Pursuit of Happiness

Happy Friday! Or should I say, Happy 1st Day of Summer Vacation! :) It was a lovely last day of school yesterday with awards ceremonies, etc, and I think it was the first year that I wasn't the last teacher done packing/loading/cleaning! I managed to hold back tears all day (also a first, but I ducked out quickly without hugging and saying goodbye to teachers, call me chicken!) until the drive home when I called DH and he asked, "Did you cry?" I don't know why it's always so emotional letting the year go, but it is.




Speaking of teaching and doing good, hehe!, I found a card I hadn't shared yet that I made several weeks ago. I used the new Oval Accent Bigz Clear die (which is available from the new catalog today!) on the sweet Twitterpated fabric. I'm so glad that fabric carried over to the new catalog since I've only used a little bit of it! I love the yummy new wooden buttons too!




My first day of vacation has been very productive: worked out, did some shopping at the Great American Scrapbook Convention with a friend, picked up three new books at the library, and did some stamping. And it's only 6:30 pm! hehe! DH and I may watch a movie on demand tonight, or the last episode of the Sherlock Holmes series from Masterpiece Theater  on the DVR. Have you seen those? They are like a modern take on Sherlock Holmes and very good!




Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!




Recipe
Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness.
Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Lucky Limeade, Confetti White.
Ink: Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse.
Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Accent Bigz Clear die, Labels Collections Framelits, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Naturals Designer Button, Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, Linen Thread.

Tuesday Two Fer!: Happy Father's Day

 Happy Tuesday! Two more days of school and a card made with these 2 challenges:

This is how I spent part of my holiday on Monday, the best part actually! hee! hee! I played along with the Retro Sketches #13 and the beautiful and patriotic inspirational photo challenge from The Play Date Cafe Challenge #133! I'm usually not organized enough to combine two challenges, so patting myself on the back here, ha!




This one's a little "busier" than some of my cards, but I pulled out  my scrap basket and went to town! I'll try to list the ingredients below, but it may be hit or miss on some. The one thing I love the most is how the Gina K Casual Fridays paper "aged" when I ran it through the Big Shot with the Cuttlebug Herringbone embossing folder. What yummy, aged texture! Hmmm, kind of like me! hee! hee!




Hope you're having a great Tuesday! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!




Recipe
Stamps: Stampin' Up! Teeny Tiny Wishes 
Ink: Stampin' Up! Basic Black marker.
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake, bowling paper from some paper pad, red polka dot Daisy D (fairly sure), herringbone can't remember but it's nice and heavy!, and Gina K Casual Friday paper stack (blue denim).
Accessories: Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Bitty Banners Framelits & Apothecary Accents Framelits (available June 1), Cuttlebug Herringbone embossing folder, Jenni Bowlin "play" sticker (adhered to chipboard), Cosmo Cricket letter stickers, misc button, Stampin' Up! linen thread, Corner Rounder, recycled ribbon from a gift (Thanks, Lor!).

CAS-ual Fridays #54: Man, It's Casual Friday!

 

Man, it's Casual Friday! Yes, that's this week's theme at CAS-ual Fridays is to show us your clean and simple masculine cards using patterned paper!

Our fabulous sponsor, Gina K, sent us her wonderful Casual Friday paper pack (dontcha love that name?!) so it was super easy whipping this masculine card up! I stamped the Tim Holtz image in Versamark on different pieces of patterned paper, heat embossed it with clear embossing powder, cut out the pieces, then last step, paper-pieced them back together. Easy peasy! 

If you haven't already, head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to play along and check out the awesome inspiration from the other Girl Fridays, and don't forget to check the CAS-ual Fridays Facebook page daily for even more ideas!

Can't wait to see what you come up with! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Catalog Case: Happy Birthday

Happy Sunday! Can anyone feel summer vacation coming on?! It's so close, I can taste it!

Here's a card I made the last Sunday on my retreat, using one of my favorite, old-standby methods...copy a card from the Stampin' Up! catalog! I flipped through the new catalog (I know I say it every year, but it really is the best one ever, great samples and new products!) until I found a card I liked, then I recreated it using different stamps and paper. My card is copied from page 125, a card using the Established Elegance stamp set, which also happens to use a typewriter, just an old-fashioned one. Please overlook the bent corner and dirt specks on the bottom that occurred during the photo shoot when a gust of wind picked the card up and tossed it across the deck, grrrr. 

Leave a comment if you want to try a catalog case too, maybe I can figure out how to get one of those linky things so you can link up here! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe

Stamps: You're My Type, Tiny Tags, You're A Gem

Cardstock: Pool Party, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Comfort Cafe DSP. 

Ink: Real Red, Early Espresso.

Accessories: Lucky Limeade  Baker's Twine & Ruffled Ribbon, Jewelry Tag Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals.

PPA 135: hi!

Happy almost Friday and 3-day weekend!

I whipped this little card up last weekend at my retreat for the PPA 135 Sketch challenge. Such a fun, easy sketch, you should play along too! I used some very old Sassafrass Lass. Are they still in business? I don't think I've seen anything of theirs for awhile, hmmmm. My friend Lori gave me that  yummmmmy ribbon, and it came on the most incredible old spool. How lucky am I?! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake and Newsprint DSP; October Afternoon striped paper.

Accessories: Thickers letters, Sassafrass Lass die cut sticker, green ribbon from Sundance catalog.

Embellish Bicycle Color Trends Challenge

Howdy! 

I loved this picture from Embellish Bicycle Color Trends so decided to play along while I was at my scrapbook retreat last weekend. I would never have put those colors together on my own, but I love them, so it was a great challenge for me! Might even have to play with them again!

Hope you are having a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe

Stamps: Pedaling Past

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie, Newsprint DSP.

Ink: Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Summer Starfruit.

Accessories: Pumpkin Pie jumbo button, The Twinery Orchid twine.

CAS-ual Fridays: Get Punchy!

Hello everybody! It's time to share my sample for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC53 Challenge: Get Punchy! Show us your clean and simple cards using punches or dies! The Girl Fridays were lucky enough to get stamps or patterned paper to play with, so I made my card using yummy paper and a Big Shot with some lovely dies! 

Hurry over to the CAS-ual Fridays and upload your punchy project so you'll have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Lawn Fawn! You'll find some beautiful inspiration there from the Girl Fridays, as well as on the Facebook page, updated daily!

I can't wait to see your punchy creations! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Lawn Fawn patterned papers.

Accessories: Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies & Black Button, Lawn Fawn gold twine, October Afternoon Sticker Letters.

Freshly Made Sketches #35: Happy Birthday to you!

Hello, everybody! Hope you've had a great weekend! I returned earlier this afternoon from a weekend scrapbooking retreat and oh boy, what a great time that was! Love hanging out with my girlfriends so much! I'm lucky they put up with me, trust me on this! :)

This is the first card I made Friday afternoon when we arrived at the retreat, so thought I would share it first! I have several friends with birthdays this month, so this card should come in handy! I used the Freshly Made Sketches #35. I got my main panel a little long, but I just couldn't bear to cut off part of those awesome pennants!

I better go start getting ready for school tomorrow. Just 8 more days, surely I can manage that, right?! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe

Stamps: Under the Big Top

Cardstock: So Saffron, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Big Top Birthday DSP.

Ink: Staz-On Black, Real Red, Going Grey markers.

Accessories: Aquapainter, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Big Shot, Oval Die, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Dimensionals.

Clean and Simple FTL190: dad

Hello everybody! Happy Thursday!


Quick share using the Clean and Simple FTL#190 and some new Stampin' Up! goodies! I whipped this up in record time, normally rare for me, but always easier when I use one of the Clean and Simple sketches. They are always so easy to work with and easy to visualize. The only thing, does it seem weird having the little boy image with "dad"? Think retro, when dad was a little boy maybe. hehe!


Well, I should probably be getting ready for my scrapbooking retreat since I leave tomorrow. Like maybe packing, doing some laundry, making some cookies that I said I *might* bring, etc. And there's those pesky lesson plans that are due tomorrow morning. Looks like the next stop is the kitchen for a coffee, then I'll be moving! :) 


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!




Recipe
All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Family Reunion, Priority Mail (sneak peek).
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Comfort Cafe DSP.
Accessories: Vintage Brads, Circle Punches, Dimensionals.

CAS-ual Fridays CFC52: Feathered Friends

Hiya peeps! Time to share my sample for the CAS-ual Fridays CFC52 challenge: Feathered Friends! Show us your clean and simple cards using birds! I know y'all have tons of bird stamps or bird chippies, so let's see them! You might be the lucky winner of a $20 gift voucher from this week's sponsor: Annabelle Stamps!

Hurry on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to check out the awesome samples from the Girl Fridays, plus lots of beautiful samples already submitted! Don't forget to check out our Facebook page too for inspiration from the Facebook Girl Fridays:

I can't wait to see your feathery creations! 

p.s. In case you're wondering how I created that "hexagon" background...

I'm sure you know that hexagons are all the rage right now and I don't have a one, stamp or die cut either, boo! So I googled "hexagon templates" and came across this link where you can specify the size and print your own! Yippee! If dh would get my color printer hooked up (oh, we only got it back in December! hehe!) I could print them in more colors. Go play with them and let me know so I can come see the awesome stuff you did! :)