Year of Flowers Gladiolus and a Sketch Challenge

Happy Saturday. I hope those of you on the East coast are staying safe and the Hurricane will not be as bad as they have predicted. We are still hot and dry here. I am really ready to be done with the 90's.
Today I want to share a card with you that I made for the sketch challenge on the Cosmo Cricket blog. The sketch was designed by one of my favorite stampers Debbie Olson. I have admired her work since her days as member of the Technique Junkies design team. Her Copic coloring is amazing and I am continually inspired by her work so I knew I had to play along. Here is the sketch

This is what I came up with

First off I am continuing with the challenge to myself to use all of The PTI Year Of The Flower sets this year so I started by stamping August's flower the Gladiolus. This time I used the mini version though. After that I colored it with Copics. Next I stamped images from the PTI Garden Variety set on Vintage Cream Cardstock with black ink then attached the floral piece. This challenge also gave me the chance to finally use my Circa 1934 paper. All the patterned paper on this card is from that collection. The buttons on the bottom were made with the PTI button dies and Circa PP as well. This may look like just another card but it's not, under the main image I attached a seed pack and tucked in the flap so there is a hidden gift card holder too.

To finish the card off I added some machine stitching, Harvest Gold Satin Ribbon and a black button.
Thanks Debbie for a great sketch! There is also a chance to get published in Cards Magazine by participating in this challenge. I have only been published twice so I would love to be picked. I hope the rest of your weekend is a great one and I will be back soon with more to share.

August Papertrey Bloghop

Happy Thursday! It is also the 25th of the month so it is time for another Papertrey Bloghop.
This month the challenge was to use this photo for inspiration.

This is what I came up with.

The first thing that caught my eye in the photo besides the colors was the lining in the suitcase. I ended up making my own patterned paper to match using an image from the Mat Stack 2 set and the tiny dot in Little Argyle. I stamped those images on Vintage Cream Cardstock using Close To My Heart Bamboo Ink.
This is what the background looks like close up

The next thing that I noticed were the flowers and the jar. I stamped the images from the Summer Jar Fillers Set scanned them, made them smaller then printed them out. I colored the flowers with Copic Sketch Markers then added Liquid Pearls to the middles. I watercolored the jar a light blue to match the girls dress then cut out the flowers and attached them to the jar with foam tape to give them dimension. Next I added the sentiment from Little Lables that I also scanned, made smaller and printed out. The side panel was embossed with script that was inspired by the books. I made some ribbon to match the piece around the jar in the photo using vintage cream twill an the same image I used for the patterned paper but I did not like how it looked when I tried to add it to the jar so I left it off. This is what it looked like though. I finished the card off with some crochet trim and lots of machine stitching. I also used this months Sketch For You To Try for my layout.

There is still time for you to play along too. Check out Jen's blog for more details.
That's all for now I look forward to seeing what everyone else has come up with on Nicole's blog. As always thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is a great one!

Celebrations

Happy Saturday! Time seems to have gotten away from me again since it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. We are still enjoying summer here but it has finally started to cool off some that is not a bad thing though. As much as I love summer and warm weather all those 90's are starting to be a bit much for me.
Today is my sisters 40th birthday. I have been working on a gift for her all week. I finally got it done yesterday and want to share it with you. This is what I came up with.

My sister loves roses and gardening so when I saw this beautiful watering can on Geri's Blog I knew it would be the perfect gift for her.
I started by making the Patterned Paper using stamps from the Stampin Up Baby Blossoms set. I fell in love with this set when I saw Nerina use it here. Unfortunately it is retired now but I was able to find a set on Ebay. I don't use many SU stamps in my work but I love this set. After stamping the background I cut panels and sewed them on to the base of the watering can. I embossed the handles spout and front piece with tiny dots. Finally I added some Hibiscus Satin Ribbon and a tiny button to the front. I also made felt flowers using the MFT rolled rose die and added stems to them so they would fit in the watering can. She loves to collect Knick Knacks so this should be a perfect addition. To go along with the watering can I made a matching card using more of the Patterned Paper. The striped piece was made by stamping a stripe from the PTI Faux Ribbon set stamped on Spring Moss Cardstock with Simply Chartreuse Ink. The Sentiment is from the PTI Little Labels Set. Inside I added a tiny pocket and a Starbucks Gift card.
My sister is very special to me so I made sure to make this gift extra special too.
Today is also my 4 year blogging anniversary. It is hard to believe it has been 4 years since I started this blog. I was reading some of the very first posts I wrote last night and a lot has changed since then it is fun to look back though. I enjoy sharing my work and what is going on in my life here. I am very grateful for all of you that take the time to visit and the comments that you leave me really brighten my day too. That's all for now, I hope the rest of your weekend is a great one and I will be back soon with more to share.

Thanks A Melon

ETA: This card was selected as the Cup of the Week! Thanks so much Playdate Cafe. I am very honored to have received this award.

Happy Tuesday! I hope your week has started off well. Today I want to share a card I made for this weeks Playdate Cafe Challenge #93

This is what I came up with

When I saw the colors I immediately thought about watermelons. I started by using the Watermelon shaped card template from The Cutting Cafe. I cut the main piece from Stampers Select White cardstock and the layers from paper in this digi pack I also added some petite white pom pom trim from Sugar Pink Boutique, The seeds were cut out of October Afternoon Cardstock and covered with Crystal Effects. To finish it off I added some Raspberry Fizz Satin Ribbon, a black button and a Tiny tag that was stamped with the sentiment from Melissa Bickfords Fruit Fusion Melon set. I think these would make cute thank you notes for a summer party. That's all for now I will be back soon with more to share. Until then I hope the rest of your week is a great one and thanks for stopping by.

August Sketch For You To Try

Happy Saturday! It is also the first Saturday of the month so that means it is time for another Sketch For You To Try.

This month our sponsor is Kraftin'Kimmie Stamps. I didn't use their stamps on my card but you should still check them out because they have lots of cute images and their August release is coming soon.

This is the Sketch

This is what I came up with

After I saw the sketch I thought would be the perfect time to use my new PTI ice cream cone die and matching stamp set with. I started by cutting the ice cream out of Bitty Dots Patterned Cardstock then added white baby pom pom trim. The cone was cut out of Kraft cardstock then stamped with Chai ink and faux stitched with a black pen. The pattern papers are from this digi paper pack. The sentiment is from the PTI Sweet As Can Be stamp set stamped on a double banner die cut. 2 black buttons, a tiny flower with a pearl and machine stitching finishes it off. I am really loving the black and pink color combo. I hope you do too.
This month please join me in welcoming Tenia Nelson as our guest designer. Also be sure to stop by Jen's Blog and the other sisters blogs to see what they did with this sketch as well.
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carol Burrage
Jodi Collins
Megan Lock
Kerry Johnson
Susan Liles
Jen Tapler
Sony Christoph
I hope you will play along with us this month too. Be sure to link it up on Jen's blog when you are done. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. That's all for now. I hope the rest of your weekend is a great one and as always thanks for stopping by.

17 years

Happy Wednesday! 17 years ago today Rich and I got married. I know I say this every year but where does the time go? It is hard to believe that much time has gone by since then. In honor of this special day I made him this card.

Keeping with his love of birds I finally got to use my Love Birds stamp set. I started by embossing a square on the front of Stampers Select White Cardstock. After that I diecut the large cage and stamped it. Next I added the 2 birds and a heart then attached it to the card. When I was done with that I stamped the chain and the sentiment from Fillable Frames #4. To finish it off I drew a black frame where the embossed lines were and matted it on Pure Poppy and Black Cardstock. This is a very clean and simple card but that is what he likes. The colors are not his favorite but I thought they went great with the birds. Hopefully he will still like it. That's all for now I will be back Saturday with a new Sketch For You To Try. Until then I hope the rest of your week is a great on and thanks for stopping by.

Berry Sweet

Happy Monday! I can't believe it is the 1st of August already. Summer always goes by way to fast. It is still hot and dry here, 18 days of 90 degrees or higher temps but no complaints from me though. We never did get to go to Jackson State Park last week like we planned to because Rich did so many things with his brother and nephew while they were here he just wanted to stay home and relax after they left. We hope to still go when it cools off though.
Today Emilia and I started homeschooling again. This is our last year with Calvert because they only go up to 8th grade. We will only be doing school part time until after Labor day but I am glad we are getting started now because after looking over the curriculum it looks like it it is going to be even more challenging than last year. This has me a bit anxious but hopefully by easing our way into it slowly it won't be to much for us.
Today I want to share a card I made over the weekend. This is what I came up with

Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits so when I saw this template I knew I had to have it. I started by cutting the base out of Stampers Select White Cardstock. After that I cut the front piece out of some paper from My Mind's Eye Stella Rose Gertie paper pack. The leaves were cut out of patterned paper from this digi pack. I made the daisy using the smallest beautiful blooms II die then added a yellow button. I stamped the sentiment from the PTI Mini Berry Stamp Set on a tag from this cut file. Some black polka dot ribbon and machine stitching finishes it off.
Rich, Emilia and I went to Sweet Williams Market on Saturday and I got the Vintage Silver Flower Frog that I used to hold the card. I have been looking for something like this for awhile now and was thrilled to find it.
That's all for now. I hope your weeks is a great one and I will be back soon with more to share.