outta the bag

Well...... I am getting this card submitted with just a day left. Between school and a girls weekend in the Pocono Mountains, I didn't get this card made till today. 

The theme at Inky Paws is "birthday". That is so broad it can almost be intimadating!! 😀 

  I decided to at least stick to the photo colors to guide me. I used an oldie but goodie, "Newton's Birthday Bash".  The stars were from "Cosmic Newton".

I went with a pretty CAS design, but the colors make me happy! 

Gotta go, I have one last paper to write for this class and then I have 3 weeks off. Oh, the cards I will make then!! Soooo... head on over to Inky Paws, you have today and tomorrow left to play along with this fun birthday challenge.

What?!!!???

Happy Easter everyone! Since I am not hosting Easter and I am caught up on school work, I decided to join in the fun at a few challenges with this extremely CAS and graphic card. And what the heck is going on?!!? Not one stamp inked in the making of this card!!!! Holy cow!!! This is way out of my comfort zone. I wanted to add an embellishment or a stamped image, but I resisted (and it was so hard!!). This is a card worthy of the queen of graphic cards- Ardyth at MASKerade. 

I was inspired by these three challenges.

Addicted to Stamps and More. They are having a photo challenge .

 

 My old teamies at Just Us Girls are hosting a CAS challenge.

 Lastly, Shopping Our Stash is asking you not to use any ink.

Check out the challenges and join in the fun- just after youput down those jelly beans and  wipe that chocolate off your face!!

Easter Chicks

If you read yesterday's post, you know I was off to create my fun Easter card for all my fav peeps. As usual I purchased a few new Easter stamps for my cards this year, but again as usual I end up using a stamp that is afew years old! This Rubbernecker stamp is at least 4 years old and has never been used until this year! I suppose the stamp I bought this year will be used in a few years!!! LOL!!! Do any of you do that? I heard Sandy Allnock say she did the same thing. Is it something pecular to us stampers?

I thought it would be fun to see the chicks hatching from the eggs with the same color as the eggs. The saying is from a new Newton's Nook set and it was perfect for this card. I love it when cards  come together this easy.

I am entering this in two challenges. Shopping our Stash"s theme is "Here comes Peter Rabbit". All things Easter. Clean and Simple on Friday are asking for Easter cards.

Sadly,  no more time to play, I have a presentation for school to practice and a paper to start on.

I wish all of you a blessed Palm Sunday and rejoiceful Easter.

Risen

I think it is important to understand the true meaning of Easter and I have a few friends who get that also. I always send a religous card to them. Like most CAS cards this took a few hours to come together. I tried making the images in pastel colors but it just didn't look right. I finally though wait this card has to be in shades of purple. One ahha moment later and this wonderful card came together.

I used Simon Say Stamp's "Rejoice" stamp set, which it appears has been retired. What a shame because it is a lovely Easter set.

I am entering this in two challenges. Shopping our Stash"s theme is "Here comes Peter Rabbit". All things Easter. Clean and Simple on Friday are asking for Easter cards.

Head on over to both these challenges and join the fun. I am off to work on a more secular card for the kids and friends. If time permits I will post them tomorrow.

Eggstra Special

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Hey everyone!! I decided to try one of those artsy photos worthy of Debbie Hughes. It isn't quite worthy of her, but it is aleast a bit more interesting than my usual photos.

Today's card was inspired by the color challenge at Inky Paws. You were challenged to use light blue, yellow, and green. That wasn't to hard. Such lovely springy colors. And spring is something we desperately need here in Pennsylvania, after going through our 4th Noreaster in 3 weeks. 

Rita's Water Ice always gives out free water ice on the first day of spring. Something to look forward too, but there is something crazy about free water ice on a snowy first day of spring.

 

 So no water ice yet for me! Still to cold.

Back to the Inky Paws challenge. Since Easter is around the corner and I have to make a card for George, I went with a Easter theme for the challenge. I love the soft springy colors. This card makes my heart happy. I used the Newton's Easter Basket stamp set. 

Be sure to head over to Inky Paws and check ot what everyone is creating for this happy and springy color challenge. 

Happy Easter everyone!!

 

Lucky to know you!

I am finally getting round to the sketch challenge at Inky Paws. This card has taken me several days to make. Work has been crazy for me. I normally work four 10 hour days, but this week I was in at 5am and home around 6 for five days. If you are in healthcare you know about the push for electronic medical records. My health care system started EPIC our new EMR this week. So I was busy while my staff and I got used to it.

I normally sit down and figure out a card in one sitting, but this card was worked on for a few found minutes each day; usually when I was waiting for my bath to fill. I finally finished it yesterday.

I was very literal with the sketch this time. I was too whipped to be very creative. I went with a St. Patty's theme. This card will go to George the DH since he is half Irish. Usually my kitty is colored like my Pinkie girl, but I wanted the contrast of the orange and green and heck aren't orange and green, St. Patty colors?

I used a bunch of NN stuff for this card. I used Newton's Pot of Gold stamp set. There are not many good St. Patty stamps out there and this one is a winner!! The tag is from the fancy edges tag die set and my banners are from the frame and flag die sets. Lastly, I filled Newton's pot of gold with "real gold".

I decided to enter this card in a new challenge site I just discovered. Stamp, ink, paper. They are having a challenge with four-leggedd friends" as the theme. Newton certainly applies here.

Working on this card each day relaxed me during this very stressful week. Head on over to Inky Paws and Stamp, ink, paper and see what everyone is doing for the challenges. There are some very creative cards there. Let the DTs inspire you to join in the fun!!

Yellow splendor

Gosh!! I am having the best weekend!! I just finished a HUGE project for school and decided I am taking this weekend off until the next big project is due. I watched videos, read blogs, perused Pinterest and caught up on the latest trends. The coolest thing I saw was the new wreath building kit from Gina K. It is so popular, it is sold out everywhere. I watched a few videos but Jennifer Maguire had the best video on the versatility of this product. I watched it a few times and I thought I think I can make the wreath builder stencil myself. 

I pulled out some acetate and created my own stencil. I am sure it is not perfect like the one I am waited listed for, but it worked for me!! 

 I made three sizes, 4X4, 3 3/4X3 3/4 and an added size of 3 1/2X3 /1/2. 

My card today was inspired by the monochromatic challenge at Less is More. I used my homemade wreath builder stencil and an old Avery Elle stamp set- "blossoms and blooms". 

I chose yellow for my color because I am so in the need of sunshine and springtime. I CASED Jennifer Maguire with the layout. This card made smile! 

Head over to Less is More and check out what everyone did. There are some very cool cards.

Got to get back to making more wreaths!! It is addicting!!