Sweet Sunday Sketch #136

Well look at that - I'm only a few hours late this week with my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample card! One of these days I'll get my act together and actually get my post done on time! Here's a look at this week's sketch:


I must have fall on the brain, because I created another fall-ish card for my sample, which is weird since we don't have fall on Maui.


I used a pretty new digi kit for just about everything on this card - that amazing tree and all of the papers are printed digi supplies from the Indian Summer kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe). I added a stamped Autumn Blessings sentiment from the Autumn Acorns stamp set (PTI) and some ribbon and called it done.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

A Verve-y SFYTT

Happy Saturday! I have a quick post today to share this card I've had sitting here on my desk for almost the entire month. For some reason, I just haven't gotten around to writing up the blog post until now! And now here we are, only about a week left to participate in the September Sketch For You to Try - so I thought it was as good a time as any to remind you guys to hurry up and participate! We have a fabulous sponsor this month in Skipping Stones Designs! All of the details are over on THIS POST on Jen's Blog. As a reminder, here's another look at this month's sketch:


You can see my original SFYTT sample using one of Skipping Stones' fabulous stamp sets HERE. I loved this month's sketch so much that I couldn't wait to use it again and decided to pull out a few of my Verve stamps and some printed digi papers to create a fun fall-ish card:


I used one of the flower stamps from Verve's Sunny Days, stamped directly onto some of the printed digi paper and then cut out with my craft knife, to create those flowers. The sentiment is from my old favorite, Bountiful Backgrounds. All of the yummy papers and the scallop circle mat is printed digi goodness from the Camporama Designer Kit by Karen Lewis (the Digichick).

That's it from me today. Hope everyone's having a fabulous weekend!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #135 - Finally!

OK, well here I am FINALLY with my sample card for Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #135. First, another look at this week's sketch:


My sample card is a special one this week. I made it for my son Dean, who hit a special milestone at school on Friday. His teacher uses a Rainbow-themed Behavior Chart in the classroom in which each student has an assigned clothespin. Students begin each day in the middle of the chart, on green (Ready to Learn). Students may be asked to move their clothespin up or down the chart during the day depending on their choices. Students who make strong choices will receive class recognition as they move up the chart to Blue. Students who continue to make strong choices move up to the purple level. Students who reach the (ultimate) Rainbow Level are rewarded for their strong choices by receiving a prize and a special certificate. Dean has made it to the blue or purple level each day this month and is always happy to tell me about the strong choices he made each day that led to him getting to move his clothespin up the chart. He also is always sure to tell me which kids got moved down to the dreaded Yellow (Warning Level - Take a seat and think about the choices they're making) or Orange Levels (Students who continue to make weak choices will move to orange, this will result in a consequence). So far according to Dean nobody has made it to Red (Parent Contact). When I picked Dean up from school Friday, Dean ran out of the building with the biggest smile on his face, as soon as he got to me, he threw his backpack off and pulled out his Behavior Chart and showed me where he had colored in the rainbow for Friday! He was SO proud of himself for making it to Rainbow and being rewarded for his strong choices on Friday!! We decided to celebrate this weekend and created a couple of Rainbow-themed crafts (Thank You Pinterest!) and I made him a card to let him know how proud we are of him for being such a good boy so far in Kindergarten and for making Strong Choices at school!


I used a couple of Verve goodies on this card. All of those little hearts were created using the From the Heart die set from A Cut Above by Verve. I added the "So proud of you" sentiment from the Uplifting Phrases set. All of the patterned papers are printed digi papers from the Dream Come True kit by Julie Billingsley (Sweet Shoppe).

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

And here are a couple of pictures of some of our fun Rainbow-themed crafts, both ideas we got from Pinterest.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge - Delayed

Hi there! If you're here looking for my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample card, it's going to be a little late this weekend! Of course I never get things done ahead of time and had planned to work on my card in front of the TV this afternoon (it's still Saturday in Hawaii) while watching my #1 Sooners beat the #5 Florida State Seminoles, but that game was just a little too exciting (translation: stressful) and I didn't get a thing done. And of course we had dinner plans immediately following the game, so my card still isn't done! And now here it is 9:30, I've had a couple glasses of wine (which is a couple glasses more than normal for me - I'm usually a cheap date! ha!) and all that hollering at the TV this afternoon wore me out. I'm going to bed. I'll make my card tomorrow morning and post it then. You guys will just have to deal. But here's a look at this week's sketch in case you want to get started without me:

Boomer Sooner!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #134

I can't believe it's already Sunday again!! You know what that means - time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Here's a look at this week's fun sketch:


We had another crazy busy week around here, so I took the easy way out again and created another no-stamping, all-hybrid card for my sample:


I have a nice little stash of Teacher Thank You cards going! YAY! All of the papers and that cute little school-house are all printed digi goodies from the new School Memories 4 Little Kiddos kit by Jady Day Studio. I recently joined the Jady Day Creative Team and am so excited to be doing hybrid work for this amazingly talented designer! I added some PTI ribbon and buttons to the card and was done! Another 10-minute card - gotta love those!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

I have a few other things I've been meaning to share with you, so if I can force myself to sit down and write up the blog posts I'll be back a couple times this week! Have a great weekend!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #133

Hi there! It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! I'm running a few hours late with my post - my brother is on island, visiting from Montana with his girlfriend and a few friends, so we've been on the go all weekend. And of course I had to take some time this afternoon to watch my #1 Sooners play some football. I had mentioned on facebook that for a minute, when they were showing pics of the stadium and the team running out on the field and you could hear the band playing Boomer Sooner, I was wishing I was back in Norman for game day. And then they said that it was 99 degrees at 7:00 pm!! And I went to the beach this morning and was complaining about being hot because it was 87 degrees! So yeah. I got over that pretty quickly.

Anyway, here's a look at this week's sketch:


Because I was running so late I created a super easy all-hybrid, no-stamping card:


Seriously, I think this card took me all of 15 minutes to make, including print time for the digi stuff! SO quick and easy! Everything on this card (except for the Kraft CS) is printed digi goodness from the Aloha kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). That's it. Told ya it was easy!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

September SFYTT

It's the first Saturday in September and that means two things - (1) College Football has officially begun in the Tapler house - BOOMER SOONER! and (2) it's time for a new Sketch For You to Try AND a new sponsor! This month's challenge is being sponsored by Skipping Stones Designs, a fabulous company with a large selection of fun stamps. I'll be honest and tell you that this was my very first Skipping Stones Designs stamp set, but it definitely won't be my last!! I was very impressed with the quality of the stamps and now have several things on my "wish list"!!


Here's a look at the September Sketch - it's a fun one that you'll definitely see me using again!


I was in need of a birthday card for one of my favorite people in the world, my good friend Sankari (who's birthday is TODAY, so go tell her Happy Birthday!), so I decided to use the sketch to create my sweet friend a pretty card to help her celebrate her day:


Totally out of my comfort zone with all that pink and floweredy paper (is floweredy a word? I'm pretty sure it's not. I think it's flowery, or maybe even just floral, but it comes out of my mouth as floweredy. weird). But I got to use one of my favorite embellishments - a glittered up chipboard butterfly! yay! And how about that stamp set? I used 4 stamps on this card, all from the Dandelion Dreams set from Skipping Stones Designs. I just love this set! The hardest thing about using it was deciding which ones to use and how to arrange all those greenery stamps! I love them. Oh, and that floweredy / flowery / floral paper and other matching patterned paper? it's printed digi paper from The Sweetest Thing kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe).


Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've been doing with the sketch this month. And BIG NEWS - we have 2 new DT members joining us today, so be sure to give a warm welcome to Becky Carafa and Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)!! And of course we also have a new Designer of the Month - Alyssa!

Jen del Muro with guest designer Alyssa from ACS Paper Creations (her blog)
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Here are all the pertinent SFYTT details you should know...
1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Verve Diva Inspirations September Blog Hop

Welcome to the September Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Our Diva Inspirations team and a few special guests from our Release team are here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below and leave a little comment love for their Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee 8. Susan 2. Betty 9. Andrea 3. Dawn 10. Sankari 4. Jen d. 11. Teresa 5. Lynda 12. Tosh 6. Shannan 13. Charmaine 7. Sony 14. Maureen

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, September 12
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve

After living on Maui for 7+ years, I have to say that Fall is truly the only time of year that I ever feel homesick for Oklahoma. And I really think that's only because of college football - nobody on Maui really cares much about college football, certainly not like they do in Oklahoma!! Here people usually only watch a game if it's televised after dark, or if the waves are too crappy to go surf, or if it's raining. Otherwise, too much to do outside to waste an entire Saturday watching TV! But that usually means nobody really pays much attention to what's going on so there's nobody to talk to about it either. I have to say that the Taplers have learned that there really IS more to life than college football in the fall! It has been a hard lesson and we're slow learners, but we're starting to figure things out. And once last year we even TiVo'd a game to attend a wedding and waited until we got home to watch the game delayed a few hours (gasp! - I mean, first of all, who in the world gets married on a Saturday during football season!? That definitely does NOT happen in Okahoma!!). Anyway, I'm rambling. And none of this has anything to do with my card other than I had fall on the brain this week. So I created a fall-themed card.

I used the September Stamp of the Month set, Autumn Splendor, (currently 30% off through the end of September!!) to stamp that fun trio of leaves. The sentiment is from Happy Fall. All of the patterned papers are from the new Off We Go digi kit by Susan Bartolini (Sweet Shoppe). I also added some fun velvety trim I picked up last year at a scrapbook store in Wichita, KS (sorry I don't know the brand or the name of the store).

One final note, during September all Autumn Themed Stamp Sets are 25% off!!