Ladies of Leisure Challenge

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So, it's time for another Ladies of Leisure challenge. Actually, it is past time but the hectic schedules for May did not afford the "divas of dawdling" much time to get our acts together! This month it was Jill's turn to challenge Chris and I. All I can say is WOW, what an awesome bit of inspiration she had for us! If you would like to play along and be a LOL, please click here to look at this fabulous website of Flirty Aprons! We were each to choose one and use it as inspiration when creating our cards. One of my favorite color combos is light blue and chocolate brown so I knew right that this was the rufflie one for me. My favorite colors, stripes, polka dots, ruffles- there was inspiration flying all over this baby!First, I absolutely HAD to use the colors in this apron and did so using Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky CS and a small piece of Afternoon Tea PP. The PP, also, incorporates the stripes as does the wonderful piece of May Arts striped ribbon. I framed the striped ribbon with May Arts chocolate brown ruffled ribbon to represent the foo foo ruffle along the apron edge. Finally, my favorite pattern- polka dots -can be found on the Soft Sky embossed with my Cuttlebug and Swiss Dot folder. The fun polka dots on the dress of this cute little Tiddly Inks image from Stampin' Bella even furthered the theme. She and her friend are colored with Copic Markers and their sparklie crowns a gold Spica glitter pen (also by Copic.) The panel that offsets the focal image is CHF Pretty Patterns and my die cut brackets are Sizzix dies that have been distressed with Ranger Brushed Cordoroy Distress Ink then edged with a Zig painty gold pen. Bling is from A Muse and MAMBI.

If you do choose to play along, we would love to see your Flirty Apron cards. Just post a link to the comments in one of the LOL blogs! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

LOL challenge card recipe:
Stamps- image & sentiment Stamping Bella
Ink- Chocolate Chip, Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Brushed Cordoroy Distress Ink
Paper- Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Curious Iridescent Crycogen White CS, PP- SU Afternoon Tea
Supplies- Copic Markers, Spica glitter pen, A Muse Twinkle Stickers, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, MAMBI rhinestones, May Arts ribbon, Sizzix dies, Zig Painty pen, sponge

A Fairy Happy Birthday

This weekend has been very low key (gasp in utter amazement.) Actually, my back is hurting and it has forced me to take it easy. This has been frustrating because it was a beautiful day yesterday and I so wanted to work in the yard. I am scheduled for a steroid epidural tomorrow so after a couple of more days I should be back to normal (or at least my version of normal-lol.) Tonight my family is taking me out to dinner for my birthday which is actually tomorrow. After my epidural procedures, I usually don't feel like doing much so we are going to celebrate tonight.

Today's card is one that I made last night for Mary Elizabeth's friend, Eve. Her 11th birthday was Friday but they are celebrating it with an indoor pool party this afternoon. Eve is a super sweet girl and member of my GS troop to I wanted to make her card extra special. I paired Stamping Bella's Eloise (I am so in love with their chichiboulie line of stamps) with Basic Grey's Sugared PP. This collection is one of my favorites of the most recent Basic Grey release. The adorable little fairy was first colored with Copic markers. I just added 10 more markers to my collection and although, it is difficult to see in this photograph, I am really starting to feel more comfortable with my coloring and shading when I use these incredible markers. I stamped the skirt twice more on PP and cut the skirt "petals" out, added some Dazzling Diamonds for wonderful sparkle. Next, I adhered some directly to the image while popping others with Stampin' Dimensionals. I felt this gave her a fluttery look. The base of the card is Pretty in Pink CS covered with 2 different patterns of the Sugared paper and joined in the middle with a piece of More Mustard that has been stamped tone on tone with Scalloped Lace Backgrounder from CHF. As those of you who follow my blog know, CHF Backgrounders are some of my favorite stamps and I am excited to say that they are having a Backgrounder Blitz this week leading up to the release of new Backgrounders. Be sure to check on the fun details! Well, sitting is probably one of the most uncomfortable positions for me right now and since Rachel is down for a nap, I think I'll take advantage of some heating pad time! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Eloise Card Recipe:

Stamps: Eloise, sentiment- Stamping Bella, CHF- Scalloped Lace backgrounder

Paper: Pretty in Pink, More Mustard, Stamper's Select White CS, Bazzill (cranberry?) PP- Basic Grey Sugared

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, More Mustard

Accessories: Ribbon- May Arts, Hodge Podge Hardware- Antique Brass, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Copic Markers, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamond, Stampin' Dimensionals, Spica gel pen- gold, Dew Drops, Mat pack, paper piercer

My First Bella Card

I received my first order of actual Bella Stamping "Bella" stamps. I owned a couple of stamps from the company but not any official Bellas. Don't get me wrong I had admired many beautiful Bella creations but was not ready to start "collecting" another line of stamps. The weekend of the 8th (following the Bella Ball) Em had a "free shipping" offer that pushed me over the edge (I'm a sucker for free shipping.) All along Bella had reminded me oh so much of my youngest sister Lee. Not only does Lee act like a Bella, she looks like Bella (figure, hair, smile- she has it all)! When I showed my new order to my 10-year-old DD she said "That looks like Aunt Lee!" Need I say more! Anyway, I started out with stamping Bella in Palette Noir on PTI's wonderful white CS. Next, I cut the image out and embossed it with rectangle Nestablities. I used a Zig fine felt tip pen to "ground" her, then I began coloring her in using Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The color inspiration came from these 2 fabulous PP from K & Co. Next, Bella needed to sparkle so I added CE to her boots, and Stardust and Tutti Frutti Stickles to her shopping bags and headband. I cut a scalloped mat out of Opal Opulence CS and attached it to the card base. The ribbon is a combination of some I had in my stash. She is much more sparkly than the photo allows. In fact, I cropped her in PS for a more up close shot and it would not download here or on to me SCS gallery. Not sure what is going on there! Well, I hope my sister likes her card. It was nice to take a break from making Christmas themed projects. Never fear though, they are still going on in the background and I hope to share them with you little by little. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Savvyshoppella recipe:

Stamps: Savvyshoppabella

Paper: Orchid Opulence, PTI white CS, PP- K & Co.

Ink: Palette Noir

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, various ribbons from stash, Zig fine tipped marker, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Stickles, CE

Balance.....

I stay busy. In fact, I thrive on staying busy. You can ask my husband and my friends, and they will tell you I stay too busy. Like most women, I don't get enough sleep or take time for myself. But in the whirlwind of my life, I need my own sense of balance. It may not be what someone else considers balance, but as long as I feel it, I'm okay. Today, things were off balance! First, of all, I have physically not felt well. That started my day off in a bit of a funk. Secondly, Rachel was extra energetic and kept me more on my toes than usual. The clincher for the day was while I was in the bathroom, she unlocked the door leading in to the garage and her "sissy" had left the garage door open when she got her bike. I found my 3-year-old daughter across the street from our home. My heart fell to my stomach! Hubby is adding high locks to the doors tomorrow. While she was taking her nap, I decided to give the Sketch Challenge from SCS a try. Well, I couldn't get that to balance, either. I worked on this one card for the entirety of the nap and then once my husband got home- way too long to spend on 1 card! This is what I finally came up with. The PP in the bottom right corner was overpowering the upper left corner, so I made the little organdy ribbon rosette to place in that area. I could just imagine little rosettes lined-up across the little empire waistline. I'm not overly thrilled with the results but I do feel that there is balance. I think I'll go eat a piece of chocolate cake and just chill! Take care!

Little Dress Card Recipe

Stamps: jaylen's dress- Stamping Bella, Girls We Love- Technique Tuesday

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Taken w/ Teal, Cranberry Crisp, Natural White, PP Blush- BG

Supplies: organdy ribbon, MM brads, Stampin' Pastels, blender pens, Sakura clear Stardust pen, Marvy Uchida- Paper Trimming Buddy w/ scalloped blade, oval punch, corner rounder