Thursday, February 27, 2014

Throwback Thursday

Hello Stampers! Hope your week is going well.  I had wanted to blog yesterday but I was exhausted as we had irrigation to do and it was a lot of work! I set my alarm for an hour earlier thinking I would get up to create in the morning, but I couldn't do it. Do you have a favorite time of the day to create? Anyhow, I'm back today with a new creation for Throwback Thursday using a retired stamp set. Today I'm using the stamp set called Spring Song. Love the images in this set.

I played along with the Dynamic Duos current challenge, perfect colors for spring.


I created a simple card, using the Spotlight Technique. Love the way this came out! I have a confession, even though this stamp set is retired, this was the first time I inked it up, I swear! I do that sometimes, I'll purchase a stamp set because I really like the images but then take forever to ink it up and create with it.

I love hummingbirds. Such beautiful creatures. They remind me of my father-in-law who has passed away. Seems we're always seeing hummingbirds around our house. I'll have to show you later my silver hummingbird pins.


Thanks for stopping by today. Until next time. 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Green...confusion

Happy Tuesday Stampers! We have a new Nacho Average color challenge for you starting today! We hope you come and check us out and get inspired to join us. We love to see how you use the color combo.


Here is how I used the colors for this week's challenge:


But I have a disclaimer, the green isn't Pear Pizzazz, it's actually Pistachio Pudding. I swore when I looked at this week's color challenge that Pistachio Pudding was the green we were to use, but that wasn't the case. Oh well, at least it's in the green color family, no?

I was inspired by the sketch from Try Stampin on Tuesday, really like the clean layout of the sketch. 




Thanks for stopping by today. Until next time. 

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Happy...Sunday Stamps Sketch!

Happy Sunday Stampers! Hope your weekend is going well. I'll be spending all day today crafting and creating with Di Gibbs and Rhonda Morgan at Spring Fling! I'm excited to spend the day creating  using items from the new Occasions and Sale-a-bration catalogs.

We have a fun new sketch for you at Sunday Stamps starting today.  Marie created this great sketch which I think is a great way to highlight your favorite designer series paper. We hope you get a chance to play along with us! Can't wait to see what you create!


Here is my take on the sketch:


I love the colors in the Kaleidoscope DSP pack. So bright and cheerful and paired with the sentiment from Yippee-Skippee! is perfect! Hard to see in my photo but the first and third panels are popped up with dimensionals. 

Thanks for stopping by today, until next time. 

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Throwback Thursday!

Good morning Stampers! Welcome to another post of Throwback Thursday where I create with a retired Stampin' Up! stamp set. No reason why the retired sets can't get some love too!

I came across a new blog challenge the other, called Around the World Stampin' Up Challenges and the Design Team members are from different parts of the world! France, United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States. Beautiful inspiration from the Design Team. This is my first chance to play along with them. They have a color challenge this week. *EDITED-I forgot that the blog wants participants to use current Stampin' Up! Sets, sorry about that. *


For my creation today I used the stamp set called Terrific Tulips.  It's a two-step stamping set and I forgot how much I love this style of stamping! I'm going to look through our current catalogs and look for the sets identified as two-stepstamping! 

With the beautiful bold colors I decided to make a simple card. The sentiment is also retired, it is called Live, Laugh, Love and the DSP is from Summer Smooches. I was going to start adding some embellishments but didn't want to take away from the tulip. I did use a little bit of Gumball Green for the stem. What do you think, should I have added some embellishments? 


I also followed the current sketch from Retro Sketches which I though would work great! It's been awhile since I played alone with the gals from Retro Sketches. 

Thanks for stopping by today my friends! Have a great day! Until next time. 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Petal Parade...

Psst...hi Stampers! Hope your day is going well! So...our internet at home is acting up again so I'm blogging from my "other job" and I feel like I have to sneak off to blog, lol.  My post will be quick today in case my boss is looking for me! :) Wouldn't that be funny! 

I have a new creation to share with you today, I came across it at the Unscripted Sketches blog, which you can check out here. This is my first time playing along with them, but I'm sure I'll be playing along again. 

Here is my take on the sketch, this is the front of the card. I combined two stamp sets for the flower, Petal Parade and Best of Sale-a-Bration. Really like how the center came out. 


I also decorated the inside of my card, following the sketch. I didn't include a sentiment because I wasn't sure what to include, so I figure, don't have to include it now.  When I'm ready to give this card away I can decide then what sentiment to include. What about you, do you ever create cards with no sentiments?


Another take my card, showing both the front and inside of my card.


Thanks for stopping by today! Until next time! :) 


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Nacho Hello!

Happy Tuesday Stampers! If you had the day off yesterday for President's Day, hope you enjoyed the day off!

We, the Nachos have a fun new sketch for you this week. We can't wait to see what you create!  If you haven't had a chance to play along with us yet, I invite you to join us. Come check us out here, lots of inspiration from my fellow Nacho Designers.


Here is my take on the sketch, using the stamp sets Perfect Pennants and Gorgeous Grunge. Love all those banners! 


Inks: Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush and Daffodil Delight
Cardstock: Basic Black, Strawberry Slush and Whisper White
Other: Basic Black 3/4 Chevron Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today, until next time. 

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Sunday Stamps Spring!

Well hello Stampers! Oh my goodness I have you missed creating with my fellow Sunday Stamps Designers and You! Better late than never, especially since our current challenge at Sunday Stamps runs until this Friday, February 21st at 6 pm EST. We hope you will join us.


Here is my creation using Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Crumb Cake and Gumball Green. This color combo is perfect for spring projects. The stamp set is Petal Parade and it's one of the free sets you can earn for free with a $50 purchase. I also used the new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch from the Occasions catalog to create this fun closure on my card. I learned how to create the closure from fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Dee Slater. 


 The sentiment on the inside is from the set Yippee-Skipee! and it's crooked, oh well, it's a handmade card.


Thanks for stopping by today, until next time.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Precious Memories...

Hello my stamping friends, thank you for stopping by today.  I've been away for the past couple of weeks because my beloved maternal grandmother, my Nana Juanita died unexpectedly on Monday, January 27th. Even though she had been battling leukemia and undergoing dialysis treatments, her death was very much unexpected. It's still a shock to us all that she is gone and I just haven't had the strength to create or do much. It hurts my soul to write that she is gone. She is gone. But I know she is no longer suffering and that she is at peace.

I don't really write or share too much personal stuff on my blog but I've been blessed by all the many friendships through the creative blogging world and of course through Stampin' Up! that I wanted to let you know what has been going on.

This is a photo of my Nana (short for grandmother in Spanish) Juana "Juanita" as she liked to be called. Every time I look at this photo and look into her eyes, I feel like she is staring back into my soul. A beautiful woman who along with my Tata Jesus (he celebrated his 80 birthday on January 30) raised 13 children and were married for 55 years.


While I am no stranger to death, her passing has been very hard for me. More so when I'm alone with my thoughts and my memories, good memories. I'm not scared of death, I know one day I too will meet death and leave my loved ones behind. But to not hear her voice or see her beautiful smile, it hurts. 

I thank you for your patience. I believe in the power of prayer and I kindly ask for your prayers. As you can see my previous post, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things but it's more of a "one day at at time" for now. I've always said that creating is like therapy for me, but now I hope it will help me heal and inspire me to share and preserve the love I have for my Nana Juana. 


Nacho Thanks...

Hello Nachos! I'm back today to share with you a new creation, this time a digital one!  We have a beautiful new color challenge for you at Nacho Average Challenges starting today and we hope you will join us. Can't wait to see what you create.


Here is what I created:


I was late uploading my creation to our Nacho group for this week.  Hopefully I'll get back on track soon. Thanks for stopping by today.