(Another) Mother's Day Card - SUO Challenge

I feel like I've only made Mother's Day cards for the past few weeks!  I hope you aren't getting sick of seeing them either!  I know I have posted at least 3 times - once for my etsy shop, once with the OSAT Blog Hop and just this past Sunday with the current CYCI challenge.

But I have been wanting to do the SUO Challenge.  I noticed their site had been down and thought maybe they were done, but they're back!! Woohoo!  I've been trying to enter challenges lately because they really are fun to take on!  I like to be challenged and sometimes they can really help get the stampin' mojo flowing.  

I was happy when I stumbled upon the SUO challenge site.  I really like to stick to SU stamps only (I only own about 3 Neat & Tangled stamps and I love SU for their coordinating ribbons, colors, paper, etc.   Stampin' Up! only chaalenge?  :) yes, please!

So here is the card I came up with for the challenge!  I love the flower branch from the Indescribable Gift set.  There is only another month left to get it - and I certainly recommend it!  It's been more that an Easter set to me!

I also chose to use 3 of the 5 current in-colors.  While I will certainly miss the in-colors that are done in June, I am really starting to love the 2014-2016 colors.

I added some gold shimmer to the middle of the flowers and cut the petals to really give it a 3D look.

I saved the sentiment for the inside as to not take away from the beautiful flowers on the card front.  These sentiments are retired, but a favorite.  Moms surely do shape us into who we are today.  I know my mom did. <3

I hope you enjoyed this card!  You may or may not see ONE more post about Mother's Day :)

Happy stamping!

-Holly

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

CYCI#67 A Mothers Day Edition

Good morning!  THANK YOU for your kind thoughts and welcoming words.  Last week was my first week as a design team member and I felt so welcomed!  So happy Sunday to you and thanks for stopping by :)  Sundays are my favorite day of the week because I get to go to church and relax all afternoon with my family. <3

  

The other reason is I love Sunday is because there is an all new Can You Case It? Challenge!  This week's challenge is all about mothers - moms, mums, mamas, grandmas.  You know, the lady who carried us, kissed our boo-boos, made us pb&js for breakfast, lunch and dinner because she loved us that much!  The bather, house cleaner, teacher, coach, cook…  Yep, that special lady!  

This is my third Mother's Day card that I've blogged about and it's not even May!  So I'll stop chatting about it and save it for my REAL Mother's Day post.  :)  

I hope that you can find inspiration from me or the other design team members so you can make a mother's day card too!  Will you join us this week?? I hope so!

Here is my card.  I used the (very loved) Daydream Medallions set that is on the retiring list.  The framelits are not retiring, so hopefully something that coordinates with them will be in the new catalog.  I also used a retired set (sorry) named Blooming with Love.  It's a really cute set and certainly one I will continue to hoard.  :)

I used Kraft Cardstock for the card base to match the window box.  I love these little boxes and will miss them too!  It's always so hard saying goodbye to favorite products but the new stuff is always just as good, right?! :)

I added dimension to the Lost Lagoon flower and wrapped the box with coordinating ribbon.  My mom loves this hand cream and they fit perfectly in the box!  (The lavender is amazing by the way…)

As for the tag, you may notice is looks a little longer.  The trick is to stamp the image, run the tag half way for the top, line it up with the bottom of the image and then run it through the other half.  You can see the step by step photo here.  The words are from two different stamps out of the From the Garden set.  Isn't photopolymer awesome?!  It's so easy to line them up.  Add some twine and we're done!  

So there you have it - another mother's day card to inspire.  Now it's YOUR turn!  Head on over to the Can You Case It? site and get started!

Remember to pin your favorites!  Have a great week!

-Holly

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Pals Paper Arts 249 - Birthday for a Friend

Next week is one of my sweet friend Sasha's birthday.  She was a childhood friend and bridesmaid.  She even dated my brother (haha) :)  She also just became a mom for the first time this year.  This card would work for a birthday or a Mother's Day card, but I will be sending it as a birthday.

The layout was inspired by the Pals Paper Arts challenge.  Here is the sketch!  You should play along with me :)

I've been on this watercolor kick lately.  Maybe because it's relaxing to "paint"?  

I added crystal effects on the flowers to make them pop (and shine).  

Kept the inside simple as usual.  It's hard for me to make a plain inside card anymore.  Doesn't take much to add some ink and scraps.  

Hope this inspires you to break out the water coloring tools.  

Happy birthday Sasha! And happy stamping friends!

-Holly-

You're My Anchor - A Late Anniversary Card

Last Wednesday my husband and I celebrated our 8th anniversary.  It's crazy to think that it's been that long already.  We were young kids living outside Little Rock.  We just closed on our first home and a week later we made a covenant with The Lord beneath the tree in our backyard.  My dad officiated the small ceremony and we had about 14 friends and family members present.  

Shawn left of Baghdad 2.5 weeks later.  We never had a honeymoon (still haven't - cough cough).  But it has been a wonderful 8 years.  We have lived in 4 states (AR, AK, NV & RI), spent a total of 17 months apart due to both of our deployments to the Middle East and Shawn's officer training, and we have 3 beautiful boys.  Oh, yeah, and we worked with each other for 7 years!  Crazy!!

All I can say is that through it all, Shawn has been my anchor (well, other than God).

(And Shawn - in case you are actually reading one of my posts... I love ya! Hope we have many more years of wedded bliss!)

Okay.

Enough mushy stuff.

Here's my "anchor" card for Shawn :)

I love adding lots of details and textures.  My mom made the anchor sentiment and decided not to use it on my dad's birthday card.  It was a nice surprise laying on my craft table. Thanks mom! :)

My finger is still black from the ink splatter.  

Oh the things we do for love. Haha!

Thanks for stopping by on your Saturday afternoon!

Check back tomorrow for a new Can You Case It? Challenge! 

- Holly - 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Weekly Deals Highlight - So You Photopolymer

You know what is great about having your mom as your upline?  We get to share stamp sets!! (There are other perks too, but this one is up there!) :)  My mom and dad were here to visit and my mom brought along a few stamp sets I don't own.  And I'll be honest, I was stumped with the So You Photopolymer but really liked the "Smile" stamp.  

I sat down last night and thought, why not watercolor and just keep it simple?  :)  I started by coloring the two backgrounds with just calypso coral and so saffron.  Then a little voice told me, why not add some coastal cabana? It's all ready to go in the spritzer.. Just do it.. 

Sometimes I need to not listen… I was smart to spritz the back, but not smart enough.  It bled through and I had to continue on from there.  I added the "you make me" and covered the darker purple spot.  I guess it'll grow on me!  

I added some calypso coral ribbon and a button from the sweet dreams pack.  (The buttons are also a weekly deal and they. are. adorable…)

The second care I kept simple.  I embossed the "smile" in white and frayed the edges.  Make sure your Watercolor paper is dry before you stamp your image and emboss.  You can speed up the drying process by using your heat gun.

Two similar cards yet with two different finishing touches.  I hope you like them!  Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend!

-Holly

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Lots to Celebrate! & Fab Friday Challenge <3

So sorry for the gap in postings! I have had family visiting this last week and haven't done much stamping! My mom is my stampin pal and we have only managed to stamp one night.. For about 30 minutes.

In fact, I didn't even make an anniversary card for my husband and our anniversary was yesterday!  Tomorrow is my father's birthday too, so we have had lots to celebrate!  Last night we went out to celebrate both blessings and enjoyed a nice dinner at Matunuck Oyster Bar.  Afterwards, we sang to my dad and ate cake.  I made a candle/cake topper with a matching card and my mother made an amazing carrot cake cheesecake (recipe linked below). What a great celebration!

For the card, I used the colors Soft Suede, Early Espresso and Sahara Sand (my dad's favorite color is brown). The darker DSP is from the Adventure Bound DSP stack.  It's packed full of masculine designs and colors.

Now the layout was inspired by the challenge over at the Fab Friday blog.  I kinda played around with it and moved the bow tie a few times.  I didn't necessarily need it but I wanted it to match the cake topper.

A little splash of Gorgeous Grunge is always good :) that is certainly a set I am glad is not retiring!!

The cake topper features Guy Greetings and Hooray It's Your Day - both from the Occasions Catalog.  It also features the mustache framelit and baked brown sugar bakers twine that are both on the retirement list.

It was a special day for sure and I'm so glad we could celebrate with my dad!  He even kept the cake topper :) 

Now for this awesome cake recipe - head on over here.

Looks yummy right!?  My mom is such a great baker!

So on to the goods:

Remember the retiring products are going fast!  Stamp sets will continue to be produced until late May, but accessories and all other products are while supplies last :)  If you would like to place an order to get those retiring items before they're gone, use the hostess code CE3QVYA2.

As a bonus, if your order BEFORE noon (EST) May 8th, and your order is $30 (before tax and shipping), you will be entered to win a new set from the NEW catalog (valued at $14.95 or less)!  

**Offer open to US residents only.**

Also, please be loyal to your demonstrator if you already have one!

Thanks for stopping by!!

-Holly

Can You Case It? #66 - Designer's Choice

Happy Sunday everyone! I have some exciting news this morning!  I have joined my first design team with the "Can You Case It?" blog.  I am joining the team of the amazingly talented Justin!  If you're visiting from Justin's site (here) or the CYCI site, thank you for stopping by my blog.  I hope you enjoy the card I made for you.  :) 

This week at Can You Case It?, the design is up to YOU!  You can pick the layout, the colors, the accessories, etc.  I chose to make a baby card because they seem to be in high demand here in my town.  Must be something in the water... I hope not tho :) 

I kept the colors neutral using Sahara Sand, Whisper White and So Saffron.  I added some extra detail with the embossed layer.  This alphabets folder is a favorite of mine to use on baby cards.  

The inside I kept simple.  I love to add something extra in the inside and it's a great use of scraps.

So there you have it - my rookie design team post :) Special thanks to Justin for having faith in me to be on his team!  Hope you join us this week! 

Here is your challenge - head on over and play along!

And since most of you don't know me, here's a little bit about me...

Other than a SAHM if three awesome boys and wife to my best friend Shawn, I'm a card-making enthusiast.  I've been stamping for about 15 years now.  It's a hobby that I share with my mother and my mother in law.  My mom is my upline and it's a special bond we have.  I love art and being creative.  In fact, I enjoy anything from woodworking to sewing to cookie decorating, but stamping is where I feel home the most when it comes to a hobby.  I was a demonstrator from 2010-13, but more so as a hobbyist.  While I was in the military, I didn't gave much time to make it a business.  After going inactive for over a year, I resigned with SU! in November '14 and it's been a great first 5 months.  I have a monthly club, an etsy store and consign at a local flower shop.  I haven't had to dig into my savings yet which has really helped.  Anyway, I'm super excited to be on the CYCI team and look forward to helping others find their creativity! 

Off to church - Happy Sunday!! :)

-Holly

Boys Will Be Boys & Pals Paper Arts Challenge

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I have 3 cards for you - all featuring the Boys Will Be Boys stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  As a mom of three boys, this set was a must have.  I'm certainly glad I waited a bit to get it though because it was a weekly deal a few weeks ago.  Sometimes it's worth the wait! 

 

They also have 3 different backgrounds.  The first one is a neat coloring trick.  I stamped the robot in memento ink on whisper white and colored in between all of the robots with my light daffodil delight blendabilities.  These are no longer available to order, but what good are they if I don't use them??  The other option would be to buy a copic marker and do the same.

 

 

 

For the second one, I lined up the robot and stamped it vertically right onto the Lost Lagoon card base.  This was my 4yo son's favorite of the three.

 

I think that this card could pass for the sketch, but since it's not as close to the sketch as I'm sure the design team intended, I'm going to use my third card for the challenge.

 

For the last card and my very first Pals Paper Arts challenge entry, I used a piece of Sweet Taffy DSP for my background.  I thought the little hexagons went well with the robot. 

 

Here is the sketch for the challenge.  You can find the design team's inspiration here on the Pals Paper Arts page.

 

 

 

 

I added some basic black twine angled the sentiment to go with the sketch.  I also shaded the robot with smoky slate to give it some dimension. 

 

It was a hard choice of which one to enter.  I hope all three inspire you to have a little fun today!  Happy stamping :)

 

-Holly

 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Ten Minute Tuesday - Just Add Ink Challenge

Well it's Tuesday which means two things: Monday is over (yay!) and it's Ten Minute Tuesday!  Now these cards may seem a little more involved than a ten minute card, but I have a few tips to speed things up.  I also am playing along with the talented group of stampers from Just Add Ink for their color challenge. 

You will see that I tried two different masking techniques.  This first one I stamped the two dahlias along the edges and then stamped another on a separate piece of cardstock so I could cut it out and adhere with dimensionals.  Cutting the dahlia might be the most time consuming part that of your ten minutes.

I chose the smoky slate color for my card base and ribbon.

For the next masking technique I first stamped the dahlia on a separate sheet and cut it out.  Then I stamped in the corner, covered it and stamped a dahlia on each side.  I covered them a little bit more to add my smoky slate splatter.

So there you have it!  Two cards that take less than ten minutes (each) to make!  

Here are some tips that I have for you to make your cards come together a little quicker.

1  -  Have your card bases and layers of whisper white/very vanilla precut.  This saves a ton of time! 

2  -  If you have the dahlia set (or any set you want to mask often), keep the piece you have cut out and use it over and over.  Mine was already cut, but I still cut a new one to see if I could keep things under ten minutes.

3  -  To get the two tone look - VERY IMPORTANT to stamp your lighter color first then "rock/roll" the edges of your stamp gently in the darker color.  ALSO, clean between each flower!! 

I hope you all enjoyed the technique and tips :)  Happy Stamping!

-Holly

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog