Nate is Eight (Celebrate!) and a Fail...

74 and sunny! Aaaaaah! Of course, Friday, it will be 52 and raining, but that's spring in the South. At least it isn't snowing like it has been at my parents' house in Texas (?!)

So, I've been playing with the fabric challenge at Embellish Magazine. I needed a card for my nephew's eighth birthday, and I wanted to join in on the sketch challenge at PCP and the Try a New Technique over at SCS. (Last week - make your own DP.) I made the red paper by cutting a few biohazard signs with my Cricut - the cartridge was Indie Art - and using them as masks. The image is from Mo's Digital Pencil. The number/letters are from the Cricut, too.

So, now for the fail...

I stamped this Unity (My What a Beautiful Tree) on canvas and used some Dabbers and a brush to color it in.

I really do like how it turned out. It's a little big, though, (4x4) and, for the life of me, I can't get it onto a card in a way I like. The idea was to put it with a bit of map (for the Cinema challenge) and the other colors for the fabric challenge and add "Life's an amazing journey" for the sentiment, but that's as far as the mojo goes today. Oh, well, maybe later...

Thanks for stopping by!

Optional work day? Well, there's a no-brainer!

Especially when there are challenges requiring my attention! (Or, so I tell myself...)

Verve is having a release party today! They've got some sneak peeks of their Spring releases, and challenges every hour! I played along with the CAS challenge - create a card using flowers, and came up with this:

The background is stamped using CHF backgrounder, Pinwheel, stamped with Adirondack Watermelon. I heat-embossed the flowers (a Verve stamp) on black CS using Tinsel embossing powder. The ribbon is silver grossgrain and Paper Studios pink ric-rac.

Once I get back from taking AJ to Tae-Kwon Do, I'll see what other challenges are waiting!

I also got a couple of cards done with the sketch at Mojo Monday:

This stamp is from Line of Pansies from Mo's Digital Pencil. Two bucks! No shipping! How's that for keeping it on the shoestring? The crazy green lace is something I found on sale at Ellen Hutson.

I tried to do something a little more masculine with the color challenge at SCS:

I'm not so crazy about it, but AJ likes it,

Anyway, time to get out the door! Thanks for stopping by!

Elizabeth

Workin' on That Mojo! (FWF post is just below!)

I hope your New Year's celebrations were happy (and without serious consequences :)  ) We enjoyed our evening, and before dropping AJ off on his all-nighter at TaeKwon Do, I got my card done with this week's sketch.

Yes, one of my resolutions is to get better at photographing...

Thanks for looking!

Elizabeth

"Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything." Madeline L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

Happy Stampin' New Year, FWF!

I hope everyone has a prosperous and joy-filled 2010! I've been having a blast on the WiiFit that I actually bought for ds's Christmas (He loves those snowboarding games. Good thing, too, living in the South, that's about how close he's going to get...) but have discovered that it's not nearly as painful as I'd feared. Maybe I can make that resolution stick, even once school starts back Monday.

So, what do you fix for New Year's in your part of the world? Here, pork (we're having smoked babybacks), collards, and hoppin' John (blackeyes with rice) are requirements! I've got some cornbread and sweet potato pie, too.

Anyway, here are my offerings for the week:

Did this for the SCS sketch challenge last week. The Unity stamp is "My, What a Beautiful Tree". The cardinal is from CHF.

I also had to suddenly whip together a gift bag, so I turned to my Ippity:

 

*Sigh* I hate it when Christmas is over! DS has begged for his small tree to stay up until Epiphany. I was happy to give in.

Thanks for stopping by; y'all come back!

Here's the whole hop, just in case you missed the beginning http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Elizabeth

"Oh, my ears and whiskers! How late it's getting!" Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, ch. 1

Whew! Chasin' those Sunday Deadlines!

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday. We certainly did! (She said as she attacked yet another serving of rice pudding...) I really should be working on getting word games ready for the new semester, so, of course, I'm making cards!

I knocked out a couple for two challenges:

Here's my Paper Hugs entry!

Should have used the bigger cupcake, but I like seeing the pp, too. The pinks are from Basic Grey.

And here's for Mojo Monday:

Stamp by Verve (Shoestring Alert! - Verve, Unity, Bella, and some others are having a big ol' sale through SCS!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a good week!

"Hey! Unto you a child is born!"

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Why go shopping, when you could be 'hopping? What's up, FWF?

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was happy and safe! Now... it's time (at last!) for some fa, la, la, la la! If you, like me, spent this early morning in the mosh pit that is Black Friday, there's no better way to unwind than a little crafting inspiration! If you arrived here from elsewhere, be sure to catch the whole hop through the Unity blog:  our Friends with Flair hop

So, here are my projects for the week. I got three cards done after the big meal! (Well, the fronts...)
 I try to make sure a few of my holiday cards aren't green and red- my brother is red/green colorblind!

I don't know if you can see, but I did an emboss-resist using clear embossing powser and a silver Dabber. The stamps are Ippity's Kissmas and Mistletoe; I embossed the trees with silver tinsel from Ranger. I used a Martha Stewart border punch  - doilies - for the bottom and a bit of lace from The Paper Studio. I used a Spellbinder Nestie to cut the white  CS.

Gosh, I wish I was better at getting the photos of these. Maybe one of you all, whose photographs always turn out so prettily, could do a tutorial?

Here's a quickie. I did the background paper by inking up a Cuttlebug  embossing folder with silver ink. Used another Nestie to cut the white and popped on some making memories brads.

For the Splitcoast sketch challenge:

Still using that Kissmas and Mistletoe! It's such a versatile set!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Elizabeth

"After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working."

The Wind in the Willows
Ch. 1.

Hooray! It's Friday! Welcome, FWF!

I'm sooo excited! My new Kissmas and Mistletoe found my mailbox today... First, I'll get my report cards under control, then... woo-hoo! Stamping Saturday!

Here's this week's project:

This is done with "My, What a Beautiful Tree!" I played with the cracked glass technique using Distress Ink. The blue is embossed using a Cuttlebug folder. Basic Grey paper, Bazzill CS. Sentiment is SU and the scalloped circle is cut with Spellbinders. Lace is The Paper Studio.

My favorite Ippity Dude, my fifth-grader, AJ, had been planning a kids' challenge, but it'll be next week. I've got a case of bronchitis, and we need to pick up some kid-friendly blog candy.

Have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!