Creative Grace

Congrats Glenda!

Today I bring you a very happy post!  My good friend, Glenda, is celebrating her 100th blog challenge! I'm delighted to be a part of a fun blog-hop featuring cards for her 100th challenge.

Red just happens to be Glenda's favorite (excuse me, "favourite") color and for her 100th challenge she's encouraging you to make a card with something red on it.  My Mom, nieces (the "Chiquita's", ages 6 and 11), and I have a few cards to inspire you!  

Mini Chiquita's card is up first where she used red as the main color and added come fabulous red lady bugs (the perfect touch, don't you think?)  I also thought she was very clever to draw grass! (card recipe: Stamp by Stampin' Up's "Nicest Things" set, paper by A Muse, colored pencils, Memento ink, Spica pens, and EK lady bug stickers)

Big Chiquita cleverly used red as an important accent in her card.  I love her innovative layouts and use of ribbon.  Wouldn't you love this dog to deliver some love to you? (card recipe: Stamp by A Muse, paper by A Muse, Memento ink, Copics E37, E57, & YR24, Spica pens, and sheer ribbon)

I love this card that Mom did, and especially the great sentiment she paired with it! (card recipe: stamps by A Muse, paper by A Muse, Memento ink, Copic R29, YG17, YG23, W2, & W4, A Muse sheer ribbon)

*bestest ever*!!! LOL

Finally, I have my cards to share with you.  I really wanted to make the red pop in the cards, so I kept my other colors very neutral.  It's a nice subtle effect I like a lot.

I had a lot of fun with this card and was in desperate need of some gender-neutral thank you cards.  This next one, however, is my favorite of the two:

And there you have it!  Cards featuring red to celebrate Glenda and to say thanks to her for coloring our world week in and week out! (recipe for both cards: stamps by A Muse & Savvy, paper by A Muse and Hero Arts, inks by Memento and Brilliance, and twine)

You too can participate in Glenda's 100th challenge and be entered into a chance to win a special prize!  All you need to do is make a card that uses RED and visit Glenda's blog (click here) to share and submit your entry.  If you don't have your own blog and are uploading to an online gallery, use the keyword GRAC100.

As a special treat for you, several of Glenda's fabulous friends have put on their crafty hats to help inspire you for this challenge.  Just click on their names to visit their blogs for some great ideas using red!

Allison Fillo
Alison Miles
Beate Johns
Belinda Chang Langner
Carly Robertson
Cheiron Brandon
Chris Sather
Dawn Stein
Donna Hitz
Elena Shacochis
Geeta Suggs
Jenn Shurkus
Jennie Moczan
Joan Jeffery
June Gibbons
Kamila Younkman
Krystie Lee Hersch
Meghan Fahey
Michelle Clark
Michelle Mathey
Michelle Woerner
Nance Lempinen-Leedy
Sherry Czarnecki
Silke Ledlow
Teresa Kline

Playing With Gray

I'm enjoying having a teeny bit of free time lately... it's amazing what a little free time can do for me and how much more "grounded" I feel.  The best thing about it is I've had some opportunity to make cards for fun - it's been a long time since I've done that.  Of course, these pockets of free time will go away by the end of the month when the Spring semester starts up, so I'll enjoy it while I can!

I had an important thank you to send out to a friend who remembered something that I loved.  Don't you just love a friend like that?  I realized that I used gray on the project, and what a co-ink-i-dink (no idea how to spell that! LOL), it happens to match a very fun challenge, "Gray is the new black", over on Moxie Fab World.  I absolutely LOVE gray - and love using it as a neutral. 

I also used this as an opportunity to play with some shaker pouches I picked up from my Mom's LSS!  (Loving them!) Although gray isn't the main focal point here, it plays off of the gray in the whale and is used in an unconventional way as the water.  I almost always see water portrayed at blue, but those chilly overcast days and especially stormy days make the sea look gray, so I think it works here. What do you think?

 

 

 

Grateful pattern

Where has my summer gone?  WOW!  I've hardly had a chance to breathe, but I am grateful for the fabulous opportunities I've had this summer.  I've been crazy busy working teacher institutes (where I get the pleasure of being involved in helping elementary teachers augment their knowledge of science) and now I'm in the midst of a fabulous program that gives pre-service teachers the opportunity to teach hands-on science.  I'm a bit exhausted, but will start the school year (in only a few weeks! eek!) inspired :)

I was bound and determined to take a step back today and relax, since I truly haven't had a chance to this summer.  It turns out that being crafty has always been a part of my therapy arsenal!  So I challenged myself to combine two challenges in one today.  It's no secret I'm an A Muse fan, and I really wanted to participate in their Lounge Challenge this month (Challenge #19: Stick to the pattern).  The challenge was to either use an A Muse patterned paper in your card, or make your pattern with A Muse stamps - I went for the latter!  My second challenge was the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: She Sells Seashells, based on the photo below.  It's an interesting photo with A LOT going on! LOL

 

 

So I dug out some of my fabulous sea-themed A Muse stamps and produced the following:

With respect to the Moxie Fab challenge, I was most inspired by the shells and the anchor earrings (which seemed a bit traditional-nautical to me).  So I went for the shell, but picked the more nautical color scheme and edge to put the card together.  This will be a long-over-due thank you for a fabulous professor that loaned me a some materials for one of those teacher institutes.  Can you guess what he loaned me? ;)

I hope you all try and play along with these fun challenges and can find a little time for relaxing and inspiration!  

 Card Recipe:

Stamps: shell and many thanks fl A Muse.  

Paper: latte, navy, and white by A Muse

ink: Memento desert sand and versa magic night sky

Other: twine

For A Muse products click here 

Thanks for a friend

I got a little distracted this morning! Haha!

I have a huge agenda of card designs I need to work on for my  A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA classes (info here).  But, alas, I was distracted by a friend I would do ANYTHING for!  

Turns out, my friend will be a guest of a couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary at the Marconi Center in Tomales Bay, along California's northern coast (gorgeous site!!! Here's a link to the location photo gallery.  I'm so jealous).  Now, this is my friend who used to be an aide assigned to students in my classroom (and she inspired me every day - she is so amazing with special needs students and her botany knowledge is astonishing - I was so sad she moved away a year ago).  She wakes up at the break of dawn most mornings to take hikes in the habitats around her home and shares fun pictures of the wildflowers with me.  I miss her!!! 

Anyhoo... I got a message from her this morning asking if I had a thank you card she could use to give to the hosts celebrating their anniversary.  After spending some time drooling over the the place she will be going, I came up with this design:

 

Ok, seriously, I LOVE how this turned out!!!  Amazing how I can struggle with other cards for days and days and this one pops out in only a couple minutes.  

I'm so happy with it :)

 

Oh, good stuff!  Hopefully my fellow nature-loving friend will think so too!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: dill, solid bird (retired), and thank you rm by A Muse.  

Paper: woodgrain and sage green by A Muse.  Wood paper purchased at Impress 

ink: Versafine vintage sepia

Other: twine

For A Muse products click here 

Take Flight

A special card today for three challenges!  Ha ha! I'm catching up from all those months I seem to lack in free time :)  The challenges are the A Muse Lounge Challenge #17: Taking off some layers (create a one-layer card), Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge #71: Things that fly, and a challenge from my girl Glenda, Glenda's Random Amusing Challenge #70: Kissing Technique :

 

 It took a lot of restraint for me to NOT layer this sucker, LOL.  After inking the butterfly stamp (with two different colors), I then pressed A Muse's modern wood block stamp against it to get the "kissing technique" texture, then stamped on the card.  I thought it needed a little *more*, so I hand sketched the veins in the butterfly's wings with a pink Spica pen (if you haven't tried one yet, you need to get one!  They are fabulous! They have gorgeous tiny glass flakes that give a fabulous sparkle effect).  

 
Really hard to show how pretty this is in a photograph, but I did manage to pick up some of the sparkle.  

On a side note, I did just post my class schedule for this year's  A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA!  You can check it out here.  

Hope you are able to find some time to play today! :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: flutterby, modern wood block, and dreams take flight fl A Muse.  

Paper: popsicle pink by A Muse

ink: Colorbox chalk orchid pastel and blush rose

Other: pink atyou Spica pen

For A Muse products click here 

Sunshine for you

I love the end of the school year :)  I actually only have a few days off here and there between some summer jobs and other responsibilities I have, but these are wonderful days filled more sleep (I'm so much happier when I get more) and wouldn't you know it, I get all ambitious with my free time! 

First of all, I finally got my classes posted for this Summer's  A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA!  I'm so excited to be at Paper Tales in San Diego this year!.  It's a crazy fun time and I hope to be able and see some of you!  Be sure to check out my class schedule here.  

Second, I had a little time today to make a card and I decided to tackle TWO challenges in it (gasp!).  The challenges are Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:mapping color and Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge #71: Things that fly.  Here are the results:

I loved the patterns in the pillow inspiration for the Moxie Fab challenge:

 

 

I thought the pattern would be fun to replicate in a sun.  I know someone who could use a lil sunshine - so this should do the job :) 

  

These are both fun challenges, and anyone can play along!  Hope you all are enjoying the extra sunshine we are getting every day!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: sending you sunshine and song bird by A Muse.  

Paper: sage green, yellow petite gingham, orange kitchen, vintage green, and apricot by A Muse

ink: A Muse black dye ink

Other: white polka dot sheer, orange polka dot sheet, papaya polka dot sheer, lime polka dot sheer, and papaya sheer ribbon by A Muse.

For A Muse products click here 

Another *inspiring* summer idea

Summer is just around the corner and the signs are popping up everywhere. Turns out, a pod of orca's was spotted of the LA coastline this past month. Apparently this is quite the sight to see, and a bit unusual for us.  We typically get gray whales, but my whale friends tell me that seeing different types of whales is a sign of summer for us!  (And yes, I really do have whale friends.  Or should I say, friends of mine that are really really really into whales, LOL.)  So to commemorate the occasion, I thought I would make a card with A Muse's fun little orca stamp as my contribution to A Muse's summer fun inspiring ideas today!

 

I had a little fun making water splashes with my Copic Airbrush system!  Just a little effect I wanted to try :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: orca and fun in the sun by A Muse.  

Paper: lime and ocean blue by A Muse

ink: A Muse black dye ink

Copic: B02

Other: black grosgrain stitch ribbon, lime twinkle stickers, and clear twinkle stickers by A Muse

For A Muse products click here 

Day at the beach *inspiring* idea

Oh yes, a day at the beach, now that's my kind of day.  I think my favorite time though *has* to be sunset when when the wind starts to die down, the sky lights up fiery red, the air cools, and pelicans are hungrily dive-bombing into the water with the hopes of nabbing that fish.  So perfect!

Sometimes I'm lucky enough from this vantage point to see a boat sailing on by.  The boat, from my view at the shore, is a silhouette.  I colored the boat in with my black Copic to get that effect and sponged on some ink to make the sun a fiery red.  I don't have any of the great new cobalt paper by by A Muse yet (check out the A Muse blog for a peek), but I used two of my other favorite blues to finish off the scene.  

I think this would be a great day at the beach! :)

 

 

Card Recipe:

Stamps: saiboat and lost without you by A Muse.  

Paper: blueberry, navy, and papaya by A Muse

ink: A Muse black dye ink, Memento tangelo and potters clay

Copic: 110

Other: orange crush grosgrain stitch ribbon A Muse, water boundary border punch by Fiskars

For A Muse products click here 

Summer camping *inspiring* idea

Feeling that summer itch yet?  I know I am!  With only a couple weeks left in the school year, my life is absolutely crazy right now! I'm longing for lazy afternoons by a campfire, maybe actually reading a book for fun, and sipping a fun drink in my collapsable camping martini glass (oh yes, I am quite proud to have one).  

So needless to say, I don't have a lot of free time right now for the crafty goodness, which is a bummer since this week A Muse is sharing some fabulous summer inspiring ideas.  Therefore, my goal today was to make the quickest summer card I could ;)  It's funny how very fast cards can turn out pretty cool.  

Simplicity is good sometimes!

 

Be sure to check out all of the inspiration over at A Muse and on the blogs of the creative team (links to the right)!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Campfire and a warm hello by A Muse.  

Paper: classic white and petite gingham chocolate by A Muse

ink: Memento rich cocoa

Copic: y02, lemon and orange spica

Other: orange colored pencil

For A Muse products click here 

Wannabe {Creative Chick}

Today I'm acting like a {Creative Chick} and giving a shout out to a fabulous abode of crafty heaven on the East Coast: Colorful Creations in Hyannis, MA.  This weekend is their 11th Anniversary!  WooHoo!  So happy to see a local stamp and scrapbooking store keeping all of us creative chicks happy!

My good friend and fellow A Muse Instructor, Jenn, is a manager there.  She clued me in a while ago to the fun line of stamps that Colorful Creations sells (including a super cute lobsta) and I about fainted!  This ocean girl loves them!  In fact, I did another post last month with a couple of their cute stamps (click here).  

So in honor of their big day, I want to wish them a *WICKED* happy day!

 

 A super cute lobsta for a wicked happy anniversary!  

 

 

 

 

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Lobsta med by Colorful Creations.  Wicked and simply sublime (actual sentiment reads, "hope your day is simply sublime") by A Muse.  

Paper: kitchen red, sky blue, and natural white by A Muse

ink: A Muse black dye ink

Copic: r02, r05, r08

Other: A Muse sky blue grosgrain stitch ribbon and onyx pretty pearls

For A Muse products click here