PALS PAPER ARTS

This week's challenge at PPA is a sketch challenge by Margaret Moody.  I don't usually make square cards, and I could have made my standard 5.5" x 4.25" card, but I decided to make a 4.5" easel card.

I made an anniversary card for some friends who have been married for 37 years this Wednesday...that's a long time.  I thought that this sketch would make a great anniversary card.  What do you think?

Here it is standing up:

I hope you can tell where the card starts and the background ends.  I used Stampin' Up paper; Whisper white and Summer Sun c.s.and Night and Day dsp (I used 3 different patterns).  I used Summer Sun ink to color the pattern for the butterflies...cut with my Big Shot.

CSCC #80

I haven't done a challenge or posted on my blog since April.  May is almost over ...what have I been doing?

The ladies at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge have been moving along, though.  They're up to challenge #80, and they have chosen "Becoming Jane" for this week.  Such a beautiful movie.

We were required to use flowers and pearls.  My inspiration from the movie was Jane's sister Clarissa.  For a party she wore a pretty pink dress with a ruffled neckline, and her pearl necklace.  She was engaged to a man that she loved very much, but he went to sea and never came back.

The sentiment is also appropriate for Jane who fell in love with a man who could not marry her and keep helping to support his family.

GUEST DESIGNING

This week's challenge is to make an easel card.  I've never done that before, but it was easy following the tutorial here - http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/easelcard/
I had gone to Michael's to find a die to cut an oval for last week's challenge.  I found it and the die to cut this cute snowman...I'll be making cards with him for years.
To be sure that the card front stands up, you neees to add an extra layer or an embellishment to the inside of the card.  I made a snowdrift of gathered white ribbon.

CSAYL #48

The challenge for this week is a sketch.  Mine is made rectangular instead of  square, so the proportions are a little different  Everything I used to make it is Stampin' Up, and for a change nothing is retired.  The stamps are Teeny Tiny Wishes and Season of Simple Grace.  The colors are Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue and White (bad lighting makes it look like vanilla)

In case you haven't noticed, I have a new badge on the side of my blog.  I won the Gift Set Challenge #2 and I will be the Guest Designer for challenge #49...I'm so excited!

OKLAHOMA!

Do I dare tell you that I saw Oklahoma in the theater in the 50's...it wasn't first run, but it wasn't that old either.  It's been a long time since I've seen it in any form, but I've been singing the music from it since saturday.

After learning about the Dust Bowl in history classes, I spent a lot of my life thinking that Oklahoma was pretty barren, but I've since learned that I was wrong.  I haven't been there, but I've been told that it's beautiful.  Although the movie was filmed in Arizona,  I'm using the film's landscape as my inspiration.  The blue sky, distant hills and trees are from the movie, the sunflowers are from my imagination.  I didn't see any in the parts of the movie that I looked at this week, but I'm sure there must be some in Oklahoma, somewhere.

The trees look barren, but I used my water color crayons and aqua painters to fill them with leaves...they just don't show up in the photo.  The gingham bow looks like it belongs in one of the girls' hair.

I can't wait until Carousel shows up on Cinema Saturday.  It's another great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical starring Shirley Jones and Gordon McRae (that I also saw in the theater in the 50's).

DIE-CUT CHRISTMAS CARDS

This challenge turned out to be a lot of fun.  I knew that I had some scrapbooking kits from Stampin' Up that included adhesive die-cuts.  I was surpprised to find that I had parts of 3 Christmas Simply Scrappin' kits.  I could make lots and lots of cards with them.  For now, I just made this one, but you may see more in the future.

The circular design and sentiment are 2 die-cuts, and the designs across the bottom are 2 more.

LITTLE MONKEYS

My youngest grandchild will be having her 1st Birthday soon.  She's so cute and girly to look at, but she moves at an amazing pace and pulls herself up on any vertical surface there is.  I can't imagine where she'll get to when she starts walking.

The Birthday card I made for her is a combination of girly and crazy little animal.

This week's PPA challenge is a sketch challenge that is really a perfect guide for this card.  The little monkey is just like all my grandkids...all over the place!

PURPLE AND GOLD

This week CSAYL (#46) has a color challenge - purple, gold, white and ivory.  I love purple and gold, they're UW/Husky colors, where I went to school, but I've always had trouble putting white and ivory together.  The white always seems to make ivory look kind of dirty, but I didn't have too much trouble making this Christmas card:

The snowflakes and pearls (Can you see them?  They're on the band) are white, and the band is ivory.

FLOWERS

It's the last minute to add my entry for the CSCC #73.  I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to make, but I tend to postpone things, so I just got around to it.

What do you think of my colors?  It's not as subtle as my original plan, but it just happened.  I like it but I'm not sure that it suits the movie. 

I CASE'd the design...I first saw it on Maureen Plut's blog (http://buttonsandbling.blogspot.com/)  and she said that she had CASE'd it from Dawn McVey.  It's been a while, and this is not the first time I've used it; it really is versatile, changing the color and type of flower etc.
I hope you like it.

MAKING BOXES

Well, maybe I don't LOVE making boxes, but I'm not afraid of it anymore.  This week at Christmas Stamping All Year Long the challenge was to make a box with a snowflake theme.  I'm really not too keen on making 3-D items, but there was a very good tutorial by Maria Bell that I followed, and I think that it turned out fine.

Now I just need a good tutorial for taking pictures.

SPRING

Pals Paper Arts have a color challenge this week.

Last Wednesday I had an Easter Card class, and I used these colors and variations for all three of our cards.  after the class I made cards with the extra materials and put them in the mail.  Then I checked PPA's challenge and saw that if I had taken any pictures I wouldn't even have to make a project.  A lesson learned.

Well that's okay I need to make a card for a niece's Birthday anyway.

I used my Big Shot to cut the daisy and butterflies, the ribbon I tied became the stem and leaves, and an ivory button is the flower center.  This was pretty easy to make..the color combination is very easy to work with.

EMBOSSING - CHRISTMAS STAMPIN' ALL YEAR LONG #45

The requirement for CSAYL #45 is embossing.  I love embossing; it adds texture to paper.

Here is my card with dry embossing using texture plates in a Big Shot, and heat embossing with silver powder.

In real life, the green paper shows through the silver embossing much better than in this photo.

Thanks for checking out my Christmas card.

JULIE AND JULIA

That's the movie for CSCC this week.  I haven't seeen the movie yet, but I read the book and loved it.  I will see the movie soon.
I filled my card with food...kind of like Julie's life for one year.  Almost every day she made a new dish and blogged about it.

I really felt guilty that she worked full time, shopped, cooked something new and blogged about it often enough to get through all the recipes in Julia Child's first cookbook in one year.  I'm retired and my time is my own, but I have a hard time blogging more than once a week.

To make my card I used, Stampin' Up's "Voila" and "Voila To Go" stamp sets.

Have a nice dinner tonight...Bon Appetit!

CSAYL #44

I'm trying to catch up on my blogging.
I've made cards for 3 challenges this week, but this is just my 2nd post...I'm going to really have to get to work.

This post is for Christmas Stamping All Year Long's Pottery Barn inspiration challenge.  We are to make a Christmas card inspired by this picture:

and it's supposed to have a bird in it.

Here 's my card...

I used Stampin Up's colors More Mustard, Old Olive, and Real Red.  I stamped the little bird on red designer paper and pieced it onto the white paper .  I punched a couple of small flowers that I also added.  The sentiment stamped in red is from Waltzing Mouse's "Seasons of Love".
This could be used with a different sentiment for any other occasion.  I think I'll CASE myself!

CSCC #71

This week's movie is "13 Going on 30".  I've never seen it and I didn't have time to watch it this week, but did I look at the pictures that were linked.  I really like this picture:

The shoes reminded of something my mother used to tell us...that red shoes are a real luxury because they usually go with one or two things in a wardrobe; neutal colored shoes go with everything.

For my card, I used Stampin' Up's Creamy Caramel and Night of Navy as my neutrals and Real Red.  I cut triangles for my geometric shape.

CHRISTMAS STAMPIN'...CSAYL #42

This week's challenge is to make a pink Christmas card.  I really didn't know if I could.  I went over the designer's cards for inspiration and thought that Jeanne Streiff's card had a good color scheme...I used SU's Encore Silver, Rich Razzleberry and Regal Rose with Pretty in Pink card stock.  Then I thought about what would be the best subject for a Pink Christmas Card.  Ornaments come in all colors, so I made 3 ornaments with a pink background. 

STRIPPING

This may not be what you're thinking.  I'm talking about strip piecing in quilt making.
Last week my friend Sharon, her friend (and my new friend) Pandora, and I went to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo.  There was sooo much to see.  We all spent some money and got some really great ideas from over 500 exhibitors.

One of the exhibitors was Eleanor Burns, a star in my and Sharon's eyes.  She has been teaching quilting and publishing books of instruction for 32 years.  If you've ever heard of "Quilt in a Day" books or PBS video series, you know who I mean.  We saw that she was meeting fans and signing books, so we got in line.  I purchased her 25th anniversary book STILL STRIPPING  After 25 Years  for her to sign.
She was so nice, posing for pictures (here with Sharon), and chatting as long as each person wanted.

She made us fans all over again.

If you're interested in quilting and live in, or near western Washington, here's a website for you http://www.washingtonquiltshophop.com/Home_Page.html  In June, there is a shop hop including over 50 quilt shops.  It lasts for 5 days, and is great fun.  Check it out.

Thanks for coming by.  I expect to have 2 more postings this week about stamping.

TRISTAN AND ISOLDE --- CSCC #67

This week our movie for inspiration at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is "Tristan and Isolde".  The required element is a gatefold or trifold opening.

This movie is a romance, and a tale of warriors.  After watching it, and letting it seep down into my subconcious, I was most inspired by Lord Marke and Tristan's relationship.  Tristan was rescued and taken in by the Lord who favored him over his own nephew (his own blood).

My card is kind of a masculine card, and so I had a really hard time embellishing it.  So it's plain, but I think the sentiment is very appropriate.

The stamps for the sentiments, including the inside ("My door is always open".) are from Waltzing Mouse...the designer and owner, Claire Brennan, lives in Northern Ireland.  The "door handles" are hodgepodge hardware from Stampin' Up as is the paper - Temping Turquoise and retired dsp.

I hope you like this card and think it's a good match for the movie...which I LOVED, by the way.

CHRISTMAS STAMPIN' ALL YEAR LONG #41

When I first found the CSAYL blog, I was just starting to plan my Christmas 2009 cards.  It seemed like a great idea but, it was, as it turned out next to the last challenge of the year.  I've been waiting for it to start up again, but I only checked on Mondays (last year's weekly new challenge day) so I got going a little late.

This week's requirements are; 2 layers, 3 buttons, and glitter.  I added a strip of white cs that was stamped with a knit look stamp from Waltzing Mouse's "Faux Fun" set.  I think the sweater look goes with the "Warm Wishes" sentiment.  I pulled out an old, old Santa stamp that I just can't part with, to stamp my second layer.  I colored hims with Stampin Markers from Stampin' Up.  That's where the Santa and sentiment stamps and the buttons are from.  For the glitter, I used a glitter gel pen on Santa's beard and fur...I think you can see it if you look close.

I'm looking forward to friday's new challenge.  I'm gonna be so happy next November when I have a good supply of Christmas cards.  If this sounds like a good idea to you, go to http://www.christmasstampin.blogspot.com/, and make a new card every week.

...MAPS

CSCC 65 is Sleepless in Seattle with red hearts required.  I love it.  I was born and raised in Seattle and I love when it's in the movies...It could be a star!

Call me what you will, but I love maps.  They bring back good memories and send me into a dream world of travel and wonderful things to see and do.  When Sam takes his son, Jonah, to the map hanging on the wall, my heart skipped a beat.  I always loved those maps at school, so I used the maps in the movie to inspire the Anniverary card I made for my husband.  The map on the wall wasn't the only one in the movie;  there was a map showing the cross-country flights, the globe in Tiffany's window, and at the end, as the camera panned away from the Empire State Building it became map of the U.S.in lights.

I used words from"The Heart Does Go On", the song from last weks challenge movie, "Titanic" printed on the computer and cutout to look like directional signs.  The signs and hearts are glued to the United States portion of a World map.  It was sitting around, and my husband wanted to toss it...no way, I could use it, and I did!

There isn't any stamping on the front but I stamped inside.  It's plain inside except the words.  This is from the "Sweethearts" stamp set from Waltzing Mouse Stamps.  I used Real Red, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White cardstock from Stampin' Up.

Thanks for coming by, and remember maps make great backgrounds for projects if you don't have any more room to put them on the walls.

LITTLE VILLAGES

Sankari and Brooke have chosen another fun movie for creative inspiration. The requirement for the challenge is to add something miniature.
Wow!I just got my Good Neighbors stamps from Stampin' Up with tiny houses and trees.

My favorite thing in museums are the dioramas; full size and miniature. Every November, I set up my Dicken's Village, and leave it up into February.

Although It sounds crazy, it would be fun if these litttle people came to life once in a while. Yeah, this movie really got into my mind and imagination.

Thanks, girls, Grammie loves you.

Besides the "Good Neighbors" stamps, I used the following Stampin' Up products:

Very Vanilla and Creamy Caramel cardstock, and Welcome Neighbor designer paper

Ribbon Originals-Elementary

Basic Brown, Creamy Caramel, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, and Pumpkin Pie inks.

I also used Goody Goody Gumdrops, a retired stamp set that has very nice sentiments.

CHOCOLATE

I think this picture is very inspirational for a Valentine. It's the inspiration for Pals Paper Arts 25th challenge. I was going to try it, but I had a hard time with the layout. Then, today I checked to see what kind of a sketch Mojo Monday had...boy, I got my Mojo!

Mary Fish does beautiful things with paper, and this sketch worked well for my Valentine, and I'm sure it will work for other cards in the future.
Here is my card for the Chocolate Candy challenge. I used pink, red, vanilla, and Chocolate for my colors, with a little Iridescent Ice embossing powder heart so that the chocolate heart wouldn't look so plain.

This Valentine was made for my youngest grandaughter. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's hostess set "Goody Goody Gumdrops which unfortunately has been retired...it has some nice sentiments. I think this sentiment is perfect for grandchildren...thinking of mine always makes me smile.

Grammie loves her babies.

KNIGHTS

The movie of the week at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is: What a fun movie! It's about a young man who wants to be a knight, but is a peasant and therefore not eligible for knighthood and tournaments. He works hard to "change his stars" like his father told him. The challenge for this movie is to use a star. I took the color green, like William's banquet tunic that was sewn by Roland, as my inspiration.
Last week I made an 18th Birthday card for a nephew and came across this star stamp set. I thought that this stamp from the set would be perfect for his Graduation this spring. Then, along came this challenge! This star has alot of good advice on it, but I had to add the heart stamped with my final advice. Whatever you do it has to be what you want.
I enjoyed planning my project and putting it together, but I'm not a great (not even good) photographer. I couldn't get color and clarity to work together. I decided to go for clarity in this post.

I used Certainly Celery, Old Olive and Always Artichoke card stock and ink for my green (the colors are darker in the photo). I also used brushed silver (like armour) embossed in my Big Shot and Brushed Gold (for the prizes) cardstock and the large heart punch. I used In the Stars (ret.) and Whimsical Words stamp sets. All from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for stopping to see...I love your comments, Grammie

AUTUMN

Surprise, surprise! Here is a post that I started just before Halloween and never got published. It's amazing, because the drive that we had all of our photos saved to died, but these pics live on in blogdom.
Anyway, I love the colors and freshness of Autumn. It also feels calmer when the children of the neighborhood are at school and there are no bikes and scooters rushing past the house. Maybe a little lonelier too. Of course, there are the weekends when the grandkids want to get away from their parents, and they come to visit.

Last year, I went to my first corn maze. I was looking for something different to do with Spencer. The theme waas Narnia, and the entrance was a wardrobe. When I stepped out of the back of the wardrobe, I felt like Lucy...there was "snow"all over. It was beautiful.
That was the end of the magic; it took us 2 hours to find our way out and we missed one of the check points. We did decide to do it again this year, but we brought Grampy with us to navigate. This year the theme was "Honey, I Shrunk the Farm". Above is Spencer and me on a giant chair. Next
we have our navigator checking the map...that's why it took us only 45 minutes this year.
Norm and Spencer also tried slinging pumpkins. They got good distances, but no bulls eyes.

I hope you don't mind months old blogs. But you are patient, that's why Grammie loves YOU.

Cinema Saturday is back!

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but I'll make excuses and show what's been happening in another blogg. This blog is simply to get me back into challenges. What could be better than Cinema Saturday's challenge to bring iridesent sparkle to the gorgeous "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"? This may be, to me, the most beautiful movie of all time. I has so much important information in the story, but I would watch this movie with the sound off if the story wasn't good.

The recipe for this birthday card is:

Brushed Silver & Not Quite Navy card stock and retired Soft Sky Carousel notes;

Medallion, Party Hearty, & Wings Of(ret.) stamps;

VersaMark and Encore! silver ink;

Elementary Ribbon Originals;

Iridescent Ice and Silver embossing powder

All Supplies from Stampin' Up

love you, Grammie