The card that never ends

Whew! Where did the night go???? I came home super-crabby today for a multitude of reasons and I don't feel like I even got rolling tonight until around 8:45. I managed to get nothing done (other than the above card) and of course now it's almost 10:30 and I'm scrambling. Oh well, it's really the story of my life. Looking at the card I made tonight does make me feel an eensy bit more calm. When I looked at the color challenge colors on splitcoast today at lunchtime, I got a big smile on my face. Something in my head clicked and after a few weeks of the color challenges just not working for me, they threw out a color combination that I could sink my teeth into. There's something about that coral color that just strikes a nerve with me. I think it's because my mom and I look good in coral so it makes me feel good. I'm gonna miss that color :-(
Anyway, I started in on this card with some sort of loose vision in my head, and I kept doing more and more things to the card to get it to look 'finished.' I'm still not certain that it's really as finished as I'd like it to be, but I'm at a point in the night where it's just time to be done. A few highlights . . . I stamped the plant image twice, but the second time I used a marker just to color a few of the leaves so it doesn't look like the exact same plant stamped twice . . . I sponged the edges of both pieces of cardstock to give it a little more depth - it was looking kind of flat otherwise . . . I used the stamp-a-ma-jig all over the place on this card to try and figure out what, and where, I wanted to put stuff. No time to have to re-brayer because I put something on and then hated where or what I put on.

I'm starting to lose my desk to clutter (okay, I think right now it's actually lost), so I may have to use another reserve card tomorrow and focus on cleaning up my workspace before my SU! demo kit comes in on Thursday!!!! I'm off to pack the kids bags for splash day at preschool and gymnastics after that . . . .

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Asian Artistry, Kind & Caring Thoughts
Cardstock: Whisper white, Cameo Coral, Tempting turquoise
Ink:Cameo Coral, Tempting turquoise, ruby red, basic black
Other Stuff: Stamp-a-ma-jig, white gel pen, brayer, sponges, black marker, Pebbles Impressabilities die

Lab coat

As promised, here's my adaptation of the card I posted a few days ago, courtesy of my new upline Pam. Everything is exactly the same except I made the coat a (whisper)white lab coat instead of a sportcoat, and I put the doctor's name in place of the pocket with the handkerchief. I also cheated a little bit and used some button brads that I had in my stash from Hobby Lobby. I absolutely love this card!!!
Thanks to all my Facebook friends who stopped by and had a look at my blog - once I let my secret out about this little card site I had more hits in one day than I ever had before!!! Thanks so much to everyone who stops by, whether it's just once to check out a particular card or if you stop by regularly to see what I've created. It's nice to know that I'm doing this and there are people out there who take the time out of their day to see what I'm up to! It is much appreciated!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: none
Cardstock: Whisper white, Basic Gray, Basic Gray DSP (hostess paper pack)
Ink: Black marker
Other Stuff: Basic gray satin ribbon, button brads (Hobby lobby)

With sympathy

Today's post is not one of my most happy ones. Tonight I made sympathy cards, which is never a fun undertaking. The past week has not been good for several of my family members, so I had to take out my go-to sympathy stamp set, Thoughts & Prayers. This set is so beautiful and I love the images, but I hate to have to use it. Since I'm usually pretty sad when I have to use this set (I don't like to pre-make sympathy cards, there's something just not right about that to me), I have a formula that I use for almost every sympathy card I've ever made: stamped image on paper cut out with top note die, coordinating color under top note die, some sort of background. If I use the branch image, I try to put pearls on the flowers, if I have them. I decided to use up some of my paper that's going to be retiring soon - the soft subtles work well for this type of card. Simple, elegant, and not too much for me to have to think about.
Sorry for the bummer post tonight, I promise I'll have more exciting and happy things later in the week. My new demo kit should be arriving soon!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, Friends 24-7, Itty bitty backgrounds
Cardstock: Top card: Sage Shadow, Brocade Blue, Whisper White Bottom card:Mellow moss, So Saffron, Whisper white
Ink: Sage shadow or Mellow Moss
Other Stuff: Top note die, markers, pearls

50 already???

This is my 50th blog post!?!?!? Can you believe it? I can't believe I've actually managed to keep up with it to make it this far. Not too shabby for someone who works full time and has two active toddlers at home, if I do say so myself.
Today was day 2 of the Great American Scrapbook convention. I took 2 classes and got a few ideas from them, I guess. Hopefully someone out there will come up with something new because it doesn't seem like there's a lot of really different things out there like there used to be. I think that the ideas on splitcoast.com are better but it is nice to see things in person. We're still without air conditioning upstairs (hopefully that will get fixed Saturday!), and I still can't really go up there and play like I'm used to, so I'm pulling another card out of my 'reserves.' This is a birthday card that I made for someone at work who loves purple. Her birthday was this week but of course I forgot to give her the card, what with all my excitement of the scrapbook convention. Guess I'll have to make it a 'belated' card and give it to her next week. I think that I originally made this for a color challenge, since I have that tiny bit of yellow in there, but it's been so long that I just can't be sure.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Lovely lilac, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, So Saffron
Ink: Lovely lilac, Versamark, White craft
Other Stuff: Scallop border punch, Embossing powder, pearls, tiny rhinestones

Just playing

As I eagerly await my new SU! demo kit, I went to the Great American Scrapbook convention today in Arlington, TX. Actually, I went today, will be going tomorrow, and once again on Saturday. It's a really great venue and I think that you can get a lot of inspiration from conventions like that, even if everything is not exclusively SU! (which of course offers superior products).
One of the things that I came away with were some embossing glitters that I had to try out with some of my most favorite Stampin Up stamps. Here's one card that I just threw together using Autumn Days. It's soooo glittery and pretty in real life. Gorgeous!!! I love glitter of all kinds, but I've got to keep this post short and sweet tonight because I've got some serious cleaning up to do!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Autumn Days
Cardstock: Dusty durango, DSP, shimmery cream (source unknown)
Ink: Versamark
Other Stuff: Log cabin smooch spritz, PK Glitz embossing glitter

Big News!

Well tonight I took the plunge! After a lot of thought and months of thinking about it, I finally signed up to be a StampinUp! Demonstrator!!!! I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. I love the products and we'll just see how things go.
My card today is one of those cards that I made and then had laying around for a while. I have a pile of cards that just don't click for me and probably wouldn't have made it onto my blog if it weren't for my AC going out. I'm stuck and totally unable to do anything crafty until it's fixed. So I have to rely on some 'standby' cards and this is what I chose to share today. At least it's bright and cheery and shares my mood. But that's about all that I have good to say about it. Oh well. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't, but the blog must go on - air conditioning or not!!!
The next few days I'll be attending the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, Texas. Probably not the best timing, as I just committed myself to Stampin Up, but it's a great convention and should give me some serious new motivation. Looking soooo forward to it!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:The More the Merrier, Whimsy Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock:Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun DSP
Ink: Black Stazon, Tempting Turquoise
Other Stuff: Markers, Silver foil smooch spritz, dimensionals, rhinestones (source unknown), mat pack

Guest Designer

Tonight I am having some computer troubles: for some reason my computer is running unnaturally slow. Good thing that I have a 'Guest Designer' for the card I'm posting tonight! I got permission to post this card from my Stampin'Up demo Pam Lewis. Isn't it just the cutest thing ever? This could be a Father's Day card, or if your dad is like my dad and only wears suits to weddings and funerals, then it could be a Happy Retirement card or a Congratulations on your Promotion card, or any kind of manly card, really. I'm not going to lie to you though: this card is not for beginners. And I probably wouldn't try to mass-produce it. But once it's done it is definately eye-catching and pretty awesome. I may actually have to try this one and modify it a bit to put on a white doctor's coat and give it to our graduating fellows. Oooohhh, I'm liking that idea!!!! If I can stand to be up in my stamp room for long enough to get the supplies, I might have to try that later this week (still no AC upstairs and we're close to 100 all week)
Stay tuned for some exciting news I'll hopefully be able to share with you soon!
PS. Please leave me a comment if you'd like the directions for this card. I didn't ask Pam if I could do that so I need to check with her before posting that kind of thing out in the open.
Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Sanded
Cardstock:Chocolate chip, Real Rust, Real Rust DSP
Ink: Chocolate chip
Other Stuff: Marker, Old Olive satin ribbon, chocolate chip brads, mat pack, paper trimmer, bone folder, ruler, exacto knife