Thinking of you my friend--always!

Finally got my sketch challenge and the LNS challenge done for this week.  I can't seem to get caught up from being sick, but I forced myself to go to my studio and planned for a max of 30 for a card.  The good news is in less than 30 minutes I hung a load of laundry (my laundry is right outside my studio) started a new load, made this card and got it uploaded--that is AMAZING!  Love easy to make cards like that.  In case you missed the sketch challenge for this week it can be found HERE and I would love for you to play along. Here is my sample a bit late....

Sorry for the poor picture--can't for the life of me figure out how to use this new computer.

Stamps: Just Thinking, Small Script
Paper: Gumball Green, Certainly Celery, Whisper White Print Poetry Designer Series Paper
Ink: Gumball Green
Other: modern label punch, word window punch, nestability dies.


Hope you find time to play along with either of these challenges--or better yet, both!
Happy Wednesday, Mary Jo

Try Stamping on Tuesday!

Good news, bad news.  The good news is that today is Tuesday and that means we get to play along with the Try Stamping on Tuesday team for another sketch challenge-- the bad news is I still felt sick all day yesterday so I still don't have a sample for my sketch challenge for the week which was posted yesterday--but the team had lots of great samples and if you missed it check it out HERE.

Here is today's TSOT sketch...

 

I struggled with this one for a bit but then I turned it on it's side and like the outcome.  

I just love this single stamp-you are my sunshine.  So cute.  I love these colors too--the papers are from the Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack.  Lots of fun designs and colors!

Stamps: You are my Sunshine

Paper: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Summer Starfruit, Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack

Ink: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit

Other: markers, sponges, circle punch, oval framelits, ribbon.

Hope you have a great day--I am moving around pretty good without feeling sick so I am encouraged about my day!  Happy today!

Mary Jo

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 252 (TSSC252(

Wow, what a crazy week!  I am a bit out of sorts--first it was my Birthday on Saturday and I got a new computer with a new operating system--so I am trying to figure out how to do the things I need to do on a daily basis on it--then I woke up yesterday so sick that I went right back to bed after church and never got out of bed all day and night!  Wow--weird to miss a whole day like that.  May end up missing some of today too--after I get through some of this blogging stuff!

Hope you had a great week--time to start all over again and time for the new sketch challenge--today's is really easy--can lead to some super CAS cards or even more elaborate.  Here is the sketch...

Whoops, here is a funny--I actually did the wrong sketch for my challenge this week  How  silly is that--guess you will see my sample later, lol!  Now for the real sketch for this week....

TSSC 252

Thank goodness the team was on top of things---here are their samples for the sketch...

Tanya

Carolyn Bennett

Mary Brown

Robbie

Eileen

Jonia Smith

Nicole Tugrul

Sue Root

I sure hope you find time to play along--I think I may be going right back to bed, lol!  Crazy morning already.  Ugggg.......Remember you have a whole week to add your sample to the linky tool below!  Can't wait to see your samples. Mary Jo

Top Three for Sketch 251

I hope you took some time to check out the fabulous samples from last week!  Great cards by both the team and the players!  Thanks so much! Here are my top three picks in no particular order--if you click on the image you will be brought to the creator's blog whee you can leave them a comment.

7. Margaret Raburn

5. Lynn Starzl

      

2. Cathy Parlitsis

Ladies, remember I made a new badge for your blogs--you can find it at the upper left hand side of my side bar--the code is underneath it. Feel free to add it to your blog if you so desire! Be right back with the new sketch....Mary Jo

When Pigs Fly....

that is when I will stop loving you! 

I have been wanting to make a card with this cute pig and the wings for so long--today's sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers was perfect for it...

 Probably one of the easiest cards I have ever made, the dp form the Sycamore Street pack along with the clouds embossing folder make the back ground so easy--then just a bit of typing on MDS quick stamp and cut and there you have it--You Know What They Say!

Stamps: Button Buddies, Affection Collection

Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DP

Ink: Primrose Petals, Island Indigo 

Other: embossing folder with clouds, marker, button, glitter on wings (very light), MDS

Hope you enjoyed today's fast post.

Lots to do with my son home from school for winter break.

See You Soon!

Mary Jo

Try Stamping on Tuesday!

We have a fun sketch for you this week on the Try Stamping On Tuesday blog.

 

When I first looked at the sketch I was a bit confused with what I wanted to do so I walked over to my work table and the first thing I seen was the beautiful DP from the Tea For Two paper pack and knew I wanted to use the rose paper and go from there--the rest of the card just kind of had a mind of it's own and it just evolved without much thought at all.  When I was done and looked back at the sketch I seen that I totally left off the ribbon-darn--so I cut a really thin strip of the Lucky Limeade card stock and added it to the left side as though it was ribbon.  The bow broke a few times but I was finally able to make it work.  I actually like how the card turned out--what do yo think?

I made sure to make it a birthday card so that it also fits the LNS challenge for the week--birthdays.  My son's birthday was on the seventh and mine is coming up this Saturday so that is what spurred the birthday challenge.

Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners, Papillion Potpourri
Paper: Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, DP from the Tea For Two paper pack
Ink: Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade
Other: scallop edge punch, banner dies, small butterfly punch

Hope you day is filled with happiness--thanks for stopping by.

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 251 (TSSC251)

Well, here we are again--another week, another sketch!  I hope you have time to play along this week--tell you friends about our sketch challenge too.  I would love to get the participation back up after taking that little break!  Did you see the beautiful samples from last week!  Awesome, and the top three picks are shown in the post right before this one.

Remember you have a full week to play along with the challenges--here are a few of the other "rules"...

A few quick rules to playing

• New sketch is posted each Monday morning and you have an entire week to play along.
• Top three will be picked on Monday morning as well and will be posted before the new sketch
• Be sure to link directly to your card and not just to the home page of your blog--people will not take the time to look and you will not get any nice comments that way.
• You can play along as many times as you want. So if you love the sketch why not use it a few times and link each of them.

So now for this week's sketch...

 

and my sample which is combined with the LNS challenge to make Birthday Projects.....

Looks like I almost used the same colors too--didn't realize that till just now! 

Stamps: Pretty Petites

Paper: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla and More Amore Specialty Designer Paper

Ink: Island Indigo

Other: Top Note Die, small scallop punch, small circle punch, modern label punch, curly label punch, Pool Party ribbon, rhinestone, embossing folder

Now for the awesome samples from the rest of the team!

Robbie

Tanya

Mary Brown

Nicole Tugrul

Jonia Smith

Carolyn Bennett

Sue Root

Eileen LeFevre
 

I am amazed each week by want these girls come up with!  Wow, fabulous samples ladies, thanks so much!  Now it is your turn--yes YOU--be sure to come on back and add your sample to the link below when you are done creating.  Happy stamping--Mary Jo

Top Three for sketch 250!

I actually designed a new button for the winners to add to their blogs.  It can be found at the top left hand side of  my blog--code is underneath.  So if you are a winner please feel free to add it to your blog!  I have been wanting to make a new one for a long time and finally had a bit of time.  This is what it looks like--but you can get the code on my sidebar.  Again--top left hand corner.

Matches my blog better than the last one.  So with all this being said let me move on to my top three picks for today!  Remember these are in no particular order and each of the creators would really appreciate a comment from you!  Thanks to everyone who played along.

 

Bobbie

 Kris

Sharon

I will be right back with the new sketch challenge--in the mean time why not hop over and leave a comment on the cards above--but be sure to come on back and see the new sketch for the week. 

Mary Jo

90 years old!

Got a call from my mom today asking for a special card for a friend of her's that is turning 90!  I was meeting her in an hour and still had to shower so I am thankful that I was able to pull of this card with plenty of time.  Got the love the stamps with matching dies.  Sure hope her friend enjoys the card.

The 90th is really straight in real life--it is on clear strips of transparency and they were wobbling around when I snapped the picture.  I used my sizzix to make the card--making it fit the Blogger's Challenge for this week (use die cuts or an electronic die cutting machine)--90th is cut twice and one is attached on each side of the transparency strips (1/4 by 3 strips of transparency).  Such a simple and sweet way to add a bit of EXTRA fun to a card.  I didn't think to get a picture of how it was inserted in the center.  But I have an extra piece of Soft Suede--5 1/2 by 3.  With the 3 inch side at the top of your score board, you would score from top to bottom at 1, 1 1/2, 2, 1 1/2 and 3 inch marks.  Then just fold back and forth to form a center section to hold the strips of transparency with the letters/numbers on it.   The one inch pieces are put under the vanilla inserts.  The other 1/2 inch section are holding the transparency and pop up parts--if it is requested I can make another one with a tutorial. 

Stamps: Apothecary Art, Loving Thoughts, Paillon Potpourri
Paper: Soft Suede, Tea for Two DP, Calypso Coral
Ink: Soft Suede
Other: markers, Crochet Trim,  small butterfly punch, framelits, MDS, sizzlet alphabet (non SU)

Have a great weekend. 

Hello!?

I think this is one of the easiest sets to work with--the images look great plain or colored in--and they are just fun images.  I mixed the Feeling Sentiment set with the Hello from the Oh Hello set.  I cut the Oh and the Hello apart so I can use the Hello alone with out having to do anything special.  And the fun thing about that is that if you cut with just one cut you can always just put them right back together on the stamp blog and use it together without thinking twice about making them line up together.  They just fit like a puzzle.  This is one of my favorite layouts--an old sketch from my Monday sketch challenges (click here for this week's sketch).

Red Black and Grey!  You can't go wrong in my book. 

Nice card for either a female or male.  Love to have a bunch of those in my stash.

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental, oh, Hello

Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Twitterpated DP

Ink: Basic Black

Other: Markers

Hope your day is amazing!

Mary Jo

Finally a Change of Address!

Well, not really --I did not move although I would love to.  I just finally pulled out this darling stamp set and matching dies.  I was about to jump in the shower to get my day going and seen the cool sketch on SCS and knew I had to make a card with this set.  As you will see I had to adjust the sketch a bit to work as the dress form was bigger than I thought.  But I think it is cute, don't you?

I actually thought this looked like a fussy set and that it would be kind of tedious to play with but quite the opposite is true.  So easy--I made this whole card in about 5 minutes with scraps laying next to my trimmer!  The dress was crazy easy to do.  I used the top half of the dress to make the sweater--using a marker to make links at the bottom to look like the bottom of a sweater and added tiny pearls for buttons.

Here is the sketch--as I said I had to adjust a bit ...

Stamps: All Dressed Up
Paper: Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Midnight Muse, DP
Ink: Midnight Muse
Other: markers, pearls, oval punch and scallop oval punch, framelits

Happy Hump Day!
Mary Jo

Second Post today!

If you are looking for the Try Stamping on Tuesday Challenge it is the previous post HERE.  I could not resist playing along with the Splitcoaststamper's color challenge today--the colors are white, tangerine tango and lucky limeade--with an added challenge of adding a tag!  Fun!  Here is my card.

I so love bright cards.  And this is definitely one.   But so pretty--especially in person.

Stamps: Bordering on Romance, Million-Dollar Moments
Paper: Lucky Limeade, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, DP
Ink: Basic Black
Other: white ribbon, markers, tasteful trim die, tangerine tango ribbon, scallop ribbon punch

Short and sweet--happy today!
Mary Jo

Try Stamping On Tuesday

Super fun sketch this week on Try Stamping On Tuesday!  I was so excited that it so perfectly fit my new You are my Sunshine single stamp!  My card is so bright and cheery, I just love it. 

I know I am not alone when I say this is the song I sang to my son all through his baby/toddler years.  I did change a few words to make it more personal, but the you are my sunshine part was ALWAYS there. 

Here is the sketch we are using this week....

 

Details for my card--I cut two circles both the same size--one using dp the other using Pumpkin Pie card stock.  Then I laid them on top of each other and cut in half then continued to cut triangles until I had cut the entire circle--then I just mixed up the pieced and added them to a larger scallop circle--finally I came in with a black marker and added the dots around each piece to kind of pull in the dots on the stamp.

Stamps: You are my Sunshine (single stamp)

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit, Basic Black, DP

Ink: Basic Black

Other: markers, button, black twine, nestibilities 

Hope you have a Sunshine-y kind of day--it is crazy windy and cold here!

Mary Jo

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 250 (TSSC250)

Wow, 250 sketches!  That is amazing to me.  I wonder if I had a big ole book with all my sketches in there if any would look alike, lol.  Who knows right??

So this week I have a pretty simple layout for you to try.  It uses a circle, of course you can change that out to be any shape you want.  Before I show you the sketch I want to give you a quick re-cap of the "rules"

Hope you have time to play along this week--and tell your friends to play too!

A few quick rules to playing

• New sketch is posted each Monday morning and you have an entire week to play along.
• Top three will be picked on Monday morning as well and will be posted before the new sketch
• Be sure to link directly to your card and not just to the home page of your blog--people will not take the time to look and you will not get any nice comments that way.
• You can play along as many times as you want. So if you love the sketch why not use it a few times and link each of them.

So now for this week's sketch...

 

See, I said it was a pretty simple one--but you will love the amazing samples that team came up with!  All so different and creative.  First is my sample for the week....

I combined my sample with the LNS challenge for the week to use a Sale-A-Bration product.

Another easy challenge as I have all of them, lol

 The cloud embossing folder is non-Stampin Up I am still waiting on my one form them and really wanted to use clouds in the background.  The sentiment is from an old retired set called Mini Mates. I think the first card I made with this set was with the jeans hanging on a line but I could not share it since it was part of my tutorials that I sell on the side bar so I have been wanting to create another one for quite a while--hence the design above. Cute don't you think?!  

Stamps: Patterned Occasions, Mini Mates

Paper Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DP

Ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango

Other: cloud embossing folder NON-SU, Nestibilities, 1 inch circle punch, 1 1/4 scallop circle punch, twine.

Now for the rest of the incredibly talented team....

Tanya

Robbie

Mary Brown

 Carolyn Bennett

Eileen LeFevre

Nicole Tugrul

Jonia Smith

Sue Root

These ladies never cease to amaze me--I know that they have inspired you too--so go on and get crafty, then come on back and add your sample to the Linky tool below.

Thanks so much for visiting and playing along,
Mary Jo