Busy, Busy, Busy!

That's right...I've been BUSY!!!  I went back to work after my summer break and welcomed 2 new staff along with the other 11 full-time people I supervise.  One of the sites I supervise was moved to another location in an elementary school this summer and this Thursday we FINALLY get to get into the classrooms to unpack.  With only 2 weeks until school starts, it'll be a mad rush.

Next weekend, I am also holding my annual stamp/craft day for friends and family (and friends of family) to come and make some fall and winter projects.  I've been really busy trying to figure out projects, order supplies and make samples.  This week I'll be prepping everything AND making some goodies to share (banana bread, lemon muffins, etc), oh, and I can't forget the housework that needs to be done :)

Anywho, I actually have made a few things in the last few weeks and here are some of them (some were for magazine submissions that I'm waiting to hear back from, so you can't see those yet).  I will be back later in the week (hopefully) to share some of the samples I made for this coming weekend.

Good Ole' Summertime!

Yesterday late afternoon and into the evening, my hubby and I attended a live outdoor concert in Liberty Lake Pavillion Park (3 miles down the road) featuring Big Head Todd & the Monsters (silly name but great band) and it was opened by Truth & Salvage Co.  Both bands were GREAT and it was a lot of fun!  The best part, is that it was totally free!  Yep, you read it right...F-R-E-E!  Big Head Todd has a new album out released last Tuesday and there's a top 40 song titled Beautiful that is just a fantastic melody.  Anyway, it was about 95 degrees yesterday, so a touch warm in the open summer air, but as the sun set, it was a gorgeous evening and we both really enjoyed ourselves.  I think here in a bit we are headed for a cruise to the lake in Coeur d' Alene...it's about 95 degrees today and getting hotter tomorrow!

Okay, on to a summery inspired card... I made this card in response to Cards Blog challenge to make a card with a kite on it.

Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: Dancing Lanterns

The gals at Moxie Fab World are headed to CHA next week, so this week's Tuesday Trigger: Dancing Lanterns will be running for two weeks.  So, I got this new cute little lantern stamp today at Michael's and decided to give the challenge a second try.  I got the sweet sentiment today too.  I stamped the lanterns on pretty DPs then cut them out and mounted some black thin wire to the backs.  Here's my card:

Okay, Last One Tonight!

Here's yet another card I made last night, but this time for Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: Dancing Lanterns.  I took my inspiration from the colors, the globe shapes and the way the lanterns flow across the photo.  The first photo is of the lantern inspiration and the second is my card.

More Cards and More Challenges...

I made a couple of cards yesterday for some other challenges I found online.  The card in this post was made for the sketch challenge (see below for the original sketch) over at Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog and for a challenge over at Embellish Magazine Blog where the challenge was to create using the colors turquoise, brown, craft and orange.

Signs of Peace

Moxie Fab World is having another challenge, and this time it's all about using peace signs on your projects...just go to Moxie Fab World Challenge: Signs of Peace to see the wonderful items Cath has posted along with some great cards all highlighting peace signs.  For my project, I decided to make a card for my youngest daughter (15 1/2) who just yesterday got her driver's permit.  Since the peace sign is retro of sorts, I decided to try my hand at another retro item...shrinky-dinks!  I made the peace signs and Beetle charm all from stamping on shrinky-dink plastic with my Staz-On black ink, then heated with my embossing gun while it shriveled and curled into these cute little charms! 

Here's what it looks like:

And here's my favorite item Cath has on the Moxie Fab World blog:

Another Challenge...Another Shot at Shabby

PaperCrafts Connection is also helping people find their style this week, and part of it includes a challenge of Inspired Style.  The inspiration for the challenge comes from an old typewriter.  I don't have many vintage looking stamps, so instead I made a cute baby boy card using a typed background along with some other shabby-looking elements.  Here's the finished product:

Last But Not Least...Classy & Elegant Style

The Classy & Elegant style is probably my least favorite, although I have been known to use it for weddings, anniversaries or sympathy cards.  The card I made is very simple, but the use of metallic silver ink, red sheer ribbon  and shimmery red cardstock helps make it more elegant. 

Moxie, Moxie and More Moxie...Shabby & Vintage Style

I really like the Shabby & Vintage style, but often have difficulty doing it.  The card I made was looking pretty good, but it was too clean, so I "dirtied" it up a bit by dabbing some ink around the edges and across the paper doily.  I really like the finished product.  I am going to try to practice the shabby & vintage style so I become more comfortable with it.

More Moxie Style...Clean & Graphic

Finally I got the rest of the pics done of my Card Style Week cards.  This post features the Clean & Graphic style.  This style isn't typically where I find myself comfortable or happy, but I do use it sometimes for masculine birthday cards or other occasions where a more clean and simple look is needed.  The card I made is very simple, clean lines, and the graphic zig zag to draw your eye across the card.

Fun & Cute Card Style at Moxie!

Moxie Fab World is doing a 4 day feature called Card Style Week where blog viewers are challenged to take part in daily challenges highlighting specific styles featured in the new Card Style magazine.

 

Today's challenges is to make a card using the fun and cute style.  Here's the link to the Moxie Fab World blog giving all the details: Fun & Cute Challenge.  And here's the card I made to represent the fun and cute style:

Stay tuned tomorrow and watch for the next Card Style featured challenge style.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

Sunday Cards

I made a few cards today and some last night...some are for submissions, so no looking at those yet :)
Here's one I did for BasicGrey Challenge blog...all about gingham, and for the Paper Sundaes Challenge- Lots of Layers .  I made this cute little baby card with some baby gingham prints and colors.

Another card I made is for a challenge over at the Play Date Cafe .  The challenge there is based on a photo inspiration (pictured below my bird card).

Thanks for looking!
Shelly

Poppin' Off the Page at Moxie Fab World!

Moxie Fab World is showcasing a funky piece of artwork for this week's Tuesday Trigger Challenge.  When I saw the artwork, I immediately thought of the stamp set I have with this cute little swirly dotted cat.  I added color with stamping fun circular shapes on colored cardstock, then punched them out using scallop and circle punches.  I found the vine background paper in a stack of papers in my collection.  The scallop strip near the bottom is black velvet ribbon I found at my local Big Lots store...if you haven't been there yet to check out their papercrafting supplies...check it out, there's lots of good finds at real good prices there!  This was a quick, fun and easy card!

Marimekko Siirtolapuutarha Wall Hanging from CB2

My Cat Card

Thanks for looking,
Shelly

Moxie Fab Paradise!

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day!  The hubby and I went to a car show 2 hours away from home and enjoyed entering our car in the show and looking at all the other cars there.  I was truly in paradise!  So, I got some inspiration from that and from drooling over a gorgeous 1957 T-Bird at the show that was an awesome shade of robin's egg blue.  I came home and made a card for the Finding Inspiration in a Layout Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  I used yummy summer colors (including that awesome blue from the T-Bird!) and somewhat followed the layout of the inspiration photo (shown below).  The cute little fish brads have been sitting in a drawer ever since I bought them last year on clearance.  They are actually bright yellow and bright turquoise.  I tamed down the color by pouncing them in some white Staz-On ink.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

Fairies and Roses for Tuesday Trigger!

Moxie Fab World posted a great Tuesday Trigger challenge today.  The challenge is all about pleasing the pallette.  My take on the challenge brought about thoughts of fairies and roses.  So I pulled out a stamp set I really have never used before and it's a couple of years old!  So here's the result and a photo of the Tuesday Trigger inspiration for my creation. 

PS- 9 days and counting until my 3 weeks off!  I can't wait!  My hubby already knows I'm going to be a card-making fool during that time :)

Thanks for looking!
Shelly

Fourth of July and Some Challenges

After a fun-filled and busy weekend, I decided to try my hand at a few 4th of July cards.  I found a couple challenges to take part in, and thought I would post my creations for everyone to see.  The first is a shabby country card, the second is a simple card made with a new liberty bell stamp I bought with some other stamps, and the last one is more of a modern day card with a touch of felt and some buttons.  I will be sending emails of all three cards to the CARDS Blog.  I am submitting the first (flag) card for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge.  The last card I made is for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge (I included a copy of the current sketch as well).  The photos are compliments of my hubby.  I put him to work while I grilled some wieners for dinner.  Our family room has a patriotic theme, so he hiked on downstairs and posed the cards with some of our stuff in the background.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

Happy Weekend...Hope it is CHAIRFUL!

I made this card for a StampTV challenge a few weeks back and thought I'd share it here.  We finally have nice weather in my neck of the woods and things have been quite CHAIRFUL around here.  I spent Friday with my hubby running errands and today we did a bit more of that then he washed the cars and I cleaned the house.  Tomorrow is car show day and I'll be taking some of my stamping magazines with me to scope out new ideas.  I got pretty badly sunburned at the last car show we went to a few weekends back, so I'm ahead of the game and already packed the sunscreen!  Today I actually got a bit pink on my neck and tops of legs as I waited in the car for my hubby to pick up some car parts at the auto parts store.  The top was down on the car (my convertible New Beetle) and I guess he got busy chatting (happens all the time...I should've known!) and it just happened. 

Anyway, I'm counting down the days until I'm on vacation, although it's gone from 4 weeks down to three as I've been asked to work another week...oh well, 3 is better than nothing!

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

Two in One Day...WOW!

I've just been a busy body since I got home today!  I think I'm gearing up for my month-long vacation coming up in a couple weeks. Anyway, here's a card I made for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger Challenge.  The challenge was to use the photo of the striped pillow as an inspiration for a card or paper project.  I put on my thinking cap and made this snazzy invitation I'm giving out for a summer party coming up at the end of the month.  The striped pillow reminds me of a beach blanket I used to use when I would take my children to the lake  (I think it was actually a horse blanket) or a cushion from outdoor furniture.  I think I did a pretty good job!  Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

A Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge

It's so much fun finding new challenges on the net, but my problem is that I'm getting so many cards, I don't know what to do with them!  I've decided I will try to sell some, I will donate others to a womens homeless shelter, and I usually keep one or two from each season/holiday and put them in a nice box for a holiday gift exchange at work.  We do a white elephant gift exchange/game and my box of cards typically gets rave reviews and passes through a few sets of hands before finding a final resting place.  I had the gal that got them last year come to me a week or so ago and tell me how much fun she'd been having giving them out to friends and coworkers.  Hmmm, I hope I never get one of my own back, I guess I never though of that :0)

Okay, now on to my Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge.  Here's a photo of both my card and the inspiration sketch.  I also used this card for a color challenge over at StampTV.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

Another BasicGrey Challenge

So, like I said earlier, I've been a busy little bee putting together some challenge cards today.  I just went on a quick cruise with the hubby in his Mustang and now it's dinner-making time, but I thought I'd get this one out there before I forget.  After dinner, it's homework (yep, taking some computer classes), then some TV and off to bed for an early day at work tomorrow.
Here's a card I did for the color challenge over at BasicGrey Challenge:

Thanks for looking!

Shelly