Red, black and white

This is the challenge for the Stampin Bs this week. I had just watched a video at Stamp TV for using your Scor-Pal to make backgrounds and I knew it would be perfect for this challenge. The poinsettias are made using a Martha Stewart leaf punch and the 5 petal flower punch. You can see the directions here. It has been a great week for us. Robin has gotten some good test scores at school and will be coming home this weekend. My test results have come back finally. I got a 91. I was so surprised!!! So now I am Food Safety Certified in Florida and my training will begin soon for Shift Supervisor. Got to keep the daughter in the college she loves.

I have a porch

 After 2 months of having tile all over my porch while my husband worked on the  bathroom I was finally able to sit out on it and enjoy the evening. Bathroom is ready to grout and all the construction stuff is gone. I was so happy. Sat out this evening and did some more water coloring. That seems to be my choice of coloring lately. I finished 2 cards. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I also tried to make use of the Cuttlebug for some different layers. All stamps are from SU. 
                                                              

After what has felt like an eternity I should know the results of my Food Safety exam tomorrow. I really don't want to have to redo it so I had better passed. This is the first weekend I have had no college kids home. It was really quiet. But I was able to get a number of things done because I didn't have any kind of a schedule. I also found out a brand new Micheals opened in the Villages. Color me excited. I never saw them working on it so I was shocked. Tuesday while hubby and I enjoy a day together I am going to find it.

I tried a new technique

I had an absolutely lovely day yesterday. I spent the afternoon and into the evening working on some new techniques. This one is called Crimped Diamonds. I saw it over at Splitcoast Stampers. I really like the look and am in love with this first card. I think it the color that makes it. The scarecrow is water colored with markers on water color paper. The leaves are cut and embossed using a Spellbinder die. They were both sponged and spritzed with color.

The second card uses the same background.  The barn scene is water colored on water color paper as were the pumpkins The sunflower has been colored and in my stash for years. I used 2 of them and layered it, popped it up with thick glue dots. The pumpkins are also all at different levels. This card I am using for The Speedy the Cat challenge which is to use a pumpkin.

Not exactly your usual fall colors

I was able to combine 3 challenges for this card. I never would have picked the 3 colors that The Play Date Cafe  chose but they worked fine and went well with the sketch from Pals Paper Arts .

I also was able to include the challenge at the Stampin Bs which was to use piercing. The little Scarecrow is from SU and I water colored him using markers on water color paper.

Mojo Monday sketch

Here is this weeks Mojo Monday sketch.


I don't know how you go about deciding what to do with these sketches but I tend to try and use what I have on my desk or scrap box. This rose has been on a card and taken off so many times in the last 2 months it probably thought it would never find a home. Today I started with it and grabbed a few scraps and in a matter of minutes I had a great birthday card I am really happy with.


The rose is from Flourishes. It was colored with Copics. Martha Stewart punches.

A Halloween challenge

Over at Pals Paper Arts they are having a Halloween challenge. I have been wanting to use this image so I was determined to make it work. It is a napkin ironed to a piece of card stock using freezer paper. You would never know it was a napkin. The freezer paper gives it some body. The green piece behind it is an embossed leaf background stamp. I distressed a white circle for the moon behind the bat. The Happy Halloween is stamped right onto the napkin. It is from Inkadinkado. Added just a little bit of glitter for some shine.

Use Food on a card

That is what the challenge over at the Stampin Bs. I used my Strawberries from Flourishes. The background is a Polished Stone. I popped up the little blossoms and add some Spellbinders flourish details which I sponged with color.

Back to my Challenges

It has been a productive day. I have finished all of my October swaps, got the Birthday cards ready to go, Finished my Next DT project and worked on some challenges. Here is the Play Date Cafe color challenge.


I was planning on working these colors into another challenge but instead used them to make a swap card for next months SSSD yahoo groups Sketch swap.



The Rose is from Flourishes and is colored with Copics. I had everything layered and then decided to add the corner punches to the rose layer. Was not liking it at all but with the addition of the pearls helped soften the sharp edges left from the punch borders.

Let's Ink It Up Challenge #3

It's time to get out your favorite stamp and use it. But there is a twist to this challenge. You must use a charm along with that favorite stamp. No digis. There is a great prize from
Carolines Rubber stamps for the winner.

Look at these stamps. They are so cool.

You have until Oct. 8 Sydney time, that would be Oct 7th for us in the USA, to enter your card at the Let's Ink it Up Blog. So get your card made and hurry on over and enter your card. Don't forget to check out all the projects the Design Team made while you are there. Here is my card.


I don't actually have a favorite stamp. I have favorite themes and Flowers and Fall top the list. Luckily I had some leave charms on hand. I started out with a background I found in my stash that I had made awhile ago by stamping my leaf with Versa Mark and then using a cottonball rubbed Pearl X over the leaves. They have a real shine to them not visible in the picture. The strip behind the image is another technique I had in my stash. It is done with a waxpaper and Cuttlebug folder resist, brayered with the orange ink and then over stamped with another leaf stamp in black.I then used markers to color in the leaves. It adds just a little color to them. The sunflower( Rubber Stampede) is water colored with markers. The Nestabilities scalloped square behind it has been punched in each scallop and I weaved a copper colored cord in and out of all the holes spacing my 3 leaf charms which I enameled with embossing powder.

Well the testing is over for now. Waiting to hear the results and will be getting back to having some stamping fun this week. I have missed all my challenges.

Let's Ink It Up Challenge #2

Well the first challenge was a success. You can see all the entries and the winners at the Let's Ink It Up Blog. Challenge # 2 is to make a tag. The twist is that it should have a Vintage feel to it. You can see all of the Design Teams tags on the Blog also.


Our sponsor for challenge #2 is from Close to My Heart and Carol Gomes, who has generously donated a prize package of a Stamp Set valued at $22.95 and she has also thrown in the s/h, how fantastic is that.

Here's a little about our sponsor

Close to my Heart is a leading manufacturer of My Acrylix Stamps, as well as a full line of papers, inks, markers and embellishments that all coordinate together. You can view tutorials and artwork at my website CreativelyCarol.myctmh.com and if you live outside the US, you can e-mail me your orders and I will gladly get them shipping to you, as we do not sell directly outside the US and Canada at this time. I take MasterCard, Visa, Discover and PayPal. When you join my newsletter, you will receive 5 free layouts complete with cutting directions for both scrapbooking and cards. The link to my newsletter is http://creativelycarol1.blogspot.com/p/sq-page.html.

I made 2. They are different techniques but both use Distressed inks. There is also where I used one of those roses I had showed you that I made last month with a SU punch. Stamps are from I Brake for Stamps. The stencil is Heidi Swapp. I hope you join in and have some fun with us.



I won't be doing any challenges this week as usual. I will be studying for a test I will be taking to become Food Safety Certified so I can become a manager where I work. Wish me luck. I take the Pre-test this Tuesday, which I have to pass so I can take the real TEST next Tuesday. I will be back to challenging next week and need to work on the next project for Let's Ink It Up. So get busy. I can't wait to see what you make.