Happiness Is A Habit

I have enjoyed the Clean & Simple Stamping blog a lot, and found a great layout here that I used as the basis for these 2 cards. I've been meaning to use Hibiscus Burst together with my Dark Chocolate, and this layout just seemed perfect for it. I'm not totally sure about the cream ribbon on the sympathy card. I wanted to try it, even though it just kind of blends in. It is a sympathy card so I'm not going for "WOW!" But I don't know if it's just too blended in. Any opinions? And the happiness card just made me laugh! Are you ever just working along, and something comes to you that you haven't thought of in forever!?!? Well, as soon as I stamped the "happiness" I could hear my mom's voice from childhood. She had a little saying, "Happiness is a habit!" And I haven't thought of that in ages, and it made me laugh out loud!

Stamps: SU Botanical Blooms, SU Warm Words, River City Rubber Works
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Hibiscus Burst
Cardstock: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Vintage Cream
Accessories: PTI Hibiscus Burst Ribbon, Offray Ribbon

Digiments Card

Here is the card I made using a new "Digiment" from Michelle. She's opening a Digital Stamp store where she will be focusing on sentiments. Digital, sentiments....digiments!!! I thought that was very clever. She's looking for a design team to highlight her products. I haven't tried out for any design teams of any sorts, and decided to give it a shot. A really neat thing about digital stamps, is that you have the ability to resize the image you are using. I know there have been times I've been using a stamp and thought, "Oh, if this was just a little smaller, it would fit perfectly." Or, "I just want this sentiment a little bigger to fill up a little more space." There's my plug, Michelle ;) I like the way that this card turned out, and it will be fun (design team or not) to see what Michelle comes up with in the future.

Stamps: Digiment!
Ink: Colorbox Heliotrope for edging
Cardstock: PTI Plum Pudding, PTI Vintage Cream, SU Kraft
DP: Paper Pizazz
Accessories: Labels One Nestabilites, Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly Punch, Offray Petite Gems

Polka Dots

Well, as you can probably tell from my last few posts, with my last PaperTrey order, I finally got some polka dot accessories! I decided to do some more "clean and simple" cards with my Upsy Daisy set. I just changed up the colors, sentiments, and added some polka dot ribbon this time. This set is perfect for doing quick cards with, because it's just one big image.
Tomorrow, grades should be posted, so I find out what kind of goody I get to buy. I like to reward myself for good grades with stamping purchases! A "B" will earn me a new stamp set, and an "A" just may get me a new set of Nesties!!!

Stamps: SU Upsy Daisy, River City Rubber Works Sentiments
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, PTI Ocean Tides
Cardstock: PTI Berry Sorbet, PTI Ocean Tides
Accessoreis: PTI Berry Sorbet Swiss Dot Ribbon, PTI Ocean Tides Swiss Dot Ribbon

Mojo Monday

It's been a few weeks since I played along with any of the Mojo Monday sketches, and today was the perfect day to participate again. I thought this sketch was really fun to use. I've been trying to build my stash of baby cards because I have so many family and friends due in the upcoming months. So here is another one, made with someone specific in mind, whose belly is about to burst ;)

Stamps: TAC Hello Baby, Fiskars The Stork Has Arrived
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Ocean Tides, Copics: BG11, E43, RV13, Y11, YG95
Cardstock: PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Ocean Tides
DP: PTI Polka Dot Parade
Accessories: PTI Aqua Mist Buttons, Offray Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, Unknown Eyelet

3 out of 3!

I found this awesome stamp the other day and had to get it. My husband, my dad, and my father-in-law are all not only great dads, but they are the kind of dads that really can fix anything. I'd say 3 out of 3 is pretty good when it comes to something like this. So this is what I'll be using for Father's Day "cards" to go with whatever tool they get this year ;) The size is smaller than a regular card (3 1/2 x 5), simply because it looked better to me this way. I also tried using Sara's Creative Adventures Color Challenge for this card. I say tried because I always seem to be missing some element. I don't have New Leaf. I have Ripe Avocado, and have loved it so much that when New Leaf came out, I really didn't even care to get it. So I replaced the new leaf with Ripe Avocado. And on the patterned paper I used, I noticed that Ocean Tides is also on there. So I left out and added a color. But still, her color challenge was what inspired me to use these colors!

Stamp: Inkadinkado
Ink: PTI Ripe Avocado
Cardstock: PTI Ripe Avocado, PTI Smokey Shadow
DP: PTI Polka Dot Parade
Accessories: SU Spiral Punch

Nice People

I have "met" some really nice people through stamping forums, blogs, etc. It's really fun how even across the miles and for people that will likely never meet in real life, people say such nice things and do kind things for each other. A friend from Split Coast Stampers sent me this cute fairy image, and I finally colored her in. The whole time I was coloring her I was thinking about a book that I just love: Fablehaven (If you've read it I think you'll see the connection. If you haven't read it, I recommend it!). I love to read and could spend hours out of the day wrapped up in a good book. I try to avoid reading "for fun" during the semester because I know I won't get anything productive done. But now that I'm finished with school for the summer, I'm ready to catch up on some reading. So if I go MIA for a few days, I may just be doing a little reading.

Inspired By JC Penney Bedding

I love participating in the new Clean and Simple Challenges at Split Coast Stampers. They are posted on Mondays, and yesterday I was gone most of the day doing schoolwork so didn't have a chance to even see what it was. This morning when I saw my friend Susan's card that she made for the challenge I thought it was terrific. It turns out the challenge is to use bedding from JC Penney for your inspiration. So I went to check out the bedding. This is the inspiration piece I used. I thought that quilt was so cute, and I don't think I did it any justice with this card. Nor do I think that this card is what I would consider CAS. I used a lot of stamp sets which is not something I usually do for a CAS card, it ended up taking forever, and I even got out my embossing tools. I loved looking at the bedding for inspiration anyway, and I'm hoping to make another card later that fits more into what I'd call the "Clean and Simple" category.

Stamps: SU Time Well Spent, SU Little Flowers, Mindy's Zoo, Verve Petals and Stems
Ink: PTI Hibiscu Burst, PTI Ripe Avocado, VersaMark
Cardstock: PTI Spring Moss
DP: Debbie Mumm
Accessories: Ranger Clear Embossing Powder

Happy Birthday, Using Happy Harmony

I love the flowers from the old Stampin' Up set called Happy Harmony. I decided to use them for a birthday card, and really like the way that they look paired with this sentiment. I wanted to get some green on this card, in addition to just the flower stems. I didn't really want a layer of cardstock, though, so I went for adding a little ribbon to a few of the corners.
We've had sunshine here for 2 days in a row now! I'm hoping that the spring snowstorms are finally gone. Now if my son's lingering cough would go away, too. Enjoy your Sunday.

Stamps: SU Happy Harmony, River City Rubber Works
Ink: PTI Plum Pudding, SU Old Olive
Cardstock: PTI Plum Pudding
Accessories: Offray Ribbon

Monochromatic, again

After doing the cards yesterday for the monochromatic challenge, I ended up doing another one last night. I didn't actually plan it to be that way, but that's what happened. I was looking at the "best wishes" stamp from the Cute and Curly stamp set. It actually is supposed to have brackets around it, but I just wasn't too crazy about the brackets...not my style, I suppose. Now I know you can ink just part of the stamp you want to use, but I just looked at this stamp knowing I'd never use the little brackets. Ever. So I cut them off! Nothing funner on a Friday night than dissecting rubber stamps. Enjoy your day! It's finally sunny here after a week of drizzle and cold, but I've got lots of studying to do, so I'll probably still have to stay cooped up a lot of the day.

Stamps: SU Upsy Daisy, SU Cute & Curly
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst
Cardstock: PTI Hibiscus Burst
Accessories: PTI Hibiscus Burst Grosgrain Ribbon

Clean And Simple Challenge

The Clean And Simple Challenge this week at Split Coast Stampers is to create a monochromatic card. To visit the gallery of CAS monochromatic cards, click here. I got out the first stamps I ever bought for this one. Pick-A-Petal is the set that pulled me into this crazy world of stamping. It's been a long time since I used it, too. One of the nice things about clean and simple cards is that sometimes you can make more than one in a short amount of time. So if you are needing more than a few cards to add to your stash, I've found clean and simple to be the way to go. It's Friday, enjoy your day!!!

Stamps: SU Pick-A-Petal, Imaginisce
Ink: PTI Ocean Tides, PTI Plum Pudding
Cardstock: PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Ocean Tides, PTI Plum Pudding

Spring Break

Well, we are supposed to be on Spring Break this week. But we woke up to several inches of snow. I am so ready for spring! I want sunshine and warm weather. These are just a couple of cards I made using my Life set from Papertrey Ink. I really love this set. I read a snippet on the forum during their last release party that sounded to me like the designer might come up with a follow-up set to this one. That would be so cool; I can't wait to see if that really happens!

Stamps: PTI Life, River City Rubber Works Sentiments
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, PTI Plum Pudding, PTI Ripe Avocado, SU Old Olive
Cardstock: PTI Rive Avocado, PTI Vintage Cream, SU Kraft

PTI Swap Complete

I've finally finished all of my cards for the PTI Swap I'm in. I know I posted my "model" card already, but the card changed just a little. I knew I wouldn't have enough of the ribbon to make six cards, and when I went to get more ribbon, they were out of the lighter green color I originally used. Which actually worked out kind of nice, because I think this ribbon looks better with the ink I used.

Stamps: PTI Life
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, PTI Ripe Avocado
Cardstock: PTI Lavender Moon, PTI White
DP: Basic Grey
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Lables One, Offray Ribbon

Forever!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. We were able to spend the weekend with extended family and it was really nice. Other than catching my son's cold, and worrying now about passing it on to all the rest of the family. One thing I love about Easter, in addition to the religious significance it has for me, is that my husband and I got engaged over Easter weekend many years ago. He had the neatest Easter egg hunt planned for me and made it a really fun and memorable moment. He is the best! Now he's really going to laugh at this card. I was kind of trying to make the couple look like us. Well, I'm fair-skinned, and he is the total opposite. He has the kind of dark "olive" skin that I just love. So I was trying to make "him" darker, and after my tweaking it, his skin ended up looking kind of blotchy, which it is not. I don't have a hair color that works for my hair, so I just used what I had. And, he never ever goes barefoot. EVER! So he's going to laugh that I tried to make it look like us, and it can't really look like us. But it was fun anyway. I just wanted to have a fun card to give him, because he makes me so happy, and puts up with all of my quirky behavior, and loves me anyway!

Stamps: Sarah Kay A Kiss For Chloe, SU Forever, SU Spot On
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Copics, VersaMark
Cardstock: PTI Dark Chocolate, SU Kraft, SU Real Red (thanks Susan!)

Jelly Beans

I think this roller is really fun to use. I made some quick bags of jelly beans for my niece and nephew, and my kids, and some of their little friends. My niece and nephew are coming today for Easter weekend and my kids are really excited! As if there won't be enough excitement in the air, I thought I'd add some sugar to the mix!

Stamp: SU Egg Hunt Roller
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, Copics
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Labels One Nestabilites

Raspberry Fizz, part 2

Have you ever had a card at the top of your blog that wasn't your favorite, so you didn't want that to be the first card people saw when they came to visit? Well that's how I felt about my last card. Then I got a call saying a lady from church had her baby, and I decided I should make her a card and that way I'd have a new card to post to my blog and a card to take to the new mom all at the same time! I used Raspberry Fizz again, because I do think it's a fun color, and I'm hoping maybe this card shows that it can be a great color, and especially in smaller doses.

Stamps: SU Wash Day, Fiskars The Stork Has Arrived
Ink: Adirondack Espresso, PTI Plum Pudding, Copics
Cardstock: PTI Raspberry Fizz, SU Kraft
Accessories: Raspberry Fizz Ribbon