Cool cards on a hot day!

I mentioned having to still do my June cards for the Christmas Cards All Year 'Round blog challenge.  Their challenge for June was to use a bright color and your fave embellishment.  So here it is, heat index over 100 in the balmy Baltimore area, and I'm making Christmas cards!!  It was a little Arctic escape!  But I refused to go outside into the heat and take the pictures...and it shows!  The poor paper snowmen may have melted out there!  The cards are actually white, folks...even though they look cream colored!  (bad indoor flash!!)  Anyway, I used Kiwi ribbon and Pacific Point as my bright colors.  I always include ribbon...but lately, my fave embellishments are sparkly...so I used ribbon and stickles (on his nose and his popped up scarf)s.  I can always use thank you notes at Christmastime, so I actually made 6 of them! 

Here he is with all of his melting friends

And now for a complete seasonal U-turn!!!

I also went the exact opposite direction in season to do a summer challenge over at Stamp Something -- where this is my first time entering a challenge...and apparently I'm in GREAT company (which I always consider to be on all stamping sites!), as there are so far 244 entries!!  WOW!  Lots of summery challenges out there this week, with it being the first "official" week of summer and all...and certainly feeling like it around here.  This one went bathing suits and sparkle.  Again with the bad indoor photo...this is actually su! pink pirouette...and it looks way more peachy. (sorry...I wasn't stepping out into the sauna that was our backyard this afternoon, even if it was for bikinis!) 

A splash of baby blue...

...is the theme for the Play Date Cafe challenge.  Black and white and a splash of blue.  The samples and entries are wonderful.  I remember seeing their splash of color challenge using orange...WOW!  Gorgeous!  So I tried to play along this time.  I used a tried and true SU background and added baby blue jewels.  I flipped around the layout and used the OCC Sketch for this.  It's a go-to type of sketch - which I love!  Makes the design process much quicker!  (Just move right on to the fun inky part instead!!)  I tried to use it for this Twilight inspired card, but don't think it actually all came together.  It's so heart-y and swirl-y that the Verve "with all my heart" sentiment seemed to go well.  (oooh...pic is a bit dark...hope you can see it!) 

Hopefully there will be time for stamping this week.  School is out and it's forecast to be 96 here this week.  YUCK!  Thank goodness stamping is an indoor activity...where there is air conditioning!  Which reminds me, I need to make my Christmas cards for the Christmas Cards All Year 'Round.  Always a good time to make snowman cards when they may actually melt!

A card for Team Edward...

...and the Pixie Dust Studio Challenge!  Though I'm definitely a card-carrying member of Team Jacob, my buds (Anne and Mary...this one is for you!) are fans (read: obsessed) with a sparkly vampire named Edward.  Ever heard of him?  :)  The challenge at Pixie Dust is to use red, black and/or silver in their Twilight themed challenge.  There are lots of cute little vampire-ish cards there...go see!  I didn't have an Edward likeness, so I had to stick to a little vampire I had.  But I tried to make him sparkle!  (and find out my spica marker is definitely out of ink!  boo!!)  I made two versions...and I think I like the extra glitter at the bottom better - more sparkle IRL.  The sentiment is computer generated after my friend Mary's t-shirt.  I'm surrounded by vampire lovers!  HELP!! 

Thank you so much for the encouraging comments on my last post!  I loved hearing from you about your husbands' ugly shorts, too!!  My husband got his father's day card and came down from getting dressed and proudly wore the nasty plaid shorts featured on the card.  He said, "look I'm wearing them!  I'm your inspiration!"  We'll just let him think that, OK? 

Possibly the fastest card I've ever made...

Flourishes...love to see them on others' cards...never know quite how to use them on my own!  And, of course, that was Susan's challenge for us this week on One Layer Wednesday.  My first attempt failed, as no matter what I did, it was going to be more than one layer.  (I liked the finshed product, but it won't work for this challenge!) 

Anyway, simplicity "flourished" when I thought of the new Cuttlebug folder I just purchased.  So my flourishes are actually embossed, not stamped!  I think it may possibly be the fastest card I've ever made...and I am already picturing more in my head!  Happy birthday, new baby, etc.  I can't wait to see how others use this folder...do you think you can put an image in the box, or only a sentiment??  I'll have to try it out...what do you think?

The wedding one is colored with a spica pen, so it's sparkly irl!  I went with the platinum bands on that one... :)

The other card is for a father's day submission to the CAS tastic challenge.  Funny thing is, just like Mother's Day cards, I don't feel that they actually have to say "Happy Father's Day" on them.  They are very personal...which is why handmade is a great way to go.  I mean, the designers at Hallmark do a great job, but they don't know my husband OR my dad and what they may like in a card, right??? !!

I'm also using this card for the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge.  I've never played their challenge before, but as soon as I saw that pillow...it gave me the idea for my husband's card!  He has this ratty pair of plaid shorts that he LOVES.  Obviously, not my favorite.  He's lost some weight recently, and they fall off now...so he's taken to belting them...a beautiful look, I must say.  NOT! 

Anyway, I photocopied his shorts for the card!!  It may not be the most artistic card ever, but it's TOTALLY HIM and he'll totally love it and that's all that matters!

Have a great weekend...to you and all of the one-of-a-kind fathers in your life!

FTL 94 for the end of school!

Hooray!  The end of school is Friday!  This year, going back to work part time at my son's school has been interesting to say the least.  I have that same end-of-the-year-itis that the kids get!  Having taught (in my previous life before kids!) I love to give little gifts to teachers that went above and beyond for my children during the school year.  I'd love to do more, but the budget is low...so this year, I really wanted to get something useful, but thrifty. I settled on a set of 12 multi-colored dry erase markers.  Being in the building as a sub, I bet 1/2 of the rooms I go into the dry erase markers are dried up and worn out when I try to use them during a lesson.  Well, now there will be new ones for next year!  I wrapped them in kraft paper and attached a note that says "thank you for leaving a positive 'mark' on our child".  Simple, under $4 and useful.  I'm also including a card that uses the Clean and Simple challenge this week.  The samples people have entered are great!  I'll need to go back and case!!

CAS...the only way to stamp!

Well, recently...the only way I get to stamp!  Just playing along with Simplicity's OLW challenge for stamping a background onto your one layer card.  I had this idea in my head as soon as I saw Susan's challenge, selfishly because I had just ordered a new stamp set (ippity's fishy philosophy) and wanted to use that fish!  There are two takes on this one...the first is a little dark...and actually a lot of work for a one layer card!  The second I like better!  

The other is for the CAS-tastic Challenge this week which is to use buttons on your CAS design.  One thing I've learned through a few challenges...I'm NOT a button girl.  I'm thinking of listing quite a few sets of stamps for sale -- just housekeeping -- and I'm thinking all buttons need to go, too!  I love seeing them on other's creations, which explains why they are in my crafty stash...but I never seem to get them to work just the way I see them in my head!  (well, its' either the buttons, or my head -- so I'll stick with the buttons!)  (the small dots are raindrops!  oops...it's sprinkling!)

Baseball championships are this week and school will be over on Friday...maybe THEN I can reclaim some stamping time?  (a girl can dream, right?!!)  Here's the thank you notes I made for the Coaches of my sons' teams.  Not even time to stamp them, either!  I just printed out the sentiment in a cute baseball font...and made the "seams" on the baseballs red with a marker.  Of course, there's always time to BLING...so I added stickles to them - hard to see on this cloudy day.  (I know...very manly!)  I'm sure the MEN that coached won't care...but I DO...and that's all that matters!

CAS again!

Hi!  Yes, the school year is winding down (which actually means more work for those of us that work at school!) and baseball season is in playoffs...which I'm late for as I type!  Luckily, my son Sam is not one to want to be late so my husband already has him up there at the field.  Long enough for me to put together a CAS card for the CAStastic challenge.  Since I only had 10 minutes...you know it had to be quick!  The challenge was to make a card all about the sentiment.  We had been making jokes about coffee at work this morning...and I thought of this idea. I didn't have a stamp for either the image or the sentiment...so I used clip art!  I used an Amuse set for the steam, though - so there is some stamping!

Baseball update:  for those who are sports parents...my husband just called to tell me my son was pitching.  He was kind enough to give me the play by play over the phone so I join in the excitement!  4 up, 3 down, inning over.  Yay!  This is out of the ordinary for my son, he's usually the catcher. Darn, reminds me...need to make thank you cards for baseball coaches!!  One thing at a time.

I also wanted to play along with Susan's OLW challenge.  This time was to try "repeating" an image.  I loved so many of the samples!  What a fun idea.  I had this image in my head for a while and I think it worked very nicely as a CAS one layer card.  The image is from CTMH (thanks, Anne!) and is embossed on the cardfront. 

It was from an image I had seen on Nichole Heady's blog (PTI).  I loved their idea to sponge white around a dandilion head.  I had to try.  I thought it looked soothing, so used it for two sympathy cards I had to have this week. (Also CTMH)

Thank goodness for CAS - now off to finish the dishes and head up to baseball!