Caring Watercolor Trio

So it's allergy time here all of a sudden.  Both children are suffering in one way or the other.  Jase woke up from his nap this afternoon with a sore ear, crying and all.  For a brief couple of minutes I wasn't sure what to do and then it occurred to me to put a warm compress on his ear, lay him down with his head on my knee and turn on the cartoons.  Within a couple of minutes he was right as rain asking for his PM snack.  At times it's quite surprising to me this whole quasi-parenthood thing.  I spend so much time dealing with my ever nagging guilt complex.  I constantly worry that I am not doing the right thing, that I will miss something important and one of them will be hanging from a bell tower with a rifle or something (god, that's awful but it's my reality.)  David believes in letting them go, and I am trying.  Before her death this past June my sister-in-law Eileen told me to, "Just let it happen."  I have taken her precious words to my heart and while I can't commit to them completely I keep them present in my thoughts and do hope to attain that level of parenting soon.  Okay ... stream of consciousness there folks just skip to the card if it's strange or too much.

Because Watercolor Trio

Can we talk about the new products of Stampin' UP!   Some of the new colors already have me hooked, Marina Mist is my personal favorite at the moment, it's such a warm inviting blue.  Unlike last year's In Colors this year SU picked a winning combo Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade are my favorites.  

Which brings me to this card, I broke into the Sunny Garden DSP (wickedly early for me I usually hold on to this stuff for months.)  Stamp set is the beautiful Watercolor Trio from the SU Summer Mini ... I wish I could tell you how much I have coveted this stamp set (we've had a love affair for awhile.)  The design is from a Jeanette Lynton book of course. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampin' UP! Watercolor Trio, Because I Care
Ink:  Stampin' UP! Classic Basic Black, Peach Parfait
Paper:  Stampin' UP! Sunny Garden, Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Old Olive
Accessories/Tools:  Stampin' UP! Oval Punch,  EK Success Small Square punch, Colorbok Metal Dots
Design:  Jeannette Lynton, Originals, Pg. 102 Balance it Out

As always thanks for looking and yes HE stamps!

A little blue for a birthday?

So how about some blue for a birthday?  For this card I went semi-small 4-3/8" square and choose to break the seal on my Blueberry Crisp DSP by Stampin' UP!  I really love this paper although the patterns are not new and appeared previously under the name Razzleberry Lemonade.  A first for me was using Night of Navy, I had previously believed this color was far too dark for my tastes.  Who knew?

BTW, is anyone else thinking about fall?  We had a very nice day yesterday (no air conditioning) and this AM it was still quite pleasant and I found myself thinking about fall and pumpkin spice coffee.  Summer has been nice, rather hot this year.  However, fall is one of my favorite seasons.  The falls in New England are gorgeous, something to behold, so many colors, that nip in the air ... it's a wonderful time of year.  Or maybe I am being influenced by the many fall stamp sets I am seeing!

Blue Birthday

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampin' UP!  Happy Moments
Ink:  Stampin' UP! Classic Basic Black
Paper:  Stampin' UP! Blueberry Crisp, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand
Accessories/Tools:  Punches (several), Stampin' UP! Ticket Corner Punch,  Stampin' UP! Very Vanilla button, Close to my Heart Black Waxy Flax,  Stampin' UP! 3/4" Twill Tape, Making Memories Slice, Studio Essentials Design Card
Design:  Splitcoaststampers.com Clean and Simple Challenge:  CAS76


As always, thanks for looking and yes HE stamps!

Simple birthday card?

Well, this one started out to be just a simple little Mojo Monday inspired card and somewhere along the path things took a turn.  I started punching flower pieces and something took over and the next thing I knew the bottom of the card was covered ... this is definitely NOT my style but nonetheless here it is.  The colors and papers are awesome and from Close to my Heart.

Speaking of card styles I hoped everyone has picked up a copy of PaperCrafts special issue Card Style .  I so highly recommend this issue.  Naturally, it has wonderful cards completely worthy of CASing and reinterpreting!  However, beyond that it totally enabled me to pinpoint my personal card style.  The issue is laid out in sections such as Fun & Cute, Clean & Graphic (my personal favorite), Classy & Elegant (second favorite), and Shabby Chic & Vintage (absolute least favorite!) My hope is that with the halves of my brain in agreement I will begin to choose card designs (and eventually creating my own) that reflect the styles I am drawn to and be able to identify  a challenging style beforehand.  I confess that often times this was certainly not the case.  Take my word check out this great special issue!

A little birthday card?

As I said earlier this card was suppose to be of one of the Mojo Monday challenges.  I used a bunch of punches and a lot of CTMH's Emporium My Reflections paper pack.  Sorry for the awful picture - I'll need to find another special issue of a magazine to improve my photography skills! :-P

Supplies:
Stamps: Close to my Heart Piece of Cake, 7gypsies Grunge interchangeable certifiable stamp
Ink:  Stampin' UP! Classic Basic Black
Paper:  Close to my Heart Emporium, Twilight, Crystal Blue, Colonial White, Stampin' UP!  Purely Pomegrante
Accessories/Tools:  Punches (lots of punches), Brads (lots of manufacturers)

As always, thanks for looking and yes HE stamps!

Pals Paper Arts - PPA50 Color Me

Continuing along this papercrafting challenge route I have been on, I found a color challenge over at Pals Paper Arts blog.  The colors of the challenge are Basic Grey, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip, three wonderful colors that survived the Stampin' UP! color renovation.

Color Me

Influenced by my previous attempts at the unique card size of 3-1/4" x 6-1/2" I decided to give it another go.  The sketch is from Jeanette Lynton's book Originals.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampin' UP! Of the Earth
Ink:  Stampin' UP! Real Red 
Paper:  Stampin' UP! Walk in the Park, Basic Grey, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip
Accessories/Tools:  Stampin' UP! Chocolate Chip 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Joann 3/16" Antique Copper Eyelet


As always, thanks for looking and yes HE stamps!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge: Wishes - CityScape (Take #2)

Okay, so I liked the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Wishes - CityScape sketch so much I decided to try it again.  Here's what I came up with it.

CityScape Take #2

So for the second try I decided to maintain my previous card size of 3-1/4" x 6-1/2".  Paper and color changes occurred as well with the exception of Sweet Leaf, I'm really feeling this color right now.

Supplies:
Stamps: Close to my Heart Always in my Heart
Ink:  Stampin' UP! Chocolate Chip Craft Ink 
Paper:  Close to my Heart Emporium Level II, Crystal Blue, Chocolate, and Sweet Leaf
Accessories/Tools:  Close to my Heart Sparkles, Michaels store brand 1/8' White Organdy Ribbon and Recollections Metal Photo Corners


As always, thanks for looking and yes HE stamps!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge: Wishes - CityScape

Hello?  Is anybody out there?  After a very long absence from this blog and a nasty old scrapbook page that stalled ALL creativity for over a month I'm finally back to this wonderful but maddening hobby.  I hope someone is out there to take a peek at what I've been up to.

CityScape Take #1

The challenge from the ladies over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog this week, was to use the sketch CityScape from Jeanette Lynton's Wishes book.  I was nicely inspired by the sketch and wanted to take it a step further by reducing it to a 3-1/4" x 6-1/2" card size.  I used the Close To My Heart Smiles stamp set among several others and I think it turned out quite interesting.

Supplies:
Stamps: Close to my Heart Smiles, Close to my Heart Over the Rainbow, Verve stamps Up, Up and Away, and Stampin' UP! Many Happy Returns
Ink:  Sorbet, Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup, and Basic Black
Paper:  Close to my Heart Caboodle Level II, Buttercup, Crystal Blue and White Daisy
Accessories/Tools:  Sorbet Collection Ribbon, Sweet Leaf Collection Ribbon, and Stampin' UP! Word Window Large Punch


As always, thanks for looking and yes HE still stamps!