Today is a big day for Bandit and he’s excited about it.  I’ve packed up his crate and it’s going back to the house we borrowed it from.  When we first got him our crate was lent to someone so we in turn borrowed one to get us through until we got ours back.  In the past two weeks we’ve slowly been leaving him out when we aren’t home and he’s been doing well.  Therefore we don’t feel like we need the borrowed crate anymore.  We do have ours back to fall back on if we do need it.  Bandit is happy because he’s never been a fan of the crate anyway.  He was happy to see it folded up and leaving the house this morning.

That brings me to my card using bird cages.  I think these are much cuter than the one Bandit was in.  It was HUGE and took up a lot of space in our living room.  I recently got Aviary and it was one of the first sets on my wish list.  I paired it up with the Sketch Challenge from SCS.  I paired it with the sentiment from Picture This. The base is Tempting Turquoise and then I layered So Saffron with Crumb Cake that was run through the Finial Press embossing folder.  I used a sponge dauber and Whisper White craft ink to highlight the embossed layer and soften it a bit.  The Old Olive layer was stamped with the Elegance standard wheel. The flower was crocheted by my Mom and I used a Brights Button in the center of it.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Friday!  This week just flew by.  Colin has two soccer games this weekend, but that’s all we have planned.  I can’t wait to sit back and relax.

I have to admit I’m so happy Colin and Evan are back in school. It makes it so much easier to get a few things done when I’m all by myself. However yesterday I didn’t get any stamping done at all. I guess I’m lucky that I had this card on hand yet to show you. After drop off today I don’t have anything to do so I’m going to get stamps inky and onto paper.

Once again I used the Papertrey Ink set Four of a Kind.  This time I used it with a clean and simple Fall to Layout 103.  The colors are Baja Breeze, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla.  I used Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Early Espresso for the ink colors.  The ribbon is retired Stampin’ Up! and I stuck on a butterfly that was laying on my desk along with some half pearls.  The main image panel is raised on dimensionals.

I’m trying to figure out how every year we get the first time slot for team photos. I like the early games to avoid the heat, but the early line up for photos is always hard. After soccer we’ll have some time to stay cool until our neighborhood block party starts. The boys are super excited because not only do they get to play with all of their friends, they also get to play in the middle of the street. The hard part comes tomorrow when the realize the street is once again off limits.

This week Jen’s Sketch for You to Try is sponsored by The Greeting Farm. With the start of school there is always a slew of birthday party invitations. It seems like I am always in need of birthday cards for kids.  I couldn’t decide which digital images to use so I made 2 cards for this week.  I used the same designer series paper, but varied between Pretty in Pink and Bashful Blue on my cards.  This first card uses Cupcake Anya. Isn’t she adorable! I love this image and had a blast watercoloring her.

My second card uses Birthday Boy Ian. I love the expression on his face as he’s surrounded by a pile of presents. My boys look just like this on their birthday but the paper soon starts flying and I’m picking up scraps for days.  This card uses the Lattice embossing folder and natural hemp twine along with a retired Bold Brights button.

Here is the sketch for this week.  I hope you have a chance to play along with us.
I’m sure you’ll more Sketch for You to Try inspiration using The Greeting Farm images.  Here is the rest of the Sketch for You to Try Team:

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O’Brien
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Kelly Lunceford
Sonja Chirstoph
Jodi Collins
Carole Burrage
and the Designer of the Month, Ashley Nguyen Newell

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with another card.

I’m back from CHA with a bag full of new stamps to play with! I had a lot of fun goofing around, doing make-n-takes, and meeting people I get to see everyday on the internet.  Yesterday I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my boys.  We went to church, played around outside and then went to Bears Training Camp.  The Boy Scouts help to clean up and in between Colin was able to get autographs of some of the players.  I was made fun of for not knowing who they were and having to ask who the autographs were from.

Today I sat down to play with a few of my new stamps.  This is the Fall to Layout 101 from Clean and Simple Stamping.  I used an a la mode stamp set from My Favorite Things called Birthday Girl.  I started with a Crumb Cake card stock base and then made my main image layer from Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White and Sweet Pea designer series paper.  I tied on a Chantilly Crochet Trim knot and then added the sentiment tag and two half pearls from the Pretties kit.  I then stamped and watercolored in the main image before cutting it out and adhering it to the card with dimensionals.  I really love the clean and simple lines of this layout.  It’s one I’ll use over and over again.

I hope you have a fantastic Monday!  I’m counting down until the start of school and there are 17 days!  I can’t wait until I get my stamping time back and can get on a normal schedule again.

Stamps: My Favorite Things – Birthday Girl
Paper: Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Sweet Pea dsp
Ink: Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: AquaPainter, Pretties Kit, Chantilly Crochet Trim, dimensionals, mini glue dots

It’s Saturday and that means a new Sketch for You to Try from Jen. This week the sketch is sponsored by Amber Ink.  I chose to work with the Love Bunny – Bunny Cakes Digi image.  I have to say that I love this image and the card.  It all came together perfectly.

To make this card I started with the image.  I knew I wanted it to fit into the largest Nestabilities oval that I have, so I printed off a few test runs making it a bit smaller as I went.  That’s the great thing about digi images, you can make it fit the size of the image panel that you want to work with.  When I was happy with the size I printed it onto watercolor paper.  I then used my test run to cut out and mask the image and then I did a watercolor wash with Crumb Cake ink over the embossed oval surface.  I then used reinkers and an AquaPainter to watercolor in the image. The swirls were covered with a two way glue pen and then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds.

Here is a detail shot of my image. You can see that my watercoloring isn’t perfect, but sometimes it adds to the character of the card.  Here you can see a bit of the Dazzling Diamonds sparkle.

After I finished my main image I got started on my card.  I had a few pieces of Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper still lying on my table so I just went with them.  I love the soft subtle look of these two patterns.  I started by sponging each with matching ink and then distressed the edges.  I sewed around the layers and then attached some Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon with my sewing machine.  Everything was then attached to the Naturals White card stock base.  I finished it off with 2 half pears from the Pretties Kit and the sentiment banner from Birthday Bakery.  It’s a Level I Stampin’ Up! hostess stamp set.  I thought it fit the image perfectly.

Here is the wonderful sketch from Jen. Make sure you visit her blog to find out about the Amber Ink discount code.  Participants can also win a $25 gift certificate to the Amber Ink store!  The shop has Digi Images, Clear Stamps and Digi Paper.  I just fell in love with the bunnies the first time I saw them.

Also make sure to check out the other Sketch For You to Try Sisters.  There are more fantastic samples using Amber Ink images on some of their blogs.  Also make sure to stop by and welcome Carole back to the Saturday sketch team and give Megan your congratulations on her brand new baby girl.

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O’Brien
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Kelly Lunceford
Sonja Chirstoph
Jodi Collins
Carole Burrage
and the Designer of the Month, Sandra MacLean

I have no idea what today holds in store for us.  Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my grandma’s 91st birthday with the family.  Colin and Evan made her a craft.  We also bought her a box full of chocolate from a local candy store.  I bet she’ll love both of her gifts.  Have a great Saturday and I hope you have a chance to play along with us this week.

This weekend we are celebrating my grandmother’s 91st birthday.  I’m not sure if this is the card I’ll be giving her, but it’s a great possibility as I don’t have any cards in the house right now.  I made this for a few of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on SCS.  One challenge was a sketch, one was to Strut Your Stuff and the other was for glitter.

I used Lap of Luxury dsp and pulled all of my colors right from there.  The base is Pretty in Pink and the back layer is Basic Gray and dsp.  The strip across the bottom portion is Concord Crush and dsp.  To make my main image I used an oval I cut out with the Coluzzle.  I then stamped my Birthday Bakery image in Basic Gray ink and then masked the images.  I used a mask I cut with the Coluzzle and then sponged on Bashful Blue ink before watercoloring my images in.  After I was done I added some doodling and Crystal Effects with glitter sprinkled on for some of the icing.  I finished it off with the sentiment and a Chocolate Chip epoxy brad attached to a Filigree brad that I’ve been hoarding.

I’m glad I got a lot of stamping done at the beginning of the week because the last two days I haven’t had a chance to stamp at all.  Yesterday Colin and Evan had play dates.  While Evan was out Colin had a friend over.  I used the time to prep our dinners for the rest of the week and weekend. I made Mexican Stuffed Peppers, Orzo Pasta with fresh veggies and Chili for a crock pot Chili Dog recipe.  Today I cleaned.  I love starting the weekend with a clean house.  I’m a little bummed because when I finished the floor I noticed my Bissel Flip It had a cap fall apart.  I have to see if Roger can fix it for me.  I can literally wash all of the floors in our house in under 20 minutes and have them dry by the time I’ve emptied and cleaned out the compartments.  It better not be broken since I haven’t seen these in stores for years.  I can’t even find the solution in stores anymore so I’m afraid they fazed them out.

Tomorrow Colin has an eye Dr. appointment.  We’ll see if he has to continue patching or not.  He’s been patching since he’s been 3, and we’ve cut down from all of his waking hours to 3 hours every other day. We’re getting to the age where his brain is supposed to get used to keeping his eye “turned on” all of the time.  I’ve certainly learned a lot about amblyopia over the last few years.

Stamps: Birthday Bakery
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Lap of Luxury dsp, Basic Gray, Concord Crush, Very Vanilla
Ink: Bashful Blue, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Accessories: AquaPainter, Coluzzle, Sponge Dauber, Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker, dimensionals, dazzling diamonds, crystal effects, Chocolate Chip Epoxy brads, Filigree brad
Techniques: watercoloring, masking

This week the Wild Flower Patch is sponsoring Jen’s Sketch For You To Try.  I have to admit I’d never worked with Digital Stamps before.  After some trial and error (on my part) it was super easy!  I decided to use Alice in Wonderland.  I thought it was fitting since I read Alice I Have Been earlier this summer.

To make this card I printed out the Alice in Wonderland image on Watercolor paper.  I then watercolored her in with various Stampin’ Up! Classic Inks and Re-inkers.  I will list them at the end in the supplies.  After coloring I started on my card base.  I kept repeating to myself “I’m late, I’m late” as I was making the card and I found the rabbit designer series paper in the Nursery Suite Specialty Paper by Stampin’ Up!  I knew I had to use it.  The background is Pretty Petals, stamped in Whisper White craft ink onto Baja Breeze card stock.  It’s mounted on Chocolate Chip and a So Saffron card base.  I then added the paper pierced So Saffron strip and then my rabbit paper.  I needed space for my bow so I used the 1″ circle punch to take a bite out of my main image layer.  I added a Chocolate Chip Corduroy brad to the top of the ribbon.  I then added my On Your Birthday sentiment.  I have to say I love it!

Here is the sketch that Jen provided for us to use this week.  One participant this week will win 5 Digi Stamps of their Choice!  See Jen’s blog for all of the details.

I really like this sketch and can see myself using it over and over again.  If you need more inspiration please check out the Sketch For You to Try Sisters.  Many of them may be using The Wild Flower Patch stamps as well.
Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O’Brien
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Kelly Lunceford
Sonja Chirstoph
Jodi Collins
and the Designer of the Month, Sandra MacLean

This weekend Colin and Evan are spending some time visiting Roger’s parents.  Hopefully that will give me a bit of time to get ahead on my stamping.  It also gives Roger and I time to go on a date night.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend and hopefully get a chance to play along with us.

Supplies:
Stamps: The Wild Flower Patch – Alice in Wonderland; Stampin’ Up! – On Your Birthday and Pretty Petals background stamp
Paper: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Nursery Suite Specialty dsp, Watercolor paper
Ink: So Saffron, More Mustard, Blush Blossom, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Bashful Blue, Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Whisper White craft ink, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, AquaPainter, dimensionals, Chocolate Chip Corduroy brad, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, 1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″ circle punches

I hope you aren’t thinking to yourself – not this stamp set again!.  I promise I have put it away but it keeps lending itself to sketches and I keep pulling it back out.  The Apple Blossom Hostess set is so much fun.  I’m glad I ordered it before I left Stampin’ Up!.

I used the OCC Sketch Challenge 24 for my card.  I flipped the sketch so the largest panel is at the top.  I started by knowing what Designer Series Paper piece I wanted to use from the Sweet Pea pad.  I promise I’m almost done with that too.  It has been fabulous to work with and I’ll miss it when it’s gone.  I wanted the butterflies on the paper to be the bottom panel and to not detract from them I moved my ribbon up higher on the card.  After attaching the dsp to my So Saffron panel I sewed around both of them with Kraft thread.  I then added my main image panel of Old Olive and Whisper White.   I inked the stamp in  Pumpkin Pie and stamped twice and did the same with Old Olive.  I added the On Your Birthday in Crumb Cake paper and ink and punched it out with the Word Window punch.  I added two Beautiful Wings butterflies that have been sitting on my table.  It’s attached to the card with dimensionals.

I’ll let you in on a secret with the butterflies.  Whenever I cut them out and don’t use them I store them in an empty brad or button container on my desk.  That way when a card lends itself to needing a butterfly I always have one on hand.

I found out good news for Shadow today!  She may be adopted this weekend.  She’s only been here for a week, but she is so super sweet and loving.  I’m going to miss having her around, but I know that she’s going to go to a family that loves her and will take good care of her.  The details are being set up so we’ll see if we can make our schedule work with the adopting family.  I bet Bandit is going to be sad.

I’ll see you tomorrow for Jen’s Sketch for You to Try.  I’m super excited about how my card came out and I tried something new!  I used a Digital stamp for the first time and survived.  You’ll want to check back and see how I did.

I’m warning that this is going to be a super quick post.  It’s in the mid-70’s and heavenly outside.  I took a quick stamping break when the kids got tired of playing Star Wars on the trampoline.  They cooled down and we are headed back outside.

I made this for the Sketch Challenge on SCS.  I used Inspired by Nature, Watercolor Trio and Tres Chic background stamp.  I paired them up with Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzaz and Whisper White.

I love how this card turned out.  I love the soothing colors and all of the different layers.

Only a few more busy days and we are done!  Swimming ends on Thursday and then the only thing we have on our schedules is T-ball for Evan on Thursday night and Puppy Class for Bandit on Sunday afternoon.  I’m taking the rest of the summer easy.  It’s so easy to over schedule and we are all feeling the effects of that.

Today I stamped this card using the Color Challenge on SCS and Mercy’s Sketch.  The colors are ones I love, but have never really combined all together into one card.  I’m working with Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango and Bermuda Bay.  All three of these colors are retiring tomorrow.  I made a stack of presents using the Playful Pieces Hostess stamp set and then tied them together with a Whisper White 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon.  The sentiment is from Occasional Quotes and is punched out with the Modern Label punch.

Well the boys and I are headed out to do some more yard work.  It’s only 79 degrees and it feels heavenly outside.  We have a plant to buy to fill in a spot in the backyard and then later this week it’s time to bring in some fresh mulch.  We got all of the weeding done yesterday and trimmed up a bunch of our bushes to give them a better shape.

I hope you are enjoying your week!