cotton; Needle; EK Success Dotted Wave Edger punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Ovals set.

This last card is a Simple Saturday qualifier and a sketch you've seen me use before. It's my all-time favorite for bolder prints and/or paper that's too pretty to cover up.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Indian Corn Blue, and Outdoor Denim cardstock; Basic Grey Granola 6x6-inch paper pad; Outdoor Denim ink pad; Happy Birthday stamp set; Navy organdy ribbon from my stash; EK Success corner rounder; Sanding block.

Now that I've somewhat satisfied my need to stamp, I'm off to do something others might deem a bit more productive. I also need to sneak outside and soak up a little sunshine. It's currently 65 degrees and sunny with no wind. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Bummer. Whatever you're doing, I hope you're in the midst of a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by! Later ...