Coffee & Friends

Wow, is it Friday again?!  Where did this week go?  Well one thing that kept me busy was the open house that I had last Tuesday.  I'll be posting more about that tomorrow or Sunday.  It definitely kept me busy, but I had so much fun with each of the ladies.  I like to have an open house as a way to say thank you to the ladies who faithfully attend my stamp a stacks each month and to meet new ladies that might be interested in stamping too. :)

Now I did say it was Friday and that's really what this post is about...another challenge from the Friday Mashup.  This week Tara brings us a great sketch and challenge to use an unexpected embellishment...

Create a project using the "Sketch". 

Create a project using a "surprise element, something you wouldn't expect to see on a card/or an unexpected embellishment". 

or Mash it Up! and create a project "using the Sketch and a unexpected Embellishment".

I definitely managed the sketch, but that was only after I decided to use a small coffee packet on my card as the unexpected embellishment.  Not sure if that really counts as one, but I had to come up with something. lol

This was definitely a fun sketch to play along with.  Make sure you check out what the rest of the designers made HERE and take the time to play along too.  We'd love to see what you come up with!

Just another quick pic. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:

retired DSP from 2013 Holiday Catalog

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Ornamental Pine

Today's card was intended as a birthday card for someone, but I guess the idea that popped into my head ended up looking more like a Christmas card, so that's what I went with. lol  Anyway it's Friday so you know that means it's time for the Friday Mashup challenge which I happen to be hostessing this week. :)  My challenge is kind of fun I think, so I hope you'll give it a try. 

Create a project using the "Diamond Dust Technique" Tutorial Here. 

Create a project using the colors "Island Indigo, Garden Green & Rich Razzleberry (or similar colors if you don't have these exact colors). 

or Mash it Up! and create a project "using the colors above and the Diamond Dust Technique".

Sorry there are so many pictures, but I was trying to get one that actually looked like the card when I look at it so you could see what I was seeing too...no such luck!  lol  I guess I'll let you choose which one you like the best. 

Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup HERE to check out all the fun cards made, and to play along too.  We always love to see what everyone creates. :)

I almost forgot to add where my sketch came from!  I haven't had much time to enter other challenges, so I managed to last Sunday with one card and I did for today's card too. :)  The sketch challenge over at the Paper Craft Crew challenge #117 looked like a good fit for the different colors I was using, and I'm glad I played along because I really like how this card turned out. :)

Just a bit of glimmer in the above pic, but the one below hardly has any at all.  Now why can't that camera take a picture the way I see it through my eyes. lol

I had to take one pic of it a little closer.  It sure isn't shimmery like the card.  It actually looks like it has white in it a little bit.  Oh well, better luck for me next time. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Christmas Blessings

I've been working away on my Christmas cards this year thanks to 'Tis the Season's Christmas card challenge blog.  I really have no idea how many Christmas cards I have, but I'm sure it's close to what I need for this year.  If I make more than I need, then I guess I have a head start for Christmas 2015. lol  Anyway this time around 'Tis the Season has a sketch for us to play with.  I have to admit I kept on adding to this card.  At first I just had the pic in the oval and the bow, then I added "Christmas Blessings".  I finally finished it off with the star because that top left corner looked blank without it.  I also couldn't decide if I should use Coastal Cabana or Pool Party so I went with both.  

Make sure you head over to 'Tis the Season HERE to check out all the other fun Christmas cards and to play along too!  Christmas is less that two months away!  Good thing my daughters love to shop and bargain shop at that.  They pick up all the gifts for me...whew!!!!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on these cards;

More Merry Messages (retired)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Thanksgiving

A few weeks ago I made a bottle tag for the Friday Mashup challenge and it's been pretty well liked, so I thought, "Why not make up one for Thanksgiving too?".  So here's my Thanksgiving bottle tag using the same stamp set, but putting fall colors on it using the 2014-2016 In Colors from Stampin' Up!  I've seen a lot of cards and projects using the baby wipe technique, but I chose to sponge directly on the stamp instead.  That blends the colors well too and it was pretty simple to whip a bunch of them up.

Just an up close pic so you can see a little more detail. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this project:

Tags for You (retired set)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Warm and Fuzzy White Christmas

Today's card is made for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge #192.  I did take the sketch and rotate it a turn, but didn't really put the sentiment where it was supposed to be.  I tried, but it just didn't work! lol  If you want to play along with this week's theme it's "Warm and Fuzzy"  Ok, so my card is not exactly warm and fuzzy, but it gives me the warm fuzzies thinking about the snow blowing outside and me inside by the warm wood stove stamping away.  I hope that counts! :)

I didn't realize how I practically copied the colors on the sketch for my card until I put them together on my post! lol  Well, I love how it turned out so I'm ok with it. :)  Make sure you head over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to check out all the other fun cards using this week's sketch and theme. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:  

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Scenic Anniversary

A post on a Sunday!  Can you believe it? lol  Since it's my anniversary I figured I should really make my hubby a card. :)  As much as I love to make masculine cards, I still always wonder what I'm going to put on them. I saw a picture somewhere online and couldn't get it out of my mind, so I decided to do my own re-creation using sponges and one stamp from Wetlands.  I have to admit I wish I had a stamp of trees similar to what's in Lovely as a Tree just on a smaller scale.  I was hoping to put small trees in the distance on my pic, but sponging in the colors had to do for this card. :)

I was looking through a few challenges to help me come up with this card and liked the challenge at the Paper Players this week.  Not sure how "vintage" or antique this card is, but I did distress the edges of the picture trying to give it a look of being a little older. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:

Sticky notes

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

So Grateful for You

Can you believe it?!  I'm not posting a card.  I think I've done that twice this month.  I guess it is that time of year though when we start to think about gifts for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. So for today's Friday Mashup challenge we needed to make a box project.  I was thinking about using the 2"x 2" box that Stampin Up! is selling right now, but decided to quickly make up my own instead because I wanted to put leaves on it and the other box would have been way too small.  So here's our fun challenge from Lisa this week...

Create a "Box Project". 

Create a project with a "Thanksgiving or Thankful Theme".

or Mash it Up! and create a "Thanksgiving- or Thankful-Themed Box".

To make the box I cut two 5" x 5" pieces of Naturals Ivory card stock, ran it through the big shot using the woodgrain embossing folder, scored it at 1" on every side, snipped in a few spots and taped the sides together...bam you have a box.  Ok, so there's just a little more to it than that, but once you've done it a time or two it's pretty easy.  I sponged the 2014-2016 In Colors on my leaves and used the Gorgeous Grunge set for the spots on the leaves.

Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup HERE to see the other great projects and to play along too.  We'd love to see what you create. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this project:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Holiday Home Halloween

Today's card is made using the set Holiday Home.  Believe it or not this is the first time I've used it!  Both my colors and sketch are from this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday challenge #191.  I did fudge just a little on the sketch since I don't have all five of the "spots" on my card positioned exactly like on the sketch, but I tried to make them close and still make sense of the scene I wanted.  I had a lot of fun making this card.  :)  I love how these colors look together too!

Make sure you head over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to check out all the other fun cards made by the designers, and to play along too. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

It's a Sunflower Kind of Day

Today's card is all about sunflowers.  Sunflowers and the Friday Mashup that is.  This week we have a color challenge and a technique challenge for our mashup.  Love the fall colors of the color challenge, and I enjoyed the technique too. :)  I had never heard of it before, but it went pretty smoothly for me....whew!   Anyway this week's fun mashup from Heidi is...

Create a project with "Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist & Baked Brown Sugar". 

Create a project with the "Iron-Off Embossing Technique".  Link to technique HERE.

or Mash it Up! and create a "Project using the colors above & the Iron-Off Embossing Technique". 

I have to admit I cheated a little with the colors.  I used Blendabilities to color in my flowers and stems, so I didn't actually use the colors listed.  They came out pretty close though since Blendabilities have three variations of each color.  I ended up using Soft Suede too instead of baked brown sugar because I wanted to use ribbon and have the bow kind of look like the leaves of one of the flowers and the only ribbon I had was in Soft Suede.  Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup HERE to check out the cards from all the other designers and play along too.  We'd love to see what you create! :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:

Soft Suede Ribbon (retired)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Festival of Trees

So how do these non-traditional colors look on my Christmas cards?  This week at 'Tis the Season we have some pastel colors for you to work with.  At first I wasn't sure what to do with them at all!  I checked out all my Christmas stamps and pulled out Festival of Trees and went from there.  Since I wasn't using the traditional colors I decided to change up the way I made my cards too.  They are definitely not my norm, but I think they're pretty fun! :)

Head on over to 'Tis the Season HERE to see the other fun cards made using these colors, and show us what you can make too...remember Christmas is right around the corner!

This close up shows one of the cards a little better...

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on these cards:

Pretty Prints embossing folder (retired)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Good to the Last Bite

Well, I have to say I'm a bit behind this week!  This was supposed to post Tuesday morning and it's not even close to that.  I don't know how so many ladies can work 30+ hours a week and keep plugging away with all of their card making/scrap booking, etc.  I've been busy trying to get ready for a craft show with all my other responsibilities too, and I sure would like some sleep!  Guess that's the way it goes when I procrastinate too much. :(  

Anyway I came up with these goody bags for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge and I'm also selling them at the craft show.  They are pretty quick and easy to make, especially the tags.  One of my daughters is a nanny and she asked if she could have a couple for her kids if there were any left over.  That's when I told her I was making last month's paper pumpkin kit for them.  She was happy with that. :) 

Make sure you head over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday to see all the other fun things the designers have created for you.  Make sure you play along too. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used - 

Clothespins from past Stampin' Up! kits

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Galaxy Greetings...

Today I have another fun card for you!  It's totally different than my last post, but I think it's pretty cool.  Since it's Friday you know it's a part of the Friday Mashup.  This week Holly has challenged us with a new to me technique called the Galaxy Technique.  Boy did I have fun playing around with it!  So here's the challenge...

Create a project with the "Galaxy Technique".   Links to technique HERE &HERE.

Create a project for "A Friend". 

or Mash it Up! and create a "Project for a friend using the Galaxy Technique".

I did create this card for a friend, actually a coworker.  It ended up being a "thinking of you" because he lost his beloved little doggy Honey Bunny.  It was not a good day last Friday!  Let's hope today is much better. :)  He really liked his card too and that's a compliment from someone who is very artistic!

Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup HERE to see all the other cards by the designers...yup, love them!  If you have the time, try and play along with us, but watch the videos Holly has linked for you and use your imagination.  I had to use the supplies that I had on hand, so I used reinkers on very wet naturals white paper, dried it with my heat tool, then ran it through my Big Shot between two cutting pads and under an embossing folder.  Straightened that warped thing like you wouldn't believe! lol

I put in a couple more pics so you can see how a card's looks can be affected by different lighting.  I was trying to get the dark of the galaxy to really stand out and not the trees.  I did stamp the trees in white, but the white absorbed the colors from the galaxy so they were actually darker like in the first picture.  The last two pics were definitely brighter than the card, especially the trees.  Plus I embossed the sentiment in white so it stood out a little more.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies use on this card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Delightful Dahlia

Today I have a lovey card to share with you.  The sketch is from this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge #189.  It was a fun sketch to work with, but I have to admit I twisted the "Autumn Splendor" just a bit.  I'll explain how I came up with this flower.  There's a young girl at our church the spends a lot of her summer growing, picking and putting flower arrangements together to sell.  She then uses the money to go out and buy Christmas gifts for those who can't afford them.  She grows a lot of Dahlias and gave me a couple last week, and shared quite a few of them with a lot of other people that work in AWANA at our church...that's where the flower card comes in.  I wanted to thank her with a flower like she gave me.  Plus this is the last week she's going to be able to sell since they need to dig everything up so they can replant next spring.   Anyway I think all the flowers she walked in were showing some of the fall splendor, it's not just in the leaves of trees. :)

We're also playing another game at Try Stampin' on Tuesday this week.  Since it's October and Halloween is at the end of the month we thought it would be fun to have a word scramble for everyone to join in.  All you need to do is unscramble the two words on my blog SMKA  RSYAC  and the other designers' blogs and you'll be entered in a drawing.  If you need more info head over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to see what it's all about.  Make sure you play along with our sketch too.  We'd love to see what you create!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Happy Wonderful Christmas

Wow, I can't believe it's Friday already!  Where did this week go?  I don't know, but I won't complain either. :)  Since it's Friday I have another project for you. Yup, a project, not a card.  That's pretty unusual for me, but that's what this week's Friday Mashup is all about.  This week our challenge is from Cindy, and here's the fun challenge she has for us...

Create a "Tag for a Bottle, Box or Bag". 

Create a project with "Bling". 

or Mash it Up! and create a "Tag with Bling".

For once I got a little bit ahead with all my challenges because I was up north last weekend...yea!  Since I had a bottle of sparkling red grape juice I decided to make a tag for a bottle.

It calls for bling so I went with a little bit of gold embossed leaves and pearls on the ribbon and wreath.  Not what I'd normally use for bling, but since I didn't have my whole stamping stash with me I used what I did have...and I'm happy with how it turned out. :)  Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup HERE to see the other great projects from the design team.  If you get a chance play along too.  We'd love to see what you create!

I had to add a little something else to the back and decided to use a few snowflakes and the "to" and "from" stamps.  Hey they have to know who the gift is from right? lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Supplies used for my tag:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Christmas Blessings

How are your Christmas cards coming?  Hopefully you all have a good stash going.  Here are four more that I've made with 'Tis the Season's sketch challenge #27.  Not sure how many cards I have yet, but I know I'm close...whew! :)  I have to admit I've really enjoyed making different ones throughout the year instead of coming up with one design and working like crazy in October and November to get them done.  I also like the fact that I can buy more than one or two Christmas sets too.  So many Christmas or winter cards that I can make now!

Make sure you stop by 'Tis the Season HERE to check out the other great Christmas cards and to play along too.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Supplies used on this card:

Retired Christmas sentiment set and embossing folder

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog