{late} MoJo Monday #122

Ok, Ok, so it's a little late....but I DID have it done on time. It's just that the internet was out ALL weekend a few weeks ago and then life caught up with me and I just realized that I never got around to posting this! So here it is...my take on MoJo Monday #122 using the amazing new Love's Flower and Accent Notes from Verve...

I left off one of the panels - because I mean, come on, you just can't go covering up too much Kraft now!! Actually, I just couldn't get the other panel to look right - I really wanted to use that yummy striped paper from the Winds of Change digi kit by MandaBean and Melissa Bennett (Sweet Shoppe), but you all know I like to keep things pretty clean and I just couldn't find another pattern I was happy with. So I ditched it all together! I think it works, right? I stamped the flower image from Love's Flower several times directly onto some of the printed digi papers and then cut out the different "layers" and used Stampin' Dimensionals to layer them onto the Oval Nesties. Using a 2-way glue pen, I filled in the center of the flower with some Martha Stewart glitter. It looks WAAAAAY gaudy in the photo, but it's not really that bright and glaring in real life - it actually looks really nice. I can never seem to photograph glitter very well - it always either ends up looking like this (overly bright and reflective) or it doesn't seem to show up at all. {sigh}. Oh well. Not really a big deal since I rarely use the stuff!!

Ok, that's it from me. I'm headed to bed since tomorrow is Monday and I have a full day of injured patients to tend to tomorrow! (oh joy!).

Be sure to stop by the Verve Blog if you haven't recently - the Project Parade has started up and it's FABULOUS!! (hint- I'll be back tomorrow with my project! Even though I've been taking it easy the past several weeks, I did manage to crank out what I think is a pretty awesome project this month!!). Oh, and did I mention there will be PRIZES? :-)

Sweet Sunday #54

Wow! Sunday again already? And the last day of January!?!? CRAZY. Karen has another super awesome Sweet Sunday Sketch for you to play with this week!!

Here's my fun card with some more non-DT stamps that were needing some love. I didn't get a chance to play along with Dawn McVey's last Raspberry Suite Color Challenge before the deadline, but I LOVED the colors she used - so I decided to use that color combo on this card. And while I was at it, I went ahead and created a very Dawn-ish butterfly (which looks gigantic in the photo for some reason - it's really not THAT huge - must be the angle of the pic or something. weird). Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out...
Stamps: Damask Designs, Say It With Style, Polka Dot Basics II (PTI) Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (SU); Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart (PTI) Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa (SU); Aqua Mist (PTI) Accessories: Butterfly Sizzix die, Scallop Border punch (SU); Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); button (PTI); twine from stash

Be sure to stop by the other Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs to see what they've done with the sketch...

• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Nancy Riley
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your creation using Mr. Linky over on Karen's Blog!

Embellish Stripes Color Challenge

OK, I literally have about 2 minutes to get this posted before the deadline, so I'm gonna get right to the point!! :-)
This is for the {Embellish} Magazine Embellish with Stripes Color Challenge sponsored by Clear and Simple Stamps. I used one of my favorite CSS sentiments from the Live Life stamp set along with the polka dots from Dots and Lines on my palette of plum, lavendar, chocolate and of course, Kraft!!

Ok, that's it! I'm out!!! :-)

ETA: Those stripes were made by cutting the cardstock into small strips and gluing them onto the white CS piece. I LOVE the way this looks and it gave the stripes a lot of extra "texture".

How about that weather?

So how's the weather in your neck of the woods? It's been pretty chilly here in paradise, especially at night! I've been secretly getting up after Joel is soundly snoring and closing all the windows because I'm cold! Now, when I complain about this to my friends on the mainland I don't usually get much sympathy and in fact I'm often made fun of. People just can't believe I would actually describe some of our weather as "chilly". But I'm not alone. Don't believe me? Take a look at this graphic of our 8-day forecast for this week from our local Island Weather news report (which is always out of Honolulu, so our temps on Maui may vary by a few degrees):Notice the word "chilly" across about half the days? Seeeee? I TOLD you people it was cold!! :-)

Clear and Simple Stamps News

**This is my 2nd post today - scroll down for my Sweet Sunday Sketch card**

Did you see this???? I wanted to give you all a head's up BEFORE CHA, but thanks to no internet the past several days, that didn't happen - but I'm sure if you were lucky enough to attend CHA, you heard about it - my understanding is it was one of the coolest new releases at the show!! :-)How AWESOME is that!?!? Clear and Simple Stamps announced at CHA they are releasing the first ever Papercrafting App for the iPhone and iPod Touch! Here are a few details:

• Daily uploads of new Clear and Simple Stamps Projects
• Step-by-step project instructions
• A buying guide, where you can purchase CSS product direct from your mobile device
• and more…..

The new app will be available February 1st, so stay tuned...more information on the Clear and Simple Stamps website. (and don't worry - I'll remind you!!).

Sweet Sunday #53 (for real)

Well, I'm only about 48 hours late this time, but here it is...this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!!!

In my quest to use my had-to-have-this-set-or-I-might-die purchased stamps this year (and not let them sit for months uninked and unloved in my Stamp Cabinet), I was very proud to have inked up and used this Blooming Button Bits set from PTI within a few days of receiving it last week (which is probably some kind of record for me for non-DT stamps!!). So here's a look at my take on the sketch:

I'm pretty happy with it overall, except for those darn leaves. They just don't feel right. It definitely needed them, but I don't think I placed them well - they just seem unbalanced or something. Oh well!! But I do love the color combo, it's one of my favorites!! The photo isn't great (another last-minute, taken-at-night kind of photo and this was the best I could even after I photoshopped it to within an inch of it's life!). For example, those flowers are actually a really vibrant Pure Poppy / Real Red color IRL, not that gross orange-y color they look in the photo. {sigh}.

If you haven't already, be sure to stop by the other Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs to see what they've done with the sketch...
don't forget to stop on by to see:

• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Nancy Riley
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your creation using Mr. Linky over on Karen's Blog!

I'll be back shortly with another post....I'll be doubling up on posts for the next few days while I play catch-up after not having internet for the past 4-5 days!!! UGH. So sorry in advance for the multiple posts. I'll be prepared for your "unsubscribes"...LOL!

Sweet Sunday, etc

PSYCH!! ha ha! (FYI - "psych" is my 2nd most overused phrase retained from my childhood in the 80's, coming in just behind "rad" - a little something about me that drives my husband crazy!!). Actually, I do have a Sweet Sunday card to share with you, along with a MoJo Monday Card from last week, an Embellish Magazine Challenge card, and some news about Clear and Simple Stamps' CHA release - but our internet has been out at home all weekend, so none of my stuff made it into actual posts. I'm actually using my phone to type this up, which should cause you to be very impressed, because I don't type on my phone (even though it's one of those fancy Android phones) - I'm pretty sure the problem is it's smarter than I am! Anyway, because I just know you've all been sitting at home all weekend biting your nails, worrying about me and wondering what's happened, afraid to leave your houses in case you miss my next post (oh man! I really do crack myself up sometimes!!), I thought I'd give you an update. I do have lots to share and I'll get it all posted as soon as my friendly Oceanic Time Warner Cable Technician decides to grace me with his/her presence (hopefully Monday afternoon)!!!

2S4U VDay Card

This is my first time playing along with a 2 Sketches 4 You Challenge. I've been following the blog for quite some time, having discovered it when my good friend Sankari joined their team, but the timing has just never worked out for me to play along with one of their challenges until now. And I have to say - I absolutely LOVED this sketch!!
I think I might have mentioned it before, but I am completely in LOVE with this stringed hearts image from the Love set from Clear and Simple Stamps!!! I just can't get enough of it! I keep imagining those hearts colored in all sorts of color combinations. You all might as well just get used to seeing that image. It's here to stay on the ole blog - and not just for Valentine's Day either. So deal with it! :-)
For my creation, as usual, I went with a Kraft Like a Rockstar CS base and took my Copic colors from the colors in the Cloud 9 DP I used for the background. I stamped the image and sentiment in Momento Rich Cocoa on On the Catwalk Cream CS. I added some pom-pom trim from my stash (purchased at my local quilt shop) - and yes, I am totally addicted to pom pom trim lately!! (sorry for the poor quality photo guys - it was already dark when I finished up and took my photo and this is the best I could do after lots of editing in photoshop!!).

So how many of you are heading out to CHA this weekend? I am soooo jealous! I was really hoping to go this year, but with all of the things going on with my Dad's care and taking some time off of work to deal with that - it just isn't happening. Maybe in the summer? Someday I hope to go and finally meet some of you in person! I often feel so isolated out here on this little island with really only my BSFF Sarah to play with (and sometimes her Mom Les flies in from Oahu to stamp with us - Hi Les!) - but you all have no idea how jealous I am when I read about your big weekend stamping get togethers and crops and such!! I think one of these years they need to move CHA to Maui!!! :-)

But for those of you who ARE making the trip to Anaheim, be sure to stop by the Clear and Simple Stamps booth #659 for some fun Make and Takes and to see their AMAZING Live Release - TRUST ME - you do NOT want to miss this innovative new product - it will knock your socks off!!!!!!! And if you do stop by, be sure to tell the girls Jen says Aloha and ask them how the Caramacs were!! ;-)

Sweet Sunday Sketch #52

Whew! Sorry I'm a little late with this post. I was scrambling to finish up my card(s) and was totally distracted - I was catching up with last week's episodes of the Young and the Restless this afternoon and man, a lot of good stuff happened!! I won't spoil it for you in case you haven't watched yet, but let's just say I have a feeling all of Adam's scheming and lies are about to come back and bite him in the ass!! And how about that new guy, Tucker McCall? WTH?

Anyway, It's that time again - time for another fabulous Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!! Take a look at this week's sketch:
I absolutely LOVE this one and it's going straight into my "must-use-again-and-again" file!! In fact, I loved it so much I couldn't stop with just one card this week! I created a set of 4 fun little Valentine notecards! I rotated the sketch 90 degrees to make it a vertical layout, which worked perfectly!
I have a really bad habit of buying seasonal stamp sets and then never using them, so I'm determined NOT to do that this year!! This set is a perfect example of a set that I absolutely LOVE and just had to have, but that normally might get pushed aside with all of my DT requirements and other busy-ness until before I know it, Valentine's day is over and I completely forgot to use it!! So I'm really glad I got it inky right away! Isn't it cute!?!? I'm not really loving the red on all of the cards. I like it with the pink, but don't like it with the other colors and wish I would have chose a more neutral color like Chocolate Chip or something for that "anchor" color used on all of the cards. Oh well. I can live with it. Also, I can't remember what that large scallop punch is called? Sorry! All of the other card details are below:

Stamps: Tiny Treats: Valentine (PTI) Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Textured So Pink Pirouette, Textured Baja Breeze, Textured So Saffron, Textured Old Olive (SU); Pure Luxury White CS (Gina K) Ink: Momento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko); Copic Markers Accessories: Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Chocolate Chip Ribbon (SU); Buttons (PTI & Basic Grey); hemp twine from stash
Be sure to stop by the other Sweet Stampers' Blogs to see what they've done with this week's sketch:

• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Nancy Riley
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then head on over to Karen's Blog and use Mr. Linky to share your own creation with the sketch!

Now here's a closer look at my individual cards in case anyone cares....

Today's the Day! - Verve Release Party

That's right! It's just a few hours away, which means if you want to participate in those FABULOUS Release Week Challenges, you better get a move on!! :-) I thought I'd share a few more of the projects I made for those challenges before the festivities kick off in the Verve Forum at 9 PM Eastern tonight!
I created this card for Amber's Color Challenge, which was to use Turquoise, Black and Gray on your project. At first I wasn't really feeling it, but once I pulled out my paper and started playing I absolutely LOVE how this turned out! What do you think? I used the new Love's Flower (which you can see more of today over on the Verve Blog) along with Bountiful Backgrounds (are you tired of those polka dots yet??). I clear embossed the sentiment and colored the flower with Copic Markers and finally added a little rhinestone to the flower center "for interest" (wink wink Sarah!).

And this one is for Teresa's Sketch Challenge. Now, I have to tell you that I was mighty intimidated by all the layers on Teresa's sketch. Teresa has a way of effortlessly making about a gazillion layers look absolutely stunning and I have a way of making them look like a jumbled pile of crap! But I tried to just take a deep breath, keep it simple and look! It didn't turn out half bad! (if you can ignore the fact that you can see some dimensional adhesive peeking out of my sentiment layer...ha!). I used the new Be Mine Plain Jane on this card along with my newest favorite tool, my Apron Lace border punch, and a Heidi Swapp heart ghost shape! The blue polka-dot DP is from SEI. The rest is pretty self-explanatory I think.

I hope you'll join us tonight for the Release Party! It's going to be LOTS of fun!!

Verve Sneak Peek - Heart's Desire

Have you had a chance to check out the Sneak Peeks that have started over on the Verve Blog this week? I have a few projects to share with you today...

First is this simple little card I created with one of my favorite sentiments from the new Heart's Desire set from Verve Stamps (available after the Release Party Friday) for the Embellish Hearts Color Challenge, which was to use Red, Black and Pink on a Valentine's day project that incorporates hearts. You can read all about the challenge and see the beautiful challenge image HERE on the Embellish Magazine Blog. I kept it pretty simple with the hearts poking through in the printed digi paper from the Mia paper pack (Designer Digitals). I used a textured black CS background and added a strip of pink pom-pom fringe (love how that looks!). The "be mine" sentiment, from the new Heart's Desire set from Verve, was stamped on black CS in Versamark ink and heat embossed with detail white EP. I also used my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder to dry emboss the white cardstock for some added texture.

Next up is this set of fun little "Love Notes", very Dawn McVey-ish, which is my "official" Sneak Peek project over on the Verve Blog today - be sure to stop by and see what the other Divas are sharing with this new set, Heart's Desire, - and leave a comment over there for a chance to win some Verve loot! You can read all the details about these cute little Love Notes over on today's post on the Verve Blog.


And finally, my favorite project of the day, is this fun photo keepsake that I created for one of the Release Week Challenges going on in the Verve Forum over at Splitcoast. This project is specifically for Michelle's chipboard challenge (using chipboard base as well as an added chipboard heart embellishment). I also incorporated one of my old favorites, Bountiful Backgrounds on this project!! I just love this photo of my 3-yr-old son, Dean taken last month and had been wanting to create a special keepsake with that photo as the focal image. I love how it turned out! Here are the rest of the ingredients:
Stamps: Heart's Desire, Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve)
Paper: printed digi paper from Cloud 9 by Kristin Cronin-Barrow (Sweet Shoppe); HP Semi-Gloss photo paper
Ink: Real Red (SU); Fresh Snow (PTI)
Accessories: On Board Heart Book, Chipboard heart shape, ribbon (SU); heart ghost shape (Heidi Swapp); metal mesh (Making Memories); button (PTI); pom-pom fringe from local quilt store.

Be sure to stop by the Verve Blog each day this week for more Sneak Peeks and more chances to win Verve Goodies! And there's still lots of time to play along with all of the Release Week Challenges for even more awesome prizes, so be sure to check those out as well! And finally, join us Friday at 9 PM Eastern in the Verve Forum for our Release Party!!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #51

Wow! Have I really not posted at all yet in 2010?? So first of all, Happy New Year!! The year started off crazy busy around here with my in-laws visiting for a few weeks (they just left Friday, so things are starting to get back to normal) and lots of changes and drama going on with my Dad's care that have caused a ton of stress in all of our lives. But hopefully things are going to start looking up in that department very soon (keep your fingers crossed anyway!) as we've made some difficult decisions and have started the process to take care of some important and necessary changes regarding his long-term care. {sigh}.

Anyway...So here we are, Sunday again and it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. Take a look at this week's sketch:

All the craziness going on in my life seems to have zapped my MoJo, so I stuck with the sketch in a very literal way as you can see...

I used a fun new kit, Love Story, by Libby Weifenbach (Sweet Shoppe) for all of the papers and even those 3 hearts are digi embellishments printed, cut out with my hobby knife and popped up on dimensionals! The Happy Valentine's Day sentiment is from the SU set, Teeny Tiny Wishes. I added some Very Vanilla satin ribbon and was done! SUPER easy.

Be sure to stop by the other Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs to see what they've done with the sketch:

• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Nancy Riley
  
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
  
• Vicki Burdick

Then head on over to Karen's blog and use Mr. Linky to share your own creation with the sketch!!

Stay tuned this week - I have A LOT to share with Sneak Peeks of the new Verve stamps leading up to the Friday release and I'll be back later today to share a fun project I created for Clear and Simple Stamps this month!!